#me rompes

[kissara]

Por qué debería de importarme a mi si no te importa a ti

[beroebluejeans]

Whenever I am thinking very hard about The Locked Tomb, I find it important to remind myself Tamsyn Muir did compare the series to the KFC Double Down.

https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/muir_interview/

[blorbologist]

Misc Chateau Shorthalt screengrabs because OH man, look at how happy they all are!!!!!

[dragonnarrative-writes]

Transferrable Skills Part 4

Transferrable Skills Masterlist

CW: POV depiction of anxiety and dissociation, How It's Made, reader character wearing a wig (positive, protective style), Soap (nosy), mention of sex toys, Simon Riley Is Honesty Just A Big Guy (TM),

Simon and Price are gone for less than a minute before you feel awkward. You’re almost done with the water, so you look around for the TV remote. It’s Gaz, absurdly pretty for some kind of international British SWAT team, who hands it to you with a half smile before wandering off, you assume to the bathroom.

That leaves you clicking through the TV while Soap does something on his phone. All of the local channels are in German, you know, so you look for something to stream. You chance a sidelong glance at Soap, but he’s already looking at you. He grins when you make eye contact.

“So yer LT’s girl, then?”

Fuck, that’s not a question you know how to answer. “Um.”

“Leave it, Soap,” Gaz says, returning from the bathroom. He smiles at you as he pockets his phone. “You don’t have to tell us anything you’re not comfortable with. Lieutenant Riley’s a private person, we understand.”

“That’s… it’s okay.” You tap into the PictureTime channel, since it’s not one you usually have access to. As you browse through the educational options - ooh, How It’s Built! - you say, “I think we’re both… a bit surprised to see each other here.”

“I can’t imagine,” Gaz says, sitting down at the other end of the couch. “Oh, I’ve not seen this one on puzzles and cheesecake.”

You tap into it, because you like puzzles, cheesecake, candles, and paintbrushes. Just in time to finish your water bottle. The armchair is a bit narrow and awkward, so you wiggle the cushion from behind your back so you can plop it, and yourself, onto the ground. You shuffle your legs to start your warm up as the theme song plays.

“How'd'ye come to answerin’ LT like yer military?” Soap asks. “’Acknowledge’, ‘acknowledged’, all o’ that?”

“Oh,” you answer, without thinking about it. “That’s just our protocol, to make sure I understand his directions.”

“’E’s givin’ you enough directions to need protocols?” He gives you a considering once-over. “Interestin’. Impressive that it held up in an emergency. That takes practice.”

Shit. “Yeah, I guess so.”

“’S he your, what’er they called? Dominant partner, then?”

God, Simon, why didn’t you take this one with you? “I’m… not at liberty to say?”

“Leave her alone, Soap,” Gaz says, exasperated. He tosses a throw pillow at Soap’s head. “She’s in shock, Simon’s trying to keep her calm and comfortable.”

“Ghostie adopts a civilian an’ ah’m supposed to have nae questions?” Soap grins at you. “She’s got a signal if she dinnae want to talk. Four fingers, right?”

“Bother Ghost about it, later,” Gaz says. He turns to you. “Do you know what you want to eat? There’s a few places open.”

Soap doesn’t pester you, after that. The three of you settle on Mediterranean food, and then they summarily leave you alone. Gaz seems content to watch the show, though Soap watches you do your floor stretches curiously.

You could probably have moved to another stretch a while ago, but you’re still in your work slacks and blouse. You think longingly of the yoga pants you laid out on your bed before leaving for meetings. And then you cringe to think of Simon coming in to sweep through the room and pack up all of your things. You hadn’t packed a lot, but you’d unpacked into the space to make yourself comfortable.

You realize that your sex toy is charging in the bedside table and cringe. You hope he doesn’t notice it. It’s good quality, but you can always buy another one.

And then you start to worry about your phone. You’d left your personal in the room because of the time zone change slowing down all of your personal messages. You’d lost your work phone and computer today with… everything that happened. Were people trying to get a hold of you? Had news of the incident made it to the US? Would Simon see your embarrassing phone background?

You resist the urge to get up and pace. Instead, you settle into butterflying your legs.

“You need more water?” Gaz’s voice startles you, but you nod and he passes a bottle to you on the floor. “Cap says that they’re done with the official stuff, he’s grabbing food while Ghost grabs your things. Probably less than an hour before they get back.”

