#i mean i. kind of try to get good coverage? kind of

[kumakuma-circus]

i think my favorite part of my p4 playthrough is that i somehow never got pixie and had to go back to get her when trying to fuse black frost for the shadow mitsuo fight. i still don't know how that happened i was in the castle for so fucking long sfldkjskfjfdksfdkjfd-

[sophiamcdougall]

I am never going to complain about Greek Duolingo again

I mean, I am. But still.

So, as some of you know, my family has been coming to this tiny Greek seaside village for several years. Just over a week ago I came out here with my mum, under the impression that early September, after the height of the summer heat, would be a good time to have a holiday. ANYWAY Storm Daniel had other ideas about that. Locally things are improving (I'm actually really pissed off about the disaster-porn tone of most English-language media coverage, but that's another post). The power is back on, there's running water most of the time, and though the latter is not drinkable, a truck from the government came and handled out free bottled water yesterday. But we are currently kind of stuck. Can't do tourist things. Can't go home. There aren't any local flights out until Saturday and the road to Thessaloniki is still closed.

So this evening, feeling kind of aimless and depressed, I go down to the nearest beach with a couple of binbags and start cleaning up in an effort to at least do something positive. I always try to do this at least once out here and obviously, after the storm, there's a lot more plastic and rubbish than usual.

At some point I find this large, round bit of metal - some kind of machinery part, I think -- that's too big for the bag, so I take it to the bins on its own, leaving the rubbish bag on the beach. And when I come back for it, something among the stones beside it moves.

Specifically, it pulls its head sharply inside its shell

So, meanwhile I've been trying to learn some Greek with the help of Duolingo.

I currently have a 33-day streak and... I have questions. Shouldn't I be able to use the past or future tenses by now? Shouldn't I be able to say "x is like y"? I can't do those things. But one thing I absolutely can say all day long is έχω μια χελώνα : I have a turtle.

This is far from the limit of Duolingo Greek's turtle-related content. "An obsession with turtles" is my mother's characterisation. I can inform you that the turtle is not a bird, and, improbably, that the turtle is drinking milk. I can introduce you to a turtle in company with a horse and an elephant. As far as Duolingo is concerned, it really is turtles all the way down.

Now this, you may be able to see, is not a turtle. It has claws rather than flippers. It is a tortoise. I know there are wild tortoises in Greece: my aunt once rescued a pair of them shagging in the middle of the road -- but that was up in the mountains. I've even seen one myself, but it was also on a road and very dead.

I am 95% certain they don't belong on beaches. There's nothing for it to eat, except, unfortunately, a lot of plastic. Even if it gets off the beach it will immediately find itself on a road where it could get hit by a car. I'm pretty sure it must have been washed down by the floodwater and has been just sitting there, dazed, ever since.

Now obviously the first thing I want to do on encountering this unusual animal is to go and tell my mummy, so I do. The tortoise immediately brightens her day. She agrees that the tortoise is not happy on the beach and needs to be taken somewhere safe. it gets surprisingly wriggly when picked up so we put it in a carrier bag with some grapes and cucumber and go looking for somewhere to rehome it.

We find a path leading up between the houses towards a likely-looking field, but before we get very far a dog in a yard goes berserk and a man's head pops over a fence and demands to know what we're doing. He does this in English, as evidently we're just that obviously tourists.

"I found a tortoise on the beach!" I explain. "We want to find somewhere to put it."

"A what," he asks.

"It's like a, you know," I begin and then to my astonishment I find myself saying... "μια χελώνα"

"Oh! A turtle!" he says.

"But from the land. δεν είναι χελώνα", [it is not a turtle,] I say, as I am worried he will tell me to put it back near the sea where I found it. As it turns out it actually IS a χελώνα, Greek does not distinguish between turtles and tortoises, but I don't know that; I can't even name the days of the week or identify any colours other than pink yet, give me a break.

The man's entire demeanour changes and thaws. He does not worry about my turtle-that-is-not-a-turtle conundrum. He knows where οι χελώνες come from and where η χελώνα μας belongs. He leads us through a gate into a courtyard area.

"[somethingsomething] μια χελώνα," he explains to the assembled onlookers, of whom there are, suddenly, a surprising number.

"ΜΙΑ ΧΕΛΩΝΑ!!!" crows the throng of delighted small children, who are, suddenly, everywhere.

"μια χελώνα!" I agree, accepting that at least for current purposes, that is what it is.

"Μπορούμε να δούμε τη χελώνα σας; [can we see your turtle?]" asks an adorable little girl, shyly, and I understand??

The children fucking love looking at the χελώνα and showing it to them is kind of magical?

I finally put the tortoise down on the grass of this wild area off to the side of the courtyard, and marvel aloud that it is weird that I barely know any Greek except how to say μια χελώνα.

"I think she will soon run off," a kind lady called Aspasia assures me, seeing I remain slightly anxious about its fate. "I don't know why I'm saying 'she'. I suppose because χελώνα is feminine in Greek."

"Yes! I know that!" I exclaim, thrilled.

"Well done!" she says. And also she asks if we are OK for drinking water after the storm and if we need any help with anything and is just generally incredibly lovely and now we know more of the neighbours!

So "μια χελώνα" has just become, by a long way, my most-used and most understood and all-around most conversationally successful phrase in Greek. So I guess I have to admit I was wrong to doubt Duolingo's wisdom: it is correct to be obsessed with turtles. And I concede that prior to learning how to count to ten or to distinguish right from left, the simple ability to yell the word TURTLE over and over again is, it turns out, a crucial element of the responsible traveller's social skills.

(I am pretty fluent in Italian and turtles haven't come up in conversation even once?)

[ceruark]

✦ ≡ touch profile - michael kaiser

kaiser x gn! reader (no specific pronouns/body parts used.) cw: nsfw under the cut - MDNI.

affection

leaning 

a form of touch as obnoxious as he is, this is likely the only physical affection he’ll initiate in the early stages of your relationship.

he’ll rest his arm against your head or shoulder, ignoring your complaints about how demeaning it is to be used as an armrest.

after returning from practice, he’ll flop down onto the couch or bed beside you and lean into you fully, putting his entire body weight against you. he just grumbles and buries his face into your neck when you try to shove him off you, saying that he’s too muscular and heavy to be suffocating you like this. honestly, there are people who would kill to be in your position. you should be grateful to face such a death.

“hand holding”

this is not to be confused with actually holding your hand—no, this means that his hands are just somewhere on your body at any given time.

resting at your waist, on the small of your back, cradling the back of your neck, or squeezing your thigh— it doesn’t matter where you are or what you’re doing, you can rest assured that if kaiser’s in the same room as you, one or both of his hands are on you, too.

cuddling

this one doesn’t arise very often, or at least, not until you’re well into your relationship with him. cuddling is such a vulnerable thing, and for a long time, he doesn’t want to do anything that will bring to light just how much you mean to him, just how attached he’s grown and how much he needs you.

but sometimes, when it’s late at night, after a long day of practice and even longer night of getting intimate with you, the last of his inhibitions slip away and he finds himself holding you close, arms wrapped around your waist so tightly that you don’t think you could get away even if you wanted to. even if he asked you to.

later on, it becomes nightly routine. he alternates between holding you close while you curl into his side, or laying on top of you with his face pressed to your chest, falling asleep to the gentle thrumming of your heart beat. he despises away games now because he struggles to fall asleep without your familiar presence beside him, and he hates the realization even more.

sometimes, you miss the days when he would refuse to cuddle with you at all, because once he starts, he won’t stop. you have to pry his limbs from your body—fighting off the long legs and strong arms that have you trapped against him on the couch—just so you can get up to grab a bag of chips.

intimacy

oral fixation

i don’t know why, but i feel like his mouth always has to be doing something during sex.

if he’s fucking into you, he’s either shoving his tongue down your throat while doing so, or sucking at your neck and chest; you can pretty much kiss any low-cut tops you own goodbye once you start a relationship with him, because unless you have makeup with godly coverage, everyone’s going to know what you were getting up to last night. (and you can complain all you want, but he won’t stop—the more marks you have on your body and the more proof that he was there, the better.)

he probably wouldn’t want to give you head for a while because he might initially feel like it puts him in a submissive/vulnerable position, but after he does the first time… good luck getting him off of you. he loves the complete control that comes with pleasuring you with just his mouth, and he could go at it for hours if you let him. (you literally have to shove him off sometimes to get him to stop, or you’ll pass out from overstimulation.)

on the bright side, at least you know there’s a sure-fire way to get him to shut up for once.

cockwarming

he just loves feeling you around him. there’s something about being connected like this that’s more reassuring to him about his place in your life than any words could. 

this one kind of goes hand-in-hand with cuddling. it doesn’t have to escalate into full-blown sex (even though it usually does), but if you’re both already resting together, he doesn’t see why he can’t just slip inside you and stay like that, bringing you even closer together.

mirror sex

yeah, he’s definitely obsessed with making you watch him ruin you.

he needs to see your face during sex—it’s non-negotiable for him. i feel like he’s definitely into dacryphilia, so seeing you tear up or full-on sobbing from pleasure is half the enjoyment for him. if he’s got you in a position where you’re not facing him, then he’s angling you both toward the full-length mirror so he can still watch you fall apart for him.

he also holds your face in place so you can’t look away. you’ve only got two choices: hold direct eye contact with him, or look down at where he’s pounding into you if you’re feeling shy.

but maybe it has its benefits; this way, you can watch his gaze soften as he presses a kiss into your neck after you’ve come, a rare display of tenderness from him.

