#it was a pretty great night + I'd definitely go again (if I had the money lol)

[forestgames03]

🎧 this site

...saw @pleuro doing this so thought I might too...

[ooffmlsorry]

One Piece Men Take You on a Nice Vacation

A/N: Well I did a poll and y'all definitely wanted this! Let's be serious so did I. I so desperately wanna go on vacation and leave my cares behind for a week. Alas, my imagination is all I've got 😔

Characters: Monster trio, Law, Koby

ZORO

Vacation? Did you forget who your boyfriend is? Zoro is the epitome of "No days off 😤"

I think what's more likely is y'all ended up getting lost together and it turns into an impromptu vacation

But that doesn't mean it isn't nice to essentially go camping together

You're incredibly lucky, there's a nice waterfall and river, the weather stays beautiful and the nights are crisp and clear

Once you convince him it's better to stay put and wait for the others to finally find you, it becomes a really relax retreat

Zoro still insisting on training, but that's a given. You probably train with him sometimes since you're dating, but otherwise it's the longest uninterrupted peace you've had since joining the crew

Just imagine sitting together with your feet in the cool river water, fishing in comfortable silence. The two of you wade in the stream together and splash each other, cook what you caught, cuddle around the campfire, and look up at the stars at night just talking

The privacy is perfect because it allows you two connect without worrying about any of the your crew mates

Zoro's even admittedly a little surprised by how much he enjoys being alone with you (it definitely gives him thoughts about what your future together could look like)

It's something the two of you look back on incredibly fondly, and if you happen to get lost on an island again...maybe for once Zoro did it intentionally

SANJI

This man is so serious about taking you a vacation, it's the time of your life

He's such a mom though lol. He cooks a shit ton before he leaves with you so the crew can reheat it and still have nutritious meals while their cook is away

He owes Nami so much berri, but since it's for a romantic vacation with you, the interest isn't too bad 🤭

I'd imagine it's somewhere with lots to do and lots to see like Gran Tesoro or Sabaody (*ignoring how fucked they are in context of the story, I just mean a place like that)

Unlike something impromptu accidental like Zoro's, he's planned out everything. A spa day, mani/pedi, sightseeing, shopping, really nice dinners.

You dance around together in your hotel and watch the fireworks and the city lights at night. Not to mention Sanji looks extremely handsome in the glow of it.

He absolutely spoils you! All in the name of how much he appreciates and loves you

And for what it's worth you don't let him forget how much it means to you...whenever you're not utterly speechless. It's more like the two of you spoil each other lol

The two of you have a lot of fun together, living in your own rose-colored world

As much as this is about you, you Sanji sometimes wishes he lived in a fairy tale world and this is it. It's just the breather you both need.

LUFFY

You kind of have to explain to him what a vacation is at first because he thinks you're just asking about going on an adventure with him🤭

Once he does understand the concept, he's pretty gung ho about it! Well, the "relaxing" part of a vacation sounds kind of dull to him but going somewhere just the two of you sounds awesome!

He kind of just springs it on you. You mentioned it once in passing and then a week later you're on a random island together and the Sunny is sailing off to pick you guys up in a week

It's not really a vacation spot, it's just a normal island he's never been to before (because he still doesn't quite understand the difference between a vacation and an adventure) but it's nice. It's somewhat reminiscent of Loguetown or Mock Town

You still have a great time with it's charm and the fact that there's little to no Marines around means you get peace in that aspect

That's the only kind of peace you get though lol

The two of you go all over the place, trying different food, poking around the jungle and in shops, and possibly getting into a little bit of trouble

Every night the two of you crash and sleep in as much as you want, wake up whenever you want and eat as much and whenever you want

It's kind of like a long sleepover with no parents around to keep you in line

As fun as it is you'll probably start to miss the routine of living as a Straw Hat and Luffy's itching to get back to the open seas!

LAW

Law pales at the thought of a vacation, but he's not above it for the people he loves

It's absolutely not his idea though...He was trying to think of something nice for your birthday and the crew told him how stressed you've been lately (plus have seen him? He needs a damn break and they also want him to relax)

He has everything planned down to the minute. When you're going, where you're going, what you're doing, when you'll be back. This man has a whole goddamn itinerary prepared tailored to your wants.

I feel like you guys would go to a place reminiscent of Dressrosa or Water 7 (*again ignoring the in-story horrors lol), something with really beautiful architecture and lots of history.

That plan turns more into more like a rough guideline no he's not upset about it look away but it's okay because you both needed the rest and a little less rigidity does Law some good

It's okay to stumble into a bookstore and get lunch two hours later than you planned, you swear

You two mostly avoid the tourist traps, except the historical ones because they're pretty cool and you learn a lot. Walking down the streets, hand in hand (yes, you get Law to hold you hand in public, it's the small wins okay?)

He can't stop working entirely, but that gives you time to do a little exploring on your own...not to mention you're completely surprised by how he pulls you into his lap as soon as you return

Being alone together makes him realize how important you are to him. There's not nearly as much crowding his mind when he's on vacation and all that free space up there is filled with his love for you

He's also kind of surprised how much he likes you outside of the Heart Pirate's rigid routine. Seeing you dressed up and not prepared for the sea, but rather a nice dinner, is a shock to his system. The fact that you're pretty much two normal people and nothing is falling apart surprises him. Maybe, he thinks, the two of you should do this more often

KOBY

A/N: Koby is literally my baby boy, cuppy-cake, sugar plum, pumpkin. He's so precious. Just a perfect lil guy 🥹💞 if Law is my husband, then Koby is my son

Oh lord, he's sweating lol

You? Wanna go on vacation with him? Alone? He's so flustered! Such a big step!

But he's really happy and super excited!! He definitely has a little countdown going on on his calendar

I could definitely see you guys having a beach type vacation, somewhere with a pier/boardwalk with all kinds of games and maybe a few cheap rides too

He'd absolutely win you a prize, and even better if you beat him and win him a prize

The photo booth pictures you end up taking are so cute and he keeps them forever

You hang out on the beach and build a massive sand castle, y'all probably get a terrible sunburn or at least Koby does 🤭

And at night you take nice long walks, listening to waves and collecting shells that catch your attention

The vacation is good for you, but it's also good for him to be out of the Marine environment for a minute

He gets to enjoy the results of all of his hard work and it makes him incredibly grateful that you're by his side, and when he tells you as such it's a long stuttering speech but he makes it through

Don't be surprised that he's awake at least 2-3 hours before you but that just means he gets time to think about what you're gonna do and be completely captivated as you sleep beside him

Those photo booth pictures? He keeps them in his jacket now. Whenever he gets overwhelmed or feels homesick he'll either look at them or pat his pocket to remind himself of those moments with you

[starlightsuffered]

Arriving Early

Pairing - Timothée Chalamet/Fem!reader

Warnings - Masturbation (female and male), voyeurism, breeding kink if you squint, overstimulation, fingering (fem receiving), a bit of degrading, oral (fem receiving), creampie, cock warming, choking, multi cum, short refractory period, overstimulation, unprotected sex. Not edited because I have a bad headache.

Y/N had invited me to come over for a movie night. I was excited, as I always was, to see her. She'd been asking to hang out a lot lately, which was great, but it was getting my hopes up. She'd been the object of my affection for three years. I'd tried other girls, l'd tried hinting, but we were such good friends it didn't work. I was unwilling to put it all on the line because then, it'd be awkward, and I couldn't lose her completely.

I knew the code to her door, so I tapped the buttons in the right order. I hope she didn't mind that I was here early, but I had brought takeout.

I put down the food, listening to the eerily silent house. Usually she bounded to the door to see me, all smiles. I wondered if she'd gone out and hoped to be back in time. I shouldn't have come early.

As I moved towards the stairs, I did hear something. It sounded like whimpers. I frowned. Was she crying? She hadn't told me she was struggling with anything recently.

I moved quietly, not wanting to startle her. I crept up the stairs. As I approached the sounds began to sound slightly different.

Her door was cracked and I decided to peek in to see if disturbing her was the right course of action. I was shocked at what appeared before my eyes.

She was completely bare. Her ample breasts not covered by a bra. The planes of her stomach clenched and unclenched as she continued what she was doing. Her pussy was on display, eyes squeezed shut, pretty pink lips emitting the most beautiful sounds. Her small, pink, bullet shaped vibrator was pressed to her clit as one of her hands massaged her breast.

"Fuck," I said in the quietist voice possible. I felt like a disgusting pervert, but I couldn't stop watching. I was rock hard in my shorts. I knew what I should do, I should go down stairs and think about my grandpa, or puppies, or something to get soft again. I should not be standing here, watching one of my closest friends masturbate. I was gross, I was disgusting, I was reaching into my pants.

I was insufferably hard as she moaned, her eyes, thankfully, still closed. I began to move my hand up and down my length.

"Yes, right there, so good," she whined into the air. I shuddered at her worlds, swiping my thumb over my head.

What would I do when I needed to cum? Would I sit beside her later on the couch, cum in my boxers? An ever present reminder of how voyeuristic l'd been.

I wished I was touching her. I wanted to be the reason she was making those sweet noises. It was hard to quell my groans. My cock was aching, throbbing even, my balls tight. She was so fucking beautiful. I had to grip the wall to steady myself as my hand pumped my cock.

"Uhhhh," she let out a loud moan that shot tingles straight to his cock.

"That's right, just like that. So good Timothée, I'm so close."

My hand stilled. Had I heard her right? Was all my blood flowing to my dick, making me hallucinate?

"Timmy, oh fuck!"

No, she definitely said my name!

"Timmy, Timmy, Timmy!"

I was leaning in so eagerly to watch her come apart, with my name on her lips, that I accidentally pushed open the door.

Her eyes whipped open. She stared at me, unmoving, a red blushed heating her face. I didn't know what to do.

"You're early," she panted.

