#aka triangles instead of squares

[katethewriter]

A Perfect Night for Stargazing

prequel to Wish We Could Be Like That

Pairing: WandaNat x Reader

Words: 2.4k~

Summary: After two weeks alone in the compound, Natasha and Wanda have something important to ask you.

Warnings: none? its pretty much just pure fluff, very brief mentioning of sex, Reader is insecure, bad writing

A/N: I know that you were all looking forward to a sequel, but I received this ask, and my hand slipped. lol Actually, this was half written in my drafts (it got cut from Part One), so I decided to finish it. So here you have it! The prequel no one asked for! I also figured we could use a shot of fluff, before we get back to the angst. I hope you enjoy! 

“See those three that make a triangle?” you ask pointing up at the night sky, “and those six that kinda look like a backwards question mark?”

Wanda looks for a second before nodding.

“That’s the constellation Leo,” you lower your hand back to your stomach.

The two of you lie on the roof of the compound. You, Wanda and Natasha just finished eating dinner up here, but weren’t quite ready to call it a night. The widow had run inside to grab jackets for the three of you to ward to the cool night air.

“The semicircle is his head and mane. The triangle is the back paws and tail, and the part in between is the body.”

The elevator door opens, and you crane your neck to see Natasha approaching you with only one blanket in her hands. Your brow furrows, but you don’t dwell on it.

“What’s going on here?” she asks as she approaches. The two of you had been sitting at the table when she left. Now she is returning to the two of you lying very close to each other on the ground.

“Y/n is showing me constellations,” Wanda says cheerily, “its the perfect night for it. Come join us!”

You look back up to find another constellation to name. Although, your attention is wrenched from the stars when Natasha decides to lie on the ground beside you, despite plenty of room being left on the other side of Wanda, her fiance.

Quickly, you look over to Wanda, expecting to find her upset or confused or something. Instead, she just looks up at the night sky, as if nothing is happening. Natasha throws the blanket across the three of you and Wanda only smiles.

Once you’re all settled, Natasha looks over to you, “so you know a bit about astrology?”

“A bit, when I was little, my dad and I would lay in the front yard for hours. He would point out the significant stars and other planets. He taught me all the constellations.” Suddenly, a smile spreads across your face as the fond memories resurface in your mind. Before you even think about it, you share it with them, “he said the stars were his favorite part of nature. There are so many different habitats, climates, ecosystems spread all across the world, and they’re all completely different. But the stars, you can be anywhere on Earth, but when you look up its the same stars.”

You’re suddenly aware that you are word vomiting, “Sorry, I’m rambling-”

“No, don’t apologize, that was beautiful,” Wanda stares at you completely awestruck.

“Show me one?” Natasha asks with a similar adoration in her eyes.

Nodding with a smile, you look back to the stars. You look for a moment before you point, “ok, so you see those four that make a square ...well technically a rectangle I guess ...and the three stars in a curve beside it?” You pause for them to locate the stars.

“Yes,” Natasha nods.

“Nope.”

You chuckle slightly, “here.” You reach for Wanda’s hand and point it to the cluster of stars you are referring to. 

“That rectangle,” you trace from star to star, connecting the dots, “and then those three there.” You look over and can see the moment she visualizes the shapes. She nods with a smile, and you look back to the sky, “that’s Ursa Major, aka-”

“The big dipper,” Natasha finishes before you can.

You look at her with a soft smile, “yeah.” When she looks back at you returning your smile, you get lost in her eyes. Her gaze drops to your lips, and you feel a sudden heat rush to your cheeks.

Flustered, you turn back to the sky. “...and Ursa Minor,” you redirect Wanda’s hand to point slightly behind you, “is back there.” Like before, you trace the constellation so she can visualize it better. “What do you think?”

The sokovian smiles, “its beautiful.”

“Sure is,” the Russian to your right agrees, although she isn’t looking at the sky. She hasn’t taken her eyes off of you and Wanda.

You let go of Wanda’s out stretched hand to rest yours back on your stomach, but her hand follows yours. Your elbows rest on the ground between you, but she holds your hand up. A breath catches in your throat as her fingers play with yours for moment before they slot together and she grips your hand tightly. You close your eyes and all you hear is the pounding of your heart in your ears.

The three of you have had the compound to yourself for two and a half weeks, and moments like this keep occurring with increasing regularity. Moments when the line between their relationship and you blur beyond recognition. Not that you were complaining, but it is making it very difficult to keep your feelings for the two in check.

Long ago, you buried your feelings and convinced yourself that your friendship with the women beside you would be enough. It had to be.  They are happily engaged to each other, and that doesn’t leave much room for you. Times like this, however, have your heart bursting with dubious hope.

“What are you thinking, sweet girl?” Wanda whispers from beside you.

Releasing a breathy chuckle, you sigh, “can’t you just read my mind?”

The witch runs her thumb across the back of your hand, “no, I can’t.”

At that response, you look at her incredulously.

She rolls onto her side to face you. Squeezing your hand lightly, Wanda relents, “ok, I could, but I won’t, ever. Not without your permission...” you open your mouth to grant her permission, but she cuts you off quickly, “and not this time. I need you to voice it yourself.”

She peers deeply into your eyes, and you feel like she can see your soul. Though it doesn’t feel intrusive. Her gaze is gentle, and you want nothing more than to fall into it forever.

“Tell us what’s going on in that beautiful brain of yours,” Natasha asks. You look to her and find she has propped herself up to look down at you. Her smile reflects Wanda’s.

Releasing a breath you didn’t know you were holding, you look back up to the sky. You know you have to tell them the truth. They know you too well to try and lie, so you relinquish to voicing your thoughts out loud, despite the chance that this will ruin your friendship.

“I’m thinking that...” you let out a long slow breath to calm your nerves, “... this has been an intentionally romantic and intimate evening, and...I feel like... I’m crashing a date.”

Your eyes drift to Natasha as she nods thoughtfully. Her usually calm demeanor seems to crack. If you had to guess, you would say she looks nervous. She locks eyes with Wanda, and the witch nods in encouragement.

The Russian smiles and looks back down to you, “well, it was intentionally romantic, but...” she reaches and tucks a lock of hair behind your ear, “it was intended for you.” Her fingers trail down your jaw, and your skin tingles at under her touch. “You’re not crashing anything.”

Your heart rate spikes. Certainly, they can hear how fast its pounding. You pull your lip between your teeth to hide how it quivers. You look between the pair, and all you see is hope on their faces. Everything in you says to just lean into them, but hesitation grips you. You want to save yourself the heartbreak.

So, you rip off the bandaid, “I know what you’re wanting, and I can’t give it to you.”

Their faces drop, and so does your heart. A friends-with-benefits threesome. That’s all they wanted you for. Now that they know they won’t get it, they’ll lose interest in you. You’re sure of it.

“I’m sorry,” you sit up quickly, burying your face into your hands, “I care about you, both of you, too much for just a casual threesome.”

“Y/n, that’s not what we want,” Wanda says gently, sitting up beside you. 

There’s a long pause, as you fully process what the witch just said. Slowly lifting your head to look into her eyes again, your voice is barely a whisper, “what?” You turn to see Natasha has sat up as well. “What do you want then?”

The pair smile softly before moving to sit in front of you. Now, you can easily look at them both. Each of them seizes one of your hands. 

“Y/n,” Natasha squeezes your hand, “we want a relationship with you, not just sex...” she tilts her head playfully, “though that could be an added plus-” 

She is cut off by Wanda elbowing her in the ribs.

“Just a joke,” the assassin’s curl into that mischievous smirk that sends butterflies through your stomach. Wanda rolls her eyes and focuses her attention back to you.

The playful moment melts into sincerity again. 

“We want to date you, Y/n,” Wanda squeezes your hand, “we want you join our relationship. We want to be with you.”

There’s nervous hope in their eyes as they await your response. You look between them, “you want to be with me?” 

They both nod silently. 

“Both of you?” 

They smile and nod again.

 “But you’re together...”

“We still will be,” Natasha turns to Wanda with a smile, “we want to be together with you too.”

“But why?” Their eyebrows furrow together. So, you elaborate, “Why do you want me? I mean... both of you are stunningly beautiful, genius, bad ass Avengers.” Your gaze drops to your lap insecurely, “you are amazing, and I’m just me.”

A sharp pain spreads across the back of your hand. It doesn’t really at all, but it does lightly sting for a few seconds. You look up to the Sokovian who scolds you with her expression.

“Did you just slap my hand?”

Wanda nods curtly, “don’t talk about my detka that way.” Her gaze softens as she rubs the back of your hand to soothe the spot she just slapped. “You are gorgeous, strong, smart, kind-”

“Hot,” Nat adds.

“Very hot,” Wanda adds, “you are the amazing one, detka.”

“We would be incredibly lucky to have you as our girlfriend,” Natasha takes a breath. “Will you be our girlfriend?”

With the lump in your throat, you don’t trust your voice. Not that you could form words anyway. This is something you had dreamed of since you met them. You’d never really entertained this as a possibility. That even one of them, let alone both, feel the same as you do. That they wanted to act on those feelings. 

Even so, here you are, with the two of them sitting in front of you, anxiously awaiting your answer. You smile with happy tears filling your eyes. You nod your head quickly, “yes.”

Instantly, their smiles rival your own. Wanda and Nat look at you like you hung the stars. As far as their concerned, you did, and now, you are theirs. They pull you into a bone crushing hug, and you don’t mind at all. Eventually, you pull from the hug and look at each other once again.

There’s a moment of silence where the three of you just hold your beath. Your eyes flick between the two of them. Your gaze bounces from their eyes to their lips and back to their eyes. 

Natasha makes the first move. Her attention is focused on your lips. Her green eyes catch your own as she leans forward slowly. She’s asking for permission, giving you plenty of time to pull away if you want, but you don’t. You lean forward yourself to meet her halfway, keeping your eyes locked until the last chance. 

The moment her lips touch yours, eyes flutter closed. Her hand reaches up and cups the back of your neck. Her kiss is gentle and controlled. You follow her lead, but she lets you set the pace. A perfect push and pull. 

When you break the kiss, you rest your forehead on hers for just a moment. 

A tender touch lifts your chin to redirect your attention. As your head turns, Natasha presses a feather soft kiss on your temple. 

When you open your eyes, Wanda’s wide smile greets you. You can’t help but to stare at her plump lips. She pulls you into her by your chin. This kiss is softer than Natasha’s, but just as perfect. This is only your first kiss with them, but you already know you’ll be addicted to their lips. 