Your anxiety shouts that that isn’t enough time. But since you can’t definitively answer the question For what?, you take a breath and let it out slowly. “Okay.”

Maybe it’s because your heart is beating a little faster, muscles a bit warmer, but you have trouble settling Into the show. Your mind races. You have to remind yourself to relax, then have to clamber to your feet and shuffle off to the bathroom because you relaxed your pelvic floor a little too much.

Your eyes in the mirror are a little too wide. The wig - every time you wear a good one, you almost forget you’re wearing it - is holding up admirably, at least. It feathers around your face, a bit squished where you slept on it. But with the smudged eyeliner and mascara you can kind of pretend you’re in an action movie.

Thank goodness agent Ghost rescued me and the other hostages, you think to yourself, pouting your lips dramatically as you wash your hands.

The last time you washed your hands there was a dead body on the floor.

“Nope,” you say aloud, practically flinging yourself into the bedroom. “Nope. Nope.”

You pace in a tight circle, kicking the door closed when you catch Gaz and Soap looking at you with concerned eyes. Two circuits later, the room is too small, so you open the door again and shuffle out to sit in the armchair again, one leg pulled up for you to wrap your arms around.

Throwing your mind into action shots of specialty machinery, you try to force yourself to settle. Your whole body feels like it will shake apart if you pay too much attention to it, so you don’t pay it any attention at all. The episode ends and rolls into the next one, so you learn about bird cages and automated pharmacy drones. You hear Gaz say something soft, and Soap answers, the burr of his voice just as quiet, mixing pleasantly with the murmur of the narrator.

You must lose time, again, because the next thing you know, Simon is crouching in front of you again. Big hands smooth over your arms, and he shushes you as you jump.

“Got y’r stuff,” he says. “Where’s your head at?”

You open your mouth, close it. Hold up four fingers.

“Mm, day’s catchin’ up, again. Go into the bedroom, get changed. No zippers or clasps. Buttons okay. Acknowledge.”

“Bedroom, change clothes,” you confirm, heaving a big sigh. “Comfy. Acknowledged.”

He helps you stand, and you can’t help but tip forward to put your face into his chest. He smells a little. Like stale sweat and gunpowder. His arms stop yours when they come up for an automatic hug.

“Go change,” he whispers into the top of your head, “An’ I’ll get rid of the rest of ‘em, eh?”

The haze around you pops. That’s the only way to describe it. One minute, everything is distantly fuzzy, and the next thing you know you can feel the circulation of the air in the room and his heartbeat against your forehead. The TV is quieter, and you can hear Price and Gaz and Soap talking between themselves.

“Acknowledged,” you say into his sternum. “Gotta go change.”

He has to gently guide you around his bulk. But eventually you shuffle back into the bedroom. Your suitcase is waiting for you in the far corner, and it doesn’t take you long to dig out your lounge wear. Soft, thin pants with cartoon dogs on them and an oversized tee you got from a fundraiser. And then you take both off because that’s not sexy.

Why didn’t I pack nicer stuff? Can I play off these lacy panties as sleep wear? He saw it all and packed it, he probably clocked those as the only sexy thing I have. You shake your head at yourself. He said to wear something comfortable. He knows what you have. This is fine.

Your friend’s son’s basketball mascot grins up at you. You decide to compromise and switch the shirt for a black cami you usually wear under a nice blouse.

When you peek out of the room, Simon’s in the middle of the couch, and he’s blocked one end by dragging the table closer to where he’s sitting. His jeans have been traded for black sweats, but you can’t tell if his black shirt is new or not. Somehow, he looks bigger, but in a nice way. Softer. If a brick shit-house could look soft. A brick book nook.

“’Ey, pretty girl,” he says, leaning enough to put an arm across the back of the couch. “Come sit, we’re gonna eat and then we’re gonna talk.”

When you get close, you realize that there’s not enough room for both of you to sit unless you’re half on top of him.

You want to throw yourself entirely into his lap. But you can smell the food now, and you’re so hungry. So you perch as much of your ass on the couch as you can and swing your legs over one of his. You meet his eyes just as his arm comes down across your thighs. His hand cups the outside of your leg in a way that makes you remember what he said.

He’s not letting you go, now.

[666news-and-horoscopes]

[bunnithechubs]

i just want you to know these looks were all inspired by my middle school reggaeton playlist.

