#obviously it’s just an accusation atm

[secretagentsagainstwhatever]

Lizzo being accused of fat shaming her dancers seems about right for celebrity culture, still absolutely vile though

[palipunk]

(on the whole Palestine/Irish solidarity thing) obviously its not 100% everywhere,but i can say coming from someone who is Irish + living in small town Ireland ATM, the solidarity and support for Palestine is insanely strong throughout the country (besides from individuals or smaller groups). talks, exhibits, flags, stickers, art, fundraisers etc are so so common even in smaller areas, my local school did a fundraiser for the pcrf etc. Obviously there sadly still is some who support Israel (which baffles me, to say the least) but solidarity with Palestine is very strong among irish ppl

Agreed! And like you said not 100% everywhere but to act like it doesn't exist or if there isn't a historical and current connection between Palestinians and the Irish is just not true - most of what the person arguing was that Ireland's situation is incomparable to Palestine because "Ireland is now a sovereign nation who now has imperialist interests" (which they were forgetting a whole part of Ireland and this was in response to a sticker I made which did not say "Irish government = 100% good" - it was about the historical and current solidarity that exists amongst many of the people).

But even on the Palestinian side, the feeling of solidarity is mutual and companies like Hirbawi have created Irish kuffiyehs to express their connection with Ireland - it almost feels like an insult to the intelligence of Palestinians to accuse us of not understanding solidarity and creating connections with other historically oppressed peoples. erin go bragh!

[jackhues]

warm - jack hughes

prompt: "you're cold?" "no? it's super sunny right now-" "take my jacket anyway."

requested by: @lhugh : )

notes: i really liked writing this one, partially bcz i'm in love with jack and his smile atm, and partially bcz it's just really cute. thanks for requesting <3

tags: @woodruff-edwards <3

gif not mine!

you took a bite of your food, laughing to yourself as jack recounted some old story. 

the two of you were at a local pizzeria in new jersey, enjoying a lunch date since you didn’t have a formal one in quite a while. with the devils being on a long road trip for the past week and your exams taking place right before that… the two of you had been quite busy.

“okay, but did he not read the damn label?” you laughed.

“you know luke,” jack shrugged, laughing lightly. “he relies on mom so much, when she told him the mosquito repellent was on the counter, he didn’t think to read the bottle.”

“and he sprayed insecticide on himself?!” you shook your head to yourself, “one bottle said ‘off’, and the other said ‘raid’. it’s not that hard. and, if we’re being honest here, i expect that more from you than from him.”

“hey!” he protested.

you raised your hands in defence, “be honest with yourself, j.”

he sighed, shaking his head, “yeah… you’re right.”

the two of you laughed, recounting stories from the years you’d known each other. it was a fun day, spent enjoying each other's company more than anything.

after lunch, you headed over to a small cafe, grabbing a coffee and muffin for yourself. jack ordered the same, along with some scones. you looked around the cafe, the one where the two of you had met. 

a small smile made its way to your face as you remembered the day. feeling jack’s eyes on you, you turned towards him.

smiling self-consciously, you asked, “what?”

“nothing,” he shook his head, a soft smile on his face.

safe to say, the ‘nothing’ did not make you any less self-conscious.

“what?” you asked again, kicking him under the table.

“ow!” he grabbed his leg, even though you hadn’t kicked him hard. he was just being dramatic to try and avoid answering the question. at your narrowed eyes, he shrugged to himself. “it’s nothing, i told you.”

“you keep looking at me like… like… i don’t know!” you raised your hands in defeat. “you just keep smiling and looking at me, and it’s starting to scare me.”

“wow, i didn’t know i wasn’t allowed to smile at girlfriend,” he rolled his eyes lightly.

“obviously you're allowed, but you can at least tell me why,” you said. “i mean, it’s making me nervous.”

“it’s funny, because there’s literally no reason for you to be nervous,” he took your hand from across the table, running his thumb over your knuckles. it was such a simple act, but it literally made you melt every time he did it. “i was just thinking about how cute you are. you were thinking about when we met, weren’t you?”

you ducked your head, wondering if you were really that transparent. “maybe, maybe not.”

jack laughed to himself, causing you to scowl and throw a scone at him.

“i don’t know why you’re laughing,” you muttered, crossing your arms. “if i remember correctly, you were the one who spilled both of our coffees.”

“you spilled mine first!” he laughed. 

“and i bought you a new one, even though you’re a freaking millionaire,” you tried to fight the stupid grin that made its way to your face every time you remembered this story. “then you managed to spill both of ours.”

“i bought you another coffee after that,” he reminded you.

“three days later,” you added.

“because you said you were running late and had no time.”

“oh please, you just wanted an excuse to take me out on a date,” you accused.

jack bit the inside of his cheek, fighting his smile. he raised his hands in surrender, “okay, so maybe the perfect opportunity presented itself and i couldn’t help but take advantage of it. but i’d say it led to something pretty great.”

a smile made its way to your face as the two of you cleaned up and headed out. the two of you walked down the street, fingers laced as you told him about your new assignment and how you were actually excited for it. 

a shiver ran down your spine, causing you to squirm.

“what is it?” jack asked, noticing you shiver. “you’re cold?”

“no? it’s super sunny right now-”

“take my jacket,” he slipped his hoodie off, draping it over your shoulders, despite your protests.

“jack, i’m not even cold,” you told him. “it’s just a shiver. it doesn’t mean i’m cold.”

“too bad,” he said, sticking your arms through the sleeves.

you rolled your eyes slightly, but pulled the hoodie closer to yourself. it was big on you, but it was cozy and it smelt like him. 

despite the sun being out, and you not being cold, the hoodie made you feel warm.

-

join my taglist!

[bridgertonbabe]

Bridgerton Spouses Support Group Chat #?

BSSG Group Chat

Kate: Guys can I ask you all a question?

Michael: Shoot.

Kate: Did you all go paintballing without me last week?

Message seen by everyone ✔✔

Kate: Ok it's been 24 hours since my last message and I know for a fact you've ALL seen it so what fucking gives?

Gareth: look if i send a cute video of george and you guys all flood the chat with comments and stuff then hopefully we can drown her out and lowkey gaslight her into forgetting all about it

Kate: What?!