Wanda’s hand travels from your chin to your shoulder. She lightly guides you to lay back on the ground again. Natasha lays down next you again and throws her arm across you two. 

You kiss Wanda until the need to breathe can no longer be avoided. Their kisses leave you dizzy and entirely convinced that this is all a dream. But then you feel Natasha’s arm pull you closer, and Wanda nuzzling into your neck. 

“I’ve wanted to do that for a long time,” you admit. You’re not sure where this sudden brazenness came from.

Natasha presses a kiss to the side of your head, “us too.”

“How long?”

Wanda looks up from her spot in your neck, answering your question with one of her own, “how long have you been on the team?”

“A little over a year,” you grin curiously.

Natasha repeats you, “then a little over a year.”

You can’t remember the last time you had felt so at peace. Stargazing with your friends girlfriends laying on either side of you. 

“Show us another, please?” Wanda asks.

It takes only a second to locate the one you’re looking for.

 “There’s Orion,” you raise your hand to point again. Slowly tracing the constellation with your finger, “those three are his belt. These two are his legs. His head is up here, this line is the sword. The curve on the right is supposed to be his shield, but I think it looks more like a bow.”

Wanda tilts her head a bit, “It kinda looks like your symbol, Natasha.”

You and Natasha erupt into laughter.

“What?” the witch looks at the both of you in confusion.

“No lyubov, it doesn’t,” Natasha laughs from beside you. At the sight of Wanda’s pout, you apologetically kiss her forehead. That seems to have done the trick. She smiles at you before playfully sticking her tongue out at Natasha who just shakes her head with a smile. 

“So, how many of these do you know?” the widow asks. 

You spend hours laying in the same spot, pointing out all the constellations you know and eventually creating constellations yourself. It was like a little competition. Who can come up with one the fastest? Who’s is the funniest? Who’s looks absolutely nothing like they said it did?

There’s no way to know exactly what time you all fell asleep, but the next morning, you wake tucked between your girlfriends on the rooftop. It was by far the best night of sleep you’ve had in a long time. 

Wish We Could Be Like That Part One

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*** can you please do me a small favor? :) if your url is not listed above and you would like to be added to the taglist, please go to the series master list and comment there. ​Its easier for me to have all the tag requests in one location. Thank you, y’all are the best 😘

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed it 

-k

[cankersoregirl]

I really like this scene because it’s just giving us the themes of the series all in a few words. Love, social classes, and separation.

Love is obvious. There’s a whole love triangle square pentagon thing going on and it’s the theme of this episode specifically too. Chopper likes Ben likes Nuengdiao likes Palm.

Then we have social classes. The second most prominent theme. In every episode Palm and Nuengdiao face it off with their class dynamics and face their own struggles separately. Nuengdiao is hated by others because of his family and the position he’s in while Palm comes from an entirely different world than everyone around him. Meanwhile the two of them keep going back and forth as Nuengdiao tries to get him to treat them as equals and Palm continuously tries to reject this. They both break this pattern in episode 4 when Palm finally calls Nuengdiao “Nueng” and when Nuengdiao has a drunken outburst calling him his slave and other painful-to-hear words after spending so much time doing the opposite (like I said in another post I don’t think he believe what he’s saying but it’s still a tough scene).

Third is separation which I sat and thought about for a while. When I think separation I think physical separation, but that hasn’t happened (yet…?) for Nuengdiao and Palm. Palm talks about separation in ep4 tho when he explains Qi Xi Jie (aka an allegory for their own relationship) to Nuengdiao which then reminded me of the show’s ost. The lyrics for that being “don’t be afraid even if we are separated. Just stay there and wait for me, I’ll find you. No matter what tomorrow brings, please remember this: I will live only for you.” So even if they do get separated, it wont be permanent. “I will live only for you” is reminiscent of a line in the trailer where Palm says “if we’re going to fight, we will do it together. If we are going to die, we will die together.” Which, again, is the opposite of separation. But that’s not the only time they bring up separation in the trailer. In the very beginning they established their discussion about how “humans were split into separate parts and couldn’t find each other. This myth is the source of the belief that we are born to search for our other halves.” Maybe instead of being separated physically later (although for all I know that could still happen) it’s the idea that they were separated before they met and now they’ve found each other as soulmates.

Lastly I just want to go back to love again because this was the theme they listed first. I believe that’s because this story is first and foremost a love story. Whatever happens in the middle, I don’t believe they’re gonna have a tragic ending. They’ve been teasing all sorts of tragedies like death and whatnot but I just don’t buy it. Or at least I don’t want to cuz I’ll end up crying. I have faith in Nuengdiao and Palm anyway, even if they’re in a pretty bad position in terms of love after this episode.

[onepunchcatboi]

A Newbie Guide to Tanking

HALO~

I make this guide in the hopes that it helps out new players to Final Fantasy XIV, as the in game tutorial is um, bad. (-｡-;

I also included a general etiquette guide, because when it comes to working with other players, a lot of these things you don't pick up unless someone tells it to you.

Suggestions welcome! However, remember that this is meant to be a general beginners guide, so I'm not likely going to add in anything that's specific to a single /dungeon/raid/boss and such.

Everything under the cut!

Basic Tanking and How it Works

Part 1: How to Pull

As the Tank it's your job to make everything in the room hate you the most! That way they punch your extremely durable face instead of everyone else's more squishy ones!

You do this by creating what the game calls "Enmity", aka the stat of creating enemy aggression, or "Aggro". There are three steps in which the Tank must do this.

PUT YOUR STANCE ON Your stance is the thing that makes the bad guys turn their heads and go "Oh! You're a mother fucker!". You will generate enmity just by having it on. This is called a different thing depending on your job: Defiance [WAR], Iron Will [PLD], Royal Guard [GNB], and Grit [DRK]. You click it once to put the stance on, click it again to turn the stance off [there are a few instances you may need it to be off, they will be explained later]. It's important to put this on because if it's not, no matter how much you attack, other players WILL take aggro and get hurt.

USE AN ENMITY GENERATING SKILL Unlike some other MMOs your mere presence does not make the enemies incensed enough to fully ignore your party members, you must encourage them to hate you and only you! You can do this in a couple ways. There is the Provoke skill, which has the longest range. All Tanks also have a ranged skill which works similarly to Provoke but slightly closer distance and slightly less enmity, Tomahawk [WAR], Shield Lob [PLD], Lightning Shot [GNB], and Unmend [DRK]. [While they are fun and look cool, none of the skills that rush the enemies actually generate enmity] Using one of these once is enough to piss off a group or a boss.

ALWAYS BE ATTACKING Enemies in this game are drawn to the player doing that are doing two things at once: generating the most enmity & doing the most damage. This is important to remember! Because even if you have your stance on and you use an enmity skill, if you are not also attacking with all your might, the enemies will think you are all talk and start attacking your DPS/Healers instead! If you are fighting a group of enemies [and that is more often the case] make sure you are using attacks that are going to hit multiple enemies at once. These are called Area of Effect or AOE skills.

NOW THAT YOU HAVE DONE ALL THAT-look at the names of the enemies. There should be a little red square next to them, indicating that they are focused on and attacking you. If they are not, don't panic! A few things could have happened:

You might have just missed one

Your Healer used a Regen skill as you were engaging, and enemies just hate that.

Your DPS is doing some bonkers damage to start pulling enmity, good for them!

Regardless of the why, you can either use an enmity generating skill, or just hit them really hard a few times, and they'll be pissed off enough to turn around and hit you instead!

[and for reference, green circle means they are not focused on you at all, and yellow triangle means that your face is beginning to look punch-able!]

Part 2: Managing your Damage

OK, now everyone in the room wants you dead more than they want your DPS/Healers dead. Excellent! Now you move to Step two: STAY ON YOUR FEET. You are made to take all the blows from the enemy and laugh at them! It's time for MITIGATIONS.

All Tanks have several mitigation skills [or "mits"] that they can use to either reduce the damage they take from enemies, reduce the amount of damage their enemies are doing, or temporarily negate damage altogether [only one of these per Tank Job].

Ideally you want to be spacing these skills out, rather than using them all at once. These skills have a longer recharge time [or Cool Down] than your attacking skills, so if you use a bunch, you will more than likely end up halfway through the fight with nothing to shield you but the Healers skills and the speed of your DPS. ALSO, mitigations have a soft cap, that is to say, the game will only allow you to negate so much damage at one time. So at most you can use 2 of these skills at once while still effectively negating damage, anything past that goes to waste.

Now there are too many mitigation skills to go through all of them individually [most are unique to their Tank Job], I encourage you to read all your skill descriptions and get familiar with them. But I will touch on a couple Role ones and the full damage negation ones.

Reprisal: Great for groups and bosses, it will reduce the damage enemies do to your party

Arm's Length: This is not advertised as a mitigation from it's description, but it is in fact quite helpful for large pulls. Because every enemy that hits you [physically] will have their actions slowed by 20%, which means less time hitting you, and more time for the Healer to do their work.

The full damage negation mitigations are great! But a couple of them can be risky to use, and require your healer to be paying attention. They also have very long Cool Downs, so they're meant to be used sparingly.

[PLD] Hallowed Ground: You're impervious for 10 seconds, have fun.

[WAR] Holmgang: You will still take damage, but cannot be taken down past 1 HP for 10 seconds, and also root the targeted enemy in place.

[GNB] Superbolide: This will negate all damage for 10 seconds, BUT it will also take you down to 1 HP.

[DRK] Living Dead: You will still take damage, but your enemies cannot take you down past 1 HP for 10 seconds. HOWEVER, if while using this mit you would have been killed by your enemies, your Healer now has to heal an amount of points equal to your HP points in a limited amount of time, or you die. So say your HP is 5000, and you use Living Dead, and you would have "died" while using it, the Healer now has you heal you for at least 5000 points [within 10 seconds], or you die .

Some tanks like to use simple macros that announce when they are using the Superbolide and Living Dead mits in particular, to give their Healers a heads up. This is up to player preference.

Every so often a boss will decide they've had enough of you kicking them in the shins and will try to get you in one blow. This is called a Tank Buster and will be indicated by a red targeting marker on you [red circles around your character and a red arrow pointing down on them] coupled with a progress bar. Stay calm! So long as you have a mitigation to use when you see it coming, everything will be fine. The Healer will know to be watching your health. Some will of course hit harder than others though, so if you're worried or low on health use 2 mits to be safe!

Part 3: Stunning Enemies & Interrupting Attacks

Now you've got the enemy right where you want them and you're weathering their blows- but oh no! They're preparing to attack the party anyways! It's a huge AOE too. What do you do? You give them the finger and then kick them in the balls! [partly true, most of the time.]

