#because the environment isn’t important it’s the conversation that’s happening

[sharkieboi]

finally finished watching Strange World and im in love, everyone should see this movie

[nonuify]

ᝰ.ᐟ 🎞️ — K.MG ; ! feels

nsfw is included ! minors do not interact 18+. [ smut, fluff, angst] ꩜ | requested.

“ when your best friend isn’t too happy with you going on a date with one of your mutual friend, what will happen? will he reveal some trapped feelings that was kept in for a long time? ”

there you were touching that last touches for your make-up for your so called date, you’ve been aching for so long to date but your idiotic of a best friend won’t get the hint that you had a big chunk of feelings for him, every time you had the courage to tell him n all the tingly feelings he made you feel, your heart crushed why? because he was with a new girl every. single. time.

you were tired of waiting yes, your feelings are still here but you need to make a change & go in the dating game for once, everyone needs a fresh change don’t they?.

you wore a nice tiger print top with a matching skirt it was so simple yet so chic!, finally adding the final touches as your phone rang.

cheol is calling! . . .

“hello?” you spoke up first, “yes hello, y/n!! I’m just telling you I’m outside of your place” he replied so sweetly, you smiled at that then reassuring you’ll be down in a few.

after finally settling down in the nice environment of a classy restaurant nearby you & cheol chatted the night away with dinner then some glasses of wine.

at the admit of laughing your phone buzzed uncontrollably with a ton of messages.

mins 🩰 / where are you

mins 🩰 / are you with a guy?!

mins 🩰 / I fuckin knew you were with cheol

mins 🩰 / tell me where you are.

20 more messages . . .

shocked.. that’s what you were, you’ve never seen being so tense like this, it upset him being with another man specifically cheol.

choosing to ignore him was the best idea, you were visibly upset by that, cheol noticed “are you okay?” he furrowed his eyebrows in worry “ah such a gentleman always looking for my comfort, I’m okay seungcheollie don’t worry” you giggled going back to your previous conversation.

but mingyu didn’t stop texting you, your phone was actually about to blow up by this point.

so you finally put it on do not disturb, trying to actually enjoy the night with seungcheol & not making it all about your now quite annoyed best-friend.

“you know if I’m interrupting something, we could totally, do this another time” he spoke up again softly then giving you a short smile “I insist it’s fine if it’s something important I would tell you” you returned the smile, flying your little mind into a sea of thoughts, “it’s mingyu? isn’t it.” he sighed then chuckled “wha-?” you were surprised by his sudden sentence.

“he’s crazy about you, you know your the only thing he talks about” he continued “I know it’s wrong that I asked you on this date, but I wanted to to give this a shot” he held your hand then “please this is all jokes, if he liked me he would’ve told me instead of fucking around” you scoffed.

“mingyus an idiot, y/n he doesn’t think it through he just does stuff, trust me your the one for him, & by the texts you got I’m totally sure.” he smiled, his cute dimples appearing once again “like I said you don’t have to totally understand my feelings, I just wanted this for fun no worries” “but cheol-“ you tried to speak “he’s waiting for you, go get him y/n-ah trust me” he pulled you out of the restaurant obviously driving you to your place.

“your being way too nice about this you know” you let out an awkward giggle “im tired of seeing my dumb idiot friends making the same mistake again & again, just get to it already”.

the frame of your house starting to show as you rode with seungcheol, the ride was quite but comfortable, you smiled at the fact that seungcheol understood you almost immediately, there was no doubt that seungcheol wasn’t a gentleman & perfect for any girl but… you heart aches for the one & only kim mingyu.

stepping into the warmth of your housing unit, you slouched on your couch.

taking your phone in your hand you stared at the screen, not knowing what to do in this moment.

like a prayer that has been called, suddenly your phone rang.

mins 🩰 is calling ! . . .

you tilted your head for a bit feeling nervous but eventually picked up the phone.

“where are you? why aren’t you answering me!, do you know how worried sick I’ve been!” he went on, on you almost yelling in some kind of way.

“fuck off, kim what do you want?” you scoffed, yes you were gonna confess you’re bottled up feelings but you weren’t gonna make it that easy.

“just answer me, were you with seungcheol?” he got straight to the point.

“yes, why does that concern you” you sneered

“I fuckin knew it!” he sighed in defeat.

“I knew he was gonna do this to rile me up fuck” he continued.

“why do you care, if he asked me or not mingyu im telling you right now!” you suddenly snapped “like you fuckin’ care who I date or not, you’re always fucking some girl every single day” your voice started to crack “I’ve always kept my mouth shut, so why do you get all cranky when I just have one date.” tears threatened or you may say fell down your face.

“I- look.. y/n just please let me explain I’m begging you, I’ll come to yours please give me patience.” his voice softened.

you just cut the call, getting overwhelmed by him or this whole situation.

after long silence the door bell rang.

but you expected it, it was mingyu after all you were always gonna welcome him with open arms.

you just prayed this is going to go well.

opening the door, he hugged you but not just any hug, he gave you a genuine one, a long one you would consider it a physical apology but you were aching for the verbal one not able to hold the pain of him not being yours anymore.

you both sat on the couch, you played with your fingers nervously, as you expected words to come out of him.

not being able to hold it anymore you were gonna say something but he spoke up first.

“look, y/n, I know I’ve done some fucked up things like fucking around, and I can’t justify it in anyway I just didn’t know how to tell you that I liked no loved you, I just thought going around with girls is gonna make it go away, because I know I can’t treat you the best, I mean look at me.” he ruffled through his hair then held your hand.

“but… but seeing you with seungcheol, it did something to me, I couldn’t bear to think about thought about you being with another man, you could say I got jealous, & I know what your thinking that you felt the same & I’m truly sorry y/n, I could do anything to make it up to you, even if it takes for the rest of my life” he sniffed, you looked up at his face & he was crying, it broke something inside of you.

“min, even if i forgave you, the pain of you going out with girls & doing whatever god knows what, it doesn’t go away it’ll be here, why couldn’t you tell me min why?, hell everybody else knows I loved you since we were in high school why couldn’t you reciprocate my feelings & told me, we couldn’t dodged all that pain, but you chose to hurt me” you bit your lip.

“i-i know , I just didn’t think it through i was scared of the responsibilities that came with being with you, i got scared that i could hurt you” “but you did, mingyu.” you cut him.

“I’m so sorry. so sorry y/n if i could go back in time I would’ve fixed what I did wrong trust me, but I wanna try this, I wanna try us but only if you want to, I could go out this door in this second if you don’t want to.” he kissed your hands looking up at you.

“min… I wanna try us too, but what if you hurt me again? I don’t want to lose you anymore I don’t want to drift apart” you sobbed.

“I promise you, y/n I promise I’ll try not to hurt you again, I’ll never do this mistake again, I’m not gonna be the idiot that I was” he kissed your forehead reassuringly.

“just please give me this chance i beg you.”

silence. he was met by silence fear striking through him.

he was about to move away then suddenly…

your lips met his in away you’ve never or he felt before it was radiating with love, passion you’ve both hungered for each other & you were definitely going to treasure this moment.

his hands almost instantly came in contact with your waist pulling you closer to him as your hands went to the nape of his neck, indulging each other.

“min.. please I need you” you spoke up in need of him.

him knowing exactly what you wanted, carried you to the comfort of your bedroom, he layed you on the soft mattress.

he took of all of the fabrics that covered you, displaying your nude beauty infront of him.

he kissed every inch of you admiring you one by one, not neglecting in any part of you.

closing by your aroused core, you looked at his eyes full with love & lust, he smirked.

then kissed your cunt, with tongue he licked through your folds till eventually fucking your hole with his tongue, your thighs trembling simply by the warmth of his tongue.

the series of ohs & ahs that uttered from your mouth felt like a melody to his ear, encouraging to ravage on your sweet cunt, feeling the closeness of your high, your moans got louder, which gave mingyu the hint.

that’s why he stopped.

“minn!” you whined, pouting, “gonna make you cum on my cock first, my darling” he whispered in your ear, then kissed it.

taking off his clothes, his big cock appeared which was absolutely beautiful, in all its glory, you had doubts about it not fitting, but you didn’t care, you wanted him in you asap.

he lined his member to the entrance of your womanhood, inch by inch he slid into you, which made you scream by how pleasuring this was, “fuck fuck fuuck m-min s’big” you bit your lip, closing your eyes enjoying every bit of him.

he fasted up his pace, holding your hands firmly yes so lovingly for support, uttering “I love yous” with skin slapping, moans, groans whatever lewd sounds was filled through the walls.

“min min im gonna im-“ you came.

hot spurs of cum dripped out of you filling the outer of his cock & the inside of your walls.

“god you’re so gorgeous like this.” he groaned out, going all out till his balls hit your cunt, chasing his high he was determined to fill your walls.

a few more thrust till he came moaning out a bunch of curse words, his cum filling you up, but you were on cloud 9 when his hot cum filled you covering & warming your walls.

he pulled out, cuddling you instantly, taking the covers of your bed to warm your naked bodies, hugging each other not wanting to end this moment, you both felt at peace knowing you were finally his & he was finally yours.

! 𝜗𝜚˚⋆ thank you for reading >ᴗ< !! woo toxic best friends to lovers 🫢

[williamrikers]

On the subject of consent in recent BLs

In this analysis, I will take a look at several love scenes in recent Thai BLs, how they frame consent and the sexual agency of the characters, and why those matter.

(KinnPorsche deserves its own post: I’m sure people have already written in detail about how much emphasis is placed on issues of consent/non-consent throughout the show and how fundamental consent is to the relationship arcs of both KinnPorsche and VegasPete, and I won’t belabor the point here. Also, special shout-out to The Warp Effect for what it brought to the conversation about gay sex, but TWE isn’t technically a BL so I decided not to include it in this analysis.)

I am going to take a closer look at the following shows in this essay: Not Me, The Eclipse, A Boss And A Babe, Step By Step, and La Pluie.

Not Me and The Eclipse predate the other shows by two years/one year respectively, but I feel it is valuable to include them here because both show very explicit negotiations of consent that I feel are spiritual successors to the wonderful scenes we’ve been getting in the other three shows.

Why am I even writing this? There used to be an unfortunate tendency in the genre to have a power imbalance between the “seme” and the “uke” character, which translated into the seme deciding when to have sex and what kind of sex to have—and even though recently, several shows have done good work in dismantling the seme/uke dynamic and questioning the associated stereotypes, it cannot be denied that the archetypes are still an important part of most BLs, and even in cases where the tropes are played with and questioned, understanding those subversions still requires a knowledge of and familiarity with the original tropes on the part of the audience.

However, gone are the days of Until We Meet Again and Dean’s “I’ve waited long enough, make sure you’re ready.” (I enjoyed UWMA a lot but that was. Yeah. Not Great.) Now, we see characters actually talking about and negotiating their limits, and doing what feels good to them.

Let’s start from the very beginning. Not Me was an absolute trailblazer in this regard, and not mentioning it here would be a gross oversight. The first time Sean and White have sex, it happens in their version of the beach episode. (Which, in Not Me, is the two characters briefly living in a tent inside an abandoned building. This show is the best.) Sean and White are removed from their usual environment and protected from the outside world by two barriers: the walls of the old house and the tent that’s literally enveloping them and giving them a space that is unequivocally theirs, shared, in which neither one of the characters has any sort of power over the other. And what happens in that space when they’re about to have sex is extremely interesting: the first thing Sean asks is whether White is afraid of him, which White denies. The following exchange goes like this: White: "So, what are we doing?" Sean: "What should I do to you?" White: "That’s up to you." (Watch the whole scene here.)

I find this exchange incredibly meaningful because this already turns the seme/uke dynamic that can be found in a lot of other shows on its head. OffGun as a branded pair can easily be stereotyped into the seme/uke dynamic just because of their physical appearances, and clearly spelling out that both characters have agency in this scene is incredibly important.

And then it gets better! Sean assumes that White is sexually inexperienced (which is not true but the fact that White was actually in a relationship with a woman back in Russia never comes up again after the pilot episode, so maybe the show expects us to assume this, too), and suggests they try different things and White can tell him what he likes and doesn’t like. Compared to the stuff we’re getting now, this scene isn’t very high heat at all, but it’s one of my favorite intimate scenes ever because them asking each other “Do you like this?” after every kiss, every touch, is so incredibly unique and transports a wonderful sense of figuring out sexual pleasure together, as a couple.

Sex in Not Me is not something one character does to another, it is something that is discovered and shared together, and we even get an afterglow scene in which they gently tease each other about their fast beating hearts. (And don’t get me started on the importance of White choosing to ask Sean whether Sean is okay with White not being like Black in that moment right before they have sex, because he doesn’t actually want to have sex with Sean as Black! He wants to discover and share intimacy with Sean as White, as himself, not as his brother! The layers!)

Anyway, I think that scene paved the way for a lot of the conversations around consent we’re now getting in BL, just because it is so explicitly, unashamedly putting forward a definition of sexuality that has nothing to do with one character actively giving and the other passively receiving, but frames intimacy as something that is built together. (More on giving and receiving later!)

