#year ––– 2124 .

[allwiredwrong]

🎢 - Do they like amusement parks? What’s their favorite ride? (Whitmore)

Whitmore likes some amusement parks. His favorite ride is Mr. Toad's Wild Ride

[starscelly]

just two bros sharing a mic (:

[a-cat-in-toffee]

civ voice GET UR FUCKING DOG BITCH wight voice he don't bite :) civ voice YES HE DO?!?!?!

[kidovna]

I just wanted to let you know that your byler art is my absolute favorite in the whole fandom! Your style is so beautiful and suits them SO well, and the amount of moments you capture between them that can be so real and raw, but can also be taken straight from the show, but can ALSO be pulled straight from my favorite fanfics????? Insane. I would actually pay so much money for you to make like a Heartstopper style comic series about these two boys. UGH I just love them, and love you, and love your brain and I just thought you deserved to know how talented you are and how much joy and inspiration your artwork does for others. <3

oh my god thank you so much. the fact that you think i can balance canon and fanon with them is making me tear up 🥹❤️ and in the far, far future, if we master immortality before netflix loses the copyrights to will and mike, i’ll make a webcomic when they do. promise

[rainbowgod666]

Look what screenshot i found

[solarbird]

A lot of people are making decisions this weekend. Let’s help them make the right ones.

Locally, I’m sure a lot of people in Washington State are doing their voting this weekend, and for all of us, please vote no on all statewide initiatives. That’s no on all of them. They’re all funded pretty much entirely by a California Republican hedge-fund manager who wants to be our new Tim Eyman – even the Seattle Times called him that – and he needs to be told to fuck off right out of the gate.

I wrote up the individual reasons here, but if that’s too much to read right now, basically it’s like this:

I-2117 and I-2066 are there to ramp up climate change by burning more fossil fuels and block the state from promoting climate-neutral power solutions

I-2109 is a massive MAGA-style tax cut for the state’s wealthiest 4000 people and literally nobody else, and finally,

I-2124 is intended to torpedo the state’s long-term health care programme, and will do a great job of bankrupting families while driving them into truly shitty minimal- to zero-coverage private plans.

All very MAGA, all very horsecrap, all very PLEASE VOTE NO.

In the presidential race, I still think the story of Elon Musk – Trump’s to-be director of fiscal policy – stating outright that Trump’s plans will tank the economy has been woefully, piteously under-covered by the press.

If you know anyone who has ever said they were voting Republican ‘for their wallets,’ please, please, please, show them this. Show them the original sources, show them Musk’s own words.

Because Elon’s right – Trump’s plans will tank the economy. That’s what he wants to do, destroy it, and then build it back up I’m pretty sure as a quasi-gold-standard-but-probably-crypto-based system, deflationary, and utterly ripe for the looting. People like him will profit insanely, just like they did in post-Soviet Russia, while the ordinary people – you, me, people who don’t matter in his world – will have to, in his words, “embrace the pain.”

Tell them that’s what their vote is going to bring to their wallets this year if they vote for another term of Trump. Pain.

If they don’t care about the lives of LGBT people, if they’re racist dickbags who kinda want Trump’s mass ethnic purge, if they’re hungering to put women back in our “place” and let are willing to let the whole world literally burn by reversing every bit of climate progress we’ve made and dumping as much more carbon pollution as possible into the air all for a fucking tax cut they won’t even get…

…ask them if they also want to take it in the shorts, in the form of taking it in the wallet, as a reward.

Because they will. And not just in tariff-driven compound inflation, either.

Again, Trumps’ biggest allies – in particular Elon Musk – say his plan will absolutely tank the economy. Everyone but the ultra-rich will suffer, and all of us will just have to “embrace the pain.”

That’s what they want. Elon’s just plain saying it.

Make sure they goddamn well know.

2 days remain.

[gwydionmisha]

Washington Voters Please Vote NO on all state initiatives

There are a bunch of dangerous initiatives on the ballot this year.  A hedge fund manager is trying to gut things for tax cuts for the rich and it will ruin our state.

I-2066 guts clean energy

I-2109 cuts taxes for the rich

I-2117 kills the climate Commitment act, increasing pollution, gutting infrastructure funding, etc.

I-2124 kills long term care funding for elderly and disabled people.

Please Signal Boost this. Ballots will arrive shortly!

[cottonlemonade]

Just Crazy Enough

word count: 2124 || avg. reading time: 9 mins.

pairing: Tendou x chubby!Reader

genre: fluff, friends to lovers, soft Tendou

warnings: a gamer‘s rage (cursing, suggestive language), some regular swearing too, otherwise none

synopsis: you can’t sleep and Tendou helps you out

You wake up with a start, gasping for air. Your heart is racing and it takes you a couple of moments to realize where you are.

Evident by the small pool of drool on the table you must have fallen asleep at your desk while working on the paper for your creative writing class. You try to rub away a kink in your neck and reach for your phone to scroll through social media to find a distraction.

Tendou grins at your last message and, pushing his books aside, grabs his laptop. He turns to look over at Wakatoshi sleeping soundly. Normally, not even a jet engine could wake his best friend once he was out, but the red haired boy still decides it would be for the best to move to the common room of the Shiratorizawa dorms. There he could talk to you in voice chat without having to worry about disturbing anyone.

“Hey you.”, you greet him happily, but he can tell you are tired.

He wishes he could have been there when you had woken up and held you until you felt safe enough to go back to sleep.

“Hey to you, too. What do you feel like?”

“Hmm, just regular, I’d say. Not in the mood for ranked.”

While you two are waiting for the game to start he sends another puppy picture and his heart leaps when he hears you fawning over it.

Tendou does his best to distract you as much as possible while you queue, asking about how uni is going and you in turn want to know everything about yesterday‘s training.

You and Tendou have been good friends for about a year and he has been in love with you for about 11 months and two weeks. He met you in his second year, while you were in your third, helping out at a tournament. Having been assigned to support the Shiratorizawa managers, you handed out water and towels. At first Tendou was sure you would, like everyone else, be scared of him, avoid him or something but to his great surprise you were kind and bright and even struck up a conversation with the team when they waited for a new match and had some down time. When he found out you liked the same video games and manga as him he didn’t even notice that the team had called him away to court until Ushiwaka materialized by his side and with that silent stare of his demanded him to follow.

During the game then Tendou’s eyes had begun to look for you whenever he scored a point. He found you fascinating and really very pretty. Not to mention, he was rather surprised to meet a girl who didn’t run for the hills when he looked her way.

After the tournament he was a bit hesitant at first, hanging back in the locker room, trying to figure out if asking for your number was a good idea.

It was only when he was already taking his seat on the bus back to school that he decided to just go for it and jumped back out to jog over to where you were waiting with a few friends for your ride.

You offered a genuine smile and typed your number into his phone, giving sharp looks to a girl who made some mumbled comment about why you were giving him your real number.

Ever since then you are in close contact, meet up for movies, food or just general hangouts and you even come to his games to cheer him on.

The server finally connects you two to a game and for a while you just play without any noteworthy incident unless one would count the near heart attack he experienced when you called him sweet.

In the sixth or so game however...

Could you stop blowing your boyfriend and heal the entire team???

Tendou does a double take when he sees the words appear in the team chat. They can only be targeted towards you. You and him are the only ones in a group plus you are the only straight up healer.

You scoff into your headset and must have heard how he starts to angrily type a reply, because you just say, “Don’t. Let me do it.”

But where would be the fun in that? <3

Tendou coughs when he reads your answer.

Fucking retards, what are you doing!?

Well, we are both a little distracted.

“I’m really sorry for this.”, you say a second later.

