#big sky episode notes

[bnnysweets]

LOVE IS ON THE AIR

abby x fem!reader on love island

author’s note: english is not my first language. i never watched love island just some clips soo maybe i was inaccurate, but just imagine some couple reality show on a island.

warnings: pure fluff and some yearning. r! is more on a shy side. abby defends reader. so so so sweet, kinda of love at the first sight trope.

❥ first episode

when abby arrived it was like the air changed. she was a little nervous about being on cameras 24/7 but she was hiding it very well, walking like she owned the world or has a bbc i didn’t say it!.

she was on a more introverted side, very charismatic but quiet. didn’t liked the girls throwing themselves at her and all the attention she got.

❥ when you arrived

you enter a little later, everyone has already found their groups, so you ended a little alone. but abby notices, she notices your pretty dress and the heart-shaped reliquary that you always wear, the way you try your best to fit in but just don’t work. it takes a while for you connect with someone.

❥ abby’s confessional

“she looks like a fucking dream, like i would be chugging melatonin pills to see her face every night.”

producer asks: “do you gonna make a move on her?”

she just groans, “i want! but i don’t know, she doesn’t even look at me.”

❥ your confessional

“i don’t really think anyone here really likes me, it’s a little hard to do the dynamics.” you confessed.

producer asks: “you don’t fancy anyone?”

you start to laughing like a high schooler with her first crush, and just answer “no.” and laughs more.

“what you think about abby?”

and you just deadpan “the hot one?” and cover you mouth, realizing what you just said. “i mean, the blonde tall one, with big arms?” you say between giggles, fully embarrassed. “i think she’s pretty. she’s sooo kind, but i don’t think i’m her type.”

❥ when you got paired with another girl

it’s just a stupid game, to try make some kiss and some fight, and your pair was the girl who had kissed everyone in the show. abby was losing her shit.

the girl really tried to flirt with you but you were so focused on win that you didn’t noticed.

later the community strap girl was talking bad about you with her friends near abby, “i swear to god i think she’s dumb, like for real.” and abby just turn to at her with a questioning face, “who are you talking ‘bout?”, the girl answers a little nervous with the tone abby used, “y/n.” and abby doesn’t even think just says “you’re the dumbest one here, making out with everyone thinking you’re hot but you just desperate.” and walks away.

❥ when you two talk for the first time

someone told you what abby said and you approached her at the gym, late at night, only you there.

“uhm, abby right?” you ask and she just nods, but fully focused on you. “so, sam told me what you said to nick and i just wanted to say thanks, it was really nice.” you smile to her and she swore the stars are more shiny.

“don’t need to thanks, i just did the right thing, that girl is insufferable.”

“oh my god, yeah! everyone likes her but i just think she’s inconvenient.”

and you two started to talk, talk and talk. you spend the whole night just talking, about everything and anything. when the sun starts to rise you both lay on the sand, watching.

“i thought you hated me.” you confess.

“whatt?!” she looks at you in disbelief. “i want you since the first day.”

“what?!” you have the same reaction that her. “i thought i wasn’t your type.”

“you’re totally my type.” she looks at you, while you’re staring at the sky, mesmerizing.

❥ twitter’s reaction

“i like to see my lesbianas YEARNING”

“the way abby looks at her omfg Y/N WAKE UP THIS GIRL LOVES YOU”

“y/n being excluded on the first weeks 💔💔💔 and abby scared to approach her 💔💔💔 and on the first opportunity she defends her💔💔💔 and they just click together💔💔💔”

[sudsnribbons]

Porch-swing angel. | B.A

DBF!Beau Arlen x F!Reader

MDNI

Warnings: SMUTT, age gap (reader is legal to drink, beau is early 40s), use of petnames (sweetheart, darlin', ect.), loss of a parent, beau being a sweetheart, oral (f rec.), exhibition, dub-con if you squint (both are under the influence), drinking, ooc beau? cum eating? i think thats it! lmk!!

Wordcount: 2,432

A/N: Beau Arlen has consumed me. I've seen like 1 episode of big sky so don't come for me. This is a result of insomnia and access to my notes app. Very loosely inspired by 'Porch Swing Angel' by Muscadine Bloodline! Hope you enjoy!!

Part one | Part two | Final

First it was the fridge light. easy fix, right?

A few youtube videos later and that was back in business.

But then.

Almost like the universe had it out for you–

The shower.

That god awful noise as it would drip just loud enough to keep you up.

You put it off for a week, figuring it would subside.

You never were that lucky.

--

Your fathers best friend,

Beau Arlen.

Sheriff Arlen and your father go way back, they met in highschool. Your father went to college and got married shortly after. Beau? Well despite his unruly teen years, became a man of the law.

You had moved into your dad's place right after he passed. Along with the deed to his beautiful home, was a note from your father.

"If you need anything, Arlen is right next door. He'll take care of you sweetheart."

- Love, dad

Your heart ached as you read the note, secured by a magnet on your fridge.

You really had tried not to call him. It had been over 6 months since your father had passed. You had lost a father, yes. But Beau? He had lost his best friend. You didn't want to bother him if at all possible.

Yet here you are, house phone in hand, dialing that all too familiar number on the wheel.

One ring.

Two rings.

Three-

"Hello?" Beau's voice filled your ears.

Silence.

Is it too late to hang up?

"Hello? Anyone there?" he asks, southern drawl making your face heat up.

"Beau.. uhm Mr. Arlen-Sheriff Arlen-" you stumble over your words, regretting the call all together.

"You alright sweetheart?" he asks, voice sounding worried.

"Yeah—uhm my dad left your number?" you mutter nervously over the line.

"Right, what can I do for you sugar?" god that voice.

"My shower broke and I tried to fix it and I've watched what felt like 100 youtube videos and I-" his voice halted your babbling.

"I'll be there soon sweetheart. I get off at 5." he smiles through his words, happy to help.

"5 it is sheriff." you anxiously play with the phone cord, wrapping the coil of wire around your fingers.

"Beau. Call me Beau." he corrected.

"Right—Beau." you nodded in understanding and hung up. Placing the old phone back on the dock.

--

To pass the time, you decided to make the recipe you'd put off for so long. Brown butter chocolate chip cookies, couldn't be too hard right? You've made cookies countless times.

Easy peasy–

Is what you thought you'd say, but after burning the butter 3 times you almost gave up.

The 4th time must be the charm because they turned out perfect. Flaky salt sprinkled over the cookie tray, to compliment the sweet.

Almost comical how perfect your timing was, as soon as you plated the cookies there was a knock at the door.

Wiping your hands on the patchwork apron, you rush to open the door.

There he was. Even more handsome than he used to be if that was even possible.

You hadn't seen Beau since your parents split up, ending up with your mother in Tennessee.

You'd almost forgotten just how handsome he was.

Grey streaks peppered in his beard, the start of the sunset reflecting the light just right enough to see them.

"Sheriff–Beau, come in." you corrected yourself, moving to the side so the man could come in.

"Smells good in here, what d'you make?" he questioned, walking straight into the kitchen just as he'd done many times before.

Smiling down at the plate of cookies, and sink full of dishes from your little endeavor.

"You can have as many as you'd like, I just need my shower fixed." you gestured to the plate, pulling the apron over your head and hanging it on a hook by the oven.

"Payin' me in cookies?" he joked, picking one up and taking a bite.

"If you'd let me." you smiled as you watched his eyes light up at the taste. "New recipe, you like 'em?" you ask, leaning your back against the oven.

Nodding, he groans "Lord yeah–best cookies i've ever had." you smiled at the praise. "Does your wife ever make you any cookies?" you questioned.

You had to–I mean look at him. You were desperate to know, any woman would be a fool not to pounce on the opportunity.

"Not married sugar." he laughed, finishing the cookie.

Awkward.

Wiping his hands over his denim-clad thighs he huffed out, "So what's wrong with this shower you were talkin' about?" he questioned, starting up the steps and down the hall. You followed like a lost puppy, he knew this house a hell of a lot better than you did.

Following him into the bathroom, "'S leakin' all over my floor." turning the dial on the out-dated shower, you quickly turn it off and watch water leak from the side.

He watches and nods, "Jus' needs some caulk." he waves it off like it's a simple fix.

Your voice gets caught in your throat as you cough. "I'm sorry, what?" your face is beat red.

"Ca-ulk sweetheart. The seal. S'gone bad." he pronounced the word slowly, quickly retrieving your mind from the gutter.

"Oh right–right of course." you replied, brushing your hair behind your ear.

"M'off tomorrow, I'll swing by Lowe's and get some. Fix ya right up." he smiled, exiting the bathroom and heading downstairs.

Meeting the man in the kitchen, you bent down in the cabinet to get some tupperware. Pulling the blue bowl from the shelf, you pack some cookies away before sealing the lid.

Sliding the tupperware towards Beau, "Can't eat a dozen cookies by myself. You wanna take these home and help me out a little?" Smiling warmly at the man to persuade him, as if it took much.

"Thanks sweetheart. I’ll be over 'bout 2 tomorrow. Does that work for ya?" he asked, wrapping his fingers around the bowl, making it look smaller than it was in his hand.

"2 works for me!" you said as you walked him to the door.

--

Your alarm tried to wake you up, 4 times. Damn you and heavy sleep. What finally got you was knocking at the door. Shooting up from bed, you glance up at the clock at 2:15pm.

Fuck.

Springing out of bed like some cartoon character you stumble around your room trying to get changed out of your pajamas, "'M comin'! One second!" you yell, shuffling through your closet to find a hoodie to just throw over the tank-top you'd slept in.

You decided on a dark blue hoodie, embroidered with 'Big Sky High, Class of '01'. leaving on the shorts you had on, socked feet pattered down the steps and to the front door.

"Mornin' to you too." he smiled, taking in your disheveled appearance.

"Didn't mean to sleep that long." you rubbed your hand over your face, stepping to the side to let the man in.

"S'alright. haven't seen that thing in a while." he laughed, pointing to your hoodie.

Looking down, you replied. "Oh yeah–it was dad's. Did you have one?" you asked.

Walking up the steps, you followed behind him. Setting the Lowe's bag on the floor before he answered you. "That one is mine darlin'. Your dad graduated in 2000." he smiled looking down at you.

Blush crept up on your skin, "Oh I didn't know." he shook his head, "You're alright, looks better on you anyways." Beau muttered, pulling stuff out of the bag.

Filling the gun, to re-seal everything he started, "You plannin' on stayin' for good?" you nodded, leaning on the bathroom sink watching him work. "Yeah I think you're stuck with me Arlen." he shakes his head laughing, continuing to work with your company. "S'good. Gets lonely around here with your dad gone." his mood dropped–so did yours, at the mention of your father.

"Well y'got me now, and I bake killer cookies." you smile down at him crouched in the floor, trying to lighten the mood.

"Damn right." he smiled and stood up, "N'more leaky shower." wiping the excess off the gun onto his jeans. "My savior." you reply and he laughs. Both of you heading back downstairs.

"What do I owe you Beau?" you ask the man, starting to grab your wallet from the counter. Beau was quick to shake his head, "M’not takin' your money darlin'." he insisted, "How am I supposed to repay you?" you questioned. "Jus' keep savin' me some of those cookies, yeah?" he ran a hand over his beard. "Of course." you smiled at the man.

"Did you say you were off today?" you asked, leaning against the counter. "I am, why d'ya ask?" he questioned. "Well i was gonna make some dinner, I didn't know if you wanted to stay for a plate?" you offered and he was quick to accept. "I haven't had a home cooked meal in too long, I'd be a fool not to." he replied.

---

It was around 7:26pm when you finished up with dinner. You made a simple baked chicken with a few sides, and the help of Beau.

The two of you sat on your porch, sipping on a beer beside beau in the swing. "Are you even old enough to drink?" he asked teasingly as he popped the can tab. "Thought you said you were off today sheriff." you joked back.

It felt so easy—domestic almost, the way you two fit perfectly in the porch-swing. The breeze blowing your hair ever so slightly. Sun casting on your face, lighting up your eyes. The same ones you could have sworn just watched beau stare at you. Looking over at the man you couldn't help but smile.

