#but i would prefer to be perceived as a guy than a girl

[collapsing-sun]

do you think i am a boy?

does my eyeliner make me less of a boy?

when you tell your new friends about me, do you tell them i am a boy?

if we kissed would you feel like you were kissing a boy?

do you see me as a boy?

— ‘she’

[makeyoumine69]

Oh those other anons are soooo right.

Bruce would be going insane when he finally gets his girl bred. Seeing her trying on gala dresses that are much too small now, her hips getting fuller, tits getting bigger, and swelling with his kid? Way to end up in the gossip mags.

I dont think he'd be able to stop himself at one. You know what the elites are like, kings never just had one heir.

I think he'd want to suck on her tits so bad.

Tbh, i can see Patrick doing that too.

Carrying His Child | Patrick Bateman x Fem!Reader, Bruce Wayne x Fem!Reader HEADCANON

𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐒: NSFW, implied smut, lactation kink, breeding kink, body worship, pet names, some dirty talk, Pregnant!Reader, breeding kink, pregnancy-related details, established relationships, Husband!Patrick Bateman, Husband!Bruce Wayne, pregnancy sex.

𝐀/𝐍: I couldn't agree more with what anon said and I just wanted to write down some of my thoughts about these two men. Hope you enjoy it!

Patrick Bateman

The recent news of your pregnancy would be both shocking and exciting for Patrick, but he wouldn't even know how to react at first. Should he be openly happy, as all doting partners are, or should he keep it all to himself so as not to look weak and pathetic? This man may not be the best at showing emotion and affection as most people perceive it, but what Patrick is good at is being in control and inflicting it on every aspect of his life, including you and his unborn child. So it's obvious that once your pregnancy is confirmed, Patrick would turn into the most overprotective man, but the dark side of it would be that he would have a grip on everything you do, your lifestyle, what you eat and drink, and who you interact with. And of course it would annoy you sometimes, but this man will try to manipulate you into thinking that he knows what's best for you. When the two of you are out in public, he would hold you close, but not really be clingy, more like allowing you to hold onto his arm, and Patrick would definitely hate any questions related to your pregnancy, like who the two of you are expecting and what month you're at.

Patrick prefers to think of having children as building a lineage - a legacy of his own blood and flesh. And although the burden of parenthood weighs heavily on his shoulders and makes him somewhat unhappy, he can sometimes find the concept of building a dynasty with you quite appealing. But the worst thing is that he doesn't really care about your thoughts or feelings about it, because he sees you as his property—he owns you from head to toe, every little bit of your body is his to possess and ruin. So once the idea of impregnating you again was fully integrated into his twisted mind, there would be no barriers for him to make his fantasies come true. Patrick would patiently wait for you to give birth to his firstborn, maybe even give you time to recover before he'd impregnate you again, using the beautiful and flowery phrases about the love between a man and a woman and how he wants you to give him as many children as he wants because children are flowers of life. There is no obstacle for him to get what he wants. No doubt that Patrick would do everything to make you the best mother because appearances are always important and he wants nothing more than a perfect wife and perfect children—the American dream family. Nothing more, nothing less.

As mentioned, Patrick is not a fan of physical affection, but sometimes, if he's really in the mood or if he thinks it would be easier for him to just give you a hug instead of listening to you vent, he'll do it. Of course, this guy knows how fucked up women can feel during pregnancy, but he can easily be overwhelmed by your depressed mood or your complaints about being tired all the time. On the days when he can't take it anymore, he'd try to escape and lose himself in some nightclub with some other yuppie in the company of pretty blonde hardbodies, but he'd never really try to fuck anyone else because his body would oddly crave only you. It would be annoying for him, especially when he realizes that the changes in your pregnant body only make him more horny. MUCH MORE HORNY. It literally drives him crazy. Whenever he sees you wearing something skimpy, Patrick's dick gets unbearably hard and he has to drag you back into the bedroom or press you against any surface he can BUT he has to remember that the current circumstances are different. You're carrying his child and he can't be as selfish as he always chooses to be—Patrick hates to admit that the unborn child was already stirring something weird in him. But he didn't know how to deal with that strange feeling in his chest when he touches your baby bump with his hands or his lips. It's definitely something different. So different that he forgets about everything else but you—all the blank thoughts about how much money he spent on his new suit the other day, or what tie Tim Price wore yesterday, or which model Craig McDermott boffed at the last fashion show. Fuck all that. If he ever needs to be really gentle, it should be with his pregnant wife. No questions asked. As awkward as he imagined pregnancy sex to be, in reality Patrick enjoyed it even more than before, it was much more sensual and to have you so sensitive in his strong arms, reacting to his every little move, felt like heaven. "Fuck... You're taking me so well, doll," Patrick would murmur in your ear in a passionate tone, spooning you while he covered your neck with feverish kisses, his hands secured around your round belly while he continued to push carefully inside you. "So soft, so round, so warm." Being both insatiable and needy, Patrick would be literally erratic in his craving for your breast milk, acting like a little baby. But, if you ever implied that he was behaving like a baby boy, he would be so fucking offended and grumpy, but in the end, he would suckle at your breasts with full determination, which would make your nipples really sore, especially the moments when he would decide to use his sharp white fangs. Patrick literally can't stop craving the taste of your breast milk—he even considered taking some of your expressed milk to add to the coffee at the office. But this psycho would never tell you about his depraved plans.

Bruce Wayne

When it comes to your pregnancy, Bruce is extremely protective, but not in a babysitting kind of way, because he doesn't want you to feel pressured and obligated to follow a strict list of instructions, as he respects your personal boundaries, but still, sometimes Bruce can be a little too stressed about the safety of you and the baby you're carrying. Giving him a few pecks, stroking his cheek in a reassuring way, and telling him that he doesn't have to stay alert may help. But only until the next time Bruce gets worried about something else. He would also never stop bragging about how proud he is of you and how beautiful you are whenever you show up together at any gala event, and he would even make you wear the tightest dresses to show off your baby bump so that everyone would know who you belonged to. The images of you playing with your child in the backyard of the Wayne Manor would be his most intimate fantasy that he wouldn't share with anyone, claiming it was too personal. After all, Bruce has always been too sensitive about anything family related, but now he was in the process of creating HIS OWN family and he finds himself even more anxious, but he would do his best not to let anything like what happened to his parents happen again. Never again.

The idea of putting another baby inside you after you give birth would live inside his head for a long time like a brain worm, but it would be a very difficult time for him finding the right moment to make a suggestion about it. The man would be nervous because he knows that pregnancy is a very complicated time for any woman, with all those heavy syndromes, including morning sickness and sudden mood changes due to hormones. Bruce sees all this and it makes him insecure if you really want to go through all this again. And he'll never make decisions like this for both of you without your approval. For now, the man will focus on your current pregnancy, take care of you in every way possible, be your shield and shoulder to lean on when you feel down or unsure about being a good parent. Every time you doubt that you'll be a good mother, Bruce will bury his nose in the crook of your neck, deliberately tickling your skin to hear you laugh, and then whisper sweet little things about how happy he is that you're carrying his child and how absolutely sure he is that you'll be the great mother. Zero doubt.

Physical affection means a lot to this man, starting with holding your hand every time you walk together, hugging your waist whenever he can, planting feathery kisses on your temple or forehead. And all of this Bruce does to make sure you know how much he loves you, how much he cherishes every second of his life spent with you. When your body begins to change due to pregnancy, Bruce would be even more focused during sex, making sure you feel good and comfortable, choosing the best position to fuck you deeply but without harming the baby, literally worshipping your body as his personal shrine, telling you how much he loves every little detail of your changing figure: "Uh, darling, you're so beautiful. Uh...I can't get enough of you." In the mornings, you'd usually find him resting between your legs, eating you out with pure devotion, caressing your curvaceous hips and massaging your ample breasts that would soon be so full of milk. One day, when he was playing with your nipples and some of your milk would spill out, he would catch it with his finger and put it in his mouth—the moment Bruce would taste your milk for the first time would be his personal downfall as he would be very paranoid that you would think he's weird. He would try to fight the very idea of asking you to suckle your breasts, and he would be absolutely embarrassed until one day you would suggest it to him, because you'd remember his moan of satisfaction when he tasted your breast milk. Sometimes Bruce would latch his mouth around your nipple as you rode him, his muffled soft moans sounding so perfect and hot, literally becoming your personal aphrodisiac, making you orgasm quite quickly and very vividly. And your round hips, Jesus Christ, your hips would always be touched and teased, fondled and kneaded—simply because your husband can't stop himself, he's literally obsessed. The days when you're struggling with your sore breasts, Bruce would immediately offer you his help, massaging your soft mounds and asking you how you feel and if he can squeeze them a little tighter, because he wants to feel your tender flesh under his fingers—he literally craved it so much. Scattering pillows on the bed for you to rest on would be Bruce's special ritual whenever you decided to get naughty or just relax together, naked, skin to skin, lips on lips. Once your baby bump got too big, Bruce would help you take a shower, including washing your hair and every little patch of your gorgeous body, so after that he can comb your hair and carry you into the bedroom to massage your feet and GOD, his strong hands really know how to work magic and sometimes it feels even better than sex.

[abdy-18]

I was thinking about Yor's cover for her assassin job and then I remembered this scene from chapter 2

slightly nsfw discussion below the cut*

And I had these two thought:

1.

It's funny that everyone in that room thinks Yor slept with men for money and expects her husband to be disgusted and judge her upon finding out (expected at the time for a respected and educated man as Loid is perceived), but the irony is that between Loid and Yor, the one who actually had to sleep with people for his job is Loid himself (or well, Twilight) when he was doing his honeypot missions.

I have this little hc that Twilight's first missions were probably Honeypot as due to his looks and charm they would be easier for him considering he was a rookie and WISE thought that would be his forte.

I don't think he liked being used just for that, so he must have gone out of his way to show Handler and WISE his full potential and capabilities (The guy is as handsome as smart lmao) and that's how Agent Twilight was born.

By the way, I hadn't thought there was also training for that “type” of missions until I read this fic in which there is a flashback of Twilight training Nightfall (you have to read it btw, half of the fic is Nightfall being incredibly horny and the other half is Twilight being incredibly blind JSFKJJJK).

So yeah, Twilight's training must have been brutal, I honestly think the reason Nightfall seems to be more impulsive than Twilight is because I feel like he wasn't as strict and brutal with her as Handler was with him.

(Imagine that poor Twilight is more traumatized by the training than by the job itself 😭, which is why he wakes up overexcited when he dreams of his early years as a trainee).

and 2:

It is very likely that Yor and Yuri's neighbors, as well as Camilla, would think the worst of Yor's work, so Yuri's great need to protect his sister stems from the fact that Lil Yuri had to listen to their neighbors constantly express themselves in horrible and derogatory ways about his beloved sister because “What kind of decent job can a girl who arrives home late at night or early in the morning have?"

Although Yor would be aware of that, she would not try to deny anything because for her it would be preferable that they think she is a prostitute than that she is a assassin, (besides she would be relieved that although her neighbors see her arrive at night, it is so dark that they can't see the blood), but Yuri seeing that his sister does nothing to clear her name would think that he has to be the one to defend her and protect her.

[motherlvr]

can you write something grumpy!42miles x sunshine!reader? where he’s always kinda mean but cares about her but they end up together

this prompt is so cute tysm for the req!!

Word count: About 1,600

Pairing: Grumpy Earth-42! Miles Morales x Sunshine! f! reader

Summary: The line between just classmates and something more is thin. Miles and You seemed to be walking that line.

Warnings: (begrudgingly) friends to lovers, he's a bit mean, fluff, minimal cursing, classmates to lovers, pure fluff, cannot contain the fluff, reader is a little slow, this is short and cute, spanish grammar is not my strong suit

A/N: if i haven't gotten to your request yet, its still a wip but will be posted soon!

_________

You were boisterously laughing. Obnoxiously, even. The guy’s joke wasn’t even that funny.

Miles called your name out with an aggravated tone,

"Would it kill you to shut up for a second?"

You promptly responded, "Would it kill you to lighten up for once?"

He regrets not skipping this class.

That was partially a lie. In reality, he didn’t care for this class at all. He only came to see you. You were one of the few people who put up with him.

Miles and you always sat together during class. "Unassigned assigned seats", you'd call it. But that’s all you were. Seat partners. That was the way it was, and the way it would stay. And he was fine with that, at least he tried to convince himself.

The next day, the seat next to Miles was empty. It hasn’t been empty since the first day you met.

If you asked Miles how you both met, he’d say you forced your way into his life. However, you’d say that you saw through his “cold guy” facade and he opened up his heart to you. He was a good guy if you had the patience. That was only one of the many things he admired about you. Your optimism.

He saw you across the room. You were sitting with someone else. A guy. What was his name again? Miles couldn't recall. That was how irrelevant he was to Miles.

"Is this seat taken?" Miles looked up to the voice that had spoken, hoping it was somehow you. However, as he glanced up, an unfamiliar face was staring at him.

"Nah." He muttered, not sparing her another look.

She introduced herself and told Miles her name, but he wasn't listening. He was listening to your laugh. How could he not? Your laugh was practically drowning out every other voice in the room. At least, that’s how he perceived it.

You were giggling at whatever the guy next to you said. But this time, he wished it was him making you laugh. That guy didn't deserve to hear you laugh, or see you smile.

He couldn't stand your laugh unless he was the cause of it. Miles didn’t pay attention to the lesson that day. He was occupied staring daggers into your back. Yet you never noticed.

You sat next to Miles the day after, as usual. It was an unspoken agreement, and you had broken it the day prior.

Immediately as you sat down, Miles started interrogating you.

"You left me with some random girl to go flirt with that moron? He's a dick." He scoffed at you, nodding his head towards the guy that you left him for yesterday.

Right, like you're not. You thought. "He's really not, he's a good guy!" You defended him and continued, "Plus, your partner was super smart. She was probably more help than I could’ve been.”

"Ella no es tú. What else can I say, ma?" Miles casually said.

You tried to hide your grin but failed as a smile spread across your face. The corner of his lip curled in a small smirk. If you blinked, you would have missed it.

"I’m sorry for 'leaving you', Miles. But don’t worry, I prefer you over him anyway." You smiled brightly at him. And for a second, his stoic heart gleamed.

"I wasn't worried." He grumbled.

"You sure? I mean, whatever you say.” You grinned amusedly at him.

The rest of the class period followed as usual. But this time, before the bell rang, Miles bottled up his dignity to ask you, "Ay ma, wanna hang out after school?"

You raised a skeptical brow at his unusual behavior, "What, you starting to like me now? I thought you couldn't tolerate me." You probed.

Oblivious to you, he does more than just tolerate you. He was growing fond of your presence. He was starting to miss the sound of your giggle echoing within the room when he wasn’t around you.

But he couldn't find the courage to tell you just yet. Instead, he murmured, "I can tolerate you. Out of most of these people in here, anyway."

