#its only been like what?? 2 months or less since they ended this season??

[daiisiy]

[long sigh] i miss edge of midnight, tails. i miss it a lot.

[splatanastamprr]

Been thinking about this a while so as the Shattering Spirits are being rolled back soon here are my thoughts on the Sky Economy. a VERY long post.

Event Spacing (1)

I joined right after Season of Prophecy ended, Season of Dreams was to start in about 3~ weeks? not sure since it was a long while ago.

Later seasons I notice rather than getting up to a month of season downtime, we now get as little as less than a week to break between seasons. Season gaps became slim. Hardly time for off season daily candle quests that make racking up normal candles easier.

On top of this, “Days Of —“ Events became more and more prominent, being mashed on top of Travelling spirits and new off season cosmetics that cost white candles. There’s no room to breathe, its almost a punishment to players who’ve taken breaks from the game after burning out from having to candle run consistently just for new items. Cosmetics that they miss out on get price hikes from their original value in reruns with the new ticket system. It’s a cycle of fomo and it’s what’s killing the playerbase in the first place.

The lack of spacing seems pretentious in a way, since nearly with every update, a new game breaking bug is rolled out, makes it feel ironic since season down gaps have been cut for seemingly no reason.

Ticketing (2)

A while ago TGC added the ticket system denoting inflation in the sky economy, it was made to remedy the fact people can’t keep affording everything with candles.

Yes it did help somewhat, as the tickets are very easy to collect, but with 3 new ftp cosmetics that are bought with these tickets and some things costing up to a weeks worth of tickets it’s easy to have to skip these items because some people just don’t want to do more daily searching on top of the already daily quests from the questgiver.

Returning items not only are insanely expensive but additionally do not equate the energy spent grinding in their original release (The Days of Sunlight towels from last year have no right being that expensive whatsoever.)

Candles (3)

Early 2021, around March the Daily Light “Chevron” was rolled out as a way to farm light without feeling the pressure to grind insanely hard daily (since very many people were asking for a way to get candles more leisurely, since candle running was very time consuming)

It became redundant as the prices for candle items was driven up very far. Not to be so “back in my day” but genuinely the need to candle run extensively in the way we do now wasn’t as big as it is now.

This is funny. Because now I see people asking for the same thing. A faster, less grindy way to candle run.

the first in game event I participated in was the first Days of Bloom, the cherry blossom cape was 70 candles (which to me was VERY expensive at the time). The following year’s wisteria cape cost 105, then the next tulip cape cost 110. The first price driveup was already kind of nuts to me (is the cape really worth a 35 candle mark up to the first one?) It’s hard to even prepare with the aforementioned small event gaps, it’s punishing to newer players and players who’ve skipped events out of burnout without any time to prepare for candles unless you pay real money to get candles quickly.

Assuming an average person clears their chevrons daily (15-17 candles) and heart trades with their friends (-3 for every person traded with) it’s hard to afford everything that comes your way. Travelling spirit prices are near doubling what they used to, items now costing over 100 candles with the inclusion of the batshit expensive nesting shop it really burns people out knowing you can’t afford everything you want in a game you already grind daily in. It’s demanding.

IAP items (4)

Do I even have to talk about this. The Sunlight Chunky sandals cost more than you can buy actual sandals. Why are in game cosmetics costing up to $25 USD. Huh. I could buy a whole meal for that.

Cute little items cost only a dollar before but now they’re like $3 and its kind of bonkers to me. I have to pay $3 whole dollars for a tiny jellyfish on my shoulder. is this not crazy. im not crazy right? dont wanna get deep into this but jesus my wallet

So why do I care so much? (5)

Sky is a game I hold near and dear to my heart. But I notice people including myself have stopped playing for the same, very painful reason. The fact that Sky is very buggy with little to no compensation to players as well as the Economy being so. So very bad. as well as the shithole that was shattering (the hype for that season was so crazy because yay lore!!! no actually Fuck you crab stunlock 100000)

I know people will be “Well you don’t HAVE to buy — item”, but the game’s userbase is driven completely on grinding for new cosmetics. The active playerbase is driven on just candlerunning. The lore is interesting but there’s hardly anything in game to go off of, there’s little to no curiosity for what the game is and it’s story because it gets more and more arbitrary as TGC refuses to talk about it in game. (Jenova Chen saying that games are not an effective storytelling format really pisses me off sorry)

The cycle of fomo that is essentially required to keep the playerbase going just makes me feel like this game is made on popsicle sticks and prayers (thanks aspen for this line). I can’t find myself to love sky in the same way I used to as a moth.

anyways this is really messy. Sorry. but like damn this is kind of a sad thing to me. made this post because a rant on yt got misogynistic in the middle out of nowhere so i wanted to give my own take minus the misogyny

[sbdskate]

Laws Of Attraction (Part 10) - DR x lawyer!fem!reader

Summary: McLaren is in breach of contract, dr3 hires a lawyer to deal with the aftermath. Tropes ensue. Slow burn. Enemies(kind of) -> Friends/colleagues -> Lovers

Pairing: lawyer!fem!reader x Daniel Ricciardo

Warnings (18+): sickening amount of fluff, language, angst, *SMUT*: oral (m + f receiving), fingering, hand job, p in v, overstimulation if you blink

Word Count: 6,892

A/N: If you’re here, congratulations! You made it to the end. A big thank you to everyone that has commented, shared, liked, etc. I can’t believe it’s been over a year since my first post. I had a vision when I started writing this in the middle of the 2022 season, not quite sure where it would lead, but I’m happy with where it landed and I hope you are too. I hope you like wine with your cheese, because this is ~cheesy~. Also, this is my first time writing smut so (1) if you are a minor please do not proceed; (2) if you do like/read smut, I would appreciate any kind of feedback. A big thank you to @cutelittlefakejourneys and @burningcupcakefire for beta-ing. Thank you @paddockbunny, @monzabee, and @silverstonesainz for the insights and words of encouragement. As always, thank you for reading.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Epilogue 1

Daniel paced the hallway. He wasn’t accustomed to not getting what he wanted. Sure, in the last few months he had had his fair share of disappointments, but this was different. He was tempted to knock on your door until you answered, but thought the better of it.

He played through the moment in his head again, no different than analyzing a post-race debrief. What went wrong and how could he improve? He was professional during the signing. He knew you loved Geri, you only casually brought up Ginger Spice in conversation no less than a dozen times over the last few months. He knew you’d love to actually meet her – who knows, if everything went well it certainly wouldn’t be the last time for you. He didn’t force himself on you – at this point he knew you were like a cat and he needed to wait for you to come to him or else he’d scare you off. It seemed like the only thing keeping you from ripping each other’s clothes off was your job. Or so he thought.

Now he was confused. It was clear you hadn’t meant to say what you said – but you said it. I could kiss you. Can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube. Four words that looped in his brain. He had spent so much time dissecting the meaning of the word “could,” he felt like he could be a lawyer too. But he had taken his time closing the space between you in the hallway. When he leaned in, you leaned in too. You had ample time to tell him off if he had misconstrued the whole thing, and he would never think less of you if you did, but you didn’t.

No, what just happened was not a rejection. You were just skittish. Like a cat hiding under a bed, you just needed to be coaxed out – slowly. You were food motivated, he’d learned that about you during your first outing in Belgium when you put down more bon bons than he thought was humanly possible. Yes, all you needed was to be approached with patience and understanding - and maybe the promise of a full belly.

-

You leaned against the door and squeezed your eyes shut, embarrassment already crashing over you like a tidal wave. You knew you were being ridiculous and immature. What was it that you were still afraid of?

You stripped off your suit immediately, it felt stuffy and heavy as you overheated, the reminder of your attorney-client relationship falling to the floor. You threw on the first thing you grabbed out of your bag - why did it have to be that pesky yellow dress again?

You paced your room for what felt like hours. Your professional activities with Daniel had officially come to its natural conclusion and yet you were still hesitant to move forward. It didn’t help that you were in a country that banned the cohabitation of unmarried couples, so really, what were you even going to do?

Despite the confessions exchanged back in Mexico and the kiss in Brazil, it was never guaranteed that anything would actually happen once Daniel’s legal affairs were settled. Frankly, you still weren’t fully convinced the conversations ever actually happened. You refused to believe the lingering stares and little touches that lasted a little too long were anything more than pure coincidence.

In spite of all of it, you remained unconvinced about how Daniel actually felt about you. Over the years of failed relationships and first dates that ranged from awkward to bad, you had grown wary and skeptical of romantic pursuits. For all you knew, all his lip-service was simply an elaborate ruse to get in your pants. You thought on this worst case scenario, which really wasn’t so bad. God forbid you have one night stand with a Formula 1 driver and live to tell the tale. It would be a lie to say you wouldn’t be hurt at first if you were correct, but you would eventually be fine. You had been happily single and independent for years, it would simply be a return to your de facto state.

And even if you could take him at his word, you couldn’t help but wonder what that relationship would look like when you had to resume work for other clients and the luxury of constant travel and proximity ceased. How would you continue to keep in touch? How often would you actually be able to see each other in person? Your first relationship was with The Firm, and you knew you weren’t ready to give up your livelihood for him. Then there was the other issue of paparazzi and tabloids - the forced spotlight that would fall on you, resulting in the lack of privacy and anonymity. You had no desire for fame, yet he seemed to be designed for it. You could go toe-to-toe with opposing counsel any day, but you weren’t sure you had his mental fortitude to withstand the cruel and unsolicited opinions of strangers on the internet.

You weighed the pros and cons over and over again in your head. For someone with such a demanding job, it made no sense that it all felt so overwhelming and complicated. But it was telling that the Australian was the first person you wanted to confide in. He was the only one who could ever quiet the constant hurricane in your mind that caused you to spiral if left unchecked. In this moment, you needed him to ground you.

You had been raised to leave hotel room minibars alone unless you wanted to bankrupt you and your entire family for two generations. Going against everything you believed, you took a nip from the stock. Hoping the small amount of liquid courage would do the trick, you checked your reflection in the mirror one last time before venturing to the room next door. You would simply have to assume the risk of the unknown aftermath.

With shaking hands, you opened the door only to be met with Daniel’s presence before you. He jumped slightly at the sudden movement. You did a poor job hiding your astonishment that left you frozen in place.

“Oh… hi?” Your eyes remained wide. He looked around and scratched the back of his head, appearing to be as surprised and confused as you were.

“Hi – I uh,” he took a moment to give you a once over. “I’m sorry are you about to go somewhere? You look nice.” You felt your face turn red immediately, the bravery you built up moments ago dissipating in an instance. He shifted his weight, quickly correcting himself. “Not that you don’t always look nice! I just – you look nicer than usual. I mean-” He seemed uncharacteristically nervous and was digging himself a hole. You looked around the hall to ensure it was empty and took a deep breath to save him from digging any deeper.

“Yes actually. I was going to see you.” He seemed surprised and relieved at the answer.

“No way, I was about to see you!” He shook his head when he saw you bite back a smile. “Obviously, I’ve been standing outside your door,” he laughed nervously, his confidence shrinking by the second. “Not for very long though! You didn’t need to know that. But I wanted to come to say I’m sorry about before, I was too forward back there. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. I just figured, you know, since we went pencils down and everything, maybe we could-”

“Yes.”

“What?”

“Did I stutter?” You walked backwards as you took his hand, leading him through the doorway. He didn’t fight your lead.

“-you don’t know what I was going to ask.” You leaned back, allowing the door to click behind you under your weight.

“It doesn’t matter. The answer is yes.” You gave him a reassuring smile and gently squeezed his hand bringing him closer. “With you it will always be yes.” It seemed both of you were at a loss for words, but they were unnecessary as he took a step towards you closing the small gap that remained. His eyes were enchantingly curious as they gazed into yours. You only looked away for a millisecond, distracted by the tongue that broke free from his mouth to moisten his plump lips. You took a deep inhale in anticipation, your heartbeat bordering on palpitations as his lips closed in.

The moment they met yours, immediately you knew you never wanted boundaries with this man ever again. One hand cupped the side of your face while the other grabbed your waist to pull you closer. You wrapped your arms around his neck in an effort to eliminate any remaining iota of space between the two of you. Your lips danced and moved together in unison, neither of you wanting to come up for air. His firm calloused hands roamed your body, unsure of where to rest. There were so many parts of you he had never touched before and he wanted desperately to become acquainted with them as quickly as possible. He squeezed your shoulders, ran them down the lengths of your arms, moved to the small of your back up towards your neck, in your hair.

The feverishness of it all began to slow, as he tried to memorize every peak and valley. He reverently moved his hands from your waist, dragging them up the length of your spine, one hand finding its way to your hair as though he wanted to remember every hair follicle, the other keeping your body firmly pressed against his. The leisurely pace only teased you, and each spot he touched left your body buzzing. He slowly brought his other hand to find yours again, repositioning so your fingers interlocked. The sweet gesture felt suddenly sinful when he pinned them to the wall, dragging them up the door until they were next to your head. The motion made your head spin, warmth spreading between your thighs, and you inadvertently let out a soft moan.

Ravenous for more, he firmly pressed your bodies together against the door, almost knocking the wind out of you. He pulled away only for a moment, his eyes pleading.

Can I?

You nodded your head frantically, capturing his mouth once more while guiding his hands to the parts you desperately needed touched. One gently cupped your breast while the other roughly grabbed your ass, kneading the muscles underneath. You both groaned in unison at the new sensation.

“You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to touch you,” he mouthed breathlessly before finding your neck, hoping the feeling was mutual. You didn’t say anything back, but he could tell from the pant of your breath and the pulse under his lips that it was. You threw your head back as he sucked, licked, and nipped at the sweet spot as he gently grazed his thumb over your bra, immediately feeling your nipple form into a stiff peak underneath. Being mindful of your noise level, you bit back a moan that ended up coming out as a pathetic whimper. You shamelessly pushed your hips against his and squeezed his hand on your breast, encouraging him to explore and desperate for more contact.

You instinctively widened your stance for him to perch himself between your legs. His hand played with the waistband of your underwear through your dress, trailing down to your inner upper thigh.

“Stop teasing,” you hissed. He only smiled into the kiss in response, his tongue pushing into your mouth to shut you up.

Your hands followed their own curious whims. Those pecs that you had gotten an eyeful of several times felt warm and firm under your touch. Your palm dragged down the ripples of his abs, gently landing over the front of his pants. You gasped feeling him harden under your touch for the first time, eliciting a low growl from him in return. His hips pushed forward in frustration, eager for more. You allowed him some relief, undoing his belt and pants, cautiously reaching inside. Your eyes widened.

“Holy shit,” you muttered as you grabbed around his length, your hand suddenly feeling quite small. He looked you dead in the eye, that familiar cocky smirk and twinkle returning to his face.

“Come on,” he flashed you a wicked grin. “You knew it had to be big.” You laughed at his boldness, which only inspired him to double down. “I know how to use it too.”

“That’s some awfully big talk.” You already had goosebumps from your head to your toes, but you weren’t going to let him know that just yet. You would make sure he worked for it. “I’ll believe it when I see it.”

“It’s not the only thing I know how to use.”

He captured your mouth in a gentle, chaste kiss as he used one hand to pull up the hem of your dress. His other hand snuck under the skirt, slowly dragging it across your skin. Rough and calloused from racing, they felt tantalizingly delicate.

“I was going to prove it, but it looks like I already convinced you.” He drew little spirals around your clit over your panties, barely applying any pressure. You bit your lip and looked up to the ceiling, praying for relief from the building tension. To your chagrin, his hand began to pull away.

“No. Please,” was all you could muster, your brain searching for more eloquent words that escaped you.

“Please what?” You reached for his crotch, hoping the action would suffice as an answer, but he grabbed your wrist to pin it to the door. “You have to use your words.” You felt the words on his breath that seeped through your skin.

“Please touch me.” Frustrated, you used your free hand to try to get him to fully take your dress off which was only getting in the way. He obliged, releasing your other hand to get a hold of the fabric. You put your arms up as he gathered the material over your head. Throwing the garment aside, he pulled away slightly to observe you for a moment. His eyes widening as they moved down your frame, trying and failing to hide his growing smirk.

“Do you always wear pretty underwear when you close a deal? Or are these for me?” He played with the pink lacy textile between his fingers, admiring how they accentuated the contour of your waist and hips.

“Both,” you gasped as he dragged a finger down your front. It passed over your clit, down to the fabric covering your entrance, smiling feeling how embarrassingly soaked you already were through the thin material.

With a chaste kiss on the cheek, he proceeded to leave a trail of kisses down your neck, chest, stomach, until he reached the hem of fabric. He continued over the garment, bypassing the spot he knew you needed him to your inner thigh. The gentle touches and the scruff of his beard almost tickled, panting as he moved down your body.