Gareth: oh fu

Gareth sent a video

Michael: Awwwwwwwwww bless he's so adorable

Lucy: he has the cutest laugh!!! 🥰

Sophie: I can't believe he's getting so big already! 💗💗

Phillip: Cute x

Penelope: omg I love the onesie do you know where it's from?

Simon: See I told you he'd love the crawling crab.

Gareth: @ Penelope i'll ask hy

Gareth: @ Simon he can't get enough of it, it's his favourite thing atm

Kate: @ Penelope Well I got it from Bambino

Kate: And I fucking saw the message you obviously sent to the wrong GC @ Gareth , so you can all quit trying to GASLIGHT me!

Kate: Now I'll ask you again; did you or did you not all go paintballing without me?!

Simon: Ok fine we did.

Kate: AHA! I KNEW IT!

Penelope: How did you find out?

Kate: Greg asked me if I enjoyed the spouses paintballing afternoon when he came to pick Katie up yesterday.

Gareth: omfg wtf @ Lucy

Michael: Yeah rare L from you Lulu

Lucy: guys I'm sorry I forgot to take the wristband off before I got home and he instantly recognised where it was from so I had to fess up

Gareth: dammit you've jeopardised our entire set up

Lucy: no no no it's fine I swear! I know some of you guys don't have any trust in your partners but greg can keep a secret and respect our spouse group privacy! it won't get back to any of the other bridgertons, you've got to believe me!

Phillip: He literally blabbed to Kate.

Lucy: yes but only because I didn't tell him that she wasn't invited!

Kate: And why was I not invited?!

Sophie: Because you would have ruined it! You would have turned a fun afternoon into anything but just like you do with every other game and activity we've played before! You're just as bad as the Bridgertons when it comes to anything vaguely competitive and the rest of us just wanted some lighthearted fun without everything descending into chaos and the world burning around us, ok? And that is why we didn't invite you!

Phillip: Yep

Simon: Very that.

Kate: Wow.

Michael: Look Kate you've got to understand it's not you. It's just the psychopathic competitive Mr Hyde in you that scares the bajeebus out of us.

Penelope: yeah it really isn't personal

Gareth: except it is

Kate: For god's sake I'm not that bad! Sure I have my moments but that doesn't mean I should be excluded from your group activities! I can control myself! I've never done anything to cross the line enough to be compared to Mr Hyde for crying out loud!

Sophie: You accused me of faking going into labour with Alex and refused to call me an ambulance when we played Cluedo.

Simon: You keyed my car after Daph pissed you off in Monopoly.

Michael: And you threw Newton's poo on mine when I won charades.

Phillip: You've always mocked me for having panic attacks during game nights.

Penelope: You pushed Colin down the stairs.

Lucy:

Kate: Oh boo fricking hoo! I'm so sorry you're all a bunch of whiny oversensitive little babies who can't take the slightest bit of heat from some perfectly healthy competition!

Gareth:

Lucy: is the perfectly healthy competition in the room with us?

Phillip: I dread to think what you consider to be unhealthy competition.

Kate: Oh go have one of your little anxiety attacks about it then you weakling

Michael has removed Kate from the chat

Sophie: I would say I'm surprised she can stoop to a new low but I'm really not.

Lucy: and this is why I also don't regret not inviting her to laser tag or the escape room

[zutaralesbian]

Officially finished a first play through of all the romantic routes in book 3. Gonna give my review/thoughts on all of them. Probably a long post ahead because I have a lot of feelings even if no one but me cares lmao. (Obviously, spoilers under the cut)

The overall book

I’ve already seen someone in the tag say that this book had their least favorite plot but favorite relationship scenes. And I think I have to agree with that. The villains of this book just…did not intrigue me the way the villains of the first two books did. I’m not sure why but something about them didn’t hit. HOWEVER the romance and friendship scenes were excellent, the best of the series so far. And because I typically care more about characters than I do plots, that saved it for me.

Gonna ramble about the routes in order of the way I played them. (Since I only play the femslash routes, I’m going to be referring to the characters only by their female names in order to not complicate things. But obviously most of it applies to the male versions too.)

Ava

Ohhhhh Ava. My personal fave but the one that hurts the most lol. And this book (especially the ending) was no different. Though to her credit, we DID get a lot more from her than I thought we were going to get. Ava showed far more vulnerability in this book than she did in the first two books combined. From telling the detective her backstory (which was unbelievably sad btw. I totally get why she’s so emotionally guarded), taking the detective on that car date and letting them in on something that gives her personal enjoyment, and affirming to the detective more than once that she’s afraid to lose them.

And then….that kiss/confession scene. Like many others, I predicted that we were going to get a kiss only for Ava to take it back. But it DID kind of surprise me that she was so honest about it and did confess that she knew there was something between them. I kind of figured it was going to be an impulsive scene with no actual confessions. So this was better than I imagined. Still, it was a gut punch. And while I sympathize with Ava’s trauma and I don’t think she owes the detective a relationship, it is kind of coming off as her (unintentionally or not) playing with the detective’s feelings. So because of that I do think she sort of deserved the verbal smack-down your UB bestie gives to her towards the end. (In my route, Morgan accused her of caring more about protecting herself than she did about protecting the detective…and atm I’m kind of inclined to agree with that.)

I see Ava finally giving in at some point during book 4. Mostly because at this point…where else can her route go? They’ve kissed and feelings have been confessed. There’s no taking that back. It can only go up from here now, right? (At least I hope lmao). I’m wondering if the detective is going to move into the warehouse in the near future now that they’re officially a member of Unit Bravo? That could also be interesting on this route.

I love Ava and desperately want her to finally be happy. But she needs to stop sabotaging herself 😩

Favorite scene: The car date! I loved that we got to see a lighter, more peaceful side of her during it. Plus that wrist kiss 🥺

Morgan

While Ava is my favorite member of Unit Bravo, I do have to confess that Morgan was probably the MVP of book 3 specifically. Both her romance route and her friendship scenes were excellent in this book. Her character development is so apparent. I love how the detective steadily notices Morgan using less and less sexual innuendos in their conversations together as the route goes on. Not because Morgan has lost interest, but because she’s becoming legitimately afraid of the possibility of something happening to the detective…and grappling with the realizations that she really does not want to lose them. I was initially surprised by the lack of sex in her route, but the fact that there wasn’t one until near the end was really fitting imo. And at that point, it wasn’t just sex, it was making love. (Whether Morgan fully realized it or not). The route was just so emotional, in a way I wasn’t fully expecting.

