#some people has questions in the notes & comments of the original poll

[fandom-geek17]

All the dreams of you: Part 2

Pairing: Bob Floyd x Fem!Doctor!Reader

Summary: Bob takes you on your first date, but things doesn't end the way he originally planned, wink wink! A continuation of this fic.

CW: 18+ MDNI! Smut. Unprotected P in V (wrap it before you tap it). Oral sex (fem receiving), dry humping, dirty talk, slight praise kink, a hint of cock-warming, Bob has a thing for heels. A LOT of horny Bob and horny Reader. Jake calls a drunk Fanboy a 'heap of tequila'. Alcohol consumption, Bob and Reader are not drunk, but other people are. Some angst in the beginning, but mostly fluff.

Author's note: This was supposed to be a cute, short final part of this series, 3-4k words at most. Then I got carried away. Anywho... Please read, like, reblog and comment! It looks like Bob Floyd is winning by a landslide in this poll. So I'll probably write him again next ;)

Word count: 9375

The second you and Bob broke apart; you could feel the eyes of Cyclone and Warlock boring into the back of your neck.

Shit…

Slowly, you turned around. Their expressions were unreadable. You could feel the redness creeping up your neck, but you refused to back down. The atmosphere around the tarmac stiffened as Cyclone slowly cleared his throat. Bob stepped up closer to you, his hand clasping yours. His warmth spread through you, calming the nerves that took hold of you again.

Warlock and Cyclone exchanged a look before turning back to look at you. “We’ll talk about this later” Cyclone muttered, walking back towards the control room.

Bob let out a long sigh, squeezing your fingers. “It’s going to be okay” he murmured.

“Yeah” you answered, even though you were far from sure.

XXX

By some miracle, or maybe pure stupidity, Maverick and Rooster had not only survived their fall from a plane, they had also managed sneak onto an enemy base and steal their plane, fly it back, and survive a dogfight. Okay, yes, Hangman did save their asses, as he pointed out about ten times over the coming evening.

Everything had turned out okay, everyone was alive and safe. The celebration at the Hard Deck that night was beyond anything you’d seen there. People sang, shouted, danced, celebrated. The drinks were flowing, songs played at an ear-splitting level. Rooster and Phoenix sang karaoke until 3 am, arms around each other.

You and Bob didn’t move more than a few feet from each other all night. His arm was glued to the back of your chair, alternating between letting his hand run up and down your arm and stroking your shoulder. His touch was so electrifying, sending shocks of warmth through you. You leaned your head on his shoulder as often as you could, just enjoying knowing you could. At least for now.

“Are you worried?” he’d asked quietly towards the end of the night as people finally started to leave. “About what they’ll say?”

“A bit…” you sighed.

“I’m not.” He said it so truthfully, with such conviction in his eyes, you couldn’t help but fall a little harder. “I don’t care what they say. I just want you.”

Whether your knees went all weak due to him or all the alcohol, you weren’t completely sure. Either way you leaned your forehead on his shoulder and sighed. His hands came to rest around your shoulders as he pressed a kiss to the top of your head. “I am worried, but not as much as I want you. They can say whatever they want.”

“Come on, lovebirds!” Jake called from the entrance where he and Coyote were carrying a very drunk Fanboy. “Call it a night, already! I need help carrying this heap of tequila.”

Bob snorted. “Not strong enough?” he questioned in that very Bob way.

Jake looked both amused and offended at the same time. “Not sober enough, tweener! Now let’s go!”

You huffed loudly. “I guess you better go…”

“I’ll see you tomorrow. First for the court martial–”

“God, don’t call it that!” you groaned, covering your face with your hands.

“Then… For the best part of my day.”

A goofy smile played on your lips, butterflies chasing each other in your belly. “I can’t wait.”

XXX

Bob barely had to knock before the two of you were ushered into the meeting room. Cyclone and Warlock were already sitting down with a woman you vaguely recognized from HR. They had been quietly whispering amongst each other, but as soon as the two of you stepped foot inside, the voices quieted. Ironically, the voices of doom inside your mind grew even louder.

“Sit down, please” Cyclone instructed, face stony and unreadable.

Bob gave your hand a reassuring squeeze before you sat down. The nerves coiled in your belly, but you tried to stay composed, with an open, neutral expression, and not like someone who could easily walk out of here without a job. Worse, with some kind of report on her ass and with her medical license in danger for getting involved with a patient.

Warlock cleared his throat, leaning back in his chair, fingers interlacing over his stomach. “So” he started, eyes darting between the two of you like he was a parent about to lecture two teenagers caught in bed. Worst part, the analogy made too much sense. “Would either of you care to explain why Dr. Y/L/N was caught getting involved with a patient in broad daylight?”

Heat rushed to your cheeks, heart thundering behind your ribcage. Your throat was drier than the Sahara Desert, and you were just about to open your mouth to try and answer when Bob beat you to it.

“First of all, sir, I would like to have it formally stated that I kissed her. Not the other way around.”

His two bosses exchanged a look as the HR lady jotted something down. Great… Now she was taking notes…

“Alright” Cyclone continued. “Has anything like this happened before yesterday?”

“No, sir” you answered honestly. Technically, it hadn’t. That kiss you were so tempted by in the infirmary never technically occurred.

Bob cleared his throat, adjusting his glasses. He looked surprisingly composed for someone so easily flustered. But maybe that was the navy man in him taking over. “Nothing physical has happened between us, no. I bought Y/N flowers for her birthday, but we weren’t dating. Nothing had happened.” The two older men exchanged a look again, but this time you swore there was something more there, something…amused?

“Are you dating now?” Warlock asked, rubbing his chin.

Bob looked at you, a small smile playing on his lips. What even was the answer when you hadn’t even gone on a first date yet? “I asked her out to dinner before the mission” Bob answered, not taking his eyes off you. “She didn’t say yes until yesterday. So, I suppose the answer is no.”

“It depends on how well he behaves tonight” you tried, lamely going for some humor to lighten the mood.

To your surprise, it worked. Both men chuckled heartily, and Bob blushed slightly.

“Cheryl?” Cyclone addressed the lady from HR for the first time. She looked up from her notes. There was that weird smile on her face that people from HR always had. Like you could never be too sure on who’s side they were going to be on.

“We’ll transfer Lieutenant Floyd’s primary care to Dr. Andrews” she said, making another note. “Since this is so new and you technically haven’t broken any rules by hiding a relationship between a doctor and a patient, we’ll give you two months to decide whether you want to move forward with this relationship. If you do, you’ll need to formally declare it. Is everyone happy with that?”

You sat there, stunned, as the words replayed in your mind.

That was it?

Where was the judgement? The fire and brimstone? Where was the part where she walked out without a job? Transfer Bob’s care. Two months. Formally declare… That was it? No. This was too good to be true, it had to be.

“That’s it?” you questioned quietly, glancing at Cheryl for confirmation.

“For now” she confirmed, placing her stack of papers on the table.

“Do either of you have any questions for us?” Cyclone asked, leaning forward, placing his interlaced fingers on the table.

Bob’s hand flexed underneath the table, something content flashing across his face. “I don’t.”

Did you have any questions? No, not really? It just seemed so unreal that you could walk out of here with everything you wanted, everything you dreamed of. Like something out of a fairytale.

You shook your head. “No.”

“Well then” Cyclone said, making an effort to stand up. “You’re dismissed. Lieutenant Floyd, you along with the rest of your squad are given the day off to rest. You’re expected at 7 am tomorrow with the rest for debrief on the mission.”

“Yes, sir” Bob answered, standing up immediately, posture rigid.

“Dr. Y/L/N, you weren’t scheduled to work for the upcoming two days. We will see you bright and early in two days time.”

“Yes, sir” you imitated Bob, albeit not with the same military enthusiasm, more like someone slowly waking up from a dream.

Bob’s hand landed on the small of your back as he guided you out of the room. The warmth from him seeped through the thin material of your blouse, spreading like a balm, soothing and reassuring. Your stomach swooped like on a rollercoaster as your mind once again realized what all of this meant.

You were free! The two of you could do this! You could date! Find each other, no secrets, no sneaking around. Just you.

You managed to walk down half the corridor before all instincts took over. Grabbing hold of the lapels of his shirt, you pushed Bob against the wall and pressed your lips to his. A surprised ‘oumf’ left Bob in a huff as his hands found your waist, leaning into the kiss. Butterflies took flight inside you, tickling every inch of your body as your lips moved against his.

Bob’s grip on you tightened as the tip of his tongue gently caressed your bottom lip. Warmth flooded you at the sensation and you opened your mouth for him. His tongue had just started exploring your mouth with assuredness thar surprised you when the sound of people walking broke you out of your spell.

You pulled back just as a small group of aviators in training entered the corridor. Thankfully, they seemed too focused on their own conversation to notice the flush decorating the both of you, your heaving breaths, or the way Bob strategically placed his hands in front of his crotch.

“Pinch me” you whispered when the group had disappeared.

Bob chuckled, but gently grabbed a piece of skin on your arm and squeezed. The pain seared quickly before ebbing away, leaving only the confirmation that this was, in fact, real.

A stupid, giddy smile broke out across your face. “I thought I was walking out of there without a job” you confessed breathlessly, placing your hands on your hips. A incredulous laugh escaped you. “Like, I was really fucking sure of it!”

“But we’re okay” Bob assured you, hand coming to rest on your arm.

“We are!” you agreed, still smiling. “I’m really glad everything worked out.” It came out like a murmur, but so sincere, it made your heart hurt at your own confession.

“Me, too.” Bob gave you that small, shy smile that was so typically him. His eyes were alight with sparkles as he looked at you from under his glasses.

“And I’m really glad you kissed me.”

Bob laughed, quietly, like a giggle almost and his smile widened. “So am I.”

XXX

He’d given you his number before you parted, and you’d given him his address to pick you up. You lived in a small cottage near the water on Coronado. It had cost a lot, and you had lived on instant noodles for months after buying it. But it was worth it. You had bought it before taking the job on Top Gun, when you were still working as an ER resident at the hospital in San Diego. Your parents had helped somewhat with the costs, and you had been so incredibly grateful. Your aunt and uncle that also lived in the city donated some of their furniture to you. Some were bought from thrift shops. Some were even part of your old childhood bedroom.

The result was a mismatched but cozy home filled with nostalgia and care. There was a small deck out back, looking out towards the beach. The patio furniture was donated by an old neighbor. They had been old, beaten up, the paint chipping and the cushions in desperate need of reupholstering. You and your dad had spent an entire weekend fixing them up. It was small details like that that made you so proud of your home, even if it wasn’t the fanciest.

Taylor Swift was gently playing on your wireless speaker, filling the bathroom with an echo of hopeful love and fitting metaphors. A thin mist of steam was still clinging to the tiles, and the countertop was littered with makeup and jewelry. You had just finished applying a layer of lipstick when the doorbell rang.

Hmm…

A glance at your phone told you it was only 6:30. Bob wasn’t due to pick you up until 7 pm. You turned off the music and went to answer.

And yep, there he was. Standing on the front steps of your cottage, dressed so well in a pair of dark grey slacks and a dress shirt the same color as his eyes. His hair had been styled a bit more relaxed than when he was on base, a few strands falling and curling over his forehead. His glasses reflected the sunlight, lighting up his entire face as he stood there with a nervous grin on his face.

God, he was so hot. All done up, proper and perfect, yet there was this energy to him. You’d felt it at the Hard Deck when he leaned in, you felt it when you kissed him in the corridor earlier today. Something told you that there was more to Bob Floyd than the sweet, proper, innocent WSO everyone treated him as. And you couldn’t wait to find out.

As soon as you opened the door, the air caught in Bob’s throat. You were so incredibly stunning, it was actually unfair. Your hair was free and flowing, makeup done perfectly, slightly darker than he was used to, the white dress contrasting beautifully against your sun-kissed skin. The thin fabric clung to your breasts and waist before spilling out in a flowing skirt skimming halfway down your thighs. It was simple yet gorgeous, perfect for the afternoon sun. He’d just have to make sure he didn’t accidentally splash any red sauce later.

You were still barefoot, toenails painted some kind of iridescent white or pink color. Really fucking cute. He forced himself to not stare at the way your tits almost spilled out of your dress and look you in the eye as he spoke.

“I know I’m early” he said, his tone slightly breathless. “I got ready much earlier than I thought I would. Then I couldn’t stop pacing around my living room because I was just to fucking nervous, and I couldn’t sit still. I just- I had to see you.” He was rambling and he knew it, but he couldn’t help it. All the blood had left his brain.

But you just laughed, surprised and sweet, tilting your head to look at him. Those plush lips of yours caught between your teeth as you stared him up and down.

He clumsily held out the bouquet of mixed summer flowers in his hand, feeling the sweat gather between his hand and the wax paper wrapping. “These are for you.”

Your eyes lit up at the sight of them, a knowing tilt to your smile. “You keep buying me flowers” you commented, but took them gratefully, leaning down to smell their sweet fragrance.

Bob smiled nervously, looking down at his shoes, biting his lip slightly. “You deserve it.”

“Thank you. That’s sweet” you told him, stepping aside, gesturing for him to enter. “I’m not completely ready yet, but please, come in.”

His heart thudded harshly in his chest as he followed you inside. The first thing to hit him was the scent. It was a combination of you, your perfume, your handcream, but also something homey. Like a mix of laundry detergent, warm spices and the earthiness of the giant plant he could just make out in the living room.

“Why don’t you sit down?” you said when you entered the living room, gesturing towards the cream-colored couch. “I’ll be right back.”

As you disappeared up the stairs, Bob took the chance to look around the space. It was small, but really lived in, with mismatched furniture that somehow still worked together. The coffee table and TV bench seemed to be from the same set, both an off-white color. Then the bookshelf was made with a natural pale wood color, littered with worn paperbacks and hard spines. Medical textbooks, romance novels, fantasy books, some YA he remembered reading as a teenager, and a couple of mystery novels. There was also an array of knick-knacks placed amongst the books. Small statues, some childhood toys, family photos.

There were a lot of plants lining the windowsill, a basil plant, some flowers, and a cactus. The door to the patio was slightly ajar, letting in the afternoon breeze. It provided a small relief to the nervous sweat that was gathering at the nape of his neck and on his palms. He wondered what the rest of the house looked like. If it was as personal as in here.

He could hear you coming down the stairs and immediately straightened up, trying to look like he hadn’t just snooped.

“You know” you said brightly. “Since you’re here, you could actually help me with something.”

“Oh, yeah?” Bob wondered, feeling his throat dry up. You had added a necklace to the outfit now, a thin golden chain with three small stones hanging off it. It was simple, but fuck if it didn’t draw his attention back to your tits. He cleared his throat. “With what?”

You blushed slightly. “It’s a little silly, but I couldn’t decide on which shoes to wear with this dress. I’ve narrowed it down to two, but now I can’t choose. Could I show them to you?”

“Sure” Bob answered, trying to keep his voice as steady as possible. If you were about to dress up in different heels for him, he might just combust.

You smiled affectionately before tottering off to grab them. He could hear you shuffle about a bit before returning, shoes now on. Oh God… It’s like the universe just knew what you in heels did to him. You strutted into the living room wearing a pair of white platform pumps, made with some kind of shimmering material that reminded him of the nail polish on your toes.

The matched really well with the dress, and they made your legs look spectacular, muscles working as you took a lap around the room in them.

“So, this is the first pair” you said, casting a glance at him over your shoulder. “I really like them, and they go well with the dress.” You sighed, looking down at them as you shifted your foot in different directions. “But I also really like the other ones.”

Bob couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t talk. There was no way he was going last the entire night. All he could think about you, looking so good, smelling so divine, he wanted to consume you. All he could do was watch, transfixed with your beauty.

“I’ll put the other pair on so you can see” you said brightly before leaving again.

And…wow! Yeah, those were the ones. Nude-colored, mocha, one of those tapering heels, crossing straps closed with golden buckles, a glittering golden thread woven into the fabric. They looked too good. Those were the kinds of heels he’d insist you keep on as he fucked you into the mattress. Proper fuck-me heels.

“Those ones” he rasped out, voice thick with desire, rasping like a man who hadn’t had something to drink in days. His trousers were uncomfortably tight, his dick swelling at an alarming rate.

You caught the shift in his voice, looking at him with an intensity in your eyes that made his stomach swoop. “Yeah? You like ‘em?” There was a teasing tilt to your words, like you knew exactly what you were doing.

Bob nodded, throat tight, body humming with desire. “Mhm… They’re perfect.”

“Okay” you said with finality. “These ones it is.” You leaned against the edge of the couch, crossing your arms over your chest, your tits squeezing together. “You need some water, Bob?”

Water? “Uhm, no thank you?” he said slowly, feeling the air thicken in the room. “Why?”

You shrugged, a little too casually, looking like you were holding back a laugh. “You seem thirsty, is all…”

Oh, he was thirsty, all right. Just not for water. But this was not the time to yank you over his shoulder and carry you upstairs. Instead, he glanced at the watch on his wrist. It was time. Good. He needed a distraction, something to keep him from botching this date by not even making it to the restaurant.

He stood up. He was supposed to tell you that his car was waiting outside, then guide you like a gentleman out the door. Instead, he walked up to you like a dog following a scent, immediate, focused. He reached up, sighing heavily with desire as your perfume invaded him, surrounding him like a thick blanket.

His hand gently caressed the side of your face. The way you leaned into his touch sent his entire world spinning off its axis. Your skin was so soft beneath his fingers, and he so desperately wanted to see if you tasted as good as you smelled.

Come on, a voice in the back of his mind said. Get a grip!

“We should go” he whispered against your lips. “Before we lose our reservation.” It was a tug of war in his mind between doing the honorable thing by taking you out properly and doing the depraved, wanton thing by just saying fuck it. Literally.

You nodded slowly, but it was dazed, like you were picturing the exact same thing he was. “Yeah… We probably should.” Your hand travelled up his forearm before stopping at his wrist, holding just below where his hand cupped your face. Your eyes closed, seemingly on instinct as your breaths mingled.

Pure, intoxicating lust ran through Bob’s veins, but he summoned the last bit of willpower he had left and stepped back. Taking a deep, sobering breath, he gestured for you to walk ahead. You gave him a small, teasing smile. A silent promise of ‘later’ seemed to hang in the air as the two of you stepped out of your house and you locked the door.