He looped his thumbs around the sides of your thong, pausing to look up hopefully for permission. You nodded with lidded, lustful eyes. He couldn’t hide his dimples and he continued to tease, dragging your panties slowly down your legs, taking care to pick up each foot to get you out of them. Your heart swelled as you observed him treating you so delicately, like a fragile porcelain doll. His trail of kisses started again from the bottom, beginning at your ankle, to the inside of your knee and again to your upper thigh until he reached an apex.

“Hold on.” You weren’t sure what he meant at first. Then without warning, he grabbed your hip and threw your opposite leg over his shoulder, finally diving into your center. Your hands instinctively found their way to his head to stabilize yourself, accidentally letting out a yelp in the process which soon after turned into a low moan as his tongue swirled slow circles around your clit. “You taste so fucking good,” he mumbled into your skin.

The vision of him on his knees fully clothed, contrasted with your nakedness enhanced his touch and sent you spiraling. Your hands raked through his gorgeous curls as he lapped you up. The pressure he applied gradually increased, culminating to him inserting a finger in you, then two. You slapped a hand over your mouth as the pressure pooled and he found his rhythm with his tongue and fingers. He knew you were close when your legs started to shake and squeezed around him. The waves came crashing over you as you bucked your hips erratically. He removed his fingers so that he could stabilize you, but his mouth never stopped.

He finally put your other leg back on the ground when your hips slowed and stood up. Your legs almost buckled from underneath you but he caught you before you could fall, lifting you to walk to the bed.

You watched him carry you wordlessly, your brain still short circuiting from your orgasm only knowing enough to wrap your legs around his waist and your arms around his neck. Not because you thought he’d drop you, but because you wanted to be as close to him as possible. It still wasn’t close enough.

He sat himself down on the bed with you landing in his lap, legs still wrapped tightly. There had never been a time where the two of you have been in the same room and exchanged so few words. You continued to stare at each other, simply amazed to be in the same space and sharing skin after three long anguished months of resisting forbidden fruit.

Your gaze fell to his swollen lips that you desperately wanted to taste again, still shiny with your essence. His hand pressed up your back until he grabbed a fistful of hair, bringing you in fervently for another kiss. It was the kind of kiss that enveloped you, that turned your legs to water and caused currents in you to flow creating bountiful energy that begged for release. Your hands roamed from his shoulders, down his chest and abs to the hem of his shirt. The two of you pried it off together and he threw it somewhere on the floor. Your mouths met again gluing your torsos together, your currents crashing in a tidal wave of electricity and emotion.

You unwrapped your legs to straddle him, lightly pushing him backwards. He pulled you with him as you both fell into the bed, smiling into each other and little giggles filling the air. You rolled your hips over him, annoyed with the layers that still separated you from the waist down. You reached down, sloppily pushing at his pants to demonstrate your displeasure. He understood your message, weaving his arms past you to finish the job and shimmying his legs until they were off. You reached down the waistband of his boxer briefs, teasing your fingertips just underneath but not going further. It thrilled you to feel his muscles tense underneath your touch. He nipped your bottom lip when your hand moved further south, and you could feel his jaw clench.

He pulled away suddenly, and you couldn’t place the look on his face which made you nervous.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing! It’s just…” his hand cupped the side of your face, caressing your cheek. “We don’t have to do anything if you don’t want to.”

Your heart swelled at how delicate he was with you, at how much he cared. But you didn’t want to be treated delicately. And now you almost felt bad about how much you’d teased him up to this point. Almost.

“Do you know,” you said sitting up, your hand ghosting over the outline of him through his boxer briefs, “I had a sex dream about you. Right before the Japanese Grand Prix.”

“No,” he ground out.

“You had my legs spread on a desk in some McLaren office.” You felt his whole body clench again as you slid the last piece of clothing down his legs. As though the thought hadn’t crossed his mind every time you admonished him for not paying attention or not taking things seriously in those early days. The frequency of course increased, to every time you bent over, smiled, or played with your hair, to simply existing. For once, he was the one blushing and you found it entirely endearing. “I’ve literally dreamt of fucking you for three months. I want you and I need you. Now.”

His pupils dilated at your words, and his hands moved possessively from your face down to your ass where his fingers sank into your skin hoping to mark and keep you. He tried to find the words to communicate how badly he wanted and needed you too, but blood was no longer flowing to his brain and no words seemed perfect enough for you. His shaft twitched against his toned stomach, eager for your touch. You relieved him, wrapping your full hand around his impressive length pumping up and down a few times, your gentle grip slowly firming with each stroke.

“Fuck,” he muttered under his breath. His hand found your waist and you felt his grip tighten as you continued. You slithered down his body until your mouth aligned with him, spitting over his tip. He felt voyeuristic watching the saliva drip from your tongue. You looked up to see him gripping the sheets for dear life.

“Is that alright?” He nodded fervently.

“Only if you want to,” he croaked out. Bless this man, who just wanted to make sure you were comfortable even though it looked like his eyes were going to roll back into his head.

“I do. Very much,” you insisted. You dragged your tongue slowly from the base of his shaft to his tip. “You made me feel good.” Lick. “Now I want to make you feel good.” His shallow breath hitched when you finally took him in your mouth. Your eyes watered as he hit the back of your throat, you looked up to make sure he was still breathing. You found him slack jawed, but eyes full of lust. He brought a hand to your head. You prepared your gag reflex expecting him to force your rhythm, but instead simply pushed your hair out of your face.

“Fuck, you look so good.” You felt the slickness spread between your thighs at his praise, adding a hand to his base where your mouth couldn’t quite reach. You increased your speed, moaning into him. He happily absorbed the vibrations, reflexively bucking his hips into you. You tasted salty precum at his tip and could tell he was close.

“W-wait,” you slowed your pace but didn’t remove him as you looked up again. “I don’t want to finish yet. Not like this.” You slowly pried yourself off him, finishing with a satisfying *pop* as you released him. You saw his chest rise and fall at an alarming rate. He helped pull you up, interlocking your fingers in the process.

“What do you want?” you asked, knowing you would do whatever came out of his mouth without hesitation.

“Grab my jeans?” You couldn't hide your skepticism, but nonetheless begrudgingly left the nicest seat you’ve ever known to find his pants somewhere on the floor. You resumed your spot on his lap as he frantically searched his pockets, finally locating his wallet and fished out a condom. Everything else found its way back to the ground. Eyes wide, he maintained a death grip on the condom. “You’re sure?”

You smiled. You thumbed his jawline as you brought your foreheads together. “I’ve never been more sure about anything in my life.” It took him about four seconds to process what you said, but when he did closed the gap between your lips in a messy and desperate kiss that sucked the air out of you. It dizzied him too and only pulled away when he remembered he had to open the condom. You leaned back to give him some space as he struggled with the wrapper. His brow furrowed in frustration as he tried to steady his shaky hands.

“I swear I’m usually a lot smoother than this,” he muttered. You bit back a laugh.

“I believe you.”  

“You just make me nervous,” he admitted, uncharacteristically bashful. “In case you couldn’t tell.”

“Hardly noticed,” you said sarcastically, but reassured him with a giggle. “It’s very endearing, if it makes you feel any better.” You calmly grabbed it from him.

“It does,” he confessed as he let you take it from his hands. Without breaking eye contact, you ripped the wrapper easily with your teeth. You felt him twitch under you as you wriggled yourself against him in content, allowing him to feel your arousal. He swallowed thickly. “Where did you learn that?”

“That’s for me to know and for you to find out,” you smirked. You moved off him for a moment, and he took the chance to stroke himself a few times, watching you absentmindedly. How your hair, now perfectly tousled, fell around your shoulders. How gravity worked miracles on the swell of your breasts. How your waist sloped into your hips and thighs. You patiently presented the condom back to him and he used all his concentration to take it from you to roll it down his length. He looked at you hopefully when he was done and you rewarded him with another kiss, your hair cascading around the two of you creating a protective curtain around your new little intimate universe.

You both watched as you eased yourself onto his cock, voyeurs of your own lust. Your moans harmonized as he bottomed out. You felt deliciously stretched and full. Complete. You began slow to adjust to his size, teasing him in the process with your agonizing pace, rising up to the point of almost dismount before sinking back down again engulfing his full length.

“Does this feel good?” you cooed, already knowing the answer as you swirled your hips with him bottomed out inside you, tormentingly slow.

“Yes. Fuck yes,” he groaned as he palmed your ass. “You’re so fucking tight.” You dragged a hand from his chest, down the ripples of his abs, towards where the two of you intercepted. With his jaw clenched, he sank his fingers in your hips, trying unsuccessfully to steady them as you continued to rock. “You look so good with me inside you.”

He lifted his hips to meet yours as proof of his enjoyment, the new angle jolting you forward slightly. A moan escaped as you found a rhythm as you rolled your hips back and forth, itching for the friction of his skin against your already swollen clit. Your pace quickened as his length hit that sacred spot deep in your core over and over. The bounce of your tits mesmerized him. Unable to resist, his mouth found a nipple, flicking his tongue back and forth over the sensitive peak that had you seeing stars.

“Fuck, I’m so close,” you whimpered. You felt the pressure pool and coil in your lower abdomen. Your eyes closed when he grabbed the back of your head, gently pulling your hair.

“Look at me. I want you to look at me when you come.” All you could do was nod in response, worried that any sound you might let out at that point would alert the whole building. It was impossible to look away from his gaze even if you wanted to. You bit your lip as the pressure continued to build, hypnotized by the repetition and sensory overload. You rocked back onto him a final time before reaching your release, collapsing on forward onto his chest and his name falling off your tongue like a prayer as your hips slowed and stuttered.

Yes

Daniel

He’d never heard a more beautiful sound before. His mouth caught yours again, absorbing the moans that continued as you rode out your orgasm. He wrapped an arm around your lower back to pull you flush to his chest and began to upthrust, building to an excruciating pace. You held onto his shoulders for dear life.

“W-what are you doing?” You knew you sounded pathetic, barely able to form the sentence. He smirked.

“Getting you to Number Three.”

“I can’t,” you whined. He pulled you close and rolled the two of you over, taking care to remain buried inside of you. You gasped at the sudden movement, eyes wide when you landed on your back.

“Three’s my lucky number.” He gave a few slow pumps before pushing himself up to spread your legs. He admired the change in your face at each new angle, each expression more perfect than the next. He brought his thumb down to your clit and watched you whither under his touch. With the new view he knew he wouldn’t last much longer. “Don’t worry, I’ll do the work this time.”

You couldn’t argue with his logic. The only response you could give were incantations of profanities as he fucked you into the mattress and his gentle finger rubbing the sensitive nub just above where your bodies joined. He glistened as beads of sweat formed over his body, enhancing the contours of his muscles with each thrust. It was all too much. You felt your walls begin to clench again, your body eagerly anticipating its reward.

Daniel saw your mouth mold into an “o”, the slight twitch of your muscles, and felt the pressure that was building inside you. He prayed you were close knowing that his stamina would soon run out.

“That’s it. Come for me.” Daniel counted his blessings that he should be so lucky to have a front row seat, not once, not twice, but three times to your orgasms. You were so beautiful. Too beautiful. He couldn’t stop himself from chasing his own high as he watched you twist and contort under him. His thrusts became more frantic and erratic as your moans filled the room until he spilled into you, lurching forward but catching himself before fully collapsing on top of you.

Finally the motions stopped, except for the quickened rise and fall of your chests as you both tried to catch your breath. You blinked at each other a few times, still unable to move or think. Daniel broke the silence.

“Holy shit.” You couldn’t help the stupid grin that formed. You pressed a hand to his cheek just to make sure he was still real.

“That good, huh?” He begrudgingly began to move and pulled out of you, rolling over to your side. He propped himself on his elbow and looked down on you, absentmindedly drawing patterns on your soft belly.  

“I was just going to ask if you wanted to grab dinner. But that was way better.” You both laughed as you nuzzled into each other, still peppering the other with butterfly kisses and holding onto the belief that the world was the size of a queen-size bed.

Eventually he got up to go to the bathroom. As soon as he left your side, the intrusive thoughts returned and you began mentally preparing yourself for the inevitable goodbye. You watched silently as he searched the floor for his underwear, blissfully unaware of your inner turmoil. This was fun you repeated in your head. It will be a good story to tell you tried convincing yourself.  

He came back to bed and snuggled up against you.

“Now what?” he asked innocently. You squinted back at him, laughing slightly.  

“That’s an awfully loaded question, don’t you think?” He seemed confounded for a moment.

“I mean, I was just thinking we could get food now? What were you thinking?” You forgot that men could be such simple creatures. Maybe it was the audacity that allowed them to go about life blissfully unaware or unconcerned about hypothetical what if’s and unintended consequences of their actions. But for now, maybe you needed to think like a man too. You didn’t need to solve all the world’s problems in one night. Maybe all you needed was to just enjoy whatever this was for whatever time was left before you got on a flight tomorrow to return to reality.

“Yeah, I guess I worked up an appetite.” He broke into a wide grin. He grabbed your face to bless you with a kiss on the forehead before fetching the menu.

“Great. I’ll order us room service.”

-

Your eyes fluttered open the next morning. Scenes from the night before played on a loop in your head. Sweaty bodies entangled in a sea of limbs. In your experience, men who were that charismatic and that good looking rarely knew what to do with the bodies they had been blessed with. And yet…

You were afraid to open your eyes, not ready to let go of the memory that brought a smile to your face so you kept them closed a bit longer. Instead, you extended a hesitant hand to the other side of the bed expecting to feel the warm body of your evening companion, but you felt nothing. You reluctantly opened your eyes.

“Dan?” Your voice was soft and hoarse from sleep. Nothing. Maybe he hadn’t heard you.

“Daniel?” You tried again, a bit louder this time. Still no response.

You slowly got out of bed half asleep, the line between your dreams and the real world still not quite defined. You zombie-walked to the window, delicately drawing back the blackout curtains of the hotel room. You winced as your eyes adjusted to the natural light. Your clothes were still on the floor where they had been unceremoniously discarded, but the other outfit that had kept them company had disappeared. Your heart fell.

“Daniel?” you tried one last time, voice cracking slightly. Maybe he was in the bathroom. Maybe he had eaten something bad yesterday. You knocked on the door before cautiously opening it. You stood in the doorway a beat too long, unable to move from the empty space. He had been so convincing, so charming, and you fell for it. You had been so guarded and careful, you thought you had sniffed out any unsavory motives and you still were left feeling used and abandoned.

You blinked back tears before they could fall, hiding your defeat from no one in particular in the privacy of your hotel room. You wiped your eyes, chugged a glass of water, for some masochist reason put on your Enchante sweatshirt and got back into bed. It was still early, maybe you could sleep another few hours before you had to get ready to go to the airport. Maybe that sleep would help you forget and ease the overwhelming humiliation and melancholy that fell over you.

As you began to drift off, a noise at the door startled you awake. You realized it was the sound of the door key and grabbed sheets to cover yourself quickly, unsure what else to do.

“I’m not ready for housecleaning!” you yelled uncertainly, praying it was in fact hotel staff and not a burglar.

“Hey hey hey, it’s just me. Good morning to you too.” You slowly peaked your head from under the covers, shocked at the sound of the reassuring, achingly familiar Australian accent. The driver stood in the foyer, his hands overflowing with bags and precariously balancing two coffee cups. You sat up a bit more as you processed the sight in front of you.

“What-?” you trailed off. He seemed nervous, but a smile never left his face.

“I, uh, wanted to surprise you with breakfast. There’s a little place down the street. But you looked so peaceful sleeping and I didn’t want to wake you, so I grabbed your room key. But I realized when I got there I didn’t know what you liked, and my phone died, so I kind of got one of everything…I hope that’s ok. I didn’t mean to scare you –“

As he rambled, you had silently gotten out of bed to grab the cups from his hands, placing them on the table along with the insane amount of bags, one by one. With all obstacles removed, you enveloped your arms around his neck and stamped his lips with a kiss. He was surprised by the sudden gesture but returned it eagerly, his hands still familiarizing themselves with you. He blinked a few times when you pulled away.

“I promise I will get breakfast for you every day if you like it that much.” You laughed with a smile that didn’t quite reach your eyes, and you looked away.

“I thought you left,” your small voice shrank in embarrassment that you had jumped to conclusions so quickly. You couldn’t bring yourself to explain further.

But you didn’t have to. He wrapped you in a bear hug crushing you into his chest, his lips nuzzled into the crown of your head, his body heat invigorating you.

“I’m sorry, I should have texted or let you know where I was.”

“No, it’s silly. I was being overdramatic.”

“It’s not silly. And I’m not going anywhere.”

“But what does that mean?” you asked in exasperation. He pulled away and looked at you in disbelief that you would even ask such a question.

“What do you want it to mean?” You bit your lip in frustration.

“Daniel, don’t be obtuse. In a couple of hours we’re getting on different planes to go to opposite sides of the world.”

“And?”

“We’re not going to see each other.”

“Well then it’s a good thing I know people with private jets.”

“I still have to work.”

“I’ll come to you.”

“My apartment is small.”

“I can pack light.”

“What if you meet someone else when we’re not together?” He let out an irritated sigh.

