#both of these did not have much info available

[r0manceplanet]

Hey hey! I'm dropping my info in for the matchup exchange, looking for a romantic matchup for Forsaken!

I mainly use they/them but also occasionally he/him, I don’t have a set gender but I’m non-binary of some sort. IRL I prefer just women but fictionally I like all genders, so I have no preference for my match. My hair is short, naturally dark brown but I dye it black. Hazel eyes, I’m not pale but also not really tan. I actually have a few tattoos, on my arm, thigh, lower back and calf. Not that tall, only about 5’5 at the age of 18.

I’m pretty quiet, especially around new people, but when I become comfortable or bring up things I know then I can get loud. I mainly hang out in my room when available,

My MBTI is INTP-T while my zodiac is a Libra!

I love writing for many different fandoms alongside reading fanfics and book series. I tend to collect and buy a lot of prints, keychains and anything imbetween, I’ve started going to conventions and cosplaying! I also do the occasional roller skating and did sky yoga for a while. (Yoga on silks basically)

I like collecting things, mainly crystals, legos and candles. Big fan of horror and thriller movies. I like making characters, especially D&D, I’m currently in two different campaigns.

I don’t like straight up romance movies, movies with a romance subgenre are fine. I don’t do anything sexual irl, fics are fine but I’m not that comfortable.

My main love languages are quality time and gift giving.

Who i kin/relate to:

Clove - Valorant | Lúcio - Overwatch | Sardonyx - Steven Universe | Brennan Sorrengail - Empyrean Series | Silver - Sonic | Pure Vanilla - Cookie Run Kingdom | 007n7 - Forsaken

Gryffindor house with a mink patronus | Cabin 9 (Hephaestus) | I would most likely be in the healers or scribe quadrant from the empyrean series

MATCHUP EXCHANGE #2

A/N: Hello hiiii!! thank you for the matchup exchange I absolutely loved who you matched me with! I hope you also enjoy whoever you get! Here I go!

Your match in Forsaken is…

Noob!

• Hear me out, when I looked though your info my brain immediately went to Noob, especially if they were scene during their prime, I feel you both would match each other so well like ?!?? I feel like they would need someone like you to be around with, and you are perfect for that!

• You both were very quiet when you both met each other, it took some time to get over that and get to know each other, and once you did you guys became inseparable, stuck like glue, and never seen apart from each other, you are the person that protects them from the killer since they tend to freeze up when the killer tried to hit them.

• Before they were forsakened, they were once an outgoing and cheerful person, but when they lost their best friend, Guest 666, they became more withdrawn and radio silent over the time, even sometimes with you they can be quiet, usually they start to talk more since you are there with them now, but they will always be reserved and quiet.

• I feel like you would get them into reading more, I feel like they’re the type of person to not really read so much, they seem to enjoy gaming and playing games more, which fits really well when you allow them to play games with you, it would be a nightly thing to do together to keep your mind off from the horrors of everything. Anyways, they would start to read more from you, and they would mostly read fanfics to start it off LMAO.

• I feel like they would fall more in love with you whenever you give them gifts, it makes them all fuzzy inside and makes them turn all flustered around you, it’s such a cute sight to look at, they love building legos with you, and they even get you into the habit of skateboarding (especially during midnight or in the early morning) I definitely think that they are really skilled at skating, before all of these things happened.

• I feel like you both would do those couple cosplays, when during forsaken you both would just be together in your shared cabin and cosplay as your favorite characters and dance together with music blasting through the thin walls for all to hear, you both would get so many noise complaints, they’re lucky that you both don’t do it during nighttime.

• I absolutely love the idea of you both together, whatever situations you both have you’ll always have each other no matter what, they’re less scared of things now with you around, they make sure nothing will happen to you like what happened with his old friend from a long time ago.

Round-ups: Guest 666, John Doe, Azure

[art-that-fucks-you-up-tournament]

SET NINE - ROUND ONE - MATCH TWO

"The Other Side" (1918 - Dean Cornwell) / "The Temptation of St. Jerome [cropped]" (1886 - Henryk Hektor Siemiradzki)

THE OTHER SIDE: [no additional commentary] (anonymous)

THE TEMPTATION OF ST. JEROME: my brother in christ i have no idea but i am about to ascend heavens. this also tastes like divine candy. can not not going to elaborate. (anonymous)

("The Other Side" is an oil on canvas painting by American artist Dean Cornwell. It measures 34.5 x 25.5 cm (13 1/2 x 10 in)

"The Temptation of St. Jerome" seen above is about a third of the original oil on canvas painting by Polish artist Henryk Hektor Siemiradzki. The full piece measures 74.5 x 179.5 cm (29.3 x 70.7 in.).

[arolesbianism]

Tiphereth suppression finally complete babeyyyy

[sakurapika]

A (possibly) helpful guide to the Nikki-verse for Infinity Nikki Players

❄️Updated December 28th

Although it’s not at all necessary to know the lore of the previous games (Love Nikki, Shining Nikki), here is some info that you might benefit from if you’re joining the fandom with Infinity Nikki!

❄️General Info:

Love Nikki, Shining Nikki, and Infinity Nikki are all stand-alone games with self-contained stories, but they have some commonalities that I will get into later.

Love Nikki (LN) has a 2D art style, and is where many of us "veteran" players began our journey. Shining Nikki (SN) has both 2D and 3D art. Both of these games are stunning, so check them out!

Before Love Nikki, there were two other dress-up games in this series that did not involve being transported into a magical world. They were called NikkiUp2U (released 2012) and Hello Nikki (released around 2016). These games are more obscure, with the latter currently only being available in China, so not much is known about them to international fans.

The developers of the game are Chinese, so expect to get a lot of goodies around Lunar New Year and other major Chinese holidays!

According to Hello Nikki, our main character is around 19 years old. In Shining Nikki, she talks about how she used to go to college before getting transported to Miraland. Her birthday is December 6, which is why Infinity Nikki came out last week and why we got a free outfit (we’ll get a new one every year!)

Nikki's Chinese name is Nuan Nuan, how cute!

Momo claims he’s not a cat, but a member of the “Momo Clan” (LN). He was a little annoying in Love Nikki, but he’s more endearing in later games.

Nikki and Momo are the only recurring characters in the franchise.

The biggest advice I can give as a veteran is: Don't bother with trying to make a visually cohesive outfit for styling battles unless you have a lot of clothing. We've all tried it. It won't work. For now, just layer on everything that has high stats. You're always free to wear your fashionable outfits during regular gameplay, and "glow up" your favorite clothes when you have enough resources, so that you can make better outfits for later battles.

I've seen a lot of people in other places asking about whether the Nikki games will have more androgynous or masculine clothing, and they probably will! It took a while for these clothes to appear in LN and SN, but there are definitely several options out there, from ouji fashion to streetwear to military-style outfits. Read about the seven nations below to find out more.

A lot of people also seem curious about representation for people of color. Unfortunately, the options can be quite limited, as it took a while for textured hair options to appear for players in Love Nikki, and I'm not quite sure about the situation in Shining Nikki. Different cultures are represented in Miraland (as explained below) but they still have their limitations. With Infinity Nikki being more oriented towards an international fanbase than previous games, though, perhaps the developers will be encouraged to branch out more.

❄️Worldbuilding

The world that Nikki has been transported into is called Miraland.

Miraland is composed of seven nations, each with their own distinct fashion style. That means that if you do not like the style of clothes we’ve been seeing so far in Infinity Nikki, do not worry! They’ll have everything eventually.

For some reason, they changed the names of the countries in Infinity Nikki, and I’m not sure why (I’m going to keep mixing them up…). Below, I’ve listed their LN/SN names first, and their Infinity Nikki names second.

The seven nations are:

🎀Lilith/Ninir/Heartcraft Kingdom: In the older games, it was known mostly for fairytale-inspired clothing and lolita fashion, with the occasional “pastoral” suit. It looks like Heartcraft Kingdom in Infinity Nikki has been leaning more into the pastoral aesthetic, but Nonoy’s outfit seems to be in the lolita style. Also, the suits we have been crafting so far for catching bugs and petting the animals is at least lolita-inspired. (People who wear lolita fashion, please correct me if I’m wrong, but I think the Chinese version of this fashion is a lot more loose with the rules than the Japanese version I am more familiar with). This kingdom is always the first to be introduced in these games. Expect drama to follow whenever we get introduced to the royal family of this kingdom…it always happens. Nikki's first friend is always from this kingdom--we started with Bobo in Love Nikki, then Joy in Shining Nikki, and now Nonoy in Infinity Nikki.

🐉Cloud Empire/Lanling Empire: Known for traditional and modern Asian fashion. A vast majority of the fashions are going to be inspired by Chinese fashion, so if you’re a fan of period dramas or xianxia, you’re in luck! Aside from hanfu and qipao, they also usually have some representation of other East Asian cultures, featuring several kimono and the occasional hanbok. (Due to some controversies in Shining Nikki relating to conflicts between China and Korea, however, I’m not sure if the developers will continue to add hanbok in future games). Love Nikki also included some outfits for Chinese ethnic minorities like the Miao, and Vietnamese ao dai if I remember correctly. All games also have at least one Peking Opera costume—it’s like an industry staple. Overall, Cloud Empire is usually the second kingdom to be introduced in the game, so I’m sure we’ll see it pretty soon. Maybe we’ll go along with Tan Youyou, depending on how the story will go.

👠Apple Federation/Starhail Federation: Known for streetwear, high fashion, and casual clothing (like what you’d wear on an average day). I think Dada and Bebe’s outfits would be classified as Apple, even though they live in Heartcraft. Unlike the rural towns we have seen so far, Apple tends to be a very urban, city-based environment, filled with spies and shady businessmen. Nikki's girlfriend, Kimi (from Love Nikki), is also from here.

👑Pigeon Kingdom/Twinmoon Kingdom: Known for European fashions, including fairy costumes, witch/sorcerer outfits, Rococo dresses (with long skirts, compared to the lolita style in Lilith/Ninir/Heartcraft), and anything else you’d expect to see in a Western fantasy or period drama. Funnily enough, there is always at least one scene in the Pigeon Kingdom that has to do with a cathedral, so expect some fashions with gothic and Catholic-inspired imagery as well. Some of the inhabitants who live there are elves and fairies, like Timis. Although most of the ability outfits we have so far look like they're from Lilith/Ninir/Heartcraft, the "purification" outfit strikes me as something more typical of Pigeon.

⚔️North Kingdom/Empire of Light: A cold country best known for winter clothing—heavy scarves, overcoats, and hats—as well as military attire. There is also at least one "ice queen" style suit in every game. If I recall correctly, this kingdom has been having civil wars since Love Nikki, so expect a lot of action in this area. I suspect that Bettina is from here, but I'm not sure yet.

🐪Wasteland/Terra Alliance: The original name of this country sparked a lot of controversy, so I'm glad that they have changed it. This kingdom usually has desert-themed clothing, ancient Greek/Egyptian clothing, clothing inspired by nature, bohemian clothing, South, and Southeast Asian clothing (the cultural representation isn’t always the best, unfortunately…but I am optimistic that Shining Nikki and Infinity Nikki are more culturally sensitive than Love Nikki).

