#it's honestly kind of nice to carry less stuff

[chaoticsoft]

I'm kind of obsessed with those "what's in my bag" posts so here's mine 💛

[lilyprettyremy]

10 Bad Habits to Let Go of for a Beautiful Life (Trust Me, You’ll Thank Yourself)

We all have those habits that hold us back — some sneakier than others. And while no one’s perfect, a little spring cleaning of your daily habits can unlock a happier, healthier life. Ready to drop the bad vibes and level up? Here are 10 bad habits to leave behind for good!

1. The Comparison Game — It’s Gotta Go

We’ve all done it. Scrolling, looking at someone’s perfect life, and feeling like we’re not enough. But honestly? Comparing yourself to others is a losing game. Focus on your own growth, and unfollow anything or anyone that makes you feel less-than. Your journey is yours alone, and it’s beautiful in its own way. Keep your eyes on your own lane!

2. Procrastinating Like It’s a Sport

We get it — that “I’ll do it tomorrow” energy feels good in the moment, but it’s also a trap. The more you put off tasks, the more they pile up and haunt you. Trust, the best feeling is getting stuff done now and freeing up your mind for the fun stuff later. Break it down, set a timer, and just start. You’ll feel like a boss when you’re done.

3. Saying Yes to Everything (Even When You Don’t Want To)

No is a full sentence, babe! If you’re constantly saying yes to things that don’t align with your goals or drain your energy, it’s time to stop. Overcommitting leads to burnout, and life’s too short for that. Start setting boundaries and prioritize what makes you feel good. Your time is precious, so treat it like gold.

4. Relying on Everyone Else’s Approval

We all love a little validation, but depending on it? That’s a recipe for insecurity. Your worth isn’t measured by someone else’s likes or approval. The only validation you really need is your own. So hype yourself up, celebrate your wins, and be proud of the progress you’re making, regardless of who’s watching.

5. Avoiding Your Finances Like It’s Scary

Finances don’t have to be terrifying! Ignoring them might feel easier in the moment, but getting a handle on your money situation is so empowering. Start small — track your spending, create a budget, and set a savings goal. The sooner you take control, the more stress-free your future will feel.

6. Holding Grudges Like They’re Trophies

Honestly, holding onto grudges only weighs you down. Letting go of past negativity isn’t about excusing people’s behavior — it’s about freeing yourself. Don’t let old situations control your peace. Forgiveness is for you, babe. The less baggage you carry, the lighter you’ll feel.

7. Talking Down to Yourself

Would you say those mean things to your best friend? Didn’t think so! So why do we let ourselves get away with it? Cut out the negative self-talk and replace it with something a little more kind and uplifting. You deserve better from yourself. You wouldn’t believe how much your mindset can change once you start being nice to yourself.

8. Expecting Everything to Be Perfect

Perfection is a myth, and chasing it will only leave you stressed and frustrated. Life happens in the in-between moments — the imperfect, messy, beautifully real ones. Give yourself some grace and celebrate progress, not perfection. A “good enough” life is often a perfect one in disguise.

9. Staying in Your Safe Bubble

Your comfort zone might feel cozy, but nothing grows there! Stepping outside of it might be scary, but it’s where all the magic happens. Whether it’s trying something new, starting a project, or meeting new people, discomfort leads to growth. Don’t let fear hold you back — take the leap!

10. Blaming Everything Else for What’s Not Going Right

It’s easy to point fingers and blame outside circumstances, but taking responsibility is where real change starts. You’ve got more control than you think! Instead of dwelling on what’s going wrong, focus on what you can change. You’ve got the power to turn things around — it’s all in your hands.

These bad habits? They’re not serving you, and it’s time to leave them in the past. Letting go of what’s holding you back will clear the way for bigger, better things. You’re already halfway there just by recognizing what needs to change. So let go, level up, and watch your life get a little more beautiful, one habit at a time.

[thel0v3hashira143]

❝ 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐀 𝐂𝐔𝐓𝐈𝐄! ❞

⋆𐙚₊˚⊹♡ yuuji megumi gojo nanami n choso ☆ how jjk men act when they have a crush on you!

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⋆𐙚₊˚⊹♡ fem!reader, black coded but anyone can read

⋆𐙚₊˚⊹♡ notes: ahhh the comeback post!! let's just say my old works were...less than coherent. but im here and ready to slay the day after 2-ish years!! take these crumbs while i try and find my footing again. stay hot lovies 🎀🎀

yuuji itadori 🌸

my babyyy (sob sob) yuuji would def try to impress you with his athleticism, bc girls like that stuff right? (gojo told him that...save him)

he frequently challenges you to friendly competitions when sparring to showing off his skills.

he def let's you get quite a few hits on him and he may even let you win from time to time (seeing your smile makes getting knocked on his ass worth it)

he might act a bit bashful, but he's straightforward. he knows he has a crush on you so why would he hide it?

expect nice gestures like him wanting to carry things for you, buying you food, watching all your fav movies, ect.

speaking of which, movie hangouts!!!

every friday usually you, megumi, nobara, and yuuji all get together and watch a movie

buuuttt if he's feeling especially brave he'll invite you to his dorm to watch the newest movie in your favorite series! (yes, he keeps track of when they come out)

he loves that it becomes y'alls thing and he loves it even more when you lay your head on his shoulder and doze off <;33

he also gives hella compliments cause something in my gut says his love language is words of affirmation.

anticipate many "isn't [name] just the coolest?" or "you look great today [name]!"

im telling you he could never run out of nice things to say to you, whether it be about your looks or personality

as soon as he realizes he likes you he takes down those pin up girl posters in his dorm

he also obviously thinks you're more beautiful than jennifer lawrence argue wit ur mama

he is also obviously a personality over looks guy so dont act surprised if you see him looking at you with a lovesick grin if he catches you doing something kind for someone

expect him to confess his feelings sooner rather than later

"yeah, why wouldn't i have a crush on [name]? shes beautiful and badass! but don't tell her, okay?"

megumi fushiguro 🌸

megumi, unlike yuuji is quite reserved, even with his friends

honestly gives no indication that he likes you at all 💀💀 he stares at you pretty intensely at first (to admire your beauty) but quickly catches on that you think its weird..

once you two get closer though, megumi would frequently express his crush through small gestures

he strikes me as a reader so i can see him recommending his favorite books to you or even lending you some of his.

you two exchange books often and he highlights quotes that remind him of you

i can also see book shop hangouts where you two sit and read together in some small bookshop he found in the city.

(he's just admiring you read)

he's not a huge compliment/affirmation guy but quality time is a big one for him

whether it be on missions, sparring, or out with the rest of the first year's, he enjoys any time he can have with you.

megumi is also very protective but like...subtly

he secretly watches out for you during missions, making sure you're safe without drawing attention to it

he'll insist you two split up but send one of his divine dogs to accompany you to wherever you go.

even when you're out and about in tokyo he always likes to stay close to you. he follows you around (not in a creepy way more like a lost puppy way)

follows you into stores you like even if he has absolutely no interest.

all in all he's just a shy guy who's whipped for you <3

"i enjoy spending time with you. a lot."

teen!satoru gojo 🌸

gojo...you bastard...(affectionate)

erm ngl i can def see him being a bully to you at first...

not like a bully bully but he def teases you a lot and it gets under your skin sometimes. (you hate him)

but in reality hes jus a spoiled litte rich boy in love.

once he realizes his feelings he still pokes fun at you sometimes, but tones it down hard and turns on his charm.

gojo's approach is confident and playful. he teases you, always with a charming grin, creating a dynamic that keeps things lighthearted and enjoyable.

he'll find excuses to spend time with you, whether it's offering to train together

unlike yuuji he doesn't care if he likes you this son of a gun will NOT let you win istg

it's like he's trying to rile you up, saying ridiculously cheesy one liners as he dodges all your attacks.

"thats the best you got? oh [name], we'll never get to be together if i keep beating you!"

one thing he does enjoy doing with you however, are snack runs.

gojo is a big back in disguise with too much money to spend so you already knows most of that goes towards food.

he has a huge sweet tooth so i can see you guys browsing multiple sweets shops in the city. if he sees you even look at something for too long he'll buy 10 of them.

every trip you guys both leave with full bellies and full hearts <3

gojo wants to be around you, and he makes sure it's fun for you both

his confession is likely to be straightforward. ccompanied by his trademark smile and his sparkling blue eyes peeking from his shades.

"you know, i've been thinking... i'm kind of into you. what do you say we make things a bit more interesting?"

teen!kento nanami 🌸

my emo boy ❤️‍🩹

nanami, with his composed demeanor, expresses his feelings (though you were unsure if he even had any) through thoughtful actions.

he remembers every. single. detail. of anything you say to him.

your favorite attist dropped an album today? he already bought you the cd/vinyl. you never got a chance to go to the store to get your favorite snack? he went 2 days ago.

he revels in the fact that he knows so much about yousnd the surprised look on your face gets him every time.

(haibara claims he's seen nanami smile at you multiple times but he vehemently denies it.)

despite his serious appearance, he'll occasionally crack dry jokes when it's just the two of you

look at that man and tell me he doesn't have a dry sense of humor 😭😭

you help him to relax and he feels he can truly be himself around you. when you two are alone its like hes showing a different side to his personality.

like megumi, i can see quality time being a big thing for him since attending jujutsu high leaves him quite busy

hes also not a huge talker so whenever you two do spend time together its probably somewhere intimate like your dorm or the library.

no words, just vibes. which he appreciates since he's around a bunch of yipper yappers all day.

nanami's confession is understated but sincere.

"i appreciate the time we spend together. it's made me realize there's something more i feel..."

choso kamo 🌸

my babyyyy no. 2 (i need him biblically)

let's get one thing straight tho. choso is a curse. in my opinion curses have no idea of love in a healthy, positive way so let's just say bb is confused.

he obviously knows what love is. he loves his brothers but he doesnt wanna kiss them...and cuddle them...

he goes to yuuji for advice (was it a bad idea? perhaps.)

