#also wild to me how much he looks like antonio to the point it makes me want to consider making him an ancestor a la Legends

[yessu]

very suddenly remembering this messy colored scribble of an AU brody! it's honestly so funny how cute and approachable he looks when he's actually just as fucked up as the rest of his crew.

[the-nysh]

Yes hello, I would deary love to hear your thoughts on Vash grappling E. G. the Mine, please? 👀 I loved your thoughts on his shooting skills and other grappling skills.

Also, any thoughts on Wolfwood? That big cross is so ridiculously big and heavy, but the way he just swings it around is impressive. (Also hnnng, that scene where he uses the laser beam to cut the Grand Worm in half was so cool.)

Omg, mkay lemme try to hunt for a gif of that choke hold real quick...

Because what gets my attention is the way Vash repositions and flexes his arm even tighter, from securely holding him there in a warning, to oh O.O;;; that looks real and he means business. 👀

Because there are 2 basic ways to choke someone out--in a fight!! Or err, a grappling/wrestling situation. The obvious way most people think of is the air tract--the trachea, which is a little awkward and takes longer, so the much faster and efficient (but less obvious) way is a blood choke--where you restrict the neck's artery circulation to the brain, and the person can easily/cleanly lose coordination and black out within moments, regardless of how well they can still breathe.

To do that, you get someone's head in the crook of your arm like Vash here, and flex your bicep and forearm tight around the inner sides of their neck--pressing in where both their pulse points would be (not the air!) at the same time and...yeah. Struggling around makes it harder to get into position (compared to practicing on a consenting still partner, which you can safely try! just remember to either tap out the moment you start feeling light-headed with a headache and/or see black spots in your vision, or better yet, sit while holding both hands raised up and the choker partner should release you the moment your hands start to drop), but once you get it, it happens pretty quick, and beefier guys can easily achieve this type of choke by simply flexing their muscles around a neck--heck they can probably crush the trachea too while they're at it for both chokes at once!

In Vash's case though, he doesn't want to render the guy unconscious just yet cause he still needs information from him, but I'm just saying...from this choke hold position he's in, he can easily do all that (and more) by flexing his real arm strength if he wanted to! 👀👀

----

Now for Wolfwood, ahaha gosh--in contrast to Vash, his ginormous Punisher Cross is so ridiculous (I think it's like 200-300lbs of mercy or something, also the skull design for the grip area is pretty rad, once I recognized what the shape was in the manga I was like oh neat!) that it's basically full on fantasy territory over much realism. :'D In before Vash shows us his over the top fantasy 'guns' too. No like actual person could lug that thing around, let alone effortlessly spin it around with the flair he does. That it's also really funny when he just -bonk- swings it like a heavy battering ram too. He also doesn't really need to dodge or utilize many defensive techs/maneuvers (that I've seen from him yet), beyond using the whole weapon as a body shield sometimes, since he can heal himself.

What his character and fighting style actually remind me of is the Desperado movie (with Antonio Banderas) in fact, one of the manga chapters was named after that too. Where the gunslinging mc comes waltzing out with his buddies who all carry around large guitar cases...that are actually hidden machine guns and fucking rocket launchers. x'D It's as hilarious as it is awesome to see them all just go ham in a wild west shootout with literal guitar-guns. So when Stampede Wolfwood brings out his updated cross-gun to flex a fucking laser beam canon out of it, now that's just lmaoooooooo, going stupid crazy on the 'rule of cool' factor, ohoho. x3

[ofheroicmedic]

continued

@goeswithmygut

Paramedic, or firefighter give or take it was all risk. Gabby always knew her passions, her ambitious would land her here. At putting herself on the line for other people. She’s seen enough; the close calls, the firefighters running into flames day in and day out. But it felt different now that she formed attachments to the people she worked with. She didn’t go home at night and shut her mind off. She never stopped wondering if the firefighters were okay; if she was needed on a call. 51 was her family; she saw more of their faces than her own family; excluding Antonio because let’s be honest he always found a way to stop by. 

Point was; she felt the ache each time Boden called an order to leave, she held her breath each time she heard the shaken voice of Casey through the radio, today was one of those times. We were in limo neither of us understood where our relationship stood. It was my fault, I was the one who wanted space. I was the one who wanted time to process how I felt, what I wanted for a future. I loved Matt, I knew he was the one I wanted to be with, since the day I first laid eyes on him. Yet when we experienced the loss, the loss of a child I felt like I needed space to grable with what felt right. He once told me I was the only thing that made sense to him. And I was starting to think he was right. We could go through the wild wave, the wave of the unknown, of risk but as long as we had each other to fall back on I felt we’d be okay. 

Today was a close call, I swore I felt the air leave my body. I felt like I couldn’t breathe with feet glued to the pavement. I heard voices all felt like a blur in my head. I was only focused on his last words, I was focused on the idea of seeing him again. I didn’t feel like I was myself until I saw him. Until I saw Herrmann, until I saw Severide and the team helping to escort Matt closer to the ambulance bay; enough for me to find my way of walking again. Or in my case the leap I wanted to take until my hand could wrap around his own. I met Herrmann as my arm came to wrap around his waist as an aid to the tuck. 

Jokes, I wasn’t amused; but I also knew the male. The man that had captured my heart a long time ago. He wanted to make a dry joke about the situation at hand. Brunette locks pushed behind my shoulder as I had waited to let go of Casey until he was securely sat on the edge of the truck. Glancing to the other ambulance where Brett was tending to some of the other firefighters. 

Forcing brown eyes to face him; he still managed to take my breath away. A low voice spoke attempting to stay calm for him. “ Promise you’ll tell me if I’m hurting you.” A request although Gabby could read his movements like a book if he flitched it meant he was in pain. Hands lowered down to take a look at his leg, gently her palms grasped hold of his lower leg; it felt tender, sore, she didn’t need to lift the pant leg to know he was gonna bruise up. Gabby wanted to focus on his recovery before they even began to figure out their own next steps; he was the love of her life; and she’d be damn if she decided to be stupid again. 

Leaning on her knees, knee touching the pavement; her head tilted up attempting to see how much pain the male was in; he had a tell; at least for her.

[marlowe1-blog]

Another Story (The Stories of John Cheever)

Italian Prince comes to America. Has a bad time

This is a weird one. Mostly it's making me think of stereotypes because everything that Marcantonio Parlapiano (what the hell is with that last name? Parlor Piano? Also the first name is two names - Mark Antonio - Mark Antony?) does is an Italian stereotype, but why are Italian stereotypes so different than Italian American stereotypes. Italian American stereotypes are gangers, tough guys, distinguished gentlemen who are very polite until you don't give them what you want and then there's a horse head in your bed.

Italians have weird stereotypes. Despite Mussolini and Machiavelli and Garibaldi, Americans typically think of Robert Beningi as the stereotype. The goofy heavily accented guy who just is whacky all the time. Even in Fellini movies, there's a bit of a wild horny element going on. I guess "talking with one's hands" is there, but frankly, it's just interesting that Italian Americans have managed to create a scary stereotype while Italians are stereotypical goofballs (and then we can also talk about how Jews and Italians look alike to the point that when an Italian seems nebbish or goofy, he plays Jewish characters and when a Jew can seem tough and nasty, he plays Italians.)

And if I start talking about Nicholas Cage, we could be here all night.

Suffice it to say that Mark Anthony Player Piano, aka Boobee, is the harmless Italian stereotype. Cheever wrote this one in 1967 and it's all about the cultural divide. Poor Boobee (yes, he prefers to be called Boobee) can't speak English that well, keeps getting shit from people, marries a woman whose family hates Italians (and Jews!) and then confides in the narrator who is a New England blueblood schmuck who can't deal with "emotions".

So the narrator is telling the story of Boobee and it's one of those in-and-out relationships where the narrator keeps tacitly comparing himself to Boobee. Boobee can't deal with his wife wanting a career in music. Boobee can't deal with his wife trying to do something. Boobee won't stop talking about it to the narrator. The narrator hates this honesty.

Poor Boobee. Finally Boobee just goes home. The wife gives a concert and it's terrible according to most accounts. But since Boobee never respected her in the first place, it doesn't really matter, now does it?

And then we get this anecdote at the end where a guy tells the narrator a story about how his wife worked at Newark airport and how she kept taking her work home with her. Like she sounded so official when she told him to come to dinner or come to bed.

So how the fuck are these stories related? I mean, did John Cheever just not know how to end the story? So he felt like it was a wet fart of an ending and had to include this other sad husband?

Or maybe it's all about how marriage is hard, especially if you are man who doesn't even want your wife working in the first place? Or maybe it's just that there is a foolishness when it comes to women happening here. This is the 1960s.

But honestly it's a weird sad story about weird sad people who don't understand each other and can't really get over patriarchy. Boobee expects his wife to be ok with being a wife. The other guy expects his wife to at least stop with the work and maybe that's also about how he resents the fact that she's working. The narrator doesn't really care much for his wife. Everyone is drunk.

Buy cigarettes!

[cal-writes-never]

pepa as a mother figure

went absolutely wild here. don't think there's enough canon evidence to support all of these but it's okay!! they were fun to do :D (i promise i'm getting to the camilo requests, i have started multiple and they'll be posted over the next few days)

pairing: parental!pepa madrigal + reader

type: headcanons, parental

summary: how pepa would be as a mother figure towards you

---

- even if you're not her biological child, pepa treats you as such

- she loves you, truly. expect to be treated exactly the same as dolores, camilo and antonio (who all adore you just as much)

- félix too!! that man loves you

- they would both shower you with so much affection and they would spend so much time with you, no matter how stressed either of them are

- if we're talking about post canon, you'd 110% have dance parties in the snow with pepa

- she'd drag you outside to jump about in the rain, too, and now she's had time to properly figure out her gift and how to manage things like rain and snow without the negative emotions, she uses it to her advantage

- even if you're a terrible singer, she'd have karaoke nights with you and her family

- also reading together!! no matter how old you are, pepa will read her book to you, and she'd lend you however many you'd like (if any at all).

and with that, i present this image:

- and while she can be extremely fun to be around, she is also one of the most kind hearted people you know

- if you ever need anything at all, whether it's something miniscule or something absolutely life changing, pepa is by your side

- she's super understanding and she's always there to offer comfort if necessary, whether it be a distraction, a conversation about the situation, or a hug

- which brings me on to my next point: pepa gives the best hugs. everybody knows this. if you're upset or simply in need of a hug, pepa is the one to go to every time, and she's completely okay with it.

- helping her with her jobs around town

- if you were her biological (or adopted) child then this goes without saying, but you are extremely close to the rest of the madrigals, especially her side

- because of how much time you spend with pepa for whatever reason, you are a familiar face in casita

- everyone there loves you, especially antonio

- expect pepa to get angry with you if you even look at him wrong, that boy is her sun

- félix would speak to you often, and you enjoy spending time with him as much as you enjoy spending time with pepa

- it's hard to see them apart anyways, they're still in their honeymoon phase all these years later and it's so nice to see

- with everything pepa does for you, you can't go without paying her back somehow

- so what better way to do it than pranking her with camilo, right? he may be an absolute mama's boy, but he won't let that stop him from keeping his streak

- she's angry.

- so you apologise, and so does camilo. but she's not going to forget this. oh no, pepa would get you back when you least expect it.

- prank wars.

- but in all seriousness, you do make it clear to her how grateful you are

- if you have a hobby such as art or writing or whatnot, you'd frequently make things for her to show your gratitude

- and if you don't, that's okay! you make it clear to her however you like, even if it's through words or actions

- all in all, i think pepa is an incredible mother figure and she would give the world to her children, including you.

