#but ends up standing out even more

[queseraphita]

One day season 3 will be out but until then my brain will reside on the idea of Cheng Xiaoshi getting popular online from doing cooking vlogs

[starry-bi-sky]

on a completely separate note; shizun luo binghe with a disciple shen yuan who fell into the abyss??? *thinks about LBH canonically stealing SQQ's corpse for 5 years* he'd hallucinate i think. like, like visual and audial hallucinations.

Keeps thinking he's seeing SQQ in the corner of his eyes, or wandering between the trees, amongst a group of disciples. Thinks he hears him calling for him, but its just the wind or another disciple.

Gets Xiu Ya reforged but patently fucking refuses to make a sword mound. Because his disciple Is Not Dead :))) There was No Body. He's Not Dead. And If You keep Insisting That He Is, He's Gonna Skewer You :). He's holding onto Xiu Ya so he can return his most favored disciple's sword when he returns. It's on his hip right next to Zheng Yang where it's supposed to be.

Also this motherfucker?? does not sleep btw. He has the image of SQQ, wide eyed and hysterical and standing at the mouth of the abyss burned into his fucking eyelids. Can't use the dreamscape to escape it either because he keeps trying to save him and either he does and it's an incredibly cruel trick to wake up to, or he doesn't and he gets his heart broken in several different pieces again.

There is no convincing this man that Shen Qingqiu is dead. Absolutely nothing at all. He is buried so deep in denial that moles would be jealous of how deep he is. He keeps making tea for two in the bamboo house only to remember that it's just him. SQQ's fans are hiding everywhere, little reminders of his presence. He goes to wake up SQQ on the mornings he sleeps in-- only to find the room empty.

[criminalflower]

This is the face of a man who's mentally going through all of his exes to figure out which one he got pregnant.

[puppyeared]

oooh wait so the plot hole of “why doesnt a spirit medium just channel the victims spirit” is literally bc the DL-6 spirit channeling cant be repeated huh

[aroaceleovaldez]

Mark Oshiro confuses me a little bit not going to lie. In the press tour for the first book all they ever talked about was how Nico is their son and Will is fine I guess. Then they said like 2 weeks before TSATS came out that they didn't understand Will's character at all and it's one of the main reasons why Will has so little POV.

Possibly unpopular opinion but I don't think it's a good, encouraging sign when the writer admits to not really caring about the deuteragonist or not even having a sense of how to write them...

Yeah, no. If you have no interest in 1/2 of the POV characters of your book, you REALLY shouldn't be writing it (or at least, not have that be a main character). Especially when the main way TSATS could have been improved is if it was primarily Will-centric instead of Nico-centric. Will basically had next to no established character prior to TSATS! He was practically a blank slate! But all the new stuff we got for Will in TSATS was so clearly disinterested and had no regard for his previously established traits (or the established timeline/canon). Which is annoying because fleshing out Will would have been the PERFECT opportunity to actually incorporate a lot of the topics that Mark Oshiro specializes in as a sensitivity reader, which was the ENTIRE REASON THEY WERE BROUGHT ON AS A CO-AUTHOR!!!!

As TSATS stands, there is no reason for Mark Oshiro specifically to have been the co-author instead of someone else. It's so clearly just a PR move from RR following the huge backlash Rick received due to his response to criticism on how he wrote Piper and Samirah (and Reyna and etc etc). This was immediately following Rick saying he wasn't going to write what would become TSATS because "it [wasn't his] place to." Most of the topics that Mark Oshiro specializes in either weren't relevant at all to TSATS or written very poorly (to downright offensively) in TSATS, so either Mark Oshiro wasn't doing their job or was not able to do their job for some reason, but either way it basically makes the theoretical justification for Mark Oshiro being the co-author/sensitivity reader irrelevant.

