#blake-has-too-much-energy

[blake-has-too-much-energy]

Prompt: Steer

“I’ve never gone sailing.”

Rei had woken a few hours prior, while the moon was still in the sky and the sun hadn’t yet started to come up. They had tossed and turned and tried to sleep, before eventually leaving their room in the little inn of the resort. They were barefoot and barely dressed and only carried with them one of their swords and one of their daggers, even though they would never really need those to begin with anyway. Everyone they passed simply ignored them, or left them alone – Rei wasn’t really sure and they didn’t really care, they weren’t paying attention to them.

A couple of hours later, Kriss came to find them.

The miqo’te man had woken to find Rei gone from their room next to his, and went to find them. He was supposed to be taking care of them, and make sure they actually relaxed on the short vacation that they’d earned. This little bit of peace that they’d nearly single-handedly brought to Eorzea. A little peace before they would inevitably be thrust back into the constant stress of carrying the world on their shoulders. He found them standing on the beach, with their feet in the tide. They’d put on shorts at least, but no shirt and no shoes, both staples for them.

He still wasn’t used to how scarred the small miqo’te was. He’d seen them shirtless fairly often. He’d seen them bloodied and broken and still fighting anyway. But he wasn’t used to the dark marks that marred their skin, left behind by... well Rei hadn’t told him yet.

They didn’t move when he walked up to them, and without a word he tossed the sweater he’d brought with him around their shoulders. “You’re going to get sick. It’s not that warm out yet.” Rei had told him fairly early on that they couldn’t feel temperatures. They stiffed when he first touched them, their hand tightened on the handle of their dagger that hung loosely on their left hip. “You should be resting.”

“I couldn’t sleep.”

Rei never slept very well. It was something that Tataru had told him when he went back to the Rising Stones with Rei the first time. They’d been listening when he was talking to the lalafell. Rei still didn’t know why any of them – the Scions, primarily, but everyone else too – cared enough about them to inform the first person they appeared to trust on their habits.

“Hm.”

Kriss let them go and simply stood beside them to stare out over the ocean in front of them. He loved the ocean. He’d grown up on it, he lived by it, he was a privateer for the Admiral for years before he was recruited to help Rei reach Leviathan. And then he witnessed the carnage that this dangerously thin miqo was capable of, and he never shied away. Maybe that’s how he earned their trust enough that they didn’t immediately gut him, and instead wrapped themself in his sweater.

“I’ve never gone sailing.”

And that’s how they got here.

It was a random statement, and Kriss didn’t know how Rei had gotten to that thought, but he listened nonetheless.

“One of my dad’s friends was a sailor, like you. But I was kidnapped before he could teach me.” Kidnapped. Rei had been kidnapped, and while they never told him what happened to them after that, he knew the brand on the side of their neck all too well. A slave brand. “After that I didn’t like boats anymore.”

The two of them lapsed into silence again for a little while after that. Kriss with his hands in his shorts pockets, and Rei with their body swallowed by the sweater much too large for them. They were hiding from him, he could tell. Their ears, as large and fluffy as they were, barely poked out from where they had the sweater pulled up around them. The white caught the light of the moon above them and almost glowed silver, just like their hair did when it was free.

Kriss reached over and dropped a hand on top of their head, where he rubbed between their ears in the way he’d discovered they liked by complete accident the second day of their vacation. “I’ll teach you tomorrow. I’ve got a buddy here with a skiff we can borrow for the afternoon.” Rei lifted their head slightly beneath his hand to peer up at him. Quiet gold found their way to his face, peering from beneath white lashes and bangs in their face. “But you have to at least try to get some more rest first. You can’t go sailing while you’re tired.”

Rei almost deflated at that, but they didn’t shrug away from him. “I’ll stay with you if it’ll help.”

A brief silence.

“Okay.”

Concession.

Rei went back to bed with Kriss after that, and they slept well passed sunrise, but not quite into the afternoon.

---

Kriss promised to bring the skiff back in the same condition, as he carried it over to place he said he’d meet Rei. It wasn’t so big that he couldn’t carry it on his own, but it was big enough that it would carry the two of them just fine. He wasn’t going to let Rei wander anywhere without him anyway. He found them on the end of the dock, dressed in a light shirt and a pair of swim shorts. They were sober too, which was good. He knew they ate something beside aether because he made them before he left them to get changed.

“Look at that, they know what a shirt is.”

Rei blinked at him, a tilt of their head, confused. “I never didn’t know what a shirt is.” Their brows furrowed. It was such an obvious thing to them.

“It’s a joke Rei.” Kriss laughed, more at their cluelessness than the actual joke itself. It was always fun to watch their confusion when he made a joke, or weren’t entirely serious. Rei was always so literal, it was nothing short of equal parts amusing and frustrating. “Ready to learn?”

Once they nodded in confirmation, he got the skiff set up and the sail lifted, talking them through the entire process and showing them how to tie things and where to set the sail. “Alright, c’mere.” He beckoned them over and picked them up by the waist, before he set them down on top of the boat. “Put your feet here, and your hands here.” He nudged their feet apart with his own, and placed himself behind them, his larger body around their own while he showed them how to stand. “To steer you just move this, ‘kay?” He gestured to where they had their hands, and then he moved it to catch the wind.

The skiff began its journey out to sea, and Rei squeaked at the sudden movement, startled. They hadn’t been on the ocean for anything other than Leviathan since they were taken from their home, it made sense that they would be surprised. But they weren’t afraid, as far as he could tell. Kriss spent the better part of the early afternoon showing them how to steer the skiff, and by the time they caught on they were smiling, just a little bit. He still hadn’t gotten them to laugh yet.

One day he would though. They’d learn to live if he had any say in it.

[rphunter]

28, FtM NB (he/they), looking for 20+ roleplayers

Modern or Modern-Fantasy ish settings

250-300+ words roughly, third person; sometimes more or less

you playing cisM or amab non-binary, me playing female, transmasc, or afab non-binary

more than one pairing is cool, just one is also cool; in the case of multiple pairings there's a good chance one will get more attention than the others depending on how I'm feeling at the time

regular OOC; I'm chatty and love to headcanon or just talk in general

discord only!!

open to questionable or dead dove themes, but not required (warning: most of my characters are mentally ill)

new or pre-made characters both acceptable; I have some concepts hanging around too

Word Bank (likes, not requirements) "Touch them and die" | childhood friends(or any pair/trio that grew up together really) | morally grey | in hiding | codependency | posessiveness & jealousy | omegaverse | fighter x tech/athletes x nerd | university? | magical creatures | tough backgrounds |

i have an couple OCs i have a hankering for but no specific plots or pairings that i've craving. Faelan(afab she/her) and August(afab he/they, masc presenting) are both mentally ill artists that cope in very different ways! Faelan is a party girl that spends a lot of time at raves, nightclubs, and just generally fucking around. August is the exact opposite, preferring to self isolate in their little apartment, occasionally doing drugs but rarely actually going anywhere. they both know eachother since their art goes up in the same gallery, so a set of two pairings would be pretty neat, but one is also neat!

,

[clanwarrior-tumbly]

I've been having this idea ever since I've been slowly going back into pokemon/pokepasta (and how I've been reading some of your writing which is just. So good)

how about a pokepasta reader based on the Trapped In A Cave pokepasta? They are more of a ghost, and are seen more at places where it has food and such. They just make sure that Pokemons are fed and keep them away from places where they might be able to get trapped in forever-

I just got around to reading Trapped in a Cave and it's short but SAD AUGHH :(

...........

