#at least Tabitha is coming back

[nighthawkes]

i feel good about succession ending at 4 seasons because it means I was right about the perfect symmetry of the Roy siblings each getting their own season

i feel bad about succession ending at 4 seasons because why would they end it on Connor 🧍‍♀️

[abby-howard]

Scarlet Hollow decision tree

People occasionally ask to see a decision tree for Scarlet Hollow, so a while back I put one together for episodes 1-4! It’s not comprehensive, as most scenes at this point have at least some variation due to any number of tracked variables, but it accounts for most of the really major deviations.

For those who don’t want spoilers but would like to hear about how we kinda structure the game: I like to talk about it as more of a braid than a tree, which is not a new concept or anything, but I feel like it helps other narrative designers understand how to limit the absolute vastness that you can get with branching structures. The narrative branches off at decision nodes, but instead of continuing down significantly different routes, it comes back together at key moments. So there’s a single narrative throughline to the game-- events unfold in the town and you witness them in some capacity, but your perspective on them, who you’re with, the options available to you, all these are impacted by other choices you’ve made along the way, including the character traits you chose at the start of the game.

It’s not necessarily easier than doing routes, since it means Tony and I have to keep track of a ridiculous number of little variations including one-off dialogue choices players have made AND steering players to the important narrative moments can be tricky, but I think it makes for an interesting player experience! People get so excited when, say, a line at the end of Episode 4 calls back to something they said when they first met Tabitha at the beginning of Episode 1.

ANYWAY, HUGE SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT, do not proceed if you don’t want to know about basically everything that’s currently in the game!

Things start to get a little hard to read from here on out....

Episode four had to be broken into four images and looks like spaghetti

I’ll make another one of these for Episode 5 after it comes out sometime next year! (I know that’s a bit of a wait but it’ll be worth it >:D)

[dragonfly0808]

How Daphne Haunts the Narrative

I love the concept of a character haunting the narrative. Just… ugh I can’t even explain it.

My favorite examples of this are Sejannus and Lucy Gray in the Hunger Games.

I always found the concept of Daphne to be a very interesting one in the OG, this girl who was a Nymph and an amazing fairy sacrificing it all for her sister and winding up a ghost in a lake.

But I felt like that concept was never used to it’s full potential.

So… I tried to do just that.

In my rewrite, Daphne is almost this larger-than-life entity. She wasn’t just Bloom’s sister. 

She was an amazing fairy in her own right, she was a Nymph and the best Guardian of the Dragon Flame that’d been seen in centuries. On top of all of that, she was a dedicated Princess.

That’s part of what makes her tragic, she was the best, and she was still taken down.

Now, Daphne’s situation isn’t what I would call a proper haunting of the narrative, but she’s definetly very present in the way that, in some way or another, almost everything leads back to her.

Bloom is haunted by the idea of having to live up to Daphne, the more she learns about her sister the more she feels like she won’t be able to do just that. 

Bloom’s haunted by the memory everyone has of her sister, everyone who remembers Daphne has an insane level of respect for her and misses her dearly. That’s something that can intimidate Bloom from time to time and even make her jealous.

Then, there’s the fact that, if Domino hadn’t fallen and Daphne hadn’t been cursed, then Bloom wouldn’t even be a fairy in the first place.

Daphne gave up, not just the Flame but also a big part of her own power in order to keep Bloom safe and give her the power she would need to be the Guardian of the Flame.

Due to this, Bloom is haunted by guilt and resentment. Guilt due to the fact that pretty much everything she has could technically be seen as something that was ‘taken’ from Daphne. There comes the guilt, which then meets… resentment. Guilty resentment towards Daphne for giving her the Flame and being the action that drops the dominoes towards arguably every bad thing in Bloom’s life.

So, Bloom’s view and relationship of/with Daphne, is complicated to say the least.

This is something I love, since it allows for Bloom’s complex feelings to turn into something that I feel a lot of little sisters can relate to, just the confusion of loving and adoring your sister but also feeling jealousy and resentment and just, not being sure whether you should be like them and trying to be your own person when you have the same teachers… I think it’s kinda relatable in a way. If you take away all the magical shenanigans of course.

This is how Daphne haunts Bloom specifically, but this is named after the narrative, so how does Daphne haunt the very narrative of Veiled Wings?

That, is a very interesting question that has a bit of a complicated answer.

There are two ways in which Daphne haunts the narrative.

The first is ala Star Wars; the story ‘rhyming’. I don’t know if you’ve watched this very old interview with George Lucas but he said something along the lines of “the story rhymes”, what this means is that the same beats occur in the story, in opposite or contrasting ways. They ‘rhyme’.

This is what happens with Daphne and Bloom, in a sense, their stories rhyme.

Both grow up a bit lonely, both find their heart and soul in Alfea. Both make life-long friends there. Bloom finds her connections with fellow fairies while Daphne preffered witches and warlocks and Palladins.

They meet Tabitha and Stella, both with similar personalities but opposite powers. Avalon and Timmy, with the same habit of diving head first into research about anything they’re passionate about and being just a little (unapologetically) weird.

Then there’s their romances. Both Daphne and Bloom have tragedies as romances. Daphne and Valtor started off great, it was their ending that was oh so tragic. While, for Bloom and Sky, it’s Valtor that turns them into a tragedy in the middle of their relationship.

Politea and Selina, both dear friends lost to inner darkness.

Bloom’s story parallels a lot of Daphne’s. (Even if a lot of it is stuff that I just made up that hasn’t really been mentioned or explained).

The second way in which Daphne haunts the narrative, is that, like I mentioned before, almost everything leads back to Daphne in some way or another.

A lot of the villains or people we encounter have ties to her or are situations that she began/participated in in some kind of way.

Darkar was created in part due to Daphne. Darkar attacks Daphne, in turn, Valtor curses him and he becomes the red skeleton we know and love. Daphne is his origin story.

Before Bloom fought Icy, Daphne fought Icy’s cousin and her coven, who was the first to awaken the Ancestral Witches spirit. That is one parallel that I really like just, adding to the fight even if neither Icy nor Bloom are fully aware of the history of previous family also fighting.

Teachers we know (Griselda, Tabitha and Avalon most of all though Codatorta and Palladium also fall here) were once friends with Daphne.

Valtor’s entire reason for fighting is avenging and trying to bring back Daphne. And of course, the Ancestral Witches are locked away in time back in Domino as Daphne’s final act as a warrior. 

The end of Daphne’s story sets up the world the Winx start off in.

In a sense, all roads lead back to her.

The narrative can’t escape Daphne’s past actions, her choices, her story rhymes with Bloom’s and a lot of what happens in the story happens due to Daphne’s past and things that she once did.

I always felt like she was never fully utilized in the OG show and I really wanted to have her be a nearly constant presence, I wanted her to be perhaps even more than a ghost.

And thus, the idea of her haunting the narrative and Bloom.

[richeeduvie]

Baby coincidentally changing her locks around the same time Roman gets with Tabitha. I remember reading something here once that he just makes himself home at her place even if he is with Tabitha 😭 he has such a hard time being told no and Baby just goes “oh right,, i had to change my locks recently because I uhh lost my keys ??yeah” and he just stares at her like yeah?? Well?? Wheres my duplicate then🤨 and she just sighs 🧍‍♀️

Dog at Your Door

So we do know he's panicking, right?

It's after a slight conflict, Baby's secretly tense and insecure after witnessing Roman's affections towards Tabitha and was in his words "Acting pussy-hungry."

"Eat a cock. Preferably mines, who elses?"

And Roman, in all his fuck-assery and annoying, attention seeking nature, knew that got to Baby. He didn't know why, but it did. His shit-eating smirk faltered a little, barely noticeable to most. He scratched the back of his neck, watched how Baby walked off into the hall with a fucking attitude.

It just didn't help Baby at all to see the way Roman still holds the belief that he's safe in their friendship to have sex and act as if they're joined by their genitals and hearts while playing boyfriend-girlfriend with Tabitha. It isn't fair, not to her or herself - but Roman holds it so tightly that she knows it's genuine. It's not spiteful, as if he's saying "I own your heart, what are you going to do about it?"

It still hurts.

And all those blood-gushing moments of when Baby pretends to be angry or disappointed in Roman to get him small, insecure, and panicked? It's there when she changes the locks. But it's not purposeful. Not fully, at least.

Roman goes over to her place with almost fully forgetting their little stunt in the day. He knows she's not home, but it's routine to make himself home when she's not there. Sometimes he'll jizz on her pillowcase, or play a game on his phone. Sometimes take a nap, even though naps are for people who are about to turn to dust or toddlers.

But the door doesn't budge. The knob barely moves.

"What the fuck?"

And Roman tries again. And again. The vein along his forehead appears, there comes the thinly-pulled lips and the look in his eyes gets more childishly strained.

"What the fuck?"

So does his voice. It'd make Baby smile if she was there.

After the thirteenth door jam, Roman begins to pull at his hair.

"Fuck!"

It's about a hour worth of constant text messages when Baby reached her place.

'why the fuck can't I open the door to the pent'

'hey'

'what the fuck'

'What the actual fuck?'

'literally what did I do? It's an actual different lock too'

'fuck you seriously'

'I didn't know you were that pussy hungry but I didn't do anything and what?'

'What are you trying to say with this?'

'or can you tell me the lock broke or something?'

'hey'

'why can't I open the door?'

"Roman."

It's Baby standing over him in front of the door. He's rested, casually pissed and passive aggressive.

"I lost my other key."

His fingers play nervously with themselves. Baby watches Roman's chest rise and fall, it's even. But she knows him. It's manic. Not a good enough answer for him. He needs complete assurance that she's not going to leave him or filter him out - that and a kiss, an arm wrapped around his stomach while he sleeps.

"Why didn't you just get a new key?"

"That would mean a place where a stranger could have my key to my door. Changing the locks is safer."

He blinks up and scratches his nose.

"...That's fucking stupid. I'm here in like...belief? Belief you want me out and fuck Roman and his tiny, occupied cock that is perfectly available but I won't accept because your womanly ego convinced you someone might pick up your key and think you're worthy enough of a sex crime."

She looks the knob above his head, scratched up. She assumes (and assumes right) that that came from Roman growing increasingly more frantic and kept missing the keyhole when trying to open it over and over.