The car ride was smooth, songs playing lowly on the radio, air conditioning blasting gratefully against his body, cooling the fire inside him until it was just a low simmer. This was the right thing to do. He wasn’t a caveman that pulled women into the bedroom on the first date, especially without even taking them out to dinner first. His mama raised him to be better than that. And he was.

Surely, he was.

“So, where are we going?” you asked brightly, fiddling with the clasp of your clutch.

For some reason, that stupid, stubborn blush returned to his cheeks. He turned the air-con up. “Uh- I made us reservations at Nonna Vittoria’s.” Was it cheesy to take a girl to his favorite restaurant on the first date? Probably. Maybe that’s why he was blushing so hard. But he couldn’t think of anywhere else to take you.

But you gasped, eyes lighting up in excitement. “No way! I love that place! I haven’t been in forever. Not since my friend’s birthday last year.”

“Oh” Bob breathed out slowly. “Good. That’s… Yeah. That’s great.”

You hummed in agreement, smiling morphing into something knowing, something sweet. “Their tiramisu is to die for, isn’t it?”

“It’s really good.” But not as good as I bet you taste. No! Stop it.

“I had almost two servings last year when Katie couldn’t finish hers, which wasn’t a good idea since I’m technically lactose intolerant. I thought my stomach was going to die the rest of the night, but it was worth it.” You looked at him with a sheepish smile for about two seconds before the two of you burst out laughing.

Bob shook his head slightly, still laughing with you. As a doctor, you should probably know better than to trigger an allergy knowingly, but he couldn’t exactly blame you. He’d do the same thing for their tiramisu. Or a tub of caramel ice cream.

“Maybe we can share a plate instead” he suggested. Because it was the logical thing to do to keep your stomach intact. Not because it sounded insanely romantic. Of course not.

“I’d love that” you answered, looking at him sweetly before turning to look out the window.

You arrived a few minutes later, being escorted inside and seated by the older woman who’d been hostess every time he’d been there. The restaurant was dim, lit by the faint flicker of gas lamps and candles on the tables. The color scheme was a rich, old Victorian inspired mix of creams, wood and reds. Rich velvet curtains and old paintings of the Italian countryside decorated the walls. A family portrait of the original owner’s family hung on one wall. Bob loved that touch. It felt more genuine, the way a family-owned business always does.

The table you were given was located further back in the space, away from the bustle of the tables closer to the entrance. It was private, quiet, perfect. The candlelight flickered, casting your face in an almost angelic glow, and for a while, Bob forgot how to breathe. The small constellation of freckles reflected in the candlelight. God, you were so beautiful. How did he ever get lucky enough to meet someone like you?

“I think I’m going to get a glass of red” you said thoughtfully, eyes scanning the wine list.

“Want to share a bottle?” Bob suggested, pushing his glasses further up his nose.

You looked up from the menu with a slightly puzzled expression, head tilting as you looked at him. “I thought you didn’t drink?”

A coy smile tugged at the corner of his lips. “What makes you think that?”

Your brows furrowed together. “You never drink at the Hard Deck?”

So you noticed… “I don’t usually drink if I’m working the next day. I don’t want to risk it clouding my judgement when flying.”

“You’re working tomorrow, though?”

Bob shrugged, feeling a little like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. “It’s just a debrief…and this is a special night.” He said that last part with his eyes trained to his water glass. He really didn’t want to see if you were going to laugh at him or not.

Instead, you reached forward and placed your hand on top of his on the table. Your eyes were shining with affection, cheeks decorated pink.

“I think you might be the sweetest man I’ve ever met” you said quietly, but with every ounce of conviction in your voice.

“It’s just a bottle of wine” Bob answered, just as quietly, almost a murmur.

“No, it’s not” you insisted. You gave his fingers a squeeze before letting go and picking up your menu again.

The waitress came by and took your orders. Bob knew almost nothing about wine. Beer and whiskey were the go-to in Montana small town where he grew up. So, he let the waitress recommend something, and she was all too happy to suggest her personal favorite.

Conversation flowed so easily throughout the entire dinner. You talked about how he’d grown up on a ranch in Montana, how you’d grown up right here, just a 20 minutes away, how you were an only child whilst he had grown up with three sisters and one brother, how his sisters had always insisted on playing girls v boys soccer out in the fields because they knew they’d win, how you were captain of your high school volleyball team, how you’d kept playing in college, balancing that with being pre-med. You told him about the time you and your best friend Katie had tricked two of your other friends who were obviously into each other to be set up on blind dates just for it to turn out that their blind dates were each other. They had been really mad at you for a week before realizing that there was no other way to get them to admit. They were married today so it was worth it, you said.

Bob barely remembered eating his lasagna, being too busy being entranced by your conversation and the way your delicate fingers twirled the strands of spaghetti in your carbonara or the way you licked subconsciously at your fingers after breaking off and eating a piece of focaccia that was covered in a thin layer of olive oil and spices.

You did end up sharing a serving of tiramisu after your insistence that your stomach would be fine. Your spoons ended up clinking together a few times when going for the same bite, and Bob always caved, letting you have that one piece because he loved the way your eyes glinted with delight and appreciation.

When the waiter brought you the bill, you made an effort to reach for your wallet inside the clutch, but Bob snatched the small booklet before you even had a chance to look at the price. “Don’t even think about it” he threatened jokingly.

“I don’t mind paying” you insisted, still reaching for your wallet.

“Well, I do” Bob retorted, already placing his credit card in the booklet. “There’s no way I’m letting you pay on our first date. That’s just not right.”

He felt a sense of possessive, male pride engulf him at the way you blushed but accepted. It felt good, taking care of you, spoiling you. If you’d let him, he’d spend the rest of his life pampering you.

You exited the restaurant, feeling the gentle evening breeze crash over you. Sighing dreamily, you closed your eyes and absorbed it. “Want to go for a quick walk?” you asked with that gentle tone.

“That sounds nice” Bob responded, suddenly feeling nervous again. He also wanted to prolong this date as long as possible, but he wasn’t sure how or for how long. He just knew he wanted to spend every second with you.

You held out your hand in a silent question. Slowly, Bob reached out and took it, his larger hand engulfing yours. It was warm and soft, just like the rest of you, nothing like the way you had complained about them always being dry. They were perfect. It was insane how calm he had felt around you yesterday at the Hard Deck, but now he felt like nervous school boy talking to his crush for the first time.

The sun had settled lower on the horizon as you walked down the street. Like everything on the island, it was never far from the water. Salt mixed with the breeze the closer you got. The ocean glittered in the distance where the water met sand. The beach seemed to expand for miles from the bench where you had settled, still hand in hand.

Bob’s heart lurched in his chest and landed somewhere in his throat when you tilted your body to lean your head against his shoulder. The scent of your shampoo wafted towards him, with him risking a small inhale of the stuff. God, you smelled good, all your products seemed to be perfectly coordinated in scent as well. Vanilla, coconut, and something that was just so unmistakenly you.

There was no way to tell how long you sat there, leaning against each other, sometimes speaking, but most times just sitting in comfortable silence together, enjoying the company and the view of the ocean.

The sun had slowly started to descend behind the ocean waves when Bob finally looked at his watch. He gave a disappointed sigh.

“Do you need to head home?” you asked, understanding immediately. There was something disappointed in your tone, but mostly it was laced with understanding, which he was grateful for. If there was anyone else that understood the commitment to weird schedules at work, it was someone who had worked the graveyard shift at an emergency room.

“I probably should” Bob said slowly, looking down at you from under his glasses, feeling the need to hold on and never let go. “But I don’t want to.”

You hummed quietly, pressing a quick kiss to his shoulder. “I’m not going anywhere. We can have dinner at my place tomorrow. I’ll cook.”

His eyes lit up at the offer. “Promise?”

“Promise.” You stood from the bench, holding out your hand to him again. “Let’s get you to bed, Lieutenant.”

You probably hadn’t meant for it to come out like that, with that flirty tone. But it did, and now poor Bob could only imagine all the other ways you could put him to bed.

The car ride back was silent, tension thicker than to the restaurant. His hand had found its home on your thigh, just toeing the line of where the fabric of your dress skimmed your thighs. If he moved even an inch lower, he’d be met with your scorching skin.

You really wanted him to move, just an inch or two. His fingers were calloused from work, and you bet they would feel fucking spectacular touching your most sensitive areas. There was no denying that this was without a doubt the best date you’d ever been on. No one else had cared to ask you so many questions about you, about your life, brought you flowers, acted like the proper gentleman, paid, took you on a romantic sunset walk.

Bob Floyd was the whole package, and you really, really liked him. There was another word to describe it. But you didn’t dare use that one. Not yet.

The way one of his hands effortlessly maneuvered the vehicle to take you home, whilst the other rested on your leg, warmth seeping through was so incredibly hot. His hair had gotten messier in the wind, curls sweeping along his forehead, glasses slightly foggy from the humidity. Contentment and heat swirled like a pool of possibility in his eyes every time he looked at you, as if he was so grateful to have you, but also wanted to much more at the same time. And you did, too. There was so much you wanted to do, with him, to him.

But there was no rush, you knew that. You didn’t make a habit of sleeping with guys on the first date, but you were tempted. God, you were tempted.

Your cottage appeared far sooner than you’d liked. If you could, you’d freeze time and live in this bubble forever. But the way he’d jumped at the opportunity of a stay-in date, there was a good chance you’d have many more evenings like this.

The gravel on the driveway crunched under the tires as the car came to a stop. He sighed again, hand flexing involuntarily around your leg, like he was steeling himself for something. “I’ll walk you to the door” he said, voice an octave deeper than usual. He stepped out and walked around to open the door for you, and you didn’t miss the way his eyes followed the motion of your legs as you got out.

Bob Floyd had a thing for you in heels, and you planned to milk that piece of knowledge as often as you could.

His hand rested on the small of your back, fingers tangling slightly in the fabric as he helped you up the small set of stairs to the porch. The porchlight cast his face in a golden glow, illuminating all his features. He was so handsome, so sexy, and he towered over you in that way that made you feel all wanton.

The hand on your lower back came to rest on your waist, squeezing into the flesh. Possessive, but not uncomfortable. His other hand came to cup your cheek. The blue in his eyes darkened as he looked at you through hooded lids.

Your stomach swooped in anticipation as your own hands came to rest on his chest. The beating your chest intensified as Bob leaned in, lips hovering over yours, just waiting for…something. There was so much tension between you, it was almost palpable. Like one more movement might cause an explosion.

“Kiss me” you breathed, surprising even yourself.

Bob’s lips crashed against yours like a missile at an enemy aircraft. The tension in your body exploded, crashing and burning. You melded yourself against him, feeling your bodies slotting against each other like they fitted perfectly. He was so firm, yet soft and warm at the same time. You could taste a mix of wine from dinner and coffee from the tiramisu, and it was glorious.

His lips moved against yours like a man starved, with so much longing that you wondered how he managed to hold back throughout the entire dinner. His hands pulled you impossibly closer, and he let out a small groan as you fisted the collar of his shirt.

Slowly, like he couldn’t bear to let go, Bob broke the kiss. His lips were red and swollen, eyes blown, chest heaving for air. His hand came to tangle in the hair at the base of your neck. You let out a tiny hum, leaning into the sensation, and Bob made a gruff sound in response.

“You’re so beautiful” he whispered into the night, which had gone dark by now.

“So are you” you whispered back, searching those dark blue eyes of his.

He leaned his forehead against yours for a second before coming back to look at you. Heat spread throughout your body at the intense look in his eyes, pooling in your stomach. “Well…” he said slowly. “This is goodnight, I guess.”

“Yeah” you agreed, hands still fisted in his shirt, no conviction in your voice. “Goodnight…”

“Goodnight…”

“Goodnight…”

A few seconds passed in a complete, thick silence where you just stared at each other before Bob cupped your face with both his hands and yanked you into another searing kiss. A moan escaped you at the way his tongue teased your bottom lip. Almost on instinct, you backed into the doorframe, letting him engulf your entire body as he pressed himself closer to you. His glasses dug into you, the metal leaving imprints on both your faces. The glass fogged from the harsh breaths released through your noses.

He groaned into the kiss, hands clinging to you with desperation. You could feel his cock, hard as steel, pressing into your lower belly. The sensation caused pure, unfiltered horniness to flow through you, making your legs tremble as your clit throbbed in anticipation.

Bob was the first to pull away again, swearing under his breath. He looked almost pained, and you bet it had something to do with the pulsating pressure against you. Never before had you seen a man struggle so much with his self-control. It was as hot as it was endearing.

Only problem? You were so fucking sick of fighting it.

“I have to be up early tomorrow” he breathed, more like a reminder to himself than to you.

“You do…” you agreed, voice conveying nothing but the want for him to stay. Your dress clung uncomfortably to your skin. All you wanted was to rip it off and feel his skin against your own.

“I don’t want you to think I only took you out for sex” Bob whispered against your lips, nipping slightly at them.

“I don’t” you assured him. “And I don’t make a habit of sleeping with guys on a first date.”

He nodded, closing his eyes, steeling himself for that final goodbye when…

“But I really want to invite you in. If you want to.”

Bob opened his eyes again, more black than blue, searching your face so desperately. You could feel yourself getting wetter by the second, your body screaming for his attention. “I’m really trying to do gentlemanly thing, here.”

You didn’t answer, instead you reached up and let your thumb stroke his bottom lip, feeling the plush, moist skin. Bob inhaled sharply at the motion, pressing himself closer. He took one last look at your mouth.

“Screw it.”

He crashed back into you, tongue plunging into your mouth. He licked into it like he owned you, hands finding purchase wherever he would reach. As his lips left your mouth to press a line of heated kisses down your neck, stopping to nip at the sensitive skin behind your ear, you searched your clutch blindly for your keys.

When you finally found them, you broke the kiss, turned around and tried to unlock the door. Bob pressed himself against you, hands fisting in the fabric at your waist as you fumbled with the lock.

As soon as you heard the click, he practically yanked the door open for you, pushing the both of you inside. You dropped the bag and keys without ceremony, turning back around to face the man that looked like he was seconds away from combusting. Pulling him back into a fevered kiss, you started leading the way to the staircase. It was a fumble between heated kisses, giggles at misaligned steps and shallow breaths, but you soon made your way to the bedroom.

The door swung open, but you didn’t give Bob a chance to take in the space before yanking him towards the bed by the beltloops in his trousers. You tumbled down in a mess of tangled limbs, landing on the comforter with a huff.

Bob continued his earlier exploration of your throat, pressing open mouthed kisses that left a trail of saliva and goosebumps in their wake. The sensation was overwhelming, and you wrapped your legs around his waist on instinct, pressing him closer to your heated core. Bob groaned into your neck.

“Fuck” he muttered. “You’re everything.”

Feeling boldened by his compliment, you yanked his shirt loose from the confines of his trousers. You fumbled with the buttons, working them open as he ran his hands up and down your body. They trailed along your waist, squeezed your hips, caressed over your ribcage, just under your breasts, cupped your face as he leaned in for another kiss.

When the shirt was finally unbuttoned, he sat back on his knees and took it off without you having to ask. Jesus Christ… His body was glorious. Strong and muscled, but in an understated way. Freckles decorated his collarbones, a thin layer of fine dark blonde hair decorated his chest. Barely there, but very soft-looking.

“God, you’re hot” you whispered, licking your lips as you took in his impressive physique. A pink blush spread over his cheeks and neck. He looked away for a second. “I’m serious” you insisted. “Now, come here!”

You yanked him back down to you, kissing him again. It was all tongue and teeth, both of you moaning into it. His skin was scorching to the touch as he caged you in, arms resting on either side of your head.

Your underwear pressed damply and uncomfortably to your soaked core, insides clenching around nothing as the bulge in his pants brushed you again. You tilted your hips upwards, chasing the sensation. A gasp escaped you as he hit that perfect spot over your clothed clit. Bob groaned into the kiss, his hips finding a rhythm as he humped against you.

The sensation was amazing, but it was nothing compared to what you knew waited. God, you wanted the real thing, for him to fill you up, stretch you out, pressing his cock against your G-spot.

“Dress. Off” you panted pushing the fabric upwards. “Take it off.”

Bob paused, a hint of caution in his eyes. “Are you sure?” he asked, voice husky.

“Never been more sure of anything” you assured him, a hint of impatience to your tone. “I need to feel you, right now.”

Bob chuckled, kissing your forehead in a way that was way sexier than it had any right to be. “How about I go down on you first?”

That nearly caused your brain to short-circuit. Heat flooded your core at the very idea. Images of him between your legs had haunted most of your fantasies and dreams for the past weeks, ever since you met him, really. “Fuck” you swore breathlessly. “Yes, please.”

Bob smirked before helping you sit up and reached back to unzip the back of your dress. You wasted no time pulling it off and tossing it to the side where it landed in a heap on the floor. His eyes landed on the white lace bra you wore underneath. Innocent and sinful at the same time. Then his eyes drifted lower to find the matching panties, completely soaked through.

“Holy fuck” Bob said quietly. “What did I do to deserve this?”

“Just being you” you praised before unclipping your bra and letting it fall.

Your nipples pebbled in the air hardening in a way that was almost painful. Bob practically whined at the sight before pushing you back down on the bed. His lips closed around one, tongue swirling around the hard bud. Your back arched off the bed as you moaned, completely lost in the sensation. Your hips chased his friction again on instinct as his fingers toyed with the other nipple.

He released the aching bud with a wet plop, kissing his way over to your other nipple before giving it the same attention. You ran your fingers through his now messy hair, holding him in place over your chest. He groaned and moaned into your skin, pressing himself as close as he could. The sound vibrated through you, straight to your clit.

Bob’s glasses were almost completely fogged up when he pulled back. That didn’t seem to stop him though as he pressed kisses down your stomach, slowly working his way down. He stopped to press wet kisses along the top of your panties, causing your hips to buckle. There was no way he couldn’t smell your arousal down there.

He leaned down to press a kiss to the soaked fabric and your entire body jolted.

“Oh my god!” you gasped, handing coming to rest on the top of his head.

“Sensitive?” he teased, smiling into the wet fabric of your panties. You could feel the warmth of his breath even through the soaked lace, and it almost drove you insane.

“Shut up” you groaned, body arching as he pressed another kiss to your core.

“I’m taking these off now” Bob informed you, giving you a chance to protest. When you didn’t, he hooked his fingers into the fabric and slowly peeled them down your legs.

The cool air hit your hot flesh, working almost as well as the vibrator you kept stashed in your nightstand. But before you could dwell too much on that, Bob leaned in and licked a long stripe up your slit.

“Want me to take the shoes off?” you teased, already knowing the answer.

