#trams are fucking great

[dumber-alek]

I think America would really heal if they just had more trams.

[luveline]

could I get some miguel aftercare pls 🙏🙏🙏

cw suggestive content mdni !! I actually loved writing this it was the highlight of my day, thank you for requesting. fem, 1k

“You’re doing that thing,” Miguel says. 

You’re breathless where he’s fine, voice lost as you ask, “What thing?” 

He smooths his hands across either side of your face briefly. “Locking up. Relax, sweetheart. Catch your breath.” 

You cover your face with your hands but end up too hot, the back of your neck wet with sweat and your face glowing with heat. Miguel laughs softly, blowing cool air up and down your face where he lays beside you. 

He’d usually call you cariño or some other pet name in his native tongue, so sweetheart is out of the blue but no less affectionate. You close your eyes against his cold breath and slouch toward him, where you’re quickly held in his arms again, his voice quieter as he asks, “You okay?” 

“Mm.”

“Yeah?” He works the soft cup of your bra back down over your chest, pressing a kiss to the hill of your breast. “You sure?” he asks, your skin warmed by his breath. 

You curl down around him, trying to keep him there, your face in his hair and your knee sliding up his thigh as you turn onto your side. 

You’re hot all over and aching, but not unhappy. You walk a careful path up his chest and shoulder to his neck, your fingers brushing over the soft surface of his skin one centimetre at a time, not dragging, just touching, searching for his face. You hold his cheek in your hand and kiss his hair, not caring if it’s slightly ineffectual. He’ll know what you’re trying to convey either way. 

Sex with Miguel nearly always leaves you like this. More than satisfied, desperate to be hugged, and desperate to impress upon him how much he means to you if the sex hadn’t already. Your hand moves with him as he lifts his head to yours, eyes aligned, the familiar hint of a smile playing on his lips. 

“You want me to open a window?” 

“I love you,” you say, because what you want is reassurance that it felt the same for him. 

His voice is velvet. “I love you. Te adoro. When I look at you… me dejas sin aliento.”

“Tell me,” you mumble. 

“I can’t breathe.” 

You tip your head back with a laugh, “That’s ironic,” you say. 

He chases you there, his nose down the curve of your throat and his hands pressing behind your back, wrapping you in, hugging you and kissing under your ear, bridging the gap again. It’s weird to be so together, to feel like one person and to have that end, but he hugs you and it’s nearly the same. It’s a different kind of connection. It eases your heart, calms your hot flush. 

“You are beautiful,” he affirms. “I just have better stamina.” 

“Don’t say stamina.” 

“You’re jealous of my stamina, and that’s okay.” He smiles into your neck before kissing it tenderly. 

Moments of this Miguel are rare. He’s so happy, you only get to see him as uninhibited in moments of intense connection, though that can be anything with him. A teasing remark as he helps you up the short step of the tram or a shared smile when you lean back into his chest for no reason at all, knowing he’ll take your weight. 

You savour it. He’s got a good heart. 

And a great physique. “Doesn’t count. You got it all from a bottle.” 

His lips part. “Oh?” he says, the slight scratch of his teeth sending shivers down your arms. 

His lips close in a soft, soft kiss. Miguel pulls away from you to sit up a touch, and then he’s caressing your hip and your knee like he can sense the ache, his face pensive. “Do you want to shower, or should I bring you a towel?” 

“Whatever you want to do.” 

“I want to take care of you,” he says earnestly, hand back up, resting on the strip of fat between hip and ass. “But…” 

You look at him. Unbeknownst to you, Miguel’s taking you in, and thinking you might be the most lovely thing he’s ever seen, not just because he’s fucked you and you took it beautifully, or the sounds you made, or the feeling of your arm wrapped behind his head as you kissed him, but everything about you. He loves you and you know that, but he can’t convey it right. And he thinks if he cleans you up he might spend an hour just looking at you, because you’re the most perfect thing he’s ever seen, all your marks and wrinkles and softness. He’d lose half the night. 

“You want to fuck me again?” you ask gently. 

“That’s not what I’m trying to say,” he denies, leaning down over you. You close your eyes and allow him another kiss. “It’s late, we can’t stay up all night. You’re tired.” 

You hum regretfully. “Yes.” 

“Was it everything you wanted?” he asks. “I can…” His hand trails down to your stomach. 

You laugh under your breath. “I don’t think I can anymore,” you mumble, half flirtation and half aching fondness. “Thank you.” 

“Thank you?” He brings his hand up and squeezes your face, taking another kiss, so many now you can’t count them. 

You smile into his mouth. You’re thinking thank you for being caring enough to think about it, and he’s thinking you’re crazy for not expecting it. Regardless, he doesn’t touch any lower, only dropping his hand and rubbing a sweeping, soothing line over your tummy and your side. “You’re so pretty,” he whispers. 

You peek at him through threaded lashes. “Your eyes are closed,” you whisper back. 

“I knew before I closed them, and I know it now.” He sighs. “Sorry,” he says, kissing your cheek, “forgive me. I’ll get a towel.” 

“It’s my fault, being so enchanting n’ all.” 

Miguel kisses you again. “Exactly.” 

[pseudophan]

why did a tram yeeted itself into an apple store in oslo, nora?

great question but it was funny as fuck. the way it drove like head on into the apple store looked like it was aiming for that specifically 😭 no one got seriously injured (i think four people were hurt but it wasn't anything extreme) so thankfully i get to joke about it because this photo is SO funny to me i'm sorry

this is the energy dan was channeling when he said he was gonna dig up steve jobs

also tram in norwegian is trikk and because this was right before halloween every comment section i've come accross about the incident has just been filled with 'trikk or treat'. which is a bad joke but one i unfortunately found funny every time

[teddybeartoji]

i'm kind of obsessed with the idea of gojo never driving. like ever. he knows how to drive, he just doesn't like it. he LOVES being the passenger princess and he LOVES taking the public transport.

suguru and shoko both drive (they both also have very sexy cars. like some older cars yk... hear me out shoko with some kind of a convertible?? smoking as her hair flows in the air?? very hot i would say...). sugu and shoko keep complaining about the music he plays but they let him be the dj every single time anyway. satoru doesn't mind sitting in the back either btw. by passenger princess i guess i just meant that he loves to be in the car with his friends lmao. whenever he sits in the back – he's having a party on his own. he has snacks (which he always shares. sugu and shoko just need to open their mouths and satoru is feeding them immediately. they don't even have to ask for it. he sometimes whines about them eating a lot but he still feeds them without a second thought) and he's just loving life back there. he's staring out of the window, slipping from one side of the car to the other and pointing out just about everything he sees. kind of like a child but yk, it's sweet. sometimes he falls asleep in the weirdest fucking positions possible and then wakes up with a terrible neck pain and pouts when his friends laugh at him.

