#what with the state of my life and the us and the world as a whole

[gb-patch]

Our Life: N&F Release Structure Poll

Hello!

Today it’s me, GB, writing a post for socials. I’ve been doing some thinking and have an important poll for all of you. I’ve gone on record to say there was something I didn’t ever plan on, but I’m reconsidering it. I want to know what players think of Our Life: Now & Forever releasing Step by Step instead of waiting for Steps 1, 2, and 3 to be completed before launch.

Google Form Poll Link

Honestly, things have been extremely upsetting with the state of the world. I’ve been stressed about it, wanting to do something that could comfort or reassure anyone, just lift people’s spirits a little. Having to accept that OL: N&F is not gonna be out any time this year has felt worse and worse every day. Though, players aren’t being unkind about it. Everyone’s been understanding; it’s my own internal anxiety troubling me. But that’s why I’m considering changing the release structure of the game. If getting to experience all of Step 1 in five or six months and Step 2 at the end of 2025 would be a positive development, then we’re gonna do that.

I’m a little self-conscious and think people need the whole growing up experience to be sold on the OL games. That’s a major reason I’ve not considered an episodic launch. But I think our player base knows the series well enough to decide for themselves if they’d rather play just a single Step or hold off on the game until more is done.

But the early access versions of Steps 1 and 2 would have some bells and whistles missing. Not all the MC Doll customization options would be included, a more advanced MC Detail system that listed things like if you’re good in school and if you have a bad relationship with your mom likely wouldn’t be there either, etc.

And another reason I tend to avoid early access is because it’s helpful for developers to gain income to finish the game. OL: N&F doesn’t need that. It’s already fully funded. I wouldn’t want players to buy DLCs at a bad time thinking they’ve gotta support this early access build.

So, there’s things to consider. I did think it was at least worth floating, whether it ends up happening or not. Please feel free to vote in the poll and comment any thoughts/opinions you have. The poll will close on Saturday, February 15th.

The episodic launch will have to be the clear winner for us to switch to that. If people are split on it or don’t care either way, we’ll stick with the original plan of launching Steps 1-3 together. 

Take care, everybody 💖

[luckykiwiii101]

SLEEPING MONSTROSITY

| | IF THIS DOESN’T WAKE YOU UP, NOTHING WILL | |

XOXO | GOSSIP GIRL | XOXO | GOSSIP GIRL | XOXO | GOSSIP GRL

XOXO | GOSSIP GIRL | XOXO | GOSSIP GIRL | XOXO | GOSSIP GRL

ཐི you might just live this life forever…ouch ཋྀ

And for you extra failure desensitised east siders -> CLICK ME!

Hey Upper East Siders.

Lately i’ve been thinking about how big of failure you are. And how you keep coming up with more stupid questions to ask bloggers because you can’t accept that life is just easy. I’d call you sleeping beauty, but unlike you, she actually woke up.

I want you to ask yourself how it feels knowing that even though you have all the power, you still don’t have the will to save yourself. Yet you think it’s all going to be okay. You still think you’re going to eventually manifest your dream life, and that this nightmare will come to an end.

Pardon my harsh words but that’s pathetic. Why? Because you told yourself the same thing months ago, and look where you are. You haven’t gotten anywhere. You may understand the law better but you haven’t done anything with it. And knowledge is useless when it’s held by…well, you. A lazy, hopeless, pathetic dreamer.

What actually makes you think that you’re going to be living your dream life by the time it hits 2027. You’re just staying still, and you’re going to continue to. You’re not on an escalator, you’re on a treadmill. Getting absolutely nowhere.

And as i’ve said before, leave those Pinterest boards on Pinterest. I can’t imagine how painful it must be to doom fully stare at something you know you’ll never give yourself. And save your dreams for nap time because that’s the closest you’ll ever get to seeing them.

The amount of people that have left this app, without their dream lives…and you’re just going to end up being another one of them. Another day you take to procrastinate turns into a week, then into a month, 6 months, a year, two years, five years…twenty.

“I’ll persist later!!!” Yes. Exactly. You’ll persist “later.” Later as in, next week? next month? next year? Seconds turn into minutes, minutes turn into hours, hours turn into days, days turn into weeks, weeks turn into months, months turn in to years, and years turn into decades, and decades turn into small little segments of your tragic little life, spent doing what? Trying? Procrastinating? Sulking? Or living the life of your dreams? Call it Russian roulette, but YOU’RE the one holding the gun to your head. Nowhere to run.

“I’ll try to enter the void state again tonight.” Yes. Exactly. You’ll TRY again. And you’ll try again the night after that, and the night after that, and the night after that. and so on…and so on…

But you know what’s the most shocking of all? The fact that you actually believe that everything is going to be okay. “I know i’ll win in the end.” Are you sure? Because you don’t win by staying the same. And that’s all you’ve been doing since forever.

You’re going to wake up tomorrow and make the same decision you’ve been making all your life. You’re going to deliberately and willingly choose to be someone you don’t want to be. As usual. Because that’s what’s comfortable to you. What can I say. You’re only human. And that’s all you’ll ever be.

But for someone like Blair Waldorf, failure is the end of the world. Because she’s uncomfortable with something she isn’t used to experiencing. But it’s only if she gets used to it, that she gets comfortable, and starts to let it in. And take over her. Sound familiar? Because it’s exactly what you’ve been doing to yourself. You’re so desensitised to failure that you read wake up calls in your sleep. Shrug them off, and move on. As if the words on this screen aren’t literally your reality.

If this doesn’t make your heart sink, i’m not sure what will. For some, the pain of knowing this might be too intense to ignore, for most of you, you’ll feel nothing. Your desensitisation to failure will be the death of you. What have you done to yourself…

Ouch!

- gossip girl

XOXO | GOSSIP GIRL | XOXO | GOSSIP GIRL | XOXO | GOSSIP GRL

XOXO | GOSSIP GIRL | XOXO | GOSSIP GIRL | XOXO | GOSSIP GRL

[rosy-hollow]

Toji...underestimates his own strength sometimes.

And you know this - the man has probably broken the furniture in your house far more times than you can count (by accident of course) but it still never failed to amuse you.

The two of you had met while you were on a business trip to Japan - and immediately the two of you hit it off after the burly man had saved you from some random drunk off the streets of Okinawa.

However, you were in Japan for a business trip - and thus once your time there was up, you were forced to move back to America.

It was a strange dynamic the two of you had, not fully long distance because you two always tried to fly in and spend time with each other as much as possible - and as much of a hassle that it was, you made it work.

Eventually, Toji had decided to move in with you in the United States, and to say the very least... it was a major culture shock.

Learning English was one thing (seriously, how many sounds can 'ough' make?!) but American life was a stark contrast to the Japanese way of living that Toji sometimes found it difficult to wrap his mind around.

You made it easier though. He would never admit it- but the only reason he went through all of this was because of you.

It was strange, Toji never thought he'd get so attached to someone that he'd uproot his entire life and move across the world just to be with the one he loved, but you made it worth it.

Your laugh, your smile, your kindness, your witty banter - Toji would move planets if he could just be with you a second longer. You were like a drug - addicting and euphoric. No amount of rehab could get him over you.

But the main thing about America that captivated Toji's interest? (other than you)

Football.

And by football, I mean American football. To Toji's knowledge, football was what the Americans called 'soccer', but here, football was a whole different story.

You had put it on one day, for the hell of it - you weren't entirely into sports that much, but you understood the basics of the game. Toji at first thought it was stupid, why the fuck would he give a shit about big beefy men throwing around a deformed ball?

But begrudgingly, your boyfriend got oddly into it, going so far as to buy you both matching jerseys and keep tabs on the progressions of each game.

You thought it was cute - how into it he got, yelling and pouting at the screen in ways that he would deny later on as if the players on the TV could hear him.

Tonight was no different, Toji relaxing on the couch with you pressed up against him, reading a book, with the semi-finals of whatever football tournament he was following - when suddenly:

CRASH!

You blink momentarily, beer dripping down your shirt as Toji stares what used to be his beer can, the can now completely decimated by your boyfriend's death grip.

You gape at him in shock - your boyfriend turning uncharacteristically bright red.

"Did you just-"

"Shut up."

"Toji, that's the third time this week-"

"I know-"

"You're so lucky it didn't get on my book or you'd be so dead right now."

A/N: in honor of the super bowl heh - toji would so be a football dad (he probably bets on the games all the time too)

[stupid-autistic-rat]

Answering these cuz' i' m bored :'] ( I MISS MY WIFEEE RJFMNED )

Which category of alterhumanity do you belong to?

Therianthropy ! 🐾

What/who is/are your type(s)? (if you have any)

I am a Mexican wolf , at least I think that' s my breed , not too sure

Do you experience shifts? If so, can you tell us your most common shifts and your strangest cameo shift (if you've ever had a cameo shift)?

I do , I just realised how they fly right by my head tho T-T my most common one would prolly be mental shifts. I haven' t had many cameo shifts , only a few times where I felt more fox like or different breeds of my kind

How do you experience your alterhumanity in everyday life?

Uhhh i' m not too aware of that tbh , I just kinda do what I do. Just a wolf in the world. Ig it kinda affects me when I make decisions or state my opinion which is usually noticeably different from human opinions or decisions.

What do you think of the community?

Everyone is really nice and awesome !! 💪 working on a server rn so we can all interact :P

What are the things that make you most comfortable and euphoric in your alterhumanity?

Not too sure , just kinda chilling in my den makes me feel good. Idk how to explain how I feel too much. Maybe gear would make me feel more euphoric but I don' t need too much to prove to myself who I am. COMFORTABILITY tho I label differently. Meeting others like me makes me more comfortable since i' m around humans 24/7 ( idm but sometimes I just need to be around my kind ) . I also don' t like being forced to do a lot of human things or eat like them so meat and berries keep me more comfortable , but my parents buy a lot of shitty meat :/

Are you experiencing species dysphoria?

Not really tbh , I just kinda am chilling as a wolf stuck in some human body , I don' t give much thought about it , I' m just me

What advice would you like to say to a young alterhuman who has just awakened?

Hmmm .. ig just don' t let others get in your head , people who don' t understand what you experience often shit on it cuz' they don' t have the knowledge to understand it. I' ve noticed that in people. You ARE who you are , and you feel things for a REASON. Good luck my goat

Do you have/want to have gears?

I actually would like gears , these masks look super awesome. I' m gonna collect materials to make one. I just need to draw out what I want. I would also like a tail just for comfortability and claws to help me better. Human nails SUCK.

