#they're a plot device

[warpedpuppeteer]

It's interesting how Buck's love interests are all written in a way that ends because of the reason they meet/happen in the first place and then of course, we have Eddie.

Abby, who changes Buck's view of a healthy relationship but then turns around and ghosts him, making him wait for months on end and letting him realize she's not coming back on his own.

Ali, who meets Buck during a dangerous situation in his line of work and then leaves him for how dangerous his work is.

Taylor, who lashes out at Buck for using her as a fake date and saying she thought she could trust Buck to be a friend who then ends up using him for her career and chose to put his friends in danger.

Natalia, who's there to help him embrace and deal with his temporary death but it leads to their break up because of the constant talk surrounding death when Buck's not comfortable with it.

We can't confirm for Tommy till it ends but it's important to note how he offers to get Buck into his interests like flying and muay thai yet doesn't show effort with Buck's interests like dressing up according to the bachelor party theme despite Buck being stressed about it. And we also have the fact that the entire reason they got together was due to Buck's jealousy for Eddie which he then claims to be was for Tommy. Makes me think they are either going to end because of differing interests OR because of the jealousy issue popping up again.

Funnily enough, every scene above has an Eddie parallel:

Eddie co-parents with Buck and not only does this not stop after a dangerous event but Eddie also has Buck down as a legal guardian (healthy relationship - Abby).

Eddie is in the same dangerous line of work and they have each other's backs. This happens right off the bat too.(dangerous job - Ali).

The Lawsuit era and The Dispatch era - both where they "betray" each other but manage to work through it (betrayal/lie - Taylor).

Eddie doesn't pressure Buck to talk about his temporary death until Buck's ready and is more focused about him living than in his death (death doula - Natalia).

Eddie who has different interests than Buck (poker, basketball and UFC/MMA) but also manages to show interest and actively takes part in whatever Buck comes up with; he suggests their outfit for the themed party AND ends up staying there for Buck even when others leave (different hobbies & showing interest/taking part - Tommy).

Absolutely fascinating when you start noticing that Buck's relationships keep failing for one reason or another and then we have him and Eddie who face the same sort of situations but they still come out of it stronger together.

It's clear that there's a reason Buck is able to overcome anything when it comes to Eddie (that conversation with Maddie about being there for each other even at their worst 👀) and we've already established that everything Eddie looks for in a partner is already something he has found in Buck. So really, all that's left is for them to realize that hey, the one I'm looking for is right in front of me! 🤷🏽

And yes, it's been said to death (hah) but you don't find it son you make it. And Buck and Eddie have already made it.

[stagefoureddiediaz]

apparently severe CO poisoning can cause lesions on the skin, so maybe it's all connected? It would be just in the weewoo show wheelhouse to turn something silly into something deathly serious

Yes I was wondering if it would be a CO poisoning thing - which is where I was going with the post I made at 3am (my time) about the pipes Gerrard mentioned - it was 3am so I didn't actually state CO as the thing because my brain was not in fully functional mode 😂

It would be so on brand for the show to go down that route! especially as Buck has been stuck on latrine duty for so long - hence more exposed to those pipes perhaps!

My post about Tommy hitting Buck was more of a bit of speculative fun - to explore aspects of Bucks character and how the show might choose to address them - there are lots of possibilities!

I am very much of the opinion that it will be a poisoning thing - and that Hen will also be affected - hence the hallucination of Denny getting hit by a car and trapped - seeing her worst nightmares!

I actually really like the metaphor of CO poisoning to be honest. CO poisoning can also cause, increased heart rate, sleepiness, delirium, confusion and the depression of the central nervous system, alongside hallucinations and lesions.

Using CO poisoning as a way of indicating the reality of Buck's relationships over the course of all 8 seasons - that he's been slowly, slowly poisoning himself by just falling into all these relationships without actually stopping to look at what he wants or needs and how they're making him feel - letting others chase him and just going along with things, until a physical manifestation appears in the form of a lesion. its a really interesting and clever way of exploring Bucks tendencies to not choose for himself and not look internally at his wants and needs and also to not look to closely at his heart (where he'll find Eddie when he does)

CO poisoning slowly increasing your heart rate (abby), headaches and dizziness (Ali), kind of making you sluggish - like you've got anaesthetic in your system (depression of the central nervous system) (taylor), shortness of breath (Natalia) and being confused and disoriented (hello I misunderstood the assignment) when Tommy kissed him. The delirium of realising a new part of yourself you didn't know existed before, and then having it manifest visually in a physical lesion - Tommy being akin to a lesion on Bucks life (in a halloween episode no less) as almost a final and visual symptom is peak comedy (only on 911!) and such an interesting way to introduce baggage and hurdles or whatever synonym Oliver wants to go with in his next interview! Because if its visual - it means Buck has become aware of things - metaphorically he's beginning to understand what he does every time he is in a relationship - and now he has to both stop the cause of those symptoms and treat them before they 'kill' him - basically he has to actually learn from his past relationships (and his current one) and get off that hamster wheel. Its such a clever metaphor for Bucks relationships and his inability to look at things until they become so obvious he cannot avoid them.

