#but it seems to fit Roman better

[fullrainbowallthetime]

Liar by The Arcadian Wild feels very Roman to me. How he hides how not okay he is, how he feels deceived, how he feels unjustly blamed, how he’s not the only one in the wrong by any means you feel me?

[taterdraws]

Hiii you’re actually not that far away from reality with morning star = sun, bc in Rome where Luciferus was an incarnation of Venus it was “the first star” on the horizon, right before the sun outshines it. Lucifer is our beautiful darling ☀️

Your art is so good thank you for the food ❤️🌹🫡

hiii! bfdkjbg ugh i know there were reasons why it is Venus and i would not be miffed about it if not for the fact that the sun is right there. i will be deranged in the tags.

and aaaaah thank you kindly!!!!! ❤️🥹i love drawing these fuckers so i'm so glad you like the art <3

[brookheimer]

not sure why people don't seem to understand that shiv being the victim of misogyny and vitriol from all the men in her life can and does coexist with the fact that she is not a feminist liberal hero fighting to save democracy. why is it that we never afford her any nuance? she's either the only good person on the show and deserves to kill every man in a ten foot radius (twitter) or a uniquely evil cruel sociopath with no heart fueled entirely by spite (reddit). is it not just so much more interesting for her to be a fascism aiding and abetting character like the rest of them who also views herself as more progressive in spite of everything else about her and who undergoes horrific treatment at the hands of the men around her yet has no interest in undoing the system that allows them to do so, only in ruling it herself? shiv is not any better than the others nor is she any worse than them. there's no Evil Olympics here guys, nor should there be. snook said it herself in the after credits sequence -- shiv was just lucky that her interests aligned with her sympathies. who knows what she would've done had mencken been her best personal option? yes she cares infinitely more about politics than roman, yes she is still very much interested in maintaining the capitalist, fascist structure and even strengthening it, so long as it ends with her on top (which either way would be a win for liberal causes bc Woman). fascism isn't one-size-fits-all. it's not just mencken and trump. it's also mattson. it's also logan. it's also roman and shiv and kendall. that's... kind of one of the main points of succession? but even so, that does not negate the fact that as a woman it is so hard to watch some of the scenes with her and tom/roman/kendall -- of course that misogyny will resonate with female viewers, as it should!!! but that resonance needs to coexist with a deeper understanding of her character -- if you want to root for a bad bitch fighting against misogyny go watch, i don't know, captain marvel or whatever. what makes shiv interesting is that she's so so so much more than that -- she is the product, victim, and perpetrator of misogyny and fascism, two concepts so heavily intertwined they're virtually inextricable from each other. tl;dr it's one thing to be like my god someone give shiv a gun and it's another entirely to say, entirely seriously, that shiv is the Good Liberal Feminist One and the rest are all evil. like i absolutely adore shiv but i would honest to god find her so fucking boring if she were actually the person these tweets make her out to be i'm sorry

[tentacle-therapissed]

IMO the fanon interpretation of the Dark Sides’ dynamic ignores the fascinating canon implications that they’re more like forced family than anything resembling found family. These are three characters who genuinely do not seem to get along— at the very least, Virgil has made it clear that his function as a Side does not mesh well with either Janus or Remus’s functions, and the moment he saw an opportunity to be accepted by the others he ditched them with absolutely no remorse or lingering attachment. Meanwhile the dubiously canon interactions Janus has with Remus come off as him putting up with Remus’s antics simply because what else is he going to do? The most friendly the two of them ever get is when they’re collaborating to screw with c!Thomas— it’s like they’re coworkers who have nothing else in common besides their overlapping goals. The three currently introduced ‘Dark Side’ characters are united only in the fact that they were all outcasts. ‘The Dark Sides’ isn’t even a meaningful phrase, it’s something Roman came up with on the spot to lump together all the Sides that were too complicated and ambiguous to be part of the OG triad. Virgil doesn’t even use the phrase ‘Dark Sides’, he specifically made the point to call Remus and Janus ‘the others’ instead. He knows he used to be part of That group but it wasn’t because he actually identified with them, it’s because everyone else grouped him with them and until AA—maybe even until Fitting In— he thought his only option was to double down on being an antagonist and collaborate with the other ‘antagonist’ Sides no matter how uneasy they made him.

The Dark Sides are those roommates with no prior history who weren’t able to change their contract in time. They’re the students who got put in a group project together and have wildly different ideas on how to approach the material. They’re the only remaining members of a dying club trying desperately to find some reason to keep hanging out together so the club doesn’t die. They’re the kids who all got detention on the same day and figured talking to each other was better than complete solitude. They’re the inhabitants of that one abandoned lunch table in the back of the cafeteria because no other table will take them.

[spocks-kaathyra]

thoughts about the Cardassian writing system

I've thinking about the Cardassian script as shown on screen and in beta canon and such and like. Is it just me or would it be very difficult to write by hand?? Like.

I traced some of this image for a recent drawing I did and like. The varying line thicknesses?? The little rectangular holes?? It's not at all intuitive to write by hand. Even if you imagine, like, a different writing implement—I suppose a chisel-tip pen would work better—it still seems like it wasn't meant to be handwritten. Which has a few possible explanations.

Like, maybe it's just a fancy font for computers, and handwritten text looks a little different. Times New Roman isn't very easily written by hand either, right? Maybe the line thickness differences are just decorative, and it's totally possible to convey the same orthographic information with the two line thicknesses of a chisel-tip pen, or with no variation in line thickness at all.

A more interesting explanation, though, and the one I thought of first, is that this writing system was never designed to be handwritten. This is a writing system developed in Cardassia's digital age. Maybe the original Cardassian script didn’t digitize well, so they invented a new one specifically for digital use? Like, when they invented coding, they realized that their writing system didn’t work very well for that purpose. I know next to nothing about coding, but I cannot imagine doing it using Chinese characters. So maybe they came up with a new writing system that worked well for that purpose, and when computer use became widespread, they stuck with it. 

Or maybe the script was invented for political reasons! Maybe Cardassia was already fairly technologically advanced when the Cardassian Union was formed, and, to reinforce a cohesive national identity, they developed a new standardized national writing system. Like, y'know, the First Emperor of Qin standardizing hanzi when he unified China, or that Korean king inventing hangul. Except that at this point in Cardassian history, all official records were digital and typing was a lot more common than handwriting, so the new script was designed to be typed and not written. Of course, this reform would be slower to reach the more rural parts of Cardassia, and even in a technologically advanced society, there are people who don't have access to that technology. But I imagine the government would be big on infrastructure and education, and would make sure all good Cardassian citizens become literate. And old regional scripts would stop being taught in schools and be phased out of digital use and all the kids would grow up learning the digital script.

Which is good for the totalitarian government! Imagine you can only write digitally. On computers. That the government can monitor. If you, like, write a physical letter and send it to someone, then it's possible for the contents to stay totally private. But if you send an email, it can be very easily intercepted. Especially if the government is controlling which computers can be manufactured and sold, and what software is in widespread use, etc. 

AND. Historical documents are now only readable for scholars. Remember that Korean king that invented hangul? Before him, Korea used to use Chinese characters too. And don't get me wrong, hangul is a genius writing system! It fits the Korean language so much better than Chinese characters did! It increased literacy at incredible rates! But by switching writing systems, they broke that historical link. The average literate Chinese person can read texts that are thousands of years old. The average literate Korean person can't. They'd have to specifically study that field, learn a whole new writing system. So with the new generation of Cardassian youths unable to read historical texts, it's much easier for the government to revise history. The primary source documents are in a script that most people can't read. You just trust the translation they teach you in school. In ASIT it's literally a crucial plot point that the Cardassian government revised history! Wouldn't it make it soooo much easier for them if only very few people can actually read the historical accounts of what happened.

I guess I am thinking of this like Chinese characters. Like, all the different Chinese "dialects" being written with hanzi, even though otherwise they could barely be considered the same language. And even non-Sinitic languages that historically adopted hanzi, like Japanese and Korean and Vietnamese. Which worked because hanzi is a logography—it encodes meaning, not sound, so the same word in different languages can be written the same. It didn’t work well! Nowadays, Japanese has made significant modifications and Korean has invented a new writing system entirely and Vietnamese has adapted a different foreign writing system, because while hanzi could write their languages, it didn’t do a very good job at it. But the Cardassian government probably cares more about assimilation and national unity than making things easier for speakers of minority languages. So, Cardassia used to have different cultures with different languages, like the Hebitians, and maybe instead of the Union forcing everyone to start speaking the same language, they just made everyone use the same writing system. Though that does seem less likely than them enforcing a standard language like the Federation does. Maybe they enforce a standard language, and invent the new writing system to increase literacy for people who are newly learning it.

And I can imagine it being a kind of purely digital language for some people? Like if you’re living on a colonized planet lightyears away from Cardassia Prime and you never have to speak Cardassian, but your computer’s interface is in Cardassian and if you go online then everyone there uses Cardassian. Like people irl who participate in the anglophone internet but don’t really use English in person because they don’t live in an anglophone country. Except if English were a logographic writing system that you could use to write your own language. And you can’t handwrite it, if for whatever reason you wanted to. Almost a similar idea to a liturgical language? Like, it’s only used in specific contexts and not really in daily life. In daily life you’d still speak your own language, and maybe even handwrite it when needed. I think old writing systems would survive even closer to the imperial core (does it make sense to call it that?), though the government would discourage it. I imagine there’d be a revival movement after the Fire, not only because of the cultural shift away from the old totalitarian Cardassia, but because people realize the importance of having a written communication system that doesn’t rely on everyone having a padd and electricity and wifi.

[laurashapiro-noreally]

Looking for something to read?

Oh look, it's another recs post! This time I'm featuring two stories per author. These are writers I always make time for, whose work stands out as unusually hot, clever, funny, or smart -- sometimes all of the above.

I'm gonna start you out strong with two by @werpiper: After Hours takes Aziraphale and Crowley to the baths after their oyster supper, and all sorts of interesting pleasures are there for our angel to sample. Piper's Crowley is one of my favorites: always evaluating the situation, not quite aware of what his own heart is doing but feeling it anyway.

Fitting In is a new story, still a WIP, but I am utterly tantalized by Muriel's first taste of love -- and tea. This is already rich in detail, soft and fragrant, and I can hardly wait for the action to get going in earnest. The pairing seems surprising but when you think about it for ten seconds of course it makes sense. Sex workers help the curious, the awkward, and the inexperienced every day, bless them.

If you enjoy these, check out @werpiper's back catalog -- they have done a ton of ineffables-through-the-ages, and their series Miracles and Heresy is worth many delightful hours of your time.

I love what @copperplatebeech has been doing lately:

He's Not My Friend is a T-rated story that explores Aziraphale's constant refusal to acknowledge his relationship with Crowley, and Crowley's mirror of that, and how things glacially shift over time. It is subtle and yet specific, it will make you ache and smile.

All Of The Above, also T-rated, is a warm and fuzzy alternative to that, a hilarious celebration of true friendship that made me laugh out loud and still got me right in the feels.

@copperplatebeech can do everything, from quiet, gentle, and romantic to devastating plotty AUs to extraordinarily horny established relationship to absolutely ridiculous humor. Do dive in if you haven't already.

Next up, @cumaeansibyl, master of kink:

better living through technology manages to shove everything I want in a dirty story into less than three thousand words: uptight Aziraphale reduced to sodden wreck, Crowley gleefully showing him what he's been missing, character-driven erotics, and exceptionally funny dialogue.

indulgentiam peccatorum nostrorum is somehow all that and more, turning the "I was wrong" dance into a kink (something I can't get enough of, recs welcome). This one is post-Bastille so it is extra-juicy. Mind the tags!

@cumaeansibyl has a gift for established relationship one-shots, which readers of mine will know are my entire jam. They also have a mind-meltingly hot inverse!omens AU that features different variations of angelic/demonic Crowleys and Aziraphales for our ineffables to play with.

A new-to-me author, Calico, has me hanging by a thread with their Ineffable Romans series. If you want to remember that your ineffables aren't human, that they are inordinately clever but very stupid, that the feelings they have for each other are truly beyond what anyone alive has ever felt, Calico may be the writer for you. This stuff is deep. Also hot af.

Sub Rosa reads like a nasty shag at Petronius', but there's so much more going on here. It is Extremely Queer, driven by power dynamics, and Crowley is fully demonic here and absolutely in control...or is he?

The Intemperance of Liber Pater continues on this theme, with dialogue-driven smut that reads less like a seduction than an inevitability. There's another story in this series, unfinished, and I can't wait to see what happens next.

Last but not least: two short pieces by @ineffabildaddy. I stumbled on their stories just this week and I absolutely love their approach, which I've not seen done quite this way before.

take me as your wife has a tight first-person perspective as Crowley meets Aziraphale for a meal and imagines (or is it his imagination?) that Aziraphale is suggesting Certain Things about how they might occupy themselves later. Indeed, is he suggesting even more? Something about their relationship? Or is it all in Crowley's head?

Only in Dreams is kind of a companion piece, from Aziraphale's point of view -- though hundreds of years later. This one's set after the events of S2 and although just as romantic as take me as your wife, it also offers an ineffable take on the ol' glory hole concept. Just in case you thought I was getting soft. 😏

@ineffabildaddy has a whole series of poems and ficlets like these and I can't wait to explore them all.

[lovelyyandereaddictionpoint]

Trunk or Treat with The Yandere Student Council Pt. I

Based Off the OCs in this Post

“Alright everyone let’s start talking about ideas!” 

“Uhm do you mean ideas for what to do with Halloween coming?”

“Oh no darling, we always do a Trunk or Treat kind of thing.”

“We are talking about our costumes.”

As bizarre as it sounds the college’s students look forward to the costumes of the student council

Allowed to enjoy whatever festivity that comes with their choice

For reference they share that last year they had a ‘kiss–in–the–coffin’ booth for their shared vampire costumes

“J-j-just so you know the kisses were on the cheek only!”