Do you know/have any theories about the origin of your alterhumanity? If so, tell us! (all beliefs are legitimate)

Not too sure. Pretty much was born like this ig , nothing really influenced it. Unless you mean signs or stuff from childhood. I was always super interested in my kind and interacting with related kind ( like dogs ) , and felt perfectly comfortable just existing as one of my kind , which other kids would just believe I was playing "" pretend "" , which I didn' t understand much about cuz' i' m autistic. Never changed , even as I continued to get older.

Uhhh ty for reading >:P

These were fun to answer , I LOVE QUESTIONS !!

If you are an alter/nonhuman, reblog and answer these questions!

(don't be afraid to write a lot, do what you want ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯)

1/ Which category of alterhumanity do you belong to?

2/ What/who is/are your type(s)? (if you have any)

3/ Do you experience shifts? If so, can you tell us your most common shifts and your strangest cameo shift (if you've ever had a cameo shift)?

4/ How do you experience your alterhumanity in everyday life?

5/ What do you think of the community?

6/ What are the things that make you most comfortable and euphoric in your alterhumanity?

7/ Are you experiencing species dysphoria?

8/ What advice would you like to say to a young alterhuman who has just awakened?

9/ Do you have/want to have gears?

10/ Do you know/have any theories about the origin of your alterhumanity? If so, tell us! (all beliefs are legitimate)

11/ Tag someone/a creature to answer these questions!ㅤᵕ̈

[blacknedsoul-blog]

Social climbers and the relationship with power: Ada's tragedy

You buddies don't dimension how much I raised my eyebrows when I saw this scene:

Ada climbing on top of a deer (a very typical symbolic representation of noble masculinity) who is trying to fiercely shake her off while she desperately clings to him with all her might...

And is THAT what makes her have a flashback of her relationship with Tamerline? Buddy, I'm putting on a hat to take it off.

Anyway, this means I have enough material to talk about Ada.

Social climbers and power

Ada is, apparently, a social climber: she longs for a social space to which she feels she is entitled, but to which she considers herself not to belong. This is something that can give us clues about her socio-economic situation in life: social climbers are extremely common in spaces such as, for example, the child of a first generation of professionals or of parents who have been able to provide better economic passages despite not belonging to social elites.

So, one thing to be clear about the way Ada relates to people in general is through this lens: the way she tries to move up socially (i.e. to power) is through her relationships with people, if she is close to a person who has power or belongs to an elite, then she is accessing these spaces. If that person does not have it, then she uses the relationship to reassert the position she wants to have.

Ada's personal tragedy is that this way of relating to the world puts her in an extremely vulnerable position with respect to her interpersonal relationships because, if they were not asymmetrical from the beginning, she makes them asymmetrical. It's as true that Ada gets into complicated relationships willingly as it is that she is a victim of people like Tamerlane. You know, the same logic of tragedies.

So let me do a little review of all the relationships Ada has had in the comic, how they go and what is the pattern they follow.

The triad of discord

There are three things that all of Ada's relationships have in common (except one, but we'll get to that): 1) She seeks to get some sort of validation from the other person. 2) She tends to push the person's boundaries, even if they were explicitly stated. 3) Even if the person has some degree of affection or sympathy for her, Ada will never be her priority over other things. Be these things other people, personal desires, etc, etc.

So let's review this a bit.

Let's start with the bastard of Thomas Tamerline. If anything their interaction during chapter 110 makes clear to us is that the guy is quite explicit with the fact that this relationship is purely sex for him (and he possibly enjoys the degree of control he exerts over her), Ada repeatedly tries to get some validation or affection from him and the guy barely complies with the bare minimum.

That he ends up murdering her indicates that, regardless of motive, he sees her as an inconvenience to his personal desires that must be gotten out of the way and, as the icing on the cake, puts the responsibility on her.

Now on to Prospero. His resemblance to Thomas is obvious enough to understand why Ada would be attracted to him and constantly seeks to touch him or be near him, no matter how much Prospero tells her that he is not interested in her. This is an attitude she has even before Annabel encourages her by saying that “Prospero is just being shy”.

Eventually it happens what it does: Prospero is fed up with her and doesn't hesitate to tell her so to her face. We can argue whether or not he's justified in being this cruel, but by the standards of this argument that's irrelevant: the important thing here is that Prospero doesn't care about Ada's feelings enough to be nicer.

Let's go now to Lenore. Ada is extremely mean to her until Lenore demonstrates that she was able to pass the maze test on her own. This is, in Ada's eyes, a demonstration of power and she, as she is wont to do, will not pass up the opportunity to get on the good side of a person who could be a potential rising star.

This is cut short by her same group, but they reconnect at the mansion trial. Since Lenore is not interested in relating on power terms (for better and for worse), here they have the opportunity to share on more equal terms on both their parts. Yes, Lenore is also doing this for personal reasons, but it doesn't take away from the merit.

Ada ends up overstepping boundaries and betraying Lenore at the end of the trial. And after she learns of her Ada's involvement in Duke's kidnapping, well, all she has to say when Pluto fills her in is says that shitty relationship is strangely appropriate.

Yes, Lenore may have come to have some degree of affection for her, but Ada is no more important than her friends and after getting into something like that, to hell with her.

With Annabel things start to get more interesting. These two have a cocktail of projection and resentment between them: Annabel is all Ada wants, so she treats her like a pretty accessory that gives her status (something that definitely oversteps Annabel's boundaries, even if she hasn't expressed them because it doesn't suit her) and, to Annabel, Ada is little more than an important piece she can take advantage of.

This take it with a grain of salt because there are some “buts.”

On Ada's side, that she seeks help from Annabel when Montresor is being a fucking psycho is an indicator that she felt, at least, protected by Annabel. But as is often the case with her, the plan Annabel is carrying out is no more important than Ada, she just lets it happen.

Twice. Under the circumstances, Annabel chooses to help Prospero over Ada.

However, Ada is not indifferent to Annabel: she is definitely furious with Montresor after what he did (In fact, this is the only scene so far where we have seen Annabel exercising any form of physical aggression)., she is uncomfortable when Prospero is mean to Ada, and there are a few small frames where she looks at her with sincere pity.

But again, that won't make Annabel prioritize her over her own plans.

Finally, we come to the most interesting relationship here.

Ada definitely cares about Morella, but that won't make constantly denigrating her a reaffirmation of the position she believes (or wants) to have: making comments like Morella's food “is poor.” Ada pecks at the boundaries with a stick, yet these things -for some reason- don't seem to bother Morella, who is able to see the good in her despite her bad attitudes. Until she stops doing it because not only participating in Duke's kidnapping, but also trying to play cool by making excuses is out of bounds even for Morella.

But an interesting thing happens here too, remember how Ada is never a priority for anyone? Well, for a moment in her relationship with Morella it looks like this is going to be different. Morella makes a feeble attempt to defend her when Montresor makes her bark and puts a shield in her face when Prospero attacks her in the mansion trial.

Unfortunately for Ada, Morella is someone too lacking in backbone and too concerned with following the rules to stand up for her when it really counts.

After Ada manifests and bursts into tears, she pushes Morella away from her with a shove.

Morella says she wants to help, but all it takes is for Poppet to remind her that she needs to get back the Merits she lost for Morella to finally give in.

The two people Ada considered her friends have left her: Annabel has chosen to help Prospero and Morella has left.

That's when Montresor enters.

And here begins the first break in Ada's toxic pattern of relationships...but not for the better.

Ada and Montresor

Oddly enough, these two are a good match...for horrible reasons. Montresor, like Ada, is a social climber who uses interpersonal relationships to get closer to power, only in a different way: where Ada sticks it to people who hold power, Montresor uses others to reassert himself in a position of power. So, Ada feeds Montresor's ego, while he can pretend to like her enough to keep Ada happy.

Because yes, Ada and Montresor's relationship fulfills most of the bad patterns in relationships that Ada usually has: she seeks validation in this relationship and Montresor definitely doesn't prioritize her (she constantly has to compete with Will for Montresor's attention, for example). But the important thing here is that, for once, Ada isn't the one constantly pecking at the other person's boundaries: it's Montresor who does it.

He pushes her around, teases her, calls her by other women's names, and it's probably only a matter of time before this starts to get worse. What's interesting is that Ada is able to get upset when this happens, unlike what we see in the flashback to her relationship with Thomas.

So there is something changing here.

Conclusion

I'm not sure where this is going to lead, but one thing is for sure: Montresor is a reflection of a toxic pattern of behavior that Ada has in her relationships and if she's starting to get uncomfortable with it, it's not just because the abyss is staring back at her, but because she's getting herself into a situation too similar to her relationship with Thomas to not know how it might end.

Add to that this:

This is the first time in the comic that Ada has had such a selfless gesture for another person. And that selfless gesture is something as big as putting herself in danger to save someone. As if all this wasn't enough, it's been to save Annabel: one of the two friends who turned their backs on her when she needed them.

I don't know if this will be the start of her character development or we should interpret it as deathflags placed over her head, but one thing is for sure: whatever is going to come out of here has quite a bit of potential.

[sdmnpact]

Tequila Sunrise.