🤖Ruin Island/Whaleport: A mysterious island that features “futuristic” or sci-fi inspired clothing. In previous games, we have seen medical doctors with dubious legitimacy, scientists who experiment on themselves (?) and androids, so I’m curious to see who we’ll meet this time. Many players from the previous games who liked this style have felt that the developers often neglect this kingdom, unfortunately.

❄️Story and gameplay advice

Without spoiling the older games, I can say that, generally...

Most of the story is based on conflicts between different characters and sometimes different kingdoms. These problems, as mentioned before, are solved through styling battles.

Infinity Nikki seems to be going for a cozier vibe. However, both of its predecessors have sometimes gone into dark territories, featuring themes of war, violence, and betrayal. (I may or may not have cried over the death of a certain someone in Love Nikki...)

Therefore, dramatic things could very well happen in Infinity Nikki. I'm not saying that it can't be your comfort game if that is what you are hoping for, as the other games can still also be light, funny, and cozy. I just want to warn more sensitive players who might not be expecting it from a dress-up game.

When I first wrote this guide, I initially thought that the miracle outfits were like the "lifetime suits" of previous games, where crafting them was optional and not necessary to progress through the story. However, this seems not to be the case. Nevertheless, take your time while crafting them--there's no need to rush.

I'm not sure how f2p-friendly Infinity Nikki will be, but I haven't spent anything on either of the other games and I've been able to buy many of the suits I wanted. Just make sure that you budget accordingly and remember that if you want one suit but can't afford it at the time, another suit with a similar aesthetic might come out in the future. Also banners can re-run!

Keep an eye out for redeem codes! These are often posted by the game's social media, and you can get a lot of free stuff.

The fan-favorite kingdoms are usually Lilith/Ninir (Heartcraft) and Cloud (Lanling), followed by Pigeon (Twinmoon) and Apple (Starhail). The other three tend to get neglected, so if you like the sound of those the most, I'm sorry... :(

The last two sections include speculation, trivia, and an explanation of some inside jokes from the other games. Feel free to skip them if needed!

❄️Continuity and Fandom References to Other Nikki Games

Like I said earlier, the Nikki games can all work as standalone games, and the only returning characters are Nikki and Momo.

However, I've added this section to discuss possible theories and connections, as well as catch others up to speed on some of the inside jokes and characters that we Nikki veterans like to talk about.

If you keep hearing names like "Bobo," "Lunar," "Kimi," and "Nidhogg," these are characters from Love Nikki.

Bobo and Lunar are some of the first characters we met in LN. Kimi is the closest character we have to a canon love interest for Nikki. All of them are fan-favorites, so we're hoping to see any references to them in Infinity Nikki as well.

I can't say much about the very controversial and very popular Nidhogg without spoiling LN, but at least you now know where the name is from.

In Love Nikki, there is a "blood curse" that prevents people from using violence. Therefore, people often resolve conflicts by entering styling battles and destroying each other with the power of a good outfit.

Never ask a Love Nikki player what happened in Chapter 15.

Shining Nikki takes place roughly 700 years before Love Nikki, where there is no blood curse (which means certain people have managed to commit certain crimes...). Several SN characters are the ancestors of, or otherwise related to, LN characters.

Nikki veterans often like to make references to Ashley, Lilith (the person), Joy, and Qin Yi. These are all Shining Nikki characters.

So far, we haven't seen such a connection between old games and Infinity Nikki, so a lot of people suspect that this might be an alternate universe. When more about this version of Miraland is known, I might make another post.

❄️My predictions for future updates

Every time we enter a new country in Miraland, we will have new ability outfits to craft to fit the style of the new setting. This is because most of the outfits we have so far look like Lilith/Ninir suits in previous games, with very few influences from other nations.

The next country to be introduced will most likely be Lanling. I originally thought that they'd let us visit Lanling in time for Lunar New Year, but with the scope of the story, I think it may take some more time before that.

The next big update will be around Lunar New Year, where they'll probably hold some five-star banners, give free diamonds as a login event, and make a new short story, if they celebrate the same way as in Shining Nikki. They're probably also going to give us another free suit. (I hope it's Legend of the White Snake themed, since next year is Year of the Snake!)

Then, we'll probably see the equivalent of the Apple Federation, followed by Pigeon Kingdom.

We will get a new version of this stunning dress. It's called the Star Sea and has shown up in every game so far. I'm actually surprised we haven't heard about it in Infinity Nikki yet.

Please let me know if this guide has been useful, and if there's other parts of the games you'd like me to cover!

[tizeline]

(new post cuz the original one didn't show up in the dashboard for some reason ughhh)

Okay so I just hit TEN THOUSAND FOLLOWERS!? HUH!?!? Where the FUCK did you guys come from?? Who are you people!? This is actually insane I love you guys so much I'm asbhfajkjfda 💕💕✨✨😭😭 Anyway, obviously we need to do something to celebrate this special occasion, so here's another DTIYS! (and also a ctiys if you prefer that)

Context for this - remember when I talked about how, after Leo and Donnie start properly hanging out in the Tiz Sep AU, Leo gets into human fashion? Except his taste in human fashion is absolutely atrocious?? Yeeaahh so here we have Donnie and April taking Leo out to get some human clothes and they are both absolutely bamboozled over the clothes that Leo picks out for himself (he's trying okay </3)

Extra info + rules:

No deadline, do this whenever you want to!

Feel free to take artistic liberties, redraw this however you want, and especially-

FEEL FREE TO CHANGE LEO'S OUTFIT!! The only rules here is that it's gotta be ridiculous, ugly, cringefail, or otherwise be a crime against fashion. But I'd love for you guys to come up with your own outfits for Leo :D

Use whatever art-medium you want!

But absolutely NO AI software! If you do I will banish you to the prison dimension for all eternity don't even fucking try bitch I stg 🔪

I don't have a specific tag for this, just @ me so I can see your art!

You don't have to follow me to participate (it's not like I'm gonna check anyway)

CTIYS version (just the lineart) as well as the original drawing but without the text is availible under the cut:

[nghtwngs]

how about a bob x reader fic where reader is the receptionist for the new avengers?

scott and zelda

description. sweet bob reynolds has been avoiding you and your daily lobby chats for days now. were your book recommendations that terrible? and then you realize the mistake you’ve made that has had poor bob unable to face you these last few days…

pairing. robert “bob” reynolds x receptionist!reader

genre. fluff, idiots friends to lovers, canon compliant

word count. 1.7k

warnings. set during the post-thunderbolts* timeskip, suggestive themes, allusions to smut, reader on the verge of crashing out at work

author’s notes. named after the newly released bibi (aka my wife) song, which you can listen to while reading! and if you read the lyrics, you’ll understand why i chose it. i managed to keep the reader gender neutral too :) also this was so fun to write so thank u for requesting nonnie!!!

“Hello, you have reached the Avengers’ Watchtower,” you begin in your nicest customer service tone. “How may I assist you?” After a few beats. “I’m sorry. Unfortunately, Congressman Barnes is not available at this number. If you would like to discuss… to send your inquiries to him, you may reach him at his office’s number or email, both of which I can provide for you.” You suppress a long sigh, fingertips typing away at your keyboard. “Which contact info would you like?”

After placing the phone back into its receiver, you finally allow yourself to face plant into the desk when you hear your name.

“Congressman Barnes,” you greet him in a professional voice that makes him grimace, “what a coincidence. I was just on the phone with a woman who was wondering how much she could donate to your next campaign in exchange for spending the night with her…. among other things.” You’re really hoping your face relays the trauma you had just experienced to him.

You think it does because a flicker of disgust appears on Bucky’s face as he asks, “What did you say?”

“Oh, I directed her to your office’s number. She was happy to take it.”

“Jesus,” he mumbles. “I think my job sucks sometimes, and then I remember the things you’re put through down here.”

“Gotta love it, yeah.” You press your lips together, fiddling with your Pilot G2 pen while you work up the courage to ask him, “Have you, um, seen Bob lately perchance?”

He nods and answers, “Yeah, like, whenever I’m here. Which is also everyday. Because he lives here.”

There’s a pointed look on his face that you’d rather not unpack right now. You’re just curious, is all. Bob usually comes down to the lobby to visit you whenever you’re working, but after you recommended him that book four mornings ago, he’s been radio silent. Maybe it was a terrible read, and he’s just been trying to figure out how to tell you he hated it. In a nice way.

“Well, it feels like he doesn’t.” You nearly pout at the man. “I haven’t seen him since Monday.”

“Again, he lives here. You could call him, I don’t know. I’m sure he’ll answer if it’s you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Just means he’ll answer. Call him.”

“What if I don’t want to?”

“Then don’t. It’s not my problem, kid.”

“You do know I’m thirty, right?”

“Well, I’m a hundred and nine, kid,” he retorts, heading for the elevator.

“You been hitting on any of the nursing home ladies that like to come around then, Bucky?” You snicker at him and wave, watching him roll his eyes as the doors shut.

The next few hours in the Watchtower’s lobby are just as boring as the last few, with surprisingly few people coming in and out. Although a couple of people do come in to ask if there’s a restroom.

“It’s down the hallway on your left,” you tell the old lady kindly, pointing your finger in that direction. You’re technically not supposed to let random people use the toilet here, for Ms. de Fontaine’s worry that ‘vagrants’ will linger, but that’s better than them pissing in the streets. When the lady disappears, you make a mental note to tell Bucky he’s just missed his shot with this hot, elderly woman. You can’t help but snicker at your own humor.

That was the only time you laughed for the past three hours, you realize. Normally, you’d be giggling or snorting at some silly joke Bob makes. But of course, he’s not here and hasn’t been since the beginning of the week. You had forgotten how boring working at reception was because he had always come to cure it.

Sure, the new Avengers, like Bucky, would chat with you for a minute or so. Or if you were Alexei, ten to fifteen minutes. Yelena has warmed up a little while Ava remains curt still. John is still as well but also a major asshole, according to Bob, so you generally don’t try small talk with him. Bob was the only one who ever stayed around, trying to cure his own boredom. And eventually, you became good friends.

The job had been a surprisingly chill gig, meaning they really only needed one person in the lobby to handle simple tasks like answering the phone or giving directions. Sometimes, you even got to schedule a meeting or two, which used to be the highlight of your days when you first started out.

You groan to yourself, propping up your hand to rest your chin on. Despite your very tiny developing work(?) (Does it count as a work crush if you technically don’t work with him?) crush on Bob, you just missed his company. He had been so quiet at first, and then you found out you shared a mutual interest in books. Did you really just admit your crush? You couldn’t even say the words out loud to your other friends, much less yourself. You huff out a sad little breath of air, eyes looking around for any stimulus when you remember you left the book you were rereading in your bag. Sat at your feet, you open the bag to grab the novel.

It’s the book you recommended to Bob days earlier, and the only reason you can think of as to why he’s been avoiding you lately. Did you really have that bad of a taste in books? He liked your other recommendation… Oh, but maybe he actually hated it and was trying to spare your feelings. And now, since you gave him another atrocious book to read, he realized he could no longer be friends with someone who only reads awful books.

If, right now, you were at home in your cozy bed, you’d be screaming into your pillow.

Seeing as the lobby is pretty much empty, you crack open your novel to where you left off. This book is very dear to you, considering this is your third time rereading it (this year) and that it’s only May. So it meant a lot when you recommended it to Bob. But maybe you just love shitty books—this one had four and a half stars on StoryGraph though!

