#off the hook takeaway

[felassan]

David Gaider: "If I really dig into my empathy, I can kinda see the thinking here. Like, let's say you don't actually know much about games. You're in a big office with a bunch of other execs who also don't know much about games. What are they all saying? "Live games do big numbers!" "Action games are hot!" Your natural response? "We should make more action games, and all our games should have live service!" Cha-ching, right? Then some uppity devs spoil your buzz by saying "that doesn't apply equally to all games" or "we have an established IP with an audience that has certain expectations". You frown. You go look at their sales. Good, sure, but not as spectacular as live service and action games! Profit's great, but what's the point if you're not #1 in the charts? If you're not making headlines? If the devs can't make it work, this is THEIR failure. This, after all, is the future of gaming! Eventually, you're going to ask yourself why we (the company) even bother with those other games. Like single player games. It's a question you've asked aloud before. The fans bristle, but you're not here to supply every audience what they want. You're here to make money and increase share value. Maybe I'm being unkind. There are certainly all sorts of lessons a company could learn from a game like Veilguard (I still haven't played it, so I'm going off what other people have said), but "maybe it should have been live service" being the takeaway seems a bit short-sighted and self-serving. Not that there's any shortage of that, when it comes to deciding why a game doesn't do well. For the anti-woke crowd, for instance, there are woke games that do well and woke games that do poorly and only the ones that did poorly did so *because* they were woke. Says more about them than the game. My advice to EA (not that they care): you have an IP that a lot of people love. Deeply. At its height, it sold well enough to make you happy, right? Look at what it did best at the point where it sold the most. Follow Larian's lead and double down on that. The audience is still there. And waiting. ❤️" [source thread]

--

User: "Maybe they can sell the IP to Larian. Or someone else who would treat it respectfully." David Gaider: "I suspect Larian is, smartly, done with working on third-party IP. You do all that work, and the IP overlords do little more than dictate the minutiae and make your life difficult and then you have to cut them a huge slice of the proceeds too? Not a lot of studios are going to bite THAT hook. [source] I know you said SELL the IP, but there's no way EA will relinquish its hold on an IP that could potentially do big numbers. In their ideal world, a studio takes it on, does all the work, and they rake in the cash. Giving up that kind of potential would require BIG money... and who would buy it?" [source]

[soapcloth]

CW: 18+ MDNI, soap x reader, reader injury (not described), structural accident (vague), saviour complex, implied forced isolation, reliance, pushy soap - Dividers -> @/cafekitsune

Johnny who could never, ever find it in himself to become a product of the bystander effect. At any given moment, he trusts his own judgment and experience above anyone else’s, a survival instinct wedged into his mind like shrapnel.

So when you find yourself victim to an unfortunate structural collapse, you wonder if it’s an angel barking out orders. “You- Grey shirt!” You could faintly hear. The voice was commanding, leaving no room for question or refusal. “Call EMS!���

Johnny who is right beside you when you wake up in an uncomfortable hospital bed, forearms flexed tensely over well-filled out worn denim jeans in the seat usually reserved for spouse or family. Says you got caught up in a freak accident, that he was the one to pull you out of rubble.

You’re later informed that your injuries are there, but none are life threatening. Tacks on that this might not have been the case if you hadn’t been rescued so quickly. When you finally make contact over the phone with a family member, they huff and puff about not being let in to see you. Johnny admits to pulling some strings to block anyone from coming in, assures you he just wanted to make sure you were on good terms with them. “Loads of creeps ou’there, aye?”

Johnny who relentlessly digs his way into your life after your discharge. At first it’s little offers; giving you his number if you need anything, which bleeds into “ye’ cannae drive like tha’, let me take ye’ on yer’ errands,” or “let me drop you off at yer’ follow up.” This becomes “well I was in the neighbourhood and figured I’d drop off some takeaway- tugs at m’heart to think about y’havin’ to make meals in yer’ sorry state.” and then suddenly, Johnny’s warm body is pressed carefully against yours in bed as he’s blathering on into your skin about how proud he is of your progress. Presses a wet kiss to your cheek and wonders where you’d be without him before he hooks a thick bicep under your neck and laughs, tells you that he’s glad you’re his responsibility now. “Would’nae have it any other way.”

[crowned-crimson-flower]

Okay not to be that person but does it not KILL you to see the reaction of Shen Yuan’s family to his death? Like this keeps me awake at three am and haunts me when I am alone

What do you mean MAYBE Shen yuan died alone in his living room and wasn’t found by anyone until days had passed because he didn’t talk much to his family anyway? His younger sister coming into their house to find her brother and yell at him for ignoring her text messages for weeks but secretly she feels just so guilty for not checking up on him.

So she’s on her way with some takeaway and a lecture she’s repeated in her mind the entire elevator ride. She puts her key into his door, a key she has and her brothers have and their parents have but only she ever uses. It hurts her a little that their family never visits yuan-ge but then he just keeps getting sick

She enters and the first thing she smells is this horrible-horrible smell of a corpse that makes her immediately want to retch. I really don’t know how to describe it but just imagine a sister seeing her dead brother rotting before her eyes

Shen yuan must have been dead for at least three days. Shen yuan was dead for three days before his family found out. Shen yuan, even in death, was alone as he was in life. Immediately she dials her brothers and parents and the rest is history

This breaks her, because she keeps recalling the last text Shen yuan had sent asking her to visit and she keeps believing that if she had visited, her brother would be alive

Shen yuan’s brothers whom I imagine to be based on SJ and YQL respectively are no less aggrieved. Er-ge shuts himself off in his office and gets even more cruel to his employees. Deep down, he resented SY for how easily he got attention, how he wrapped everyone around his finger, how he could be hooked on an IV everyday but still smile, how even though life was always cruel to him, he was always kind to life. Most of all, he hated just how easy his brother was to love and hurt and ignore and still love back

He doesn’t attend the funeral, the entire family scorns him for it, saying he doesn’t love SY but the truth is, he wouldn’t have survived seeing the body of his brother so cold

Da-ge is raked with guilt. As the oldest, he always took care of SY, his sister and brother are too young to remember but he remembers how weak SY was when he was born. He and SY had a terrible falling out over SY wanting to live alone, as a result he never visited his baby brother’s apartment. Funny, the first time he visits It is to pack it up in wake of his brother’s death

No one in the family gets over the fact SY was dead for three days before they noticed. They all resent each other for it. But most of all, they resent themselves for it.

[wileys-russo]

a deals a deal II l.williamson

"where'd you find this place?" you smiled in awe as you followed leah into the arcade, the blonde not missing the ways your eyes had lit up the moment the two of you had even parked outside, exactly the reaction she'd hoped for.

it having been your girlfriends turn to organize date night leah reveled in the fact that it was already seeming to be a success before it officially started, and you had to admit the older girl knew you like the back of her hand with this choice.

with both of you working full time, leah as a footballer and you as a primary teacher you both made a commitment early on, the moment things started getting serious, that despite your hectic schedules you'd still make every effort to keep consistent with spending quality time outside of work together.

and so the weekly date nights came into effect.

they weren't always big significant events nor did they always mean the two of you left your shared home, the key takeaway was quality time and so long as the two of you were focused on one another then that was guaranteed.

"lotte put me onto it, tao brought her here on one of their first dates." leah admitted as you gasped sarcastically. "and you're not even taking the credit? oh baby i'm so proud of you!" you cooed mockingly, pinching her cheeks as the taller girl shoved you playfully, the two of you making your way to the counter.

"i'll be taking credit for all the games i'm about to smash you at my girl, don't you worry your pretty little head about that." leah smiled smugly as you rolled your eyes and she hooked you both up with a large bag of tokens, even further fueling your excitement at the fact they still ran their games the old school way, physical tickets printed and all.

"oh my love me and my pretty little head cannot wait to watch you eat your words!" you grinned in response to her call out, and given neither of you liked to lose and were incredibly competitive, it was sure to be an interesting night.

there was a reason the two of you stopped getting invites to game night with leahs family, both of you banned until you learned how to behave like well mannered young women and not hotheaded impatient numpties, in the words of her grandmother.

"well either way you can consider tonight endless tokens, if you can spend them then i will buy them gorgeous." leah promised, pecking your lips sweetly with a charming smile and offering for you to pick the first game.

"mm good question babe. what do i want to beat you at first?" you pondered, stroking your chin as leah sighed dramatically at the time you were taking, tapping her foot and shoving her hands into the pocket of her jacket with a bored look written into her features.

"oh come on!" leah groaned impatiently as you pivoted away from yet another game, amused smirk on your features as you finally stopped and nodded happily.

"basketball. lets start off simple!" you decided, grabbing your girlfriends hand and dragging her over toward the game, the blonde hurrying to yank you back as a gang of young boys sprinted past almost smashing into you, leah looking after them with a deep seeded scowl.

"hey lee, need i remind you this place is actually designed for kids baby, relax." you smiled poking at her cheeks as she huffed air out of her nose but focused her attention back on you, both of you slipping tokens into your sides as the game lit up and a strong american accent yelled out the rules.

"ready...set....go!" leah counted down as the buzzer sounded, both of you scrambling to grab the balls, zoned in on your own rings as the points started to rack up for both of you.

leah snuck a quick glance to your side, bright eyes widening in shock seeing you were in the lead and by quite a significant amount. and just as you said neither of you liked to lose, which is what lead to her next move.

"oi!" you gasped as the defender leaned over and knocked the ball out of your hand, shooting with her other, doing it again and again as you reached for the basketballs.

"leah!" you laughed at her blunt competitiveness, shoving her as the final buzzer for the game sounded and the blonde cheered victoriously, pumping her fist and doing a victory wiggle having just beat you by two points.

"you are such a cheat and a shit loser." you shook your head as leah continued her victory dance, snatching her tickets from the machine and shoving them into her pocket.

"nah i'm not, cause i didn't lose." she booped you on the nose with a token as you smacked her shoulder. "right well if you want to carry on like that. would you care to make this interesting then williamson?" you challenged, crossing your arms over your chest.

"mm perhaps, what do you have in mind for a wager pretty girl?" leah raised an eyebrow curiously, cocky smirk still curled into her features.

"if i win, you do all the dishes and the laundry for a month." you stated, leahs jaw dropping and your smile widening knowing she detested the two tasks and would often offer you anything in return for not having to do them.

"a month!? nah two weeks mate max." "aw, are you that scared you'll lose baby?" "i am not! fine, a month then."

"but if i win... then you have to do that thing i've been asking you to since christmas, with my special gift." leah cocked her head to the side, storm blue eyes roaming over your body hungrily as you frowned a little in confusion before it clicked just exactly what she was after.

both half jokingly and half seriously the blonde had gifted you a very ill fitting maids costume for christmas, stating as part of your gift to her you should spend the day wearing it, claiming it would be great motivation for her to join you in doing the housework.

you only laughed and put it away, teasing that not even that would get her to pick up a dirty dish.

but every now and then leah would find it in the back of the wardrobe and the begging would start for you to live out what was clearly a fantasy for the taller girl, and each time you'd just teasingly shake your head in amusement and depart the room with a kiss, leaving her without a real answer.

"fine, a deal's a deal." you shrugged in agreement which was clearly to your girlfriends surprise as her eyebrows shot up in shock and you extended your hand, wiggling your fingers eagerly.

"brilliant. a deals a deal." the blonde echoed as she shook your hand but not before using it to pull your body into hers, stealing a kiss and nipping at your bottom lip, pulling away with a cheeky grin as your head spun and your cheeks flushed pink.

"right, my turn to pick then. and unlike some i won't take an hour to decide!"