"I'm kidding. Yeah, I'm down, Miles." You teased him and agreed.

What you didn't know is that your initial question wasn't very far from the truth.

The school day couldn’t have passed any slower. If you were being honest, you were eagerly anticipating spending more time with Miles out of school.

The final bell of the day rang, and Miles held up to his side of the agreement. He met up with you after school.

Walking side-by-side, you asked, "What've you got planned for us today, Miles? You gonna wine and dine me?" you winked at him.

"Maybe another day, mami." He cracked a slight grin as he responded, fond of your antics.

"I'll hold you to that. I've got a better idea, anyway." You said as you heard a familiar song ringing through the atmosphere.

You yanked Miles by his arm and pulled him, "Look, an ice cream truck! I haven't seen one of those in forever. Let's go!"

A rare smile adorned Miles' face. Not that you saw it. You were too busy chasing after the ice cream truck and dragging him along.

You approached the ice cream truck. The ice cream man greeted you, "Hey guys! What can I get for you today?"

Without missing a beat, you said "Hello! Can I get the Spongebob popsicle please?" with a bright smile.

Miles ordered his right after you. "Coming right up!" The ice cream man said. He shortly returned with both your orders in hand.

As you tried to give the owner cash, Miles lowered your hand gently and said, "Let me pay for you." It was more of a demand as he handed cash to the man.

You couldn't contain the surprise that formed on your face. "Really? Thank you, Miles! You didn't have to do that, y’know." You reached up to him and peppered a kiss on his cheek as a token of gratitude. "Nah, I wanted to." He dismisses it with a shrug.

The man gave you both your ice creams and said, "Have a good day!"

"Young love. A beautiful thing to see." The owner of the truck said as you both walked away.

You both sat on a bench surrounded by a garden of blooming flowers. It was quite scenic for Brooklyn. "Miles, look. He only has one eye!" You chuckled as you showed him your popsicle.

Unbeknownst to you, you had ice cream smeared on your face. He leaned in to wipe the corner of your mouth with his thumb, his gaze lingering on your lips. An almost too-intimate action for people who were just "classmates." But you brushed it off as him being friendly for a change.

"You're a mess, mami." He chuckled, shaking his head at you. You ignored how he made your stomach do flips.

Miles had led you to a rooftop that he frequents. It had an incredible view of the sun, despite all the tall buildings encased around you two.

Miles and you spent the rest of the evening together, basking in the presence of one another. You conversed for hours, only realizing the time when the sun started to set. Comfortable moments of silence were exchanged as you watched the sun disappear from the sky, the moon soon replacing it.

“It’s a full moon, isn’t it just beautiful?” You admired the moon as it shone down on the sullen streets of Brooklyn.

"Yeah, It is." He replied, but he wasn't looking at the moon. If you had just turned your head, you'd realize the true meaning of his words. He hadn't even noticed the moon. His eyes were fixated on you instead. He believed that the moon couldn't even hold a candle to you.

"Why haven't we done this before, Miles? I enjoyed hanging out with you today." You felt harmonious with him for once, laying your head against his shoulder as you studied his face.

"I did too, princesa. Maybe I will just wine and dine you someday." Miles said with a smirk, gazing down into your eyes with a borderline smitten expression.

A lightbulb suddenly enlightened your brain. You mentally banged your head against a wall. How could you be so naive to not realize it sooner?

You broke the tension in the air and raised your head to look into his eyes. "Is this a date? You know, people that are 'just' classmates don't go on dates." You told him cheekily.

Could he not have made it more obvious? He paused for a moment and said, “I don’t want to be just classmates.”

“So you want to be best friends? Great! Me too." You grinned, feigning naivety.

His face immediately dropped as he facepalmed himself. "Dios mío, no. That's not what I meant. Never mind, olvídalo." He said, shaking his head.

You beamed at him and laced your fingers with his. “I’m just messing with you, Miles. I like you too. In case you haven't noticed."

He sighed of relief as he lifted your entwined hands to press a soft kiss to the back of your hand. You stayed in each other's embrace for the rest of the night.

From that day forward, you never broke the unspoken agreement ever again. And Miles never had to worry about you associating with another douche again. Excluding himself.

You walked into class hand-in-hand the next day. The following days, as well. That's the way it was, and that's the way it would stay. And both of you were content with that.

_________

ella no es tú - she's not you

dios mío - my god

olvídalo - forget it

princesa - princess

[commsroom]

as an extension of how hera reads as trans to me, hera/eiffel resonates with me specifically as a relationship between a trans woman and a cis man. loving hera requires eiffel to decenter his own perspective in a way that ties into both his overall character arc and the themes of the show.

pop culture is baked into the dna of wolf 359, into eiffel’s worldview, and in how it builds off of a sci-fi savvy audience’s assumptions: common character types, plot beats, or dynamics, why would a real person behave this way? how would a real person react to that? eiffel is the “everyman” who assumes himself to be the default. hera is the “AI who is more human than a lot of humans,” but it doesn’t feel patronizing because it isn’t a learned or moral quality; she is a fundamentally human person who is routinely dehumanized and internalizes that.

eiffel/hera as a romance is compelling to me because there is a narrative precedent for some guy/AI or robot woman relationships in a way i think mirrors some attitudes about trans women: it’s a male power fantasy about a subclass of women, or it’s a cautionary tale, or it’s a deconstruction of a power fantasy that criticizes the way men treat women as subservient, as property. but what does that pop culture landscape mean in the context of desire? If you are a regular person, attracted to a regular person, who really does care for you and wants to do right by you, but is deeply saturated in these expectations? how do you navigate that?

I think that, in itself, is an aspect of communication worth exploring. sometimes you won’t get it. sometimes you can’t. and that’s not irreconcilable, either. it’s something wolf 359 is keenly aware of, and, crucially, always sides with hera on. eiffel screws up. he says insensitive things without meaning to. often, hera will call him out on it, and he will defer to her. in the one case where he notably doesn’t, the show calls attention to it and makes him reflect. it’s not a coincidence that the opening of shut up and listen has eiffel being particularly dismissive of hera - the microaggression of separating her from “men and women” and the insistence on using his preferred title over hers. there are things eiffel has just never considered before, and caring for hera the way he does means he has to consider them. he's never met someone like hera, but media has given him a lot of preconceptions about what people like her might be like.

there’s a whole other discussion to be had about the gender dynamics of wolf 359, even in the ways the show tries to avoid directly addressing them, and how sexual autonomy in particular can’t fully be disentangled from explorations of AI women. i don’t think eiffel fully recognizes what comments like “wind-up girl” imply, and the show is not prepared to reconcile with it, but it’s interesting to me. in the context of transness (and also considering hera’s disability, two things i think need to be discussed together), i think it’s worth discussing how hera’s self image is at odds with the way people perceive her, her disconnect from physicality, how she can’t be touched by conventional means, and the ways in which eiffel and hera manage to bridge that gap.

even the desire for embodiment, and the autonomy and type of intimacy that comes with it, means something different when it’s something she has to fight for, to acquire, to become accustomed to, rather than a circumstance of her birth. i suppose the reason i don’t care for half measures in discussions re: hera and embodiment is also because, to me, it is in many ways symbolically a discussion about medical transition, and the social fear of what’s “lost” in transition, whether or not those things were even desired in the first place.

hera’s relationship with eiffel is unquestionably the most supportive and equal one she has, but there are still privileges, freedoms, and abilities he has that she doesn’t, and he forgets that sometimes. he will never share her experiences, but he can choose to defer to her, to unlearn his pop culture biases and instead recognize the real person in front of him, and to use his own privilege as a shield to advocate for her. the point, to me - what’s meaningful about it - is that love isn’t about inherent understanding, it’s about willingness to listen, and to communicate. and that’s very much at the heart of the show.

[cultven]

could you possibly write general dennis reynolds dating hcs? reader is part of the group? ty 🫶

Dating Dennis Reynolds Headcanons

Word Count: 1.6k

• Dennis is certainly a special significant other, sweet sometimes, insufferable the next.

• BUT he’s your boyfriend and you love him and all of his quirks to death.

• I can see Dennis absolutely showing off your looks.

• You’re the pretty little thing hanging off his arm whenever The Gang finds themselves in professional or business settings, always playing the (not-so) fictional role of Dennis’s hot wife. (Mac is totally not jealous of this)

• What can Dennis say? He’s just so proud he was able to find such a hot person who was also able to handle his attitude.

• Definitely handsy in public; hugging, making out, anything to show others that you’re his.

• Although Dennis does not shy away from PDA, I can see him keeping the real emotional stuff behind closed doors.

• Dennis already has a difficult time expressing his feelings in front of you, the love of his life, he could not imagine showing even an ounce of affection or raw emotion in front of your highly critical friends.

• He genuinely believes you were tailor-made for him though.

• Dennis has never felt genuine care or affection towards a woman in his life, you were the only person in his eyes that is genuinely worthy of his love.

• While he perceives more women to be sluts or toys he could play with, he cannot view you in this light (Madonna-whore complex* if you squint)

• You’re more than that to him, one of the only genuinely good people he knows and can respect.

• You do have your moments though, you’re a part of the gang after all.

• He loves your bad sides as well, I mean he surrounds himself with those kinds of people for a reason.

• Every time you manipulate someone or give a real tongue-lashing to some idiot on the street he can feel himself getting worked up.

• Let’s be real; he’s a kinky man and we know this.

• Obsessed with hickeys, preferably in places that’ll show.

• LOTS of sex in the bar’s office.

• Or just the bar in general honestly.

• But back to the fluff, if you have a cat/like cats then I can definitely see him calling himself the cat’s “father”. Huge cat guy here.

• He is also an absolute drama queen

• He’s feeling even slightly under the weather? You are not a personal nurse, and if he really plays his illness up, maybe you’d even wear that tiny nurse Halloween costume he really loves on you.

• Wear it and he’ll act suspiciously better, trying to coerce you into bed with him. It’s almost as if he does it on purpose…

• But when he is genuinely sick all hell rises

• Mac would speed dial you after an hour of dealing with sick Dennis, begging for you to come over and coddle your whining boyfriend.

• Your relationship isn’t all fluffy and cute, however.

• You often feel anxious remembering Dennis’s promiscuous tendencies, especially remembering him telling you early into your relationship that he’s genuinely never considered settling down with someone before. Sometimes it feels like maybe your fears aren’t entirely irrational.

• When you vocalize these fears to Dennis passionate time in the bedroom usually follows. It’s one of the ways Dennis knows how to connect best with a person and a way for Dennis to demonstrate how he doesn’t need to seek out sex from other women when he has you, his cute little girlfriend, to bend every which way.

• And if that isn’t enough to soothe your worries, Dennis will then try to do some sort of grand gesture proving his love to you. (Imagine something akin to Dennis’s speech to Mac during The Gang Dines Out)

As for the gang…

• Although Dee is not a very great “girl’s girl”, she does appreciate having another female in The Gang.

• Whenever the other four are paired off respectively doing whatever the hell it is they’re doing, she’ll tend to rope you into her misadventures.

• Before you, she was often left alone as Charlie and Frank would do something gross while Mac and Dennis banished her from their side quests. But now, he has someone to hang out with other than animals!

• She isn’t the kindest friend you’ve had, but if it comes down to it she would defend you against a stranger with her life.

• She does question your taste in men, however.

• Dee understands better than anyone else her brother is not a good person, let alone someone deserving of genuine love. She is offended he was able to find someone as perfect as you before she could bag a man.

• Sometimes she’ll even make hints at you being “too good for Dennis” and that her brother doesn’t deserve you, which is honestly the closest thing to a compliment you’ll audibly get from Dee.

• Mac is totally not jealous of your presence in the group.

• Sometimes you’ll hear him make snide comments under his breath when you “steal” his roommate from him.

• How could he not feel envy when you stole his unhealthy codependency for yourself?

• You understand his frustrations though and try to make it clear you’re not trying to butt in on his and Dennis’s… special relationship, which Mac appreciates.

• I can see you two have a definite love-hate relationship with each other; constantly butting heads with one another but ultimately caring and protecting for each other when you need to. Almost like a sibling.

• Charlie more or less acknowledges you’re there.

• If you’re kind to him I could see him potentially inviting you to his frequently gross outings, but honestly, you’d never take him up on the offer if you were dating Dennis.

• As Dennis’s girlfriend, if you didn’t make an outright point to be his friend, he would just view you as another Dennis relationship.

• Although, as a member of The Gang, I can see you and Charlie having a lot of misadventures! You can’t hang around Dennis’s preppy ass all of the time, right? He has Mac when you’re not around anyway.

• If you do indulge in Charlie’s dirt-filled daily tasks just be sure to shower before you even attempt to touch Dennis.

• Frank also ignored you at first, knowing his ex-son's tendencies with women, but after seeing how you were more than a one-night stand to Dennis he was finally interested in you.

• He simply found it fascinating someone was able to crack Dennis’s sociopathic personality, at least to some degree.

• Dennis naturally would make a point not to allow you and Frank to converse for too long. He understands what Frank is capable of and he is not willing to subject you or your relationship to that.

• You do enjoy hearing old stories about Dennis from Frank, especially from his childhood. All of the old photographs and videotapes are also highly appreciated.

I wrote most of this half-high, which I think is on brand for IASIP

*This dichotomy says that people (majority cis-gendered straight men) with this complex see women as either a saint or a whore - but never both.

[g0rebaited]

first ever DoL ocs / pcs yap post... there are so many words full of my love for them... aauhhhhggg.. im very new to posting on tumblr this is scaryyy..

anyway here's the two of them !

(i didn't even realize they were both rocking the blue top + green bottoms until making this post omg.. couple goals fr)

alright so. Eidy.

Eidy is a girl w the cat tf, but also a crossdresser for the fun of it, he goes by any pronouns but generally is viewed as a guy (as intended) and ends up hearing he/him more than anything

Eidy does NOT live in the orphanage, has never even seen Bailey before, but does go to school. sometimes. most of the time he's in the moor, in alleyways or in the forest, looking for stuff to sell at the museum. (he knows abt the landfill and the potential goldmine there, but he's bad at talking himself out of situations so he just avoids it..)

if there is one thing Eidy is good at it's running away from situations. he can't talk himself out of anything but you bet he can out-run most people. and if he can't out-run them he can probably find something to climb up on.

he makes himself scarce SO quickly. avoids any and all confrontation if possible.

but that also makes it so that he doesn't really Know anyone, and nobody really knows him. sure, people have seen him around town in the alleys and at the museum, but Eidy doesn't really make contact with people. the only people he's made contact with are Winter (history teacher/museum), Gwylan (forest shopkeeper), Great Hawk (only briefly a few times) and Nasha (the other pc / oc)

Eidy has no friends fr

he's rlly into history and historical artifacts !! and that means hes also drawn to the lake. bc of the rumors that go around yk

but he does not like swimming at all so he doesn't know whether the rumors surrounding it are true or not…

he's also just very hairy. but all dol mods seem to be afraid of body hair. not that you'd be able to see it bc he's covered from head to toe BUT STILLL it's an important detail </3 !!!!!!

