#i see a nuanced take and im riding high

[ex-textura]

Fuck I love it when I see good Gale takes on my dash. Just scratches my brain so good. Tasty tasty nuance.

[crosbyism]

HELLO IM BACK (the sid should have gender affirming sex anon) bc i just realized the real and true reason for sid’s old jock. it looks like an infection hazard right?? THATS THE POINT. the constant dick checks needed to prevent a rash. having a glorified 15 step korean skin care routine for his dick and balls. demanding nate double check his junk.

i had a whole thing about sid fucking his way across the masculinity spectrum to tell u and i can’t express it rn :( i am slightly high i think sid starts out w some fairly stereotypical cishet ideas of masculinity and sex, thinking in the middle of the flyers era misgendering. assumes his visceral negative reaction to getting babygirled is as much the sub part as gender (also bc prob has a lot of cishet ideas about gender and penetration and power) then he gets baby boy-ed and it’s like iiiii can shooow uuuu the woooorld like i think he’s a switch (sex competition!) which imo is underexplored but idk maybe he was operating off the hind brain assumption that bc he was topping in a certain sitch he’s be in charge and gets baby boy-ed by a power bottom. or maybe he tries anal but decides penetration doesn’t get him the way a handjob does bc he wants to touch dicks! idk i think sex gets a lot more wet n wild when penetration isnt treated as “realer” than all other forms even if it can be fun! i am high and this is probably a more nuanced topic than i can express rn sorry :( i just was struck w inspiration about sid’s nasty jock and demanding his junk be looked at to see if other ppl thought he was getting a rash or not

sid gets wiggly when condescendingly called sport

ur so right re nate and the eroticization of the everyday via sid’s masculinity kink. also i think one time the sink breaks and sid’s hind brain is like I Know What To Do and it’s not until he’s standing in front of the sink wearing a white tank top jeans toolbelt and holding a hammer (for a sink???) w nate staring at him expectantly that sid realizes he got all his knowledge from porn and has no clue what to do when facing an actual sink

also i think nate can trick? sid into doing chores if he frames it as fulfilling sid’s being a middle aged man kink. home depot dad kink. babe bring home the bacon. hey handsome going hunting? (grocery shopping). hey stud gimme a ride? wow we should compare charcoal vs gas grill maintaince. man these burgers are so good u gotta show me the recipe

i’ve mostly talked about sid here but ur nate idea w him having his everyday in a box and sec in a box and sid exploding the boxes is soooooo good

ok bye im going to go eat peanut butter. wait no i have chocolate cake!!!!

BESTIE WELCOME BACK 😍🥰😘 lol i love u and feel free to come into my inbox high and craving chocolate cake anytime. im laughing and delighted

LMAOOO re: sid’s nasty jock being an excuse for regular junk inspections, im crying ur SO right bestie. sid keeps being like: oh nooo i have to get my junk inspected again :( and someone has to fondle it while talking about my cock and balls in excruciating detail :( oh nooo what if they have to take out a magnifying glass :( to check for an infection :( and then they’d have to KEEP talking to me regularly about by cock and balls. and inspect it. every day.

anyone else: sid why don’t you just get a new jock

sid: no :) can’t. ✨superstition✨

like it would be SO ON BRAND for him. im crying. and also rolling in this headcanon like a pig in filth (read: sid’s junk in his jock)

re: sid working his way up to it and discovering the delights and dynamics of queer sex as an underbaked youngling, u r cooking and now i’m thinking about, like. sid nervously for one of his first sort of hook ups working his way up to insisting on topping with a very effeminate gay dude (since he feels safe asking for it there) and the guy just blowing his mind going “mh honey you’re such a stud, you’re gonna come and fill me right up, aren’t you?” sid goes UH. yes. YES PLEASE. and the sex essentially starts the process of boiling the frog for him, bc the guy is like. clearly at least a a decade older, clearly handling the reigns, but he’s also luxuriating in getting a cock inside him, calls sid (“just, uh. don’t call me kid, please.”) a sport, a stud, a good boy, basically sort of caringly soft doms him (“oh you’re gonna blow your load soon, aren’t you, baby boy? inside me? it’s okay baby, your big cock feels so good, i want it.”) while also begging for a cock in his ass. by the time sid walks out of there his queer third eye is blown wide the fuck open and he starts sucking and fucking his way through pittsburgh, craving nothing less than the high of shrimp colour sexual encounters. figuring out the shape of his (masc kink) sexual preferences one ultra specific hookup at a time.

the thing is that as a rookie he’s small in hockey terms, but he’s still a big guy compared to the normal population. so it’s not exactly hard to start topping dudes. but i think he does the classic dom top thing a couple of times and it gets a little boring. he loves fucking jocks, albeit starts out fucking smaller guys than him. he’s ecstatic the first time a bearded guy bigger than him goes to his knees and praises how pretty his cock is between sucking him off. he loves being called baby boy. sometimes even likes being called “kid” (but only in a specific gay hookup way). over the years he grows to like and appreciate all sorts of little masc epithets (big guy, handsome, mister, and ultimately daddy). i’m with you re: absolutely a switch, although i think he works his way up to some stuff. he just always, regardless of dynamic, enjoys sex the most when it’s full of masculinisation kink. he loves to be a dude fucking dudes. any which way. he loves touching a dick

i’m laughing so much @ nate tricking him into doing chores via middle aged dad kink bc why are u SO right about this. this is real to me. once nate figures the masc kink thing out he is milking that cow cock day and night about it. “hey handsome going hunting? (grocery shopping)” and “wow we should compare charcoal vs gas grill maintaince” are going to live in my mind rent free forever now, thank u. i’m gonna wake up in the middle of the night two weeks from now thinking: “hunting (grocery shopping)”. and the fact that sid 100% gets off on it. thrives on being referred to like this. sid wants to be the mustachioed porno plumber so bad. nate lets him tinker and break the sink even more just for the kink of it before they break 3 hours and two rounds of sex later and finally call an actual plumber. it’s a good thing they’re millionaires that can afford to break their appliances even more before hiring a professional to fix it.

[djservo]

riding the high of seeing challengers twice already means i’ve remembered tumblr (the gifs that will be reblogged..) in time for the monthly book wrap up! coming in thick and fast are we in a post-Easton Ellis world? where did your april reading take you and what’s on the horizon for may?

I've heard that's the movie of the moment!! do you think we'll see a cultural resurgence of casual tennis and all the clouty pickleball courts soon to be taken over by tennis as the lord intended? much 2 think about ..... april was laughably not a big reading month for me ugh so i'll take a page from ur book + talk about some fav watches

The Edible Woman by Margaret Atwood

my first Atwood! reminded me of The Vegetarian by Han Kang with its theme of appetite linked to interpersonal relationships + unraveling sense of self (in fact this book might've popped on my radar bc of its association with it). I liked how each character had their own quirks + weird shit going on too, made the stakes that much more layered and set a kinda zany world for the plot to unfurl in

Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis

finally acquainted with Mr Ellis... not as graphic as I was expecting it to get but I suppose it's his debut + ultimately a different subject matter/world than American Psycho so Understandable! very sparsely + unfeelingly written which I might've read as lazy had I read it years ago but luckily I'm a dedicated student at the Dennis Cooper Institute of Mundane Morbidity so I can appreciate the detachment as an effective vehicle for plot/development. a little repetitive and predictable after a certain point but I think that was the point of it all. im excited to dive into his later / more thorough works!!

Fan Fiction: A Satire by Tavi Gevinson

not actually a book but a 75 page zine that I devoured in one sitting truly unable to rip my eyes away, so im counting it. rookie mag + tavi were staples for me as a teen and tho I was never a swiftie, she also very much aligns with teenage years in my head + she's also just the perfect subject for this kind of piece so this was incredibly nostalgic... so playful and clever and funny and weird, reminiscent of I Love Dick by Chris Kraus with unreliable + obsessive narrator in autofiction form. RPF is actually very ethical and fun when it's this well-formed methinks

The Adjuster (1991) dir. Atom Egoyan

this is only my 4th Egoyan but I'm so amazed at how he portrays desire and obsession and detachment in an equally unsettling and blasé way, images that stay on my mind weeks later. I feel like I consistently see a lot of praise for Arsinée Khanjian's performance in his films (rightfully so!!), but Gabrielle Rose is such a queen of haunting intensity I just can't not stan!!!

Young Soul Rebels (1991) dir. Isaac Julien

really fun sexy cool giallo set in late 70s london. amazing soundtrack and costume / set design, cultural/racial/sexual clashes expertly touched on in both explicit + subtle ways. Julien has such an incredible eye for detail, I wish he'd make more narrative films

Girls Town (1996) dir. Jim McKay

sensitively nuanced and surprisingly (for being directed by a man) realistic portrayal of girlhood with another great soundtrack + costume design moment. just felt incredibly real between the friendship dynamics and adolescent handling of difficult topics - the kind of movie I wish I'd come across a decade ago but am grateful I got to see such a beautiful restoration of it

Hustler White (1996) dir. Rick Castro, Bruce LaBruce

WOOOOOOF tony fuckin ward........... hard for me to focus on much else at the moment but wow this was so sexy and funny like surprisingly slapstick at times?? i mentioned it in my letterboxd review, but literally slapstick stumbling into a BDSM scene... just a the perfect convergence of things I love to see on screen, a perfect fun time!!

my sister and I are buddy reading (2) referenced works in Fan Fiction: A Satire + I've got a handful of potential picks for AAPIHM reads, probably leaning more towards the nonfiction route bc this JCO short story collection has maxed out my capacity for fiction at the moment

[denzartriste]

I think the reason i don't like most modern or even old-but-still-modern-in-the-grand-scheme-of-things retellings of Persephone and Hades is because most paint Demeter as the bad guy.

The original myth (Homeric Hymn to Demeter) was very clear that, in all this, Zeus was the bad guy. When saying how Gaia was luring Persephone, the next sentence is "All according to the plans of Zeus." (My translation for the myth is this btw, i feel that's important to say because translations can be finicky--which I'm also gonna get to.)

I also think its important to say how the kidnapping happened, so I'm gonna paste it (from the translation I'm reading) :

"And the earth, full of roads leading every which way, opened up under her.

It happened on the Plain of Nysa. There it was that the Lord who receives many guests made his lunge.

He was riding on a chariot drawn by immortal horses. The son of Kronos. The one known by many names.

He seized her against her will, put her on his golden chariot,

And drove away as she wept."

It's a kidnapping, its messed up, but i also want to point out how it isnt a violent assault or rape like many people think it is--either is bad, but one is a deliberate lie meant to make us view Hades much worse and a lie i think actively takes away from this story.

Side tangent, real quick. Hades is the god of the underworld, and so we instinctively think "Oh, yeah, like the devil. He's like the greek Satan." because we think underworld=hell=Satan=hades=hades is bad then. Hades isnt good, because none of the greek gods are good, because these gods arent good and we think they are because christianity, the religion most people are taught about before they can develop their own opinions, tells us that gods are good.

My point there is redundant and repetitive, but its important for this. People think Hades is bad, and when they learn there are gods worse than him (Zeus, mostly they just learn about Zeus) they assume that that means Hades ISNT bad, because people want a good guy to root for and Hades seems like an underdog that never did anything wrong. It's also a common myth (myth as is false and not true, not myth as in greek myth) that in the actual original story Persephone just walks into the underworld/Hades doesn't kidnap her. That's not true, it comes from a 1978 story titled "Lost Goddesses of Early Greece: A Collection of Pre-Hellienic Myths" by Charlene Spretnak to make greek mythology more palable to her young daughter, the changes to all the story was just to do that--and then that led to a whole domino effect of people believing the unsourced thing. Im not gonna stand here and say that hades isnt one of the better gods morally speaking, but i am gonna stand here and say that the competition doesn't pose a high bar and people are not seeing enough nuance in him. Also him being better morally is because he doesnt have many stories--even regarding the myth with him and Persephone he isnt that important past the kidnapping. Fun fact, Persephone actually existed before Hades did. So i think that should be kept in mind when putting Hades on a pedestal, he doesn't have as much material to be bad in, so we see him as not as bad.

People are allowed to view Hades are this good guy or an evil devil, whatever, i will be a bit upset about it but people have the right to have opinions--but people also cant pretend those opinions are educated and well sourced. That's were i get actually upset and think its not just a matter of opinion but it turns into just misinformation.

Tangent over, back to the point.

Demeter hears her daughter and "She sped off like a bird, soaring over land and sea, looking and looking." 

She spends a total of nine days wandering all over the earth looking for information on what happened to her daughter, and i just want to mention that as Persephone is being taken she does think about her Demeter, and she has hope to see her again. (line 35 in the myth)

On the tenth day Hecate comes to Demeter and tells her that she heard the abduction, but didn't see who did it. Both of them go off to Helios and ask him which mortal or god did this.

And here again the myth places blame on Zeus, Helios tells Demeter:

"You shall know the answer, for I greatly respect you and feel sorry for you as you grieve over your child, the one with the delicate ankles. No one else among all the immortals is responsible [aitios] except the cloud-gatherer Zeus himself, who gave her to Hādēs as his beautiful wife."

(I think Hades should get slack for this aswell, he was the one who took her and all that. I want to be clear that i dont personally agree 100 precent with how little blame Hades gets in the myth.)

There's also mention about how Demeter is grieving for her child, Persephone, which is quite obvious--this story is about Demeter and Persephone so much more than it is about Hades and Persephone.

Here im mainly recaping the myth as im reading through it, and its long because the myth is kinda long but i dont feel as if i have much to say about it past the occasional thing here and there until we see persephone again, so ill make the text bold and big to the important part again if you want to skip.

So then Helios is basically like Well y'know you could have a worst guy for your kid to marry, Hades is fine all in all surely :D and then leaves

Demeter than shuns the company of the gods in her grief and anger, visiting mortal cities for a long time.

She's sad again, and im sure theres more about this i could say but right now i have a headache give me grace.

Demeter is approached by four sister (they are unaware she is Demeter because she looks like an old woman right now) and say: "“Who are you, and where are you from, old woman, old among old humans?

Why has your path taken you far away from the polis? Why have you not drawn near to the palace?

There, throughout the shaded chambers, are women

who are as old as you are, and younger ones too,

who would welcome you in word and in deed.”"

Demeter wishes them "kharis" which means ‘I wish you pleasure and happiness from our relationship, starting now’, and tells them her name is "Dōsō", the name suggest someone is a 'giver of gifts'. She says she was given her name by her mother. Demeter says she was taken by pirates (much like how her Persephone was taken by Hades, Demeter is grieving still.) and that she "fled her arrogant captors". (I think this is a clear parellel to what happened to Persephone, and how Demeter wishes she could also 'flee her captor'.)

She then says: "what I want is for you to name for me a house to go to, the house of someone, man or woman, who has phila children to be taken care of.10" The little 10 there is a footnote, the footnote being: "The textual transmission is garbled here, and my translation of this line is tentative"

Next part is long, im tired, it has a lot of footnotes and one is really long and i love footnotes but i also dont wanna read a huge paragraph of them. Theres mention of so many rituals i dont really understand. I am tired, forgive me.