"What's in that pretty little head of yours?" he asked, brushing your hair behind your ear. "Nothin." taking a sip of your beer–liquid courage, "Thank you for fixin' my shower Beau." he nodded, bringing the can from his hand to his lips. "S'no problem. Told your old man I'd take care of ya." you nodded, grateful to have someone to fall back on when you needed it.

Your arm brushed his as you leaned forward, setting the can on the table in-front of the swing. Cicadas filled the air with their voices, sun behind the mountains and trees. The porch light lit up the two of you. Warm amber-like light casted over Beau's face, all you could do was stare at him. Like he could disappear at any moment. Like you had to memorize every freckle and wrinkle on his face. "Got a starin' problem sweetheart." he chuckled lowly, taking another drink from the chilled can. Trying to ignore what you were doing to him.

This was wrong.

You're his late best friend's daughter.

Knowing your dad he'd rise from the grave and beat his ass for even thinking about you like that.

But God were you beautiful.

Seeing you in that hoodie was what really dealt him in.

His hoodie.

And now? You sat beside him, bare thigh brushing against his denim-clad one.

He felt the heat radiating off you, and it was driving him insane.

You sat, nursing a beer beside him. So unbothered and casual, yet so perfect at the same time.

He had to get out of here. do something.

Beau's resolve was crumbling more and more each time your eyelashes fluttered.

He leaned forward, setting down his empty can. A heavy hand fell on your thigh as he started to get up. "I better go home, it's gettin' late." he tried, to convince himself more than you.

Not wanting the night to end, you were quick to protest, "Wait–don't go yet." he stood in-front of you, waiting for you to say something.

You searched for a minute, trying to find something–anything to say. When you came up empty handed, you did the only other thing you could think of.

Leaning up on your tip-toes you pressed your lips to Beau's, eyes fluttering as you quickly pulled away.

Eyes wide in shock, you covered your mouth "Beau I’m so sorry I don't-" you started to apologize but he simply shook his head, leaning down to meet your lips with his again. "Tell me to stop and I will." he muttered, forehead against yours. Looking up into his eyes, "Don't–need you Beau." he smiled, hoisting you up in his arms.

Your arms wrapped around his neck, legs finding his waist. He walked you back until your back hit the siding of the house. Kissing down your neck, the friction from his beard sending chills down your back. "M'gonna take care of you sugar." Beau muttered against your neck. Sliding down the thin sleep shorts you had on from earlier, the fabric pooling around your knees. The cool breeze of summer air hit your core.

Pulling the shorts fully off, throwing them somewhere on the porch-swing beside you. Beau traced your slit, "No panties darlin'?" he asked, "Almost like y'wanted this." he teased you, and it was working. Sliding one finger inside. "I–fuck I did." you mutter with a gasp at the intrusion. Beau smirks, satisfied with his effect on you. "Soakin' wet for me angel." pushing another finger in, he starts to curl his fingers upward. As he kept brushing against that spongy-spot, you felt the band in your stomach wind tighter and tighter. "C'mon sweetheart let go for me." his words filled your ears and he kissed your lips, taking every moan that escaped your mouth into his. "Oh Beau!" you cried out as the elastic snapped, and white heat flushed over your body.

Brushing the hair out of your face, beau carried you over to the porch-swing. Setting you down, he found your shorts that were discarded earlier. Bringing his fingers to his mouth he groans at the taste, "Sweeter than those cookies y'made me." you cover your face, and beau guides your shorts back up your legs.

Sitting beside you, he traces your thigh. The loud ringtone on his phone broke the silence between you two. Looking down at the number he sighed, "I gotta answer this." you nodded. He was the sheriff.

You watched as his demeanor changed as he listened, "Okay–I'll be there in twenty." your heart dropped, you didn't want him to leave. Especially not after that.

The call ended and he looked at you with those green eyes, "I'm sorry darlin' they need me at the station." he leaned forward to kiss your lips, and you nodded in understanding.

"This isn't over angel." he shot you a smirk as he got in his truck, turning the ignition and pulling out of the gravel driveway the two of you shared.

[seven-oh-four]

okay i NEED to talk about something that's been driving me INSANE since the very first episode of the amazing digital circus.

okay so. in the first episode, when caine snaps his fingers to bring Ragatha back to normal, the scene places a strange amount of emphasis on the fact that this action also causes pomni's hand to go back to normal even though caine didn't know anything was wrong with her.

why?

well, y'know the gloink queen? she never actually... dies. kaufmo falls on her, causing her to spit out zooble, beats her up, glitches her out, but she's never destroyed. even as the gang leaves the gloink caves, you can hear her screaming.

she glitches out, but she's never destroyed.

and when caine snapped his fingers, everything stopped glitching, and they wanted to make sure you'd notice that.

but like. she's the gloink queen. she's just a tutorial boss. she's obviously not gonna come back, right? how would that even work? twist reveal that she was the mastermind all along?

then episode two came out, and my suspicions grew. episode two has a whole scene introducing a new character, The Fudge. The Fudge then dies via a truck from the sky, something that tragically happens all too often. The Fudge is never relevant again.

at the end of the episode, it's revealed that Jax left the gate open anyway, the Fudge survived, and he is now terrorizing the kingdom...

but... this is of absolutely no consequence. it's completely irrelevant. the gang just leaves.

okay so that's TWO big gloopy monsters that have a strange amount of emphasis placed on the fact they survived despite the fact that this never winds up addressed in the episode.

okay. so how about episoOh My God.

AGAIN. they have two whole shots dedicated to showing you that the creature survived, with scare chords and everything, and yet this STILL never comes up again!!!!!! what!! the hell!!! and fuck!!!!!

we've also had an entire episode focused on the concept of NPCs, and NPCs becoming self-aware.

so these monsters are obviously going to come back at some point. they HAVE TO. it'd be utterly ridiculous for them not to!

i just needed to get this off my chest. i need SOMEONE to know this.!!!! okay, bye!

bonus note: Gloink Queen says "GOD will be gloinks!" at the end of her evil monologue. we didn't know this at the time, but all of the NPCs refer to Caine as God.

[irmawrites]

Sleeping with the enemy | One-Shot

Summary: your father, Gwayne Hightower, had always told you to beware of Davos Blackwood, son of one of your grandfather's most ardent haters. But when you meet him at a party years after graduating college, you can't help but think he's not so bad after all.

Rating: Explicit [18+], MDNI.

Pairing: modern!Davos Blackwood x Hightower!Reader (appearance isn’t specified, everyone is 18+ in this)

TW: smut with a tiny bit of plot, fingering, oral sex (m receiving), p in v sex, praising kink, unprotected sex, loss of virginity, dom/sub undertones, afab reader, not proofread.

Words count: 4393

Author’s note: Hi, everyone! This is my first time posting here, and I have to admit I'm a bit intimidated ahaha like a lot of people, I fell in love with Davos Blackwood's in episode three and ABSOLUTELY had to write this idea that's been on my mind for a while now.

I should probably mention that English is not my mother tongue, so please excuse my grammar mistakes!

Davos Blackwood had a bad reputation in your neighborhood, that much was true.

The rumors about him had started when you were still in college, something about red liquid smeared on the mirror in the boys' bathroom. A silly prank involving fake blood and strange theatrics to scare off a younger classmate that had perhaps gone too far. It was your own cousin Aemond who had found the fake crime scene just after the culprit had left, still licking his red-stained fingers. It caused quite a stir at the time, and he hadn't been seen on campus for at least two weeks. It may have been fake blood or just a tasteless joke, it was still inevitable that action would have to be taken.

It was Aeron Bracken in particular who had helped make these bizarre stories popular. He told anyone who would listen that Davos Blackwood was a deranged, violent madman. It was no secret that the two young men didn't get along. But no one expected things to get as bad as they did. There had been rumors in the hallways and whispers in the cafeteria, but that wasn't all. His car had been vandalized and marked with insults on several occasions. Even Gwayne Hightower, your father, had warned you.

A real witch hunt.

As far as you knew, however, the main target had remained unaffected by the situation, even toying with those who provoked him. In a way, he almost seemed to enjoy the wild, mysterious aura that all this fuss gave him.

You, for one, had never really believed it. After all, he didn't look like a bad guy, with his big, green eyes and permanently disheveled black hair. He seemed a little strange to you, a little off, but not enough to be considered a clear danger. But your opinion didn't matter much.

Nothing had ever destined the two of you to spend time together. His parents' company only did business with Rhaenyra's, refusing any ties and especially any agreements with the Hightowers. His father seemed to harbor a fierce hatred and boundless distrust of your family, apparently fearing that Otto's overweening ambition would lead him to overturn the order of succession established by Viserys himself and install his own grandson as sole ruler of the company.

And in your world, your parents had a bit more say in who you dated than they did for other people. You couldn't just go out with a guy because he seemed interesting, especially if he was the son of one of your grandfather's most ardent haters.

So you'd never spoken to each other in college, let alone at the lavish charity galas your family hosted.

Never, until that day.

"You like Iron Maiden?" a hoarse, unfamiliar voice said from behind you as you wrung the water out of your hair, "or is that your boyfriend's shirt?". The sun was high in the sky and you could feel the heat of its rays burning your exposed neck. The clear waters of the Targaryen family pool sparkled, and the garden echoed with the bursts of voices of those Aegon had invited to what should have been a casual gathering of the younger generation with ties to the Targaryen business.

You didn't think he'd invite Davos Blackwood, though.

"It's mine," you replied, giving the young man a mischievous smile, your fingers playing absentmindedly with the string that held the bottom of your swimsuit to your hip, "and yeah, it's one of my favorite bands actually." He seemed to take a moment to assess the situation, his eyes roaming up and down your body, an unreadable smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "Never pegged you as a little rebel," he crossed his arms over his chest before continuing, "more of a model daughter." You knew he was toying with you, trying to tease you, but you were more than happy to play along.

Besides, you understood where the thought came from, you who were usually more used to short skirts and high heels than band shirts.

Mentally, you thanked Aegon for thinking of him. "Be careful, Blackwood," your voice sounded like a playful threat, "you might be surprised."

You were about to leave to return to the deck chairs, but it seemed that Davos wasn't quite finished with the conversation. "Wait," he ordered, taking your wrist between his broad fingers. Mechanically, you glanced around to make sure no one was watching. After all, the last thing you wanted was for someone to spy on your conversation with someone who still belonged to your grandfather's enemy side. "What is it?" it was your turn to cross your arms over your chest, your eyebrows furrowing as you waited for some kind of justification from him. It was clear he had something on his mind, but you just couldn't figure out what. "Do you want to come over to my place sometime?" he finally said, and you felt your breath catch somewhere between your throat and your lungs. "Why?" the question crossed your lips before you could even think about it.

You didn't know each other, had never spoken before, not to mention the fact that your families didn't approve of each other. You were tempted to agree, of course, because whether you liked it or not, you felt this kind of almost magnetic attraction pulling you together.

You'd have liked to think it was fate, but you knew it was just your love of danger and the forbidden.

His voice pulled you out of your thoughts again. "You seem like a pretty nice girl, and we obviously have the same taste in music," he replied, finally loosening his grip on your wrist, "we could watch a movie, get to know each other, something like that." The offer was tempting, the prospect of spending a little more time with him appealing, but even though you desperately wanted to say yes, you knew you couldn't. You had to be reasonable and listen to that little voice in your head that told you it all sounded like a terrible idea. But he seemed to sense your reluctance because he quickly added, "Don't worry, no one will know."

***

Davos’ room wasn't exactly what you'd call tidy. You noticed a half-full ashtray on the windowsill and a few empty cans on his desk. It was the opposite of your own bedroom, neatly decorated and perfectly organized. Your wardrobe drawers were a bit of an exception, but that didn't really matter.

Even so, you couldn't help but find it a little charming. The smell of his cologne in the air, the half-unraveled sheets, this was unmistakably him. It tasted risky and illicit, and it stirred something unfamiliar in the pit of your stomach. A reaction that no boy had ever managed to provoke in you.

"There's no denying it, vampires really are the best supernatural creatures," you muttered, sinking your teeth into the last slice of the half-cold pizza you'd ordered earlier. You were especially comfortable sitting cross-legged on his bed as the rain pounded against the windows and the end of the movie drew near on his computer screen. His parents were out of town for the week, on a business trip or something, providing you with an opportunity to finally meet away from prying eyes. He seemed quite comfortable too, with his leg pressed against yours and his hand wrapped around his soda cup, which he sipped absentmindedly. "I have to say, I never thought you'd be into movies like this," he told you after a few long seconds, a wry smile tugging at the corner of his lips, "given your looks, I thought you'd be more into romantic comedies or something." You held back an annoyed sigh.