Most enemies in the game have both an auto-attack, and attacks that can be stopped in some fashion by specific skills. There are two different ways to stop an attack, you can use a skill that will Stun the enemy [Tanks and Melee DPS], OR you can Interrupt it [Tanks and Ranged DPS]. Stun and Interrupt are not interchangeable in their use.

So! How can you tell which attacks can be stopped by players? They are the attacks that have a progress bar, showing the enemy has to charge them up before they are actually used. The normal progress bar indicates an attack that can be stopped by Stunning the enemy. For Tanks this is the Low Blow skill [also the Shield Bash skill for PLD]. The flashing progress bar indicates that the attack can be Interrupted. For Tanks this is the Interject skill.

Keep in mind that both these types of skills will also have longer cool downs, so you cannot spam them. This means sometimes you might have to be strategic about when you use them, as some attacks will be more dangerous or troublesome than others. HOWEVER, not all enemies can be stunned, and enemies that can be stunned will become impervious to it after a few uses. You cannot stun bosses period.

You And Your Healer

You may be the biggest baddest person in the room now, but you are not a one man show, and you certainly cannot stay alive without your Healer! Your mitigations can only do just that-mitigate, in the end you have to rely on the Healer to help keep you standing.

You and the Healer are partners in this system. You have to make sure that if you are going, they are following close behind. If you decide to pull a ton of enemies around the corner, your Healer now has to run around that corner first before their spells can effect you.

Most Healers are going to assume you will run and grab all the enemies you can, but if you're finding that you and your Healer are struggling to keep the party alive, you need to tone down your pulls! If the Healer tells you that they are new, or straight up asks you not to full-pull, be considerate of that! Remember, while they have their eyes on you often, they are charged with keeping the whole party alive too! Literally in their case lol

General Tank Etiquette

Dungeons & General Tips

As the Tank it is your job to protect the party and make sure you are the only one taking damage. This also means you set the pace, and lead the group into every battle. This is because it is much easier to pull enemies to you if you are the first thing they see, and are the first to attack. Most players will follow your lead and wait to attack after you have done so. Mostly. So! It's good to remember that your comfort level is important. Go at the pace you feel works for you, let people know you are new if you are worried. Most other players are understanding of this! Many are willing to explain mechanics even!

Additionally since you are the leader, most players will expect you to run in first and generally to keep running until you've decided you've gathered all the enemies you feel like pulling. But! Don't leave your party in the dust. You need you DPS to kill all the things you pulled and your Healer to keep your ass alive X'D

Remember to check that your stance is on before you run in! Most times when you enter a dungeon or a raid its turned off at the start, even if you had it on when you were in the field.

Also, while not a hard rule it's generally advised not to do big pulls in early dungeons anyways [like, Lv 40 or under]. This is mostly to do with the amount of enemies in some areas versus your mitigation options and your Healers healing options. Often at this stage there is simply not enough of these to go around between you and your Healer, and a big pull can sometimes result in a party wipe.

Whether engaging a group of enemies or a boss, common courtesy is to run through the enemy and tank them from the other side [or if you're out in the field, attack from the opposite side of the other players]. This rotates the enemy so that they face you and not the rest of the party, making it so no one else is caught in the majority of enemy attacks. [You do not prevent damage from happening to others by standing in front of them, so attacks can go through you and hit other players, this is called Cleave]

Generally speaking it is also best to keep enemies in one place and facing the same direction as best you can. This makes it easier for the DPS to do their job [especially if they are using casting skills] and easier for the Healer to keep track of you.

Many of the melee DPS have a thing usually referred to as Positionals, meaning they do more damage if they strike enemies from the flank or from the rear. When possible it is good to position bosses so that they can do this, and reposition bosses out of harmful terrain for the melee DPS to strike without harm to themselves.

Speaking of that, do not stand in bad things or perfectly dodge-able attacks! You might be the Tank, but you don't need to tax your Healer while you're at it. They have to worry about other people too! One last note on movement and control of enemies: generally speaking it is also best to grab all the enemies you feel comfortable with and then stay put until all of them are dead, rather than pull a group and kill some and moving to the next one. It might seem like you are saving time by advancing slowly, but in actuality you are making everything harder for everyone else. This is because this forces all the other players to stop and start their actions constantly, which is bad. Why? Because now your melee DPS are having to chase after enemies they are trying to kill [meaning they are only hitting them half the time], and your DPS casters/Healers basically cannot do anything until the party stops again [because they have to stand still for 95% of their actions]. In the end it it more effective to stay until all the enemies are dead!

When it comes to the Limit Break [or LB], you as the Tank will almost never need to touch this button. The Limit Break is usually something the DPS will use to make a big attack on the boss, or in the case of a boss/raid not going well, the Healers can use a Limit Break Three/LB3 [when you have three full Limit Break bars] to revive the entire party. Thus far in the core game encounters, there are only a couple specific cases that utilize the Tank LB 3, and that will not occur until the ShadowBringers Expansion.

Provoke is not part of your attack rotation! If you have used an Enmity skill once in the fight, especially if you opened with it, you will not have to use it again to keep the enemy on you. While using Provoke consistently is not a big deal if you are the sole Tank, it is a bad habit to get into, as it will become a problem in situations where there are multiple Tanks.

Raids

In a Raid, be it a 8-player one [Normal Raid] or a 24-player one [Alliance Raid], you are not the only Tank on the field, making things slightly confusing and sometimes chaotic lol

When you are all facing mobs of enemies, all Tanks should have their stance on to ensure none of the Healers or DPS get hurt. Sometimes the mobs are spaced far apart when you find them, and its easier when Tanks work together to bring them in. Sometimes you may notice your Enmity being pulled, it is [hopefully] the other Tanks.

When you are facing bosses, generally the first Tank to put on their stance and engage the boss is now the Main Tank:

If that is you, cool! Have fun tanking boss!

If that is not you, DO NOT turn your stance on and try to provoke the boss away from the other Tank. That is rude. Keep your Stance off so you don't draw Enmity, you are now the Off-Tank and play the part of a beefy DPS.

If you are an Off-Tank, DO NOT stand next to the Main Tank to attack the boss. This makes you vulnerable to being Cleaved from boss attacks and unnecessarily overtaxes your Healers. Off-Tanks need to be attacking from the flank or the rear with the other DPS.

Main Tank is the Main Tank until they die.

Off-Tanks, if inclined, can help bring any extra enemies that appear on the field to the Main Tank so they do not have to move the boss around. This is helpful to the group because they can now attack all enemies together at the same time, rather than in small pockets. In this case it's okay to Stance On to get the enemies and then Stance Off so the Main Tank can take them.

IF the Main Tank dies for whatever reason, [one of] the Off-Tank[s] must put their Stance on and take control of the boss, they are now the Main Tank.

Some raids will also require Tanks to switch control of the boss off to each other, require Off-Tanks to manage their own mechanics or assist the Main Tank in some way, or even make all Tanks have to position themselves away from the group to take three-pronged Tank Busters that can cleave others! Raids are very diverse so it's a matter of learning the fights. There are many online guides for dungeons and raids you can use for this!

NOW GO! PROTECCA YOUR FRIENDS AND ATTACKA YOUR FOES!! >:3

[rjalker]

My Flatland characters size comparisons and the main scene in the short story.

Anyways. Flatland is public domain, so you can download it or read it online for free here from Project Gutenberg.

And you can listen to an audiobook version here on the Web Archive.

And here's another audiobook version here on Youtube.

There's a lot more audiobook versions you can find, those are just the first two links that showed up.

Do not give your money to Amazon or anything buying ebook versions of this book. They're literally free. You should only be paying money if you're buying a physical copy.

Anyways I had just typed out a whole nice summary of Flatland's social structure for those who haven't read it yet but tumblr just ate it. And I have to redo the image descriptions too. Sigh.

Anyways. Long story short: The wider your angles, the higher your social status Under the Current Regime, which is super fascist and that's the point. It's a dystopia.

The lowest class is literally called the Criminal class. It is made up of Irregular shapes, aka, disabled people, and polygons with angles of less than 10 degrees. They have no rights at all. Lets just stop there.

The second lowest class is made up of Lines, who are classified as Women. They likewise have no rights, and have a ton of restrictions placed on them to control their movements.

Just above Lines are Isosceles triangles, who are forced to be Soldiers, aka canon fodder.

The lowest three classes are routinely murdered en-masse to stop them from revolting, with many schemes in place to keep them in-fighting instead of fighting together against their oppressors.

The middle class is made up of equal-sided triangles.

The upper-middle class is made up of squares.

The more sides you have, the higher your rank, the more money and privilege you have, until you get up to the circles, who have declared themselves the rulers.

That's the basics. Anyways.

It's very funny to me that the Kel-lite official website uses a free font I use to make neopronoun pins.

[ID: An MS Paint drawing showing three characters represented by solid black geometric shapes on a white background. Each is pointed upward, with thin colored lines crossing above them to mark their relative heights. From left to right, they are: Flyssa, a line with sharp points on either end, with an angle of zero degrees, who is the shortest. Dearg, an isosceles triangle with an angle of three degrees, who is slightly taller than Flyssa. Last in Leitenant Kellite, an equal-sided triangle with an angle of sixty degrees, who is the tallest. Flyssa and Dearg's names are written in the font "Midnight", which is all caps, at a slight angle. Lieutenant Kellite's name is written in the font "Just Another Hand", which is thin and curved like casual handwriting. End ID.]

[ID: The same characters as above, now in a scene with a dark grey background. Rather than being solid black, their insides are now primarily red-purple, with dark blue and red lines and shapes for their stomachs and nerve endings. The rest of the drawing is in various shades of grey or black. Around the edges of their bodies are thin cilia like cells have. Lieutenant Kellite is sitting across a short table from Dearg in the center of the image, with Flyssa at the top, looking at Lieutenant Kellite. On the table is an almost-empty, knocked over bottle, and a half-empty bowl of fruit gelletin. Lieutenant Kellite is using his cilia to pick up peices of fruit and throw them over his "shoulder" so they fall to the floor at the bottom of the image. He is thinking to himself, "Who puts pineapple in pudding???". The bowl in front of him is half empty, with most of its contents in his stomach, where he ate two pieces of fruit before deciding he didn't like it. The wine from the empty bottle, and some other peices of food are also visible in his stomach above the dessert. Dearg and Flyssa share the same thought bubble, thinking, "There goes all our rations for the month…" Dearg's stomach has some food visible in it. Flyssa's is too small to see. There is a black border for a wall around the drawing, with a wide doorway leading off-screen on the left side, a very thin one on the right, and another thin one on the bottom right. End ID.]