With Will, it was HUGE fanon back in the day for him to be trans. Trans!Will and photokinesis!Will were basically the two biggest headcanons for him (both largely popularized by Cherryandsisters). We know Rick is aware of this old fanon because he canonized photokinesis!Will. If we had gotten trans!Will, that would have been great! And then made sense why we specifically got a trans co-author! (Instead, if anything, TSATS canonized Will being cis.) If we had gotten Will being latino, that would have been amazing!!!! And also then made sense as to why they chose Mark Oshiro for the job as a latinx author/sensitivity-reader, versus potentially choosing an Italian co-author since Nico being Italian/Venetian was emphasized so much in the book (and done poorly! Yknow what they could have done to fix that? GOTTEN A SENSITIVITY READER FOR IT)! Based on the themes and focuses actually present in the book, it would have been most logical to get a queer, neurodivergent, Italian co-author or sensitivity reader who specializes in those three topics at least. But we didn't! So why was Mark Oshiro chosen instead when they only specialize in one of those topics? PR reasons. It's blatantly entirely PR reasons and no actual thought or care was put into this book (or, likely, TSATS 2 either).

It doesn't help that we're also actively being told that the published version of TSATS was a rough draft. Or that their editor blatantly isn't doing her job. Or that "The Sun And The Star" was the working title that they just kept cause they didn't bother to make an actual title. And that the final version is full of explicitly last-minute scenes that weren't checked over at all (the final Bianca scene, for one). Or the ACTIVELY ADMITTING TO SOURCING IDEAS AND INFORMATION FROM FANS! That last one is kind of important because at this level of publishing that is a HUGE no-no for legal reasons. You can get into a lot of trouble for that and there is a reason why it is Ye Olde Fandom Law to never try to pitch your ideas or headcanons to the source creator(s) and keep fandom separate from the creators. There is a REASON why Rick Riordan is so distant from the community these days and it's for PROTECTION AGAINST LEGAL REPERCUSSION. Mark Oshiro being the exact opposite while also ACTIVELY ACKNOWLEDGING sourcing concepts from fans does not bode well! It has to do with copyright stuff.

It's just. So. Sighhhhhhhh >->o <- me lying on the floor about all of this. It's sad being able to see the glimmer of what could have been at the very least a decent book underneath all this. If anyone involved in the process had actually cared just the tiniest amount.

[butchnavi]

nina salazar-roberts is such a beautiful case study in comphet and I genuinely think her arc deserves so more appreciation

[alongtidesoflight]

so here's my honest thoughts on dragon age: the veilguard, after ~40 hours of playing. i finished the main quest after having finished all companion quests and major faction quests. just to clear up what content i saw, i played as an elven transmasc rook who is a member of the lords of fortune. he romanced lucanis (although after finishing the game i'm now leaning towards taash). i don't know what's happening in playthroughs that have a different race, gender identity, romance or faction going on.

full spoilers ahead, i mean it. don't read further if you want to avoid them. i don't want complaining about it in my asks.

oh and also, if you're worried because of a few negative reviews online i can comfort you by saying don't give a fuck about a certain big name youtuber who is very much tied to bethesda franchises giving this a negative review. i'll explain why.

i'm starting off with the things i liked

the game looks really pretty. i was worried it wouldn't feel like thedas anymore (with them trying to "focus on northern thedas only" i thought they'd make a clear cut in environmental design. they do and they don't. it's complicated. i'll elaborate on it when talking about the negative stuff). anyway it does. minrathous feels like kirkwall. treviso enchanted me like the winter palace did. the hossberg wetlands reminded me of the hinterlands and a couple other inquisition maps. arlathan looked like... arlathan. the crossroads were different, but familiar. overall i like the way it looks and feels. it's thedas, with a twist. it's a good one, and gives everything a solid but unique feel.

combat is top tier. if you're a hardcore dragon age player you WILL miss the tactical aspect of it for a bit, but i promise you, once you're used to the way the combat works, you will be lapping that shit up. and once you get to ability combos you'll mourn the control you used to have over your companions in battle a bit less

the MAIN quest and its story. i expected worse, way worse. and for a while the game even had me tricked (harr harr you'll get it in a second) it is Really That Much Worse. but holy shit was it good. i walked away satisfied ngl.

your choices have SOLID weight. there's consequences, good AND bad. i got minrathous blighted, ruled over by venatori, and the leader of the shadow dragons ultimately died because of my decisions. i made those at the beginning and throughout the game. he died at the end. DAVRIN died because i didn't expect what i was saying to have that much weight. i thought i was in the clear. he had hero status. well turns out, your choices can still get your companions killed even if you do everything right. i fucking love him. he shouldn't have made that sacrifice just because i told him to do everything it takes once.