He's going to learn that he's going about things the same way with a man as he did with the women he dated and this is where he finally looks and learns and unpacks that baggage and moves forward!

[poppiesforthirteen]

i don't get people who don't like looms because "when two time lords love each other very much they send a formal application to the council to use a machine that is in their house" is so much funnier than a nuclear family

[melonthesprigatito]

Honestly, I think it's hilarious that the Detective Pikachu movie managed to slip in a blatant reference to Dynamaxing with that entire Torterra garden scene and absolutely NOBODY noticed because the movie came out before Sword and Shield did.

First time I watched the movie, I was like "Oh, I wonder what kind of fucked up unethical experiments that lab did on those poor Torterra to make them grow so big. :(" but when I rewatched it during quarantine after I played Sword, it dawned on me that they must have pumped the Torterra full of Dynamax particles.

Like, this movie and SwSh were probably in development around the same time so I bet some writer on the Detective Pikachu team was just sitting there like "Wouldn't it be funny if we had this entire scene with a game mechanic nobody knows about yet, so when people rewatch the movie later, they'll be like "OH YOU MOTHER FUCK-"

[fromtheseventhhell]

The way fandom keeps flip-flopping between Arya's age is so weird. One minute she's too old to experience trauma, the next minute she's too young for crushes and romance. Like jeez fandom, make up your own damn mind.

I've been saying that a lot of people don't consider Arya an actual character, and the inconsistent takes about her are one of the best examples. People just want her to exist as a prop to support their fanon so they don't bother doing any analysis (a lot of them don't even bother reading her chapters). They'll just say whatever depending on the conversation. They hate empathizing with her, so they adultify her; They hate the idea of her having a romance, so they infantilize her. No consistency or logic...just vibes and the desire to reduce her character. It's like them claiming she has masculine privilege but then insisting she has to leave Westeros to be "free" since she's non-conforming. Or that she's a feral wild child who can't control herself while also claiming she's a cold-hearted, calculating assassin.

They're so obsessive about it too. They can't just dislike her character and not talk about her, they need to erase basically everything about her story. It really boils down to them liking her story elements but not being able to project onto her, so they steal her traits for their fanon!fave. It's wild we have to see their nonsense takes because they can only "enjoy" the story after they've rewritten it. At this point it won't even stop if we get TWOW; I can already foresee the "George stole [x]'s story to give to Arya because he hates feminine women" takes lol

[existencebringsonlypain]

I love hyperfixations. you can be playing a video game and there's a character you can interact at most twice, and you only see them in ONE scene, and they are of no significance whatsoever, and everyone who plays will be like "oh yeah that's jockington, he love sports. one time when they didn't give Catti a hoola-hoop during gym class she just used him instead" like we have NO REASON to know that. WHY do we know that

[earlgrayonarainyday]

frederick being born on leap day in pirates of penzance is the same vibe as macduff being a c-section baby in macbeth

[ominous-auburn-orbs]

OH your human writings were so good!! But on that 👀 what about human Caine getting sick for the first time (if you’d be comfortable writing it!)

I knew a sickfic was inevitable. Thank you for fulfilling the prophecy.

This is essentially a continuation of my other fic where they escape and whatnot. Please don't make me make this a series it requires too much creativity and I'm stupid /hj

While being human again had been more of an adjustment than what they were expecting, the group was happy to be free from the life-and-sanity-endangering environment the circus made them live in. They had all apparently been reported missing, which did help them with relearning their names, but they had chosen to keep their circus names anyway as they felt more like their own.

Despite being an abandoned company, C&A somehow had sent them all financial compensation, which they had all decided was too good to question. Even Pomni had stopped asking, especially considering how little progress it always got her. The troop had moved into an apartment complex together, as they had spent enough time with each other that living in completely different houses felt wrong. While Jax lived alone, Gangle and Zooble shared an apartment, Ragatha and Pomni shared another, and Kinger and Caine were paired together as well. Jax had no problems with being alone, liking the personal space it gave him, but he could always visit the others rather easily if he wanted to.

