#so I'm going to be sad once I hit the max level. :'(

[six-improbable-things]

Oh god. I played 9.7 hours of P:WotR today... that's fucking wild. I am clearly so very normal about this game.

[fernandomagicalonsomanydances]

Been largely absent from Tumblr since I had to reset my phone but in preparation for the last race of the season here's my updated rating of the drivers based on how much I love and support them

1. Carlos - you are the reason I got into the sport Smooth Operator and "I ain't quitting you" even if you did decide to go to the cellar that is Williams

2. Fernando - with the Newey news hope is restored for my favorite old man to get his much deserved and long overdue 3 WDC "help me Adrian Newey you're my only hope"

3. Oscar - well with Logan and Danny gone and Checo leaving looks like you're getting adopted yet again Osco by me the American congratulations you can now claim 3 more races as "home races" because I'm claiming you as my home driver cause it sure ain't gonna be Canadian Nepo Baby

4. Esteban - oh Estie Bestie they didn't even let you say goodbye. Screw that shit show that is Alpine. Can't wait to see you take Haas to the next level with lovely Ollie Bear beside you (please don't hurt him or I will end you)

5. Max - my trauma bro for life who healed my inner child when he let his little sister Victoria put the sticker on the Redbull cooler at Qatar. You are the champion of the world and of the horror story that is your past

6. Lando - "a gentleman on and off the track" as your bro4lyfe Carlos said. I will never say anything bad about you again after how gallantly you treated Oscar. The goodest boy.

7. Franco - chaos powered by maté please don't go away. We need the heir of Sebastian's rizzardry and Senna's face to stick around

8. Charles - you can be a princess sometimes but you're my best friend's favorite princess just maybe don't act like someone pissed on your cheerios every time Carlos does better than you and please toughen up and lighten up because i don't know if I'm prepared to see BOTH Ferrari pilots be sad wet mops next year

9. Pierre - I used to think you were an arrogant little Frenchman who came off as vain but after burying the hatchet with Esteban at Brazil and then qualifying like a GOAT ever since I'm prepared to look past the past and actually like you now

10. Valterri - oh you cheeky cheeky Finn with your cheeks out everywhere, the grid won't be the same without you and if you want me to help you lock Helmut Marko in a shed so you can get that Redbull seat I'd only be too happy to help

11. Alex - sweet zookeeper I'm sorry your car is held together by scotch tape and prayers these days

12. Nico - the Just For Men hair care model that you are never change Nico... Except hopefully Audi can change the number of podiums you have

13. Yuki - feisty parkour king you deserve the seat alongside Max more than anyone else in the RB family currently and I will help you beat up Helmut Marko if that's what it takes

14. Checo - please go spend time with your family. You were great but you gotta go it's getting embarrassing leave before there's no dignity left to leave with and your successes get lost for the sour ending

15. Kevin - please use your last race in F1 to absolutely embrace the Danish Demolition Derby that you are and clear a path for Hulk's first podium and then enjoy your adorable lovely family and whatever sports you move on to next

16. Zhou - thanks for saving Sauber from the total ignominy of a big ole goose egg at the end of the year. I hope you come back cause you're such an inspiration to your country

17. George - once upon a time you were in my top 3 and then you decided chicanery was the way to take down Max. If you don't believe you can beat him on the track then admit it don't go plotting his downfall by getting him hit with penalty points for basically a non-event. I loved you but now you're just some whiny bitch I used to know

18. Lewis - you literally would have had a chance to surpass George if you too weren't being a whiny bitch Lewis. Threatening to not race the last 3! Whining before Brazil! Wanting to quit in Qatar! Are you or are you not a 7 time world champion? Freaking act like it. Regardless of whatever Toto may say you owe it to the team that brought you most of your championships to at least try. Think of Bono if you can't think of anyone else to show your appreciation by sucking it up a little bit bro

19. Lance - you are basically useless but at least your daddy's money will get my Daddy a better car since he brought Newey in with his dough

20. Liam - I was prepared to forgive you for replacing my beloved Danny Ric and then you went and acted like the biggest prick on the grid and decided it was on sight with any pilot who spoke Spanish or their teammates now at this rate. Your love for Cars cannot redeem your attitude which smells like Durian fruit.

[willalove75]

Pls surprise us for a new fic🥹😭

-m

Do I still have to finish writing chapter 13 of Alcina's New Maid? Yes lollll but I've been struggling with writing anything the last few days (my period has been an asshole this month yayy -.-) and this suddenly hit me so lets go!

This is inspired by the incredibly talented @rosalynesimp's artwork Dreadful Love and her latest masterpiece Dreadful Love Part 2

Warnings: Death, blood, just fucking SADNESS

A/n: I cried writing this so before you read this just know I'M SORRY.

It's been one year. One whole year. One year since Alcina last held you in her arms. One year since she made the biggest mistake of her life. One year since she watched the light fade from your eyes.

It was an accident, she never meant to hurt you. You weren't even supposed to be there. You were supposed to still be in the village running errands, you weren't supposed to be back for another hour.

But fate had other plans. The stars aligned in all of the wrongs ways and you were ripped away from her, by her own hands.

Alcina remembers it clear as day, piles and piles of paperwork, phone call after phone call from Mother Miranda, her stress levels were at an all time high. It was a phone call from Heisenberg, of course it was Heisenberg, that sent her over the edge. She can't even remember what he said, whatever he called about didn't even matter the next day. But everything else that happened after that call will stay with Alcina for the rest of her eternal life.

It was the straw that broke the camels back, it was that phone call that made her snap. Her desk went flying, papers scattered across the floor. She was clawing at every painting, every wall. Alcina always had a temper, she was able to keep it under control up until a certain point and that day, she was shoved past that point.

She didn't hear the door open, she didn't know you came in. She didn't even know you were home.

You finished running errands early and you even had time to stop by the bakery to pick up Alcina's favorite pastries as a little surprise. When you got back to the castle you heard a crash and the sound of things being thrown around. As you walked towards her study you debated on going in, you've only seen her like this once before but you were able to calm her down. She only got like this when she was stressed to the max, extremely overwhelmed and you knew she hadn't been sleeping the last few days. Without knowing it you picked the perfect day to surprise her with her favorite comfort foods.

Slowly you opened the door, you knew you had to be careful, especially since you heard her claws ripping through the walls. After taking a step in you saw the carnage, her desk in pieces, papers scattered everywhere. Before you had another second to think you felt something pierce through your skin. Looking down you realize you had four massive claw marks across your torso.

Alcina was swinging her hands and clawing at everything in sight, the frustration and anger had become too much for her to handle anymore. On one backswing she felt her claws go through something, something soft. A chill she will never forget went up her spine.

The scream she let out shook the castle as she saw you collapse with four gashes across your chest. In a blink she was on the floor next to you, cradling you in her arms. She called for maids, for her daughters, praying to every god and deity she knew of to save you. You both knew it was too late.

Even to this day, she doesn't understand how you weren't angry with her. How you didn't hate her for doing this to you. She will never understand how you told her "it's okay, it was an accident." as the blood poured out of you. She never forgot how you seemed to be the one comforting her as you laid in her arms dying. Telling her over and over again how much you loved her, that you forgave her, until your breath was gone.

Apology after apology spilled from her lips, repeating the words "I'm so sorry, I love you so much" like a mantra. Hoping, praying that it would somehow save you or bring you back.

Alcina sat on the floor with you in her arms in a pool of blood and tears until your body was cold. She didn't know how long she sat there for, it could have been hours for all she knew.

Finally, she stood up, carrying your lifeless body. With each step she trembled but said nothing as she passed through the crowd that had gathered. She said nothing to her daughters that stood there, unsure of what to do for the first time in their lives.

She carried you outside to the willow tree, a place so sacred to the two of you. It was there you both confessed your love for each other. Never will she forget the look in your eyes when you looked up at her after she said you should live your life and travel the world. Without hesitation you replied "why would I do that when everything I want is right here? Alcina do you know how much I love you?"

All alone, with your body laying so peacefully on the grass, Alcina dug a grave and buried you under that tree.

One year. One year since the worst day of her very long life. Not a day went by where you didn't cross her mind. Not a day went by where she didn't regret what happened with every ounce of her soul. Never had she loved someone so deeply, so truly, and it's because of her that you were now gone.

At dusk she left the castle and sat against the willow tree. Her tears flowed as she rested her hand on your grave, wishing, hoping she can see you one more time.

"If there is a god, you will be somewhere wonderful, somewhere where you are happy. Somewhere where you are safe from monsters like me." She said through tears, staring up into the beautifully colored sky. "I love you, draga mea. I am so, so sorry."

When the sun finally set and the moon was bright in the sky, Alcina rose from her spot and gently dusted off her dress. She looked out over the vineyard for a moment and felt the wind pick up a bit. A leaf blew past her and she followed it, turning around to see a small swirl of wind and light and color in front of her.

Standing there too afraid to hope, she watched as the swirling took form and you stepped out in front of her.

"I must be dreaming." She said, her hands beginning to tremble.

"I can assure you my love, you are not." You said with that playful smile she loved so much.

"How- how are you- this can't be real." Alcina says as tears stream down her face.

You walk up to her and float up to her eye level. Gently you cup her face and wipe her tears away.

"It is my love. Although we don't have very long." You say, looking into her beautiful golden irises.

Alcina felt your hand on her face, she could see the sparkle in your eyes that she loved so dearly, she could smell you. You were really there.

Without hesitation Alcina wrapped her arms around your neck and pulled you tightly into her. She nuzzled her face into the crook of your neck and sobbed as you held her.

"I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry."