I think at this point, Morgan knows that the detective is very important to her. She just isn’t fully sure how she wants to define the relationship. But I see her getting there very soon. I used to say that I saw Morgan fully giving in to her feelings before Ava (and I still think that) but maybe they’re both going to get there in book 4. Just Morgan towards the beginning/middle and Ava probably at the end.

Favorite scene: The shower scene. It was so tender and sweet. I loved that it was completely non-sexual and just Morgan helping the detective with their wounds. It’s possibly in my top 3 scenes of the series so far in general tbh.

Nat

I enjoyed Nat’s route this book way more than I thought I was going to. I like her character but her route has always admittedly been my least favorite…mostly just because I found it the least interesting. However, that certainly started changing here.

First off, it was surprisingly spicy. I already mentioned this in another post but I’ll say it here too. I find it very funny that Nat comes off as so scandalized by the sexual stuff in Morgan’s route but then in her own route…we get a potential outdoor sex scene, and one against a pool table lmao.

But outside the shallow stuff, I also liked all of the internal conflict with Nat. Her route is arguably the fastest burn. (I know Farah’s was kind of fast as well, but Farah at least hasn’t dropped the L word yet. At least not on my play through). Nat fell hard and fast. HOWEVER I think the reason for that might be because there’s a lot of angst coming in her route in the future. It’s obvious she’s keeping something about her past a secret from the detective…something dark. And she’s afraid that if the detective finds out about it, they won’t love her anymore. I’m very intrigued to find out what that is. My guess is she spent a period hunting and killing people before she joined the agency and found redemption. Whatever it is, it’s sure to be juicy.

Favorite scene: Their first sex scene. I loved that it comes right after the detective’s first love confession.

Farah

I saved Farah as my last solo route because I wanted to get some fluffiness in before delving into the pain the triangle was bound to bring me. And it definitely delivered. Her route had me smiling like an idiot throughout most of it.

But I also enjoy the complexities of Farah’s character. It’s very apparent that she has abandonment issues. Even though she’s obviously happy being with the detective, she also isn’t 100% sure that the detective isn’t going to eventually leave her, which breaks my heart. (And that’s probably part of the reason the L word hasn’t been dropped on her route yet). In a way, she’s almost as emotionally guarded as Ava and Morgan but she just hides it better. (Using a sunny and happy persona).

My hope for her is that she eventually gets to a place where she can talk to the detective about those insecurities. My guess is eventually, something big is going to happen that’s going to finally fully prove that the detective is in it for the long haul with her. Maybe she gets kidnapped and the detective goes through a lot to save her, or something like that.

Favorite scene: The movie date :)

Love Triangle

Not gonna lie, I’m not a huge fan of the love triangle. Partly because I always feel bad and making the decisions stresses me out lmao. But because I want to see everything, I have a detective for it.

The drama is heating up. Nat is beginning to realize there’s something going on between Ava and the detective, she just doesn’t want to accept it yet. And they’re starting to fight more :( I take solace in the fact that the author has already said that A and N’s friendship will be okay in the end, no matter what happens with the triangle. But I’m assuming we’re in for some more drama before things settle.

Being that Ava is my fave, I’ve pretty much always planned to have my detective eventually choose her, even though I feel bad about hurting Nat. But ngl, this book only further cemented that decision. I know there’s probably traumatic reasons why Nat is so overprotective of the detective but Ava was right when she said she was smothering them. I find Ava’s way of handling things (obviously wanting to protect the detective but also acknowledging they’re strong and should be able to get the chance to fight for themselves) far more attractive, personally.

(Side note: It’s interesting that there’s kind of been a role reversal between Nat and Ava on that front. In the beginning, Nat wanted to tell the detective the truth about the supernatural whereas Ava wanted to keep them in the dark. But now, Nat wants the detective to sit out of the fighting while Ava thinks they should get to be involved).

I’m wondering when the triangle is going to be resolved? My current guess is by the end of book 4, being that’s when I think Ava will finally give in on her solo route as well).

Basically, everyone in Unit Bravo needs therapy.

[mrs-monaghan]

For your last anon (YoonMin versus JiKook), JM NEVER flirts with another member (kitty gang Jimin proper lusting for JK) and NEVER gets all shy and uwu with another member except JK (JM birthday live) and JK never ass grabs or ass slaps anyone except Jimin.

Not the point of my ask though. This is a different opinion so I hope you will post it. You talked about Jikook post ME/MS and how they could be more ‘loud’ or at least be less hesitant in their closeness. I’m a pragmatic person who believes that adversity changes you in some way. This is 1.5 years we are talking about, by the time they are done with it, assuming Jimin goes in early next year, he will be 30/closer to. Men, generally speaking, go through a lot of emotional growth when they hit that space. If Jimin goes in before JK, and V, as I suspect, it will allow Taekook to bond more and all this is in addition to the time they will already be spending together promoting. Btw I’m obviously assuming all this based on how things are atm and could really just be talking out of my ass so well, take it with a pinch of salt but I cannot discount the possibility. Anyway, this time away and all this bonding plus woogas or time with them, time in the states, could also allow JK to explore more…away from JM (if we believe that JK has only been exposed to JM for the last so many years).

So all this this plus JMs introspective time during MS could also lead to a change in the way Jikookers see JM/JK. It is a real possibility to bear in mind.

Interesting take

JK never ass grabs or ass slaps anyone except Jimin.

Goddammit. I'm about to sound like Storm here which normally it would be fine but I already got accused of copying how she runs her blog. Whatever that means. But, here I go. Anon, original content is important. Gosh dammit

That was painful. 🤕 I just sounded like her there but its true. I think you've only been watching Jikook compilations if you have never seen JK spank another member. How can u not know this though? He's obsessed 🤣🤣

Here is a hilarious crack compilation of him spanking and grabbing ALL of them. I love crack videos 🤣🤣🤣 This isn't crack but another compilation. Jimin and Jhope get the worst of it 🤭🤭🤭

I will say this though... with the others he doesn't rub and squeeze. He does with Jhope sometimes, but it's mostly the Jibooty that gets squeezed and rubbed before or after the spanking. He hee. I mean, damn. It hits different for sure especially in slow-mo 🙈🙈

OG tweet here

[wosobronze]

A few thoughts because I'm catching up!