"Like I said..." you finally replied, "you should beware of appearances."

They can be misleading sometimes, you kept to yourself.

It was true that you were usually a sweet, sensible girl, the ideal daughter who always smiled and never caused trouble. The pride and joy of your parents. But lately you had grown tired. Tired of following orders, of doing everything you were told without ever being able to listen to your heart. You were eager to get rid of this constant fear of disappointing your loved ones if you didn't live up to their expectations, and it seemed that life had given you the perfect opportunity to free yourself from all that. 

"Is there something I should know?" the young man’s hand came to rest on the top of your thigh, his thumb delicately stroking the soft skin there, "some dark secret of yours, princess?". His almost mocking tone and the annoying nickname were enough to bring back that scorching heat in the pit of your stomach. The way he looked at you, at your breasts, made you think that he was affected by this sudden closeness, too. His gaze burned, almost as much as his fingers, which were now creeping dangerously up the hem of your shorts. And when you felt them graze the lace of your underwear in the hollow where your leg and hip met, you thought that maybe, just maybe, you'd bitten off more than you could chew.

But even though you were entering unfamiliar territory, something foreign to you, you refused to lose control and let him take what he wanted without saying a word. This wasn't your style. You always had a witty comeback ready to go. And you were going to show him.

Slowly, you moved forward a few inches on the bed to sit astride his very inviting lap, never taking your eyes off his lips. Your hands found his shoulders, and you could feel the hardness of his desire beneath your thighs. Gods, the sensation was divine. This was your doing. You and no one else’s. The sudden surge of power and dominance made your head spin. "Be very careful what you do now," his fingers settled on your hips to bring your chests a little closer together, his grip tight and bruising. "Or what?" you replied in an almost insolent, even provocative tone.

"Or we could end up doing something you might regret."

This was all a very bad idea, that much was true. Davos Blackwood was a very bad idea. But you didn't want to dwell on what the future might hold, let alone the potential consequences of your actions. All you knew was that you wanted more. More of his hands on your skin, more of his lips on yours, and more of him.  

And it seemed that he, too, was eager to take it further.

His fingers made their way up from your waist to your chest, slipping under your tank top to brush his thumbs over the two little hardened buds. The ghost of a touch, really, but it was enough to make you moan. Your mouths were now just a few inches apart, your breaths mingling, but you didn't want to kiss him yet, choosing to prolong this delicious, exhilarating tension for a few minutes longer.

"Do you have any idea what you're doing to me?" he asked, his voice hoarse with desire. "Do you feel it?". He backed up his words with action, rolling his hips and planting a kiss right at the corner of your jaw. "You know what this is?" he added, rolling one of your nipples between his index finger and thumb, "what happens to a man when a woman behaves the way you do?". Of course I know, you wanted to say but the words stuck in your throat and only a moan managed to break through the barrier of your lips. You weren't stupid, you were perfectly aware of what happened in this kind of situation. But you'd never seen it, let alone touched it, and the theory was very different from the actual reality.

"Shut up," you replied at last, before planting a kiss on his lips. You didn't mean it, though. To be honest, you wished he would talk to you like that all night long, sending a wave of heat straight to your core with words alone. His tongue found yours, silencing your thoughts, and you wrapped your arms around his neck to keep from losing your footing. "Such a foul mouth," he said, smiling against your lips as he gave you time to breathe, "we'll see if you're still so talkative once I'm done with you."

The young man's hands found the bottom of your tank top and pulled it over your head, and soon it was your shorts that suffered the same fate, leaving you in nothing but your black lace panties. You suddenly felt exposed, lying there under that hungry gaze that regarded you like a precious gift, a prized possession. You waited eagerly for his next move.

Where was the bold young woman who had taken the lead just a few minutes earlier, the one so determined not to lose control? It seemed like she'd already vanished, replaced by some shy creature beneath his crude words and inappropriate touch.

"What are you going to do to me?" you tilted your head to the side to give him better access to the skin of your neck, which he was kissing with increasing fervor. "Nothing you won't like," he replied as he stood up to get rid of his t-shirt, which joined the pile of clothes at the foot of the bed. Your eyes couldn't help but wander over his toned torso dotted with dark hairs, your hands itching to touch him.

Soon enough, his lips found your jaw, then your neck, then the top of your chest, and you immediately shivered. The weight of his body lying on yours was delightful, comforting. "Please..." you whimpered as your hands settled on his shoulders, urging him to give you what you were so desperate for. You felt his fingers slide slowly against the skin of your belly, then lower, much lower, to play with the lace of your underwear, and your back arched almost reflexively. You wanted more, you needed more, and you were getting tired of waiting.

"Be patient, princess," he said, nibbling on the soft skin of your breast, his mouth soon wrapping around your hardened nipple. A grunt escaped you, and you weren't quite sure if it was from your frustration or the dominant tone he had just used. His hand slipped under the fabric of your panties to tease the top of your slit before brushing over your already soaked folds. It was annoying, really, the effect he was having on you with such a light touch. But it was heavenly, and you had decided to ignore the voice of reason for the night.

His index finger found the little pearl nestled at the apex of your center, and the contact felt like a delicious electric shock. You threw your head back, eyes closing, lips parting in a silent cry as he drew little circles around your most sensitive area. "Have you ever had anyone here?" he asked after a few seconds. When you didn't answer, he added: "I asked you a question, and I want you to answer me." There it was again, his commanding, almost controlling tone.

"N... no," you stammered as you opened your eyes again to meet his, "nobody." You suddenly felt like prey under his hungry gaze that devoured your trembling body. "Perfect," you heard, just before his fingers found your entrance, which was already clenching around nothing, "and here?".

The idea of being the first to enter you seemed to obsess him.

You nodded, this time from left to right, signifying that no, you had saved your virginity for the right man, the one who would know how to make you tremble under his ministrations, the one who would know how to make you beg for more, always more.

"Perfect," he repeated again, as the first knuckle of his index finger sank agonizingly slowly into you, teasing your inner walls. It was barely there, nothing really, and yet you already felt incredibly full. "You're so tight," he growled against the skin of your throat, "so warm too, you're going to feel amazing around me." He added a second knuckle and soon his finger was completely buried inside you. It felt good, and it felt right, but it didn't feel like enough. You wiggled your hips and it seemed as if Davos had understood your silent request immediately. "I need you to take another," he straightened on his left elbow to look at you with lust-blown pupils, "do you think you can do that for me?". Once again, you nodded your head in agreement, but this time it didn't seem to be enough for him. "Use your words, princess." You fought the urge to roll your eyes. "I... I can take more," you murmured right against his lips as you looked down between your thighs.

"Good girl," he said, his voice low and rough as you felt his middle finger pressing into you. He curled them both, brushing that spongy spot against your inner wall, and you threw your head back.

You dug your nails into his pale skin to stay anchored in the present as his thumb found your clit. But you knew you wouldn't last long. You could already feel tingles of pleasure buzzing through your body, and in the pit of your belly, the fires of delight burned a little more fiercely. You wanted to warn him, to tell him you were close, but he was quicker than you: "Come for me."

He didn't need to tell you a second time.

Soon, the wave of your orgasm washed over you.

It made your whole body shake with spasms, your climax exploding like fireworks behind your eyelids. Your lips crashed against his neck to stifle your final moan as your back arched under the intense sensation. The young man was merciful enough to give you a few seconds to recover before withdrawing his fingers, leaving you empty and frustrated. "Look at the mess you made," you heard him groan, "clean it up." His index and middle fingers brushed across your lips, which parted eagerly to welcome them into your warm mouth.

You timidly wrapped your tongue around them under his predatory gaze. The mere thought that you could taste yourself on your taste buds set your body on fire once again. It was indecent, inappropriate, and you probably should have been ashamed to be used like this, but you couldn't care less.

Maybe it was his fault, or maybe you'd just found each other despite everything that kept you apart.

His fingers left your mouth to wrap around your neck. But as he lay back on the mattress and guided you towards his lips, you resisted. Once again, you straddled his hips, only this time completely naked. He looked at you for a few seconds, a little confused, until you reached under the elastic of his underwear to slide it down his legs. This seemed to make him realize the extent of your intentions. His hard member jumped free and caught your eye. Standing proud with a mass of dark curls adorning its base, the sight alone made you salivate. "Let me thank you," you said, as your fingers gently traced its length. "I want to make you feel good too." You slowly moved between his legs to kiss his inner thighs.

You reached out tentatively and wrapped your fingers around his manhood. It felt heavy in your hand, massive and your index finger couldn't quite touch your thumb because it was so wide. You brought your lips to his crotch and, watching Davos from beneath your long lashes, planted a quick kiss on the head where it was already weeping for you. Your tongue traced a vein on the underside without ever breaking eye contact. He threw his head back, his lips parted to let out a muffled curse.

The rush of power you felt when you saw him so vulnerable under your touch was sinfully delicious.

You tilted your head to the side to plant a series of kisses all along his hardened manhood, your big innocent eyes still locked with his. There was a pause, a few tense seconds, before finally, finally, you moved your head forward to take him fully into your mouth. His big hand found refuge at the back of your skull, and you let him guide you completely.

The grip on your hair tightened, almost to the point of pain. "Breathe, through your nose," the young man ordered, but his voice was more urgent than before, his breathing becoming ragged from the growing pleasure. "You can do better than that." The fingers buried in your locks soon forced you to swallow him whole, your nose pressed against his pelvis, the unruly hair tickling your face. You could feel yourself drooling around him, the action messy. "Such a filthy girl," he said as his thumb came to caress the corner of your mouth, right where his member disappeared between your lips, "sucking my cock like a real whore." You let out an audible moan around his length in response to the foulness of his words.

But instead of disgusting you, it only served to encourage you.

You hollowed out your cheeks, still following the rhythm of his hand, which had resumed its place at the back of your head. He was big, and he filled your mouth in a way you hadn't experienced before, but you wanted to prove to him that you could satisfy him, that you could make him proud. Tears formed at the corners of your eyes, which he hastily wiped away with the tip of his free thumb. "Shh... you're doing so well," he praised you in a reassuring tone. You knew he was close to reaching his climax. His breathing had become labored, his movements erratic, and it was evident that you were causing him to lose his balance. But it seemed he didn't want to end it that quickly.

"Wait, not yet," he straightened into a sitting position, placing his hand on your cheek to force you back a few inches, "I'd hate to waste it." The implication made your cheeks flush, but you couldn't help but look forward to what would come next.

His hands came to rest on your waist, encouraging you to sit on his hips again, this time making his still impossibly hard manhood brush against your soaked cunt. The contact alone was enough to elicit a moan from you. His own fingers wrapped around his member as he guided it towards your narrow entrance.

And after what felt like an eternity, he finally thrust into you.

He stretched you to perfection, the foreign sensation a mixture of delicious pain and aching pleasure. "Fuck princess, you're tight," your head found refuge in the hollow of his neck, but you could hear that annoying smirk in his voice, "I'm going to ruin you." And oh how you couldn't wait for him to make good on his threats. "Move," you pleaded against the skin of his throat as you hesitantly moved your hips up and down to get that delicious friction you craved. He seemed hell-bent on teaching you self-restraint, even though you desperately wanted to see him lose control. He grabbed your waist in a firm grip, keeping you pressed against his hips and making you whine. "Did I say you could move?" he asked, kissing the side of your jaw. Once again that night, you'd annoyed him by not answering, and he repeated, "did I say you could move?".  

It seems he was also trying to make you learn obedience, in addition to patience.

You didn't even have a chance to react before the young man used his grip on your waist to pull back almost completely, revealing his member glistening with your sticky juices before thrusting himself into you once more. His head was rubbing against that most delicious spot inside you, making your legs tremble with pure bliss. "Please, I..." You didn't even know what you were asking for as he moved back and forth continuously. You thought he'd ask you to speak again, but he was too caught up in pleasure and close to his release to be bothered by your pleas.