when he's sitting in the front... he's doing all of the same fucking things who am i kidding. he's eating, he's singing, he's pressing his face right against the window and earning a flick to his head for it. also he's fucking AWFUL with maps. idk that just feels right. never ask him any kind of directions bc you'll just get even more lost than you were before; so the only thing satoru is forbidden to in the car is being the gps. actually i kind of have a feeling that shoko isn't that great at it either lmao.... imagine suguru is just sighing loudly before yanking the map from their hands (fuck technology ig) and figuring out where they are on his own while the two of them just laugh their hearts out wahh i love them so fucking much

he looooves the public transport okay. he loves the little rush he gets when he's almost late to the bus; heaving and panting as he barely makes it with a stupid smile on his face. he also loves to blame the subway for being late, it's literally his favourite excuse and whenever somebody tells him to either get a car or idk take the earlier one – he just says that it's boring. because it is!!!! to him it is. he likes to try and enjoy the small things in life and the public transport is sometimes one of those things. he observes everything, he sees everything and he loves telling people about his adventures. the old lady with the rat, the guy with the hair, the man who was naked? yeah, it's all so exciting to him. honestly, i can't really think of anything about the public transport that make him upset in any way. maybe this is a reach but he's just curious little guy okay... he likes to experience new things and whatever might happen on a bus or a tram or a subway is just one of those new things okay.... let him do his thing..... OKAYY anyway i love this man so so so much<333 thank you for listening to my ramble i love you all mwah mwah

[flamingoprincess25]

Hello! Are your headcannon requests still open? Okay, so I was thinking about that Disney princess post you made and I was wondering if you could maybe write headcannons about the boxers going to Disney World for a week. :3

Thnx in advance 💖✨️

OHOHOOHO I LOVE THIS ONE

(Let's see if I remember anything from my Disney trip in 2019 AUGHHH)

LITTLE MAC

The first thing he and Doc bought were obviously Mickey ears (Doc got ones that look like chocolate)

Doc gave Little Mac money to spend but it all got spent in one gift shop.

He did go to every park. (His favorite is Magic Kingdom)

Got to meet all the characters and get their autographs

GLASS JOE

Got a bit of social anxiety by the sheer amount of people in the parks

Was too broke and couldn't afford much

Absolutely LOVES the sweets they got

Threw up after riding Space mountain with the big boys.

Got a snowglobe (he loves collecting snowglobes)

VON KAISER

Actually brought his students with them. They basically fucked around with Aran Ryan.

Surprisingly, his favorite park is Epcot. (Almost thought it was the world's biggest golf ball 😭)

Makes sure everyone sticks in a group (it didn't last not even for 10 seconds)

Loves the Snow White coaster and would ride it over and over if the lines weren't so long.

DISCO KID

Blasted a whole Disney playlist the whole way there

Nearly passed away on some rides (*cough* tower of terror *cough*) and definitely passed out on a majority of the rides.

Attracted a crowd in Hollywood Studios from break dancing

Was SO HAPPY to meet Stitch (He was one of his favorites)

Would NOT stop singing the songs on repeat (Sandman wanted to BEAT his ass)

Got so many souvenirs he had to get another bag.

KING HIPPO

Has absolutely no idea where he's going or what this place is.

Fell in love with Animal Kingdom (some places in the park reminded him of home)

He actually got to see Kevin and he was so happy the whole trip. (He even got a Kevin plushie for himself)

Hogged everyones dole whip on the hottest day of the trip

Had a fucking BLAST at the water parks (don't know the names bc I never went there 😭)

PISTON HONDO

Didn't really mind the trip (He's been to Disney World Japan god knows how many times)

Attempted to take some of the food back home, only for it all to get eaten by Hippo

Was "Harassed" by storm troopers in Hollywood Studios

Kept comparing everything in Disney World to the one in Japan like bitch stfu and enjoy the trip.

Was mostly chill and did join some shenanigans.

BEAR HUGGER

Loves both Animal and Magic Kingdom

Fucking cried when he met Mickey (bro sobbed for hours)

Actually snuck his squirrel into the parks

Got Mickey ears for both him and his animal friends (Some were too big bless)

Oversleeps back at the hotel and sometimes misses the trams to the parks

Got a shit ton of stuffed animals

GREAT TIGER

Didn't need the trams to get to the park dude just fucking teleports there

He let's his clones fuck around but NOT with Aran Ryan or Von Kaisers students

Like Hondo, he was chill

Got to meet princess Jasmine and got her autograph.

Got a few collectibles (mostly jewelry)

Recorded a rap song about his trip a week later

DON FLAMENCO

OBVIOUSLY brought Carmen with him

He and Carmen wore matching Mickey ears

When he rode tower of terror, he let out the most girly horror scream in existence and was constantly bullied for it

Loved all the sweets they had but almost overindulged with an upset stomach.

He took Carmen to see all the Disney princesses

Became a princess at one point bc of Carmen (girly pop got him a dress, tiara, everything)

ARAN RYAN

Dude was a fucking menace

Took Von Kaisers students wherever they wanted to go (don't trust him babysitting he's gonna let me do fuck around and find out)

Almost got arrested....twice

Had beef with Merida and would shortly befriend the actress behind Merida. (He thought she was cool)

Shoplifted a bunch of shit and somehow got away with it

SODA POPINSKI

Fucking chugged down every drink the park had to offer

His favorite ride is Expedition Everest

Was unfortunately too tall for most of the rides

He didn't do much besides buy some souvenirs and meet characters (Cried when he met Olaf lmao)

BALD BULL

It was a nice trip for him but not with all the people pissing him off

Chilled in the pools at the hotels most of the time.

Was the spy in that one interactive Star Wars ride and made the most flabbergasted face known to man

Enjoyed the food there but almost caused a food fight.

SUPER MACHO MAN

Posed with the characters while getting his picture

Wanted to be in the shows they play but couldn't

Was another victim to the storm troopers but played along horrifyingly good (get bro an Oscar)

"I'm on a diettt" is later caught eating sweet shit

Absolutely LOVES Hollywood studios

The rest of the gang are the whole fucking reason why he's in debt

MR. SANDMAN

Didn't want to come but was forced to

Actually SMILED?! when he met Mickey and Minnie (he was picked on unfortunately)

Loves the star wars areas

Didn't buy much. All he got was a t shirt and a keychain

This is all I got for now (I tried, might edit it soon 😭) but let me know what y'all think!

Bonus HC: They did the most DIABOLICAL photo shoots on Splash Mountain (this takes place in 2009 SHHHH) for example:

(Anyways that's all!)

[venigni]

So you're telling me Venigni was orphaned at a young age, yet despite his trauma perservered to great fame and fortune by the age of 18, invented the telephone, the concept of a modern mall, and a tram, all while being haunted and taunted by a serial killer who remained unconvicted, with a found family, who was betrayed by an evil mastermind who turned out to be one of his best friends, and despite being closely tied to both high society and the alchemists somehow resisted their temptations, was invited to the super secret isle of the alchemists only to deny them and somehow still lived, and also dodged the deadly disease that wiped out nearly the entire city and getting killed by his own mind-controlled creations despite being firmly planted in the middle of their main base of operations, and also had to live his whole life harboring one of the biggest secrets at the time of the truth about awakened puppets, and he somehow ISN'T the main character?

That's when you know the character design and development in Lies of P for even the side characters fucks. 👍

[decks-writing-blog]

Whatever the Fuck Benrey is: Chapter Six: Lonely

Chapter One

Previous Chapter

[A/N] I'm super far ahead on where I'm writing vs. where I'm uploading (more than the 7 chapter lead I started with) so I've decided occasionally I'll start uploading twice a week on Tuesday in addition to Friday when I feel like. Which might be every week, I don't know yet, but I felt like it today.

