#kinda off the cuff

[pileofmush]

In the dead of night, he crawls into your bed. 

Your eyes flutter open, but you already know who it is, for you are intimately familiar with the pad of his feet against the carpet. With the dip of your mattress underneath his weight. With the sense of calm that washes over you whenever he graces you with his presence. And that’s the best way to describe whatever you and the sorcerer have going on. Intimate—and familiar. 

You never know how to categorize it when your friends ask. 

Not friend, nor foe. Maybe both. Or maybe something in between?

There’s a tug of war inside your brain that struggles between wanting to tangle your legs with his under the soft press of your duvet, and wanting to climb atop him, wrap your hands delicately around his neck, and squeeze.

Most nights with him, you do neither. Just lie flat and stare up at the peeling ceiling tile, just barely illuminated by the midnight glow of the moon streaming through your blinds.

Some nights, you do both. Yuuta never seems to mind, either way. Says he just wants to be near you, as he wraps his limbs around you and pulls you to him, snugly. You play dead; go limp in his arms and count the warm puffs of air against the back of your neck like sheep.

It’s not normal, you know.

But it works for the two of you.

It goes like this: Okkotsu Yuuta is a lonely, lonely man, with too much heart and not nearly enough sense. 

It goes like this: You want to crawl into his skin, make home inside his chest.

And that’s really all there is to it. 

Tonight, you sit up and turn on the lamp that sits on your nightstand, casting a muted yellow glow over your surroundings. You blink, rub your eyes, and lift your head in greeting. 

“Hey,” he whispers, black eyes roving over you curiously. He seems alright—whole—though his shoulders sag with an inconceivable weight, and his eyebags speak of many sleepless nights. “What are you still doing up?” Gesturing to the clock on your nightstand that reads 3 am.

You hum. Press your tongue against your teeth. “Waiting for you,” you say, candidly. You understand he's a busy man. That he has responsibilities—'missions', he calls them. But it’s been two weeks since he last visited you. Far too long since the last time. Not long enough. 

At your admission, Yuuta’s mouth melts into a cotton-candy smile. “I missed you, too.”

…

You hadn’t said all that, but you’ll allow it.

Yuuta’s hand slips under the covers, searching for yours, and gives a firm, quick squeeze. He pulls away, reaches behind him and pulls off his navy blue sweater—the soft, cashmere one that you said would look good on him one relaxed day at the mall. The ministrations expose the taut, pale sheen of his skin as the hem of his tee slides up, and you have to breathe deeply to ground yourself.

He folds the sweater in his lap while you push the covers back, then leans over you to set it on your nightstand. Something about him hovering over you flips a primal switch within you, and without thinking you flip it so that it’s him on his back and you leaning above him. Yuuta, to his credit, doesn’t bat an eye. Gets settled between your thighs and waits calmly for…

For you to inhale deeply; to breathe him in and try not to choke. His scent is a cloying, sickly sweetness. A poisonous flower, luring you to something sinister. Begging you to taste him and face the consequences.

It’s a sight to behold, his dark hair fanned out against your pillow, his darkening cheeks, and his dark, dark gaze that pins you in place. 

His hands rest on the back of your thighs, flexing assuredly, and your hands rest on his rising and falling chest, then slowly trail up, up, up, to his cheek, his jaw, his neck. You pinch his skin gently between your thumb and forefinger. Feel his pulse jump in his throat. 

He swallows, and you feel the lump of spit travel down his esophagus.

Intimate—and familiar. That’s what you are to Yuuta. Who else can say the same?

Not one. 

Your hands smooth down to his shoulders as you slowly bend to his ear. Goosebumps prickle across his flesh as you whisper, softly, “Text me the next time you’re going to be away this long.”

Yuuta’s shudder is sinful. 

“I won’t,” he croaks, then backtracks. “Take this long again. I promise.”

Your lips twist into a wry grin. “Good.”

ty for reading (๑´`๑)♡ for my lovely anon, rosie <3

[j4mboree]

buggy boo i love u <3

[shimmerluna]

To be honest, a big part of why I dislike the fact that YR doesn’t explicitly address ableism is because I think this fandom in particular would benefit a lot from the sort of discussions a show that takes so much care with these topics could produce.