“What are you apologizing for?”, he laughs (taking a screenshot of the exchange).

For the rest of the game, you both ignore the ongoing rampage in the team chat, the constant stream of insults and completely out of line suggestions and threats.

He feels bad that you are being attacked like this but on the other hand, you have started to jokingly call him “babe“ and he is thoroughly enjoying the experience.

At the end - of course your team won - you get the title Player Of The Game for Lifesaver and suddenly the chat goes really quiet. Both of you break out into laughter and he types a “Well done, baby. Love you <3“ into the chat sending you into another fit of giggles.

Much to his surprise you don‘t drop the new nickname and while he doesn‘t know what to do about it at first, he quickly figures out that you don‘t object to him returning the favour. As the night goes on he becomes braver and tries to see how much “pretended” flirting he can get away with. About 2 hours later he goes to bed with your “Sweet dreams, my love.” still in his ears, grinning like an idiot.

Usually sleeping in on a weekend with no extra training is a must and given that he has crawled into bed at around 4 in the morning, he easily would have slept until late afternoon. But he feels so energized from last night's events that he wakes up as soon as Wakatoshi comes back from his morning jog.

He reaches for his phone and to his surprise sees that you are already online.

Still feeling elated and confident he types.

Satori: Good morning, gorgeous. Slept well? x

And immediately regrets it. He really hopes he hasn't taken it too far. Shit, what was he thinking!? He tosses the phone away like a hot potato and groans loudly into his pillow - Wakatoshi is so used to his antics that he doesn‘t even question it.

After what is probably the longest minute of his life his phone pings with a new message and, hugging his pillow tightly to his chest, he carefully leans over to squint at the screen.

You: Good morning, loverboy ☺️ how are you already up? It‘s Saturday! Eh, sleep is optional.

His shoulders drop a little at the implication that you haven‘t managed to fall asleep after he left you a few hours ago. But at the same time a wide grin spreads across his face when you don‘t dismiss his affections.

And suddenly he has a crazy idea.

Half an hour later he stands in front of your door, freshly showered, a bag slung over his shoulder, a plan on his mind that may be just crazy enough to work.

You look surprised when you open the door but smile brightly.

"What are you doing here?“ Yawn. “I'm really sorry, but I don't know if I'll be good company today.", you say meekly, the shadows under your eyes telling a vivid story about how long your night must have been.

"Just figured I could be a supportive boyfriend and help my girl sleep."

Too tired to question any of it, you step aside and let him into your tiny student apartment.

When he takes off his shoes and jacket, you suppress another yawn, rubbing your eyes and Tendou tries not to blush at how cute you are.

"Off you go!", he shoos you further into your home, towards your bed, "Go on."

"But-"

"No buts, let's go."

You stumble for a second then shuffle over to your bed, him right behind you.

Sleepily you climb between the sheets, looking at him through heavy eyes, yet another yawn on your lips.

"So you came here to command me to sleep?"

"Not exactly.", he grins mysteriously and an understanding of his plan dawns on your face.

"You are not getting into my bed with street clothes."

"I know.", he taps his bag with a superior look.

Tendou hops into your bathroom and emerges dressed in his sleep wear a few moments later (a loose shirt with a faded charizard roaring across the chest and sweatpants), striking a pose, which makes you chuckle. And then yawn again.

For a second he stands at the foot of your bed, waiting for you to object, to tell him, he has gone too far but to his immense relief you just push a few pillows around and brush a plushie out of the way, making a space for him.

Up until now it has all somewhat felt like a joke, but as he settles into your bed inches from your warm body, he realises what he has accomplished and the weight of it sinks into his stomach. He swallows.

Taking a quiet breath he hesitates, then wraps his arm around you from behind, pulling you against his chest. You shift for a second and he loosens his hold immediately in case you want to scoot away from him again, but you only make yourself comfortable and let out a deep breath. He tightens his hug again, loving how your soft shape fits so perfectly against him. Absurdly, he wonders if you‘ll even be able to sleep with just loud his heart is hammering.

"Thank you.", you mumble.

"Any time."

When you both wake up, the sun has already started to go down again, bathing your home in a golden glow.

"Please take this exactly the way that I am saying it.", your voice was low and a little squished, "It was really nice sleeping with you."

"Glad to hear it. Right back at ya.", Tendou smirks. He is lying on his back, with your head on his chest, your hands, so much smaller than his, folded on top of each other as a cushion. At some point during his sleepover you had entwined your legs with his.

Without thinking he takes a strand of your hair between his fingers and starts to play with it. You stretch luxuriously like a cat in the sun.

"Want to sleep some more?"

"Nah I'm good, but don't you have anything better to do on your day off?"

"Better than this? Fuck no."

You laugh, relaxing again.

A moment later you shiver and he pulls up the blanket, wrapping it around your shoulders.

"You are a very good boyfriend, you know that?"

"Thanks, I try."

You fall into comfortable silence, the only sound coming from the cicadas outside your window and cars whooshing past in the distance.

After a while you begin to fiddle with the hem of his shirt.

"Everything alright?", he asks.

"Yeah I'm just wondering… what this is?"

"A shirt." That earns him a playful knock on the chest and you sit up, taking your cozy warmth with you.

"You know what I mean.", you say with a furrowed brow. Tendou sits up as well, resting his back against your headboard.

"I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable.", he says earnestly.

"You didn't. I like what you did for me, but I just don't want to worry about what it means for the next two months so I am asking.", you shrug and Tendou gives you a small smile, which you return, but then look away.

He braces himself. "It means what you want it to mean. If you want to see it as a friend helping out a friend, then great. However…", he searches for the right words, "if you… would not be opposed to the idea of making this a reality … and let me be your actual boyfriend, then that.. would be even better."

You meet his eyes and try to look for any indication of a joke.

“You know, I really can‘t tell if you‘re kidding or not.“

“Why would I joke about something like that?“

“…“

“You have a point, but, well, I‘m not joking right now.“

“Huh. Alright.“

“Alright?“

“Yup.“

“Cool.“

“Rad.“

After a moment of staring at each other with straight faces, you both break out into laughter. Then Tendou pulls you into his arms and peppers your face with kisses.

art: (the little profile picture used in the texts) @BRTRmilk_ on Twitter

(the dog) by snatti on pixie.net

[bostonflavor]

The year is 2124, it’s the Bruins bicentennial season. They’re playing the Islanders.

broadcaster: “Charlie McAvoy was from Long Island”

[theresattrpgforthat]

do you have any recomendations for ttrpgs with interesting mechanics around inventory management? for example something where you need to fit the items of your inventory in a grid (like dredge (which although it is a videogame rather than a ttrpg does have the kind of mechanic im thinking of)) or where inventory management is a core part of the gameplay.

thank you in advance :D

THEME: Interesting Inventory.

Hello friend! I’ve got a few games here that do interesting things with inventory limit, and I also have some other games that provide limitations on your gear in other ways.

SCRAPPED, by rolomics.

The year is 2124, and 99.9% of the human population is gone. Automatons reign supreme. Homunculi were created by splicing human DNA with other animal/creature DNA to enhance their body structure and strength. Because of this, Homunculi serve as super soldiers for the humans, but even with all their efforts, they still could not stop the automaton take over. 

You are a Homunculus, the echo of a past era and all that remains of humanity.

Scrapped is an original post-apocalyptic rules-lite tabletop role-playing game about scavenging, crafting, and surviving in the unforgiving wastes of a planet obliterated by war. This game was inspired by other post-apocalyptic games from the Fallout franchise.