“I didn’t ask but okay.”

It set the precedent for this year to be just amazing if not better

“Since we have you now (Y/n) we should have something special that welcomes you in!”

“I-i-i-i think that’s a great idea.”

“I’m all for it too!”

Despite your protests, in fear of being singled out by their fans your haters they forge on

“They won’t be bothering you. Not on my watch.”

“You say that but–”

“Seriously (Y/n) believe us! We’ll make sure there won’t be any problems.”

“And if there are we will kill them.”

“What?!”

“Joking. Joking.”

They’re not

Anyway it was decided on that the council will be Ghostly Royalty

Which makes costumes really easy or so you thought 

According to Min, quite a large part of the budget went into your costumes

“Pick your jaw up (Y/n)! This is the best part! You don’t think we get this big of a budget without showing off, do you?”

“Still…it feels a bit overkill…especially when I don’t have a fan base at all.”

“Ohhh that’s what you think–ow!” 

“Roman, always such an optimistic chatterbox. Always saying things that are not true.”

Lucoa takes the role of the king naturally

Spencer is forcefully given the role of the queen

Min takes the role of the dungeon master, despite his meek character

Roman takes the role of an advisor

Gil as a duke

June as a duchess

“Wait so what am I?”

“Our dragon.”

“What?!”

“We wanted to put a spin on the old system!”

“But that isn’t really accurate…nor does it really fit the ghost royalty theme.”

“.....”

“....”

“So? We’re doing fantasy ghosts then.”

In your opinion, it's just an excuse to make your costume as ridiculous as they please

“This is an early draft of your costume.”

“What!? Wait where are the actual clothes? I’m just seeing gold necklaces and bangles.”

“...That was the idea.”

“I’m not wearing that if there aren’t actual clothes underneath there.”

“...But it will ruin the integrity of the design and disrupt the choreography and–”

“Then hide it under the gold! I’m not going to be half-naked for the entire school.”

“...I will consult the President.”

You owed him a favor after that

Saying you agreed to this as an honorary member

But when you’re not having to fight Gill on your costume designs

You are helping the others

“June…this is just a dress.”

“Right, it’s a perfect occasion to wear it. And don’t my hips feel and look great.”

Adjusting the golden belt meant to hang off his waist you try to ignore how his poses requires that he touch you in some way shape or form

“Well yeah but don’t you feel like your fans would want you in something else?”

“Oh baby! You don’t have to worry, they love this sort of thing.”

And helping with their research

“Roman I know you never seem to run out of ideas to hang out but why a medieval diner?”

“It's for research! By the way, how do you like the food? I made sure the critiques were as positive as they could get.”

“Roman.”

“Yes?”

“Why did that waitress, compliment our relationship?”

“OMG they brought another plate of bread and for free? So cool.”

“Roman!”

Or helping organize their booths

“So Spencer what are you going for?”

“A kind of dunk tank except it drops on me.”

“Oh okay….this says that you’re not actually using water but…oil?”

“Yeah Lucoa suggested I show off my scars and muscles.”

“Wait you have those?”

“Hahaha very funny but seriously give me your opinion.”

“Oh wow….yeah, I think they’ll like it…no they’ll love it.”

“Oh really? Well, thanks!”

As if he didn’t already know

But eventually as the date comes closer it comes time to focus on your booth

But it seems that as an honorary member you don’t get to have much control over your own booth

Or any decision involving your event

“Hey Min what are you building over there?”

“Oh this is the art for your exhibit. Lucoa put me in charge of matching the gold from your costume to the setting around there.”

“Aw thanks can I help?”

“N-n-no!”

“Oh.”

“S-s-s-sorry the President gave us explicit instructions not to include you in the making of it. I’m r-r-r-r-really so sorry!”

“It’s fine Min, don’t worry about it.”

It’s just so apparent how little you would be included in your own activity no one really bothered to hide that fact from you

“Hey Gill this meeting on your calendar, I don’t remember getting your usual reminder for it.”

“That is because you are not invited to it.”

“Don’t be sad (Y/n)~Afterwards we can just come visit you after.”

“No no that’s okay I’ll just take the day off then. Catch up on homework.”

“Aw~ Don’t be like that we’ll come over to your house after.”

“No I’m not sad. I’m going to be happily doing my homework alone!”

“Putting that on our private calendar: Going to (Y/n)’s house an hour after the meeting.”

At the end of the day you’re just as surprised when the event begins and they shove you in the room under the stage with nothing but a warning not to move from the chair you’re in:

Part 2

[just-late-roman-republic-things]