"You were about to break in. And what? Wait for me naked to pounce on me? Which would be more like begging. I'd reject which would get you huffy and then I would have to rub your chest like you're a fucking baby who had a bad day with Daddy."

Baby unlocked the door over Roman's head.

"If you were the cautionary scenario I was imagining when I was changing the locks, Rome, I'd keep the door wide open. It's all a pathetic, corporate nature."

"...I didn't even say anything."

"Say hi to Tabitha, and tell Shiv tha-"

"I wanna come in."

"Rome."

He steps in, tense and needy and every other word to describe and man stepping a panic, doing what needs to be done to be the center of her love and affection and she can't leave him outside the door.

And Baby knows that, and she's been so lonely that she'll indulge for the sake of herself.

Roman butts his head into her neck nearly-softly, like a cat. He smiles, not in smugness, but relief.

Sometimes a dog and his bone, other times a cat who gets what he wants anyway.

[indigosunsetao3]

Lunch and Dinner Date

First expansion of Older CIA Alex list. Part One | Part Two | Part Three MDNI | 18+ | Please check AO3 for tags

"Hey Jack," you say casually as you set your purse, keys, and sunglasses in the small plastic bin to go through security. You found it funny that they bothered with this sort of thing considering more than half the people working here could probably kill you with a paperclip—formalities you suppose.

"Hey," Jack says with a smile as he slides your items through the scanner before indicating for you to walk through the metal detectors. "Back again to see the old man?"

"Someone has to make sure he eats," you answer as you scoop up your things on the other side. You slip the strap of your purse on your arm before taking the visitor's badge and clipping it on the lapel of your dress. "See you later," you toss over your shoulder with a smile before heading to the elevators.

You had moved back home to live with your father almost six weeks ago. The man you had lived with halfway across the country had decided that he needed something more in the bedroom; two other women more to be precise. You had your suspicions for a while but to walk in on him balls deep in one woman while the other was sloppily kissing him had been a shock, to say the least.

After you recovered from the scene in your bedroom you immediately called your father, the only person in your life who could help. He was there two days later helping you pack up your things while your fiancé had a meltdown. It had been a nightmare but thankfully your father hadn't rubbed the fact he was right in your face too many times.

When you get to your father's office you find his secretary had already left for lunch, a delicate little sign on her desk indicating she was away. That was fine with you, she was a nice older lady but her ability to talk was outmatched and frankly, you were talked out. The job your father secured for you, after pulling a few strings, required you to converse with people all day long.

A short knock on the door was the only indication you gave that you were there before you opened it. Your father had told you to come at this time so you weren't worried about interrupting anything. Apparently, he had been wrong, or he had a surprise guest. Just as you step through the threshold you spot a man sitting across from your father's desk and your dad immediately closes his mouth as if he had been midsentence.

"Sorry," you breathe out as you move to back out of the room. "Tabitha wasn't here and I assumed you were ready," you babble out as the unknown man rises from his seat looking at you. "I can wait-"

"No worries," the man says for your father as he hastily gathers up papers and locks them away in his desk. Clearly, you had interrupted something secretive. "I was just on my way out actually," he smiles and you return the gesture a bit meekly as you look up at him; even in your heels, he towers over you.

He's dressed in casual clothes, jeans, and a simple t-shirt but the air he gives off oozes he's anything but a civilian. The way he stands shows his confidence, shoulders back and head high. You watch how his eyes survey you as if taking in every detail, sweeping from the tips of your toes and up your body before landing on your face and giving you an easy smile.

His gaze is enough you feel a blush creeping up your chest and neck from embarrassment for interrupting and just the blatant scrutiny.

"Have a nice lunch," the man says simply to your father, extending his hand to shake before his gaze is back on you. "Ma'am," he tacks on as a goodbye which earns a full on flush from you. He definitely notices, the smile that plays on his lips expands to a full on smirk.

You watch him leave the room and barely hear your father clear his throat asking if you're ready to go.

------------------------------

"I don't know a single person," you bemoan your father as you slip your mother's old diamond earrings into your ears.

"That's the point," your father answers as he comes around the corner and gives you a wide smile, his gaze clocking you wearing your late mother's jewelry. "Time for you to meet some people. I'm tired of sharing the living room with you every night. You're young, you need to be out having fun, not watching documentaries with me," he grins extending his elbow.

"All of these people are too rich for my blood. I won't have anything in common with them."

"Find a rich guy to take you home and off my hands," he jokes before helping you into the hired car. "Some of the guys will be there anyway," he tacks on. You know the guys are his personal team that he works with. Some of them were your dad's friends from his military days and others at the CIA who were still out working in the field. "Alex even agreed to go," he chuckles a bit as he scrolls through his phone distracted, "I was starting to think he had some secret family I didn't know about. He never joins team outings."

"Alex?"

"Keller," your dad answers as if that would be enough of an explanation. When he looks up and sees your blank expression he continues, "he was in my office that day when you barged in like you owned the place."

"Oh right," you answer feeling the blush again. You hadn't forgotten about Alex, even if you didn't know his name. His gaze had almost burned with how he watched you, x-rayed you really, with his ice blue eyes. It had been a passing meeting but it had apparently impacted you more than you realized.

Once you are at the banquet hall you head inside to find your seat. Little placards around the large linen covered tables indicate where you should sit and you find yourself with Alex on your right at a table in the very front. It doesn't look like the rest of the party has arrived yet so you decide to just sit and wait for the place to fill up before trying to mingle. Just as you're about to grab your seat to pull it out a hand clamps down on the delicate gold back and stops you.

"Allow me."

You turn expecting to see one of the staff and open your mouth to protest them having to help you into a seat. But you shut it instantly as you spot it's not the staff but Alex standing there. He's not in casual clothes this time. He's in his dress blues and you feel yourself swallowing as you take it in for a second. Everything is crisp, clean, and on point. Medals and bars adorn both sides of his chest and you even spot his special skill and marksmanship badges, more than you had ever seen on another man or woman.

"Looks like you're stuck with me all evening," he grins fingering the placard with his name. He slips into his own seat before catching the eye of a waiter to bring over drinks.

"A familiar face is always welcome," you answer, twisting your hands in your lap a bit. You rub your thumb over your left ring finger for a second, a nervous tick, before you remember there is nothing in that space anymore. "I feel like all I do is meet new people every day, bit disorienting."

"Your father has plenty of friends," Alex answers as he leans to the side a bit as the waiter takes your drink order. He's careful to listen to what you want, storing away your preferred drink in the back of his mind. "I've worked with him for a while now and even I still don't know all their names." Lie. Alex knew them all, even the secret undercovers because he didn't trust anyone and he needed to know exactly what was happening at all times.

"My new job also keeps me on my toes, literally," you smirk a bit. "I think my father forgot I much prefer to be in the background but the job he got me has me working the floor at an art gallery."

"Art?" Alex asks sounding interested as the waiter returns with a glass of red wine for both of you. "Is that your background? I know your dad said you had finished college not that long ago." He knew all the details already but it was polite to keep the conversation going to pretend he didn't.

"Ah, yeah sort of. More history with an understudy in art but finding a job in history around here is a little hard when you aren't an old white man," you laugh a bit sipping on your wine, and find Alex smiling as well. It's a slightly crooked grin that gives you a glimpse of an old scar that runs down his chin to disappear into his beard.

"What sort of history are you most interested in?" Alex asks as he twists in his seat to face you better. The place is finally starting to fill up and a few people have joined your table now but Alex pays none of them any mind. His eyes are locked on you in that same intense look he gave you in your father's office those weeks ago. It doesn't feel as scrutinizing but it's certainly focused.

You explain that your favorite sub subject of history is actually studying the downfalls versus the rise of empires. What caused the collapses, how the signs had been stacking up but no one saw them before it was too late. How other empires exploited and rose from them before falling to the same fate in different ways.

Alex remains rapt in his attention on you and you find easing into a topic you knew about made it so much easier to talk. Especially when your audience is engaged and asked the proper questions at the right time. He doesn't let a lull in the conversation happen and fills in the spaces with his own tidbits of random knowledge or ideas. He doesn't let the conversation remain on him too long either, always reverting back to you.

When the charity speeches begin Alex is careful to pay attention to the stage but you see him stealing glances at you. You grin at each one, finding yourself looking at him as well. It was nice to finally have someone that you could possibly call a friend around here. You had been too shy, too self-conscious, to try and forge new relationships just yet. Your fiancé had been sure to shatter that small bit of self-esteem you had with what he did.

Toward the end of the night, laughing over your fifth or sixth glass of wine, you grip Alex's upper arm and state you have to have his number so you can send him a picture of the thing you were both chuckling about. You weren't sure how many drinks you truly had because Alex never let you hit the bottom of the glass before a waiter appeared with another. He agreed quickly and rattled off his number to you, watching you carefully type it in your phone before you sent him a purple heart so he could store your number.

"How was your evening?" Your father asks a bit later in the car after Alex has walked the both of you out to the valet before walking out to his own self-parked car. Your dad had been too busy schmoozing to sit down long enough to engage in conversation with you.

"Oh it was fine," you answer simply, feeling the bit of headrush as you lean back against the car seat.

"Make any friends?"

"Alex. Well, I think anyway..." you say after a second. "He was really...nice," you grin at your dad, rolling your head on the headrest to look at him a bit lazily.

You hold back the rest of your assessment of your father's employee, figuring your dad did not want to hear how Alex's breath on your ear when he leaned over to whisper something during a speech sent a shiver straight down your spine. Or that you had perhaps shifted a little closer to Alex so your bare leg was pressed up tight against his under the table and he hadn't pulled away. Or how Alex always rose from his seat to help you in and out of your own and you caught his eyes watching the lowcut line of your dress when he thought you were distracted.

"Nice," your dad says in a bit of a deadpan.

"Oh stop it, this was your idea."

"You know he's over a decade older than you right?"

"Dad...stop. He was nice," you shrug. "Didn't realize friends had an age limit."

Your father stays quiet the rest of the ride as he fiddles on his phone and that is fine with you. You dig out your own phone where Alex had responded with his own emoji a few moments before, a simple red heart in response. It's enough to make your stomach flutter for a second but you tamper that down and instead send the picture you promised you would so he could see the evidence of the story you told. It was stupid really, but you had both laughed hard enough that people had given you dirty looks.