“I don’t want to meet anyone else.”

You were stumped. He could read the confused look on your face and gently grabbed the sides of your shoulders. “You know, for someone so smart you can be really dumb sometimes.” You crossed your arms.

“Hey!”

“I know it’s hard for you to believe for some reason, but I want to give this a real shot. I want to take you on a proper date. See what things look like when I’m not paying you to spend time with me.”

You looked down, feeling a little guilty about how much you doubted him. You couldn’t help that you were risk averse by nature.

“Did you just… Socratic method me to get me to understand that you like me?”

“Did it work?”

“Let’s just say you have a bright future as a law school professor if this whole driving thing doesn’t work out.” You paused for a moment, still trying to wrap your head around everything. “So… you really want to give this a go?” He rolled his eyes.

“Is it really that hard to believe?”

“I mean – yeah, a little. The world that you operate in is just so much different than mine. Your world consists of beautiful people.”

“You’re beautiful,” he retorted. You blushed but didn’t let the comment throw you off your stride.

“You know what I mean. Your world is glamorous and luxurious. My world is average. It’s a lot of take-out, it’s late nights on the phone with Joe, it’s boring suits, it’s work - without the recognition and without the spotlight. You could have any actress or model or singer in the world and you pick me. Can you blame me for being skeptical?” His face fell slightly as he realized that you didn’t think your shine was bright enough for him. But it was quickly replaced with something mischievous.

“What are you talking about? You’re a singer,” he said matter-of-factly. You rolled your eyes.

“You’ve unfortunately seen me do karaoke, we both know that’s a lie.”

“Your morning shower performances beg to differ.” He laughed at the terror that flashed before your eyes as you threw your hands over your mouth, but quickly reassured you. “I’ve listened to you every morning since we got here. It’s the best part of my day, until I see you.” He pried your hands from your face, holding them in his. “And the last thing you are, is average. Can we please just try?”

You bit your lip, unable to contain the blush spurred by his words of affirmation. The squeeze of his hands on yours caused the dormant butterflies in your stomach to flutter their delicate wings and rise to your chest. A comforting warmth enveloped you, it rose to your cheeks and the answer was there plain as day on your face for him and the world to see. No, it couldn’t hurt to try.

“Only if… you’ll do a duet with me.” After holding his breath for what seemed like eternity, his joy and happiness hanging in the balance waiting for your response, he broke into a toothy grin that used every dimple and laugh line on his face. Without skipping a beat, he threw you over his shoulder and made his way to the bathroom leaving a trail of your giggles in his wake.

“I’m ready for my audition.”

[yumeka-sxf]

I would have included this scan with my recent miscellaneous collab scans post, but I decided it deserves its own post, not just because it's one of the loveliest official Twiyor illustrations I've seen, but also because the story of how I got it is...interesting 😅

This image is from the chara fine graph (which is basically a framed picture) that was included as a preorder bonus for buying the complete season 2 blu-ray set from a shop called Rakuten Books (together with badge pins of the same designs). I briefly mentioned it back in October of last year when season 2 was airing, along with preoder bonuses from other shops like Animate and Amazon. I only wanted to get this one though, so as per my usual process of trying to secure rare SxF goods, I made a note to myself to keep an eye out for when it released. Rakuten, which I believe is the main company for Rakuten Books, has their own proxy buying service, and as the season 2 blu-rays were released, I saw them appearing there. But as noted on their main site, the condition for them to send you the chara fine graph is that you must preorder all of the three season 2 blu-ray discs from them. Once you buy the third one, if they know that you've already bought the others, then they'll send you the preorder bonuses along with it.

I was concerned that if I bought the discs via proxy, they wouldn't know that I bought all three and would cancel my order at the end! I would be devastated if that happened after waiting months and spending all that money on the complete set. I knew people would sell the chara fine graph second-hand as soon as it released, so I decided to wait until then and try to find it on Mercari.

So the months went by and eventually I found out that the final blu-ray volume of season 2 would release on April 17th, 2024. I made a mental note to check Mercari for it then, but unfortunately something else released around that same time...CODE: White in the US, which had its first screening on April 18th. Admittingly, I got distracted by the CODE: White release and had seen it twice by the following weekend. I did do some preliminary searching for the chara fine graph, but not with my usual refined search terms. It wasn't until the 21st that I finally sat down and really started searching for it. And while I did find a few listings, they had already been sold.

I was hopeful that more people would sell it, since it had only been less than a week since release. But I guess I underestimated how popular this chara fine graph was because, after the initial five listings I saw that were sold within the span of a few days, none appeared after. I had, like, ten Mercari tabs open on my browser with different search terms that I refreshed many times a day, but nothing was showing up. I would groan whenever I'd see the preorder bonuses for the other shops like Animate and Amazon pop up, but not Rakuten Books. I did finally see one new listing of someone selling just the badge pins, but that was sold within a few minutes, which made me even more nervous. I would also be nervous getting up in the morning since I didn't want to see that a new listing was posted and sold while I was sleeping! Thankfully I work from home so it wasn't too much of an inconvenience for me to refresh the Mercari tabs on my personal computer whenever I had a minute. But as the days went by and I didn't see any new listings, I started getting mad at myself that if I had only started seriously searching for it right on release day, I would have had at least five chances to get it and could have saved myself this hassle. I even sent a message to Rakuten Books via their online form, asking (in Japanese) if they could somehow sell it to me and ship internationally, etc. But their response was pretty much what I expected...a polite "no."

But then, on the evening of May 4th, I found a new listing and immediately bought it! What should have been a red flag though is that the person was selling it for $30 (with the badge pins included), while everyone else had been selling it from around $80-$100. The title they gave to the item was weird too; they simply called it "Spy Family" instead of "Spy Family Chara Fine Graph" or "Spy Family Rakuten Books Bonus" or something descriptive like that. But the seller had a decent rating so I didn't think there was a problem. After I got the email from Buyee (my proxy service) that they successfully bought the item, I thought I was all set. I closed out all my search tabs and went to bed feeling satisfied.

However, when I got up the next morning, my heart sank when I saw that about an hour after I had gone to bed, Buyee sent me another email saying that they refunded and cancelled my order! The reason they gave was "due to the convenience of the seller" 😫

But what was most frustrating about this is that, when I checked the searches again, I saw that the same seller had relisted the item, with a higher price and more descriptive title, and it had been sold already. What probably happened is that the seller realized they made a mistake with the title and price of the listing and wanted to change it, which Mercari apparently allows them to do even after it had already been sold and paid for!

I was furious with Mercari for allowing this. The least they could do in a situation like this is give the original buyer, like, one day to buy the item again with the increased price before the seller is allowed to relist it again. I wanted to write to the seller and/or Mercari, but I wasn't able to make a Mercari account since it's restricted to Japan. I was also internally yelling at myself that if I had just started searching for it within a day or two of release instead of procrastinating, I could have avoided all this. So it was back to square one, but I wasn't going to give up! I opened up more search tabs with even more refined search terms. I also expanded to other proxy-supported shops like Surugaya and Yahoo Japan Auction. I even got my mom to help me, since she's often up in the middle of the night and can check in case anything is listed during that time while I'm asleep. I downloaded the Buyee app too so I could check listings even if I was away from my computer. With all this, I was hopeful I'd be able to buy it again, though it was more of a question of "when" than "if." With second-hand collectibles, you never know when they could pop up...I could find a new listing the next day, or not for a year or two. But I just kept up the searching, and finally, after another month went by, on June 3rd (June 4th in Japan, so technically Twiyor day 😁) I finally found it again...on Yahoo Japan Auction of all places!

I had never bought via auction before so I was a bit nervous I'd get outbid or something. But I immediately clicked the "pay buyout price option" (which was only a few dollars more than the original price) and, thankfully, a short while later Buyee informed me that I successfully won the auction! But after what happened before, I was still paranoid that it could get canceled for whatever reason. But that didn't happen, and after waiting for shipping, it finally came~

I always like to add a "lessons learned" in these situations, so I'd say the lesson here is don't be blasé or procrastinate when it comes to something you really want. And of course, being persistent pays off more than not!

[genericpuff]

Scamlords is at it again.

A few nights ago, there was a sudden blow-up in the /r/webtoons server showing a new announcement from Snailords -

For anyone unaware, Death : Rescheduled has been on mid-season hiatus since October. And it's now, and only now, that Snailords has suddenly decided the comic is ending after it returns, but readers can get an extra 20 episodes... if they fork over $1k in merch sales.

Now, this could be a lot worse. They could be threatening not to return to the series at all unless their readers hand over money. But considering it's practically just one degree away from that, it's still pretty nasty. Not to mention, the further they divulged in their reasoning around this "idea", the more confusing it got.

They also even revived their @snailordsrant account on IG which, for those of you who were there and can recall, was the same account they used to put one of their own fans on blast over some very mild criticism.

None of this makes any actual sense, for several reasons:

1.) I literally fail to see how getting $1k in less than 24 hours is worth shoving in an extra mini arc of 10 episodes if you don't even have it planned out. Why do that to your audience or to yourself? Why drag things out just to scrounge up an emergency $1k? Why not just be honest with your audience and run a GoFundMe or just say , "Hey everyone, I've run into some financial troubles, I would really appreciate it if you could FastPass my newest episodes or donate to my Patreon or buy some merch so I can cover the costs". It's really telling that this shithead doesn't have enough confidence in themselves or their audience that practically worships them that they have to resort to this kind of underhanded shit to get the money they need. I wanna make it clear that this is NOT like a Kickstarter stretch goal or anything that incentivizes readers to support their work, they're instead holding the length and future of their series over their audiences' head (which they've done before) for money. That's not an incentive, it's an ultimatum.

2.) Maybe I'm misreading / being stupid (someone pls explain if I'm missing something here) but I literally don't see how their comment about working 50 hours a week explains why they're suddenly getting their fans to pay out $1k worth of merch in less than 24 hours. For anyone who doesn't know, $1k per episode is an example Webtoons uses in its post discussing how they pay out creators (this came after the platform got called out 2 years ago for paying creators too little, there are undoubtedly creators getting paid less). And yet for some reason $1k is apparently the difference between 10 episodes and 20? How does that add up? And is the bit about them wanting to buy boba supposed to be a joke? Where's the punchline here?

3.) They say they have writer's block and they want to use the money to "motivate them", but then just a few slides later they say 10-15 episodes is what would make them the "happiest" so which is it? Do they want to write 10 episodes or do they want people to pay them to write 20 episodes so they can draw the fluff scenes that they apparently want to draw? If you have an ending planned out, why rush it or drag it out depending on how this "fundraiser" goes? Why not just write the ending you want to write that will serve your story best? Why shove in an extra mini arc that you don't even have full confidence in writing and then try to compare it to a "super expensive cake"? What are you doing? Speaking as someone who's had trouble getting motivated in the past, suddenly getting a month's rent worth of money to do it doesn't necessarily solve that, it just turns up the pressure, and if you're not someone who deals with pressure well, then you're more likely to wind up just burning out entirely rather than fulfilling that goal.

4.) The fact that they did, in fact, hit their goal just makes it all the shittier to think about because their audience is mostly made up of teenagers who worship the ground that they walk on. It's horrifying that they keep pulling these stunts with their audience, and getting away with it to boot - and Webtoons, as a company, keeps enabling it by allowing it to happen by hosting and promoting people like this.

Anyways, there's already a lot going on here that's sketchy, but then... they went and deleted their posts. At the time of this happening (as I was there to witness it all play out in real time) I assumed this meant that they had hit their $1k goal - especially as they had been showing their progress on their IG and they were already at $900 after just a couple hours - but it gave me a sinking feeling seeing them delete it because they had also been called out by some brave readers telling them that it wasn't exactly a good look to essentially blackmail their audience through their own content into giving them money.

Snailords deleting it gave me a stronger impression of "burying the evidence", especially now that they had the money. By all accounts, they could do whatever they wanted now.

So what did they decide to do?

. . . Huh?

Okay, take a second to actually think about what Snailords has done here. Because I know some of you will go "oh, it was for charity all along! that was nice of them!" but . . . I don't know about the legalities of collecting donation funds under false pretenses, but morally speaking, it's a really shitty thing to do. They stripped away the choices - limiting them to three - of what their readers could donate to, and what I think their readers don't understand - due to being mostly teenagers - is that they're tax-exempt individuals and they just unknowingly gave Snailords an easy $1k tax write-off. You really, really shouldn't collect donation funds like this without being honest, it's just a shitty thing to do, especially after you've already collected the money. It mostly just comes across as damage control on Snailords' part to make it seem like they were always planning to donate to charity, when in reality, if they wanted to donate to charity, they would have been honest about that at the start. Again, even if they wanted to do that from the start, it goes to show how little confidence they have in themselves or their audience that they have to stoop to methods like these instead of just doing it honestly.

And do you really think Snailords will actually do those extra episodes? Or donate that money? This is the same asshole who has manipulated their readers for money not once but twice, and now seems intent on doing it a third time just for the charm. This is the same person who practically sabotaged their own comic, Freaking Romance, because they apparently didn't like the romance genre and may as well have only done it for clout / views / etc.

What was especially odd - and I found this out from folks who actually read Death : Rescheduled (I do not) - was finding out that it wouldn't make sense for D : R to end in as many as 25 episodes, because apparently, the plot has basically just gotten going.

So it does seem like this is foreshadowing that D : R will wind up just like Freaking Romance, rushed into an ending that wasn't expected. And this, of course, has the people who read their work confused because D : R was supposed to be Snailords' passion project, their magnum opus, the project they wanted to do. So them holding the timing of an ending that shouldn't even be happening yet for ransom contradicts that original intention. Really, it just goes to show that Snailords has no passion, they're just in it purely for the money, to a degree that I can't even cheer them on for being a hustler because it's missing the honesty and integrity.

And of course, every single time Snailords finds a way to backpedal and take his audience for a ride, they hop right in without a single thought for themselves.

And no, none of this is to hate on the readers directly, I hold Snailords entirely responsible for this - they have an audience of impressionable, naive, gullible teenagers, and they know it, and take advantage of it every chance they get. It's why they weren't just honest about wanting to collect money for charity from the start. It's why they resorted to basically holding their own comic's progression for ransom during its midseason hiatus. It's why the deadline was 24 hours and why the posts are now gone.

Thankfully the Internet does what it does - any evidence that Snailords was trying to bury is now all over reddit, and hey, just for good measure, here's a post on Tumblr that's been sitting in my drafts for days now, days after people have already seemingly stopped talking about it. Don't let anyone bury or forget about the stunts Snailords is pulling on their audience, with a platform that they've been consistently given by Webtoons, because that's what they want you to do.

[bronzetomatoes]

do y'all fuck w my essay

The Shift From Broadcast TV To Made-For-Streaming Has Hurt Its Impact As A Medium

TV shows have long been one of the most widely efficient ways to share a story, but could that be on the decline? While it is considered by some to be a subpar medium, here on the tail end of the Golden Age of Television we have seen the impact a good show can make. While TV shows have invented new subcultures, or new technology (Star Trek, inspiring both the concept of Fandom and the invention of the mobile phone), and series finales have brought whole communities together (M*A*S*H’s finale, Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen, was watched in over 60% of American households), the decrease in popularity of broadcast television could be spelling an end to this. While the concept itself isn’t going away, TV has seen some major shifts over the last number of years, and a lot of it is not looking good. The rise in streaming services is bringing changes to television that negatively impact the viewers, the creators, and the content itself.

Since 2018, networks have seen a decline of over 70% in TV shows with more than 20 episodes per season (Daniel Quinaud, Why Your Favorite TV Shows Are Getting Shorter, March 15th 2024). There hasn’t been a corresponding decrease in runtime, however, with episodes ranging from 40-60 minutes long, compared to the traditional 22-25. This shift has been facilitated by streaming services, as network television was not so often able to accommodate for inconsistent episode lengths. The weekly release schedule of broadcast television also encouraged the longer seasons that used to be typical, but are no longer necessary.

Sources reason that viewers prefer a more tightly-knit narrative, and that it is a struggle to retain viewership all the way through a 20-episode season (Quinaud), but how much of that can be explained by the nature of streaming services? The average viewer is far less likely to binge through 2-dozen episodes within a week of a series being released than they are to tune in once a week for 6 months. Not only this, but the scheduled broadcast will pick up new fans over the course of its airing and rerun cycle, while Netflix (for example) has a tendency to cancel any show that isn’t an overnight success. 

Whether or not the runtime itself has been decreasing, it still feels as though we, the viewers, are receiving a fraction of a TV show. They have too much plot to fit into their 6-episode mini-series, so they cut filler episodes. They cut filler scenes. They reduce any moments of chatter that fail to actively further the plot down to 20 minutes of their 200 minute run time; 10% is enough to explore our characters, how they work, how they act when they’re comfortable. Showmakers are so afraid of our boredom that they refuse to give us time to breathe. Action shows become messy and rushed, sitcoms shove an A, B, C, and D plot into each episode, and dramas give little-to-no time to process emotions because they need your attention. They cannot risk you losing interest.