With the way people talk about Sara’s auDHD, Micke’s addiction, Kristina’s breakdown, and even August’s ED/addiction, it’s clear a lot of you view mental illnesses/disabilities as a choice someone makes or a punishment they can deserve/earn. There’s a difference between one’s disability being used as an excuse and it being a valid reason/explanation for actions the person still has to take responsibility for that few of you seem to recognize or care about, and treating these characters’ disabilities and mental illnesses like something they earned/deserved bc of something they did implies very harmful beliefs about real disabled people. 

On top of those implications, the only disabled/mentally ill character people treat with nuance and care is Wille, the main character who gets all the excuses/explanations. To a disabled person (i.e. me), it appears that some of you refuse to care about/empathize with disabled people on your own. Instead, you view us as morally bad and alien at the first sign of symptoms, and you only change your mind when an explanation you deem satisfactory makes us palatable or relatable to you. Since it's currently Disability Awareness/Pride Month, it's a good time for some of you to learn how to see both us as people and our disability without lengthy justification or respectability politics.

[cologona]

Handsome squidward looking-ass.

No but actually Doug Mahnke’s art is really good and I’m very glad he was the guy to work on Under the Red Hood. Check out these sequences. That man looks so so weighed down. And just look how much expression Jason shows despite wearing a full-face helmet!

Really liking the way Jason fills out his jacket. Black Mask got it in one when he called Jason a biker gladiator. Very reminiscent of motorcycle fetish stuff. Also I love the wet, fires-in-the-distance atmosphere that the comic has throughout.

[verygoodestboy]

this isn’t a fully formed thought at the moment but if you say you “hate all americans and american things, EXCEPT minorities” you’re tokenizing us (minorities). we’re still americans, we still do all the things you hate like having regional cultures that differ across states, and eating burgers, and not knowing everything that’s going on in the rest of the world.

the international miku trend is fun and silly and a way for people to show off things they like about the place that they’re from! its a cute celebration of the full diversity of the world! it’s political only in the ways that all things are political because we live in a global society, but by and large, these drawings aren’t political action.

you refusing to enjoy or engage with white american mikus from florida or san diego, and actively calling their existence a drain on the art trend exclusively BECAUSE they’re american, while saying you “love Black miku only🥰” isn’t making you a Good Person. and you certainly aren’t winning any Black people brownie points.

i guess what i’m saying is stop using non white and minority americans to justify the hatred for the american government you keep deflecting onto white americans. not because white americans have “never done anything wrong uwu” but because they’re people like you are and people are not wholly good or wholly bad and discounting an entire group of people out of hand as BadTM is, at the very least, extremely unproductive

[hellscap3]

I'll never forget my one teacher in college talking about how he worked on Deadly Premonition and how proud be was of it cause of the different ways they added 'psychological horror' elements. Meanwhile the games got scenes like this:

I had never heard of the game n later was the GGs playthrough of it where I realized it was the most abstract nonsense of a game I had ever seen.

Like. I heard about how great this game was as if it was this man's masterpiece on multiple occupations only to watch it and -- THIS IS THE GAME HE WAS ON ABOUT?? If they didn't have the same title and game company I would have thought he was talking about a different game. Literally.

[moeblob]

I stand by loving emblem Byleth as a high school teacher! He's just vibing! Let the man dance!

[revasserium]

the unofficial ultimate bungo stray dogs reading list

this is mainly for myself bc i rly do want to read most if not all of these and i'm sure it's already been done by someone somewhere. but, i thought why not post it lmao; most if not all of these can be found on anna's archive, z-library, or project gutenberg! (also, consider buying from your local bookstore!) for those that are a bit harder to find, i've included links, though some are from j-stor and would require login to access.

