#guys we CAN'T get invested like what if i FUMBLE

[foursaints]

saints tell your tennis man I finally watched challengers and holy crap it was so good. (I also always love anything about tennis, I played when I was a kid/preteen and it's always weirdly cool when it shows up??) the movie was SO just !!! yeah. it was good. holy shit it was good. honestly it had some major lilyrosekiller energy, or Evan/reg/Barty even 👀👀👀 reg or lily in one of those cute lil tennis skirts

i feel i MUST tell you that @sixlane has been doing some beautiful jartylily challengers content over on her blog... i haven't seen the movie yet but it's definitely formed like. new grey matter in my brain. nonetheless

[ohnoitstbskyen]

The Heartsteel splash art is very bad, and here's why

I am not a fan of the collective Heartsteel splash art, and in fact, I think it's kinda s***ty. Not on a technical level, mind you, it is every bit as well rendered and nicely drawn as most other Riot art is, but as a way to introduce these characters? As a pitch to get us excited about them? This is genuinely kind of f***ing terrible. First of all, it's copying the original K/DA splash arts, which also had each band member copy pasted in different positions in each splash, with a different character in the spotlight. And that's not a great place to start from, because it feels like a total lack of confidence in the product, like some suit-wearing executive saying "just copy whatever worked the first time!" The splash art should be an opportunity to introduce what's new and unique about the band, and copying K/DA like this completely fumbles that opportunity and invites really unflattering comparisons. Second, the copy pasting is a problem. For two reasons: First, it looks cheap. It just does. There is no way to put out six splash arts with the exact same pixels copy-pasted into different positions that doesn't, on an instinctual level, feel cheap. All that says is "we didn't want to pay for more than one splash art." It looks like corner cutting. Second, it forces every character in the art to be completely separate from one another. A big part of the band's charm in their excellent music video is the interaction and camaraderie between the boys as they get into frat boy shenanigans shooting their music video, but since every character has to be able to be copy-pasted and moved independently in the splash, they can't interact or pose together in any way, making them seem completely disconnected from one another. One of the simplest ways to add a bunch of character and charm to these splash arts would be to have one character up front doing their cool pose, and then the other five boys dicking around in the background, armwrestling or hugging or, I dunno, giving each other piggyback rides. Instead, we just get sterile clip-art of each of them that don't even seem to be aware that the other guys are there. And when they are up front, the poses they do are also… mostly kinda lame? Sett is supposed to be this tough-guy with a heart of gold rapper with a big attitude and he's just, like, vaguely flexing, kinda. K'sante is supposed to be this imposing, powerful vocalist and he's just… standing there. Yone looks bored, Aphelios looks like an emo kid who's being forced to be in a family photo by his mom, and Kayn, who's supposed to be this rowdy chaotic bad boy, is just… doing a peace sign and sticking his tongue out? He gets completely overshadowed by himself: his Shadow Assassin and Rhaast forms in the background, which DO get to interact, which DO get to play with each other, and who are more charming than everything else these splash arts do. It genuinely baffles me that Riot couldn't be bothered to spend the money to get each of them unique splash arts, give these characters an opportunity to show off their costumes and their personality, or at least spend the money to have them drawn a little bit different in each of the six versions of this thing that they put out. This splash art, to me, feels like an active discouragement from investing in Heartsteel, because looking at this, looking at all the corners that are being cut, even Riot doesn't feel committed to them as a project. And like yeah, the music video is great and it's doing a lot of heavy lifting for them, but this splash art is an actual liability, it makes the whole project look worse.

[galactiquest]

I would like to order a tender and goofy woowoo x reader. My only specific requests are a transmasc adjacent reader, pet names used on both sides, and uhhhhhh that's it. Either version of ww is fine 👍

Is it bad that I'm like 90% sure I know who this is? Scratch that--99%. I know it's you. 😉

That's not a bad thing, though, because I know just how to press your buttons! (And everyone else's, for that matter.) And Wolfwood is just a sweetpea to me, so I love to write for him. Let's do this thing. I'm even feeling so nice that I'll do both versions of Wolfwood (from 98/Maximum and Stampede).

Nicholas D. Wolfwood x (Male) Reader: Relationship Drabbles

Content Warnings: None, unless you count tooth-rotting fluff. I put it below a cut since it might get a little long. Written with a male/male-adjacent/transmasculine reader in mind, so there's references to the reader being a guy/getting called "boyfriend" and such.

98/Maximum Wolfwood

Two words: Hopeless romantic. Two more words: Very bisexual. Wolfwood can get around and he knows this. Dating a guy is in his ballpark and he feels (foolishly) confident about this.

He's your typical swooning boyfriend. You can find him hovering over you when you're invested in a task, whatever that may be--reading a book, tooling with a gun, even just stargazing. Every moment is a wow, my boyfriend is hot moment. (You could say the same about him, though, I mean, look at him...)

He's a showoff. He can't help it. In a gunfight? He spins his cross a couple extra times. Drinking? Two more shots, let me show you how it's done. Training or working out? What do you mean I can't exercise in the buff? It's totally fine! (What a peach.)

Wolfwood is the kind of guy who would do anything to embarrass you in public. Whether it's a whisper of something naughty in your ear, or a hand traveling lower than your back, he's trying to get you to blush, or get some kind of reaction out of you (even if that reaction is to knock him on the nose.) Bonus if you get back at him with your own whispering or a love tap.