“No” Bob muttered against your skin. “Leave them on.”

You called out his name, body contorting with pleasure as he dove in again, tongue swirling around your clit. The sensation caused more goosebumps to break out over your body. It was electric, the way his mouth just seemed to know you, how to lick you, how to suck your clit just right.

“You taste so good” Bob muttered into your pussy, diving back for more.

He licked over your clit again and again like a man starved again, lips closing around the bundle of nerves to suck on it. White, hot pleasure seared through you like a burn that was immediately cooled and satiated by even more licks. He moved down to lick and kiss around your entrance before plunging his tongue inside.

“Oh shit!” you cursed loudly.

The pleasure pooled inside you, growing stronger and stronger with each second. Your belly tightened, you pussy clenched around his tongue. His nose bumped your clit a couple of times, and you weren’t sure how much longer you could hold on. It was too much. It was all too much and not enough at the same time. Your nipples ached, clit throbbed as he went back to sucking it harshly.

As if he knew exactly what you needed, his fingers came up to tease slightly around your entrance before pushing inside. God, the intrusion was glorious, stretching you just right.

“Fuck, you’re soaked” Bob moaned incredulously, glancing up at you through his foggy glasses. “Is all this for me?”

“All of it” you moaned breathlessly as he worked his fingers in and out of you. “All for you! Please, baby” you begged. “Please suck on my clit again.”

He groaned, leaning his forehead against your hip bone. “So needy, so fucking hot!”

But he did as asked, diving back in and pulling the sensitive flesh between his lips. Your thighs closed around his head, locking him in place against your throbbing pussy. Your legs landed over his shoulders, heels digging into the skin of his back. Bob groaned loudly into your pussy, the vibrations sending you into overdrive. You did it again, experimentally, and his groan was even louder this time.

You moaned in tandem with him as his fingers worked your G-spot, pushing against that spongy spot inside you. Your entire body thrummed, so ready to snap. He flattened his tongue over your clit and pressed, doing you in completely.

“Bob” you panted. “I’m gonna–” But you didn’t get a chance to finish the sentence as the pleasure washed over you.

The orgasm tore through you like wildfire, soaking his mouth and fingers. Everything pulsated, blood thrumming in your ears as you screamed out your pleasure, entire body contorting off the bed.

When it finally slowed down, body spasming with aftershocks, Bob kissed his way up until he finally reached your mouth. The taste of you lingered on his lips that were soaked with a mix of your arousal and his spit. You both moaned into the kiss, his hands snaking under to cup the nape of your neck.

“You’re really good at that” you praised, causing that adorable blush to return to his cheeks.

“Thank you” he whispered. “I just wanted to be good for you.”

“Oh, you were.” You pressed a quick kiss to his lips. “But I still want to feel you inside me. Is that okay?”

Bob choked slightly, but nodded quickly, staring at you like you hung the sun and stars. You reached down to unbutton his trousers, him helping you to peel them and his underwear off, his cock bobbing in the air. His shoes and socks came next, until he was completely naked before you.

He was big. Like big, big. Hard, flushed, dripping with pre-cum, jutting out proudly. Your throat dried up at the sight. How on earth were you going to make that thing fit inside you? You were certainly gonna try.

“Do you have a condom?” Bob asked breathlessly as he looked between his own member and your pussy.

You shook your head, bringing his body closer to you again. “I’m on the pill. I’m clean, I haven’t been with anyone since my last test.”

“My last test was clean, too” he responded, voice filled with wonder and mirth at the same time. “But you know that.” He was given regular STD checks as part of his health evaluation by the navy. So you did know that. “Haven’t been with anyone either.”

“Good” you said and yanked him closer, plunging your tongue into his mouth. He released an ‘oumf’ into your mouth and reached down to give his length a few slow pumps.

With a reverence that made your heart swell, he aligned himself with your pussy and slowly pushed inside. Your responding moan caused his entire body to shudder. “Fuck!” he gritted out. Your pussy practically swallowed him, sucking him in, clenching around him like it was a full-time job. “You feel incredible.”

He felt incredible as well, pulsating inside you, filling you up so completely. After a few seconds, he started to slowly move, pushing himself in and out of you. Your hands came to claw at his shoulders, legs locking around his hips.

With every thrust he found that spot inside you so perfectly, shooting pleasure throughout your body. His pubic bone rubbed against your clit in a desperately teasing way, like someone itching just beside that spot you needed it most. It was maddening, but at the same time, you didn’t want it to stop.

“You feel so good inside me” you panted out, nails digging into his shoulders as he pushed even harder. “Filling me up so well. Feels so good!”

Bob bit the skin of your collarbone. A surprised but delighted gasp left you as his tongue soothed the sting. “You feel fucking incredible” he grunted, hips snapping into yours, filling the air with the sound flesh against flesh and soaked squelches. “You’re so tight! I don’t think I’ll last much longer. It’s too good!”

Craning your neck, you caught his lips in a wet kiss, tongues mingling and battling for dominance. His hand snaked down to push your hips down into the mattress, hips chasing pleasure even more intensely. Every drag brought you closer and closer again, hips canting up to meet his.

His hand moved, fingers trailing over your hip bone, over your mound before finding your clit. The calloused pads of his fingers pressed against you in perfect circles, pleasure shooting up your spine.

“Can you come again?” he asked gruffly, working your clit with that military precision.

“Yes!” you panted. “Keep touching me like that!”

He groaned loudly when your pussy clenched around him. “I’m really close” he warned, face contorting in concentration.

“I want you to cum inside me!” you begged. “Want you to fill me up!”

Bob whined loudly, burying his face in your neck as his orgasm overtook him. He hit that spot perfectly one last time and you followed him, bodies shaking together. Warm ropes of cum decorated your insides as he emptied himself inside you. His tongue licked a long stripe up the side of your neck, tasting the salty sweat that had pooled there.

Your hips snapped together in aftershocks for a few seconds before you stilled, lying together, noses brushing each other’s skin, him still inside you, softening slowly. You weren’t sure how long you stayed like that, in a perfect bubble of aftercare. He pressed loving kisses to every inch of skin he could reach, whispering in your ear how good you were for him, how perfect.

When he finally slipped out of you, his cock was completely soft, his cum running down your ass cheeks soon after. “Sorry” he murmured. “Where’s the bathroom?”

“Next door to the right” you mumbled, still soaking in the feeling of being so perfectly fucked.

“Are there clean towels in there?”

You nodded absentmindedly, fingers trailing over the coarse hair on his arms. “In the small cabinet by the shower.”

He disappeared for a minute before returning with a clean hand towel. With a smile that could only be described as loving, he gently wiped you clean, careful to go from top to bottom. Then he helped you to the bathroom, staying outside as you peed, before getting himself cleaned up as well. You gave him a spare toothbrush to use for the night. He helped you change the soaked sheets before climbing into bed together.

“I’ll set an alarm so I can get up in time to change at home before work” he whispered into the quiet bedroom as you settled into his waiting arms.

You nodded sleepily, nuzzling the warm skin of his neck. “You’ll be back for dinner?”

“Of course” he said happily. “Can’t miss our second date.”

“Good” you yawned. “I can make this really good pesto baked salmon with honey-glazed brussels sprouts and white rice.”

You swore you could hear Bob’s stomach rumbling at your words and suppressed a smile. He chuckled at his own body betraying him and pulled you in for a soft kiss. “Sounds perfect. Goodnight, doctor.”

“Goodnight, lieutenant."

[itsyaboinixo]

the previous poll and post it is referenced from:

[doyoulikethis-videogame-song]

Ask Masterpost 1/25/2025

I will be answering the BLOG RELATED asks that I have received since opening my inbox. Lucky number three this finally becomes consistent :).

I would like to state here that even though I don't respond to them (I'm persnickety about keeping ask spam low) I very much appreciate everyone's well wishes and compliments and gratefulness for this blog. I screenshot all of them and keep them in a folder. Thank you so much and I hope you keep having fun :).

@forrest-knight asked: Hello! I am here to ask for some clarification regarding the rules: “Songs from multimedia series that are primarily NOT video games (such as the Homestuck minigames, for example) will not be accepted.” I’m a bit confused with this rule, does this mean we’re not allowed to submit songs from licensed video games (aka games made for non video game media), even if the song is originally made for the game (ex. To The Moon from the DuckTales NES game). Or does this rule is intended for something completely different? *please note that I’ve never read homestuck, so this might relate to my confusion Anyways, thank you so much for doing this! And I hope you have a great whatever time you are reading this!

SO Homestuck was the only example I could think of at the time as a series that actually did this. I was specifically thinking about franchises/series/works that 100% did not start off intending to be a video game but, in the nature of being a multimedia series, added video game minigames or mobile games as it developed.

This is referring to things like homestuck (a webcomic that featured small browser/flash games within the comic), many idol gacha games** (hypnosis mic, love live), etc. This does not include series that were 'completed' (loosely used since I know many of these frequently get universe-expanding sequels and threequels and whathaveyou) and then had video game spinoffs, such as Star Wars, Marvel, etc.

** exceptions being tracks that are exclusively used in the video game itself, such as BGM.

I know this rule is probably the most complicated one and I'm still trying to figure out how to word it clearly and precisely LMAO. Fundamentally it comes down to intent, which is why I'm still on the fence some things like tracks used exclusively in promotional materials and things like that.

That being said: if the song is originally from a video game as in literally you can hear it while you are playing the video game you are totally in the clear

And according to your second ask (I won't name the songs in case you want to submit them): The one made for and coming from the NES game is fine (of course), AND the one that is the 8-bit version of the NON-VGM one is ALSO FINE, because it was REMIXED for the NES game :).

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**NUMEROUS QUESTIONS ABOUT PUTTING DISCLAIMERS ASKING PEOPLE NOT TO SPOIL THE SONGS**

The blind listening and polling period is just for fun! If someone really likes a song and wants to know what it is/where it's from, PLEASE feel free to tell them!!! And PLEASE always enter the notes with the expectation that there may be song spoilers!!

I will ask that you keep it in the TAGS rather than the comments or reblogs (you're more than welcome to DM people the title if they ask), just for the sake of people who might want to discuss the song without spoilers. I'll put that in the pinned and the (eventual...) formal rules.

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What's up! New here so sorry if this has been asked before but has the exact same song been submitted more than once before? Like it's clearly different people but the same song keeps getting submitted over and over again?

Ever since Mod Rae cleared duplicates I have no idea anymore, BUT I know there have been a lot of different submissions for a few select Disco Elysium songs. That doesn't shock me because I know it's got a cult following here :).

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do you get a lot of the same people in ur notes or is it like. a few of the same and then it branches out to fandoms where people know the song? or do u not pay attn to your notes at all (also fair)

I do read the notes (when I remember)! I really like hearing people's opinions, and I always look through the tags on songs I know (I find it really hilarious seeing 'is this dark souls?' 'is this nier?' on any orchestral ever). There are a lot of familiar faces but I'd say the majority for any given poll are new or sparsely in the notes :).

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Would you ever consider adding two more "i dont feel strongly/have an opinion" options to the polls? Specifically, "it sounds familiar and i dont have an opinion" and "ive def heard it before and dont feel strongly/have an opinion"? Of course, if theres a specific reason why you dont add those two as options, feel free to ignore this, ty <3

I've considered this -- but honestly, that button has always existed as more of a 'I just want to click a button' option than an actual datapoint I'm looking for (I think I might have answered an ask similar to this before but I don't remember so I'm answering it again LOL). When that option dominates, I always read the notes and tags for discussion and I'd encourage anyone who is genuinely interested to do the same. Actual complex opinions, of course, cannot be captured with the limitations of preset poll options anyways LMFAO.

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@mkcannothelpyou asked: I'm beginning to wonder if spacing series severely further apart and prioritising picks further down the queue that aren't as represented would make for a more interesting order - as it is, it feels like you can more or less still track what people submitted and when, with waves of series (and closely related works within those series, at that) coming in conspicuously densely. Hearing the same style only days apart might impact poll results for the negative as time goes on.

This was mostly the fault of me allowing people to submit multiple songs at once, leading to songs with similar qualities (as they are all liked by one person with a particular taste) being grouped together, even if they're from different series. I limit submissions to one per period now so this will not be a problem in the future :').

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@the-mayor-of-space asked: how long do submissions typically stay open once they are open?

I originally wanted to have them permanently opened (thinking people wouldn't mind waiting for their submissions) until I got an insane amount of submissions, severely underestimating the popularity of this blog. I then tried to do a 24 hr submission period, and then a 12 hr submission period, but both of these still ended up with a fuck ton of submissions so the current answer is 'They're closed until I can figure out something proper'...

I don't want purging the existing submissions to be on the table, but if I get to the 1 year anniversary of this blog without a better option I might have to go that route -- in which case I'd probably publish all the unposted options so people know if theirs was cut so they know to resubmit it if they're still interested.

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**NUMEROUS QUESTIONS ABOUT HOW FAR BACK THE SUBMISSIONS ARE**

WE'RE FINALLY IN AUGUST!!!!!!!!

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are fan/non official/non licensed versions of songs allowed? because i am 100% certain #293 is a fan made remaster and medley arrangement (im not the submitter but i know the song well - i found the youtube video the audio is from and the comments from OP confirm it is a fan remix). if they are, that's totally cool, but i couldn't find anything in the submission rules about it. i dont intend this ask to be rude or hostile at all, and either way im grateful you've created such an active community with this blog!

They're not really allowed unless they're from a mod or fangame. Since it's a fanmade remaster it's kind of towing the line, so I'm not inherently against it, but it might end up just being a highly situational thing.

Note: I'm not familiar with Fire Emblem at ALL but I knew this particular song was from an older game, which is why I wasn't opposed to posting the remastered version. In any future submissions I'd appreciate if this sort of thing were indicated just in case! I will add that to the submission guidelines :). And of course if there's a better way to go about this (i.e if the game is like, 30+ years old fanmade remasters/upscales are permitted or something like that) I will make sure that's made clear as well :).

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sorry if you've answered this before but I was just wondering, are people allowed to submit spoiler songs for the polls? like final boss songs and songs from endings and secret endings

Absolutely! But I think for all future submissions (this doesn't apply now since there's a huge backlog) I might put a hold on the submissions of OSTS from new games for like 1-2 months (i.e No Mario Kart 9 OSTs until two months after the game drops!) so people who are playing/going to play the game have time to play it before hearing the OSTs unprompted.

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@its-daisukenojobito asked: Just out of curiosity, do you prefer the more obscure submissions, or more well known? I feel like for the sake of reach, the more well known the better, but as a participant, i love being able to hear something I wasn't expecting, and knowing it!

I have no preference, but it's always fun hearing good stuff from games and series I've literally never heard of!

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@venonomnomicon asked: am i allowed to DM to check the status of a submission? it was a couple of months ago though i do respect it's probably just deep in the queue as you get hundreds of submissions a month lol

Absolutely, but you'll have to DM my main blog (@himejoshi) because apparently tumblr doesn't let you have DMs when you have more than one blog admin.

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@royvalentine asked: is the form supposed to be only submittable once?

Yes, so people would only submit one song per submission period. I intended to make a new form for every submission period... There just hasn't been one since.

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hi question, do pinball tables count as video games?

I don't think I have enough experience to answer this question... What do y'all think????

[fandoms-in-law]

Manual Mood Ring

Summary: To keep up popularity and the Harrington reputation Steve couldn't show many emotions. That didn't mean he didn't feel them, only that he didn't always recognise what feelings he hid. So he wore rings, swapped them out according to his moods. And a few people noticed them.

Authors note: It won the poll by 1 vote and honestly I'm glad about it. In typing the other fic up I realised how not finished it is. This has been a great fic to procrastinate work with over the last couple weeks, but I'm glad with where I finished it.

/\/\

Steve would never say, except to Robin, but it all began because of Eddie and curiosity. If the guys he'd been friends with at the start of high school had paid attention, they could've worked it out too, but none of them thought twice when the week after he noticed, and accidentally cause some bullying over, Eddie's rings, Steve came in wearing one of his own.

The ring, or rather rings, he wore weren't expensive, just simple things he'd spotted in a shop window, but somehow everyone thought it was a wealth thing when they noticed it and so far as Steve heard, nobody realised there were 6 different rings he'd swap out. They definitely didn't question when he swapped them either, not even Nancy.

Robin did know. She only admitted noticing them when Steve dragged her out to buy more after the Russians took his original rings and none of the government agents mentioned finding them. She was the one who asked about why he needed multiple rings when he'd only wear one at a time.

It didn't help the assumptions they were dating when Robin insisted on taking his hand to check which ring he was wearing every time they met up after the explanation that he used them as an indication or self check-in of his mood.

/\/\

Eddie knew Steve Harrington wore a ring. When he started to the gossip in Hawkins High said his father insisted on it due to a tradition but if that was the case then the ring was too plain in Eddie’s opinion.

Then he noticed Harrington changing rings after getting a question wrong in class and was certain the rumour was wrong, even if he couldn't figure out the actual reason for it straight away. After he'd seen that first swap, it was too clear for him to notice the times that the ring got changed, especially since he decided to try and figure out why Harrington would do that.

Spotting Harrington's ring enough to tell the differences in it wasn't easy in school, especially outside of their shared classes, but a theory soon grew in Eddie's mind of them being some sort of manual mood ring. This was only backed up when he visited Scoops Ahoy once or twice over the summer.

Before the fire Eddie even thought he was close to knowing what emotions some of the rings might indicate, but they all changed after that, not even one remained the same as before and, thankfully for Eddie's curiosity, the new ones had more noticeable differences.

With all his curiosity over Harrington's rings, it confused him to realise the kids he'd brought into Hellfire seemed to know nothing of them. Once Mike even commented ' Steve would be cooler if he just wore rings like Eddie's.' as if he wasn't already wearing one constantly. Eddie could spot it glinting on Harrington's finger when he picked them up afterwards, not hidden at all.

From paying attention to those lifts and Harrington's expressions and reactions to the brats gave Eddie some clues on what colour or general shape of rings matched good or bad moods, even if he never saw the detailing on them.

Except for one.

Eddie saw one ring in detail once. Hellfire had an extra club meeting that apparently none of the kids Harrington gave a lift to had mentioned to him until he came storming through the school half panicked. Even after confirming they were safe Harrington made everyone move along the table so he could sit next to Eddie and listen until the end.

The ring that time was in a woven pattern, made of silver and Eddie was certain it meant fear or stress. It had to, given how Harrington only looked away from his kids to watch the door or, for some reason, analyse the ceiling for damage and suspiciously eye the lights.

