#not just as a matter of principle but because your brain needs to hear it reinforced to do so; especially when there's already damage

[angorwhosebabyisthis]

lies on the floor and has just So Many Feelings about all the ways in which pericles and cassidy are foils, one of them being the comparison between how they use constant, vocal, unabashed affirmation of the qualities they value about themselves to cope with rock bottom self-esteem.

there's so much to be said here about how pericles' 'positive' self-talk is ultimately destructive to himself and everyone around him, whereas cassidy's has both been healing for her and held her back from processing her self-loathing in other ways, and so much of that has to do with her experiencing firsthand the results of pericles' shit handling of his poor self-esteem and desperately not wanting to be anything like him. fuck me up man

[seiwas]

contains: suggestive, slight mentions of alcohol, a lil bit cheesy but when is love not, unedited happy birthday, my love 🥺

hajime doesn’t care much about his birthday.

at least, not as much his mom and oikawa do, with lit up candles and striped party hats in his rumpled godzilla pajamas. it's greetings at midnight, on the dot, no matter what—even through the crackling sound of static over ocean waves.

he definitely doesn’t care about it as much as his college friends do, with them slapping his back and elbowing his side until his ribs hurt just so he can down another shot for the 'nth' year of his existence.

(they try with all their might to get him past the 5th, but he's driving tonight; and if there's anything about hajiime stronger than his tolerance, it's how resolute he is—firm in his beliefs and even more with his principles.)

so, hajime doesn't care much about his birthday.

but you do, and when he says things like—

"it's not that important, we don't have to."

—all you hear is, 'bla bla bla, it's important, bla bla bla we have to.'

you prepared a picnic for him, among all the other activities you planned for today.

this morning, you served him a hefty stack of pancakes with a rice bowl full of his favorites (that he took a bite from oh-so-sweetly, only to push it to the side before gripping your thigh, deciding that he wanted something else for breakfast instead).

then, you went on a hike. just a short trek up his favorite spot an hour out of town. hajime likes being under the sun; he loves the heat, the sweat that trickles down the divots of his muscles because they mean hard work. a good effort. a sign of trying.

he loves tackling you the most in this state—sticky and sweaty, a little slippery. you hate how it mixes in with your sunscreen, but love how hajime feels against your skin, arms wrapped tightly around your waist, and chin tucked sloppily against your neck.

so you let him.

(and even though you tell him he gets a pass because it's his birthday, he knows that isn't true. you always let him do this, anyway.)

his favorite roast beef sandwich, then a shower and dessert (yes, together) later have found yourselves here, at the cusp of sunset, a drive up at your favorite spot overlooking the city.

you prepared a picnic for him, packed all his favorite snacks and berries; made a small chocolate cake with the letters 'hbd hajime ♡' in even smaller fondant cut-outs. simple and minimal (because you know he would prefer it). you intended to watch the sun go down cuddled up in the few blankets you brought, but the weather’s been gloomy for the past 30 minutes, and even worse than that—it's begun to rain.

hajime can sense your stress, he always does, and when he rubs circles on your back telling you, "it's not that important, we don't have to."

you only feel the need to prove him wrong.

if you push forward the chairs in the middle row of his suv, you'll have enough space at the back. and if you park the car to face the view, you can still catch the twinkling of city lights when it turns dark.

the cogs in your brain turn and your brows scrunch as you remain silent, so much so that it begins to worry him.

rain patters against the windshield, and hajime leans over the center console, tucking your hair behind your ear.

"it's okay, babe, you've done so much for me already. we can go back—"

"no," you look him in the eye.

because, it is important.

hajime, the man you love and have loved for the past 4 years; the most hardworking, determined, and considerate man you've ever known was born today, 26 years ago.

and hajime might not care about his birthday because he doesn't think it matters all that much, but it matters to you, because this has been the most important day of the year to you since first meeting him.

"give me a bit," you twist to face the back, "excuse me," urging hajime to move to the side as you cross the center console to the seats at the middle row. you push the seats forward and bend over the backrest, hauling your picnic basket, blankets, and pillows to the now vacant and spacious trunk.

"i can help—" you hear his door handle click.

"no!" you shout from the back, "remember, we agreed! birthday boy relaxes and enjoys!"

he isn't happy about it, and you know he'll insist that he can only relax and enjoy if you're relaxed and enjoying, but you work quickly enough that he doesn't get to argue.

when you call him to the back, you've set up the entire space. the picnic mat is laid out, pillows placed comfortably in areas you both can cuddle in. a bunch of berries and crackers are laid out in a makeshift food section, along with a few bags of chips and the small chocolate cake you stayed up last night making. you serve water as your drinks because hajime prefers it that way.

the sight that greets him is more than anything he thinks he deserves, but what truly takes the cake is you, sitting on the palms of your feet with your baby hairs matted to your forehead and the sweetest smile reaching your cheeks. you hold up your phone to show a live youtube video of a setting sun in some place, somewhere in the world, and amidst the rain pattering against the roof of his car, hajime thinks he would rather have this over a real sunset, somewhere in the world, without you.

he crawls over to where you are, careful to avoid the food you set up. his cheeks hurt from smiling, eyes crinkling as he takes your cheeks in the palms of his hands, squishing them together before kissing you with all the love he can't put into words.

hajime doesn’t care much about his birthday.

but as he parks the car in reverse, positioning the trunk to view the city lights down below, he sees the twinkle in your eyes and can’t help but love how happy his birthday makes you.

[maryfailstowrite]

Rose's quote in the crossword of the literature insane girl MV will never not fail to amaze me. I absolutely love it and here's why:

"Ego cogito ergo (turbatus) sum."

First with the basics: "Cogito, ergo sum", the original (not really, because the real original was in french, but whatever) quote by René Descartes, translates into "I think, therefore I am". I don't think the meaning needs much explaining, because it's just... that. It's one of the first principles of Descartes's philosophy, and it states that one's existence is certain because to think, beforehand you need to exist. You can't doubt your own existence because to doubt, you need to exist. It's as simple as that.

But this interpretation of the phrase has little to do with Rose's character. There's a word (or maybe two, but I'll get to that later) that the MV adds, and that changes the whole meaning of the phrase.

“Ego cogito ergo (turbatus) sum.”

Rose’s quote translates into “I think, therefore I am (troubled).” This is not her doubting her existence or whatever, this is about her memory. “Thinking” here isn’t meant as in literally just thinking, but as in Rose’s thought processing and reasoning. Her photographic memory makes her have an overload of information to process at all times, and after processing it, she’s unable to discard it no matter what. She’s troubled, troubled because no matter what, she can’t forget. Every murder, every drop of blood, every gasp, every word is engraved in her mind, and no matter how hard she tries, she’s doomed to remember it all for the rest of her life.

A lot of people see having a photographic memory as a blessing. Almost like a superpower. They think of detectives solving murder cases because they remembered the exact position of one of the curtains at the victim’s house, or in Rose’s case, they imagine her making perfect replicas of a painting just after seeing it once. And, sure, maybe she can do that. She is the Ultimate Art Forger, after all. But I still think her photographic memory is much more a curse than it is a blessing for her.

Humans aren’t made to remember. We are made to forget a very big part of our lives, in fact. Do you remember exactly every meal you’ve ever had? Every shower you’ve taken? Every outfit you’ve worn? No, of course not. You don’t. Just like you don’t remember every single time someone has given you a strange look, or every time you’ve done something embarrassing.

Do you see where I’m going with this? Forgetting is a coping mechanism. Not only does it prevent our brains from overloading with useless information, it also helps us heal from bad experiences. If we remembered every single detail from all of our bad past experiences we would go insane, we would never heal from those memories and emotions. We could replay the memory over and over and over again to analyze what could’ve been different, what we could’ve done in another way, and what we could’ve ultimately done to avoid the situation. But as humans, we forget. It takes time, but the details start to fade one by one, and by the end, the bad experience is just a foggy distant memory, a mix of lingering feelings and a blurry outline of what happened, an outline that can’t hurt us anymore…

Except for Rose. Rose remembers everything. This is why the world is so overwhelming for her (let alone the killing game). She dozes off half of the day because if she wasn’t sleeping, she’d have to remember everything that happened at that time. I think it’s easier to picture it if you put it like this: Imagine if you were forced to memorize every single thing that happened around you for a day. Not just what you do, but what everyone in your view and hearing range does. It sounds exhausting, right? Well, welcome to Rose’s mind.

Rose is troubled because she can’t forget. Or rather, she remembers, therefore she’s troubled (see the parallelism I did there with the quote we’re analyzing???? see it????). She’s condemned to remember every detail of everything that has ever happened to her, to replay moments like movies and analyze them until she finds out what could’ve been better, what could’ve been worse, what she could’ve done different. The problem is, the past is the past, and no matter how much you replay it, it never comes back. It’s just an illusion, a nightmare that appears in front of you, and yet you can never reach. You can just watch as it unfolds, unable to change it, unable to do anything, unable to look away. She can never look away.

As an ending to this post, I’d like to take a closer look at another detail. The original phrase is “Cogito, ergo sum”, as it’s already been stated before, but the version used in the MV is “Ego cogito ergo (turbatus) sum.” “Ego” simply means “I”, so it doesn’t add much meaning (in fact, the original French is “Je pense, donc je suis”, so the pronoun was already there from the beginning), but I still think adding it emphasizes the meaning they want to give to the phrase. It refers to Rose’s personal experience, so instead of making it a general quote anyone can say “I think, therefore I am (troubled)”, they emphasize the personal meaning of it by adding the “I”, which can be perfectly omitted in Latin without losing the phrase’s meaning. It’s something more like “I think, therefore I am (troubled)”, and I think it’s a great detail to see how different Rose’s experience of existing is compared to everyone else’s, or at least, how different she considers it to be.