Quality isn’t the only thing suffering from the shorter seasons, which made their way into the 2023 Writers Guild of America (WGA) strikes. What could have been a stable job becomes gig work; writers are used for 8 episodes (“13 at best,” says Miranda Banks, Marymount University’s chair of film, TV, and media studies (Gili Malinsky, TV and film writers share why they’re on strike, May 13th 2023)), when, in years past, a season meant being “guaranteed to be working for about nine months every year.” This, combined with shrinking writing rooms making it harder to find a job (unrelated to streaming services), was a major blow to writers’ job security. The aforementioned trend of cancelling made-for-streaming programs after a single season was another contributing factor to the writers struggling for work, and all three were components in last year’s strike.

While they don’t have the same problems with writing rooms, actors have struggled with cancellations and short employment periods. An issue exclusive to streaming that impacts both actors and writers, however, is that of residuals. While the creatives involved receive additional earnings from cable reruns, dvd releases, and even licensing to streaming services, they were given little-to-nothing by these services themselves (a major aspect of the 2023 WGA and Screen Actors’ Guild (SAG) strikes). While necessary progress was made, the fact remains unavoidable that those who are underpaid must overwork themselves to make ends meet. As long as artists are hopping between gigs with nothing to hold them over, writing and acting quality cannot be at its best.

The scheduled nature of broadcast television brings more than just structure, though. The consistent release of new episodes, watched at the same time nation-wide, brings a sense of community to fans of the programs. While more streaming services (namely Disney+) have been picking up on the benefits of a weekly release schedule, it isn’t on the same scale (one show at a time being released weekly for a month and a half, compared to multiple channels putting out a year-round new-episode-to-rerun cycle).

Other made-for-streaming programs that drop whole seasons at once are actively limiting the potential levels of discussion around them. Most viewers can’t afford to drop everything to watch a new TV show in one sitting, and in efforts to avoid spoilers they isolate themselves from fans that can. The minority that can binge all of Stranger Things does so, stopping to talk once they’ve completed the series. In doing so, details are missed or forgotten, certain aspects of the second or third episode are glossed over in favour of the more interest premier/finale, and so on. The rush to watch as fast as possible places attention to detail, appreciation of the art form (was it well written? Well directed? How was the acting? How much attention were you paying?), and serious thought as an afterthought to staying ahead. By the time everyone has finished the series, the hype will remain for about a month. By then, there will be something new to watch.

TV shows aren’t going anywhere, but it’s difficult to not see the trends of its decline. While cable becomes less and less popular in favour of on-demand streaming, there are fewer restrictions preventing these patterns from continuing. While we have seen major victories for the workers’ rights of creatives involved, we can only hope that an effort is made on other fronts; that they keep petitioning for shorter episodes and longer seasons, to go with their larger writers’ rooms and extended break times. We can hope that weekly release schedules become more popular across various platforms, but until then, we will continue the same way we have been, lately: rather poorly.

[nonsensicalramblings79]

Dead Seagull: Do Not Eat – Albatrosses, Seagulls, and Guilt in Our Flag Means Death

(for future reference: written 10/6/2023, ~36-48 hours after the first 3 episodes of S2 were released)

Hi, all! I, like many of you scrolling the #ofmd meta tag, have a head filled with nothing but the Gay Pirates. This has been the case since 12am PST on 10/5/2023 and will remain the case for several months to come. On my 3rd watch-through of the first 3 episodes of season 2 of OFMD, I started paying closer attention to potential symbolism so that I could maybe predict how the rest of the series is going to play out and get a better idea of what’s going on in these little guys’ brains. This post is the introduction to a short series of long posts wherein I rant about symbolism that may or may not be in the show. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I haven’t written anything even close to a literary analysis since high school, and I generally don’t know wtf I’m talking about. I’m just having a lot of very normal thoughts about The Pirate Show and I need to put them somewhere; if anyone has more ideas relating to this please add to it!! And to the best of my knowledge, the thoughts I express here are my own – please let me know if there are other analyses that say similar things that I should link to.

TWs: animal death, blood, eating animals, starvation, emotional abuse, physical abuse, gunshot injuries, suicidal ideation, canon-typical mental health problems

MAJOR OFMD SPOILERS THROUGH S2E03!!!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What originally prompted this whole rabbit-hole exploration was the conversation that Ed has with Frenchie at the end of s2e01.

…

You know there's a bird that never touches ground?

It's born in the air. Never once lands. Spends its entire existence in the sky. …

As Frenchie astutely notes, this seems…kind of impossible. How could a bird be born in the air? I could see potentially never landing, but surely every bird has to come down at some point to lay eggs (or to hatch from them), right? So I did a quick Google search for birds that spend their whole lives in the air, and the first result that came up was the common swift, which apparently spends up to 10 months out of the year in the air, never once landing (or only landing very occasionally) during that time. They catch food in the air, sleep while drifting on air currents, mate in the sky, and only land to nest and lay their eggs.

So that seemed…promising? I guess? But not exactly what Ed was talking about. After all, these birds aren’t “born in the air,” and they certainly don’t spend their entire life without landing. And this still could be what Ed was talking about; it matches fairly closely, and it’s possible that whatever Ed heard was either mis-told, misheard, or intentionally exaggerated. But I think there’s a more elegant answer to what bird Ed is referencing here, and it has much more potential for analysis than the common swift: the albatross.

This is the second thing that I found while searching, and this piqued my interest much more than the last result, since - as many of you probably know, spending time reading tumblr metas – the albatross is an extremely pervasive metaphor in literature. It usually represents a psychological burden that one has taken on, most often as a result of having made a mistake that resulted in others getting hurt. I’ll go into more detail about the source of this symbol in a little bit, but the basic gist is that a dead albatross gets hung around one’s neck until whatever guilt they have is resolved – albatrosses are huge birds, so this represents an enormous weight.

Before I go on, I’ll add that, at first glance, the albatross actually seems to fit Ed’s description less well than the common swift does – albatrosses are known for being able to glide for a long, long time, but they do land…on the water. One of the first things that comes up when you search for “birds that never land” is that albatrosses spend years and years never landing on shore. There’s a similar problem here to the common swift in that no bird actually hatches from an egg while in the air like Ed is implying here. But I would argue that the albatross is indeed what Ed is talking about. Whether he misheard, someone misspoke, or a tale got distorted from it being verbally passed down, Ed is referencing the image of an albatross that spends its entire life above (or on) the sea, never once going to land.

And this fits. In the context of the conversation that Ed is having with Frenchie, Ed is lamenting the fact that he can only exist in one place, fulfilling one role – on the sea, performing the role of Blackbeard. He imagines the life of this fictional albatross as quite lonely, I think, never once leaving the place it has spent its entire life (again, this isn’t exactly how the birds behave, but I believe Ed views them this way based on how he’s interpreted whatever he heard about albatrosses). He’s resigning himself to never leaving his habitat, and quite literally never going back to shore.

“…We’re gonna sail…rob…raise hell forever…and ever…without end.”

Right. So, if I am to be believed, we’ve established that Ed is actually diegetically referencing albatrosses. So what?

Well, as another disclaimer, I’m not 100% sold on these ideas myself. Especially only having the first 3 episodes of S2 to go off of, there’s plenty of time for these ideas to be proven wrong in as few as – checks watch – 6 days. There are lots of different, potentially overlapping, potentially conflicting ways to interpret this information. I’m probably going to split this up into parts, for ease of access and reading. Because all this so far has just been the introduction :))

In one part, I’m going to talk about what is probably the most intentional reference: The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, the original poem that the albatross metaphor is pulled from. Beyond just the link to the “Impossible Birds” conversation, there are some other elements in OFMD that seem like pretty clear references to this poem. Based on references to this poem in popular culture, I suspect that parallels here would be non-diegetic – meant to be apparent to the audience, not to the in-universe characters. Link Here!

Next, I’m going to talk about another poem, simply titled “The Albatross” (French: L’albatros). This particular poem is maybe less likely to have inspired references in OFMD, but if there is an intentional link, this poem reflects a lot of how Ed sees himself and his life thus far. I’ll admit that I’m a bit biased toward this poem since I had to memorize it in French class in high school and it’s stuck with me – but it was also one of the first things on Wikipedia that was linked on the page of the metaphor of the Albatross. Parallels in this poem are what I would suspect to be diegetic – despite it being an anachronism, I think Ed has at some point read this poem, and he relates to the albatross/poet. [Link Here!]

Lastly, there are some loose ends that I’d like to pick up that may not tie into anything, but I feel like they’re worth mentioning, especially as they relate to the albatross metaphors and parallels. This section is going to talk more generally about birds and bird imagery in OFMD, and how these instances can support or refute my albatross theories. [Link will go here: haven't written yet :)]

[4getfulimaginator2022]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

I haven't been tagged, but I saw @fandomsbyladymelodrama do one of these a few months back - so of course, I wanted to give it a try. 🙃 Also, I haven't done any personal posts on here in forever. Time for a change!

How many works do you have on AO3? I have 18 works so far. And when it comes to ships, it looks like I have a "type." 😉

What's your total AO3 word count? Oh boy. 660K+ right now and growing all the time because when stories speak, I write.

What fandoms do you write for? Mainly Once Upon a Time (starting in 2013), followed by Game of Thrones (2024, baby!) and then that 1 Greek myth collection thingy. I was a die-hard Once fan back in the day and watched episodes religiously, so all the canon lore was seared into my brain until season 6 (when I dropped the show because the writing was so off the rails). Surprise, surprise - I haven't watched GoT in its entirety. Everything I know is through my own research, watching videos, reading, reading, reading, and the contributions of the wonderful Jorleesi fandom.

What are your top 5 fics by kudos? All Captain Swan fics, in order from the most to the least: 1) Heart Bound 2) Only the Beginning 3) A Cobbler's Life For Me 4) Be My Angel, Be My Demon 5) Nevermore

Do you respond to comments? I try! I used to be less strict about replying to comments, but with my resurgence in fanfic after years of absence, I have replied to each and every one. Currently, I am behind on replies, but I will get around to it again. Soon.

What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Oof. I don't do angsty endings because I will die on the hill that is Jane Austen: “My characters shall have, after a little trouble, all that they desire.” Probably my angstiest ending is in Trader of Hearts, which is a really dark fic. I do have a one-shot that is semi-angsty, though: Thinking of You.

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? *deer in headlights look* I make it my business to give my beloved characters the happiest endings I can. Seriously. I don't know how to rank endings against each other, since the characters always end up together. I currently think my happiest ending is for The Old Curiosity Shop, my Jorleesi fic.

Do you get hate on fics? I have, but these were readers telling me how I should write my stories "the right way." I also have gotten spam comments. Overall, people are pretty nice.

Do you write smut? Hoo-hah! 😏 Let's count: I have 3 fics rated Mature and 5 fics rated Explicit. That's half of my fic repertoire. And when I do Explicit, it's ❤️‍🔥. Enough said.

Do you write crossovers? No. Not happening, cannot do, end of discussion.

Have you ever had a fic stolen? Well... There was a scandal back on FF.net in 2014 or 2015? Websites were copying all fanfics to scammy websites or selling fanfics as ebooks. Not cool. I used to have all my content on FF.net, but now only my in-progress fics are there. All my fics are up on AO3.

Have you ever had a fic translated? No, not that I know of.

Have you ever co-written a fic before? Hey, if someone is offering... But again, no. No one ever wanted to co-write with me. 🥺 But maybe it's because I'm sooooooooo bossy!

What's your all-time favorite ship? Oh crap. All-time favorite?! WHAT. I have to cheat here and say there's a tie: Captain Swan and Jorleesi. Emma Swan and Killian Jones had a long journey to love and happiness, both in terms of their individual character growth and their relationship as a couple. The more I learned about them, the harder I fell in love with them. It helped that the CS fandom was HUGE as the ship became canon, and Tumblr was so active then that #captainswan was all over the place. We were one of the largest canon ships for that show. Now, as for Jorleesi... Jorah Mormont's loyalty and devotion earned my attention and respect from the first, and then when I found out about his love for Daenerys and her repressed love affection for him, I was a goner. My 2 OTPs: both women are BAMFs who are survivors and warriors, while their guys value love above all and are willing to die to protect them (*sobbing for Jorah because noooooooo* 😭)

What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? Heart Bound. This fic... I love this fic. This is my Jane Eyre/Jane Austen fix. It's my 2nd period piece and I adore some of my prose in this one. It. Needs. 4. Chapters. To. Be. Complete. Can I do it? Yes. Do I want to do it? *cries* Of course I do but it's hard...

What are your writing strengths? Hmm. Some would say it's my prose, while others would say that I know how to channel emotion into my writing. I like to incorporate literature and historical references into my fics (historical AUs or not), so I think I've done well with that. I've also been told that my characterizations are fantastic and unique. You do notice that I'm not claiming credit for any of these observations, right? Usually, I believe my writing is awful and I could have done so much better. I have a hard time acknowledging my strengths. You could hand me an Olympic gold medal for Writing and I would still insist that it's all lies. My self-belief and confidence have not improved over the years.

What are your writing weaknesses? Dialogue. It's always dialogue. I want it to be realistic but my vocab gets in the way and it starts sounding like prose. Not good. But I am getting better! No way to go but up.

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? Maybe I'd do it, but it would have to be necessary for me to put in the effort. I don't purposely bamboozle my readers. 🤣

First fandom you wrote for? Once Upon a Time (of course *rolls eyes*). One Against the Wind is my ultimate period fic - pirates, the Caribbean, my tribute to PotC and pirate novels I've read. I created character backstory when there was no canon backstory. It's also my longest fic at 147K words. So proud of it and it still holds a special place in my heart. 😍

Favorite fic you've written? Ugh, no no no! I always, always say I cannot have one favorite because that is BORING. But okay, I will say that at the moment, it's The Old Curiosity Shop. I just did a full read of the entire fic and my heart absolutely melted. Adorable, heartbreaking, angsty, and so romantic. Jorleesi, I love you and I will die for you. You own my heart a thousand times over. ❤️

Fineeeee, I'll tag 5 people (no worries if you don't want to do this - completely voluntary fun and games here 💕): @ser-jorah-the-andal, @rileypotter17, @houseofthebear, @clarasimone, @thank-god-and-you

[lestappenforever]

So on the whole Fred thing, there is this article https://it.motorsport.com/f1/news/f1-vasseur-ferrari-nuova-al-95-ma-non-sara-una-rivoluzione/10558537/ that covers some of the questions that Fred was asked in the annual lunch that the press attends. He was asked a lot of questions in regards to the contact extension of both drivers and the whole number 1 and number 2 driver and all of that.

These are some of the highlights from that:

Are there any updates on the status of the contract negotiations for the renewal of Charles and Carlos? Is the goal still to renew with both? “As you know, they are under contract with us until the end of 2024, which means we still have a few months ahead of us. Last year Mercedes renewed the contract for 2024 to both of its drivers at the end of August; so, I believe we still have weeks and months ahead of us. A year ago I told you that I would try to make a decision by the end of this year, but I have to admit that the last part of the season was very busy. We met and started discussions, but we are a little behind the initial plan. I don't think it's a problem at all, we'll make a decision soon.”

Do you think the renewal of the drivers will come before the start of the season? (!!) “It could be the goal.”

Do the renewals of the two pilots provide for the same duration in terms of years of contract or will there be different agreements for each of them? “I remember perfectly well that a year ago in this same room I was getting a lot of questions about the topic 'Charles number one and Carlos number two of the team'. We have shown on several occasions that we are guaranteeing our pilots more than equal treatment, I believe Singapore has been the best example.”

“Charles agreed to start the race with a set of soft tires to be able to get past Russell and control him, all to help Carlos. We have two drivers who are doing a good job, Carlos was very strong after the summer break with two great weekends in sequence in Monza and Singapore, and it was probably a stimulus to Charles, as we saw in the season finale.”

“We will continue in this direction, I don't want to have a good resource and another second level, we have two cars and two drivers of value, and I think one of the positive aspects of the season was the performance of Carlos and Charles. They guaranteed the team pretty much the same points, with a small delta of difference and we want to go on like this.”

(Just as a note, this article was written in Italian and this is its translation)

The fact that Fred has said that both are equal, despite what he said in Abu Dhabi about Charles being a leader, means that there’s something going on, because in less than a month you don’t change your narrative unless something happened.

Another thing is that he said that Charles agreed to jeopardize his race, which honestly I don’t believe it makes much sense, especially putting in the context of Charles helping Carlos, yet Carlos never did that, and Carlos did say that he won’t leave a gap or something like that unless it’s Lando or Fernando, so the whole Charles is helping and yet he doesn’t come out with a podium, I don’t know, it doesn’t make much sense.

But what could be said, is that there’s something, Fred is unable to talk about contracts, saying both drivers are equal, there’s something fishy going on in Maranello and as a Charles to RBR supporter (because of the drama and racing, not necessarily shipping) I’m sat.