Nasha !!!

her lore is a lot more complicated than Eidy's...

Eidy's lore is basically just "catgirl moves to DoLtown and crossdresses. likes history. doesn't interact w ppl much" and then Nasha comes in with identity theft, coercion, human experimentation, etc etc

Nasha is the result of human experimentation done by Harper and their associates at the asylum; Nasha used to be just some very unfortunate dude who had his brain turned to mush by Dr Harper, this resulted in Harper being able to "create" a new person, which was Nasha as we know her now

Harper mostly left Nasha alone, though, as she was more of a side-project 😭 (after it was clear she'd become a success) but that allowed her to become her own person rather than Just Harper's Creation

Harper DID make sure to encourage Nasha to dress up and dye her hair n use makeup and all that, because the guy that 'owned' the body before is literally gone, that dude straight up doesn't exist anymore and now Nasha is piloting his body

so the identity theft was accidental (on Nasha's part), the coercion is entirely on purpose bc Nasha 'gets' subjects for Harper to experiment on, and the human experimentation is what she's a result of + smth she participates in by proxy

i would not say Nasha is a trans woman though, bc she never had the experience of being perceived as male, despite being in a male body

she doesn't rlly gaf tho, Harper gives her estrogen and money in exchange for a job well done, and furthermore she's free to do as she wants

(the estrogen's cause she does wanna look more feminine !! but that's an aesthetic preference rather than an actual gender thing

and i know the difference because i transed my gender 🔥🔥🔥)

she made friends with Eidy when he ended up in an alley near a house party, where she approached him bc she assumed he was 'like her' (he isn't)

they hit it off quite well, though ! Eidy knew things Nasha was interested in, and Nasha was just incredibly gorgeous to Eidy

Nasha DOES actually go to school, unlike Eidy who doesn't pull up most of the time. Nasha doesn't go to school on fridays though (her work day)

it does get her in trouble (bc of the missed tests) and so she usually has to stay extra long on mondays or thursdays

[penny00dreadful]

Okay, okay, okay listen.

Remember when we were all obsessed with Steddie Legally Blonde a while back? Yes, I’m still thinking about it, leave me alone. And I adore everything I’ve read. It’s all so fantastic.

But I had a thought because what if we switched it up a little? I’m going mainly off of the musical here, so bear with. 

So what if instead of having Steddie as Elle and Emmett, we instead have them as Paulette and UPS Guy/Kyle??? Like??? It fits, right???

But then, but THEN who do we have as Elle/Emmett?

Buckingham.

No, but just think of it! 

Or I guess you don’t really need to because I’ve thought of it enough for all of us and it goes like this:

(OMG you guys I blacked out and when I woke up this thing was 3.1k long written over a few hours. I haven't edited this at all so please be gentle about typos/tense changes etc. The fever just took me.)

Chrissy is your quintessential girly girl. She is Elle Woods. She’s blonde, pretty, cheerleader, very feminine and happy where she is in life, President of her Sorority with her besties by her side and her guy who is… well he’s as good as any guy could be, right?

Jason is handsome, rich, well connected, he treats her with affection and he humours her when she has some pretty wild, out there ideas. 

But then it happens and they break up because apparently having a girly girl for a wife just wouldn’t look good if he’s gonna live his life the way he wants to. Lawyer, his own practice, running for office. 

Apparently her blonde hair and boobs would hold him back which, what the fuck??? 

What does that have to do with anything?

They love each other, right? That surface stuff isn’t supposed to matter. At all! They’re supposed to be together no matter what because they… they love each other?

Well fuck that noise, no one tells Chrissy Cunningham she’s too fucking blonde to do anything which is a hypocritical ass thing to say because has Jason looked in the fucking mirror recently?

Different fucking rules, apaprently. 

Well, no more.

She’s gonna fuck up law school right along side him and she’s gonna wear fucking pink while doing it too!

And like, everything is going fine. 

Chrissy’s not stupid, she knows how she’s perceived by people before they get to know her. 

Vapid, bimbo, perky, blonde.

Like that’s an insult.

It’s just harder now that she’s away from her girls, gays and theys back home. And everyone here seems to think that the best way to live their lives is to look boring as shit while doing it along with tearing each other down.

She fucking hates it, but she’s determined to see it through. 

It helps that she seems to have found the one person on the whole of the fucking east coast who actually listens to what’s coming out of her mouth rather than just paying attention to the hair on her head or staring at her tits.

Robin is so strange.

She’s different in such a refreshing way, it’s like being able to breathe clean air for the first time in years.

And she’s fucking sharp. And sweet. And so, so comforting. 

Chrissy would have never managed to survive the depression of those first few weeks without her.

And like, she’s not ignorant to the fact that Robin sometimes does look at her boobs but at the same time it just feels different coming from a woman than it does a man. It doesn’t feel so objectifying.

Instead of putting Chrissy on edge it makes her feel a little smug. A little proud of herself, it makes her feel attractive and desired in a way she hasn’t felt in a very long time. 

Is that sexist? To prefer the attentions of a woman over a man when both do it just fine for her?

Chrissy’s not exactly sure, but she knows she enjoys it when it’s coming from Robin.

So maybe it’s a Robin thing. 

Chrissy honestly thinks things are looking up for her. 

Until Jason introduces Nicole. 

His fucking fiancee???

It’s been, like, four months since they broke up.

Nicole hates her guts, she can tell. She thinks she’s some two braincelled idiot who got into Harvard on daddy’s dime and needs to be babied through the simplest of tasks while not understanding how condescending everyone’s been the whole time.

Chrissy fucking understands. She’s been through it all before, but back then she had people by her side. It’s all so fucking childish. The world already hates women enough, Chrissy desperately doesn’t want to be at another womans throat, over a man no less, but Nicole doesn’t seem to feel the same way.

She’s ambitious and cut-throat and dedicated and a little bit terrifying. 

Apart from Robin, she’s on her fucking own out here.

And she needs something. 

Something of home to bring some light back into her life.

So she gets in her car and just drives around the streets hoping something will catch her eye. 

And it does. 

Some tiny little hole in the wall salon with a pride flag out the front that she’s immediately drawn to because god damn it she misses her friends. The girls, the gays, the theys.

As soon as she pulls over she feels both simultaneously like she’s come home and she definitely won’t fit in here, but she’s so emotionally raw at this stage it all kinda ends up converging on her and now she’s standing in front of a mostly empty salon and there’s a guy looking at her and she’s just fucking crying.

Through her blurry vision she can see the guy approaching and she really fucking hopes this isn’t gonna turn into a thing because she just does not have any spoons left to deal with some creep right now. 

But he seems to sense how he’s coming off because he becomes a little more effeminate from one step to the next.

“You okay, honey?” He asks, big brown eyes wide with concern and a hand covered in rings hovering over her shoulder, not touching. He has a cigarette in the other hand, held away to keep the smoke from reaching her, his arms covered in ink but Chrissy wants nothing more than a cigarette right now.

Or, that’s kind of a lie, but she’d love one in all honesty. She hasn’t smoked in so long. 

The guy spots her eyeing it, sticking the cigarette back between his plush lips and needing to use both hands to pull his carton from his pants considering they’re so tight.

“Bad day?” He hands her one and Chrissy ends up breaking down all over again.

She tells him that it hasn’t just been a bad day, but a bad half a year, really. She tells him all about Harvard and Jason and her professors and Robin and by the end of her ranting they’re sitting back in the breakroom of the salon. They guy’s name is Eddie, she learns and despite his mean and scary exterior Chrissy thinks he might be the gentles person she’s met in this whole god forsaken city.

He holds her hands between his and listens to her. Actually hears her talk and pays attention and is concerned and attentive and she loves him for it. 

He helps her find her confidence again, at least for the rest of the day. They commiserate about how they both stick out like sore thumbs in their communities and how people need to just kinda get over it.

He encourages her not to let the normies win, do go hang out with Robin, to go kick ass and she’s just wondering how on earth she can ever repay the favour when they hear

“Knock, knock.” 

Coming from the front of the salon.

Eddie’s whole face drains of colour before immediately turning red and he bolts up from his chair, stumbling out of the staffroom and moving back behind the receptionists desk.

Chrissy gets to watch in real time as all of Eddie’s incredible confidence and easy lightheartedness disappears into a vat of nerves mostly hidden by cheeky flirtation as he twirls a lock of hair around his finger and bats his eyelashes at the Hot UPS Guy who looks equally as charmed. 

When the guy, Steve, has to get back to his route, Eddie practically melts against the desk as soon as he’s out of sight. 

“Looks like I’m not the only one who needs help.”

Eddie rolls his eyes at her but smiles anyway. “I had that handled just fine.”

Over the next few months, she and Eddie get closer, Eddie and Steve stay exactly where they were that first day and she and Robin are quickly approaching best friends level.

But Chrissy is starting to come to terms with the fact that maybe she wants a little more than to be best girly-girl friends with Robin and maybe she wants to stick her tongue down her throat about it. 

The two of them are practically attached at the hip, spending all day at classes together, alternating between their respective rooms to study late into the night, ending up in the same bed together and waking up together in the morning. 

Chrissy is almost, completely, entirely sure that this is all very not platonic but it’s so difficult to tell.

She’d be constantly sleeping over with her friends back home, hugging, kisses on cheeks, cuddling in bed or when watching movies, just girly things.

But this feels different. Is it different?? Or is this just how Robin is with all her female friends, the same way it’s always been how Chrissy was with her friends back home. How can she tell if it’s going from platonic to romantic??

And all of that needs to go on the backburner anyway because they’re being put on a real life, for realsies you guys case. And if they fuck up this case they could be at fault for someone spending the rest of their fucking life in prison for something they didn’t do??

Unacceptable.

And after Chrissy finds out their client used to be on the same cheer team as her? It was all over. No way was she gonna let her go to prison just because everyone thinks a pretty young woman couldn’t possibly love someone a little older than her. 

Not on Chrissy’s watch. 

But first she has to deal with Robin’s wardrobe because they professor is insistent that all the women wear skirts and tights and Robin is not having it.

Neither is Chrissy to be fair, so she takes Robin out to the most lavish place she can, decks them both out in the fiercest looking pantsuits they can get their hands on, refusing to back down.

It comes as a surprise to both of them when Nicole stands with them in solidarity as well and now their professor is both outnumbered and losing his arguments with only Jason on his side about this and they fucking win.

It’s only a small win but it still feels fantastic. 

Riding her high of winning that small fight, she bursts into the salon and informs Eddie that he is going to either kiss or ask out Steve the next time he sees him and when Eddie reacts like she just said she was going to shave all of his hair off she refuses to hear it. 

Because the thing is Eddie is pretty, really pretty and she knows that Steve knows it, but she doesn’t think that Eddie himself is really aware of it. And despite his prettiness, he’s all awkward elbows and knees. 

So she gives him some tips and shows him how to highlight certain things about himself, the long legs, the tattooed arms, the hip bones. Even his cute little bum. She teaches him how to subtly pull at his clothes in conversation so some skin is exposed or his tiny little waist is highlighted. She teaches him how to use his eyes to go in for the kill.

He doesn’t seem to think it’ll work but she is almost certain it will. 

And it’s confirmed for her when she gets a call later that night from Eddie who sounds fucking over the moon and completely bewildered by the fact that Steve likes him back??? Has done for months?? And they had some incredible dirty nasty sex in the salon after it closed for the night and how they’re going to the movies tomorrow??

Eddie swears he’s gonna send her the biggest fuck off fruit basket he can find. 

Everything is looking up for her, especially after she has such a major win in court, figuring out one of the prosecutors witnesses had perjured himself on the stand (without outing him to the whole damn court, thankfully).

Or at least everything was looking up for her until she found herself alone in a room with her professor and she felt the energy in the room shift before it happened. 

His hands were on her before she could do anything about it and she cracked him across the face for it before she could even think about what this could do to her legal career going forward. 

Because that was the reality of it, wasn’t it? 

Either allow herself to get assaulted or destroy her career before it even started. 

She didn’t know when her priority had shifted from getting Jason back to actually pursuing this as a future career. But she had found to her own surprise she loved it. She adored it actually. 

And now…

Now it would all be gone. 

Jason had seen, of course he had and he was less than kind about it because apparently it made more sense that she had fucked her way into Harvard than had actually been smart enough to get there on her own. 

She couldn’t stomach anything Nicole could possibly have to say to her but if the way she was glaring at Jason with barely concealed rage after that comment was anything to go by, Chrissy didn’t need to worry too much about that.

She just wanted to go. To get out. She needed to get out. And she would have gotten away scott free if Robin hadn’t been hanging around waiting for her.

Robin’s face broke into a bright smile but that quickly slipped away when she saw the state Chrissy was in. She was all sweet concern and care and affection but Chrissy couldn’t fucking deal with it at that moment, she couldn’t face her.

She couldn’t face Robin who would find out what a fool of herself she’d made believing in Chrissy, when Chrissy had thrown all of their hard work away.

Because no one would ever fucking see her as a person. She was just a piece of ass.

So she ran.

She didn’t even realise where she was running to until she was standing outside the salon doors again. 

It was late, they were closed, of course they were, why was she here?

She was standing outside the door crying again like she had been the first time and it was all just so fucking stupid-

“Chrissycakes?”

She was enveloped in Eddie’s arms before she could even blink, being ushered inside and steered back to the staffroom, same as that first time. 

There were beer bottles and take out containers over the table and Steve sitting at the table and oh, she’d interrupted something hadn’t she? 

What a fucking way to officially meet one of her best friends new boyfriend right?

But they were so sweet. 

They sat and listened while she spilled the whole thing, offering at different points to hunt down her professor for her or slash his tires or lose all of his mail or whatever and she was forced to giggle through the tears.

But she shook her head in the end. She was tired. She was sick of having to defend herself constantly. 

She needed… she needed to go back to where she belonged. 

And she was about to. 

She was about to leave the salon, swear to keep in contact with Eddie because god damn it she loved him now and she was ready to run.

But then there was a hammering at the door and Chrissy poked her head out to see Nicole standing there looking like she was on a fucking crusade. 

And… was that…?

Robin was standing behind her, looking like she was just trying not to get in Nicole’s way.

Eddie grumbled to himself about changing the damn salons opening hours if this was to continue but he unlocked the door anyway.

Nicole burst in all fire and determination, shoving her finger directly in Chrissy’s face.

“I hated you. But god fucking damn it if you didn’t prove to me that this is the career you belong in. And I refuse to stand by and see an admirable woman of your smarts and calibre get run over by some small dicked professor with a receding hairline. You’re so much more than that. So c’mon. We’re breaking through that fucking glass ceiling if it kills us.”

Holy shit.

Robin pulled her into a tight hug, warm and comforting and a little too long to be platonic, running a hand through her hair. 