The place that shall not be named grosses me out. They also accused the person who goes to Barça's matches and sees the players arrive/leave of lying about seeing lucy and ona arriving together to every match, which essentially seems to have made her feel like she needed to take photos. Why this need for photographic evidence of everything? I mean, we know they're together so is it that hard to just take some sightings with a grain of salt instead of gaslighting people into stalkerish behaviour?

Anyway, I don't think Lucy would post those flowers if there wasn't some kind of personal significance to them (I feel like Ona's like also confirms that there's at last a pic or two in that dump that relate to her). Maybe it's an anniversary or there could be some other kind of significance to their relationship but I don't think it's a coincidence that there's a kind of romantic vibe to that dump. They are very sweet and seem crazy for each other atm 🫠🥹

i feel like people sharing stories/times they’ve actually seen them is fine! it’s cute and i love when anons come on here and tell me about meeting players etc as long as there’s no sneaky photos taken and no one’s actively following them then i don’t see any harm in that. obviously it’s very hard to know what’s actually true tho without some sort of proof but no one should be asking for evidence anyway as it’s invasive so i guess you just kinda have to pick & choose what ur believing. an anon said that someone claimed to see them in a restaurant or something and lucy’s recent pic could support that so i’m sure there is some genuine people that do spot them now and again.

mhm i agree, the like kinda sealed it for me that it’s something to do with them (whether that be an anniversary or ona just brought her flowers to be sweet.) could be completely wrong tho and she could just be being a supportive gf and liking the post bc she likes it lmao but i’m happy in my little delulu luna love bubble😌

[compassionatereminders]

Anon said "And who's fault is it that you are awake for 35h+ not having a good time? You, exactly. That's why it's not useful to do drugs while you are in fucking Japan. You are putting the person you are staying with in danger for doing drugs and scare them with not sleeping. Congrats. Sure when you are in Denmark you can do wtf you want but going into a foreign country and doing drugs? That wasn't the wisest idea 🤷🏻‍♀️"

Ok but like... Will anon kindly know their fucking place and take a seat? I know this kind of thing doesn't really deserve an answer, but it pissed me off, and I deal with that by being argumentive :P

Point number 1: whose "fault" is it that Kat is awake on drugs, feeling poorly, for 35+ h? Well, as anon points out, Kat certainly has some responsibility in this situation. But in any given situation, the "fault" can be placed anywhere, depending on who you feel like attacking.

Unless you imagine Kat is literally stealing meds from me without my knowledge, does this situation not also imply "fault" on my side? Have I not knowingly taken on the responsibility of caring for Kat, drug use and all? Please. Don't reduce me to some poor little meow meow being taken advantage of and "put in danger" by the big bad Kat.

What is actually interesting here is anon's need to assign blame in the first place, and the fact that they present this perceived blame as "gotcha", when in fact they are literally repeating what Kat has already said herself.

Then, it would seem to me, that their primary investment is in hurting Kat.

If they truly are SO worried for the well-being of my brother and I, you'd expect them to sense that Kat is already feeling poorly and some amount of guilt/shame-fuelled anxiety. They would be aware that trying to make that worse, will only make the situation harder on everyone. But fact is, they don't care. About Kat, or me, or my brother.

They see an opening, and they immediately punch at it.

Anon, people like you are the reason people don't get help for legitimate problems, people like you actively make life harder for already-suffering people, people like you create a guarded defensiveness in anyone, you are the polar opposite of a compassionate reminder.

Do you think shame and guilt are constructive emotions? Do you think they are good for encouraging healthy behavior? If you do, consider go do some research...

Point number 2: ok no one is in danger, chill out. I think anon is just wildin', but just in case someone out there is legitimately worried, I'm gonna spell this part out. OBVIOUSLY Kat is not doing anything in a foreign country that could get her into serious legal trouble. If nothing else, I wouldn't let her, but she also wouldn't risk that. Misuse of prescription medication is problematic, but it's not dangerous in a legal sense, the way it would be, if we started acquiring street drugs in a country known for cracking down hard on illegal drugs.

Maybe anon is suggesting, rather, that Kat will become "dangerous" from overdoing drugs. I can assure anon that if either Kat or I thought she could become "dangerous" -and by "dangerous" I mostly mean "psychotic" and "dangerous to herself", then she would not have access to these drugs atm.

3: "scare them with not sleeping" .... Ok now you're just reaching. It might have been recently Halloween, but someone struggling to sleep, and subsequently needing a bit of help taking care of herself physically/mentally is not exactly a jumpscare ^^"

4: people who say "congrats" ironically are the literal worst. Go roll in a pile of pebble.

-Quinn

Some words directly from Quinn - the actual real life person involved in this unfortunate affair. So maybe you can all stop putting words in his mouth now? I mean considering that none of y'all actually know enough details about the situation to do anything but make antagonistic accusations

[yaksha-garden]

//holds a microphone up to u. tell me about the slay the princess/eden brainworms.

i am RIPPING the microphone out of your hand and marching up to the front of the stage to tell everyone about the brainworms. none of you will be spared. this is what you have wrought. you've let the world ending princess out of the basement now.

but also. massive Slay The Princess spoilers below. seriously, this is gonna spoil the whole deal of what the Princess actually is, and it's really the sort of game you should go into reasonably blind, you won't regret it. It's hot among indie horror let's players atm I think, so you shouldn't have too much trouble finding a playthrough.