Wroetoshaw x Reader smut

**18+ MDNI**

♪ Now Playing: Tequila Sunrise by Emblem 3 ♪

~~~

You were at the club with your best friends. You noticed how crowded it was, the music pounding loudly with the DJ's lights illuminating the room in a pinkish blue tint. Your friends decided on having a night out full of fun and forgetting your everyday worries.

"Y/n, we're gonna go on the dance floor, come join us!" Your friend shrieked as she was holding onto the bar already wasted from the multiple drinks she's had. "I think I'll just sit here for a bit, enjoy my drink. I'll join you later." She rolled her eyes playfully, waving you off stumbling towards the dance floor with the others.

You watched at your friends danced, their bodies moving around in tandem with the crowd. You wanted to dance, but they have got the best tequila sunrises you've ever had in your life and you wanted to finish it. You sipped at it, looking at your phone for a brief moment when you felt someone sit by your side.

You quickly glanced over and saw a guy with blondish hair. You turned away from him, continuing to sip at your drink. You pulled out the cherry and set it on the napkin in front of you.

"Don't like cherries?" The man next to you asked. You turned around, slightly surprised by his sudden words.

"I'm sorry?"

"I noticed you picked out the cherry, well cherries." He pointed at the napkin with a total of four.

"Oh, yeah, I don't really like these ones as much." You said with an awkward laugh. You looked down, trying to avoid eye contact.

"So you don't mind if I take them?" You looked up at him with a cocked eyebrow.

"You want a stranger's cherries?"

"Well, I'm Harry. What's your name?"

"Y/n..." You said with slight hesitation, your previous question still lingering in your mind.

"See, we aren't strangers anymore." He said as he picked them up and plopped them in his mouth.

You were curious about him, he had a very confident demeanor making you feel a bit weary but you decided to keep talking with him.

"You're just okay with eating a stranger's cherries? What if I sucked on them then put them down?"

"Adds flavor, doesn't it." You scrunched your face in slight disgust but found it funny how unphased this man is.

"So, why are you here and not out on the dance floor?" He asked looking towards the crowd.

"Just enjoying my drink, have you tried these? They're super tasty but not too sweet!" You exclaimed with maybe a bit too much enthusiasm and slightly tipsy from drinking so many.

"Yeah, I can see that." He laugh a breathy little chuckle. There was a small moment where he was mesmerized by your eyes getting lost in them. He found you so beautiful even in your drunken state. To be honest, he had been trying to find a reason to come up to you, luckily, the cherries offered a nice conversation starter.

"So, you wanna get outta here?" You asked jokingly seeing his face flush immediately.

"What?"

"I'm just kidding, don't get your knickers in a twist." You laughed as he let out a big breath.

"Well, do you want to go dance now?" He asked still slightly red in the cheeks.

"Sure." You finished the last of your drink as he grabbed your hand leading you to the dance floor.

You looked over and saw your friends throwing you funny faces making you roll your eyes. One of your friends mouthing a 'get in there' causing you to turn your back towards them, not wanting to see their reactions.

You and Harry began dancing to the upbeat music that filled the scene. You weren't the best at dancing and just loved to enjoy yourself, even if you looked weird.

You bodies moved in sync with each other. You moved your hips into his as he held onto your waist for grip. You just danced together without a care in the world.

The music changed to a more rhythmic tune but you didn't want to separate from him and you could feel his grip tighten. You turned to face him, his forehead collecting little drops of sweat making his messy hair stick to it.

"You're a really good dancer" He shouted over the music, you shot him a little smirk, moving the hair from his forehead.

"You're not so bad yourself." You said, both of you breathing heavily. You stared into each others eyes, taking a short break from the intense dancing.

His eyes moved from your eyes to your lips. You noticed that he wanted to kiss you and you grabbed his neck, pulling him towards you planting your lips on his.

As cliché as it sounds, you felt a flutter in your stomach as you moved your lips against his gripping his neck tighter for support.

It felt like you were the only people in the room as you continued kissing. You couldn't pull away, you felt hungry for more of him as he sensed it, his hands slowly trailing to your bottom.

You yelped a bit as he squeezed it, you could feel a slight smile form on his lips.

You continued like this for a couple more minutes until you remembered where you were. You pulled away, putting your hand on your lips.

"That was a bit unexpected." You said with a small chuckle.

"Should we do it again?" His bottom lip sticking out and his eyes widening like a puppy.

"Maybe... but not here." You said pulling on his arm as you made your way out of the club.

You two were both panting heavily as you walked into the empty street in front of the club. The only sounds were the muted thumping of the music and some crickets chirping in the background.

You pulled him towards the nearby alleyway that had a small little nook with walls on either side. You pushed him into the wall, grabbing his neck once again, pulling him towards your lips.

You kissed him even rougher this time, feeling more free with this slight privacy. He held onto your waist putting his hands under your shirt. You gasped slightly feeling his cold hands on your delicate skin.

He slipped his tongue into your mouth exploring as you let him take dominance. You felt his hands move up towards your bra as he then unclasped the clips.

His hands then made their way towards your breast, delicately fondly them as you moaned, he began messaging your nipples not breaking the momentum of the kiss.

You tugged on his hair, desperately wanting more of him. He understood and moved his lips down your jawline, then your neck, taking small nips of it as he made his way down.

He swiftly spun you two around so you were against the wall. He lifted up your shirt, his thumb running over your nipples as you looked at him, biting your lip.

You watched as his head made his way down to your left breast, placing his soft lips on your nipple, sucking ever so lightly. His tongue swirling around while his other hand was still on your right breast caressing it. Your eyes rolled back as you felt your heat pulsating at his soft touch.

His hand made it's way down towards the bottom of your skirt. Luckily, you were wearing a loose fitting skirt and only a thong underneath.

His fingers slowly reached underneath.

"Already wet?" He teased, his voice deeper and raspier than earlier.

His fingers trailing around your heat, going everywhere but inside. His fingertips drawing lines up and down your inner thighs finally going near your clit.

Suddenly he inserted two fingers inside, making you yelp at the sudden feeling.

His lips made their way back to yours to keep you from moaning out loud.

His fingers going in and out of you, causing your hips to buck as his speed increased.

You felt yourself already dripping around his hand as his cold fingers felt nice inside your warm clit.

Your head went back, separating you from his lips as you couldn't handle the intense pressure you were feeling. You let out multiple moans as his speed increased faster and faster.

It's almost like he was playing a game, seeing how loud he can make you scream.

You quickly glanced at him, he had a cheesy grin as he watched your face. Admiring how beautiful you looked, especially the face your were making from his touch. Your cheeks were red and you could feel how sweaty both of you were getting.

"Fuck, I'm gonna cum." You said struggling to get the words out. This motivated him to go even faster. You kept thinking he couldn't go faster but he did and it made you go mental.

You felt a knot in your stomach and your legs begin to shake. He noticed how unstable you were and held onto your waist tighter, trying to hold you up.

"Next time, I'm gonna ram into you harder." He whispered in your ear as you finally felt yourself release all over his fingers and you let out an extremely loud scream.

"Hey! Is everything oka- oh my god, I'm so sorry." You looked as a random stranger stood behind Harry, quickly shielding his eyes and walked away.

You quickly stood up straight, still slightly weak in your legs as he pulled his fingers out.

"Got my fingers drenched." He chuckled as he looked you in the eyes slowly sucking on his fingers making you admire how handsome he looked.

You rolled your eyes as he was completely unphased by the stranger.

"Next time, I'll please you like this." You looked up as you planted another kiss on his lips.

[thesunssin]

I’d love to absolutely yap about Gihun and Sangwoo and how Gihun is in this season so here it is ‼️ ( sorry for any spelling mistakes, English isn’t my first language 🙏)

I don’t see a lot of people really talk about just how much of an affect Sangwoo had on Gihun, especially on this season and how he takes his actions, and even the intentions behind it, but I’d love to go on about Gihun first.

Gihun was never a remarkable person, his life before the games was already in shambles. The company he worked under went on a strike, and that’s when he came in touch with death for the first time, witnessing a coworker die right infront of him when their workplace got attacked, the same day his wife gave birth, which he couldn’t attend, since then he’s been losing things more and more, his wife and daughter, and to cope with it all he turned to unhealthy ways, gambling and detaching from the pain by doing so. Lots of people say he was happier back then, but he was just ignoring all his issues. He’s stuck in the past, his mind refuses to register the pain he went through, and in turn to find a way to heal and work on his life. And being stuck on the past means attaching to things in his childhood, one indirectly being Sangwoo, considering he spends a lot of time with his mother. He knows his state, and indulges in it instead of pretending to be something else.

Sangwoo on the other hand, was the opposite of him. Which is everything Gihun admired in him, and everything Sangwoo envied in him. Gihun views him as someone remarkable, and obviously doesn’t shy away from saying so. But Sangwoo isn’t, and doesn’t believe so. Sangwoo his entire life was fixated on a image he wants to put out to the world, and does whatever it takes to do so, betting on everything and even his mother, who just like Gihun, views him as “ the pride of their hometown”. His methods of doing so however, were immoral and illegal, which caused him to be heavily in debt, a physical proof of his failure. Unlike Gihun, his coping mechanism simply is either money or nothing, to be something else or nothing, anything but himself, and something better than him. Because of his failure, he feels like an imposter in a suit, pretending to be everything he’s not, the image he so desperately wants to portray would falter infront of his mother, and already does infront of Gihun, so his instinct is always to run away from the past, to never go back to his hometown, to his mother, because of how ashamed he is of himself. Seeing Gihun again reminds him of everything he couldn’t be, and that reminder is a constant agony to Sangwoo.

Sangwoo envies the authenticity Gihun has, how he unapologetically connects with others in a death game, helps out Oh Ilnam, an old man who is deemed to be a weak link in a game where everyone is out to get each other, and how despite it all, he still keeps his humanity intact and doesn’t let it falter, how even though Gihun treated his mother horribly, he still had her love, while Sangwoo believes his mother only loves the image he put, not himself. Gihun is the only person who saw his image falter, in the scene where he asks him if he’d push him if it was him instead of the glass maker. Sangwoo breaks, immediately arguing back like a defensive child, his argument almost childish when he calls Gihun a “pea head” and a “dumbass”. When Sangwoo mentions how his entire life is pathetic, Gihun replies that he knows the state of his life, and asks why Sangwoo, the pride of their hometown, the graduate of SNU, is right here in the pits with him, despite their vastly different lives, to which Sangwoo replies with nothing. Gihun through the show realises more and more how insecure Sangwoo is, and in turn also perfectly broke down the image he was trying to hard to put to justify his actions. Sangwoo, probably because of the pressure of Gihun’s own admiration, feels like his actions if for the sake of Gihun’s, no matter what, is justified, which he tries to use when arguing with Gihun, but in reality, it’s his own desperation, his own need to present as something else than himself, if it means bringing worth to his life, which he deems meaningless.