[gins-potter]

One Chicago Rewatch Extravaganza

01/03/22

Fire 1x22

Fire 1x23

Fire 1x24

Fire 2x01

PD 1x01

Fire 2x02

thoughts under the cut

Fire - 1x22 Leader’s Lead

you know i could have been happy with a casey/hallie endgame - they were hella cute

oh my god it’s scott eastwood!

and the chick who was almost burgess!

idk what it is about this call but like every single victim is such a dick - boden gets slapped, dawson gets accused of lying to someone else, it’s all just a lot

doctor hallie could step on me and i’d thank her tbh

shay’s standing there like “i’m so gay for doctor hallie” and i’m like BITCH SAME

OH MY GOD THE RED UNDIES ONE OF MY FAVE COMEDIC STORYLINES

mills spraying herrmann with the fire extinguisher lmao

gabby that is literally the most confusing analogy ever

i hope kelly helped this guy out who tara also fucked over

boden/herrmann = underrated friendship

this bitch just got into a car accident and she’s worried about her husband’s gonna find out she’s a hoe

yo this little kid - making me tear up every single time

i always forget how quickly the tara thing is resolved

hallie 😭😭😭

sevasey fighting to save hallie - my fucking hearttttttttttt

the way gabby just knows but let’s casey keep going with cpr anyway

that hug between mills and casey always fucking gets me

y’all i’m crying in the club

Fire - 1x23 Let Her Go

the fact that the cpd set changes *again* after this scene

also thank god we got miss trudy platt as our desk sergeant instead of this guy

look i love atwater of course but it is still so wild to me that we *almost* got scott eastwood

KICK HIS ASS FAKE BURGESS!

“she kicked me in the balls” “cry me a river”

they’re using pd’s credits music in the background of this random scene and it’s throwing me off lmao

you couldn’t pay me enough to jump into a sewer even if it was to save someone

“Did you see the lady on Oprah who got her face chewed off by a monkey?” “I did see that. And if it looks like it could take us, I'll tell her to keep it in the car.”

on the one hand i’m fully here for matt being petty and mean to voight, on the other hand it also might not be a good idea to piss of the guy investigating your girlfriend's murder

ATWATER!

Shaveride would have been the best chaotic parents tho

FIRST OFFICIAL CIGAR CHAT?!

death taxes and voight holding his gun with one hand

not to crackship but voight and antonio stand way too close and stare into each other’s eyes to be straight - just saying

“he be dead” GABBY

“keep putting yourself out there as dirty” BABE he literally is dirty

something i love about hallie’s memorial scene at molly’s is all the past victim’s that are there in the background - the original chicago shows up for chicago

Fire- 1x24 A Hell of a Ride

“don’t stop with the sex advice on my account” MATT

dang i will forever wish we’d gotten more casey/shay friendship

you know i just really enjoy this episode to the point where i don’t have a lot of thoughts on it

it’s just good

it’s dominated by one call but it’s constructed in such a nice way that you get resolutions for a bunch of different personal storylines

oh yeesh the plot thickens

i forgot how much shit was going on in this episode

you just got a fucking dead guard toppling out of a closet

severide: please just let me go to my boyfriend

WHY IS THIS GUY SO USELESS???

it’s like everyone who works at this prison is trying to be as difficult as possible

NOT CASEY VOLUNTEERING TO BE HIS HOSTAGE

THE DRAMA

I WOULD HAVE BEEN OKAY WITH THE CASEY WHUMP

the things they say about the prisoners and they things they imply about them in this ep..... do not hold up

casey you so smart

i don’t think babies get taken out of the icu that quickly but i’ll let it slide because this is cute

“Day one: Little Kenny James Herrmann. It was kind of a rough one.  At least until you came along.  Bunch of us took some knocks today, but that's the way it goes sometimes. Might as well hear it now.  You came along and you made a lot of people really happy. Not just your old man.  You're a lucky guy. You were born into a really big family. A lot of people gonna have your back no matter what.  Like I said, it's not gonna be all sunshine and roses. But I can promise it's gonna be a hell of a ride.”

not them making shay and severide kenny’s godparents and then literally never show them interacting with him again

huh i never knew that two of the kids who play the herrmann boys are brothers in real life

lmao forgot mills thought about being a cop for a while

idk why but this season was obsessed with weirdly close close ups of the characters faces

hey it’s the line from meet us at molly’s intro!

aaaaaaaaaand renee’s back.... yay....

no i did really like her originally but this storyline was not it

why did she tell him on a random street tho pft

Fire - 2x01 A Problem House

shay in those sunnies - she’s so sexy

casey still looks like such a baby

i can’t believe how much he’s changed but then also not changed

random things i love, when they get to smash car windows so they can get to the hydrant

eugh mcleod

THIS BITCH

JAY

HE’S A BABY

and clarke!

man he really just disappeared off fire and then disappeared off med - rip

you know what this is another just really good episode that i don’t have a heap of thoughts on

i love how they didn’t just rely on wind sound affects, they needed to zoom in on the leaves being blown sideways

quickly realising that casey in danger is my kink

jeff just be like i don’t know nothing about nothing

rip heather

PD - 1x01 Stepping Stone

oh hey i got to the first episode of pd!

there is something so hilarious about the way voight slaps people

WILLHITE

also the husband we almost got as a character on med - rip him i guess

*trudy glares* “good morning sunshine” *trudy’s glare intensifies*

ah finally the actual pd set

“you don’t know a good thing when you see it” said while jay looks directly at erin, just saying

oh yeah this office used to actually be used for something other than random conversations

KIM BURGESS MY BELOVED

IT IS KIMBERLEY FUCKING BURGESS LADIES AND GENTLEMEN

LOOK AT THIS BABY

IT’S MY BABY AND I LOVE HER

omfg forgot that bit about al just being there in the background and no one noticing him

“now more than ever we keep everything in house” not voight being shady from day dot

“tell me the truth so i can lie for you” iconic quote even if it is bullshit

not me watching someone get beheaded while i eat a cookie

i’m not saying voight and antonio are a married couple but they were just arguing about how to properly marinade a chicken

ADAM RUZEK INCOMING

oh my god i forgot platt sent burgess to get the ring in the very first episode

i miss this dynamic ngl

HERRMANN

oh my god baby ruzek

omfg they just shot the lock off, pretty sure that’s not allowed but alright

kim burgess i motherfucking love you

oh man thank god adam’s hair gets better from here

“i feel like a house husband” this linstead was something different huh?

“whats the deal between you and voight” “we went to prom together” SCREAM

‘watch yourself” PROTECTIVE JAY PROTECTIVE JAY PROTECTIVE JAY

kick his ass baby

i need to know more about flight attendant kim asap

KIM STANDING UP TO PLATT STEP ON ME WIFEY

we could have had a jules/erin friendship i am disappointed

this guy is such a dick - can’t believe he got jules killed just because he was a fucking petty dick

i never understood why erin went in the ambulance instead of antonio

holy crap jay came from fucking nowhere

for once i am totally on voight’s side, fucking kick his ass

man that pilot is so fucking crazy

so much shit is happening i love it

Fire - 2x02 Prove It

man griffin is such a little shit lmao

also fuck of mcleod

also i think i just realised that boden’s the only man i will accept a moustache on

JAY

shay being bad at sussing out lesbians even though she’s gay is such a mood though

atwater again!

it’s hella interesting that they clearly have atwater for the spin-off already but they don’t have burgess yet

I’M UP TO THE BIT WHERE MOCUH TALKS ABOUT HOW ALL TRUCKS SHOULD BE 5-MAN OR MORE!!! I’M FOREVER MAD THAT THEY PUT THAT IN AND THEN NOW WE HAVE 4 AND 3 MAN TRUCKS SUCH BULLSHIT.

HEATHER WAS DONE SO DIRTY!  She clearly loves her kids so much and then they do that to her in s10?  Bullshit.

i feel like renee always gets a little misrepresented in this situation, people always make it seem like she *knew* kelly wasn’t the father but lied anyway, when i always got the sense that she wasn’t sure either way but had hoped it was kelly’s - which is still fucked but slightly less so than if she’d known for sure

yo i don’t really like ingrid as a character but her actress is great, i’ll never forget her screaming for peter

lmao jay seems so fucking shady when he’s first introduced on fire

dang hadley you’re such a fucking freak

[random-imagines-blog]

Shine {Tom Cruise x Reader One Shot}

Requested by: @beatlebabe1996​ Wordcount: 2236 Summary: Great food, great dancing, and a bit of jealousy - what more could a date need?

As early 2000s as this was about the sound - the club was popping. It wasn’t the usual sort of club filled with twenty years grinding on one another with barely distinguishable beats playing in the background. It was a Latin club, with food and dancing and drink. The spice of the food was rivaled by the spice of the band that was playing tonight. This was where you felt the most in your element, this was your place. And that was why you had brought your date here tonight. It was also relatively low-key, where most of the people were focused on the band and the chef rather than the patrons. Something that your date for the night, a Mr. Tom Cruise, appreciated. You recommended a dish for him and that was what he had ordered - a definitely win in your books. You liked a man who was adventurous and yet trusting. He knew that you knew what you were doing.

“So you come here often then?” Tom asked, leaning back in his chair. He had shed his leather jacket to show the red button up shirt that he was wearing. It was tight on the arms, showing off the muscles that his constant work-out routine had produced. The color was great too, it added a little Latin flair to him. Your own outfit matched almost perfectly.

“I’m a regular,” You admitted, leaning in, playing with the straw of your drink. “The staff all know me by name here. It’s how I knew that we would be safe. They don’t care about celebrities so they won’t be posting anything on social media about your visit.”

“Our visit,” Tom laughed, taking a drink of his beer. “You seem more like the celebrity here. Even the band has been looking at you.”

“It’s rare that I  sit down this long,” You admitted. Your eyes caught that of the waitress coming around, your food on her platter. You straightened up and licked your lips, more than ready for the meal.

“What do you mean?” Tom asked, straightening himself up as well. There was a smile, and then thank yous to the waitress, and forks were picked up.

“Oh, I hit the dance floor,” You grinned, a sparkle in your eye. “That’s one of the best reasons to come here. The music, the dancing, the atmosphere. You get a good coupe of people on that floor, the whole place will be moving. Are you up for the challenge after we eat?”

“I don’t know if I’m going to be able to stand after all of this,” Tom laughed, digging into the food on his plate. You chuckled along with him, but remained hopeful. Dancing was one of your absolute favorite things to do, and not to toot your own horn, but you were good at it. No matter how handsome or famous this man was, he wasn’t going to be able to get into your heart without taking a few steps.

“Is that so?” He asked. You nodded, and watched as he took his first bite. You were waiting with bated breath to find out if he enjoyed it as much as you hoped that he would. He chewed thoughtfully, swallowed, then took a sip of water. “Spicy,” He explained. You nodded again, and continued to look, waiting for an opinion and not a fact. “It’s really good.”

“I knew you would think so!” You stabbed your fork into your own food, cutting off a piece for your consumption. “The food here is the best too. It’s the most underrated restaurant in the city, but it’s kind of great that way. No lines to get in. Plenty of room for dancing. And the food never takes too long to get to the table.”

“My kinda place,” Tom said with a grin. You two ate in relative silence, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. It was just two people enjoying a meal, and each others company. Every time that his foot bumped against yours under the table, though, you felt like you were going to start blushing. You thought about saying something about it but decided to just let the moment be that - a moment, without you ruining it. “Should we get dessert?” He asked after you two finished eating, picking up the small dessert menu that was on the table. You were about to recommend one of the items when you were interrupted.

“Y/N!” One of the waiters, Antonio said, coming up to your table. “I just noticed you were here. I got assigned to the left section tonight. How are you doing? You look amazing tonight.”

“Oh hey, thank you. I tried my best. Date and all,” You said with a grin, looking over at Tom. He chuckled, and looked back at the dessert menu. “How are you doing, Antonio?”

“Same old, same old. Just got on my break.” He said, looking between you and Tom with a grin. He raised his eyebrow at you as if to say, ‘Really? You bagged Tom Cruise?’ To which you just replied with a confident nod and a smirk in return. “I was going to ask if you wanted to dance, but since you’re busy, I’ll go and find Gabriella-”

“And get your toes trod on?” You asked in horror. You loved the bartender, she was a complete sweetheart and always full of laughs, but she was a horrible dancer. “Do you mind, Tom? At the very least, let me help save this guys feet.”

“Not at all,” Tom said, still perusing the menu, though it was rather short. He must be reading through the ingredients or something. “I’m excited to see your moves.”

