#signals hype real..

[forecast0ctopus]

dtiys for @wuntrum ‘s upcoming comic signals !!

[arsnof]

Ghosts that should exist soon if not already

Notifications/typing noises in otherwise empty spaces

People waving you over from the side of the road and asking if you're their Lyft. Disappear the moment you look away

Abandoned warehouses that sometimes reverberate with an unheard bass

'Cold spots' where you can't get signal (that cannot be otherwise explained)

That dispensary with the blacked out windows? It used to be a Blockbuster until the manager got shot. If it's the right kind of night and you look real close and cup your hands to block out all the light? You can watch it happen, but they might see you

Newsletters from startups that no longer exist

Hype House haunted by the reason they had to make an apology video

Pictures of a stranger in your camera roll

At 2:30 every morning you can hear a ringing bell coming from the elementary school. Thing is, they switched to a digital tone in 2013. Also, it cannot be captured electronically

Welcome to Denny's what can I start you on? You already ordered? Wait.. Tall, pink hair? *sigh* Been dead for a mtonth and she's still stealing tips

[wonryllis]

HIGH ON HEELS FOR YOU.

────𝖺𝗅𝗍𝖾𝗋𝗇𝖺𝗍𝗂𝗏𝖾𝗅𝗒, 𝗐𝗁𝖾𝗇 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝗐𝖾𝖺𝗋 𝗉𝗋𝖾𝗍𝗍𝗒 𝗁𝖾𝖾𝗅𝗌 𝖿𝗈𝗋 𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗆.

( NOTES. ) enhypen as starstruck bois. fluff. fem!centered. lowercase intended. unedited. 860wc. requested. 𓈃 ๋ 𝐍𝐄𝐖 峠 requests open!

⋆ ─ LEE HEE-SEUNG. 이희승 boy can't take his eyes off your feet quite literally. from the moment you bring them out he's staring at the pair, watching your pretty hands put your pretty feet in them, tying the little pretty ribbons around your pretty ankles.

"baby, are you wearing that one?" heeseung asks, his brown orbs glued to the pastel green pencil heels you grab from your closet. slowly moving closer and sitting beside you on the vanity couch as you put them on carefully,"it's so beautiful, it even goes with your nails!" you laugh at the enthusiasm in his voice, everytime you wear heels he just babbles so many compliments.

⋆ ─ PARK JONG-SEONG. 박종성 jay is relatively composed even though in his mind all he can think about is how beautiful you look in those blue heels he just bought for you the other day. for him it looks even prettier because he got them for you, he choose it for you.

"aren't these the ones i got you from milan?" jay walks over to the full mirror in your closet as you admire how the baby blue wedges look on you, his hands circling around your waist and chin resting at the crook of your neck. "i knew you'd look so so pretty in them," you nod giggling when he press a fluttering kiss to your exposed shoulder before admiring you in the mirror.

⋆ ─ SIM JAE-YUN. 심재윤 you best believe he's the one putting them on for you. eyes sparkling the way they compliment your dress, oh also he putting the dress on you too. he just wants to be the one to doll you up his pretty little girl who just needs to sit and look pretty.

"let me choose!" jake rushes past you into the closet, quickly sliding open the doors and going through the bunch of dresses and heels you own. when he finds the dress he wants, he helps you put it on through every step. as for the heels he goes down on his knees, guides you feet in them and ties the pretty white lace around your ankle,"like a real doll, my doll, so pretty,"

⋆ ─ PARK SUNG-HOON. 이희승 he literally has hearts in his eyes as he watches you. always walks behind you cause he lovess the way your hips sway from side to side when you walk in your heels. and the way you look so confident he's down bad for it.

"angel, you're so beautiful. how do you manage to be so beautiful all the time?" sunghoon rambles walking just a step behind and pausing a second too long at the doors of the elevator as you get on first. at the party he's literally gatekeeping you from others,"can't believe you're all mine," sneaking little neck kisses and jaw kisses here and there to show you off at the same time.

⋆ ─ KIM SUN-WOO. 김선우 he's such a hype man for you, always encouraging you to put on your pretty heels for him. when you get tired he'll always offer to piggyback you or carry you princess style. also loves holding you close by your lower back, such an opportunity for him.

"my baby is always a beauty," sunoo gushes having his hand around your lower back as you walk through the party you're at. gushing and asking everyone you two talk to "isn't my girl so pretty?" and how lucky he is to have you. "we'll be leaving, my baby is tired," when he notices your discomfort, bending down and signalling you to get on him,"come on, your prince will bring you home,"

⋆ ─ YANG JUNG-WON. 양정원 you can see it all in his face, the way he's at a loss for words, the way he moves around you everything. but he also worries if you might twist your ankle or trip so always holds your hands and leads anywhere and everywhere you go.

"here, hold on to me love," jungwon offers his arm when you reach a pair of steps that are too steep. and immediately after intertwining his fingers with you to guide you safe as he walks just a step ahead supporting you. "you look so pretty in heels but you know i dont wan' you hurt," he says pressing a kiss to your forehead and then after to your lips, tightening his grip.

⋆ ─ NISHIMURA RI-KI. 西村力 if he's not saying anything just know he loves it. and if he starts complaining that he'll not carry you back if you get tired just know he'll take off your heels for you and make you wear his shoes while he holds onto them and walks back bare foot.

"there i saved you princess," riki grins slyly, holding tight onto your waist after you accidentally trip on open air and grass. his hand stays there for a moment as he helps you stand straight, tucking a strand of hair that fell on your eyes. he immediately scoops you up and places you on a nearby bench. then taking off his shoes and your heels,"put them on pls, hm?"

TAGLIST ( open. ) @kangseulgithegreat @s00buwu @luvyev @pockyyasii

[kenzlovesyou]

reporter!y/n and wbbstar!caitlin would be fun...

hi i’m so sorry this took so long 😕 i hope you enjoy this!

plot: short fluff you’re an intern reporter about to do a post game interview for the very first time! you’re super nervous about it and caitlin helps you practice before the real thing.

Reporting Live

➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖

“Okay, Y/n. Just chill.” You said to yourself in the bathroom mirror. You’d just arrived at Gainbridge Fieldhouse to cover your very first professional basketball game and ask questions at the post-game interview. The game you were covering would be the Indiana Fever against the New York Liberty team. You were trying to hype yourself up for the game, but you were extremely nervous. The Fever had been getting serious media attention ever since Caitlin Clark had recently been drafted to the team, so you knew many people would be tuning in.

You stare at yourself and repeat the mantra you’ve been telling yourself since this morning. “You are brave. You are smart. You are super cool and you are totally ready for this!”

“Ready for what?” You jump in shock and turn around to see Caitlin Clark right behind you. The Caitlin Clark. You stare at her for a second not quite processing how Caitlin Clark is currently standing behind right behind you and asking YOU the INTERVIEWER a question. “Sorry um what did you say?”

Caitlin shrugs, turning on the bathroom faucet and rinsing her hands in the sink. “What’s got you so nervous?” She looked you up and down and smiled, “hey, that’s the reporter lanyard. Are you one of the interviewers?” You nodded shyly and giggled.

“Can you tell it’s my first day?” Caitlin laughed at you and shone her head. “Nope, definitely not. You look totally professional.” You couldn’t tell if she was being sarcastic or serious but you hoped it was the latter.

Caitlin’s words were kind, but you knew they were just that. She didn’t know you, she didn’t know your performance capabilities. There was no real way for her to tell you you’d be any good. You looked at ground and rocked back and forth on your feet slightly. Caitlin noticed this and frowned. Perhaps she could do something to cheer you up? She knew what it was like to be nervous at a new job, as her first WNBA game had just been a week prior.

“Do you wanna maybe, I don’t know, practice interviewing me?” You looked up at her quizzically. “You know,” she continued, “so you aren’t as nervous when it comes to the real thing!” Your cheeks flushed. Not only was she a great player, she also had a great personality.

“We could try that!” Caitlin nodded and signaled for you to start. “Wait. I can’t I don’t have a microphone.” Caitlin rolled her eyes at you and passed her half drank water bottle to you. “Perfect. Okay. Caitlin Clark. What do you think made you want to go pro in basketball? You’ve been amazing ever since you were younger, but what made you want to do this as a career?”

You held the water bottle ‘mic’ in front of Caitlin as she prepared an answer. She took a beat to think about her answer and smiled to herself. “I mean I think I just want kids to have someone to look up to, y’know? I just want them to know that, like, if they have dreams they should pursue them because it might end up paying off.” You nodded your head in response.

“That’s amazing. It’s good to know that besides having a remarkable talent you have such a good heart as well!” Now it was Caitlin’s turn to blush. Her cheeks turned rosy and she lowered her eyes to her shoes.

Caitlin cleared her throat. “Well, y’know, maybe since you asked me a question I can ask you one too.” You looked back at her quizzically.

“Aren’t I the reporter? What question could you possibly have for me?”

Caitlin stood up and walked closer to you, her eyes staring at you seriously. “Can I get your number?” You paused. Was the Caitlin Clark asking you out?

“How do you know I swing that way, Clark?”

“I guess that’s my second question for you. Do you swing my way?” You rolled your eyes at her and made a grabbing gesture with your hand and pointed at her phone in her pocket. She took it out and went to add a new contact and passed it to you. You typed your number in and before you knew it Caitlin had to leave to go warm up. You wished her luck and off she went.

The game was close, but the Fever ended up losing. You could tell by Caitlin’s face she looked disappointed. Her frown seemed to fade away when you walked up to the Fever team to do a post game interview. You went along the line of women, asking each one significant questions correlating to their stats and achievements in the game, and what they thought would come next. You sighed a breath of relief when it was finally over. The interviews went seamlessly, but that didn’t mean you weren’t going to still find something to worry about. You walked out to your car and started your car up to drive home, alone with yourself and your thoughts. That was until you got a ping on your phone.

unknown number:

great job on your first day! you didn’t look nervous at all, i guess the practicing helped? hopefully?

maybe getting dinner sometime could calm your nerves for next game :)

[odetodilfs]

Kinktober day 8: Exhibitionism with Oberyn Martell

Summary: Where Oberyn brings the people of Dorne a different kind of fight to the arena.

Pairing: power bottom!Oberyn Martell x sub!top!male!reader

Content: Public sex, creampie, established relationship (marriage), the people of Dorne have the hots for you and Oberyn.

Make sure to reblog!