Oh, anon brought the tea. ☕️

Although there is absolutely no way whatsoever any of us can know for sure what any of this means, one way or another, I definitely think this whole interview is suspicious as hell.

It's only been a few weeks since Abu Dhabi, and Fred suddenly having such a profound change of opinion just doesn’t add up.

Like I said, we have no way of knowing what — if anything — this means, but I am personally very excited to see how the Ferrari/Charles/Carlos saga will turn out in the end.

Thank you so much for this, anon! ❤️

[7grandmel]

Todays rip: 12/01/2024

9​来​4s

Season 2

Featured on: THE SILVAGUNNER CHRISTMAS COMEBACK CRISIS ORIGINAL SOUNDTRAXX: vol. 1

Ripped by dante

Uh, so, hi, everyone. I'm going to apologize ahead of time if this post reads a bit more shakily, a bit less structured than what it maybe usually does. I always have a timeline of rips to cover over the week laid out ahead of time, and was really not expecting to cover 9​来​4s as part of it - I thought, naively, that today would just be a day like any other, one more on the pile. I wake up, get dressed, check the SiIvaGunner YouTube feed - and almost collapse onto the floor in shock.

The Christmas Comeback Crisis is back. Ten hours from the point of writing this sentence, the eleventh episode of the main SiIvaGunner storyline will premiere on YouTube.

I don't think I've ever done an effective job of conveying to people just how much the Christmas Comeback Crisis means to me. Sure, rips that I love are one thing, with those you can understand what I'm talking about with just a listen yourself. But the Christmas Comeback Crisis series is so difficult to truly appreciate without the knowledge, the memories and attachment to the channel from having been with it the whole time. To me, it marked the point where all of SiivaGunner's potential as a narrative, all of the loose threads of lore and jokes, all of those feelings of joy and sadness and comradery that flew like sparks throughout Season 1s 9-month run, were distilled into a streamlined narrative. It felt as if a bunch of stray thoughts were finally put to paper, a world envisioned by all of SiIva's viewers finally envisioned with an engrossing conflict and beautiful art. And it felt to me like the team themselves knew just how golden the idea they'd landed on was, as the scope of the storyline quickly expanded from just Christmas of 2016 to eventually enveloping the entirety of Season 2's run.

The final core episode of the Christmas Comeback Crisis released at the tail end of Season 2, on Christmas Day. That is to say, December 25th, 2017. It is currently January 12th 2024 - six years, two weeks, and four days have passed, as the main story of the channel has remained in limbo. When I watched that episode, live on the date of upload, I was still a teenager. I've followed the channel since, still immensely invested, still closely following and paying attention to the lore introduced since - the Side Stories and Haltmann's Archives of Season 3 and Season 4: Episode 1, the King for Another Day Tournament and its fallout across both episodes of Season 4, the many misadventures of Wood Man across Season 5, having seemingly left the Christmas Comeback Crisis canon altogether to explore different worlds where he could have fun with little consequence - only for it all to come crashing down on him in Season 6. After all of that time, all of that buildup, after Season 7 has already been one of the channel's all-around, best-ever years - the cherry on top has landed. Episode 11.

Beyond the lore, the world, the artwork, the storyline, the characters, and the community that's supported it all, what has held the Christmas Comeback Crisis together for me and many others has been the sheer passion present in all those aspects - including, of course, its outstanding soundtrack. I've talked about it before with voiceless, with 時の回廊 ＜ver. CCC＞, with vlEP, and now here - but dante is, genuinely, an *exceptionally* talented musician, possibly my favorite amidst the entire SiIvaGunner team, and he has been completely outdoing himself on the Christmas Comeback Crisis' soundtrack since the day it first began - his music, remixes, arrangement, and overall sound direction has breathed a kind of energy and life into the story that's immersed me in ways I could never have expected.

9​来​4s plays during Episode 8 of the Christmas Comeback Crisis, An Acrimonious Assault - which sort of marked a point of no return for the series. After the 6th episode, Advent of Hell, just barely managed to release during Christmas of 2016, and the 7th episode, Loves the Ladies, released four entire months later due to expressed production issues, it felt like the team had officially realized just how big the project was getting. Yet, despite the woes that the 7th episode had presented, the team pushed on - and the series continued until the end of the year. That energy, that hype and love for the channel, is echoed all throughout 9​来​4s, and it's a feeling I haven't truly felt since that Season that the series once ended during.

At least, that's what I once said. Because now, *we are so fucking back.*

[tiddiesoutwhenthetisout]

tag from @babyrdie and @greekmythologylover234 .

been a lot of tag games recently huh! thanks for remembering me 🤣

9 people you want to know better

i don't know enough people on here, but i'll be tagging @amnesiaa-on-ice @akhillaous @whorewhouse @naurumii @elnbnt @peggy-sue-reads-a-book

here are the questions to copy-paste:

three ships

first ship

last song

last tv show

currently reading

currently watching

currently eating

currently craving

my answers to them are under the cut so only those who are interested will be reading it (because i'll be yapping) lol

three ships

- patrochilles (duh; probably going to be my favorite, if i'm honest)

- kavetham (admits this semi-shamefully because the rest of the fandom is ass-- but i've left it. glad i did because the recent toxic community will never do me any good. i stressed, i die. simple. was a huge hyperfixation for a year or so though.)

- vashwood (it's been a while, but i really got obsessed with them and the show. watched 1997 once, stampede 3 times, not inclusive of the scattered episodes)

first ship

tbh no idea. it may or may not be solomon and saya from blood+ (great show great show) but i was around 7 when this happened and was just tagging along with whatever my sister had to say about things like these? i'm not a super shippy person either-- i'm not big on these things and certainly a lot less when i was younger. didn't have a lot of interest in couples prolly bc i had no idea what difference it had with friendship. just that you kiss and fuck or something. and i thought that was weird, or well, nothing much to it.

i guess you could say that the first pairing i've ever wanted to defend was zuko and katara from ATLA 🤣 nowadays i understand mai and zuko's relationship and i think it's pretty sweet, but back then i was fixated on zutara chemistry so whee🕺

last song

i haven't been playing music recently since i've been over at my partner's, but "done for" from epic the musical has been playing in my head since i woke up so there's that lol

last tv show

we were looking through netflix for an "easy" show to watch for dinner and got through 2 episodes of the exploding kittens show 🤣 played the game a lot when we got it, plus fond memories of things that happened whilst prompted us to check it out. it's an american tv show i guess, and i've never really vibed with those so it was alright, i guess. the kitties were cute.

currently reading

nothing. finished madeline miller's circe 3 days ago or so, though. my odyssey reading has been suspended for 2 weeks now but i guess it's because i'm pretty much kept up on the plot from randomly reading shit about it on the internet? i'm generally more of a "how did the story go?" person when i get into a book unless i become super obsessed with it. then, i'll dive into the nuances of text and its analysis. which hasn't been happening recently. i'll probably be balls-deep in academic text soon considering i haven't been a good student (our research adviser told us to start doing our thesis papers over the summer holiday so the process will be smoother... guess i'll be disappointing the prof who actually likes me ✊)

currently watching

nothing. finished castlevania (as well as the released season of nocturne) last month and i think that's my quota for shows for a while lol.

currently eating

fast food because the rain started pouring so hard. in time for lunch or so. it was a sign from the lord to spend and have a good time because the world might end tomorrow or something.

currently craving

the other items on the menu i didn't order- kidding lmao. a calzone for some reason, as well as a fizzy drink i usually get from a local cafe run by a nice old lady and youth on the drinks. ok, now i want her pesto sandwich.

ight i'll just eat now brb

[gamerdog1]

Haikyuu: The Dumpster Battle Review

I am not a sports guy, never really was. I played baseball a bit as a kid, hardly keep up with major league sports, and couldn't really care less about who won the Stanley Cup. Maybe its the ridiculous amount of fanfare athletes get, or how male-dominated popular sports are, but I've never really been into sports.

Yet, I really like sports anime. Like anybody on the internet in 2015, I heard about Haikyuu, and got into it pretty quickly. Though I wasn't as obsessed with it as I was with shows like Naruto or Hetalia, I watched up to season 2, and fairly enjoyed it.

Smash-cut to this month, when a Haikyuu movie comes out, and is only out for a limited time. I think "Hey, it might be cool to go, but I'm not caught up with the anime...". But after getting assigned to make a tiktok covering an event for a journalism course, I knew that the stars aligned. It was fate: I had to see this movie, and cover it for marks.

And so, after struggling to film a 'stand-up' in front of the theater for 20 minutes, waiting in the lounge for an hour, and eventually getting to sit down and see the thing, I can say that Haikyuu: The Dumpster Battle was both an absolute delight to behold, and a bit of a disappointment.

The Dumpster Battle takes place directly after the last episode of the fourth season, and shows Karasuno's explosive match against their long-time rivals, Nekoma, and the Spring Nationals tournament. After coming this far, both teams are desperate for a win, and pull out all the stops just for any type of advantage.

Just like in the TV anime, the match is stretched out over the course of an hour and a bit, building tension slowly as points are won, strategies are formed, and flashbacks are shown. Without commercial breaks in between, what would normally be a few episodes comes together to form a cohesive whole that had me wondering what would happen next more than how much longer it would be.

Its also quite impressive how much content they've managed to squeeze into this 85 minute movie. It somehow compresses and stretches time, to make parts of the match more exciting while skipping over ones that aren't. All the while, it shows clips of characters' backstories, artistic moments for dramatic effect, and flashes back to key moments in the anime to make a point, while keeping within the runtime of just under an hour and a half, is absolutely mystifying. Its a testament to how good the writing of the source material is (since this is a direct adaptation), but also to the power of editing in film.

Though, that still doesn't hide the most glaring issue I have with this film: that it is pretty clearly multiple episodes stitched together. At least, it sure feels like it. Coming from a 5 day marathon of the third and fourth season, I've grown used to how the anime structures its episodes, and how its animation looks. Here, I could almost imagine the little bumpers playing at certain moments, or where it would cut to credits before the next episode. It doesn't really feel like its own piece, more like a few smaller ones put together without any openings or endings.

On top of that, the animation quality is on par with the TV anime, which is a bit disappointing. Usually, when a TV show gets a movie, the budget is upped, and you can see it in how the animation changed. Shading gets more complex, characters look more detailed, and there are sequences which would be too expensive to do on a tv budget. Here, I didn't really see much of a change. Its pretty surreal, watching something on the big screen that looks pretty similar to what you just watched on your computer at home.

Still, for the level of animation that's here, and the level that's usually in the anime, I can't complain much. Production IG really are the kings of sports anime, and this movie is just another jewel for their crown. The way they animate humans in motion is captivating, and I can't help but watch every set, spike, and block. Its quite realistic, and when they try to experiment more (like squashing and stretching limbs to make movements appear more snappy) it only enhances the beauty of the motion as a whole.

The characters, as well, look good here, but especially the Nekoma guys, who haven't been shown much in focus for a while in the anime. Kenma, of course, is a standout, with how varied his expressions are (ironic, for someone who is so detached and quiet!). I loved getting to see him react to stuff, just as much as the Karasuno guys, with every success or failure. Wacky expressions, snappy comedy, and quick one-liners got more than a few laughs out of me, and in my theater, I certainly wasn't alone.

I saw this in English, because I watch the English dub of the anime, and didn't want to get confused. I highly recommend this, as the voice actors did a fantastic job, going above and beyond in their respective roles. Hinata and Kageyama were and always are a joy, with their actors sounding exactly how you'd imagine from their faces alone. But (again), Kenma was a surprise stand-out, for how varied his actor's performance was. I haven't heard a voice actor yell like that since the first season of Attack on Titan, and for a character who is known for not being enthusiastic much, you can tell his actor was giving it his all in the booth.

But above all else, the main thing that got me invested in this is how it continued the story. Seeing the boys again, this time on the big screen, was an absolute joy, and knowing that whoever lost the match would be going home kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. I, as well as everyone else in the audience, had grown with these characters, and watched them grow in turn, seeing them learn new skills, face challenges, and get stronger. This movie felt like the culmination of everything up to this point, and there was a palpable sense of anticipation in the air that is hard to describe. For what its worth, you couldn't have paid me to not see this movie.

I don't watch sports. But for a movie continuing an epic underdog saga, with epic highs and lows, realistic character animation, over two dozen distinct and memorable characters that have their own mini-arcs, and a stellar English dub, I'll be there in the crowd, eager to watch.

(Also shout-outs to that first-person scene with Kenma. Holy fuck... I couldn't fit it in anywhere, but know that it is ICONIC, and will forever be badass.)

[fanbun]

Time for me to talk about Hazbin Hotel now that season 1 has ended!

I’d like to start off by saying I enjoyed watching the show. It is a visual delight that introduces some much-needed variety to the western adult animation space. Charlie and Vaggie as main characters hooked me even way back when I watched the pilot on YouTube. And although many of the songs caught me off guard in the episodes themselves, I kept going back to listen to them for days afterward.

But in all honesty, when it comes to writing, season 1 is a structural mess that wants to do as much as it can in 8 episodes rather than narrow its focus to what is most important for a first season. Yes, of course this is subjective to an extent, but the lightning-fast pacing the show quickly adopts is a common complaint even among the most hardcore fans. It is glaringly obvious that major plot points and character development are rushed because Vivienne did not want to compromise her vision to fit neatly into the number of episodes given to her.

Sure, I agree that 8 episodes a season shouldn’t be the norm but I don’t think the quality of a show is doomed to suffer because of that. Choices were made by the writers to include characters and scenes that could have easily been saved for a later date or even cut entirely. Season 1 didn’t even have to end with a climactic battle between heaven and hell, as first seasons are usually meant to introduce characters and provoke further intrigue that can be expanded upon later. But as it turns out the almighty cool factor demanded a war to end season 1 and that’s what we got.

This is something I’ve noticed often while watching Hazbin. The spectacle of engaging designs, captivating animation sequences and catchy songs quite literally steal the show. This “cool factor” will almost make you forget that many of the main characters have hardly spoken to each other outside of a few brief jokes here and there.

Hazbin wants to be cool and it wants to have an expansive cast of characters to make the world-building feel fleshed out. But this doesn’t exactly work when we’ve hardly gotten to know a character before moving on to the next one who seems far less relevant to the main selling point of the hotel that the first season is SUPPOSED to be establishing.

And here’s where a HUGE issue with the pacing comes in and that’s how fast we see sinners at the hotel get better. It doesn’t feel like 6 months have passed in the show since there is barely an indication of the passage of time, and we also don’t get to see much struggle to change from those staying at the hotel. Both Sir Pentious and Angel Dust are given their own character development episodes, but in my opinion a single episode for each is not enough to feel like the development was realistic and earned. Directly afterward we see them immediately improved and acting as if they have become close family with those staying at the hotel.

It was jarring to watch since I felt like I was missing the context for when all of the characters bonded to the extent of being that close. The only characters I saw bonding in a way that felt real were Angel Dust and Husk, and even though episode 4 was terrific for showing Angel’s struggles and how the hotel serves as his support network, it made me desperately crave more genuine moments like it.

I especially wanted more genuine moments between Charlie and Vaggie since they experienced an upset in their relationship towards the tail end of the season. And unfortunately the last two episodes didn’t satisfy me since the two talked more with other characters I wasn’t interested in than with each other. It’s a shame that Alastor often steals their spotlight, and from what I’ve heard season 2 is going to be more about Alastor and the Vees too. This worries me, as it seems Vivienne is showing favoritism for the supporting cast over the main characters.

Still, I will definitely be checking out season 2 when it’s released to see if there have been any improvements. And even if there aren’t, it’ll be a fun show to turn my brain off to. I see the show’s existence as a net positive for the animation industry despite the issues I have with it.

[defeateddetectives]

9 Fandom Peeps to Get to Know Better

thank youuu @coquelicoq for the tag! yes this is an entire month late because of who i am as a person :'D

3 ships you like: actually gonna give some real estate to the ones i have NOT been rotating nonstop on this space like a rotisserie chicken lately to mix things up!

1) hiyakawa/mikado (the night beyond the tricornered window) - a plug for my tiny, spooky, hilarious and obscure af manga series that blindsided me with its pathos (and because i want everyone to read it and then create some very niche fan-content for me specifically! :D wait who said that!) emotionally oblivious loser 4 emotionally oblivious loser!!! except they're emotionally oblivious in fun, complementary ways! their whole journey is absolutely bonkers and unexpectedly heartfelt, and yes, exorcism should be this hot always!

