#i'm very set in my ways and a little bit of a complainer in case you haven't noticed

[the-physicality]

i actually hate the cable cam for a lot of reasons but mostly because there is no second angle on the dt block from last night. if you know of one please let me know.

[dreamsteddie]

There is an AITA out there that I can't find but it's been haunting me for weeks with visions of semi-angsty Steddie that I need to release onto the world. (If anyone happens to know what I'm talking about hit me up and I'll link it)

Edit: @jazzathebunny found the original AITA from Reddit linked Here for anyone who wants to read it. I'm definitely not doing exactly the same premise but this was my jumping off point 😊

Part Two! ------

Modern AU, Eddie and the guys are a moderately successful local band in the Chicago area playing gigs on the weekends and doing small tours whenever they all have the time. Gareth and Jeff are both in college while Eddie and Freak are both working part-time at a game store. Eddie managed to lock down that assistant manager position that lets him work 30 hours a week with weekends off for gigs. All in all, it's a pretty sweet deal and they can't complain.

Eddie had sworn off dating after a small handful of disastrous relationship attempts in their first year in the city. He dismisses any advances from people who attend their shows and tries not to think about how much he wants to make a genuine connection with someone and have something real. He's been burned one too many times to try and make something with someone he met in a bar or at work.

He knows the guys talk about it behind his back sometimes, he catches Jeff and Gareth fervently whispering to each other and stopping when they catch him entering the room one time too many to not suspect they're talking about him and he can't think of anything else going on in his life that they would feel the need to whisper about.

The fervent conversations take a slight uptick one day and about a week and a half after they do, Gareth hits him up and tells him he wants to set Eddie up with a guy from one of his classes. At first, Eddie is skeptical and cites all the reasons why he doesn't want to try with anyone right now but eventually, Jeff jumps in to plea the case and Freak jumps in on top of that and under the combined weight of his best friends he agrees to meet up with this Steve guy.

The guys set up the whole thing and before Eddie knows it it's Saturday night and he's wearing his best black jeans and a gray button-down, untucked, to go on an honest to God blind date like his life is some low-budget romcom.

Steve is not at all what Eddie thought he would be. Not the kind of guy he thought his friends would pick out for him given they know he usually goes for other alternatives like himself. Steve, who is shyly waving him over and getting out of his seat to great him, is the very epitome of prep. Well-fitted polo, light blue chinos, and what Eddie assumes this guy thinks are casual loafers. He's handsome to be sure, a 12/10 at least with perfect hair and defined biceps but Eddie is fairly sure he's being punked.

But, Eddie doesn't want to be rude so he goes to meet Steve at the table, confirming just in case that he's actually here to meet with a guy named Eddie. Steve gives him a bit of a confused look, saying that Gareth showed him a couple pictures of Eddie before he agreed to meet and figured he'd done the same for Eddie off Steve's Instagram. Gareth had, in fact, not done anything of the sort but they both dismiss it and get on with their date.

In all honesty, Eddie is expecting it to be a complete wash, but it turns out that even if Steve is not at all what Eddie would have previously said what his type, Steve is damn near perfect. He's funny, kind, a little bitchy, and even though he proves himself to be every bit the sports nerd he looks like he doesn't turn his nose up at Eddie's own much more classically nerdy interests. By the end of the date, Eddie has a new type and that type is Steve Harrington. He's quick to lock down a second date for the next weekend which Steve happily agrees to. They exchange numbers and Steve gives Eddie a chaste kiss on the cheek that has him floating all the way home.

Steve texted him that next morning letting him now he had a great time and is really looking forward to their next date and Eddie thinks this might be the start of something big for him. When he gets to practice he's clearly still floating on cloud nine and in his own little world designing their marriage invitations and matching tombstones so he doesn't notice the sly grins on his bandmates' faces.

"So...how'd it go last night? Everything you dreamed it would be?" Gareth asks, a strange glint in his eyes that Eddie doesn't clock.

Eddie goes on and on about how nice Steve was and how he might be The One, thanking Gareth profusely. Freak looks pleased for him, giving him a hard pat on the shoulder in congratulations but when Eddie finally tunes back into the real world he's greeted by Gareth's livid expression and Jeff's overly concerned one.

He asks the guys what the fuck is up and it turns out that Gareth and Jeff set this whole thing up as a prank of sorts. Eddie was never supposed to hit it off with Steve who Gareth selected specifically because he's a "totally brain-dead prep" and as far away as someone could get from Eddie's previous relationships. He was supposed to be someone Eddie could go on a date with and not form a connection with without getting completely burned at the end like all his previous relationships in the hopes of getting him out of his slump.

Jeff was in on it as well. He wanted to get Eddie back out there, so when Gareth presented the plan he sat in on a couple of Gareth's general credit business class sessions to help pick the guy out.

After Jeff and Gareth finish explaining he does a complete 180 and just...leaves. In any other situation, he would be raging and verbally tearing his friends a new asshole but instead, he completely disengages and walks out the garage door, ignoring his friends' shouts to come back.

He goes back home, socked and hurt and so very confused about how the hell he found himself in this position when his phone lights up.

New Message: Steve H.

Fuck.

-------

Part two coming soon??? Maybe???? We'll see.

[galaxy-fleur]

went through your blog and i just wanted to say i love how you characterize death island leon so much 🥹💝 he's so sweet and playful but not in an overbearing way, i love that. i know you don't take fic requests but i'd love to see anything more with him hehe 🌺

Thank you very much anon! You gave me just the motivation to finish up a self-indulgent vignette I wanted to get my hands on for a while... I wrote this with Leon somewhere in his forties in mind, but his personality is very much based on his DI era! And thank you to my bestie @thatpyramidthing for giving me the idea in the first place. Scruffy stubble Leon, my beloved.

~ 3k words, gender-neutral reader (no physical/gendered descriptors used, but there is a mention of hair being brushed!). A tad suggestive, some playfighting and tickling involved!

In your line of work, you two rarely had a true lazy day to indulge in. The type of lazy day to just relax and not worry about a single thing in the whole wide world. There was always something that could happen unannounced. Always something to keep in the back of your mind, just in case it might spring up on you when you least expect it. You had to be ready to leap straight to your feet at any time, at any place.

Nevertheless, today was a really pleasant - and really rare - exception to that pesky rule. Lounging around in bed and napping away like two tired work horses turned out to be far more appealing than a day out or even a fancy date night. Plus, Leon made quite the comfy pillow for you to lay on. To put it bluntly, it was a day of pure recharging for you two.

Sort of.

When you woke up from your third nap of the day, you found Leon lying comfortably on his back, his head resting against the pillow tucked under his arm, eyes fluttered closed, his other hand settled snuggly on your waist, holding you to him. You quickly glanced back at the electronic clock resting on the coffee table nearby, yawning as you gently withdrew from his chest to stretch your arms out a bit. Judging by the setting sun out in the window, time was shifting into evening hours now. Leon was quick to let out a deep sigh at your movement, his eyes blinking open to stare up at you with silent protest. Though, it was immediately interrupted by a yawn as a response to your own. He stretched out his arms slightly, much like a sleepy senior family dog would once it was rudely disturbed from its nap.

Sleepy Leon was a cute sight, one that elicited a small smile from you as you hummed: "Mm, it's 6 pm already..."

He blinked off the last of his drowsiness, staring up at the ceiling for a small while before returning your gaze again.

"Already this late, huh? Time flies," he remarked with a slight smirk pulling on his lips. He reached over and gently stroked your cheek with the back of his hand, a loving gesture. One that you reciprocated by leaning into his palm with a quiet, pleased noise vibrating in your throat. His fingers brushed over the apple of your cheek as he laughed under his breath: "...Seems like you didn't mind using me as a pillow, though. I'm all sore because of you now."

You gave him a playful glare for that. Of course he'd tease you about it. You had no idea why you were even surprised.

"Says the guy who was squishing me like his personal plush toy."

That wasn't necessarily true; he was rather gentle with you - he always was - but that didn't negate his clinginess with you. Of course, you'd never complain about that for real. Well, maybe except for the occasional dilemma of him not allowing you to leave his arms to use the bathroom in the middle of the night.

Your statement simply made his smirk grow, his blue eyes brimming with those small glints of mischief you knew all too well by now.

"Hey, I'm not blaming you here, I am pretty damn comfortable, after all." His announcement was as smug as they come, making you roll your eyes with a small snort. It was clear that he was enjoying this little back and forth with you. He gestured for you to come closer as he patted the bed next to him: "C'mere. Come back here. I'm cold."

His display of shameless clinginess made you grin a little, shaking your head. It was, of course, adorable. You cherished his openness with his feelings for you very much. With Leon, you never had to doubt whether he enjoyed your company or not. He made his love for you blatantly obvious for the entire world to see. Almost annoyingly so at times. "We've been lazing around the entire day though... Shouldn't we maybe move around a bit?"

You moved to lie back next him and settled to his side in spite of what you had just said. Leon was quick to wrap his arms around your waist, bringing you in closer, and tucking you into his side, holding you close. He let out a content sigh, his thumb gently stroking your back in small circles.

"Mmm... Nah. No movement needed," he said, nuzzling his face into your hair, inhaling the scent of your shampoo. Although you two smelled the same right now, considering you shared a bath just a few hours prior. Despite his casual tone, there was still a hint of gruff tiredness in his voice: "This is all the exercise us old folks need."

With your own arm reaching up to encircle his middle and your fingers running over the rough texture of the scars that littered his back, you couldn't help but smile against him. You didn't need to see him to know where each and every one those marks was now. You knew him inside and out, just as he did you. As you hummed contentedly, briefly closing your eyes, his warmth and scent filled all your senses once again. If you were to be poetic for a moment, you would say that it was almost like your head was made to be just the perfect size to be tucked away into the crook of his neck, with his chin resting on it. Nevertheless, you kept that little sweet thought to yourself.

"Oh, so now you're fine with being called old? We're in our forties, not sixties. Old man," you teased, playing into the silly banter.

Leon laughed softly.

"Hey, just because I say it doesn't mean you can. Besides, what's the rush? We've both earned a little R&R." He leaned his head down to press a kiss to your temple, staying there for a lingering moment to enjoy the simple intimacy blooming between you two. "Just let me wallow in my old-timer aches and pains, okay?"

You rubbed his back in return, nails lightly scratching along his skin in the way you knew he liked, eliciting a pleasant shiver or two.

"Hm... A long awaited vacation, and you're spending it napping away in bed... Sure you don't regret it?"

Of course, your question was fully rhetorical in nature. These circumstances didn't bother you in any way. Your leg moving to swing comfortably over his hip was just yet another evidence of it.

Though, your remarks did make Leon laugh again, and that was your goal in the first place.