~

The initial plan had been to salvage any of their possessions that they could and search the living area for survivors and call that a good enough rescue effort. They’d already been through the hell of traveling through a large chunk of the facility, surely they could be forgiven for not wanting to do so again. But once there, it felt like a cop out. Chances of anyone still being alive in the parts of the facility where shit had really gone down weren’t great but not zero and there were still other places not hit too hard. With the military gone and the aliens no longer coming, their portals all firmly closed, rescue efforts would be less dangerous. And in hopes of keeping the military from trying to wipe knowledge of the incident off the face of the planet again – hopefully they thought they’d succeeded – they couldn’t shunt such work onto Tuefort’s emergency services.

Luckily, the living area not having been hit particularly hard meant there were a decent chunk of people willing to go on that rescue mission, had already been planning to in fact, and thus Gordon didn’t have to be a part of it. Instead he volunteered the team to bring the wounded back to Tuefort – they’d run out of health packs and such a while ago – and then bring back more fresh supplies – they’d brought some with them but, thinking they were going to do a half-assed rescue mission, it wasn’t much. Bubby groaned about the long drive but Gordon told him to suck it up. After all the chaos, violence and murder they’d partook in, they could at least try to balance it out by doing some good too. … And it would help keep Gordon occupied and not thinking about things he didn’t need to thing about. And it would give him a bit more time before he needed to decide what he was going to do next.

And so they decided to spend the night and head out in the morning. They’d have multiple cars this time too as several had been brought over from car park that had once been only a tram ride away but was now apparently a whole adventure to get to. But Gordon didn’t care because someone else had gone on it, bringing several cars back for transport. Meaning he’d get to drive this time.

One more night in the facility wouldn’t even be so bad because his old living space wasn’t nearly as trashed as he’d feared. The combined living room and kitchen area was a mess. It had been ransacked and even a little gooed, no corpses or corpse stains though which was a big win. And the bedroom seemed to have been left alone, meaning it was clean, safe, and thus good to sleep in.

Upon finally heading to it for the night, he wasn’t too surprised to find it’s where Benrey had disappeared again to. He’d made himself at home, playing Gordon’s Xbox 360 – it had been stored inside the rather sturdy TV cabinet and thus had been spared whatever violence had occurred here – seemingly uncaring about the crack in the corner of the TV’s screen or the massive goo stain on the couch next to him. The power in the remaining generators was limited so maybe he should be scolded for that but really, what else did he have to do? Lest he be recognized he needed to avoid the rest of the Black Mesa personal out there. Asking him to just sit and stare at a wall would’ve been unfair.

“Yo,” he said, not looking up from the screen as Gordon closed the door and set the deadbolt as the proper lock and doorknob was broken. “You only got three games, none of them that good. Why is that? I thought you were a gamer.”

“Work took up a lot of time so I didn’t have much time to play or keep up with which games were good or not.” Looking back he’d let work take up more of his time than he should’ve. “But at least you got something to do, right?”

“Yeah, guess so. Didn’t you say you also have a son? Josh or… something like that? Where’s he at?”

Damn, Gordon had hoped everyone forgot about that. “Uh… Joshua is technically a real person but he’s my nephew, not my son. And I haven’t seen him in person ever and haven’t talked to my sister in like… five years. She’s the one who sent me that picture… back when we still talked, obviously.”

“You lied.” How much it was a accusation versus just a statement of fact was hard to tell, especially with Benrey’s eyes still glued to the screen.

“Yeah… I lied. But look, I’d been lying about him for a while, okay? So I didn’t stop to think about lying to you guys too. Not that I had any idea we’d become…” he cut himself off before saying ‘friends’ he wasn’t ready to voice that word about Benrey yet. “I just lied out of habit and didn’t think anything was likely to ever come of it.”

“Why’d you lie about it so much?”

“Because… I wanted my coworkers to think I had more going on than just work stuff. So I made up a story about having an ex-wife and a kid. Everyone else had family and friends outside of Black Mesa and I wanted people to think I did too so they wouldn’t think I was a weird freak who only worked and occasionally played video games alone in the dark.” No way was he going to admit to how much effort he’d put into figuring out the exact story. His personal laptop, once left on the coffee table had become a casualty of the violence following the resonance cascade and thus he at least didn’t have to worry about Benrey snooping on it and finding the shitty story he’d wrote to keep his lies about his fake life in order. “It’s pathetic I know but… no one was ever supposed to know it wasn’t true.”

Benrey finally took his eyes off the screen to look up at Gordon. “That’s kinda sad, bro. You’re a real lonely boi, ain’t’cha?”

“Shut up, asshole. Lots of people are lonely, it’s normal. And there are way worse ways of handling it so you’re not allowed to tease me about it. Now, I’m going to bed. It’s much smaller than the one at the hotel so when you’re done gaming you can sleep on the couch, it’s since obtained a mystery stain though so, I guess you can…”

“I could sleep at the foot of the bed, next to your little feeties.”

“First off, my feet aren’t little, you should fucking know that. Second, there’s not enough room for that, I’m too tall. And third,ew, no, absolutely not, stay the fuck away from my feet. You can sleep on the couch or, if you would rather not because it’s gross, you can sleep next to me. Just don’t be weird about it and try not to wake me. Good night.” Before Benrey could respond, Gordon marched off to his room, closing the door firmly behind himself.

He’d didn’t lock it though because… wait, there were plenty of empty living spaces some of which had to have serviceable beds, he could’ve told Benrey to go find one of those instead of offering to share his. What the fuck was wrong with him? … They were in his old home and he’d committed to keeping Benrey around earlier so he’d defaulted mentally to this being a space they had to share. And Benrey had been being annoying and he was tired, making it hard to think.

Whatever, it was too late to easily take back now. But Benrey would probably fall asleep on the couch anyway. Either intentionally or because he stayed up too late playing video games. It’s not like he seemed to care that it was nasty. So probably Gordon’s blunder was fine.

***

Even if Benrey could entertain himself for a while playing even the worst video game, there was still a limit to how much he could bear and he was quickly reaching it. These couldn’t be the only games Gordon had though, right? If he was really a gamer he had to have more and maybe a whole other console somewhere. After turning the Xbox and TV off – if there was nothing else to play, Benrey was done with it for now – Benrey set to searching the space.

Such a small area, it didn’t take long search every inch of it. If there’d ever been any more games or another console, the headcrab zombies had got it. Or more likely someone had stolen it because the place had clearly been busted up and raided for stuff. But it was funny to imagine headcrab zombies sitting around a TV and playing something like Resident Evil or some other zombie killing game. Or perhaps when sorting through his stuff earlier, Gordon had moved the good stuff somewhere safer. Regardless, Benrey was out of luck here.

He moved on to the bedroom. To make sure his steps would be quiet – it’d be rude to wake Gordon on accident – he slipped his shoes off before phasing through the closed door. It was dark inside but adjusting his eyes a little to make them work better in the dark, he could see just fine. Gordon lay on the bed, his back against the wall. … Next to him was indeed enough room for Benrey to lie down as Gordon had invited him to.

After spending so much time phasing through so many large chunks of earth and rubble earlier, Benrey was a bit tired. Nothing major and he hadn’t been planning to sleep yet, he could easily keep going for a little while longer before he truly felt the need for a nap. But that first night in the hotel bed, when they’d lain back to back had been comfortable. Gordon was pleasantly warm. A general human trait; Benrey had been touched by them before, though not often and never in ways that were easy to enjoy the way his casual contact with Gordon had been so far. So maybe he could lie down and bask in the warmth Gordon’s body gave off while he napped for a little bit. It was pretty cold in here after all; deep underground and made of concrete meant the facility was often rather cold, especially at night without anything running to regulate the temperature.