An unfortunate side effect of Caine coming with them was that he had no idea how to look after his human body or how it worked. He was getting better, but the first month or so was a lot of primarily Kinger teaching him how to function. The ringmaster got a lot of injuries now that his powers and cartoony physics weren't there to save him, although Kinger had no issues with patching him up each time.

Now, Kinger was in the kitchen, making breakfast for Caine. Caine was hopeless in the kitchen, as he was used to either just summoning food or Bubble making it instead. Kinger also had to keep track of when Caine was eating, as he frequently forgot it was something he needed to do. His lack of experience with eating as a whole was one of the most difficult parts of being in reality again, so Kinger often made him simpler meals that were easy to digest. At least Caine was surprisingly good at cleaning, so Kinger wouldn't have to do all the work.

Caine stumbled into the room, still in his striped pyjamas. He still tended to trip over his own feet, so Kinger made no note of it until he spoke up.

"Kingerrr... I think I might be dying..." The ringmaster's voice was hoarse and he sounded stuffy.

Panic spiked in the other man's chest, even though he knew Caine was likely overreacting. It was not an irregular occurrence, but that knowledge did little to calm him. "What?"

The man had to keep himself from rushing to Caine, gently putting a hand to his forehead to check his temperature. Caine leaned into the touch, his expression nothing less than pathetic. "Kiingeerrr-" he sneezed, spraying mucus across Kinger's front, "s-sorry. I don't know what's going on, breathing's so difficult now, my- my throat hurts, what-what's happening to me?"

Kinger removed his hand and wiped some of the mucus off of himself with his sleeve. "Eugh..." Caine sniffled, muttering another apology. "No, it's fine. You have a fever, and from everything else you told me, you're just sick. You aren't dying, which is good. Well, I don't think anyone's ever died from the common cold, at least."

"C-common? This horrid disease is meant to be common? I don't even wanna know what other things this reality subjects you to!" His yelling brought on a sudden fit of coughs, with Kinger slowly rubbing his back throughout, his concern growing.

"You are probably having worse symptoms than what you're supposed to, since you likely have a very weak immune system. How about I take you back to bed so you can rest?" Caine grabbed onto Kinger's shirt and held him close, whining into his front. Kinger took that as a yes and picked him up, taking Caine back to their shared bedroom. "You adorable, pathetic little man." Kinger placed a kiss on the ringmaster's temple as he set him down on the bed.

Suddenly, Caine wrapped his arms around the other man's neck and pulled him down, drawing a yelp from him.

"Caine- you're strangling me a bit-" He loosened his grip, but didn't let him get up.

"Don't leeeaave... pleeeaasse?" Kinger laughed, kissing him again.

"If you don't let me get up, then I can't get you anything to help with the cold."

"Mmm, I can live with that." A mischievous smile began to creep across Caine's face.

"Are you sure about that? Because I remember you saying just earlier that you were dying."

"That's what it felt like... but I feel so much better with you!" Caine turned away to cough again, fortunately less severely than last time.

"Thank you, dearest, but you'll feel even better when you let me take care of you properly." The ringmaster grumbled, but he did let go.

"Fine. Can I have another kiss first?" Kinger smiled and kissed Caine's lips before walking away.

"I'll go get your breakfast, then I'll go out to get you some medicine." Caine whined loudly at Kinger saying he would leave, making him laugh again. "I won't be gone that long! It'll keep you from 'dying', anyway."

Over the next week, Kinger looked after Caine as best as he could. Thankfully, the ringmaster had gotten most of his complaining out of his system in the first day, but that didn't stop him from being overdramatic every time Kinger had to leave the room, no matter how brief it was. He would admit that he was also overplaying it because it made Kinger laugh, which was a sound he always loved to hear. Caine did feel like it was Kinger who made him feel well again, even more so than the medicine, anyway.

[singsweetmelodies]

AKA: angst, miscommunication and a/b/o, feat. brief/mentioned maxierre with piarles endgame (+ implied maxiel.) happy birthday @boxboxbrioche my love

"Hello, Charles," Max smiles when Charles runs into him (literally) in the Budapest paddock on Thursday. He's wearing the same Red Bull team shirt and jeans as ever, naturally, but something about him looks unusually relaxed and content. Sated, even.

Probably because he's been winning practically every race this season, Charles thinks. That's enough reason for anyone to be looking relaxed and content.