"bro you totally have a crush on [name]!"

"a crush?"

after some further investigation hes pretty much got the gist of it.

one thing he becomes quite fond of doing is giving you small gifts from his missions.

these aren't typic gifts persay, like food, clothing or jewelry but more like knickknacks such as shells or rocks.

these tokens become a way for him to express what words might fail to convey.

i headcannon choso likes nature documentaries and after seeing that penguins mate for life by gifting a rock to their mate he's hooked.

idk but i also feel like he's very touchy.

he always has an eye on you in public and ik he does the thing where he guides u with his hand on the small of your back or he locks pinkies with you UGHHHH

with him being protective, he also subtly keeps an eye on you during missions.

he's not one to voice his concern directly but prefers to ensure your safety from the danger.

choso's confession might catch you off guard, but it's filled with honesty and sincerity.

"i've found myself caring about you more than I expected. it's strange..."

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⋆𐙚₊˚⊹♡ omg i actually really like this...(watch me hate it in a week) but reqs are open!! i have 1 or 2 more pieces planned to get me in the swing of things but take this before then. love y'all!!

𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐲 ♡

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𝙧𝙚𝙗𝙡𝙤𝙜 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚!

𝙘𝙤𝙥𝙮𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙡0𝙫3𝙝𝙖𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙧𝙖143 2024

[mythicmanuscripts]

omg so excited!! haha i was wondering if i'd submitted too many asks and tumblr was telling me i needed to take a break lol!

could we maybe see omega!jace in heat? maybe after mating when they're comfy with each other, and just how it typically goes? literally needy, clingy, sensitive jace gives me life haha - thank you!!

Absolutely anon, absolutely!!

NSFW subby omega!Jace below the cut. As always all a/b/o stuff will be tagged with 'a/b/o hotd' so if you want to avoid this content then just block that tag :))

Right firstly, needy, clingy, sensitive Jace is just Jace. He's always like that.

I definitely think that Jace being so sensitive definitely carries on into his heat. He's VERY particular about fabric and scents during his heats, even more so than usual. Before you started courting him, he would have to have sets of linen and blankets washed twice and then carry them up to his room himself for his nest to ensure there were no other scents in his nest at all during his heats. He didnt even want his mother's scent there. Usually he can enjoy laying with everyone but closer to his heats literally every single scent is too much for him.

Until he met you and then things changed. Jace has loved your scent from the moment he met you and he only became more obsessed with it once he got to know you. He was a bit worried as his first heat since meeting you drew closer because he actually thought he might be repulsed by your scent during a heat like he is with everyone else's scents.

He sets up his nest with his new linen and blankets with no scents at all like he usually needs. Until... until he wakes up the next morning in heat and everything feels so wrong because he can't find your scent anywhere. He ends up having to call someone to fetch a blanket from your bed because he just couldnt stop crying and couldnt settle and needed your scent.

After that, he spends every heat before you mate him in a nest covered in your scent (honestly he might just kick you out of your own room and stay there for his heat).

Anyway, let's get back to the actual ask and discuss how heats normally go with him after the matings.

The most important part for him is ensuring the only scents in his nest are yours and his. If his siblings or mother spent any time in his nest then anything they touched must be removed. You always know when Jace's heat is upcoming because you'll begin to notice some of your clothes are missing (he hoards them in his own closet and then uses them in his nest right before hie heat starts).

We all know that Jace is so sweet and kind and wants nothing more than to please you , to please his alpha. However, the only exception to this is heats. The moment his heat starts he becomes a whiny, needy little shit who will cry if you move too far to the left and will just grab you and move you in whatever position he wants.

You, of course, just let him do it. You focus on complementing him and kissing him softly and praising him. You make sure he's always in your arms and let him have you in whatever way he wants.

And he's always just... so sweet? He begs so nicely and politely and when you tell him to move he always does. He trusts you to look after him, and he knows if he needs something you will help him always.

I also think you'd have to be very good at keeping him clean? You always make sure to clean him up between waves. Most omegas couldn't care less about being covered in slick and cum but Jace absolutely HATES it and if you let him fall asleep without cleaning him up then he will be SO unhappy when he wakes up and he won't let you help him until he's cleaned himself up.

[delayed-affection]

can you do a jealous hughes brother (any of them) where trader is really getting along with the other brothers and he gets kind of possessive

You’re mine

Navigation Oneshots

Luke Hughes x fem!reader

A/n: I was in Luke mood😊

Warnings: possessiveness, Jack being the devil he is, I don’t think there’s any cursing, isolation tactic?

Word Count: 2.3k

Luke’s biggest fear was his family not liking you, more so his brothers. You’ve talked to his parents over the phone and met them at his games countless times.

However when it came to his brothers it was just little hi’s shared here and there when he’s on FaceTime.

He likes to think that you’d get along with them, just like you did with his father. Who scared you at first but welcomed you with open arms.

So when he invited you to stay with him over the summer it made him worry. He gave them a stern talking to about how to act around you. The two of them not seeing what he’s so worried about.

When you sent him the text saying you were outside he basically burst out the door, his brothers following him at a slower speed.

He pulls into a hug, “Don’t let them scare you.”

You laugh hugging him back.

Pulling away you are met with Quinn and Jack.

“I’ll get your bags.” Luke tells you

Jack watches as his little brother walks to the trunk.

Quinn sticks his hand out to you, “It’s nice to finally meet you.”

You shake his hand, “Likewise.”

Jack looks at you then to Luke, “Hey why don’t we show you around while Luke gets the rest of your stuff.”

You look over to Luke, silently asking if it was okay.

He gives his brothers a weird look but answers, “It’s okay you can go, I got this.”

Jack puts an arm around your shoulders, “Great, maybe we should start by showing you Luke’s famous hockey fails.”

Quinn shakes his head but follows.

~

It was honestly going better than Luke expected, he didn’t think they’d get along with you so fast.

But as the week went on the less time he got with you and the more irritated he got with his brothers. It’s like they were taking you away from him.

Everything they did they wanted you to do with them. From wake surfing to just setting the table for dinner.

Luke wanted to talk to you about it but he didn’t know how to bring it up, it looked like you were having fun and he didn’t want to ruin that.

~

When Luke got up this morning he was expecting you to be right by his side, except you were no where to be seen.

Slipping on some random shirt that he found, he goes to find you. Down the hall and into the kitchen he finds you… and his brothers.

The three of you were sat at the table, you’re leaning in close to Quinn to watch something off his phone.

Luke grumbles to himself before making his presence known.

The three of your heads snap in his direction and as he clears his throat.

“Morning.” He says walking over to the fridge.

“Morning.” You three reply

Jack picks up his phone, “Hey, Z’s coming over later.”

Great another person Luke has to worry about stealing you away.

Making himself a bowl of cereal he sits across from you at the table.

“Who’s Z?” You question

“Oh it’s Trevor, remember the guy I was telling you about.” Jack answers

You nod, “Oh, yeah, okay.”

Jack stands up to put his bowl away, “We’ll probably go boarding when he gets here. You guys wanna come?”

“I’m down, Luke?” You ask looking at him.

He shrugs, “Yeah, sure.”

His voice carries a slight attitude, one that everyone notices.

Quinn looks at you then to Luke, “Well I’m going to get ready.”

He picks his things up and leaves you two alone.

You scrunch your brows, “Are you okay?”

He dismissively waves his spoon, “Yeah, I’m fine.”

~

Trevor spots you outside talking to Ellen, “Is that your little girlfriend Lukey?”

Felt like you were more his brothers girlfriend than his lately.

However he nods, “Yeah.”

“I honestly don’t know how he bagged her.” Jack jokes but to Luke it’s not that funny.

“She’s honestly cooler than you, Luke.” Quinn chimes with a chuckle.

“So she’s got the stamp of approval from you two?” Trevor asks

“Oh, yeah.” Quinn answers

“For sure.” Jack says

Hearing that his brothers liked you that much wasn’t as comforting as he thought it would.

~

Now being on the boat made him feel even worse. The first couple of times you were on you had been been in your clothes but now you’re in bathing suit.

He was counting the seconds that went by every time one of them looked at you.

The jealousy was eating at him, whether it be you laughing at one of their jokes or them helping you on and off the board instead of him. Everything they did and said just bothered him.

When you sat down he was quick to sit next to you, pulling you close to him. He leans back into the seat, letting you lay on him.

You shields your eyes from the sun as you look up and smile at him.

Looking down at you he feelings of jealousy are subsided. Until he hears Quinn call your name.

“You wanna another go before Jack takes over?” Quinn asks pulling the line back in.

You go to sit up but are pulled back down by Luke.

“She’s good.” Luke answers

You and the boys all give him a weird look that he brushes off.

“I’m fine, go at it.” You tell them

~

Dinner rolls around and when everyone goes to sit down. Luke goes out of his way to make sure you sit down at the end of the table with him next to you.

He wouldn’t even let his mom sit next to you.

After dinner he sat on the couch with you letting his arm rest around your shoulders.

When everyone else comes into the living he basically pulls you on top of him. Wanting you to be closer to him than anyone else.

You honestly don’t mind it, you’ve always liked being close to him.

~

Waking up the next morning you could barely move. Luke’s body acting like a blanket, fully covering yours.

You try to push him off to no avail, but you know he’s awake. You can feel and hear him as he tries not to laugh.

You brush his hair out of his face, “Can you get off of me?”

He groans flips the two of you over, so that you’re now on top of him.

“Better?” He asks smiling to himself.

You roll your eyes at him and try to sit up.

He tightens his grip on you, “No, don’t leave, not yet.”

You reach over to his nightstand checking your phone.

“It’s nine o’clock.” You inform him

He kisses your cheek, “Okay, and your point is?”

~

An hour and a half later he finally lets you go.

However an idea pops into his head to keep you away from the boys, letting him spend more time with you.

He grabs your hand pulling you to stand in front on him.

“You wanna go on a walk?” He asks playing with your hands, “We could go get donuts or something.”