Scavenging and crafting are at the heart of this game, and that means that Scrapped has paid a lot of attention to inventory. The game comes with item cutouts to help you visualize your inventory, and also requires you to ‘slot” certain items into certain places - if an item doesn’t fit, you can’t carry it! Each character occupation starts with specific pieces of equipment, although you’ll be able to scavenge more along the way. On top of that, you’ll also play around with mutations that affect your character, spending Mutation Points to get beneficial and effective mutations.

If you’re interested in this game, it’s currently free! The designers are eager for feedback and would definitely love to hear from anyone who plays it.

Numenera / The Cypher System, by Monte Cook Games.

This is the Ninth World. The people of the prior worlds are gone—scattered, disappeared, or transcended. But their works remain, in the places and devices that still contain some germ of their original function. The ignorant call these magic, but the wise know that these are our legacy. They are our future. They are the …

Numenera.

Set a billion years in our future, Numenera is a tabletop roleplaying game about exploration and discovery. The people of the Ninth World suffer through a dark age, an era of isolation and struggle in the shadow of the ancient wonders crafted by civilizations millennia gone. But discovery awaits those brave enough to seek out the works of the prior worlds. Those who can uncover and master the numenera can unlock the powers and abilities of the ancients, and perhaps bring new light to a struggling world.

I’ve talked about it before but I really enjoy the way items in this system are used to hold really powerful abilities that are usually only used once. Your character can only carry so many Cyphers at any given time, with a risk of strange or weird things happening if they decide to carry more than their typical limit allows. Cyphers can be found on roll tables, which means that any time players decide to look for loot, the GM can just roll a d100 to generate something interesting - and if you really want to get into the nitty-gritty of customizable inventory, I recommend both the Destiny and Building Tomorrow books to complement your campaign.

Breathless: New Horizons, by The Silent Mage.

Breathless - New Horizons is a game based on a primordial future, where giant technological beasts took over with inexplicable awareness, after a scientific crash down.  This game is freely inspired on the Horizon Zero Dawn games.

As humanity rebuilds itself from nothing, you act as Hunters, skilled member of the Guilds, scouting the world for lost knowledge and mysterious pieces of technology called Echoes. 

In Breathless - New Horizons, your items are nearly equally useful to skills, with a dice attached to each item. As with other rolls in Breathless, the item deteriorates the more you use it, symbolized by the size of your dice getting smaller with each use - but unlike skills, items don’t refresh when you take a break. Use an item too much and it deteriorates to the point of uselessness, which means that getting new items is important if you want to be able to keep adventuring. Fortunately, there are loot check rolls attached to tables, which means that while you might not have a lot of control over what you get, there should be plenty of opportunities to re-stock.

This game also has a special kind of item, called an Echo, which can be carried in limited numbers (typically you can only carry 2). Echoes might require a bit of construction before they’re usable, but have special effects that go above and beyond a regular item, and some of them can even be re-charged.

Dead Meat, by Blind Ink.

Dead Meat is a hack of FIST by Claymore. It is a cyberpunk game set in a brutal, absurd dystopia where man and machine are equally worthless in the eyes of the unrelenting pressure of exploitation. Thrown headfirst into problems beyond their ability to solve, players will have to cheat, steal, and sabotage their way through missions to get by. Put money away in a stash to get out of the life, watching your friends drop like flies.

Dead Meat takes an approach to gear that is similar to what I’ve seen in games like Apocalypse World and Monster of the Week. Your gear is determined by your origin, and how the gear can be used is determined through the use of tags. Some of these tags are mechanically transparent - how many times you can use them, or how much they heal or harm - but other tags are more evocative. For example, a vampiric weapon heals you when you use it, while a messy weapon prevents enemies or victims from being identified by police. I have a feeling some of these tags could also bring a narrative downside - perhaps it’s hard to hide a murder with a messy weapon, and a weapon that houses an AI might disregard the wishes of its user.

As with many cyberpunk games, there’s plenty of items that your character can pick up and carry without that much of a drawback - because regular items aren’t what makes this interesting. What you’re really here for, is the Cyberware. In Dead Meat, Cyberware is difficult to get access to, which means that beggars can’t be choosers - if you decide to get chromed up, you’ll take whatever the market gives you, and you’ll like it. As far as I can tell, getting a new piece of Cyberware is kind of like getting a new PbtA move - for example, if you end up getting Advanced Optics, you get +1 to your Chrome stat and you have the ability to pull up someone’s records off the net.

The Grim Odd, by g0ri.

This is a grim world. Any life lived in this world shall be nasty, brutish and short. This is an odd world. From the foul cracks and fissures of the world creeps a strange and omnipotent current – the Odd. Some say the Odd suffocated the gods. Others insist the Odd is the gods. In either case, the Odd animates the living world and it presents opportunities for the daringly ambitious.

The Grim Odd is a fantasy roleplaying game that takes place in a perilous world of unjust dealings and unworldly strangeness. Roll up a character quickly, search for magical artifacts known as Oddities, and delve - as a group or alone - into a role-play experience where rules are mere tools to facilitate the application of the internal laws of the world itself.

OSR/FKR Games often put the lore in pieces of the game like characters or gear and this is a great example. The Odd is a mysterious, powerful piece of the setting, illustrated through Oddities, strange items that grant you power but demand a cost for their use. You can use these oddities to inspire an adventure or mystery, and let the players keep them as they adventure - at great personal risk.

Characters also start with a basic inventory determined by their career, which they should be able to use to solve problems in ways that help them avoid having to roll - and therefore face death or other consequences. If you want a game where your inventory is a fundamental part of telling a story, you might want to check out games like this one.

Convenience Stores & Casinos, by Archangel Studios.

We've all seen those over-the-top, high action heist movies with get-away drivers, explosives, and wild gun fights. Well, what if you took those tropes, typically reserved for the likes of bank, museum, and casino heists, and applied them to just about anything you can get your grubby paws on? I mean, a heist is a heist is a heist as long as you have the right attitude. 

Convenience Stores & Casinos is great for groups that want to go big or go home - even if going big just means an over-complicated heist just to steal a bag of chips. Characters are derived from rolled stats, and playbooks that represent different tropes in heist fiction.

There’s not a lot to do with inventory in this game; the only tables present are the weapon and armour tables. However, weapons and armour are attached to level; you have a chance of getting something good at a low level but that chance is very slim. As the characters prepare for a heist, they can roll to see what kinds of weapons they’re allowed to have, and the higher level they are, the higher chance that they find something that can pack a real punch. Combat is not something you’ll want to get into at the beginning - but as you level up, you’ll take bigger and bigger risks, which will probably lead to more and more things going wrong. I also like the section on the weapon table titled “you just wanted to play D&D didn’t you?”

Other Posts of Mine To Check Out

Markets and Trade

Gathering and Crafting

Weapons and Customization

[padfootagain]

Something Good (XXVIII)

Chapter 28 : Curtains Close

Alright, this is our last chapter! Thank you all for reading, I’m quite sad to finish this fic… Hard to say goodbye to those two…

I hope you like this last chapter!

****

Pairing: Ben Barnes x Reader

Warnings: Fluff angst, Slow burn, professor AU.!

Summary: Coming out of a divorce and trying to get used to being a single mom, while teaching your classes at University, you thought your life could not get more complicated than it already is. But when you are asked to take care of the theatre club with the colleague that you really can’t get along with, you realize that everything can still get ten times more complicated in your life. And when you start actually liking Professor Barnes, the troubles only grow exponentially…

Word Count: 2124

Masterlist for the series – Ben Barnes’ Masterlist – Main Masterlist

“Alright, alright, Giselle… look at me…”

“I can’t do it… I can’t sing…”

“Of course, you can sing. You’ve done it dozens of times this year, you can do it.”