detective agency:

osamu dazai:

no longer human (novel)

the setting sun (novel)

nakajima atsushi:

the moon over the mountain: stories (short story collection)

light, wind and dreams (short story)

fukuzawa yukichi:

an encouragement of learning (17 volume collections of writings)

all the countries of the world, for children written in verse (textbook)

yosano akiko:

kimi shinitamou koto nakare (poem)

midaregami (poetry collection)

edogawa ranpo:

the boy detectives club (book series)

japanese tales of mystery and imagination (short story collection)

the early cases of akechi kogoro (novel)

kunikida doppo:

river mist and other stories (short story collection)

izumi kyouka:

demon lake (play)

spirits of another sort: the plays of izumi kyoka (play collection)

tanizaki junichirou:

the makioka sisters (novel)

the red roof and other stories (short story collection)

miyazawa kenji:

ame ni mo makezu; be not defeated by the rain (poem)

night on the galactic railroad (novel)

strong in the rain (poetry collection)

port mafia:

mori ougai:

vita sexualis (novel)

the dancing girl (novel)

nakahara chuuya:

poems of nakahara chuya (poetry collection)

akutagawa ryuunosuke:

rashoumon (short story)

the spider's thread (short story)

rashoumon and other stories (short story collection)

ozaki kyouyou:

the gold demon (novel)

higuchi ichiyou:

in the shade of spring leaves (biography and short stories)

hirotsu ryuurou:

falling camellia (novel)

tachihara michizou:

in mourning for the summer (poem)

midwinter momento (poem)

from the country of eight islands: an anthology of japanese poetry (poetry collection)

kajii motojirou:

lemon (short story)

yumeno kyuusaku:

dogra magra (novel)

oda sakunosuke:

flawless/immaculate (short story)

sakaguchi ango:

darakuron (essay)

the guild:

f. scott fitzgerald:

the great gatsby (novel)

the beautiful and the damned (novel)

edgar allen poe:

the raven (poem)

the black cat (short story)

the murders in the rue morgue (short story)

herman melville:

moby dick (novel)

h.p. lovecraft:

the call of cthulhu (short story)

the shadow out of time (novella)

john steinbeck:

the grapes of wrath (novel)

of mice and men (novel)

lucy maud montgomery:

anne of green gables (novel)

the blue castle (novel)

chronicles of avonlea (short story collection)

louisa may alcott:

little women (novel)

the brownie and the princess (short story collection)

margaret mitchell:

gone with the wind (novel)

mark twain:

the adventures of tom sawyer (novel)

adventures of huckleberry finn (novel)

nathaniel hawthorn:

the scarlet letter (novel)

rats in the house of the dead:

fyodor dostoevsky:

crime and punishment (novel)

the brothers karamozov (novel)

notes from the underground (short story collection)

alexander pushkin:

eugene onegin (novel)

a feast in time of plague (play)

ivan goncharov:

the precipice (novel)

oguri mushitarou:

the perfect crime (novel)

decay of the angel:

fukuchi ouchi:

the mirror lion, a spring diversion (kabuki play)

bram stoker:

dracula (novel)

dracula's guest and other weird stories (short story collection)

nikolai gogol:

the overcoat (short story)

dead souls (novel)

hunting dogs: (i must caveat here that the hunting dogs are named after much more comparatively obscure jpn writers/playwrights so i was unable to find a lot of the specific pieces actually mentioned; but i still wanted to include them on the list because well -- it wouldn't be a bsd list without them)

okura teruko:

gasp of the soul (short story; i wasn't able to find an english translation)

devil woman (short story)

jouno saigiku:

priceless tears (kabuki play; no translation but at least we have a summary)

suehiro tetchou:

setchuubai/a political novel: plum blossoms in snow (novel)

division for unusual powers:

taneda santouka:

the santoka: versions by scott watson (poetry collection)

tsujimura mizuki:

lonely castle in the mirror (novel)

yesterday's shadow tag (short story collection; i was unable to find a translation)

order of the clock tower:

agatha christie:

and then there were none (novel)

murder on the orient express (novel)

she is the best selling fiction writer of all time there's too much to list here

mimic:

andre gide:

strait is the gate (novel)

trascendents:

arthur rimbaud:

illuminations (poetry collection)

the drunken boat (poem)

a season in hell (prose poem)

johann von goethe:

faust

the sorrows of young werther

paul verlaine:

clair de lune (poem, yes it did inspire the debussy piece, yes)

poems under saturn (poetry collection)

victor hugo:

the hunchback of notre-dame (novel)

les miserables (novel)

william shakespeare:

romeo and juliet (play)

a midsummer nights' dream (play)

sonnets (poetry collection)

the seven traitors:

jules verne:

around the world in 80 days (novel)

journey to the center of the earth (novel)

twenty thousand leagues under the seas (novel)

other:

natsume souseki:

i am a cat (novel)

kokoro (novel)

botchan (novel)

h.g. wells:

the time machine (novella)

the invisible man (novel)

the war of the worlds (novel)

shibusawa tatsuhiko:

the travels of prince takaoka (novel; unable to find translation)

dr. mary wollstonecraft godwin shelley

frankenstein (novel)