You give him a confused look, “You never wanted to go on walks.”

“Because I was always tired.” He claims

You laugh softly placing your hands on his face, “Oh so you’re no longer tired?”

He sets his hands on your waist, “Nope, so what do you say? You wanna go?”

You kiss him softly making him smile.

“Sure pretty boy.”

~

Luke hands you one of his AirPods, placing the other in his ear.

He throws his arm around you, shaking you with word he sings.

“Cause when I hear your name I can not stop cheesing. I love you so much that my heart stops beating when you're leaving. And I'm grieving and my heart starts bleeding. Life without you has no goddamn meaning.”

“Please stop shaking me.” You plead trying to steady yourself.

~

Your short walk to get donuts turned into a two hour walk around town. By the time you got back no one was home besides his parents.

Ellen’s voice greets you as you walk through the door, “Hey guys! Where have you been?”

Luke takes your hand, pulling you over to the couch with him.

“We went for a walk and got donuts.” He answers plopping down on the couch gently pulling you down with him.

“And you didn’t bring me one?” She jokingly asks

The both of you let out small laughs telling her that you’ll bring her one the next time you go.

Jim walks in from the back door and gives you two a confused look, “I thought you two went with the boys?”

You two share the same look of confusion.

“Where did they go?” You question

He rubs his forehead trying to think, “Um… To get stuff for the bonfire tonight.”

~

As the day went on Luke was still attached to you, everywhere you went he was not far behind. It was only a matter of time before he had to actually leave alone for longer than a minute.

And that time has come.

Jim asked him to come inside and help him something. He was reluctant to leave you outside with them but couldn’t say no to his dad.

So now you sit outside with his brothers and their friends.

His brothers take notice in his absence and move to sit next to you.

Jack nudges your shoulder with his, “What’s up Luke?”

You shrug, not too sure yourself, “I don’t know.”

“It’s like he’s afraid to leave you alone.” Quinn comments

“Maybe he sees us as competition.” Jack snickers making you and Quinn laugh.

“Competition?” You ask

You hear the door open and close making you all turn your heads to see Luke walking over with a not so happy look on his face.

Jack and Quinn share a quick look and nod.

Quinn leans into you and whispers, “Watch.”

Watch what, you ask yourself.

Jack looks up to Luke from where he’s sitting and smiles, “Hey man, hope you don’t mind that I took your spot.”

Luke gives him a tight lipped smile, “It’s fine.”

He looks over to you, giving you a more relaxed smile, “Can you help me get the stuff for s’mores?”

“I’ll help you moose.” Quinn says getting up from his seat.

Luke snaps his head over to him, “Huh?”

He pats his shoulder, “Come on.”

Luke looks between you and Jack before slowly following Quinn.

You turn in your seat, “What are you doing?”

“Being a big brother.” He answers with a smile.

“Well please keep me out of your big brother activities.” You tell him

“Where’s the fun in that?” He asks with a light chuckle.

He takes a quick look around before scooting closer to you and asks, “Do you like my brother?”

“No, I hate him.” You answer sarcastically

“Because of that I’m committing to the bit.” He tells you

“What bit?” You question

He quickly shakes his head, “Nevermind.”

He stands up and offers you his hand, unsure of what is happening you take his hand.

He pulls you to your feet, “Come on.”

“Where you two going?” Trevor calls out seeing you two part from the group.

He waves him off, “To talk.”

Trevor furrows his brows then gets up to go inside.

The two of you only move a couple yards away.

“What are you doing?” You ask coming to a stop.

He shrugs, “Waiting.”

“Waiting for what?”

He looks over your shoulder, “Him.”

Turning around you see Luke stomping over.

“What are you doing with my girlfriend?” Luke asks putting emphasis on ‘my’.

“We’re just talking bro, calm down.” Jack tells him, “You’ve been with her all day.”

“Yeah because she’s my girlfriend.” He argues, “I should be able to spend time with her.”

Jack continues to push his buttons, “And I can’t?”

“You’ve spent more time with her this past week than I have, so sorry if I wanted to spend the day with her.” He barks

“Are you jealous or something?” Jack snarks

Coming to the realization that this is the bit Jack was talking about you decide to put an end to it, not liking the way Luke looked.

Grabbing Luke’s hand and you start tugging him away from his brother.

Luke doesn’t give in right away but lets you pull him away, “Where are we going?”

His bad attitude still there, not going away anytime soon.

“Inside.” You state

You’re basically dragging him through the house and into his room.

Closing the door you turn to look at him, “Okay, talk to me. What’s wrong?”

He throws his hands up, “Ever since you got here it’s been Jack this, Quinn that. The entire time you’ve been here you’ve been with them. And it’s driving me insane.”

He continues on, "I've gotten no time with you whatsoever. You're always off doing something with them. It's like you like them more than me, that you would much rather be with them than me."

Now everything is starting to make sense to you, especially with how he's been acting with you three.

He huffs moving closer to you, “You’re dating me. No?”

“What?”

He crosses his arms, “You’re mine, aren’t you?”

“I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t.”

“So, tell me.” He says, “Tell me that you’re mine, that you’re not Jack's or Quinn’s or anybody else’s.”

“I’m yours, Luke.” You assure grabbing his face, “I’m not interested in anyone else but you. And I'm sorry that I made you feel like that.”

He uncrosses his arms and wraps them around you, pulling you closer to him.

"Look if you ever feel that way just tell me, don't keep it to yourself." You tell him.

He sighs, "Okay."

“Good.” You say giving him a quick kiss.

[kayesfanfics]

General Striker x Reader Headcanons

He hates too much PDA, only likes it when he’s either jealous or showing you off. Otherwise, refrain from kissing and hugging and all that lovey dovey crap, save it for when the both of you are in private. He’s got a bad boy reputation to hold up, and yes he likes to flaunt you but he doesn’t want to be too affectionate and have people realize you’re a weakness of his, especially with he people he works and deals with

He calls you stuff like darlin, pumpkin, sugar, doll face, sweetheart. You call him cowboy, stud, Casanova, babe, and you save daddy for when you want something cause you can NOT tell me Striker doesn’t refer to himself as daddy in the bedroom I’m sorry-

He really likes showing off for you, showcasing his strength, smooth singing voice, rugged good looks, everything. Will do some hard work for you like any repairs around the house, carrying heavy stuff for you, anything like that. Will cook for you as well, he’s really good at barbecue and def makes the best barbecue sauce you’ve ever tasted, and he’ll proudly smile when you dig into his food. Will sing for you if you ask him enough, yes he’s confident but with you he can be a little bashful since he actually wants you to like him. He’s secretly a big sap though and has probably written a song or two about/for you

Whenever you want to go out, he doesn’t have a ton of money to go crazy but he tries his best to find a less sleazy place where it’s less likely for creeps to hit on you and make you uncomfortable. Def the type to fight you on who pays the bill, and it’s often settled with you agreeing to pay for your own stuff, but then Striker will intercept the waiter and give him the cash to cover the both of you. You know he’s not exactly rich himself so you never expected any big fancy thing from him, but when you have date nights in he’ll make you a really nice candlelit dinner and blush a little when you call him a lover boy

But whenever the two of you do go to bars, he gets pretty protective cause he knows the kind of shit that washes up in these places. He knows you can handle yourself and have been for years before you met him, but he’s here now so he can help you out. So if the bartender gets a little too flirty or another customer gets a little too close to you, you hear the rattle and hiss from Striker as he glared at the person as a warning to back off. If the person doesn’t listen or dares to even lay a single finger on you, he WILL start a bar fight and get kicked out for you, he does NOT like anyone touching what’s his or making you feel uncomfortable and unsafe

You do go days, sometimes weeks without seeing him due to his work, but he’ll call you on his burner phone when he’s free to check in with you. You’re not allowed to call him and don’t ever have his numbers to his phone, just in case because he could get caught or something. Which is fine, cause he always calls you in the evening when he’s winding down for the day to say hi and make sure you’re okay. He’ll listen to you ramble about your day, and sometimes he’ll fall asleep on the phone with you, listening to your voice and you smile when you realize he’s asleep before saying goodnight and hanging up

When he comes home all roughed up, you scold him as you grab the first aid kit, which is often kept out now rather than tucked away under the bathroom sink. He rants about how a guy named Blitz and his other imps keeps beating him, but you could honestly care less as you tend to his wounds for him. He’s extra grumpy but you kiss him on the cheek and he softens up a bit, accepting your offer to head to bed early and cuddle a bit. He’s definitely a cuddler once he softens up with you, loves to have you in his arms and sometimes even lets you hold him instead if he’s in the mood for it. And after a beat down, he wants nothing more than to lay on your chest and let you play with his hair or rub his back as he groans from his sore body

CAMPING DATES. He’s already got all the stuff to spend nights out in the desert for his job, so it doesn’t cost him more money and it’s just the two of you. You’ll both ride Bombproof out into the middle of nowhere with nobody around for miles, setting up a fire and lying against his horse to look up at the sky. He’ll give you his jacket when you get cold, claiming he’s just fine but he’s trying not to shiver so you don’t feel bad. Or you can both cuddle up in a blanket, your head on his shoulder as the two of you chat while he roasts some food for the both of you over the fire, giving the leftover scraps to Bombproof

[puzzled-pegasus]

Heroes of Olympus---fitness/body related hcs

***Idk if anyone would even plan on it but Please do not comment or tag this as anything sexual as it is not meant like that in any way whatsoever***

Percy

Everyone lost some weight on the big Argo II voyage due to stress and all the fighting and everything, Percy is no exception. 

In general, though, he is still leaner than Jason and has slightly less upper body/ pectoral strength than he does.

