#structural plans

[quess-art]

Rain - The Dark Urge Memento Comic

⇐ Previous | Memento of The Dark Urge | Next ⇒

[swordsmans]

ive gotten quite a few questions about this so i sat down and wrote it all out for a discord power point night. here it is. no mystery, only chaos, and if novellas have no fans then i am dead.

[juliaknz]

RSHP ARCHITECTS BBVA MÈXICO TOWER Mexico City, Mexico Image © RSHP

[franzis-frantic-thoughts]

Castiel confessed gay love and went to super hell. Aziraphale didn’t confess gay love and went to super heaven. Super homophobes stay winning.

[somerandomcockroach]

A large burning canvas could be seen in the distance.

The neat fingers, full of small dents from the friction of the sword handle, caught a small flame, which immediately went out from faint pressure.

There was silence, a living silence, one of those that strains with its sound. A warm wind heated his battered, but carefully polished armor.

"You want to say something"

"I want" Blurr answered, turning sharply to the dark silhouette behind him that was quietly watching him until now. He clenched his fist with a grinding sound, where the spark died out, and demonstratively opened it towards the darkness. "And this is how you are paid for making the world freer! This is what remains of your legacy, and you react as if it doesn’t concern you at all!"

"It does not concern me anymore" the figure answered him calmly.

"Shockwave, stop!"

"Is that an order?"

"It's a request” His angry expression made it clear that this request was an obligation. “I just don't recognize you for these few months." His hand shook slightly with anger. Black smoke seeped through the cracks in his armor.

"I don't recognize myself for even longer time." Blurr visibly trembled at these words, realizing where the dialogue was leading. Shockwave slowly approached, his long, deformed fingers, three times longer than one of Blurr's fingers, carefully reached out to his hand and wrapped his palms in his huge paws, kneeling down to be on the same level with him. "Blurr, I-"

Blurr turned his head away so as not to see one piercing, but such a swampy dim light of his terrifying eye, which had become more precious to him than his weekly knightly brigandage. "Shut up. It's too early, we haven't agreed on when exactly to do this"

The dull mass of metal, which was only a tangible casing, after some hope of catching at least a spark of doubt, only lowered its head heavily. The crackling of the fire continued to be heard around. The soot reached them, gifting them with at least some warm light among the shades of cold before dying. Realization, regret, reluctance were not reflected in the knight's optics. His armor, always proudly looking into the face of danger, now reflected only the cowardly lights of the fire from behind. Despite this, he did not remove his hand from the strong lock until the blades themselves parted. Shockwave disappeared. Disappeared as he had done for the past few months.

Blurr turned back to the burning wall. From afar were heard screams, squeals, grinding, clanking. The column of fire did not subside, as if it was fed by fuel from secret reserves. It had been burning like that for hours, as if to show the greatness of this building over others that would have left only a column of smoke long ago.

Shockwave's last school of dark magic was burning out, as was the will of its creator to live.

[scribefindegil]

Proof of concept for the extremely normal and non-monstery baked goods we want to hand out in our Dungeon Meshi cosplays :)

Here they are before baking, and the salt dough molds I made for them!

[anipgarden]

Adding To or Starting a Garden

AKA, the beginning of the Plants-Related section of this series.

This is my third post in a series I’ll be making on how to increase biodiversity on a budget! I’m not an expert--just an enthusiast--but I hope something you find here helps! 

Got an area of lawn you’d like to convert to a wildlife haven? An area you can stick some hanging baskets in? Want to know how your garden of tomatoes and zucchinis is already putting in a lot of work? This is the section for you!

It would be dumb of me to not acknowledge that the act of gardening can come with a lot of costs. Buying seeds, buying plants, buying soil, raised bed materials, mulch, etc. … it can all get a bit daunting, let’s be honest! But there’s quite a few ways to get seeds and plants for free or extremely cheap, which I’ll be addressing in this section! The next section will be all about addressing the other Costs in gardening and how to mitigate or eliminate them entirely.

Also, do keep in mind; there’s no need to try and convert a whole area from lawn to garden or unused to garden at once. In fact, it could actually be extremely beneficial to do it a little at a time--maybe four or five square feet to start out.

Front Lawn (or Managing Principles)

If you live in a place where you’re required to have a grass turf lawn (HOA’s come to mind…), try replacing it with native grasses instead! You could even possibly use a low-growing ground cover plant like clover to a similar effect! Reseeding/replacing an entire lawn can be a big upfront cost, but even just letting the lawn be a little messy and tall helps. If the lawn gets patchy, leave the bare spots for a little while and something different will likely pop up! Pioneer species will fill the gaps and provide benefits to other plants around them, support animals, and more! If you want to take the guesswork out of it, you could always research what the pioneer species are in your area and plant the ones you like most. 

Obtaining Seeds for Cheap or Free

The cheapest way to start a garden is by far via seeds. However, seeds can be a bit complicated to grow, and some sources make them… way overpriced. Fortunately there are ways to get seeds for little to no cost! 

Some places sell seeds for as low as a dollar, 50 cents, or 25 cents! The packets may not have a lot of seeds, but it’s definitely a good start for a low budget! I’ve personally bought cheap seed packets at Walmart--the Ferry-Morse and Burpee brands are not what we’re looking for here. Typically the cheaper ones I’ve found are American Seed (which is owned by Green Garden Products, which also owns Ferry-Morse, Livingston Seed, McKenzie Seed, and Seeds of Change. Do with that information what you will), but they’re rarely stocked near the Ferry-Morse ones in the Formal Gardening Section. I’ve most often found them on end caps near the gardening section, so you may have to weave through a few aisles to find them, but once you do there’s an array of flower and vegetable seeds to select from! Alternatively, I’ve found seeds at Dollar Tree sold 2 or 4 for a dollar in Spring as part of their seasonal product; however, when they’re out of stock, they’re typically out of stock for the year. Try to check them out early in the year!

Otherwise, other seed companies like Urban Farmer or Botanical Interests will often have semi-frequent sales in spring and fall, when people are stocking up on seeds--joining their email lists can help you be the first to know when a good sale is going on!