It was a rather sad and tragic end to your life...

Being trapped in a cave that had collapsed, freezing cold, without food or water.

And having no companion except your partner, your ace, your first first Pokémon: a Charizard who had to resort to...desperate measures to keep their hunger at bay.

As much as they tried to ignore their rumbling stomach and cried and whined and refused..you insisted that they ate your limbs.

And one by one, they did until only your head and torso remained.

It was agonizing, although the frostbite numbed some of the pain of their teeth tearing into your flesh and breaking your bones.

You had no strength left to scream anyways.

You hoped it would give them the energy they needed to burn their dying flame a little brighter and the strength to break out of the cave.

But after you closed your eyes for the last time, you suddenly found yourself floating outside that very cavern.

All of your limbs were attached, aside from bearing deep bite marks and exposing your muscle and bone.

You went inside, only to realize that a lot of time must have passed, as your Charizard had succumbed to starvation.

The only traces of you left were your hat and backpack, which they used as a pillow in their final moments alive.

With tears staining their face and your blood around their snout, your heart was broken.

You couldn't save them, but deep down..you expected this.

Your efforts only prolonged the inevitable.

However, their ghost showed up sometime later, and...while explaining that you were both dead wasn't easy, your beloved Charizard was happy to be with you and could receive all the pets they wanted now.

You two couldn't battle anymore, but instead made it your mission to ensure something like this never happened to another Pokémon nor trainer ever again.

Somehow your souls were tethered to the vast network of caves across the region, allowing you to travel from one to the other instantly.

You were also naturally drawn to areas where there was plentiful food. Such as the forests where berries grew in abundance.

You've spent most of your time ensuring Pokémon who wandered deep into caves didn't get lost and had enough food.

For caverns you sensed were unstable, you'd "spook" trainers to deter them from further exploration, with harmless techniques of course.

Eventually your travels led to you meeting other haunted trainers--such as Grey and Steven, who were exploring the cave Shinto ran into.

Steven almost flew into a rage upon seeing your Charizard's ghost, confusing them for Miki and accusing you of trying to "steal" her.

Only for her to show up a second later, confused.

Poor Grey is scared out of his wits, so you explain your story to them while Miki and your Charizard mingle (with Steven being lowkey surprised that they can see her as a normal member of their species and not as the broken, glitching mess she is).

After that, you meet Glitchy Red, Blake, and Gold, deciding to relay your story to them, too.

Much to Blake's and Grey's relief, you weren't another spirit/entity out for blood, but rather you wanted to help whoever you could to ensure they didn't meet a fate like yours.

Even though you couldn't travel everywhere with the trainers, you can warp from cave to cave to hang out with them, keeping their Pokémon well-fed and happy.

Most of them didn't need food anymore, but you like to pretend you're helping them.

[teekays]

hello! if memory serves you are the blog that talked about boy band pretty as a marketing tactic (or something to that effect? the search function does not work so if i’m wrong i’m terribly sorry) and i was wondering if you would be willing to find someone from each team (can include prospects if you want) to create the ultimate nhl boy band. this is not a necessary thing to do, solely shits and gigs and if you ever feel like it doing it. have a lovely day!

HIIIIIII that WAS me and you sent this at the perfect time because i am at the laundromat with time to kill and i LOVE to discuss this.... let's chop it up.... a few disclaimers: this is subjective so don't get mad at me and i will be including prospects and ahl players where i know its applicable BUT for most of these teams i will be going off the main roster + looks alone because if i did a full deep dive vibes analysis on every team's roster and prospects it would take me like two months to answer this ask... you understand. we are being SHALLOW here today in the true spirit of the boy band industry. let's go!!!

carolina hurricanes: i know everyone wants me to say sebastian aho but he is 1) too old 2) too unsettling looking. the elf on the shelf is not boy band pretty im sorry 😭 i do love him but he's just not the vibe here... i will say based on looks either scott morrow or jackson blake and his 90s heartthrob hair. i want to say seth jarvis because he's my special pop pop but that does contradict almost everything i have said previously so i will not be biased but know that if he was a pop star i would be his biggest fan i would kiss his poster. and that's my truth

columbus blue jackets: in the interest of journalistic integrity i went to their roster instead of just saying it's obviously kj as the intimidating aloof one in the boy ("boy") band but actually i do think it's cole sillinger.... teen heartthrob. also i didn't know that he was born in columbus because his dad was playing for the team and his brother is also on the team??? imagine having a whole destiny like that and its for COLUMBUS OHIO 😭

new jersey devils: jack hughes. open and shut case argue with the WALL

new york islanders: NOT MAT BARZAL. HE LOOKS 35. STAND UP LADIES!!! lowkey i do not know any of these dudes and this roster is kind of busted as fuck 😭😭😭 (NOT ANTHONY DUCLAIR who is too old to be a boy band boy but who i do love) bargain bin team... anyway isaiah george YOU! are the only cute person the new york islanders

new york rangers: matt rempe. those pictures of him lounging around on the phone??? wow. no words. diva heartthrob behavior. it's sad what they're doing to him what are we doing to our beautiful queens :(

philadelphia flyers: after much careful deliberation.... i think denver barkey is taking it. denver is such a deeply boy band name tbh he was born for this!!! i know everyone thinks it's jamie (who i still forget is a flyer 😭) but can you imagine him on a stage? singing a song? they are reinventing shoegaze for him. negative star quality (AFFECTIONATE!!!!!!! LOVING!!!!!!!!!!!!)

pittsburgh penguins: well NOW the obvious answer is rutger mcgroarty... not even worth going through that senior center roster when he's there tbh sorry pens

washington capitals: AGAIN. SENIOR CENTER ROSTER. i had to go to their prospects page to find someone suitable and my vote is patrick leonard he's a cutie!!! also im so sorry to say this but my jaw dropped when i got to this guy why are you playing hockey you need to make a children's album RIGHT NOW. i know he could do a banger cover of the We're going on a bear hunt song. but i digress...

boston bruins: matthew poitras is adorable and exudes star quality NEXTTTT. shoutout also brett harrison who looks like a long lost jonas brother

buffalo sabres: JACK QUINNN JQUIZZY HIMSELF partly for looks mostly for vibes... he has extreme "jack dylan grazer vape apology video" energy and also he has that boyish charm... either him or devon levi (hot) not miss owen power for the same reasons as jamie. she could never be a pop star 😔 ryan mcleod used to be the oilers popstar boy but now he's got too much competition he's a little niche for the title

detroit red wings: my gut tells me simon edvinsson but a look at the roster tells me there is some competition in the form of amadeus lombardi... if we were discussing this two years ago mo seider would be the obvious answer but he's too grizzled now 😔

florida panthers: 🙄 here comes another busted fucking roster... i guess denisenko??? panthers are not really representing here....