"Vacation, huh...?" He pretended to think for a moment, even though it was apparent that he was only joking. "Mmm... Now let me see... Spend hours on a plane with crappy food, go to some tourist spots filled with people, and then spend another few hours waiting in line for some good grub... Or spend all day in warm bed, no pants, no shirt, no responsibilities for once, just you and me... That's a tough choice, alright."

Your shoulders shook with repressed laughter as you snickered to yourself. Sometimes he was too dramatic for his own good. "You and me both know we can afford to skip all the annoying parts of vacationing. Sure you wouldn't trade this for a day on the beach?"

He shook his head mockingly, as if disappointed with you for even suggesting such a thing. Tightening his grip on you slightly, he kissed the top of your head this time around. Two kisses in a row, he was spoiling you.

"Eh, I think I'll still take option B. Besides... I happen to prefer the scenery here."

His thumb delicately traced little circles over the skin of your waist as he slowly moved his hand down your back, stopping just above the curve of your ass. You simply swatted at his shoulder in jest at that, giving him a knowing look.

"Perv," you snorted, a smile sneaking its way onto your lips despite your attempts at pretending to be annoyed with him.

With a humorous twinkle in his eyes, Leon winced dramatically as though your playful swat had injured him beyond belief. It was hard to be annoyed when he was being this ridiculous.

"Oh, you wound me." He looked at you with played up outrage and clutched his shoulder, seeming to be in genuine pain. Or, he would be, if you hadn't seen him in actual physical pain before. But that didn't really matter right now. "I thought you were supposed to be nice to the elderly. Aching back and everything, you know. And this is the treatment I get? Name-calling?"

This time, the eye-roll you gave him was a genuine one: "...Don't tell you're going to play the 'old man' card on me for the rest of the day now."

With his palm still lingering over your ass, he gave a quiet little laugh. He drew nearer, his face now inches away from yours, his voice transforming into a subtle, flirtatious whisper: "Well... I must admit, this pervy old man isn't completely against being bossed around by that pretty little mouth of yours..."

You rolled away from him to lie on your back, throwing your head back against the pillows as you broke out into a fit of full laughter. He was obviously having way too much fun with this teasing game of his. Though, as he looked at you lying there, laughing at his antics, there was a hint of genuine affection in his eyes. He loved making you laugh, after all. Even if it was at his expense sometimes.

"Wow. You've got no shame at all, huh?" With a knowing grin, you gave him a light, playful smack on the ass. Two could play this game, after all. "You bet I'll make you remember saying that later."

However, you were currently far too lazy to take any serious action. So he'll have to settle with a preview.

"No shame, no filter, baby." Smirking, he reached back down to your thigh, kneading the soft flesh with his fingers. He locked his eyes onto yours, a subtle hint of desire now brewing within his attentive gaze. "...Keep up with the teasing, and you won't be doing much sleeping tonight."

"-Don't threaten me with a good time," you teased right back, sending a small, flirty wink his way. Nevertheless, his lips were quick to press down to yours in a gentle kiss, stiffening your laughter before it could escape you again. It was a kiss you were more than happy to return, smiling into it as your hand came up to rest on his cheek, cradling it.

You felt him smile against your lips in turn, his hand slipping up your thigh to rest it on your hip again. As he leaned closer to kiss you more properly, he gently pushed you further back onto the bed, his body slowly crawling over yours, a low, pleased noise rumbling deep in his throat. Although he withdrew from you after a while, his gaze briefly straying over your face as he took in your expression. His hand brushed a strand of hair away from your face, his touch tender and loving.

"You keep being so damn cute, and-"

Leaning back in and speaking in a low, sensual tone, he nuzzled against you almost like a very pampered tomcat would. Though, your nose quickly scrunched up at the feeling of his scruffy stubble on your face, and you let out a small whine of protest, pushing on his chest lightly: "No, you're itchy."

With a gentle giggle, Leon pulled back from you again, reaching up to stroke his chin thoughtfully.

"Aww, come on, I know the ladies love the rough look. Gives me that... rugged older man charm, you know?" He quipped with a smirk, clearly enjoying your annoyed reaction. As he pretended to be hurt, you felt his chest rumble with repressed laughter beneath your palms. "You're going to make me feel self-conscious about my facial hair, you know."

With a sigh, you plopped back on the bed, lifting a finger up to interject.

"First of all, I am not your lady," you announced, before continuing. "And secondly, I have no problem with your facial hair. When it's not rubbing up against my face."

His lower lip protruded in an exaggerated pout as he mock-frowned at you: "I thought you liked me scruffy and unshaven. Or do you only like me when I'm all 'handsome and pretty' with a smooth jaw?"

He leaned in again before you could correct him, pressing his face to your cheek and purposefully rubbing his stubble across your skin. He obviously was well aware that it was itchy and mildly annoying for you, but he couldn't help but find your protests endearing. He thoroughly enjoyed playing around with you like this. You cursed under your breath as the prickly feeling made your nose wrinkle once more.

"Oh, for fuck's sake, c'mon, you're doing it on purpose now!" You complained, shutting your eyes as he rubbed himself on you. "What are you, a cat!?"

Leon chuckled, simply continuing to nuzzle you while his scruff scratched at your poor cheek with no signs of stopping.

"Mmm... maybe I am. A big, cuddly cat. Grrrr." He put some of his body weight on you now, basically smothering you beneath himself with his weight alone as his hand grasped your hip, drawing you in closer. Feeling your squirming under him just made him even more mischievous, it seems. To your own horror, of course. "And maybe you're my new favorite scratching post."

At that, you weren't sure whether to roll your eyes, or groan, or laugh. Maybe all three? Sometimes his silly behavior was frustrating to deal with. However, his goofiness was also a testament to his good mental state, and you would certainly take him being annoying over him being all broody and depressed.

"You did not just seriously growl at me, my God," you groaned, unable to hide the ghost of a smile from your lips despite wanting to sound frustrated. "-Okay, enough!"

He grunted in surprise, as you kicked him hard enough to push him away, causing him to roll off the bed and hit the floor with an unflattering thud. Of course, that wasn't really your intention. But it was funny. After a moment of stunned silence between you, it was his turn to start laughing uncontrollably. The baffled look on your face was just too priceless to be ignored, so he couldn't help it.

"Oh, you're gonna pay for that," he finally managed to gasp out between wheezes of laughter. Though, the glare he gave you was anything but angry as he propped himself up on his elbows. "You better run now, because I'm coming for you."

You were all too familiar with that gleam in his eyes. And what it entailed for you. "Don't you dare..."

With a playful menace to his eyes, he lifted himself up from the floor, quirking a brow at you expectedly. He stalked closer to you, his movements purposefully exaggerated: "You think you can just kick me off and get away with it? Wrong, sunshine."

With a growing grin you knew too well, he lunged towards you, his hands reaching out to seize you by the sides with the intention of tickling you mercilessly. You erupted in a series of squeals and high-pitched laughter as you pushed at his chest in vain, squirming under him like a worm trying to bury in its muddy hole for safety. If only you had a hole to burrow into for some sweet escape.

"Nooo! Goddamnit Leon, that wasn't even on purpose-!" You exclaimed through your fits of laughter, trying to tackle him off, hands and feet kicking and pushing at him from all directions. This was clearly not a legitimate hand-to-hand combat performance from you; rather, it resembled awkward child play. Only with two grown-ass adults well in their mid-forties.

Leon just cackled, his laughter blending with yours to create a deafening cacophony that likely made all your neighbors curse you to all the gods above. Wouldn't be the first time this happened, either.

"Doesn't matter if it was on purpose or not, you're getting the punishment you deserve! Now say uncle!" He bent down, his face now hovering near yours as he continued to tickle you nonstop with no indication that he would quit anytime soon. He was clearly enjoying this all too much, all the previous laid back laziness now long forgotten. Your laughter was like music to his ears. "C'mon, surrender! You can't win this one, sweetheart."

"-You're an asshole!" Your insult was obviously lacking any genuine heat behind it. Eventually, the tickle fight devolved into outright playfighting as you rolled around on the bed, messing up the sheets and flinging weak punches and kicks at each other like two kids getting rowdy on a playground.

"Ah, but I'm your favorite assho- Hey!" As you both rolled around the bed in a flurry of limbs and laughter, your lighthearted wrestling turned into a grappling match, stopping Leon in the middle of his gloating. Though, he was able to pin you to the bed at some point, hovering over your body with his arms on either side of your head as you both took a minute to catch your breath, the previous loud noise of laughter replaced by the brief pause of shaky breaths filling the quiet instead.

He straddled you, his look more playful than dominant now, his eyes a mixture of affection and faux victory. As he looked down at you, his eyes exploring your face, he couldn't help but laugh to himself again. Your disheveled state, messy hair, and slight flushness on your cheeks didn't stop him from finding you utterly adorable.

"-Looks like I've got you now, sweetheart. Any last words before I claim my prize?"

As you caught your breath, you looked up at him with a mixture of amusement and annoyance. Despite your frustration, you were happy to see him be so lighthearted for once. Even if it meant putting up with his terrible attitude.

"Just one: you better make me your blueberry pancakes tomorrow for having to deal with your insufferable ass," you huffed. However, your gesture of cupping his cheek was far from furious.

At that, Leon's smirk turned into a real smile. He leaned into your touch, his head tilting slightly to nuzzle against your palm.

"Blueberry pancakes, hm? That's all it takes to buy out your forgiveness?" He drew closer, his eyes fixed on yours as he chuckle softly, the playful atmosphere between you two still very much alive and well. "Alright, deal. You have my word. Blueberry pancakes in the morning, courtesy of yours truly."

As a kind of climactic touch to your previous little match, he moved closer and closer until your mouths inevitably met in a gentle kiss that gradually turned more passionate. He lingered there for a moment, savoring the sensation of your lips against his, before pulling away, his eyes half-lidded.

"Though... In my books, you are better than any pancakes."

[thevoicefromanotherworld]

"YOU LIKE WHAT YOU SEE, LOVE?"

I wrote another fic with Tangerine ☝😩🖤

I hope you like it!

WARNING: EXPLICIT SMUT UNDER THE CUT

You had just gotten off work, and like every day, you headed to your favorite bar for a drink.

You sat at the bar as usual and ordered something ice cold with two ice cubes. It was insanely hot, so the ice would come in handy to cool you off.

The bartender quickly brought you your drink, and you promptly paid him back, adding a small tip for his kindness.

You turned around to take in the atmosphere. It wasn't too crowded since it was a workday evening, so the space was occupied by several people who, like you, had come there in small groups to relax a little after a day's work.

Then the door opened, and when you glimpsed a pair of dark blue pants, you almost choked on the contents of your drink.

There was no way the coworker you hated and with whom you spent most of your time arguing had chosen that exact place to hang out.