Yes this is a very long post for two small drawings. I'm incapable of not explaining things.

[glitchlight]

hello excellent dirt person. do you know anything about kaolin? i am curious if so, what the Dirt Person view on it would be

So the long and short of it is I have no view on it because kaolin is just, a thing that exists. I have no view on steel or grapes. They exist. There's a lot of commercial grade uses for rock and soil that lay people wouldn't anticipate but are entirely common within certain industries, from gravel and sand mining, to the mining of rocks and soils bearing certain clay minerals or rich in certain elements. Kaolin in particular has uses valuable to ceramics and the paper industry but I know very little about either of those. However, I do know things about the clay mineral that is actually what's extracted from kaolinite and what an excellent opportunity to talk about phyllosilicates, aka, clays and micas!

I am, more technically speaking, an environmental soil chemist, and though I lean on the last one of those titles the least, here we're going to have to take a quick detour onto chemical bond angles and crystals. This is a very brief oversimplification but deeply relevant.

Atoms bind together in order to be more stable, but the bonds themselves are charged, and therefore repel each other. Imagine an atom as an orb with things sticking out of it:

If you have two bonds, as far apart on a circle means 360/2, so the bond angle will be 180, and they'll be on opposite ends (examples: CO2)

If you have three, 360/3 means 120, and so you get something that looks like a triangle.

If you have four, then things get fun, because the previous two have been two dimensional shapes, and what you actually get instead is a three dimensional tetrahedron with an average bond angle of ~109. And when you get into silicates, tetrahedrons are your basic building block

If you have six, then your average bond angle is 90 degrees; imagine four in a square plane and two at the 'poles'. Remember these for later!

Silicates dominate our world. If carbon forms everything living, then silicon forms everything non-living. Over 90 percent of the earth's crust is formed by silicate minerals, which are as astounding diverse and varied as big brother carbon's molecules. This diversity comes in spite of the fact that silicon is near-exclusively bound in the form of the silica tetrahedron seen above.

Where we move from bond angles to crystals is the fact that each oxygen in a silica tetrahedron has two charges, meaning oxygen can be bound to two different silicon atoms, which creates a crystal lattice structure of repeating units of silica tetrahedra. Depending on how silca tetrahedra are linked together, you get the following structures:

(Fun fact! Quartz and Zeolites are some of the most chemically and mechanically stable minerals on earth, and the Tectosilicate arrangement is the exact same crystalline pattern that makes up diamonds. Anyways!)

Focusing down on phyllosilicates, the structures that form are vast molecule thin sheets of repeated chained circles of silica, which is just one of the many ways math that may seem abstract emerges in the natural world, as what forms as a result is a tesselation. Now although silicates are dominated by silica, they are not exclusively silica tetrahedra for the simple fact that the real world conditions in which these form are messy, but secondly, the tetrahedral shape means that in a sheet crystal, silica has leftover oxygens that it could share with other ions. And so what you get in nature is that phyllosilicates are not just sheets of silica tetrahedra, but are two to three layers of repeating tetrahedra/octahedral units bound to a silica backbone.

(src paper; good resource for those who want to know more)

Now these phyllosilicates, literally "sheet-silicates", are very strong and chemically resistant molecule thin layers. But the thing about being so strongly attached to itself means that the actual attraction between layers is governed by an entirely different form of chemical bond (IMFs, which we won't get into), and ranges from no real binding to tightly bound to weakly bound.

And finally, it's time to talk about kaolinite!

Kaolinite is the clay mineral named for kaolin, the rocks/sediment that bears a lot of it. Kaolinite, pictured above, has very uniform physical properties, is very chemically stable, is quite cheap, and has abundant material use.

But, time for a shock and a swerve, I spent all this time talking about clay minerals to talk about smectite instead! You fool!

Smectitic clays differ from kaolinite substantially in ways we won't get into, but the short answer of it is that bonds form between sheet layers, but weak bonds. Strong bonds will basically not really come apart and aren't an issue. No bonds aren't an issue. Weak bonds are an issue.

What weak bonds between layers leads to is a shrinking and swelling of clay layers over time, as water enters clay layers in the fall through spring, then leaves in the summer, causing the entire soil to shrink and swell with moisture, like thermal expansion joints on bridges but much more pronounced. This also leads to a lot of interesting soil properties, so much so there's an entire soil order named for soils with smectitic clays, the Vertisols.

What's shown here with the slickensides are literal smooth surfaces that form as large units of soil shrink-swell and rub against each other. Very strange stuff!

On the human scale, soils with vertic characteristics cause a lot of headaches in the places I grew up, meaning a lot of people in North to Central Texas spend time watering their lawns in deep summer heat to avoid foundations cracking. I've seen new homeowners in Texas who didn't know about it have their entire fence come down because of soil cracks, especially wood fences that catch the wind.

And that's how clay will ruin your foundation.

(PS: Clay mineralogy is foundational to soil chemistry but we'll get into that at a later date. To simplify: clay mineralogy is variable by geology and essentially serves as the most chemically active site in soils, but you kind of have to get real in the weeds on it and I do not have time to get into ion substitution and why every mineral's chemical formula looks like a fucking math equation just so I can talk about cation exchange capacity right now.)

[2d-dreams]

Hi, happy WBW! (I am @writeblr-of-my-own, this is my main and apparently I can't switch them).

For this question, what is the school system like in your world? What kind of schools there are? If magic is present, is it taught?

Happy wbw!! And thank you!!!!

Firstly, Flatland is a non-magic world of geometric figures, so no magic schools, aw! And I will not yet go mention Exwhylia/Ypwherenia/Zetwhatia because whooole other thing so just focusing on Flatland for these yea yea.

Schools are divided according to Configuration, where the number of sides directly affects career opportunities and time spent in school. More sides, more time in school and more opportunities. Women/Lines, of course, do not go to school, and are usually taught Feeling and the Line Code [AKA good manners/how to avoid being killed by the government] at home. There have been cases where they are sent to Elementary schools to take the Ladies Program [essentially what they would otherwise learn at home, or to distract them until old enough to marry], but this is usually because a feminine relative/mother is unavailable.

The types of schools are, in order of class from lower to higher:

Rudimentaries, Elementary, High, and University.

These are based not on age, but on what classes are allowed in them. I'll start with the one mentioned in the book.

Elementary School

Elementary schools are for triangles above 20 degrees both Isosceles and Equilateral, though making obvious distinctions between the two. They primarily teach the Art of Feeling, using chained living Isosceles men, refered to as "specimens" as instruments for teaching the Art. They teach basic planiturth-elementary levels of math, biology, reading, a grossly modified version of history, and the bases of the Flatland doctrine of Configuration's importance. Isosceles stop attending at 11-12 years old, Equilaterals at 15-16. These schools are generally funded by the government, free or inexpensive, though this isn't a lot to say when you consider the triangular wages.

Rudimentary School

Rudimentary schools [also known as rudies in the Isosceles slang] are exclusively for Isosceles triangles and also free, though not obligatory for those of higher degrees, whose fathers have enough brains to teach their sons their craft. Isosceles come after finishing their Elementary schooling. Those under 20 degrees arrive too. Here they are taught whatever skills they need for their future jobs, with the things taught varying depending on the types of jobs available, along with generalized subjects like obeying orders, working in factories or introductory military training. All men with enough degrees to think [those above 20 degrees] can choose their jobs or what classes to take, but those below have their curriculum, life and job chosen for them the moment they slide in.

Violence against or between the students is common and occasionally encouraged, as Isosceles are considered subhuman or pests of which there is an extreme abundance anyway.

High School

These schools are attended by Squares and any shape of greater side count. These are private, and some are extremely prestigious and expensive. Some classes are still restricted to certain side milestones, mostly Hexagons and Dodecagons. These go beyond basics, teach a more accurate [Still modified!] history of Flatland, Sight Recognition instead of Feeling [in many, Feeling at school is a great offense], pay special attention to mathematics and are left at 18 years old. Also if you don't pass the Sight Recognition exam, you get killed or become a social outcast. Hooray!

University gets a passing mention because, being accessible exclusively to Squares and above, doesn't bring anything interesting. It's just University.

Other Systems/Miscellaneous Stuff

High Polygons and Circles are too good for even the most luxurious schools, so they tend to receive private tutoring.

Circles of the High Priest or Chief class receive a special education program at a Circular University where they learn of the greatest secrets of Flatland, like the heretics of the Gospel of 3D and the secret uses of color.

Irregulars can go to school under strict supervision, but most parents would rather hide them until they can legally be murdered.

In the non-civilized areas, education, like childcare, is often communal. This is seen even in the Degraded Isosceles worker communities or rural villages, separated as they are from the other Shapes, where the men work all day and the women have little else to do.

[froizetta]

Fic Writing Review 2023

We're solidly into 2024 by now, and considering I posted my first anything in August this isn't exactly a full year review. But let's go!!

Words and Fics

134,798 words published to ao3 (um? how???)

It's all DC fic!!

Most recent (completed): What's In A Name?

Most recent (updated): (Love) Triangles Have Multiple Centers

Longest fic: An Honest Conversation (60k. Jesus. It was supposed to be a oneshot, what HAPPENED)

Top 3 by Comments

I'm copying burins and doing this by comments instead of kudos, because...well, why not. And wow, these are all superbat romcoms! Huh! I am predictable.

An Honest Conversation (you never forget your first! Idiots to FWB to lovers, with lots of mutual pining)

(Love) Triangles Have Multiple Centers (identity porn love square hijinks, current main WIP)

Padam Padam (a comedically pornographic reinterpretation of misattribution of arousal)

Personal Favorite

(Love) Triangles is probably the most fun to work on/plan out because comedy is where I feel most comfortable, but I think the one I'm most proud of is What's In A Name? It was a departure from my usual to write a story and relationship with a slightly darker tone, and it was fun letting myself get self-indulgently wanky with Themes and Parallels in what's basically a soft kink PWP. It feels like personal growth in more than one dimension!

Upcoming Projects for 2024

Ooh boy I have quite a few stories I'm eager to finish. Listed below in an order that makes sense to me, but that I couldn't for the life of me explain:

Bruce and Clark go on a Big Night Out to help Clark get over his recent break-up with Lois, having figured out how to get Clark drunk for the first time in his life. Thus ensues the kind of tragic love story you'd hear from that drunk girl crying in the club bathroom, but superbat.