Still, when he steps in a little closer to fist-bump Max's proffered hand, he can't help but notice it. Max's scent is... more than just content. He smells like he's only just come out of heat, and whoever was taking care of him did a very good job of it. He doesn't smell like sex, precisely, but he smells like what Charles would imagine afterglow would, if it had a scent. Golden and lazy and sated.

Oh, he's got blockers on, of course, but Charles has always been blessed (or cursed, depending how you look at it) with a very good nose. So. He knows immediately.

Some too-perceptive instinct is telling him that the timing of this heat has something to do with Daniel's return to racing this weekend. Almost like Max... wanted to get his heat over with before he saw Daniel again?

...That's a big stretch, of course, and Charles would never dare say it out loud. (Except to Pierre, maybe, because Pierre loves theorising about the latest paddock gossip just as much as Charles does.)

So he just smiles politely at Max, and says "Hello" back, and wishes for Pierre to appear out of some corner of the paddock somewhere. It isn't that Charles hates Max, or whatever the media likes to spin, but it's also true that Max isn't Charles' most favourite person in the paddock. (Obviously, that honour goes to Pierre.)

No, Charles' and Max's relationship is simply that of colleagues - good enough, if a little bland.

Which is why Charles is not expecting it at all when Max leans a little closer with something that looks almost like a conspiratorial grin. Charles has no idea what Max might want to be conspiratorial about with him - it's not as though he's leaving Ferrari anytime soon, despite what everyone likes to speculate.

Surprisingly, what Max says to him is not racing or incident-related at all. "Do you know where Pierre is?" he asks, as though Charles is the most reliable source of the Alpine driver's whereabouts. (Charles shouldn't be, but he's very flattered.) "I still need to thank him."

"Thank him?" Charles echoes, a little puzzled. "For what?"

And then Max says the one thing that blows apart Charles' world and turns his day upside-down immediately. "For agreeing to spend my heat with me so last-minute."

He says it so casually, too, and Charles...

Well. Charles knows that many of the other unbonded omegas on the grid like to spend their heats with other drivers. This might seem contradictory at first, but the thing is - while they might not necessarily trust each other on track, you can always rely on the fact that another driver, at least, won't reveal details of that hook-up to the press anymore than you will. Most of the alpha drivers on the current grid are decent enough people off-track that you can trust you'd be taken good care of, too.

It's something that Charles has done himself, too, once or twice - mostly with Alex, who is always incredibly kind about it, and makes sure Charles is comfortable and well-hydrated afterwards.

But mostly, Charles spends his heats alone. He schedules them carefully so they won't interfere with races, and then he bears them on his own, teeth gritted as he works himself open over and over again and clings to whatever article of Pierre's clothing he can find nearby.

It's never good enough, never, but Charles has never really wanted another alpha. He only goes to Alex if his body genuinely cannot go without it anymore, and then it's purely a case of friend helping out a friend.

So, really, Charles has no reason to be this shocked that Max apparently spent his most recent heat with Pierre. The two of them are friends, aren't they? Much better than Charles and Max have ever pretended to be. There's no reason why they wouldn't spend a heat together, really.

Except...

Charles grits his teeth, and it's only years of media training that enables him to still pass it off as a smile. "He did?" he asks, tightly.

Max laughs, still happily unaware that he's taken Charles' day and shattered it like a glass breaking into unrecognisable shards. "Yes," he confirms, and then he bumps Charles' shoulder, almost unbearably conspiratorial again. "You, of course, would know why I now need to thank him."

No amount of media training in the world could have helped Charles keep up his smile in response to that. Max notices - how could he not - and his own smile falls. "You two have not...?" His voice rises up in the end, like he almost can't believe he even has to ask the question.

Charles tastes something sour in his mouth, and by the way Max flinches back, he's sure it must be all over his scent as well, blockers be damned. "No," is all Charles says, brusquely.

Max opens and closes his mouth for a moment, and then he reaches for Charles' shoulder. He hesitates, though, hand hovering awkwardly in the space between them. "I'm sorry," he says, and it sounds sincere. "For assuming. The two of you are so..." He makes a face. "You are good friends, so I thought if he would do it for me, he would of course do it for you too."

"No," Charles says again, and the word tastes acrid in his mouth. "We have never."

Not for lack of trying, Charles thinks bitterly, and then he forces himself to think of something else. Some excuse that Max will accept.