You turned around, staring at the colorful bottles in the display case behind the bartender, praying he hadn't seen you.

You didn't feel like putting up with him at that moment, YOUR moment of relaxation.

The moment you felt him approach you, you knew he'd seen you staring, and that your evening was about to get exponentially worse because of his presence.

"Hi," he greeted with a stupid little grin, pointing at the empty stool next to you. "Is it taken?"

"Yes," you lied. He raised his eyebrows.

"Yes? By whom?" " he questioned, and when you didn't respond, he sat down and ordered a whiskey from the waiter, who quickly brought it to him. "I thought so," he murmured, taking a sip of his drink before fixing his gaze on you. "I didn't expect to find you here, princess," he whispered. "I thought you'd be tucked up in bed with your kitten socks by now." He laughed.

"Very funny," you snorted, draining your drink before gesturing to the waiter to get you another one. "I was just enjoying a wonderful moment of peace and quiet by myself, so I'd like you to leave, if you please."

"Oh, come on, I just got here," he complained sarcastically. "Besides, picking on you is entertaining and fun," he smiled. "So I think I'll stay a bit longer," he declared. "Besides, I don't have anywhere else to be right now. What are you doing here?" "He asked, 'Of all the places you could be, you're here drinking alone,' he observed carefully. 'I thought girls like you didn't come to places like this.'

"It's a good bar."

"That's why I'm confused," he laughed, taking another sip of his drink.

"Fuck you," you growled under your breath, making him only laugh more.

"Oh baby, I know you'd love me to do that," he said, smug. "I'm currently booked, so we can set up a day and… you know…"

"You're an asshole. You know that?" You complained, looking away.

"Hey!" He placed his ringed hand over his heart theatrically. "What kind of way is this to treat someone who just bought you a drink?"

Your eyes widened when you realized the bartender had poured you a new drink, but you hadn't paid for it. You tilted your head at him.

"Did you pay for my drink?"

"I paid for your drink," he stated. "It's what a gentleman would do, and regardless of what you think of me, that's what I am," he defended himself. "Come on, drink."

"Did you put something in it?" you questioned. He blinked a couple of times, as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Of course not!" he complained. "What kind of man do you think I am?"

"Easy, an asshole," you responded quickly.

"An asshole," he clicked his tongue before giving an amused smile. "You're charming," he murmured. "Fuck, I just wanted to be nice to you." He tilted his head. "So drink your drink, please, and tell me the real reason you're here alone tonight," he requested. "Did you come here to try and forget your problems with alcohol? Is that it?" He paused. "No, wait, I already know. They rejected you again, didn't they?" "He questioned, shaking his head. "Don't look at me like that, princess," he said. "We've known each other for quite some time. There's no point in trying to lie to me, because I'll know."

"You're one of my problems," you blurted out. He raised an eyebrow, halfway between surprised and curious.

"Oh really?" He questioned, moving a little closer to you so that your knees were touching. "Why?"

"You… are… me…" You tilted your head in bewilderment, as you gathered your thoughts. "I hate you."

"You should stop doing that."

"What?"

- Lying – he whispered – you're really bad at it – he explained – you don't hate me – he continued – in fact, I think what you feel has nothing to do with it – he whispered, boring into yours with his expressive blue eyes – the line between love and hate is very thin, darling – he said –

-I don't know what you think is going on here, but whatever it is, you're wrong – you slung your bag over your shoulder and took a last sip of your drink – thanks for the drink

You heard him swear under his breath as you stepped out onto the street. You heard him come up behind you.

"Wait, Y/N, please!" he said. "I just want to talk."

You turned to face him.

"Don't you think you've said enough?" you questioned. "You can't just say that kind of thing and expect me not to run away." You shook your head. "God, this is too much," you complained. "I don't know how I ended up here with you. I was just supposed to have a drink before going home…"

"And instead, here we are," he said, staring at you. "Explain to me why you left," he murmured gently. "I can't understand if you don't explain it to me"

"I ran away like a coward because I'd rather run the New York City Marathon four times in a row than admit I'm in love with you!" "You yelled," you blurted out.

The street went so silent it seemed life had stopped. The only movement was your heart beating fast in your chest.

"What did you say?" he asked softly. "Repeat that."

"You heard it, I'm not going to…"

"Repeat that," he asked again, "please."

You took a deep, sharp breath before answering.

"I'm in love with you."

(I MADE THIS NEW DIVIDER TOO, IS SO CUTE OML I LOVE IT SM)

"That's not possible, you…" he muttered. "I thought you hated me, I truly did."

"I'm a very good actress," you replied before putting your hands to your head. "Forget it, you can go now," you murmured. "I'll go home and pretend this conversation never happened."

In a couple of strides, he reached you and grabbed your hand with equal parts strength and gentleness, pulling you toward a dimly lit alley.

His blue gaze bore into yours as he leaned you against the wall, saying:

"You're not going anywhere," he said, before leaning in to kiss you.

His lips covered yours with a need and hunger you'd never experienced before. You felt like he was the last man on earth and you were his last meal.

He placed his hands on your hips, pushing you against the alley wall as he kissed your neck and you tangled your fingers in his hair.

"Tangerine… please…" you gasped when he left a mark on your collarbone.

"Shhh, baby," he placed his index finger on your lips before giving you a lopsided smile. "I'll give you what you need," he promised, "but this isn't the best place for it." He looked both ways. "You deserve better than doing it in a seedy alley." He took your hand in his. You observed the size of your hands together for a moment before he pulled you to walk beside him.

Forty-five minutes later, Tangerine had you pinned against the mattress of his apartment bed, his kisses edging dangerously close to your lower abdomen.

By the time you got to his apartment, it hadn't taken him long to undress you.

His blue eyes watched closely the expressions that crossed your face with every kiss he gave you, every caress, and every word he offered.

Then he moved his hands to his own clothes and began undoing the buttons on his sky-blue shirt.

You couldn't describe the sight before you even if you wanted to. Tangerine wore a gold chain around his neck, resting it against his firm chest.

An amused smile touched his lips as he watched you scrutinize him intently.

"Do you like what you see, love?" he questioned, raising his eyebrows.

"God, you're insufferable," you huffed, looking away, suddenly shy. "I hate you."

He held your chin between his index finger and thumb, causing you to look directly at him again. His blue eyes shone intensely as he said, "I thought we were past that, princess," he whispered, meeting your gaze.

You clicked your tongue tiredly before wrapping your arms around his neck to pull him towards you.

"Shut up and kiss me again."

"Okay," he whispered. "Where did we leave off before?" –he questioned more to himself than to you- ah yes, your neck- he murmured, leaving small kisses on it that made you shudder from head to toe- you're perfect- he growled, descending your body to the place between your legs- tell me you want it, love- he whispered, kissing the inside of your thighs- just – kiss – two – another kiss – simple – another kiss – words- he asked- two words and I'll be worshipping your pussy all night long

"Please…" you moaned, making him smile-

"Good girl," he whispered, placing his tongue against your lips-

He tugged them between his teeth before kissing your clit. You held onto his hair, while you panted and thrust your hips against his face, seeking the release you were already beginning to feel in your lower belly.

"You needed this, didn't you?" –he inquired- tell me how much you needed it

-So much… I don't know… it's so… you're…- you moaned- Tangerine! –you squealed when he tugged on your clit once more- please… I need- you whimpered-

-I feel you pressing against my tongue- he growled- do it baby, cum for me. I want to feel you cum against my tongue

A sniff escaped your lips as you did just that. You slowly caught your breath, as he wiped the remnants of you from the corner of his lips with his tongue.

"I need to be inside you," he whispered. "I think I'll explode if not…"

"I need you inside me too," you murmured, making his eyes blaze brightly.

"Fuck, you're going to kill me, baby," he growled, grabbing your hips to pull you closer to him. "Come here."

Within minutes, you were both a mess of moans and gasps as you moved against each other.

He filled you in ways you could never explain, and he felt like this was where he was meant to be, inside you, filling you like no one else had.

"Take it all from me," he panted. "Move those gorgeous hips of yours, baby," he groaned when you did just that, slowly making him lose his mind. "Fuck, I'm going to cum, fuck."

"Me too," you panted, holding onto his back. "Please, Tangerine…" you whispered. "Please make me cum… you…" you moaned. "I need you."

"You have me, gorgeous," he murmured, staring into yours. "You've always had me."

You both came at the same time.

Tangerine's blue eyes watched you for a few moments, checking you were okay before pulling away. An amused smile touched his lips as he lay down on the bed beside you.

"I'd think you'd hate me after this," he said sarcastically.

"Shut up," you said, punching him in the arm with a friendly smack before snuggling up to him.

[autistichalsin]

Two questions because I like hearing your thoughts:

What do you think Halsin's biggest flaw is?

And

Is there anything in his writing that you just don't vibe with / would like to see changed?

So, I am going to put two here for his flaws, just because what I perceive to be Halsin's biggest flaw is something a lot of people don't like being stated as such, because it's an extension of something that can actually be a good thing.

Halsin's biggest overall flaw: he is self-sacrificing to his own detriment, which also results in him brushing off his own pain/trauma. As a result of this, he also has a habit of developing hero-worship for those care for him the way he cares for others, I.E. the player.

Halsin's biggest flaw that can't be seen as an extension of a good trait: He can't control his basal instincts/urges very well. Not only can he not control his bear (the transformation into it and his actions in that shape) very well, but he also has lines in combat that rival the Dark Urge's in bloodlust; "let our enemies' corpses nourish the ground!" "May the carrion birds grow fat on you!"

Things I would change about his writing:

So... Most of the things I would change, I would not because I have a problem with them, but because I'm tired of others complaining about them (I.E. make his flirting banter with SH in act 3 only trigger if you're polymanced, make the Drow orgy start only at your invitation instead of his suggestion, etc). The highest on this list for me is the Minthara ultimatum (which still hasn't been implemented). I would like to see them make Halsin's case stronger; point out the Absolute still hunts him, make it clear how much Minthara triggers his trauma, let him talk more about things that happened to him in the goblin camp because of her- with her continued lack of remorse (she never even as much as says she sympathizes with what happened to the Grove) helping make his case. Also, make it more clear that what happened to the Tieflings was the result of this (because this scene was written to only trigger if the Rite of Thorns happened); show how haunted by their deaths Halsin is. People wrongly think Halsin had no stakes in this argument, when the truth is that they just didn't remind the audience what they were.

For things I actually would want changed... well, I'll put that in two categories, the things that could be changed while keeping the game mostly the same, and then my "pie in the sky" things.

Realistic changes:

-Halsin's post-Drow dialogue is tweaked just a bit more to fix a line from Tav that comes off as condescending, and to clarify some things (did Halsin's captors' house fall out of favor, or were they attacked by a lower house that wanted to unseat them? Halsin says both, but these are two different things in Drow culture). Maybe the house and the house that wiped them out get named, as well.