He crept closer and before he could second guess himself, lifted the blanket and crawled underneath it. With Gordon facing him, he didn’t dare press directly into him but he did get as close as he could without actually touching him, made easier by the fact that Gordon was curled up in a ball under the blankets. Even not touching him, it was pleasantly warm so close to him where his heat sank into the softness around them. Rather nice except… he was tense, his expression scrunched up as he mumbled under his breath. Muffled by the pillow his face was partially pressed into, it hadn’t been audible by the door but certainly was when so close to him.

Another nightmare. Damn, that meant Benrey had to wake him again, huh? No basking in his warmth for Benrey. … It had been a kind of weird thing to want anyway though. Probably best to not indulge it.

With a sigh, Benrey started to sit up but stopped as Gordon, seemingly still sleeping but sensing his presence so close anyway, uncurled a little to reach for him. Like in the car, he found Benrey’s arm and pulled on it, gently enough that Benrey could’ve resisted but… curious to see what sleeping Gordon intended to do with his arm, didn’t. He pulled it to his upper chest, forcing Benrey’s wrist to bend under his chin. It… seemed to sooth him, the tightness of his curl easing a little as he quieted. Interesting. Perhaps Benrey could enjoy his warmth for a little bit after all.

He shifted a bit closer so that their bodies were touching. Gordon opened himself a little more, his lower arm moving to wrap around Benrey’s shoulder, the gun hand right next to his head, pulling him the rest of the way over so they weren’t just touching but Benrey was pressed into him. … Wow, okay.

Gordon had relaxed, his breathing deep and steady. Nightmare apparently over. Benrey was so good at this fixing nightmares thing he’d done it just by letting Gordon touch him.

Carefully, Benrey shifted a little so he could use his free hand to pull the blanket back up. Shifting a little more, putting his face against Gordon’s chest, he pulled it up and over his head, hiding himself under it. … Not that he was going to stay here the whole night and thus possibly get seen by someone else but… Gordon was so soft and warm.

Benrey had never been this close to someone before; so close he could hear the breath in Gordon’s lungs and the rhythmic beat of his heart. It was new and weird and… he liked it. So much so it seemed to simultaneously fill him with energy, making him need to do something with it, while also making the idea of lying here forever sound pleasant. He resisted the urge to do the former, pressing it down until he was just relaxed and comfortable; doing anything more than lying here quietly would be bad. But he could stay for a little bit, maybe even indeed take a nap. It’d be nice to nap in a spot so warm and cozy. He could easily be up and out before Gordon woke. No one but Benrey ever needed to know about this. … Gordon’s reaction to it might be funny though so maybe he’d stay until Gordon woke after all. Not an excuse to stay longer but to enjoy annoying Gordon.

***

A loud wretched but familiar blaring woke Gordon from a blessedly dreamless slumber. Never had he hated his alarm more. How dare it still be set? He should’ve unplugged the foul, evil thing before going to bed last night.

“Make it stop,” Benrey whined, sounding more upset than Gordon had ever heard him before as he pressed himself more into Gordon’s chest. “Why’s it so loud?”

More concerned with silencing the damn alarm than why Benrey was pressing into him, Gordon reached over him and, with the familiarity of reaching over to shut it off more times than he was proud of, unerringly smacked the snooze button. He held it long enough to make sure it turned off instead of just going to sleep to torment them in twenty minutes because fuck that.

Blessed, peaceful silence restored, Gordon relaxed with a sigh, his arm going limp around Benrey as the tension left his body too. Prior to Gordon freeing his hand to reach the alarm, he’d been all the way under the blanket, his face resting against Gordon’s chest. His arm was draped over Gordon’s side, their legs tangled together.

“Bro, why’d you set your alarm?” he asked, a slight whine still in his voice. “It’s sucks. And why’s it so horrible? You should change to… to music or something.” If he was at all bothered by their current position, he made no move to remedy it.

“I forgot to turn it off last night. Why are we cuddling?”

“Because you said I could join you and then uh… you hugged me.”

Gordon should push him away. He hadn’t agreed to cuddling, just sleeping next to each other, there was room to do that without being this close, but… that would take so much effort and he was tired. Benrey was soft against him and not particularly warm. Gordon ran pretty hot and thus during the handful of other instances in which he’d found himself cuddling someone, the heat the other person gave off was a bit much and thus had always quickly grown uncomfortable. Such wasn’t an issue with Benrey, he was just soft.

So instead of pushing him away, verbally and/or physically, Gordon moved his hand to touch his face. A bit awkward with the way Benrey lay against his chest but he did it anyway.

Benrey flinched away from him. “Whoa, hey, bro, what?”

“We’re literally cuddling, dude. How can you possibly have a problem with me touching your face?” Despite his words, Gordon did withdraw his hand. Him being the one making it weird would be awfully hypocritical… and it was rude to touch people in ways they didn’t want to be touched.

Benrey relaxed again, adjusting himself only slightly. Seems he didn’t have any more desire to move than Gordon did. “Why you wanna touch my face?”

“Uh…” How did Gordon explain he wanted to know what Benrey’s skin felt like without it sounding like he was a serial killer thinking about skinning him to make a purse or something? Probably it wasn’t possible and so no need to be honest about that. “I just want to. So can I?”

“Hmm… all right, only ‘cause you’re warm though.”

Gordon returned his hand to Benrey’s face, this time he leaned into it a little instead of flinching away. He ran his fingers down from his forehead to his cheek to slightly under his jaw; an almost caress but he was just feeling. His skin was unnaturally smooth, the texture not like human skin at all, which might’ve made it creepy except it was fairly pleasant, almost a little like running his hand over the surface of a toy slime. Which brought with it the sensation that if he were to press his fingers into it hard enough, it would deform and that was a bit creepy. It was also fairly cool, as expected given that the whole of him wasn’t giving off much, if any heat, despite how close they were. The forehead down to about where the preternatural shade over his eyes ended could even be described as cold. Outside of the danger and hectic chaos of the resonance cascade’s fallout, Gordon could finally start to appreciate how odd and interesting of a specimen he was. He might have to take a thermometer to him later. For now though, he was satisfied.

He pulled his hand away and draped his arm over him again instead. An almost hug but really, with Benrey pressed so close, where else was he supposed to put his arm? “I think you might be cold-blooded.”

“What does that mean in uh… sciencey terms? ‘Cause it means something different, right?”

Given that this wasn’t Gordon’s field of scientific expertise, he perhaps shouldn’t have drawn a conclusion based off so little evidence. But did it really matter that much? “It means your body doesn’t produce much heat.” Obviously it was more complicated than that but Gordon was way too sleepy to try to explain better.

“Is that why warm stuff feels so nice?”

“Maybe, yeah. So… I guess we can stay like this.” It was a bit of an awkward position to cuddle someone in but most of the discomfort it would cause was on Benrey’s part and he didn’t seem to mind.

“Sweet.”

“Just don’t tell anyone ‘bout this.” After the assumptions the others had made upon Gordon complaining about sharing a bed, he didn’t want to know what they’d say if they found out he’d willingly cuddled Benrey.