the inquisitor, morrigan and dorian being there, surprisingly. there's also negatives to this though, see below.

speaking of companions dying and the inquisitor playing a bigger role: the final quest feels like me2's suicide mission. i was blown away by it and the fact that i got to see the results of all my efforts playing out in front of me.

bioware are NOT trying to redeem solas. they love him as a character yes, but i wasn't forced to see any good in him. he betrays you. he fucked my rook over twice. he fucked him over right back, for good this time (the veil wasn't torn down, i anchored it by binding him to it, he's doomed to uphold it). but solas really lives up to his name as the trickster elven god. rip to all the people who grew really attached to him over the years.

varric died. if you like him that's probably as hard reading it as it was watching it. varric died and the game lies about it until the very end. when the realisation hits, it hurts. but in the very best way.

the amount of care they put into gender expression and trans identities this time around. (i'll add onto this with negative points as well too).

rook feels very much ingrained in the world of thedas. he doesn't ask questions that expose the player to lore through dialogue as if he's stepped foot into thedas for the first time. those conversations feel very solid and good. i hope other faction players got as much joy out of this as i did.

and the things i didn't like and boy there's a lot unfortunately

the music. let's just get that out of the way holy shit. it doesn't feel like it belongs in this universe. it gets so incredibly sci-fi-y at times you'd think it's taken straight from mass effect andromeda. there's not a single song unique to veilguard that i really enjoyed. it broke my immersion, real bad. hearing a busker play the tavern songs from inquisition on a lute right after i killed some venatori with wobbly bass songs playing in the background is just odd. weird tonal shift. don't like it. it's made for people who like flashy light-weight cinema.

tevinter nights is required reading. the podcasts are required listening exercises. the game is so fast paced, especially at the start, that there's no time to introduce you to characters and how much weight their names carry in-game. i would not have known who half these people are if i hadn't skimmed over tevinter nights. i'd care even less about them than i already did. there is no time to get properly attached to them. people will act as if you're talking to a legend personified and you'll be thinking man goddamn which chapter of tevinter night were they in again and what did they do???

there's a weird mismatch with the animations. you'll have beautifully fluid ones, like emmrich casting spells. and then you'll have rook's face animating in the most unnatural manner that's sorta reminiscent of mass effect andromeda's "my face is tired" addison, when their emotions SHOULD be landing with the player rn instead.

i'm not vibing with the art style. sometimes it works. most of the time it doesn't. at points i felt like i was watching tangled.

that also brings me to some of the dialogue. same issue. i am watching frozen. i am watching tangled. someone on the writer's team really likes the adorkable trope. bellara is its victim.

for all the talk about identity, bioware sure doesn't like theirs. the grey warden armor got a redesign again and it just makes them look like a generic army. i hate it lol

in general, i don't like the armor design. the wardrobe/appearances system is fine, but it's just not helping if all the armors are just... kinda bland or downight bad looking? and don't get me started on the lords of fortune armor. that is orientalism personified.

the world states should have been carried over, full stop. i know they said they didn't because they want to separate what happens in the north from what happens in the south, which... i could have lived with that. but the inquisitor sends you letters that keep you up to date on... the south of thedas. you learn that there's a blight again, that people are standing strong but it's difficult, denerim's fallen, the rulers are taking care of it, orlais is fighting and they're successful for a while, etc etc. what's good bioware. i thought we don't care about the south this time around. why are you feeding me so much boring generic information. if you're not gonna show any of it and just write letters, then carrying the world state over should not have been an issue. i have a game dev background. those few lines of code would not have broken your budget or pushed your engine's limits. fuck right off.

this gripe of mine carries over to all the cameos. as a lord of fortune you have to deal with isabela a lot. it's fun. i missed her. you get to go drinking with her and taash and bellara! also my hawke romanced her. she's not mentioned once. they had the opportunity to put a sentence or two about her in there with not a lot of effort, trust me.

when varric dies, all she has is a single line about it. for gold, for fortune, for varric. she only says it if you interact with her on your way to the final push. that's not mandatory.

morrigan is there. kieran isn't. the old god soul that mythal and then solas absorbed? who cares at this point, the gods are dead now and solas is locked away for eternity. i suppose? why is morrigan there. she feels unneeded. i wish they'd just left her down south, at least that way i wouldn't have had to witness her god awful redesign.