“We’ll do whatever you’re comfortable with Chris, but… you deserve to be in that courtroom.” She muttered into her ear and Chrissy could do nothing but nod into Robin’s neck.

She heard Eddie sigh behind her. “Okay if we’re doing this then… I need to make a few calls.”

A few days later Chrissy made her triumphant return to the courtroom. Everyone was there to support her. Eddie, Steve, her besties from back home that Eddie had called, telling them it was a friend emergency and so of course they all came right away along with Robin and Nicole bracketing her on each side. 

And while she could tell the court wasn’t taking her rants on hair care very seriously, when she finally came out with the verbal crackdown, proving the witness was actually the murderer, the gasps from the gallery were enough to feed her for years to come. 

When all was said and done at the celebration later that night, she found herself being approached by Jason.

He told her it was a mistake to let her go, to discard her the way he had and she agreed that yes it was. But his mistakes weren’t her problem anymore. And from the look of it they weren’t Nicole’s problem either. 

Jason surprisingly took it well enough, mentioning that he never really felt the same passion for law that she so clearly possessed. 

She wished him luck with finding what he wanted to do.

But now.

Now she needed to find Robin. 

Chrissy couldn’t take it anymore.

So weaving through the people around her, she grabbed at Robin’s hand, dragging her away from Steve who she had become inseparable with and pushing her into the hallway.

Robin didn’t even have a chance to ask what was happening before Chrissy was on her, pressing her into a wall, holding her close with her hands on either side of her face, kissing her with so much longing and elation and joy and happiness that when she pulled away Robin looked completely dazed. 

Robin blinked slowly a few times before her face broke into a wide grin. 

“Me too.”

[showerthoughtsofagoldengoose]

Revolutionary Girl Utena is still fresh on the mind and I’m trying to figure out the Nanami lays an egg episode. I think I get it a little.

Nanami laying an egg is a second instance of her femininity causing her to be equated to being like a farm animal, in this case a chicken rather than a cow. Another connection this episode has to the previous animal one is that it shows us her obsession with how she’s being perceived, however the animalistic quality (laying an egg) is a source of shame rather than a misguided source of pride (the cowbell).

The egg represents a lot of things.

first is the most literal interpretation- hormones kicking in. Eggs come from (I hate the way I’m phrasing this) something fertile. Fertility comes from hormones. So we could interpret this as a symbol mixing together several factors- “fertility” (your period?) and sexuality.

The part about sexuality mainly comes from a one off joke where Nanami asks her brother if he prefers boys or girls without realizing how that question sounds, and when she tells him she prefers girls he gets angry with her and spouts some homophobic bs at her, while she was most likely referring to the egg, whether the baby in it was a boy or a girl. This conversation feels very real, and makes me think the egg may represent latency.

Nanami knows there’s something “wrong” with her and when she tries to address it around her brother, he gets angry with her and she abandons (represses?) this aspect of herself only to come running back to it.

she loves her egg. That’s the thing. She takes good care of it and is happy to be around it. She always has. But she’s ashamed of the fact that it came from her. Laying eggs is not something a girl normally does, at least she doesn’t think so. She could have simply had her first period but I think it’s more than just that- like her burgeoning sexuality. While it is a part of her identity it’s something she feels the need to repress. When it is seen, potentially used by someone she doesn’t want (Sayonji, the three weird guys with glasses who idek what their deal is yet lmao) she is upset.

I think the egg being broken when she wakes up is a representation of some kind of hopelessness. As if she can’t accept herself in the end for that aspect of herself, all because of the pressures surrounding her and breaks down in the end.

I think it’s important to mention how eggs are mentioned frequently in the show- what with the world’s end chick in the egg speech we get in every single episode. Latency. I think it refers to latency.

and with the act of laying an egg, being forced to confront this latency, wanting it to be released but unable to truly act on it despite how valuable it is??

I feel like while the lesbian reading is pertinent given how oddly specific the homophobia scene is, like all things utena, lesbianism isn’t all there is to it. I also mentioned maturity, growing up, hormones, fertility, some implicitly mentioned, others explicit.

It will take a lot to break down this show and staring off with this episode, this strange strange ep? Maybe not the best idea! My head hurts lol.

idk why but I always found the nanami episodes to be kind of raw and emotional despite their surreal comedy. She’s obsessed with how others see her, relies on one other person extremely heavily for affection, someone she looks up to in a way that almost seems kind of immoral (incest), and is this oddly sensitive person despite her melodrama and over the top oujo sama personality.

I think it’s worth noting that she lacks much of a support system. Her closest friends are fake, when she is traumatized she tells no one about it and carries the burden of knowing that alone. Her concept of one person she thinks truly loves her is also later challenged. I wouldn’t even call her and the little boy close. Nanami is interesting in that she does have social leverage and fits the popular bitch stereotype/archetype but I would consider her lonely in that lack of having support. Thus her anxieties are worsened, her shame about herself is worsened. This and her immaturity and naiivete. She truly doesn’t understand how a lot of things work, and this is because she wasn’t taught them.

[obamas-eyebrow]

02/Up & Down.

7th floor x female reader (the 8 show) Masterlist WC:7.0K, oops. specific chapter warnings:idk :-).

(:̲̅:̲̅:̲̅[̲̅::]̲̅:̲̅:̲̅:̲̅)

8th floor could not contain her smile, to her this was entertaining. The sight of her grin made you want to gag, reminds you of those pretentious chicks you’d avoid at university. The ones that would gasp when you tell them that no, you didn't have a holiday house in Italy unfortunately. You preferred to think of yourself as a girls’ girl, but sometimes social classes and stuck up ‘daddy’s money’ girls would make you lose your composure. It's not difficult to see she comes from money, if you were 8th floor you still would not spend much your first night. She, however, had decided to turn the space into her personal hotel and still have more than you’ll likely ever make here. It made your blood boil. You barely knew her but you'd already decided you really dislike her, this made you feel guilty. She didn’t do anything wrong per se but, her personality, her privilege. You needed some air. Out on the stairs, you dropped your head down in defeat.

I’m still making good money, basically work-free here. 2 nights ago I was ready to end it all, now there's actually a ray of hope. The grass is always greener on the other side. It’s ok. I’m ok. Deep breaths…

The time board, which you were sure read 30-ish hours a little bit ago now read a little under 50. If you had doubts before, you were certainly sure now. Was it fun to watch the sheer shock on our faces? Was it fun to watch 1st floor rethink his unlucky draw? Is that what you want, pain? You looked up at the ridiculous amount of cameras in every corner. Now more than ever, you wanted to hide in a little cocoon and not be perceived. But alas, the red lights remain blinking. 

For some reasons beyond your comprehension, they had decided to tour everyone's rooms.

7th’s was slightly less annoying than 8th’s, having noticeably less junk. It housed a…desk? Some notebooks and pens too. On the other side of the room was a mattress with a navy bed-set on the floor. This guy is definitely an engineering or finance bro.

6th floor had bought one of those beach fold-out beds, at least that’s what you think it is. That’s actually pretty smart. He also had some blankets and a pillow; the height of luxury, obviously.

You sheepishly let them into your room, 5th floor. It was the bare booty minimum. In fact, it only housed the bucket and bags you’d gotten a few hours ago. 

“How did you…sleep last night?” 2 teased. 

This, to you, meant that even the lowest floors had spent at least some of their money.

“I’m used to it,” you shot her a playful glance. 

4th and 3rd floors’ rooms just got progressively smaller in size, they each got themselves some form of bed and cover to spend the night. You had also noticed that as the floors went down, the view on the screen window changed, to a lower area. Both figuratively and literally. 

Then 2nd floor who had bought dumbbells!

“You didn't know how long you’d be here for and this is your first instinct?” you laughed

“You didn’t even buy a pillow!”

That broke the tension a bit between the group, as snickers and giggles erupted all throughout. 2nd couldn’t help but join in on the fun.

The mood was however immediately killed when 1st floor’s room was opened. You caught yourself practically holding back tears. It was even smaller than your actual apartment and the number on the board was pathetic, at least in comparison to everything else you’d seen. Worst of all- the ceiling was so low, 1st himself could not stand upright. You're pretty claustrophobic, this would make you lose your mind you think. No one was able to meet 1’s eyes, as if all your problems had been stupid in comparison to this. 

“It’s ok” he tried to break the awkward silence. “I wouldn’t have been able to climb all these stairs everyday anyway” 

No one believed him.

. . .  

Food delivery was successful, everyone settled on having lunch in1st’s room.  It was kind of cute actually. Conversation flowed so smoothly, the main topic was obviously the situation at hand here. Theories flew around about how they think time is earned, obviously some ridiculous things were said, but it was comforting to know that no one else had any freaking idea. 4 had then brought up the topic of who we think is behind this whole thing, that got everyone thinking. Obviously they had an unfathomable amount of money. Not only were they able to plan out and execute the physicals of a place like this, they also were able to program the money, the chute, the time, the different rooms. It’s clear that this place is meant to house you for a while. 3rd got up for a smoke and ended up joining 7 right outside the room. You could barely make out what they were discussing, it seemed important. They were both looking out towards the outside area. Your mind started to think about everyone here, and how they ended up in this situation. Had they been as desperate as you are? The higher floors seemed to be coming from money, had they been desperately clawing their way up the ladder too? Or are they here for another reason? Entertainment? You were almost sure you recognised 6th somewhere, on TV you think. And 8 clearly had no trouble holding her hand back from spending. 7 you couldn’t figure out, probably a corporate dude who works in one of those high office buildings you see in the skyline. 1, 2, 3 and 4 were likely more like you, right? What kind of circumstances have pulled 8 unrelated individuals from all walks of life here with one goal. You were so lost in your mind and the countless speculations that you didn’t notice your eyes being focused on 7’s face. He was still deep in conversation with 3 but he’d turned around to match your stare, only breaking eye contact momentarily to look at 3. He then mumbled something, you thought you could make out him saying your number then both looked back at you. 

My fantasy threesome. No! Stop…

You realised that to him it likely looked like you were ogling at his face. You turned away from their eyes and looked down at your plate of food, shoving a bite-too-big into your mouth out of nervousness. Your cheeks hurt from distension with the amount of food inside, you didn’t look up to check, but you hoped they turned away now. Alas, you could still feel their eyes on you. 

The awkward exchange was brought to an end by a yell from outside. 2- you hadn't even noticed that she’d gotten up- was yelling at someone in the square. You got up to join 3, 4, 6 and 7 in their observation of the commotion, but not before helping 1 up from his position.

“Thank you,” he said, to which you gave him a short nod, clearly more occupied by the issue outside. 

 “Hey, what are you doing!,” 2 yelled at 8, you now saw what was going on.

8 had used up most of the time to buy…clothes. You were all left with just under 20 minutes till the show's end. Everyone ran down quickly to meet an annoyingly ‘confused’ 8 at the centre. She feigned cluelessness as she questioned the ruckus. 

“You spent all our time on clothes!” 2 all but freaked out. “Why didn't you do it in your own room!”

8 gave an innocent look and then said; “I wanted to wear them out here. And we could always just increase the time..?”

“And how would we do that?” 7 questioned calmly (with his addictive ass voice).

8th floor looked between everyone’s distressed faces and laughed, “Really? None of you know how to get more time?”

“Stop messing around and just spit it out!” 2 inched closer to 8.

“I’ll tell you…” she trailed off for a moment. “If you apologise to me.”

“Enough games! I’m not apo-” 2 began but was cut off by 6 grabbing her arm.

 “Use your words, talk it out.” he said firmly. 

4th pushed between them and began to apologise on behalf of 2nd. Surprisingly this worked.

“It’s the stairs!” 8th motioned to the area behind her. “Going up and down increases the time.”

That…doesn’t even make the least bit of sense. Why would it be the stairs? Wouldn’t it be counter-intuitive to place so many cameras for a show about stairs. Surely someone saw the flaw in this theory…7! 

In the spur of the action that everyone seemed to jump into, you whipped your head over to seven who was already looking at you, a look of understanding was exchanged, but the others had already started running to the steps and you two were due to join them soon. It seemed that everyone else was convinced. Or in the least bit willing to try. So, with a deep breath in, you split from 7 jogging to the stairway on the right, him on the left. Up & down. That's how you guys spent the next 15 minutes. Testing out the theory of this hellish exercise being your source of time. After a quarter hour of hardwork and heavy sweat, you all stood back, a little defeated as the clock counted down from 10 seconds. But when it reached 1, it flashed and went up again to 30 hours! A collective sigh/laugh of relief washed over you all. You’re getting another chance at this money game. A whole other day just from climbing the stairs. 8th floor giggled loudly,

“See! I told youuuu. I noticed the time go up when we were seeing the rooms and I figured it out, haha! I’m pretty smart!”

Except you weren’t convinced. Yes, ok, maybe the facts point to the obvious, but it still didn’t make any sense. Whatever.  

. . .  

Night fell quicker than you’d anticipated, likely because being in this space was very disorienting. You have no way of telling the actual time other than the huge clock they provide. hmm. It was the young hour of 8pm when everyone retreated to their personal spaces to sleep. 8pm for you however, signaled the end of your shift and start of you free time, so sleep was not greeting you any time soon. Your room was pretty boring, even after all the ‘decorating’ you’ve done. A fold-out bed, like 6’s, a pillow and a blanket. Plus the ‘toilet’ that you’d blocked off with a few cardboard boxes for your own peace of mind. Despite not being much, it had cost you a fortune. Tossing and turning in the prison like bed did nothing to quiet your mind nor entertain it. It killed time though. Still, the ceiling here was much more boring than the one back home and- back home! Who the hell was going to be covering your rent? It was due in a few days. Oh no…You would really rather not come home to an eviction notice. Anxiety began to bubble in your chest. Your feet quickly took you to the phone, but since you were not requesting something in-game, you were not even given a price. You looked at the nearest camera and pleaded to whomever was on the other side but still you could not rest. It was around this hour you’d take a nightly stroll anyway. 

The outside was a bit cooler than the room, making you hug yourself for warmth. Forearms resting on the stairs edge, there was a faint smell of cigarettes in the air, gag. The room, vast as it was, was very unassuming from up here. You thought maybe exploring the downstairs would be fun. 

Fake ice cream in the parlor, fake dogs at the stand, fake clothes in the shop, an ominous figure moving out of the corner of your eye, fake pizza at the-wait. You quickly whipped around only to be met with glasses inches away from your face. A yelp almost escaped had he not covered your mouth and pushed you into the wall. 7. Finally eye to eye after a day’s worth of side eyes. 

This gave you an opportunity to take a good look at him. A bit taller than you, very intense eyes hidden behind a neat pair of round-rim glasses. The events of the day had left their print on him, hair a slight mess and cheeks tinted red from exhaustion. He looked down at you with a stong poker face and you considered biting his hand. Right now, you have no idea what his intentions are here nor what he wants with you. You stood there panting for a beat or two before he took his hand off of your lips, but not before shushing you first. You stood together in a momentary awkward silence as he let out a deep sigh and fixed his glasses back up his face. You raised an eyebrow at him, motioning him to break the ice you stood on. 