But even if he'd lost his rhythm, it was clear he was still determined to satisfy you. His thumb was back on your little pearl, tracing small circles around it, while inside you his length relentlessly pounded against your inner wall. You could feel yourself clenching around him, and the heat between your thighs was back with a fiercer intensity than ever. “I’m going to fill you up,” his teeth nibbled at the soft skin of your neck, marking it possessively, “I’m going to fill you up and you’re going to take everything I’m going to give you, feel me for days.” The moans that came out of your mouth were now completely incoherent, a confused jumble of yes and please.

Your climax hit hard and fast—stronger than the one Davos had offered you earlier that night. You dug your nails into his shoulders, leaving red half-moons as evidence of your forbidden actions. Your back arched off the mattress, pressing his body against yours as reality slipped through your fingers and a myriad of stars danced behind your eyelids. He followed you just a few seconds later, pouring into you with white ropes.

He stayed inside you for a few more moments, his length softening. But neither of you felt like moving, not when you were so comfortable, lying against each other, your limbs tangled. He placed a tender kiss on your forehead that made your heart clench. You still refused to think about the future and the problems that might arise from such a strong connection between the two of you. All that mattered for the moment was his skin against yours and your fingers in his hair.

"We should do that again," you murmured as you kissed his cheeks, his chin, his nose, "someday."

He smiled.

"We will," he said with confidence, "I'll make sure of that, princess."

The nickname made your stomach flutter with excitement.

[buckysouvenir]

in the hex, episode 2: just the two of us

pairing: bucky barnes x y/n summary: Y/N, a witch with no memory of her true nature, lives a seemingly perfect life with her husband, Bucky Barnes, in a quiet, idyllic 1950s town. Everything seems picture-perfect—Y/N and Bucky are a deeply loving couple, content in their everyday routine. They share playful moments, enjoy simple pleasures, and have a deep connection that feels unshakable. Their life is peaceful, with no hint of anything out of the ordinary. However, things aren’t what they seem. authors note: in complete shock of how much all of you are so entertained by this! (i’m also grateful, don’t get me wrong haha) (it’s also carnival in my country so apologies for any delays in posting!!!)

last episode | in the hex masterlist | next episode

reblogs, likes and comments are always encouraged and highly appreciated! thank you ♡

The morning air is crisp, carrying the scent of freshly baked bread from the bakery down the street. The town is alive with friendly chatter, neighbors tending to their gardens, and kids riding bicycles along the sidewalks.

Y/N and Bucky walk hand in hand through the bustling town square, a woven basket hooked over Y/N’s arm.

“You sure we needed this much fruit?” Bucky teases, glancing at the assortment of apples, oranges, and peaches she insisted on buying.

Y/N gives him a playful nudge. “Well, if someone didn’t eat five peaches in one sitting, I wouldn’t have to restock so soon.”

Bucky smirks. “What can I say? You married a man with a peach addiction.”

She rolls her eyes with a smile, adjusting her grip on his arm as they walk. The warmth of his skin beneath her fingertips feels so real, so familiar. Like she’s held onto him her whole life.

As they pass by a boutique, Y/N slows down, eyeing a powder-blue dress displayed in the window.

Bucky notices immediately. “You like it?”

She shrugs. “It’s beautiful, but I don’t need another dress.”

Bucky steps closer, looking at the dress with a thoughtful expression. “It’d look real nice on you, doll.”

Y/N feels warmth creep up her cheeks. “You think so?”

“I know so.” He smirks, then tugs her inside the store without another word.

By the time they leave, Y/N has the dress neatly wrapped in brown paper, and Bucky looks way too pleased with himself.

“You spoil me,” Y/N murmurs as they make their way back home.

Bucky presses a kiss to her temple. “You make it easy.”

Later that evening, they lounge on their front porch, enjoying the cool night air. Fireflies dance in the garden, their glow flickering softly.

Bucky leans back in his chair, sipping a cold beer, while Y/N rests her feet on his lap, flipping through a magazine. The sounds of crickets and distant laughter fill the quiet.

“I love nights like this,” Y/N says, stretching her arms above her head. “Just you, me, and the stars.”

Bucky smiles. “Yeah? I thought you liked the big town parties.”

“I do,” she admits. “But… I think I like this more.”

Bucky’s fingers trace lazy circles on her ankle. “Me too.”

A comfortable silence settles between them.

Then—

A flicker.

The porch light above them dims, then flickers violently before shutting off completely.

At the same time, the radio inside the house crackles to life, though neither of them turned it on. A voice—garbled and distant—echoes from within.

Bucky sits up straight. “Did you hear that?”

Y/N nods slowly, placing her magazine down. “Yeah…”

The radio crackles again. The voice is distorted, layered, almost pleading—

“Ca—… an y—… me?”

Bucky stands, instinctively moving in front of Y/N. His shoulders tense, as if preparing for something unseen.

Y/N swallows hard. “Bucky, what’s going on?”

The radio hisses sharply, then—

Silence.

The porch light flickers back on. The radio shuts off. Everything is normal again.

Too normal.

Bucky exhales, running a hand through his hair. “Probably just a power surge,” he mutters, though he doesn’t sound convinced.

Y/N nods, but her heart is still racing. She glances up at the night sky. The stars seem… off. Like they’re not twinkling quite the same way they were before.

She shakes off the thought and looks at Bucky. He’s watching her carefully, like he knows she feels it too.

Neither of them says anything.

But for the first time, the perfect life they share feels… fragile.

#taglist: @whisperingashgarden @baw1066 @mirrorballbb @skittslackoffilter @fan4astic @torntaltos @lovebabybellah

[taddymason]

About Jay in S3:

After watching the season, I'll say it: I like what they've done with him more than in past seasons. Because, you know, at least we got to see some of his personality and we got Inventor Jay back, and NOW I'm more interested in the direction his character is going. So, additional notes:

- PONYTAIL JAY STILL LOOKS GOOD AND I DON'T CARE WHAT THEY SAY. I also love that they made the ninjas not react because it's literally your typical samurai hairstyle. I told you it wasn't that big a deal.

- INVENTOR JAY. NEVER LOOSE FAITH 🔥🔥

- I'm sorry, but now everything makes the "I'll always hate you" thing so much worse because now it's like you can take it off and it doesn't change anything, and they just did it for the cheap angst 😭 I still say they should have made him look at her with indifference and walk away silently.

- Inventor Jay attacking in the sky and being strategic and knowing how to locate his enemies ^^ idc, that guy has killed before

-I like that it's very obvious what his fighting style is and the mistakes he makes: when he's impulsive and thinks he can take heavy damage. But when he has time to actually think, a lot of space, there's no way he can be touched. The scene where he's shooting back and forth in the sky and DID have some things planned when something went wrong is what Jay should be doing all the time. Be stealthy and fast and never give the enemy a chance to hit him back.

- The way he doesn't let others get close or touch him fjdjf I think at this point he knows they "know" him but is in the denial stage and wants to stay as far away as possible because he still doesn't trust their intentions.

- I didn't expect him to actually know where Arin's parents are. I guess he did his job. Sometimes. And in a questionable way. Because he still sent them to a very strange place.

In conclusion, I HOPE we get slow slow burn Jaya and him reconnecting with the team little by little before recovering his memories. Please don't make him become friends with them from one episode to the next. I also hope we get to see him as an antihero for a longer period of time. I'd like him to be resentful of the fact that his idea for the wings was copied lol

[panelshowsource]

random things to watch over the holiday break

happy holidays friends (⸝⸝^ᴗ^⸝⸝)❄️ as many of us have time off from our normal schedules, are taking long-haul flights or car drives, and will be spending hours in broom closets to avoid our terrifying families, i figure this is the perfect time to look back on the year and put together some watch links for over the break ❄️❄️❄️

—

panel shows

the christmas special of never mind the buzzcocks is always...something else

speaking of, icymi in a panel show miracle earlier this year an anonymous source provided beautiful archival copies of the first 12 series of nmtb — so this is the perfect time to revisit its classic era!!

junior taskmaster just wrapped up its first season! very wholesome, for the whole family (don't forget to check out the taskmaster podcast discussions for each episode, hosted by ed gamble!)

there were some great eps of cats does countdown this year but this one was probably my standout<3

because this series is on sky so we have to be careful circulating it, not everyone got a chance to watch rob beckett's smart tv when it aired this year! some of the panel guests include natasia demetriou, nicola coughlan, david tennant, romesh, and alan davies, among others

idk if this is controversial but i think the australian guy mont spelling bee MIGHT be better than the new zealand version... i'm not sure yet... i need someone else to watch every single episode and tell me what my opinion should be. i also want to thank this show for teaching me how to spell vinaigrette

this, this, and this were some of my favourite episodes of wilty this year!! btw the 2024 christmas episode just dropped!

there were a lot of wild lineups on mel giedoryc: unforgivable this year, but i'd recommend just starting with the first episode of the latest series because..well you'll understand when you see it

this year i made three big lists of random panel show moments that, in my humble opinion, you will love wasting your holidays hours clicking through: part 1 / part 2 / part 3

misc. tv

the royal variety performance 2024

the completely made up adventures of dick turpin was renewed for s2 so make sure to catch up!!! it's SO stupid hahaha

on a similar, less stupid note, ludwig will also be back for s2!

we're all still missing sean lock, who passed away three years ago, so it's never a bad time to revisit 15 storeys high — especially now that we have upgraded rips!

listen jon and lucy may be divorced but that doesn't make meet the richardsons any less iconic and the last two episodes just released!

s2 of alma's not normal is out this year and doing such amazing things for our sophie willan!!

this was a bit under the radar but backstage with katherine ryan was really fun! i love the mostly-documentary concept and it's one of my favourite things to see the backstage culture between these random comedians (judi x ivo killed me)

rhod gilbert's stand up to cancer documentary was really beautiful ;;

am i being unreasonable? (written by & starring daisy may cooper, from this country) is one of my underrated scripted comedies of the year

paddy mcguinness on who do you think you are

in the new jimmy carr-hosted game show battle in a box, pairs of celebs (mostly comedians) are trapped in an empty box for 24 hours, forced to play a series of mental and physical challenges. if you like the lineup then it's worth checking out!

it's christmas. just follow tradition and watch fry & laurie.

standup

ahir shah – ends (2024)

fern brady – austistic bikini queen (2024)

harriet kemsley – everything always works out for me (2024)

lucy beaumont – live from the royal court theatre (2024)

john kearns – the varnishing days (2023–4)

rhys james – spilt milk (2024)

suzi ruffell – snappy (2024)

tony law – the law also rises (2024)

films

monty python and the holy grail (1975) dir. terry gilliam, terry jones

withnail and i (1987) dir. bruce robinson

gosford park (2001) dir. robert altman

the personal history of david copperfield (2019) dir. armando iannucci

how to have sex (2023) dir. molly manning walker

rye lane (2023) dir. raine allen-miller

scrapper (2023) dir. charlotte regan

kneecap (2024) dir. rich peppiatt

youtube

been enjoying the dish podcast this year!! some of my favourite episodes include claudia winkleman, jordan north & william hanson, saoirse-monica jackson, gordon ramsay, sandi toksvig, richard e. grant, matthew macfadyen, and stephen fry

sandi toksvig hugging guests (2024 edition)

obsessed with this house tour with richard e grant

phil wang was on jolly?? it was fun to see his house

don't sleep on the taskmaster outtakes content!

radio & podcasts

green wing came back for a 6-part radio series and warmed all of our hearts<3

some of my favourite episodes of off menu this year: elis james, john robins, sam campbell, frankie boyle, lucy beaumont, jess knappett, joe wilkinson, tommy tiernan, ardal o'hanlon, huge davies (one of the all-time clips), danny dyer (this one is truly crazy on the ears can't recommend it enough)

the horne section podcast was back for a few episodes!!! if you've never listened before, start with this classic episode you're welcome

susie dent and phil wang have adorable chemistry on this new radio game show

david o'doherty and max rushden started a new podcast about what people did yesterday that has had lots of fun guests! start here if you need to give it a taste

a few RHLSTP episodes worth giving a listen: lee mack, bob mortimer, armando iannucci, rob brydon, peter serafinowicz, ade edmondson, fern brady, among others. if you find your patience waning, he's doing a couple of 'best of 2024' eps! richard's really been focused on his book podcast this year

books

frankie boyle & charlie skelton – a short history of the apocalypse: the vital guide to your future survival (2024)

miranda hart – i haven't been entirely honest with you (2024)

richard osman – we solve murders (2024)

—

i could go on forever but i've got to stop somewhere heh... looking forward to big fat quiz and more mindless telly in 2025! have a wonderful holiday x sarah

PANEL SHOW WATCH LINKS • NON-PANEL SHOW WATCH LINKS ♥ https://ko-fi.com/panelshowsource

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - I'm using the word "ridiculous" a lot

Organized, in each category, with ones I'm enjoying most at the top.