However, he has THE fucking core strength ever

Unless he's been really, really exerting himself he normally has a cushion of belly fat over his abs but if you feel his abs they're wow so strong

Also bunch of shoulder strength, he does lots of climbing

He honestly needs some squish especially in scenes set After Gaea’s defeat. One of the reasons im writing these hcs is that I hate the fanarts that give the demigods six or eight pack abs and 0 body fat like?? Have u ever seen a 16-17 year old boy with chiseled abs. Especially one that eats like mr Jackson. His mother is feeding him good on seven layer dip and cheeseburgers and cookies and blue candy and he drinks blue cherry Coke and eats his fill of barbecue every day at camp you Cannot tell me he has no body fat arrgggh

He probably looked like that while he was in Tartarus though bc he was probably really dehydrated and exhausted lmaoo

V good sense of balance and coordination

Jason

Jason’s got more strength in his arms/shoulders/upper body than anything else

Big arm and chest muscles

Also naturally has belly--when he's not worried abt food--but he tends to stand taller so you can't see it as much

Probably lost the most weight on the voyage. Too busy making sure everyone else was okay and also healing from his various injuries. He also had to be absolutely sure there was enough food for everyone else so he was worried abt taking too much

Generally spends more time exercising and has hardly ever seen a junk food in his life and eats a lot of protein bc hes always lived at camp jupiter so he's very muscle

Piper

Piper didn't really start exercising until she came to camp so she's probably the least physically strong in comparison

More squish than Annabeth. Carries fat in hips and thighs and belly

Thinks/feels like she's fat and low key worries abt it

Was only mildly disappointed when she started demigod training and her belly didn't instantly disappear lol

Kind of jealous of how Annabeth is so thin and athletic but Annabeth wishes she had Pipers thighs/boob/curves loll the curse of being a woman

Piper also feels like she has baby face compared to Annabeth bc she has chubbier cheeks and it annoys her

She's got a pretty good sense of balance tho

Pretty good at running fast but she doesn't have as much stamina as Annabeth

Shes quite flexible also

Pretty good swimmer

Annabeth

Naturally quite thin

been training her whole life so she's got strong arms and legs and core

Really good at running and sprinting

Very agile too

Core strength and upper body strength 

Great at dodging attacks, less good at blocking

Tallest of the girlies

Climber shoulders/back muscles

Wishes she had Piper’s curves kinda. She doesn't care all that much but occasionally is like damn wouldn't that be nice

Frank

Arrgh I hate how in the middle of the series Rick took away all of his fat. Screw you sir. Put it back. Put it bacK

So Frank Immediately gets his tum back in the span of a few weeks

He's also really tired for the next however long after the Mars boy magic adrenaline wears off bc where's his fuel??? Gone!!

Very good at Lifting stuff. He had to carry stuffs for his grandma all the time bc she was old

Mostly strong in the arms and chest/pectorals

His growth spurt happened real quick so he's still not used to how big he is which is why he's all clumsy

Needs to work on balance and coordination lol

Although he got most of his chub back, his Babyface™ didn't come back quite so strong

Hazel

Hazel is the shortest girlie

Was really thin back in the 40s and then gained quite a bit soon after she came back to life. She was very confused and probably horrified

This was bc of a combination of having a growth spurt, pressure on little girls to be thin back then and the times having changed now, having enough to eat now, and changes in the amounts of additives and high fructose corn syrup and shit in foods

She was really distraught for a while bc much like Nico’s internal conflict with The Gay, decades ago being chubby was an unforgivable sin for a little girl

Obv not to Nico’s extent bc I don't think people were killed for being fat but still

It takes her a while to see it as not a bad thing but just a thing

She has pretty evenly distributed muscle strength because when she started exercise at camp jupiter they worked All The Groups

Leo

We love our tiny little shrimp man

He didn't get enough to eat during his growth spurt so he's kind of stunted

Even though he's a hephaestus boy he could not for the life of him build a lot of muscle

He's not that strong

He's probably pretty flexible though

Nico

Also stunted because he didn't eat enough in his growth spurt

Pretty strong though

Smol but he is still growing

Is getting taller and will almost definitely surpass Leo

Also is slowly gaining a healthy amount of weight as he stays at camp and Will makes him eat and sleep more regularly and now he's less tired all the time

Pretty good core strength and balance and agility

Looks more his child age now that his cheeks are more filled in

Reyna

Buff Girl

Girlie works out when shes stressed and now she's got muscles like steel cables

Im talking arms, shoulders, core, legs, glutes

Can arm wrestle Jason and win even if he does try his darnedest

Incredible sprinter

Does so many squats that she got the whole bakery lol

Really likes her muscles

Flexes in the mirror

Jason expressed to her how impressive it was a few times and it was partially why she fell in love with him lol

Will

Will has pretty good arm muscles actually and can lift heavy stuffs

Can lift his bf easily

He has a soft tum tho and padding on his arms

Does yoga and stretching and that works his core

Soft

Eats good proteins and veggies and gets good sleeps

Healthy boi 10/10

[yandere-romanticaa]

People don't talk about yandere! Atsushi and yandere! Akutagawa and you know what, that's a real shame. Lucky you, I'm here to change that.

Tell you the truth, I feel like they both have a similar type of person they like - someone kind.

Neither one of them is used to any sort of kindness or goodness being extended towards them so this would be something that catches their attention immediately. While Chuuya and Dazai are a bit more complex with what kind of person they like, thus making it almost impossible for them to fall for the same person, Atsushi and Akutagawa aren't like that. They're simple people in their cores who only want some attention.

There's a good chance that you are nothing more than a civilian who's just living your best life and meeting either one of them was by pure chance. Atsushi is definitely the type who would fall for you if you just smiled at him and that smile would be engraved inside his mind for ages - did you really just smile at him? Him, Atsushi Nakajima?

Did he die and go to Heaven?

He's probably the type who would say "I should avoid them, I'm not good enough for them." only to accidentally follow you around town, oops. He is awkward and blushes like a schoolgirl but you always indulge him and never make fun of him. He was always met with kindness and understanding which never fails to make his limbs turn into jelly. Atsushi does his best to be there for you and he likes to be helpful in any way he can ie. carrying your bags for you, helping with chores, disposing of anyone who he thinks is a threat, all that good stuff!

Akutagawa though, he's... He's not quite so easy to woo. Well, he is but not in the same manner as Atsushi.

Those who kill better be prepared to be killed themselves, that is something that Akutagawa has said to himself since day one. He is aware of everything he does and knows all too well that with one wrong step or one bad encounter with the wrong person could end his bitter life in less than a second. He is a person who is used to conflict and abuse in any way, shape and form - just imagine how jarring it would be for him if he met someone who was genuinely nice.

Akutagawa prefers to take on solo missions so you might find him injured on the side of the street and offer yourself to help him but he is having none of it. He's limping and choking on his own blood but he keeps angrily mumbling that he is fine, he has been through worse and he does not need your stupid help.

That's what you are to him, stupid. Can't you take a hint? Leave him be. If he so wished he could tear you to shreds right where you stood, there would be nothing left of you and no one would be able to recognize you, no one to claim your body.

Just as he was about to voice out his thoughts those same words die on his tongue as he takes one good look at you and for a split second his heart is no longer his own. It leaps forward with an emotion he has never felt before as an overwhelming feeling of softness takes over.

Despite his gruff and honestly downright horrible attitude he is grateful to you. He owes you now and he kind of hates a little you because of that but that's besides the point.

Akutagawa makes no effort to be in your life like Atsushi but he lingers, almost like a shadow. Blink and you'll miss him, he always disappears into the crowd just before you even think about calling out to him, his only trace of even being there is his just barely visible black coat that flutters along with the wind as he casually strolls away to the opposite direction.

He would however take great offense if he saw you with Atsushi.

Bitter anger overcomes him as he spends his days following you and the weretiger around, a permanent scowl etched onto his face as he is forced to watch that stupid beast slobber all over you like a dog in heat. "He is pathetic and weak." Akutagawa thinks to himself.

"He could never protect you like I could."

He's playing dumb but Atsushi is aware that he is being followed especially if he is with you, his favorite person. His senses have never led him astray and he is quick to figure out the identity of the stalker. He's nervous, does he make the first move and confront Akutagawa? What does he even want? Days turn into weeks and Atsushi's patience is on thin ice, he has to know.

Strong as he is, Akutagawa was sloppy, tracking him was a cakewalk. He hid himself in the shadows close to the building you were currently in and was most likely waiting for you to exit.

His attack was swift and merciless, pinning Akutagawa to the ground was almost too easy. Naturally, Akutagawa's troublesome ability was quick to retaliate as Atsushi could feel Rashomon's sharp talons being pressed against his back meanwhile Atsushi's own claws nearly slit Akutagawa's throat.

They were neck and neck. Had they not been so close to so many civilians there was no doubt that a horrible brawl would have happened but due to their specific circumstances they called a truce... Barely.

If looks could kill Atsushi would be buried six feet under but he felt no fear, all he wanted was to understand what Akutagawa was doing. The man in black scoffs and turns his back to the weretiger, as if Atsushi was already supposed to know the answer.

"I am in their debt." he says as a matter of factly.

"I could never allow you out of all people to keep that person safe."

Oh his words stung... but Atsushi bit his tongue and calmly (read clenched teeth) asked for a proper explanation and after what felt like hours he finally got one.

Akutagawa has the emotional intelligence of a rock and Atsushi knows this. He is frustrated with the fact that Akutagawa wants to be so close to you but he knows he can't beat him nor can it happen the other way around.

There really was no getting out of this.

In that moment Atsushi made a split second decision that was either going to make his life Hell or maybe, just maybe, a little bit easier.

The two of them made a deal - they were both going to keep an eye out for you. Neither one could be too pushy or demanding, they needed to play fair.

As much as they hated each other they could at least agree that your safety was the most important thing of all.