“Sorry,” he started. “I didn’t mean to startle you.” 

“Wow. What would you do if did mean to startle me,” you joked, earning no reaction from him. Not a single muscle movement, not even a slight smile or anything. 

Tough crowd.

His face slowly turned away from you and you followed his gaze towards the time screen. 

“You didn’t seem convinced earlier with the time situation, did you have another theory?” he whispered

Of course you did, it really wasn’t that difficult to put together

“Why wouldn’t I be convinced? We saw the time go up, no?” You tried to play dumb, to which he only slightly turned his head to give you a sarcastic look. You almost squirmed under his glare. He then turned himself to be fully facing you and you mirrored his position. He pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and popped one into his mouth, then proceeded to tilt the pack as an offer to you, which you politely declined. He shot you a questioning look.

“They’re worse for you than I could possibly explain,” you chuckled. 

He nodded as he flicked his lighter and took in a deep inhale which he exhaled from his nose in your general direction. He knew what he was doing. You let out a few fake coughs to try to get the flow of conversation to start again, he only kept eyeing you observantly.

“You’d make a terrible actress,” he said between puffs. You chose to remain silent. Another breath in, then out, “The cameras, the time, the hours added after touring the rooms, do you think I think you're that naive?”

You cursed your inability to mask your facial expressions. He must’ve seen the enlightenment on your face earlier this morning, then again on the stairs. You let out a defeated sigh. 

“I think…they want a show…Content,” you hesitated.

He gave you a satisfied nod, “that’s what I fear.” And after a brief moment of contemplation; “You’re pretty observant 5,” he said, tongue in cheek. 

He threw his burnt out cigarette at his feet then looked down as he stomped on it. His eyes shifted back up to your face then the clock. Almost midnight. You waited patiently for him to add to his previous statement, but you only observed him sniff lightly and fix his glasses again. His eyes met yours one last time, then he turned away and headed for the stairs. You watched as he paused after only a short distance was put between you. His hand went up to rest on his hip and the other to rub his eyes. It seemed like he wanted to say something but was unsure if he should. Before you could speak up he said;

“It’s good to know I can depend on someone here.”, Shooting you a quick look at the end then he sauntered away to his room. 

Heat crept up your cheeks, and you tried to convince yourself it was due to flattery and nothing else. 

. . .  

The smell of something burning overwhelmed your senses. You couldn’t find the source of the smoke that was blocking your vision completely. A faint yet somehow prominent ticking was shaking your entire being with every click. Voices started circling your form, they were asking you something you couldn’t quite make out. Chanting your name in a calm, level voice, unfitting for the situation at hand. 

Over

And over 

And over 

And-

You turned around, now finding yourself in your old apartment’s kitchen. It felt like home. The source of the voice hunched over the sink was a man, wearing an apron over a pristine white uniform, his eyes locked on your figure, a concerned knot of his brows etched onto his forehead. 

“Seven…” you sighed with relief. He gave you a confused, then sincere look, opening his welcoming arms to you. You crossed confidently into his warm embrace, this felt so natural. You’d done this more than a hundred times over. Over on the stove, he was making-burning-some scrambled eggs. There’s the source of the smoke. You said something to him and he gave a hearty laugh, not that you heard either side of this conversation. It was all blurry. You whipped around, still in his cradle to find the source of a new, loud thumping sound. The apartment front door- your train of thought was derailed when the sound became banging.

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

Hurried bangs met your door, causing the fantasy around you to crumble.

5…5..

“5! Are you ok?” an unfamiliar voice called from outside, startling you awake. You rolled off the bed onto the floor, determined to stop the disturbance before gathering your thoughts. Stumbling up towards the door handle, you ripped it open to reveal a quite agitated 7, both hands on hips, glasses perched atop his head. The events of your dream started coming back to you, making your eyes widen in embarrassment. He took a deep breath in, eyebrows furrowing at your expression.

“Are you ok? We-” he was cut off by the room door slamming shut. He remained in his position for a second, confusion now settling onto his face, and fixed his glasses back were they’re of use to him. 

Inside, you were having a mini spiral, heat still strong on your cheeks and down your neck.

You’ve known the man for all of 24 hours and you’re already fantasising about him?! Ok maybe not fantasising, you obviously can’t control your dreams. Dear lord, he’s barely even spoken 5 full sentences in your general direction! Girl get it together. 

You ran your hands down your face, wishing you could have some ice cold water to splash yourself in right now. Heart still beating a million beats, you spent the better part of 5 minutes trying to make yourself more presentable and less like a girl who’d been dreaming of her teammate. So much for not making things weird. It hit you that, due to the absence of your alarm, you’d probably overslept and the others were likely waiting on you to begin the plight of stair climbing. You felt so awkward, you hoped they didn’t let you sleep that long. With one final stretch, you opened the door again, ready to face the crowd. You took one singular step outside before a voice startled you from the side. 

“5 are you-” he started, only to be cut off by your slight jump and not so slight scream. 

“You need to stop doing that.” You panted. 

“I didn’t mean to-”

“I’m fine.” That came out a bit harsher than you intended, you just need to put some air between the two of you right now, let the hormones settle or whatever. You kept your head forward as you walked to the stairs, catching a glimpse of the others who were looking up at you. This descent was encased in an awkward silence, broken only by the sound of your footsteps, 7’s a few paces beyond you. 

Finally re-joining the group, you said a quick good morning and stood quietly as 7 explained the plan for today. You had your arms crossed, eyes fixed on the floor as he spoke next to you. You’re sure they heard your scream. Also why was he the one to come check up on you? You found yourself recalling last night’s interaction, reflexively biting the inside of your cheek. You looked up to find 8 smirking knowingly at you, not that there was anything to know. Her eyes bounced between you and 7 a few times as her lips spread out into her million dollar smile, clearly unable to contain excitement, and you doubt it had anything to do with the disgusting exercise you’re about to embark on. You avoided her looks timidly only to find 2 also giving you a side-eye-smirk combo. 

“Okay ready? Off we go.”

For the next 4 days you went laps through the stairs to earn more time and also started to genuinely regret not just killing yourself, although the stairs have been giving you a very similar effect.

Lunch was always a treat, more figuratively than literally. Sitting in 1st floor’s room and sharing vague stories had become your favourite part of the day. 

You’ve grown especially fond of 2. Her quick wit and loud laugh broke through the hardened exterior she’d put up pretty quickly. Her company was always welcome. 4th floor seemed sweet, though her continuous complaining and subtle pessimism drove you crazy sometimes. 

3, a man deserving of an award for how awkward he is, had become closer to 7. Often conversing as they smoked. Watching them was a bit of a guilty pleasure of yours now. Especially the latter of the two. Maybe you should’ve taken him up on that cigarette. 

The more time you spent here, the more you got closer to putting your finger on where you’ve seen 6th before. When you brought this up to him in a private conversation he stiffened up. 

“Just one of those faces,” he clenched his jaw in anger, though you never found out what could have prompted that. 

8 has never joined your lunches, despite 7; someone who was only the floor below her, being always present. Not that you would ever complain about either of those things. 

You and him found a small…routine growing. 

It had started with you lagging behind everyone going to bed, usually ending up alone. You chose to spend this time in the open air rather than the small room, it gave you a sense of tranquility. Away from the banter and bickering, embraced by the oh so familiar silence. He joined you the first night after 20ish minutes of solitude. You hadn’t expected conversation to take place between you two, owing to your brief encounter the night before, but you were pleasantly surprised. 

You two were seated on the swingset side by side, him completely still as you swayed back and forth a little. There was a short lived comfortable quiet between you two, unexpectedly broken by; 

“Do you want to play chess?”

And that’s how you ended up in his room, sat on the floor hunched over a freshly-bought chess set. It's not like you hadn’t played this before, but you were in no way good at it. Hell, you still take a moment to remember which piece moves which way every turn. It seemed however, that this was 7’s domain. Can this man get any more cliche. He explained the rules slowly to you, nothing stuck though, your mind was obviously elsewhere. The first match-set ended in a 3-0, his win obviously, but you held your ground pretty well, rounds lasting upwards of 40 minutes.

“Not bad,” he said after one particular move caught him off guard, prompting a fluster spell to take over you, followed by a quick loss. Maybe he planned it. 

On the second night, he offered to teach you some techniques that you could use. You thought this counterintuitive because he’d know how to get you anyway. But you really couldn’t turn down getting to listen to him talk for 20 continuous minutes. Your bottom lip hurt from how often you bit it to suppress a giggle. You still lost, obviously. 2-0

The following day you used some of your money to buy a chess guide. It was less out of a crush and more so your burning competitiveness. He opened his door that night to find you; out of the uniform jacket with sleeves rolled up to your elbows and a determined look on your face. You took a little longer to meet up with him that night, spending an extra hour alone memorising new moves. You were going to wipe that cocky smirk off of his face no matter what. You’d managed to counter some of his moves and kept the games going for longer. 1 whole hour, your new personal best. It was during the final few moves from each of you that you’d taken him by surprise. 

“Check-mate,” you said with a premature victory smile. 

His eyes widened, hand rushing up to fix the glasses back into their preferred spot. He made an exaggerated movement of rubbing his eyes under the frame, only to look at the board again. He brought his face closer to the board and turned his eyes up to look at you as he grabbed a piece to nullify your previous move. 

“You lost,” he whispered. 

“Heyyy you didn’t even say checkmate!” You whined 

“We don’t have to,”

“You’re playing dirty!” 

You erupted into a fit of giggles, mirrored by him with a stifled laugh. You found yourself leaning back on your elbows as he also adjusted his position to be closer to you. You shut your eyes and tilted your head back, really breathing in this moment. He took this chance to properly scan you over, stopping curiously at a large scar on your left forearm. 

“What’s this?” he queried.

“What?” your eyes snapped down to where he was looking. “This…is  a scar?”

He rolled his eyes. “How did you get it,” he subconsciously ran his index down the discoloured tissue, sending shivers down your back. 

“Oh uhm,” you stuttered nervously. “I- hey wait what happened to keeping our lives to ourselves here?”

“For one, I wasn’t the one to suggest that” he kept inspecting your arm with his finger, almost like a child fascinated by a toy. “And I beat you, three nights in a row so,”

“What? Cmon!” you scoffed. “We never agreed on this! Why don’t you tell me something about you first? Like whether or not you’re some chess champion and I’m an idiot for battling a professional.”

“You’re not in a negotiating position right now,” he laughed, that’s a first. “Just…keep it vague.”

“Protesting,” you finally answered. His face changed into an unreadable expression, followed by what you could swear was him being a bit impressed. 

“Didn’t take you as the type,” he hesitated. 

“Wow, I’m a little offended.”

“No I just- you look a lot more like a pacifist.”

“No I hate sitting around doing nothing in the face of corruption, gotta fight for what you love you know.”

Sensing the sudden heaviness that fell onto your conversation you got up to leave. He remained in his position on the ground, cogs clearly turning inside. You reached for the door handle.

“Don’t hurt your brain thinking too hard, pretty.” you didn’t mean for that last part to be said out loud. He snickered. 

“I’m not.”

“Good,”

“No, I mean I’m not a grandmaster. I just play for fun,”“Gotya, I’ve been losing to just some guy. Great.”

“Goodnight 5,”

“Good night 7,” 

. . .  

It had been a long 4 days. Food was never enough anymore, having each of you fight chopstick to chopstick for the last bite of anything was beginning to weigh down on everyone. A collective sigh erupted around 1st’s room.

“We must be burning like 30000 calories a day, shouldn’t we be getting more food?” 4th questioned.

“Hmm I could really go for a hot dog right now,” 3rd all but moaned, head resting on the wall behind him.

“We need to divide the work in two,” 6th dropped his utensils onto the empty boxes. Now that sounded like a plan. Go team! 

So, everyone decided that, starting the next morning, you’ll split into 2 equal teams to divide the work. The odds and the evens, a genius solution to-

“I want to switch, we don’t get along,” 2 sighed. She had a point though, her and all the other members of her team had been picking petty fights and arguments all week. You’ve all had to practically pull them apart, especially with 6 and 8. It would be best if she switches,yes. You gave it a moment of thought , yeah no. Not jumping into that piranha pit. Who in their right mind would-

“I don’t mind which team I’m on,” 1st floor the man that you are. 

And so it was decided, team 1 (odds) will be running tomorrow while team 2 (evens, obvi) rests. Whichever team does the work that day gets 2 meals per person, whilst the resting team gets only 1, allowing us to both rest and digest on alternating days. A satisfying tandem. 

. . .  

“What do you think of the new system?” Chess set long abandoned in favour of a cigarette to ease his mind. Always the worrier, he was. 

“I think it will work. Or I hope it does anyway,”

“Still think it isn’t the stairs?”

You’d actually completely forgotten that. “...I don’t know.”

. . .  

The system worked well, for 5 days you switched back and forth between leisure and hardwork. 

You would often observe 1st floor on your days off. Witnessing him falling very far behind due to his leg. You wanted to ask him about it but never found the right time. It led to him meeting his lap quota way later than anyone else, but you knew if you called out the unfairness you’d only be met with criticism. Plus tension was already high in that group. On the upside, you got to watch 7 find ways to entertain himself on your down-time (and all hot and sweaty on odd days). The most entertaining thing to do though, was utilising this time with 2nd floor. She tried to teach you some of her calisthenics, but those moves were really easier watched than done. Even 3rd joined you on multiple occasions giving you the purest form of entertainment. And your most favourite; men falling flat on their ass.

The bubble was abruptly burst by a scream echoing from the stairwell, and you all rushed to the victim’s aid. You arrived to see 6th floor tightly clutching 1st’s hand. You didn’t catch what he told him, too focused on determining if there was an injury to tend to or not. Old habits die hard. 2nd pushed past 6th, making a point of bumping into him on her way up. 1st protested, and you gathered what happened here. She was covering for him.

“I get stiff when I don’t workout.”

When your day rolled around the following morning, she was clearly exhausted from the added load and collapsed halfway through the top. 

“You ok?” you crouched next to her.

“Yeah yeah fine, just need a minute.”

. . .  

“I don’t need it,” 2nd protested.

“Yeah you do actually,” you refuted. “Plus I’m full.” Liar.

She wanted to continue arguing but her stomach clearly had the upper hand. 7 gave you a small smile from the other side of the stuffy room. You’d become better at figuring him out, every twitch and blink of his like its own secret code. You held his eyes for a few more seconds, but with the state of him at the moment- cheeks red, eyes tired and the day’s hard work evident on his face- you thought it best to look away. 

