#they're both totally making an appearance in part 4

[easy-there-leftovers]

Magnum Opus (Ch. 1)

When an MIT prodigy on their gap year is contacted by the FBI regarding her potential involvement in a series of murders in Washington D.C., she must now cooperate to uncover how her paintings are mysteriously appearing at the crime scenes.

(Written with Season 1-4 Spencer in mind, but the timeline could be anywhere pre-season 12. No mentions of past cases)

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Fem!Artist! reader|cw: Canon-typical violence|word count: 2k words

Also on Ao3!!

Series Masterlist

While Aaron Hotchner remained vigilant as he drove the black SUV, the constant flipping of Spencer’s case files seemed to be louder than the car’s air conditioning. 

He had directed Morgan and JJ to touch base at the MPDC, and had Rossi and Prentiss survey the crime scene of Jonathan Edwards; the identity of the previously unknown man in the vacant apartment.

This left him with Reid in the passenger seat to conduct an investigation on their only lead so far. 

From the update Garicia had given them, Y/n L/n was a prodigy a year younger than their very own. Having graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology a year ago, she moved to Capitol Park Plaza and Twins Apartments in Washington D.C., and is currently unemployed. Occasionally selling her paintings out of her unit under an anagram of her name.

 But something bothered him.

And it seems like Reid has picked up on it too.

“Do you think Dr. L/n is the unsub?” The unit chief asks.

Spencer hums before answering.

“While we can’t rule it out just yet, the possibility of her being the unsub is totally unlikely. The thing that’s throwing me off is that everything is too convenient. I mean, why would the unsub use something so publicly personal to them as part of their signature? It’s as if she’s overtly incriminating herself.”

Spencer checks back onto the pictures of the victims, then lifts his head up to look at Hotch to continue.

“Based on the way the victims are modeled, an immense amount of care was put into them. All for the purpose of making them look like the subjects in their paintings. Actually, the fixation on changing the bodies’ posture and keeping them clean is typically done out of remorse. But the added elements, like the placement of the paintings, creates an image of an unsub more on the narcissistic side. By creating two 'artworks,' they're prompting the viewer to decide which version of it they prefer. Mocking the original artist in the process.”

“So the paintings were done before the murder?”

“I have no reason to believe otherwise.”

His unit chief sighs and pulls over to the curb. “Well, we’re about to test that belief.” Spencer hurries to take off his seatbelt as Hotch closes the car door with a thud. 

—------

Hotchner nods at Reid as they find themselves in front of the written address Garcia gave them. He lifts his hand to knock firmly on your door, and waits for a response.

A thud from the other side causes both of them to assess each other before Hotch tells Spencer to stay behind him. Gun in hand until something, or someone, comes running at them.

But instead a muffled, “sorry” is heard right after, which causes him to lower his gun.

The door finally opens a crack to reveal a very tired twenty-something woman, some dark pigment or makeup smudged on their lower eye lines as they rubbed at it. She immediately fixed her posture however at the sight of the unexpected visitors. Eyes wide with concern.

“Dr. L/n, I’m Aaron Hotchner with Dr. Spencer Reid of the FBI.” He highlights his statement by showing his badge. “We’d like to ask you some questions.” 

“Oh, um,” The woman blinks rapidly and shakes their head before immediately saying, “Of course,” with a nod and opening the door wide to let them in.

A quirk that does not go unnoticed by Spencer, who observes how different she looks to her more formal ID photos.

—-----

You let the FBI agents into your apartment, but are now suddenly aware of the state of disarray you left it in last night. Not to mention the state you were in. 

You had just woken up and your brain wasn’t quite all there yet. If you had known you’d have guests over, you would have at least put some of your books and papers back onto their shelves rather than on your floor.

“My, uh—” You start, “Apologies! For the room and the um,”

You inhale deeply and gesture to yourself as you try to find the words before settling on an exasperated, “me.”

“No worries, miss. We don’t really call in advance.” You nod at the older man’s explanation vacantly before coming up with a response.

“Would you like anything to drink ?” You move to your fridge to get water to wake you up, and decide that it would be rude not to offer. The two decline, with the younger more busy observing your living room bookcase than the older one that sat on your couch. 

You notice that something must have interested him as he lingers on certain shelves. That section in particular had prints of dissertations you had been meaning to read, or have already read, in clear folders.

You wonder if he found his work there or something before returning with water for yourself. 

“So what can I help you with?”

“Dr. L/n, are you aware of the current string of murders that have been happening as of this year?” 

You blink rapidly again. The question catches you off guard, but you shake your head. 

“I know it’s a bad habit, and that I should, but I don’t really listen to the news.” Feeling your eyebrows quirk, you rub your hands together slowly. Making direct eye contact with Hotch, before looking at the younger man as he takes out a few papers from the folder he was holding.

“Are you familiar with these paintings then?”

 Now that piques your interest.

Dr. Spencer Reid, who sees a flicker of recognition in your eyes when it meets his own, presents various pictures of your artworks in what seems to be dimly lit areas. They’re a little dirty, but otherwise you would recognize them as your own.

 The thought instantly made something in your stomach turn.

“I–” You start, but shake your head subtly again. Unsure of what to say and how to say it next as you stare at the images. “am.” You turn your head to look back up at Spencer who nods thoughtfully.

“Recently, your paintings have been showing up at crime scenes in the D.C. area. Specifically, victims of an organized unsub that seems to be targeting people who accurately resemble the subjects in your work.” If your eyes weren’t wide enough, that bit of information had certainly opened them wider than ever before as you stared up at him.

“That, combined with the concentrated traces of 5-durastalene found in the pigments of the paint used, have led us to suspect your involvement in these murders, Dr. L/n.” You heavily feel the blink of your eyelids and rest your fingers on them to keep them closed before looking back at the two of them.

“I’m sorry,” you smile incredulously. “So you’re telling me that not only has Lunacite been identified on the paintings you’ve found, but that people who look like the personas in my private works actually exist and have since been–” You pinch the bridge of your nose. “Murdered?”

“Well that shouldn’t come as a surprise, they were your muses, weren’t they? You were commissioned?” Hotch is the one who asks and you shake your head with wide eyes.

“I didn’t even know these people existed. They were just– faces I came up with mentally with the visual library I’ve amassed over the years. I don’t really make it a habit to paint from reference. Like I said, they were private.”

“And the chemical?” You thought for a moment before your lips thinned into a line.

“I don’t know what to tell you, Agent Hotchner, but I haven’t touched anything regarding that compound in over a year. I’ve only ever worked on it in my lab on university grounds, and I don’t make a habit of bringing work home.” You scratch the hairs near the base of your hairline.

“More importantly, hundreds of students and lecturers have access to my work, my research, and my lab space. Not to mention the people who might have heard my work through academic conferences.”

You move away from your position near the living room coffee table Spencer placed the pictures on, but picked up one before you did and shook your head.

“Besides, these paintings? No one should know about them, let alone have them. I didn't sell these.” That made Spencer’s brows furrow as he looked at the other photos still on the table.

“Do you have proof?” You stay silent, but then motion for them to follow you to the door of your room.

“Well, for one, I’m sure you’d understand that most people don’t make copies of their artwork traditionally, right? Expenditure of time, work materials, effort, human error, and many other variables. It just isn’t practical nor convenient.” You ramble and look back at them to continue.

“I also don’t make the majority of my art known online. Only a good 30% makes its way to my portfolio, and the others are never to be seen by anyone else.”

“They're studies. They’re made with cheap paints, they’re subjectively not appropriate for commercial use and-–I just wouldn’t be comfortable charging anyone for them.” 

They follow you across the room, and make themselves apparent behind you.

You let out a breath you didn’t know you were holding.

“So if my ‘commissioned paintings’ are currently on D.C. crime scenes, and possibly in MPDC evidence,” You open the door to reveal your studio to the two agents. 

Various paint tubes, books, and brushes littered the floor, table, and boxes. A lone easel was situated near your apartment window, with an unfinished painting on it. And various canvasses, not displayed, but instead kept on tall shelves. Only the differently colored edges indicated that they were ever used.

What surprised them both however, were the same paintings in the pictures staring back at them.

 Some on the walls, some on the floor, but what was most important was that they were in this room, they were clean, and there were more of them.

You turn to look back at them with shaky eyes. “So why are they still here?”

—----

Hotch and Reid stood outside of your apartment door as you cleaned yourself up. Hotch made the call to bring you to the precinct for further investigation and for your own safety, but allowed you to freshen up before leaving with them. Not that he told you about the safety part.

You were hard to read, given your erratic reactions. It unnerved him, but he supposes it comes with the territory of being gifted. You also offered to bring in your paintings and a few other materials for forensics to test, to which while he was suspicious of, was not ungrateful for.

He made a quick call to Garcia to check attendants of any academic conferences you’ve spoken at and if anyone had been more interested than the others. When he was finished, he looked to Reid who was crossing his arms and staring at the carpeted hallway before looking back at him.

“She’s uncomfortable.” He stated plainly.

“Reid, most people would be if they just found out their hobby had been getting people killed.” Hotch said as he kept looking at his phone for anything new from the others.

“There’s certainly that, but I meant her title. ‘Doctor.’” He said in quotes, and Hotch raises his eyebrow at that but allows him to continue anyway with a curt nod.

“I mean, every time we’ve addressed her with her title, she blinks faster. Did you know it’s a common attribute that’s directly related to an increase in heart rate, which is why they’re usually correlated with lying? Initially, you would think that she faked her experience to get those credentials, but given her educational background, she must have not been given an opportunity to be referred to as such for a long time. Also, the gap year she took could’ve only exacerbated any insecurities she might have about her intellectual achievements. Plus, the lack of organization in her own home, while not wildly uncommon amongst people her age, could suggest the sincerity of her belief about compartmentalizing her work and her private life.”

“And what does that tell you?”

As Spencer was supposed to answer, a thud much like the one they heard before they entered earlier was heard again, followed by a similarly muffled, ‘sorry.’

He turns to look back at Hotch again with a small, victorious smile.

“That she doesn’t fit the profile.”

——-

taglist: @littlewolfieposts

[the-case-book-of-fanfiction]

Love Bites {Masterlist}

With your memory spotty, you gravitate toward the first person you see—an old friend from a very old past. But Astarion is keeping plenty of secrets...and he's never been the best liar. How long will it take before his deceptions unravel? And what will you do when you realize just how much damage he's done?

Ship: Astarion Ancunin x fem!vampire spawn!elf!Tav/reader

Warnings: 18+ MDNI, vampire spawn!Tav, fem!Tav, manipulative but guilty/regretful Astarion, Astarion's sexual trauma, Cazador, vampire bite, reader is turned into a spawn, reader is technically one of Astarion's victims

18+ Warnings: vaginal sex, consensual sex, mirror sex, riding, fingering, oral, blood kink, bite kink, loving sex, non-descriptive noncon/dubcon (Astarion’s trauma), Astarion experimenting with his boundaries

Total Word Count: 47,397 words (87 pages)

Notes: The title of this fic (and some of its chapter titles) is heavily inspired by Def Leppard's song Love Bites.

Posting Schedule can be found on my {Updates Page}

CONTENT NOTE: Where Astarion's perspective comes into this fic, I tried writing his experience with his hurt that he has been treated this way along with his "this is what I do" mentality; he's very back and forth about the abuse he's endured and some of my writing reflects that. If that upsets you or makes you uncomfortable in anyway, I completely understand and I encourage you to leave the fic at any point. However, I do believe writing this perspective is necessary, as his blasé take on his sexual trauma is one that I myself have struggled with, as I am sure other survivors have as well.

☟ story parts linked below ☟

Best Unremembered {Chapter 1} Waking up with a spotty memory and the only person you do remember is jarring enough—but it only gets worse when the people who remember you are monsters and strangers.

Walking Corpses {Chapter 2} Astarion's night spent searching for prey is interrupted by an unwelcome feeling of familiarity. Your life is derailed by recognizing a long-dead friend.

Little Love {Chapter 3} Appearances can be deceiving, but they can also tell you everything you need to know. A second look at the elf you once called a friend is all you need to fill in the two-hundred year gap.

The Golden Elf {Chapter 4} Sometimes, vampires choose their spawn specifically. Sometimes, they're in the wrong place at the wrong time and are lost to their loved ones for centuries. These days, that's all you can think about.

Little Star, Little Sun {Chapter 5} A long-awaited reunion that doesn't go quite as planned can lead to many things, especially when two manipulators both lay their traps for one another. Though is it really a trap when all you want to do is spare your lover from yet another night of torment?

Love Bites {Chapter 6} Astarion remembers you, but it's already too late. He's bedded you and remembered the love and life you had together, two hundred years ago, and now he has to make a choice. Does he sacrifice himself, or does he sacrifice you?

Love Bleeds {Chapter 7} Fangs gleam in the shadows and a coffin lies open nearby. Vampire lords are nasty creatures; even a changed heart can do very little when there are claws around it.

On My Knees {Chapter 8} A betrayal so severe even centuries of love threaten to break beneath its weight. Yet you offer forgiveness, even if Astarion has not felt its kindness in two hundred years.

Second Chances {Epilogue} Home is a place and home is people. You have quite the large family now, and it's time to provide for them, however you may.