You stepped out onto the arena, hundreds of people, mostly men cheering as you stepped out completely naked except for a light robe around you. Oberyn and you had been having this fantasy of being watched for ages, and seeing how the audience was going to enjoy watching you fuck him was stirring something down below... Your dick immediately got hard as you saw Oberyn standing right beside what looked to be a bed, wearing his usual yellow robe except with no clothes underneath.

All those dirty thoughts about getting dominated in public started playing in your head, how your husband would look riding your dick for hundreds of people to see. "Such a good boy" he smirked at you, "lay here" he signaled at the bed as you laid down, you heard cheers coming from the crowd, your dick hard as a rock and leaking precum. You were ready to open him up as usual but then it hit you: he'd done it himself in front of the public. "Lube's there" his smug staying on his face, you quickly grabbed it and put it all over your cock.

"This won't be long, but I have to.. the public will love it" he smirked as he got on the bed slowly and sat on your face. You moaned as you were being suffocated in the most heavenly way and started to tongue Oberyn's hole. He tasted sweet and musky, you could hear the crowd go wild as he rode your face, you were pretty sure your dick was leaking precum like no tomorrow. You weren't sure exactly how long he was riding your face as you went into absolute daze.

When he finally got off of your face, he was all red and sweaty from the arousal. He slowly started getting on the bed, facing the crowd as he spread his legs wide, showing himself to the audience, the men roared in both arousal and hype. He crawled seductively towards you, doing the same position he showed the audience but now showing it to you. His hole was glistening with sweat, eager for you to go inside him, to make you, him and the audience happy.

In one go, you sunk into Oberyn, his hole despite being opened up, it was still real tight. There was one thing more eager than his ass though: the crowd absolutely lost it when you put your dick inside him, you started to sink deeper and deeper "Good boy, start thrusting now" he seductively ordered, you, being the sub, followed his orders, and softly started thrusting into him, "Harder" he said almost immediately, you followed orders as well.

You couldn't hold back much longer, fucking in front of an audience, Oberyn's legs spread as you pumped deep inside him and the way he clamped down on your cock was all too much for you. But you held on, edged yourself in your lover's tight hole. This went on for 20 minutes until you heard Oberyn moan loudly and clamp down on your dick hard, he was cumming, "Keep fucking me- keep fucking me-" he ordered, overstimulated, but wanting to get fucked till he couldn't take it anymore. You did, he somehow managed to get the strength to scream even if you were pounding him into the mattress. "Who wants him to cum inside?" Oberyn smirked as calmly as he could while both screaming and getting fucked, the crowd roared. "You heard our audience darling, give them what they want" and as if Oberyn had control of when you came, you exploded inside him right after saying that.

You stayed like that for a minute, regaining the strength as the adrenalin in your bodies began to die down, the crowd was silent. "Pull out" he ordered, you did and could see the absolutely massive load inside him, it dripped out of him as soon as you'd withdrew. He then turned around and showed the creampie you just gave him to his audience, to no one's surprise, they loved it.

"Let's go now" he looked up at you, then stood up and helped you, waving to the roaring people, he walked in front of you just so you could see your cum now running down his legs.

[trexiejan]

Why I don't like Barbara being shoehorned on the Titans.

Reasons why:

1. The main reason why she's on the team is because of Dick. Her relationship with the Titans has always been reliant on Dick. She never had any history with the Titans before retcons pushed her and dick together. She has become a character who hates being away from Dick and always wants to follow him in every mission he takes. When she's with the Titans, it only feels like it's because writers don't know what else to do with her other than making her follow Dick around like a dog.

2. It's part of the whole dickbabs agenda and dickkory erasure. Editorial loves to include dickbabs in everything and They hate the idea of Dick being paired or shipped with anyone other than Barbara. They know Starfire is Dick's other huge love interest and their relationship was a huge part of the Titans franchise. They don't like that so they want to erase that by shoehorning Barbara in the Titans and making Dick/Babs the focus on Titans stuff.

3. Barbara dumbs down the Titans so she can shine on their team.

Barbara especially as Oracle tends to be hyped up but the truth is she's not the only hacker or tech user in the entire dc universe. Titans has plenty of tech users. So in reality she's not needed by the Titans. She fills in niches that are already occupied by the Titans.

Dick - leader, martial artist, tactician, detective, tech user, hacker.

Cyborg - tech user, hacker and information broker.

Starfire - team mom

and all of the Titans are active communicators and they all know how to use a computer, and please starfire is an expert pilot, i remember she even owns a spaceship and hacked other alien ships. she knows how to operate a spaceship how much more using a computer 🙄

They don't need Barbara or Oracle's help for them to accomplish something using a computer or for them to be able to communicate to each other and reach out to other heroes.

The Titans can directly talk to each other through their communicators and earpieces and they have a huge computer at titans tower, and cyborg has all the high-tech stuff but when Barbara shows up, the Titans suddenly don't know how to call each other or use a computer, they make them rely on Oracle for communication and tech stuff.

The Titans are dumbed down to make Barbara shine as a tech user and to make her look smarter and useful to their team.

For example look at how Tom Taylor made Dick look dumb here. He had to call Barbara first and ask her to help him reach out to his own teammates when he can just call them right away on his own, it's funny because he wrote that Dick can't call his teammates directly because he lost signal yet he has the signal to call Barbara. Tom Taylor and his dumb excuses indeed 🙂

and look at Cyborg needing to be watched by Barbara as if his high-tech sensors are unable to detect the villains approaching his back, and lol Nightwing just stands there doing nothing while Barbara monitors his own teammates when that is supposed to be his job since he's their leader. He was nerfed into a lazy irresponsible leader too much that he didn't even know his own teammate is in australia. He's not even allowed to use the titans computer when Barbara is around him.

and look at Kory, she never calls Barbara while on missions before and suddenly she has no clue what to do without Barbara guiding her move???

The Titans never needed Barbara to accomplish anything on their own. They've fully functioned and communicated with each other for decades without her. They never needed to be babysat by some girl from Gotham. Barbara has never even been mentioned once in the original New Teen Titans comics but they become the most dumbest useless versions of themselves when Barbara is suddenly around, she's written in a way that makes the Titans redundant, stealing their jobs and spotlight to make herself look like a badass hero. Nightwing can't act like a real leader, Cyborg can't be the tech user of the group, Raven can't be the voice of reason, Titans can't use a computer and other tech stuff etc. because she can't shine if they do that. The only way for her to stand out on a team she has nothing to do with her is by dumbing everyone around her.

Barbara should be with her own team Birds of Prey not on a team she has nothing to do with.

4. The Titans become another Batman-related group.

We all know the story of Dick when he joined the Titans. He left Gotham and quit being Batman's sidekick because he doesn't wanna be under Batman's shadow anymore. The Titans helped him be independent from the Bats.

I don't like that Barbara keeps invading his privacy and space. The Titans is supposed to be a place where Dick can be away from the Batfamily and do his own thing.

and the Titans is Dick's own team, I don't like the idea of Barbara overriding his own agency.

She needs to do something on her own without associating herself with Dick 24/7

Plus the Bats are pretty oversaturated in DC, we don't need them overtaking Titans as well.

If another Bat related character has to show up then it has to be just one of the robins since Robin is a titan character.

Batgirl or Barbara has never been a Titan. She only ever wants to show up because of her romance with Dick. I do think Dick/Babs relationship is a mistake and that It shoudn't have happened. It's not a good relationship if you have to shoehorn it in places it doesn't belong in and dumbing down other characters along the way just for it to make sense or make Barbara's presence in Dick's life stronger than it should be.

I wish editorial didn't retcon them into lovers. Their relationship did more damage to their characters and the people around them than when they were not together.

The "His older crush that he outgrew and learned to move on from" trope was already fine. I hate that they changed that story by aging down Barbara to be the same age as Dick so they can be together instead of just letting them move on from each other.

Dick wouldn't have to stay stuck with Barbara 24/7 and Barbara wouldn't have to keep following Dick around like a dog wherever he goes if they just kept it in the past.

[respectthepetty]

Pride Petty Watch - LiTA (Rain/Payu) 1

Because I'm petty, I had the crowd pick which blacklisted shows I would watch for the month of Pride. I had planned to space them out more, but due to wacky weather over here (tornadoes, thunderstorms, softball-sized hail, and flash flooding), I had plenty of time to binge watch the first show, Love in the Air, which perfectly aligns with my real life theme of stormy weather, so I'm posting my random thoughts in five parts, two for each couple and the special episode.

I'm seated, I'm watching, and I'm being petty.

It starts at "2:00 AM" - Oh no. Nothing could happens at 2 in the morning, and the time just keeps going. This event isn't even going to begin until 3 AM?! Take me home, NOW! I don't care how fine these men are. I'm stopping for mini churros at Jack in the Box on the way home and going to bed. I'M OUT!

I've seen plenty of pictures of Boss in the past two years, but I still lost my breath a bit when he took off his mask because he was looking delicious in the rain.

RAIN WANTS A GIRL?!

Out of everything I saw about this show, NOBODY mentioned that Rain was trying to get a girl. I'm shook. That's a huge part of the plot I never saw mentioned. There were rumors of the actor (Noeul) being with Milk (of MilkLove), and I saw more of THAT in connection to this show than about him liking a girl within it. Where are y'alls priorities?! *looks at Tonnam and breathes deeply*

Payu's room is IN the garage? But what about the fumes? What about the noise? What about a good work/life balance?!

😬😬😬

I don't care if this boy is snuggling in his sleep, Payu is on my shit list! Instead of being like "oh, I misunderstood the signals," he pushed harder then got upset. Even if Rain secretly does want him, I need a verbalization. This is the end of the first episode, and I'm mad as hell at a bisexual on the first day of Pride. Damn.

Start of episode two and I know Rain's voiceovers are there to make me not be upset at Payu, but . . . I'm pissed at this man! He did all of that work, said it was free, but now there is "another" charge, then he shows up at this boy's school when he could've just talked to him at the shop, and feels him up in the bathroom stall. I am BIG mad!

I will admit, this is hot. Still very mad at my fellow bisexual for him saying he wasn't trying to force himself on Rain (even though he was about to mark a map on that boy's neck), but they got chemistry.

My fellow Slut for Christ, only God can judge you, but know that I am too.

All racetracks look the same so Pit Babe and Cutie Pie could have been filmed here for all I know, but I have this at 1.5 speed, unmuted, so I hear this is a legit hype rap song. WEARETHEGOOD's "Threat" with these colors?! Energy? Matched.

HE IS SPANKING HIM?!