Though he's generally good with PDA, he might keep it slightly more "casual" in public. But behind closed doors? Oh, he's a worshipper, that's for sure. There is no part of you that isn't adored.

We all know Wolfwood is the "darlin'" type of guy (comes with the territory of being a cowboy, not my rules) but I think he'd also find plenty of other cute and embarrassing nicknames to call you by. Sweetheart, lover, etc. It's all on the table.

If you call him one back he'll start planning the wedding.

Stampede Wolfwood

Compared to his 98/Maximum counterpart, Stampede Wolfwood is a lot more... subdued in his desires and wonders. Dating a guy isn't in his ballpark--nor is dating anyone, really. He's been busy. (And apprehensive because he has no idea what he's doing, but don't tell him that you know that.)

But if you're able to coax him into a relationship, he's going to also try to show off. He's going to make every attempt he can to appear "manly" for your sake. He fails pretty miserably at this. It's not his fault--he just thinks there's a certain way he has to act for a relationship.

If you can teach him how to take the back seat in the relationship, he'll mellow out a bit. He's just desperate to not be seen as weak. (You're so far from weak, Wolfie! Keep your chin up!)

He's less showy with PDA, but he's willing to hold hands every so often. He also shows his love via acts of service--getting you meals, making sure you arrive places safely, patching you up, things of that nature. That's the one thing he feels he's good at.

He tries to keep the relationship very serious. But he is so, so bad at it. His efforts to do everything the "right way" are very endearing, from offering you his coat to opening the door for you...

He won't say this, but he's just thankful you still love him even after all of his fumbles.

He's not one for petnames or nicknames, but if you start to call him one, he'll blush very profusely and try to hide it. (He actually really, really likes it. Please keep calling him by a nickname, it makes him feel special.)

End Notes: I really hope you enjoyed!! Wolfwood is just too darn cute to me, all of those posts that are like "whatever you say gorgeous" are so right.

[elizabethrobertajones]

[the TARDIS arrives at Gatwick airport in 1966 where Polly witnesses a murder]

The murder is going to be your other travelling companion who is a scot from the 1700s??? You can't just take him to present day Glasgow airport???????????

...

I'm really enjoying the 2nd doctor but largely in comparison to how the creep of time is introducing more and more recognisable TV drama standards and easing my 21st century brain into things in a more familiar way.

There was also a real churn of companions after the first squad departed so I didn't really check in with the end of the seasons with posts because they're not lining up their appearances and disappearances with ends and beginnings of seasons, so the binge watch doesn't have good start and end markers and makes it really easy to forget that that would have been a good place to make a post with an update.

While I can see from like the grand scope of history psychoanalysing the Doctor he let his granddaughter go and then sequentially collected 2 more girls of similar age to fuss over with the exact same language and affection and then they inevitably also moved on because they were randos and not his actual beloved family he could keep forever, so he accidentally just compounded that trauma, it also was kind of a whirl when you have to also skip chunks of missing episodes here and there, drastically shortening the time the audience gets with them. So he kinda burned through 2 replacement granddaughters in a week and then regenerated of old age.

I had really high hopes for the first adult replacement companion, err... Steven? he missed a ton of episodes including the whole set after his intro, and also his parting episodes. (The trend of the BBC saying all the costumes sounded like a hassle to recreate as to why there's no animation really lines up with what sounds like real problematic concepts for modern audiences so I think these episodes may just kinda. Accidentally stay lost. Oops, says the BBC.) Anyway this guy seemed really interesting from his intro then was just a shouty man who was probably rather fumbled in execution, or else only interesting in the missing content.

The 2nd doctor is someone who I know only from pop culture as a face who comes in slide shows of all the doctors, and literally nothing else. Looking at the lost episodes list and how the animated recreations are very recent, I can see how he was probably only known very well to people who really put an effort in to read or listen to deep nerdy fan Doctor Who stuff, and the whole show being on iplayer is such a new development I feel like it's the first chance for average half-invested people to only just meet him. And almost entirely as an animated character.

He inherited the adult companions from the last doctor - Polly and Ben - who are really good characters both of them. Or at least, Polly was from her intro episode and shows flashes of brilliance when not just being used as the screaming damsel (alas). She had great chemistry with the previous companion Dodo (who was a bit older seeming than the other "child" designated girls and liked fashion and clubbing so represented the granddaughter parade growing older and away from the Doctor I guess and just chose to stay in modern London off screen). Since Dodo never even came back to say goodbye, I was very disappointed she and Polly didn't get more than one episode to hang out.

Ben is an absolute treasure though, I'd recommend watching just for him because he's the most normal lad guy with a force of personality, and he's charmed me by basically just existing as a bloke who is a stalwart stand up guy being put in Situations. Missing a few episodes with him so I have no idea if we learn WHY he was in deep depression on introduction (the same episode that set up Polly) or if he was cured by having a sense of purpose travelling with the Doctor. It could also be once again the intro episode gives us chewy characters but then doesn't bother chewing them once we have them vs how all the modern companions are basically leading the show with their emotional plots. The episodes are very oriented still towards action and if the characters have challenging moments they are of course very repressed and British about dealing with it.