~

"how in the hell do you even do this? its got no bloody control!" leah huffed, the two of you sat on motorbikes as you raced around the track on the screens in front of you, the girl beside you far from getting the hang of it despite it being the second time you'd raced, leah demanding a rematch after crashing her bike and earning a loss.

"like this, winner!" you cheered loudly, pumping your fists in the air as you zoomed across the finish line sitting back smugly as leahs eyebrows furrowed into a deep frown and she smacked at the handle bars in annoyance.

"loser." you pointed to her now with a wink as she flipped you off, rings glinting in the bright neon lights above.

"maybe i should get a motorbike." you teased, turning your body as leah jumped off the bike, appearing instantly in between your legs as you stayed sitting side sadle. "over my dead body, maybe focus on learning how to drive a car first babe." leah teased making you roll your eyes, her hands settling on your thighs and squeezing them with a grin.

"i'm a great driver thank you very much." "mmm but those handful of fines in your glovebox say differently baby girl." "those are parking fines leah, not driving offences." "oh i'm so sorry. correction then not only are you a shit driver but you're an appalling parker as well, can't even be trusted when the car is stationary!" leah tutted with a dissapointed shake of her head as you punched her in the shoulder and scoffed.

"sorry let me just get a score check, whose winning?" you asked, cupping a hand over your ear and leaning toward leah whose smile dropped.

"shut up." she mumbled with a small pout as you slid off the motorbike, the two of you wandering around for a moment as leah took her time choosing.

"perfect!" the taller girl grinned spotting a football shootout game in the back corner. "and how many goals do defenders normally score?" you hummed, pretending to be lost in thought as leah slotted in some tokens and rolled her eyes.

"don't be bitter that they don't have a teaching game babe, times tables aren't exactly something kids do in their time off for fun!" leah pouted sarcastically at your chosen career, you now the one to flip her off and gesture for her to start.

"right go on then superstar, dazzle me."

you had to hide your smile behind your hand as leah missed more kicks than she scored, the game clearly designed for a child with much less leg power as every ball sailed up and over the goal.

you watched as her shots became sloppier the more wound up and angry she got, only fueling her to continue to miss time and time again. "nah this is bullshit that's rigged!" leah scowled, kicking at the machine once her turn was over and grumbling under her breath.

"leah!" you scolded, moving her away from causing actual damage as she wound up for another kick.

"hey. breathe for me please, it's just a stupid arcade game, you're still a champion of europe baby. nothing takes that away!" you grabbed at her face, placing a soft kiss to her lips and feeling her body relax somewhat.

"...its just a good thing they didn't need you for any penalties because those attempts? massive yikes." "oi thats a red card for you my girl, absolutely uncalled for!"

~

"right, this ones the final game." leah glanced at the time and announced with a clap, the two of you so caught up you'd not even realized the time and how long you'd been here.

"oh how convenient, we're tied." you rolled your eyes, not believing that the 'score card' leah had been in charge of was really all that accurate, having been typed up in notes on her phone.

"and what is that supposed to mean?" "i'm accusing you of score tampering, williamson." "no idea what on earth you're on about love, i'll even be so kind as to forfeit my turn so that you choose our last game." "wow, and they say chivalry is dead?"

"mmm that one." you nodded to a shooting game in the corner you'd not yet tried, leah humming in agreement as you made your way over. "was that your stomach?" you asked in disbelief hearing a loud gurgle.

"yes! i'm fucking starving." leah moped with a huff, earning herself an unimpressed look from a mother standing at the next game with her two young kids, you smacking leah lightly and mumbling about her language.

"sorry miss." your girlfriend teased with a cocky smile as you rolled your eyes and gestured for her to take her turn. the gunner shot down 8 tin ducks out of 12 and shrugged, seemingly happy with her efforts.

"beat that, four eyes." leah smirked, flicking at your ear as you smacked away her hands and shot her a dirty look.

you only wore your glasses when you were using your laptop, reading or occasionally when teaching, and as much as leah found you utterly adorable in them the english captain also would never miss an opportunity to rib you about your poor eyesight.

"happily, noodle legs." you quipped back with a smile, grabbing the gun as leah mocked you under her breath and ordered for you to hurry up as her stomach rumbled again.

closing one eye you balanced the toy gun on your arm as the game commenced, shooting down six ducks with ease, a few more to go and you'd win still with plenty of time left to do so.

however as you placed your finger on the trigger, the timer counting down from ten, a set of hands wrapped themselves around your waist, one hand in particular slipping up the inside of your top and harshly squeezing at one of your boobs.

in shock at the unexpected touch you squeezed the trigger and dropped the toy gun, missing the ducks by a mile as the timer went off and leah's hands suddenly disappeared, your skin burning where they'd once been.

"oh that is so not fair! you. are. a. dirty. dirty. dirty. dirty. dirty. little cheat." you protested with a growl, turning on your heel to glare towards a smug looking leah, poking at her chest angrily with each word.

"i simply do not know what you're talking about gorgeous, i guess your aim was just off. and that is not my fault!" the blonde simply smiled cockily, knowing she'd now won.

though sensing your rapidly growing annoyance leah reached for your hand, pulling your body into hers and stepping the two of you in between two pinball machines, briefly tucked away from sight.

"leah catherine williamson you are an unbearably bad loser, a big child, bad mannered, short tempered and-" not even giving you the time to finish your sentence the taller girl cut you off by bringing your lips together, pressing your body against the arcade wall.

leahs hands settled themselves on your hips tucked away under her jacket you'd stolen from her earlier in the night, the defender slowly swiping her tongue against your bottom lip, taking control of the kiss as your arms wrapped around the back of her neck, tangling themselves in her recently chopped short blonde locks.

though before the two of you got any further carried away someone winning a game meant a loud siren went off behind you, the two of you jumping away from one another in shock at the abrupt noise of the machines, sharing a look before breaking out into soft laughter.

"come on hangry, lets go get you some food then." you smiled with a sigh as leahs stomach rumbled yet again, previous annoyance melting away as it always did when it came to the mischievous footballer you were head over heels for.

"no i think we should head home, i'm hungry for something else now." leah murmered quietly, thumb stroking your jaw, lips curling into a smug smile at how your cheeks flushed scarlet at her suggestive tone.

"plus i think you're due for a little outfit change baby girl. a deal's a deal and you're nothing short of a woman of your word, right?"

[kabr0ztrousers]

Ok hear me out…fem!reader X male werewolf alpha and leader of the pack. The others in the pack have been getting a little too comfortable with reader as they all live together in one giant pack house (it’s just innocent friendship, but alpha doesn’t like the idea that reader might want to leave him for someone else someday, let alone a member of his pack).

So, when he catches reader casually hanging out with one of his pack members again, jealousy and anger over take him and he essentially reminds her and everyone else who she really belongs to by fucking reader in front of them all (free use, cnc, voyeurism, exhibitionism, public sex, whatever works).

He puts her face right up to each of his pack members while he’s fucking her and asks her who she belongs to each time. Maybe at the end she collapses into one of the other werewolf’s laps and they refuse to touch their alpha’s mate after that big show.

In my head its hot and possessive and even more so when everyone else is forced to watch their alpha take on their now good friend.

Thanks!💕

Kabr0z Writes episode 66: Housemates

Find the rest of the Kabr0z Writes anthology here!

CWs: freeuse; exhibitionism; knotting; Dom/sub; enthusiastic consent;

A/N: I'll admit I've been looking forward to this one, hopefully I can do it justice!

As always if you have anything you want to see, be it a new idea or a something completely different please do drop an ask!

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Your parents weren't keen on you moving out with your boyfriend straight out of sixth form. You doubt very much they'd have let you at all if they knew the reality of your living situation. There were six of you in the tiny flat, cramped together sharing two bedrooms and a pokey living room kitchenette. Tom already lived with his brothers in the hopelessly overcrowded digs. Even so they were his pack, and you weren't going to separate them on your account. Your job was keeping the home of 5 lupines at an acceptable level of organised chaos. Nobody cared about the piles of clothes or the dishes in the sink really, as long as the piles of rubbish didn't get too high and mugs weren't allowed to generate their own ecosystems you were off the hook for rent and bills. Was it the feminist ideal? No. But it meant you had to do maybe two or three hours of gentle tidying a week and got to live for free. Of course, this life of leisure meant you got damn good at your hobbies, mainly video games.

In fact, that's what you were doing when it all kicked off. Tyler, one of Tom's brothers, had made the mistake of challenging you to a best of 3 at your preferred fighting game. That, of course, became a best of 5, then 7, then you stopped counting as you played on through the afternoon. One by one the brothers came home. Tyler was the lanky one, Sam had the white patches on his ears, Ben had the bushy tail, Shaun always smelled of hairgel. The four were lounging on the couch either side of you, hooting and howling as you demolished them each in turn, getting giddy and excited. The room filled with the familiar musk of four young wolves as you stayed on game after game, the stuffy room giving you a sheen of perspiration.

The front door opened to reveal your favourite of the brothers. Tom was home at last, carrying the group's takeaway in both arms. Chinese this week, the smell of sweet and sour battling valiantly against the teenage funk.

You all looked over to him, sweating gently through your clothes, the shirtless wolves panting, your hair pulled back, nipples prominent in your thin shirt.

Tom roared. You saw the look in his eyes as he bounded over to you and swept you off the couch into his arms. You returned his bear hug as he swung you around, and saw his brothers over his shoulder. Lupines don't generally bother with clothes unless they go out, relying on fur for what modesty they cared about, and an innate tendancy to not really care who sees their balls.

The other wolves had definitely been excited, Tyler and Shaun both had the tips of their cocks poking out of their sheaths, while all four of them were grinning and panting.

"You assholes been hitting on my girl?" Tom snarled his challenge to the others "She's my mate! I'll prove it!" He pulled off his jeans before tearing you out of your shorts and clinging top. He was already rock hard, pressing hmself against you.

"I'm all yours, Tom, nobody else's" you buried your face in his fur, holding your lover to you. You know he's just being hormonal, and you'll bet you can get a good fucking out of this "Why don't we go to our room and we can work out some of this worry"

Tom wasn't going anywhere. He hefted you, catching you with one hand on your waist, one supporting your crotch. "We're not going anywhere. I'm laying my claim" One of his fingers slipped between the folds of your pussy. You were already wet from being manhandled in front of his brothers, and there's no way he couldn't feel it.

You whispered into his ear "Claim me then, or someone might decide to take a share"

His cock throbbed when you said that. The finger slipped into you as he ground his palm on your clit. You rubbed back against him, silently egging him on as his brothers watched, conscious of the huffing and howling coming from them as their brother worked them into a frenzy. You already felt close, showering Tom's muzzle in kisses and grabbing fistfuls of the fur covering his strong neck. The faster you rubbed yourself on his hand, the harder he got, twitching into your belly, covering your skin with strong-smelling precum as you got yourself off on his finger. He curled his hand, just a little, but enough. The fingertip drove into the top wall of your vagina. Every little move you made caused a needy whine to leak from your mouth even as strands of your sticky-sweet arousal leaked down from you.

He pulled his hand out of you just before you came. You barely noticed, transitioning from rubbing your cunt on his finger to trying to get the thick, leaking, canine cock inside you.

Tom had other ideas. He leant you on the back of the sofa and rolled you, exposing your tits to his brothers before plunging that delicious rod into your pussy. One hand groping your tits, the other rubbing at your clit, he let you come to a wailing climax. Your hands gripped his as you spasmed on the cock holding you up, keeping them at your most sensitive places, guiding him to grope at you as his jaws settled gently on the meat of your neck. He bit down ever so gently, he wouldn't break the skin, but you'd have a beautiful bruise there tomorrow.

