#this has to be the most high-effort meme i've done in a long while

[himbeaux-on-ice]

congratulations Mr. The Thrill on ur big multi-milestone ironman night 🎢

[bitty-bits]

Back In Action

DALL-E 2 Background (Prompt: Dreamy background painting with a checkered pattern grass and blue mountains in the distance), Emojis made for the SineTri Discord. Join us!

After a few months, I'm finally back doing this thing.

I'm back here probably cuz I do have a lot more to say than last time. Tumblr's embeds of posts don't seem to be very good, I've noticed. Oh well. Again you'll likely see me on that dreaded hellsite a lot more than here, but I'll still try to write here to maintain a tradition, and hopefully I won't be gone for too long again. Anyways here's what I've been doing lately.

New Computer

Yeah!

Without giving away too much details as for how this happened, I indeed have a new computer (notebook, specifically, as I've been used to the form factor my whole life, probably) and probably the first time it is almost on par with the latest high end specs, and, no memes, it has an RTX graphics card. What else can I say about it... well, using it so far has been a positive experience for the most part, my only complaint would be how "not good" the trackpad is. Cuz you know, I actually got used to drawing with the trackpad (believe it or not) on my previous notebook, which is still a pretty good notebook that still works and can still do a lot (I was able to play and beat Super Mario 3D World emulated on it at almost full speed, so I think that says something) so I hope whoever uses it next makes a good use out of it. I'd say outside of being "mid" (that's the Funny Word Them Kid's These Dayz R Usein' Right) its only problem is its battery doesn't really work anymore so it'll only work while plugged in, which is probably completely my fault, so I'm hoping to avoid this issue on the new computer. (Tip: There's an useful VBScript you can get and put it on Windows' "startup programs" folder that will show a message whenever your battery is close to 100% charge. Google it!)

Trackpad issues aside, I still have a standard optical mouse to use, but even then, It's still gonna take getting used to... using one again. I'm weird.

Cut it Out, Ninjin! - Preservation Efforts (Post-Warner Bros. Discovery Fiasco Update)

With all the clownery going down lately with the Warner Bros. + Discovery merger, the Ninjin cartoon series (my biggest "brainrot" of the year pretty much) unfortunately also fell victim to the "great cartoon purge" that happened as a result of WBD's terrible (and inefficient) cost cutting decisions. Fortunately, the timing for me to get into this series couldn't have been better, and at least the show staff got to finish a season right before the shitstorm, so finished material didn't go unreleased. That said we can only hope the series somehow makes a comeback or is revived in some form, as at least Warner doesn't own the Ninjin IP (as far as I'm aware).

With the series gone from HBO Max, YouTube and all of Cartoon Network itself (though not without a few exceptions still left here and there), it's important to remember that preservation is a must, and something to keep in mind from start to end in any project. Here's what a staff member at Birdo studio had to say on the matter (Portuguese):

for those who work on animated shows, for the love of god, don't forget to always keep a copy of the final versions of your scenes/episodes downloaded (and if you're the director, back up the entire series) cuz if we just rely on the son of a bitch companies and channels everything will be gone then we won't even be able to assemble an animation reel / portfolio afterwards

As I have shared in the first blog post, I have made an archive of pretty much all the CN Ninjin content that I could find, on a MEGA folder, which I've recently updated in light of the unfortunate news - Every episode is now available as MKV (Matroska Video) files with multiple audio channels (Original Portuguese, as well as the Spanish and English dubs!) which I plan to later still update to have English fansubs done by yours truly (So you don't have to stick to the... not very amazing English dub), you will also find the shorts (which I've already given subtitles!) and some comics too, which I still gotta translate.

I'll also make extra links for easier sharing soon.

We can't let the big corporations win again as they usually do.

You can buy Ninjin: Clash of Carrots (the game the series was based on!) on Steam here, and Pocket Trap's latest game, Dodgeball Academia, here!

Let's try to keep Ninjin alive. Please.

Do it for her.

