#i actually don't know if there's a limit to how many you can track

[sinnersmovie]

this is purely out of curiosity! bonus points if you share in the tags what sort of tags you track or why you don't track any!

i track 39 tags, most of which are edit tags, plus my user tag (#usertj) and the tracked tags for my side/source blogs.

[watery-melon-baller]

@branmuffins22 ur so right to say this i have ten billion thoughts abt tohts worldbuilding and how so much of it is. bs

I would love to see a fantasy novel where the lore that the reader / protagonist learns at first is not true

[cherrxboy]

I had this idea and I HAD to write it because I know my bitchass would NOT write it any other time (it's 5 in the morning and I haven't slept)

CW: explicit smut, I think - GN!reader - Mean!Satoru - uhhh rough seggs - Toru being an asshole - eating out/bj/whatever (reader receiving) - overstimulation I believe - a bit (probably a lot) of degrading/humiliation and stuff... he calls you a slut like two times - pet names used: baby, sweets, love - he refers to himself as "daddy" once but there's nothing else about that - mentions of death but like he's just joking - aftercare. (Not proofread) tell me if I missed anything!

English is my second language and I'm sleep deprived auauughh this is probably shit but I hope you enjoy hehe cause I personally love mean!Satoru he makes me go tehehehhehwojspsjpsj. Sorry if there are any typos ;((

♡

We've all read the fics, we've all seen the man, we've watched the show and I can't get this image outta my head, this little broken tape going off in my brain that Satoru is one of the biggest meanies when y'all are going at it. Doesn't matter what you are, what's in your pants, if you're giving or taking– he's mean.

Satoru is the type of guy that would keep you spread for him while he goes down on you, not caring if your thighs start to cramp or your legs feel sore. At some point it's not even about your pleasure anymore. He just wants to see how far he can push you, what new faces you can make, what little noises he can take out of you and Oh his favorite: how many times can he make you cum with just his mouth in a certain time limit.

He starts going and counts, each and every one of your orgasms, while also keeping track of the time. He's the strongest, he's definitely broken some records and one thing he really loves is breaking his own records. How many times can he make you cum in 15 minutes? How about 10? How about 2?!

"C'mon, love..."

"just one more, yeah? Oh I know, I know it's hurting but I'm almost breaking my last record, isn't that amazing??"

"Puh-leaseee? I'm making you feel good too, aren't I? Don't deny it, babe. I'm pretty sure everyone heard us with how loud you were being."

"No no no, I'm not saying it's baaad. Actually, makes me curious about how many noise complaints we can get in a week–"

Satoru is the type of guy to literally make fun of you while he's rearranging your guts. The type of guy that laughs in your face when you're crying all prettily, telling him that 'oh you can't take it' or how 'it's too big!' He's folding you in half at this point, not even letting you look away, hide your face in the pillows or anything as one of his hands keeps you still for him and the other holds onto your face, cupping you cheeks and squishing them together to make your face all pouty and adorable; you're just drooling and your eyes keep rolling back but Oh you better pay attention to him otherwise he's slowing down until you're begging for him to go faster and harder.

His thrusts suddenly become so weak and lazy and it's just not enough but he doesn't care, doesn't care that it practically hurts him too, he just wants to see you try and beg him to move with that fucked out lil brain of yours.

"Ah- Ah- Ah~! Harder, Toru! Puh-leaseee, faster, daddy!" As he giggles and mimics your voice (very horribly).

"Oh it's too big? But you're taking it so well, love, look at you! Shiiit~ I'm all the way in your tummy, see? Yeahhh well maybe you can't with all those tears but I definitely can."

"Hey, eyes on me, sweets– thereee we go~ Lemme see your pretty face, yeah?"

"What was that? Oh you're gonna cum? Again? That's a bit rude, baby, don't you think? You're being really greedy tonight. But it's okay, you can cum~ I'm feeling generous tonigt."

Satoru is the type of guy to pull on your hair when he's fucking you from behind, just to bring you closer to himself and make your back arch almost uncomfortably, just to whisper dirty ass shits in your ears that he knows would get you off.

He's got you on all fours and his free hand is on your ass, kneading and squeezing the soft flesh as he pounds into you, sometimes giving it a little smack, groaning and moaning deeply against your neck and sometimes whimpering if you give a roll of your own hips as well. He's not shy and doesn't see why some guys hold back their moans... you seem to like it a lot, so he definitely won't stay quiet.

"Fuuuck baby~ you're so tight and so fucking warm– mmm! I'm gonna break you... uh-huh, you're gonna stay here in bed for at least a week, sweets. And I'm gonna take good care of you, yeah? You'd like that, wouldn't you? Staying here, full of my cum as we just cuddle and hide away from the world... I'll give you load after load, baby, as many as you want~"

"Taking my cock so fucking well, like a good little slut– no no no, don't you dare run away, sweets~ fuckkk... I can feel you squeezin' me, baby. You like when I call you that? Like when I treat you like the lil slut you are?"

"Oh fuck– please, give it to me sweets, please! Wanna feel you, baby, wanna feel you tightening up– shiiit.. just like that! I'm gonna fill you up so good~ just a little more, 'k? You can take it... yeah you can, good job~"

Satoru is the type of guy that's mean during sex but Oh so sweet afterwards. Man does not care how many rounds you've all been through or how tired he is... he's giving you a nice warm bath and a massage because he just can't have his sweet partner be in pain, can he?

He talks all that shit about making you unable to walk but god he thinks he'd die if he had to stay in bed with you for a whole day! He loves you, don't get me wrong. He loves spending time with you and just being with you merely in your presence but he's an active person to say the least and he can't just sit still for more than 10 minutes!

So you best believe he's giving you the best aftercare as soon as you guys are done. A glass of water to sooth your throat, soft towels to clean you up with, a nice warm bath along with a massage to make sure you won't be sore by the next few hours and finally he takes you to bed and cuddles you, kissing you all over your face and mumbling little "I love you"s again and again and again.

"You were so good for me today... such an angel. God, I'm so lucky to have you."

"I love you, you know that, right? I love you so much. You're the best thing that happened to me. I love you... did I mention that I love you??"

"If you ever leave me I'm gonna cry myself to death and then haunt you in your dreams and possibly fuck you there if you let me. Sorry, was that too descriptive? I just love you so much, sweets. You can't blame a guy for loving his amazing wonderful perfect sexy partner, can you?"

♡

First post and it's a thirst daaaamn. I'm not making a good first impression y'all I'm sorry 😞☝️

[landoughnut]

The Williams Rule

♡ masterlist - request

♡ pairing - carlos sainz x fem!reader

♡ summary - carlos finally wins over the teams chief strategist after way too many attempts asking you out

♡ warnings - simp/desperate/persistant carlos, flluffff

♡ w/c & a/n - 1.6k | posting this here because im so sad for Carlos 💔

"No."

"But—"

"Still no."

"You didn't even let me finish!"