Your vision was still blurry from cumming so recently, but you could see the motion of the other brothers, their cocks in their hands as they jacked off,

"Wank if you want, boys" you groaned, reaching your foot out to the nearest one, brushing the end of his cock with your toes "this cunt's got an owner already"

You shouldn't have said that. Or maybe you should.

Tom's thrusts got more insistent, the hand on your tit sliding down to your hip as he pushed you down onto him. The knot was already inflated, knocking at the door of your pussy, too thick to go in without help. You lifted your legs, holding them as far apart as you could while both hands went to either side of your cunt, trying desperately to open just a little more, a little more, a little-

It slid in. You'd never let him rawdog you like this before. It felt so different without a condom around his knot, the precum thickened immediately, spraying harder and faster as you whined and moaned, twisting your body this way and that around the bulbous intrusion in your pussy formatting your brain.

Your clit throbbed, your belly tightened, your legs spasmed. You couldn't help but to tug on your nipples as Tom rolled your clit between his fingers. You moaned between gasps, the potent cum sure to knock you up - god you hoped so

Shaun howled into the air, his cock spasming in his hands, squirting out cum.

Tom wheeled you to him, pushing your face into his "Whose mate is this?"

"Yours" Shaun didn't meet your eyes, crossed and glazed as they were "She's yours, Tommy"

Tyler was next on the sofa "Whose is she?"

Tyler gulped "She's yours, all yours"

Ben was next, slowly squeezing his cock in one hand, "She's yours, Tom, no sweat"

Sam came last, his hands already slick with his own cum, lying back on the sofa. He just waved his hand and hummed his submission to the alpha wolf filling you with seed.

Tom seemed satisfied with this. "Whose are you?" He whispered to you as you felt like your brain was leaking out of your ears "Who owns your cunt?"

"You do, I'm yours" you could only just groan out the words as he filled you with bliss

He sat down on the middle of the sofa, grabbing the forgotten meal as he moved, still stuck in you "Right, who wanted the spare ribs?"

You later learned that what happened that afternoon was something akin to a marriage proposal. Of course, now you're formally owned, there's no competition for you, so if he wanted to share you with the pack...

You're pretty sure you'd be down for that

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If I run out of requests, I'm definitely going to make a part 2 to this where the reader gets passed around the pack and fucked senseless again. Freeuse, werewolves, submission and industrial quantities of cum? Yes please.

[itsgiovanna]

playing for love (chapter 5)

pairing: fem!character x mason mount

summary: injured and lost, mason mount begins his recovery with the help of adeline alderidge, a tough yet brilliant physiotherapist with secrets of her own. he becomes determined to break through the walls adeline has built around herself. but some wounds don't heal easily, and the closer they get, the more mason realizes she might need saving just as much as he does.

notes: hey, everyone! another day, another chapter. hope you like it! enjoy 🤍

word count: 3.4k

warnings: none!

next: chapter 6

Adeline knocked on the door, adjusting the strap of her bag. She expected the usual slow, heavy-steps, the sound of crutches against the floor — but instead, Mason’s voice came from inside, distant but clear.

“It’s open.”

She hesitated for a second before pushing the door open.

The house was quiet. Too quiet.

Stepping inside, she immediately noticed the difference from the last time she’d been here. There was no sharp edge of frustration hanging in the air, no immediate tension waiting to ignite like before. But there was something else — something she couldn’t quite place yet.

Mason was in the kitchen, leaning against the counter, one crutch under his arm. He was sipping from a mug, looking as if he had been up for a while but wasn’t quite awake yet. His hair was slightly tousled, and his grey hoodie hung loose over his frame. There was no immediate irritation in his posture, no sharp edges to his expression.

Adeline wasn’t sure what to make of that.

“Morning.” he muttered, glancing at her briefly.

She nodded, putting her bag on the table. “Morning.”

Her eyes flickered to the counter. A takeaway coffee cup sat there, the logo from Ezra & Gil clear as day.

She frowned.

Mason must have noticed because he casually gestured toward it with his free hand. “It’s yours.”

Adeline hesitated. “What?”

He took another sip of his drink, like this wasn’t a big deal. “My assistant grabbed it this morning.” A pause. “Figured you might want one.”

She just stared at him.

It wasn’t that she didn’t appreciate the gesture — she did. But after everything that had happened, after the way he had spoken to her just days ago, this felt… unexpected.

She folded her arms across her chest. “Why?”

Mason exhaled slowly, his fingers tapping against his mug. “It’s just coffee.”

It didn’t feel like just coffee.

It felt like an attempt. An unspoken way of smoothing things over without having to actually say anything. And maybe that was his way of apologizing, but Adeline wasn’t sure she was ready to let him off the hook that easily.

She reached for the cup, picking it up but not drinking from it yet.

“You don’t have to do things like this.” she said, voice even.

Mason met her gaze, something unreadable in his expression. “I know.”

Silence stretched between them.

She hated how complicated this felt. How she wanted to appreciate the effort but still couldn’t shake the resentment lingering beneath the surface.

Mason sighed, shifting slightly on his crutch. “Look, I know things got a bit—” he searched for the right word. “—tense last week.”

Adeline didn’t say anything.

“I just don’t want things to be weird.” he completed.

That was the thing, though.

They were weird.

They’d been weird from the moment she met him. Because he was impossible. Because she didn’t have the patience to deal with men like him. Because she was supposed to be a professional, but Mason had a way of making everything feel personal.

Adeline exhaled through her nose and finally took a sip of the coffee. It was good. Exactly how she liked it.

She lowered the cup, meeting his gaze. “Let’s just focus on the session.”

Mason studied her for a moment before nodding. He didn’t push, didn’t argue. He just accepted it.

“Alright.”

And for now, that was enough.

(…)

Mason sat quietly, the usual tension in his shoulders gnawing at him as he finished the last of his exercises. He wasn’t sure if it was the pain in his leg or the discomfort from the way things had been between him and Adeline, but something was off today. She was still distant, like she was trying to put up walls between them after what had happened on Saturday.

And he understood. Hell, he deserved it.

Adeline had finished her session with minimal words, not much more than what was necessary to get through the exercises. Normally, she would joke or comment about something, even if it was dry. Today, though, there was none of that. Just professional, polite, and distant. And Mason? He hated that. He hated the way it felt, but he didn’t know what to do about it. He couldn’t exactly apologize without it sounding forced.

Mason shifted uncomfortably in his seat, trying to stretch his leg as he waited for her to give the usual sign that she was ready to leave. He’d learned long ago that Adeline wasn’t a fan of any of his half-hearted gestures. She wasn’t the type to be easily charmed. Still, when he noticed her staring at a photo on the counter, he felt a strange compulsion to speak up. But before he could, she was asking him about his knee.

“Are you alright?” she asked, her tone sharp yet concerned.

Her words made him stiffen, his hand subconsciously clutching at his knee as if to guard it, though he knew it wasn’t serious.

“I’m fine.” he said, a little too defensively, but he couldn’t help it. He hated feeling weak in front of her.

But her eyes didn’t buy it, not for a second. Adeline stepped closer, and he knew right away that she wasn’t going to let it go. She crouched down next to him, her hands coming to rest on his knee, checking for any sign of swelling or strain.

And that was when everything changed. The usual stiffness, the frustration of the day, seemed to dissipate, leaving only the strange heat of the moment between them.

She was close — too close.

He could feel the warmth of her body just a breath away, her hands working gently against his knee. Her touch was light, professional, but there was an electric hum in the air that made his skin prickle.

For a few seconds, neither of them moved. He could feel her fingers against his skin, the subtle pressure, the way her breath caught just a little as she worked. His heart rate picked up, not from the pain in his leg, but from the sudden, overwhelming proximity to her.

And then, without warning, she was done. Her hands pulled away, and she stood, but not before their faces were just inches apart.

It was so quick, yet the moment stretched on for far too long.

Mason’s breath hitched, and he noticed the slight blush coloring her cheeks. She quickly stepped back, breaking the moment, but there was something in her eyes — a flicker of uncertainty, just like he felt.

He had to say something, but nothing came to mind.

His throat tightened.

“You’re fine.” she muttered, almost too quickly, as though she needed to escape the awkwardness of it all.

He nodded, still frozen in place for a beat longer than he should��ve been. “Thanks… for doing this.” His voice was softer than usual, and he cursed himself for it, but there it was.

That vulnerability. The one he didn’t know how to hide from her.

She didn’t say anything for a second, just looked at him like she was waiting for him to do or say something else.

“I’m just doing my job, Mason.” she finally replied, the cold professionalism creeping back into her tone.

And just like that, the moment was gone.

“Right.” he said, a little defeated. He wasn’t sure what he’d been hoping for. She wasn’t going to forgive him just like that, but maybe, just maybe, he was starting to feel like he could fix it.

She moved to the door, the usual distance between them returning like an old, familiar wall.

“See you Wednesday.” she said without looking back, the words curt but not unkind.

Mason nodded again, but he didn’t say anything more. He just watched her leave, the silence between them feeling heavier than ever before.

(…)

As Adeline arrives home, her mind swirl with conflicting thoughts. She reflects on what happened during the session — how his small gestures of caring were unexpected and strangely comforting, but also how much tension lingered between them.

She wonders if she's being too hard on him, or if he's really capable of change. She feels unsettled by how easily he made her feel vulnerable, and this is something she's not used to.

As she slipped off her shoes and hung her jacket, her mind shifted to the only person who could ground her right now — her daughter. The door creaked open just as she was about to head into the kitchen, and there, standing in the doorway with wide, sparkling eyes, was Lilith, alongside Stella — who picked her up at daycare, taking care of Lily throughout Adeline’s night session with Mason.

Lilith rushed straight to her, arms wide.

“Mommy!” she called, grinning from ear to ear, and Adeline couldn’t help but scoop her up into a tight hug, inhaling the sweet scent of her daughter’s hair.

“Lilybug. I’ve missed you.” Adeline murmured, squeezing her a little tighter before letting her go.

“Mom, guess what?” Lilith said, bouncing on her toes. “Auntie Stella let me eat two ice creams at the park today!”

Adeline raised an eyebrow, trying to hide her smile. “Two? You’re spoiling her, Stella.” she said teasingly.

Stella shrugged nonchalantly. “She begged me! What could I do?”

“Well, in that case, I’ll just have to make up for it with some vegetables for dinner.” Adeline teased as she watched Lilith go towards the kitchen.

Stella followed Adeline into the kitchen and leaned against the counter, her expression softening. “She’s a handful, isn’t she?” Stella said with a chuckle.

“I wouldn’t have her any other way.” Adeline replied, smiling at her daughter.

Adeline exhaled, glancing toward Lilith, who was still occupied with her dressing-mixing mission. Stella followed her gaze, then smirked.

“She’s busy committing culinary crimes. You’ve got time.”

Adeline rolled her eyes but finally gave in. “It’s Mason.”

Stella’s eyebrows lifted. “Mason Grumpy Mount? Did he throw his crutches at you or something?”

“No.” Adeline said with a small laugh, then hesitated. “He… surprised me today.”

Stella blinked. “Surprised you? As in, he said ‘please’ and ‘thank you’? Or as in, he secretly runs a charity for orphaned puppies?”

“More like… he was different.” Adeline admitted, crossing her arms. “After everything that happened this weekend, I was expecting him to be cold, maybe even more difficult. But today, he was just — quiet. Cooperative. He barely complained. And then—” She hesitated, her fingers tightening against her sleeve. “There was this moment.”

“A moment? Oh, I love moments.” Stella’s eyes lit up.