montreal canadiens: ARBER <3 he's like the bad boy hottie in the boy band. the one that makes your dad shake his head when he sees him on tv

ottawa senators: wow the atlantic division is fucking WACK this was another case of like. okay i guess ill pick one of yous but REALLY? so congratulations jorian donovan YOU are in the boy band

tampa bay lightning: seriously what is going on in this division. jack finley looks like he was the closeted one in a boy band from the early 2000s but he's aged past that now and he has a husband and a wine brand.... so we will bring him back for nostalgia points. welcome to the team. also i have to be honest i thought of myself as pretty well acquainted with the ahl but the SYRACUSE CRUNCH? that's crazy

leafs: JOSEPH WOLL! boyish charm out the ears on that one. a real cutie

chicago: obviously it's bedard. we all know it's bedard. on the surface he has no charisma but he does have a certain kind of shy boy charm and he IS adorable... he's the one in the boy band who makes your mom tut over him like "he seems like a nice boy"

colorado avalanche: wow huge props to matt stienburg for having maybe the single most boy band roster photo i have seen yet... THIS is the guy they get in the boy band because he's already had huge success with his hit single called like, Heart React Girlfriend or whatever. this is jacob sartorius if he played hockey. this is chase dreams. this kid is going places

dallas stars: it's obviously wyjo, joining the ranks with cbedard as The Nice One <3

minnesota wild: okay i was going to say brock faber because every group needs a kevin jonas (SORRY BROCK) but WHO is kyle masters and why does he look like knockoff brendan brisson. budget briss. diet briss. we have briss at home.

nashville predators: this just reminded me cody glass is a penguin now 💔 anyway the preds have some STRONG contenders here wow.... jeremy hanzel is taking it but i think luke evangelista could pull it off... now if you asked me to be really subjective it would be ozzy wiesblatt who would also be the subject of much poster kissing and rigged "which member of the nhl boy band should you date" tests so i get him as the result but that's just me....

st louis blues: jeremie biakabutuka your radiant smile has charmed me.... welcome to the band....

utah whatevers: MONTANA ONYEBUCHI I AM SO FUCKING SORRY THE SHARKS DIDNT APPRECIATE YOU. BUT WE WILL..... also matt villalta kinda giving off brand kj... you could build a whole off brand version of that umich team just with guys from other teams i bet

winnipeg jets: dylan coghlan you will always be famous to ME but i fear you are a little too old for our purposes here.... other than him they kinda don't have a lot going for them.... brayden yager it is your time to shine as off brand owen power ♥️

anaheim ducks: some strong competition here... tz is the obvious choice but i think we need to think bigger... olen zellwegger please step forward....

calgary flames: matt coronato i am free on thursday if you would like to hang out on thursday when i am free and also join this boy band

edmonton oilers: yet another old ass roster 😭 they're lucky they got so many sabres because matt savoie is saving their asses rn

los angeles kings: angus booth is smizing in every single photo i saw of him so. come on now

san jose sharks: it's so obviously will smith i don't even know what we're doing here tbh

seattle kraken: tye kartye looks like he would be into white water rafting so he can be the nature guy in the boy band.... strong competition from tucker robertson but he's just a touch too gay porn for this vibe

vancouver canucks: JETT WOO... HELLO.... but also shoutout cole mcward for having 2014 gay youtuber phenotype. a connor franta troye sivan type face if ive ever seen one

vegas golden knights: BRISS ‼️‼️‼️ my little tabloid queen... not only is he in the boy band but he's in the news and the media. he was born to be a star. natural ham. child actor energy. alex holtz is also a strong contender for this but i think he's off on his own doing his little pop star solo act thing

this took way longer than laundromat time but it was worth it i had so much fun!!!!! thank you!!!!!!

[razorblade180]

Streamer AU 5

Streamer au 4 <-

The “Please wait” screen with falling snowflakes faded away to display Weiss in a light blue hoodie looking mighty cozy in her chair as she sipped coffee.

Weiss:Sup chat. It’s been awhile. Slaying grimm is hard sometimes.

Red Reaper: “Did your partner die?”

Weiss:Ruby, shut up and get in the call.

“Nah I’m eating toast.”

Weiss:Be glad you’re modded. Alright chat, I’m pretty low energy but I missed you all so we’re going to play a chill game and bd a cozy streamer tod-

Yang:Woop woop woop woop woop! Sup lovelies!

Weiss:I wish you were the one eating toast.

Yang:You gave us all an open invite! I even brought my chat.

Weiss:Your chat didn’t enter in like an alarm. What do you want me to play?

Yang:Resident E-

Weiss:Try again

Yang:….Is your personal jrpg guide awake?

Weiss:I don’t wanna bother him this early. Chat, suggestions?

It’s immediately flooded with “Genshin Impact”

Blake:Do it!!! Join me!

Weiss:Please, any other sane suggestion. Don’t force me into that madness.

Knightly Crescent: I’ll help you start Kingdom Hearts. Give me like 15 minutes.

Weiss:*silently happy*

Cardinal Pride: “Why should ever need your-”

Timed Out

Weiss: 🎶Thank you mods🎶

xxxxxx

Roughly 20 minutes of cozy chatting passes by before Weiss gets up to answer the door. Chat doesn’t need to know Jaune actually has a key. Things will start adding up.

Weiss:Camera on or off.

Jaune:I don’t mind.

Weiss:Kay.

She guides him to an empty chair for the messy haired boy to sit and get comfortable while she grabs snacks.

Jaune:H-Hello.

RBY: Jaune!!!!!

Coco Bean: “Heeeey Pretty boy”

Red Velvet: “I like your hoodie”

CB: Is this the boyfriend~

Jaune: I am a friend!

Weiss:Alright I’m b- Coco! Relax!

Jaune:Did I miss anything on the way here.

Blake:Weiss almost said a slur.

Weiss:Don’t lie to him!!!

Jaune:Why does this slightly feel true? What happened in 20 minutes?

xxxxx

Blake: Draw four.

Weiss:You little- ooooo *squints* oooo this is supposed to be a cozy stream.

Blake:What do you want say huh? Sounds pretty…intense. First semester intense.

Weiss:I would never!

Yang:Never! Really?

Chat: “First semester?”

Weiss:I was just going to call you a hoe!

Blake:Draw another four.

xxxxx

Jaune:I’m surprised you clipped this?

Ruby:It’s easier than than explaining what happened.

Weiss:Chat, you know the rules. No backseating, spoilers, or unwanted foreshadowing. I literally have a copilot.

Burdened Chef: “Is she paying you for this?”

Jaune:She can’t afford me.

The Burden: “Can’t even cook her own snacks.”

Weiss:Why is your team picking on me!? This is a welcome back stream!

The Burden gifted 10 subs

Weiss:Thank you Nora.

Nuts and Bolts gifted 30 subs.

“Salutations! Here’s to a safe return!😊”

Weiss:P- Penny you can’t just surprise a person like that. Thank you so much.

CB: “Oh are we doing a gifted war!? Let’s get crazy.”

Weiss:Coco-

50 tiers 2 subs

RBY: Yooooo

Weiss: *covers mouth* Guys, no! I’ll feel bad. That’s too much!

Multiple people start gifting subs and Weiss quickly begins hiding her face as the sound of her alerts constantly going off makes her emotional.

Yang:Awww the novice gamer girl is all red!

Ruby:It’s not a stream until Weiss is flustered.

Blake:And she’s still on the title screen.

Jaune:*smiles* You okay?

Weiss:This is going to be a long day.

[zexapher]

The Crew Meets Saphron for the First Time

I was leafing through some character stills yesterday for a whole other meme I was making when I saw this one of Blake with an absolutely maniacal look upon her face seeing Saphron for the first time, and I just knew I had to throw something together. It just looked too funny to pass up.

The show has this sort of off-screen friendship between Jaune and Blake going on. Do they do bookclub together? I don't know, but little bits like this really sneak it in. She is so ready to bang meet Jaune's sister. Blake wants the blonde harem to go through the childhood stories and pics, gather some blackmail material.