‘Won’t you place a bookmark inside of me?’ is the first line you read on the page, and the wheels on your chair loudly screech when you suddenly rise. Laughing nervously when you receive a few looks from around the room, you sit back down with the book you just aggressively shut. Now, you think you’ll call Bucky to fling you into space from the Watchtower’s roof.

In your excitement at recommending Bob a new novel to add to his reading list, you totally forgot about the book-related innuendos and rather graphic sex scenes that were scattered throughout the book. Oh, God, he must think you’re some pervert! No wonder he’s been avoiding you. Or maybe he thought you were trying to hit on him, and now he can’t figure out a way to gently let you down.

Reluctantly, you open the book back up to see just how bad the damage was.

‘Would you wet your finger for me? Would you pinch me?’

‘Would you fold me freely? Would you keep me overdue?’

You close the novel before you see anything else that would make you somehow feel more embarrassed than you already do now. But before you even get the chance to stew in your embarrassment, you hear the voice you’ve been longing to hear for days.

“Is everything okay?” Bob asks with some concern from the other side of your desk.

You sit up stick straight, blinking at him like an idiot. “Bob, hey—hi.”

“Hi.”

It’s not for another five full seconds that you realize you didn’t answer his question at all before blubbering, “Yeah! I’m… I’m alright. Are you? Haven’t seen you in a bit.”

Bob smiles awkwardly, nodding. “Yeah, I’m good. Sorry about that, by the way. I read that book you—“

“God, I am so, so sorry I recommended it to you. I totally forgot about the…”

At your words, a confused frown forms on his face. “About what?”

“The sexual stuff…” you finish quietly.

The recognition takes over his features now. “Oh, that.”

“I’m really sorry. I don’t want you to think I’m a… pervert or something… I really do think the story is good.”

“It is,” he agrees, much to your surprise. “I liked it, but I’ll admit I was surprised by the… other stuff. Suppose I never really had you pegged as the type to read such… dirty books. And then it got me thinking…” He pauses, quieting his voice a little more. “Do you like being folded freely too?”

His question throws you off, not because of the filthiness of it, but how innocent he makes it sound. Like he’s asking you about the weather. But the weather is never really about the weather, is it?

Bob continues like he didn’t just flip your entire world on its axis, “I went and bought the book right after I left you that day. And I haven’t been down here to see you since then because I didn’t know if I could be normal around you when I couldn’t stop thinking about whether or not you liked getting fucked the same way that character in the book does.”

“Does it matter to you?” you ask once you’ve managed to find your voice somewhere in the mush that’s currently your brain.

He shakes his head at you. “No, but it would be very helpful to know.”

You shoot up from your chair for the second time that shift, making such quick haste around the desk that even he’s surprised. You’re then making some poor excuse to the security guard Lenny about showing Bob around the new downstairs renovations, an excuse that would easily fall apart if thought about for longer than two moments. But you’re already strutting towards a random, unused office space where you sometimes take your breaks, dress shoes clicking against the tiled floors, and expecting him to follow.

Bob does, of course, silently thanking Bucky for pushing him in the right direction this morning.

[maplebellsmods]

Expanded Storytelling Relationship Bits Mod: 2

Ok..more storytelling and relationship options for your sims! 

(Really tried my best to push this out before the end of Jan) 😮‍💨

If you want more info about the mod check this page out: Expanded Storytelling Relationship Bits Mod 

This time around created more relationship bits. Here they are

I wanted to try something new this time, which is why it took me so much time. I'll get into it later.

But there are a few new things I have added and changed from the previous one. First off, there are more interactions available: social interactions, phone interactions, and rabbit hole interactions.

Each one of these interactions corresponds to a specific relationship bit.

Healing Touch: 'Plan Relaxing Activities Together,' 'Offer Comfort through Hugs and Physical Touch.'

Wisdom Seekers: 'Ask Questions about the Universe.'

Unbreakable Connection: 'Celebrate Anniversary of Enduring Connection,' 'Promise Everlasting Friendship' (Only available pre-promise).

I do need to note that, just like the other mod, many of these are cosmetic and don't have a full effect yet. (Emphasis on 'yet,' as I will slowly but surely make these more functional.)

If your Sims have the Wisdom Seeker, Tech-Savvy Partners, or Night Owl Companions relationship bits, some interactions will unlock on the phone:

Wisdom Seeker: Study Together at the Library 

Tech-Savvy Partners: Send Tech News 

Night Owl Companions: Night Time Activities Menu 

(Regarding nighttime activities, I haven't found a workaround for this issue yet. However, here's a temporary solution: When selecting an activity for the two Sims who have the rabbit, choose the Sim you want to go with first, and then select yourself again using the same option. I'm not sure why this happens, but it can be a bit inconvenient. I'll work on making the process more streamlined in the future, but for now, this is how you can get them to go to the same activity.)

The new feature I've been working on, which I'm quite excited about, involves social interactions. I've always felt that many social interactions lacked depth and context. So, what I'm currently working on is creating social interactions to fill that gap

One of these interactions is 'Provide Emotional Support,' which is available for Sims with the 'Healing Touch' relationship.

In this interaction, your Sim will be presented with several options when they are feeling sad. Your Sim can choose from these options to express why they are feeling sad. Once they make a selection, the other Sim will ask for more context, leading to the exchange of contextual advice and reassurance.

I've also developed another social interaction, 'Try to Confess Feelings,' which is available for Sims experiencing 'Unrequited Love.

Attempting to confess your feelings will lead to various outcomes depending on the option you choose. In this interaction, the Sim who hears the confession will have several response options available.

The choice made by the listening Sim will have an impact on their relationship, both romantically and platonically. Some response options may harm the relationship more than others.

The way the Sim responds through the animation doesn't affect the outcome. I've designed it this way to leave the choice entirely in the player's hands. However, unless both Sims are in a flirty mood and have a high friendship level, the Sim who hears the confession will always use the rejection animation. Nevertheless, this animation choice doesn't alter the outcome.

The social interaction 'Forbid Relationship With' can be used either before or after designating two Sims as star-crossed lovers. Some of the options will even add the 'star-crossed lovers' relationship bit to the two Sims (if they didn't have it), while others will remove it (if they did have it).

The interaction can be found under the Mean -- Arguments Pie Menu Category. Only a parent, grandparent, uncle, or caregiver can trigger the interaction. 

Depending on the chosen options, the relationship can either suffer a negative or experience a positive impact. While all of the options will influence the relationship, certain responses will have a significantly greater effect on it than others.

These are all the main points! I hope you all enjoy this new feature because I'm eager to create more! There will be additional interactions and other things I'll be adding to this mod. I'm constantly learning new things, and it's truly enjoyable to implement them!

Download Here

Public Feb 24

[katnissmellarkkk]

so re: @rosegardeninwinter’s ask about how burdock is related to the covey, i’m gonna tell you my interpretation. i don’t necessarily consider this a headcanon, though i probably should, but i feel so strongly this is the way we were meant to take burdock’s connection to the covey. so sorry to anyone who disagrees but ya know. if you reblog please be nice. we don’t need people getting all rude and snippy up in here. i know a lot of people dislike katniss being covey so keep going with your headcanons but this is how i interpreted the text.

and yeah, y’all, this is me with my tinfoil hat trying to make this all work together to make sense :

-

okay so, let me break this down from small to large.

the covey consisted originally of six members.

we had barb azure, lucy gray and maude ivory, blood cousins, all with the last name baird.

clerk carmine and billy taupe who are blood brothers with the last name clade.

then we have tam amber. no blood relations or last name in sight.

so there’s no reason to believe that any others are related to the covey unless it’s through these six. the whole idea i’ve seen thrown around on tiktok and twitter that maybe more people could be related to the covey is anti-canon. these six members were stated to be each other’s only living family in tbosas. there’s no other way into the covey than through one of these six.

-

so anyways, from there we can move onto the deaths in and after ballad.

we know billy taupe left/got kicked out of the covey when he started cheating on lucy gray with mayfair. and we know he and mayfair both died. so that takes him completely out of the conversation here. if suzanne ever decides burdock is his relation into the covey, it’ll be a weird, left field decision. so until then, i’m gonna count billy taupe out. although there is a sweet irony if billy taupe was burdock’s grandfather, considering that would mean katniss is the descendant of lucy gray’s ex and that would make it so much more infuriating for old coryo.

after that, lucy gray either was murdered by snow or disappeared. we’ll never know which. she had a gravestone in the covey graveyard but it’s most likely they did that when she ran away with coryo and never returned. the possibility of her return and later death creates a whole series of hoops to now jump through to make it work and with suzanne, often the simplest and most obvious answer is the correct one.

then we know maude ivory died somewhere between ballad and the ending of sunrise because she has a gravestone too in the covey graveyard. we’re not given any more info on this so this is where the real interpreting must begin to take place.

-

now we move onto lenore dove. here’s all we know about my girl here. her mother died in childbirth with her. she’s being raised by her uncles, clerk carmine and tam amber who are not biologically related to her, and her last name is also baird. no one knows who her father is. so to me, all signs point to her mother being maude ivory. she’s dead in the graveyard and her namesake poem is about a woman being scorned by her lover when he chooses to marry someone else (which fits well with lenore dove’s father never claiming her/maybe not even knowing she exists or is his).

-

so now that we’ve explained how everyone else is related in the covey, we need to cover our final two bases here :

barb azure is not mentioned in sunrise on the reaping once. she’s the only member of the covey, aside from billy taupe who kicked the bucket, who isn’t mentioned in the book.

burdock everdeen is related “distantly” to lenore dove, but haymitch says she’s not one of his everdeen cousins and that she has to be related through burdock’s mother. now why would suzanne specify this, unless she’s strongly hinting to us about the connection?

-

the only available avenue for burdock to be related to the covey would be through barb azure. as i stated before, there’s no canonical other option for someone to be related to the covey outside the six members mentioned in ballad. three of those members are dead by sunrise. that leaves three possible ones left and we know neither clerk carmine or tam amber are burdock’s father, because neither had kids and it’s through burdie’s ma that he’s covey anyways. that only leaves barb azure.

the relation would be considered distant as well, because lenore dove and him would be the children of two cousins. meaning their common ancestors would be their great-grandparents. that more than qualifies as a distant relation lololol.

another thing that links burdock to the covey biologically is his voice. singing voices are inherited, genetic traits (it’s not guaranteed you can sing if your parent can but i think y’all get what i mean). no male in the covey was said to be a talented singer but all three baird girls were. burdock has a remarkable singing voice according to katniss, peeta, otho and less so, haymitch. as does burdie’s little girl, katniss. this seems to also point to him being biologically related to the covey, which again, can only be through barb azure.

-

now i’m moving onto a few counter arguments i’ve seen against barb azure being burdock’s mother and why they don’t dissuade me from this interpretation at all :

“she’s gay” being the number one reason. because she was seeing a girl in ballad. i don’t know why this is such a strong argument against her being burdie’s mama. first off, barb azure likely could have been bi! or she could be in a lavender marriage in sunrise with burdock’s everdeen pa. i mean suzanne did take the time to sit down and tell us about there being an anti-gay sentiment in panem so maybe it was meant to be a double implication. maybe snow made this a thing when he came to power specifically to target the cousin(s) of lucy gray. who knows. but one line in ballad isn’t anywhere close to enough to discredit barb azure being burdock’s mama. and personally i prefer the she’s bi, because it’s much happier, for both her and burdie.