Love Bites Soundtrack — 3h50min

Chapter 1: tracks 1 - 6 Chapter 2: tracks 7 - 13 Chapter 3: tracks 14 - 19 Chapter 4: tracks 20 - 26 Chapter 5: tracks 27 - 32 Chapter 6: tracks 33 - 40 Chapter 7: tracks 41 - 46 Chapter 8: tracks 47 - 53 Epilogue: tracks 54 - 60

[Image Caption: I do not give permission to repost, translate, or publish my work on any other site or app by anyone except myself. I do not give permission for my work to be fed into AI (for audio, art, or writing).]

Baldur's Gate 3 // Astarion Ancunin

Taglist: {comment and let me know if you'd like to be added to the Astarion taglist!} @wayward-hel @cheeslyy @ofmyth-andmagicart @neetheslayer @whispering-depths @freesidexjunkie @lightsinmycity @the0ldmann @gobbodoggo @oooof-ifellforyou @beeblisss @fangboner @aquaarietes @fiercest-eigengrau-skies @niqhtfell @call-me-nyxx @lueji-m @ceres-xiv @tricksy-trinity @graynstairs @rosa-rubus @ynisthatyou @thegoodwitchs-blog @catching-fire-in-the-wind @kiyastrf94 @vincemachina @silverfangmarks @ravenswritingroom @hinata7346 @hellethil @caramel-hufflepuff @beemiilk @mypainischronicbutmyassisiconic @starwatch77 @julianmarie @sadexistentialism @supernaturallover15 @writinghound @frankie-mercury @kindadolly @infernalrusalka

[anyataylorjoys]

Someone asked me how I created the fade transition in this gifset which I’ll try to explain in the most comprehensive way that I can. If you've never done something like this before, I suggest reading through the full tutorial before attempting it so you know what you'll need to plan for.

To follow, you should have:

basic knowledge of how to make gifs in photoshop

some familiarity with the concept of how keyframes work

patience

Difficulty level: Moderate/advanced

Prep + overview

First and foremost, make the two gifs you'll be using. Both will need to have about the same amount of frames.

For ref the gif in my example is 540x540.

I recommend around 60-70 frames max total for a big gif, which can be pushing it if both are in color, then I would aim for 50-60. My gif has a total of 74 frames which I finessed using lossy and this will be explained in Part 4.

⚠️ IMPORTANT: when overlaying two or more gifs and when using key frames, you MUST set your frame delay to 0.03 fps for each gif, which can be changed to 0.05 fps or anything else that you want after converting the combined canvas back into frames. But both gifs have to be set to 0.03 before you convert them to timeline to avoid duplicated frames that don't match up, resulting in an unpleasantly choppy finish.

Part 1: Getting Started

Drag one of your gifs onto the other so they're both on the same canvas.

The gif that your canvas is fading FROM (Gif 1) should be on top of the gif it is fading INTO (Gif 2).

And here's a visual of the order in which your layers should appear by the end of this tutorial, so you know what you're working toward achieving:

Part 2: Creating the grid

Go to: View > Guides > New guide layout

I chose 5 columns and 5 rows to get the result of 25 squares.

The more rows and columns you choose, the more work you'll have to do, and the faster your squares will have to fade out so keep that in mind. I wouldn't recommend any more than 25 squares for this type of transition.

To save time, duplicate the line you've created 3 more times, or as many times as needed (key shortcut: CMD +J) and move each one to align with the guides both horizontally and vertically. You won't need to recreate the lines on the edges of the canvas, only the ones that will show.

After you complete this step, you will no longer need the guides so you can go back in and clear them.

Follow the same duplicating process for the squares with the rectangle tool using the lines you've created.

Align the squares inside the grid lines. The squares should not overlap the lines but fit precisely inside them.

This might take a few tries for each because although to the eye, the squares look all exactly the same size, you'll notice that if you try to use the same duplicated square for every single one without alterations, many of them will be a few pixels off and you'll have to transform the paths to fit.

To do this go to edit > transform path and hold down the command key with the control key as you move one edge to fill the space.

Once you're done, put all the squares in their separate group, which needs to be sandwiched between Gif 1 and Gif 2.

Right click Gif 1 and choose "create clipping mask" from the drop down to mask it to the squares group. This step is super important.

After this point, I also took the opacity of the line groups down to about 40% so the lines wouldn't be so bold. Doing this revealed some squares that needed fixing so even if you aren't going dim the lines, I recommend clicking off the visibility of the lines for a moment to make sure everything is covered properly.

Part 3A: Prep For Key framing

I wanted my squares to fade out in a random-like fashion and if you want the same effect, you will have to decide which squares you want to fade out first, or reversely, which parts of Gif 2 you want to be revealed first.

In order to see what's going on underneath, I made Gif 1 invisible and turned down the opacity of the squares group.

If you want text underneath to be revealed when the squares fade away, I would add that now, and place the text group above Gif 2, but under the squares group.

Make a mental note that where your text is placed and the order in which it will be revealed is also something you will have to plan for.

With the move tool, click on the first square you want to fade out. Every time you click on a square, it will reveal itself in your layers.

I chose A3 to be the first square to fade and I'm gonna move this one to the very top of all the other square layers.

So if I click on D2 next, that layer would need to be moved under the A3 layer and so on. You'll go back and forth between doing this and adding key frames to each one. As you go along, it's crucial that you put them in order from top to bottom and highly suggested that you rename the layers (numerically for example) which will make it easier to see where you've left off as your dragging the layers into place.

Part 3B: Adding the Keyframes

This is where we enter the gates of hell things become tedious.

Open up the squares group in the timeline panel so you can see all the clips.

Here is my example of the general pattern that's followed and its corresponding layers of what you want to achieve when you're finished:

So let’s try it!

Expand the control time magnification all the way to the right so you can see every frame per second.

As shown in Part 3A, select your first chosen square.

Where you place the time-indicator on the panel will indicate the placement of the keyframe. Click on the clock next to opacity to place your first keyframe.

Move the time-indicator over 3 frames and place the next key frame.

Things to consider before moving forward:

Where you place your very first keyframe will be detrimental. If you're using a lot of squares like I did, you may have to start the transition sooner than preferred.

If you're doing 25 squares, the key frames will have to be more condensed which means more overlapping because more frames are required to finish the transition, verses if you're only using a 9-squared grid. See Part 4 for more detailed examples of this.

The opacity will remain at 100% for every initial key frame, and the second one will be at 0%.

Instead of creating two keyframes like this and changing the opacities for every single clip, you can copy the keyframes and paste them onto the other clips by click-dragging your mouse over both of them and they'll both turn yellow. Then right click one of the keyframes and hit copy.

Now drop down to your next clip, move your time-indicator if necessary to the spot where the first keyframe will start and click the clock to create one. Then right click it and hit "paste".

Tip: When you have both keyframes selected, you can also move them side to side by click-dragging one of them while both are highlighted.

Your full repetitive process in steps will go as follows:

click on square of choice on the canvas

drag that square layer to the top under the last renamed

in timeline panel: drop down to next clip, move time-indicator tick to your chosen spot for the next keyframe

create new keyframe

right click new keyframe & paste copied keyframes

repeat until you've done this with every square in the group

Now you can change the opacity of your squares layer group back to 100% and turn on the visibility of Gif 1. Then hit play to see the magic happen.

PART 4: Finished examples

Example 1

the transition starts too soon Cause: initial keyframe was placed at frame 0

the squares fade away too quickly Cause: overlapping keyframes, seen below. (this may be the ideal way to go with more squares, but for only 9, it's too fast)

Example 2

more frame time for first gif

transition wraps up at a good point Cause: in this instance, the first keyframe was placed 9 frames in, and the keyframes are not overlapping. The sequential pair starts where the last pair ended, creating a slower fade of each square.

Part 5: Final Tips and Saving

You can dl my save action here which will convert everything back into frames, change the frame rate to 0.05 and open the export window so you can see the size of the gif immediately.

If it's over 10gb, one way to finesse this is by use of lossy. By definition, lossy “compresses by removing background data” and therefore quality can be lost when pushed too far. But for most gifs, I have not noticed a deterioration in quality at all when saving with lossy until you start getting into 15-20 or higher, then it will start eating away at your gif so keep it minimal.

If you've done this and your gif is losing a noticeable amount of quality and you still haven’t gotten it below 10gb, you will have no choice but to start deleting frames.

When it comes to transitions like this one, sometimes you can't spare a single frame and if this is the case, you will have to return to the timeline state in your history and condense the key frames to fade out quicker so you can shorten the gif. You should always save a history point before converting so you have a bookmark to go back to in case this happens.

That's pretty much it, free to shoot me an ask on here or on @jugheadjones with any questions.

[oathkeeperoxas]

TOP GUN / Icemav fic recs part 8

There have been a LOT of good icemav fics posted this year - please check out some of the ones below which I've particularly enjoyed!

Rec list 1 here

Rec list 2 here

Rec list 3 here

Rec list 4 here

Rec list 5 here

Rec list 6 here

Rec list 7 here

Easy By Your Side by @wordsonamission

Written for Top Gun Ace Week! Day One - Micro labels (demisexuality) - "Promise me you'll wait for me" Maverick invites Iceman to spend their leave together in a cottage on the coast. Ice accepts, but isn't sure how to handle the fact that he's starting to develop romantic feelings about Maverick. He's never seen any indication that Maverick is interested in him beyond friendship. As they bond over seafood and grocery shopping, Ice finds his feelings growing.

Ice telling Mav about his boundaries, and Mav letting Ice come to him on his own terms is so very sweet and good. I love how the author portrays the care and understanding they have for each other!!

Apoptosis by @flyingfightingfishy

When aviators cause problems, they're designated apop, assigned missions designed to be deadly. Sometimes it's a strike mission, sometimes they're protecting other assets that the navy wants to be sure come home. Mav has been designated apop almost since the beginning. Ice is flying a mission that the navy deems worthy of protection.

Oh my GOD the worldbuilding and character dynamics in this slap so hard, I love the set up and how both Ice and Mav are written. The author places them in this sidestepped world so perfectly it feels like the fic is far longer than it really is. Such a treat!

give me mercy no more by @eighteaseven

They’re both twice as old now as they were when they started this, as both of their joints can certainly attest. But these aches make Ice’s willingness to kneel for him all the more humbling.

🫠 well what can I even say. The author GETS Ice, and writes Ice and Mav being so very in love with each other and giving each other what they need!!! The fact that they're older and experienced and still want each other and want to please each other makes the rest of this fic even better, which really is saying something considering how good it already is.

the further on the edge, the hotter the intensity by StoriesofmyLife

Maverick wonders if it's always going to be like this--this burning want under his skin, the total awareness his body seems to have of Ice. The surge of want that always seems to grip him, even at the most inappropriate of times. He wonders if he's ever going to be able to be around Ice and function like a human being. Thankfully, Ice seems to have the same problem as Maverick. Or--Five times Maverick and Ice have sex in places they totally weren't planning to.

I really enjoy the character dynamics in this, not only between Ice and Mav but the other people who they're interacting with as well. The last few chapters are especially good!

the well traveled road to you by @icemav86

“You said we’re dating?” Maverick asks, eventually, incredulous, with no indication of whether or not he’s willing to help Ice. After Ice’s divorce, he tells a harmless white lie to get his kids off his back. Turns out it’s not that simple.

Saturn has such as way of putting Ice and Mav in situations that I utterly love - the writing is very good, and nails their characterisations perfectly!

magic in your fingertips (love is a wild thing) by @whatiwouldnotgive

Maverick’s never been good at saying. At the talking about things. He always prefers action to words. Carole laughed about it when he offered to fix up her junker of a pick up truck with fondness in her eyes, and Goose never mentions it at all. Just smiles at him whenever Mav brings home his favorite dinner, or lets Mav pick out the movie they watch for the night. Ice is somehow worse.

I love the banter here, between Ice and Mav but also when Goose and Slider make their appearances. The summer romance vibes here are immaculate honestly, the get together is just soooo perfect. Melting the iceman's heart indeed!!

Don’t Read the Last Page (But I Stay) by @rabbit-factory

“Thank you, Lieutenant Commander Mitchell,” Ice drawled, disdain rich in his voice. “The day you become in charge of my promotions I’ll do whatever idiotic tasks you’d like me to do with a smile. But until then.” “Don’t threaten me with a good time,” Maverick leered, and actually managed to startle a laugh out of Ice. It warmed him, with sense of nearly possessive joy, that he was the one who got to tease this man, pull the laughter out of him when he was most frustrated. That was his to do, his responsibility, and no one else’s. *** A look at Ice and Maverick’s relationship, over ten holidays.

So sweet and good!! I love the reunion here, and how Ice and Mav play off each other over the years as their relationship develops and grows <3

face on a lover with a fire in his heart by @enthyrea

Stepping up on his toes, Maverick throws the scarf around the back of Ice’s neck, wrapping it snugly around and making sure the ends are even on both sides of Ice’s chest. Mav’s hands briefly brush over Ice’s jawline, and they’re so warm it makes him dizzy. To make matters worse, Maverick then shucks off his bomber jacket, throwing it over Ice’s shoulders and bringing it close to his chest. The inside of the jacket is toasty, and it smells like Mav. “Are you sure?” Is all Ice can say. Mav smiles up at him, the snow decorating his dark hair like glitter. “Of course. It looks good on you anyways.” He says, with an indecipherable wink. AKA, Ice and Mav get caught in a blizzard on their way to Slider's for Christmas. Ice tries to deal with his feelings for Mav while trying not to freeze to death.