[drchucktingle]

Hello Dr Tingle! I wanted to ask you about that re: your post about how all your books are serious literature (hell yeah Love is real). How do you personally deal with the whole traditional publishing institution? It attracts a whole different level of coverage and it seems that they're very quick to try and box you and like turn you into a brand. Is it stiffling? Is it freeing? Does the attention help more people understand your trot? I don't know I've never been published but since you have experience in both traditional and self publishing I'm interested in knowing how that's feeling for you

well this is a pretty complex question with lots of different trots but i will try my best to answer. lets start with WHO I AM as buckaroo name of chuck

what i create has a very strong voice and my way is pretty recognizable. while buckaroos do not know what most authors look like, i REALLY stand out in a dang crowd with a big pink bag on my head. if you see 50 random author photos and mine is mixed in and then you ask 'which photo do you remember the most?' it is probably gonna be chuck. i also have a VERY UNIQUE STORY with what i create and my artistic sensibilities, not a lot of buds are out there making trans mothman erotica along with their big five traditional publishing bestsellers (SIDENOTE preorder BURY YOUR GAYS)

now if you were going to take 'CHUCK TINGLE' to a marketing department they would FALL OVER BACKWARDS IN THEIR DANG CHAIR with excitement. it is hard to think of an author with a stronger BRAND than i already have in the sense of 'instantly recognizable trot and specific unique style'. even in answering this you can tell that i dont even TALK like other dang authors.

what i am getting at is this: i am VERY VERY LUCKY because my existence just so happens to equate to what a company would see as GOOD BRANDING. it is not intentional on my part, it is just the hand of fate i guess. im out here expressing myself in a FULL ON WAY that is PRETTY DANG STRANGE TO SOME and it just so happens to work as mainstream branding too

on paper you might think 'what the heck no way chuck tingle will fly as a mainstream trot' but honestly the main thread of this timeline can be surprising sometimes. ive been saying the key ingredient for years and i will say it again: LOVE AND SINCERITY RESONATE. when you make art with this fuel, the timeline will feel it. when you stand up tall and shout with your whole chest THIS IS MY WAY AND I LOVE MYSELF. I AM THE WORLDS GREATEST AUTHOR TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT, the timeline will listen

so all that said, i do not mind the idea of myself as 'brand' because i am not CHANGING myself to create this effect. what some might see as 'brand' i just see as another part of my art. i have always believed that art is THE WHOLE EXPERIENCE not just the painting but what is outside of the frame. WHO I AM is just as important as the books i write, and interacting with my way is a whole MULTIMEDIA experience that INCLUDES YOU TOO. it is the feeling when your friend shows you your first tingler cover, or the feeling when you realize that i am not playing a character. this is ALL a part of the tingleverse and it is all a part of my honest raw expression as a queer and neurodivergent buckaroo.

YOU ARE PART OF THIS ART TOO

it is my nature of have a PUNK ROCK trot. always has been. but to me that does not mean just angrily going against everything for the sake of going against everything. for me, this punk rock trot means fighting to EXPRESS MYSELF IN THE MOST HONEST AND PURE FORM POSSIBLE and to create the art that i want to make without any boundaries

somehow i have threaded the needle in this really interesting once-in-a-dang-lifetime kind of way. my pure punk rock self as an OUTERSIDER ARTIST just so happens to resonate with this larger system of brand and traditional publishing and popular culture. i COULD reject this, but rejecting it would be LESS HONEST.

this is just who i am. i LIKE pop culture. i LIKE joy. i LIKE dressing in all pink and wearing my custom suits. I LIKE PROVING LOVE IS REAL WHAT THE HECK ELSE EVEN IS THERE? i love being a queer outsider artist and using my small voice to shout at the big bad devils and i like that every time i shout a few more of you buckaroos join the chorus and together we are just getting louder and louder and louder and WHO KNOWS what comes next for us all trotting together.

when i post something like 'WHAT A GREAT DAY TO PROVE LOVE' it is not me sitting here in a bad mood thinkin 'well i gotta make todays post to keep up with my brand'. i am ACTUALLY FEELING THAT FEELING and i actually believe it with every fiber of my being. honestly, half the time i post about the beauty of this timeline i am probably over here literally crying tears of joy (chuck is an emotional bud i get riled over the joy of existence A LOT)

and heres the best part of this trot: because i really have this punk rock way it makes me very powerful. others can pretend not to care about success and brand and all that but I REALLY DO NO CARE. i would write tinglers whether buds were reading them or not, this is just my natural state, and that makes me incredibly strong. if some big corporation says 'YOU MUST DO THIS' and i dont want to do it i just say 'no thanks'. it is not some big debate about my career or anything like that because I REALLY DO NOT CARE IN THE SLIGHTEST. i care about the art

because of this, my relationship with my GIANT TRADITIONAL PUBLISHING MACHINE is great. we trot like equals and we get along really well. i tell them exactly what i want to do and they let me do it. i really do not have to answer to anyone and they deserve a huge amount of credit for respecting me in this way.

and heres the thing, THEY ALSO HAVE SOME GREAT IDEAS

SPECIFICALLY my imprint of NIGHTFIRE is very dang cool. yes, they are the head of a giant hydra of a BIG FIVE PUBLISHER, but nightfire is SO DANG ART-FOCUSED

there is no right or wrong way to be an artist, and my path is not the only one, but i can tell you what WORKS FOR ME. this is the advice i would give myself, and buckaroos can take it or leave it

here it is: never beg the big book publisher, or record label, or movie studio to pay attention to you

do not let it become a lotto ticket in your brain. do not think that you are some weak little creature and maybe if you trot just right they will scoop you up and take care of you. do not go to their door begging to be let in

LET THEM COME TO YOUR DOOR

create something so incredible and beautiful and honest and powerful and unique and important that they would be foolish to miss out. create a community or a system or a timeline or a world of imagination that thrives on its own and THEY SHOULD BE SO LUCKY TO BE A PART OF IT

then when you sit down at that board meeting it is not 'please brand me, ill do whatever you want'. instead, it is 'lets make a deal and see how much love we can prove together.'

now lets trot buckaroos

[insane-in-the-membranee]

Men fucking scare me.

Now, some are going to go like, "it's not all men", " Are you also scared of your dad/brother/male relative?", "Another 'feminist' hating on men" and so on probably. Sure, it's not all men but it's always men.

I was scrolling insta when I came across a reel where a guy is complaining about how whenever there is a crime concerning a woman, we raise our voice and protest yet when there is a crime concerning a man, there is barely even news coverage. Which is certainly true and fair. But seriously, right now? Why is it that men always complain whenever people are trying to give justice to a poor victim girl?? I totally agree that whether men or women, all victims should get their justice but have some fucking sympathy instead of complaining?!?

Next, another reel where a lawyer guy was talking about women's safety laws and all, the comments? "Law for women, la*da for men". Well, why don't you go and take a look at the statistics? Maybe read the news daily, I mean the local one. Again, I'm NOT against men's safety, ofc no. It's just that, why can't men complain or raise their concerns without pulling the women with them? What do you want? The laws that are made for us (not that they're REALLY useful) to go nil??? Or what?? Equality? That is feminism. Fucking equality!! You don't hear a true feminist complaining, "why do men get paid more than us? Salary for men, chillar for women" or anything, instead it's "We want to get paid the same as that of a man." Again, I'm NOT speaking against men particularly, just the ones who feel enraged towards us just because we want to get treated as a human first, and equally.

I was talking to a guy friend and his attitude is, "Yeah what happened to her is TERRIBLE but hey, it's not like I can do anything about that? I would never do that and be a good person but that's all I can do, I can't tell the rapists that what they did was wrong and they'd too be like 'oh yes yes oops we did wrong' right?". Now, I do understand his perspective but sure a bit more sympathy and kindness won't hurt anyone?? He even has a sister!! And in the age of social media, anyone with a phone can contribute to some extent.

When I read the details of the case, my soul cried out. I can't even imagine her sorrow. Oh my goodness. My insides felt all queasy reading those gruesome details. All girls of all ages have almost experienced a bad incident with men. Harassment, molestation, abuse, assault, SOMETHING! So many cases everyday and so many more which don't even get registered. Rapes have become so common in India that unless and until it's something very gruesome, people don't even bother that much. It's always "What has it got to do with me" until it's someone you, someone who is close to you. 78 years of independence yet girls are still caged behind walls.

It's always "Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao", Beti padh toh li lekin Beti bach nahi pai. Why is it always "Arre voh toh ladhka, voh toh aise he karega", Voh aisa kyu karega?!?

Why is that ladhkiyo ko mana karte hai raat mein bahar jaane ke liye because it's not safe for her, lekin ladhke puri raat awaaragardi kare, koi dikkat nahi.

Why can't we just teach boys to respect women? To not just respect women, but to respect everyone? The next person is a living being, is that not a good enough reason to not be cruel??

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C-ry4xNvZw0/?igsh=N2M0bW51c3dueGpi

Ajeeb toh hai.

[ladyluscinia]

The thing about the UHC shooting is Brian Thompson was killed for being arguably the purest embodiment of the private health insurance system that has caused unfathomable amounts of suffering and death for normal US citizens. He lived that. He encouraged that. He did not give a fuck no matter how many people attest "he was a nice guy." His tenure as CEO was marked by ramping up denials in increasingly shady ways and bringing in lots of blood money to make that profit line go up. And just to really drive home the evil exploitation aspect, we can't ignore the fact that abusive health insurance practices are something that you can't combat on an individual level.

The average American cannot opt out of health insurance, because companies like UHC have made being uninsured into a cruel and unusual punishment. Being insured (especially under UHC) still results in ridiculous medical expenses and lack of care. Most people have basically no say over who their coverage comes from or what kind of plan it is, since it's through their employer. Finding a good doctor who will say "you need this treatment" does not guarantee treatment. Government representatives have broadly abdicated responsibility to try and fix this situation, and half of them in fact would like to make it worse as quickly as possible. You can't vote for a better system, or boycott, or try to find a better option to deny the bad ones your money, or even challenge a blatantly flawed denial without a huge obfuscating headache that you probably lose anyway.

No fucking wonder the general public is responding to the killing with general apathy or discussing how little sympathy they have for a victim who did so much evil.

No fucking wonder someone shot him.

And then almost the entire government and media response to this very valid anger has been tripping over themselves to make it very clear that this is NOT how we deal with these kinds of problems in a civilized society. Murder is bad. He had a family. Which given the way they've gone about it - sparing no expense on their manhunt, balking from discussing how the system has eliminated the "civilized" means of dissent, misquoting people in headlines to pretend no one else is discussing it, overcharging Luigi with terrorism while treating him like the worst criminal to ever exist, treating Briana Boston as a copycat for being angry on a phone call - actually just really efficiently conveys a different but far more honest message:

The lives of people like Brian Thompson are worth infinitely more than the lives of you and me. Get fucked, I guess.

[itgirlgyu]

HOW TO GET BACK AT MIDDLE-SCHOOLERS.

₍ sum.₎ after experiencing some bullying from middle schoolers, and getting swindled out of the last bit of his money, he instills your help, his best friend, to get back his money as well as honour. but you soon find out that he was not telling the entire truth... would you still find him despite finding his dirty little secret? yeonjun x fem!reader. ft! cashier!soobin. warning!!! some cussing, mean kids, weird adults, age shaming. :( WC! 3.9k+.

