#wanted to add a bit of context to the expression--

[boatswainscall]

SPOILERS FOR TECHROT ENCORE AHEAD, CONCERNING ON-LYNE

DE with On-Lyne could have very easily gone the stereotypical route of "beloved boyband that advertises brotherhood but secretly all hate each other's guts" but on brand with their overarching themes of love and family went in the complete opposite direction. Like the Coda are clones, but they parrot the boys' real thoughts and feelings. And despite the imperfection of that cloning their fierce bond of brotherhood endures.

For one, all of them are so so protective of Packet and it makes me want to cry. This bit from Harddrive especially just has me dreading how horrible the media was to all of them but him especially as he is the youngest.

Packet also has a line during his final confrontation talking about the panic attacks he suffers, which I can only assume is a result of constantly being scrutinized by media outlets and their label. (edit: ITS DJ-ROM THAT SAYS THIS NOT DRILLBIT) has a line during his final confrontation which I think is related to that where he's clearly in the context of an interview and is defensive about questions regarding their personal lives, and even volunteers to answer any of those questions in the others' place.

And while they are all especially protective of Packet, they look out for each other just as much. Packet himself has lines talking about how happy he is that Harddrive punched someone out for making fun of him and another expressing just how worried he is about Zeke and the amount of pressure he is under as the band's leader.

Drillbit similarly talks about how much respect he has not just for Zeke but for DJ-Rom and how much hard work he puts into keeping things running well with the band - how while Zeke is the charismatic public face of the band - Rom, while quiet, is the true brains behind them maneuvering their predatory label's demands.

And then DJ-Rom himself talks about his own bitterness about record labels and how exploitative they are of young talent. He also mentions his familiarity with the industry, and how he uses that knowledge to keep the boys safe from predatory behavior within their label.

Which in hindsight adds more terrible context to why their manager decided to turn to the Technocyte Coda (aka Generative AI) to fully clone the band so they could keep making music with their likeness but stop paying them. DJ-Rom was clearly such a persistent and stubborn thorn in their side in regards to blocking their attempts at shorting the boys what they were owed that their manager resorted to cutting the human element out entirely.

Rom also during my confrontation with him confesses to the fact that he knows how annoying and shallow people view pop music and them by extension, but how it's shallow in itself to see pop music as not "real music/art" and that what he and the boys do has just as much value for all the work they put into it. Which is frankly a message that a lot of us should take to heart, (myself included frankly).

As always DE has delivered on the lore and now that I've converted one of each of the boys I can't wait to resume my farming of them to hear more of it.

[airplanelanding]

r/relationship_advice

u/smashedcucumbers

My (26M) Roommate (28M) kissed me and I don't know what to do now.

So, for context, my roommate (28M) and I (26M) are both straight men. For privacy, I will call him RM, for roommate. Onto the background.

So, RM is an author — or, attempts to be one. He has a lot of potential but squanders it all on writing shitty porn for money. I have read, and still do read, his work. The skill is present, but he doesn't lean into it.

I am very rich. I don't understand what it's like to not have money or worry where my next meal will come from, and after a lot of introspection and discussion with him, I acknowledge this privilege. Monetarily, and familially, I am very lucky. This isn't to brag, or to say I have no struggles of my own (believe me, I do), but purely to add context.

I offered to pay his bills, etc., so he could write what he wanted but he refused most help because he didn't want to be "just some sugar baby" (???) — in the end, he only moved into my apartment and let me cover the rent.

We have been living together for 2.5 years now.

With the background out of the way, I'll get into why I actually made this post, now.

Last night, RM and I were having another argument over his writing. Since moving in, he has let me begun editing & beta reading his work. I have a formal degree in literature and editing, but don't do it for work. Needless to say, I know what I'm doing.

We argue a lot over his writing. Something about last night's fight was different, though. It was more tense than usual. Ever since the power went out last week — during which we had to share my bed for warmth — there has been a strange energy between us, and I guess it all bubbled over during this fight.

I don't even really remember the details. It was about a scene in which the tension between the protag of his novel and his latest love interest snapped and they fell into a passionate night. I expressed how unnatural it felt in context with the rest of the chapter, and how sudden, and that there needed to be more proper build-up. RM disagreed. I then pointed out the kissing itself and how unrealistic it was. We went back and forth like this a bit, egging each other on and arguing.

At one point, he said something along the lines of, "like you could do better," and I snapped back that maybe I could. He laughed and said he'd like to see my try and, without thinking — in the heat of the moment — said fine, go ahead. The silence was...deafening I tried to backpedal immediately when I realized what I said — again we are both straight men. I don't even know why my head went there, let alone why I said it.

After that, it gets fuzzy. All I remember is one second I was stumbling over my words trying to backpedal, the next we were on the couch and I was in his lap. I came back to my senses when he tried to take my shirt off and, as ashamed as I am to admit it, I've been hiding at my older brother's house since.

I don't want to go back home while my head is still such a mess, but I think my brother & his husband are starting to get sick of my intrusion.

Reddit, what do I do? He hasn't tried to contact me all day, or at all since I fled last night. I've never questioned my sexuality before, but now I don't know what to think. I'm straight, but...I didn't hate it?

I'm really at a loss.

⬆ 7.4k | ⇩ 💬 926 🏅 ➥ 5.8k

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🔰 AutoModerator MOD • 7 hrs • Welcome to r/relationshi...

u/streetcat 6hrs

Ever since the power went out last week — during which we had to share my bed for warmth — there has been a strange energy between us

bro...you cannot be serious.

••• ⤶ ⬆ 1.2k ⇩

u/helpful-idiot 6hrs 🎂

Plain and simple, you need to talk to him. This isn't something that will just go away if you hide long enough. This needs real communication.

••• ⤶ ⬆ 3.2k ⇩

u/endoftheline 6 hrs

we are both straight men

Are you sure about that? Genuinely. Has he ever told you he's straight? Brought home girls? Anything concrete?

he hasn't tried to contact me

It's likely he's just as panicked as you are, OP. You seem like close friends and, sexuality aside, this complicates that friendship.

what do I do?

1. Breathe.

2. Thank your brother and BIL for their hospitality.

3. Go home and talk to your friend.

Regardless of the outcome, you both deserve an honest conversation with all your cards on the table. Especially if he's having an identity crisis of his own. Have some faith in your friendship and work through this together.

edit: spelling

••• ⤶ ⬆ 6.7k ⇩

u/smashedcucumbers OP • 5hrs

Thank you.

••• ⤶ ⬆ 346 ⇩

u/smashedcucumbers OP • 4hrs

I'm going to talk to him. I might update properly later. Thank you all for the responses.

••• ⤶ ⬆ 3.9k ⇩

[thydungeongal]

That encounter joke Anon is wrong. Every 5e GM I've ever met went the route of "one fight per day oh my boss is already dead accutally he has 50 more hitpoints and now here's 2 more minions now the fight is properly exciting and dramatic" and the lack of a poker face meant we all knew.

How do you feel about that kind of rewriting, anyway?

For context, none of the GMs ever admitted to this on the LFG posts, or the pitches, etc.

I'm not opposed to it on principle. Ultimately I do think it's a bit like "oh so you're shifting the goalposts when it seems like the party is winning the encounter more easily than you think they should have," but ultimately that's just a maladaptive response to a different issue. Which is, once again, people trying to run D&D as a game it very much is not.

D&D isn't a game of epic bossfights where characters snatch victory from the jaws of defeat after an extended combat encounter. It can produce such encounters but they will usually emerge incidentally, not naturally. D&D is ultimately a game of attrition, of managing character resources through the course of an extended period, and even though D&D 5e's actual expectations of what an adventuring day is supposed to look like are whack D&D 5e does support a type of gameplay that relies on managing resources over an adventuring day much better than it does "a single epic setpiece encounter per day."

Because ultimately D&D is at its best when it's about weaponized player agency and system mastery, and in modern D&D this sometimes manifests as "the party knew they were going up against a lich so utilizing everything they know about liches they kicked that guy's ass in two turns." Now that would be really anticlimactic if the GM had set that encounter up as narrative culmination of a campaign that had been leading up to this moment for two years. But if you take it as "just one more encounter in the story of a bunch of assholes trying to grow stronger and more epic" then it's just a moment of those characters getting to flex for a moment.

Now of course adjusting the stats of a monster on the fly is sort of a problem in that it goes against the game and thus undermines player expression within the game. When the group pulls off a cool trick that immediately deals a million points of damage to the dragon's dick and you say "oh actually the dragon had two million hit points" then you're ultimately undermining player expression. I don't think this makes someone a bad GM because the motivation behind it is usually to provide a more entertaining experience for the group, but it is a sign of a GM fighting against the system and not knowing what it does, and they and their group would probably be better served by another game. And given that players won't necessarily know that happened it maintains the illusion that the game does produce that type of encounter.

My advice? As a GM, be honest: "hey, I didn't think you all would one-shot that boss. Are you okay if we add a bit more HP to that thang?" And if this is a consistent issue of the game not producing the type of experience the group wants they should ultimately look for a different game.

[maplebellsmods]

Expanded Storytelling Relationship Bits Mod: 2

Ok..more storytelling and relationship options for your sims! 

(Really tried my best to push this out before the end of Jan) 😮‍💨

If you want more info about the mod check this page out: Expanded Storytelling Relationship Bits Mod 

This time around created more relationship bits. Here they are

I wanted to try something new this time, which is why it took me so much time. I'll get into it later.

But there are a few new things I have added and changed from the previous one. First off, there are more interactions available: social interactions, phone interactions, and rabbit hole interactions.

Each one of these interactions corresponds to a specific relationship bit.

Healing Touch: 'Plan Relaxing Activities Together,' 'Offer Comfort through Hugs and Physical Touch.'

Wisdom Seekers: 'Ask Questions about the Universe.'

Unbreakable Connection: 'Celebrate Anniversary of Enduring Connection,' 'Promise Everlasting Friendship' (Only available pre-promise).

I do need to note that, just like the other mod, many of these are cosmetic and don't have a full effect yet. (Emphasis on 'yet,' as I will slowly but surely make these more functional.)

If your Sims have the Wisdom Seeker, Tech-Savvy Partners, or Night Owl Companions relationship bits, some interactions will unlock on the phone:

Wisdom Seeker: Study Together at the Library 

Tech-Savvy Partners: Send Tech News 

Night Owl Companions: Night Time Activities Menu 

(Regarding nighttime activities, I haven't found a workaround for this issue yet. However, here's a temporary solution: When selecting an activity for the two Sims who have the rabbit, choose the Sim you want to go with first, and then select yourself again using the same option. I'm not sure why this happens, but it can be a bit inconvenient. I'll work on making the process more streamlined in the future, but for now, this is how you can get them to go to the same activity.)

The new feature I've been working on, which I'm quite excited about, involves social interactions. I've always felt that many social interactions lacked depth and context. So, what I'm currently working on is creating social interactions to fill that gap

One of these interactions is 'Provide Emotional Support,' which is available for Sims with the 'Healing Touch' relationship.