When he tries to connect with someone authentically, that person being Ali, he finally tries to allow himself to be without guilt, to help without thinking of any ulterior motives, and to have a relationship that isn’t wholly transactional, but that ultimately shatters when he teams up with Ali, who he ends up actually using his skills ( intelligence and manipulation, which he wanted to use hand in hand with Ali for each other instead of against each other) and like his old clients, cheats and robs him after promising to help. A painful reflection of how Ali, who was always cheated off his money and used in his workplace in unjust ways, the people who were his bosses, now gets cheated off by someone who he used to call from boss to Hyung. That’s when Sangwoo ultimately reverts back to his mindset, that he should be striving to save himself, make worth for himself, to make the blood in his hands make sense, and for the guilt to be worth it in the end, but also sees how Gihun still helps others, how he still helped Saebyeok, and is filled with anger about how he can pretend that he doesn’t also have blood on his hands too, that they’re all gonna die because of each other, but he still moves in the same empathetic way, as if they can afford to be kind.

Season 1 to me really is about how circumstances change the people who you once knew, how capitalism and money twists people, and even the most innocent things to bloody. It’s best portrayed with two childhood friends, Sangwoo and Gihun, who once played together with just fun in their minds, the adrenaline and the joy of childhood innocence and childlike wonder in their minds, to playing the same games for money with life and death in their minds. I’d argue and say they’re both just overgrown kids, two who are stuck in the past, Gihun who refuses to accept it as it is, and stays behind, his personality almost childish and pathetic as a grown man, while Sangwoo who runs after his childhood dreams by any means, stuck in the image that’s already tainted with blood, his personality almost like an angsty teen who pretend to be older than he is, but both come from poverty, both struggling with money, and both their issues starting from that, which shaped them to be who they are, and turned them both to things they don’t recognise anymore when they reunited till and till their last moments together.

Maybe it’s my own point, but I believe that Sangwoo was relieved that Gihun hated him for that brief moments, that they’ve argued and fought, and that the image Gihun had of him was shattered, which in turn also freed him from his own lies and image he tried to convince himself too. He could finally feel angry without any restraint, without acting like he isn’t, without covering up his selfish desires and needs, and projects it all onto Gihun, absolutely shattering the image he tried so hard to keep infront of him on purpose. Their fight was brutal and lacked any real training, both not knowing how to fight properly, and their emotions speaking louder, their movements are sloppy and awkward, and Sangwoo, who’s way more brutal in this fight, gets a hold of the knife for longer and stabs Gihun, while Gihun who when he manages to get a hold of the knife ( which is impaled to his hand ) realises that he can’t complete his actions, Sangwoo realising so when he opened his eyes to see Gihuns sad ones looking back. When Gihun walks right to the very edge of the triangle of the squid, he realises that the money, all of it, would never be worth his friends life, his childhood friends life, waking back limping and bloody to ask the guard, referencing what Sangwoo said to use clause three and for both of them agree to stop the games and leave.

Sangwoos anger waters down with the rain puddles next to him, and he realises the irony of their place. The same two grown adults, who once used to play the same games, and as he says “ When we were younger, we used to play just like this and our moms would call us for dinner” the intensity of their fight, this one being bloody and violent, reflects on how they as kids would imagine their fights to be that intense and bloody, the adrenaline copying one of someone facing life and death, except they are now, and like Sangwoo says. “Nobody is calling us anymore” his voice here ( lovely detail from the actor thank you park haesoo!) broken like a child, and Gihun raises his hand to him, telling him that they can go him, that they will go home. All the anger they had seconds before now gentle and caring, all of it was always once love, all the anger was once love. Gihun gives him is pure clean hand, one without a drop of blood, while Sangwoo stretches his own bloody hand, one that isn’t tainted with his own blood, but the blood of others and the person above him, the one who’s other hand he impaled.

Gihun was so willing, so willing to make it all worthless. Everything they’ve been though, all the scars they got and had, all the deaths they’ve caused indirectly, directly, and witnessed from close or afar, the death of the people he cared for, even Saebyeoks, and his own bleeding wounds and stabs, all if it meant bringing back Sangwoo with him, he’d go penniless willingly, because he couldn’t truly blame him for everything, he couldn’t truly blame him for turning out the way he is, he admired him with his soul, loved him with every fibre of his being, and adored him and saw him as someone so remarkable and great despite it all, so he gave him his hand, his clean, untainted hand, as to tell him that he, Sangwoo, can taint it with all his sins, and he’ll still hold his hand, he’d still want him by his side. Sangwoo almost took it, almost. He wanted to let himself be, to accept that gentleness Gihun so willingly offered, and to accept the hands of his childhood friend.

That’s until he realises they won’t have a single penny for it all. That’s when he retracts his hand, and all he can do is apologise, to say sorry to his Hyung, as he stabs the knife through his neck without any remorse. In that moments, I think that’s when he realised the only way he can truly repay Gihun isn’t by taking his hand, but by leaving all the money for him, to repay his mother, to repay for Ali, Saebyeok, for all the people he caused to suffer, to repay it all with his life that was now worth 45.7B when the last person is eliminated. In the end of it all, he ignores even his own will to live and picks the most reasonable choice, letting his childhood friend win, not any random person, but Gihun. He knows him better than anyone, and within his last moments, calls out for his mother, asking Gihun to help her, to repay her in his behalf, because he couldn’t face her like this, he knows he wouldn’t be able to live with the weight of what he has done, even more-so without a single dim. But he knows Gihun wouldn’t forget him, he wouldn’t forget his mother, he wouldn’t forget his humanity, and he wouldn’t forget to care.

And so Sangwoo dies in a playground, dead in his childhood friends hands, a reflection of how everything he chased for as a kid died there too, and was always stuck in the same playground trying to prove his worth by winning.

By S2, Gihun painfully parallels everything Sangwoo was before the games. Both sharing even the same mother, who they both feel too ashamed and guilty to face, calling their families from a distance, and falling into deep depression, both sharing the same sense feeling like an imposter in their bodies for being things they aren’t ( both being wealthy, but gaining that wealth in unjust ways) their sense of worth less now and both suicidal. ( Sangwoo who tried to commit suicide in the bathtub, and Gihun who doesn’t hesitate to play Russian roulette and shoot himself) the only difference is the reason why they go back to the games.

Gihun in s2 even comes back to the games acting exactly like Sangwoo, even down to the two of them meeting someone from their past within it ( Sangwoo who met Gihun, and Gihun who now met Jungbae) but as vastly different people. Gihun uses what he had learnt directly from Sangwoo to help others ( The red light green light method, Mentioning the third clause, which was even filmed in the same space and manner, and telling others to hide before the fight broke out ) he’d always seen Sangwoo as an example of how to be, and admired him as a figure of something remarkable, so he, who already feels like an imposter in his body, who feels like he shouldn’t be the one who made it out, unconsciously begins to create an image of himself that reflects Sangwoos, one he saw as cold, intelligent, and was human despite it all.

Young Il, who Inho created, is an image of who Gihun wishes Sangwoo was. (Yes ik how that sounds lemme elaborate!) Young-il is someone who is equally as smart, someone who uses that intelligence to help the weaker, who thinks for the community, and is willing to help Gihun help others, unlike Sangwoo who limited his intelligence and help to just those who could also equally benefit him, who held back on trusting Gihun, and in the end acted on his own, and reduced Gihun’s humanity to weakness, something Gihun resented about Sangwoo, and something he sees in Young-il, who Inho knew how to build himself to be someone Gihun trusted, a familiar but strange new face. Oh but Gihun’s intentions aren’t so pure either, his guilt brought him back to the games, back to something he was stuck in, back to the past he can’t move on from and never will, his guilt drives him to think he needs to sacrifice himself for the games to end, even without any real aim or clear goal on how to, or even realising that the players will still suffer anyways, he believes his life will only gain worth if it’s used for something greater, similarly to how Sangwoo also believed his life would be worth something if he gained social status and money, something greater than himself. This time, Gihun gambles with the lives of himself and others ( the people who died for the plan) instead of horses.

Gihuns unwavering trust in others humanity, and in humanity itself, I’d say is purely because of Sangwoo. He witnessed him turn to so many things, from someone he so dearly admired, to a vile person who spat blood and killed for money, to hearing him never speak to him informally even in their angriest moments, and to crying in his arms, uttering out his mothers name as he calls him Hyung for the last time. Sangwoo, who taught him all he knew right now, couldn’t teach him how people could still be harmful, that trusting still blinds, and that being idealistic and naive isn’t good, because Sangwoo was human, Sangwoo wasn’t evil and irredeemable, he still cared for the boy he grew with, for the kid he found charming but annoyingly naive, for the kid who bragged about him every given chance, and for the same guy who he entrusted his mother to, the one who he drove all his actions for. And Gihun? He bet his entire life on that, on the shred of his cold image breaking to reveal his real vulnerability, on his humanity. And because Sangwoo showed him that, he now doesn’t believe anybody is truly evil, that they’re all victims of something bigger than themselves.

And so Gihun goes back to the games, going back to the place that his old self died in, and the one he doesn’t even know if he’ll survive in again, but is willing to gamble his life on ending it.

(sorry for how long I’ve yapped for! and if I’ve made any mistakes ❤️ please have some mercy on me! my English isn’t the best )

[rafesbuzzcutseason]

chasing city lights

chapter 11 - flatline

synopsis: you move to new york to start fresh, hoping to find comfort in the city’s atmosphere. that’s when you meet sarah cameron, where she takes you to a concert and you catch sight of the lead band member, rafe cameron. it only takes a moment for you to realize you’re captivated by him. as sarah helps you navigate your new life in the city, you start to get pulled deeper into rafe's world—the music, the fame, the chaos. the more you get to know him, the more you realise that rafe is not just the rock star he seems to be. he’s wrestling with his own demons, and the last thing he needs is someone like you getting close.

masterlist

cw: language

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after your day with rafe yesterday, the girls had so many questions and you told them everything, down to the song he wrote for you. what you didn't expect however, was that the song was going to be released in a few days time.

"i genuinely can't believe this," sarah started, "i mean him opening up to you? the commincation? the song? where is rafe and what have you done with him." she giggled.