As the car ride continues you replay the evening over and over in your mind, glancing at your phone every now and again waiting for a response. Your dad is right, he's so much older and has more life experience. Why would he be friends with you? By the time you are home, you have successfully convinced yourself Alex was just being nice because of who you were; his boss's daughter. The hopeful bubble you had in your chest about making a new friend deflates.

Especially when Alex leaves the picture you sent him on read.

------------------------------

Unfortunately for Alex, he had somewhere to be right after the charity gala. An assignment your father had set him on conveniently quickly. He had to ditch his things in his car and change before catching another ride in an unmarked car to take him to the airport. He couldn't have his personal phone on him to respond, but the burner he kept tucked in his go bag had all your information stored in it.

He's able to keep tabs on you, watching you post on your social media as well as your jobs over the next few days. And maybe one night when he's feeling particularly lonely he hacks your work's security system just to watch you walk around in those sky-high heels and tiny little skirts. Those pretty legs occupy his waking and sleeping thoughts for many hours, especially when he watches you in the dark of his room.

Alex's feelings toward you are anything but friendly and he intends on showing you that. But he knows how to play the game. His career depends on his ability to read people and he had read you like a book. He knows you need a little soft coaxing and confidence building so pouncing on you right away like he wanted to was out of the question. Your shit of an ex-fiancé had made you feel worthless, undesirable, but Alex had turned the tables back on him.

A few well placed emails and suspicious files on your ex's computer will effectively end his career when an anonymous tip comes in. Then those women he had brought into his bed over you would leave him once the money runs out and he'll be left scrambling. Maybe he'd feel an ounce of the pain you had gone through after what he had done.

Alex had tracked through all your online files. Found the emails of heartbreak you had left in your drafts and never sent, poured through the deleted photos on your computer, and saw firsthand the screaming fight from the night you caught your ex on your security camera's cloud account. It had been rough to watch and for once Alex actually felt a pang of guilt for prying so far.

Killing your ex had been an option that crossed Alex's mind when he watched the video of you crying on your couch from all those weeks ago. He could do it without anyone being the wiser, but watching the guy suffer seemed the better option. Besides, thanks to this man's shitty decision you were now here, perfectly poised for Alex to swoop in and show you exactly how a man should treat you.

[tomwambsgans]

sex, and your body alone, are tools. for tom especially, sex is more that than anything. he uses sex to exert/prove power (i feel godlike and horny), exert masculinity (or attempt to), to consummate a marriage, to create a baby, to manipulate... at best, and this is only speculation anyway, to strengthen an emotional bond. extend emotional intimacy into the physical. we know he and shiv aren't having much sex prior to the show's events, or at least haven't for a while, so.

straight up, on a sexual level i don't think tom has quite reached the point of understanding/accepting that he could actually experience pleasure. all notions of sex that he does serves a clear purpose outside of pleasure. meanwhile sex that is done to him, or any sex not initiated by him, is shown to be explicitly bad. either in practice or in his imagination. when shiv takes charge he either can't get it up, or he is literally hurt. emotionally and physically. he's emasculated by surprise by tabitha. he fixates on the idea of being sexually assaulted in prison. he does make a single allusion to masturbation and it's probably the actual most genuinely enjoyable (for him) and lacking-in-ulterior-motives sex act he's ever so much as mentioned - and by god, is it gay, too. or at least effeminate.

and of course that's what it's all about. the lack of heterosexual desire in tom and the presence of homosexual desires which, even if he represses them, give way to an internal sense of gender difference, and thus bodily difference, and thus an inability to let that body feel good. ("very high tolerance for pain and physical discomfort," anyone?) to act on a desire for men is to open yourself to the notion of being desired back by men, which is inherently vulnerable, inherently emasculating (for someone who hasn't had the opportunity to reconcile their gender with their desires), so of course tom can't do it. to get to the point of truly pleasurable sex he first has to get through the minefield of vulnerability-

but wrt the body... tom is also one of the only characters to ever explicitly enjoy what they eat. or even explicitly comment on the food in front of him in general (ortolan & gold vodka, try the sausage greg, the diner food...). he understands at least on that level already that the body can and SHOULD enjoy things. he actually appreciates the decadence he lives in and, for that matter, wants to bring greg into it. come on, greg, use your body to enjoy things with me. or here, greg, i'll help you redefine enjoyment, because we're gonna have to.

it's (deliciously) ironic bc of tom's unique brand of servitude and inclination to self-sacrifice and whatnot (but it also makes sense when you realize, in a way, that tom is clearly conscious of the notion of abstaining from pleasure as a form of heightening it later on). the building blocks for a self-concept that allows tom to pursue pleasure is not only absolutely there, but probably more there than it is for any other character besides greg.

[schemmentis]

Swing

Prompt: What if reader has a bit of anger issues and Melissa tries and help/calm her.

Warnings: Minor descriptions of violence, anger issues

Word Count: 2.3k

“Sure, Hon.” Melissa answers the man next to her asking if she'd like another drink. Who is she to deny a man willing to pay for it? Even if he is pretty clearly just trying to buy his way into her pants. Until she has to completely shut him down, she'll take the free margaritas.

At least, she is happy to do so until this round. She barely has the cold glass in hand before he's leaning too far into her space. Gently but with no mistaking her force, she presses on his shoulder until his ass hits his own stool. “Not so fast, sweets.” Her tone is warning though she tries to keep some bit of flirtation to it. Hopefully just enough to keep him on the leash so she doesn't have to deal with an angry, drunk man instead.

This is how you met Melissa Schemmenti. She'd been sitting at the bar next to some guy when you found your own seat at the counter, a few stools down. You hadn't paid them much mind. Other than the side eye as you had passed.

You were only human and the redhead's legs were definitely on display in her outfit. You noticed. But you tried to do so respectfully. A glance from the corner of your eye as you passed by and nothing else.

You had glanced their way down the bar top a few times. When the man had drunkenly gotten loud. Though he only ever seemed to be ordering another round, and after a few he was only ordering for the woman. You guessed because he knew he was close to being cut off by the bartender himself. Once or twice it had been because the woman had laughed. A little too forced, a little too loudly. Still, her voice from what little you'd heard was pretty.

Otherwise, you'd kept your attention to your own drink and one of the TVs hung up behind the bar. You weren't here to be social. You were just here for a drink or two, some time to yourself to unwind before going home.

It was difficult though, at this point in the night, to keep your attention to your own bubble. The man had stood, in the corner of your eye, to get the bartender's attention for the latest margarita for the redhead. Then you'd seen, from that same corner of vision, one of the women's hands come up to push at his shoulder. It was then you'd twisted on your stool to properly look down the counter.

The man's volume had risen significantly. It was impossible for you to miss the language and names he was throwing around. Obviously for not getting his way. It wasn't until his hands had gripped at the woman’s hips, attempting to tug her off the stool she sat on, that you couldn't just sit aside any longer.

You'd gotten to your feet, taking the few steps down the counter until you were stood just behind the red headed woman. “I didn't hear her ask or agree for your hands on her.” You'd said, glaring at the drunk man.

The woman's mouth had opened once she'd looked over her shoulder at you, about to speak. Before she could the man had gotten to his own unsteady feet and stood square with you. “And I don't remember askin’ for your input, bitch.” He’d slurred. “So go on back to whatever Bachelorette party you're here with and leave me and my lady alone.”

“Your lady?” The woman had echoed, incredulous.

Neither you nor the man had registered her speak, your attention too focused on the other. “I think it's probably better if you went home. I don't think she's going to want another drink from you now that you've groped her and all.”

You hadn't done or said much, but it was enough. The man had swung on you first, and you were at least twice as sober as he was. It was easy enough to dodge and return with your own.

After that, the bar staff swiftly intervened. Thankfully, the bartender had seen it happen and knew you didn't start it so you weren't kicked from the bar. Though you wouldn't have been too upset if you had been.

“You alright?” You'd asked with a glance back to the redhead, still sat on her stool. Almost as if it hadn't happened at all.

“I'm fine.” A hand had waved whatever worry you had away as she calmly sipped what was left of her margarita. “Ain't nothin’ I haven't dealt with before.” She glanced back to you, a bit of a smirk on her features. “Look at you, though, a regular knight in shining armor, huh?”

“I wouldn't say that. I just couldn't sit there and watch it happen, though.”

“Ah, you'd have just seen me break out moves from my old self defense classes, Hon. Thanks for the assist, though.”

“You want another?” You'd ask with a gesture at her almost empty glass.

Now, she fully smirked your way. “You gonna try your hand at it now?” She teased you.

You shook your head. “Not like that. I'm having one more after all that and then I'm heading home. Figured I could get you one more to make up for the trouble.”

“Trouble you didn't cause.” She'd said, though she waved you to the stool next to her before she looked for the bartender. “One more, Jimmy! Put another of whatever she's having on mine too, would ya?” She called with a thumb in your direction.

“I said I would get yours.” You murmured with a small smile as you leaned elbows against the counter.

“Yeah, well, I decided I was gettin’ us both. Tough shit.”

You laughed. You nursed your last drink much slower than you usually would, drawing out your conversation with Melissa as you'd learned her name and introduced yourself. You'd shared and learned a lot about each other over that last drink with a swap of phone numbers ending your night.

From then, you and Melissa had texted throughout the next week, occasionally sharing a phone call to catch up on your days a little easier. You went to dinner the next weekend. You spent even more time together as time went on after that.

Melissa had thought her temper was bad. She knew she could snap when she was in a bad mood. Even worse than just snapping if she was really pissed or hurt. It was something that had taken a lot of time and work for her to reign in. Though it still could get the best of her when emotions ran high.

She thought her temper was bad. Yours could be much worse. You never started conflicts but you definitely never hesitated to participate in them when they happened around you though. She'd joked when you first met about the white knight in shining armor bit but sometimes you really did live up to the trope. If you saw something, you just could not pretend you hadn't. Even for your own benefit.

The closer the two of you got, the more she saw of it. The more, too, she got to be on the other end of it. You never meant it, and you certainly were never supremely rude or hurtful to her. You were rude enough though that it hit her wrong every time. Even if she didn't think you meant it, every time it happened it piled on. Every time you had snapped at her, or sarcastically commented on something. It all added up.