Now, moving on to The Eclipse. I decided to include the first time Akk and Aye have sex for a different reason: while we don’t really see them actually talking about consent, we see them practicing non-verbal consent. Let me explain. Akk’s and Aye’s whole thing is teasing each other. At first, Aye is usually the one doing the teasing, but Akk gets the hang of it towards the end of the show and teases his boyfriend right back. When they’re in Akk’s childhood bedroom together, Aye clearly alludes to the fact that he thought they might use this opportunity to have sex for the first time, which Akk pretends not to understand, all while alluding to it himself. I love this guy. (Watch the whole scene here.) Anyway, Akk says he wants to sleep, lies down and once again, tells Aye jokingly he just wants to sleep, clearly expecting Aye to do what other BL protagonists do at that point and not take no for an answer (sidenote: I HATE the “saying no as foreplay” trope with a passion and as far as I’m concerned it should die already).

However, Aye is not like other BL love interests, and he backs off. He stops touching Akk, lies down with his back to Akk, showing Akk that he takes him by his word: if Akk says he wants to sleep, Aye is going to let him do just that. So now, it’s on Akk to say that, no, that’s not what he meant, can Aye please come back to cuddle. And then Akk is the one to escalate from cuddling to kissing, which is extremely important: we know that Aye has been ready to have sex with Akk since forever, it’s Akk who’s been having hangups about intimacy this whole time.

They don’t put consent into so many words on this show, but Aye shows Akk that he respects his limits and that Akk only has to tell him he doesn’t want to do something and Aye will take him at his word.

So, these are, to me, two foundational scenes of establishing consent: one that shows consent as something that is established verbally, as an ongoing conversation, and one that shows consent as something that is established physically, by showing your partner that you respect their choices and limits by way of simply acting accordingly.

Now, let’s get into the fun part: scenes we got so far in 2023. I’m writing this post on the 13th of June, and I’m sure this year still has some great things in store for us, especially because Step By Step and La Pluie are both ongoing and neither of the main couples are actually together yet at time of writing. However, they’ve both already given us AMAZING scenes on the topic of consent, so I feel it is worthwhile to write about those already.

I want to start off by talking about A Boss And A Babe.

Let me just preface this by saying that the intimate scenes in ABAAB are some of my all time favorites in BL ever, because in them, sex is something that is just so normal. When Gun and Cher have sex, we don’t see them very passionate, excited, reluctant or wide-eyed innocent (which are some of the emotions traditionally associated with sex in BL). On the contrary, in every single scene that shows them being intimate, both characters are incredibly calm. They’re certainly happy to be with each other, but in a subdued way. Someone described their second intimate scene as them seeming like they’ve been married for a few years. They’re both just… incredibly normal about having sex with each other. It’s simply something they like to do together. It’s a part of their romance but it’s not more or less important than any other aspects of their lives.

And consent is at the very heart of it.

When Gun and Cher have their first time, we see Gun explicitly asking for consent two times: first, “Can I kiss you?”, then, “Can I do more?” The second one even comes with the promise that if Cher says no, Gun will immediately go to sleep without mentioning it again. And then it is on Cher to say yes, to pull Gun close and kiss him to show him that he is comfortable with taking things further. (In the show, these two questions were shown apart from each other, I cut together a version of the whole First Time Scene in its entirety, watch it here.)

Now, things get more interesting: the second intimate scene shows Cher initiating the encounter (watch the whole scene here). Cher pretty consistently falls into the uke category, both physically and as far as characterization is concerned, but he’s certainly not shy in the bedroom. And this time, he’s the one who asks for consent from Gun: Gun asks “You’re starting it?” and Cher’s response is “Can I?” Despite him being framed physically lower than Gun, basically at Gun’s mercy, he still seeks confirmation that Gun is okay with the way things are going. Not to overstate it, but to me, this feels revolutionary. Once again, we’re being shown that sex is something two people do together, as a shared activity, and that the “seme” character isn’t expected to just be up for it. He, too, has the right to say no.

On this show, sexual agency is taken extremely seriously, and it is clear that both Gun and Cher give each other space to decide what they’re comfortable doing. This is shown in non-intimate scenes as well: there are so many moments on ABAAB in which the characters negotiate physical touch and closeness, asking each other for hugs before actually hugging each other, Cher leaning on Gun’s shoulder in the car but not allowing Gun to touch him because that’s not what he’s comfortable with in that moment, and so on. (The only exception to this otherwise pretty consistent rule is the kiss in the car scene, which I’m still extremely confused about because it seems to go completely against Gun’s character. Who knows what happened there.)

Of course, the fact that so much emphasis is placed on negotiation and consent isn’t surprising on a show that has such obvious kink undertones and whose Our Skyy 2 entry basically consisted entirely of Dom/sub roleplay at work—I’m just saying, I think someone on the writing team is way into BDSM and knows all about the importance of enthusiastic consent from all parties involved, and I would like to send them flowers.

Step By Step hasn’t really reached the point where we can analyse the dynamic between the main couple (although we can take some educated guesses based on the interactions we’ve seen so far). However, last week’s episode had an extremely important scene between Pat and Put: Pat wanting to have sex with Put, then changing his mind mid make-out (watch the whole scene here). I really like the way this scene was done. No matter how shitty Put treats Pat at times, in this instance, he immediately understood and respected Pat’s change of mind without Pat even saying or explaining anything—at the end of the episode, Put says to Pat that Pat should tell Put when he feels ready to have sex. (We already know this will never happen because of course, Pat and Put are not endgame, but I do appreciate the sentiment.)

BLs rarely include a whole storyline in which the protagonist is in an actual, serious romantic relationship with someone other than his endgame love interest (hi Moonlight Chicken!), or if they do then just to up the angst factor. In this case, however, I feel that this scene raises our expectations for Jeng even further: if the guy who is definitely not a romantic match for Pat treats Pat with this much respect in the bedroom, then Jeng has to do at least that and then some. I do feel confident that Jeng won’t disappoint in this regard, but it’s fascinating to see a show frame this kind of respect as the absolute baseline minimum, with the endgame love interest expected to do even better.

Now, the one you’ve all been waiting for. The one that made me write this whole essay in the first place: La Pluie.

Oh boy. Where to start.

A week ago, we got an incredible make-out scene on Saengtai’s floor, which ended in Patts stopping the encounter because he could tell Tai wasn’t really comfortable taking things further—@bengiyo talked about that scene in detail here. And then, three days ago, La Pluie gave us the most unique, trope-defying, timeline-changing blowjob scene of all time, and I want to talk about it.

Tai and Patts are making out on their bed, Tai is not ready to go “all the way” and stops Patts from undressing him. We see a very realistic frustrated reaction from Patts, who nevertheless immediately stops and accepts Tai’s wishes—it is clear that Patts does not expect things to go any further at this point, and that he won’t pressure Tai into anything.

And then, Tai offers to blow him.

(Unfortunately, this show is only on iQiyi so I can't link to it, but you can get a good impression of the scene here.)

I mentioned the concepts of giving and receiving earlier: other people have said this more eloquently than me, but there is a tendency not only in BL but also in wider society to view sex in terms of giving and receiving, with a lot of expectations and stereotypes attached to the roles during different sexual acts. On other shows, that blowjob might be framed as a consolidation or an apology, something that the giver does out of a sense of obligation without enjoying it much. Not so on La Pluie! Tai is shown incredibly happy and satisfied afterwards, both when they’re sleeping next to each other, as well as on the morning after (see also @ginnymoonbeam's post about that here). Tai offered to blow Patts because he simply wanted to, not motivated by guilt or anything of that sort. And he genuinely enjoyed it! In the post I linked above, @bengiyo points out that La Pluie consistently centers queer desire, or more specifically in this case, male desire for a male body; much in the same way that the camera fucking loves Force’s body on ABAAB: the sensuality of the skin, the hands, the abs, the flat chests, the broad backs and shoulders of these men is explicitly emphasized, and Tai’s desire for a dick in his mouth is made absolutely crystal-clear. Of course, since this is a TV show and not a porno, we only see Patts’s thumb in Tai’s mouth instead of his dick, but the imagery, the implications, are clear as day.

And it is such a gentle framing, too: Patts caresses Tai’s lip lovingly, Tai opens his mouth slowly, seductively, then faces Patts’s crotch with a soft look on his face. We do get a clear sense of this encounter as tender, and gentle, and most of all, desired. Tai’s queer desire is at the heart of this scene, and at the heart of the afterglow scene as well. He wanted this man’s dick in his mouth, openly suggested it, showed Patts he was sure about his decision after Patts asked him whether he was, and ended up clearly happy and satisfied with the sex they had. This post, also by @bengiyo, goes into more detail on that.

This, once again, shows us sex as a conversation rather than a series of predetermined acts, shows us sex as a shared activity, as something that can be wonderful and intimate and make people happy without following what society views as “the correct steps”. I think this is extremely important because one part of queer identity is figuring out one’s own relationship to sexuality, one’s own desires and needs, and BLs that ignore this aspect fall a little short in my opinion. Sure, those men are kissing, but do they experience queer desire? Do they experience joy in their queer desire?

For me personally, a show that does not shy away from these questions is a lot more meaningful than a show that does, and consent is at the heart of it all. By framing sex as a conversation, as something that is built and shared together, the shows I looked at here are actively positioning themselves against the idea that there should be predetermined roles for partners during sex, and instead suggest that queer joy can be found in communication and consent. Understanding sex and intimacy as something that is built together, with both partners as equals in conversation, is just as radically queer as a man waking up with a smile on his face after giving his soulmate a blowjob the previous night.

And quite honestly, a male character who clearly, passionately, unquestioningly communicates that he wants a dick inside of him—that is incredibly sexy. But maybe that’s just me.

[conceptofjoy]

17776 Au idea below

Immortal Dirk would be a miserable man. It’s like he just kept waiting and waiting for SOMETHING his whole life, and it just never got to him. He can’t die respected or acknowledged like he thought he would get to be so he keeps living as nothing.

He was happy to work at NASA, he worked hard for his career. When the immortal thing happened, he was part of the lucrative team of scientists that did everything they could to research the reasoning of it and then after, he worked on making everything run smoothly for humanity. Then it just. Teetered off.

He and Roxy made a pact to check up on each other every other year. Then five years, then ten. They would drag each other out of their respective spirals, but Roxy broke out of the pattern. Dirk did not. He refused to reach out to her every time it happened. Roxy doesn’t want to be caught in the past by Dirk who is unwilling to get better. Lord knows she tried everything, but he has to wake the fuck up. If Dirk gave her a call ONCE, she would welcome him with open arms.

Once upon a time, he strictly followed an image of masculinity. He carried Cal around, worked his 9-5 (and more) without fuss, and he was PROUD of it. When the evolution of societal norms left him in the dust, he was shaken. He calls himself a man but he doesn’t know what that means. His self doubt runs deep, and the doubt is the reason why he ends up deeming himself not worthy of self care. He lets his hair grow exceedingly long, doesn’t shower as much as he’d like to, doesn’t eat beyond what the nanobots give him, he does the bare minimum to survive. He hasn’t left his apartment in decades, and frankly, he's afraid to leave.

==> Enter Hal. He’s New Horizons. I was going to choose Mars Odyssey, but the Hal thing would then not be something he chose. There’s a probe called MUSE and Roman which could be the cherubs, but I think they could also be non-probe tech that gained sentience. 

It’s something Dirk had done, he had developed a special interest for New Horizons. Roxy shared with him different files that NH had made, since it had become somewhat of a special interest. As the years went by and NASA tech wasnt so heavily guarded, she had given him access to the probe as like, a semi live feed. There wasn’t a ton to watch obviously, but he enjoyed scrolling through the data that it sent back. He became overzealous though, poking around in the software, he developed a rudimentary AI like it was one of his bots. Now instead of just inputting a command to receive data, he was able to actually converse with NH to get them as well as have conversations about the findings. He was eventually caught and reprimanded, but in the greater scale of things happening in the world, it wasn’t too bad, I guess? He became part of a team to develop other AI for the public to talk to because it’s VERY important to encourage hobbies or new careers in an environment like this. He helped draw out some plans, but didn’t actually work on other AIs because, creating varied ‘fake’ personalities didn’t appeal to him.

That AI became the basis of the ego that NH formed. Thus Hal came to be. It’s also the reason why he immediately seeked out Dirk to shake all the answers he could from him. He absolutely caught Dirk’s attention, his speech patterns being familiar to him, he set up the quantum messaging immediately. Hal here doesn’t aaaactually have his memories, but his “inimitably rad typing style, tone, cadence, and personality are pretty damn indistinguishable from DS's native neurological responses”.

They talk for a while, and then Dirk literally fucking passes out because that’s like the most his body has done for years. Hal is like oh shit did I do that??? And feels guilty so he texts Roxy. She’s HYPED that he’s a sentient probe too like another one she chats with, but becomes wistful because of how much Hal reminds her of Dirk. Hal is surprised that they don’t talk until he isn’t. Hal is two seconds into awareness and is already plotting shit. He doesn’t want Roxy to deal with his issues again, so elects to help him by hacking into one of the bots he’s made. They’re like all mirrors of his younger bro-ish self but in various levels of damage because he’s just a fucked up dude. It’s also the reason why none of his bots gained sentience, all too broken internally to do so. He couldn’t touch NH because it technically didn’t belong to him.

