#my avoidance has been feeling (?]getting(??) worse these past few days and i think its cuz my routine of library on friday got broken lol

[fenriskisser]

stares at ceiling. i dont wanna leave the house today......

[dandyshucks]

starting to think maybe i should turn rbs off on that post actually bc im having heart palpitations now fdsjgjkl why is this happening to meeee

[gatorbites-imagines]

Ok so I know you said you have been unmotivated with smut lately, but you don't have to write this if you don't want to. But basically it's Scott summers x male reader where they are best friends, maybe they have some secret feelings that they have never confessed too. So male reader decided so bite the bullet and confess with out confessing, and is like " you know a few bounces on it never hurt a friendship", ( lol like the meme) and smut ensues.

Scott Summers x Mutant male reader

Headcanons

Readers got electrokinetic and magnetic powers, because I couldn’t think of anything original, and ice powers are already yoinked up by Bobby. So, ice cold head is gonna be saved for another day.

I feel like my Scott obsession shines through in this… enjoy some longer work

Feedback wasn’t the most original or coolest sounding name, but hey, it had been Scott’s idea, and you had a soft spot for him from the very beginning. So, Feedback it was. Seeing how Scott puffs up a little when you explain he came up with the name almost makes up for Logan picking on you for it.

Being great friends with Scott, makes most people assume you are a hardass like him. And yeah, you have your moments. You see how much Scott stressed about keeping everyone safe, as well as dealing with the US government and the likes, so yes, you take it seriously.

Your lightning powers lead you to also bond with Ororo, though you are not completely at her level. You cant control the weather, but you sure as hell can use electricity and lightning, and you’ve learned how useful it can be.

It took a lot of training, but who else can paralyze a person without it being lethal as easily as you can? Or fry most electronics or vehicles, even guns and other weapons? You are at least a little proud of your powers.

And maybe it has to do with the fact that Scott always seemed to preen, at least a little, with pride whenever you show how far you’ve come. You are the exact same with him, and your “broship” is kind of a thing in the X-men

To the point where the entire mansion, or island if its on Krakoa, get tense and start tiptoeing around when you two are fighting or arguing. Seeing you two not talking and avoiding each other is as uncomfortable as seeing Deadpool around, except its worse.

It always leads to some of the others, typically the younger mutants, trying to set up some kind of heist you get you two to get along again. Most of the times it fails, but the failure is what brings you together again, in a sense.

You also typically give Scott small zaps with your powers, to get his mind off whatever he’s too focused on. or the times where he lets you run light electricity through his muscles when they bunch up. Him groaning and huffing in relief is only an extra on top of the cake, since you already get to fondle his back.

Your feelings for Scott aren’t as much of a secret as you wish they were. Charles knew almost the very moment he met you. Apparently, you used to project your thoughts quite a lot, and he was growing tired of seeing your fantasies.

After that you got better at hiding. You especially worked hard to suppress and hide it when Scott got together with Jean. Yeah, it hurt your heart, but you never really thought you two would be more than bros.

But to show Jean some respect, you get less touchy and grabby with Scott. In the past you might have smacked his ass after training, or groped his pecs and arms, making some excuse about his gains. But with Scott in a relationship, it didn’t feel right.

Scott did the same thing with you, but… it was only because you did it first, right? So, its not like hed notice. Obviously, he does, Scott being so vigilant about the people around him means it takes him less than a month to be completely sure you’re avoiding him.

That doesn’t mean he says anything. Instead, he just kinda lets it stew. The relationship between you grows… tense in a way. Its not like you two are arguing, but you are trying to pull away enough to wash away whatever feelings you have, and Scott is sure you hate him for some reason, and he doesn’t know why.

In the end its actually Jean that confronts you about it, much to your embarrassment. She’s surprisingly kind about it, or you guessed it wasn’t surprising. Jeans an amazing woman, which was why it was no shock she swooped in and caught Scott’s heart.

Jean knows all about your feelings, but also Scotts. Scott loves her, very much so. But he loves you just as much, he just hasn’t realized it yet. Scott easily just pushes those feelings aside as platonic, or some deep loyalty to his best friend.

So, what if he sometimes has dreams about you holding him down and fucking him so hard he needs his visor, since his shades would be sent flying. Or his regular dream of you using small sparks of electricity to play with him.

But somehow Jean saves the situation. Being able to read minds is great, since it makes her feel safe and secure in her relationship, enough to know that you are both good men, and that you’d never act on your feelings with her in the picture.

This is how it continues for a while. Scotts with Jean, and you have some flings of your own. Over the years you kind of have a thing with Logan, then Warren, and a kind of “ill scratch your itch if you scratch mine��� with Remy when he and Anne Marie have their moments.

And yeah, maybe there’s a couple of others on that list that you don’t speak too much about it. Its not your fault Deadpool can be weirdly charming and handsome sometimes. And that one time with Magneto is not something you’ll ever mention, to anybody. You get a feeling Charles knows about it though. You have a feeling Magneto told him.

All in all, you never end up with a long lasting “official” relationship. Its kind of hard to give your heart to someone else when Scott still has his name printed across it in big letters. You’re not like Scott, whose heart is big enough to fit multiple people

What you have with other people is always just casual and never means anything. Well, you do get closer to Logan. Its… a weird situation. He still has a thing for Jean, and you have a thing for Scott, and you help each other out when times get tough.

You thought Scott was gonna kill you when he caught you chewing on a cigar. It’s not like you were gonna smoke it, but seeing him huffing and puffing about you chewing on one of Logans cigars made your pants a bit too tight for comfort.

It really doesn’t help that Scott bulks up over the years. Logan may still call him slim, but there’s nothing slim about him. So, there might be more grope to the smacks you give his ass sometimes, how can you not, it’s so… grabble.

And you are always too distracted by his just… soft and big he is back there, hes even got butt dimples man. It means you never notice how Scott might just arch his hips back a little, or the way his thighs twitch when the excess electricity runs from your fingers into his skin.

Sure, him for thinking about those fingers inside him, its normal. He thinks. Its not his fault you have really nice hands, and the way electricity crinkles around your fingers is way too hot sometimes.

You once licked the electricity off your fingers, the sparks jumping from your fingers to your tongue. Scott knows its just for fun, or be a dick, but god does his front and back twitch think about it.

How you confess can happy in many ways. But the main factor is that Scott and Jean are no more. Maybe shes died, like she does in some comics. Or maybe they just broke up since they grew apart.

But one way or another you just confess. Maybe its after one of your rolls in the hay with Logan, and Scott finally doesn’t have Jean to redirect his attention too and his jealousy boils over. It leads to an argument, with you just spilling that you slept about because you couldn’t have him.

It hurts, after the confession leaves you. You’ve kept it tight inside you for years at this point, and seeing Scott just freeze up makes you feel even worse. You just get your keys into your hands with a flick of magnetic energy, before Scotts upon you.

The floors really uncomfortable, and the air is knocked out of your chest, especially as he places his bulk on top of you, Scotts hands on either side of your head.

Even with the visor giving off its usual red glow, Scott couldn’t get more handsome. The quiver in his lip and how he keeps nipping at its insides. “Scott…” you breath out, hands twitching at your sides, wanting nothing more than to settle on his nice, plush with muscle, hips.

Kissing Scott was everything you had ever imagined, and more. He tasted like the coffee hed been drinking, the brand you always hated but still bought because it was Scott’s favorite. The one he would always brew too strong, and never add any sugar or creamer too.

And yet, as his tongue rolled against your own, you couldn’t think of anything more delicious. It felt more like you two were trying to eat each other, to see who could devour the other one first after being starved for so long.

Any other time you might have been embarrassed about how wet and slick your kissing was, and just how loud it was. It seemed to ring through the empty room, Scotts hands already pulling at your shirt as you allow yourself to truly grope and feel that plump ass of his.

Youd touched Scott many times before. Hell, you’d even touched him naked here and there. But those times had been for medical reasons, or that one time to keep hypothermia at bay. This felt so much more intimate, so much… more.

The lamps in the room flickered as Scott pushed himself up to get fully undressed, your irises lighting up as you finally got to just stare. He was so hard, and with him standing above you he felt like a god, in his own way. You must have said this out loud, since Scott blushed and dragged you up.

It felt like being a virgin again, tumbling into bed and kicking off what clothes you had left on, hands groping and exploring. When it came to men, you had a lot more experience. You honestly only had experience with men.

That didn’t mean you almost didn’t bust on the spot when Scott sat himself down in your lap again, nothing between him and your cock. You couldn’t see it, but you could feel how his ass just draped around you, the smirk on Scotts lips so cocky you almost wanted to smack him.

With that thought, your body seemed to respond. Youd never really shot electricity from your crotch before, but the loud high-pitched yelp from Scott told you just that had happened.

You immediately wanted to apologize, fearing you had ruined the mood. A violent shudder ran through Scotts body, a deeper more guttural groan leaving his body as he rocked against you, precum spilling from him like a faucet. That had felt better than hed ever imagined.

The world felt like it was shrinking more and more until all you could think of was Scott Summers, and how felt against you. How he felt around your fingers as you stretch him open, and the loud wails of want he lets out, when you let the smallest flickers of electricity zap from your fingers to his prostate.

Youd always had a code of sorts, that your partner at least had to finish once, preferably twice, before you would enter them, or let them enter you. And with Scott it was so easy to wring them out of him. You almost wanted to just keep milking him for all he was worth.

Recognizing the look in your eyes, at least somewhat, had Scott tapping his foot against your tip, which was enough to remind you of how hard you really were, and how sensitive.

It gave Scott enough time to flip you onto your back, and with a recklessness you wouldn’t see from him every day, he just sank down on you.

All that working out made it easy for Scott to ride you, his thighs and hips working in harmony, his fingers digging into your pecs as you both groan and huff, letting out noises neither of you had ever let out before.

Kissing Scott as he rode you was a pretty name for it. in reality it was more just your open mouths pressed together as you both panted and drooled, tongues just rubbing together every now and then.

Having edged yourself until now meant you didn’t last long. As Scott shoved you over the edge your vision went white, and you had a feeling the popping noises you heard were the lightbulbs around the room.

It felt like Scott was draining your very soul of your body through your dick, his behind was diabolical. Part of you wanted to joke about him doing some other kind of training without telling you, but your teeth still felt like they were made of static, so all you could do was groan and gasp.

The high-pitched noises from Scotts mouth still registered to your fuzzy hearing, and the splatters of white against your torso made something inside you settle, knowing he had finished too.

The air was knocked out of your chest again as Scott slumped against you like a puppet getting its strings cut. The only noise in the room was the sound of your shared panting and wheezing, as well as the faint buzz of the ruined lightbulbs.

“you’re paying for that…” Scott finally mumbles breathlessly against the side of your neck. A snort leaves you, head still feeling like a thunderstorm and tv-static as you work your arms shakily around him. “Fine… but I’m picking the brand” you reply, voice slurred and tongue floppy in ways you hadn’t experienced in years.