“she’s old” being the other reason. some think she’s too old and must be burdock’s grandma, and to that i still say, no <3. because it feels too complicated. and like i said above, with suzanne the most obvious is usually the correct assumption. also we don’t know how old barb azure is, just that she’s a little older than lucy gray. however we never ever hear of there being birth control in panem and especially not in the districts. so even if she’s in her forties, it’s not that hard to believe she is burdock’s mama. especially because we don’t even know how old burdock is technically. just that he’s younger than haymitch, who’s sixteen. but not by much since he’s standing with him at the reaping in sunrise.

the one thing i’ll also throw out there is, barb azure does not have a gravestone at the covey cemetery. meaning she’s not dead yet. i understand she could be burdock’s grandma and still be alive, of course lololol. but her being his mother and being on the older side would actually track much better with katniss never mentioning having a grandma/knowing her grandma at all. like haymitch knew his mamaw and talked about her/had fond memories of her. but katniss didn’t. she never even mentions meeting her grandparents. and from haymitch’s account, burdock’s ma sounded like a sweet lady, letting the kids play and waste the family resources for fun. like katniss would have loved her if she’d ever known the woman, so it tracks katniss didn’t know her or else she’d have mentioned it to us (or if suzanne had this more fleshed out back in 2008). which also fits well with barb azure being an older mother, meaning she probably died before katniss was even born since people don’t live typically to be that old in the seam.

-

now onto the other possibilities for burdock’s distant relation to the covey :

i already covered that i don’t buy that there’s a way to be even distantly related through any way other than the six members introduced in ballad.

barb azure and her lady friend from that one line in ballad adopted burdock. i don’t mind this one as a fanfic idea or if it makes people happy if they hate the katniss is covey theory because it takes away the biological connection to the family but i don’t see any reason for it to be taken too seriously. its once again too complicated and probably more hoops than suzanne intended for us to jump through.

maude ivory is burdock’s mom and lucy gray is lenore dove’s. I don’t dislike this idea at all. in fact, i really like it. i always wanted maude ivory to be burdock’s mom. and considering lenore dove is wearing remnants of lucy gray’s rainbow dress and she sings her songs (not that she knew her either way but still, the similarities) and the fact that a dove is half gray, i think it’s a really cool theory. but it also ruins the mystery of lucy gray and further complicates the story and i don’t buy into it unfortunately. but another reasoning i’ve seen for this idea is burdock knew where the graves were, indicating maybe maude ivory is his mother, as she had definitively already passed by the end of the sunrise and barb azure hadn’t. to which i just say, yeahhhh. but it’s their family graveyard. i don’t see why someone has to die for burdock to know where it is.

also just to throw in here one last detail : barb azure is named after the ballad of barbara allen, which based on my google search is a poem ultimately about a woman who rejects the love of a dying man only to die of grief herself after his passing… i don’t know, it’s not a perfect fit but why does that almost sound loosely like burdock and asterid, with him dying in the mines and her seemingly never recovering from her grief? why does it almost feel reminiscent of katniss and peeta in mockingjay? i don’t know, maybe it’s nothing, but i felt it was worth mentioning.

and now i hope that explains my interpretation well enough, because i’m so tired i can’t think of anything else to add. hopefully that all made sense but just to wrap it up here, once and for all :

maude ivory —> lenore dove (potential daughter) or burdock everdeen (potential son)

tam amber —> no biological kids

clerk carmine —> no biological kids.

billy taupe —> no biological kids.

lucy gray —> no biological kids/maybe lenore dove’s mother.

barb azure —> maybe burdock’s ma.

[lellalombardiapologist]

💙✨ So you want to learn more about Didier Pironi? Great news, I’m here to help! 💙✨

There isn’t much stuff out there, and a lot of materials are biased in favour of Gilles, but this is my overview of the materials about Didier that can be found out there:

(note: I say reading bc it’s how I best absorb info, that being said there will be a mention of the Villeneuve Pironi documentary. Also I will not include books that are mostly about Gilles)

Books in english:

Pironi, the champion that never was - David Sedgwick: so, remember when I said most materials are biased in favour of Gilles? Well, this one goes the opposite route. The only reason why I cannot call myself Didier’s number one defender and apologist is because mr Sedgwick is out there. This is the best starting point, it’s easy to find, cheap and very thorough. Among its source materials it can boast the book written by Didier’s mother and never published, which provides a lot of details about his childhood and personality. This is the book that got me obsessed with Didier, if you only have to get one book, get this one.

Didier, dreams and nightmares - Lorie Coffey & Jan Moller: I haven’t been able to find a copy of this one for a reasonable price, sadly, so I can’t vouch for this. Sedgwick told me on Twitter that it’s lacking some info, but again, I haven’t read it.

1982 The inside story of the sensational Grand Prix Season - Christopher Hilton: I’m including this because while it is not focused on Didier only, it does give an interesting overview of such a crucial life changing season. It’s not what I’d consider a mandatory read but it’s still worth checking it out.

Documentaries in english:

The Villeneuve-Pironi documentary: I have to mention this one at least. While it is better than others, I still have beef with it, because despite having some people from Didier’s side in it, it’s also still incredibly biased towards Gilles, and also Joann Villeneuve lies a few times (or at the very least what she says doesn’t match what’s out there in terms of available info).

Books in italian:

L’indimenticabile 1982 della Ferrari - Alfredo Rossi: a small book written by a journalist, it’s like a time capsule since it was written before the 1982 season even ended! Noteworthy how there is both deep admiration for Gilles and sincere respect for Didier. A bit harder to find but if you are in Italy you could get this on Abebooks or similar websites

Books in french:

Didier Pironi, la flèche brisée - Martine Camus: not as complete as the Sedgwick one but it contains a lot of interviews and pieces written by people who have known him, and can be found for decent prices, so it’s worth reading it

Lettre à Didier - Catherine Goux: this one I have yet to read, however I’m still including it because it was written by Didier’s last girlfriend, and mother of his twins. This is probably something that will make you cry a lot, but I bet it’s an interesting insight (Sedgwick said so, anyway)

Magazines in french:

Grand Prix #8, 2012: a Didier-themed issue which also contains extracts from the book written by Didier’s mom, an interview with Didier’s twins and Jacques Villeneuve and much more. It can be found on the magazine’s website, but they are out of the paper version so you can only get the digital issue.

Grand Prix #9, 2012: a Didier-Gilles themed issue, focused on Imola 82 and what happened to their friendship, another interesting read.

Other magazines and sources:

I like to collect old issues of Rombo and Autosprint, two very popular motorsport magazines of the past, even if that means enduring the bodyshaming they did to Didier, they’re still a valuable historical insight. According to where you live, you may look for old motorsport magazines too! Libraries may have those, and there’s always flea markets and ebay. I recommend starting with issues that depict positive events such as Didier’s victories, but I also own the Autosprint issue for Didier’s death.

Sometimes I translate old articles from those magazines! This is the sideblog where you can find them: la flèche brisée

If you can’t get old motorsport magazines, I have a suggestion: browse the online archives for your most popular newspapers, the biggest ones are probably old enough to have online archives, most of these are free. Select the dates for important events in Didi’s life, lead to the sport section and profit!

[fluentmoviequoter]

Yell at Me and Tell Me You Love Me

Requested Here!

Pairing: Tim Bradford x fem!reader

Summary: You distance yourself from Tim because you think he is still in love with Isabel. When he confronts you about why you've been avoiding him, you accidentally tell him the truth.

Warnings: angst to fluff, argument, friends to lovers, the timeline of Tim and Isabel's relationship is probably off but I needed to make everything fit

Word Count: 3.0k+ words

A/N: The first title I typed was "Yell at Me, Tell Me You Love Me, But Don't Push Me Away" and I'd just like to say (a very sarcastic) you're welcome for shortening it. (Unless you like the original, then I'm sorry.)

Picture from Pinterest

Masterlist | Tim Bradford Masterlist | Request Info/Fandom List

You met Tim Bradford less than a week after he left the Army and quickly became one of his closest friends. Despite the secret kisses shared without thought, holding each other tightly for no reason, and falling asleep in each other’s arms, you continue to be just friends with Tim Bradford. Being part of his life for so long means you’ve seen more than most. You were at Tim and Isabel’s wedding, gave him a place to stay after the divorce, and you fell in love with him without even trying.

Since his divorce from Isabel, you’ve shared a few more thoughtless kisses, said “I love you” before ending phone calls, and slept in the same bed simply for comfort on more than one occasion. You know you need to stop, however, because Tim is still attached to Isabel, as far as you can tell. She calls occasionally, and he rushes to answer the phone, leaving you like an afterthought as the woman he truly loves becomes available again. You’re unwilling to be a rebound or a distraction while Tim works on his relationship with Isabel, but you can’t decide how to set a boundary you don’t want.

It's nearly midnight, and you can’t sleep with thoughts of Tim running through your head. As you consider the idea of simply giving him space, letting him know that you both have things you need to deal with before you can be his friend again, your phone rings. Tim’s name and face light up your dark room and life before you answer.

“Hey,” you greet.

“Hi. I- did I wake you up?” Tim asks.

“No, I couldn’t sleep.”

“Me neither. Are you okay?”

When Tim asks that question, you realize that the only thing you want from or for Tim is for him to be happy. Alone, in the dark, you acknowledge that the only way for him to be happy is if you are willing to move out of the way of what he really wants. If you step away and give him room to work out his feelings toward Isabel, maybe he can find what he wants and focus entirely on that.

Tim says your name, and you rush to say, “Yeah, I’m fine, just- just thinking.”

“You want me to come over?” he offers.

“No,” you answer quickly – too quickly. “It’s late, and I’m really fine. Are you?”

Tim sighs before answering, “I guess. Isabel called today to tell me she’s going back to rehab. She wants me to come by once a week, act as part of her support plan.”

“Do you think it’s a good idea?”

“I enabled Isabel for so many years that I don’t know.”

“You’ll do the right thing, Tim. You always do.”

A memory of last week, when Tim kissed you during a walk on the beach, flashes through your mind. Was that the right thing?

“Or you have too much faith in me,” he argues.

“I think I have just the right amount of faith in you.”

“It’s your turn to pick dinner on Friday.”

You see an opening to pull back and tighten your grip on your phone as you ask, “Actually, can we skip this week? I’m swamped and don’t know if I’ll be able to make it. I’d hate to leave you waiting.”

Tim hesitates before agreeing, “Sure. Just let me know when you’re free. We can do whatever you want.”

“I will,” you reply softly. “I’m getting tired now, though, so goodnight, Tim. And good luck with Isabel and your decision.”

“Yeah, thanks. Goodnight.”

You bite your tongue to keep from saying I love you one last time, and as you set your phone down, actively pulling away from your best friend, you want to call him back and ask if you ever had a chance. Instead, you press your face into your pillow and force yourself to think about other things as you fall asleep.

✯✯✯✯✯

You sit in bed and stare at your phone as your finger hovers over the star beside Tim’s contact. When you remove him from your favorites list, everything will begin to feel real. Just as you lower your finger, your phone buzzes with a text from Tim. Three simple words make your heart pound as you read them.