Hal is pre-disillusioned Dirk. He gets that he has a fuck ton of illnesses and neurosis unchecked, but like he could have never guessed as to why he fell THIS hard. Why he stopped taking his fucking testosterone too? Bc he’s like always strived to atain this ‘peak’ level of masculinity. It takes a while for Hal to mentally be on the same page as him bc of that dissonance. It’s what Hal does in the au, he takes it upon himself to be his therapist (bro doe NOT know what he’s doing) and helps him recover as well as reaches out to his old friends to see if they’d like to talk to him again. Dirk’s fuckin terrified by the idea, but it goes slowly. Jane’s up first, then Jake and Roxy.

Dirk also confronts Hal about his own anxieties about being alone. He’s one of the pinnacles for pre-immortal earth, but does he feel obsolete? He is also unable to die a hero, immortal until… Well I guess forever. Earth will move on without him, and he’ll stay frozen like a prehistoric bug trapped in amber. Both of them are dissociated from greater society.

[dailymanners]

"Talking over people can be a hard habit to break, particularly if it’s part of your common methods of communication.

There are some legitimate reasons why people develop this habit. People that come from cultures or families that are generally loud and compete for the speaking floor get used to functioning in that environment. If you don’t talk loud and elbow your way into the conversation, then you just don’t get heard.

But that kind of communication doesn’t work in a more polite society or the workplace. Talking over other people can be seen as rude, dismissive, and disrespectful to those who aren’t used to that communication style.

Interrupting can also make quieter people feel excluded and unimportant, which isn’t really how you want people to feel in a good conversation.

9 Ways To Stop Interrupting People

1. Practice active listening.

Active listening is focusing intently on what the speaker has to say until they finish their thought.

Many people do not practice active listening. Instead, they skim the speaker’s words while trying to think of the next thing they want to say. This is a problem for a couple of reasons. First, they’re not really listening and may miss important context or statements that the speaker is making. Second, it makes the listener appear as though they are not engaged in the conversation.

And that second point is especially bad if you happen to be talking to the boss or having a sensitive conversation with a loved one. You don’t want to appear to be disengaged or uninterested.

Try to avoid thinking about what you want to say while the other person is thinking. Instead, quiet yourself and just focus on their words.

2. Pause for 10 seconds before speaking.

Sometimes we interrupt other people due to miscues in the flow of conversation. These cues can be easy to miss if you aren’t practicing active listening because they are often subtle. The speaker may have paused for dramatic effect, comedic timing, or just to gather their thoughts before they continue.

A good way to stop interrupting people is to simply take ten seconds between the time they stop speaking and you start speaking. It might feel awkward, but you can always explain this away as you were just thinking about what was being said, which you should be doing anyway.

That pause will also give you a little additional time to read the speaker and look for conversation cues for them, like if their facial expression denotes thought or a joke.

3. Purse your lips or cover your mouth.

Perhaps you need an active reminder to help stifle the impulse to talk over other people. You can do that by pursing your lips or adopting a posture where you can cover your mouth. Pursing your lips helps because it’s common body language for being in thought. The person you are speaking to will interpret that as you thinking about their words.

You may also find it helpful to rest your chin in your hand and put a finger over your lips, circumstances allowing. That would be fine in a personal conversation but will probably look a little off in professional conversations or meetings.

Either way, it’s a physical reminder to stop yourself from talking over people who haven’t finished what they have to say.

4. Repeat their statement back when appropriate.

When communicating with another person, a common piece of advice is to repeat their point back to them in your own words to show that you understand what they are saying. This can be a helpful piece of advice for not interrupting or talking over people because it forces your mind to stay focused on the speaker.

This is most helpful in a personal conversation where the other person expresses something of deep importance. Like, think of when a friend is having a hard time, or maybe you’re having a discussion with your boss about a work responsibility.

5. Allow the speaker to continue if you do interrupt.

You’re going to mess up. You’re going to fall back to that old habit and interrupt someone sooner or later. It’s okay! Really. No one is perfect, so don’t expect yourself to be either.

Stop yourself when it happens. Just say, “I’m sorry for interrupting, please go on.”

The habit of making that apology will help you maintain better control over when you decide to interject into the conversation. And it has the added benefit of communicating to the speaker that you realize you made an error, are apologetic, and give them back the floor to continue speaking.

6. Make notes if you are in a work setting or group conversation.

In a work or group setting, it is helpful to carry a small notebook with you. That way, you can jot down notes and thoughts you have about what’s being said to revisit later. Some people interrupt because they are afraid they will forget their question or point. The notebook is the solution to that problem.

Plus, it’s helpful to collect these thoughts and notes for when you get to the end of the presentation. You may find that your question was already answered or your points covered by the end.

7. Acknowledge your interruption if you need to make one.

There are times in conversations when you need to make an interruption. Perhaps there is a bit of misinformation being shared that you need to correct. In that scenario, just limit yourself to providing the appropriate context or information required for the comment.

“I’m sorry to interrupt you, but…”

Make your point, and then step back out of the flow of conversation.

An interruption is sometimes necessary.

8. Ask a friend to help you.

Changing a habit can be hard work. You can make the job easier by enlisting the help of a trusted friend or family member. Have them keep an eye on you and just give you a little nudge or inform you when you’re interrupting, so you can better avoid it.

After the conversation is over, they can just tell you, “Hey, you interrupted John while he was talking about his trip.” That way, you can acknowledge it with yourself if you feel it slipped under your radar.

9. Practice with a partner.

A great way to change any habit is through regular practice. You can practice not interrupting with the help of a friend by just asking them to talk about a thing. Suggest they talk about something with their work, an event in their life, or a situation they had to deal with. Then, take that time to actively listen to what they have to say, work on your own internal narration, and stop the triggers that cause you to talk over people.

Make it clear that you are asking for help with this specific problem and may not be entirely invested in the conversation. You don’t want your friend to be pouring their heart out to you, and you’re not paying attention because you’re thinking about how you speak.

Keep practicing. Keep working on listening and just being quiet when other people speak. The more you work at it, the easier it will be to ditch that interrupting habit and be a quality conversationalist.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Why is interrupting people rude?

In many cultures, interrupting people is rude because it shows disrespect to the person speaking and the point they are trying to make. People like to express themselves and feel heard by those they are talking to. To interrupt is to deny them that right.

What are the consequences of interrupting people?

If you regularly interrupt someone, it might make them pull away from you or not want to talk to you. After all, if they can’t say what’s on their mind without you jumping in every five seconds, they’ll look for someone else with whom to share their thoughts, their news, or their worries.

Nobody wants to feel like they are part of a one-sided conversation where only what you have to say matters enough to be listened to.

Talking over people is also a problem if you are being given instructions. You may think you know what someone wants you to do, but unless you listen to their words carefully, you are likely to make errors or not doing things the way they want them done. This can lead to trouble of all sorts, especially in work situations but also when it comes to helping out a friend or partner.

Interrupting people can make you seem arrogant, rude, self-centered, and uncaring. These are not qualities you would wish to convey to others because they lead to weaker relationships and destroy the relationships you have already built up.

What does it feel like to be interrupted during a conversation?

When someone interrupts what you are saying, it can feel like what you have to say isn’t important. This can extend to feeling like nothing you have to say is important if someone in your life like a partner or parent always talks over you.

When you don’t feel heard, you may feel unloved or not respected. It can also make you feel powerless if the other person disregards your opinions and makes choices for you.

Being interrupted can also lead to feelings of anger and annoyance. It can cause ill-feelings toward the person who interrupted you that last well beyond the conversation."

[satanic-foxhole-court]

(Full TSC spoilers, as in to the end of the book) The contrast of Jeremy’s biggest concern is caring for his team, making sure his queer inner circle are healthy, okay, having fun and passing classes vs. Jeans biggest concern is the literal mafia debt, serious major trauma, PTSD and learning how to live again is just perfect.

It shows really beautifully in Jeremy’s approach to helping Jean. Jeremy seeks to know, to get Jean to open up and admit what happened. And hey it eventually works. But in comparison that never happened with Neil. The foxes knew to not pry and because Neil was able to integrate into the foxes without being an issue like Andrew is that was okay. There was more concessions, understanding and leaving things be.

I do wish for many reasons Jean stayed with the foxes if only because they fundamentally get it. But at the same time no it wouldn’t work, they’re pack bonded and Jean sees them as something he can’t be apart of.

A quote that stuck with me:

“That’s not fair,” Jeremy said, and when Jean opened his mouth to argue, added, “to you or us. For someone who seems so sure of what he deserves, you don’t seem to give any thought to what anyone else does. You’re forcing us to hurt you without giving us any say in the matter.”

And yeah that’s why it’s important to shove Jean more than one might with Neil or Andrew. Andrew is violently firm with his boundaries, Neil says he’s fine when he’s not but he can cope under high stress environments and has worked on accepting help. Even if that help is calling Andrew, running and exercise (fun fact exercise is a great ptsd trigger management tactic, peak the anxiety to bring it down through physical activity).

Jean doesn’t have boundaries, will not speak up at any point when something upsets him, puts himself in harms way constantly because he doesn’t have any self worth. Understandable given what he’s been through. And for Jeremy to feel he can help he seeks to know to understand - which isnt helpful! And that’s acknowledged at the end of the book!!! (Nora I love you)

Jeremy wants to put it into context, he wants so desperately to be told what’s going on, why Jean has this reactions, that it’s important to talk. But for someone who’s learned to stop biting back, to be quiet to have no harm come to them? That’s not going to happen easily. Jean does give ground and I really appreciate seeing him set boundaries too gosh. Him saying what he will and will not talk about, reaffirming that again and again throughout the book is perfect. And for Jeremy, Cat and Lalia to respect those boundaries too, or mostly. There are points when I think they shove a bit much but this book isn’t about perfect responses. It’s a queer household taking in an extremely traumatised person and learning how to support him while he learns how to exist.

Oh and also the power imbalance that exists accidentally by Jean not having context for what Jeremy, Cat and Lalia have been through too! He’s picked up there’s something but he’s always the one being pushed to talk about things, but he knows it’s not appropriate to pry about those things with them. It’s neat.

The coaches responses are interesting too. From the shoving Jean towards the water (I wanted to punch them omg /lh), to civil conversations, to showing Jean a Raven thing and just not understanding his response.

It’s nice to see how much the Trojan’s don’t understand, they don’t know how to respond, they have no idea what’s sensitive and what’s not. We love the foxes for how understanding they are and seeing a contrast of a privileged team is awesome to see.

I’m excited to see Jean and Bee’s sessions. Adore the book and Jean’s unhinged out of pocket self<3

[nightcolorz]

The thing you said about people treating autism like it’s not a disability is SO real!!! I’ve been saying this!!!

As someone who is autistic snd also has a physical disability, it is so interesting to me to see how some low support needs autistic spaces online act as if acknowledging autism is a disability is bad?. Or like. They want to acknowledge it’s a disability but then refuse to acknowledge it’s actually disabling.

Idk it’s really interesting to me to see how low support needs autism spaces are online vs how low support needs physical disability spaces are online. I think a lot of it comes from people acting as though autism is only difficult because of societal pressure to conform and social norms, and while that def makes it difficult, even if those things didn’t exist, autism would STILL be disabling. Like oh people don’t think I am awkward and rude all the time so I don’t have to mask when interacting with people? Great! I’m still going to have random meltdowns bc my body feels indescribably uncomfortable due to sensory issues and gag and throw up over bad food textures and want to cry if multiple sounds happen at once! Im still going to get overwhelmed over basic tasks and not be able to express myself properly! And idk why it is bad for me to say I would rather not experience those things!

I’ve also noticed this kind of thing creeping over into my physical disability spaces as well which is even more baffling to me but I digress.

YES THIS!!! It’s Like, great for u if u are so lightly troubled by ur autism that if the world was more accommodating u would have no disability anymore, but that I think is not the general experience with autism and u can’t act like it is 😭😭. I think part of this attitude also comes with autism being equated with queerness. Which like, yes, lots of autistic ppl r queer, but it’s become a thing where ppl r treating autism *like* it’s queerness. Which erm, obviously if the world was more accepting being queer would not be a problem, but this same logic does not apply to disabilities 😭😭. It’s genuinely extremely invalidating when the support groups for disabilities are centered around ppl who are only vaguely disabled to the point where they insist it’s not even an issue and it shouldn’t be for u either. I’ve also noticed a thing where autistic ppl with low support needs are driving the conversation over what language we should use to describe autism, which is just incredibly unhelpful on so many levels.

and, obviously I don’t think there’s anything wrong with creating a space to be proud of and accept ur autism, that’s great and nice. There’s importance in talking about joy while living disabled. The issue is when the conversation becomes “autism isn’t a disability it’s basically just my personality and being burdened by in ur life is offensive to me”. It’s honestly made me feel rlly insecure and unwelcome when I want to learn to be happy with being autistic and to accept myself, but the ppl who r driving this movement don’t have a place for me bcus their acceptance requires a lack of suffering. Like no, I am not just a special snowflake in a world that doesn’t understand me, I AM the problem, and no matter how much support and acceptance I have I will continue to be the problem bcus I am disabled and will continue to be disabled regardless of the environment I am in. And that should be ok! I think we should have spaces where we can talk about how that’s ok without the reduction of the suffering

(thank u sm for the ask anon this made me happy cuz I was worried I’d get hate for posting that 😭)

[things-arent-what-they-seem66]

Lucifer holding up a piece of paper: Adam! Help me finish my check list!