"I forgive you, it was an accident. Please don't blame yourself."

"I love you, I love you so much."

"I will always love you Alcina, always."

"I've missed you so much draga mea."

"I've missed you too Alci. I am never far away, I will always be with you."

Alcina pulls back and cups your face with both of her hands. You tuck a strand of hair behind her ear and she pulls you in for a soft, passionate kiss. All of the air in Alcina's lungs disappeared when her lips met yours. Never again did she think she would be able to feel your lips on hers. Never again did she think she would get the chance to look into your eyes. Never did she think she would be able to tell you how sorry she was.

When the kiss ends you wipe away more of her tears and gaze into her eyes. The wind begins to pick up again and you know your time together is coming to an end.

You slowly float back down and interlace your fingers with hers.

"Our time is coming to an end my love."

Alcina nods as more tears fall. She doesn't want to let you go, not again, but she knows that she has to.

"I will always be with you, and when your time comes, I will be here waiting for you."

"How are you not angry with me?" She chokes out as the wind picks up more.

"Because I know you would never hurt me on purpose my love. It was an accident, I knew it then and I know it now."

"I love you draga mea."

"I love you too, my Alci."

You take a few steps back and your fingers slowly slide out from between hers.

"I will be waiting for you Alcina. I love you."

The wind swirls around you and you slowly fade into a beautiful blue light. As quickly as it happened, the wind dissipates and the light fades away, leaving Alcina alone, standing by the willow tree.

She looks up into the night sky and wipes her tears, thanking every god and deity for one more moment with you.

As she walks back towards the castle your words replay in her mind "when your time comes, I will be waiting for you." Alcina was an immortal being, you knew that. She isn't sure if you just meant you will wait for her forever, or if perhaps you knew something she didn't. Either way, if or when this life ends, she found comfort in knowing that you will be there on the other side waiting for her.

[thousand-winters]

Do you know when Luz died, Camila just knew that her daughter was dead even if she had no evidence to back it up.

Do you ever think maybe Darius and Eberwolf had a similar moment when Hunter died, even if it was only for a matter of minutes, and they were puppets.

Despite having no idea what was going on, they suddenly both just became really sad as if they’d lost something very dear to them, and where shedding tears even if they had no idea why they where crying.

Even if they were separated by dimensions, they sort of just know something bad had happened.

OH, I LOVE THIS IDEA. Very painful, 10/10

The fact that canonically happened like a couple of days max before everyone got depuppetified too... so it makes it even sadder that it seems like Darius and Eber's first urge after being able to move again and reuniting with each other was search for Hunter. I imagine they would have this violent need in their heads at this point like "Hunter, Hunter, where is he? Find him" and since it's Darius and Eber and they're in the same tune despite the contrasting personalities, they barely had to look to each other before knowing what they had to do.

I'm imagining this too during one of Eda's visits to Raine 😭 So she's just talking to them as usual and Darius is literally at Raine's right side so the sudden tears would probably catch her eye rather quickly and it would be so frightening, especially once she takes a step back and sees Eber crying too. Like... what is happening? Are they in pain? Is this going to happen to all the other puppets? They're obviously not okay but she can't pinpoint what's happening and I imagine she would feel so useless because she can't do anything to help and she doesn't even understand what's going on, and even if she goes and gets Lilith, Lilith also has no idea what's happening.

And they can hardly ask the Collector about this, can they? Unfortunately they just stay worried sick until they see nothing bad has happened to Darius, Eber or Raine, and even then they would be wary because what does it mean, and will it happen again? (They aren't even getting answers after everything is solved unless Darius, Eber, and Camila get to talking and start putting pieces together about the feelings of grief and dread that overcame them and with what events they coincided).

Another really sad aspect of it too is I can imagine Eda's first impulse when seeing Darius cry would be to think perhaps he's turning back to normal and she would be alarmed but so relieved because Darius isn't only an ally but they used to be friends :( And then... he's not doing okay, actually, he's still a puppet and she's left alone with her guilt and helplessness and her own broken heart.

But back to the Deamonnes...

It's going to be a difficult conversation no matter what, knowing that Hunter wasn't about to die, he died. Especially considering how Darius sent him away with Luz so he would be safe in the same manner Eda did. I like to think Eda also talked to him when he was a puppet, so she could at least soothe him by telling him Hunter was safe in the Human Realm if he could hear her, so that's twice as painful because Hunter was supposed to be safe!!! And yet... he wasn't.

It most likely hit Darius very hard too, considering his mentor died away from him, so I think, in part because of that grief he hasn't processed yet, he has to feel very paranoid about something happening to his loved ones when he can't do anything to stop it, and unfortunately the worst case scenario did come to be.

At least there's some level of weird comfort for all of them in the fact they feel so strongly as a family that they somehow felt that happening. It doesn't make it any easier to cope with your kid dying or with the knowledge you died, but it's kinda comforting to think about at the times in which they're doubting if they can even measure up to be whatever the others need from them to be a "proper" family (they'll get to the point in which they know by heart they don't have to be a family in the exact same way others are, they are their own people and their particular bond is unique, but they need some time first).

[mt-lowercase-m-derogatory]

I don't know who needs to hear this, but it's okay for your gender to change over time. Maybe you were sure you liked your squishy internal bits for years, then started to feel you'd be happier as a skeleton animated by dark forces.

Perhaps you're like me, someone who's fervently stuck to being a spellcaster in every game, but is now considering playing a Tank sometimes. I still mostly consider my gender to be level 32 Voidmage but I've come to understand the part of me that's a tank-caster hybrid like an Artificer, even when other people would say my build is janky. A lot of people will try to gatekeep you, but frankly, 1d8 + Int modifier temp hp as a bonus action to your entire party every turn is absolutely worth the higher level spells you give up by not playing a wizard.

And you know what? I'll just come out and say it, Booming Blade IS valid and the Artificer-Artillerist's Arcane Firearm feature DOES work with it if you're using a magical focus staff as your firearm and wielding it as a Quarterstaff to make the Booming Blade attack with. Yes I'm running a 16 in Str and Int, no I'm not "too MAD". Don't listen to the optimizers trying to tell you you should pick Battlesmith instead. People like you being SAD serves to reinforce their worldview and that's what they're really looking after.

Besides, it's not like you'll have the ASIs to rush 20 int, since you're going to pick a vHuman and plan your feats so that you get Crusher, War Caster, and Polearm Master in that order.

You see, Crusher lets you move enemies if you hit them with a blunt weapon using Booming Blade, meaning they'd have to voluntarily move back to you in order to melee you, triggering the extra Booming Blade damage.

With your level 4 ASI, War Caster is a must to protect your concentration. It also lets you cast a spell with your reaction instead of an attack of opportunity. This is not that useful yet, but it is very funny to hit an enemy with Booming Blade as they are running away.

At level 8, you pick the final piece of the puzzle: Polearm Master. You won't be using the bonus attack feature, since as an Artillerist Artificer, your bonus action is spoken for and supremely valuable. What Polearm Master truly lets us do is have an attack of opportunity when an enemy first ENTERS our range. War Caster means we can replace it with a cast of Booming Blade, which on a hit will do our weapon damage, 1d8 immediate damage from the spell, an extra 1d8 damage thanks to Arcane Firearm, and an extra 2d8 damage if the target willingly moves... Which they have to if they wish to attack us, since Crusher can push them out of range right after we deal bludgeoning damage to the enemy, guaranteed since we cast Booming Blade with a Quarterstaff.

Should we hit with Booming Blade twice - once with our action, once with our reaction - that comes out to a max of 2*(1d8+3 + 1d8 + 1d8 + 2d8) or 10d8 + 6 damage at level 8, most of it the seldom-resisted thunder type.

And that's my gender.

[pyromaniac-cyndaquil]

people are saying that about volo huh? man he’s such an experience bc the fundamental rules of the game (or of singles i should say) are messed up there. there’s a lot that’s different in your favor and a lot that’s different in his. the turns system is unique with the strong and agile style thing making it possible to go multiple times in a row (and to get hit multiple times in a row.) the fact that there are no free switches in between your opponent’s pokémon so you can get punished for ohko’ing somebody by having him send out the perfect counter that immediately goes first. the fact that max revives are very easily attainable in this game. the fact that not only is giratina A Thing, but that when playing for the first time *you don’t know about that.* the only way to be truly prepared for giratina is to stall and take the time to heal your team toward the end of volo’s fight which feels kinda cheap. barring that you either have to be very overpowered or very lucky

i struggled when i first played even when using a ton of items and having brought four legendaries (probably bc i was a noob). but on my next replay when i had more experience and a real team i was still fighting for my life, even with items. but i did a no items volo challenge for my most recent run and it was a fresh nightmare that came down to very good luck on my part for the final shot. all three times i remained strictly on level and honestly isn’t the game way more fun that way? i’m also thinking i should go no items or at least limited items from here on out. and a strict level cap

It's mostly YouTube comment bragging I've seen people say that about volo in, but yeah, it's really silly. Couldn't have said it better myself! The way pla is balanced is honestly so cool, and the dread I felt so many times with battling him and he stacked up enough agile and priority moves to get like three turns in a row was painful 😭 not to mention the obscured status! Hoo boy, that REALLY made giratina a pain.

What I find really funny is I beat volo's regular team first try and even when I was liveblogging I mentioned that I was sad it wasn't harder, even if I only had a couple pokemon still standing.

... Then giratina happened 😂 I lost to his first phase sooooo many times on subsequent attempts after that, think I ended up having to swap out my hisuian lilligant for an alpha sylveon and trained that up from scratch just to have a reliable counter for spiritomb.