Dec 2024 Week 3

Ongoing Series - Thai

Your Sky (Sun iQIYI) ep 5 of 12 - OMG they’re so fucking cute I can’t stand it. It’s too much. Everyone is adorable. Including the father. (That said, I wouldn’t recommend watching Naughty Babe with your dad. That’s a big leap there, cutie pie.) The 10 minutes of holding hand negotiation and then finally walking together across campus was truly fucking fantastic. This show is GLORIOUS. Now we also know when it finally does move from dreams to reality, that these two can kiss.

Actual name of this show?

How to Train Your Seme

Speaking of names, Fah's brother, whose name I forget, is now going to referred to by me as Sarcastic Cupid. Because that is his role in this narrative. I love him very much.

On a completely different note, and I know this is not that kind of show, but this is me so I have to say it, if these two ever do have sex it’s gonna take them hours. They just gonna spend half the night negotiating. Which is kind of tantric, but my goodness would they even make it into bed?

ThamePo (Fri YT) ep 2 of 12 - i just love this show!!!! so happy to have this one my screen. The dads have to save the little musical family! So cute! And illegally pretty.

Love Sick 2024 (Sun iQIYI) ep 14 of 15 - They substantially took steps to fix Phun‘s dad character in the new version and I really like that a lot. I'm chronicling my experience with 2024 as compared to 2014 here. 

Caged Again (Fri Gaga) ep 7 of 10 - Why is this absurd show so damn good? When Sun has to beg it’s just too much. It’s too sweet and aching and hurtful and wonderful. Catnip = the sex herb trope was not anything I’ve ever thought I would see in my lifetime. Okaaay now. Relax little show. Too far.

Fourever You (Thurs YT) ep 12 of 16 - The extended version is clearly better. But I’m not gonna bother to pay for it. Again, I’m liking the new couple more and more each week. I still prefer the first couple of course cause Pond but it’s enjoyable enough.

Note: I'm super grateful for those posting them as clips here on the hellsite. Because man can these boys kiss!

The Heart Killers (Weds Gaga) ep 4 of 12 - this show is so entirely and utterly ridiculous. I don’t even know what to do with it or myself. Or what to say. Carry on, I guess?

Also I don't know what GMMTV is smoking to tease this one, but I'll take a hit next time they pass the BL bong.

Perfect 10 Liners (Sun YT?) ep 7 of 24 - I am living for Pond & Sand. they are pretty much all I care about. Yes including the upcoming couples. I just want pond sand. sure the main couple was fine it was a perfectly serviceable ending to their arc such as it was. All in all I enjoyed this episode big smile on my face most of the time.

Secret Love (????) 1-60 of 81 eps - Someone dropped a cut together of episodes one through 60, and I actually quite enjoyed it. It’s a total soap opera and very much a pulp. But I kind of love that right now. Frankly, 1-60 is a completed story arc. If you want that. I will probably watch the whole thing if anybody ever uploads it or it turns up grey anywhere. But this was quite satisfying. Ridiculous but charming fluff about two stepbrothers, who aren’t really stepbrothers, who have loved each other forever and are reunited under trying family circumstances. 7/10 passes the sniff test

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Our Youth AKA Miseinen: Mijukuna Oretachi wa Bukiyo ni Shinkochu (Japan Tues Gaga) ep 7 of 11 - ARGH. The pain. what an absolutely stellar show. I can't believe we are only on ep 7!

See Your Love (Taiwan Weds Gaga) ep 9 of 13 - I love it. This show is fantastic. It’s classic BL, it’s hitting all of the tropes, and it reminds me of some of the best that Taiwan has done in the past. I’m charmed and enjoying it immensely. Taiwan isn’t great on endings so I’m reserving judgment, but what a current highlight to my week. I like these boys so much. Please be kind to me and them, Taiwan?

Eternal Butler (Taiwan Fri Gaga) eps 1-2 of 12 - Ever 4, a sophisticated AI combat robot, becomes the personal butler/bodyguard to Luo Bu Shi, a spoiled yet lonely young heir. And I like it a lot. Odd with a very old fashioned yaoi feel. Also actually kinky (not Thai kinky), I mean it's no JBL but I like it. Dommed into reading = hot. 

Teenager Judge (Vietnam Sat YT) ep 12 of ? - I love our new rescuer, he v cute! Nice addition to the cast. I hope we get more of him. Otherwise, this was more of the same. I’m getting pretty fatigued with this bully stuff at this juncture.

Love in the Air: Koi no Yokan (Japan Sat Gaga) ep 8 end - A lackluster adaptation of some already questionable content, that managed to lose all the limited charm and massive chemistry of the original. It was a mistake to do with less runtime not to mention put both climaxes in the final episode.  Too much all at once. By dividing up the two rescues and keeping them exclusive to their respective couples they highlighted the formulaic nature of the narrative and weakened the foundational friendships. The best thing about the original was the friendships both between the semes and the ukes. By having each boyfriend simply rescue his own boy without help, we didn’t get to see the depth of those friendships at all. For this reason, this installment was weaker than the original. My final feeling at the end was simply “OK whatever” not a ringing endorsement. 7/10 but barely that.

It's airing but......

Spare Me Your Mercy (Thurs iQIYI) ep 5 of 8 - on hold because it went out side genre conventions and I'm not sure what to expect. I'm waiting until it ends, then if safe I will binge.

Be Moon - Falling for my enemy's son (China YT) movie from HBD Studio airing in short bits but I couldn't find any this week.

Winter Is Not The Death of Summer (Thai ???) - has been picked up to air on WeTV, or something? Criminals who meet in prison fall in love. I did find it on YouTube, initially un-subbed, then subs happened by which time I got distracted. The first episode seems to be only six minutes long. It is very pulp. But it is intriguing. For now it's to the wayside until someone tells me it landed safely. Occasionally Thai pulps want to be edgy and it's not a good look on them.

0.5D (Japan ????) 4 eps - Supposedly a completed short. "Sales ace, Sada, has a secret that only his junior, Daiki, knows. He has pretended to have a gf for years, resulting in him being a virgin. But now Sada has fallen in love. Confused, Sada seeks advice from his junior." I sense another queer Cyrano De Bergerac. I can't find and it's good very poor review so Imma stop looking. Info here.

The Renovation (Thai mini One31) 2 eps - Writer turns his blossoming romance with holiday resort owner into a novel. Eh is it worth trying to find?

It Ended But?

Blue Canvas of Youthful Days (China Sun Viki) paused at eps 9-10 of 12 - I have been told the ending is OK if not great. I’m gonna hold off for a bit.

Next Week Looks Like This:

Final still to come:

12/29 Sangmin Dinneaw (Thai ????) ??eps - trailer Childhood friends (Thai & Korean) reunite after being apart for ten years. As the boys reconnect, their bond matures and feelings of romance begin to develop, in Thai.

Impression of Youth (Taiwan ????) ??eps - rumors are this is supposed to start this month.

Upcoming BLs for 2024 are listed here. This list is not kept updated, so please leave a comment if you know something new or RP with additions.

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

10 years later and it's still one of BLs best cuddles (Love Sick)

Always like a seme who asks permission. (Perfect 10)

(last week)

The tag BLigade: @doorajar @solitaryandwandering @my-rose-tinted-glasses @babymbbatinygirl @babymbbatinygirl @isisanna-blog @mmastertheone @pickletrip @aliceisathome @urikawa-miyuki @tokillamonger @sunflower-positiiivity @rocketturtle4 @blglplus @anythinggoesintheshire @everlightly @renafire @mestizashinrin @bl-bam-beyond @small-dark-and-delicious @saezurumurmurs

[theothersideofthesolver]

Obscure Murderdrones Fact #7

Source: Murderdrones Episode 1

Timestamp: 4:45

Subject: Khan’s Room Is Very Disturbing

It’s no secret that Khan is a concerning individual. The sentiment holds when we take a look at his personal environment.

Immediately noticeable is his habit of tracking ideas with sticky notes, much like his daughter. But distinguished is the disturbing contents of these records.

“Doors > Uzi” affirms a bold, uncomfortable, but unsurprising reality to his apparent favoring of his technological achievement over his own child (which only begs more questions considering the doors are apparently sentient.) But what truly makes this disconcerting is its evidence that Khan is very, very aware of his stance, and believes it enough to proclaim it openly on his wall. Why does he feel the need to do this?

Moving up, arguably more distressingly, a note reads “New Idea: Monthly Subscription Based Doors?”

Khan’s Doors are the only thing keeping out sky demons. Why would Khan feel the need to charge for this? How would this even work? Who is paying? Paying for individual protection seems farfetched, given the doors are an all-or-nothing protective measure.

Is he considering charging the other outposts for access to his technology? That makes marginally more sense, assuming that the outposts aren’t directly linked (big assumption here,) and that one failed door wouldn’t a breach all Outposts.

Perhaps the concept is charging subscription for regular doors, and thus limiting the non-subscribed access to their own quarters or other Outpost 3 locations. That may be the best-case scenario.

Finally, it’s obligatory to mention the photograph. Interestingly, Nori’s segment of the family photo appears charred away by a Dissasembly Drone’s Nanite Acid. It’s fitting, given the acid is what spurred her “death” to begin with, but how did the photo itself become damaged?

[makesitprecious]

Karen’s representation in lighting in both BB: DA (and subsequently DD)

(I did NOT expect this to get so detailed)

The softest of lighting for Karen and Matt’s “I know you better than anyone, it’s the two of us and our memories of our good friend who believed in our purpose of helping the city” moment at Josie’s means so much.

For the season, in its entirety, there have been very bold, washing colors like when Matt was shot (fading to complete red) or Pointdexter in blue. Red in lighting symbolizes anger and violence, even change. Matt has been shown standing in flickering red and black — both in the pilot and finale — mostly as sign that he is half Daredevil and half Matt, both embodied.

Karen has been backlit with light yellow and white (heavenly/pure colors) two times in the finale: when she first arrived to drive the boys back to Frank’s place and also in this secluded moment at Josie’s. 🤍🩵💛

Even in her last scene with Matt in episode 1, it was in the brighter daylight light with a warm tone/the whites of the halls/marble floors as the set:

I’m getting on my theater major high horse sorry not sorry - but having a soft backlit glow is romantic, peaceful and calming. Showing both Matt and Karen in a soft sky blue with white tints is very calming to us as humans, because blue is the color we see most often due to the sky (blue jeans go “with everything” for this reason. Our brains are wired).

🌟 When she’s patching Matt up in this season finale, they are focused under a white light, having the pair stand out in the bunker. After that ✨ little moment ✨ Frank, Karen and Matt are all in the standard lighting of the bunker, back on “neutral” lighting terms, the messages are once again in the acting and script (damn…. She said no to that coffee y’all…)

EVEN IF THIS T’WERE NOT ROMANTIC, JUST READING IT FROM A TWO PEOPLE WHO ARE FRIENDS PERSECTIVE: they are each others safe space. They each share half the screen, taking up the same amount of screen completing the picture as a whole. In this moment they are the only people who carry on Foggy’s legacy and represent knowing each other completely, both “dark” and “light” sides.

On a love interest note, Elektra was often shown in bold, dark colors like when he visited “her” apartment at night and their battles together/against each other often at night. Her offset colors were mostly yellows: in the gym or Matt’s apartment, in college when they break into the house. It shows that as a character, from a vigilante perspective, she is rarely seen “in the light”. Elektra is an anti-hero and prefers to think of herself that way. In the daylight she’s usually murdering people so… but she knows who she is slay queen slay. Respect, I love you, terrifying queen assassin.♥️♠️

Dark colors:

The gym is an interesting take for both Elektra and Matt romantically, Matt by himself and surprise surprise MATT AND KAREN. When he’s with Elektra having sex on the most questionably-hygienic boxing mat, the lighting is very ✨ golden ✨ BUT!! With interesting creeping tones of red lighting in this scene, representative of both Daredevil, Elektra and ❤️ love ❤️

When Matt is alone at the gym it’s pretty dusty af but lit depending on his mood, the emotions of the show and his loneliness.