“Better watch then,” You winked daringly at him, before allowing yourself to be lead to the dance floor. Normally you wouldn’t let even wild horses drag you from a date, especially from someone as good looking, kind and charming as Tom. But this was also a chance to show off for him.

Dancing had been an outlet for you all of your life. It gave you a sense of control over your body that you could feel good about, especially when you had been a teenager and it felt like you didn’t have control over anything. It brought on a confidence that you needed to get to where you were in life. And that confidence landed you a date with one of the best men that the city, perhaps even the world, had to offer. The fame wasn’t a bonus to you, the attention wasn’t something that you craved. It was just him as a person, and you felt so completely lucky that he even looked at you twice. You didn’t even know that he felt the same way about you.

The band started up a beat with a strong rhythm and a quick tempo. It was perfect for Salsa dancing, which was exactly what you wanted. You and Antonio both knew the moves like the back of your hand, which meant you didn’t have to waste time worrying about getting everything right. You could just relax and have some fun.

Your heels clicked against the hardwood floors of the restaurant as you danced with Antonio. You started apart, and then slowly came together, a familiarity between the two of you because you had been friends for so long. You had been dancing together since you started coming here as a teenager, when he had just been a bus boy. You shimmied your hips as you two spun around one another, under each other’s arms, him dipping you, back and forth. It was a very sexy way of dancing. A very sensual and fiery dance. But you kept things under control, making sure not to get too close. You did have your date watching after all.

Your eyes kept flickering over to him to see that he was watching very intently. In fact, there was a look on his face that was almost jealousy. He couldn’t stop looking at you. Even as you and Antonio separated for a small part of the song, he was following you, and not Antoni, who was probably a better dancer than even you. You shot him a smile, then got right back into it, ending it with a couple more twirls and then the song came to a finish. You were a little breathless but also exhilarated, a high that only exercise could bring.

“Always a pleasure,” Antonio said with a little bow. “And my toes thank you.”

“You’ve really got to get yourself a girlfriend,” You chuckled. You turned to go back to your table, only to find that it was empty because Tom was approaching you on the dance floor.

“Mind if I cut in?” He asked to Antonio, though his voice wasn’t nearly as pleasant as it was when you had been taking earlier. “Considering we’re on a date and all, I would think not.”

Ouch.

“All yours,” Antonio said, bowing his head towards Tom as well. He raised his eyebrows at you as he walked away backwards, holding his hands up in surrender. You just shook your head subtly then looked at Tom. He had his hand out to you, and you took it, feeling the warmth of his body heat against yours. You haven’t been this close to him before. You had to admit, it was pretty nice. He looked even more handsome up close than he did from across the table.

“Were you a little jealous?” You asked, as the next song started. “If you were, that’s actually kind of cute.”

“Maybe a little,” Tom admitted. The song was a slower one, so you tended to stay close. He spun you beneath his arm and you twirled expertly, then ended right back against his chest. “Was it that obvious?”

“Perhaps you’re not the amazing actor that you think you are,” You challenged.

“I don’t think that matters much to you, does it?” He asked. He had a point there, and you lightly shook your head. His arm dropped a little lower below your waist, going towards dangerous territory. He had a bit of a smug face, which was pretty adorable.

You did a quick spin out of his arms on that one, to make his face change. He had to know now that you had the upper hand - and that you had a sense of humor. And that you could throw in a little bit of spice into everything. When you went back into him, his arm was a little higher this time.

“A little handsy for a first date, Mr Cruise,” You said, amused.

“What can I say,” He grinned. “I perform my own stunts.”

You laughed at that, and swayed along with him to the music - up until the band started to heat it up, bringing back in the fun. You stayed on the dance floor, waiting to see what Tom was going to do. He went along with it, rather than drag you off. Slow dancing was easy, but many men were intimidated by the faster steps. Tom wasn’t the same way. He actually managed to keep up with you, his steps quick, his eyes on you, his smile on his face nonstop. Those hips didn’t lie.

“What a daredevil,” You teased. “What other stunts do you intend to do tonight?”

“Well, it all depends,” Tom said, looking into your eyes as you spun side by side.

“On?”

“Where this night is leading. I might dare to kiss you on your doorstep...”

“How bold,” You smirked, dancing around him, looking over your shoulder to keep up the eye contact.

“Or I can show you a couple of moves if you’re feeling this as much as I am.”

“Ballsy,” You laughed. The song came to a close and you and Tom clapped for the band. You leaned against him, back to his chest, and his arms went around you, holding you close. You liked that feeling. You liked him a lot. And you usually weren’t this sort of person but ... but you were interested in what sort of moves that Tom had off of the dance floor. “I like it. I suppose I could let you take me home - if you really think that your moves are that good.”

He seemed a little off-guard that you had agreed with the idea so quickly. But he covered it up by bringing you back to the table and quickly throwing down some money and putting his jacket back on. The dancing, the food - all of this was an amazing aphrodisiac, and you were feeling the mood with Tom right now. You hurried with your own jacket, and finished off your drink which you had left behind when you had gotten up to dance. You left together hand in hand, and he showed off his gentlemanly he could be by opening the passenger door for you, and waiting until you were settled in with your seatbelt on to close it.

If  he kept up this perfect combination of sweet and spicy, you were very excited to see what moves he was going to show you in the bedroom tonight.

[yandere-flower]

I worded my ask weird so I’m rewording it here. Which of the boys would be the best at eating darling out?

Part of this is me pasting old work but all you guys decide whose technique you like best:

Sawyer is normally always eager and ready to follow directions, but there’s something about the taste of pussy that drives him wild. He tends to do long, wide strokes with his tongue before trying to shove the tip of his tongue into darling, only because the cold and smooth metal of his tongue stud is sometimes to much depending on the person’s sensitivity and he loves when their hips buckle. He’s sloppy, forceful and doesn’t have a technique but he loves the taste

Antonio is tediously slow to the point of edging you on, until you’re almost angry and frustrated and trying to get him to go faster but he’s not doing it on purpose. He wants to savor you. You feel the soft caress of his jaw as it painstakingly moves with his tongue to swirl around your sex. It feels like it’s been hours of him working you, and the sounds are almost gross with how much slick and saliva there is.

Cliff has a good mix of using his tongue and using his fingers. He loves to start it off with rubbing darlings clit and staring at them with his smug grin, brushing his rough fingers against their entrance while kissing down their neck and lower. Then he pushes their legs apart, makes a big show of it, and start slowly licking before gently kissing and licking darlings clit. The man knows what he is doing, and makes a performance from it.

Ezra is also a bit sloppy but has more technique than Sawyer. He focuses on foreplay a lot, kissing and adoring darlings body with soft touches and little pecks. Darling always feels his breath against their heat, he gets so excited and nervous before diving in. He mostly rotates between kisses and suckling with a few tongue swipes, but he never lasts down their long before returning to kiss darling

Desmond doesn’t go down on darling often, he’d much rather rail them or finger them. He loves looking at darling so if he’s going down on darling he’s almost...mad? He has one hand on their hip making sure their hips stay firmly flat, because he licks and nips and somethings bites darlings fucking clit and just stares up at them because he WANTS to fuck darling so bad and this is just shitty foreplay to him. But he does admit, he doesn’t mind the bucking when he gives a nice rolled flat tongue against their clit.

Mizu doesn’t give oral I’m sorry but it’s not surprising it it

[soldrawss]

Alright, so it's pretty clear which Bab is who, But how oh how did he Obtain these four boys in your Human Rottmnt au?

~SO! Bear with me, there’s a LOT of info here and it kinda turned into a fic half way down so yeah~

In my au, Yoshi is still the famous movie and action star, Lou Jitsu! (In his private life, he goes by Yoshi Hamato, but in the public eye he is Lou Jitsu. Sorta like a Hannah Montana situation) Anyway, while he’s a big-time hotshot, he starts dating fellow hotshot movie star Kuroko Gumo (Big Mama)(I gave her a Japanese name basically meaning spider don’t @ me) They date for a long time and for a while are the celebrity couple of the century... that is, until Yoshi asks Big Mama to marry him. She turns him down in a very public and horrible way (Basically saying that what they had was just a fun fling and also for clout) and leaves Yoshi absolutely wrecked. He becomes incredibly depressed and spirals into unhealthy habits and kinda goes off the deep end. (Showing up to interviews and public events wasted. Sleeping around with lots of other famous celebrities and models. Causing a PUBLIC SCENE literally every time he goes out. It wasn’t a good time for Yoshi OR Lou at ALL. This went on for about 4-5 years on and off.)

Until his ‘manager’ finally hired him a PR agent to put him into shape. (Yoshi had PR agents in the past. But all of them quit after a while of not being able to DEAL with Yoshi’s tantrums) And boy, did this PR agent NOT fuck around. Barry Draxum, though he prefers just Draxum, single-handedly saved Yoshi’s carrier and Lou Jitsu’s image practically overnight. And even though his methods for getting Yoshi to shower before a photoshoot or ‘eat a fucking vegetable Hamato or so help me GOD I will shave your head completely bald and then you’ll have to wear a wig for the rest of filming, do not TEMPT me’ are a little unorthodox, he gets the job done. And even though the two butt heads and bicker on the daily, they end up being a pretty good team, and slowly but surely, Yoshi starts to heal and get better and get his life/career back on track.

That is, until the consequences of his actions came a-knocking. 

It was Draxum who found out first, through a late-night phone call in Yoshi’s living room while the two were discussing a film shoot for later on that week. 

Yoshi had really only seen two sides of Draxum’s emotional range up until that point, and Yoshi was pretty sure he didn’t have any other settings besides passively annoyed and downright fed up, but the look on Draxum’s face, going pale with confusion and concern had Yoshi waiting at the edge of the couch in acute apprehension. The blood in his veins turning to ice under his skin.

It was about a woman named Nia Okoro. A vibrant and outgoing woman, with freckles like constellations dusted on her dark skin and dimples so deep that Yoshi loved to make her laugh just so he could see how deep they’d go. He had had previous relations with her, often seeking her out when he was at his loneliest and lowest points only because she had a personality that was loud and warm, and that could win smiles out of him as easy as breathing. 

But he hadn’t seen her in almost a year. Right before Draxum came around and knocked some sense into him, Yoshi even said so when Draxum asked, worry a knotted, tangled mess in his stomach when he asks why. What’s wrong? Did something happen?

A car accident, Draxum explains slowly like he’s approaching a feral animal and he doesn’t know if it will fight or flee if he approaches with any more information. A semi collided with the driver's side of her car. She didn’t make it. Died on route to the hospital.

Yoshi, Draxum says in a low voice, not giving Yoshi a second to wrap his head around the grief pumping back into his system like an all too familiar and painful drug when he adds, she left behind two sons. And apparently, before she died, she claimed they were both yours.

Yoshi was on the next flight out to Chicago that night, Draxum trailing behind after him trying to get Yoshi to see reason, Hamato. We don’t really know if they’re yours, and even if they were, which is highly unlikely, what are you going to do? You can’t raise children right now, your career is still in a fragile state. YOU’RE still in a fragile state.

But Yoshi wasn’t listening as he takes his window seat, Draxum perfectly harrumphing defeatedly in the seat beside him, and Yoshi spends the next two and a half hours looking out into the cloudless night, not listening to anything but the sound of his own racing heart trying to burst out between his ribcage.

When they get to the hospital, it’s 2:30 in the morning and Draxum has to practically pull Yoshi from slamming his fists down on the reception desk. Draxum had told him it was a longshot that the children would even still be here at this hour, if they even existed at all and weren’t just some wild goose chase of a prank someone was pulling on them, but Yoshi still had to know. Had to make sure.

When Draxum finally manages to explain their situation to the woman at the front desk, it's with a sad but knowing smile when she nods, knowing exactly the children they were looking for, and leads them through the hospital for what feels like endless years to Yoshi till they reach a closed examination room.

Yoshi is greeted by two pairs of almond-shaped brown eyes, one pair wide and bright and the other sleepy and heavy-lidded, and it takes all his strength not to crumble to the hospital floor right then and there.