You look up from your laptop to find Carlos Sainz giving you his best puppy-dog eyes, leaning against your desk in the Williams garage. It's a look that probably works wonders on most people, but you've built up an immunity. Mostly.

"Let me guess," you say, trying not to smile. "You were about to invite me to dinner. Again."

He grins, unashamed. "Actually, I was going to suggest breakfast this time. You know, mix it up a little."

"Carlos."

"What? Breakfast is very professional. People have business breakfasts all the time."

You give him your best unimpressed look, the one you've perfected after two years as William's chief strategy analyst. "And would this be a business breakfast?"

"It could be," he says hopefully. "We could discuss... race strategy?"

"We do that every day. Right here. In the garage. Where we work."

He drops into the chair beside your desk, and you pretend not to notice how good he looks in his race suit, sleeves tied around his waist. It's unfair, really, how someone can be both adorable and devastatingly handsome at the same time.

"You know," he says conversationally, "most people would be flattered that their driver keeps asking them out."

"Most people don't have to maintain professional relationships with their drivers."

"Ah, but I'm not just any driver. I'm your favorite driver."

You snort. "Charles is my favorite driver."

"You wound me, mi corazón." He clutches his chest dramatically. "After all we've been through?"

"All we've been through is you interrupting my work to ask me out seventeen times—"

"Twenty-three times," he corrects.

"You're keeping count?"

His smile turns softer, more genuine. "Of course I am. I'm hoping you'll say yes before we reach fifty."

Something warm flutters in your chest, but you squash it down. "Carlos..."

"I know, I know. The Williams rule." He sighs. "'No dating within the team.' But rules are made to be broken, no?"

"Says the man who got a penalty last race for track limits."

"That was different! The wind—"

"Sainz!" James' voice cuts through the garage. "Stop distracting my best strategist and get to your engineering briefing!"

Carlos stands with exaggerated reluctance. "This isn't over," he warns you playfully.

"It never is with you," you call after him, fighting a smile as he walks backward, still watching you until he nearly trips over a tire.

Emma, your assistant, slides into the seat Carlos vacated. "You know," she says thoughtfully, "the Williams rule isn't actually written anywhere."

"Don't you start."

"I'm just saying, have you seen the way he looks at you when you're explaining race scenarios? Like you're explaining the secrets of the universe instead of tire degradation data."

You feel your cheeks heat up. "He's just... intense about racing."

"Right. That's definitely it. Nothing to do with how he brings you coffee every morning—"

"He brings the whole strategy team coffee!"

"—or how he only sits next to you in briefings—"

"That's because I give the best feedback!"

"—or how he literally lights up every time you walk into a room."

You bury your face in your hands. "I hate you."

"No you don't," she says cheerfully. "You hate that I'm right."

The problem is, she kind of is. You've been fighting this attraction to Carlos since your first day at Williams, when he'd introduced himself by accidentally spilling espresso all over your carefully prepared notes and spent the next hour helping you recreate them, making you laugh despite your initial irritation.

Twenty-three asks later (apparently), and it's getting harder to say no.

Later that afternoon, you're focused on simulation data when a sandwich appears on your desk.

"You missed lunch," Carlos says simply.

You blink at the sandwich, then at him. "I had lunch."

"Coffee is not lunch."

"I'm fine, I'll eat later—"

"You get grumpy when you don't eat properly," he says, pulling up his chair again. "Remember Monaco? When you threw a pen at Alex?"

"He deserved it! He wouldn't stop talking about how cereal is a soup."

Carlos unwraps the sandwich and holds it out expectantly. You take it with a sigh, knowing he won't leave until you eat.

"This doesn't count as a date," you warn him.

His eyes crinkle with amusement. "Sharing a sandwich in the garage while you pretend not to like me? No, this is just Tuesday."

You take a bite to avoid responding, then make an embarrassing sound of appreciation. It's your favorite – prosciutto and mozzarella from that little deli down the street.

"You remembered," you say softly.

"I remember everything about you." He says it so simply, like it's the most natural thing in the world. "Like how you take your coffee, and which pen is your lucky pen, and how you scrunch your nose when you're concentrating really hard..."

"Carlos..."

"And how you always say my name like that when you're trying not to smile."

You throw your napkin at him. "Don't you have somewhere to be?"

"Probably." He makes no move to leave. "But I like it here better."

The garage bustles around you, mechanics and engineers going about their work, but somehow Carlos has this way of making it feel like you're in your own little bubble.

"Twenty-four," he says suddenly.

"What?"

"Would you like to have dinner with me tomorrow night?"

You should say no. You always say no. But...

"Carlos, I—"

"Before you say no," he interrupts quickly, "just... think about it? Really think about it. Because yes, maybe dating within the team is complicated. But isn't everything in F1 complicated? We manage million-dollar cars going three hundred kilometers per hour. We coordinate hundreds of people across different countries. We deal with rain and red flags and rival teams."

He leans forward, and his eyes are so earnest it almost hurts. "But we do it all because some things are worth the complexity. And this?" He gestures between you two. "This feels worth it to me."

Your heart is doing that fluttery thing again. "That was a good speech."

"I practiced it in the mirror."

You laugh despite yourself. "Of course you did."

"Is it working?"

You look at him – really look at him. At the hope in his eyes, the nervous way he's playing with his watch strap, the soft curl falling over his forehead that you've always wanted to brush back.

"If," you say slowly, "and this is a big if... if I said yes, what exactly would you have planned?"

His whole face lights up. "Well, I know this amazing little restaurant in Maranello. Very private, incredible pasta. We could talk about anything except work. I could tell you about growing up in Madrid, you could tell me about your family. Maybe afterwards we could walk through the old town, get gelato..."

"You've really thought about this, haven't you?"

"Only about a hundred times." He grins. "So..."

You take a deep breath. "If – and I mean if – I said yes... you have to promise me something."

"Anything."

"If it doesn't work out, we stay professional. The team comes first."

"Always," he agrees immediately. "Although it will work out."

"Oh? You're that confident?"

His smile turns softer. "I've never been more sure of anything."

And maybe it's the way he's looking at you, or maybe it's Emma's words from earlier echoing in your head, or maybe you're just tired of pretending you don't feel this too.

"Okay," you say quietly.

He blinks. "Okay?"

"Yes. To dinner. Tomorrow night."

For a moment he just stares at you, like he can't quite believe it. Then the biggest smile breaks across his face, the one that makes his eyes crinkle at the corners.

"Really? You're not joking?"

"Don't make me change my mind, Sainz."

He jumps up, practically bouncing with excitement. "You won't regret this, I promise. I'm going to plan the perfect evening. It will be amazing. You're going to fall so in love with me—"

"Carlos!"

"Right, sorry, getting ahead of myself." But he's still beaming. "Tomorrow night then? Eight o'clock?"

You nod, fighting your own smile. "Eight o'clock."

He backs away, still grinning, and this time he actually does trip over a tire. You hear him apologizing to the mechanics in rapid Spanish, but he doesn't stop smiling.