Fortunately, a little gaggle of people in bright Ferrari red are passing by, and Charles latches onto them with almost too much relief. "Ah, my team," he says, pointing. "I need to go."

It's stupidly obvious, as excuses go, but Max has the grace not to mention it. He just watches Charles go, biting his lip.

Charles wants to hate him. He wants to hate him more than anything else - for having a race-winning car, and a team that supports him properly, and championships, but more importantly than any of that, Charles wants to hate him for having Pierre.

It's not that Charles thinks Max is actually in love with Pierre, or even that they're courting. No, it was clearly just a case of friend-helping-out-friend. But even that is...

Unbearable. It is unbearable, because Charles hasn't had even that much.

Charles had only asked once, and only because he'd been stupid with pre-heat already and not thinking straight. Pierre's long, long silence before he'd said, very gently, "Charles... I don't think that's a good idea" had told him all he'd needed to know, anyway.

After that heat, though, Pierre had called Charles and made sure he was okay, and that he knew it wasn't personal, Pierre just didn't think it was a good idea to get that involved with another driver. Especially one who's also a friend.

Charles had accepted it at the time, and he's never had any reason to think that Pierre has changed his mind in any way.

Except now here Pierre is, apparently spending heats with Max fucking Verstappen, of all people. And, really. Out of everyone on the grid - every goddamn omega - it had to be Max, didn't it?

A part of Charles wants to fall to the floor in devastation, wants to tear at his hair and shake and cry to anyone who will listen, why doesn't he want me, why doesn't he want me?

But Charles remains standing, because even more than he's heartbroken, he's furious.

Pierre did not help Max through his heat because they're in love, or because they're courting. So, he must have done it as a favour to a friend.

Then why the hell would he not do the same for Charles?

Charles also asked him as a favour to a friend (and yes, maybe Charles wanted more, but he wasn't stupid enough to ask for that. He'd just asked for a favour, the way every unbonded omega on the goddamned grid asks their alpha friends for favours every once in a while.)

Pierre had said no, and that he doesn't do that. But he'd forgotten to mention the part where he apparently does do that.

If he were here, Charles might slap him clean through the face. It's not an urge he's often had when it comes to Pierre (or ever, really) but today...

Today. It's just. What the hell does Max have that he doesn't? Max and Pierre are friends? Charles and Pierre are better friends. Max is an omega? So is Charles, and he's better at that, too.

It's obviously not even about looks! Because Charles doesn't want to be rude, but he is definitely better-looking than Max. It's just a fact, as true as "the grass is green" or "Charles is Monégasque" or "Charles is in love with Pierre."

No. Fuck that. None of this makes sense.

If Pierre is willing to spend a heat with Max, then there's no reason why he can't help Charles through one, too. It's not like Charles is asking Pierre to love him back - no, he's long since made his peace with the fact that that, at least, is impossible.

Charles has always wanted too much, though, and if he sees even the faintest chance of getting what he wants, even if it is just in the form of a favour to a friend -- well. He will never not go for the gap.

So Charles waits, increasingly impatient, for his media and team obligations to be done for the day. As soon as they are, he heads for Alpine, because there is no way Pierre will have left already - he is far too dedicated to them, staying behind extra hours to learn as many names as he can and give as much feedback as possible and help with everything that needs helping.

Right, because isn't Pierre just so incredibly helpful. Normally, this would make Charles smile, fond - but today, it makes him want to snarl.

Helpful, yes. Except to him, apparently.

No. Charles will not accept that.

Various team members glance up when Charles storms into the Alpine hospitality, freezing with coffees half-way to their lips and tracking him like the spectators to a tennis match as he storms across their building and towards the driver's rooms. One particularly brave soul ventures an "Er..." but Charles is already across the room before he's even finished saying it.

Charles knows the way to Pierre's driver's room as easily as he knows the way to his own (incidentally, it's on the same side of the building) and it's mere seconds later that he's bursting through the door of Pierre's driver's room.

Pierre freezes when the door slams open, mouth caught in a comically surprised expression, but it relaxes quickly into a fond (if still somewhat surprised) smile. "Charlito!" he says, standing up and reaching a hand in Charles' general direction. "This is a nice surprise."

But Charles is not in any mood for pleasantries. "Did you spend a heat with Max," he asks, but it's not really a question as much as it is an accusation, pointed and sharp.

Pierre freezes again, the smile slowly dropping off his face. His scent goes bitter with unpleasant surprise. "I -"

"If you lie to me, I am going to slap you," Charles says, injecting the words with just enough of a snarl that Pierre will know he's not messing around.

