#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!!!!!

[666news-and-horoscopes]

[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.

[a2zillustration]

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

| First | | Previous | | Next |

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

[[ All Croissant Adventures (app) ]]

[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…

[badassindistress]

Guys I finished watching Renegade Nell last night and today I'm suddenly writing Miss Polly Honeycombe's article on a certain highwaywoman with eyes that shine like stars~

[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.

[theladyragnell]

I am once again asking for romance novel recs!

Specifically, I am really burned out on the current trends in contemporary romcoms, and I'm looking for some good historicals or fantasy/sci fi romances. Bonus points for available in mass market paperback, but I know that's a hard ask these days!

My favorite romances so far this year have been:

You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi

The Earl and the Executive by Kai Butler

At His Countess's Pleasure by Olivia Waite

I am specifically burned out on enemies to lovers where they just dislike each other instead of having external circumstances keeping them apart, second chance romance where half the book is spent on flashbacks to the first romance, and heroines who are the center of a Clumsiness And Disaster Vortex.

I love romps (and if you like romps try The Earl and the Executive above), don't mind an action romance (I quite liked Something Wilder by Christina Lauren), and am fond of a good old-fashioned soppy drama (Christina Britton has hit the spot for me there a few times lately). I'm just specifically not looking for the books that tend to come with really samey illustrated covers, I suspect if you've read this far you know the ones I mean.

(I am generally familiar with the catalogs of the following authors: Mary Balogh, Courtney Milan, Olivia Waite, Olivia Atwater, T. Kingfisher, KJ Charles, Cat Sebastian, Eva Ibbotson, and lots of the traditionally published authors with big backlists (Lisa Kleypas, Beverly Jenkins, Julia Quinn, and so on). Generally I do read a lot of romance, but I'm hoping my dash will have some deeper cuts!)

[lasshoe]

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

[elbiotipo]

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

[eddiegettingshot]

i want to play in the eddie's first boyfriend sandbox. and buck buckley is so so so so so not ok with it.

[gerryrigged]

not me popping in multiple weeks late to your wip list to inform you that the concept of tim going to jason in a sex pollen situation and dick being Displeased about this flipped a switch in my fucking brain. it just spoke to me okay, i'm obsessed. i understand that there probably isn't a lot to say on the concept beyond the fic itself but i'd be thrilled with anything you'd like to share! i am RAVENOUS

Ohhhhh Anon 🤗 that one ate my brain for a solid few days when it first stole up on me, so I definitely feel you. Jealous and possessive Dick is just too good!!!

Okay so this is post-Red Robin, and Dick and Tim's relationship is still a little strained. Like they’ve reaffirmed their care for and trust in each other, they're making efforts to repair things, but yeah. Still stuff they haven’t addressed, and the comfort level hasn’t been quite rebuilt yet. 

Also Bruce fucked off to build Batman Inc. and left Dick to continue as Gotham’s Batman with Damian as his Robin, so there’s still that. 

Anyway, Dick is particularly invested in improving his and Tim's relationship, because he's only become more attracted to Tim since he returned from his BruceQuest more centered, more himself - but also sharper and more enchantingly graceful and competent and gorgeous than he’s ever been before. He's also turned 18, and Dick is tentatively hopeful that they can finally address the potential between them that's lurked under the surface for at least a couple of years now. 

Because, haha, Dick thinks that they are BOTH aware of the long-simmering feelings between the two of them, and that Tim has just been considerate of Dick’s reluctance to start anything while Tim was still underage. He thinks that they had a kind of mutual, unspoken understanding to wait to explore those feelings until Tim was older, if they were both still unattached, and still interested. And okay, their falling out in Red Robin threw kind of a wrench into things but rebuilding their relationship now is a perfect opportunity to maybe try deepening it further 👀💘🥺💞🙏??? 

(HA. Tim has no fucking idea that Dick thinks of him as anything but his trusted younger brother figure 🙃) 

Anyway. Jason is still around Gotham, occasionally causing trouble, occasionally helping. He mostly stays in his carved out territory, but he’ll like, deign to coordinate with the Bats for pushback against Arkham breakouts, or city-wide gang wars, or like, alien invasions, maybe. 

At times, he seems to be circling the Bats. He’s made conversational overtures toward Dick when their vigilante paths cross, which Dick has warily returned. Dick has also spotted Red Hood with Red Robin once or twice; it made him tense and beeline toward them the first few times, but Hood always took off, and Red said it was just work, or Jason fucking around - that he didn't seem to be actively plotting any harm, at least. 

Dick isn’t exactly happy about it, but Tim gets huffy about Dick not thinking he can take care of himself (‘what happened to equals, huh?’) so Dick has to back off. He does extract a promise from an eye-rolling Tim that he’ll call Dick for back-up if things get out of hand and Jason seems to be falling back into old, potentially Tim-maiming habits. (‘partners, remember? that rely on each other?’) 

Then there's a multi-Rogue Arkham breakout. After splitting and converging in various teams to take out the rest, Batman (Dick), Hood, and Red Robin wrap up with Harley and Poison Ivy at the end.

It seems to go smoothly - for a hot second it looked like Red Robin was tagged by some kind of acid spat by one of Ivy’s flowers, but he must've dodged or was able to just quickly neutralize the substance with seemingly no side effects, because he seems okay.

Dick is anxious to get back home to check on Damian - Robin had apparently been knocked out in his and Batgirl’s fight against Scarecrow across town, and may have inhaled some gas when his mask tore.