Emma appears as if by magic. "Finally!" she exclaims. "I thought I was going to have to lock you two in the simulator room."

"It's just dinner," you mutter, but you can feel yourself blushing.

"Sure it is." She hands you a file with a knowing look. "Just like it was 'just coffee' when he started bringing it to you every morning, and 'just being nice' when he waited two hours at the track in Malaysia because your flight was delayed."

"Whose side are you on?"

"The side of love, obviously." She dodges your swat. "And maybe the side of the garage betting pool."

"The what?"

But she's already walking away, humming what sounds suspiciously like the Italian national anthem.

You turn back to your work, trying to focus on lap times and tire strategies, but your mind keeps drifting to tomorrow night. To dinner and walks and gelato and the way Carlos looks at you like you're his favorite victory.

Your phone buzzes with a text:

Carlos: Twenty-four was my lucky number anyway 😉

You bite your lip to hold back a smile.

You: Don't push your luck, Sainz

Carlos: Too late. Already the luckiest man in Maranello 💙

And despite all your rules and reservations, you can't help but think that maybe, just maybe, you're pretty lucky too.

After all, some things are worth breaking the rules for.

[venussaidso]

Also. People still thinking sidereal Aries individuals act like this extroverted interactive stereotype is what's making them confused. And this is why I couldn't fully relate to my Aries placements in tropical. I'm not super expressive like that. Yes, it turned out I was Pisces in sidereal. But I still have major Aries placements. Major, major Mars influence. Mars Atmakaraka. Mars in 1H in Bharani with Ashwini ASC.

I am private and internal, my mind is the most active but I'm outwardly passive. I seem intense and confident in my blog, but irl I'm withdrawn and I prefer to be alone — I don't speak much and I master a lot to say something, words are used a lot on my blog but I'm not much of a talker unless I'm being intentional. I can be charismatic and influential because I've watched a lot of movies and stolen certain mannerisms and personality traits which resonate with me. I know how to make a room chuckle. I've often been told I'm good at speeches and talking, even though I'm quiet. I'm a brooder and the mysterious label has been used on me, or I'm labelled as ‘shy’. I see so many Ashwinis like this, even the unstable ones. And this is why it's so easy to discount many possible, potential sidereal Aries Moons too. “Cillian can't be Ashwini, he's too introverted and Ashwinis are very insane intense people.” Forgetting that Ketu co-rules Ashwini. Ketu causes introversion, detachment... I spoke of this. Ketu is also related to ethereality, otherworldliness. Ketu nakshatras are known for their inclination to absorbing and consuming knowledge, making for some book-ish people. I remember the first time ever when I claimed that Tom Hiddleston can be a possible Ashwini Moon on here. I shook a lot of followers of mine. I think I was the first person ever to suggest this here, but I was just contemplating a lot of things that time and it personally resonated (and not because I'm Ashwini myself, it was just intuitive? Still, both Cillian and Tom are unconfirmed).

My point is, stop perceiving sidereal Aries people from this limited lens. I don't see them in the way people describe Aries only. The chaos and intensity usually manifests privately, or artistically. The Ketu rulership means the natives are supposed to be a distant mystery, they're enchanting, but they're out of reach. That is Beyonce.

Even Bharanis are different outwardly. Although I talked about themes of aggression, violence and superiority when it comes to Venus nakshatras, they don't always come across that way outwardly. Their fire element doesn't always show for us. Venus can come off sentimental, even romantic. Jamie Campbell Bower, with Bharani Moon, comes across fashionable, fanciful and chill, for example. The nakshatra lord is often influencing the outward perception of the sign.

Daniel Day Lewis has Ashwini Moon. He is just like Beyonce actually. Very private, hard to track, INSANE WORK ETHIC, and in interviews he's extremely calm, controlled and even seems like an introverted shy sweetheart. With Ketu especially, everything is not what it seems. We don't know Beyonce, we don't know her internal processes. But these are ARIES natives. Ketu makes for passivity, an out-of reach or withdrawn person, so of course she won't come off as what we think Aries is! But if you actually pay attention to all of her works, she is intense and incredibly passionate and Martian. "I'm a Martian, they wishin' they equal," she definitely wrote that lyric knowing she's an Aries Rising.

Ashwinis make for really, really intense artists. Hello?? Daniel Day Lewis?? Again with him. He does not come off like an Aries, but if you have followed his acting career, you can just seeeee the fire. The art reflects inner processes. I repeat, art reflects inner processes. Pay attention to the art, not the fucking visuals, I mean the messages, the portrayals, the energy and the effort they put in their work. Your basic knowledge of Ashwini should be from all the copy pasted facts found in many websites about Ashwini which states that those born under Ashwini influence have the strength and stamina of horses. Have you people seen how thoroughbreds run on that field and train? Beyonce's stamina and work ethic for her performances reminds me of that exactly.

Stop limiting yourself to perceptions of vanity, beauty and outward “personalities” to one thing only. My goodness. This is why I support people making fun of astrology lmao. Allow yourself to see the layers and nuances to one nakshatra. Ashwini energy can be hardass and chaotic but the natives can also be internally hyperactive — though outwardly cool, calm, calculating and collected. And I explored this aspect before.

In this post, I talked about the differences between how Rahu and Ketu is perceived. I clearly gave more examples of Ketu nakshatras having one appear introspective and shy, while Rahuvians are perceived as a lot more polarizing, controversial and outwardly passionate. But that's just the nodes causing distortions because fundamentally, the rashis are what signify the underlying temperament. Ashwini and Swati are vastly different temperamentally. Also, Rahu wants to be seen, so Beyonce being Swati makes no sense. She is extremely quiet, distant and private.

[tyrannosaurus-maxy]

Here is everything that every driver has said about the Max-Lando contact in Austria 2024:

Nico did take the time to look at the incident again. 'Verstappen didn't swerve towards Lando and he also left Norris a car width of space. And on the left there was a kerb and a large run-off zone, no wall. I think the stewards have intervened quite a bit in Austria, more than usual and maybe a little too much even,' the German concludes.

Yuki also does not think Verstappen's action in Spielberg was too harsh and explains: "To be honest, everyone does that." The world champion did not drive dangerously and it was not "moving under braking." It is completely normal to put "a little pressure" on the other driver and not let him overtake voluntarily. And contact can sometimes occur, says Tsunoda. He also believes that there would have been no penalty if there had not been contact in the same situation. "That's part of racing," says the Japanese driver.

Lando himself said: "Honestly, I don't think he needed to apologise. Some of the things I said in the pen after the race were more just because I was frustrated at the time, a lot of adrenaline, a lot of emotions and I probably said some things I didn't necessarily believe in, especially later on in the week.

Daniel said: “I think the contact, that can happen probably nine times out of 10 with no consequence... But I think the outcome was bigger than probably what was actually happening on track. From what I saw, at least nothing seemed over the top. Was it pushing the edge? Probably. But was anything dangerous or reckless? At least from what I've seen, no.”