Call me, please.

You want more information before you decide to call him or not. Distancing yourself will be hard enough without Tim vying for your attention the entire time you pull away. Clicking the star so it disappears, you make the first step in separating your life from Tim Bradford’s.

“Please be the right choice,” you whisper, staring at his contact photo. “I just want you to be happy. Happier than I could make you.”

An hour later, your phone rings, and you send Tim to voicemail. If it is an emergency, he’ll leave a voicemail. With each unanswered call and text, the time between them lengthens. Maybe Tim has already realized you weren’t as important to him as you both seemed to think.

By the end of the first day not talking to Tim, you want to scream and cry simultaneously. It’s hard to lose a friend, but harder to lose the one person you love. Reminding yourself constantly that you’re doing it for Tim and his happiness, you don’t give yourself time to think about how much your decision and the distance are hurting you. You knew Tim would hurt for a while before finding his way back to Isabel, but you weren’t expecting to feel like a piece of your heart had been ripped out. That’s what you get for giving it to Tim without telling him, you suppose.

✯✯✯✯✯

After a sleepless night of tossing and turning, someone knocks on your door as the sun rises over Los Angeles. You roll out of bed and pull a sweatshirt over your head before looking through the peephole. Tim stands on the other side of the door and speaks before you can think about pretending to be gone.

“I know you’re here,” Tim calls. “I don’t have a lot of time, just wanted to check on you before work.”

After you open the door, you look out at him and give him a closed-lip smile. He looks at you like he can see straight through you, and you wouldn’t be surprised if he could.

“We made a huge arrest last night and a couple of us are going out tonight to celebrate,” he says instead. “Do you want to come out with us?”

“Uh, no, but thanks for the offer. I’ve got a lot going on right now, and-“

“Like what?”

You tilt your head to the side, wondering what he means.

“What’s got you so busy that you can’t even text me back?”

“I- I don’t want to talk about it right now, Tim,” you say, opting to deflect rather than lie. “But congratulations on the arrest and have fun tonight.”

Tim’s jaw tightens as he nods. You watch as he walks away, wishing you could run after him. As you close your door, you decide that slowly pulling back will not work; if you want to give Tim room to find his way back to Isabel, you must leave him.

Pushing your fist against the closed door, you take a deep breath before walking through your place and gathering everything that reminds you of Tim. After placing it in a box, you shove it into your closet. Next, you turn off the notifications in your phone, so you won’t be tempted to answer when he calls or texts. The hurt of losing Tim worsens with each action as you pull yourself further away from him.

“Please be happy,” you beg as you close the door on your box of memories.

✯✯✯✯✯

“You’re grumpier than usual,” Nolan notices. “I mean- sorry,” he adds quickly.

“Timothy,” Angela calls. “A word?”

“No,” Tim replies.

“Bradford, now.”

Tim rolls his eyes as he stands and walks to her desk. She gestures for him to sit, and while he should feel like a kid in the principal’s office, he feels more like a man being told his wife is divorcing him and having to maintain a brave face even as his heart shatters in his chest.

“What do you want, Lopez?” he asks. “No small talk.”

“I wouldn’t dream of trying with you, Timothy. I want to know what’s up with you and why you’re taking it out on everyone here.”

“It’s none of your business.”

“You’re making it our business by pushing your frustration, or whatever it is you’re dealing with, off onto us. Is it Isabel? I heard she’s back in rehab.”

“No,” Tim answers, scoffing as he leans back. “It’s not Isabel.”

“Is there any chance that part of you still cares about her, and even if you’re lying to me and yourself about it, Isabel still affects you?” Angela asks.

“No, Lopez. I can guarantee that this has nothing to do with Isabel. She asked me to visit her as part of her support plan and I told her I would think about it, but the ‘source of my frustration’ hasn’t even let me do that.”

“Timothy, just tell me what’s bothering you and maybe I can help,” she offers quietly.

Tim stands as he replies, “You can’t. The only one who can help me with this is avoiding me.”

Angela’s brows furrow as she wonders who he could be referring to. Tim is adamant this isn’t about Isabel, but Angela can’t think of anyone else with this level of pull over him.

“Let me know if you change your mind and want to talk, Tim.”

“Will do,” he answers, though he and Angela know it’s a lie.

✯✯✯✯✯

“Isabel!” Tim calls, jogging to catch up to her. “Hey.”

“Hi,” she replies, hugging him quickly. “I thought you were going to call my sponsor with your decision.”

“I was, and I did. But I also wanted to let you know, in person, that I can’t be part of your support plan. At least, not right now, not after everything I did over the last few years.”

Isabel nods as she guesses, “You feel partially responsible and don’t want to risk letting me fall back into my old ways. I get it, Tim, but thanks for considering it.”

Tim nods, and Isabel can tell something is bothering him.

“You want to stay? Talk for a bit?” she asks.

“I can’t. I’ve got a work thing,” he replies. “Thank you, though, and good luck with everything. I’ll be back by when I have some time.”

“Tim,” Isabel interjects, wrapping her hand around his forearm. “I recognize that look. I only saw it once, and it didn’t turn out well for me. Whatever it is you want to say to whoever it is, just say it.”

“I don’t know how,” Tim admits.

“My take: if she’s important enough to affect you like this, you’ll find a way to let her know what you’re feeling.”

“What if she doesn’t care, Isabel?”

“I can’t tell you what to do, Tim, but I can tell you that waiting too long doesn’t make things any easier… I have to go, I’ve got a group meeting, but, Tim, what’s worth the risk: saying something or keeping it quiet until it’s too late?”

Tim nods before he waves as Isabel turns toward another building. Tim texts Nolan that won't be at the celebratory gathering while he walks to his truck. He knows where he needs to go but doesn’t know how to deal with everything once he gets there. Hopefully, seeing you will give him the right words to say.

✯✯✯✯✯

You broke your heart trying to let Tim be happy and keep yourself from getting hurt in the fallout of losing him. Your house seems bare, every picture and memory of Tim tucked away in a failed attempt to keep your mind off him. A knock draws you out of your miserable reverie. Whoever it is knocks again when you leave it unanswered, the sound harsher and louder than the first time. 

“Coming!” you call.

You open the door without thinking and are surprised to see Tim standing on the other side.

“Can I come in?” he asks in response to your stunned silence.

Say no, your mind says, but your heart makes you step back and invite him inside again. Pushing him away the second time will be much worse, but you can’t seem to stay away from Tim.

“Whenever you’re ready,” Tim says.

He leans against your kitchen counter with his arms crossed, waiting for an explanation you don’t want to give. The whole point of making room for him and Isabel to reconcile (like he wants) was for Tim to figure it out himself.

“Ready for what?” you ask defensively.

Tim shakes his head and scoffs as he tightens his arms over his chest. “You’re unbelievable, you know that? After everything we’ve been through together, you really expect to avoid me without an explanation or question?”

“Everything we’ve been through?” you repeat incredulously. “We’re friends, Tim. Friends stop hanging out when one of them gets busy.”

“Oh, now we’re friends? Were we friends when you crawled into my bed three weeks ago, or when we were making out on the beach? Because that didn’t feel very friendly,” he snaps.

“No, we weren’t friends; I was just a woman who made a mistake,” you reply.

“Am I your friend or am I a mistake?” Tim demands. “Because you can’t seem to keep your story straight. It’s a simple question: why are you avoiding me?”

“If I’m such a bad friend, why does it matter, Tim?”

Tim pushes off the counter, stepping toward you. His jaw clenches, and his biceps flex as he raises his arms in question. You would kiss him any other time, but right now, you’re angry that he can’t just trust you are busy. Granted, it is a lie, but you don’t appreciate the accusation, which is likely your emotions talking.

“I’m not answering your question unless you answer mine,” he says.

“Then I guess we’re not going anywhere.”

Tim looks up at the ceiling before asking, “Why?”

“I’m not going to stand here and argue with you all night. If you think I’m a liar, just say it, Tim!”

“Well, you are the one keeping secrets.”

“So, what, you think I’m avoiding you? Then get out and let me!” you demand.

“And go where? In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not surrounded by friends, and I thought you were one of the few I had, but I can see now that I made a mistake.”

“Me too.”

“I’m sorry that your precious, perfect little world decided to turn you into this,” Tim seethes, looking into your eyes as he steps toward the door.

You move with him, chest to chest, as you yell, “And I’m sorry that you couldn’t figure out I love you enough to let you go back to Isabel!”

Tim falls silent, and your chest heaves with anger. You realize what you admitted, drop your gaze to Tim’s chest, and lick your lips before lowering your voice to speak again.

“Maybe I was stupid for chasing after you when I knew you weren’t interested, that your heart would always be with someone else. I thought that someday you’d realize that everything I’ve done over the last few years has been for you; I’ve been chasing you just to find out that I never had a chance.”

“I don’t want to go back to Isabel,” Tim says after a moment of tense silence. “I went to see her today to tell her that I couldn’t be there for her anymore. If I’ve been acting different, chasing after someone, it’s because I’m falling for you.”

“You don’t fall,” you argue quietly.

“You deserve better,” Tim adds. “I don’t remember what it’s like to share my life with someone who cares about me and wants the same thing.”

You nod and try to step back, but Tim moves with you. The couch is right behind you, and you have nowhere to go, so you look into Tim’s eyes.

“I am not in love with Isabel,” Tim repeats. “You really started avoiding me because you thought I was?”

“What else was I supposed to do?”

“You could have asked instead of forcing me to start a yelling match for answers,” Tim replies, his lips quirking up into a small smile.

“I want you to be happy, Tim,” you explain. “And I thought that couldn’t happen if I was in the way.”

“You’re not in the way. You’re exactly where I want you.”

“Where is that?” you ask, leaning toward Tim.

“Right in the middle of my life.”

You raise your arms over Tim’s shoulders, smiling as his hands meet your waist. Tim pushes you against the back of the couch as he kisses you. He moves a hand up to cradle your head as you move with him. This kiss differs from the others; there is a need for more, an apology, and love coursing through you and Tim. Tim pulls back, and you pant for air as he places his hands on either side of your hips and leans forward.

“Just talk to me next time, would you?” he requests.

“And miss out on this? No way,” you argue.

“Don’t seem so excited about getting to yell at me for so long.”

 “You’ve never kissed me like that before,” you say before you distract Tim by moving your hands to his chest.

“You’ve never told me you love me before today.”

“Sorry I had to avoid you for a while to confess it.”

“Maybe we can do it again soon, without the insults before.”

“I don’t know,” you muse. “Insults and yelling are kind of your thing.”

Tim cuts you off, kissing you again and tipping you over the back of the couch. You laugh as he catches himself and hovers over you.

“I love you too, even though you were too blind to see I felt the same,” Tim whispers.

[lonelywretchjervistetch]

Life-List Series #6: TUSW

Common Name: Tundra Swan or Whistling Swan Species: Cygnus columbianus columbianus

Description: A large white swan with varying amounts of yellow on the base of the bill Motto: The quintessential American swan...also found in Asia.