“Would you let it go!?” Melissa huffed, in a sudden outburst one night.

The two of you returned to the bar you'd met in. Not for the first time since. Tonight though, you'd sworn you saw some guy making unwanted moves on someone else in the bar. Not unlike the night you and Melissa met.

Except tonight, Melissa had looked at the table you pointed out and seen nothing but a young couple on what looked like a first date. Sure, the guy you kept harping on about was a little loud but the one he was with wasn't adverse or being harassed or anything close to what you perceived. He just looked shy. Though very much like he enjoyed the other man's attention.

Plus, she'd known you'd had a rough week. Yet you refused to talk about it. Instead, letting everything fester. Until now. You were looking for an excuse to let loose. She could tell from a mile away.

“But Mel he's—”

“But nothin’! You're just lookin’ for a fight!”

“What? I am not, you're being ridiculous.”

“If I'm being ridiculous then you're being delusional, Hon.” She deadpanned.

You scoffed. “I am not. What, you just think I'm gonna tell the guy to back off and then give the other one my number like I did you?”

Melissa blinks across the table at you. “You think this me bein’ jealous?”

“Yeah. I do. ‘Cause there's no other explanation for—”

“The other explanation is exactly what I just said and that you're picking a fight. I didn't let you with some stranger so now it's gonna be with me.”

“I'm not picking a fight!”

“If you're not picking a fight then you need to check your attitude.”

“My attitude?”

“Yeah, Hon, your attitude. You're acting rude as hell. To strangers. To me. To everybody.”

You took a deep breath, staring back at Melissa across the table. She'd never said anything like this to you before. You'd never thought you were being rude. To anybody but certainly not Melissa. You know though, she isn't one to just say something. Melissa says nothing just for the sake of saying it. So, she must be hurt to be calling you on it.

Slowly, you deflate in your seat. The longer you look at her face, the longer you go over moments you thought Melissa was just not in a great mood with how she responded to you. The more you replay so many moments through your mind, the more you realize she's right.

“Shit,” You breathe out, running a hand through your hair. “I'm sorry. I didn't even realize—” You stop yourself, shaking your head. Not realizing isn't an excuse. Nothing is. You really didn't, though. “I never wanted to treat you like that. I'm sorry.”

Mel softens across from you. A hand reaching across the table to grasp one of your own. Her thumb runs over your knuckles soothingly. “Thank you. For apologizin’.” She says. “I believe you didn't realize or want to…so I forgive ya. But we definitely need to work on it, don't ya think?”

You nod, your hand turning to grab Melissa's back and squeeze lightly. “Yeah, I don't want to be making you feel that way. And it's kind of tiring always ending up in some sort of fight or argument.”

Melissa laughs. “It is, ain't it? Don't worry. I'll help however I can, Hon. We'll figure it out.”

It isn't easy. You learn that pretty quickly. You and Melissa still butt heads from time to time except now she calls you on what you're doing much more frequently. In the beginning, it's almost more exhausting how often it happens. It feels like almost every other time you try to speak she's correcting you. Which is frustrating in its own right.

Sometimes you slip, doubling down on what you said before. Sometimes you and Melissa have a complete fight about it. After you both calm down, the two of you always end up standing on opposite sides of the room, sheepishly working your way back together.

It takes a lot of work, and time. You aren't perfect but you get better at catching yourself. At thinking just a little more before you say things.

Despite the rough patches, it brings you and Melissa closer than before. It deepens your relationship in a way you hadn't expected. Her unwavering support even in the worst of times makes you love her even more.

Eventually, she introduces you to some of her friends from work. Not all at once. You meet Barbara first one night after work. You basically have a double date with her and Gerald. You like them both. Seeing her with Barbara, like partners in crime even just sharing an appetizer, makes you smile. Gerald makes you his, though it really turns into you both admiring and gushing over your partners.

Janine you only met because Melissa had forgotten something at home that you'd brought to the school for her. That night, Melissa tells you she'd been keeping you as far away from Janine as possible. She'd been worried Janine would be “too much sunshine” for you. Months ago, she probably would have been but you'd found yourself charmed at her warmth.

Jacob you met when out to dinner one night. Surprised by the younger man recognizing Melissa and striking up conversation. For her part, Melissa looks annoyed on the surface but you notice the twinkle of amusement in her eyes when she introduces you and Jacob seems surprised when she says the word ‘girlfriend’.

It's after that meeting with Jacob that Melissa reluctantly agrees to a game night. Only once you've said you'd be happy to meet everyone and think it would be fun. Apparently they're all anxious to meet you now that Jacob has let the cat out of the bag so to speak.

You promise Melissa you'll be on your best behavior. She laughs and says it isn't you she's worried about. It's that sentence that tells you how far you've come. If you're a little more affectionate over the course of game night, Melissa certainly doesn't complain. She only matches you step for step, like she has from the beginning.

[flocy-sims]

Tabitha "Tabby" Flower for @d4isywhims ' All the hearts for Arvin Bachelor Challenge!

Tabitha grew up in a household with recycled and hand-crafted furniture, while she didn't mind her parents modesty she always knew that she wanted something more. That's why as soon as she graduated from highschool she went straight to university to become an Interior Designer. She had good grades and focused all her energy on achieving her goals. While others were partying and having situationships she studied and worked hard. I'm not saying she didn't try herself out with partners here and there, but she knew what she wanted and she went for it. Her parents always said that she's so determined and headstrong that they are sure her dreams will come true. And it did. After getting a job she finally focused more on herself, and she realised that she didn't live enough, so she jumped right into partying and relationships. At last she found out that's not really her, i mean she wants a commited, serious and genuine relationships just like her parents did. She grew up surrounded by a lot of love from her parents and siblings. They all have really close relationships, how could she not when they were all sleeping in one room just like in a summer camp haha. She saw the greatest love story from the front row, because her parents were so much in love and never fell out of it. That's when she realised that she wants exactly that. Despite the fact that she guards her heart with all her strength, she wants to find her other half and become a power couple who stands together like a rock. Will she be able to open up her heart for Arvin or will she return with a lonely heart?

More info below the cut:

Age: young adult

Traits: loyal, generous, overachiever

Aspiration: Big happy family

Likes: red, turqoise, dark blue, blues, jazz, confidence, honesty, getting flowers and chocolate, sweets, good food, singing

Dislikes: yellow, laziness, unmotivated sims, pessimistic sims, mischief, arguments, selfish sims, snobs

Random facts:

She's a real girls girl. She stands up for every woman who needs it and goes against anything to protect them.

She's honest and harsh, she never hides her opinions. She says what she thinks and it's on you how you take it lol

She HATES lying, deceiving, cheating and all kind of similar stuff. If she caughts you doing any of that then she's out of your life for good.

She doesn't give second chances.

She's a big ass foodie, if you want to win her heart you better cook for her or at least take her to a good restaurant

She believes that everything can be discussed calmly, she hates arguments

She believes in giving back to the community especially if you're rich. She donates to different causes every week.

[sev-arts]

What the webcomic is and why YOU should be reading...

(i.e. a promotional post by the Author @sev-wildfang/@sev-arts herself)

The story of how vampires used Christianity ahem, The Church to enslave humans and steal their Souls, and one sexy Devil's quest to reclaim them... repossess them in a way... if only there was a catchy two-word phrase for that

Starring two trans women who put on the horns and skin of Demons to fight the power - homophobes get pummeled, transphobes get zapped, fascists are blown to smithereens, and at least one alpha male grifter gets his mojo permanently turned off.

Your new blorbos: Reah, orphanage escapee and former nun on a quest for revenge, and Tabitha, ex-cop drag queen on the path of atonement

Will they? Won't they? Can they settle their differences and work as a team? Will the past they thought they had left behind come back to haunt them?

Tasteful amounts of graphic nudity and bloody violence, language that does not sugarcoat social stigmas around gender diversity, and frequent use of hateful language by characters who would say those kinds of things IRL too - this is a comic for readers 18+ ONLY *

Rendered in gorgeous black and white ink and select splashes of color, entirely hand-lettered, with labyrinthine detailing that make every single page worth dwelling on, with hidden extras to find - the Devil's in the Details!

Alluring nonstandard panel layouts inspired by stained glass windows, photo collages, fever dreams, art nouveau advertisements, underground comix, etc.

An astonishing archive of over 770 pages as of now (OCT 2024)

Seriously, look at them:

Where can YOU read this comic right now?

On its ComicFury site

On its tumblr mirror @souls-foreclosed

On its own website

Technically you could buy the physical books off of me, but you wouldn't be reading a web-comic then

Paging @readwebcomicsgdi for some extra eyes on this!

* You'd be surprised how difficult this comic is to host online with any sort of reach these days. Tapas (mobile app) and WebToon don't want it. And that's not even getting into the fact a lot of platforms treat ANY kind of trans content as sexual and unwanted in the first place.

[moonsgemini]

seeking arrangements- iii

summary: Jealousy is an ugly color on everyone except for Thomas. As Lola and Rafe spend more time together the more they feel like it’s becoming too real, and the boat rides and cocktail parties don’t help.

warnings: escort!rafe x oc, fem reader, shitty family, kissing, alcohol, bad descriptions of a yacht, fluff, mentions of cheating

wc: 4.7k

an: ahhhh we’re getting into the more fun stuff, I hope you all are enjoying <3 there’s about 3 more parts left if I’ve planned correctly. Honestly this part was hard for me to write, but I did it. Also I don’t know shit about boats okay so don’t come for me.

series masterlist - previous part

“Uh Rafe?” Lola called from the bathroom. She was finishing getting ready for their boat day.

“Yeah?” He called from the room as he placed his hat on his head.

“Can you help tie my bikini please?” She asked with slightly pink cheeks.

They had spent the night together, Lola insisting on creating a pillow wall. But when they woke up the pillow wall was gone and Lola’s legs were tangled with Rafe’s. She had woken up before him so she quickly untwisted herself from him.

He walked into the bathroom and she had her back to him. The strings of the floral bikini hanging behind her as she held the front up. He cleared his throat and began tying the strings. His fingers brushing against her soft skin making them burn.

“All done.”

“Thankyou,” She said softly turning around to face him. She lifted the straps of her overalls to clip them to the front.

“You ready for today?” Rafe asked her as he leaned against the sink.