Calimero Subtitles Project Returns

After staying stagnant for at least 2 years, interest in subtitling Calimero's 1992 anime by Toei Animation (easily my favorite Calimero-related media) ressurged. Likely due to me... having figured out what an MKV file even is and what it can have, as well as coming across what is now my favorite software for subtitle making in general, SubtitleEdit (Not very creative, I know), and learning about the more advanced, fancy subtitle formats a good chunk of anime (fan)subs use. Also the project expanded a little; it's gonna be more than just the subtitles over a single specific dub of the anime, actually it'll have most of the dubs ever made of the show that can be found. A lot of audio tracks in still considerably small files! I sure do love me some Matroska files. The current plan is for me to subtitle the first half of the series (26 episodes, "season 1", if you will) all by myself, while the second half is a bit tricky, as only the German, Italian and Arabic dubs have the entire series found. But I already have a German friend willing to help with those, and there are also a couple episodes from the second half in the original Japanese version found, so if you're fluent in any of these languages and are interested in helping out, feel free to tell me! Once the project is finished we will finally have one convenient place to watch this series, in a variety of language dubs, and English subs, and hopefully more people in the West will acquire interest for it.

My Channel for posting Video Game Music, CalimeroVGM on YouTube

Not "high quality rips" in the SiivaGunner sense, but actual VGM that either can't be found on YouTube elsewhere, or if it can be, the quality kinda sucks, or it's in a video with other tracks. I may have done a lot for SiivaGunner, and continue to do "high quality ripping" over on my music channel (ples suscribe), but I also have been contributing a lot to actual ripping and video game music preservation in general, and decided to make a channel dedicated to it (here), so I don't have to pollute my channel of miscellaneous whatevers, Lu9.2, which is already kind of polluted. So whenever I have any new rips, or even a few "experiments" with VGM, I'll put it on this relatively new channel. I encourage you to subscribe to it at least so I can get to 100 and get a custom URL, because I just am the weird kinda guy who likes neat looking URLs.

What I've Been Playing / Watching

Just in case people would want to know, I'd probably talk about it on Twitter anyways, but let's go:

Klonoa Phantasy Reverie Series

I love Klonoa. Babe, GIVE me Klonoa. Played the first game (original PS1 version) back in either 2015 or 2016, though I was already a fan for longer, but loved it. The remastered version is very charming and combines the best of both the original colorful PS1 version and the Wii remake. And with this I was finally able to experience the sequel for the first time, and again, a masterpiece. Wish they kept some of the classic UI for the first game and other minor details, but that aside, this collection needs to succeed. This franchise needs to succeed.

Lucky Star

After giving up on watching it in 2015 (I was watching the English dub and didn't know what type of anime I was even expecting, Oops) I decide to give this another shot, this time subbed. What I can say is - I enjoy. It's fun. I guess my tastes have changed over the years too.

More Stuff

Moving (Again)

Seems like I do that a lot, but hopefully it'll actually stick now. Some unexpected problems rose in the current apartment I'm in. Nothing too serious (though it's only a matter of time) but the new place will be pretty big I think. I just hope I don't lose anything during the moving process again.

Fonts For Fun

Sometimes I also try my hand at typography, mostly recreating stuff I see, and this year I've made a few (and posted some older ones I had) fonts just for the fun of it (though they probably are useful)

You can check them out here.

Where's Part 3 Of Closing Logos Extended By Jukebox AI?

Not too long ago after releasing Part 2 of my intriguing Jukebox AI series, already some of the more "peculiar" logo-obsessed (presumably) children started to "predict" Part 3, some eben by just posting what will be on Part 3, conjuring up facts, classic Greeny Phatom style. Told that guy to wait until August.

...and I really wish I could keep such promises but I really just don't find the time and energy to put into those videos, not to mention the upsampling process that I still have to put some of the samples through. Though it's less time consuming now, there's still the entire editing and visuals part. I'm doing these videos completely for free, you know. Unless you're fine with something half-baked, be patient.

Also there will be more Jukebox AI videos in general, not just the logo ones, I hope you look forward to those too.

Donald Alves' Original Flash Website Is Now A Progressive Web App

Yeah. Did this just for fun. And to see what kind of stuff I can do with PWA features in general. It's still not a full "installable" web app, but it should work as its own thing on your phone no problem. Don't know who Donald Alves is? Well, this is one of those things that you just had to be there at the time, dude.

Conclusion

That was a big one! Hopefully next post will come before Christmas. Maybe before Brazil's presidential elections too... oh god I'm scared

Bitty's Message of the Day

I do not like beans.

[lizzybeth1986]

I don't think you play TRR/TRH anymore but you should see what they did to Kiara in the newest chapter. It's so dumb and makes me so angry, especially considering the current climate of events. I've already seen people on Reddit be like "but we helped her overcome her trauma" (we didn't lol) and someone called her the c-word, very classy. Honestly PB's been low key racist in the past but all the stuff right now makes it high key...