Some foods from grocery stores will provide seeds that you can use in the garden as well. I’ve had the most luck with store-bought bagged beans, peppers, and tomatoes. Some people have had luck with watermelons, apples, citrus, squash, and more. Do keep in mind that you likely won’t get the same variety of fruit/vegetable as the one you bought--the resulting plant may look different and taste different.

Give it a shot! Pick some beans you like--if they don't grow well, at least you can eat the rest!

If you live in the US, food-producing live plants, bare roots, and seeds can often be purchased with SNAP benefits. But what does growing fruits, veggies, and herbs have to do with boosting biodiversity? While food crops aren’t typically native, they still provide valuable shelter for native insects. Some plants even have intricate relationships with native fauna--like the squash bee, a solitary bee which exclusively pollinates cucurbits like pumpkins, squash, and zucchini. And we get to benefit more directly as well! If you’re planting a diverse range of foods in your garden (as opposed to the swaths of single-plant farms that typically produce what’s sent to grocery stores), you’re supporting high levels of biodiversity by providing a variety of plants for creatures to live and hunt around.

Most of the time, when we think of boosting biodiversity with a garden, we think of a colorful flower garden teeming with pollinator species. However, if we’re striving to use native species, it can be a bit difficult to find some species in stores. I can say from experience that trying to find any wildflower seeds other than butterfly weed, purple coneflowers, and black-eyed-susans is… challenging, if you limit yourself to stores like Walmart, Home Depot, and Lowe’s. You might occasionally get lucky with an ACE Hardware or a local nursery, but even then sometimes it can be hard to track down who in your area is selling what--let alone if you live in an area where no one really is selling native plants or their seeds. Not to mention, even once you find a local or online store selling the seeds you want, they can sometimes cost a pretty penny. So what do you do?

If you have the option to, consider gathering native seeds yourself! Get good at identifying the native flora and fauna--or at least, a few target plants and their lookalikes--and get ready to go! Learn where they tend to grow, when they’ll be seeding, etc. Try to identify the plant before it goes to seed (for most plants, it's easiest to identify when flowering), then check back regularly to gather seeds. Typically, if I want to learn how to collect seed from a specific plant, I just search it on Google or YouTube--oftentimes, I'm lead to the GrowItBuildIt Youtube page, so it may be a helpful resource for you as well! Of course, make sure to leave plenty of seed behind so the wild population can repopulate, and seed can feed other creatures in the area. A good rule of thumb is to take no more than 1/3rd of what's available.

Buying seed in bulk is an option if you can afford the upfront cost. Try teaming up with a few friends to buy some bulk seeds and split them amongst yourselves--you’ll get tons of seed! Prairie Moon is a popular site that'll sell seeds by the pound if you can afford the price--though they're in the US, and I believe they focus on Midwest and East Coast natives.

If you want to cheat the system, don’t buy bulk sunflower seeds--buy bags of sunflower seeds being sold as birdseed. They’re typically all black oil sunflower seeds, but they’ll sprout, and they’re fairly cheap for the amount you get!

However, beware generic wildflower seed mixes! Many brands like to sell wildflower seed mixes in big box stores like Home Depot, Target, or even Dollar Tree, but they’ll often include flowers that aren’t native or possibly even invasive in your region! Before you make any purchases, double check to make sure the contained seeds won’t do more harm than good! A quality source of native seeds will provide English and Latin names for all seeds included, and will be native to the region or at least non-invasive. 

See this? I don't trust this.

There’s a good handful of programs online that’ll send you free seeds if you’re planning to start a native habitat project! Poke around online and see what you can find; you might get lucky! The best time to start looking for these is fall and winter, I find--by early spring, many of them are either done or beginning to wind down... though some also start up in spring. Ultimately--just check regularly! You never know what you can find!

Other Ways to Get Plants

Don’t want to start from seed? That’s fair! You can try cuttings! Just be sure not to take too much of the plant while you do so. Make sure you’ve gotten a few leaf nodes on your cutting, and cut any flowers you may have gotten. Make sure to leave some blooms and foliage on the original plant for the creatures in the current habitat--you don’t want to destroy one habitat to make another in your garden. There’s tons of methods of rooting cuttings, many of which have different efficacy rates for different plants, but that’s a topic for another post.

If you find seedlings growing in a place where they won’t be able to sustain themselves long-term, or are in danger of being destroyed, consider relocating them! You may be able to gently dig up and transplant the seedling to your garden. Don’t do this if they’re in a place where they can easily survive--ideally, you’ll be taking plants from sidewalk cracks, heavily maintained public gardens, roadsides, etc. Do be careful while doing this--ensure your safety first!  

You’re totally allowed to join gardening communities like clubs, facebook groups, and more before you’ve even put a trowel to the dirt. These are great places to learn information and advice! Many gardeners are more than happy to help out a new gardener, and will eagerly provide seeds, cuttings, or even baby plants! Talk to some people about your gardening journey and what you’re hoping to do, and you just might find some kindred spirits--or at least get more people interested in the topic! 

Seed and plant giveaways and trades happen all the time in gardening clubs, as well as online! Just poke around and see what you can find! Some are explicitly trades, meaning you’re expected to send something in return, but once you get your feet on the ground with some plant knowledge you’ll be stellar! You may be able to explain you’re just starting out, and someone may send you seeds without expecting a trade, but I’d suggest trying giveaways first. 

Poke around online and see if there’s a local chapter of your state’s native plant society. From there, you’ll likely be able to find a calendar of events--many of them will host plant sales in the spring, with a bunch of native plant seedlings ripe for the pickings if you can make it out and have some money to spare! Fair warning, though, you’ll want to get there early if you can. If they say they’re starting at 10, try to get there by 9:45. Year after year, there’s always record turnout, and they sell out of plants faster than ever. Just trust me on this. I’ve been let down; hopefully you won’t have to be.

Some libraries are beginning to host seed libraries! Check around and see if your library has one! Ideally, the system works best if you also have seeds to contribute in return, but if you’re just starting out I’m sure they won’t mind you taking some seeds! Just consider saving some seeds to contribute in the future and pay it forward. If your library doesn’t have a seed library? Consider asking if they’d be willing to start one! Community interest is a great way to get the ball rolling on projects like these, but they’ll only know the community is interested if the community tells them they’re interested!