That scene in general is too good, so much going on. The sibling energy with Jaune, who totally knows his sister will embarrass him. It comes with Oscar, with that vacant look on his face and his hands tucked into his pockets and everything! Qrow in the background having none of it. Yang and Nora! Ren lookin’ too cool. Weiss with that wholesome smirk.

Then Ruby absolutely pops off, living her best life! It’s inspirational.

[bestworstcase]

Something I've been chewing on that I do wonder if you have any thoughts on. What is the intended characterization/symbolism of Yang's semblance. Jaune is a healer/support. Ren learned to control his emotions and then grew empathetic. Qrow has his bad luck which is probably a defense mechanism with consequences from the bandits that raised him and Raven. Taiyang's description of Yang's semblance is the closest to an analysis the audience has gotten and that is - "basically a Temper Tantrum". Very interestingly the narrative has so far let that description stand uncontested. And I believe you were the one that did the analysis that Yang's problem was overly depending upon her semblance as a finisher. Also fun to consider how one of the ways that Yang has her parallel with Cinder is with the fire association... which for Yang is just actually her preferred ammunition and the go to imagery for her songs that I can recall off the top of my head except for temper metaphors.

that was me yeah

a core theme of yang’s character is that she’s made of contradictions and cannot be easily defined or fit into a single box. this is true of every character in rwby—there’s always more than meets the eye, complexity beneath the surface—but yang as a character is subject to other characters’ struggle to parse who she is. tai sees a temper tantrum, ruby sees invulnerability, blake has been on an emotional journey spanning six volumes of just learning to see and love yang’s whole, complete self. yang is raven’s daughter, after all—but she’s also summer’s daughter so much that the resemblance screams itself out of the screen.

so. her semblance.

in the story, it’s been described three different times by three different characters:

ruby: “every hit makes her stronger, and she uses that to fight back. that’s what makes her special”

tai: “basically a temper tantrum, great in a bind, but it won’t always save you”

blake: “his semblance is like yours, he absorbs energy through his sword, stores it up and sends it back when he’s ready” (+ yang feeling it’s “cheap” that he “gets to dish out damage without feeling it”)

<- three bears.

in goldilocks terms, yang’s semblance is “too strong” (ruby sees her as invulnerable), “too weak” (tai sees the power it grants her as essentially hollow, false) and “just right” (yang is neither invulnerable nor fragile and her semblance is just a part of her). i also think that what yang says of adam’s semblance is more revealing of her own self-perception than necessarily being meant as an objective critique of adam—it’s not ��cheap” to parry/riposte and in fact yang’s growth as a combatant post-beacon looks like learning to fight more defensively and evasively, less reliant on soaking up damage/power for explosive finishers.

insofar as there’s a meaningful difference between adam needing to block hits vs yang not it’s that yang’s semblance gives her a bit of a cushion—she can still riposte even if she misses the parry—and in all honesty i think probably comes down to their kit. yang is a hand-to-hand fighter. she’s blocking hits with her forearms and, gauntlets or not, she’s going to feel that. the specific damage-absorption mechanics of their semblances cater to their fighting styles.

but, yang feels that it’s “cheap” for adam to absorb energy through his sword rather than his own body, because yang takes a certain pride in being able to get back up after being knocked down. her idea that she must take damage before she can deal it back twice as hard is probably not a real, immutable characteristic of her semblance but something that developed in response to how yang herself copes with trauma—it’s a way of, i think, regaining a sense of control and security by telling herself that it’s okay if bad things happen because it will just make her stronger in the end.

the narrative challenges this way of thinking post-beacon—losing her arm and being left behind did not make yang stronger, receiving support from trusted adults like oobleck and port and reuniting with her friends/family is what made her stronger. learning to accept help and treat herself with more compassion is making her stronger. exploring who she is apart from ruby is making her stronger. this is the direction she’s growing in emotionally—that being hurt doesn’t make her strong, healing makes her strong—and her use of her semblance is shifting in tandem with that (still pops it as a finisher quite often but it is pretty rare since v6 that yang uses it to gain the upper hand in fights she’s at risk of losing, bc these days she’s more focused on evasion/outmaneuvering opponents to create openings for her semblance to end the fight)

and then it’s connected to yang’s anger (and fear, as when she gets between neo and ruby) because both the feelings and the semblance are in essence a self-protective response—yang gets angry when she or someone she cares about is hurt and uses that anger to protect herself and/or the person she loves. her semblance is about taking painful things that happen to her and transmuting that into the power to defend herself. same thing.

i don’t actually think that her semblance is hooked into her anger in the, like, mechanical sense (we’ve definitely seen her pop the semblance in context where she’s having a GREAT time, for one)—the correlation arises from yang’s anger being motivated by protectiveness and a desire to not be hurt, which is also what manifests in her semblance.

i would argue that “basically a temper tantrum” is meant to be read in context with ruby’s “that’s what makes her special” and then both those extremes are brought to a resolution by blake’s neutral description of what burn is, mechanically; in that sense i don’t think that tai’s analysis has been left uncontested except insofar as yang didn’t argue with him—but conversely, tai more or less tells her to think of her semblance as a risky weapon of last resort and yang went “k” and started using her semblance more, so i think it’s less that yang takes his advice at face value than it is yang recognizing that tai raises a generally good point [being creative and flexible is valuable] and thinking okay, i can probably get more out of my semblance if i try new things.

her position is that burn is normal (“how is me using my semblance different from someone else using theirs?”), and the way she takes this advice on board reflects that—if someone else relied on their semblance for just one specific tactic and nothing else, what advice would they be getting from their instructors? push yourself further, test the limits of what you think you can do, get out of your comfort zone. that’s what winter tells weiss when she’s struggling! that’s how RNJR are taught in v5! tai views burn as fundamentally different from other semblances, and his advice really comes down to “don’t rely on it, you don’t need it.” but yang disregards that part of what he tells her entirely. she quietly sorts through what tai tells her and only keeps what she thinks will actually help her improve—which is, in itself, of a piece with her semblance. she takes the ‘hit’—the harsh and rather unfair criticism—and then filters/converts it into something more constructive.

(there is also some interesting subtext here with the protective/self-protective drive behind both yang’s anger and her semblance and tai’s perception that the semblance is a “temper tantrum”—which aside from framing burn itself as abnormal also casts yang’s anger as irrational, childish, out-of-control. given the dynamic of yang’s childhood situation, the parentification and leaving yang and ruby alone at home for extended periods of time and over-identification of yang with raven plus favoritism toward ruby… and factoring in tai referring to yang’s anxiety and post-traumatic depression as “moping” well. across the board he seems either unwilling or unable to seriously/genuinely engage with yang’s feelings so how much of his perception that yang has “temper tantrums” follows from outbursts she had when overwhelmed as a child or young teen that tai didn’t take seriously or chose to ignore rather than deal with the root cause of neglect/trauma?)

[foldingfittedsheets]

So as we’re all losing our shit over the Bumbleby moment I wanted to take a second and talk about it from a production standpoint really quick.

When you’re making media, shows, games, etc, you need to decide on resource allocation. Every single thing has to be planned out and accounted for, the shots, scene length, music, story, framing, environment- there’s literally so much more that goes into animated shows like RWBY because everything they include has to be worth the emotional impact of budgeting for it.

Now after storyboarding there’s a stage of ranking each scene A-C (or however far down you have to go). A scenes will get way more resources and time invested in them but C scenes- well if you’re running behind that’s what you can cut.