Anyway yeah, it's soooooo much more fun to stay on level! If I'd just ran in overlevelled there's no way it'd have stayed in my head for as long as it has, it's probably my favourite pokemon moment of all time as it stands. No items is definitely really fun in Pokémon in general, I love having to think hard about team order, items and status moves to give myself the best shot of staying alive 😭 tempted to also try a level cap when I play violet, bc shiny hunting and BBQ grinding made it way too easy to accidentally overlevel (accidentally got my hydrapple to level 100 half way through the epilogue, woops)

If you have access to emulation btw, I'd highly recommend luminescent platinum! Idk if you've heard of it or not but it's a really cool bdsp mod with a few cool story changes, properly scaled pokemon and a massive overhaul to every battle in the game (as well as expanding the dex by A Lot). All bosses have several rotating sets of teams they'll use at random that are fully competitive and there's an option in-game to set hard level caps that increase as the story goes along, and stop you levelling up at all once you reach them. It's really cool! Think I'm up to victory road in that game, should really get back to it haha

[claire-starsword]

The Guardiana Magic School Run -Part 18

Certainly it must be obnoxious that I keep bringing up the novel wherever I go, but consider: 1) i waited years to read that thing so i don't care; 2) translating 300+ pages for free is hella work so i get to brag; and 3) we are literally on Rudo lol i can't stop looking at everything differently now. I know this dog now. I love this dog. She's my friend.

Back to the run, we're still on the spirit of treasure hunts!

After a very fun and not at all garbage puzzle involving unclear map boundaries, we get Musashi, who is not valid for this magic user run. Yes, the guy is invisible and making words pop out of thin air, but he's NOT magical. He's just built different. You would understand if you had studied the blade like him.

We then get Lyle, who is also not for this run. Very sad. But at least they'll kindly donate their weapons to support our magic school. It's not much, but it's the thought tha-

MUSASHI WHAT THE HELL

ARE YOU MADE OF MONEY MAN

so uh, wow! that's something i'd never learn in a regular playthrough. Since it's a unique weapon it goes to the deals section for double the price. The deals section is very clogged right now so I guess we'll soon learn if new deals still pop up or if we're done with it. Not like the useless swords there were helping anyway.

On the topic of weapons, we also get a Holy Staff like I promised last time. I could promote Khris right now, giving up on an early Aura, to use this. Her attack is currently pretty ok (28), so a boost would likely put her in the 30+ with attackers like Max and Arthur. That's wild to think about. But am I going to use her like this with her squishy defense? In the chapter where Golems and Dullahans start to appear? I'm not sure. The next battle is also forest and she doesn't have great movement in that. But we'll be surrounded by spawns, so she might make a difference in wiping out some enemy in that chaos.

I'm pretty afraid of the next battle, so that's what I'm going for. At the end of the day she has four levels to go until Aura and I hate this kind of grinding very much lol

Say hello to Vicar Khris! Boy I hate the stat loss so much. And yet, upon equipping the Holy Staff, she now has the greatest attack in the party. Dog that mauls you for your sins. I'm losing it.

And we're not done with upgrades! First of all I forgot to equip the Soulbuster on Max, but don't worry, it still doesn't make him stronger than Khris.

Arthur on the other hand jumps above the Khris bar thanks to the Chrome Lance. The unpromoted Lowe and mages cannot use the Guard Staff for now, which is a bit of a loss for Lowe, but the girls on the other hand should just be blasting things with magic anyway. Tao might be our greatest weapon against the Golems.

Narsha meanwhile gets the Holy Mace, which is not only more powerful but also capable of Heal 3. Unfortunately I did forbid using weapon effects on my rules, didn't I? Uh oh. Still a nice upgrade, and I didn't have any idea on when to promote Narsha, so let's do it.

Establishing herself once more as the deuteragonist of this thing, Saint Narsha is now as strong as Max, but with a few more points in defense, which is great.

I am still afraid however, so I don't think the upgrades will end here.

I do sit atop a sizable collection of stat boosting items. That I always forget to use in casual play. I would like to not mess my challenge run doing that. The only characters were missing by now are Alef and Torasu, neither of which will need Power Wine, for example. I would also hope they won't need five whole defense potion.

But do I know how to distribute this in an smart and efficient way? Hell no. I do hate seeing Max without defense though, so one potion goes for him, taking him over 20. I do chicken out on using the rest of them though, because I don't think they'll make enough of an impact on characters that are still on the 14-17 range, especially when they don't have enough HP to survive two hits even if their defense was raised.

What I do end up with is using a couple Life Loaves on Narsha. Her defense is now on par with Max yet she has way less HP, so I'm hoping the +3 here helps.

I also end up facing this bizarreness here where the game does not update her current HP? Hoping she doesn't enter battle like this. I can't even use Medical Herbs outside of battle to fix it now.

I also decide to use the Power Wines on Max and Narsha, I'm really betting on them as the frontlines here. So congrats Max, now you're on par with dog girl. Only took a lot of effort.

I also give Anri a Quick Chicken in hopes she'll get more chance to hit the enemies before they hit her.

After all these very insecure decisions, I'm now turning my game off and on again because the Narsha thing bothers me.

:/ it does not fix it

Had to enter this screen and retreat, this is honestly some garbage code.

Anyway, let's finally get to the battle. The clear bonus is just money. Thanks to Musashi's patronage I'm not worried about that. Also no way in hell I'm rushing this battle.

I don't know why I haven't mentioned yet, but Domingo should be the star of this battle. The game even knows it, giving him some extra dialogue here. He has the best defense in the team, floating movement to ignore the forests and mountains, and magic damage against the enemies with high defense.

Arthur is currently the other tank of the team, but being a centaur he won't be moving well in this terrain.

He's at least enthusiastic enough to be the first one to move, but not like there's many threats in this start.

Also I'm just learning that Attack 3 uses 40 MP so, uh. Don't expect to ever see this thing used lol

Very unsure of what to do with Narsha as usual. I might try setting positions to catch Max, Arthur, Hanzou and herself in an Attack 2. I could boost the mages' damage instead but I'm unsure if that will be impactful enough on level 2 spells, and Tao's Blaze 2 is not in a deep need of help. Besides, MP eventually ends, while attack boosts are forever.

After a boring turn 2 we are finally ready to beat these things up. They're doing nothing to Arthur.

No point in wasting Domingo's MP with these weak enemies though. Arthur, Max and Hanzou wipe them out in a single hit each.

It takes me several turns because Khris is slow and has little movement, but I include her in the Attack plan.

In the next turn, I could use a Boost 1 on someone to finish Narsha's MP, but I feel like saving it for Aura in case I need healing.

I seem to have attracted the Artilleries' attention, but not triggered the spawns yet, which annoys me. I don't want those things to catch me off guard.

LIKE THIS YOU KNOW

EXACTLY LIKE THIS

Welcome to hell! The Master Mages have Freeze 2, which is pretty dicey to take on when there's many of them and we're gathered like this. The golems and worms should have a lot of attack, and Domingo and Arthur are my only tanks, so I can't exactly surround everyone else. At least I think the golems can't reach anyone yet since I tried to stay on the bottom, and their movement is not great. The worms should have less defense than the golems. Maybe we can defeat them before the golems arrive! Optimism!

You can already feel the centaur pain with Arthur not even being able to cover Tao here.

But he can one hit a guy in forest land effect.

Also, look! He finally fits this playthrough! Baby's first spell! Will we be using it instead of 20+ chrome lance damage? I don't think so.

Domingo also can't cover Tao, so clearly I screwed up bad. Maybe he'll distract the other worms though.

Max one hit kills a worm, but Hanzou fails tragically at this mage. He gets a level up with +4 attack to ensure it won't happen again.

I hit image limit as expected so, to be continued in a reblog, see i told you this one was more exciting than the last

[irlguppy]

Bugsnax Guide

After spending many many hours struggling to complete the game I figured it would be cool to post a guide to make it a bit easier for other Snaxburg residents! These are specifically for Steam achievements cus I don't know if the achievements are the same on console / other platforms.

Bugsnax Achievements(30/30)

All unmissable/story achievements will be green!

Everybody Gets One

Catching your very first Bugsnak earns you this achievement.

Wonderfalls

Once you help Filbo there is a pair of waterfalsl nearby, walk into the left one to get this achievement.

Gone Home

Follow Filbo back to town for this one!

Double Trapper

Catching 2+ Bugsnak in the Snak Trap at once is really easy, try using sauce to lure two of the same Snaks into your trap.

Perf Dirt

After going back to Snaxburg with Beffica, return to her cave in Garden Grove and take the diary from her cave.

Quartermaster

Catch 25 unique Bugsnax, you'll get this as you complete the game since you're required to get a lot of them to complete Bugsnax.

Launch Party

Stunning a flying Bugsnak with another Bugsnak is a bit of an annoying achievement to get (the launch pad is required to do this achievement). Lure a Bugsnak onto your launch pad and throw it at a flying Bugsnak!

Combo Meal

This one can be earned really easily, go back to Garden Grove to catch a Bunger, Fryder, and Sodie. After you've gotten them go back to Snaxburg and feed them all to transform a Grumpus into a combo meal.

Midnight Snak

This achievement is evil and makes me sad :(. You have to feed Gramble a Bugsnak while he sleepwalks around Snaxburg.

That Reminds Me of A Puzzle

You can either solve the puzzle in Boiling Bay or Sizzling Sands (Don't worry I'll explain how to do both).

Boiling Bay

Go into the cave with Noodlers and Flaming Cheepoofs and you'll see statues of Cocomites. Each statue is numbered different with the numbers 1-4 just press them in the order of far right , middle left , middle right , and far left to open the path to Sizzling Sands.