This post now has an expanded, better researched version! Check it out!

~~~

Things I watch out for when considering if a Roman history blog/community/media might have fascist leanings:

"Ironic" jokes that demean groups of people. These are often a cover for normalizing real prejudice against those groups.

Various dogwhistles and hate symbols. Also, check out the early warning signs of fascism.

Glorification of the military or the empire's size. It's one thing to be interested in a subject, but fascists tend to ignore the many problems of Rome's military and government, like corruption, mistreatment of veterans, abuse toward non-Roman people, and the occasional genocide.

Justifying historical oppression or abuse. This is different from merely explaining or trying to understand something. In case someone simply worded something poorly, I look at their additional posts or ask for clarification. If there's a pattern of downplaying/excusing oppression, that's a bad sign.

Power fantasies. Does a person (or community) seem to identify with the conquerors and overlords, because of their power? A person making jokes about Cicero's shitty poetry, or Augustus wearing platform shoes, is probably here for a different reason than someone talking about "putting the barbarians in their place."

Ignoring women's experiences, queer history, slaves and working-class experiences, and cultural diversity. At best this could just be a newbie who hasn't gotten around to those topics yet, which is fine. Learning takes time. But if a community, historian, or professionally published work makes Rome look like it's composed solely of rich white cishet guys...there is a problem.

Flattening history into Romans vs. outsiders. "Us vs. them" themes, also seen as "civilization vs. barbarians," or "virtue vs. moral decline/degeneracy," is endemic to bigoted worldviews. Not only is it demeaning toward other cultures, it also erases how multicultural and changeable Roman identity was over time.

Also, any modern person who seriously attributes Rome's fall to "moral decline" or "degeneracy" is either deeply ignorant or using a dogwhistle for homophobia, antisemitism and racism. Also, using "barbarian" or "savage" unironically.

Be extra alert for antisemitism. Shit like justifying Hadrian's actions, bringing up Jews when discussing Roman debt problems, or idolizing Vespasian or Titus. The Romans did a lot of bad shit in Judaea, and sometimes those stories attract antisemites today.

Use of the past to justify present-day harm or anger. Fascists and racists tend to get attached to "tradition" or "the good old ways" - or what they think is tradition - believing that this makes their bigotry more "normal" instead of "bizarre, hateful and reactionary." But just because something was common in the ancient world doesn't mean it's a good idea today.

There's a lot of anger and bitterness in fascist communities in general, in fact. Many people fall into the "alt-right pipeline" because their personal lives are deeply troubled, and those places give them someone to blame and feel superior to. If hanging out in a community seems to be making you angrier, more suspicious, or looking down on certain kinds of people, think carefully about whether this is a good community to be in.

And finally...fascists aren't all that interested in history. They care about their myth of good guys vs. evil outsiders, and they warp history to fit into that narrative. They might like the aesthetics, or symbols, or idolize a few famous dudes or battles. But rarely do they know, or care, about how Roman society worked, or how it changed over time, or anything less "glorious." Rarely do they actually want to learn or put in effort. My favorite example of "fascist laziness" is Mussolini's terrible film about Scipio Africanus, in which you can see telephone wires and the extras wearing wristwatches.

Feel free to add to this list. I am not an expert at spotting this stuff, and I probably missed some things. But I figured this might be a good starting point for others, too. Don't use this list to make "callouts" or harass people - it's usually more effective to block, avoid, and report extremists than to give them more visibility.

Conversely, a great way to protect yourself from falling into the alt-right pipeline is to learn more about how diverse the Roman world was! Check out studies of ancient women, disabilities, queer people, and decolonizing the classics! Not only will they broaden your horizons, they're also fascinating in their own right.

[mythicalviper-fr]

hi! Thank you for making your guide, it’s been so helpful as a new skin artist. I’m still confused about how to make good festival submissions (?) I thought my submission for Rockbreaker’s Ceremony fit all the conditions you talked about but no one seemed interested in my skin. Do you have any advice on how newer artists can make a good entry?

I'm happy the guide's helped! It is less of a checklist and more on how I personally approach the contest. There are a lot of things I don’t think I described well technique-wise, so I’ve considered making step-by-step tutorials to approach each contest that would better encapsulate the win conditions I described. But for now, here’s one way you can approach a contest, particularly if you’re a new artist.

1. Pick Your Breed (and Battles)

Breed variety, as I stated in the guide, is the Number One reason I win any contest. This is where I think I should’ve gone more into why I favored the Ridgeback F base - it’s important to pick a canvas that will not impede your ability to create and more importantly, a canvas that makes you comfortable as an artist. Ridgeback F has a big wingspace that serves as a good canvas and the anatomy is easy (for me) to design on, which is why this is the canvas I default to.

Here are some of the best “starter” canvases for new artists, in my personal opinion:

Wildclaw M and F: these bases, particularly the F pose, don’t get many submissions (look at their submission rate in the Gala!) They have a standard dino anatomy that’s easy to understand and work around.

Fae M: Fae rarely get entries. The big wingspace is a great canvas, and more importantly, the M Fae canvas is pretty small compared to the others, so it’s less daunting. The shrimp posture can be a bit hard to grasp, but you can honestly just do a wingcent.

Coatl M and F: Coatl is a great base for new artists if shadows and lines are disrupting your creative process, because they don’t have as much of those. (You can also turn shadows/lines off while you’re drawing. I usually have shadows off and lineart at 30% opacity. Just remember to turn them back on when you submit!)

2. Theme Your Skin: Canonical Elements

August goes into this better in his guide, but you generally want to stick closer to canon. Think of skin contests like an art contest for a fandom. If you were submitting to, say, a Percy Jackson art contest, you’ll probably draw inspiration from Greek and Roman mythology, not Aztec or Chinese mythology. Flight Rising is the same. So, here are canonical places you can draw inspiration from:

Past festival familiars and apparel

Existing vistas, scenes, and World Map locations

Artistic interpretations of the canonical lore

If you do want to go outside of canon, my suggestion is to pick a neutral element. This means something that doesn’t have any religious/otherwise connotations, and is still related to the flight. I.e.: icy mountains for the ice flight, different types of minerals for the earth flight, different types of plants for nature. You are making an official item for the site, so work with that in mind.

3. Skin Composition: Balance

Composition is how the elements in an art piece work together. I struggle a lot with it, so I am not the best person to speak on this. What I’ve found that works for me is focusing the canvas on one big thing and putting small elements around it. That big item is usually wings, which is a great neutral component that can take on attributes of different elements. If you look at my skins, they usually follow the equation of skin = 1 big element (wings, bones, crystals) + 2 small elements (gradients, sparkles, butterflies, leaves, flowers).

[RBC 2023 = bones + crystals + rocks] [TC 2022 = wings + gradient + wispy shadow things]

4. Skin Execution: Actually Drawing the Thing

The best part of festival contests is the skill bar is quite low. I am going to contradict myself slightly by saying you do need a basic understanding of how to draw, but aside from that, contests are forgiving if you aren’t an experienced artist. I had six months of experience when I won my first contest and more recently, I was drawing with zero wrist mobility. These are some of my recent skins that were created when I could not render the way I usually do or use line weight.

[TCC 2023 & ROR 2023] 

In comparison, here are skins when I could render and line weight.

[WS 2023 & GG 2023]

Importantly, all of these skins won. So that’s why, from my perspective, whether you’re an experienced artist or not, whether you know how to render or not, is not the point.

I don’t want to imply that you don’t need any skill to win a contest… it is a contest, after all. I think what I’m trying to say is: to make the best entry you can, you need to know the skills that complement YOUR art style. It isn’t necessarily the skill difference between artists that determines who wins, it’s how you use the skills you have to bring out the most in your piece. 

There is no one way to making good art. And the hardest obstacle as a new artist is finding out what enhances your art style. You may not even have an art style yet, and that’s okay. That’s why it’s vital you continue exploring - which contests are great for.

Again, everything in this post is only what I have personally observed. This approach will not work for everyone, since everyone’s creative process is going to be different. But I hope this is a good bare-bones, structured, guide as to what I personally focus on – and I hope that it’s good for reference, even if the specific steps aren’t helpful for you ^^

[cellarspider]

Spider's Big Prometheus Thing: Index Post

Being a list of all the posts produced in the course of this inexplicable project of mine. This post will be updated as more entries are added, on days when I remember I made an index for these.

All entries will have at least a minimum level of citations for where to start looking for more facts on a subject. Be aware that there's also hidden rambling and bonus facts in the image alt text.

0. Introduction

Setting the scene, including my background, my intent, and where this movie is going.

1. Opening

Expectations, landscapes, and aliens.

Rambles: DNA, whether aliens would have it, and why it doesn't look like a pale bacon ladder.

Alt-text rambles: nano-bubbles.

2. Discovery

The Isle of Skye is gorgeous, the movie attempts to establish its themes, and why it had already got my hackles up. Rambles: how cool ancient and pre-modern peoples were, the implications of humanoid figures in European cave paintings, and misplaced lions. Alt-text rambles: seriously, Skye is just so cool. Erich von Däniken and modern publishing royalties are not.

3. David

We meet the loneliest android, and his fandom of choice. Rambles: I go nuts for a paragraph over Proto-Indo-European. Alt-text rambles: Help me remember a dude's name, that time Ron Perlman saw Sigourney Weaver do something so cool he forgot to act, and a Coronation Street conspiracy theory.

4. Humans (Derogatory)

We meet the human crew, and analyze why they're a mismatch to the movie's established expectations, and what subgenre they fit in most. It isn't the one the movie seems to be aiming for. Rambles: 50s B-movies and their Men Of Science, modern movies and their quietly suffering scientists. Alt-text rambles: inconsistently moist characters, Idris Elba's christmas tree decorations.

5. Pseudoarchaeology (Extremely Derogatory)

We meet Old Man Capitalism, poor logistics, and how the movie began to really lose me through dropping in some racist pseudoscience tropes. Rambles: more logistics (of alien bioengineering), historical art styles, what the world was getting up to in the 600s CE Alt-text rambles: Linguistics, more ranting, the life and extraordinarily ornate death of Kʼinich Janaabʼ Pakal. Rants: the existence of writing, people who don't look like you can still think, stargazing and how conspiracy theorists don't understand it.

6. Roads

Poor firearm safety with Chekhov's Gun, when movies move too fast, atmospheric chemistry, and the moment I began to yearn for blood. Rambles: First contact protocols, why 3% CO₂ won't kill you but it will make you weird, my personal experience digging up a Roman road. Alt-text rambles: the logistics of securing items in moving craft, linguistics, atmospheric science, colorblind-friendly diagram design, swearing about orology, and cursing the crew for their fictional crimes against archaeology. Rants: Why they should've stayed in orbit, and my impassioned defense of historically significant transportation infrastructure.

7. Masking

The bit that made most people realize these characters were idiots. Featuring an attempt at themes. Rambles: NASA's policies on biological contaminants Alt-text rambles: Benedict Wong having nothing to do, helmet design, driving on dusty track, the tiny overlap between archaeological horrors and Minecraft, the CDC's excellent captions on men sneezing. Rants: Nominating a man for the Heinrich Schliemann Archaeology Award, all these people are catching space covid

8. Ghosts

Comparing the Engineers to their series antecedents, and I develop a slight soft spot for the geologist. Rambles: Set design in Alien, how carbon dating works. Alt-text rambles: Adventure games, GET DOWN MISTER PRESIDENT, I get very excited for Dune: Part Two, the archival devotion of people with rare blorbos.

9. Dignity

Personal, professional, social, and media context for the treatment of people's remains. Rambles: Personal experiences around the archaeological discovery of human skeletons, professional codes of ethics, movies that handle dead bodies better by being more crass about it. Alt-text rambles: None, the main text gets full focus this time.

10. Atmosphere

How intertextual imagery is overused, how the one major character arc is developing, and a whole grab bag of miscellaneous shambolic events. Rambles: How tourist-breath can destroy artifacts, and a deleted scene Alt-text rambles: Whether explaining mysteries is always the wrong decision in fantasy, the usefulness of helmets, Mass Effect's loading screens, please someone give me more recommendations for things where Giger creatures aren't all bad, and how cultural variation in gestures can make you look like an asshole. Rants: they aren't done desecrating the dead oh boy it's just gonna get worse

11. Decontamination

How to present an audience with events that make no sense, how to do it eerily, and how Prometheus does this by accident. Rambles: NASA's Apollo 11 quarantine policies Alt-text rambles: How 2001: A Space Odyssey put on a cosmic lightshow, how traditions are faked for political and social power in Midsommar, confusing lab equipment, robot arm safety, the use of camper vans in space exploration, umarell behavior, and robot horror movies. Bonus text rambles: pressurized gas cylinder safety, and how the cargo of one truck apparently tried to join Roscosmos. Rants: Laboratory safety

12. Shocking

Mary Shelly would not be proud of them. Rambles: Which home electrical appliances their tomfoolery is equivalent to. Alt-text rambles: Semiotics and Alien, reuse of props and art department equipment, the cast's inability to look at things, how the first chestburster scene intelligently incorporated spontaneity, and I completely lose my mind over a single computer readout, finding out in the process that the Engineers are close cousins to the common house mouse. Rants: I didn't think that "don't stick electrical plugs in people's ears" would be something that needed to be said, but here we are.

13. Family Tree

A soothing ramble about some of the cool bits of my job. Rambles: How evolution has made some vertebrate blood white or green, how genomes are sequenced, and how to determine the relatedness of species. And more. A lot more. I love my job. It's so cool. Alt-text rambles: How Nickelodeon slime was made, how hecking tiny molecules are, why blue-tongued skinks have blue tongues, my review of Dune: Part Two, how hard I worked to not turn Gene Wilder into a jumpscare, lots of enthusiastic explanations of DNA sequencing techniques, the aesthetics of the machines wot do that for you, how "snip" no longer sounds like a verb to me, and how I started out as a computational scientist.

14. Cheers

David poisons a man, and how his character arc ties into christian-influenced existential dread. Rambles: series continuity, gnostic theology, Ridley Scott's beliefs. Alt-text rambles: How to ruin petri dishes, Vickers' questionably carbon-based existence, the game of Operation, hand doubles in filming, how the funniest possible misidentification of an early church figure is wandering around the internet, the cool genders of suit actors, gnostic Archons, and the Engineers as Sophia. Rants: Holloway seems unaware that archaeologists study dead people, Ridley Scott is his own biggest problem.

15. Unworthy

The movie does something I'm not going to joke about. Don't read this if you're having a bad day. Big content warning for Holocaust imagery.

16. Intimacy

Your asexual commentator grapples with Hollywood's terrible track record on romantic and sexual chemistry. Rambles: Why we don't say an archaic-looking species is "older" than another, how religious scientists do what they do Alt-text rambles: the human family tree, Abbott and Costello, pitcher plant cultivars, the creative possibilities of a Buddhist version of this movie, and Stephen Still's lack of accordions. Rants: I've never been a boyfriend but I'm pretty sure that's not how you do it

17. Threat

