#their last resort

[percontaion-points]

Their Last Resort chapters 1 & 2

Click here for the rest of the series!

Click to see the rest of the snark & image descriptions

Chapter 1

Chapter One PAIGE

I am getting so goddamned sick and tired of this switching POV nonsense for romance novels. DO YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT WOULD RESOLVE THIS?! FUCKING THIRD PERSON.

I love my job. I love my job. I love my job. I just have to keep repeating the mantra. There is a lot to like about working at this resort. Siesta Playa is known for its crystal clear water, white-sand beaches, luxury accommodations, and . . . grotesquely spoiled tourists, who all ascribe to the belief that their year’s worth of credit card points entitles them to nothing short of royal treatment.

Girl, stop lying to yourself. Nobody fucking likes working in customer service.

There’s no need for me to turn around to confirm my suspicions when he walks up behind me. He might as well be accompanied by a theme song filled with deep, ominous organs. Dun dun dunnnn. He’s a regular in Mordor. The devil’s dinner guest. Voldemort’s pen pal. Cole Clark is neither my manager nor my friend; he’s a thorn in my side. His mere presence spikes my blood with adrenaline.

This would have been way more suspenseful as a romantic book if the chapter titles hadn’t given away that he’s the love interest. Like ah yes, enemies to lovers. Great. (Don’t get me wrong, because I do enjoy a GOOD enemies to lovers. The problem is… These books usually aren’t it.)

As a member of Siesta Playa’s entertainment and hospitality department, my job is to lead excursions and activities for adventure-loving guests. Interested in surfing, sailing, or hikes that culminate beneath majestic waterfalls? I’m your girl. And so what if, very occasionally (well, the actuaries at our insurance say it’s 11.7 percent of the time), my zany excursions result in mild to moderate injuries? Ships are safest in the harbor, but that’s not why ships are built! Dr. Missick—our resort’s resident doctor—absolutely hates me because I’ve turned his cushy retirement job into a full-time urgent care center. Rock climbing abrasions, bruises and bites courtesy of trendy but ill-tempered yoga goats, and a burn every now and then from the weekly hot-coal walk are only the start. However, I would just like to point out that there are just as many buffet-related injuries at this resort. Just last week there was a kebab impalement and a chocolate-fountain scalding. My point is Dr. Missick’s ever-growing patient load is not all my doing, which is why it infuriates me that Cole keeps a whiteboard in the break room titled “Days Since Last Guest Injury” as an easy way to needle me.

If a guest goes on a hike (off hotel property, I might add) and twists their ankle… How the fuck is it the fault of the hotel? Also, why the fuck is there not an actual doctor around to tend to these people? Send them to the fucking hospital, JFC.

“How are you so tan?” I asked him once. “You never step foot outside.”

Me, gesturing broadly to multiple races of people who are not white. Bitch, it’s not a fucking tan; it’s called having dark skin.

Before I can say anything else, he turns and walks away.

Chapter 1 summary: Meet Paige, the latest cookie-cutter romance novel protagonist. She works at a tropical resort, and often has to deal with Karens. The latest one is bemoaning about how she went out whale-watching, but didn’t see a single whale. Yeah. After screaming to speak with Paige’s manager, Cole shows up. He’s attractive enough that his presence plus a handful of drink vouchers is enough to placate the Karen for now. Then Paige explains to us that she’s the “adventure director” at the resort. But Cole hate her because her adventures often end in mishaps for the guests. And also, the local doctor. Of whom there is apparently only one. Which doesn’t sound safe. But enough about that. Paige is searching for love… But since she’s limited to her co-workers, she’s settled for lust instead. She’s got her sights set on the new bartender, Blase. Even though he’s apparently dumber than soup. Cole seems upset when she off-handedly mentions the staff bonfire later that night, but since it’s off resort grounds, there’s nothing he can do about it.

Chapter 2

My parents are both marine biologists actively working in the field, i.e., two absolute kooks who’d rather be swimming alongside sea turtles than having to deal with real live people. I’m surprised they even wanted a kid. Though lovely and supportive, they were ill prepared to offer me a structured childhood of any sort. My adolescent years were spent globe-trotting, hopping from school to school, friend group to friend group. They didn’t see why a child should slow them down. […] A part of me worried I was only living that way of life because it’s all I knew, not because it necessarily made me happy.

From what I’ve noticed other people saying about how they turned out… By all accounts, Paige should have moved into a suburb with a husband, and focused on popping out 2.5 kids, and having a stable career. But I get that it doesn’t exactly make for a good story. This would have been better if that’s what her parents had done, rather than the author to try and come up with some zany background.