[butch-chastity]

I know we joke a lot about how x major property is a homestuck fanfic or y major property is a star wars fanfic but I think people underestimate how many properties are sailor moon fanfics

[carnelianwings]

Surprise, surprise, looks like there’s going to be a new cut of Seed Freedom releasing in Japan ahead of the BD release this Christmas. The new trailer looks good for the redrawn scenes and it’s already said there’s going to be a new/updated epilogue (or maybe even multiple ones?)

Either way I’m glad they fixed some of the wonky parts in the movie (some more obvious than others) and I am so not surprised at Seed Freedom getting the “Final Plus” treatment - while I was okay with the “and Kira and Lacus flew off into the (metaphorical) sunset to have sex on the beach, Athrun returned to Orb to meet up with Cagalli, and Shinn and Luna (presumably) returned to the Millennium with Agnes” ending, I still have a lot of questions for how things ended up politically speaking. Foundation essentially ceased to exist in the space of a week so there’s got to be fall out from that. Plus the part where Orb was Very Obviously breaking the Junius Treaty with all the Mirage Colloid use on both the main space fleet and the Amazing Z’Gok, and also just having the Infinite Justice Type II 😅 Oh and also as part of that “flying off into the sunset” Kira and Lacus pretty much ran off with a Gundam even more powerful than the Destroy so that’s gotta raise even more questions across the board 😅😅😅

Either way, I look forward to seeing it, whether it’s another showing in the theatre or on the BD (I sure hope this is the cut we’re getting on the BD).

[floorpancakes]

princess in my head

happy belated birthday saki my cute sparkly darling fluffy frilly beloved fictional bestie please eat all of the desserts and wear all of the pretty dresses as is your right <3

[blackjackkent]

I've been thinking a lot about that disapproval that Karlach gave when Hector asked who we were fighting after we got pulled into the Stone Lord/Nine-Fingers battle. I'm still not sure what the actual intention behind that disapproval was, but decided to take a stab at rationalizing it, at least for Hector's playthrough specifically.

----

"Something's bothering you, love..." Hector comments to Karlach as they begin climbing wearily back up towards Rivington from the beach.

"That obvious?" she asks with a slight, wry smile.

"Maybe not," he says mildly. "But I pay attention."

She nods and is quiet for a moment, thinking. "I don't like this. Us making friends with that group, out of nowhere."

He nods slowly. "I can't say I was overly pleased with it either. The situation snuck up on us a bit."

"Yeah." She frowns. "The Guild's nothing to mess around with. People usually don't end up in bed with them by accident."

He nods slowly. "A dangerous game - and one where we can't see all the pieces." He pauses and tilts an eyebrow up at her curiously. "But... forgive me if this is an indelicate question, but weren't you with such a band of criminals yourself, before Avernus?"

Her eyes flick away from him and he watches a brief ripple of flame roll along her skin. "I was, yeah. Gortash was no big patriar when I knew him. He was black market smuggling, arms dealing. And I kept him safe." She smiles bitterly. "Until I didn't anymore."

He knows this is a difficult, sensitive subject for her, so he chooses his words carefully. "I might have thought this Guild group would seem like familiar ground, then."

She shakes her head sharply and scowls. "That's the problem, Hec. All too familiar. I've seen what that life does to people. It makes people like Gortash. It makes backstabbers and traitors and liars, who rip up someone's whole life for fun, for a deal, even though all they ever gave was their best--!" Her voice cracks abruptly and she comes to a halt in the middle of the path, her shoulders heaving with sudden sharp breaths.

He stops next to her at once, reaches out to take her hand and hold it while she calms. "I'm sorry," he mutters. "I shouldn't have brought it up..."