“’Course not. It’s uh… our little secret.”

“Good. Want me to pull the blanket back up?”

Benrey hummed an affirmative.

Gordon pulled the blanket back up to his chin, encasing Benrey in his arms under it. He then shifted, curling around Benrey a little more, entangling their legs a little tighter. Nothing weird or strange about this. The dessert got cold at night and the heaters and air conditioning had been turned off to save power so he was just helping his cold-blooded buddy keep warm. Yeah, temperature probably couldn’t harm him in any substantial way but that didn’t mean the cold wasn’t unpleasant. So this meant basically nothing other than Gordon felt bad enough for him to put up with cuddling him. He could relate to being lonely after all.

Over the next few minutes, Benrey’s breathing deepened as he went lax against Gordon again. Had he ever had anyone fall asleep so easily in his arms before? … Not that he could remember. The last time he’d even cuddled anyone had been a boyfriend he’d had in his first year of college. Cuddling had never lasted long though; too warm and they were both too busy with school work to have much time to lounge around in each other’s arms. The latter being what ended their relationship and why Gordon hadn’t been in serious relationship since, work taking the place of school once he’d got hired on at Black Mesa upon graduating.

This was nice though. When awake, Benrey was an annoying, dangerous bastard. Asleep, he was soft, cuddly, and quiet. Gordon could get used to this. He probably shouldn’t let himself sleep though. The alarm had been set to go off at 5am, way too early to be up, but the drive back to Tuefort was long, an early start would be wise. So probably he should get up in maybe an hour or two? Surely he could…

An odd rumbling sound interrupted his thoughts. He blinked opened his eyes to look around the room for its source, not that he could see much in the dark without his glasses. But as it grew stronger and louder he didn’t need to see to tell where it was coming from.

Benrey, still snuggled in his arms under the blanket. Him snoring? … No. Even if it followed the rhythm of his breathing, it was too continuous to be snoring no matter how weird an animal he was. Gordon could feel its source in Benrey’s chest and back where his arm touched. Having grown up with cats, it wasn’t the exact same sound or feel but it did have some very familiar vibes.

“Benrey, are you… purring?”

No response of course, Benrey was fast asleep. One wasn’t needed though because what else could it possibly be? Given that he wasn’t a cat, his reason for purring might be totally unrelated to why cats purred. Maybe it just meant he was in a specific stage of sleep; instead of REM, he purred. But while they were cuddling? And he’d made it very clear he liked how warm Gordon was. So maybe it was because he was comfortable and content.

Regardless of why though, it was something Gordon could tease him about it later. … Unless he didn’t find it embarrassing. But he had to, right? He liked to come off as cool and purring was far too adorable for anyone to ever find it cool. So yeah, Gordon would tease him about it later. For now though, it was soothing, pulling him back towards sleep. Maybe not a pull he should listen to but… he didn’t really have much choice in the matter.

~

Next Chapter

[crabussy]

Hi robin hope you're doing good!! Are there any places to see or things to do you'd recommend for someone visiting Aotearoa for the first time?

hi its actually francis but I'm just as (if not more but don't tell him I said that hehehe) fanatic about aotearoa!!! I'm happy to help out. I'm gonna write a bit and leave this in drafts and then rob can finish it off cause its reaaaally late!! eek!! I gotta sleep because there's hiking happening tomorrow!

waitomo glowworm caves are great but ACTUALLY!!! I DON'T RECOMMEND THE SUPER FAMOUS ONE!!!! it's nice but it's not so long and the photos you see online are usually better than the experience you get. try out ruakuri caves in waitomo instead!! they're pretty much right next to the most popular caves, but they're longer, deeper, contain more interesting formations AND glow worms as well!! not as many as the main one. it depends on what you're looking for!!! there's a SUPER COOL motel called woodlyn park where you can stay in an old boat, an old tram, an old plane or a hobbit house that have all been converted into rooms. it's really cool!! might be a bit costly though

SWIM SOMEWHERE IF YOU CAN!!!! a river, an estuary, a beach. check water quality first!! beaches are probably your best bet! one of my favourite things in the world to do is swim at the beaches in aotearoa. I have yet to see a beach that makes me happier than the ones here!

some REALLY COOL TOWNS include rotorua (super stinky geothermal hotspot!!! so cool!!!!! bright green lakes!!!) and ahuriri (art deco town!! they actually hold a 1920s inspired festival there yearly if I'm remembering right!), <- francis went to bed at this point HI its robin now. what the freak is up guess I'm writing the rest of this post. also I'm DEFINITELY the bigger fanatic don't listen to her. liar liar pants on fire etc

UM!!! DEFINITELY hike/do a day walk if you can. I fucking LOVE hiking here it's always beautiful. in te ika-a-māui (north island) I really enjoy the waitākere ranges, there's currently a rāhui for some areas but I went hiking last weekend and the trail I went on was really lovely. there are quite a few to choose from!! I went along exhibition drive and the beveridge track, entering from titirangi village.

we're well known for our native birds, but as many of them are endangered you might have trouble seeing many of them. I'd recommend tiritiri matangi, an amazing conservation island off the shore of tāmaki makaurau. it can be pricey to visit but the sheer number of birds to be seen there is wonderful!!! you can even see takahē, as well as kiwi at night. the cost of the ticket goes towards the conservation being done on the island.

if you have a chance to experience a kapa haka performance or attend a māori festival GO. GO GO GO. it's always incredible, the power and just. joyous fierce pride people put into the waiata and haka is amazing. if you go around june-july, you'll be there for matariki celebrations!!! experience them. there'll be lots of events happening in major cities like tāmaki makaurau and pōneke.

if you're up for a bit of camping, motutara farm is an absolute gem. it's in whananaki, and needs to be booked WAY in advance but my god its marvelous. the beach is wonderful the rockpools are fascinating the walks are incredible and the camping sites are so lovely. you will have to deal with long drops.

genuinely, and I'm so serious, if you end up in the north island LET ME KNOW!!!! I love meeting up with people and if you end up in the city I live in, I'd love to show you around!!! there's a walk I really love in my town that I'd be happy to take you on.

there's so much more but these are my (and francis's) top picks!!!! I love these islands so much. there's so much to be experienced. I WILL ALSO SAY!!! the public transport is very good. you can mostly rely on it especially in cities.

[ellie-the-oracle]

Freefalling From Great Heights - A Discussion & Analysis

Hey guys. So, I lied about getting off socials LOL I really need to go full on film theory here and talk about the fall. I do want to preface though and say that I am not a woman of science (I’m an art girlie), therefore I won’t be able to make any sort of proper calculations. Without further ado, I’m going to break down the whole fall and discuss how Tech could’ve and probably did survive. 

First and foremost, I want to go back and take a look at the most clear shot given to viewers of the height between the tram system and the perceived ground level. In this picture, we get a brief glimpse from Wrecker’s POV of how far down it is from the trams. 

While it looks quite high, considering they are practically in the clouds, it is important to note the amount of foliage this planet has; a vast amount large trees, specifically tall pine trees.

These types of trees are not uncommon in biomes that include bodies of water. Consider the images below.

 While it is not definitive, it can be safe to assume that there could have been a stream or body of water below in that valley. However, even if this was not the case, the trees are large enough that they can dampen a fall, even if it is from a great height. This leads me to my next point: 

How high of a fall can humans survive?