Sizzling Sands

If you go here first you'll see Incherrito statues to your left, follow them in the order of close left , far right , close right , far left to open up Boiling Bay.

Say Cheese!

Once you unlock Cheese Sauce you can hit a Grumpus with it and then scan them to unlock this easy cheesy achievement!

I'm Stuffed

Using Bugsnax you've collected you can fully transofrm a Grumpus. Change their hair, teeth, body , nose , hands , etc etc.

In The Arms of the Gramble

After bringing Gramble to Snaxburg you can donate Bugsnax to his ranch, after you donate the max amount you'll get this achievement. There's 3 levels of donations, the first is 6 , 2nd is 12 , and 3rd is 18 total.

Halfway There

This one can also be done just by doing the regular playthrough as long as you capture 50 Bugsnax.

Clothesline

After you unlock the Trip Shot, attach it to the Buggy Ball and use it to to trip a Bugsnak for this achievement.

Talkin' Bout Bugsnax

Interview EVERY Grumpus, to make this easier just do it as they get back to Snaxburg. For Eggabell do it when you meet her in Frosted Peak. I don't think this achievement is missable so correct me if wrong!

Know Thy Neighbor

Bringing each Grumpus back to Snaxburg gets you this achievement as it's story locked

Dapper Capper

While you play the game Bugsnax will appear wearing hats, capture them to unlock hints for other hats (the hints will appear on the side of Gramble's Barn). Just collect every hat wearing Bugsnak to get 10 hats!

Candid Cryptid

The Snaxquatch will appear in different areas and disappears kinda fast once you see it. An easier time to scan it is near the end of the game when you hear Filbo calling for help, before you jump down pull out your scanner.

Documentarian

Watching all 5 of Lizbert's diaries unlocks this achievement (pretty easy if you're already doing the sidequests).

In Lizbert / Eggabell's hut on the shelf.

In Lizbert / Eggabell's hut inside the cabinet (complete Beffica's sidequests for the key).

In Lizbert / Eggabell's hut in the chest (complete Chandlo's quests for the key).

In Sugarpine Woods there's a reel hidden inside a bag, follow the edge to find it (though it isn't hard to see the bag in the distance).

At Shedla's hut there's a chest, do her quests to get the chest and complete Floofty's sidequests to get the key .

Grab Bag

Get all of the Snakpods in one area, just do Garden Grove as it's the easiest one to do. They make sounds when you get close so it isn't hard to find as long as you know the general area.

Befficas cave.

Jump onto the tree tops to see Beffica's window, there is a Snakpod hiding in the branches.

Find the Fryder cave, there is a Snakpod on the inside pillar.

Go to where you met Wambus, there is a Snakpod at the entrance of the area.

The last Snakpod is behind the pen.

Sundae Best

Similar to Combo Meal you need to transform a Grumpus with Scoopy, Banopper, and Cheery. (Break the Scoopy Banoopy to get all the parts separately).

Bossy Bugs

Beat all of the Legendary Bugsnax, you need to defeat the four bosses in the base game. Get the quests through members of Snaxburg as they're all sidequests.

Mama Mewon, Megamaki, Mothza Supreme, Daddy Cakelegs

Feeding Frenzy

Transform each Grumpus body ENTIRELY. (Feed gramble when hes asleep, put stuff in Shedla's box).

Sidetracked

If you complete all 38 missions you'll get the achievement. Talk to each Wumpus everyday, check your mail, and do all their quests even if its a frustrating one!

Got to Catch Them All

Very time consuming task but can be done! Collect all 100 Bugsnax in the base game, if you beat every sidequest you can find each Bugsnak just collect as you go.

Deep Impact

There's the Broken Tooth DLC. beat the DLCs story and return to Snaxburg for the achievement to go off.

Live Laugh Hut

Decorate your hut to the fullest, do this achievement later after completing the request missions from your mailbox to upgrade your hut and get items from Snaxburg members.

Survivor

Make sure all of the Grumpuses survive at the end of the game, if you beat all of the sidequests before going to end game content then everyone is invincible and will survive. If they aren't invincible when you do the end game just make sure none of the residents get touched by a Snakbug. (You can reload your save just before the end game you can complete all the stuff you missed).

Vacation's End

Earn this by completing the main story of Bugsnax!

This was definitely a lot shorter than Spyro was LOL. Congrats on beating Bugsnax and thank you for reading my guide! Skill point guide for Spyro will also be posted today!

[serve-cunt]

HIIII ZOE ITS MY IRRITATING ASS AGAIN (this is my main blog, I have tennis and f1 sideblogs but don't know how to make the ask come from there, I haven't been on tumblr in FOREVER..)

anyway my little curious gremlin ass has YET MORE QUESTIONS

ALSO I COMPLETELY FORGOT CHALLENGERS WAS COMING OUT, IM SO DAMN EXCITED FOR THAT FUCK YEAH, we LOVE zendaya she's gonna serve (pls laugh) cunt

okay so i think picking out my favourite players will be easier if I relate them back to f1 drivers, makes em seem more familiar, so if I do like a checklist of sorts of driver types, can you match them up to players you think fit the vibe?????

e.g. is there a former champion (lewis/fernando coded) who's looking for a comeback? is there a young talent who's had bad luck but is on the rise (lando) is there a calm, level headed one that everyone thinks will go far (oscar) is there a charming elegant one that social media is obsessed with (charles my babygirl). im assuming djokovic is the max verstappen adjacent, fairly young dude who's smoking everyone, yeah?

just like ugh I LOVE f1 so dearly and i think sporting parallels will help SO much

question: is it a big money sport like f1? Obviously anyone can pick up a racket and hit a ball, but is it very expensive and exclusive to make it into the big leagues? you mentioned smth in the fic about oscar adding up the whole cost of going pro, would that be a huge problem for poorer families?

are there any player pairings with vaguely homosexual vibes? again with the damn f1 parallels but adjacent to max/charles, carlos/lando, even lewis/nico if I dare mention brocedes, because I just absolutely live for speculation of silly little goofy athletes' relationships with each other

here's where I get REAL shallow but fuckin sue me, WHICH ARE THE PRETTY ONES I CAN SIMP OVER. i am bi so that doubles the market, but basically which are the ones that i can watch edits of and get all giggly and blush over, in your opinion and in the general tennis community's opinion.

whats andy murray's deal? Is he retired? Is he like the sebastian vettel of tennis?

how dramatic is it compared to f1? we all know that f1 is gossip girl on wheels... is tennis gossip girl running around a court or is it less drama-fueled?

not a question but I'm so excited to see which f1 drivers turn up to Wimbledon this year like, CROSSOVER EPISODE YEAAAA

is djokovic the max-esque guy where it's like "okay I don't mind you, you're cool, but god DAMNIT, stop being so good, let my other favourite little meow meows have a CHANCE for once"

how worldwide is it? are players mostly European/Aussie like f1 or is it more widespread?

is the meme game good? i LIVE for online hilarity in sports, are there any iconic tennis moments/memes a la "it's near a fish" "smoooth operator" "bwoah" etc etc whatever

really gotta stop talking about f1 in terms of tennis but it's the only other sport I'm really into IM SORRY FORGIVE ME

which are the "sad wet cat" (dearly beloved) players? you mentioned one guy but there's gotta be more than one right??? I always get attached to athletes with those vibes

IM SO SORRY ABOUT THE CONSTANT QUESTIONING BUT YOU ARE THE ONLY PERSON I TRUST TO GIVE ME CORRECT INFO RN BECAUSE YOU REALLY SEEM LIKE YOU KNOW YOUR SHIT

finally a HUGE FUCKING THANK YOU???? For putting up with my idiot ass mostly, and your fic is singlehandedly making me wander into the tennis world despite knowing literally nothing and you're helping my understanding SO much, youre about to drag me down this sport's rabbit hole just by existing. tennisblr seems like such a fun adorable place im SO excited to start watching stuff, you're a legend and ilysm <3333

you are literally NEvEr irritating you are the best thing to happen to my inbox every time, sorry i was so slow on this one!! I had a very hard time relating f1 drivers to tennis players lmaoooo so in the end i just skipped that part!! I'm so sorry!!! it's just so hard because the narrative of f1 drivers is so specific and intrinsically tied to TEAM and to their teammates, and to the tragedy of a good car and/or the wonder of a great car ... the betrayal of contract negotiation & silly season etc.... tennis just doesn't really have that!! all the narratives are more player v. self and player v. world, instead of driver v. driver and driver v. fate. if that makes sense??

so yeah. sorry 😭😭 it's also possible that I just don't have enough imagination and somebody can jump in to help with that .... anyway, moving right along to

"is tennis a big money sport"

GOD yes. tennis is soooooo expensive, it takes approx 1 billion dollars to pay for lessons, court time, coaching, travel, accommodation, gear, etc etc. :// You get paid if you win. let me say that again: you get paid if you WIN. there aren't salaries! early in your career, you are HEMORRHAGING money, esp if you have a coach. the travel is fricken expensive all by itself!! and if you're paying a coach as well you're either in debt or you're playing with house money if you catch my drift. (tennis players often come from wealth, much like f1 drivers — they can also be sponsored, sometimes by their country, but usually only if & while they're successful!!)

if you do well, you start to win, maybe you make money, more likely you're breaking even for a while (or even still losing). if you do REALLY well, then you're looking at more prize money and maybe sponsors, so then you can start making some real money out of this. but yeah it's CRAaaaaaazy how much money tennis players pay to play tennis lol!! it is 10000% a problem for getting underprivileged kids into tennis, there's a reason tennis is so white!