In conclusion, I’m a nerd that loves looking too much into things. Thanks for coming to my TED talk 🫶🏻.

[restinslices]

Yo, still waiting for that if Tomas was a sub one (canon tbh)

Cannot believe I forgot. Y’all can boo me

Imma just come out and say it. He's such a whiny sub

There are characters that give me dom vibes but I think them as subs would be fun. There are characters that give me switch vibes. Tomas gives me only sub vibes. I don't detect a dom in there. idk, that's just me tho

So needy and whiny it'd probably throw you off when you see him doing anything other than begging you to touch him 

Cannot handle teasing at all. He's ok with teasing you but breaks easily when you tease him 

Honestly he can't backup any of the shit he talks. 

One of those subs who need attention at all times. Even if you're not interacting with him, he still wants you in the area 

Kinks I think he'd have are barebacking, biting, humiliation (a HUGE one and imma stand on it), breath play, collaring (in private), impact play, sex toys and sensory deprivation 

I just feel like he's a slut in disguise. Where's my proof? I made it the fuck up. I'm doing this for US 

If you have female anatomy he's also getting pegged. IDC IDC 

Humiliation is a big one for him because he knows it's still a safe space. You can taunt him about how he's a slut, write things on him, make him get off with something unusual, ect. but at the end of day you still love him and it's all for fun. 

You can tell when he's needy ‘cause he's extremely close to you. He follows you around normally, but he's right on your heels 

To torture him more you can pretend you have no idea what he wants. He knows you know and you know he knows, but watching him try to ignore how he feels ‘cause he doesn't wanna say it out loud is priceless. 

He also has a tendency to say he can't take anymore but in reality he wants you to keep going. This is a big guy, he can take it. 

There's two good punishments for him; Cockwarming and overstimulation 

Cockwarming because he can't handle teasing. It's so simple but he can't stand it and doesn't know which is worse; when you're inside of him (actual dick or strapon, doesn't matter) or when he's inside of you. Either way, it doesn't take long for him to apologize for whatever he's done and beg you to fuck him already. 

For overstimulation he gets turned on and cums pretty easily so it wouldn't take that much to overstimulate him. 

These two go well together. Cockwarming then overstimulation as a “isn't this what you wanted?”

What would make this better is quizzing him on something. His brain stops working when he's horny so quizzing him on Lin Kuei principles or something else he for sure knows adds to it. 

He knows he knows the answer but his brain is a fog. It kinda puts the punishment in his hands but that adds to the torture. If he could figure this out, then you'd actually fuck him (or you'd stop fucking him if you do this while overstimulating him)

As I'm typing this I thought of another thing that can be both a punishment but also something he enjoys. Dryhumping. Listen to me and listen to me well-

I can see him coming up behind you when you're alone and rubbing against you to let you know he's needy. And if you told him to keep going, he'd cum but it's not what he really wants to do. 

So him being in trouble and being forced to rub against you but not be inside you or have you inside him would drive him nuts. 

Aftercare for him would be showering together, cuddling and reassuring him you didn't mean any of the negative things you said. Especially after an intense punishment, he needs to hear you don't actually think negatively of him and you love him. 

Also reading together depending on the day. Just something really chill to pull him back to reality. 

I just realized he has the least amount of words so here are afterthoughts to fix that

I know I've called him whiny multiple times but I genuinely think sometimes he can't even form coherent sentences. All that comes out are noises 

Tries not to pout but does so anyway 

He can get off just from giving head 

Loves you leaving marks on him as long as he can cover it up. He can't be scrapping and the enemy sees a hickey on his neck

Tries to sneakily break rules. For example, if a rule is “no touching yourself when I'm gone” he'll do it anyway and try to get rid of the evidence. He'll shower, change clothes, clean any toy he used and whatever else he has to do but you somehow always know. 

Tomas is not the best liar and has some habits he does when lying, like tapping his fingertips together so you find out that way or from actually catching him and pretending you didn’t

The type to break rules on purpose if you haven't been giving him attention and then be surprised when actions have consequences 

Will call you whatever title you prefer if you don't just wanna go by your name

Like his brothers, he for sure could just throw you off but he never does. It adds to the fun. He's a skilled assassin but if you said “jump” he'd ask “how high?”

The best sub to have if you want one whos so pathetically in love with you but can be a little shit sometimes 

Even after his punishments, he keeps apologizing to make sure you're not actually mad at him. 

Probably begs you to cum inside him anyway you can

I see him and start tweaking fr

[ravelqueen]

Hello! I'm the anon who sent the last Dom!Kim ask (about the Pale) I'm glad you like it!!! I have, like, SO many thoughts on Dom!Kim (especially specifically your Dom Kim!)

So, I hope you don't mind if I share some!

I'm actually curious about who this au of Kim would defer, besides just mentally, from canon Kim. Like in canon Kim doesn't make that many decisions himself, and pushes you/Harry to do the talking/make the decision. Even when Harry makes a bad decision, Kim doesn't step in, and really only give his insights if you ask him about it.

I'm reminded of the scene where you can choose to go into the apartment that Mr Evrart gives you, and Kim lists both the pros and cons of doing either, before stating that it's ultimately your (Harry's) decision.

This actually led me to get a sub read on Kim (I didn't get the authority check because I thought asking Kim to give me a secret would be too personal/mean). Like, I kinda envisioned Kim as someone who needed/wanted someone to lead him and make the decisions (because Dom used to do that for him, and he feels so lost without him?).

But! That's not to say I don't vibe with your Dom!Kim headcanon/au, like, I can have multiple/contradictory thoughts about a character. I just wanted to share my thoughts on how I see Kim as someone who doesn't really make decisions.

Which could be taken in a sub way, or, following your au, maybe Kim is so hyper critical of how he acts in a controlling matter that he's trying to course correct. So he keeps saying that it's ultimately Harry's decision, and letting him take the led, as a way to combat his controlling Dom thoughts.

Also, I do wonder how a play through would go down if Harry was able to pick up Kim having this internal thoughts (probably through an Empathy, Inland Empire, Esprit De Corps build), and being like "actually, I would like Kim to make all my decisions for me" (Harry would probably need to have pretty low Authority and Physical Instrument, lol)

And because he's, well, Harry, he would absolutely be like "hey Kim, you know how you want to control my actions, why don't we do that? I'm kind of a mess here, and could use the help".

Though I still bet Kim would be like Absolutely Not, purely because out of principle (even though he really wants to), and because he doesn't actually know how much Harry is aware of BDSM, the life style, or if he's just asking because he's so much of a wreck and that he trusts Kim. Though I do think it's funny if the skills try to like, help you convince Kim you can be a good sub by telling Harry if Kim is displeased by a choice (like Visual Calculus, Empathy, and maybe Conceptualization and Inland Empire could help).

Though I do wonder how this version of Kim (with a Harry who seems to make it one of his goals to get Kim to Dom him/accept him as a sub) would react to Jean.

Like, Kim in the original game didn't seem to have much of an opinion on Jean. Maybe some respect for being a fellow cop, maybe some hostility for not being there during the shot out. But in this au/verison of this au, maybe Kim gets a little pissed off at Jean for scolding Harry at the end of the game?

Because at this point, maybe Kim has begun to dom Harry a little bit (justifying to himself that he's only doing it to further move along the case), and having someone else scold Harry gets his dom brain going because only *he* is allowed to scold Harry. He's the one whose supposed to publish Harry if he messes up, who does Jean think he is? Abandoning Harry and then coming back to scold him? That's not how this works!

Anyway, I also have a drabble idea after Kim and Harry find Harry's crashed Kineema, and Harry feeling guilty about it, and asking for a punishment from Kim, and this being the moment Kim steps more into the dom role. But! This ask is already getting WAY too long! So I'll just stop now, lol. Anyway, I would love to hear more of your thoughts!

(For anyone joining us/organizational purposes: OG Dom!Kim post and the first ask)

My dear lovely anon: I adore talking about ideas that's why i throw them into the world in the faint hope I get to talk about the more so you really made my day here! <3

(also never apologize for multiple headcanons/interpretations I think that's honestly the beauty of fandom that all characters exist in this sort of schrödinger's cat/multiverse sphere where as long as it's consistent with characterization it's valid)

And yes! In my mind the constant checking in and deferrals are basically two-fold: One Kim has a very dear love of Order and Structure and Rules Governing Interaction, especially in a professional setting - in this case Harry, no matter what, is the lead on this case and therefore gets to make the decision.

Second in this sort of AU version of him where he struggles with his urges, he'd be extra conscientious about not infringing on someone's agency in a way he's not been invited to. That's what the Structure is for: an outside hierarchy imposed on him, so he's not feeling resentful of someone aside from him exercising authority.

And normally that's not a problem for him, but Harry, because of his absolute level of fuck-up (and being pretty much his type overall) is crossing all his wires and fucking up his Very Carefully Created Systems, so he's like EXTRA deliberate in letting Harry call the shots in a way he probably wouldn't normally, course-correct as you say

Therefore he would probably absolute fucking FREAK OUT if Harry would be like "the city told me, you'd like to make decisions for me", because he'd be like FUCK I'VE TRIED SO HARD TO NOT BE OBVIOUS WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH ME and like double-down on fully suppressing any indication of his thoughts (making them perversely worse probably).