An NCBI article covers the case of a rock climber who had fallen from a total of 300 feet and survived. Though she suffered many severe injuries, she was able to recover after extensive medical care. According to this article, the way in which a person falls is imperative to survival. In particular, if a person is falling vertically, they can survive an average fall height of 23 feet and 7 inches (7.2 meters) with minor to moderate injury. Survivable injuries have a threshold of around 20-25 feet. Yet the rock climber was able to survive at even greater heights. That being said, according to an article by Arnold & Atkin Trial Lawyers, 20 feet and below can still prove to be fatal. Moreover, fatal falls usually are between 21 and 40 feet. Considering all the information thus far, it would seem that Tech is exceptionally fucked. But stay with me folks, I’m not done cooking yet.

While it is not common, humans have, in fact, survived free falls at extreme heights. Take for example Vesna Vulović, a Serbian flight attendant who holds the Guinness world record for surviving the highest freefall without a parachute: 33,330 feet (10,160 meters). She was in a coma for days and spent several months hospitalized. She suffered a fractured skull, three broken vertebrae, broken legs, broken ribs, and a fractured pelvis, leaving her temporarily paralyzed from the waist down. Despite all of this, she made a nearly complete recovery, only continuing to walk with a limp. 

In another case, Nicholas Alkemade, a British tail gunner of the Royal Air Force during World War II, survived a freefall of 18,000 feet (5, 490 meters). His fall was broken by pine trees and a soft snow cover on the ground. 

While the first case can be safely considered as a miracle, it's the second case that is interesting. The pilot survived a freefall from a height he should’ve died from. Yet, due to the large trees and the snow on the floor, his fall was cushioned and allowed for him to survive. 

Now, taking what we discussed and applying it to the Star Wars universe, the chances of Tech surviving is definitely in our favour. Firstly, we know there is a lot of foliage (bushes, grass, etc.), and there are also massive trees. But we must remember that this isn’t just some random, unprepared person that is falling. This is Tech, a highly skilled, highly intelligent, and well equipped clone trooper. It is also important to mention that he is wearing a helmet and a chest plate, which provides protection to critical body parts. Knowing him, Tech could have very well put his gear to use and used a grappling hook to attach to a tree and create momentum from his fall to swing onto the ground. He could have also gotten into the falling tram and found a way to cushion his fall. But let’s say he does neither of these things (perhaps due to the speed at which he was falling), Tech can still survive if he falls vertically into the pine trees and foliage, which will cushion his fall, just like Nicholas Alkemade and the rock climber, respectively.

Furthermore, based on all that has been discussed and considered, the chances of survival of a freefall from that height, while seemingly impossible, is in fact, possible and likely. 

Sources:

[unpopularvivian]

My Ttte Designs (Toby):

Headcanons:

Shy, gentle, nervous but wise and extremely caring towards others. Is one of Sodor's oldest but finest engines.

He and Henrietta are married for 30 years while he and Edward are married for 10 years.

Disrespect one of his loved ones, especially if it's Henrietta, and he'll sent you to your grave.

Has a super close bond with the humans of Sodor and sees them as this one, big, loving family.

Even though he's prone to panic in certain situations, he has the patience of a god and is very good at handling emotional problems. His compassion and empathy makes him very popular with engines and Sudrians.

Loves jazz, romantic music and electro swing.

Is the Harold Hutchins to Gordon's George Beard and they're best friends because I said so. He acts like the heart of the duo while Gordon acts like the brains. These two will do anything from becoming wingmen for each other to trying to figure how to use the internet.

He doesn't have too many people that he hates but if you manage to be one of those people; Then congrats! You're officially one of the worst people to ever live on earth!

Bisexual and transgender (Ftm). Has top surgery and his scars are kinda faded. Scars are double incision and are curved. (I swear, if ya'll are ever drawing him shirtless and you incorrectly draw his top surgery scars, I am going to break into your house and break all of your limbs-)

Street-stupid as fuck and doesn't understand modern society that well.

Has PTSD, depression and separation anxiety. Extremely fast-moving water, great heights and loud sounds all give him shivers down to his spine because they're all part of events that he used to be in. Sometimes, he feels disconnected to the rest of the world and doesn't have any motivation to do anything. And about his separation anxiety? Try separating Henrietta from him and he'll be missing her instantly.

Loves to bake and cook food. Is a god at it. (Unlike Edward-)

Has 4 adopted children: Mavis, Percy, Phillip and Pluto.

I like to imagine that he used to have a stupid long ahoge that he unfortunately lost during his younger years. It hasn't grown back ever since. RIP random ahoge, we'll miss you. 😞

"Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair-"

PRIVATE HE'S AFRAID OF COCKROACHES!!!!!

(USING SHE/HER AND THE NAME "TABITHA" FOR THE NEXT FEW HEADCANONS. TW: MENTIONS OF DEADNAMING, TRANSPHOBIA, HOMOPHOBIA AND DEATH)

When Tabitha was first built, she was devilish, tomboyish daredevil who took over the quaint little world that she lived in by storm. She had two older brothers who she bonded quickly. Tom, who was the middle child and was fun-loving and Leonard, who was the oldest and acted as the voice of reason and discipline.

In her old tramway that was located nearby on a pretty little coastline, Tabitha met two tramway coaches named Henrietta and Hannah. She got along quite well with Hannah due to their chaotic personalities but butted heads with Henrietta because of her more reserved demeanor. (What Tabitha doesn't know that she's going to get married to Henrietta someday hehehoho)

However, Roger, a very bratty and absolutely shit tram engine bullied the two all lot. (Ya'll probably who I'm talking about) And not only was he spoiled and jerkish, he was also extremely transphobic and homophobic towards Tabitha, often calling her many slurs and derogatory nicknames. But the haughty steam tram would soon meet his end when he was crushed to death. What the others didn't know that things would be way worse....

During a cheerful and calm day, Tabitha was working with her two brothers as usual along with Henrietta. Out of nowhere, a large boom filled the air with terror and doom as an disheveled old man, wearing shattered goggles, was driving a gigantic tank as cannons were blasting everywhere, destroying trucks and houses. Leonard immediately took his then-sister's hand and started sprinting towards the other direction with Tom and Henrietta following in hot pursuit.

Bullets sliced through the smoky air as the screams of dying people and engines filled the atmosphere with dread and hopelessness and just as the crazy old man was about to shoot Tabitha, Tom suddenly went in front of her, surprising the lunatic and causing him to miss and have the bullet hit the ground instead. But, the bullet ended up ricocheting a piece of shrapnel straight towards Tom's face and pierced straight through his eye, killing him instantly.

And went the young tram thought that the worse has been over, a shriek of pain echoed through the sky as Henrietta dragged Tabitha to a safe place. Turns out that Leonard had acid poured on his face by the old driver for refusing to let him kill Tabitha.

The next day was the funeral for Tom and Leonard, the sky was a cloudy grey as rain poured onto the ground like bricks hitting pavement. Nobody make a sound except for the anguished cries of Tabitha for she just lost the people that she loved the most. Ever since, the poor tram hasn't been the same.

(TOBY, IN HIS AWKWARD TRANSITONAL PHASE)

Started using he/him and the name "Tobias" that Leonard give to him. Shortened it to "Toby" because he didn't like being called by his full name.