A lot of footnotes, i love footnotes but im going to cry if there is another footnote.

Okay okay, im done being dramatic, but i dont want to spend time deep diving so the basic of what happens next is Demeter tries to make this baby shes taking care of immortal, (surely theres something to unpack there) but she fails because someone sees her burning this baby in fire and obvious they dont assume Ah, this is demeter helping my baby. No. They assume, This crazy woman is burning my baby my baby is on fire my baby is going to die And in some myths demeter leaves the baby in the fire and kills it after that, in the one im reading she doesnt do that and just puts it on the floor. Baby dies either way because she makes a promise on the river of styx that the baby's gonna die eventually and she says a lot and there are a lot of footnotes. Theres a bit more to it, she tells them to build a temple i think to appease her? Listen this post has gotten so long im not gonna say more than i need for this im bad at reading sometimes.

Important part again here!

Demeter then makes the world pretty unlivable, enternal winter basically--people are hungry, dying, whole thing. Zeus notices because hes not getting sacrafices of meat anymore, so hes like this is bad and sends out Iris. Demeter doesnt budge because she wants Persephone back, and they arent giving her persephone back.

Then: "the Father sent out all the other blessed and immortal gods. They came one by one,

they kept calling out to her, offering many beautiful gifts, all sorts of tīmai that she could choose for herself if she joined the company of the immortal gods.

But no one could persuade her in her thinking or in her intention [noēma], angry as she was in her thūmos, and she harshly said no to their words.

She said that she would never go to fragrant Olympus, that she would never send up the harvest of the earth, until she saw with her own eyes her daughter,"

After that unsuccesful thing Zeus sends Hermes "so that he may persuade Hādēs, with gentle words, that he allow holy Persephone to leave the misty realms of darkness

and be brought up to the light in order to join the daimones [the gods in Olympus], so that her mother may

see her with her own eyes and then let go of her anger."

So basically Zeus told Hades it was all cool if he kidnapped Persephone and now they're all in the finding out stage of fuck around.

We see Persephone and Hades for the first time since the adbuction, and Persephone is still very much missing her mother--she is sad, she is not happy, and she is still that way after very a long time (The time Demeter spent with humans is described to be "a long time" and the time in which Demeter has been causing hunger/death, not letting humans farm basically, went on for a year before Zeus paid mind to it.)

After hearing what Hermes has to say Hades, with whats basically described as a 'knowing' smile, tells Persephone to go to her mother, and Persephone is really happy about that. Obviously.

Here's the part where Hades gives Persephone the pomegranate seeds. Heres the quote so i dont have to vaguely recap: "But he [Hādēs] gave her, stealthily, the honey-sweet berry of the pomegranate to eat, peering around him. He did not want her to stay for all time over there, at the side of her honorable mother, the one with the dark robe."

Persephone doesnt willingly take the pomegranate seeds herself, thats something i have to say because sometimes people think she did when she didnt. Persephone isnt given a choice in this, she has to stay for one third of the year with Hades.

Sidenote--this hymm was only preserved on one thing, no original copies, and seemingly the part that explains why Hades giving her those seeds binds to the underworld for a third of the year (in some stories its a diffrent fraction, but the point stays the same.) is teared. And this is like one of the worst parts to not have but i digress. Cons of mythology is that its old and we rarely have the full stories on anything perfectly preserved.

Persephone says to her mom that Hades: "put into my hand the berry of the pomegranate, that honey-sweet food, and he compelled me by biē to eat of it."

I didnt know what biē meant but it seemed important to context so i looked it up and it means "Force/Violence." So, again, hades forced her to eat the seeds--But also i still dont know too much what i means because Hades was described as giving her the seeds stealthily, so i dont know why that would be there if he would fully just force her to eat them? But maybe force could also mean that he forced her to stay in the underworld for a third of the year, i dont know.

Persephone also was with friends when she was lured away and taken, she spents multiple lines saying the names of all of them, and a lot of retellings ignore the fact she has friends or a life outside of this thing that happened to her which is why i wanted to point it out. Retellings of this story typically put themselves on a pedastal compared to the original myth despite the fact they strip Persephone of her entire self that doesnt have to do with Hades.

I think its honestly purely misogyny, they also love to infantilize her, which is weird. From what i can tell the only times in the myth Persephone is referred to as a child is when Demeter is referred to as a mother. Persephone is Demeter's child, so when its relevant they say it. We dont know how old Persephone was when she was kidnapped because it doesnt say how old she is. Because honestly her age isnt that important--yeah, sure, i'd like to know what it is, but only because it would be further information. Gods are usually just old to a point it doesnt matter unless it's specified.

The whole point of this started with me wanting to focus more on Demeter and Persephone so im gonna get back to focusing on them and how retellings treat their relationship.

Retellings ignore any positive aspect of their relationship, which is stupid. They portray the two as clashing, despite the fact that they are describes as like-minded. It feels like cheap forced drama and like they want an easy villain. The actual bad guy in the story is mostly Zeus(and Hades in my opinion, but that's suprisingly more nuanced.) but if retellings make Zeus the bad guy, then they have to say why hes the bad guy. He's the bad guy because he told Hades he could kidnap persephone, but retelling dont like mentioning anything Hades can do thats wrong so obviously that cant happen, right? So making Demeter a villain surves multiple purposes. It takes away blame/complexity to Hades's actions, and in the same breath makes them moral. If Persephone's mom is sooo awful then clearly Hades saved her! Obviously he's good, obviously he's just misunderstood, the kidnapping isnt even a kidnapping if you think about it!!! Demeter being this awful unreadable mother in retellings only serves to make Hades more 'good' and, while you'd assume it adds some depth to persephone it just doesnt. Retellings never make her conflicted in a way that matters, it never makes her miss her mom or her friends--because she doesnt have friends in retellings.

Hades and Persephone's story is complex. It's nuanced in a way i cant even begin to dissect--Arguably they are one of the better relationship between gods, if not one of the best period. They have stories past the Homeric Hymm of Demeter--They have stories past the abduction.

And there's no point in butchering a story when there are myths in greek mythology that are forbidden romance + overbearing mother. If thats something you want, Eros and Psyche are right there. I havent read the myth myself, and my knowledge of them is second hand, but if you want an antagonist mother who doesn't like their relationship look no further. Ancient greece wasnt good to woman, i bet there are more stories with evil moms. Search for them. Leave Demeter out of this, and for the love of all thing stop spreading lies about this myth. There is genuinly no Pre-Homeric versions of it. Stop.

Anyways yeah this is long, have a nice day anyone who read all this. Also this is a good source for the myth and Persephone as a whole if you want to know more

[elderbwrry]

Even if he doesn't say so

A little darkgingerpilot Witcher AU I discussed months ago with @cleversturmhond I have no concept of how time passes anymore

Summary: The Witcher meets a bard, the bard meets a mage, and they travel the continent. Kylo knows what he feels, but he can't seem to act. Hux acts without talking about things. And Poe... well, what does Poe feel?

Tags: Witcher AU, Inspired by The Witcher, Slow Burn, if you count 13k as slow burn i guess, within the story its slow burn, fantasy medieval setting, Self-Indulgent, Mage Hux, witcher kylo, Bard Poe, scenic, They're oblivious, sex references, Yearning, i guess, im slapping a mature on it for sex references and some minor violence but honestly ehhh idk, darkgingerpilot

Chapter 1/2/3/?, wordcount 5012

also on Ao3

Whenever someone asked Kylo, he always said he preferred to keep to himself and the company of Silence, his horse and his best companion for the very fact of her name; she didn't talk, she didn't disturb the meditative quiet of his lonely rides, and, most importantly, he wasn't unsure how to curry her favour. An apple would do it. His current companions, on the other hand...

For some gods-forsaken reason, Poe and Hux were quarrelling about a composer who had been dead for over a century. When the three of them had first started travelling together years ago, and in the short time since they'd reunited, such discussion had been endearing; both of them were opinionated about certain things, and their conversations often turned into little debates over whatever topic arose while they were travelling. This was one of those occasions, Kylo enjoying listening to their thoughts and voices filling up the worn country roads. A throwaway comment had become interesting; Kylo didn't actually know much about this particular composer, whereas Hux and Poe both did, and, though Kylo didn't often contribute to these discussions in any great detail since the other two were both so much better with words, he did like to learn something new occasionally. But now, several hours into their journey and still on the same subject, it was just getting fucking annoying.

“I literally studied her work. You can't just turn around and say she wasn't revolutionary,” Poe objected, trotting along between Silence and Hux's own horse on the wide bridleway, looking up at Hux indignantly.

Poe's lowered position made it seem slightly laughable when Hux looked down at him and countered, “Since I actually met the woman, I think you'll find I can,” before prompting his horse to walk on ahead of them.

Poe picked up his pace a little and continued the argument, making some musical point Kylo didn't understand either. He tried to tune them out a bit as he let Silence drop back a short distance behind the them.

Considering how much time the three of them spent around each other in recent years, Kylo supposed he should be glad disagreements as lengthy as these were relatively few. And, certainly, they were fewer even than when it had only been Kylo and Poe on the path together.

[break]

Kylo had met Poe many years ago – at least a decade, if he thought about it – when he'd been compelled by his work to go through the city he'd been born in. Not only was the place particularly unfriendly to Witchers, but also had relations of his – distant now, yet he wanted to avoid them nonetheless – in positions of authority. Kylo had used a fake name, a low hood to hide his eyes, his scar, and stuck to the dingiest taverns, but a curly-haired, high-born young man had recognised him anyway, sitting himself down confidently at Kylo's corner table, offering his name, and saying, “I know you. You're that famous Witcher.”

Kylo had eyed his unwelcome acquaintance – Poewas what he introduced himself as – guessing that he couldn't yet be twenty summers old. Of course, Kylo was no good with ages – his own longevity had corroded his sense for them until everyone seemed either old or young in confusing measures – but Poe's next request had practically confirmed his suspicion.

“Would you let me come with you?” Poe had asked the second the bar-wench had placed down Kylo's ale.

“Come with me where?” Kylo grunted. He wasn't in the mood to bodyguard some noble, out for the first time in a world without castle walls.

“Well, where are you going?” Poe's eyes had glinted as he offered Kylo a charming smile.

Kylo had appraised him again, taking in his youth, his rich clothes, his courage, and summarily said, “No.”

Poe's smile didn't drop, even though Kylo could see his only half-amused chuckle for the frustration it was. “Come on, I just wanna see a bit of the world. Get away from my guardian's expectations.”

“The Queen?” Kylo had asked, an imprudently displayed gold ring on the youth's finger catching the light.

Poe had shrugged a yes.

It only made Kylo refuse all the more. The Queen was one of the people Kylo was known to by unfortunate fact of his heritage, someone he never wanted to anger, in case of her having some cause to meet with him personally. Poe, while not her blood family, would surely be missed, as her ward, were he to make off with a Witcher, especially with the one so primarily known for the massacre at Crait.

Poe's gaze went steely at Kylo's final dismissal, and he'd left the tavern quickly after that. It couldn't have been two years later when Kylo encountered the young man again, fine doublet swapped for something a little more incognito in orange and brown tones, a lute slung over his back and all the more determination to see everything.

Kylo hadn't refused him a second time, and he wouldn't have been able to, since Poe no longer had any qualms about following him uninvited. Thus, he had a new travelling companion.

Just as he suspected, Poe was a liability in some aspects of the job where monsters were concerned, but Poe had also dragged him, limping, back to camp before, bandaged his wounds, fetched his potions. His life had undeniably turned for the better with the bard around; Poe was a talented musician, it turned out, and the extra income and incentive to stay at inns meant Kylo was now more acquainted with feather pillows than he'd ever hoped to be. The positive company had made Kylo better as well, at talking to people, at putting up with them, at giving life nuance. His path was lighter with Poe on it.

They became comfortable around each other. They began to argue, about the silly things people who know each other well and cared for each other deeply argue about, about which direction to head in, which inn to stop at, about the jacket Kylo had left to get trampled by the last monster he'd fought. Barely a day went by without some kind of silly quibble to that effect, but it never truly changed the form of their relationship.

Then, they'd met Hux.

[break]

Kylo had been around long enough that he'd thought he'd heard of most of the other powerful, non-mortal beings on the continent, so randomly running into an evidently strong mage like Hux, who he'd never heard of, was a bit surprising. Kylo had been employed to go and rid a keep up on the hill of whatever it was that was plaguing it. He was expecting to take a while to figure it out, but when he arrived, the malevolent spirits were revealed easily by the mage already locked in battle with them.

The fight the man was putting up was impressive, given the sheer number of foes. He was spewing fire everywhere, manipulating the elements to his will, his bright hair and swan-white robe whipped around by the wind he was creating, but eventually Kylo could see he was losing, and so joined him in the fight. It was fortuitous that they were both there, as Kylo certainly couldn't have defeated them all on his own either. When the last spirit was destroyed, however, Hux had spun round, announced that he had decidedly notrequired the help of some filthy Witcher, and flounced off. He'd gotten about ten paces when he collapsed from the sheer exertion of having used his magic in such a manner.

So Kylo had carried the mage back to camp and laid him down on his bedroll to recuperate.

Poe was travelling with Kylo at that time, and, though he was surprised to see Hux, he seemed very glad to see Kylo back from the fight, juiced up on potions but otherwise unharmed. His smile had made Kylo's heart do something he didn't really understand, the same thing it did when Poe met his gaze during a performance at whatever tavern they were staying at, the same when Kylo said something complimentary to him. Indeed, it was becoming more and more of a common feeling, and Kylo was finding that he rather liked it.

When Kylo suggested he should probably go find a rabbit or something for dinner, Poe seemed happy enough to watch over the mage until he returned, and Kylo had picked his way into the forest they were camping on the edge of with his head full of thoughts of Poe. His distraction had meant he took longer than usual to catch something, and when he got back, it was to find Poe backed against a tree, Hux threatening him using a dagger Kylo hadn't realised he'd had on him.

“Kylo!” Poe had shouted when he saw him – and again, the weird thing Kylo's heart did around Poe – equal parts relieved and pissed off.

Hux relaxed only slightly at knowing whose camp it was he had been brought to, and, once Kylo had convinced him to lower the weapon, he protested strongly that he didn't want anyone's help or charity, and that he was offended to have been carried around like some damsel. Poe told him he was very welcome to fuck off, but it soon became clear that Hux wasn't in any shape to be going off on his own, so he stayed with them that night.

Kylo was settling in to sleep on the opposite side of the fire to Hux when Poe dumped his bedroll down next to him, closer than usual – cue the weird heart thing again – and lay down. All Kylo had managed to ask was, “What are you doing?”

Huffing, Poe leaned up to peer over Kylo's arm at where Hux was lying, turned away from them on the far side of their little camp. “He tried to kill me today. I don't wanna wake up with my throat cut for some magey shit.”