Who knew getting an answer about one of the rings meanings could give Eddie so many more questions?

/\/\

Survival and fear were the only things going through Eddie's mind. He didn't know what happened to Chrissie or if it would happen to him next. He didn't know if he was trying to hide from that or from the town he was sure would blame him.

He definitely wasn't calm enough to recognise any of the voices yelling for him and dived into the boat as they got closer.

The conversation of the group looking for him was heard but barely understood as Eddie tried to get ready to jump up and fight or run through the hard jabs from an oar he thought was mentioned.

It wasn't the oar or the gaze of the man he pinned that broke through Eddie's fear when he decided to get out.

The hand holding the oar wore a silver woven ring. It wasn't polished and definitely showed signs of tarnishing in the indented areas and it echoed how he felt. He knew the ring and what emotion he was certain it meant.

And he knew that other rings were kept in the back pocket from classes where they'd get swapped out. Those are what he reached for now, still pinning Harrington with one hand which made it harder to separate the bronze ring that tended to be worn if he'd be joking when picking the kids up.

“Guess you're not here to have a go at me, or this would be worn.” Eddie mutters eventually into the silence that had fallen in the boathouse.

“I wouldn't do that. Dustin would never talk to me again if I did that. And how do you know anything about my rings?” Steve's words tumbled past each other, but seemed more confused now, instead of the panic he'd shown when first getting pinned.

“What rings?” Dustin demanded, somewhere behind Eddie.

Steve glanced over, “Forget the rings actually. What happened? We want to help.”

/\/\

Steve hadn't changed his ring in days.

Eddie glanced at it each time they came to give him supplies, came to try and talk him into staying with one of them despite how they'd need to hide him from parents, every time he got the change to.

It was still the silver woven effect ring.

He could only hope he'd live to see another ring take its place and was beginning to suspect Steve was hoping the same thing. A few times he'd been caught looking at the hand wearing the ring, but Steve never said anything, only brought his hand back to the pocket with the rest of them.

“You got the bronze ring wrong.” Robin commented on one of the few moments everyone else was distracted. “It's not when Steve's truly happy or whatever you think.”

Eddie glanced at her, gaze returning to Steve straight away. “What is it then?”

“Forced positivity. It's when he's struggling to believe we want him here so tries to reach out subtly for most of them.” She explained.

“And you?”

“Check his rings when I first see him so give him reassurance as needed. Although you might've changed its meaning now.” Her words sounded slow as if she was musing on the idea. “We'll see after Vecna's defeated.”

Eddie wasn't quite sure what to make of that but Robin was already over with Steve again, catching up with whatever they were working on. At least being in hiding gave him lots of time to think through her cryptic comments for breaks from panicking.

/\/\

“That's my ring.” Eddie stated. He'd been staring at the hand since waking up, originally cause it was clinging tightly and then as his memories filtered through the medication clouding his brain, to see if Steve was still stressed out. How was he meant to understand seeing his own ring being worn by Steve?

Steve's chuckle was watery, and there were tears in his eyes when Eddie looked up. “Yeah, mine now. Glad you're awake finally.”

Somehow that was what made him realise he had none of his rings on at all. “Where are the rest? What does my ring have the honour of meaning?” They felt like dumb questions but Eddie was scared to ask the more serious ones.

“Dustin's got them and your pic necklace. He'll be here as soon as visiting hours start along with at least a few of the other brats. Not sure which are seeing you first today other than him. Wayne's at the trailer salvaging what he can. Added me as an emergency contact so you wouldn't wake up alone.” Steve offered, thankfully guessing what he'd want to know first. “As for the ring, I don't know. I've been a mess, unable to figure out what I'm feeling so it's currently a question mark ring.”

That felt like a familiar feeling as Eddie blinked. He had no clue why things would need salvaging from the trailer at all. “What happened?”

The explanation carried on through the kids arriving, Dustin trying to push the rings onto Eddie and being stopped by nurses not wanting the jewellery in the way, and plenty of interruptions and additions. It covered how the attack that had left him in an induced coma to heal had only partly succeeded and everything that had come after and ended with Steve pushing his hair back into place sighing, “Thankfully most of us decided against sleeping through it all. Vecna is gone now and we're just waiting for people to wake up and heal.”

“And get Steve to explain how he's worn a ring so long without us knowing.” Dustin insisted, glaring at said man.

Eddie grinned, shaking his head alongside Steve. “It's not the king's fault if his friends don't pay attention to him. After all, I'd never spoken to him before all of this and I knew about the rings.”

“Lies.” Robin called, appearing in the doorway. “You spoke to him precisely 7 times as I never served you when you came into Scoops.”

Steve tilted his head, thinking before he shook his head at her. “Nope. He just pointed and handed over the money. I spoke to him before it all, but not the reverse. Such an unsociable customer.”

“You couldn't get Eddie Munson to talk to you? That board needed more tallies under you suck.” Robin teased, coming over and smiling at Eddie. “How are you feeling?”

For a moment it was silent as Eddie didn't realise the Steve and Robin show had finished with a question to him. “Oh, I'm – Honestly I feel like I died and this is a bizarre form of purgatory. Could be hell from the pain levels but you're all being too nice for that.”

/\/\

Robin loved Steve's rings. She saw them as a small rebellion against his parents rigid views of gender as well as a good idea for someone who wasn't often allowed to express his emotions.

Even before she knew what they showed, back when they were just co-workers and former classmates, she paid attention to the rings and the ways Steve swapped them out. She knew the original set of 6 almost as well as she knew the ones she'd helped Steve find to replace them.

And she knew they definitely shouldn't be in Nancy Wheeler's jewellery box, still bagged with a label from the US government stating they had been goods confiscated by the Russians.

When she saw them it wasn't sensible to mention it. They were still dealing with Vecna and trying to find out more about him, but she remembered and once everything was over, and all that was left to do was healing, she wasn't going to stay silent any more.

“You know, Nancy, I've had a question for a while.” She stated, off hand, but laser focused on getting answers.

It was just her, Steve and Nancy for the moment so seemed like the best time to bring it up without anyone else interfering.

Nancy didn't seemed concerned either, just smiling. “Which is?”

“You never had anything to do with the Russians during the Starcourt fiasco, right?” Robin didn't immediately mention the rings, knowing just bringing up any of the events was likely to get the guard up of all of them.

Guarded eyes now looked at her, and beside her, Robin knew Steve was trying to catch her eye to silently ask what she was doing. “No. You know I was researching for the paper or with the kids basically the entire time.” Nancy agreed.

“Okay. So why, when we were trying to figure out info on Vecna, did I find a bag of items labelled as things the Russians had confiscated in your jewellery box?” Robin still didn't mention the rings, but knew Steve would immediately think of them.

After being given his keys back he'd tried asking about them but been told nothing else was found. Both of them had watched the government agent then go to talk to other members of their group but assumed that wasn't regarding any other items.

Nancy narrowed her eyes, but stood, going over to the jewellery box to get the bag. “Because the government agents said they'd found them and they seemed most likely to belong to me.”

Robin nodded, holding her hand out for the bag. “So little miss reporter got handed some items she knew definitely weren't hers and instead of say, asking any of the people who had actually been in the Russian base if they knew whose they were decided to keep them for herself and never question the origins?” She challenged, reaching out to take them when Nancy showed no sign of handing them over.

“I recognised them. I've tried remembering why I recognise them so I could return them.” Nancy insisted.

“Again, why didn't you just ask me, ask Steve, Dustin, Erica, if any of us knew who these rings belonged to?” Robin challenged, Steve's hand coming to rest palm up on her shoulder although he remained silently watching the scene.

Nancy glared, “Because I should know whose they are.” She snapped. “If I could just-”

“Pay more attention to the people around you, you'd know.” Steve interrupted when it looked like Nancy would go into a rant about her memory to try and justify not asking. “The reason you'd recognise these is I was always wearing one of them the entire time you knew me.” His voice was calm, but Robin could feel the tension in him, and a glance over at him showed his current rings had been swapped. She didn't think he'd go back to using the set she held even as she put the bag in his hand.

For a moment it looked like Nancy would scoff before she narrowed her eyes on Steve's hands, as if only just realising he still wore a ring. “But why would there be 6 of them?” She asked. “Only Eddie wears that many or more at a time.”

“Because I swap them out when I feel like it.” That wasn't the explanation Robin had received and she doubted the full one would be offered right now. “Thanks for returning them finally. I'm more annoyed that even when I asked specifically about the rings those agents didn't mention them to me at all.”

“Oh.” Nancy deflated as she realised Steve wasn't going to yell at her. She seemed not to notice Robin's gaze was still hard. “Yeah, sorry I didn't remember or, as Robin rightly said, ask whose they were earlier.”

At that Robin leant forward again, knowing her smile was colder than she'd normally direct at friends. “Please do ask if this happens in the future, because Steve shouldn't have had to replace his rings for you to delay solving a mystery this long.”

Nancy nodded, “I will. Are you two sure you aren't-?”

“Best friends and protective friends at that. You might be pretty but you aren't Stevie.” Robin reaffirmed, before sighing and trying to let her annoyance go. “Shall we put a film on or something?”

Steve hopped up, going to the stairs to listen for where Nancy's parents might be. “Probably not a film. I think Ted is still watching something, unless you're about to suggest going back to mine.”

“Funnily enough, Dingus, I was.” Robin agreed, also getting up. If she hadn't wanted to get him his rings back she'd have suggested going there to hang out from the start but now that was done she would happily swap hang out locations.

/\/\

Perhaps he'd just been young, but Steve had never thought he'd have to get more rings, after finding six of them. Emotions had seemed simple to him, nothing like the tumult he'd been going through and while six rings had stretched before now he was learning that getting more was necessary.

He didn't question how, in getting those original rings back, he knew that one already meant heartbreak and grief, while the rest weren't needed any more. It just seemed reasonable; an escalation of the swap from the ring saying everything is good to saying his world was crashing before he lost them, to now having its hopefully final meaning be grief.

Then there was Eddie's ring, the mixed feelings ring, or as Steve still thought of it, a question mark ring. He hadn't meant to claim it, but when taking the rings off so the hospital didn't dispose of them he hadn't been able to let it go, even to hand it to Dustin. He'd covered by swapping it out with the stressed ring and repeating that Eddie wanted him to wear a different ring.

Honour: A word Steve had only ever heard directed to him jokingly, but Eddie used for his ring being worn. It boggled his mind a bit to realise how sincere the other was being with him. A lot of things did when it came to Eddie, like the fact he'd called Steve a good person out of nowhere and without prompting. Most people just complained about or insulted who he used to be and when he tried talking with Robin about it she'd got mad at herself before repeating how good a person he was now. That hadn't helped his bewilderment, just added another cause for it.

“Dingus, why are you glaring at your rings and a notebook?” Robin asked, draping over his shoulder and bringing Steve's mind back into Family Video and the slow work day they were trying to keep busy through.

“I need more of them but don't want to go around with even more rings in my pocket. Or know how to label what feelings they'd be for.” He grumbled.

She leant closer, forcing Steve to bend with her so she could see the notebook better. “Yeah starting from scratch is dumb. Write what you have rings for already, Your terms not mine or anyone else's, and see what you think is missing after that. Then see which stand out as unlikely to be worn often. Those could live in your car or wallet or something instead of your pocket.” Saying this she moved to his side and laid the rings out on a clear page of the notebook.

As Steve considered the idea Robin wandered off to check on the only customer. It was a pretence he knew, but one he's grateful for, even as the biggest necessity in his list becomes evident.

There's nuance, and different rings for sadness, anger, confusion, embarrassment, heartbreak, but only 'good' and 'trying to see positives' for good emotions. Good was one he barely knew how to quantify now and 'trying to see positives' didn't actually feel good to wear. But Steve wasn't feeling constantly bad, he knew that. He felt hopeful, amused, warm, and loved; like these friends were a real family.

Plus the question mark ring was where good and bad emotions were fighting in him.

“Do you think Eddie will come ring shopping with us?” He called out, settling on the four emotions he needed new rings for and looking around the store for the first time in a while.

“I think I can fit that in, yes Stevie.” Eddie replied, leaning on the counter opposite him. Robin was stood beside him looking over at Steve in amusement.

He shifted a little, looking between them, expecting to get teased. “You've been here how long?”

“Couple minutes, was going to block the page to say hi but you looked so adorably focused.” Eddie shrugged. “Are these all your current ring meanings? You've still not told me-” The words broke off as he read the list, fingers tapping over empty spots noted for new rings

Robin had started snickering, needing no words to tease once Steve met her gaze, but stopped in confusion at Eddie's reaction. “Sure they are. He's decided he needs to show more emotions than that now.”

“Like more positive ones, you mean?” He asked, a sharp gaze stabbing at her. “Little Miss Platonic, why haven't you told him to get more or change all the meanings so he doesn't only have negative emotions to show sooner?”

“What?” The demand was when Steve realised their focus might be surrounding him but it didn't currently involve him. “When did those change?”

He blinked at them, seeing a tussle break out for the notebook and wondering what Robin meant as he glanced as the ring on his finger now, bronze, looking for positivity, then back to her. “They didn't?” He asked, trying to remember what he'd told her they meant. He'd probably described situations which made him change to each ring he was replacing after Starcourt since describing his feelings isn't easy without them. “What did you think they meant?”

Instead of saying anything she snatched the pen to start writing her understanding of the rings down, Eddie's eyes getting wider as he read them. “That's – That's some difference.”

“Did I explain when I'd swap to wearing them before?” Steve asked, unable to read upside down and just getting frowned at as Robin made it clear he had and she didn't like the meaning mix-up it had apparently caused. “You still know how to help anyway.” He tried to reassure, hoping to lessen the glare.

“Just how pissed should I be at Nancy?” Robin demanded instead, angrily gesturing to the embarrassment ring. “How much didn't you say when I thought you might date her again?”

Both Steve and Eddie stepped back from her anger as Steve frantically tried to remember what he'd used to explain that ring and how it involved Nancy. “You literally said you didn't need to know that story.”

“Apparently I do now if just her visiting your workplace has you feeling embarrassed enough to change rings over it.” Robin insisted. “So, story-time please Steve. What happened with Nancy Wheeler?”

/\/\

“Did you argue with Buckley?” Jonathan asked, sitting down beside Nancy and taking in the glare levelled at them.

She looked over as well but soon looked away. “The rings were Steve's. She found them but didn't seem this mad then.”

For a moment he just nodded, before straightening to look for Steve. “I didn't imagine the rings he used to wear then? I guess between you giving them back and now we've been spoken about. Makes sense I think.”

“What does?”

“Steve's best friend being pissed when he told her what happened between us three. I did wonder if she knew anything beyond the rumours.” He explained, waving when Steve emerged from the kitchen.

Nancy stared, trying to understand how Robin's anger came from that, even as she smiled at Steve coming over.

“You two okay? Your move back to Hawkins going well?” Steve asked, relaxed, a ring shaped into a shield on his hand.

“We're good, are you?” Jonathan asked, but carried on without pausing for a reply, “Realised that we never apologised for everything during that Halloween. I thought you'd broken up honestly, until Dustin said you were taking flowers to Nance when he asked for help.”

“I'm good and thank you. It's all history now and I'm pretty sure there was no coming back from that argument. I'm sorry for everything bad I did back then too. Some fault on both sides, I think.” Steve hurried to accept the apology but followed Nancy's gaze when she looked back over to Robin. “And Robs will calm down soon enough. She just got the meanings of some of my rings wrong and is mad about it.”

“What meanings do they have?” Nancy asked, glancing back at the ring he currently wore. “Eddie too? He did the hand hold thing too today.”

His nose scrunched but he looked amused, “Yeah but also no. That's cause Henderson tried using Robin's ring checking as evidence I'm dating her and Eds wants to see if he'll insist the same for someone else doing it. I'm preparing for anything Robin does to me to get copied or escalated for a while.”

“You're cool with that?” Jonathan challenged, looking shocked at the thought and Nancy could remember their fight from years back, wondering if that was why.

“Robin would kill me if I wasn't. Plus it means my empty home is a lot noisier with laughter now.” Steve mused. “Yeah, I'm pretty happy about Eddie's game.” As he finished speaking his hand dipped into his back pocket, a practised gesture that seemed absent enough to be unnoticeable as his ring was swapped out while he looked around the gathering. “I'd better check the kids aren't causing trouble over there.”

There was silence between them for a moment as he headed away. “So that's the first time I've actually seen that happen.” Jonathan eventually commented.

“No wonder. If he hadn't just mentioned his ring I'd have missed it.” She agreed, wondering why Steve would hide the gesture but do it so openly. It was more evidence that she hadn't known him as well as she thought.

/\/\

Dustin was getting frustrated. He'd thought it was a blatant lie when Robin said she was checking Steve's ring each time she took his hands upon greeting. Then he'd thought maybe it was valid but still an excuse after noticing them was what started calming Eddie down in the boat-shed.

Now Eddie kept waiting behind Robin as she checked Steve's rings, draping himself over the side of him left free when they watched movies. It was getting honestly difficult to get a hold of either of them separately and Dustin didn't trust it.

“Why are you leading Eddie on?” He accused one of the few times Steve picked him up without the other already in the car.

“I'm not, but thanks, really flattering view of me you have there.” Steve huffed.

Dustin narrowed his eyes, “You're straight Steve.” He stated as if he was being dumb. “Why are you accepting his flirting when you aren't into him? Are you going to hurt him?”

Steve rolled his eyes. “One, that's not for you to question for me. Neither of us are going to get hurt. Two, Eddie checked and keeps checking we both know where we stand in this. Three, thanks for winning me that bet.”

“Bet? What bet?” He demanded but they'd pulled up in the trailer park and Eddie was already climbing in.

He'd clearly heard the question and leaned over Steve's seat, pulling his hand up to check the ring while asking, “Yeah Stevie, what bet are you telling Dustin about?”

“One I won cause he got in telling me off for leading you on.” He smirked, taking his hand back to pull off again. “Seatbelt.”

“As if I wouldn't follow you anywhere, Big boy. Keep leading.” Eddie remarked flippantly before swatting at Dustin, “But talk about clouded vision, Shithead. So when Robin does it they're dating but I do it and I'm being led on.”

Dustin spluttered for a moment, but Steve's smirk got sharper, “So that's me and Robin one each, you none. Lucas could be anyone's but I think you have a shot at Mike.”