dorian at least feels as if he belongs in this story. the shadow dragons are a crucial part to protecting minrathous. he's also weirdly underutilised. isabela and morrigan had more lines than him in my playthrough.

on the topic of romance: bro that was underwhelming. no, genuinely. you know when romance picked up a bit? after the point of no return. i heard maybe two lines of companion banter about it before that. maybe i missed something which i honestly doubt, but romance did not play much of a role in lucanis's storyline. i saved his grandmother as he wished me to (and if you read tevinter nights you know she was rather abusive and their relationship not the healthiest) and told him to focus on his family. a reunified family my rook wasn't even introduced to as a partner at the end of all that.

really, do not buy this game if you're only in it for the romances. others might be better, lucanis's basically gave me nothing. except for an outing (the second coffee date i had with him, it was getting repetitive) all of it played out once i committed to the final quest. the sex scene was a fade to black. annoyingly right after davrin died. if you're looking for well paced and good spice, pick up something else. the sweet talk and the final goodbye were nice though.

for all the good the ever-presence of gender identity does, it is brought up in such a disruptive manner too. it doesn't even play out naturally if you CHOOSE the lines that are meant to be said. hearing the words trans and non-binary in this setting doesn't feel right, and i'm saying this as a trans guy. i think it could have been handled more gracefully. the amount of times my rook went "i'm a MAN" as if he's about to start drumming on his chest and roaring any second now got super nerve-grating. "i'm so glad you're into me... the me who is trans. remember?" just. tell me one trans person who'd talk like that to a person they've grown close with and are trying to romance. this game doesn't handle sexuality well, so all this hey my body might not look like the way you're expecting it to look talk amounts to nothing anyway. i feel about this the way i feel about krem: this is partial exposition to trans experiences... packaged up for cis consumption. the ONLY exception to that is interacting with taash. holy shit was all of that heartwarming and bro did it feel good and natural to talk to them about theirs and rook's gender.

rivain and nevarra are new locations added by veilguard. they're also incredibly underwhelming, small and constricted maps. rivain is a coastline with a few ruins. the hall of valor is a partial ruin nestled into a cave on a beach, with a fighting pit. isabela is there in her skimpy outfit commentating your pit fights. that's it. i'm sorry if you were looking for a bustling pirate cove or whatever. you're not gonna get it. the nevarran crypts btw are a long ass dungeon crawl. that's it.

speaking of maps. i thought people were being dramatic when they said you're gonna be fighting the same enemies on them again and again. i thought they were figure of speeching it. they're not. you WILL fight the same amount of enemies. in the same spot. every time you reload the map. best to stay on a map and clear out the enemies and do as much questing on that map as you can before leaving, because you WILL have to do it all over again once you return.

the three choices i made for my inquisitor didn't matter lol she didn't have to face solas and therefore couldn't stop him at any cost as she had sworn (maybe because my rook tricked solas into binding himself to the veil, there was also an option to fight him. would she have stepped in? who knows). blackwall wasn't mentioned. and either her using a small amount of her forces in the final fight was the reason the civilians of minrathous fared so well..... or it just didn't matter. ultimately i think she had very little impact on anything

[niyana-the-ambiguous-mobian]

How I picture this conversation would go during the aftermath of the Brooklyn battle in the movie.

Context: *Mario and Luigi are sitting at the table in their families' apartment. Their mother and father listen in while Mario telling them the story, getting near the part of when the wedding took place*

M&L's father: "Wow! You guys went through so much in what, a day? I'm surprised you guys were still standing after all of that!"

Mario: "Yeah, getting that star definitely helped with our injuries. Especially with mine."

M&L's mother, putting a plate of hot food down in front of him: "Well, I'm just glad you boys are safe and sound. If I was there, I would have given that turtle man a piece of my mind for hurting you two."

Luigi: "I'm sure you would have, ma."

Mario: "No doubt about that. I feel like I'm forgetting something else that happened."

Luigi: "Oh yeah, I remember what you forgot. Mario had to put on a bear costume in order to save me."

Mario: 'blushes and coughs awkwardly while burying his head in his plate'.