🕊️ TAGS: @yanroma, @oneoftheprettynerds, @misdollface, @sxy0ung, @rosemary108233, @c4xcocoa, @gettinshiggywithit, @ophticcus

[antiscorbutic]

welcome to my polar explorers sideblog !

books n things ive read / some thoughts etc (updated frequently)

> Endurance - Caroline Alexander

what I started with. v good read imo pretty succinct and flows nicely. not too hero-worshippy iirc, nice pictures

> The Worst Journey in the World - Apsley Cherry-Garrard

I read (listened to) the audiobook narrated by Simon Vance and really liked it! tbh I wasn't super deep in to all this when I started it and was kind of shocked at how readable it was. my favorite part is birdie's letter about the land crabs.

also in general it's really nice to get an actual pov account -- the secondary books are lovely for helping muddle through sources and stuff but I get annoyed with how much time is spent on the Famous bits and not the unglorious monotony, which i love hearing about. I gotta read some actual diaries

> Madhouse at the End of the Earth - julian sancton

JESUS I did not know anything about the belgica going in AND I'd just watched aliens (1986) and WHY are there narrative parallels this shouldn't be real??? also amundsen is a real freak (<- value neutral)

> Endurance (2024)

uhhh sorry kids I hated this. I know it's based on the guys book but like the parallel heroic narrative thing was so icky to me. also the AI voices were giving "we didn't want to pay voice actors" and!!! fucking pointless to end it when you find the ship I want to know about the ship!!!!!!!!!! I wanted to watch a doc about the ship not about some people who found the ship. tragic for me

> Shackleton (2002) - TV miniseries with Kenneth Branagh

actually loved this. there was clearly so much attention and care put in to little historical details and even with all the silly dramatic Kenneth monologues i really enjoyed it

> The Great White Silence (1924) - Herbert Ponting

fucking WILD that as a card carrying member of the attention-span-ruined tiktok generation that as soon as I found this I was GLUED to the screen for the full like 2.5 hours or however long it is. seriously jumpscared by the cat's racial slur of a name (as ever) but honestly it's a good reminder of the colonial context we're in here so I kind of appreciate it. anyway absolutely mind boggling to see this early footage of the adelie penguins etc when I grew up watching them in planet earth and have always kind of taken their existence for granted. and I think the telling of the actual polar journey was pretty touching for being obviously like the same 15 seconds of footage of a miniature

> Endurance - Alfred Lansing

eh I didn't need to read both this and the caroline alexander book. it was fine. I always wish they'd spend more time on the elephant island castaways and less time on the small boat journey. I get that that's the like, famous impressive part, but I'm here to be reminded of the horror that it is to be alive day after day and I think more time should be spent on that monotony. also he didn't talk about the post-expedition AT ALL and I need my little "where they are after the reality TV series ended" title cards

> Amundsen (2019)

didn't finish it. too much back-at-home drama not enough being on the ice

> The Last Place on Earth (1985)

I haven't read the scott v amundsen book it's based on but jesus whoever wrote that must have fucking hated scott. I'm not saying they're wrong necessarily I'm no expert i AM saying hes wrong fuck this guy!!!! but holy shit did scott look like an incompetent asshole even compared with all the other incompetent assholes. needed more screen time of young hugh grant as cherry

> basically any bbc special about explorers

PLEASE correct me if I'm missing anything but lord I stg every one of these is the worst pro imperialism hero worship bullshit of all time. "james cook was a really nice guy actually" are you fucking kidding me

> empire of ice and stone - buddy levy

this is my first arctic account and I have. a lot of thoughts and feelings about the way arctic expeditions interact w indigenous people that I don't want to get into here. truly baffled by the number of polar bears they interacted with. also fuck stefansson so much like okay fine you left the ship but go find it again??? fucking rescue them?????

> in the kingdom of ice - Hampton sides

okay this might be my favorite modern account I've read. I love how much context is provided ... like I have Thoughts and Feelings about John Muir but his diaries being included and GOD Emma's letters being interspersed was fucking devastating. definitely the most emotional I've gotten. and all the interludes to explain the geography of a region and what its called now or in russian and even all of the many chapters about bennett added so much for me. AND giving full accounts of each group after they split the party without one getting only briefly summarized in favor of the other but also without making the timeline confusing???? -- I say this all even though hampton committed what to me is the cardinal sin of these books: skipping time that's "boring". a whole year of monotony??? julian sancton only you understand me

> labyrinth of ice - buddy levy

augh. OUAGHE. oughe!!!! I am devastated. good book :(

> alone on the ice - david roberts

not my favorite .... the author is clearly bitter that mawson is not as famous and heroic to history as someone like shackleton. also I really think he should have stuck to a linear narrative structure instead of jumping around. zero mention of possible cannibalism

not historical but overlaps / scratched a similar itch:

> outlaw ocean - ian urbina

modern investigative journalism on lawlessness on the high seas. fucking hard to read because it's largely about like, human trafficking. even the "light" stories are still rough. really, really good read though and i liked hearing about recent trawling and whaling in the south and thinking about it in relation to historical whaling etc

> frozen planet (2011)

I mean I'm a huge sucker for any attenborough nature doc esp the planet earth extended universe but this was also specifically produced around the 100th anniversary of amundsen & scott reaching the pole and I love to think about the boys seeing the penguins and seals etc for the first time .... wonderful stuff

> the thing 1982

I think I'm probably the last person to watch this one so I don't think I can add much commentary but as someone who has seen approx. 3 horror movies and two were alien and aliens I did not think it was as scary as it could have been. I do like a horrible Beast though so maybe that's on me

currently in progress!!!!!!!!!

> Erebus - Michael Palin <- I have the ebook instead of the audiobook so I'm making my way through it slowly :-)

> ice ghosts - Paul watson

other things I have out from the library but haven't started:

> eight bears - Gloria dickie (not directly relevant but highly recommended to me)

> late Victorian holocausts - Mike Davis <- a little too academic for me to parse easily but Mike ily and I think it's healthy to read about other things happening around the same era

> left hand of darkness

> against the ice - Ejnar mikkelsen

> to the edges of the earth - Edward larson

^ huge s/o to @jesslovesboats's sad boat books lists btw for helping me find more sad boat books that my library has audiobooks of <3 (im very much an audiobook guy so while I'm frothing to read more diaries and shit I have a hard time with it. yet another tragedy for me personally)

[adobe-outdesign]

I know you've done the various mr mime forms, but have you reviewed mime jr?

(This is the last Pokemon review request in the inbox right now, so send 'em if you got 'em.

Mr. Mime review is here, G. Mr. Mime review is here, and Mr. Rime Review is here.)

Some people find Mr. Mime to be kind of uncanny, with its nose-less face, long jointed limbs, and slightly too detailed hands, but I've never heard anyone complain about Mime Jr. here. It's mostly because, while based off of Mr. Mime, the design has been simplified greatly, and features like a super cheerful expression make it hard to not find this little guy adorable. Them mimicking people and not being very good at it also doesn't hurt their cuteness factor.

I like how, conceptually, it starts off as a clown and then becomes a mime; kind of similar but still distinct ideas that work well with each other. It also looks really solid visually; the light pink body has great contrast with the dark blue accents, the black eyes pop, and the nose and red ball on the chest compliment each other, as does the ball on it's jester-cap esq hair. It's clown-like enough to pick up on the theme, but done in a nice and subtle way.

I've heard a lot of people say that Mime Jr. doesn't look enough like Mr. Mime, but I honestly don't agree. They share the exact same color palette, similar color distributions (dark hair and legs/feet, light pink faces and arms, dark pink circle accents, etc.) and a lot of the same motifs, like the zig-zag hair and circles. I think the only place where the line looses cohesion a bit is the head, as the two have very different eyes; not inherently a bad thing, but it does make the faces less similar.

Ironically, Mime Jr. arguably fits even better with the Galarian Mr. Mime line, but for opposite reasons; the color palettes are completely different, but more elements of the body shape and face carry through (G. Mr. Mime has a nose, think arms but thicker legs that are completely black, mitten-like hands, and a scalloped pattern to the body; all traits that Mime Jr. shares). Mr. Rime also helps with this, keeping all of the shared attributes and even gaining a stockier body shape in the legs, the round red nose on the stomach, and similar eyes to Mime Jr.

(A lot of people say there should've been a Galarian Mime Jr. On the one hand, having an ice-type variant with blue instead of pink would've made the cohesion of the line spot-on; but on the other hand, I don't know if there's a ton they would've done with the design beyond just minor visual tweaks. I don't know, if it's between a fairly standard recolor variant that exists for coherency vs. just skipping it all together, I do get why they wouldn't think it was needed. Plus, like I said, the line is incredibly coherent as-is anyway).

Anyway, a really cute and fun pre-evo that feels like it adds something thematically to the line and works really well with both regular and the Galarian Mr. Mime lines. Great stuff.

[saffitaffi]

Okay the follow up question

How often does the concept of princess besides all the supernatural stuff is essentially a captive woman that wants freedom affect your perception of the story?

I think it really hits hardest in the Spectre route. She seems so mournful, hurt, angry, and rightfully so. She genuinely just wants to get out and see the nonexistent world, and it’s so melancholy the way she sadly floats around, even if she’s willing to kill you. Frankly Spectre is one of my favorite vessels because she seems like she knows more than she’s letting on, like she’s an actual person outside of the situation she’s in.

Alot of the routes she straight up turns into a murder friendly monster (rightfully so, I mean we do try to kill her) but that makes it difficult to sympathize for her situation. In adversary she straight up doesn’t care about getting out, (ironically, the eye of the needle is pretty much the only one with multiple sprites of the woods when you fight her out there. Some of the others get out but get immediately nuked, thought that was interesting) and in witch she actively sabatoges her one chance at doing so.

Damsel is nice, but almost too nice. Too trusting of a random stranger. Her affection feels surface level at times, but she’s very fun regardless. You feel bad for her initially, but she doesn’t seem all that worked up about it (when you stab her she dies with a smile on her face) so even though you can see it probably hurts there’s not a lot of sympathy for her.

Prisoner really gives the ‘I’m just trying to get out’ vibes, mostly in how she is trying to collaborate with you to get out. She’s ruthless and unforgiving, but it makes sense. She’s unsure and doesn’t know exactly what’s going on, so she tries to mediate our character into a favorable position for her. If all goes well we help her escape. Whether by waiting for eons or carrying her head out, she fulfills that desire.