-While Halsin's act 3 arc was good considering how little time there was, I feel that there needed to be more highlighting his transition from nature-focused to people-focused. We see his anguish at the failures of the city, and the early stages of him dreaming for better, but I wish we could have had more of a bridge to him deciding his commune is the answer. I'd like to see a scene with Halsin adopting Yenna/inviting her to the commune once he starts it, a scene with Halsin's decision to found his commune and inviting the first group of refugees, that sort of thing.

-Make a quick tweak to That infamous party banter that makes it clear chimeras pass the Harkness Test in this setting so that people stop using it as justification to claim Halsin fucked the boar at the Grove (yes this is a thing). Or cut it entirely, I guess.

-Go back to the planned concept where Halsin's scar was in fact from a battle. It being from a shebear doesn't inherently bother me, but I liked the idea of it being a reminder of how badass Halsin is.

-I wish we had more lines reminding us what an amazing healer Halsin is past act 1.

-Fix a few of Halsin's lines so that he sounds as concerned about the Shadow Druids' influence as he should. He brushes them off a bit too easily, especially in the line patch 6 added where you could show him the note sent to Kagha.

-For the love of God, let Halsin get pissed off if you as a Drow Tav/Durge threaten to sell him back into slavery. Make him break up with you on the spot, maybe even leave the party- and if not, lose a huge chunk of approval at least. Players who make Astarion bite Araj rightfully get chewed out- Halsin deserves the same. It doesn't have to be rage, either; it could be hurt, or fear, or some combination of the above. But please, a line that evil deserves something more. They would never pull that on any other character.

Pie in the sky things that would probably never happen but I wish they would:

-After Halsin's Drow confession, we get a chance to suggest to him he might want a turn as a consensual submissive, complete with a sex scene of the player dominating Halsin.

-A scene with Astarion and Halsin bonding over their shared trauma.

-Reintroduce parts of the original concept for the Shadow Curse plot. I don't have to have the Halsin accidentally killing Isobel bit, but I liked the plot with the Promise dagger and him using you as a beacon to find you once he goes in the portal. It was so romance-coded; I'd argue it was even more romantic than Halsin's actual romance plot!

-Let us watch Halsin win over the orphans going to his commune. For pure self-indulgence reasons, make at least one of them a baby.

-A resist scene for Durges. I don't care if it would always be platonic, and yes, go ahead and give Minthara one too. Just please?

-MOST OF ALL, Origin Halsin.

[verloonati]

Thoughts on lux

- I'm pretty conflicted about the way the handled racism in that ep. Putting the doctor and belinda in 1950's American segregation made for a significant lack of non white characters belonging to that time and place and it sure downplays it for the vibe of the setting

- Mr ring-a-ding was not as interesting as I hoped and the twist was predictable from kilometers away but his animation was amazing the "turning to 3d effect particularly" and he had so much character in every little interaction. Alan Cummings gave it his all but I sure would have hoped he could have done more of a "voice" for him.

- the animated stuff is awesome, the traumadump session for plot reasons is really funny, and the whole twists and turns of that are good although I'd wish they had gone on a little longer. The breaking the fourth wall was better than I hoped with this type of thing often really disrespecting the fans and although it's a pretty condescending take that paints fans as dorky, watching the show in merch and all, they did also bother making them actual characters. The most unrealistic part is giving the "um actually it was leaked, #doctorwhoisdead" fan a meep t shirt from the tv star beast cause she would be the type to say it got worse from capaldi onwards but hey. It was a bit cringy but in a wholesome way. And in fact like. It was leaked. It was indeed leaked and I'm putting my tinfoil hat on and saying it was on purpose cause like. And like yeah we are dorks we are like that. Missed opportunity to call him doctor who btw.

-mr Pye side characters of all time wish we had spent a few more time with him although his backstory is pretty straightforward

-the resolution is awesome? Oh my god? It's not even a case of the ole "giving too much of what the villain wants" it's just giving him his absolute bliss. Like yeah that fucker is at one with the universe now. I do wish the thirteen victims would have died to have some oh shit we lost moment but I'm not complaining.

All in all a very good episode imo, not the best ever and not without flaws but so inventive that I can't be mad about it for too long. Really a vibe through and through

[marsbar17]

im like a woman in a desert dying we are so depraved of bloodhound x reader stuff pls just give anything at this point 😭😭😭🤲🤲🤲🤲🤲

Don't worry pookie I am here to quench your thirst <3

Bloodhound is honestly my favorite character to write about and this one flustered me a bit dbsbbsjska

CONTAINS: established relationship, alcohol consumption, jealousy, possessiveness but in a non-toxic way, a little bit of spice, not full on smut but it gets pretty spicy >:)

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

Celebrating a win was very popular amongst the legends. Mirage often invited everyone to the Paradise Lounge for some drinks and good laughter, even the less cheerful legends attended most of the time. Caustic could be found sipping beers and glaring at people, while Ballistic complained on and on about how they didn't even serve good tea.

Today, you sat at the bar between a very tipsy Fuse and an arguably even tipsier Valkyrie. Mirage popped in and out of the celebration as he served customers, but he always made sure your glass was full with whatever drink you desired.

"Mate! That wingman shot was bloody beautiful!" Fuse practically yelled into your ear as his metal hand clapped you on the back, making you wince slightly. Somehow, you had managed to pull off a win after responding in the last ring with only a wingman and one other teammate at half health. I guess whatever god is out there took the wheel because suddenly your aim was the best it's ever been and you downed the last two enemies with two headshots.

"I know, Walter. You've told me about fifteen times since we sat down." Rolling your eyes, you down the rest of your drink before scouring the crowd of legends to try and find Bloodhound. They said they'd be there, but you hadn't seen them yet. Although, it's hard to find anyone with the flashing lights and the alcohol starting to take effect.

Giving up, you turned back to your empty glass and smiling friends. If they didn't come, that was fine. They usually didn't enjoy settings like this anyway, they only only came to guide you back to room after you got wasted.

"The old man's right, though." Valkyrie added in, dragging your attention away from Bloodhound and back into the party. "Seeing you hone into the fight always surprises me, I swear your whole energy changes. It's fucking hot."

The pilot said it so nonchalant, taking a swig of her drink and signaling to Mirage for another like she didn't just call you hot. You couldn't tell if the heat on your face was from the alcohol or how flustered you felt. Probably just the alcohol.

"I'm gonna hafta agree with Valk on this one." Fuse said, still quite loud. He put his arm around your shoulders. "You make bloodlust look bloody sexy. No pun intended." His laugh is deep and booming, shaking your body as he leans on you. What the fuck is happening? You knew the two of them were flirty drunks, but you'd never had their affections directed at you before.

Again, you found yourself looking around the room, and this time you spotted Bloodhound leaning against a wall, watching you. Fuck. They were mad, you could tell. Even without seeing their expression you could practically feel the anger rolling off of them. The fact that Fuse was now playing with strands of your hair and Valkyrie had her hand on your upper arm didn't help your case at all.

You quickly got up, saying a small goodbye to your companions before making your way to a pissed off Bloodhound. They didn't even wait for you to get to them before they walked out the door, leaving you to hurry after them.

"What was that, elskan?" Their voice surprised you as you left the building, and you whipped your head around to see them beside the doorway. They leaned again the wall once again, arms crossed over their chest.

"I'm sorry, Hound. They were drunk and they surprised me and I didn't know what to do and I didn't mean to let them keep going and I-"

"Hush." Bloodhound interrupted your nervous rambling, holding a hand out in a 'halt' gesture. You shut your mouth as quickly as you possibly could, not wanting to anger them any more than you thought you already had. Before they continued speaking, they led you around the side of the building into a less visible alleyway. "I am not blaming you, I simply wanted to know what happened."

They weren't mad at you? Thank the Allfather. Having Bloodhound mad at you was something straight out of a horror film. Your body relaxed, but you still kept your head down instead of looking into their face.

"They got drunk... and we were talking about my win." You started your explanation again, slowly this time to avoid rambling. "Their compliments started getting flirty, and then they started getting touchy. I should've pushed them off, I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize. You are not responsible for the actions of drunken fools." Bloodhound grabbed your chin with a gloved hand, lifting your face to look them in the eyes. Well, where their eyes would be behind the goggles of their mask. "I trust you, elskan. I know that you are mine, and you would not betray me. Especially for someone like Walter Fitzroy."

You laughed, the tension leaving you as you slowly let yourself process the fact that they weren't mad at you. From the way their shoulders jumped slightly, you could tell they were laughing too.

"However," Bloodhound continued, letting go of you and reaching behind their head. "It seems like our other other companions need a reminder of who you belong to." You heard the familiar sound of their mask being unclasped, and soon enough you were really looking into their eyes as they set their mask along with their respirator onto an old wooden box beside the two of you.

You couldn't even speak before they grabbed your waist, spinning you around so your back was pressed up against the rough brick wall. You could only gasp as their hands gripped at your skin and their face nuzzled into your neck, leaving small kisses along your jawline.

"You are so beautiful. So perfect, ástin mín." Bloodhound muttered praise as the kisses slowly became more desperate. They nibbled at your skin lightly, not enough to hurt just yet. You looked towards the alley opening and whined slightly.

"Hound, someone could see us..." You grabbed at their shoulders, trying to push them back away from your neck. They pulled back, not even looking at the alley, only into your eyes.

"Would you like me to stop?" Bloodhound rubbed soothing circles into your hips, keeping your attention on them and not the possibility of someone seeing the two of you.

"No... but what if they see your face?"

"They will not. I will be too busy giving you tons of pretty marks."

Bloodhound didn't let you speak again as they dived back into the crook between your shoulder and your neck, sucking on the skin harshly. You couldn't suppress the moan that left your lips no matter how hard you tried, and you quickly slapped a hand over your mouth to muffle any further noise. They just continued to mutter praise into your skin while they savored every reaction you gave them.

It hurt, and you squirmed in their bruising grip. They were determined to mark you up until they were satisfied and wouldn't settle for any less. It was a miracle no one managed to walk past the alleyway while Bloodhound ravaged your neck and collarbones. It wasn't like you were being quiet either, the intensity at which they sucked and bit at your skin was enough to make tears well up in your eyes and to bring so many sinful noises from your mouth.

"I should just take you right here, where anyone could see how good I make you feel, elskan." They whispered in your ear, making your knees buckle and your eyes roll back. Good thing they were holding you against the wall, or you might've just fallen to your knees right then and there.