Are we SUPRISED NO WE ARE NOT that when Karen and Matt talk at the gym, gone!!! Are those particular colors and back are those whites and rich purples (a dark color that can represent mourning but also love) Karen is very purple/pink = a BIG moment in s1ep1 when she’s at his apartment.

White “heavenly” light ex:

^^^ The first moment so many people were cued into “oh… ohhhhhh is this… BECOMING SOMETHING???”

^^^ Their first date is LITERALLY THOUSANDS OF BEAUTIFUL TWINKLING LIGHTS.

^^ Foggy is shown in white light/“good” lighting too because of the innocence, purity and friendship he brings Matt.

Frank, in this DD:BA season is only shown at night or his bunker lighting. DARK DARK DARK. Not surprised, we needed that, as Matt often does, because Frank will cross a line Matt won’t. Dude straight up loves wearing black.

Don’t get me started on Karen and Matt’s outfits also being light colors (and a lot of dark colors when they aren’t together, like when she’s working at the bulletin):

^^^ Bright lighting and soft blues is calming, signifying a peaceful moment also clarity and caring. Even if you don’t ship it, Karen has several moments of this with Frank. When he saves her from her apartment shooting, it is tinged a dark yellow, not a golden light/sunshine yellow.

IS THIS A RULE OF THUMB? Nope!

Foggy and Matt have their Foggy confronts Matt about being Daredevil fight in white/daylight lighting. Interesting!!! Choice!!!

Karen and Matt’s first two kisses are at night (but! They are bathed in golden light both times, so it’s a bit of a cheat)

Karen and Matt’s “you are not alone” moment doesn’t take place in bright/white/heavenly light scheme, it happens in the dark yellow and dark greys and blacks of the office at night, but that’s the whole point. Their inner light and bond is them in that moment, not their dull surroundings.

Matt and Foggy’s fun college flash backs are at night or the tinted yellow or their dorm room is when they first meet. Damn, lighting department Fcking loves yellow.

It’s not like Elektra, Frank and Fisk don’t walk outside in the daylight. I’m not that much of an idiot.

Karen tells Matt to fuckkkk offffff when she finds Stick and Elektra in his apartment and that is outside, full day light. Go off queen.

💡 Lighting, like emotions, changes! It is not firmly bad or good, but most of the time subliminal like costumes/props and set dressings. The curtains are blue for a reason, but sometimes it’s the only fabric the poor set dresser could buy last minute.

Honestly? Could talk about this forever. Yeah, I could have placed this in a read more or kept it to a paragraph, but…. The Karen and Matt Are Besties (and ❤️) boat has set sail in DD:BA.

[babeejeon]

Accidental Kiss - KNJ

Author Note: Finally I am back with a new writing in Accidental Kiss Mini Series. I was actually struggling with finding concepts that lead to accidental kiss. Yesterday I was watching a episode of My Sweet Mobster and I got inspired by the scene in the playground. So I decided to write this one. Hope you enjoy and Happy Birthday to our Joonie in advance.

Prompt: An accidental brush of lips followed by a pause and going back for another, on purpose.

-Kim Namjoon fluff, best friends to lovers au, Namjoon version of Accidental Kiss Mini Series-

It was a few days after Joon’s birthday and you two finally get to celebrate it together. What sucks in adult birthdays is that no one cares if it is on weekdays. Is it really hard to give an of day to your employee for their birthday? Are we really living in such a horrible world? Though, even if they gave him an off day, it would be hard for you to take the day off.

That is the reason you two decided to celebrate it on Saturday. Since the weather is nice, you thought it would be nice to go for a picnic. It is always good to cherish last few good days left from summer. Unlike Namjoon, you loved summer, so you want to hold on to these last warm days. Besides he is the nature boy anyways.

So, you found a really good national park outside of the city and prepared a big basket of yummy food and drinks. Not forgetting his birthday gift, you got on your car and drove to his apartment. When you arrive, he was already down, waiting for you. You rolled your window down, “Come on birthday boy!”. He chuckled and got on the car. “Hi!”.

“Hi! Are you excited for my surprise?” you asked. He nodded. “Yeah, very much.”

“Okay. Let’s hit the road, then!” you said and started the drive. “By the way you are responsible for the music.” You said and he connected his Bluetooth to the car.

--

When finally the park was visible he gasped in surprise. “Wow! I never came here before.” He said.

“It is beautiful, isn’t it?” you glanced at him for a brief moment. “It is.”

After driving a little while inside the park, you parked your car and found yourselves a place. After carrying your stuff, you opened the folding chairs and table and spread out a cloth to the grass. He peeked inside the basket, “Wow, you prepared a lot.”.

“It’s your birthday after all.” You said.

After taking everything out, he took a picture of all and of course a picture of you two. “I doubt if we can eat all of it.” He said.

“It is better to have more than less.” You said. You two eat and talk a lot. But after some time you started to feel sluggish. You yawned. He yawned after you. You started to laugh at the same time.

“That’s what you get when you eat that much.” He said while yawning again.

“Don’t worry we still have coffee.” You said and poured two cups of coffee. You take your cup and sit on the cloth in the grass. “Come here!” you pat next to yourself. He complied.

You stared around silently while sipping your coffee. The view was amazing. Nature really did it’s show as always. No words needed, the trees, flowers, birds and butterflies were mesmerizing. After a while both of you were lying down on the cloth and watching the sky, pointing each other clouds and trying to figure out what they look like.

“Do you see this one? It looks like a cat.” You pointed out.

“Come on, it doesn’t look like a cat.” He chuckled and turned towards you while putting his right hand under his head.

“No, it does.” You insisted while turning towards him. He shook his head side to side, “You and your obsession with cats.”.

“It is not an obsession, it is love.” You argued. He laughed, “Of course, it is.” and he ruffled your hair. You laughed along with him.

Then you sighed. “It is beautiful here, isn’t it?”.

He nodded. “I can lie here all day.”

You nodded. “Me too. It is as if all the world is so far. No work, no responsibilities or stuff.” You said.

“You wish you were a cat, right? No work, just meow meow.” He grinned.

“Stop teasing me.” You said while grinning back.

It was a lovely day, but just like every good thing, it has coming an end too. It was slowly getting dark, and you have to start picking your stuff. So, you tried to get up and walk towards the basket on Namjoon’s side but his long legs decided to come on your way and you trip over his leg and fall on top of him. And it wasn’t all, cause your lips also fall just on top of his lips, as well.

Your eyes widened, caught his eyes in panic and his eyes were as wide as yours. Then you realized that it would be better if you get off of him. So, you pull yourself just to part your lips and mumbled “Sorry.” And tried to move your body, only for him to press his had to your waist to prevent you from getting up.

“It’s okay.” He mumbled, but not like you. He didn’t look embarrassed like you. In fact, he did look super serious. And he was staring at your eyes, something was prominent in his eyes that you never catch before.

“I should get up.” You mumbled. ‘Oh, God! What is wrong with me?’ You could barely form a sentence. But he pressed his hand with a little more pressure, as if saying no. His eyes were saying something as well, staring deeply in yours.

“Do you mind if I kiss you, properly, this time?” he asked with a very deep voice.

“Ki-kiss? Kissing like.. me?” you asked with a high-pitched voice almost like your high school self. ‘Why do I have to stutter like that’ you thought to yourself.

“Yes, you.” He said, grinning to your shyness. And somehow you find yourself nodding and closing to your eyes. He put his lips to yours and rolled you to get on top of you. He kissed you slowly and tenderly. Then pulled back and pecked your forehead.

He lie next to you to stare at you. But you were just squeezing your eyes shut harder than before. And brought your hands to cover your face. He laughed at you.

“I can’t just look at you.” You said behind your hands.

“Oh, come on Y/N. I want to see your face.” He said, enjoying the whole situation.

“You just caught me off guard and now I can’t look at you.”

“What do you mean off guard? You didn’t kiss me because you wanted it?” he asked. He was sounding serious. You don’t want him to misunderstand you, so you take your hands down and sit up.

“I didn’t say that I didn’t want. I just, .. just feel a little shy.” You were looking down while talking.

You saw his hands reaching yours. “Come on, it’s me. There is nothing to be shy. I am your best friend Joon, remember?” he asked.

You sighed. “That’s exactly why I feel shy!” you protest.

“Well, it just makes you cuter. There is a thing called cuteness aggression, you know?”

You looked at him on that. “That was cheesy.”

“No, that is what it is.” He said and pulled you in his arms. You felt better now that he couldn’t see your face. So, you wrapped your arms around him, too.

“What’s all of these mean now? That, I am a cutie patotie?” you asked. ‘What an attempt to ask?’ you mentally slapped your face.

He laughed. “Yes, you are my cutie patotie now.”

PS: During the whole car ride he teased you, cause “It was supposed to be him to be the clumsy one!”.

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Writing Notes: Guilt by Association

Guilt by Association - moral guilt or unfitness presumed to exist on the basis of one's known associations

Guilt by Association Fallacy

Occurs when someone connects an opponent to a demonized group of people or to a bad person in order to discredit his or her argument.

The idea is that the person is “guilty” by simply being similar to or associated with this “bad” group and, therefore, their arguments should be disregarded.

Example:  We cannot have the educational reform that my opponent calls for because Dr. Corrupt has also mentioned this kind of educational reform.

This is the fallacy of trying to refute or condemn someone's standpoint, arguments or actions by evoking the negative ethos of those with whom the speaker is identified or of a group, party, religion or race to which he or she belongs or was once associated with.

It is a form of Ad Hominem Argument, e.g., "Don't listen to her. She's a Republican so you can't trust anything she says," or "Are you or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party?" 

An extreme instance of this is the Machiavellian "For my enemies, nothing" Fallacy, where real or perceived "enemies" are by definition always wrong and must be conceded nothing, not even the time of day, e.g., "He's a Republican, so even if he said the sky is blue, I wouldn't believe him."

Guilt by association fallacies can often work in concert with hasty generalization or ad hominem fallacies, especially when they’re used to attack a specific group of people.

While guilt by association fallacies often include unfair stereotypes, this is not always the case.

Guilt by association can even be factually accurate.

For example, imagine two politicians both support a bill for free school lunches. However, one of these politicians has a known history of corruption. Despite being based on fact, it would still be illogical to use the corrupt politician as a means to discredit the second politician and their ideas.

"Guilt by Association Gag" Trope

In a comedy, when a bunch of characters are subject to some kind of punishment or awful revenge, there will often be exactly one character who doesn't deserve it.

No matter how much this character voices his objection, he will never be recognized as an exception.

He must suffer with everyone else.

Examples

In one episode of Courage the Cowardly Dog, Eustace swindled Shirley the Medium out of a necklace for Muriel by giving her an oil bill he claimed was a deed to an oil well. In response, Shirley put a swindling curse on both him and Muriel, even though Muriel was completely innocent of the scam.

Near the beginning of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, a man is loaded onto a cart full of dead plague victims. When he insists he's "not quite dead yet" and attempts to leave, the cart-pusher refuses to take him at first, but the man who brought him slips the cart-pusher some money. A hefty whack from his cudgel and the man wasn't complaining anymore.

Schools often employ this tactic to keep students under control in chaotic classrooms, much to the chagrin of well-behaved students. It's become something of a Discredited Trope, as teachers have gradually come to realize that the badly-behaved students often enjoy getting their more well-behaved peers punished for no reason, and can actually cause the ones who normally behave to start being disruptive themselves once they realize they're going to be punished either way.

In the Spongebob Squarepants episode "Big Sister Sam", Squidward insults Patrick's elder sister, which causes her to cry. In response, Patrick shames both Squidward and SpongeBob, even though SpongeBob has just been standing there watching the whole thing.