"are there any player pairings w vaguely homosexual vibes"

LOLLLL look i never turn down a chance to push the sincaraz agenda but also, carlos alcaraz does that for me!!!!

they're so cute damn

also getting into sinner/berrettini …

but honestly, besides that?? f1 is way better for pairings because we watch them interact with each other off track WAYY more. you barely see tennis players interact with each other! i have been emailing the respective tennis associations about this (jk but I should). MORE GOOFY VIDEOS WITH PLAYERS DOING STUPID GAMES (with each other, crucially)

"which are the hot ones"

ooohh this is suuuper subjective but i am soOOOoo into coco gauff, she's gorg, also iga sviatek in red, also daria kasatkina, also maria sakkari really does it for me, also katie boulter is so cute.

hot damn

on the atp side oBVI jannik, carlitos is so cute but he looks so young i feel like he's less hot and more adorable, caspar ruud looks like ryan gosling as you have pointed out, ben shelton is gorgeous (and cocky in a way that unfortunately does compel me, oops), arthur fils!! beautiful. tennis players are all hot, in my mind??? they're so …. well rounded …. 😏😏😏

"which are the "sad wet cat" players"

andrey rublev my beloved sad cat

muchova (not really a sad wet cat but tragically always broken in some way)

daniil medvedev but if the cat was cunty

"whats andy murray's deal?"

oh my GOD murray!! my love my husband my father my holy ghost!! a tragedy a triumph …. a player in the era of the Big Three (Djokovic, Federer, Nadal) and therefore destined to be remembered as "oh, and andy murray" … or "one of the big four" (the big four is not a thing unless you're talking about andy murray lmao) ... a great player, one of the greatest, a slugger, a workhorse, had one of the cleanest backhands of all time, and the classiest guy in tennis … see: andy murray shutting down sexist reporters on multiple occasions ....

He's not retired !! he's still going, here he is recently losing:

He's actually (possibly) playing at this upcoming Challenger Tour event! as are a number of interesting players. the reason that this is interesting is that Challenger level tournaments are a level below the ATP Tour, so you don't often have this many recognizable (to me, anyway) names playing at this level!

[side note: the movie Challengers — the name is a play on the Challengers tour. they're playing a Challengers match in the movie, but also "challenging" each other for zendaya … you get it]

Anyway this tournament should be interesting … andy murray is getting older but he's not ready to quit!! he's gone on the record saying there are things he's still trying to accomplish before he retires, and he's playing well in practices it's just not translating to matches yet. he's also said if his body tells him to retire he will, but uhh. he's got a literal metal hip so clearly he's not QUITE ready to listen to his body.....

"is he the seb of tennis" HMMMM this is an interesting question, I wouldn't really class him this way — seb is like a silly little sexy fruity goblin (if I'm reading his vibe correctly — I'm late to f1) and andy is a stoic public school kid with a goofy streak … if that makes sense …

"how dramatic is tennis compared to f1?"

ALSO INTERESTING I think that's sort of relative to how much you care about individual players, I think game-play is pretty dramatic at times but nobody's ever in danger of bursting into flame??? so in that sense not as dramatic as vroom vroom sport lmaoo but there is a bit of temper tantrum throwing, and then important wins (see: Alcaraz Wimbledon 2023) are SO dramatic in the best way…

gossip-wise I don't think it's as dramatic as f1!! there's deffo tennis gossip but I think, again, because there aren't teams, the drama is less wrapped up in "betrayal" narratives yknow??? like ferrari ditching sainz for lewis was dramatic in so many different ways, not LEAST because of the betrayal of carlos. I feel like tennis is less set up for that, bc it's every player for themselves

"is djokovic the max-esque guy where it's like "okay I don't mind you, you're cool, but god DAMNIT, stop being so good, let my other favourite little meow meows have a CHANCE for once"

YES EXACTLY i cut in your whole q because that's exactly right!! so so so apt imo .. howEVERRR it was less correct when federer and nadal were still around and at their best, because those three really did make up the Big Three, capital B capital T, and they had such a good dynamic going between the trio — it was less one-note when djokovic had a constant fight on his hands... now djokovic is older and slowing down so we're getting into a sunset period, which is interesting because he's still doing GREATTT (and I wish he would stop, give my meow meows a chance etc) but everyone sees the light at the end of the tunnel re: a djokovic retirement. whereas I think people are looking at the max ascendancy and saying "GULP" bc we all want our favorite boys to win at least one WDC (cough lando cough cough osc)

"how worldwide is it?"

fairrrrly? but yes europeans heavvvvily represented, americans as well to some extent, asia and australia to some extent — not so stark as f1, but def same bougie euro vibes lmao

"is the meme game good?"

again fairrrrrly but def not to the same extent!! less of a "here are the memes everyone knows" and more in the spirit of, like, if you're following a few players & the major tournaments, tennis tumblr/twitter is fun to be on … trying to think of a "classic" tennis meme and I can't which isn't a good sign lmaooo .. jannik puking in a bin and then going on the biggest win streak of his career is a pretty good meme in my mind though ...

CROSSOVER EP YAAHHHHHHHH I CANNOT WAIT WE BETTER GET SO MANY GOOD WIMBLEDON PHOTOS AJHFDLAKSJFHDKLASJFH

sorry again to be so slow !! this was fun to go through as soon as I stopped tearing my hair out trying to make player: driver comparisons but again, maybe I'm just not creative enough ..

xx ily :))))))

[residentdormouse]

I Need Thirty-Six Vicodin and Five Segments with Chosen Words

I was having trouble coming up with an intro, so I went to the trail to think. Walking does after all give the illusion of the story moving forward. This shouldn’t have been hard. Sure House is infinitely more cranky, but still of the same ilk as Glen. Intelligent. Logical. And with an overwhelming amount of cynicism. Humanity is overrated and religion is the placebo of the masses. Put Glen’s mocking “You’re here for the same reason as the rest of us, Larry. Because the magic lady says it’s God’s will.” next to House’s “You talk to God, you’re religious; God talks to you, you’re psychotic.” and, well, just give me the Pam meme right now.

(Hell, the both of them even have questionable pain management.)

I don’t know. Maybe I’m just formulating comparisons based on the parallels I want to hear. I guess that’s fair. Or maybe not. If I wanted fair, I chose the wrong species. Regardless, I suppose I should cut this off before I start to drive through a tunnel in a canyon on an airplane while putting away my phone because the parasites that I have, in fact, grown to love require something. There is no ‘I’ in team. There is a ‘me’ though if you jumble it up, and that’s who’s got to round up snacks.

My Words: Motorbike, Limp, Scar, House, Duck

Your Words: Book, Spell, Three, Witch, Magic

(volley to you, @mrsmungus)

Motorbike:

(No ‘motorbikes’, but I got plain ‘bikes’ and ‘motorcycles’.)

The bike definitely sped up the journey. He only took breaks when needed, stocked up when it was dire, and pushed himself more than he probably should. But he was making damn good time.

'Fuck…'

As he came up to the gap in the road, he cut the engine. Once the bike was secure, Harold hopped off to inspect the damage. He could take a detour, but that would set him back quite a while. And who knew how much time he really had.

But was it any longer than trekking the rest by foot? That's what she had done.

He didn't get much further in thought when he heard a voice. His voice. The last member of the group he'd want to run into first.

Stuart fucking Redman.

Limp:

"You really have to find the fun in life, Professor."

"Can't really say this is the type of fun I'm looking for."

A retort was in the works, but a new voice caused the both of them to pause any further dialog.

"Well then, I'd look into moving your ass!"

Before they could even fully turn, a crash echoed out behind them. Smashing into the nearby wall, one of the odd creatures fell limp on the floor. He had barely processed the change in their situation before Max had moved onto the next threat.

"Ain't the fucking movies guys!! Grab the popcorn and go!"

Scar:

“I never did get to show him.”

She wasn’t sure if Nick had caught the comment or not. Didn’t matter, it wasn’t said for him; the admission was something she needed to say for herself. To realize and come to terms with it by vocalization. One moment on a growing list of many things that would never happen in this life.

The concept of loss wasn’t new to her. Being around as long as she had, it was unavoidable. After a while, the ratio of emotional scar tissue to unadulterated hope turned for the worse, and she found herself becoming desensitized to most things in life. Or at least she though. There would always be things like this that happened, things that would remind her of the pain of being alive. Something to cut deep beyond the surface to hit nerves that somehow hadn’t died off centuries ago.

A few moments passed as she sat next to her sadness. Alongside a memory that would now only live in her imagination.

House:

Glen sat back and waited for the next response. Seconds turned to minutes. While he wanted to give her the chance to investigate and report back, the prolonged silence was now at a concerning level. Concerning pushing thoroughly alarming. "Hayden, tell me what's happening."

"There's light behind the bookshelf. The whole thing can move, but not with the book in place. If I can just knock it out, maybe…"

The static from the stereo was quiet, but in the otherwise silent house, it was recognized immediately. Glen turned quickly to the device, and felt his breath catch.

"Hayden, don't try t---"

Static jumped to a full blast, and Hayden cried out in pain. Her hands gripped the arms of the chair, and he was sure her nails dug the whole way through the fabric. Obscenities flew from his mouth as he scrambled over to her, one of his hands taking hers.

"Hayden, you have to wake up now!"

He gave her hand a squeeze, but she only cried out once more. Multiple cracks rang out over the static as the ceiling fan light bulbs burst like popcorn, glass shards raining down like confetti. Instinctively, Glen covered his head and then shook the shards off onto the floor. The blaring static was deafening, and the burst of the end table light bulbs were completely drowned out, as were the blown lights over the dining room table. Glen turned back to Hayden, and watched as a trickle of blood began to run down from her nose.