By season 4 when we have the second doctor he shows up acting all kooky and it's hard to tell at first if he's just like that because he regenerated and doesn't know who he is, but I'm far enough along now that while he's stabilised he's definitely trying too hard and has the same vibes as Matt Smith trying to follow Tennant did.

In this case, he literally seems not to have changed his clothes since the regeneration and I think it's been a whole season or two since he changed, and he's still wearing the First Doctor's suit hanging off him all too-large shirt and jacket, and the belt knotted at the front to keep his trousers up. It's very symbolic and knowing that he just tried to replace a beloved character but also watching it, he's really just playing along the tropes of what the Doctor is supposed to do and not contributing more than like, funny little quirks to the original formula, rather than being a whole different guy and it's just suffering the inevitable drag that happens when you do that and don't go hard in another lane.

In this case the only real change that's setting the action is that they're not having him be grandfatherly and don't have a companion he treats like a granddaughter, and are allowing the adult companions to help set a tone, so it's good the 3 of them have strong personalities (Polly's trap in the misogyny of the era aside) and are taking part in a lot of action because they can fill out a lot of the space around the Doctor and help actually give some personality to what's happening, since the 2nd Doctor is giving plot required meddling and nonsense but his personality is just not filling up the space like the 1st did. Far more mad scientist but without the forcefulness that I didn't even like from the 1st Doctor but at least was a real unarguable powerhouse performance.

Anyway all the episodes are missing where the Doctor heads off to 18th century Scotland and just collects a random guy there, so you jump right to him taking this lad to Sci Fi Scenarios and he's there in a kilt and freaking out about everything because he's got no reference. I was talking to my mum about all this and we agreed if you did the same to a 1940/50s guy he'd be almost as mentally unprepared but as soon as you hit the 60s and have people who've even heard of a space race you get companions who are ready to conceptualise things in a different way and don't feel as historical. The Modern Era Doctors could grab a 1960s companion if they felt like it and they wouldn't feel as out of place in terms of being able to understand casually what is happening around them at all times, is what I mean.

Interesting framework for like, a meta explanation for why the Doctor's travels suddenly kick into gear when he hits the 60s and starts sort of, having picked up companions from there and needing to go back there to drop them off and pick up new kids in the same week, begins to anchor to our modern time progression. Just because he hits the start of humans having a brain for space travel and thinking of modern sci fi concepts and understand the basic principles of science we still use as a baseline today, and he begins at the very start of when people were ready for that and in that very loop de loop way ends up following along the progress as he takes companions from further and further down this timeline in a semi-chronological order.

Although the modern ones all being FIRMLY from our present day does make it very funny that we've had a girl from the future as the 2nd granddaughter, and now a lad from the far enough past to make it REALLY weird in this early run when there didn't seem to be such strict rules on where people could come from to be an Official Companion.

Absolute "this would kill a medieval peasant" behaviour.

In a chunk of very lost episodes in the 1st doctor's run wikipedia described him taking a girl from Troy and accidentally getting her killed by space aliens in the far future. (I've also noticed he does a lot of killing thousands of people or carelessly exploding companions in the missing episodes... Talk about BBC propaganda XD)

I think after watching several episodes with Jamie the 1700s Scottish piper as a companion, he may be one of my favourites though, just because he's been in a long run of future episodes with lots of aliens and nonsense. Guy's fought Daleks and Cybermen and weird crab aliens and he's doing ALRIGHT for someone in his situation. Gold star for culture shock recovery.

I guess I will watch what happens to him when he sees an airplane for the first time now.

[lindszeppelin]

Not to beat a dead horse (too late), but, can you at least acknowledge that some of us are very invested in movies and awards season, since before Austin was in Elvis? And we look forward to the slate of movies and reactions in all the festivals? And that we consider Telluride to be one of the top festivals, not a throwaway indie festival? In fact, most industry publications split their reporters between Venice and Telluride on Labor Day weekend, as the start of prestige movie season. The Bikeriders was not only chosen, but chosen to open the festival- a big deal that should not be downplayed. I'm so happy that Austin is once again getting the kudos that he deserves, and I don't doubt that you support Austin just fine. But without Austin & his costars available to promote their film it's up to us fans to hype the film, at every festival screening leading up to wide release. I know you meant well, but this time you fumbled.

I am not telling anybody they can't do what they want. Do whatever you like. You don't need to ask my permission. Why do i have to be the one to give you permission? Your support is towards the movie and to austin. These film festivals, large or small, will be just fine. It's about the FILM - The film getting good reviews and Austin getting the credit he deserves. And people going to watch the movie in theaters. That is what matters. Not about what i say or you say or what anybody else says.

You people seem to think that my throwaway comment about telluride being an "indie" film festival that MEANT LITERALLY NOTHING was the biggest diss to austin's career and i literally have no other words to say except for this: YOU ARE WRONG.

i already said what i said, and you guys are not only taking my words out of context but you're making this into a much bigger deal than what it is and i feel like i want to bash my head into a fucking wall at how you guys are choosing to not understand what im even saying.

if you wanna burn me at the stake and throw rocks at me, crucify me, and beat me until i can't get up anymore then fucking do it. i'll take the abuse i suppose.

[thecheckeredchaser]

Ch 2

Insured Gains

Chapter 3- Personally Interested

Jake walked over to Gibbs who was talking with Eric from the legal department. He shook both their hands and turned to his partner.