I moved into the room fully. My still rock hard length, was now clothed, but still very evident. She glanced down at the bulge and she licked her lips before looking me in the eyes again.

"Why were you saying mine name while you did that?" I asked calmly.

"I don't know," she lied, turning an even brighter shade of red.

"I think I do," I said darkly.

"You do?" She squeaked.

"Yeah, I think I do. You were calling my name because that little pink thing isn't doing what you know I can." She bit her lip, but didn't give in.

"Is that so?" She asked.

"How many orgasms do you get from that thing?" I asked, moving forward. "One? Two if you really try? Do you know what l'm willing to do for you? Do you know how I would worship you? You'd forget that little toy and call me every time you wanted to feel good"

"Timothée," she gasped.

"What is it," I smirked.

"You know, I think you did this on purpose," | said as I sat on the bed. I reached over her body and delicately rolled her nipples in my fingers. She was arching for me.

"I think you knew I was here and you kept going. I think you wanted to be a slut for me. Is that right? You wanted to be used and filled?"

"No, I didn't know," she heaved.

"Why then, were you playing with yourself, saying my name, when you knew I was coming over?" I asked.

"You were early. I had to do it before you came!"

"Why?"

"Because whenever l'm around you I get so wet. I'm so horny for you all the time. It's unbearable to wait until you leave to please myself. I thought maybe if I did before you got here, I would be okay," she confessed.

"So you do want to be a whore for me. You want me to fill you and make you feel good.?"

"Yes, oh my gosh, please," she begged, hands trying to reach down to her heat to get som relief.

I caught her hand, shaking my head at her, but continuing to flick her sensitive nipples.

"Ah, ah, ah," I smirked. "How long have you wanted me this way y/n?"

"Three years," she whined. So she had felt the same as me all this time. What fools we were, both to afraid to make the first move. Good thing she'd done it unintentionally.

"Well, let me tell you something. It's equally as hard being around you," I told her, and her eyes were lazer focused on me. "I've wanted you just as long."

"Fuck, how long were you watching me?"

"Awhile," I said ,and leaned down to whisper in her ear. "You had me touching myself baby, does that make you happy?"

She sucked in a breath at my words.

"Yes, fuck yes," she said.

"Tell you what. Since I was so naughty, watching you, l'm gonna give you a gift. I'm going to make you cum once with my fingers, once with my mouth, and once with my cock, sound good?"

"Oh, Timothée yes," she babbled. "Yes please, that sounds wonderful!"

"Such a good slut for me," I crooned, and she nodded eagerly.

"Yes, I am," she proclaimed. "Can I suck your cock Timmy please?"

I chuckled darkly. "You want to be fucked and filled so bad don't you. Filled until you're bursting yeah? No angel, you can't suck my cock right now. This is about you, and how much better I can treat you than that dumb pink thing you were saying my name to."

I trailed my hands down her body which was quivering with excitement. I finally reached her heat, groaning as I stuck two fingers in her slowly.

"You're soaked," I commented.

"See, this is what you do to me," she said earnestly.

I began to pump in and out of her at a steady pace. She was immediately a moaning mess. I curled my fingers, trying to hit every spot she wanted me to.

"So good," she praised.

I quickened my pace. She was arching, panting, and she was fisting the sheets.

"I'm close," she warned. I brought my thumb up to press on her clit and she screamed. Her eyes fluttered shut as she let out a stream of curses.

"Enjoy that did you?" I asked.

"Yes," she whimpered. "Now your mouth, please your mouth!"

I did as she asked, lowering my mouth to her cunt. I started slow, long, loving licks, that had her whining and squirming. I gave into her unspoken desires. lupped my speed, lapping at her folds. She was moaning and reached down to grab at my curls.

"More, more, eat me alive," she was nearly sobbing.

I grabbed her thighs, my nails making crescent shapes in her skin. I sped up my pace, I changed the direction of my swirling tongue.

"Timmy! Timothée," she moaned as she arched herself up into my mouth. Her juices coated my lips.

"You taste like a dream," I told her.

"You're so good, fuck you are amazing," she panted.

"You ready for my cock?"

"Yes, I need you inside me."

"So needy," I chuckled.

"Yes, need you."

I hovered over her. I look into her eyes, and brush a piece of hair from her sweaty, glowing face.

"I love you," she suddenly blurted. "I've loved you for three years Timothée. I don't know if I could take it if I knew this was just sex to you."

"I love you too," I quieted her, putting hands on either sides of her head.

"Oh thank God," she grinned, sighing with relief. "Now please fuck me T."

"Gladly," I said, and pushed into her.

"You're so big," she hissed. I began to snap my hips forward as I kissed her neck. She was clawing up my back, and I would wear the future marks like a badge of honor.

"So tight," | moaned and she clenched around me. I was so close, but I was holding on until I could make her cum a third time.

"Come on, I want you to cum baby."

"Co close! Choke me," she begged. I placed my hand on her neck, and pressed. She gasped and then her walls were clenching around me beautifully.

"Fuck!" I cried out as I emptied myself into her. She was meeting my thrusts, wrapping her legs around my waist to get me closer as we rode out our orgasms.

I thrusted once more before stilling.

"I can't even describe the orgasm I just had," she said. "I feel like I'm on fire, but in a good way, but I also feel like jelly."

"I can't believe," I panted. "We liked each other all this time."

"I tried sending signals, why did you think I was always inviting you to things and being so touchy?"

"I thought we were just good friends," I chuckled.

"Why haven't you pulled out yet?" She asked, head cocked adorably to the side.

"Because I've waited three years to fuck you, and I'm not done. I'll get hard again soon enough to fill you again," I told her as I began to suck on the skin of her throat.

"Oh Timmy," she said, clenching around my length, which did in fact get me half hard again.

"I don't know if I can take another round."

"Come on, for me," I said, and she was easily persuaded.

"Oh I suppose, but I want to be on top. Do you know long l've touched myself to the idea of you under me."

"Fuck," I murmured as I flipped us, dick hard again in her warmth.

"You take me so well, I think your pussy was made for me," | grunted as she began to bounce on my cock.

I reached up, and grabbed her breasts, massaging the skin. She moaned.

"Tell me you want my cum baby," I gasped as she swiveled her hips.

"I want your cum, I want you to fill me. I want to be so full l'm leaking everywhere."

"Tell me you love my cock."

"I'm addicted to your cock, I don't know how I ever lived without it!"

"I want you to come again for me" I told her, and reached down to roll her clit between my fingers.

"No," she groaned, too sensitive Tim," She begged.

"You can do it princess, come undone, anoint my cock, please," I begged and with those words she came for the fourth time. I thrusted up into her clenching pussy, and suddenly I was shooting ropes into her waiting heat. She got off me gingerly and all but fell onto my chest. I had seen tears in her eyes from the over stimulation.

"We're not leaving this bed," she panted. "For the rest of the weekend."

[coyotes-rules-of-change]

Have we as a society lost our sense of acceptable public behavior?

Picture it: me, a swanky bistro, and an elegant patio adorned by the warm glow of string lights. I'm having a nice dinner—just me and my current favorite menu—until a couple is seated near me. It didn't take me long to hear that they were celebrating a six month anniversary and—given their gradually escalating volume—it was a night out at my favorite restaurant that was not going to fix their obvious relationship problems. In the short time it took the fresh rosemary rolls and whipped butter to arrive at their table, their loud talking had become peaks of yelling quelled only briefly by an unsatisfactorily hushed "quit talking so loud" or an ironic "you're embarrassing me."

Do you hate them yet? Because I definitely did. Except unlike you, I can take care of this; after all, knowledge of my methods is becoming more widespread. All I have to do is wait the thirty seconds it will inevitably take for the volume to boil over yet again.

"I can't take you anywhere!"

There she is again. Time to work my magic—

"Same shit again! I can't fucking take you anywhere! Everywhere we go: "miss, could you quiet down", and "sir, could you tell your date to stop yelling.""

"I'm not the one screaming f-bombs in public places! You need to learn some manners!"

*Whoosh.*

"Babe, I just can't have a conversation with you if you always yell." Already he's speaking at a much quieter volume.

"I just never feel like you're listening to me."—and she's also followed suit. Maybe that was all I needed to do, now I got my peace and quiet... but I'm not one to stop once I've started, and I suppose I'd rather not disappoint you either—after all, this isn't very interesting yet, is it. She continues: "I told you to dress nice and all you can manage is a t-shirt and shorts."

"I love you babe, but you can't tell me that you showing that much skin in a place like this is appropriate either."

No one sees it, but a slight grin crosses my face. I wave my hand and...

*Whoosh.* A light breeze passes through and their outfits shift.

"I'm dressed showing skin?! You're not even wearing a shirt."

"Babe, you're basically just wearing a sports bra and shorts."

"I look good. You don't work out enough to pull off not wearing a shirt in public."

*Whoosh.* A light breeze again. He's sporting some nice light muscle: square pecs, a nice six-pack, and some toned arms.

"Babe, I know I'm nowhere near my bulking goals but I know I look good enough to pull off being shirtless. Look, if you're gonna be like this, maybe we reschedule and have this dinner when you're not on your period."

...

...

...Look. What I did here may have been inappropriate... but would you expect anything less from me. I don't claim to be ethical, and I'm pretty sure you are well-aware of my biases by now... I'm not proud of what I did... I'm not... Okay maybe I am.

The ebb and flow of the conversation took a radical tone when one masculine voice was met for the first time by another. "Well then it's a good thing I'm not a girl."

"I guess that's true. Why would I even say that?"

"Because you're trying to avoid the subject again. Between you're time at the gym and your time at work, I never see you."

"I can't help it. At least I have a job."

*Whoosh.*

"Being an influencer is a job. I just wanna know how you can spend so much time working out when your job is being a personal trainer."