“how the fuck do you get scammed by middle schoolers?” you spat the words with the contempt to bruise whatever ego yeonjun had left—if any—after getting deceived by a bunch of school going kids and instead of taking action by himself to sleep better at night with the assurance that he wasn't such a major pushover, he had come crying to you; begging you to avenge him whilst you were busy trying to prepare to crack the examination of your recent job interview.

“aren't they like 12?!”

“15!” yeonjun, suddenly growing a backbone corrected the little error in your data, “they are in their third year!”

“you look like you are in your third reincarnation!” she shot back, “the bags under your eyes could hold up to 15 kgs of your own bullshit so just own up to your carelessness”.

yeonjun opened his mouth to defend himself, controlling the urge to take out his phone to check out the state of the durable eye bags he was carrying under his eyes,”i thought this concealer was ultra coverage with skin like finish,” yeonjun murmured to himself.

yeonjun and you were huddled together under a shrub in the afternoon–when you should be cramming down job questionnaires–waiting for the group of kids who had mercilessly robbed your friend of his last 50 dollars of the week and seek the revenge; the barely legal sort, kissing the lethal of edge of ‘if it ever got out–neither of you would be able to show face in the community for a while. not glossing over the fact that you two were hiding into the shadow like a pair of perverts waiting to spring forth and scar the futures of the nation irrevocably. “quit yapping to yourself’ you snarled, quickly snapping your neck to check up on yeonjun, “ so what's the plan”

you both were blinking at each other for a good few seconds before it all registered in his head and he managed to face without lifting his butt even once. despite his pitiful morality to be fooled at the drop of a hat, if there was one thing he didn’t disappoint in–it was his core strength. you sometimes wish the same could have been said for his mental strength. all it took for you was to let out a sigh for him to remember the plan that he had crafted all weekend long.

“we confront them,’ he began before the expression in his face to display the crucial detail which he was failing to recall had finally graced the lacking department of his memory, “you confront them.”

you could have seen this coming from a mile away and that is exactly why you had arrived at the rendezvous for the reprisal against the middle schoolers that had wronged yeonjun.

“deal with your own shit.”

it took yeonjun less than a second to almost throw himself at your feet to stop you from abandoning him. you hadn’t even gotten to fully straighten your back before he came to his senses and decided to follow your version of the plan; the rational kind.

“we throw water at them and then we run.”

“thats your rational plan?” yeonjun retaliated, the glimmer of hope swimming in his head drowning as soon as the rational plan you had come up with was verbalized.

“i thought of it all day yesterday after you told me.”

bare-faced lies; you didn’t spare a single thought on his matter, and you were not even guilty about it. rather than keeping the promise you had been thrown into haphazardly. yeonjun, in fact, had to wake you up from a nap to come out with him to execute the little mission to reclaim his honor back.

“no we can't do that,” yeonjun spoke solemnly. the wrinkle of consequences settling deep within his non-existent pores as he averted his gaze rather shamefully. his footsteps taking like steps to aid him in facing away in his rather compact position, “my cousin is one of them.”

yeonjun added the last bit of the sentence timidly; his teeth were almost chattering out of fear.

amidst all these elaborate ruse to gain one's honor back, yeonjun had forgotten to relay one tiny crucial piece of information to you; it was his cousin and his annoying friend group who had swindled the money out of him, and the only reason he wants revenge, or something like that, was to gain back the authority one must possess as one of the eldest sons in the family: a position that he accidentally let stumble, also the money.

“why can't we do that?” you repeated your question, the annoyance slipping back through the crevice of the words letting yeonjun know of your irritation and the lack of willingness to be there any longer.

yeonjun thanked his stars for your poor sense of hearing, and his soft vocals to keep the secret remain as one, because god forbid you catch the whiff of it—yeonjun would not contemplate much to figure out the amount of money you'd extort out of him for wasting your time over a topic that could be solved in a family function. even if he does not gain back the respect he deserves, he can not let you figure out the truth if he wishes to carry on his life without a nose revision job.

“jail!” yeonjun blurted out, “we might end up in jail for harassing minors.”

“wait yeah,” you concurred, the repercussions of having hands on punishment over quite literally children finally dawning into your foggy alley of judgment, “you're right.”

“so we confront them.” yeonjun revised his earlier plan, at last deciding to go with you version, he had just to make sure his cousin does not get a word in and end up spilling water over the entire bit he had planned out—in the moment right now. if he had realized this in that time when he was overwhelmed with the humiliation and fear leading him to vent to his best friend—you—and convince you to partake in his zany revenge on children; one of which is his actual cousin. whilst this all may seem juvenile he did want to gain back the respect over the younglings in the family so perhaps this little mission was not that of a bad idea as yeonjun might have concluded it to be as it approached closer.

“i didn't think you'd be actually smart enough to foresee the consequences,” you ended up complimenting yeonjun, despite not wanting to. you hadn't always gotten a sense of caution and logic from him but at times when he did excel your set expectations of him you couldn't help but praise the man.

whilst the two of you were busy commemorating the acute common sense yeonjun possessed and decided to marvel at time of need, there was a sudden disruption into the bush you two were inhabiting. it was a football and a toddler; followed by a teenager who had come to collect both the ball and the toddler and had been very verbally freaked out to see two adults crouching down whilst having a heart to heart conversation. the look of shock and mild disgust etched on the face of the teenager had you springing up to your feet and trying to come up with a good enough reason that would not result in both of you spending a night in the jail cell.

“it's not what it looks like!”

“su-” the boy dragged his words, with his eyes glued to you as he snatched the balls and the toddler, making sure you didn't get any time to surprise attack them. without providing any time to put forth any semblance of appeal from your side the boy has scurried away, leaving you to be the epitome of “stranger danger” as well as the weird person to steer clear away from.

“this is all because of you!” the rage taking over you upon the realization that you had just ruined your perception on some random people that you will never meet again and manifesting in the kick that you had bestowed upon yeonjun's knees causing him to tumble on the side like a singular pin in the bowling alley.

“how is it because of me?” yeonjun hissed in pain, his hands quickly reaching out to grab the knee you had slightly grazed over—the real reason why he had fell over was of course his poor posture and the need to incorporate dramatics in every aspect of his life but he did not need to tell you that, and you did not need to know it either—you were already aware of this peculiar aspect of his personality as a result of the long-standing friendship, “my knees! my knees!”

you rolled your eyes and stepped away; and kept stepping away until you were almost out of the bush and he alone looked like a man who had done too much day drinking.

“when the hell are they coming?” you squint your eyes in displeasure from waiting, letting the sobriety clutch your shoulders and shake you into remembering that you are two adults waiting to ambush a bunch of kids—albeit the kids stole from your friend first, so the guilt did ease itself a little.

yeonjun shook the dust off his pants, “right about now?” scanning through the myriad of teenagers bunched together getting out of after school classes looking for the familiar faces within them, “there!” yeonjun pointed his finger towards them, pinpointing the lil posse of delinquents. your eyes followed suit and stopped at a group of three boys and two girls at a feasible distance, seemingly heading towards the convenience store.

“It's game time,” you cracked your neck, readying yourself to not get fatally wounded by the expected brashness of those brats—skillfully ignoring the look of adoration from yeonjun that followed after the declaration of gusto. strengthening the spirits as adrenaline began to rush through your veins, providing you with enough bravery to whizz out at the kids and come out as victorious if it ended within fifteen minutes: the chances of this going very wrong after the set time was dangling somewhere around 90 to 98%. if you were going to do it, you shall do it with your all.

“welcome!” the part time behind the counter greeted you and yeonjun with a sort of monotone that itself felt like it was forced out of the larynx of the unwilling worker, but you weren't here to critique the work ethic of a barely paid man; or to reciprocate the forced etiquettes. instead you let your hawk gaze zero on the pesky group that you both had followed into the store blissfully, and noisily loitering around the ramen isle.

“and i said that peanut flavored ramen would give you gyatt issues.”

“you mean gut issue—”

“hey you peanuts!”

confronting a bunch of teenagers was no easy feat, and with the so-called victim slowly stepping back with the means of becoming one with the various packets of chips was another thing but the war had been waged. in simpler words, it would be very embarrassing to not get through to the end of it.

“you bullied my friend over here,” you moved your head vaguely to point at yeonjun’s disintegrating presence, “and stole from him didn't you all?”

“what friend are you talking about?” one of the kids spoke up, “ and who you calling bullies ahjumma?”

“ahjumma?” you patience had already started strip away, pulling your facial muscles tighter, and freezing your face into an expression would make anyone's blood run cold with one glance, the only sign of life left within your eyebrows as they twitched due to the time bomb whose reverse countdown had began since the utterance of the forsaken word.

“please, any battery assault on minors if intended must be carried outside this property!” the cashier sprung into action faster than anyone, deftfully stepping up to protect his minimum wage job but the apathy had still been seeping out of his words without a hitch, sneaking stealing a glance at the cctv overlooking the entire situation to make sure his warning had been captured into the camera to ensure his participation in making sure whatever that would transpire, he had indeed tried to stop it.

perhaps, it was soobin, the cashier who had brought yeonjun back to the reality and the really ugly scenario that was about to take place if he put himself first and ran off, bidding adieu to his self respect, the money and the friendship or he could see the anger that happened to be radiating off your body because he had appeared instantaneously from the lucrative hiding spot he had found for himself within the layers of jellies, “are you okay?” the worry was evident in his voice although anyone would be a fool to not recognize the undertone of fear layered underneath the cadence of his voice.

“hyung?!”

yeonjun stiffened up—his gig was up. it happened sooner than he had expected, honestly but the little humiliation was miles better than you getting into an actual physical altercation with the kids where one of them was the son of his aunt. he was willing to sacrifice as much—amazingly enough forgetting that he was the one to rope you into this mess in the first place.

“hyung what are you doing here?” the kid queried once again, inching closer to get a better look at yeonjun’s guilty ass that even his full coverage concealer couldn't cover up.

“i-”

“hyung?” you repeated incredulously, gazing back and forth between the accused and the accuser; the so-called victim and the perpetrator, “why is he calling you hyung?”

“that's cause he is my cousin,” the accused #4 deadpanned, “wait was it because we asked for money from you like yesterday?!”

“asked? more like you guys surrounded me and wouldn't stop peer pressing me into giving you the money, so you did bully it out of me and that's not cool. “ yeonjun sighed, confessing what he had truly felt, “ so i want you to give me the money back and never do this again, that is not how you were raised.”