A little boy was sitting on a large hospital bed, covered in scratches and bruises and head half wrapped in colorful red gauze with yellow stars on it, looks up at Yoshi with watery alert eyes. He clutches at the drowsy infant half asleep in the circle of his arms almost protectively, and it takes another bow of strength from Yoshi to remain calm when the boy bites out a quiet, you can’t take him either. 

Take who away, Yoshi asks back in a voice almost as quiet at the boy’s, and the little boy tightens his hold around the baby. Eyes bright like daggers and mouth thin with a determination that could move mountains, like he wasn’t a child and the ugly road rash and bruising skin under her clothes didn’t exist, when he glares at Yoshi.

Mikey! They took mama away, but you can’t take Mikey too! He’s my baby brother. Mama said I have to protect him, so you can’t take him! You can’t! Please!

It took several weeks and an ocean load of paperwork on Yoshi’s and Draxum’s part, but sure enough, Raphael and Michelangelo Okoro were indeed Yoshi’s sons, and having no other relatives they could go to, were finally allowed to be adopted and come home with the movie star.

Yoshi was whole worlds out of depths with parenthood, having absolutely no experience with children in general prior to his son’s moving in with him, and it showed with every backward diaper and screaming tantrum fit and sleepless night. And Yoshi asked himself about a million and a half times a day if he had gotten over his head. Taken on too much, more than he could handle. If he was cut out to be a dad, let alone a dad they needed, at all.

But Mikey had a giggle that filled up every corner of the room with something warm and delighted, and Raph’s tough and hesitant exterior against Yoshi at first melted into something akin to fierce and toothed love for his baby brother. So he was patient with Yoshi, and taught him all the best tricks to get Mikey to hold still long enough to change his clothes or wash behind his ears with a smile and fondness that downright glowed. And when he finally called out a hey pops to Yoshi, wearing a broad and comfortable confidence and joy like a badge on his chest, Yoshi finally gave in to his emotions and sleep deprivation and cried right there with both of his boys in his arms. 

And he really was awful at being a dad, but dangit if he wasn’t going to try his best anyway because it was so worth it just to have those two pairs of smiling eyes turn his way.

But the experience with Raph and Mikey opened up a pandora's box inside Yoshi’s heart.

Because Raph was four years old. That was four years of Yoshi not knowing he had a son, let alone two... Was it possible that there was more he didn’t know about?

And with the, albeit begrudging, help from Draxum, (Draxum, who had collected the embarrassingly long list of lovers and ex’s from Yoshi and began reaching out to them in inquiry about children and possible visitation rights and the such. Because Yoshi was sure that if he had more children, their situations wouldn’t be like Raph’s and Mikey’s where Yoshi could just take full custody of them. Especially when none of the mothers had ever reached out in the first place) he found that answer out.

It was yes, and the exact number was two more.

Two more sons. One in Seattle and one in San Antonio.

Donatello Martelli was relatively easy to find. His mother, Bria, as beautiful as she was vain and obsessed with her image, didn’t hesitate to point Draxum and Yoshi in the direction of the nearest foster home. Because Bria was not the motherly type, and she never had the patience or tolerance or room in her heart to fit parenthood into her world of glamour and glitz the way Yoshi did. So with what little kindness she had to her name, she put up her son for adoption and wiped her hands clean of what was left of Yoshi’s and her’s short-lived romance.

Donatello, as Yoshi had come to discover, was a handful of a child, but in all the ways that made Yoshi’s heart burst with affection and pride.

He was smarter and craftier than anyone would ever give a 3-year-old credit for, and his short temper and passive boredom towards the world around him was only because he lacked the stimulus and opportunity to shine as brightly as he could. He was in his 8th foster home in that year alone when Draxum had located him; being swapped around from home to home because no one knew how to handle the child's sharp wit and even sharper tongue, and the list of appliances and machines he had ‘destroyed’ had labeled him as a trouble maker and problem child.  

It was only until Yoshi had made the journey to Seattle himself and met the keen-eyed and brazen child that Yoshi discovered just how soft-hearted Donatello truly was. 

He was just curious. That’s all he ever was. Curious and hungry for knowledge and wanting to use that knowledge for good and kind and wonderfully brilliant things.

I wanted to know how the toaster works, Donatello’s admits quietly, more to himself than to Yoshi but Yoshi listens anyway. Mrs. Brown’s burns the toast and Mr. Brown doesn’t like it. I just wanted to see if I could make it better.

Donnie’s adoption was almost too easy, no one willing to put up any fight against Yoshi steadfast resolution, and the bespectacled brown-eyed child thrived in Yoshi’s endless supply of toasters he could take apart and reassemble too his heart's content, and Raph’s and Mikey’s constant adoration and fondness for their newest brother.

It took almost 2 months after Donnie’s adoption for Draxum to even learn about a fourth child, let alone find him.

Maria Guerrero was the only woman they couldn’t reach out to, seemingly dropping off the face of the earth like she had never existed in it to begin with and was just a well-spun fever dream of Yoshi’s past. Draxum had almost exhausted every string he had left to even prove the woman existed, let alone where she was, and it was only because of Yoshi’s begging and pleading and she’s out there somewhere, Barry. Please. I don’t want to give up without knowing for sure, that Draxum kept up the search longer than the 2-month mark. 

And then he had found something. A tiny, sliver of a half baked chance at something and Yoshi clung to it like a lifeline.

I don’t know if it’s anything at all. Maria isn’t even mentioned by name it’s just... with the description you gave and the time frame set... a couple of years ago, there was this child with the last name Guerrero in San Antonio who was left at the hospital just a few hours after he was born. The mother disappeared without a trace and with no explanation, but she matches the description of Maria-

What’s the child’s name, Yoshi finds himself interrupting, a tugging feeling at the bottom of his stomach making him feel equal parts sick and hungry with hope and morbid curiosity.

Leonardo. Leonardo Guerrero. He’d be about 3 now.

Yoshi knew. He just knew. As soon as he stepped out of his car and onto the dusty laneway of the shabby and overpacked halfway home in Texas and walked up to the metal chain-linked fence separating himself from the front yard of children of varying ages and races, he knew. He didn’t even need the owner and self-designated father of the home to point the child out to Yoshi.

Leonardo was a scrawny and scrappy child. The patched-up sweater 3 times his size dropping over limbs covered in bandaids and vitiligo patches alike. His hair was a curly mess, long and tangled and held out of his face by different types of hair clips and scrunchies. He was playing by himself off in the farthest corner of the yard, head down and tracing the ground with a stick, and it wasn’t until the other man called out a thickly accented, GUERRERO, that the boy looked up.

Brown eyes. Brown eyes like Raph’s and Donnie’s and Mikey’s. Brown eyes like Yoshi’s. Round and rich and shining like a spotlight and something clicked inside of Yoshi’s chest. Like the final piece of a long-overdue jigsaw puzzle was finally where it belonged, fitting into the empty spot in Yoshi’s heart like it had always owned a place there, right alongside all the other pieces that had claimed their space within the past few months. 

Yoshi didn’t think his heart could get any fuller. 

But then Leo smiled at him, and Yoshi couldn’t have been more happy to be proven wrong. 

[emjee]

The Glorious Queer Potential of Viola and Orsino in Twelfth Night

for Shakespeare Appreciation Week - Day Three - Lovers Day

This is a long-promised essay/ramble and I’m chucking it under Lover’s Day because it mostly concerns Viola and Orsino. I suppose an alternate title for it could be Orsino: He’s as Queer as the Rest of Them.

Before we begin, brief caveat: queerness exists in many forms and means many things to many people. This is my reading as one (1) singular queer person. Also, as you will have noticed if you read this far, I’m using the word queer. Not only is it an academically accepted term and one of my personal identifiers, it is in many cases the best descriptor for people and relationships in a play written in a time where gender and sexuality were constructed differently than they are today. Am I going to use the word “bisexual” when I talk about Orsino? Probably. But overall, the play’s just queer, in terms of gender, sexual attraction, and social relationships.

Let’s start with Viola (another heads up, I’m going to refer to her mostly as Viola because that’s how she seems to think about herself, and I’m going to use she/her pronouns). I believe @shredsandpatches recently made an argument that Viola can be read as a trans woman, which is an argument I love—she’s clearly uncomfortable with her masculine disguise (“Disguise, I see, thou art a wickedness, / Wherein the pregnant enemy does much. / How easy is it for the proper-false / In women's waxen hearts to set their forms!”) but she also passes as a man marvelously well. Like, people make a few comments about her higher voice, but nobody actually seems to suspect that she’s a woman until she’s finally in the same place as Sebastian and everyone goes “twins?!” Viola being a trans woman would also make the whole “she and Sebastian are literally identical” thing much more plausible, although one should never let “biological technicalities” get in the way of a good twin plot. I think there are also arguments to be made for playing Viola as a gender nonconforming cis woman who thinks, “It’ll be safer if I just pass as a man”, or with some other relationship to genderqueerness. (And by the way, when I say “arguments to be made”, sometimes that can mean the argument is “I, a queer person, feel like playing Viola this way.” Sometimes you just gotta do it for the queer joy, you know?)

So, Orsino. The two most memorable Orsinos I’ve seen have been Nicholas Bishop in the 2017 RSC production and Oliver Chris in the 2017 National Theatre production (truly we were blessed with Twelfth Nights in 2017). The RSC production chose to look at Orsino and immediately go, “This is not a Straight Man” which was valid of them—from the get-go, you understand why Orsino might go for a person who’s got some excellent gender-fuckery going on. In the NT production, Orsino is much more of a jock and, to my interpretation, definitely Thinks He’s Straight, which is fun because you get to see his heterosexuality crumble before his very eyes. (The moment where Viola reveals herself as a woman and Orsino lets out a long “oh thank God” breath can read a little too close to “no homo” for my liking, but Oliver Chris is good at making even asshole characters weirdly endearing, so I will let it pass.)

With both of these productions, you also have to consider the era they’re set in: the RSC is in the Victorian era, the NT in the 1970s (I think. I’m pretty sure it’s the 70s. Could be the 60s?) In the RSC, one could infer that Orsino’s commitment to getting Olivia to love him stems from the homophobia of the society he’s living in. Would he love to be able to just get with men? Sure. But the odds of him getting away with that for his entire life are low. The show’s design really makes this production Shakespeare-by-way-of-Wilde: the sets, the costumes (especially Antonio, who’s literally wearing a green carnation in his lapel). By evoking Wilde and his persecution, the production reminds the viewer that plenty of the people in this play—Antonio, Olivia, Viola, Orsino—can’t show the outside world their true queer selves, however much they might want to be.

Now, the NT production’s version of Orsino reads to me very much like someone going through a bisexual awakening. Source: I have undergone a bisexual awakening and I took one look at Orsino in this production and went *John Mulaney voice* “Oh, okay.” To me, Oliver Chris’s Orsino is going through the motions of compulsive heterosexuality. By all accounts, he should be in love with Olivia. It makes sense to him. He knows all the motions to go through. He’s talked himself into loving her because that’s what you do when you feel you need to be visibly in love with a woman and she’s the most suitable person around.

But once Orsino meets Viola, he seems to immediately adore her, in his own bro way, for herself. This isn’t what he’s used to attraction being like, he doesn’t immediately recognize it because Cesario is a guy, sometimes guys are just friends with other guys and do a lot of homoerotic boxing practice (still not over it) and it’s just dudes being bros and chilling on a table at your fortieth birthday part five feet apart because you’re not gay (spoiler: you’re actually really gay, and by gay I mean pick your favorite flavor of polysexual queerness).

Orsino continues to refer to Viola as Cesario up until the end of the play, mostly because Viola is still wearing men’s clothes. In early modern England, clothes were a huge part of gender expression. Cross-dressing was against the law (I’m 99% sure, someone please correct me on this if I’m wrong; it’s been several years since I discussed queer early modern stuff in a formal setting). Orsino referring to Viola as Cesario even when he knows she’s a woman is one of those things that has a reasonable historic explanation, but can also be read nowadays as: he likes it. Orsino’s into genderqueerness, and good on him. Genderqueerness is attractive as hell.