This incident happened again, a day later with 3rd floor as well. Noble as it was, it came with the looming threat of 6th floor’s bubbling impatience. 4th floor, whom you’d previously thought to be on the kinder side, was upset at 1st floor eating his regular meal schedule. It's not like he wasn’t working at all, just less than usual. You couldn't understand what the big deal was, it really wasn’t like he was holding everyone back. 

. . .  

A well deserved mid-work break in your personal quarters was now a luxury you didn’t previously predict. With unease weighing heavy on everyone, group meals were switched out for solitude, for the best anyway. 2nd floor would sometimes join you to sit in silence together. Well, usually sit in silence.

“You almost got it,” her gruff voice commented, still eating her food.

“Really? It feels like the wall is doing all the work right now,” you flopped back down, an ‘oof’ sound escaping as your back hit the floor.

She dusted her hands, getting up to show you.

“It’s all in your mindset,”

“What kind of health pseudoscience is that?” you giggled, watching her perfectly do a handstand in the middle of the room.

She gave you an unimpressed look, “You’re close minded. Your putting too much focus on just your body, but if you're scared of falling, you won’t be able to get up there,”

“Deep,”

“No. I’m talking about handstands, don’t make it profound,” she chuckled as she dropped back down, pausing for a moment before talking again.

“What’s with you and glasses?”

“What?”

“Saw you sneaking up to his room the other night” she gave you a cheeky look.

“I was not *sneaking*, it was late and I didn’t want to wake anyone up. We just play chess together, that’s all. And we’re just friends,”

“Why at night?”

“Neither of us can sleep that early. Plus we’re sort of busy during the day?” you made a pendulous up and down movement with your finger.

“And our days off?”“What were you doing up that late anyway?”

“Irrelevant, answer the question.”

“I-” You paused to think. Why *did* you two only meet in such late hours. This had completely gone past you somehow. Outside, you would never entertain a guy that only seeks you out after sundown, why had you let it happen here? Yeah sure, it's nicer at night with no one else around but…but what? You two weren’t a thing, this was just a silly crush! He doesn’t owe you anything. And you don’t have to prove anything now.

“It’s just how it is 2nd, don’t read too much into it.”

Her face had morphed into that of subtle anger.

“You and I are friends, you don’t see me hiding that.” she huffed, her tone changing to that of quiet scolding. “You can’t trust him! Especially not those floors. I don’t know what he wants with you, but I’d keep my guard up.”

  . . .   

The chute groaned open unexpectedly, filling the room with a pungent smell. Inside, dozens of black bags were stacked up next to bottles of…pee? You couldn’t even try to theorise as to what might be going on here. Standing up to find an answer, you walked over to the door, abandoning your food, appetite long gone. You opened the door to find the welcoming blond haired woman leaning against the frame. Before you could ask, she said;

“1st feels guilty about not being able to keep to keep up, so he offered to keep everyone's waste in his room,”

“And the others agreed to pile up their crap in the smallest room?” 

She shrugged and walked away. 

You thought of the kind man 4 floors below you, and how his conscience put him in this position. It didn’t make sense though. He’s already at the most disadvantage here, both by  earning the least and having a tiny tiny living space. You thought of how the bags would hinder movement even further, and how, since everyone would eat in his room, he’d already had to stockpile the empty boxes. And oh god the stench. You only had the chute open for a minute or two but you’re sure the smell was going to haunt you tonight. The number of bags in the metal box -obviously belonging to the top three floors- had you guessing if some of them had an explosive week and a half. Probably 6th. Your eyes looked over to your own stock of goods. No, your room was big enough. You hit the button to close the chute and send it down without contributing to this mess of a situation. It was time to get back to running so you did some of the stretches that 2nd taught you to ease the aching muscles.

  . . .   

“You look like you need an exorcism”

“Sorry we don’t all have loose ligaments”

“What does that even mean”

  . . .   

You opened the already unlocked door to regroup with your team, only to find a disgruntled 2 leaning against the railing.

“Did you do it?” she questioned with a poker face.

“No,” “3rd and 4th did. 6th and 8th too,”

“7th?” 

“No idea,” she looked off to the side. 

Before you could say anything else, 3rd floor zoomed up past you, tripping over nothing for no reason.  Followed by 7th, who shot a ‘get to work look’ at both of you. This pissed her off.

“Why does he act like he’s the only person here with a brain?” It was more a statement than a question. You dropped your head down in a defeated sigh. He really does act like that. 

“We should-”

“After you.”

  . . .   

1st floor’s idea brought life back to the show, with 6th floor’s glares long gone, everyone felt at ease. Group lunches became a daily thing again and you think that you saw 6 smiling at 1 the other day, though you might’ve just been hungry. Your visits to 7th’s room had become less

frequent, owing mostly to the talk you had with 2nd, though he did not seem to overthink the change. 1st floor would still help, at his own pace, which baffled you. Was he now not doing twice the work? No-one else seemed to mind, but you thought of a way to give back to your unlucky teammate. You had noticed earlier that he had next to no belongings in his room, nothing to sleep with specifically.  Before the next waste delivery came around, you bought a warm blanket and a soft pillow -nicer than the ones you got yourself, since you’re likely spending a while here anyway- and wrapped them in an unassuming black bag with ‘open me’ written on with some marker. You made a point of blending it in with the other bags just because you really don’t know 4th floor’s situation and you feared someone else would take it. It wasn’t much, but it was the least you could do. The following morning, you awoke to see a well rested, smiley 1st floor, it filled you with warmth. 

“Oh 1st floor, how did you get that” 3rd floor noticed the new living situation during lunch. 

“Someone sent it to me as a gift I think,” he smiled from ear to ear. “They did not mention who they were…thank you.” he bowed his head to everyone in the room.

Looks were exchanged all around but you’d managed to keep a poker face and act as surprised as the others, you didn’t do this for praise afterall. More for the community. 

The issue at hand now was the time, which had not been meeting the quota you predicted it would. It all came to a head on an even day. 

They had been running all day, with not a minute gained on the time. 

“Screw this, I’m going back to my room.” 8th pushed past 4th. 

“What?” she panted back to her.

“It’s not working, I’m not doing this anymore.”

“You can’t just-” but she’d already turned away. 

You looked back at the clock desperately, still nothing. Your team ended up joining them, in a miserable attempt to prolong your stay. Up and down till nightfall. 8 hours remained ticking down by the end of the day. But then, as all was seemingly hours away from being lost. The time shot up 20 minutes, then another. A laugh of relief escaped everyone's mouth.

“Stupid thing was lagging” 6th wheezed. With that, you called it in for the night, hopeful that tomorrow, things will go back to how they were. 

Oh how you couldn’t be more wrong. 

  . . .   

Another morning waking up to panic and banging on your door. You rushed up and out of the room to cast your eyes to the time. 20 minutes. What happened! This can’t end like this. Everyone began doing their part frantically. Up & down. You finished just the one cycle before a different kind of panic erupted from the stairs a few floors below you. Rushing down to a small gathering of your teammates, hunched over someone flat on the ground, you pushed yourself in between to assess the situation. 4th floor, seizure. 

“She’s seizing!” you panted as you put her into the recovery position. 

“Do you have medical training?” Really 7th? Is this really the time to ask this? What does it look like?

“EMT.” 

“What does she need?” 

“Phenytoin! She needs Phenytoin!” At that, 2nd and 3rd rushed down to reach the square for the medicine. In hindsight, it would've probably been quicker if they used one of the rooms, too late now. 

7th helped you carry her all the way down, but by the time you met with everyone, a fist fight had erupted. 6th had tackled 2nd to the ground. 7th left your side to try to control the situation only to be roped into the fight. 3rd’s nose was now bleeding.

“She could get permanent brain damage!” Your reasoning fell onto deaf ears

It all happened so fast- the fight, the call and…giggles. You looked behind you to find 8th floor, hunched over herself and clutching her stomach in laughter. 

“Can’t you see what I see?” she wiped actual tears from her eyes. 

True to her words, a marvelous site casted its glow upon all onlookers.

Time was added.  

03/ Chess not checkers.

[stxrquotes]

yanqing & yunli except i headcanon yunli as audhd so it’s yanqing and his disaster gf

i’ve seen this one really really really sweet couple on insta, it’s a nt guy and his audhd wife and theyre so sweet. he takes the time to understand her and how their brains are different and it’s so lovely. anyways i kind of imagine yanli like that when their relationship develops more. especially because we got to see them outside of their squabbling in the last part of the tb quest—they work together well; they actually have grown to trust and respect each other (there’s also a dialogue if you choose to talk to yunli before confronting hoolay w/ feixiao where she compliments yanqing on his finishing atk and asks him to teach it to her—she even lightheartedly admits he might be stronger than her), and i feel that their trust and respect will only grow more with time. and of course they will always squabble and pick at each other

so to elaborate on audhd yunli, first off we all know how blunt and stubborn she is. her thinking is so straightforward that even her fighting style is “smash with big stick, everything die” (she prefers brute force over strategy or dexterity—doesn’t mean she can’t strategize, i just mean to point out that even in her fighting she gets straight to the point which i find amusing). i adore her so much my beautiful autistic daughter. special interest is swords. yanqing gets an honorable mention because he’s also obsessed with swords but i think he’s just a sword nerd who collects swords while yunli’s interest goes into the forging, the history, the personalities of the swords

yunli: we may both be obsessed with swords but i am obsessed with them in a much deeper and more autistic way than you could ever be

i have also considered though that yanqing could be headcanoned as having adhd; he’s impulsive, and i do still love the idea from pjo of demigods having an advantage in battle because of their adhd. reminds me of yanqing, he’s a hyperactive little dude bouncing all over the place in battle and idk. he’s also just. a teenage boy. so idk, remains to be determined

anyways i just hc that in all parts of yunli’s life except for anything having to do with swords she’s a complete mess and a ticking time bomb. everything in her room is a mess—except her swords (and old mettle is given the most pristine treatment). she’ll ignore any expectations put upon her unless it has to do with swords or something else she’s a little interested in. she has a few safe foods she eats on rotation in mass amounts.

also im imagining her in school and all i can picture is the leg bounce and the thousand yard stare. +10000 aura she doodles swords on all her papers. every project where students are given enough creative liberty and freedom to choose their topic, you fucking bet yunli is going to talk about swords in one way or another. idk how school works on the xianzhou zuming or frankly anywhere in hsr, but i guess that doesnt matter and i dont really care

also her sense of justice and tunnel vision with cursed swords. it’s so black and white to her (it has a lot to do with trauma ofc, but still i see that same kind of black/white thinking and extreme sensitivity to injustice as a trait on the spectrum).

i also would like to share headcanons about her sensorial and tactical development as a child lol. something about her screams sensory seeking. i use the korean voiceover, and i ADORE how they’ve voiced her and the direction they went. i haven’t listened to the english much, but from what ive heard she seems a lot more softspoken, which isn’t at all wrong or bad, it just is different than what i expected. in the kvo she’s got this monotone shrill going on that little girls with zero vocal control have and it’s fantastic. i hc she has no sense of volume whatsoever, can’t perceive her voice and doesn’t realize she’s shouting, things like that. it really fits with how she acted in her story quest, she’s just absolutely tone-deaf, both literally with her voice and figuratively with social cues, reading the room, etc.

practicing with old mettle has got to be so fucking loud, she’s throwing that shit around and it’s going CLANG CLANG CLANG and there’s no way she doesn’t have massive tolerance to high sensory input. for kids who are on the extreme end of high sensory needs, they’ll sometimes just seek out loud noises constantly, and of course, won’t realize it might be disruptive to others because they don’t even feel like it’s loud. so yeah yunli stims by throwing swords around because hell yeah. the fucking CLANG CLANG CLANG regulates her nervous system i just know it🗣️🔥

while some people are just born with dif sensory needs/issues, they can also develop due to your sensory experience, or lack thereof, as a child. kids who weren’t held/interacted with enough might have difficulty with lots of sensory input, while on the other hand (i dont know this one for sure, i am making a guess) i would think that a lot of exposure to excess sensory input might cause that kid to develop high sensory needs.

and that’s what i think with yunli would be part of her sensory issues, whether or not we’re even talking about autism—she grew up in the forgery around all that constant noise, not to mention the traumatic cursed sword event which could have exacerbated the way all that affected her nervous system because it also messed with her emotions and trauma is stored in the body AND she was a child, yadda yadda :3

i could keep going but idk this has been in my drafts for so long bc i kept thinking of shit and i didnt even talk that much about yanli

the reason i see them as disaster gf and nt bf is because although we’ve seen yanqing being a little shit, so much of that is about his maturity level as he’s still a teen. i just feel it and can’t articulate it well, i just feel that he’s got a calm spirit in there somewhere and as he grows he’s going to become so measured and patient and self-disciplined and it’s fantastic i want to see him grow into a fine young man (i know we probably wont but i can imagine it😞). it feels like that’s the direction he’s going with all the development from the recent tb quest, not to mention the parallels he has with jingliu

i hope this makes sense to others and not just me, for some reason i really see them as the wholesome nd girl and nt boy unlikely wombo combo cause yanqing has so much spunk and fire and yunli has so much spunk and fire but neurodivergently and they just burst into flames around each other but as they grow older it will wane and they will fan it down into glowing embers, soft and warm in the hearth; yanqing will hold her explosive spirit in his hands so gently, he’ll admire and understand her like no one else because somehow he just gets her, and she thrives in his comforting warmth. and when yanqing’s spirit crumbles and he loses that warmth and loses faith in himself, yunli can remind him of his strength and reinstall his sense of justice; she also brings the fresh autistic perspective of carefree innocence and autonomy that i feel yanqing needs in times where he might be overwhelmed by expectations or outside opinions. i just ugh i just . i love them i am going to throw up they’re beautiful and i just think that autistic yunli being understood by neurotypical yanqing is something that is so important to. society at large ,

[atoriv-art]

What are your thoughts on Sasuke x Gaara

beautiful showstopping saved my life we love you sasugaa <333

ok to actually answer: i think they have a very compelling dynamic! i really really like their chunin exams era with gaara being weirdly obsessed with sasuke because they're both "damaged" to put it in some way!

i wish we got to see sasuke's opinion about it a little more, especially since it comes at a time where he's starting to come around to the idea of using his power to protect and not just kill itachi, but this "i relate to your pain and i need to make sure my pain (and to gaara, therefore my power) is still bigger and more powerful" dynamic is soooo fun to me as an introduction point between them! i find it a lot more compelling than what it got interrupted by 😅

i understand the value of having gaara see someone who is Literally just like him (ie also a jinchuriki), but imo having him deal with someone who he perceives as Emotionally just like him (ie traumatized, angry and lonely) was already excellent...

also!!!!!!!!!! i'm not a fan of how sasuke is characterized in the five kage summit in general (or rather how he's demonized by the framing of it all. i love a good public meltdown. his evil laugh lives in my brain) BUT i looooooooove the scene with gaara confronting him i was NOT expecting it when i was watching it the first time and it was like an angel smiled down upon me.