(Apologies for the long post and not being able to place this under a cut)

I'm pretty glad I got these anons because truth be told I wasn't sure how many people - besides the few that I already knew were constantly speaking about Kiara's treatment in the books - would care enough to ask any questions about this. Most of the posts I saw expressed a disturbing eagerness to throw her under the bus, without exploring nuance or asking questions, and at this point I'm not very surprised.

I've always maintained that the treatment for Kiara is what happens when both the writers and the fandom are heartless, and these past few weeks have only been proof of that.

There are questions you could raise about this finale re: Kiara - questions almost no one seems to bother asking. I have three:

1. In this Coventus Nobilis...how is it that I see four Heads of House, and only one heir? 

2. If Kiara - who is not head of house - is supposed to represent Castelserraillian instead of her father Hakim (who presides over that estate), why do I not see Madeleine? Why do I not see Penelope? 

3. Why are we suddenly seeing Adeleide  popping up out of practically nowhere to rep Krona/Fydelia, and Landon conveniently rep-ping Portavira?  

Some of the answers to these questions lie in the questions themselves. Why else would Madeleine and Penelope not be present in this meeting - if it weren't to purposely distance them from this awful moment? After all, both of them have inbuilt subplots ready for the next book that would require interactions with the core group. How else do you think the writers could ensure we kept coddling them and pandering to them in Book 3, except by distancing them from this "betrayal"?

Why else would the narrative choose to pit Kiara - the lone woman of colour we'd been shitting on for most of this series - against Olivia - the white woman who has been given innumerable individual PoV scenes and her own mini-book (and whose reputation we had to help rebuild in said mini book whether we cared about her stupid duchy or not). 

Why else would they force Kiara to alert us mere minutes before the meeting begin, if not to distract us with crumbs ("See? At least we wrote her as warning you. Of course we don't hate her!"). 

Why else would you have Olivia and Kiara pitted against each other like this - if not to show these two women side by side, on opposing ends -  and compel us to believe that the white woman we spent 4.5 books propping up and pampering, is the most loyal one.  When in fact we have done absolutely nothing to deserve any fucking loyalty from Kiara or her family to begin with! (Ezekiel and his white bride notwithstanding).

What we finally got as a result, was a narrative that (as @queen-of-effing-everything summed it up when I discussed this with her) in one full sweep "glorifies Olivia, shields Madeleine and Penelope and sets up Kiara". Very few of us even noticed. And even if we did notice, is there any guarantee that we would care??

Remember how I mentioned in my last ask that I wished we expanded the same energy that we did with Aurora, to speak up against the ill-treatment of other black characters? Kiara was undoubtedly one of those.

After this, we as a fandom will speak very easily now of her "betrayal". We will call her the b-word and the c-word. We will boast of how we will "take her down" along with Adeleide and Landon and Bartie Sr. We'll boast about how we "never liked her" to begin with, as if doing so required some...idk exemplary foresight. We will make memes about how Olivia was "the only bitch we ever respected". We will make huge, sweeping claims about how Kiara was our "friend" and how (as you've mentioned, anon) we "helped her overcome her trauma" (!!!!) and claim by that token that  we were entitled to good treatment from her. I'm pretty sure when TRH3 finally comes out, her every word and action will be screenshot, put up on blogs, mocked and torn down just so we can write essays on how awful she is. 

Yet I saw very little of this energy in Book 3, where the MC could first emotionally manipulate her into supporting the Unity Tour, and where we actively suspected her  at a time when she was traumatized. At most there was some lukewarm acknowledgement of how she "deserves better", all while people still continued to write fanfic that positioned her as creepy and obsessed and villainous.  Almost no one had a problem with Savannah not acknowledging Kiara's earlier support of her, and in fact I'd seen posts that clubbed her with the other ladies of the court who likely "treated Savannah badly". Her father Hakim was made to join the tour alongside her by default, without the expectations that Landon/Emmeline and Godfrey/Adeleide were allowed to have, and the fandom was mysteriously silent about Hakim being made to "bow to his knees" in a way the others did not have to. Very few people even bothered to  notice or talk about how often Penelope was allowed to hold the MC's baby, or how Kiara was never really allowed to hold her even once. Which "friend" treats someone like this??