But then again I'm not your dad so just know you've been warned.

first of all: the princess' final form/The Shifting Mound takes cues from the iconography of hindu deities, or at least seems to. if the reference was unintentional I'll be genuinely surprised (this isn't an accusation of appropriation or anything - Hinduism isn't a closed religion, and I actually think the reference fits with the Shifting Mound and the princess' many forms' whole situation, so it's just a cool detail). it will be informing my inner picture of eden's true form during their "glory days" (before plague and giving up the Keystone and most of their power) from now on.

but the whole deal of like... the princess (and the many forms she can take) being the fragmented essence of a deity of change who was feared because she also represents death is like holy cow! edencore! they're essentially a deity with a fragmented memory, a multifaceted domain, and diminished existence! they don't represent chaos but nature can be kinda similar, in themes if not aesthetics. and especially like... in the fear of something ultimately natural, like death. and how that fear isn't unfounded or unreasonably, but when taken too far, it inflicts disaster on the world.

eden too is a shapeshifter. mostly in that they have animal forms, but i think emotionally, they're a mimic - and that's the source of a lot of their apparent volatility. if someone's kind to them, they'll be downright magnanimous right back. if someone antagonizes them, they'll be bitchy in turn and they won't be the one to de-escalate or stop holding the feud first. that tbh. that sort of thing is the driving force behind The Princess' shifting forms imo. she is a creature of perception, you are what you make her, but I find she responds in kind to whatever you, the protagonist, do. if you imprison her, she seeks to imprison you. if you betray her, she'll betray you when you're the one with the exposed back. but if you love her, she'll love you back. cuts both ways.

also like... the world the game takes place in. the construct. i kind of want to make something like that as like, a dream of eden or another powerful figure? maybe one of the Devatas' past schemes to get Eden away from The Verdant Haven permanently was to trap them in that sort of dream realm, a forever-repeating, mutating, airtight story-realm. obviously that didn't work. this is where the brainworms are taking me in terms of setting and backstory design.

and also... this isn't about main verse eden. in fact, it's about their original verse, a soulslike-inspired hindu mythology-based setting where Eden was the dying, comatose god who all plant life depended on, and Vayu/Yuya was the protagonist trying to revive them. And I made this years, before I ever knew about Slay The Princess, but by sheer coincidence, Yuya <--> Eden what the protagonist <--> The Princess in slay the princess in terms of metaphysics: separated fragments of the same whole. someone who reccomended the game to me actually said after I played it and rambled at him that he partly reccomended it to me because it reminded him of vayuden a little. and man. that made me ecstatic.

anyway this is not nearly the full extent of the brainworms, just the brainworms I could put to words. you understand. thank you thank you for indulging me.

[addictedtostorytelling]

Hello! Thanks for all your insights. I have a question about the nature of Sara’s relationship with Hank. Do you think they had sex, or was it more just do on dates?

hi, anon!

oh, they absolutely have sex!

remember: sara and hank date for over a year in show-time. there's no way that a scoundrel like hank would hang around for that long if all he were getting out of the arrangement were (chaste) nights at the movies or dinners out. after all, he could've had those things with his other girlfriend, elaine, and not gone through all of the trouble of maintaining a complicated and potentially dangerous "double life" where he was stringing two women along otherwise. for him, the whole point of being with sara—i.e., of having a second girlfriend—is so that he can have another woman to have sex with.

and, frankly, while sara downplays that aspect of their relationship in grissom's presence in episode 03x02 "the accused is entitled," the truth is that, for her, her and hank's relationship is largely just about the sex, too.

let’s face it: hank’s pretty, but he ain’t smart enough for the likes of sara sidle. he’s not interesting enough for her, either. he lacks emotional depth. has no poet’s soul. he’s not half the man that gil grissom is.

sara is not dating him for the conversation.

she’s also not dating him for any kind of “love match.”

let’s be real: she’s in the relationship for the companionship—both of the “night out on the town” AND the “between the sheets” kinds.

—because, really, those are the things that she’s not getting from grissom atm.

as i talk about here,

in sara’s mind, she’s been waiting around for grissom to act on their mutual feelings for each other for two and a half years now. she moved to vegas expressly for the purpose of being with him, and he knows it, and she knows it. she thought they were going to date, but then they didn’t, and, ever since, she’s been clinging to that old hope, keeping herself “available” to grissom and trying to be patient until he comes around. she’s been playing the part of the good “work girlfriend” to him, but nothing has come of it. grissom keeps evading her and giving her the runaround, so what choice does she have but to accept that he has no interest in having a romantic relationship with her outside the lab, you know? she can’t keep starving herself of the things she really needs on the off-chance that maybe someday grissom will work up the courage to make a move.

she’s got to live her life.

hank seems like a nice enough guy, and he obviously wants to be with her, so why not go for it with him? it seems like he can give her everything that grissom can’t or won’t: i.e., he can be there for her outside of work, be open about how he feels about her, do activities with her, have sex with her, share a life with her, etc.

sara’s connection with hank remains largely superficial, despite going on for a fairly long time—and, honestly, that’s how sara prefers things.

as i talk about here,

outside of with grissom, sara tends to form shallow—mostly physical—relationships with good-looking guys to whom she does not very deeply relate, either on an intellectual level or a personal one. her m.o. seems to be “find somebody who’s pretty to look at and not altogether intolerable. stay with him until he disappoints you, and then move on. wash, rinse, repeat.”

one might look at this pattern and say that sara simply has poor relationship skills (or, as warrick quips in episode 07x17 “fallen idols,” has bad taste in men), but while that observation isn’t untrue, i think there’s more to the issue than perhaps first meets the eye.

in episode 05x13 “nesting dolls,” sara mentions that she tends to “choose men who are emotionally unavailable”—and my thought is that she does so in order to protect herself from having to be vulnerable with them, and specifically so that she won’t have to talk about her past.

while of course sara has no idea that hank is living a double life and keeping her as his “woman on the side” when she first starts dating him, my sense is that sara is nevertheless on some level aware that hank isn’t going to push her to disclose more than she wants to—that he isn’t really interested in forming a deep, emotional bond.

i gather that what sara says in episode 03x02 “the accused is entitled” about her relationship with hank being mostly about “going to the movies” isn’t altogether a lie (though she does certainly downplay the sexual component to the relationship because grissom is standing right there).

her relationship with hank is mostly a “go to the movies together” kind of relationship—“go to the movies” and have sex, but not necessarily build a life together or bare their souls to each other in any meaningful way. they fit each other in around their busy professional schedules (and, in hank’s case, his relationship with elaine alcott), but there is no sense that their relationship will ever progress or intensify. it’s not as if either one of them anticipates an engagement or marriage to come.  

it’s worth noting that, in show time, sara and hank’s relationship spans from january ’02 to may ’03, and yet they never move in together, even though they date for over a year.