Scott clearly wanted to laugh at your state, but he wasn’t much better himself. He couldn’t feel his legs, and it wasn’t completely because of the zap of electricity you’d sent through his entire body, as much as it was just how good it had felt.

You both needed to cool down, and maybe a nap. And then a good, long, cold shower. Scott lazily mentally noted down that he needed new sheets and lightbulbs, but not much else happened. For once his head felt blissfully silent, in the way only you could make it.

[itsmarsss]

chicks dig musicians, kid [Miguel Diaz x Reader] (Cobra Kai)

[~from the vault~]

There's something going on between the two of you, Miguel is sure of it. But where does he go from there? How is he supposed to ask you out? So he goes to Johnny for advice.

Word count: 1,780

Warnings: literally nothing its so cute and sweet and innocent yay past mars

[. . .]

Things had been different for a while now. He could just feel it.

Miguel didn’t know when things changed, when the platonic teasing turned into borderline flirting, when his eyes started to dart from your eyes to your lips in the middle of conversation, when you started to look away with an embarrassed smile when he stared at you for too long, when he started to barely listen when you talked because all he could think about was how close you were and how easy it would be for him to kiss you right that second and how much he really, really wanted to do it but never did- but he was 100% sure he wasn’t imagining it.

He was well-aware of the fact that his love-struck brain could just be exaggerating everything, and, sure, he was a bit dense, but he wasn’t completely oblivious. He knew something was definitely going on, to the point of getting teased about it to no end by his friends: the newfound tension and the sudden awkwardness were pretty hard to miss.

The thing is: where do you go from there? Miguel has always been pretty straight-forward (even though he didn’t really look the part) so why was it so hard to find a good moment to ask you out when he was pretty positive you’d say yes?

Waiting made it far, far worse. He thought maybe he’d give himself time to figure out a way to do it. Hey, maybe you’d even end up asking him out first!

You didn’t.

Every day that passed he found himself staring more and more, lost in daydreams of kissing you, making you laugh, kissing you, holding your hand, kissing you.

Was this why you’d been avoiding him the past few days? He wasn’t dumb. It’s not like you were outright taking every opportunity you could to get away from him, but also it’s not like you were exactly taking any opportunities to hang out just the two of you like you used to do. Was he being too weird? Too pushy? Oh god, was he acting like a creep?

Standing back was not like him at all, and it was not doing him any favors- he had to know once and for all.

So he went to his Sensei for advice.

Johnny was holding a beer can when he opened his door. Not an unusal sight. “What d´ya want?”

“I really need your help but you can’t make fun of me.”

“Can’t promise that,” he replied with a smile, and made way for Miguel to enter, which he did. “Ya want a beer?” he asked as Miguel sat down on the couch.

“No. Please focus."

Sensei Lawrence just shrugged, standing by the kitchen counter. “So what is it? Your mom find your porn or something?”

“What- no! Why is that the first thing you thought of?”

“Happened to me,” He shrugged again, nonchalantly.

Miguel made a face in disgust. “Please let’s not talk about that when you’re dating my mom.”

“Jesus, kid, what are you, a nun?” Johnny laughed and took a sip of his beer. “Okay, whatever. What happened?”

“I’m really into this girl.”

“She hot?”

Miguel made a point to ignore the question. “She’s really cool and I think she likes me too.”

“Is. She. Hot?”

“Sensei- yeah. Okay, she’s really hot.”

“Nice.”

“Can I go on now?”

“Sure.”

“Okay so we’re friends, right. And we’ve been friends for some time now but I feel like we’ve been flirting? But never really doing anything about it. But I want to.”

“So? Just ask her out.”

“I know that! But I don’t know how to.”

“Thought you were more of a ‘just ask’ kind of guy.”

“I- I am! It’s just, I don’t know what it is, it’s easier when you don’t know them that well, you know? Cause like why would she not make a move after all this time? Maybe she just wants to stay friends. And then if she rejects me then what?”

“Then why would she flirt with you?”

“I don’t know.”

“Who is it?”

“What, I’m not telling you-”

“Y/N?” He guessed, and Miguel wasn’t fast enough to hide his surprise.

“How’d you know?”

“Guessed. But your face made it pretty obvious, maybe work on that.”

“Okay, what do I do?”

“Look, you know what you gotta do? You gotta not be a pussy. Make her like a giant fucking poster and ask her out at school, girls love that shit.”

“Um I don’t think she’d like that. Seems like... pretty embarrassing.”

“It’s not embarrassing if you’re not a pussy about it.”

“Do you have any… less public option?”

“Oh you want a real intimate option?’ He raised his eyebrows suggestively, which was an extremely disturbing scene to witness.

“No- oh my god, please never do that again.”

Johnny laughed. “Just play her a song or some shit. Set the mood. Then ask her out. Chicks dig musicians, kid. That's a fact."

“But I don’t play anything. Or sing.”

“And what am I supposed to do about that? Now come on I got things to do,” Johnny motioned for him to get up, and he did so.

“You do?” Miguel asked, not really believing it.

“Don’t question me!”

Miguel put his arms up in surrender, walking out the door.

The rest of his day was spent desperately trying to learn the chords to some song he’d seen you listen to once on his mom’s old ukulele. It wasn’t going well. He looked at the time, 7:43 PM- it was getting late. He would have to make do with what he had. He wasn’t delaying this any longer, he was doing this tonight.

He took about 15 minutes to figure out what hoodie to wear and 10 more to fix his hair. He walked up to your house with the ukulele in hand, feeling nothing short of ridiculous. He wondered if maybe he should have waited until he was a little better at playing. Still, he kept on walking until he reached your front door.

To his luck, you were the one to open it. Thank fucking god. “Miguel?" You raised an eyebrow, a little confused at the scene in front of you. He hadn't texted telling you he was coming over and you couldn't for the life of you come up with a reason for the ukulele he held in his hand since you knew he'd never ever played one in his life.

“Hey.”

“Hey. Uh, what are you doing here?” It wasn’t rude, just curious.

Maybe he should have warned you he was coming.

“Uh I was just- wondering if I could show you something.” He held up the instrument in his hand.

“Like a song?”

“Well, yeah. If you want.”

“I didn’t know you played.” Actually, you knew he did not play.

“I didn’t. I uh. Picked it up today. Just wanted to show it to you."

“Okay, yeah. Come in.” You were still visibly confused. Maybe he should have planned this better. Or, like, at all. You made way for him to get in and closed the door behind you when he did. You walked up in front of him, taking his free hand and leading him upstairs. “Come on.”

You entered your bedroom and sat on the edge of your bed, Miguel hesitantly doing the same, sitting down right beside you.

“Okay. So what are you gonna play?”

“Uh you know that song you like? The one you were listening to when you were training after practice that day? That Hawk was like telling you to skip and all?”

You laughed at the memory. “I guess.”

“Yeah that’s uh- that’s what I’m gonna play.”

He was feeling way too self-aware now. Maybe coming over to perform a song he was yet to learn correctly was not his brightest idea. What was he thinking?

“So?” You pulled him out of his thoughts. He cleared his throat. There was no way he could back down now. Shit.

He played the first chords and started singing. It all sounded deeply, extremely wrong, and he knew it. It was terribly bad, pure chicken scratch. If voice cracks had voice cracks, that’s what they’d sound like. He barely got through the first chorus before stopping himself from any further embarrassment. He’d made a point of not looking at you while he played, but finally mustered up the courage to after he stopped.

He couldn’t say you looked too impressed. Just… amused, at best.

“I started learning it this afternoon, so…” he sheepishly tried explaining himself, scratching th back of his neck in embarrassment. What the fuck did you just do, idiot?

“Oh it’s uh- it’s pretty- pretty good for something you learned in just a few hours.”

“You can say it’s terrible, I just wanted to- I just wanted to show you. I picked the song ‘cause you like it so much.”

“It’s not terrible! It’s a great song. And it’s pretty cool that you learned it because of me.”

There was an awkward silence that followed. This moment, right here, right after he finished playing, was when Miguel imagined he would be asking you out. You'd say yes, maybe you’d kiss him if he was lucky. But the Miguel in his head had done a great job with the song. The real him… well, the real him obviously hadn’t.

“Why did you wanna show it to me?"

He was taken aback by the question. He decided he’s best be honest, now that he knew he officially had no chance with you. Acording to Sensei Lawrence, chicks dig musicians, and he clearly was no musician whatsoever. He sighed. “Honestly?”

You nodded, prompting him to continue.

“I really, really wanted to ask you out. But I didn’t know how to do it, so I went to Sensei for advice. I know. He said girls like musicians so I thought I'd do something cool and play you a song you liked. It obviously didn't work,” he laughed, defeated.

You were quiet for a moment, processing what he just told you. “You learned a song I liked just to ask me out?”

“I know, it’s dumb, and obviously I ruined the mood with the bad singing, but-”

You kissed him. He was rambling like an idiot and he’d just given you the worst ever serenade of all time and you kissed him! He wasn't even able to react, just looking at you with his eyes wide as you pulled away as quickly as you'd leaned in. You kissed him, you kissed him, you kissed him, holy shit!

“I thought-”

“It's cute that you'd do that just to ask me out. And you didn't ruin the mood. Now ask me out!” You said, excited, now sporting a dumb smile he thought was just the cutest thing ever. Could you please just look at him like that all the time?

Miguel couldn’t help but mirror your excitement, grinning like an idiot. Damn him if he didn't do as you asked. “Do you wanna go out with me?”

“As long as you don’t ever try to serenade me ever again.”

“You said it wasn’t so bad!”

“I lied."

“You still kissed me."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever."

[. . .]

A/N: while i don't have what im currently writing for miguel out yet here's a really old little thingy i have of him as a little treat! it's cute and sweet to make up for all the sin of the current wip <3

[superprofesh]

The Five Times Colt Seavers Almost Kisses You (and the One Time He Does) — Part 3

Pairing: Colt Seavers x reader

Description: The third time Colt Seavers almost kisses you — the one that hurts the most.

Rating: T

Word Count: 2.4k

Tag List: @strangedeerconnoisseur, @icantwaittoliveandlearn, @moonlightandstarshimmer

Author’s Note: It's part 3! The tension is heating up, the emotional stakes are rising, and my obsession is only getting worse / better. Let me know what you think! :)

Part 1 // Part 2

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

You step into the darkened club at the height of the company’s weekend party, colorful lights flashing over the dozens of people dancing and chatting across the crowded room, but your eyes are sharpened on the lookout for just one person. Colt Seavers.

You can’t get him out of your head. You’ve spent the last three days doing everything in your power to avoid him on set, from locking yourself in the art trailer to conveniently arranging to work on the still-in-progress train station set. You had entertained the idea that if you could just keep from seeing him for a few days, you could stop replaying every moment of that night in your head.

But even when you’re knee-deep in epoxy or hyper-focused on scoring holes in iron beams, you’re envisioning the way the lamplight accentuated Colt’s features and reflected in his dark blue eyes that night. Try as you may, you can’t forget how absorbed he was in studying your face, or the way he wrapped his arm around your shoulders to escort you to your hotel, or the way he lingered at the doorway as if he wanted to say something.