Kylo considered pointing out that Poe wouldn't wake up at all if his throat had been slit, but he was more struck by the implication that Poe was trusting him to protect him. Usually, people were more likely to fear that Kylo would be the one killing them after whatever monster he'd been hired to dispatch, but Poe was different, and always had been, really. He insisted that Kylo had good in him, that he wasn't all the darkness that Witchers were supposed to be. He wasn't entirely right, of course, but it was nice to have someone hope in him.

So instead of making the bard move away, all Kylo had said was, “You'll get cold, so far from the fire,” and offered Poe an extra side of his own blanket.

One night of Hux staying with them turned into two, into three, into a week's travel to the neighbouring city. In fact, Kylo was almost sad to see the severe mage leave, as it meant he and Poe went back to their usual sleeping arrangements, instead of curling up together with Kylo as his shield.

[break]

Months later, to Kylo's surprise, Hux sought him out. He was after a gem of something something and he needed hired muscle that he could trust would actually get the job done. Hux had found them by the coast, and the first thing he said as he took Poe in was, “You're still travelling with him, are you?” Kylo wasn't sure whether the question was meant for him or Poe, but they'd both answered definitively.

The month and a half of travel it took to reach the mountain cave system in which the gem was kept saw Poe and Hux grow accustomed to each other, if not strictly friendly. Poe didn't resume his habit of sleeping next to Kylo, Hux didn't try to kill Poe again, and eventually they stopped speaking to each other in jibes and barbs.

Hux and Kylo also ended up bonding; they would sit together in taverns while Poe was performing and talk, about things that they remembered from when they were young, things Poe had learned only from his history professors. It was nice to have someone who related, who had experienced similar things to him, who understood what it was to be not-quite human and tied to a duty they didn't quite want. Hux had been raised in magic, it turned out, and, as they talked, Kylo realised it wasn't so different to being raised into killing as he had been. The small, commiserating smiles Hux offered struck Kylo deeply, and one day he realised that Hux, bathed in the yellow, glowing tavern light, was beautiful.

When they reached the cave systems that were their destination, Poe had to stay in the local town while Hux and Kylo went in search of the gem, since the place was too unknown and dangerous to risk him coming. And it did turn out to be dangerous; Hux and Kylo each saved each others' life a few times, had several close calls, and, once all the stress and danger of the adventure had turned into the satisfaction of success, they translated that pent-up tension into a vigorous fuck on the way out.

“I don't know why you keep him around,” Hux commented as they trudged back to the town to meet Poe, gem firmly in his grasp. “He can't help you with your work like I could.”

Kylo supposed that was true. “He helps me be better,” Kylo replied, which was also true.

Hux made a derisive sound. “Does he, now.”

Kylo shook his head at Hux's tone. “Why don't you like him? You have plenty in common.”

“It's not that I don't like him,” Hux said, tossing his head to get a strand of hair which had slipped in front of his eyes out of the way. Considering Kylo was grimy and dishevelled from the fighting, Hux's deep crimson tunic still looked remarkably put together, and it gave him a haughty air as he said, “I know his type. I've served them in courts all over the continent for centuries. They think they're entitled to everything without working for it and without thanking the people who actually make it possible. He's just another ungrateful, mortal noble.”

Kylo thought about what he said for a good minute. “You're wrong,” he said.

[break]

Back at the inn, Poe had the entire town in the palm of his hand thanks to his songs. He looked charming as ever, flashing smiles to all the ladies who were fawning over him, but Kylo was happy to see that, when Poe spotted them enter, his smile softened and a new light entered his eyes. This time, the flip in Kylo's heart felt more natural than ever.

When Kylo emerged from the bathhouse, Poe was already waiting in his room for a full account of the adventure so he could turn it into his latest ballad. Kylo related what happened as he usually did, keeping to the bare facts and trusting Poe to make them into pretty wordplay later, until he got to the end, at which point he decided that Poe didn't strictly need to know that Hux had pushed him up against the wall of the cave and kissed him with a ferocity he wasn't likely to forget any time soon.

But Poe noticed the brief hesitation and looked up from his little book where he'd been scribbling notes. “What?” he asked.

Kylo shrugged. “Nothing. We left to come back here,” he said, pulling the shirt he was wearing off and reaching for a different one.

“Did something bite you?”

Kylo could hear the frown in Poe's voice, and he turned back to see Poe's eyes locked on a slightly bruised, reddish ring low on his neck. A vague recollection surfaced in Kylo's mind of Hux tugging down his collar, once his outer layer of armour was off, and digging his teeth hard into the flesh over that spot. He hummed, reaching up to rub at it and thus hide it from Poe's sight. “Must have.”

Poe stood up and approached, batting Kylo's hand out of the way, which he couldn't find the motivation to resist. When Poe ran his thumb over the bruise, he was so warm Kylo pushed into the touch. If Poe noticed, he didn't comment, his brow was deeply furrowed. “What kind of monster even has teeth like that?”

A knock came on the door. “Kylo,” Hux called from outside, “we need to talk about payment.”

“I'm...” Kylo hesitated, feeling strangely and suddenly like he'd betrayed Poe. “I'm coming.”

Kylo wasn't sure what about him looked guilty, but Poe seemed to realise at that moment where the mark came from. “Oh,” he said, stepping away and back to his book.

Not long after that, Poe announced his intention to head back to his home kingdom. Kylo's mouth went dry. It was Hux who had to ask the platitudes – did he have some business to attend to? How long did he think he would stay? - which Poe replied to blandly, something about responsibility to his mentors. Kylo wanted to ask him to stop, to stay, but all he managed to get out was, “I'll miss you.”

[break]

Time passed.

Poe left for home, taking his light and song with him.

Kylo spent one winter with Hux, back in the keep where they'd first met, which Hux had appropriated for himself, but it was all wrong; there was a grounding influence missing, without which the two of them spent more time treating each other angrily than well. The sex was amazing, but eventually, it felt hollow. The day it became clear that the harshest weather had blown over, Kylo was back on Silence, looking for the next contract out on a monster, something he could hack into pieces without thinking.

The seasons changed, fled and returned until it had been another year. Kylo was firmly back in the blank swing of contract, monster, payment, move along, but the campfire felt lonely after dark, when he had nothing to occupy his mind. He started talking to Silence; she never replied.

Sometimes, Kylo found himself wondering how long it would be until he ran into Hux again, and if he would even want to see him. Maybe he could make the way they left things up to him. They'd had something, after all, and, though it hadn't been perfect, he missed that feeling of love and understanding and protection which Hux provided. Kylo didn't hold out much hope of seeing Poe; he never went near his home city, and why would Poe venture out again? He'd seen his share of the world. He was back in his real life, now.

But eventually, those nights of wondering wore Kylo down, and, quite without intending to, he found himself directing Silence down the path to the kingdoms neighbouring Poe's.

There, Kylo found himself invited to the royal tourney of Queen Phasma, as a guest of honour. She was a renowned warrior, and Kylo reasoned that it would be rude to decline the request of such an esteemed ruler. He reasoned that perhaps she would even have some work for him. He reasoned a lot of things, in his attempt to deny to himself that the real reason was hope that a tourney would be more than enough cause for a neighbouring noble to be in the area, or even just a bard...

The festivities were festivities. It was strange, to watch others fight instead of having to do it himself, and for performance rather than necessity. Though sometimes the rush of people grated on him, Phasma was a gracious host and Kylo enjoyed the good food well enough, always keeping an eye out for some shock of red hair, or those cheerful, dark curls he so hoped for.

His vigilance yielded one of those prizes.

A tall, beautiful, severe looking man entered the great hall one evening for the feast, walking directly up to the main table at which Phasma and Kylo were seated, and didn't even falter when he recognised Kylo's distinctive scar, yellow eyes, dark garb.

“Hux!” Phasma exclaimed standing and marching around the table to pull the man into a hug, which he returned with surprising readiness, “My dear friend, it has been too long!”

Hux gave a half-bow. “I'm sorry I'm late, I was caught up with business.”

“Ah, yes, business,” Phasma said knowingly, “and where is Lord Dameron?”

Hux's eyes flitted over to Kylo's for the briefest of seconds. “Altogether too caught up with his teaching to bother with a tournament, I'm afraid.”

“Well you must tell him I want him at the next one.” With that, she made to retake her seat again, gesturing at Kylo. “Kylo, this is Hux, currently an advisor to court in the neighbouring kingdom and the most talented mage in all the continent. Hux, Kylo, the Witcher.”

“Yes, we've met,” Hux understated, settling his gaze on Kylo fully, now, and extending his hand to Kylo over the table. Not sure what he was expected to do, Kylo gave Hux his hand, and Hux took it, raising it to his lips and kissing Kylo's knuckles.

Kylo wasn't entirely certain if he could blush any more, since the mutations which had turned him into a Witcher, but if he could, he was sure he was, what with so many people around to witness a display of affection which Kylo was unused to at the best of times. Along with that, relief, because it made him feel suddenly like all was forgiven without him having to wrangle the words around an apology.

“Hux, stop that and sit down!” Phasma reprimanded, “The players will begin soon.”

It was only as Hux sat down that Kylo realised the empty chair on his right had likely always been for Hux. No sooner had he settled than the players flooded the floor, dancing into their performance of an old, famous play, something about two supernatural kings vying for the affection of a mortal with all sorts of fanciful gifts.

“This version is better than the original,” Hux remarked a short while in, and Kylo hummed out an assent, though he had never seen it when it first was performed. He was probably too busy wading through drowner guts, or something similarly uncouth.

“So, you're in Poe's court, now?” Kylo asked instead. “Is he king?”

“No,” Hux remarked, picking up his goblet of wine and keeping his gaze on the players. “Nor does he want to be. The Queen has plenty of other worthy successors, and Poe would much rather go back to spending his days as a bard.” He tutted. “Even if he doesn't say so.”

“Why are you there?”

He sighed. “I wanted to see what you meant about him not being like the others, so I offered my services to the Queen.” Kylo hummed again, and this time, Hux turned to look at him. “You were quite right. He's different. I find myself rather taken with him.”

Kylo reached for his own wine now, his mouth suddenly dry. “Oh. Have you..?”

“No. Kylo...” Hux placed his cup down and leaned to the side so his shoulder was brushing Kylo's, even as Kylo was resolutely not looking at him. “He misses you. And I know you miss him.”

As if by design, the lutist started to play, and both their eyes went to the young woman performing in the corner. Kylo found himself thinking, perhaps uncharitably, that she wasn't as talented as Poe, her song wasn't as sweet.

Hux didn't fail to notice this. “I think we should travel together again,” he said.

“We?”

“You and I and Poe,” Hux said, as though it were obvious. “Like we did those few months travelling in from the coast. I've found myself thinking about them a lot.”

Kylo shrugged. “It was only a few months. Things have changed since then.”

“Which is why we should give it another try.” Kylo jolted in slight surprise when he felt Hux's cool hand lay over his own on the arm of the chair. He turned to find Hux looking directly into his eyes. “Stay here for a week after the tourney is over, and I'll have convinced him to come. Kylo.” A tacit command from Hux, as usual, instead of a request.

Kylo nodded.

[break]

So Kylo waited by the city gates, where Hux had sent a messenger bird that he should meet them. He was nervous, when he first spotted the black dot on the distant path that he was sure was them, shuffling from one foot to the other and gripping Silence's reins tight, like that would do anything. He was wondering how he should greet Poe; hello, certainly, and he didn't think he'd be able to stop himself from smiling, but he found that he also wanted to give him a hug, press their lips together, feel that he was really thereagain, after the nearly two years they'd spent apart.

It turned out he needn't have worried, since Poe sprang forward and clasped him into a hug without prompting, talking immediately about where they would be going and how good it would be to be back on the road.

Hux had merely given him a look that said I told you so, and followed after the excitable bard.

That had been nearly two weeks ago.

It turned out that Hux was entirely right; things were different than before, and they were better. The things that had changed were these:

Hux had brought a horse with him, this time, and several other magical items, such as a tent which was far larger inside than it appeared. Poe hadn't bothered with a horse, since he hadn't needed one before, and had thus left the money with which to pay for its upkeep back at home, planning instead to sing for his money like he used to. Kylo rather liked this; it reminded him of old times, when he steadfastly refused to let Poe ride Silence, in case it tired her out too much. The tent, on the other hand, felt annoyingly like Hux was living in style while the two of them were stuck outside, since Hux had never invited them in and Kylo, for one, wasn't about to invite himself.

It seemed Hux and Poe had also developed a much closer friendship, in the time Hux had spent at court. It made Kylo feel a little like he had missed out, like he had time to catch up on, like there was something impenetrable he couldn't access. Kylo supposed it must be similar for Hux, since he and Poe had known each other for so long before he met them, and again for Poe, given that winter when it was only him and Hux, but times like these – Poe and Hux discussing something so academic that Kylo knew so little about – could be daunting as much as interesting.

Mostly, Kylo felt like he still had to make something up to Poe, and he wasn't sure how to do it. He should probably just have a conversation with him about it, but the words never came, and bringing it up when nobody was thinking about it would, he was sure, just sour the mood. And if he just left it, the tension would have to break eventually.

[break]

Ahead of him on the road, Hux and Poe's little argument seemed to have reached a peak point. Kylo had been too lost in his thoughts to pay attention to what they were saying, but now Poe had stopped walking, raising open arms in that way of his that was almost defeated, but actually said he still thought he was right. It was very cute, like he was a turtle with a lute for a shell, and Kylo couldn't help but think his annoyed expression was charming as well.

When Silence reached the spot where Poe was standing, watching Hux ride on with his usual haughty confidence, Kylo hummed. “Did he win?”

Poe huffed, moving again to keep up with Silence's ambling pace. “No, but he's acting like he did. He always thinks he's right.”

Kylo thought about it for a beat; Hux did indeed always think that he was right. It was one of the things that had caused friction in their attempt at a relationship that one winter. It wasn't that all three of them couldn't be stubborn, more that Kylo and Poe had much more ability to hold out against each other's pestering than either of them seemed to have against Hux. One narrowing twitch of those steely-grey eyes, and anyone with even half a sense of self-preservation would surrender. So Kylo could sympathise with Poe's little pout.

They came to the edge of the forest, the village where they planned to stop a short way before them across a few fields. Kylo drew Silence to a halt and put out a hand to Poe, who looked at it first with surprise and then joy. He quickly allowed Kylo to help him up, settling just behind the Witcher, his chest pressed to his back, their thighs brushing against each other with every movement. Kylo could feel it all, and he tried not to let his stomach flip too much when Poe's arms snaked around his sides, hands locking at his front. He cursed inwardly that today he'd chosen to forgo some layers in favour of his cooler shirt.

But then Poe was saying to him over his shoulder – though it felt more like murmuring in his ear - “Come on, I wanna see Hux's face.”