And what I’m getting at is that the Bumbleby Bridge scene is AAAAAAA. The animations are also much more in depth than general scenes, environmental factors like the wind are playing a part in the storytelling (and I can’t say for SURE but I’d speculate that Blake and Yangs hair don’t use physics engines based on how they move so every hair moment is being moved by hand by an animator).

So they have lots of follow through and unique actions with their animation. Their eyes, posture, hair, ears are all much more mobile and expressive than casual scenes. They have a custom song that comes in perfectly as the tone of the scene changes. They have a custom VFX with flowers blooming around them. (They get a tiny custom blurring vfx happening behind them too and while I think that’s a lower bandwidth it’s just the attention to detail, really).

So CRWBY just. They LOVED this scene. They spent so much time and energy making this as beautiful and magical as it could possibly be for us, because they recognized (probably ten years ago) that this moment would be huge for the story, for the fans. They heavily invested resources into it. They breathed so much life into it and I’m so grateful.

[howlingday]

Love Signs

Sun: So, I'll see you later, right?

Blake: (Nods) See you.

Sun: (Walks out)

Ruby: (Gasps) UH OH~!

Blake: What?

Ruby: Somebody's in looove~!

Blake: Don't be ridiculous. Sun and I are just friends.

Ruby: Are you sure?

Blake: ...

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

Blake: (Laying on the couch) Uuuuuuuugh... This has been the worst day of my life...

Sun: (Walks in) Hey, Blake~!

Blake: (Smiles) Hey, Sun.

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

Yang: Ready to roll, Blake?

Blake: (Scroll buzzes) One sec... (Checks)

Sun: (Via scroll) LOL he does look like a banana

Blake: (Smiles) Okay, let's go.

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

Blake: ...You didn't drink the tea?

Sun: Nah... Banana tea was not a good idea. Dunno why I thought it'd be the one good thing that's banana-flavored that'd be good, but here we are.

Blake: You like bananas, but don't like banana flavors?

Sun: Yeah, yeah, I know it's weird.

Blake: I never said that. I just didn't know that about you. Is there a reason?

Sun: Well...

Blake: (Listens intently)

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

Sun: Whoa...

Blake: Yeah...

Sun: I didn't know they put you through that. Uh, you... You okay?

Blake: Yes, I am now. (Leans into him) Thank you for listening. I've never told this to anyone before, so I wasn't sure how you'd react.

Sun: Hey, it's me! I'm used to just about anything, so if you need someone to listen to you, just let me know!

Blake: Thank you.

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

Ruby: I mean, you talk about him all the time.

Blake: N-No, I don't.

Weiss: Yes, you do. In fact, after your second date together, every time we tried to steer the conversation elsewhere, you kept gushing about that ruffian!

Yang: Ice Queen was about to shove a washcloth in your mouth to shut you up!

Blake: (Blushing) O-Oh...

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

Sun: (Reading)

Blake: (Reading, Looks to Sun)

Sun: (Looks to Blake, Smiles)

Blake: (Smiles) You hungry?

Sun: I could eat. (Closes book) You?

Blake: Same. This next part is going to take some energy to get through.

Sun: You could always skip it.

Blake: And miss something important?

Sun: Hey, if it's so important, they wouldn't make the part boring, right?

Blake: (Giggles) Maybe...

Sun: ...

Blake: ...

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

Blake: You should let your team know.

Sun: Ah, they're used to it-

Blake: Sun.

Sun: ...

Blake: ...

Sun: ...Okay, fine, I'll go ahead and let Neptune know. (Taps scroll) We're partners, after all.

Blake: (Raises brow) Then maybe you should act like it.

Sun: Oh, I'm sure they're fine- Oh, crap.

Blake: What?

Sun: Shoot, Neptune's asking for some help. Rain check?

Blake: I'll come with. Make sure everything is okay.

Sun: Sounds like a plan! Oh, and thanks for having my back.

Blake: Anytime, Sun.

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

Ruby: And how is he compared to your last boyfriend?

Blake: (Shudders) There's no comparison. With A- I mean, my last boyfriend, everything was a minefield. Where we ate, what we did, everything we talked about. With Sun, everything is so much easier.

Ruby: Yeah, because you're in love.

Blake: WE ARE NOT-

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

Sun: And, uh, yeah... That was the last time I saw my cousin.

Blake: That sounds like it was hard for you.

Sun: Eh. I'm used to it. Besides, I'm pretty sure she understands.

Blake: I thought the same way, too, when I left my parents. (Puts hand on shoulder) And I think I still feel that way.

Sun: ...Thanks, Blake. (Smiles)

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

Blake: (Smiles at the beautiful day after rain)

Blake: (Sees yellow monkey towel)

Blake: (Notices light shining through clouds)

Blake: (Picks up banana during lunch)

Blake: ...Today is a good day.

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

Sun: So... What's this movie about?

Blake: It's about a fisherman who falls in love with a mermaid.

Sun: Huh! Sounds fun!

Blake: I've already seen it.

Sun: Then why are you watching it with me?

Blake: I thought it would be something we'd both enjoy.

Sun: Oh...

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

Blake: Hm... We should take the high road, through the trees.

Weiss: What? Why?

Sun: (Memory) Because the less we're seen, the more we see~!.

Blake: (In sync) Because the less we're seen, the more we see.

Weiss: ...You've been hanging around that scoundrel Wukong way too much.

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

Sun: Hey, Blake, wanna try out this-

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

Blake: ALRIGHT, I GET IT! (Huffs) So... What should I do?

Ruby: You need to let him know, get down on one knee, and-

Weiss: NO.

Ruby: Huh?!

Weiss: You don't need some big, extravagant showing to prove your feelings.

Ruby: B-But...

Weiss: Just accept that you're in love with him and accept the person you're becoming because of it.

Blake: The person I'm becoming?

Weiss: Think about who you were when you first met Sun, now think about who you are now that you're with him. Do you like the old you or the new you more?

Blake: I... I like who I am more than who I was.

Weiss: Then be that person. Be that person and be happy about the love you have for Sun. Just stop talking about him so much.

Yang: Aw~! Is Weiss Cream jealous~?

Weiss: I-I am not!

Ruby/Yang: AAAW~!

Weiss: SHUT UP~!

Blake: (Thinking about Sun, Smiling)

[set-wingedwarrior]

I should have known that people would have acted annoying about the Team's reunion and, after the dumb takes I saw, here I am to make a breakdown of their reactions in relation to the context because that's defenitely how my psychology majoring is supposed to be used apparently

Before I dig specifically to each character I'd like to remind people that, like Weiss herself said, everything happened so fast. It's not just that the time itself wasn't that much. In between the fight and them trying to find each other in the Ever After it would have been, what? An hour?

It's been 2 years for us guys, for them it isn't that much time to justify the super touchy and hugs reunion like we got in V5, or V6 in Argus, or V8 when they meet back (except for Blake, but I'll get there). You all need to remember that media in general for stories like this aren't your fluffy fanfic full of feelings and hugs and kisses all the time.

Now, welcome to my psychology class! First on our list, our one and only traumatized team leader child, Ruby Rose.

"Why didn't ruby rush to hug her sister?"

Well, let's see it from her point of view; actually, we litterally saw it at the start of the episode! We saw how fast everything went from her eyes!

She had to go in fight mode in a fucking instant because, differently from Blake (who was trying to jump after Yang) and Weiss (who was busy stopping her), Ruby has been attacked immediately by Neo after her firt attempt at her life failed. She didn't even have the time to process what happened because she was already fighting for dear life!