And you especially can’t forget the way you thought he was going to kiss you.

But then, of course, you had to ruin it. You obviously came on too strong. You physically cringe every time you remember some of the things you said to Colt that night while you were so delirious you couldn’t even stand up straight.

“I bet the desk clerk thought I was drunk and bringing you home with me.”

“I couldn’t have made it without you.”

The fact that Colt has been avoiding you just as hard as you’ve been avoiding him only confirms your anxieties. In the past three days, you’ve only seen him twice, and both times he’s ducked away before you had to have a conversation. It’s not like anything shameful or immodest happened between you — it’s just that you made your crush on him so painfully obvious that you’re sure he’s trying to spare your feelings. The thought makes your heart ache, but it’s ultimately for the best. You’re not about to make a move when it’s so obvious that he’s not interested in anything serious with you.

However, the fact that you’ve been sleeping curled up with his jacket — the one that has his musky smell embedded into its very essence — has not helped matters in the slightest.

You shake your head as you glance around the dark room and wave at your friend Holly across the bar. You’re honestly an embarrassment to yourself. All your life, you’ve had an iron will that bends to your intelligence, not your emotions. Why does that have to change now, all of a sudden?

Holly makes her way around the bar, a drink in her hand and the evidence of more on her breath. You reach out a hand to steady her before she spills her drink all over herself, and she giggles uncontrollably. She’s a talented cinematographer and a dedicated weekend partier.

“Where have you been the last few days?” Holly asks dramatically, as if you’ve committed an atrocity against your friendship. “I haven’t seen you anywhere.”

“Just working on getting the sets perfect,” you shrug, trying not to give anything away. “Besides, I’ve never been one to hang around the cameras too much anyway. That’s your department.”

Holly gives you a mischievous smile and takes another sip of her drink, peering over the edge of the glass at you knowingly. “You certainly seemed to find ways to be near the cameras when a certain stuntman was on set.”

You stiffen immediately, doing your best to paint an unaffected smile on your face and failing miserably. “That’s all over, Hol. Not a thing anymore.”

Holly raises her eyebrows skeptically, and you know she sees right through you. “What a shame,” she grins. “He certainly only had eyes for you.”

That comment sends a stab of pain through your heart, but you ignore it. “It’s fine. Nothing weird, I’m just keeping my distance. Just trying to avoid a heartbreak, that’s all.” The words are technically true.

“Got it,” Holly nods conspiratorially. She takes another sip of her drink and glances around the room. “Well, he didn’t show up here tonight, so you don’t have to worry about him. You can just have fun!”

The words have barely left Holly’s mouth before her eyes widen to a comical size at something behind you. Somehow, you already know who just walked in the door, and your heart gives another spectacular lurch.

Knowing you need to get this over with, you turn to face him, your heart in your throat. Sure enough, Colt slips through the club door, glancing around the room intently, as if he’s looking for something. Or someone, you can’t help thinking.

His eyes land on you, and he freezes in his tracks. A mixture of emotions — nervousness, embarrassment, surprise — crosses his face. You know it’s going to be awkward after all that’s happened, so you try to break the ice. “Hey, fall guy,” you greet him, instantly regretting it. Too flirtatious, stop it right now.

Colt smiles, something like relief crossing his tense features. “Hey, da Vinci,” he responds over the boom of the club’s music, closing the door behind him and taking a single step in your direction. He shoves his hands in his jeans pockets, and you suddenly notice that he’s not dressed for a company party.

“What brings you here?” you ask, trying to ignore the way Holly is pressing into your side and doing a horrible job of hiding her elbowing. “I thought you weren’t a fan of these company parties.”

Colt shrugs, looking past you into the crowd. “Yeah, not really. Just came to drop some stuff off with George for tomorrow’s session.” He swallows hard, as if he’s pondering something, then lets his eyes fall back on you. “What about you? I thought you didn’t like the company parties either.”

I don’t. I came to try to forget about you.

“Oh,” you say casually, “just dropping by. Holly asked me to come.” You squeeze Holly’s hand to signal her for backup, and, intoxicated as she is, she immediately jumps in to help.

“I did!” she exclaims, a little too enthusiastic. “We were actually just talking about — ah, we were just talking about…” Holly hesitates way too long, and you cringe inwardly. “Your stunt!” she recovers. “Your transfer truck stunt!”

“Your what?” Your curiosity is instantly piqued, along with your worry. “I don’t remember a transfer truck stunt in the script.”

Colt smiles a little, the first one you’ve seen since he walked in. “Gordon decided to try it out today. He thought it would spice up the car chase scene.”

Holly jumps in with gusto, clearly excited to have turned you onto a better topic. “Yeah! Gordon came up with it at the last minute. The stunt was originally supposed to just be VFX, but Colt said he could do it.”

“Do what?” you ask, almost afraid to hear the answer.

Colt shrugs. “Just a jump. One transfer truck to another.”

“The top of one transfer truck to another!” Holly adds for emphasis, sloshing a bit of drink over the edge of her cup. “At top speed, while the trucks are rounding a hairpin turn in the canyon!”

Your eyes widen, and you turn your shocked expression on Colt. “Tell me you’re joking,” you manage.

“It wasn’t that bad,” he amends, obviously embarrassed by Holly’s dramatic retelling. “It’s not like Gordon forced me to do anything. I volunteered and said I could do it.”

“You could have gotten killed!” You’re not sure why you feel so passionately about this; he is a stuntman, after all. But something about knowing that you’ve been avoiding him for three days while he’s been performing death-defying stunts rattles you in a way you can’t ignore. While you’re gathering fire for a rant, Holly backs away into the crowd, an impish smile on her face.

Colt’s smile comes more easily this time, and he takes another step closer to you, ducking his head to look more squarely into your eyes. “Hey, calm down,” he reassures you. “No major injuries. No brushes with death. Just a cool shot.”

You press your lips together, still bubbling over with an emotion you can’t name. “Risking your life for a cool shot isn’t something to laugh about,” you tell him, though there’s no real edge to your voice. You glance down at his hand that’s resting on the bar beside you. “What happened to your hands?” you demand.

Both Colt’s hands are wrapped in bandages that you hadn’t even noticed until he pulled them out of his pockets. His expression shifts again, this time to a kind of bemused concern. “Just a little friction burn, that’s all,” he assures you. He brings one of his hands up to rest on your right shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze that makes your stomach flip in response. “Don’t waste your worries on me, Picasso. I’m a stuntman, remember? Taking risks is what I do.”

Colt’s laid-back tone does calm you a little, and you fight the urge to shake your head at yourself again. What are you thinking? Why are you getting so emotional about this in front of him? Play it cool, explain it logically, don’t make the same mistake you did before.

“Yeah, I know,” you admit, shrugging. “It just seems like Gordon is pushing you harder than he was before. It’s like he’s getting too comfortable putting you in more and more danger for the sake of impressive shots.”

“It’s nothing I can’t handle,” Colt tells you. His eyes crinkle at the corners, and he cocks his head as his gaze flits over your face. “And it’s no different than you going without sleep for three days to finish a setpiece.”

“It is not the same thing,” you begin, but he shakes his head, leaning one elbow on the bar to tilt his head closer to you. You despise yourself for weakening your resolve, but you can’t resist leaning closer to him, too — so close you can feel yourself getting lost in the dark blue of his eyes.

“Sure it is,” he said softly, his husky voice carrying over the short space between you even with the loud music playing in the background. “I do stunts because it’s what I love to do, even if they’re dangerous. You make the sets look amazing because it’s your passion, even when it means you have to go without sleep. I guess we’re both just too dedicated to our crafts, huh?”

You’re finding it difficult to think of a response, your eyes locked on his. All the resolve you’ve been building for the last three days melts under the heat of his gaze. Something like a magnet is pulling you even closer to him. Your mind unhelpfully flashes back to the night you were wrapped under his arm while walking to your hotel room, his warmth enveloping you.

“Well,” you murmur, trying desperately not to look at his lips, “my dedication won’t result in a broken neck.”

Colt lifts one eyebrow in response, leaning a hairsbreadth forward. “Neither will mine,” he whispers.

You mirror his quirked eyebrow, lowering your voice to match his. “How do you know?”

Colt keeps his eyes locked on yours, but one of his hands reaches up to the side of your face unnoticed. His palms are bandaged, but he uses his fingertips to twirl a strand of your hair. Your breath catches when he tucks the strand behind your ear, his touch searing your skin even in the brief contact, his gaze never leaving yours.

“Haven’t you heard? I’m the best in the business,” he tells you as he finally pulls his hand away from your temple.

You smile at his teasing tone. The distance between you keeps closing, a quarter of an inch at a time, and you can feel the burning heat of his skin the closer you get. His eyes don’t drift from yours, but the tension is so potent that you can barely take a breath.

“The best in the business,” you repeat, a coy smile edging the corners of your lips. “Haven’t you heard that pride comes before the fall?”

“Mmm hmm,” Colt hums, and you feel the sound reverberate in your very bones. Your faces are only a few inches apart now. Everything — the music, the crowd, the flashing lights — is forgotten, consumed by the fire blazing in his eyes. His gaze finally tears off your eyes and slowly, so slowly, steals down to your lips. His own lips part slightly, as if he’s finally about to lean forward and close the tantalizing distance between you.

Suddenly you couldn’t care less about all the reasons why you shouldn’t.

But then, your heart still hammering against your ribs, your skin prickling, your lungs strangled into stillness, Colt pulls away from you.

The abrupt distance feels like a cold bucket of water on your head after the heat of what you just shared. Colt seems to feel the shock too, rubbing both hands over his face and letting out a shaky breath before his casual smirk returns.

“Wow,” he half laughs, shaking out his arms and shoulders dramatically. “Nothing like a club’s vibe to muddy the waters, right?”

His careless comment stuns you even more than his quick withdrawal did. You suddenly realize how much every moment with him means to you, and the stinging pain of rejection is amplified a thousand times by his casual attitude.

He doesn’t care. He seriously doesn’t care at all.

You try to recover some dignity, but you know you’ve already blown that more times than you can count. All you can choke out is, “Yeah,” and then a listless, “See you around,” before you slip past his shoulder and head for the door. You can already feel the hot tears threatening to spill down your cheeks, and you’re not going to embarrass yourself further by letting him see you cry. You throw up a hand at Holly as you hurry out the club door into the chilly evening air, barely registering her questioning look.

What you don��t notice is the way Colt clenches his hands into fists against the pain of his burns, or the way he squeezes his eyes shut to block out the memory of your devastated expression.

All you know is the pain of the rejection, the bitterness of your tears, and the smell of his jacket as you fall asleep that night.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

Part 4

[misspelledwordswizard]

Hello there!✨️ First of all, I wanted to say that your writing is amazing! Keep up the good work ;3.

Anyway, I wanted to make a request (if you have too many, please ignore this. Don't overwork yourself). This might be a little cliche, but here is what I had in mind. "The Chain x Mulan!Reader." Mostly their reaction when they find out that the reader is a female.