After what felt like forever, their teeth stopped grazing your skin and their grip on your waist loosened. You could feel their tongue darting out of their mouth to lick at and soothe the dark bruises they left on your skin. Your moans and whimpers turned to soft whined and sighs as the pain slowly faded into dull numbness. Bloodhound took a couple of steps backwards, looking at their work with a smirk.

"Absolutely gorgeous, kæri. Now, everyone will be able to see your devotion to me." They gave you one last look before grabbing their gear and putting it back on.

You just finished wiping any stray tears from your face before Bloodhound grabbed your hand and led you back into the Paradise Lounge. They escorted you back to your seat at the bar, giving you a pat on the head before walking back to the wall you saw them at before everything happened.

"....Bloody hell." Fuse's mouth was practically hanging open as he stared at the dark purple and red marks that littered your skin. "Didn't take Houndy to be the possessive type." He just laughed and shrugged before going back to his drink. Valkyrie had disappeared sometime during your absence, and all that was left was two empty soju bottles and a $20 bill on the bar.

"Yeah... So where did Valk go?"

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

Thank you for requesting, I hope you like it!

Reminder that liking and reblogging my work really helps me as a creator, and it takes like 10 seconds so why not support a little gay gremlin author

Requests are always welcome! They help me get the inspiration to write and produce more content for you! Request anything that's on your mind :)

[onigirio]

Hi! I love ur workk!! :) Could i request percy x child of apollo where hyacinth flowers bloom where they walk and they can summon them? (Yknow, bcz of apollo)

🐝: TYSM! i really liked this concept but i feel like this may be too short...lmk if you want a part 2!

camp half blood was no stranger to miscellaneous flora. after all, it was a camp in a forest, so there was bound to be a lot of plant life. however, recently, percy noticed a drastic increase of a new kind of flower, especially around the apollo cabin.

normally, he would ignore these things since flowers weren't his forté (he left gardening to the demeter kids) but the way the flowers were popping up seemed...too intentional. they formed intricate pathways from cabin 7 to the dining pavilion, or to the shooting range. hades, they were even popping up during capture the flag games!

damn his curiosity, but when percy noticed a new path, how could he not follow it. it's like someone was leaving a trail of bread crumbs for him to follow. the flora went from cabin 7, to the big house, to the dining pavilion. sometimes he would get mixed up with the different paths, but keen ocean eyes noticed that the colours differed from day to day, and today they just so happened to be blue

of course they had to be blue.

it was like the gods were poking fun at him. now everyone was wondering why percy jackson was walking around camp with his eyes glued to the ground. as far as he knew, he was going to get duped. this seemed like the perfect set up for a youtube prank video. fortunately for him, that wasnt the case

the trail of blue flowers led up to the edge of the strawberry fields, and right at the fringes sat someone overlooking the fruit as they baked in the summer heat. percy didn't know whether to be relieved or concerned, because yay! he wasn't getting pelted by eggs or falling into a pit of snakes, but at the same time, he wasn't sure what exactly this meant.

before he could ask the mystery kid about it, they turned around and immediately started blushing and rambling about cleaning and distractions. the ocean eyed boy only caught something about a "stupid sun god" followed by a significant amount incoherent mumbling. when they finished, percy just looked at them with a confused expression and they sighed

"my bad, i thought you were coming to complain about the flowers" they said sheepishly.

percy could only smile, "no, I'm not here to complain I just- decided to follow the weird trail of blue flowers".

this caused them to laugh, a sound that clearly had the ability to make flowers bloom considering the reason he was there. it made his heart run laps in chest.

"they're hyacinths" they clarified, unable to hide their amusement with him, "they bloom wherever i walk, because apollo had a crush on this guy named hyacinthus or something. either way, it's not exactly the best combat ability" they said with a small laugh, and it seemed that today percy's heart decided to be a track star

"If it's any consolation, I think they're very pretty" he took a seat next them, sitting criss cross applesauce as they overlooked the strawberry fields

"thanks bubble brain"

percy quirked an eyebrow at the new nickname they had given him. usually he'd feel a little bit offended, but after seeing the smile on their face, he couldn't help but smile too.

"what? you're that poseidon kid right?"

percy laughed, "well, yeah. does that make you buttercup?"

"they're hyacinths, bubbles" they reminded him with a playful nudge, "and my name is (name), but buttercup is also accepted"

'note to self ' percy thought, 'stop and smell the hyacinths more often'

[polyamzeal]

Hi. I saw you give advice before and I was hoping you could do the same for me. No pressure to though. Thank you for your blog by the way, I'm pretty new to this and it has been helping me a lot.

My partner and I opened our relationship up a few months ago and he started dating a friend he's known for a few years. I've met her before as his friend before they started dating, and also as sort of a branch of the friend group. But I would not call the two of us friends, just acquaintances.

I'm new to poly and I've done reading and research and I'm very aware of my position as the girlfriend who was part of the original couple. I've been trying my best to be a better person than I really am but I don't really know what to do. I want to make her comfortable and I want to make my partner happy but I feel like sometimes I end up overextended and hurt. But I don't know if thats just because I'm being selfish. I don't want to be controlling or demanding; I want to support their relationship. I just worry I'm not a good enough person to do so.

I will admit I have a lot of jealousy issues and insecurity issues, but I try not to bother my partner with it, and I refuse to even let my meta know about it. I always encourage my partner to spend time with her and not me whenever she's with us in a group setting (house parties, etc) because I live with my partner and we get to see each other any other time. I also avoid my partner and don't show affection to him when she is around because I don't want to make her uncomfortable by "staking a claim" or anything like that. So I end up ignoring him or pushing him away when he reaches out to hold my hand or hug me. He has told me he feels hurt by this but I've explained to him my reasoning.

The other day the three of us hung out. I was under the impression that she wanted to talk so I encouraged it but there was some miscommunication and it ended up turning out to just be a group hang out between me, my partner, and my meta. We went to grab lunch and he chose to sit with her instead of me and it hurt a little but it's literally something I would have told him to do so who am I to complain. But we didn't end up doing our usual ritual of sharing each others' food because I didn't want to make my meta uncomfortable and I didn't know how she would feel about cross contaminating spit because my food came last and they had already shared with each other. I felt kind of left out because I didn't get to do what I normally did with my partner while watching them do what I would normally do.

Afterwards we went to a bookstore to walk around but it was so crowded that moving as a group was pretty impossible so I split myself off from them. I was already feeling the third person on the sidewalk effect because I was the third person and I was feeling a bit lonely at this point. I figured it would be two birds one stone to just let them spend time together and I would get to nurse my hurt away from them by pretending I was going on an adventure by myself. At this point the idea of going out by myself sounded more appealing than hanging out as a group. And I continued to distance myself when we went to grab dessert. I saw her hugging and leaning her head against my partner's chest while we were waiting in line so I just physically turned away and determinedly scrolled my phone instead.

Long story short I felt like I was third wheeling their date but I don't know if it was because it was in my head: these were just friendly things they were doing in a friend group situation and I was reading too much into it. Or if it was because I was inflicting it upon myself: my policy of no affection and trying to make myself scarce when they could spend time together causing me to feel isolated. Or if it was because it really was the case that I was third wheeling them. Am I justified for being hurt here or am I just being jealous? This is a genuine question.

My partner's dream is to live in a big house with a group of friends. This would include me and my meta. This would also mean I would not show my partner affection unless we were in the privacy of our own room. Am I taking it too far? Would I be controlling or demanding to say I do not want my meta living with us? I don't want to be the "girlfriend that has veto power from the original relationship" I really don't. I want to support him but I think I would be miserable living in a house where I cannot be affectionate with my partner. Am I supposed to move out so they can live together instead?

I'm sorry for bothering you with all these questions. Again, no pressure to answer. I just don't know if I can do poly without having some sort of hierarchy where I am the primary of this relationship. I want to get married to my partner and that is a deal breaker for me. Does that make me bad at poly? I don't know what to do. I don't know if there's a resolution where everybody can be happy.

It sounds like there are a lot of assumptions being made here about the metamour. I would be very curious to know the metamour's experience with non-monogamy and just her overall thoughts on he relationship. She got into a relationship with your boyfriend knowing he already has a girlfriend. So unless if she is truly trying to cowgirl him and steal him away from you (it doesn't sound like she is) then I am sure she is making allowances too as to not step on your toes. So I think you have 2 options here.

1- You go full parallel polyamory. When he sees her, you don't see either of them. When you see him, she is not around. This style gets a bad reputation sometimes but it is a legit style that does work for some people and it might be what your needs want.

2- All three of you need to have an emotional conversation about what intimacy looks like when all together. Explain to your metamour that you want to be able to touch your boyfriend and not feel like you are trying to hurt her. That you want them to be cute with each other but sometimes it will make you a little jealous and how you can all cope with that. Definitely not saying you and your metamour need to be best friends that hang out together without your mutual partner but you are both on the same team so that will require a little more communication and just working together. That isn't going to happen if everybody is too scared to talk about jealousy or insecurities outloud.

One last thing. Don't be afraid to show your character faults, that is part of being in a relationship with someone. You should be telling your partner that you feel jealous or insecure. Do so when he is in a good headspace to talk about it and be clear that just because you are feeling those things that isn't a demand for him to change his behavior. Just let him know that it is happening and you are working through your feelings. It is very likely that you can both come up with fair compromises that keep everybody happy.

[00lunect]

★Human Pumkin★

Hello world and all who inhabit it! (⁠ﾉ⁠◕⁠ヮ⁠◕⁠)⁠ﾉ⁠*⁠.⁠✧. How are you? I hope you're doing well and all that.

But anyway! While I'm working on another one of my drawings, I decided to post this quick thing I made a few days ago when I was still deciding what to draw. None other than the human version of my Troll OC: Pumkin! ✧⁠◝⁠(⁠⁰⁠▿⁠⁰⁠)⁠◜⁠✧.

(If you're not familiar with Pumpkin, here's the link to her character sheet)

A friend on Discord recommended it to me to practice more poses without leaving aside my hyperfixation. (⁠≧⁠▽⁠≦⁠). So, I decided to give it a try. Especially since I've been drawing a lot of Trolls lately (and probably drew even more) and I don't want to forget how the Hell our species is supposed to be drawn, so I've set myself the goal of trying to draw a human form in a particular pose after a certain amount of time drawing Trolls, although we'll see if I stick to it and follow through. XD

But anyway, back to the drawing, this is the human version of Pumkin! (⁠人⁠*⁠´⁠∀⁠｀⁠)⁠｡⁠*ﾟ⁠+. Although I warn you that this won't be her final design because I did it relatively quickly and didn't pay much attention to the process of "adapting" her design to a human body with normal proportions, which is why things like her hair, glasses, and overalls are more cartoonish and don't have as much detail. The truth is, I didn't think much about how those things would look if Pumkin were a human, so I didn't really look at many references to make her design more realistic. I just took her Troll design and shot a humanizing beam at her. And that's it. So I apologize if those parts of her are weird. I'll see if I can tweak them a bit the next time I practice my poses.