“wait a fucking second!” you spoke up interrupting the life lesson from older brother to younger brother, fanning away the smoke that was coming out of your nostrils at the utter betrayal from the man you had been foolishly calling your best friend for all these years, “your cousin took the money from you not some random middle schoolers?!?”

accused #4 who had been shamefully hanging his head low—proof of the choi genes aren't as rotten as yeonjun had thought it to be because once publicly shamed and given the right lesson, they do indeed listen like real men!—sensed the upcoming tsunami, and backed away, letting his cousin take the blow which he rightfully deserved.

yeonjun opened his mouth to defend himself but decided not to dig himself a deeper hole, and nodded. his new game plan was to take the verbal beating and then speak up once the physical one begins, “but you see this was needed.”

of course he couldn't help himself but speak out the truth regardless of his decision to stick to taking it instead of sticking up for himself. it is not like he has stood up with any of his choices through and through and he wasn't going to start today as well; every plan could be revised according to the situation and yeonjun quite prides himself in his flexibility. although his regard about himself might just be a little skewed to himself according to on-lookers.

“please, any attempted murder should be carried outside!” soobin the cashier intervened once more.

“dude!” yeonjun cried out, snapping his head around to find the name tag on the cashier's chest to build a closer relationship to stop him from giving his already furious best-friend—now steaming like an overheated engine—ideas on how to handle the situation. yeonjun could very well buy a new nose but how would he buy his life out from a grim reaper?

“soobin please!” the cashier, soobin, shrugged with an utmost look of languor before going back to doing nothing behind the counter, yet appearing very unavailable to be involved in further chumminess with a bunch of unpaying and troublesome customer in the store.

accused #4, who was better at reading the room than his obtuse cousin,had been quietly gathering his friends to take a run from the painful showdown that was taking place at an excruciating pace. in spite of the skilled attempt to make a run, they were stopped when you raised your voice after you finished analyzing the situation and what to do in a stupid situation like this. murder was still somewhere in the mental notepad, although not right now. you could somehow make out why yeonjun would instill your help after getting bullied by his own cousin and friends. more than his money, he wanted the respect back and you were still willing to help the man—who betrayed your trust, ruined your evening, made you seem like a pervert in the park, got you to hear a bunch of middle schoolers refer to you as an old woman and made you appear like a homicidal freak to the cashier—because he was your best friend. not for long though.

“you heard him,” you crossed your arms against your chest, the cold stealth back in your voice to scare the kids, “cough of the money and apologize to your cousin. “

yeonjun was touched; he could cry in that moment; unaware that the tears had already started to pathetically stream down his cheeks until soobin, the cashier with whom he now built a closer relationship with once he figured out that no potential crime is going to be committed in his work place, passed him the tissue to dab away the tears.

after the initial moaning and groaning, with the kids huddled in a circle to gather cash for the rightful return. they came up with 25 dollars and a few cents, the first installment as they had called it smugly.

“hyung! you have to give me a family discount!* accused #4 pleaded to your surprise, and to much bigger surprise (not really), yeonjun gave in to the entitled demand. disgracefully accepting the measly twenty five dollars and the few cents of the whole fifty that was taken away from him with an ear to ear proud grin plastered on his face, watching the presumptuous entourage of middle schoolers.

“im so glad you decided to forgive me. “ you wanted to snap in middle and shove his little gesture into his own bottoms but you resisted; clenching your teeths, your lips were pulled into a tight line to to ensure no harsh words just magically slip past and ruin the beautiful tension you were building up before you hit him with the news after he was done yapping.

“i would forgive you if you were my best friend,” you smiled, ignoring the smile that slowly disappeared off his face, “that's why you're no longer my friend. “

“consider that twenty five dollars your parting gift.” you added. your expression still taut on your face whilst yeonjun’s facial muscles started to twitch like the tectonic plates under earth's crust as he processed the sudden break up. opening his mouth like a fish coming out of water before sinking back in with the visual representation of his beak obvious in the way he appeared, clutching the twenty five dollars and the few cents in his sweaty palm.

“what?” yeonjun finally found his voice. you nodded, reiterating what you had just expressed to him, “ but you helped me out there”

“parting gift!” you called out just as soon, your attention now used to pick out the flavor of ramen you wanted to eat since you had come to the store anyway, “and for our parting dinner, pay this off” you held up the cup that you had chosen before going back to

“can't I just just pay for this and call it even?” yeonjun pleaded, hurriedly picking up the flavor he preferred and tailed you to the microwave. the impatience reflecting in the restless in his foot as he waited for your reply like a little child, making an unfair deal.

“nope!” you replied, closing the microwave and turning to look him in the eyes as you say it, “you humiliated me.”

yeonjun appeared apologetic. he was no selfish person who would put other people in such positions and derive joy from it. he wouldn't even think of asking of such favors from other than you but you felt a rage sail within you because of the fact that he had hidden the real motive beneath the silly request he made, and you had come with it despite how juvenile it might have sounded; along with the consequences if it were to turn ugly in some way

“i know i'm sorry, but you were the only one who could have helped me,” yeonjun apologized once more,“and you see how well that went. “

“no can do, grow a backbone.”

yeonjun placed his bowl after you took yours out as you were occupying the only working one.

“please!”

“nope!”

“well… “ yeonjun was growing even more restless; the rhythm of his foot tapping against the ground relaying the disorder of the folders of his mind as he fished for a suitable reason to keep the friendship,“ you don't even have other friends.”

the gasp that followed was involuntary as you sealed the packet with the wooden chopsticks with a renewed flash of anger coursing through your veins, “I'll make new!”

yeonjun finally eased a little. the smirk was slowly beginning to appear back on his face and it was looking quite smug to be owned by a man who was to be abandoned by a friend, and was supposed to be apologetic.

“hey…” you looked at the cashier, catching his attention before reading the tag on his vest, “soobin will you be my friend? ill make this convenience store my regular”

“this is already your go-to convenience store.“

your enticing smile faltered at the embarrassing attempt to make your first friend after the fall out with the best friend five minutes ago, and worse—it happened in front of him!

“oh… you must be new then?” you narrowed your eyes to analyze his features to figure out any other time you had seen him at this store, although the face felt unfamiliar but the attitude he was giving did not seem to support the conclusion you were coming to, “you're not.”

“exactly.” soobin smiled, taunting a dimple at you before putting on his deadpan expression back on.

“your best bet is me,” yeonjun, now with his hot ramen in his hand, sat next to you in front. of the window, blocking the view of soobin with his big head which had grown a few more sizes after watching you get rejected in real time,“we are the only ones who can handle each other. say if we are 30 and have a hard time finding a spouse we settle together.”

“shut the fuck up and eat your ramen.” you sulk, blowing onto the portion that was wrapped around your chopsticks before shoving it into your mouth.

“does this mean you forgave me?” the child-like lilt was back into voice and you couldn't help but roll your eyes and leave him. hanging. the silence—save for the slurps of the noodles—giving the answer he needed to feel at ease and gleefully chomp onto his sausage.

©ITGIRLGYU 2022-24. ₍ finally a proper comeback yay! ₎

PERM' TAGLIST: @bamtorin @ox1-lovesick @jisungsdaydreamer @wonioml @1921choi @forever-in-the-sky2 @beoms-sugar @gyuletters

[rubyreadd]

except it’s your driver that has an entourage that shittalks Lando (don’t even deny it lmfao y’all bragged about it and called it county) while Lando has never been an asshole to precious Oscar

To be honest anon I'm not quite sure what the argument you're trying to make is.

"Oscar's entourage"?? Where?

If you're talking about Max saying that Oscar came in as a number one driver and so of course he wasn't going to bend the knee to Lando just because. Or even George having a chuckle about Lando qualifying P17, then that's just plain and simple mind games.

If you mean Mark Webber and him telling Charles that he had the opportunity to overtake Lando in the championship at Baku, or being outspokenly supportive of Oscar, then that's just Mark doing his job. He's an F1 pundit and Oscar's manager, he's going to have opinions on both subjects.

Lando on the other hand has the full backing of the British media, especially Sky Sports, who are a major English language distributor of F1 coverage. In Monza they could not shut up about how Oscar's fair and hard racing was actually unfair to Lando because Oscar should've held position and defended Lando's lead.

Yet in Australia when Oscar was ordered to relinquish position to Lando because he was on fresher tyres and McLaren wanted to challenge Ferrari, there was no remarking that it was unfair to push Oscar off a home race podium when Lando could not close said gap to Ferrari.

Similarly, when Oscar and Carlos touched in Miami and Oscar dropped to the back of the grid, then put in a mega effort to gain back several positions as well as set the fastest lap of the race, only to be told by McLaren to back off so as not to cause a safety car, it was accepted as the right thing to do.

Lando is not defenceless nor is he is a victim of some "Oscar entourage". Oscar has been a good team mate to him, has up until now bided his time, but if Lando is going to leave a gap then Oscar has every right to be a racing driver.

Ayrton Senna was a McLaren champion after all.

Now, granted, Lando has not been verbally dismissive of Oscar, but actions do speak louder than words. When Lando refused to give position back to Oscar in Hungary until the penultimate lap, it was as Nico Rosberg said: Lando wanting to humiliate Oscar.

Yes this was whole situation could've been avoided if McLaren had given Oscar the preferential pit stop strategy he had earned after getting the better start on Lando and leading the race for more than half the laps. However, if Lando had acquiesced to giving the position back when he was first asked to, there would have been a further twenty laps where he could've fought Oscar for the win, with a good chance of taking P1 because his tyres were up to heat.

Instead, he had a tantrum and delivered McLaren a tainted 1-2 that completely undermined Oscar's maiden win.

He also chucked a fit at Lewis in the cool down room, when all Lewis was doing was complimenting Lando on his speed, and then went on to snub Oscar on the podium by not spraying Oscar with champagne. A behaviour he repeated in Monza.

I know your argument is likely to be that F1 is a high stress environment where everyone is fighting for wins and championships and no driver wants to lose out by a few tenths or a lap, so it's natural for drivers to act out when they do. But for contrast let me talk about Charles and Max.

In Baku this weekend it was clear that Charles was intensely frustrated with his P2, yet he still had the grace to congratulate Oscar, compliment him on his race craft, and celebrate with Oscar on the podium. Similarly, Max went out of his way to wave at Lando after the race, even though Lando had bitten just that little bit more into his championship lead.

And what did Lando do? Snitch on Max for overtaking under the VSC even though it was after the chequered flag.

It's this kind of repeated unsportsmanlike behaviour that leaves me with diminishing goodwill for Lando. I laud Oscar for being cunty when he stands up for himself and his right to race, because Oscar shows maturity and respect towards his peers even when he is disappointed with his results. Lando however makes his poor performance (even when it objectively isn't) everyone else's problem.