She shrugged, “I guess so. Being trapped on a boat in the middle of the ocean with all these people that think I’m a loser? so ready.”

“I don’t think you’re a loser, and I’ll make sure they know you’re not a loser.” He smiled.

“Thanks Rafe, are you ready to go?” She asked.

“Mhmm I even packed the bag like you asked,” He walked into the room motioning to the trader joes bag she had instructed him to fill with sunscreen her sunglasses and other essentials.

She laughed, “What a good listener, so we’re meeting everyone at the dock. Is it okay if Tabitha rides with us?”

“Yeah of course. I think she might also be the one person I like here.”

Lola laughed and grabbed the bag before walking out the door. Rafe couldn’t help but think she looked so cute in her overalls. He had to admit he was looking forward to making Thomas jealous.

“Tabi, are you ready?” Lola called as they walked down the hall.

Tabitha opened the door to her room all dressed and ready to go, “Of course I’ve just been waiting for you two love birds. I know the morning is the most sensual time of day so I didn’t want to rush you,” she winked.

Rafe chuckled following the women. Lola rolled her eyes and blushed, “Please we’re at my parents house.”

“So? That’s never stopped anyone.” She laughed. They walked out to Rafe’s car where he placed their bags in the trunk. He placed his sunglasses over his eyes as he got into the car.

“Very nice car Rafe,” Tabitha commented from the back seat, “So what do you do?” Lola couldn’t help but feel nervous now. Last night when they went back out withe everyone they were all a bit tipsy so no one gave him the third degree. She had also excused them from the night early, she had felt too overwhelmed with everyone and needed time to decompress. So when her and Rafe went back to the room they just watched Pitch Perfect together.

“Thanks, I have a real estate developing company in North Carolina.” He said as he backed out of the drive way. Lola giving him directions towards the dock.

“Wow that’s fancy. But you live in New York? How did you guys meet?” She asked leaning forward to look between them.

“Yeah I go back and forth a lot. It’s a family company,” He looked over at Lola, “we met at a bar in Manhattan. I saw Lola and couldn’t leave without talking to her, she caught my eye from across the room.” He smiled thinking of a memory that didn’t exist. At least that’s what Lola thought but he was thinking of the first time he met her. She looked like a lost puppy and he couldn’t help the attraction he felt towards her then. If she was just a girl at a bar he definitely would have gone up to her.

“You’re love story is so cute, Lola you have to tell me more later. In private,” she winked at her cousin.

“Tabi you’re insnae,” Lola laughed.

-

Rafe had his arm wrapped around Lola as they sat on the boat, Harry drove the boat out into the ocean more looking for a good place to anchor. Ever since they had met up with everyone Thomas hadn’t stopped eyeing Lola and Rafe. He watched as Rafe held Lola’s hand helping her onto the boat. Even now whenever he glanced at them it was with a hateful stare. Lola leaned into Rafe, she felt relaxed.

The sun felt good on her skin she closed her eyes resting her head on his shoulder, it was the perfect day. That was until her sister plopped down next to them, reminding her that it wasn’t just her and Rafe here.

“You guys have to tell me everything,” Penny exclaimed facing the couple, “How’d you meet? How long have you been dating?” Rafe placed his hand in between Lola’s shoulder and neck giving her a comforting squeeze.

“We met at a bar, Lucy’s. Rafe came up to me and we just hit it off. We went on a few dates and well here we are. We’ve been seeing each other for almost uh five months now?” Lola said almost like she was asking.

“Mhmm yeah babe five months,” Rafe iterated.

“How come you’ve kept him away from us sis?” Penny asked, almost in a condescending way.

Lola shrugged, “I guess I just wanted him all to myself.”

“I don’t blame you,” Penny glanced at Rafe with a mischievous look in her eyes to which he just grabbed Lola’s thigh with his other hand and placed her legs over his.

“Who wants drinks!” Harry shouted as he finally stopped the boat.

“Me!” Penny yelled and ran towards the coolers to hand them out. Rafe took a beer and Lola settled for a seltzer.

“Are you good?” Rafe asked her.

“Yeah, are you?”

“Of course, I just want to make sure you’re comfortable,” He smiled leaning closer, “Also he’s been glaring at us since we got here.”

Lola smirked, “Good. I hope he feels even just slightly as bad as he made me feel when I caught him.”

“Can I do something?” Rafe asked, his hand on her shoulder rubbing soothing circles.

“What?”

“Can I kiss you?” He looked down at her lips that looked so inviting, “To make it look real of course.”

Lola felt her whole body tingle at his question. Rafe was so different from Thomas, which was the last guy that she was with, and he made her feel things in the last 48 hours that Thomas never could in the two years they were together. She wanted him to kiss her whenever he pleased. Lola had to remind herself that this wasn’t real, but for now she would enjoy it. She would enjoy the feeling of being wanted even if she thought it was all an act.

“Yes please,” she murmured. Rafe could have died then and there just at her response.

He grabbed her chin gently and brought her face closer to his. Their lips brushing against each other with hesitancy at first but then Rafe leaned forward more pressing his lips firmly against hers. They were soft and she tasted like cherry’s. Her sticky lipgloss getting all over his mouth but he couldn’t care less. The way he held her made her want to melt. His lips were so soft and full, it felt so natural with him the way their lips moved against each other.

“Ugh get a room you two!” Penny shouted throwing a bag of chips at the couple. They pulled a part remembering where they were. Lola rolled her eyes and threw the bag back, Penny just laughed.

Harry walked over and stood in front of the pair, “Dude let me give you a tour of the boat,” he said to Rafe.

“Uh sure man,” He turned to Lola, “I’ll be back baby.”

The two guys walked towards the inside where the wheel was, the other guys following suit. When they were gone all the girls came flocking over to Lola.

Tabitha sat next to her, “Tell us babe how is he in bed? I can’t believe he’s so sexy.”

Lola blushed, “Tabi! You guys are insane.”

“Come on Lola, you have like the hottest boyfriend you need to tell us everything,” Riley the other bridesmaid said.

Lola knew she was going to have to make up stuff because they were like vultures who needed to be fed, “It’s really good. He’s really good. He knows what to do, like I don’t have to tell him what I need or like he just knows. And he makes me feel so comfortable.”

“God that sounds like a dream,” Olivia sighed, “I bet you don’t even have to ask him to go down on you?”

Lola shook her head, “Never. It’s his favorite thing to do.” At this point she was just saying things to impress them, but she had a feeling that if she did have a chance to sleep with him he would be exactly how she described.

“And he makes you finish?” Tabitha asked almost on the edge of her seat.

“Always more than once,” She smirked.

Tabitha sat back dramatically, “You have the perfect man. I’m jealous.”

“Thomas is sooo jealous. He’s been asking me so many questions since last night,” Penny smirked. At least Lola’s plan was working.

Riley rolled her eyes, “Good, he cheated on you right? So he has no right to be jealous.”

“Exactly. But the revenge must feel good huh?” Tabitha asked.

Lola shrugged, “I guess so. I haven’t paid much attention to him. Especially not when I have Rafe with me,” she wasn’t fully lying. She did forget that he existed for a second until Rafe brought it up.

“Does Rafe have any hot friends you guys can introduce me to?” Tabitha said sighing.

Lola laughed, “Probably. I haven’t met many of his friends.”

-

In the cockpit where all the guys had congregated they were also giving Rafe the third degree. Not about Lola but just about himself since they didn’t know him.

“So Rafe where you from?” Harry asked as they all sat around in different areas of the cockpit. Rafe knew that he was about to be grilled by the games, and he was more than happy to answer their questions. Especially Thomas’.

“North Carolina, the outer banks,” He took a sip of his beer.

He nodded his head, “What are you doing in New York?”

“I wanted to get away from home and from here I’m still able to run the business,” He shrugged.

“Dude so you’re like rich?” Mateo said with a smirk.

Rafe laughed, “Uh not having a house and a yacht in the Hampton’s rich.”

Thomas cleared his throat, “So what’s up with you and Lola?” He asked completely changing the subject.

Rafe’s brows furrowed, “What do you mean?”

“Well like are you guys serious?” Thomas rolled his eyes as if it was an obvious question.

“I guess we are, I mean we’ve been seeing each other for a few months now. She’s great, I really like her so I hope it’s something serious,” The words were so easy for him to say because part of him wished they were true.

“She seems happy with you man. Every time Lola’s come around us she always seemed so like depressed and super fidgety. She seems relaxed. So whatever you’re doing dude keep doing it,” Harry laughed. He cared about Lola, she was about to be his sister in law. But he cared about her like a sister and when Thomas cheated on her he was angry but not angry enough to drop him.

Thomas scoffed, “Please dude she seems miserable. I bet she hasn’t even put out yet. It took like weeks for her to even touch my dick. You know we dated right?”

Rafe stood up straighter, “She did mention there’d be some prick who cheated on her here, just didn’t think she went low enough to date you. Also I respect what Lola wants to do, I don’t force her to touch my dick like a horny teenager.”

“Okay guys,” Mateo began to speak before he was interrupted by Thomas.

“She just wasn’t good in bed, I had urges. What am I supposed to do just be unsatisfied.”

Rafe laughed bitterly, “That’s funny because I remember her telling me that you were the worst and smallest dick she’s ever had,” he took a step closer to the shorter man, “she doesn’t even remember her own name when I’m fucking her brains out. I bet you couldn’t ever make her finish huh? Now never talk about my girlfriend that way again or we’ll actually have problems. If you’ll excuse me I’m gonna go check on my girlfriend.” Rafe walked out not wanting to be a part of the sausage fest anymore.

As he walked back out onto the deck he saw Lola laying out on the chairs, she had taken her overalls off to soak up the sun. He smiled to himself as he watched her nod her head along to the music. The other girls were also laying around getting a tan. He stood over her creating a shadow.

She opened her eyes squinting at his tall figure, “Hey, everything good?”

He nodded, “Perfect.” He couldn’t help his wandering eyes as they took her in. The bikini she picked looked good against her skin and it left little to the imagination. He was so attracted to her he couldn’t deny it anymore, especially now looking at her half naked he just wanted to touch her.

“Wanna go for a swim? I’ve been waiting for you,” She smiled taking the last sip of her second drink now.