Duck:

As they both moved past the bar, she realized the walkway was more packed than she realized. Weaving through the group was not difficult for her, but Harold seemed to have a extra helping of awkward holding him back.

Where her movements were fluid, Harold’s had a stiffness to them. Sure, they were a similar breed, but where she moved with the elegance of predator, stealthily slinking from spot to spot, sly movements until she was ready to strike, Harold acted as a cornered animal pushed against a wall, fur standing on end ready to lash out at the nearest hand.

The further they got from the crowd, the more obvious their tailing became. Diving into a nook by the stand up freezer, ducking into a closet. It was all good until they reached the stairs to the basement.

A slow progression was made down to the bottom; she didn’t know how many times she had seen cover blown over a squeaky step. Creaking floorboards. Rookie moves.

But so was shouting out exclamations.

“Fuck me, Quinn! You’re sticking your dick in the goddamn queen bitch of the undead!”

[https-maxine-stuff]

Ten

The brightest star on the darkest night

.・゜゜・　　・゜゜・．

Tw: themes of hinted at ptsd, yelling, survivors guilt.

Italics other than diary entries represent past memories

November 7th, 1978

Dear diary, it's November! Whoo.

:/

Still very glum to be honest though, I miss before this whole thing.

I miss the quiet of my life and not having to deal with all of these people asking me if I'm okay.

I'm obviously not okay, if that happened to them would I be asking every five fucking seconds if they are okay? No!!!

God, they treat me like I'm the only victim! What about the parents, the survivors other than me?? So many died that night and all they seem to ask is if I'M okay. No. I'm not.

- Maxine.

ੈ✩‧₊˚

The cover of Romeo and Juliet sat softly on the end of the bed, she hadn't opened it yet, not a single line in her mind in all honesty. She was pretty sure she bought it for the art on the cover and how pretty it was.

Sad.

Anyways. 

The sounds of heels clicking against the floor, "you gonna be alright for the night?" Her mothers head poked through the door, she was dressed nicely.

"Yeah.. I'll be okay, Mama." The older woman adjusted her earrings before she sat down on the bed next to her daughter.

"Are you sure? We can call someone to stay with you.." she cupped her face.

"I'll be okay.. I promise, now it's date night and you haven't had one in months..which means Papi went all out."

"Yeah, he probably did." She pressed a kiss to her forehead and got up. "I love you, Mija."

"I love you, too." She smiled lightly, her fathers voice could be heard in the hall.

"You love me more though right!? I'm the best dad in the world hun!"

"Go on your date! Shoo I don't want to hear this anymore." She rolled her eyes and slumped back down onto the bed.

Quiet.

ੈ✩‧₊˚

The young woman opened her eyes, they drifted towards the clock. In big bold red states '11:11 PM.'

Nice. She rubbed her eyes and sat upwards wiping away the sleeping from her eyes. The sounds of knocking hit her door and well that's as a bit weird considering what hour it was so maybe it was her parents? But they have keys so..

Her eyes narrowed as she got up, walking towards her bedroom door she's peeked into hallway. A baseball bat sat next the door and she reached for it taking it nimbly into her hands.

Maxine is now stood in front of the front door. A few more knocks hit it seemingly just there to be there. She looked through the peephole and her heart jumped.

Nick stood there behind the door, he looked sad.

Ew.

She lowered the bat leaning it against the wall as she opened the door. "Could you knock any goddamn harder?" She hissed.

"Max,," his face softened as a small smile filled his face, his eyes meeting hers as she took notice of the pink pigment to his cheeks. "Are you drunk?"

"No,, a little tipsy.. maybe that's why I'm so sad." He smiled dumbly lowering his eyes.

"What are you doing here?"

"I can't stop thinking about you." Nick's voice broke.

"Nick.."

His eyes met hers once more as tears brimmed in the corners of them. "I miss you so much.." she stared at him, unable to really speak. "I love you, so so much."

"Nick, please.."

"One..one more chance, Max.. please.." he kinda got on his knees, he was looking up at her.

"Get up, you look like a fool, Nick." She felt her heart ache.

"Maxine, I'm devoted to you like- like a moth drawn to a flame,"

"You shouldn't be devoted to me, I'm no god."

"Your like my god, you could tell me to stop breathing and I would."

"Nick this is unhealthy for you," she bent down meeting his level on the ground. "This attachment is unhealthy."

"...can I.."

"Can you what?" Her voice was soft.

"Can I get one more night with you at-least? I just want to hold you one more time.."

"Nick, please.." she stared at him. "..one more time."

He took that moment to wrap his arms around her, his head resting on her chest. She tensed up and held a breath.

He smothered himself in her arms, just trying to get back a piece of himself that seemed to be taken the night they broke up. She felt conflicted in a sense. She didn’t like the way he attached himself to her. It was awful.

[le-souriant]

#MusicMonday Review - November 2023

#MusicMonday is the hashtag I've been using for quite a while to share music recommendations from up-and-coming artists. Always fresh, and always different, trying to look for trends before they become one. You can check October's review for more music.

Winter is approaching fast, and with it, a fury of fresh red sounds come from all over the world. Give it a listen, with a word from the artists themselves. 🎧

Reckless Giants – Little Lies

Just close your eyes And try to forget Most days I think I'm Better off dead

We start off in Lake City, FL, with a Pop Punk trio that sound truly heavy, accordingly with its subject matter:

"We went into this one with that intro riff coming up first. The song just kinda flowed from there. Musically we went into writing this one to be a bit heavier than anything we've put out. Just something that was driving and hits you in the face.

Lyrically, we try to always write about an experience, or a series of events. The vibe felt like a battle, so we dove into something we all had experience with and that was battling our vices. The “Little Lies” we fabricate that the drink isn't gonna hurt us, the drug is just to take the edge off, the toxic relationship isn't really that bad. Unfortunately they tend to come back on you and you "always seem to land face down". Once you realize that vice has become your identity you try to break the cycle but it's already embedded in you, it's become your hell."

Spearside – Trendsetters

I wish my friends were all trendsetters, I wish my songs were so much better.

Now, from Trim, County Meath, this Irish Power Pop trio takes Garage Rock from the 70s and brings it to the next level with its ageless choral hooks:

"It's a song about how people naturally come and go throughout your life. A lot of people will flatter you with their friendship only because they perceive you as being useful to them on a superficial level. Trendsetters is about picking your friends wisely"

Bo Gritz – RUT

Chosen again Done before Maybe now When they like Inverted Undelivered No action Doubled up

Next up, let's go to London, England, and buckle up for a distorting Industrial Rock tour de force. Folded. Quick. Chosen:

"It just all came about with [band members] Max and Finn playing around with some samples and drum machines and locking in on groove that turned into the track.

The title RUT was a working title for months because we felt like the band were in a rut writing new music, but the name just stuck and we decided to keep it."

The Peevie Wonders – Food Shop

Get a trolley if you want Nah, a basket will do Smile at the security guard but they will ignore you

From London we move to North East, England, to listen to this song, while stocking up on groceries. Excuse me, where do you keep the bread crumbs?:

"So basically the shop Morrisons is a place that I love to go. And every time I go I have the same inner monologue conversation with myself whilst walking around the shop. Then decided it was a good idea to write a song about it.

It's my brain talking whist shopping basically."

Electric Ginger – Baby Come Find Me

I know that you’re tired, tired from crying I know that you’re sad I know you’ve been hiding

It’s OK to cry as many times as you like but it’s OK to laugh so I’m taking you out tonight

I’m not surprised at your red eyes But you need your friends To make you laugh again

Let's fly now to South Coast, New South Wales, Australia for an upbeat guitar infused Electro Pop track that'll come find you when you feel lonely:

"The song's actually about grief. My Mum had passed away not long before, so I used that as inspiration, and how important it is to have friends around to get you through it, and even though you’re hurting, it's OK to have a laugh and it can be healing."

Listen to them and much more on the complete Playlist:

[furryprovocateur]

used all the boosters you get from transfer data sans the body ring on eliwood! it appears i misspoke earlier and you do NOT get speedwings (which makes sense, i thought i just inexplicably lost a speedwings in the HNM run but it just never existed). the good news is that eliwood is now mostly usable because he has pretty good tanking abilities (thanks to the angelic robe mostly) and C Hector, and the rapier is helping him cut corners on kills. the thing is gonna break soon but i'm praying eliwood will stop getting the shittiest level ups on earth. that said, please refer to the post before this and look at how exceptionally shitty the level ups i've gotten with him are. i had to RNG manipulate a level up on him to get skill speed luck and defense, but otherwise all his level ups have been like 2 stats max. god. i have never been so fucking trolled by this game.

speaking of RNG manipulation, i RNG advanced until i was able to get bartre two good level ups in a row. he's now level 6 with 6 speed, which is frankly fucking nuts considering his growth is dogshit and he starts with like half that. autism be damned im gonna fucking abuse the RNG

i decided to keep the silver card because after all this obscene levels of malding i've done i deserve a little treat. i can't help but feel like transfer bonuses make the run a little cheat-y, but considering how hardcore shafted i'm getting (i've missed so many fucking 85+% hits, you have no fucking idea), idc anymore. besides, the game has glitched requirements for HM exclusive chapters so this feels better once you soften the blow like that.

fuck erk. i'm almost certainly only going to use him for potshots and getting experience. the LHM guide kept him squarely at level 1 so actively using him is gonna be like. impossible unless he gets insanely good levels (he won't. he never does.)

started the chapter with 4 stars in combat, ended it with 5. gonna hopefully keep that momentum and never see it dip, though combat is such a nonfactor of a rank tbh.

not looking forward to talons alight, in HNM sealen was a huge cunt to me, expecting the same level of difficulty if not worse. i'm also a little sad that my tactics rank is gonna take another huge hit; i was honestly doing pretty damn well turn counts so far (obviously the hit is out of my control so i'm not too bothered about it).