“It wasn’t that kind of moment, Ella.” Adaline said quickly. “I was checking his knee, and then suddenly, we were just… too close. It was awkward, but not in a bad way? It was like…” She trailed off, searching for the right words.

Stella tilted her head. “Like something shifted?”

Adeline nodded reluctantly.

Stella hummed. “Okay, so, let me get this straight — Mason, the human raincloud, is suddenly making an effort and being a tolerable patient? That’s big news.”

“I don’t know what it means.” Adeline admitted, shaking her head. “I still don’t trust him. He’s been rude to me from the start, and I don’t want to suddenly forget that just because he’s acting differently.”

Stella considered this, her usual teasing demeanor softening slightly. “I get that.” she said. “You don’t owe him instant forgiveness. But at the same time… people can change, Adeline. Maybe he’s realizing he was a massive jerk and is actually trying to fix it.”

Adeline sighed. “I just don’t want to get caught up in whatever this is. I have enough on my plate.”

“Which is exactly why you need a distraction.” Stella said, the mischievous glint returning to her eyes. “And I know just the person.”

Adeline narrowed her eyes. “No.”

“You don’t even know what I’m going to say!”

“You’re going to bring up my neighbor.”

Stella gasped dramatically. “You hurt me. I would never — okay, fine, I would absolutely bring up Elliot, and for good reason!”

Adeline groaned. “I don’t even know him. We’ve exchanged, what? Five words? All of which were ‘thank you’ or ‘hi’?”

“Exactly! You’ve got a clean slate with him. No complicated past, no tension, no history of glaring at each other like it’s a Netflix Drama Movie.” Stella leaned in conspiratorially.

Adeline shook her head, but she was smiling. “You’re something else.”

“I prefer persistent.” Stella said. “Just think about it. No pressure. But you, my dear, need to live a little.”

Adeline glanced at Lilith, who was now taste-testing her dressing with an intense, thoughtful expression.

“Maybe.” she murmured, more to herself than to Stella.

Because the truth was, she did need to take her mind off things. And for once, she didn’t completely hate Stella’s idea.

(…)

Adeline sat on the edge of Lilith’s bed, gently running a brush through her soft curls as the little girl nestled under the covers. The rhythmic strokes usually soothed her, but tonight, her mind felt too full. Between Mason, Stella’s comments, and the strange shift in her own emotions, she wasn’t sure what to do with herself.

“Mommy?” Lilith’s voice was small, but curious.

Adeline hummed, setting the brush down. “What is it, bug?”

Lilith played with the hem of her blanket, looking thoughtful. “Summer said Uncle Mason is really nice.”

Adeline’s hands stilled. She hadn’t expected Mason’s name to come up again tonight. “Did she?”

Lilith nodded, her curls bouncing slightly. “She said he’s funny, and that he loves her a lot. She said he’s a good person, even if he doesn’t always talk nice.”

A strange tightness formed in Adeline’s chest. She didn’t know why it affected her so much — maybe because Summer was a child, and children didn’t lie about things like that. Maybe because hearing it from someone else, from someone who really knew Mason, made it harder to ignore the way he’d tried today.

“She really loves him.” Lilith added, snuggling deeper into the blankets. “I think she’s lucky.”

Adeline swallowed past the lump in her throat and smoothed Lilith’s hair away from her face. “She is.” she said softly.

Lilith was quiet for a moment, then her little fingers curled into Adeline’s sleeve. “Mommy?”

Adeline knew that tone. She felt the shift before Lilith even spoke again.

“Why don’t I have a dad?”

The words weren’t asked with sadness, just curiosity. But still, they hit Adeline right in the heart.

She took a slow breath, gathering herself. “We’ve talked about this before, love.” she said gently.

“I know.” Lilith said, looking up at her. “But Summer has her uncle, and other kids have their dads, and I just have you.”

Adeline cupped her daughter’s cheek, offering a small smile. “And is that a bad thing?”

Lilith shook her head immediately. “No! I love you, Mommy. A lot.”

“I love you too, more than anything.” Adeline said, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “Families come in all kinds of ways, bug. Some kids have mom’s and dad’s, some have just one parent, some have grandparents, aunts, uncles… But what matters is that you’re loved.”

Lilith seemed to think about that for a second before nodding. “I like our family.” she said decisively.

Adeline felt her heart squeeze. “Me too, baby.”

Lilith yawned, her little body finally giving in to sleepiness. Adeline tucked the blanket around her snugly and watched as her daughter’s lashes fluttered closed. But even as Lilith drifted off, she couldn’t stop thinking about what she’d said.

About Summer. About Mason. About everything she’d been trying not to feel.

Maybe Stella was right. Maybe she did need a distraction.

Because if she wasn’t careful, she was going to start seeing Mason Mount in a way she wasn’t sure she was ready for.

(…)

The early morning was always a rush. Between making sure Lilith had everything she needed for daycare and getting herself ready for work, Adeline’s mornings were a blur.

After dropping Lily off, she headed to the hospital, where she worked the morning shift in physiotherapy. She had been there for almost three years now, and even though the hours were long and often draining, there was something about it that she loved.

The steady rhythm of her work, the constant need to help and heal, was exactly what she needed. It was easy to lose herself in the world of medical charts, treatments, and patient needs — where her personal struggles faded into the background. As she moved from one task to the next, Adeline felt a quiet satisfaction that only work could bring. It wasn’t just the sense of accomplishment, but the ability to step away from everything else for a while, to simply be someone who could make a difference. And right now, that was all she needed.

Adeline had just finished her rounds and was walking through the hospital corridor, mentally ticking off the tasks she still had to do. She was already thinking about Mason and the evening session she’d planned at his house, hoping it would be less awkward than the last one. But, when she reached the end of the hall, she froze, spotting someone familiar.

Elliot, her neighbor, was standing there by the vending machines, his hands in his pockets. She hadn’t expected to see him here. In the brief moments they’d shared as neighbors, he’d never mentioned working at the hospital.

“Elliot?” she called out, a little surprised. She felt a mix of curiosity and confusion. “What are you doing here?”

Elliot turned around and smiled when he saw her.

“Adeline! What a surprise.” he said, walking toward her. “I’m actually part of the Finance Department. I mostly handle some of the budgets for the hospital. Nothing as exciting as physiotherapy.”

Adeline smiled back, feeling the conversation settling into something more comfortable. “Finance, huh? That sounds like a lot of numbers to keep track of.”

“It is.” Elliot agreed with a chuckle. “But, you know, someone’s got to make sure the hospital stays afloat.”

“True. I just take care of people, so I guess we both play our parts.” She laughed softly.

There was a brief pause, and Adeline realized how natural it felt talking to him. It wasn’t like talking to anyone else — she didn’t feel pressured or rushed, which was rare for her. She wasn’t sure why she felt this way, but it was nice. Maybe it was because he wasn’t in her world of athletes and stubborn patients. He was just a normal guy, one she occasionally bumped into in the hallway.

“You’ve been at the hospital for long?” Elliot asked, breaking the comfortable silence.

“About three years now. I love what I do, but the hours… sometimes they can be a lot.” she said with a shrug. She was being a bit more honest than usual, but something about the conversation made her feel like it was okay to share.

“I bet.” he said sympathetically. “I’m sure you don’t get much time to relax with all that you’re juggling.”

Adeline gave him a small smile, feeling a bit vulnerable talking about the stresses of her life. “Yeah, it’s a lot. I try to balance it all, but… it’s not always easy.

“How about getting coffee sometime?” Elliot smiled. “It’s only fair, seeing as we work at the same place now.”

Adeline raised an eyebrow. “Is that how it works? New colleagues have to get coffee together?”

“Absolutely,” he said with an easy grin. “Mandatory. Besides, we’ve been neighbors for a while, but I feel like I barely know anything about you.”

She huffed a small laugh, shaking her head. “That might be intentional.”

Elliot placed a hand over his chest in mock offense. “Ouch. And here I thought we had something special — like the kind of unspoken bond that comes from awkward elevator rides.”

Adeline rolled her eyes but couldn’t quite hide her smirk. She hesitated for a second, considering her schedule. It was already packed, but… maybe she could make time.

Just this once.

Elliot seemed to pick up on her hesitation and lifted his hands in mock surrender. “No pressure. Just thought I’d ask. If you’re too busy, I get it.”

She studied him for a moment, then exhaled. “Alright. Tomorrow, one o’clock?”

Elliot’s grin widened. “Looking forward to it, Alderidge.”

Adeline shook her head with a small smirk. “You’ll need my number, then. Unless you plan on tracking me down in the hospital corridors.”

He chuckled, pulling his phone from his pocket. “Tempting, but I’ll take the easier route.” He handed her the device. “Go on, then. Make it official.”

She took his phone, typing in her number before handing it back. “There. No excuses now.”

Elliot took a step back, walking away with a knowing smile. “See you tomorrow, colleague.”

(…)

[thestralluvr]

Lars Pinfield x reader headcanons part 1

⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆

- he’d have the usual socials like tiktok, insta and all that but his only post is a picture of you that you absolutely hate and his following is just his friends, family and famous cats.

- he probably has another instagram account for his cat basil, a chunky tabby who he adores with his whole heart.

- taps on the possessors enclosure (the possessor taps back it’s like a weird little high five) before he leaves and at this point it’s become an instinct.

- his work space is definitely an organised mess, you’ve got no clue how his system works but he surely has one.

- you guys definitely get takeaway at LEAST once a week (especially on a friday).

- claims he doesn’t know how to flirt yet every single word that comes from his mouth leaves you BLUSHING.

- he’d never admit it to anyone but he secretly loves reality tv 😭 it has him hooked and it’s one of his favourite parts of the day when he can just unwind with you and watch shitty television.

- this man just adores you, you’ll catch him just admiring your features like you’d hung the moon and stars.

- i feel like he’s a decent cook but a terrible baker, he never fails to set off the fire alarms.

- one morning he’d tried to surprise you for your anniversary by baking you a lovely breakfast.

- it ended with the pair of you standing on the front lawn in your pyjamas waiting for the fire brigade.

- baking is now left for you and uber eats.

- this man had a hipster tumblr phase i just know it and you take every opportunity you can get to tease him on it 😭.

- i’d imagine his favourite bands would be stuff like the kinks, tears for fears, the smiths, talking heads, soft cell etc. (he’s a music nerd).

- he loves gloomy rainy days, 1 because it reminds him of his home town, 2 because it’s the PERFECTTTTT weather to snuggle under blankets with you (his favourite activity).

- maybe has a few tiny tattoos that only you’ve seen besides one.

- one night the two of you went out with a few coworkers (much to lars’ annoyance) so what better to do than take the opportunity to get pissed? makes the boring conversations less boring right?

- anyway let’s just say it was an eventful night as you’d both woken up with the wonkiest matching ghost tattoos on your wrists.

- the pair of you weren’t exactly ecstatic to find your drunken decision but hey, they didn’t get covered up. besides, it makes you think of him whenever you see it so it can’t be that bad.

- he has a tendency to run his thumb over your little ghost whenever you’re holding hands or cuddling, it’s very sweet.

- you take turns being the big and little spoon every night but basil is always the tiny spoon.

- he’s a little touch starved so he never ever takes any little touch, kiss, and caress for granted.

- speaking of kisses, ALLLLL THE KISSES!!! forehead! head! hand! eskimo! cheek! neck! this man is just so lucky to be able to kiss you he never wants to stop oml i could cry he’s just the sweetest.

- basil definitely gets many kisses too she’s very spoilt.

i hope this was decent, my first time writing for this lovely man so i hope i did okay!! lmk if you want anything in particular for the following parts through my asks or comments!! <3

[bearflinn]

Writing Sexy Female Characters in a Tasteful Way.