“But what if…”

“No “what if”! You’re gonna get out there, and you’re gonna blow their minds away! Come on! Kick all of their asses out there, girl!”

You offered the girl your palm for a high-five, and even though she was still nervous, she still giggled and gave you a high-five.

“Come on, let’s go!”

You heaved a discreet sigh…

… crisis 57 averted.

“Y/N!”

And there came crisis 58…

“The guy playing the piano in the orchestra is sick!” Nathaniel told you, running towards you with panic all over his features. “What do we do?! We can’t perform without a piano!”

You were backstage with the whole group of your students, as well as the university orchestra that were playing the music for the show. Or well, were supposed to…

Your mind was racing a thousand miles a minute as you stared with a blank expression into Nathaniel’s eyes.

“Ben will play,” you answered him. “He plays piano very well, and he knows all the songs.”

“But then who’s helping with the costumes?”

“I am.”

“You’re already helping with the props!”

“I’m a woman, multitasking is my specialty.”

“But…”

“Go get ready for your first scene, we’ll be just fine.”

Nathaniel nodded, fully trusting you.

Oh… what a mistake he was making…

You frantically looked around, looking for help.

“Ben!”

The man you loved turned around, hair a little messy and his glasses slightly lopsided on his nose. He too seemed on the verge of a mental breakdown, and yet he seemed calmer than you were. Although, you reckoned it wasn’t that difficult of a task…

“You’re alright?” he asked, seeing the worry obvious on your face.

“The pianist is sick. You need to play.”

“Me?” he asked, his eyes growing a little round.

“Do you have a better idea? You know of a pianist who would come and play a show that starts in less than thirty minutes?”

“No…”

“Then… you have to do it.”

“Okay…”

He nodded, taking a couple of deep breaths.

“I can do it.”

“Of course, you can! You’re amazing!”

He chuckled at that, his cheeks turning a bright shade of pink, but he quickly grew serious again.

“Someone has to take care of the costumes.”

“I’ll have to do it…”

“You can’t, you’re already helping for…”

“… the props, I know… but there’s nobody else. We’re literally the only adults here!”

“Technically, the students are adults too.”

Right at that moment, you heard something falling down and breaking, it was coming from one of the dressing rooms.

“Okay, we’re the only real adults,” Ben confirmed. “We need an extra pair of hands though, you can’t be taking care of everything that is going on backstage at once.”

But you shrugged, silently telling him that there was no one else in this theatre who could help…

The realisation struck both of you at the same time.

“MILES!”

“I’ll go find him in the audience! You make sure nobody died in there,” Ben told you, nodding towards the dressing rooms, and you let him go find his friend.

Ben spent a couple of minutes looking around, desperately looking for the old man… he was ready to give up and ring him when he heard the loud voice he knew so well ring through the theatre.

“Ben! What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to gather the troops before the show?”

“Miles! Wonderful! I was looking for you! Hi George! Thanks for coming!”

“Ha, it’s a pleasure to see the work of our favourite lovebirds,” George laughed, shaking Ben’s hand, who merely blushed in response.

“Miles, I need your help. You have to help us with the costumes…”

“Ha, no! I’m here to watch the show, not participate…”

“Someone in the orchestra is sick, which means that I’ve been promoted to pianist, and Y/N can’t handle everything backstage on her own. We need two people to organize everything. She’ll tell you what to do, but we need an extra pair of hands. Please, Miles…”

The old man heaved a sigh, straightened his Hawaiian shirt, but nodded anyway.

“I see. I’ll help then.”

“Thank you!”

Ben gave him a hug, sighing with relief, making his old friend chuckle.

“You’ll owe me a good bottle of whiskey.”

“At this point, anything you want.”

“A double-date between George and I and you and Y/N?”

Ben blushed fiercely at his friend’s teasing, but nodded anyway.

“Yeah… yeah… whatever…”

“Wonderful!”

Miles followed Ben backstage, and you couldn’t stop yourself from hugging the retired man, who merely chuckled as he hugged you too.

“Alright, tell me what to do, boss,” he told you with a mischievous wink, and you let out a relieved chuckle.

“Thanks for helping…”

“Ben told me. It’s my pleasure.”

“Alright, I’ve just avoided another catastrophe as David broke a lamp, and almost destroyed his costume, but it’s fine…” you babbled away. “Erm… would you mind checking the lights, we’re supposed to open with red lights, but they weren’t set yet fifteen minutes ago…”

“I’ll go take a look,” Miles nodded.

He disappeared down the corridor, leaving you and Ben alone. You could hear the buzzing of the theatre being filled with spectators. Your heart was pounding, your head was spinning.

Your phone buzzed to reveal the name of your ex-husband, and for a minute you thought about the million things that could have gone wrong with Sally… and you didn’t need that now.

But instead of announcing a sickness, tears or a trip to the hospital… you found a nice message from Liam.

Good luck for tonight. I know that we haven’t always been on the same page you and I, but I will always be here for you if you need me.

I know that sometimes I act like a selfish prick. But I’m proud of you.

Good luck to you and Ben.

It was followed by a picture of Sally wearing her cutest toothy grin and Liam, both of them holding up a piece of paper covered with pink glitter, saying in a messy handwriting Good luck mommy.

You brushed a tear away.

“Babe? You’re okay? What’s wrong, darling?”

You looked up at Ben’s worried expression, and merely showed him your phone. His expression softened, and he smiled at the cute picture.

“Wow… coming from Liam that’s…”

“Surprisingly mature?”

“I would have said nice, but… yeah,” Ben nodded.

“Who knows… perhaps he’s really trying to be better this time around.”

“I hope so.”

You exchanged a tender smile, but then Ben looked around at the empty space filling the corridor. There was no one around, only the distant sound of the spectators waiting for the show to being and the shushed sounds of the students getting ready.

“Well, now that I am performing… do I get a good luck kiss?” Ben asked, wiggling his eyebrows and making you laugh.

He still took a step closer, and the smirk he shot you was definitely dangerous, almost lethal…

“Hmmm… Ben, we’re working…” you protested, looking away.

But he took another step closer, and you didn’t walk away.

“You say that like you don’t kiss me every day in either my or your office.”

“Shh!”

“Love, we’re both consenting adults. Relax. We’re not breaking any rules. Besides, it’s almost 8:30pm… we’re way past office hours.”

You laughed at that silly argument, but when Ben wrapped his arm around your back, when he cradled your cheek in his large palm, you didn’t move away. On the contrary, you wrapped your arms around his neck and leaned into his touch.

“Good luck for tonight,” he whispered, his mouth inches away from yours.

“Good luck.”

Before he could say anything, you were leaning up to press your lips to his. And like every time you kissed him, everything else in the world vanished…

… until you were interrupted by loud cheers.

You both pulled away in a hurry, but broke into laughter as you turned to the students you had grown very much fond of along the year.

“Wow! Love birds!” Nathaniel cried, clapping.

Ben rolled his eyes.

“Alright, alright, that’s enough…”

Laughs lingered for a minute, but then everyone was gathered in the empty space behind the stage. The light was low, it was almost time, only five minutes left.

You took Ben’s hand in yours, and he smiled.

“Well, good luck everyone for tonight,” Ben spoke, his voice firm and yet made a little hoarse with emotions. “I think I can say that I speak for both Y/N and I when I say that… it’s been a real pleasure to work with all of you this year. In fact, it’s been an honour. I’m very proud of the work we’ve done, and I’m very much proud of all of you.”

You saw a couple of students brushing tears away, and you struggled to hide how emotional you were yourself.

“Tonight’s the big night. Let’s show everyone how hard we’ve been working. But most importantly… have fun! Enjoy tonight, you deserve it. And I’m expecting an awful lot of cheers by the end of the show. So… come on!”