In this interaction, your Sim will be presented with several options when they are feeling sad. Your Sim can choose from these options to express why they are feeling sad. Once they make a selection, the other Sim will ask for more context, leading to the exchange of contextual advice and reassurance.

I've also developed another social interaction, 'Try to Confess Feelings,' which is available for Sims experiencing 'Unrequited Love.

Attempting to confess your feelings will lead to various outcomes depending on the option you choose. In this interaction, the Sim who hears the confession will have several response options available.

The choice made by the listening Sim will have an impact on their relationship, both romantically and platonically. Some response options may harm the relationship more than others.

The way the Sim responds through the animation doesn't affect the outcome. I've designed it this way to leave the choice entirely in the player's hands. However, unless both Sims are in a flirty mood and have a high friendship level, the Sim who hears the confession will always use the rejection animation. Nevertheless, this animation choice doesn't alter the outcome.

The social interaction 'Forbid Relationship With' can be used either before or after designating two Sims as star-crossed lovers. Some of the options will even add the 'star-crossed lovers' relationship bit to the two Sims (if they didn't have it), while others will remove it (if they did have it).

The interaction can be found under the Mean -- Arguments Pie Menu Category. Only a parent, grandparent, uncle, or caregiver can trigger the interaction. 

Depending on the chosen options, the relationship can either suffer a negative or experience a positive impact. While all of the options will influence the relationship, certain responses will have a significantly greater effect on it than others.

These are all the main points! I hope you all enjoy this new feature because I'm eager to create more! There will be additional interactions and other things I'll be adding to this mod. I'm constantly learning new things, and it's truly enjoyable to implement them!

Download Here

Public Feb 24

[ooooo-mcyt]

Because Double Life has been so mythologized in fandom over the past few years and a lot of us don't fully remember all the details of what actually happened between Scott and Pearl, or didn't watch their povs and only know about what happened through incomplete/vague fandom osmosis, I spent all of today binge watching both Scott and Pearl's Double Life seasons and took notes on the full history of the relationship between Scott and Pearl in Double Life and all of their major interactions.

This is going to be a really really long post since I'm summarizing almost every relevant mention of or interaction between these two in either perspective for the entire series, so I'm leaving all of this under a cut:

I will be trying to keep my points in chronological order, though it's sometimes hard to sync up events between two povs, so forgive me if anything is slightly out of order.

EPISODE ONE:

For the early parts of both of their episodes, neither Scott nor Pearl really engage with the idea of their soulmates much at all. they both express wanting to stay safe for their soulmate's sake and apologize when they take damage, but generally don't seem to have soulmates on the mind all that much, both doing their own thing. Pearl largely continues this for her entire episode up until actually finding Scott at the end, so my episode one notes are mostly Scott notes with occasional supplemental notes to add context from Pearl's pov for what's going on with her at any given time.

Scott's episode, Pearl takes 2.5 hearts of damage, which seems to freak Scott out a bit. "Oh god, we just took three hearts of damage, please stop that! I don't know what you're doing, but undo it". This is seemingly the first time Pearl takes significant damage, and Scott doesn't seem to feel especially comfortable with it.

Scott meets up with Cleo for the first time, they almost immediately piece together that Martyn and Pearl have to be their soulmates because every other pairing had already found each other.

Pearl and Martyn get the achievement for going into the deep dark in chat. Scott expresses concern over their soulmates recklessness, and Cleo suggests "We should form an alliance against them". They don't immediately commit to the idea and partially treat it as a joke. (supplemental note: that pearl and martyn didn't actually go into the deep dark, and that pearl specifically refuses because she doesn't want to get her soulmate killed, though obviously scott and cleo had no way of knowing this)

After leaving a conversation with Jimmy and Tango, Scott says; "Honestly, Cleo, do we need soulmates? What if we just become soulmates? We just go against the grain? Everyone else is with their soulmates and we're just like 'no, this is us'?" which is approached much less jokingly.

Scott and Cleo start planning to build homes together around a ravine, making plans as a duo and largely not thinking about their soulmates or incorporating them into the plans.

Pearl takes very minimal damage. Scott voices this, "Oww, whoever my soulmate is just took damage", to which Cleo responds "Of course they did" with a note of bitterness that Scott doesn't seem to disagree with. Shortly after Martyn takes damage too, which concerns Scott briefly before he remembers their soulmate. None of this is major, but it establishes a precedent that, at this point, their soulmates are solidly established a mostly faceless source of anxiety and frustration in their minds.

Scott turns to the camera and says; "Guys, sometimes you need to take life into your own hands, whether that's through work, or friends, or love, and you find your own soulmates, and you make them friends, and you live in really cute houses across from each other"

Cleo rushes to Scott and yells that Martyn and Pearl have gone into the nether. Scott replies "It's only a matter of time before one of us explodes", and Cleo adds an outraged "How dare they?!". Scott and Cleo perceive this as incredibly reckless and it seems to further their view of their soulmates as a source of anxiety and frustration rather than teammates, as well as the idea that their soulmates don't care about them enough to stay out of danger.

Martyn and Pearl are taking fire damage. Scott yells "Oh god, oh god, oh god, oh god", immediately running to Cleo and throwing them food. "What the heck?!" Cleo laughs with immense anxiety, to which Scott, with mild frustration, notes "They've gone into a fortress for some reason", and Cleo replies with another mildly bitter "Of course they have". (supplemental note: entering the fortress was Martyn's idea, and Pearl repeatedly expressed immense doubts about it; "I don't like any part of this, this is why I didn't want to come in here", though she does still go along with going through the fortress in the end, even knowing- as she comments on- how much it was probably panicking her soulmate.)

Pearl starts taking fire damage, taking half of their health, and then takes another heart or two of damage a few moments later. This upsets Scott: "Ow, ow, ow, ow- whoevers taking fire damage please stop- ow, ow- stop it!"

Scott and Cleo talk to Jimmy, who is weirdly aggressive about them living together despite not being real soulmates. Cleo and Scott inform Jimmy that their soulmates are in the nether and that they don't know who is who yet, before Scott adds; "We have been on the surface the entire time, we have met every single other person, we have put ourselves out there, we made ourselves vulnerable, AND THEY DIDN'T SHOW UP!"

All four members of the Divorce Quartet finally meet up. Martyn tries to put on a game to find their soulmates, but they find out who their soulmates are very quickly. Then the Argument starts. Scott begins with, "This is what happens when you two don't come onto the surface or look for anyone, we meet every other person who's soulbound and we kinda put the dots together. So you know what? Me and Cleo are actually soulbound to ourselves, we've decided. We put ourselves out there all day, we were ready to meet people, we were vulnerable, and then you two were just off together in the nether doing your own thing. And you kept BURNING!". Pearl counters that Scott has taken damage too, but Scott points out that he hasn't taken nearly as much as Pearl, which she concedes, saying "I know". Pearl doesn't seem to want to fight, asking "What are we doing?", but Cleo and Martyn are getting Violent in their own argument and Cleo decides she and Scott are going to leave, which Scott agrees to. Pearl is upset, asking "Are we not going to gaslight gatekeep girlboss?" but Scott expresses feeling like Pearl abandoned him. Pearl blames Martyn, explaining that "I was just following Martyn", but Martyn announces that Pearl wasn't unreluctant and Cleo snaps that Pearl knew her soulmate was out there and chose to go with Martyn to the nether anyways. Scott and Cleo storm off.

After Scott leaves, Pearl seems devastated. "Everybody else is with their soulbounds and ours think we've abandoned them or something…I feel like my heart's kinda broken, I'm not gonna lie". And then Martyn, to add insult to injury, tells Pearl "I blame you for this" and leaves her too. "Well. Okay. That's..that's my season." Pearl says, sounding miserable, before closing her episode.

EPISODE TWO:

Pearl opens the episode by talking again about how upset she is about the previous episode. "My heart is broken, I got broken up with like two or three times last session, I don't remember, but you know what? I'm a little bit battered, I'm a little bit torn, and I'm a little bit sad."

Scott and Cleo decide to axe crit each other to scare their soulmates. The idea was that as long as their health is high they'll regen quickly enough that it won't do any real harm but that it will scare their soulmates, which Cleo and Scott see as equivalent to what Martyn and Pearl put them through in the previous episode. (obviously pearl has no idea this was done on purpose and from her perspective brushes it off as scott accidentally taking damage)

Pearl seems to have changed her mind about accepting any blame for taking damage in the previous episode, saying "I was good the whole time, we got pork chops, I was healing, I even apologized for taking damage! I don't feel so bad anymore! I think today I'm not going to be as careful!". While she doesn't outright say it, Pearl seems to be implying that she plans to take damage to punish Scott, which is confirmed for me as Pearl zooms in on herself and says in a purposefully 'creepy' tone "This is Pearl now. You've done this, Scott. This is what happens when you don't want to be on the side of me! You know I looked after you last season, you know I could do it this season, but you didn't trust in me! And now this is the state that we're in". So Scott and Pearl have both independently, at almost the exact same time, without being aware the other is also doing this, decided to hurt themselves on purpose to hurt the other.

Scar asks Pearl for a bucket, and she happily agrees to give it to him for free "If you help me mess with Scott". Shortly after, they use a bucket of powdered snow to "torture" their soulmates. Pearl "tortures" (as she describes it) Scott for a little bit over a minute before Scott, on his end, has the realization that this is intentional damage and throws himself out of a tree, taking a chunk of damage to scare Pearl so she'll stop hurting him. This successfully freaks Pearl out and she stops when Scott takes significant enough damage, since she doesn't want them to die, but she fully plans to do it again later on.

BigB tries to 'console' Scott by 'reassuring' him that there's "still hope" for Scott to be with his real soulmate, to which Scott snaps "I like Cleo. I don't need a soulmate, I pick my own destiny!"

Cleo axe crits Scott again to get back at Pearl for the powdered snow.

Scar comes by to offer Scott some powdered snow, so Scott stands in it, knowing Pearl did the same thing earlier. Once Pearl figures out what's going on, she decides to stand in powdered snow again as well, getting revenge for his revenge. When Scott sees Pearl in the treeline, he goes to talk to her. Pearl yells at Scott that her heart is broken because he abandoned her, to which Scott bitterly replies that "Now you know how it feels!", though Scott does stop, calm down, and give her his condolences when he finds out Pearl's dog died. They then proceed to have a pretty calm conversation for a minute until they start arguing over how much damage the other had been taking that episode, at which point they do both admit to hurting the other on purpose. Pearl threatens to stand in powdered snow again, and Scott challenges her to put it down, so they both stand in powdered snow together. They then start talking about the previous session. Scott reminds Pearl how much fire damage she took, but Pearl insists she had it handled and that Scott should have trusted her, to which Scott points out that he didn't even know which of Pearl and Martyn were his soulmate until the end of the episode, so he couldn't have known to just 'trust her'. Pearl snaps that Scott could have trusted her AFTER finding out they were soulmates, but Scott says that he and Cleo already bonded and formed a partnership, to which Pearl points out Scott can form bonds with more people, and Scott replies surprisingly positively, saying it'll take time instead of shutting that down outright.