Our brains are very resourceful machines that always try to save energy (it's why stereotypes exist, it's our brains identifying stuff by one thing to not think about it too hard), and considering how complex and crippling the feeling of loss is, and how much it takes to process, in a life or death situation our brains would just shut it down.

Because we're all different people it might not work the same for everyone, but Ruby is a trained fighter, she's a huntress, her body and mind falling in fighting mode is actually the most logical reaction in the given situation because it falls both on habit and instinct.

And given that she didn't even have the time to process the the thought that Yang might have been dead (even during the fucking fall she had to fight Neo still, give my girl a break!!), it's very reasonable that despite the frustration and stress of everything else in the Ever After, she wasn't too worried about Yan'g safety. Because she never got time to even think "I lost her" that she got in the very same situation. So, "If I fell and I'm here and I'm okay, then Yang is too, she must be fine".

Besides, Ruby did run towards her after fighting the thing!

Yang just interrupted her with her "Dammitt! You're not supposed to be here!" before Ruby settled to get near her and "If you thought we wouldn't come for you then you must have forgotten who raised me", so any argument about them not caring is just really dumb.

In conclusion, considering that she found out that her sister was probably okay before her brain could have even processed the concept of her loss, and all happening in a very short spawn of time, it makes 100% sense that Ruby wouldn't need to jump in her arms and cry or whatever. They're in a weird place but they are okay and that's all that matters (before Ruby will discover the horrors of what happened after she fell and the horrors of her quickly approaching breakdown, but that's for another time!)

Blake on the other hand.

Blake is the one that speed into action the moment she saw Yang fall. When chaos wa around nobody went to attack her, she saw Yang disappear in the void. Now, she got to feel the loss, the pain, the weight of failure because she failed to save her!

And her first reaction was to fucking jump after her. Because she couldn't fail, she couldn't lose her, she must save her! And Weiss had to drag her up the platform herself to stop her from doing so because they had a job to do and Blake was blinded by pain!

Then, she got blinded by rage. It wasn't her fault, it was Neo! And Cinder! And I think that in that moment of emotional disregulation it's reasonable to think that Blake wasn't acting for the good of Mantle, of the plan, or anything else. We all saw it in her eyes, it was pure rage, she wanted revenge! And that's completely reasonable in that given moment. She saw the love of her life DIE because of them, OF FUCKING COURSE SHE'S BLINDED BY SUCH POWERFUL EMOTION.

As you can probably already tell, Ruby and Blake's actions are dictated by very different feelings! Even if the action itself, fighting, is the same, the mindset and motivations differ completely!

So, what happens when she meets Yang again? That after the danger is over (because it's not like she dropped everything, they fought the thing and waited for the situation to calm down and be safe. She also waited for Ruby to say her things first tbf) she fucking runs to tackle her!

Because Blake actually got to see and feel the loss! She thought she had lost her! She thought that she died because she wasn't fast enough! So, even regardless of the romantic feelings (that obviously play a part because come on, they've been inseparable for volumes now, it's obvious that she would have felt it all that harder), it makes sense that Blake's the one to feel pure utter relief in seeing Yang still alive! And she'd need to go to her, feel that she's there with her!

Now, probably the most complex one to explain: Weiss.

In a way, she's middle ground between Ruby and Blake. Weiss wasn't attacked right away either, but she had to jump in action to stop Blake. That means that she stopped to see what was happening and at Yang's "death" she just assumed what Blake was about to do or else she wouldn't have ad the time to stop her (we saw how fast Blake was)

That means that, in some way, she got to take in what was going on before going in fight mode, but she still didn't get to process it herself because she needed to act on the others' behalf. Where Ruby was litterally just hanging in there and Blake was blinded by her pain, both of them against Neo, Weiss saw what happened and told to herself "I must keep going with the plan, I must protect who's left, I can't let Yang''s sacrifice go to waste" and went to fight Cinder alone (until Penny arrives).

Weiss during the fight is the one more "emotionally stable" (more like she efficiently locked them to be functional in the fight), she's well aware of what is going on and doing her best. In this mindset, she got to fight but also to see more clearly everything that is happening.

She's also the one who stayed there the longest. She's the one who saw the worst because she's been there long enough to witness more horrors, but despite the awareness she didn't get the time to really feel them. When does she though?

After she saw all of her teammates, her family, die. When she's almost completely alone. Only her Penny and Jaune left, Cinder towering them while she's using Gambol Shroud, everything she has left of her family, to try keep fighting. Because at that point there's less chaos, less things to prioritize her focus on, the evacuation is done, she just has to not let Cinder get Penny's powers.

We didn't see Weiss and Blake finding each other, but my guess is that either there was a hug off screen or, more likely, she kept it together because they logically needed their weapons and teammates back first. She then chooses to stay focused (and cheer for Blake, bless her), and work, and shuts down every question about what happened because she knows that talking about it would break her down and be a distraction from their objective.

Which is why she doesn't speak until they're all together: withouth a distraction, she's crying before she even got to start.

The pain added up and got to her, and I'm pretty sure that Ruby's big reaction wasn't just because of the news on their own, but also the feelings Weiss was letting out while telling them (you know when you feel someone is feeling bad even when they don't tell you nor openly act up on it? And you still feel deeply bad/uncmofortable?).

I got overboarded here, but in short Weiss didn't act too clingy in the reunion either because she was busy staying focused first and then dealing with EVERYTHING that happened earlier and that she needed to tell them. Like, after getting both to Blake and Ruby, Yang's safety was basically 100% sure anyway, so. And, again, everything happened so fast.

It's been 2 long years for us. Not for them. So, to the people who have been complaining, you're just projecting your own personal feelings on them and then calling it bad writing when they're not acting like you feel right now.

Class dismissed.

[blake-has-too-much-energy]

FFXIV Fanfic Masterpost

FFXIVWrite2024 Steer Horizon

[rphunter]

28, FtM NB (he/they), looking for 20+ roleplayers

Modern or Modern-Fantasy ish settings

250-300+ words roughly, third person; sometimes more or less

you playing cisM or amab non-binary, me playing female, transmasc, or afab non-binary

more than one pairing is cool, just one is also cool; I'm NOT looking to double, in the case of multiple pairings there's a good chance one will get more attention than the others depending on how I'm feeling at the time

consistent posts, regular OOC; I'm chatty and love to headcanon or just talk in general

discord only!!

open to questionable or dead dove themes, but not required (warning: most of my characters are mentally ill)

new or pre-made characters both acceptable; I have some concepts hanging around too

smut & nsfw themes welcome

Word Bank (likes, not requirements) "Touch them and die" | childhood friends(or any pair/trio that grew up together really) | morally grey | in hiding | codependency | posessiveness & jealousy | omegaverse | fighter x tech | university? | magical creatures | tough backgrounds |

,

[natalyarose]

Is it just me, or is the manic pixie dream girl trope so solar Nakshatra women-coded?! They bring a fresh breath of air into relationships with their radiant energy, inspire and motivate others, and value their independence and freedom. Most of the actresses in these roles have Sun Nakshatra influence in Vault of the Heavens.

hey! 💕 yeah I definitely see that, for suree, that makes sense a lot of them are Sun dominant! Tbh I don't know many movies and actresses but I think from what I know Zooey Deschanel kinda fits the vibe and she's Uttarashadha? Blake Lively as Serena van der Woodsen sort of fits the trope at times in the show (she's not got Solar Nakshatras, but she's Purvaphalguni + Magha so Sidereal Leo)

I also feel like I can see many different energetic expressions of that vibe too. I think it's a trope that's harder than others to pin down to one planetary influence since the basis of the trope has a lot to do with the way the respective man/other people in general are stereotyping the girl if that makes sense?? Like it's not so much about the girl herself, it's about the whimsy and energy she brings to others around her. I can definitely see this being a Solar thing too though; Solar women do have this effortless luminosity and energy that intrigues people. 🌞

The thing is that the 'manic pixie dream girl' can be anywhere from a more edgy, abrasive, pink hair, wild-child type of girl (I see Jupiterian, nodal, Martian and sometimes even Solar women with this kinda archetype) to a more gentle, whimsical, childlike, 'quaint', sweet but spontaneous personality that forces people to think differently (possibly lunar, mercurial, etc). It's like, the manic-pixie-dream-girl concept isn't about the nature of the girl herself though there are qualities associated with it; it's got more to do with the fact that she IS that character in relation to some guy if you know what I mean?