2) natsume/tanuma (natsume yuujinchou) - i know that no one will believe me when i say that this is still THE natsume yuujinchou ship to me at the end of the day! something something if i loved it less i might be able to talk about it more! but lonely kids finding one another and making each other's lives SO MUCH BETTER solely for existing in each other's orbit and being such a paragon of healthy, functional communication and trust and growing connection that still floors me to this day (and with such courage and eloquence that most adults still cannot manage...i say...sideeyeing two v specific adults)!!! theirs was the thread that pulled me into the series to begin with (i literally just watched all the tanuma eps on first pass) and i'm still so grateful for them and everything about them

3) jack rackham/anne bonny (black sails) - platonic/queerplatonic/romantic/whichever combo or other nebulous way you slice it! THE soulmates of all time that haunt me on the regular and really said to the audience: watch us take your expectations and definitions and parameters of love, joyfully smash it to smithereens, and create something so tremendously unrecognizable and beautiful. truly partners till they put us in the fucking ground!!!

first ship ever: the first fanfic i stumbled upon in my life featured taichi and yamato from digimon adventure. i still remember this because it was interspersed with an edit of yamato in a dress and posted on ye olde personal webpages and shown to me by a school friend, both of us looking like the :o face incarnate. we were Babies. it was a Time. i don't even think i knew what a ship was at the time but hashtag formative things!

last song you heard: it's been a grimes & janelle monae - venus fly kinda day

favourite childhood book: soft spot for whitechurch by chris lynch forever. i think i read it maybe in high school? it rewired my brain and is probably a huge part of why i am the way i am/write the way i do subconsciously.

currently reading: does vi bullying me into danmei count? in which case, global examination....at snail's pace. in this house we love and appreciate a good arson!

currently watching: recently started rewatching the original a:tla for the first time since it finished airing after trying and failing miserably with the live action :( only a few episodes in but augh its still so good and some things hit even harder with foreknowledge. there will never really be another character arc like zuko's ever again.

currently consuming: a smoothie! i've discovered i am a fan of almond butter when dunked in a blender with berries, yogurt and milk. 11/10 would recommend!

currently craving: earlier today i was daydreaming of bbq so let's go with that

super low pressure tagging @endless-season @half-infinite @argyros @fadedclxssic @caroline-hill @kastellaran @doubleboyfriend @constastan @spookirou and as always, everyone is welcome to steal

[autogeneratedkahootnickname]

Yeah so I'm an Amber apologist until the day I die.

I do think there's potentially a minor writing hiccup but I'm gonna set things out as best I can from my understanding.

What a lot of people don't pick up on, and what the show tries to convey in episode 5, is that Mark has been a phenomenally shitty boyfriend to Amber. We only see a few brief snippets of him cancelling some dinner plans, but this has been a constant, unfaltering issue for 3 months. 'He's late, he doesn't show, and he always has some shitty excuse.' From Amber's point of view, it wouldn't be unreasonable for her to think she means nothing to him.

But she recognises that the situation is complex, and she cares about him, and she sees that he IS trying, if not enough. So she gives him second chance after second chance. Honestly far longer than she should have done.

But yeah, their relationship is on the ROCKS for a LONG time. But since we see Mark superheroing throughout most of that, we can't put ourselves in her shoes.

So then, flash forward to Upstate U and the reveal. My controversial theory, but the one I think most makes sense in terms of writing, is that Amber didn't know Mark was Invincible until he tells her.

Amber is visibly startled when she sees Mark flying in her room. Granted she would be even if she knew, but it leans more to her not knowing than the contrary.

Amber does not know who Invincible is at Upstate U, and she never refers to him by name in the confrontation: 'I know you're a superhero', 'fly away, flyboy'. If she had known 'weeks beforehand' a cursory google would have been likely. She would be more likely to refer to him by name.

Amber is very intelligent, she's quick-witted, she's an expert at putting up walls as a defence mechanism and she hates being lied to. She would be capable of concealing her surprise, and wouldn't want to lose control in the conversation, but honestly she doesn't have to. Because her reaction seems genuine, even if its less premeditated than she puts on.

Amber goes into that interaction thinking Mark is a liar, a coward, a flake and an asshole. That interaction recontextualises him as a liar, a flake and an asshole. In different ways sure, but the end result is the same. Amber's whole issue is that she doesn't feel valued by Mark, and she's just been told that he was hiding an entire secret life from her because he didn't trust her. Also, Mark is not 'trusting her now': he's using Invincible as a retroactive get out of jail free card for being an asshole for 3-4 months. He frames it in a way that, even if its unintentional on his part, makes her out to be small, and petty, and irrational: 'because im out saving lives or protecting the planet.' It sounds like he's blaming her for being mad at him, and he's SO SURE she'll forgive him everything in that moment. She doesn't want to let him off the hook for being shitty, and Mark's behaviour isn't helping. This is supposed to convey that the way he treated her isn't ok even if he was a superhero, and he shouldn't expect it to be.

And she isn't happy about being angry with him! The scene ends with her looking pensive, conflicted, because the walls she put up in that scene do not reflect her character! She goes back to Mark to make sure he's alright, because she sees his actions in a different light, and bear in mind, at this point, Mark is still viewed by the public as someone who played a pretty substantial role in killing around 50,000 people at a guess. She's not going back to him because he's a hero now. He's public enemy number 2. That is an INCREDIBLE amount of integrity and dedication, traits she's displayed repeatedly throughout the season through her grassroots support of local communities.

William literally says in his pep talk to Mark:

'But you were a shitty boyfriend to Amber and you got what you deserved'. This is Mark's number 1 fan. Laying it out in front of us.

And last, but of course, not least,

Guys she's fucking seventeen cut her some slack jesus christ she's not a calculator

[partofmycharm]

Frostbite - Part 2

Originally posted on AO3 under the same name. 

A/N: It’s been almost a year since I published the first part. I’m pretty excited to finally be able to release this one. This will most likely be the last time I write them because I like where it leaves them.

Pairing: Yautja (Male) x OC (Female)

Word Count: 9529

Content Warnings: mild dub-con, NSFW

Part One

-

-

It was in the very early morning when Lisa Stewart was finally released from the four-walled confines of the minimally decorated meeting room, in which the glaringly obvious fake plant in the corner of the room existed only to spruce up the place with a bit of colour (Lisa oftentimes wondered if the plastic plant was a stupid nod at the botany team). She and the few other exhausted and, to be quite honest, highly annoyed ethologists were forced to participate in weekly briefings on their recent findings — which was never really much because, well, they couldn’t do much. This time, however, the meeting had been a little different (if not full of outrage, hence the late finish time). Their stupid superiors of the Istratus Investigations team were considering a Round Two of Getting Fucked in the Ass by the Istratus B Expedition. The winter season was finally coming to an end, and the planet was moving towards a ‘much calmer spring-like season’, if their mathematical data was correct, because it was so correct last time, too.

 And, of course, the ethology team was one of the first groups of scientists to be nominated for the expedition. The others were less than keen and a little wary of the idea of stepping foot on that surface again, and rightfully so, for their memories were still plagued with the blizzard that had abruptly brought their journey to an end. The entire trip had been a huge financial blow to the research team, what with the lack of data and samples they’d accumulated, on top of the detrimental loss of expensive equipment. The I.I. sponsors were less than pleased to hear their money had essentially gone to waste, and it’d taken a good long month for the leading researchers to convince both their sponsors and the United Nations government for more money that certainly wouldn’t go to waste this time because, apparently, the seasonal conditions during the spring months weren’t as volatile as winter.

 Truth be told, Lisa had been more than ready for the entire investigations team to be cut and for everyone to be sent home. Others had been just as pessimistic in the wake of their failure, but the leading researchers had been adamant that all their previous work couldn’t be for nothing. However, it wasn’t them that would be stepping foot on Istratus B again. Researching from a different planet had made the investigation entirely appealing, but actually being there had taken away most of its appeal for everyone else.

 However, Lisa couldn’t entirely say she had turned off the planet. And she guessed there was a small part of her that convinced her to stay on the investigations team — a small, probably outlandish, hope. Her experience hadn’t been as traumatic or nightmarish as the others, and sometimes she found herself debating if it actually happened or if her mind had been so desperate to protect itself, she’d created an entire species while in some state of delusion.

 Either way, hearing about the expedition plans had her thinking about him.

 Lisa had neglected to inform the UNSM soldiers about Za’the upon her return to the tent those few months ago. And when she, along with everyone else, was forced to counsel with the team’s psychologists, she’d perfected some bullshit story that everything had been so sudden that she couldn’t really remember what had happened. They’d chalked it up to trauma, and they had encouraged further sessions to help ‘uncover the blockage’, but Lisa had adamantly refused and fled, afraid that she would be put under some hypnotic spell and accidentally confess what she’d seen and done. She hadn’t stepped foot near the mental health department again.

 The building in which the science department gathered and worked every day was a giant, rounded structure near the centre of the I.I. base of Proxima B. An orange hologram that bore their logo spun in slow circles above the domed ceiling, the light of which glowing against the sleek metal structures and walkways, the likes of which extended from the platform that the building sat proudly upon.

 Lisa checked her wristband to find that it was a little past midnight. The day and night cycles were exceptionally longer here than on Earth. It’d majorly tripped Lisa up when she discovered that they ran on 32-hour clocks. As such, she opted to watch the live depiction of their rotating planet available on their wristbands, using this as a way to determine sunup and sundown. It was less of a headache than looking at the time only to see it was 27:54 or something like that. She was slowly getting used to it.

 “Doctor Stewart.”

 Lisa looked over her shoulder to see Doctor Jesse Adderman hurrying up behind her. He wore none of the usual professional attire he donned during their working hours — he’d been slacking off as of late, taking the team less and less seriously as the available data grew scarcer. He was in his thirties, most notable for the goofy glasses always askew on his head, probably as so from when he got punched in the face by a UNSM soldier on a previous job. And judging by the look on his face, he wasn’t happy with the recent news.

 “Hey, Jesse,” Lisa said. She lowered her wrist as they walked side-by-side down the catwalk built upon the rocky surface. Small holograms glitched every now and then, warning passers-by that falling off the edge would result in injury or death.

 “Can you believe it?” Jesse adjusted his thick-framed glasses. “The entire idea just seems like one big joke.”

 Yeah, it did. Their superiors had wanted the ethology team to closely observe how the wildlife transitioned from the winter months to the spring months, but Lisa couldn’t really imagine much difference from Earthen animals. It just sounded like some excuse to send people back onto the surface — perhaps it was a guise for facilitating human integration and seasonal adaption. There had been talks of colonisation on Istratus B, but it had been kept hush-hush; even so, Lisa found it hard to integrate a human society without damaging the ecosystem or succumbing to the volatile weather patterns.

 “It does,” Lisa said. “But, I mean, you could always go back to the wildlife conservation on Earth.” She lightly smiled. Apparently, Jesse’s early career days had been traumatic. No one knows why.

 “No, thank you!” Jesse said. “I’ll take my chances here. Even if a goddamn blizzard does end up killing me.”

 “How exciting,” Lisa said. “Freezing to death in a blizzard. I’d rather get eaten by lions.”

 “Seriously?”

 “Sounds cooler.” Lisa shrugged. They reached Jesse’s unit first — shrouded in darkness, decorated only with a small windmill that jutted from the pebbles of another fake plant. There was no wind tonight, so the stupid thing sat still in its perch.

 “Right, well, see you first thing,” Jesse said.

 Lisa bid him goodbye and continued the short walk to Unit 367, her own. It sat even blander, with no decoration, just a sad little box of metal amongst the other boxes of metal. She activated the digital key by the sliding door, which synced with her wristband, granting her access inside.

 The units were quite small, much like an Earthen studio apartment. As much as it sucked, the conditions were liveable, and at least Lisa could say she was on a different planet. Though the more society advanced, the less impressive the feat seemed, and she oftentimes found herself browsing the new job opportunities that stretched further and further into space. She had felt blessed and positively excited about the I.I. opportunity, but as more exciting opportunities became available to the general public, she found herself stuck and bored doing the same thing over and over again.

 Perhaps Lisa had chosen the wrong career path. She hated being stuck inside all day. And even though she’d joked about it, the idea of moving back to Earth and working in the field became entirely enticing.

 Lisa sighed. She looked out the window. She wanted nothing more than to see a sky full of stars amongst the night, but living on Proxima B, it was necessary for colonies to have metal shield protectors that sat high above their structures. Due to their proximity to the sun, the planet was often exposed to solar flares, and unpredictable as they were, shields became the only things that helped sustain life. Most of the ‘sunlight’ the colony received was actually from the massive artificial lights installed into the shields, the likes of which were programmed to mimic Earthen temperatures. It was supposed to boost mental health and whatnot (it didn’t), but the lack of vitamin D made it a requirement for everyone to take supplements daily.

 The cons list was only growing larger, and Lisa found herself coming to more and more startling realisations.

 The blonde slowly, sluggishly, pulled off her work uniform and tossed them onto her designated dirty washing chair (she would wear them the next day, anyway). Lisa flopped onto the thin mattress in the corner of the unit — she couldn’t be stuffed doing anything else. She hated late finishes with a passion and the fact she’ll still have to get up early only further grated on her nerves. The cherry on top was the knowledge she’d have an irate team for company, not to mention their nosy superiors who’d be on their cases to convince them that a second expedition would be beneficial for the data.

 While the idea as a whole didn’t bother Lisa so much… it was the rumour that the intentions weren’t so honest anymore. She didn’t want to contribute to the possible destruction of habitats in order for humans to live comfortably on yet another alien planet. Their research for the ecosystem’s benefit seemed only excessive and laughable now.

 The churning thoughts kept Lisa up for more than she liked.

  ▲▲▲

  “I just don’t get it… why can’t they send a rover? Or some cheap android that’s fallen off the market?” Doctor Kayla Cook said after she stormed into the break room. Like Lisa, she was also one of the newest hires, having just graduated with a PhD only a couple of months before the first expedition.

 The ethology team had just endured an hour or two’s worth of presentation from the senior researchers who had organised the entire study. It was a basic rundown of what a second trip would entail and what data and observations they expected. Apparently, some of their equipment had been upgraded, including the emergency survival kits that would now consider those stuck in harsher environments. The presentation had only been an outline, and they would spend the next month or two filling in the gaps.

 The premise, for now, was to simply observe the wildlife’s behaviour within the ecosystem of a designated patch of land. They’d mentioned nothing about the Remither, which had been their previous main focal point. Lisa believed the seniors had somehow convinced their sponsors and the government that Istratus B would be a great place to expand human colonisation, hence why their priorities had shifted from something so precise to something so broad. Perhaps they wanted to minimise as much destruction as possible, and perhaps the seniors were now under such extreme stress to try and prove their theory.

 But if Lisa kept theorising in her head all day, she knew it’d explode. The rumours had been kept only amongst the departments in the science building, and the seniors had yet to catch wind of it. But some had said that the rumour had actually started from one of the seniors themselves… which, well, didn’t quite make it a rumour then, did it?

 They had no reason to lie.

 “Androids aren’t cheap. Even if they have fallen off the market,” Jesse said. He sat at the table by the window, sorting through his lunchbox. Kayla strolled over to the coffee machine.

 “Fuck it. Just salvage one from the tip,” Kayla said. She grabbed her personal mug from the sink and pressed a capsule into the machine. It buzzed loudly.

 “Language,” Jesse said. He peeled off the lid covering his cold leftovers and quickly gave them a stir with his small metal fork.

 Lisa, who sat at a table in the corner by, yet another, stupid fake plant, rose her brows. “I’m sure Weyland will find some way to tax that.”

 Weyland-Yutani was the biggest manufacturer of androids and similar A.I. systems, but most of their creations never even left the building. They were also the biggest consumers, and not many people were lucky enough to get their hands on a WY android. There were other companies, but business was difficult when WY could produce some appealing products, which meant lower sales and higher prices. Of course, there were the more generic companies, for example, the ones who produced retail and general androids who did all the jobs no one else wanted to do anymore. But they were commonplace now, and they weren’t programmed to do anything above general duties. The real deals were only ever really produced by Weyland-Yutani, and that’s exactly what the I.I. team would hugely benefit from. But most of their unusable technology was disposed of secretly, and their spare parts were left in huge tips, where they would later be recycled. The I.I. team could never be big nor important enough for WY to even glance their way, let alone consider lending such a piece of valuable technology.

 “Pfft,” Kayla dismissed. She turned the milk frothing machine off and poured it into her waiting coffee shots. “They don’t have to know. Besides, it’s safer that way, anyway.”

 “They don’t care about us,” Lisa said. “We’re like… an ant colony that sometimes gets in their way. You know?”

 “Excellent analogy,” Jesse said. He adjusted his glasses before shovelling some food into his mouth.

 “Thanks.” Lisa looked back to Kayla, who’d turned and now leaned against the counter. “Come on. We’ve all heard the rumours. An android or a rover could never experience something the way a human does.”

 “Let’s not gossip.” Jesse shot her a knowing look.

 Kayla sighed. “For once, drop the act, Jesse,” she said wearily. “I’m sick of this shit. Between you guys and me, I’ve been looking for a way out. Got a few jobs of interest.”

 “I hate this idea, too. It’s stupid,” Jesse said. “But think of it this way. It could be the biggest break of our career.”

 “You switched fast.” Lisa looked him up and down.