Drowned and burned gray are both what happens when you betray someone who thought they could trust you. I know that’s kinda witches thing, but witch got betrayed pretty soon after the first good thing we did to her. We helped both damsel and prisoner get out once, but then turned on them the second time, making them both very, very angry. (Drowned gray freaked me out the most, honestly. The bloated corpse got me - uuuuuuuurrrrrghhhhhhhh nooooooooooo) Much like Spectre, they’re ghosts of vengeance. Spirits of betrayal. She really just wanted to get out.

Nightmare was one of the first routes I saw, which was, you know, pretty spooky. In that case you really do get the idea that she’s a danger to the world as well as a captive who wants to get out. Both ideas simultaneously. Stranger is… interesting. You get more of the horror vibes from that route in the main game. Still wish there was something for og stranger idea (the hive) but ey what ya gonna do. She’s too spooky to think of her as just a poor girl trapped in a basement lol

It came a lot more when watching the first couple demos, where the game was still kind of unsure of what it was. The princess taking you aside after every thing you do to her and saying how much she loves you kinda dampens the effects of the individual vessels, I think. It also makes you think of her less as a poor captive, because when she ‘dies’ she doesn’t really die, when she gets ‘hurt’ she doesn’t bear the scars.

Uhhhh rant over, slay the princess is awesome and I could talk for hours but it’s been long enough lmao

[pochapal]

32! Do you like HS^2?

i...genuinely do! i think sometimes there's a half-conception that based on the mere premise of my fics that i don't like postcanon all that much (omelette route was misconstrued as an epilogues fix-it fic in certain circles and pickle route is still sometimes seen as a "better version" of hs^2) even though everything i write is in direct conversation with and comes from a place of admiration for hs^2/the epilogues.

with hs^2 in particular i think it had some really electric ideas that we only got to see the very first brushstrokes of (thinking most pertinently here about whatever was going to go down on deltritus that we never saw) that, if they'd been able to get off the ground, probably would have eclipsed the epilogues as the most interesting part of homestuck. from the bits we saw the meat timeline stuff was definitely the weakest. outside of the jade/altcallie possession chapter a lot of that half of the story was fairly unsurprising character-driven extrapolation of the same angst we departed the epilogues with - and i largely agree with @hms-no-fun that some kind of timeskip here would have helped it feel a little less repetitive (although arguably there might have been? three years definitely passed with dirk et al but it was very up in the air as to how long it had been for the pursuit spaceship crew). i get why that never happened - both meat and candy were being told in tandem and candy ended on a buildup to an immediate conflict that needed to be followed in real time versus meat's meandering slingshot towards something more nebulous, so for the sake of structural symmetry that limited things a little.

i think i'm more amenable to a lot of hs^2's storytelling decisions because i wholly and entirely loved the epilogues from the getgo and it was so good to see that theme/tone be carried through to a more "traditional" mspa space, even if i wonder if the comic form damaged the story more than it helped it. i remember a lot of people getting weirdly mad whenever we'd get an extended prose scene instead of visual panels despite hs^2 being a continuation of the text-based epilogues. then again, the mainstream hs fandom as a whole fucking sucked when it came to postcanon and that's even more evident in how they've collectively memoryholed the whole thing so talking about audience reception is maybe not the most useful thing to talk about here lmao. idk i think people forget that homestuck is largely a story about people who suck and then who get better from sucking. it's just that nobody really likes it when that lens is turned inward onto the alphas/betas who outside of a small handful of exceptions in canon never really had any ethical issues that caused problems for them and others so i personally think it was very interesting and refreshing to explore how the kids' complacency wrt their baggage and trauma allowed them and their world to backslide so disastrously! roxy lalonde enabling jane's fascist ascension is fascinating storytelling actually! (side note: read through shadowed eyes)

hs^2's original characterwork is probably where the story shines the most. the fucked up dynamics between the theseus crew was super fun to read because there's honestly nothing more enjoyable than Supremely Divorced people deciding that makes them irredeemably evil now. the egbert gender stuff was really nice! i particularly enjoyed how, even though it came after the june egbert renaissance, it still managed to be its own unique take on egbert's gender arc that i think really encapsulated the originality driving the project. also forever shoutout to the candy kids my beloved candy kids my children who i will die for - for me in particular hs^2 was a fun time because i was developing my own versions of harry/vrissy/tav for pickle route in parallel to hs^2 and it was so enjoyable seeing all the overlaps and divergences with each upd8. also yiffy fucking rules on every level and even though she never got to be more than a promise she sure was one hell of a promise.

that said i do not think it's that surprising that hs^2 ultimately died before its time. the conditions of the story paired with the most demoralising and vicious iteration of the fandom meant the odds were stacked against it in a big way. you can particularly see the strain of that starting to manifest in the final ~6 months worth of upd8s where people were leaving/being pushed out of the project and every part of hs^2 was a completely hostile environment and the quality of the art and storytelling began to get a little shaky - which i can't really blame them for all things considered! it's hard to want to make the best version of a story possible when the overwhelming reception is a bunch of sanctimonious redditbrained weirdos screaming that you're evil and foul for making characters in a piece of fiction do unexpected and surprising things and also being sympathetic to trans women. there were of course issues with the production conditions of hs^2 that would have probably led to some sort of reckoning at some point, but it's very obvious that the traumatic pressure cooker of a fanbase that wanted nothing more than the death of this project and the ruination of everyone that worked on it threw this whole thing off the rails much faster. despite that, you still have to infinitely admire the team for daring to make something challenging and original in a sphere dominated by people who are content to regurgitate the same babybrained 2013 content ad infinitum - for just a brief moment, homestuck was truly allowed to be the literary masterpiece it's been all along. now people just treat it as more fandomslop to consume and that's perhaps the biggest shame of all.

in the end i think hs^2's legacy is best felt in the places haunted by its premature absence. i'm talking about the comic itself of course but also other spaces and people and projects. stuff that really engaged with the meaty thematic frameworks being thrown up in postcanon that now no longer have a mirror to talk back to - stuff like pesterquest and godfeels and the aforementioned through shadowed eyes that all massively are in conversation with the deeper artistic and philosophical principles underpinning this era of homestuck. if anything else hs^2 will continue to serve as a useful prerequisite for getting into some of the best stuff homestuck fans have ever made. we might never see what could have been, but at least the torch is still being carried by people who care.

[pumpkinstrawbrew]

𝕐𝕠𝕦'𝕝𝕝 𝕓𝕖 𝕒 𝕗𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕜

𝔸𝕟𝕕 𝕀'𝕝𝕝 𝕜𝕖𝕖𝕡 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕡𝕒𝕟𝕪… ⋭

…

(so, where to begin? i guess from the simple fact, that i wanted to do smth fun with this clean-cut parallel. at first, i wanted to make some quick edits, but then, i decided what the heck. i might just re-draw it! *or sort of re-draw it anyways*

the shippy stuff is shippy, but really it was hard not to be all like *insert dicaprio pointing meme* when i was reading the venom comic, and flash just pulled a batman on me. beat jack up, n’ then instead of killing him, like he wanted to, he spared him. took him in his arms all gently-like n’ carried his sorry ass into the dawn. like man, it just hit the cords within me! i was all like oohhh, it's like in one of my most fav scarecrow issues! i wasn't expecting this from the comic, even less so from flash, who always had a bit of bipolar resolute, when it came to jack. 'he wanna kill him, he wanna kill him not'. that sort of thing. yet, this moment kind of shown, that he prob will always find a reason to talk himself out of putting him down.

that's aside, another part of why i love those stories, is that both issues felt personal. both, jon n’ jack had personal grudges, both batman and flash were struggling with personal darkness within them. both overcame it, n' literally had to beat up their personal walking-talking nightmare *flash even refers to jack as that later on*. like, it was pretty great, honestly. all that emotional baggage, uncanny kinships with their own twisted mirror, which resulted in them actually feeling sympathy for scarecrow n' jack. giving them a small speech, that they couldn’t hear *bc unconscious*, sort of implying that maybe ‘they’re not beyond help’. it's almost bitter-sweet. even if most people would argue, that both jon n’ jack are way-way too far gone at that point. even if 'solution' sounds too unrealistic to be true. still, if someone like batman believes in you, then maybe, just maybe there is a chance. n’ if someone like flash spares your life, even though, he’s nothing like bruce *he actually killed people before*, then perhaps, there is smth beyond projection, which made him do it. 

all 4 characters are very different, n’ thb the context in everyone’s motivations n’ struggles are very different too, but i love how bruce n’ flash came to the same conclusion. took the same route with their respective twinky ghoul. showing mercy is noble, n’ it’s pretty sweet tbh. one of my fav tropes in fiction is when the hero/protagonist shows kindness/empathy toward their villain *who in most cases doesn’t ‘deserve it*. that whole cop out thing about 'evil should be punished by death' in fiction really takes away the romantism n' bendiness of fiction as whole tbh. esp with heroes. they supposed to be able to do 'impossible', including 'forgive the unforgiving'. this is why i prob will always advocate for the ‘no kill’ rule for super-heroes. i mean, it makes you have moments like those. smth that is actually emotional n’ also shows the cracks in heroes themselves, bc usually they can only truly relate to their rogues, someone who is usually designed to be a warped up reflection of hero’s own weaknesses, struggles or traumas. n’ while i always see jack o’lantern as spiderman’s villain *he’s one of oldies, a classic villain after all*, i suppose, that this version of jack was tailored for flash’s venom specifically, n’ i *unexpectedly* i loved it. daddy's issues run deep in this one for both of them. meanwhile, bruce be out there lecturing jon's school bullies, after he nearly killed them. what a man lol.

now, the comic panels themselves. just for better visualisation.

i didn’t include the first bit in my lil art thingy above, but i love how not only the venom mirrors batman in actions, but also how they’re even facing opposite sides, playing around with nearly opposite color pallets in each fight too. caters to the mood, but also it just looks nice side by side tbh. the blue/black/grey for batman, and orange/dark brown/yellow for venom. a dark knight / soldier n' maskless halloween villain. this prob the only point, where they connect narratively n' thematically, but it's a major one.

anyho', i didn't had a hardcore goal to re-draw those scenes to a t, just make it recognizable for the most part. but it was fun! also gave me an execuse to stare at those comic panels some more.

as for the song, it popped out inside my head kinda randomly. but it fits them, i think. even the tune itself adds to it. somewhat sad n’ slow. but the meaning of it, not fully hopeless. at least, they will always have someone there for them. after all, guys like jon n’ jack will always come back, seeking ‘their hero’, hungry for punishment or other things. n’ for someone as crippled as bruce or flash, it might not be the worst thing, really. usually, the hero is stuck in the same miserable 'unchanging', unwinnable situation as their villains are. be it outside forces, fate or sickness, that keeps them bond. it's still better to try and make the best of it, right?)