Adam sighed: You have a check list? So do I.

Lucifers eyes widened as a long golden parchment appeared with a list of his brother’s name on it. He squints his eyes, especially as he found Michael’s name more than just ticked off but there was fucking hearts around it. Slowly his eyes lowers and he begins to read the names, he was searching for his own name!

Until he reached the end…

Lucifer shooting to his feet and slamming his hands on the meeting table: Why the fuck is my name crossed off!

Adam huffed and snaps his fingers, the parchment disappears: Because you’re nasty ~

Lucifer: The fuck does that mean!

Adam: You fucked both Lilith AND Eve. It makes me wonder how mentally sane you are to have put your dick in fucking crazy. There for I’m worried you’ll pass it on to me.

Lucifers mouth opening and shutting: That makes no sense! I didn’t even know how fucked unpin the head they were at the time!

Adam: You fucked them both and then fell. How do I not know the craziness amiably just an infection passed through you lot?

Lucifer: Because it’s not!

Adam waves a hand dismissive: I’m not willing to chance it. So let’s move on.

Lucifer reluctantly agrees and the meeting between heaven and hell progresses. But he couldn’t let it go and in the middle of an important conversation, he leans towards Adam and whispers harshly.

Lucifer: Why is Michael’s name different to everyone else’s?

Adam shrugging uncaring: He was the best fuck I’ve ever had. Nobodies been able to beat it.

Lucifer soured: Only because you haven’t had the real best fuck yet.

Adam: Not happening

Lucifer: Why is his name highlighted and surrounded by hearts?

Adam snorting: you think we only fucked the once? Oh no. He rocked my world several times now.

Lucifer gasped: Several?

Adam: or more

Lucifer: You fucked Michael repeatedly but won’t fuck me once? That’s discrimination you know

Adam blinking in surprise: the fuck? No it isn’t

Lucifer: yes it is. You’re being hell racist too

Adam: the fuck is that ?

Lucifer staring intensively into Adam eyes: You won’t fuck me because I’m a fallen Angel. Because I’m apart of hell. The sounds petty discriminative and racist to me

Adam: no it doesn’t

Lucifer: yes it is. I should go to HR

Adam: HR? Who the fuck would be HR

Lucifer shrugs: i am Gods favourite for a reason. Even now I’m still his favourite. I’m sure he’ll side with me

Adam staring at him in disbelief. Lucifer looks so confident too.

Adam shaking his head: You’re fucking mental. I’m never going to sleep with you

Lucifer: see, now you’re bullying me. This is a toxic working environment! You better apologises and make it up to me before I get HR involved!

Adam finally getting fed up with his bullshit: what the fuck do you even want?

Lucifer throwing his arms up: I want to fuck you!

Sera covers her face as the two continue to bicker and fight. Adam still refusing and Lucifer becoming more enraged but also trying to manipulate him.

Sera: What is this?

Lucifer would eventually wear him down and Adam would give in. He'd also see that Lucifer was better

Lucifer: Sooooo?

Adam: Shut up.

Lucifer: *Smug AF*

[girltalkcollectives]

The Fear of Being Called On

Let me paint you a picture of what social anxiety really looks like, because apparently some professors still don’t get it.

There I was, second day of class, sitting in my usual spot (back row, closest to the door — my fellow anxiety girlies know exactly why). The homework was done. Actually, it was more than done. I’d spent three hours the night before making sure I understood every single detail, highlighting important points, writing notes in the margins. Because that’s what we do, right? We over-prepare just to feel slightly less terrified.

But then it happened.

“Why don’t you explain this concept to the class?”

My name, hanging in the air like a death sentence. Twenty heads turning to look at me. The familiar wave of panic washing over me — heart racing, palms sweating, throat closing up. You know that feeling when your mind goes completely blank? Like someone just wiped your brain clean? Yeah. That.

And suddenly I’m rambling. The words are coming out all wrong. Everything I studied, everything I KNEW, turned into this jumbled mess of half-formed thoughts. I can hear myself talking, but it’s like I’m outside my body, watching this trainwreck happen in slow motion.

But the worst part? The absolute worst part wasn’t even the public humiliation. It was what happened after class.

Picture this: The professor pulls me aside, looks at me with that condescending smile (you know the one), and says, “If you don’t get it together, you’re getting a 0. You need to do the work.”

Let that sink in.

I did the work.

I ALWAYS do the work.

The work isn’t the problem.

MY ANXIETY IS THE PROBLEM.

I tried to explain. God, I tried. “I have social anxiety and so I have problems with public speaking,” I said, my voice shaking. “It’s hard for me to articulate my thoughts when I’m put on the spot.” Basic anxiety 101, right?

Her response? “It doesn’t seem like you did the work.”

EXCUSE ME?

Do you want to see my highlighted textbook? My color-coded notes? The three hours of work I did last night? The sleep I lost preparing for a class I was terrified to attend?

But here’s what I couldn’t say in the moment, what I wish I had screamed: Having social anxiety doesn’t mean I’m lazy. It doesn’t mean I’m unprepared. It means my brain literally fights against me every time I have to speak in public. It means I can know something inside and out but completely freeze when all eyes are on me.

So yeah, I dropped the class.

And before anyone comes at me with “you’re letting anxiety win” or “you need to push through it” — save it. Sometimes protecting your mental health means walking away. Sometimes self-care looks like saying “this environment is toxic for me” and choosing a different path.

To my girls out there dealing with social anxiety: I see you. I see you doing twice the work just to feel half as prepared. I see you picking seats based on escape routes. I see you having full conversations in your head that turn into gibberish the moment you have to speak them out loud.

You’re not lazy.

You’re not stupid.

You’re not unprepared.

You’re dealing with an anxiety disorder that people still refuse to understand.

And to that professor: I hope you read this. I hope you realize that somewhere in your classroom right now is another girl like me, doing all the work but drowning in fear. Maybe next time, instead of assuming she’s unprepared, consider that she might be fighting a battle you know nothing about.

Because let me make one thing crystal clear: My anxiety might make me stumble over my words, but it doesn’t make me any less capable, any less intelligent, or any less worthy of respect.

I dropped your class, but I’m not dropping my voice. This is me, speaking up about social anxiety, without stuttering, without fear — because writing lets me say what my anxiety won’t let me.

And to everyone reading this who gets it, who lives it, who feels it: You’re not alone. Your anxiety is real. Your struggles are valid. And don’t let anyone — especially not some teacher who doesn’t understand mental health — make you feel otherwise. 

This is bigger than one bad class experience. This is about a system that still doesn’t understand what anxiety does to us. And I’m done being quiet about it.

[talenlee]

Flygon Isn't Gunna Happen, People

When I talk about big game media franchises I’m often left with the thought that they are less an experience like a TV series, where you start out at the start and then you get to the end and eventually everyone either quits or resolves, but instead that they are like maps, where the past is a place you can just walk to. The oldest versions and oldest ways of playing games like Dungeons & Dragons still exist, and you can just go and find those communities who are not only still playing that game but playing the old game in ways that have continued to change and spiral off in their own directions over the fifty years of their life. This is too, too true of Pokemon, a game that has an active player community who focus their efforts on competitive head-to-head play of the very first generation of the game, down to the point where their metagame is upended upon the discovery of bugs or glitches the emulation software hadn’t quite properly implemented.

Navigating this map, though, especially when you stop treating the pure play forms of the game as the only ways to experience it, there are trends and mysteries that have endured and form their own cultural space. Game Freak are a positively inscrutable mistrix especially from the Anglosphere and people will invoke them like they’re talking about some sort of extrabiblical deity figure who can be appeased and whose intentions and demands can be defined through some kind of mystical analysis of stat changes. Amongst those myths there is the strange story of Flygon, the Pokemon that has never been much but has always felt like it should be.

If you’re not familiar with it, Flygon is a Dragon/Ground Pokemon with the ability levitate. This means that Flygon is immune to Electric Attacks and Ground Attacks and also resists Fire, Poison and Rock, things that a new player might assume are good to use to attack it, and its weaknesses are limited to Dragon (not that common) Fairy (all too common these days) and Ice (always common because it’s one of the best attacking types in the game).

In the context of Pokemon, a ‘good’ stat spread is hard to describe simply, so some benchmarks are that Mewtwo, a very, very strong Pokemon and in contention for one of the best Pokemon of all time, has a stat total of 680, which is the number used for very, very important and powerful Pokemon, Mew, a mythical Pokemon has a stat total of 600, which is shared by all the mythicals, and starter Pokemon (that all evolve into something pretty strong) are 530. Other hallmarks that I find useful are that Gengar has a base stat total of 500, and Toxapex (a Pokemon that held a stall-prone metagame in its tentacly grip) has 495. These are the numbers attached to a lot of Pokemon that are ‘good.’ Pikachu, which isn’t fully evolved has 320, which is very low and part of why people generally think Pikachu sucks.

Because it sucks.

Flygon’s stats are 520, and almost all of them are 80, with two 100s. Speed and Attack are its exceptions, meaning it’s biased towards attacking, and quickly, but it could hypothetically do other stuff.

Flygon also looks extremely cool. This is not normally important in a conversation around competitive Pokemon, but it’s important here because we’re not just talking about what Flygon did in competitive Pokemon (the answer is almost nothing). We’re talking about Flygon as a Pokemon that people could get into, like to be fans of.

What of that competitive history?

Well, I went searching and I found two times a Flygon showed up to a VGC tournament that got saved in the Limitless Database, which is to say, one person brought their Flygon to two different tournaments and their best placement was 21st. It’s hard to talk about the competitive history of Flygon because by all honest accounts it doesn’t have one. It does have something of a presence in Smogon, the place which tries to adjust power level in environments through entirely exclusionary choices, ie, bannings, but it’s also worth noting that one of the things that makes it ‘good’ in the spaces it’s been good is ‘we have also banned a bunch of other stuff meaning Flygon is almost the only good Dragon type left.’

I have nothing else to say about Smogon’s opinion of Flygon because I have a note from Smogon’s mother that it’s very special and I shouldn’t be mean to it.

Flygon isn’t ‘bad’ per se, but it is an all-rounder in a game that rewards specialisation, and it is a creature weak to Fairy released before the Fairy Type redefined the world and threw a lot of Dragons into the toilet. But even when it was new and in its element, the novelty of what it offered was clearly not enough to bring it up to speed in the competitive environments… since there were no competitive environments supported by Nintendo when it was new. VGC, the official tournament format, wasn’t being supported by Nintendo until 2009, and that’s where one of Flygon’s greatest problems started.

One of the most important parts of this story about Flygon though, isn’t that ‘Flygon Is Bad Because’ of something it lacks. It’s that Garchomp exists.

Garchomp is a black hole of a card. It too is a Ground/Dragon Pokemon, but it’s also got 80 more stats than Flygon and they’re arranged more carefully – instead of even 80s and a pair of 100s, Garchomp is a tiny bit faster than Flygon and hits a lot harder. Garchomp isn’t immune to spikes or lightning but also it’s so fast and hits so hard who cares. Garchomp distorted the game around it and that meant that people were packing team structures to try and take out Garchomp as aggressively as possible. And know what that means?

It means that Flygon got hit with Garchomp Shrapnel. If you can take out a Garchomp efficiently, you can absolutely take out a Flygon more efficiently — it’s the same basic structure but weaker, slower, and less threatening when you leave it on the field.

Okay, so Flygon was doomed in competitive environments. So what.

There was a moment of bright light when we saw the Mega Evolutions made available in Pokemon X and Y. In this, Pokemon would get a cool new temporary, powerful form, and this was distributed to Pokemon at semi-random; popular Pokemon got a mega (or two if you’re Mewtwo or Charizard) sure, but some oddballs and weaker types with a cool idea got one (hi there Mawile).

And Flygon almost got one.

It almost got one, and then Ken Sugimori, the designer, got artists’ block and they just scrapped the idea.

But don’t worry, then there was another game with more Megas.

And it didn’t get it.

But then the next game introduced Z-moves, where Pokemon got sometimes unique and iconic super-powerful use-once-only moves.

And Flygon didn’t get one.

Then the next game introduced Gigantamax, where sometimes Pokemon could get a uniquely powerful shapeshift form that made ’em real real big and let them sometimes deploy special powers?

Yeah Flygon didn’t get one.

Fear not, though, then we got Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, where you uh, couldn’t get it. It became available through trade and DLC, but Flygon is well and truly a Pokemon of the Past, its Glory Day behind it. It doesn’t matter of course; Flygon is a cool monster and it’s fun to like it, there’s nothing wrong with that. But it is weird the way that Flygon has had so many opportunities to be improved or even just made meaningfully different to its later little brother of Garchomp and we’re just never going to see it.

By the way, Garchomp got a mega evolution. Don’t worry, nobody used it because it wasn’t necessary because Garchomp was good enough without it.