Oscar has been driving F1 for one and a half seasons. Lando has been driving for six. Yet it is Oscar who carries himself with the mindset of a champion.

At the end of the day anon, it's unlikely that I am going to sway your opinion about Oscar and that's fine. You are free to like and dislike whatever driver you want. All the advice that I can offer you is to block the anti Lando tags, block Oscar's tag, and block anyone who posts F1 content, opinions, and discourse you don't like. Including myself. I am a stranger on the internet, it's not worth your time or peace to get upset in my inbox because I am voicing my distaste for a driver on my personal blog.

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

Idk maybe I'm being a "hater" but I don't think this approach can work long term. Heck even a 5 day visit would be better received, no one wants weeks long tours anymore its not needed. But they also can't appear to be doing the absolute bare minimum which is what it looks like now.

No anon, you are not a hater but a critical fan, which is what supporters need; if not, the supporters become cultists and their behavior is awful (just see how the squad is behaving against Sentebale. 🥴)

Anyway, I also think that the 2 days trips aren’t going to work in long term. Or they need new PR tools to pull more attention.

Charles visits to France, Germany, etc have been 2-3 days visits, but he receives lots of coverage because 1)he is king and are labeled as State Visits 2)He has lots of reporters there 3)actually BP pull a good variety of engagements: from sustainability, speeches to food, arts, culture, etc. Sure some people don’t care about the visits either but at least some pics of him meeting presidents, diplomats, etc end on the covers and that allow him to say he is a diplomat or statesman.

And that’s also another problem from KP, they can’t afford engagements outside (at least for W) of sustainability, mental health, sometimes military or football when he is abroad, and I get it, those are his ‘expertise’ areas but he is already making himself a ‘Niche’ Prince by just talking about his interests. And you would believe that the football community would be very supportive of him, but unfortunately most of the time, the majority believes that he is fake and only doing it for PR, only Aston Villa’s supporters fully support him.

And he is prioritizing his Earthshot adventures/trips over his royal tours/trips. He doesn’t have problem to have a 4-5 day trip for Earthshot week but it’s already briefing to Nikkah that he only wants to do 2-3 days trips. I know the government has a say too , but they have leaked in the past how frustrated they are sometimes with KP (specially with K) because they don’t want to take more trips and the Gov want them to go abroad because they know they are unproblematic, good ambassadors and very charming for some diplomatic purposes.

So, i definitely think that the main problem with W is that he wants to prioritize his Foundation’s charitable work at the expense of his real royal work, there isn’t a balance and neither about the variety of causes they support (all the Royals have a causes they support but they also go and ‘cut ribbons’ to causes outside their niche)

ask from March 28th

Thanks for sharing!

I'd like to point out that Charles and Philip were both also "niche princes" too. They've just had the benefit of time, and long careers, to diversify their platforms and become more well-rounded.

William doesn't have that kind of time. He will become King far sooner than Charles ever thought, and he will have both more and less responsibilities than Philip did. So by all means, let him be the "niche prince" now enjoying his bespoke platform of conservation-homelessness-football. Time will come for him to expand and incorporate more of the other work and I think he will step up then.

But that doesn't mean KP shouldn't try to have William do more. They absolutely should keep trying and the Foreign Office should keep asking. The problem is that Kate's illness gave William a perspective that the rest of us can't see, or aren't able to see, not even his KP staff. William should man-up and read the staff into that perspective so everyone's on the same page. Because that's the real problem here: the left hand isn't talking to the right hand so we get simultaneous briefings on "statesman" and "small-r royal doing overnight trips."

Also, do keep in mind that what we call "real royal work" has only been a concept since the days of George V. In looking at the whole royal history, that's barely a blip on the radar. Monarchy is changing. The very definition of royal work itself is changing. If you expect William to uphold a vision and version of a monarchy that died in 1997, then you're just setting yourself up for constant disappointment.

Because that's Diana's legacy - a monarchy that realized it had to change with the culture and a monarchy that has been slowly evolving ever since. What William, and William's monarchy, represents is how outdated traditional expectations of monarchy are in a twenty-first century society where all the hospitals, schools, railroads, airports, grocery stores, nursing homes, factories, etc. are already built so the very definition and expectation of "real royal work" or the "bread and butter royal engagement" is changing. We're watching that change in real time and as both anons reveal in their comments, this changing makes a lot of people uncomfortable.

[lordandgodoftheobvious]

The Knight Conspiracy

The thing is, I can say that Carol is the most logical Knight candidate by a nautical mile (and she is), but that's not how authors work; authors are not like mathematicians, operating on pure logic, we are like creationists--we start with an idea we think is cool as hell and ask ourselves "How do we get there?" (and, if they're any good, "What are the consequences of this?" though that's less like creationists).

What I'm saying is, the Knight is Dess-coded as hell (more so than I was even aware of when writing the linked post, and I was still uncomfortable ignoring it), and I don't think that's a red herring. Toby Fox hasn't done red herrings thusfar--things haven't meant what we think they mean, but nothing has meant nothing.

So let's say that Dess is the Knight. Now what?

Well the first problem this creates is that we've always presumed that her motivation was escaping from the depths, and yet we've seen the Knight in the light world. Either she can just do that, in which case we have to rethink everything, or for whatever reason her ability to enter/stay in the light world is limited.

This is not without support: according to sharper-eyed people than me, the Knight remains the Knight when in the light world, which presumably means they carry some residual dark world energy with them--which could very easily be both what's keeping them together and something that will quickly dissipate if they dally.

Also, it would kind of have to be the case: What could Dess possibly be trying to do that wouldn't be easier to accomplish if she could walk around Hometown normally--if she wasn't missing? No, for whatever reason--whether she's no longer made up of the same kind of matter that lightners are or because some malevolent force has collared her--Dess is limited in her actions.

So far, so plausible, but that just further emphasizes another question: who was phone?

If Dess' excursions to the light world are limited, it probably wasn't her; cell coverage in the dark world is notoriously lousy--although come to think of it we only have Kris' attempts to call for evidence of that, and it wouldn't be the only time they've creatively interpreted our commands to avoid doing something they didn't want to do.

Well even so, the strongest contenders for who was (on the) phone are Carol and Asgore, as that's who actually showed up when the evil phone voice promised to come right away (which is itself something we're assuming Dess couldn't just do--to say nothing of the fact that it would be a very big deal if she did just show up!).

Which means that Dess and Kris aren't the only members of this conspiracy. At least one of Carol or Asgore is also in on this.

Now let me ask you a rhetorical question: what did Dess Knight Theory, Kris Knight Theory, Mayor Knight Theory, and Asgore Knight Theory all have in common? They all have the presumed motivation of saving Dess from the depths. Whether Kris is conspiring with Carol or Asgore, then, they have no reason not to inform them "Oh and I actually am in contact with Dess, BTW".

Between the fact that I just can't see Asgore talking to Kris like the evil phone voice, the implication that Carol knows about the soul, and the fact that she's the one who actually kicks Susie out of the house (also something I don't see Asgore doing--not least of all because he doesn't have the authority to do so), she is hands down the stronger candidate of the two to be who was phone (seriously, as a fandom we are leaving money on the table by not calling the evil phone voice that)--but if one of them is conspiring with Kris and Dess, why not both? After all, we know Asgore and Carol are conspiring about something to do with an "obsession" of his (presumably also finding Dess). If Asgore is in the conspiracy, he would definitely have read Carol into it--and if Carol is in on it, she may have also have read Asgore into it.

It makes for a rather plausible chain of events, doesn't it? Dess gets into contact with Kris somehow--and who would Kris go to in this situation? Their father is a natural choice--and Asgore in turn takes this to Carol, who then becomes the mastermind behind the entire plot.

But what of the intra-party politics of the conspiracy? I doubt it's all hunky-dory. I mean, do you imagine that Asgore would be cool with the concept of his child becoming the puppet of an eldritch god from beyond space and time? I somehow doubt it; this is probably something Kris and Carol are keeping from him.

Furthermore, it's been speculated that Dess isn't in control of her own actions--that she's being controlled by the titans or Gaster or something. While these candidates are unlikely--Gaster appears to be on the player's side, and titans are implied by Chapter 4 to be created by the attempt to create a dark world within a dark world--the idea itself is possible; after all, that's what's happening to Kris, isn't it?

And if this is the case, then perhaps the Knight Conspiracy is more of an anti-Knight conspiracy--Dess is no more loyal to whoever is trying to open the fountains than Kris is to us, and the conspiracy is attempting to play both sides of this conflict for their own ends (getting out alive).

It does make sense: it's long been speculated that the Roaring isn't the Knight's true goal, on the basis that they're going about it rather inefficiently, but that could also be explained by Dess complying maliciously with the orders she's getting.

But to tie this back into the them of intra-party politics, this raises the question: what if there are things Dess can't know for fear it'll get to her masters' ears? What if there are things Kris can't know for fear it will get to our ears?

Carol is juggling a lot of plates, it seems.

Oh and one more point: whose to say this conspiracy stops at four people? There were three symbols on the bunker door: a police badge--representing Asgore--a pine tree--representing Carol--and the delta rune--possibly representing Alvin?

I don't know how he factors into the party politics but I suspect he's involved. Based on Ralsei's explanation of the mechanics behind Gerson's revival, I suspect only someone intimately familiar with the man could have done it--such as, say, his son--and it does seem logical to call a priest when your children are getting possessed by demons. And as a priest he's presumably familiar with this world's religious lore, which seems to be intimately tied into the plot--perhaps he's the Giles of the group?

So anyway, the conspiracy as I picture it:

Kris: Avatar of the player, opener of the third fountain. Dess: Avatar of the antagonist. Carol: Mastermind, opener of the first fountain. Asgore: Unknown role, opener of the second fountain (largely because most anyone could have done it and it makes sense for everyone to get a turn). Alvin: Main researcher, opener of the fourth fountain(s).

Which I realize upon writing it means "the Knight" hasn't actually opened a single fountain. This could be a problem if Dess really is getting marching orders from a greater evil (or she could just be like "hey, I'm delegating"--we don't know what that relationship is like), but I really believe that Alvin created the fountains in the church and we know Kris created the one in the Dreemurr house, so that's already two down--and if Dess really can't travel through the depths the way Ralsei seems to (while she could have been deliberately leading us to the bunker by traveling through the light world to get there, it doesn't appear to be in the conspiracy's plans for us to go there yet) it seems unlikely that she'd have been able to open the other two.