Prometheus takes a hard turn into old slasher movie tropes. Rambles: A movie trailer that gave Wee Spider the screaming heebies Alt-text rambles: The age rating of Prometheus, a spontaneous X-Files crossover AU, Pitch Black, how likely it may or may not be that the images in the post will get flagged, critter behavior, insufficient EVA suit design, and the content balancing I take into account when selecting screenshots. Rants: This movie does not seem to know what it is. Alt-text rants: Ditto, focusing on characterization.

18. Flames

"Mac wants the flamethrower!" Rambles: I wandered off in the middle to watch a 40k comedy video, does that count? Alt-text rambles: More content-balancing, what kind of very English critter David appears to be, dune buggy design, Star Wars: The Old Republic is worth your time, Dune: Part Two is worth your time, an extremely long ramble about integration of CG background elements, and Oblivion memes. Alt-text rants: Movie color grading and lighting, undercutting scares.

19. Stars

The movie shows how good it can be when no dialog is involved. Rambles: The movie Contact and how Prometheus could've learned from it. Alt-text rambles: How I estimate large numbers from a still image, a brief Baldur's Gate 3 appearance, the set design and staging of a room made for giants with squishy computers, the use of color to make a cohesive scene, facts about Uranus, visual intimation of threat, VFX wizardry, practical FX wizardry, Michael Fassbender's wordless acting.

20. Expectant

The movie shows how good it can be when character choice is removed from the horror. Rambles: the inspiration and place of chestbursting in Alien movies, the continuing religious symbolism in the movie, the clunky dialog, how to build or undermine tension, and the good blending of practical and CG effects, and how tiny creatures of the ocean manage to be more uncanny than horror critters. Alt-text rambles: reading details the prop department never meant for you to see. Alt-text Rants: the return of the head-exploder and the first sight of actual PPE, slowly mangling a plot point's name until it has been thoroughly folded, spindled, and mutilated.

21. Underdelivered

The movie shows how terrible it can be when horror doesn't build tension. Rambles: Contortionists in horror, hillbilly horror/hixploitation movies. Alt-text rambles: Resident Evil 7, Dead Space and "strategic dismemberment"

22. Hubris

The movie tries to do some themes again Rambles: my ineffable desire to genetically sequence ditch weeds, Left Behind Alt-text rambles: Brad Dourif's commitment to the bit in The Two Towers, nigh-invisible wheelchair product placement, the Fallout series in general and the upcoming show in particular, praise for an epic-length critique of Left Behind, Robert Zemeckis' bizarre quest to mocap everything Rants: This movie does a terrible job representing both religiosity and atheism

23. Informed

Exposition is delivered, and plot points try to knit together. Rambles: The Silent Hill movie, Pacific Rim Alt-text rambles: Pyramid Head's secret unclothed backside, demanding environmental enrichment for scientists, greebling, Tumblr's favorite shitty copper merchant Rants: What could've been done instead of an exposition dump and daddy issues Alt-text rants: these people and their interior design are tempting fate and testing my patience

24. Inscribed

I go rogue and ramble about constructed languages and cuneiform for an entire post. Guest appearances from Klingon pop music and a delightfully eccentric Assyriologist. Rambles: All of it. Alt-text rambles: the self-awareness of conlangers, fingernail length, Schleischer's Fable as a warm-up for the next section, my primary conlang derangement, speculation about whether cuneiform was legible for the blind, my beef with the cowards at Lucasfilm for refusing to use Star Wars' coolest letters, my love for Warframe's Grineer, going into far too much detail about redesigning Prometheus' Engineer script, and finally, the many crocodiles of ancient egyptian hieroglyphs. Rants: None/all of it

25. Judgement

We discuss some of what the movie doesn't. Rambles: Fiction and morality, Blade Runner, biblical allusions the story could've made and doesn't Alt-text rambles: Lance Henriksen's insane career, the paintings of John Martin and a surprise George Washington, Rutger Hauer's effect on Blade Runner, my tentative plans for the next essay series. Rants: Germs, old man makeup. Alt-text Rants: The characters are reading ahead in the script again, the half-assed Engineer writing system continues to hurt me

26. Awoken

I go bananas over PIE. Rambles: fix-it fic for this damned movie, PIE, how to avoid PIE, how to analyze PIE, and my personal alternative to PIE. Alt-text rambles: calculating how long the Engineer's overslept, their potential spiritual kinship to Moominpapa, behind the scenes photos of the suit actors, Prometheus rants in the days of LiveJournal, the game Hades, how hard it personally is to get PIE right, the linguistics nerdery of the Hittite empire, and watermarks. Rants: how the movie fails its premise and hurts my soul with linguistics

27. Shortcomings

The characters, and movie, fail to get their message across to someone bent on their destruction. Rambles: David's confused religious symbolism, Star Trek Alt-text rambles: My desire for fanfic, behind the scenes photos, what other critters the Engineer's suit actor has played, the naming of Australopithecines, crash-proofing a movie set, alien gender, Gandahar and how French animated SF in the 80s was awesome, Scorn and its expert consultation from a cenobite, and Doctor Strangelove. Rants: the assumptions of the human characters, I go from trying to be measured to actively spiting the writer for his take on thoughtful SF Alt-text Rants: Del Toro is the only one who gets me, the movie has forgotten its main character just had a major surgery, one last rant about how terribly unsafe the Prometheus was as a ship, before it becomes definitively not a ship.

28. Momentum

It's the bit where she doesn't turn. Rambles: How to fix the dumbest thing we've seen in a hot minute, Edge of Tomorrow and feeling Tom Cruise's fear, how the dead thing is never really dead in horror. Alt-text rambles: How hard it is to find the most catchy song in We Love Katamari, more behind the scenes pictures of my blorbos, Friday the 13th Part IV, bad braille, and trilobites. Rants: I mean how can you not when the movie forgets how space works? Like, the idea of 3D space as a concept? Also, a particular rock earns my ire, and my ranting about interior designs on ships finally pays off.

29. Dissonance

The ending of the movie, and its tonal incoherency. Rambles: Protagonist-centric morality and lack thereof Alt-text rambles: Star Trek TNG, green blood, caecilian teeth. Rants: shallow christian themes, sequels that could have been, Shaw's confusingly deployed robo-racism Alt-text rants: sequel disappointments, inadvisable post-caesarian activities, how the hell do you fit that much 'burster into one chest, biological plausibility in alien extend-o-mouths

30. Justification

A breakdown of a post-release interview with Ridley Scott, explaining some missing details. Rambles: Gnosticism again, Mesoamerican and European human sacrifice and the exoticization of shared cultural practices, and a hearty book recommendation. Alt-text rambles: Icelandic volcanoes, The Collector (2009), Stephen Speilberg's War of the Worlds and how scaring the shit out of someone isn't necessarily the job of a horror film, the Tollund Man, unique cultural practices, Hello Future Me, and my opinions on what we've seen of Alien: Romulus. Rants: Ancient peoples weren't stupid, an unexamined christian-centric worldview, an unexamined christian-centric worldview, I CANNOT STRESS ENOUGh

[foxy-eva]

Waltz with Me

Summary: When Reader is sad that she won’t be getting a New Year’s kiss, Spencer is there to save the night

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Fem!Reader

Category: Comfort, Fluff

Content Warnings: a little bit of ‘end of the year’-melancholy

Author’s Note: I wrote this for @imagining-in-the-margins Comfort Fic Writing Challenge! Shoutout to Pom for helping me come up with this blurb (and for being my friend ❤️)

Word count: 1k

Masterlist

What a year for a new year. 

As I watched most of my friends pairing up to get ready to kiss their loved ones at midnight, I took a deep breath and walked over to the window to look at some stray fireworks that made their way to the sky early. 

Soon I would be able to leave the old year behind me. 

It surprised me every New Year’s Eve how it could be that days always seemed endless but the years were so short in comparison. There was not enough time for me to find someone I could kiss tonight, so instead I decided to linger by the window until the clock would strike midnight. 

Five more minutes until the new year. 

Noticing timid footsteps approaching me, I turned around to find Spencer looking at me with a worried look. 

“You okay?”

Smiling at him, I nodded and lied, “Sure.”

He raised one eyebrow at me and chuckled, “Very convincing.” 

His eyes left mine to look at the fireworks for a moment. He stood close enough for me to sense the heat radiating from his body and I instantly felt soothed by his presence. 

“In all honesty, I’m a little annoyed that I wasted another year,” I sighed. 

Spencer locked eyes with me and wondered, “What do you mean? You accomplished so much, for example you– “

“ –don’t have anyone to kiss at midnight.” I interrupted him. 

“Ah,” he said. “That’s what you mean.”

I shrugged and looked out the window again. “It’s a stupid tradition anyway.”

“Yeah, it’s rather unlikely that not being kissed at midnight would determine an entire year of loneliness like ancient Romans believed.” 

This time it was me who met his look with raised eyebrows, asking, “Is that supposed to make me feel better?”

“If you choose to believe in superstitions I’d suggest looking into nicer ones. Austrians for example have a tradition to waltz at midnight. They gather up to cheerily dance into the new year, believing that starting it that way will bring them happiness,” he explained. 

My eyes widened at his words and a smile spread over my face. 

“Spencer, now you have to waltz with me!” I giggled as I reached for his hands. 

He pulled back and shook his head. “What? No! I don’t know how to dance.” 

“Come on, how hard can it be to waltz?”

I noticed how everyone around us started counting down numbers, a clear sign that midnight was approaching. Spencer realized that too, looking at our friends before locking eyes with me again. He stepped closer to me and placed his right hand on my waist and his left hand in my palm. 

“Your left hand needs to be on my shoulder,” he told me right before the clock struck midnight. 

And then we did it – sort of. Clumsily Spencer attempted to take the lead as we started swaying from side to side. Right when I wanted to point out that this is not what a waltz is supposed to look like, he took the first step forward, making me step back. We stumbled over each other’s feet and I kept crashing into his chest whenever he tried to get back into the motion. 

There was no way for me to stop the fit of laughter falling from my lips. 

Spencer, however, seemed very determined to do this right when he complained, “The noise of the fireworks doesn’t fit the three-quarter time of the waltz at all! How am I supposed to do this right?!” 

“This is supposed to be joyful, remember?” I snickered. 

Slowly but surely we found the right pace to dance with each other. Our motions weren’t completely right and I’m sure we didn’t look graceful at all, but waltzing with Spencer made me really, really happy. I kept my eyes on him, noticing how the crease between his eyebrows slowly disappeared and a hint of a smile became visible on his face. 

“So,” I tried to start a conversation, “Any plans for the new year?” 

“I want to take dancing lessons so I’ll do this right next time,” he joked. 

The prospect of dancing with Spencer again some time made my heart jump and I felt a comforting warmth spreading through my chest. 

“Great idea,” I agreed. “You really aren’t that good at this.”

“I considered my other options to cheer you up but I’m even worse at kissing.”

His statement made me laugh again. “I really doubt that.” 

A moment of comfortable silence followed as we slowed down our motions until we were only swaying from side to side. I noticed how his sight dropped from my eyes to my lips for a split second as if he considered proving to me what he just claimed. 

“What about you?” he asked instead. “Any resolutions for the new year?”

“Just one,” I told him. “I want to grow a couple of inches.” 

“And why is that?” He wondered. 

“So I don’t have to stand on my tiptoes to find out if you really are bad at kissing.”

A lovely rosy shade spread over Spencer’s cheeks at my words and his lips slightly parted, almost inviting me to do what I just announced. My left hand wandered from his shoulder to the nape of his neck and I noticed how his grip on my waist tightened as he pulled me closer until our bodies touched. 

He leaned down and I stood on my tiptoes so our lips could meet, timidly brushing over one another. It was short and sweet and I couldn’t help but smile into our kiss. When I pulled back and looked at him, I almost got lost in the depth of his golden irises. 

It took me a few moments to find my words and when I did, I finally concluded, “You lied.”

He leaned down again, his breath hot against my face as he whispered, “I know,” before capturing my lips once more. 

Thank you so much for reading! Your comments mean the world to me and feedback helps me stay motivated to come up with more stories. Let me know what you think!

Taglist: @nomajdetective @reidsbookclub @spookydrreid @gspenc @justreadingficsdontmindme @samuel-de-champagne-problems @matthew-gray-gubler-lover @delicatespencer @malindacath @pauline5525mgg @sanaz1dlol @luna-novae @pygmygoat-bicyclehelmet @luredwithpretzels @reidselle @alexxavicry @frickin-bats @spencersprettyslut @s4r4hsblog @sebs-oxygen @reidsmilf @beepbooptoop @lovejules888 @liltimmyst @encyclo-reid-ia @lilibet261 @fandomstuffff @spencer-reid-wonderland @happymangospot @conniesanchor @jordierama @daniacat @ellamaianderson @cynbx @feltonswifesworld87 @sweetannanas

[vclvetfleur]

Obedient Chapter 5

roman roy x fem! reader

Summary: You and Roman decide to celebrate his small achievement at his apartment over 2 bottles of wine.

Warnings: hints at ED, crude jokes

Word Count : 3.8K

Notes: Alright I needed to be kind to you after the last chapter of the series. Also I can't believe I posted 5 chapters already.

Chapter 5: Parking Lot drop off

After Roman spent a good long while gloating in Kendall’s face, you decided it was enough. You were going to celebrate. Just like you promised him earlier. You both were going to celebrate together. Just you and him and possibly a drink. He needed this.

You both ended at his apartment. This was your first time ever seeing him apartment actually. The location was incredible though. He lived in one the skyscrapers that made up New York City's skyline in Lincoln Square. It was just a 5 minute walk away from Central Park.  But something told you that Roman didn’t ever take walks around the city. Why would he? He didn’t need to.

You walked in, expecting the most from it, and were still blown away by his apartment. You walked through the front door and were visited by a long hallway with the entire right wall being a window out to the city. This hallway pretty made up your studio apartment, credit your apartment was small, only having 2 rooms, your living room/kitchen and your bathroom. But your living area was pretty large enough to fit all your stuff in it. But you weren’t ready for the rest of the apartment.

You were completely amazed by how someone could live in something like this. Someone came in and slept here every night. “I get why you never come to the office now.” You were only halfway joking.

Now the living room. That was something else to see. The couch was practically as big as a king sized bed. The walls were either some kind of fancy wood or just a window. And there was a bookshelf full of book, you doubted Roman even read before. You tried not to gawk at it too much. You couldn’t even believe he had a staircase either. There was another fucking floor.

Roman barely paid you any mind though. He just needed to get out of this suit. He pulled his suit jacket off, laying it on top of his couch, undoing his tie and throwing it right onto of his jacket. He undid his shirt a bit so he could breathe better. He was finally relaxed. Not entirely, he never was fully relaxed, but relaxed enough and comfortable enough with you here.

“Okay you can finish scanning for blind spots to rob me at night.” He scolded you, grabbing a bottle from a small cabinet he had with wines in it. He had two glasses in his hand while he settled on the couch. You joined him, kicking your shoes off, pulling your legs up as you practically curled up onto the couch. It was insanely comfortable. You grabbed a glass from him as he twisted the cork open. He poured you a glass before himself.

“Well fortunately for you, I couldn’t find any blind spots.” You took a sip of your wine, resting your head on your arm. You wouldn’t stop looking over at the view. He had such an amazing view of the city. You could practically see the top of most buildings in New York from here. “Well offer is still on the table if you wanted to live with me.” He hinted again. He wasn’t super amused by his apartment. It was just another thing to show off to people. He mainly only did it to seem better than Kendall. Once Kendall and Rava split up, Roman got this apartment because Kendall got his new apartment. He just wanted to one up him in some way. Kendall’s was 29 million, so Roman needed to get something more expensive and higher. Something with a better view. So, he settled for a 38 million dollar apartment. Right across the park from him. Kendall was on the east side while Roman was on the west side of Manhattan.