Scott accidentally misspeaks when referring to his and Cleo's base, accidentally calling it his and Pearl's base instead, to which Pearl decides to move in since Scott 'said' it was hers. Pearl runs across the clearing to Scott's base while Scott objects. Scott tells Cleo that Pearl's forcibly trying to move in, and Cleo threatens Pearl. Pearl replies that "Scott said it's our base, so he's already kicked you out" and refuses to listen when Scott insists he obviously meant it's his base with Cleo. Scott calls Pearl a crazy ex and Pearl snaps that she never wanted to be Scott's soulmate, to which Scott asks why she's making a big deal of it, and Pearl responds that it's fun to bother him. Pearl then leaves and dejectedly comments on how they don't want her. Ren says he has something for Pearl, but Pearl mistakes the message as being from Scott, so she heads back to Scott's base. Scott calls her obsessive and points her in the direction of Ren's base instead, then proceeding to go vent to Joel, Scar, and Martyn about everything that had happened with Pearl in the episode.

Pearl stands in powdered snow again while explaining to Ren that she likes to hurt Scott sometimes. Pearl also tells Ren she'd happily kill Scott if Ren wants her to if Ren gives her a dog first.

After getting Tilly back and recovering from her earlier grief, Pearl decides that she was overreacting and "got a little bit crazy", and that she needs to calm down. Pearl expresses having mixed feelings. First she says Scott deserved it, so she "doesn't feel bad", but then she quickly acknowledges that okay, yeah, she does feel bad, and that she feels like she might have been lashing out because of both exhaustion and the grief of losing Tilly.

Joel comes to Pearl and says he's heard she's been intimating Scott, to which Pearl immediately confirms that she has been intimidating Scott and stands in powdered snow to illustrate.

EPISODE THREE:

Pearl makes a side comment about how she "Maybe wants to see Scott die"

Scott and Cleo do their daily axe crits

While in the deep dark risking their lives, Pearl acknowledges that she doesn't want to kill Scott, though she amends that to "Well, I do, but I don't". Multiple times while in the deep dark, Pearl mentions how she's sure she's scaring Scott, and always makes a point of saying she isn't sorry, but then once she makes it out a live she implies she kept herself safe for Scott's sake to some degree; "You know I care enough, Scott!"

Scott and Cleo run into Pearl. They let Pearl know that Scar and Grian were framing her by claiming Pearl is the one with the sugarcane on the server and are very amicable, though Pearl does make a jab about how Cleo and Scott don't want to be her friends.

Scott is attacked by mobs at night and Pearl finds him. She immediately makes a jab about how he's taking too much damage and asks if he doesn't value their lives. Scott does acknowledge that he should have waited until day, and Pearl helps protect him from the mobs. Scott comments that Pearl has one up on Martyn as far as being a good soulmate goes because Martyn pushed Cleo off a cliff, and Pearl laughs that at least she's trying to protect her soulmate. Pearl jokingly threatens to kill Cleo, Scott tells her she has issues, and Pearl points out that, of course she has issues, everyone's abandoned her. Scott pauses the conversation specifically to tell Pearl that her tower is so pretty, which surprises Pearl, but Scott jokes that he can be nice when she's not unhinged. Pearl replies that it doesn't matter if she's not unhinged, she tried being nice to Ren and BigB and they still cast her out. Overall the interaction was largely amicable despite the occasional jabs.

Pearl decides she's going to live on the bridge between Scott and Cleo's bases. They come and object to Pearl building on their bridge, but Pearl just tauntingly asks if she's "getting between them". Scott takes the disc from Pearl's jukebox and Pearl attacks Scott, hitting him multiple times with her axe and saying she doesn't care if they die, at which point Cleo steps in and threatens Tilly. Pearl pushes Scott off the bridge and then she's pushed off after him. Cleo burns Pearl's bridge house while Pearl's away so Pearl gives up on building there.

EPISODE FOUR:

Cleo lets Scott know that they gave Pearl permission to move in and live on their bridge, which Scott seems happy enough to agree with, suggesting Pearl could maybe build something hanging under the bridge. They also don't do the axe crit this episode.

When Scar makes a comment about his soulmate baking bread for someone else, Pearl sympathizes, saying her soulmate is doing the same thing.

Pearl signs up for Grian's powdered snow game and, when the prize pool turned out to be awful, Pearl comments that "The real reward here is torturing Scott, I'm happy with that". While competing against Cleo to see who can stay in the powdered snow the longest, Pearl announces "Come on Scott, I believe in you!" before backtracking and saying she doesn't actually believe in him (pearl does this often where she will instinctively speak positively of scott- worrying about their shared health for his sake, expressing regret for hurting him, saying she believes in him- and then backtrack). Meanwhile Scott and Martyn are back at Scott's base and, when they both start taking damage, immediately decide to also stand in powdered snow together because they think Pearl and Cleo are doing it to hurt them and want to hurt them back. So the entire divorce quartet were just standing in powdered snow at the same time.

Pearl walks right up to Scott, towers up a bunch, and jumps off the ledge, bringing them down to half a heart. Scott tried to put down water but was too slow. Pearl then encouraged Grian to hook her with his fishing rod and pull her up the tower with it, causing Scott to panic, repeatedly yelling "I hate it here I hate it here I hate it here" and telling Grian not to do it. The first time Grian pulls Pearl up, she loses four hearts. Scott yells at Grian to stop again and threatens to shoot him, but eventually gives up and says he's accepted his fate and won't watch anymore, to which Pearl gleefully replies "You're gonna die, Scott!". They hook people in a chain, and this time Pearl loses seven hearts on the fall. Pearl incorrectly tells the others she only lost five hearts, and while Scott loudly corrects her, the others don't seem to pay that much mind and Etho joins the chain. Pearl goes down to three and a half hearts and Joel and Etho both die, at which point Pearl steals Joel and Etho's stuff and refuses to give them back. She tries to give it back last minute, but Joel and Etho kill her, leading to Pearl and Scott's first death.

Immediately after they both die and Scott goes back to his home, Pearl stands in some powdered snow, and then has Bdubs hit her with an axe repeatedly, two normal hits and one crit. Scott is very upset by this and comments that when he gets to red he'll just off himself.

EPISODE FIVE:

Scott and Cleo do their axe crits.

Upon finding out a red alliance is forming, Scott and Cleo dejectedly decide they have to team up with Martyn and Pearl. Scott, Cleo, and Martyn head to Pearl's tower, and as soon as they get to the top, Scott compliments Pearl on how pretty it is, and then they suggest a team up to deal with the newly formed red army. Pearl is standoffish initially, instinctively reading insults into Martyn's words and questioning how she can trust them, especially Martyn (who she saw sneaking around her base earlier). Martyn and Pearl start to argue about her base setup, but Scott cuts in to praise how Pearl's base is the most defensible location on the server which seems to ease tensions. The four fall into an amicable enough teamup and start planning together. They largely work seamlessly together, though there is the occasional jab from Pearl specifically, who makes a point of putting audible air quotes around calling the others her 'friends' and telling Ren "You can shoot the other guys, I don't mind". But other than the occasional jab, there are a lot of fun team shenanigans and they're very functional.

Pearl splits up from the group to go back to her tower, and as soon as she gets home, Scar and Grian (currently the most wanted people on the server) invite themselves in and seek protection from her. Scar offers Pearl a cactus and she stands on it, taking damage and freaking Scott off, who is briefly afraid they'll die until Pearl stops. Scott makes his way back to the tower and is immediately upset; "Are you harboring refugees, Pearl?! We can't have them here! You're putting a target on our back!". Grian keeps standing in the windows even with the reds nearby and Scott gets incredibly anxious about it, yelling at Grian to stay away from the windows, and scolding Pearl to put her armor on, seeming very on edge. The two bicker a bit, especially when Scott finds out the reason they took so much damage is because she was purposefully standing on cactus. They get back to being a relatively functional team once Grian and Scar leave, though.

Scott and Pearl breed their dogs together and it's a very amicable interaction once again. Pearl coos over the puppy and then they make some plans together without arguing. Pearl considers pushing Scott off the tower (harmlessly) as a joke but doesn't as Scott heads out again.

Scott and Pearl both attend the 'funeral' for Jimmy and Tango and while they don't have many direct interactions, they do have a very friendly group interaction, laughing together with the rest of the group without any real tension or jabs. Scott also once again comments on how good Pearl's base is, pointing out that she's the only one on the server who didn't make a flammable base.

When Cleo asks if they should care about the Relation Ship burning down, Pearl replies "Of course not, that's not in our alliance". Scott and Cleo both take note of this, and Scott asks "What is our alliance?" with Cleo almost simultaneously asking "we're an alliance now?". Pearl immediately responds defensively, interpreting their reactions as rejection. She immediately replies that they're not an alliance and adds "Okay I guess I don't have any friends then! Bye!" and walking away. Scott and Cleo follow her and say they do have an alliance but they just also thought Pearl had other alliances, at which point she insists she does have other alliances and decides to leave Scott and Cleo as they go to deal with their burning bases.

Scott and Cleo come by Pearl's tower again later shortly and immediately help her fix up the damage done by a trap that had detonated inside, and they have another mostly friendly casual conversation catching each other up on what happened while they were split up before the episode ends.

EPISODE SIX:

In the intro of Pearl's episode, she seems surprised but not necessarily unhappy with her current alliance; "Last episode we left off in this tower right here in an alliance with Martyn, Cleo, and Scott- hm. Yes, that happened."

Scott and Pearl have a cute little interaction where Scott bursts into the tower and cheerfully yells "Boo!" to which Pearl exaggeratedly replies "So scary! Oh my gosh!" to humor him and they both giggle. Scott also briefly coos over how cute Tilly and her babies are, which Pearl is more than happy to join in with. Cleo asks whose gonna die first and Pearl immediately replies "I'm gonna die first, sorry, Scott, no Cleo death" and Scott made a comment about how that would be two of their lives Pearl loses. Pearl responds with an indignant "Hey!" and points out that Scott could die first, but Scott replies that he's not the one who aggravates people, and Pearl grumbles "Yeah, whatever". Despite the brief jabs, Pearl doesn't seem too offended, and they're all getting along rather well and they make a plan to snoop into the red army's business.

During the red life meeting, Pearl tells the red names that they can kill Scott and she'll be fine with it as long as they don't do it through her, though Pearl isn't forthcoming at all when pressed for information about where Scott actually is and doesn't agree to lead him into a trap when asked.

Once the group meets back up they're very friendly again. They all laugh together as they recount what happened while they were split up, and then the red names attack. Joel yells at Scott for burning the ship, but Pearl actually jumps in to shoot back with "Rightfully so from the sound of it! Well deserved! Go Scott!". Scott and Pearl run toward the box and giggle about how it looks, and then Scott stops and calls for Pearl when she lags behind. Scott is surprisingly focused on where Pearl is and whether she's in active danger, making sure she has resources and knows the plan and pouring water for her to climb, waiting for her to get up before moving on.