I don't kink shame but both people should be willing participants in this endeavor. Then just to drop him on the floor like that?! That does not inspire trust! This is not Blue Boy behavior, sir! But this lecture after is. That is what I need from you. Remind him that this isn't some petty school shit but actual gangstas he is messing with. Remind him that he can't be reckless. THAT'S HOW BLUE BOYS GET KISSED!

Now it's a competition? Payu wants to fuck Rain so badly he looks stupid, yet Rain is over here saying he is going to make Payu want to fuck him, what? harder? What is this all about?!

What do you mean you didn't want to show Rain your bad side? Has all this been your good side up until this point?! Cause, dead ass, this side ain't looking that great either with you being upset you weren't sleeping with him on the first night and stalking him. So you're going to get worse?

Y'all can't sucker me in with red and blue colors. I Told Sunset About You tried that, and I'm still being petty about it. But whose house are we at now?! This is a different room than before. Payu got multiple places?! In this economy?

Prapai strolling in all happy because he had a good night . . . Sir, I'll get to your ass soon because I know how you got that happiness, and you are on the same shit list as your fellow bisexual bestie.

I am Sky and our judgement cannot be measured.

TWINS?!

All this blue between these two yet they are straight up lyin' every two seconds. The fuckery.

WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!

I would've let him turn it in, but I appreciate that he looks so good while looking so sad with that warm glow.

Payu gets one positive point for leaving his arms open for Rain to come to him, but now that warm glow feels sus like maybe I should be paying more attention to Rain's yellow/orange backpack.

And now for a negative point because even though I keep seeing black x white, Payu stays morally grey by playing with this boy's emotions and hiding from him in his own shop! These after scenes are not doing Payu any favors.

Payu, do I like you? Do I hate you? Do I wanna fuck you? Do I wanna kick you in the balls? All of the above?

Guess I'll find out in the next three episodes.

[statusexile]

Rip Off the Tag, Get Him Mad

Summary: Konig’s magnetic walk and mysterious mask make him a new darling in the fashion industry, and you manage to score an exclusive interview with him. You might not know what he looks like — but you sure do know what he tastes like.

Pairing: Konig x Reader

Warnings: afab!reader, dub con, dom!Konig, p-in-v, fellatio, mating press, dirty talk, brat taming, breeding kink, cum eating, creampie, badly translated German, reader goes by she/her pronouns, probably not very accurate in terms of both journalism and fashion but who cares I’m only here for sexy times.

Word count: 3,696 words

NSFW. MDNI!

a/n: Got inspired while listening to New Bottega by Azealia Banks and all I could picture in my head was supermodel!Konig for no reason lmao. As always, suggestion and feedback are always welcome along with reblogs and likes. Thank you for reading! ❤️

I put the boy in Galliano, now he’s a fuckin’ model

It was four in the morning and you had just landed in Vienna, your third destination for this week alone. Paris and Milan had taken their toll on your body, leaving you feeling so exhausted and jetlagged that you wondered if they had already become your permanent companions forever. Tired and bleary-eyed, you are ready for a break, but duty called.

You’re one of the most seasoned and notorious fashion journalists, never holding back on saying what everyone’s thinking, even if it means models walking out or crying during your interviews. It’s not personal though; you’re just doing your job, and damn, you’re good at it. Your knack for keeping it real and staying objective makes you stand out in the game.

You managed to sneak in a few hours of sleep before getting ready for Vienna Fashion Week. That afternoon, you rocked a cool vibe with an oversized black blazer that had this rad belt and chain combo going on. The vibe continued with a flowy, see-through black maxi skirt — the kind that made people do a double take. Toss in a mini bag swinging casually by your side, and you are ready to own the fashion week. Of course, the look wouldn't be complete without knee-high black boots, giving off major laid-back but put-together vibes. You kept your makeup minimal because you wanted your outfit to be the focal point of the entire look.

As you arrived at the event, fashion photographers and paparazzi started flocking to you, asking what you’re wearing and what you’re most excited to see during this fashion week. You posed for some photos and answered some questions. After navigating the sea of photographers, you made your way inside, where the atmosphere buzzed with the energy of influential figures in the fashion world, celebrities, and social media influencers. Greetings and compliments flowed as you mingled with the diverse crowd, exchanging smiles and posing for candid snapshots with some of the industry’s most notable figures.

You found yourself in the company of those who shaped the fashion landscape. The anticipation for the runway shows heightened as you took your seat in front row, surrounded by the pulsating energy of the fashion elite. The runway was set to unfold, promising a spectacle that would undoubtedly leave an incredible mark on this fashion week.

It was a runway showcasing the Fall/Winter ready-to-wear collection for men from one of the most prestigious high-fashion brands in the world. Anticipating a display of dark and muted tones, you were aware that the brand had embraced a theme this year focusing on leather. Getting a peek at this theme had you all hyped up, ready to see the slick and stylish gear they’re about to drop.

It doesn’t take long before the lights dim, signaling the start of the show. The sharp contrast between the dim lighting and focused spotlights heightens the dramatic atmosphere as models strut down the runway, showcasing the leather-themed collection. Stud appliques, dark makeup, and industrial styling add an edgy flair as they graze the runway. You’re making mental notes for your upcoming review, absolutely impressed with what you're witnessing. The collection has been really magnificent, surpassing your usual expectations.

The entire show lasted around fifteen minutes before the final model made his entrance. The man that has been the talk of the fashion industry for the last eight months. He strutted in wearing an absolutely grandiose leather coat, wearing a Swarovski-studded mask that covered his entire face. The confidence in his walk conveyed a commanding presence, making it seem as if the entire audience was under his control.

Konig, a native Austrian with real name, age and hair color unknown, stands six foot ten, weighing two hundred and seventy pounds and has piercing blue eyes. The man has been nothing but an enigma, seemingly appearing out of nowhere. Opening and closing runaways for prestigious high-end brands — a position that takes years for other models to secure. And what’s even wilder? He pulled it off within his first two months in the industry.

His social media has tens of millions of followers and zero following. The entire page is a curated showcase of his portfolios and videos of his runway walks, nothing more. It doesn’t seem like he’s the one handling his account either. Everything is perfectly set up, adding this extra layer of mystery to him.

You can’t help but wonder: Who is this man? Who’s behind his sudden meteoric rise? Is he a nepo baby? Is he some kind of industry insider pulling strings to get all these bookings without even having a single portfolio before? Could he be a pro basketball player doing a side gig in modeling? Or what if he’s an alien in human disguise? So many questions, but not a single answer. You’ve asked so many people in the industry about him, but it seems like nobody has a clue either.

You’ve seen his casting polaroids and test shoot photos, and even in those, he’s wearing a mask, revealing only his eyes. It really makes you wonder, because that’s the complete opposite of the purpose of taking those photos. They’re meant to showcase your bare face, not cover it up. Yet, somehow, he’s scoring bookings when practically no one has seen his face. How does he even manage to do that?

There are rumors circulating that just a very few high-profile figures in the industry actually know what he looks like, and they can be counted with one hand. Some claim he’s hiding an unflattering appearance under that mask, that’s why he insists on covering his face despite of his exceptional walk and stage presence. Others insist he looks like he’s actually sculpted by a Greek God himself, but he prefers recognition for his walk rather than his looks.

He’s also notorious for rejecting interviews and walking out on them. Even when he agrees to an interview, it's usually short and filled with vague answers. But one day, you send a proposal for an exclusive interview to his management and discover that he’s accepted your request, but he insists it should happen at his own home in Vienna. His request seems a bit unprofessional to you, but it’s your only chance to uncover who this man really is. So, you agreed on his term.

And fortunately for you, that lucky day is today.

After attending a handful more runway shows for the day, you’ve wrapped up your work and are heading back to your hotel. Now, you’re diving into drafting the upcoming articles slated for this fashion week, as you prepare to interview Konig, the man and the myth himself tonight.

Your heart is pounding with a mix of anticipation and nervousness, and you have no idea why. It’s been a long time since you’ve felt anything like this. You’ve interviewed dozens of models in your life, so what’s the difference between them and him? Usually, it’s them who are scared of you, not the other way around.

Brushing aside that feeling, you started preparing for the interview this evening. After a refreshing shower, you got dressed and did your makeup. Wearing a silk white long-sleeve shirt paired with a black pencil midi skirt and black stilettos, you finished the look with a bold choice — ruby red lipstick. For some reason, you’re feeling especially bold for tonight’s interview.

He lives not far from your hotel as you reached your destination in less than fifteen minutes. Following the address provided by his management, you entered the building and found his apartment. Without hesitation, you rang on the doorbell.

He opened the door in no time. It caught you off guard as it was the first time you’ve seen him up close. Describing him as tall seems like a massive understatement; his presence is downright colossal as he stands right in front of you. Dressed in a balaclava, a snug black t-shirt accentuating his sculpted body, and green army-colored cargo pants. This is the first time you’ve had a close look at his eyes, and they are breathtaking — a gorgeous shade of steely blue.

“I’ve been expecting you. Please, come in.” Konig said as he gestured for you to come inside.

As you entered his home, you could see that this man has an exquisite taste in decor. His loft has high ceilings and large windows, making the space feel open and airy. The brick walls and exposed piping create a natural, industrial feel, while the rich, warm tones of red and orange add a cozy touch to the space. The walls are adorned with numerous photographs of his work as a model.

He gestured for you to take a seat on the couch and asked what you’d like to drink. You told him water’s fine, so he disappeared into the kitchen for a bit. When he came back, he placed a glass of water on the coffee table in front of you. He sits on the couch across from you afterward.

“Konig, thank you very much for agreeing to meet with me for this interview. Our magazine really appreciates your time and willingness to share your story with us.” You told him as you took your phone out of your bag, opening the recording app on it.

He leaned back on the couch, crossing his arms. “Anything I could do to help, miss.” he said. You could hear his deep voice with a thick German accent as this is first time you heard him speak.

“By accepting this interview, you consent to being recorded during our conversation today, alright?” you said to him as you pushed the ‘record’ button on your phone. He only nodded in approval.

You began your interview by asking him cookie-cutter questions, such as what inspired him to pursue modeling as a career, how he handles the challenges of balancing work and personal life, who his fashion icons are and how they influenced his personal style, how he stays fit and healthy while maintaining a demanding modeling schedule, and how he handles criticism and negative feedback from the fashion industry and the public. And of course, he answered them all with cookie-cutter answers too.