Conservation: Least Concern Range: High Arctic Canada and Alaska for breeding, Canada and northern United States for migration and nonbreeding Habitat: Lakes, ponds, deltas, and wetlands, sometimes near fields with grain if they're hungry

Food: Aquatic plants, grains, seeds, tubers, corn, and the occasional arthropod or clam when they're available Breeding Info: Monogamous, single-brood, biparental ground nesters with clutches of 4-6 eggs Sound: ou-OOO! ou-OOO! ou-OOO!

Ornithologist's Notes: New section, because I thought this bird warranted it! The Tundra Swan is now split into (at least) two separate subspecies. The Whistling Swan (C. c. columbianus), which is the one pictured and discussed here, is the North American version, and is larger with less yellow on the bill base. The eastern subspecies, Bewick's Swan (C. c. bewickii) is the smaller one, found in Arctic Siberia for breeding, and eastern China for nonbreeding. They're an interesting case study for speciation, because gene flow across the Bering Strait seems to have prevented them from completely separating into different species. Maybe, anyway. TO be fair, the last major study on this (Scott 1981) was morphological in nature, and was done 44 years ago, so it could be redone. It's interesting, actually, Scott described the potential for gene flow based on bill patterns, dividing them into three general categories, which she named "yellowneb", "pennyface", and "darky", all based around a geographical cline from west to east and I'm sorry, did that say DARKY?

...We should maybe update this study.

Life List Notes: Learning the distinction between Tundra and Trumpeter Swans isn't hard, but they definitely LOOK incredibly similar unless you have good binoculars or a scope, like I kinda do. I saw a Tundra Swan for the first time in central New York, which is also where I would see my first Trumpeter Swan later (albeit in a different part of central New York). As said, because of E.B. White, I was always excited to see a Trumpeter Swan, so seeing Tundra first was neat...if a teeeeeeeeny bit disappointing. Plus, hey, it's the nmost common swan in North America, so I was gonna see it eventually. Now, I just need to see Bewick's Swan to complete this species complex in my life list...

Oh, also, real quick, WHOA! I got a lot of attention for these guys today, at least a lot of attention for me! Thank you all so much for the love, and did I see both @a-dinosaur-a-day AND @todaysbird in my notifications? Holy shit! That's awesome, I love your blogs! Anyway, yeah, wow! Thanks again!

Previous: MUSW

Next: TRSW

[fresne999]

I've been thinking about how a specific change between book-MB and tv-MB are creating a very different scenario in ep3, which is going to lead to a very interesting difference. 

Book-MB knows from the get-go that it murdered a bunch of folks on a previous assignment. In typical book-MB fashion, it doesn't tell us this. Knowledge that it has, but also doesn't have the full details on. This knowledge permeate so much of how book-MB thinks about itself. It informs that opening statement that it could have gone a murder spree, but doesn't because shiny media. It's inherent within all the statements by book-MB that it is both a murderbot (as in SecUnits are good at murdering) and is self named Murderbot. It's baked into how it thinks about itself and other SecUnits. Can't be sentimental. Can't trust, and somewhat inherently isn't sure if it can trust itself. 

When book-MB goes into the DeltFall habitat with the intent to kill the other murderbots, who as far as it knows have gone rogue, there's always been the re-read implication for me that book-MB wants to kill this past kill-the-humans self. 

This isn't the situation for tv-MB, who knows something bad happened. It has a scattered memory, but doesn't know what it is. Well, probably does know what's going on from context, but doesn't want to know. Because any MB is going to disassociate from bad shit if it can. I'm fascinated by the decision to overlay this disturbing memory with quotes from the sorta-Trek-Sanctuary-Moon captain. "Stay calm. It'll be okay. You have my word." 

So when tv-MB goes into the DeltFall habitat, it does so out of curiosity. Granted there's the Doylistic reason that it's considerably easier to film a person walking down a hallway - look dead bodies - than it is to have that same person climbing around habitat tops. But Watsonianly, tv-MB's motivation is different. 

There is no feed and the others aren't seeing what it's seeing. Instead, it's lying about what it's seeing. In a way, this is recreating / reframing the fragmented memory into a new context. 

It's generating static like a (heroic) character in Sanctuary Moon. There's this fake it till you make it quality to the whole sequence of events. 

This makes me super curious about how far we're going to go in the reveals in Episode 4. 

Err…

spoilers for the book,

speculation for the tv show. 

Will we get past the combat plugin to the revelations with the PresAux team that it has free will? Will Gurathin reveal that tv-MB killed a bunch of folks? But somewhat importantly, if Gurathin could find that out from info they have available, so could tv-MB. Did it? Did it just archive that information in favor of re-imaging itself as the hero of a story?

Mind you, there's also a blond character shown in the previews who isn't a member of the PresAux crew so…maybe going into the habitat will have other implications. 

Sits politely like a PresAux sitting obsessed human and wants more episodes now please. 

[oathkeeper-of-tarth]

One really tiny but really flavourful detail in BG3 for me is one of the steps in the "Find the Nightsong" quest. The quest in itself is a big fave of mine, not just because of its buildup and dramatic twist and the fact that it deals with my personal favourite character, but also because of the way it winds through all three acts of this immense game. Here, though, I want to highlight a small and relatively early portion of it.

Initially, when you are sent after the mysterious and much sought-after relic called the Nightsong - classic adventurer stuff, really, there's even a wizard in a tower who'll pay you for it - all you have to go on are rumours that it is hidden in an old Selûnite temple in the region you happened to crash in. And sure enough, you explore the cool temple ruins, maybe you do a little puzzle-solving to open a sealed moon-themed door leading to a passage deep below - or you get into the Underdark via one of the other routes available. In any case, once there, you find the tragically doomed underground outpost some of the temple's residents tried to establish, as well as several records of their final hours. But there are no signs of the Nightsong or anything related to it ever being there at all. At that point you have no more info to go on, and your quest journal updates to say so:

Explore the Underdark. The trail goes cold in the Underdark. Where is the Nightsong?

Except... there is something here. And that something is a book - not an ancient record, but a recent publication: This tome appears fairly new-printed; it can't be more than a decade or two old, the item description says. But above all, it is very conspicuously and prominently placed at the foot of the large statue of Selûne that dominates the remnants of the outpost (and that, as part of its defenses, shoots rather deadly magical moonlight beams until you disable it).

The book is called "In Search of the Nightsong". It is marked as a quest item and it is there purely to provide you with a lead and to bridge the gap until the next bit of insight into the Nightsong you will get (which is at this point probably quite a ways away in Act 2, other than the possible tidbit around Nere and the collapsed bridge as you approach one possible end of Act 1). You are absolutely meant to find it and read it.

Fascinating that such a seemingly valuable object has proven so difficult to track down. Indeed, treasure-hunters the realm over have travelled to the Sword Coast with one goal in mind: To find the Nightsong. Yet each by each they have failed, indicating dead ends, rebuffs, or else disappearing altogether. My latest enquiry was with a half-orc named Graly, who insisted he'd come as close as possible to the relic as one may go without forfeiting his or her life. He indicated that the object is not, as most reports indicate, in the Selûnite fort adjacent to the river Chionthar. It is, in fact, held in an old Sharran fortress somewhere in the environs of Moonrise Towers. However, Graly reported that some kind of potent shadow prevents one from approaching where this fortress might be.

In fact, your next quest journal update comes from going into your inventory and reading the book:

Find the Sharran Temple. We found a book that told of a secret Sharran temple that contains the Nightsong. It is hidden underground, somewhere near Moonrise Towers.

How did this recently-published book end up sitting there, just waiting for you to read it, in the sealed, long-abandoned outpost, beset on all sides by unfriendly crowds of goblins, drow, minotaurs, a spectator, you name it? And why is this cool to me? Well, it's a bit meta, but it turns out that Selûne, She Who Guides, goddess of, among other things, questers, seekers, navigators, and the lost finding their path, has more than earned her title. And indeed, here we see that both in gameplay and in lore, Selûne guides.

In this particular case, though you don't know that yet, she's guiding you, both the character and the player, to hopefully save her long-lost daughter.

[bloodiedvisions]

Mr. Scarletella x male!reader, a NSFW continuation of the jealous Scarletella fic.

Tags / content info: dom reader / sub Scarletella, oral—blowjob (Scarletella giving, r. receiving), light face-fucking, supernatural anatomy bc ghosts, handjob on Scarletella's umbrella, both reader and Scarletella orgasm, post-bj making out. Reader has a dick (that would be difficult to read as a strap), no explicit mentions of reader's gender, the only pronoun used for reader is "you/your."

Formatting notes: [italics] — other world's language.

You stroked Scarletella's hair, his forehead resting against your knees so you couldn't see his face. You could, however, see the way his hands clutched the umbrella in his lap, his grip tense. Like he needed to ground himself, like just having you play with his hair was overwhelming.

You lifted your hand from his hair for the shortest moment, but he instantly sat up and stared at you with those intense eyes of his, wide as ever.

"[Want you to not stop, want you to pet me]," he blurted out, his tone between demanding and begging, as if going without your touch was painful. It was... Cute, in a way. The need in his voice, his passion and obsession with you. It had grown on you, especially since he showed that he could be obedient.

He stared at you pleadingly while kneeling before you. Needy for your touch, desperate for anything you were willing to give. It was too tempting an opportunity to pass up. Your hand moved almost of its own accord as you cupped his cheek with one hand, tracing your thumb over his lips. The lips that stretched into a slightly delirious grin at your light touch.

Scarletella didn't seem to mind the shift of focus from his hair. He watched you happily even as your thumb pushed his chin down, pressing into his mouth. He didn't move and let you do what you wished. The inside of his mouth, like the rest of him, was slightly colder than one might expect, but otherwise seemed fairly ordinary and human enough for your purposes. Satisfied with the exploration, you took your thumb out of his mouth and stroked your fingers down his cheek, putting your hand under his chin just to keep him looking up at you. You parted your legs, letting him kneel between them.

"[Want you to touch me.]" Scarletella nodded eagerly at your request, putting his hands on your thighs.

"[Want to touch you, can touch you.]"

"[Want you to touch your mouth here]," you started to explain, stroking a hand over your crotch, both to demonstrate and to relieve the desire starting to build. "[Behind clothes.]” It wasn't clear how much the denizens of the other world understood about sex, but you would have to do with the limited language available to you for explanations. Just in case. “[Touch mouth here, touch hand here enjoyable. Can touch here someone you much-much like.]"

It was a rather rudimentary explanation as far as sex went, but seeing him on his knees and staring up at you desperately was far too enticing to focus too much on explaining the concept. Besides, it seemed Scarletella understood you at least somewhat. His eyes lit up with excitement.

"[I understand! I much-much like you! Like like like like like! Want to touch you! Can touch you? Can, can, can?]" The enthusiasm in his voice was almost amusing, even if it did lean somewhat frenzied.

You unbuttoned your trousers and unzipped your fly, lowering your clothes just enough to take your cock out. Scarletella watched your movements, mesmerised, but in a way that didn't make it clear whether he understood the significance of the gesture. He still stared the same way he always did even when you gave yourself a couple strokes.

"[Can touch me.]" Needing no further prompting from you, he leaned in to press his lips against your cock. You stroked through his hair as you chuckled.

"[Open mouth, touch. This enter mouth]," you said. Hearing yourself out loud, you decided to add, just to be safe, "[Not eat.]"