A part of me worried I was only living that way of life because it’s all I knew, not because it necessarily made me happy. In practice, it’s harder than it sounds to be that casual and carefree. Logistically, it’s a nightmare trying to figure out where exactly you’ll be from one week to the next. Also, there’s a real loneliness that accompanies that way of life. You end up feeling like a perpetual tourist, as if you don’t really belong anywhere. Living only for the thrill of new adventures eventually starts to get old, and more than anything, I felt myself longing for lasting connections and a place I could get used to. Becoming a regular at a coffee shop—having someone call out to me, “Vanilla latte, extra shot?”—started to sound way more exotic than stuffing clothes into a backpack and taking off to parts unknown.

I rest my case.

Since then, Camila and Lara have decided that it’s their sole mission in life to dress me up like I’m their own personal Barbie. It’s, in their words, “a travesty” to let my body go to waste. “Your legs! That waist! These breasts!” I mostly let them play dress-up with me because it’s fun and secretly I love that they’re willing to help me out. They’re sexy, and they make me feel like I can be sexy too.

This is super gay. Are we sure that the author even likes boys?

I spasm, sputter, stall like I’m a manual car with a novice driver behind the wheel.

[Image description: Clint Eastwood, in a still image from a film, appears to express disapproval or weariness. He is an old man, with gray hair and a neutral to slightly negative facial expression. His eyebrows are slightly furrowed, and his mouth is set in a displeased or questioning manner. The text overlay reads "I HAD TO READ THIS" over his head and "AND SO DO YOU" below him. The background is out-of-focus but seems to include a house or outdoor setting. His attire is a light-colored, likely casual, button-up shirt. A white mug is visible in his left hand. End Description]

Apparently, Lara and Camila aren’t interested in helping me bag Blaze, so I’ll have to take matters into my own hands. I’m hardly going to attract his attention by sitting over here on a beach towel, so I think I’ll roast a marshmallow. Yes. A big fluffy white marshmallow that I have to seductively slide onto the end of a long stick, and if it looks slightly erotic (like I’m . . . oh, I don’t know, giving a hand job), well, oopsies! I had no idea. I think I’ll add another, slower this time. I really have to pump it into place.

Has the author ever roasted a marshmallow in her life? It’s probably one of the least sexy things I can possibly thing of. Yes! IMPALE THE FLESH UPON A PIKE. AND THEN SHOVE IT INTO THE FIRE UNTIL IT’S BLACKENED. THEN DEVOUR IT!! Super sexy.

Yes, risk bodily harm to get the attention of a man. Feminism has got nothing on me!

I simply want to highlight this right here. She openly admits that she’s an anti-feminist idiot because she wants to fuck some random guy.

Lara passes me a beer, and I sit and drink, alone and hating myself for thinking of Cole and what he could possibly be up to at a time like this.

Chapter 2 summary: Paige explains to us that her parents were shit at raising her. And although she’s got a stable job, it’s kind of a shitty job. She seems kind of unhappy. Anyway, after her shift is over, she goes to her company dorm to get changed, and goes to the party. There, we’re introduced to Theo and Oscar, as well as Lara and Camila. The girls are her friends, and are determined to help her find a boyfriend… However, their “help” seems to be more in line with pushing her towards Cole than the guy that she actually wants right now. The entire set-up for Cole to be end-game is so fucking dumb. Anyway, Paige is disappointed when she remembers that her shit-ass friends aren’t interested in helping her hook up with Blaze, so she decides to… Uh… seductively roast some marshmallows. It doesn’t go well, and she ends up on fire. Embarrassed, she slinks off. But as she’s sipping a beer, she can’t help but wonder what Cole is up to tonight.

[bunnys-bookshelf]

So you know that TBR I planned for June??? Yeah, that didn’t happen. My mood readers understand. I DID finish 3 of the books I was reading from May, but I started more so my book count as of right now, is still 7, which is only one less than last May. But maybe I’ll finish them all this month🤣 Anyways, this was a good reading month. I enjoyed all but one of my reads. Read a life changing 5 star book❤️ Gave Freida McFadden another shot and was pleasantly surprised. And I really enjoyed Icebreaker when I honestly thought I wouldn’t.

[thankstothe]

🧾📈~

[sophsun1]

Interview With The Vampire – 1.04 | 2.06

[silveme]

King of minding his own business

This was a secret Santa gift for @hetuniversumzingtvoormij !