Another thing I didn't like at all was her face. :/. I mean, it's better in this take than the first time I did the face, but I'm still not crazy about it. Another thing I need to improve when adapting. I mainly think it was difficult because of her nose. A Troll's nose isn't the same as a human's, and that changes the game a lot.

However, what I did like about Pumkin was her body, which was what I focused on the most while drawing. (⁠ ⁠ꈍ⁠ᴗ⁠ꈍ⁠). It's not very noticeable because of the overalls, but I made a version of her without them. I mean, with underwear.

So, a quick warning for those who are sensitive to such things: below you'll see a drawing of Pumkin in her underwear. I personally don't find it "suggestive" enough to classify it as risqué or adult content, but I wanted to leave this note just in case. Also, as a reminder, Pumkin is canonically of legal age (between 19 and 23 years old), so it's okay for me to draw her without much clothing.

But if the idea of seeing Pumkin in underwear still bothers you, then imagine that what she's wearing isn't underwear at all, but a swimsuit. I think the whole thing can easily pass as one with a little imagination.

Ready? Because here she is.

(If you don't like it, just note that I warned you, so please don't come complaining)

As I said, Pumkin's body is what I enjoyed drawing the most. ✧⁠◝⁠(⁠⁰⁠▿⁠⁰⁠)⁠◜⁠✧. Mainly because I really like making robust bodies, and Pumkin is that in a way. Of course, she was supposed to be a bit more robust (?), but my friend helped me correct some mistakes in the pose and, well, he recommended making her stomach a bit longer. I took him at his word to make the body look more natural, but while I don't regret the final result, I still feel like this design was missing something.

I guess I'll see if I can improve it in my next posing practice (and skin coloring. The skin was a bit hard to decide. I didn't know whether to make it dark or light, so I left it kind of tan... I think).

Oh, and the scars✨. I think they're the best part about Pumkin. In fact, all of her human version's scars are adaptations of his Troll version, so yes: that seam on her side is also on her Troll version. It's just that, since I always draw Pumkin in her overalls, you can't really see it. Same with his leg scars. Pumkin has a lot of scars on her legs. She got them as a teenager, which is why Branch insisted she start wearing longer pants. XD

But anyway, that would be all. (⁠ ⁠╹⁠▽⁠╹⁠ ⁠). I hope you liked Human Pumkin. And if you didn't like it, I'll try to improve the design another time, because I definitely see many points that need fixing.

Thanks for reading!

[splatsvilles-fashionista]

Splatoon 3 Version 8.0 patch notes breakdown

A bit late with this one, as I didn't have the time to write it last night, but nevertheless, here's a quick rundown of the patch notes for version 8.0, which should release in a couple of hours as of time of writing.

First of all, the Sizzle Season 2024 content is being added, but will not be available for another 24-ish hours. That includes:

A new Catalog

The new stage Lemuria Hub

Two new main weapons, two variants of those main weapons, and six alternate sets for preexisting main weapons.

14 Tableturf cards

Two new songs by SashiMori

The renovated Hammerhead Bridge and Barnacle & Dime, which will be taken out of stage rotations when the update becomes available.

Wandercrust Journey 6.

Additionally, this patch also adds data for the new Triumvirate King Salmonid fight and a new Grizzco Weapon, as well as the new Splatfest features, both of which will not become available until a later date.

With Sizzle Season 2024 stuff out of the way, let's move onto the changes that will be available right away, starting with Stage Changes, which there are a lot of.

In addition the Hammerhead Bridge and Barnacle & Dime changes, Museum d'Alfonsino, Um'ami Ruins, Brinewater Springs, and Scorch Gorge are all getting layout changes, with Museum getting some extra changes in Splat Zones and Rainmaker specifically. Eeltail Alley, Hagglefish Market, Flounder Heights, Marlin Airport and Manta Maria are all getting "slight" changes, while Crableg Capital and Bluefin Depot are getting slight changes in Turf War and Splat Zones, and Clam Blitz, respectively.

I'll be entirely honest, until we see these changes for ourselves it's impossible to gauge just what these changes will be like, but I am willing to be optimistic given just how much improvement we've seen in the Stage design over the last year or so. I think they'll be slight improvements at worst.

With that said, let's move onto Main Weapon changes, starting with a bunch of weapons getting the exact same change.

Sploosh, Jr, Aerospray, Luna, Clash, Carbon, Splat Roller, Inkbrush, Octobrush, and Dapples will all now deal 10% more damage to Splash Walls. I'm not sure why this was listed on each weapon individually and not just all collected as a Splash Wall change, but I digress. The intent here seems to be to make short-range weapons specifically, better at dealing with Splash Wall, the users of which they'll generally be outranged by to begin with. It's a small and specific change, but it's not one I think any of these weapons will complain about.

N-ZAP will now be able to fire for longer before its hits max bullet spread. In case you didn't know, all shooters that have bullet spread have a property where that spread gradually increases the longer you hold ZR, which slowly goes back to normal if you stop firing, and now that'll take longer on N-ZAP specifically.

N-Zap didn't really need this buff, but it's also not something that moves the needle much to begin with. It's pretty rare outside of low-level turf wars that someone fires for long enough to the spread to be a major factor, so it's fine. It's just a very strange change.

Moving onto more deserved buffs, L-3 has its damage increased by 2, taking a full three-hit burst from 87 to 93 damage. This is not a significant change, but 30 is a pretty important damage threshold to hit, as it combos with a lot of things, and it does mean that getting even lightly chipped by almost anything at all puts you in one-shot range, so watch out!

Rapid Blaster now starts recovering ink after firing about 3 frames faster. It's another nice little buff, though like N-ZAP it is kind of strange this weapon is being buffed at all when it's in a pretty good spot right now.

Now here's something interesting, Tri-Stringer will now paint the ground better, and will now paint lines more consistently. Turfing has always been one of Tri-Stringer's biggest weaknesses, so this is a very nice buff!

Last but not least is my favourite change in the entire patch. REEF-LUX now charges at full speed while in the air, similar to how Squiffer works. This is just a fantastically cool buff if you ask me, it's one of those things that seem insignificant on paper but can really change up how a weapon plays in a major way. It wasn't until after Squiffer got this change in Splatoon 2 that the weapon really came into its own, after all.

With Main Weapon changes down, let's move onto Points for Special changes, of which there are four (technically three):

Big Swig Express and Painbrush are ten points cheaper, and both variants of E-Liter are ten points more expensive. Not a lot to discuss here, so let's move onto Special Weapons:

The rails that indicate the Reefslider's path will now ink the floor as they extend forward, potentially allowing you paint over an enemy's feet before running them over. The rail will now also follow moving terrain, which is a change I'll admit I am not sure what it does? We'll just have to see when the patch goes live.

Big Bubbler now paints the ground inside of the shield. A nice quality of life change that could potentially be used to do some silly things in Splat Zones, if you're so inclined.

Ink Vac will now paint the ground behind you while it's active. Nintendo specifies later on in the patch notes that this is because they want you to be more reliably able to use it while retreating, and yeah, that's what this change will do.

For our final Special change, Splattercolor Screen now deals more damage to Beakons, Sprinkler, Splash Wall, sponges, and the Rainmaker's shield. Like with the Ink Vac changes, Nintendo specifies what the purpose of this buff is in the patch notes, and in this case it's to reward people more for using the Screen well.

And that's all the balance changes for this patch, but there is actually one more Main Weapon change that is not listed with the rest, because it's a bit different:

These changes are very wordy, but the TL;DR is that Squeezer now has a hard cap on how fast it can fire, which is the same as its regular fire speed. That might sound like a completely pointless change, and I thought so initially as well, but it seems the intent here is to not have the weapon be improved by turbo controllers, as they can let you mash ZR at much, much faster paces than intended.

With all that said, let's round things out with some miscellaneous changes:

If you roll or dash into the Rainmaker shield you'll now slide off it, as opposed to the game continuously attempting to place you where the shield is at and dealing a bunch of contact damage to you, splatting you almost instantly.

You'll now start the next season in S+0 if you were top 1000 in the previous season's X rank.

Squid Beakons are now accounted for when awarding the Super Jump Spot medal, which I am frankly surprised wasn't the case already?

I lied, there is one more Main Weapon change. Grizzco Dualies now deal 5 more damage with their actual bullets. That means they three-shot Chum now!

Reflected Drizzler torpedoes will now collide with terrain less, reducing the situations where you shoot one back only to have it immediately crash into a ledge it just barely touches.

Finally, purchasing the Expansion Pass will now net you 10 free Sheldon Licenses. If you've already bought the Expansion Pass then you'll be given the Licenses after downloading the update. Just in time for ten new weapons to be added as part of the Sizzle Season!

[bildads-shoes]

Ever since I saw this incredible post I've been thinking a lot more about the book vs show differences, and one of the things my brain keeps returning to is the very different presentation of Heaven and Hell.

In the book, I feel like the majority of the time Heaven and Hell are mentioned, it's simply in reference to them being adversaries. They're often just referred to in the context of being Aziraphale and Crowley's bosses, both equally uninterested in humanity or the details of their employees' actions. Hence, we really do see them as not being so different from each other, and dislike them both equally. Personally, I feel this is a bit different in the show.

In the show we actually get to see Heaven and Hell. We get to see Beelzebub for more than a couple of lines, we get to meet Gabriel, and we get to feel the atmosphere of Heaven and Hell as settings.

In terms of their general vibe, the difference feels pretty stark. Heaven is empty, cold, unfeeling; every interaction between the angels we see is laced with mistrust and two-faced scheming. Hell, on the other hand, does have emotion; it's a deeply unpleasant space, of course, but the way the demons complain to each other feels more honest. Take Uriel and Michael: we've seen them throughout both seasons, yet I can't recall either of them expressing a single honest feeling. Shax and Furfur, on the other hand, have had a lot of honest moments both with each other and with other characters. In a bizarre way, Hell becomes more relatable, more likeable, in the show.

Of course, there are massive issues with Hell, but they don't necessarily come across at first glance. The really dark aspects are almost always played off with jokes, to the extent that we don't talk about them that much. Beelzebub is pretty well liked from what I can tell, despite evidently having extensively tortured their employees - but it's part of a funny scene so we instinctively overlook it. Gabriel, on the other hand, seems widely loathed; he's just blatantly a dick in Season 1, and we don't see enough of him actually as himself in Season 2 to balance that out. I'm sure that's also in part due to fake-Aziraphale's trial being resurfaced in Season 2 as a serious, traumatic event for Crowley. We aren't shown the impact that Hell's treatment of Crowley had on Aziraphale, so once again Heaven ends up seeming like the more 'evil' side.