M&L's Mom: "....he dressed as a bear?"

Luigi, nonchalantly while continuing to eat his food: "Yep. Looked all plush and cuddly, too."

Mario, glaring at him: "Lu..."

M&L's Father: "What? Why the heck did you have on a bear costume?"

Mario, through clenched teeth: "It was actually an animal called a tanooki, and it helped me save Luigi from certain death during the wedding."

M&L's mom: "Ooh! You guys were at a wedding? Was it lovely?"

Mario: "Well, we weren't invited per say. Luigi and the other captured prisoners were going to be sacrificed in "honor" for the wedding to commence, and I was fighting the Koopas in the kingdom below with DK. So, in order to get where they were, I had to get a power up that allowed me to fly up there just in time to save him."

Luigi, grinning smugly: "And he was this close to becoming the ring bear-er."

Mario: "Luigi, I swear..."

M&L's father: "What’s a ta-whoo-ki?"

Mario: "it's pronounced ta-noo-ki, dad, and it's a type of raccoon dog and -"

Luigi, without missing a beat: "And the only thing that he actually can live up to in his name now."

Mario: "Oh, will you SHUT IT?!?"

[cryptvokeeper]

my take on the suffering Game graphic novel is that they did the Suffering Game dirty but they did that Lunar Interlude REAL good

[pineconnie]

last night i had a dream where evbo said pvp!evbo was intended to be like 14 and i spent the rest of the dream just thinking “oh my god that’s so fucked up what the hell”

[jadewritesficshere]

What if for a moment

Steve Harrington x female!reader

Contains: drinking and being hungover, flirting, "unrequited" love (its not unrequited its just fear of change), female!reader wearing a bra, getting together, Steve calls reader "Honey", references reader (and Robin) stealing Steve's clothes.

18+ only

Your conscious slowly wakes up. Your head pounding, spinning even as you lay still. You inhale slowly, trying to steady yourself. Trying to remember what happened last night. The scent of Steve's cologne permeates your senses.

It's calming, albeit a little confusing. You start to open your eyes, but the light causes your head to hurt worse. You scrunch your eyes shut and shift in the bed. Moving causes you to notice the weight of something wrapped around your waist.

Your eyes snap open, Steve's sleeping face laid on the pillow next to yours. His arm wrapped around you, holding you close.

He looks so soft like this, so vulnerable. Hair messed up, sticking up in all directions. The subtle tension he holds in his eyebrows is gone, not a line of worry or stress on his face. His lips are slightly parted, soft exhales escaping along with a hint of drool.

You can feel your face warm. It takes everything in you not to fidget, you don't want to wake him up. You feel you shouldn't see him in such a state.

You've been friends for years, but waking up in bed like this? It's too much. Too...intimate.

You close your eyes, and for a moment, imagine this is normal.

What if those years ago, you didn't dismiss Steve asking you on a date because you thought it was a joke. What if at the last party, when you kissed, you didn't pretend nothing had happened the next day like you had the last five times it happened. What if you were honest about your feelings, your unfading love for him. What if you weren't afraid and took that leap?

You think it would be like this. Waking up wrapped in the embrace of your love. Soft smiles and kisses. You can see it clearly, you laughing as you push away, claiming you needed to brush your teeth. Steve would pull you closer and kiss all over your face. You would kiss back, brushing your teeth all but forgotten.

You'd make breakfast together. Hands reaching out and gently touching each other as you moved about the kitchen. He'd come up behind you, hands on your hips, pulling you into him. He'd gently sway with you to music, whether he hums a song or it's playing on the radio.

You'd giggle and turn so you could wrap your arms around him. You'd watch a smile spread across his face, corners of his eyes wrinkling from how wide he's smiling. Your eyes would dart down, you'd like your lips. You'd both be smiling, trying to purse your lips enough as you'd go to kiss-

"You're staring," Steve mumbles, snapping you out of your thoughts. He moves his hand off your waist and rubs his eyes. "Sorry," you whisper, feeling embarrassed at being caught.

"Don't be. I like it." Steve grins slightly at you before stretching," What time is it?". Your heart is beating faster- he likes it!- as you turn to look at the clock. You can't tell if he actually means it and is flirting or if he's just charismatic.