You could hear the cockiness and smugness in his tone, and you could feel that it annoys you a little bit. Despite being a relative rookie in the scene, his ego seems to radiate through his presence. However, that’s precisely the reason you’re here for this interview — to unmask who this man actually is.

You’re now ready to ask him a tougher question, intending to push his buttons slowly but sure. You’ve convinced yourself that it’s going to happen today. It has to, because this is your only chance.

“Can you explain your reasoning behind the mask? Usually models rely on their facial features as a part of their appeal, so covering it seems counterintuitive.”

Konig seems a bit caught off guard by your question. He stays quiet for a moment, clearly thinking how to respond. You can see that the question has ticked him off a little bit.

“Is that your attempt at a compliment? I’m flattered. I can do whatever I want with my appearance.” Konig answered sarcastically, but the annoyance in his tone was crystal clear. “Besides, I don’t think it’s interrupting my work. I showcase the clothes on the runway, demonstrating what they need to sell. At the end of the day, that's what matters as a model, isn’t it?” he continues.

You can’t argue with him because, well, he’s right. He did his job exactly the way they wanted, and he’s damn good at it. So, all you can do is nod at his answer.

You kept your composure as you continue with your interview, “It’s been suggested that your parents are highly influential figures in the fashion industry and that their connections may have contributed to your quick rise to fame. How would you respond to those allegations?”

Konig let out a scoff, his tone dripping with mockery in response to your next question. “I get it, there are some rumors going around that my parents are some moguls in the fashion industry and they have connections that helped me get where I am today, but let me set this straight: my parents have never worked in the fashion industry and all the success I’ve achieved is because of my own hard work and determination. Just because my career has taken off doesn’t mean it isn’t legit.”

Konig is clearly annoyed at this point, but he still manages to answer your question. You’re surprised he hasn't kicked you out of his home yet. But when you’re about to ask your last question but he suddenly cuts you off,

“You’re really nosy, aren’t you?”

“What can I say, it comes with the job requirement.”

You finally manage to talk back to him because his attitude is clearly getting under your skin, just like your questions seem to annoy him. While he might believe he can act however he pleases, he’s unaware that you’re a journalist. If it weren’t for your commitment to integrity and professionalism, you could easily run your thoughts about his attitude at this point.

“Look, one last question and I’ll be out of your hair,” you told him, you can see his patience is clearly running low at this point. However, what he didn’t know is that you’re about to drop a bomb on him.

“Did you earn your success through talent or hard work or did you have to do… other thing to get where you are today?”

His eyes narrowed into a fierce glare while he stares at you, he clearly doesn’t like the question at all. You could practically feel the tension in the air as he clenched his jaw, gritting his teeth underneath that mask as a silent display of anger.

“I don’t like what you’re implying.”

“And my question still stands.”

He leans forward on the couch, anger flashing vividly in his eyes and now you can almost feel the heat of his irritation as he growls in frustration.

“You can cut through the formal bullshit and just say what you want to say.”

You take your phone from the coffee table and press the ‘stop’ button, finally responding to him in a calm manner.

“Did you fuck your way up to the top, Konig?”

And that was his breaking point. He suddenly stands up from his couch as he walks toward you, anger intensifying in his eyes. He grabs your chin forcefully, making you meet his gaze.

“Not only nosy, but you also have a filthy little mouth, aren’t ya, maus?” you could feel his strong hand squeezing your face so hard that it feels like he’s trying to break your jaw. It was so painful that you couldn’t answer to him at all.

“But don’t worry, I’m gonna do something about it, so you won’t run your filthy mouth anymore, especially at me.” he growls at you while his other hand is unbuckling his belt and unzipped his pants, revealing this thick, enormous cock, already dripping with precum. He grabbed it and then started smearing the precum on your face, slapping his cock a few times on your cheeks.

“You need some serious disciplining, maus. Didn’t they teach you at school that it’s not nice to curse at other people, hm?” Konig started to tease the tip of his cock of your lips, smearing your lips with his precum.

“You’re lucky that I’m here, maybe I can teach you a thing or two about how to behave towards other people. Now open that filthy fucking mouth.” his other hand squeezed your mouth open and he thrusted his cock inside your mouth, forcing you to engulf his entire length in one go, making you violently gag as you could feel his tip touched the back of your throat. And now, he moved his hand from your face to your hair, grabbing a handful of it as he rapidly fucking your mouth.

Tears began streaming down your cheeks, mascara and lipstick began to smear across your face. It’s getting hard for you to breathe because he shoved his cock so deep and slamming it on the back of your throat, pounding over and over again mercilessly. His grip is so strong; it feels like he’s going to rip your entire scalp off.

“Fuuuuck, this mouth of yours is so fucking tight and warm. You should consider leaving your current job and become my personal fuck toy, maus. I would love to use this filthy mouth however and whenever I want, it seems like it’s the only good use for it.” he snickers with a devilish gleam in his eyes while he keeps fucking your mouth relentlessly. You started choking on his length, but he didn’t seem to care, in fact, it made him slam his cock even faster.

It feels like this has been going on forever, and you’re afraid you might get lockjaw anytime soon. But you could feel he’s so close to orgasm as his cock starts twitching in your mouth.

“Oh fuck, I’m gonna cum. I hope you’re ready, schatz, because I’m gonna fill that filthy mouth real good,” he grunts as his thrust becoming more and more erratic. It only takes a couple more thrusts before he came, coating you’re the walls of mouth with his thick seeds.

Konig finally pulled his cock out from your mouth. His cum tastes so bitter, but when you’re about to spit it out, he forcefully grabbed your face again, now facing his face directly.

“You’re not allowed to spit it out. I want you to swallow it but only when I said so. Now be a good girl and keep it in your mouth, but if you didn’t, I can promise that you won’t like the punishment at all. Understood?” he snarls at you but your mouth is so full of his cum you so can only nod at his words.

“Good, because I’m not done with you,” Konig suddenly pushed you back down to the couch as he pulls your legs up forcefully, ripping the side of your tight skirt and yanked your panties, also ripping it in the process. He puts your legs around his waist as he put his cock on top your stomach, seeing how deep it’s gonna go inside of you.

“Hmmm, I don’t think the entire thing is gonna fit. But don’t worry, schatz, I’ll make it fit. I know you can do it, you’re a big girl after all.” Konig lightly taps your cheek, he’s trying to sound sweet but you hear the venom in his tone. You know at that moment he’s definitely going to destroy you.

“Are you on the pill?” he asked again. You can only shake your head, hoping that he’ll go easy on you. “Heh, good.” he suddenly pulled your legs up over his shoulder and titled towards you, he then whispers in a husky tone,

“Weil ich dich so hart ficken werde, bis du mich zum Papa machst.”

His cock suddenly dipping into you, makes you nearly chocked on his cum. You can feel the tip of his cock stretched your cervix thin, slamming the same spot repeatedly as he folds your body like an origami. You feel like you’re going to sprain your neck if you stay in this position for a long time, but of course he didn’t care. He keeps using your body like you’re his personal cum dumpster.

You’re trying to protest but you can’t open your mouth, otherwise you’re gonna spill out his cum and you definitely don’t want that. Only a stifled whimper escapes your lips. He chuckled in response to your failed attempt at protest.

“Not”—thrust—“so”—thrust—“nosy”—thrust—“any”—thrust— “more”—thrust—“aren’t”—thrust—“you”

He’s pounding you hard and fast with each syllable of his words. Your eyes rolled back to the back of your head. Your mind went numb at the intense pleasure.

“Your pussy is so fucking tight, and it’s all mine to use.” he growls at you as he keeps fucking you mercilessly. You’re not on the pill and he’s not using a condom, so there’s a chance he’s going to get you pregnant after this, but they way he’s fucking you so hard and so good makes you not want him to stop until both of you are satisfied.

You can feel he’s close to orgasm again and so are you. Just a couple more thrusts, he finally came inside of you as both of you reached your climax at the same time. Filling you with his thick, milky white cum. Your cheek throbs with pain, your mind feels foggy, and your vision blurs into static.

Konig finally put down your legs, as he seeing his thick cum oozing from your now sore, puffy cunt. He gazes at it, amusement and desire dripping from his eyes. “Now swallow my cum, maus. Stick your tongue out when you’re done, I wanna see you swallow it all.”

You obey him as you swallowed all his cum and sticks out your tongue as a prove. “What an obedient girl.” he said, you can see him smiling through his mask.

He pulls up his pants and plop down next to you on the couch, while you’re still catching your breath and trying to gain your composure.

“I’ll be in New York in two days, and I assume this interview isn’t over. I will tell my manager to send you the hotel address where I’m staying and the room number. I’m expecting to see you there.” he said softly as he caresses your hair gently.

You replied, “I will come, but with one condition: I want to see your face. Otherwise, it's not going to happen.”

He chuckled at your request, “If you play your cards right, that request is not off the table,” he said as he keeps caressing your hair, “But only if you’re a good girl, okay, beautiful?”

He scooches over towards you, leaning as he whispers in your ear,

“Otherwise, I’ll use you just like I use the rest of them.”

[hopelessfool]

CHAPTER 1: showtime

MASTERLIST

"I'm curious, have you had a chance to watch the show, yet?"

A collective sigh filled the room. This season, everyone and their mothers had tuned in to see the love is blind cast and the amount of chaos they had caused on screen. There was at least a handful of other people in this room to blame for that, yet the complete and utter attention of the viewers was fixated on you.

"Yes", a girl snickered, "we've ALL seen the Y/N L/N show by now."

As you could feel a few pairs of eyes pierce through you; hear the bitter chuckles of friends and foes alike, he grabbed your hand. And everything was okay. Everything was worth it.

As long as it meant you would sit next to him on this very couch, matching rings, matching heartbeat, you would do it again.

And you wouldn't apologize to any of these fuckers.

This is going to be fun, they said.

It will get your mind off the breakup, they said.

You need to get laid, they said.

While you couldn't particularly spot a lie in any of these sentences, you were still overwhelmed by what your friends had signed you up for. On short notice, they had picked you up, sat you on a plane with a ridiculous amount of luggage and wished you good luck.

A tv-show. One which pretends to be classy and all about real love and still manages to only cast conventionally attractive people. One in which you would have to get married to "win". Coming here, you definitely didn't plan on taking any of this too seriously. Just because you needed or rather deserved a distraction from your previous love leaving the picture, didn't mean that you wanted to jump into a marriage. Particularly not with the other Z-list-celebrities-to-be.