When I finally published this essay on the treatment meted out to Kiara especially in Book 3, what I got was a lot of neat, but ultimately hollow, little platitudes about how Kiara "deserved better" (How and in what way? Who knows, who cares). Out of those many many people who reblogged and responded, only a handful held the MC and Drake in particular (and Maxwell, who thought it appropriate to joke about "one suspect down") accountable for choosing to suspect and interrogate just her, and for showing ZERO remorse in forcing her to reopen those wounds. How is it that we can judge Kiara for this latest "betrayal", yet pretend that the MC and Drake had nothing to do with the pain THEY caused to her? How is it that this fandom was so fired up over her comments, yet would have such a weak, muted, carefully-generalized response to the screenshots where Drake was openly suspecting her and optionally  minimizing her trauma? 

Following that, why should we be entitled to good treatment from Kiara when we never really gave her even half as much?? Why is it so easy to divorce characters from their words and actions in Drake/MC/Maxwell's case, but so hard for a character like Kiara? (One may claim this is because Drake and Maxwell are potential co-protagonists, but the aforementioned essay already proves that you as a main character can get punished for not treating a mere side character with kindness).

Another thing that fascinates and repulses me even further is how the fandom has created myths around this one character, and how PB has constantly leaned into these "characteristics" even though the text itself tells an altogether different story:

1. Kiara is a snob. This is especially hilarious considering that she is established in Book 2 as being the only person who befriended Savannah before her departure and cared about what happened to her when she left. Never once in the books has she looked down on us for class-related issues, or outright mocked people for not knowing the languages she knew. In fact, she was the first person to acknowledge our skills if we showed any before Lythikos in Book 1. On the other hand, Penelope can be uppity and look down on us in Book 1 (there is even a dialogue option in Chapter 10 that leads to her calling us a "commoner wench") if we don't do well, and yet she's a cinnamon roll.  Olivia can engage in snobbish , entitled behaviour without the fandom having a problem just because she's their favourite. Madeleine can look down on us and pretend for 3/4ths of the social season that we're not worth her time yet somehow Kiara is the snob. Okay. Okay. 😐

2. Kiara is "obsessed with" Drake and constantly comes on to him. This is said by the same group of people who saw Olivia fucking Nevrakis plant a WHOLE FUCKING SMACKER on Liam's mouth, and said..nothing. Kiara on the other hand, has admired Drake's abs once, mentioned she'd always liked Drake once, spoken normally to him about his sister once, flirted with him once (Paris tea party), and ordered a wine from him when he was bartending. In the next book she either looks at him wistfully or admires his suit. Yet somehow she's the creepy, annoying, stalkerish. Okay. Ooookay. 😑

(This one was particularly damaging, because post the TRR3 hiatus, all efforts from PB were focused on reversing Kiara's position as an alternative LI. This included "confirming" on livestream that her affections were one-sided, at a time when Olivia was finally allowed to have some romantic moments with a single Liam, pushing forward a buildup scene to Drake's eventual secret wedding that had him acting extremely rude and confrontational to Kiara mere minutes after suspecting her (while she was expressing joy at his upcoming wedding in his playthrough!!!), and involving a subplot where he openly and by default suspected her. Sure, he spends a minute to be nice to her and chat about trauma if the MC chooses. But that's like a drop of sewage water floating in an ocean of shit).

3. Kiara Pretended to Be Our Friend And Then Dropped Us: This is false. Kiara only ever promised to put in a good word for us to the rest of the court, no more, no less. And she fulfilled that promise. Otherwise she never pretended to be friends with us nor made friendly overtures either way. In fact if you're going to accuse anyone of duplicity, you have Penelope and Madeleine. Yet somehow Kiara is the dishonest one. Okay. Okay. 🙃

4. Kiara Was Insensitive To Penelope and Didn't Understand Her. I'm not sure how Kiara is supposed to magically understand something that her friend isn't telling her. Plus this argument deliberately leaves out the fact that she stood up for Penelope when people chose to be mean to her, and even explained to the MC that she employs "tough love" because she can't always be around to protect Penelope. It also leaves out how one-sided this friendship is and how Kiara is made to do most of the heavy work in this friendship. Meanwhile, at Kiara's most difficult time period, in Castelserraillian, Penelope says absolutely nothing as the MC forces Kiara to join the Unity Tour, while making bedroom eyes at Kiara's brother. In fact the only reason Kiara's brother even exists is to give Penelope a love interest. The Kiara-Penelope friendship practically revolves around Penelope. I have never really seen Penelope look out for Kiara or attempt to actually support her in any way, and Kiara was the one who got the knife wounds. Yet somehow I'm supposed to believe that Penelope's the better friend of the two. Suuuuure. 😡

And this steaming pile of crap doesn't just make its way into shitposts and short opinion posts. It creeps into fanfic and fandom opinions. It finds its way in the tags and in other social media. It eventually even finds its way into the books, even though nothing in the earlier narrative ever really supported these extremely stale takes. 