"no y/n i don't think you understand the extent of this. like we've all been friends with rafe for a good 6 years, and i have never seen a girl have this affect on him before."

"guys stop you're making me think i'm some kind of miracle." you laughed with them.

"that's because you are a miracle." cleo joined in.

"so do you think you'll become official soon...?" sarah questioned.

"i don't know, the fans already think we are." you stated.

"the fans are fucking crazy. you'll get used to that i promise. when me and pope started dating everyone went bonkers over it." cleo reassured you.

"i guess so, it's okay i don't mind it, it's just getting used to seeing my face whenever i open twitter." you said. "whatever, we've got a flight to catch." you all finished your last minute packing and made your way into the car that was waiting for you outside the hotel.

part of you was sad to be leaving the state you had made so many memories in, but you knew heading back to new york all together was just the beginning for this new chapter for you and rafe.

once you made it to the airport, you found the rest of the boys who had left earlier as they all entered 'dad mode' and were getting stressed, john b to blame for that.

"finally you're here!" john b began as he saw you walk through the door.

"yeah thought we were gonna have to leave without you." pope said sarcastically.

"enough. we're here now aren't we?" cleo said rhetorically.

"yes ma'am" jj joined in, everyone was in agreement that cleo was the boss of the group.

you made your way to say hi to topper, who was slowly starting to become his usual self again, you assumed him and rafe had a conversation to try and clear the air.

but you eventually made it to rafe, who looked like his was patiently waiting his turn to get your attention, "hey you" he said.

"hey" you replied with a slight blush, "i didn't know you were actually going to release the song." you rushed out.

a look of concern took over him, "do you mind?" he asked worriedly.

"no! no i'm happy" you started, "but the fans are a little crazy."

"yeah i know they are and i should've warned you about that, but the best ones mean no harm and all you can try and do is ignore them." he replied.

"hard to ignore them when they're commenting on everything i post." you quietly said.

"i can say something if it really bothers you, okay?" he softly reached out to give your hand a squeeze.

"okay" you smiled at him, always putting you at ease.

"ok love birds pack it in," jj hollered "i don't think this plane is going to wait for us."

"whatever dude" rafe grinned, "ready?" he turned to you.

"ready."

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a/n: sorry guys i made this chapter a lot more smau, just as i had the idea to do the thread (which took me ages LAWD) and also wanted to get the song mentioned ! 5 points to anyone who knows the actual song and band🙈

taglist: @hoefordrewstarkey @marleymarleymarleymarley @bee-43 @cherryhoneybabe @skye-44 @drewrry @drewrry  @yesterdaysproblemm @pogueprincesa @dylsdaily @rafeysworldim19 @valyrianflower @kaiparkerwifes @judesgfirl @4urvalidation @chillgal135 @drewstarkeyslover @yesshewrites1@amterasuu@babykhloutofthisworld @blushmimi  @moonywhisp3rs @rafeysworldim19 @marleymarleymarleymarley@sabrina-carpenter-stan-account@vcnillafairy @bambii1i @sammyrenae68 @popou61

[thequeendesi]

A Werewolf

Title: A Werewolf

Alt Title: Imprinting

Pairing: Paul Lahote x Reader

Warnings: uhhh, none other than a mild panic attack. Reader won’t call Renesmee by her name.

Rating: PG

Summary: after growing up in Forks with your dad, your sister coming to live with you two, and the entirety of the Cullen drama, a wedding, and a life or death situation, your twin comes back home but different. And after seeing her, you become painfully aware of what really happened to her and leave only to realize you fit into her new world more than expected.

Word Count: 3k

A/N: woooooooow. So it’s been a while since I actually wrote smth and posted it! Consider this my lil welcome back. I’ve actually been so busy. I got married, I’ve started trying for a family, been babysitting kids, and death and just a whole lot of crazy. But I knew I just needed to actually write smth and finish it, and today I finally did. So please enjoy, requests are open and as always; I love yall 🩷

———

“Where are you going Dad?” You asked, looking up from your phone. You leaned against the armrest on the couch, your legs spread across the cushions. “To see Bella. She’s back in town.” He said, almost sounding confused in his statement. “Bella’s home? She didn’t call me.” You narrowed your eyebrows, turning off your phone. “I want to go.” You stood up, slipping your feet into your house shoes.

“Dressed like that?” Your dad asked, crossing his arms as he looked at you in your pajamas. “I’m not trying to impress the Cullen’s. I’m trying to interrogate them.” You crossed your arms, taking a second glance at yourself in the reflection of the tv. Unbothered by your sweatpants, tank top and robe. “How did she go from the brink of death, to moving far away to; she’s fine and can stay?” You narrowed your eyebrows. “It makes no sense. Dad, you're a cop! You’re not questioning anything?”

“I don’t know, I’m not questioning it. I’ve gotten… enough answers these last few days.” Your father ran a hand down his face. “What does that mean?”

“Nothing just…” He sighed. “Nothing. If that’s what you’re wearin’, let’s go.” He opened the door, grabbing the keys off the key rack.

You nodded, and headed outside, hearing him close and lock the door behind you. “And Jake...” He added, getting into the driver seat. “Jake? How is he tied into this?” You narrowed your eyebrows, getting into the passenger seat and buckling up.

“Another thing we don’t need to get into.”

“Something we do. Why’re you keeping secrets from me? That was Bella and mom’s thing.” You crossed your arms. “I’m not keeping secrets. I don’t know things.” He pulled out of the driveway and began driving towards Jake's. “Everything that’s going on? I don’t know. Other than Jake is a dog. And not a figurative dog. I mean the kid I’ve seen his entire life turn into a dog.” He said, almost bewildered to be saying it outloud.

“A… dog.” You nodded. “Bella had to have known. What else is going on in this town?” Your dad muttered to himself, parking in Jake’s yard.

You watched as the door swung open and out piled a handful of men. Some you remembered from when Jake brought you over, but after sometime last year you hadn’t gotten an invitation back. You couldn’t help but think it was tied to Bella.

You felt your heart pound as your eyes landed on one of the men, who was staring you down. All noises fell to soft murmurs for a second.

Your eyes continued glued to him as you snapped back into reality by feeling your dads truck move back down the road. Only until his frame was out of view did you turn around to look at Jake. “Start talking. When did you become a dog?” You asked, reminded of your previous mission: to interrogate.

Jake’s eyes shot to your dad. “Look at me.” You stated, grabbing his face to tug it your way. What used to be easy, your hand slipped off his face as his face didn’t move at all. “Do you remember when Cullen left Bella and you came to a bonfire?” He asked you.

“Yeah. Edweird left, you took me to a bonfire because she kept screaming all night and I needed a break and i heard about the legends about wolves and…” You paused. “No way…” you looked down momentarily, before looking back up at him. “The cold ones?” You asked, recalling another conversation you two had. “The Cullen’s.” He answered.

Your dads eyes shifted from the rear view mirror to you as he silently drove. “I just can’t believe it.” You turned back around in your seat, trying to ignore the painful pull in your chest.

“So… why are you coming with us to go see Bella? What aren’t you telling us? She’s not pregnant, is she?” You laughed a little bit, before turning in your seat to look at him again. “Is she?” You repeated.

“No. There’s a daughter. And um… I am her guardian protector.” He cleared his throat. “A daughter? They’ve been married for a month. That’s…” you scoffed, looking out of the window. ”apart of the weird shit you have going on.” You shook your head.

Charlie sighed as he parked the vehicle. “We’re here.” He half chuckled, looking at you. Your eyes met his, noticing his deeper bags under his eyes and stress lines in his middle forehead.

You opened your door and got out. The air felt still, almost scary. You crossed your arms, your hands holding sides of your robe as you walked up the steps to the front door.

“Creepy ass house…” you raised your hand to knock on the door, but stopped as Jacob walked straight in, Charlie following behind him. You sighed and dropped your hand, following behind them.

“Where’s Bella?” Your dad asked Carlisle. You crossed your arms as the man looked at you and your father, before gesturing down the hallway to where she was. “I wasn’t expecting you as well, (Name).” He smiled gently at you. “It’s my twin.” You responded plainly.

You followed your father and Jake.

“Hey.” Bella said. Your face finally softened as you saw her. “Bella. Are you ok?” You quickly cut your father off, moving close to examine her. Your eyebrows quickly knit themselves as you gathered… an overall off vibe from her.

“Never better. Healthy as a horse.” She laughed a little. “You… don’t turn into an animal too, do you?”

Bella smiled, her eyes shifting to Jake quickly before shaking her head.

Edward patted Jake’s shoulder gently, leaving the room. “Let’s give these three some privacy.” Jacob nodded, following behind Edward.

“Bella, I just don’t understand.” You pushed your hair from your face, beginning to pace. “You’re…” you looked at your dad, then at her. “You. But you’re not.” You gestured at her.

“I’m okay, (Name).” She said, trying to ease you. Scoffing, you readjusted your robe. “Did you just wake up?” She asked, trying to joke. “No. I just graduated high school, I’m enjoying early adulthood unemployment.”

”I need to know what happened to you.” Your dad stated, finally speaking up. “No.” Bella shook her head. “We need an explanation.”

“If you need one, I can’t stay.” Bella looked away from your dads eye contact. “No. No more going away!” Your dad spoke up.

“Just trust me. I’m alright. I’m more than alright. Can you live with that?”

Your dad scoffed. “I just watched a kid I knew his whole life turn into a very large dog.” He gestured to your twin, “my daughter looks like my daughter… but doesn’t.”

“Just trust me… I’ll tell you what you need to know.” Her gaze fell to you, knowing you knew. “And I don’t need to know this?”

“No… really, you don’t.” She shook her head. “Well… I’m not going to lose you again. I can’t.”

“You won’t. I promise.” Bella persisted.

You felt tears well in your eyes as you looked at the door way, avoiding Bella’s hug with your dad. “I missed you bells… so much.” You heard as your dad fought the tears.

A soft coo and footsteps entered the room as you exited. Your heartbeat racing as you trail down the hallway.

Opening the front door, you finally let go of the pained gasp of air you held in the back of your throat. You walked forward until you could lean against the handrail you stared into the forest. Millions of thoughts racing through your mind, but a few yelled loudly on top of the others.

Your sister is a vampire, married a vampire, probably had some weird half vampire kid, and your sisters in laws are a group of vampires.

“(Name).” Edward called to you. Closing the door behind him. “You’re not going to turn me too, are you?” You asked sarcastically.

“Uh, no.” He said softly, stepping forward to stand next to you. Taking a deep breath, he opened his mouth to say anything. You held your hand up. “I’m not going to say anything.” You shook your head, putting your hand back down. “But it explains everything.” You sighed.

“Her name is Renesmee.” Edward stated. “Who?” You narrowed your eyebrows. “Your niece.” He answered. “So you two did have sex before marriage.” You laughed slightly.

“No.” He shook his head. “We didn’t expect it… her.” Edward corrected himself. “She came as a surprise. She’s a week old and looks six months.” He shook his head.

“I don’t mean to sound rude,” you started, pushing yourself off of the handrail. “But learning about… what I learned today, was enough. I’m sorry, but I’ll meet Ragnorak another time.” You stated, moving past him to step off of the porch. “Where are you going?” Edward asked, watching your movements. “I don’t know.” You shrugged, throwing your hands up as you began to walk into the woods.

The dusk fell quickly as the sounds of nature filled your ears. Before Bella moved back to live with your dad and you, woods used to be your solace. You used to tell anyone who’d listen, you knew the woods of Forks, better than any of the people.