Not necessarily because of a SSC reason/Harry's amnesia and therefore unclear relationship to the scene (bc fucked up version of Kim here, he'd probably get a weird thrill out of being able to be the only one to show him/teach him about this) and more because the loss of control implied by being able to be read so easily by someone who - let's be clear here - is dealing with a lot of stuff and therefore should not be able to pick up Kim's internal struggle.

Jeaaaann oh Jean yes what an interesting thought.

Ok so Jean and Kim even in game have an interesting dynamic imo even though it is so heavily impacted by player choice, because no matter what you've done if Kim is there he defends Harry.

But he defends Harry in this really interesting way, because (at least in Good Cop runs) it's almost a conversation at cross-purpose, because they clearly aren't even talking about the same person.

That conversation to me reads weirdly aimless and strange, because Jean is talking to Kim about Harry the way he's clearly used to talking about him to people that also know him well - as commiseration.

Very "have a load of this guy" and "the things we have to deal with". Not getting into whether that's fair or not (I already know fandom is very divided on that point lol), it is very clear that this is almost rote to him and what is also rote is the way the other side responds: with equal levels of annoyance and pain and trash-talking.

Kim breaks this script.

To Jean, Kim is also someone who spent an extended amount of time with Harry so he expects the other side of his rote conversation to happen the way it always does, but Kim - someone he clearly respects both as an officer as well as his intellect and character - keeps refusing to engage, simply because he doesn't seem to have met the same Harry and that fully throws him for a loop.

In that entire conversation he keeps backtracking, apologizing, amending his aggressiveness at the slightest push-back from Kim.

So I think (to finally come back to your question sorry) that yes Kim absolutely would be annoyed - (idt that during the course of the actual investigation he'd ever let himself indulge in much, but he's certainly started smaller behaviour when it doesn't seem to concern the case - make Harry sleep, eat, dress warmly etc., so there is that kind of possessiveness about him for sure.) even angry at Jean for just coming in and sort of staking a claim on which behaviours Harry should even be scolded for.

But i don't think he'd lash out or anything, because really this is about control - both of the situation and of Harry's responses. And just by responding naturally - by pointing out how well Harry had solved the comprehensive, complicated mystery, how he had taken care of himself, how he'd comported himself quite well, how he'd been kind and capable - he's not just taking control of the conversation, keeping Jean always on the back-foot, deprived of his trusty protocol, but also control of Harry.

Because when at first his attention was fixed on this person who he only somewhat remembers and his (justified?) anger, simply by saying the truth, Kim manages to get him to focus on him, to accept his version of reality, of himself and his character - despite the fact that realistically, Jean's version of himself is probably more correct (simply by virtue of him actually knowing him).

Harry wants to believe that this person Kim is talking about is who he really is and to have someone who he respects say these things he desperately wants to be true, they start to become reality.

And isn't that the ultimate rush for Kim, a dopamine push the likes he's never experienced - to not just have someone accept his rules and judgement and decisions, but to have them accept his reality over their own.

[sunstream7]

I need to ask bc im obsessed, i love chiara !! and I wld love to know what the differences are depending on who she ends up with :D

(ur artstyle is beautiful btw <3)

YESYESYES AND THANK YOU!!

this is a long one- a bit heavy on the Delilah content, she deserves her own post one day.

Chiara/nate- Probably my favorite. maybe second favorite. idk. but after graduation she spends a few years in Cali doing community college and working (as much as she loves Nate and wants to go back home to New York, her sister takes priority) but post finished a degree in education she scoots back to new york, getting an apartment near where nate is doing law school- they don't technically live together but he spends almost all his weekends and breaks over there, but despite this they still live relatively separate lives. It takes about five years (education and all that jazz), but she gets custody of Del :3 she's 15 by this point. So it's more so the principle of the matter, but she wants to stay at SSB (She took to it waaayyyy better than Chiara did initially, and isn't inclined towards a second cross-country move when her whole life is there) so while Chia is like. legally in charge Del still lives in Cali except for summers and breaks, when she comes home. that first summer she gets home and just looks at Chia like "where the fuck is dad" @ her and Nate STILL not living together and shortly thereafter they DO move in together and we get the worlds lowest budget family. She has a nice little teaching job- (High school English) and Nate ends up going into family law instead of prosecution (totally not because he's been hearing about the incompetence of the system since he met Chiara) but overall they have a nice little life. double income no kids, they have three cats and a medium sized dog, and get married in their early thirties :3

If she ends up with bae, she defaults to like. the most generic career choice- business administration (It didn't seem terrible or like it would lock her into any specific career. she does get a kick out of seeing Jeremy around campus, though) and afterwards she runs a little cafe! She knew from their first like- real conversation post graduation that he was serious about dating for marriage and wanting kids, and while she bristles a little at being tied down like that (inherent baseline trust of men is at zero courtesy of her mothers teaching and experiences with her father, but he won't let her dance around the topic, so it pretty much ends up as "let me get my life together and then we can do all that, because I do want that with you, just not at the stage of life we're in". same thing, they do long distance for a bit, but he ends up going back to Cali after he graduates instead. (he is desperately fond of Chiara and loves her and del very much. He will not say this for a very long while, not straightforwardly at least) . same thing. She gets custody. they are all. remarkably domestic. Chia and Bae get married at ~25 (her condition was that their brains finish developing) and start fostering kids soon after Del moves out for college. they do end up with their four kids (two sibling pairs. Chiara would rather die than have anyone else know the same fear that you might never see your siblings again) while they don't have any biological kids , they are incredibly doting parents. each child was allowed a pet of their choice- so there is a ball python, jumping spider, a fish tank, and a crusty white dog that always shakes and leaks from its eyes. her little bakery/cafe stays a local thing- it's not like... wildly successful, but it's cute and they have a quite comfortable life.

For her and Pran, they end up moving in together right after high school. it's like. an impromptu thing. She had an apartment lined up and told him her door was always open. He spent exactly two days with his parents before bailing and walking the three hours to Chiara's place, where She only plans to stay for a few nights and then oops, they're building Ikea furniture together and arguing over whether or not to add chocolate chips to pancakes. In this, Chiara doesn't prioritize getting a traditional degree as much, opting for trade school (electrician- she coin-flipped that or mechanic, eventually becoming a proper electrical designer- she wouldn't be able to tell you why, but she rather enjoys it) while working. Same deal as any other, it’s a bit of a kerfuffle to get everything settled with Del, who stays at ssb, not for any particular reason, she just likes it more bc like. All of her favorite people (Chiara, Pran, Jeremy, his parents) are all there and close. Chiara and Pran have a nice little apartment, and she works as a tattoo artist. it's all well and dandy until. oh no. child. they'd never really talked about kids but decided to roll with it- despite initial hesitations on both their parts. they have their daughter, Aislin. they are doing their best and they might not be the world's best parents but they're better than their own and that's good in their books. They don't ever properly get married, but at some point it just seems unnecessary to them. I have a drawing of Aislin somewhere in the depths of my files.

I'm too indecisive about the transfem Pran headcanon (my ass has never been able to make a decision so I flip-flop pronouns). I love it dearly. She deserves the world, and Chiara swings both ways /lh. 

But yeah! That's her! She doesn't have so much a dedicated life plan as things that wont change- mainly needing to be fully self sufficient before having any serious commitment with anyone (like. Legal commitment- marriage, finances, ect). She will always get custody of Del. She always keeps her last name. She has no expectations that her partner takes hers, but she keeps her own (Aislin gets a hyphenated last name- Aislin Mariana Ramones-Taylor. hell of a mouthful. that whole family is. there's like. eleven names total between the three of them), and she always has her own cat for a few years- the one she had back in New York that she couldn’t take to Cali with her (Her best friend back home had been watching it and she got daily updates. Everyone is baffled as to why she keeps joking about ‘child support’ until one group meeting someone asks and turns out she has a cat and not an actual son) (Pran didn't want pets but he had to suck that one the fuck up for two years. Chia had that cat longer than she had him)

She does technically have a bad end but that's neither here nor there. and honestly specifically for angst purposes

[coldoddsoup]

more art ye!! Showed it to my friend she said I should post it on tumbler so here !! A gift! The brain rot for the minimum effort principle is too strong so it is art for that @drdiabolical

Who let him into the electricity plants after shutting off his electricity when he was two days due on rent?? (Dude wasn’t happy he couldn’t watch the new episode of virgin river)

also… is Kakashi in this fic a teenager, to classify as an orphan you need to be below the age of eighteen and we know he’s an orphan….is man’s skipping school??? Does like he get homework to do at (his past) work? The hijinks of Kakashi needing Spider-Man level accuses to get out of class to go do villainy after hearing the very specific ringtone he set for the villians (it’s the Benny hill theme) or even better using his stupid excuses from obito even more “oh no Mrs. Johnson I left my hamster on and he’s gonna eat my grandma I need to get home fast!”

just learned about electrolytes! Which makes kakashis powers scarier. Electrolytes are just positive and negative ions dissociated into water (or another polar liquids) when we consume them as the electrolytes get into our blood it brings water with it! The electrolytes leave the water leaves so on and so forth. Now Kakashi can control the movement of the ions as that is just what “electrical currents” are so dude can just slowly shut people down from the inside remove the electrolytes from blood cells and the water goes too so the blood cells shrivel, move the electrolytes from nerve cells and now you have a way harder time reacting to things or even sensing (hearing, smelling, feeling) everything around you. He could dull your senses to the point that you don’t even know your dying before your dead.

though of course the easiest course of action would be stop the electrical flow to the brain ooops heart failure happens sometimes even to healthy people couldn’t have been a murder. And even if a case was opened who would suspect “minor current control”

Now I don’t think Kakashi would immediately go all in on the whole villian thing minimum effort and all that he was sold against his will he will be as annoying as possible without outright hostility. But some of the villains in the league of villians are just teens or people horribly mistreated by society. How could Kakashi not look at toga and how she was shunned for her blood quirk and not see Naruto shunned for being a jinuuriki all these people strange reflections of people he used to call family. Sure he’s annoying and lazy once he gets emotionally attached he would do everything he possibly could to keep them safe.

we’ve already seen Kakashi doesn’t care for ‘hero’s’ or ‘villains’ one way or another but if he gets attached to a person with either title it doesn’t matter what society says about them, good or bad, Kakashi would hold onto them and never let go.

the inherit hilarity of Kakashi failing horribly in dodge ball because he’s just not bothered enough to move and getting nailed in the face will never not be a funny prospect

[thessalian]

Faerun!Alisaie vs the Astral Prism

But first, a few home truths

Aylin: So, I can't give you all your memories back, Shadowheart, but I can help you unlock a few.