Volunteer to Garden for/with Someone Else

Maybe someone in your area wants to garden, but is struggling to find the time/energy. Many elderly people who used to garden simply can’t anymore but still would like a garden. Other people may love to have a helping hand in their garden. You might even find a few people in your area interested in renting and sharing a community garden plot with others, so they don't have to handle it all on their own! They may be interested in increasing biodiversity right now, or may be willing to if it’s brought up to them. You might be just the kind of person someone needs! Since it won't be your garden, you’ll likely need a bit of permission and collaboration to get anything in particular going, but it’s worth a shot and a way to maybe even make friends! 

Again, your mileage may vary with some of these. You may not know where there's a bunch of wildflowers growing in your area, or maybe your local library doesn't have a free seed library. That's okay! Do what you're able to, find what you can find, get what you can get! And there's never any shame with starting small--in fact, starting small can make the project easier to manage and expand when you're able!

That's the end of this post! My next post is gonna be about ways to start growing plants cheaply--low cost seed starting set ups, essentially. There's a lot of good options, many of which I've used myself even! Until then, I hope this advice is helpful! Feel free to reply with any questions, success stories, or anything you think I may have forgotten to add in!

[lover-of-mine]

Buddie in Every Episode:

2x01 - “Under Pressure”

[archiveofaffinities]

Sun Designs Gazebos and Other Garden Structure Designs, Floor Plans 13-27

[fearandhatred]

i was thinking about this line from my fic:

But the fall had hurt, too. Because the wind had cut into his useless wings like knives, his skin and grace peeling away under the friction, and he had been looking right up at the multicoloured and unreachable expanse of sky just to see it fade from his eyes into dull greys.

and i came up with this. i hope the vision came through

[badassindistress]

I am seeing the fandom run wild with fem!Payneland and Edwina or Edith Payne and I would like to gift you all some 1915's-1916s dresses that would suit her. Go forth and flourish!

My decision parameters under the cut:

So, my parameters for choosing were:

English or available to the English in the period 1914-1916. I don't think Edwin would be wearing the Height of French fashion nor only new dresses every season, so stick with more practical dress (no fun evening gowns, but i might do that at some other point)

Only girl's clothing, not grown women. Edwin dresses very much like a dead Boy detective, not a dead man detective and I want to preserve that

Keep an element of blue as his hero colour

It should preserve elements of his original design, in practicality, bows, collars and colour

Sources are in a reblog so tumblr doesn't think the links are spam.

[knowlesian]

not to project like a motherfucker on natalie berzatto but ohhhh boy the impact of a narrative that says “hey, is your desire to make sure everybody around you is okay also about you? and could that perhaps be partially a maladaptive trauma response you should look into and maybe mitigate? because if it’s a genuine question that’s fine, but if the only answer you will respond well to hearing is yes that’s a You Issue Too, Babe”

[centaurianthropology]

Why C3E51 worked so well (a DM’s perspective)

I have seen a lot of absolutely bananas critiques of C3E51 (thankfully not nearly as many around here, far more on Reddit, which I should not have visited).   And the ongoing theme of those critiques is that Matt should not have imperiled former PCs, and if he brought them in should have either done lengthy side-bars with those characters or let them win the fight against Ludinis and have a chance to take him out themselves, since they’re ‘god tier’ or ‘high level’ and that makes ‘logical sense’.  What these critiques really boil down to, IMO, are people who were really invested in the former campaigns upset that their faves didn’t get to do cool things, treating it more like a TV show than a game.  But even as a TV show, that would have been disappointing from a narrative perspective.  Because even in a TV show, this is a sequel spin-off show, starring new characters.  The story is about THEM.  And more importantly, the game is about the players and about telling their story.

So let’s break this down from a DM perspective.  How do you build a Kobiashi Maru situation for your characters?  For those of you who aren’t familiar, the Kobiashi Maru is a Star Trek term for a scenario designed from the jump to be unwinnable (Kirk beat it by creativity, but later admitted that he missed the point of it).  In Star Trek this was done to test what a future officer would do if faced with certain failure.  In a D&D game it’s a little more complicated.  Part of it is to set up the BBEG, put their plan in motion, and set the stage for the next leg of the game.  But it’s also to give your players, who are clearly into it, a darkest-hour scenario.  Not every player group is going to be into facing down the Kobiashi Maru, and it’s clear from the aforementioned critiques that a lot of them are on Reddit.  Power-gamers who always want to win are not going to enjoy this sort of storytelling, but players who are really into RP and working through difficult times and failures will eat this stuff up.  And this is absolutely the sort of table playing on Critical Role.  There is a level of trust there that can only be built after years of working together, and this was finally the moment when Matt could pay off years of planning and campaign-spanning set-up.

Matt carefully plotted the structure of this episode out to give maximum agency and impact to a party of dramatically under-leveled characters.  And they knew going in they were under-leveled.  This wasn’t a surprise, but a potential suicide run by people who knew they weren’t the heroes they needed to be, but were the only heroes in the right place at the right time to try anything.  So they came up with as good a plan as they could, and executed it fairly well, all things considered.  

They knew they couldn’t take on Ludinus directly (and this was a great way to demonstrate exactly how much he had planned and how long, to bring in elements from C2, hints we’ve had for years about Ludinis, only to reveal it went deeper than any of the characters could have imagined), so Matt gave them some winnable objectives.  This is a great way to keep the characters invested in an unwinnable scenario: the ultimate outcome may be beyond the characters, barring some insane genius or incredible rolls, but they can still help.  They can do something that will have a tangible impact on events and hinder the baddies enough to give them another chance at a rematch and a way to stop the apocalypse when they’re higher level.  So Matt gave them the batteries: take out as many as you can.  While this would not stop the ritual, I suspect that the more they took out the more Ludinis would have to drain his own power to make the key work, and the longer the process would take.  Knocking out the feywild key, as well as multiple power sources turned what would have been an instantaneous event if they had done nothing into a more drawn-out affair which, I suspect, could be stopped or even reversed.  It gave them a window to come back and demand a rematch.