“Are you lost?” You heard a low pitched voice call out into the woods. You turned your head where the voice was coming. A tall man stood under a tree, deep red eyes staring into your soul, his hand resting against it as he leaned into it. “Pretty girls shouldn’t walk in the forest alone.” He stared, his voice suddenly in your ear.

“Get away from me.” You stepped back from him.

“I wouldn’t try running.” He stated firmly, his hands finding your wrists. “You can try. But it wouldn’t work.” He said, almost giggling a little.

“Let me go!” You shouted, attempting to pull out of his cold grip.

“Shhh… it’ll be over soon. You’re not the Swan I was intending but you’ll do.” He shrugged, letting go of your wrists. “But tell you what. I’ll give you a ten second head start… one…”

Turning around, you quickly ran down the cleared path, looking around for help.

“Nine… ten!” The vampire shouted behind you. Like thunder roaring, you heard running from multiple directions. You turned around to see the vampire still.

You gripped your robe as you noticed four insanely large wolves began circling the vampire. Loud slaps against the earth behind you roared as a dark grey wolf jumped over your head in front of the vampire.

Falling back, you winced as you back hit the root of the tree. A loud howl came from the largest wolf, whose fur was so dark you were surprised you could even see him in the dark.

You could feel the terror the vampire was feeling as the wolves circled him. Snarling, growling, barking to each other.

You pulled yourself up, turning your back as you heard the vampire scream in agony, before silence.

You noticed as your breath wouldn’t catch, your heart beat working overtime, your incessant shaking. You coughed as you tried to catch a breath, throwing your robe to the ground as you felt it suffocating you.

You cried out as you sat back onto the ground, your body shaking. “Oh my god…” you muttered, repeating it over and over. Your hands covering your face as you rocked yourself.

A soft whine came near you as the large grey wolf lowered himself to lay on the ground next to you. Your erratic breathing slowed as you peeked through your fingers to watch him move his paw from underneath him to help him lay to his side. Your eyes moved to the wolf’s, who made a small motion with his head for you to lean into him.

You closed your eyes and leaned over, your face meeting the soft fur, before fully laying into the wolf. You felt yourself relax as your breathing and heart rate began to calm as well as you listened to the wolf’s. Which sounded surprisingly calm despite what just happened.

You removed your hands from your face and rested them in your lap as you tried to regulate yourself.

After a couple of minutes, you sat up, looking at the wolf who was already staring you down intently.

“This is a part of Jake’s thing… isn’t it?” You asked the wolf, almost expecting it to answer. You held back a gasp as it nodded.

“(Name).” You turned around, meeting Sam’s gaze not realizing he was behind you . “You know?” He asked, but it was more of a statement. You nodded. He nodded back. “Paul.” He looked at the wolf.

A silent conversation was said between the two, and Paul stood up. “I’m having him take you to the rez. There’s things you need to know.” Sam said, his tone thick with dominance, reaching his hand out to you.

You nodded, taking it as he helped you to your feet. You looked at Paul as he kneeled beside you. You silently mounted him, leaning forward to steady yourself, grabbing fistfuls of his fur to keep hold.

He looked towards the other wolves who moved back into the shadows before running towards the reservation.

You listened to the fire crackle as you braid your damp hair. Emily, Sam’s wife, offered you a shower after coming in, which you greatly accepted.

“I’m glad the clothes fit.” She said, sitting next to you on the bench.

You nodded. “Thank you again.” You said, securing your braid with a hair tie and tossing it over your shoulder. “You’re welcome.” She smiled, looking at the fire.

“I’m guessing you know about the wolf thing?” You asked. “I’m very familiar with it.” She laughed softly. “And the vampire thing?”

“Well… when you believe in werewolves, vampires aren’t a stretch.” She shrugged a little. “You found out about the Cullen's?” She asked, looking at you.

You nodded a little. “I did. I have a niece too, who I completely blew off meeting today because finding out a childhood best friend turns into the world’s largest dog, your sister and her in-laws are all vampires was just a bit much.” You sighed.

“Your wrists are bruised.” Emily said softly, gingerly touching the finger bruises on your wrists.

“Thankfully the leech who did that is dead.” Sam’s voice cut into the conversation.

He sat across from the two of you, a slightly shorter, but still very tall man sat next to you. “I can’t stress how important it is that you keep all of this a secret. Not even Charlie can know.” Sam said.

“Who’s going to believe me even if I said anything?” You asked. “I wasn’t planning on saying anything to begin with. I’m honestly regretting taking this gap year, because I wouldn’t know any of this if I was in college. I think I’m actually going to move to my mother’s, actually, because apparently Forks is something a horror movie should’ve been shot at instead of people living here.”

Sam shook his head. “Paul imprinted on you.” Sam said. “Imprinted?” You asked, narrowing your eyebrows

“What’s imprinting?” You asked, looking at Paul. Sam and Emily stood and left, giving you space to get answers from Paul.

“It means you’re my mate. It’s like my center of gravity has been shifted to you. It’s no longer about my life. It’s about being yours. Your protector, your friend, your family. I’m permanently bound to you. A soulmate. I’m yours, until the end of time.” Paul finally spoke. “It’s like feeling in a bubble your entire life seeing everything warped until it’s right in front of you, then it pops. And everything’s clear and it’s the clearest it’s ever been. And you have room to run, jump, and touch. And you want to dedicate everything to this thing that popped your bubble.” He explained, his eyes never leaving yours. His words embed themself in you, igniting a small flame in your heart.

You nodded, silently acknowledging his words. “My sister and I have always been complete opposites… it’d make sense her real love is a vampire and mine is supposed to be a werewolf.” You leaned your head against Paul’s shoulder.

He moved his arm behind your head and rested on your shoulder as you leaned into him further. “And you fight vampires all the time?” You asked, attempting to get details from him.

“Not all the time. Time to time.” He answered.

“What makes the Cullen’s different?”

“Nothing in my eyes. But, our pack has a treaty with them. As long as they don’t pose a threat to the humans, they’re safe to live another day.”

“And what happened to Bella wasn’t a threat?”

“No. She wanted her lifestyle. We had to accept it. Then we had to accept their baby because Jacob imprinted on her.”

“Jacob imprinted on Renaissance?”

“I thought her name was Renesmee… anyways. Yes, but it’s not what you think. He’ll be her protector until she decides she’s ready to be his mate.” He answered. “Weird.”

“Do you go into the woods all the time?”

“Not as often.” You shook your head, enjoying the warmth. “I couldn’t stay out of them as a kid.”

“What’s your last name?”

“Lahote.”

“Nice to know that my eventual last name will be.” You half joked. “We just met and you’re already thinking of marriage?” He laughed a little. “If we’re going to be together until the end of time, I don’t think it’s crazy to think about marriage. Apparently women in my family thrive off of getting married before the frontal lobe is fully formed.”

“We don’t have to until you want to.” He said. “As long as we’re boyfriend and girlfriend from now until then.”

“What happened to a first date?”

“My kind typically skip into straight exclusivity.” Paul shrugged. “Normally after we have the ‘I imprinted on you’ talk, the ‘when are you moving in’ talk comes pretty quick.” You heard a small chuckle at the end of his sentence.

“Oh really? Well, I guess moving to my mom’s isn’t happening anytime soon?” You teased, looking up at him. “Hopefully not.” He smiled a little.

“I guess the hardest part going forward is explain to my dad I’m dating a dog.”

“Wolf. Dogs are wolves' sad and lame cousins.”

[sunseed-fandump]

Witch's Castle Headcanon Time Because I Said So

Since, in my own works, I imagine the Witch's Castle and Kingdom settings do exist in the same world (the games themselves taking place in different timelines) I've kinda developed a few headcanons revolving around life in the Castle itself! Y'know for funsies. :>

The Witch's Castle itself is rather isolated, this is because when the Witch of Light first built it she wanted it to be a safe haven for herself and her Coven-sisters. I imagine due to their powers and normal humans' general feelings towards witchcraft, they wanted to make sure they wouldn't be hunted down or have a random stranger stumble across their sanctuary. (Or like in the case of the Witch who would become First Grain Cookie, they didn't want anyone who would try to exploit them discovering their hiding place.)

The castle itself is huge because these are 13 witches who had to be entirely self-sufficient. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a wing for each Witch to have space to conduct her own branch of magical research. Not to mention space needed to create basic necessities like a greenhouse for food, a water pump for plumbing, etc etc etc. Even by human standards, it's ridiculously massive and very easy to get lost inside of.

Because the castle is so big yet so isolated, this has had an interesting affect on those who call it home. By Cookie standards, the castle could be considered a small continent in and of itself. There's a multitude of settlements and what could be considered independent city-states scattered throughout.

A common insult around the Castle is "Your batch should've burnt" not just between desserts but its used between non-baked residents as well, this little idiom has stuck in the common Castle vernacular even long after the Witch of Light and her coven-sisters vanished.

SPEAKING of the residents of the castle, as we've seen in the game, not all of them are desserts or food items, they're animals! But while some of them make sense like mice and chipmunks, other creatures should be way too big to fit in castle walls; like the Stag brothers and the Marlin Chefs. They don't LOOK like desserts, so I don't think they were baked, but if they're not desserts, what are they? Well, I wouldn't be surprised if they're a result of whatever Life Powder experiments were being conducted in the castle. When it comes to the Mice, the Life Powder might've given them heightened intelligence. And in the case of the animals that SHOULD be bigger, I personally headcanon that they started off as small things like figurines or toys that were brought to life via Life Powder; made "real" like Pinocchio but retained their small stature.

Most food and water in the castle does not have Life Powder in it. Where on Earthbread, it can be found everywhere, it's a lot more of a precious resource in the Castle. That's why the residents need a constant supply of Life Potion, since it's one of the few resources in the castle that contains Life Powder. Cookies on Earthbread don't need to worry about going stale from not drinking Life Potion consistently, because Life Powder is in the rain, the crops, everything! Life Potion still exists on Earthbread, however it functions more as a typical RPG Healing Potion.

The food grown in the Syrup Garden and the Temple of Abundance are a few exceptions to this, their goods are full of Life Powder, hence why crops grown in those places are so heavily sought after and their well-being is so vital to the Castle overall.

Unfortunately, there are very few left in the Castle who were around during the era of the Witch of Light. As such, when the Shadow Witch moved in, the mood towards Witches shifted from reverence to fear.

So don't say anything like "Witch's Blessings be upon you" in the Castle, you'll get some weird looks.

Most residents within the Castle are active at night since that's when it's considered "safest". As in: the Witch and other dangers SHOULD be asleep. Unfortunately for everyone, the Shadow Witch has a terribly inconsistent sleep schedule.

She's also a massive workaholic. Which does work in everyone's favor, because typically she's too tunnel-visioned on her work to notice little things.

Castle residents don't like being out in wide open spaces, as being out in the open means it's all the more easier for the Witch or her minions to find you.

[fatphobiabusters]