Shadowheart: *very quiet nudge to Alisaie via tadpole*

Alisaie: *very quiet return nudge of 'if you want me here, I'll be here'*

Unlocking: *happens*

Shadowheart: They did what to my parents?!?

Alisaie: They kept them alive, at least. So we'll go kick some doors down and come riding to the rescue as we ask them why the hell they sent you to retrieve that protection-from-elder-brain doohickey. I can't think of a better way of meeting the parents than "Hi, I'm Alisaie; I'm here to rescue you - and hey, hope you're cool with me dating your daughter".

Shadowheart: *snrk*

Alisaie: There we go. This kind of bullshit is way easier to face with a smile and a positive mental attitude. And, y'know, good clean face-smashing fun is a lot easier when not sunk into despair.

Shadowheart: Thank you. For always being there to keep me from disappearing into my own head. ...I have plans.

Alisaie: Oh, really.

Shadowheart: Leave it to me, and let me surprise you, just this once.

Alisaie: Fine. But only because you're too cute to refuse without good cause.

Shadowheart: *blush*

Aylin: You've got a good thing. I hope your pleasures of the flesh are as pleasurable as mine are with--

Isobel: Aylin!

Aylin: What? Bards should sing of all the joys you bring to the daughter of Selune!

Alisaie: I'll just leave you to it. I know it's been awhile for you two and I figure you're going to want to make up for lost time before we pack up and head for Baldur's Gate. Have fun. Oh, and here. *hands over scroll*

Aylin: What's this?

Alisaie: Silence scroll. Gith are still trying to ambush us and some of us do actually want to get some sleep tonight, so...

Aylin: You are so very thoughtful. I like you.

Shadowheart: And you're not saving that because...?

Alisaie: I can cast it myself, as and when it becomes necessary.

Shadowheart: *grin* Good to know.

After a good night's sleep

Gale: Thorm is dead. Thaniel's whole again. Why is it still shadowy and horrible?

Alisaie: The prosaic part of me says that sometimes these things take time to kick in. But I am a bard, so I'm going to go with "it's waiting for the best dramatic moment for the sunlight to come streaming in". Epic narrative wants what it wants--

Gith Ambush: *happens*

Alisaie: *who's pretty much beyond being surprised at this point* ...Aaaaaaaand epic narrative clearly wants this particular fight happening on a backdrop of shadows and gloom. Wish we hadn't left Lae'zel at the rear, but... oh well.

Stabnation: *ensues*

Once the gith ambush is cleaned up and they're heading for the road to Baldur's Gate proper...

Gale: You're really enjoying the possibilities inherent in Heat Metal when we're not fighting shadow-things, aren't you?

Alisaie: Hey, you're the one who learned Telekinesis just so you could match the number of ways I have to yeet people--

Shadow Curse: *lifts*

Sunlight: *spreads across the land like warm butter*

Beautiful Tree: *sprouts and grows to entirely envelop the statue of Ketherick Thorm*

Shadowheart; Gale; Wyll; Alisaie: ..................

Wyll: I thought heroes were supposed to walk off into the sunset after a job well done.

Alisaie: They're also supposed to walk away from explosions without looking back. Same principle here; just an explosion of life and growth instead of fire and shrapnel. So let's do that!

Wyll: Sounds good to me. Onwards to Baldur's Gate.

Except, when they're just a day's journey from the place...

Githyanki: *attack from astral portal*

Dream Guardian: Help! Can't face this alone this time! Come to the portal!

Shadowheart: Why the fuck did our warning device not go off?!?

Gale: Where are the others? You'd think Lae'zel at least would be making some noise right about now, and Karlach needed to vent some spleen after hearing about Gortash--

Alisaie: It doesn't. Fucking. MATTER right now. *Thunderwaves gith monks halfway across the old fort* Unless you want to be a mind flayer, in the portal! We can yell at the others for whatever's keeping them out of this fight later, but only if we survive!

And then, in the portal...

Emperor: Um...hi. Didn't have time to put my Dream Guardian face on. Sorry. But I'm the one you hugged when we were talking about Elfsong Tavern?

Alisaie; Shadowheart; Gale; Wyll: Whaaaaaaat the fuuuuuck...?

Emperor: Let me explain.

Gith Monks: *advancing*

Emperor: That'll take too long. Let me sum up: that-- *points to locked up gith* --is Prince Orpheus. Yes, he's alive. He's why you're immune to the Absolute and the elder brain. He's why I'm immune too. But if he wakes up and gets out, we're all basically boned. So please help.

Wyll: We're trusting a mind flayer now?!?

Alisaie: Does the name 'Omeluum' ring any bells? At this point I'm backing the one who doesn't hit first and ask questions never. We can decide what to do about him -- them later.

Stabnation: *ensues again some more*

Finally, with all the githyanki monks dead and Prince Orpheus a lot more chill

Emperor: So ... yeah, I was an adventurer like you and made the mistake of going to Moonrise Towers and got ... well, look, I just know the Absolute and the Chosen of the Dead Three are bad news and this elder brain stuff is bullshit but so long as you're not enslaved to an elder brain, this illithid thing kind of rocks and you should totally try it.

Alisaie: I don't need psionics and mind control; I can already yeet people in about three different ways and everyone tells me I could sell firelighting kits in hell. But thanks; I'll keep it in mind of any of my companions wants that particular option.

Shadowheart: Not it.

Wyll: Got enough physical transformation and dodgy sources of power already, thanks.

Gale: I'm not very useful in that regard, as I'm probably going to have to explode at some point.

Emperor: Very well. I suppose you've managed well enough so far. Have fun looting the corpses and then go get some sleep; you'll need your strength and you look like hammered shit.

Alisaie: Well, someone dropped a gith-spitting astral portal into the middle of our camp. Tends to wreck up the circadian rhythms, y'know?

And, the following morning

Alisaie: OKAY! I have gathered you all together to ask the following: *ahem* *pitched to carry as far as Waterdeep* WHERE THE EVERLOVING FUCK WERE YOU PEOPLE LAST NIGHT?!?

Lae'zel: Patrolling.

Astarion: Finding a snack you wouldn't yell at me over.

Halsin: I was not on watch so ... some days I sleep better as a badger.

Jaheira: Likewise.

Karlach: I wasn't on watch either, so I had a drink. Or, like, twenty.

Aylin: We ran out of Silence scroll so we were gaining some distance so as not to disturb--

Isobel: *bluuuuuuuuuush*

Withers: I do not involve myself in these things, and even if I did, there is a small child and a dog here and they required protection.

Alisaie: *deeeeeeeeep breath* All right. Everyone who's stuck with a tadpole is getting the full version of this, but to sum up: Prince Orpheus of the Gith is alive, Kith'rak Voss was right the whole time, everything's about to blow up in Vlaakith's face, the guardian we've got is an illithid free from the elder brain's influence - and is happy for any of us to evolve to part-illithid without losing our free will, just by the way - and basically is on our side. Still going to help us wreck up the Absolute so that nobody has to be a slave to them or the elder brain anymore. Once we deal with that, we can decide what to do about Orpheus, but right now he's what's keeping us from being thralls to the Absolute and would kill us soon as look at us anyway. I don't like it either but frankly? We started as 'Team Dangerous Company' and that's how we ride - unlikely allies and the best intentions in the world.

Astarion: If I can't rule everyone via tadpole, I want to hijack Cazador's ritual and become UberVamp.

Alisaie: ...Okay, mostly the best intentions in the world. Any questions?

The Entire Party: *raises hands*

Alisaie: *sheepish* Well, tough shit, because I have zero answers beyond that. Now someone help me sort through this chest; we need to go shopping so why not turn ourselves into rummage sales with feet, hmm?

Astarion: So whose problems are you going to solve first, hmm?

Alisaie: Shopping and assessing the lay of the land first, then we start dealing with people's problems. I'll let you all play boulder-parchment-shears for it, all right?

Astarion: I'd bet money you're going for Shadowheart's parents first. But I suppose I understand; love excuses much, yadda. Love her new look, by the way.

Shadowheart: *now has very white hair*

Alisaie: Hopefully that's a good thing?

Shadowheart: I like it. The contrast was nice, but ... I like matching you a bit closer.

Alisaie: ...I cannot wait to ask your parents what all your favourite things are.