Pearl asks Scott if he has a secret base, and he tells her yes honestly without hesitation. They agree to go to the bunker recoup for the time being. Pearl accidentally pushes Scott down the ladder but instead of it causing an argument Scott just laughs and tells Pearl about how he caught himself on the ladder. Scott feeds Pearl's dogs to heal them once they're settled in the bunker, and Pearl is thrilled.

There's a surprising lack of arguments. They come up with a plan easily and don't bicker about it. At one point Pearl accidentally loudly blows a goat horn while they're trying to be sneaky and instead of anyone scolding her or being bitter about it Scott just urgently tells her to come over to where the rest of them were. Pearl sets off a shrieker while they're in the deep dark and while Scott snaps "Pearl!" it sounds playful and they both laugh before going back to work.

Scott and Pearl separate from the others and end up having a Talk. Pearl opens with "You know what Scott? It might have been hard to forgive you at the start of the season for just abandoning me like that, but you know what? You're a pretty good partner, you know?" to which Scott replies, "…Thank you…I mean, we tested it last time and it worked well, it was just, you hurt my feelings when you went away with Martyn and then me and Cleo looked for you for ages and then we couldn't find you and I was sad", and Pearl counters with "How about the reverse? You ran off with Cleo from my perspective, we both just paired up with whoever was nearby." and Scott replies that "Well we ran into everyone else, we were actually looking for our soulmates." at which point they run back into Cleo and Martyn and the conversation dies before they can really sort through things (also there's something to be said for the conversation starting with accusatory language that's not conducive to a productive talk, but i digress). They at least managed to talk about it calmly without blowing up.

Martyn and Scott are being silly and Pearl and Cleo are giggling. Pearl playfully bemoans "This is who we're teamed with". Notable both for the mundanely positive interaction and for the casual confident acknowledgement of them as a team.

Pearl wants to go check her tower to see what's left in it after the red names attack, and Scott actually volunteers to go with her, asking if Cleo's willing to stay with Martyn while he and Pearl check the tower. Scott and Pearl have another very successful adventure together where they don't argue at all or even make any bitter jabs, just working together well and laughing together as they mess with the red names. While chasing them Joel asks if they've made up and they both very unconvincingly reply "Noo" in a tone that is very much an implied yes. Eventually they get split up and Scott is killed. Pearl gladly declares that they're even now, and Scott doesn't complain.

Scott and Pearl head back to the bunker, at which point..Pearl points out that the other red names don't seem to like Scott much. "They weren't going after me that entire time, I just feel like..maybe I should take the bigger stance here, y'know? I mean you're a great partner and all, but.." at which point Scott realizes and immediately, deeply upset, asks "Are you gonna ditch me after this?!" and Pearl, well.."Scott, come on, look how big that group is! It's just..look, don't make me feel bad, okay? It's my time to ditch you after the first episode, think of it as karma!" which launches another argument about the first episode, about how from Scott's perspective, Pearl was the one who abandoned him first by not being there for the first episode, so from his perspective, this is all full circle! Pearl points out that they did try to find their soulmate with the little minigame, but Scott shoots back that that was AFTER everyone else was already "loved and doved up" and HAD their soulmates! Pearl switches to arguing that Martyn would have died without her- and Cleo too for that matter!- so really Scott should be appreciative of her for saving Cleo. Scott just completely stops and dully replies "Right." before adding "Lets get out of here.", though Pearl immediately reminds him there's no "lets" about it. As they leave, Pearl switches to arguing that she's trying to keep them BOTH alive in a way by joining the bigger group and asks why Scott would go back to the yellows, to which Scott replies, sounding a bit pained, that he can't betray Cleo. Pearl tells Scott to just think of Pearl joining the bigger group as a "strategic advantage" and Scott is silent for a LONG moment before very quietly agreeing. Before they split up, Scott says "The moments we got to spend together were nice while they lasted", and Pearl returns the sentiment, and then they come up with "Tilly death do us part" as their goodbye for the scene.

After Pearl's alliance with the red group fell through, Pearl went back to Scott, Martyn, and Cleo and is accepted back immediately, the group going right back to planning together like nothing happened, and they hunt Impulse and Bdubs together without much more discussion.

And then the final scene in the season. Scott and Pearl are the final two left. "I honestly didn't have a lot of faith in us, but I had faith in me and Tilly." Pearl says. "Pearl, you deserve this more, Scott replies, and light a tnt under his feet. "Tilly death do us part," Scott says, and Pearl yells his name as they blow up. "Scott! Oh no- what- Scott?! Did he just sacrifice himself?! For me?!? We were the last ones left..Scott..I guess I forgive you after all".

[batw1nggg]

ive always interpreted postgame hajime/izuru as for the most part separate entities but with a degree of fluidity too (some days they can communicate some days they cant, they can very distinctively tell who’s fronting some days and some days they can’t at all, some memories they share and some memories they don’t and some memories may get mixed up between the two etc etc) but ive always liked to think that komaeda, with his freakishly observant nature, teaches himself how to clock which one is which pretty accurately.

hajime doesn’t always tie his tie evenly, izuru always ties it perfect. izuru always sits with either the worst or best posture youve ever seen, hajime is always somewhere in between. only hajime seems to wear casual clothes. if the tie color is any different from the usual green, that’s izuru. izuru styles his hair a bit neater, and if they’re overdue for a trim, izuru’s probably been fronting for a while. hajime likes his coffee fairly dark, izuru likes it with 10 spoonfuls of sugar.

so using this he can also tell when one is masking as the other (usually it’s izuru masking as hajime because he doesn’t want to deal with everyone —save for komaeda —being an ass/generally weird to him unprompted. theyre still working on that. but hajime has his reasons sometimes too). hajime’s tie is a little too perfect today. he’s being slightly quieter than usual. he recoiled when kazuichi leaned in to clap him on the back — but only slightly. no one else would’ve noticed.

sometimes these conflicting tells don’t indicate one pretending to be the other, but a more merged state. distinguishing that tends to have a larger margin of error, but when one masks as the other, usually the tells are consistently towards one or the other, and when they’re more merged then the tells are mixed (wearing casual clothes but having neat hair but having hajime’s posture but having izuru’s sweet tooth for example).

a couple years postgame i think komaeda learns to tell when they’re talking in headspace too, based on the tiny little changes in expression when they zone out. to tell WHAT theyre talking about komaeda definitely needs situational context (ex: if hajime randomly zones out while youre talking to him, izuru’s probably commenting on something you or he said. given enough context, komaeda can even guess what izuru says too), but he can usually at least tell when theyre talking. hajime’s subconscious facial expressions are more obvious then izuru’s, but if izuru’s brows are a little furrowed while he’s zoned out then they’re talking, and if his face is completely neutral then he’s just zoned out.

of course komaeda is wrong sometimes, because things aren’t that simple. but he tends to be freakishly accurate. once he picks up on who’s who that day, he’ll walk up and refer to them by name and get it right first try and no one knows how. sometimes komaeda only needs to see the back of him for a second or two before he can tell (that’s already three things he can observe: hair, posture, and if the back of the tie is tucked under the shirt collar properly. hajime usually forgets to check that). or sometimes he’ll go “does izuru want to add something?” if he can tell they’re talking to each other and everyone is like how could you tell.

the freakish observation is returned on hajime and izuru’s part of course, but it’s different because komaeda is no Ultimate Analyst or anything. it’s just a gay tendency.

[moonsaver]

hiyaaa! its me again!! omg is it just me or is there just NO robin x reader content like, at all???

please please please!! if you don't mind, please give me your robin romantic headcanons?

an extra add on food for thought: what do you think would happen if both siblings happen to pine after the same person?

Hello dear inbox visitor! I think it would be better if you sent it during while requests were open, since it kind of teeters on the line between thoughts vs requests haha. Anyways, you're right. We dont have enough x robin content :(

Lets try and fix it!

Robin seems like a very attentive lover, which is surprising considering how busy she would be since she's a popstar.

During conversations or small talk, passing phrases, she makes sure to listen to you lovingly,and makes note of all the small things about you.

To me, I think she'd be the type of person who puts your name as just a pink heart icon, and notes down all the things you like in the description of your contact. She also has a separate notes tab for other things like your wishlist items, things she's noticed about you, and so on.

She's optimistic, but not unrealistic. If you're the overthinker type, she grounds you flawlessly. She's very rational and sorts things out carefully with you, sitting you down gently and discusses everything on your mind with you. Gives you a lovely, soft smile when you stop overthinking and come to a solution with a relaxed sigh.

Surprisingly sensitive to physical contact. She's not touch-starved, nor averse to it, but still is unused to it for the most part. However, she likes holding hands very often. She'd be very happy if you rubbed your thumb over her knuckles. Often takes off her glove just to hold your hand. I feel like her hands would be pleasantly cold. She squeaks slightly when you kiss her face! Then giggles. She likes the feeling of you peppering her face in kisses.

Lets you touch her wings often, and they are incredibly soft. They smell pleasantly of flowers, and sometimes she flutters them on your face to make you giggle. She doesn't mind if you mess them up a bit, as long as it's not before a concert.

If you have hair long enough to braid, she'll want to do that. She has cute little accessories on her that she uses whenever you let her, cute clips and hair ties that she uses for you specifically. She also really likes it when you braid her hair. She doesn't care if it's not pretty, she just likes that you're the one doing it.

Often, I imagine she gets overwhelmed with the amount of people working on her appearances that sometimes she just asks them to leave and has you help her work on her appearance. It could just be feedback and she'll appreciate it. She just likes being in your presence whenever she's overwhelmed, which can be often if she's especially out on a tour. If you can't be there physically, she'll want to call you, or replay any voice notes you may have sent previously. She saves them all – date, time, named and even the context behind them. She misses you dearly whenever she's away, just doesn't have the time to even express it.

If you're alright with cosmetics of all kinds, she's a little thrilled. She'll want you to try her perfumes and clothes, too. Kisses you directly if you ask for her lip balm or lipgloss, then giggles at the transferred sheen. Likes trying out new eye palette colors on you, trying out new styles of makeup, and often asks for suggestion on her own outfits. She also adores when you both dress up in matching outfits, and has a neat little album of you two consisting of photos that she takes.

Robin can feel a bit shy asking for affection or doing cute couple-things. She really likes the corny things, like indirect kisses from shared straws, being stared at while she's doing something, being kissed in the rain, dancing together, etc.. she also probably saw you eat a lollipop once, and wanted to ask you for a taste, but got too shy and didn't ask. You have to take the initiative and comfort her into asking for these things.

Anyways, if both siblings pine for the same person.. it's gonna be a little strained. Depends on how much they like the reader respectively, but lets assume both of them are head over heels for reader.

Robin and Sunday pining after the same person may either bring them together or put more strain on their already, slightly distant relationship. I feel like Sunday may either support his sister, convince her to pursue you and share you with him, or guilt trip her into not approaching you. Not even as a yandere, Sunday can be a little manipulative and greedy when it comes to his feelings. Ever since Robin left Sunday alone as the head of the Oak Family, I feel like he would harbor a small amount of apathy or even dislike towards her because of it, and on top of that, if she ends up liking you, he'll feel oddly like you've been stolen from him.