I recently made a post in the Writing Tea & Tips community asking about writing/describing female characters without coming across as male-gazey or overly objectifying and got some fantastic responses. So I figured I'd put something together summarizing the key takeaways from the comments on that post and my own research/thoughts. (Link to original post)

Making Them Hot: Agency, Action & Reaction

From what I've gathered, this is the line between sexualizing a character, and them being sexy. When you describe a character as being physically attractive by way of bodily traits they don't have control over, it's much more likely to be perceived as objectifying. (Which can work if that's an established trait of your perspective character, but still iffy).

Essentially your best options for making someone read as attractive is to describe things that a person in real life would have control over. For reference:

Hair. Especially aspects that require effort to achieve/maintain such as style, and to some degree, texture.

Makeup. Fairly self explanatory. But it's worth noting that in a lot of cases makeup is used to draw/detract attention from certain facial features like eyes, lips, and bone structure.

Clothing. In most cases this is probably the closest you'll ever want or need to get to describing individual body parts (tied with body language). If a character chooses to wear a revealing top, it maintains their agency while allowing the reader to infer they have something worth flaunting.

Body Language. Speaking of flaunting. Much like clothing, if a character chooses to position themselves in a provocative way, it maintains their agency while giving you the opportunity to describe what the perspective character notices.

Overall Build. This point needs to be filtered through the lens of agency. Describing an hourglass/curvy figure: objectifying. Whereas describing their build as acrobatic, athletic, muscular, etc. maintains their agency because those builds all reflect effort on the part of the character.

You almost never need to or should directly describe boob/butt size, it will come across as overt sexualization. (These are also great guidelines for complimenting someone without seeming like a creep btw.)

The only exception I can think of being implants. Since it says a lot about both the perspective character noticing the implants and that the character in question felt the need to get implants in the first place. Aka: they had agency. (This doesn't apply to compliments LMAO. You'll def seem like a creep for pointing out implants.)

When applying the tips above, remember whichever aspects you describe and how they're described will say something about the perspective character. Especially how the perspective character reacts to those observations.

Bonus tip: Femme Fatale Characters

In the context of the original post, I was specifically asking about writing seductive female characters, and got some really solid advice. Once again, it boils down to agency. Compelling seductress characters will feel like they're intentionally using everything at their disposal, physical or otherwise, to push all their mark's buttons. And the most interesting aspect of this dynamic is the resulting emotional chess match. How do they play off each other? Is the seductee falling hook line and sinker? Are they aware of what's happening and trying to resist? Are they playing along?

Anyway ramble over, if you have anything to add or think I missed the mark lmk!

Special thanks to: @wolveria @16yearsapart @imonthemoonitsmadeofcheese @inkandgasoline and @bogappreciation

[saywhatjessie]

And The Microphone Smells Like A Beer

Written for the @housemdanniversary exchange! 2.7k [Ao3] Gift for @island-ofthelost. Enjoy!

Wilson heard House’s lopsided gait approaching his office and immediately picked up a random file. He didn’t look up when the door flew open, the sound of House’s steps pausing in the doorway.

“What’s this?”

“Hmm?” Wilson said, looking up even though he knew what House would be holding. He looked at the box, anyway. It was wrapped in newspaper. A Lady Gaga article was facing up. “A present,” he answered, pretending to turn his attention back to the file.

“Presents are wrapped in shiny paper,” House said. “This is garbage.”

“I’m recycling,” he said. “You can open it before deciding it’s garbage.”

“You just told me you were recycling.”

“The paper, not the present,” Wilson rolled his eyes. “You don’t have to open it.”

House scoffed, tossing the box carelessly on Wilson’s desk. He collapsed with a grunt in the opposite chair. “You don’t want me to open it?” 

Wilson shrugged, moving his eyes back over the file he was holding like he wasn’t at all interested in this conversation. “Makes no difference to me.”

“Oh no, of course not,” House said, hooking one leg on the corner of the desk and using his hands to pull his bad leg over it. “You just got me a present and wrapped it all up because you don’t care if I open it.”

Wilson put down the file, playing up his exasperation as he looked at House. “I saw it. I thought you could use it. The wrapping, I admit, was an indulgence.” He waved vaguely at the wrapped box as if he could wipe away the transgression. “But, honestly, throw it out if you want, it doesn’t matter.”

House made a disbelieving noise before snatching the box back off of Wilson’t desk and tearing at the paper. Wilson very carefully hid his smile.

House managed to get the device out of the box without identifying it, holding it up to his face in complete confusion. 

“Is this some kind of kinky metal bit gag?”

Wilson huffed a laugh. “Do you see any kind of tightening mechanism? Shitty ineffective gag.”

House hummed, putting it over his head. Once the bar rested in front of his mouth, he figured it out.

“Oh,” he groaned, whipping it back off. “A harmonica harness?”

Wilson grinned. “So I guess it is kind of a gag, in a way.”

House scoffed, holding up the harness with disgust. “This is the dorkiest thing you could have possibly given me.”

“It’s useful,” Wilson insisted. “I’ve seen you play and you always have to take one hand off the piano to play the harmonica. Don’t you want to keep your treble hand in play?”

“‘Georgie On My Mind’ doesn’t need treble during the harmonica portion.”

“But what if I wanted you to play ‘Piano Man’?”

“I refuse to play ‘Piano Man’.”

Wilson shook his head, amused, and held up his hands in defeat. “Fine. You don’t have to use it.”

“I wasn’t going to use it.”

“Good,” Wilson smiled.

“Fine.”

“Fine.”

  House came into work with the harmonica holder around his neck, his harmonica strapped in and ready.

Wilson heard him before he saw him, standing at the nurse’s station at the clinic and glancing over the file of his next patient. He heard House coming, as he usually did, but in symphony with the usual three beat footsteps was a discordant heeee and hoooo timed with each of House’s breaths.

Wilson looked over at him, amused to see House dressed as he usually was in his sneakers, jeans, and blazer over band-tee combo, but with the shiny new harmonica harness around his neck.

“You’re looking dorky today,” Wilson greeted him.

House played a sort of ‘womp womp’ on the harmonica before pulling his mouth away and grinning.”This has made being annoying so much more efficient. I don’t even need hands.”

Wilson nodded, noting that House’s hands were otherwise occupied with his cane and a takeaway coffee. He never usually stopped for coffee on his way in. He probably wanted to test out how annoying he could be before he hard launched the harness at the hospital..

“Very efficient,” Wilson agreed, stealing House’s coffee while he was being too pleased with himself to notice. “Are you angling for something from Cuddy or is this just your usual pursuit of chaos?”

“I was going for ‘make you regret giving me this,’ but now I’m thinking I should have saved it. Do you think Cuddy would cut my clinic hours?”

Wilson sipped House’s coffee and shrugged. “Probably not just for this. It’s pretty benign, for you.”

House finally noticed Wilson stole his coffee and snatched it back. Wilson just smirked. “This is just the first phase of my irritating scheme,” House assured him, taking a spiteful sip of his own coffee. It was still too hot and Wilson enjoyed watching him pretend not to wince. “I’ve got more tricks up my sleeve.”

“I would never doubt that,” Wilson said. He tapped his clinic file on the counter then smacked House on the arm with it. “See you at lunch.”

  The next few hours passed with Wilson treating patients and people coming up to tell him about House’s latest shenanigans. And then lunch passed with House telling Wilson about his shenanigans and Wilson acting like it was the first time he was hearing them.

He laughed around a bite of his reuben. “And she just never acknowledged you?”

“She let me follow them down eight hallways. The rich donor or whatever looked back at me a lot. Which is normal! I was playing every step she took! But Cuddy pretended like she didn’t hear anything.” He grinned admiringly, stealing a chip from Wilson’s tray. “Cold-blooded bitch.”

“She probably only walked that much because she knew it would hurt you,” Wilson noted.

“Probably.” House sighed, the air blowing through his still-mounted harmonica and producing a soft note. “I will have to become even more disruptive.”

“Good God, man,” Wilson said dramatically, pausing with his drink halfway to his mouth. “A disruption? You go too far!”

“I will disrupt, I will agitate, might even do some light discombobulating.”

“Please no disturbances or I fear I may faint.”

House smirked, picking up the other half of Wilson’s sandwich and taking a bite. Some sauerkraut leaked out and dripped on his harmonica.

“That’s gonna taste like that forever, now,” Wilson commented, lightly.

House grimaced, wiping it off with his thumb before sucking it into his mouth. “I eat a reuben every day. My mouth always tastes like sauerkraut.”

Wilson hummed, allowing the hyperbole. House had other harmonicas.

  Wilson’s afternoon was back-to-back patient consults, so he wasn’t privy to what disruptions House was executing. It didn’t escalate enough that anyone from House’s team saw fit to interrupt him, so it couldn’t have been that bad.

This was all but confirmed when Wilson came home to the condo that evening and House was pouting on the couch. House would take issue with the word “pouting” and it might look more like brooding or scheming to the casual observer but Wilson was a connoisseur. Sitting slumped on the couch, legs spread, idly twirling his cane in one hand was peak House pouting behavior.

“Wow,” Wilson started, tossing his keys in the bowl. He heaved a huge breath of relief as he shrugged off his jacket. “I had such a relaxing afternoon. No commotions, kerfuffles, not even a brouhaha.”

House scowled. “Shut up, you sound like a middle school vocab quiz.”

“No, seriously,” Wilson said, setting his briefcase on a kitchen island chair. “I got so much work done! My patients were comfortable, my office was orderly. Peace and love on planet earth.”

“I’m gonna piss in your desk drawer.”

“That would still only be half as annoying as you said you were going to be.”

House groaned, stilling his cane and bringing it up to butt against his forehead. “I got a case. Got distracted. It’s surprisingly interesting. But not as interesting as how much Thirteen and Chase seem to care about it.”

“So, what, you forgot to be annoying?”

“No, of course I was annoying,” House said, rolling his eyes. “It was just localized to my team. Who are practically immune.” He blew out a breath. “I could try again tomorrow but I’ll still be working on the case.”

Wilson hummed, cracking a beer and bringing another one to the couch for House. House took it, leaning a little to the side so Wilson could sit next to him. “Maybe I can bring it back later. Save it for a better time.”

Wilson scoffed, making himself comfortable. “You just got on my case for recycling.”

“It wouldn’t be recycling, it would be a callback. Self-referential humor.”

“Cliche. Not usually your style.”

“You’re right, I need way more bullhorns and whipped cream.”

“How about this,” Wilson said, leaning more of his weight against House. “You already know what’s wrong with the patient, right?”

House swiveled his head, waffling. “I have theories.”

“You know,” Wilson repeated, rolling his eyes. “You’re just playing with your food so you can watch whatever’s happening with Thirteen and Chase.”

House just took a sip of his beer, not confirming nor denying.

“I bet you you can’t last a whole day only communicating through the harmonica,” Wilson said.

House scoffed but in an interested way.

Wilson smirked. “You can still do your DDX on the whiteboard, but you can’t write or text or type or whatever to say words, you have to speak with your music.”

House rolled his eyes but took another sip of his beer, consideringly.

Wilson waited, settling back into the couch and taking a sip of his own beer.

And of course House answered how he knew he would: “You’re on.”

Wilson let himself into the Diagnostics outer office the next morning, greeting the fellows who were already there and helping himself to their coffee set up. The patient must have been stable because no one was panicking and Taub and Foreman were bickering about something outside the case. He let himself dawdle, hiding House’s mug in a lower cabinet and brewing a fresh pot. He didn’t mind waiting. Actually, waiting was kind of the point.