Maybe it'd also be interesting to look at what planetary type in men is prone to perceiving girls as mpdgs' 🤔

That being said, you're definitely onto something with Solar women; I think it'd be cool for you or anyone who's interested to study the trope and do a lil astrological survey :P 🌼

[naanima]

I’m posting part of the not!fic outline bcos the details have changed, but I really like part of the crazy energy I had writing it. Lols

Daniel Ricciardo is on his male harem trip post Singapore, and is too deep in the hole of internalised homophobia to figure out he likes dick for reals. All he knows is that he likes being manhandled by men. LOVE IT. But it is only bcos he is ADMIRING their strength and wants to be like them. HONEST.

He visits Max in Monaco for like 13 hours before continuing on his trip. He just needed to see his boy, OK?!And like he had to see Max bcos Max's continuous texts and voicemails just makes him miss Max more!!!And was super emotional and proud at Max winning his 4th WDC. SO PROUD. WOULD HAVE GIVEN HIM A HUG & KISS. BUT LIKE IN A COMPLETELY HETERO WAY.

But it is cool. Love is good and fun, and like he isn't crying about the loss of F1. HE ISN'T. And then he finds out that Max and Kelly are having a baby! A fucking REAL LIVING BABY. Daniel sends a congrats mate text, and then just sort of spirals. And HE DOESN'T KNOW WHY! (he was thinking about inviting Max to his Perth farm after this season, go dirt bike riding, showing Max all the places he loved in Perth, and now that's all fucking gone).

So Daniel doesn't handle it well, he HE IS TRYING. He goes to a few parties that the gets invited to buy Hollywood friends. He meets a dude who is the HANDSOMEST man Daniel has ever seen, tall, built and blonde with blue eyes. He is an up and coming actor, and Daniel is just like HEART EYES. He invites Daniel out for coffee, for dinner etc etc. And a few weeks later after dinner at the dude's place, he looks at Daniel real intensely and is like, "I'm sure I'm reading this right." He leans in and kisses Daniel.

And Daniel's brain just SHUTS DOWN. He should be freaking but honestly just enjoying it too much. The dude is strong, he basically carries Daniel into the bedroom. They don't do much besides handies, and like Daniel has his freakout, but like the DOOR IS OPEN. And Daniel is like, WHY THE FUCK NOT?! So he goes back to the dude, and Daniel gets taught how to GAY SEX.

And well. Daniel really really like SUCKING DICK, love choking on it, gets him all hot and leaking, and dude has an amazing dick. He also loves fucking men apparently, his dick in a dude's ass is so fucking good. And like beside having to do a bit more prep work, and it being a bit colder than a pussy, ass sex is fucking awesome bcos it is so tight and just urgh so good.

But fuck, Daniel? DANIEL LOVES a dick in his ass above ALL ELSE. Hell, he might be a bit of a size queen, which like, if only he could fuck himself with his own large dick. But alas. So, he has a tonne of gay sex with hot dude. But they aren't serious or anything. And hot dude eventually calls a stop to it after lie two months of amazing sex bcos he is going to be gone for like 5 months on a Disney movie or some shit. Daniel is a bit sad bcos he was truly enjoying the sex, but eh, it happens. So for their last night, hot dude rims Daniel for hours till he couldn't even really remember his name, tears and snot running down his face as he begs to come. It was awesome.

So hot dude leaves, and Daniel starts to sort out his life, getting more involved in the tv series production, and thinking about when he was going to do a race in another Motorcross series.

All the while he and Max are still texting. But like, Daniel didn't invite Max to Perth, and Max didn't ask. But Max does talk about the development of foetus and babies etc. And Daniel is just so fond, and all soft and squishy, but fuck, Max is doing this with that both Kelly, and just urgh.

Daniel does go home to Perth a few weeks before the Melbourne GP, and he is happy, but he is fucking nervous, bcos so far only Blake knows about his new found sexuality. And Daniel being Daniel drops the news during family dinner, and, it goes great! His mum hugs him, then his dad. They tell him they are proud, and his mum is like,"I don't mind who you love. But honey, give me some more grandkids before I'm too old to play with them."

So yeah, it is great! Then Daniel starts telling other people in his life about his, his team, a few childhood friends, Seb, and like in the back of his head he knows he is gonna have to tell Max eventually. But he is chicken shit, and not now.

Max, and a few others ask him if he is coming to the Melbourne GP, Daniel thinks about it, and like, yeah, he is. Bcos he still fucking LOVES F1, so he let's them know, tells a few drivers that he will be coming, but only as an attendants, so might not see them on the paddock, but after the race for dinner maybe?

A few hours later Blake forwards him several messages from Mercedes PR, Alpine PR, even fucking McLaren PR with paddock/garage passes. Max send him an email directly telling him to turn up, and he will send his PA directly to pick him up from his hotel bcos RBR of course are being dicks about Daniel being in the paddock and the garage.

Daniel's heart squishes, but declines Max's offer bcos Max doesn't need to deal with the tricky relationship between Daniel and RBR (Daniel cut ALL contact with RBR management, only talking to Max, and RBR has been acting like a fucking bitch about it). Daniel accepts Mercedes invite bcos it will cause the MOST rumours and low level piss off Christian. Fuck em all.

Basically, Max and Daniel meet after the Melbourne GP, Max talking about the car, and the baby (being born soon!) and Daniel blurts out about being bi. Max snaps his fork, and ends up fucking Daneil that night. Then leaves the next morning bcos he has a fucking baby on the way, and a girlfriend he fucking loves. And just fuck everything in their lives. And Daniel disappears back to Perth and just tries to process shit and not nuke his or anyone else’s life further.

I have two endings in the air, and I’m not sure which one I’m going with but yeah.

[maxybabyy]

i’m thinking about your max run club au again 😵‍💫 does daniel realize… the effect… max’s voice has on him? when do daniel and max meet in real life (if ever)?

😫 😫 i am always thinking about max run club ... but im sooo glad you're there with me! 🏃

in my mind they don't meet until after he and scotty break up. Daniel in a moderate sized LA apartment trying to figure out what to do with a bum knee and no race seat, when he goes to one of martijn's shows, and look who is there also :)

below the cut is the third part 😏 (part i, ii)

The first time he sees him, Daniel almost doesn’t notice.

He’s face-down on the sofa with his phone held loosely in his hand. He should probably be in bed, has an appointment with his physio in the morning, lunch with Blake after that. But Scotty’s in Canada for training camp, has been for the past two weeks, and Daniel hasn’t been sleeping well.