[a2zillustration]

Halsin really likes to do his own thing when he's in wildshape in my game

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[[ All Croissant Adventures (chronological, desktop) ]]

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[den-ai-d]

Mayor Drayden is really trying not to go ballistic and wrestle a few stacks of paperwork 😠💢

4 alts with 3 variants each available on my patreon, preview and link under the cut 😉

I guess shedding a few layers of clothing counts as blowing off steam? 🤔

Get Drayden and all my previous rewards right here on my ✨Patreon✨

[semisolidmind]

About how old is Mc in the poppy playtime after math?

ok so

if the big bad happening (we won't name it for spoilers sake) happens in 1995, ten years from then is like, 2004? 2005 maybe, is when the games events happen? idk

and let's say mc was 20 then, so 10 years after that mc would be around 30.

i imagine the mc was not quite high enough up the company food chain to know about everything that was going on, but at the very least knew about the existence of the big toys and at least saw most of them walking around at some point (since they all seem to recognize the player to some degree).

perhaps they were an assistant or errand runner of some kind, and their errands took them all over the factory.

[buildoblivion]

season four, huh? wonder what this guy’s future holds…

[lasshoe]

just saw conclave. knew this screenshot i saved from gossip girl 2.0 would come in clutch one day

[thebirdandhersong]

you see. if I had an ex-boyfriend like the main character of LND had -- a lousy cheating ex who continuously invades my privacy and disrupts my life...... who flew over from another COUNTRY to try to get back together with me, forcibly charmed himself into my house, ate my food, tried to curry the favour of my soft-hearted mother, lingered around my neighbourhood, and upon being told SO MANY TIMES "No, no, I don't want you around, I don't want to get back together, I WANT YOU TO SOP" said: give up? on you? on our dead relationship? Shan't <3 ...................... I would simply call the police

[pearwaldorf]

The problem with mutants is they are a convenient metaphor for whatever oppression you need. Sometimes multiple at once.

Which is to say they destroyed Genosha* in X-Men 97 and I Had Some Emotions about it and *gestures vaguely around*.

You should read this article about Magneto and how his ties to Judaism parallel changing attitudes about the Holocaust, Zionism, and Israel:

Read enough X-Men comics, and you’ll notice that the fundamental feature of the franchise—the idea of mutants as eternal stand-ins for Jews, or black people, or queer people—is its essential pessimism. In X-Men, minority life is wholly defined by oppression. No improvement can last; progress is always an illusion; as figures in an ongoing, eternal piece of intellectual property, mutants must always be hated and feared. This enforced, recursive Marvel-Time unwittingly echoes what we might call Jewish-Time: the idea that Jewish people were, are, and always will be oppressed by antisemitism, cast as the same villain in different costumes. Persia is Rome, Russia is Germany. Rather than discrete historical occurrences—contingent, contested, complex—they are foreordained, essential, and inescapable. There is only the pogrom, forever. 

It is one of the most thoughtful examinations of what's going on in Gaza in a historical context that I've read, and it is genuinely brilliant.

ANYWAYS. I am going to watch Dead Boy Detectives and hope it doesn't poke any tender spots.

--

* Again? I can never keep any fucking Marvel timeline straight, especially if it's based on the comics.

[blessyouhawkeye]

the fact that real journalists and film critics are pushing wicked for best picture/best director nominations at anywhere other than the kids choice awards is so shocking to me. it's not that i didn't like the film - i had fun! it was a totally fine blockbuster film made by a director who's made a bunch of other decent blockbusters. but variety optioning chu for a best director nom over both villaneuve and guadagnino is kind of beyond belief

[elbiotipo]

"google suspension of disbelief" how about you google "koppen climate classification" maybe you'll learn something

[bigcats-birds-and-books]

Books of 2024: GRAVEYARD SHIFT by M. L. Rio.

I really liked IF WE WERE VILLAINS back when it came out, so I was excited for the same author to do Creepy Fucked Up Fungus and Questionable Scientific Ethics: The Insomnia Book.

This was fun! Very short (my copy is only 108 pages), and it takes place over the course of one (1) sleepless night (which, coincidentally, is how I read it), but I enjoyed it for what it was. I've seen some people in reviews wishing it were longer, but I thought we got to know all the characters pretty well for a story that happens in less than 10 hours, and I had a good time.