[crguang]

Cabernet anon again 👋🏾 🍷

I was rereading your post on when I asked for your thoughts about her and saw your list of your favorite ladies so far. I noticed that you have Adela and Oak Casket (they’re also on my top favorites list too) and I was wondering if you could give us some thoughts or even thirsts about them. Honestly anything you give us great so I have no complaints whether you lean more into one more than the other.

Can I be this emoji 🍷? I definitely be coming back to ask for more ptn stuff so think of me as the ptn girl lol?

HIIII yes you can!! wine emoji for my cabernet anon fits so well, welcome to the circus🙂‍↕️ i have so many thoughts about oak and adela, i’ll try to condense them so this isn’t a lengthy answer.

let’s start with oak!! my attachment to her is very personal and kind of heavy so i won’t say too much but i really resonate with her. she’s experienced death even if it wasn’t in the literal sense and is constantly around the dead since; she’s alive but she’s not. she despises the living for the suffering they cause and forgets that she’s living too. she spends all her time tending to the dead, comforting them, listening to them, making it so that their last regrets are put to rest along with their consciousness. in a weird way, she’s super comforting to me because she understands how ugly living can be. i realize that it’s a sort of twisted line of thinking to believe that death is true salvation but as someone who is scared of it, it makes the whole thing less daunting and in general easier to accept. she had to hold an official funeral for herself to put her past to rest and i felt that so bad😭 i looove how twisted she’s become by being a bridge between the dead and the living world, all she hears are regrets and all she feels is the powerlessness that comes with dying, so she’s obsessed with the idea of experiencing a more “satisfying” death through Chief and that’s so… delicious. and despite how comforting i find her, she’s kinda evil lmfao, she’s the reason for so many conflicts in syndicate from selling information and trafficking goods, and she’s not afraid to use those guns like damn. i always forget about that part because she looks so nice until she whips them out in battle

oak’s design is also one of my personal favorites in the whole game. i’m a sucker for religious themes in darker stories and the priest robes made sexy is insaneee. the cross over her chest, the stole, the gloves ughhh she looks so good. the color green symbolizing immortality when she deals with death all the time because the souls she’s let rest will forever live on with her. her eyes being different color (green and pink, opposites) because she’s at once dead and alive, the only link between these two realms… the black strands in her otherwise ashen hair as if she’s been tainted in some way and carries death with her forever— the cardinal directions on the altar because she’s essentially a guide ohh its so good. plus that ENG voice does a lot of things to meee it’s so soothing and deep, she sounds exactly as she should and it tickles my brain really nicely. paired with her playful yet scary allure it fits her soooo well.

needless to say that oak is insanely gorgeous and i need to feel those hands on my hair while i go down on her and she’s praising my enthusiasm like ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhh she has the same effect on me as black swan from HSR where every time i see her i have to stop and stare for a while because i can’t believe how sexy she is. how do her boobs stay in that dress. they have to be so perky for her to not need a bra. need them in my mouth until they glisten as i pull away i want her so bad. i feel like she’s a reallll moaner, her voice gets deep and slurred and raspy mm… i’ll show her pleasure she can only get while alive, trust!

on to my BABYYYYYYY. ADELA. oh my goodness i love her so much it’s incredible. i love love love charming women and she’s the epitome of that!!! my first thought about her was, “omg she’s so charming” and she’s only proven that throughout her event. she’s so cute, so kind, so selfless and holds a genuine desire to help others. she’s not manipulating chief and after they broke her shears, she even looks out for them the whole time. bringing them back to her home, changing them, making breakfast, washing their clothes?!$(!?(!?! she just wants to do some good and escape her own troubles i love and understand her so much. i have an avoidant personality so i will run from my issues, if i could erase my own memories of past suffering i would do that in a heartbeat 😭 i really understand the need to eradicate all traces of your pain and sadness, even if some of it is necessary for growth. the analogy of troubles manifesting as long, long hair until it’s all that she sees is incredibly creative and it makes the audience sympathize with her desire to cut it all off despite it causing others pain. she’s such a soothing soul that people have no issue confiding in her, her presence is reassuring and she’s always so calm… i wanna give her a hug and stay like that for half an hour, she could cure me. her voice!!!! i was not expecting the british accent but it’s so soft and sweet. i could listen to her talk for ages, it’s a shame she never has much to talk about because she forgets everything.

i love the “character wants to help others but only hurts them and themselves” trope and that’s literally her. erasing people’s memories unprompted is insane, especially when they include people who mean a lot to them, but she doesn’t see the wrong in it because in her mind she’s solving all of their worries. it’s really cute but she lacks so much nuance that it affects her as well, she wants a peaceful life yet she cuts off her own memories whenever something goes wrong which causes her to forget about the places she’s lived in and the people in it too. she’s not living any sort of life, she doesn’t know where she’s from and has no friends, she isn’t truly remembered by anybody— she’s an empty shell with a smile on her face. it’s sad how someone who so readily helps others must feel so empty inside. she says she has no worries but that’s because she has nothing she cares about enough to worry over, otherwise she’ll snip snip it off just like she did her memories of Chief. she’s learning to feel her feelings and let them pass tho, i’m proud of her <3

what happened with her mother destroyed me because i relate a lot and would have done exactly what she did in that situation, she believed that she was a burden and failed to understand that she was loved (though that’s her mother’s fault) so she ran. my hearttt.

her design is also one of my favs like look at her!!! her hair is what drew me in first and it’s so fitting considering that it’s her whole thing. it looks so good, i love the colors and the stray strands that give it a messy look, and how it gets longer as she’s controlled by the shears like it has a mind of its own. i have no idea what that contraption is on her chest but the scissors are great, and the ones from her earrings too. the leather straps/harness of her coat are my favorite part they remind me of a (sexy) straight jacket and it ties into the whole “she creates her own constraints” thing about her that i love. all in all adela is sooo pretty, just stunning. blue and black were my favorite colors for over a decade so im really biased towards her color palette hehe.

omg i really love how scary she is with the shears it’s such a harsh contrast with her personality. her ult voice line is lowkey terrifying, no wonder she’s an urban legend; “shhh… i… found… you…” in a quiet, sing-song voice is crazy

since she’s more comforting to me than anything else slow, loving sex would be soooo nice. she feels like a service top (my kindred spirit) and she’d want to “ease your worries” that way once the shears are off limits, so she’d learn your body inside and out to make you feel so so good until you forget all about what had you stressed in the first place. she can’t use her blades but we can always scissor! i’m just like her so i wanna fuck her brains out until she can’t remember anything but the words “yes” and “please” <3 she deserves to be so overstimulated her worrying brain turns to mush. wearing a coat with nothing underneath is a choice but like oak, there’s no way her tits just stay in place unless they’re perky enough which kinda drives me nuts mmhhhhh i wanna suckle them like a pacifier😞

this ended up long anyway im sorry about that hhjhgdd but in my defense they’re my favorite characters…

[fraudulent-cheese]

So i watched episodes 3 to 8 of Pahkitew Island

Again, watched these with my buddy @rockin-it-rusty! And, holy shit these episodes have got me genuinly wondering why Pahkitew's so hated.

I'll go over the negatives first; the challenges are kinda eh. The Truth or Scare one is great, and the cave one is interesting due to it's hints at the Fake Island reveal (as heavy handed as they were), but most of these were just pretty out there to me? They mostly felt like an excuse to put the characters in situations mostly. Just have Topher make a narration joke, give Max and Scarlett an interaction, have Sky and Dave dance around eachother all due to a thing the challenge made them do. I don't mind the first two much, but the last one gets super repetitive man. Glad they mixed it up a bit by making Shawn try to wingman Dave though, i like their friendship! im a bigger dashawn shipper now oops

ANYWAYS IMA TALK ABOUT THE CHARACTERS NOW BECAUSE LET'S BE HONEST, THE CHARACTERS CARRY THE SHOW!

Amy... Ok im very mixed on her. On one hand, she serves her role as the mean twin relatively well. But on the other, that's all she really is! Her one trait is being mean and hating her sister, and that's all she really does! Granted she has a thing? Where she gets sayings (?) wrong, or just gets words wrong (she says parfait is german. it's french. i would know) which! could hint at something! (maybe less smart than her sister?) but they don't do shit with her outside of her swimming back to the island in episode 5. god i wanna rewrite this season so badly now to give her a bigger role. idk shoutouts to Twinning with a Twist for redeeming her while still giving her some edge ig.

Rodney. i uh

I haven't thought about him since his elimination honestly. I just doooooon't care about him it's crazy. Most forgettable guy in the entire series.

Sammy! Ok back to the siblings rambles! I wish the show leaned into her scheming more. Girl in five episodes pulled identity theft and did nothing else. Why. Her relationship with Jasmine is adorable, and i wish she got Jasmine to call her by her actual name, and a personality too! It's really a shame man :(

Sidenote, but like her team fucking hated her for some reason??? Like what. I know it's because of that one scene, but really?