He was pouring himself a fresh cup in the mug that used to be Cameron’s when the ducklings all sat up a little straighter, catching the sound of House’s approach just moments before Wilson.

Not that it was hard to miss. He was breathing into the harmonica as he walked again.

Wilson smiled down at his mug as he stirred his cream in, turning and resting his ass against the counter to watch the show.

House opened the glass door, the harmonica making a kind of “hello” shaped sound as he entered.

“Oh good, we’re still doing this,” Thirteen sighed, turning back to her file.

“Patient’s responding to treatment but started presenting a rash on her pelvis,” Chase reported, unbothered.

House dropped his backpack and cane at his seat, making another sound on the harmonica that could really only be interpreted as a joke about syphilis.

“STI panel was clean,” Foreman answered. “And she’s not allergic to what we’ve given her. Which makes it a new symptom.”

House played a chord in reluctant agreement, limping over to the whiteboard and uncapping his marker.

Wilson wanted to ask him if the rash changed the diagnosis House had already come up with, but he wasn’t about to give the game away. Not when the team didn’t seem to realize what was happening yet.

House added “pelvic rash” to the list of symptoms and then “blurry vision” right below it.

“The patient hasn’t complained of blurry vision,” Taub said.

“Well, she does wear glasses,” Thirteen said.

“And she’s worn glasses since she was 10, why would this only now be a symptom?”

“She probably does need glasses, but if her vision got blurrier, she might just think she needs to change her prescription, not that it’s a new symptom.”

House played a delighted note and pointed at Thirteen.

“There’s no reason to think she has blurry vision,” Foreman argued.

“Unless you think you know what it is,” Chase said, talking to House.

House shrugged and made an ‘I don’t know’ kind of sound. Foreman sighed.

“It doesn’t hurt to check her eyes,” Thirteen offered.

House played a loud bleat of agreement. Then he pointed at Chase, pointed at Taub, played a little trill and pointed out the door.

Chase sighed, getting up, “Fine, we’ll go do an eye test.”

“We’re wasting our time,” Foreman argued.

House played a sarcastic little riff that probably amounted to ‘the patient’s not presently dying, just do the damn test,’ and Foreman scoffed and let Chase and Taub leave.

“What are we supposed to do?” Thirteen asked.

“I can answer that,” Wilson said, standing straight from his slouch.

House narrowed his eyes and played an agitated eight count. Wilson rolled his eyes at him. “You would say that.”

Thirteen looked between them, her eyes lighting with mischief. “I’m assuming we don’t think it’s cancer and you’re here about the harmonica.”

“I am,” Wilson said. “And it’s extremely telling that no one even asked about it this morning.”

Foreman shrugged. “He was messing with it all day yesterday.”

“Yes, but he hasn’t spoken.”

Wilson watched as Foreman and Thirteen blinked, looked at each other, looked at House, and smiled.

“Do you have to talk through the harmonica?” Thirteen guessed.

“Did you lose a bet or is this the bet?” Foreman asked.

“This is the bet. And I need you both to tell me if he cheats.”

House made a discordant sound of outrage, gesturing some mean stuff to Wilson.

“No typing or texting or writing stuff to communicate. The white board is fine and he can gesture,” Wilson told them, grinning at House over his coffee. “Just for today.”

“Done,” Thirteen agreed, immediately. “So do we just tail him all day or…”

“No, I'm sure there’s something doctor-y he needs you to do,” Wilson said, making his way to the door. “And while I’d love to watch him attempt to explain whatever that is, I should get back to work. Have fun, House!”

House flipped him off as he left and Wilson let himself cackle down the hallway.

  House lost, of course he lost, but Wilson had fun watching him try.

As usually happened, the case got complicated, and House couldn’t resist telling his team why they were idiots. He did make it through most of the day, though, so Wilson couldn’t gloat about his victory too much.

He could, however, hold House hostage in his victory, back at House’s old apartment, and make him play for him.

“This is humiliating,” House said, playing the opening keys to “Piano Man” on his own piano. “I’m better than this. You’re better than this.”

“Silence, music man, or there will be no bread for your jar.”

House rolled his eyes but leaned forward to play the opening harmonica. Wilson raised his beer in praise.

He sang along with House on the choruses but let House sing the verses, enjoying his rough baritone giving the song a jazzier sound. He pushed his way onto the piano bench with House, forcing House to sway with him. House shot him annoyed looks but didn’t falter on the music, even smiling at Wilson when he held up his beer to be a microphone.

House played out the song with the harmonica and piano chords at the same time and Wison went in with raucous applause.

“You’re a dork,” House told him, but his eyes were soft. He took off the harmonica harness and laid it gently on the piano. “And a terrible winner. You could have made me do this at an actual piano bar. Or at the hospital. You didn’t even take a video.”

“Why should other people get to hear you play?” Wilson said, leaning his body into House. “They didn’t win a bet. They didn’t get you a good present.”

“This is not a good present.”

“You love it.”

“I do not.”

“Yes you do – you love it and you love me.”

House sighed, bringing his arm around Wilson’s waist. “You got me there.”

Wilson hummed, leaning in to kiss House. House kissed him back hard and they very quickly got carried away.

Wilson could not be blamed: that harmonica had been hogging House’s mouth for days.

[wayfayrr]

Hello! Congratz for the 300💐! And happy holiday too!🌟

So indecisive to what to ask... the cozy of inside home or the fun outside the snow... but since it's a day to not be wasted may I get a soft buttered rum with panettone as takeaway, please?

thank you for the well wishes!! Even if it's been a little while since I got this ask lmao

but of course you may <3

“Can’t believe how hooked on the library you’ve gotten, I don’t even own a forge so I don’t know how you’re planning to use half of what you’re reading.”

“I’m just thinking about if we ever find our way back to Hyrule… learning more of your customs is fun anyway.”

Maybe I shouldn’t have pointed that out, he’s drooped a little bit but maybe I’ll be able to cheer him up. Maybe I should look more into a silver working course for him, there’s got to be something like that around here right? Even if we get on a train or drive out somewhere it’d be worth it for him. For now, though the trip to the library will have to do. Hopefully, it won’t be too difficult to get there through the snow now that I think about it. It wasn’t supposed to stick as much as it ended up, there’s at least a foot of it out there. 

“You’ve chosen one of the worst days to do this, you know right? Your coats on the hanger by the way.”

“Can’t exactly control when I need to take the books back can I, I mean unless you’d prefer to pay the late fee.”

“With how cold it’s probably going to be on the way there I’m honestly so close to just paying for a couple days of it. Couldn’t you just y’know split and send vio?”

Got rewarded with a smug grin and an elbow to the side for that. 

“Splitting for such a small task really? Anyway you’d still have to walk him there, the others too cause you know they’d get jealous.”

“Well I could always spend some time alone with them later”

“You really don’t want to go out in the snow do you.”

“No-? It’s cold. Wait what are you - OI!”

Wiping the remaining snow off of my face I could now see that his smug smirk turned into a full shit-eating grin. Perfectly fitting for the fact that he’s standing just outside with another snowball ready to go. 

“What was that for!??”

“You can’t say no to being in more snow now can you? You’re prepared for it.”

“I can absolutely say no.”

Met me with another snowball to the face. As he started to laugh and run off, like he’s taunting me to follow him. Not that it isn’t working.

“OH COME ON.”

“Come make me regret it then.”

[satureja13]

Saiwa's Therapy Game - Part 3 It starts -> here

'It′s of a brave and a gallant ship With a fair an' a fav′ring breeze, And a goodly crew and a captain too, For to carry me over the seas. For to carry me over the seas, my boys, To my true love far away; I'm taking a trip on a Government ship Ten thousand miles away!'

10.000 Miles Away

Captain Duath sailed 10.000 miles (more or less ^^') until he found a decent remote island.

'And sing blow the winds high-o, a-roving I will go. I'll stay no more on England′s shore or to hear the music play, For I'm off on the morning train and I won′t be back again. For I'm taking a trip on a Government ship Ten thousand miles away.'

An island all for himself! THAT was his dream! Living all by himself and caring only for himself! This is a place where he can fully concentrate on his healing.

Captain Duath moored his dinghy thing and unloaded his few belongings before he explored the small island. Until he found a mailbox - and a flamingo. The label on the mailbox read: Flamingo Island... He always loved flamingos...

(TMI: I created Saiwa in November 2014 as Giga Byte for a career special where she lived as a hacker above the 'Flamin to Go' takeaway.) There also was a flamingo poster in the trailer of the StrangeTrailer Park in Strangerville which later hung in Sai and Jack's apartment at Belgraves Institute.

But a flamingo also is a bird and will remind him of their unfinished business with his damn fake relationship with Kiyoshi. Saiwa is sure that this is no coincidence. Tiny Can won't let him off the hook this easily as it seems. No matter how far he runs away from his problems.

He'll think about that later. Here ingame, he has any time in the world. First he needs a shelter and the buildmode in the Therapy Game was a joy! (Did the flamingo turn towards Sai? He seems to watch him ö.Ö')

Soon he built a little shack out of some thriftwood and stuff he found in the ocean (which was also good for the environment ^^).

To show Tiny Can that he's not just lazing around and to show his goodwill to change, he went with the Flamingo Island theme and built a flamingo patterned armchair. He even found a flamingo towel and shorts...

Saiwa was very dirty after cleaning up the ocean and he urgently needed to take a shower. He thought it's ok that he put the shower outside. The shack is already too small and no one will see him out here anyway.

'No one' was really surprised by the unexpected sight ^^'

Saiwa was hungry after all the work and so he went to catch some fresh fish. He couldn't be happier. He can eat when he wants and what he wants (as long as it's fish ^^') and no one is disturbing him here! (But maybe this island is abandoned because of the fuming vulcano that might 'disturb' him sooner or later ö.Ö')

And while he was grilling his fish, butterflies surrounded him. Just like paradise! (Can you spot all four butterflies? Minus the flying fish ^^')

Saiwa's 'bathroom' :3

While he ate and looked over the calm ocean, he thought about all the things that are stirring him up inside and keeping him from his calm and that he needs to tackle in his therapy. The leadership of the Boys, his relationship with Jeb and his friendship with Kiyoshi. A lot of 'ships'. Maybe therefore Tiny Can made him a captain ^^' And maybe the flamingo bird means he should work on his friendship with Kiyoshi and Jeb first. So they can finally go back home and try to have a halfway normal life together again.

Before he leaves the game, he laid in the sun for a while and let his thoughts flow. Will it be possible to stay the leader or will he have to give it up for his relationship with Jeb? Or will he have to give up Jeb for the Boys?There will always be situations where he will have to put the Boys over Jeb. Is it fair to keep Jeb by his side if he can't be his top priority? He hates to hurt Jeb, but it will happen again. Will there be a way to deal with it? Or would it be better if they kept their distance and Jeb found someone other than him? Who would love him like he deserves it? Jeb is too stubborn and loves Saiwa too much to break up. Even if he were unhappy.

And how are they even supposed to go back to normal? Kiyoshi, Jeb and him. After all that had happened? He had that damn fake relationship with Kiyoshi to get him out of that tree because they thought Saiwa was Kiyoshi's fated mate and now Jeb and Kiyoshi live together. And there are still all the other problems he has as their leader. That they have to stay together or armageddon, Ji Ho's lost feelings, Jack's pain because he left Kiyoshi, his real fated mate. The Council. And the sword of damokles over their heads that Ji Ho's grandfather did something that let put Ji Ho a spell on Vlad to seduce him to obtain his powers for the Council... OMG! They might be safe in the Otherworld from their enemies for now but their problems are following them whereever they go. Is it even possible to go back to the real world? (Yep, that flamingo is definitely moving! ö.ö)

'Oh, my true love she was beautiful, My true love she was young; Her eyes were like the diamonds bright And silvery was her tongue. And silvery was her tongue, my boys, As the big ship left the bay She said, will you remember me Ten thousand miles away?'