Like the boys, the reader has the spirit of the hero, but in her time, women aren't allowed to fight or do anything that the men do at all. So, just like Mulan, the reader runs away from home, pretends to be a boy, and fights against Ganon's armies. Even after meeting the Chain, her identity remains hidden. One day, she gets badly hurt, and when they tend to her wounds that's when they notice that he is a she.

You can ignore this if you want ^^, but yeah, that is basically my request. Have a great day, evening, or night.

Again, your work is amazing! ✨️✨️✨️👏✨️✨️✨️

Oh, you are so sweet, thank you so much!!! I really loved doing this, did I mention I love mixing fandoms? cuz I love it so much! Anyway, I hope you like it, dear <3333

The fight against the group of Bokoblins was going smoothly, that is until a Moblin appeared, right behind me, while I was dealing with one of them, a particularly strong one. I must admit that I’ve had better days, this wasn’t a day when I was lucky, I dare say I was very unlucky today, but that was certainly the worst part. 

I barely had time to turn around to see the monster before being hit hard by its attack, and suddenly, Boom, I blacked out. Darkness, I can’t feel my body, and I don’t even know what was happening to my companions. My mind guided me to the day I met them, my fellow heroes, who bore a similar fate to mine, with one small big difference, of course. 

It was a strange day a few months ago, I passed through a suspicious portal thinking it might be some kind of enemy attack, and suddenly I fall in front of nine heroes of Hyrule from different eras.  They welcomed me as one of their own, even though I wasn’t so sure about it myself, and since then we’ve been working together on this mission to stop the shadow and its abnormally strong monsters. Simple, right? 

Wrong, not simple at all. Of course, I already have some experience in hiding my true gender, after all, I had to do it throughout my adventure to save Hyrule in the past, the problem is that now I was constantly surrounded by men! This ended up becoming a huge nightmare. As much as I like the boys, as much as I now see them as my own family, I don’t know if I can tell them the truth. No one knows about this secret of mine, and I fear how they might react, so I’ve been avoiding the subject. 

It was hard, really hard.  Like the times they decided to all go into the river together to cool off, it was hard enough to deal with all those shirtless men without freaking out, and it was even worse because they expected me to do the same, and when I didn’t, they were all over me, worried, thinking there was something wrong, that maybe I was sick or insecure about scars, which they made a point of giving me a lecture about how normal it was, and that I should be proud of mine, because they showed that I was a survivor. Very welcoming, but I still didn’t go in. 

Even with these difficulties, so far, I have managed to hide my secret well, for my own safety. Until now. 

When I finally woke up from my blackout, I felt lost, it took me a while to notice the new environment and my traveling companions who had gathered around me. I was lying on the bed of an inn, everyone was looking at me with curiosity and concern as I tried to sit up in bed, the blanket slipped, revealing that I was without my tunic.  I wore a girdle around my torso that helped to reduce the volume of my bust and keep it mostly hidden, but without the layers of clothing to disguise it, there was no way they could help but notice my visibly feminine silhouette, and it was quite obvious that they had already noticed it. 

It didn’t take long for panic to start to hit me, all the nervousness, the anguish that I kept along with my secrets, ready to overflow. I could feel my own body reacting to this, heating up uncomfortably, and apparently the others noticed it too. Time approached me and rubbed my back gently, in an attempt to calm me down. 

— Calm down, breathe, it’s okay, you don’t need to be nervous. 

— I... – Tears overcame me before I could formulate a complete sentence, which made the task even more difficult. – I’m sorry! I had to do this, no one would ever accept that the hero of the kingdom was a woman, it was the only way. I didn’t have the courage to tell you because I didn’t want you to see me as incapable or treat me differently, please, please don’t hate me! 

The tears, the occasional sobs and my crying voice only made everything harder to understand, and I didn’t have the courage to look them in the eyes, I didn’t want to see their faces of disappointment. The wound on my back hurt as I curled up trying to hide my humiliation. 

— Hate you? What the hell are you talking about, why would we hate you, girl?! – The Veteran’s somewhat aggressive voice left me confused about how I should feel, but his sentence left me confused. 

— Yeah, there’s no reason for that, my dear, it’s understandable that you were afraid to reveal your secret when you were raised with such prejudiced thoughts, but that just shows us how strong you were. – The calmness in Sky’s speech was comforting, but I was still confused. Didn’t they care, really? 

— Your gender doesn’t change who you are, nor does it make you weaker or more incapable, it just shows how amazing you are for being able to deal with all of this! – The Champion’s excitement and support helped me gather courage and look at them again. 

— But... aren’t you mad that I hid this from you? – Even calmer, my crying voice still remained as I sniffled trying to control myself. Twilight just shook her head, as if this was an absurd idea.   

— Of course not, you were just protecting yourself, darlin’.  

— Actually, now that makes a lot of sense, it explains a few things... – The Traveler says thoughtfully, before turning his attention back to me. – And most importantly, are you feeling any pain? – I just shake my head negatively, it was nothing serious, it seems like my injury was practically healed.  

— Look, no matter what they say, you’re one of us, okay? Never forget that. – Warriors speaks in a soft and comforting voice, and I tried hard not to burst into tears again, wiping the tears before they could fall and giving a smile that was a mix of relief and happiness.  

Wind approached me and hugged me tightly, I couldn’t hold it this time and shed a few tears seeing my boy being so affectionate and understanding, partly also because this hug was very close to where I had been hit, but he didn’t need to know that.  I hug him back until he finally pulls away to look at me, wiping away his own tears. 

— Look how cool, now besides being able to say that I have eight super cool older brothers, I can also say that I have an even cooler older sister! – His excitement at this fact made me laugh, and I ruffled his hair affectionately.  

— To tell you the truth, I already knew. – Four’s speech made everyone’s attention turn to him. – I mean, there were some small details that made me suspicious, but I kept quiet, especially since the secret wasn’t mine. I figured you’d say something when you felt ready, and I didn’t see any problem with that. – He just shrugged naturally. His cunning and intelligence sometimes scares me, usually those with the hero’s spirit don’t use their brains much, we usually leave that job to the princesses.  

— By the way... – My attention went back to the Sailor, who seemed thoughtful. – Is your name really Link?  

— No! – I said and laughed at the suspicious expression the youngest gave me.  – I just used it as a codename, if I used my real name, it would be pretty obvious that I’m a woman. And also, that’s the Hero’s name, right? – Everyone seemed to agree with the logic, but it didn’t diminish their curiosity about my real name, which I had no problem revealing. 

— Well, at least now you’ll be lucky enough to be called by your name, unlike the rest of us who have to deal with this bunch of nicknames to try to differentiate ourselves! – Legend pointed out, making me laugh. 

I can get used to being called by my real name again. 

[cloudyeventss]

I thought I try my hand at writing a little story about being 141's assistant. I'm not sure where I'm taking this or even if I should continue. Let me knoww but be sweet. This is literally my first attempt at writing anything

Warnings~ cussing, slightly anxious ? Idk

Y/n pov

He's staring right at me. Slouching slightly to his left, strands of blue dyed hair peeking out underneath his hat. He clearly hasn't been sleeping, I can see the dark circles under his eyes. I don't think I’ve seen him blink once. This is too much. Too fucking much I'm starting to fidget with the belt of my purse, shifting back n forth trying to ease my nerves. I'm overwhelmed and overestimated. This bus smells worse than a gas station bathroom, it doesn't help it’s hotter than the damn desert in here, my sweater is starting to itch and the constant sound of the buses bell going off is enough to make my head explode. GOD why did my car have to break down today? sweat is beading my forehead I feel nauseous. GOD DOES THIS MAN EVER BLINK?!? *ding* fuck finally my stop. I've never been more relieved in my life to leave somewhere... stepping outside I feel like I can breathe again not by much though, last night, laying in bed i got a call from my father's friend Laswell telling me to meet her at a Cafe not too far from my home. Usually, I wouldn't be so nervous to see her, being Laswell and my father worked together for the past 10 years. She’s been around quite a few times but this time She spoke about a potential job opportunity as an assistant overseas. I'm not even sure I heard her right, i was a bottle deep into Apothic red wine. Nothing special but drink enough it’ll knock you on your ass. I've been anxious ever since. After finishing my associates degree in mind and body psychology, I wasn't sure I wanted to continue with school. Maybe I just need a break, but I also need a job. I take one final deep breath to attempt to calm my nerves as I wipe my sweaty palms down my jeans. Okay now’s the time to be confident y/n don't freak out .....

There she is sitting with her back against the wall right in between both exits like always. I'd say she's paranoid but with the work she does it's more justifiable. Laswell stands to greet me "Y/n , it's great to see you!" She moves to sit, and I follow. " it's good to see you too Kate, it's been awhile" . Lunch goes by smoothly; it always was easy falling into conversation with her. A red headed waitress with long legs and black trim glasses drops us our check before walking off to tend to her other tables. My eyes follow her as she passes, she's one of those girls who are effortlessly beautiful. Laswell gains my attention again " so your father tells me you are looking for work"

" I am"

"I could use someone I trust"

"Tell me more"

.....

It'd been two weeks since I met with Laswell, and I accepted the job offer. She explained it mainly consist of filing paperwork and doing whatever task ask of me, running errands, and so on. Kate didn't really give me any details of who I'd work for, just that it was four men she trusted with her life and assured me I'd be in good hands. Today's the day I get on a plane and uproot my whole life. I spent every bit of yesterday taking care of last-minute arrangements. I sold my piece of shit Honda to some high school kid . I almost felt bad for taking his money, but I told him of its issues. In a way I'ma miss Johnny. I named my car after a porn star, Johnny Sins. Ha. It still makes me chuckle . My honda wasn't much, but it always got me where I needed to be hints the name. After taking care of my car I went to see my father. He graciously agreed to look after my apartment for me while I was gone. We spent the rest of the evening watching old westerns on TV and saying our goodbyes.

.....

It's only four hours into the flight, and I'm already regretting my decision. I've spent most of the time in the bathroom emptying my stomach while avoiding angry knocks on the door. The taste of bile in my mouth makes me a little less caring about the people outside. Deciding I can't spend the rest of the flight in the bathroom, I pick myself off the floor and do my best to rinse my mouth. Flying has never sat right with me. I like my feet on the ground instead of tempting God. Regardless, I have to tough it out, its not like I can get them to land now. I walk out the restroom, mumbling hushed, apologizes, and take my seat. Just six more hours.. you got this y/n.

[zith-ipeth]

Dog Days Diary: Learning the tricks of the trade

Howdy folks

Recently I’ve been running into a lot of issues with my plurality, but, I’ve been doing pretty awesome on the animality and therianthropy front. This and a couple small things. Let’s talk about it

As some of you know I work at a pet supply store meaning almost every day I’m interacting with dogs as much as people, or interacting with people about dogs, and it’s doing wonders on my euphoria

Sometimes I’ve gotten so caught up in interacting with a pooch on the ground I almost start to play bow before I catch myself, the smell of dog fur and kibble is just, it’s amazing. I’ve gotten back into wearing my ears out more, which has been great for me!