Kylo prodded Silence to walk on, closing the distance on Hux. As they passed, Kylo felt Poe remove one hand to wave at the mage. Looking around, it was in almost slow motion that Hux's expression went from one of mild astonishment to annoyance to jealousy.

“See you there, Hugs!” Poe said, and Kylo smiled to himself.

[imagitory]

Favorite twst boys?

Oooohoohoo, you wish me to talk about my Night Raven College baes? Let’s see then...

Ace Trappola ~ Okay, so I should admit right off the bat that I have a huge soft spot for the Heartslabyul dorm in particular. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll are one of my favorite things ever, and so most adaptations of those works tend to give me some amount of glee, even the really flawed ones. But for Ace specifically, it took me a little while to warm up to him, given that he can be a real prat, but once he and Deuce really rallied around Yuu (especially when they dropped everything on their winter break and took the bus all the way back to school during the Scarabia incident to try to rescue them and Grim -- MY HEART!!!), I fully adopted Ace as my second trash son and that was that. I also loved Ace’s development in the Ghost Bride story line, as well as his admittedly harsh, but still rather fair tear-down of Riddle immediately pre-Overblot. Ace can be really harsh sometimes, but that also makes him an incredibly honest sort who won’t take anyone else’s bull and won’t let anyone push him around -- yet at the same time, he’s also lighthearted enough that he never takes himself too seriously. In some ways he kind of reminds me of Jounouchi Katsuya from Yu-Gi-Oh!, and that’s definitely a compliment.

Deuce Spade ~ MY ORIGINAL TRASH SON. I loved Deuce pretty much from the get-go, considering how passionate he was about trying to fix the mistake with the chandelier and how adorable he was casting the only magic he could manage (“COME FORTH, CAULDRON!” XDD). Then there was the whole “chick” incident where we not only saw his delinquent side which he tries so desperately to hide on full display for the first time, but we also got to see how much he truly loves his mom and how friggin’ stupid and yet absolutely sincere he is, and I just fell in love with Deuce even more. The Wish Upon a Star event where we learn Deuce wants to basically be this world’s equivalent of a sheriff after having been such a delinquent in his younger years only made me feel all the more for this guy -- him wanting to be so much better than he was even if he’s not the smartest, strongest, or most talented guy around I find so compelling and likable.

Riddle Rosehearts ~ Yeah, I know, a lot of Heartslabyul love, but like with Ace, it took me a LONG while to warm up to Riddle. I thought he was a total jerk and I wanted nothing more than to give him a good telling-off (“go ahead, use that stupid collar on me -- I don’t have magic for you to block, you bullying prat!”) until Ace got around to punching Riddle in the face and then tearing him a verbal new one for me. It honestly took Riddle’s Overblotting for me to feel the least bit sorry for him, but it was how sincerely he acted after the fact in trying to make up for his mistakes that really softened my heart to him. Riddle has lived his whole life following rules and convention to the letter, and it’s made him miserable, so now that he’s come to grips with the fact that he doesn’t need to be miserable in order to live an upstanding life, he’s softened a bit. Even with this, though, that rule-abiding, upstanding attitude isn’t always hard to shake, and I think it makes for a much more balanced outcome than if Riddle just went hog-wild and stopped caring about everything -- because the whole reason Riddle followed the rules so closely is he wanted to do what was best for all and to be the best he could be, too. His motivation for being so strict came from a deep passion for leadership and order, and I’m glad that passion of Riddle’s wasn’t dampened, but instead given nuance. Now he can focus his passion more effectively, rather than lashing out in all directions indiscriminately. Like Ace as well, I loved Riddle’s development in the Ghost Marriage plot line, particularly his individual side story with Malleus. It really showcased Riddle’s noblesse oblige moral code, which I personally find the most compelling and likable aspect of his personality.

Jack Howl ~ JACK IS A GOOD BOY. Anyone who disagrees can fight me. (LOL, not really, but...) Like with Deuce, I liked Jack pretty much immediately. From the start, he just came across as so much more down-to-earth and honest than either of the other two main characters from Savanaclaw (even if Jack is also a total tsundere, but honestly, if you’ve watched any kind of anime, you’re fluent enough in “tsundere” as a language to know exactly what Jack really thinks of something). He was sort of depicted as a black sheep in his own dorm, and -- honestly? -- I’m a sucker for characters that are sort of on the fringes and don’t quite conform to what people expect them to be. Add to that how passionate Jack is about working hard and being the best he can be in his own right, as well as how deathly loyal he is, and he’s just overall a character I would love being friends with.

Jamil Viper ~ Jamil was the first character who Overblots who I actually felt sympathy for long before we see his side of the story in flashback form. Part of this admittedly is because I could sort of see where Jamil and Kalim’s story was going ahead of time, but the other reason is that I could see how much work Jamil put in all the time. Even though yeah, it was a real dick move to try to foist out Kalim so he could become Head of Scarabia instead, and yes, he manipulated things to make everyone see Kalim as cruel and irrational, it doesn’t change the fact that Jamil still acted like a Dorm Head a lot more than Kalim did a lot of the time, in the sense of making sure things run smoothly. Kalim definitely brings amazing enthusiasm to Scarabia as its leader and inspires a lot of positive feelings in the people around him, but if there’s a problem, it’s Jamil who often ends up fixing it, not Kalim. And from the start, I really felt for this guy who Kalim -- simply due to privilege -- didn’t seem to acknowledge he was demanding so much of, without receiving the same kind of attention and appreciation in return. I never disliked Kalim for this, because I could tell Kalim didn’t mean it maliciously and admittedly Jamil really should’ve said something since Kalim adores Jamil and would have likely been more than receptive to hearing what he had to say...but at the same time, given their power imbalance, it’s also not completely unsurprising that Jamil didn’t feel like he could say something. The best part about Jamil for me, at least, ended up coming out after he was allowed to finally speak his mind. Yeah, maybe he’s a little meaner now. Yeah, maybe he’s not so patient or amiable now. But he’s also allowed to show more of that deep, searing passion and ambition he’s been bottling up for so long. I loved seeing how much he enjoys dancing and performing through the Fairy Gala event and the recent Pomefiore chapter. I’ve loved how thoroughly (and pretty justifiably) distrustful he is of Azul. I’ve loved how he’s sort of on the fence emotionally about looking after Kalim the way he used to and making sure Kalim doesn’t expect his service the way he subconsciously did before. Jamil is one of the TWST characters who surprised me the most in how much I enjoy him, and I honestly can’t wait to see how much more he grows.

Epel Felmier ~ I WILL PROTECT THIS BOY, OKAY. Not because he’s delicate-looking, but because damn it, if he wants to eat macaroons and steak with the wrong fork, then he should be allowed to just go out and do it. I absolutely love the contrasts we’ve already seen in Epel so far. For as sweet and bishounen as his face is, he has a real rough, informal side fitting his background as a kid from the country, and yet he also has his “Prince Charming” moments too. He completely on his own comes up with the idea to arrive riding a horse when trying to impress the Bride during the Ghost Marriage event, and yet he’ll also tear into a bunch of ghosts who dare mistake him for a girl. Epel reminds me of a friend of mine from high school who also was a lot gruffer and more cynical than his short height and cute face would suggest, and it makes for a very interesting character, I think. You can’t pin this kid down or put him in a single box, and I think that’s awesome.

Vil Schoenheit ~ All right. Before the Pomefiore chapter, I thought there was no way in Hell that I would ever warm up to Vil. His slapping of people’s butts in the Fairy Gala event, his superficial focus on exterior beauty, and his bullying, condescending attitude toward Epel in particular really made me dislike him from the get-go. But then the Pomefiore chapter started and we reached the auditions...and I found myself agreeing with just about every critique he made, in contrast to Rook’s sunnier, fawning reviews. It made me feel like I was watching American Idol or America’s Got Talent and agreeing with Simon Cowell (which I honestly almost always did, whenever I watched those!). And as the Pomefiore chapter’s unfolded, I’ve seen that fascinating contrast in Vil. Yes, he’s very superficial -- but his dream is to act and be an idol, and in that world of celebrity, appearances are important. Yes, he’s very conceited -- but he’s also an incredibly hard worker who’s put in a lot of effort to improve himself and his talents to the point that he should be proud of them. Yes, he’s almost cruel in how relentlessly he pushes people -- but he never holds anyone to a standard he wouldn’t also expect of himself. Yes, he’s very forceful and sees his way as the only way -- but he does truly want those people to succeed in his own weird way, even if he can’t properly express it. Not to mention the fact that he’s constantly typecast as villainous characters, and he just wants to be a hero who makes it to the final curtain call!! My heart!! It’s made it so that like with Jamil, I’ve found sympathy for Vil long before he Overblots, and so I’m all the more eager to see how both the Overblot itself and its aftermath impacts Vil as a character and his relationships with the other characters.

Malleus Draconia ~ Oh, come on, who doesn’t love Tsunotaro? This precious child needs all of the love and party invitations in the world! (And yes, he may be an immortal fae, but he’s still a precious child to me, so there.) I would totally love chatting about gargoyles and grotesques with him. X3

[hardkinkbadkink]

Witchers undergo mutations around/before puberty, right? As a result, their cocks are incredibly small — Geralt’s even more so, due to the double rounds of mutations. Jaskier is so enthralled by this, and loves stroking and petting it so softly while saying the meanest things to Geralt for it, calling it an overgrown clit, spanking the shaft when the witcher tries to touch it when they fuck. If Geralt can’t come from just his hole, why should he come at all? It’s not like his cock is worth it.

hnghhh fuckk man all of this right here!! so there are two schools of thought currently in my inbox re: dick size, 1. that witchers have big monster cocks due to the mutations & 2. that they have tiny little boy pricks for the same reason and honestly?? i subscribe to both of those cos im gay & not picky in the slightest

once again picking prompts out of order to keep it Spicy

***

Jaskier is notorious for getting his hopes up too damn high.

At least this time he had fine reason for it, didn't he?

He'd spent months observing his witcher, noting the nuances of his physique--and his main conclusion is that Geralt is, at the very least, a demigod. Maybe a full deity. Maybe he is Chaos, personified, there to tempt Jaskier away from salvation with a chiselled jawline and thighs girthier that most tree trunks they pass.

It is only logical to assume, under these circumstances--

Well, and Jaskier isn't vain, he really isn't, shallow only when it comes to his own person but definitely not to others, and--

It's not to say Jaskier doesn't appreciate having Geralt naked for him anyway, every last inch of his scarred, golden, hair-covered skin, but--

He'd thought Geralt would have a cock to match all of that thick, overgrown rest of him.

"I'll order you a whore. For the trouble."

Jaskier doesn't register the words at first, too preoccupied with the way Geralt's cute tiny prick bobs between his legs when he makes to get dressed. When Jaskier does process his intention, he quickly crosses the space between them and presses all up on Geralt's glorious chest.

"Nonsense. Nonsense, my witcher, we've just begun."

They barely begun, more like. Shared a wet, breathtaking kiss downstairs, with Jaskier wiggling onto Geralt's lap. Got gently spit on and chased up the stairs to their one solitary room. Out of all that, getting Geralt to undress took them the longest.

And sure, Jaskier thinks, when he reaches to pet at Geralt's cute little cock, his tight balls--sure, he'd already got all stretched and slick before he even went downstairs, and oil is dripping out of him, soaking the seat of his trousers, but--well, plans can be changed, can't they?

"Go lay down for me, dear," he says before he goes to undress, back turned to the bed. He can hear it creak when Geralt does as he's bid, and Jaskier shudders at the unexpected surge of power.

Geralt inhales sharply when Jaskier is fully divested of his clothes, bent over casually so Geralt can catch a glimpse of his gaping, puffy hole. He rummages through his travel bag longer than he should; just for the fun of it. Just to rail Geralt up some more.

"Jaskier?" Geralt says with a note of uncertainty when Jaskier crawls on the bed to straddle Geralt's thighs.

Jaskier smiles at him brightly as he uncorks a vial of unscented oil and tips some onto the wooden, lacquered cock in his hand. The sound of his palm working it over is quite obscene. Jaskier can see Geralt's prick twitch and drool as he watches.

"You see, Geralt," Jaskier begins as he shuffles a bit forward, bringing the toy behind himself, hovering just above Geralt's straining prick. "I really was rather looking forward to getting utterly wrecked by your fat cock tonight." He sinks the toy into himself easily, smooth and curved just so. "But it seems that you've failed to provide the cock."

He huffs out a laugh when Geralt turns his head in shame, clenches his fists by his sides.

"It's the mutations," Geralt tells him quietly.

Jaskier brings a hand to his witcher's cheek and guides him back to have Geralt watch as he bounces on his toy.

"Oh?"

It's not his biggest toy, but Jaskier does love it greatly. Perhaps not as much as he loves the despair in Geralt's eyes as his gaze stays glued between Jaskier's legs, on the wooden cock disappearing into him and Jaskier's own hard dick bouncing heavily along with him.

Jaskier moves his free hand to touch teasingly at the wet tip of Geralt's prick.

"We--we were all children when they first started the--the process," Geralt explains in a rushed manner and Jaskier rewards him with a quick tug at his cock.

"So all witchers have pathetic little boy cocks?"

Geralt whines and looks like he's about to stop talking, so Jaskier strokes him more firmly, fucks himself on his toy harder.

"Mine's the smallest."

Fuck, and isn't that a thought? His White Wolf, the fastest, strongest of all the witchers--with the tiniest, cutest prick?

"Oh, Geralt," he sighs blissfully. "Have you ever even got to fuck anyone properly? Or do you have the whores lick your little cock like it's a clit?"

Geralt twitches in his palm, moans when Jaskier tightens his grip.

"No matter now, darling, I'll take care of it for you, won't I? Make sure you're nice and satisfied, poor thing."

Geralt nods frantically and presses his lips in a tight line when his prick pulses out a few pathetic drops of spend. Jaskier laughs.

"What a cute thing. Just for decoration."

Jaskier snatches one of Geralt's wrists and brings his hand to wrap around Jaskier's own cock. He thrusts into the tight clutch of it, clenches around his toy until he sees stars.

"Fuck, you like my big cock, darling? Feel how nice and hard it is? You'll like it when I put it in you, I promise. You can ride it just like this, and I'll rub your little clit until you squirt for me."

Geralt groans, and Jaskier tosses his head back when he comes, laughing breathlessly.

They're going to have so much fun.

***

Jaskier does make sure Geralt stays satisfied, though maybe he indulges himself too much, sometimes.

"Did you use to ask the whores to fuck your needy hole with their fingers?" he asks as he does just that.

Geralt writhes a bit under his touch, but shakes his head faintly.

"Did they suck your tiny cock? Bet they could fit your balls in their mouths, too, all in one go, trying to choke on you but you're just too small."

Jaskier tucks his pinky along with the rest of his fingers and crooks all of them just right. Geralt gives a reedy moan in response and his fingers flex when they tighten around the fistfuls of sheets at his sides.

"But you don't need me to do that anymore, right, dear? You'll be a good boy and come just on my fat prick."