I know we sometimes lament the end of Twelfth Night along the lines of “But Will! Tell us what the original super-gay ending was!!” I totally understand why people want to see Olivia and Viola wind up together (Olivia—another raging queer who I didn’t even get to in this ramble—does seem to be truly in love with Viola and it’s hard to leave her disappointed at the end of the play), and I think we’re all heartbroken for Antonio (he just loves Sebastian so MUCH). However, I want to point out that men and women can still have queer romantic relationships with each other.  A love story between Viola as a straight trans woman and Orsino as a bisexual cis man is still a queer love story.

Happy Lovers Day, my loves! Have a fabulously queer day.

[sylverstorms]

Unexpected

Fandom: Bloodbound (Set until early book 2 because after that it died for me)

Pairing: Priya Lacroix x MC (Rose)

Warnings: Priya. You all know what that includes.

A/N: Here you go, anon. I went a bit farther than expected with this one. Also a bit sexier than intended, but Priya is to blame for that, I’m totally innocent. Hope you enjoy!

Prompt by:

They’d done this dance a few times, before.

Rose knew it wasn’t smart. Not even remotely so. It was wrong and dangerous and every time she went to her she willingly flirted with death itself. Priya was not exactly the epitome of self-control. She was wild, untamed, utterly selfish. She always took too much –and Rose had been dizzy for the entire day after their nights together.

But.

She needed it.

She needed the sensation only Priya could provide. That of letting it all slip away, the mess that had become of her life, of letting herself surrender in ecstatic bliss. The adrenaline of licking a razor and coming out uncut. Equal parts freedom and fear; the burning of her muscles and rapid pounding of her heart making it all ten times more intense. She needed her to feel alive.

That night, however… was different.

Because as much as Rose wanted to forget being kidnapped by Gaius, the trauma was still too fresh. Her mind needed Priya to make it disappear, but her body wasn’t in line with the idea. Every ardent touch to her shoulder, pressed too tightly by Jameson when he’d forced her to sit beside his master, sent a sharp wave of pain across her form.

Rose had tried to close her eyes and focus on the soft, insistent lips lavishing her neck with sucks and bites from yet-blunt teeth. On the hand moving higher up her thigh and hiking her dress along with it. She could certainly feel the arousal pooling low in her belly and lower, aching between her legs. But. Every time Priya’s fingers curled into the skin of her shoulder –she was none-too-gentle with her strength— she’d shut her eyelids in something other than pleasure. Tears, of pain, of frustration, were fought down.

Until the vampire’s ministrations stilled. Her lips broke away from Rose’s neck, moving further back, until a pair of extremely dark, hungry eyes were looking into her own. And they weren’t pleased.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were hurt?” she demanded, fangs flashing underneath her lips in barely-restrained anger.

Because you don’t like your toys faulty before you break them yourself. Rose thought but couldn’t say. “It’s not that bad.” she lied, somehow maintaining a straight face, though her voice did waver at the end.

Priya’s hand traveled from her shoulder to her chin, curling there. It was tight, but it wasn’t painful. “Why did you come here injured, doll? Don’t you know how stupid that is?”

Because I needed you.

Rose gave up on trying to lie. She huffed and shook her head out of the hold, pulling up the strap of her dress Priya had pushed down, swinging her legs, previously over the designer’s, back down. She thought to leave while she still had her dignity. While the fragility she’d been feeling since she opened her eyes in that dark room Gaius had thrown her in didn’t shatter her entirely.

Priya’s hand fell to her arm, locking her in place before she could even attempt to stand. “Did I say we were done?” the vampire asked, one perfectly arched eyebrow raised.

“Aren’t we?” Rose asked, a hint of agitation slipping into her tone.

“I cancelled my plans for the night for you, you think you can just dump me here, bored to death?” the designer asked, in a way that implied ‘if you’re planning to do that, you’re not leaving here alive’.

“Your mansion has, like,” Rose immediately replied, baffled. “Everything.” There was a swimming pool. A jacuzzi. Hell, even a fucking cinema.

“That’s beside the point.” Priya raised a dismissive hand.

How is that beside the point?? Rose opened her mouth. Closed it. No use arguing with Priya. “Alright, then, what? You want to watch a movie together?” she said it just for sake of saying it. Something equally absurd to how the vampire was being.

Except.

The designer seemed to consider it. And then… “Antonio!” she called, clapping her hands as though calling a dog. The skimpily-dressed houseboy dashed out of a side room and bowed in front of them. “Prepare that one movie I wanted to see.”

“R-Right away!” he hurriedly scurried off.

Priya stood with all the grace of a queen, Rose’s hand grasped in hers. “Come on.” she urged, guiding her along to the cinema, while the human remained utterly speechless. She pinched herself for good measure, discreetly, because what was even happening?

They took the massive, joined seats at the middle of the dark room, more like a couch than anything else. Rose had been stressing over how close to sit, but Priya made the decision for her, pulling her almost to her lap. Don’t blush, don’t blush…

“Is this the kind of movie I normally wouldn’t watch with anyone else?” Rose asked, perhaps to rid herself of her anxiety, because this new dynamic between them left her too unsure and giddy to be comfortable. Sex was safe –well, not in the literal sense— and she didn’t think or stress over it anymore. But this?

Priya made a grimace. Then smirked. “You’ll just have to wait and see.”

Rose had honestly expected a high-class porno film, or anything among those lines. But other than one or two drawn-out lesbian sex scenes, it was… surprisingly normal. The plot was even good, from what little of it she had managed to focus on. Because her attention wasn’t so much on the screen as the woman next to her, whose nails were absent-mindedly running over her thigh, whose arm was hot iron around her waist.

“Rose.” Priya said, like a reprimand, dropping her chin to her uninjured shoulder. “Your heart’s beating too loud, it’s distracting.”

“What can I possibly do about that?” the secretary asked.

“Relax~” the designer said, rocking her a tiny bit in her arms. An airy laugh bubbled out of her, but she found her cheek dropping against Priya’s conditioner-scented, impossibly soft hair anyway. She didn’t know what possessed her to turn the slightest bit into her.

She tried, very hard, in that moment, not to think that their outlines didn’t look like a casual hookup, but something else.

At the next sex scene, Rose felt Priya’s lips touch her neck and only pushed her head back in response. The vampire bit her, a quick flash of pain and then blissful pleasure and intimacy… that lasted only for a moment. Unusually quick, she licked the wound clean and eased back.

What…? Rose was dazed and beyond a little bit aroused. Torn, between wanting more and not tempting her luck further for one night. She turned to look at Priya’s face, but the vampire’s visage was calm, almost too calm, eyes fixed on the screen.

Illuminated by the soft blue light coming from the movie, the designer was stunning, a picture, a painting, something otherworldly and for once not in an aggressive way. Rose felt magnetized; drawn, in a way she never had been, before. She hadn’t realized how close she’d leaned until her lips were pressing to the corner of Priya’s inviting mouth.  

“Hon, I swear, I’m trying to watch this…” she let out a low hiss, but brushed her lips over Rose’s despite her words. “…but you’re making it extremely difficult.” Crimson nails dug into her waist, almost painfully.

It wasn’t even that Rose was that horny. Well, she was, but she wanted the closeness of that bite with Priya again, far more than an orgasm. Despite the warning, she turned further into the vampire, kissing her fully on the lips. Their mouths locked together, tongues sliding in unison, soft sucks followed by softer sounds.

They remained that way for far too long, in no hurry to separate.

Rose dropped her head to Priya’s clavicle when they finally parted, daring not draw a single breath until the end of the movie, which they already missed the biggest part of.

She absolutely wasn’t blushing.

[burlesque-articulation]

So I recently went a little... Red-string-cork-board-wild for a very minuscule reason. Namely, I wanted to try and figure out if there was any evidence to back up the fanon of whether or not Graham Folger & Oliver Banks had ever been in a relationship for... Reasons.

To start with, I decided to relisten to MAG 003 just for a lil refresher on who the hell Graham even was (emphasis on the was, lmao). Now, the statement was first catalogued in 2007, but the actual events of the statement take place on 2005; first possible hole in the theory, because, in MAG 011, Oliver, under the alias of Antonio Blake, states that his relationship with "Graham" ended 8 years previous to when he gave his statement to the Magnus Institute, which was given in 2015; which means Oliver's relationship would've ended in 2007.

Why do I point this out though?

Mostly because during MAG 003, when Amy Patel has to chill in Graham Folger's flat due to being concussed, and in an attempt to reassure her, all Graham Folger says is "no worries, I'm gay ✌️" which, okay, that's reassuring, sure... But wouldn't it have been more reassuring to say, "Not only am I hella gay, but I'm also seeing someone." Now, sure, maybe because this is '05 and they don't really know each other that well, he probably thought that would be a little TMI, but then again I feel like "oh I'm seeing someone" is significantly less TMI then just flat-out coming out to someone. Either way, later Amy spends essentially weeks or months watching this dude, and he's always. Alone.

And when she described Graham Folger's flat, it didn't sound like a place TWO (2) people were sharing, it barely sounded like there was one person living there. (And Oliver mentions that he'd been in a SIX (6) YEAR relationship, with a shared living space). A little sus, but... Amy does also say that Mr. Folger spends an awful lot of time outside of his apartment so... Double life maybe? Perhaps.

-- Impromptu read more because this got longer than I intended! So the rest is under the cut --

But now let's take a long look at MAG 011, where Oliver, or Antonio if that's easier for anyone? Nah, let's keep it as Oliver— anyways, MAG 011 takes place in 2015, 8 years prior is 2007; but then.. 6 years prior to that, when Oliver's relationship with "Graham" would’ve started... That would've been in 2001 🤔 now why does that particular year ring a bell? Well, that's because in 2001 is when Graham Folger's parents passed away; which would MEAN THAT, if these two had ever dated, then either it would've been just after Graham Folger had lost his parents, OR, the accident would have happened during the start of their relationship. And I do hear that stuff like that either makes or breaks a relationship, so; hey, maybe they would've had problems from the start. Doomed to end before it began, y'know.

But this is what actually made me go back and relisten in MAG 003, again; because I wasn't 100% on that because for whatever reason I had the year 2003 stuck in my head, IDK. Anyways, it was while I was relistening to MAG 003, again, that I realized my timeline... Wasn't entirely correct. Because Amy Patel, yes she first met Graham Folger in 2005; but it was in September 2005; and the real meat of the statement doesn't start until about 4 months after that initial encounter— which means Amy would've started Graham-watching in Dec. 2005 or Jan. 2006.

You know what else I found rather interesting? In the closing comments for this statement that the Archivist gives us, the apartment under Graham Folger's name was sold in... Early 2007. I wonder... How closely that might actually line up with whenever Oliver Banks apparently ended his relationship with "Graham".

But let's loop back to the "Dec. 2005 or Jan. 2006" bit, because in the supposed timeline given to us in Oliver's statement (MAG 011), he and his "Graham" started having issues a year prior to the official break-up. Maybe that's why Amy never would've seen Graham Folger's partner, in the assumption that he had one, because they was havin' issues, so if Graham Folger had a partner, maybe they weren't hanging about too much.

Alternatively, maybe the real kicker, the Real end to this, alleged, relationship, was because things just started being Different around the start of 2006; say maybe around April? April 7th of 2006 if we want to get real specific. Maybe it was after that day that the relationship got just a bit too much.

Maybe, in the last year of this alleged relationship between Oliver Banks and Graham Folger, maybe Oliver tried to make things work, but there was just something so off about "Graham" so... Not-him, and yet this is still the man that Oliver looks at and remembers spending almost 6 years of his life with. But maybe things get just weird enough that, Oliver just does some digging, maybe he's looking for some excuse some reason for why Graham seems so different but so familiar. Maybe there was an update on the accident that happened (either before or after they got together) and it's having an affect on "Graham". Let's say he does this little research deep-dive while at work too. So he's just sitting at his desk, scrolling through old news, etc. etc, maybe checking new stuff, who knows. (And assuming that even digital scans of polaroids are also untampered) He comes across an old picture that, sure enough those are the Folger Parents, but who the hell is that dark haired teenager in the picture?