He had offered to come with him, with Scott. Made a joke about getting on the slopes too, “My knee’s been better, yeah? Reckon I could probably take you down for a run or two.” His knee still isn’t great but like, he could probably hang out in the hot tub, work on maybe, like a nice tan.

But Scotty had laughed, told him not to waste his time, “You don’t even like the snow, Ric. I’ll see you in a month, yeah?”

Daniel thinks maybe he’s allowed to feel like this, lonely and sad, scrolling through Instagram.

It’s worse then, when he sees the picture of Scotty. He’s shirtless and smiling, how Daniel likes him the best. There’s a sunburn on his nose, red and angry, and Daniel knows it must be painful. Can imagine almost how he must be complaining about it, refusing to put on aloe because he doesn’t like the sticky after-feel.  

It gets him a little hot, his hips pressing against the sofa almost unconsciously. He could probably like, get himself off. Come into his own hand and send him a picture, saying some shit like, thought of u ;).

But also, like. Daniel hasn’t heard from him in a few days, thinks maybe he’s not going to be the one to reach out this time.

He’s deep in his twitter feed, focus only half on the screen when he hears the voice.

He rewinds it and presses the phone to his ear, the volume turned loud as he listens, and there it is. Just a handful of lines in that sharp accent that Daniel recognises immediately with an odd sense of excitement.

He loops it over to hear it again, and Daniel feels it. The sudden burst of energy, conditioned almost by sound alone. He wants to put on his shoes and run, Max’s voice hoarse in his ears coaxing him to be faster, to be better. To make it good, make it last. And Daniel would, for him. For Max.

He grinds his dick into the sofa, reckons it would be half-hard if he reached down to touch it.

Daniel doesn’t do it, obviously. It would be too much, he knows. Getting hot and bothered by the sound of a voice, or like, not even that. Because it’s GP’s voice he can hear now, deep and British, and decidedly not Max’s. But even like this, Daniel feels out of control.

He loops it again before he even thinks about it.

Daniel doesn’t realise until he’s on his third listen that GP is talking about Max, “- and he can be himself with me, which I think is really important when you work together the way that Max and I do.”

There’s a shuffle in the background, and Daniel almost misses it, rewinds the video just a few seconds to watch as a guy pops in from the side to hug GP.

Daniel doesn’t have to think about it, knows already that it’s Max on the screen.

He can only see his backside but he’s already so fucking hot. The wide line of his shoulders, trim waist obvious from the cropped running top he’s wearing. His shorts are almost indecent too, sit barely below his ass to show off strong thighs.

Looking at him like this, Daniel cannot fucking breathe.           

Belatedly he noticed the link on the screen, a tag to their socials. It takes him to a YouTube page, Red Bull Running, and Daniel almost doesn’t – feels as the sour taste builds in his mouth.

It’s, like, objectively okay what he’s doing. He’s just a fan, that’s it. And like, Red Bull has probably hundreds of athletes, it’s barely even a connection.

Daniel doesn’t find it until he’s almost given up, hidden away at the bottom of the screen on a playlist called Max V. His cheeks feel flushed, his eyes heavy with maybe not sleep but something else, the illicit feeling making his fingers tingle.

He scrolls through it with his knee pulled to his chest, flicks through videos of Max on the treadmill, going over data with GP, crossing the line at the London marathon. He’s just as pretty as Daniel thought, wide smile and kind eyes as he laughs at his own silly joke.

He’s almost at the bottom, an absent yawn escaping his lips when he finds it. Yoga for Runners.

Foolishly, he clicks it, watches with a dry mouth as Max introduces himself. He sits squarely on the mat in a sunlit room. He isn’t wearing a shirt, back so straight it makes his pectorals look obscene. There’s a low-fi beat in the background, not too loud to drown out Max’s soft instructions guiding the viewer through a series of poses.

Daniel’s thumb hovers over the home button, ready to close out, to go to bed. And then Max bends over, ass to the camera in his tiny running shorts. It goes on forever. Max speaking softly, demonstrating with his hands the muscles he stretches, how to increase the pressure, where the strain should not be.

Max counts himself down, “You got, it. Four. Breathe deep for me, please,” lowers his knees and folds his chest almost to the floor, keeps his hips up high. “Here, you will feel the release of your rib cage. Obviously, like this it will give you a great stretch in the back also. Yes, just like this. You are of course doing so good.”  

Daniel bites into the meat of his palm, pants into his own sweaty hand. He balances his phone against a pillow and slides his hand down to his dick.

He digs out the bottle of lube that hasn’t been used in months, pours it into his hand, onto his dick. Pretends the slick sound of his hand is something else. It’s easy to do like this, Max’s voice steady in his ear, body moving with impressive control on screen.

“Sink in a little deeper for me, we are so close,” Max says, voice soft, hoarse. “Breathe into the sensation. It should of course feel good when we do this.”

Daniel should feel embarrassed, maybe, but he comes just as Max is winding down, spread out on his back, breathing heavy. “Max,” he sobs, breathless.

The video ends, replaced by a moment of silence. And then in an all too familiar voice, “Hello, everyone,” that makes Daniel’s stomach drop.

[flytotheway]

Brief opinion on Midas Man: it's a television movie that's it, not extremely bad but not good either, mediocrer at best. The script was unfortunately flat practically a wikipedia page without insight, I didn't expect they would explore really dark situation or the controverse relationship between Brian and John...but all the relationships Brian have in the movie with his family, friends, the Beatles are superficial not explored. The invented Tex guy was boring, their love story not build and in the first minutes it's so obvious he is using him and we don't particulary know what kind of person is. It's a pity for all the older actors involved because they are veterans british actors, talented people which is not given a good material. Jacob Fortune Lloyd is great in the role you can see how much effort, passion and subtlety put in hi work but the script is unfair to him, one of the only scenes I really liked was with George Martin (a really good casting), because it's possible to see the glimps of what kind of men they are, unfortunately after that scene the movie doesn't show us how they worked behind the scenes. The Beatles are reduced as funny extras again I am repetitive but the friendship he had with them is not explored, he was their manager, he created their image, he toured with them for years, he was protective and cared for them, it's a waste the actors reached a good energy vibe cheeky students who befriend their akward but cool young teacher. Blake Richardson is one of the best Paul McCartney, Jonah Lees as John I think he was too much critised I didn't find him stereotypical at all, yes he is short but I don't particulary care, I am much more focused on interpretation, John Lennon is a very difficult person to play and many older actors failed to play him right. He was a good young John Lennon, nuanced and he studied John expressions, he showed his silly side, his more pensive side, Jonah Lees deserved better. Leo Harvey-Elledge and Campbell Wallace they were in the scenes nothing more nothing less, I surprisingly liked Adam Lawrence as Pete Best, he is not painted as a bad guy you feel sorry for him, he has presence in the way you feel him different and disconnected from the group. Cilla Black I don't know how she was so I can't do a comparison, she is a nice presence in the movie but as said before she is flat as the others characters. It's not a terrible film, is not unwatchable nothing like that howevere fails in his intentions to tell Brian Epstein, as a beatles fan I advise you to watch him at least for Jacob Lylod, maybe when you are alone during lunch or dinner, the pace is smooth

The wigs were terrifying, the production problems are crystal just watching John hair: at the begin red, then brown and in the end red again. George's wig who is red for some reason and Paul's moustache are a litteral crime