"If you put it in me," Geralt huffs in the voice he usually uses to threaten people. As if it'd work on Jaskier.

"Oh, that's very naughty of you. Good little boys don't get bossy. They take what they're given or else they get nothing."

Jaskier pulls his fingers out, to better show his point, and watches as Geralt bucks his hips, humping the air.

"And look at that little thing, all red and swollen and eager," he says, bringing a single finger to rub tiny circles around Geralt's dripping cockhead. "Don't you want to feel good when I fuck your sloppy hole like it's meant to be? Don't you want to come over and over while I breed you and rub your clit?"

He can see the muscles in Geralt's thighs and belly quiver, until he takes his touch away entirely.

"What do we say, love?"

Geralt squeezes his eyes shut and spreads his legs wider when he whispers,

"I'm sorry."

Jaskier raises his eyebrows expectantly and gives Geralt's prick a light slap to get his attention. He decidedly does not expect Geralt to whimper and his cock to drool. Fascinating.

"Please fuck my greedy hole and make me squirt on your fat cock."

There isn't much conviction to the words, not yet, but the corner of Jaskier's mouth twitches involuntarily anyway.

"Good. Very good."

Sinking his cock into Geralt's tight, virginal hole (oh, were you embarrassed, dear? Didn't want a real man to see your adorable prick and laugh?) is a spiritual experience. Maybe Geralt is a god after all. Jaskier knows he doesn't have to be gentle, so he isn't--just fucks Geralt roughly like he'd been dying to ever since he first thought about it.

"Oh, you're perfect, darling, aren't you? My perfect little plaything, begging to be used."

Geralt doesn't answer, and Jaskier can't even be sure whether he's heard a word of it--because his perfect face is slack with pleasure, mouth open and eyes heavy-lidded, the very picture of debauchery, and he moans at each thrust of Jaskier's cock like a whore paid to do it.

Jaskier has to focus very hard on not coming at the mere sight of his witcher lost in such rapture.

Lost completely and utterly, because he goes against Jaskier's explicit wishes and reaches down to palm at his prick.

Jaskier tuts at him and bats his hand away, before he slaps the little thing, once then quickly a second time when Geralt howls.

"I told you, dear, you don't get to touch."

Geralt looks at him, then, and his eyelashes are breathtakingly wet.

"Jaskier."

A flick to his cockhead makes Geralt squeeze around him deliciously.

"If you were meant to touch your cock you'd have an actual cock, love, not this pitiful little thing."

He slaps it again, and then lands a few hits to Geralt's cute pink balls that draw up at the attention.

Jaskier fucks him properly, rides him like he needs it to breathe because he does, really--he could survive exclusively on the dizzying moans that spill out of his witcher.

Geralt comes after a few moments, untouched and beautiful in his pleasure, squirming and twisting away when Jaskier keeps abusing his oversensitive hole, and then quickly comes a second time with a hoarse scream, his pretty little cock pulsing out more spend than Jaskier's ever seen it do.

"That's it, darling, gods, you were made for this."

When Jaskier spends with a shudder he feels a hand come to rest firmly at the back of his thigh and Geralt, voice quiet and broken, whispers,

"One more. Please."

And who is Jaskier to deny his perfect, lovely plaything?

[asianjeremyheere]

happy one month anniversary to the bmc obcr!!! to celebrate, im gonna put my track-by-track commentary under the cut and split into two parts (act 2 here) because god it got so long and i am. very sorry. read at ur own risk. and it really is just rambling commentary because i had a gdoc out and the whole soundtrack playing, alternating obcr and ocr tracks SO! tada! act 1!

JEREMY'S THEME

Okay the orchestrations are great on both BUT I do prefer how much more sudden the end is on the ocr? Obcr Jeremy's theme kind of has that echoey quality at the end and I'm pretty sure it's just a recording thing but. Recording-wise I do kind of prefer the ocr. That said, I don't listen to Jeremy's theme THAT much.

MORE THAN SURVIVE

90% of this is going to be me preferring the obcr and this is no exception BUT I do like the ocr tempo a little more? It's faster and feels like it captures the whole day-at-school rush a little better, which works in most of the song except during the "Christiiiiine" portions because those are absolutely KILLER when they're a little slower. They sound more romantic, in a way?? Like it goes from Jeremy seeing her, a girl whom he likes and wants to point out to Michawl, to Jeremy seeing her and being totally enraptured/distracted by her, hence the slower/more drawn out Christiiiiine's working in its favor. Also would have like Michael's verse to be faster? I've always imagined him to be, like. A fast talker. I don't really care about how much George changed his voice for it, I just wish it was faster. But overall, I like it better on the obcr because Will R is waaay more emotive and I'm in love with his falsetto and his runs.

I LOVE PLAY REHEARSAL

I know I said I was terrible at recognizing tempo but ILPR feels so fast on the ocr??? Anyway I like the obcr version better and Stephanie is adorable in both but MORE so in the obcr. Her inflections have so much more character and she paints a much clearer picture of Christine as a whole just in that one song. ALSO the added dialogue!!!! Love that. It's also got a less consistent tempo (I think????) which works for a song like this and a character like Christine

MORE THAN SURVIVE REPRISE

This isnt on the ocr but it was in the original show and I got it stuck in my head all the fucking time so I'm just glad it got recorded!! I don't have a Two River audio on hand rn but I like the bway version better anyway because Will R is, again, more emotive and I think it works better with this specific iteration of Jeremy anyways? Like. His whole character is sadder so this song fits a little better.

THE SQUIP SONG

Ngl I can't really tell the difference between the two but Gerard's voice has only had time to improve (I hope? He seems to do a lot of stuff when he's not doing a show and I wonder if he's like. Taking care of his voice. I hope so?) and I love the new glitchy stuff at the end. But like rip the "picture this" verse :( I think I just. Like them both pretty equally??

TWO PLAYER GAME

Obcr babey!!! I like the way a bunch of the instruments cut out and it's just the 8-bit stuff right at the start? That's fun as fuck. Also Will R's "ah! gah!" noises are 💜💙💜❤💖💙🧡💙. The orchestrations in the obcr are also just. God tier. And the tech-y fade out sound at the end is one of my favorite things. Also George's voice is the same pitch but he sounds younger in the obcr and that's not good or bad because he still sounds convincing enough to be a high school either way.

THE SQUIP ENTERS

Okay I like the obcr for this better too just because there's more in it. It isn't just Jeremy screaming for a minute and a half, they also added the dialogue which makes it better. I don't actually really like this song as much on the ocr just because I did. Not enjoy listening to a song that was basically just screaming? It's too loud and I was always worried about people hearing it through my headphones skdjks. The obcr version isn't much better screaming-wise but I can't just straight up skip it anymore because there's stuff at the end. Plus they have a bigger budget for effects and the transition from the startup-Squip voice to Jason Tam's voice where they're doubled up? God. I love him.

BE MORE CHILL, PT. 1

Obcr wins this just for the 'outdated' riff alone. Also, Jeremy sounds more intimidated/impressionable?? WPC Jeremy doesn't sound scared of the Squip/sounds borderline rebellious right off the bat, which is weird considering EWM is allegedly the 'more evil one' 🤔🤔🤔🤔. Plus I think the obcr has more harmonies and Will R's comedic timing during the Squip Tango is spot-on. AND KATLYN!! Yeah. Love her. She's so much more intense in the obcr and it works for Chloe??? She just sounds more passive in the ocr. That said, Jason should have sung more because his voice…… pwetty

DO YOU WANNA RIDE

The obcr ending has my heart…. the pinkberry riff….. the giggle and "au revoir"........ I am in love with Brooke Lohst. I don't really mind that it's slower either? But I can't hear the trombone shot notes as well on the obcr and that makes me sad :( Charlie Rosen ur orchestrations are gold but dont drown out the trombone that was my favorite part of ocr dywr!!!!!

BE MORE CHILL, PT. 2

Jason Tam's Squip voice is good you guys are just mean and don't understand nuance!!!!!!! I love the obcr version of this because a) Jason!!!!!! b) Will!!!!!!!! and c) Tiffany's high note at the end!!!!!!!!! Also the gong!!!!!

For real though? Will R. is much more expressive in the repeat-after-me section and Jason Tam's cooler, more laid-back tone works. I'm more inclined to trust that he can actually help me because he sounds more guiding than demanding and I, personally, don't respond well to people exercising their authority over me! I do much better when things are phrased like "I'm going to help you! Here are some suggestions. Do them. Look, it's working!" vs "Do what I say, it's the only way you'll succeed" and to have the Squip start out sounding more like the former before getting more outwardly controlling works better and makes more sense imo!

MORE THAN SURVIVE REPRISE/SYNC UP

Okay I can't really compare these two because they're totally different songs at this point but I love Sync Up and I can compare that end portion because it's the same! 'Head to play rehearsal' > 'drama practice' because it's not a huge difference but he's parroting Christine's terminology and it shows that he's listening to her, which Mr. Will Roland himself said was a huge part of Jeremy's journey! (Learning to listen.) Also, Will R just sounds more eager and excited to actually be included? Will C just sounds like he's relieved that he's not being shoved around. Will R!Jeremy sounds more excited in general, even at the beginning before he gets shocked. And then his “ghughgh” noise. Mood, Will. The Squip at this part is kind of. Hmm. I don’t really like it in the recorder version ngl but I know Jason talked about like. Struggling a little more to get into the Squip mindset during the recording process because the costumes are so integral to his characterization and he didn’t have said costumes for the obcr recording so I’ll give him a pass. It doesn’t faze me as much in audios so??? Jason Tam u get a pass.

A GUY THAT I'D KINDA BE INTO

The obcr recorders make me ❤💗💖💕💖💕💙💘🧡💘🧡❤💕❤💕💙💜💖❤!!!! Also I prefer the new ending where she goes "Who kneeeeeeeeeew?" and how surprised/thrilled Will R!Jeremy sounds when he says "Is she talking about me?" but like…. Jason Tam, I will defend your Squip voice to my dying day but why did you have to say "pheromones" like that. Okay also I'm listening to each song's versions back-to-back and the tempo changes keep throwing me off. But I do appreciate the lack of clapping in the ocr.

THE SQUIP LURKS/THE SQUIP STALKS

Obcr wins because its an instrumental and I love the bway instrumental. Also, it's longer and spookier. Thank you, Charlie Rosen. You deserved a Tony nom for this shit.

UPGRADE

I'm gonna say right off the bat that I love obcr Upgrade so much because of the additional depth given to Brooke and Jake, and I love the new ending because like woah chills. That's all. It's not a disclaimer or anything, I just love it. Also, Stephanie's "oh wow"? Cute as fuck!!! Britton's voice??? God tier!!!!!! Brooke's french at the start and the way Lauren's voice breaks on "I just want someone to see me first"??? God!!!!!!!! Tiffany coming in by herself before everyone else joins in during that layered section??? I am deceased. I love trying to pick out every individual person's voice in that section. Usually Gerard, Lauren, and Will are easiest for me to pinpoint? Idk. Ocr Upgrade still fucking slaps though. Steph's "oh wow" is a little more underwhelming but I'm like. In love with the tempo right before the "Christiiiine"s? Also uhhh wish they'd included Jeremy and Michael's conversation somewhere in the obcr.

LOSER GEEK WHATEVER

I love LGW and I'll stand by this forever. I'm gonna compare this to the end of ocr Upgrade because that's technically where it goes and I think it does a better job of showing Jeremy's motivations and his worries about taking the Squip! Also it makes sense story-wise that he would take time to slow it down and think/process considering he just…. asked the Squip for time to process….. but like the original ending is still a bop and it's super good for like. Hyping urself up. I just think LGW does better for Jeremy's character and it's a good song!!! It sums up a lot of what I feel/the ways I relate to Jeremy, too, so it's. Emotional hearing it in audios skdjsj but not as much with the recording anymore!!

[shadowonaqua]

Initiative, perseverance, epiphany, and trust (My thoughts on Free! Dive to the Future - Episodes 7 and 8)

So I’m finally back after a long cram session! There were so many emotions and interactions that came to light in the last two episodes, so we have a lot to cover! But first, we see a new face come to the main screen.

This is a little long, but I hope it can be a good ride for y’all!

Starting from the end of episode 6 into the start of episode 7, we officially meet Ryuuji, a wandering former swimmer coach who hates mackerel saunters into Haru’s life through Asahi’s brother-in-law. Other than Makoto, we are the first to see that Haru asks this slightly-scruffy and enigmatic man to coach him (all in exchange for food as payment... oh, how I wished for that kind of bargain to work in real life). 

Now that is initiative. Seeing how the entire series emphasized Haru’s love of water and aloof attitude towards life in general, this is huge. 

Not only that, Haru is getting extra lessons for the sake of Ikuya. Just as Haru’s dear friends saved him back in high school when he was lost and trapped by pressure, Haru is now extending his hand out to help Ikuya in his own way. As we find out just a few minutes later, the fact that Haru is going completely outside of his comfort zone to help a friend shows to us how much he has grown as an individual and as a friend. The current Haru knows the value of friendship, and has come to accept the huge role that friendship has on his ability to swim. We have seen throughout this episode just how strong of a swimmer Haru is, and so we must remember the journey that Haru went through to get to this stage. Although Haru may not know how lonely Ikuya is feeling since he hasn’t had a chance to speak to Ikuya in person (also, how sad is it when someone says that he or she don’t know what friends are anymore?), Haru seems to have realized to a certain extent how his swimming brings light to his friends’ lives. So, as Nao puts it, Haru must help in the best way that he can. 

In life, we’re often told to take initiative of our own lives in order to achieve our goals, whether in our careers or in our personal lives. Not too often do we completely change our regular routine just for a friend, but if a friend is important enough to us, we may be more than willing to do just that. Haru has evolved into a selfless individual who is willing to go above and beyond for his friends, and in this sense he is a great role model for us to look up to. His perseverance in trying to repair his friendship with Ikuya despite the shade thrown at him a few weeks back shows a maturity that many eighteen-year-olds don’t exhibit. Furthermore, the positive attitude that Haru has towards improving his own swimming shows a growth that I am sure many of us anticipated and welcomed, for he is branching out and evolving as a swimmer worthy for the world stage. Once again, this anime is expressing the nuances of adulthood through exploration of new avenues, taking initiative to achieve our goals, and persevering through any challenges that are thrown our way. These concepts are pervasive through much of our lives, including Haru’s, and the massive improvement shown in Haru’s swimming is a testament to all the hard work he put in as he enters uncharted swimming territory for himself and for his dear friend. 

(Before I continue, cue to how cute Kisumi is as he gets bored waiting for his friends to free up time, haha)

(Also, how great is Akane?! Her support for Asahi and his friends in their swimming careers is so endearing. And Tsukushi. OMG can I play with him?! Please don’t kick me in the face though, haha.)