"We've done it again. Another successful quarter for the books. I think many will increase their investments," Morgan said, delighted.

"Well, it's exactly what I'd wanted." Eric had turned to observe the room while they chatted, and Jake was suddenly having Eric's elbow jammed into his middle. His brows furrowed, but he looked to where he was looking. The heavy set investor was filling a third container of sandwiches, which was a bit much, but at A&G an investor could kill an intern and get away with it.

"This guy can't help himself," Eric weakly joked.

"The investors make this company what it is. And the food is literally for them. You certainly shouldn't attempt to tease them while they are still here," Jake chided quietly. He glanced at Morgan, who seemed in full agreement. Jake also suspected he was a bit miffed that Eric should be surprised people would want to take his food home, fat or not.

"It's everyone's favorite, too," he added, proudly.

"Well, Jake you just want to not let it be your favorite like that. You might be asking him for his suits soon," Eric said, giving Jake a once over. Jake was taken aback for a moment. He was certainly not familiar enough with Eric for him to feel comfortable enough to say that to him, but his fumbling now was not making that clear. Gibbs cleared his throat and lowered his voice.

"Andrews had just told you not to go after an investor, so you decide to go for an investor and an executive at the company that has made your job. I'm appalled Eric. Can you believe this ridiculousness Andrews," Gibbs said, turning to him. Jake shook his head.

"I was unsure of where he found the right myself. In the future be sure to withhold any personal suggestions unless requested. And do refrain from elbowing either of us or any boss you have in the future." Eric apologized and very quickly left, mortified. Jake turned to Gibbs, who had been so supportive.

"It was not appropriate. I bust your balls, and probably shouldn't, but we are partners. I'd like to think you would tell me if I was bothering you too bad. And I'm no idiot. I can see there are other things in your life going on. Who the hell is Eric? I said united front and meant it Jake."

"I appreciate that."

"Good one with the "boss in the future". Very foreboding. Now, I will gladly take some sandwiches home," he said, taking a to-go box. "Come on Jake, no need for chastity." He laughed at his own joke. Jake joined him in making a container and announced he'd make one for Alexis too. "What a smoke show she is, huh?" Gibbs commented.

"She is a beautiful woman," Jake said, trying not to blush over it. "And a great worker," he added, to resume professionalism. Gibbs cleared his throat and agreed, and then the gentleman parted ways, and Jake headed back to his office. When he got out the elevator to his floor, he was disappointed to see Alexis had gone. He went into his office and began organizing his debriefing notes into his files. He felt his phone buzz and saw he had a few messages from Alexis.

"Hope your meeting is going well."

"All orders are placed. Documents for signing in your basket." He checked the basket and saw several things for him to sign. She had been very busy.

"I'm heading out for coffee and a snack. Want anything for when you get out?"

And the most recent message. "I think I know you well enough." Jake busied himself with signing the documents and looked up when he heard the elevator doors open. Alexis came out and when her eyes met his, they lit up. She came into his office, after putting her purse down.

"How was the meeting?"

"Very successful, but dry. I'm sorry I wasn't getting back to you. I was more wrapped up in it than I thought I'd be."

"You are a working man. I didn't expect replies honestly." She put the bag she had been holding on his desk and handed him an iced coffee. Even though he hadn't experienced hunger at all that day, he reached in the bag.

"You really did not have to get me anything." He could feel his heart beat a little faster. He had been dying to be around her all day, and he was specifically interested in where they had left off. He pulled out a very large cupcake in a plastic clamshell container. "Oh wow. German chocolate. I absolutely love this kind. Did you get one for yourself? We could enjoy it together." She shook her head. "We can split it too. Obviously I don't have to have the whole thing."

"I am all set, but please you should enjoy it." She tucked a sliver of her butt on the edge of his desk and perched up on it.

"I have been eating all day and am still pretty full from lunch. It's probably best to save it for later." He looked up at Alexis, who looked like she wasn't buying it.

"You want it Jake. Eat it," she said simply. He opened it up, feeling a little sheepish about it.

"Thanks Alexis," he said, taking a bite and instantly getting whisked away by the flavors. He moaned and closed his eyes. He could hear Alexis move across the room toward him, behind his desk with him. He opened his eyes when her hands were on his shoulders and her hair started to fall beside his face as her hands reached down his chest. The smell of her shampoo captivated his senses.

"I have been thinking about you all day Jake," she whispered in his ear, kissing his neck. "You were so hot this morning, I've been replaying it in my head." Jake's skin crawled all over at her touch. His eyes darted to the elevator, nervous that anyone would exit onto their floor. He played through several scenarios, including his partner, the cleaning ladies, and even Eric coming to frantically apologize.

"Alexis hold on," he said, placing the cupcake down and putting his arms up in protest. She pulled away and moved to look at him. He pushed his chair back and put his hands on his thighs. She looked far more worried than he felt.

"I'm sorry," she said quickly.

"Please don't be sorry. I just need," he paused. He didn't know exactly what he needed, besides stopping. "I don't know what." He rubbed his thumbs on his temples. Alexis seemed to ease.

"Maybe we should slow down," she said calmly, making her way to the chair across from the desk. Jake sighed, relieved. He mentally was kicking himself for being too frazzled to just let things happen. She clearly took a risk by coming on strong, and he hoped she was considering trying again, later.