/\/\

Robin helped Steve find it, the final ring he’d buy for himself hopefully. She’d helped with everything else in his realisations since Eddie’s game began and was trying to make him share his feelings with Eddie now.

The ring had been both Steve’s way to delay that admission and his hope that Eddie would bring the conversation up for him. If only because he had no intention of advertising the feeling it meant at all.

It should have worked too, except he was never wearing the ring when Eddie first arrived, never able to get privacy when the change was noticed by the other and didn’t see how it could change with their kids all wanting attention constantly. He almost felt like his crush was doomed to silence and Robin’s teasing over it but refused to accept it, adapting instead. He started swapping rings when even slightly feeling besotted, hearing Dustin raving over something Eddie had done or a song reminding him of the other. Steve even started practising demanding private moments and dragging Robin off during her greetings, just waiting for Eddie to question this new ring.

“Is it my turn to ask for a private chat, big boy?” Eddie asked, finally seeing Steve’s latest ring worn as he arrived.

Everyone else was filing through the house to the kitchen or Steve’s pool and barely glanced their way as Steve tugged Eddie upstairs, blush only noticed by Robin as they went.

“You like my ring then?” He asked only after they were alone. It was partly to delay the admission, but mostly a genuine question. When looking for this ring he’d specifically wanted something that reminded him of Eddie’s rings and the coiled serpent design seemed fitting.

/\/\

Eddie for the first time in a while didn’t know what to say. He wanted to ramble about how much he liked it and wanted a similar one for himself; wanted to interrogate Steve on this new ring when he’d been resolute on pairing rings up if he found an emotion missing from their meanings in the future; wanted to ask if it was a way to get his attention.

It was mostly the last of the list actually, but that felt too vulnerable to say.

“It’s metal, but why? You said you didn’t want to get any more after our shopping spree.” He asked, holding back all the words trying to tumble out.

Steve fell backwards onto his bed, heaving a sigh and making Eddie wonder if he’d asked the wrong thing. “Because a crush isn’t as simple an emotion to indicate and I didn’t want you to make similar errors to Robin if I paired it up with other rings straight away.” He muttered to the ceiling.

Hope flickered to light where it had dimmed at the sigh. “A crush? On who?” There was a guess, especially with how Dustin had been distracted from his questions the week before, but he wanted to hear it for himself.

“You.” Steve said, rolling onto his side and watching Eddie as he stood just beside the door, never having moved since they came in.

He moved now, taking the hand and brushing his thumb over Steve’s ring. “That explains why you weren’t wearing it when I wasn’t around at first, but not why you’re wearing it now.”

“Will mentioned you earlier, some of the chats you’ve had with him over Mike.” He hummed.

“Your love for those kids is cute.” Eddie grinned, kneeling on the bed beside him. “It also doesn’t say what you want to happen now. You seem plenty happy with me copying how Robs treats you but are you wanting more than that?”

Everything in Eddie was screaming to just ask for more, or lean down and kiss Steve, or do something other than gently prying more details out from the gorgeous boy rolling around on the bed.

“Maybe you could kiss me too sometimes, see how we feel about going further when my house isn’t full of everybody else.” Steve smirked up at him, as if reading the desires on his face. “Oh and invitations to either your band practices or performances. I want those too. Who knows maybe the Corroded Coffin boys could just fit in with this chaotic family of ours over time.”

“Yeah?” Eddie asked, leaning so their lips were millimetres apart. “Want to join our families? You already thinking of marriage, big boy?”

Steve leant up for a small kiss, “Forever with you sounds like torturous bliss. Where do I sign up?”

“I think you already have.” They both grinned into the deep kiss Eddie pulled him into then.

[akatsuki-gift-exchange]

July '25 Newsletter

Note: This is updated on personal time; if an error is present or a question goes unanswered, please kindly reach out! The goal is to build a more connective community between Akatsuki fans from all corners of the fandom niche.

Updates for Akatsuki Gift Exchange Season

Promo Begins

As of posting (7/01), we have FOUR weeks until Applications open! During this time, we want to hear from you–your favorite hcs, thoughts on our Akatsuki members and their daily habits–submit your character polling questions, hcs, and favorite Akatsuki fun facts to our Ask Box and we will display them (you can choose to be anon or not!) as we count down to Application time!

AGE Applications + Current Timeline

Mark your calendars–applications are officially July 28th until September 28th! Please reach out to Mod GP with any questions; we welcome first-timers AND returners will open arms!

Subs Sheet

If you’d like to be reblogged with information regarding AGE business, please add your Tumblr handle to this spreadsheet. This is NOT a requirement for applications, though the visual reminder/notif may be helpful.

Updates on FAQs // Guidelines

In the previous season’s feedback form, I had multiple people mention a few suggestions. I cleaned up specifics in the Requests section, regarding who is considered an Akatsuki member; prompts also must be more specific in order to provide better support to the gift creators! You can read the edits here.

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Other Blog Business

July ‘25 Calendar is available

Posted below is June’s flexible calendar! If you’d like a subscription, you can DM me @gp_22 (Discord), @foriamproud (Tumblr), or gpwrites22@gmail.com. Only I as the mod will see you email, for the sake of your privacy!

General Feedback Form

Attached to the Masterist is a Feedback form for general suggestions, comments, and questions. You can find the form linked here.

Please be aware, the following things will not be considered…

Any sort of character or ship bashing

Any sort of artist/writer bashing

Hate mail of any sort (up to Mod GP’s discretion)

We want to give you an opportunity as returners and as newcomers to the event to give input when evolving the event (and other Akatsuki events) as we continue to the next season!

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Other Existing Akatsuki Events

If you’re looking for some more Akatsuki inspiration or just want to cheer on your fellow artists and writers, keep your eyes peeled for other Akatsuki events! We are going to showcase other Akatsuki projects: ship weeks, character birthdays, zines, whatever we can find.

For June…

• Kisame Week (7/06 - 7/13)

• HashiMada Week (7/20 - 7/26)

• KakuHida Week timeline has been released!)

• Creation Period for Kakuzu’s Mini Birthday event (8/15) We reblog Akatsuki works from such events roughly a week after the original event runs. You can find these events listed in “Previous” on the Other Akatsuki-Related Events page.

[wifegideonnav]

I'm new to Tumblr. How do Tumblr users usually engage with each other?

well first of all welcome haha. the main ways to engage with people are:

liking and reblogging. platforms like instagram and tiktok run on likes and an algorithm, but on tumblr, people almost exclusively use their dashboard and turn off suggested content, so they’re only seeing what people actually reblog onto their dash. that’s why people on this site are so adamant about reblogs, because likes basically do nothing. i saw someone say once that anything you would like on a different social media, you should reblog on here, and i totally agree. and don’t worry about how old a post is, or about reblogging something you’ve previously reblogged. there are posts from 2014 that i regularly see on my dash a decade later, so literally don’t feel awkward, it’s 100% normal to engage with old posts.

tags. there are three main ways tags are used: labeling original content so people find it in searches, internal organization systems when reblogging or posting (for instance, many people have a tag for their original posts, and will tag reblogs by fandom or character or whatever - important note that reblogs do not show up in search results), and to make sotto voce comments on a post. it’s normal for people to make jokes, add their own commentary, ramble about something semi relevant, or say something to op in the tags on posts they reblog.

reblog additions. every time you reblog, you have the chance to add something to the post, which unlike tags will be retained when someone reblogs from you. a good rule of thumb is to comment instead of tagging when it’s something you actually want other people to engage with, as opposed to tags where you’re just kind of expressing yourself lol. don’t be surprised however if you see people’s tags getting screenshotted and added to a reblog. if this happens because the screenshotter likes what the tag writer said, it’s jokingly referred to as “passing peer review.” (and of course people screenshot tags to criticize or mock them as well.) essentially, tags are like being at a big group dinner and saying something to the person next to you as an aside, and then sometimes that person goes “hey everyone listen to this”

post comments. there’s also an option on every post (unless op has turned it off) for people to comment on the post itself, not on a specific reblog. mostly this is useful for talking to people on personal posts or posts with reblogs turned off. on a bigger post, just reblog it and put your thoughts in an addition or tag.

asks. seems like you figured this one out! lmao. asks are used for a wide variety of things, but essentially it can either be a prompt for someone to make a post or a way of having an interaction/conversation with someone without dming them.

dms. these work like dms everywhere else, except the functionality is limited and it kinda sucks.

games. there are also many varieties of games that people play with each other, ranging from ask games (things like “rec me some music” or a post with prompts and people send you some from that list), tag games (typically there are questions you answer then you tag other people to fill them out for themselves) handwriting tags, follow chains, giveaways, name/url playlists, and more. with the addition of polls, brackets have gotten popular too (eg the tumblr sexyman bracket). there also used to be a lot of in-character ask blogs, where a user would set up a blog and roleplay as a specific character that people could send questions to (there still are some but way fewer and way less popular than there used to be)

to be honest i feel like i have to put “discourse” and “drama” on this list too. people on this site loveeee having the most insane arguments of all time and then everyone else memes the hell out of it. google “sonic for real justice” for an example lmao. (of course there’s also very unfunny political and fandom discourse that goes on as well. i would advise you to avoid discourse blogs as a general rule regardless of whether you agree with their position or not)

tagging people. you can also @ people in posts you think they’d like or if you feel like they have relevant input. typically this is something you would do either to people you’ve spoken to before, or a big blog with an established persona and rapport with their followers (eg if you follow a blog about snakes and you see a random post with snake info that seems wrong but you’re not sure, so you tag them to ask for their expertise).

and this isn’t a specific “mode” of communication but it’s also a thing to “interpret” (for lack of a better word) other people’s posts. for instance, people drawing a photo from the original post (i cant find it but there was a post going around recently where op posted an aesthetic photo of an egg cooking and then several people painted it), or people trying/recreating something a post was about (example). it was also a thing for a minute there where people would rewrite funny exchanges as shakespearean dialogue

those are all the ways i can think of, although im sure i’ve missed some (if other people think of any pls add on!). good luck, and i hope you’re able to meet some cool people!

[usoud-tournament]

Welcome To The Tournament!

This blog is exclusively to run the Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny Tournament based on Lemon Demon's song sharing the same name! This post is to straighten out the rules and details to hopefully avoid too many questions.

How the bracket order was picked out:

I did my best to do the pairings based on the order which the character first appears in the song. All of the characters in the song are fighting against each other in the first round with the exception of Monty Python's Black Knight, as we're having a mini-round with him in order to let the two Gandalfs duke it while still keeping the number of brackets enough to make sure everyone has a match. The other exception is Mr. Rogers, as he won in the original song, and I am putting him in the third round to give some other fighters a chance to fight without his interference with the polls.

How the character versions were picked out:

I knew that there would be fights and questions with many of these characters if I left what version was fighting ambiguous, so I looked around for the most well-known versions of these characters, favoring the versions which are most popular in their respective fandoms. Believe it or not, I'm not in every fandom ever, so I apologize if you don't agree with my picks. Similarly, the strengths and weaknesses are gotten from the specific version's character Fandom Wikipedia page. I apologize if I got any strengths and weaknesses wrong. The exception to this 'only one version of the characters' rule is the Power Rangers, as the song specifies "Every Single Power Ranger" Therefore I did not want to exclude any versions. I got the help of a friend to understand the Power Rangers MO and try to balance their strengths and weaknesses to make sure they didn't roll over everyone else in this tournament.

What age are they?

Some of these characters are still living or quite old, and some characters' ages fluctuate throughout their media. Because of this, I am making a blanket statement that all of these characters are fighting during the prime of their careers.

Where are they?

Based on the opening line of the song, all of the characters will be fighting in Tokyo City Earth, they are allowed to leave this starting location as much as they are able.

Motivation?

There is no specific motivation for all of these characters, other than they were placed in Tokyo and have sufficient incentive to fight each other. For example, Superman could think that his opponent is a threat to Earth, Terminator could think his opponent is trying to stop his mission to kill Sarah, etc. However, characters with moral backbones will still follow their moral codes, and a character wins a fight if either A. They kill the other character or B. They convince the other character to not fight.

Poll Logistics

I know it will be impossible to make these fights truly unbiased, but I want for as many people as possible, for them to vote based on who they think would win in a fight, not who they like most. Otherwise, the final results will be based on who has the biggest fandom. What I want from this tournament is silly arguments about how these characters would fight each other, not a survey on who people like more. Every poll will last a day and each round will happen with every pairing going up against each other in the same day. However, the next round may not happen immediately after the last one. I'll try my best to be on top of it, communicate if and when the next round will be, etc. But I'm just a humble college student and I don't want to make this tournament a part-time job

Bias

I am not in all of these fandoms, but I am in some, and I also want to engage with people in the comments. However, I do not want to skew results. So I am not going to reblog posts encouraging people to vote for one character or the other, but if any cool fanart comes out I will be reblogging that. I will also be chatting with people in the notes, but not reblogging anyone to chat so it doesn't show up on the blog page.

Finally, every poll will be tagged with the characters in them, which means this poll will be showing up in a lot of different fandoms. It is not my intention to annoy people by popping up in their feeds when they just want to look at fanart or fan posts. Therefore I'm tagging every post of mine #USOUD Tournament and #Ultimate Showdown of ultimate destiny. If you don't want to see me ever again, block those tags.

Happy fighting!

[good-beans]

hi beans!!! I saw your tags on my poll and I have to ask... Murder Swap AU for milgram??? 👀👀👀👀

I am very intrigued and I don't know if you've mentioned it somewhere before but I'd love to learn more about it if that's okay!! 💜

(also random side note thank u for ur lovely comments about my ocs they make me smile so much awawaaa okay bye--)

Ahhh yes!! ☺️Thanks for asking wahh, I didn't realize people would be curious ;-; Unfortunately it's not any kind of fully fleshed out au story or anything, just something that I have one post about and personally bounce around in my head a lot. It's a fun character exercise for me, seeing what's core to a character, what's a core to a crime, and the similarities/differences between the prisoners. It was supposed to have fun art for it, but somebody keeps putting it off *gives myself a pointed look*

The original post is here, though this has nudged me to make some updates! With their new videos, I now know more to modify Shidou/Mahiru's. It was necessary because of the ages, but I wasn't satisfied with Kotoko's, so I gave her another one here. And Kazui/Haruka's changed now that I have a clearer idea of Kazui's crime. (I know Cat isn't out yet but when I wrote the first post I thought Kazui's murder had been neglect-based -- he left his wife in the path of danger and wasn't there to help because they'd drifted apart. Now that I've looked deeper into his story I see it's different...)

Doctor Mahiru is very much the same, except this time she did start her family with her boyfriend/now husband -- she has the older daughter and younger son she always dreamed of. They're like a picture out of a magazine, or her romance novels. The perfect happy family. And then the accident strikes, and she has sixteen days to make a choice to save one of them by sacrificing another. She was also taking organs from patients prior to this, but saw everything through her painfully optimistic lens. She was saving lives. She was the perfect mother, perfect wife, perfect doctor. It isn't until she does the same to her own family that she realizes what a horrible act she's been committing.

Shidou is deeply and madly in love with his girlfriend he met when moving to the city, but he still has a tendency for deception and distraction. (He mentions in one of his questions that his wife takes charge with a lot of the care at home and he relies on her) in the au, he'd be equally reliant on her but always painting things perfectly. He twists truths and hides mistakes to convince her everything is perfect, even though she's struggling with her own pain and seeing the cracks in their relationship. He hears her mention suicidal thoughts, but buries them -- and any trace of negativity -- with grand stretched truths of how perfect everything is. He ignores the signs until it's too late.

(Half the fun is the aesthetic swapping, but I realized that Shidou's also works if he was still a doctor lol. He's so caught up in monitoring her physical health every time she complains of struggling, but doesn't take into account her mental strain. He treats her like a patient, only looking at physical symptoms, misleading her and himself about the reality of her emotions)

So yeah, I originally needed Kotoko to swap with Yuno since the other girls are too young (and Mahiru was already taken). Still, it felt weird removing her drive for justice, especially seeing how Harrow/Deep Cover hints that she lives for this purpose alone. I realized she could be cool to swap with Shidou -- and she protects the weak by saving everyone no matter the cost. She believes in her heart that the ends justify the means every time. She will be the fang for those who can't advocate for themselves, that's justice to her. I've seen some theories about lost family members as the wolves in her mv, so it would be those people in her "pack" that she kills/saves to make her second guess her work.

Haruka always had trouble expressing his emotions. Though his parents weren't outright abusive, they didn't know how to deal with any neurodivergence in their children, and couldn't help him when he had trouble communicating. They force him to take up theater in school to help him open up, but it only makes him better at acting and hiding his true self. He's awkward and shy, but found that lying could save him from many unwanted circumstances. He constantly lies to his sister as he grows more distant from his family. She discovers the shocking truth to one of these, leading to an emotional confrontation. After so much time bottling himself up, hiding behind masks, the only way he manages to communicate is in an explosive way, and the accident ensues.

And okay, I said it jokingly at first, but I actually think it'd work if Es and Jackalope swapped. The knowledgeable voice of the project is calm and serious. Es remains mysterious, and tells us to take our duty very seriously. But of course we haven't 100% done that -- an anime's fandom is definitely better portrayed by the cheeky rabbit willing to make judgements for whatever personal reasons come to mind first

[mightyflamethrower]

Democrat President Joe Biden, who is 81 years old, had yet another strange moment on the campaign trail in Emmaus, Pennsylvania, on Friday, one that went viral with multiple different interpretations of what he said taking over the internet.

The Republican National Committee (RNC) originally posted a video of Biden sounding like he said to a coffee shop clerk: “My name is Joe Biden, and I work for the government in the Senate.”

But the Associated Press’s report on the moment says that Biden said: “My name is Joe Biden, and I work for the governor and the senator.”

Biden was appearing alongside Pennyslvania’s Democrat Gov. Josh Shapiro and Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) at Nowhere Coffee Co.

Shortly after the clip went viral, the RNC deleted its clip. But the video is still available here:

Some reporters have noted that the RNC delated the post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, because the text of its post and the version of the comments the AP reported were different:

But whichever version of what Biden said is the truth, either way the moment is strange and even further highlights Biden’s mental state as his aides seek to downplay his octogenarian demeanor heading into the 2024 election.

As he left the coffee shop, Biden remembered his birthplace 90 minutes away. “By the way, we’re almost in heaven, we’re almost in Scranton,” he said.