[cassiebankscr]

3 Years Later...

THIS WAS ORIGINALLY POSTED MID-2022.

I found my book characters again. I found my way to write again. I'm writing every moment I can get. Sometimes real life obligations get in the way and I miss being able to write, but it's usually only for a few days and I'm able to get back into it.

When I first started writing again, it came out in bits and pieces I stored in my scenes list. I've already written the last chapter of my book even though there are MANY more chapters to be written before that time. Just like most writing, it came to me one day. I knew how the story would end and so I wrote the ending. After finally settling down I went back to the beginning and started writing in order. I've only had to switch over to a scene listing once.

In the last three years I actually played D&D for the first time in my life! It was a nice little campaign called Lost Mine of Phandelver, great for my first time (the digital adventure source material is now free on D&D Beyond). It was an online game I applied to so I was thrilled to be allowed to play as a newbie.

After the end of the campaign, one of the people in our group told me one of the guys had min/maxed his character. I didn't really understand it at the time because he was getting crappy rolls too, but I was told when he DID hit, it was higher than normal. We killed a lot of things, managed not to die, I accidentally figured out you can remove runes from something and cause it to no longer function as a magic item. It was a big deal for me to have had an original thought at the time not having ever played before (although I did have two Critical Role campaigns under my belt by that time). LOL!

The DM was going to do a homebrew mix and go into the Waterdeep campaign, but we needed to replace the min/maxer who had his fill of us by the end of the Lost Mine. We picked up one really nice guy, but I learned first-hand how it only takes one person in a group to completely up-end the group dynamics. Then energy turned bad and I had to leave. It convinced me that D&D, like anything else in life, can turn into an unhospitable place for women and sometimes you have to choose to go. I didn't play D&D for over a year after that.

Critical Role went into Campaign 3. To be honest, I felt the end of Campaign 2 seemed a little rushed, but COVID was making it hard for them to function in the studio and they were in the throes of getting The Legend of Vox Machina finalized. The TV show Ashley Johnson was working on that kept her away from Critical Role so often concluded and she came back home. It seemed like just when we were finally able to have the whole cast vaccinated and at the table, the campaign ended.

Campaign 3 of Critical Role started October 21, 2021 with some great, new characters. Two months later and through the Critical Role discord, I somehow wound up in another D&D Campaign online. It was a total shock to me. I was sure I'd never feel safe enough to play again. I dusted my Life Cleric off, reworked her story for the DM's homebrew world and had to figure out how to use the Roll20 character sheet. I found my dice rolls on Roll20 were mostly horrible. After being in the group for three months, I finally got my D&D Beyond character sheet together and was getting in stride. Then the game fell apart due to major life changes; one pregnancy, two college schedule changes. I was a bit sad not to be able to get my Life Cleric into double-digit levels, but with barely a blink of an eye the DM had a new campaign ready and we did several one-shots to build our new crew.

And now? The DM wanted something new from us (me and the one guy from the previous campaign that stayed). I said good-bye to my plate armor and chose an arcane cleric.

I'm on the precipice of some amazing life changes for the better. Along with working on my book, I seem to be drawn back to my tarot/oracle decks. I don't know if I'll end up doing readings for other people again (opportunity is everything), but I've managed to increase my deck collection to feel a bit more versatile. Trying to figure out where I'll store information for people to choose which decks they want to be a part of their reading will be a thing. It's a lot to think about and prepare for.

Will I write another post to Tumblr before another three years passes? I don't know. I forgot I even had a Tumblr account. I do need to start another avenue for the correspondence my new character will be writing in our new D&D campaign. There's so much to do and time is passing so quickly of late.

Be well blessed and well loved, always. ❤️ ❤️ ❤️

[jangofctts]

(sorry for the format i think but this is loNG WTF IS WRONG W ME ITS INCOHERENT I'M LOCKIN MYSELF UP OFF TO HORNY JAIL I GO) deadass when you nd the boys are days away from being back on coruscant and on shore leave for a minute bc the general got some weird jedi shit to deal with is when u become peak Brat™ like it is so bad even the resident brat fuse can't keep up, the whole squad is screaming, and no one can stop u (yet) like you love teasing the boys but this is next level annoying like lets say max asks u to do something to help him get ready to fuck off for leave and ur just like no💕 i will cause problems on purpose))) he isn't happy and keeps asking while doing other work, realizes he's getting nowhere, and starts w the vague threats “you won’t like what happens if u keep this up” or “you really don't want to do this right now" but u finally do a few things to help before u leave to annoy void bc that man doesn't deal w enough shenanigans apparently...

u help void for a bit but get bored when void is just doing inventory and requisitions asking you how much of this or that nd you start saying "not enough" or "a fuckton" and while he appreciates the honesty it's not helpful but you ask "can't a droid do inventory? they know how to count?" getting a snarky reply of "yeah unlike you" obviously fed up but u continue to annoy him maybe cause mischief w the boys if they're there? maybe get handsy? threaten stupidity? who knows but anything u do is gonna get an exasperated sigh and "i'm gonna tell max about this shit" but what is he gonna do? punish u? [narrator: he, in fact does just that] so this goes on for a while but at some point when you are like 10 hrs out from coruscant max herds u to his quarters but lo and behold it's not bc he needs someone to fix his datapad but bc ur in for the punishment of ur life lol this man must have been planning this since ur first bratty act bc he has a bunch of stuff laid out just for u))) seeing this, u turn on the sad puppy eyes/pouty face and the "but i can be a good girl for u" or "i'm sorry i was just antsy to get back let me make it up to you" but nothing is gonna work now especially when he puts u over his knee.

he's pulling ur pants down over ur ass, revealing ur going commando today and u give him the "whats wrong maxy?" over ur shoulder just before he starts ur punishment isn't he sweet? he only spanks you a few times bc ur real punishment is SO MUCH worse and u realize this when he ties ur hands together over ur head and ties ur ankles together too hmmmmm this was more than u bargained for and u keep pleading with max when he takes his armor and blacks off but he keeps saying "u did this to yourself baby" and that he "can't help now" because "u didn't listen earlier like a good girl" but once he gets situated on the bed u know ur in for it. he grabbed some lube from his drawer and slicked himself up while telling u that "u won't be enjoying this part but i think i will" as he takes a hold of ur legs and lining himself up with not ur entrance but between ur thighs right above ur clit bc surprise! this ass and thigh man is gonna go to town fucking ur thighs while just grazing ur clit every few strokes absolutely working u up but no where near enough to get u off just like he planned. max really does love a good thigh fucking and so do u but he's usually playing with ur clit teasing u until he hits home and fills u up right - this time none of that is happening. u keep whining which just eggs him on more to bully u with "good girls deserve my thick cock but u decided to be a brat hm?" and "brats don't get to cum last time i checked" until he loses his rhythm and shutters as he cums all over ur stomach. he slowly gets out between ur thighs and runs his hands through the mess but ur still whiny so he shushes u with cum slick fingers before he gets up to grab his comlink just leaving the rest to get sticky (so rude)

he calls up void nd hear him say "my hip is acting up could u come look at it later?" with "did ur dumb ass do something again? give me a bit i'll head over" in reply with no idea what is waiting for him when he comes through the door. u have no idea how long it'll b until void comes so u keep trying to plead ur case to max telling him ur "sorry for being annoying and bratty i learned my lesson can i cum now?" but getting a surprising "lets see what void thinks" in return. its at least half an hour until void opens the door to see u tied to max's bed and him hovering over u just taunting and playing with u as he sees fit but honestly at this point nothing can really truly shock void now but this peaked his interest. max tries to explain saying "she was being a br-" "a brat i know i didn't think it would end up like this but" void starts as he takes off his remaining armor and ur begging for SOMETHING since max was so mean not even going near ur pussy (again rude) but thankfully void isn't a sadist (today) and starts teasing u by running his fingers through ur folds, playing with ur clit, and starts opening u up for him.

once he gets u good and wet he starts slowly rocking into u while u keep begging for him to give u permission to cum but he says that "brats don't get to cum they just get used))))" and ur thinkin ur definitely not gonna be cumming anytime soon but this mf just goes straight to pound town w the week/month/whatever he's had and the bratting u've done lol and u start clenching trying to get a rise out of him or get him to say something, ANYTHING but void won't give u the satisfaction of hearing his usual dirty talk, no, this is his version of punishment just letting u hear and feel him fuck u faster as he approaches his orgasm not caring about yours (yet) just feeling u tighten around him until he can't handle it and cums deep inside u just staying there for a minute catching his breath and u think void is done but oh lord no he is very much not lol he unties ur ankles and goes straight for ur pussy eating u out and cleaning up the mess he made inside and out, rutting into the sheets and making u squirm like nothing else maybe max wanders back over to you too and helps him out idk i was just having thots (since everyone is whore knee for wrecker rn i remember sending a wrecker ask a million years ago i can send it again if u want also i have a short fuse thing for u so))))) love being a whore)

ok bye im gonna be checking myself into the fuckin hospital THIS IS PURE GOLD IM

wOw

[ghost-in-the-hella]

From the prompt batch: 6. "I'm proud of you, we all are..." (Chloe and Max)

I hope you like really fucking sad fanfic, because this immediately got really fucking sad from the second I thought of the idea for it and only got sadder from there.