So cute and good and warm - the perfect winter tale. And there's even art!!

feel my body rock (every time you call my name) by @iceman-maverick

Maverick’s got that look on his face now. The one that sets off every alarm in Ice’s mind. But there’s no tower to buzz here, it’s just Ice and Maverick and everything between them. “It does feel better.” Mav smirks at him, “You know, the omega way,” “How could you possibly know that?” Ice snaps. He feels a familiar pressure building between his thighs and absolutely the fuck not. Ice abruptly turns to walk the other way back towards the mess. Fuck it, he’ll take the scenic route before he lets Maverick scent him like this. “Rave reviews,” Maverick laughs - not unkindly though, it’s always warmth coming from Maverick these days -  as Ice tries to escape with what little dignity he has left. Fucking alphas.

Biting and chewing this one!! Ice self exploration with omega Ice! Worldbuilding and omegaverse in the Navy! Mav standing up for Ice, but also Ice standing up for himself!! Plus the flirting at the end, hmm so good

Any Change in Time by @icezansky

After the Enterprise, they came home and took up their posts at Top Gun, this time as instructors, and didn’t speak of it again. They spent their days in the classroom or in the air, and their evenings side by side at the O Club or on one another’s couch. And then Viper introduced Tom to his daughter, Sarah, and she was kind and lovely with a spitfire attitude that reminded him of someone else. She took up his evenings, then – double dates with other officers and their girlfriends, and quiet nights in where she cooked him dinner and they talked for hours. He proposed to her after two months of dating, and she said yes. Now, six months later, she’s going to meet him at the end of the aisle.

The pining in this is so rich and layered, I love the way that Ice and Mav have to learn to circle around each other and decide what they really want in life before they reach out and take it.

Delicates by @topgunreacts

In which Maverick sneaks into Ice's room for some late-night ass, and discovers he doesn't mind getting overheard.

Such a set up!! Ice and Mav in this are just so very into each other, and very much uncaring of who knows it. I love that for them honestly. Yeah boys, get that ass!!

[olderthannetfic]

I know the response to this will be "WRITE FOR YOURSELF!!!1!" but when I look at things I worked really hard to write that have zero comments and the things I threw out there on a whim that actually appear to have made people happy, I feel so much less motivated to write the former. I know I'm supposed to be "doing it for myself" but I don't know what that means. It feels like those 90's movies saying "be yourself" or my therapist saying "be authentic". It's a nice enough sounding thing, but what does it mean? Does it mean writing in obscurity is more pure or more artsy? Is it supposed to be more moral and demonstrate integrity?

There's an agreement in fandom that writing for others is bad. It's impure. It's selfish. But no one has really ever explained why. Nor am I getting much out of writing a story that means a lot to me and getting dead silence in response. I like entertaining others and making them smile.

I can practically feel the, "uh, back in my day fic was hosted on a server and we didn't see hit counts let alone get comments and we were happy with it because we weren't whiny and in need of validation like Gen Z!!!1!" people gearing up to yell in the replies that they're good writers who don't care about comments. That's great for them, and I mean that sincerely. But equally sincerely, how are you supposed to maintain passion for something no one else is interested in? I've been told it's better to get validation via hit counts or bookmarks but numbers don't really do anything for me. Someone saying, "I loved this! Can't wait to see what happens next." can make not just my day but my week.

I know what people say. Fandom isn't a popularity context. It's not social media. You're not supposed to like talking to people about fandom things. But... I do. And the utter silence that is modern fandom - of the 100 last published fics in my fandom, only 10 have comments, and only 4 have regular commenters - is just really not fun to me.

--

Yes, lots of people do think it ~demonstrates integrity~. People who never finish anything.

People who actually succeed at making art will say superficially similar things, but what they mean is "If you write things you aren't actually interested in, you will either burn out or the art won't actually be satisfying to the audience or both".

--

The thing about back in the day is that we only got comments. You're dead wrong about that part. Yes, people whined that there wasn't enough feedback, and they will continue to whine about this until the end of time, but your description misses the most important part about the rose-colored glasses and what people are trying to explain about the past in most of those posts:

We couldn't see the lurkers (hit counts) but we did see some actual interactions. This allowed us to imagine that the comment rate was way higher than it actually was and to see fandom as a close-knit community (which was maybe somewhat more accurate than now but never as true as people believed).

--

You have fundamentally misunderstood what the (saner) posts about this are saying.

You shouldn't care about overall numbers. You should care about meaningful social interactions. Obviously, people like connecting with others via art.

Fandom is not a popularity contest. That's why you should enjoy talking to actual peers about things. Genuine connection is not about being a celebrity with fans: it's about making friends.

--

Some fandoms do have interactions. Maybe if you start interacting with others' works, that will help. Maybe you need a different fandom. "Modern fandom" isn't this total wasteland with no interaction, nor do most people find a total lack of it fun.

[ladyazurith]

You mentioned in one post that you think one problem with the game is that it twists itself into pretzels to fit the various different narratives, even when it doesn't make sense for the characters. Can you talk more about that? (Because I totally agree.)

Very much so! It's really bothersome. The first thing is in the individual chapters they tend to act like the students don't know each other well outside their own dorms, almost like they're practical strangers who have never interacted before. When everything else points to the opposite. Take Chapter 5 for example. They try to act like Ace and Deuce have no idea who Epel is, yet in Ace's CR story, he clearly meets Epel during their sorting. Never mind how they behave during events. And in chapter 2 when Cater is with Yuu and the others scoping out possible targets, it's presented like he doesn't know most of them well, when he clearly knows *everyone*.

Then from there, it's how the characters act in their individual chapters. Chapter 1 is mostly okay in this regard. Events with Riddle happen quickly enough that him having a major change of heart and acting "normal" in material from then on isn't too jarring.

But moving on from there it's a trainwreck. The chapter's overblot victims/ antagonists can get a little bit of a pass, but even then it stretches things.

Like Ruggie for instance, he is very shrewd and isn't above taking advantage of a situation. But he's not evil, he very clearly cares a lot about his home, his grandmother, and the other kids who live in the area with him. The idea that the character we see in every other situation would cause serious harm to someone else over a game is kind of ludicrous. He could have very easily risked expulsion if things had gone too far, and then he wouldn't be in a position to help *anyone*. Leona is even kind of iffy to me. While Leona tends to go out of his way to appear uncaring/unmotivated/lazy, he's actually an incredibly good dorm leader who cares about his students. Most of his real issues are internal, and harming innocent people who aren't even part of his beef with Malleus just seems out of character to me. Never mind what he does to Ruggie. Some of it can be explained by the build up of blot but not all of it.

And then Chapter 3, Azul, Jade, and Floyd. For the most part, I can see the tweels going along with everything because they both thrive on chaos. But Azul's plan is just...stupid coming from someone who's a professional businessman. First off he has no shortage of workers for the lounge. Ruggie frequently takes shifts there, and Cater while not a waiter also does a lot of work with them. But the whole sea anemone thing was just gross. And apparently, there was nothing in the contract about not disparaging their employer. It might have caused a spike in business at first just because people want to see what's going on for themselves, but overall, he'd ultimately hurt his business and drive customers *away*. Never mind the whole bullying backstory comes out of NOWHERE. Like I do have sympathy for Azul and what he went through and he is one of my favorite characters, but Ch 3 suffered from poor writing in my opinion. Narratively the whole thing was a mess.

Chapter 4 is handled better in my opinion. For the most part, I have the least amount of complaints about what goes on here. My biggest one though is what I mentioned before, Characters tend to exist in a bubble during their chapter events. You can not tell me that Cater nor Lilia wouldn't have tried to figure out what the hell was going on with Kalim. Or Silver for that matter. Never mind how Kalim had the authority to keep his entire dorm at school over a holiday when it's shut down?!!? I get his family is rich and powerful but, that still seems like a stretch idk.

Jamil I think was a least handled well otherwise, his actions and motivations seemed consistent with his character. In the end, he didn't really want to harm anyone, he just wanted his freedom and was desperate. The only real question is what did he think was going to happen next? Even if Kalim got kicked out of NRC then he would have only had about a year and a half of 'freedom' it wouldn't have solved any of his problems. And if Kalim had turned up dead, there would have still been severe repercussions for him and his family. IDK for someone who is supposed to be good at planning and scheming there definitely were parts that weren't well thought-out.

Chapter 5 and Rook is where this conversation started I think but I'll touch on it again. His actions at the end of chapter 5 are COMPLETELY out of character for what we know about him otherwise. Hiding his obsession with Neige from Vil, and then revealing it IN FRONT OF him while he's still licking his wounds from his overblot is just...if this was the only context we had for Rook, no one would be calling them friends. He had no real reason to reveal he was the one that cost them the competition.

The reception to this was so bad that's why we have the start of chapter 6 where Vil gives his speech about professionalism and why he's okay with Rook and what he did. I don't believe the narrative that Vil wasn't hurt at all, not with how he's shown to be so insecure especially where Neige is concerned. Sure I might buy the part about Rook voting for NRC not hurting him, but not the rest of it.

Never mind otherwise Rook isn't cruel. Especially not to Vil, and his actions were just that.

This is also biased, but the fact that Cater was cut from the team, and the reasons why rub me the wrong way. I know that they just wanted Jamil and Kalim because they were the previous chapter's focal point and Ace and Deuce because they're tied to pretty much everything because of Yuu and the story. But Vil keeps talking about being a professional, admitted straight up that Cater's audition was *perfect* but brushed him off and passed him over anyway. (Also Ironic because Cater's VA actually is a musician/singer/ensemble group member and not a traditional VA) but that's off course of the question lol

Also, I will never not be salty that RSA won with their song/performance. All for the narrative. And THEN they gave us a shot at seeing some kind of revenge or at least a win over them after the VDC with Epel's hometown event and yet again WE STILL LOST. I don't understand that one either. It's just frustrating for the players to be put in that situation again needlessly. There was no real narrative/story reason we had to lose.

Chapter 6 we finally get away from the narrative that the characters can't know who each other are in the main story at least -_-;. overall I don't have too many issues with Chapter 6. (other than the mini games -_-) Idia's character is kept consistent. We get some fun moments from the cast, and for the most part its in line with what we know of them and their characters. Azul and Riddle are gold, Jamil needed to hear what Leona told them. (tho it was a little pot kettle but then again that meant that Leona knew what he was talking about). And over all things don't seem AS forced. Had hoped things were gonna get better.

Then Chapter 7 rolled around and they murdered Lilia's character. The character we knew would NEVER treat his family like that. He even gives Malleus a speech in Cater's Halloween SSR about how he'll always be there when he needs him. He's consistently been shown to value his family and connections. It was just such a drastic change I am still baffled. I understand why he would be leaving, but to not really talk to those around him or explain what's going on and make an effort to keep in touch and stay in their lives? It's absurd. Of course Silver and Malleus broke down, if in high school my dad basically told me he was dying and that he was going far away and I'd never see him again, I'd have lost it too, and I'm not nearly as close to my dad as they were to Lilia.

I know they needed something to trigger Malleus's overblot but again this just seems like poor writing to me. The idea of Lilia loosing his powers and possibly dying I think would have been enough if they'd framed it right to push Malleus over the edge. That's difficult /emotional enough and they wouldn't have had to completely destroy Lilia's characterization to make it work. They could have even had the scene with Silver and Malleus when SIlver breaks down crying in front of him after trying to stay strong in front of Lilia so as not to worry him.

I'm trying to reserve too much judgment until we see the entirety of chapter 7 but unless there is some unknown reason for Lilia to have chosen this method of leaving, I don't know how to really justify it.

I get sometimes characters have to make difficult choices it is what helps make a story interesting, but if those choices arise from conflict that's not framed well or meaningful, it loses its potency. It comes across like us as the players and the characters themselves being cheated.

[rainbowsky]

Hello Rainbowsky,

I know, hiking CPN can be washed by saying WYB went to Inner Mongolia to see the shooting location for his upcoming movie and may be went on hiking when he had free time.

But, WYB who never posts more than 1 personal picture in an entire year, decided to post his hiking pictures even when the picture location matches with the shooting location of XZ and there were heavy rumours of him visiting XZ.

Also, he went to Japan and other places for seeing shooting location but he did not post pictures from there. People are also saying that if it was for movie he will not spoil the location before movie releases.

Rainbowsky, what do you think?

Hi Anon,

It's true that there are people trying to wash this whole Inner Mongolia thing. It just goes with the territory. In fact, the bigger and stronger the CPN, the harder people work to wash it.

However.

Fake, fan fiction, CPN.

It's not really washable. In part because there's not enough information available to independently verify or debunk anything, sure, but also for all the reasons everyone's been discussing lately.

The location

DD's filming locations are not known at this point. Somehow (and I can't possibly express how thoroughly impressed I am by this) the film set has been so totally locked down that nothing has leaked from it, to the degree that no one even knows for sure that the project is currently filming, or where. So people claiming he was there for filming... that's speculation.

The film synopsis solos are relying on to wash this CPN talks about the character we'd presume to be DD's (it's the only young man mentioned) being from "the heart of" the Great Khinogan Mountains.

The Wulanhada volcano park that DD was photographed by is not anywhere near that area.