Pierre's expression goes from shocked to hurt to angry almost faster than Charles can process. "I wasn't going to lie to you, Charlo. I would never. Not with you."

He sounds sincere enough about it that Charles almost feels guilty, but then Pierre adds, "He's just a friend who needed a favour" and Charles is right back to furious.

"I was a friend, and I needed a favour," Charles says bitingly. He doesn't have to say anything more, because he knows Pierre will understand exactly what he means.

Pierre's face shutters, closing off completely. Even his scent goes blank, like Pierre is deliberately shutting off every part of himself. "That's different."

"How?" Charles hisses at him, and Pierre obviously wasn't expecting the vehemence of it, because he stumbles a step back. "How the hell is it different, huh?"

Pierre's expression does something complicated, and he makes a rough noise, low in the back of his throat. "It just is," he says, and refuses to elaborate.

Charles is livid. "It just is?!" he explodes. "Tell me how it just is, Pierrot, because I sure as fuck don't get it. I am your friend - non, I am your best friend - but when I ask for this favour, you say no. Then when it is Max, you say yes?"

"It's different," Pierre says again, sharply, as though sharpness alone will make Charles drop the subject.

He really doesn't know Charles if he thinks that will work. "It is not different. Not at all. What, unless you are trying to say that you don't want me?"

"Of course I-" Pierre starts, then cuts himself off with a groan, dragging a hand down his face. "I don't want to do this with you, Charles."

"Well, I want to do this with you," Charles retorts, unfazed and as fuming as ever. "What is it, huh, Pierre? You prefer Max over me?"

"Of course not," Pierre says, and he has the audacity to sound almost offended.

"But you must, if you fucked him and not me," Charles snaps. He's not entirely sure what he's trying to accomplish here, but he knows - he knows that he's furious, and Pierre is being a fucking asshole, and he needs Pierre to admit that much. At least.

Pierre, however, seems determined to continue being a stubborn asshole. "It wasn't like that," he insists, and Charles sees red.

"It's exactly like that! I asked you to fuck me, to help me through my heat, and you said no because you do not want me."

And that, somehow, is the last straw.

"Shut up, Charles," Pierre growls - actually growls - at him. "Just, shut up. You don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, I don't?" Charles snaps right back, goading. "Why don't you tell me, then?"

Pierre snarls again, guttural and furious, and Charles knows that he should be terrified. But right now, he's far too furious to care.

"Tell me," Charles goads again, because he knows that nothing will ever compel Pierre as much as a challenge will.

Pierre is breathing hard, his fists clenched, his shoulders rising and falling rapidly. "You think you know what happened with Max, huh?" he asks, and Charles has never heard him sound like that. Despite himself, it sends a thrill through Charles' whole body. "You think you know what I want and don't want?"

Charles lets his belligerent silence do the talking for him, and Pierre's eyes flash. "Well, do you know that none of it is true? Do you know that none of the rumours of me with all those omegas are true?"

"What do you--" Charles begins, but Pierre cuts him off with a single hand held up, raised as sharply as a slap.

"Do you know, Charlito," he says, almost viciously, "that I've never been able to date any other omega for longer than a few months because I was always comparing them to you?"

Charles jolts where he stands, all the breath wrenched from him. "What--"

But Pierre doesn't give him a moment to process that. "Do you know that I only agreed to spend this heat with Max because he was desperate and out of options?"

"Do you know," Pierre continues, dangerously soft, "that I had to think of you just to be able to come at all?" He stalks a single step closer to Charles. "Do you know that I had to pretend it was you all the time just so that my knot wouldn't go down?" Another step, and Charles is shaking all over, but he can't move. Pierre has him pinned down, completely rooted to the spot with his scorching gaze and world-ending words.

"Do you know," Pierre concludes, softest of all, "why I really said I wouldn't spend a heat with you?"

Charles isn't sure how he even manages to form the word. "Why?"

Pierre's eyes are so, so dark as he stops just in front of Charles, raising one hand to ghost just millimetres above Charles' collarbone. "Because," he says, and his voice is rough. "I knew that if I did, Charles, if I fucked you even just once, I wouldn't be able to hold back. I would bite you, then and there, and I would make you mine."

All the while that he's been speaking, Pierre has been tracing his fingers upwards, a slow, slow torturous slide mere centimetres above Charles' skin. Charles can almost feel the heat of his touch, almost but not quite, and when Pierre stops just below Charles' mating gland - Charles whines and shudders forward, the combination of Pierre's hand there and that word mine too much for him to resist.