[my-mt-heart]

Dissecting Zabel's Inappropriate Comments

I shared my initial reaction to the Games Radar article, but now that the original SFX article is also out, I want to dive a little deeper into what David Zabel said. From one source to another, the meaning doesn't change.

Regarding Daryl's and Carol's relationship, he says...

Whereas with Daryl and Isabelle, he insists...

Zabel thinks he's shedding light on his male hero's two most prominent relationships [with women], when in actuality he exposes a lot more about himself and what kind of showrunner he is.

He has no interest in the flagship show nor its acclaim.

Had he actually watched TWD in its entirety, tracked the progression of Daryl's and Carol's relationship from S1 to S11, and researched their fanbase as well as their media coverage from over the years instead of just pretending to, he'd see that nothing about their relationship is "obvious" or "easy." Trauma and self-esteem issues hardly ever explored in TV couples—let alone TV couples in their 50’s—have always complicated things, creating obstacles for them to take their relationship beyond intense feelings and helping them grow closer together, feel safer, understood, and loved to a degree nobody else can measure. There are 12 years and 11 seasons of sexual tension, smoldering looks, vulnerable moments, meaningful conversations, and romantic subtext at Zabel's disposal. The natural thing for him to do, the only thing that furthers the narrative already being told is to confirm that they're "in love" and make them "a couple."

If he wants to talk about a "TV book of tricks," he should re-evaluate the tricks he uses to justify a romantic connection between a well-established, unconventional, fiercely loyal man with intimacy issues and a blonde nun who’s only been around for a few months (and 6 episodes from an audience POV). Zabel tries to project what draws Daryl to Carol—broken until the world ended—onto Isabelle. He forces Daryl and Isabelle into intimate situations straight out of fanfiction—bathtubs, bed-sharing, cleaning wounds in hard-to-reach places—and uses other supporting characters like Losang to tell Daryl and the audience that it's romantic. That's not "seeing what happens," that's repeatedly trying to fit a square peg into a round hole and expecting everybody to think he's a genius. On the contrary...

He's completely tone deaf.

If he's calling Daryl's and Isabelle's relationship "mature," then he clearly doesn't realize how deeply problematic it is for a character to gaslight and lie to another character with a history of childhood abuse in order to get something from him, whether it's to help her find their new home or father a boy he just met. It's also triggering for fans who have survived abuse in their own lives to watch their hero fall back into the cycle without it being acknowledged or resolved in a way that helps him (and the fans) heal from it.

A dynamic between Daryl and a nun definitely could've been an "intriguing" dynamic to explore since they're both supposed to be emotionally unavailable. We'd get to see that Daryl's heart belongs to Carol and Isabelle is "married" to God. We'd get to see them bond over the idea of loving someone and/or something so infinitely and unconditionally that it's frightening to feel disconnected from them, whether physically or spiritually, and we'd get to see them help each other keep their faith, whatever that means to them. That's interesting. That's fresh. A romance between Daryl and a nun, regardless of whether or not she dresses like one, is not interesting. Not intriguing. Not edgy. Not sexy. It's disrespectful on multiple levels.

He calls Daryl and Carol coming back together only to realize that they've "changed" the more interesting story to tell? I call it sad. Sad and out of character for Daryl to feel anything other than elated to realize that the woman who represented everything good to him for over a decade crossed a damn ocean to find him. Sad that after "everything she's done" to find him, she finds that he's replaced her and their family back home.

He views the female perspective as irrelevant.

Saying he "respects" Caryl shippers only to invalidate them and then pour salt on the wound shows an air of superiority that is very typical of white male showrunners and executives. Granted, plenty of men ship Daryl and Carol, but it is also true that the majority of their fanbase is female and because of that, Zabel thinks he can mansplain the relationship to us. He tells us that what we want is cute, but he’s the one with the skillset to write a "good" story for the characters. He either doesn't care about our viewership because other men like him are his "real" audience or he assumes we'll come to our senses because he's right and we're wrong.

It isn't about shipping or romance at all though. If it was, he wouldn't just kill Isabelle off after insisting on this wild chemistry nobody sees but him (and Greg Nicotero). It isn't that Carol can't be a love interest either. It's about catering to the male gaze. Carol can't be the love interest for the white male hero that Zabel wants the fanboys to identify with and glorify. She doesn't fit their biases. Not young enough, not blonde enough, so on and so forth. Ignorance like that is generations-long and it doesn't just go away the more time he spends with Daryl and Carol. It only gets worse. Caryl may go to Spain alone, but there's plenty of new shipbait over there for him to introduce.

In what Zabel is actually quoted as saying about romance, which is all that counts, he only vaguely brings up a conversation with Norman, one I suspect is a lot more nuanced than he wants us to believe, but that's beside the point. He doesn't say "Melissa and I talked about Caryl's relationship" or "Clemence and I talked about Daryl's and Isabelle's relationship." Why not? Would the former disapprove of being treated like a sexless intruder in her "friend's" nuclear family? Would the latter hate to feel like a plot device for the brooding hero's manpain? What do the women have to say about their side of this oh so "interesting" emotional arc, Zabel? It's a rhetorical question obviously because if I really wanted to ask, I'd ask the women directly. The only thing is, they aren’t allowed to talk about it so openly and honestly, are they, Zabel? And you took advantage of that, right?

He's vindictive.

He may treat us like a bug on his windshield, but he isn't unaware that Caryl/McReedus have an active fanbase. He isn't unaware that AMC's promo strategy has centered on Caryl/McReedus. He's competing with it. He's aggressive in these articles because he wants to tell a particular kind of story that AMC, plus all of us unhinged shippers, won't let him. Taking a firm stance is how he takes control again (or so he thinks). The way he positions Carol as an intruder in "Daryl's" story, despite a sorry attempt to put a band-aid on it later, also presents itself in the SDCC trailer where everything, including Carol, has to revolve around the main hook: Daryl making a new family in France. For Zabel, it's true to life because he had to fit unconventional Melissa into his outdated "interesting" formula when that wasn’t what he was hired to do. To paraphrase what Melissa said, she was the newcomer who had to be careful not to disrupt a system already put in place before she arrived. What, or who, made her feel that way when she had already been playing Carol for over a decade?

To watch or not to watch

That is not the question. You can choose not to give AMC your money for Zabel's bullshit or you can choose to help the ratings go up for Melissa/Carol. Both are the right choice. The real question is, how will AMC know to blame Zabel and not Melissa if the ratings drop? How will they know that Carylers still need canon and...wait for it...good storytelling if they watched just to remind them how valuable Melissa is to the franchise? I know I sound like a broken record here, but this is why it's so important to be vocal. Use whatever platform you have (and are comfortable with) to specify what's bothering you whether it's the shipbaiting or Daryl's suspenders. Say what you love (Melissa is the correct answer) and what you want more of or what you want to change in regards to performances, relationships, and storylines. For me, I wanted to see both Daryl and Carol make every effort to get back to each other. I wanted to get the payoff I've been waiting for after a god-awful S11 that kept them separated and angry at each other the whole time. I wanted the story to center on Daryl's and Carol's relationship while everything else revolved around them. "To find home is to find each other." Where did that story go? I want it back.

No matter what we say, egomaniacs like David Zabel, Greg Nicotero, and Scott Gimple will spit on us, punch us in the gut, and kick us while we're down (though I guess only the first one is stupid enough to be so literal). If Zabel understood the first thing about Carol or Caryl, then maybe he would've realized that their fans know how to push back.

As for AMC, they don't care about the characters or the relationship or our feelings either, but they do care about their bottom line and these articles threaten that. Keep reminding them.

[luvly-writer]

XOXO

Ch. 20 The smiles are made of ice

—•—

Author's note: Hope you enjoy! If you want to be added to the taglist, just leave a comment!🫶🏽

Warnings: I don't know much of Bernard's character so I just had some fun with it. He is a petty ex trying to get back with our man.

Taglist: @w31rdg1rl @mxtokko @loonymoonystuff @grandstrangerphanthom @1lellykins va @cangosleepnow @dreamspectrum @its-maemain @tamimemo @nightw-izhu @trasshy-artist @gabriiiiiiii @cassini-among-the-stars @pank0w @writing-for-the-hell-of-it

Masterlist:

—•—

There was an saying on the upper east side that went like this, with the queen of gold, you expect mercy, with the queen of silver, you beg for it; but with the queen of ice you should forget it cause it won't help you at all.

This was the case at tonight's gala. The Vanderbilt's had made their appearance at the Wayne's Charity Ball and the crowd was loving it. Not only was the press hungry to get full coverage of the two ex-lovers seeing each other again in public, but people were excited both in social media and in the crowds. How would they behave? Would they be amicable? Was the spark still there? That las one was the easiest question to answer seeing as everyone knew the spark was still there. The dazzling Vanderbilt with the dashing Wayne.

The one thing that no one was expecting but made the entire night more enticing, was one Bernard Dowd in the crowd who had come per someone unknown's request.

Y/n was chatting up people left and right. Although she was not part of the family business, she still did her part in maintaining the Vanderbilt name clean and golden. They all did their parts without a hitch, charm, and dazzle without a hassle.

Y/n hadn't had the chance to see Tim yet, seeing as they both were busy mingling with their respective families, it was a charity gala after all. Everything was going smoothly...until one blond got too close to a certain ravenette.

---

---

Y/n locked her phone and glared towards where Bernard was talking with Tim. Seeing her glaring, Mark and Antoine smirked at each other and walked towards her, each standing her each side of her.

"What's wrong, Baby V, your boy toy's flirty with his ex?" remarked Antoine, always one to want to get a rise out of her. Hearing this, Charlisse neared them and took her husband's arm, "Please, a Vanderbilt is never jealous" Then she turned to Y/n, "But this one just so happens to be" she teased. Mark, Antoine, and Charlisse laugh loudly.

"Stop tormenting the poor girl!" Chasticed Aurora, walking towards them with their parents. "Y/n, Timothy is utterly in love with you, all is well" she said looping Y/n's arm with hers.

"All will be well once they get over being oblivious to one another" teased William, making Franchesca slap him lightly in the arm in a scolding matter. "My sweat pearl of the ocean, go talk with him. He invited you to this event, which means he wants you around. Dont waste a good opportunity to spend time with him." Her mother encouraged and everyone agreed. Just as she was about to answer, she saw Bernard reach for Tim's hair and move it away from his eyes with wink. and. that. was. it.

"Rora, hold my things," she said as she handed her purse and phone to Aurora and began walking towards Tim and Bernard.