Little things like these make being a dog feel, grounded, in humanity and society rather than out in the woods, I’m a house dog, a stray dog, I’m not a wolf by any means, and my doghood, my connection to that piece of me, has been as strong as ever

However my whole “two of them” situation hasn’t been the best recently

I’ve mentioned this a couple times on my blog but my headaches have gotten a lot worse, it’s honestly a learning experience every time, I learn new things that cuase Clover to want to be closer to consciousness, and have been working on avoiding those, mostly postive, triggers until we’re somewhere safe

Honestly it wouldn’t be so bad if the way I learned all this wasn’t trial and error with head splitting migraines

She’s been up to some antics though, it’s been good, she went shopping, by herself mostly and it went not badly. She’s been enjoying her show (Kipo Age of Wonderbeasts) which I joined in for last night and, I mean, yeah I get her excitement.

On her little shopping spree we finally got clothes that actually fit us! Which is, kinda big, at least I was getting tired of things being to tight, and idk, that’s been really happy for me

Sorry I havnt been doing daily the past few days, its been, hard, but I think its getting better now

It has to get better now

I will make sure it does

Run fast, bite hard, bark loud

Peace, love, and gratitude

-Zith Ipeth

//Clover Brooks//

[y3esy]

Addressing Fco’s response/goodbye post

For context, this is the guy I made a thread about a couple days ago. Read the original document here. The screenshots of his goodbye post will be posted below.

Post below the line, cuz this is gonna be long.

Other important links

First thread: https://x.com/y3esy/status/1841952767369158702?s=46

Official beware post: https://x.com/y3esy/status/1842348294409765298?s=46

Situation update: https://x.com/y3esy/status/1842371625418727448?s=46

Additional notes: https://x.com/y3esy/status/1842587650479530052?s=46

Twitter thread on his response: https://x.com/y3esy/status/1844355082835591201?s=46

[I talked a lot about this situation, I was fairly upset the way he handled it 😭]

Notes/claims/debunking

CLAIM: He claimed he was harassed by MULTIPLE people that I sent after him

This is not true. Me calling him out was a one man mission. Although I had the support of my friends who I had confided in before making the thread, all of whom were adults who knew FCO in the past, I did not encourage them to post about him or go after him. Throughout this entire situation, I did not interact with FCO a single time. Although a few of my friends did speak up without me asking them to, they didn’t harass him, they told him to stop avoiding the truth and admit to what he did. I don’t see how this is harassment, as no one witch-hunted him or continuously attacked him. I was the only one involved in this and I take full responsibility for everything that I have said, but it was only me. Anyone else who said anything said it of their own accord. I do not condone harassment.

CLAIM: I am against NSFW and FCO ruined my childhood

I am not in any way against NSFW. I think it has its place in the world, and I do not shame people who make it nor do I feel like they are doing something that should be frowned upon. NSFW is not something that should be demonized, but it should be properly hidden from children, something FCO has failed to do.

I never said he “ruined my childhood”. I’ve got no idea where he even got this from, because throughout anything I’ve said about this situation I have never brought up this being something that has “ruined my childhood”. Papa Louie wasn’t even a part of my childhood, I got into the fandom like… a month ago. I don’t mind NSFW of fandoms I like or characters I like, and I do sometimes look at NSFW of fandoms I’m in myself. I say this only to show that I’m not against NSFW, and I don’t purposely put myself in adult spaces to yell at NSFW artists.

CLAIM: I did this to screw him over and “make him feel bad”

No, I didn’t make the beware thread for this reason. I made it so people could be aware of who they were following. Many of my friends follow that account, friends who I know wouldn’t be happy to hear the owner interacts with NSFW of children, and I know many other people who follow the account wouldn’t be happy to know that either. Although there would inevitably be stress caused by this, that wasn’t the main idea.

Addressing the guilt tripping

I shouldn’t even have to address this. Half of his goodbye message was just him rambling about how bad his life is and how I made it worse. I don’t even really have anything to say about this except it’s just kind of out of place and uncomfortable. I hope this dude gets help and matures and changes as a person.

I know a couple of his ex-friends, and they have said that he has always been strange and unsavory, so there is a reason that he does not have many friends. As mean as that sounds, he’s not just a misunderstood kid.

Final notes

Although I’m happy he’s leaving, it’s unfortunate that he couldn’t just see what he was doing wrong and apologize for it, which was all I wanted in the first place. I hope he finds a way to blame his problems on things other that “ignorant brats” and grows as a person.

The post:

[mrs-gauche]

...and also the only time that Solas of all people, is completely speechless, for once at a loss for words in response to an irrefutable argument.

Throughout the whole game (with a few exceptions in which he actually admits to having misjudged), whenever you get the chance to debate him on something you do not agree on, Solas, Mr “I’m a trillion years old, you know nothing, so listen carefully” will practically verbally jiu-jitsu you for every possible argument you might have, like, he’s an absolute master at playing Ace Attorney refuting any of your points, much like playing mind chess with Iron Bull, there is no chance to win an argument with Solas if he’s determined to have you recognize the flaw in your logic or at least understand his perspective, making you feel like this gif at the end of every debate.

But when Lavellan says “I would have had you trust me”, finally, there is no counter argument, no clever comeback, no objection... He has nothing. Because Lavellan is right and he knows. There’s just silence until he turns around and continues with the rest of the dialogue. And I think it’s interesting how this is kinda the culmination of all the little hints throughout the whole game at his ingrained distrust, leading up to this moment.

“An enemy can attack you, but only an ally can betray you. Betrayal is always worse.”

"The next time you have to mourn, you don't need to be alone." “It’s been so long since I could trust someone.”

“That’s when you should lean on your friends.” “Apologies, Inquisitor. I have learned not to do that.”

“I’ll rely on those I trust.” "You think to share your power, to avoid the temptation to misuse it. A noble sentiment... but, ultimately, a mistake." (...) "Because while one selfless man may walk away from the lure of power's corruption... no group has ever done so."

“You created a powerful organization, and now it suffers the inevitable fate of such. Betrayal and corruption.”

"I trust my friends." "I know that mistake well enough to carve the angles of her face from memory."

“She was betrayed as I was betrayed. As the world was betrayed!” - Flemeth about Mythal

You get the sense that him witnessing Mythal being betrayed and murdered by the Evanuris was probably the catalyst for his immense trust issues, so much so that it still has that big of an impact on him centuries later. And of course it has, when 1) it was this batrayal and power corruption that set everything in motion, it almost lead to the end of the entire world, which in turn lead to the creation of the Veil and finally the loss of his world and his people, 2) he has spent the last 1000 years walking the Fade, having to look at the ever present Black City in its center - their prison - as a constant reminder of what happened. (I know it’s not confirmed yet, but come on! 😂)

And then there is Lavellan (or any high approval Inquisitor for that matter) at the end of all this. Who proved him wrong with every action throughout DAI. Who has shown wisdom in their decisions and that the power they were given mustn’t corrupt them. That there is no reason for him not to trust them. And yet, he simply can’t, because the past still haunts him and centuries of history have taught him otherwise (and like a bunch of other reasons for him to not tell Lavellan the truth in that moment in Crestwood, but that’s beside the point here lol). 

And then at the end of Trespasser, Lavellan finally throws it straight to his face, and while he could pull any of the excuses listed above, he simply can’t refute them anymore. Look at his expression as he just looks at them in response, at first still frowning for a second, as if he’s still about to argue them again, but then suddenly shifting into sorrow, slightly shaking his head in defeat. “I got nothing.” Solas, who easily managed to own you in any debate prior to this, is all out of arguments. It’s the final argument and the Inquisitor won.

(Well, technically, it even happens twice in this final conversation, if we’re counting Solas’ internal debate with himself. lol)

"We aren't even people to you." "Not at first. You showed me that I was wrong."

But going back to his distrust, it surely can’t be a coincidence that this whole issue was also topic in a recent interview with DA4′s Creative Director, talking about what defines a hero.

I’ve talked about this numerous times now, like here, here or here, but what it all comes down to is basically just one more penny for the “Solas needs to learn how to trust again in order to be saved from himself” jar. lol

“We will save our friend from himself… if we can.”

Like. It’s literally his name. Pride. Saving Solas from himself does quite literally mean to strip him off his name and the belief that, to quote John Epler again, “only he has the answers, that he is the only one who can solve this” and to accept the help of others. Which is why he has to get a new name by the end of all this. I’m dying on that hill. 😂

[seresinsbabe]

Conveniently Yours

Pairing: Jake Seresin x fem!reader

Synopsis: In a desperate attempt to pay for your mom's cancer treatment you take a job as a dancer at one of NYC's prestigious strip clubs where you meet Jake Seresin who just happens to need a wife.

Warnings: Mentions of cancer, cancer treatment, mild sexual themes. Nothing particularly bad in this chapter.

Word count: 2k

THIS BLOG AND ITS FICS ARE 18+! MINORS DNI!

I do not consent to having any of my work shared on any other platform. If you see any rendition of my works on another site know that it has been posted without my permission.

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“Jake! Over here!”

“Y/N can we get a smile?!”

“Are you two planning on having kids?!”

“How have you felt about Jake’s previous women?”

It was a barrage of questions, camera clicks, and light flashes as you exited the town car with Jake. His hand securely wrapped around yours to help you exit the vehicle before pulling you tightly against his side in an attempt to shield you from the paparazzi. You’d seen them in public before, living in NYC they were common place given the amount of high status people that lived in this city. First hand you knew how relentless they could be. Practically vultures. It was so much worse being the one they were pecking at.

Jake’s lips brushed against your ear, sending a shiver down your spine. He’d been different since the whole bathroom fiasco with Bradley. A change you couldn’t understand why he was making. It hadn’t gone unnoticed by you the decrease in the amount of women he had over. Not to say he didn’t ever take a woman to bed, but he definitely wasn’t bringing nearly as many over as he had been. You’d started to notice it would coincide with the days you spent in Bradley’s presence. Jake always made sure you saw him with the woman, as if on purpose. Like he was trying to make you jealous. 

“You’re doing so good, baby.” His voice was soft and encouraging, but there was something else laced with it. Something you couldn’t place, but it had you clenching your thighs together in a way you never had for Jake. In a way you normally clenched them for Bradley. “This event isn’t going to be easy, but I promise I’ll make up for it.” That. That right there was different.

More often he’d been promising things like that. Apologizing more frequently for the nature of the things you had to suddenly endure. Things he had never apologized for before. Because before Jake didn’t feel like he had to, that you’d known full well what you were getting yourself into. Even if you really didn’t know how severe it actually would be. You weren’t going to complain. This was a side of Jake you would accept for as long as you could get him. For once you didn’t feel entirely like an unwelcome guest in what was supposed to be your home. 

You looked up at him with big doe eyes. Ones that Jake had avoided looking whenever possible for weeks because he wasn’t certain he’d be able to deny them. “How are you going to do that?” You whispered back, ignoring the calls for your attention as he led you inside the event. You didn’t even remember what it was for, but you weren’t sure that mattered. No one ever asked you about his work. Everyone was always far more interested in your elusive relationship. The one that you’d been secretly maintaining for the past year. 