Aides in recent months pleaded with Biden to make a “series of subtle shifts” to show “he still has the vigor to serve another term,” multiple people familiar with the conversations told NBC News on Friday. The shift in tactics reportedly includes speaking informally, unannounced campaign stops, more social media posts, and fewer neckties.

It is unclear if Biden’s strategy will convince voters of his mental vigor. When Biden delivers speeches, he often mumbles. When he finishes remarks, he often appears to wander off stage. Cameras catch the imagery. It goes viral on social media.

Oftentimes, Biden finds it difficult to stay upright. He tripped, tumbled, and stumbled at least five times in public view in 2023.

Polling shows Americans question Biden’s physical and mental abilities:

A majority of Democrats are “concerned” about Biden’s abilities

55 percent say Biden’s health and age “severely” limit his ability to do the job.

Registered voters have “major” concern about Biden’s age and health.

[sillylotrpolls]

Well, this got popular. XD Lots of interesting things to say about this poll, so buckle in for a longer-than-usual results post.

Character Trends

Much as I want to properly analyze all the notes and make a lovely spreadsheet so I can see exactly how many of you monsterfuckers picked "fuck" for the Watcher in the Water, I am unfortunately constrained by personal limitations (a job, thyroid issues, re-reading all of One Piece, etc). Still, there were noticeable trends.

Many people judged on names alone. This did not work out well for Shagrat, but actually is in keeping with Tolkien's whole linguistics thing. Come to think of it, naming a baby elf must be absolutely agonizing. No wonder Elrond just gave up and named one of his kids "Elf-man."

On the other hand, even though many of the names were unknown to spinners, quite a few people looked up their character before choosing and wrote about their journey of discovery in the notes. This made me very happy. ♥

If you got a "good" character with whom sex would be dubious (an ent, the bird), you almost certainly picked "marry" and then commented about the wonderful new mode of transportation available to you.

If you got Merry, you almost certainly made a "marry Merry" joke. As it happens, there is a song about this.

The phrase "lavender marriage" is much better known on tumblr than I thought, and for some reason was used almost exclusively to describe an arrangement with Bilbo.

Many, many people were concerned about breaking up canonical relationships. I knew enough to specify in the notes not to worry about LaCE; it did not occur to me to explain that FMK is simply a game about how shaggable you find other people played when you don't feel like truth or dare.

Speaking of, quite a few people also upset there was no "just friends" option. It's FMK. "Friends" is literally never an option (especially because the game is usually about three people of the opposite sex; heaven forfend you do something so unmanly as suggest friendship with a woman) (no I do not wish to get into the heteronormativity of FMK at this time).

If you killed the Witch King, you made an "I am no man" joke. However, quite a few people still married or fucked the Witch King.

Quite a few people married not for love but for property. Fair enough.

Gender mostly wasn't an issue, which I thought was nice.

A lot more people married or fucked the spider than I anticipated. Still, Shelob generally prompted instant "kill" responses.

Also more not-killed than I expected: The King of the Dead.

It was occasionally difficult to discern a tag of #fuck as being "I picked fuck" vs "fuck I hate that I got this character."

All the characters that you would expect to be popular marriage material were, but anyone who got Eowyn was especially thrilled.

And finally, regardless of character or choice, a lot of notes were pretty funny.

Feel free to reblog with your own observations; this is but a paltry sample of notes.

Going (Semi-)Viral

First, I once again want to emphasize that I did not originate the concept for the "FMK Wheel." @pollsnatural has been using the Wheel of Names for polls for some time now, and I just happened to see one because @the-villainsandheroes occasionally inflicts my dash with Supernatural content even in this, the year of our lord 2024.

However, there's no question that between their poll and mine (both posted on June 3), FMK wheels took off. Like, seriously took off.

See for yourself

In hindsight, it's obvious why. In no particular order:

Spinning a wheel is fun.

Poll posts are short and easy to comprehend.

Everyone loves a "what would you do?" scenario.

"Fuck" option provides a bit of titillation.

Uncontroversial content (for tumblr) that everyone can enjoy.

Plus, depending on what you spin and your personal preferences, spinning the wheel elicits one of the following reactions:

Delight

Outrage

Sexy thoughts

Utter confusion

Hilarity

All of these are likely to inspire a comment or reblog, which causes the poll to be seen by even more people, and the cycle repeats.

HOWEVER.

The poll didn't remain popular forever. Much like a forest fire, it burned hot and fast, but within a few days pretty much everyone who was going to see and reblog the poll already had. In the last three days of the poll, it picked up less than a thousand votes a day (utterly paltry compared to days one and two).

Changes over time

The spread of votes for this poll changed greatly as it was reblogged. Unfortunately, it did not occur to me to take screenshots as I had no idea just how drastically it would do so. Instead, I have created some lovely artist's renditions for you.

Very early on, when the poll was only seen by terminally online followers of this blog and people who follow or frequently check the #lotr tag, "fuck" and "marry" were running just about even, with "kill" a distant third and basically no "but..." votes.

A little later, as more followers and tag-checkers had a chance to vote and the poll was spreading a bit, "marry" had a very large lead while "fuck" and "kill" were about even.

The poll then went semi-viral, and as it did the "kill" and "but..." options began creeping up largely at the expense of "marry."

This is almost certainly due to votes from people who didn't know the characters but who wanted to play the game and vote anyway.

To be fair, I generally wouldn't want to fuck or marry a stranger either.

Had it occurred to me, I might have included an option like "I don't know the character I got and don't want to look them up" but where's the fun in that? And it's not like FMK has ever been a game with objectively correct answers.

But, if you are ever running a poll and want to target a specific demographic, you should really consider adding an option for people who want to click a button even if they're not who the poll is "meant for." You can't fight human nature, so embrace it instead (and also get some extra data about who your poll is reaching).

Comparisons between fandoms

I initially entertained dreams of doing some data analysis comparing the ratios for various fandoms (aren't you interested in which fandom has the most fuckable characters?), but the number of FMK wheel polls quickly became overwhelming. Combined with my ever-fluctuating energy levels and a busy period at work, well. Still, I can't resist comparing just a little, so here we have a very small sample set to compare.

Links: Baldur's Gate 3, Dungeon Meshi, Shakespeare, Ace Attorney

These ratios are all pretty different! And if you keep digging in the polls, some are even more unbalanced than these.

Why? Most obviously, in most wheels, a main character is given the exact same weight (that is, chance of being spun) as a background character with one line. (For a weighted example, see this LazyTown poll.)

I don't think anyone would say Ace Attorney doesn't have marriageable characters; it's just that it has so many side characters and villains who are, shall we say, undesirable.

If you do any cross-poll analysis yourself, I would love to see it. (paging @poll-stats ...?) Drop a link, reblog this post with a comment, @ me, whatever. Same goes if you create a masterpost attempting to index all of the polls or whatever. I live for stuff like this.

In Conclusion

This was very fun! And if you enjoy this kind of analysis, stick around; it's kind of what I do here. But if my posts don't go (semi-)viral again for a month or two, that'll be quite alright with me.

Before voting, spin the wheel and get a Lord of the Rings character.

Not sure who your character is? You can look them up on this Tolkien Gateway character list, or just vote based on vibes.

For the purposes of the game, assume your vote is not "LaCE compliant." (That is, fucking an elf does not instantly mean marriage or death for that elf.)

Poll concept from @pollsnatural.

[esoutherngolf]

Kiva Dunes: A Gorgeous Gulfside Golf Getaway

Very few people would disagree that Alabama is the home of genuine Southern hospitality, delicious shrimp & grits, and many of today’s most talented college football players.  Believe it or not, Alabama is also firmly entrenched as one of the world’s premier golf destinations – 12 months a year.  If you question Alabama’s status on golf’s popularity poll, please visit the state – sooner than later.  One of Alabama’s must-play golf destinations is Kiva Dunes, which is located in Gulf Shores, Alabama, perched along the banks of the Gulf of Mexico.  While the Gulf of Mexico is not visible from the golf course, golfers will feel the winds off the nearby Gulf.  Those winds are at the core of the Kiva Dunes golf experience, as they are Kiva’s greatest defense, as are many of its undulating greens. Designed by 1976 U.S. Open champion Jerry Pate, Kiva Dunes is one of Pate’s finest creations.  At Kiva Dunes, when you try it, you won’t just like it -- you’ll actually love it.  Since the course opened for play in 1995, Kiva Dunes has quickly established itself as one of Alabama’s finest golf courses, alongside FarmLinks at Purcell Farms in Sylacauga; Steelwood Country Club (another Pate design) in Loxley; and Ross Bridge, the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail course in Hoover, located near Birmingham. In addition to Kiva Dunes being an awesome place for golf, it also has world-class accommodations and dining options.  In other words, the Kiva Dunes Golf & Beach Resort offers guests the ‘full enchilada’ of amenities – golf, salt water pool, hot tub, beach access, and the chance to eat every meal at the Kiva Grill.  Believe it or not, the Kiva Dunes Golf & Beach Resort is Alabama’s only golf resort along the Gulf of Mexico.  So, if you, your friends, and your family want to combine golf with beach time in Alabama, the Kiva Dunes Golf & Beach Resort is your only choice.  And it’s a great choice! In 2015, the ownership at Kiva Dunes decided it was time for a facelift.  The goal was to transform a great golf course into a spectacular seaside spectacle.  In order to maintain the integrity of the original design, Pate was involved in the process. Kiva Dunes: The course is a superb links-style golf course and has a distinctive blend of signature par 3's, challenging par 4's, and risk/reward par 5's. According to Mark Stillings, Director of Golf & Real Estate Sales Associate at Kiva Dunes, the renovation process had three objectives:  redesign the bunkers to make them more player-friendly, level the tee boxes, and replace the greens.  By November 2015, that mission had been accomplished.  Since then, Kiva Dunes has been open for business – looking better than ever.  And it still does! The sand bunkers have been rebuilt, the tee boxes have been squared and flattened, and the greens now feature Tifeagle turf. “For the first 20 years, our most negative comments were on the bunkers,” adds Stillings.  “For the mid to high handicapper, the bunkers were too tough with too many plugged lies.  And, we weren’t happy with the grass on the greens so they were completely replaced.  But, we maintained the original contours.” Also, the fairways were roto-tillered, where the organic matter beneath the fairways was removed in order to create a stronger turf with more consistent fairway lies.  Another big change was the removal of natural vegetative growth that had accumulated at the base of the trees and shrubs that border the fairways. “We raised the canopy by removing much of the scrub oak along the ground,” notes Stillings.  “It was becoming a bottleneck issue in some parts of the course.” This helped on holes where right-handed golfers pushed or sliced their tee shots to the right.  Instead of tee shots being lost in the overgrown flora, golfers were finding their tee shots which helped with player morale and the pace of play. “Overall, our course renovations have improved the pace of play by 20-30 minutes a round,” says Stillings. From a strategic perspective, the five key holes to focus on are the 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, and 17th holes.  Within that stretch, you’ll play two par 3s, a pair of back-to-back par 5s, and a par 4 that can play short or long, depending on whether or not there’s a prevailing breeze out of the Southeast.  This sequence of holes will be your best chance to secure birdies. When playing from the white tees, the 1st, 4th, 10th, and 11th holes are short par 4s, which can be played in many different ways, adding to the appeal of the Kiva Dunes golf experience. At Kiva Dunes, the fairways have a more generous landing space than it appears from the tee boxes.  The greens are firm, fast, and true.  The extended closely-mown fringes around the greens give you many pitching, chipping, and putting options.  Water comes into play on seven of the holes, including the last three holes.  Make sure you bring your ‘A’ game tee-shot-swing to the par-3 17th.  At the 17th, a par three is an impressive score, especially when the pin is in the back part of the green. The proximity of the 1st tee from the driving range allows golfers extra time to fine-tune their swing until the starter calls their names.  And the breeze off the nearby Gulf of Mexico provides a cooling effect under the year-round sunshine. When Kiva Dunes opened for play in 1995, Golf Digest honored the course by ranking it as one of the top two public golf courses to open that year.  Now that the course has experienced a facelift, it’s an even more attractive venue.  Personally, I nominate Kiva Dunes for “Best Course To Play on Your Next Trip To Alabama.”  And, if you take the time to enjoy the Southern hospitality, eat the shrimp & grits, and watch some college football, all the better. For more information, please visit kivadunes.com or 1-888-TEE-KIVA. Read the full article

[technicontrastron]

This may sound stupid but how do I turn off blazeable on my blogs?

And how is this bad? Again, I don't wanna sound stupid or rude. Thank you for the heads up :]

Hi! No worries, you're not the only one with these questions.

On how to turn off the option to get blazed:

On desktop you can turn it off at this link: https://www.tumblr.com/settings/blog/#blaze It looks something like this

On mobile it's in the account settings menu, there's a lof of screenshots in the additions to my other post like here (i haven't updated since i got a funny little bug that lets me add polls in reblogs of other people's posts so i can't screenshot anything).

Alternatively you can also log into Tumblr in your phone's browser and use the link above there. Don't forget to do it on sideblogs that you don't want to get blazed as well! You can also change the settings per-post in the post menu. I've actually enabled it for my complaint post that's circulating because it would be really funny :D

On how it is bad:

With the way it is set up, people can blaze your posts without active consent. This can be used to bully people, by digging out old or not-adapted posts that were not meant for a wider audience and putting them on blast. This can include vent posts, opinions you might have changed since then, selfies, niche things many people might think are cringe (like 2014 self-insert omegaverse fanfics and the likes ... idk if you've seen the drama that resulted from someone blazing their fic, it wasn't pretty), posts that were only meant to circulate in your carefully curated audience, and more.

Since Blaze's are registered in many minds as advertisement many people will react negatively to them so this opens up a way to bully a lot of people. As usual, people of colour, trans people, and other vulnerable groups will get the worst of it, many are already getting deactivated regularly because of coordinated reporting harassment and since people donate hate organizations all the time they will definitely use the option to make the life of a person they're targeting living hell for 10$.

Staff thought of some safeguards but there are several fallacies:

The option to cancel a blaze before it goes live: Not everyone has access to the internet every day, and staff might accept the blaze while you're asleep / at work / on a trip / in the hospital / on hiatus. Then when you're coming back to tumblr your notes will have turned into a nightmare.

The guarantee that staff will check every Blaze manually to prevent harassment: Let's take the case in which someone's old fic get blazed against their will. How can staff know whether it was blazed with friendly intent (to promote a friend's work) or ill intent (to get people to point and laugh)? They can't as long as it's not against the Terms of Service. In general there will be many false positives (Blazes that get rejected by staff despite being innocent) and false negatives (Blazes that get accepted by staff despite being malicious). After all, the people working at tumblr are only human too. But in this case, false negatives will have devastating consequences - and extinguishing a blaze after it's live will be too late.

Many people don't follow @staff, so many people don't know about this change. In fact many people on that other post commented that they didn't know what Blazes are at all! I think i've read that they will add a login banner to tell you and check your settings, but iirc they had banners like that for the original Blaze function announcement so i don't have faith this will prevent anything.

I should clarify that i don't think the feature itself is bad at all, but it should be opt-in so only people who want to participate get blazed (e.g. art blogs). Or add an active mandatory confirmation by OP instead of a veto option, this would prevent the issues above as well, i think that would be the best option - that way people could leave the option on. I know staff are currently getting bombarded with support requests / flames (please be civil to them guys!) (also sorry. but not sorry. i didn't expect my post to blow up but also i think these are legitimately troubling concerns and i won't make the other post unrebloggable). They're aware of these issues so i hope they will change to one of these options - if they add active mandatory confirmation by OP i would enable to option globally as well (Hint hint this means more money for you, @tumblr, because otherwise many people have and will turn this feature off completely) A bit more time between announcement and go-live (4/20 iirc) would have been helpful as well.

Here's the original announcement by the way:

And since i'm gonna pin the post as long as the other post is circulating: Listen to goatbed guys!

[votederpycausemufins]

Summary of the Hermitcraft Charity Livestream

Seen a number of posts of summaries but I essentially live blogged info along with some friends in a discord, so I have extensive notes that fit about 4 pages of a google doc. Since it’s so long, i’m hiding most of it under a ‘read more’

Scar started his stream a few minutes before the official start time so he was live when they reached the goal of 25k a minute before the official start time

Six minutes after the start, they changed the new goal to 75k, at which point they were already at around 60k

It was later mentioned they were planning stretch goals for if they made it past 25k and were trying to think of what they would do if they somehow made it to 50k

Mrs.Tango was originally going to swap out Tango’s hat every 1k for people to see on his facecam, 

Scar made a circle of chairs at midnight his time, aka less than 12 hours before the stream would start.

He made chairs for each participating person, two of note being one made of scaffolding and one that was a single stair

Bdubs was given the stair while Martyn was given the scaffolding chair

Martyn was a guest for the stream to read off the donations that were 100 dollars or more as there were too many to read all of them.

A number of the Hermits left donations, a few before the start of the stream. Jevin had the first donation of all, with a donation of $5 with the comment ‘First’

The list of Hermits there for the stream were Scar, who was running it, Cub, Ren, Grian, Cleo, Pearl, Bdubs, Keralis, False, Doc, Impulse, Zedaph, Tango, Iskall, Xisuma, and then Martyn as a guest.

They had another guest at the start of the stream, that being Zack from Gamers Outreach who joined the voice chat to give a short speech

The first game to be played was Total Chaos. They almost flew there before realizing Martyn was not given any gear like elytra, so they took the Nether Tunnel

Cub informed the people who hadn’t been there yet that walking on the wool was safe, which people did not do, though thankfully no one died

Before starting the game, Scar had to mute upon realizing they were almost to 125k because he was choking up a bit.

Doc ended up winning that game and they went back to the chair area right after

Etho came online and was told to join the voice call, joining the group soon after.

Martyn started reading the 100+ donations off at this point.

They reached 150k and upped the goal to 200k instead of 175k because of how fast it was moving.

Etho arrived at the group around the time one of the Hermits asked if Etho would be joining them, causing a number of the other hermits to exclaim he was there already.

Cub was assigned as game master to choose what games would be played and who would be on the teams for each game. They started by visiting Basalt Assault and Dunktank to have the rules reviewed, Grian messing around in the dunk tank water by still being in flying mode, making look odd as he spun around and making some of the hermits question what he was doing.

For Basalt Assault, the teams were Tango and Impulse versus Scar and Pearl. Dunk tank was Grian and Doc verses Zedaph and Bdubs. Everyone else was at Bdub’s horse race.

Before starting Basalt Assault, Tango managed to play an old voice clip from three years ago of his voice through a high pitched voice changer.