"The Ice Queen makes her return it seems" purrs Charlisse smirking and they all agree. As noble as the Vanderbilts were, everyone knew there were sharp teeth hidden behind smiles. They never took kindly to being messed with, and as kind as she was, that queen was still made of ice.

She strutted across the hall, gliding with class and poise. She charmed everyone with her shining smile and lovely gaze as she got close to the pair. Tim noticed her first. Of course, he did. She had caught his eye the moment she walked through those doors and they had never left her figure. What a woman. He smirked as he saw her getting closer and offered his hand for her to take once she got closer. She took it willingly, and latched onto his arm.

"Timmy, my sweet, how have you been?" she asked sweetly but he recognized the hunger in her eyes, he knew the cold growing in her gaze and wondered what possibly could have happened for the ice queen to resurface.

"Angel, I am better now that you've blessed us with your presence. You enjoying the gala? Your favorite band is playing tonight." he said inhaling her perfume. God, she was addicting.

"Absolutely! You know good music never fails to put someone in a good mood. My family has absolutely enjoyed it. I think Aurora has already tired Mark out with too much dancing." she responded

"I have not seen you on the dance floor tonight. Why is that? I know it is not because of a lack of suitors." He continues, hoping she will say she was waiting for him.

"Well, I-"

"Ehem"

They both looked the side and finally, Bernard made himself present.

"Timmy? I thought you hated that nickname, Tim" he said looking at Yn up and down. Seeing this, she offered him her best smile.

"And you are?" she said, wolfish smile present

"Oh, you don't know who I am?" Bernard mocked her tone, "That's surprising"

"It's why I asked my dear" she responded.

"Angel, this is Bernard, my ex," said Tim, already sensing the tension.

"Oh really, pleasure to meet you, I'm-

"Y/n Vanderbilt, his other ex, yes I'm aware." Said Bernard tightly. He looked at her up and down again, "How...gorgeous is your dress, Miss Vanderbilt. I have to say, it looks much too humble for a Vanderbilt"

This hit a nerve with Y/n and Tim knew it. Rule #1 with old money, NEVER LOOK DOWN ON THEIR CLOTHES. He felt her squeeze his bicep and laugh airily. "You think so?" she said moving a little to showcase her dress, "My lovely friends at Dior made sure to get me a one-and-only. I told them tonight was special," she said looking at him dead in the eye.

"How modest for the occasion, you know, it being a charity ball" retorted Bernard. He was coming for her wealth.

"It is perfect for the occasion. You see, too much bling calls for too much attention, bright colors look for dramatics," she said, eyeing his light green suit, "Black is sleek, elegant, professional, and perfect. Anyone with knowledge of this type of event knows this. What do you think, Timmy?" she said gazing up at him. This time he knew she wasn't just being passive-aggressive with him, she was being sincere. Asking for his opinion on how she looked in the night.

"I think, you look absolutely gorgeous like always, and would you look at that, once again, my tie matches your dress," he says winking at her and she giggles softly.

"Tim is a black tie, you have a million of those" deadpanned Bernard but was ignored by Tim, who was too engrossed with Y/n.

"You think so?" she asked softly

"You know, I always think you are absolutely ethereal" he responds just as softly.

Just as she is about to speak again, they are interrupted by a man looking for the CEO of Wayne Enterprises. "Save a dance for me, gorgeous, I'll be right back," he said as he walked away.

She giggled and waved goodbye. She turned to look at Bernard, alone and right where she wanted him. She extends her hand at him and says, "A dance?" She gives her most beautiful smile and he knows he is fucked if he declines. There are too many people watching.

"Of course"

As they near the dance floor, she walks by her family and the Waynes. Dick and Jason are looking at them with their mouths open, Stephanie, Barbara, Cass, and Duke were intrigued and drinking everything up. William and Bruce were caught up in a discussion, and Damian was nowhere to be seen. Charlisse, always one to adore utter chaos, winked at her sister once she caught her eye. The finally reached the dancefloor and so the music began.

"So Bernard, what brings you here? I didn't know Tim and you stayed friends after all of it"

"We didn't." He said shortly, she noted he did not want to engage in conversation with her.

"Oh...pity. Tim is a most loving friend" she says

"I'm sure he is, Miss Vanderbilt. Which is why I came. To see if that friendship could be rekindled" he said. The way he said friendship rubbed Y/n the wrong way. He was not here for a friendship.

"That so" she said and smiled at him, "How curious"

"Listen, you may think that just because you were his latest kink, that it won't happen. You are just a little girl with money, and once that runs out of style, you both are left with nothing in common. No middle ground, nothing to base a romance on. What Tim and I had was real and I'm here to prove it. You are just another obstacle in our way. "

From an outsiders view, it must have looked like Bernard has said the funniest joke to the young woman with how hard she laughed.

"Bernard, let me correct you. I am not a little girl with money, I am a woman with power. Don't get them twisted. And if you are so sure, why hasn't he made a move yet? Where's your invitation to a dance? Let him make it public that Timothy Jackson Drake Wayne is back with Bernard Dowd. Oh wait..he won't. Want to know how I know that?'' She got closer to his ear and whispered, "Because Bernard my sweet, did you notice how easy it was to ignore you in my presence? Keep that in mind for the rest of your night" Y/n giggled and twirled herself just as the dance was over. She clapped at him as she looked at him dead in the eye. "And one last thing...if you love your career, I suggest you don't touch him again. Connections do wonders in this world, you know. Enjoy the rest of your night." She winked and walked back to her family.

Not too long later she feels someone's presence behind her and turns to find Tim, looking at her knowingly. "You owe me a dance"

Gladly, they both walk towards the dance floor hand in hand, hearing camera shudders as they did. Once there, the began to slow dance, swaying side to side.

"Now, angel, what could have poor Bernard possibly done to get the ice treatment this lovely night. And don't think lying is an option because you know I know your tells." He said lowly in your ear and you knew you were a goner.

"He was too close" you muttered and Tim laughed hard.

"What do you mean too close?" He asked filled with amusement

"Did you invite him?"

"No, angel, his invite was accidental. They forgot to erase him from my list of invites. It was a mistake." he reassures and you relax a little.

"Do you miss him?" Y/n asks looking up at Tim, fixating on his lips for a moment and then staying on his eyes. He smirks, having caught you looking at his lips, and answers. "No, I do not. Things are...different now. I have someone else in mind" he says looking directly into your eyes and for a moment you swore he could be talking about you.

"Which is whomst?" She asks and he huffs

"Don't tell me you don't know?"

"I am scared to find out" she whispers. Just as he was about to answer, they heard clapping. The music stops and it is time for Tim to make his speech thanking everyone in assistance. He gives her a kiss on her hand and walks away, promising that they will talk later.

As she walks back to her family, she makes eye contact with an angry Bernard. She gives him a knowing smile and walks towards her family's table. There Mark, Antoine, William and Charlise raise their glass at her whilst Aurora and Franchesca roll their eyes at them.

Y/n laughs at their antics and sits down.

—•—

That night as she was preparing to go to sleep, she heard a notification from her phone go off.

Extra:

Bernard and Tim was a rocky breakup at best that really left them both super hurting. It was messy and the public had a blast with it. The fact that Y/n helped avoid a scandal really helped Tim’s image. They are still the public’s #1

Tim is tired of holding his feelings to himself

He had once said he’d never go detective on Y/n but after that talk where they “ended” things, Tim’s brain went on override and decided “fuck it”. So he did it and was able to understand that Y/n feels something for him. Looking back at the videos and the pictures helped him get there. Not only that, when they started to hang out more often, he noticed it. Now he just needs to fess up so that he hears it from her. He does not want to pressure her into it. If he has her, it will be because she wants to be with him.

He literally forgets the world when he looks at her.

Bernard had been flirting with him but he couldn’t keep his eyes away from Y/n. He is mesmerized by her and it will always be like so.

He knows she’s jealous. Why do you think he was so smirky and amused? He knows his baby. He also knows Bernard was pissing her off. So he didn’t mind her being bitchy.

[redbecomesher]

GRACE UPON GRACE E:6

Modesty in Heart and Life

Hi y’all, today we are going to discuss modesty. Modesty isn’t just how we as followers of Christ dress, but it’s also how we speak and act! So yeah, we are going to discuss etc. how to live a modest life, modesty in speech and actions and dressing with modesty:)

MODESTY STARTS IN THE HEART

Modesty isn’t again just about outward appearance;it’s about having a heart that seeks God over self-glorification. A modest heart isn’t rude,boastful,or selfish-but instead it’s content and honours God in all things (like your hobbies or actions). It will maybe take time to change your bad habits like bitterness or anger in your heart but when you ask God to take it from your heart and hold it for you instead. It will get easier and will come to you quicker considering your addressing it and going to God first!

LIVING A MODEST LIFE

Modesty in life means making choices that reflect humility, kindness, and godliness. It’s about the way we speak, act, and treat others, not just the way we dress. It’s resisting the need to show off, boast, or seek validation from the world. So acts like e.g helping the homeless, smiling at strangers, telling a loved one you love them, or giving random people hugs are good ways to show Jesus’ love through your actions which as Christian’s is very important,considering we could be people’s first glance or hearing of God’s name<3

MODESTY IN SPEECH AND ACTIONS

The words we say and how we carry ourselves should reflect Christ. This means avoiding gossip, arrogance, and seeking constant attention. Instead, we should speak with grace, wisdom, and love. The reasons for this is, gossip and arrogance is coming from places of judgment which as Christian’s we don’t want to judge people’s sins/choices considering we believe in the forgiveness of sins, and gossip is literally the act of acting like God, which isn’t our place considering these are also his kids. So when you almost gossip, act arrogant, or try and make everything about you, just remember that let’s try and act like Christ. Also being self involved is bad because it’s going back to the subject/term ‘pride’, which God hates because it’s selfish and makes everything about yourself. Bring everything back to Him,our King!