You both placed your hand before you, and soon everyone was gathering in a circle, hands upon hands.

You cheered.

And then it was time for the show to begin.

The show was a brilliant success.

Everything went smoothly, but then again, you had rehearsed relentlessly the previous weeks. It was paying off now, as you were bowing before the cheering crowd before you, holding Ben’s hand in yours.

As you walked backstage again, your body buzzing with adrenaline, there was a mix of sadness and excitement pulling at your heart. On one hand the excitement of the performance and the applause, on the other hand the sadness of knowing that it was over.

There was a pregnant pause, the sound of conversations and people gathering their stuff loud now that people were about to leave. There was some food and drinks at the ready, but you were unwilling to go take care of that part of the evening now. Instead, you all remained standing, your students still in their costumes, looking at each other in silence.

And then Giselle was hugging David, and Nathaniel turned to you, and everybody was hugging, an emotional mess as you struggled not to cry.

“Congratulations, everyone!” you said, your throat tight. “You did so good tonight! We all did so good!”

“It was by far the best performance we’ve ever done,” Ben nodded.

“But now, the important question arises,” Nathaniel said, turning to both you and Ben. “What musical do we do next year?”

You both let out a laugh, surprised by his reaction, and believing in a joke, but your students were already lost in conversation.

“Hamilton!”

“No, we could do West Side Story!”

“Or Les Mis!”

“You’re short enough to play Gavroche, for sure!”

A wave of laughter.

“Alright, alright, that’s enough, kids! Go get changed, we have some celebration to do!”

You were soon alone again, just you and Ben. You exchanged a smile, tender and emotional, and you were about to rush into his arms when you heard the familiar voice of Jasmine, along with Mary, your head of department.

“Congratulations!” Jasmine ran into your arms, making you laugh. “God! That was AMAZING!”

“Thanks!”

“It was…  pretty good,” Mary congratulated you both, which, coming from her, was the best you would ever have.

“So… we can keep the club open for next year?” Ben asked, and he sounded relaxed, almost playful, but you weren’t fooled. You noticed the way the muscle of his jaw jumped.

Mary merely laughed.

“Yeah, I reckon we can keep it running for another year! And who knows… perhaps we can find a new colleague to assist you next year, Ben.”

You both frowned at that.

“What? Why?”

“Well… you weren’t happy about it in September, I assumed…”

But Ben shook his head, laughing, and slowly took your hand in his.

“Let’s say that we have reached an agreement,” he grinned, and there was something cocky in his gesture, a proud glitter in his dark eyes.

It was Mary’s turn to laugh.

“I see. Well… congratulations for that too, I guess! Can’t wait to see what you will plan for next year!”

You turned to Ben, staring into his dark brown eyes, the tenderness held in his gaze almost too much. You gave his hand a squeeze.

Yes, indeed… the future offered many suns and surprises…

“Oh, I’m sure we’ll find something amazing for… many years to come…”

[lorirwritesfanfic]

Break - Part I

Book: The Royal Romance Pairing: Liam Rys x MC (Jade) Rating: M Word count: 2124 Reading time: ~8min Summary: After dinner in Fydelia, Liam sent a message to Jade asking her to meet him so he explain why he didn't stood up for her and chose Madeleine to be fiancee. But neither of them were ready to face the outcome of their conversation. Based on the prompt: @kingliamappreciationweek day 4: Relationships

Author's note:

Jade Bourbon is a creation of this author. The other characters belong to Pixelberry Studios;

This year's KLAW brought me back to the days I wrote incessantly about Liam, so I decided to revisit some old fics and revamp them. This piece was originally part of Coming Back With a Bang, but because I've been frustrated with book two scene in the balcony with Liam since 2018 and my attempt to write a fix-it fic then lacked emotion, I'm rewriting it and hoping this time I can do justice to Jade and show how she felt;

There may be some lines from canon in here. I just don't know which ones 😅

Thanks to @lizzybeth1986 and @sazanes for hosting KLAW again. I don't know if a rewritten fic will be accepted, but regardless it is or not, thank you for once again inspiring me with prompts to write Liam.

While Maxwell waited outside the ladies room, Jade looked at herself in the mirror and heaved a sigh. She was a mess. Sure, she could fix her makeup and go back out there. But what for? Watching Madeleine snaking her hands over him? For more people to tell her how she became a pariah  in the kingdom and should just leave? What was the point of all this anyway?

Turning on the sink, she washed her hands and placed them on the back of her neck to freshen up. She was still resolute not to give up. But for the night, she had enough.

As she walked out of the ladies room, Maxwell stood up from the settee with his usual encouraging smile. 

"You seem better."

"Thanks..." She simpered. "Can I go back to my room now? We congratulated the happy couple, toasted, dined on their honor and blah blah blah..." Jade gesticulated as she twisted her lips in annoyance.

"Sure. I think the staff already has it cleaned. I'm kinda beat too."

"Let's go then."

Lacing arms with her friend, Jade and Maxwell walked towards the grand staircase.

"Wait, we don't have to go back and say goodnight to them, do we?" Jade made a face.

"Nah... It's okay. It's been a long day for all of us."

"Tell me about it..."

A soft knock on the door echoed in the room, waking Jade up. She had no idea how much time had passed or who could be knocking on her door right now. 

After getting out of bed and taking a quick look in the mirror, she reached for a robe and answered the door.

"Hey you!” Her eyes soften at the sight of Maxwell. “What’s with the flowers?”

“Special delivery!” Maxwell beamed as he walked in carrying a huge red roses arrangement. “Housekeeping sent over a new centerpiece for your end table.” 

"Now?"

"The staff apologized for sending it so late, but they thought it'd be nice for you to wake up and see the flowers."

"Aw, it really is nice..." She smiled, burying her nose on the centerpiece to smell the roses when she noticed a small envelope wrapped around one of the stems.

Opening the envelope, she picked up the note inside and her eyes rose in surprise.

“Oh, that’s Liam’s handwriting," Maxwell prompted.

"I wouldn't blame you if you're furious with me, but please meet me so I can at least explain. I'll be on the balcony outside my room in twenty minutes." - L.

As if pulled by a magnet, Jade walked outside to search for Liam's balcony.

Maxwell picked the note from the floor, read it while following Jade outside. "You're thinking about it, aren't you?"

"I shouldn't..." Jade bit down her lip as her eyes began to water.

“Hey..." Maxwell approached her, placing his hand on her arm. "I cannot imagine how much it stung to see him with Madeleine. But Liam wouldn't send you this if he didn't think he owed you an explanation."

"Should I go?"

"You're my friend, but I'm also his friend and I kinda want to say 'hell yeah! Go get your man!'" Maxwell enthused, making her giggle, but immediately his features grew a bit serious. "I'm rooting for you two, but if you say it's too much for you right now, I'll get it."

Jade chewed on a nail.

“Whatever you decide, I'll support you. Don't forget to get some rest, okay?”

"Thanks, Max."

"Have a goodnight, Little Blossom." Maxwell said as he left the balcony and then left her room.

Alone once again, Jade mulled over Liam's note and remembered their encounter earlier. The way he gazed at her, complimenting her, kissing her hand as gentle and passionate as ever, his eyes searching for hers throughout the dinner... 

Jade walked back into the room and searched for the nicest yet comfortable clothes she had in the closet. She needed to be ready to climb his balcony if necessary, but still look her best in case they end things. Maybe he did have an explanation. She just hoped it'd be a good one.