You told Robin that once. She stared at you for a full minute before calling you an idiot and walking away.

"It's almost ten," You sit up. The blanket tumbles down as you stretch your arms. You can hear Steve's sharp inhale. Your eyes snap to look at him. His mouth is slightly open, eyes wide, as he stares at your chest.

You look down, seeing your bright red bra. "Oh my god," you snatch the blanket up, covering yourself instantly. You hide your face behind the blanket, only your wide eyes visible. "Sorry!" You both exclaim in unison.

Steve clears his throat as his eyes dart off to the side, scratching at his cheek absently," You, uh, have nothing to be sorry for. It's a good color on you. You look good- great! Great just lovely-" Steve winces," I'm gonna stop talking now."

"Uh thanks...where's my shirt?" You ask softly. You like that Steve seems flustered, that he likes what he sees. But you also want to jump out the window and run down the street to get out of his sight. Yes, you've imagined him seeing you like this, but not in this context. This is just embarrassing.

"Uh...let me think," Steve's brow furrows as he frowns. "We were at a bar..."

"Celebrating Eddie's new job." You supply. You remember this clearly. Trying a fruity drink with Robin, doing shots as a group, getting your usual drink. It gets a bit fuzzy as the night goes on.

"Yeah yeah...did some shots, which damn i do not remember feeling this bad the day after." "Yeah, no, me neither."

Steve hums," There was a fight right?" "Oh yeah!" It's like watching a movie as the memory comes back. Two idiots at the bar started fighting, a glass getting thrown near you. Steve had pushed you behind him defensively. He was tense and ready to fight if need be, but you were more focused on how his ass popped in those jeans. You could not tell him that. But what happened next-

"Hopper showed up. He sighed real heavily when he saw us, cause we were drunker then a skunk." You chuckle slightly remembering his disapproving face.

Steve snaps his fingers and points at you," Yes! He took us home. Dropped Eddie off first, then Robin." You nod in agreement.

Steve pauses, looking at you as if he can see through the blanket you were hiding behind," Do you remember what happened in the car?" "No?!" Your voice comes out strangled, "Why, what happened?" Steve's face flushes and he looks away," Don't worry about it."

Then it hits you. You can see it all clearly. Like the last few times yall had drank together, you kissed Steve. Or Steve kissed you, you don't remember that part clearly. But you can remember his lips on yours. His hands running up your sides, you practically climbing on top of him. "Hey hey hey!" Hopper yelled. The slam of the brakes threw you off of Steve and against the front seats. "Don't you dare have sex in my car!"

You want to scream. Of course you kissed Steve, again, but in front of Hopper? With his disappointed angry dad vibes? You have to leave town and assume a fake identity, you can never face Hopper again.

"Well we made it home," Steve announces," And you said you were tired." You clear your throat. You had said that. Practically fell on your way up the stairs, Steve stumbling behind you trying to help.

"And we came in here and got in bed," you look around Steve's room and see your shirt crushed on the floor," I said I was hot and threw my shirt." "Yeah, and then you passed out. Not like actually passed out, you just said good night and went to sleep."

Steve gets out of bed, groaning slightly as his back and knees crack, mumbling something about "in my twenties...damn upside down.."

His feet make light sounds as he pads over to your shirt. When he bends to grab it you do NOT watch his ass. You don't dart your eyes to the ceiling as soon as he stands.

Steve tosses your shirt at you, hitting you in the face. "Get dressed, I'll make breakfast. If you want to wear something else, feel free to steal something." "It's not stealing if you give me permission." Steve scoffs," I'll never see it again, between you and Robin it's a wonder i have any clothes at all."

You hold your middle finger up at Steve's retreating form. The door shuts with a quiet click and you can hear him make his way down the stairs. You swing your legs out of the bed and slowly stand.

You pad over to his dresser. There are many things covering the top. A trophy from baseball, crumpled dollar bills and some loose change, a mini calender, and some folded clean clothes. You pick up the sweatshirt and watch as something flutters to the ground.

You look down at the picture looking up at you. Jonathan must have taken it at the last get together when you were drunk. Steve's arm is slung over your shoulders, he's staring down at you. You're leaning into him, arms wrapping around his middle. Your smile is wide. You look so happy to be there. And Steve looks at you with-

You inhale. Love. Adoration. The look on Steve's face.