The coming of age story for Super Sons Jon that I never got to read (thanks Bendis). Featuring bi panic, the horror of puberty, the EXTRA horror of puberty-plus-laser-vision, and Jon's questionable taste in crushes (aka Damian).

Superbat again, whoops. Another fluffy miscommunication romcom in which Bruce gets impatient waiting for his boyfriend Clark to make a move. (Clark does not in fact know that they are dating.)

Jason Todd genfic. It's in a document I've titled "Jason child abuse thing", which pretty much sums it up. A slightly darker character study about Jason's childhood pre-Bruce that's too self-indulgent to be comics accurate.

Departing briefly from DC, I also have a slightly ambitious (probably gen) post-canon fic for The Great Ace Attorney, because it's an excellent game series, and when I finished it I had a lot of Feelings about the way it ended. I took a break due to the DC brainrot, but I hope to return to it this year.

The above are all things I have words written for, but I also have a bunch of things I want to write but haven't nailed down enough detail for yet:

Cloisbat. I just think Bruce and Lois should get to be catty and jealous at each other over Clark, and then resolve their differences by double teaming him. I think they'd enjoy that.

Batlantern. Just...anything. I love their dynamic, but why can't I think of any good fic ideas? (Answer: I have read 0 GL comics.)

Something something Bruce/Constantine. I accidentally became invested after reading the Zatanna substory in Batman: Urban Legends. Also, I feel like Constantine would be fun as hell to write. (Zatanna could totally join too, if she wanted.)

Cat Grant/Lois. Look, I don't know where this came from either, but doesn't it feel like this should be more of a thing? I feel like it should be a thing. They're femme4femme but in opposite ways. They're foils. There's something there, I'm not crazy!

Rules and Tags

Rules: Feel free to show whatever stats you have. Only want to show Ao3 stats? Rock on. Want to include some qualitative info instead of stats? Please do this. Want to share unpublished stuff instead? Change how yours is presented? Absolutely do that. Would rather eat glass than do this? Please don’t eat glass but don’t feel like you have to do this either.

Tagged by @burins! Thanks, I really appreciate the tag!

Tagging: @unbreakabledawn @ginbenci and anyone else who wants to do this!

[figkeele]

bad news: now with my outline ripped up, and me doing a love square au instead of a two-body love triangle - aka even more relationship layers -, I have to face the fact it won't be 80% ready for small fandom bang. It's just such a big idea, nope.

So resorting back to some other ideas: do I want soulmates? Hanahaki? Timeloop? Hmm. Also the fandom... I have 3 fandom dear to my heart, and I started like a dozen of WIPs.

*crying in the corner*

[kittymanya]

Who's your favourite OC of yours and why? =]

Killing me with the hardest question possible i see...... dgfhdgdjhdf

Really though that is super hard, i have wayyy too many ocs and my favorite sort of swaps around every few months or so. sometimes it just cycles between the same few for a year or two though.

I would sayyyy right now? Probably anybody from Mary's whole squad. Which would be her (Mary-Anne Cassia), Samiel, Roberto Yun-Capo, Hale-Bopp, Puss in Boots (aka Danyel Mewette), and Winter Adams. All of them are here in this photo! (Hale in the star, Winter in the heart, Roberto in the triangle, Puss in the square, Mary in the circle, and Samiel in the..whatever you call that shape. He has the gun)

To narrow it down even further, specifically my top 4 are hale, mary, puss, and roberto. And then out of that Mary and Puss are probably the two im currently most focused on (but again the whole cycling thing applies here ahjgdjhfg for all i know next week ill be back into being obsessed with roberto)

I like them mostly because they're my first ocs that are actually in a sort of sci-fi setting, which is something i always wanted to do but struggled to! But then i watched Wander Over Yonder again and i was like damn....i could do this but with insane people.

All of them except for Hale-Bopp started off as either Lobotomy Corp OCs or just straight up LC characters that i just..yoinked and changed up a bit, because me and my girlfriend have a Lobotoym Corp rp and their personalities had developed enough to basically not be themselves as they were at the beggining anymore. Samiel was Der Freischutz, and Puss in Boots is.....Puss in Boots. Although he was never actually in the game, he was cut content that we decided to bring in for the rp, so everything about him is still, essentially, about 90% my own creation, since the only thing he had in his cut content was art and some flavor text.

I really like Mary in particular because i think she is just, a horrible human being, but in an interesting and somewhat sympathetic way. Which is something done a lot I know, but i mean hey there's a reason those sorts of characters get so popular ajhgdhj. She does awful things and doesn't let herself open up genuinely to anybody, but she's masks all of it under multiple layers of joking around and being weird in general. She's extremely emotionally stunted, refuses to allow herself to experience genuine connection despite desperately wanting it, and she makes this into everyone's problem. But she's very good at what she does, and extremely competent in other aspects, which is what manages to keep the whole group together.

Puss in Boots on the other hand, is also an emotionally stunted character but in a different form. It's not quite as bad as Mary, who can't handle emotions in herself nor with others very well. Instead Puss mostly struggles with handling his own thoughts and feelings while being excellent with other people. Sort of. He's great at reading people, and he isn't dumb, he often has great advice, but what he is, is PUSHY. He doesn't know how to let things happen naturally, and so often makes things worse instead before theres any progress. I think that the dynamic between him and his (unwillingly, on Puss's end) estranged brother is fun to explore. He has a very strong sense of justice and has lots of conflict with Mary, because she's one of the few people who he can't read very well (Samiel being another one, but he's still easier than Mary) He can't tell if he despises Mary or if he's just concerned for her, and it keeps him around on the ship out of fascination, like a pet project. He hates everything about most of the crew (except winter, and somewhat okay with Roberto) he hates their behavior, their jobs (3/6 of the crew being hitmen/assassins) and most of all he can't stand their morals, or lack thereof.

It'd be a LOT to go into further detail ajhgdhjdf so i think this will do fine as a start bc its. um. 7AM where i am and i have not slept. Oops! But if you want to ask any further questions about them i have most of their info on my website!! (except samiel, who's page i have not finished yet. it's mostly finished, just that his backstory page only has the TLDR section filled in and not in full) https://kittymanya.neocities.org/art/ocs/oclanding

I can't link directly to their pages bc i set up my site weird and im not sure how to fix it really without recoding the whole page, but if you go to the 'sintane' tab theyre all in the first section! They're the first 6 characters that show up in the list. So theres a lot more info there and if you have any more specific questions about them i would LOVE to rant about them :D

[un-pearable]

if you’re wondering why day 2 is still not posted despite it being day 5,,, i blame it on the eight gemstones i needed to relearn how to draw/color

[tj-crochets]

Does anyone have any advice for binding quilts? I’ve only ever made self-binding quilts before (using the backing as the binding) but I want the rainbow quilt I’m working on to have a solid color binding and the backing fabric I chose is very much not that

[matchesarelit]

Imagine If You Will...

Acting as the Frontman's PA, and having the Guard harem wrapped around your finger.

This part is:

Seamstress

Edgy/Badass!Reader

This will be a choose your adventure kind of thing where there will be multiple with jobs/specialties/interactions

Please don't hesitate to request!!

WARNINGS: Mentions/Connotations of sexual assault (as in it doesn't happen (Aka then fucks get merc'd))

Walking a few steps behind the Frontman, peering through your silver mask and analysing the clipboard in your hands you updated your boss on the status of everything being prepared for the games.

Based on the grunts and scoffs he let out you crossed out and marked different items on the list. For a man of little words, he sure was good at communicating. After the large doors to the hall closed, you looked first to your boss then to the militia-like staff.

"Squares 1 through 16, Your men will be painting the halls. Squares 18 through 21, Your men will construct the bridge. Squares 22 and 23 your men shall construct the robot. And Since Square 17 decided to fail us, my assistant shall be leading his group for the time being, that being said his group shall work on the participant's uniforms."

Looking towards your boss you missed the way that many of the masked men seemed to look around in disbelief and outrage while a small group of them seemed to stand a little straighter all but pinching themselves.

Your boss met your eyes and without letting you speak confirmed "I'm sure you will be capable of such a task yes?" Swallowing your surprise and giving a curt nod you looked out towards the line of men you would be overseeing.

When all other groups had been led out you silently began to guide the guards through the weaving halls towards the storage room. Ducking into the space and inspecting the crates for fabric and patterns, had you not been familiar with the organisation of the company you may have had to pay more attention to the labels and missed the three pairs of footsteps that followed you into the room.

Once you were sure that you were not going to be joined by any more henchmen you turned to them, hand on your gun still hidden in your coat.

"Yes boys?"

"Shut up slut"

The guttural laugh you released seemed to catch them off guard pausing in their movements to lower their pants. The triangle faced men had frozen. You scoffed and without hesitation, you shot them.

Two bullets fired into each of their crotches. Strolling back out into the hall as they fell to the ground clutching themselves you addressed the remaining guards.

"I am your superior and I demand respect. If you wish to continue to be treated like humans instead of the bitches that you are, I recommend you give me that respect. Or of course..."

You motioned to the only remaining triangle guard,

SIx more rounds echo through the halls.

"You can find out what death feels like."

The triangle guard stepped over the bodies to retrieve the necessary supplies, leaving the circles to fall to their knees, heads lowered and muttering pledges of allegiance.

A smirk grew on your lips that almost made your cheeks ache, simply ordering them to stand you shifted your attention back to the remaining triangle.

"What a waste of authority, I assume I can rely on you to not be as detestable."

A curt nod

Walking closer to the guard, leaving only an inch between you, you silently reached around him. Chuckling at his shaky inhale you pull a spare magazine from the back of his gun strap and step backwards turning to continue to the sewing room.

Hearing their scurrying feet behind you made that smirk break out on your lips once again.

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL

Jan 2022 Wk 1

Being a highly subjective assessment of one tiny corner of the interwebs. I’m gonna start posting these recaps on Sundays instead of Fridays for reasons. 

Ongoing Series - Thai

Gen Y 2 (grey) Ep 3 - it’s up but locked to members of the YouTube channel. I can’t be arsed find it elsewhere and I’m not sure I’m tempted enough to join. I’m was trash watching and live blogging it here, but that’s on hold now. 

Paint with Love (Gaga) Ep 7 - Why am I still watching this? The sex scene was kind of sweet but I’m just not into them. Although I did like how very adult they were about it. This show is nicely grown up but boring. 

Not Me (YouTube) Ep 4 - airs tomorrow

Love Area Part 2 (GaGa) Ep 1 - didn’t drop, not sure why. 