The Simpsons: "Simpsons Bible Stories" ends with the Rapture. The Simpsons are to be sent to Hell… except Lisa, who is pulled heavenward in a beam of glorious light. Disturbingly, Homer is able to reach up and pull her down to hell with them, saying "Where do you think you're going, Missy?"

Sources: 1 2 3 4 ⚜ More: Notes & References ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs

[littleeyesofpallas]

Are Kyoraku's game abilities actually based on real Japanese children games? I only know about the Daruma one.

Sorry i put this off so long, i kept meaning to go dig up the old anime episodes to see if the anime added or changed anything, but never did. I'm just leaning on the fan wikia to take inventory and trusting they didn't overlook anything...

Bushogoma[不精独楽]: "Lazy SpinningTop" is the type of spinning top toy you usually see in Japan, where you wind a bit of string around the top to use like a rip chord to send it spinning; as opposed to the sort you'd spin by hand or something.

(It's similar to the beigoma tops that Beyblades are based on.)

(Oh a good thing to note here is that in the japanese version of the game we generally refer to as "tag" as well as the "it" role in it is called "oni" as in a demon/ogre. So the term in all the associated "XYZ-Oni" attacks could functionally just be translated as "XYZ-Tag")

TakaOni[嶄鬼]: "(High/Steep)Mountain Tag" is a play on takaoni[高鬼]: "High(up) Tag" a variation of tag where the tagger must be at even or higher elevation than the person they're tagging. i.e. players higher up than the tagger are considered safe. The "taka" is also a homonym with taka[鷹]: "hawk/falcon" and seems to be a play on how hawks hunt by diving at their prey, meaning they have a blind spot above them.

KageOni[影鬼] "Shadow Tag" is a variation of tag where instead of tagging the person themselves, whoever is "it" has to touch their shadow to tag them out.

IroOni[艶鬼]: "colorful/lustrous oni" is actually a pun on irooni[色鬼]: "Color Tag." Unlike in the manga the rule is usually that once a color is declared, touching anything of that color is considered "safe," so each round is a matter of chasing down players until everyone is either out or safe, then declaring a new target color.

Daruma-san ga koronda[だるまさんがころんだ] got the most attention I think of the whole line up and is the Japanese name for what I think it most commonly called "Red Light, Green Light" in English.

(Pretty notably the manga Kami-sama no Iu Touri[神さまの言うとおり] aka As The Gods Will used it as the first big game in their death game series, with a literal Japanese daruma doll. It's also what Squid Game stole its first game plot from, beat for beat.)

Kageokuri[影送り]: "Shadow send(off)" i don't know that this is really a "game" but it's when you stare at your shadow on the ground for a bit then up at the sky and can see your shadow's afterimage.

BBS adds Yubikiri[指斬り]: lit."finger beheading" as in to cut off the "head" of a finger. It's what we'd call a "pinky promise" in English, the idea being that you've sworn to keep whatever promise at the cost of cutting off your pinky if you aren't faithful to it.

...as well as Kagome kagome[囲召籠目]: "encircled basket eye" a pun on[籠目籠目]: "basket eye, basket eye." Children hold hands in a circle with an oni/it in the middle, they dance around in said circle singing while the center child keeps their eyes close, and when the song ends the oni/it has to guess who is directly behind them. The tune of the song that goes with it is extremely recognizable.

Some of the old videogames had original techniques but those were largely made before any of his actual powers were revealed so they're mostly just like wind elemental attacks and don't contribute to the theme.(ugh... goddamnit now that i went and looked for it i realize there's like zero info around most of those old games and it makes me want to download emulator files for them all and look up all their move lists... i dont want to actually do all that tho...)

Honestly I'm surprised Katen and Kyokotsu didn't have any anime original abilities in the filler arc or something...

They do have a BBS card with the move Utage-no-Ikkyou[宴の一興]: "Amusement/(Brief)Entertainment of (a) Feast/Party" which isn't really a game of any sort. at least not specifically. It would refer to something like a bit of song and dance interlude at a feudal era banquet. Admittedly a clever intersection of Katen and Kyokotsu's differing types of play -children's game vs adult entertainment.

[linddzz]

While yes, Viktor is confident too, but...

This man isn't shy? He's hyperventilating and nervous-tapping over the idea of giving a speech!

This man?

I guess Im not getting across like, the Vibe that I always see that bothers me? Viktor's got the social anxiety for sure, and it's VERY fair to assume that his condition makes him even more self conscious to be up in front of a crowd full of topsiders. He's pretty clear in episode 1 that he's aware of how topsiders see him and his cane use, and that's before his disability is even more visible.

But ALSO very few people ARE good on a stage in front of tons of people. And also there's a very specific connotation to "shy" that is beyond social anxiety.

Shyness to me, is its own flavor of social anxiety plus timidness. The actual definition is a bashful, timid nervousness. It has connotations of the wilting flower personality. Viktor, even when he's quiet around other people doesn't come across as nervous or timid in the slightest. His first introduction has him VERY confident and collected surrounded by enforcers and not taking Jayce being snappy and angry at him. As a kid there's more of an argument to be made because what awkward socially isolated kid isn't going to be shy. But at the same time he doesn't try to shrink away from Sky's attention, he still looks right back up at her, he just keeps on doing his own thing. Mostly he comes across as someone who does not know how to casually interact with people so he doesn't. He's got tunnels in his eyes lmao.

Viktor is complicated. Viktor is nuanced. It's why he's Ultimate Blorbo. He's withdrawn and awkward and not very good at interacting with people, but he's not timid about it. He is very self assured in himself.

But when I say fandom makes him shy it IS much more of the wilting flower timid woobie that I kept seeing in Season1 fics. There was SO MUCH of Viktor being the nervous soft spoken anxious thing who was just so happy Jayce was even giving him the time of day as if Viktor didn't sass Jayce about his notes right after he stopped the man from jumping lmaoooo

And idk not to be TOO OBVIOUS with my projecting but it's the part of Viktor I can relate to the most. I consider myself a quiet person who gets annoyed when people think that me being quiet = shy. I'm able to speak up well on zoom calls with colleagues and I also would rather drop dead than have to go up on a stage in front of a bunch of normal people who I know were expecting someone very different. I get nervous and shaky speaking up in front of a crowd of colleagues even! but afterwards I can go right up to people like "your presentation was insane tell me more right now." I am often quiet and uncomfortable in large social situations because I know that most people there are operating under a different wavelength than I am, I do not know what the right responses to things are, or I full on do not know how to not accidentally come across as a huge asshole and I don't want to be an asshole. And when I was younger I would have so many people come up and act like I was a little wallflower (bc oh boy can I also relate to being quiet while physically small meaning being constantly infantalized) who "didn't need to be so shy" and every time I was like "I'm not shy. I just don't feel any engagement with this conversation and I don't want to be a dick and tell you that, but if you gently tell me it's ok to talk one more time I'm gonna start biting."

(It got better as I got older bc I learned that if you're quiet but making active eye contact instead of staring off into other directions - not to avoid attention but because you're just thinking of other shit - people will stop labeling you as shy and instead say "intimidating" or "mysterious" which is also hilarious when what you're thinking about is "machine herald big naturals lmao" but it's better than being labeled "shy")

[jo-harrington]

Luminous Beings (A Stranger Things x Star Wars AU) - Masterlist

Part of the Eddie Munson Big Bang Will be Crossposted on Tumblr and AO3 - AO3 Link Art by the wonderful @monologichno - LINK Beta'd by the amazing @undead-supernova Summary: Eddie Moonsun learned early that if he wanted to be saved, he was going to have to do it himself. The galaxy, the force, fate...they promised nothing but the dirt beneath his feet, and he only ever dreamed of the sky. But they also promised chaos, and chaos is exactly what he got one day, sitting in a cantina on Nar Shaddaa. Chaos in the form of a Star Tours flight attendant who would change his life forever.

Rating: M Word Count: ~65k Pairing: Eddie Munson x OFC (Thalia Trieste) Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Additional Tags: Star Wars AU, Angst, Action, Violence, Fluff, Romance, Hurt/Comfort, Mention of Alcohol and Substance Use, Minor Canon Inaccuracies/Adaptation, Politics, Grief/Mourning, Implied Torture, Discussion of the Force, Light Side, Dark Side, Corruption, Redemption, Fate vs Free Will, Order 66, Mention of Canon-Compliant Death and Persecution Chapters: Episode 1 - A Long Time Ago... Episode 2 - Not the Smuggler You're Looking For Episode 3 - I've Got a Bad Feeling About This Episode 4 - Order 66 Episode 5 - When Ambush Comes to Shove Episode 6 - Hopeless Episode 7 - The Force is With Me Episode 8 - Strange Dreams, Stranger Deceptions Episode 9 - Inner Starlight

Note Before Reading: - In-depth knowledge of Star Wars isn't necessary prior to reading Luminous Beings. My goal was to make the story as accessible as possible. And if you are a fan of Star Wars, please note that while I try to maintain some canon compliance, this is meant to be its own story. Suspend your sense of disbelief.

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[inawickedlittletown]

Through The Darkness To The Dawn (BuckTommy) - 8x17 coda - (1/2)

Notes: I started writing this right after watching the episode. I wanted to get into Buck's head and also sort of deal with the Eddie of it all because I really do think he has quickly become my least favorite character in 9-1-1. I don't think I'm alone in that.

The title comes from Nobody Knows by The Lumineers

Summary: Buck is grieving and Eddie is just kind of the worst. 8x17 coda.

Words: 3.4k

Read on Ao3

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Part One: It Seems So Easy 'Til You Try

The moon was more than half full, big and yet so far away a bright spot in the middle of the dark clear night. The stars were small tiny pinpricks of light and there had been a time where it was all Buck had and he would sit atop the hood of his Jeep and just stare out at the great expanse wishing that he had someone to share it with. 

The sky was different in LA. Light pollution cloaked everything unless you were deep in the woods somewhere. Buck hadn’t trusted himself to go into the woods, so the beach it was. 

It had only been four weeks since Bobby passed and Buck felt all of it settling harshly right into his bones. It felt like months had passed rather than just weeks and at the same time, like no time at all. It was no wonder he’d had to come out to the beach all on his own in the middle of the night. 

Did he not ask what it was like for Eddie to find out? 

It was a thought that just kinda rattled in his head because he did, didn’t he? Except that, Eddie hadn’t been in LA by his own choice — a choice that absolutely made sense because Chris needed his dad. Instead, Buck had had no way to get to his team when they were trapped in that lab. He and Athena had run all over LA to get the antidote, Buck had even called Tommy and Tommy had answered and then in the end, Buck had been the one there when Bobby brought the door down between them. None of that had given him time to think about Eddie and how he wasn’t there. 

Eddie had thrown that at him too…how he hadn’t been there to make any difference. Did he not realize that none of them knew about Bobby until the very end? That they had done everything and would have done more but Bobby didn’t clue them in? That there was only one dose. Eddie hadn’t been a thought to any of them because he was in Texas. They had far more important things to worry about. 

But, then he did call Eddie. Eventually. Knew that Eddie would want to know as soon as possible because Buck would have wanted to know sooner rather than later. 

He’d been spiraling and trying to really let it all sink in so that he could believe it and come to terms with how he would never see Bobby again and still he’d taken the time to call. Told Eddie Bobby was gone. Meanwhile, he had been trying to rationalize it all. 

Buck hardly remembered the call with Eddie. Just that he’d done it and then the hours after that had been a blur. Bobby had been on his mind most of all, how he couldn’t ask him for advice. How he couldn’t ever text him with any kind of question. How he could never check on just what the secret ingredient in one of his recipes was. Bobby was gone. 

Gone. 

Gone. 

Gone. 

Bobby’s words had felt more important and so he leaned into them. Did his best to check on everyone starting that very night and then he had made it back home somehow…the whole of it was hazy, but he did think Tommy had been there. There in the quiet empty place that had once been Eddie’s, when Buck was alone, Buck allowed himself to feel it again. 

He cried. He screamed. He passed out on his couch. 

Hen was in the hospital. Chim was in the hospital. 

Maddie was busy dealing with her husband almost dying and Buck had to be strong for her. For Jee-Yun who had already almost lost her mom some months earlier and then come so close to losing her dad. 

Of course there was Athena too. 

She put up a strong front, but Buck had seen her right after. He didn’t want to crowd her, but he did check in on her and May and Harry. He cooked for them, baked for them and knew that it couldn’t be enough. Nothing was ever going to be enough. 