[happywitch416]

Just to say, a lot of those "things Bioware forgot" points in that post are just... not right? Of the ones that are technically correct, straight up "this goes completely against established canon" cases, many are intentional plot points meant to hint that hey, Rook might be being lied to right now or not have the full picture. Veilguard absolutely has faults but a lot of that post reads like someone being mad they didn't do what they felt the plot should be, or straight up not understanding that a character might be lying or not have the correct information (spoilers, but Solas's line about abhoring blood magic to rook is an intentional manipulation). Or just making weird logic jumps (the idea Varric should hate Harding's burgeoning Magic because he never particularly vibed with dwarvern culture is weird, by that logic you could argue that he should hate her and any other dwarf on principle. He supports her magic because he's a friend and cares for her!). I can see why Veilguard might be disappointing for some friends but do not let that post be the reason you don't play it because of lot of it is either not true or weird bad faith arguments (also not what lore inaccuracies even are... revealing new information isn't anti-lore, its progression of storytelling. New information can be introduced!). Sorry for the ramble, just saw your tags and I didn't want this to be the reason you stop playing DA games!

Your points are valid, and you are right- its not great reasoning to not play a game you want to play. And given that I have not played it, I can't vet the claims you know? And my tags were very in the moment, no thoughts behind them. But I pretty well swore off dragon age years ago. The whole company drama and paywalling Trespasser is part of the reason. It felt like the true ending of the game, and it was dlc content. That has always bothered me! Its not good storytelling and I will always side eye cash grabs. Yes, even for my beloved Skyrim. Those constant money grabs fill me with ephemeral rage.

Which leads to Varric, it feels like his character was used to make people have investment. (Friend gave me that spoiler prior to that post) Bioware will drag a character through several games for what? For your choices to matter? Because they've been very good about saying that and never following through with it story wise in my mind. (I do absolutely agree with your point about Varric/magic/Harding. Because uh that point in the post was a jump I don't follow. Did we know the same character?)

I also met some of the worst people in that fandom. I met some wonderful ones and wrote things that brought me joy and had life experiences that I will always find happiness in. I'm glad my writing is making people happy now, because it came close to being deleted forever. But seeing that love now has been the happy brain chems I've needed. Could I absolutely spin some new fic branching from Rose and Varric's story? Oh yeah, and that is tempting. But not tempting enough.

My interest in the game was Very Small, miniscule even. The more I hear from friends playing it and seeing gif sets, the smaller that interest grew. I want my friends to enjoy it though! I want y'all to have fun! And tell me about your playthroughs! But I don't think its a sandbox I can play in anymore. There is grief in that as silly as it sounds but it got me back into writing after giving it up, I made friends I still have. But I don't think its meant for me this time.

[in-sufficientdata]

(Inspired by @WeirdAFNews's Florida Friday feature:)

The "How To Do Crimes" Guide For Floridians

Important lessons to be found within:

There is a time and a place.

That time may be never.

That place may not be Florida.

Yes, I'm saying considering either the time or place for your intended crime would be the best way to gauge whether to even commit the crime in the first place.

Please try to use your brain (yes, you have one!)

Examples to follow:

How to know whether the time or place for your crime is right:

If someone will immediately catch you because of your timing, the timing is wrong.

If you are committing the crime for a specific outcome but the timing will make the outcome not happen, the timing is wrong.

You are not living in a movie. If the crime would only work in a movie, your crime should not happen in that place, if at all.

This principle applies no matter the type of movie. Heist movie? Don't do the crime. Romance movie? Don't do the crime. Porn movie? No. Stop.

Example: This man did not consider the timing of his crime.  

The house was still under construction.

Therefore, the boss did not yet live in the house.

In fact, the boss had not yet had his bid for the house accepted.

Example:

This is only one example of this principle, but if you're in a public place and intend to pull out your penis, the place is wrong. Go home first.

Pastor accused of engaging in sex act on Starbucks patio in Florida, deputies say

Example:

Need I say more? Like really. Really.

Florida man accused of posing as Disney employee, stealing R2-D2 droid

Final lesson: Florida has laws that outlaw behaviors, making it that only outlaws perform those behaviors.

So basically, if you live in Florida it may be a good idea to just, you know.

Make it so that you no longer live in Florida.

This has been The "How To Do Crimes" Guide For Floridians.

In summary: Don't commit crimes, you moron. What's wrong with you?

[izayoizuki]

Mine To Keep Ch. 1

Masterlist // AO3 // The Receipts Universe

Next Chapter

Pairing: Jake 'Hangman' Seresin x F!Mitchell!Reader

Summary:

As Hangman's translator on a world tour, you and him get along fabulously. Maybe a bit too fabulously. So you decide to get married. Only problem? Oh, there isn't just one... romantic relationships between navy employees are forbidden, both you and Hangman have enough baggage to fill the cargo hold of the titanic, not to mention the whole thing with Hangman and your dad... But men like Jake don't come along too often- in fact, they haven't come along at all, so this relationship is gonna end only when it's pried out of your cold, dead hands.

Aka The one where I play necromancer on Goose and Carole, while having a slowburn friends to lovers with Hangman. (The tags are more detailed on AO3 I swear)

Chapter 1: Cinderella Walks Into A Bar

You sat at the bar nursing a coke, taking in all the revelry around you, letting it divert your thought process. You were your own ride. It was an odd place to be, honestly. Your friends were scattered all over the globe, just a message away, but you couldn't whine to them about this. It reeked of begging to have the smallest violin in the world played for you, but your feelings were your feelings. Your dad was a great dad, in all honesty, maybe a bit too great. Maybe if he hadn't allowed you to have your own thoughts and ideas. Maybe if he hadn't encouraged you to go to the best universities on his dime. Maybe if he himself was less than the excessively accomplished and principled man he was. Maybe if he hadn't always been there for you. Maybe then, it would all be easier. But the if and sos were wishes and horses, and your fight still rang in your ears.

"But I don't want a job in the military, Dad!"

"It would be the Navy!"

"It doesn't matter! I cannot be a part of it! Part of any armed forces!"

"So you're ashamed of your old man? Is that it, sweetheart? Well, we're living in the real world. Look at your age. Do you think you are where you need to be? Or do you think these little jobs of yours, stuck on the internet the whole day, are all that's left of life?"

You hadn't been able to answer him, and even more frustratingly, tears had started pooled in your eyes. So you'd left.

That had been a couple of hours back, judging by the lights. Now the place was crawling with navyfolk, and there was a cheerful buzz around you. A little to your right were the pool tables, and the boys in brown were running games, alongside their mouth.

"Hey, Hangman!" A particularly obnoxious voice called out.

"Yeller, as I live and breathe." The replying voice sounded like lying back on a summer afternoon with a sweating coke bottle to your neck, like the sun setting like molasses in the sky, like a heatwave after the rain.

"You still takin' bets?" Your ears perked up; where was this going?

"Sure, what you have in mind?"

"Take a girl out, tabs on me." You tensed, peripherally you could see that the guy you pegged for Yeller was picking you from the herd. You could not live through this middle school shit again, especially not today.

"Not those kinds of bets, son." Came the laughing reply. You could hear the undercurrent of firmness though, alongside disgust, and you cheered. Maybe bullies could change. But these details apparently sailed right over Yeller's peanut-sized brain.

"C'mon, you're no fun," Yeller wheedled, but Hangman was firm.

"We can do pool, or darts, I'll let you pick, bud."

"Pussy." Yeller moved away having the last word, and you were surprised that no one made a move in the tense atmosphere, fully expecting a brawl. But apparently Yeller's voice was his own worst enemy, because he'd wanted his parting shot loud enough for everyone to overhear. And everyone had. Penny started ringing the bell, and a huge cheer went up.

Someone clapped Yeller on the shoulder. "Thanks, man."

"What the hell?" Yeller demanded, but Penny simply pointed to the board. "Lady, I *am* the navy," he yelled, but Penny just shrugged and gave him an enigmatic smile.

And in all that noise, someone snuck up behind you, snaking their arm around your neck in what would have been a chokehold, had there been any pressure applied. "Heya Squirt!"

You twisted your head around. "Rooster!" You twisted around, throwing an arm around his neck. "When did you get back?"

"Just this afternoon. And I come back to find that the sun's gonna rise from the west tomorrow. You and Unca never fight. What happened?" Rooster had a smile on his face, but his voice was quiet and his eyes concerned.

"I don't know. Kinda don't wanna talk about it just yet."

"You two are a pair, you know that? He was giving my dad just about your answer, word for word?"

"Yeah? And he drowning his frustration in a coke too?"

That got a chuckle out of Rooster. "Nah, him and dad are taking their bikes out, I think. You know what that means, right?" He waggled his eyebrows, and you giggled.

"Yeah, they're gonna come home tomorrow morning with a new story to add to their repertoire."

"Don't you just know it. Speaking of stories- did you notice what a smooth segue that was?- speaking of stories-, you wanna come 'round later tonight and tell me yours? Mom's gonna be making cookies."

"I'll see how I'm feeling," you answered back honestly, and he searched your eyes. Satisfied with what he saw, he slid off his barstool.

"C'mon, I'll introduce you to some friends of mine." He tagged your arm and dragged you over to the piano, taking you over to a group who could have had day jobs as models; they probably appeared on navy brochures. "Folks, this is my sister." He pushed you in front of him. "Trouble, this is Phoenix, Bob, Payback, and Fanboy." Phoenix pulled you in for a hug, Bob and Fanboy shook your hand, and Payback clinked his drink to yours, being further away.

"There's more to our group," Phoenix kept you close to her, waving vaguely with her free hand "Hangman, Omaha, Halo, Fritz, Harvard and Yale." she recited, "They're scattered around, you'll meet 'em sooner or later. More to the point," she focused on Rooster, "you had a sister and you kept her away from me? When you know that it's only Halo and me around here?" Her indignant look put a smile to your face even as you rose to Rooster's defence.