Ella!! My sweet girl Ella!!! She didn't do anything wrong man she just likes singing leave her alone!!! Chris really fucking hates her and it's pretty entertaining at least, but i'd say his beef with Topher's funnier. She has a nice singing voice, and i love how passionate she is about fairytales and stuff. You could do so much with the Prince thing and the show... didn't. Like what even was that. Conflict that wasn't one that lasts an episode. what

Gotta say though, her elimination was fucking ass, Max 100% should've been kicked instead of her.

Topher. Ah the opher. He's a special case, even in the context of Pahkitew Island itself! Because the dude's not here for the game. He's here to meet his idol, Chris Mclean (he really knows how to pick em, huh). I like the progression he's got, from wanting his approval to straight up wanting to host the game instead of him. I'll admit, my opinion's a little skewed since i am mutuals with the Topher guy on Tumblr, but i like him regardless!

His relationship with Chris is easily one of the more interesting parts of the season, mostly because a 30-something year old dude having beef with a teenage fan is hilarious, and you could definitely spin it in a sad way from Topher's perspective.

It also helps that he's genuinely funny! His few interactions with the other campers are also pretty fun, he dgaf about them it's great.

Im kind of mixed on Dave, i'll be real. On one hand, im glad they ditched the whole "he doesn't like anyone on this Island" trait three episodes in because that would've gotten. SO ANNOYING. SO FAST. (hell i'd argue it was already annoying), and him being a hopeless romantic could be a fun trait, if done right. It also helps that he's really pathetic and i find that funny. His friendship with Shawn's fun too!

But on the other hand... Yeah, even before the finale the Skave plotline's really boringgg. They just dance around eachother for half the season for like! No reason! Please just have a conversation, even if it takes other people to sit them down to have it! I know why they didn't because the finale needed them to not actually talk about it but at least have Sky tell him she'll explain later or have him not be a coward and ask her about it himself!!! ack!!

Also the thing with him and Ella went literally nowhere. I have 0 feelings about it because it's just there for some reason. Idk they just really wanted to shoehorn in romance for every girl this season huh.

Scarlett's a really underutilized character pre-Island reveal. The bulk of her interactions with the other campers are with Max, who has a ton of screentime for some reason (which i don't personally really mind but i'll explain later) which honestly sucks because she's a fun character! I want to compare her to Twilight Sparkle at the very start of MLP. She's smart, she knows it, she can communicate with her teammates just fine and just chooses not to usually. I like her alot! Im just... really disapointed that she's so in the background usually; if anyone's a wasted character in tdpi, outside of the Twins i'd say it's her.

Her legit wanting to kill Max is great though. That's how i'd react to him irl. Don't get the Max saying she had a crush on him three episodes in, or the quip Chris made during the team switching tho.

SPEAKING OF WHICH, MAX! I swear, i was convinced i'd find this guy annoying pre-watch but uh... I like this guy! No really, i do! He's like Mal, only the narrative doesn't take him seriously in the slightest and it's hilarious to watch! Im like Sugar in that one clip, i am laughing at this buffoon's intelligence, and his stupid catchphrase, and his "evil" plans, and his general delivery! Max is funny!

Even when the Scarlett "minion" thing kicked in i still found him funny! Don't get me wrong, i wish he'd gotten out earlier (ESPECIALLY when he was supposed to get kicked in the episode Ella got eliminated into) or just gotten less screentime in general, but in the season proper, yeah he's a funny guy! Big gimmick, but i like him! Please don't add nuance to him, i don't care

Jasmine... certaintly exists! I'd call her the Season's rock, the one character that's emotionally intelligent on the show. She's fun in general, and also the only one noticing things going wrong with the robotic island. As said before, her relationship with Sammy is great to see, and i wished we'd see more of her and Sky's friendship and uh. For there to be more between her and Shawn? Because the only things i've retained is that they blushed at eachother once and then trust issues party because he hit her once during a challenge and that completely broke her trust in him - which, could be an interesting aspect of her character to explore since if that's all it took for her to pull a 180 on Shawn, the girl must have a complicated relationship with trust. That's an interesting flaw! It also shows up with her rapport in Sky in the later episodes of this batch, and. GOD. I wish it was developped man!

The issue? Yeah it's dragged on so longggg man! It's frustating to watch frankly because i really wish they'd resolve this conflict quicker since it's like. The same thing every episode :( to my knowledge it's solved in episode 9, but it did NOT need to be dragged out for 4 episodes.

Unrelated to her charater, but her height difference with the other campers is kind of ridiculous. In some shots the characters look so small compared to her it's crazyyy

Ok, now. Sugar. I'll be honest? She's great! She's just a menace and doing her own thing and it's fun to watch! She's also interesting in terms of backstory since she's canonically a pageant queen; her relationship with Ella is greatly impacted by this, since she heavily suspects her of lying to her face when it's just. Ella being Ella. Similar thing to her opinion on Topher; she doesn't like him for his sucking up to Chris, the host (something that Rusty probably agrees with). I fucking wish she was more popular because then people would look into her more, but alas. She's a female, plus sized character in Pahkitew Island, so considering the Fandom's biases, it was never going to happen. U_U

OK TIME FOR ZOMBIE BOY. So, Shawn. He's definitely more present in these episodes than he was before, and, again, i think he's fun! He's a weird little guy. He's got interesting skills (his camouflage, legit parkour, general athleticism) and his personality's interesting as well compared to the other guys. The zombie thing is fine, actually, because they do different things with it over the course of these episodes. Not much to say about him, he's a solid character to me and i wish he had more interactions with the cast outside of Dave and his pining for Jasmine. Who he's talked to like, five times at this point? Again, they probably should've talked stuff out faster than this for me to actually enjoy it. Oh well.

And finally, Sky. She's an interesting case for me? She's fine, mostly. She's the Normal Person™️ of the cast to me, and that means she really struggles to grab me. It's made worse by her main plot being a basic romance plot where the gimmick is that she's a reasonable human being and Dave isn't. And neither are able to have a normal fucking conversation about it either. The mixed signals thing could've been interesting, but this is Fresh TV writters, so of course it didn't end up that way. I assume the episodes without Dave are the ones where her personality shines more? Because so far she's just been really reserved and calm. And said she'd "focus on the competition only" And then. Doesn't. Really. God i wish this season treated it's female characters better :(

OK SO OVERALL THOUGHTS:

Im mixed on alot of the character decisions

god i wished these people talked more

the screentime is not well split among the cast

the romance plots and pacing of the Island plot are the weakest parts of this season

the challenges are fine

Why does Chef have 5 lines total.

Pahkitew Island does NOT deserve the overly negative rep it gets in this Fandom, at least based on the first 8 episodes.

[heresiae]

A Glamping rant

I have to say, in my opinion, people that coined the term "glamping" are either envy of other people equipment, think that camping = suffering/being almost as wild as a wolf.

it's not.

my parent use to have a tent the size of a room, in full canvas, with dividers for the sleeping area and a very big porch. of course it took the entire roof of their car went they went camping, but they also had cots and all the furniture. these were the 70s and mostly everybody had them (I have to say, the air tents did change the game for family in terms of space carrying). nobody called them spoiled, it was just a different way of camping (especially for areas with lots of rain...).

wen I was born they went from carrying the (quite big and heavy) tent to rent caravans (on the site). we still called it camping (we were on a camp ground after all).

of course, when you first start camping you have like three things: your tent, your sleeping stuff and a lamp.

then you evolve. you start to buy more equipment, a better tent (because after a few rainy days you realize that the cheap tent has way too many weak points), more lights, the gas stove and cutlery, the table and chair (and of course an hammock). then it comes the tarp (above your tent but mostly the "living" area to be able to use it when it rains). also, a portable fridge, because in some places is way less expensive to arrive fully prepared (and thus you'll evolve to have one of these little guys. yes, it does make a difference).

honestly, with all the stuff I had this year the only reason that you couldn't call my camping "glamping" was the tent, because it's still an igloo (a very practical and nice igloo. not in production anymore, sorry. it's very effective with any weather).

and I can't actually fully afford "glamping", because a family had this baby up there and let me tell, you can call it glamping as much as you want, but they ride the two storms we had like champions (but if they stuck with this year campsite they will save so much money in the next 10 years with their two young kids; you spend couple of thousand of euros once and then basically like less than 500 at year for two weeks up there with everyone. that's a win).

let me tell you another thing though: they still had to collect and chop wood, clean their utensil in the communal sink, use the camp stove to cook, dry their clothes on improvised rack lines, deal with bugs, had a tarp over the kitchen and table, fight the rain to go to the bathroom, etc. the only difference was that they did not suffer humidity and cold once in their tent. plus, (and trust me on this one), the more equipment you have, the more effort you have to put in preparation, dismantling and maintenance. "glamping" it's not that easy, unless someone does it for you (that is the Hemingway way).

camping is not much about how little stuff you can survive with, but to be closer to nature. to open your tent and have it in your face. it's also community. camping lifestyle involve a lot of trust in other people honestly, because you literally left your possessions unguarded in your tent or outside (not much use in bringing your phone if there is no reception). it's also sharing help, clothes lines, food, chats. if you see someone struggles, you help them. you keep an eye on kids playing because yes. you also kind of chastise the ones that not follow community rule. if you're still noisy after 10pm someone will come to tell you to stop it. if it's raining and you're not in you tent, I will collect your clothes for you and put it in you porch. it's literally the construction of a temporary old times village with people you'll never see again but it was very nice to meet (and I have to tell you, this year the Dutchs have won my hearth).

anyway, being so close to 40, I realize that igloos are not that nice for me anymore. I don't have the spirit or the back to keep using them up there. they're still good for seaside though and that's where I will use them from now.

for the next year I'm thinking this. Because if you just have to sleep, the rule of buy a tent of the number of people using it + 1 is good, but if you have to live in it most of the day (or all day), it's probably a +2.

can't afford a hot tent, but I'll definitely carefully manage a camping gas heather.

call it glamping as much as you want, meanwhile I will collect, saw and cut wood for that night bonfire and have a cuppa while thinking on which river spot I will read that afternoon.

(also, hammocks with mosquitoes net rules).