Now why would this be happening why Oliver is at work? Well, because in MAG 011, Oliver states that he had a breakdown at work that required him to take leave and supposedly helped to fuel his breakup which then left him on a friend's couch. Obviously it could actually be the other way around; that the break-up was the catalyst for the breakdown at work, but this is no longer a post about why Graham Folger and Oliver Banks weren't a thing, but rather a post on why it would hurt so much if they had been.

Because we're gonna switch gears now and take a peek from Not-Graham's perspective. Because what does Not-Graham, the Not-Them, want? Well, we know they like scaring and upsetting people, but Graham Folger isn't exactly a socialite and apparently didn't have enough of an outstanding presence that made him particularly rememberable. But you know what he did have? The table. The same table that the Not-Them really wanted to have smashed up in... MAG 039, I think (IDK main plot is just an entrée for me right now, not super important y'know). So, sure Graham Folger doesn't have a lot of people in his life, but he's got this partner that he was already having a rocky relationship with, so why not make that relationship even more unbearable on the other party? Just make it absolutely intolerable, in the hopes that the partner might just get fed up enough to do something irrational, like smash a table that apparently means just so, so much to "Graham". But in the end that doesn't work, because the partner just ends up dippin' out (side note: love the idea that Oliver is petty in the way that instead of destroying something that he knows his partner is fond of, he just like, sells the fucking table off instead, send the Not-Them on another wild goose chase to find it again, because that would be funny as fuck).

Regardless, around the beginning of 2007, the two will have broken up, and Not-Graham no longer has a reason to keep that flat so it gets sold, because the Not-Them either has the table and fucks off after that, or they gotta start all over again trying to find it, and Oliver cuts ties and starts crashing on a friend's couch.

It's circumstantial, sure. But when you really look at it... The timeline does actually match up pretty well, and I think that's pretty cool.

Anyways, that's all for now. Whether or not Graham Folger & Oliver Banks ever actually had a relationship in canon, who can say.

But if Oliver's "Graham" isn't Graham Folger, then who is it? Well, not to mix podcasts, but anyone here ever listen to The White Vault?

[twistedblud]

FINE LINE SERIES

Part 1: Adore You

pairing: dom x female!reader

description: a couple who fell in love and got married — very young and now with a kid. always told they were young and naïve. where did they go wrong?

warning(s): a hint of fluff, the tiniest bit of angst? just a moment of vulnerability is all. nothing too big coming up until the third part! 

a/n: my first series and i’m kindaaa nervous haha. but if you like it i’d appreciate if you left a comment, like, or reblog. it helps a lot. also, lyrics won’t be in exact order, just whenever they relate to the descriptions.

series masterlist & series playlist

“Y/N! He’s here! Up, let’s go!” Antonio called out. You huffed, only audible to yourself, at the words coming from your boss’ mouth and quickly got up from the seat at the vanity. You got your station prepped, making sure everything from the powder to the eyeliner were present. You couldn’t afford to be back and forth between the stock room looking for anything you may have missed. 

A few more hours. 

A few more hours.

After this shoot you leave, Y/N.

It had been a busy Thursday afternoon with Antonio and the first shift staff at your work, throwing out demands on top of demands. Now it was just after one in the afternoon and you were over the day. Antonio’s assistant, Tia, somehow spilled a coffee all over your precious denim jacket, which resulted in you taking an early break, frantically trying to find something else to cover up with. 

Thankfully, a new girl on the job happened to have a spare bomber jacket, not hesitating to lend it to you.

The day had went on and the team rushed around, making sure to prep the snacks for whichever artist they had coming in soon. Honestly, you hadn’t paid much attention at the meeting which discussed the artist and their vision for the project. You remember briefly hearing something about a Dominic, and him being from somewhere the UK.

You spent the minutes before the talent arrived on a conversation with your fellow co-workers, not being able to see your best friend at the job, as she always worked the shift after you.

Tia rushed over to your work space, closed off from the actual set, where photos were taken. “He’s here Y/N. Antonio says to make sure everything is ready please.” you nod, forming a fraudulent smile at the young girl before she walked away, but not before almost running into a group of men. You met the eyes of the guy in the middle of the group, being greeted with a warm smile. You returned it, not wanting to be completely rude but also wondering who he was.

I get so lost inside your eyes.

The mystery man stopped one of the staff members speeding past and whispered something. The staff member pointed directly at you before the man thanked her, and walked away. He made his way over to your station and paused directly in front of your figure. You took note of his dyed hair, the blue and pink streaks roaming freely throughout his head. 

“I was directed over here...Y/N right? You’re doin’ my makeup?” the man spoke, a heavy accent rolling off of his tongue. You nod slowly, not breaking eye contact with the man. He shot you a comforting smile, stripping out of his leather jacket, dropping it in the arms of a person in the group he walked in with. “Hold this for me, yeah? N’don’t spill anything on it like last time. M’begging you Adam,” Dom asked the guy before him-now identified as Gavin.

“I’m Dominic but feel free to call me Dom. Actually, I’d prefer if you called me Dom,” He rambled out. You try not to laugh at his introduction as you watched his, only what you could presume team, walk away and find seats near the snack area.

You motion to the seat in front of the mirror, allowing Dom to take a seat, watching him get settled. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and unlocked it before beginning to type away on it. Already having the essentials laid out before you two your eyes land on the eyeliner, along with the eyeshadow palette. You took note of the earthy tones and tried to brainstorm. It was your job to envision a look. It was your job to execute the look.

And it was your job to satisfy not only your boss Antonio, but Dom and his team as well. You couldn’t afford to have any complaints against you, especially given this was your only source of income.

You grab the top and side of the chair Dom was sitting in, drumming your fingers along the chipped wood as you stared at him through the mirror. You studied his stoic eyes, his basically-average nose, and even down to his lips. His lips were his most prominent feature, his hair coming in a close second. You hear the sound of his phone locking and he set his phone down into his lap. Dom looks up into the mirror and made immediate eye contact with you. You blinked frantically, breathing out and breaking the eye contact.

“Can I ask what the staring match was for?,” Dom questioned you, and you look back at him in the mirror. “I like to visualize. Just mix and match the possible looks.” Dom nodded in understanding. You continued, “It may seem weird but it helps. I swear,” Dom reached forward to grab a stray piece of plastic off the surface in front of him and began fiddling with it. 

“I understand Y/N. Forgot I work in the music industry myself?” Dom questioned you and you laughed. “Hey, I didn’t completely forget Dom. I just...suck at remembering things, especially here” you vent out to him. 

“S’okay. We all forget things sometimes, yeah?”

You hum out a quick “mhm” and tilt your head to the side as the perfect concept for Dom’s look comes to mind. Realizing that you subconsciously leaned part of your weight on the chair where he sat during your conversation, you push yourself back up and move to the front of the station, moving to get everything opened.

Dom watched you intently as you opened the eyeliner, making sure it was good. “You don’t mind?,” Dom randomly asked, you looking up to meet his eyes in the mirror once again. “Sorry, meant the eyeliner. The eyeshadow. You don’t mind putting it on me?”

You turn to face Dom with the eyeliner in hand and used your left hand to slightly tilt his head back. You move that same hand to the side of his left cheek, holding it there, as you began to bring the eyeliner toward his waterline. “I don’t mind it all, actually,” you slightly frown, “Why do you ask?”

“It’s just...people? The close-minded ones. Always judging me for wearing certain products or clothes.” You watched his eyes move to look down at his lap, Dom beginning to pick at his jeans. “Mostly get weird looks from other stylists in the industry for my interest in this kinda stuff. Not to mention the trolls online. It makes me...”

“Well it’s sexy to me. Any guy who can rock eyeliner and eyeshadow? A win to me.” Dom’s eyes went slightly wide, a goofy smile forming on his face. You simply stroked your thumb along his cheek, in a friendly manner, before beginning to apply the eyeliner.

---

Dom noticed you packing the last of your stuff into your purse, pleading with his team for a few more minutes. His convincing finally worked, but when he turned to your station, you were gone. The next shift of staff members piled in, taking your place at the station you once occupied. Dom let out a huff, running a hand through his wild hair. He wondered how you left so quick. But more importantly where you were.

Your lipstick had managed to slip out your purse in the process of you shoving everything in there, your coffee-stained jacked peaking out from the top. Dom noticed it on the floor and immediately picked it up. He briefly read the label: NYX Matte Lipstick in the shade Strawberry Daiquiri. Dom connected the dots, it now making sense that when you two were interacting, he smelled a frequent aroma of strawberry overpowering vanilla.

Strawberry lipstick state of mind.

“You can try the sidewalk. Y/N usually waits for her Uber there.” A voice snuck up behind Dom. He turned around to see a girl before him. She was only a tad bit shorter than him and slim, her skin a reddish-brown. A septum piercing stood out through her fuller nose, along with a simple nose piercing on her left side of her nose.

Dom realized he hadn’t replied back to the girl and shook his head, hoping she hadn’t noticed. Instead he cleared his throat, resting his hand on his hip, pushing back the jacket he had on. “How rude of me. Thank you!” Dom exclaimed, eyebrows furrowing as he looked around at the various exits, wondering which was quick to find you. The girl pointed to a door across from them. Dom thanked her again and headed toward the door but stopped in his tracks, turning around to the same girl who had been a help just moments before.

“Sick piercings by the way.”

----

Three more minutes. 

You looked down at your phone screen, tracking your Uber driver and his navigation as he reached closer to you. You waited in anticipation, finally relieved that your workday had come to an end and soon, you’d finally be in the comfort of your own home. You smiled at the thought of curling up on your sofa with a glass of wine, watching the newest episode of Grey’s Anatomy, with your puppy curled up by your feet.

Until then you waited on the sidewalk, swaying back and forth on the heels of your feet. You contemplated opening up the app Candy Crush to kill time, but the thoughts were interrupted, when you heard footsteps approaching you rather quickly. You squinted, barely made out who the figure was.

Dom halted in front of you, nearly crashing into you. You grabbed the side of his arms to help prevent him from plowing you over. He was audibly out of breath, huffs coming from his mouth. “Y/N...you left your, uh, lip stuff on the floor?” He handed you your beloved NYX lipstick. 

I'd walk through fire for you

You graciously thank him, “Holy shit, thank you Dom! Didn’t even realize I dropped it.” Your smile was small, yet still contagious, Dom fidgeting as you both hear the chime on your phone which signaled that your Uber was just around the corner.

You make out a quick goodbye, not realizing he had more to say. “Wait! If you’re not too busy, I was wondering if you maybe wanted to go out? Maybe this weekend? I know, shit, this is very weird and sudden but, I just wanted to ask-”

Just let me adore you

You giggled at his rambling and grabbed his hand, guiding him off of the sidewalk and near a random building, and away from you referred to it as, sidewalk rush hour.

Dom groaned in what you could only assume was embarrassment, slowly letting go of your hand, when you had finally worked up an answer to give him.

“I think I know what you’re trying to ask, and I’d love to, actually.”

Like it's the only thing I'll ever do.

Taglist: @wallows-spring

Part 2 will be linked here when it is published! And comment to be added to the taglist!