“That sounds great actually it’s hot as fuck,” He set his drink down on the floor to take his shirt off. He threw it onto the end of the chair along with his sunglasses. Lola just about melted then and there. She could tell he definitely worked out, his arms were so muscular she wanted nothing more than to be tossed around by him. This is definitely the drinks talking, she thought.

Rafe held his hand out to her and she took it gladly. She felt like he was too good at this boyfriend act, it was making her feel things she shouldn’t. Especially for someone she paid to pretend to like her. They walked to the edge of the boat hand in hand.

“Ready?” He asked with a smirk. She nodded her head mimicking his smirk. They jumped into the ocean hand in hand. The cool water feeling good against her skin after being in the sun.

Once they surfaced she started laughing, “God I haven’t had this much fun here in so long.”

Rafe brushed his wet hair back swimming towards her, “Good. You deserve to have fun.”

“So uh how was it with Thomas?” She asked a bit hesitant.

Rafe shrugged, “He’s a fucking prick that’s forsure. Nothing I can’t handle tho,” he smirked.

“We’re coming!” Tabitha yelled from the boat as they began also jumping into the ocean. Lola laughed and swam closer to Rafe wrapping her arms around his neck. He grabbed the backs of her thighs to wrap her legs around his waist. Lola’s skin felt like it was on fire despite being in the water.

“God this feels so good!” Tabitha exclaimed as she resurfaced joining the couple.

Olivia smiled swimming up to the group, “Remember that summer we got stranded out here because we ran out of gas and went skinny dipping.”

“Oh god,” Lola mumbled, “We were like 20 and then when the coast guard showed up we were all naked in the ocean.”

Rafe laughed, “There’s still a lot I don’t know about you huh?”

“Oh so much, she used to be a bit of a firecracker,” Tabitha said.

-

After a few more dives into the ocean and a few more drinks Lola and Rafe were back on the chair soaking up the sun before they had to head back and get ready for the late engagement party. Rafe was sitting in the chair and Lola was sitting in between his legs, her back resting against his chest. It was to make sure they looked like a real couple. It was all part of the plan, at least that’s what they said. Rafe may have been enjoying the feeling of her skin on his a little too much. Lola may have been enjoying the way Rafe’s arm wrapped around her chest and played with her hair a little too much.

She felt so comfortable around him. The voice in the back of her head telling her this was all going to end in a few days was getting quieter to let her enjoy these moments she had with him. Soon she’d be alone again, just her and Sailor in her apartment and Rafe would be a fond memory. The thought alone made her squeeze his thigh gently to remind herself she’s there now with him and to enjoy it.

Thomas had been glaring at them the whole afternoon. It made her happy to know he was bothered by them. The group had just been sitting around and exchanging stories, a few games on uno had been played as well. Lola felt so content, it was the first time in a few years she liked being with this group of people. She felt like herself again.

“Babe our song!” Tabitha exclaimed as everywhere by fleetwood mac came on the speakers.

Lola’s eyes lit up. She turned to Rafe, “On spring break a few years ago we were in Greece and this song came on at the club and it was the best night ever!”

She got up and joined Tabitha as they started dancing to the song. Singing along to the words, Rafe watched with curious eyes. A grin spreading across his lips. The other girls getting up and joining them as they started singing to the chorus. The drinks she had that day had definitely made Lola a lot bolder than she’d usually be. As Lola danced with Tabitha she tilted her head back laughing. Rafe took a mental picture wanting to remember her like that forever. He had a feeling in his gut that Lola couldn’t just be a temporary fixture in his life. Not after the way she’s made him feel.

She ran towards Rafe grabbing his hands and pulling him up to dance with her. He gladly obliged, the other guys joining as well. When she sang the lyrics to Rafe as if she truly meant them, and she kind of did. She wanted to be with him everywhere. As they danced together the world around them faded and it was just them to, he spun her around and she giggled furiously. The song ended and they all cheered and clapped.

“You guys are the best bridal party a girl could have!” Penny exclaimed with teary eyes, she definitely had too much to drink.

Harry wrapped his arm around her shoulder and he kissed her cheek, “I think it’s time we head back.”

They headed back to the benches to be safer. Lola rested against Rafe’s chest as his arm wrapped around her. She felt a bold so she leaned up and kissed his cheek.

“You’re the best Rafey,” She smiled at him.

Rafe smiled, he couldn’t help himself. The nickname she had given him made his chest turn a light shade of pink. He cupped her face and brought her up for a kiss. It felt just as good as the first one. Lola sighed as they moved against each other, only pulling away because she remembered there were other people around. She would kiss him all day if she could.

-

Once they got back to the house they had taken and showers and began getting ready for the cocktail party. The bride and groom decided to have a late engagement party so that everyone could attend and it’d add to the wedding week festivities. Lola felt like she was on cloud nine and it was all because of the man laying on her bed scrolling on his phone.

“Rafe, can I ask you something?” She asked from the bathroom as she applied her makeup.

“What’s up?”

“Can you tell me more about yourself?” She asked with a hopeful voice. She really wanted to know more about him.

Rafe smiled to himself and got up to walk into the bathroom. She watched as he put the toilet seat lid down and sat down watching her do her eyebrows, “What do you want to know?”

“Anything,” She shrugged.

“Well I’ve told you the truth. I have two sisters, I’m from North Carolina, and that developing company is actually my other job.”

She nodded her hair, “What about your parents? Your childhood?”

He looked away finding the towel rack more interesting, “Uh my mom she died when I was 10. My dad’s very much a hard ass. We don’t really have a relationship other than a business one. In my late teens I didn’t really have a relationship with my sisters. Especially Sarah, she’s a few years younger than me.”

Lola looked over at him with curiosity, “Why’s that?”

“I did a lot of um dumb stuff,” he cleared his throat, “I got mixed up with the wrong people and made terrible choices. I treated the people around me like shit. But I cleaned up my act after my freshman year of college. I got sober and I started going to therapy.”

“Wow Rafe, that’s really good. You should be proud of yourself.” She said looking over at him with a warm smile.

He smiled back, “Yeah I’ve come a long way. I’ve burned some bridges that I can’t fix but I don’t dwell on it anymore. I just focus on what I have now. Sarah and I are close now. Same with my other sister Wheezie. I go back home every couple of weeks to see them and have meetings with my dad.” He didn’t really know why he was telling her this. Rafe felt like he could actually open up to her and feel vulnerable. He’s never told anyone this much before, let alone someone that was supposed to be a client.

“Why do you still this other job on the side?” She asked a bit hesitant.

He thought for a second, why did he do this? “I guess I like helping people not feel alone like I felt for a long time. Even if it’s just for one night for a stupid christmas party or something like that. I guess I like feeling needed.”

Lola smiled, “You’re too good to be true. You’re very selfless Rafe. That’s a hard quality to find, especially in a guy.”

He chuckled, “I’m not perfect, I just hide my flaws better. But I’m working on it.”

“And that’s what counts.”

There was a moment of silence as Lola applied blush before she paused not looking over at him, “Rafe, can we still be friends after this?” She asked softly. Afraid if she used her real voice she’d be too loud and scare him away. Lola didn’t want to lose Rafe even if it meant just having him as a friend.

His heart was beating loudly in his chest. She was so extraordinary to him, how could she want to be friends with him after he just told her that he used to be a wreck. Rafe felt like a ticking time bomb, at any minute he could become the old Rafe again. But when he was with her it felt like that Rafe was completely gone, “Of course sweetheart.” That nickname he first called her made her insides stir with something sickly sweet.

-

They had arrived at the restaurant that the party was being held at, already filled with friends and family. Rafe had been introduced to a a handful of people now. He couldn’t focus on anything other than Lola in the dress she was wearing. It was tight in all the right places, he felt like she outshined everyone in the room. Her makeup looked flawless and her hair just as perfect. He wanted to ruin it all, kiss her until her makeup was all over the place and her lips were swollen. Run his hands through her hair messing up the perfect strands.

He was leaning against the bar drinking his vodka soda as Lola talked amongst her mom and some of her mom’s friends. He watched making sure she didn’t need him to come in and save her from painful conversation. Tabitha came up and ordered herself a drink, before turning to him. She watched him watch her cousin with that look in his eyes.

“She’s been through a lot,” She said speaking up, “She’s not the same Lola that I used to know.”

Rafe looked over at her, “How so?”

“The last few months she was with Thomas she started changing. It was partly because he had become distant but it was also because her mom and her had a huge fight about her mom’s drinking.” She scoffed as she looked towards her aunt, “Clearly nothing has changed. But it was because her mom got hammered at Christmas and she made out with Thomas who was also hammered. They probably would have had sex if she hadn’t walked in on them.” Tabitha rolled her eyes.

“What the fuck? She never told me that.” Rafe said with furrowed brows, he wasn’t upset at Lola but upset at how everyone just walked all over her.

“It’s not something she talked about. She doesn’t come around as much anymore since then because after that incident she started getting suspicious but brushed it off. Then clearly she gets proven wrong when she walks in on him again. I hate that little fucker,” Tabitha seethed, “Lola shut down. She already didn’t have many friends and she lost the ones she did have. She kept to herself and her light dimmed. I haven’t seen her so carefree and full of life like this is so long. You’re really good for her.” She put a hand on his arm and smiled genuinely at him.

Rafe gave her a lopsided grin, “I’m trying my best for her. She deserves to be happy, I think she’s helping me more than I’m helping her though.”

“She has that effect on people. She has a good heart, maybe too good sometimes.”

He looked over at her just as Lola looked at him with a tight lipped smile and pleading eyes, “That’s my queue to save her.” He excused himself from Tabitha as she jokingly saluted him.

He walked up to the group of women and wrapped his arm around Lola’s waist, “Excuse me ladies would you mind if I steal my beautiful girlfriend away?” He gave them a charming smile.

“Speaking of there he is! Isn’t he just so handsome,” Lola’s mom said speaking to the other women. Completely ignoring Rafe.

“You are one very lucky lady Lola,” One of the woman said to her while winking.

Lola laughed awkwardly not really sure what to say but Rafe saved her, “Oh I think I’m the lucky one. Lola truly is something special.

Her mom hummed, “I guess so sweetie, she’s always been a bit unique.” The comment came more as condescending than a compliment.