and and and (guy who gets to bring up the naruto games again) they do a fun reversal of their original dynamic there it in the ninja storm games, with sasuke being the one to flaunt his pain and power against gaara

LIKE SORRY I JUST THINK IT'S FUNNN!!!! they have a lot in common and deal with it similarly but when gaara's at his lowest sasuke's starting to get better, and that gets flipped later on: when gaara's figured himself out it's sasuke who's completely spiraling... hehehehe!

ok ill put the rest in a read-more. jesus

i get why the pairing isn't very popular (sasuke has like, two of the biggest pairings soaking up all of the fandom attention span alkdsmak) but i cannot standddd the weird consensus that they don't like each other 😭 gaara showed in that scene that he does still hold some amount of respect and empathy for sasuke, enough to offer him a helping hand when he was at his lowest, and sasuke himself was engaging in the conversation much as he disagreed with gaara... it's gaara who starts the fighting back up, not sasuke!

imo gaara's words to naruto later on that get twisted into a "girl dump him" speech (😒.) are obviously meant to serve as a warning to manage expectations, because he Knows his friend is still not going to give up on sasuke and might not even particularly want him to, but he's speaking from the kage angle as opposed to what he personally would want

gaara CRIED for sasuke and stopped the fighting specifically to talk to him for fuck's sake he doesn't HATE him, his siblings have to convince him to give up on trying to talk to him and there's a distinction made of what should be done as a kage. and while i have a thousand things to say about how i don't love how the manga handles its kage characters wrt framing them as Generally Good, i do think it's notable that it's this that makes him give it up

"personal feelings" meaning, his siblings can recognize that gaara doesn't fucking want to fight him and would really prefer to talk this out. I think about this a lot sorry KSMDKSMDK so much of the consensus is that gaara, specifically, can't stand sasuke and for WHAT.

and as a sidebar i think their insistence on calling e/o by their full names/titles ("Uchiha Sasuke" / "Gaara Of The Sand") is so fucking funny.

i know what you are. also:

sasuke engaging in battle banter. OPEN YOUR EYES

ANYWAY!

i actually think that of my "quirky" pairings (the sasugaaneji triad that is.) it's the one with the most canon basis and it's not even close. however it's also the one that i notice people engaging the least with ASKJDNSAKD which is obviously fine it's just a little funny to me

[confusedemiposts]

✿"so you're a girl?" ✿

Genre: fluff? Humour? Platonic mostly

Warnings: slight slander, touchy (Dazai) mentioned flat chest(Dazai), Tanizaki siblings, grammar mistakes

Notes: headcannons, probably oc, afab reader,referred to with she, reader is similar to haruhi from ohshc,I'm ashamed how long this took me,sorry if this shite I don't write often😭

Summery: You are the newest members of the Armed detective agency but (mostly) everyone thinks you are a boy, not that you really care about what gender you are perceived as its not like you were hiding the fact you are a girl but you just roll with it. How do they react and find out you are actually a girl?

Ranpo

the first the one to know

the moment he met you he knew

stared blankly at you than continued eating his sweets

didn't really care that much that no one else referred to you as a girl

Didn't find it important enough to make a big deal out of it

Dazai

When meeting you he stared at you for like one minute

watching your every move and observing your features

He quickly came to his conclusion

"That's a girl alright"

But didn't say anything and continued to refer to you as a guy

You know how he's quite physically affectionate?

Like jumping Atsushi and honestly just being close to people

He's definitely like that with you...

..but more touchy😰

waiting to see how long till you tell him you're a girl

once you're sick of his antics you tell him

Will act so surprised 💀

"My my your a girl?"🙀

"I couldn't have ever known! Your just so flat-"

SMACK

He got a deserved slap

Will whine about it

Asked if you can start wearing skirts and dresses

Yosano

One of the firsts to find out

it was after your first dangerous mission and you had to have a checkup

I think she'd have to read your file to add the checkup to your medical file and saw that you were a biological female on the file

During the checkup she asked about it

When you confirmed you are a girl she asked if you had any preferred pronouns

I love her

you said you didn't really mind

Would refer to you as a girl from then on

More girlies for the office 💪

Atsushi

took him a few months to find out

Always thought you were just a guy who's very in touch with his femmine side

Oh boy

Too be honest I'm not even sure how he finds out

heard you talking about periods with Yosano

He didn't suspect a thing

Thought that you were really knowledgeable about female anatomy

Poor boy wasn't taught anything so he actually wanted to learn too

Either asked you or Yosano

Honestly as I write this I still have no clue how he finds

Maybe the man just never finds out😭

I think he'd only find out either from Kyouka or accidentally seeing you change

Will grow nervous and awkward after finding out

Feels bad about any things he thought might have been inappropriate that he might've talked to you about

It will take him some time to treat you normally again

Kunikida

my boy was definitely the last to find out 😔

like how he didn't know Dazai was in the mafia he didn't know you were a girl

did get suspicious a few times

he overhead you ask Yosano for a tampon/pad

He thought he heard wrong

But then everyone was suddenly referring to you as she

"Are you talking about y/n?" 🤨

was absolutely flabbergasted when he realized you weren't a boy

"HES A SHE???????"

Had to look at you several times

he just thought you were a feminine guy😭

shocked to the core

had to sit down and process this Information

asked you why you never corrected anyone when they called you a boy

when you said you didn't care what gender you were seen as he went

"Oh"

"very well then"

Struggled with refering to you as a girl for a bit but corrected himself each time

Only change in behaviour afterwards is that he treated you more politely

Hes a gentleman at heart 🤷

Tanizaki siblings

Naomi

Naomi knew early on

was surprised when you both liked similar things

straight up asked

"are you a girl?"

when you said you are she goes

"Are you a crossdresser?🤨"

when she heard your reasoning she was fine with it

She decides to take you after work to see how you look in dresses

Junichiro

Found out the same day as Naomi

when Naomi said you guys were going somewhere alone together

"Okay-"

Then he thought it was a date

was going to kill you

Naomi told him you're a girl

He just stood there

🧍

"What"

Bro had no idea

Not even a single suspicion

Didn't believe it at first till he heard it from your own mouth

Kyouka

didn't take her long to figure out

after a case together you walked by a store with cute plushies in the window

A bunny teddy caught Kyouka's eye

You saw it and said it looked cute

she would have thought nothing of that comment since Atsushi would have said the same thing

but for awhile now she has been growing suspicious of your gender

Especially when she saw you use the female bathroom

But she doesn't know how to bring it up

Rather quietly she asks

"...y/n.. I've been wondering...are you a girl?

When you say yes she has a lot of questions

Asking why you didn't correct anyone or just why in general

Hearing your reasoning she'd understand but a little puzzled

Just saying you definitely bought her the bunny afterwards just to see her cute smile

kenji

Took a very long time

Honestly I don't think he would find out

He wouldn't care about your gender

He just likes you in general

He's so sweet

Always like

:D

Sorry I'm getting off topic

I think he'd find out only through Kyouka

"Ohh Mr is a miss?"

Still treats you the same

Fukuzawa

When you joined the agency he didn't question your gender at first

He knew because you probably needed some sort of identification to join the agency or something

but when everyone was referring to you as a guy he was absolutely confused

Had no clue what to refer you as😭

just said your name instead of any sort of pronouns

My man is trying his best

You noticed after awhile he never used any pronouns on you

So during a conversation once you made sure to say you are a girl

Glad that you told him but he got into the habit of just saying your name

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Should I do PM next?

[cthonic-bunny]

Hey babe can you do a composite / synastry observation on Pisces mars in the 5 h composite and 1st h Lilith synastry if you are familiar, I appreciate your posts .

Pisces Mars in 5th House of the Composite Chart and Synastry of Lilith in Partner’s First House

Do not interact if you are a minor. (18+)

Oooo I like this combo 👀 I’ve never experienced either, but I would like to!

For Pisces Mars in a composite chart, I feel like this is a placement where you two don’t have to talk too much to understand the other. Perhaps you’re not a very confrontational couple, and prefer to ignore the severity of certain issues to maintain the dreaminess of your relationship. In the 5th house, I’d say maybe you guys are always doing something fulfilling that you can submerse yourselves in. You probably both love to stay to yourselves and have more fun together than with others, so you two can become very introverted together. I imagine you guys come off as the “quiet” couple, but they just might not get the butterflies that can be felt with just so little words. I feel like this is also a couple that loves to watch movies together, probably likes to smoke or do drugs together, get involved in spirituality together and maybe do rituals almost as a date, and loves to transcend to music together. I think going out to art and science museums might be a great date together. Even if the sex is casual I feel like it can still feel very spiritual and you can just go straight into doing whatever else you need to do even though you just spiritually transcended LOL. I think you guys can try out a lot of things with little to no judgement with one another, because whatever flows just flows. Painting on the beach would be a nice date for you guys. I feel like you guys can also encourage mutable styles with one another, and can be known as a more alternative couple in some way. I feel like there’s a lot of sweetness and acceptance here.

For Lilith in 1st house synastry, i think one of you might have a personal style that is different than others, and this could’ve pulled the other one in like a magnet (I feel like Lilith is the one who loves how the house person expresses themselves). I feel like Lilith instantly found the house to be their ideal “bad girl/bad guy” match, or that they look like they could be even if they are sweet. I think Lilith would encourage the house person to express themselves in a way they never have before without caring about what other people think. The house person may not have understood the sexual appeal they naturally ooze, or the extent of it, until Lilith pointed it out. For some reason I feel like Lilith might encourage the house person to get more piercings and tattoos. I feel like Lilith would love to show off how they pulled the house person, and loves to present them to whoever. They might love how scandalous you guys might appear together, especially because of your appearances. I feel like this is a couple people can look at instantly just tell they get down like that. I would love to see the outfits you guys pull out when you guys are going out together. This is the couple that is NOTICED when you go out together and can look like you guys get into trouble together even if you don’t. I feel like Lilith likes the world to know the house person is THEIRS and theirs only. The house problem probably finds the stimulation from the Lilith person to be extremely motivating and liberating. I feel like the house person can undergo a lot of changes in this interaction and grow in ways they didn’t expect to, because with newfound freedom in expressions comes a lot of self discovery that they can keep with them even after the relationship. Lilith might teach the house person how to, subconsciously or not, to be more assertive and not come off as someone to be messed around with or walked all over. With a poorly aspected Lilith, i think maybe lilith can be perceived as the house person’s “downfall,” or someone who led them down a worse path than what was originally expected of the house person. The attraction to one another here sounds so enticing.

All in all, I feel like you two can find a lot of freedom in your self expressions together, and there is no judgment in exploring and changing how you express yourself on a day to day basis in whatever respect it may be. This sounds fun.

[nika-vincent]

Some of our reflections on the development of Halsin's personality in Bg3. Long post warning.

I can say that this post is something like a continuation of my previous one, which was devoted mainly to romance with Halsin. This time I gathered some more thoughts from my recent discussions with the guys who love this wonderful character, but this time the main topic will be the development of Halsin's personality in the game. Some things about romance will also be mentioned here a little, the moments we found in the game files, and a few more facts from the datamine. So if you haven't completed the game and don't want to get spoilers, then I suggest skipping this article for now. We will be very happy if this review can also help Larian to see some points that could be supplemented or repaired with patches and also look at how the players perceive our beloved bear and what they would like to see with him in the future.

I would like to start by saying that if we compare Minthara and Halsin in terms of the degree of personality development throughout the game, Minthara is prescribed better and even has her own different ways: to change herself for the better or to remain a bad girl. And I'm not gonna say that she doesn't deserve this because most players choose the path of good and there is no point in investing in the development of her character. Not at all. On the contrary, it shows that it is important for developers to take into account every detail in the game, and if players want to play the game differently for a change, they will discover a lot of new things and say: "Oh, dude! Minthara turns out to be not as bad as she seemed at first glance!". And this is really a wonderful move by Larian, which doesn't allow players to get bored and makes them look at situations and the characters themselves differently. (And by the way, if some character is in the minority according to the preferences of the players, this does not mean that it deserves to receive poor development.)

As for Halsin in this case, at the moment not only his romantic content is missing, but also his very development as a character and a full-fledged companion. This can be explained by the fact that he was probably recently added as a companion, and there simply wasn't time for him to prescribe more things that would reveal his character and potential to the fullest. Considering Sven Winke's recent post on Twitter, where he announced that Larian will again involve voice actors to record new content, there is a chance that these flaws will be fixed in patches and Halsin will get more interactive scenes than those he has now. (As far as I know, Minthara is also suffers from a lack of romantic content, as does Halsin, so I suggest waiting for now and following the official news from Larian …)

It's sad to see that new players who don't experience early access called Halsin a rather boring companion compared to others. However, players from early access spoke about him much higher and more positively, otherwise he wouldn't have become one of the popular characters of the community. So, why did this happen? I can explain this by saying that at that time Halsin was just something like an episodic character that we just had to rescue from the goblin camp and he would tell us everything he knows about our parasite and where we should go for further answers then. (And for an episodic character, that would be enough.) After that, we witness how he scolds Kagha because of the rite of thorns. And I think a particularly strong point was that in the case of Arabella's death, Halsin says in raised tones: "As for the Idol? It's nothing compared to life! A mere object, next to one nature's creations! You showed no pity, no remorse. I cannot absolve you!" I've seen people write admiring comments like: "Until that moment, I thought I couldn't love him even more!". The way he expresses his thoughts, shows concern, compassion, or regret and disappointment mixed with anger (because of the death of a little girl that Kagha allowed) - all this showed us the traits of Halsin's character and caused emotions among the players. Someone thought he was too soft, and someone admired his kindness. And that's how it should work, so that the character evokes different or even contradictory emotions in people, anything but boredom or the feeling that something is missing. This is what makes the character interesting, we want to learn more about him, see how he will behave in other situations and especially how he will react to the Baldur Gate City itself. And I can also note that we were particularly interested in his story with Ketheric Thorm, which he tells us about after the Tiefling party, as well as what he feels guilty about and what unfinished business he mentioned.

Unfortunately, much of what concerned Halsin's personal growth in the release version of the game remained not fully disclosed and seemed unfinished, especially in act 3. His quest during act 2 was challenging from a gameplay point of view, but from a story one it was quite touching and helped us learn a little more about Halsin's past and that the spirit of the land named Thaniel was his only childhood friend. We also learned a little about his parents, as well as the reason why he became the archdruid.