[goddessofbees]

So a couple of people have mentioned the jewelry I put on the phantom sibs and I wanted to explain them kinda like a character sheet of my headcannons

If anything is hard to read, sorry 😔 my handwriting might suck... and the spelling....

Yes I know I spelt jewelry wrong.

[aingeal98]

I love that Barbara's slightly grey morality during her history as Oracle is just something half the batfam cannot acknowledge for the sake of their own mental health.

Steph: Oooh you used to work with the Suicide Squad? Did you ever have to kill people?

Babs: Well I-

Dick: Of course she didn't!

Cass: Barbara would never kill how dare you.

Babs, knowing full well everyone in the room knows that's a flat out lie:... Yeah sure. Let's go with that.

[bamsara]

the lengths i go to avoid going to the er when in severe pain because they'll just stare at me like I'm a twat who's boohooing over nothing just to scratch at the doors of the urgent care at 6am because they don't put their business hours online

[robotpussy]

ok this is the first time ive ever had to do this but I really need the help right now. i know its going to be hard to get the full amount in the time that I have but any help would benefit me so greatly. i am putting the explanation under the cut as it is very long but TLDR:

I got into the film school of my dreams on a scholarship, but student finance will not pay for the full course fee because my university is independent, (£20k, SF can only pay £14.4k) so I have to pay the remaining fee (£5.6k) by June 1st. I cannot graduate if I don't pay this fee and I am under 2 months away from graduating. all evidence and explanation is under the cut.

gfm is here if the link above doesn't work

thank you to anyone in advance.

I have been studying filmmaking for 2 years at university and I am 2 months away from graduating. I got into this university through a scholarship that reduced the standard course fee in half. Usually, Student Finance/the government will pay for these course fees, but because my university is private, they are unable to pay the fee in full. My course costs £20k and Student Finance will pay £14,400 of this. This means I have to pay £5,600.

Here is the evidence and proof that I did get into my university on a scholarship and what my university offers in terms of fees:

I have been looking for financial support for 2 years (before I even started attending but had a confirmed place) and it has not been enough. I have contacted my local authority for years about the grant I am entitled to as a foster care leaver and the most I could receive was £2,000 that ended up going to paying my gas and electric bills.

I have also gone to many charities to ask them for support and many of the responses I got were "go to your local authority". I did find one charity that was willing to help me but the sponsors of the charity decided that I would receive a laptop and they would pay for the travel costs to my university for a year instead. I am eternally grateful for that but now I have nowhere else to go for this.

I would really appreciate any help I am already having a extremely hard time dealing my current eviction and I am on the verge if being homeless I would just like to get something off my back and I would rather graduate and get this over with. I am still actively working to find places that are willing to help me but in the time that I have now I would appreciate it if I could get something in the meantime.

[peace-hunter]

"can megatron see the ghosts?" sometimes :)

haunted au

[percontaion-points]

Upcoming Reads...

Currently reading: Their Last Resort by R.S. Grey

On deck:

Lost Girl (Lost Boys #2)

Arena by Karen Hancock

Lost & Found (Lost Boys #3)

19th Wife by David Ebershoff

Click here for the rest of the series!

[bunnys-bookshelf]

Rating: ⭐️⭐️.5

Recommend: eh not really

Review:

Alright I seriously considered DNFing this one. I started this as a pallet cleanser after reading Haunting Adeline and yeah it did what it needed to do. It was cute, wayyyy too cheesy but cute. I adored Paige. She was funny and entertaining. Cole, on the other hand was boring and dry. He almost has a “touch her and die” attitude which, in my opinion, doesn’t fit in fluffy romances. The banter was unnatural and the story was rushed, like do you hate him or love him because we can’t tell. I also feel like the author tried too hard to make Paige relatable by adding real life references(the Mario kart reference, the Mean Girls quote) but I also read it in like 2 days so I mean obviously I didn’t hate it. I was definitely sucked in. Over all though, 2.5 stars

[moxyphinx]

it's just the two of us AMBER IMAN & EDEN ESPINOSA in LEMPICKA

[starcurtain]

Hey! I apologize if this question has been asked before since it seems like a pretty obvious one, but where do you think the idea of Aventurine being a sex slave came from? Other than the obvious factor of it being something fun for the fandom to mess around with, I mean.

It's something I kind of took for granted as being true before playing his quest, but after finishing it I realized there wasn't really any indication. The only thing I can really think of is his master's comments about him having a good body. Is there anything in his behavior you can think of that would lead to this conclusion if it wasn't a popular fan interpretation already/kind of just an easy conclusion to reach with a slave character?