Because PB didn't care for Kiara the way they cared for their white characters, they had no problem framing her narrative the way this fandom so desparately wanted it. Book 3 has the MC claim behind her back that Kiara is stuck-up and acts like knowing ten languages makes her better than everybody else, even though this is not backed up by the text, and in fact you will never see any acknowledgement of how Madeleine forced Kiara to make herself sound "exotic" in Book 2, or of how Madeleine and the MC (optionally) could downplay or question her skills unless they wanted to use her. Also, Penelope is never allowed to be talked about like that no matter what she's done. PB even had a scene (in the Hana playthrough) where they aggressively retconned the events of Madeleine's bachelorette party, where Kiara supposedly shouted at Penelope until the latter cried, and Madeleine was the one "having fun". Kiara was literally being thrown under the bus to make Madeleine look better. Madeleine. Imagine that. Madeleine.

Given how desparate the fandom was to nitpick and overdramatize everything Kiara said and did, is it any wonder that the team got away with the writing they gave her in Book 3? Considering that all the false arguments I stated above have made a resurgence in the past few weeks or days...is it any wonder that the only "support" this fandom is capable of re: Kiara, is lukewarm platitudes, cold takes and rank hypocrisy??

Yes, we can hold PB solely/largely  accountable for the treatment meted out to Kiara now. They made these choices over and over, and continue to do so, while tossing us occasional crumbs of faux-sweet behaviour from the MC. And they did this in insidious ways, which were so hard to catch that even a Kiara stan like me had to observe multiple playthroughs just to unravel even half of what they'd done.

But let's not pretend a huge chunk of the fandom was just as responsible for this - with their unfounded opinions, their disgusting bias, their favouritism of white characters, their refusal to observe anything besides their favourites, and their godawful fanfiction where Kiara is a creep or evil or killing the virtuous main character. Out of the huge body of fanwork that I've seen for TRR that features Kiara - at least 90% of it features her stalking Drake, or harming the MC (particularly the Drake MC), or in cahoots with the villains, or generally being referred to as a creep (why Olivia, who kissed Liam without his consent in Book 1 and was entitled enough to be angry about him not returning her feelings in TRH1, never got this sort of writing - I fail to understand). There is a tremendous gap between the vitriol dumped on her when she does something the MC doesn't like, and the milquetoast response when harm is done to her. There have been times when I've had to comb through pages and pages of hate just to read even one positive post on Kiara in her own goddamn tag.

When the next book arrives, I know you folks will continue to gas up the white women in this book every chance you get, and mask your racist vitriol for characters like Kiara (and Hana, let's not forget the way y'all treat Hana) behind the same self-righteous judgements and the same tired, stale takes. I know that PB - despite what I will still believe is their hollow promises today - will write every single one of those stale takes into existence. All because it will be "justified", because Kiara is a "bad person" or "untrustworthy" or "fake". Whatever. Y'all can stick to Olivia The Black Hole and babysit Madeleine and Penelope, I guess. Kiara always deserved better than these writers and most of this fandom anyway.

[cavalierious-whim]

Sylvain sends Felix a very dumb selfie.

#

Remember the last time that I wrote smut for an AU that I wasn't done writing? Well I've done it again. This is part of the Model AU that I will be finishing. Hopefully sooner rather than later.

Inspired by this ridiculous art that Sato drew, and a dumb meme that we all remember. You can read here on A03 for better quality. Follow me on Twitter!

#

It starts as a picture or two. Simple snaps of Sylvain’s daily life sent to Felix when he’s away at work.

Felix would much rather prefer to bring Sylvain along but he’s decidedly adamant about keeping his shitty job at the cafe. For some reason he likes being a barista, steaming milk and slogging through orders as customers threaten to dump coffee all over him if he fucks up their drink.

Even though Sylvain can model. That he’s been offered exclusivity rights from top-of-the-line brands like Von Aegir.