So I suppose it's no surprise that we end up having more discussions surrounding dismantling Heaven in Season 3, with Hell's toxicity being a slightly lesser topic of conversation. It does instinctively feel a little like Heaven is the 'bad one' in comparison, whereas we have to actively analyse those throwaway/comedic moments to acknowledge the massive issues with Hell. Therefore, to me, that neutral/equal presentation of the two 'bosses' in the book is no longer the case in the show.

Perhaps this is all because the show is shifting more towards commentary surrounding religious institutions as opposed to the Cold War energy of the book. Or perhaps we'll be explicitly shown more of Hell's dark side in Season 2 and will return to truly seeing them as equally bad. Or maybe you have a totally different interpretation (please let me know 👉👈). I don't know man, I just needed to get this thought out honestly lol.

[imtrashraccoon]

I'm trying lovelies, I really am! Here's Day 2, even though I'm five days behind now...

@starlikeswomen

First & Next Chapter

Chapter 2: I Guess We're Roommates??

Word Count: 1,384

You felt a little bad that Scar had to sleep on your couch, especially since he was so tall, but he didn't complain about soreness the following morning, so you put your worries aside for the time being. There were more pressing issues anyways, such as how he would get home or your lack of Monster food.

Actually, you didn't have much food at all since you hadn't had time to go shopping since moving in. You apologized to Scar but he assured you that he would be fine for now. Apparently, he was capable of eating Human food, it just required him to use mana to absorb the nutrients rather than them being absorbed on their own. Still, you figured it would be better to pick up some groceries sooner rather than later so that he wouldn't risk completely running out of mana.

After whipping up a quick breakfast, you figured it would be a good idea to finish unpacking your apartment. It would make things a bit more homey for your guest and finding the stuff you needed a lot easier too.

From his place on the couch, Scar watched as you moved back and forth while trying to figure out where to put things. He'd shed his trenchcoat and shoes the night before and you had to admit the gray plaid flannel shirt he was wearing underneath looked good on him. You weren't sure how he did it, but despite being a skeleton, he filled out his clothes quite well. You would rather die than ask about it though.

"Do You Mind If I Help?" he asked after a little bit.

Partway through attempting to hang a picture frame, you turned around and gave him a confused look. "What? You're my guest, you don't need to do anything."

He only raised a bonebrow as you returned to hanging the picture, although you couldn't quite reach the nail even while standing on your tiptoes. After a moment of this, he sighed and stood up. Before you could ask what he was doing, he gently took the picture from you and effortlessly hung it up.

"Are You Sure That You Do Not Want My Help?" he asked, giving you a slightly smug grin.

Feeling a little embarrassed, you glanced away and began worrying at the hem of your shirt. "Well alright... But, only if you want to!"

"I Would Rather Help Than Sit Around And Watch You Continue To Struggle."

For the next few hours, you worked together to organize the apartment. Scar proved to be very good at putting together furniture, which was helpful since you'd lost most of the instructions ages ago. When you complimented his skills, he described the process like solving a puzzle and that he enjoyed putting things in their proper place. All in all, the arduous task of unpacking turned out to be almost fun with his help.

You had a feeling that he'd never seen an Xbox before if the curious looks he gave you while setting it up were any indication. You explained what it could do but the moment you said "video game" he seemed to lose interest. His brother was apparently more into that sort of thing but he did mention that he enjoyed watching documentaries. That led you to showing him how Netflix worked and while he didn't say much, you noticed his scarlet eyelights brighten at the sheer quantity of content, all at the simple press of a button.

When you took a break for lunch, you gave him a crash course on how the appliances worked, just in case. He got a little annoyed at the insinuation that you were worried he'd start a fire but in the same breath quietly thanked you for taking the time to show him.

"Human, Can I Ask You A Question?"

Mid-way through your sandwich, you could only hum in response.

"I Would Like To Know More About You," Scar continued. "Do You Have Any Family?"

You nodded and managed to swallow before answering him properly. "Yeah, I got two older brothers and as far as I know my parents are still kicking around somewhere."

He tilted his skull curiously. "You Do Not Speak With Them Very Often Then?"

You frowned and glanced away before answering. "No, I don't, and I'm happy keeping it that way."

"Understandable."

You nearly had to pick up your chin from the table.

"Why Are You Looking At Me Like That?" Scar huffed. "Your Relationship With Your Family Is None Of My Business, So What Right Do I Have To Pry?"

"O-oh." You felt your cheeks heat up. "You're right. It's just that whenever I've told people about it, they usually suggest that I'm wrong for not wanting to talk to them."

"Humans..." He muttered and rolled his eyelights.

You cleared your throat awkwardly. "You mentioned earlier that you have a brother? Can I ask what he's like?"

Scar paused for a moment and narrowed his eye sockets at you ever so slightly, as if trying to gauge your intentions. "He Is The Antithesis Of Lazy And The Most Obstinate Monster There Is..." He paused before adding in a quieter tone, "But He Is My Family And I Do Not Know What I Would Do Without Him."

You smiled a little at that. "He sounds interesting, I wouldn't mind meeting him sometime."

"Trust Me, You Do Not Want To. He Is A Complete Sleezeball That Flirts With Everyone Even Mildly Attractive."

"Well, if you say so," you chuckled. "He almost sounds like the opposite of you..."

"Indeed," he remarked gravely. "We Very Rarely See Eye To Eye, But At The Very Least, I Can Count On Him To Watch My Back.

"Is he as tall as you?"

Scar got an amused look and chuckled softly. "No, We Competed A Lot Growing Up, But Height Is One Of The Things I Was Able To Beat Him At."

You chuckled as well. While he seemed to only have harsh things to say, you got the feeling that Scar really cared about his brother. Even if they didn't always get along, it must be nice to know that they would look out for each other if things got bad. That was what family was for, right?

A shrill whistle startled you back to the present.

To his credit, Scar only looked mildly alarmed at the disruption and glanced towards your bedroom door where the sound had come from.

"That's just Pickle," you reassured him. "The spoiled brat is probably annoyed that he only has normal food to eat today."

"Ah. You Have A Pet?"

You nodded and stood up to put the dirty dishes in the sink. "I'll have to introduce you. He's a little green bird called a budgie and I've had him for...maybe three years now?"

"What Does He Like To Eat?"

"Mostly normal bird food like seeds and nuts, although I occasionally give him treats like fruits and vegetables. His favourite is actually bananas but I think he mostly just likes to shred the peel."

Scar nodded slightly and stood up, pushing his chair in as he did so. "I Have Not Seen A Budgie Before But He Sounds Entertaining," he commented.

"Oh, he is. I think you'd really like him."

Glancing around at the apartment, you smiled at how much progress you'd both managed to make. "Thanks for helping by the way, you really didn't have to."

Scar rolled his eyelights and huffed. "Well, I Wanted To, But You Are Welcome, Human."

"If you want to take a break, we could go get some groceries? After all that work, I'm craving something sweet anyways."

"It Is Your Decision But I Do Not Mind Either Way."

You grabbed your wallet and keys. "Good, because I think Pickle will hold it against me if I don't get him his fruit fix soon."

Scar chuckled quietly and followed you outside. After you'd locked the door, he asked, "I Take It You Like Sweets?"

"Yeah, I guess you could say I have a bit of a sweet tooth. What about you, big guy?"

He shrugged. "I Do Not Indulge Very Often But I Do Enjoy Sweet Things On Occasion."

"Then there's no reason not to go all out, huh?" you suggested teasingly.

[givepie]

Hm! I feel a rant coming on! Everyone duck!

MY THOUGHTS ON THE HYPERIA STORY AND ITS THEMING. ALSO A GENERAL RANT ON COASTER THEMING.

Let start with a general question: what counts as theming?

To me, theming is the set pieces, pre-show, and anything laid out in a rides area to help develop a story. Most of the time this helps world-building more than anything. To me, even music can be a piece of theming because it helps to set a tone. For example, when riding Smiler, the laughter sounds almost manic and it makes you realise straight away that something is off, before you even step foot into X-sector.

Anything that DOESN'T fall into this classification such as website and app pages, falls into "storytelling". In a theme park, it is almost impossible to tell the entire story from one repeated instance inside of said story. To tell a complicated story like that of the Smiler, it would take so much exposition, which is very much not the point and would take away from the experience as a whole.

So storytelling isn't a bad thing, it's how they handle it.

To me, there are three behemoths of theme park theming and storytelling worldwide. That I know of.

Baron 1898, X-Sector post-Smiler, And Forbidden Valley post-Reborn.

Baron 1898 is pretty easy to grasp while you're there, even as a non-speaker of the language. You're going on a mine tour and 3 ghost ladies are PISSED that you're going down there. The actual theming is downright impressive ans I would love to see it in real life. You can then look up the story to find out who the ghosts are, who the Baron is, and how the mine came to be. Really good treat for people who decide to look.

Forbidden Valley has a story that has remained relatively consistent throughout the years. It has wondering actors that establish the world in a realistic yet entertaining way rather quickly. There are an official operation; there are people opposing the operation so there is something sneaky going on; there is a tour group taking advantage of the centrepiece so the Alien is a tourist attraction in this universe, too. Just little things that help put together a bigger picture.

Of course this starts coming apart a little bit when the audio starts explicitly telling you what is happening, but it still holds. You see someone's office, a crashed helicopter, weapons for warding off the alien. All things to help build up this universe you are now ankle-deep in. And then there's the 3 pages on the Internet that break down the story for you, which can also be seen in the shop.

Finally, of course, there's X-sector. It doesn't usually have roaming actors, and the theme suits better that way. Without the roaming actors, you see that the Ministry are secretive. Trying to stay out of the limelight, except for the skeleton crew they send out to keep the coaster safe and operational. It shows a tone.

However, people casually wondering what this is about can never get an easy answer. Cause the answer is spread out across what remains of a decade-old marketing campaign. Fun for people who want a deep dive, not so fun for people who are just lightly curious. The website barely tells you anything either.

But, on a positive light, the story is so complex it keeps a fandom. Not many coasters have that. It's an insane accomplishment.

And I have a theory as to why. Now, stay with me here I think I'm about to upset some people:

It has aspects of social and political commentary. "Not everything is political" ALL GOOD ART IS A COMMENTARY ON THE TIMES AND CIRCUMSTANCES YOU WERE RAISED IN SIT YOUR ARSE BACK DOWN.

RIGHT, so, Smiler is a story about the government dedicating an organisation to keeping people artificially content to keep people compliant. What are Brits notorious for doing, in comparison to the French?

Doing fuck all. This wasn't always the case. We would riot, we would strike. Now we strike but while the other half of the country complains and just tells the strikers to sit back down and take the mistreatment. We are miserable, we complain, and we go about our day. And that's the joke. Its funny. So why bother changing it?