Then we have the high-level PC allies, and how to play with those sorts of characters without pulling focus from the PCs.  Matt handled this very well, by having the players roll for their former PCs, taking the specifics of their actions out of his hands and letting the dice of the former players decide.  He also revealed that Keyleth’s involvement, and baiting Vax with Otohan’s permadeath poison, was key to Ludinis’ ritual, which was why she couldn’t just dive in and clean everything up.  But again, because of this story, it ties less back to Keyleth and more back to Orym.  That was the point of the attack on Zephrah, to get her attention by getting her to look into who did it and then coming to get some payback, but the little guy on the ground has always been caught in the middle.  Orym has been Ludinis’ unwitting pawn from the off, his family’s deaths merely a means to an end, and that is vicious and amazing set-up for character growth for him.  

Beau and Caleb had to be there by the logic of the story.  It didn’t make sense that Caleb would sit out a world-ending event orchestrated by a Cerberus Assembly member after spending years trying to take them down.  Beau would obviously go with him.  It also made sense that they would be the only two there, because they were scouting when Ryn got taken down, and after that were trying to keep a low profile.  Shit accelerated too fast for them to call in reinforcements.

Which is the in-story reason for them to be there, but isolated and vulnerable, making them useful allies and wildcards (who likely could have been more useful if ultimately failing as well, but failed early thanks to Liam and Marisha’s rolls).  But they were still outmatched.  I have no idea what the challenge rating of Otohan, Leliana, and Ludinis are, but we know Otohan was considered ‘beatable’ back in Bassuras.  That indicates she’s the lowest CR, particularly with the glowing weak-spot on her back.  But she can still wreck a level-20 PC if she gets the jump on her, which she did.  And that meant that she remained a massive threat.  Caleb and Beau were playing it smart, keeping to the shadows, but still got caught by Leliana.  Between dice rolls, careful planning, and some great enemy design, Matt really set up a team that could take on high-level players and win.  And he made it clear that Ludinis did not leave this to chance.  He has the best people he could muster after 1000 years of planning.  Nothing short of a miracle could have truly stopped them.

Which is why we cut back to Bells Hells.  Because ultimately this particular story isn’t about Keyleth or Vax or Caleb or Beau or any other former PCs.  This is about the current party being caught up in events much larger than them and having to rise to the occasion.  This is the story of the schmucks sent in to take out the batteries, but who have personal beef with the big bads.  Ludinis orchestrated the plan to attack Zephrah to bait Keyleth and draw out Vax, and Otohan carried it out.  And he used Orym as a pawn throughout all of it.  This makes taking them down, but especially taking Otohan down, the cornerstone of Orym’s personal quest.  Letting an NPC take her down would be taking away a critical part of his motivation and goals, which is an absolute no-no for a DM.  NEVER bring in a god-tier NPC and take away player agency or story beats.  Especially never have them resolve important player goals and backstory events!  Every NPC, even the powerful ones, are there to support the story the players are telling.  So of course Keyleth wasn’t going to take out Otohan.  Of course she wasn’t going to stop the ritual.  Beau and Caleb might have been able to do something more if Liam and Marisha hadn’t rolled so badly for them, but ultimately, they had to get caught or fail in another way.  

For the sake of gameplay, Bell’s Hells had to be the only functional team.  They had to be the ants that were beneath Ludinis’ notice long enough to really accomplish something.  And as much as it feels like they failed, they had minor victories: Laudna and Ashton took out more batteries, making Ludinis drain his own power to kick off the apocalypse.  They only failed to take out Otohan’s backpack by 2 HP, which showed them that she was an achievable goal in the future.  If they had rolled a little better, they probably could have taken her out entirely, which would have felt like a big accomplishment for them.  Imogen made her mother pause in her assault before doubling down.  This leaves open very interesting future beats for their interactions.  Can she ultimately redeem her mother or would she have to take her out?  Every step that Matt set up in this episode, from the reveals about Ludinis’ plans and Orym’s past, to Imogen’s interactions with her mother, to Chetney and likely Ashton finding themselves staring down their own backstories after the party split, was focused on this party, on getting them ready to step out of low-level play and advance.

And that’s the point of E51.  It’s not a climax of the story, but the ultimate set-up.  It’s putting all the pieces onto the board in a way that all the characters can now recognize.  Yes, unless the players came up with something genius, the apocalypse was going to kick off, but their actions slowed everything down to a place where it could be combatted.  Yes, the god-tier former PCs were always going to get neutered, because this is Bells Hells’ story, and you cannot have NPCs fix PC problems.  They might have been able to do a little more before this happened, but the dice rolled.

And it’s honestly good for the PCs how things turned out.  They have a clear objective, but are split up.  This gives them great incentive to level up, explore character backstory, deal with their personal shit, get stronger, and then come back to kick the asses of all three of these villains (or possibly redeem one, we’ll see).  Their powerful allies are now temporarily side-lined.  Keyleth is badly hurt and will need time to recover.  Caleb is collared and will need time to get that removed.  Beau is likely up and moving now, but will need to safeguard Caleb for a while.

The Bells Hells are on their own.  The Darkest Hour has come, and it’s time for them to rise up and go from nobodies to heroes.  This is their true call to adventure.  And as a DM, it was so cool seeing how Matt set up all the pieces over the campaign, only to pay them out in such a satisfying and motivating way in this episode.

[constantvariations]

I don't think anything will ever be funnier than Banesaw's first of his only two sentences being, "Finally, I get to kill a Schnee," knocking Weiss unconscious in a single hit, then just chucking her into the next room so Blake can save her

[hauntedestheart]

Security Footage - Bodyhoppers

One of Trevor & Andy’s misadventures, a more detailed account of the sort described in Security Measures - Hoppers

This was the bar Paolo always went to when he was looking for a hookup, and he'd hit the jackpot tonight with this guy. Andy, as he'd introduced himself, was a tall drink of chocolate milk with a pretty face and a killer body who seemed very into himself (who could blame him?) and very interested in getting out of there with Paolo... and Paolo was thinking that he just might let him.

They'd been chatting for about twenty minutes, the obligatory idle small talk that allowed them both to pretend they were interested in each other as people rather than just warm bodies, but Paolo's patience was wearing thin and he was spending less time looking into Andy's deep brown eyes and more time looking at the deep crease between his pecs. Andy was talking about some kind of video game when Paolo chanced another glance, and when he looked back up, he found Andy looking at him with a knowing smirk.