George said: "Max will push the rules to the limits…as most of the top drivers do!"

Kevin said: "Max paid the price already by having a puncture. So I think some of the things they should just let the drivers sort it out in a natural way, it works out in other racing series very well, IndyCar, Sportscars and in the US, they have that approach and it works out well. The racing is tough over there, everyone understands the rules and it's more simple."

Checo said: "I think Max pushes every single bit to the limit as many top drivers do and when you're racing him it's gonna be a hard and fair battles."

Alex said: “the reality of it was just pure racing, hard racing” between the two drivers. It’s aggressive racing but I think it’s blown out of proportion, in my opinion. "If there's no contact being made then it's very often not talked about. [...] When i saw the the actual incident itself, to me it was just a racing incident. Lando went for that space on the outside, Max thought there was enough space for Lando to go. On paper, there was, but the way that Lando attacked the outside line and went so aggressively to it, you can't move that much in that position. You're kind of stuck in a straight line just because if you turn out the way, you'll end up locking up. So, yeah, it's a racing incident," Albon said. "Because they made contact, no [it wasn't harsh]. [But] if I was Max, I'd be upset if I had a penalty for that."

Charles said: "For me, it was an incident that both could have avoided. I also squeezed Max Verstappen onto the curb in 2022. I know Max’s driving style and how he battles very well because I started racing against him in 2010. I think he’s the driver I know the most and know best"

Honourable mentions to Esteban and Lewis for saying: leave me out of it

[lightyaoigami]

☁︎｡⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡⋆ how to resume ⋆｡ﾟ☾｡⋆｡ ﾟ☁︎ ﾟ

after 10 years & 6 jobs in corporate america, i would like to share how to game the system. we all want the biggest payoff for the least amount of work, right?

know thine enemy: beating the robots

i see a lot of misinformation about how AI is used to scrape resumes. i can't speak for every company but most corporations use what is called applicant tracking software (ATS).

no respectable company is using chatgpt to sort applications. i don't know how you'd even write the prompt to get a consumer-facing product to do this. i guarantee that target, walmart, bank of america, whatever, they are all using B2B SaaS enterprise solutions. there is not one hiring manager plinking away at at a large language model.

ATS scans your resume in comparison to the job posting, parses which resumes contain key words, and presents the recruiter and/or hiring manager with resumes with a high "score." the goal of writing your resume is to get your "score" as high as possible.

but tumblr user lightyaoigami, how do i beat the robots?

great question, y/n. you will want to seek out an ATS resume checker. i have personally found success with jobscan, which is not free, but works extremely well. there is a free trial period, and other ATS scanners are in fact free. some of these tools are so sophisticated that they can actually help build your resume from scratch with your input. i wrote my own resume and used jobscan to compare it to the applications i was finishing.

do not use chatgpt to write your resume or cover letter. it is painfully obvious. here is a tutorial on how to use jobscan. for the zillionth time i do not work for jobscan nor am i a #jobscanpartner i am just a person who used this tool to land a job at a challenging time.

the resume checkers will tell you what words and/or phrases you need to shoehorn into your bullet points - i.e., if you are applying for a job that requires you to be a strong collaborator, the resume checker might suggest you include the phrase "cross-functional teams." you can easily re-word your bullets to include this with a little noodling.

don't i need a cover letter?

it depends on the job. after you have about 5 years of experience, i would say that they are largely unnecessary. while i was laid off, i applied to about 100 jobs in a three-month period (#blessed to have been hired quickly). i did not submit a cover letter for any of them, and i had a solid rate of phone screens/interviews after submission despite not having a cover letter. if you are absolutely required to write one, do not have chatgpt do it for you. use a guide from a human being who knows what they are talking about, like ask a manager or betterup.

but i don't even know where to start!

i know it's hard, but you have to have a bit of entrepreneurial spirit here. google duckduckgo is your friend. don't pull any bean soup what-about-me-isms. if you truly don't know where to start, look for an ATS-optimized resume template.

a word about neurodivergence and job applications

i, like many of you, am autistic. i am intimately familiar with how painful it is to expend limited energy on this demoralizing task only to have your "reward" be an equally, if not more so, demoralizing work experience. i don't have a lot of advice for this beyond craft your worksona like you're making a d&d character (or a fursona or a sim or an OC or whatever made up blorbo generator you personally enjoy).

and, remember, while a lot of office work is really uncomfortable and involves stuff like "talking in meetings" and "answering the phone," these things are not an inherent risk. discomfort is not tantamount to danger, and we all have to do uncomfortable things in order to thrive. there are a lot of ways to do this and there is no one-size-fits-all answer. not everyone can mask for extended periods, so be your own judge of what you can or can't do.

i like to think of work as a drag show where i perform this other personality in exchange for money. it is much easier to do this than to fight tooth and nail to be unmasked at work, which can be a risk to your livelihood and peace of mind. i don't think it's a good thing that we have to mask at work, but it's an important survival skill.

⋆｡ﾟ☁︎｡⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡⋆ good luck ⋆｡ﾟ☾｡⋆｡ ﾟ☁︎ ﾟ｡⋆

[fuctacles]

Changes

@genderthings ST Women's Day: bouquet T | 805 | Pre-Steddie | Transfem Eddie, coming out, canon adjacent, phone calls | I am not sponsored by Lego but they can call me wink wink | Ao3

"Hey, you're good at making gifts, right?"

"Who is this?"

For a second, Steve blanks, wondering if he's dialed the right number. But the voice in his ear sounds right. 

"Steve? Steve Harrington?"

"Dude, I haven't heard from you in forever."

"Come on, it's been a couple of months at best," Steve protests, but as he starts doing calculations in his head, it doesn't sound as short anymore. 

"Uh-huh, try half a year."

"Shit. Sorry, Eddie. Moving had been... a lot. Guess I've lost track of time. How's life?"

"A lot of work. We have a few labels interested in working with us, but we have to make a few more demos to get signed for an album. But it's... It's good, it feels good."

Steve smiles at the receiver, happy that another one of his friends is following his dreams. 

"That's great! I'm happy for you guys. We should meet up when you're less busy."

"Yeah, totally," Eddie agrees quickly. "I have something to tell you, actually."

"Yeah? What is it?"

"I, uh... So much has changed, man. Different city, different life... It's not Hawkins anymore, you know"

"Tell me about it," Steve chuckles. 

"And I'm changing too. And I'm worried it might be too much."

Steve frowns. Change was always scary, and often meant someone would be left behind, usually him. But he soldiers on with a joke. 

"What, you got even more tattoos? Human painting style?"

"You bet your ass I did," Eddie laughs. 

"Well, Hawkins might hate it, but as long as you're happy, your friends will have your back. We didn't save the world for nothing, right?" 

"Right," he parrots. "So, what did you want to ask me?"

"Ah! Women's Day is coming up and I'm completely blank on what to give Robin."

"Dude." There's a shuffle in the other side, like Eddie changed his position to be more comfortable. "You're her weird cosmic bestie, shouldn't you know her best? How could I possibly be of service?"