And if we can't be bothered changing something cause it's funny, what happens if they make everything purposefully funny? They'd never have to deal with the strikes in the first place.

The government functions off of our social compliance, which can come from making jokes at our own expense. We even see it now with our drowned-rat-faced PM as he continues to make a fool out of himself so he's funny. If he's funny, we want to see him more. That's a valid strategy nowadays.

Smiler. Is about how Keep Calm And Carry On is a stand against progress.

Smiler. Is a political and social commentary on the people of Britain. You're welcome.

Anyway!

HOW DOES THIS RELATE TO THE NEW WORLD-STAGE COASTER IN STAINES?

The problem is: it doesn't. Instead of taking inspiration from its sister park, Alton, Thorpe decided to take inspiration from Icon and its shoebox station.

Where is Fearless Valley taking place? When is Fearless Valley taking place? What point in the story are we looking at here? The issue [only issue, really] with Hyperia, is it entirely relies on storytelling and a few bits and bobs in the queue.

Remember the shortcoming in Nemesis? Where you can get a good grasp of the story without it being blasted in your ear? Yeah here they straight up tell you the story, too. The theming has BECOME the storytelling.

Next question: what is Hyperia, the coaster, supposed to be? Yes, we know the story is that a goddess called hyperia overcame her fear of the sea by building wings and escaping the island she was trapped on [for some unspecified reason. Is hyperia evil?], but what IS the coaster supposed to be?

Smiler is the Marmaliser, the machine that transforms you into a smiling advocate. Nemesis is the tentacles of the monster overtaking the metal that pins it down. Baron is the track the drill takes to get into the mine.

What is Hyperia? Are we following Her as she soars, were we stuck with Her; the Icarus to her Daedalus? Are we following in her footsteps as part of a ceremony Her followers reenact for her blessing? Are we supposed to be Her? It's never really specified.

The station is chocked full of a last-ditch attempt of theming, which in comparison with the whole lotta nothing you get from the queueline? It feels cramped. It feels cheap. It barely feels like it belongs on a stage alongside Taron, Velocicoaster and Voltron Nevera. If they didn't have the budget to do the storytelling and the theme, they should've gone for theme.

Any story with no theme feels cheap and artificial. Any theme with no story still stands out and has breathtaking scenes. If they focused more on the white-gold colour palate and maybe had a few statues around and about they could pass it as some sort of pantheon, like climbing Olympus.

I'm not gonna lie, I'm disappointed in all aspects of the Hyperia theming. It feels lazy, tacky and underwhelming when you consider Swarm is a 5 minute walk away. I'm hoping it improves at some point.

I geniunely think the stone head of Collosus is much better than anything in Fearless Valley and its inconsistencies. The Black and gold buildings feel very sleek and out of place for a story ultimately about a goddess who forged. She forged her own wings. She forged her own bravery. Shouldnt the building look a little home made? Where are the bolts? The soldering? I want to see her anvil and hammer pride-of-place, not shoved in the corner of the station.

Cmon thorpe. Get your arse in gear.

[kidnap-the-series]

EP 1 - Real Stunt (Part 1)

30 secs in and we are already snapping necks (???)

Ofc we were filming

It hasn't even been 2 whole minutes yet and we have shirtless Ohm already (I mean... who is complaining?)

Not James just casually offering a real gun job like hello mister???

Stop he is treating Mhen like he is a little kid 🥺. So adorable.

God... We have got hospital bills and on top of that debt collectors too

Lol did they really think a stuntman would not know how to fight back or what? Also, love that it's a bit more realistic. Even if he is a stuntman, he is not dumb enough to fight against someone with a knife.

I'm sorry but this is hilarious, made me chuckle.

Oop, i wasn't really expecting them to meet before the kidnapping but i'm cool with this too.

String of fate?? i love things like this. They are like fated to be together. I was thinking they should have made his sweater red so that it would be like the red string of fate but I remember seeing something about the significance of blue on X. But, I couldn't really find much about it on the internet, so that's that.

From the snippets of the novel i've read, Min was, to say the least, mesmerised by Q here.

"My shirt is totally ruined! Can't you see?" Q looked at Min provocatively. Min glanced at Q’s shirt, noticing how it had ridden up, revealing a flat, well-defined stomach. Even his navel was attractive. Min composed himself and turned away, his face and ears turning red, unsure how to deal with the situation.

credit: user @/ohmpwtz on x

This part wasn't really emphasized in the series but I guess you can't really show everything thats in the book ig. But it really kind of explains why he acts the way he acts later in the episode. Bro is down bad from the start.

Damn, they have been trying to undress each other from ep 1. 😂

Ok, the dad storyline is starting. From this scene, I gather that his dad is a high level police officer who seems to be dealing with high profile cases (which are usually risky).

Ok boss lady. She's got such a prominent aura tho. I like it.

With how expensive q's house looks, I assumed q's dad would probably be into corruption and bribery. But for now, that does not seem to be the case. Probably generational wealth or his mom's wealth maybe? He seems to be an honest police officer.

Oh, she is soooo plotting something.

Ok, sir. He is living in that house too. So, i think he can rightfully ask who those people are and with the way yada looked at him, I'd ask who she was too.

There's definetly more aspects we need to know for this conversation but it sets the preface. Q is worried about his dad's safety being risked for his job. But his dad sees it as his duty.

This place looks really good tho

Bro is out from the very beginning. The moment he laid eyes on Q, it was over.

Nope, you both don't look suspicious at all. They are just casually INSIDE a mall, INDOORS wearing black sunglasses. Totally normal behaviour. Anyone who questions this is weird.

Are you sure you are still looking at the person you are supposed to kidnap and not your potential boyfriend?

I mean, I don't blame min at all. I would stare too if I saw someone this pretty.

I saw too many people complaining about the guitar. I mean, I don't love the guitar scenes but I don't despise it either. Ig it being overdone makes people hate it. But honestly, it aligns pretty well here considering q's profession.

I will never stop talking about how pretty he is.

Ok guys we lost him.

Not a single serious cell in his body.

I get contemplating about this because even if it is just a one-time thing, it could have life-altering consequences. You never completely get out of this criminal world.

From this scene, I really thought we were going for typical rich lonely boy character for q but man was I proven wrong.

Not the fucking binoculars, pls. 😂

[bunnakit]

hellooo i love reading your opinions but im too shy to ask you this off anon so here it is. I’m like you enjoying the sign and loved the direction of the recent ep so I don’t really understand the divisive reactions on tumblr esp since twitter seems to always heap praise on the show. what are your thoughts on how phaya tharn’s relationship has been paced? and how do you think it may be concluded? I saw some people on here being disheartened and expecting a sad ending but I don’t really see that to be the case and I for one have loved their r/s pacing and also the mythology (my main gripe would be some of the way the cases were handled). but what’s your opinion on that and why people here are more divisive about the show? (While all opinions are valid some of the criticism almost feels nitpicky but I would love to hear your thoughts on this!)

QUICK NOTE- ANON SENT THIS BEFORE THIS SATURDAY'S EPISODE, SO THIS ABOUT EPS 1-8 hello love!! sorry it took me a bit to put together my thoughts and feel like my brain was put together and, well, i still haven't accomplished that but i didn't want to leave you on read any longer. also you're ALWAYS welcome to DM me here or discord or wherever! but i totally get being too shy lol despite how i am on the dash i am also very shy

so, i can kind of understand where people are coming from in that there wasn't a lot of courting between phaya and tharn which may make it seem like their relationship was fast tracked. idk, i'm not entirely sure what other people's thoughts are on it, i've kind of just been scrolling past posts that have complained or seemed like they didn't like it. i welcome everyone's opinions but i don't always want to read all of them (and i expect people not to read mine if it's not for them.)

i think it's important to keep in mind that courtship can look different for everyone and while they didn't go on dates, didn't overtly flirt, etc. they've been performing a delicate dance between each other and flirting very much in their own ways (from the hat tugs, the sparring, the attitude.) sometimes flirting is being obnoxious, getting on someone's nerves simply because you know how. half the time my husband flirts with me is my driving me fucking crazy because he's the only person in the world that knows exactly what makes me tick.

i think it also helps to keep in mind the fantasy element here; that wansarut and sakuna live inside tharn and phaya and are drawn towards each other and i think sometimes tharn and phaya's own feelings and attraction have to play catch up. i think some elements of their dynamic were very much both tharn not wanting to get close because of his fears but also not fully realizing the depths of his feelings because they seemingly came out of nowhere (wansarut.)

overall, i've really enjoyed the pacing, enjoyed how they've fallen together through various circumstances, how we've seen tharn's resistance dwindle until he finally had to let himself have the object of his desire. i also think it's a very adult relationship, it's really not all that messy or complicated once you remove the fantasy elements. sometimes desire comes first and love comes later. sometimes things begin physical and end in love.

there is no set roadmap for romance or relationships and to pigeon hole BL couples into a set pattern is a little silly in my opinion. their journey just looks a little different, it doesn't mean they aren't in love. we also have to keep in mind that there's so much going on in this show plot wise that to focus more on romance and courtship would steal time away from other elements that are already struggling to get addressed.

"but doesnt that mean the show is trying to do too much?"

sure, but i'd rather a show strive to do too much than do too little. i love to see the ambition and the passion behind it and even if things aren't concluded perfectly there's so much the sign has done right (addressing that men are also victims of sexual assault, constantly reminding us that tharn - while smaller and seemingly more 'effeminate' - is still every bit as strong and capable as phaya, the continuous reminders that they are a switch partnership, showing us that sex can be goofy and funny with khem and thongtai, etc.) i'd much rather all of this than to watch a show that made me feel nothing at the end of the day and the show has done SO much to educate foreigners on Thai culture. (the copaganda could go tho, we all know i'm an ACAB bitch so i DO have to wear blinders during those scenes lmao)

sorry- i got a wee bit off track. ANYWAY how would i like to see it concluded?

i'm a little torn because there are so many ways i'd be happy. i'd be happy if they finally rid themselves of chalothorn forever and were finally able to be together in peace. (i think everyone's ideal ending)

i'd be happy with a timeline where phaya dies to protect tharn in a reverse parallel of their first life, with a renewed promise.

i'd be happy if they died together and began the cycle once again.

two of these i recognize are HELLA unpopular opinions, but there's really not much this show could do to make me unhappy as long as they stick to the story and the narrative foils they've put in place. i think the only thing i would be unhappy with is if something felt like it came out of left field.

thank you SO much for this ask. i was so flattered i read it out loud to my husband the other day. i'm always SO open to asks like this and really find it so sweet that anyone out there values my opinion at all, i'm just a silly little guy