“Lola actually rejected me the first time I asked her out but I couldn’t give up on her. Women as beautiful, smart, kind, and extraordinary like her don’t come around much.” He gave her waist a gentle squeeze. Lola wanted to die then and there because he was actually a dream come true.

“We’re going to go get a drink,” Lola smiled before dragging Rafe away. Once they were farther away she burst into a fit of giggles.

Rafe smiled widely, “What are you laughing about?”

She smiled up at him, “Like I said, you’re too good to be true.”

“I just sleak the truth,” He shrugged, “and I’m not gonna let anyone subtly bash my girl.”

My girl. Lola was so screwed. She was in deep deep shit because that warm tingly feeling in her stomach was starting to feel a lot like love.

-

tags: @rosal1nd @magicwithaknife , @f4ll-for-you , @hotch-meeeeeuppppp , @loveu-always

(if you'd like to be removed or tagged let me know!)

[blacktabbygames]

Good mornighternoon. Do you have any advice on making writing and/or coding branching dialogue less confusing?

It's always going to be confusing and difficult to keep track of branching, but here's some things that I think have helped. Gonna break this down into a few sections to make it a little easier to follow.

Foundations and Research

So much practice for me came from being obsessed with Bioware games growing up, especially Dragon Age and Mass Effect — just keeping track of complicated branching world states in complex games you already enjoy is extremely good exercise, and the best way to get better at thinking about a medium is to consume and discuss things in that medium.

Building on that, I think that the best media to take a deep dive into to improve your own craft is something that you really like, but that feels like it missed the mark in a few areas that are important to you. Again, revisiting Mass Effect and Dragon Age, I absolutely loved the way that those games set up challenging decisions, but was frustrated at how easy it was to circumvent those choices entirely. By the time Abby and I started work on Scarlet Hollow, I feel like I had a strong foundation from obsessively consuming those works and the two of us discussing at length how we wanted to handle branching compared to games we've enjoyed in the past.

The Big Picture

The bigger your project, the more important it is to have intentionality to your choices. With both Scarlet Hollow and Slay the Princess, we decided on the major themes of the story and wrote down and outlined all of our Big Plot Points before we wrote a word of the actual script.

It can also help to come up with Rules for your piece that fit within your outline. These aren't necessarily ever words that are directly communicated in the game, but rather something for you to personally follow (and to break, on occasion). To give some examples of rules we've come up with for Scarlet Hollow: Every chapter must have a "major" decision with seemingly only bad outcomes towards the end. Each of these decisions must have a secret "out" mapped to a trait. Each trait gets exactly one out. Every episode must contain at least one decision where the focus is the player's relationship with Tabitha. The story must come back together in a recognizable structure after a split. As an extension of that last point, subsequent playthroughs must feel both Similar and Different. Again, these aren't hard and fast rules, and one of the joys of writing is knowing which rules you should break and when you can break them. (So if you're reading this post and trying to use it to theorize about future plot developments, good luck!)

Having a finished outline and rules are important because then, as you work on the minutiae, you'll already have a strong framework to build around. Suddenly, when you're crafting decisions and thinking about cascading consequences, you're not just branching out into an infinite void: instead, you're actively working to draw everything into a set of predetermined thematic and structural points.

The Little Details

When it's time to write your script, it's very important to remain focused in the moment — if you think too long about the scale of a branching narrative and the work it requires, you'll find yourself easily overwhelmed. Just work on one menu at a time in one scene at a time, and you'll find a way to keep things straight and to get it done.

When writing a menu, define your player's options with intent. What are the things (within reason) that you would want to do in a scene? What emotional range do you want to grant the player? Do two options cover the same intent and emotionality? If so, condense them, and keep the option that's more fun.

Emotionality is very important here, so I want to take an extra line to emphasize it. Ask yourself, "what are the different reactions a player might have to this, emotionally" and find a way to let them express those emotions. Letting them express those emotions doesn't always mean you let the *action* behind those emotions work — it's more about acknowledging those feelings and letting them bake into the narrative.

Bolding this one because it's very important track everything. A lot of the callbacks and references in Scarlet Hollow aren't actually pre-planned — we just make sure to track most player decisions so if we realize we want to make a reference to something that might have happened, there's already a variable in place for it. An example of this that comes to mind is the "dead moms" callback in Episode 4, which we didn't plan in advance, but when we realized how right that callback was for that scene, we already had that information tracked.

I think I accidentally talked about a lot of stuff outside the scope of your question, but narrative design is such an interesting subject and I like talking about it. Hopefully this is helpful!

[kennys-friend]

FROM 3x02 reaction + spoilers

Jade and Victors faces when they're stuck inside with all the sheep/goats is HILARIOUS

The jump cut from Boyd crying and hugging mama Liu while saying sorry, to Kenny sleeping. I'm not okay.

LETTUCE PATCHES AROUND THE LAKE.

Can they eat the cow that the monster killed?

Ohhh they're showing her being ripped apart 😖

Ethan crying, wanting to bring her her blanket 😖

Julie trying to be there for Ethan both of their parents are MIA.

Honestly I'm on Boyds side of this Boyd/Donna argument. Boyd says the animals are all they have. Donna says the people are all they have. But without the animals, everyone will starve and die. Donna came around... Sort of.

Thank you Donna for answering my question. They can eat that dead cow.

Fatimas teeth are falling out. I think that's just from her lack of nutrients while being pregnant because I know that can happen...

I like Kristi and Boyd's relationship. There is no power dynamic there.

Omg Kenny coming into town all happy about the food they found, I'm not ready for him to hear the news.

Yeah I'm not okay. 😭 I'm crying. Kenny's refusing to hear anyone say his mom is dead. He's trying so hard to handle this well constantly saying " it's okay, I'm okay."

Marielle is looking much better.

Kristi being a good friend telling Kenny if he needs anything to just tell someone to get her.

OH THEY'RE FOUL FOR HAVING THAT SONG PLAY ON THE RADIO AT THIS EXACT MOMENT.

Jim, your kids need you. Julie can't try to be a fill-in parent.

Jade used to play dress up a lot as a kid.

Ew Fatima, don't eat those. Is this some twisted pregnancy craving or something else... 😳?

Yes Kenny, burn every last fucking one of them for what they did to your parents 😤. YES Boyd, join him!

If I were Boyd with Kenny right now, I would be afraid to go in the tunnel together thinking the monsters will tie him up and make him watch them kill Kenny.

The translation. I'm crying 😭. I'm not okay.

This Boyd and Kenny hug reminds me of the Boyd and Ellis hug back in season 1 😢 (at least I think it was in season 1).

Kristi: "I just want it to be right for Kenny." 😭 Help.

perfect timing Kenny.

Sarah trying to be helpful while also staying out of everyone's way because she knows she's hated.

Sarah/Julie friendship incoming? Maybe? Maybe not?

paintings of the kids that Tabitha saw!

Victors mom painted everything in the town! The real stuff and the stuff that people hallucinate!

Jim to his kids: "I love you guys," met with silence from them.

the phone rings. Jim picks it up and says hello. "Dad, it's Thomas." SHIVERS. GOOSEBUMPS.

This was a great episode and horrible episode to have Kenny as your favourite character. He got lots of screen time but at what cost, damn. I don't want him hurting. I want happy Kenny but I don't think that's possible.

[moonlit-void-to-the-far-unknown]

“I’d lay you badly but I’d lay you gladly” (Roman Roy x fem!reader)

An: I’m gonna try. Let’s see how this goes. As an asexual (demisexual panromantic) I can feel it in my asexual bones that Roman is so part of the asexual club. Like he’s panromantic for sure he will date and flirt and be with anyone who makes him feel ~wiggly~ so to speak. I think he felt it with Gerri, and felt it with Tabitha. He feels like that pull toward them. And if given the chance he probs does want to bang. Like, he just never has that talk of ‘oh if I just stop thinking and let this person who I trust more then anything know what’s going on in my brain space then it works’ like our man is just. I love him because I am him.

I’m gonna tag @romeulusroy because I heard they were having a bad day and maybe soft roman can help

He liked looking at her when she didn’t know he was, he liked the feeling she gave him. A rush inside that he’s felt so few times in his life. Roman liked her smile, the way her lips split to show her teeth, the way her nose wrinkled when she didn’t like something. He liked her. Liked her? No he was pretty sure he loved her. Well what he assumed was love, he was pretty sure he’s only ever felt the emotion a handful of times.

Once when he was a kid and found a baby duck in the backyard pond of his mothers villa, it was so small and he helped it back into the pond where it’s family was. He remembers the feeling of warmth watching the mother goose bump it’s little tail back into place. He imagined every duck he saw after was somehow that one duck growing and visiting him.

He remembers the feeling when connor had popped him on the bathroom counter and bandaged up his scraped and bleeding knee. Connor was what he assumed his friends parents were like. He liked feeling cared for. Even if it was rare.

He likes listening to her ramble about her bullshit job of being a coffee runner most days, how she wishes she could punch Karl or frank or even his dad in the face when they forget her name, even though she’s worked under Gerri for at least 2 years.

He loves waking up next to her, always before her, something in him, maybe because of military school, maybe because he always wanted to be up before his siblings to hope that his dad would let him join him at the office, or to get the best pieces of bacon or toast for breakfast. Not anymore, now it was to be able to have the few moments of staring at her. Her softened face against the pillows, her worry stripped from her forehead. The moments when he could scratch her scalp lightly with his fingers and she would just sigh in her sleep.

He loved her. He would marry her if the fear of a marriage being the prison of unhappy people. From his parents to Tom and shiv and even Kendall. Though he would push all of it away if it meant a forever of seeing her like this.

He remembers the conversation that made him fall. Hard and fast and slamming him into the cold pavement.

“I’d lay you badly but I’d lay you gladly” it was a joke, she had laughed slightly looking down at her computer typing a report or email for Gerri or Karl or whoever was yanking her around this week.

“Roman we both know neither of us would enjoy that” it stung, she was right, but it stung.

“I mean I would rock your world for like a solid 3 seconds before you realise I have zero clue what’s going on” she had looked at him, cocking her head to the side, eye brow raised

“Roman. Can I ask you something.” He was caught off guard, his own walls coming up slightly, shrugging he looked around

“Yeah what’s up” he didn’t know why he couldn’t look at her suddenly but he just couldn’t.