As soon as Jade stepped into the garden, her eyes darted to Liam's balcony. As one of his fingers idly ran on the rim of a nearly empty wine glass, Liam sat by himself, lost in thought. Ignoring her racing heart and dry mouth, she walked towards the pillar under his balcony and hoped she could not only climb it, but manage to tell him everything that was choked inside her.

“Jade!” Liam murmured in surprise as he rushed to help her get into his balcony.

Her feet barely had touched the ground when Liam swept her into his arms. His nose buried on her hair, tears fell down her cheeks as the inebriating scent of his cologne overtook her. It was so hard not to lose herself in his embrace. If there was any place she yearned to be again, it was certainly within his arms.

Yet, flashes of coronation night and the dinner earlier came to her, reminding her of her current situation. Reality always seemed to hit her as hard as a slap on the face.

After wiping her tears discreetly, Jade pulled away from his eyes and said, “You're engaged."

Liam swallowed hard and nodded.

"We need to talk."

“Yes, of course. It’s just…" Liam took a step closer, gazing into her eyes. "Damn, Lady Jade, how I’ve missed you.”

Jade averted her gaze for a moment to gather strength and say what she had to tell him. “Aren’t you going to ask me if it’s true?”

“No. I don’t need to ask to know it was a set up.”

“You knew?” 

Her eyebrows rose as she tried to process what he said. 

"You knew?!" As she repeated, a wave of anger took over her. “Then why? Why did you let me go?" Her eyes glisten with tears again. "Why didn't you try to reach out to me? Why did I have to hide like a criminal if you knew I was the victim? Why did you have to choose… her?” Her lips quivered, her emotions taking the best of her as she cried again. 

"Oh, Jade..." Liam whispered, pulling her back into his arms. "If only you knew how much I wanted to tell you that I believe you, that I always knew you'd never spoken more than a few words to Tariq because you were simply polite to him... But I couldn't."

Her hands balled into fists as she tried to push him away, yet Liam didn't let go. She continued, hitting his chest harder as hot tears streamed down her face. 

And in spite of it all, Liam didn't pull away nor tried to defend himself. He simply continued to hold her as tight as he could. When she finally hugged him back, Liam kissed her forehead in adoration. He waited for as long as it took her for her to calm down then led her to the settee so they could talk.

"Why did you say you couldn't?"

"Though I knew it was set up because Drake told me about the broken lock on your door, I had no proof. No one knows where Tariq is, who could've told him to go to your room. Someone had gone to great lengths to frame you." A muscle in his jaw twitches. "If I chose you that night or tried to remain in touch with you or the Beaumonts, I might have put you in greater danger."

"Oh?"

"I haven't told you about my mother."

"You mentioned she died when you were young."

"The details of passing weren't disclosed to the press, but she was poisoned."

Jade's mouth fell open.

"We still don't know who caused my mother's death. And if that person is still out there, walking freely into the country estate that was built to be secure..." He shook his head. "I can't think about the possibility of losing you, Jade."

Jade chewed on a lip, not knowing what to say.

"I'll regret what I did at the Coronation for the rest of my life because it hurt you and I'm sorry that it happened as it did. But in that moment, the only thing that I could think of to keep you safe was to make whoever is behind this believe that they won. But I am so, so sorry... This must have been miserable for you."

Liam reached for her hand and kissed her knuckles.

"You could've called..." Jade murmured.

"I had to make it seem like I had no more ties with you. But I knew you were safe at Ramsford. Bertrand kept you distracted with etiquette, ballroom dancing and Cordonian history lessons."

Her eyes widened. "How do you know that?"

"Bertrand and I talked briefly through a secure line. I told him to cut you slack so you could have time to go jogging. I heard you were playing the piano sometimes..."

"He did keep you up to speed," she concluded, still annoyed.

"In case you were wondering, we only had short calls. If I had talked to you, I wouldn't be satisfied with a one minute call every now and then."

"Me neither..." Jade sighed. "Okay... I guess it makes sense. But I still have one question. Why her?"

"Madeleine is different from the other suitors. We never really got along, she doesn't care about that I feel nothing for her. I couldn't ask any of the other ladies to go through an arrangement like this. I wouldn't want to hurt anyone else's feelings."

"But you don't care about Madeleine?"

"You've had time to talk to her."

"Unfortunately... Is she awful with you too?"

"To put it mildly..." Liam made a face.

"I thought she was mean to us girls because we were competition."

"Perhaps it was, but in my opinion, that's Madeleine being herself."

"This arrangement you have with her…" Jade pressed her lips together, struggling to think about what she was going to ask. "Does it make me your mistress?”

“Hardly. You’re the woman I love. The only one.” Liam locked his fingers through hers. “I know this is not what any of us hoped for, but all I could think about at that moment was finding a way to keep you in my life.”

“Liam, I—" She shook her head. “This is a lot.” 

“I know. But my hope is that it's all temporary. Just until we find whoever schemed against you. After all of this, if you still have me, our love won't have to be a secret.”

“But what if we can't find who did this?"

"I'll still be all yours even if I have to marry Madeleine. But if you don't want it, I..." He trailed off, then took a deep breath. "I won't stand on your way."

As tears welled up on her eyes once again, Liam went down one knee and cupped her cheek, wiping a tear with his thumb. “Stay."

"Liam..."

"I'm talking about tonight. Stay here. I need to see with my own eyes that you’ll be safe.” 

Jade sobbed. This was too much. Becoming his mistress was a hard limit for her. Yet, how could she leave him if every part of being came alive under his gaze? Unable to find words to express what she felt, she just sat there and sobbed while Liam took a plce by her side again, pulling her close in his arms.

It was still dark when Jade woke up. Around her waist, one of Liam’s arms pressed her back against his chest. On the sleeve of his shirt, makeup stains. Signs of how much all of this has been tough on them.

She took a deep breath, taking in the scent of his aftershave lingering on the pillow, the warmth of his arm and chest protecting her. She knew deep inside he would do anything to shield her from insults, dirty looks and any threats. But it still was a lot for both of them.

“Liam,” she whispered, rubbing his hand.

He frowned a little before opening his eyes.

“Hey...” she turned to face him and gave him a weak smile.

Hey,” he said, stifling a yawn. “Are you okay?”

“Yes. I just have to go back to my room now.”

“Of course. Let me talk to the guards outside first.” 

He then got out of the bed, ran a hand in an attempt to fix his tousled hair and opened the door. A couple of minutes later, he returned.

“You can take the hallway. None of the guards will ask questions. As far as they're concerned, you were never here,” he said, placing his hands inside his pockets.

“Thank you.” 

Jade sat up, put her flats back on her feet and headed to the door.

“Jay...” he called, taking one of her hands before she reached the doorknob. “What about us? Will we be okay?”

“I hope so... But I need time to think. It’s a lot to process.”

Liam nodded, looking down at her hand as  his thumb stroked her mother’s ring on her finger.

“Hey," she uttered, cupping his cheek gently. "We're not over. I just..."

"I know."

Before they could think about it, her arms wrapped his neck as his hands clenched on the back of her sweater. Would things change between them if they stayed away from each other? Would life give them another chance? They didn't know. But as far as anyone else knew, there was no way back for them.