You’re My Sky (Viki) Ep 1 - Viki should be banned from acquiring Thai pulps until they instal a 1.5 watching feature. Anygay, this had a good opener and has a bit of $ behind it but falls squarely into pulp territory fast, by which I mean... SLOW. The main uke is a cutie and if you’re into sports romances this is for you but otherwise, this will be a case of how much patience do we have?  

Bad Buddy (YouTube) Ep 10 - fantastic episode, sins of the past are uncovered, there’s a great claiming sequence, some GL love, AND a redemption arc involving lesbians. I’m live blogging it here.

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Tinted With You (Korea - Viki) Ep 5 & 6 -  Cute kiss. Very picturesque. All in all this drama specializes in pretty. It’s nonsensical, but pretty about it. There was a bit of a love triangle reconciliation and it’s great to see men in flowing pastel robes actually kissing for a change. (Yes that’s a dig at China.) 

Behind Cut (Korea - Viki) Ep 3 & 4 - it’s gotten really cute, I wish we were getting more, it’s on of those what will transition to movie version well. There was a nice kiss and the chemistry between the leads is good. There’s a lot more physical affection than we usually get from Korea, it’s almost (dare I say it) Thai. It feels like this is 2022′s Tasty Florida. 

The Next Door Crush (Vietnam - YouTube) Ep 3 - cute, but dull, but cute. I like the framework better than any other aspect. 

Mr Cinderella (Vietnam - YouTube) Ep 6 - Remains very cute. A bit contrived on the faen fatal manipulative ex moving into the house as a plot device, but this is BL, what can you do? Nice flirting scenes used for good communication, tons of domesticity, and bonus lap sitting (a favorite of mine). 

In Case You Missed It

In completely unrelated fandom news BTOB continues to be the silliest group in all Kpop, their happy birthday to their fandom song is so Monty Python-esk. 

K-BL short coming Half a Kiss and Half a Spice. 

Light On Me’s Shin Woo & Tae Kung (looking fine af) have a cameo in Best Mistake 3 ep 4 at ts 15.00, currently airing on Viki. Here’s an annotated cut of their too brief appearance. Choe Chan Yi plays an exiting character, so they added him playing his own doppelgänger as Daon for a cameo crossover. Just to play with us. It’s rather fun, but not worth watching a whole series of highly insipid disaster hets. They cleverly fade out the cameo with A.C.E’s Spark, AKA Light On Me’s OST, playing on the cafe tannoy - cute touch. 

News flash: Kang In Soo & Lee Sang (Wish You) remain ADORABLE. (Bit of meet up, spot themselves on a subway poster, + muckbang.) 

Taiwan to release 49 Days With A Merman, in a 12 ep run starring Bruce He AKA Bruce Hung (no BL back catalogue but a big name) and Kent Tsai about a high school student who ends up having to live with a domineering merman. Based on manga series Merman in my Tub. So Splash! but gay? Yes please. Plus an adaptation is rare for Taiwan and story is their weak point so that’s exciting too! 

What Did You Eat Yesterday: New Year's Special 2020 is now streaming on some Netflix (not mine here in the states). 

New Thai BL My Tempo a collaboration series from The Brothers Thailand and Proxie Thailand with director Chookiat Sakveerakul (Love Of Siam).

Gossip

Where Your Eyes Linger star, Han Gi Chan, confirmed to be in Korea’s Ocean Like Me which stars Kpop’s best known out gay singer, Holland. 

Korean BL Judo Boys got a complicated updated description. Basically: boys who meet as competitors in high school judo become lovers on the road to olympic gold. After one of them confesses and is rejected, they part for years only to meet again at university.  Bad boy/good boy, friends to lovers to enemies. 

New KBL Kissable Lips just came on my radar. No further information. 

You Light Up My Life Again colab project between Thailand's Studio Wabi Sabi and Mainland China. Directed by New Siwaj for WeTV in Thailand and Tencent in China. Filming at Dhurakij Pundit University known for having more students from China than any other Thai uni. Mandarin language. (Promo Trailer)  Rumors it is a proper kissing BL and will not actually be distributed to China to avoid censorship. Other rumors that Tencent will distribute a different version. Regardless don’t trust this one to HEA. I have a list of BLs that are cross country projects here: BL Without Borders. 

Thai Y-novel Hot Bamee And Yummy Gyogung by 'Jamie will be adapted into a series. I don’t normally report acquisitions but this one looks like it could be fun. Bamee is an intern in a 5-star hotel where he falls for his trainer since their first meeting. I like older uke younger seme anda hotel setting, so I’m intrigued. 

New Thai BL announced: I Will Knock You for Ch3Thailand starring unknowns, adapted from korean_rabbit's Y-novel with the same name and directed by Champ (2gether & Kiss Me Again). A college student and part-time tutor confronts the leader of a gang who then turns out to be his next student. (Younger seme, older uke, enemies to lovers, bully romance?). 

2021 Round Up & Awards Posts

My 2021 BL Wrap Up - pretty much all shows I watched and reviewed last year

Next Week Looks Like This:

Kei×Yaku (Japan) starts a 10 ep arc on Thursday, no word on international distribution. Rainbow Prince is supposed to start Saturday, it’s a MUSICAL BL. 

Upcoming 2022 BL master post here. I keep a full record there of everything I announce in the weekly updates. 

This week’s best moments?

Vietnam is so generally poor at captioning, when they get an innuendo sport on I gotta give them props. Not sure if this was entirely intentional, but cute no matter what. 

Don’t worry Wai yours is coming.... 

[spencerreidscoffeecup]

Daydreams Turn to Reality (fluffy/smut)

Summary: Autistic! Reader has a meltdown at the office.. Thankfully, her teammate Dr. Spencer Reid was nearby to help.

CW: Sensory overload, Autistic meltdown, crying, mentions to weight of reader (spencer picks her up), grinding

AN: Hello everyone! I hope you enjoy this one-shot! I have been in a deep depressive state for a few weeks, but I finally am feeling better to start writing again.. Aka start writing more chapters for “Beautifully Broken”! Love you all! <3

Word Count: 4800

--

Spencer’s POV:

Ever since I was young, I have had an active imagination.

Perhaps it was the myriad of books my mother had read to me every night before bed. Or maybe it was the fact that my daydreams had always been better than my real life.

But that’s what daydreams are, right? An escape from the real-world to a better reality.

Up until the moment that I met her, I had only ever found myself dreaming of dragons and aliens. Sure, I had my visions of a happier life, but I really only dreamt of preternatural creatures. However now, I found myself only dreaming of her.

I mean, how could I not?

She was perfect.

Her voice sounded of wind chimes on a warm, breezy summer afternoon. Like soft strings being strung by a violinist. Her voice moved life honey; slow and sweet, and always sticking to me. Her laugh sounded like the most ethereal ring, a certain stubborn blush always rising up my face once I heard the noise. And don’t even get me started on how beautiful she was. She looked like the golden, joyous rays of sunshine that shone through the clouds on a previously rainy and cold day; immediately filling your senses with warmth and light. She smelled of sticky cinnamon buns, sweet Georgia peaches, and laundry just pulled out of the dryer. She lit up any dull room with her alacrity; her energy was palpable.. It was also contagious.

Any aloof person that would never smile, seemed to have a brighter life whenever she entered into their vicinity.

I dreamt of what it would be like to kiss her. How would her lips feel against mine? Would the kiss move like her voice; slow and sweet? Or would it match her giddy energy and be stuttery and erratic? Maybe both?

These thoughts always seemed to take up every square inch of my mind, every minute of every single day.

In the past, I may have dreamt of fictional creatures, but now I was dreaming of fictional scenarios with the angelic woman that sat in front of me at her desk every day.

I tried to show her how much I was falling for her every minute I could, however, she was like me when it came to social cues. Clueless. Completely clueless.

So, I showed her my affection through small plush toys.

They seemed to always comfort the girl whenever her anxiety would peak. Not to mention how excited and cute she got when I gifted her the stuffed animals.

She would let me know how she was feeling through colors, and when she was seemingly having a tough day, for instance when she told me she felt orange, I went out on my lunch break later that day and purchased an orange bunny rabbit plush for her.

Once I gifted her the toy, her face lit into a crimson blush, almost as red as the stuffed animal. She smiled and gave me a hug. That was the first time she initiated contact with me.

Ever since then, she was very touchy-feely towards me, which inevitably fueled my growing love for the beautiful girl.

Today, she walked, no, ran into the bullpen, her headphones resting around her neck as she clutched her bag, walking to her desk.

Butterflies fluttered in my belly and chest as I felt myself beginning to blush.

“Spencer!” she squealed, running to my desk, a smile spread across her face.

“Hello!” I exclaimed.

“Guess what?”

“What?” I laughed at her excitement.

“Garcia brought in homemade muffins!”

I gasped, Y/n giggling at my dramatics.

“Bet you I can beat you to the last blueberry one,” she smirked, a mischievous look glinting in her dazzling eyes.

“Oh, it’s on!” I squinted my eyes at her, standing up from my desk.

She laughed, the sound making my brain fuzzy for a moment as I didn’t even realize she began to run off. I ran after her, grabbing her by the waist and picking her up as I set her down behind me, my name falling from her mouth between giggles as I ran off.

Moments later, we both made it to Garcia’s office, our heavy breathing causing the quirky woman in front of us to widen her eyes in concern. She walked up to Y/n, completely ignoring me as she cradled the giggling girl’s face.

Y/n was only comfortable with Garcia and me touching her--especially me. That’s why Penelope only held her face, Y/n was only comfortable with that sort of contact from her, as well as a hug but nothing more. However I, on the other hand, was allowed to hug, touch, and carry her. The fact that she was completely comfortable with me made my crush grow.

I was happy that I was a comfort person for the young girl. Not only did it make me ecstatic, but it also made her feel over the moon at the fact that she was growing.

“Oh, my goodness! Are you okay?” Garcia asked, her eyebrows drawn together in worry.

Y/n laughed, causing my small smile to stretch into a toothy-grin.

“Yep! We just came for the muffins!” Y/n explained, and Garcia nodded knowingly, a small chuckle escaping her throat as she let go of the girl and picked up the large plate that smelled of delicious, freshly baked sweets.

I grabbed the last blueberry muffin before Y/n, a small whine escaping her throat. She looked up at me with her starry eyes, a pleading look on her face. Truthfully, I was going to give her the muffin in the end. However she didn’t need to know that.

I smiled, presenting her with the muffin as she giggled happily, her arms slinging around my neck as I took in her intoxicatingly sweet scent.

“Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” she blabbered, biting into the muffin and humming happily as she skipped away. “Bye, Spencer! Bye, Penny!” she called, waving to me as she turned the corner.