“Do you know what asexuality is?” Asexuality? Obviously he did, biology and science was one class he knew he passed with more then a barley passing grade.

“Like fucking ameba and shit. They fuck themselves and bam! Another single celled whatever” she laughed, he turned to her then smiling a bit more

“I mean in the biology, organisms sense yeah, but like I mean in people,” Roman shrugged again shaking his head a little

“Some new fancy label the ‘woke’ mob has made to make people like my dad and Kendall rage for no reason?” She shook her head at that

“No Roman it means you don’t really like banging. Like, you could live with out it. So to speak, you could go your whole life never caring to want it. It wouldn’t change anything. And weird bathroom door Jack off sessions aside, it means your just not that into the whole sex thing” he felt his face flush at her mention of his brief weird relationship with Gerri. He simply looked at her

“I mean sex is…super cool….I love fucking, all night, we could do it right now, and it would be…explosive” he knew she could hear through his wavered tone

“Roman, do you know why I haven’t even pushed having sex?”

“I don’t know your weird and religious upbringing scared you for life with trauma?”

“Good guess but no…I’m asexual. Like, sex is just, a thing, I don’t care if we have it, or not, we could never and I would be 1000% okay with that. I don’t need you to bang me, how ever satisfying or not it would be, because I just, don’t need it.”

Roman stared at her then, his brain buzzing, heart slamming in his chest, he assumed like grace and Tabitha, one day you would clamber for him to attempt the unsuccessful routine of making out, hand stuff above his pants, a seemingly awkward game of red light green light before both of you gave up and you walked off to finish yourself in his bathroom.

“Roman, i haven’t brought it up, because if we never have sex ever, I wouldn’t care. It wouldn’t matter.”

He wanted to scream, and cry and hug her. He didn’t know why but he did. He simply stood up, walked over to her, yanked her up and kissed her. His hands holding her cheeks, hoping she understood what he meant in it.

When he pulled away she smiled at him nodding

“One day we may, who knows, but one thing is for sure. We’ll both lay each other badly”

“But gladly?”

“Yeah, but gladly”

[pynkhues]

What do you think about it is about Kendall that’s it’s like, of course he’s the only one with a real friend?

It's lowkey one of my favourite choices on the show, anon, just because I think it's so revealing in more ways than one. Like, it makes sense, not just because of who Kendall is, but also who his siblings are, and the different ways they navigate their way through the world.

Interestingly, I think Connor and Shiv actually have the clearest boundary (or hurdle, depending on how you look at it) when it comes to fostering friendships, and while I think those things are different, I think they're both steeped in these factors of them as characters that shape their experiences of adulthood.

I think Connor's stems from an extremely disrupted childhood between his mother's mental health, her institutionalisation, his father's absence and reappearance, and then his being pushed into a parentified role to the golden trio at a formative age (canon explicitly tells us that too! Camping trips, fishing trips, fulfilling the father duties at Shiv's wedding before Logan decides to show up!) when he should've been away at college building his own relationships, in order to feel he had any sort of place in his family.

Similarly, I think Shiv has been soaked in hatred for her own gender since she's been born. Her relationship with her mother is strained and seems to have been weaponised by her father, she likely went to an all girls school (Spence, I imagine, which is basically the all girls equivalent of Buckley, the all boys school we know Kendall went to) and her own misogyny hampered any genuine friendship attempts. I think Shiv probably had frenemies, but nothing deeply meaningful, because vulnerability and emotional honesty is something she can't allow herself if she wants to survive in a male-dominated household festering in a male-dominated industry. I think male friendships were off the table in that sense too because Shiv seems to have always sought power in whatever way she could, and the two things she has to exert power are her name and her sexuality and at least her sexuality is hers.

I think Roman's a little harder to put a pin in in that sense, because I think he's a little bit of both of them, and a whole lot his own thing. I think he's experienced a part of Connor's disrupted childhood by having been shipped away to school and for his physical abuse, and I think he's experienced a part of Shiv's self-loathing for a part of his identity he can't face up to, but I also think Roman on paper should have friends. Roman's funny and insightful and (most of the time) the right sort of mean, and he's no more self-defensive than the rest of them, but I think the reason comes down to the biggest difference between him and Kendall:

Roman can be honest without being vulnerable, whereas Kendall can be vulnerable without being honest.

Roman as a character isn't actually particularly duplicitous. He can absolutely be an asshole, but he doesn't play to what people want in the way that both Kendall and Shiv (and even to an extent, Connor) do. His moments of vulnerability though are rare, often private, often, still, fleeting and guarded, while his moments of honesty are more frequent, yet often just ugly and naked and there. He fronts to it, and takes it, and usually tells the other person to take it too, which is what he did with Gerri and Tabitha and even Lawrence way back at the start of the series.

Kendall's not an honest person, but he is someone who's inherently vulnerable, and I think it pulls people to him, despite themselves. We've seen it in real time with Naomi and even Greg, and retrospectively with Rava, Stewy and Frank. He can break, he can curl in a lap or bury a head in a shoulder while still telling half truths or nothing at all. God, probably one of the best examples is in 2.04 when he pulls Shiv into a hug while talking around what she actually wants to hear.

Kendall lets people mop up the blood while he either tries to hide, ignore or justify the wound, and I think that vulnerability lets people feel a degree of intimacy with him and protectiveness of him that becomes muddied as they discover that Kendall is inherently a dishonest person and an addict, as it seems most characters in this show have learnt the hard way. After all, discovering that he's not told you a whole truth doesn't erase the memory of the weight of his head against your shoulder.

[imreallyloveleee]

Where do you think it all went wrong with Riverdale?

honestly, part of me is like, the show's over and nothing but fandom matters. so who cares?

the other part of me loves to complain about Riverdale and will continue to do so until the day I die in the parking lot of Michael's Diner in Montgomeryville, PA at the age of 86. so, long-winded answer under the cut

I'm tempted to say it's the s4 b*rchie kiss. It was so wildly out of character for both Betty and Archie that it's laughable. You know how you can tell when something is just blatantly OOC with no justification? They...don't justify it. They find ways to dance around any interaction that might offer clarification. They mute the reactions of the characters who should be devastated by it. And then they jump ahead 7 years so it's easier to just handwave it away as something that happened a long time ago.

but the thing is, I did keep watching after that. I thought: okay, at least we should get an exes-to-lovers arc out of this, which is one of my favorite tropes. there is no way they would spend 4 seasons developing Bughead as this loving, supportive, communicative, sexy, and almost-unbelievably-compatible couple just to tear them apart and never do anything with that dynamic again. maybe it'll be even sweeter seeing them come back together after so much hurt and longing.

boy was i wrong!!!!!!!!!

so, the episode that actually made me stop watching for good, with the exception of some standalones like The Jughead Paradox and the finale, was the s5 musical. that was when i realized that this team of writers was 100% willing, maybe even eager, to completely drop storylines they themselves had been building over the course of a season - do a 180 with all of the characterization and relationships - and then act as though the buildup they wrote never even happened.

in this case, i'm specifically talking about the Bughead reunion storyline they dropped in s5. i'm not going to pretend like it was a GREAT buildup - and it was mostly on Jughead's side, Betty's character in s5 was basically an emotionless misery bot that had sex sometimes - but it was there. Jughead told Tabitha he had unresolved feelings around Betty. that's followed by an entire episode that lays out Betty & Jug's time jump relationship, and how Jughead still believes she's the one who saves him from himself. they work on a case together, they start opening up to one another. Jughead's so worried about her he can't eat.

and then...you know what happens.

(i'll also note here that there was random bts stuff that strongly indicated the musical ep storyline had a drastic last-minute rewrite: lili tweeted a blue dress, suggesting the song with that line was meant for her character; RAS said cole had to do last-minute recording sessions; supposedly crew members have confirmed this was the case, too. since none of it's 100% confirmed you can take it all with a grain of salt, but i believe it.)

it was so fucking insulting as a viewer to give my time and attention to a show made by people who would not only randomly drop the threads they set up, but torpedo them altogether, and then behave like the fans are the ones somehow at fault for expecting a story that actually follows through on its own emotional and plot beats. we're just shippers, so our opinions are dumb and biased! it's just a tv show, so who cares! get over it!

so, i stopped watching, because i knew they would continue to write without any thought or respect for their characters or their audience, and therefore inevitably write themselves into another corner. and, shocker, i was right. they did it again, whisking everyone away to the 1950s because actually resolving any of the scenarios they set up was ToO hArD. why bother when you could just make every single character Righteously Angry and Incurably Horny all the time, lecture the audience about social issues that have already been mainstream progressive for the last several decades, and call it a "love letter" to your fans?

[bisexualmikisayaka]

i’m also not the biggest randall fan but i do like what they’ve been setting up with him this season - his literal establishing character moment was immediately diving into the matthews house to try to help tabitha, so we know that he does care about other people, he’s just also kind of a reactionary asshole. his dynamic with julie this ep was very cute - beyond the shared trauma, i also like that it gives julie the very teenagerish action of hanging out with the weird guy who nobody likes that you also strangely have something in common with. i’m glad she’s been able to do a little more this season!

very interested also how the dungeon is going to come back into play - they’re both drawn to it somehow (was it a coincidence that Randall started seeing the cicadas at a point that would cause him to pull over there?) and presumably marielle is too. my guess is that randall’s arc will involve him finally directly acknowledging and confronting his trauma, which the cicadas seem to represent. julie and marielle also both kind of repress the trauma (julie more so), so perhaps their key to moving through it is going back to the space they were trapped and tortured in. it’s possible that boyd might even tag along to round out him and randall’s issues, although i can’t imagine why boyd would ever go back there, both for narrative reasons and also character ones lol. his arc has moved on from there, i think, although they certainly could bring it back as his declaration outside it is directly responsible for everything bad that has happened to him this season 😭

regardless, i do think that to bring randall and boyd onto better terms, they’ll have to talk about him and julie finding the dungeon again. neither he nor julie seem to remember being there, which does make me think that the layer of reality it exists on is a different one from the one the characters usually all operate on. since boyd is the only person who has moved in and out of that place consciously, i hope at least one of the cicada trio learns about it from him before going back there to do whatever it is they need to do. fingers crossed no one else gets worms in their arms, they’ve all been through enough!