And FINALLY, Asahi and Ikuya meet up, and that is where we first see in Ikuya’s own spoken words how confused and lonely he is. In this interaction, we notice just how much Asahi values his friends, and how he makes these thoughts so obvious to the viewer and to Ikuya. Despite years of not keeping in contact, Asahi views Ikuya as a dear friend, and he trusts Ikuya and the bond they had in middle school. Trust is a concept that Ikuya struggles with, and we could even see this come to light during High Speed! when Ikuya was unwilling to join the medley relay. Ikuya is an individual who wants to trust others from the bottom of his heart, but he also realized that his heart breaks little by little with each separation, starting from his older brother Natsuya. Since he is subconsciously afraid that all those he holds dear to him will leave him one day, Ikuya walled himself off from those around him and holds everyone at arm’s length. This makes Asahi the perfect foil to the current Ikuya, as Asahi’s innate trust in his friends and teammates are the best way for Ikuya to begin to realize that his friends are still there to lift him up. 

Moving beyond Ikuya for just a moment, I want to appreciate the grit that Asahi shows towards his goals in swimming. As we hear from both himself and his sister, Asahi is cutting it close in his events with regards to times. As a former varsity swimmer myself, I know just how nerve-wracking this feeling is, as every millisecond counts in the world of swimming. But despite this, Asahi still keeps his goal to reach the world stage in mind and does not let the slow-but-gradual progress deter him. If anything, his motivation increases with each close shave that he has. For any of you who watched High Speed!, you’ll probably remember the Asahi who was hyper, overly-confident, and who did not have a clue about what self-reflection entails. You’ll probably also remember how Haru’s innate swimming ability literally made Asahi forget how to swim freestyle, and how distraught that made him. Yet, these experiences helped Asahi to mature and develop into the endearing character we know today, as he has grown into a natural leader who knows how to bring out the best in his friends (we have to give credit to Rei for giving him much-needed wise advice back in middle school, but seriously when are they going to meet?!), a more self-reflective but still-humorous individual who is aware of his own weaknesses, and an ever-growing swimmer who has never lost sight of his goals and so never gives up.

NOW WE’LL MOVE TO THE BIG MOMENT! Spoilers for Episode 8 are ahead, so if you haven’t watched yet, definitely watch first :D

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Everyone is surprised when Haru and Ikuya are next to each other in the 400 IM. I mean, who wouldn’t be when the aloof main character of the series for 3+ years said that he only swims free?

And so we see Ikuya finally come to the realization that he isn’t alone. Yay, Ikuya! Considering that he is such a fragile person, the fact that Haru has once again saved him is endearing and nearly brought me to tears. 

I mean, this:

And the fact that Haru is a softie who never forgets promises, even though he is sometimes not great at keeping them until several years later:

And this. I nearly cried myself:

I am so happy for Ikuya, and Haru, and all friends who are involved. Everyone who even knows an inkling of the friendship that Haru and Ikuya share know how important this moment is (and just as Asahi says, who cares if Haru lost the IM? They gained a friend back!). 

We also find out just how much Ikuya looks up to Haru as he shares with the entire group what his wish was from the night he and Haru viewed the starry night sky. I mean, Ikuya wants to be a hero like Haru is to him? Just as Haru said, Ikuya is a hero even without realizing it. But above all, the greatest moment for me was when Ikuya remembered what true friendship is, and comes to an epiphany that getting stronger is not something you can achieve purely for your own sake, and that obtaining freedom can only happen when you become stronger for those you love. 

I am positively giddy about how this season is portraying freedom. The meaning of freedom is different for every person. For some, freedom means to be able to choose what you want to do at any point of your life. For others, freedom means that you are not constrained, emotionally or mentally, by the unspoken rules that society places on behavior or thought. In Ikuya’s case, freedom could very well mean the ability to swim with no boundaries for and alongside your trusted friends and loved ones. After all, we see time and time again with this series that any limitation on friendships prevent these characters from swimming at their best.

So with this in mind, we see the old Iwatobi Middle School relay gang get back together, and we see Ikuya return to his old self. 

Ikuya also brings Hiyori back to join the freestyle relay with him. Now if that’s not the greatest progression in character there is this season, I don’t know what is. I mean, the guy who has been moody and who swam alone for the last few years is now swimming with others? What?! I mean, that even threw Hiyori in for a loop.

And Ikuya is back to the same guy who teases Asahi’s habits and periodic idiocy:

I was also so, so touched when Hiyori realizes the power of Haru’s swimming and how it freed him, and when Ikuya remembers the young Hiyori that he met in early childhood. Hopefully we can see a more positive Hiyori in the coming episodes!

(And Natsuya, you so cried. I bet you that Ikuya is his older brother’s hero. What a cute sibling relationship!)

(But seriously, Kisumi, you’re in the wrong anime. You’re even recruiting Hiyori to join the basketball club?!?!)

Anyway, I had a blast with the last two episodes, and I look forward to see where these group of lads go with their newfound realizations, their growing understanding of themselves, and their aspirations in the swimming world.

Above all, we’re glad to have you back, Ikuya! Keep smiling as you did before!

[larksinging]

okay and obligatory what is some stuff you might wanna do with margot on denny... and/or chiyoh if you prefer

for her part, a lot of early stuff with margot can be just... settling in. denny isn’t quite the freedom she imagined, but it’s still something. the support system the rifters get is better than literally nothing so she’ll take what she can get. i think there’s some freedom in coming to somewhere like denny where the verger name doesn’t actually mean anything, except to a few canonmates, there’s a kind of relief in not dealing with that. though i think she’s always gonna be on edge that mason would show up... (though i am. really not sure what i would even do if a mason showed up. but maybe i’ll never have to figure that out) 

anywaaay she’ll probably settle in beacon heights, though whether thats rooming with others from the hannibal cast is still up in the air. she’ll probably get a job at the stables? thats the most obvious thing for her and something she likes, so. im always a sucker for like, “character slowly settles into a quiet life while trying to deal with castmate drama” because lets be real that’s inevitable. 

from there i’m noooot sure, like maybe if/when hannibal shows up she’ll actually get more involved this time in helping the others deal with him. or if there’s some kind of generic murder plot maybe she’ll end up involved somehow. it’s kind of hard because she’s so focused for so long on just surviving and getting out of her own situation that it’s hard to predict exactly how she’d get involved in other stuff. though she might be a good character for like.... throwing at a lot of iccs or unexpected characters and seeing if something sticks. maybe something out of left field like “margot is kind of a liason for the non-humans” as some way to translate her reforming verger stuff... idk her relationship with animals is a bit unique. ooor something with the mld if other cast characters are involved, or... idk. 

actually minor thing -- whether or not something happens with her and alana down the line, i figure there’s at least going to be a bit where she’s just happy to flirt with any pretty lady around on denny. the first couple months when she’s still just riding that high of having more freedom and agency. it can be fun to have, at least for a bit, a character who will more casually flirt like that

tl;dr let her be happy 

okay and then chiyoh......... boy. what WOULD she do. thats kind of why im waiting to try her out. 

chiyoh’s motivations are so... nuanced and clouded and unclear, i think even to her, that it’s really hard to say which direction she’d take on denny. she was so bound by hannibal, or, well, mischa, that in a context without those.... what does she even do?

though maybe it’d be interesting to play a character who is completely and utterly lost on denny for a while. it might be good for her to get to get away from hannibal’s story and have a chance to make her own. she is sort of a... haunting figure, so maybe she’d pick a certain location and sort of linger there. maybe somewhere like raccoon city. i don’t know, even saying that doesn’t feel quite right... 

of course, if/when hannibal shows up, that’s a whole other story. what kind of story? that’s difficult to say. though she’d fall into that same roll of... not trying to catch hannibal, and not necessarily trying to defend him, but nudging it in particular directions

chiyoh, looking over most of denny’s drama: anyway.

[dancerofdarna-blog]

I had so many thoughts about Lene and Ares friendship today that I’m just going to make a post and tag Ares-mun because they’re all disjointed (and I didn’t want to spam IMs).

@nordionknight

Joining the Liberation Army cemented their friendship. Prior to that, both were still a little guarded emotionally although they were definitely comfortable around each other which, i guess, is a given since she knows about his feelings towards Sigurd and Eldigan.

Lene will never have a deep understanding of the nuances of politics so Ares would be much better off discussing those with the likes of Seliph or Leif. She can still understand him or try to uplift his spirits, but she won’t be of use to him in that sense. She’s just philosophical enough to not begrudge people their livelihoods.

She’s very upfront with him about everything. If he asks, she’ll answer truthfully because she’s honest like that.

She’s beyond thrilled when Ares gets to reunite with Diarmuid and Nanna, but it’s a little sad too. They both have fixations on their missing families and well, at the end of the day, Ares succeeds in reuniting with his. Lene doesn’t even know Corpul is her brother. She and Ares are just friends, so she doesn’t get a “claim” on him. He belongs to his family first. Not that he needs it, but she’s also his biggest supporter in encouraging him to get to know his cousins.

They can speak about feelings, but they really, well, don’t without a pressing need. Their relationship is comfortable, natural, almost instinctual. They’re content hanging out and sassing each other.

She enjoys treating him every now and then! (Mostly fruit like in our thread because she can’t really afford extravagant things- certainly not any material goods befitting his status.) But she does what she can.

Don’t know when or where, but I want her to run her fingers through his hair at one point or another. I was playing with the idea of her trimming his bangs when they get too long because I think she does her own hair, trimming, styling, etc.

Lene is most comfortable when she’s the one initiating physical contact. He’s obviously not as handsy as the men she’s used to, but she really really appreciates that. It’s on her terms. She’s a physically affectionate person anyways. Tapping Ares on the shoulder, nudging him after a remark, leaning (no pun intended) on him after a long day...

This is actually important that Lene copes best when the situation is on her terms. She takes things in stride because it’s better than being caught off-guard. She demands that he forget they ever met because if he’s going to leave, she has to be the one breaking off their friendship. It hits so close to home considering Sylvia left her at the convent. She doesn’t begrudge her mother, but the action still scarred. And Lene thinks of her when she sees Ares’ back ride off in the distance assuming he’ll never come back.

But he does! He comes back for her- to her rescue, no less. Lene has had to be self-reliant most of her life. But Ares proves himself to be someone she can rely on (even if he’s hung up on the fact that he was almost too late). 

I think Lene may actually have forgotten she told him to forget they had ever met (which is something he never will). She’s just like that: hot-headed and loud, runs her mouth in the heat of the moment. After what happened, it’s a blur. She doesn’t try to dwell on it. I’d like to see them talk about it, but I don’t know if they ever do.  

What if... the first time Lene and Ares initiate physical contact is after he rescues her because she starts crying again upon seeing him even as she tries to stop herself. And neither of them really know how to go about it, so he awkwardly lets her cry it out.

And it’s also the first time he’s seen her cry like this. Maybe he’s seen her misty-eyed with tears of frustration after a rough day of work before, but nothing to this extent.

I don’t think she assumes that she’ll join him in Agustria post-war (barring if they’re paired in a playthrough.)

Because I love to suffer picture Lene asking him not to forget her when he inevitably returns to his homeland. (Which would parallel the last time they parted and she told him to forget her, ha h.) In response he asks what her plans are and when she hesitates, he offers her a place. 

In Agustria, Ares probably(?) encourages her to take better jobs, might put in a good word for her with some of the nobles. I toyed with the idea of him hiring her himself, but I think she’d feel weird about it. She refuses to charge him for it since they’re best friends and he buys her a new, high-quality scarf instead. She’s just like “Ares no”.

I feel bad for Lene not being paired with anyone (be it Ares or someone else) at the end of the game. Ares has his own family, his own life, his own lover, and their relationship may cause rumors which she’d feel bad about (because it is implied that she has feelings for him). Funny thing is, I think if she wasn’t romantically interested in him, she wouldn’t mind it. She’d just deny them or laugh it off and continue on with her day.

[ironjohnred]

Mystery

h/t @trp gurus 

Most people are like an open book, constantly babbling about: hobbies, their job, who they hangout with, what they do on the weekends, information they gleaned from a YouTube video, thirty second long snapchat stories. They are always brimming with advice that no one asked for.

​

After asking a few leading questions this individual will divulge enough of his life story that you can paint a picture of him as a boring, basic, common man. Once this individual is figured out and categorized by your brain there is nothing left to learn about him and your brain is bored by him. Your brain now imagines him spending his time on the weekend playing xbox and jerking off.  

Your brain likes to fill in the gaps where it has no information, it has fun doing this. Given little information (and thoughtfully dropped breadcrumbs) our brains will generally paint a much grander and greater picture of what actually happened. When we have the full story our brain suddenly gets bored and gives up trying to figure it out.

​

When you first meet a girl your “mystery scale” is at an all time high. You know you’re a basic fucking dude but she doesn’t. You look her in the eye and say “hey”, she likes what she sees and immediately she begins imagining you doing cool things: Going to foreign locations ,making money ,living dangerously on edge, fucking other woman etc.

Then you proceed to slaughter her fantasy by telling her every little fucking detail of your life

“I work at X”

“I hangout with X”

“I Do X on the weekends”

“I Traveled to X last year to do X”

With every bit of information you divulge your mystery scale takes a blow. Her smile begins to waver as her brain is now painting a picture of you as the average guy you really are.

​

With a flick of a switch she suddenly has you all figured out. Her brains image of you is now grounded in reality. An hour ago you were inscrutable but now she realizes she met someone just like you last week. She just moves on to the next guy she imagines has it cooking (he probably doesn’t, no guy can live up to a female created fantasy)

A fantasy can be killed in one conversation if you really know the Right Wrong things to say.

​

Never let someone “figure you out”

Thought experiment: Think about how a Janitor spends his weekend vs. how James Bond spends his weekend

Imagine the things each of them are doing

​

You probably imagine the janitor doing nothing fun, probably paying bills in his small home.

​

You probably imagine bond racing some cool as fuck car, shooting guns in a suit, and taking the girl home.

Imagine the power you would have if you could instill in her a mental image the likes of James Bond. She would always believe you were up to something totally cool and the fuel for this image is simply the tidbits of information you throw her.

​

So now that we understand the concept of mystery and attraction how can you leverage it to you’re advantage

1.Shut the fuck up and listen

Most blue pill guys are going to meet a woman and begin qualifying themselves to her. Just imagine for a minute that you flip the table and get her to begin qualifying herself to you.

You remain at peak mystery and now she is giving you valuable information that you can leverage later on in the evening.

How do you do this? Begin asking her leading questions.

“What do you do”

“What do you like”

“How do you spend your time”

​

let her ramble on about herself while you kick back and observe the situation at hand

​

Bonus points if you don’t even ask her questions and she just begins telling you want you want to know for free. More bonus points if she begins qualifying herself!

​

She will begin divulging her mystery while you keep yours intact.

2.Indirect and vague

In General the questions you ask will be flipped back on you (This is how conversations work) so expect to answer your own question; if she is not self obsessed and can’t stop talking about herself that is.