(also kind of related but what do you think of the idea that he sleeps around/with his clients to make deals? he's obviously willing to sexualize himself with the boob window, but that doesn't necessarily mean he goes further.)

As far as I can tell, the idea that Aventurine was involved in sexual slavery comes from three (maybe four) places:

First, the comment from the master about Aventurine's appearance. People were holding this comment up as refutable proof that Aventurine was used in sexual slavery on top of being tossed into the Hunger Games; however, the response from other players on this interpretation, especially the Chinese side of the fandom, was very mixed, with a lot of people pointing out that the context in the game probably meant the slave master was talking about Aventurine's ability to attract attention from fans watching the literal Sigonian Hunger Games, rather than having a direct sexual-slavery connotation.

Second, the comment from Sparkle about stripping naked and getting on his knees for Sunday. This one has way more implication in English than I think it might for an Eastern audience, actually. In English, this pretty much sounds like Sparkle saying Aventurine trades sexual favors for success in his gambles. However, I suspect the original intention in Chinese was more about humiliation. Western audiences don't have as much history with honor-based prostration, i.e. accepting corporal humiliation as a form of reconciliation that Eastern audiences might be more familiar with. And in any case, Sparkle is Sparkle. She probably just went for the lowest blow she could think of here.

Third, the general assumption that if Sigonian slaves were being chained, branded, beaten, sent to death matches, etc., it seems logical that they would also be taken advantage of in other ways. I honestly think this is probably the fairest take--many, many real slaves around the world faced (and still face!) sexual abuse, so if slaves from Sigonia were treated so poorly you could make them fight to the death for entertainment, it stands to reason they were probably also not safe from other forms of assault. We also have no idea what happened to Kakavasha in any of the years between his being a tiny child fleeing the massacre and then being purchased as a slave as a late-teens-early-twenties person. That's a very long time for a child to have to survive on their own on an extremely hostile planet and not face risks of all kinds or end up needing to do unspeakable things to survive. So I think this is at least not that far-fetched, although it's important to say there's nothing in the game that directly confirms this.

And fourth: I read a tweet semi-recently that stated that one of the Chinese (or maybe it was Japanese) names for a quest Aventurine was involved in was actually a reference to a book about a teenage sexual assault survivor. However, when I tried to verify this myself, I couldn't find any quest Aventurine was in that was based on a book about sexual assault in either English, Chinese, or Japanese. It's possible I just missed something, but I'm taking this one with a bit of a grain of salt currently, since I can't confirm it personally.

Regarding your other question, about whether I think Aventurine sleeps around to make deals...

I definitely think he does not, for one major reason.

First, I will admit that Aventurine is definitely willing to use his appearance to his advantage. This is pretty obvious. He wears incredibly flashy clothes, baths himself in cologne, overloads on glittering golden jewels, and absolutely calls attention to his appearance when working with clients.

We see him actively doing this in his Moment Among the Stars video, where he is clearly using his looks as an equal tool (to his wealth), to daze his target.

It's not an accident that he says things like "Use me as you wish," with all the explicit connotations preserved. The implication is there. However, unless he was absolutely backed into a corner, I think that implication is all it will ever be.

The reason I think this is that the devs go out of their way to give Aventurine three fairly noticeable physical behaviors in his in-game scenes:

For one, he has some of the most closed off body language of any character in the game.

Aventurine's default conversation pose is arms crossed directly and tightly in front of himself. This is like "Defensive Body Language 101." By crossing your arms, you put a symbolic barrier between yourself and the person you're speaking to, and also ensure that your hands are up and available in case you actually need to physically defend yourself.

Virtually all of Aventurine's conversations take place from this stance, no matter who he is speaking to (from the Trailblazer all the way to Topaz). He deliberately closes his pose off and tightens up his silhouette, which just sends a glaring "Don't touch me" message.

This closing off is also blatantly apparent when you compare it to the deliberately open poses he strikes while trying to make himself seem accessible to others (like tempting clients) or seem powerful (to intimidate):

Complementing this habit of closing himself off is a second noticeable aspect of his body language: He frequently avoids eye contact to the point that he even holds conversations while entirely facing away from the person he's speaking to.

I might be a bit lenient and say maybe he's doing this to on purpose to be mysterious, whoo~~ But... in all honestly, he just does this with everyone, even with Ratio while trying to talk about an actual important issue (wanting to look into Acheron's real identity). Hell, even the fake Aventurine does it to himself!