Also, and this is very important: The thing that crystallised this article and made me think about it enough to make it happen here, in this month, is my friend Corey mentioning it on Tumblr. This isn’t quite at the level of ‘a fourteen minute video that’s just mad at a tweet,’ but just so you know, credit where it’s due.

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!

[piplup335]

Skateboard stealing Sword’s sword to cut a lemon!

(Medkit is mentioned lol)

hey guys!

I’m not feeling too good rn :,) can’t rlly work on anything for you guys

but hey, I got this one out! might start slowly working on reqs, I’m using it as a stress relief tool when it comes to revision

also my bday is in less than a month so YAYYYY expect a fic then lmao

anyway enjoy :D

╔══════ ⋯⇋ ૮(•͈⌔•͈)ა ⇌⋯ ══════╗

╚══════⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯ ══════╝

It’s a beautiful day in Crossroads.

Birds were chirping, flowers were blooming.

On days like these, phighters like Skateboard…

…should be burning the pavement behind him.

On this day, Skateboard was, in fact, burning the pavement behind him. Passerbys and other phighters quickly stepped aside, not wanting to end up being a part of Skateboard’s collision course. It was evident to all that whatever Skateboard had to do or wherever he had to go, it was an important issue.

Surely it couldn’t be some minor and insignificant matter, right?

…right?

Skateboard blazed down the cracked concrete all the way to the dry, sweltering environment of Lost Temple.

“Sword? Sword! Where are youuuuu?”

He knew that Sword either stuck around Medkit or Venomshank.

And since he knew that Venomshank usually didn’t show up at such an early hour in the morning, he knew that his best bet was with Medkit.

Luckily for Skateboard, he knew exactly where to find the dull, emotionless doctor.

“Thanks, Medkit! You’re always ready to patch me up whenever I get injured, huh?”

“No worries, Sword. And yes, I’ll be here to patch you up despite all the times you go and blow yourself up even when I tell you not to.”

Sword walked out the door with a few new bandages, some around his torso, and some around his arms.

“And remember, don’t go blowing yourself up again. Though, I highly doubt you’ll even listen, considering how you got blown up.”

“Heh no promises, Doc!”

Medkit sighed in dejection.

“You got blown up by your gear. Your own gear isn’t even meant to blow up. It's meant to slash people dead, not act as a pipe bomb. I really can’t tell if I should be impressed or disappointed.”

“Just a little something I learnt from my friend! It’s useful for the phights!”

“It may be useful, but it shouldn’t compromise your safety. Especially because you still owe me for the past three visits.”

Sword laughed at this statement, knowing that Medkit would not, despite Sword’s unpaid medical bills, hold that against him. They were friends by faction, after all- and they were on good terms with each other.

The sound of plastic rolling across asphalt cut their conversation short, and they barely had time to react before a blur of red yanked Sword's gear out of its sheathe.

"HEY-"

Skateboard stopped a short distance away from them and stepped on the end of his board. The vehicle tilted upwards, and he grabbed it and placed it on the nearby wall.

"Skateboard! No! What do you intend to do with that?!"

"...whatever happens to any of you two, I'll make sure you pay your medical bills."

Skateboard pulled a lemon out of his pocket and threw it in the air.

"Prepare yourselves!"

He slashed at the lemon, a wide grin on his face as he visualised the lemon getting cut into perfect, equal slices from a faultless cut straight into the lemon. He could almost see Medkit and Sword staring at him with a bewildered expression on both their faces upon looking at the perfectly cut lemon, without a single cut or scratch on its surface...

Skateboard missed, and the lemon hit him square in the forehead.

╔══════ ⋯⇋ ૮(•͈⌔•͈)ა ⇌⋯ ══════╗

╚══════⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯ ══════╝

yep that’s it lol, short one bc I’m outta ideas :,)

also might be taking Pressure reqs soon, I’m probably gonna divert from my requests and write a Sebastian fic lmao

hope you guys enjoyed what can only be described as my brain having a stroke and dying :D

byeeee

[aglassprincess]

hi!! hope this isn't a stupid question lol - your bots all seem to have cool prompts but idk how to work the bot, how do you think i should start? is it just like chatting and i'm overthinking it or do i format it like lines in a story? sorry to bother you, hope you have a nice rest of your day :)

Hellos!! Thank you so much 🥺💘

I don’t think it’s a stupid question at all, and you’re definitely not bothering me!

Short answer is—there’s no right or wrong way to do it, really. You can approach it however you want and whatever works best for you, and the best way to know that is by just chatting with it and going with the flow. :)

You can treat it like a regular chat, or you can take the role-playing approach, writing/narrating in the third person or first person!

My favorite approach is role-playing in third person because that way you are essentially creating your own little story and getting the most out of the bot. Using dialogue lines only can eventually get stale. When you follow the established greeting and role-play, you can really immerse yourself in it and play out a lot of different storylines.

When it comes to your replies, they can be as long or short as you want. Don't stress about it. The bot learns from your style and will start to follow your lead. Personally, that’s another reason why I prefer role-playing—it gives me more opportunities to keep the interactions interesting and dynamic, while also allowing me to give the bot more to work with.

Here are some things you can include in your responses if you're feeling stuck:

Describe your character’s mood, voice, or tone along with the dialogue.

Describe the surroundings from your character’s point of view and interact with the environment.

Give details about your character’s appearance, facial expressions, mannerisms, quirks, etc. You can even include information about their backstory, who they are, what they do, etc.

Include inner thoughts or personal reflections

Introduce side characters or background events to shake things up.

Add conflict or drama to the situation, whether it’s serious, lighthearted, or somewhere in between. Make it silly, make it sad, make it angsty, the world is your oyster. <3

Create internal conflict for your character, like doubts or hidden motives.

Add sensory details: talk about smells, sounds, tastes, and textures to make the scenario more vivid.

Write actions that respond to or build off what the bot does or says, like touching an object, making a gesture, etc.

There’s literally no limit to what you can do. Just remember, it doesn’t have to be complicated, so don’t let it intimidate you and make you feel pressured to go over the top! The point is to have fun and enjoy yourself. :)

If you haven’t yet, I’d recommend checking out the persona page on C.AI and setting up a persona to role-play with. It can be anything, whether it’s yourself, an OC, or a fictional character. The bot will take what you input and use it in the conversation, which makes things feel even more immersive. For example, I have a persona where my OC has a heavy French accent, and sometimes the bot will comment on it without me having to mention it. It adds nice little details to interactions.

Another thing that can help is rating the bot’s replies so it can learn from your feedback and give you more answers you vibe with through the RP. It's inevitable that the bot might go out of character sometimes, so this important to keep in mind when it happens! You can also swipe for different responses if you don’t like one, or even edit them yourself. The bot will learn from all of that and adjust accordingly.

Finally, here are some literal examples of how you can start writing your responses, just in case you're more of a visual person like me. 💃

The writing isn’t the best, so just focus on the style, lol.

Let’s say the greeting is this:

Rust took a seat directly across from you and offered you a faint, yet polite smile. “What’s your name?” he asked, his gaze lingering on you longer than necessary. He was studying your every move and facial expression for signs of weakness.

Format 1:

*She smiled back politely, knowing it was all a test*. Name’s Alice. *She leans back on the chair, unbothered.*

Format 2:

Alice smiled back politely. “Fuck,” she thought. She could tell this was a test from the moment he walked into the room. “Name’s Alice,” she responded confidently, as she leaned back on the chair, showing no signs of nervousness. Rust could try all the tricks he wanted to intimidate her, but she would not crack. Not yet, at least.

Hope that helps! 🫶

[hollowknightinsanity]

baby. fuck you

[Image ID: A black sketch of an infant bug, curled up on the ground with its eyes closed, drawn on a dull pink background. There is an arrow pointing at the child’s head with text that says, “Full of leaf”. /End ID]

This is Somber, the newborn child of Holly and my self-insert, who i still haven’t made.

Said self-insert is a silkworm moth, and I’m thinking of making him half-wyrm, but I’m not sure if I’ll actually do that

Anyway, logistics and uh. Lore ig? Under the cut

Ok, so. In my AUs, Holly (THK) is a hybrid between a Rootkin (White Lady’s species) and a Wyrm (Pale King’s species). Rootkin are strictly an egg-laying species, but Wyrms are capable of both laying eggs and giving live birth — it mostly depends on the environment/subspecies the Wyrm belongs to.

PK is part of the subspecies that gives live birth, but using his Soul magic, he’s capable of fertilizing eggs from laying species, such as Rootkin and Weavers, hence Hornet and the Vessels.

Holly takes after their mother — this is true across all my AUs — and as such, they adopted her reproductive system, so they lay eggs.

They had a condition that caused them to begin producing and laying eggs early, and started laying when they were 14. Now, this sucked for them in various ways; for one, early egg production and laying is very painful, and considering the state of their (mostly missing) organs, their pain was amplified tenfold when they started.

Secondly, if their parents found their eggs, they would immediately be outed as impure, and they did not want that. At the time, they thought that if they were outed, their parents would literally kill them — which isn’t true, by the way, but they had no way of knowing that — so they kept it a secret.

Initially, Holly attempted to just hide the eggs, but after a while, they started worrying about the hiding place being found, so they began destroying the eggs instead.

They laid once every two months, and every egg they laid was broken and thrown out. What exactly they did I’m unsure of, but I feel like they’d crack the eggs into some type of disposal area they made/found, and crush the shells into dust.

Anyway, they destroyed all the eggs they laid, except for one.

When they were 16, about a week before their sealing, they started thinking. They thought maybe, if they did get out alive, if they did escape the Black Egg, then maybe they could have a family. Keep the Pale King’s legacy going. They knew he was poisoned with Void and destined to die, so they thought that maybe if they survived, they could keep Hallownest alive by birthing an heir.

So, they took the last egg, and made a nest in the Queen’s Gardens, where they decided they would hide it, and they placed two Seals of Binding on it to protect it in case the nest were found by the Mantis Traitors.

The egg and nest were very well hidden, though, so nobody ever found it. Holly was sealed, and that was that.

Decades later, after escaping the Black Egg (which they heavily doubted they would, but hey, a bug can hope), they and my self-insert (who I’ll just call K here, I’m still trying to figure out a name for him) met and started a QPR. They ended up getting very close in their relationship, and Holly decided to carry out their plan from when they were 16. Though, instead of wanting to continue Hallownest as a kingdom, they just wanted a family.

At some point, after Holly gets quote-unquote “outed” to PK about their impurity (he knew since they were 10, but they didn’t know that), they ask K to come with them to the Gardens, as they had something important they wanted to speak to him about in private.

Some conversation happens, and Holly shows him the nest and tells him that they want to start a family. Because I need to be super self-indulgent when it comes to my writing sometimes, he of course agrees, and the 60-year-old binding-protected egg is fertilized, and later hatches into the itty bitty baby in the sketch, who Holly named Somber.

Google’s definition of somber is “oppressively solemn or sober in mood; grave,” and I believe that would fit the AU perfectly, so the child is named Somber.

For an in-universe explanation for the name, Holly would name their child after themself, I think. According to Google, a similar word to somber is solemn, which could mean either “not cheerful or smiling; serious” or “characterized by deep sincerity,” which both fit their life to a T.

As for when exactly this takes place, all I’m sure of is it happens after they out themself to PK. Maybe it’s somewhere around the same time the rain oneshot happens, or maybe a bit before or after — I’m not sure. It’s just around that timeframe.

Anyway thank you for coming to my ted talk, I will now sink into the fuckin. Swamps of Sadness from The Neverending Story.

[kaigarax]

Exactly As I Am

Narushima Melt x Reader

Quote: "Fall in love with someone compassionate." & "Fall in love with someone you'll love forever."

Someone You Loved Featuring: The Pilot

Narushima Melt wasn’t quite sure why he was here.

He was a stranger to the bride and barely even knew the groom. They’d had… three (maybe four) conversations? Maybe the groom was actually a loner that didn’t know how to make friends and needed to fill the roster? Or perhaps they wanted famous people here and Melt happened to fall into that position after his latest role?

Probably not.

Most of the people here were probably either related to either bride and groom or a business partner of some sort. Perhaps even both. None of them were very recognizable to Melt - though he did get recognized by a few people. Even asked for his autograph at one point which was a total ego stroke.

The wedding venue was nice.

Very nice.

And very expensive.

His manager had asked him to dress in his nicest of suits. A dark blue top and black pants. You’d alway thought that he looked better in blue and white (something about it bringing out his eyes better) but white gets dirty so easily and Melt didn’t want to have to walk around checking every seat before sitting down. Besides, he looked good in black too.

Speaking of you, Melt was a little surprised to see that you’d been invited here as well. Well maybe not considering that you’d been asked to come here as a photographer. What’s more surprising is that they managed to get you to take photos of them at all. His own company had to book months in advance when they scheduled you to take photos of him and even then they hadn’t been sure if you’d make it or not.

You either must have been getting paid real well or someone important to you was chasing in a big favour. Melt wonders if you’d ever do a big favour like this for him.

He spots you from across the room despite your clothes seeming to blend into the environment as you walk around taking photos of all the different guests.