"Well," Steve draws out the word, slumping against the wall. "She buys all the books she wants, she's against expensive clothes, we're stocked on candy for a year, and we have limited space. But she said she'd like something to decorate her room, make it more homey."

"Uh, a plant?" Eddie suggests. 

"Eddie. Would I be calling you if the answer was as simple as a plant."

"I'm guessing Buckley is a serial plant killer then."

"She murdered my basil plant and I haven't forgiven her yet."

Eddie snorts before making a loud hum.

"Alright then, well. A painting, a poster?"

"She already has so many posters," Steve groans. "I'm not sure there's even space left on the wall, not after she stole that huge Madonna one."

"I see the big city is doing her good, huh?"

"I need ideas."

"I don't know, man. You're close enough, get her a vibrator or something."

"Already got her one for Christmas."

It's Eddie's turn to groan.

"Just give her fake flowers, Jesu— wait. Does she like puzzles?"

"Uh, yeah? But we have nowhere to display them, so—"

"Did you know Lego has flower sets?"

"It was a great idea, thank you so much! I forgot how much fun it is."

Eddie laughs on the other end of the line. 

"I'm glad to be of help. What did you get?"

"A bonsai tree. It looks great."

"Good to know you're living my dream," he chuckles. 

"What do you mean?" Steve asks curiously, before flopping down on his bed for the conversation. 

"I fucking love Lego, but this shit is so expensive. And, don't tell anyone," Eddie lowers his voice. "But I do like flowers, and can't keep them alive neither."

"I'll keep that in mind," Steve chuckles. "Sooo, when will you be free to meet up?"

"When you said about changes, I didn't think you mean...."

"Tits?" Eddie finishes for him, her shoulders angling in to hide. "If you can even call them that."

"No, don't hide! They're—"

A smirk grows on Eddie's face. She might be wearing make up and style her hair differently, but her dimples are all the same.

"Yeah? How are my tits, Harrington?" she teases.

"Shut up," he grumbles. "You look good, okay? And you'll keep changing, right?"

"Oh, yeah. I'm aiming for a rack..." she forms her hands into cups in front of her chest. "...this big."

"Who'll pay for the chiropractor?" he raises his eyebrows.

"Uh, my rock star salary? Duh," she rolls her eyes. 

"Mom, I am a rich man?" 

"Exactly," Eddie grins at him.

On their way back, Steve pulls her into a florist's and buys a single rose. 

"For the Women's Day I've missed," he explains, handing it over with a wink.

Next year, Eddie gets two bouquets: live red roses and a sunflower Lego set.

tags: @blasvemous @phantomcat94 @wheneverfeasible

[gowerhardcastle]

On Stat-Heavy Games and Being OK with Failure

I frequently see people complaining that they don’t like “stat-heavy” games, that they prefer more narrative games.

Because I’m so invested in storytelling, you’d think I wouldn’t have written such a stat-heavy game, but my game is full of stats.

I am hard pressed to think of how a person, in this finite life, can write a very long game with serious branching that doesn’t use significant stats.  I think the key is what you think “stat” means.

I suspect that when people say they don’t like “stat-heavy” games, they are talking about “strength” and “wall-climbery” and “psi defense” and stuff like that, that they pit against some target number and either succeed or fail, where succeeding is good and failing is bad.

But of course, stats are also “Your Relationship with Vyv” and “How Polished are Your Shoes” and “How Much the Dog Hates You” and “Your Likelihood to Be Elected Dog Catcher” and so forth.  And a lot of these are hidden, because you don’t know how much the dog hates you in a quantifiable way.  Because I’m tracking a thousand different stats (this is only a small exaggeration) I can do some interesting callbacks and reactivity.

A stat test is not just “Do you have a 35?, if so, go have fun, if not, suffer.”  Or get on the failure path for the rest of the game.  Or it shouldn’t be. 

A stat is not an arbitrary gatekeeper, but the result of a lot of slowly accumulating choices earlier in the game, the way you can do a huge branching and bottlenecking game.  Stats don’t limit the fun, they make choices meaningful, and let you have a lot of those meaningful choices. You have to track stats in a robust way if you want a very long game, but *also* want have the many choices be meaningful. I just don't see the alternative.

I *think* what people mean when they say they don’t like stat-heavy games is that they a) don’t like managing stats, and b) they don’t like failure.

This is totally reasonable.  From a writer’s perspective, I approach those two issues this way:  a) I want my players to stop managing them.  Just play.  Not every game lets you do this, but some do, and when you find a game that has the player’s back like that, enjoy the freedom.  Take the ride the game gives you.  Make a choice that appeals to you.  The game will not slap you down.  You may get a different story than you thought you wanted, but you’ll get your story.  I think that’s more fun than staring at a stat screen or at the code the whole game.

To b) you actually have to write variants in which the player fails tests and make them fun, and rewarding.  It’s not a failure!  You just got shunted onto a different track.  Maybe it’s a better track!  Maybe you’ll find something cool and see things from a different perspective or learn something about a character.  Now, I know I have it easy, because a comic genre helps you lean into a that sort of thing. 

But, as I’ve said somewhere else, ideally, whenever you fail a stat check and something unexpected happens, I want the player to feel like they fell from a height and then got caught in a comfy and unexpected safety net.

This takes a lot of words, however.

[crapeaucrapeau]

Mass Effect 2

I'm trying to keep track of what every major or semi-major political player is trying to do about the Reapers in 2185 before, during or after Shepard waltzes in, pirouettes into them then fucks off, and it's kinda mind-boggling.

Major players with their own agendas include but are not limited to :

the Reapers, who may or may not have been already traveling to the galaxy at this point, and are using their pawns - the Collectors - to siphon many humans to their base to get going on the baby-making. Beside assassinating Shepard in 2183 to one-shot an anti-Reaper coalition in its infancy, the Collectors are presumably prepping Omega for collecting (see also : Mordin's recruitment mission) and have contacts with at least one non-Reaper operative (the Shadow Broker) to facilitate their plans.

Cerberus, which has set up one operator cell to deal with the Collectors, and is completely reshuffling its structure to gear up for the incoming Reaperocalypse.

the Shadow Broker is aware of the incoming Reaperocalypse and is actively collaborating with the Collectors, though to what extent is unknown ; one thing we do know is that he uses an agent embedded in Cerberus (Wilson) to try to kill Shepard before they can be up and about. We also do not know how his manipulating of events behind the scenes is meant to benefit the Collectors/Reapers. Then the Shadow Broker gets replaced by Liara who leverages the exact same network and resources to do the exact opposite, preppin' the galaxy against the Reapers. EDIT : I should note that the yahg Shadow Broker planned to attack Cerberus in retaliation one year after Shepard's resurrection, and those plans included the assassination of the Illusive Man, the destruction of Cerberus as a whole, and, if possible, the recruitment of Miranda.

the Alliance itself is doing shit all to prepare against the Reapers because they don't believe it's a problem, but within the Alliance, Hackett is running an undisclosed number of operations to prepare them against the Reaperocalypse.

officially, the Citadel Council dismisses this "Reaperocalypse", but in reality they're very aware of that, presumably doing something about it off-screen, and not keeping some very important people in the loop, such as : Shepard, and seemingly Anderson and the Alliance as a whole.