The key to answering a question and not killing the mystery it is to remain indirect and vague with you’re answers.

Ex.

Her: “what are we going to do tonight”

RP You: “Show up at eight and find out”

BP You: “ we are going to be going to X, and then maybe to X, and then back to my apartment”

———————————————————

Her: “how often do you go here”

RP You: “occasionally”

BP You: “I come here every Friday and Saturday, Im friends with all the staff and they know me very well”

———————————————————

Her: “How do you know all these people”

RP You: “I get around”

BP You: “I did school announcements in high school and people we’re used to hearing my name over the intercom every day”

​

tell her much less then necessary, leave her with unanswered questions so she can fill in the answers

3.Bread crumbs

Discretely drop details about your life that create more questions then answers.

Her: “you want to hangout tonight”

RP You: “can’t I’m in the city”

Her brain: Why is he in the city? What could he possibly be doing without me?? I wonder who he is with, he is probably with other hot girls.

———————————————————

Ever see a guy with a Rolex or a status symbol he has like a Porsche or Ferrari?

We like these items because it starts our brain on a rationalization obstacle coarse to try to figure out: what he does, who he is, and what is he doing here.

Status symbols open up a box of unanswered questions that’s why girls flock to the guy with the Porsche (to figure him out) not the guy with Subaru.  

Drop tidbits of information that produce many questions and then withhold the answers, this is peak mystery!

4. Effortless

Don’t talk about how many hours you studied for the grade.

how many hours you “grind” in the gym to look this way.

Don’t talk about how much effort went into your PowerPoint presentation.

No one fucking cares how much effort you put in, they only care about the results.

You know that you worked hard, but to other people make it appear as if it was effortless. When it appears that everything is effortless to you, people will begin attributing you positive quality’s and an air of mystery and heightened skill.

Everyone will think “Why is he so good at that if he never practices, he must be a natural ”

———————————————————

Her: “wow, how often do you go to the gym??:)”

RP You: “occasionally”

BP You: “every day I do 15 minutes of HIIT cardio, followed up by two hours of grueling 5x5 strong lifts. And I haven’t even gotten to my diet yet”

———————————————————

Reminder, the girl doesn’t fucking care

5.Don’t Give unsolicited advice

If someone doesn’t ask you for help or an opinion, don’t give it.

Generally people don’t give a fuck what you think and they will only resent you for knowing more on the subject then themselves.

You’re plate start talking to you about climate change and how bad it is for the earth but can’t properly explain the greenhouse effect?

Laugh to yourself, but let her think she knows all the answers. It would do you no good teaching her about the fucking green house effect on a ride to the bar.

From personal experience I agree 100%. My problem has always been living up to the fantasy. I've dated way more women than anyone should in their lifetime and it's always the same. Most of the time I'm not really interested in the girl, but when I am I take them out, give them great conversation, they have the most fun they've ever had, but eventually they realize that the fantasy is not real. That I don't check every box. I've always likened it to Dorothy seeing the wizard behind the curtain. They don't want to know that I'm an atheist. They don't want to know that I have nuanced opinions about shit. They're almost never looking to be intellectually stimulated, they're just checking to see what boxes you tick.

I've always had the attitude like I know I'm better than 99.9% of guys so that's how I'll win out in the end. But that's all bullshit because we're not dealing in reality, we're dealing with people's perceptions. Ultimately it's just better to shut the fuck up.

Just STFU. Effortlessness, indirectness, vagueness comes naturally but its ironic that STFUing is the hardest part to 'master' which should be the easiest. Restraint only will put you in the top 20% if not more than that.

The artful non answer is an underused option outside of politics and PR people.

Done properly it cultivates mystery and allows for the hamster to run away with its own ideas. Female fantasy is often so over the top that actually competing with it is impossible, but why compete when a smart non answer lets her make the mental leap herself?

Being asked a question you don't care for? Non answer. By someone you don't care for? Non answer. The answer too mundane? Non answer.

The list goes on but almost any situation where it doesn't explicitly benefit you is a time to consider the application of the non answer.

Its not the most beginner friendly option as it requires social calibration to get tone and frequency right. Used properly though it has many many uses.

[jawbreakers2015]

Player Profile: Scooter

SoCal thrower, professional Lethal League Blaze tourney attendee and player

What names do you go by?

Scooter, a nickname my friends gave me in highschool. My friend Looked at me one day and started calling me Scooter, I wish there was a better story like I used to ride Scooters and did cool tricks but no they just started calling me Scooter. I like it though, it's short and to the point. It's funny too, when I go to fighting game tournaments and hear TO's call out names like CaptainXAwsome, 5mi, shake n bake, and Ur-naked grandma. I like the simplicity of it.

I've been called the SoCal-thrower by a lot of people, I like this name as well. It's really strange to think that I've somehow defined a region or shaken a meta game as that was never my intention. I first played this game with my friends who had also enjoyed the first game although we played at what would probably be considered a casual level. One of those friends was Taternater who went by "PoonWrangler420", and because of our matches together we came to learn the game and it's nuances in a very unorthodox atmosphere. Most of the time we would just try things out for the sake of trying new things and seeing what we could get away with. I think that the fact that I had so much success and notoriety gained from my grab-orientated play-style encouraged other players to be more experimental and take more risks with not only grabs but other aspects of their game play. If that's true then I don't mind being the SoCal-thrower.

How did you get into Lethal League?

My friend AEM was the biggest influence, him and I really like watching jerma985's youtube videos and when we saw Lethal League it stood out to me. I never played in any tournaments but really enjoyed the core premise and was really exited for Blaze. I remember Playing it the day it came out and beating the entire story mode in one night and then playing ranked. I only wanted to play for a bit because it was quite late (I think the game was released late at night on Steam), but I ended up getting really into it and became really attached to my rank. When I went to my job the next day my rank was #198 or #199 and I was really proud of myself (in season 1 there were no divisions, just numbers), until I went on my break and saw my rank go down to #420 and when I got off work and got home it was somewhere in the #700s. I was really discouraged by that because to me it meant that I was even farther from the #1 rank player and I really wanted to see the high ranked players of this game because I think it's a cool game.

I now know that's not really how the matchmaking system works but Hindsight is 20/20. But that's the main reason why I wasn't very active in season 1.

What’s your current Lethal League experience?

Pretty good. I've played a lot of people and a lot of hours of Lethal League Blaze. I've been called a lot of names and been given a lot of compliments. I think I've played someone from every continent which sounds cooler than it feels. I like playing in tournaments and playing good players.

Who are your main/side/counter character picks?

Jet is the character I got into the game with but I think she is out shined by other characters. She's still a very good character in her own respect and doesn't get a lot of respect Raptor is this game's Ryu. Switch is this game's Ken.

What are your favourite character outfits?

I like the skins Shadowm_ made for his vocaloid videos on niconico video. Still waiting on gentle to release the texture mod so I can use them...

What are your stage preferences?

I prefer smaller stages because I don't like how some games can devolve to overly complicated keep-away. But Im comfortable on most stages except stadium and elevator. Fuck elevator

What input method do you use?

Logitech underachiever™, now available at your local Walmart retail store! That was my first controller... now I rotate between an Xbox one controller and a fight stick to embrace my inner FGC tryhard! Shoutouts to Mecazawa for showing me that fight stick is a viable input method

I believe people can use whatever controller they are best with. There are techniques that are easier to do with keyboard and others that feel smoother to execute on controller.

Michigan Masters is going to be played on PS4. Are you prepared for that?

Sure, I already play on controller and fight stick so I'm not so worried about the console. I hope the keyboard players will be able to keep themselves from complaining too loudly :^)

Who do you hope to meet at Michigan Masters?

I'm really excited to see the LLB community again, we don't get to see each other because we're so far away from one another but Tournaments like these are great excuses to hangout and see one another face to face. It's a very different experience from talking on the internet. Specifically though I'm really excited to see Mylo & Boog, very different people and very good players.

What other games do you play?

Hmm if you can think of it, I've played it

Is there anything else you’d like to say to the community?

Don't parry too often or it'll be grabbed :)

Follow Scooter @radcommentator on twitter.

[sualkmedeiors]

After 30,000 Driverless Lyft Rides Consumers Rate it Almost Perfect

After 30,000 real-world driverless Lyft test rides in Las Vegas consumers have rated it an amazing 4.95 out of 5, says Lyft’s Chief Strategy Officer Raj Kapoor. He says that in the last 12 months the system’s gotten smarter and the ride has gotten smoother. “It has measured reactions and acts like a really good driver versus maybe an inexperienced driver,” says Kappor. “That’s a big change.”

Raj Kapoor, Chief Strategy Officer at Lyft, was interviewed by PCMag at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas:

Consumers Rate Selfdriving Lyft Rides 4.95 Out of 5

What’s changed changed in the last 12 months with our selfdriving tests is first of all the system’s gotten smarter. The smartness comes out in terms of planning and prediction. You can now tell how smooth the selfdriving ride is. If it’s seeing pedestrians or lots of cars it doesn’t make knee-jerk reactions. It has measured reactions and acts like a really good driver versus maybe an inexperienced driver. That’s a big change.

Two is that we broadened the area that we’re operating significantly. We’re operating a geofence that covers almost all the major hotels in Las Vegas and you can go anywhere in that area versus very specific points.

It’s one of those rare instances where a cool demo from CES right away becomes a live service. We have now 30,000 rides that we’ve had in the system and so far the feedback has been awesome. Consumers have rated it a 4.95 out of 5 stars and 9 out of 10 people that go on a ride would come back and do it again.

We’re really quite pleased with it. I think people have a lot of questions around self-driving, there’s some fear, but once they get in and do the ride they are really excited about it and ready to do it again.

It’s using the same scale as normal Lyft rides and in their mind it’s that same perception of how comfortable, clean, did the person or the robot drive well, all those things go into account. The automated Lyft is rating pretty high but the human drivers definitely get up there too. But 4.95 out of 5 is very respectable.

Lyft Using Las Vegas Data to Perfect the Selfdriving Ride

We can notice a lot of things with this real selfdriving test. Las Vegas is a great proving ground because there are so many people from around the world that come here. You’re not just having residents that are here. You’re having people that are using it for their vacation, using it for going back and forth, so we’re able to collect lots of data from a big diverse group of people.

We’re able to see what the repeat use is like. What do they like about it? What do they dislike about it? How much do they like to walk to the vehicle versus not? There are all these little nuances that go in.

Another example is around remote assistance. We noticed that the people love to have a conversation with the safety driver. They’re so excited at that moment. The question we have is as we move toward a future without a safety driver is how do we still get that interaction with the consumer? Can we have a remote assistant do that? We’re learning all these little things by being in the real life out there with people.

In fact, there are two people in the front. There’s a safety driver and also a safety engineer that’s in the front. So usually it’s the safety engineer that’s answering the questions. The safety driver is very focused on the road.

What doing now is developing remote assistance systems where you can talk to a lift operator and ask the questions that you need to ask via a very conversational interface with the consumer. There’s a lot going on there and there’s a lot going through their head around building trust. What is this car seeing? Is it acting the way that I would act? Then asking questions about how does that technology work? How can it do this?

More Human Drivers Will be Needed, Not Less

Going to the question around drivers. We still believe that there will be a need for more human drivers than there are even today. If you look at it these ride-sharing services in the US make up about 0.5 percent of vehicle miles traveled. Even if we go to 5 percent and the majority of rides become self-driving, if you do the math on that growth of the overall number of rides, you need even more drivers than you have today.

Also, this technology is great but it’s going to be slowly rolled out. It’s going to take a while for it to be able to do all conditions, all places, all the time.

We haven’t even begun to imagine around the new economy that comes out of self driving vehicles. There’s so much infrastructure that needs to be built around parking and charging and even mundane things like cleaning cars. Then there are serve there are groups of people that need to have assistance, whether it’s elderly people, people requiring physical assistance, or young children. We think there are going to be opportunities abound.

Obstacles to Overcome with Driverless Cars

There are a number of obstacles to overcome with driverless cars. Can I trust that this vehicle is going to operate safely, not just for me but for all the environment and community around us?

Two, is the technology itself. I think we’re on a good path and we’re improving but it’s going to take some time to get there. The other piece of it is that the cost of the vehicles are significantly expensive right now. They’re using expensive computers, expensive sensors, and they’re not made necessarily to last for a long time because they’re in a lot of R&D stage.

So the reliability and the costs have to get better. Then on the government side, the regulations that need to allow for this to flourish. We’re seeing good progress there. If we continue to have a federal level on safety standards then that’s something that’s really positive because it’s not going to be that you have to create a specific car for specific jurisdiction. We think those are the barriers but they all seem very doable.

Surprised at How Quickly Micromobility Has Taken Off

We classify all this (scooters and bike) as micromobility. What we found is that there’s really an unmet need for that zero to two-mile range short distance trips. Yes you could take a Lyft or you could potentially walk but you’re in that zone, especially if it’s a half a mile or more. It is a really convenient thing to do. It’s also a really fun thing to do whether you’re biking or scooting and especially if it’s electric propulsion.

I’m also surprised at how quickly that has penetrated but I think we’re living in a world now where there’s mass adoption, there social networks, and the innovation that’s coming that came in software so fast we’re seeing in hardware. New versions of scooters are about every month. There’s some loss rate and breakage rate that is acceptable given the high usage and it works for the consumer because it’s still a very reasonable price to get around town.

Lyft Helping Society Shift Away From Owning a Car

For people not to own a car, it’s really going to be a stitching together of a number of different modalities. Whether it’s bike, scooters, walking, or ride-sharing together, to provide a really good alternative to owning a car, which is expensive, a hassle, has parking, congestion, and emissions. It’s a really big problem that all these things together are going to be solving.

We want to get them from point A to point B in the most convenient way that they could get there and without owning a car. That’s the key criteria.

I think there will clearly be a big group of the population, especially that lives in cities, that really will not be able to justify owning a car. All the use cases that you’re thinking about you could utilize by short-term rentals, car sharing, ride-sharing, micromobility, or also public transit.

We’ve integrated into public transit and it’s the best way to get around in a lot of instances and we’re feeding into that. There’s a lot of inertia still about buying a car and some people are still wrapping up a car in their self-worth and their identity. That’s changing, especially with young people.