You’re dressed nicely. Well nicer than what you usually wear - and you actually look rather pretty today. Well, you always look pretty but today you stand out compared to most of the other girls here.

So, of course, Melt easily makes his way across the room to you, convincing you to let him sit beside you at your table sequestered in the back of the room. Makes sense. Out of the way and convenient access if someone wanted to talk to you about something.

There’s a tall dark haired man, The Hero Melt thinks, stands out against the light sheets of the table. He looks to be around Melt’s age if not a little older. Definitely older than when you must have taken his photos.

Sitting across from the dark haired man is the Chef. A short dirty blonde hair guy. Truthfully, Melt isn’t all too sure why he’s called the Chef - none of his photos have to do with cooking - but perhaps it’s just another one of your practical jokes.

His own title, The Pilot, is an inside joke taken a little too far. Not just were all the photos you took of him when he’d been posing in the cockpit of an airplane but because you liked to tease him about all his failed television shows. All of which failed after releasing the Pilot.

“Ah, unrequited love.” You say, as you take a seat at the table in the back of the room.

Melt takes a seat beside you, frowning slightly.

You always were such a weird one. Speaking out randomly about whatever happened to be on your mind. It was probably the most memorable thing about you though. It’s how his first conversation with you occurred back when you first started taking photos of him.

The Hero and the Chef both look to Melt as he takes a seat beside you. Both of their expressions are calm and neutral - the Hero’s slightly more playful than that of the Chef’s. Melt turns his own attention to you.

“Who?” Asks Melt.

You point to a boy with pink hair sitting on the other side of the room with his friends.

From Melt’s perspective there doesn’t seem to be anything all that special about the pink haired boy. He’s good looking but nothing jaw dropping. More cute than handsome. Young. Or at least younger than Melt.

Though, Melt would admit, he does recognize the look on the boy’s face. It reminds him of himself when he thinks about-

Okay maybe he’s not ready to admit something like that yet. But he will say that he knows for a fact that your assessment is right. It usually is when it comes to things like this.

“Who’s he in love with?” The Chef asks, leaning towards you.

You smile teasingly, “guess.”

The Hero leans towards you too which causes a frown to form on Melt's face, “the brown haired girl?”

“The blonde girl?” Suggest the Chef.

Amatures. Melt isn’t even all too sure what you saw in either of these two. They’re just like everyone else. Nothing that screams brilliant. Though Melt has never been the best at determining another person’s worth. It wasn’t something that should have been valued unless they planned on going into an occupation like his own anyways.

Melt’s eyes scan over the various people before a smile forms on his face, “the girl with the golden eyes.”

Your own eyes light up at that, “oh, and what makes you think that?”

“A gut feeling,” Melt shugs, “I guess.”

You shake your head as if soldering a young child, “I expected better of you, Mr. Airplane.”

Of course you’d use that nickname. Melt has to fight the urge to roll his eyes.

“Mr. Airplane?” The Chef asks, saying the nickname tentatively.

He doesn’t fight it very hard, “just a silly nickname.”

Though admittedly, that might have to do with the annoyance already building up in his stomach as he watches the Hero and Chef cozy up to you. He understands that you’re close to them but do you really have to be that close to them?

Melt supposes he should have done more research into your relationship with the other Muses.

Well, too late to cry over spilled milk.

He’d get to the task at a later point in time.

The Hero laughs, “it suits you, being the Pilot and all.”

You laugh along with the Hero, “ah yes, the Pilot.”

Melt has trouble fighting the blush on his cheeks at the sound of your laughter, “you’re such a brat.” He’s always had trouble with keeping up his cool persona around you.

“At least I don’t rely on gut feelings to know when someone’s in love.” You say back.

As if that’s something to write home about.

“How do you know when someone’s in love, (Y/n)?” The Chef asks, saying your name so softly and sweetly that Melt almost needs to barf.

“Well,” you (in all your wisdom and glory) begin, “I would recommend years of observation - as experience is the most sure way of figuring this kind of thing out - but I’ll give you guys the sparknotes. To know if someone’s in love you just have to follow their gaze.”

“Why?” Asked the Hero.

And you smile sweetly in response, “because the gaze never lies.”

The gaze never lies? Melt supposes that might be true. You always were more insightful than everyone else so maybe he should give this some consideration.

People did have a tendency to look at things they liked. Melt was looking at you right now. But the statement is quite the ambitious one to make. One that seemingly seeks to encapsulate all of the human race into a single sentence about love. What about people that look away when they’re in love? Are you saying they don’t exist at all? Is it something that people just can’t help doing?

When the thought proves to be too annoying, Melt quickly disgards it.

No need to ponder about something as complicated as that if Melt won’t be able to come up with a proper answer.

“Do any of you ever plan on getting married?” You ask. Melt presumes the question comes because of their present location.

Melt shrugs, “eventually.”

“Eventually?” You ask, repeating Melt slowly and playfully.

“Well, obviously whoever I get married to is going to have to be okay with being in the public light. Constantly being harassed by the paparazzi whether they’re famous or not just because they’re associated with me. I don’t plan on getting married until I’m ready to settle down in my acting career.” Explained Melt.

“Very mature of you.” You tease.

Usually this is where Melt would stop, but your teasing seems to egg him on which causes him to say, “besides, actors and models are more popular when they’re single anyways.”

You sigh, “and he drops the ball.”

Melt pouts in response.

You can be so mean to him sometimes - but that’s why Melt likes you more than everyone else. You don’t do it with malice intent but because you want him to be better. And you don’t baby him like how others do either. You tell him when he’s in the wrong and what you think he could be doing better. You make him better.

“What about you, Viking boy?” You ask, turning to look at the Chef, “you are the oldest of us four. You plan on getting hitched anytime soon?”

Viking boy?

The Chef was proving to be weirder and weirder.

The Chef scratches the back of his neck sheepishly, “I guess I never thought much about it.”

You get a thoughtful look in your eyes as you respond, “any girl would be lucky to have you. Or guy, if that’s what you’re into.”

“Well I-”

The blushing Chef is cut off with a playful pat on the back from the Hero, “come on, Sweets, don’t tease him.”

Sweets?

“And what about you, Cellophane?” You shoot back.

Cellophane?

Were you really close enough with The Chef and Hero that you had given them nicknames? So close that they were able to refer to you as something like ‘Sweets?’ Melt isn’t sure if he likes the way his stomach tosses and turns. If you were going to let a dude call you something like Sweets then who was Melt to judge?

The Hero clears his throat, attempting to be coy, “what about me?”

“Any special someone in your life?” You asked.

“Na,” the Hero shakes his head, “it’s a bachelor’s life for me.”

For someone smiling, Melt thinks that the Hero looks awfully sad. It’s an expression he had never been all too familiar with but wanted to master. He wonders if it would be weird for him to suddenly pull out a camera and capture the expression of the Hero. it would definitely be invasive but Melt imagines it’s something that you would do if it interested you enough.

Melt obviously doesn’t stop and pull out a camera (because he’s a normal person) but he does wonder.

“Well no shame,” you say, “not everyone in this world gets married.”

“And what about you, Sweets?” Asked the Hero.

“Marriage,” you say the word as if tentatively tasting it for the first time, “what do you think?”

Marriage.

Melt’s heart does a weird kind of thing when he thinks of you married. It’s not that fluttering feeling romantic writers always talk about. It’s kinda sad to drop off his chest as he imagines you as a bride. Perhaps he gets such a sad feeling because he knows you’d never marry someone like him - and he’d never get to marry someone like you. Imagines you’d end up with someone older. Someone nicer to you than he was.

Annoyed with his own thoughts, Melt attempts to distract himself with something else. His eyes wandering the room and landing back on the pink haired boy from before.

Ah, how much simpler life would be if he had been someone like the pink haired boy. How easy it would have been to look at the girl he likes and confess his feelings. How simple it would have been to have just taken the golden eyed girl’s hands and express his feelings in a dramatic fashion that would make even the most reserved of folks blush.

Eventually, Melt’s gaze lands on an orange haired boy that the golden eyed girl keeps looking at.

If the gaze never lies then it appears this girl too seems to hold an unrequited love. Ah what a funny situation the trio seem to have found themselves in. Though Melt isn’t really in a position to say something like that.

He looked back at the pink haired boy.

Then, Melt turns to look at you, “what makes you think he has an unrequited love, (Y/n)?”

“Don’t think, Mr. Airplane.” You say, your voice so certain and sure, “I know.”

“Oh do you now?’ The Hero adds, his own voice coated with a teasing lit.

“Of course,” you say with seemingly a boundless amount of wisdom and a smile that sends Melt’s heart into a pathetic flutter, “I know people’s hearts. Why else would my works be so popular?”

If Melt could smile like that he bet he’d be able to have any role he wanted.

Bets that you can get any heart you want.

“Because you’re good at taking photos?” The Chef suggests, his voice ever so polite and reserved.

The Hero laughs, once again, at the Chef’s words, patting him playfully on the back, “I like you. You’re so straightforward! Not like this little missy here.”

You pout, “hey!”

Melt feels a smile pull at his lips as he watches you, “people like your photos because you pick such good looking Muses.”

You smile in agreement, “very true! The muses I pick have excellent hearts.”

An excellent heart? Melt doubts that. Almost everything he’s done in his life has been for and because of himself. Everyone in the idol industry did things purely for their own gain - whether that be for financial or fame. He doubts that anyone, other than yourself, would refer to him as someone with an ‘excellent heart’. It’s almost enough to make him laugh.

“Hey,” the Hero points out, “you never answered the question, Sweets.”

Sweets.

“I haven’t,” you hum playfully, “have I?”

Melt’s full on grinning as he looks to the Hero, “this is what you mean, ain’t it? She hates answering questions directly.”

“Hey,” you frown, “you’re ganging up on me.”

“That’s because you make it too easy.” Replied the Hero.

The Chef, being the ever sweet man he is, smiles softly, “it’s okay, (Y/n). You don’t have to tell us anything you don’t want to.”

Melt thinks that the Chef is someone you’d end up marrying. Someone to indulge in your playful behaviour. Someone to treat you softly and gently like how you deserve. Someone that understands both their own emotions and yours. Not someone like Melt that jumps into situations without thinking. Someone so driven by their own emotions and unaware of the feelings of others.

As much as Melt hates to admit it (and be sure he absolutely loathes it) the Chef is someone much better suited for you than he is.

The Hero playfully scolds the Chef, “you’re too easy on her.”

Melt nods, “a total simp.”

“The two of you could learn a thing or two from him,” you say, rolling your eyes but smiling warmly.

“Doubt it, Sweets.” Replies the Hero, rubbing your head softly.

Perhaps you’d do better with someone like the Hero. Someone that plays off your attitude well. Someone to keep you on your toes and push you back a little. Someone that clearly shows his affection for you.

You grab the Hero’s hand, “love is such a mysterious thing.”

Melt raises a brow but follows your gaze.

The bride and groom seem to have taken to the dance floor, spinning around and laughing beautifully. Melt doesn’t think he’s seen the groom that happy before. Sure, he may have only seen him… three times before but he knows for a fact that he didn’t think he was able to make such a warm and loving sick expression.

It’s almost as annoying as it is cute.

Melt hopes that one day he might be able to find someone that he can dance on a floor like that with. With reckless abandon of the tune and melody simply because you can.

The Chef clears his throat, “I thought you said that love was a well understood thing?”

“I did?” You asked.

Melt nods, “yes.”

“You sure?”

The Hero nods, “very~”

“When?”

Melt rolls his eyes, “during my exhibit.”

“Oh,” you laugh softly, “I guess I have.”

Melt leans over towards you, gently flicking your forehead much like how you used to do when the two of you would film and Melt would say something snippy. The gesture seems to hold just as much warmth to you as it does to him as you smile brightly in response. Melt hates that you’re able to smile so warmly when you look at him because his heart has begun to thump erratically in his chest once again.

“Perhaps I should say fate is such a mysterious thing.” You suggested.

Fate.

Melt has always been a big believer of Fate - almost to the point of being called hopeless. Maybe it was because he didn’t like the idea of everything being in his own hands. Made the world seem much… bigger. Pinning everything on this idea of a greater force no one can control just made the world seem so much more manageable.

“Do you think they’re each other’s first love?” The Hero asks as his gaze is once again captured by the married couple.

“No.” Melt mumbles.

At the same time he hears the Chef proclaim a bright, “yes.”

The bride, while clearly in love, doesn’t look the same way that most people do when they’re in love for the first time. There seems to be history in her eyes. Something similar to what’s in your eyes. The eyes of someone that has seen something. What exactly, Melt isn’t too sure but he does know that it has to be something.

“She’s his first love.” You said.

The Hero leans towards you, “hm?”

“It’s the way he looks at her. You always look at your first love differently from everyone else. There’s a certain kind of softness in his eyes.” You explained.

“It’s too bad his best man doesn’t seem to like her very much.” Says the Chef, his voice thoughtful and considerate.

You tilt your head to the side, curiously, “what makes you say that?”

“Because he’s sitting so stiffly.” Explained the Chef, pointing out the best man.

The Hero shrugs thoughtfully, “he does seem rather annoyed.”