[39oa]

PLS as a new stars enjoyer i really wanna know whos who in this 🥹🥹 i kill for family dynamics 🤲🤲

https://www.tumblr.com/39oa/744137614807924736/the-stars-are-like-this-is-39-yo-joe-pavelski

hi anon!!! of course i would be MORE than happy to explain and in fact am about to egregiously overexplain so apologies in advance for that >__< welcome 2 starsblr pls enjoy your stay!!! 💚💚💚

"pavs and sons" → this is our top line that consists of jason robertson (21 / "robo"), roope hintz (24 / some call him "roop", his finnish nickname is "hine"), and joe pavelski (16 / "pavs"). pavs spent over a decade in san jose and was the sharks' captain during essentially their twilight years, and he came to dallas intending to retire (which is likely to happen at the end of this year tbh) but instead revitalized a distinct second phase of his career after being placed on a line with 2124 in 2020-21, unexpectedly becoming stalwart producers for a struggling dallas stars offense (2 words: rick bowness) — robo was only in his first year with the stars and roope's career was not that much older, hence the nickname pavs and sons; although pavs is only an alternate captain because the stars already have a very established, homegrown captain, he is basically treated as our second captain thanks to his age and the vast influence he has over both our young players & the locker room as a whole :') one of his nicknames is also captain america from representing team usa on the intl stage LOL.

rest below the cut:

raising johnny -> our team's ACTUAL baby is 2003-born wyatt johnston (53 / "johnny" but sometimes we use "wyjo" lol), who was in the ohl before the 2022-23 season but managed to impress during training camp and basically forced his way onto the roster (without getting too much into it, 18-19 y/o rookies can play 9 games with the big club before burning a year off their elc, so being from the ohl at his age his only options were basically Be In The NHL Permanently or go back to ontario.) because "HE (WAS) ONLY 19!!!" and there was some uncertainty about whether he'd stay up, pavelski invited him to live at his place with his wife and teenaged-son, and now a second year into his career wyatt is STILL with them because he loves it there so much lol. the stars frequently joke about pavs being his dad/landlord, and we've gotten a ton of fun content like these quest for the stanley cup clips and other interview moments like this, this, and this.

fostering stank(s) -> logan stankoven (11 / "stank" though you will also see "stanks") is our other baby and a very recent addition to our nhl roster; he's from the same draft class as johnny, but spent last season in the whl and therefore was eligible to go to the ahl this year, where he's been cooking up a storm for half the szn. it was pretty inevitable that he'd come up at SOME point, but the perfect opportunity arrived after one of our forwards got injured and he was slotted in on short notice. like johnny, he has basically forced his way onto the team permanently by immediately performing to (and well-beyond) standard :') the fun part is that he stayed with johnny at pavs's house when he first came to dallas, though he's since moved out and found his own place... nevertheless, this was still very sweet because logan & wyatt have GENUINE history from knowing each other half their lives & winning gold for u18 team canada in 2021, and have since picked their immediate chemistry right back up on the stars's 3rd line together. (more on this later!!!)

resident glueguy tydel + otter's son -> u know how every team needs its emotional support 4th liner who is at constant threat of being dumped at trade deadline? ty dellandrea (10 / "delly" but we like "tydel" as well) is our 13oa pick who never really panned out as expected, but he's still crucial to the overall health of the locker room and beloved by many. as a small piece of the Cycle Of Mentorship that the stars subscribe to, pavs is known for basically being a deflection master and a menace in front of the net and has passed on this propensity to a lot of younger stars by doing targeted practice sessions with them, including tydel. anyway delly's lore in general is just INSANEEE because he's at the center of the stars' social fabric in a lot of ways. happily third-wheels along with the wags, gets along with the 279195 canadian slagline who mostly exist outside of any family narratives, is Publicly Liked By Roope which is kind of weird because outside of cellys roop practices jane austen levels of finnish repression, imprinted on johnny hard last year (JOINED HIM ON PAVELSKI FAMILY NIGHTS) (from this devastating webweave), has SOOO much ahl history with otter to the point that otter's baby brother sees ty as part of the family — this is also where otter saying that he and his girlfriend saw ty as their son when he stayed at their apartment during training camp comes from. which is genuinely like Absurd Things to say because jake oettinger (29 / "otter") (as a completely random aside, please look at this gifset of harls wearing otter's shirt) is ONLY 2 YEARS OLDER THAN DELLY. LIKE THE FUCK D'YOU MEAN YOUR SON???

i'm normal. okay

jbenn / "daddy" line dads -> so the stars' real captain is jamie benn (14 / multiple nicknames but "chubbs" is a signature), whoooo is a quite the contentious figure amongst stars fans but as a 2007 draftee is very much a homegrown player and still quite important to the organization. i'm ngl, stars rpf is a VERY small space nowadays in hockey fandom, but ~back in the day~ he and tyler seguin were one of The Big Ships before slowly fading as both fandom figures & stars of the team thanks to age and injury and [waves hand vaguely]. anyway while the top line on the stars has remained *mostly* set since robo was called up, the 2nd & 3rd lines still experience a decent amount of reshuffling, so wyatt is kind of jamie's fixed line son atp but they also played with tydel before we 1:1 swapped some russians and evgenii dadonov (63 / the "DADDY" in question) came in and replaced delly. so now we've had multiple "benn and sons" lines (jamie + wyatt/delly, now jamie + wyatt/logan ❗️), plus essentially a "wyatt and dads" line (wyatt + jamie/daddy) lmfao.

wedge raising harls -> robo's emotional support backup goalie is scott wedgewood (41 / "wedge" or "wedgie"), who as far as backup goalies go is like shockingly well-integrated into the stars' locker room. the piece of lore that inspired this WHOLE post is that taylor dropped an article on how wedge claimed to basically be RAISING HARLS WITH HIS (recently-married!) WIFE...??? which is just. thomas harley (55 / "harls") is one of our resident baby d-men and was in and out of the ahl for a while but has been Officially with the stars since last years' playoffs... he's a very like, self-assured but kind of introverted, Beyond-His-Years type who literally has the voice of a 50 y/o, so it's both DEVASTATING and hilarious 2 me that wedge is like "oh, this 22 y/o kid likes to show up to my house every day and me and my wife are teaching him how to cook and he keeps facetiming me to ask random questions about his bills." LIKE OH... OKAY THEN ;___;

& last but not least: the ultimate Mini Family on this team that i didn't mention in my orig post is actually the finnish mafia — see robo constantly joking about them being brothers and loving each other lol. finnmaf currently includes four players (roope, miro, esa, jani... rip kivo 😔), and they kind of help split the stars' locker room into several groups including the finns, the ontario guys, robo's goaliefucker / Nerd_Collector ensemble, and... well honestly the cliques overlap a lot (which is why our locker room is so healthy!!!) but you get the idea.

there is soooo much other lore i could get into that isn't really related to dad/son/brother narratives but i feel like this is enough of an infodump so i'll stop here for now. in general the way the stars are constructed makes it really clear why they all see one another as family and why there is such a strong & positive & sustainable sense of personal leadership that permeates the locker room... benn handles Official captain duties while pavs uses his experience not to usurp him but simply to further support him in understated areas of mentorship/leadership, and our top line consists of 3 Very unassuming & responsible player archetypes which crucially trickles down to all the other lines. so while many teams have their Old Guys (who are often on a noticeable decline) and Kid Lines, the stars are cool because we've been successful at integrating young players with very established veterans and having them feed off of each other without sacrificing their development or "anchoring" any young talent unnecessarily; benn is really not the player he used to be but he's still been great with wyatt over the past 2 years. and pavs IS a total anomaly, so it's kind of insane & surreal that a guy in his late 30s can perform at such a high level while also taking it upon himself to prepare so many of our young guys to be the present & future of our team *__*

tl;dr: also i just remembered that the amazing @starscelly has a preexisting primer from last year so feel free to check that out too :') (the primary differences are basically that we replaced domi for duchene and recently picked up chris tanev haha)

[riddikulus-writings]

Born To Run

It's 3ABY, 3 years after the destruction of the original Death Star. The galaxy is in chaos and both sides of the war figure out what to do with themselves. Cal Kestis is still on the move, keeping to himself and taking out Imperials wherever he can.