Robin.. won't back off so easily however. She's a smart girl, and even if she obliges to her brother's whims, she knows him better than anyone else. She'll probably stay docile for the most part, though. However, she isn't just a pretty face. Just because she remains docile doesn't mean she's given you up completely to her brother. She'll at least remain stubborn on having you to some degree, even if it means straining their relationship a bit.

[inbabylontheywept]

Hey, so for context it's 3:45 AM where I am, and I'm stark awake at this hour because I had to take a nap yesterday due to eating a meal I really shouldn't have that is still wreacking havoc on my intestines. I'm definitely going to regret sending this ask HARD once the sun comes up, but I've been doing a lot of unadvisable shit on the internet over the past 3 days so why not add this to the pile.

I'm kind of having a weird emotional thing right now over your last post because it's just too ridiculous to be true, and I'm realizing the majority of your blog is probably all creative writing not intended to be taken seriously, but I've believed everything you've claimed to be a true story up until this point? And now I'm faced with either being a gullible fool, or an asshole for saying this if it IS all true, and I have to ask or I'll never know? I shouldn't be letting this get to me but it is.

So please, I ask sincerely and with no intention of being a jackass, are your life stories actually all true, or are they supposed to come across as obviously exaggerated or wholly fictional? I'm sure I could piece it together if I lay in bed and thought about it for an hour or two, but I think I'll just take the L and ask outright because fuck it.

But THEN if it truly is just a creative writing blog, would you keep the bit going and claim it's all real when it's not? Like, do you see why I'm going crazy? I am a very gullible, easily lied to person and that has lead me to be on high alert, but I almost always jump at the wrong things and come across as a distrustful asshole, so?? Will you assume this ask itself is LARP because of all the specific details I tacked on, which are intended to garner a sense of sincerity? I'm realizing I may have been playing checkers with someone playing chess all this time and I'm wigging out man

So, I'll start with the small stuff first:

The camp was in Prescott, AZ, in the mountains, over labor day weekend which is in late fall. I don't know the actual temperatures as numbers, but the people at the camp spent more time being cold than hot. The camp organizers also did bring a ludicrous amount of the pink sauce. I don't think the campsite itself was ever intended to provide potable water, just utility water for the showers and dishes and other non-for-direct-consumption tasks. So in that area, the camp people overprepared because Arizonans don't fuck around with dehydration.

I'm also pretty sure they had some water available, they were just very careful with it. I think there were a few diabetic kids, and they were making sure they wouldn't have to subsist on the weird gatorade like everyone else. Maybe. I don't honestly know.

But that's one story, and the thing that you're really asking is, are all these stories fake? Is it all just creative writing? And the answer to that is a soft no.

As a writer, I'm pretty strongly influenced by Patrick McManus. A lot of my stories are told in the American Tall Tale style - which is exaggerated, and dramaticized, but tells a story that is true nonetheless. I am going to keep the specifics of the exaggeration and dramatization between myself and God, but I would look at my stories and say that they're each more than 80% true. I hope that relieves some of your stress.

I wouldn't call what I do creative writing exercises. But I also wouldn't encourage you to take them 100% seriously. Both because I talk a big game, and because they are, at the end of the day, just funny stories. I certainly wouldn't want you to lose any more sleep over them.

You aren't a jackass for expressing incredulity. It's part of my style, and I welcome it. I also wouldn't call you a gullible fool for believing things in the past. We're good, you and I, and I've enjoyed having you as a reader. I hope you keep reading. Just, maybe not at 3:45 AM. Take care of yourself, Babylon

[coffeeghoulie]

Mushy May Day 1: Sleepover

we're so back. i am so excited.

Thank you so much to @forlorn-crows for putting Mushy May together for the third year in a row <3

Dew gets invited to spend a hotel night with Aether, Sunny, Cirrus, Cumulus, and Rain. Party games are played, and Dew is nothing if not petty about losing. Aether is a menace. Rated Teen for some suggestiveness. 1k.

divider by @ghuleh-recs <3

“Isn’t this a game for human kits?” Dew says, plopping down in between Cumulus and Sunny as he pops the cap on a bottle of beer with his claw. Across the circle from him, Aether takes a swig from his own bottle and raises an eyebrow.

Rain shrugs. “I mean, the older ones play it,” they say. “It’s a party game, apparently.”

“Some party,” Dew jokes, gesturing around to the hotel room the six of them have crammed themselves into, one of the beds pushed up against the other to make room to sit on the floor and drink cheap beer. Mountain and Swiss had accepted an invitation into Copia’s room after a successful Ritual, and rather then go to sleep and be rested for the next day of travel, Rain had talked Dew into coming and joining the rest of them for a little of their own fun.

“Oh, come on, Dewey, lighten up,” Rain teases. They run a hand through blue black waves and flutter their eyelashes. “Promise I’ll make it real sweet for you when you land on me.”

Dew rolls his eyes as the other burst into laughter. He whips his head over to Aether. “You shouldn’t be laughing at that, starshine, you really want your mate kissing other ghouls?” he complains almost petulantly.

Aether just raises an eyebrow as Cumulus knocks her shoulder into Dew’s bony one. “Dewdrop. We have been the furthest thing from exclusive and you know it.”

Dew sighs, lips quirking up into a small smile before he hides it behind his beer bottle. Cirrus flashes him a knowing smile before leaning over and resting her head on Cumulus’s shoulder for a moment. “Yeah, yeah, okay,” Dew says. “Who’s going first?”

“Me,” Sunny butts in, setting an empty beer bottle in the center of their little circle before anyone else can speak up. “And if it doesn’t point directly at someone when it stops, I’m kissing whoever’s closest. Take it or leave it.”

There’s no argument, so Sunny spins the bottle fast and hard, the glass rattling against the cheap vinyl floor. Dew can’t look away from the motion, even as the circular motion makes him the slightest bit dizzy.

The bottle comes to a shuddering stop facing Cirrus, and Sunny lights up. “Come on, gimme some sugar, blossom,” she grins, tail flicking in satisfaction behind her. Sunny practically crawls across the circle to press a loud kiss to Cirrus’s lips.

She cards her fingers through Sunny’s auburn curls, cups her cheek for a moment. Surprisingly tender against Sunny’s energy and the context of the game. Dew can’t see Sunny’s full expression, but he can see the way her cheek dimples, and then she sits back down.

“Clockwise?” Rain asks, taking a sip of their beer and grimacing the slightest bit. They really grabbed the cheapest shit they could find, but Dew thinks it adds to the charm. Really makes it feel like they’re teenagers at a party, doing something they aren’t supposed to.

Sunny hums. “Nah. Dew, your turn.”

He laughs, sets his beer down and spins the bottle, all without looking away from Aether’s eyes. “Big guy or bust,” he snarks, and Cirrus snorts behind her own drink.

The bottle, of course, lands on Cumulus instead. Dew will never complain about kissing one of his girls, so he turns and smiles fondly at where she sits next to him.

She’s quick to kiss him, and Cumulus laughs against his lips when she licks against the seam and pulls back before Dew can chase the sensation. He doesn’t need to see himself to know his cheeks are glowing like an ember.

Cumulus spins, lands on Aether, and Aether flashes her a boyish grin he normally turns on Dew. Cirrus leans back so they can kiss, and Aether doesn’t look away from his mate as he does it.

Dew is not fuming, thank you very much. He understands the game and agreed to play and he is not jealous. He watches Cirrus peck Rain on the cheeks, and Aether kiss Cumulus, and when Rain spins it lands on him, and he is very much not against kissing his pretty pearl.

Cirrus wolf whistles when they part, and the burn of jealousy eases. Dew licks his lips and settles smugly back on his haunches.

Sunny lands on Aether next, and Aether grins as he holds her face tenderly for a moment, kissing her for several beats longer. Dew can feel the heat radiating off of her when she sits back down.

“Alright, let’s try this again,” Dew scoffs, reaching into the circle to spin the bottle. He glares at Aether when the bottle spins past him and lands on Rain like it’s Aether’s fault where the bottle stopped. The big ghoul throws up his hands in surrender, laughing like he’s just been beamed with a pick onstage.

“You’re complaining about kissing me again?” Rain laughs, something bright and mischievous glinting in their eye.

“No, never,” Dew laughs, carding spindly fingers through their hair as he kisses the words from their mouth.

He’s barely back in his spot before Cumulus spins, and she lands on Aether. As does Cirrus. Aether’s own spin lands him on Sunny, but then Rain lands on Aether. And Sunny lands on Aether again.

Dew tries to guess exactly how much force it’ll take to land on his mate. Spins the bottle. His fingers shake just the slightest bit but he convinces himself he’s not jealous. Not at all.

The bottle goes around and around and around, rattling on the floor, and Dew almost cheers as it slows to point at Aether.

And then the bottle jumps to Rain unnaturally.

“That shouldn’t have done that,” Dew says, brow furrowing.

“What, land on me?” Rain asks, and the rest of the ghouls cackle. Aether takes a swig of his drink, but Dew knows that smug look.

“Aether. You used your fucking quintessence to stop the bottle,” he accuses. Sunny shoves his shoulder, cackling at such a suggestion.

“So what if I did?” Aether says, slowly raising an eyebrow as he finishes his beer.

“Oh, that’s fucking it,” Dew says, getting up and crossing the circle. He accidentally kicks the bottle aside as he hauls Aether to his feet.

Aether just laughs, letting Dew manhandle him, starting to march him to the adjoining hotel room he’s sharing with Rain.

Sunny cackles. “Welp, I guess we’re playing Seven Minutes in Heaven now.”

[bunybunn]

Alright the drama continues and somehow it got worse. I'm glad I found a transcript of Dream's video on twitter (by @/NORsevvy here it is if anyone wants to read it) and I want to annalise it a little because I can.

Let's start with the part where he apologised for r-word and if you think about if he did that right after he posted that stupid meme we wouldn't have this drama but that wouldn't be his style.

What icked me immediately what the way he used Tubbo's stream as if through all of it he was agreeing with Dream. Especially since Tubbo actually shared very similar sentiment to Tommy when he talk about how, sure he does agree with the dumb jokes their friends group makes but he still stands by them. Besides using Tubbo as a gotcha didn't sit right with me because let's be honest as much as he is one of Tommy's best mates so is Jack and that guy wasn't as nice when it came to Dream.

After that Dreams moves to Tommy talking about Dream and his friend group being sexist and immediately he skips over the context, which in this case was the George situation and no matter how you saw it they way they talk about the situation by immediately downplaying the accusations didn't make them look good. To add to the irony we learned thanks to Ludwig that, yeah actually Dream did called two different women "whore" and only defended (and not apologise mind you) himself about one of those.

Something that I found interesting is how Dream has tendency to got on the sarcastic rants about "what if there were bad rumours/jokes about you Tommy" as if that was actual genuine argument. All of this only to then to hold the fact Tommy interacted with Dream's friends after the accusations. All of this to then pull the Logan Paul messages to prove how insincere Tommy is... As if it wasn't a case of him losing respect to content creator he looked up.