"You're checking me out," he said, a hint of smugness in his voice like he knew he was hot, and got pleasure out of being admired- Paolo found it incredibly attractive.

"I've been eyeing you up since the second you sat down and you know it," Paolo fired back, not a trace of shame in his voice. His eyes flicked up and down Andy's sculpted form. "Come on. Look at you."

"Look at me? If you insist..." Andy tugged the hem of his shirt up for a moment, exposing the abs Paolo had been hoping lurked beneath the fabric, and Paolo licked his lips. Andy, for his part, seemed equally delighted by the sight of his tight midsection and was still staring at them as he popped his next question. "Damn, I look good! Are you maybe interested in helping me see what this body can do?"

Paolo grinned- finally.

He leaned forwards and closed the gap between the two of them, pressing their lips together into a deep kiss, sticking his tongue into the other man's mouth to get a taste of what was in store for the rest of the evening. Andy groaned into his mouth, his deep voice sending shivers down Paolo's spine, and he yanked his partner even closer with a sort of roughness, like he didn't know his own strength too well, but Paolo, swept up in the moment, seized on the momentum and leaped onto Andy's lap. He straddled the hunk's strong thighs and Andy's hips bucked up instinctively in response; Paolo felt an almost comically large mass of flesh grind into the seat of his pants and press into the crack of his ass.

"Jackpot," he heard Andy mutter, and Paolo couldn't disagree- he was even more excited by the prospect of a hookup now that he knew Andy's private parts were just as impressive as his public ones.

Speaking of public, both men seemed aware that they were making a rather brazen display of themselves in a public setting, but neither seemed to care. They were far from the first couple to be spotted making out at the counter of a gay bar- Paolo had even heard rumors that management encouraged it because it "set a good tone" for the establishment. Two hot studs getting physical for all to see... what was there for anyone to complain about?

Because of this, it took Paolo a bit by surprise when he heard someone clear their throat and felt them tapping on his shoulder to get his attention. He growled, more than a little upset at such a hot make out session getting interrupted, but he pulled away from Andy and turned his attention to the newcomer- a skinny young Latino guy who was staring at the two of them with bemusement.

"Hey, I'm Trevor," the stranger announced, giving a shy little wave. "Sorry to interrupt!"

"Enjoying the show?" Paolo gave the interloper a withering glare, placing one hand on Andy's firm chest as a way to clearly mark his territory, and as a reward he felt Andy's big hand snake around him and pinch his bottom. Trevor glanced down at the hand and raised his eyebrow, and Paolo sneered in the most bitchy manner possible. "As you can see, we're kinda in the middle of something, so..."

"Of course," Trevor said through gritted teeth, then he met Paolo's eyes and gave him a dry smile. "I just need you to know that the guy you're sitting on is actually already taken."

The young man called Trevor lifted up his phone and held it out to display a photo of him and Andy together, Andy's big arms wrapped around his midsection as he leaned down to press a kiss into the top of his partner's head, and then he flicked his thumb to swipe through several other photos of the two in similarly romantic positions. Paolo noted that each photo was timestamped, showing a variety of dates from over a year ago to as recent as the week before. Alarm bells started going off in his head so he glanced back at Andy, who seemed just as surprised as what was on the screen as he was.

"Oh shit," Andy muttered, looking distinctively guilty, but he didn't tell the guy to get lost, which confirmed to Paolo that the two probably did have some form of relationship. Well, fuck.

In light of new information, Paolo found himself struggling with indecision. On the hand, he was horny as hell and the fat bulge he was sitting on let him know that he wasn't the only one. But on the other hand, Paolo was not a homewrecker and acting as someone's side piece was so tacky! But on another hand, he didn't know the full situation and if Andy was into it, who was he to say no? But on a fourth hand, getting involved with a guy whose "boyfriend" was willing to make a scene in the middle of a public bar seemed to be a questionable choice. But also, one of his real life hands was currently on Andy's massive bicep and it felt like pure sex so maybe the trouble was worth it?

Fortunately, Trevor seemed to read Paolo's thoughts and decided to make up his mind for him.

"Look, I'm going to level with you-" Trevor began, and there was a somewhat bored look on his face as if the interaction were more akin to customer service than anything else. He pointed at Andy, who was still gaping at him like a fish, and he shook his head. "I know he's hot and you're probably thinking of risking it for him but there is some weird stuff going on here you don't want to get in the middle of. Move on."

He stared at Paolo with an even, steady gaze, and something about his confidence was incredibly unnerving- it made Paolo think that despite his small stature, Trevor was the kind of guy who would cause a lot of trouble if he had to.

Fuck it, Paolo thought to himself, and he reluctantly slipped off of Andy's lap and shot the man an apologetic glance. "This is getting too weird for me, I'm out. Hit me up sometime if you ever work out... this."

Andy muttered a half-hearted protest but he let his hands fall from Paolo's waist, allowing the other boy to slip away from him, and Paolo took one last longing look at the sexy stranger before he shuffled off in search of a safer conquest for the evening.

Trevor slipped into the empty stool he'd left behind and flagged down the bartender, glancing sidelong at his boyfriend before setting his phone down on the counter and digging into his pocket for his walled. An uncomfortable silence settled in and Andy winced awkwardly- one hand came up to rub the back of his neck as he searched for words.

"Hey baby, I can explain, I was just-"

Trevor cut him off with a dismissive wave of his hand. "You can stop there, I know you're not him." He ignored the other man's dumbfounded expression in favor of flashing the bartender his ID and setting some cash on the counter. "Can I get a hard cider? And get him a rum and ginger ale with a splash of lemon please, it's his favorite."

The bodyhopper, now exposed, swore under his breath- he thought this had been one of his cleanest snatches yet, the dude fit him like a glove, but apparently he hadn't done as well as he'd thought. He should have known that snagging a hunk like Andy on a Saturday would be too good to be true. With a sigh, he slumped over the counter and lolled his head sideways to stare at the other boy.