Outtakes This is so annoying that there are abandoned boats on the ocean -.-You can't put them in your inventory so I let Saiwa move it behind a rock when we started this session and now it's back again!

The Therapy Game Master Post with the sessions and places so far is -> here

From the Beginning  ~  Underwater Love ~  Latest Current Chapter: 🕹️ 'The One' from the beginning ▶️ here 📚 Previous Chapters: Chapters: 1-6 ~ 7-12 ~ 13-16 ~ 17-22 ~ 23-28

[live-laugh-lenney]

hello !! this is a little late (dw abt it) but i can't shake the thought out of my head abt arthur birthday ,,,, spoiling him bcs he's an old man now and he deserves it! i feel like he'd like the attention and pampering esp coming from a huge family it would be nice for an entire day just for him aka arthurtv birthday blurb where (i wrote arthurtv birthday smut but ,,, that will stay in the drafts)

-🍓

yn makes the whole day about him.

she decorates his living room with numbered balloons and 'birthday boy' and 'happy birthday' banners that she hid in george's flat the day before and she hangs streamers from his ceiling and, sure, she may have gone a tad overboard on decorating his flat for the day but the look on his face when he saw the effort she put in was something she wished she pictured.

she piles up her presents for him on the kitchen table alongside a huge buffet breakfast that she surprises him with - eggs in all forms because she couldn't decide the best one, lots of toast, sausages and plenty of bacon steaming on a plate, smashed avocado in a bowl with all of his salt and pepper and different seasonings and sauces next to it, with bowls of cubed fruit and a plate piled high with thick and fluffy pancakes sitting with a candle in the middle.

she books them and their closest friends into a fancy restaurant with bottomless drinks and delicious foods, letting him have his moment with his friends as they celebrate him spending another year around the sun. and he's so thankful and surprised to have a girlfriend who organises something so loving and incredible for him.

she organises a facetime call with his family and surprises him, on call with them, that she's brought him tickets to fly home and see them for a couple of weeks and that she's been in cahoots with his family whole time so that they knew of her plans and were able to help her out... having taken care of his youtube and work schedule and letting chris and those he films with that he would be absent for two weeks so he could have some personal time off.

they end the night in his flat, inviting george and arthur and chris over for a few drinks and takeaway because he felt so exhausted and just wanted a chilled out night with those he loved and felt closest to. the boys bringing him a cake and they sing 'happy birthday' to him as he blows out the candles.

"did you have a good day?"

he nods and brings her closer to his side, her cheek flush upon his naked chest and her palm flat upon his stomach, exhaling a slow and deep breath from deep within.

"the best day," he says softly and she looks up at him, "thank you for organising everything."

"i figured that the boys will take you out this weekend for a heavy one before you go off to jersey for two weeks so i thought that we could celebrate slowly today," she admits and presses a kiss to his cheek, "i'm glad you enjoyed it though."

"you did good," he claims and looks at her with darkened eyes, "but you know what would make it even better?"

"one step ahead of you," she grins widely and she hooks a leg over his waist and straddles his hips, hands on his shoulders as she braces her weight upon him and she can see the blush on his cheeks begin to form, "just sit back, let me do all the work tonight." xx

[jazryl]

ThamePo Series Review

It has been a week since ThamePo ended, and I cannot seem to shake off this high from the series. Well, not until I let out some of my thoughts about the show after it aired for a solid 13 weeks.

Despite whatever criticism that I share towards the series, I would like to make it clear that I find it beautiful and entertaining for the most part. The actors did a great job with the material that was given to them, so I would not really take the time to dissect through their performance on-screen (especially considering that it was a debut series for the group). Nevertheless, I am here to critique and appreciate the series as a story--how the characters are written, how the world of ThamePo was built, and how the events unfolded to deliver the message that they intend to impart to its audience.

Let's start with the strong points of the story. First of all, Thame and (especially) Po's characters were, for me, well-written. I would like to argue that Po is the best and most complete character of the series in terms of how he was consistently written and developed in the show. I have taken the time to talk about how his past experience reflected with how he acted with his relationship with Thame throughout the series, and I find his development in the series slow yet steady. His stance and approach whenever his character and perspective is challenged is not unfounded, and we can see how his character relates to Thame and with Mars as well. With this, I think that Thame's character perfectly complimented Po with how his character relates to Thame's own struggles, and how Thame remains to be a consistent reassuring force for Po throughout the series.

In addition to the writing of the leads, I also appreciated the world-building of the series. To me, the first two episodes were some of the best introductions that I have seen so far in recent memory. It perfectly laid down the mechanics of their story (how famous Mars was, how famous Thame is, where the leads are coming from). Some may argue that it was slow, but I appreciated this pace as it lets the tension linger in the atmosphere of the story. Moreover, the story oriented us about the premise of the situation: the time limit and the stakes hooked me right away into the story.

I am also happy that you can see that the show pays attention to the details it laid out. The way particular scenes were cut to gain further insight to the bigger picture and complete the story. I also enjoy how they foreshadow major plot points throughout the story (Thame and Po breaking up after Pepper and Gam, their talk about leaving back in EP 1, etc.). With the little runtime that every episode had (in my opinion), they are still able to reinforce a full circle moment to the crucial parts of the story.

This care they had for executing the material that they have written helped them deliver the main theses of this story. Throughout the series, we are made aware of what to expect with the central themes of a story that tackles life in the entertainment industry. To me, the show's message around romance and dreams, and reconciling both of them in their lives is strong and insightful. The story's takeaway in finding value in one's passions is intriguing and in line with what the characters wanted. While the lessons around the story of the group (idol culture, dating etc.) are nothing new, they (unfortunately) remain relevant right now especially that ThamePo starred an actual idol group out of LYKN. It is actually scary that some plot points of the show are projected right now in the real life (in real time too!) as we witness some fans act around their favorite idols. It seems like not everyone who watched the show actually learned from it.

Some BL series tend to fall off with the plot towards the end, so I am happy and mostly satisfied with how ThamePo ended the story. They provided a strong takeaway, and ultimately they managed to complete the story arcs of the group and of Thame and Po. It was happy and full of hope, albeit a little bittersweet. Regardless, it was an end that made sense to the story and the message they are trying to impart.

Now, while I truly enjoyed and fixated over the series for the past few months, there are some points where I thought they could have conveyed better. I would stretch this argument by saying that there are some parts which I wished did not happen at all for better storytelling.

First, the short runtime of every episode gravely affected the amount of the story that the series is showcasing. Especially for the member-focused episodes, the runtime forced the pacing of their stories to be a little too rushed, so I felt that their characters were a little weakly written compared to Thame. I know that the title of the show is ThamePo, but for a member-focused episode, they could have fleshed them out better so that a lot more people would connect to their struggles individually. What does the group mean for them? How deep is their relationship with Thame? What do they actually think about the separation of Thame from the group? Answering such questions, I think, would strengthen the campaign of the group to the audience, as if to say, "Please root for us to keep the group."

Aside from the members, I also thought that the writing of the women characters are either too flawed, contradictory, or a little incomplete. Arguably, Baifern felt the most complete whilst acting weird around Pepper dating Gam. While she is a mirror for the fans in real life, I felt that they could have written her to be more sensible about the matter. Nevertheless, I am happy that her character developed with the little time that she had on our screen. Meanwhile, I think Gam is the best written woman of the show with her complexity in handling the whole debacle with the dating "scandal" with Pepper. However, I thought that this part was not that showcased with the little screentime that she had. With Pemika, while I found her intriguing and interesting as she brought the conflict to the story, I found her motivation as an antagonist of the story to be contradictory to her actions. I have expressed this part for many episodes in my reviews, and I cannot really appreciate the seemingly complex character that she displays because her reasons do not reflect to whatever she does with the group. To me, her character felt a little too safe: I thought the writing of the show became too cautious of painting her as a villain, so they decided to inject a bit of humanity to her actions. However, I cannot really connect with her on that part.

Finally, while I thought the world-building was great, the story seem to forgot such details that they laid out while they are navigating the plot in the middle of it all. The show struggled to sell the fantasy that Thame is a superstar and to showcase how famous Mars as a group. I don't think that it was realistic that they can roam around a grocery without disguise while avoiding paparazzi.

With such critiques that I had for the story, I thought that they made creative decisions that either hindered the plot, or gave themselves a difficult time to work around given the mechanics of the story that they built. I felt a little jealous that I haven't written this story. I am not a fiction writer, but if I were to write this story, here are some things that I will do:

Revise the premise. Instead of being a famous group, I would make Mars a flopping group, with Thame, as the "most popular" member, being forced to join a Korean survival show to boost their popularity as a group. But in return, this would estrange him from the rest of the group, and the company would finally have a reason to disband them. I felt that this way, the whole group can have a better excuse moving around in public (because nobody/not a lot of people know them) as opposed to when they are famous. I also think that it is just enough motivation for Pemika to just not be interested in keeping the group to push Thame's popularity further.

Instead of not allowing Thame to be in the company building, force him to report everyday. Not allowing Thame in Oner Entertainment's building restricted his movement a lot, and this affected the circumstances that he can force to be with Po. They are supposed to be teaming up, so I think being in the company would force Thame to be more discreet in meeting Po. This creates more thrill and excitement with their story. I also like seeing them together more (since for the most part, we only see them together either at the start or end of the episode). This also gives Thame a bigger, more active role in bringing back the group together. In the story given to us, the restriction on Thame forced a third party out of Jun to pull the strings for them.

Eliminate Jun as a love rival. I know this would be polarizing, but I was not really convinced with Jun liking Po for the most part. Moreover, I thought whatever transpired between EP 7 and EP 8 did not really add much value to Thame and Po's relationship in my opinion. They had no problems (yet, at that point of the story), and I did not appreciate how Jun intervened with their relationship, trying to spell out what we already know and what was already shown out of Thame and Po's relationship. Besides, the story of the group tied with their love story is already complicated enough, so I thought a love triangle is not really needed especially that the show had a lot to address. If we wanted a better role for Jun, we could have strengthened his role as Thame's best friend and biggest confidant within the group. We also could have allotted such a space for JunDylan crumbs (haha, but for the most part I do not really want to push this since it would be a little too late to resolve their story if ever).

Nevertheless, I would like to thank ThamePo for delivering such a beautiful message. I thought that despite its flaws, they still managed to resonate to its audience, and to those who doubt the value of their passions towards its impact to the world.

[chiefdirector]

Listening | Tim Bradford | The Rookie

Act One | Chapter 16 | Chapter 17 | Chapter 18 | Chapter 19 | Chapter 20 | Chapter 21 | Chapter 22 | Chapter 23 | Chapter 24 | Chapter 25

(Y/N) nursed a coffee that had turned cold hours ago as she watched the screens before here intently, waiting for anything to happen. It had been hours since she had placed the bug in Sullivan's home but he had not done anything at all except watch reruns of crappy old sitcoms.

The room she was hooked up in was small and dark, so much so she felt like she could drift off to sleep any moment now. Groaning, she leaned back in her chair, sliding the headphones down to rest on her neck. Her back popped as she stretched, releasing tension that had been sitting there for hours. She stayed in that stretched out position for a few fleeting moments, shooting back up again when she heard the door open.

"Hey, hey, hey." She said, trying to seem a bit more collected than she felt.

"Hi." Chen smiled as stuck her head around the door, keeping the rest of her body hidden. "Is now a good time to talk?"