“I was thinking a date? Like a real one.” The words caught you off guard. You’d been on a few dates with Jake before, but they’d all been for show. Giving the media something to build on and talk about. Conversation had never gone very deep, mostly soft spoken discussions about upcoming events and wedding details. Nothing to get to know the other person. Any smiles, laughs or PDA caught on camera had been entirely faked. You were actually impressing yourself with how good of an actress you were.

The idea of a date with him wasn’t repulsive. You liked the version of Jake you met at the club and the version he’d been lately, but you weren’t sure how real those versions of him were. They’d disappeared before and you were worried they’d disappear again. Briefly your mind flitted to Bradley, worried about how it might make him feel, but it didn’t linger there for long. Bradley wasn’t anything serious. At least you didn’t think he was. Neither of you had ever breached the subject and you were fine with that. So as far as you were concerned you were more than able to let Jake take you on an actual date. 

The chance to respond to his offer was quickly taken away as his attention was called for an interview and you were left to politely mingle with others. A glass of champagne was offered and you gladly accepted it. Your mind was still swirling a little bit with this sudden change in your fake fiancé. 

“Hello,” the biting tone of his mother’s voice hit your ears and did nothing to ease your nerves. She didn’t like you. Louise Seresin had made that clear from the jump. Now, she had never outright said the words, but she didn’t really hide her distaste for you either. 

You curled your lips up in what you hoped was a believable smile. “Hi Louise, you look lovely.” As much of a cunt as the woman could be, she was always dressed to the nines. Today was no different with her pink and floral patterned chiffon dress. It seemed a bit young and playful for her age and personality, but she still looked good. It was a definite contrast to the dress your stylist had picked out. A maroon blazer dress that hit just below your thigh, with gold buttons and gold Jimmy Choo heels. Professional and sexy enough for the future wife of Jake Seresin, who was dressed in similar shades of maroon and gold.

Louise’s eyes swept over you and you waited for her to tell you about her distaste for your outfit. All she did was hum, but you couldn’t tell if it was approvingly or not. Half the time you wondered if she had you figured out. If she knew this was all a sham, but if she did she never said so. 

As if the universe knew you needed saving Jake’s father, George, approached and pulled you into a tight bear hug. George’s reaction to you was the exact opposite of his wife’s. He was a kind man that took to you immediately, reminding you vaguely of your father.

George let out a whistle as held your hand, motioning for you to spin and you did with a giggle. “My son sure snagged a winner.” He nodded approvingly as he dropped your hand. “How’s your mother doin’? Chemo goin’ alright?” It warmed you how he always asked about your mom, checking in to see if she needed anything. How this sweet man had ended up with such a cold woman was beyond you. Louise had to be different when you weren’t around.

“She’s alright, starting to lose her hair, but it seems to be working. She’s got a treatment tomorrow that I’ll be at.” Treatments were hard and long and you’d gone to every single treatment with your mom since she started them.

“You mean we’ll be at.” A large, heavy hand rested on your waist. You turned to look up at Jake who was staring back at you with those brilliant green eyes and a soft smile. “I promised I’d come to some sessions and I haven’t been yet, works been keeping me away but I’m putting my foot down.” That was a lie. Not once had he ever even mentioned attending one of your mother’s treatments. He hadn’t even met your mother. Jake could see in your eyes that you were confused, but he just returned the look with one that promised he’d explain later.

You accepted that and turned back to his parents. George looked proud of his son. Louise looked skeptical. Her mouth opened to speak, but as if Jake knew what was going to come out of her mouth he quickly excused the two of you. As much as you wanted to ask him about what he’d just said, this wasn’t the place. Especially as he kept getting pulled away to talk to different people.

Between conversations you managed to get a word in, other than assuring him you were okay. “Yes, you can take me on a real date.” Jake’s smile grew as wide as it did when you accepted his proposal. He was really starting to confuse you. 

The event had gone successfully. You later found out it was a promotional event for some new software that Jake’s company had created. He had tried explaining it to you, but it all had gone right over your head. You’d always considered yourself as smart, but when it came to technology you were as skilled as someone’s grandma. 

Currently you were sitting in the back of the SUV headed to Marea, an upscale Italian restaurant. Jake was next to you scrolling through his phone with one hand while the other rested on your leg, his thumb rubbing small circles on the sensitive skin of your inner thigh. An intimate gesture, one that he seemed to be doing absentmindedly. As strange as it felt, you also enjoyed it as each circle sent a tingle through your body. 

“Were you serious earlier…you know about the chemo treatment?” It had been gnawing at you since he said it. If he really wanted to come you weren’t going to stop him. It would be nice to have some company, especially considering your mom was so drained she slept through most of them. Still, didn’t he have more important things to do than spend hours in a hospital room with his fake fiancée while her sickly mother had cancer treatment?

Jake tucked his phone in his pocket while he turned his attention towards you, nodding his head softly. He knew it was probably weird for you, how he was suddenly changing his demeanor and opting to come to something he never had before. But he was being sincere about it all. “As serious as a heart attack. It’s important to you, so it should be important to me too.”

Your brows furrowed as you studied his face. You were staring so hard at him Jake was almost certain you could see through his thick skull. Suddenly the back of your hand was pressed to his forehead and you were inspecting him in a different way.

“Are you feeling alright? Light headed? Nausea? Vomiting? Hallucinations? Fever?” Jake couldn’t help the chuckle that rumbled his chest at your barrage of questions. His large hand enveloped yours, pulling it away from his forehead and pressing a kiss to it. 

“I’m fine, I promise. I just-” he hesitated. How could he tell you that seeing you with Bradley had him jealous because you were supposed to be his wife. It was Jake who was supposed to be making you laugh so hard you did that little snort. He was the one that was supposed to make you whimper and moan and beg. The one you were supposed to dance in his kitchen with. Not Bradley. “I’ve been an ass to you and I want to make up for it, to be better.” Yeah, that was the best way he could put it. There was no way he could say he was jealous of seeing you with his best friend even though this was a fake relationship and he’d been having his own fun on the side.

The SUV slowed to a stop outside of the restaurant, but you were still processing what Jake had said. “O-okay, but you were the one who made it abundantly clear we were nothing but business partners.” You were cautious in the way you reminded him. 

Jake almost looked pained as he was reminded of what he’d said. “I know and I shouldn’t have been such a dick, I don’t have an excuse for it.” His lips pressed a kiss to the back of your hand. “We can talk more later, but right now we have a date. Let’s just enjoy it?” It sounded like he was begging you, but Jake Seresin didn’t beg. That you were sure of. You just nodded, agreeing to drop the topic for now. He smiled softly at you, silently thanking you as he opened the door.

It still wasn’t making any sense to you, but you were going to take any niceties you could get from him. Because in all reality you had no idea how long this change in him was going to last. And you definitely didn’t want to be as miserable as you had been the past month or so. At least not if you could help it.

@love2write2626 @cherrycola27 @chaoticversion @3in1shampooconditionerbodywash @alldaysdreamers @sexytholland @mishala0505 @a-serene-place-to-be @emma8895eb @aemondssiut @averyhotchner @blairfox04 @realdirectionx @rintheemolion @xoxabs88xox @clancycucumber230 @inky-sun @ilovewhalesharks444 @gigisimsonmars @imnotcreativeenoughforthisblog @bl6o6dy @potato-girl99981 @emorychase @hangmandruigandmav @boltgirl426 @misshoneypaper @starkleila @rae-you-gotta-be-kidding-me @rhirhikingston @alana4610 @mightiestheroes @likeit-or-leaveit @pono-pura-vida @eccentricnos

[5-htagonist]

god damn im so happy rn... ill stick it under a readmore bc its about food and my appetite idk if it would be triggering also this turned into more of a diary entry than anything lol My Blog My Rules though

i made curry last night and im really happy because ive been having a lot of trouble eating and Making myself eat, on top of being really erally really broke so we havent had much food in the house thats just Ready To Go consistently.. like, we always have oats, but we dont always have milk, and i cant eat them with water.. or we have ham but we run out of bread, or all i want are fruits and leafs but we cant really keep anything except apples/oranges/grapes because they dont go bad before we finish them, or bananas cause they arent really ruined if theyre overripe you just throw them in the freezer. so we cant get salad materials.

if i try to just shove calories in my body and i dont like it i wont finish it. like i will feel full until i stop trying to make myself eat it. and this isnt even just when adderall affects my appetite.

then, on top of all that, i know if i eat i have to do dishes. my husband usually does them, but hes been going through a really bad time for the past couple months too, plus we only moved out july 2023, and before that his mom had been Divorced outta the house earlier that year iirc plus id been living there since july 2022, so his brain and nervous system has felt safe enough for the ptsd recovery stage for nearly 2 years. and he gets hit really hard with seasonal depression, and he has adhd too. he typically does dishes, i typically do laundry. the problem is its easier to wear the same clothes for a few days, or rewear laundry that isnt rancid, or wear ill fitting clothes that have been shoved to the back of the dresser, but its hard to wash a dish when the sink is full and the kitchen is overwhelming.

so, to avoid having dirty dishes, i wont eat. whats worse, is i was insanely stressed over school for like 3 weeks. all the stress i should have had this semester hit me really bad all at once. when im that stressed, i cant think about anything relevant to maintaining myself-- especially not maintaining neutral-positive self talk and constructive self esteem. which means i shut down if anyone needs anything from me real or imagined. which means i cant be there for my husband and make sure he eats and check in on him. so all this stupid shit just feeds into itself. ive had more s/h urges than ive had in years i think, and not even in response to anything extrinsic.

my goofy ass got drunker than i usually do super quick the other night, it wasmy husbands birthday party. i cleaned up the apartment super nice since mostly my stuff was strewn everywhere and did the dishes. i didnt eat all day and i think i had like, one inadequate meal the day before. so i was exhausted after cleaning, our roommate ordered pizza and i ate and passed out for 3 hour nap. by the time i got up everyone was already at Least buzzed. my brother in law got a mom call and my husband (drunk) was like Hey. Give me the Phone.. tell her i wanna talk... because she LOVES being upset that her kids are having a good time and feels the need for Hour Phone Call when and where she wants it, and my BIL is an adult but they dont treat him like one, so hes still really deep in feeling trapped in these trauma responses.

this i think is what really got me, other than not being on my full dose of adderall so my emotional abilities were compromised lmao. i was tryingto tell my husband i love him, because i was leaving to weed store, and he was getting triggered while drunk, so he was annoyed i was interrupting the call and i didnt get my byebyehugnkiss. not to mention they were being really loud earlier. so now i feel bad. i get back immediately down 2 shots (3 shots is where i am Comfortably Drunk) and share a j actually post cancelled kendrick just dropped. the point was that i got too drunk and started hitting myself on the head and crying in the kitchen floor lol but who cares about that KENDRIIIIIIICKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK

[bubblepopsims]

Days Past since Ruby saw Tobias. Thankfully it was because Tobias was off to a tattoo convention for a few days. Leaving her with time to figure out her mind (push it off) after discovering from not just one but three tests that she most definitely is, pregnant. Yes.