"I'm sorry," he said, embarrassed.

"You didn't just jump on your boss," Alexis said lightly, with a smile.

"I'm just worried we'll get caught. That would about end what I have left in my life," he said, sighing heavily, looking at his clasped hands. Alexis' soft delicate fingers came over on his own, their cool feeling soothing him. He looked up at her. "That sounded way sadder than I'd intended," he said, with a short laugh.

"I completely understand Jake. This is why you are the boss," she said with a wink, pulling her hands back and placing them on her knees. "I am honestly a little surprised at myself. Like what am I doing? I just feel kinda crazy about you I guess, and responsibility went right out the window." Jake felt himself blush.

"That's the most surprising part," he said, picking the cupcake up and taking a bite. Alexis' lips curled up in sync with her eyebrow.

"Why does that have to be surprising though?" she said, looking playfully annoyed. Jake smiled. She was funny. He unbuttoned his jacket and looked down at his belly. It pushed against the buttons of his gray button up and rested in his lap, puffed up from his filling day.

"I'm fat. That's one reason," he said, taking another bite of the cupcake. "You've noticed."

"Be surprised that I'm into fat guys all you want. You are very attractive to me." Her eyes washed over him, and he couldn't feel more exposed. She looked back into his eyes and smiled. "You have such a handsome face too," she whined.

"Okay, you don't have to lay it on that thick," he said.

"I'm not! Jake," she paused, looking bewildered. "I can't believe you said that." Jake smiled bashfully.

"Sorry. I don't handle compliments well. My wife had me trained to assume it was underhanded or insincere. I appreciate the kind words." She smiled victoriously. "But fat and old?" he said, squinting at her. She laughed and rolled her eyes.

"Jake. First, I don't even know how old you are. I assume 40ish, but I honestly don't care. You look fantastic."

"I'm 44," he said, eyeing her.

"I said what I said." He kept staring at her. "Oh. I'm 26." Jake raised his eyebrows.

"Wow. I guess I should feel flattered. But right now, I'm only feeling huge. I ate way too much today."

"Tell me all about it," she said leaning back in her chair. Jake told her about all the items he consumed throughout the day, not really focusing on how unusual a thing it was to report on. He realized as he told her that it was quite a lot within a few hours.

"I have no idea what is compelling me to finish this cupcake, but my stomach is so full right now."

"It's that appetite of yours," she replied, deep in fantasy. "You can eat Jake. That's for sure. And I'm completely entranced by that fact." Jake swallowed a mouthful of cupcake and took another bite, feeling Alexis' gaze intensify. "You look like you could use a belly rub, and I'd love to give you one."

"Typically I wouldn't want someone anywhere near me when I feel this full, but I'm not going to deny you the opportunity." He glanced at the window behind her. "Just uh, close the blinds." Alexis did as he asked and made her way back over to him, slowly.

"If you need me to stop, just tell me Jake." She knelt in front of him and spread her fingers across his belly, seeming to be sizing him up. She began to rub the sides and Jake softly moaned, surprised by himself.

"Feels good, huh? I can tell how stuffed you are." Jake was enjoying her touch too much to dig in on how she could know that just from touching him. There wasn't an inch of his stomach she wasn't massaging. He had never been comfortable with people touching his stomach, especially as he had been gaining weight. He had to keep any self consciousness away by reminding himself that Alexis offered to perform the act. She wanted to. Though he was a bit unsure at first, he wanted her to too. "You look so good with this little chubby belly Jake."

"Little?" Alexis looked at him like he was a complete fool to question the comment.

"You have a belly, but it's not that big."

"Feels big to me," he said, pushing the last of his treat in his mouth.

"I can only imagine why," she said playfully. She gave his belly a little poke. Jake burped long and grumbly.

"Ugh. Excuse me." Jake didn't love how slobbish he kept finding himself to be around Alexis, but she never seemed to mind.

"I bet your belly feels a little better now." He acknowledged that she was correct, but he felt no less embarrassed. He reached for the iced coffee and took a long drink. "You feel so nice in my hands," she said, gripping him.

"Well it feels nice on my end too. Really good actually." He finished the coffee and sighed. He was stuffed. Alexis drummed lightly on the side of his belly, and Jake found himself burping again, louder than before. He groaned, annoyed and relieved at the same time.

"What a cute little piggy," Alexis said, before he could say anything. She snorted at him, playfully and jiggled his belly. "You got another one in there," she said, pressing on every angle of his stomach. Jake was once again excited by the name calling. He was thoroughly embarrassed, but couldn't help but like her attention. Very unlike his wife, who in the last year, would get up and walk out the room, if any such bodily function would occur, typically calling him a disgusting pig. The extra movement from Alexis' hands pushed another big burp right out. "There you go. What a hot pig," she praised. "God, I could kiss you," she said, looking into his eyes. Jake's eyes went wide, as he didnt think the events elicited that response, but he was thinking the same thing. He pulled her in for a kiss, and found her kissing him back hungrily. He pulled her closer to him, forcing her to straddle his lap. She rhythmically bounced there, amplifying his excitement. If they didn't stop, Jake was confident he'd be unbuttoning his pants any second, which despite his raging erection, he knew he could not. He slowly and reluctantly broke off the kiss. Alexis got up off his lap and breathlessly leaned on his desk in front of him.