They could model together, traveling around, hypnotizing society with their vibrant sexual tension. But, is it sexual tension at this point? Felix and Sylvain have scratched that itch, thoroughly and extensively. Lazy nights and mornings filled with lingering fingers and wandering hands. Of kisses pressed into collarbones and purpling bites left behind in claim.

Felix is lonely on his trips abroad. He’s always had a dislike for his work. Kept it up only because he’s good at it and makes bank. It allows him to live a leisurely life full of pleasure and anything that he wants.

Aside from Sylvain, because he’s stuck somewhere in the butt-fuck middle of nowhere called Gautier. Tucked away high in the mountains where it still snows into the early summer, and the entire industry is dependent on tourism.

So, the pictures. Sylvain sends several each day, tiny little peeks into his relatively monotonous life. They bring a smile to Felix’s face as he zooms in, trying to memorize Sylvain’s smile.

Goddess, he’s whipped. Utterly and entirely. The worst part is that Felix doesn’t really care. Can’t find time to. Would rather pine away at the thought of his delectable boyfriend than try and forget about him.

Annette says it’s a good change. “You’re much more agreeable,” she’d said to him a few weeks back. “Clients are liking it. Amazing, what a good dick can do to you, eh?”

Felix hated the response because of course, she’s right. For the first time in years, he’s relaxed. Pleased with himself. Amiable, even.

It’s most definitely because of Sylvain’s glorious cock.

Then the pictures turned spicier. Sylvain half-naked, abs on display. Sleeves pushed up to his forearms, collar undone and open around the collarbone. Suggestive posing as he flaunts what he has.

Makes Felix go dry in the mouth and his shorts incredibly tight.

It’s why Felix hates being in Adrestia, thousands of miles away from it. Pining for it. Thinking about the damage Sylvain’s cock can do while he’s trying to work. It’s hard to model when your pants are tented like you’re a teenager.

Even worse when it’s for a summer swim line, clad in very little.

Felix sneaks away to carefully snap a picture in his trailer, showing off pale skin and swim trunks that leave nothing to the imagination. It makes work hell but means that Felix can go to bed tired and thinking good thoughts. Palming at himself to the idea that Sylvain might be doing the same.

Sylvain has to be, the insatiable fool that he is.

Felix wakes the next morning to a notification of a new picture. Probably Sylvain laying in bed, on his stomach, sheets pulled back to show off his ass. It’s a favorite of Felix’s and he has a few similar saved into an unlabeled folder on his phone.

It isn’t.

Felix drops his phone, face turning unbearably red. He shouldn’t be embarrassed. He’s seen Sylvain’s dick enough times to know exactly how the weight of it feels in his hand and on his tongue. The way that he tastes, the slight tang of his come, or the sweat on his skin.

This picture is ridiculous in a truly Sylvain-like fashion. He’s half-naked in front of the mirror, clad only in his briefs. His cock rock-hard and tipped to the side, filled entirely and--

There’s a shampoo bottle sitting on it.

It’s so obscenely dumb that Felix can’t help but stare, mouth parting. Tongue sneaking out to lick his lips. Sylvain’s big enough to be impressive, the bottle settling onto its perch with little to no effort. Then there’s the wink, Sylvain’s insufferable cheekiness evident in his expression.

It’s too early in the morning for Felix to be suddenly so horny. He shouldn’t be half-hard at the idea of such a dumb photo. There are less than two hours to be up, showered, and at the shoot location. And that’s if Annette doesn’t show up early to drag him out of bed.

Felix’s hand finds his cock anyway, palming himself over his briefs. This is a really, really bad idea. His hand sneaks into his waistband, circling his length properly. Then Felix slides down his briefs and kicks them out of the way. Truly, the worst plan he’s ever come up with.

And he’s dating Sylvain, so that’s saying something.

Felix throws his head back as he strokes along his dick, now fully hard. All because of Sylvain’s incessant, yet endearing, stupidity.

He certainly doesn’t think of Sylvain’s hands, large and calloused, wrapping around him entirely. In a warm grip. Doesn’t think of the way he whispers dirty things into Felix’s ears as he makes quick work of his cock.

Felix is already leaking at the tip, already feeling that tightly coiled fired deep in his gut. Pathetically close even when he’s only barely begun. He spreads the precome to aid the slide of his fingers, squeezing the crown of his dick on the next upstroke.