"My body is my sales pitch. I've build so much muscle now my co-workers are telling me I could enter a physique competition. Maybe if you worked out more, you'd actually get followers, and make money."

*Whoosh.*

"That's why I wanted to come here with you. Ever since I started working out with you, I have been gaining followers just as fast as I've been gaining muscle. I guess now is as good a time as any to tell you: I have 1 million followers."

"Babe, that's great news. I can't believe it!"

"Yeah, and there's more. The videos that gained the most traction online were the ones I shot with you. So I wanna go in a different direction with my page from now on."

"Wait, you've built it up by yourself. Why would you change it?"

"I wanna make it a couples page. Health, fitness, and gay pride."

"Most people dating for three years usually get proposals involving a ring."

"Do you wanna do this with me?"

"Yes, of course!"

A couple in my favorite bistro rise and embrace beside their patio table and share a passionate kiss. They seem happy, although I sit there and wonder if they'd be interested in a third for the night.

Have we as a society lost our sense of acceptable public behavior?

No. Not in this case. It could absolutely be much worse.

[schrodinger-swriter]

Lucifer x Reader

We all know Lucifer would feel awkward about dating Reader because like, what would he do if Lillith reappeared? He'd definitely feel like he'd be in a position to have to choose if that ever happened and that probably would keep him up at night.

I don't know about you but I'd tell him that if Lillith is as great as he says she is and we got on, then I'd just have to date them both.

Lucifer, the Reader, and Lilith

Apologies for the loose and vague title but I could not come up with a shortened idea that didn't look very very clunky.. but the prompt explains what it's meant to be pretty well! This one may be a little shorter, entirely because Lilith doesn't actually have an active part in this as a character, just mentioned.. I still want to hold off actually writing stuff for her until we get more info on her character!

I hope you enjoy Anon! C:

It's something Lucifer thought about a lot, even before he had met you. He never truly stopped loving Lilith, if that's a problem for you then that's an entirely different can of worms for you to tackle... and to tackle in a different post.

He'd feel... a lot. On one hand he was finally moving on and healing, he was finally starting to let himself love again after... everything. Yes we don't exactly know what happened between him and his past lover, but it was definitely enough to throw the man into a deep depression as well as tearing a rift through the family. That sort of hurt doesn't just come from a simple betrayal, nor does it go away over night. It's... complicated. On the other hand he's happy to know that she's still alive and well, and those old feelings try to claw their way back up. It's not fair, to him or to anyone else that Lilith got to leave and come right back. For what, exactly?

It effects his mood a lot and he starts to shut you out, he doesn't mean to hurt you but his mind is just too loud for him to bare. I don't think that there would be a poly relationship between the three of you, at least that is assuming if my thoughts and theories of Lilith being a... not good person or caring partner/parent are true, and if this post ends up being disproven as more of the show is released then I will eat my words.

Lucifer has two hands but he wants them both to be held by you, feeling that he would fall apart without him during this hard time.

[w2soneshots]

could you write about being at school with harry as your mate/ friend thta you fancy? need something get me tgrough this shithole of a school🙏

Highschool sweethearts -W2S

words: 0.7k+

warnings: light angst, pining, making out.

summary: you and Harry both fell for each other, though nether of you wanted to admit it. One night, at a party on the beach, things change.

notes: I’ve never done a young Harry fic but I had so much fun writing this! Hope you’re okay lovely, you’ve got this!!🤗💞🌟

I watched as Harry walked towards me, a cheesy grin plastered on his face. "Hey, y/n?!" I tilted my head to the side. "Yeah?" I wondered what he wanted, I'd been avoiding him recently since I caught feelings and don't want to ruin our friendship.

"You going to the party tonight, at the beach?" He asked, leaning against the locker next to mine. "Uh- I dunno..." "oh come on! It'll be fun... please?" He stared at me, awaiting an answer. I thought for a second before nodding. "Okay, okay, I'll go." He swiftly pushed himself off of the locker. "Yes! Great! see you later."

My mind was whirling as I got ready, all of the possible outcomes of tonight running through my head. It's currently summer in Guernsey so it's pretty warm outside, though it'll get cooler once it gets dark, so I grabbed a jacket before I left.

As I walked to the beach I tried to calm myself down. I wasn't sure why I was getting so worked up over the boy I've been friends with since primary school but it was definitely becoming a problem. I couldn't be near him without going bright red if his arm grazed mine or he smiled at me. It was extremely annoying.

When I got there I spotted my friends. I walked over to them and sat down on one of the beach towels laid out. One of my friends nudged my arm. "Guess who's coming over?" She whispered into my ear with a teasing tone. I sighed. "For fuck sake... Harry," I muttered to myself.

"Hey! You made it." Harry plonked himself next to me, with a cheerful smile. "Mhm," I replied, dryly. "You okay?" He asked, brows furrowed. "Yes, I'm fine." I smiled, trying to reassure him. He didn't look convinced but thankfully he dropped it.

As it started to become dark some of the boys set up a fire that we all sat around. Harry left me alone after our previous encounter but I caught him staring multiple times. Some of my friends were now extremely drunk, I had decided at the start of the night that I wasn't going to drink and it seemed like Harry had done the same.

As it approached two in the morning people began heading home. I was dreading the dark walk back to my house. "y/n?" I heard my name so I turned. It was Harry once again. When he had my full attention he continued, "did you want me to give you a ride home?"

I thought for a moment. "Uh- yes please," I put on a smile. He smiled back, though his was genuine. "Come on then, let's go." He turned and we walked side by side to his car. I got into the passenger seat, buckled myself in and then he turned the engine on.

The drive was silent, the only noise being the wind coming in through the open window. I sighed softly, leaning my head against the side of the car and wrapping my jumper around myself. "You alright?" He asked. "Mhm, just tired."

When he pulled up in front of my house I turned to him. "What's going on with you?" He asked abruptly. I was slightly taken aback. "Uhm... what do you mean?" "You know what I mean. You've been avoiding me. Did I do something wrong?" He seemed to be annoyed.

I sighed, realising I was going to have to stop putting off telling him the reason. "Okay, okay," I took a deep breath, "I- I think I... fancy you Harry." I said quietly, not looking into his eyes. "You- wait, you fancy me?" An embarrassed grumble left my mouth as I leaned forward to put my head in my hands.

The car was completely silent for a good fifteen seconds, though it felt like an eternity. "This is so stupid." I swiftly looked over at him. "What?" "You fancy me, I fancy you and nether of us told the other." He explained. Surprise covered my face. "You fancy me?" "Of course I do you donut." He laughed slightly.

I smiled back before leaning towards him, our faces only centimetres apart. He leaned forward, closing the gap between our lips.

When I eventually pulled away I opened my eyes to see him chasing my lips. "I've got to go, I'll see you at school?" His face softened. "Yeah,  yeah, okay bye." I kissed him one last time before getting out. He waved, waiting until I got into my house safe then drove home with a bright and content smile on his face.

[dwobbitfromtheshire]

Steve is definitely Eddie's bisexual awakening. Eddie stared at Steve's ass thinking that he's just jealous because he wished he could have an ass like Steve's. And, of course, he accidentally flirted with Steve.

"Hey, Steve, how does one get a great ass like that?" Eddie asked him one day.

Steve's blushing, partly because he's really flattered and partly because Eddie asked him that in front of the entire party. Eddie's blinking at him, not realizing at all what he just asked.

"Well?"

It wasn't until long after he got home and when he was drifting off to sleep that he made his realization. Eddie sat up in bed, eyes wide.

"Oh my God! Oh my God! OH MY GOD! OH. MY. GOD!"

"Boy! Why is it that whenever you have a crisis, it has to be so damn loud?! I'm actually working days for once. Let me sleep," Wayne said, pausing. "We'll discuss it in the morning if you want to."

Wayne had his own room now. Unfortunately, the rooms were right next to each other. Eddie waited until he was fast asleep again before he wrote a note and left still wearing his pj's. Pretty soon, he was pounding on Steve’s door, and Steve was opening it, rubbing sleep from his eyes.

"Eddie?"

"Did you know about me? I mean, could you like detect it even if I didn't know about it?" Eddie asked. "Could you, like, sniff it out?"

"I have no idea what the hell you're talking about, but come on in," Steve said.

"You told me about you being bisexual. Did you know about me?" Eddie asked when Steve closed the door behind him.

"Uh, honestly, no. Is that what this is about? I'll go put on some coffee. You go ahead and continue freaking out if you need to, big boy," Steve said.

"JESUS H CHRIST! I called you big boy! How did I not know then?!" Eddie asked.

When Steve came back with two mugs of coffee, Eddie was fast asleep on his couch. Steve sighed and set them on the coffee table. The phone rang, and Steve rushed to answer it before it could wake up Eddie.

"Hello?"

"Steve, it's Wayne. Is Eddie there?"

"Yeah, he came in here freaking out. He's asleep now."

"Did he say why he was freaking out?"

"Yeah, but - "

"But you don't want to say? Thanks for respecting his privacy. If he wants to tell me, then he will when he's ready. You should know that when he freaks out like this and then falls asleep, he's going to wake up again. Be prepared, son."

"Yeah, I'll look after him."

"Thanks. I'm going to get some rest. Good night, and good luck."

"Goodnight."

Steve hung up the phone and walked back into the living room. He grabbed a magazine off of the table and began flipping through it while sipping his coffee. Eddie sat up suddenly, and Steve nearly spilled his coffee.

"Oh my God! I was hitting on you!" Eddie exclaimed. "I said you had a great ass!"

"There it is," Steve said, putting down his magazine.

"I like both," Eddie said, not looking at Steve.

"It's totally normal to - ," Steve said.

"I like both!" Eddie said again. "This is so, so - "

"Eddie?"

"This is so. . .METAL!" Eddie exclaimed, grinning.