He smiled at her, completely taken by the moment. He rested his hand on her knee a moment and wiped his hand down his face. "Alexis," he began, with a sigh, "What are we getting into here?" He didn't want to make anything weird, but felt like clarity would be helpful. She shrugged with a goofy smile.

"I'm into you Jake. That's what I'm going off of."

"I'm into you too." He didn't know if she intended to have a quick fling with him or if she was looking for something serious. Considering he was still finalizing his divorce, he thought neither was probably best, but was thinking he wouldn't mind the latter.

"Let's just see what happens. I feel like if I say, "Jake, let's date," things will get ruined before they start. If you decide that's what you want to do later, let me know. For now I'm perfectly good with keeping, whatever this is, up and running."

"And what is this, anyway."

"Fat fetish and feeding kink stuff. I assumed you were familiar with it all, since you have been going along with it all." Alexis looked over at him, suspiciously. "You don't know what I'm talking about?"

"That's a fetish? I have never heard of that at all." Alexis looked embarrassed now, and she rarely seemed to be. "So you have been getting me all these treats for that reason." She looked like she was being sent to the gallows. Jake paused, trying a different approach. "All of which I appreciated. I guess I just thought you were nice."

"Oh man," she said.

"Listen, it's fine. If what we have been doing was something you're into, that works, because I was into it too."

"Jake I've been calling you a pig to your face, and you aren't even part of the community," she groaned. Jake felt his cheeks get warm. She looked at his flushed face and smiled. "Maybe you didn't mind that."

"It was new for me. I guess I liked it, surprisingly." Alexis looked at him curiously.

"There is so much more I could show you Jake. If you are interested." He was.

They decided to pack up and walk out together. Everyone else appeared to have already left the office. Once in the parking garage, Jake pulled Alexis in for another kiss and she pressed herself into him firmly and kissed him hard. They eventually pulled back and stared at each other. "See you tomorrow," she said.

"See you tomorrow." She started walking to her car and Jake watched her butt switch from side to side. "No treats tomorrow," he called after her. She spun around, walking backwards.

"Is that an order, Sir?" Jake smiled.

"No," he called back. He wondered what she'd bring.

Ch 4

[livetogether--diealone]

cmq per me la cosa più assurda è che a todt vada tutto bene così...cioè si è fatto sentire nel 2019 contro seb (lmao) ma ora gli piace che il suo cliente viene fottuto un we sì e l'altro pure? boh

i'll answer in english just because I think it's an interesting thought for all

summary: charles manager "complaining" about seb in 2019 and now looks happy charles is getting this treatment day in and day out

Honestly Charles' entourage, manager, himself what the fuck are y'all doing, sentimentalism apart there is nothing in Ferrari - whatever their future plans are - that is worth investing long term, especially because every promise has been broken, one year is the car, one year is extremely bad luck + strategies, another one is the biggest not wanting to win binotto voodoo spell, now is the car and the fact that nothing changed since last year

I didn’t expect Fred to revolutionize everything, i knew the car was bad we all made peace with it, but also attitude and things they could have improved (ex. strategies) they didn't change at all? As i was saying in a different anon, Charles has well earned the place to be put first even now because you need to give him something to hold on, to show yeah he is the guy the team wants to win the championship with in the future, and they're giving him zero guarantees with their behaviour, I hate taking rb as a good example but even when the championship wasn't really in the cards they still put everything on Max and kept doing untill it was time, because that's what you do

Honestly I can't believe anyone with sense would want to wait another year and another year and another one in Ferrari, a team who hasn't won in almost 20 T W E N T Y years, a team who had champions driving for it and still fumbled, how do you put any faith in that

Some people might make the same argument with Mercedes with the last two years of just confusion, but at least the upgrades seems consistent and their track records a little more better, honestly they are fucking up big time but trust me not at the same level yet (i hope at least them and Lewis can find a way)

And yeah the old and trite question: where would Charles go? I don't know! I don't fucking know but atp anything (not rb because i'd have to stop supporting him) even a mid field team working through the field is better than whatever Ferrari has to offer (like aston martin was doing good when they had the right guidance *cough cough* seb)

It's just shit

[calyroco]

As fun as the concept of dimension hopping and comparing alternate selves to the versions we're first introduced to is, I feel like Black Science fumbled it. It's not that it didn't take advantage of the dimension hopping. It just felt oddly utilized at times.

Like there's one guy who dies early on and then way later we get a flashback to a convo he had with mc about how he always wanted a family but never got to settle down with the right person and do that and then the writer brings in an alternate version of him that raised the main guy's son as his own before dying shortly after his introduction, and I get what the writer was going for but the version that got to be a parent was not the version that originally expressed regret over never getting to be a parent, so it just didn't hit, and I couldn't get invested in that especially with how quickly the narrative got rid of him.

Also you can't kill the same guy twice and expect me to care the second time. I'm just not that kind of person.