“Fuck,” murmurs Felix, looking at the picture again. At Sylvain’s softhearted and kind face, that devilish smirk that’s reserved for only Felix. Where his neck meets his powerful shoulders. His handsome pecs, clearly defined.

And then, of course, the best part; Sylvain’s cock, outlining his briefs so very clearly. Every crease woefully evident where it pulls the cotton fabric taut; the dips and valleys along the length of him.

It makes Felix’s mouth water and his ass clench painfully. Wanton and waiting. Incredibly frustrated.

Felix can end it now or--

He looks at the time and thinks. Then he makes the terrible decision to slip his fingers into his mouth, slicking them with spit. Not as ideal as lube but he’s short on time. Thankfully, he’s still a little loose, pliant from his night before.

Felix fucked himself on his fingers to many a picture in that cursed folder on his phone that remains unnamed. Random and innocent selfies. Slightly spicier, indulgent pieces. The pictures that they sometimes take together while sharing their bed.

Annette calls it his spank bank after accidentally stumbling across it while working. She’d spent a good ten minutes roasting Sylvain’s cock until Felix told her to shut up. Then she’d roasted his instead.

Felix works a finger in slowly. “Dammit,” he says. Sylvain’s ruined him, it seems. In his expectations. Felix’s fingers are slim and dextrous, able to get the job done. They aren’t nearly as long or thick as Sylvain’s. Don’t fill him up the same.

A second joins the first a little bit too soon, but Felix knows what he wants. Impatient at his best, he’s insistent in the way he touches himself. The slight, delicious sting of his fingers as they pull at his rim. The stretch is addicting as he presses them in and out.

Thinking that they’re Sylvain’s, that he’s right here beside Felix instead of across the continent. Whispering dirty, sweet nothings into his ear, his voice pitched dangerously low. Felix climbs that high, panting as he jerks himself off, his fingers sliding deep, angling just so.

The first touch against his prostate sets Felix’s nerves alight. The second turns him into a moaning mess. His dick is slick, his ass tight. Clenching around his fingers as he thinks the dirtiest thoughts that he can muster.

Particularly, Sylvain’s cock and the perfect way that it fills him. How he thrusts into his ass, teasing strokes as his hands grip at Felix’s thighs. The way Sylvain sighs into Felix’s neck as he tries to hold himself back, lasting as long as possible. The way that he watches as he slides in and out, murmuring about how Felix has ruined him forever.

Sylvain frequently worships the way that Felix can bring him to his knees with just a heated gaze.

“Idiot,” says Felix, looking at the picture once more, his face flushed and pink with desire. “Stupid, how much I miss you.”

Felix’s fingers find a good rhythm as they slide in and out, spreading his rim. Intoxicating, the way that pleasure flows through him. He can feel the tendrils of it in every limb. And finally, Felix comes, his cock spilling as cries out Sylvain’s name in a whining moan. Eyes shut tight as he rides that feeling, rides his fingers, rides the memory of what Sylvain would feel like were it him nestled deep inside Felix instead.

He pulls his fingers from himself gingerly and lifts himself onto wobbly legs. Sets about starting a shower. Once in it, he stares at the mini-sized bottle of soap tucked into the corner of the tub.

“Shampoo,” says Felix, still trying to catch his breath. “How utterly embarrassing.” Losing himself entirely to such a moronic selfie. He still saves it to that damned folder on his phone. Knows just how much relief it’ll bring him until he finds his way back home.

It’s a long cool down. Long enough that Annette’s banging on his hotel door once he steps from the bathroom, wrapped in a robe. He used to give her the spare key. Stopped when she walked in on him and Sylvain doing, in her words, dastardly things.

When he opens the door he still isn’t dressed. Annette looks him up and down. Takes in his relaxed and fucked out aura, then smirks knowingly.

Felix tells her to fuck off before letting her in.

She says nothing as he dresses. Only stares as he mills about. Then, when it’s nearly time to head to the shoot, she says, “Well, at least you’ll be pliable today.”

Annette has no idea.

Earlier, Felix took a photo while still in his blissed-out orgasmic haze. One of his cock in his hand and his spend all over his stomach. The mess that he’d made while fingering himself to Sylvain’s supreme idiocy.

He’s never sent something so overtly explicit to Sylvain. Until now. Sylvain must be asleep because he hasn’t responded. Or maybe he’s furiously stroking himself to the sight of it instead.

Either way, Felix can’t wait to see the result.