Wore awkward brown suspenders, a white buttoned up shirt and had shiny black loafers. (Man, he was really wearing the loser fit wasn't he) Later got a fuzzy homemade oak-colored sweater made by Henrietta for him as a gift when he worked on his own little tramway.

Easily scared, very jumpy, frightened and extremely shy toward others. Only communicated in whispers. (Not too unlike to his wimpy CGI persona!)

Was pretty neutral on liking flowers but ended up loving one of them, roses, after Henrietta put one on his head during one of their dates.

You thought that Edward was his bisexual awakening? Ha! Edward was only his bisexual REAWAKENING. His actual first bisexual awakening was when he met a fellow blue lorry whose name was Alec. Unlike the rest of the lorries and trucks that were assholes, Alec was mild-mannered and polite and had a pleasant conversation with Toby, who the latter caught feelings for him. However, because homophobia was at a dangerously high stake during that time, Toby had extreme feelings of internalized homophobia and avoided Alec when ever he could. (Poor him, it looks that Toby couldn't catch a break)

Toby and Henrietta literally got married when Toby tried to propose her but failed horribly, only to find out that Henrietta was also going to propose to him as well.

His bond between his driver and firewoman started to grow since the two were a couple themselves and would give relationship advice to Toby whenever he had trouble with Henrietta.

[applejee]

bestie im going to melb and as a local do u have any recommendations for stuff we should do while were there?

FYCK YESSSSSS COME TO MELBOURNE!!!!!!! okay heres my exorbitant mostly food related list (note these places are almost all in the CBD):

coffee/matcha:

if you like coffee, best locations in the CBD are little rogue on drewery lane nearby melbourne central station, and tbh any coffee joint along flinders lane

if you don't like coffee but like matcha or houjicha, drop by little rogue or tori's on niagara lane!! puzzle coffee (there's one on swanston st and in melbourne central station) is also tasty

i've also heard good things about naau's matcha - they're off russell st but i haven't been there myself

breakfast/brunch/bakery:

if you want to try a classic melb brunch, try hardware lane! there's a few places in the laneway and it feels very melbourne

also on drewery lane is bakemono - an adorable little bakery that does amazing melonpan! but they sell out quick and get busy, so you want to get there by 10am at the latest

(can you tell laneways are our culture)

okay i know they opened elsewhere in australia now but LUNE is great... love the croissants....... JC patisserie boulangerie is further north but a quick train ride away - heard great things!

if you want a fun time........ hopetoun tearooms!! SOO CUTE even just the cake window is worth a look. if you want high tea you gotta book out ages in advance, but if you don't mind waiting a little they take walk ins! perfect for an afternoon pot of tea and tasty cake

more lunchy-places:

look, anywhere on degraves st will get you there, and it's also a classic tourist spot! walk down and see the most quintessential melbourne laneway there is!

if you want american-themed fare, bowery to williamsburg FUCKS i had a stunning reuben there.

tbh i rarely actually have lunch, i just get brunch... so all the recommendations above can double

dinner or lunch restaurants:

soooo i love ramen so if you do too, ikkoryu fukuoka ramen is top tier! i love their yuzu ramen. hakata gensuke is good if you like chicken ramen, and shujinko ramen (rip the flinders st store) is good if you're going up elizabeth st and want affordable

mensho tokyo ramen opened recently but uhhhhh the wait has been 3 to 5 hous somedays. ITS POPULAR. ippudo in QV is probably easier and more convenient

outside of ramen, if you want more fancy fancy farmer's daughters is STELLAR. delicious food, great cocktails, mm. nice modern aussie dining. longrain nearby is also very popular!

also vaguely upmarket is chinchin - good curry! the waiters market is a place that my mum hugely recommend before shows but ive never managed to get there myself lmao.

not ramen but still japanese is dohtonbori.. ever wanted to mix and flip your own okonomiyaki? now's the time

I WANT TO GO TO THE NATURAL HISTORY PUBLIC BAR. it's also a restaurant set to look like the american museum of natural history, if you go pls have fun

bubbletea, its own category:

this is just a list.

milksha, the alley lujiaoxiang, machi machi, coco. these are all good. chatime is fine but gongcha is better but theyre the chains so... i really want to go to choulee!! i heard theyre good

desserts:

hokkaido baked cheese tart, black star patisserie, pafu, kurimu, uncle tetsu's, brunetti's for cakes and later nights, sulhwa, and bingsu.

further out or more expensive but fun:

i need to go to milk the cow so BAAAD. there's one in st kilda, which is a short tram ride from flinders st station. if you go lmk

places to visit:

the botanical gardens!! pretty, always a nice time

the NGV likely has some free exhibits going on! always a nice wander

you gotta stop by hozier lane. you gotta. and wander around fed square while you're at it

drewery lane also has some artwork!

a walk down birrarung marr is also nice, sometimes there's night markets going on by the stadiums

the docklands has some alright places, but i know less about it... but they have a ferris wheel rn! check it out!

if you wanna spend thirty or more bucks, go up the eureka tower!! tallest building, and you can get a cool view of the city. the edge experience is a little lift that sticks out the building so you can stare down through glass to the ground below. fun if you aren't afraid of heights

if you like shopping, emporium is fancy and has a MEEQ store where you can buy jellycats

you can go to the queen victoria market if you wanna.... its a classic destination after all

THE LUME is a classic experience here too rn - more exxy but if you want a fun visual experience, do it!

if you want comics - check out all star comics! best LCS in the area.

other specific stores i recommend:

gewürzhaus! there's one in block arcade off collins st, i love it and the spices

not far from gewürzhaus is essensorie - they discon'd my fave handcream SOB but they have some nice things (this is all in the black arcade, same as hopetoun)

and with that, tbh check out all the arcades? they have fun things going on!! there's the block arcade, royal arcade with gog and magog, tivoli arcade... that is to say they're little indoor walkways with shops and stores, as in an arcade you walk through! they're cute

bourke st mall is worth a wander, and you can see the outside of the old post office that's now a H&M...

i know you said "things to do" but... all i do is eat mostly LMAO!!

really, the best thing to do is give yourself a day or two for the CBD. just wander, it's all a grid and easily navigable, and take advantage of the free tram zone!!!! it'll announce when it isn't so you know to touch on your myki or not, i'm not a cop.

you could also wander down to crown at night, southbank has many restaurants and also the flames outside crown fucketh severely

if you're going outside the CBD, its an hours or so drive but healesville sanctuary is soo fun.. and on the way there you can stop by kuranga nursery, it's a gorgeous little place and the paperbark cafe does a bunch of tasty meals with native flavours and bushtucker

if you'll be in the suburbs i have more recommendations too!! but for those just message ma and i'll share so this list isn't crazier than it is xx HAVE FUN!!!!!!!!

[my-castles-crumbling]

Hii how are you??

Hope you’re having a good day today!

I was wondering what’s your opinion on trams James Potter?

Hi! I'm great, how are you!

Trans characters are >>>> I just read a T4T jegulus fic and it was great. If someone wants to write trans!James, then fuck yeah, write trans!James!