DRESSING WITH MODESTY

Our clothing should reflect our identity in Christ rather than draw attention for the wrong reasons. Modesty in dressing isn’t about shame but about respecting ourselves and honouring God. The focus should be on inner beauty-a gentle and quiet spirit. Dressing immodest can lead to sin considering, it can lead e.g men to look at women lustfully, yes of course they shouldn’t do that, but as followers of Christ, we shouldn’t (as women or even men) dress in a way that is inappropriate out of respect for others, to help them not think sinfully considering it could be a sin they struggle with. Another reason is, the reasons for dressing these immodest ways could be e.g insecurity or trying to be sexual which is ways that is worshipping your outer appearance instead of our inner beauty (kindness and love) which matters more to God of course:)

CLOTHING WE CAN WEAR TO BE MODEST (Men and Women)

MEN:

1. Well-fitted jeans or trousers (not too tight or sagging).

2. Polo shirts, button-ups, or plain T-shirts (nothing overly flashy or with inappropriate prints).

3. Knee-length shorts (instead of very short ones).

4. A cross necklace that is small (or medium sized). I would recommend not wearing too much jewellery or accessories if it’s in the context of showing off pride or wealth.

WOMEN:

1. Dresses and skirts that reach the knee or below (flowy or fitted but not tight).

2. Tops with appropriate coverage (no deep plunging necklines or backless styles).

3. Jeans or trousers that fit well but aren’t skin-tight (wide-leg, mom jeans, or relaxed fit are great options).

4. Layering (e.g., wearing a cardigan over sleeveless tops, or legging under a short dress).

5. Like men, a small or medium cross necklace (not too much accessories or jewellery,if the reason is to show off/pride and show wealth).

!! By the way, for more ideas/inspo for modest Christian outfits or clothing, I recommend looking on Pinterest<33

I hope y’all enjoyed this subject and learnt some new information,and remember God loves you and wants to hear from you,God bless,and till next time 🤍.

1 PETER 3:3-4-

“Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewellery or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.”

JAMES 4:6

“But He gives more grace. Therefore, it says, ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

1 SAMUEL 16:7

“But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

MATTHEW 5:16-

“Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

[soarelesiluna-ao3]

sorry to hear that you’re feeling sad :(

hope that this can cheer you up! pick your favorite ship (or your favorite character and pair it with reader) and imagine them in a comfortable and cuddly situation, just some pure fluffy vibes

hope that you feel better soon! <3

You know what, I'll take this chance to write a bit more about Lucio and Tommaso because I'm really feeling them tonight. Thanks, kind anon!

Here's the continuation to my previous drabble - which you can access right here to read it!

I'll go back to my requests soon enough, promise. Life is kinda heavy atm but I swear I'll go back to writing regularly. I just need to get used to this new pace of life.

Content under the cut!

Lucio's back finally touched the bed in the hotel room and a loud sigh came out of his lips. It was a good thing all these interviews were done with casual clothes and no mime makeup - he simply wouldn't have the energy to take it all off at the end of the day. So now all he did was take a shower, put on a robe, dry his hair and be dead weight over the sheets. Just another day in the life of a super star.

Tommaso shut the door behind him as he left the bathroom too. The room had been properly warmed with the heating system, so it wasn't really necessary for the two of them to get dressed right away. Instead, both chose to lay beside each other in their robes, even when they could've gone to their separate beds.

"I should've just stuck to writing in my bedroom", Lucio joked. "I wouldn't be this tired by the end of the day."

Tommaso was about to make a remark about how else he could've gotten him tired in his bedroom, but he chose not to. He still had trouble regulating those thoughts after Lucio said all those things about wanting to try and fall in love. But he did his best. After all these years of yearning, something had to give. And there was no way he was messing up the chance.

"I think it's worth it, though, all of Italy loves you, as they should", he smiled. "Want me to order some room service? I think we're still on that time frame."

"Eh, I think tea? It'd help me fall asleep faster."

"Fine then."

Tommaso grabbed the phone and ordered some things. He was told they'd be coming in a while. After hanging up, he took his place back beside Lucio.

"But really... All that matters to me is making myself proud and I think I'm really getting somewhere I like", his hair moved when he nodded. "And I think that you've also played a part on it."

"Ah, come on..."

"Which is also why I chose you to fall in love in the first place. Because you already mean a lot to me, you know. I think my heart would be in good hands. Your hands", he made a point to grab Tommaso's hands and trace his fingers with his thumbs. "They look tough, after all those years of playing guitar. But it's good for me. Because I know those tough hands will be the gentlest and strongest in handling my feelings with care, should they arise."

All those words made the guitarist's heart rush all of a sudden. Lucio was always great with words, so this shouldn't have come as a surprise, but still, he was able to stun him so quickly. God.

"Trust me, Lu, I have no intention of letting you down. You've been able to trust me this far, right?"

"And I will continue to do so. Believe me", a pause. "Let me hold you in my arms."

Tommaso immediately moved between those slender arms, hiding into the crook of his neck as his hands wrapped around his waist. The hotel robes provided less coverage than usual. It wasn't like their skins hadn't touched before - Lucio seemed to have an allergy to wearing shirts in the summer, so the both of them napped shirtless frequently back in Maremma. But somehow, after all these talks, it felt different. Closer.

"I like hugging you", Lucio smiled to himself. "You feel so warm. I could stay like this all night."

Tommaso was about to say something like "then do it", but a knock on the door took him out from his thoughts. Room service. Damn it. Reluctantly, he got up from his place to get their drinks. In the meantime, Lucio opened a window and lit up a cigarette.

"I brought my portable record player, by the way", Lucio spoke from the window. "Take it out of my luggage and choose one. Let's hang out a little longer."

Because, for Lucio, these precious times were what falling in love were like.

Just being around him felt alright.

[t-am-i-the-asshole]

WIBTAH if I (F28) told my husband (M28) his "sleep boundries" went out the window when he had our son?

Husband (we will call Brad), and I have been together 2.5 years. Had our son in January. Things have been pretty great, but this had me feeling kind of...annoyed?

Brad is diagnosed with autism and ADHD, which can make communication between us challenging at times, but we do our best.

We live in Europe, NOT US.

Since Brad has AuDHD, he only works at 50%, the other half is covered by a health insurance here on a temporary basis, and every few months he has to keep applying for more. It is stressful, as we wait for him to hopefully get on a permanent coverage. Since this is so up in the air, instead of me taking a full year of mat leave, he took a majority of the days in case his temp health insurance is denied for some reason, then he can keep his work schedule at 50% and still get paid on the days he has off.

Which means I went back to work part time. I WFH as a private teacher. I choose my hours, since my students USUALLY live in different countries, I chose some in the afternoon when Brad is home with our son, and at nights, when my students would be awake and Brad is also home. I only have one student in the evening, 23:00 - 23:30 twice a week.

This is to help with some income, and we discussed this before I event went back to work. He had asked no students past midnight. So if Baby is having issues sleeping, he can take care of him and hopefully get him to sleep.

Well, Brad got back on a schedule where he wants to go to bed at 23:00...every night. We try to, but with a baby, sometimes...it just does not happen. Baby sometimes will stay asleep when I put him to bed (I nurse him to sleep), and sometimes he wakes up screaming.

Well, last night I told Brad I had my student at 23:00, and I would try to have Baby sleeping by then. He asked me, "What is your plan if Baby wakes up? My bedtime is 23:00, so hopefully you have thought of something."

I said, "Well, hopefully he stays asleep. If not, you will just have to take care of him, or put him on his play mat and entertain him."

He resolutely said, "Bedtime is 23:00, and I will go to bed."

Come 23:00, Baby is in bed, and Brad is just getting out of the shower. I guess he woke up moments after I started with my student, as when I came out of the office, he was walking around with Baby. I took him, nursed him back to sleep and went to bed also shortly after 23:30.

This morning, he was a bit annoyed with me. When I tried to hug him good-bye as he was leaving to work, he did not hug me back. We always do this before he leaves, so I said, "Are you upset with me still?"

He replied, "Yes, you crossed my boundry. My bedtime is 23:00. We disucssed this. I go to bed, and anything past that is your problem to solve if Baby wakes up."

He left for work...and I was just thinking...what??

I feel I need to have some discussion with Brad about this, but WIBTAH if I told him he has no more boundries with his sleep and he is being ridiculous?

[literaticat]

Since I’m hearing that most author marketing doesn’t significantly move the needle on book sales - is it ok then for an author to not market their book?

I don’t mean not talk about it; I mean skipping out on doing book tours, launches, interviews, presentations, cringe videos with one’s pet to try to game the algo…

Authors "not significantly moving the needle on book sales" all on their own is probably true in most cases. However, authors WITH PUBLISHER SUPPORT can for sure move the needle.

I would suggest that you do everything the publisher wants you to do in terms of marketing, etc. That IS them trying to move the needle, and you need to help as much as you can.

Beyond that, on your own, it's nice for you to do what is in your power to boost your own work without sinking a ton of money or all your energy into it. Your being game and positive may well inspire the publisher to give you more support, and look, there goes that needle again.

Appearances: If your publisher is sending you to a conference, book festival, on a book tour or similar (ie, paying for the travel, setting it up, etc) - DO IT! This is marketing that not every book automatically gets, your publisher WANTS you to do this, they are PAYING for you to do this, yes, you should absolutely do this.

If you're talking about setting up your OWN book tour, or paying to travel out of state to some conference on your OWN dime -- well, if you really want to do that and can afford to do that, sure, but I wouldn't go out of my way to pay for that kind of thing.

School Visits - if it is something where the publisher is setting it up and they are considering it part of a tour or a marketing opportunity - DO IT! IF you want to do your own as a money-making venture (where you charge the schools) -- by all means! It's a good source of income for a lot of kid's authors! But if that's just not something you enjoy or have the bandwidth for, you can skip it.

Interviews and whatnot -- again, if it is something that the publisher is setting up, with a well-regarded magazine, review outlet, blogger with big reach, online influencer, fancy TV show or big podcast or something like that where it's not easy to get that kind of coverage -- DO IT! Do you need to hustle all over NYC to try and set up your own Vanity Fair article or Good Morning America appearance or whatever? Absolutely not.

Social Media -- THIS IS IN YOUR POWER, and is free. Yes, please. You don't have to GO OFF or anything - but some social media presence, ONE platform at least, would be helpful. I have written extensively about how to start social media stuff if you don't feel adept at it, look at the FAQ. No, you don't have to make "cringe videos with your pet" -- but yeah, you should do *something* if at all possible, if only so that librarians and whatnot can write to you and you can post starred reviews of your books or whatever.

Website -- This is in your power, and costs little, and is important. YES PLEASE. Keep it updated. Have a press kit on there. PLEASE.

Other things you can and should absolutely do: Have a local launch party to celebrate with your friends and family -- introduce yourself to local booksellers and offer to sign stock -- direct people to that bookstore to buy autographed books via your social media, website and/or newsletter. Be nice to people. ETC.

Anything beyond that is gravy -- fine if you want gravy, but if you don't like it, and it costs $$ -- it is not necessary.