At least half of them had to do this for fame, you thought. And the ones that were looking for real love, well... You remembered the countless promises of "forever" and decided that the ones looking for that might be stupid.

Really stupid - from the first impressions you were gathering from the other female contestants, you could already tell whose hopes would be let down soon. Because love is not blind, at least not in the way they wanted it to be. At some point, you believed, you just unwillingly close your eyes. To faults, absence, mistreatment. Even to the lack of love.

But people are constantly aware of the surface-level aspects that they are not attracted to. Sooner or later, even when you're not able to see your dates, looks, hobbies, and even your financial situation could kick you out of the show.

So you got dressed up along with the other girls, mentally hyping yourself up for the cameras to start rolling. Though you didn't plan on saying "Yes" at the altar to anyone, you might as well get your hands on a paid vacation. That just meant passing the first phase of the show - and convincing some guy to propose to you.

You heard a jittery sounding voice through your door. "We're doing interviews now, hurry up!"

Naomi, you recognized, was one of the genuinely excited participants who fully believed in the experiment. She was here to find what you've already lost. And as much as stupidity irked you, she unfortunately didn't seem dumb. She came across as hopeful. Under other circumstances you might have respected that.

The blinking red light signaled that you were already being filmed, although the interviewer hadn't even entered the room yet. So you tried not to fidget and mustered up all your strength to not sit there bent like a shrimp. Your mind started to wake up for the first time since arriving at the studio. People around the world would see you. The least you could do was to not make a fool of yourself. Not right away, at least.

With a swift opening of the door, a man in a beige suit strutted in. With his expensive glasses and watch and the way he held himself, you could picture him as a history professor. A broker. But not as an interviewer at love is blind. You tried not to seem surprised by his elegance. Or was it arrogance? Of course he would feel above this kind of job, would he not?

He nodded his head in greeting and placed himself on the chair across from you. "Nanami Kento", the blonde man introduced himself. "I will be your personal interviewer during the love is blind experiment. I'm also obliged to tell you that you can come to me for advice at any time." You watched in confusion as his hand reached out to cover what seemed to be the...microphone? "But this is not possible without any cameras involved, so I would suggest you don't."

You could only come up with a few blinks and a nod. He looked annoyed to be here. Although you were grateful for the heads up, you couldn't tell if he actually wanted to help you or hoped that you wouldn't take up too much of his time.

"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Nanami. I'm Y/N L/N and-"

"Kento is fine", he sighed, "and I already know all about you." Fanning himself with what looked like your file, he added: "I'm excellent at my job, Y/N. Don't believe I haven't taken my time getting to know you."

That was the point at which you felt see-through under the gaze of Kento for the first time. Heart pounding so loud you could suddenly hear it in your ears, you sharply sucked air into your lungs. You now had to rely on your foundation to hide the warmth that had formed on your cheeks. Did he really have to phrase it like that?

"I'm here to find out everything about you that can't be put onto paper. Things that the viewers care about, things that make them root for you."

"I'll try to live up to the expactations."

A deep, hoarse noise escaped his lips - your words somehow managed to make him chuckle. The slight lifiting of the corners of his mouth made him look more approachable immediately. Absurdly handsome, actually. His face was chiseled in a way that only gods had the tools for. Despite that, you couldn't spot a ring on his finger. Unmarried and overqualified for his job. Now you wanted to know everything about him that couldn't be put onto paper.

"I'm going to start with the questions now, is that alright?"

"Ask away, Kento." You would try to win them over. The viewers, the dates. You figured that answering Kento's - for sure - well thought through questions, might get you an idea on how to win the affections of the male participants.

You were determined. You deserved some fun, a beach vacation. And you deserved the dumbstruck look on your exes face when he sees you getting cozy with other men on tv. After how he left, you weren't above being petty like that.

"Well, I can't ask you why you've signed up for love is blind. Your friends sent in the application for you, which makes you an unusual participant. How do you feel about being put into a experiment like this on short notice?" Kento had a curious look plastered on his face. You didn't expect him to actually be interested in what you had to say. As a professional he was probably able to feign certain emotions to get you to open up to him. But his stern brown eyes looked honest.

"To be honest, without a little push from my friends, I would've never thought about coming here. When they told me that I had been cast for this show, I was overwhelmed, confused, excited. But my first instinct was to ask them if they're insane."

"But you still decided to come. Why?" Moving forward in his seat, he leaned his face onto his hand, eyes on you the whole time. "Could this have something to do with your past relationship?"

Sore wound. But you wouldn't let that rattle you in the slightest. You wanted to match the professionalism your opposite offered you and not offend him with your tears or your rage. They belong to someone else. They belong in the past.

"I understand why this connection would be made. The relationship ended only a few months ago. But rather than looking for a rebound - or a husband, for that matter, I'm here to let the experience convince me."

That was unexpected. Suddenly, Kento wished he hadn't disregarded his own offer of lending you an ear whenever you needed something. For the first time at his interviewer job, someone answered one of his questions to his satisfaction. Made him want to know more.

"So, you don't believe that love is blind?"

"I'm here to find out. That's what the show is about, isn't it?"

And when you smiled at him and into the camera, he found himself looking forward to the following interviews. You were a natural.

"Are you ready to fall in love?", the hosts had asked at the end of the introduction to the show. The sentence and the following cheers from the other women rang in your ears while making your way to your first cubicle. Inside, on the other side of the wall, there would be a man waiting to get to know you.

After meeting Kento, you weren't sure how some guy should impress you as much as he did in a shorter amount of time. You would have to sit through 15 minutes with each of them and hoped that at least one of them was bearable enough to at least fake date. Eyes on the prize!, you told yourself. The prize in question being free breakfast mimosas on a hot beach.

With the first guy, you just didn't vibe, which was fine. But after five more dates of being asked specifics about your look and sex life within five minutes, you felt like screaming into a pillow and taking the next plane home.

"Do you think I could carry you on my back?", was just a watered down version of saying "You're not fat, are you?" to which you so badly wanted to reply with "Do you even lift, bro?" - You chose to be civilian and just left the room, though.

The next room you had to enter was just left by Naomi. With flushed cheeks, she ran up to you, grabbed you by the shoulders and clutched on tight.

"Y/N!", she swooned, "Y/N, oh my god. All the girls already claim to have dibs on that guy."

With furrowed brows you looked at her, having the urge to say: "I mean, the bar's not that high. Have you met the threesome-guy yet, he's disgusti-"

"No, he's really dreamy, Y/N!", she puffed, "Im so jealous that you get to have time with him, the 15 minutes were way too short."

"Oh, you're talking about Toru?" Suddenly multiple women stood next to you and Naomi with their hands on their hips. The tall blonde at the front, Jolyne, had a teasing smirk on her lips. "I doubt he's interested in you two boring country-cows. Also, I already have dibs on him. Do you know nothing about girls code?"

"Excuse me?", you spat. "I haven't even talked to him, yet. Get your hysteria out of my face, please and thank you."

You shoved them aside and continued your walk to the next cubicle, which gained you multiple offended hisses. Somehow, Jolyne's rage made having that guy to yourself sound really delicous. Fired up, you walked through the door and planted yourself on the couch.

On the other side of the wall, you could hear some faint rustling, which told you that the other person was there as well. You couldn't help but be curious. What kind of guy was able to make all of the women fall for him - or his tv personality - in just 15 minutes?

What would he tell you? What had he told them? Did he talk about how handsome he was and everyone just bought it? Did he make up some story about saving cats from trees, or about rescuing children from a housefire?

What kind of guy could literally have anyone?

"Hey there, I'm Satoru."

No, that couldn't possibly be - that had to be a fucking joke.

"Gojo?!"

"...Who?"

©hopelessfool 2024

[strangeaddictiongk]

Don't Move Another Inch

*Note: This isn't exactly following real life structure within the military dynamic, I know that and I honestly don't care. This is fiction, either read it or don't.

It is a rough draft and will likely be edited later. I tried to stay true to Ghost, but I'm not exactly sure it is fully him. I'm still trying to understand him as a character so bear with me please.

----

Unedited. ~2.4k words. *Suggestive themed - MDNI*

You exhale, hands tightening on the bar as you try to figure out how to do this. The chopper is full of 141, and your previous seat is now occupied by Soap. “Find a seat!” Price commands from the co-pilot seat up front. “We have to go! Now!”

You nod, trying to hype yourself up, but you are unsure. You are a medic, a base medic. Not a field medic. The field medic is sick with the flu, so you are the fill-in. You did not ask to be here, covered in Gaz’s blood with him barely clinging on. The only other available medic is a rookie, and they are not ready for fieldwork.

The heat of the flames engulfing the building behind you warms your back, and the seconds are ticking by. You board the crowded chopper. Your hands brush against Gav, securing the kemp blanket over him tighter before you move deeper into the hull. You intend to sit on Soap’s lap, a middle seat away from the open door. It will be a tight fit, but the only other option closer to you is Ghost. And you do not want to push Ghost into being uncomfortable. Normally, Gaz would be the one offering you a seat. Teasing you about how perfect you would be together despite you consistently turning him down. Your heart clenches in your chest, and your gaze shifts to him, waiting for the joke, but it does not come. He lays still, silent.

Soap catches your gaze next and sees the question in your eyes. He gives a short nod; you could sit with him. But before you can fully pass Ghost, his hands are on your hips, guiding you down onto his lap as the chopper whirs louder, signaling you are about to be airborne. You gasp and reach to grip the strap that he is already holding as the chopper lifts off the ground. Your fingers grip his forearm in desperation to not fall out of the open door. The muscles flex under your touch, and he shifts beneath you slightly.

Gav’s body on a stretcher takes up most of the floor space as you tuck your legs and feet between Ghost’s and the paneled wall that juts out only a fraction as best you can. You are straddling one of Ghost’s thighs, and if the matter had not been so serious you could only imagine the jokes and crude commentary the others would be throwing your way, but everyone is somber and silent as they worry over Gav. You had bandaged him and prepped him as best you could for the flight back to safety. Losing him once already had everyone on edge.

You do not make eye contact with anyone else, aware of the heat Ghost is giving off underneath you. His body is solid beneath you. Your eyes close temporarily, a shiver running down your spine at the unexpected proximity.

“Hold onto me,” Ghost rumbles over the sound of the blades whirring, and it lifts off the ground.