Content Warnings for: non-descriptive references to suicide/suicidal ideation, negative self-talk, PTSD, references to past physical and mental abuse, and implied anti-queerness.

---

It takes Max twenty minutes to realize that Chloe’s left the celebration and twenty seconds after that for her to realize where she’s gone. She makes her excuses to her family and friends - just a minute, be right back, gotta run to the bathroom, gotta check my makeup, gotta check on Chloe, thanks for coming, thanks so much, seriously Mom I’ll be right back - and starts walking across campus toward the art building. She turns on her phone as she walks and scrolls through the text messages that have come in since the graduation ceremony. There it is, buried under a stream of congratulatory texts:

Chloe: g2g

Chloe: sorry

Max pockets her phone and stares up at the art building. She can’t see Chloe from the ground - that’s kind of the main point of a secret hiding place - but if she squints she can just make out a thin trail of cigarette smoke curling up from the rooftop. She feels a small wave of relief wash over her. Chloe’s been a lot better lately about opening up to Max when she needs help, but sometimes when she suddenly goes missing Max still worries. If she’s hiding on the rooftop and smoking a cigarette, it means she’s still here.

It’s weird to walk through the art building and have it be empty. There’s always people around, normally: working in studios, hanging artwork in critique rooms, building sculptures in hallways, sleeping on the paint-stained couches that sag in odd corners of the building. Her key card still works for the studios, luckily; it’ll probably be deactivated in a few days, once she’s got all of her stuff moved out. The undergraduate studios - a series of loosely connected cubicles formed by moveable white walls - have mostly been cleaned out or at least packed up. Chloe’s studio, all the way in the back corner, is still a mess; the boxes they brought in to pack up their supplies are still empty and scattered around. Max slips into the odd space they found the semester Chloe got her studio, a gap between the moveable wall and the actual wall, where there’s a door that’s supposed to be kept locked but that Chloe figured out quickly how to jimmy open.

Max hated the rooftop hideout for the first few weeks after Chloe showed it to her. Too many bad memories. Even though the spot is nestled between bulky vents and Max would have to climb up on top of them to look down over the campus, just the act of climbing up stairs to a rooftop made Max’s chest close in on itself. Even after Chloe made it into a home away from the dorms for them both, a special place for them to get away from the pressures of school and life, Max couldn’t go up there if it was raining. Rain makes it too easy to remember another rooftop, another time, another girl who wanted so badly to escape.

But it isn’t raining today, and Max has to admit that after nearly a year of hanging out up there it really bears no resemblance to the roof at Blackwell. Every spot that Chloe can reach - and with her long limbs she can reach quite a lot - is covered with her graffiti, spotted here and there with the marks that Chloe nudged Max into making herself (“C’mon, Max, nobody’s gonna see it; I bet no one even remembers this place exists!”). The rooftop is littered with cigarette butts (“The world is not your ashtray, Chloe!”) and food wrappers (“There’s a trash can in the studios!” “Yeah, but there’s not one on the roof, Max.”). 

And, of course, there’s Chloe herself. She’s swaddled in the blanket she normally keeps in her studio and stretched out on her back between vents, smoking a cigarette as she watches the clouds. It looks like she’s been using her mortarboard as an ashtray and her wadded up gown as a pillow. She glances over at Max as Max pushes through the roof door, and her eyes are bloodshot and watery. It doesn’t smell like pot up here (for a change), though, and Max’s suspicions are confirmed when Chloe quickly looks away and discreetly wipes at the corner of her eye with one hand.

“Hey,” Max says gently, closing the door behind her. She sits down next to Chloe, leaning her back against one of the protruding vents. It’s weirdly quiet with the art building shut down for the summer; usually the vents are pumping out all kinds of sounds and smells that are probably as bad for Chloe as smoking. 

“Hey,” Chloe replies, her voice soft and slightly hoarse. “Sorry I bailed, I just--” She waves her hand around abstractly, sending flecks of ash tumbling down onto her shirt. 

Max nods thoughtfully. “It’s pretty overwhelming, isn’t it?”

“Like… If someone says ‘congratulations’ to me one more fucking time, I don’t know, I just feel like I might… might explode or something, you know?”

Max furrows her brows but doesn’t say anything. She tugs at the edge of the blanket until Chloe releases enough of it for Max to join her under it. She presses the side of her leg against Chloe’s, solid and reassuring, and she waits for Chloe to go on in her own time.

“It’s just… I don’t know. I expected it to feel different.” Chloe shrugs helplessly. “I expected to feel, I dunno, vindicated or something. Like, nobody thought I could do it; haha, showed you motherfuckers. But it just…” She sighs. “It feels hollow.”

“I knew you could do it,” Max says quietly. She doesn’t want to interrupt, but she also can never bear to let Chloe’s negative self-talk stand.

“Yeah… But everybody else down there, congratulating us and saying how proud they are and all of that crap… I mean, I’m sure they mean it for you; I’m fucking proud as hell of you, too, but--”

“I’m proud of you, we all are…”

Chloe finally stops cloud gazing and gives Max a dubious look. “Your parents are proud of me?”

“I-- Of course they are.” The words are sour in Max’s mouth, and she blushes under Chloe’s scrutinizing gaze. “They know how important you are to me,” she insists. That, at least, must be true: she’s told them enough times over the years, planting the knowledge as firmly into their minds as possible. They still don’t understand what Max sees in her, it’s true, and they still don’t really approve, but certainly they know that Chloe is in their daughter’s life and she’s not going anywhere if Max has anything to say about it. 

“Mm. Not really the same thing, though, is it?” Chloe flicks ashes into her mortarboard, keeping her eyes trained on Max’s. “And what about the rest of your family? Your grandparents? Your aunt and uncle? Your cousins? You think they’re all proud of me?”

Max loves her family, but she’s not as oblivious as she used to be. Even in the dream-like haze of graduation, she still noticed the glances her extended family - and her immediate family - leveled at Chloe when Max introduced her as her girlfriend. Her grandmother looked like she was taking a swig of soured milk when Chloe shook her hand. Her uncle seemed fine on the surface, but she overheard him making some pretty offensive comments behind their backs. From the look on Chloe’s face, none of this went unnoticed by her. Max decides to switch tactics. “Our friends are proud of you. And I’m proud of you.” 

Max reaches across the short distance between them and laces her fingers with Chloe’s. That nudges a small smile out of Chloe that feels like a huge accomplishment. The smile fades, though, and Chloe clears her throat. She crushes out what little is left of her cigarette and leaves it on the rooftop. “I, uh. I got a text from David earlier. Guess he was actually paying attention when I told him about graduating.”

“Oh,” Max says as neutrally as possible. David is always uncertain ground.

“Yeah. He, uh, he says he’s proud of me.” Chloe makes a sound halfway between a snort and a sob. “Like I give a fuck what he thinks, but still.” She starts picking at her already raw cuticles, and Max gives her hand a squeeze. “Like… he made my teen years a fucking nightmare. He treated me like shit and made me feel bad about myself, and he hit me a couple times, but he made my mom happy, you know?”

“That doesn’t excuse the way he treated you.”

“Yeah, I know, but… He does care, in his own fucked up way…”

“He does,” Max agrees. “But that still doesn’t excuse the way he treated you.”

 Chloe nods. “It’s just… He’s kind of all I’ve got left.” Her voice twists and she has to clear her throat before she can speak again. Max squeezes her hand again. “My dad always believed in me. He wouldn’t be surprised at all, y’know? He’d maybe be surprised I studied art instead of science, but I know he wouldn’t be disappointed. And he’d be proud as fuck. And my mom…” Chloe’s voice breaks again, and Max’s heart breaks a little with it. “My mom would’ve been surprised, probably. Ever since Dad died, I think she kinda gave up on me making anything out of myself. David didn’t really help with that, I guess. Fuck, I didn’t really help with that. But she still would’ve been proud, I think.”

“She would,” Max assures her. “She definitely would.”

“And Rachel…” Chloe mops at her eyes. “She should’ve been here!” she explodes suddenly. “She should’ve been right there with us, getting her diploma and-and-and fucking hogging all the cameras and charming everybody’s parents’ socks off because that was just-- it was just the way she was; it was just Rachel; and it isn’t-- it isn’t--”

Max slides closer to Chloe and puts her arms around her, letting Chloe sob into her shoulder. 

She doesn’t disagree. Rachel should’ve been there.

Kate should’ve been there, too. And Warren, and Dana, and Juliet, and Alyssa, and Daniel, and, hell, Victoria, Taylor, Courtney, Brooke, Stella, Evan, fucking everybody. They all deserved this. To finish high school, finish college, live their lives. She can’t say that out loud, though, not with Chloe already feeling this way. It wouldn’t make either of them feel any better, and it wouldn’t bring any of them back, so there’s no point in saying it. There’s only one way to bring any of the back, and Max won’t do it. She can’t. 

“It isn’t fair,” Chloe whispers into the crook of Max’s neck. “It isn’t fair.”

Max buries her face in Chloe’s hair. She smells like cheap hair dye and the cologne she put on this morning because “It’s a fancy occasion, Max!” and the cigarette she just smoked. Max breathes her in. “It isn’t fair,” she agrees. “But you deserve this, too. And I’m so, so proud of you.”

Max’s phone buzzes in her pocket. Her family is probably wondering where she’s gotten to. They want to take her out for dinner to celebrate. Give her more congratulations, ask more questions about what her plans are now, scold her for not calling or visiting more often. Chloe sinks against Max’s shoulder, her sobbing fading into sniffles. Max kisses the top of her head and holds her tighter. She settles into the blankets and gazes up at the clouds, stroking Chloe’s hair.

Everything else can wait.