Scar and Pearl won Basalt Assault because they broke/exploded Tango and Impulse’s command center.

I was not watching the dunk tank perspective as bdubs was the only one streaming that game, but there were reports of it breaking.

Scar did a poll for people to pick an old skin of his to wear, those being Mayor Scar, Buff Scar from third life, or Hot Guy. Buff Scar won

Scar changed his skin while Grian was afk for about five minutes, and Grian returned to see Scar showing off the abs on his skin causing Grian to immediately complain about being gone for only five minutes and Scar already has his shirt off

They also pulled the first of their randomized stretch goals, those being for Cub to wear his old man Cub skin, Iskall to wear his pogskall skin (which he uses for the Isgall85 account)

At this point, some of the other hermits had already changed their skin. Cleo said she would change her skin when the reached 200k, which they had at that point, changing into a honey badger skin

Keralis changed into his Ker-Alice skin (based on Disney’s Alice in wonderland), Pearl was in her Double Life skin, Zedaph was briefly replaced with Worm Man before he left and Zedaph returned as they are definitely totally not the same person at all, False was in her banana costume skin, and Xisuma had transitioned from his bone mage skin to his regular skin with about 3 different skins in between as a transition.

Grian switched into his hunchback skin which freaked people out for a bit before he then changed to his sideways skin (saying the more money you raise, the worse it gets) and even later into his backwards skin.

Around this time is when Joe sent a message saying he would shave his beard later after the charity stream in a stream of his own if they reached 250k, which they did.

Cub split them into teams again for the same games, Ren, Keralis and Iskall vs Jevin and Cleo at Basalt Assault, Etho and False vs Cub and Xisuma at Dunk Tank, and the rest were sent to the Horse race.

Grian had his backwards skin on at this point and rode the horse with it, riding normally most of the way, but riding backwards to finish the race to make it look like he was facing forwards.

After the race, Scar changed to his Mayor Skin, and almost immediately Bdubs tried to be his right hand man again.

Impulse changed his skin to a buff Impulse skin before then changing to bald Impulse.

Tango and Zedaph crammed together under a trap door for some reason.

One of the donations was from someone using the name ‘EthoGirl’ making Etho hide in embarrassment while others made some jokes in good fun.

At this point they went to randomize another incentive, getting one for False to put her banana skin on. She didn’t realize she shouldn’t have put it on already, but she just kept it on and they randomized a new one, now getting one for False to put on her irl banana costume because the randomizer they had seemed to really want that with having two banana false requests in a row.

Pearl said if they reached 300k, she would put on an old man mask she had, which she did later put on.

Also around this time Pearl mentioned that the crossover between Empires and Hermitcraft would not be happening in the stream, though from Grian’s video that was posted during the stream, we can assume it’s instead happening in the hermitcraft videos themselves.

Scar showed off a Star Wars costume he had for trick or treating when he was very young. I believe he said it was from when he was seven, but I could be misremembering

They went over to False’s boat race, with Hermits debating on which boat type was best. Zedaph and Tango got in a boat together before the start of their race before getting in separate boats.

By the end of the race, Doc and Xisuma had gotten into boats that were being driven by a different hermit.

They reached 300k and pulled another random incentive prompt, that being for Doc to show how many diamond ore he had.

Doc brought the shulkers full of ore which were quickly opened and emptied by other hermits stealing the ore.

Impulse changed into this pink hair Impulse skin.

People asked for Grian to bring out the gong, and while he worked on turning off discord’s noise suppression, Ren started to explain to those who hadn’t experienced it yet about how calming it was.

He was interrupted by Grian bangging the gong loudly and yelling ‘Wawawawawawa!’ Watch a clip of this to get the full experience.

Grian then attempted to have everyone breathe in and hold their breath, but most of the hermits made various gasping noises, causing Grian to say ‘And we’re going to do that again because you all failed at breathing!’

Around this time was also when Doc threatened to blow the server up if he didn’t get his diamonds back.

They reached around 333k around the time Pearl changed to her original skin.

They were divided up into groups of four for four more games, then were told they would rotate what game they were playing after finishing their games, but that never happened.

Bdubs Tango Jevin and False played Derailed, Grian Impulse Etho and Cleo played Scaffolding,  Cub Ren Scar and Zedaph played Bucket Rush, and then Pearl Doc Xisuma and Iskall played Panda ‘Resue’ 

The hermits joked around about the misspelling of Rescue as Resue, and most people ended up referring to it as Panda Express.

Martyn joined the people at Bucket Rush to tp the players around if they died and give them the items they dropped or lost.

Martyn was also there to hit the lever to start the game, but refused to until Scar used the spyglass handed to him and said ‘A-Ha!’ instead thinging it was Ye-Haw and misreading that chat was saying Ye-Haw instead as there was a mix of people asking “ye-haw?” and others trying to correct it as a-ha, and it was a bit of a jumble.

With some of the games taking a while, after completing, they didn’t rotate and instead went back to the chairs to read off more donations.

Scar and Doc nerded out about how the helicopters from Scar’s Panda Rescue game was like a lego set they both had growing up and then went into talking about other lego sets, specifically when Doc mentioned almost getting a star wars one

Scar changed into his red double life skin before randomizing more incentives

Doc also talked about how his next project is going to be bringing the dragon to the overworld.

The incentives chosen were for ‘Landscaping Your Mind Chapter 7’ and Iskall to wear a diorite pogskall skin.

Scar read the chapter 7 snippet he was given, but had to look away from the hermits in game and hide his face cam to have the confidence for it. He also then finished the snippet and tried to make up more with little success.

Iskall came in with his new skin before being told to take the non-diorite pants off, causing him to leave to change the skin. He likely had to make a skin with diorite pants too as he was gone for a while.

Pearl changed to another old skin in this time.

Iskall also said that he was pretending that it was marble and not diorite as Bdubs calls it marble, but then False said the incentive said diorite, so it’s that. Also the addition of pants made it actually look like a dress

They moved to play Etho’s game Battle Bane, which was completed after ten years in the making. It was 4 teams of four, Jevin Cleo Cub and Xisuma on Blue, Doc Zed Tango and Impulse on Yellow, Pearl Scar Grian and Bdubs on Red, and then Iskall False Keralis and Ren on Green.

Etho stood on top of the dome in the center to watch the game, getting shot at a couple of times from players thinking he was someone on one of the other teams. Martyn, meanwhile, acted as an announcer for the game.

Impulse also changed into an exercise skin for the game.

After the game, they started to wrap things up. Grian headed off to bed, Scar got some extra oxygen, Tango and Zedaph stood on either side of Doc wearing his head to make chat call them a Doc Wither, and people returned most of Doc’s diamonds.

Almost three hours and forty minutes into the livestream, the donations reached 400k, sixteen times (16x) their original goal.

Bdubs made a joke about them doing it again the same time tomorrow which Cleo quickly shut down.

Doc saw there were still diamonds missing, causing Martyn to joke that “plot twist is I took them [the diamonds] all and I'm never coming back!” before proceeding to log out temporarily.

The Hermits then moved to leave the call and talk with their chats by themselves. Around then they were at 410k.

Doc ended up with all his diamonds back, save for exactly One (1) diamond ore, which was seen in Martyn’s inventory. He said it was his fee for reading the donations.

Martyn did not log out on his stream. He did log out as far as the Hermits could see, but he was not seen logging out on his livestream.

Instead, he made his way to Grian’s rift and got into the portal, flying into it and ending his stream the moment he flew into the portal itself

Also later when the donations were at about 417k or so, Martyn donated nearly 3k (2.8k) with the message '420 lol' to get it to 420k

[chronicbeans]

Iolite Hospital Feedback!

Since I have started posting some little Tales from the Iolite Hospital short stories (more like concepts, but that is besides the point), I have been loving the feedback! I'm happy that some people seem to love the idea and characters, so far!

I do have a question, however. Since those stories are more like concepts, and not the entirety of my view for the project, I would like some input for my project from the audience. My plan is to either make a web comic or web animation series once I get access to more equipment to make that possible (like an electronic drawing pad and a good computer, etc.). One part of this series has been puzzling me, however, when it comes to the execution.

I cannot tell whether or not I want to have the series be mainly a day-to-day life series, or mainly focused on the mystery surrounding the hospital. I am sure that it will end up being a mix of both, but I don't know which is better to have on the forefront.

See, the day to day life of the characters dealing with their environment and conditions is something I would love to put at the forefront. That is a big part of each character's life, since they have to work to overcome their struggles in order to be more comfortable with themselves as people and realize that they are more than their conditions. So, if it were mainly a day-to-day series, they would slowly figure out the mysteries. I also like the idea of having the series mainly focused on the mystery, but I am unsure of how I would go about it.

If anybody has any input they would like to share, you can leave them in the comments! I would make a poll, but I don't want to make it feel like anybody is on a time limit or that they are restricted to these two ideas! I am willing to hear whatever y'all have to say, since hearing from the audience is always a good idea!

As an extra add-on to this post, I remember someone asking if I have a Kofi, which I currently don't. So, if y'all think it would be a good idea for me to get a Kofi at some point, let me know. Just note that, if I do eventually make one, it would mainly be for my Iolite Hospital project, since I do not feel comfortable accepting donations for just writing fanfiction and such. If I make a profit off of donations, I would like for it to be for my own, original work, and not something mainly based off of a preexisting property.

[kyluxbigbang]

KBB General Survey - Results!

Hello everyone,

Sorry this is being posted later than we intended. First off we want to thank everyone who filled out this survey. This will be very helpful in allowing us to improve the KBB going forward so that everyone can enjoy it.

Thank you as well to everyone who participated in KBB 2021 and who have participated in previous years. You guys make running this even possible and worthwhile, and your hard work and dedication are why we keep running the KBB.

For the exciting bit; KBB 2022 is going to be a Regular Bang! Over 75% of our survey responders have spoken! Sign-ups for KBB 2022 will likely be late May to early June, once we determine how we’re going to revamp things a bit

Which leads us to our survey results and comments. There is a lot to look over, but we encourage everyone to browse. We may have to run either another survey or a short poll to make a final decision on some of the suggestions, let us know what you think!

We had a relatively even split of people who had participated in KBB2022 compared to those who had not (49.5% had, 51.5% had not). Of those who had 75% were writers, 25% artists, 2% betas, and 1% pinch hitters.

General feedback from KBB2021 was positive. We appreciate those who shared how not being told about sharing a prompt with another writer made them feel. We really cannot apologize enough for how distressing this was for our writers. We are taking the lesson learned last year to make sure that we communicate better going forward. We also received a few comments about how communication and feedback from the mods fell off toward the end of the bang, we’ll be sure to try and keep on top of that this year as well.

We’re happy to hear that people thought the beta process was smoother this year than last year.

Overall, 69.7% of people who filled out the survey had participated in a previous bang. Of those 65.2% were writers, 43.5% artists, 17.4% betas, and 8.7% pinch hitters. To address some specific comments:

I'd really like to ask writers to send their drafts in digital form (not an image of the text written by hand), it's hard for a non-native speaker to read written language. This would have to be a request sent to the writer in question. We understand some people hand write their notes first or aren’t always near a computer during check-ins. We would suggest talking to your writer about the difficulties and see if a solution can’t be worked out, such as asking for some clarification on the notes. If something can’t be arranged then please reach out to the mods and we’ll find a way that works for both.

It was fun, but there where times my artist seemed to change the plot entirely of my work, that's fine I'm fine with it but tell me in the start not four to five chapters in.... This can be very frustrating. Communication is of course key from both sides, but it can be tough. We suggest discussing your expectations with your partner about major changes and trying to work this out before you get too deep into the project, but keep in mind that everyone has a different creative process and for some people, that idea that makes everything click just doesn’t come until they’re halfway through. Both partners should hopefully agree to such a major change, please communicate with your partner if you feel that the change is too much for you. As always, you can reach out to us mods for help, it’s what we’re here for.

-

In regards to the art portion of the survey:

Of those who answered the survey 81.8% of you were aware of our writer to artist ratio. On the question of if we should broaden the scope of a completed piece of art you voted as follows;

-          No - 15.2 %

-          Yes – Crafts (paper crafts, embroidery, cross stitch, etc.) – 66.7%

-          Yes – Photographs (cosplay, photo manipulations, lego photographs) – 72.7%

-          Yes – Other – 36.4%

Here are some of the suggestions for those who voted for other:

-          Manips/pinterest board-style collages

-          Moodboard

-          Original Music or playlists

-          Animation gifs

-          Fanvids, fan music videos, fan trailers

-          Mixed media

-          Dolls and figures, bespoke pop funkos

-          Podfics

We’ve had a few comments about allowing writers to sign-up as a pair. This is an interesting idea, and one we may put to a vote, or have as an option for when an artist is bidding on prompts if they would mind working with a pair of writers.

Do stick figures count? We do suggest a little more than stick figures if you are able, but we also welcome artists of all skill levels to participate.

I don't think artwork necessarily needs to be coloured, it can be incredibly time consuming, and some pieces just look better without. This is something that we will take into consideration. It’s true that black and white, and grayscale pieces are just as complete as fully coloured pieces in many cases..

I know it's not fair to the artists to ask them to do more work, but is the option open for artists to submit multiple prompts for the reverse bang? Or allow them to sign up for more than one regular bang prompt to help even out the balance of sign ups? This is something we’ve actually had implemented for the last 2 reverse bangs. 

This could get confusing during sign ups, but maybe ask writers if they'd be okay with having multiple writers assigned to the same artist? (And vice-versa.) If we implement the 2 writers to 1 artist again in a future reverse bang, we will definitely be adding a question on whether they feel comfortable with that on the sign-up form.

A more centralized community. Might make communications more streamlined as well. Unfortunately, we can’t force everyone to use certain platforms. We do encourage everyone to join the discord server, and we have changed it so that KBB partners have first contact via email (this point at least we included as a requirement on the KBB2021 sign-up sheet so people were aware of it).

I’m new to the Kylux fandom, but other bangs have allowed for signups to both write and art (in separate partnerships) is that something you’d allow? We do try to allow artists to also sign-up as authors if they wish. There have been years where we have asked if they were okay with only signing up as an artist, but we’d prefer that they are able to sign-up as both if they want.

I already wrote some suggestions down, but one last thing would be: what about toning down the ultra-secrecy guidelines a bit? Maybe it’s just me, but it gave me so much anxiety, lol. We want the piece to be new and a surprise to everyone. We understand that participants want to share, and allow some sharing and previews, but not too much. We don’t want you to give everything away. This may also be something to ask your partner if they are comfortable with some of the projects being hinted at.

If you do a regular Bang, warn writers upfront that their prompt might not get selected, and that's not a comment on them, it's just pure numbers. As well as broadening the art possibilities (excellent idea), it might be worth reducing the number of art pieces required - one for a mini bang, two for a big bang? As a writer, having ANY artwork that goes with my fic is amazing, and it might help artists feel they can pick up more prompts. We want to avoid having any writer have their prompt omitted. This is also why we have a bidding system to ensure that every prompt gets as likely a chance as any of the others to receive at least one bid. It’s very rare that a prompt doesn’t get a bid thankfully, and always find a writer/artist that is happy to take it on.

Part of the reason we have the Mini versus the Big Bang is that it allows for writers and artists to still participate in the bang without having to worry about creating a 10k+ word piece or 4 pieces of art. While we do want to encourage more artists to join the KBB, we still also want to keep it so each partner feels like they are doing an equal amount of work.

Thank you once again to everyone who participated in the survey and shared their thoughts with us. We really appreciate it <3

Your KBB Mods

[dameronology]

love in the time of p.t.a meetings {marcus moreno} - 2/5

summary: your kid has taken a liking to marcus moreno - and frankly, so have you {series masterlist}

warnings: swearing, mentions of divorce & very brief mentions of his wife’s death 

i don’t normally update series this quickly but this was originally one imagine that reached about 11k words lmao so it’s all written, just being split up. i’ve also decided it’s gonna be 5 parts instead of 3, cos i reread the ending and realised i was not done by a longshot. enjoy!

- jazz

Mondays. You hated ‘em.

Everything just seemed so...amplified. The peace and relaxation of the weekend was over and everyone had to go back on the grind. The traffic always seemed worst, the clock seemed to tick backwards and you just wanted to be at home, in bed. After an incident involving the dog, a toaster and a small pan fire, you were already running twenty minutes late and you knew in your soul that your child’s shoes weren’t on the right feet. That, and also he was wearing a Chewbacca onesie to school. It had been a compromise. As in, he was refusing to go to school unless you let him wear the damn thing. It was a compromise. You’d lost. 

On the bright side, the past weekend had been the best you’d had in a long time. Jack had spent all of Saturday afternoon at the Heroics headquarters and he was so worn out, he’d slept through all of Sunday. Marcus Moreno must have a been a fucking wizard, because you’d been trying to tire the kid out for five years. You made a mental note to do something in return, though you sensed there was nothing on God’s green earth that could possibly amount to babysitting the world’s most exhausting child for six hours. You were allowed to say that, because Jack was your world’s most exhausting child and you wouldn’t have changed him for anything. 

‘New week, huh buddy?’ You glanced at Jack in your rear view mirror. He was sat on his booster seat, legs dangling back and forth and a power ranger action figure in his hand. ‘A fresh start.’

‘Can we listen to the song from Cars?’ Jack ignored your comment.

‘You gotta try and behave yourself this week. You’ve seen what happens to people who do follow the rules, right? They get to go work at the Heroics-’

‘- I wanna listen to the song from Cars!’

You wanted to have a deep conversation. Jack wanted to listen to Life Is A Highway. That was...actually, it was exactly how you’d expected that to go. It wasn’t that off of the time you were trying to explain your divorce to him and he’d interrupted you to demand that you put Toy Story on. 

‘Sure thing, kid.’ You rolled your eyes, reaching across to hand him on your phone. ‘D’you know how to spell it-’

Your sentence was cut off by the sound of guitars blaring from the speakers. At least he could work out Spotify.

By some miracle, you managed to make it the school with a few minutes to spare. Because most people had dropped their kids off earlier (see: on time), the lot was pretty empty. That meant you could once again dump your car without regard for the painted white lines -- who had time to park properly on a Monday morning? That was for people who had their shit together.

Leaping out the car, you almost cursed when you tripped over your heels. You didn’t have to wear them, but since you’d started working in a managerial role at your office, you figured it made you look a little more professional. And what was the harm in being a few inches taller? It made you feel powerful.