He nodded and opened his lips to carefully take the head in. The inside of his mouth was a little cool, but you figured it would warm up soon enough. Otherwise, it felt fairly normal. He evidently had a tongue, too, and you felt it move from side to side under your cock, as if he was trying to touch as much of you as possible. It stopped moving when he went further. His throat seemed to just... make space for you. There was no resistance. He didn't gag, choke, or tear up. Instead, it felt like his throat readily expanded to accommodate you with no trouble for him. Perhaps him not being human had its perks.

Once he reached your pelvis, he looked up at you, as if waiting for further instructions. You stroked through his hair, getting used to the feeling. The pressure was just enough to provide some nice friction when you started moving, enough to feel comfortable and not to cause pain even with intense movement. His mouth started to warm up, too.

"[I move your head]," you explained, your hips already eager to grind into his willing mouth. "[Maybe fast. Can?]" There was no good way to translate blinking into their language, but you did your best. "[Can—close-open eyes one, cannot—close-open eyes two. Alright?]"

The phrasing was clunky, the language not giving many affordances. Still, it seemed that Scarletella understood you as he blinked once. You buried a hand in his hair, then started to move his mouth up and down your cock. He didn't show any discomfort. His wide eyes just continued staring at you as usual, perhaps with a bit more eagerness. So, you let yourself set what speed felt best. It was a bit more akin to fucking a fleshlight than having someone suck you off, but the friction felt good, even if it wasn't quite warm enough yet. There wasn't any excess saliva, his mouth and throat just wet enough for your cock to slide in and out easily.

A bit into the blowjob, you saw that his eyes were slipping closed. His hand moved from gripping his umbrella to lightly stroking the point, almost in a far imitation of how you stroked yourself.

Now, wasn't that curious.

You pulled his mouth off of you, and he followed your hand without protest. With your free hand, you pointed at the umbrella and asked, "[Touch thing enjoyable?]"

He smiled and nodded.

"[Thing my ___. Touch thing enjoyable, same touch me]."

One of the words he used stuck out to you as unfamiliar, but you didn't quite feel like delving into what it was at that moment. Perhaps later.

"[I touch thing, can?]" you asked. That got him to start nodding quickly and eagerly for a few moments.

"[Can touch thing, want you to touch thing.]"

"[Give thing]," you reached out your hand and he lifted the umbrella into it with no hesitation. You put the umbrella in your lap and gave it an experimental stroke, feather-light, down one of the spines.

Scarletella's reaction was instantaneous. He gasped and threw his head back, eyes closed. Oh, you could so work with that.

"[Enjoyable? You like?]" you asked, tracing a finger back up the umbrella teasingly. He shivered and looked up at you again, grinning with a sharp edge to it, like he was moments from snapping. What that would look like wasn't clear.

"[Enjoyable, like like like like like,]" he rattled out quickly. He didn't resist when your hand directed him to your cock again. No, he went very willingly and stared up at you as he took you in his mouth again.

Evidently he was learning, since this time he did not need as much direction. He started bobbing his head up and down, keeping eye contact as intense as ever. At least until you stroked your hand down the canopy of the umbrella resting in your lap.

The touch on the umbrella made him pause. He closed his eyes and you could see him give a full-body shiver. When he opened his eyes again, for a moment you were sure that you saw hearts flash in them. Even as the moment came and went, his gaze was full of want like it hadn't been before. His expression, usually full of devotion and almost desperate possessiveness, mellowed, now full of honey-sweet worshipful adoration. Desire to please. To be pleased.

With that, he went back to focusing on your arousal. He found a fairly good rhythm, watching you closely and likely searching for any indication of what you liked. You teased him with light touches to the umbrella every now and again, but that got difficult to focus on as he started working his throat in some way that gave exquisite suction just as he took you to the base.

His obsessive eyes watching you to find out how to please you best were not helping matters. He picked up the speed as your breaths quickened. It was getting too good to control yourself. You gripped his hair, setting the rhythm, fucking into his throat faster. His hands found their way under your thighs, like he was trying to get even closer to you. Encouraging you to take. Ready to give you anything you wanted.

Your control was unravelling, the tension building. His submission, his devotion just showed that he was right where he belonged. His eagerness to please made it even sweeter. He was more than willing to give, and he gave, and you took from him and took...

Right to that sweet peak. You buried your cock deep in his throat and came, closing your eyes to ride out your high. His throat worked you through the twitches of your hips, through the aftershocks, until you pulled him off once it got to be too much. You looked at him again as you caught your breath.

His eyes were still full of infatuation bordering on worship, awe now adding to the expression, too. Still high on the afterglow, you couldn't help kissing the sweet thing. He went eagerly as you pulled him up just enough to meet his lips with your own. You licked into his mouth, and he let out the neediest moan as your tongue met his own.

He had been so sweet, so obedient, that you couldn't let that go unrewarded. Even as you kissed him, the hand that wasn't busy in his hair went to squeeze the umbrella. He froze for a moment before groaning as he pressed himself closer to you. His chest to your stomach, like he needed to fuse together with you. Well. Perhaps another time.

You stroked the umbrella up and down its spines, not unlike how you would stroke yourself. In addition to his groans, his tongue got needier. He tried to taste you, feel you, touch you. More, more, more. Like it would never be enough. Oh, his neediness was far too cute for his own good.

You broke the kiss once you felt him start to shake and make aborted little movements. Looking down confirmed your suspicions: he was absolutely trying to hump your calf, in what way he could without pulling away from your touch. His eyes were slow to open, and even once they did, he looked dazed, his lips parted despite not needing to breathe.

You smirked. You couldn't help playing with him a little, not with how delicious he looked like this. You slowed your touch on the umbrella, maintaining a teasing pace, and he all but whined.

"[Fast, want you to touch fast]," he managed to force out while his hips kept rubbing against your leg and his head fell lower. Before he could put it on your knee, though, you caught his chin and lifted it, making him look up at you. At your smile, perhaps self-satisfied but with good reason.

"Say please," you prompted, in your own language. The power you held over him, there on his knees, drunk on pleasure and so very needy, was intoxicating.

"Pl—" he tried right away, clearly having understood you. His tongue had trouble making unfamiliar sounds, it seemed, but his desperation overruled any difficulty. "Plee— Pleas-se."

Deeming that effort enough, you resumed your strokes over the umbrella, caressing his jaw with your thumb.

"Good boy," you smiled. The sound he made at that was half-gasp, half-whine.

His eyes fell closed and his hips stuttered. He was getting close.

"Plee—" you heard him try to whisper. "Plea—zz."

"Good boy," you repeated, smiling to yourself. You squeezed the umbrella tighter, maintaining a good rhythm to the strokes. "Go ahead. You can come."

At that, he let out a long whine, his thrusts against your leg slowing down in favour of intensity. He shivered once. Twice. After the third one, the shivers started to lessen and his hips soon came to a stop. It still took him some time before he opened his eyes and looked at you.

His lips were still open as he tilted his head down. You watched him leave a reverent open-mouthed kiss on your palm before he looked up at you again.

"[Thank you. I like you. Like like like like like. Want to do again.]" That made you chuckle, not unkindly.

"[Time pass, we do again]," you reassured him. He nodded with a dreamy expression that was just begging to be kissed off his face. "Come here," you chuckled, not bothering to translate what was made clear by tugging his face to meet your lips again. This time, his hands made it to your thighs, and he had more of an idea of what to do with his tongue. Quick learner, you thought, smiling to yourself.

It was all too easy to lose yourself in the kisses and the afterglow. At some point that you couldn't exactly remember, you and Scarletella moved to lie side by side, still trading kisses. Though now they were softer, sweeter. It lasted until you felt ready to fall asleep, after which you found his head tucked under your chin and your arms around each other. Sleep came easy like this, the umbrella lying safely at the foot of the bed.

A/N: For the kind souls in the notes on the last fic that encouraged the continuation <3 See, talking to writers about their fics works to get you more fics to read. The feeling of community and such. Anyway, because I like to have fun here, I imagine that the ghosts do have the concept of sex/sexual attraction, but not all of them understand the common human ways to have sex. I mean, they are ghosts, some of whom lack bodies or have non-human bodies, some have souls in umbrellas and such. I'm sure they have their own freaky ways to have sex. So, in this fic Scarletella may be a bit confused about how to give a bj (at least initially, he learns quickly) but that doesn't mean he's confused about sex as a concept. Also his umbrella can feel sexual touch, because again, I like to have fun here. Also as a note on the other world's language here: I know the guides online translate the “want you to do” word as “desire.” I have always translated it as “please” bc that's the function it serves in the language. But for fics, I've decided to go the neutral route and go with “want you to” for the sake of clarity. Also also, the questions with “can/will” are rare in the game and I cannot for the life of me remember the syntax they used, so I used the format from the first convo with Mr. Stitch. I know probably no one other than me cares about this point, but I need my smut to have accurate linguistics and rich worldbuilding, at least as much as I am able to make it so. Also x3, I see now how it reads, but the unknown word with umbrella is supposed to be his soul, not his dick. But everyone is free to believe what they want, of course.

[onwhatcaptain]

I still have tons to say about the Garashir Goes Canon™ moment in Lower Decks so here is my big meta post about it! Below the cut is a meta discussion about the penultimate Lower Decks episode, contextualizing what it means for something to become canon.

To be clear, this is a mostly positive post with analysis included. You’ll see lots of love for Garashir and Lower Decks and also oodles of fandom meta below the cut, since we have a complicated relationship with Paramount. My analysis and graphic is based on a recent lecture about Star Trek canon I gave at KiScon!

First, I have to say that both Unification and this Lower Decks episode following mere weeks after of my lecture panel at KiScon titled Fuck Paramount, about what Star Trek canon really is and what its place is in relation to us as slash fans, is absolutely mind-blowing timing. I wish everyone in both the K/S and Garashir fandoms had been able to attend it because it was absolutely designed to serve as a framework for both of these major fandom moments. And also it was just funny as hell. But most importantly, it was relevant, and existed to give us a sense of understanding when navigating Paramount hell, particularly when they play Gay Chicken (will they, won’t they — most of the time, they won’t).

Since not every single Star Trek fan on this website was at KiScon last month, I want to expand on that a little more here, this time in Garashir context, since last time it was centered on K/S, though Garashir came up several times! When I was giving my lecture, I asked the audience what it would look like if K/S were made canon tomorrow. Everyone had different ideas—but the most common theme that came up was sheer distrust of Paramount doing it justice.

For those of you that are reading this, the thesis of Fuck Paramount was that you as a fan and a viewer have more control over what is and isn’t canon than you think, and that our role as fans is to take ownership of our stories back from corporate interests. I also developed a four-sided framework to describe how we interact with canon to take power back and make sense of canon. Both Unification and the very, very fresh Lower Decks episode have already been controversial for a number of reasons, the primary one they share being: “Wait… does this make this canon?”

So far it looks like the main reactions for this Lower Decks episode (especially considering how sudden and late in its run it is) are mostly “HOLY SHIT THEY REALLY DID IT” and “I AM DISAPPOINTED BY THE MERE SCRAPS.”

And my position on it is that both of them are completely reasonable reactions that don’t contradict one another! I’m going to make the case for both sides as I try to explore the implications of this episode with respect to the episode’s subtext, corporate storytelling, and so forth. I’m not going to go too much into the academic aspects, but I am happy to make the original slides available for anyone who is curious about my canon analysis framework.