You nod again, unable to think straight as you panic over Gav and try to calm your racing heart over your position. After his other arm winds around your waist, you shift, and he tightens his hold. You grip his arm, nails biting into the heavy fabric of his uniform. Your other hand braces on his vacant thigh to keep yourself stable. His thigh is warm and tense under your palm as you sway with the chopper. There are not enough headsets to go around. An emergency evac had never been a top plan for today’s mission. You are deaf to whatever orders Price is likely issuing and relying on Ghost to tell you if they are important enough.

So, now you have to rely on Ghost’s touch or his voice near your head for anything that is not related to Gav. You shift again, trying to watch for Gav’s rising and falling chest now that you are positioned by his feet. It is there still, steady, but not as strong as you would like. Ghost’s fingers dig into your waist when you shift a third time.

“Stop moving… please.”

“I’m sorry, I’m worried.”

He shifts underneath you, hauling you back against his chest. Your body is squarely on his lap now and not his thigh. Your lips fall open in surprise at what you feel. He huffs when you stiffen in his grasp.

Tucking his head down, his mouth is near your ear, even with the mask being a protective layer between you. “We are all worried, but no one else is fidgeting like you are.”

His hand is under the vest they insisted you wear before the flight and your t-shirt. You are not dressed properly, in jeans and a t-shirt, not fit for the med bay much less the field. The soft press of his gloved hand is warm against your skin. You take a strangled breath in, and his chest rumbles with a chuckle.

You shiver, feeling the hard press of him against you. And his teasing does not help ease your mind. Ghost has never flirted with you, not like the others. He has never given you an indication that he is attracted to you at all. But right now, the attraction screams from underneath you. You swallow and try not to think about the size of the man beneath you.

“I could have sat with someone else,” you mutter before he lifts his head to look at the others. Your gaze stays solely on Gav, but you can feel Ghost's fingertips moving gently in an up-and-down pattern on your waist.

“I don’t fucking think so.”

You shift to look at him in surprise when you notice the growing stain on his collar. “Ghost?”

“What?”

“Are you bleeding?!”

He shifts, looking down at the blood staining his front. “I’ll be fine. It’s just a scratch.”

Your eyes widen as you try to find the source of the bleed. He stares at you, but you ignore the burning of those eyes and shift once more to tip his chin up before slowly easing the mask above his collarbone to reveal his neck. That is when you notice the deep gash on his neck that disappears into his shirt. Blood soaks his mask and the collar of his uniform.

“It looks like more than a scratch!”

“Focus on Gav, Darlin’. I’ll be fine.”

You huff, not liking the answer. Gav is the one who is knocking on death’s door, but you can’t exactly let Ghost bleed out underneath you. You lean forward, and immediately his hand grips your waist as you grasp the medic bag that is stationed between Gav’s legs.

“Fuck!” Ghost breathes before you sit up straight and dig around for something to patch him up with temporarily. “Warn a guy next time, Smoke.”

The use of your code name makes your cheeks burn. The name had been a joke because you were elusive with everyone around you. Never trusting anyone to linger longer than necessary at first. You bite your lip, cheeks heating as he shifts underneath, uncomfortable with the growing matter between his legs. It is wrong for him to have a hard-on right now, but he had put himself in this predicament. He should have let you squeeze in on Soap's lap, but the thought of someone else holding you had him seeing red.

“Hold this,” you instruct Soap, who holds the medical bag with ease on his lap as he watches you work before glancing at Ghost, who has gone ridged when you shift even more in his lap.

They exchange a look, and Ghost internally groans, knowing he will pay for this later. You face him now. Practically straddling his lap, chest nearly touching as you inspect the cut on his neck and down into the collar of his shirt. “Can I look at you?”

His eyes squeeze shut, but a forced yes reaches your ears, and you are quick to undo the straps on the left side of his vest before moving to the shoulder one.

“Soap!” You yell, and he leans closer to better listen to you. “Keep a count of breaths Gav takes per minute. If it drops any, let me know!”

“Yes, ma’am!”

You turn your attention back to Ghost. “Relax, Lieutenant.”

He shakes his head, smirking at you despite the mask covering it. You unbutton his uniform and push it open to see his shirt underneath stained crimson. You frown, looking up at him briefly, but his gaze is fixated on the roof.

“I’m sorry,” you rush out, pressing a bandage over the wound to slow some of the bleeding. He does not flinch from the pressure like you expect. “I could’ve sat with anyone else; I should have.”

“No.”

You lift your gaze again, and he is watching you. That dark look burns right through you. You clear your throat and resume blotting the wound down to the collar of his shirt. “How fond of this shirt are you?”

He shrugs, it is a standard issue black shirt, and you take the scissors to cut down it and reveal most of his torso. His eyes widen, and his hands on your hips tighten, the strap long forgotten. Your cheeks flame, and you bite your lip, ignoring how this would look if the situation was not as real as it is.

“You’ll need stitches when we get back.”

He is silent, his thumb rubs up and down the line of your waist. Ghost’s chin brushes your head as you duck to clean the cut and wipe away the dried blood. Your fingers cool against his skin. He muffles a groan, his eyes closing briefly as you brush over his abs. Another set of antiseptic wipes is gone as you tear open a new pack with your teeth.

“Christ, Smoke.”

You meet his gaze again, and you blush hotter. “Careful, Ghost.”

“You need to be fucking careful,” he mutters, his voice strained as he shifts underneath you. “Fucking hell.”

“Then stop moving.” You argue, and he glares at you. You laugh under your breath before you drag another wipe down his torso. Scars litter his body, and you try not to touch them. His trauma is no secret, and you want to respect him as much as possible. The glassy sheen of wounds healed is making you wonder what all he has been through.

The chopper jerks and everyone is jostled abruptly. Your body slides further into Ghosts. You inhale sharply, hands pressing to his exposed chest. Your head dips down, panicked breaths escaping you.

“I’m sorry,” you rush out for only him to hear. “I’m so sorry.”

His chest heaves against your hands, and you turn your face to look at him. His eyes blazing, breath fanning out even through the mask. You bite your lip, and he closes his eyes, shifting underneath you.

Your breath hitches, and a soft keen escapes you as he practically rolls his hips beneath you. This is so unprofessional, but it has been so long since you have been touched or wanted. The lower half of his clothed face brushes against your jaw, his chest rising and falling as the chopper jerks again.

“Fuck,” he groans, his voice strained, his fingertips pressing into your hips harshly. You shift, unable to help yourself with the press of him between your legs, and he grunts, nose moving up to the shell of your ear. “Fuck, Sweetheart’.”

The chopper seems to settle after a few more minutes, and you slowly ease back from him. His gaze burns as he stares at you. You press your hands to your cheeks, praying you are not as red-hot as you feel.

He smirks, enjoying your frazzled state. “Still bleeding here.”

Snapping out of it, you set back to work on bandaging what you can before moving to do his buttons back up. Ghost knows he can do it himself, but he is not going to. He groans, tucking his head down on your shoulder when your fingertips graze the bottom of his abs. Too close to the line of his pants.

You have no idea just how close he is to coming right there. Blowing his load in his uniform pants because you are on him and touching him. Even with Gaz on the stretcher at his feet, he would blow his load if you touched his skin again or offered another little sigh.

“Ghost,” you murmur, hand moving to his shoulder to squeeze. He snaps out of his daze, turning his head to watch you. “I’m sorry for… the problem.”

You hurry up the last few buttons and strap the vest back on before starting to shift back around, but he stops you.

“Don’t move,” he murmurs in your ear. “Don’t move another inch, Sweetheart.”

He is close to losing it, you both stay frozen where you are. You nod at Ghost’s command, closing your eyes briefly. You tuck your head down as you try to focus on wiping his blood from your hands.

“Ghost…”

“Don’t apologize again.”

You snap your mouth shut, and he grunts, disappointed that you close off so easily still. His hand moves between you to tug at your vest until you meet his gaze. His eyes soften, and you try to muster a small smile for him, you are fine. Worried and unsure, but fine.

“We’re almost there, Boys!” Price yells over the sounds of the chopper. You glance out the window, hands gripping Ghost’s upper arms while he keeps you firmly on his lap. Heights terrify you, and the ground looks so far away. Your vision is tunneling.

“Heights?”

You nod, closing your eyes and turning your face back to his chest.

“You aren’t going anywhere. I’ve got you.”

The chopper lands minutes later, and they unload Gav before hopping out. Soap reaches back to help you down, and you smile at him gratefully. The heat from Ghost had stirred an empty feeling inside of you. But now it is gone, and your chest aches slightly. You blink in surprise as you register your body's reaction to him. But then it is there again as Ghost follows behind you. You can feel how close he walks behind you as you rush with the medical team into the bay. You spew out what you could do in the field before hurrying in to remove your vest and sterilize yourself so you can help Gav the rest of the way. You explain to the rookie that Ghost needs stitches, barely glancing at him as you leave him to the rookie’s capable hands. Your body is trembling from your unexpected ride back.

[greater-than-the-sword]

Despite all we've learned about the brain, science does not actually know anything about the mind-body connection.

Science doesn't know why people perceive subjective experiences. A neuroscientist will admit this. Science does not know how a molecule of serotonin connecting with its receptor makes you feel good. Science can't prove that two people who see the color blue are subjectively experiencing the same color. Science can't even prove that consciousness exists, all we can actually observe is our own personal consciousness, the rest is faith and inference.

How does the data your eyes take in when they do trigonometry to determine your depth perception get bypassed in your conscious mind and translate directly to a subjective experience of depth? How does a certain intensity of nerve signals become a feeling? What is in your brain perceiving?

The reason I bring this up is as a reality check against AI hype. If we can't even examine the mechanism that causes chemical matter to have experiences in ourselves, how can we presume (with no evidence) that we've imparted that to another completely different type of being?

The idea that AI could be a conscious being requires you to accept several premises simultaneously: 1) that consciousness is reducible to "the absurd acts of chemicals" 2) consciousness is actually not involved by nature with the chemicals themselves but to their information structure 3) consciousness is actually not reducible to the architecture of an actual brain but to our idea of what a brain is like 4) that consciousness is fundamentally reducible to mathematical constructs, and nothing in particular needs to be layered on top of math to change it into consciousness 5) that the most important or animating feature of consciousness is what we call "intelligence".

Badically, in order to believe that AI can be sentient you have to first subscribe to the philosophical position that consciousness itself is an illusion or otherwise not real. And also that 'intelligence' is the primary vector of human value.

Many of these are intrinsically deranged viewpoints that most people don't accept in daily life. Why start now?