Also not kept in the loop : the Turian Hierarchy, since they learn about the Reapers from Garrus' dad. Oops.

Actually in the loop : the STG, and presumably the Salarian Union as a whole, since Mordin has been authoring studies on indoctrination and the military has been developing stealth dreadnoughts.

The geth have quit their self-isolation and sent a unique platform past the Perseus Veil to ascertain what the hell is going on.

The geth heretics, meanwhile, have been losing the war against the Systems Alliance and reduced to sporadic offensives in three clusters, but they're preparing an indoctrination-like virus to take over the orthodox geth and add their numbers to their own to service the Reapers.

And these are just the players we know about. We have no idea what, if anything, the asari or the batarians are doing (or know) about the Reaperocalypse.

But that's just what everyone is doing about the Reapers. You've got massive political and strategic things gearing up on the side : we all know about the intense situation in the Migrant Fleet, but did you know the Blood Pack was setting up an invasion of Illium ?

[saeun]

geto, above all, will do anything for his little girl. whether it's spending hundreds on a ridiculously large bouncy castle or a miniature designer bag. whichever fits her wants at best, she'll get it. but there's just one peculiar thing geto finds himself not being able to give her: the answer to her question.

with every ounce of his attention focused on the teriyaki chicken, he tries to quietly prepare a simple meal for dinner. right now, you're participating in your daily naps which lead to daddy-daughter alone time. a four-year-old girl keeps him company during the hard times without your presence.

if only geto knew how many questions a child can throw at him under a minute. he responded to most of her questions automatically, however, there was just one particular question that rendered him answer-less.

"daddy, why do you like mommy?" a harmless question. it doesn't reek of any deeper meaning nor was it meant to throw geto into a spiralling abyss. but why does he like you? when did he fall in love?

he wonders whether it was because you looked at him up and down as if he said the world's most offensive thing or maybe because you accidentally slapped him when he snuck up on you — actually, he vividly remembers and will continue to be embarrassed by that.

it all happened like this: you were waiting for the vending machine to deliver your snack. obviously, you were minding your business, but someone else wasn't. it took nothing but a left turn for geto suguru to stop in his tracks. as if mischievous music had been cued, geto smirks to himself. he has discovered his plan and his victim. no, he doesn't know you, nor do you know him. he's just very, very bored and needs entertainment.

geto sneaks his way to you. his posture was oddly cartoonish for his age: large, quiet tiptoe steps, hands brought up to his chest, eyes squinted for extra focus. according to the getology sugurist chronicles, one must imagine themselves as silence to achieve ultimate silence. real gangsters move in silence, they say.

"hey—" his sentence was unfortunately cut short. the sudden physical contact against his face left him breathless. he dares for whoever slapped him to not — oh!

is this what they call romance? "first love at sight" or whatever the hell satoru said? whatever it is, he's blushing. geto didn't expect such a beautiful, majestically shocked, and a tad bit disgusted lady to be bestowing him with her gaze. right now, as of this moment, he feels like saying, "haha, no girl has ever hit me before," but he won't. he has his own limits for cringing.

"sorry, i got startled," you apologized, reaching your hand out to soothe his cheek.

as if it's a default reaction, geto steps back. "don't worry, it's okay."

"please, let me treat it. it was my fault," you insisted.

"no, no. i'm okay, really."

sighing, you hand him the snack you ordered from the vending machine. "then take this."

and from there, the story of his love with you became history.

whirling himself out of the flashback, geto redirects his attention to his daughter. truly, he doesn't know what exactly made him love you. from the slight crush to marriage, geto's fell in love over and over. there's not just a single moment that hooked him to you. it was just you. not a moment, not a memory. just you. but of course, he isn't going to get sentimental with his little girl!

choosing to go with your first encounter, he answers her, "your mom slapped me and i immediately found her attractive."

"oh.." a confused look dawns the four-year-old. her head tilts to the side, eyebrows furrowed with lips twisted to the side. is daddy crazy? she can only wonder to herself.

geto's amused by her reaction. her confused look is replica to yours — kind of makes him miss you, if he's going to be honest. but as stated in the getology sugurist chronicles (2), one mustn't awaken the slumbering mother hen. he learnt from experience.

[mgu-h]

Feeling so hopeless after this race. I sat through oscar winning 3 races in a row and its only race no. 6 I can’t take it anymore. Exactly whats the point of having superior pace when other drivers are happy and willing to push you into a wall and your own boss doesnt care to support you? All the while the lando discourse has reached generational levels of toxic. It’s damned if you do, damned if you definitely don’t. How are you handling this?

I'm really sorry to hear that F1 has got you down!! 🫂 I'm feeling pretty okay about things actually, optimistic even, and I know that's not the vibe of the fandom right now, but it's based on what I've seen of Lando's performance and the quality of the car. It's early May, and the last race of the year is in December, that's how many points are left on the table. There's eight race weekends before summer break, we're not even halfway there, and Lando's only improving. He won the sprint and got P2, qualified ahead of Oscar, which all means he had a very encouraging weekend after Jeddah. It could have been better, sure, definitely, but I don't dwell in the realm of coulda-shoulda-woulda, you know? I take the results and move on.

You have to remember that last year Max went into Imola 33 points clear of Checo, and 60 points clear of Lando, and the season still almost slipped away from him. Yes, Oscar has won four races, but Lando has only won one, and yet he is only 16 points behind, less than one DNF from Oscar away from getting ahead, because his results have been so consistently strong. Three P2s, a P3, and the only time he was off the podium it was a P4. Qualifying for races is 3-3, neck and neck. He is clearly happier with his control of the car, and is very close to putting together those essential Q3 laps. If he'd not lost pole to Max, I think he would have won Miami by a mile, but he did lose pole, and that hurt his race. His pace was tremendous, and he got P2, the ultimate damage limitation.

If you're curious, here are my way to stay sane and enjoy F1 as a Lando fan: I do not check the tags on here, I turned off 'based on your likes', I've blocked a lot of antis, I've filtered names of blogs that I don't want to block but have harsh or upsetting takes. I mostly follow people who post pictures of Lando or fanfic about him. I am not on twitter, not on tiktok, not on instagram. I check F1 news at most once a day, and on sites I trust to be pretty factual and neutral, not opinion based, often AP. I basically do everything I can to focus on Lando himself. Right now I'm watching a half an hour long interview with him, and enjoying it so much. He's a smart, nice, earnest, and talented guy. I don't ever think about Oscar on purpose, don't worry about team PR, don't think about rumors. The media say a lot and it means very little.