Why It’s Enough

On one hand, this episode is done well. Undeniably. It’s a lot of fun. I have also said many times before that the only way I’d want K/S or G/B to become canon is if they suddenly randomly drop the info that they were married and don’t bring it up again, because otherwise they might do more harm than good! This was an example of it done incredibly well, in my opinion.

This episode serves as all the confirmation you could possibly really need of Garashir. Yes, there are quite a few gimmicks involved—it’s all AU, all the way. Garak is now a surgeon from another dimension, and Bashir is from an entirely different dimension, and also not really himself, but a hologram. Here’s how they’re introduced:

WILLIAM BOIMLER: “Elim Garak, a brilliant Cardassian Surgeon—and his husband, an emergency medical hologram based on Dr. Julian Bashir.”

What I really love about this moment is that it actually does more than it looks like it does, at face value. For most of us, our first instinct is to go, whatever, he’s based on Bashir, he’s not even the real one! But what they did here was brilliant—it serves as implicit confirmation that our man Bashir is also bisexual, and loves Garak. He is indeed not a corporeal human being, but as the DS9 episode where the LMH is designed based on Bashir tells us, the hologram is designed and based on who he is. It has his personality traits. Interviews are conducted to make sure that the hologram is as authentic and true to the real thing as possible:

O'BRIEN: “You mean this programme is going to have all of his personal likes and dislikes?” ZIMMERMAN: “That is why we bother to choose a human template in the first place.”

William Boimler, from the prime Star Trek universe, doesn’t say the EMH is based on some Bashir, he says this one is based on Dr. Julian Bashir. Again, this serves as clear confirmation that he is modeled on recognizably the same character from DS9. They’re not that different in essence from their prime universe counterparts, or it wouldn’t be fun for the writers or the audience. We learn that Garak is still former Obsidian Order. They are still the same people, in essence. They may be AU characters but the point is for them to be similar to the originals, or they may as well just have been some guys!

The important thing, for me, is that it’s a clear, unambiguous acknowledgement. It’s played straight. Well, not straight—but not as some elaborate joke or filled with contempt. It doesn’t tease and doesn’t dance around the issue and wink and nudge, begging the viewer to question whether or not they’re together. That much is made immediately very clear. In the episode, AU Garak and AU EMH Bashir are a married couple, and they kiss. Every moment of their relationship is sincere, the comedic moments being not about the fact that their relationship exists, but about the dynamics it brings to the story. It also tells us very clearly that they’re not even from the same universe, and that their compatibility remains nonetheless:

HARRY KIM: “Are they from the same reality?” CURZON: “No, but they love to brag about how statistically unlikely their marriage is.”

Again, I tend to see this as a positive nod to the compatibility of these characters rather than a brush-off that says the prime universe Garashir couldn’t be together. And then Garak tells us his universe’s Bashir is like the original: still a racquetball player and competes with Chief O’Brien—again, revealing quite a bit.

And the B-plot is about them squabbling, acknowledging very clearly to us that Cardassians really do just love flirting via argument, which serves as a brilliant nod to everyone who complained for three decades that the DS9 writers never really admitted that Bashir and Garak were just flirting. Finally! The writers seem to understand quite well what’s important to us, even if this isn’t the ‘Real Garashir.’

What satisfies me ultimately is that this doesn’t in any way look like a rejection of the possibility of Garashir in the prime universe. It looks to me like it supports the text, not a mean-spirited denial that it could only happen under bizarre AU circumstances. To sum it up with another Boimler quote:

BOIMLER: “The multiverse is just a rehash of stuff I already know.”

Hm… :)

And as I pointed out in a prior post, the whole point of the episode is to show that even in different circumstances and worlds, the love characters have for one another remains a constant and is utterly transcendent. The episode straight up tells us that some relationships are so powerful that they span dimensions and realities, and then Garak and Bashir say they would follow one another to any reality!

In my panel-lecture, I said, “[Paramount’s control over the text] suggests that certain readings require their endorsement or confirmation to be true.” But this doesn’t feel like that to me, and so I accept this. It leaves room for possibilities of all kinds, and opens more doors rather than closing them. I can appreciate that.

I also spoke about how canon isn’t one thing—not a binary yes or a no, and that there is no singular meaning. I call this multiplicity:

“Multiplicity is about the continuous proliferation of ideas and the rejection of the text as having a single meaning. It rejects mere viewing or the consumption of media in favor of dialogue and participation rather than a one-way communication.”

This episode served to defy singular interpretations of the text. It tells us that there are infinite possibilities and it took a route that challenges the single-story interpretation of Garashir = Not Canon. It made room for new perspectives and affirmed what “the stuff we already know.”

Why It’s Not Enough

Now for the other side of the coin: why it’s not enough. As exciting as it is to have this kind of confirmation from the current writers for Star Trek in a frankly increasingly conservative storytelling environment, it’s still disappointing for many people that even in the most progressive Star Trek that exists, they cannot or will not openly state that the prime universe Garashir got the ending and acknowledgment they deserved. 

It feels like begging Paramount as a corporation for scraps and thanking them for what really doesn’t feel like enough—it stops short of full, sincere, complete validation of Garashir’s queerness. As I said in my panel, it’s normal for us to want confirmation from the writers and creators that what we’re seeing is real and not just imagined, even when the role of fanfiction is for us to transform canon and reject it ourselves.

It’s absolutely exhausting for us to say we see something that is continuously denied by those who ‘own’ the story in favor of mass appeal, and to me, that is a legitimate perspective that can coexist with the idea that fandom is designed reshape the canon to fits its own needs, and that we don’t need confirmation from the creators for something to be true. Fandom exists to defy corporate ownership of stories, but to have to fight for mere moments where marginalized perspectives are foregrounded causes anger for good reason. We may not need confirmation from them, but saying that we should never expect anything from Paramount releases the corporation of accountability and obligation to respect the audience and their own characters. We should be able to expect and trust that these characters and their relationships can be done justice by those who have the privilege of steering that ship.

It’s one thing for me to say that this episode affirms the reality of Garashir, but it’s also true that prime Garashir probably could not be given complete canonization because this is the best way they knew how to ‘get away with it’ all while maintaining its mainstream and popular appeal with heteronormative audiences that would have a problem or reject it if it happened to ‘real Garashir.’

Slash fans, for decades, have existed in the lane of compromise—firmly between having our truth validated and entirely rejected in favor of a Star Trek that is designed to be sold as a product to as many people as possible. Rarely do we receive more than a bone tossed to us by the powers that be, and when we do receive it, it’s on their incomplete terms, often with massive concessions made to make it happen. For Garashir to receive their blessing, they had to twist it into an AU. The reason they could do this episode is because it gave them the neat plausible deniability to also say this has nothing at all to do with prime Garashir, so that it didn’t entirely alienate audiences who wouldn’t support a queer narrative.

This is their way of having their cake and eating it too. In some ways, it looks like they’re just trying to make everyone happy, but the story shouldn’t have to make everyone happy, and a compromise can really just feel like everyone loses, or like prioritizing the status quo again. For decades, the status quo has always left those with marginalized readings of the text unhappy, sidelined by a narrative that is supposed to be progressive and supposed to look to a future where queerness is natural and not taboo. And if this is the best they can do, it’s only reasonable that it should still sadden us, disappoint us, anger us. It’s hard not to resent that reality.

What Now?

I urge folks to continue negotiating the text, as I did above in the first section. I made sense of it in a way that fits my understanding of Garashir! You do not have to assume that there’s no more to it than that because it was all that was said on screen. We don’t have to look at canonization as the final say on the text. My perspective is that we should take it as a wonderful and deserved affirmation, and continue to transform the canon as we see fit. This is your time to decide what it means for these characters. Personally, I see it as a massively positive step forward. Just remember that where canon is concerned, you are in control of what it means.

Canon is still transformable, multiplicative, negotiated, and timely. Holders of the ‘IP’ are only one piece of the puzzle where the truth of a story is concerned. So take this as a beginning to more, not an end! As I like to say, “canon is a means to an end, not the end itself.”

Also, please don’t hesitate to add your thoughts, questions, comments, or anything else. I hope you enjoyed this meta post, if you read this far.

[miyakuli]

Some infos from the live interview with the creators of Belfort and Lupin

The chara design for Belfort and Lupin changed a lot and came from many different inspirations. Belfort was supposed to be more brown with a blue collar but it looked a bit too much like Lady from the Lady & the Tramp (which inspired his curly design) so they changed the color tone of his fur and collar. Lupin was supposed to be a dog raised by the servants at first but once again, it was too close to Tramp from Disney xD (B&L being Lady & the Tramp literally lol) so they went for a wolf and for his design there are many inspiration like the movie Balto or even Beastars with Legoshi.

Disney inspired them a lot actually. They took the idea of the relationship with B&L with The Aristocats mostly, but also Kuzco for the humor & of course, Lady and the Tramp for some designs. Also Tanne & Ponne, the sisters, are also inspired by Cinderella's stepsisters ;) there is even a scene in one episode (La Glacière) that was inspired by The Lion King (wildebeests scene)

The idea to put some historical anecdotes at the end of the episode comes from the fact that the writer of the show grew up with show like The Mysterious Cities of Gold that did something similar. And they wanted a show that could be both cute, fun and educational :)

Belfort and Lupin are both teenagers in the show <3

It took them 7 years to create B&L! they wanted the animation to be perfect and put so many details, from the settings (by sketching every little things in Versailles when they visited) to the characters movements. They said at first they hesitated B&L to even touch ("penetrate" if I use the real technical term for 3d animation lol that was funny xD) bcs that would be super complicated but at the end, one of the animator insisted bcs they wanted their relationship to be more sincere and lovely <3

About their relationship, they said there won't be romance between Belfort and Lupin (for the moment) and that was totally open to interpretation ;))) (one of the designer ships them anyway lol). And IF something would happen between them, the creator said he would prefer it to take time and develop slowly bcs they are still young (so we can totally imagine them being bf in the future hehehehe)

Belfort's name is the name of a city in France. Also in his full name, Augustin Proper de Belfort, Prosper is the name of his late father. They said we'll discover Tanne & Ponne full names in the future too ;D

They are optimistic for a season 2 and have already many ideas for it :D they said it would take place around the same time than s1. They would like to show much more sides of Versailles bcs there are so many things they haven't put in the show yet.

They talked about a special episode about Belfort and Lupin first meeting ; it happened in the forest (*v*)

In the upcoming episode "The Big Bad Wolf", there is a wolf named Remus that will appear (and you might have already seen his design here). He will be an adult wolf and it's gonna be the most emotional episode of the season apparently ;v;

They also want to make us cry more with a future episode where Belfort's dad would be mentioned :'o

There is a fox character that they wish to introduce in the future.

The comics of B&L takes place a bit before of the show apparently bcs the sisters don't know about Lupin yet. Few tomes are already in preparation and for those who don't read french, you can buy it with a files that will contain the english translation :D <33

The OST might be available someday on music platform (I WISH)

There will be an event in Versailles in June 7th, 8th and 9th with the broadcast of an episode and some Q&A with the creators and autograph too :))

(s'il y a des français, allez on forme un groupe de fan et on se donne rdv là bas XD)