I am a sucker for lovingly written family bonds. I have cried over scenes where members of loving families are at risk of losing each other. That attempt at a father-son bond? I couldn't be bothered to give a damn

[sixstepsaway]

Had a thought: it's actually really interesting that Izzy's plan to separate Stede and Ed almost worked! If Calico Jack hadn't spilled the beans and the English hadn't shown up at exactly the wrong time, Ed would have ended up back at Izzy's side. It suggests that Ed has been experience a lot of indecision and uncertain overall, imo. I get the sense that maybe once Ed sank into his depression and lost interest in piracy, he would occasionally become interest in novel things, trying to find something that would bring new meaning into his life. And perhaps Izzy had handled these kinds of situations before. It's telling that Ed's attempt to duel Stede is so half-hearted. He wants to explore these things, but he isn't ready yet to leave his old life. So Izzy's a kind of inertia. Every time he gets invested in something weird and goes off the rails too far, Izzy tizzies. Maybe even gets rid of what/whoever it is. (I'm imagining Izzy yeeting Ed's new tank of tropical fishies off the boat.) And maybe Ed really wanted to keep those fish, but does he want them enough to deal with Izzy crying about it? Probably not, especially with his depression. He just isn't as decisive and leaderly as he once was. Not enough to pirate, properly, not enough to escape piracy either. So I wonder if the attempt to kill Stede wasn't much of a break of pattern. Izzy has said, "I am going to destroy/murder this because you can't and we need to move on with our pirate lives," and Ed has responded with, "Okay... :/" And maybe by failing shut this behavior down, he's reinforced Izzy's idea that this is part of his job description. Like Izzy is acting more and more out of line because Ed has repeatedly fail to draw lines. "Ed isn't complaining about the fish and he hasn't talked about travelling to the other side of the world to restart his collection of rare species so I guess this was the right call."

I'm unironically imagining Ed with Captain Picard's sci-fi fishtank in his cabin with no explanation of how or why he got it and I'm losing my mind thank you for that

But yeah, I agree. I think the place that Izzy's plan fumbled was actually Jack's response to Stede, not Ed's place in any of it. Ed followed Izzy's plan flawlessly without knowing, but when Jack was trying to rile Stede up, he actually couldn't? He spent the whole of 1x08 trying to get Stede to break character as Nice, but Stede was placid and nice the entire time, even showing kindness towards him ("How about we take you somewhere you want to go and cheer you up?") despite hating the guy's guts and thinking his crew was likely justified in trying to drown him.

Jack calls him 'the big gal' and Stede just smiles it off. Jack is 50% responsible for destroying his belongings and Stede smiles that off too. Jack talks over him at breakfast, ignores everything he tries to say to chime in, and Stede just keeps smiling and trying to be a part of it. Jack gets him alone so he can try a new tack and he flips a coin when he says he and Ed had fucked in the past and asks if Stede is doing that now: Stede will be homophobic or Stede will be jealous, but either way, Stede will react! But Stede doesn't react. Stede, in fact, says that Ed's business is his business, isn't creeped out or disgusted by the idea that Ed fucks men, and says he isn't jealous at all, so it's fine (although I think his little strop after was because he was jealous, and until that point he simply wasn't enjoying what Jack was bringing to the day, and after that he felt threatened and jealous).

Jack keeps on prodding Stede, likely trying to get Stede to lash out and throw Ed off the ship, and he even kills Karl, which I truly think was deliberate, in an attempt to rile Stede, but Stede doesn't rise to the bait. Stede meets him with politeness and a placid attitude, and the only time he actually gets a reaction is Stede tells him to get off his ship, and even that is said nicely and politely, just with the firm hand of a captain who will absolutely have his crew throw you off his ship if you resist.

Jack then swaps tactics again and just has Ed leave with him, which works because Ed was already feeling insecure because Stede didn't like how he was presenting himself.

It's only once they're in the dinghy that Jack finally snaps in his frustrations because he really hates Stede and hates that he couldn't get under his skin. It's that that causes Ed to go, "Wait hold on what?" and realize it was all a trap.

And that is because Izzy didn't know Stede would be like that, because when Stede hates Izzy he calls him Iggy and is a complete bitch to him (and I love him for it honestly, it makes me laugh every time). Izzy assumed Stede would be like that to Jack too!

It suggests that Ed has been experience a lot of indecision and uncertain overall, imo. I get the sense that maybe once Ed sank into his depression and lost interest in piracy, he would occasionally become interest in novel things, trying to find something that would bring new meaning into his life.

Total agreement yeah. Half of Izzy's tension and anxiety and stress comes from the fact he's been Ed's SSRIs, adderall and bullet journal for god knows how many years, trying desperately to keep him afloat and let him indulge what he needs to indulge to not go so depressed he ends up offing himself, but also balancing that against not letting him go off the rails so hard he puts everyone in danger.

So I wonder if the attempt to kill Stede wasn't much of a break of pattern. Izzy has said, "I am going to destroy/murder this because you can't and we need to move on with our pirate lives," and Ed has responded with, "Okay... :/" And maybe by failing shut this behavior down, he's reinforced Izzy's idea that this is part of his job description. Like Izzy is acting more and more out of line because Ed has repeatedly fail to draw lines.

Yes!!! You even see it towards the end of 1x08: Izzy draws his sword to challenge Stede. Ed says, "Izzy, we're not doing this!" Izzy says, "You're not doing this. I'm doing this." and Ed...does nothing more. He doesn't step between them and say, "I said no." He doesn't say that he doesn't want Stede killed. He just stands there and stresses and angsts and gets upset, but he lets it happen!

He even lets Izzy stab Stede!!!!

He's definitely been inadvertently (or, possibly, knowing Izzy wants what's best for him, less inadvertently) reinforcing Izzy dealing with all of his problems.