I want Lando to win the WDC this year more than anything, of course I do. I'd be really sad for him for him to miss out on this golden opportunity, and even more sad if his teammate, a driver that I am at best neutral toward, wins it. BUT. Zoom out. I think Lando is going to be in the sport for a long time, I hardly think he's at risk of leaving it. He's a multiple race winner, who took his team to the WCC last year, and is consistently on the podium this year. If this ends up not being his year, I'm still going to enjoy watching him on track, as I know he's going to keep putting in good drives. It won't be the end of my world, or his world, if he has to try again in 2026. I believe he can do it, he's in prime position to go on a run of his own, and Oscar has had ups and downs in his momentum as well. We have to wait and see, and I'm a patient person.

I understand why people are upset with McLaren's leadership and PR. I do see what signals they are taking and extrapolating toward catastrophe, but I would be genuinely, deeply surprised if the things people are saying are really true. McLaren simply does not have deep enough pockets to both buy out Lando's expensive, long-term contract, AND pay for the most expensive driver in the sport to join, that's even if Max is interested. Lando is hardly performing like DR in terms of lack of points, the team is getting 1-2s and leading the championship by far. There's simply no reason for them to spend that much money. It's so unlikely I would be genuinely astonished at how irrational it would be if it happened. I think Lando needs to win a couple races, take back some momentum, and everyone will forget that this was even a thing to speculate about.

It will be ok 🫂

[detailtilted]

Looking for people who were SPN fans around 2007-ish. (Lost SDCC 2007 Video Files)

Hi! Are there any SPN fans still around from back in 2007 who downloaded and still have the SDCC 2007 videos that were once available at this link? https://scaperanya.livejournal.com/2037.html#t55541

About My Quest

There were 23 videos listed (including a "#6.5") , but only 12 of them have been located on YouTube, published by Mobycat33. Part #'s 1-6, 7-9, 16, and 18 are missing. At one point they were reportedly all on YouTube, but maybe some of them were made private or unlisted or deleted altogether.

Since the videos were made freely available for download on a file sharing site at the time, I'm still holding out a tiny thread of hope that maybe a fan who was around back then might have quietly downloaded them and managed to hang onto them for all these years.

I actually did manage to make contact with scaperanya and she graciously granted me permission to use content from the videos that still exist, but she didn't seem to have the missing videos. I don't think she's in the fandom anymore and the videos are almost 18 years old. I also managed to hunt down a couple of the people who commented on her original post, but I couldn't track down very many of them and I haven't been able to find anyone who still has the files.

A Note for Followers of My Videos

Don't worry, I do have enough SDCC 2007 content already to make a full video. The main set of videos I'm using has a pretty good view of Jensen most of the time. It's just that I could really use more of scaperanya's videos to increase visibility of the other people on the panel. When possible and/or relevant, I have a smaller window in the sidebar showing people who aren't in the main frame. It's similar to what I did for SDCC 2008, but without the perpetually collapsing bubbles. I have now managed to muster up enough sense to not make the windows round! Also, the audio in this panel is reaaaaallly bad at times, so another audio source would be a huge help for the subtitling endeavor.

Contact Methods and Logistics

Feel free to contact me however you feel comfortable, whether in response to this post or via another method. Private messages are fine, and you can also e-mail me at DetailTilted@gmail.com.

If you're concerned about the logistics of how to share the files, I usually use WeTransfer.com which allows limited free transfers. You input the person's e-mail address you want to share the files with and attach your files. It will automatically upload your files and send the person an e-mail with a link to download them. The other person will see your e-mail address, so you'd want to use an address you're comfortable sharing with me or else create a new one. If you have another preferred file sharing service, I'm definitely happy to work with that. I just wanted to explain one way it could work for people who have never shared large files before. I know sometimes I'm reluctant to offer to do something I don't know how to do for fear it will turn into a major ordeal that I don't have time for. Transferring files this way is actually super simple.

If I can answer any other questions, just let me know. I do not pester people, so if you contact me with questions and then decide not to do it and I never hear from you again (or even if I do), I promise I won't follow up and bug you about it.

Relogs for Visibility Greatly Appreciated!

I'd be greatly appreciative of anyone willing to reblog this to help increase visibility. This is my last ditch effort before I give up and declare it a lost cause.

[beelanddiavolosimp-blog]

I absolutely love mafia au's so I just want to add how and what each obey me brother is in it. I can add more if more people want it but these are my general ideas of them

Mafia Au

Lucifer

He of course is the second hand man with lots of money. He is the 'boss' to his brothers but his boss is Diavolo. He is very harsh and strict as he was before but now he's a killer and big drug dealer. He has tattoos along his arms and hands which is to show his loyalty to Diavolo. He continues to wear black gloves which is what people remember him by.

Mammon

He's the actual second hand man since he's the second oldest. He runs higher up/ difficult errands for Lucifer. His brothers often doubt him since he is still a heavy gambler in this au and waste a lot of his own money. Yet he is a skilled killer and interrogator. He has no trouble ripping some fingers off or beating another so-called 'mafia boss' to the curb as his team watches. He's just as psycho as his brother. He has many piercings and wears gold brass knuckles and chains. He even has a gold tooth/fang as well. His tattoos are in white and black and they follow along his normal au tattoos.

Levi

He deals with all of the computer tech and whatnot because he still heavily dislikes humans. He is very skilled and can hack almost anything even government things due to how much skill he has. He is still very much able to kill if you get him mad enough but he prefers his computers. Lucifer doesn't mind it keeps him busy and gives him information. His tattoos lie along his neck and upper back/shoulders. His teeth are very very sharp and the most noticeable feature of his.

Satan

He is more of a threat. He is what you get after being verbally warned or beaten a little and still don't take the hint. He will kill and make sure it hurts. He enjoys killing and giving pain to others. But only other Mafia people he is still soft. Still having a huge heart for cats. So if you're an animal abuser I hope you count your days...more like seconds... He has many thick black tattoos that follow his neck and middle body.

Asmos

He is a lurer. He gets to do what he loves best and dress all pretty and flirt yet also steal needed information or put a hard drive into the target guys device for Levi to hack. He usually is in clubs and is who runs them all but no one knows that. He also makes cover up clothes for when his brothers have to do missions secretly. He will kill if you try to test his limits. Touch him when he doesn't want it? You're shot immediately. Mess up his clothes? Dead. His tattoos are very girly/pretty but all resemble death of some sort like lillies of the valley flowers and such. He has many piercings on his ears as well.

Beel

He is usually who follows Lucifer when doing big missions since he is the most muscular almost on par with the big boss. He is very very quiet and has a look that can kill. He is about 6'4 or 5 and he is built massively. He is known to kill hundreds of men within minutes. He does however like most of the brothers have a soft spot but it is for his family. If they weren't in this line of business he'd be softer and not a killer but since his family is he is. He mainly has tattoos everywhere but the most noticeable are his arms and back. Yes his whole back is covered.