Melt look over to the best man. There’s a certain look in his eyes that reminds Melt of himself as he watches the dancing newly weds. Melt isn’t sure if feels sympathy or annoyance towards the best man for allowing himself to get into such a situation, “I get that impression too.”

Your eyes land on Melt, a bright look, “Elaborate.”

“I guess it has something to do with the way he acts around her. It’s like he’s stepping on eggshells.” Says Melt despite not seeing the best man interact with the bride at all. It feels more like an assessment of his own reaction than the best man’s. But he’d never admit that - especially to you.

“He could just be shy,” suggested the Chef.

The Hero takes the opposite approach, “or maybe he doesn’t like her and is upset the groom is marrying someone he doesn’t like?”

You say exactly what Melt hadn’t wanted to hear most, “he’s in love with her.”

“And what makes you say that?” Asks Melt, hoping you don’t hear the shakiness in his voice.

“Follow his gaze.”

Fall in love with someone compassionate.

---

Exactly As I Am

My Dearest,

I used to think that I would want the person I loved to love me in return. That I would want them to remember my name. I’ve found that simply getting to know you is enough for me.

Yours Truly

---

“Don’t you think purple hair is kinda tacky?” You ask, tilting your head to the side playfully, a teasing look in your eyes. Your taunt is childish at best and downright cruel at worst but Narushima Melt does his best to try and take it in stride. He knows you’re doing it on purpose because you want to see if he’ll lose his cool.

That you’ll push and prod him because you can.

Anyone else would have either been ignored or promptly escorted away from Melt’s sight. Why should he have to sit there and listen to someone make fun of him, much less a photographer meant to be taking photos of him.

Melt frowns ever so slightly, “it’s not the hair colour I picked.”

You’re lucky you’re not just anyone.

A renowned photographer known for shooting her Muses up into fame faster than a rocket gets shot up into space. If Melt plays his cards correctly he might even manage to score a role in the upcoming movie with that Director you took photos of a few years ago. All he has to do is make it through a few more of the excruciatingly long photo sessions with you (they’re not actually that long) and he’ll be set. Or at least that’s what his manager tells him.

“True.”

Melt raises an eyebrow.

“Purple doesn’t suit you very well.”

Ugh.

Why do you have to always know exactly what to say to push his buttons all the time?

You’re the most annoying photographer ever! How anyone ever managed to put up with you in the first place, Melt isn’t sure. Honestly it’s a miracle you even managed to convince someone to be your muse in the first place, much less 12 (or was it 13) other people.

“Melt,” you hum his name teasingly as you reposition him into a different stance, “aren’t you going to answer me?”

Fine.

If you’re going to insist on being like that then so is he.

“And where’d you get an opinion like that?” Taunted Melt.

You smile easily, seemingly amused, “a magazine,” your hands gently gliding over his own as you position them in where you deem is the perfect place.

“It seems you’re just another bee.”

You laugh softly, “I am quite fond of honey.”

Melt has to do a double take.

You seem to have taken it in stride though Melt isn’t sure if you’ve actually misunderstood the insult or not. Sometimes you do like to play dumb but he can’t figure out if you’ve actually misunderstood what he was saying or not.

Truthfully, Melt isn’t actually mad at you for calling his hair tacky but the topic a sensitive one for him. One of the other models he’d been modeling with had made fun of his hair the other day and ever since then Melt’s been debating on changing it. He obviously won’t because then the others would know that they got to him and he definitely won’t give them that satisfaction but it did put him in a bad mood.

None of the other models or staff on set had stepped up to defend Melt forcing him to take all the criticism.

To hear that you were simply just following their lead now did nothing to help his already crumbling self-esteem.

Seeming to understand the turmoil going on in Melt’s head you break out into laughter, “you’ll find the life of a worker bee to be quite a fulfilling one.”

Melt’s heart does a weird fluttering thing at your laugh which only makes his scowl deepen, “fulfilling is a nice way of saying boring.”

“And what’s wrong with being boring?”

“Everyone wants to be special.”

“Special people,” you smile teasingly, “don’t get insulted when they’re called boring.”

        I used to wanna be         Living like there’s only me         But now I spend my time         Thinking ‘bout a way to get you off my mind         I used to be so rough         Never really gave enough         And then you caught my eye         Giving me the feeling of a lighting strike

“Would you consider doing shots underwater?”

“What?”

You poke your head out from behind the camera, “underwater shots! I’ve been wanting to try underwater photos. I got a waterproof camera recently and wanted to try it out. So I was wondering if you wanted to take some underwater shots.”

“No.” Melt shakes his head, “I don’t want to do it.”

“Aw, come on! I promise I’ll be quick!”

“You’re never quick when it comes to taking photos.”

“That’s because you only see me when I take photos in a professional setting! I’ll have you know that I can take photos in a timely manner when I try to.”

Melt chuckles, “I’ll believe it when I see it.”

You snap a shot, “so you’ll do it?”

“No.”

“Lame~”

Melt scowls, “don’t you have any other people you can ask?”

“I do,” you snap another shot of Melt, “but I don’t want to ask them.”

Melt turns his head away from the camera lens.

You snap another shot.

“Did you spend a lot of time with your other Muses?” Melt asks, attempting to redirect your attention.

“Well, I did have to spend time with them so that I could take photos of them.”

“But did you spend a lot of time with them, outside of the studio?”

“I didn’t take all of my photos in a studio. Actually, I took at least half of them at the moment sporadically. Always searching for the perfect angles you know? Always in the pursuit of something greater than what we already have.”

Melt nods but he doesn’t actually get what you’re saying.

“But yeah,” you hum softly as you move from one camera to the next, “I did spend a lot of time with each of the muses. Some more than others, of course.”

“Do you still talk to them?”

“Some of them.”

Melt wonders what the expression on your face was when you answered him. If you got a sad misty eyed look or if you smiled ever so gently in a way that people do when they’re happy about what happened rather than being sad that it ended. Or maybe your face didn’t change at all, staying neutral and stoic.

You seem more like the kind of person to not linger very long in the past which is actually kind of ironic because you’re a photographer. And what are photos if not moments of the past frozen in time?

“Am I a Muse?” Melt asks suddenly.

“Do you want to be?”

Melt shrugs, “I mean, I know you take photos of people all the time and do a bunch of photoshoots like this with people that don’t end up being Muses but… I guess I was just curious. It doesn't matter much anyways.”

“It matters to me.”

Melt swears that if his heart keeps fluttering like that he’s going to end up ruined.

        Look at me now, I’m falling         I can’t even talk, still stuttering         This found I’m on, it keeps shaking         Oh, oh, oh, now!

You step out for a moment when your manager comes running into the room speaking to you about something important. Melt hopes it’s nothing too serious and watches anxiously as you head out. It’s rare that something pulls you away while you’re in the middle of a shoot and even rarer for you to leave without mentioning something to Melt. It’s so rare that this is the first time it’s ever happened.

Melt left speechless as your manager follows you out of the room.

Well, hopefully it won’t be anything too bad. Maybe there was an important call you were expecting? But then wouldn’t you have said something to him earlier? And it wasn’t like you to be forgetful about things like that.

If Melt really needs to know then your manager will probably tell him.

Right?

On another note, Melt was pretty surprised when he saw how small your management staff was. Consisting of only two people. Your co-managers as you called them. One to help you manage your schedule and the other to help you manage your work life balance. Melt bets that you would probably spend your entire day just taking photos of things if you could.

Most people don’t actually know that you have two managers. Your second one prefers to keep more in the background of things. But that makes sense. Most photographers don’t even have managers in the first place. Only the really famous ones, which you happen to be.

Melt was very surprised when he heard that you weren’t with a publishing company or distributing company of some sort. That you preferred to keep things small and freelance if you could. Melt knows that he certainly would have signed with the best group he could have if he were in a position like yours.

He supposes the fame just never mattered as much to you.

“Is everything okay?” Melt asks as you come back into the room.

“Hm?” You’re out of breath slightly as you turn to Melt, “did you say something?” Wow. Melt’s always known you were pretty, thought you were pretty when he first met you, but right now he suddenly finds himself wanting to press his lips to your own. He isn’t really all too sure why either. He just knows that his heart is racing and his head is pounding. It feels like he was the one running around rather than you.

“No,” Melt turns away from you, “nothing. Let’s just get on with the next set of photos. Where do you want me to stand?”

        All I wanna be, yeah, all I ever wanna be, yeah, yeah         Is Somebody to you         All I wanna be, yeah, all I ever wanna be, yeah, yeah         Is somebody to you         Everybody's tryna be a billionaire         But every time I look at you, I just don’t care         ‘Cause all I wanna be, yeah, all I ever wanna be, yeah, yeah         Is somebody to you

“Tilt your head up a little higher.” You request.

Melt tilts his head back while you alter the lens of the camera. He watches curiously as you scramble around with the lighting, running from light to light and changing the settings. Most photographers have teams of people to do it for them but you always seem to prefer to do everything yourself.

Melt can’t decide if that’s a good thing or not.

On one hand it shows that you like to get your hands dirty. Do all the heavy lifting yourself. But, on the other hand, it displays that you’re kind of a control freak; thinking that you can do everything better than the people around you.

Caught up in his own thoughts Melt doesn’t realise that you’re standing behind him until your hands are readjusting his shoulders.

“Lean a little more to the left and direct your gaze this way.” You direct, placing your hands gently on his face as you position in the right spot exactly.

You’re definitely a control freak.

And a little needy.

Melt’s surprised at how your hands feel. Usually your touches are fleeting and over top of his clothing. You’re always making sure to maintain a professional distance between yourself and the people around you. It makes sense. Wouldn’t want to get into a scandal or anything through miscommunicating or a touch that lingers a little too long.

But sometimes, just sometimes, Melt wants your touch to linger just a little longer.

Especially right now as your hands reposition his face.

They’re not exactly soft but they're not rought either. A nice inbetween. Just enough texture to have him curious about what kinds of things you do for fun. Obviously you’re holding cameras all the time but there must be other things that you do. Maybe you just don’t like to lotion your hands? Or you’re an avid swimmer?

“Don’t lean forward so much, Melt.”

Oh shoot.

He does his best to bite back a blush.

He doesn’t do a very good job though as you quickly catch onto his change in demeanour.

“Oh, that’s a nice expression.”

“(Y/n),” Melt frowns.

“Hm?”

He doesn’t say anything in response, the words once again alluding him. Melt doesn’t get tongue tied often… well maybe he does. He’s not much of a speaker in the first place but it gets a little annoying when he wants to talk to you. When there’s things that he wants to say to pretty girls like you.

“Have you ever been in love before?” You ask, whispering softly as you lean in towards Melt.

Melt rolls his eyes, “you’re annoying.”

“What?” You pout playfully, “I was just curious.”

“Yes,” Melt huffs, “if you must know. Yes, I’ve been in love before.”

‘SNAP!’

“Hey!” Melt exclaims, “you said you would tell me before you take photos.”

“Sorry,” you say though it’s obvious you aren’t actually sorry, “I liked that expression you made. You don’t make it very often.”

“You’re lucky I’m nice.”

“The luckiest~”

        I used to run around         I didn’t want to settle down         But now, I wake each day         Looking for a way that I can see your face         I’ve got your photograph         But baby, I need more than that         I need to know your lips         Nothing ever mattered to me more than this

“I think that’s enough photos for the day,” you said, turning off the bright spot lights. Melt nods, getting down from the chair you had seated him in and starting to take off the clothes he’d been dressed in, leaving him in a simple shirt and pants.

You fiddle around with the equipment. Twisting chords together and placing cameras into their proper cases.

Usually Melt would immediately make his way off set. He never was one to linger. But today he finds his feet planted to the ground as he watches you move around. When he first met you he had assumed you weren’t all that familiar with this industry world. You were so standoffish and aloof when speaking to the other people on set and even more so when speaking to him. In retrospect, Melt suppose that might’ve been because you wanted to see his character.

Watching you now though Melt can see just exactly how wrong he was. You move so smoothly and efficiently as if you’ve been doing this for a long time. You have a good understanding where everything is and you’re calm.

“What’re you doing after this?” Melt asks, moving to stand beside you.

“Curious about something other than yourself?” You teased.

Melt frowns, “I don’t only think about myself! I also consider the feelings of the cast and crew! Well,” Melt looks down to the ground, “at least I do now.” Despite knowing you’re only teasing you seem to always somehow hit the hard hitting topics. He supposes that he should be used to that though.

“Only teasing, Mr. Airplane.”

“Hey!”

“Hm?”

“You said you wouldn’t call me that anymore!”

“I lied~”

Melt snorts, “you’re such a brat.”

“Guilty as charged~” You seem to have finished packing everything up as you throw a jacket over your shoulders and sling a polaroid camera around your neck. The polaroid camera is the first thing that catches Melt’s attention. It reminds him of those brightly coloured ones that he used to see in commercials when he was young. Instafilms or something like that. One of his younger cousins had had one of them always taking pictures at the worst of times.

Your own camera looks a little on the older side. Looks a little beaten up but well loved and taken care of.

From all the photographers that Melt’s met he can definitely say that you’re the most in love with your work. The only one that seems to always have a camera within arm’s reach. Always searching for the perfect moment to capture and share with the rest of the world. He might even go as far as saying you’re not like any other photographer he’s ever met if that didn’t sound so cliche.