Another funny bit in my personal opinion is how he showed clip of Tommy say Dream was holding his help over his head and Dream immediately proceeded to do just that by pointing out how they called for hours talking about YouTube with no exceptions(!!! 😮😮😮) and how Tommy at the age of 16 was grateful for it. He is trying very hard to make it seems like the good guy but just by looking at the way he puts is as arguments why Tommy couldn't criticise him or express how Dream made him feel back then very much is giving holding his kindness over other people's head. What makes it worse is the way he takes Tommy owning the fact that he was one of the people who were behind the success of the dream smp because he was the one who started the idea of making stream that have roleplay and plot. Having Dream use it as another gotcha to call Tommy egoistic for it was very dishonest.

Then you have the merch part of the argument and I will be so real there is no argument that wouldn't make selling yours baby photos to fans sound fucking weird. Funny enough Tommy never mentioned Dream's merch company scamming people he simply shared an opinion that he thinks Dream's merch designs are lazy. Additionally notice how Dream took Tommy's words out of context as he was comparing his work on writing a book, doing standup the legit way not relying on his internet popularity and making a proper podcast to Dream just putting out simple standard merch and using very weird ideas to make profits from it. Tommy has been growing and trying new things which yeah I would say are bit more impressive then making the exact same type of videos for years. Perhaps that's why Dream didn't like the video where Tommy was talking about how Internet in fact got worse because that's the Internet Dream is enjoying being stuck in.

Dream still not getting that massaging someone's mom is crossing a boundar despite being told that that's the case by more then one person feels so dishonest especially when he is framing it as if every one are unreasonable... He brought fucking c!Dream reference to prove it and one more clip of younger Tommy praising him as if that somehow made his point more valid.

All that to say that what Tommy felt about the way Dream treated him and how he acted was somehow not as valid as Dream using his response to do a very similar thing. There was a lot of me, me, me in Dream's video without even acknowledging that perhaps he was making other people dislike him with his own actions.

[itsclydebitches]

Hazbin Hotel: Let's Talk About Cursing!

Trigger warning for lots of cursing in this post (obviously) and discussion of canon abuse scenes

As I delve further into the Hazbin Hotel fandom, I’ve inevitably come across a variety of people who dislike the show for an equal variety of reasons. One criticism I’ve seen with some consistency is in regards to the cursing and yeah, I get it. That’s not going to be everyone’s cup of tea. However, the repeated claim that the cursing is only there as a—failed—attempt at bad, lazy humor got me thinking about why I personally liked the cursing, and why I think it serves a greater purpose in the show.

Now yes, some of the cursing does function as an arguably simplistic joke. The most common setup I’ve noticed is one that leans into a contrast in tone/personalities. We see this a lot with the polite, comparatively timid Charlie as she navigates her distinctly vulgar domain.

Charlie: “Hi, mister!” Demon: “Go fuck yourself!”

The entirety of “Happy Day in Hell” plays with this contrast, setting up Charlie’s slightly skewed, but significantly optimistic perspective of Hell. We are shown again and again how her lyrics are contradicted or twisted into something less innocent through the visuals: a “revealing” street where it’s “hard not to stare” has BDSM going on in a nearby window, Charlie will “open the door” for her people and then literally does so... for a guy who’s already dead. (Or, you know, temporarily out of commission until he heals, or whatever demons do when they’re ‘killed’ by things other than angelic steel.) The entire point here is to contrast the happy, skipping girl claiming that there’s a “warm, fuzzy feeling” in the air with the actual environment of unchecked fires and decaying limbs. And yes, that can be amusing. Not necessarily for everyone as humor is highly subjective and dependent on context, but distilling this contrast down to the shock of a polite greeting getting a “Go fuck yourself!” in response is a kind of entertainment. Especially when Charlie’s reaction adds another layer: for me that’s a very funny—and currently relatable—expression.

We can potentially make the case that this humor format overstays its welcome, but I personally think the show does a good job of keeping Charlie’s cursing both simple and comparatively rare, so that when she is put into these contrast situations the humor lands better. The best example I can think of in the latter half of the show is Susan. There we get the whiplash of polite, trying-to-get-these-people-to-like-her Charlie reaching a breaking point to become “FUCK YOU, YOU OLD BITCH” Charlie. It’s a moment that builds off of the earlier surprise of the courteous Alastor calling someone an “Ornery old bitch”—while Rosie is trying (and failing) to find a nicer way to phrase this.

However, as stated above I think the cursing serves more of a purpose than to just be funny for (some) viewers. Beyond those who simply find cursing distasteful, I’ve seen a fair bit of, “This is so stupid. No one even talks like that!” going around.

Except... I do? I talk like that.

See, I like cursing. I was born to former hippie parents and grew up playing MMOs, so cursing was something I became pretty acclimated to. Personally, I’m glad I was because I’m fascinated by language and cursing—for better or worse—is an integral way that many people communicate. I was taught to see cursing not as the Bad Forbidden Thing You Must Never Ever Do, but rather as just another form of expression, something to be used in moderation and under specific circumstances. Once I became an adult I already understood how I wanted to curse and when it was appropriate to do so. People at work are often shocked when I tell them I curse a lot because no, of course I’m not doing that at my job. That isn't considered professional in this space. Among my friends though?

We can sound a lot like the Hazbin crew.

Undoubtedly the most common curse in the show is “fuck” and its variations, which very much tracks with my personal experience among other people who curse. In fact, it’s so ubiquitous that it barely counts as a curse at all in some groups. It’s more of an easy, accepted way to add emphasis. Vaggie’s “What the fuck was that?” about Alastor’s commercial is a perfect example. She’s pissed and simply saying “What was that?” doesn’t carry the same weight, no matter how angry she may sound when she says it. Vox’s long “Fuuuuuuuck” at the end of “Stayed Gone” conveys an emotion you just can’t capture any other way. No dialogue at all would create a fundamentally different experience of Vox’s feelings and another non-cursing response is just gonna hit different. Not necessarily bad, just different.

“I don’t want to go to the party!” “I don’t want to go to the freaking party!” “I don’t want to go to the fucking party!”

The above represents three distinct characters to me and I think Hazbin Hotel gets that. Cursing isn’t thrown around randomly because something something cursing supposedly sells; it’s all linguistically logical. Characters curse when something surprising or bad happens, or when something unexpectedly good happens, when they’re angry, trying to be sexy, or they want to add that emphasis. That’s a lot of different situations where cursing can be useful and when you use “fuck” in your daily life a lot you become pretty desensitized to it. As said, for many it’s barely a curse at all. Which means that when you really want to curse you’ve got to up the ante. It doesn’t surprise me one bit that the two uses of “cunt” I can recall—a word that is generally considered far worse than “fuck” and makes a lot of people understandably uncomfortable—is used by two of the worst characters in moments that are meant to horrify the viewer:

Adam: “Can’t wait a whole year to slaughter those little cunts / I know it’s just been a week, but we’ll be back in six months!” Valentino: “When I say you’d better get that fucking cunt out of my studio, you say...?”

This horror is especially emphasized in Valentino’s scene. The creators know this word is coming up and deliberately build towards it. Angel is currently being abused and has been reminded that Valentino “owns” him. The above question is a part of a trio that Valentino asks (a standard structure in writing), wherein the third option is the outlier/most shocking of the three. The animation leans into that shock, with the music building and Valentino grabbing Angel to pull him close right on the word “cunt.” Perez even puts emphasis there because he knows that this is a significant word that will change our understanding of Valentino.

Despite having hit Angel multiple times and taunting him with the contract, this is the moment Valentino stops playing the ‘nice’ employer. This is the real him. No more fake compliments and endearments aimed at Charlie, no more fake comfort/intimacy aimed at Angel. That “cunt” conveys a hell of a lot about how Valentino really sees them and when you have a cast of characters who are already cursing on the regular, it takes a word on that level to do that kind of work. If Valentino had said, “get that fucking bitch out of my studio” it wouldn’t have had nearly the same impact because he’s the kind of guy who uses "bitch" even when playing ‘nice.’

Adam’s line from “Hell is Forever” does very similar work. The scene needs a word to align with the horrific reveal that another extermination is just six months away, that conveys Adam’s deep disgust for Charlie’s people, and that still catches the viewer’s attention even though he’s the character (I believe) who curses the most. Here the music drops and Adam is a little closer to speaking than singing; there's this shift because, like with Valentino, our perception of him is shifting. This isn’t just some egotistical idiot who wants to be called “Dick Master,” he’s the leader of an army coming to gleefully kill them. Framing a whole world of people—people Charlie loves—as “cunts” while treating their murder as a holiday that can’t come soon enough creates an, 'Oh shit. This guy is actually a threat' understanding that you can’t quite get with anything else.

On a smaller scale, cursing does other character work throughout the whole show. I watched a number of cursing compilation vids for this meta (that was a trip lol) and again, cursing is not thrown in randomly. Each character has a unique way of cursing that aligns with their personality and motivations:

As said, Adam curses the most in the show which helps sell his truly over-the-top, irreverent personality. Linguistically, the amount he curses also allows for some fun grammatical play. Lines like, “Fucking love putting my name on shit, shit’s the best!” help convey the versatility of cursing.

Also as said, Charlie curses a fair bit but she’s comparatively polite and her cursing tends to be a result of genuinely big emotions—like saying “Crap” when she’s shocked and falls, or “Shit!” when Adam locks her out of the room—rather than sprinkled into her conversations as a modifier. That leaves space to create those moments of amused surprise when Charlie really let’s loose.

Sr Pentious curses even less than Charlie which fits his secretly gooey center. He talks a big game at the start of the show, but he’s actually quite bad at being, well, bad (especially the Amazon version compared to pilot!Pentious). His idea of getting one over on Alastor is ripping a bit of his coat. He loves his Egg Bois and “doesn’t want to live” without them. He has no desire to go into battle without minions/a big machine to hide behind and, of course, he’s the first to be redeemed. He's too much of a secret sweetheart to curse a lot.

Interestingly, Niffty doesn’t seem to curse at all. At least, not enough for me to think of examples off the top of my head. Right now I’m inclined to read that as an extension of her lived experiences/design—the cute 1950’s housewife archetype who is obsessed with keeping things clean doesn’t [gasp!] curse—as well as a way to maintain her legitimate creep factor. As said, cursing is common among the hotel residents and is a way for them to linguistically fit in. Niffty, however, is positioned more as an outsider (despite how much they all obviously love her): she’s actually scary in a way most demons aren’t and despite how weird this whole world is, she stands out as someone no one else can make sense of (even Alastor). If cursing is normal, Niffty is a character who is decidedly positioned as not normal.

Angel curses a fair bit, though his irreverence is conveyed more through innuendos. Angel is great at verbally twisting others’ words (especially Husk’s) to give himself a conversational advantage:

Husk: “Go fuck yourself” Angel: “Only if you watch me~”

Husk: “You’ve come—” Angel: [very loud orgasm noise] Husk: “...to the right place.”