Still unable to figure out how to tell him and actually admit it to herself as well. Ruby was continuing to stay in a stage of Denial.. no matter how mad the morning sickness was getting, how her tits hurt even when just putting on a shirt or how she now was crying at food commercials... she was making excuses for everything.

But at least she cleaned her house... excessively...

R: "oh oh wait! i got this!!!"

R: "HA! YES! Seee i am still good at this !!! its okay dearest brother i am just better."

R: "whooppsss...... NO YOU DIDNT SEE THAT! MY FINGER SLIPPED!!!"

Ruby laughed only to swallow hard when that familiar feeling settled in her stomach and started to move up to her chest. "Shit..." R: "hey can we resume in a bit i forgot i needed to do something!." R: "yes yes, Tobias is coming straight here... mhm -swallows hard again trying to not rush, BUT rush- okay. okay!"

Once Josiah disconnected Ruby dropped everything and rushed to the bathroom for another round of morning sickness. It was becoming worse by the day and the more it happened the more it sent Ruby spiraling. This morning in particular.

Now sitting on the floor in front of the toilet, shielding herself from the wall that were caving down on her in her head. if she had found out months ago that she was pregnant... it would have already been taken care of. But things have changed, her feelings have changed. she didn't know if it had to do with the hormones. But after her last encounter with Tobias, she believed things to be different. it felt different. She actually saw a new beginning outside of her career. But what if Tobias ended up resenting her .. or stating that she is attempting to ruin his life.. what if the choice was to get an abortion...would he agree? would he be sad? hate her? She didn't know and that worried her. scared her. "What the fuck am i going to do.... what the fuck am i going to do.."

"Do i want a Kid now?… am I ready to put a pause to my career, my time, my space… do I really see myself with Tobias that long? To have his kid? Be committed for I don’t know… a fucking Lifetime because of this fetus.. and what if I got an abortion… would he be sad? Angry?disgusted? Wait do I really think he would be disgusted…… no. No. No? Right. Oh god oh god" that was growing inside of her. the anxiety was getting to her head and making her quite frankly even more sick than she already was. she just told Tobias she loved him and now she is pregnant?

“I been so fucking reckless letting him just… just… mmmm yeah no I really can’t be mad about it…. But that’s why I got this fucking stick in my fucking arm, and for the most part I swallow thank you very much.. so how the hell.. wait” R: "wait. i couldn't have gotten pregnant overnight.... shit... how... how fucking long have i been pregnant??" R:"Oh my god this is just getting worse and worse"

“I don’t want to tellllll himmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm- huh? shit!" a knock to the door startled her, not realizing what time it was exactly. and than it came again only now a singing of her name by the one person she wanted to see but also avoid. Forgetting that Tobias was coming straight here once he got back into town.

“He can wait singing like that ahahah…. Plus I need to mouth wash or something….”

Previous - next

[enfieldtennisacademy]

i have spent the last two weeks in my childhood bedroom where i was molested and i have grown so manic depressive that i seriously believe i could peel my skin off like a boiled apple. "honor leave ur room go do something" okaaaay i will and then i immediately face the bridge troll of this overblown doublewide trailer... the patron saint of hebephilia who wants to be my bestttt frieeendddd even though ive made it so fucking clear i want nothing to do with him. i am truthfully waiting for him to die. make it past that hurtle and then get in my car with my suspended license and then drive around aimlessly because i do not know one person in this town. sometimes i get a canned water or melatonin from the store. and then i return home and get high or drink

got insanely fucked up a few days ago to escape the fucking evil that plagues this house and my walls but the whole time my mind just tallied up every single horrible thing that's happened in my life. i was so scared shaking and shit but my brain couldn't stop. it was like a powerpoint presentation and each slide was increasingly more intense and i cant even remember it now as i sit here to ""blog"" about it. i think sometimes i daywalk as someone who is very normal but then i consider how upside down my entire life has been since i was a little blonde child. like how do i just push this aside and do normal things like spin classes and road trips and a 9 to 5 when the basis of my bones are made out of horrible freak show occurances that not even my brain can remember? how am i supposed to make dinner for my husband and kids one day when this is how my brain and body functions? ill be standing at the stove pondering every single time i was torn to shreds and then have to face some cute fat kids and try and separate their world from that one. like i dont even know if theres a book to help with that......

like im not shy about how fucking tortured i am. my friends know exactly who i am and what has made me into the strange erratic doll they know and love to kick. i dont know how many times i'm going to cry to the point im hyperventilating and vomiting while people stare at me like a horse with a broken leg. eventually i will grow tired of being a strange facet ppl need to avoid eye contact with. or worse......... a spectacle to gossip about for 2.0 seconds over white gay male brunch. i wear my heart on my sleeve, which can be VERY embarrassing sometimes, but my life isnt a secret. everyone knows ive been preyed on and touched on and beat down. but i think ppl are so afraid of it being "AWKWARD" that they avoid me. they dont want me to start crying or for there to be a lull in the conversation because they dont know what to say in response to my batshit. so they have normal lives and they go to spin class and road trips and 9 to 5s while i get way way worse waiting for someone to rescue me. (rescue me: Be a friend). (Be a friend = chill w me. Be forgiving with my neuroticisms. Hang out and be normal to someone who doesn't get a whole lot of that. You know.)

anyway.......... i am an inchworm away from a total religion-fueled meltdown and turning to the church because i feel so hopeless and i feel like they will coddle me like a powdered little baby. i will at the very least take a text from a school buddy or a walk around the block w someone who hasn't tried to kill me or get me to do it myself. but until then i will continue sprinting on the treadmill and scrolling gaga daily and being haunted by my past until its seriously too much to bare. im gonna jump off the spring breakers bridge fr

[jbaileyfansite]

Jonathan Bailey interview with the Evening Standard (2021)

There are worse places to conduct an interview than a park, and at least it’s only drizzling.

The only problem is that people won’t leave Jonathan Bailey alone. Which is to be expected, of course: he’s in Bridgerton, the most-watched original Netflix series in its history, viewed on 82 million accounts in a month since it dropped on Christmas Day. Wait. Did I say people? I meant dogs. They snaffle at his heels and rub against his legs while the humans remain impervious. This is because, devoid of his mutton chops and tailcoat, the 32-year-old actor looks a world away from Viscount Anthony Bridgerton, brother of Daphne; lover of Sienna; friend and foe of Simon, Duke of Hastings.

Today he’s dressed in a nylon jacket and sporting very different hair. ‘Bit of a spoiler for season two — I’ve had a light perm,’ he smiles.

And even if Bailey had spent the past two months in full regency costume, fame would have eluded him until lockdown eased and the usual signifiers — being hassled in restaurants, endless selfie requests — were back on the table. Until then it lies in wait, preserved in aspic.

Having spent lockdown thus far on the East Sussex coast staying home like the rest of us, Bailey admits the disconnect is confusing. ‘I feel like I’m being gaslit on a global scale,’ he laughs. ‘Even today, just meeting and talking to actual people who have seen the show feels weird. To me and all the British cast, it feels like Nasa. Netflix launched this spaceship, and you get launched into space. It’s a brilliantly traumatic thing to experience. The launch only happens once, and then it’s about tethering yourself and working it out. I think that might take a while.

‘The isolation of lockdown has been incredibly hard for everyone, but the isolation of feeling like you can’t inhabit the experience that other people are experiencing around you, while being locked down and not being able to see your friends…’ he tails off. ‘Presumably all it will take to shake it off is a big dinner, or even just having a few pints and going out.’

With a slew of TV parts under his belt (Broadchurch, Crashing, Chewing Gum, W1A) and an Olivier award for his role as Jamie in Company (2018), Bailey isn’t exactly an ingénue. But Bridgerton is one of those rare TV programmes that has bestowed fame on a global scale.

Produced by Shonda Rhimes and adapted from the historical novels of Julia Quinn, Netflix’s genre-busting costume drama reached the top 10 in 189 countries, thanks to a sharp script, lavish costumes and racially diverse cast that saw actors of colour inhabit the highest echelons of 19th-century society in a way that had never been seen on screen before. That this high society is presided over by a black woman, Queen Charlotte (Golda Rosheuvel), might be diversity divorced from any historical context, but the alternative — another costume drama inhabited by white people — has never felt more wrong.

Bailey auditioned for the part in 2018 while appearing in Company, sending off a tape to Rhimes’s production company, Shondaland. ‘I got offered the job on my 31st birthday, 25 April 2019,’ he recalls. Filming started in July 2019 and ended in March 2020, narrowly avoiding any impact from the pandemic. 

‘For me it feels like a lockdown anyway when I’m working, so it’s a long time since I can remember normal life.’ Has he been he a banana bread-baking stereotype over lockdowns? ‘I made more than banana bread,’ he laughs. ‘I started with banana bread but went on to cinnamon rolls, although they looked like turds — terrible. But I made amazing hot cross buns.’

The million dollar clich��: what did he learn about himself? ‘I feel more complicated than I thought I was,’ he says. ‘And then I’ve been affirmed by certain things. I did a lot of cycling between lockdowns, in Cornwall and around Italy last summer — pure recharge, pure perspective. Nature is so important. I know everyone’s saying that, and that some people can just keep going flat out, but I know I need to recharge. And I love a bath. I’ve had weeks where I’ve had a minimum of two a day.’ He suddenly looks horrified. ‘Actually, that’s awful. Don’t put that, ’cause it’s wasting water.’

Barely has ‘what did you miss the most?’ escaped from my lips and he exclaims, ‘Theatre! Not just theatre, but the possibility of theatre. But then, I’ve been watching really brilliant theatre creatives smashing it on TV instead.’ He points out that Bridgerton cast members Rosheuvel, Ruth Gemmell, Adjoa Andoh and Luke Thompson are all regulars on the stage. ‘We should be proud in Britain that there’s a massive crossover between theatre and TV. It’s not a semi-permeable membrane: it’s all one talent pool.’ 

Could the Government be doing more to support theatre? ‘Absolutely. It’s just the people who are making the decisions; if it had been someone who loves theatre, and understood the importance of it, this would never have happened. There are certain things in life where you go, “That’s a marker”, and the [2019] government campaign about Fatima having to retrain in cyber was one. That was a wound that will take a long time to heal. And the other marker of a moment is Ruth Sheen’s performance in It’s A Sin [the veteran actress had a cameo as a hospital visitor who took Keeley Hawes’ character to task in the final episode]. The last year hasn’t been about Christmas and Easter. It’s been about markers like those.’ 

Bailey has been described online as ‘openly gay’. I point out that no actors are ever described as ‘openly straight’, and he laughs. ‘I’d say I’m not openly gay. I’m just gay.’ Although he is wary of discussing his sexuality for the sake of it. ‘Then it becomes a commodity and a currency. I knew that I wanted to be visible about my sexuality, because in all the territories that Netflix goes out in, there might be a boy somewhere that goes, “Wait, what?” Which is what I didn’t have when I was young. All I know is that I’m happy to keep working really hard and if there are opportunities for representation, and to make that point, then that’s something I’ll always strive to do.’