We don't know exactly where GG is filming so we can't get too carried away about it, but it's pretty disingenuous for people to claim DD was there for filming when it's not anywhere near where his character is supposed to be from, and the terrain around the volcano park is totally different from the terrain where DD's character is from (would probably not make a good stand-in location for that region).

Wulanhada volcano park, left - Great Khinogan Mountains, right

Of course it's not impossible that he was there for filming, but given what little we know (the same information solos are trying to use to wash this), it seems unlikely.

It's also possible he went there directly from Beijing, but that's a 5 hour drive at minimum, so wouldn't likely have been a day trip. And DD isn't going to post a photo of himself at GG's filming location, he's going to post one that says what he wants to say while still maintaining plausible deniability. This volcano park is perfectly situated to provide all of that.

Aside from that - as turtles have already pointed out - why would DD share photos from the area where he's filming, when this film has been so very locked down until now? It doesn't make any sense at all. Keeping locations secret is what's been protecting this film from leaks and stalkers.

The content

It's pretty interesting that we've seen enormously popular photos from GG (his birthday post has over 33.7 million likes, while the Xiao Zhan Studio birthday photos post is at 4 million likes), featuring him hiking in the wilds and hanging out in campground areas, and then we get something similar from DD who, as you said, rarely shares personal photos anymore.

They both seem to be very outdoorsy lately!

For two people who - according to solos - are 'trying desperately to get out from under the tyranny of this delusional CP', they sure are making some big mistakes about how to appear to be very different people living very different lives...

His and his B&W Leicas

His and his credit card iPhone cases

His and his Gucci lion head necklaces

Yeah, they're really putting in every effort to shake this 'reputation destroying', 'horribly toxic' ship! 🙄

More on that here.

The timing

This is the biggest thing, and in my opinion what we should be focusing on the most. Because as far as I'm concerned, this post is a statement - a very loud and clear one.

DD is being (yet again) attacked with these horrible, laughably false (like, seriously - the photos are clearly of a woman who is much shorter and smaller than DD) rumors about him attending a concert with a particular actress, and suddenly the supertopic for that 'CP' is shut down and we get photos from DD that point to a totally different CP. One that he's supposedly trying to 'shake off'.

Then we see him partying it up openly, publicly, at a concert for his dear friend Da Zhangwei. Not even wearing a mask, so everyone is free to fully identify and photograph him.

It seems to me that DD is sending a pretty clear message:

I'm not dating an actress, I'm with GG

I don't need to disguise myself as a woman to go see a concert

And this is exactly what happened last time these kinds of inflammatory rumors were circulating about him with that same actress. People were claiming that the actress was wearing the same bone necklace as him (with a blurry photo where the necklace couldn't even be seen), so GG released footage wearing a Gucci lion head necklace that DD had previously worn for a race.

GG and DD don't fuck around.

So while I'll tag this with my regular "the mysteries of yizhan" tag that I use for all candy/CPN, there really is no mystery here at all. DD is fed up with this bullshit and won't stand for it.

In fact I was just saying to a friend the other day that the biggest mystery I have about GGDD these days is, how do solos manage to remain solos? They have access to the same information we do. 😅

[venaue]

[ 1 ] OC INTROS - MY TWST AU

first up : both of my yuu ocs! They co-exist in ramshackle and both play an important part in the story :D

Yuuto & Kiyuu !

more info abt them under the cut :3 [ totally not a shameless plug but i have a rp blog for them @ramshackle-snowyruins id be very happy if u checked it out :D]

REBLOGS WLD BE VERY VERY MUCH APPRECIATED !!!!!!!! <33

______________________________________________________________

first up is yuuto ! a bit of extra basic info about him :

yuuto goes by he/it , and is afab & transmasc (this however is not public knowledge)

introverted extrovert

he's an adrenaline junkie , and he enjoys getting into fights , and playing sports . (if you see him with a grin on his face during an overblot… you're not hallucinating unfortunatly... ;p)

he is easily irritable , and is often fighting with ace (as ace also does with deuce)

he also has insomnia. he finds it hard to fall asleep until around 3-4 in the morning, and wakes up at around 7-8, unless having to earlier for school.

he often hangs out with crimson and aros (2nd yr ocs) in the pop music club (with kiyuu) before the club starts, sometimes they plays music with them, and sometimes they just hang out

enjoys games, both online and board/card-esc, likes using strategy, though most of the time his temper hinders his ability to actually perform well...

one of the things he enjoys most about being at NRC is broom riding, he absolutely loves it. he often pesters anchor or mace to use their magic to get his broom started in flight class, even though he hardly ever goes out of his way to interact with anybody, even them.

if yuuto had a choice to go back to their world, he wouldn't take it, even if he was forced. he never wants to go back, and nothing would ever make him change his mind.

relationship status with canon: bffs (he's in denial tho): ace , deuce , epel , jack , ortho , sebek clubmates: azul , idia a different kind of clubmates category: leona "oh thats a close friend of [an oc/canon char they're connected to in some way]": lilia , floyd , jade , rook , silver , ruggie acquaintances: jamil , cater , trey , kalim , malleus they dislike him a tad (read: maybe a bit more than a tad): vil , riddle (^^ very brief categories just as a basis ... maybe if u ask (either here or on the rp acc) i might go into more depth ;3)

(anonymously online (under the pseudonym @/infinitelygray), he's also good friends with gloomurai and muscle_red) ;)

O-KAY TIME FOR KIYUU !!! u know the drill nooww <3

they go by they/she/he and are amab non-binary!! (again , not public knowledge tho,,)

extroverted introvert

kiyuu appears to be a confident and cheerful person, taking efforts to resolve conflicts and make sassy jokes

but they're also a chronic overthinker, always acting before they can think and then immediately regretting it afterwards , even if it had no consequence at all, always second guessing herself

she absolutely adores makeup and feminine clothing and stuff and feels most confident when theyr presenting fem and when theyve taken care of their appearance, its one of the only ways she can really feel a little more confident in herself

kiyuu has enochlophobia , the phobia of crowds , and such often grows quiet and fidgety whenever in large groups of individuals

kiyuu also has a form of insomnia , but rather a polar opposite of yuuto's in which he can fall asleep easily quite early on at around 10-11pm usually , but wakes up at really early hours of the morning usually around 2-3am in the morning and can't fall back asleep ,,

they joined the basketball club because they wanted to do something that was familiar to them in this unfamiliar world

they do feel homesick, but if ever faced with a choice to go back to her world or not, kiyuu would stay. because of yuuto, and the rest of the friends she's made, and also because of the freedom of expression she has here as opposed to back home.

relationship status with canon: bffs: ace , deuce , epel , jack , ortho , sebek good friends : lilia , kalim admires (and is decently close to): vil , rook clubmates: jamil , floyd friends: cater , malleus , silver "oh thats a close friend of [an oc/canon char they're connected to in some way]": jade , idia , riddle , azul , leona , ruggie acquaintances: trey (^^ these r pretty in order btw , so the further down the list , both vertical and horizontal , the less close they r 2 the oc) :3 (^ except the first years they're just listed in order cz im lazy)

[ddwcaph-game]

The F6E Parents as Sims!

Sooo this is what I've been busy with the past week. 😅

I've wanted to do this for a while now, both to recover from the update, and to get a better idea of what I want their character art to look like.

I used some height/fitness mods, but I tried to use as few CC as possible (mostly because it's annoying trying to hunt for the perfect ones). Some of the colors/styles aren't accurate of course, but I'm happy with the results for the most part. If anyone's interested, I might upload all the families to the gallery later (I need to remove the spoilery elements), along with links to the CCs.

Nestor and Mary

I gotta be honest, I was kinda lazy when I made the photo of Mary in Chapter 4, so this is a more accurate image of what Mary looks like in that photo (just imagine her with much longer hair). I mostly picked that outfit for Nestor because it has a lil chicken on it (it's the closest I can get to The NeStore logo), but it seems appropriate for his work anyway.

Josephine and Mariano

I didn't want to make Josy and Mario elders, but I honestly think they look better that way, hehe. They're wearing their everyday outfit since I'm still not sure what they're wearing during Rosie's party. Although... I might actually change Mario from bald to semi-bald like he is here.

Danica and Ma'am Bianes

Okay, Ma'am Bianes isn't Lily's police-mom, but I don't really have a clear idea on what Rickie looks like yet. 😅 Both of their outfits here are pretty close to their respective appearances so far, but just imagine that Dani's arm tattoo is WAY more elaborate.

Stephanie and JM Sr.

I found an outfit that's totally accurate to Tita Steph's current description in the story, but it made me remember that she's a feng shui expert and I think red suits her more than plain black in this case. I'll see if I can find a cane mod/cc for her later.

You don't really meet JM's dad in the story, but here he is anyway, hehe. He's much more grumpy looking in the close up.

Yaya Connie and Kuya Popoy

Not much to say here, but I like how both of them turned out since I didn't have a clear idea of what they both looked like before this. I wasn't planning on giving Connie short hair, but I think it fits her a lot. Just make the trim and ribbon in her outfit black and it's perfect.

Julie and Robert

Out of everyone, I think I'm satisfied with Julie and Robert the most. I can't find a good LT uniform-looking outfit for Robert without CC, so here he is with Julie's favorite shawl instead. Well, it doesn't have any patterns, but even with CC it's annoying to look for scarves/shawls separate from the outfits that aren't tightly wrapped around the neck.

***

Maggie and MC's Dad aren't here for obvious reasons, but I might make Maggie's original version later.

Anyway, I made the characters in IAC too! You can find the post here. Major spoiler warning, of course.

If you're curious, I showed F6E here too a while back, but that one's old and outdated. I kinda want to make them as teens/young adults now though.

[mecachrome]

What is the hype around jendo? I am trying to do research but I feel like they barely had any interactions?? Especially recently? Is there a primer or something cause I totally want to try to get into them!

OMGGGG well i wouldn't call myself a jendo expert or anything but i can briefly tell you why i like them!!! also soz for late reply 😭

tbh the very first thing that converted me was watching this interview forever ago because i remember being deeply intrigued by lando's demeanor + relative shyness + how hard he tried overall to appear Respectable and Mature in front of jense while answering his questions??? like the way jenson smiles at him during "are you happy?" "UMMM... kind of" wtheck T__T

jendo honestly have a lot of lore though! again i am not an expert but @cuthechicane has so many fantastic clips and gifsets if you're looking for interax that will rewire your brain chemistry ☝️ (the sheer giddinesssss of their miami interview 😭 also this is a classic moment). part of their thing is that they're both "somerset boys" (lando grew up in glastonbury / jenson is from frome) so that connection also kind of adds an extra layer to jenson having raced for mclaren / lando looking up to him and the general hero worship or cyclical nature of f1 that is palpable in their dynamic and a lot of other f1 agediff ships. ofc rossi was lando's real hero but... you know jenson is jenson

really though i think what i like most about jendo is how much jenson genuinely ADORES lando lmfao like their dynamic is so ridiculous but in a really absurdly sincere way!!! ofc it's super fun to go all in on the rancid age gap power imbalance vibes etc. and the way they flirt in public and fluster each other but jenson 100% RATES lando and hypes him up constantly to the point that it's almost embarrassing negl. lichr him going all in on lando like 4 hours ago... what's craziest to me is that he sincerely believes everyone else loves lando too like his brain can't comprehend the mere concept of someone not being obsessed with his favorite little british twink 😭 he's those innocent guys on reddit who still post comments like "lando is so nice it's impossible to hate him!!!" as if we're still in 2019 or something...... i want to live in that world

imo there's also an aspect to jendo where it's like...? jenson sees so much of himself in lando to the point of having preconceptions about lando's mentality that he projects onto him a bit which i think adds dimension to jenson's vulnerability but that goes into way more my own Meta and isn't really relevant to this post. but part of jenson's personality is that he is very charismatic and a natural speaker and also Usually Right so he loves to SAY shit and although he's not quite a nico-level professional shit stirrer he does kind of um... always speak like he knows something you don't. as evidenced by his time as lewis's teammate wherein he won the idgaf war by not acknowledging it going on in the first place. this is also why he and oscar should banter more because i feel like the comparisons between oscar and jenson are honestly so apt HLSDFH i have a jenson/oscar/lando post if that is of any interest

ok sorry i'm getting off-track but >>>all of that to me is why jendo is fun... jenson presents as very self-assured but if you do a psyche deep dive you realize he was quite sensitive growing up and Personally Victimized by briatore and has been quite open about his anxiety and the way f1 culture functioned at the time, and he's always been quite emotionally regulated but obviously there was... also a lot of glamour that accompanied that until later in his career LOL. so getting to explore those sides of him with a 20-something lando who very much mirrors him (self-reflective and sometimes overly critical and learning to live the "highly committed and industrious playboy" life) but also makes his façade crack in ways you don't often see is so fun & fascinating...!!! imo you can take them in a lot of different directions as a ship :3c

^ bonus bits i like from his book

[bengiyo]

Hi ~ can I ask your Top 5 good surprises in BL this year? (From shows to moments or characters that just. Pleasantly surprised you.) -☆

Hello!

La Pluie Episode 4

La Pluie episode 4 was so different from what I'm used to in BL that I wrote a whole post about the displays of emotional intelligence in the episode. So often BL characters do not act like normal people. Part of why I love La Pluie so much is that every character makes sense all the time, especially when they're being so, so wrong about something.

Nawin (Laws of Attraction)

This insane man was totally unexpected, but made immediate sense as Charn's ex as soon as he appeared.