“Bye!” Penelope and I both called back, a smile gracing my lips as I looked fondly at the corner she had just rounded, as if she was still there.

I was so entranced by the girl that I totally forgot Garcia stood in front of me with a smirk on her face.

“What?” I asked.

‘“‘What?’” She mocked my voice, smiling smugly at me. “What do you mean, what? You are in lo-ove with Prettygirl over there!” Garcia sang, and I immediately felt my face get warm.

“Wh-? I am not in-in love!” I squeaked, and Garcia laughs, humming a quick sure.

I walk away quickly, thanking Garcia for the muffin.

I am definitely in love with Y/n.

How could I not be?

Shit.

--

Around lunchtime, I began to notice that Y/n grew anxious, her face strewn together in worry.

The sight made my heart squeeze in my chest.

She mostly kept her head down, except her eyes kept on flicking around the room hastily. She gulped a few times, fidgeting with a rubber band and a pencil; the pencil acting as a pick to strum the stretched band that looped around her fingers in a triangle shape.

I wanted to go up and ask if she needed any assistance, however I didn’t want to make anything worse than it already was... or overwhelm her more.

“Reid! Can I see you in my office for a moment? I just want to make sure you got the correct files from the case last week.” Hotch announced from his office.

I glanced at Y/n, who’s eyes flickered up at mine, a pleading look lacing her facial expressions.

I reluctantly stood up from my desk, nodding my head at Hotch as I walked up the stairs to his office, telephones sounding throughout the BAU.

I could understand how she felt overwhelmed. Heck, I felt overwhelmed a lot of the time. Between the sounds of pencils scratching on paper, the incessant sound of coffee brewing, computers clacking, files being flipped through, phones ringing and people chatting.. It can be very anxiety inducing as well as just an overwhelming environment to work and be in..Especially when you are on the spectrum.

However, Hotch closed the door behind him, separating me from the beautiful--but anxious girl that sat at her desk, fidgeting away, her head twitching slightly.

-

As Hotch and I were about to finish our meeting, we both heard a loud cry. My heart began to race. I knew that cry.

A year ago, Y/n had a meltdown in a cafe. It was really upsetting for her and she struggled to leave her apartment for weeks.

I ran out, Hotch following behind me.

JJ, Morgan, Emily, and Garcia all huddled around Y/n’s desk, however, Y/n was not sitting in her chair, rather, she was huddled underneath the table; her knees pressed up against her chest as she pressed her palms against her ears as she cried.

I ran over, the team’s faces scrunched in concern and confusion.

“Spence! I-I don’t know what happened! One minute she was at her desk, and then I dropped a coffee cup and she started to scream and cry.” JJ stammered, running her fingers through her hair.

As she spoke, I heard the crying girl repeat two words over and over.

Too much, too much, too much.

My heart sank in my chest. “It’s alright, it wasn’t your fault, okay? She was just overwhelmed.” I reassured the blonde, who exhaled shakily, nodding.

I turned back to the girl who began to scream as more people surrounded her.

One man tried to touch her.

Oh, no.

“Hey, get away from her!” I exclaimed, and the man stopped, throwing me a dirty look. People seemed to clear away as they flashed us weird and worried looks.

“Please!” she cried, the word harsh and forced through puckered cheeks.

I got down on my knees, crawling under Y/n’s desk.

“Hey, Y/n,” I said softly, trying my best to calm her. She didn’t look up as expected, instead she kept her hands plastered on her ears. “Hey, hey, it’s okay.” I shushed her, shrugging my jacket off of my body and wrapping it around her shaking frame.

I heard her reciting words under her breath.

“Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut..”

She rocked faster on her tailbone, smacking her head on the inside of her desk repeatedly as she recited the states in alphabetical order.

I remembered reciting the states in alphabetical order was something she did to calm down from last time.

I knew what to do.

I had dealt with similar situations myself.

I knew how to deal with her meltdowns as well.

“Alabama, Alaska, Arizona..!” she sobbed, her eyes shut tightly as she continued on listing the states.

I brought my hand behind her head, keeping her from developing bruising from how hard she was hitting her head.

“Reid..” Morgan spoke, but I ignored him, only turning around to tell everyone to go back to their desks.

I wrapped my arms tightly around her body, shushing her.

She liked when I did this. It was a comfort tactic for her. She felt secure.

Eventually, her cries dissipated as I reached into her bag to grab her black headphones, her body clinging to mine as I put them on over her ears, her right hand fidgeting with the back of her hair and her left clinging to her pant leg as I embraced her tightly.

“Do you want it tighter or looser?” I whispered.

“Tight,” she managed to squeak out, to which I squeezed my arms around her, demonstrating how to take deep breaths as she followed along, her body calming down as well as her cries.

“Is this okay?” I asked, to which she nodded.

I shushed her until she looked up at me, her body still shaking from the aftermath.

“Do you want to go home? It’s close to 9 already,” I offered.

“Mhm. B-but can I go to your apartment? I don’t wan’ be alone.”

My eyes softened. “Of course.. C’mon. Do you have a color of how you’re feeling?” I asked.

“O-orange.” She whimpered, and I grabbed her bag as she clung to my body.

“Okay, how were you feeling earlier?” I asked.

“D-dark red.”

“That’s good, that it’s better. Come on, let’s get home, okay?” She nodded, her feet shuffling as I walked, the side of her torso pressed up against mine.

I would text Hotch when we arrived home, but for now, I was only focused on the girl and her tight grasp on my clothing.

--

It was a silent walk up to my apartment.

She had become mute once I began driving, her upper body swaying forwards and backwards as she repeated the contiguous United States under her breath. I turned off all music and made sure to avoid any speed bumps or potholes that were on the road. I didn’t want to make the situation worse.

Although, when I helped her out of the car her body clung to mine automatically.

I slipped my shoes off once we made it inside, and I noticed how Y/n’s eyes were closed, her breathing calmed.

I knew she wasn’t asleep and that she was just in a shocked after-phase, however, I couldn’t help but admire how beautiful she looked in the dim lighting.

I mean, she always looked beautiful.. All of the time.

I felt guilty for the butterflies that fluttered in my belly at the sight of her.

“Is it okay if I pick you up?” I asked softly, brushing some of the loose strays of her hair out of her face. She nodded lazily, wrapping her arms around me. I smiled at that.

I picked her up, walking to my room and then setting her down on the pillows gently. I pulled the shoes off of her feet and then loosened the tie around my neck, unbuttoning my white dress shirt a bit. I tucked her in tightly, then began to walk away as I thought she was asleep. I was going to sleep on the couch. However, her hand flew up from the sheet, her doe eyes looking up at me.

“Spencer, p-please don’t leave. Stay with me.”

I smiled softly, contemplating.

If I did this, my love for her would grow and I would ultimately have a broken heart in the end.

However, she needed me.

Thus, I slipped under the covers next to her, her hands grabbing at my clothes and pulling me closer as I chuckled lightly. Butterflies exploded in my stomach and fluttered around in my chest.

My body heat seemed to ebb away any previous anxiety that she withheld. Her breathing slowed and she snuggled up closer to my chest, soft snores sounding from her nose. I smiled, pulling her closer to me as she nuzzled her head in the crook of my neck.

Eventually, my eyelids began to flutter closed as I fell into a deep slumber, the beautiful girl in my arms making my whole entire heart and mind happy. So happy in fact, that my dreams were only about the most beautiful things-- like watching the stars twinkle in the sky as Y/n and I cuddled on a picnic blanket in Zhangye Danxia Geopark, a geological park located in China. I imagined the vast expanse of mountains surrounding us, the air fresh and chilly, prompting Y/n to snuggle up closer to my body for warmth.

Although the view was beautiful and spectacular, I couldn’t keep my eyes off of the young woman thats arms were tightly wrapped around my torso.

I was practically hypnotized by her.

--

I woke up the next morning to feather-soft touches over my cheeks and a brightness blooming through my chest and body as a content sigh fell from my lips. I didn’t open my eyes, but my hands began to roam over the unfamiliar-- yet comforting terrain within my grasp.

I felt smooth, warm skin that rippled with goosebumps all over before I could even get to certain patches-- as though the tissue estimated where my fingertips would travel to next. Nimble legs wound around mine upon my insinuation. It felt like a dream--an even better dream than the one I had earlier on the night previous. It was better in that it was real--not made up from the abyss of my imagination. My hand on her lower back brought her closer, pressing her against me before I could even realize that I’d blurred the lines between reality and my dreams and fantasies.

This was real.

Scenarios like these that kept me entertained for so long had now become my actuality.

But I didn’t panic; I had no reason to. I melted into the touch of the beautiful being that laid intertwined limb by limb with my body.

Finally, when I opened my eyes, I saw her tranquil stare. She looked at me with a wide-eyed, yet tired-eyed, fascination from just mere inches away. It took what little breath I had away from me as I stared back at her with all the love that I could muster in my weary expressions.

“Good morning,” I whispered softly, causing her eyes to flicker down to my lips. My hands drew small patterns on her soft, yet chilled skin. It was hard for me to tell how much of her longing was real or imagined, created by my lovesick, oxygen-deprived brain as we stayed wrapped up in each other under the satin covers.

“Clear.”

It was a strange and beautiful thing to say to me in the wee hours of the early morning, however, something about the tone of her voice told me that she felt happy.

To be sure, I asked. “Is that a good thing?”

Again, her eyes flickered to my lips as her pointer finger drew a soft line across my chin, all the way up to my bottom lip as she traced across it in amazement. Something so small, which made my tender lip tingle, lit my skin into a small fire. A small, shy, smile ghosted across her lips.

With a quiet voice she answered. “It's a new one. And technically clear isn't a color. But yes.”

I smiled softly, my eyes raking over her features as I tried to memorize this moment.

She then hoisted herself up on her forearms, my hand dropping from her upper back to the small of her back. My thumb was still drawing soft patterns on her warm skin, that was now unclothed as her shirt rode up. She swung a leg over my waist, now straddling my torso as my hands shifted to lying on her hips. She giggled, the sound hatching the once caterpillars from the cocoons that they slept in in my chest, now fully butterflies that fluttered lovingly around my system as I smiled at the soft hiccups she produced in between each laugh.

She leaned forward, her chest basically pressed against my face, but she was careful not to suffocate me. She toyed with my hair, my hands still on her waist as I was careful to not push boundaries.

“I like your hair. It’s curly and soft.” She sighed, my eyes closing at the feeling of her running her fingers through my bed-head hair.

“Thank you,” I murmured, squeezing her waist softly.