"It's fine," she answers shortly, but then she's quiet for a minute or so, steadying her breathing, staring down into the rough sand below their feet.

"I've seen how that shit changes people," she finally says quietly. "And I don't want you to change too."

His eyes narrow in understanding and compassion and he interlaces his fingers tightly with hers.

"You're always trying to do the right thing," she goes on. Her tone eases a little, though her eyes still look haunted by the memories they've called up. "And trying to get us to do the right thing too." She manages a slight grin. "Even Astarion, against his will." She draws a slow breath, lets it out shakily. "You start working with the Guild, in the underbelly... I've seen how fast people lose the good in them."

He nods, tugs her hand to his lips and presses a kiss to her knuckles. "I'm not going to just stand here and say, 'Of course I won't,'" he says after a moment's thought. "Because what you're talking about is serious, and I know it is. But I will watch for it. And we'll watch for each other." He smiles slightly at her. "The smoothest journey comes from neither horse nor cart but from a friend on the same road."

He's relieved to see a slight grin in answer. "Monk proverb?"

"I heard it from a traveling merchant who passed the monastery, actually," he says mildly. "Wisdom grows in all places." A pause. "We both want to see this through - to do the right thing. So we will help each other stay on the right path, while we navigate these darker routes. And I promise you I have no interest in what the Guild can offer me, beyond information about our greater enemy."

She nods slowly. He sees her shoulders relax, the tension starting to leave her eyes. "Good. OK." She squeezes his hand. "Thanks, Hec."

[creeperthescamp]

calcelmo being a big dwemer scholar and yet not knowing how the dwemer disappeared despite all the evidence from morrowind is definitely frustrating (and I think I have made a post like that too) but something I've wondered about is what on earth was bethesda implying with that?? they obviously know what happened in Morrowind and make reference to it in other parts of Skyrim so ???

I think they really missed an opportunity to explore the concept of source survival and reliability and introduce this whole other field of consequences of the red year! Like how much of the events of morrowind's main quest is actually recorded? what do people remember?

we know that events from the previous games are written as books from different perspectives with their own biases (biography of barenziah/the real barenziah) but morrowind was really the last game that had most of its lorebooks specialised to its setting. as far as I can remember we don't actually get any centralised accounts about how the nerevarine defeated dagoth ur in oblivion or Skyrim, mainly cos many of the lorebooks are grandfathered in from morrowind. the defeat of dagoth ur and the fall of the tribunal are simply condensed into a paragraph and tacked onto the end of existing books with no primary sources. and we know that the red year absolutely devastated vvardenfell and the dunmer living there (also the oblivion crisis? never really mentioned anywhere) so there was a very short window of time for anyone to gather some primary sources and try to verify what happened. and even if they did they might not have survived the eruption anyway.

given the info available to the dragonborn within Skyrim it could be entirely possible for calcelmo to treat any theories about the dwemer's disappearance with suspicion, and say that we just don't know what happened to er on the side of caution! but! he never actually elaborates on any of these things and I think that's the thing that really sucks for players who either know about morrowind or don't want to be treated like an idiot!

if Skyrim actually explored the implications of calcelmo's dialogue I think there could've been a really interesting moment for the player where they might feel a sense of loss from having knowledge that can't be known by the dragonborn and shared with npcs like calcelmo! perhaps then playing multiple tes games gives the player a sense of existing on a cosmic scale!

and having that context would also make doing arniel's endeavor WAY more funny

[collegeoflore]

sorry i have vampire the masquerade brain worms u can ignore this.

astarion is Obviously ventrue and as someone who grew up in a banite church i feel like xarrai should Also be ventrue but i feel like it would be insane to make them anything but toreador. but then i thought. maybe they are both ventrue trying to come off as toreador. absolutely the funniest shit on earth to imagine two different ventrue trying very hard to make everyone think they’re toreadors for two different reasons. LOL yep definitely here in the pursuit of beauty don’t mind me… :)

[space-spoon]

i want to use this pattern for a bag but I also want to know if there's something like it that's kuromi themed so I can have my melody and kuromi :D

pattern ✿

[angeltannis]

if I could draw regularly again without injuring myself I'd be drawing so much Asha and Frey content. they are best friends in my mind