"Okay, not the reaction I was expecting, but then again, you're Eddie Munson, so what was I expecting?" Steve asked, grinning fondly.

Eddie slid to the floor in front of him, grin still firmly in place.

"Do you know what this means?" Eddie asked.

"I could guess," Steve said.

"Steve," Eddie said, and then the grin slid off his face. "This is just another gender that's just going to reject me."

"Well, I already know one guy who's interested," Steve said with a smirk, and Eddie was smiling again.

"Oooh, who is it? I bet it's Jeff. Is it Jeff? I'm just now realizing that I do think he's handsome," Eddie said.

"I don't know," Steve said, scowling. "He better not be."

"Okay, who else could it be?" He asked, tapping his chin. "Oh, man, is it Mike? One, he's way too young, and honestly, I think of him like a younger brother. . .like a really annoying younger brother. I'd hate to be there for that conversation. Can you reject him for me?"

"I like you, Eddie," Steve said softly.

"I like you too, man," Eddie said, blinking rapidly at him.

He still didn't get it. Steve rolled his eyes. He cupped Eddie's face and pulled him in for a gentle kiss. Steve pulled back quickly, smiling at him.

"So, are you going to tell me who it is, or am I going to have to keep guessing?" Eddie asked.

"Oh, for fuck's sake!" Steve growled.

Eddie giggled and leaned forward to capture his lips with his. He quickly broke the kiss.

"I knew when you said that you knew a guy," Eddie said. "I just wanted to see if I could make you jealous if I mentioned that I think Jeff is handsome."

"So, you do think he's handsome," Steve said with narrowed eyes.

"He's nothing compared to you, baby," Eddie replied and then paused. "And as much as I would love nothing more than to make out with you, can we talk for a while?"

"Absolutely," Steve said softly.

So, they sat on the couch, sipping their coffee while they talked with Eddie's legs planted firmly in Steve's lap. Steve talked about how he always sort of knew, and he told Eddie about his first male crush. Eddie had been disappointed that it hadn't secretly been him. They talked for a long time with the conversation ending with them deciding that they were boyfriends. Steve and Eddie fell asleep on the couch, entangled in each other.

[curio-queries]

ARE YOU SURE?!

Episode 4 production Notes

Again, I genuinely didn't think I'd have anything to say at this point about this episode. I had such a good time the first time I watched it, just smiling the whole way through. There is one thing that did stick in my brain a little bit though so here I am again with another post.

Episode Break Points

We honestly can't be making any final conclusions at this point but there is starting to emerge a picture of how the production team approached the development of this show as an episodic release. The question that was rattling around my brain after watching episode 4 was how they are choosing their cut points between episodes. We really only have three data points right now which is not enough to definitively identify their intent but it does start to paint the picture a little bit. Sometimes, the break point is beyond obvious, like cutting ep.2 at the end of the USA trip. But when there's not a definitive line, a choice has to be made when to bring one episode to a close and start another.

Some shows use the changing of the day as a break point but that's not necessarily always the best choice to make for the narrative of the show. For example, the break between eps 1 and 2 is in the morning after JK has his coffee and makes the stone tower. This better served the momentum of the episode and wrapped up the story beat of JM's rough night. Ep 2 then starts on a high note with JK's motorbike ride. In my opinion, this was an excellent choice as we close ep.1 feeling all cozy and ep.2 begins with a little bit of excitement.

A Look Back

So why am I bringing this up now? It's because I was so confused as the choice of when to break these two episodes. I don't know if I've decided if it was good/bad/somewhere-in-between but I absolutely was not expecting Episode 4 to start the way it did. Ep 3 ends at the Go Karts and feels like a complete story beat. While ep 4 starts with the drive to the Omakase.

To me, it feels like we're picking up on the last remains of the previous episode and not starting a new section. Which is honestly, kind of counterintuitive. Why would it feel like that? They're literally on their way to the next activity. I suspect it has more to do with the tonal momentum. The guys are still coming down from all of the energy they expended from Rock Climbing and racing and are having a well-deserved relaxing drive. Even the brief moments we see of JK on the motorbike are quite chill. (mostly because there's not really a great way to get action footage on a bike in the dark lol).

So...to see if I could support my suspicion, or if I was just bringing something else into my viewing experience, I decided to rewatch the whole series so far and rank every story beat on a scale for how energetic/intense I felt the narrative was supporting.

A couple of notes before you judge my rankings:

This data is the very definition of subjective. if I redid this same exercise even the next day, I'm sure I would disagree with myself on certain rankings so you certainly don't have to agree with my rankings.

If a storybeat had a noticeable tonal shift, I entered it twice and included both rankings. If it just varied a bit, I entered a ranking more representative of the scene as a whole.

This won't be reflective of the time occupied by each story beat. Some sections are longer than others but with sustained energy so it doesn't translate in this visual representation how much of an impact on the overall tone of the episode any one of these are.

I also added a star at the end of each episode of my median scores. I feel that this was a better representation of the overall tone of each episode rather than an average but that's just my personal view on this teeny dataset. Please don't come for me analytics folks! This is just a post for funzies, not proper analysis!

So What?

The point was curious about is in the gap between eps 3 & 4. Everywhere else there's a pretty clear shift in the start and end of the energy but that gap looks like it was just a step that was missed in what could have been a continual episode.

Here are the runtimes of each episode so far:

USA: 56 min

USA: 72 Min

Jeju: 56 min

Jeju: 70 min

I don't have any conclusions about why it was done this way other than they felt the tonal break was the sacrifice for keeping the Omakase story line in tact. Which honestly, I agree. There would have been time to include the drive in the previous episode but it would have left us on an unfinished storybeat. This is one of the reasons that we never get footage of the members return trip from their travel shows. Bon Voyage ends every episode with the members remarking on the trip overall. Even though we know they have to return home, we don't see it because that would start to build energy for whatever they're doing next and not the story of their trip.

Even in ITS1 when the members do return home in the middle, we see them packing up and getting in the cars but the episode ends before they really start traveling. (Actually it ends before they even let Jin in the car so they're definitely not on their way yet!)

Commercials?

I have a question for anyone that's watching this with ads. I don't really watch streaming content so I'm curious, do the ad breaks just randomly occur? Or does it seem like they're intentionally scheduled? Building story breaks for commercials was a huge focus of legacy tv and I'd be interested to learn more about how streaming services are incorporating it (not enough to not have commercials though, I get insta-rage when the content I'm consuming is interrupted lol). I vaguely remember getting frustrated when I was attempting to watch something at my parent's over the holidays but I don't recall if it seemed structured or not.

That's it. That's all I've got to say right now. We're definitely getting a lot more to the story of this show and I'm absolutely loving it. I'm going to be away for a bit next week and I honestly don't know when I'll fit in watching episode 5 but I'm very much looking forward to it!

If you've seen this post and are interested in some more of my thoughts on Are You Sure, here's a link to my AYS MasterList. Still can't believe I've rambled so much about this show but it's been fun! Thanks to everyone that's been rambling with me!

[ghoulfuckersincorporated]

Wait, how would Cooper feel about thigh high stockings with some of those heels? Possibly a garter belt too? Or even just knowing that his partner has them on underneath whatever they usually wear? My mind goes blank when I see them on a pretty lady (or a man or anyone else really, I'm bisexual) Something about wearing them also makes me feel super hot but also powerful? Is that weird?

Oh, they feel very powerful, Anon. That's definitely not weird. In fact, I'd argue that that's one of the main selling points of them. It's very empowering and confidence-boosting to feel desirable and sexy.

That's why Cooper would absolutely adore seeing you in the entire get-up. He'd also like seeing you be so confident...

I think it would start small, maybe him gifting you your first very nice set of lingerie for your first Valentine's Day together. To you and your current financial situation, nice lingerie is simply defined as "a cute-ish top and bottoms that match and aren't completely ratty".

It's been about a year since he and Barb officially divorced, and about four months since you and Cooper started dating. You're both still quite low-key about it, not wanting to deal with the drama or the guilt of making Barb feel bad, but you're wild about one another. Coop likes being with someone who is more down-to-earth like he is, someone who he could really see raising chickens with him. You enjoy the older man's kindness, his generous nature, all the things he can show and teach you from years of life experience.

You aren't inexperienced, sexually, but the things you've tried aren't exactly adventurous. He catches you reading a steamy novel one evening, though, and suddenly you're getting quite the interrogation about what naughty things you like while he tickles you and kisses at your neck. And trust me, you will be divulging that information; he's a patient man, and if he has to wait until the next time you have an extra glass of wine with dinner to ask again, he will.

One of the things you eventually mention, lips loose after too much New Year's champagne, is how you've always liked the idea of dressing up in sexy lingerie, high heels and all, parading around a tied-up man like a prowling seductress.

So, naturally, you're over the moon when, a week before Valentine's Day, he gives you a gorgeous satiny bra and panty set and some stockings to go with. The sizing is perfect, of course, because he's so wonderful about attention to detail. The garter belt confuses you when you try it on, but eventually you manage to wrestle it all into place, and you're blown away by your reflection in the mirror. Cooper insists you don't show him what it looks like on until the day of, and you keep to that. But after your romantic dinner together that evening, you find yourself almost overly giddy to get out of the nice dress you'd chosen for your date. He's been shooting you heart-stopping glances all night, running his eyes up and down your body like he knows what you're hiding underneath your clothes.

Which, of course, he does.

When you finally get home, he takes great pleasure in slowly peeling you out of the thing, revealing the black satin and silk and the little bow between your breasts. Your feet have much less traction than usual against the hardwood floors in the stockings, but you're sure in your step as his eyes on you give you a huge confidence boost. Leading him to his bedroom, you push him down on the bed and kiss him for a long while before telling him to stay put, disappearing from the room and reappearing with a few lengths of rope in hand, his white cowboy hat on your head.