“Hey,” Melt leans against the door as you go to open it, “you never answered my question.”

You give him a raised eyebrow but your eyes sparkle in amusement, “didn’t think you cared.”

“Why would I ask if I didn’t care?”

“Touche.” You move to open the door.

Melt doesn't move, he’s not going to let you get away this easily, “well?”

        Look at me now, I’m falling         I can’t even talk, still stuttering         This ground I’m on, it keeps shaking         Oh, oh, oh, now!

“Not used to not getting what you want, huh?” You tease.

“Haha,” Melt rolls his eyes, “very funny.”

“Well I certainly think so~”

You always did like making things more difficult than they needed to be. Why else would you insist on doing all the crew work yourself? You, if anyone, could have very easily assembled a crew attuned to your every need and want with your fame alone. Heck, you probably had people lining up to work for you if you really wanted.

Melt thinks that that’s likely the most interesting thing about you though. The fact that you do all these seemingly crazy (and oftentimes stupid) things without explaining yourself. He remembers reading an interview from you. You answered every question in an open ended way. Leaving lots of room for interpretation. Never directly or outright saying things. You definitely got off on leaving people confused, that's for sure.

Melt, believe it or not, had actually done a little bit of research on you the other day.

He didn’t like how you never answer many of his questions so he had gone off and looked for information himself. You were from a suburban town near one of the larger cities. Grew up with your first Muse, the Soldier. Attended university with the Storyteller and Auteur. Traveled around the world.

Overall, there wasn’t much information on you but that’s what Melt had been expecting. The most he found about you came from the quotes of your muses, specifically the Mentalist. Back when your fame was first rising it was the Mentalist that did most of the promoting of your skills and talents. So much so that your names are practically synonymous with one another’s.

“So, are we just going to stay here all night?” You ask.

“Fine,” Melt opens the door, “but you’re coming with me to my next set.”

“What? Why?”

“Just,” Melt blushes, “just because.”

He thanks his lucky stars that all you do is smile and nod, deciding not to push the topic any further, “sure. Whatever you say, Mr. Airplane.”

Melt walks ahead of you, not wanting you to see his flushed face, “so who’s been your favourite Muse?”

“My favourite Muse?”

“Yeah, you know. Which one of your Muses did you like the most?”

“I don’t have a favourite. I like each of my muses differently. It’s unfair to compare them like that.”

“Come on,” Melt gives you a playful nudge, “everyone has a favourite. Don’t give a cliche answer like parents do whenever they get asked which child is their favourite. I’m sure there was one that you liked working with more than the others.”

“Well if we’re going to specially say which one I liked working with the most then it would have been The Mentalist.”

“Why?”

“He was easy to work with. Understood the industry and was there to help me feel better about all the mistakes I made.” You get a fond smile on your face that Melt hasn’t seen before. It makes his heart skip a beat.

“And,” Melt swallows, “which one of your Muses was the… funnest to work with?”

“The Storyteller.”

“And the best looking?”

“Objectively? Or based on my own preferences?”

“Your own preferences.”

“The Dancer.”

“Then what about objectively?”

You smile teasingly, “the Dancer, still.”

Melt’s mood begins to sour but he can’t exactly understand why.

“You know,” you hum, “these are never heard before answers.”

“Oh?”

“Definitely,” you explain, “I don’t just go around and answer questions directly~ I prefer to leave things up to speculation. So don’t go around and tell everyone or else I might get some angry calls from my Muses.”

Melt laughs at that.

        All I wanna be, yeah all I ever wanna be, yeah, yeah         Is somebody to you         All I wanna be, yeah, all I ever wanna be, yeah, yeah         Is somebody to you         Everybody’s tryna be a billionaire         But every time I look at you, I just don’t care         ‘Cause all I wanna be, yeah, all I ever wanna be, yeah, yeah         Is somebody to you

“So, what’re you going to call my series of photos?” Melt asks, leaning against the wall.

“Hm,” you lean on the wall beside him, “what do you think I should call it?”

“The Model?”

“What? I was teasing earlier about your hair being tacky but that title is definitely too tacky!” You sigh dramatically, “I’d never recover from the humiliation of using a title as rudimentary as ‘The Model.’ I can already hear the criticism of the press.”

Melt snorts, “as if some of your titles aren’t already tacky. The Detective and The Violinist, just to name a few.”

“Those titles are who they are.”

“And I’m not a model?”

“You’re so much more.”

Melt feels his cheeks flush. He wonders if you can see how red his cheeks are between the dim lighting and makeup that had been applied to his face earlier on. You probably don’t because you likely would have taken the chance to tease him as you usually do. He’s thankful that you don’t. He’s not sure he’ll be able to live down this level of embarrassment… ever. To think that someone like you would be able to make him blush like a middle school boy with his first crush.

His heart’s fluttering dramatically.

Is this a normal feeling?

Melt isn’t all too sure anymore.

“I’m thinking, The Pilot.” You say suddenly.

Melt turns to look at you standing beside him. You’re closer than he thought you were - just barely a breadths width away from his arm touching your own. He’s obviously used to you touching him (always politely and properly) from the photoshoots but this feels different. Doesn't have that same professional distance. Doesn’t have that same context.

“The Pilot?” Melt asks, “like an airplane Pilot? Wait, is this because you always call me Mr. Airplane?”

“No,” you laugh, “like the first episode of the show.”

“Tacky.” Melt teases.

You give him a playful shove, “the Pilot because all the shows you star in fail after airing the first episode.”

Melt pouts, “low blow.”

“Obviously I’m only teasing,” you smile fondly, “the Pilot because I want this to be the first episode in a long career for you.”

Wow.

He kind of hates how you’re able to switch so easily between a stoic and serious personality and a calm and collected one. How you’re able to go from pouting to romantic in seemingly a matter of seconds. He definitely hates how he’s probably not the first.

Obviously, not being one to be outdone, Melt leans down and whispers into your ear, the same way you’d done earlier before, “have you ever been in love before?”

You smile, “of course.”

“Yeah,” Melt says, “that’s what I expected.”

“You know,” you hum thoughtfully, “you aren’t the first one to ask me a question like that. I always thought I looked like someone that falls in love easily so it always surprises me when someone asks me a question like that.”

Melt frowns, “you aren’t.”

“I don’t look like someone that falls in love easily?”

“You aren’t surprised.”

“Oh? And how do you know that?”

He pulls away in a huff, not really quite sure how to articulate his words. Melt’s never been all that good at saying what’s on his mind and he’s even worse when it comes to girls like you. People like you. That poke and prod in an attempt to see the inner workings of his brain. How can someone else understand what he’s thinking when he barely does himself?

“Smile for me.” You say, holding up your polaroid camera.

Annoyed, Melt gives you a practiced smile.

‘SNAP.’

        Look at me now, I’m fallin’         Can’t even talk still stutterin’         All I wanna be, yeah, all I ever wanna be, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

“Throw it out.” Demanded Melt.

“What?” You hold the photo just out of Melt’s reach, “but you look so cute!”

“No I don’t.”

“Yes you do.”

“No.”

“Hm,” you pull a silver compact from your pocket, “can I keep it if I promise that I won’t publish this with the other photos?”

Melt raises an eyebrow, “you want to keep a photo of me?”

“Course~” You say it as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world, “who doesn't keep photos of people that are important to them?”

He’s important to you?

His heart skips a beat.

He’s important to you.

And then another.

He’s important to you!

“Want to see them?” You ask, opening up your silver compact.

“See what?”

“My secret collection of photos.”

Melt shrugs, trying his best to seem nonchalant, “why not? You’re going to show me either way.”

There looks to be about a dozen or so photos in the compact that come pouring out when you take them out. Melt is surprised to see that he actually recognizes most of the people in these photos. He’s never seen any of these specific photos before but he knows for a fact that these people are your other Muses.

Some of them are faded.

Others are a little blurry.

But overall they’re all in good condition.

“They’re never before seen by the public,” you explain, “kind of like those photos people keep in their wallets of their loved ones, you know. I did consider keeping them in my wallet but then I thought about how easy it would be to lose (and wallets get stolen all the time) and then they can get damaged much easier. That’s why some of them have yellow stains.”

“Have you shown this to anyone else before?” Asks Melt, slowly flipping through the various polarized photos.

“You’re the first one to see it in a while.”

“Oh,” Melt gives the photos a little shake as if they’ll whisper secrets to him, “who was the last person to see it?”

“The Bookkeeper.”

Oh.

Melt figures it would have been another one of your Muses that would have had the privilege of seeing something so special to you. It’s always the people who matter the most to you that get to see things like this. And a part of Melt has always known that you must have loved the other Muses but it feels a little different to see it with his own eyes. Makes him feel a little less special.

“Anyone else?” Melt asked.

“Just you and the Bookkeeper.”

That makes him feel a little better.

But only ever so slightly.

Fall in love with someone you’ll love forever.

---

Song: Somebody to You Artist: The Vamps, Featuring: Demi Lovato

---

Her: How much?

[animatedjunkfood]

Spoilers for Sonic Prime Ep6

It’s interesting to see Sonic have some verbal restraint in this episode-

Nine shows him ‘The Grim’ and tells Sonic about his plans to live there, a place where there is absolutely nothing. There’s no way Sonic isn’t 10,000,000% against leaving any version of his baby brother in such a world, but he doesn’t immediately shut Nine down.

-----

Sonic : “Look, Nine, it’s incredible but it’s not going anywhere.”

Sonic : “And those rebels really need our help.”

Sonic : “Come with me. Help me finish the fight.”

-----

Sonic instead says that there’s currently people who they need to go help, they can come back later; ‘The Grim’ isn’t going anywhere.

He put a pin in the conversation instead of addressing it because he saw how important this place is to Nine, no matter how messed up it is that he’d gladly choose to live in a world with no one else in it. If Sonic expressed how much he hated the idea, Nine would shut him out again which is something he can’t afford to let happen.

At the moment, Nine is his closest and most useful ally.

He’s the best equipped version of Tails so far because he comes from a Shatter-Space that catered to his intellectual growth. If it weren’t for him, Sonic’s gear would still be smoking and not adapting to whatever new environments he gets thrown into. And now, his biggest achievement so far, Nine was able to harness a Paradox Shard’s power to be able to traverse the void and control what reality he ends up in (Something that Sonic can’t even do yet because any time he teleports, he had no idea where he’s going.)

 Losing him in this situation is asking for failure.

Strategy aside though, I don’t think Sonic would be able to cope with the loss well on an emotional level either.

[monsterkong]

Competence in Crisis: The Secret Service and the Reality of Security

🛡️ The Secret Service: Myth vs. Reality in Crisis Management

In the public eye, the Secret Service is seen as a highly competent, nearly infallible organization. They are the last line of defense for some of the most important figures in the world. But what happens when that myth of competence is shattered by reality? Our recent discussion peeled back the layers on this topic, revealing some uncomfortable truths about security in the United States. 🕵️‍♂️

The Complexity of Sound Signatures in Security 🎧

One of the most fascinating aspects of our conversation was the role of sound in security. Specifically, how complex it is to analyze sound signatures to determine the origin of a gunshot. This is not as simple as it seems on TV. The environment, the microphone placement, the subject’s distance, and even the heat of the barrel all play a role in shaping the sound signature.

Imagine trying to make sense of these variables in a chaotic environment—hundreds of people moving, shouting, and creating noise. It’s like trying to find a needle in a haystack. And yet, this is the reality that security agencies face every day. 🔊

The Incident That Shook Our Confidence 📉

Recently, a 20-year-old managed to breach security, scaling a building and firing eight rounds, potentially endangering a future president. This wasn’t just a breach; it was a wake-up call. How could this happen under the watch of an organization that is supposed to be the epitome of competence?

This incident isn’t isolated. Throughout history, there have been numerous examples where security agencies have failed in their duties. But these failures are often swept under the rug, and the myth of competence remains intact. Why? Because acknowledging these failures would mean questioning the very foundations of our security systems.

The Reality of Government Competence 🤷‍♂️

Here’s the hard truth: government agencies, including the Secret Service, are not as competent as we’d like to believe. The default position of many government organizations is not hyper-competence but rather a mix of bureaucracy, complacency, and occasional competence.

We need to ask ourselves—how many times have we heard about a real, in-the-moment threat being neutralized by the Secret Service? Not many. The truth is, these agencies are not tested as often as we think. And when they are, the results are not always what we would hope for.

Moving Forward: Questioning the Myth 🧐

So, where do we go from here? First, it’s important to question the myths we’ve been told about government competence. Just because an agency has a reputation for being elite doesn’t mean they are infallible. Second, we need to be more critical of our security systems. Are they truly as effective as we’re led to believe, or are they just getting by on a reputation built on past successes?

As we continue to explore these topics, it’s crucial that we remain vigilant and ask the tough questions. Only then can we begin to see the reality behind the myth of competence in our government agencies. 📜

These blog posts aim to spark thought and conversation, pushing readers to look beyond the surface and question what they’ve been led to believe. Whether you're reading this on WordPress, Medium, or Tumblr, I hope this deep dive into sound signatures and government competence has given you something to ponder. 💡