[starlostseungmin]

— friends, lmh.

pairing: minho x gn!reader genre: angst warnings: profanity, kissing, minho is a jerk, not proofread. word count: 1.1k notes: here's the lee know angst i promised. lol. it's from the poll, but anyway, i've got a short free time tonight so here it is! don't forget to comment and reblog! thank you lovely ♡

his back met the white wall painfully as you pushed him against it. a wince of pain from his mouth escalated quickly but he drew a smirk on his face. he never felt so sincere with you to begin with. if it weren’t for jisung telling you how minho has been doing shits behind your back, you’d be one gullible person with an innocent perspective. you know it is risky to have this kind of relationship with him, but you can’t blame yourself for falling in love. he gave signs of affection but they were all mixed signals. you shouldn’t act like this, being all hurt and crying until your mascara runs down your cheeks. what’s the point of crying over a player? 

“what the hell are we?” you asked, tears streaming down your face. 

minho just let out a soft chuckle, not giving a shit on what you were feeling that night. the question keeps repeating all the time, yet he couldn’t give you a decent answer. maybe he’s just playing with you after finding out you like him despite the rumors (which were proven true). a player who loves to leave broken pieces of fragile hearts. he is that jerk. all those feelings you have and the days being spent with you mean nothing to him. if he is this heartless, he shouldn’t have played the game in the first place. 

“fuck you!” your voice echoes through the quiet room of your apartment. his face was hard to read, and his eyes seemed to be sympatheticーnothing. 

maybe there were times that he used to hold you when you were crying and upset with him, a kiss would seal all the complaints and his touch would make your body burn, wanting for more. he did things that made you fall into his trap but never reassured you what kind of relationship you have. you could feel how you were treated like an object when he wakes up usually at 5 in the morning from your bed as you lie naked underneath the sheets. minho often stays with youーthe controversy of doing this without any label made you question your worth. 

maybe you were just blinded by love that you couldn’t see his flaws. maybe he is a skilled player that could make his victims swoon over him. shit blow things up and you couldn’t get up. you love him so much that you just want to be used and be gullible. but jisung’s nagging made you come through. you wanted to be more than just friends with benefits and yet minho wanted to remain the same. he doesn’t love you, none of those affections were real and even if you get mad at him, nothing will change anything. minho is still that jerk. 

“i thought we agreed that we’re just friends,” he said, sounding like a total asshole. of course, he knew, he always knew. 

“but i love you!” you cried. minho just stared back, confused as to why you were acting like this. everything means nothing. 

“well i don’t, y/n,” he said. “don’t be so dramatic about this,” the sound of your palm slapping his cheek was loud enough to leave him in shock. it was painful, but nothing compares to what you were feeling. minho stood there frozen for being caught off guard. “y/n,” 

your hands were shaking, eyes darted on him filled with pain as your tears never stopped streaming. maybe he might have a change of heart or develop some feelings for you, even for one bit. he saw you so bent out of shape. you admit that you are also at fault for letting down your guard when you totally agreed to be just friends with benefits and now you’re here.

“am i really nothing? those things we did were nothing?” you asked as your voice cracked and shaky. he never saw you being so hyped up before and now he’s sure that you really want to blow shit up. 

“you don’t really understand do you?” minho scoffed. “we’re just friends y/n, nothing is really up with usー” 

“tell me we weren’t just friends! this doesn’t make much sense to me minho!” you said. “fuck! ignore that friends-with-benefits bullshit, iー” you paused, running your hands on your face. “fuck, i can’t believe i fell for you. i’m getting some fresh air,” you said and were about to take the exit from your apartment when he grabbed your wrist, spinning you around as he pulled you closer to his bodyーa hand around your waist, and his hand wrapping your wrist lightly. he stared straight into your eyes, you were left dumbfounded when he looks at you with a serious look, an expression that is confusing and hard to read. “what the fuck are you doing? let me go you fucker!” you said, but he didn’t listen. 

“i didn’t know you would act up like this y/n,” he smiled as he turned you around, pushing you as your back hits the wall. jerk. you looked at him, unknown of your feelings yet your heart started to beat faster than usual. why is your heart so fragile when it comes to him anyway? he’s not even your boyfriend. “do you like me that much?” he smirked as you avoided his eye contact but his fingers grabbed your chin to face him again, cheeks started to flush yet your eyes filled with irritation. 

“you heartless jerk,” you retorted when his lips met yours. his hand fell on your name, pulling you closer for much access to your lips as he gives a desperate one. you tried to push him away but he would just keep on pulling you deeper. his kisses never fail to give you butterflies in your stomach but right now, you don’t know anymore. there were several attempts of pushing him away until he decided to let go. the kiss is not worth it anymore. you hate him as much as you hate yourself for getting caught in his trap. maybe it was time to put an end to things. minho never loved you. it was just a game where he would use you for his past time and pleasure. 

you left your apartment that night and minho stared at the door where you took the exit. maybe it was all wrong and he was desperate about you. but the fact that the damage has already been done, he wouldn’t be able to fix things now. the regret he felt, the sadness and heartbreakーmaybe minho felt something for you, even if just a smidge. but how would he be able to get you back when you cut it all off? a sigh escaped from your lips as you burned all the pictures you had with him, but then there’s minho who keeps on staring at your window from the street, wanting to change and make up. yet he knew it won’t be all easy. 

taglist : @wolfchanchan ,, @1-800-lixie ,, @luvhyun3 ,, @lix-ables ,, @zoe8stay ,, @gwynsapphire ,, @cherryhanji ,, @lixesque ,, @seungly ,, @sleepyleeji ,, @comet-falls ,, @kim-seung-mo ,, @ppiri-bahng ,, @myjisung ,, @snow-pegasus ,, @milkybonya ,, @l3visbby ,, @wilczachannn ,, @asters-abditory ,, @tangylemonade ,, @hwan-g ,, @awkwardnesshabitat ,, @chrispychans ,, @therealhyunjingf ,, @hyunverse ,, @starseungs ,, @skizzen ,, @lino-jagiyaa ,, @ameliesaysshoo ,, @rachabreathing ,, @svngiem

[littlethingwithfeathers]

I'm grumpy about Silent Hill again...

TW for discussions of suicide, self harm, abuse (both parent to child and amongst peers) and general spookiness. Y'know... the usual Silent Hill rigmarole of trauma and despair. Also be warned that I'm going to spoil a lot of the Silent Hill series, in particular Silent Hill 2 and the Short Message game that just came out. ***

So... one of my most popular posts out there is this one. It's about Pyramid head and the loss of subtlety in media. And I couldn't help but feel like we hadn't moved an inch from when I posted that back in... *checks date on post* hrrk. my bones... 2017. I'm going to die soon. Anyway. Today I watched Second Wind do a run of the short, free-to-play Silent Hill: Short Message. I admittedly had a good bit of trepidation going in just because of the marketing. Which, for all of you marketing majors out there, that is called "Not a good sign." Marketing should make you want to play a game... especially if you're a fan of the series already. But this... it was a bit of a wet blanket, largely due to the fact that it spoiled a lot of the focus of the game. It basically said "this is a game about how bullying and being chronically online is real bad. We're gonna be spooky about it now." And... straining to push aside how incredibly reductive that is... why give it away? Why say it out loud? Why did you tell us what you are doing? Can you imagine Silent Hill 2 if we'd known it was about James killing his wife from the jump? We didn't. We hadn't the first clue. We knew nothing other than that he was looking for her and she was maybe dead? But we didn't know how... possibly lung cancer or TB given that she had the most pointed coughing sequence since the movie Tombstone. And hey... the last game had someone looking for a loved one too. Maybe that's the deal with Silent Hill. Who knows? No one did at that point. It was still a big old mystery for the most part. And then the E3 trailer... like there's the weird pretty lady in jail? But what's she talking about? Who the fuck is Mary? Is that... his wife? Well then who the hell is Ms. Miniskirt? No wait... is that his wife in the VHS tape? What the hell is going on? Oh look gameplay! And... a little girl? And a weird guy with a gun... This soundtrack slaps. I'm gonna go see if it's up on Napster yet. (this was 2001... again... my bones etc) I remember combing over low-res copies of that video for HOURS when it came out. Why are the nurses different? It's not snowing? Who are all these people... And why do they all sound like they put ketamine in their coffee. It was like a great big puzzle to work out and we had a ball theorizing and researching so when it came out we were HYPE. And that was largely because in short... we knew SOME things at release. Fog. Nurses. Big stick. Weird people. Banger soundtrack. Dead (but probably not) wife. And we presumed or supposed more... cult activity? New beasties? Radio maybe? But we effectively knew nothing about the plot. And the best part was, while they had a solid hook (Find dead lady who we love so huggy buggy much) and instant intrigue (Angela in the cemetery being weirder than a film by David Lynch), and a very familiar setting (we may have improved draw distance on the PS2, but we don't have to use it!), we still didn't really know what was going on. The plot was essentially unfolding out of a black box. Silent Hill 2 was quite content to be a slower burn than trying to boil the Lake Superior with a signal flare. You don't even see the main "villain" Pyramid Head until a few hours in and, as I pointed out in that other post, there's no flashy cut scene to introduce him and go WOOOOOO SCARYYYYY. He's just chillin' behind some prison bars (which that totes is normal in an apartment complex) and staring at you like I stare at the inside of my fridge when I really would like some cheese to materialize.