The post After 30,000 Driverless Lyft Rides Consumers Rate it Almost Perfect appeared first on WebProNews.

from https://www.webpronews.com/driverless-lyft-rides/

[regularbeans]

you know.... with all said and done... there’s not a single thing I’d change about the ending of Vale. it’s really how it was supposed to end. and once again, if you have any plans of reading it do not read this post cause im going to literally spell out the ending okay. this was especially a warning to my sister x)

so im not exactly good at character development but i am good at relationship developments which might be weird like if i know how to do one thing how cant i know how to do the other... but oh well i dont want to lament more on that i just really like how i did the relationships in the story though not so many of them change.

morlene and vale don’t change too much but i feel like everything that was going to happen between them happened before the story. they weren’t going to love each other any more after anything that happened in the story. morlene’s last words to vale are “i love you, i don’t regret anything” but they weren’t brought on by character growth, she said them because it was her last chance to reassure vale that she shouldn’t feel guilty about anything.

cephas’ character doesn’t really have time to change in a nuanced way though id like to think i gave his moments of growth enough motivation. sure he gets dragged into this whole mess by a complete stranger but the biggest step for him is when he almost causes his and vale’s death by getting themselves tangled up with vera talbot. that’s when he shows vale his house (and when in reac vale tells him her name so that’s a twofer right there). but he and vale are inseparable long before they find out who they are. after all, vale gives up her plans to move to the mainland to help him (not even to save him because at this point cephas isnt even in danger) and then sweet cephas who looks so awkward with a weapon and whose custom-made switch-sword has never seen blood kills, gruesomely, just to get to vale.

cephas and morlene are kind of on the same wavelength and if you think about it, morlene not telling her two best friends about her role in the rebellion just so she wouldn’t interrupt their personal shenanigans is very in-line with how cephas used to be so inward that he never had a single friend in thirty years of his life. and in the end they’re in very similar situations too. cephas lost his sister and morlene lost her love, and though mason will miss vale too, they’re the only two people who feel that way because mason’s love for vale is quite different.

now, mason is the character thats the most alike in both worlds and even though we only see the ending of mason #2′s character arc i can pretty much tell you it’s very similar in both worlds.

mason’s character development also kicked off long before the story started. her journey leads from deciding to be part of the very thing she’s trying to stop just so she can work from close to the fire and eventually end the royal guard’s rule and save the people. the very people who she’s forced to hurt and the very people that don’t know and can’t know that she’s doing all this for them. was there a better way to help them? angel would probably say there was, after all they were a royal witch at one point too but left when they saw what they were being used for.

but in the same time, in the other world the other angel pretty much spells out that they stayed in the guard and helped that way. so clearly, there are situations where that seems like the only option.

so mason’s journey leads from having to work from the shadows to being able to take control from the royal guard and being able to stand in front of the people of caelmoor and telling them exactly how shits gonna fly from now on. to finally be able to communicate with the people and prove to them that she only ever wanted to help. i love her speech so much (i know i wrote it x)) because it’s just so Mason. She doesn’t talk like Zavier used to hold his speeches. She curses, calls Zavier a dickhead, she’s done with having to appear one way when she’s the other.

"This is a democracy," she bellows over a wind-swept land. "And I'm not a king. I'm a guard. My council is guards, scientists, architects, mechanics, engineers, and civilians."

Here we go, I think with childish excitement, compelled to physically rub my hands together.

"And as such, we don't need a castle," Mason says, and I can see from where I sit that she raises both hands in the air.

At her cue, what I assume must be dozens of people standing by the ends of mile-long ropes, drop the tarps covering the mountainside to reveal the high castle, the mountainside, and the entirety of the lower castle covered in scaffoldings from top to bottom and side to side.

"We don't need marble statues," Mason yells and movement starts behind her as a squad of carts ride out from the castle yard, packed full of stuff. I can't see that from this far but it's pretty obvious what's happening. "We don't need golden chandeliers. We don't need velvet curtains, leather armchairs, crystal windows, platinum, silver, diamond, we don't need any of that crap!"

Along with the row of carts riding at walking speed from the castle along the set path, a group of people start following them on foot, each holding an instrument, playing music, marching enthusiastically by the rally that I can hear even without loud speakers.

"The new building will be enough for us to govern the island from, but we'll tear this whole place down bit-by-bit over the next few weeks and sell all of our precious white stone to the mainland if that means every citizen of Caelmoor gets to live in peace and prosperity. I'll tear the whole mountain down if I have to before dooming another person to death because the king likes his castles high, welcome to the fucking parade!"

Loud bumps in the loud speakers and what little movement I can make out imply that Mason literally kicked over her microphone stand as her last words are drowned out by deafening screams and cheers from all over downtown.

what an icon.

and bitch. think of that. before this part she says the landfill in the shanty town will be filled up and the residential cemetery will be extended so nobody has to toss their loved ones in a hole anymore. just imagine the catharsis this woman felt when she realised she can finally do this. i realise that if this was a famous book a lot of people would probably immediately draw parallels between shit like X-Men like “she was just following orders” or whatever but she was saving people. she really was. a lot more people would’ve died if someone else is guard commander instead of mason. yes it sucks and you can blame her, vale did too, but she did the only thing she had the chance to which was minimising casualties.

so thats mason. her main relationship arc is just with the general population of caelmoor. she also has a problem with vale’s neutrality in the beginning which is why they broke up in the first place. when morlene moves the rebellion forward and use it as an opportunity to save cephas and mason tells vale to pick a side finally, she answers “you would be surprised”. thats their growth moment.

now, we covered that morlene doesnt (need to) change much, and that cephas changes in that he finally finds his people. vale warns him not to get stuck in another cage (first his mansion, then ecklehold, then his mission to find a way back to vale) and he’s not. i also love it when he insists that he gets to say goodbye to vale though its at a really unfortunate time. but thats pretty much the first selfish thing you see him do in the whole story and thats vale’s influence.

and how vale changes is also cephas’ influence. they muse quite a bit about how they’re supposed to be the same person and how thats weird because theyre so different but i dont think theyre that different at all, their lives just started in different ways that brought different sides of them. cephas was brought up by neglectful parents who then “left him” completely, of course he grew into an adult all on his own, became a thief and lived in a house all by himself. vale grew up in a loving family even if they were assassin grandparents and sort of absentee parents. she was trained to be social, a chameleon, a conwoman, and extrovert, fit to adapt to any situation.

but whether they’re technically twins, or literally the same person but just different genders, it really doesnt matter. cephas makes vale laugh the first time they meet, then vale reads cephas like an open book later that very same day. they joke and mess around like old friends do when vale is still debating whether she shouldve saved the guy in the first place and cephas has no idea why caelmoor’s most famous assassin would take a liking to him. why anyone would. they just have this instant connection and they open up parts of each other through what they share with each other of themselves after all the traumatic shit that happens to them.

so vale... a thousand identities and faces she shows to the people she uses to get what she wants, tries (and fails) to keep a distance from the only person she ever truly loved then this loser shows up in her life and she realises life can be just like that. you can have friends and its normal. towards the endgame shes at a point where she would rather die than to be separated from them. and then she is.

despite promising cephas that she would live she spends the next few weeks of her new life in her old world preparing to die. when she goes to see zavier #2 before his execution she goes there with the intention to die. she spent her whole life preparing to kill zavier and now she would free him and let him live if it only meant she gets to die. 

"This door leads outside, behind Ecklehold where the stands can't see. I have a bunch of smoke bombs in my bag, you can evade the guards before they know where to look for you. There's a boat by the residential docks that will take you to the mainland. You can disappear and start a new life, just like you planned before. I can give you about seventy-five silvers but I expect you know how to fend for yourself."

I haven't spoken this much since I made the deal with the damn boatman, and boy, my throat is sore.

For a few seconds Zavier can only look at me in disbelief, his wrists held slightly together like he hasn't noticed that I cut him loose.

"Why are you doing this?"

"I need something from you in return," I say and turn the pistol around, so the handle is facing Zavier. "You have to kill me."

The guards outside have started to look for which route Zavier could've take and it's only a matter of seconds before they try getting in here. They might think it's just a locked door so they might not dedicate a whole squad to getting it open but they will get it open.

Zavier looks at the gun then back at me, his forehead wrinkling above his eyebrows.

"Why are you doing this?"

"Because they won't do it," I snap at him, but I can't keep my facial muscles from spasming. "And I can't do it. And somebody fucking has to."

Zavier exhales a gentle oh and puts one hand on the handle and another one on my hands. His fingers envelope mine and I can't let go. He keeps eye contact, his light blue iris drawing my glance to him like a magnet, and his dreadful coldness creeps into my head and burns me from the inside.

"Too bad, Vale Callaghan," he whispers, his face so close and his voice so overwhelming to my senses I can no longer see the room around us. "Nobody can save you now."

(in my brain, by the way, patrick warburton is zavier x)) if zavier takes the gun from her and shoots her she wouldnt fight to survive. she wants him to finish it. but then he doesnt and shes now forever doomed to live. even mason #2 acknowledged that being left alive is a punishment for her. so what does vale do? the vale that was asked a thousand and one times to just stay with her friends and the vale that chose to walk away every time. she actively and willingly asks for help, the most selfish thing she can imagine to do as undeserving as she thinks she is of any help. she goes to morlene #2 and tells her everything. and when morlene #2 inevitably asks her to stay because even though theyre different people she’s still morlene, she stays.

and she’s going to be okay.

initially the ending of vale included vale being able to see and talk to cephas every time the blightning happens and the gate opens for a bit even if they cant cross over to hug and stuff. but then i wanted to be cruel(er) and decided celia and eamon would totally invent a way to stop the beacons from creating a gateway, so it does. the fact that the lunar bronze, the same material the beacon is from can cross over the gate was absolute bullshit from my part and its kind of just a reward i wanted to give vale for finally learning her lesson, to not hate herself for letting people help her.

also i really love that she doesnt just stay an assassin in the new world but she also finds a job at tulip’s store AND offers to train the new guard :’D 

oh tulip. speaks the best line in the whole story. he’s the only man i trust.

"I give advice, here," he says and leans in close, almost having to stand on his tiptoes. His breath stinks of spices. "Morlene tell me other world and Caelmoor. Same people but other people."

"You really have this whole multiverse theory down, don't you?"       

"If other Caelmoor Tulip is Tulip, you go find Tulip you ask for help. He help. Ask him to no questions, he will no questions. You are no lonely."

This is literally the worst thing that's ever happened to me.

"Thanks, man," I pat him on the shoulder. "Stay sharp, yeah?"

"Ahha!" he laughs while doing the finger guns at me. "I see you did there!"

"Because you have a blade sharpening business?"

"Very smart!"

[laughingbanshee]

Zenny boii

send me a character & I’ll answer the following about them!

general opinion: fall in a hole and die | don’t like them | eh | they’re fine I guess | like them! | love them | actual love of my life hotness level: get away from me | meh | neutral | theoretically hot but not my type | pretty hot | gorgeous! | 10/10 would banghogwarts house: gryffindor | slytherin | ravenclaw | hufflepuffbest quality: he's the sweetest guy who unabashedly tells how much he wants us and constantly showers us with praise. like… i don’t have time for mind games or whatever, if you like me then show it (lol) and actually make a move towards me? idk, i’ve never had someone do that irl so maybe it won’t translate that well if any guy actually does to that to me if i don’t know them that well. also does this question limits my answer to just one quality? since it doesn’t really do that, imma go ahead and continue. in every route, zen wants the best for us and always worries for our sake. there is never a time in any other route where i don’t feel like i’m betraying zen! (especially jumin’s… hhhhhhh). also zen really really wants to treat us right, he still waits for his parent’s blessing before proposing to us AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA god, poor guy. i love him so much okay. worst quality: a lot would disagree with this lol, but i don’t find narcissism as his worst quality. i actually found it quite endearing, it’s his own way to cope with his insecurity. i mean, all that ego is mostly seen through text, and we all somehow become a bit different online. he’s a flustered big ol’ sweetheart. then again, in the other route he does brag more compared to the sudden timidness he exhibits during our first meeting in his route.. idk, i’m not sure how would i react if a stranger i’ve never met does that? butttt he is an actor, lol. 

the bad qualities i could think of all has something to do with his non-personality aspects? like… how he has long hair, smokes, drinks, and ride a motorbike. no offense! but it would be really hard to introduce someone like that to my parents. and again, i’m not sure if i would be keen enough to get to know someone irl with all those vices (they’re not really vices but idk what to call them???) …. i’m thinking too much like my parents lol. motorbikes aren’t really a big thing for my family, i’ve only rode one like…. two or three times i think? also the stuff i mentioned before aren’t really a big dealbreaker, just that… it’s going to be quite something to look past through. my parents are totally going to be all “what are your intentions towards our daughter?” to him, that’s for sure. oh god, they’re going to hate him hjhhjkkll. don’t even get me started on the lectures of financial stability..

also! i know i said he’s a 10/10, butttt irl i’m not sure a silver haired guy with a ponytail would do it for me. heh. sorry zen.

ship them with: me  woah are we allowed to write that? haha welp if it has to be another fellow rfa member, i sorta ship them with jumin (im so sorry) because their interaction dynamic is honestly the most…. nuanced? compared to the mostly stagnant other interactions of the game in all the routes. it’s pretty weird, mostly unhealthy, they really need to do a lot of talking it out in other routes besides zen’s. i’m actually pretty sad about the fact that if he doesn’t have us to help him grow, he still views jumin rather antagonistically. the few juzen fics i actually like focus more on both of them overcoming their initial disagreements, that after  trying to put on the other’s shoes they coukd finally see eye-to-eye with each other. but then again… that one fic i like has zen doing that and jumin basically just remaining the same (albeit after showing his vulnerability). welp. idk folks, my feelings towards this ship is almost as complicated as my mixed feelings to jumin han.

brotp them with: BAEHEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i think out of all the dynamics, i appreciate the most out of this one. especially in jaehee’s route. they’re both like.. a bit parallel? with one another? both had to go through so much in their past, and they overcome it with very, contrasting decisions. zen by taking the high risk of running away and becoming independent to pursue his dream, jaehee by excelling to be The Best of The Best and attaining a very difficult job that not many people could get and having financial stability from it. there is no right or wrong, each actions have their own consequences. both have to work really hard in their fields. zen has to stay up in his game if he wants to keep getting opportunities to further his career, and jaehee has to endure all the mindblowingly ridiculous amount of work she needs to do as jumin’s assistant. i love how in jaehee’s route, even though she’s the one to go to zen’s house and hangs out with him (INSTEAD OF HANGING OUT WITH US DAMMIT COMPULSORY ACTION TO GET THIS GAME STILL BE RATED 12+), we can see how much she’s still hung up on us, even if she’s literally talking and breathing in front of her idol. 

…..okay where was i going with this? anyways, they could both understand the sacrificial decisions they both made, mutual understanding of what the other has gone through, not too mention they both could give each other the love and support they both never received from their respecting families. 

needs to stay away from: idk?? he’s literally a flawless human being who has never done anything wrong in his life (lol tis a joke, feel free to contact me with whatever qualms you have with my former statement). i guess he needs to stay away from cats because of his allergies? OH, and also his haters and other negativity going on in his life. like echo girl. also lol i know she’s terrible but seriously the amount of those hate posts about her is too overly exaggerated. 

misc. thoughts: …. why do i end up talking about hypothetical “what ifs” as if he’s a real guy (especially in the negative qualities section)… this mobile game is screwing up my whole life lmao. also i’m sorry if it seems like there’s so little to say about his best qualities, it’s just that i can’t quite find the words to properly describe it without using jdjhjhjdhfjdhdkdkl almost at the end of every sentence