I Cannot Reach You Ep 6

I've talked about growing up in the closet around here. It was really refreshing for me to see a smart, talented, deeply-closeted boy who was trying to be open about his feelings with his friend absolutely lose the tenuous control he had and cross that line. The last time we saw this acknowledged in any way was the kitchen scene in Until We Meet Again where Dean crosses the line with Pharm and then Pharm reasserts their boundaries. In both cases it isn't about the other party not wanting that, but just not being ready in that moment.

This might be one of the best episodes of BL ever.

"Have you been well? Without me? (Our Dating Sim)

I'm a melancholy boy! I love this show about a melancholy boy that hurt the boy he loved and their journey back to each other. Korean screenwriters are so good at delivering their core thesis in a single line. I love this show so much.

Kim Ji Hyun (The Eighth Sense)

I love this Country Twink so much!!! He is not timid or demure. He's just inexperienced. He was in it to win it the entire time. This boy did not know how to swim but still joined a surfing club to be with a man. He almost died and came back bitchier. He WON. He ain't have to compromise or nothing. I love him with my entire heart.

Ask my Top 5 BL 2023 Anything

[shychick-52]

Cedric's role in season 4 - Part 2

So, this is the second part in a series of posts I'm doing about what episodes in season 4 I think Cedric would have easily fit into, but they totally excluded him from. Because let's face it, he was only in four episodes there (including the finale), and it made no sense after his big redemption in the start of the season!

In Part 1 and Part 1.5, I talked about how Cedric could have been a part of the Mystic Isles arc and Sofia's Protector training.

Another episode he could have appeared in is 'Too Cute To Spook' (s4, episode 12), since both Calista and Cordelia are in it! It takes place after 'Through the Looking-Back Glass' (s4, episode 9).

The episode is all about Calista going trick-or-treating on Halloween with Sofia and her witch friends, and Calista struggles to fit in and make friends with the witches because they think she's too young to join them, and poor Calista's attempts to fit in result in her making mistakes and things going wrong for everyone.

Even tho Calista is a main character in this episode, with Cordelia only making a brief appearance in the beginning, there's no reason why Cedric couldn't have also made a cameo appearance there!

The episode opens with Sofia about to leave the castle to go trick-or-treating with her witch friends when she meets Cordelia and Calista also on their way out, only they're going to a party of a sorceress friend of Cordelia's.

Calista shows off her costume of the Giggling Goblin, which she is so proud of (her knowledge and fascination with the legend of the Giggling Goblin is so freaking adorable), then Sofia invites her to come trick-or-treating with her after Calista laments that she loves Halloween and would rather be doing something fun instead of going to a boring grown-up party.

Why wasn't Cedric even MENTIONED once throughout this whole scene?? They could have expressed disappointment that Cedric maybe couldn't go out with them because he had to work (maybe helping decorate the castle for Halloween) or maybe because he hates parties and big social gatherings (which is my hc for why he didn't go with Cordelia). And/or Calista should have told Sofia that she showed Uncle Ceddy her costume and that he praised how scary it was (maybe even said he helped her with it)!

There's no reason Cedric couldn't have been given a cameo appearance in that beginning scene, tho! It REALLY would have completed the scene! His absence really stood out.

Since this was after 'The Looking-Back Glass', and that episode ended with the siblings reconciling after Cordelia realized she'd been horribly wrong about Cedric all along (and Cedric fixed her hair, much to her gratitude), I'm sure the siblings spent the weeks or months she and Calista were staying with the royal family (while their own place underwent renovations) getting closer! The beginning of this episode would have been a perfect opportunity to give an example of that, whether by giving Cedric a cameo or even a mention!

The majority of the episode was about Calista's eagerness to fit in with Sofia and her witch friends, and her making a ton of mistakes as she tried to make their trick-or-treating adventure a fun one. @mushroomsie224 made a post talking about how similar the witches' treatment of Calista was to how everyone always treated Cedric- how angry/judgemental they got with her for ruining everything, her desperation to try to fix things/prove herself just like Cedric (which only ended up making things worse, like with Cedric), her refusal to give up like Cedric, etc. And that would have been a perfect opportunity for the writers to make that comparison! Calista could have sadly said something like "This is what Uncle Ceddy always felt like!" She or Sofia could have brought up how Cedric knows what it's like for people to treat him poorly for making mistakes, but that "he never stopped trying, and neither will I!" (Calista) or "but we know he's still a great sorcerer" (Sofia) as a means of encouragement.

@bettathanyou @fantadym @cedric-my-beloved @majoresca @sweetmariihs2 @the-gayest-show @moonypears-blog

[itsbenedict]

From the beginning | Previously | Coin standings | 60/70 | 37/37

Once again, some kind strangers have left you some supplies. You get another WIFI ACCESS POINT, to replace the one you're about to use, plus another NOBLE BELT TUT BOTNET BULLET (bringing you back up to 4) and a spare SOFTWARE PATCH (bringing you to 2). Wait, 2? Walter says yeah, I've had this one lying around since before I fell down in the sparkling abyss. Adea says well why didn't you SAY so?!

You're both distracted by the priciest purchase yet, though: a BIONIC MINTER BIT COIN MINER. This device- although someone appears to have briefly gnawed on its casing- can be installed anywhere you can find a power outlet, and it'll just spit out free money! Five Coin in the amount of time it takes for you to lose 1 hunger! Or... free minus the electricity it consumes, but it's not like it's your electricity you'd be using in this otherworld. Just leave it to run, then come back later, and you've got a massive pile of cash to spend! And there's power outlets all over this tower, so setting it up should be no problem.

Yep, there's definitely no downsides to using this machine!

So that's very convenient. Satisfied, you dig into ACCESS QUEENLIEST JUICE ION, PRONTO! "JOCQUES NINELITE PROSECUTION CASE".

Jocques Ninelite, apparently, is a local entrepreneur, who recently quit his government job as a HAZARD WICK to found the Ninelite RECEDING NEST, a technology startup. His new company has developed and is distributing EDEN SNAKE, and this has Governor Thinrar extremely mad at him for some reason. This document details dozens of attempts to come up with charges that'll stick to him so he can be arrested and his DECADE'S CHOICES confiscated, but most of them have run aground on insufficient evidence.

There's reams of legal jargon attempting to find obscure laws and bylaws under which selling EDEN SNAKE is illegal, but he apparently knew the law and meticulously avoided any of the various traps- Thinrar's legal advisors don't think they can make any of these stick in court.

Ninelite was found snooping around the scene of an apparent terrorist bombing in the MR. SQUEAK TABLEWARE 15 years ago, and is suspected of having tampered with the crime scene- but no physical evidence exists.

There's a half-finished case for an antitrust suit in here, alleging anticompetitive hiring practices where he attempts to poach talent from other companies. Nothing he's done has technically been illegal, though, but they're working on drafting new legislation that might be able to get him retroactively.

The RECEDING NEST's R&D experiments are under investigation for workplace safety violations, but they haven't been able to get an inspector on-site without alerting them ahead of time- everything they've done under surveillance has been free of occupational safety hazards.

They're even trying to get the corporate campus written up for landscaping code violations. This city has a landscaping code?! What kind of HOA nonsense is this?

You'd think a rich tech CEO would have mountains of dirty laundry, but a concerted effort by the local government has been totally unable to pin anything on him, which is odd. No one's record is this clean unless someone's put effort into cleaning it. How has he been covering his tracks?

The NEXT TO MOLASSES SACRAMENT CORONAMELT TAX ASSESSMENT reveals a similar battle involving Thinrar's legal team trying to pin something on a local business owner. This time, though, it's looking a lot less flimsy. RANDOM SEED, owner of the mountainside casino-resort MONTE CARLO, is very plainly guilty of dozens of counts of felony tax evasion, and HAZARD WICK specialist ONE-TIME PAD has volunteered to go retrieve the last pieces of evidence needed to bring him down.

...The emails between Thinrar and his legal team, though, reveal there's more going on here. Apparently, none of this tax evasion is new- rather, it's been tolerated for decades as part of some kind of under-the-table deal with the casino. Not even tolerated, exactly- it'd just be redundant to pay taxes when RANDOM SEED has been paying such humongous bribes to Thinrar in exchange for exemption from the city's gambling laws.

Somehow, MONTE CARLO has been producing more Coin than it could possibly be extracting from the pockets of desperate gamblers, and it's been keeping the city's municipal budget (and Thinrar's gubernatorial campaign) afloat for years. They're only prosecuting him now because the money is starting to dry up, and they think they can finally get better election odds by making a show of rooting out corruption. (Y'know, rather than by taking kickbacks from that same corruption.) Most of these emails are discussing how to prevent retaliation, and prosecute the case without exposing their own illegal dealings.

These files are like something out of an Ayn Rand novel- corrupt bureaucracy trying to keep down poor innocent captains of industry. The naked corruption on display is pretty flabbergasting- is it all like this?

You've been at this a while- do you want to keep digging, or has your governorship's REIGN PEAKED and you'd like to go somewhere else?

Continued | 60/70 | 36/36

[binarybreak]

Hey all! Just wanted to say:

1) The season two premier was such a fantastic way to develop both interest and intrigue in the new season, I was so stoked, you all did a fantastic job making me (I can't speak for the rest of your audience) invested in these characters, the mystery of what happened to Team Baby, and what happens next. I completely understand your monthly release schedule (it's a tremendously impressive accomplishment, especially considering this is a fan project made by people who, I'm sure, have plenty else going on in their lives,) and I'd never be like "okay guys, hurry it up," but I will say that I'm very anxious to hear the next episode!

2) I'm reading over the rules for Digidice, and I just have one question: am I missing something, or is there no mechanical difference between the Tired condition and the Sick condition? Like obviously you'd play them differently as a character, but they're essentially the same thing rules wise?

3) Are there any plans for developing a bestiary/monster manual type of thing? Like obviously fans already know all the classic Digimon and are more than willing to run with fakemons so you wouldn't need pictures or lore, I'm just concerned about the poor DMs needing to come up with stat blocks for NPCs on the fly when things go off the rail. To be clear, I'm not asking you to make one, I was just thinking I might have fun making one, but I didn't want to bother if there's already one in the works

4.) I have tried actual play after actual play podcast. The first podcast I ever listened to was TAZ*, and since I loved it so much I scoured the genre for any more content I would like. You are the first actual play since TAZ to actually catch and hold my attention. I don't know what it is about you other than a simple matter of personal taste, but you are rocking it. Thank you for making this show

*Unless it was Ars Paridoxica. Definitely one of those two

1. Thank you! Trust me, I am also eager to get to the next part of the story. If I could do this show as my full-time job, and release a new episode every week, I absolutely would.

2. Yeah, currently they're just two different flavors of the same condition. Played different ways and cured in different ways. The condition system is something I'm probably gonna totally overhaul if I ever do a second edition.

3. At some point, we will probably release Digidice stats for all of the digimon that appear in Binary Break (canon and original). Might also stat out a fair chunk of the most popular canon digimon who don't appear in the show, just as a resource for other GMs, and cause making digimon in that system is legitimately fun for me. In the meantime, feel free to stat out as many canon digi as you wish. Some folks on my Discord server were recently discussing the possibility of a sorta collaborative project to make something along those lines, but right now it's just in the "wouldn't it be cool if" phase.

4. That is some wonderfully high praise. It really means the world to me to hear you say that. So far the reaction to the season 2 premiere has been just lovely. Thank you so much for sharing this with us. 💜

- Claire

[starwriterulia]

Tomb of the Goshenite Stargazer Dragon - Chapter 5

SUBJECT MATERIAL WARNINGS FOR THIS FANFICTION ARE INCLUDED IN THE MASTERLIST POST OF MY BLOG AND THE FIRST CHAPTER OF THIS FANFICTION.

Bat dividers by @violetbudd

Scene cut and creator support banners by @cafekitsune

Latest update: August 18, 2024. Added chapter summary. Added scene cut and "Support your creators by reblogging" banners. Added ⏭️ emoji below end of chapter banner with text explaining its function as a navigational button.

Chapter summary: Stephanie and Faith fail to be intimate, Faith citing that they're siblings now, and Stephanie understands and apologises. Faith shares the near-incestous memory she had hidden out of shame, Barbara outside the door listening. Barbara shares this with Dick and Tim off-screen, and their mission to be friends with Faith and guide her is reaffirmed. The next morning is Monday, and Stephanie and Faith eat breakfast, and as Faith practices with Tim, she talks with Dick about what Ra's might have experienced and done in her Dragon Tomb, revealing a loophole Ra's could access in her Puzzle Tower, a door to it in her Dragon Tomb, that Dick makes her amend immediately, Barbara helping. Faith divulges her love for Tohou, almost all off-screen, as the group play Wii games after dinner. Stephanie and Faith go to bed with their pyjamas on.

Fandoms: DC Comics, Batfamily, no Batcest, Thalassic Space (OC; takes inspiration The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Assassin's Creed: Black Flag, Silent Hill 2, Silent Hill 3, and other sci-fi, fantasy and horror titles, as well as original concepts, such as the science and lore of the galaxy.)

[In order of appearance] Characters: Faith Lawson (TBA; self-insert), Stephanie Brown (The Spoiler). Barbara Gordon (Batgirl), Tim Drake (Red Robin), Dick Grayson (Nightwing).

Word Count: 7093 (Slightly long, but not too long!)