A few minutes later, his arms are outstretched just enough to keep him from being able to reach his body with his hands, the knots around his arms and the headboard posts nice and secure. He taught you the knots, and you'd really enjoyed learning them, but you still didn't think it had been fair of him to test your knowledge on them while he made you cockwarm him. But that's a score to settle another day.

You enjoy taking your time teasing him, running your tongue and nails along his chest and stomach, noting the way he shivers as you run your fingers along the waistband of his slacks. After he pleads a little, you free him from his open fly and tease him with your lips and tongue until he's pleading again. You smile wickedly at him as you move back.

Balancing on your rear and your palms, you lean back as far as you can while still staying upright between his knees, slowly and intentionally running your silk-clad feet all along the planes of his bare chest, appreciating his physique as you tease all the way up to his collar bones. A giggle leaves you when he cranes his neck to allow himself to nibble at your ankles, but the playful little kick you give him to the forehead sends him staring you down with a heat in his gaze. When he's settled down, you move your feet back down to the trail of hair that leads to his twitching, throbbing erection.

"Dirty tricks, little lady." he growls when you start to gently rub your smooth sole back and forth across his cock. You've managed to sniff out this particular kink of his between all the "secret" little glimpses at you after you take off your heels at the end of the day, the glut of compliments about how pretty your feet are, the regular pedicures he happily pays for. The massages where he can barely conceal his growing erection. You'd thought it a little strange at first, but he didn't judge you for your stranger proclivities, so you tried your best to grant him the same grace.

Plus, it was really quite hot how worked up he got about it, and you certainly didn't mind all the gifted shoes.

Since you've already been working him up and teasing him, he quickly reaches his end. You're both a little shocked by exactly how hard he cums, and how much, jet after hot jet spattering across his chest, his stomach, and your stockings, a low, guttural groan leaving him as you continue to gently pet at him until he pleads with you to stop. You can't help but notice that he seems like he's having a hard time meeting your gaze.

The whole display is incredibly erotic to you, despite what you may have thought about this sort of thing before. You'd never considered how much you could enjoy having a man you actually liked and trusted thinking your feet were very, very sexy, and now the whole thing has you ready to plant yourself down on him and never get off.

"Well, are you gonna untie me so I can return the favor, darlin'?" he asks eventually, face and neck still pink as he finally seems to gather up the courage to look over at you. You grin, slinking forward to lean in and kiss him deeply, running your fingers through the cooling rivulets of semen painting his toned chest.

"Mmm, I dunno, cowboy." you tut, pulling his hat from your head and giving your hair a seductive shake as you place it onto his. "I sorta like you like this. I'm thinking about maybe taking you for a little test ride."

His muscles flex against his restraints as he grins impishly at you. You have him under your control, and you intend to keep him that way for quite a while. Your pretty lingerie will definitely be destroyed by the time you're finished with each other, but no worries; he's got another of the exact same set hidden in the closet, ready to replace it so you can have one to actually keep.

He's just thoughtful like that. 😈

To the innocent anon: I'm sorry I used your submission to write foot job porn. :( Well, I'm kinda sorry.

I do feel at least a little bad, scout's honor.

[seventeenpins]

triptych - pt i

pairing: tommy miller x joel miller x f!reader

word count: 2.5k

summary: after a shitty day, you go to a shitty bar to decompress. you're not in the mood to chat with anyone, but the man who sits at the bar beside you has other ideas. after a surprisingly nice night, you go back to his place only to discover he lives with his brother who happens to be an old flame of yours.

warnings: okay this part is a little suggestive but not really at all filthy (that'll come in part 2), reader comes off as an asshole but really she's just having a bad day, drinking, weed smoking, lil bit of grinding, intoxication with intention to fuck whilst under the influence but they're all into it, reader gets horny cos tommy has a cool lighter ????, no actual sex (yet), innuendo

a/n: thank you for the input both on my recent poll and in response to nb characters in future fic! i'm working on a couple of pieces but decided i'd first start with the poll winner: joel + tommy + reader threesome. there are so many great threesome fics already out there, so thanks for taking the time to read my humble offering to the genre. additional things -- there's no significant age gap. tommy is 25, reader is 29 and joel is 31 (or thereabouts, with that general spacing). sarah (referenced but not seen) is 8. part two is gonna get freaky af, and i'm always happy to hear about what nasty shit people wanna see in fic.

check out part ii

the lighting is low and the music is loud, the bass pulsing through the dive bar. It’s not a nice place, this bar, the floors and counters perpetually sticky in a way that makes you feel unreasonably grimy, but the drinks are cheap and strong.

you’re nursing a jack and coke, your third of the night, and you’re relaxing into the dizzying buzz when you feel the presence of a body scooting into the barstool next to yours.

please don’t try to talk to me, you silently will, just let me have one night of peace, please universe-

“what’s a pretty girl like you doin’ in a place like this?” 

fuck

you don’t try to hold back your eyeroll at the cliche and make a show of knocking back the rest of your drink before responding, making no effort to look at the person next to you.

“until about thirty seconds ago, I was enjoying my drink,” you pause for emphasis, "by myself."

the bartender picks up your empty and you nod at him when he asks if you want another.

much to your annoyance, your rudeness doesn’t seem to dissuade your unwanted neighbor at all. he just chuckles. 

“bad day, huh?” he asks, and you nod. 

“yeah, me too,” he agrees, and you can feel his eyes on you as you start sipping. you can feel his hesitation before he speaks again, but you can just feel he's gonna blow right past it. "so, you wanna talk about your bad day? he asks.

"nope," you tell him, "you're not my therapist. you're just some... guy who wants to bother a woman who is very clearly trying to drink alone."

he lets out a sigh.

"look," he says, "i am sorry that i'm bothering you, and if you'd like me to leave, i won't say another word. i guess you just looked, like, genuinely lonely, and that shit fuckin sucks."

you soften at his words, and turn to look at him for the first time as he backs off and starts to get up.

"i'm sorry," you say, "i'm being an asshole."

he snorts, and smiles at you, a little abashed. you take him in. he's tall, with dark hair and dark eyes and, much to your chagrin, a really beautiful smile. he's a little freckled, and wearing a button-up that's rolled up his admittedly gorgeous and muscled forearms, and it's open and you can see the shape of his chest through his undershirt, and your stomach does a little flip.

"it's okay," you tell him, "stay. tell me all about your shitty day."

you smile, encouraging, and he sits down again.

it's an hour later, or maybe two, and you're not quite sure how many drinks you've had, nor how many he's had, but you're definitely on some side of drunk. you're leaning into the man, who's introduced himself as tommy and smells very nice (kinda musky and a little sweaty but in the nicest way and you wish there was a not-weird way to sniff his goddamn armpits but that's pretty inarguably weird.)

you find out you went to the same high school, but you were a few years ahead of him. probably caught one or two of the years my brother was there, though he told you, and you wondered if you'd ever met him.

when you asked if he had any weed, he grinned, very kindly insists he cover all of your drinks (for being a nuisance earlier in the night, please let me make it up to you, hon-) and leads you by the hand through the back of the building to the alleyway.

as alleyways go, this one is pretty nice. it's dark by now, but colorful graffiti covers the walls and though it's not an 'official' mural, you love it dearly and consider it a favorite.

tommy digs in a jacket pocket and produces a slightly-smushed-but-still-fat joint, and holds it out to you. you put it between your lips, and draw back, looking him up and down.

he pulls out a lighter--an oddly old fashioned sort of style that you really didn't anticipate from him. you'd expect a plastic gas station lighter, or even a naked lady bic instead of something that looked antique and well-maintained.

the casual way he interacted with this object he'd clearly taken such care of was, strangely, a massive fucking turn on.

when he'd first sat down, you were certain he was some sort of frat boy asshole. but after he'd told you about his shitty day (in which he ended up being 'slightly electrocuted' and received an absolute lambasting from his 'asshole of a boss big brother' about 'safety measures or some such') then he'd listened to you tell him about the promotion you were just passed over for. he reassured you when you went back and forth about whether you were justified in being frustrated because maybe you weren't that good, and isn't that as good a reason to drink as any? he was kind and patient, but also flirty and confident. and that stupid fucking lighter. in a split second you create a whole backstory. the lighter was his grandfathers, from the turn of the century. he took care of it his whole life, and then tommy's dad took care of it, and then tommy, and he keeps it polished and filled and the wick in good condition--

this may not be the weirdest thing you've ever been turned on by before. probably. but a lighter, really?

and with all of that together, you realised it didn't matter if your little backstory wasn't even slightly true, cos it was weirdly stylish and unexpected and it looked really nice in his big, lovely, veiny, calloused hands.

you needed to fuck this man.

"what'cha lookin' at me like that for?" he asks, and you feel a blush rise on your cheeks, but you gather your confidence and tip your chin up, pointing the end of the joint directly towards him, and he sparks the lighter, shielding the flame from the wind.

when the joint's lit you take a deep hit and hold it for a moment, eyes closed, before you exhale. you're about to pass the joint to him before you get another idea. you inhale deeply again, and then grab him by the collar and pull him towards you.

tommy melts instantly, drawing towards you and capturing your lips in a kiss. it's deep and hot and you can feel yourself getting wet, and then you feel a little bit dizzy and pull back and exhale the smoke into his mouth. he breathes you in and practically moans.

he's beautiful, moving from being silhouetted by the light of the street lamps to being hit with an iridescent glow that makes him look angelic.

you pass the joint to him. hits it. passes it back-

it's a minute before you say another word, and then before you can say it, he beats you to the punch-- "wanna come back to my place?"

after what was probably only five minutes (but feels like an hour) of waiting, you're in the back of a cab straddling tommy. you're not usually this brazen, but you're a little bit crossfaded, dizzy and loose, savoring the feeling the motion of the car, tommy pressing kisses down your throat, the windows rolled down, your hair whipping between both of you in a way that would usually annoy you but is now just an additional sensation that you could get lost in. you let out a small moan when you feel his hands grip your hips and rock you towards him, and his cock is hard and thick in his jeans. you don't realise the cab has stopped by the time you get to his place, and the driver coughs loudly and the two of you break apart.

tommy nods at the house on the left of the car and you both hop out and head over to it. tommy fumbles with his keys as you make your way to the porch but before he can find the right one, you press him up against the door and kiss him again. he growls, dropping the keychain altogether, running a hand down your back and feeling the curves of your body, grabbing at your ass, running his hand between your legs and feeling the dampness at the crotch of your pants.