His most recent target lands Cal on Frisal, an Imperial vacationing planet, but upon Cal's arrival, he finds he's not the only one after this Imperial Officer.

The difference between perseverance and obstinacy is, that one often comes from a strong will, and the other from a strong won’t.

Pairing; Cal Kestis x OC

Warnings for the fic include; Graphic descriptions of violence and gore. Smut*. Pining. Emotional damage to the writer.

Day 1; Late Evening

Day 2; Early Morning Hours

Day 3; Mid Afternoon

Day 3; Late Afternoon

Day 3; Late Evening

Day 4; Early Morning

Day 4; Late Afternoon

Day 5; Late Evening*

Day 6; Very Early Morning

Day 6; Very Late Evening

Day 7; Very Early Morning

Day 7; Very Early Morning*

DAY 2124; Late Afternoon

Dedicating this ficlet to @angel5ofp0rn, for being my biggest supporter despite never reading literally anything I've ever written before💛

Fic namesake came from this song

Back to Main Masterlist

[drabmakyo]

Did you know that I write a lot about memory, skunks, uploading consciousness, political maneuvering, skunks, aliens, skunks, queerness, identity, emotions, and skunks? It's true! I'm very proud of them. You can read books best described as

Given the chance to live forever in a world not built for death, what do you do?

Given the inability to forget—all your joys and sorrows, all your foundational memories and traumas—how do you cope?

Given the ability to create a full copy of yourself—down to every single one of those memories—to do as they will, to individuate and live out their own forever lives, or merge back down and meld their memories with your own, what paths do you take?

and

If I had a nickel for every time I accidentally wrote something with heavy plural undertones that I hadn't intended but nonetheless made me doubt my identity, I'd have two nickels! Which isn't a lot, but it is weird that it happened twice.

The Post-Self Cycle is a tetralogy of meta-furry¹, gender-weird sci-fi books. From the very beginning of the consensual dream of the System, the members of the Ode clade, all forks from the same core personality, have dealt with fear each in their own way. Do they search for greater ways to control their lives? Do they hunt for yet deeper emotional connection? Do they hone their art to the finest point?

From roots in political turmoil to the building of a new society, the story is there to be found, and the Bălan clade is there to tell it.

Digital versions come with illustrations from five artists — Iris Jay, Jade Laclede, Floe, CadmiumTea, and johnny a.

Available as paperbacks, ebooks, and free to read in the browser. Omnibus ebook and illustrated hardcovers coming soon!

Book I — Qoheleth

"All artists search. I search for stories, in this post-self age. What happens when you can no longer call yourself an individual, when you have split your sense of self among several instances? How do you react? Do you withdraw into yourself, become a hermit? Do you expand until you lose all sense of identity? Do you fragment? Do you go about it deliberately, or do you let nature and chance take their course?"

With immersive technology at its peak, it's all too easy to get lost. When RJ loses emself in that virtual world, not only must ey find eir way out, but find all the answers ey can along the way.

And, nearly a century on, society still struggles with the ramifications of those answers.

Features the bonus novella Gallery Exhibition: A Love Story.

Madison finds a way to address not only the joys and terrors of integrated simulation technology, but also tackles questions of gender and identity while telling a pretty gripping mystery story in the process.

— Nenekiri Bookwyrm

Book II — Toledot

"I am saying that you trust me — really trust me — and that life in the System is more subtle than I think you know. You let me into your dreams, my dear, and your dreams influence this place as much as, if not more than, your waking mind."

No longer bound to the physical, what lengths should one go to in a virtual world to ensure the continuity of one's existence?

Secession. Launch. Two separations from two societies, two hundred years apart. And through it all, so many parallels run on so many levels that it can be dizzying just keeping up. The more Ioan and Codrin Bălan learn, the more it calls into question the motivations of even those they hold most dear.

Madison Scott-Clary . . . trusts her readers to be able to understand a completely different culture and existence than our own, and makes it compelling to do so.

— Payson R. Harris

Book III — Nevi'im

"Do you know how old I am, Dr. Brahe? I am 222 years old, a fork of an individual who is...who would be 259 years old. I am no longer the True Name of 2124. Even remembering her feels like remembering an old friend. I remember her perfectly, and yet I do not remember how to be earnest. I do not know how to simply be."

The cracks are showing.

Someone picked up on the broadcast from the Dreamer Module and as the powers that be rush to organize a meeting between races, Dr. Tycho Brahe is caught up in a whirlwind of activity. And as always, when the drama goes down, there is Codrin Bălan to witness it.

When faced with eternity in a new kind of digital world, however, old traumas come to roost, and those who were once powerful are brought to their knees

Growth is colliding with memory, and the cracks are showing.

These characters are so well realized, so fleshed out, that I can’t help but to gush about how their interactions with each other inform the central plot of the book.

— Nenekiri Bookwyrm

Book IV — Mitzvot

"To be built to love is to be built to dissolve. It is to be built to unbecome. It is to have the sole purpose of falling apart all in the name of someone else."

Even the grandest of stories can feel small and immediate when it's just one person's life.

One of the most well-known names from one of the most well-known clades on the System, the avatar of political machinations and cool confidence, has been brought low. With help coming only from Ioan Bălan and the most grudging of support from her cocladists, all True Name has left to save herself is the ability to change.

Features the bonus novella Selected Letters.

Mitzvot drills down deeper into the lives of its characters and shows us that between the world-shattering projects that change the very understanding of the System, they’re just people trying to live their lives with love and purpose.

— Nenekiri Bookwyrm

Keep an eye out for Clade, an anthology of short stories from nine authors set in the universe, coming later this year.

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¹ That is, about members of the furry subculture rather than just furry characters.

[solarbird]

Okay, so there are four (4) statewide initiatives on the Washington State ballot this year, all funded and backed by a California hedge-fund manager named Brian Haywood. He’s your usual hedge-fund dickhead, and has worked with the MAGA-pilled Washington State GOP to dump several million dollars into these.

So, what are they?

Two are “fuck yeah climate change” initiatives, the pro-carbon pro-global-warming horseshit you’d expect out of MAGAttry. These are I-2117 and I-2066. 2066 discourages electrification and requires more availability and use of natural gas. 2117 repeals sections of the 2021 Washington Climate Commitment Act and prohibits the state from discouraging use of carbon-based fuels via carbon caps or investments.

So those are a big two FUCK YOU NO. How about the others?

The next one is a tax cut focused on the very wealthy. I-2109 blows a massive hole in the already-underfunded education budget by massively cutting taxes on the state’s 4000 wealthiest people, making our already-regressive tax system super extra regressive. Very Trumpian, so there’s no wonder the MAGAts like this one a lot.

The last one is one of those “medical choice!” amendments that is really about “choosing to go bankrupt because people don’t understand maths.”

I-2124 seeks to eliminate WA Cares, the state’s long-term-healthcare insurance programme. If you love going bankrupt when you’re old and too sick to work so you can end up dying penniless and possibly homeless, this is definitely the initiative for you!

Obviously, I am unimpressed. Brian Heywood moved up here to be our new Tim Eyman after Original Tim Eyman did too many crimes and so isn’t running initiative campaigns anymore. The difference is that while Eyman was making a business out of it and making money – or trying to – Heywood already has all the money he needs so doesn’t have to cash in the same ways.

So please vote no on all of these, ‘k? I’m not super impressed by Defend Washington‘s weirdly vague website, but they do have at least some information on all the initiatives and why you shouldn’t vote for them.

Two hands, two fingers each means giving four fingers to this bullshit.

Vote no across the board on statewide initiatives in 2024.

21 days remain.