“Roman.” You exhaled. Your head fell, looking up before looking at him with your answer. It wasn’t going to happen. Ever.

“Jeez alright fuck you. I don’t wanna live with you anyways, probably would give me Gonorrhea or whatever the fuck.” His only defense was a joke.

He always tried to make jokes to cover up whenever he was serious about something. He just wanted to keep people guessing. No one took him serious anyways. Why would they?

“I’m pretty sure between the two of us, you’ve actually gotten or have Gonorrhea.” You striked back before pouring yourself another glass. You weren’t a wine person, but it wasn’t too bad. You were celebrating anyways.

“Oh ya, that must be why I’ve been bleeding out of my dick for a week. I just thought I finally hit womanhood.” He snickered behind his glass. You stared over at him, just enjoying his company.

It was nice. Calm. Nothing to stress the other one out. This was just a moment of contentment that you both shared together in this room. No pressure from work or professionalism.

“You’re a fucking idiot Rome.” You shook your head. That must’ve been the first time you ever called him that. Everyone close to him did. And by close, you meant his siblings or certain people who worked for his dad like Gerri. It caught him off guard for a bit, but he was happy to hear you call him that. It made him feel just a bit closer to you.

“Yeah… I know.” His lips allowed themselves to grow into a soft smile. His eyes were glued to you.

He didn’t care about what or who you were before he met you. Which he usually did. He never really talked to anyone he thought was below him. He had deep rooted classism heavily taught to him, and he never unlearned it, he wasn’t planning to either. But you made him kind of finally see there was no real difference.

But that’s not why he was staring. Not cause he was even thinking about the difference of class between you two. But because he thought you were one of the most gorgeous people he has ever met in his life. The way your hair fell, to the shape of your lips, to how you moved your hands when you talked quick enough. Or even just the way you talked to him. Like an equal. Someone with worth. You were harsh, but behind it, you had such a soft and caring tone to you. Everything about you made him just feel an almost, kind of obsession. You were never something he looked for, he never was really looking for anything or anyone. But here you were. In front of him. Laughing and giggling at all of his jokes and making fun of him back. Celebrating his dumb achievements with him. He wanted you. Bad. But he had so much fear of messing it up that it held him back.

“Aren’t you gonna call me a terrible assistant?” You tried to break the silence that fell onto both of you.

You didn’t mind the silence though. It wasn’t awkward. It was comforting. You didn’t need to speak to each other to fill the emptiness in the room. Despite all of the amazing artwork and other things Roman had in his apartment, they barely existed in the scheme of things. When there was just you and him either talking or not, he was the only thing even grabbing your attention. You tried to move your eyes to look at other things, but that calming effect the city and the light usually had on you was now replaced with Roman. The same calming comfort.

“No... I don’t need to. Cause you did it for me.” His laugh was so weird but so infectious. It wasn’t really like a normal laugh. Logan even once compared it to a hyena. But whenever you heard it, it made you wanna laugh along with. It was usually stifled or muffled. Or broken in between his words. Like he was so excited to tell the next joke. Or say the next thing that popped into his head.

You flipped him off, his hand smacking your hand down. His hand never left yours though once he dragged it down. You stared at him for a bit before pulling your hand away from his. It was too weird. It was too intimate for you.

You used to not be a very affectionate person, swearing off all kinds of touch from whoever. But as you had gotten older and into more relationships, you seemed to relax. Now you did enjoy affection. But sometimes that old habit came back. And right now, with the comfort, and with Roman, and the light, and the wine, it felt too intimate. Too much. You didn’t want to ruin it with Roman either. Even if you didn’t want to admit to yourself it was more about your crush on him than anything else. How could you not at this point?

The way you looked at him and the way you saw him, like actually saw him, was all it took for you to even realize it. But you were in denial about it. Like most of your crushes. You never wanted to admit that vulnerability to yourself.

And first off, you weren’t even allowed to have a crush on him. He was your boss. On every level, you were beneath him. And you didn’t want that kind of attention. So, you need to suppress these feelings as much as possible.

And second off, look at him. He wasn’t really the most conventionally attractive person you’ve met. He was odd looking, he was short, he was weird and disgusting and he wasn’t the most respectful person ever . He was rude and arrogant and selfish. He was the worst person you’ve ever met. Second. Logan had to be the first. But you saw a lot of good qualities in him. Even in his appearance. Every part of his face made sense together. It would look odd on others, but they made sense on his face. Especially when he laughed. You couldn’t explain your attraction to him. Maybe cause you didn’t think you were too different. He was good company. He made you laugh. He made you smile. And he did go out of his way to do certain things. Like getting you the dresses for the party. He knew you wouldn’t have a clue on what to wear. You didn’t even own anything expensive enough to wear at the party. But he had it covered. He was gonna make sure you were comfortable enough. It backfired though when he humiliated you. He had his moments.

“Uh- so how are you settling in now?” He asked. He wanted to know; genuinely. See. He had his moments.

“I’ve been settling in fine. I think it was difficult a bit at first with you not showing up a lot, but everyone’s been super nice. I even met your cousin the other day in the break room.” You mentioned. Roman shifted a bit. He tried to think on what cousin that worked there before he finally remembered the tall dufus who got hired merely on the bases of coming out of the vagina of his dad’s brothers nutsack. Not that he was any better. He just came from the CEO’s nutsack. Granted Logans brother use to be CEO, before Logan fucked him over and practically stole it from Ewan. “He was such a sweetheart.” You praised. A hint of jealousy kind of took over Roman once he heard the compliment leave your lips.

“Yea except for the fact he’s fucking useless. You know I think him and my sister’s husband are fucking. I see them together more than him and Shiv.” Roman began to start a rumor out of pure jealousy and envy. He knew they weren’t actually fucking. Tom was Shiv’s little lap dog. If she said sit, he would do 5 other tricks just to impress her and then sit. He was at her feet all the time. “I wouldn’t be shocked, they’re in an open marriage. I actually dated this blonde Tom fucked at his bachelor party.” He tried to brag. Your face scrunched up in disgust at the thought of dating or fucking someone else that your brother or sister in law also fucked.

“Jesus Roman.” You murmur.

“No come on. It was afterwards. It was some sex party. It’s fine” He tried to blur the lines of how fucking odd that was. He didn’t know how to back peddle his way into making this any less weird than it was. “They didn’t even technically fuck. He just came in her mouth.” He tried to reason. Somehow it was way worse.

“In that case, I don’t want to share a glass with you.” You teased.

“Oh yea?” He asked, his eyebrows raised. He grabbed your glass before licking the entire rim of it. You let out a squeal, screaming his name before he handed it back to you. “You’re so fucking gross.” You whined, getting up to get a new glass from his cabinet.

“Oh, come on, it was so long ago. I should be more worried than you. You can’t act like you haven’t had cum in your mouth before. I bet you let someone cum on your face last month.” He sipped the last bit of his drink before getting up with you to get a new bottle as well.

“Why are you so obsessed with the idea of people cumming on my face?” You jokingly asked. It was mentioned maybe once after you accused him of the same. But it was fun putting Roman on the spot like that. The thing about Roman is, whatever he said, no matter how insane it was, no one knew if he was lying or telling the truth. Only cause what he said all the time was so outrageous. Even the night of the party. Jess calling up Kendall’s dealer. He said it as if it was a joke, but Jess and him knew it was true. It was kind of an open secret. But you hadn’t been working there long enough to know that yet.

“Cause I wanna see what it looks like with cum on your face.” He answered, grabbing another bottle of wine. He helped you find another glass, nonchalantly.

“Roman, you are one of the nastiest people I’ve ever had the misfortune of meeting.” You grabbed the glass from him. You rarely ever took him seriously. No one did. Roman always said shocking things to get a reaction. “Let’s not pretend like you don’t want to fuck me too.” He fired back at you. You rolled your eyes at him, assuming that’d shut him up. Reality was, you did. “Follow me. I wanna show off how rich I am.” He led you towards his balcony. You were looked around, getting an entire view of the city. You could see most of it from where you stood. The balcony went around most of his apartment.

Roman sat down on some chairs he had outside, and you followed. Your eyes watched the skylines and then down to the floor. You could barely see people, but you could hear how noisy everything was, all the yelling and the honking and street noises and laughter. It brought a sense of happiness to you. You never imagined being somewhere like this to even see this kind of view of the city.

“You’re not gonna jump, are you?” Roman asked, breaking your gaze from the city to him. You shook your head no.

You both decided to just spend the night together, laughing and drinking. It had gotten too cold outside, and you both went back inside the house where you continued your night. Before you knew it, it was 3 am and you both had fallen asleep. Your head laid onto his shoulder as he was slumped on the couch, his head leaning on yours. Your legs scrunched up and near him. You both kept each other at a distance yet were close to one another.

You woke up to Roman still asleep on the couch next to you. You shot up from the couch, still careful not to wake him. You searched the apartment for your phone before finally finding it. It was dead. Fuck. You found Romans to look up the time. 7:43 am. Fuck. You both have to be in the office in just over an hour. Roman could make it on time. You weren’t sure you could. Your apartment had to be at least 30 minutes away from Romans apartment and then the time it took you to get ready and then go back to the office would take an extra 50 minutes. You grabbed your shoes before hearing a sneaky comment being made right behind you.

“Oh no, did we have a one night stand that we can’t take back?” Roman voice coarse and not as energetic as it usually was. Your line tightened in a thin line before looking over at him.

“I need to get home so I can get ready for work.” You tried to explain. You hadn’t even looked at your makeup yet. it had to look awful after sleeping in it.

“Just get ready here.” Roman shrugged, getting up from the couch finally. He stretched before finally settling. “You know I can’t Rome.” You tried to reason with him. “Yea yea you don’t want people thinking you’re a whore who’s fucking her boss even though that’s exactly what you are.” He headed to his kitchen to make himself a coffee. “Look, i'll send my driver. You won’t be late. Just have coffee with me in the meantime.” He was ready to beg. He sent a quick text to his driver before grabbing you another mug.

“Fine. Uh- Can I just charge my phone?” You asked. Roman nodded and you panicked to find one. You found one and plugged your phone, waiting for it to turn on. “Hey, can you get the fuck up and make your coffee?” He called out to you. You pulled away from the phone and went to Roman. You searched his fridge for milk, not finding a plant based milk. Not shocking to you. In all honesty you couldn’t find much in his fridge. He had just milk for his coffee, water bottles, alcohol and some fruit. Not much. It reminded you of your own fridge.

“Do I not have any milk? Oh god you’re not one of those environmental fucking hippies that only drink dirt and eat grass.” He scoffed. You didn’t have the heart to tell him. You shook your head and sipped on your coffee.

You decided to sit with Roman for a while before the driver got here. You put your cup into the washer for him before leaving the penthouse. And off you went home. Despite the harsh morning yesterday, you do think you found it in your heart to forgive Roman for the party. You just couldn’t tell him.

You removed your makeup and charged your work iPad while getting ready once again to see Roman. And off you were to work. This was so much easier than taking the subway. And way faster than the train from your neighborhood to FiDi. You even had time to get yourself a coffee you’d actually enjoy drinking. You ordered for one for Roman too. He thankfully was on his way from work since you woke him up early. You sat in his office and reviewed your notes. You had been texting Jess all morning. You were planning on finding a new wardrobe for yourself since you were finally getting paid today. Actually, you didn’t even check your paycheck yet. You didn’t want to. You were scared.

Roman burst into the room, grabbing the latte you left for him, taking a sip. “Wait let me see yours.” He insisted, grabbing yours to see the sticker on it saying oat. “God you’re even more pretentious than me. I can’t believe you lied to me.” Romans laugh stifled before setting it back down. He wouldn’t stop mocking as he even went into a bit on you ordering the coffee for yourself, feminizing himself in a terrible offensive way. “Rome. Quit it.” You tried to stop him, but you were too busy laughing at him, which only encouraged him more. He actually seemed excited to work with you. He was still incredibly lazy, but less lazy now that he had someone pushing him to actually do stuff for him. No wonder his dad and brother had assistants. That must be why they got so much work done. Or Roman was just trying to impress you.

You just spent most of your time sitting back after Roman went to meeting after meeting, but he just went you texts the entire time. You and Jess sat back during a meeting together while Roman and Kendall worked on their meeting together. “What are you laughing at?” Jess smiled, looking over at your phone. She was glad to see you so happy after the party. Though she wasn’t too happy about the whole Kendall Roman thing yesterday, it wasn’t on you. It was purely between them. Beside Jess adored you and you adored her. She couldn’t ever take that on you, even if Kendall made her do more work and went off on some emotional roller coaster. All she could think was; at least it wasn’t Roman.

“Nothing. Just a text.” You reassured her before putting your phone away. But Jess saw another text from Roman pop up. She didn’t have the nerve to bring it up. But she saw your face light up and your smile return as you answered it. Oh god. Not you. She was in complete horror. Not you and Roman. The thought disgusted her. As it would with anyone.

“Alright, so where are we going after work?” She wondered. “Do you want to get dinner too?” She offered. She knew about your past issues; she knew how you were still. You ate, just you really took it out on yourself whenever you did not eat as good as you wanted. It was a vicious cycle you went through. But you were doing good enough to get dinner tonight with Jess. You nodded and began to go over your plans of where you wanted to go shopping.

She was excited for you. You seemed happier. You were lighter on your feet. You were laughing more. You were kind of miserable when you first started, but you got the hang of it fairly quick with Roman. And now you actually had a job rather than stressing yourself out about your qualities and skills and not understanding why you couldn’t find anything. You were not in panic mode anymore.

Your heads turned, hearing Kendall and Roman leave together. “Fucking twat.” Roman said loud enough for Kendall but low enough for the board and investors.

“Sorry Jess, I’ll see you again after the parking lot drop off.” You joked before Jess followed Kendall and you followed Roman.

“What the fuck is a parking lot drop off?” Roman asked.

Chapter 6

[1moreff-creator]

Matching the DRDT Characters with their Roman Numeral Quote (LGI MV)

So, I immediately fell in love with newest Literature Girl Insane MV, and I have to drop everything I’m doing just so I can talk about it. Although there is so much to discuss I don’t even know where to begin, one thing which immediately caught my eye was the crosswords which flashes on the screen for a moment.

As many have figured out, it’s made up of the names of everyone in the cast, plus Mai Akasaki, minus David. As the footnote on “Now” says, it’s better to use full names instead of nicknames (such as Julia instead of J) and to exclude the protagonist of the MV.

Here’s the solution by raspbeyes, who I believe may have been the first person to upload it to Tumblr.

However, what’s really interesting is that, by the nature of a crosswords, it connects all characters with a Roman numeral. And these Roman numerals show up throughout the video, attached to different sentences. That way, you can connect the characters to these sentences. And so, you get some pretty interesting stuff. With that in mind, I went through and collected all the Roman numerals (it’s not very difficult, apart from one exception), and I wanted to share my thoughts on them.