that both hank and sara are able to hide big, important parts of their lives from each other with relative ease—hank, the truth about his other girlfriend; sara, the truth about her family background—speaks to the fact that their relationship does remain mostly superficial, right through to the very end.

this arrangement, of course, suits hank because it allows him to keep his two lives—and two girlfriends—very separate from each other. that sara is so aloof makes it easy for him to balance his more domestic life with elaine with his more “fun-based” fling with her. but sara also benefits from this compartmentalization, as she is able to have companionship outside of work (which, in s2 and s3, is something she wants but knows she cannot get from grissom, who would be her first choice to go to otherwise) without ever having to worry that hank will delve too deeply into who she is or where she comes from. because he doesn’t really ask, she doesn’t even have to lie, per se; just keep quiet. as long as their relationship remains focused on sex and shared activities, there is little danger that she will ever have to disclose those truths which she would rather keep private.

while i can’t substantiate my claim, i speculate that had hank ever started to express serious curiosity about sara’s past or seek to deepen their connection, sara would have panicked and immediately ended the relationship.

not just with hank, but with her college boyfriend, doug wilson, and taylor wynard, as well, sara chooses men who are emotionally unavailable as a safeguard against having to become emotionally intimate and/or disclose her past. she so fears that anyone who were to learn the truth about her childhood and family history would reject and think badly of her that she preemptively prevents this from happening by choosing to partner with men who are only too happy to keep their relationships with her at the surface level and based mostly on sex.

to continue from this post,

the same kinds of evasive, aloof behavior that might make another woman start seriously side-eyeing hank and wondering what he was up to are exactly what makes sara feel like it’s okay to be with him for so long.

that he never wants anything more from her than to go out to eat or to the movies, grab a drink, and then head back to her place for some sex before bidding her goodbye for the night is what she considers ideal.

she doesn’t have to worry about him falling in love with her and her being unable to reciprocate (as there is nothing in his comportment that would suggest that his feelings for her run more than skin-deep or even someday could). she also doesn’t have to lie to him because he isn’t curious about or embedded in her life enough to brush up against the topics that she has deigned off-limits for him and everyone else in the world.

if he were a more involved boyfriend or his feelings for her were more serious, she might have to start generating excuses as to why he couldn’t meet her bff from college and staving off his questions about her childhood hopes and dreams and straight-up lying to him about why she doesn’t have a single photograph of her parents displayed anywhere in her apartment. she might also have to examine the moral implications of dating him while knowing full-well that she was still in love with grissom.

that she doesn’t have to do any of those things—and that their relationship remains at the same low level of emotional and social intimacy from start to finish—is the only thing that keeps her with hank for so long, to be honest.

when sara and hank break up, it’s telling that her primary reaction is embarrassment rather than heartache.

to continue from the above-linked post,

she isn’t actually heartbroken about losing hank, as she wasn’t really attached to him to begin with, but him misusing her so heinously—playing her for a fool, treating her like a toy, using her own tendencies against her—does cause her to feel pretty bad about herself and contributes to her already extant sense that something is deeply wrong with her.

she’s not dumb: in hindsight, she realizes that there were a million red flags in their relationship, but she ignored them all because she liked the color.

now she wonders: what kind of fucked-up person is actually happy with an absentee boyfriend? really, what does it say about her that her ideal relationship is one where the guy she’s with is cheating on her and she’s essentially enabling him to do so due to her massive commitment issues?

she realizes, in retrospect, that she was so content with having a relationship that was based pretty much solely in the physical that she “allowed” hank to use her.

the ironic thing, of course, is that prior to finding out about elaine, sara had actually felt somewhat guilty for dating hank while still very much being in love with grissom; it never occurred to her that the road of “i’m using you to get mine because you’re not interested in any kind of deeper connection” could be a two-way street. she had thought she was the one who was being unfair.

it’s a shock to her system when she realizes that hank was being even less emotionally honest than she was the whole time they were together.

anyway.

i’m letting this answer run long now, but the bottom line is: yes, sara and hank absolutely sleep together! they wouldn’t ever had stayed together for so long if not for the sex, in fact.

thanks for the question! please feel welcome to send another any time.

[sonicboomseason3]

Hi, I can relate. Just feeling down atm ): Many, many problems going on. I haven't send an ask to anyone in agessss. Hmm. I guess my question would be - what are your thoughts on the new Sonic Prime trailer? I've been a fan of Boom since it was first announced but I will always love Boom. A guy can balance multiple (yet similar) favourite shows! :)

hi, thanks for writing in!! ......why did i type that i sound like a podcaster doing a q&a session

anyway i was pretty excited to just have something after months of not getting anything, so even if it was short and still a teaser rather than an actual trailer, i really liked it!! the visuals, animation, and fight choreography are sick and i already ADORE deven mack as sonic <3 ive also always been a sucker for stories about multiple universes so im just really looking forward to prime in general

though im going to go off on a bit of a tangent here so dont read if you dont want to hear this: ive been growing weary of shadow discourse for a while but this teaser was really the catalyst to me realizing just how much i fucking hate all the arguments that surround his character! id be lying if i said that certain peoples reactions werent a major factor contributing to the already shitty week i was having. inb4 im not trying to disrespect anyone or their opinions whatever they may be so please dont take this as a personal attack but i truly despise how sonic and shadow cant fight for 5 seconds on screen (with no context!) without this widespread panic that hes just going to be a pointless rival. you know, even though he and sonic have always fought? because their personalities clash? because they have different methods of handling problems that arise? theyve BEEN fighting aklsdjflas the only time shadow fought sonic just to spite him was in boom and boom!shadow does not count. say what you want about boom!shadow but he does. not. count. other medias like sonic x and idw all had them fight with actual stakes involved which is perfectly fine and normal and how conflict usually works

at this point i just want sega to come out and explain their entire agenda with shadow post-06 is (as well as how they see him in comparison to everything before that) like i know thats not gonna happen and obviously it wont stop people from disagreeing with the direction theyve taken him in (and again its fine if they do), but at least everyone could finally be on the same page. because with the way things currently are, theres no way someone can give their opinion on how they perceive shadows character (no matter what it is or how much evidence they have to back it up) without being called media illiterate by people who have just as easily disputable interpretations. i personally would love to talk extensively about how i see him and explain why that is the case but i wont because i dont want annoying people setting off my anxiety by accusing me of not understanding the fictional hedgehog <333

(yes i know this applies to pretty much all of the sonic characters at this point but shadows the big one and also relevant dont @ me)

[traumasurvivorshelpingsurvivors]

Hi, this is the recent anon with the racist, sexist etc mom.