[bristlepaws]

sorry in advance for how long this post is but i am going to talk about animal crossing villagers for an hour because i am bored

fuchsia was one of my bffs in acnl and i still love her. i do not like hair on furries usually but fuchsia is GAY and has GARISHLY BRIGHT COLORS so i am in love with her. she has... blue tummy also which is extremely cute. she was one of my first 2 villagers on my island and she is Still There

i REALLY like this personality type but im not a fan of most of the designs that come with it... cherry, agnes, and reneigh are the exceptions IMO. katt i like less because i think she’s cute and more because of the gay vibes. 

i dont like.. most of the smug villagers, or really the dialogue options that come with them in this game. marshall lives in my acnl town (this is a pattern that will pop up with my preferences across this whole list lmfao) and i think he’s cute. i was caught off guard by how popular a villager he is though lmfao

raymond is cute and i like “office worker cat” because it is silly

everyone else is mediocre IMO

hrhrhghhgh i LOVE the lazy villagers. mostly, honestly, because of how they acted in acnl. stitches and pudge both live in my acnl town and they are EXTREMELY cute and talk about food and napping all the time and are Very friendly. i could give or take all the talk about bugs in the new one, BUT i think their dialogue options generally give off the vibe of “silly little animal that is being translated into humanspeak” and i really like that

i love the absurd memes that Bob is in and i want him on my island. i currently have stitches (acnl nostalgia and cute design, bones (looks good in every outfit and is Just Baby), papi (same as bones), hornsby (one of my early villagers that i will probs Eventually get rid of but im attached to him so maybe not, he’s also Baby), and Moe (originally had him in the F tier but then he showed up at my campsite and now i love him and his little buck teeth). i used to have zucker but he made me hungry every time i interacted with him so i booted him.

yes half of my villagers are lazy. yes i love living like this. i am constantly bombarded by dumb little animals who want to tell me their houses are full of bugs and then sprint off in a different direction to smell a flower

i do not like the jocks, which perhaps makes sense considering how much i stan the lazies. kid cat is cute and i have his amibo card by chance, so i am not prioritizing finding these guys. i think antonio is also cute and has good colors and patterns, but is kind of boring looking. everyone else i could NOT care less about. i got the emoji sheep in my campsite once and didnt even bother talking to him.

flora is my BEST friend in acnl and YES im saying that without a shred of irony. her house is right next to mine and she constantly jokes about moving in with me. one of my rooms is decorated for her. she’s! my! friend!!!!!!!!! she’s nice to me and i love her. 

i have not yet gotten my grubby little paws on her in this game but i will not rest until she is on my island. i love her little house interior that is modeled after wild flamingos vs the pink explosion that was her house in acnh. I Want Her. Give Her To Me.

ruby and rosie are also good but they are leagues below flora. ruby i like because of that one edgy comic that starred her back in the day (u know, the one with like, Experiments Gone Wrong that was all animal crossing characters). rosie i like cuz she was my favorite in my gamecube world.

i just kicked out twiggy, whom i will MISS because she made an adorable stupid face with her beak when she was crafting. she was really cute but i wanted to get stitches. sorry twiggy u were nice to me u_u

i currently have ketchup who is also cute but i would boot her in an instant for basically anyone else on her row and above. i just saw piper on an island when i was finding stitches and she was really cute so she got bumped up from the meh tier even though i passed her up. everyone else is fine

normal personality is Also rife with good designs.... i want kitties on my island. 

i have gladys and coco right now, both of whom arrived pretty early on. unfortunately the dialogue for normals in this game is so unbelievably bland that i do not feel any sort of connection with either of them, despite liking their designs a lot. gladys is in my acnl town and shares the “top fav” spot with flora in that game, but here she is Just Boring. so i would probably let her leave if i could find.. a kitty cat. and then coco i just like cuz i want to be edgy. look at her spooky little O_O face next to all the cutesy villagers lmfao. she’s good

snooty personality is not one of my faves, but the designs here ARE pretty good. i like pink wolf. i currently have 0 of these guys on my island just by happenstance. had portia at one point but i dont think she’s that great so she left. 

mathilda DID show up in my campsite recently, but i decided against including her bcuz my memories of how she acted in the gamecube version were SO disjointed with her current personality. she was so mean in gamecube and i wanted even a shadow of that -- but instead she was..... polite. it was weird. maybe if she shows up again i’d change my mind, but the character design not matching up with the personality bothers me enough that i probs wouldnt

i like the cranky dialogue in this game. i had lobo on the gamecube and i was obsessed with him because i was a wolf girl at that age, so i would be delighted to slap him onto my island, BUT.. i have fang currently and he’s a good boy. very distinguished, has a lovely classy house, and i like his design. butch is also cute. 

now here is this monstrosity. the past games are just gamecube and new leaf. each row (aside from the last 2) are arranged in most to least liked also. the “passed up on” and “let move out” lists are incomplete cuz i forget things immediately in this game

and now. to summarize:

thanks for coming with me on this journey

[wide-eyed--wonderer]

You’re an idiot. I married an idiot.

I feel like I haven’t posted in forever!! But this is over 1k of Sprace hurt/comfort (with a smattering of Jack and Race being brothers because I have nothing if not a brand) so I hope that makes up for it. Also, I know nothing about surfing or skateboarding, so please don’t judge if I got anything about it horribly wrong. 

Spot had missed being a mechanic. 

Don’t get him wrong, he had loved his honeymoon, and spending time with his husband, but nothing was quite as gratifying as getting his hands dirty and fixing up a car. 

Spot was in the middle of a job when York, one of the other mechanics, came in.

“Hey Spot, your phone’s been ringing like crazy for the last five minutes.”

Spot poked his head up from under the car. 

“Who was it?”

“Uhh, not sure, it's the cowboy emoji?” Spot rolled his eyes.

“That’s just my dumbass brother in law, who is currently catching up with my husband. Ignore it. It’s probably just him trying to annoy me because he knows I’m at work” 

“Sure, Spot,” York shrugged, leaving the garage

Spot got another 3 minutes of blissful silence working on the car, when York came back in. 

“Spot, it’s still ringing, and you have like. 10 messages from the guy too.”

Spot sighed loudly and gestured for York to hand over the phone. Jack calls him back as he leaves the room. 

“What the hell do you want?” Spot growled.

“Race’s in hospital.” That made Spot stop cold.

“Which hospital?”

“53rd” 

“On my way.” Spot swallowed against the mounting fear. “How bad is it?” 

“He’s fine, Spot. I wouldn’t be able to talk right now if he wasn’t.” That was true, if there was anyone who would be more affected by this then Spot, it was Races brother. “He’ll probably want you when he wakes up though?” 

“What the hell did you two do?” Jack's words had calmed Spots' fear somewhat (although nothing truly would until he saw Race himself) but it had left him confused. Jack made it sound like Race wasn’t awake, but if Jack wasn’t worried, then what the hell had the two of them done?

“Well, we went skateboarding, and-” 

“You and Race can skateboard?” 

“....no”

“I’m going to kill both of you. Be ready to die in about 10minutes.”

“See you then Spot.”  

Exactly 9minutrs later, Spot was walking toward the front desk of the hospital. 

“Hey, I’m looking for an Antonio Higgins Conlon - Kelly?”

“And you are?” 

“His husband,” Spot said, not so subtly lifting his ringed hand up to run through his hair. 

“Of course, he's in surgery right now, but should be out soon. Fifth floor.” 

Spot thanks the attendant and makes his way to the elevator, sending Jack a quick message to let him know he’s there. 

By the time Spots reached the fifth floor, his nerves have returned, and Jack is waiting for him. Spot was slightly worried that Jack was lying over the phone, but one look at his face - slightly shaken and a little off-kilter, but no red puffy eyes and generally looking kinda ok - knows that Jack was telling the truth, and his husband is fine. Banged up, but fine.

“Where is he?” Is the first thing that comes out of Spots mouth. Distantly, he thinks that he probably should be a little nicer, but Jack seems to get it. He doesn’t say anything, just gestures for Spot to follow him to the waiting room at the end of the hallway. 

“I called you as soon as we got here, Race’s -” Jack swallows, “-he’s been in surgery the whole time. The doctor ain’t come back out yet, but I think he had a concussion and broke his leg. And Something didn't look right bout his arm, but I ain’t a doctor, so I don’t really know and”

“Jack,” Spot interpreted his ramble, “you said Race’s gonna be ok. Then he’s gonna be ok. Let just, sit here and wait, and then the doctor will come out and tell us what’s going on, kay?”

“Uh, yeah, that's - right - good idea Spot.”

Spot had always felt a kinda protectiveness over Race’s brother, which was weird. Spot was the oldest of the three (if only by a couple months) and Jack was incredibly protective and strong for Race, and Spot was the one person he seemed to really let his guard down around. 

And right now, Spot couldn't keep calm for himself, he could keep himself at least looking calm for Jack. 

The boys sat in silence for a couple minutes when a nurse walked in. 

“Jack Kelly?” Both boys jumped up. “And I assume your Antonios husband?” the man said with a slight laugh, looking at Spot.

“Uh, yeah, Is he ok?”

“Your husbands fine, Mr Conlon - Kelly. A light concussion, a broken leg, and some scarring on his arm. Nothing that won’t heal.” Spot let out a sigh of relief. He felt Jack almost melt into the floor next to him. 

“Now I know your husband wants to see you, you want to see him, boys?” 

“Race’s awake?” Spot questioned, already following the man toward the room Race was in. 

“He’s awake. He’s also still a little...loopy… from the medication. He’s said some truly wonderful stuff. The nurse turned to wink at Jack. “I’d recommend getting your phone out and filming him.” Jack fished his phone out of his pocket as they arrived at the door, pressing record as he and Spot entered the room.

“Oh, honey…”

“SPOTTIE!” Race shot up in his bed and smiled wild at his husband, and then winced at the pain it caused his arm. “I think I got a booboo Spot.”

Spot could feel Jack vibrating with barely contained laughter behind him. 

“Yeah you did angel, but the nurse said they fixed you right up.”

“Oh yeah, I remember. I told them you were coming.” Ahh, that explained some of the nurse's cryptic comments from earlier. “They didn’t believe me when I told them I was married. Said I looked too young.” 

“We Are kinda young, love,” Spot said, sitting down on the foot of the bed, and starting to massage his husband's foot. In defence of the nurses, the assumption was fair. Race was 25 but still managed to look not much older than 21. 

“Mmm. But I told em I was. I said I was married to a hobbit and fiercely in love.”

Jack, who up until this point had been waiting in the corner filming, promptly burst out laughing, dropping his arm holding his phone as he clutched at his side. 

“Ohh, Jackie!! Jackie, I got some booboos!! Can you put the Spiderman bandaids on them like when we’s were little!! Please, Jackie.!?!”

“I…, Oh god” Jack continued to wheeze, “I do;;t have any Race.”

“Oh, that’s disappointing.” Race shrugged and layed back down. “Night night Spottie. Night night Jackie,” Race mumbled, and promptly fell asleep.

“What are we gonna do with him?” Spot sighed, rolling his eyes fondly.

Jack went home around 9, and Spot stayed behind, sleeping on the chair he'd pulled up to Race’s bed, his hand still in Race’s hair. 

When he woke up the next morning, Race was still asleep. It occurred to him to text Hotshot, his manager, to let him know he wouldn’t be coming in today. He was just putting his phone away when Race woke up. 

“Spottie?” He mumbled. His eyes were still closed, but his hand was searching blindly for Spots. 

“Hey Sweetie,” Spot responded, threading his hand through Races. “How’re you feeling?”

“Everything hurts,” Race groaned, leaning toward Spot, who lifted his other hand back into Race’s hair.

“Yeah, a broken leg, a concussion, and some pretty nasty scarring on your arm will do that to you.” Spot laughed

“I’m never going skateboarding again.”

“You never should have gone in the first place, love. How’d you do it? Jack was awfully vague.”

“Well, we started on flat ground, and I was good at that, so I decided to try the ramps. I figured it was kinda like riding the waves and surfing right? And I got down fine, but I did not have enough momentum to get back up the ramp. So I tumbled back down. And I forgot solid ground is a lot harder than waves in the ocean.”

“So wait, you thought that skateboarding and surfing were the same, but forgot the part where the ground is solid and not, you know, water?” Spot questioned, shaking his head fondly. 

“In my defence, So did Jack.”

“You’re an idiot. I married an Idiot.”

“You know me and Jack hun, you married into a family of idiots.” 

“That’s fair.” Spot laughed, before returning to a more sober expression. “God Race, getting that call from Jack. I don't think I’ve ever been so scared in my life.”

“Sorry for scaring you mi angelo.” Race leaned down to kiss Spots hand still in his. 

“It’s ok Race.” 

“I love you Spottie.”

“Love you too Racer.”

thanks for prompting!! Let me know what you think!!

[thepropertylovers]

What Foreigners Really Think of The U.S. Right Now

The other night, after the kiddos went to bed, we decided to watch the second Borat movie that just came out (have you seen it?). It was insane and hilarious all at the same time, but it got me wondering: what do folks who don’t live in the U.S. think of The United States of America right now? What is their perception of us?