‘C’mon, J.’ You pulled open the back door, helping Jack leap out the car. 

‘You know, I’m starting to think you can’t park your car at all.’

‘Marcus!’ Jack practically flew out the car, his tiny body suddenly jolting with excitement. 

‘Morning, buddy.’ He replied; he then moved his brown eyes to gaze at you, offering a smile. ‘Hey.’

‘Hey, how you doing?’ You greeted him. ‘I don’t normally see you here in the mornings.’

‘Yeah, I normally drop Missy off at the front but it was one of those mornings, you know? She was taking a little more convincing than usual to go in.’

‘My kid is in a Wookiee onesie and backwards Thomas the Tank Engine shoes and you have the audacity to ask me if I know those mornings? I am those mornings.’ You replied.

Marcus chuckled. ‘I think it’s a look. I especially like the Lightning McQueen sunglasses.’

‘Do you have a super suit?’ Jack asked. ‘Can I try it on?’

‘C’mon, Jack. You’ve already managed to get a tour of the HQ.’ You ruffled his hair. ‘And we gotta get going to school.’

‘But I wanna ask more questions.’ He muttered. ‘I have over a hundred.’

‘Don’t I know it.’ You murmured under your breath. ‘But school is more important.’

‘I don’t wanna go anymore.’

‘I let you wear the onesie. That was our agreement, remember?’

‘All good superheroes have to get an education.’ Marcus reasoned. ‘And if you go in, maybe I can show you my suit at some point?’

'Okay!’ Jack grinned. He wrapped his arms around your waist in a quick hug, before peering up at you with a toothy smile. ‘See ya later!’

He turned on his heel and ripped his backpack from your hand, suddenly speeding up the path and towards school. Had...had that just happened? For once in your life, had you not had to wrench him from the car and wrestle him through the school gates? Move aside, Harry Potter, because Marcus Moreno was the new wizard in town. You might have been a little jealous that he was so good with your son but at the same time, it made you like him even more. He was the first parent at the school that had leant into Jack’s wild tendencies. And, whilst you tried not to think too much about it, even his own dad had struggled to do that. It made your heart warm a little. 

‘You are seriously my favourite person.’ You chimed, leaning back against your car. 

‘Kids with character are way more fun than kids who are well-behaved.’ Marcus replied.

‘I spent forty-five minutes scraping string cheese out the USB port of my computer yesterday, but sure.’ 

He chuckled. ‘No, I’m serious. I don’t encourage Missy to misbehave but she does get herself into some situations. I choose to see it as a testament to her intelligence rather than disobedience.’

‘I refuse to believe for a second that Missy ever misbehaves.’ You shot back back. ‘She seems so well-behaved.’

‘What you see in the parking lot is not a reflection of our whole lives.’ He reminded you.

‘Right, because despite appearances, I’m actually a very put together parent.’ You snorted. ‘But I get what you mean.’

‘I gotta get to work now, but it was good to see you.’ Marcus pulled his car keys out his pocket. ‘I was serious about that suit thing, by the way. He saw my katanas on Saturday.’

‘Katanas?’ You spluttered. ‘My kid managed to start a fire last week out of nothing and you want to give him katanas?!’

‘Maybe I can show you how to use them.’ He flashed you a smile. ‘And then you can pass on the knowledge.’ 

‘That’s probably an even worse idea.’ You shook your head with a laugh, pulling open your car door. ‘I’ll see you around.’

‘You as well. Have a good day, pretty lady.’

--

Did you stop thinking about your exchange at any point during the day? Absolutely not. In fact, you’d already written an email to the local deed poll office to change your legal name to Pretty Lady. 

No, but in all seriousness, you’d been a little giddy about it. Had he been flirting? That didn’t seem like a long shot. You got on well, you’d hung out a bit over the weekend and not to toot your own horn, but you were by no means bad looking. Tired and a little frazzled, sometimes? Yeah. But anyone would have been lucky to have you and you were doing a better job at recognising that, especially since your divorce. 

You were almost ecstatic when it got to 4PM and you hadn’t received a single call from Jack’s teachers. That meant that he had behaved, and what Marcus had said had worked. Because you worked past his finishing time, he usually went to the after-school club till you could come to collect him - it had been a lifesaver, especially since you couldn’t always leave early. He usually came home with some kind of weird arts and crafts. Last week, it had been an unidentifiable item made of dried macaroni and glitter. He’d placed it pridefully on the old fireplace in your lounge. 

After saying goodbye to your co-workers, you headed out the building. Your office was right in the city centre and not too far out from the school. It was a nice place to be; your lunch hour, when you could head out to a street cart and eat your food in the local park, was usually the highlight of your day. It was when you could exist just as you. When you were at work, you were in charge on your entire department. When you were home, you were a parent 24/7. That time to yourself was vital.

As you were heading to your car, your phone began to ring. Your heart almost jumped out your chest when you saw Marcus’ name - he hadn’t called you before, only texted to sort out the previous weekend’s plans with Jack. You quickly organised yourself (he couldn’t see you, dumb ass) and cleared your throat.

‘Hey, everything alright?’ You brightly greeted him.

‘Hey! Are you out of work now?’

‘Yeah, I’m literally just leaving. What’s up?’

‘Look, I hate to do this but I’ve had an emergency at work - superhero related, you don’t wanna know - and I’m not gonna be out for hours.’ Marcus sounded stressed. Yeah, I feel that you thought. ‘Would you be able to pick up Missy and possibly have her for a few hours? If not, that’s totally-’

‘- I’d be glad too!’ You interrupted him. ‘I owe you one anyways for the weekend. And this morning, actually.’

‘You don’t owe me anything.’ He sounded surprised that you’d even imply it. ‘But I will definitely owe you for having Missy.’

‘Hey, it’s cool!’ You insisted. ‘Do you want me to drop her off at yours later?’

‘I can come and collect her if you text me your address?’

‘Perfect.’ You smiled. ‘I’ll see you later then?’

‘You’re a lifesaver.’ Marcus said. ‘I’ll text Missy to let her know to find your car instead of mine. I would ask for your plate number, but your car is...’

‘...bright red, covered in dents and hard to miss?’ You finished his sentence.

‘Exactly.’

You’d been in the same situation before; pulled between work and parenting, with Jack stuck at school and an important meeting that felt like it was never ending. It was hard to get a sitter on such short notice - or afford one, sometimes - and it was just another one of the million, stressful situations that single parenting could get you into. If you could help Marcus even a little bit, of course you were going to. You knew he’d do the same for you. Heck, he had done the same for you.

Jack and Missy were both chatty on the way home. Given that she was a little older than him, her conversational skills were strikingly better. It was nice to ask someone about their day and not get where are my Cheetos? as an answer. From what you gathered, she hated science class, enjoyed gym, and her favourite subject was lunch. That didn’t come as a surprise to you - her dad was a literal superhero and probably encouraged physical activity.

(You’d seen his arms, okay? They were more than enough to go on. I digress).

The only thing that made you wish you’d had a little more notice on having her for the evening was the state of your apartment. The place wasn’t bad; you’d lived there for the better part of eight years, and it was crammed with soft furniture and millions of blankets, as well as photos of you and Jack and his questionable art projects. It was just that you hadn’t done the dishes that morning, there was a mountain of shoes by the door and the pancakes from the previous night were still stuck on the roof.

Missy barely blinked an eye; the minute she saw your dog, she’d abandoned her bag and was playing with him. 

‘Hey buddy!’ She grinned. ‘What’s he called?’

‘That’s Oppy.’ You replied, hanging your jacket up. She didn’t need to know that it was short for Optimus Prime. No guesses on whose idea that had been. 

‘He’s so cute!’ Missy continued. ‘I’ve been asking dad for a dog for ages but he won’t budge.’

For some reason, that surprised you a little. Marcus might have been the leader of a super-hero team and a public figure, but you could tell he would do anything for his daughter. You knew because it was the same for you with Jack. He might have ruled your whole life but you would have hung the damn stars in the sky for him if he asked 

‘They’re a lot of work.’ You reasoned. ‘I have to wake up every morning at 6AM to make sure he gets a walk. Then there’s the matter of-’

‘- mum! Optimus Prime pooped in the bathroom!’

‘The matter of that.’ You murmured under your breath.

The rest of the evening went pretty smoothly. You fed the kids some leftover takeaway and between the dog and Netflix, they were easily entertained. Jack seemed to take a liking to Missy, which was good because it meant he wanted to sit with her the entire time instead of bouncing off the walls. She had the same patience as her dad, especially when he asked her a million questions about superheroes. It took her twenty minutes to convince him that Batman wasn’t her uncle, and a further fifteen to make him believe that she hadn’t met Captain America. 

Jack had asked you a few times about whether or not he would get siblings. Of course, it would be different to any interactions with Missy because he would have been the oldest, but it did get you thinking. You were finally in a place where you were moving past your former relationship and healing from the wounds. Time wasn’t much of an issue either - you’d had Jack when you were young and barely out of college. You couldn’t possibly imagine having any more kids right now, not when it was just the two of you, but in the future? You’d never rule out meeting somebody new. If anything, you were hopeful. Your first relationship had been your only one, and it had ended badly. You wanted to experience love for what it actually was, and not what you thought it was supposed to be. 

Not long after 7PM, there was a knock on your door. By that point, both Missy and Jack had passed out on the sofa with Star Wars playing quietly in the background. It had been her idea to watch it - she had good taste. Marcus had clearly done a good job.

‘Hey!’ You greeted him as you pulled open the front door. ‘Come in quick, it’s fucking freezing out there.’

‘Thank you.’ Marcus came inside, dusting a few snow flakes out his hair. ‘Seriously, I can’t say it enough-’

‘- it’s fine!’ You shook your head, offering him a smile. ‘Missy’s been great. She’s really chatty and it was nice to have a coherent conversation with someone that isn’t about Paw Patrol. But was everything at the office okay?’

He was quiet for a minute. ‘Yeah. We uh, we lost someone. A hero.’

‘Shit, man. I’m sorry.’ Your voice fell quiet. ‘You wanna come in? You look like you could probably take a moment.’

‘Are you sure?’

‘Of course! Missy and Jack are both asleep on the couch anyways.’ You pointed through to the living room. Marcus leant over to have a look, smiling slightly at the sight. 

‘Thank you. I’d appreciate that.’

He took a seat at the kitchen counter. Your old bar stools were a little old and wobbly, but Marcus didn’t seem to notice. If anything, he admired the place. It was cluttered as hell and filled with useless, old items - cook books you didn’t use, random magnets, assorted toys - but it was nice. His house always felt a little cold and clinical. He’d moved a lot over the course of Missy’s life and now that he was retired from the field, he’d sworn to her that their current house was going to be permanent. Whether or not it felt like home was another question entirely. 

‘I would offer you a drink but all I have is..’ you paused, opening the fridge. ‘Nesquik, vodka or apple juice.’

‘You know what? A Nesquik doesn’t sound too bad.’

‘I like your thinking, Moreno.’

After quickly fixing up the two drinks, you slid into the seat beside him and handed him one. You had never in a million years imagined a situation where Marcus Moreno would be in your kitchen drinking chocolate milk, but here we were. It had clearly been a long day for him and you had enough of those to last a lifetime, so you knew how it felt. Coming home after a day that had beat your ass into the ground and having to put on a brave face for your kids was difficult at best. 

‘Are you sure you’re okay?’ You gently asked.

‘Yeah, I’ll be okay - it just always fucks me up a bit.’ Marcus murmured quietly. ‘Hits a little too close to home.’

He wasn’t an idiot. He knew that you knew what had happened to his wife. You knew why he’d retired, and why he and Missy had moved away from their original city six years ago.

‘Sorry, that was too deep-’

‘- it wasn’t!’ You quickly cut him off. ‘I’ve had random women come up to me at pick up time and say they’re sorry to hear about my divorce. People I don’t even know. So really, after that, nothing is too much.’ 

He smiled slightly. ‘They always say they’re sorry but why would you bring up a subject if you have to apologise for it?’

‘Exactly!’ You replied. ‘Especially when I’ve moved on. It’s been a year.’

‘It’s the same with me. Missy and I miss her everyday but we don’t mope about it. We just...we look back with fondness on the good memories we have. You can’t move forward if you’re stuck in the past, no matter how much it sucks.’

‘That’s...that’s wise.’ You blinked in surprise. ‘S’pose that means I should take down the dartboard I have with my ex’s face on.’

‘From what I’ve heard, he seems like he should have more than a dart board.’ Marcus snorted - then he froze. ‘Wait, not that I’ve heard stuff, I mean...I don’t listen-’

‘- Marcus!’ You whacked his arm. ‘It’s fine. One of the other kid’s mums started telling me about the terrible divorce someone was going through but she realised she was gossiping to the one who was going through it.’

‘I don’t know how much of what I’ve been told is true, but it sounds like it was bad.’ His hand hovered over where yours was rested on the counter. 

‘The rumours pretty much get the gist of it.’ You replied. ‘But we were talking about your thing, so I don’t wanna take away from that.’

‘Hey, it’s okay.’ He finally moved his hand, fingers gently curling underneath yours to intertwine them. ‘If even half of the whispers are true, he sounds like an asshole. You and Jack both deserve better than that.’

Whatever people had said, it had sort of covered the gist of it. You’d married too young and had a kid too young - your ex had been a terrible husband and an even worst husband. He’d chastised Jack for being...well, being Jack. He’d stay out late with his friends, spend money on things neither of you needed and tried to make you take the blame for it all. After giving him a few too many chances, you’d finally reached breaking point and kicked him out. Filing for divorce and taking on being a single parent was single-handedly the hardest and bravest thing you’d ever had to do. In a way, you were glad you’d done it when Jack was still so young - he didn’t really understand any of it, even when you’d try to explain it in child friendly terms.

‘I think people judge me for it a little sometimes.’ You confessed. ‘They see me struggling but they know I made the choice to separate from him, like I brought it all on myself.’

‘That’s bullshit.’ Marcus plainly stated. ‘Parenthood isn’t a dependent thing based on whether or not you’re still married to the other parent. It’s unconditional and permanent.’

‘I should tell him that, but I also don’t want him back in our lives.’

‘I know it’s none of my business, but he doesn’t deserve Jack. He’s one of the best and brightest kids I’ve ever met.’

‘Thank you. I’m glad he doesn’t seem like a complete lunatic.’

‘He doesn’t deserve you either.’ Marcus continued. ‘Again, I might be out of place saying this but you are...you’re amazing. I was a wreck when I was suddenly on my own and you’re still holding everything together and working your ass off.’ 

‘You’ve noticed?’ You quirked an eyebrow.

‘Yeah, in passing.’ He admitted. ‘I remember I once saw you carrying three separate science projects at once and then Carol made a passing comment that you were on your own and...I just kinda admired you from afar.’

��You, Marcus Moreno, admired me?’ You blinked at him in disbelief. ‘I find that hard to believe.’

‘I wish I’d had my shit together half as much as you did when I lost Missy’s mum.’ 

‘But the difference is you didn’t have a choice in your situation. I chose to boot his dad out-’

‘- you gotta stop discrediting yourself.’ He shook his head. ‘And stop blaming yourself. You did what was right for your kid and that is the most admirable thing of all.’

‘You really think so?’

‘I know so.’

The conversation slowly drizzled away, leaving you two to just look at each other. It was hard to tear yourself away from his brown eyes - there was a lot going on behind them. Fear, pain, anguish, admiration. He was one of the most mind-blowingly impressive people you’d ever met; single dad, superhero, electric car owner. He probably didn’t have a mortgage too and that was kinda hot. You were none of those things and yet, here he was, with you, managing to connect on a level that you never had with anyone. Both of your situations were tough, but they’d brought you together. 

Marcus Moreno was pretty fucking fearless (came with the job, you figured), and he wasn’t afraid to make the first move. He slowly inched his head forward and in return, you gravitated towards him. Your lips met halfway in a soft kiss, his hands moving to firmly hold your waist as he pulled you closer.

You almost stumbled out your chair with the movement, but his grip on your hips meant you didn’t slip. Instead, he placed you up on the counter, standing up as he did. It took you a moment to adjust to the position, but with your legs resting on either side of his, you could reach forward and lean on him. You had one hand tangled in his hair and the other on the back of his neck -  you’d surprised yourself with that. It had been months since you’d kissed anyone, but you weren’t as rusty as you thought. 

‘Oh my god, is the superhero gonna be my new dad?!’

Marcus suddenly jumped backwards at the sound of Jack’s voice. He was stood in the doorway, post-nap hair covered by a lopsided Chewbacca hood. His eyes were like dinner plates, even though he was grinning from ear to ear. 

‘Uh...’ you glanced between him and Marcus. ‘We were just...we were...’

‘I had something in my eye.’

‘He had something in his eye.’ You quickly agreed. ‘But now it’s out, so Marcus is gonna go home.’

He knew you didn’t mean it rudely - it was more of a desperation thing. The longer he stayed, the more questions Jack would come out with. Missy could have overheard too and that would have been twice as much to explain. So really, the sooner he got out, the better.

‘Yeah. I’ll uh, I’ll grab Missy.’ Marcus said, scratching the back of his head. ‘Thank you again for looking after her.’

‘You don’t need to keep thanking me.’ You shot back. 

He disappeared into the living room for a moment, reemerging with a sleeping Missy in his arms a moment later. Your eyes met again, and he gave you a soft smile.

‘I’ll call you.’

‘Yeah, sure.’  You nodded. ‘See you, Marcus.’

--

True to character, the next hour was spent being pelted with questions from your over-curious son. He didn’t shut up once when you were bathing him and he got even louder when you were reading him his best time story. On the bright side, you’d managed to get him to change out of his slightly manky Wookiee onesie and into a clean Buzz Lightyear one. Normally, you would have argued that he couldn’t live in pyjamas, but if it kept him quiet? It was a price you were willing to pay. 

‘Night, kiddo.’ You pressed a kiss to his forehead, switching on his nightlight. ‘Remember our deal, yeah? If I buy you a Happy Meal tomorrow, you won’t mention what you saw to any of your friends?’

‘You said library was bad.’

‘No, it’s bribery.’ You corrected him. ‘And do as I say, not as I do.’

‘Sounds bad, but okay.’ He sleepily murmured. ‘Night.’

‘Night.’ You stood up, flicking out his bedroom lights.

‘Wait, mum!’ Jack suddenly sat up, as though he’d remembered something. ‘You never said no.’

‘No to what, buddy?’

‘When I asked if the superhero was my new dad.’

Well, fuck. 

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