Eddie was in Texas. 

He wasn’t there in front of Buck falling apart like the rest of them were and in all of their phone calls and facetimes, Eddie barely wanted to talk about it. And Buck, well…he needed to be okay. Bobby told him he was going to be okay. So, he had to be. He needed to be.  

So maybe he didn’t ask. Maybe he was more concerned with making sure Eddie made it to the funeral. That they all made it and honored Bobby the right way. 

Buck was so focused on that, that he ignored several messages from Tommy, after responding to the first one, knowing that he couldn’t answer a question about how he was doing without actually facing just how much he missed Bobby and how much he wished that he could change everything. Bobby had told him they would all need him and that Buck was going to be okay. 

Buck had held on to those words. But it wasn’t really true. 

Then, it was two weeks after and they were all supposed to be back at work. 

Gerrard was Captain again. Buck didn’t even have it in him to feel anything about that. He was worried about Chim. He had May updating him about how Athena was doing. He spoke to Eddie in between, keeping him up to date especially once Bobby’s body was released and the funeral had a date. He went to all the department mandated therapy sessions and they helped, he was cleared to go back to work. 

He picked Eddie up from the airport the morning of the funeral even though it meant that he had to ask Ravi to pick up his uniform. Tommy had messaged to let him know he’d be one of the pallbearers and Buck had wanted to ask if they could get ready together. In the end, he didn’t.

Eddie wasn’t doing any better than the rest of them, but Buck had known to expect that. Ravi was probably holding it together best of all, but he’d known Bobby less time, and it was hitting him too. Buck saw how rattled he was, but he held strong. 

He didn’t get to talk to Tommy at the funeral, but their eyes met when they were getting to their seats and he felt Tommy’s hand on his shoulder before he dropped his hand away. 

Afterwards, none of them really felt like much of anything. Eddie led Buck away and neither of them said a word. It wasn’t until they were in his car, that Buck wished he’d talked to Tommy. Checked on him. Had anyone checked on Tommy? Somehow, he doubted it. 

Instead he asked Eddie how long he’d be staying and offered him his couch. 

They got drunk on that couch that night and Buck got a picture sent to him from May. Bobby was in Minnesota laid to peace with his kids. 

He showed it to Eddie and Eddie just nodded, lips pressed tight together. Didn’t say a word. Buck waited until he was in his room with the door closed before he broke down into tears over it.

As much as Buck hated the circumstances, he did like having Eddie around. He didn’t leave after a few days like planned and Buck liked that he could keep an eye on him and see how he was doing. He liked that his house — Eddie’s house — wasn’t empty. Although Eddie had sort of eaten all of Buck’s food, but at least he’d said he’d get the groceries next. Not that it wasn’t strange that Buck would head into work and leave Eddie to his own devices which usually meant he went to see his Aunt Pepa. 

He researched grief, tried his best to figure out how to traverse it for himself and for the others too. Asked them questions to figure out how they were doing and fessed up with an explanation once he couldn’t hide what he was up to. He could tell that Hen thought he was being ridiculous. Chim mostly tried to joke his way through it which for Buck seemed like a sign that he was doing better. Ravi, if he was annoyed by it, didn’t show it. Eddie had rolled his eyes but answered Buck’s questions. No one asked any of the questions back at him. No one seemed interested in seeing how he was doing. None of them told him anything outside of Buck pressing them. He didn’t get it. 

Work was good at least. It kept him busy. It kept him focused. It also reminded him of Bobby. 

They didn’t eat together anymore. No one dared to try to cook and Buck, who was probably the most capable after all the lessons from Bobby, felt like he might fall apart if he tried. Cooking in his own kitchen was one thing and wholly different at the station. But he wanted to. Some hope that it would lead to some kind of normality. Not that things would ever be normal again. 

Then Ravi called asking if he needed to buy a present for Eddie. 

“It’s not his birthday,” Buck had said, thinking about how they had all forgotten Hen’s birthday not that long ago. 

Ravi laughed. “No. It’s for Eddie’s surprise barbeque. Hen’s throwing it to celebrate him getting that job in Texas.” 

Hen was throwing a surprise party just weeks after Bobby died. They all discussed it behind his back. None of them needed him. He’d heard Chim talking to Hen about building the crib for the new baby. Even Athena was back at work. It all felt like a return to normal whatever normal meant when Bobby was gone. 

Ravi knew about the job and Buck had no clue even though Eddie was sleeping on his couch. So, Buck got a little mad and when he realized there was no food at home because Eddie still hadn’t gone to shop despite how he wasn’t even working, he went out and shopped and made plans for what he might cook for dinner. Maybe he’d go see Maddie and bring her something. Check in on her. Maybe that was how he got to normal, once Eddie was gone again and he was back to being all on his own. 

Buck wasn’t even mad that Eddie would return to El Paso. That was a given. He wasn’t stupid. Eddie had already moved there. He’d only come back for the funeral and him sticking around longer was nice, but it wasn’t going to last. Chris was still in Texas after all and Eddie needed to go back to be with him if nothing else. It was that Eddie had felt the need to hide it…that everyone seemed to think he was fragile and in need of kid gloves. 

As if Buck couldn’t hear it or be happy for Eddie. 

Somehow, it was all turned around on him and as Eddie yelled at him, finger pointed at Buck, with the counter digging into him, he was left wondering if he’d asked about how it was for Eddie to find out in Texas over the phone. Probably not, but why would he? Why didn’t Eddie bring it up earlier if what he wanted was to talk about it. Why hadn’t he mentioned it when Buck was asking him how he was doing? Why hadn’t it mattered then? 

Buck didn’t even bother with dinner that night. He felt drained. Shaken. Like the bucket where he’d put all of his anger and disbelief and pain had gotten a hole and so it was spilling over as well as leaking and Buck couldn’t contain it. 

He thought about calling Tommy. Then again, he always thought about calling Tommy. But the thing about that was that it felt needy. It felt unfair, because Buck’s issues — his grief — couldn’t and shouldn’t be fixed by his ex-boyfriend no matter how Buck felt about him. He couldn’t put that on Tommy. Calling him because his Captain who was also kind of like his father had passed away felt like the wrong reason. 

Instead, he cried into his pillow until he fell asleep. Maybe Eddie was right…maybe that was why Chim was always seeking out Hen and vice versa, leaving him on his own. Maybe that was why Ravi was hyperfocused on the job. No one wanted to deal with Buck’s feelings on top of their own. He sort of got that, except that it also meant he couldn’t be there for them. 

By morning, he decided that maybe he and Eddie could talk it out. But, Eddie was gone. A note was all he left behind. 

Eddie couldn’t even face him in the daylight it seemed and…well, the relief he felt at having his house back made him feel more than a little guilty. It had been Eddie’s house first and having Eddie there had been a reminder of that. It had been starting to feel more and more like Buck was the guest even with Eddie on the couch. 

Except, Eddie was there when he returned after his shift. 

Anger flooded right into him at the sight of Eddie in a way that Buck almost hadn’t expected. It had simmered and he was ready to boil over. 

It abated the moment he saw Chris and then Aunt Pepa. He hadn’t seen either in ages and Buck loved Chris. He liked Aunt Pepa. Most of the night, he spent talking to Chris and Aunt Pepa. Catching up on what Chris had gotten up to in Texas for all the time he’d been away. The moment she brought up Bobby, he felt a little something like relief. 

Her perspective was helpful. When she started getting ready to leave, he pulled her into a tight hug. 

Eddie and Chris had picked up an air mattress and it didn’t take long to set it up in Chris’ old room. Buck hadn’t really figured out what he was going to use the room for yet, and he couldn’t say it didn’t feel good to see Chris in it. 

After Chris was set for the night, Buck went to his own room, ignoring how Eddie was sitting on the couch with a beer in hand and another on the table that might have been meant for Buck. 

There was something of a dissonance in it. Eddie acted like everything was good. Like he hadn’t diminished Buck’s loss of Bobby in favor of his own feelings. Like he had assumed that Buck would have a problem with him getting that job in El Paso. Buck didn’t want to face him. He didn’t want to say something he might regret especially with Chris within hearing range. 

A thought crossed his mind that maybe that was why Chris was there in the first place. 

Eddie hadn’t left like Buck thought that morning, but he had definitely made Buck think he had. And then, he brought a buffer. 

Buck wanted someone to talk to. He wanted…well, he wanted Bobby. 

Bobby would have heard Buck out. Bobby would have given him perspective. Wasn’t it strange to think that Bobby was the one that always made time for him? No matter what was going on in his own life, Bobby had always made time for Buck. But…Bobby was…Bobby was gone. 

He remembered what the priest had said, how he still could talk to him. 

Eddie was still on the couch when Buck left his room, glanced at him as Buck grabbed his keys. 

“Where are you going?” 

“Out,” Buck said and opened and closed the door. 

He drove to the beach, not sure why, but maybe because it gave him clearer sight of the sky than most other places. 

In the dark, the sky almost blended in with the water except that the seagulls were flying over the surface and dipping in to catch their prey, their white and grey plumage standing out. Waves came in, foaming up and crawling onto the sand. 

“Bobby, I’m really not okay,” Buck said, “but I want to be. I don’t mean to make it about myself, but you were the first person that saw me and thought I could be more. You were the thing that held us all together and now it’s all falling apart. I’ve tried to be there for them, but they don’t need me. They don’t need me to burden them with my feelings. They lost you too and it’s hard for all of us and nothing is ever going to be the same again.” 

Buck took a breath. He could smell the salt of the ocean in the air. 

“Eddie said I didn’t do enough. God, I wish I’d done more, that I had realized somehow that you were infected too. But I know…I know that you never would have let Chim die. I know why you did it, why it was the way it was. But you left this big gap and no one can fill it.”

He wiped at his eyes but more tears came, blurring his vision. 

“You told me they would need me. They don’t, Bobby. I think I’ve been trying so hard to make sure they’re all doing okay that I just…” he trailed off, groaning. “We got into a fight. Me and Eddie. I’m still mad and it sucks. He’s back at…well, at his place and Chris is here and I just wish I could go back to my loft and not see anyone because it’s hard to be okay when I’m really not and I keep thinking about how when I lived there you were still alive. How you dropped by after the lightning strike all the time just to see me. I wish we’d done more of that lately but you were building your house and I was learning how to be alone.” 

He was sobbing as he got out those last words. He sank onto the sand, wrapped his arms around his knees and let it all out. In the very depths of his heart, he wished that there was someone else there with him, someone with strong arms that could maybe hold him together. 

The waves fell upon the shore, the seagulls flew into and out of the water. Buck’s sobs mingled into the soundscape. 

It could have been minutes or hours, Buck had no clue, but he stood. His leg throbbed, his joints were stiff. He rubbed his hands together. Buck didn’t even care, he kind of liked that the numbness was in his body in physical form as much as mental. 

When he got back to his car, he didn’t even know where he was going to go. 

He didn’t want to impose on Maddie and Chim, not when she was so close to the end of her pregnancy. Going home felt…that place wasn’t really home. It had started to feel that way, but since Eddie had returned it was feeling less and less like it. Buck hadn’t known that he would miss his loft, but he did. 

Home had been so many places for Buck over the years. His Jeep — the one Maddie gave him — that had been his home for some years there and then it had been the room in the shared house and then it had been Abby’s apartment and then the loft. Moving into Eddie’s had felt like a step in the right direction, it had felt like he was finally growing except that the place had felt completely wrong until…well, until Tommy. He’d made it feel like home and Buck had opened himself up to the idea, but it was as if Eddie had removed that somehow. 

He took a glance at his phone, more for the time than anything else. It was after midnight. 

There were a few texts from Maddie just checking in. One from May thanking him for the last batch of muffins he’d dropped off. Ravi asking about if Hen was going to take over as Captain anytime soon. Gerrard hadn’t been that bad this time around. Softened somehow by Bobby’s loss, but he was still Gerrard and none of them wanted him in the role of Captain. 

Then, Tommy. 

Tommy: Hey, just wanted to check in and see how you were doing. It’s been a few weeks, but I know what he meant to you. I’m here, Evan. 

Buck: Are you home? 

He got an answer right away and started driving.