 “Whatever. I’m not dying for this fucking company,” Kayla said. “There’s a job opportunity that’s opened up on Mars. A few, actually. You guys should look into it.” She quickly clocked the look Lisa and Jesse shot each other. Kayla sighed again, this time louder. “It’s better pay. Better conditions. And it’s contract work, so you can spend your time off on Earth. With real fucking sunlight.” Kayla exaggeratedly threw her hands out, almost spilling her coffee.

 “So, are you applying?” Lisa asked casually. She didn’t want Jesse to see that the news had gripped her interest. She’d never been to Mars; it was still enduring the terraforming process, but last she’d heard, more and more colonies were popping up across the rocky surface.

 Kayla cocked a brow. “Yeah. Duh.”

 “You’ve convinced me.”

 “What?!” Jesse exclaimed so suddenly that some of his food fell out of his mouth. He didn’t even notice. “Come on, Lisa. What’s there to do, anyway? Watch how bacteria crawls over the rocks?”

 “Actually, they’ve bio-engineered a few of the extinct Martian species,” Kayla said. She shrugged as if the entire idea was an ordinary occurrence. “They want to trial environmental reintegration.”

“I know what you’re doing,” Jesse said casually, jabbing his fork in Kayla’s direction. The two women tried to ignore the piece of salad hanging off his lip. “And it’s working.”

 Kayla smiled cheekily. She sipped some of her coffee to hide her smug expression, the very idea of the three of them working on Mars lifting her spirits. “I’ll send you guys the details.”

  ▲▲▲

  Lisa trudged sluggishly down the catwalk. It was a journey she took with Jesse after work every day, but the poor guy had been held back to discuss something in private with one of their superiors. Yikes, she truly empathised with him. Perhaps the superiors had caught wind of the rumours and somehow assumed Jesse was responsible for them.

 Her wristband illuminated her face in the dark. There were a few documents Lisa was supposed to revise in her free time to ‘familiarise’ herself with the recently discovered predators that had come out of hibernation on Istratus B. It was just another point of study for the ethology team, and Lisa was half-convinced she should just submit a report inferring that the predators weren’t actually predators and were completely safe to be around. If the weather couldn’t deter the I.I., then perhaps the local fauna can.

 A notification popped up in the left-hand corner — a message from Kayla. It was the job listing she’d promised to send her earlier. Lisa perused the description before marking it as unread, deciding she would review it properly on her tablet when she got back to her unit.

 The sad, stupid thing sat in the shadows amongst the row of other units. So used to her routine, Lisa walked straight up to her door and unlocked it before realising something was sitting on the windowsill.

 Her heart stopped.

 It was a skull.

 Lisa quickly looked around, but no one was in sight. It also wouldn’t make sense for anyone to be hiding behind the units, for the terrain was much too rough and jagged to do so safely, not unless they wanted to risk falling ass-first or face-first onto a sharp rock.

 The skull wasn’t entirely small; it sat comfortably enough on the windowsill, but big enough that had she accidentally knocked it, the entire thing would’ve fallen. Lisa couldn’t make out many details in the dark, but she couldn’t immediately liken the skull to any animal she’d seen before. She hesitated, staring at it, before slowly moving to pick it up.

 It was smooth, but it was definitely real. Lisa had seen a lot of skeletons in her life to know what bone looked and felt like. It seemed fresh — that word made her icky. It seemed new. And it didn’t even appear damaged, nor were there any bits of flesh still stuck to the bone.

 Lisa looked up and around one last time before slipping inside. When the door slid shut, she used her wristband to lock it and then placed the skull on her small, round table. When the fluorescent light flicked on, the blonde stood back and analysed it from a distance. The best she could liken it to was a sabre-tooth tiger, but something in that deduction felt wrong.

 The entire situation felt wrong. Was this a threat? Perhaps she should let her unit neighbour know. Josh was an I.I. appointed security guard, and Lisa had become well-acquainted with him during her studies in the research facility. He was good at keeping secrets, but this felt like too much of a secret to keep. A threat to an I.I. member was a threat to the entire team. And Josh didn’t take too kindly to threats.

 But who could have done it? Lisa had never really pissed anyone off before, and it wasn’t like an outsider had come in. Special permission was required from the United Nations Government to touch down on any research colony, and if they were getting visitors, it was mandatory for, at the very least, the superiors to know about it. And it wasn’t like they could keep it a secret. The spaceship docking port, while small, was easily visible from the science department building. Someone would’ve seen something.

Besides, ships are loud. No one would be able to sneak up on them.

 “Right,” Lisa breathed. She’d been tired before, but this new discovery had completely eradicated the desire to sleep. “This… is fucking… weird.”

 The blonde sat down on the edge of her bed. Her wristband buzzed with another notification, and when Lisa checked, it was a follow-up message from Kayla, who was asking if she’d applied already. That was a great idea. If Lisa was being threatened, Proxima B wouldn’t be safe anymore. She needed to get the hell out, and Mars was the next best thing if she didn’t just up and retire to Earth.

 Lisa grabbed her glass tablet from its charging port and switched it on. The files synced from her wristband, and as they did so, began popping up one by one. The Istratus B predator profiles came up painfully slow, but a particular image burned Lisa’s retinas before it flashed off her screen, and the job listing popped up.

 She tried to bring the document back up again, but the tablet only flashed a loading wheel. Lisa aggressively tapped her finger on the screen until the profile popped back up, her tablet glitching with the action.

 Well, that solved the mystery. The skull clearly matched an Istratus B predator — it was as big as a brown bear, with similar features, but the head had overly large canines, making it permanently unable to close its mouth. The ears were long and folded back along its head, and its body was covered in a thick layer of bristled fur.

 A thought popped into Lisa’s head. It couldn’t possibly be, could it?

 She slowly looked back to the skull.

  ▲▲▲

  Lisa spent most of her days anxiously checking over her shoulders. The irrational side of her rejected the idea that it wasn’t a crazy stalker and, thus, the blonde used about ten seconds of every minute wildly looking around her surroundings with owlish eyes. She had not, in fact, informed Josh the security guard about the skull; she hadn’t even told Jesse or Kayla. Though they did comment about her hypervigilance, they assumed it was because there was a new rumour going around the science department that the ethology team were planning on overthrowing their superiors.

 Whatever that meant.

 The idea seemed even more ludicrous after Jesse came back and informed her that they’d offered him the position of the ethology team leader since their previous one had handed in his notice of resignation. Jesse was still sitting on the idea, but the poor guy was stuck between a rock and a hard place. He’d been considering what Kayla had said in the lunchroom that day, but this new senior position was winking at his bank account and resume.

 Regardless, Lisa assumed that the future coup d’état rumour originated from the ecology team. There’d been a bit of a blowout between the two over the supposed job responsibilities for Istratus B Expedition Part Two. They’d noted that their roles were quite similar and had suggested cutting the ethology team to save expenses, which had received a bit of bite back from the other scientists. At this rate, Lisa was too frazzled to even care if their superiors ended up agreeing with the ecologists and axing their positions.

 It had been a few days since Lisa had discovered the skull on her windowsill. She’d already heard back from the Martian job, and they had requested an interview, which was dated a few Earthen weeks from now. Apparently, there weren’t many people applying for the job because they were questioning the ethics behind their bio-engineering projects. Lisa hadn’t even known that there was an ethology forum dedicated to boycotting the bio-engineering company that had kickstarted on Mars.

 In other words, going for the job would be career suicide. But Lisa was running out of options — the I.I. project was falling to shambles as more and more scientists grew fed up with the poor management and left. A couple had been disqualified on mental health grounds, and one had mysteriously disappeared, which was strange because none of the Proxima B space pods had taken off. A team of begrudging security guards had been sent off earlier that morning in an enclosed hovercraft to locate the scientist, but they’d returned late afternoon empty-handed.

 For the fourth night in a row, Jesse was held back in the science department to discuss leadership positions on the team, and apparently, he’d gone armed with propositions for better treatment or else he wasn’t taking the job. Kayla had laughed and wished him good luck.

 On her way back to the unit, Lisa bumped into Josh, who was dragging his feet along the catwalk for a late-night report to the security centre. Apparently, the second scout team had found the scientist stuck amongst the rocky terrain, and he’d been transferred to the medical department. Josh was the unlucky one that had to deliver him before making his way back up for the debriefing.

 By the time Lisa finally arrived back at her unit, she’d all but forgotten about the skull. It was just another card on the table amongst the others, the importance of it overshadowed by the stress that had begun to creep up into her mind. It had been another late finish today — poor Jesse, who probably wouldn’t even be able to sleep for another hour or so.

 Lisa’s eyes were heavy. She unlocked her front door and shuffled inside, barely registering the woosh of it shutting. Her fingers fumbled to remove the wristband, and she placed it on her bedside table before slowly shrugging off her clothes until she was in her underwear. She’d had a small bite to eat in the hour before finishing, so Lisa promised herself she’d eat a bigger breakfast. Making dinner right now would consume too much energy.

 The blonde collapsed face-first onto her bed in the corner. She lay on top of the covers for about a minute, her eyelids growing heavier as sleep lulled her closer.

 There was a tap on the door.

 Lisa’s eyes snapped open. No one had ever knocked on her door before — a simple message would suffice. The buzz of the bloody wristband was so loud on her bedside table, it could be heard from three units down.

 Lisa slowly rolled onto her back and gazed up out the back window. There was nothing but darkness. She heaved a deep sigh. Maybe this was so important the person didn’t want to message? Perhaps Jesse wanted to chat shit about their superiors, and he didn’t want to risk their chat thread being exposed.

 Heaving herself up, Lisa dragged herself across the room and snatched a robe from her dirty laundry pile. She tied it around her waist before she approached the door and manually inputted the code to unlock it. It swished open to reveal… nothing.

 “Seriously?” Lisa asked. She was about to step away when a heavy figure landed right in the doorway. She barely even screamed as the figure lunged forward to quickly cover her mouth. They stumbled backwards, and the door swished shut as it registered her lack of presence (perfect!).

 The figure was frighteningly big, and their hand was rough against Lisa’s mouth. The blonde began to struggle, but it was the noise the figure made that gave her pause.

 Purring.

 Now, she’d heard that before. Lisa’s struggles stilled, and the figure held her there for a second longer before they slowly pulled away. Lisa took a couple of steps back.

 “Za’the?” She asked incredulously.

 “Liiisa.”

 Yep, there was no denying the caveman-like drawl the Yautja had. Lisa heaved a deep sigh, both in relief and exaggeration. Out of all the reunions she’d imagined to help herself get to sleep, this wasn’t one of them.

 “Seriously? I thought I was being kidnapped!” Lisa said, throwing her hands out. She could see Za’the’s silhouetted head tilt. He probably didn’t even know what that word meant. Lisa sighed again. “Come here, ya idiot.”

 When she held her arms out and beckoned him closer, Za’the stepped forward unsurely. Lisa wrapped her arms around his middle, securing herself to his warmth. His thick arms reciprocated the gesture immediately, his consistent purr rumbling deeper. The blonde pressed her face against his chest, inhaling deeply. While wholly comforting, Za’the’s scent was uniquely strange, like citrussy blended roasted coffee beans.

 Lisa pulled away first, running her fingers over his warm hide. She felt his ribs expand with a breath she couldn’t hear. “Let me turn on the lights,” she said. Za’the stepped to the side so Lisa could brush past him. She accessed the touch panel by the door and pressed a few buttons.

 The overhead light slowly brightened in time with the slider that Lisa adjusted. When she thought it to be acceptable, she pulled away to finally look at the male that had been in the back of her mind since they first met.

 Healthier and stronger now, Za’the had never looked more imposing. He’d repaired the mesh covering over his body, and he’d replaced the armour that had been too damaged to salvage. It was interesting to note that he never fixed his mask, with one horn pointing upwards with pride, and the other cut clean in half by the base. Perhaps a testament to what he’d survived?

 Za’the seemed to reciprocate the action. He surveyed her, drinking in the exhaustion and dishevelled-ness. Perhaps she’d had just as hard a time as he.

 Leaving Istratus B had been more of a pain in the ass than he’d initially expected. The Bad Blood had gotten away scotch free from the attack, but he’d been pissed beyond measure that the hijacking hadn’t gone to plan. He obviously hadn’t expected Za’the to be as aggressive as he had been — after all, it was his ship. And Za’the would have preferred his ship blown to pieces than in the hands of an honourless Yautja.

 What was a little bit of suffering if he kept his dignity intact? Though, Za’the did face a bit of heat after he was picked up by a hunt brother. Za’the was an Emissary, a representative for his clan, and he’d been on his way to another clan to help heal some age-old blood feuds. Of course, his absence had been taken as a dismissal, and it had created an unwanted ripple effect that the Clan Council had swiftly tried to deal with.

 The other clan had hardly believed Za’the when he told them he’d been attacked. This was a bit confusing to him because Emissary-tagged ships were more often than not targeted by Bad Bloods. The honourless considered Emissaries weak — not good enough to be an Arbitrator —, but it was far from the truth. Za’the had spent most of his life hunting, and he’d gotten to a point where he valued knowledge over strength. It didn’t make him weak.

 An Arbitrator had been sent to retrieve the Bad Blood’s head. And as a sign of peace, he gifted it to the other clan. Za’the had been a little pissed. The Arbitrator had basically done his job for him and practically soiled Za’the’s reputation in the other clan. Most of the Clan Council over there thought him incompetent, but they didn’t understand that an Emissary’s job was more dangerous than what was led to believe. And one random attack didn’t make Za’the any less worthy of that title. The Elders in his home clan had encouraged him to make amends with the others, so Za’the had spent more cycles than he cared to admit trying to polish his reputation. It kind of worked, but he had spent most of that time glaring at the Bad Blood’s skull.

 At the thought of skulls, he glanced around Lisa’s unit in search of the one he’d hunted. It was sitting on a round table to the left. Za’the had been around a lot of females before. He’d also been around a lot of humans before. But there’d never been anyone who’d captured him more than Lisa did, as curious as the human was. There was an inexplicable draw between them. It just felt right.

 “Chooz you,” Za’the suddenly rumbled. There was a reason why he was here, and he had been given only a short amount of time by the Elders. “Chooz me?”

 Lisa darted her eyes around the room as if something there would magically provide the answer as to what the hell he was even asking. “Yeah…” she said. She didn’t want to say the wrong thing.

 Za’the’s chest puffed. Okay, that was a good start, right? “Like geeft?” he said.

 Lisa rose her brows. “Huh?” She asked. Gift? Was he saying gift?

 The male pointed his index finger at the skull. “Geeft,” he confirmed.

 “Oh!” Lisa exclaimed. She observed the skull for a second before turning back to Za’the. “Umm. It’s certainly unique.” She had expected this. But, of course, her mind liked to play tricks on her. It’s a crazy stalker from the ecology team! Oooo!

 “Acks-zept?” Za’the asked. Okay, at least it was becoming easier to understand him.

 “Yeah,” Lisa said. “Yeah, sure.” Whatever the hell that meant. She ‘accepted’ it the moment she brought it inside, right? The fact it wasn’t in the trash was a sure indicator she hadn’t rejected him.

 Za’the started purring again, a baritone rumbling that began slowly. He waited for a second or two longer, observing Lisa before he walked forward. His large hands encompassed Lisa’s waist, and the blonde made a noise of surprise as she was suddenly lifted into the air. The male’s radiating warmth seeped through her pores, the heat only intensifying when he pressed their bodies together. The reverberations of his purr rumbled within Lisa, too. She looked down at his mask and wrapped her legs around his waist, a more instinctive action than anything.

 “Right,” Lisa said unsurely as her cheeks flushed deeply. Her eyes kept flicking from Za’the’s masked face to other places in her boxy room. “Um. Do you greet everyone like this?”

 She wondered for a moment if she’d said something to indicate this level of intimacy. Perhaps accepting a gift in their culture meant something entirely different. While this prospect was slightly intimidating, and only in the respect that she didn’t really know how to handle these types of interactions, she couldn’t deny how right it felt to finally be pressed back against his body.

 The first time it happened, they were only trying to survive. It felt much more intimate now. Lisa had burned the feel of him wrapped around her into her memory. There had been an instantaneous click; an undeniable draw that magnetised them to each other.

 Za’the adjusted his grip so he could hold her up with one hand. With the other, he dragged it up and down her side, feeling her through the material of her robe. Lisa’s heart raced in her chest at the contact, and her stomach twisted with nerves at the implication of his actions.

 She looked at him again, mustering the courage to make eye-contact. Za’the pressed his forehead against hers, his mask cold to the touch, before he pulled back and strode over to the bed. He placed her down on top and then crawled over her, the movement bordering predatory as his purr climbed into an expectant growl.

 Za’the’s tresses curtained Lisa’s face. She exhaled shakily as a large hand was placed by her head. The other caressed her face before following the curve of her jawline and down her throat. His claws delicately scraped her skin, encouraging a shiver to run down Lisa’s spine. She almost closed her eyes until his fingers wrapped around her throat. He didn’t squeeze, but he left them there for a second before he dragged his hand down to run over her collarbone.