Belphie

He is someone used for stealth. If Lucifer wanted someone dead with nothing left for a suspect that is where belphie comes in. He is very smart and is almost never traced back to murders. He's gotten away with hundreds and not even the FBI could track him. His footsteps let alone breathing is never heard. He does however sleep for most of his free time which Lucifer can't say much of belphie has gotten him out of a lot of things. He has tattoos down his arms and legs but not much more than that he doesn't want them anywhere else.

[lvve-talks]

Congratulations on 300 followers love!!! You deserve this and more, I'm so so happy for you. ❣️

What do you think of Art being readers tutor, except she's actually just faking not understanding anything because she wants to spend time with him.

"i just don't get it!" you huff for the fourth time while mulling over the same problem for an hour. of course, the answer is 47%, and the equation is pretty straightforward, but he doesn't have to know that you know that.

you're great at statistics. art is... average. but when you saw him sitting front row of your stat 202 lecture on the first day of classes you knew you had to have him. golden curls sitting so prettily above that sharp nose and blue eyes sparking behind those slutty glasses perched on the bridge of his nose.

after class one day in the second week, you tap him on the shoulder and ask if he understood anything the teacher was talking about.

"uh, yeah, sure," he answers, turning around to lean over your desk and explain confidence intervals while you stare at his cute pink lips the whole time instead of listening.

"you're really good at explaining things," you compliment despite not having listened to a word he had said. you learn that you really like how he looks when his face gets all warm and flushed.

"really? um, thanks," he pushes his glasses further up the bridge of his nose bashfully and you catch yourself wondering how that nose would feel buried between your thighs.

"do you think you could tutor me on this?" you ask sweetly, twirling your pen into your hair. "i'm like... so bad at math," you explain simply, lying through your teeth.

you can see him considering the situation in his mind. pros and cons, how much he really wants to see you every week or so. the answer is clearly a lot when he answers "yeah, i could do that. i have tennis practice pretty much every day, but i'm sure we could find time," he clears his throat when he's done like it took effort to get that many words out when you're looking at him like that.

"really? perfect!" you clap your hands together, a pleased grin breaking out onto your lips. "here, give me your number. so we can.. plan where to meet and stuff," you hand your phone over to him and he seems to get impossibly redder. how cute.

for the first few meetings, you'd meet at the library. you tell him with a pout that you got a c on the first test despite nailing it and you lean in extra close when he comforts you and tells you that you can still pass the class with grades like that, but that's why he's here to help!

you memorize his features and the inflection of his voice when you're supposed to be learning the central limit theorem and always ask him questions about home and tennis and his other classes to get him off track when you get bored of that.

you sit extra close to him, your thighs and your elbows brushing as you make him draw models on your notebook to show you how they work, even if his numbers are slightly off, you can't correct him.

you always wait for him to finish his tests in class first, doodling stars in the margins after you finish so that it doesn't look suspicious. you slowly work up to telling him your real test scores so he can feel accomplished as your tutor. once, when he asks you what you got on an exam, you slip up and casually say 95.

"what?" he asks, eyes wide, clearly astonished, "that's.. awesome."

"all because of you!" you cheer, quickly wrapping him up in a hug to distract him.

eventually, you convince him to start meeting in one of your dorms. it's so much easier than going all the way to the library after all. you lay on your stomach, head practically in his lap as he sits with his back to the wall, notebook or laptop conspicuously hiding the semi he's been rocking ever since seeing you sprawled out on his sheets.

it all comes crashing down one day when you're idly scrolling on your phone as he searches through your desk for some flashcards in preparation for the final exam. what he finds instead is your very first exam from the semester, a big red 100 penned at the top.

"what's this?" he asks, his heart pounding in his chest as he holds it up for you to see. it's unmistakable. your name penciled in at the top next to stat 202, section 4. and a fat red 100. even circled for emphasis and a little great job from your professor. the test you had told him you got a c on. the test he had barely scraped by with a b.

you glance up casually, your heart stopping in your chest as you register what he's holding. your eyes flick up to his, the expression on your face making it clear to him that you weren't expecting him to find that. "i.. um..." you start, not quite sure how to explain it away this time.

"what's the square root of 196?" he asks suddenly, like he's quizzing you. you can't tell if he's angry or not, his expression stony as he looks at you, only his blue eyes giving away the hint of betrayal.

"14?" you answer correctly, knowing you can't go about fooling him anymore.

he sighs, his hand holding the test falling to his side and his head falling back to look up at the ceiling.

"i'm sorry, art," you're immediately sliding off your bed to approach him, a regretful look on your face. and you really are. you didn't want to lie to him, not really, but you just had to get to know him.

"why did you lie to me?" he asks, finally looking down at you again, the hurt clear on his face this time.

"i'm sorry," you repeat, softer this time, intertwining your fingers with those of his free hand. "i just... i wanted to talk to you. to spend time with you," you try and explain, knowing it's still not exactly justified.

"you couldn't have just talked to me like a normal person? asked me to hang out, get coffee or something?" he asks and you cringe at the accusation in his tone.

"i just.. it was the first thing i thought of. and then i liked spending time with you so much, i just had to keep up with the lie or i thought i'd lose you and..." you trail off, looking down at your feet in shame. you know you betrayed his trust, you're simply praying he'll give you another chance.

he sighs softly again, his hand gingerly coming up to you jaw to tilt your head up to look at him again. "you're not going to lose me," he insists, his eyes looking much softer now as he takes you in. "but i think maybe you should be the one tutoring me," he teases, a small smile gracing his features that makes you sag with relief.

"i'm sorry," you sigh again as he pulls you into his chest. you wrap your arms around him, breathing in his scent and thanking whatever it is out there that's clearly on your side.

"shh," he shushes you gently, placing a kiss to the top of your head. "i forgive you. this time," he adds with a chuckle that inflates your chest. a second chance is all you need. statistically, you had to be much more likely to get it right the second time.

[ask-whitepearl-and-steven]

i have a question on how to run an ask blog, as you have inspired me to make one, but i dont know were to start? how do you do it?

I'd say the best start is

1. Make a blog!

2. Decide on who is answering the asks.

Typically, askblogs limit their cast to 1-3, but you can really go ham. Just keep in mind that you have to separate the characters clearly enough for people to keep track of who's answering.

3. Get into character.

Don't forget to ask yourself - are you actually answering as that character would, or just answering as YOU and wearing the character like a hat? Nothing wrong with a little self-insert, but you should be honest with yourself about your goals.

4. Maybe create some visuals for the asks!

I recommend 3-5 images of the character in various emotional states. Kinda like my Reaction images!

5. Interact with other blogs, reblog relevant art, and POST THE INTERACTIONS YOU WANT TO RECEIVE.

Can't tell you how many times people have told me "My ask blog is empty. :( No one talks to me. No one asks me questions." But THEY themselves have 0 posts on their askblog, they don't interact with or reblog other blogs, and they don't have any prompts for questions.

People want to interact with something if they know they will be rewarded for that interaction with another interaction! Gotta put gas in the tank if you want the car to go.

That's about it! :)