idk if this is the right place to ask, and i apologize if it is not. but i have been wondering: what is the best thing a skinny person can say when a fat person talks about losing weight with them? i have had some people talk to me about their weight loss goals or their feeling like they want to or need to lose weight, and i usually just listen and don't say anything/just nod along because i don't know what the right thing to say is. i don't want to invalidate their feelings but i also don't want to validate fatphobic messaging from the surrounding environment. sorry if this is silly to ask, but i can never figure out what the least harmful thing to say is

I don't think your ask is silly at all. I can definitely see the dilemma there. I appreciate you wanting to not validate fatphobic messaging.

I think the best course of action would majorly depend on the situation/person you're dealing with. A lot of fat people are still gripped by the piercing claws of fatphobic rhetoric and diet culture. In those situations, it may be a good idea to focus on "planting the seed." That is, focus on starting future change. Plant the seed and let it grow, even if you don't see the future growth yourself.

I remember having to take a persuasion and media class during my bachelor's degree. It was such an eye-opening course, and the part I still strongly remember to this day is that...we probably aren't going to succeed in changing a person's deeply-held beliefs in the moment with a single conversation. Changing that belief will take years. So that's why I focus a lot on being the person who plants the seed. Even if I don't change this person's mind today, I have planted the seed for possible growth years later. This informs how I interact with fatphobic people, and remembering this also helps my mental health so I don't feel horrible when a person doesn't immediately change.

A way you could implement this "plant the seed" method is by being a role model and simply saying "I don't think I like talking about weight loss. Weight is a very nuanced and complex thing. I don't want to focus on conformity to thinness." This way, you're showing the person that there's another option out there beyond the lifelong chasing of thinness. This method of focusing on your own boundaries also can help prevent a debate or argument. "Is it okay if we don't talk about weight? I feel like this world views thinness as the ultimate achievement, but more bodies than just thin bodies have worth. I'd feel more comfortable talking about something else, if that's alright."

You're stating your own belief and boundaries rather than telling the other person to have those beliefs and boundaries themself. You're not attacking the person or asking the person to change. You're not asking for a debate. You're not even asking for their thoughts on the topic. But by gently putting your foot down, you have established your view and put another option on that person's radar that they probably didn't know of beforehand. This role model method can be the first crack in the shattering of the glass for that person's beliefs about weight and this fatphobic society.

Also, this may be the autism in me, but maybe being straightforward with communication can help? "I'm not sure how to respond since I'm a thin person, so I've had a very different life experience and don't know everything you have gone through as a plus size person*. I don't believe thinness and weight loss are the answer, but I'm not sure how to respectfully talk about this complex topic as a thin person. I hope this helps you better understand my thoughts." I put an asterisk after "plus size person" because "fat person" shouldn't be a taboo word. However, a fat person who hasn't done any unlearning of internalized fatphobia likely isn't ready to use that word to describe themself. So, it's probably safer to call them a "plus size person" instead.

I hope these strategies will help!

-Mod Worthy

[samhadjblog2]

Look sorry if I came off as "abrasive" I wasn't trying to be. I also implore you to look over my statements again.

Because "I never said that the writers don't know what they are talking about". I'm just saying that how the show potrayed magic is reductive.

Because not every form of magic in Runeterra is "The void". Literally if you look up the magic system there are various category's. "Elemental, Spiritual Celestial and various smaller categories such as "Hextech". And "The powers of the void" are a different category of magic. And its definetly not the same magic used in Hex-tech. And

If you look all the way back to S1 the only time it was corruptive was with Viktor, that's it. Any other instance of the Arcane being used was neutral as shown with any other character.

The first season presented Heimerdinger was too high strung while Viktor and Jayce were reckless. It wasn't "magic bad" it was "magic neutral". And its only around S2 that the show starts to invent new "negative ramifications" to Hex-tech (which they don't even commit to most of them such as the tree).

And as I've stated that it didn't matter if this was connected to the lore or not. Its still a reductive move to say "All magic is bad".

Also I never said that the show wasn't about "The cycle of violence". I said that "The Cycle of violence isn't the only theme of the show and that the cycle of violence is intrinsically linked to the perpetuation of class". I'm agreeing with you on this sentiment. I'm just saying that class is being intrinsically linked to the "Cycle of violence" is a key component that the first season explored in detail.

Because the focus was "The conflict of Piltover v.s Zaun" that was what a lot of the character's motivations were built on, what the main narrative was focused on exploring. So when the show "Diverts" away that conflict and instead focuses on "End of the world stakes" then its a betraying what makes it appealing.

The reason I say this is because the second season simplifies these ideas so much by focusing on "Forgiveness" without characters putting in the work for it. For instance "Vi and Jinx's issues are resolved to quickly", "Vander and Silco's is also simplified as well". That is my issue with how its portrayed in this season.

As for the show's title 'Arcane" Yes the show do's focus on "The Arcane", however not in the way that its "The super focus of the series". Rather its meant explore the themes of progress and change. How the world changes and how the character's react to that change. Because that's also a theme in this series. That is how the show presented "The Arcane".

There are a lot of themes to Arcane. How death can shape our perception of someone's legacy, how people either have to be strong or being cunning in order to survive in the world, how people react to change, how our perception of time whether it be chasing the future or being held down by the past can influence us, that the hardships of life make life worth living, that there is alway a chance to build a better tomorrow.

Again sorry if I came off pushy I wasn't trying to be.

Okay, after seeing a bunch of WILD takes on Arcane (and specifically season 2), I feel like I need to educate you guys on some deep Arcane Lore to understand why some things are happening in Arcane.

Magic in League of Legends is kinda a curse. It’s a gift from the gods, but the gods are also cosmic Eldridge Horror H.P.Lovecraft style deities of malevolence. The more you use the magic, the more corrupted you’ll become.

And rest assured… Magic WANTS to be used, just like the One Ring in Lord of the Rings WANTS to be found. When people use magic in League of Legends it’s very easy for the power to corrupt in unusual ways as the magic flows through them and convinces them that their way is the right way.

Heimerdinger actually calls this out:

“I've seen miracles spring from the hands of mages many times, but so often they turned to horrors. I'd always presumed it was due to mankind's turbulent relationship with power.. but perhaps it is a property of the Arcane itself.”

This is explained by Rise in League of Legends lore:

"Magic wants to be used," said the sorcerer. "It is all around us, emanating from the first fragments of creation. It wants to be wielded. And that is the true challenge on the path we both walk. When you realize what the magic wants, how eager it is... Well, then the difficulty isn't how to begin wielding it. It's knowing when to stop."

So like… THIS is why Hextech is so dangerous. Hextech isn’t just like nuclear power being introduced into the world, but like a version of nuclear power that ITSELF wants to destroy the world and will possess and corrupt anyone it can reach around them to achieve its goals.

And THIS is why when Viktor is fused with Hextech he starts seeing Sky and being led down to the undercity to “heal” all the shimmer addicts and become a hive mind community. Viktor THINKS he’s doing something good, but all along hes being guided and manipulated by the powers of cosmic magic.

And THIS is why he needs to be snapped out of it to realize what he’s done. He is NOT himself when he’s manipulating and controlling everyone. The Arcane has been guiding him there so it can be used and achieve what it wants.

Magic isn’t progress. It isn’t beneficial to the world by and large. It’s DANGEROUS and CORRUPTING.

Just think about this too: in areas where the Arcane seeps into the world, it corrupts the world around it. What do you think is making those toxic caves under Zaun? What do you think is in Shimmer? Why do you think Jayce was being corrupted in the AU world when he fell down into that cave? Why do you think that AU works was so bleak and moldy and gross?

You guys need to understand the role of Magic in League of Legends lore to understand WHY the show LITERALLY CALLED ARCANE is about the dangers of magic and how it manipulated and corrupts people to spur the cycle of violence until it destroys everything.

If you were ever confused about why the show that SEEMS to start as a commentary on systemic oppression ends with a giant cosmic marvel style battle, THIS is why. The Arcane is waking up. It’s heard it’s masters call. It WANTS to be used. And it’ll use ANYONE it can find to achieve its goals. Zaunites and Pilties alike.

Every one of you who’s like “oh but shimmer is Zaun’s only form of medicine! It’s bad Piltover tried to snuff it out!” is REALLY missing the forest for the trees.

When you stop trying to compare Arcane’s storyline to that of real world conflicts and history and instead engage with Arcane on its own terms with its own lore, a lot of what you might think are weird choices start to make a lot of sense.

Arcane can be enjoyed by everyone but it was made for the fans of League of Legends first and foremost. Maybe brush up on some of the lore and you’ll start to see what the writers were ACTUALLY trying to say.

[fiveredlights]

Loved it!!!! Is there any Benjamin POV of when he found out Max and Daniel were drivers in this world? Like any thought process? It surprised me too that they weren't in his world haha. Thanks for sharing!

okay i managed 400 words of benjamin arriving in the universe and then my brain continued on its holiday in aruba so i’ve written out what would’ve happened afterwards

It's not like Benjamin expected there to be a whole parade when he landed into his DAUD universe, but a room full of people staring at him like he's an alien from another planet feels a little weird.

Technically, he is an alien from outer space—if you equate an alien to a life form, and the other planet is true, but at that point they should consider that we’re all aliens in a planet floating around the universe and there’s no need to stare at him like that.

Or really, they aren’t staring at him. They’re staring at the name emblazoned into his race suit. Or the flag. Maybe they’re struggling to understand why the Dutch and Australian flags are mashed together.

Benjamin worked really hard to get the team and the FIA to approve that. He had to do a whole presentation.

One of the people—his boss he assumes, given that he’s one of the two people to be wearing RB shirts—takes a slow step forward, adjusting the black rounded frames on his face.

“Benjamin—” Ooh, French, “—Ricciardo-Verstappen,” he states, though it’s really more like a question.

“Yeah.” He steps out of the portal tube. “Did I get sent to the wrong universe or?”

“Maybe,” someone in a Red Bull shirt quietly mutters and the other RB shirt guy hits him in the shoulder and scolds, “Christian.”

He has no idea who this Christian guy is but he knows he already doesn’t like him. Giving off bad energy, or whatever Julian uses as an excuse whenever he meets someone he doesn’t like.

“I’m Laurent Mekies, I’m your team principal,” the French—Laurent says. “Can we just confirm who your parents are?”

Everyone in the room seems to lean in and hold their breath. Benjamin thinks they’re all really weird. “Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen. They live in Monaco, or well in my universe they live in Monaco, so maybe they’re in the Netherlands or Australia here.”