"Well, I haven't been round in a while-" you started, but by this time Rooster had grown bored of the whole conversation and pulled the plug on the jukebox, and grabbing you under the arms in one fluid motion, lifted you up with a very vocal grunt, before depositing you on top of the piano, so that you had to sit criss cross applesauce to avoid setting your feet on the keys.

"Grunting is rude, Brad Brad," you used the nickname he hated as you swatted him on the arm.

"I call 'em as I see 'em" he retorted, before setting his fingers to the keys. You could see him getting into the zone, as he liked to call it, his fingers tinkling the keys. And as always, you goaded him on.

You knew what was coming, the family tradition, reason no. 1 why both your houses had pianos even though they were right next to each other. The Family Tradition, right up there with New Year's and Birthdays.

"Get on with it Brad Brad!" You yelled, and he gave you a wolfish smile before he threw his head back, veins on his neck prominent, fingers launching seamlessly into a pattern, as he howled

"You shake my nerves and you rattle my brain!"

"Too much love drives a man insane!" You howled right back.

"You broke my will!" He peeked over his sunglasses at you.

"But what a thrill!" You leaned forward, bawling in his face.

"Goodness gracious, great balls of fire!" He did his broken-voiced yodel, so like his dad, and everyone joined in, yelling the words more than singing them, and from then on it was an all out screamfest. You laughed and sang right along, following Rooster seamlessly into whatever merry song he led everyone, from The Lion Sleeps Tonight to Hunka Burnin’ Love, getting up and even doing a little shuffling dance, till you were nearly hoarse.

It was hours later when you all stopped, even though it was still earlier than expected, and Rooster grabbed you off your perch. "You want a ride?" He asked, still grinning from the high of the impromptu sing-along. "I've got my bronco out."

"Nah, I rode here," you grinned right back at him.

"Your call, but remember, Mom's cookies, ok?" He hauled you in for a quick one armed hug before letting you go and walking out.

"'kay!" You nodded, waving him goodbye before making your way to the till to settle your bill. You leaned against the bar, waiting patiently, when you felt someone lean in behind you.

"Come here often, sweetheart?" It was Sugarpie in August, and you fairly whipped your head around.

And were struck immediately by his looks. Voices didn't always match features, but his did. He was a golden boy, kissed by the gods, and you were going to blame this fact for the sentence you vomited next.

"Thought you weren't into those kindsa bets?"

"Didn't tag you as an eavesdropper, pretty lady."

You snorted a very unpretty and unladylike snort, "It's hardly eavesdropping when you're two feet behind me in a public area."

"Fair enough." His smile was so smooth, oil would be ashamed, and somehow his overt flirting was putting you at ease. The fella was playacting a role.

"Still didn't answer my question." Two could play the game.

"Is it against the law to talk to a pretty lady at a bar?" You both were moving up the line.

"Uh huh, they passed that law last Tuesday," you informed him blithely as you got up to the till. "Hi Penny! Could I settle my tab?"

Penny smiled at you, "Your "tab"," she air-quoted, "of *one* *coke* was on Yeller."

"Thanks Penny!", you leaned over to give her a kiss on her cheek. You moved out of line as Hangman came up to bat, and he was torn between paying up and speaking to you.

"Hey, hang on! Do you have plans?"

"Yup," you popped your "p", "My Godmother's waiting up for me." You started moving to the door. "Night!" you threw back.

"Not good night?"

"Don't know you that well."

"Yet! Don't know me that well yet! Will I see you again?" He called out, but you were too far gone for him to hear any answer. You strapped on your helmet and straddled your bike, allowing yourself one last look in before you sped off.

Which is why you didn't hear or see Hangman as he whispered "Oh, shit."

Tagging: @imjess-themess @therebeccaw @blue-aconite

[rphelperblog]

Karen M. Mcmanus Quote Rp Meme

[Her books include- One of us is lying, One of us is next, Nothing more to tell,Cousins, and two can keep a secret]

'It concerns me you're avoiding a promise not to murder me.” 

I solemnly swear not to murder you today or at any point in the future. Deal?'”

“I know what it's like to tell yourself a lie so often that it becomes the truth.” 

“I have to figure out a way to live with that, and it won't be by not forgiving other people's mistakes.” 

“Things'll get worse before they get better.”

“I want to kiss her more than I want air.” 

“I guess we're almost friends now, or as friendly as you can get when you're not one hundred percent sure the other person isn't framing you for murder.” 

“We could be surrounded by walking dead in the zombie apocalypse and she’d look for the bright side.” 

“Holding on to resentment is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die.” 

“These murder club meetings are becoming a regular thing. We need a new name, though.” “I don't know why it's so hard for people to admit that sometimes they're just assholes who screw up because they don't expect to get caught.” 

“Unless one of us is lying. Which is always a possibility.” 

“Good thing life is long and high school is short” 

“love and hope and beauty still exist, even when things seem impossibly dark.” 

You're doing better than me. I never stop thinking about kissing you.” 

“She's a princess and you're a jock,and you're a brain. And you're a criminal. You're all walking teen-movie stereotypes.”

“I have a really strong feeling that on Wednesdays, they wear pink.” 

“You find out who your real friends are when stuff like this happens. Turns out I didn’t have any…” 

“I don’t understand why the world insists on stuffing kids into boxes we never asked for, and then gets mad when we won’t stay there.” 

“Some people are too toxic to live. They just are.” 

“Are we friends, or just a couple of people without better options?” 

“We’re endgame”

“Sometimes, you don't know what you want until you see it.”

"He doesn't get to erase you from the world.” 

“No matter how awful the rest of my life is, my hair still manages to look good.” 

“You don’t think about what’s outside. Or who. Especially if she’s better off forgetting you exist.” 

“It's not nerdy to care about fonts!” 

“Welcome to life in a small town. You’re only as good as the best thing your family’s done. Or the worst.” 

“You can be right in principle and still wrong in approach.” 

“People who never get told no are so bad at hearing it.” 

“Who do you want to be? The guy who goes along or the guy who stands up? This is the time to decide.” 

“I just want to stay wrapped around him for as long as possible, fighting sleep and forgetting about the rest of the world.” 

“Plenty of people get cheated on and don’t lose their minds. Take me, for example. I threw a vase at his head and moved on. That’s a normal reaction.” 

"I don't need your commentary if you disagree, by the way."

“That's the kind of person you can get away with killing: someone everybody else wants dead.” 

“People like to think they're open-minded, but if you toss a tired gender stereotype on their path they'll run with it every time.” 

“We’re like the Kardashians, except without any money.” 

“Nobody should be that good at so many different things. It doesn’t build character.” 

“It means that we’ll wind up together eventually. It might take a year for us to sort everything out, or two, or ten. Whatever. But it’ll happen.”

No matter how much you care about someone, things change when they used to be around all the time an then suddenly, they're not.”

“If I'm not thinking about one shit storm, I have to think about another.” 

“Everybody has secrets, that's nondebatable. The only question is whether you're keeping your own, or someone else's.” 

“How do you make that choice? Between what you need and what you want?"

“She's a pain in my ass and I can't remember why I wanted to kiss her so badly a few minutes ago.” 

“At this moment, I’ve never wanted to do anything as much as I want to grab his face and kiss every inch of it.” 

“I’m the omniscient narrator” 

“I thought you would look how you talk like a constipated gnome.”

that airhead homecoming princess turned badass ninja investigator,” 

“I can’t stop thinking about how rare it is to have someone you can be completely real with, even when things get raw and uncomfortable and a little scary. Especially then.” 

“Like we're some kind of hip high school murder club without a care in the world.”

“Because God, it's beautiful when that boy smiles.” 

“Leave the past where it is” 

“We all make mistakes, right? And almost never see the fallout coming.

“Silence falls as we get lost in our own regrets.” 

“If you could be anyhwere in five years, doing anything at all, what would you pick?” 

“Apparently if you’re going to bring someone in, you have to take someone out first.” 

“The loneliness of that settles over my shoulders like a heavy blanket.” 

“I wish he'd listen, because if anyone knows how badly you can screw up your life when you decide you're not good enough, it's me.” 

“You gotta shoot your shot when it comes...Who knows if you'll get another chance?” 

“Explore the magic of longhand writing. It's a lost art.” 

“People get very angry when police officers are accused of a crime, but that anger is often displaced toward the accuser or the victim. The conflict between obedience to authority and personal conscience is well documented.” 

“Which I realize is pretty uninspiring, but so is high school dating.” 

“Come on, just for an hour till we finish the movie. You can meet my lizard"

“Everyone got secrets right? What really matters is how far you’ll go to protect them” 

“In the interest of full disclosure, I stole baby Jesus, and it was definitely to mess with her.” 

“Here's the thing about powerhouse people: you have no idea how much they take on until they can't do it anymore.” 

“I used to think about that, sometimes, when I wondered what parts of her might still be alive.” 

“but if years of reading true-crime books and watching Dateline have taught me anything, it’s this: it’s always the boyfriend.” 

That's not a line. I have an actual lizard. A bearded dragon named Stan.”

“You're not perfect. So what? Welcome to the real world.” 

“I think the two of them are the real deal. She‘s still the one he wants. She‘ll probably always be the one he wants” 

“If I ever actively chose somebody instead of just letting myself get pulled into whatever orbit will have me.” 

“Sorry your mom drove her car into a jewelry store while she was high on opioids and had to go to rehab for four months.” 