"Fuck, did you see me hop him?" he asked, double checking to see that the bartender wasn't nearby and they could speak freely.

"No," Trevor shook his head and gazed at the back of the bar, idly studying the assortment of bottles lined up against the wall. "But when I got back from the bathroom and Andy was gone I kinda figured that something was up." He turned and wagged a finger at the body hopper inside of his boyfriend's body, almost like he was chastising a disappointing student. "You were on the right track taking him to a different bar- smart to leave the scene of the crime -but disappearing without giving some kind of excuse to the bartender or sending a text was a mistake. Leaving is one thing but leaving without an explanation raises questions."

"Damn, you're right," The hopper grimaced at his rookie mistake- he'd been so excited to be inside such a handsome body that he'd forgotten to cover his tracks. Speaking of which... "How did you track me down?"

"Location services are on," Trevor tapped the back of his phone. "I always know where Andy is."

"You just track your boyfriend's location all the time?" The hopper's eyebrow raised a little judgmentally. "That's kinda creepy."

"Creepy? I guess it kinda is," Trevor's tone was as dry as a desert. "Boy, I sure would hate to feel like I'm doing anything too... let's just say invasive, to him."

Trevor gave the hopper a pointed look, and the hopper slouched a bit and shuffled in his seat awkwardly. Touché.

The bartender arrived with perfect timing, depositing Trevor's order in front of him, and the young man nodded his thanks. He grabbed the bottle of cider for himself then slid a glass full of pale amber liquid across the counter towards the hopper, who eyed it with confusion.

"Here, try this," Trevor said after a sip of his own beverage, nodding towards the glass. "Ginger ale, lemon, rum. Andy prefers it to beer."

The hopper thought it sounded like a strange combination but, not wanting to be rude, he sat up and took a small sip. When the concoction hit his tastebuds, he groaned.

"Oh my god, that's good," he licked the spare drops off of his lips, savoring the tangy flavor, and Trevor shot him a look that said I told you so.

"Yeah, the big guy swears by it," Trevor said, referring to the real Andy, and he shook his head and gave a fond little smile. "It takes like cleaning fluid to everybody else but it's magic on his tongue."

Then the smile dropped from his face as Trevor adopted a serious expression and clasped his hands in front of him, turning in his stool to face the hopper occupying his boyfriend's body. Instinctively, the hopper sat up straighter.

"Anyways, now that formalities are out of the way, let's talk business," he began, speaking with a firm, steady voice. "As you've probably gathered I'm rather fond of the guy you've hopped tonight and I don't take kindly to people who try to use him, so here's what's gonna happen: I'm gonna sit right here next to you all night and chase off any guy who comes close. If you try to leave, I will follow you. After a long night of nothing, you're gonna get bored and leave us alone. Or, you could skip all that, just leave now, and maybe salvage the rest of your evening inside of someone else."

The hopper was about to argue (he'd finally managed to hop a guy like this and now he was being told to give it up?) but a second look at his host's boyfriend caused him to close his mouth. Getting involved in a situation with too many strings was a rookie hopper mistake, and he'd already made too many of those for one evening. Still, the hopper glanced down at his stolen cock which (somehow) was still hard in his jeans and he grimaced.

"So you're really just gonna make me sit here all night with a boner?" he whined, flexing his ass to make the tent in his pants jump a bit, which Trevor seemed unamused by.

"Yup," Trevor said flatly, popping his lips on the final "p" sound. He crossed his arms. "It's a nice dick and I'm in charge of keeping it safe."

"Damn it, I thought I was gonna get laid tonight!" The hopper threw his hands in the air and bowed his head, giving it a good natured shake. "But you win, I know when I'm beaten and I accept defeat." He glanced at the still full glass on the table in front of him. "Can I at least finish this drink first? It tastes so good with his mouth."

Trevor let out a puff of breath and the hopper could visibly see tension he hadn't realized was there seeping out of him as he relaxed back into his barstool- it took guts to face down a hopper, and the relief he experienced at his success was palpable. Trevor eyed the hopper, then the clock, then he shrugged.

"I suppose that's fair," he said, and then he lifted up his bottle and extended it towards his companion. "Cheers."

"Cheers!" The hopper clinked his glass against Trevor's bottle and took a small sip- he intended to stretch this one drink out for as long as possible so he could extend his stay inside of Andy's delectable body. Even if he didn't get to use it, just getting to sit there in it was a treat in itself. Trevor raised an eyebrow at him, so the hopper took another, slightly larger sip, then changed the subject.

"You're being awfully chill about this," the hopper remarked, and he eyed Trevor up and down- he hadn't thought much of the other boy at first but now that he looked closer, he could see the appeal in the boy's sweet face and delicate proportions. "You a hopper too? Nice choice of vessel, you wear the whole 'little brown twink with the heart of a bulldog thing' well. He's not bad looking either."

"Uh, thanks I guess?" Trevor said awkwardly, his cheeks suddenly a shade darker. He looked away and fiddled with the label of his cider. "But I'm just a regular human, this is my real body."

"Oh!" The hopper blinked and took a big swig of his drink to cover his surprise. "Shit, and there I was just talking about you like you're a Halloween costume. It's a hopper thing, don't take it personally." He paused. "Or do, I guess, if you like the compliments." He paused again, feeling like there was one more thing he should add. "And, uh, sorry for hopping your boyfriend I guess."

"Don't worry about it, happens all the time," Trevor chuckled bitterly, running a hand absently though his hair while the other hand gripped the counter tighter than was strictly necessary. "The fact that you're still wearing clothes and didn't try to punch me in the face and bolt off the second I showed up already puts this in the top half of the encounters the two of us have had."

The hopper whistled. "Sounds like there's a story there."

"There is," Trevor looked a bit guilty and he stared up at the ceiling, squinting his eyes shut like he was recalling a painful memory. "I was, uh, actually the first one to snatch his body with some random spell I found on the internet."

"Oh really?" The hopper eyed Trevor with a newfound sense of respect. "That's ballsy for a human but I can't say I blame you, this guy is a nice vessel. I thought for sure your boyfriend was gonna be my golden ticket for tonight, like, look at him!" The hopper lifted both of Andy's arms up into an impressive double bicep flex and gave an exaggerated smolder that drew a laugh out of Trevor. The hopper relaxed a bit and leaned back in his stool, arms crossed behind his head because he liked the way it made those same biceps bulge. Might as well enjoy them while I still have them.