You weren't looking into things. He wasn't just kissing you when you were drunk because he didn't want to make you sad or because he was horny. He was kissing you because he wanted to. He has been flirting. Robin was right, you were an idiot

You throw the sweatshirt on and practically run down the stairs. "Whoa, where's the fire?" Steve calls from the kitchen. You rush in, colliding with him as he's walking out. You almost fall, Steve's large hands grasping you to steady you. Your hands grasp his shoulders.

Steve's eyes dart all over your face. "What-"

"I remember. In the car." You blurt out. Steve's eyes widen slightly as he blinks at you. He licks his lips, your eyes focusing in on the movement,"You do?"

"I said I didn't cause I thought that you'd regret it. That you were just appeasing me. But you weren't, were you?" You bite your lip. Steve lifts a hand to rest on your cheek, thumb lightly pulling your lip out of your mouth, "I wasn't appeasing you, I wanted to kiss you."

"Yeah?" "Yeah, Honey." "Do you still want to?" Steve grins at your question. His thumb retreats from your lip, hand on your cheek holding you steady as he leans in. His lips are just millimeters away, you can feel the warmth of his breath. He pauses for a moment, as if to give you a chance to change your mind.

You surge forward kissing him. His lips are so soft against yours. Steve groans slightly as he deepens the kiss. Your arms wrap around his neck, hand finding his hair and carding through it. He yanks you closer to him, flush to his body.

You feel a jolt of energy down your spine, a warmth spreading throughout. You moan slightly, and Steve wastes no time. His tongue enters your mouth, brushing against yours.

You weren't expecting it but you melt into his touch. You press closer into him, gasping lightly. Steve groans into the kiss before pulling back to catch his breath. Your brain has turned to mush as you look at his slightly swollen lips and his face that's flushed.

You pant lightly as you look up at him," I'm sorry it took so long for me to say it." "I could have too, I'm sorry I didn't Honey. Thought you knew." Steve moves his thumb back and forth on your cheek. It's comforting but sends a thrill down your spine. You can feel his chest expand against yours with every inhale he takes. You can feel his hardness pressed against you, making you weak in the knees.

"You're staring again," Steve murmurs. "Sorry." "Don't be, I like it." Steve repeats. "I like you. A lot. Like like. I also like kissing you," you start to ramble but stop when Steve chuckles.

"I like kissing you too. You know what? All that time we spent apart just makes this so much sweeter. And uh if I knew at the end of the day, that by waiting I'd get to have you? I'd wait for eternity. Even if I could be with you for only one moment. Because one moment with you surpasses all the moments without. You're worth it."

You blink up at Steve as he looks away," Is...is that too much?" "No Steve. It's perfect, you're perfect for me." You kiss him lightly, heart beating fast. Because you don't want to miss this moment with him. As he said, one moment with him surpasses all without.

And you know without a shadow of a doubt that you love Steve. You always have and you always will.

[fluffs-n-stuffs]

"Cuhut it out- you guys!" "Nu-uh, not until you're all perked up first! You don't want those gym challengers meetin' with an ol' mopey leader, do ya?" "Whitney's right, dear friend. No need to hide that beautiful smile of yours, alright?~"

What it takes to cheer up Johto's beloved ghost boy 👻💕

[chemicalarospec]

you've heard of: aroacespec "is this person flirting with me" confusion, now get ready for: Does this person think I'm flirting with them (and also are they flirting "back" with me) because I accidentally bumped into them a lot?

[un-pearable]

gonna wait to post a couple webfishing pieces all together but the sketch for my void one was really evocative to me so i wanna share now :)

[qiu-yan]

EDIT: just realized that i should clarify something. what i meant by "feel bad for nie huaisang :(" was that jiang cheng felt bad for nie huaisang after nie mingjue died, because having to assume the burden of sect leadership while still grieving was something jiang cheng understood as well.

that poll option does NOT mean "jiang cheng thinks nie mingjue is abusing nie huaisang" or whatever. i should have made that clearer and i'm only realizing now my phrasing was in fact Dogshitte. i'm sorry.

[sunmoontruth-stiles]

I need a completely rewritten teen wolf series with Derek Hale as the main character. I think it would heal me.