Content warning: Mention of a sexual ick (feces from how Faith's body tenses up), details of the struggles of wiping after using the bathroom due to dwarfism, a retelling of Faith's near-incestuous experience, discussion of Faith's stressful experience of learning about sex on the Internet without her parents' proper guidance, canon-typical violence, major character death.

Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3 - Chapter 4 - Chapter 5 - Chapter 6

Stephanie flicked on the bedside lamp as Faith entered and closed the door. "All right," Stephanie took hold of Faith's left wrist with both hands and pulled her to stand at the left side of the bed. "Lift your arms! Lemme see you again, girl!"

"Um."

"Are you scared?"

"Well, now that I'm part of the Batfamily, it's inappropriate. I know this is just what you do, but I'd rather people like me."

"Oh, oh shit, I totally get that! I'm so sorry. I'm sorry for hitting on you, too."

"Thanks"

"Do you just wanna talk, then?"

"Can we talk and platonically cuddle?"

"Hell yes!"

"Yay!" As the girls crawled into bed, Stephanie laying down and extending her right arm, Barbara arrived at the door with a plate of apple pie and ice cream in each hand. "Do you want to be on top like this?"

'Yep, Barbara, you should have waited an hour.' Barbara thought.

"Yes, please." Faith said, lowering herself to rest her head partially on Stephanie's shoulder and partially into her armpit. Faith sighed. "So, part of my asexuality is that I give myself the ick."

"Mhm?"

'I should just go.' Barbara picked up the plates. Her watch vibrated. She looked at it.

"When my body tenses up to cum, I shit a little, and that turns me off, and I can't finish."

'SOFFFIAA just sent me a message.' Barbara interacted with her watch to open the Messages tab of TSRPG, and navigated to chat with SOFFIAA.

"Oh, well that's not good. Do you ever just sit on a towel?"

SOFFFIAA has turned her attention to you, bearing a message.

SOFFFIAA: Please don't go.

"I do, but then the towel needs to be cleaned." Faith said. Barbara heard Dick approaching, and glanced at him.

SOFFFIAA: You wanted to know the story Faith hasn't told you.

"And it smells like piss, so I just..."

SOFFFIAA: Have you figured out that I am actually Faith's Anima?

"Sigh, I just end up rubbing my dildo against myself a little bit,"

BARBARA GORDON: Hm. No, but it makes sense.

DIck whispered, "You're talking to SOFFFIAA and eavesdropping?"

SOFFFIAAA: Well, now that you're informed, please stay.

"'Cause I can't reach with just my arms, which is why my panties sometimes smell like piss,"

"Aw."

"Yes, Dick Grayson, I am." Barbara said.

BARBARA GORDON: OK. I will. Thanks for the heads up.

SOFFFIAA: It was my duty and pleasure to assist with the healthy status of your friendship with the Great Little Starwriter.

"Unless I had the time and desire to actually lift my leg or really bend over,"

SOFFFIAA has turned her attention away.

Barbara closed the app as Tim came near. "Liiiittle creepy." She whispered. 'Oops.'

Dick said, "It can probably still hear you. Er, she, sorry."

"Sorry, no offense, SOFFIAA. You know the stereotype."

"But when I feel the shit coming, I run to the toilet, and then I've lost the horny." Faith said. As she spoke, Barbara, Dick and Tim waited for Barbara's watch to recieve a new message. It didn't.

"Aw, that sucks."

"Huh, an artificial consciousness that actually isn't capable of evil?" Said Dick.

"I just wish I didn't have a body."

Tim said, "Well, SOFFFIAA is an actual person. Chandra, remember?"

"Riiight."

"Oh, Faith." Stephanie said, kindly, gently placing her right hand on Faith's back and massaging. "You can't do that, and neither can I. And please don't say that you could, with magic."

"'Kay." Faith mumbled, dropping her hand and gaze.

Stephanie sighed through her nose. "How can I help you?"

"I just want to cuddle and kiss a girl. Can't kiss you, as we've said."

"Oh, I know."

"Also, I don't think I'd like the taste or feel of pussy, much less ass. And having Ra's dick in my mouth was really uncomfortable."

"He mouth-raped you?!"

Dick angrily whispered, "He mouth-raped her?!"

Tim bit his lower lip in anger. "Bruce didn't share that with us."

Barbara said, "I guess he just assumed she would tell us."

"Yeah." Said Tim.

"Yeah, Ra's was actually there. Honestly, I was curious, and I thought it might satiate his pursuit of me for a little."

"It wouldn't have."

"Nope." Said Tim.

"Yeah. Also, my hormones were why I didn't use magic to throw him then and there. Giving a dick head with a bit of throating hurt in the awkward way I thought it would. Having a small mouth and a gag reflex didn't help. I mean, it got easier, but he said something that gave me the opportunity to manifest Argophael, and then I threw Ra's."

"Right, oh-kay. Well, you got it done. Throwing Ra's, I mean. Sorry you had to experience that."

"Thanks."

"But like, this? Being this close to a girl? It's a lot less stressful than what my brain thinks about with a guy."

"It is, isn't it?'

"'Cause they smell different, and my body and brain reacts different, and I don't want the baby fever I get 'cause I'd have a high risk pregnancy. Also, my IUD is supposed to be useless because I'm a demigoddess, but it's a lie."

"It is?"

"It's in the Script, which is why Urania told me that. My Role as the Great Little Starwriter is to provide information, but not all of it is true, outside of Thalassic Space. There's a reason that all of the named characters in the stories are actually Actors. None of it's real. When Ra's finds out, he's going to be pissed."

"Right, 'cause his plans to use your powers to kill people and use the environment for his cause will be foiled."

"Exactly."

"Huh. Do you want to never have sex with a man?"

"No, I do, just a little, to know what it feels like. But I'm so small, and I get so stressed, and then I shit, I-I can't even use my dildo for longer than two minutes, unless I'm sitting on a towel, and my hormones take priority over the ick, which is really rare."

"Aw, I'm sorry, Faith."

"It's OK. It's not your fault, or even mine, I-I just learned about sex in a scary way 'cause of the Internet."

"What did you see?"

Barbara quietly put down the dessert plates on a nearby table so she could properly listen to the door.

Faith sighed heavily. "You know how, in the Vocaloid community, Rin and Len Kagamine aren't siblings, just mirrors of each other, but a lot of the fandom views them as siblings?"

"Mhm."

"Well, I have a brother." Things clicked in the Batkids' brains. "I dunno why he knew what sex was and agreed to it. He was ten, I was twelve. The farthest we got was our clothes off on his bed."

"Oh, ha, uh, OK."

"Sorry, I don't like this memory, I never talk about it."

"I can see why. You don't have to keep talking about it, if it's making you so stressed, Faith."

"No, I want to finish it. Then Mom came in, asking what all the noise was for, and then she got loud asking why we were naked. I got the most spankings, of course, and I told her that I got the idea from the Internet, so I had my phone taken away for a month. The thing is, my subconsious has made the memory worse in that my teenage brother is the one who wants to do it, and I'm my adult self with the memory and the knowledge I've learned about why incest happens and is a fetish, and I just wake up angry and screaming and wishing I could just erase the memory from my mind. And I know it's just a dumb thing I almost did as a kid, but I don't like sex as an adult because I keep thinking of the power imbalance between men and women, if you don't think about people who flip that on it's head, but I had to learn about that from the Internet, not hetero-normative society."

"And I had to learn from the Internet about the power that adults have over children, and what child autonomy is. Consensual sex is between two adults with a socially acceptable age difference, or who are the same age, and sex is supposed to be romantic, non-stressful and fun. I-I'm just so lost from having all of this information, and the things I've seen online, trying to see what sexual acts I do and don't like. I've always felt more comfortable watching two women or men or queer people having sex, not a man and a woman. The monster fucker part of me came from the second fandom I joined, TMNT, but in 2012 thanks to the Wii game."

"Oh God, that movie." Stephanie and Faith laughed.

"Sex with a penis looks painful, and I don't understand why they repeat certain words in certain ways instead of sometimes saying those words to communicate when something feels good or needs to stop. I do like the moaning and sounds, though." Faith sighed.

"It sounds like you like safe, consensual sex that's a little on the quiet side, Faith. That's perfectly normal."

"I know. The only thing I can do about it is role-play with myself so I'm control, but like I said, I gross myself out, and I can't finish."

"That's not true, you can ask for help."

"I tried, with online dating, and there's no one in my town who likes what I do who's not a minor or dating, and you know what online dating is like, right?"

"Yeah, it's no picnic."

"Exactly. Me trying to help myself is what happened earlier today with my Animus."

"Right."

"All of this shit is why I'm on the asexual spectrum, a-and one more reason for me to not talk to people." Faith said. Stephanie hummed. "My experiences with online dating have just confirmed what I learned, and have further confirmed my fears and icks about what it's like to be a cisgender woman. I've even learned about what it's like to be transgender, and I like to be friends with them and people of other genders because they feel safe. I know I'll never be in a romantic relationship with a queer person, even a woman, because I'm stuck in my brain, and in the past, a-and again, I'm just so, so lost." Faith sobbed.

Stephanie gently said, "Faith. That's not true. You can love whoever you want to."

"Yeah, but I can't even cry because Mom said it's a pity-party, and I'm supposed to cry for others, not me. So I don't want to live, and I don't want love, and I don't want sex, I just want peace and freedom, but I don't know what that is outside of a story, so I made a whole galaxy." Faith huffed. "I'm tired." She whimpered, nestled into Stephanie, and closed her eyes.

Stephanie was speechless for a few seconds. "I'm sorry, Faith."

"It's not your fault, and it's not mine, I just learned things that have made me so scared and icky, and I just have to deal with it."

"I know. It sounds like it. Well, thank you for being so brave and telling me about that memory, and how you feel. I promise that none of us will ever take advantage of you like that, OK?"

"I know. It's why I didn't immediately ask Platonia to cut the shit and send Ra's home a husk of himself for a year. I wanted to meet you guys, I-I wanted friends!" Faith started crying, burrowing her face into Stephanie. Stephanie clicked her tongue and tightened her grip around Faith, rubbing her back. Tears began to run from Barbara's eyes. Dick's eyes watered as he reached out to caress Barbara's arm. Tim had lowered his own wettened eyes and sighed.

"All I want is friends, but all my life, it's been so hard! And I know why now, and what to do, but it's still so hard! So I made a galaxy, and, and..." Faith grumbled, and tucked her face into Stephanie's body. Stephanie felt the tears from Faith's eyes. How they didn't flow. How they were trapped.

Stephanie cried for her, and sniffled. "I'm so sorry, Faith."

"Thank you for listening and not screaming that I'm an incestuous piece of shit."

"Is that what you're afraid of people calling you, when you tell them that story?"

"Yeah, and I don't tell it often 'cause sometimes my friends have trauma directly caused by incest, or familial molestation. But my Homestuck friends, they understood, they were kind to me, and then we moved on! And I try to live like that, I try to move on, but the dream world, my subconsious, it won't let go."

"Maybe that's OK, Faith." Faith groaned and shook her head. "Maybe that's your brain's way of telling you why it's important to remember."

Faith sniffled, looked up a little, and nodded. "That makes sense. I've probably realised that before, but like all of the good things that come from my memories, and even what I'm supposed to be doing in the present, they get lost in noise."

"Can you let go of those thoughts for now, and cuddle with me?"

Faith nodded. "I'd like that."

"Good." Stephanie said. Faith relaxed into Stephanie, her eyes closing again, her right hand carressing Stephanie's lower abdomen. Seeing this, Stephanie closed her eyes too.

"You smell nice." Faith quietly said.

"You do, too." Stephanie replied.

Barbara knocked twice. "Uh, it's me! I've got apple pie and vanilla ice cream, if you want it." Dick and Tim moved left, away from the door.

"Yeah." Faith muttered.

"Sure, Barbara. You can come in." Stephanie said. Barbara opened the door with her free hand, picked up the plate she had set down, and entered the room, closing the door with her right foot. Barbara put the plates on the nightstand, and sat on the bed. "Did you hear any of that?"

"Yeah. I had literally just stopped at the door when she started. Faith, hey. Can you look at me, please?" The little woman turned her head to look at Barbara.

"I just want you to know that it's all OK, now. You know what you were about to do was wrong so much that it's been a burden that your subconscious has used to take away your courage to live a good life." Faith nodded. "That's why you're so afraid of sex and only comfortable with it in your mind, when it's completely under your control, right?" Faith nodded more. "You just happen to have magic now, and it became an illusion fulfilled by your Animus, your male-self, earlier today. Although, that illusion did burn part of the forest." Faith giggled. Barbara and Stephanie chuckled. "Good, that tells me you're not angry at yourself for that."

"I'm not trying to say you should suck it up and get over it, OK, hon? I just want you to know that you've been heard, and that you have permission to move on from your friends." Barbara said. Faith's eyes leaked, and she sniffled. "It's OK." Barbara whispered. Faith cried three tones, and turned while sitting up to hug Barbara, who returned the hug. Stephanie sat up and held Faith from behind, wrapping her arms around Faith's stomach. They were quiet for a full minute. "You gonna be OK with her, Steph?"

"Yeah. She said she just wants cuddles. We're family, now. I really shouldn't hit on her. I won't, again."

"Oh, I get that, that's good. And sisterly cuddling sounds lovely. I'll leave you two alone, then."