 The fabric of her robe pulled back, revealing more of her chest before it dropped back into place. Lisa shakily exhaled again as he brushed over the curve of her breasts. Out of all the ways she’d imagined them meeting each other again, this wasn’t one of them.

 Actually, that was a lie. Lisa had a few dreams. But she’d never expected Za’the to take initiative so quickly. He hadn’t seemed the type when they met, but then again, she couldn’t say she knew him well enough to tell.

 Za’the suddenly sat up, his thighs straddling hers, his weight heavy. He continued to stare down at her as he slowly, deliberately, began to remove pieces of his armour. There were heavy clinks as he reached over to place them on the bedside table.

 “Oh,” Lisa exhaled. Her heart hammered wildly. “Oh, okay. We’re doing this,” she said more to herself. The nerves had fully set in once she realised what was about to happen. What was the sudden rush?!

 Za’the finally removed the last piece — his mask. There was the hissing of air expulsion before he lifted it away from his face and stretched his mandibles. His orange eyes blazed with a level of intensity that ignited a heat within Lisa. She just about held her breath as he leaned over to place his mask on the bedside table.

 “You know, I didn’t really expect this,” Lisa said. She didn’t really know how to handle this situation. So, she did what she knew best — talked.

 But before Lisa could say anything else, Za’the covered her mouth with his hand. He then ducked to graze his tusks over her cheek, his hot breath fanning over her face. Lisa shivered at the contact. She barely noticed as Za’the’s other hand crept down to rip open the front of her robe.

 Her skin prickled as soon as it was exposed. Lisa’s gasp came out muffled beneath the warm palm that covered her mouth. Her hands instinctively flew up to grab Za’the’s shoulders as he erotically palmed her stomach. He quickly moved his hand lower to graze over her hip.

 Lisa moved her grasp from the male’s shoulders, over his back, and then crept her hands up through his tresses. She carded her fingers through them, curiously exploring their warm and fleshy nature. The action induced a full-body shudder and a deep growl from Za’the, who immediately pulled back to look at her, almost pinning her in place with the intensity of his gaze. His pupils were blown, and the orange of his irises were dark and heated.

 Za’the immediately grabbed the materials of her underwear and bra and shredded them with his claws. He tossed the scraps away and pulled Lisa up to pull off her robe and toss it to the side. The blonde had half the mind to stress about her torn clothes. She hadn’t exactly moved to Istratus B with an abundance of clothing articles.

 Her train of thought flitted every which way after. Lisa briefly thought about what exactly she was going to do. She hadn’t had sex with anyone in a long, long time, and here she was, about to do it with someone she’d only met once before. With an alien, no less! She then worried that anyone would hear them. Oh God, her poor neighbours! What would they think?

 Her thoughts were cut short, and she was brought back to the present time when Za’the leaned down to paw at her boobs, purring appreciatively as he admired them. His fingers curiously brushed over her nipples, and Lisa arched her back at the electrifying contact. Za’the’s purr deepened at her reaction.

 The male moved himself so he could knock Lisa’s legs apart with his knees, and once he did this, he settled between them, lingering his touch on the blonde’s nipples before dragging his palms lower until he reached the junction of her thighs.

 Za’the was no stranger to sex. He’d sired his fair share of pups, and while he thoroughly enjoyed mating with a Yautja female, this entire experience was tantalising. He’d never imagined becoming attracted, sexually or otherwise, to a human before, but here, with Lisa sprawled out so willing and responsive before him, his cock throbbed with anticipation of what was to come.

 With one hand he held Lisa’s hips down, and with the other, he exploratively dragged a finger through the folds of her lips. Wetness had already begun to develop there, and it coated his digit with a sleek sheen as his ministrations incited breathless gasps from the writhing woman.

 Lisa tried to lift her hips to further the contact, but his hand firmly held her down. Za’the curiously dragged his finger back up and gently grazed the nub between her folds. Lisa jolted at the feeling, and she couldn’t help the deep exhale.

 “There,” she said quietly. Za’the rumbled as he pressed his thumb against her clitoris and slowly rubbed it in small circles. “Yes, yes!” Lisa cried out. She quickly covered her mouth, worried that someone would hear (namely Josh, if he was home now), but Za’the stopped his movements to grab her wrist and pull it away from her face.

 “No,” he scolded deeply. He flexed his mandibles before he lowered his hand back down and continued.

 Lisa fisted the blankets beneath her, trying her best to minimise the noises she so badly wanted to make. Her abdomen began to tighten at the building pressure; a cord that was growing so tight, it was about to snap. She could feel a sense of wetness dripping out of her core as the pleasure began to burn.

 Nearly all of her muscles were tense until the cord finally snapped, and a billowing warmth spread from her pelvis and through her body. Lisa cried out at the sensation, and her walls began to rhythmically clench around nothing, aching to be filled despite the orgasm she’d just had.

 Za’the didn’t stop, though. He kept going, his eyes hungrily watching Lisa as she finally began to untense. But the pleasure quickly began to burn, and she tightened her abdomen again. “Sensitive. I’m sensitive!” She cried out.

 This time, Za’the did stop. He brought his hand away to reveal a coat of wetness around his fingers. He maintained heavy eye-contact as he brought it up to his face and flicked his long tongue out to taste it. His purr kickstarted for a few brief seconds at the sweetness that tasted like ripe fruit.

 Lisa breathed heavily, a flare of need igniting in her groin at the sight of him tasting her. Za’the then flicked his tongue out to taste the air, and an intense growl reverberated deeply in his throat, felt more than heard.

 He reached down to untie his loincloth, which he discarded to the side. It hid a codpiece that was secured tightly to his groin, and Za’the was quick to unlatch it. His thick, throbbing cock sprung up from its confinement, the tip already leaking with pre-cum. This time, he cared less as he tossed the codpiece somewhere to the side, the likes of which clattering somewhere on the floor.

 Lisa’s mouth watered. He was big in girth, veiny, with small nubs on the underside, the sight of which made her walls clench again. The colouration of his dick followed the rest of his body, a mottling of coffee brown and cream that was so exotically alien, it incited a rush of excitement through Lisa’s body.

 Za’the wrapped his fingers around his length and began to slowly pump up and down his shaft, his breaths coming harder and faster at the sensation. He then shuffled forward and pushed Lisa’s legs further apart. She had half the mind to think he wouldn’t fit, but before she could voice any concerns, Za’the had already begun to line the tip up with her entrance.

 Slowly, he pushed in. Though Lisa was undoubtedly turned on and thoroughly prepared, she winced at the sting of his girthy intrusion. She gasped as the tip popped inside, and Za’the released a long, throaty groan. He tossed his head back and grabbed Lisa’s hips as if they were his lifeline.

 Perhaps it had been a long time for him, too.

 Za’the began to rock back and forth in small movements, thrusting more of his shaft into her warmth each time. Lisa gasped as his nubs popped inside her, providing a deeply pleasurable sensation that assisted in her relaxation. Eventually, the sting subsided, and it gave way to toe-curling pleasure.

 Their hips met as Za’the finally fed the entire length of his dick inside her. He adjusted his grip onto her thighs instead, and he sharply inhaled to maintain his composure. Lisa squeezed around him, and the feeling snapped him into action. He pulled out all the way to the tip, but Lisa barely had time to adjust before he was slamming all the way back in, their hips loudly slapping together.

 Within seconds, Za’the was thrusting in and out of her, grunting and rumbling at the gratifying pleasure. He’d never experienced anything quite like this; a velvety warmth that was so tight it was almost painful.

 The tension was beginning to build again. Lisa didn’t think it was possible for her to orgasm through penetration alone, but Za’the’s precise thrusts were edging her closer to completion than she’d ever been in the past. The size of him alone was probably enough to make her come undone.

 There were loud squelching sounds with every deep thrust, and the fleshy sounds of their hips slapping against one another echoed in the small room. Lisa felt a flare of embarrassment at the noises. Za’the paused to pick her up and then brought her flush to his body, and Lisa couldn’t help the moan that rolled off her tongue as his shaft penetrated deeper than before.

 Za’the began thrusting upwards, holding her as close to him as possible. The tip of his cock kissed her cervix every time, but it only added a heightened sense of pleasure that sent tingles down Lisa’s spine. She quickly threaded her fingers through Za’the’s tresses and pulled and squeezed, encouraging further throaty groans from the male.

 His grip on her briefly tightened as he shuddered. Za’the bent his head to ensnare Lisa’s shoulders with his tusks. He grazed her flesh with his teeth before sinking them in, his tongue quickly lapping up the blood that oozed from the wound.

 Pain flared from the site, but Lisa only found herself hurtling towards the peak of the crest. Hot, intense pleasure erupted in her abdomen, and her vision momentarily went white as her entire body froze. Her walls fluttered around Za’the’s shaft, hugging them so tightly it hurled him off the edge, too.

 He muffled his roar with the bite he still had clamped on Lisa’s shoulder. He slammed the blonde down to meet his hips as molten-like cum decorated her inner walls in thick ropes. Lisa breathlessly moaned at the burning, wet sensation of him filling her up, the pressure building to insurmountable levels as Za’the pressed as deeply inside her as possible.

 The squelches were louder as the male began to lightly thrust in and out of her again, milking the last of his cum from him. The gliding movements were wetter and smoother, and eventually, he stilled. The silence was broken by heavy breaths as they each slowly gathered themselves.

 Za’the pulled his teeth from her flesh, not missing the way Lisa flinched at the pain. He gently lathered the blood with his tongue, soothing the wound, before he leaned back to pull his cock free from her sex. It came free with a wet popping sound, and he watched, fascinated, as his cum began to ooze out of her.

 Lisa cringed at the feeling. She felt much like jelly as Za’the moved her back onto the bed, and he briefly left her to gather some materials from his med-kit. He slathered some gel over the bite mark, purring lowly as he did so. Then, he grabbed the first bit of cloth he saw, whether it was one of her clothes or not, ran it under some water, and then returned to the bed.

 Za’the cleaned his cum from her, wiping it delicately as if she were made of porcelain. He discarded the cloth to the side and then crawled over Lisa again, but he stopped as she placed a hand on his chest.

 “Uh, uh. You bit me,” she said. She indicated her shoulder as if to prove her point.

 Za’the cocked his head to the side. “Yess. Mate mark,” he said. He fondly grazed his fingertips over her collarbone.

 “Mate mark?” Lisa asked.

 “Yess. Chooz me. Chooz you.” Za’the lowered himself down beside her and nuzzled the side of her face. His purring had kicked up a notch.

 Oh. Oh! It finally dawned on Lisa what Za’the had meant. She had accepted his gift, which meant she had chosen him as her mate.

 The blonde turned to face him. Whatever was in the gel had surely worked its magic, because she no longer felt the burning pain she did when Za’the had clamped down on her skin.

 Lisa cupped the male’s lower mandibles. She then leaned over to place a gentle kiss just below his tusk, and Za’the grabbed the back of her head. They manoeuvred into a more comfortable position, with her wrapped up in his arms, and her head tucked underneath his jaw.

 Though the bed was a bit too small for Za’the. He had to curl up to fit, only further trapping Lisa into his embrace. The woman began to drift off to sleep, her eyes heavy, and her body thoroughly satiated.

  ▲▲▲

  Lisa had slept in.  

 “Oh, shit!” She exclaimed. Lisa jolted out of bed once she realised how bright it was outside. Za’the, who had been awake for quite some time, casually watched as the woman leapt to her feet to check her wristband.

 Jesse had left a message. It was a bit wordy and he was clearly upset, but Lisa got the gist of what he was saying. He’d ‘covered’ for her, but no one was happy that she hadn’t shown up to the science department that morning, and apparently, the excuse he used wouldn’t hold up for another day. He expected some sort of payment, and Lisa assumed he wanted to see her completely embarrass herself in front of their superiors just for a laugh.

 “Okay?” Za’the rumbled. He had a hand behind his head and one knee propped up. The casual yet admittedly enticing position made Lisa’s cheeks flush. She looked away.

 “Everything’s fine. I’m just late for work,” Lisa said. “God. They’re gonna kill me. You know, tensions are pretty fucking high right now. Actually, you know what? Maybe this is my chance to get the hell out of here.”

 Za’the cut her ramblings short. “Sei’i. Get outtt. Come.”

 “Huh?”

 “Lisaa mate. Come with Za’the,” he said. Za’the sat up and stretched his limbs, the likes of which were sore from holding the same position for so long.

 Lisa halted. She slowly lowered her wristband to stare at him. “Go with you where?”

 “Clan,” Za’the said. He would tell her everything later after he got her a translator. He wished he’d been able to bring one with him, but he’d gone straight from the other clan’s ship to Proxima B. And he would rather chew his own foot than test his luck asking for a piece of their technology.

 He almost bristled at the thought of the other clan. It was Elders like those that made him question his decision to become an Emissary. Za’the caught himself before he did, lest Lisa thought she was the cause of his ire.

 “Right.” Lisa should have expected that. They were mates now, as Za’the had put it. Well, if the bite mark on her shoulder was anything to prove. Of course, he would want her to come with him. “What about my job?”

 “Neww chob,” Za’the said. Lisa rose her brows. She doubted she could get an ethology-related job on a Yautjan clanship.

 But she couldn’t deny the appeal. It wasn’t like Lisa was in the best of places. There was no point in working for the I.I. anymore unless she wanted to risk her own ass, and the Martian job was a bust. The only things she would truly be missing were Jesse and Kayla. They had grown to become her anchors on this depressing planet. Josh, too, but he was more of a neighbouring acquaintance. (No hard feelings.)

 But Lisa didn’t know if she could walk away from Za’the a second time. There was something there, and she would kick herself to the ends of the universe if she didn’t explore it. Lisa knew it was taboo for humans to run away with an alien. But did she care?

 “Okay,” Lisa said. She smiled as the male purred. “Can I have time to say goodbye to my friends?”

 It would be hard leaving Jesse and Kayla. Lisa felt a little bad. But she wasn’t about to tether herself down from an opportunity that could change her life. They would understand. Perhaps Lisa could manipulate the truth a little.

 So, I met a guy!

 “Sei’i,” Za’the rumbled. Lisa remembered it meant yes. She had just about absorbed everything he’d told her on Istratus B. She was like a magnet for his information.

 “Cool,” Lisa said awkwardly. She placed her wristband back on the table, and her eyes flitted to the skull. It sat there, staring at them creepily, but Lisa had come to realise its significance. She turned back to Za’the. “Well, it’ll be a while until they have some free time. You in a rush?”

 There was a pause as Za’the mentally translated her words. He wasn’t rushing anywhere. Did he seem to be? He eventually shook his head no, hoping that the question hadn’t meant anything important.

 “Okay.” Lisa nodded. She looked around the room.

 Za’the could sense how awkward she was. She probably hadn’t expected him to initiate a coupling so quickly. If it were up to him, he would’ve given it more time. But he was on a tight schedule. The Council of his clan expected him back within the next cycle. How else was he supposed to sensibly deliver a mated mark?

 His thoughts drifted as he watched Lisa. She was the most beautiful being he’d ever seen. Za’the had been in contact with a multitude of alien species before. The tensions were still quite high between the Yautja and the human government. He had attempted to work with a team of their military after an incident with a particularly notorious Bad Blood. But they hadn’t trusted him one bit, and the Elders had pulled him out under the suspicion that they may try to assassinate him.

 But Yautja and human mated pairs were becoming more common. While it wasn’t the norm, there had been an exponential boom. Their government would have to one day accept that it was happening whether they wanted it to or not. Even most other Yautjan clans weren’t averse to it anymore. There had been a sense of cultural shift away from traditionalism amid the integration of humans amongst themselves.

 Za’the wondered how Lisa would fit into his life. He never really imagined himself settling down with someone, he rather thought his lifestyle would be unappealing to others. But he had felt the connection when they first met.

 Perhaps he could retire from his position as an Emissary. There were many things he could do otherwise to contribute to his clan. The Clan Council, for one. While he was nowhere near the age of an Elder yet, he could perhaps do something for them that was similar to his job now. That was assuming Lisa wouldn’t be happy with his lifestyle. It wasn’t often he was away from the clan, but when he was, he could be gone for long periods of time.

 Za’the imagined the things they could do between those times. He was sure Lisa could find a place within the clan. They could find her a job. He imagined her with a swollen belly, a pup in her womb; perhaps that could be her contribution. Warmth flooded his groin at the imagery in his mind.

 “Come,” Za’the said. He held out a hand. They may as well practice, then, right?

 Lisa eyed him suspiciously, but her face quickly broke into a smile. She was glad to be rid of the awkwardness (all of which only came from herself). She stepped forward and grabbed his outstretched hand.

 The blonde made a noise of surprise as Za’the grabbed her and pulled her onto the bed. He rolled on top of her and caged her in, his throat and chest vibrating with an alluring purr. The sound of Lisa’s laughter warmed his chest, and he briefly wondered what his life would look like if she’d never found him that day in the cave.