So I decided to pose this question on Instagram and wow. Y’all did not hold back. I want to thank everyone who submitted for your candidness and honesty, even if some of these were hard to swallow. It’s important to note that just because these are their opinions of America, it doesn’t mean it is all necessarily true. Regardless, it was interesting to read everyone’s thoughts and get an outsider’s perspective.

We received hundreds of submissions and couldn’t post them all, but below, people from all over the world share what they really think of the United States at the moment.

Leadership is out of touch with reality and messing things up real bad, not just for the U.S. but also for the world. What’s worse is that half the country is being misled successfully. It just shows poorly on the country all over. -Annonymous

Your president is a disaster when it comes to foreign politics and corona. No class, no knowledge. A joke. Very scary to watch. But half of the voters are happy with it. And that is even more scary. Very difficult to understand the hate and ignorance in your society right now. -Mikkel

It’s just weird. Everything basically. I totally understand now why the U.S. is described as '“flawed democracy” in the democracy index. It’s just a crazy system which is not providing equality among people- regarding the vote especially. This system leads to the fact of the two big parties (similar in the UK basically). But democracy is about diversity in opinions and options. Not just two. -Max

The US is more divided than ever. The two parties cannot work together nor do they appear to want to. The government is no longer run by reason, facts, and policy aiming for the betterment of the entire country and or world in the long or medium run; rather it’s instant gratification for the few who benefit from nepotism. Lies and misinformation are used to build a dictatorship hiding in the form of “patriotism”. And those who could act as a check or balance focus on their own personal gain, putting their needs above those of the persons they should be representing. -Joel

I personally don’t think there is a very good atmosphere in the USA, especially right now, Trump’s administration does not protect the American people or the economy. He only cares about himself and his male-white supremacy. The worst of all is that lots of Americans think Trump is actually a good leader (idk why, honestly). But thank God that people are starting to wake up and fight about what they believe. We can see it through BLM protests, feminist movements, and so on, and the whole world is proud about those people fighting for their rights. America was once the land of dreams, but nowadays (with all that is happening) it is even scary to go there. Lots of things have to change and those changes have to start, voting and defending your rights and your beliefs are the first step. Greetings from Spain. -Antonio

The main reasons I can think of are vote suppression/gerrymandering, expensive health care wealth inequality, racism, lack of fun control… -Brian

Definitely find the hypocrisy of the Republicans so annoying, Trump still being in office, the fact that there has been no police reform or justice for Breonna Taylor, the gun laws, and the COVID numbers just to name a few. -Brian

Here in the UK it seems like CARNAGE over there..don’t get me wrong, it’s wild here too but Trump is insane and it’s really odd seeing so many Americans supporting him. -Dan

Really worried about the fact that you might go for 4 more years with Trump and the fact that he’ll for sure contest the results if he loses. Add to this, all the racial violence and in particular the way some policemen act without being condemned by any judge. And finally the pandemic which seems to be even more out of control than in other countries. This is coming from someone who lives in France where we’re going to be under lockdown for the second time since the beginning of the pandemic (2nd lockdown starting tomorrow evening and will last at least until December 1st 😢). -Estelle

To put a long story short, let’s just hope Cheeto doesn’t get reelected otherwise our UK trade deal will be a disaster and we don’t need any more negative influences in the UK around gender and sexual equality.-Christian

I think with this administration, the US has demonstrated how to shipwreck a whole nation economically, ideologically, socially, and politically within a really short period of time. After just 4 years, we’ve come to associate the US with widespread narrow-mindedness, a lack of respect and courtesy to other nations (and minorities in its own country for that matter), short sightedness when it comes to global phenomena like environmentalism or migration patterns, and a celebration (by some at least) of almost barbaric notions of violence, oppression, and backward thinking, all under the camouflage of its constitution and socio-historic heritage. We’ve really admired the Obama administration over here in Europe, which-despite its flaws and shortcomings- has opened up the US to international partnerships and has established an ongoing discourse shaped by mutual respect and politeness…the contrast couldn’t be more pronounced these day…-Sebastian

I look at our Prime Minister and government and then see Trump and think we really could have it so much worse! Vote!! -Ant

As an American living in London, I can tell you that the news coverage here makes the US look like an absolute joke. Mainly due to 45, his lies, his bigotry, and his insane desire to make covid seem as though it’s a falsehood “created by the left” while hundreds of thousands of Americans have ben victimized by this pandemic. What was once seen as a country of opportunity and freedom, is sadly no longer held to that level of greatness in comparison to its neighboring countries. It saddens me because I had plans to move back home within the next year or so, but if the US continues on its path, I can see myself in London for the unforeseeable future. I can’t live in a country where I am seen or believed to be lesser than another because of my sexual preference. I can only hope and pray that this election brings the change we need to be that country of greatness once again. -Rob

Very poor to be honest. And I’m not necessarily [talking about Trump]- I think the immediate reaction is to blame him. Though, he is pretty awful. There was obviously a huge level of social and other problems in the US, and the current administration has exploited them to the breaking point. Whereas more “skilled” past administrations had the ability to leverage those issues for their benefit, but not let it boil over. I actually thought Trump would be a positive for the US and world- in that his incompetence would force other world leaders to step up. Meaning more equity in how disputes etc. are assessed and the US wouldn’t bully smaller nations. I think the US has hit the point in its journey with capitalism that the USSR hit with socialism in the late 80’s that led to its collapse. Does that mean collapse for the US, I don’t know but the system isn’t providing equity and equality for all as it stands. -Paul

Worried but also hopeful for you guys because I don’t think all citizens in America reflect the current administration. It’s been really great to see people voting early and making their voice heard. No matter what happens just know you did what you could in this moment in time. Even though the current administration provides a scary outlook for the future. As long as the current and future generations lead with love, there will hopefully be a brighter future. Love from Canada. -Ajetha

I've been subscribing to all of the US News since the Black Lives Matter Movement commenced and honestly, it made me scared as a Filipino Asian to step foot in the States ever since. I have big dreams of flying over there and probably working there as an immigrant after I finished college. However, when I found out about the racial injustice that is currently ongoing in the country, I became hesistant of still wanting to live there. Although, I'm positive that there are still people like you two that will be open about working immigrants, I really hope that racism, sexism, homophobia and transphobia will end for good among every human beings in the US and also around the world. I do wish and pray that the 2020 US election will make certain amends to the current situation y'all are experiencing because it's getting pretty scary out there. -Harvey I’m an American living overseas working for the US government. I’m trying my hardest to stay overseas so my family and I don’t have to come back to the mess that is the US right now. From politics to COVID, it’s not a good time. While the virus may be surging again in Europe, at least the people comply with the government rules. Sometimes I believe Americans take freedom and liberty a bit too far, especially when it comes to the greater good. -Anonymous

Allthough on social policy the US is no real example for us (I think there is more social ‘security’, more justice, high standards in education for all in most of the EU countries), they always have been a ‘safe haven’ in big international politics. It now feels like ‘they have our back’ doesn’t imply anymore. -Jasper

Well personally I think the country seems in total disarray, instead of focusing on the real issues in the streets both house of the capitol are focused on bashing each other during the election campaign which is a circus due to the sitting POTUS. The obsession with the right to bare arms and the gun culture bewilders most other countries, you have teenagers walking into schools with Assault weapons and yet people still want guns to be available, worst still you ban one type of assault rifle but another just as powerful is kept on sale, it’s plain weird. -Philip

Neither candidate represents their party well. As an outsider looking in, it just baffles me that either of these men could potentially be the leader of the free world...It genuinely feels like worrying times are ahead for the US. -Marc I'm from India and living in Germany at the moment. The race problem in the US is as bad as the class/caste problem in India. Even if I don't have money I can go to a government health center in India. I just had an operation and stayed at the hospital for 18 days here in Germany, I had to pay only 180 Euros, everything else ( the operation and the many tests and scans that followed) was covered by the insurance. When my friends at the US heard about it they were shocked about low the hospital bill. There are really great labs (I'm a researcher) that I would like to work but I have no intentions of working/living in the US for a longer period of time. -Maithy

I think the US has become a joke to the rest of the developed world. Neither candidates running for president are fit to run such a powerful country. I can't help but feel after the election if Trump wins the left will riot and if Biden wins the right will riot. The country might just rip itself apart. American politics has zero empathy and zero morals. Honestly its terrifying. -Andrew

The US has always been a bit confusing to me - the two party system, the focus on religion, the divide in income and possibilities- as well as being the beacon of light in the fight for human rights, the strong personal pride in creating caring societets, the blending of and openeses for ethnicities and cultures... But for a while politics have become not at all about politics, religious beliefs are taking charge in policy work, the wealthier part shows little companion towards the less wealthy, the public spending is way above budget year after year while health care seems to be crazy expensive and not for all. The intrusion of US interest in politics in other countries are blunt to say the least, creating conflict where human lives have no value if they’re not US lives... School shootings that seems to be acted upon as that is part of normal lives, and schools to expensive for even middle class kids to study at... This is a shift in trust and soft power that affects all of us. -Olof

To be honest, I couldn’t come to the US right now, it scares me. The leadership, the gun laws, the violence and the divide of the nation. It sucks, because I love America and have been there 7 times in the last two years from Australia for work... but not anymore. I’m not coming back now until peace wins. -Anonymous

The fact that such a hate filled government is presiding over what is one the greatest countries in the world is scary. And it is seriously mind blowing that out of such a powerful country filled with some of the greatest minds in the world it’s these two men are the best you can do to be your next president. Unbelievable. Seriously unbelievable. -Rachel

I think the orange dude in office is making you guys look bad. But also, good (?). Seeing the black lives matter movement and so many of you stand up to the problems your country faces has been inspiring. One thing our countries have in common is how we are divided into very distinctive opposites sides. I mean, where do all these racists, bigots, utterly, madly conservites people came from? I few like a few years ago things did not seem so much as a boiling pan about to explode. Or maybe they were all hiding and when a lunatic like them rose to power (how that happened still boggles my mind) they all showed their true colors. It’s scary. I hope Trump doesn’t get reelected. Brazilians loooove to imitate americans🙄, so if he gets reelected it makes that much probable that our lunatic will also be in office for four more years. P.S. have you guys watched the show Years and Years from HBO? A really good watch is this election times! ☺️ -Taty

Re. The US atm. Unfortunately your president has made your country a laughing stock around the world and he's destroyed relationships with allies. It's gonna take time to rebuild all of that. He's also moved an entire branch of your government to the far right, even though the majority of the country if left/centr of left. So you've a supreme court that doesn't represent you and it's looking like they're going to try and take away rights from people. You have a healthcare system that doesn't look out for its people and there's this bizarre fear of universal healthcare that seems insane to every other 1st world country. If if Biden wins (and I really hope he does for everyone's sake), there's going to be a lot of work in undoing the damage Trump has done before he can even get into what he wants to do. All the while you've an ultra conservative highest court. There's also the massive political division and the systemic racism. It's a lot. It's not impossible, but it's going to take so much time and people who want it to change. -Ciara

I’ve been sitting here for an hour thinking about your question and there are many different outlooks I could raise so I’ll keep it generic. I’ll start with the elephant in the room known as Covid. Each day, our morning news informs us of what your leaders are doing and daily case numbers in the US. We sit here completely shocked at how your government has let it reach this point. You may have heard that Melbourne has just come out of one of the strictest and longest lock downs in the world. I wouldn’t wish that upon anyone to have to do, but I will say, I feel much more comfortable to be able to go to the shops knowing the numbers are at about 2-3 a day instead of in the thousands. I do think that your government does need to address this now, could even be making it compulsory mask wearing. It’s hard for me to comment about your economy as we don’t here much about it, but I will say Trump ‘says’ make America great again, let’s get more jobs, they are pro life, yet how is someone who is prolife not doing anything to stop a virus that is killing people? Isn’t your unemployment rate worse (pre-covid) than what it was when Obama was president? I think as a generic outlook, if change isn’t made in the election, the outlook from a Australian does not look like it would be something you’d want to be apart of. I love America. Have visited a couple of times, even thought about moving there, but at the moment, I’ve never been more thankful to not be there. -Ben