She sat up, taking my left hand from her waist and running her fingers along the pads of mine, then the digits of my knuckles as she wrapped her small, cold hand in mine.

“I like your hands too. They’re big and warm.” she accounted, pressing my hand that was intertwined with hers to her warm cheek that now had a small blush dancing on it.

I smiled, “I appreciate it. I like your hands too.”

“Really?” she asked, her voice small.

I nodded, a light chuckle falling from my lips.

“Yes, really. I like everything about you. I really like you.”

The admittance made my stomach churn with anxiety.

Yet, she beamed with pure joy, falling forward onto my body and hugging my neck as I laughed softly.

She leaned her forehead on mine, my breath hitching in my throat as her eyes flickered down to my lips and her hands played with the bottom of my lavender, silk tie.

“I really like you too,” she whispered, kissing the tip of my nose.

It felt like my heart had burst in my chest-- of course in the best way. The tip of my nose tingled as though her lips were still pressed against it.

My hands rested on her hips as she inched closer to my lips, quickly pressing a kiss on them nervously, slightly pulling away to see my reaction as a small yelp sounded from her throat with anxiety.

However, I diminished her fears as I pressed my hand against her jaw, bringing her back to kiss me again.

The kiss, like her voice, was slow and soft, sticking with me like honey. She brought her hands to my face, squeezing my cheeks together as I laughed into the kiss, my heart fluttering with jubilation. She pulled away with wide eyes. I tried to follow after her lips, but she just laughed.

She bent down and kissed me again, the feeling of her lips against mine better than the myriad of daydreams that I had created in my mind about moments like these.

Soft, slightly lewd noises sounded from our kissing, our tongues twining together as she hummed happily at the feeling.

She pulled away, her hands still pressed against my face.

“I like the feeling of us kissing. The stubble on your face feels weird on mine, but it also feels good. I like the way it makes my skin feel like pins and needles… but much better. It makes me feel happy.”

I laughed.

I was going to shave, but I guess not anymore.

“I’m glad,” I whispered, drawing a small line across her jaw.

“I also like the way my lips feel after we kiss. They feel numb and tingly. But not in a bad way. It’s not like the time that I got my molars extracted and then had to give me seven shots in my gums. My lips felt like a dead fish after. It’s not like that, it feels nice. Really nice. Like I never want to stop. And my stomach gets all queasy--but I love it. I love it a lot.” she whispered.

I laugh softly, holding her chin as I meet my lips with hers for a moment before pulling away.

You’re so cute.” I whisper-laugh.

Her face gets red as her eyes trace over my features before her lips break out into a smile, giggles escaping the back of her throat. My heart flutters at the sound.

She kisses me again, a small whimper leaving her throat and echoing into my mouth as her hips move on my crotch.

I feel myself get hard as her hips move quickly, our lips disconnecting as she giggles, her head being thrown back as my hands stay still on her hips. I’m careful not to squeeze too hard, and to not push boundaries. My hips rut upwards towards hers, and I’m afraid I’ve gone too far as she gasps, but she never stops, the feeling of my pant zipper against her clothed core eliciting a beautiful, sweet and crackly moan to fall from her lips. I groan softly, her face falling from the ceiling to look at me with wide, pleasure-filled eyes as her hips drag across my hard, restrained dick that is pressed against my slacks. The feelings that run through my veins like wildfire make me grunt softly, which only prompts the girl to rock faster on her hips, trying her best to elicit more sounds from me.

Her hands cling onto mine, guiding my lithe fingers to splay out on her as she wraps her fingers in between mine to make me squeeze her clothed skin.

Whines fall from her throat as I squeeze softly, the friction making my orgasm bubble up in the lower depths of my belly.

“Does that feel good, darling?” I ask, now using my hands to drag her slowly up and down my clothed dick as she whines.

She nods, her eyes looking at me through a half-lidded gaze.

I smile softly, her body going limp as I feel her orgasm approaching; as well as mine.

“Sp-Spencer, please don’t make it stop.” she whimpers, yanking onto my tie, extracting a moan to leave my throat.

“I wouldn’t even think of it, love.” I reply, my fingers running up and down her waist as small mewls leave from the back of her throat.

I hear small whispers leave her mouth between her aroused sounds.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you..”

Smiling, I respond. “Are you going to come for me, darling?” I tuck a piece of hair behind her ear.

She nods dumbly, her hands dancing around different places to grip my clothing as she looks to stabilize herself. A tear leaves the corner of her eye and I quickly wipe it away, sitting up to kiss her, the new angle at which my pant zipper hits her making her cry out as I press my lips against hers in a breathy kiss. I fall back onto the pillows behind me

Soon, our orgasms hit, and her hips slow as she falls onto my chest.

She laughs, peppering the sensitive tissue of my neck with kisses, and I hum in content.

“I love you, Spencer Reid.” she whispers into my skin, and I feel like I am going to cry.

In fact, I do cry.

She hears sniffling and sits up, inches away from my face as she wipes the fallen tears from my eyes.

“What’s wrong?” she asks softly, kissing my chin.

“I just- I love you as well.”

A small smile lights up her face.

“Lavender,” she says, kissing my lips and cradling my face. “This is what lavender feels like.”

--

I wake up earlier on Monday morning, before the sleeping angel in my bed wakes.

We spent the whole weekend together, and I’ve never been more happy.

Exchanging our I love you’s was truly something that made my whole entire world glow in a rosey-pink.

Quickly, I run to the store and go through my options; trying to find the perfect one.

Finally, I see it.

A lavender turtle.

I purchase the toy, and drive to my apartment as quickly as possible.

I walk into my room, Y/n’s hair splayed out across the pillows as her soft breathing hums from her nose, her hair and soft skin glowing in the golden, early morning sun.

I smile, my heart practically beating out of my chest with joy.

I kneel next to the bed, running my fingers through her hair and kissing her cheek.

Her eyebrows furrow before she peeks through her half-closed eyelids.

“Spencer?” she murmurs, her voice crackling from just waking up.

“Good morning, love.”

She smiles, suddenly wrapping her hands around my neck and bringing me in for a hug.

I laugh softly.

The bag with the stuffed toy rustles quietly as I lean forward, and she pulls away.

“What’s that?”

“Oh, just something I got for you.” I say nonchalantly, biting my bottom lip down as I try my best not to smile.

“For me?!” She gasps excitedly, trying to grab the bag with her hands.

“Of course for you!” I laugh, running my hand down her arm.

“Oh, please can I have it, Spencer? Please, please, please!” She begs, standing up from bed and I tower over her, Y/n’s hands grasping my shirt.

“Hmm,” I pretended to think, narrowing my eyes at her. She pouts, tugging me down by my shirt to kiss her lips. I pull away. “Oh, alright.”

She giggles excitedly, and I throw the bag away from the toy, pulling the plush from my back, presenting it to her.

She gasps, hugging the toy to her chest as she squeals.

“Spencer! I love it!”

I laugh, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear.

“I’m glad.” I say, and she wraps her arms around my waist, looking up at me with big eyes.

“Oh my goodness! I love you, so much!”

I smile, looking down at her, small laughs escaping my throat.

“I love you, so much, too.”

She laughs, kissing my lips again, before pulling away slightly.

“Lavender is my favorite color.” she whispers.

“Mine too.” I whisper back, placing my lips on hers softly.

--

[gingerly-writing]

insight on your fav 'rivals' tropes?

oooh okay let’s go

rivals to lovers

the beginning where they “hate” each other but you as the reader know they’re going to be eating those words later ohohoho

the first extension of a hand of friendshipppp I absolutely love the bravery of whoever reaches out first

hate! kissing!

fighting where they shove each other up against the wall or pin their rival to the ground

flirting while fighting to gain a advantage

general rival nonsense

“no one is allowed to beat you except me” / “if I can’t win, I want you to win instead”

training together because no one else is anywhere near their level (or at least that’s the excuse they’re using)

other people urging them to sabotage each other but they’re both honourable/they want to beat their rival fair and square

when a mutual enemy tries to play them off against each other but they see right through it and do an impeccable teamup, defeat the bad guy, and IMMEDIATELY go back to trashing each other

using their rivalry as a tactical advantage against other people e.g. annoying their boss or tricking an enemy

triangles

when they’re both in love with the same person and that person forces them to be nice to each other or neither of them gets any attention aka basically competitive niceness

when they’re both in love with the same person and that person is like ‘sweet! polyamory it is’ and they’re both baffled because they were so hyped up for this huge competition in which only one of them could emerge victorious lmaoooo

when they both THINK they’re in love with the same person but that person is like ‘no, you’re clearly in love with each other’

[elspethdixon]

If I was god of the universe, instead of some lame third age miniseries we’d just straight up be getting an Amazon or Netflix series based on the Silmarillion.

My personal favorite parts are the Feanorian-centric bits, of course (show me a trashfire woobie antagonist I won’t invariably adore) but since TVs audiences are composed of 98% basic hets, If I were in charge of producing a Silm tv show I’d do the story of Beren and Luthien, AKA “Luthien-Sue and her Gary Stu boyfriend go on a quest to bring her racist father the broomstick of the Wicked Witch of the West a Silmaril from Morgoth’s crown.”

No need for writers to make up a female character in order to shoehorn in a bullshit het love triangle like they did in Peter Jackson’s Hobbit movies: Luthien is the One Mary Sue To Rule Them All, and she and her amazing hair (the Luthien actress’s wig will consume every $ of the costuming and make-up budget that doesn’t go toward Morgoth and his crown) will be the Disney-princess-style star of the narrative.

She and her boyfriend-accessory, Beren, faithful animal companion, Huon, and sexy elven badboy and potential-love-triangle fodder, Celegorm, go on an epic quest together to pick a fight with Sauron and Morgoth in the name of true love/fulfilling a sacred vow to one’s dead father.

Celegorm would be sexy and broody and wear a lot of leather and be half the potential viewership’s preferred boyfriend for Luthien right up until his sudden-but-inevitable betrayal.

Beren would be noble and square-jawed and handsome and very much the sidekick to Luthien’s heroine role.

Huon is a very good boy and the audience’s favorite.

The overall narrative would be structured so as to imply that the true villain of the story is King Thingol as much or more than it is Morgoth or Sauron, because the whole involvement of Luthien, Beren, and Finrod, the subsequent destruction of Finrod’s kingdom, and the (heavily-forshadowed throughout the show) future conflict the possession of a Silmaril will inevitably bring to Doriath all only come to pass because of his petty refusal to let his daughter marry a mortal/spiteful assigning of what’s supposed to be a suicide mission to said mortal to try and prevent said marriage.