Meanwhile, Husk uses “fuck” plenty, but he’s also one of the few characters who use “bullshit" too. I wouldn’t say there’s anything particularly revealing about that choice, but just giving him a go-to curse that’s otherwise used infrequently helps make his character distinct in a cast of other cursing characters.

Vaggie occasionally curses in Spanish, showing us her heritage if she used to be human, or a distinct knowledge/verbal preference if she’s always been an angel.

Heaven, as the ‘good’ side, doesn’t curse as a general rule, which leaves room for cursing to do more of that silent character work. We’re reminded of the stuffy, overly critical beings she’s dealing with when Charlie receives the combined judgement of the court for saying, “Fuck yeah!” In contrast, we understand just how shocked St. Peter is to see a Morningstar when he lets out an unintentional “Fuck!” The angry vindication of Charlie’s “That’s what the fuck I’ve been saying!” lands harder after multiple scenes of very little cursing, and Lute’s “Some crack-whore who fucked up already? / He blew his shot like the cocks in his mouth—” helps set her apart as an exorcist + Adam's second in command: her shocking violence comes through in her word choice too; words that supposedly don't belong in Heaven.

In what’s arguably the funniest line in the whole show, Lucifer undermines his dramatic standoff with Adam by going, “You mess with my daughter and now I’m going to fuck you.” Beyond just cutting the tension, that fits his bumbling, oblivious personality perfectly. Lucifer is crazy powerful and can absolutely wreck Adam. He also has none of the classy intimidation that, say, Alastor displays when he tries to convey that. This is a depressed himbo who makes ducks in his free time and settles on, “Hey, bitch!” when greeting his estranged daughter. Of course he’s going to accidentally turn a threat into a promise of sex.

Which finally brings me to Alastor, someone whose cursing is already understood well by the fandom. He’s characterized as manipulatively courteous, using manners to both hide his true nature and draw attention to his power—’You’re so beneath me I’ll just calmly sip my coffee and politely ask who you are, despite the fact that we've fought multiple times.’ This is a guy who calls people “My dear” and unironically insults them with the phrase “wacky nonsense.” So when he curses you can BET it’s gonna have an impact. It sure did for me. I had to pause the episode after Alastor’s first “Fuck you” because it was so shocking to hear that language from him. And that’s the point! The scene wants that reaction from the audience. The "Fuck you"s visceral anger contrasting the fake laughs he and Lucifer have been giving, the quick-fire exchange that’s suddenly cut short by Alastor’s choice of a direct insult, the fact that he’s officially dropping the polite veneer they’ve both been indulging in and raising the stakes before Charlie intervenes, the loss of the radio filter that otherwise demonstrates his control over a situation... all of it screams, ‘THIS IS AN IMPORTANT CHARACTER MOMENT.’

"Fuck you” reveals that, for the first time in the show, Alastor is legitimately threatened by someone. Which makes sense given that, you know, Lucifer is the King of Hell. Cursing for Alastor isn’t normal, so when he does curse it’s going to reveal something about a guy who otherwise is obsessed with being unknowable. Having the King of Hell dismiss him is actually infuriating in a way Sir Pentious’ threats could never be and the exchange kicks off a rivalry that rattles Alastor in ways Vox’s never has. (Side note: is it any wonder people ship them? Character A making control freak Character B feel vulnerable is classic!) It’s no surprise to me than that the one other true curse we get from Alastor is, “I’m about to end your fucking life,” delivered to Adam who, like Lucifer, poses a legitimate threat and does end up beating him. I say “true” curse because calling Susan a “bitch” does similar work for him, but the takeaway is humorous rather than dramatic. It’s funny that the only people who can piss Alastor off enough to curse are the First Man/a powerful exorcist angel threatening his life, the literal King of Hell... and Susan.

So there’s a lot going on here, more than what many viewers might assume if they approach the show as just “stupid,” needlessly vulgar entertainment. As shown above, I don’t think the cursing is needless, especially given that, well... they’re in Hell. They’re sinners, supposedly the worst that humanity has to offer, so of course they're going to curse a lot. Does cursing mean you’re a bad person? No. Can you craft a hellish world that doesn't rely on cursing to convey a group's immoral nature? Sure.

Does it make sense that a writer would equate a sinful, irreverent cast with linguistic rebellion and would want to convey a certain vibe that, frankly, you just can’t get without dropping an F bomb?

Yeah, I think so. No one has to like that kind of creative decision, but it’s worth acknowledging it as a deliberate choice.

That’s all! Thanks for reading this fucking long post ✌️

[mtkay13]

Wen Kexing after killing the old Ghost Valley master.

Based on this quote, by Meng Hui, in chapter 74:

When he came out, for an instant, it was unclear whether his robes were made of red fabric or if he was drenched in fresh blood; and for the first time we saw a smile appear on the wooden man's usually frozen face.

Here's the original:

这男人从里面出来的时候，身上穿着一件鲜红的袍子，那一瞬间，竟让人分辨不出，是本来颜色，还是被鲜血染就，他那张从来不动声色的木讷的脸，第一回在所有人面前露出一个笑容来。

I really wanted to try and grasp what his face could have been at that moment, considering the circumstances, what it could have meant for him to do that--killing the GVM as violently as he did. Given WKX's plans, it's safe to assume that becoming the Valley Master was a part of the plan (despite it being the most dangerous position in the Valley) to get to the key, or at least to reach the power to execute what he wanted to.

To become the Valley Master, you must kill the previous one. The way in which he did it, the violence, the brutality, can indicate many things; either a personal hatred for the man, or something more symbolic—that would be up to interpretation.

Regardless—the smile, the first smile they ever saw within Yan Wang Hall, from whom they called the "wooden man"... I wanted to explore, what did the smile mean, how could he be represented?

I think it's up to each and everyone to read something there, so I won't elaborate on my own perception and meaning of that. I just thought useful to add a bit of context. ----- I think that one of my favourite exercises is to work on nuanced expressions that can carry a lot of meaning and emotions with subtle details. The type of expression that every line and pixel can influence, where its representation comes down to the tiniest speck of colour and shadow. I'm happy with how it came out, and I feel like this ended up representing Wen Kexing quite well for me.

[jd-loves-fiction]

𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐓𝐢𝐞

Person B has to get dressed up for a nice event. B is struggling with their tie/dress/suit and can’t get it right. Person A is surprisingly good at fixing it and Person B asks them how they did it.

✦ 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠: Joshua Madika x GN!Reader

✦ 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: fluff + suggestive

✦ 𝐰𝐜: 819

✦ 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠: none

✦ 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞: Just a short something cuz he just looks too good :)

“God! Come on…” Joshua mutters to himself, fiddling with his troublesome tie as you walk in to put away some laundry. You set it aside and lean against the doorway for a moment, just to watch his handsome face scrunch up in mild frustration as the silky fabric slips from his grasp once more, “Are you going to help me? Or is this sight too amusing?”

“Hmm… nearly.” You tease, approaching him slowly to stand between him and the mirror and taking the tie from his slippery hands. Your own hands work quickly, almost automatically – all while Joshua ogles your ass in the mirror.

Lost in the wonderful sight, he’s caught off guard by you stepping back, “You’re done?” you nod, fiddling with his lapel and shirt collar. God, he looks damn good.

“How– That was so fast.” His long lashes blink in shock, he should’ve asked you to help him before now. “When did you learn to do it so fast? You don't even wear ties?”

“Oh, well…” You trail off, suddenly put on the spot and going back to fix minute details in his appearance to distract yourself – the curl fallen to his forehead, a speck of dust on his jacket, a small wrinkle on his shirt.

“This story’s a bit… unusual, so bear with me.” Josh nods in understanding, now entirely focused on watching your features that begin feeling warmer at the attention.

“So, remember I said I took psychology in high school?” A nod, “On one, seemingly random, class the teacher told us – without context – to learn how to tie a tie. And that he’d be grading us based on how well we did in the next class. Me, boasting the absolutely stellar combo of ‘perfectionist’ and ‘people pleaser', went to ask my father to teach me. Turns out, he's never worn a tie in his life and my mother was even less helpful.”

Skepticism would be a gentle way of describing the expression on your boyfriend’s face, so you raise your hand as if to wordlessly tell him to wait until you’re done before judging, “Why… would he ask you to do that?”

“I haven't the faintest, Josh. It was the guy’s last year as a teacher – I feel like he didn't care about making sense anymore. Anyway–” He pulls you with him while sitting down on the edge of the bed, giving your tired neck a rest from having to look up at him as you speak.

“Long story short, Youtube tutorials were surprisingly effective – I got full marks on the next class, even though I feel like that didn't end up mattering at all. I guess the knowledge just stuck from then.” You add sheepishly, adjusting (playing with) Joshua’s gorgeous curls as he takes you in silently. So focused on getting the details right, you barely noticed the unwavering attention he leveled you with during your little speech, cowering now that you do, “What’s that look for?”

His hand reaches for your cheek, brushing it with a tenderness that warms the skin beneath, “You’re just… everything.”

“Are you just saying that because you don't know what to say to that story or what?” You giggle, playfully gripping a handful of curls to direct his gorgeous nose to brush yours, both going cross eyed in the process.

“No, I mean it.” He whispers softly, long lashes fluttering against his cheeks as his lips graze yours, “You’re everything…” to me, he wants to say but the urge to lay his lips against yours is far too strong. The kiss is slow and sensual, almost enough to distract you from the fact that his hands begin wandering down your body, “Don't you have somewhere to be?”

“It can wait.”

“Hmm, not what you said this morning…” You whisper, matching his suggestive tone and doing nothing to discourage his actions – you don't want him to go, of course you don't, but you clearly recall him stressing over how important this dinner is just a few hours prior.

“Well, that was this morning. Before I discovered there were productive things for me to be doing.” His lips descend on your neck, sucking on it gently as your breaths hasten together.

“Me, you mean?” You tease and he hums approvingly, nimble fingers pulling back the band of your leggings to let it slap against your skin. Focusing becomes harder every second he keeps touching you, but a glimpse at the clock on the wall tells you it’s time to end the fun.

“I think I can wait… The dinner, however, can't.” With great effort, you tear yourself from his warm embrace, delighting in his childish whine while stepping back out of the reach of his long limbs. “Get to it.”

He groans deeply as you step out to give him space to prepare, secretly hoping he doesn't come back too tired to pick up where you left off…

[solxamber]

i love your writing!! i wanted to ask what are your favourite cards for each character? and why?

you can ignore if its a long answer and if you're busy! I thought it's be fun to comapre our tastes.

thank you so much 🫶

there are spoilers for jp only cards below the cut!

Riddle: Halloween

The black lips? the pose? this card almost put me in my grave when I first saw it 10/10

Ace: Playful Dress

I adore the composition of this card and the ribbons and pose that give a marionette feel which i love

Deuce: Starsending robes

Deuce in general is very pretty but I found him extra pretty in this card.

Trey: Nightmare Suit

He's so *barks* Where do I even begin, the suit, the expression orz

Cater: New Year's Attire

I just love seeing him so confident idk this card just ticks the boxes for me

Leona: He has so many pretty cards where do I even start. The new nightmare suit is AMAZING but I have a soft spot for Liongarb Leona

He looks so regal??? and cool??? I spent everything I had for this card. absolutely worth it

Ruggie: Port Wear

He's so cute in this and his ears sticking out of his little hat. I'm gonna die of cuteness aggression.