Now, the numbers don’t actually show up chronologically for the most part, and the only real logic they seem to follow is “they show up after the crossword flashed on screen”. I’ve decided to list them in the order of the actual number instead of the chronological order, as I don’t find the latter to be very important (apart from one case).

That said, I will actually start by number two, since number one is a bit of a special case. You’ll see. For now:

II - Rose ~ Ego cogito ergo (turbatus) sum

We have some latin to kick things off! “Ego cogito ergo sum” is the ever famous “I think therefore I am” philosophy, but in latin! This phrase (from what I understand) claims that the only thing we can be truly and absolutely sure exists, is our own reasoning and consciousness. This fits Rose decently well, as she’s established her photographic memory causes her trouble separating what’s real, what’s a memory, what’s a dream, etc. Even more so, it sorta fits with the song “Cartoons” from the now vanished character playlist, which some theories placed as Rose’s.

However, there is also the addition of “turbatus” to the saying. Turbatus, from a quick Google search, means something like “disturbed”. Thus, the full meaning is something like “I think, therefore I am disturbed”. This fits Rose even better, considering her scene with Teruko and Nico in the dress-up room. Don’t think I have to go too far in explaining this one.

III - Charles ~ If you doubt brittle things are broken

So, is this about his dead brother he doesn’t remember? As in, “if you doubt your memories, as they’re brittle, they’ll break? Or is this talking about the relationships between the cast? “Distrust will lead to our collapse”, sorta fits the talk he had with Teruko early in chapter 2.

However, I actually lean more towards the brother thing, because of the blue, long quote which is flipped upside down on top of the image.

“And now here’s my secret, a very simple secret. It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye”

So, here’s where the Roman numerals become sorta weird. Does this count as part of Charles’ quote or not? I assume it’s at least related, especially seeing some of the other stuff we’ll see in the background.

Now, to the actual quote. I recognize it as a quote from the fox in “The Little Prince”, a book which if you have not read, you should honestly read. It’s a surprisingly sweet book to attach to Charles, but I can honestly see him blushing while talking about it, so it fits.

The quote itself is simple to understand; the material things in the world are not as important as our feelings, relationships, hopes, dreams, all that which can only be seen with the heart. This could be talking about the group’s relationships like I mentioned, but I lean more on thinking it’s referring to the memories of our loved ones, aka, Charles’ memories of his brother. Yes, the fact the quote starts by talking about secrets influences this interpretation.

IV - Arei ~ Right now, why do you cry?

Not much to talk about here. Arei’s the victim of this chapter, that’s why she cries. You can read into it a bit more and claim it has to do with Arei’s bullying of other people (“why are you crying, you wimp?” is something which could conceivably come out of her mouth), or more optimistically, it’s talking about how Arei used to only cry crocodile tears, but as she’s grown more empathetic, she now cries for her friends. Or some sappy shit like that.

Yeah, it’s still probably just about being the CH 2 victim.

V - Ace ~ Right now, why do you go insane? [flipped]

I’m not gonna lie, I kinda laughed a bit when I checked which character this one belonged to. Yeah, it’s pretty fitting, Ace is always going off for the most inane stuff.

More interesting is perhaps the background quote, “a cat has 9 additional lives”. Considering we’re talking about one of two people who’ve survived murder attempts so far, it makes sense, though I wonder if it’s going to come into play again later.

… Also, this just confirms in my mind the song from the playlist which belonged to Ace was “Yesman”. Undead, undead! and all that. I swear I’ll make a post about it eventually, I’m just more focused on this at the moment.

VI - Arturo ~ mind exercise 1 2 3 4

… Uh, well, as a surgeon, he do be exercising that mind though? Or something like that. Yeah, frankly I got nothing. This is just another moment where we Arturo enjoyers gotta take the L.

(Yes, I did just come out as an Arturo enjoyer-)

VII - J ~ Do it like that, let’s live together!

Another one I have no answer for. Like, what do you want me to say, this implies J’s the mastermind? Because it sort of does, seeing as she’s telling everyone to live together. But I really don’t see anything too interesting in the main quote.

However, the background quote may be more noteworthy. Anything in brackets is covered by something else but can be guessed with context.

“The Moral La[w] causes the people to be in com[plete accord] with their ruler, so that they wi[ll f]ollo[w] [him] regard[less of] their lives, undis[mayed] by any danger”

Had to look this one up. J’s quote is from Sun Tzu’s “Art of War” of all goddamn things. The Moral Law the quote is talking about is, from basic research in Google, some sort of unity of purpose; the idea that if the followers and the rules have the same interests, their side will have an advantage in war.

… What?

Yeah, this one’s a bit odd too. For now, my best answer is that it may have to do more with Mariabella than J herself. If you see Mariabella as a sort of leader, and her fans as the followers, it could be talking about how the combined pressure of Mariabella and the media overwhelm J, the “other side” of the “war”.

But if you’re really into the mastermind J idea, you can read it as “she’s the leader of the killing game, with the followers being the people at home that have the same purpose of wanting to see despair and keep the show running by watching”. But I really doubt we’d be getting this sort of mastermind allusions in an MV from chapter 2 of all things.

If anyone has better ideas on this quote or any other, I’d love to hear them.

VIII - Nico ~ even if i try to think, idk!

Another one I can’t talk too much about. My best guess as to what this means is “Nico tries to think about social cues, but doesn’t get it”. Relatable, but also nothing new. Maybe I’m missing something big, but it’s what I got for now.

IX - Levi ~ look, aside from the usual, give me that medicine

Disclaimer, the words don’t actually appear in that order in the MV, but this phrase makes a lot more sense than “look aside from that the usual medicine give me”.

I really don’t know what this means. I mean, I can guess Levi might take some medicine? Whit did say some people took prescriptions apparently. But I really don’t quite understand why this is the first time we’ve had his character associated with medicine.

EDIT: The last few paragraphs about Levi are dead wrong, I’m just leaving by them up so you can laugh at how stupid I was. Here’s a correction with a better analysis.

The background quote doesn’t make it much better. It’s just talking about the orbit of a thing, something something representative trajectory… something something Jupiter… something something 1930…

Oh shit, it’s about the discovery of Pluto! That’s what Google seems to think when I put those keywords in, anyways. Well, as fun an astronomy tale as that one is, I actually have no idea what it means for Levi’s character. I guess it’s something we’ll see in the future.

… Or maybe, crazy idea. You know how Pluto was first thought to be a “planet” but then got reclassified as”dwarf planet”? Maybe this means my theory is right: Levi will get “discovered” as the blackened of the second trial, but then “reclassified” as an accomplice when they find out Eden is actually-

Alright, I’ll stop. I’m joking, obviously… (unless?)

X - Min ~ Democratic-ly

Wait, hold on a second, you may say. That is an X, but it doesn’t really look like the rest of roman numerals font-wise. There are plenty of times X’s appear in the video aside from here, such as… well, the blank death portrait that’s always in the background.

And yes. To my joy, Min got given a bit of special treatment, since the roman numeral for ten, being an X and all, can be seen all throughout the video. However, there is one reason I believe this is absolutely Min’s X.

You see that tiny little 10 next to the X? That’s a footnote. And footnote number 10 is “The Roman numeral for 10 is X”. Of course, the reason we’re reminded of it here is because that X isn’t just a bunch of blood, it’s a Roman numeral.

Of course, Min gets the biggest numeral because she is just that much of a girlboss.

Anyways, numeral oddity aside, it’s pretty obvious why this is Min’s. The background text is just the description of the rules of a class trial, a trial where the outcome is decided democratically, and the reason Min died. This scene is directly followed by more references to class trials, which although they have some interesting implications for the MV as a whole, only help to solidify Min’s connection to her line.

As for other footnotes, footnote seventeen on the word “democratic-ly” is just an objective fact (“Not a real word. Can’t be found on any dictionary”), though the fact “democratically” is spelt wrong could be a reference to Min’s execution, where she was forced to get a lot of things wrong before dying.

Final note is footnote 12, on the class trial definition, which talks about majority rule and how, because it’s the fairest way to make decisions in a group, “murderers never complained when we voted for them to die”. There are implications here about the fact Teruko also received votes in the first trial, but for Min, there isn’t anything new here.

And yes, Min got three footnotes. As she should.

XI - Mai ~ God is dead

Honestly, I guessed who got this line before even checking the crossword. It just fits what we know of Mai too much. Which isn’t a lot, but it’s enough to know she would get a line as dramatic as this. If you want a proper interpretation, Mai is sometimes treated like a god by the others considering the secret quotes, but now she’s dead or gone or something.

Of course, that’s the literal meaning of that phrase. When you look at it through the lens of Nietzsche (and Wikipedia to make sure I didn’t fuck up anything), the phrase “God is dead” refers to the idea that as christianity became increasingly non-universal, the ethical and sociocultural elements of society which had been built on it would be questioned and revised. So, “growing lack of faith causes shifts in the status quo”, or something like that. It’s something which, again, may fit Mai from what we know of her backstory. Someone everyone had unquestioned faith on, who did something which had consequences, so maybe that caused a breakdown of that original faith, or something? Anything involving this character is always extremely speculative, but I frankly think the more literal interpretation works better in this context.

In any case, this phrase is about as cryptic and dramatic as everything involving Mai, so it fits.

XII - Eden ~ ???: But you’re in my way, aren’t you?

… Alright, Eden, I know I believe you to be the CH 2 killer and all that, but you gotta at least try to defend yourself against the allegations! The hell is this?

In case anyone was wondering, I think she’s the killer who wants to get out to meet back up with the girl she kissed (who I’m starting to get convinced is Mai but I’m not ready for that conversation), so this line reads like something she’d say to Arei in that theory. However, it’d be kind of a weird thing to put in the MV before the chapter ends, and besides, there’s an interpretation I like more.

You see how there’s a triple question question mark there? There’s a chance someone is saying this to Eden. I’ll actually get back to this later, because I have to talk about XVI before I cover my theory on this. Apologies.

CW for XIII: Suicide

XIII - Teruko ~ or

… He. Alright, out of context, this is kinda funny. But if you let the MV play, it’s “… or not to be?”, from “To be or not to be?” Shakespeare and all that. That said, the video does, in fact, only keep the number on screen while it says “or”, so I choose to notate Teruko’s quote as just that. Also, as raspbeyes noted in their original post, the number thirteen is considered unlucky, so Teruko.

With that, I have to talk about how insanely dark it is to cut that phrase off at the “…or not to be” section. For anyone who hasn’t read this speech from Hamlet (which I hadn’t either, btw, had to look it up), the phrase “to be or not to be” is actually about suicidal ideation, with the word ‘be’ serving as a synonym for ‘live’. Therefore, cutting the phrase off at just this section leaves behind only suicide as the option.

It had already been implied Teruko has attempted suicide before (see: her telling Arei that failed hangings hurt a lot), and that her luck is the only thing keeping her alive. This just seems to imply it’s a much more present issue than we believed.

Then there’s the background text. From my research, the one on the left is a quote from “Murder on the Orient Express” and the one across the bottom is from “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”.

“Murder on the Orient Express” is easy to tie in, as it’s literally a murder mystery novel. Uh, spoilers for the novel, I guess, but it ends with the main detective, Poirot, concluding that the murderer was either no one in the train or everyone there. That sort of ties into Teruko’s hidden quote of “It is an equal failing to trust everybody, and to trust no one at all”, I guess? For the line itself, it seems to be about a character hatefully looking at the detective. You can take Poirot to be Teruko because she’s decent at class trials (as opposed to everyone else being horrible at them), and the person looking at her to be… any blackened, or anyone, or David, take a pick.

“The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” is a bit weirder. It’s a short story about Omelas, an utopia which is the perfect life for everyone there, except for a young child who is forced to live in mysery for the sake of the others. The quote in the video expresses this pretty succinctly. I guess it’s talking about class trials? How the happiness of everyone hinges on one person being very unhappy? Teruko’s the protag, so it makes sense she gets a line like this. There could be other interpretations, but I think that’s the most straightforward one.

XIV - Veronika ~ Things like substance of the arts

I mean, it fits. Veronika’s talent is artistic in nature. It seems a bit… non-dramatic for Veronika? But I guess there’s nothing wrong here.

… Well, there may be, but I’ll get there in a moment.

XV - Whit ~ Remaining ignorant, isn’t that “happiness”?

(Trust me, that’s the order the words show up on screen)

This one’s also easy. Whit’s secret is “Your mother is dead. You omit this truth”. This, combined with his behavior in the killing game, characterizes Whit as someone who prefers to ignore tragedy rather than process it, remaining “ignorant” in a way. The footnote attached, 15, just talks about the phrase “ignorance is bliss”, which is pretty much what the quote is.

…

The problem is the background text.

Thinking Time: “Subtract 4 due to tetraphobia”

That’s the phrase in the background, which appears as both Veronika’s and Whit’s lines are there. This is noteworthy because this is the only time in the MV that two different Roman numerals appear on screen at the same time. The phrase is also attached to footnote 4, which defines tetraphobia:

“The practice of avoiding the number four; it is most common in Eastern Asia. This superstition arises from the fact that the number 4 can be read similar to the word ‘death’ in several languages”

This connection is further implied because the character with the Roman numeral IV is Arei, who died this chapter. There is special attention brought over and over again to the number four, and this phrase asks us to “subtract” it.

And of course, this phrase chooses to appear when two “characters” are on screen, to make sure we can’t figure it out definitively.

Let’s start with Veronika: If you substract four from fourteen you get ten (astounding maths, I know). That connects her to Min and “democratic-ly”… which is the part of the MV most related to class trials and the killing game. Because if there’s a way to look like the mastermind, you bet Veronika’s hopping right on that train!

Other than being “Veronika playing mastermind footsies” for the fiftieth time, and the fact she sorta enjoys class trials, I don’t see any other connection between her and Min’s section, so.

I should address, too, you can remove 4 from 14 in a more literal way, and end up with 1 (doing it with Roman numerals just gets you ten again). This would connect her to Xander, whose line I’ve yet to cover, but trust me on this, I don’t think it connects to Veronika.

However, that’s for the line itself. Veronika might actually have a connection to Xander himself, because of their lines about Mai. Xander’s is “she couldn’t stand to do nothing” and Veronika’s is “a girl who didn’t foresee the consequences”. These are the only lines which allude to whatever big thing Mai may have done. If Xander and Veronika have a connection, it is likely through Mai.

And then there’s Whit, who is also on-screen at the time. Or, well, his Roman numeral is.

Alright, Whit. Veronika’s being super suspicious, so the tetraphobia line has a good chance of being about her. All you gotta do is be normal about this “subtract four” thing, alright? Good.

When you subtract 4 from Whit’s 15, you get 11, which is Mai’s “God is dead”-

For fuck’s sake.

He really just can’t dodge these mastermind allegations, can he? Anyways, if this is about him, he killed Mai, or something, and thus is likely the mastermind.