[luoisalunitic]

discussing HK stuff (spoilersers)

Hollow knight is certainly a funky game am I right? So, we know almost nothing about the void civilization or anything really, like TLC’s mother, (Heretic) Joni, where the fuck WL came from, and the whole bell situation in Silksong, I’ll be mossbag today and try to figure something’s out

Most of the things that I mention about the bells in Silksong is from mossbags bell video, like the notes that play when hitting the bell and as someone who works at a daycare with music stuff and in orchestra, I can say that mossbag is right about the notes being played. The notes seem to be a Pharloom anthem or something, as a bass version plays at the beginning of the trailer, whenever the bells are played and in a Lace fight if I remember the trailer right. Music seems to play a big role in Pharloom, from the music note like symbol on top of Hornets cage, to Hornet learning how to play her needle from the church person in the mossy pit area, and to Lace conducting those butterfly bird things. We can also tell that silk plays a big part as well, as addition to the symbol on Hornets cage, the ball looks like a ball of silk (haha get it? Silksong)

I’d like to discuss HK and PK next, we can guess that the idea instilled was the memory at the end of Path of Pain with PK and HK, but is it just that memory? surely other characters helped with the idea, right? like White Lady, maybe the Great Knights and Dreamers? Hornet definitely would’ve played a role in that, but, what if it was Ghost who instilled the idea? That one moment in the abyss.. two siblings facing each other.. one ending up falling while the other one joins the ranks of their father….. okay that’s enough rambling for me

Another things is what the fuck is Lost Kin doing? why the fuck is it in Ancient Basin if the door was sealed off and Deepnest is on the other side of the tram? PK must’ve taken Lost Kin, or maybe Ogrim? Like wasn’t Ogrim exiled?? maybe that’s why he was exiled idk guys, but that also means Lost is older than both HK and Ghost, and i can only assume that Lost died from someone attacking them, because how in the ever loving fuck do you trip and shatter your frontal lobe /silly

that’s kinda all tbh, hope you enjoyed my 1am ramblings

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

tuesday again 12/19/2022

shambling along towards the new year

listening

cotton heads by caravan palace. i think this has been on every spotify wrapped playlist ive ever had. soft and comforting in a way that’s hard for me to describe. this has been part of the background music in some of the softest times of my life, winter-warm and safe and solitary noodling around on some project that involves a lot of fiddling with tiny pieces on a desk. spotify

-

reading

houston thrift stores are, predictably, awash with cowboy western novels. mostly it’s every louis l’amour or zane grey possible (no thanks)

jake logan’s SLOCUM AND THE YELLOWBACK TRAIL is number three hundred and seventy nine in the series, which is quite impressive. i am fascinated when a book attempts to transplant a cowboy into an urban environment so we’ll stick with it for a bit, despite a truly horrible sex scene describing a “rigid pole”. there were no onomatopoeia sex sounds which is both blessing and curse bc the intel SLOCUM gathered during this sex scene seemed like a completely different conversation totally unrelated to the sex he was having. she simply happened to come three times in three pages while telling him everything he needed for Next Location.

-

watching

saw several very beautiful movies in the last two weeks, one of which i liked very much.

Experiment in Terror (1962, dir. Edwards) has one of my favorite Mancini-composed pieces of music but i had never seen the movie it was from. a neo-noir man with an asthmatic rasp puts pressure on a bank teller and her teen sister to rob the bank by terrorizing them through various means. however, despite successfully playing on a lot of Womanly Fears (unexpected phone calls, driving at night, being alone) the fbi. this is perhaps a bit snide since it is extremely good at keeping the tension up through most of the runtime, the leads all did a good job imo— a letterboxed reviewer pointed out the villain played by Ross Martin has a certain chameleon-like quality from scene to scene and it is really arresting, he pops up in some unexpected places to great effect. a well-shot movie, just a hair longer than i wanted it to be, i don’t think any movie could survive the hype i built up in my head after loving than mancini piece so much, and was not quite the vibe i was looking for on the afternoon i finished it.

in a different noir with an important scene during a baseball game, Stray Dog (1949, dir. Kurosawa). everything you could possibly say about this movie has already been said. mifune is such a fucking joy to watch as a somewhat hapless young cop with a bad case of the scruples. gets his fully loaded pistol pickpocketed on the tram, sending him hither and yon during a brutally hot summer tracking down every bullet. widely available for free. fucking beautiful work of art. deeply annoying when widely acclaimed movies are actually really good

-

playing

nothing new to report, nothing i want to play has been a free epic game lately. very excited that a character ive been waiting for is dropping in genshin on…uhhhhh…tomorrow? she has sunglasses. she has a gunbrella. she can call in heavy cannon bombardment. she’s just so cute

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making

one of the purposes of the tuesdaypost is to remind myself to expand the selection of things i do and my brain partially feels like sludge bc of the time of year and partially bc i haven’t fucking done anything more complicated than scrambled eggs or cleaning things in like two weeks

[knuckles-bloody-for-me]

What is life like in Melbourne? I’m looking into moving there from the UK and would love some insights and whatever else from people who live and work there 💕

Well you'll find the weather familiar that's for sure. In winter I'd say we're about the same, except our sunset at the earliest was about 5:25 this year. In summer it CAN get hot, it's gotten to 40C before but mostly it's in the low 30s or high 20s.

The central area of the city is kind of dead unless you work there. There's a few big shops, similar to Nordstrom I think??? But the cafe scene in there is slim pickings. Lots of really really cool bars these days though, and most have food and nonalc options! Some absolutely gorgeous parks dotted throughout the city, and if you can get out into the countryside it's stunning in the Yarra Valley,the great Ocean road, Bright and Beechworth, Gippsland etc. Some have trains, others have to be driven to. Be warned our public transport is about 20 years behind Europe (our fastest trains are 160kmh)(I literally work for a train manufacturer so this is legit)

It gets really cool in the suburbs, you'll find local cafes all over, some great pubs and restaurants etc. Some have really vibrant communities and markets that are great, like the south melbourne market, the prahran market, Fitzroy and Brunswick are must see Melbourne suburbs and easily accessible by tram. Be aware we don't have the same grandeur as London, but I still really like it. We have beaches too and some of them are even nice lol.

The east side tends to be more expensive but has better public transport (trans and trams), while the west is a bit cheaper but underserviced (you'd be relying on buses more). Driving in some areas can suck massively, especially the central part of the city (you'd avoid driving in central London the same way).

People say Melbourne is Australia's most European city and im inclined to agree, so if that means anything to you great! We have fantastic food and coffee, and I truly don't think it's just because I live here but the people are nicer than in syndey. That's not to say everyone will smile and wave at you but if you needed help or directions most people would stop and chat, where in Sydney everyone seems to rush around more and have a bit less time.

Something you might find very different to the UK is a culture of not seeing people as much. I think in the UK you'll frequently see people for dinner through the week and its normal (I think??) Whereas here not so much. We're mostly a weekend bunch, but I'm trying to do more weeknight easy meet ups.

@idsb is another great person to ask about living in Melbourne (and I think she needs to come back 🤧)

Sydney feels like a bigger city, but Melbourne population just overtook it. Brisbane is further north on the east coast and is locally called Brisvegas. I have never spent much time there because in summer it's humid as fuck and I can't stand that and the heat.

Adelaide is small, Hobart is gorgeous and only a short flight from Melbourne, but tiny. Perth people are loving these days but I've only been once so gonna need someone else to pitch in there! Same with Darwin :)

I would love for you to tell me more about living in the UK because IM considering moving THERE!

[momo-de-avis]

So I realized that if I want to search for my great grandparents at Prazeres I need to go there

You know what means

Tram 28 fucking shoot me in the nards