But he stops, concerned, when he notices that Red Robin is lingering behind, not following. 

He stalls harder, frowning, when Tim snags Jason’s jacket to also keep him from leaving. But Tim just flashes Dick a strained smile. 

“Just want to yell at him about something, it’s fine,” Tim reassures him. 

“Oh yeah, that makes me want to stick around,” Jason grumbles. 

“I think you’ll want to hear me out,” Tim says, low and hoarse, fingers tightening on Jason’s jacket. He clears his throat when both Dick and Jason shoot him odd looks - or, well, an interrogative helmet tilt, in Jason’s case - and waves Dick off again impatiently. “Seriously, go. We’re fine.” 

It takes Tim getting pretty insistent to actually shoo Dick away - he’s weirdly reluctant to leave them alone, gaze fixed uneasily on Tim’s hand, still gripping Jason’s jacket, the way Jason is sort of leaning into Tim, something intrigued in his body language (what does he know that Dick doesn’t?) - but Dick does eventually, reluctantly leave. He’s definitely going to interrogate Tim later to figure out what that was all about. 

As you can imagine, it’s a real knife to Dick’s gut when he finds out that Tim was sex pollened, aware of it and actively fighting through it, and chose Jason to help him deal with it while Dick was RIGHT THERE. RIGHT FUCKING THERE.

I don’t think he finds out from Tim directly. Maybe from Oracle?? Maybe he’s waiting at the Manor for Tim to come by for a debriefing, and he never shows, and Dick gets increasingly worried until he looks up Red Robin’s location data and he’s. Still with Jason. For some reason. At the Bat safehouse nearest to that last battle. They’re right on top of each other, practically. 

Maybe he calls Oracle to fish for info and she (not having any more idea than Tim of the Dick -> Tim feelings) gives him kind of an amused, snarky response about how oh yeah, don't worry, they’re fine 😏; I can’t say more than that, the cameras are blacked out. And Dick’s like, ‘...blacked out?’ and she’s like, ‘protocol, lol, but seriously, they’re fine.’

And Dick is like. Privacy blackout protocol? Tim’s hand on Jason’s jacket? Babs smirking so hard he can hear it through the comm? POISON IVY?

2 + 2 = 4 and Dick is NOT a happy camper. He probably like. Sits there staring at the Red Hood and Red Robin icons layered on top of each other in that apartment ALL FUCKING NIGHT, imagining what’s happening in there, wanting to yell himself hoarse and throw breakable things to shatter against the Cave walls. But he sits motionless in the dark, instead. Aching and second-guessing everything he thought he knew about where he and Tim stood with each other - when he can think through the haze of hurt, jealousy, and anger. 

[INSERT A SWITCH TO EITHER JASON OR TIM'S POV FOR THEIR MARATHON SEX POLLEN FUCK SESSION 😂 WOW THEY ARE HAVING A FANTASTIC TIME WHILE DICK IS JUST. SO MISERABLE. TIM IS SO FLEXIBLE. JASON HAS SO MUCH STAMINA. YAAAAAY.]

I’m sort of divided about how Dick’s actual confrontation of Tim would go, because my dark horny Id wants jealous Dick stewing and stewing and eventually just losing it (possibly prompted by getting dosed by another mind-altering, inhibition-loosening drug? because WHY NOT) and like, borderline dub-con ambushing Tim, possibly tying him down and fucking him until he cries and learns who he belongs to

but then my mushy Id is like NO I WANT DICK TO CRY INTO TIM’S CHEST ABOUT HOW HURT HE IS THAT TIM DOESN’T WANT HIM WHEN HE’S LOVED TIM FOR SO LONG NOW, and for Tim to be like wait wait wait WHAT??? but I DO want you, I’ve loved you for so long, that’s why I didn’t want a cheap meaningless sex pollen pity fuck, that would destroy me! and then they cry on each other some more and make sweet sappy reaffirming (but also lbr intensely possessive) love

and then my SUPEREGO is like stfu you know that’s not how it would go, Dick Grayson represses the fuck out of all debilitating hurts and betrayals and upsets, he has to brood and angst like a MOTHERFUCKER first, and then probably snipe at a baffled Tim about unrelated things because he can’t talk about his feelings, and then pick petty fights with a confused, annoyed Jason about things he’d previously been letting go as hostilities had cooled

and then vent to his friends in highly coded/obfuscated language so they have to stab in the dark trying to give him relevant advice, except for Roy who oh shit accidentally figures out EXACTLY what Dick is so bent out of shape about because Jason talked to him about helping Tim out with the sex pollen incident, and what the fuck Dick are you in love with Tim??? and what the fuck Roy, did Jason GOSSIP with you about Tim, did he BRAG ABOUT FUCKING TIM, Dick is gonna fucking PUNCH HIM IN THE FACE, and Roy has to frantically talk him down. 

and then Dick would eventually confront Tim slightly-too-aggressively about that one time he fucked Red Hood (if it even was just one time >:|), and was that really the best decision Tim, I’m not saying I’m questioning your judgment but he stabbed you in the chest with a Batarang Tim, I’m not saying another much safer and more appropriate person was right there Tim but I was literally right fucking there Tim, I would have fucked you so good you would never want anyone else Tim, why didn’t you want me Tim, why didn’t you choose me???

….also also, I’m undecided on whether I would want to add JayTim tentatively developing feelings from the pollen incident into the mix to make things even more messy and fucked, but honestly!!! That could be more than I want to try and juggle lol

Thanks for the Ask, I appreciate you!!