"Man, if you hadn't come along I was gonna be rolling in dick tonight," he mused, running a hand over the strong line of his jaw and admiring his smooth caramel skin. "Nobody could turn this face down."

"Yeah, I'm rather fond of it," Trevor said wistfully, staring at Andy's body with a bit of a sad expression on his face, and suddenly the hopper felt a twinge of guilt he usually didn't experience after snatching someone. But then Trevor shook his head and furrowed his brow. "But you don't need to look like that to find someone- I'm living proof of that. I still managed to net Andy looking just like this."

"Shut up, you're cute," the hopper said, rolling Andy's eyes. "But seriously though, the thing about being a hopper is you get to try on all these different faces and forms and it kinda starts to give you an inferiority complex. My true body is around the same age as this guy but like, he's made out of bricks and I'm made out of straw, if you get what I'm saying. Nothing wrong with wanting a little upgrade every now and then!"

"Oh yeah?" Trevor's eyes flicked up and down the hopper's body- he knew it well, of course, but it was always a sight to see. He licked his lips. "What's your favorite part?"

The hopper blinked. "Huh?"

"I wanna what your favorite part about being in my boyfriend's body is," Trevor clarified, his fingers toying idly with the neck of his bottle of cider. For a second the hopper thought the boy might be nervous, but this seemed to be something else. "I'm not gonna judge, I was in there myself once! I just think it would be interesting to... compare notes."

"Well he's-" The hopper stumbled over his words for a second, not entirely sure if a joke was being played on him, but Trevor's big brown eyes stared at him expectantly, so he continued in earnest. The answer was easy anyways.

"He's jacked, you know?" The hopper shrugged and shook his shoulders out a bit, putting the full broadness of Andy's shoulders on display, and he tilted his head down so he could watch the way his host's hard earned physique rippled visibly beneath his clothes as he moved. With delight, he pushed out every muscle that he could until he felt so big that he was worried he might burst. "Like holy fuck, is he ripped! This guy is jacked from head to toe in the best way possible- because sometimes you go for a really muscular guy and he turns out to be some roided up gym rat so you wind up feeling like a dried out piece of beef jerky, but this guy is juicy."

He relaxed a bit and leaned back in his chair, wrapping one of his hands around one of his thick thighs and squeezing to feel the firm handful of meat giving way beneath his fingers. He shuddered- he'd taken over a good number of bodies in his time, and none of them had legs like this.

"His body has a bit of a bounce to it, you know? And I like that, I like that I can feel him move when I move." He paused, almost embarrassed about what he was going to say next, and he took a big swig from his drink for courage. His eyes remained trained on the glass as he continued, but he still felt Trevor's eyes drilling into the side of his face. As he shifted in his seat, he felt his stolen glutes roll beneath him. "But the first thing I noticed about him when I spotted him across that bar was his giant cakes and they don't disappoint, there's almost a kind of luxury in getting to sit on a pillowy ass like this."

"Yeah, I know exactly what you mean..." Trevor murmured, blatantly staring down at the aforementioned butt, and one of his hands drifted absently down to his lap. The hopper raised an eyebrow. "What else do you like?"

"Is this..." The hopper glanced around the room to check that no one was listening, but then leaned in closer anyways. "Dude, is this turning you on? Are you getting off on this?"

"Maybe a little bit," Trevor shrugged, his cheeks flushing dark brown, and he hunched his shoulders defensively. "What? It's not often that the people who snatch Andy's body are interested in doing much talking. Indulge me for a minute."

The hopper was all too happy to oblige, relishing the opportunity to speak openly like this with someone else about his experience. He puffed his chest out, feeling the natural swagger that came with being in such a studly body, and continued.

"I like how hot he is. I like that people's heads turn when I walk by them, and they can't keep their eyes off of his body because even when he's dressed head to toe you can still see these big fucking muscles busting out of his clothes, like this body is to be contained."

He leaned in closer to Trevor and lowered his voice, bringing Andy's tone down to a deep rumble. "And I like just sitting here knowing that I'm probably the biggest guy in the room. You know," his hand slipped under the bar and closed around his crotch. "with this fucking thing your boy is packing... that's a hell of an ego boost."

He squeezed tight, unable to hold back a little groan as he felt what was hidden inside of his pants, and he thinks he heard Trevor make a little noise too. His face grew hot and he took another swig to cool down, savoring the taste of the golden mix, and when the hopper set his drink down on the counter he heard it clink- glancing at it, he realized that there was nothing left in the glass but ice. He reluctantly let go of Andy's swollen cock and ran his hand down his face instead, knowing now that his time was up.

Trevor cleared his throat and brought his hands back up the countertop, taking another sip of cider and then gesturing with the bottle towards the empty glass. "You finished your drink."

"Seems like it," the hopper said with a sigh, then clapped his hands together decisively. "Well, a deal's a deal, I guess I'll get out of your hair now."

Trevor's lips quirked up at the side and he glanced up at Andy's wooly hair. "Technically his hair."

"Hardy har har," the hopper droned, shooting Trevor a dry look. Unable to resist, he gave Andy's pecs one last rub (seriously, he thought, this guy has an incredible rack) and bounced them a few times for the road. "Damn, and I was really hoping to get laid tonight!" The hopper laughed and shook his head. "But it seems like you two have a good thing going and I don't wanna mess with that."

He gestured with his thumbs towards the privacy of the bathrooms. "I'd better-"

"Do it right here," Trevor interrupted him, and the hopper froze.

Now that was a risky proposition- only the most daring of hoppers would do it in the open unless they were absolutely sure they wouldn't get caught. But... the hopper glanced around and it seemed that no one was giving the two of them much attention. And if Trevor and his boyfriend had gone through this before, they were unlikely to make a fuss, which meant even less risk...

"No one is watching," Trevor egged him on. "Come on, it'd be hot."