“or maybe we’re finally figuring out that we haven’t been normal for years and it’s time to redefine the word.” 

“Well, I'd like to try. If you want to. Not because we're thrown together in this weird situation and I think you're hot, altough I do. But because you're smart, and funny, and you do the right thing more often than you give yourself credit for. I like your horrible taste in movies and the way you never sugarcoat anything and the fact that you have an actual lizard. I'd be proud to be your girlfriend, even in a nonoffical capacity while we're, you know, being investigated for murder. Plus, I can't go more than a few minutes without wanting to kiss you, so - there's that.

[teaveetamer]

The things about anyone who sides with Edelgard is fine actually (tm) interesting and I agree I remember seeing a Twitter post about what a bad character Monica was and the reply was "She actually has a lot of depth and plot relevance because she’s a lesbian. Hope that helps" That doesn't make her a better character? These are the same people who dislike the other simp characters right? They even said it's an insult to compare her to Faye. Why because it's Edelgard she simps for?

God “she’s a lesbian so she must be a good character” gives me the same vibes as “this story is deep because a girl got sexually assaulted” vibes (ETA: See the edit below for further explanation on this one). Like for some people that’s where the whole depth begins and ends. It’s mere existence within the narrative is somehow enough, no need to justify its existence with actually good writing or sensitive handling or meaningful integration into the narrative.

She is fundamentally exactly 0% different from the Faye archetype. Her simping for a girl over a guy does not make her somehow deeper than that. And why should it? Being a lesbian isn’t some deep or profound experience in itself. It’s literally basic biographical information about who you like to kiss/bang. The interesting parts are how it informs your world view and the person it makes you. Which, and I cannot stress this enough, is given exactly zero focus in Monica’s story. So no, it does not make her interesting or better than the other Fayes.

ETA, since it might be unclear why I'm making this comparison in the OP:

It’s the same principle to me: predominately straight, predominantly cisgendered, predominantly men co-opting the experiences of women/queer people under the false impression that it creates narrative depth, while refusing to understand or portray those narratives in a way that is meaningful or relatable to the people they presume to be representing.

I suppose I could have used something different, but SA was simply on my brain because I watch quite a lot of horror games (happy October!), and sexual assault is a very common theme in the genre. It’s frequently treated as a writing crutch, the “easy button” to portray a horrific experience (since naturally all decent people are horrified by it) but it doesn’t say anything. It’s there to create shock value rather than to be a meaningful exploration of women’s experiences with sexual violence or the culture that helps perpetuate it, and thus its use in story or in argument winds up coming off as cheap. The women who experience it in these games are often portrayed as if that is the ONLY thing about their experience that matters, and you are often given no further detail beyond their name (sometimes not even that) and the fact that they were assaulted. It’s incredibly uncomfortable and dehumanizing to hear the meta-message: “The important thing about this character is the fact that they’ve been assaulted. Nothing else, just that. When you are assaulted, there is nothing meaningful about you aside from your experience with assault and thus we feel no need to engage with your experience further.” Not to mention it can have very sexist undertones, but that can be a story for another post.

(Note that I am not saying all portrayal of SA in media is like this. But you can usually tell when a writer is attempting to approach a subject with sensitivity and grace and when a writer is leaning on it as an emergency writing crutch. I’m also not implying that only women experience SA, however in the horror genre this type of writing is disproportionately applied to female characters and is often very gendered).

Similarly, being queer is frequently treated as a meaningful character trait in itself with no need to explore further or engage meaningfully with the experiences of queer people. It can come off as tokenism and dehumanizing to be told the meta-message: “The important thing about this character is the fact that they’re queer. Nothing else, just that. When you are queer, there is nothing meaningful about you aside from who you love and/or who you bang and thus we feel no need to engage with your experience further.” I shouldn’t have to say this, but queer people are complete human beings with a depth of experience and being reduced down to our sexuality, by people who frequently do not look like us I might add, is certainly something. Heterosexual people are never treated as if their experience starts and ends with their sexuality, and I simply believe we deserve the same respect. And being queer should not be treated as a shield against character criticism. Being queer does not make you better or worse than anyone else.

[This part in response to someone claiming that the statement in question in the anon was a joke]

And I’m sorry, but I can’t know whether someone is joking when they say stuff like “being a lesbian gives you depth” on the internet. I don’t know if they’re gay, straight, man, woman, enby, cis, trans, or anything else. It’s not as if every person who says that kind of thing is joking. So I’m approaching it with a serious tone, because even if this particular person is joking and is the kind of person who understands the queer experience, this is still a mentality that is often found in media representation of queer folk and it does warrant discussion from that perspective.

[licncourt]

Idk if you have already answered something like this, but do you have any thoughts or headcanons about what our Precious But Sometimes Stupid vampires would think of newer technology like Google Dot or Amazon Alexa, or even just texting/group chats? I'd love to know how they interact with stuff like that! I bet Daniel would be exhausted trying to help the rest of them figure that stuff out correctly. Love your blog, it's amazing!

I have SO many thoughts about this actually because as a concept vampires with technology is inherently funny (my sense of vamp humor was shaped by WWDITS 2014). And thank you so much!!

Lestat LOVES new technology and he has absolutely no fucking idea how to use it. He's got the spirit though and the two things he can do successfully are take hundreds of selfies and text Louis with too many exclamation points and emojis. He's also the one friend with the perpetually cracked phone screen no matter how new it is. He won't put a case on it because that ruins the aesthetics. Tiktok seems up his alley if he ever figures it out, as does livestreaming. If he knew how to vlog, he would.

So Daniel is pretty good with tech, he enjoys it and tries to keep up with new developments, but he is also a boomer, so he's probably not going to be quite as down with the kids as he wants to think he is. I'm thinking "soccer mom with an iPad" level of tech literate. He can do decent troubleshooting though and is Lestat's main hookup for new devices when he breaks them or downloads seventy viruses from clicking on pop-ups

Louis pretends to be a total luddite but he's actually not. It's all an act to keep Lestat and Armand from trying to find his social media accounts. He's not super great with it, but he's reasonably competent and has a secret Twitter that he uses to save artwork/poetry/etc and to get in fights about history and culture. He might have a sad boi finsta with pretentious photography and melodramatic captions, but I haven't decided. He's torn on ebooks when Daniel shows him the Kindle app. The practicality is unbeatable but on principle it feels wrong

Armand is the best with tech and internet culture in general. He's on his phone 24/7 scrolling socials, online shopping, networking, and basically just girlbossing it up. When Bluetooth comes out, his earpiece becomes a fifth limb. I mean, he's still limited by his circumstances, but he's pretty damn savvy and even keeps up with new memes/slang terms. He doesn't use them, but he has a mental catalog mainly so he can feel superior to everyone else

Marius ONLY likes Youtube and texting. He has no interest in being taught anything else. All he needs are TedTalks and instant communication with everyone he knows so that they all have to hear every thought he has. It's a lot of thoughts and literally no one cares. The four times a year it's something important no one gets his message because they've stopped checking and he has to use the trusty brain beaming method

There is definitely a group chat. Lestat and Marius talk the most (incessantly). Armand chimes in when he has something snarky to say to one of them. Louis has it muted, but Daniel texts him screenshots of anything particularly stupid

Armand has probably scammed someone with NFTs (as he should). Daniel literally does not care anymore as long as his one Bitcoin keeps going up (he bought it as a joke in 2011 for like $10 and totally forgot about it. He's sitting on 40 grand now and has no idea what to do what to do about that)

Lestat is fascinated by Alexa and the like, but he doesn't have one because Louis is horrified by the privacy implications of the whole thing. Lestat just wants to be able to talk to a machine and have it play him Careless Whisper on command. He does not care about internet privacy as long as his life is convenient

[erwinscrybaby]

𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐳𝐚; 𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐮𝐧

reiner braun x fem!reader. dark content/nsfw. religious themes/trauma related, blasphemy, lots of corruption (kink and not kinky), reiner is confused, clingy, needy and sad as fuck. eventual smut.

fraqueza: weakness, fragility.

summary: it's more than just curiosity. reiner goes to the mass every day he can, craving the day he dies as one of the god's chosen for entering the heaven, to finally see his dead and disappointed mother and tell her he'd been a fair man. but his faith is too weak and, in a matter of weeks, he's not going to the cathedral to pray, but to see the girl across the street. you, called the sin.

words count: 1,256

note: it's quite confuse at first, but i promise it'll get better. the plot has lots of feelings such as guilty because of church, religious trauma related, so if you feel bad reading about it, please, don't proceed. i had a good time writing a this, so i hope you like it too <3

i. low blood pressure

Reiner’s faith is weak. Surprisingly ridiculous for a man who goes to the church every week, sitting on the last seat during all the three masses that happens on Sunday, but whose heart is outside every single minute. His heart is divided—the beauty and peace religion bring him is good, but the thought of leaving to live without rules other than his own moral principles teases him while the Father talks about the rewards of renouncing the flesh.

He knows himself and the contradictions about his thoughts. When Braun’s at church, he’s pretty sure he can fight against the carnal desires. God may give him the strength he needs if he prays; the Father can help him with his good advices. Though, when Reiner steps out of the cathedral, the first thing he sees is the sin wearing tempting sundresses and no bra. And, damn, how he wants it. More than go to the heaven and meet his mother, who died being a God’s servant.

It's a shame he doesn’t wait even a single minute to feel he’s a dirty man after the mass. The tease of his soul, flesh and mind is across the street, always reading books with creepy scenes on the cover, matching nothing with her pretty dresses, made of floral print fabric. Her smile is soft, although Reiner knows one of those books talk about murders and passionate crimes. She usually looks up when the church’s bells ring, and her eyes meet with Reiner’s. He has never received a smile, but the curious gaze she passes all over his rigid military uniform is tempting enough to have him thinking more than he should, especially after so many moments hearing about the importance to keep strong against the devil’s trials.