"jesus christ, girlie," he huffs, and you're about to kiss him again, when you see the house illuminated around you, tommy's and your shadows black against the door, and suddenly, two loud honks of a car horn.

you jump a foot in the air, and tommy shouts fuck with a not insignificant amount of frustration. the car that's just pulled into the drive goes silent. the lights go off, and then you see a broad figure getting out of the car and slamming the door.

you turn to tommy, wide-eyed. "are we-" and you're not sure how to ask what you wanna ask, "are we about to get murdered?"

tommy chuckles, but he still looks pissed off. "nah, sweetheart. that's just my asshole big brother. who wasn't meant to be at home tonight!" he shouts the last part as his brother comes into view, clearly trying to start something, and it almost makes you laugh at how immediately this otherwise charming man goes into petty sibling mode.

but then the approaching man is illuminated by the porch light, and your jaw drops.

"joel fucking miller?" you ask, and you're pretty sure he'd be saying your name like that, too, if he hadn't temporarily lost the ability to speak.

"are you-?" he asks.

"i'm-?" you say.

tommy looks between you two, brow furrowed. "i take it y'all know each other?" he asks, and joel makes a strangled sound while you snort out a laugh.

"sure do," you smile, and look at tommy. "but any chance we could go inside? my feet are killing me."

they both nod and joel unlocks the door, while tommy scrambles on the ground to find his keys.

when you're seated, you get to the story.

"i had the biggest crush on him in high school. senior year, he asked me to prom and we had a great time." joel smiles a little, eyes crinkling in a way they never did when he was younger and it makes you hungry in a way you can't articulate. god he's been aging well.

"but then joel graduated, and i had a couple more years of high school. we took a break for a while, i'd moved out of town for a year, but we went on a couple dates after i graduated and moved back."

tommy looks between you two, and you're glad he doesn't look jealous or upset or anything, cos even though he would have no right, you've absolutely dealt with men like that plenty before. instead, though, he doesn't look mad or frustrated. you can't for the life of you parse the expression on his face. at all. more than anything, he looks amused.

"so, what happened?" tommy asks.

"he found out he got his ex pregnant." you shrug.

you'd be lying if you said it hadn't wrecked you for a while when it'd happened. you made more than a couple mix tapes with truly tragic heartbreak songs, and you had been sad that the possibility of trying this with joel after years of teenage heartache had been ripped out from under you, but you honestly hadn't thought about it for a while. more than anything, you reckon it speaks to his character that he made sure to stay with the mother of his child and do the right thing raising her.

"her name's sarah, right? and how's your wife?"

joel makes a pained expression, and tommy winces.

"ah. 'fraid she left years ago. sarah was still a baby." there's an awkward silence, but then he smiles a dazzling smile, "and sarah's doin great. she's turnin' nine this year and she's top of her class. never thought a kid o' mine could turn out so fuckin' bright. thought i was gonna fuck her up only havin' me around, and her uncle tommy o' course, but damn that girl makes me real proud."

you smile, and you're genuinely glad for him.

"speaking of-" tommy says, and you can swear joel preemptively rolls his eyes, "you said you weren't gonna be home tonight."

"i said i'd be gone for some of tonight. it's already two in the morning. sarah's over at mom's, but i've got work early. she's gonna take care of her all day, and now i won't have to get up at the asscrack of dawn to get to the site on time."

"ah-" tommy says, "well shit."

you're all silent for another moment, and then as if a switch has flipped you realise how fuckin weird this entire situation is.

"so, uh-" joel says, cos now he's somehow become the leader of the conversation, "i take it i've interrupted, so let me get out of your hair. and. i'm gonna go crash in sarah's bedroom, tommy, so i'll... be. at the otherendofthehallway"

you had never seen joel miller so awkward and flustered and you can't help but giggle a little, and joel narrows his eyes at you, but then he cracks a smile, too, and then the three of you are laughing so hard you have to wipe a tear from your eye.

you fall into a silence again, but it's not uncomfortable this time. you need a moment to yourself, though. among other things, if you could tell your nineteen year old self that you're at the home of joel miller, after making out with his incredibly hot brother, and now you're just sitting around with them, you'd be baffled.

"mind if i grab a glass of water?" you ask, and tommy stands to get you one, but you stop him. "don't worry, i've got it. are the ones on the dish rack alright? do you boys have beer? can i grab anything for you?"

"thanks, sweetheart," tommy calls, "there's a pitcher for water in the fridge, and we'd both take a beer. help yourself to one too, if ya like."

you fill up your glass full of water, pop a bottle opener into your pocket, and grab three bottles of beer by their necks in your spare hand. you place them down on the coffee table and open each bottle but take a big gulp of your water before you start on your beer.

when you look up, tommy and joel are communicating in what you can only assume is a sibling-specific language of small head shakes and narrowed eyes, and then finally a brief, firm, synchronized nod.

they both turn to face you, and there's a bit of a weird energy but you're not not into it.

"what's up?" you ask, and tommy looks at joel, and joel nods, and then tommy looks back at you.

"now-" tommy starts

joel cuts him off before he can say anything of substance-- "and we don't want you to feel pressured, sweetheart, the choice is yours, and if you'd like- either or both of us to fuck off, just say the word, yeah?"

you nod slowly.

"but we have a proposition for you, honey," tommy finishes.

you look between them. they're both standing sitting there, a bit bashful, and it's fuckin endearing. two men that you'd use confidence as a descriptor for each of them. very different siblings, both in looks and in personality, but their eyes are the same and you can see a delicious darkness burning in each.

"how would ya like to fuck us both?" tommy asks, and your heart skips a beat.

they don't need to ask you twice. you do your best to hold back your grin.

"fuck yes".

[cptapathy]

hey! what are you favorite ttrpgs?

Dice tumble

Pen scratch

A held breath

A promised climax

We sit around our table/

At our desk/in a circle on the floor

And together we laugh

And smile and more

We love these creations in our heads

As they dance and fight and flee

And as the night draws close to us

We hold them warm and tightly

These people we conjure are dear to me

For they are the crystal through which I look

To see the life I share with you

And the love we have for each other

Okay so my favourite ttrpg changes as I play them but right now it's A.N.I.M's EURKEA!

I have always been a fan of murder mysteries from Agatha Christie, to pie in the sky, Midsomer Murders, Rosemary and Thyme and everything in between.

I had run several murder mysteries in different ttrpgs and even a couple of murder mystery larps (including a spectacular zombie one) but I'd never found a system that truely captured what murder mysteries feel like.

Then I discovered Eureka and the Eureka mechanic and it all clicked. You could say it was a eureka moment.

I'm going to discuss in some detail the mechanic and give an example but before that everyone should go and

a. Follow A.N.I.M. on tumblr

@anim-ttrpgs

b. Join their patreon so we can get the gorgan playable investigator. Go look at all the cool stuff!

https://www.patreon.com/TheAgencyofNarrativeIntrigueandMysteryPatreon/posts

Essentially A.N.I.M have separated dice rolls into two categories

1. Investigation rolls

2. Non-investigation rolls

Investigation rolls are when an investigator is trying to uncover information or clues to progress the investigation. (Pretty clear definition) non-investigation rolls are all other rolls (combat, hiding secrets, getting out of dodge etc.)

Whenever an investigator makes an investigation roll there are 3 possible outcomes

1 Failure - they do not success and/or complications arise - they gain 3 Eureka points

2 partial success/mixed success - they get part of a clue or a clue and a complication - they gain 2 Eureka points

3 full success - they gain the clue without issue - they gain one Eureka point

When the investigators have a full eureka bar they can use a EUREKA!

This allows them to roll a check with 3d6 and take the highest instead of 2d6 or (my favourite option) gain clues from previous failed rolls.

So to take the most iconic episode of Midsomer Murders as an example - "The Killings At Badgers Drift"

Spoilers and CW for references to incest.

DCI Barnerby arrests the foppish artist on suspicion of murder, during the arrest the artist's sister arrives and the artist crys out "I've been framed" and makes a sign of a square with his fingers.

The DCI Makes an investigation roll but biffs it, snake eyes, complete failure, no hope of discovering that clue.

Later on The DCI is talking to a woman at a call centre who was the last known person to speak to the victim. Apparently the victim said "just like poor annabella" before hanging up. Again the DCI makes an investigation roll this time getting a partial success, there is someone related who has a name similar to annabella who died from an "accident" and the DCI decides to investigate this accident as well now, thinking (correctly) that it might not be so accidental.

But now the DCI has a full eureka bar and so the player shouts out eureka to gain the clue from the failed check earlier. And so, that night, the DCI has a dream of all the relevant clues and realises the clue missed when the artist made the symbol and said "I've been framed" it was a code, to tell his sister that the evidence of their affair (the nude painting he did of her) was in the attic and could prove that they were working together to keep their affair secret. This new vital clue allows the DCI to search for, and find, the painting helping to solve the mystery.

And so that is one reason I love eureka, along with the approach to disability and monster characters. It's currently got a free demo and stuff, go support them they're great.