Unable to resist the temptation to do something a bit naughty for once (well, naughtier than usual for a hopper) the hopper slipped out of his stool and rose to his feet slowly, doing his best not to draw too many eyes to himself. He took a deep breath, taking note of the way the air made his massive chest expand, and he still thought it was a damn shame that he wouldn't get to take such a lovely body out for more of a joyride. After one last survey of the room to make sure the coast was clear, he closed his eyes and-

"Wait," Trevor interrupted again, and the hopper's eyes flicked open. What more could there be? he wondered as he stared at Trevor, who looked at him with a coy expression. "Before you go, what's your name?"

"Oh!" the hopper said, a bit surprised. Asking a hopper their real name was something of a faux pas, but Trevor seemed nice so for some reason he decided to answer the question honestly. "Dante. My name's Dante."

Trevor extended his hand. "Well, it'll be nice to meet you Dante."

Dante smiled and reached out, returning the handshake, and then suddenly it was Andy's hand that Trevor was holding.

"What the hell?" Andy blinked rapidly and shook his head out as if trying to physically chase the confusion away, and his hand instinctively pulled away from Trevor's in confusion and groped blindly for support. He found the counter of the bar and grabbed onto it, lifting his head and searching the room wildly as he gathered his surroundings, but when his eyes recognized his boyfriend he instantly relaxed.

"Hey Andy," Trevor said meekly, and he didn't have time to get another word out before Andy crashed into him and enveloped him in a great big bear hug. Trevor grunted, because he was being squeezed a bit tight, but he rubbed his boyfriend's back to comfort him anyways- Andy was always a bit clingy with his boyfriend after regaining control of his body, finding that the other boy's presence helped him to feel grounded in himself once more. (And Trevor needed a bit of reassurance as well sometimes.)

"Shit, Trev," the bigger boy groaned, his face buried in the wavy hair atop Trevor's head. He breathed in the familiar scent and focused on that instead of his disorientation. "Did I let it happen again?"

"You did get snatched," Trevor gave two firm claps on Andy's back (the sign that he was running out of air) and Andy released him, pulling back to gaze into his partner's eyes, and Trevor smiled at him reassuringly. "But everything is okay now. Nothing happened."

Unnoticed by the two lovebirds, a Dante was sitting in the stool that had formerly hosted Andy's body and watching the tender proceedings with mild interest. He had to admit that the pair made for a very cute couple, which made him feel he'd made the right choice in letting Andy go... but that didn't make his balls any less blue after a night of striking out, and seeing two hot young college boys getting physical right in front of him wasn't getting his mood up in the right way.

Feeling a bit dejected all of the sudden, Dante snatched up the glass that he had been drinking from before and upended it to his lips, letting the last few drops of alcoholic concoction slide into his mouth. He winced at the bitter taste.

"Shit, he was right," he said out loud. "It's only good with his tongue."

Trevor glanced over at the visitor and his eyes widened in surprise at the sight of what Dante looked like in his real body- a black man with skin a few shades darker than Andy's who seemed just a few years older than the boy as well, an average build and median in height between Andy and Trevor.

He was, Trevor noted, not unpleasant to look at.

"Andy, this is Dante," Trevor directed his boyfriend's attention towards the hopper, who gave Andy a nod. Andy nodded back. "He hopped you earlier tonight but he's very graciously decided to step out of you before he could cause any trouble."

"Really?" Andy breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at Dante. "Thanks man, that's really cool of you."

Dante sniffed and gave a casual shrug but Andy, apparently unsatisfied with a simple verbal thanks, stepped closer to Dante. For a moment the hopper was worried he was about to get clocked, but Andy just stuck his hands out and pulled the other man in for a firm bro-hug, and the two clapped each other on the back.

(Dante let his hands linger for a moment on the other boy's back and damn, his body felt just as good from the outside. Maybe he should have tried harder to fuck someone using it.)

"Don't worry man, it's nothing," he said after they'd pulled apart, a hint of a smile on his lips. "Always down to help a guy out."

"Sick t-shirt by the way," Andy's eyes flicked down to the Trials of Osiris top that Dante had picked out for the evening, and he gave a nod of approval. "You game?"

"More than I should," Dante admitted, and Andy let out a big laugh. Dante gave a little snort and rolled his eyes. "Dead game."

"Dead game," Andy repeated, and Trevor looked a little bit lost but smiled and nodded anyways.

"This is my good luck shirt," Dante explained, feeling a bit more at ease around the duo now that he knew they didn't bare him any ill-will. "It doesn't really matter what I wear when I go out because I- well, you know, I'm gonna be wearing whatever my host was wearing." He coughed awkwardly. "So I like to wear this one."

"Seems like you two are hitting it off, that's cute," Trevor glanced between the two of them with a coy look on his face. He leaned over and draped himself across Andy's shoulder, his smaller frame fitting nicely onto his boyfriend's sizeable bulk, and he rested his chin by Andy's ear. "Hey, Andy, you know how we went out tonight so we could find a guy that we could, you know..." his voice trailed off. "Try that thing with?"

Andy tilted his head to the side and looked bewildered for a moment. "Yeah? So you still wanna find someone to have a-" Then the switch flicked in his head and he perked up. "Oh! With him?"

He turned to face Dante and looked the young man up and down, and Dante shuffled uncomfortably- he was a hopper, he wasn't used to having his real body looked at like this. But apparently Andy liked what he saw because he placed a hand on Trevor's shoulder and squeezed tight. "Yeah, yeah I'd be down for that."

Dante glanced between the couple, who were both eyeing him up in a strange way, and his eyebrow raised. "What are you guys talking about?"

"You know how you wanted to get laid tonight?" Trevor asked, squeezing in closer to his boyfriend and tracing one finger against his chest in a motion that landed somewhere between casual seductive. He looked at Dante expectantly. "What if that was still an option?"

[angel---eater]

i truly have no tolerance for this fandom shittin on random fans personal trans headcanons. someone saw themselves and their experience in this character, isnt that beautiful? why dont you mind your business and focus on your own fan stuff? wouldnt that make you happier? someones headcanon doesnt negate yours. what the fuck is wrong with yall. its playing make believe x2. its just a headcanon. real life trans folks are in active danger right now and some of yall are wasting all your energy abusing others over which pronoun set figments of someone elses imagination 'should' be using