After the mass, Reiner goes back home and pray a little more. He gets down on his knees, closed eyes with the faith he doesn’t have, and starts to mumble his wishes, hoping God is listening to him. But his mind is a traitor—he imagines the girl across the street on the bed his head is placed, his head between her legs and his tongue shut, focused on getting louder moans and his pray is over. Not even the hallowed be thy name is said before his pants are tight, uncomfortably reminding him of his most recent sin.

For God’s sake. It isn’t the first time he gets aroused during the Lord’s Prayer because of that girl that must be younger than twenty-five years old.

Guilty grows in his chest every day he notices he’s not going to the church because of the Father’s lecture, but to see that girl. To see you.

One day, you pass across the cathedral large doors and stops at the last seat, by Reiner’s side. It is not as close as he desires to have you, but stills a massive distraction when he notices you and your blue dress, full of colorful butterflies on the fabric, sitting so close. All of sudden, without any warnings. Why didn’t God send him any “be careful this week” sign?

Reiner moves, worried, on his place, when you wave your hand to him, smiling softly. It’s the first time he sees you doing it towards him and the sight is tattooed in his brain instantly. He only nods, looking up to the altar, where the Father is starting to explain about the Time of God. Instead of paying attention, he stares at the image of Mother Maria, widen eyes, and repeats the words one of the Nuns once said to him.

“Our Father who arts in Heaven, protect me from the flesh desires,” The words leave his lips with no sound, seeming to work at least a little bit. His mind stops showing him scenes of your knees on the carpet of the church while he towers overs you, and blood stops rushing to his dick. He sighs, relieved, and continues. “Hallowed be thy name, give me the strength and don’t let me fall today.”

You start to chuckle, but soon it becomes a cough, ones no one would ever believe. Braun feels like staring at you; he wants to know why are you finding everything so funny, but he forces himself to keep praying. If he distracts himself for a second, not even the Bible on his lap would be enough to cover the proof of his sin.

Reiner breathes in, “Lord Jesus Christ, cover me with the protection of your powerful blood.” Breathes out, and his faith is gone for a moment, dangerously challenging him to look at you, and he can’t help himself. “Lord Jesus Christ,” he says, loud enough for you to hear it and shake your head because of his surprised tone.

This time, it’s impossible. Not even an entire chapter of the Bible could save him from the way his dick throbs when he sees the pretty fabric of your dress being pulled up shamelessly with the excuse you want to rearrange it. His fragile faith falls from its dome and is shattered into a million pieces when your thighs are almost bare in front of him, almost reaching the place he wants to place his head.

Braun’s faith is weaker than he thought.

Standing up, he grimaces, weak. His stomach hurts, his head is dizzy and his erection tight into his trousers makes his breath messy, a shame for a man who can run kilometers without the need to stop. His first thought is to go to the bathroom and calm down himself, coming back to the mass after it. But once more his flesh betrays him and he sees the house across the street, with its gate open, calling for his name.

He walks until he’s very close of the small gate, a cute garden close to it, full of red flowers and their painful thorns. He looks back, to the cathedral, and he thinks he must be delirious—why are the girl of his sinner’s dream walking to where he stopped? It means nothing it’s your house, why are you following him? Do you want to make him give in to the temptation by inviting him to your house, offering him a cup of tea and a blowjob?

Reiner falls on his knees, praying one more time, staring at the yellow moon.

However, now he begs you. Please, invite him in. Please, offer him chamomile tea with two sugars and taste it before giving the mug where your lips touched. Ask him if he wants to stay the night, because everybody knows military men are hard-workers.

When you reach him, holding his shaky hand and caressing one of his cheeks, Reiner is sure that not even the Heaven must feel like it. His shoulders are free, he feels so light he could even fly. With his feet on the floor, walking into your little house, he forgets he should not accept the devilish offer your tongue didn’t tell him. He lost his abilities to protest as he sits on your blue sofa, staring at your face like he’s never seen before.

“I should not stay here,” he manages to say, struggling against the knot in his throat.

“Yes,” you give him a smile that feels like comfort, like care. “But your blood pressure seems to be low. And I think it’s my fault. Let me take care of you.”

Reiner falls back. Sees stars. Let me take care of you.

For how long he waited to listen to these words?

[elen-aranel]

Birthday Candle

For: @autumnleaves1991-blog & @clydesducktape Writer Wednesday. Back at this after a bit of a break! Pairing: Captain Christopher Pike x F!Reader (no Y/N) Warnings: Fluff. Cake. WC: 1k words A/N: Just a bit of fun!

Dating in space is tricky. No, not that kind of—

Well. Yes, that kind too. You stifle a sigh as Captain Pike walks by your console. What you wouldn’t give for a date with that man...

But dates, the temporal kind. You got a headache in the lecture you had at the Academy explaining why, classically, you couldn’t measure the speed of light in one direction. Why you couldn’t be sure that other places were at the same time as you. You wrote down the words ‘Einstein Synchronisation Convention’ and left it at that.

You tuned out before they got to the explanations with warp. You aren’t a scientist; sometimes, like today, you have to do the calculations, but life is too short to waste time trying to twist your brain into knots to understand the theory behind them.

On ships you tend to think in stardates. It’s easier, travelling at warp. Everyone uses stardates in their logs. You don’t need to convert to Earth dates very often, as a pilot. The more important thing is knowing how long it’s supposed to take to get where you’re going. But science is working on an experimental warp probe, and the captain asked how long it would take to get to Earth, travelling at different speeds. Doing the calculations is second nature. But then you work out what the dates will be if it leaves now and...

...huh.

Today, on Earth, is your birthday.

You knew it was coming up, of course. But you never bother to calculate the exact day for you. It’s not a big deal. Not really. You’re an adult. You don’t have any inclination to celebrate, and even if you did, you haven’t been on the ship that long. You don’t have anyone to celebrate with.

“Lieutenant? Do you have that data for me?”

“Oh, um, yes Captain. I’ve transferred it to your console.”

And that’s what you get for worrying about it, you think, annoyed. Distraction on the bridge. Number One will never let you do an alpha shift on the bridge again, especially since she’s a helmsman too.

*

“Can you swing by my ready room when you get off shift please Lieutenant?

I have a small matter I’d like to discuss.”

“Yes, Captain,” you say, wondering what it could be about. And also trying to keep the breathiness out of your voice because he’s standing right behind you and... damn.

*

You’re still wondering what the captain could possibly need you for when you hand over navigation to Number One, who’s taking beta today. Yes, you were a little slow on the bridge, but it wasn’t a, “come see me in my ready room,” type of infraction. More a, “I’d rather she were on gamma,” type of thing. You hope it’s nothing bad; you like the captain. The way Captain Pike runs things, aside from how devastatingly handsome he is... his principles, the way he trusts his people to come up with the answers he needs, his humour, his easy smile... the Enterprise is shaping up to be your favourite ship so far. It doesn’t hurt that her helm is one of the most responsive you’ve operated, of course.

You press the chime for the ready room door, apprehensive. You have to wait a moment, your anxiety increasing, but then the doors open and you step in, confused. It’s dark.

“Captain?”

“I was a little surprised, on the bridge earlier, when you were distracted. I know you haven’t been here long, but it isn’t like you.” You can’t see where the captain is, but you can hear the synthesiser working.

“So I looked at the data you sent me, and one of the dates rang a bell. Pretty sure I’d seen it on something I read recently, like the personnel report of a recent transfer. So I had a look back, and...”

You see the warm light. He turns, and—

“Happy birthday to you,” he sings, and you can see his face in the light of a candle atop a cupcake.

“Captain, you sh—”

“Chris. And yes, I should. C’mon. Blow the candle out. Make a wish.”

You take a careful step toward him – you really don’t want to trip – give him a smile, and blow. You knew what your wish would be as soon as you saw the candle.

“Computer, lights,” the captain—Chris says, and now you can see him properly, and his crooked smile. He hands the cake to you.

“Thank you,” you say, looking down at the cake. It’s large, for a cupcake, and it looks cute with its pink and white frosting and striped candle. “I hope you’re going to help me eat this, Chris. It’s too big for just me,” you say, staring up again into his blue eyes.

“Sure. Shall we—?” He gestures toward the sofa.

He pours drinks for both of you, and you sit together on the sofa, eating cake and chatting. It’s a bit messy – you should’ve synthesised cake forks – but you relax. You find yourself leaning into him.

“Thank you for this, Chris. I haven’t had a birthday cake in years. This has been my best birthday... for a while.”

“You’re welcome. I—er—“ he pauses, then turns to face you. “I don’t do this for all the crew. But I... and please, if I’m making you uncomfortable, we can stop, and I can forget all about this, but...”

You look into his eyes again, at his face, and you see he has a tiny bit of frosting by his mouth. “Chris, you’ve got—can I?” He nods slightly, and you reach out, almost spellbound, and wipe it off. But now you’re touching him and his skin is warm and his eyes are so blue, and you’re leaning in together and—

The kiss is sweet, like the cake, and he tastes of vanilla frosting, as you cup his face in your hand and he reaches for your face too. But it gets more intense as you begin to taste him, through the sweetness.

“So—uh—” his voice is rough as you pull apart. “So if you wanted to forget—”

You laugh, breathless. “I don’t think I’ll ever want to forget my birthday again.”