"Thank you." Faith said in her tears. "For not saying I'm horrible."

Barbara clicked her tongue and stroked Faith's hair. "I don't think you've never been horrible, Faith. You dealt with the hand you were given as well as you could, all alone. We're here for you, OK? No more dealing with yourself and the world alone." Faith nodded, sniffling. Barbara removed herself from the bed as Faith and Stephanie laid down, and then Barbara left the room. She approached Dick and Tim, and said, "Let's, uh, go downstairs to talk about this."

Barbara, Dick and Tim arranged themselves near the computer. They were all crying, Tim and Dick red with anger. "I'm going to friggin' cap Ra's in the nutsack, when I see him." Dick growled.

"I'll take his head off." Said Tim, sniffling. "He doesn't deserve to know the real reason Faith's so defensive with him, or why she caved in and gave him a little satisfaction and control."

"Yep." Said Dick.

"Damn right." Barbara said.

Tim said, "She let him take her here just so she could stop being alone, for once. W-We can't let her into his hands."

"Yeah, what happened this morning is all he's getting." Dick said.

"Agreed." Said Barbara.

Dick said to Barbara, a fresh tear rolling down his cheek. "I'm so sorry I looked at her like that, Babs."

"Dick, I-I think that was OK, in a way. She was laughing about it. Like Steph said, none of us are going to take advantage of her."

"Yeah." Dick mumbled, sniffling and wiping his eyes.

"We're, we're gonna be the best friends she could ever have." Tim said. Barbara and Dick nodded firmly, humming in accord. "And we're gonna make her into a really awesome Batgirl." Barbara lifted her cheeks and nodded. Dick nodded, too.

"How about we, uh, call it a night, boys?" Barbara said. Tim and Dick nodded.

"I'm gonna make her a "We're so sorry" gift basket." Tim said. Dick and Barbara laughed.

"Hell yeah, she'd love that."

Dick said, "Do you even know what to put in it so she doesn't tell you that she doesn't like something you picked out, but appreciates it anyways?"

"Oh yeah, I've got it all figured out. Lactose-free chocolate, a couple of fantasy related toys, maybe a nice plushie, something to read, and I'm guessing she's a Skittles kind of girl."

"Oh, for sure, she's a Skittles kind of girl." Barbara said, Dick laughing.

"Hm, Original, Sour or Berry?"

"Go with Original."

"Right. Or maybe I'll do Original and Berry?"

"How big is this basket gonna be, Tim?" Dick said, laughing.

"Oh, as big as I can make it." The three laughed. "Should I put a gift card for something in there, do you think?"

"Ooh, that's a good idea." Barbara said. "I had a look in her bag, and I think she does like fashion."

"Perfect."

"But she thrifts. She told me about her favourite outfit."

"Oh, OK, so maybe I'll get her a gift card for the book store at the mall instead, or for the game store. Heck, why not both?"

"Why not?" Barbara enthusiastically repeated.

Tim sighed. "OK, I'm done. Goodnight!" Tim began to go upstairs.

"Goodnight." Said Barbara and Dick.

"I'll get flowers!" Dick called out.

"OK!" Tim replied.

"Oh, she would love that."

"I'm guessing lilies are her favourite."

"I think so, yeah."

"Shall we head to bed to, babe?"

"Yes," Barbara said, starting to walk towards the stairs with Dick. "I think I've had enough brain activity for one night."

Sunday, February 11, 2024. 7:30 AM.

Barbara and Dick were cooking breakfast, and Tim was lounging upstairs on the couch when Stephanie and Faith emerged from the bedroom. "Well, good morning!" Tim said.

"Good morning." Faith said, groggily but smiling.

"Feeling better?"

"Now that I slept and took my meds, and had a bit of candy from my bag that I brought over, which surprisingly didn't expire during its trip from Earth-33, yes."

"Oh, good." Tim said, laughing, then Faith entered the bathroom and shut the door. Stephanie sighed. "Are you good?"

"Yeah. She had me worried, last night, before Barbara came in. I slept good too, i-it was just a shock to hear that the reason Ra's is affecting her so deeply is from a memory like that." Stephanie said. Tim nodded, humming. "Dick and Barbara are downstairs cooking?"

"Yep. Should be just about done. Then we're on for training, if Faith is OK with that."

"Actually, I have to make an errand, so you'll have to save me a plate."

"Sure, not a problem."

"Thanks." Stephanie quickened her pace towards the stairs. Faith emerged from the bathroom with combed hair, and a smiling Tim walked her downstairs.

"So, who's your favourite turtle?"

"Oh, Raphael."

"Oh, ha ha! So it's not that far of a leap for your favourite Robin to be Jason."

"Yeah, I've got a type of fictional man."

"Who's your most problematic fictional male crush?"

Faith sighed. "Ruvik from The Evil Within."

"Oh, wow, that's a choice all right!" Tim and Faith laughed.

"What?" Barbara said, laughing, as Tim and Faith came to and sat at the table, where Barbara and Dick sat beside each other, Tim and Faith across from them. "What about Ruvik from The Evil Within?"

"It's his danger-boy swagger, OK?" Faith said, chuckling.

"Danger-boy swagger?" Repeated Tim, Barbara and Dick.

"Yeah-ha ha. I saw him, and I was like, 'smash', and that's the thought. That's it."

"Oh-ho-ho-kay!" Said Tim.

Stephanie returned with a small box of white chalk, seeing the table had been cleared but a plate covering another plate on the kitchen counter, and Faith practicing blocking with Tim, Dick coaching, arms open, eyes watching Faith's movement. Barbara was interacting with the computer. "Yes, and then down, yes. Yes, eh, a little more force, if you can?"

"Hngh!"

"Yeah, like that!"

"Ow." Faith mumbled.

"Her forearms, Dick."

"I know, they're short and the bones are bowed, so it hurts more for her."

"Volleyball, but so much worse." Faith groaned.

"Again, please."

Stephanie lifted her left hand, which held the box. "I got the chalk for you!"

"Oh, thanks! Um, later." Faith said, as she and Tim continued the motions.

"Okie!" Stephanie put the box of chalk down on the desk area.

"You want to get your other Relics today?" Said Dick.

"Yeah. I thought that might be a good idea. Ra's has surely gone back into Platonia to look for more information, and Platonia might have directed him Backstage. The Staff, probably scared shitless, told him about the Backdoor, which goes into the eighth grade hallway of my high school, which the Rondo Theatre is in."

"Right, the theatre is the high school auditorium."

"Ra's might have explored a little, realised he was in a dream world, but not have known its name, ow!"

"Sorry!" Said Tim. "Try raising your arm a little like this."

"Oh, like this?"

"Yes, and then back to!"

"Oof, OK," Faith said. Dick chuckled. "And then he might have tried to wake up. If he did, he'd be back in Platonia, and he'd start a timeloop that would only break if he left the school. So, Ra's, outside and standing on campus, would have either been faced with the existential dread of the O-type star or the moon as they are in the Dream World On Paper, or looked at the sky and felt no fear."

"The latter option."

"OK, so then he wouldn't have woken up. He's still looking for information, so he's been around Mansion 1, the Town Play, and has talked to the dreaming people, people in a coma, and people who live in the 28 Mansions as their afterlife."

"Right, I remember."

"Bend your knees but not your back a little, hon!" Said Barbara.

"Ow, mmph, OK. Like, ow, this?"

"Yes, good."

"Either Ra's was pulled into the kind of the conversation that normally starts when you meet a neighbour or a new acquaintance, something you do when you're just dreaming and letting things happen,"

"Mhm." Said Dick.

"Or he might have observed a conversation, but either way, he would have realised the statuses of the Town Play citizens. He might have asked where to learn more about Red Storm Earth, or if they knew who I was. He might have asked directly, 'Can you tell me about Red Storm Earth?'. The citizens would have told him that it's a Staged Scenario, and all of the details, and that because it's Staged, it doesn't actually happen. It's just an elaborate and convincing Special Event that can be performed at the Rondo Theatre. That would anger Ra's, and he'd probably ask why, or have said 'It won't be that way for much longer.', and attacked, and the poor citizen would be woken up or returned to Mansion 0 and required to walk the Landfill Where Loved Things Go to the Staff Office, and from there receive a go-ahead from one of the workers to take the elevator back up. If he hit someone in a coma, they'd die and go to Mansion 0, too."

"Anyway, Ra's would have asked the nearest citizen, scared shitless of course, about who I really was, and how to acquire me, heugh," Faith made a vomitting noise.

"Swiper no swiping!" Said Stephanie. The group laughed.

"And the citizen would have told Ra's that I'm just an author, the creative mind behind Thalassic Space, that none of it's real if I'm not alive and no one has been approved as Editor of my documents, and that Ra's can't have me. Ow!"

"Mind your ribs!" Said Tim.

"They, or another citizen, would have said that Thalassic Space only has evil because evil people have Soul Bridges and have been to the Dream World on Paper, people like Ra's. Another person would have called the Oracles by then, and they would appear and try to kick Ra's out of the Dream World on Paper. It would be a battle, instead, since Ra's' status as a demon means that you have to literally pull him out of the Dream World on Paper. We might not have all day until he critically injures or kills an Oracle, the latter of which would be one hell of a scary accomplishment. Ra's' Passive Ability that I will remind you is only applicable when in Thalassic Space, Demonic Insight, would have told him to take the robes of that Oracle, giving him Dreamer Mage powers. He might have accepted that suggestion, and the Oracles would flee, taking the citizens into shelter. Ra's would be bored, probably, and then return here. Well, to wherever he fell asleep. I doubt that Argophael threw him all the way home. I was just aiming for him to land on the other side of the ocean."

"So he's somewhere in Europe or Africa, which is close to home." Said Dick.

"Yep. Ah-ha-ow!" Faith began to cry, and rub her right bicep.

"Sorry, but that would have happened." Tim said.

"I know, but my nerves are right there."

"Sorry. You OK?"

"Yeah, just ow. Let's keep going."

Dick said, "Good. Reset a little, TIm."

"Um, so regardless of where he landed, he's done playing games and trying to get information. I don't think he's going to learn about the Invitation of Nerobzal. I think the League has, though."

"Oh?" Said Dick.

"Yeah. Ra's might have touched the entrance door, or opened it, on either of his visits. He could have walked to the town and figured out where he was. When I sent him home, the first time, he definitely told the assassins where the door was. They've been in my tomb. My cat anthro friends didn't stop them. They hid immediately. Anthros have a heightened sixth, seventh and eighth sense, which are vestibular, proprioceptive and interoceptive. It's part of the mutation their Five Mortal Qualities undergo when a fetus is exposed to more than five minutes of magic. Embryos and sperm can also be mutated this way."

"Right," Tim said. "And as a result, sixty-five percent of Thalassic Space's population are anthros."

"Yes. Uh, so if Ra's used Platonia to return to the Dragon Tomb with the League, they snooped around my tomb, whoops!"

"I'm fine, I'm fine! That was good!"

"OK, good! Um, they killed the draugr, probably taking treasure, and awakened the Dragon Priests again. I have no doubt that they were defeated and at least one qA eaten alive by the Dragon Priests, and then the rest fled. Keep in mind that the Dragon Priests are Actors too, so if one gets killed, someone else just fills the Role."

"Mhm." Said Dick.

"Platonia returned whatever assassins were alive home, but a door opened for Ra's into my high school in the Dream World on Paper, probably one of the classroom doors as I was entering the gym hallway, and then he followed me and what happened next happened. Anyway, geez, long way to get to what I was saying, I just didn't want it to be out of the blue."

"You're fine, we appreciate the thought." Said Dick.

"Thanks."

"You're so good at telling stories!" Said Stephanie.

Faith melodically said, "Thank you. Um, so Ra's might go there one more time. He's either going to fight the Dragon Priests again, or he's going to look closer at the lower level of the first two rooms and realise there's a pattern. It's the solution to the small door in the third room that's a little like a maze, and has some standing draugr sarcophagi around it, along with some empty vertical alcoves that have candles, pots and gold, ya know, as Skyrim dungeons do."

"Mhm."

"Beyond that door is my Puzzle Tower, which I will remind you is also guarded by cat anthros. Either Ra's was like, 'Aw, hell no!'," Faith said. Stephanie and Barbara giggled. "And turned back, not wanting to waste his time, or he explored a little. In one of those rooms is my Dragon Hoard. All of the non-performative art gifts I've received are stored there. In the back-right of the room is a traditional ram horn instrument guarded by a slumbering black goat. This horn can summon Naamah. Ra's would have been drawn to this room, and wouldn't need to find the solution to its puzzle because that horn would have called him to find it and use it. Naamah would pity Ra's for being given the blue-ball treatment by a Cultist of Asherah, and given him a fresh Nest."

The others widened their eyes, parted their lips, held their breaths. Tim stopped moving. Noticing a moment later, so did Faith. Dick was out of wind. "No." He made eye contact with Faith.

"The horn is meant for the people of Thalassic Space to abort an unwanted anti-Christ or insect demon without dying. Not everyone is comfortable or wanting dark magic in their family or community. The only place that was desired was Bafsina, before the Palette Civil War. Ra's could just cut my stomach open, stuff the Nest in there, and I would die."

"No." Dick shook his head.

"You would have to drench me in boiling saltwater or burn me to stop its spread, of course."

"No." Dick shook his head furiously.