[doberbutts]

i hope this isnt weird to say but i really appreciate your dobeposting, especially about the history & current disposition of the breed. my mom has had dobermans my whole life and it led me to kinda... really dislike them for years, her last three and current youngster all were/are so nervy and quick to bite unprovoked (thankfully the young girl is coming around pretty nicely, no actual aggressive bites, just still learning to take things gently)

anyway, getting to the point, reading you explain about the breed's history, who dobermann actually was & how they were created & what they were originally bred for, and the way unfortunately the temperament has gotten messy due to that mixing of people wanting dobes to be family pet dogs and one-person protection dogs at the same time, or just try to make them into a pet dog they just aren't cut out to be (my mom is very much one of the former lol) really helped me understand and appreciate the breed. my dad has american akitas, and imho they have a similar issue of people trying to breed them for social, cheery pet temperaments which just tends to go very badly for a very large, high aggression, high prey drive, not suited for the average suburbanite breed like them, and realizing dobermans basically have a kind of more severe extent of the same issue (albeit I'm oversimplifying here) really helped me understand them.

i dont think I'd ever choose to have one, but I've definitely got a lot more respect and appreciation from afar.

so, sorry for rambling and probably being repetitive, hope i made some kind of sense, just wanted to say thank you for being a great breed advocate :)

here's a dobe tax, my mom's ~18 month old little girl, kira. she looks like that because, from what the rescue told my mom, she was from a backyard breeder and had to be removed from her first two homes due to mistreatment. still manages to be a real sweetie most of the time

Hey thanks for the compliment and the dog tax!

It really sucks because I think dobermans can be fantastic pet dogs... to people who want a doberman and all that entails. But a lot of people in the outcross groups I'm griping about want something more like a gun dog or a retriever in a doberman costume, and it's very frustrating to explain again and again that that simply is not what a doberman is.

I'd be all for a doberman outcross that actually respects what a doberman is for! The problem is that there have been very few of those, and most of them started with junk and ended up fairly lackluster in what they produced because you can't shine a turd and call it gold.

Dobermans don't have to be nervy, loose cannon, fear aggressive, bite risk demons. My doberman is not! My doberman before him was scared, but that was largely a socialization problem caused by living 2 years of her life exclusively in a box, and she wasn't dangerous, she just shut down and shivered. My doberman before her wasn't like this. And my doberman before him was, but again with the known abuse in his background from being a court case dog it's likely that he didn't start out that way and didn't need to become that.

It is possible to have a doberman that is actually a really fun dog to have and be around. You just. Have to understand that they are a doberman. My best friend @khayr has a doberman that's a pet, that does not do any sort of protection work. Her dog is very safe to be around! She's a lovely creature and I think well matched to my buddy's needs. But! She's also a doberman! That means she doesn't like the mailman or the UPS drivers! It means when missionaries knock on her door, her dog throws a fit! It means when she's out late at night and someone rapidly approaches her, her dog puts herself between her and the oncoming stranger! Because she's a doberman! She's supposed to do that!

[actuallyadhd]

Book: The Procrastination Equation Subtitle: How to Stop Putting Things Off and Start Getting Stuff Done Author: Piers Steel, PhD Publisher: Random House Canada Year: 2010

This isn't going to be a really formal book review or anything, I just thought I'd provide you guys with the pertinent information, in case you want to read it yourselves. :)

So, basically, Piers Steel is an industrial psychologist who specializes in procrastination. He teaches at the University of Calgary, in the Haskayne School of Business. He started studying procrastination because he procrastinated, so once again we have an expert who used his own problems to influence his studies. :D

The procrastination equation isn't a real equation - that is, it's not something you can plug actual numbers into and figure out what your procrastination number is. It's more of a theoretical approach to the definition of procrastination, that explains how and why people procrastinate. Written as a mathematical equation, it looks like the picture at the top of this post.

In other words, what we expect to receive for a task, multiplied by its intrinsic value (to us), all divided by how impulsive we are times how far away the due date is, equals how motivated we are to actually work on the task in question. The less motivated we are, the more we're going to put it off. This is why so many post-secondary papers are written the night before they're due: the papers are assigned months ahead of time, there is no certain expectancy of a good grade, and young adults are rather impulsive and don't really like working hard on things anyway. So the motivation to write the paper is really low until just before it's due.

One of the things I found really interesting about this book was the stuff about how brain function affects procrastination. Basically, it's the conflict between the limbic system and the prefrontal cortex that buggers us up. In reading about this, I kept thinking to myself, "he's describing ADHD!" but he never uses the term once, in the entire book.

The limbic system is the part of our brain that makes us do things when we want to do them. It's basically the seat of impulsivity. (Oh, by the way, he uses the word "impulsiveness" throughout the book. I prefer "impulsivity," even if my spell checker doesn't believe it's a word.) The limbic system is perfect for a hunter-gatherer society. Of course, evolution means that we are always perfectly designed for the environment we no longer live in. :)

The prefrontal cortex is the part of the brain that deals with executive functioning. It's where we make plans, follow through on plans, and all that other great stuff that is basically contrary to the nature of the limbic system.

On to the practical stuff...

First there was a self-assessment quiz (it's in chapter two, if you decide to read the book). People procrastinate because they have low expectancy, low value, or high impulsivity. As it turns out, my problem is mostly with impulsivity. In other words, I postpone doing things until the last minute because other stuff keeps catching my attention. I do the other things first, not because I don't think the first tasks are important (value) or will pay off in the end (expectancy) but because whatever it is that I end up doing instead is just way more interesting in the moment--long-term thinking just isn't my strong suit. (I'm pretty sure this is due to ADHD because I would always do all the research for a paper right when it was assigned, and then sit on my notes and let things percolate until the night before it was due. So I'd be completely prepared for the assignment and not complete it, even though I had everything I needed in order to do so.)

Chapters 7-9 are the ones that have the actual practical approaches to combat procrastination. I took notes on all of them, but of course not all of them are techniques that are going to be useful for me. I'm going to copy my notes anyway, though, because some of you guys might get something out of it, too. :)

Each bold header below has to do with a reason for doing something; the italicized sub-headers are the names of the ways you can deal with problems in that area, and are followed by explanations of how the methods work.

Expectancy

Success Spirals (+)

Set an ongoing series of challenging but ultimately achievable goals; maximize motivation and make the achievement meaningful.

Think of an area of life of real interest and strive to improve just a little beyond your current skill set.

Break town the tasks that daunt you into smaller and smaller pieces. Keep formal track of your progress. Count your successes.

Vicarious Victory (+)

Find an inspirational role model and/or a positive social peer group.

Seek inspiration from stories or others; it is easier to believe in yourself if you are surrounded by people who believe in themselves--or you!

Join a community, service, or professional organization.

Start your own support group; can be anyone, as long as it is mutually encouraging friends.

Wish Fulfillment (+)

Visualization, either mental contrasting (what you want vs what you have) or creative visualization (what you want, as per The Secret; not as effective as contrasting).

Think about the life you want; focus on just one aspect (break it down!); elaborate on what makes it attractive (e.g., diary, collage, quiet concentration); mentally contrast future with present, focusing on the gap.

Plan for the Worst, hope for the Best (-)

Rather than believing you can entirely and easily beat the problem of procrastination, believe that you can beat it down.

Determine what could go wrong, reflect honestly on past experiences, and ask for advice; list ways you habitually procrastinate and post it where you work; avoid pre-determined risks as much as possible; develop a recovery plan ahead of time; use the recovery plan.

Accept that You're Addicted to Delay (-)

Acknowledge powerlessness over procrastination: truly acknowledging that any single failure of willpower inevitably leads to the collapse of all your self-control gives you far more motivation than believing that occasional lapses can be safely contained.

Keep a daily log of procrastination habits; acknowledge that a weak will is the biggest problem, and "just once" is the beginning of the end; accept that the first delay justifies all the rest of them.

Value

Games and Goals

Finding the balance between the difficulty of your task and your ability to do it is a key component for creating flow, a state of total engagement.

The rist of procrastination diminishes when tasks are relevant, instrumentally connected to topics and goals of personal significance.

You need a string of future goals that you find intrinsically motivating to hook your present responsibilities onto.

Frame long-term goals in terms of the success you want to achieve (approach goal) rather than the failure you want to prevent (avoidance goal).

Make tasks more challenging; connect tasks to long-term goals (what you find intrinsically motivating); frame goals in terms of what you want to achieve rather than what you want to avoid.

Energy Crisis

Spoons (mental and physical).

Do difficult tasks at peak performance times; don't get hungry; exercise lots; make sleep predictable; respect your limitations.

You Should See the Task I'm Avoiding

Doing other things instead of the thing we're supposed to be doing - getting things done, but not the "right" thing.

Identify something you've been putting off, then things that are more enjoyable and do them instead/first.

Double or Nothing

Procrastinators tend not to reward themselves for getting things done.

Anticipated rewards make the work more enjoyable, which helps winning.

List rewards you can self-administer, promise yourself these rewards; consider ways of making tasks more enjoyable (pairing) without overriding the work.

Let Your Passion be Your Vocation

Finding work you want to do is a major step toward avoiding procrastination.

http://online.onetcenter.org/find/descriptor/browse/Interests

Look at careers involving activities you love or like doing; filter out all the occupations for which you don't possess skill or ability; rank by demand.

http://careervision.org

Impulsivity

Commit Now to Bondage, Satiation, and Poison

As you get closer to a temptation, your desire for it peaks, allowing the temptation to trump later but better options.

Throw away the key: eliminate the alternatives.

SatiationL meet your needs in a safe and managed manner before they intensify and take control (schedule recreational activities first, then add chores - "unschedule").

Try poison: punish failure.

http://www.stickk.com/

Identify your temptations, then...

Put them out of reach or far away;

Satisfy your needs first; or

Add disincentives to make them unattractive.

Making Paying Attention Pay

Inside out: pay attention please!

Frame in terms of abstract and symbolic features.

Ascribe negative qualities and consequences.

Outside in: now you see it, now you don't.