Like just about everyone else, he loved It’s A Sin. ‘It was an incredible way to talk about an awful pandemic, and an absolute tragedy that so many people will be triggered by it. In Ruth Sheen’s character, you have a heterosexual woman who is mother to a gay son, challenging another mother. I found that rage incredible. The gay fantasy isn’t just hanging out in bars and meeting men. The gay fantasy is to have guardian angels of allyship.’

He’s hesitant to say whether he agrees with director Russell T Davies’ assertion that gay people should play gay roles. ‘It’s a big old conversation and one I’ve spoken to Russell about, and many other actors. But it’s really hard to give a sound bite to sum up.’

I tell him I don’t want a sound bite. ‘It’s about redressing the balance of access to roles. There just aren’t that many gay roles, so when straight actors go to take that space up, it’s eliminating the chance for other [gay actors].

‘We know there has been a history of needing to be closeted to succeed and be famous, especially in acting. And the idea of not being able to believe heterosexual relations and narrative, if you know one of the actors is gay… everyone should be able to play absolutely everything. But let’s blow away all the cobwebs, and one of the hang-ups and shadows of the past is that we need to be a lot more open to the idea of sexes playing different sides. There have been amazing performances by straight people playing gay and by gay people playing straight. It’s a moment to think about that, and I think Russell’s point was that there’s a vitality and a joy to It’s A Sin because he cast gay people in gay roles. That’s completely true. It’s not a bad thing to own your narrative.”

He is glad not to have received any flack for playing a straight role such as Viscount Anthony. ‘Bearing in mind the internet is a place where anyone can say anything, there hasn’t been anyone who’s had any animosity, or challenged it, so that’s good. Yes, I’m looking forward to gay actors playing gay parts, but for me it’s so important that everyone at home can see a bit of themselves on screen, to allow them to feel heard and seen, and also allow them to have aspirations.

‘Good actors can do anything, and there’ll be amazing writers who are willing to write for everyone. If there are people who don’t have access to creating their own TV shows or telling the stories they want to tell, then absolutely, everyone has to make space for them. That’s not just to do with gender or sexuality. It’s to do with race, religion and everything else.’ He pauses. ‘The idea that someone could read that and go, “God, that’s just a woke viewpoint,” I find really funny. It’s just basic sense, isn’t it?’

Another dog — this time a cockapoo — launches itself on Bailey mid-flow. ‘We have a family cockapoo. I looked after him in Lockdown 1,’ he says. ‘That was a real baptism of fire. He ate a sock. A full sock. It was a Muji sock. Stripy. And then it came up again three days later.’ What’s he called? ‘Benson, after the village I grew up in.’

His sounds an idyllic childhood. Brought up in Oxfordshire, he eschewed drama school for an Open University degree. Neither his parents nor three older sisters have anything to do with acting, but his interest was sparked as a child after watching a production of Oliver in the village hall. He joined the local drama club and also pootled around at the back of the class while one sister did ballet. ‘I wasn’t really invited, but I remember having Velcro trainers and just squeaking in the back and trying to do some pliés. I stopped dancing aged 12 because of the inevitable narrative — peer pressure. Ballet became a euphemism for something else.’

Was he the sort of kid who always got the lead in the school play? ‘I did play Jolly Roger in Jolly Roger,’ he smiles. ‘But then I was taken down a peg or two when I played a raindrop in Noah’s Ark. You win some, you lose some.’

With Bridgerton likely to run for many more seasons, and Viscount Anthony’s storyline taking centre stage in season two (now that sister Daphne is married off, the plot will focus on his own romantic life), Bailey’s newfound fame isn’t going to dissipate any time soon. He has mixed feelings. ‘You work and strive to be an actor and you can get better at it and enjoy it. But you can’t be good at fame or enjoy it. Some people do, some people don’t. It’s a different cocktail for everyone. There are suddenly opportunities available, which is brilliant, and I’m incredibly lucky. But then I realise this is when people say it’s about saying no, because what you say no to keeps you on the path.’

What also keeps him on the right path is the role itself. ‘Bridgerton is actually delivering on changing the bar, and the standard, of representation. Because of that, I’ve had amazing messages from people who have been able to talk about their sexuality, or people who have seen themselves or their children in the Duke of Hastings [storyline]. For me that’s the thing that’s always going to ground [the experience]. It’s a candyfloss juggernaut theme park ride — like multiple sensory overload.

‘So thank God for family. Thank God for friends.’

Source

[your-local-grubdog]

Guess Who Beat TotK Today!

I just beat Tears of the Kingdom's main story today! And so I wanted to scream about my thoughts here really quickly with a spoiler-free review. Maybe I'll come back some day to give some more thoughts on spoilers.

Overall, the game is really fun and even amazing. Ultrahand is such a fun mechanic to mess around with, I've built a lot of fun stuff using it. Others have really pushed the mechanic to its limits and it genuinely feels a bit like engineering with how much testing and re testing and making updated versions of things you've designed in the past. I genuinely mean it when I say it feels like it teaches players the core skills of engineering. No, most of what you build isn't realistic, but you are learning how to be patient, how to carefully examine problems, how to work with limited resources (in the cases of shrines and when you realize "fuck I'm out of [thing] what else can I use"), and how to accommodate for other limitations like space, material properties, and gravity. None of it is 100% realistic, but it's more about the fact that you get used to such things which can be applied to the real world albeit with different limitations. Think like how working with redstone in Minecraft is sometimes refereed to as redstone engineering. That being said, I think my only issue with Ultrahand is that the furthest distance from which you can grab objects and the furthest distance you can move objects to feels like it's just barely too short. I understand this was a balancing choice, but I can't count the number of times I thought to myself "how can I not reach that" or "how can I not put it there".

Fuse alleviated the issue of monster fights in BotW not being worth it after a certain point. Monsters don't just drop weapons and potion ingredients, but also weapon parts -  meaning that, in general, you'll be getting more resources from fights than you put into them so long as you didn't get in over your head or otherwise messed something up. Granted, as you progress through the game fighting lower-tired enemies will eventually become pointless, but to a far more acceptable degree than in BotW. In that game, I eventually avoided all monster fights unless I really needed a specific drop or they had a weapon I wanted. In TotK, I just ignored weaker monsters with worse drops in favor of stronger monsters with better drops. This system also made the durability mechanic much more bearable, as you could more reliably get good weapons.

The game also tried to make rain less annoying which it... mostly succeeded at. There's now a "slip resistance" stat you can get from armor, food, and potions. By and large, this works, even with the inclusion of surfaces that are always slippery to climb no matter what. But there's one floating sky island that's always slippery due to rain, has really sheer cliffs, and if you fall chances are you're falling out of the sky entirely, and I hate it with every fiber of my being </3

Both the skies and the depths were fun to explore, each providing their own challenges and mechanics. All three "levels" of the map felt super different and expansive, effectively meaning that - even though they did re-use BotW's surface - the map size has been more than doubled, meaning there is so much to explore. I will say that most places in he depths feel very samey and that, besides a few major land marks, I probably couldn't locate where any specific clip or screenshot was taken without the mini map present. Sky islands also suffer from sameness but to a lesser degree. The skies could have also benefited from one or two more islands the same size as the starting one that are also unrelated to story progress. Both for sake of variety and for more places to explore. Regarding the depths again, I understand the desire to make the depths climate-controlled except for the lava area, but I do wish they let the Gerudo Depths be sweltering hot as well and mountain depth be freezing cold, each with their own aesthetic. Still, the extra spaces to explore with their unique challenges and loot are welcome, and I just adore how progressing in your exploration of one aids in the exploration of the others; exploring the surface grants you resources to get through the other two while also granting ways to get to the depths and skies, the skies have resources unique to them that make travel faster for all layers and depths travel safer, and the depths have resources useful for fights in all layers as well as upgrades that make travel faster in all layers. Exploring the depths also helps you find land marks on the surface (and vise-versa).

WE ALSO GOT NEW ENEMIES!!! The enemy variety in BotW was severely lacking, which has been largely rectified. Some enemies are unique to the depths and one enemy type is only found in one area on the surface prior to making story progress (after which it is depths only), but the increase is still greatly welcomed. Excluding color/skeletal/elemental/other variants, we went from 11 basic enemies and 3 "mini boss" enemies to 19 basic enemies and 7 mini boss enemies if I am counting right. More variety is always more fun!

Dungeons were also MASSIVELY improved from BotW! They all have unique themes and unique bosses rather than using the same theme/similar bosses. All of them were pretty good as well, still being completely nonlinear. That being said, there are some bosses that I didn't care for. I won't go into detail until the spoilers section, but the TL:DR for them are as follows:

One boss you have to fight using a brand new mechanic that I don't think we were given enough time to really figure out, not helped by the fact that the second phase does that annoying "you must wait a random amount of time for the boss to finally do the one thing that will let you attack" thing. Not a hard fight in the grand scheme of things, but an annoying one

The second phase of one of the Zora temple boss (which is what I'll call it to be as light on spoilers as possible) is so goddamn annoying. It moves faster than you and you have a narrow window of opportunity from which to attack. Not helped by the fact that... the way I'll phrase it here is that you need to be physically close to the thing that makes the boss vulnerable to attack to, well, make the boss vulnerable, but sometimes you're just. Not close! And can't get close enough in time! Just the second phase is bad, though, first is fine.

Two phases of the final boss really rely on you being able to execute flurry rushes with tighter timing than usual or just tank the hits. Prepare to either practice perfect dodges or - if you're like me and just suck ass at timing - get a lot of gloom defense and gloom heals ready. Like a lot a lot of heals, the road to the final boss is designed to drain your resources. Maybe put a travel medallion down occasionally so you can leave, restock, and return while maintaining progress.

All that being said, the Gerudo temple boss is my favorite in the game and maybe even my favorite across the few Zelda games I've played! It's just a lot of fun, there's so much to keep track of yet it never feels completely overwhelming or annoying (though the very final phase of the final boss is very kickass and I love it too). In fact, the Gerudo questline in general was my favorite of them all.

I also liked how the first town (at least, the first one the game tells you to go to) will change over time to reflect story progress. Just a nice touch. And while I won't say a peep about the story I will say that it was fantastic. Nothing ground breaking, of course, but a good time for sure.

Very low context spoilers, you won't know what I'm talking about until you see it yourself, but the Gloom Spawn enemies absolutely should have been named either Dead Hands, Red Hands, or Wall Masters. Just saying.

My over all thoughts is that the game is good, really damn good. Solid 9/10 for me. There's so much to do and see and much fun to be had. It is absolutely worth your time. Your money, however... This is a $70 game instead of a $60 and, honestly, as much as I love it and want to recommend it whole heartedly, I find that it struggles to justify the increased price tag. The world is massive, yes, and the physics engine is still amazing, but it was built using BotW as a base. Had it not done that and still be just as bug and dense, yes, easily worth the extra money. But as a product based on a separate game that was $60, I don't find the extra stuff added to be enough to justify the higher price point. Either snag a used copy or use that voucher thing Nintendo has on offer. Just don't pay the full $70 if you can avoid it.