Pierre's fingers touch the overheated skin of Charles' mating gland, and the world explodes.

Charles' knees buckle, and his head spins, and he has to press his thighs together in a desperate effort to ease the sudden and burning need there. He's wet, he can feel it, leaking slick all over the place just from that one touch.

Pierre jerks his hand back, of course, but even that split-second of contact was enough to destroy Charles perfectly.

Pierre is panting, and he looks about as wrecked as Charles feels. "So do not stand there and tell me that I don't want you, Charles," he says, and his voice shakes - anger or desperation, Charles can't tell. "Not when I have done nothing but want you for as long as I have known how to want."

Charles shudders, the full weight of Pierre's words sinking in on him all at once. As Charles stands there, processing, he watches as the world rearranges itself entirely.

Charles breathes in, and then he breathes out. "Fuck you, Pear," he says, only a little shakily. "No, seriously, fuck you. How obvious do you need me to be? I literally asked you to spend my heat with me!"

For a moment, Pierre looks so indignant that he forgets to be angry. "You asked it as a favour to a friend!" he protests. "I just said, I can't do that! Not if it's you."

"Yeah, well," Charles says waspishly, "I only asked it like that because I thought you would say no otherwise."

And all at once, Pierre's expression transforms as he comes to the same sudden and brilliant realisation Charles just had.

"Charles," he says, shell-shocked. "If you're saying what I think you're saying..."

He glances down at his hands, clenches them tightly into fists again, then looks back up at Charles, his gaze burning. "You have to know, you can't take it back. I'm not going to let you take it back. Not if you mean it."

"God, Pierre, you are so fucking stupid," Charles says, and alright, maybe he is still a little angry about the whole situation, after all. (He thinks he has the right to be, though.) "Why do you think I was so angry that you went for Max?"

When Pierre doesn't say anything immediately, Charles snaps off a sharp step into Pierre's space, flicking his fingers against Pierre's forehead. "Yeah, it's because I wanted you to choose me. Only me."

Pierre's hand comes up, grabbing Charles' wrist in a bruise-tight hold. He draws Charles' hand away from his face, but then he doesn't let go, just keeps holding on, fingers circling Charles' wrist like they're meant to fit there. "Only you?" he echoes, and it sounds like a question.

Charles nods, because there was never any other answer, and he's about to say it, too, but then Pierre kisses the words right off his mouth.

If Charles' world hadn't already exploded so thoroughly earlier, then it would now.

It's a good kiss. No, it's better than a good kiss - it's a fucking incredible kiss; Pierre's one hand still wrapped around Charles' wrist while the other finds its way to his waist, like it belongs there. Pierre kisses him like he's still a little angry, but also like he's never meant anything more, pouring every part of his soul into it. Pierre kisses him like he's already imagining the night they're going to spend together after this, and he kisses Charles like how he's planning to fuck him later.

Charles has no objections to that. None at all.

Well. Except the one.

He pulls away from the kiss, pressing his palm hard to the side of Pierre's face. "You're going to spend my next heat with me," he says, orders more like, and it's far too possessive, but he can't bring himself to care. Not one goddamned bit.

Pierre growls, low in his throat, and pulls Charles even closer to him. "No, chéri," he says, too-softly. "I'm going to spend every single heat with you from now on. Forever."

"Forever," Charles breathes, and then he kisses Pierre again, hard, making it a promise. "Forever."

[jils-things]

probably one of my favorite attacks ive done! i was proud of this from start to finish 💚💚 all of the ocs here belong to my friends, (bee, nero, milo and lara) except for the green feller (me!) 😉

[bentacled]

it's been one day and im still pissed when will this end. season 4 had some neat assassination scenes but none of them shined as bright as the writers assassinating the characters like go off monarchs

[raeflora]

"but blair's relationship with dan was so mature and healthy!!!!" last time I checked ur boyfriend manipulating u into a relationship, throwing a tantrum about being seen in a café with him, complaining the entire way through a supposed romantic gesture (and wearing a costume shop princess tiara to boot), getting drunk to have vaguely alright sex instead of having a discussion about it, whining about him being considered highbrow by a magazine before u know they called u lowbrow and not thinking he deserves it anyway, publicly humiliating him at an awards dinner, not wanting to spend the summer with him, him being jealous the second u breathe near ur ex, belittling him constantly, and NOT BEING IN LOVE WITH HIM is soooo not mature or healthy

[ssaalexblake]

I had the dumbest interaction & I had to share this with someone who has had the same problem -

Apparently people flat out missed how at the end of Flux 13 was told she was going to die? I mentioned to someone that 13 comes off as someone with a terminal illness in LotSD & got "where are you getting this terminal illness stuff from?" & it is LITERALLY IN THE TEXT.