Jack: Sleepwear

He looks so soft and fluffy already and his tail adds to that. 10/10 would hug

Azul: Luxe Couture

The expression??? the glasses?? THE HAIR??? hell yeah

Jade: Mermaid Fin

This is an insane card in general (I'm so normal about this) It's so !!!!!

Floyd: Mermaid Fin (again)

He looks so unhinged I'm so into it

Kalim: Playful Dress

Again, the marionette vibe and his serious expression instead of his usual smile does it for me

Jamil: I love Nightmare Suit but Luxe Couture

The attitude?? the posing??? orz

Vil: I'm extremely biased and I love all his cards and it was between silk adorned and tapis rouge but: Silk Adorned

Ever saw a man so beautiful you cry? Because I sure did. He's so pretty I cannot begin to describe. If he looked at me like that I'd just die jfc

Rook: Savanaclaw Dorm

Rook before he became French /j but forreal, its so different from how he usually is and I love that.

Epel: Platinum Jacket

i LOVE the expression he has and idk i just love the general vibe of all the platinum jacket cards and I like this one quite a bit.

Idia: I'm biased here again because he's so pretty to me. It's a tie between suitor suit and masquerade for me but masquerade just has the edge for me.

hes just so pretty man orz

Ortho: Fairy gear

The pink??? the butterfly motifs??? so peak. absolutely one of my top 10 cards

Malleus: Extremely biased because I love my dragon so I find them all pretty but Tsumsitter

Mostly because the whole family is here but I adore the expression he has on. (the diafam together is my weakness)

Lilia: Pop Music T-Shirt

The hair?? the ripped jeans??? the fishnet underneath??? 1000/10

Silver: Platinum Jacket

Love the expression, the implications. Amazing card 10/10

Sebek: Armor of Eternal Night

The tear in his eye? the context of the card? beautiful. book 7 broke me.

[thethunderbringerzeus]

((I saw the message about the hiatus, but I know i'll forget if I dont so i'm leaving this here for when you feel better, I just didn't want it to come off as if I were blatantly ignoring you!))

[A letter arrives, written in fancy caligraphy]

Dearest grandfather, King of Olympus, Lord of The Gods,

It is I, Theatrocles! I have a...favor to ask of you, and before you read on, please consider I am one of your only grandchildren who make an effort to talk to you and be nice to you!

You see I got into a nasty little fight with Selene, you know the moon goddess? The one who killed my father's lover, Ampelos?

Now i *know* my father used to go on and on about how Ampelos was better than Ganymede, so I'm sure there's a bit of animosity surrounding the whole...situation, but surely I am not to be lumped in with the people who cause such animosity! I wasn't even around during that transgression!

Now for my favor! And remember I have been nicer to you than most of your grandchildren, and even some of your actual kids! Could you make up some bullshit reason for Selene to leave Olympus for like, an hour? Pleeeeeease grandfather, she's threatening to CUT MY HAIR!!!!! THE WELL FROM WHICH MY POWERS AND INSPIRATION FLOWS!!!!!

With love, respect, and a heart of loyalty,

Theatrocles, Son Of Lord Dionysus, God of Theatrical Drama (and ass kissing. like seriously that sign off was SO obviously a suck up move. HES NOT EVEN A GOD HIS MOM IS ARIADNE?????)

((OOC: For context, hermes talks shit and adds insults onto Theatrocles's letters before sending them bc of an argument the two had. Theatrocles does not know)

OOC: You’re perfectly alright my friend. Still currently going through it, but I’m still up to respond. As for the context, it is very much appreciated

“Thank you, Hermes, for your commentary.”

*Zeus proceeded to read the letter, taking in the information as he let out a rumbling sigh, the sound much like distant thunder on the horizon.*

{The king of the gods own handwriting was in its own unique and neat calligraphy. The most notable feature being the larger letter at the beginning of each paragraph, stylized to look like the first line was an olive branch.}

Dear Theatrocles,

I would like to state that the situation between my son, your sire, Dionysus, and I have been working on our relationship. Kindly, please do not bring up the comparison of Ganymede and Ampelos again. It is something we are working on in private and I’d rather keep it that way. Especially since it is a sore spot for my Wife and I currently since we see Ganymede quite often due to him being my cupbearer.

Now, another thing, I must ask you to not put down my children again, or any of your cousins for that matter. They hold every right to feel and react to my actions as they wish. I will not shy from my past, but I will not stand for family putting each other down. Especially since I’ve been subject to uprisings before. Pray tell, do you remember how those went, dear grandchild of mine? Not well for my wife or brother, Poseidon. I highly recommend remembering that I am the strongest of my siblings.

He may be the earthshaker and my wife the queen, but I reign above them. I am the king of the gods. My power isn’t to be undermined, dear child.

As of the favor, send me to her. She has no reason to demand you to cut your hair from which you gain your power from.

-From,

Zeus Basileus

*Zeus hands the letter to Hermes with a hardened, but not unkind expression. A low sigh escaped his lips as he went to go check on his brothers in the meantime.*

Basileus is Zeus’ epithet meaning “King”. Made most sense other than his other epithet “Hypatus”/“Hypsistus” meaning “Supreme”. King felt more fitting for this though since he doesn’t tolerate any amount of potential hubris.

[transvampireboyfriend]

Here's a little snippet from a tattoo shop/bakery au that i got kinda stuck on and i dont know if ill ever finish.

some context: Chrissy and Eddie are best friends that live in different states, Eds is taking two weeks off work for Chris' visit, he won't be at his tattoo shop which means he won't see the cute baker from next door

Chrissy's in the middle of answering and he's stretching his arms above his head when they hear the front door opening and the little bell above it chiming.

Eddie left the sign up front switched to "CLOSED", which can only mean-

"Eds?" Steve calls into the studio

Eddie immediately gets up from his seat and goes to meet him at the lobby, missing Chrissy's surprised look.

"Hiya, Stevie." he greets, bumping his knuckles against the front counter where Steve is standing just to the side of it.

He's secretly been hoping Steve would stop by just so he could see him. Just so he could hear his voice one last time before he has to go on for days without it.

Steve looks good too, in a plain white shirt, his blue apron and the absolute best pair of lightwash jeans in the whole entire world (if you're asking Eddie).

"I thought I saw you come in" Steve says, "You've been here for hours and you didn't come by to get breakfast, so i brought you this" he lifts the tray in his hands.

There's a mug with coffee, several sugar packets and two chocolate croissants.

"Aw, Steve, you didn't have to" Eddie says, genuinely touched. His heart flutters even though this is typical of Steve. He's just the sweetest.

"Oh, stop it," Steve protests, sounding bashful "these are from yesterday, I can't sell them" he says, placing the tray on the counter. A blush colors his cheeks and Eddie smiles, he looks so pretty.

Eddie knows by now how a pastry looks when it's fresh. He can't be fooled anymore.

It's been so long of them doing this dance though, and Eddie knows if he mentions it Steve will just get embarrassed, so he keeps his mouth shut about it.

"Well, they look really good." Eddie says instead "Thank you, sweetheart" he adds softly, his eyes drawn to the pink blooming on Steve's cheeks and focusing on the flour smeared across Steve's nose. He wants to kiss it and get flour all over his lips.

Eddie leans towards the tray and breaks away a piece of croissant, taking a bite.

Yep. Either Steve made these this morning or he's got magic abilities.

" 'M sure gonna miss these" Eddie says around his mouthful, gesturing with the bit of pastry still in his hand.

"Ugh, don't remind me," Steve groans "the shop already feels dull today"

Eddie laughs softly "You flatterer" he accuses

"Just trying to get you to visit" Steve defends, leaning against the counter and into Eddie's personal space to tap the rim of Eddie's reading glasses.

"Like I could stay away from your shop" Eddie says, tries his best not to sound breathless. He thinks he fails, and he must be blushing too, judging by how Steve's eyes are roaming his face.

"Good. Cause we need the business this month" Steve jokes.

That makes Eddie snort and laugh, Steve's shop is filled to the brim with costumers at least twice a day, five days a week.

Steve smiles at him again and then he peers around Eddie.

"Oh, hi!" Steve greets, straightens up and waves a little.

Eddie turns to see Chrissy leaning against the lobby partition, observing with her arms crossed.

Fuck.

"Chriiisssyyyy!" Eddie draws, and she narrows her eyes suspiciously "C'mere!" Eddie soldiers on,

Chrissy eyes him warily but walks to the counter and smiles sweetly at Steve, "Hi!" she greets "I'm Chrissy."

Steve's eyes widen "Of course! Eddie was picking you up today! I'm Steve, it's nice meeting you!"

He's such an angel, Eddie wants to cry.

"Likewise, Steve. I'm so sorry, I don't think Eddie's mentioned you yet" Chris says, but directs it to Eddie, glaring at him.

Eddie's about to answer, offended, but gets stuck on Steve's crestfallen expression for a split second and then Steve beats him to it.

"Oh, it's okay" Steve says, his smile reappearing, "I own the bakery next door" he supplies.

"He brought croissants!" Eddie tries to redirect "The best croissants in the state I'd say" he offers, succeeding in lightening Steve's mood again, judging by the twinkle in his eye.

Satisfied, Eddie asks Chris "D'you want one?"

Chrissy looks at him weird but mutters "sure" and grabs the one still whole.

"Well!" Steve exclaims, softly clapping his hands against his sides,

"I was just dropping these by, I won't take up any more of your time." Steve says "Chrissy it was really nice meeting you, I hope you have a great time in our town."

He turns to Eddie then and reaches out to squeeze his arm "And Eds, I hope you get lots of rest during your break. And visit us." he adds, moving his hand up to softly pull on a stray bit of hair that fell off Eddie's bun "The place won't be the same without you"

Eddie deflects so he doesn't melt under his gaze.

"I'm not dying, Stevie." he says, grabbing him by the shoulders and bodily turning him around as Steve softly laughs.

Judging by how his own cheeks are burning, Eddie's sure that he's the exact shade of a ripe tomato.

"I'll be back before you know it." Eddie adds, and with that, he gets Steve out the door.

Steve turns to say "You better" to Eddie. And once again, he peers around him to wave his fingers at Chrissy "Bye!" he says.

Sweetheart.

Eddie forces himself to not watch him walk the few steps between their shops.

When he turns back to his best friend he's relieved to see she's not glaring at him anymore.

She's got chocolate in the corner of her mouth and she's nodding.

"These are really good" Chrissy says, lulling Eddie into a false sense of safety.

He walks towards her to pick up and continue eating his own croissant, but as soon as he's within reach, Chris smacks the back of her hand against his bicep.

"OW!" Eddie protests, leaning against the counter and rubbing his arm.

She's been an athlete ever since they were in middle school together and she's never pulled her punches with him, it's a big part of why he loves her so much.

"You never told me you had a boyfriend!" she accuses, her mouth still full.