Laurent immediately spins onto his heels and they all form some sort of emotional support huddle, like they’re the ones who got sent through to another universe.

“I’ll get Max,” Christian sighs and points a finger at Laurent. “You’re calling Daniel.”

Laurent tenses. “I don’t want to call Daniel. Why can’t you call Daniel? You knew him longer?”

Christian goes very quiet. “I think he’s blocked my number,” he says with no room for further questions as he walks out of the room.

—

benjamin has found a wheely chair to spin around the room in whilst laurent peter and helmut (idk if he's here) debate on who is calling daniel, benjamin's like "I can call Daniel if you don't want to break the news," and frankly it's a bit concerning how three of these very grown men look very ready to take this offer.

eventually someone is like, you know what. we'll get MAX to call him. daniel will answer max's calls and they leave benjamin in the room with laurent whilst the rest of them look in the mirror and wonder what they need to do to atone for this hell-ish situation they've been placed in.

(there is no atonement possible. you must live in the decisions you made. no amount of apologies or prayers will be able to heal the deep, deep scars you have given. zero love and zero light will be given.)

“So Max works here or?” benjamin asks, if only to make small talk so they’re not sitting in silence. laurent takes a very long look, he's confused. he tells him that of course Max works here, he's a driver?? but reigns it in because maybe benjamin was asking if max was at some different RBR factory. or maybe he's asking because he thinks max is in monaco, laurent doesn't possess the brain cells needed right now.

benjamin is thinking oh maybe max's a sim driver. or a test driver. he knows that max's father was a f1 driver, but doesn't really know much else. nowhere in benjamin's brain is the thought that max is a formula 1 driver, and certainly nowhere in benjamin's brain is the thought that he's a 4x WDC.

max walks in, looks at benjamin. benjamin looks back. max walks out.

he walks in again. looks at benjamin again. walks out again.

he walks in again. is about to walk out when benjamin's like, "You know walking out for the third time doesn't activate me being sent back to my universe?"

(internally, max is like, oh my god. he talks exactly like daniel. i'm looking at another daniel. which you know. a little bit insane given that i wrote benjamin to look like max, and benjamin wouldn't really sound like daniel accent wise at least, given that they raised the kids in monaco, but you know. maybe the speech patterns are similar, who the fuck knows. easier to see the parts of the person you love than yourself in your kid. can't blame him, daniel did the exact same thing for like the whole fic.)

max immediately looks around at the whole group of people and does a head nod for benjamin to follow him into his office, and it’s probably not until he sees the replica WDC trophy sitting on a bookcase with max’s name inscribed on it benjamin’s like what the fuck…

in his head benjamin is like, i am hiding the fact that i am shocked about max being a driver so well. he’s not. he’s kinda just staring at the trophy but max is way too distracted about the fact that alternate him had a kid (emphasis on kid, singular) with daniel.

benjamin is stalking around the room looking at EVERYTHING, and he catches the photo of max and daniel in malaysia 2016 and is even more like what the fuck… BOTH of my parents are drivers?????

first thought: they’re both horrible normal road car drivers. maybe it makes sense now.

second thought: god it’s so cool that his parents (or this version of his parents) are formula 1 drivers. that’s like so arguably cool. suck it julian, he KNEW doing the DAUD program was a good thing. 

third thought: do they know sebastian vettel.

in this moment he has decided that this max and daniel cannot know that his max and daniel aren’t drivers. he kinda suspects that max might be going through a quick existential crisis and he’s not making it bigger by telling 4x WDC max that his max is a 0x WDC and has never driven a f1 car in his life. 

(also it has not crossed his mind that this max and daniel are not together. if you saw that photo of malaysia with max looking at daniel doing the shoey like he wants to jump his bones in public, yeah i wouldn’t question it either and end that line of thought immediately.)

i’m learning very quickly that benjamin processes things so quickly that he doesn’t really have time to freak out.

max is processing everything and benjamin is like “are you gonna call dad or?? where is he??”

max: dad?

benjamin: yeah. dad. daniel. this tall. your husband. or partner idk i don’t know, i’m not gonna assume. oh god are you guys broken up here please don’t tell me that. i mean like tell me, but like that’s so weird.

max kinda looks embarrassed and benjamin clocks him so quickly. 

benjamin: oh. you two aren’t together here. you two have never been together here.

max: … yeah

benjamin is immediately like fuck everything about them being drivers what do you MEAN they aren’t together???? he looks at the malaysia photo again. looks at max again. 

benjamin then decided his only goal is to parent trap his parents. which i think he did achieve. good job dude.

[not-poignant]

it’s funny, you used to put advanced excerpts but now you barely ever do, is that cuz your chapters are way shorter than they used to be?

Oh, my dear troll, I hope you're coping with the world disasters going on okay without spreading hate a- too late!

I've been posting advance excerpts for all of my chapters for months, including for all three that went out this month. And then people get a bunch more (usually too NSFW for me to trust Tumblr with them) on the Discord. I'd give you a link, but I don't specifically want to put it in this post because of reasons.

And my chapter length has been around the same for 1.5 years! It's actually trending up in length :D (about 1.5 years ago it as around 2.8k-3.2k and now it's around 3k to 4.2k - which is all much, much longer than the recommended length of the average serial chapter). Prior to that, I never once posted excerpts when my chapters were longer, so you must be new here, anon.

It's funny how much this reads like one of those negative AI bot scraper comments on AO3, but with the added knowledge that it's probably just a 16 year old who feels very overwhelmed right now with the state of the world and wants to harass a disabled trans person about it. You know, it's true, therapy is expensive, and sometimes it's impossible to find a good one. It's hard when you don't have support or good people in your life, so you find a target you can dehumanise and not think of as a real person, and try to make their life harder.

A lot of folks don't know what to do with their emotions constructively, and so they just want to hurt people with them in a way to feel a rush of dopamine, or feel like they're superior to just one person. The thing is, anon, my life's already pretty difficult, and you might want to at least take your hate and your need to hurt people to like, a transphobe's doorstep or something? Or call a politician and tell them how much their policies hurt you. I'm sure you could use your ability to make jabs at folks and use them for the power of good, y'know? It's hard to be emotionally healthy in this day and age, maybe just don't kick the little guy when they're already down, especially on stuff you're wrong about.

I wish you the best!

[adorablediscoveries]

Georgian Artist Creates Very Funny Animal Dolls

Emina Poison is a Georgian artist who creates uniquely designed toys using a variety of materials, including wool and polymer clay. While her creations often depict animals, she also crafts peculiar and whimsical creatures in the same distinctive style.

In addition to her original work, Emina occasionally accepts commissions, particularly for custom pet dolls—each one irresistibly charming!

"I also work extensively on commission. Clients describe their vision, I create a sketch, and once approved, I bring it to life. Many of my commissioned pieces feature personalized details inspired by specific pets or people, interpreted through my artistic lens."

When asked to share a bit about herself, Emina playfully clarified that she lives in “Georgia—not the U.S. state, but the country near Turkey.”

She also reflected on what first sparked her passion for art:

"Since early childhood, I’ve been immersed in creative activities—drawing, sculpting with plasticine, and crafting with various materials. As a kid, I imagined a world filled with mysterious creatures hiding behind trees in the forest or peeking out from city gateways. When I grew up, I realized I could bring those creatures to life!"

Curious about her most challenging project, we asked Emina to share her experience.

She replied: "It’s hard to recall a specific one. Challenges usually come up when I’m unsure what material to use for a particular part of a toy. In those moments, I simply walk around my apartment, observing everyday objects until I find the perfect solution. It could be an old bank card, an aquarium net, a nut, a nail—anything at all!"

Finally, Emina shared: "I never create identical toys—each piece is one of a kind! While I occasionally make designs inspired by previous creations, no two are ever exactly alike. I always change key elements like the main color, accessories, and other details."

[bullet-prooflove]

Valentine's Day Bingo 2025: Wild Flowers - Lee Dutton x Reader

Tagging: @kmc1989 @yousigned-upforthis @trublu2u @wabi-sabi1090 @bellarkeselection

Prequel piece to:

Wedding Bells - You and Lee tie the knot in secret.

Until Your Dying Day - You make a promise to Lee.

You wake up to the scent of wild flowers. You find them resting on the pillow beside you when you open your eyes to find Lee absent. You smile at the pretty shades of blue dotted amongst the reds and yellows, your fingers running over the petals as you raise from the sheets.

It’s your wedding today and Lee has handpicked your bouquet from the flowers up at the wild boom. They’re bound with brown twine, the tiniest wooden heart threaded through the string, one he carved himself from left over wood.

You carry your bouquet with you down the stairs, your gaze coming to rest on your man as he sits at the table, working through the list the two of you had drawn up yesterday. His brow is furrowed, his fingertips rubbing lightly at his temple as he studies it intently. You know he has everything in hand, Lee, he’s meticulous like that, always double checking his work. It’s the product of being John Dutton’s son.

“You look like you are taking this all very seriously.” You say as you set the bouquet down on the table and slip into his lap. He relaxes back into the chair, his arms wrapping around you as he buries his face into the curve of your throat.

“I just don’t want anything to go wrong.” He murmurs, his lips ghosting over your pulse point, kissing that sweet spot. “You know what happens if my father finds out.”

“We run away and get married out of state?” You tease, your fingers threading through his hair. “Live  the rest of our lives as jazz musicians in New Orleans?”

New Orleans, another place he  hasn’t visited. He’s barely been out of the state since that year he disappeared from the Yellowstone because his father likes to keep him on a short leash. He isn’t sure if it’s a punishment or out of the genuine fear that he’ll abscond again.

“Will you take me sometime?” He whispers against your skin. “Will you show me all the things I’ve missed?”

It’s the yearning in his voice that breaks your heart, the want. You used to talk about all the places you’d travel together before you left all those years ago. You’d visited some of them in your time apart but Lee, he’s been stuck here in Montana.

“How about you make a list of all the places you want to go?” You murmur, your cheek coming to rest on the top of his head. “We’ll go to New Orleans first, find our way from there.”

“What about Hawaii, San Fransico?” Lee asks you, his head tilting to meet your gaze. “I want to do the Stephen King tour in Maine…”

“We will do all of that.” You promise him and you see the hope in his eyes, the prospect of what this new life together can really mean.

Freedom, a chance to experience the world for himself.

You settle yourself back against his chest, his chin coming to rest on your shoulder as you flip over the piece of paper he’s been working on. You pick up the pen, scrawling the words ‘Lee’s Awesome Travel List’ at the top before you hand it to him.

“We’re got some time before we have to get ready for church.” You say, tapping the piece of paper with your fingertip. “Let’s use it to work on that list.”

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