I get annoyed at people missing really obvious subtext but how do people miss THE LITERAL TEXT? One of the complaints people have about the chibnall Era is people turning to the camera to metalize, but then they somehow miss literal major plot elements that are spoken to the camera?! Like, the heck?

it's like how people like to rip 13's line out of the timeless children out of context, where she ~apparently~ deliberately tries to insult and degrade him so she can cruelly kick him while he's down like a big 'ole meanie she is by saying she's better than him, and conveniently ignore the other half of her SENTENCE where she says 'you think that makes me lesser' like she does not explicitly state that she thinks he's degrading HER, not the other way around, and that this explicitly informs the dynamics in their entire relationship, this entire episode, which is not even to mention that entire scene???

I know the man has gorgeous wet cat anime eyes at that part but we really need to watch the rest of the scene :/

I have a complex where i have to go back and rewatch bits if i'm gonna talk about it to check i've not made a memory error most of the time, so i'm like... okay. Shout this stuff out with your whole chests while not remembering very important plot points. Sure. I'll go back to compulsively script checking and cross referencing with the closed captions provided on the screen.

(literally looked up the scene in ttc to write this answer i s2g)

And i'm gonna be honest, most of the time now whenever i see somebody complain that everything in 13's era is just spelled out to the audience, i just assume the very obvious subtext and basically anything Not said out loud (which is, honestly, a lot of things) sailed over their heads bc ironically they actually Needed to be told it to understand, and therefore think that everything that happened was spelled out for them. This is not very charitable of me at all, but it's been years and i'm very tired now.

[bestfictionaldinosaur]

Best Fictional Dinosaur Tournament: Saurischian Bracket; Round 1E, Poll 6/8

[lloydfrontera]

'live up to your name' au where og knight of blood and iron javier gets "killed" in the middle of the plot but instead of dying he's transported to modern south korea, waking up in a random alleyway with no injuries whatsoever. and because he's a protagonist no matter what universe he is in, despite being deeply disoriented and confused when he sees a group of thugs harassing a guy he steps in and chases them off with no problem and barely any mention of cutting off limbs. and then after making sure the guy is okay he very sheepishly asks him if he could please help him because he was lost and had no idea of where he was or how he got there

and kim suho who just saw a gorgeous but obviously foreign stranger in awesome cosplay chase off his would be muggers with what looked like a real ass sword and is currently high and smitten in "oh thank god i didn't get my week's work salary stolen" endorphins and is about to have the weirdest week of his life innocently says "yes of course"

[sideprince]

Honestly exhausted sometimes with how many times I see people completely ignore basic literary tropes and elements or even the fact that these are books an not real people, while also interpreting interpretations until they've gotten away from what's on the page only to treat these readings as fact. Literally just saw someone cite Lily's mouth twitch as proof that she almost laughed at her friend being sexually assaulted and I don't even know what to say.

This is why I follow so few blogs and feel really isolated in this fandom. It's not even that I want to defend one character or another (because they're not real people ultimately, they're tools for storytelling), it's that I want to defend basic reading comprehension. A mouth twitch is not a laugh. And to be honest I'm uncomfortable with how straightforwardly we refer to James dangling Snape upside down and exposing his underwear as sexual assault, which is what it's considered now but it wasn't considered that in the 70s when the story takes place. That isn't to say it wasn't an awful thing to do, or that it wasn't meant to violate and humiliate, but social acceptance of an action changes its context. (I could write an entire post on how the reason we're so much more disturbed by sexual assault now is that the culture around it has changed and the shame is now on the perpetrator and not the victim, which means that more victims have spoken out in recent years, and most people today have heard victim's stories and perspectives and feel empathy for them as a result. But since this wasn't socially acceptable to do in the 70s people didn't lack empathy then, they just had a limited perspective that we would too if we were in their shoes. You can't frame the reactions to Snape's assault the same way you would if it happened today.)

But forget context, right? Forget the order of events, and forget what a character does, a personal reading of the text becomes canon because... of reasons? I think I just have a really really hard time with the way some people are oblivious to how intensely they project onto characters and how much they consider those projections facts. And with how personal readings are stated as fact without the context of, "I read/interpret/view/etc. this as."