But the story of the shadow curse still remained as if unsaid, and also we didn't see any of his interactions with Ketheriс Thorm, which I think deserved to be realized, and were not limited to Halsin's stories only about Ketheric if we ask him. An interesting fact is that for a long time there were hints in the datamine that Ketheric's daughter Isobel died because of Halsin (correct me if I made a mistake somewhere, please). And I remember, I saw there that Isobel was killed by the spear 'Sorrow', the same spear that we can get in the secret vault in the emerald grove. Not to mention that in Halsin's room we can even find his diaries, in which Isobel was mentioned several times. This would have added a lot of intrigue and special opportunities for Halsin's interactions in the plot of Act 2 itself, but for some reason it remained behind the scenes and even if we ask Isobel about how she died, she cannot remember her killer. Although there are some special dialogues between Halsin and Isobel in the game files themselves at the moment, but there are none of them during the gameplay. I dunno why it was necessary to cut or change these things, and it is not for me to decide what to do here after all. But in my humble opinion, it would have added fire to Halsin's plot in act 2. I would regard this as a fact that even such a good and kind character as Halsin can make mistakes, has his own shortcomings and even dark sides. Therefore, before the release of the game, I had high expectations that Halsin would play a much bigger plot role in Act 2 because of these intrigues between him, Ketheric and Isobel than what we have in the game at the moment. The feeling of the whole story being left unsaid is still present in Act 2, but who knows, maybe it can be improved in patches?

When Halsin became our full-fledged companion in the game, we got new options for the dialogues, but very few of his interactions in the future. It's as if the development of his personality in the second act ended along with his quest. Remember what wonderful scenes with companions in Act 1 we watched over and over again when we stayed overnight in the camp. It helped us to get to know them better, to love someone or hate someone. Halsin definitely should not be deprived of this, we still want to get to know him so that later we can draw conclusions about him in Act 3 and help him find his own path, as it was with the other companions. We got to know our companions during acts 1 and 2 to see the end result of what we experienced together in act 3.

What confuses me is that the developers seem to have paid more attention to his sexuality than the development of his personality instead (not to mention that scandalous story of his sexual slavery to drows in his past, and he only tells us about it after we sleep with the drow twins in a brothel in his company). This looks especially sad for romance, because it looks like Tav fell in love with Halsin more for his sexy muscular body, and not for what kind of person he is. After all, even in real life, we fall in love with someone not for having a fine big booty, but for how a person presents themself to the world and how they treats us. I want to add here one quote that I just remembered: 'Personality is much more important, because the external beauty of a person is taken away by old age, but the beauty of the soul will remain forever.'

In act 3, at the moment, Halsin reveals much less, but we can still see some hints. After he appoints a successor to the Emerald grove in his place, and after we help heal the lands from the shadow curse, Halsin apparently has a conflict with himself about finding a new goal. He notes that he does not like the city of Baldur's Gate, he is saddened by the fate of orphans here, he would also like people to see a friend in nature. And there are also curious moments in his reasoning about shadow druids and their methods. But all this remains so far only at the level of discussions and comments that pop up sometimes. And we can only find out at the very end that he decided to find a new goal in helping people and orphans from the city in Thaniel's world. And you know, it's a really great idea, but I have this feeling again that in act 3 we missed a lot before he came to find this goal in his ending. The idea of his personal path still remained unfinished to the end. I also heard that he was supposed to have some kind of quest with a druid circle in the city, well, let's see if we'll have a chance to see it in patches.

Сomparing Halsin with the rest of the party, he still looks pretty unfinished in terms of development by the end of the game. Because each companion has their own personal options for the path of development, which we are able to influence, and we can notice the difference in the change in the character of a certain companion comparing with what they were in act 1 and what they became by the end of act 3. We can see what Shadowheart can be like if she rejects Shar, or what she will be like in the future if she becomes a dark justiciar. Astarion can remain as a spawn, but at the same time preserving himself as a person and not turn into the likeness of Cazador, whom he hated so much. Or we can help him become a Vampire Lord and the power will intoxicate him so much that he will even begin to dream of taking the city itself in the end. Even Minthara, the companion opposite to Halsin, also has her own personal path of development. But with Halsin himself, unfortunately, this is happening pretty weakly at the moment...

We have been discussing a lot lately what would help for the development of Halsin's personality, so that he could be on a par with the rest of the companions. And I'll start with an excellent thought from my dear friend @merrinla, which would give an excellent opportunity for the development of his personal path, which at the moment in the game looks somewhat unfinished (but I still believe in the power of patches, official writers and the love of fans!❤).

Considering that his background is labeled 'outlander', this makes him a person who grew up in a wild environment, wandering a lot, living in harmony with nature, free as the wind. And even his best friend is the spirit of the land, not from the ordinary people. In his youth, he lived this life, unencumbered by responsibilities, exactly before the crisis moment happened, which was a shadow curse that abruptly changed his usual life. And for 100 years, his goal was to heal the lands from this curse. Plus, his duties as an archdruid piled up here and he didn't have time for his own desires at all. "I was forgetting who I was," as he once told us. After the events in Act 2, he does not seem to be eager to return to the emerald grove, but keeps in touch with Francesca to find out news from there. He speaks quite critically about the city of Baldur's Gate, but he has a desire to help people here and make life in the city better. And I think it would be appropriate here to let Tav tell him something like: 'You know, Halsin, it's not for nothing that people say that everything can be found in Baldur's Gate. Maybe you can find yourself here too?' and also try to change his views on the civilized world, because at the moment he is not familiar with this world too well, and we could help him adapt, convince him that the city itself is not so bad, and find himself here. Even the romance with him will look great with this option.

So it would be a suitable solution if Halsin also had his own development paths: 1 - if he trusts our advice and assistance in adapting to the city, which will allow him to become more civilized. 2 - we agree that he is right in his critical views on the city and civilization, and ultimately he decides to remain an outlander.

I think that even his ending with the orphans could also look different depending on the choice of his personal path, as well as in the case of the romance with him. This is a really great idea, and thank you @merrinla so much for sharing it with me!🙏❤

I would also like to give my comment about Halsin's role in our party. Considering that we have often witnessed conflicts between our companions, in Halsin I see something like scales holding the balance. Someone like the 'father' of our party, an adult wise mentor with whom we could consult about our experiences and ask for his advice. And I would also be very happy to see how he will try to calm our companions in case of any conflict.😂 His wisdom and mentoring experience just have to play a role in our party. If we go on a romance path with him, I would really like him to let us know that he will always listen to us at any moment and support us. Maybe we could even unobtrusively take his hand in return for a while to show how much it means to us. It would also be nice if Thaniel could communicate more with Halsin in the camp, and, in the case of romance, in a dialogue with us, he would notice that Halsin cares about us. These cute moments and his modesty suit Halsin much more than excessive sexual innuendos.

I dunno if Larian will do something about the fact that in the game files Halsin should have received more interactions with Isobel. But I think it would be great and intriguing. And interactions with Ketheric would also be perfect here (Girls, don't start a fight until I find my popcorn😅). And it also seemed strange to me that Halsin had no reaction to Zevlor's betrayal. Maybe it's a bug or just another flaw, who knows. But it would also be good to get this scene, even if he was at our party at the time of the showdown with Zevlor. Maybe it would be nice to organize some kind of his reaction to Nightsong, too, given that Halsin learned about her from Aradin, but he thought she was an artifact, not a living angel. Some interactions with our pets in the camp, I think they should be for Halsin too. (Let him stroke Scratch's belly, haha) And also… the arm wrestling scene of Minsc and Halsin when? Just imagine how funny it might look, 'cause even the dialogue with Minsc about it was hilarious.😁

That's all for today! Thank you guys for reading this review to the end, and also join us in discussions in the feedback about Halsin of the official Larian's discord club! I wish great success to Larian and I thank them for creating this wonderful game for us, which unites people and allows us to discuss many things. We love you and hope that you will also succeed in your future projects, and I also wish you good luck and inspiration in working on new content for BG3!❤🙏

[gyrovagi]

hello and welcome to my gamer's den. i'm lok ming i'm 23 i use it/its pronouns. i follow from @eastgaysian. i doodle when my wrist agrees with me and produce polished work or write even more rarely, but mostly i talk about my ocs instead of actual shit that happens in video games.

dragon age is the puppet master that cursed my dick. pillars of eternity is the love of my life. owlcat games are my tempestuous affair and this bit is getting confusing.

i tag next to nothing including 'critical' posts so you are better off not following if that is a dealbreaker. also approximately once a week i manifest larian studios ceo swen vincke's death

carrd oc directory here; quick worldstate rundowns below ⬇️

CANON PROTAGS/NORMAL MEN. INNOCENT MEN:

eloy "el" surana (blood mage/arcane warrior) - i'm like if a control freak could control things ❤️ with blood magic ❤️. generally well-intentioned but hypervigilant, always playing 5d chess about the worst scenario. world's first moral (not necessarily ethical) male bigender manipulator. wields a wholly inappropriate degree of political influence in denerim

seongmin hawke (primarily diplomatic, sword + shield berserker) - afraid that his abandonment issues will leave him. pathologically conflict avoidant, fawn response to the max - up until someone he loves gets threatened, at which point good luck leaving alive lol. 'i don't think i need to talk about my feelings,' says man who just broke the arm of a templar asking around too much about the darktown clinic and then continued making casual conversation with varric as if nothing happened

ga-sun "arav'assan" lavellan (archer, assassin) - king of compartmentalization. would really prefer to be one guy helping people on the ground rather than the unwilling inquisitor chained by power he never wanted, fighting for his life to be as politically uninvolved as possible. guy who is duty-bound never to return home

dak-wai schlegel (spellblade) - bellara kisser, direct port of my bg3 durge. tal-vashoth grey warden mage seeking a righteous purpose after a complicated and bloody past, but who has yet to find a better general approach to problems than killing things with hammers.

TGIRLS SAVE THE WORLD(STATE):

sang tabris (champion) - next shem bastard who pisses me off i'm just going to fucking kill you. alistair did you eat yet ^_^. struggling to reconcile an irrepressible hope for a better world with the abject horrors he's been subjected to by the world he lives in at present. morrigan's lesbian husband.

so-min hawke (blood mage) - girl could you at least pretend not to be a chantry-hating apostate in the middle of the gallows. carver just got suddenly pissed off in a darkspawn tunnel and he knows it's not because of the genlocks

r trevelyan (rift mage) - tranquil since 18, and at age 33, honestly dealing pretty well with accidentally getting a magical lobotomy reversed. yeah ok so maybe the random prolonged neutral-expression weeping is a little off-putting. it's hard when you're the white girl who needs to save yourself and you're still figuring out the girl part

yazmin de riva (duelist) - embittered half-elf bastard child of the young lord owain trevelyan. frighteningly competent and driven, but has difficulty taking orders and working with others due to the huge chip on her shoulder. thinks lucanis dellamorte is a nepo baby

INSANE WOMEN AND MALE MANIPULATORS:

ngayu brosca (reaver) - what do you MEAN the fate of the country is dependent on two twenty-year-olds one of whom gets scared looking at the sun. has never once in her life believed she would live past twenty and that's looking increasingly likely as a prediction

rina hawke (assassin) - when you are endlessly bitter and refuse to deal with it in any healthy way because that would require you to acknowledge your resentment towards the family members you perceive as a burden. chronically insincere, subservient but seething the whole time, wouldn't be able to name a solid belief if you asked her, incapable of self-reflection. crack baby you don't know what you want...

caden trevelyan (templar) - wildly repressed homosexual. has weird ideas about being a man. constantly develops obsessive fixations on authoritative older men. believes he has the divine right to mete out violence but also that he has to spend his whole life repenting for his own existence. white boy who sucks 🔥

anestis mercar (champion) - lifehack: you can't have a bad relationship with your dad if you don't have a relationship with your dad. you don't really need a belief system as long as you know what you don't believe in. nobody else can ruin your day if you ruin it first

PRONOUNS USERS GOING THROUGH IT/TRAGEDY WORLDSTATE:

enasa mahariel (ranger) - deadalive nothing girl who isn't. didn't anticipate that taking the vallaslin of dirthamen, twin brother to death, would be quite so prophetic. very clearly crumbling under mounting pressure while refusing to stop dragging the rotting corpse

bryn hawke (force mage) - half-avvar on malcolm's side, raised with what avvar beliefs and practices their father could half-remember from childhood. never quite at home in ferelden and struggling to come to terms with the idea they'll never be quite at home in their mother's city either. quietly shouldering other's burdens until it chokes them.

ga-kei lavellan (knight-enchanter) - turns out when you take an anxiety-ridden elf burdened with excess responsibility since youth out of their familiar environment and support system she'll have a bad time. solas' ex-spouse still misses him… but their aim's getting better!

orpheus ingellvar (death caller) - < he doesn't know (that he's the child of the last theirin king and the missing presumed dead hero of ferelden). surprisingly cheerful for a guy collectively raised by a bunch of necromancers, seems like a polite young man, but then he says something weird and offputting that makes you realize he's spent a lot of his life interacting with skeletons. and nevarrans.

ASSORTED GUYS:

dea surana - reserved but observant, knows it's best not to attract attention, tries to look after herself and her own in the ways she can. surprisingly worldly/cynical after her brother was taken by the templars at a young age and her life afterwards was spent largely on the road. then her situationship was like 'you know the hero of ferelden is named surana? circle mage, relative of yours?' and now she regularly talks to the king of ferelden

owain trevelyan - never really stopped hoping his older brother would come back from the circle and everything would be fine again. he's socially well-connected and charismatic, and could make for an influential heir to the house with motivation and an advantageous marriage - but he's a lot more interested in dragon hunting and boy bestiesisms with the prince of starkhaven.

valerie trevelyan - black sheep of the family, annoyed that this is more about lesbianism than being a fantasy communist. managed to pull off a 'buy my silence - for $8000 a month i will stop' ploy on her parents at 20, before she knew that this would end with her as the warden-commander's sister-in-law

kyunghee andras - former keeper of clan lavellan. her magical talent as a spirit healer was undeniable, her leadership capability was another matter. afflicted by the taint in a darkspawn raid that killed her husband, conscripted by the wardens c. 9:19. hasn't communicated with clan lavellan since informing them she survived the joining, out of the belief that as a symbolically dead woman, it would be best to cleanly sever ties. her orphaned daughter is probably fine.

daeun andras - kyunghee's daughter, taken in by her uncles at age 7 after her father was killed by darkspawn and her mother conscripted. both her parents were talented mages; she never manifested the gift, but her older cousin ga-kei did. ends up joining the veil jumpers to try and step out of her family members' shadows.

ga-hou lavellan - middle sibling b/w ga-kei and ga-sun, closer to both of them than they are with each other. one of clan lavellan's craftsmen. tends to take things a little too lightly, an optimist unconcerned with anything outside of the clan and the present. the siblings' dads (and ga-kei, and his wife) are hoping the birth of his daughter will make him more serious. ga-sun likes him as he is.

ha-neul aldwir (slayer) - born in the minrathous ambassadoria, hasn't been back there for half his life. fascinated by magic and magical artifacts since a young age. something of an oddity by both dwarven and non-dwarven standards, a guy with an endless thirst for life and little interest in denying himself pleasure or dwelling in guilt, for better or worse. unserious.

everybody's parents tend to be less developed than their kids are but they exist. In my mind . there's also a couple other extremely incidental fellas but they'll come up when they come up. i might also ramble about my non-da guys here but (closes my eyes and passes away silently)