Regain stimulus control by making it harder to access or even notice the temptations.

Declutter and replace the clutter with triggers for tasks you usually procrastinate on.

Make workplace a cue by working until motivation disappears; then go elsewhere to goof off (this could be just another profile ont he same computer so you have to log off and back in if you are going to goof off).

Use covert sensitization to make distractions less inviting; focus on abstract aspects of temptations; eliminate cues; replace distraction cues with work-related cues; compartmentalize work and play as much as possible.

Scoring Goals

The finish line is just ahead.

Set corporeal goals with real deadlines, use mini-goals to get started on a task, structure the goals so that they are appealing (i.e., inputs [time invested] vs outputs [what's produced]).

Full automatic.

Intentionally adopt a routine; make an explicit intention to act (if-then is pretty good for this).

Frame your goals in specific terms so that you know precisely when you have to achieve them; break down long-term goals into a series of short-term objectives; organize your goals into routines that occur regularly at the same time and place.

"Optimal self-control involves not the denial of emotions but a respect for them."

[theythinkimsuchagoodboy]

What if after we fucked that one time after the office holiday party we became friends, great friends and our friendship became desexualized overtime and you really trusted me and didn’t think of me as an older married perv you could get off with, but as one of your closest, trusted friends who you went to when you were upset. And we started hanging out once in a while and you’d be so relaxed around me, and one night we’d get a little bit drunk and you’d tell me how tense you were and I’d ask if you wanted a massage and I'd start rubbing your shoulders and you’d start relaxing and my hands would be all over your shoulders and neck and slowly down your sides and up your front and you had stopped wearing a bra around me because it didn’t matter we were such good friends right? And you’d feel my hands working on your tits eventually and it felt so so good, but you know, a little weird, but you’d let me keep going because it was just a massage and we were just friends and then my hands would be under your shirt focusing on your nipples and tits exclusively. My hands groping you from behind, one of your best friends, and you’d feel how hard my dick was, pressing into your back, but that’s just a natural occurrence, no big deal. I’d never try something, right? We're just friends, right? I’ve met your partner! They trust me, too. I'm just your friend, and I'm married, too, I’m just making your body feel good. It's not sexual, right? 

And I suggest you lie down so I could work on your legs. And I start on your calves and it feels great and then your thighs and your lower back and butt. And then mostly your butt and just below it and I suggest maybe you take off your jeans because I can’t really get the right traction and you agree because we’re friends it’s not sexual. And I spread your legs just a little bit and keep working on your lower ass and upper thighs and inner thighs, closer and closer to your pussy. And you’re surprised because your pussy is getting wet which you hope I don’t notice, but of course I do because you’re soaking your underwear and I can tell and then you feel my hand on your cunt as part of the massage but non-sexually, as if there’s a way for one friend to rub another friend’s pussy and it not be sexual. It feels really good and you let out a little moan and are embarrassed and you apologize and I tell you it’s ok and pretty soon you’re moaning as I’m rubbing your pussy exclusively now and you don’t want to admit it, but it’s definitely sexual and you’re cheating on your partner which you never wanted to do. 

You never imagined it would happen with me but it feels so good and you tell yourself it’s a massage and as long as it’s just my hand it’s not that big of a deal, it’s not really cheating, but then I pause for a second and you’re still in bliss and kind of out of it so you’re surprised when you feel my weight on top of you and more surprised when you feel my hard cock press against your opening. And you think this definitely isn’t ok anymore and you think we shouldn’t do this and you think you don’t want to fuck me and you think why would I do this and you start to struggle, your hips bucking, but I’m stronger than you, and I press your face into a pillow so your shouts are muffled, but you’re soaking wet and I slide easily into you and you let out another moan because it feels so good to have a cock inside you again after so long. It's been years! And you don’t want it and you want it and it’s confusing, but as I move inside you, in and out all the way, slow at first, then faster and harder, it’s not so confusing anymore and you arch your back to let me in deeper and you grip the sheets as we fuck and you’re moving with me and moaning with every stroke and you lose yourself in an orgasm and I ask if you’re on birth control and you grunt no and you somehow feel me get harder inside of you and I tell you I want to come in you. I ask if it’s ok and you’re confused again because where else would I come and you start begging me to come inside you. Please you say, please please please fill me up and then I do and collapse on top of you. And you don’t know what our friendship will be like tomorrow but after a few minutes you wriggle out from underneath me and put my dick in your mouth to get me hard again because if we’re going to ruin a close friendship, let’s really ruin it you think. If I’m going to really cheat, let’s make it worth it, you think. And you didn't know I had set up a camera to make a video of it so we're really going to keep doing this over and over and over whenever I want, aren't we?

[wasntthataparty]

Finally making myself write a mini fic?? (Part one cause I had to break it up so it could post??) Cw/Tw Description of injury, head injury

Mostly about Time and Twilight, but the whole chain is mentioned!! It'd been a pretty bad day. Everyone agreed on that. Warriors tore his scarf running from a bokoblin, which ruined his mood for the day. Sky did help him patch it up, though Legend insisted to "make him deal with his stupid scarf himself". Four burned himself forging. Wild had burnt breakfast, which he still blames on the fire. Legend tore his tunic, or, well, a lizalfos tore his tunic, which was....arguably worse than tearing a scarf, but Wars didn't agree with that. Hyrule had overused his magic, and was clearly exhausted. Time pierced his armor, which had bothered him more than he let on. Sky stained his sailcloth, which made the skyloftian even more homesick. Even Wind managed to injury himself, and his fingers still hurt from the fall. Damn those rocks. Twilight was fine, and therefore, had been helping everyone else all day. Today sucked, that was for sure. Twilight looked at the 8 sleeping before him. Wind and Four had snuggled up. Time slept by himself, and he'd given his blanket to Hyrule. He's surprised the old man hadn't gotten cold, it was a somewhat chilly night. Wild and Sky were both sprawled out starfish style. Legend and Wars...were cuddling. He had to get a photo of that later. Neither of them would believe it. Legend would claim dark magic, and Warriors wouldn't claim to touch Legend without a forty foot pole. But he knew they'd do it again. They were brothers, and they've all cuddled at least once. There wasn't anything wrong with it, though The Captain refused to seek comfort from Vet, and vice versa. At least when they were awake. Twilight smiled softly. Maybe not a good day, but definitely a good night. How long had he been watching them again? He looked up, the moon was in the middle of the sky. It was probably time to switch duties. He slowly got up to wake Time. He stood up, and staggered more than he'd like to. Okay, he'd been up a while. He shook Time's shoulders slightly. "Get up, Old man. I'm tired." He yawned after he finished the sentence. Time's eye opened, much more alert than he'd expected for someone who just woke up. "Right, pup. Go to bed, yeah." Twilight wasn't going to argue with him, and he got up quite quickly. He heard him grab more wood, and blow on the fire. ah. He'd forgotten to add more wood to the fire. That's why it seemed so chilly. He'd need to remember that for next time. Time hummed softly, and Twilight felt himself dozing off as he watched the other man. Except for that slight crack he heard. Not the fire, not from Time...a different footstep. Time didn't move, but Twilight was wide awake now. He'd blame the old man for being 'deaf', but it was probably his wolf-like hearing. Maybe? Time wasn't actually going deaf, was he? He almost chuckled at the thought. Either way, he got up from where he was laying, and sat next to Time. "...Twilight? Are you feeling alright?" "There was a noise." He mumbled, yawning again. Time yawned shortly after. "Yep, there will be noise, we're in a forest, pup." "No, like a footstep. A moblin, I'd reckon. Pretty heavy foot." "It could've been the fire, you know." "No, no, it was'n the fire, the fire's more...crackly, y'know?" "Well, I would've heard a footstep, you know that, right?" Time seemed...slightly offended? He wasn't great with expressions, and Time wasn't awesome at showing them, either. "I ain't saying you wouldn't, but I'm telling you I did." "Go to sleep, pup. You need it."

[cbk1000]

Hey, just giving an update because I haven't been on much.

I have been feeling pretty rough after my infusion. Some days are a little better than others, but for the most part I feel like a dumpster fire. I had my follow-up with my hematologist today and told her how I'd been feeling, and she said while it's not uncommon for people to feel worse before they feel better, it usually happens in the week or so after the infusion; she thinks I'm probably having a delayed reaction and/or because I've likely been deficient for quite a while, and this is my first infusion ever, my body is just Going Through It figuring out how to process iron again after rationing for so long. She said to just hang in and that I will feel much better, it's just going to take a bit longer. (I have just barely hit three weeks post-infusion, and I have read quite a few people who were deficient for a long time take more like four to six weeks to start feeling human again, and she said that's definitely the case with some people.) She did say she would order a different type of iron if I need another infusion in the future and see if a different one isn't as rough on me.

I have seen some small improvements in things that have been plaguing me for a while. (Ex: apparently bleeding gums can be a sign of iron deficiency? I was wondering why the fuck they were bleeding so much every time I flossed, till the hematologist asked me if I'd been having issues with bleeding gums. They have been bleeding off and on for a while, and day and night, every time I floss, for months now. Since the infusion they have stopped bleeding.)

The hematologist was super pleased with my labs and how much my ferritin went up from only one infusion. She said my numbers are excellent and now my body has lots in storage to draw on and start helping with all my symptoms. My iron panel looks great now, and the additional tests they did for various bleeding disorders all look good. So basically I just have to grit my teeth and wait for my body to figure out how to use all the iron it's got.

I am about midway, maybe a bit more, through the next chapter of Book of Merthur, but writing/updates will be delayed till I no longer feel like the body of a homeless person who crawled into a dumpster to keep warm and died there. I might throw up a few previews this weekend; I'm sitting on a fair amount of unpublished words in Google Docs.

Thank you to everyone who's checked in on me, and hopefully I will be back to churning out too much gay porn very soon.