Tw emotional abuse, suicidal ideation

I need some tips: not only me but also my partner are living with my mom at the moment and my partner can bear my mom much worse than I do. He's always soo close to replying to her racism etc or, for example, we decide to cook something and she will be inspired to cook too (at the same time) and just take our pots with boiling water and put her stuff in etc. My partner is very sensitive with that because he loves cooking, his parents are cooks as a job. And while I have.... Repressed all emotions, when I am around her, and just leave the pots to her and cook a bit later, he always gets very angry (understandable but not helpful). We usually cook separately because my mom usually eats meat with meat and occasionally a bit rice at the side, and we are vegans.

And my moms racist talk.. That's harder for me to bear than the usual bs she talks, but he sometimes has to leave the room so he won't say anything. And I am very afraid this won't work out much longer.

And my mom seems to be pissed of him too. I mean, she's generally more pissed since her diagnosis etc understandable but tbh I can't feel any sympathy for her and can't bear her much. I have one of my recurring (and re-leaving so don't worry, I don't worry either) suicidal phases so yeah. Idk which breeded which but I try to be away from her as much as possible.

She's been more abusive again. It became less as I grew older (and knew and followed the rules) and when my partner moved it, it almost stopped (don't embarrass yourself in front of strangers, right?). But it started again. Don't need to get into details, it isn't as verbal as before but very passive aggressive. She's also very restless so she always finds a reason to be mad at me.

She always asks me stuff about my partner or tells me something I shall tell him. Like, last weekend he was cooking for us and she was behind him with her cooking stuff (ready to steal his pots) and he wanted to clean the hotplate but since she was behind him, he just brushed the dirt into his hand and threw it away. And on monday, my mom gave me her most aggressive cleanser since "we obviously never clean the plate properly. She saw, how my partner did it so now she's disgusted" (since she can't imagine, this was an hurry-exception). Which is so hurtful because I clean the kitchen daily to give her less reasons to yell but ok.

Like, this is a sidestory but she always thinks shitty of me. I remember one random day, I came home from school, walked the dog (as usually), came home again and short time later, she came home from work and immediately yelled at me because she was certain, that I didn't walk the dog that afternoon. She had no reasons, nothing was different, she was... sensing it? Idk she has such days on which she accuses me randomly and wrongly. And it shows me that overall, she believes I am a bad person, who wouldn't do anything good or properly, if I wasn't watched.

And her... arrogant behavior. "Yeah, you'll now clean the kitchen properly! I already put the cleaner-bottle on the hotplate." ohh, too gracious. Try not to overwork yourself. It's also never a question but a command.

I am getting a bit drawn away but I feel like I need this.

And after I cleaned she told me, how wrongly my partner "cleans" the kitchen but "Oh, I just wasn't in the mood to argue, so I just thought, I'll tell you and you can tell him".

This really reminds me of the time after my parents seperated. They didn't talk but still wanted to insult one another so I had to deliver the messages "Mom said, you should pay child support!" "Dad said you should get a fucking job" etc. And I hated it as a kid and refused at some point but... Me and my partner need this home atm. So I have to keep the peace. Which is hard work.

She is also always so... into things that aren't hers. My partner has skin issues and got a creme from his doctor recently to use after shower and he forgot it the first time. And my mom saw the still closed bottle and was like "Didn't he use the creme yesterday, after he showered? Oh he's so unreliable!!" or, he needed to talk to his doc so he wrote him an email but got a number wrong from his medical insurance id and the doc said, "sorry, there's something wrong and I can't help you until you give me the right number". And my mom somehow knew about the doc issue (it was a sole bureaucratic issue, no health thing, nothing urgent) and randomly one day said "what did the doc say?" and I didn't think quick enough so I made the mistake to be honest and said "He got a number mixed up and needed to write to the doc again". And my mom was sighing so loud, for like 5 minutes straight, how my partner can't do anything right. It's not your problem!! It's actually nobodies problem since it is no problem!!

So yeah, situation is... tense. And I fear it won't calm down easily. And.. it kinda is my job to hold the peace? Like, my partner doesn't has the capability and experience I have with my mom and I don't want him to have to do this. And my mom doesn't have the emotional maturity and self reflection. And me... atm has no energy and a deathwish so... Yeah.

No seriously, how can I calm everyone down? All those situations, those teensy things that destroy the peace, happen daily. There is no day without it. I tried to calm it down by doing everything perfectly and being there for my mom (also as a conversation partner) whenever she needed one. But.. omg I can't bear her existence at the moment so... I am so afraid it will explode. My partner just has to make one comment about her racist behavior or that she should stop stealing his pots and she would kick us out.

I really need tips to keep the peace until we find an appartment. And maybe tips to overcome myself and spent more time with her.

Hi anon,

I'm so sorry you've been dealing with this. You don't deserve to put up with this.

It can be very difficult knowing how to handle being around an abusive person. Transparency and honest conversations would usually work, but these conversations typically go in one ear and out the other for abusers. But you may not exactly be able to simply ignore your abuser either, because they may demonize you for it and escalate things. Unfortunately there is no clear answer.

However, there is information about how to respond to things such as verbal abuse. Some of the main things are to maintain your boundaries such as how you are spoken to, remaining neutral in your tone and body language, walking away or leaving if needed, as well as looking into therapy, and maintaining contact with friends and family.

Ultimately please know that your mother's behavior is not your responsibility to quell. It's her own responsibility to behave herself and be mindful of how her behavior affects others, instead of putting the responsibility on you to tell her what's not okay.

I hope I could help. Please let us know if you need anything.

-Bun

[gatesofember]

when was the last time Will and Nico dated in the clichecore au because it sounds like theyve been single for a while? but it also sounds like they have several exes?