"Only is you brought me a-"

"Coffee?" Chen moved into the small room, presenting (Y/N) with a takeaway coffee cup, passing it over when the detective started making grabby hands. "I learn quickly."

"You're my favourite." She smiled into her coffee, blowing on it before taking a sip. "This is amazing. You're amazing. But what can I do for you?"

"I was wondering if you could show me how all this works, Tim is in court and it's either this or desk duty with Smitty."

(Y/N) nodded, gesturing for Lucy to pull up a chair beside her. She leaned over to the drawers beside her, pulling out a spare headset and plugging it in. "Put this on. All we need to do is listen, see if he says anything of interest that we can link back to Dyer."

Lucy hummed as she donned the headset, watching as (Y/N) shuffled through the computer screens in front of her. The two sat in silence for nearly an hour, listening to the tape until Chen all but slammed her headset down onto the hardwood desk in front of her.

"You okay?" (Y/N) asked, gently placing her own headphones down next to Lucy's.

"This is stupid, this can't be all there is to do." She ranted, running a hand over her head. "Rosalind would know that we were listening. It feels like we are running around doing exactly what she expects. Surely, you agree?"

"Yeah, I do. But nobody will warrant any other action at this time. Until we get permission from Grey, or someone higher, we can't take any official action." (Y/N) softly said, placing her hand on Lucy's shoulder, checking her watch as she moved. "Look, it's near the end of shift. I'm going to head off, you should too. Go home; eat, sleep. Come back here tomorrow. We can talk more then... see if any better ideas come to us."

(Y/N) watched as Chen nodded, leaving to hopefully go back to the locker room. Once the door shut behind her, she reached for her phone. Chen was right, they were not going to make any progress. Rosalind Dyer was playing chess and they were playing checkers. They had to meet her on a more even ground, one where Rosalind wouldn't expect them to be.

-

The sun hadn't even begun to rise when (Y/N) carefully removed herself from Tim's sleepy grip, silently getting herself ready for the day. She moved through the house with the stealth of an black ops agent, trying not to wake Kujo as she left, grabbing a large grey duffle bag from the office before leaving and shutting the door behind her. She had left the house as if nothing had been disturbed, everything was in its place.

As she slotted the key into the door, turning the lock shut, she let out a silent breath of relief that she had managed to leave undetected. She took a moment to collect herself, focussing her thoughts on what had to be done, before getting into her car, tossing her bag onto the backseat and pulling out of the driveway.

Even in the midst of nightfall, the streets and freeways of Los Angeles were mayhem to navigate; there was traffic from every given angle, drivers swearing at each other and barely anyone obeying traffic laws. (Y/N) paid no mind to the minor law infringements she saw, she had no time to pull these drivers over only to give them a fine. Dayshift would pick up any slack she left behind.

As traffic began to slow down to another standstill, (Y/N) pulled her phone from her pocket before turning it off and throwing it in the back alongside her duffle bag. She then leaned across the passigner chair to the glovebox where she pulled out a burner phone, an old Nokia she still had stashed away when she had returned to work. She shoved it in the pocket where she had pulled her phone from before turning into the Union Station parking lot.

Throwing her coat on, she got out of the car, locking it before placing the key on top of the back left wheel. She checked her pockets for everything she would need, her badge, her wallet, and a packet of gum as she walked towards the bus terminal.

-

The dark walls seemed to impose on (Y/N), as if they were squeezing her, taking away the very oxygen in her lungs. She took a deep breath, reminding herself that she was fine and the walls were not, in fact, compressing her. Still, even with that knowledge, she hardly felt safe; the nonchalant attitude of the guard escorting her and the angry roar of inmates who recognised someone foreign to them were hardly reassuring.

Nonetheless, (Y/N) held her head high, not letting her lack of confidence show as the guard finally escorted her into the most easterly wing of the prison. It was one of the most secluded areas of the entire facility and yet it was the most sterile looking. It reminded her of a hospital straight from a horror movie.

The walls stood tall, the bright white paint giving the illusion that the corridor was light and airy. The luminescent lights shone down from the ceiling, causing (Y/N) to wince from the sheer amount of light that gave off. The image of a hospital ward was only fended off by the heavy metal doors aligning the corridor, each one marking an entrance to a cell which held some of California's most terrifying inmates. Kidnappers, war criminals, people involved with terror plots, and serial killers. Those heavy metal doors didn't let (Y/N) forget where she was or why she was here.

"You know the rules right?" The guard grunted, pushing his overgrown hair from his face. As he stopped outside one of the cells "No touching, no provoking, no transfer of contraband. If the inmate attacks-"

"Attempt to restrain the prisoner, and use suitable force if required. Yell for help. I know." Bradford finished as she watched the guard huff before he started to unlock the cell door.

@xceafh @kmc1989 @buba424 @salty0cracker @iamasimpingh0e @malindacath @rookietrek @hufflepuffwhore13 @tessalynni @anaferreira-4 @starstruckchopshoptyphoon

25 | 27

[o-uncle-newt]

ONE: it creates traditions

Despite not being a Christmas-celebrator myself, I'm really glad that the final episode of this show aired as a Christmas special, because it's equally timely to talk about Molokai.

I wrote extensively about Molokai last year, and my main takeaway is that it celebrates ritual in a way that's really important. And I was thinking about it, and so many of the themes that I elevated in previous posts I've done this year are related to this as well. It's important to how funny the show is, how heartwarming the show is, how good the show is for mental health... so many different things.

I recommend reading the above post for a full breakdown, but what I raised about Molokai was that it's basically about the importance of creating and/or participating in rituals and traditions, things that mark your life and add pizzazz to it. Martin, living a depressing life on his own in an attic, has no reason to like Christmas when it's just another dull day, but enjoys it when he's exposed to and participates in ritual. Arthur, it turns out, creates ritual all the time, whether invoking existing traditions re Christmas or creating rituals around things like Birling Day.

I argue, pushing that further, that CABIN PRESSURE is about creating a kind of comforting ritual, tradition, what have you. Don't get me wrong- the comedy is often sharp and creative, there's story and character development over time... but it's not so much that the shape of the show is familiar as that the expectations are. This is going to be funny, this is going to have interesting people, this is going to let those interesting people be comically nasty to each other but also let them have real relatable emotions, and at the end of the episode GERTI will fly again.

There's also the repetitive element of features like games, particular character mannerisms, etc. One of my favorite sitcoms, the 60s spy spoof Get Smart, was written with the main character, Maxwell Smart (Agent 86) given many catchphrases, and the actor who played him actively encouraged the writers to create more because having those kinds of repetitive and funny elements is a good hook and a comforting element to viewers. They ended up being some of the most iconic parts of the show, not just because the lines are funny but because of the way they're said by Max/Adams and the way the character who says them is written. Plenty of Get Smart fans can be caught saying "missed it by that much" or "sorry about that Chief" or, my favorite that I say all the time, "he should have used his powers for niceness instead of evil."

The characters of Cabin Pressure don't have catchphrases in the same way- or rather, it's limited to things like "brilliant" and "yellow car"- but it contains so many different elements that listeners can count on in an episode. If the whiskey is stolen, obviously Douglas did it and the question (which will be answered creatively) is how. If this is a situation where Douglas can save the day, he will- and if he doesn't, then there will be a satisfying reason why. People won't recognize Martin as captain- and if they do then that's a sign that something is off kilter. JF creates the boundaries of the world that we step into and then plays within and around them in incredibly innovative ways. It's such a good formula for keeping things interesting and comforting.

And here's where I go to praise JF as the creator- because he ended up taking on an interesting form of commitment to create ritual in our own lives, maybe because he saw how much we'd already done it ourselves. Thanks to the show, already as of S4 people were taking traveling lemons to different locations, playing Yellow Car by Arthurian rules... and then, he started posting a variation on Get Dressed Ye Merry Gentlemen every year, and as a decidedly non-Christmas person it's basically the only thing about the holiday that I look forward to. (Incidentally- one of the things that made me want to post about this is my curiosity what he'll do this year when he's no longer on Twitter...)

But the biggest ritual-creating thing he did, of course, is do 26 episodes of Cabin Fever. He posted the episodes on a regular schedule (and warned us in advance when he started spacing them out), he gave us games to try and puzzles to solve, and he gave us something to look forward to that would add some fun and shape to our lives in a time that could be both shapeless and stressful. I myself was still recovering from my very early bout of COVID, isolated in my room, bored and miserable and not at full breathing capacity and still only getting over the feeling that I could have potentially died, when Cabin Fever arrived and gave me something to look forward to. It created ritual, which created meaning, which was one of the most thoughtful things someone could have done for me around then.

So, a tribute to Cabin Pressure, a tribute to the wonderful John Finnemore, a tribute to the idea that we can take our own action and join with others to create ritual that gives us meaning and comfort... and a tribute to all of you who have been doing/following along with Cabin Pressure advent in various forms. This too is a form of ritual, community, and tradition that I look forward to continuing to participate in- as part of a really cool fandom.

In the meanwhile, happy tenth freaking anniversary, Merry Christmas to all the Christmas people, almost-Happy Chanukah to all the (fellow) Chanukah people, and just generally wishing a beautiful year full of things that give your life shape and meaning.

[aeh2611]

Qualifying Takeaways 🏎️

Disappointing result for Ferrari. I refuse to read too much into it considering the margins are so small and Melbourne isn’t all that representative so let’s focus on the positives:

1) (Likely) wet race tomorrow. It’s been a while since we had one of those in Australia and as tho the field weren’t chaotic enough already with everyone so close to each other and all the rookies coming in this season, it’s probably going to be an absolute banger. Can’t wait.

2) Charles didn‘t get that second lap hooked up, so he didn’t get to benefit from track evolution for his time on the board. If he had, would it have been enough to challenge the top 4? Who knows. But I highly doubt he‘ll be starting P7 for the rest of the season.

3) Yuki and Alex. Even tho it did kind of hurt that they demoted the Ferrari’s, I am actually really happy for both of them. Yuki is still on the lookout for a new team and with all that chatter about wether or not he had the skill to step up to the senior team at Red Bull, it’s good to see that that apparently motivated him rather then discouraged him. He also happens to be quite solid in the wet, so let’s see how it’s gonna pan out tomorrow. Regarding Alex: obviously I do hope that Carlos does well at Williams (and he seems to be), but Alex has stuck with that team through thick and thin now. He is a fantastic driver and I was a little scared of him getting outperformed in a way that would hurt his career prospects. So yeah. Encouraging results for both of them.

4) Bortoleto and Hadjar: Really convincing performances. I am so glad they got to show a little what they can do, despite being in cars that I expected to be further behind on the grid (even though that appears to be truer for the Stake car than the VCARB for now).

Out of the top team drivers I do feel most sorry for Liam. Kimi’s session was also scrappy but he‘ll be fine, the damage to the bib he had was clearly more bad luck than anything else, he‘ll be okay. I am a little scared for Liam. We have seen before what a lack of confidence in that Red Bull can do to a driver, and how bad performances can pile on. He‘s also under so much scrutiny online, so I hope that he‘ll be able to shake this off and move on.

In conclusion: Mixed feelings I guess. Exited for a good season. I am a little scared that McLaren might run away with this one, but cautiously optimistic that several teams might give them a run for their money (the fields was closer together at times than in F2 which is a spec series. That’s crazy). I am obviously feeling a little down about the Ferrari result, but I don‘t think it’s time to write the season off yet. I‘ll just chill. As a very wise man from King‘s Lynn once said: „Top 4 crashes then we win.“

So in that spirit: Forza Ferrari (I guess).