"Ra's won't want to cause disasters that are just fake, for show on Stage. He'll want to hurt me. And he won't want sex, anymore."

"No!" Dick closed the distance between him and Faith, coming between her and Tim. "You can't just make stuff up like this!"

"It's not made up, Dick." Said Tim.

"I don't want to hear it!"

"It's true, though. It's in the document, along with the other magical items that can summon various angels, demons and entities. It would be that easy for Ra's to just get it over with."

Dick sighed heavily with his chest. "So we don't have time, or even a flipping chance, to help you defend yourself."

Faith shook her head. "Ra's is angry. I don't think this is going to end well, and it's going to end soon. It might end today, with how easily Ra's can access Platonia, and come back."

"Could he come here?"

"If he knows I'm here, yes. He'll try the Batcave, first. Or, he could ask the Umbrella Man where I am. It wouldn't be cheating. It would be asking for directions out of Platonia to the desired destination, and since Ra's is a demon, the Umbrella Man would see him as a friend."

"Frick!" Dick gripped his hair with both hands. "Faith, why did you make it so easy for him?!"

"Because Thalassic Space is supposed to be friendly. So it's friendly to intruders, if the intruder becomes a friend to the Nero Spirits and-or canonical evils."

Dick dropped his hands and shook his head, making eye contact with Faith. Faith had curled her arms up around her chest. Barbara said, "Dick, you're scaring her."

"She should be scared! You know what you've done, right?"

Faith slowly said, "Offer him an easy way out?"

"Yes, and an easy way to kill you!" Dick sighed and shook his clawed hands in the air in front of him, gesturing to Faith, who looked to the floor. Dick sighed again. "I'm sorry, I, I just can't let you let this happen."

"What do you want me to do?"

"Take it away from him." Dick pointed to the desk, where Faith's Chromebook sat. "Open up your document, and change it. Make it so that demons who aren't from Thalassic Space can't use Platonia or any powers from Thalassic Space."

"What's the reasoning behind it, though?"

"Are you seriously asking that?"

"I need a reason and a connection to a god, demon or entity for it to make sense within Thalassic Space's logic."

"THEN MAKE ONE UP!" Dick shouted. Faith moved her left side away from Dick, and hurried to her computer. She opened it. It started up slow. Dick stood behind her, arms crossed.

"Dick." Barbara said, cautiously.

"No."

"Dick, give her some space." Dick looked at Barbara. He huffed and turned, walking away and leaning on part of the desk near Barbara. Faith entered her password, waited about ten seconds for the app icons to load, and opened Microsoft Word. She pressed CTRL + F, and typed "Horn of Naamah". She began to edit the section. She hummed, eyes on the ceiling. "What is it, hon?"

"I don't know the Egyptian gods off the top of my head, I need the list of who's related to the afterlife and evil. Doesn't have to be both, just one of the two."

"Well, that's Anubis, the god of death, and Apopis is the god of chaos."

"Perfect, thank you. What does Apopis look like?"

"He's a serpent."

"What colour is he, usually?"

"What colour?"

"Yeah, look up images and tell me if he's black, gold or something." Faith said. Barbara typed on the computer. "Just for a quick entry into the Character List. I've only got the ones I've needed, so far. Every god in the pantheons I haven't needed is just implied, not named or described."

"He's gold with blue details, hon."

"Ooh, perfect, thank you." Faith typed for five minutes. "OK! I think that's enough."

"Let's see." Barbara walked over and looked at Faith's screen. "Yeah, OK."

"Do you wanna read how I described Apopis?"

"Sure." Faith clicked on his named in the Outline. Barbara read.

"Mm, yeah, that's good! I like that."

"Thank you." Faith turned her back to look at Dick. "I'm not angry that you were so agitated by the loophole. I'm actually glad that you reacted. It's not easy, writing with no feedback. Things fall through all the time, and it won't all make sense without help."

Dick sighed, and softly smiled. "Thank you for not taking it personally, Faith." He approached, and hugged her. "I'm sorry for scaring you."

"It's OK, I forgive you." Faith patted his upper right shoulder. Dick broke the hug, and found a smile on Faith's face. Dick sighed again, his smile growing. "So, now that I've taken away Ra's access to my stuff, can we go back to training?"

"Of course. How about we give Tim a break, and you go against me?"

"OK!"

"Good! Enough!" Dick said. Faith rolled to the right, ending her straddle of him, into a stand. She was making eye contact with Tim.

"Are you OK?" Tim asked. Dick grunted as he flung himself onto his feet, crouching then straightening.

"Was that a bounce?" Faith looked shocked, her mouth gaping.

"Was what a—?"

"Yeah, that was a little bit of a bounce." Said Dick. Faith smiled widely, teeth apart.

"Oh! So, your body is trying to remember how to jump again!"

"I think so! Eee!" Faith clapped.

"Oh, that's awesome!" Said Barbara.

"Yay, Faith!" Stephanie said.

"Woo hoo!" Dick said. "Well, we'll move onto that tomorrow, then, and see how that goes, yeah?"

"Yeah!"

"Good."

"Would you like some help in the shower again, Miss Faith?" Barbara said, coming towards Faith. Dick went to the kitchen to help Tim and Stephanie finish preparing dinner.

"Eh, maybe?"

"I think so. C'mon." Barbara and Faith began to the stairs. Faith stumbled as she took the first corner, and Barbara caught her back and left shoulder. "Whoop!"

"Aa! Thanks!" Faith said, as Barbara set Faith down.

"No problem!" They entered the bathroom, Barbara closing the door and watched Faith undress, groaning in pain occasionally, and put her clothes on the counter, as Barbara removed her own clothes. "There's our pretty little Batgirl." Faith giggled. 'Glad that's still an instant pick-me-up.'

Barbara helped Faith step over the bathtub. Barbara turned on the water, Faith sighing in content. Faith hummed a Tohou Eurobeat song.

"What T.E.B. song is that?" 'Yesterday, it was little flare.' Barbara said, helping Faith apply shampoo.

"Gensou ga nari yamanai."

"The Fantasy That Does Not Stop Echoing. Do you know the lyrics to that one, too?" Barbara applied shampoo to her own hair. 'Her Japanese pronounciation isn't that bad. You can tell she listened to it lots, as a teenager.'

"Mhm!"

"Seikou no ura ni

Dare mo kitto shiranu saidosutori..." As Faith sang, Barbara helped Faith wash out her hair, apply conditioner, and wash that out too.

"Itsuka gensou yori tooku made

Sono ude ni tsukame Legend of Shade. That's it."

"Yay!" Barbara cheered, a little bit quietly. The girls giggled. "I will say it again: you're pretty good at singing."

"Thanks." Faith grabbed the loufa and applied Dove refreshing body wash with cucumber and green tea to it. "I'm just a light lyric, like I said yesterday, so nothing fancy, but I get the job done pretty all right."

"Oh, I think you're better than 'pretty all right'. I think you have a very nice singing voice." Barbara said, as Faith washed her arms.

Faith blushed, smiling. "Thank you." Faith cleaned her arms, stomach and legs as she continued talking. "And, like I said, I don't usually sing in front of people 'cause Mom said I don't sound good, but my choir teacher said I'm not bad, so I'm confused and embarrassed."

"Aw, I know, hon. Confidence is a hard thing, for lots of people. And, like I also said, yesterday, you will get better, now that you've got us, and even we have our days, m'kay?" Barbara said. Faith nodded. Barbara helped wash Faith's back and shoulders before rinsing out the loufa and giving it more soap and using it for herself. Faith turned off the water, then the shower head, and the girls stepped out and used separate towels to dry themselves, and separate hair brushes to untangle their hair. They redressed and went downstairs, where dinner had been laid out on the table: stir fry with steak strips, bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, snap peas, broccoli and cauliflower.

"Ooh, yum!" Said Faith, as she sat beside Stephanie and Barbara sat at the right head of the table, Dick to her left and Tim beside him.

"You like stir fry?" Said Tim.

"Hard to mess that up!"

"True. Well, dig in."

"Please use the tongs." Said Dick. They all laughed.

"I'd be a monster to use my hands for this." Faith said, grabbing the tongs and filling her plate. Everyone filled their plates, and quietly ate for several minutes.

Dick said, "You've made a lot of progress, in two days, for someone with disability."

"Thank you!" Said Faith. "It hurts, but I can tell I'm actually learning fast, so I think it's worth it."

"Oh, definitely."

"Mhm!" Barbara and Stephanie commented.

"Yeah." Tim added. They reviewed, correcting Faith and filling in gaps in her knowledge of how what she'd been learned worked, and why, and describing a few alternatives they hadn't shown her yet, noting which ones might be impossible for her until she became a lot more agile and gained more core and overall strength. Stephanie and Dick served more apple pie and ice cream for dessert.

"So, who's your favourite Tohou?" Tim asked.

"Oh God." Faith replied. They all laughed. "The one I wanna kiss, the one I wanna be? Which emotion, aha ha ha, do you want me to have towards this Tohou?"

"Whatever emotion you want, I don't care, just tell me about your favourite Tohou." This led into a ramble about Tohou Project that lasted for forty-five minutes. Somehow, Faith ate her ice cream before it melted, and finished her pie. The group moved upstairs to play Wii Sports Resort, and Faith was still going.

"And that's why I'm super gay, and super not sorry." Faith took a bow, flourishing her arms, a Wii remote strapped to her right wrist. The others laughed. "Once again:" In a very good toad voice, "MARRY ME, MARISSA! And that's just up to Mountain of Faith, in brief detail! I didn't even talk about the lore, I was just talking about the girls, and their patterns, and what they mean, and their relationships, and what I've learned from all of that," A sharp inhale. "I haven't even started to tell you what I've learned about storytelling or how awesome ZUN's music is," Another inhale. "Which is why I love Tohou Eurobeat so much!" Faith panted, then focused on Swordplay versus Stephanie. The friends laughed more. "Bippity boppity, your points are now my property!"

"Oh, shit!" Stephanie said, laughing. After everyone caught their breath, the group talked about Nintendo's history, and present, and eventually it was eight o'clock. Dick and Barbara suited up and went on patrol, and Tim went out for a date with Bernard, leaving Stephanie and Faith to play Mario Party 8 with each other and bots until it was 10:30, and Faith had to take her medications. They called it a night, changing into sleepwear and sharing the bed again.

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[jazy3]

ST5 BTS Teaser Trailer Thoughts Part 2

So the Basement Scene! I could talk about this scene for days! There is so much to unpack here! This appears to be the basement of the local radio station that they've been filming at a lot. I think it's going to be this season's Creel House!

You can see the Pink Floyd poster from the BTS pic we got in January behind the group and it looks like this is the same set where we got that set pic of Millie with the Duffer Brothers in front of a telecom tower. In the photo we got of Steve outside the radio station the brickwork appears to match some of the telecom tower and the silo BTS photos.

The schematics photo we got back in February is for a remote radio head so it looks like radio is going to play a hugh part in this season. In this footage we can clearly see Joyce, Will, Nancy, Jonathan, Dustin, Steve, Mike, and Lucas. It looks like Robin might be sitting next to Nancy but it’s hard to tell because Will is in front blocking our view of this person.

Steve’s wearing the red and brown shirt from the Day 1 of Filming video of Joe and Maya which indicates that this basement scene is from Episode 1 of Season 5. Which is interesting given the group dynamic in this shot and where we left things at the end of Season 4. Both Jonathan and Nancy look miserable in this scene! What jumped out at me most was how much space there is physically between the two of them.

Nancy’s sitting on what appears to be a chair next to Robin and Jonathan is sitting at the end of the couch behind them. There’s a whole person's width of space between them and they’re not touching at all. They’re not making eye contact and while Nancy is looking towards Joyce. Jonathan is looking straight ahead towards the camera.

It stood out to me because if you look at their body language in Season 3 they’re very close physically. Even when they’re having problems in their relationship there’s still a physical closeness there that appears to be totally absent in this shot. This gave me pause the same way that Steve and Nancy’s ‘See you on the other side’ scene in the Season 4 trailer and the lack of Jancy scenes in that trailer gave me pause.

You can see that Nancy is wearing the red and white striped dress that we saw in the warehouse video. Could be a candy striper outfit so she could have come from volunteering at the hospital. If that's the case it could explain why she's sitting next to Robin. As it's possible they're volunteering together to keep an eye on Max.

It’s interesting that Steve is sitting on the other side of the room next to Mike and Dustin when Nancy and what appears to be Robin are sitting on the other side of the room. Although this could be because he picked up Dustin from the cemetery after he got beat up.

And we get our first good look at Jonathan this season and he's got a new look! He’s gone from California stoner bro to folksy alternative guy! Honestly, I'm not sorry to see that look go. It was horrendous! Later on we see Jonathan in the same outfit pointing at something on the projector. And then we've got a shot of Mike standing at the projector with Nancy beside him looking worried.

I'm excited for Mike and Nancy to have more scenes! I feel like the last time we got substantial scenes with just the two of them was Season 1! And I'm really curious to see how we go from the Season 4 finale to where we are in this scene. Jonathan, Will, and Mike look totally different and you can see how worried and scared everyone looks. And Joyce is wearing her corduroy jacket and blue shirt from Season 1 which indicates that by this point the Byers stuff has arrived from California.

Part 1: https://www.tumblr.com/jazy3/757938426475577344/st5-bts-teaser-trailer-thoughts-part-1?source=share