[lil-creatorwritings]

Y'all.

I can't stress enough how much I pine over this goddamn hot mess of a man that is Ray Blackwell. Sorry Alyn, but you'll always be my first love!!!

I think a lot of people don't appreciate his route from the start because he feels sort of like an introduction character to the whole game's atmosphere, aside with Lancelot. Although each route will give you the basics (about the Magic Tower and who the general bad guy is, down the road), but in terms of impact, they could have done better. I can't say anymore than that without spoilers, but it feels like players are either put off with his attitude at first (annoying? troll like? maybe a bit of an asshole? Alice even calls him a bully at a point.) or the story doesn't grab at their attention.

And I wouldn't blame them if they saw it like that--to each their own--but Cybird has tucked away chunks of his character in those PoVs and side stories. Which, if you're not an invested fan of his (I say invested, because as we all know, if Ray is in an event, expect him to be in the top tier prizes. Which honestly costs a lot. Especially those collection events. RIP wallet. 💔), you're not going to bother aiming for him. And that makes me sad, cause there's so much going on beneath those layers of aloofness, or even callousness. The first His Side Story is an eye opener of how mature he actually is. Now you might think, "of course he is, he's the King of Spades, leader of the Black Army!" But it's easy to forget that fact over the amount of times when he's being goofy, either with the other members or with Alice. I mean, chasing down magical chocolate cats? Agree to a quiz off between your best buddy and your girlfriend to see who knows you better? Name your cat Belle, after an actual and physical bell?

It's easy to gloss over his past when you think about only those moments. On how much he struggled to come to terms with his magic abilities, to fight the guilt that he placed on his shoulders from that incident. Or even the public's judgement of him at that young age. To be aware of that stereotype, to constantly prove to himself that no, I don't need magic, I can protect this world with my own strength is just another layer of who he is, to the complexity of his character. It isn't hard to figure that it takes a strong will to withstand that sort of experience and channel it to improve yourself instead of allowing it to discourage you.

He's a man who often speaks through action, and we can see this sprinkled throughout his route and side stories. Take that Say I Do event. True, it's majorly told in Alice's PoV, but we find out that he's been searching for the Blue Diamond on his side. The only difference between the two endings in that event is if Alice finds one of her own or not. The measurements for the dress, he approximated them by hugging her at a seemingly random moment. He then comments about her eating habit (I think) as a cover up and distract her. In Chocolate Covered Secrets, Ray initially steps closer to her and takes her hand before verbally saying that they're on a date when surrounded by the women in town.

It's not that he doesn't feel the same way, but Ray finds it difficult to express what he feels with words. He'll fumble around with them, try to get a sense of his thoughts cohesively. You can see the internal struggle and monologue in the His Side Stories. And some people may find this sort of thing off putting, either for personal reasons or because it's annoying to put up with. But he tries, and sometimes he looks like an idiot, but he will try. Then resort to physically showing Alice when the words aren't making sense.

So, is Ray's route a bit on the lack luster side? In my opinion it can be, especially in comparison to Sirius or Edgar. Does it mean his character the same way? Absolutely not. But some people aren't going to perceive it that way, especially if they didn't enjoy his route. They just might shrug and go "okay back to my bae's route!!!" or even jump ship in the middle of the route. Sure, he's still there in the other routes, but that isn't going to give you a big enough picture about him.

Also it's like, 3:30am here and this wasn't suppose to be a long rant about how much I love Ray but here we are!!! 🙃🙃🙃

Hi for once I won’t be gushing over Fenrir but Ray’s route instead in IkeRev

and hot take, how much I fucking love it

This is gonna be an incoherent mess but I’m a ghostwriter as my day job so when I type shit up online I don’t want to care if it makes sense lmfao 

So anyway I’m replaying Ray’s route for only the second time. Ray’s route was the first IkeRev route I ever played, and I remember it making me a bit emotional? And it was the first time I had ever really felt emotional over an otome route (I was still fairly new to otome at the time lmfao now I’m emotional over everything otome related lakjsdf;klajsdf;lasdjf;ldsjkf). 

But when I started getting into the fandom stuff, I saw a lot of people  that didn’t really like Ray’s route and I think over time it really clouded my own judgment of his route because, even though he was still (and always) one of my top guys, I too started to think his route fell kinda short, or had wasted potential

but NOOOOOOOO omg it’s freaking even more emotional for me on the second playthrough!! LITERALLY, MY HEART IS BREAKING REREADING THIS and I remember how upset I was the first time I played his route and how his route was the first time I said to myself “wow I could really fall in love playing these games huh?”  ughhhh

Of course, it all comes down to personal preferences, Ray is definitely someone I would probably end up with IRL (unlike, say, Edgar or Loki) so I could see where Ray’s route would be boring to someone with different preferences. What I will say (and I know Edgar stans say this too, and all of you are so valid), you absolutely need to purchase Ray’s POV stories to get the best feel for his character and route. I bought all the available POV stories while I played my first playthough and during this second run I am buying the rest. Unlike in, say, Fenrir’s route, where Fen’s POVs are great but not necessary because you can ALWAYS tell where his mind is at during the main story, Ray’s character definitely has a lot of layers and you need those POV stories to pull back them all back, one by one.

I mean, look (his POV CH 18):

My heart man my fucking heart 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