I’m joking- well, kinda. There are other interpretations, like maybe he… was the first to lose faith in her, in the Nietzsche interpretation of Mai’s line? I don’t know, but the murder is the more straightforward answer for this, if you ask me.

The problem, of course, is that there’s no way to tell which character the “subtract four” thing applies to. Well, the use of the word “tetraphobia” feels more Veronika leaning, what with phobias being related with horror and psychology, but to counterbalance, the line only appears when Whit’s numeral shows up, so it’s even again.

Anyways, back to the last numeral in sequence.

XVI: Hu ~ ???: Go and cry

Alright, you don’t have to be so mean-

In all seriousness, I believe this relates to Hu’s reaction to David’s reveal. And possibly her secret if it’s the one Veronika has.

However, what’s interesting about this line is that it seems to be a direct quote from a character, because of the triple question mark at the beginning. And this is where my theory comes in.

I believe triple question marks is David. This would fit perfectly with this line, as it’s totally something David would say post-magical girl transformation. And with him being the protagonist of the MV, it makes sense for him to be involved.

And that takes me back to XII. If you remember, I said I would talk about Eden’s line a bit more after talking about XVI.

Well, it’s pretty simple, really. Eden’s line comes right after Hu’s in the video, so it’s reasonable to assume ??? is the same person for both of them. In other words, I believe it’s David who tells Eden “but you’re in my way, aren’t you?” This still implies Eden’s the CH2 blackened, by the way. As in, “you’re getting in my way because now I need to figure out a murder”, or something like that. There really isn’t any other thing it could be referring to. Unless it’s like, “you’re getting in my way because you’re so nice you’re preventing murders from happening” or “you’re getting in my way of manipulating Arei by befriending her”, but the first one is too abstract and the second one doesn’t work since David didn’t know about their friendship until after Arei died. So don’t go thinking I’m giving up on that theory. It just changes the context a bit.

-

And with that, we’ve successfully gone through the sixteen numbers. Except, wait! Don’t think I forgot about the funny British boy!

Well, to be frank with you, there is a reason why I chose to save Xander for last. And that is… I didn’t want to start the list with disappointment.

I - Xander ~ Inconclusive

See, the problem is that Xander runs into much the same issue as Min, but without a footnote to help solve the problem. The Roman numeral for 1 is just “I”, so any time the word I appears, Xander’s Roman numeral appears.

Now, maybe you think this is stupid. Obviously any time “I” appears as an actual word, it’s not meant to be Xander’s numeral! We just need to look for the time it’s not a part of the lyrics or a phrase in the text!

This is obviously the most intuitive solution, and it does arrive at… an answer. So, I present, the First Possibility.

First Possibility

I - Xander ~ (the world of abnormal sentiment dances)

Now, at first glance, this works! You have the numeral next to a phrase, and there’s nothing else it could be!

Except, the problem is that that only extends to the screenshot. In this part of the video, the same phrase is on the screen for a good few seconds, but the “I” disappears and gets replaced by several numbers, then the “&” symbol, more numbers, and what seems to be a “=“ sign, maybe? But could be II sideways. Don’t know, looks like code, not my expertise.

The issue here is that this would be the only time a character’s phrase lingers longer than their numeral. This is pretty inconsistent with the other phrases we’ve seen, which is what gets me to hesitate and wonder if that “I” is actually made to be part of the code and not the crossword thing.

That, combined with the line itself. Because what does “the world of abnormal sentiment dances” have to do with Xander? I looked it up, but it’s not the name of a book or anything. Maybe I’m missing something, but I really don’t think this is related to Xander in any way.

So, I looked for other possibilities. The problem is that, like I said, all other possibilities are part of lyrics or phrases, not a standalone numeral.

And yet, there is one which stands out to me as a good candidate. This has a high chance of being wrong, but I’ll bring it up anyways because I think it’s cool.

Second Possibility

I - Xander ~ I hate the things that I love, and I love the things that I hate

… Well, I know it’s hard to read it in that clusterfuck, but that is what the red text says.

This line has a bit more to do with Xander, or at least, David’s feelings towards Xander. We know he probably did like him based on some scenes from the MV, but he’s sad about his death. He hates him for leaving, but his heart loves him anyways. That could be read as romantic or platonic… hesitant on the platonic-

That said, the problem is explaining why I believe this is the Xander line. And that comes down to the background text.

… Yes, that background text.

You see, in the MV, it slowly fills out in a way which lets you read it somewhat. I’ll tell you what each part of the text means, but if you want visuals, I’ll ask you go to the video.

What first appears is white text on top and the right. The white text on top is Big Clue #1, as it’s a definition of electrocution. You know, that thing Xander died from.

The text on the right, meanwhile, seems to be an excerpt from “Alice in Wonderland”. The specific passage seems to feature Alice lamenting how much “pleasenter” [sic] things were “back home”. And well, for everyone but Teruko, their homes were likelier “pleasenter” than the killing game. However, in this context, it could be an analogy to David missing the past, when Xander was still alive.

Then, more white text appears on the bottom as yellow text appears under the white text on top. The bottom text is, again, more talk of electrocution, but the yellow text is a bit more complex. This is the line (from Google, exact wording may vary):

“To me, you are still nothing more than a little boy who is just like a hundred thousand other little boys. And I have no need of you. And you, on your part, have no need of me. To you, I am nothing more than a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But if you tame me, then we shall need each other. To me, you will be unique in all the world. To you, I shall be unique in all the world...”

Another “The Little Prince” quote, another straight banger (I love that book). Imma need the hornier of you to not focus too much on the “taming” wording and focus on the important part. This one speaks of the beautiful simplicity of relationships; everyone is “just some dude” until you meet them and establish a relationship, and then, they become unique.

This is an especially wonderful quote for Xander and David’s relationship. David truly wanted nothing more than to be “a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes” instead of the idol Xander saw him as. He wanted a genuine relationship with him, where they were not just each other’s idols, but something bigger; each other’s boyfriends :D

Alright, sappy stuff aside, this quote is related to Xander, that’s what you need to know.

Then there’s the big pink text. It says “note: can’t read”. Yeah, fair.

But before that note appears, some cyan text begins sprawling out. It’s not a quote from anything as far as I can tell, so here’s a transcript:

“…man crushed by reality puts on a s[how]…

…[of end]urance. If that’s beyond your

[com]prehension, dear reader, then you a[nd]…

[I’ll n]ever understand each other. Life’s…

[short?] so we might as well make it…

[count?] real life is a realm th…”

So, yeah, I’m sort of guessing half the words here, and I can’t even tell what the last line is, but I think we can get the gist from this. Reading this with the context that Xander’s probably connected, it’s easy to figure out. David was crushed by reality when Xander died, and he put on a show of endurance after that. The insult to the reader is a bit uncalled for, but I don’t particularly care, it fits David.

So, with the idea that this little breakdown is related to Xander, it’s safe to say the line “I hate the things that I love, and I love the things that I hate” (not a quote from anywhere I could find btw) is linked with Xander as well.

And, well. There are other references to Xander, but they’re never paired with an “I”. And there are other instances of the word “I”, but never in relation to Xander, at least not as much as this little breakdown.

This clusterfuck of text also forms directly after the crosswords shows up. And while most of these aren’t in chronological order, number II through V do. Wouldn’t it make sense for I to appear right after the crosswords and make I through V in chronological order?

In any case, I believe this is a decent alternative to the “world of abnormal sentiment dances”, whatever that means.

Conclusion

This was really fun! I am satiated for now, the content drop was awesome, I loved it a lot. There’s so much more I want to talk about in this MV, but this was priority number one in my mind.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed! Thanks for reading! If you made it this far, you deserve your own Roman numeral, all for yourself! Take care!

[wambsgansshoelaces]

Turmoil; Chapter 5

Roman Roy x Reader

a/n: many apologies this time round, both for the last post and the fact that it’s so short. it also just doesn’t hit. I feel like I’ve been missing these last few chapters , and I really do apologize and hope you enjoy anyway :,)

Word Count: 2.021k

Norway is beautiful. The natural landscape, rolling and luscious, stretches on farther than you can crane your neck out of the window to see. Kendall and Roman are still passed out, so you and Shiv continue your comfortable conversation.

Willa and Connor have isolated themselves from the group, the two sitting in a far of corner. You and Shiv exchange a look at Connor’s dramatic whispering, and elect to ignore him. You’ve been tending to do that a lot.

When you breathe in the cool Norwegian air, you feel refreshed. “Soak it up while it lasts,” Shiv mutters to you.

“Don’t even.”

It had taken Roman throttling Kendall for him to wake up, and even standing on the runway, he seems asleep. He dozes off immediately in the car.

Watching the greenery pass, you actually feel a little excited. You pull up to the accommodation, and you can’t peel your attention from it. It’s borderline a mansion, you think to yourself.

You and Roman settle into your room in the same hall as everyone else. He belly flops into the massive, plush bed. “We should put one of these on our registry.”

“Where’re we going to put that, pray tell?”

“I don’t care if there isn’t space. It feels like I’m lying in a cinnamon roll.”

You crawl onto the bed and sit next to him. He looks up at you and smiles. “We should go out to dinner tomorrow. You and I.”

“I’d like that.” You’re both just grinning at each other. “I’m going out with Shiv and Willa in a bit,” you tell him.

“I’ll be obediently in bed the entire time you’re gone.”

“Okay, don’t say it like that-”

He laughs. “I’m too tired to go anywhere. If I wasn’t, I’d do something with Kendall, who’s currently passed out on the floor of his room.”

Shiv shouts your name from the hall. You give Roman an affectionate back rub and a quiet ‘goodbye’ before grabbing your purse and joining her.

She and Willa are stood waiting for you. You can tell it’s awkward between them. You’d expect it to be, really.

“Y/N, do you have a dress for the engagement party?” Willa asks, attempting to break the silence.

“I don’t, actually. It’s horrible planning on my part, but I couldn’t find anything white before we left.” It had completely slipped your mind with the chaos that had entered your life.

“You should help me pick an outfit, and I’ll help you,” Shiv says, ignoring Willa. You don’t know what’s happened between them, and you’re almost 100% sure it had something to do with Connor. “I brought a few dresses and pantsuits, but nothing feels right. None of it fits your vibe.”

The three of you find yourselves in a quiet strip mall. You and Shiv chat idly, and she makes you try on everything in half the stores until the moment you step out in a white silk slip dress that makes her gasp.

“You’re gorgeous! The dress, Y/N, and your body!”

Despite yourself, you grin giddily. “You think so?” You give a little twirl, and even Willa cracks a smile.

“It looks great on you,” she says softly.

“You go try some things on, too,” you urge. “And you, Shiv. Only rule is no white, for my ego.”

While Shiv’s in the dressing room, you and Willa stand patiently. Your eyes flit over her, before doing a double take on her wrist.

“I like your bracelet,” you say carefully.

She stretches out her arm to give you a better view. Solid jade. “Handmade. I got it on a getaway in Myanmar for a fat stack of cash.”

It takes all your will to keep yourself from screaming. “Good thing it didn’t get stolen.”

You’re now jittering to get back. Siobhan comes out in an emerald green pantsuit, and you do your ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’, tell her she looks gorgeous(because she does), and leave.

You’re unable to contain yourself back at the accommodation. You slam the door shut, startling Roman awake.

“What’s got you in a mood?” he asks, rolling over to face you as you dig around for your laptop in one of your bags.

“Fucking Connor.”

“I hope you mean Connor’s got you mad. Not that you’re fucking him.”

You open the file you have under Connor’s name and pull up the various photos he’d sent of his stolen items. “That asshole,” you hiss, clicking open the picture of the same jade bracelet you’d found on Willa’s wrist. “He’s lying. He’s lying about the lawsuit.”

“How do you know?”

“One of the things he submitted as stolen. Willa literally has it.”

“Don’t you think you might be jumping to conclusions?”

“I know I’m not.”

“How?” he asks again.

You pause. “You’re going to help me prove it.”

Roman pushes himself up onto his elbows and tosses you a look. “I am?”

“Your brother is committing fraud. Again. If we find out your father is somehow involved…”

“Y/N…”

“Just do one little investigation. For me, please.”

He clambers over to where you sat yourself on the floor and peers at the screen. “What am I looking for?”

“I’m hoping three bits of ‘stolen goods’ will be enough. What do you think you could easily have access to? From these?” You scroll through the photos.

“A watch, definitely. Are those cuff links?” he asks, laughing. You swat his chest playfully. “Focusing, focusing.” He goes back through the photos one by one. “Can I send these to myself?”

You let him, and you want to scream. You don’t know if Connor is genuinely trying to fuck with you or if he’s that desperate for money. It has to be the former- he’s Connor Roy. “If you don’t mind,” he says, breaking the silence, “I’m going back to sleep. Care to join?”

You change, brush your teeth, and end up asleep with Roman draped across you like a lazy cat. You sleep deeply- Roman is right. The mattress is soft and plush, and your sleep feels heavenly. You wake up, Roman’s head sitting on your stomach. His snores reverberate softly into your skin. Bleary, you drop your head back into your pillow and try to go back to sleep, your fingers wound through his hair. Eventually, Roman shifts, instead tucking his head into the crook of your neck and wrapping is arms around your waist.

You smile to yourself, dragging your fingertips over his back. “Good morning,” he murmurs. “Don’t stop that.”

You continue gently scratching at his back, feeling strangely domestic. You could get behind this, if it’s what your future entailed. “You’re a blanket hog,” you whisper.

“Mm, not my problem,” he whispers back into your shoulder.

“Roman,” you whine.

“Am I not warm enough?”

“Not when I wake up to pee and your feet are in my face.”

“Sleeping head to toe is good for… something, probably.”

“You don’t deserve anything I’m doing for you right now.”

“I’m taking you out to dinner, tonight. I’m getting there.”

“Get there quicker.”

“Fuck off.”

You spend a long while tangled together. He clings to you, and for once, you don’t mind it. “Hey, I have to go soon,” he tells you a half hour later. “Some guy thing with my brothers.”

Because of jet lag, you’ve both lounged around until two in the afternoon. You’d fix your sleeping schedule later. “Back by six?”

”Back at six, I promise,” he agrees. “Get all dolled up for me, okay?”

You snort, but agree. Roman leaves you with the promise that he’d be back soon, and you drag yourself out of bed twenty minutes later to go eat. You didn’t know if it counted as breakfast or lunch. You didn’t care, really.

In the massive dining room, you find Shiv sitting in her pajamas with a mug of coffee in her hands. You serve yourself from the laid out spread of half breakfast half lunch foods and go to join her. “Hey, you.”

“I’ve been meaning to ask,” you start. “Have you ever head Connor on the phone discussing the lawsuit?”

She nabs a bit of melon from your plate. “Yeah, why?”

“We’ve never discussed it on the phone,” is all you say back. She chews slowly. “And the bracelet Willa was wearing yesterday…”

She catches on. “Really? Is he fucking with you, or is he really that dumb?”

“That’s what I said,” you mutter back. “I was wondering, though… should I just go through with the suit as normal, or… or should we bait your dad with this? See if he’ll cover it up?”

She toys with the hem of her shirt. “If we did do that second one,” she says, matching your volume, “we’d have to make sure we have everything in place to keep track of my dad.”

“Can you figure that out? You and Greg?”

“We should be able to.”

You’re both forced to switch subjects when Willa strolls in to get herself food. “I hear we’re going to have a dinner by the beach a few days before the party.”

”It’s going to be on this great patio. Booked it myself.” She raises her eyebrows at you, taking another sip of her coffee.