We can even say that wearing the rose-tinted glasses in the first place is another intentional barrier, one Aventurine deliberately removes in specific moments to give people the (false) impression that he's "letting them in" to his circle:

Now, this might be a bit more complicated in Aventurine's case, because eye contact has a whole extra meaning when eyes are the defining trait of your species and come with particularly challenging racial stereotypes. So it may be that Aventurine is simply used to conducting conversation while looking away to minimize racial prejudice against his eyes' unique appearance.

However, I'd also argue that the devs deliberately turned his entire model away in cutscene after cutscene to create a clear sense of being inaccessible, unapproachable, and unwilling to engage in the physical intimacy of standing closely, directly facing, and staring at his conversation partners.

While he faces away, he controls both the figurative and the literal direction of conversation, forcing people to keep their eyes on him while he is free to move as he pleases. Over and over again, it just says "I want to be the one in control. I'm not afraid to show my back to you, but you are not welcome to come near me."

And, in fact, that's a third aspect of his character's body language that I am sure the devs did not include accidentally: More so than other characters, many of Aventurine's conversations are conducted from weirdly far distances. Like, half the time he's talking, he's standing all the way on the opposite side of the room!

This habit of speaking from a-larger-than-normal distance is apparent in the first scene with Himeko...

And then in just about every other conversation too:

The bubble is twenty feet in every direction.

Like yes, he does approach and have conversations like a normal person... sometimes... But it is significantly more noticeable with Aventurine than with other characters that he often conducts whole conversations--even with his allies--from a distance. Just genuinely weirdly far apart.

Leaving space for Gaiathra, I guess.

And it's because these significant decisions were made with Aventurine's in-game body language that, when he deliberately alters his own behavior, it is instantaneously noticeable.

In 2.0, he closes the distance, the glasses come off, and he gets directly up in the Trailblazer's face.

It's uncomfortable not just because the player is suddenly being loomed over, but because this behavior has already been subconsciously established for the player as out of character for Aventurine.

The barriers the character himself was putting up are deliberately stripped away so that he can use physicality and demanding eye contact to intimidate his target. He has to reverse his own normal body language in order to come across as domineering (and, I guess if you're into that, appealing in a domineering manner).

And ummmm, just a tiny aside here because I can't resist:

This does mean that when the game goes out of its way to demonstrate Aventurine altering his own normal habit of distant and defensive body language, it is absolutely intentional.

Yes, this is a Ratiorine post in disguise. There literally isn't any other character in the game that Aventurine is shown being comfortable standing so close to and interacting with in this manner. This doesn't occur in every one of their scenes, but Ratio is the only character that this happens with repeatedly. It's not an accident that the devs literally added "They were walking side-by-side" as flavor text.

But look, I'll be fair: There's a great example of this in Aventurine's scene with Acheron too, where he closes the distance and attempts to make eye contact with her--seeking her guidance and closeness--and she is actually the one stepping away, speaking with her back turned, demonstrating her power and control (and issues with connection!) in that scene.

Anyway, this was a whole longggg tangent into analyzing Aventurine's body language, but my point is that, overall, the devs deliberately adjusted his model's actions in-game to give the impression of a person who clearly wants to be in control of every interaction he has with other people, who insists on distance over intimacy, and whose stances and habits suggest that he is significantly less accessible and open than his "Use me as you wish" motto might suggest.

Long story longer, I think that there is almost zero chance Aventurine is willingly ceding control over himself or the actions expected of him to anyone he isn't 100% comfortable with, and I think that using physical intimacy of any kind would be an absolute last resort for him. Frankly, he comes across as more likely to shoot himself in the foot than let someone he doesn't trust lay hands on him.

To me, he reads very much as "You may look, but you may not touch."

[p1nkshield]

Alfred: *walks by the kitchen*

Dick: 🎵my milkshake brings all the boys to the yard🎶 *pouring blueberries, miso, strawberry milk, pebbles and onions into a blender*

Alfred: *gets out spray bottle*

Dick: 🎶and dam- ack! Hey!

Alfred: We. *spray* Established. *spray* That. *spray* You. *spray* Are. *spray* Banned. *spray* Along. *spray* With. *spray* Bruce.

Dick:

Later

Alfred: Might I, despite my better judgment, inquire why you were adding rocks to the blender?

Dick: you know how there was a dinosaur that swallowed rocks to help with digestion?

Alfred: Please cease your explanation as I have heard enough.

Dick: ok

[valtsv]

once again leaving my house for hours at a time because my weirdly obsessively attached new roommate is making me irritable and on edge. the worst thing is i don't think he's even intentionally trying to push every button that makes me want to be as far away from someone as possible, he's just lonely and lacks boundaries which makes his way of trying to initiate social interaction like oil and water to mine.