Neither of them have dated for a while. Like, they haven’t really dated since college. Part of that is because of the pandemic making meeting people hard for the past couple years. Also Will’s job has demanded a lot of time from him and he’s honestly so tired when he gets home and dating would take a lot of effort. Nico’s had more free time than Will and he’s gone on some dates since college, but the last relationship he was in…uhhh…wasn’t good (we’ll get to that later) so he kinda needed to take some time to recover and didn’t get around to finding another boyfriend before lockdown happened.

(Also. I think both of them dislike some things about dating. And by “things” I mean “their significant others expect them to stop cuddling and spending so much time together and demand attention when they’d really rather hang out with each other.” Like their SOs would ask them on a date and they’d be like “nah I was thinking that I wanted to watch movies with Nico/Will tonight” or they’d cuddle with their SOs and think “:/ Nico/Will is so much better at this.”)

They’ve probably dated about the same amount, maybe two or three long-ish-term or “real” relationships each, but neither of them have ever gotten super serious. Their number one person has always been each other (both of them have thought “it’ll be so weird when a significant other moves in with us and we have to figure out how to add them to our routine.” They would think of the SO as a third wheel to their platonic relationship.) I think Will did some casual dating to get to know people a little more often than Nico did and Nico’s relationships might have lasted a little longer than Will’s on average (but still not super long, he’s never dated anyone longer than maybe a few months or so?) Will is more likely to look at a relationship and say “hm I’m not really enjoying this” or “I don’t see this going anywhere” or “this isn’t working out” whereas Nico is a little more desperate for approval and long-lasting bonds so he’s willing to stick with a relationship that isn’t making him happy or even to overlook red flags. Nico’s usually the one who’s broken up with whereas Will tends to do the breaking up (although interestingly, the most detailed stories of their exes that I can think of atm are about guys Nico broke up with and a girl who broke up with Will). Nico’s much more of a romantic than Will is. Will’s first crush was probably years after Nico’s first crush. He doesn’t get as invested in romantic plotlines as Nico. The only couple he’s ever shipped is his moms. When Will dates someone he’s just like “I like this person, let’s see where this goes” whereas Nico will be like “I’m doodling their name in the margins of my notebooks and planning our fairytale wedding where Will is obviously going to be my best man of honor and he’ll probably tag along for the honeymoon too because I don’t want to be apart from him for too long, then my husband and I will move into a beautiful house and have lots of dogs and Will will be there too because I’m not going to stop being roommates just because I got married.” So...yeah. Nico’s priority has always been Will, but he’s also kinda clingy and moves fast and guys have broken up with him because of that. He’s very conscious of his tendency to uhhh get a bit too invested early in a relationship. (But Nico also has been accused of being too distant because he’d rather spend time with Will so really his exes needed to make up their minds. They were just mad that he didn’t behave the way they wanted him to when they wanted him to. Nico doesn’t pick the best guys. We’ll get to that later.) (But I think Nico’s tendency to switch between “I NEED ATTENTION” and “nah I wanna hang out with Will” came across as manipulative sometimes? Like he was punishing boyfriends for not paying attention to them by purposely trying to make them jealous? Which was NOT his intention at all.) (Also, Nico’s clinginess extends beyond romantic relationships. He’s that way with friends and family, too. Like I said, he’s kinda desperate for approval and affection.) (Will loves giving Nico approval and affection. Nico gets everything he needs in a relationship from Will, so he’s not so desperate and clingy with him. Or at least, it seems reciprocal? And he’s not so insecure with Will because he knows Will cares about him.)

Did I answer the question or just ramble? Whatever. This is the answer you’re getting.

[one-way-to-do-it]

Seb on question time is big stuff. Weird stuff, out of place stuff, but its happening. So I thought about making a list of keywords being thrown around, but with some spicy context added for anyone that might not understand whats happening in the uk rn :)

Partygate; boris johnson (pm) was fined for hosting parties at 10 downing street several times during our lockdowns, when we were not allowed to mix. One of which was held on the eve of Prince Philip's funeral. So many royalists are very upset about that, as the Queen had to sit through the funeral by herself. Everyone else in the country was obviously thinking about that, but applied it to everyone else in the whole country. As the news was coming out, he denied the existence of such parties, amd thus ended up knowingly lying to parliament and the Queen. Ministerial code dictates that if you lie or are found to do have done something controversial you should resign. He did not. Big, big story still going on in the UK. The opposition party has also been accused of having gatherings but that is still being investigated I believe. Lots of people are proper furious.

Local elections; basically, the tories lost A LOT of seats, Labour have a majority of seats, lib dems and green gained more than people were expecting.

Cost of living crisis; people are being forced to choose between feeding themselves or having heating. Everything is majorly expensive atm. Pensioners are saying that they are now applying for jobs after retirement because they can't afford life solely with their pensions. The use of food banks is up once again, and the level of poverty is on the rise again. The government aren't taxing the big businesses which could then help the public, and a lot of oil and energy companies are seeing profits of billions of pounds within just the 1st quarter.

Queen Elizabeth; she's basically dead. We are a constitutional monarchy, so the Queen is a figurative head of state, but she can't do anything. Charles is gonna be king, camilla gonna be Queen. Andrews a nonce. Boohoo, idc about the royals, amma move on.

Tories; bunch of racists. Priti Patel is a mega arse. Shes sending asylum seekers to rwanda because shes a bitch. Boris is a mega arse. All of them really

Prongate; tory mp, Neil parish, was caught watching some sexy fun times in Parliament. He resigned.

LGBTQ+ ; conversion therapy was big in the news recently. The tories were gonna ban it, then backed down. Then did a u-turn and it is now banned. But, trans people are not protected with this ban as it only applies to certain conversion therapies. Basically, the government said u can be gay i guess but dont even think about gender lol.

It might come up, I'm not too sure but it's always good to know; we are a parliamentary democracy. This means that Parliament is sovereign and that parliament word is final. We don't have a codified constitution. We basically have a 2 party system. Tories are right wing, Labour are left wing. Boris johnson is Conservative (tory) party leader. Keir Starmer is Labour leader

This is all I can think of rn, and I know no one asked for it but I didn't want anyone in the sebhive to feel confused if they aren't from England (bbc only really deals with English politics most of the time) or who aren't familiar with our politics. If anyone can think of anything else that might come up, pls add!! x