“You think… he’ll be here by then?”

“If I know my father, he’ll crash the party by helicopter.”

You spend a bit more time in each other’s company before Shiv excuses herself to go do some work. You stay and begin to finish the rest of your meal, Willa going to take the seat Shiv previously occupied. “I’m popular today,” you say jokingly in between bites.

“I wanted to thank you, for yesterday,” she says. You’d bought both her and Shiv clothing for your engagement party. You really hadn’t minded- you enjoyed footing the bill. You certainly had the means. It makes you happy making other people happy.

“Of course. It’s the least I can do for dragging everybody into this mess.”

She folds her hands together and sets them in her lap. “The family hasn’t exactly been welcoming. You’re a nice breath of fresh air. I know I seem shallow, and closed off, and all that junk. I’m sorry, I’m rambling. What I’m saying is, I think we can be friends. If it’s something you think can happen.”

You smile. “Of course. We’re already friends, aren’t we?”

You spend the next hour doing nothing, lounging on one of the sofas in one of the living rooms in this massive place. You keep track of the time, getting up early to get yourself ready for dinner. Sure, you’d just eaten, but you’d made sure to keep it light just so you could go out.

You take your time on your appearance, smoothing out the wrinkles in your clothing and fixing your hair meticulously. Initially, you think you’re going to be late, but to your relief, by six Roman hasn’t called or texted. Whatever divine entity must’ve seen your struggle and gotten him stuck in traffic.

Ten minutes turns into twenty.

Maybe the traffic really is bad, you tell yourself. You send him a text, asking him if he’s on his way.

No response.

You sit primly on the edge of an armchair, toeing the carpet with your shoe. You have hope. He promised.

You give up another two hours later.

Embarrassed, you cleanse off your makeup, peel of your clothes. You vaguely consider locking him out of the room, but you decide you’re above that. You’re disappointed. In Roman, in yourself. You don’t know why you began to expect more. You thought he’d step up, yet here you were. You go to sleep facing the wall.

You don’t want him to wake you up.You want to be left alone to sleep your anger off, to forget any of this ever happened. Was this an overreaction? You didn’t care. He’d promised, and broken it. He said he’d be better, and you could argue this was worse.

In the end, you come to the conclusion that you were better off in your own little world, far removed from anyone and everyone.

You’re tired of the disappointment.

[lopposting]

some more LOP script translation notes

[SPOILERS AHEAD]

Geppetto:

Well, I suppose Carlo was mischievous. It seems you inherited his personality instead of his memories.

this line in korean + alternative interpretation

그래, 카를로는 항상 말썽꾸러기였지 기억 대신 그 성격이 네게 옮겨 갔나 보구나. Right, Carlo was always a troublemaker It seems like you’ve gotten that personality instead of his memory.

also, 기억 (gi-eok) means “memory”, but i believe it can also be interpreted as "mind” (although 정신 "jungshin" is much better). As in, even if Pino inherited his personality, he didn't gain Carlo's consciousness. If you used that interpretation, it would confirm that pino absolutely isn't carlo. again up to interpretation!!

"말썽꾸러기" 

as in a troublemaker (literal) or a rabble-rouser, but denotes a child. In the korean version Geppetto implies that Carlo was insubordinate rather than “mischievous”. in english, “mischievous” denotes playfulness or malicious intent.

Carlo has such a presence in the game. We can only ever really experience him through events of the past but that's the intangible nature of death. Like how this post describes the trope of the "dead girl" - the narrative is inhabited by his absence. His death is the beginning of everything. [Reminds me of Rachel Amber from 2015's Life is Strange . And on that tangent, that's also why I really feel like they shouldn't have done the DLC prequel with her. She is dead. We may catch wisps of her voice here and there but ultimately she is wholly unreachable.]

(terrifying and ominous text message player receives near the end of the game)

Also, revisiting that line ONCE AGAIN:

그깟 늙은이, 죽어도 상관 안 해. That old bastard, he can die for all I care.

Culture cannot be separated from language. Korea is generally a conformist society with a deep emphasis for respect for your elders and your parents. The fact that Carlo uses that form of speech with his father gives us an impression of their relationship – but it also suggests his feisty nature. [edit: Even in the portrait, Carlo stares back at us in sullen defiance.]

[the fact that carlo is actually pretty venomous here is also why it feels more fitting when romeo is like "Don't be like that" even though he was aware of geppetto's neglect. “He can die for all I care." The relationship with Carlo and Geppetto was AWFUL.]

more notes:

another small adjustment to a particular line:

Geppetto (released english version): I knew you had gone astray, you troublesome little puppet!

Korean line + slightly more literal trans:

네가 엇나간다는 건 진작 알았다. 이 말썽쟁이 인형 녀석! I knew long ago that you were going astray. You troublesome doll!

perhaps it's clearer in the korean line that Geppetto had begun to suspect us since the beginning.

Carlo is romanized as kareullo 카를로. Geppetto is Zepeto 제페토 and Romeo is Romio 로미오 (English pronunciation) and not Romeyo 로메오 (italian pronunciation) [from namu wiki]. He also says "Call me Lempuwik" 램프윅(lampwick, english), and not "Lucignolo" (original italian).

And probably the most important of all: The title pun in korean. P sounds like the character for blood. also ties in to the becoming human flesh-and-blood theme of the game. (P의 거짓)

korean netizens have taken to calling it "pigura 피구라" for short too.

[youvebeenlivingfictional]

Kinktober Day 25

Day Twenty-Four | 🌹Kinktober Masterlist🌹 | Day Twenty-Six

Pairing: Shiv Roy x AFAB!Reader

Rating: Explicit - 18+ Only. Any minors interacting with ANY of these Kinktober prompts will be blocked

Notes: I am, admittedly, quite nervous about this one, but here we go. Set during S1, pre-wedding.

Warnings: Infidelity; mentions of previous adolescent antics; mirror sex; oral sex; fingering; grinding; semi-public sex

“Try it on.” 

“We’re not here for me.” 

“Humor me.” Shiv tipped her head to the side, brows raising as she gave you a pretty frown, turning slightly from side to side. You knew better than to fall for what you called the Pinky Treatment—the batting eyelashes and pout that she gave her brothers and her father when she wanted something and wasn’t ready to budge on her position—but she always managed to get her way with you.

It was worse now, knowing that she was practically bare under the short pink, satin robe she was wearing. 

Your gaze drifted to the flesh-toned mesh in her hand, covered with dark straps. You reached out, taking hold of the bra and holding it up, gaze wandering the criss-cross of adjustable straps that covered the otherwise open cup. You looked at the piece still in her hand, nodding toward it. 

“What are those straps?” 

“Panties and a suspender belt.” 

You grunted in contemplation. 

“C’mon,” Shiv shuffled closer. “It’ll help me decide which ones I get for the honeymoon.” 

“Will it.” 

“Sure.” 

You glanced warily between the door leading to the lingerie shop’s private dressing suite. Shiv scoffed softly. 

“They won’t open it unless I tell them to,” She reassured. “C’mon, try it on.” 

You sighed heavily, reaching out and taking hold of the rest of lingerie, trying to ignore the little thrill you felt when she smiled victoriously. 

“Turn around,” You mumbled, waving her away. You reached down, frowning at the tags as she did as you asked. “Did you ask them to get my size?” 

“It’s more fun if we both try things on.” 

“Ugh, you weirdo.” 

“Save that for Roman.” 

“I will,” You laughed nervously. You swallowed, trying to push away your nerves as you got undressed. It took a little maneuvering, and by the time you got the bra, panties, and garters on, you felt even more nervous than you did before. 

“It looks fine,” You offered. “You don't need to look.” 

It was all Shiv needed to hear before she spun around, phone still in hand. She went still at the sight of you, her eyes raking over your body with a meticulous slowness that made you want to melt into the floor. She tossed her phone onto the thick-cushioned arm chair as she wandered closer, her arms folding over her chest. 

“Turn around?”

You scoffed, stomping a foot childishly. 

“Shiv.” 

“Turn,” She ordered, twirling her finger. You huffed, turning away from her. It was a solace, really. Your face and body went hot under her scrutiny as you felt her getting closer. God, just hold still. The sooner she looked at you, the sooner you could get out of this. 

You sucked up a sharp breath as you felt Shiv press up against your back, peering over your shoulder at the two of you in the mirror. 

“Fits well,” She commented matter-of-factly, as if you weren’t so hot you could combust. “But these seem a bit…” Her hands smoothed over your hips, tucking beneath the band of your panties. “Snug.” 

“A little,” You mumbled, “But not unlivable.” 

“Hmm,” She nodded, turning her head into your jaw. “We should get you some thigh-highs.” 

“I thought these weren’t for me.” 

“They’re not, but…” Shiv’s hands slid around to your belly, “They could be.” 

Your stomach flipped as her touch traveled up, tracing the strap that hung over the swell of your pebbling nipple. 

“You little slut.” 

“Slut?” You laughed. “If the PC police heard you saying that, you’d be out of a job.” 

“Funny. I think that attitude could make me CEO at Waystar Royco.” 

“Do you want that?” You asked, tipping your head back toward her. She didn’t answer at first, just slid her thumb over the swell of your breast. Your breath caught in your throat as her nail caught against the mesh. 

“This isn’t about what I want right now,” She finally answered. 

“Isn’t it?” You brushed your nose against her cheekbone. “You wanted me to go shopping with you; I’m here. You wanted me to try this on; I did.” 

You watched Shiv’s lips turn down in another pout, and felt her fingers skate across the straps on the bra, skimming your hardening nipple. 

“...Do you think Tom would like it?” You added, trying to turn the conversation. 

“I could turn up in a plaid flannel floor-length nightgown and he’d cum in his pants.”

You bit the inside of your cheek to quiet a laugh as you glanced up toward the mirror. You found Shiv eyeing you there, her fingers, hooking under one of the straps. She held your gaze as she tugged it out, then let it snap back against your nipple. You hissed softly, shifting in discomfort. She shushed you, turning her head and pressing her face into your neck. 

“Remember when we were in high school?” She murmured, breath brushing your skin, “And we used to pretend to date to freak out all the little shitheads in our class?”

You did remember. It was a little game that the two of you had played at—in the halls, between classes, at lunch. You’d held hands in the hall, waited for each other by your lockers—until one of your teachers threatened to report the behavior to her parents. Yours wouldn’t have cared, but there had been a wrath of Logan’s that Shiv wasn’t willing to incur. You nodded now, unable to get the words out.

“You used to get so flustered,” She laughed. “Jumped when I put my hand on your leg.” She slid one hand down, past the underwear to where the garters dangled against your thigh. You forced yourself to hold still, drawing in even breaths through your nose. Shiv let out an interested little hum. “Better at keeping still now, huh?”

“I’ve had more experience,” You mumbled. 

“I bet.” 

Her hands slid up, cupping your breasts and giving them a gentle squeeze. 

“Remember the sleepovers?” She murmured, “When we would play girlfriend-boyfriend?” 

You swallowed thickly, fighting the urge to press up into her hands. 

“That was a long time ago,” You mumbled. She hummed softly, smoothing her hand over your belly. 

“Think I’d make a better boyfriend than I used to,” She tipped her chin up, brushing her lips against the hinge of your jaw. 

“Oh really?” You shifted against her. “I mean…When we were younger, you just deepened your voice, pawed at my tits and called me babe.” 

“Mmm.” 

“So what’s changed?” 

“Well,” She trailed her fingers lower, dipping beneath the band of your panties. Your breath caught in your throat as you watched her in the mirror. Her gaze was set heavily on yours as she brushed her fingertips along the top of your pussy. “I know what I like…” 

“Oh?” 

“And I know what you like.” 

“Is that so?” 

“Mm. Your old roommate liked to talk.” 

Your body went hot at the assertion. You swallowed thickly, eyelids fluttering as Shiv’s lips smooth along the curve of your ear. Her fingers slipped lower, gently swiping her fingers over your clit. 

“Did she,” You mumbled. 

“Sure. Get a couple of tequila shots in her and she had the loosest lips. Awful kisser, that girl,” Shiv smiled. “I don’t know how you put up with her.” 

“I managed.” 

“Mm.” Shiv spread your lips with her fore and ring fingers, using the middle to swirl your clit in slow circles. You bit your lip, tipping your hips into her touch. 

“Shiv, if someone comes in—” 

“No one’s going to,” She insisted again. You felt her grind up against you, heard the slip of her satin robe against your lingerie. 

“Why, because this is Shiv’s World?” You struggled to quip, “Whatever you say goes?” 

“Right now?” She chuckled against you. “It’s pretty close. I’m the bride, after all. I get what I want.” 

“You always get what you—what you want—damnit, Shiv,” You breathed. You grasped her wrist, tugging it out of your underwear before you turned to face her. You cupped her neck, drawing her in for a kiss. Shiv shook your grip loose, curling her arms around your middle and drawing you closer. You raised your hands, sliding them into her hair as her hands greedily wandered your body. You slid your tongue along hers, whimpering softly as she flicked the tip against yours. You gasped, stumbling back as she dropped to her knees, shoving your hips back toward the wall. She tore your panties down your thighs, pushing your legs wide. Your mouth fell open with a choked moan, hinging forward slightly as she pressed her face between your thighs, tongue sliding along the seam of your sex. 

“Shit,” You hissed, reaching down and curling your hands in her hair. You used the grip to grind down against mouth, quieting your whimpers as she lapped at you, sucking your clit between her lips and lashing it with her tongue. Her nails dug into your thighs as they quake, your knees weakening at her ministrations. You tugged Shiv’s hair, guiding her back and giving her a push. She leaned away, scooching back along the floor as you joined her on the floor. You grasped the tie on her robe, yanking it open as you climbed over her. She sagged back against the floor, sighing softly as you sucked one of her nipples into your mouth. 

You swirled your tongue around the hardening peak, sighing against her soft, fair skin as you slotted your thigh between her legs. You straddled her leg, whining as the two of you ground and pushed against one another. You scraped your teeth over her nipple, pinning her hip to the floor as she cursed and arched up against you. You drew your hand from her hip to toy with her slick pussy, feeling her plant her feet and drive her hips up against your hand and thigh. 

You tipped your chin up, eyeing Shiv. You found her pink-cheeked and panting, watching you from beneath her lids. You stroked her clit more harshly, ignoring the growing cramping in your wrist and fingers as she pressed her lips together tight. She sat up a little, propping herself up with one hand before shoving her hand back between your thighs. Your gut swooped, your lips parting as she swiped her tongue across your lips. You gasped as your orgasm swelled, your hips jolting as Shiv ground up against your thigh and fingers. You lowered your head, pressing your face into her neck as you cum. 

“Fuck, fuck fuck fuck, Shiv.” 

She hums, sucking a kiss against your neck as you feel her pussy spasming beneath your touch. You pant softly, nuzzling her skin gently and drawing her against you. Shiv hums happily, rolling her hips against you, chasing the throbbing aftershocks. 

“Um—Miss Roy?” 

The shop attendant’s voice made you go still in panic. Shiv hurried off of your lap, drawing her robe back around herself and tying it tightly. You stood on unsteady legs, straightening the lingerie and meeting Shiv’s eye as she raises her brows, nodding questioningly. 

“Yeah,” You breathe, smoothing your hand over your garments. Shiv swallows, clearing her throat before she reaches out, opening the door. The attendant looks between the two of you, brows raised, an expectant smile on her face. 

“How is everything in here?” 

“Fine,” Shiv says simply, “But we’d like some more champagne. And we’ll take what she's wearing in addition to what I order,” She points to you. 

“Excellent! Can I wrap them up?” 

“No need. She’ll be wearing them out.”

Tag list: @missredherring ; @fantasticcopeaglepasta ; @massivecolorspygiant ; @blueeyesatnight ; @amneris21 ; @ew-erin ; @youngkenobilove ; @carbonated-beverage ; @lorecraft ; @moonlightburned ; @milf-trinity ; @millllenniawrites ; @chattychell ; @dihra-vesa ; @videogamesandpoorlifechoices ; @missswriter ; @thembosapphicclown ; @brandyllyn ; @wildmoonflower ; @buckybarneshairpullingkink ; @mad-girl-without-a-box ; @winchestershiresauce ; @phoenixhalliwell ; @wild-rose-35 ; @daisyslibrary ; @informally-liz ; @andrastesflamingtitties ; @muchacha-encabronada ; @nerdygirl0414 ; @elen-aranel ; @ohbee-whatcanyoube ; @kmc1989 ; @quietpainter ; @thedreadandthefugitivemind ; @kaletastrophes ; @nyx2021 ; @thatesqcrush ; @shanimallina87 ; @adarasforest ; @s-u-t ; @silversprings-mp3 ; @senawashere ;