And then... like we're not even really sure what the hell is going on for the longest time. We meet our wife's hot twin with the key to a strip club and she keeps getting killed over and over... and things keep getting increasingly rapey and lewd in a way that's just uncomfortable more than anything... But even at the end. Even with the big reveal of "You killed your wife." they still don't ever explicitly state "And you killed her because you couldn't have sex with her anymore." It wasn't until you finished the game, and talked to someone else about it, or let your brain cook on it for a bit that you went... heyyyy... he's a horndog! (In fact... if I'm going to chide SH2 for anything it's that right at the very VERY end they tried to frame James's actions as understandable because the woman who was dying and frightened and in pain was mean to him. Yes, being a caretaker is hard. But Christ... pick a topic for discussion.) But contrast all that with Short Message. The marketing and such all said out loud "THIS IS ABOUT BULLYING" so even going in... I was already like "yep. The bully is probably us, but we had reasons because we have to be complicated and you aren't allowed to make the player feel bad" And lo was I correct. There was no... intrigue. I was never curious about the character or the people around her because I knew this story. They already told me what story they were telling so I could practically sing along, especially as a millennial that had to grow up watching little videos and skits in school about the evils of bullying. And when you are going to tell a trope-ish story, and you tell the audience what the trope is, it becomes "say the line" writ large. This isn't me advocating for super twisty unexpected plot arcs (looking at you, Supernatural). Far from it. You absolutely should tell a story in such a way that the audience understands how you got from point A to point Z, even if there are some surprises along the way (See Sixth Sense for that masterclass). Rather, what I'm missing from this (and frankly a lot of the Silent Hill games and honestly... media in general these days) is a sense of restraint. A sense of trust in their audience to "get it." They can't just plonk us in the fog with a radio and a stick and say "You're here to find your best friend/dog/cousin/wife/business partner. Good luck. Here's a weirdo to prattle cryptically at you in order to unsettle you immediately. Bye!" No! They have to tell us what kind of story they're telling and what themes are important. They can't just... give us a Silent Hill Game and trust that we know what to do with it. It's... insulting frankly. Especially as a longtime fan of the franchise who remembers when they did trust us and they did have faith in their work. I will say this in compliment to Short Message. The environment design was pretty cool. Especially the sticky-note hallways... they looked like leaves... and sometimes teeth... and like tightly packed bones in an ossuary. It didn't... say anything really. But it looked cool. And you can't go wrong with Akira Yamaoka's soundtrack. But... while I'm on the subject of design. Y'all. An animate sakura tree in an oversized hoodie is not scary. But bless you for at least having the restraint to not make her Pyramid Head.

[thefudge]

i need thoughts on saltburn -- even if you didn't like it!!! <3

sorry for taking so long to answer this, but i only finally watched the movie this week. i kind of wanted the hype and polarization to die down a bit so i could form my own opinion.

so, i enjoyed it! it has issues, but it was a fun and clever romp. any movie that ends with a "murder on the dancefloor" dance sequence will earn a smile from me because that is one of my favorite songs of all time and i don't know how emerald fennell knew that about me, but there were constant little moments in the script that made me go "ahh, we'd be friends in real life". i felt that way about promising young woman too, even if i ultimately disagreed with quite a few of her creative choices there. but her style & humor and the way she frames sexual content is similar to my own palate/writing. i especially appreciate the way she makes arousal and desire interesting, how she explores abjection but also intellectual stimulation. what makes the character of oliver irresistible to the entire household in the film is the way he can tap into people's desires in a very unexpected and creative way. he constantly surprises them by giving them what they didn't know they wanted. it's interesting that, from oliver's skewed perspective, it's felix who is supposed to be the object of desire, the person everyone wants to be around. but we the viewers can see oliver is the true loathsome subject and object of desire for those around him (and for the audience too, as we sort of can't look away from him).

i agree with people who say felix cared more about oliver than the reverse. in fact, the cleverest thing this movie does, imo, is show that oliver could be happy, but actively chooses not to. this isn't to say the posh oxbridge types fennell makes fun of in this movie do not ring true or that the social satire and snobbery isn't accurate. but it's more that oliver doesn't need to fall into their sphere of influence, doesn't need to measure himself using their standards. yes, the environment is classist and unfair, there are big structural issues that oliver cannot control, but oxford doesn't have to be his whole life, it's only a couple of years. the fact that he is there already gives him a leg up in the world. given his smarts and his magnetism, oliver could have done very well for himself after university without needing to latch onto saltburn. the clever twist for me is that oliver is also privileged, and not just because we see he's comfortably middle-class with a supportive family, but because he has options, he has choices, but he actively chooses to be miserable and hateful, because he hates and looks down on the ppl around him. yes, the saltburn entourage is filled with bitter, toxic people, but some of those people would've probably done anything for him, and would have genuinely loved him. but the truth at the core of oliver is that he prefers a room to be empty, he prefers to have saltburn all to himself as this pure luxurious space that is devoid of humanity.

at the end, oliver is both wonderfully effective and deeply unimaginative. don't get me wrong, i really liked his character and the gremlin freak energy he conveyed, i rooted for him along the way, i mean barry keoghan plays it too well not to, but despite his victory dance at the end, it's sort of drab that oliver's greatest achievement is saltburn. despite being the brilliant predator who hunted down all competition, he is not brilliant enough to see his prize is empty. he's not smart enough to see, that at the end of the day, he is just like the cattons. he loves and hates felix because he loves and hates himself. there are many moments in the movie where oliver stares into mirrors or his reflection is doubled in reflective surfaces, and i don't think it's just to signal his duplicity or multiplicity, but rather the fact that....it's all olivers, all the way down. he thinks he's such an outsider, but he is saltburn, he comes to embody it physically in the very last dance. and even his predatory cleverness is overrated; most of the cattons fall easily, they want to go, there's an emptiness at the heart of their lives and at the heart of saltburn that oliver wants to embrace.

and i do think that emerald fennell had some of this in mind; i don't think my interpretation is necessarily the right one, but you can see she's doing more with this than directing a satirical romp. i think we're actively invited to see beyond oliver's seduction and into the emptiness of his dreams. that's why some of the deaths in the end come off as slightly ridiculous and excessive, because it's not about his cleverness anymore, he's just the last person left when the party is over. he's still a character you can root for and have fun with (and be drawn to), but the film encourages you to question his narrative from the start, not just his literal narration to rosamund pike, but the overarching idea he has of himself.

anyway, this is all to say, i rather liked it! i didn't love it, but i appreciate what it was trying to do, and i think it's more clever in that regard than people give it credit for. i do think it's a more mature effort than promising young woman. i am kind of hoping emerald directs a nonconventional romcom next, because i like her approach to certain intimate moments, mixing tenderness with violence. i'd love to see a punch-drunk love-esque love story from her.

(i do also want to give props to barry keoghan again, because i think the movie wouldn't work half as well without him. he elevates a lot of moments and he is so compelling to watch)

[antirepurp]

something something the appeal of palworld came largely from the concept of people intentionally parodying and/or ripping off pokemon designs to create an exaggerated and edgy interpretation of the stale pokemon formula, and that appeal gets lost immediately if those designs were generated with AI algorithms, because now the legally distinct piplup isn't an intentionally legally distinct piplup but rather the result of an algorithm creating its typical slop out of the work of artists who likely did not consent to their work being used for the purposes of training an algorithm. a sense of humanity that is required for parody to have an appeal is lost. the similarity to pokemon designs was funny when you believed it was the devs taking real pokemon and modifying them slightly, but now it only feels like the kind of shit you get when you ask an algorithm to generate you a picture of sonic. im less bummed that a game that i was looking forward to might be algorithm sludge and more worried about what the initial hype this game had before these concerns were brought up might signal to bigger game developers who want to replace human artists with algorithms so bad it makes them piss themselves in excitement

[respectthepetty]

@placetneplacet writing about Zo being resistant to Joke's advances because he truly believed it was all in his head due to Puen deceiving him has me DEEP in my feels because @placetneplacet is right. Rewatching the show with the knowledge of the trauma Puen caused Zo changes everything.

Really think about this, y'all.

THINK ABOUT IT!

Each time Zo felt any good feelings for Joke, he immediately stopped himself.

He shut down every single time because he couldn't trust himself. He didn't want to repeat his mistake of making someone else uncomfortable with his queerness.

When Joke touched him, he had to remind himself that it meant nothing.

So when he kissed Joke, he sat there that entire time believing Joke would tell him he was crazy for thinking the feeling was mutual.

He really tried to convince himself (and Joke) that nothing changed. That is meant nothing. Because he was afraid of losing a friend.

So when Joke said this, Zo panicked even more!

As @justafriend-ql wrote, once Joke spilled the Roselle juice on him, symbolizing his heart being on his sleeve, Zo thought he was exposed. He thought it was happening all over AGAIN!

And he sat there throughout that entire dinner with Joke in front of his mom, with that red stain, that scarlet letter, his heart on his sleeve FREAKING OUT!

So while Joke was hyping him up to his mom, Zo was getting more anxious telling himself IT WAS IN HIS HEAD! That it didn't mean what he thought it meant. That is was just a friend being a friend.

He was so cold to Joke because he didn't want to give Joke any evidence of his growing feelings. He didn't want Joke to feel uncomfortable, but he also didn't want to give Joke any ammunition to hurt him.

He didn't want to regret it like he did before.

Joke never said how he felt about the kiss because he didn't want to push Zo, but by him not saying anything, Zo went deeper into his head thinking about how he could salvage this without losing Joke.

So the next time he saw Joke, and Joke kept repeating that tongue twister about the fucking toads in love, ZO WAS REPEATING THAT IT WAS ALL IN HIS HEAD! That Joke was just teasing him like Puen had done!

THIS ENTIRE FUCKING CONVERSATION!

Zo was demanding that Joke tell him WHY he kept helping him. He needed to hear Joke say that they were "just friends" so he could finally confirm it was all in his head.

Zo kept calling himself an idiot because he let this happen again. He mixed up the signals. He read too much into it. He is going to destroy another friendship because HE IS THE PROBLEM for thinking the other person liked him.

He was confused because he couldn't stop caring, despite knowing it was one-sided. Even though he knew it was all in his head.

Look at his reaction to being hugged by Joke. LOOK AT IT! He was fighting himself this entire episode. Just like the kiss, he doesn't touch Joke. He stands there. HE IS PANICKING! Because if he hugs Joke, he is exposed. Joke will know how he feels.

It's not until the very end of this episode that Joke tells him that he likes him.

The very last moment, Joke tells Zo what he thought he had imagined was, in fact, real. And look at Zo's face.

That is the look of hope.

He still doesn't believe it.

But in spite of everything, he hopes this is real.

When Zo's friends are also "surprised" by Joke's feelings, it makes Zo doubt it more.

But even though Zo can't express himself because he is still terrified this is all a joke at his expense and believes Joke is going to leave him, Joke keeps showing up.

Joke keeps checking in.

Joke doesn't take Zo's silence as a rejection because he realizes Zo struggles to voice his feelings since he can't trust his feelings, but Joke follows up for his consent each time.

@stuffnonsenseandotherthings told us it's never been about food with them.

Because Puen made Zo doubt himself so much that he fought himself to the point of repression. Zo wasn't trying to quiet Joke's queerness; he was trying to convince himself that Joke wasn't gay. He was telling him it was all his imagination because Joke was simply being nice to him. He was telling him he didn't like Joke being nice to him because HE was getting it confused.

Zo knew who he was, yet Puen convinced him that was all a lie.

And I fucking hate him.

@bengiyo, add him to the list. He knew.