#that it was available for me to use again

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Surveillance pricing lets corporations decide what your dollar is worth

I'm in the home stretch of my 24-city book tour for my new novel PICKS AND SHOVELS. Catch me in LONDON (July 1) with TRASHFUTURE'S RILEY QUINN and then a big finish in MANCHESTER on July 2.

Economists praise "price discrimination" as "efficient." That's when a company charges different customers different amounts based on inferences about their willingness to pay. But when a company sells you something for $2 that someone else can buy for $1, they're revaluing the dollars in your pocket at half the rate of the other guy's.

That's not how economists see it, of course. When a hotel sells you a room for $50 that someone else might get charged $500 for, that's efficient, provided that the hotelier is sure no $500 customers are likely to show up after you check in. The empty room makes them nothing, and $50 is more than nothing. There's a kind of metaphysics at work here, in which the room that is for sale at $500 is "a hotel room you book two weeks in advance and are sure will be waiting for you when you check in" while the $50 room is "a hotel room you can only get at the last minute, and if it's not available, you're sleeping in a chair at the Greyhound station."

But what if you show up at the hotel at 9pm and the hotelier can ask a credit bureau how much you can afford to pay for the room? What if they can find out that you're in chemotherapy, so you don't have the stamina to shop around for a cheaper room? What if they can tell that you have a 5AM flight and need to get to bed right now? What if they charge you more because they can see that your kids are exhausted and cranky and the hotel infers that you'll pay more to get the kids tucked into bed? What if they charge you more because there's a wildfire and there are plenty of other people who want the room?

The metaphysics of "room you booked two weeks ago" as a different product from "room you're trying to book right now" break down pretty quickly once you factor in the ability of sellers to figure out how desperate you are – or merely how distracted you are – and charge accordingly. "Surveillance pricing" is the practice of spying on you to figure out how much you're willing to spend – because you're wealthy, because you're desperate, because you're distracted, because it's payday – and charging you more:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/06/05/your-price-named/#privacy-first-again

For example, a McDonald's ventures portfolio company called Plexure offers drive-through restaurants the ability to raise the price of your regular order based on whether you've recently received your paycheck. They're just one of many "personalized pricing" companies that have attracted investor capital to figure out how to charge you more for the things you need, or merely for the small pleasures of life.

Personalized pricing (that is, "surveillance pricing") is part of the "pricing revolution" that is underway in the US and the world today. Another major element of this revolution are the "price clearinghouses" that charge firms within a sector to submit their prices to them, then "offer advice" on the optimum pricing. This advice – given to all the suppliers of a good or service – inevitably boils down to "everyone should raise their prices in unison." So long as everyone follows that advice, we poor suckers have nowhere else to go to get a better deal.

This is a pretty thin pretext. Price-fixing is illegal, after all. These companies pretend that when all the meat-packers in America send their pricing data to a "neutral" body like Agri-Stats, which then tells them all to jack up the price of meat, that this isn't a price-fixing conspiracy, since the actual conspiracy takes the form of strongly worded suggestions from an entity that isn't formally part of the industry:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/10/04/dont-let-your-meat-loaf/#meaty-beaty-big-and-bouncy

Same goes for when all the landlords in town send their rental data to a company like Realpage, which then offers "advice" about the optimum price, along with stern warnings not to rent below that price: apparently that's not price-fixing either:

https://popular.info/p/feds-raid-corporate-landlord-escalating

It's not just sellers who engage in this kind of price-fixing – it's also buyers. Specifically buyers of labor, AKA "bosses." Take contract nursing, where a cartel of three staffing apps have displaced the many small regional staffing agencies that historically served the sector. These companies buy nurses' credit history from the unregulated, Wild West data-brokerage sector. They're checking to see whether a nurse who's looking for a shift has a lot of credit-card debt, especially delinquent debt, because these nurses are facing economic hardship and will accept a lower wage than their better-off compatriots:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/12/18/loose-flapping-ends/#luigi-has-a-point

This is surveillance pricing for buyers, and as with the sell-side pricing revolution, buyers also make use of a third party as an accountability sink (a term coined by Dan Davies): the apps that they use to buy nursing labor are a convenient way for hospitals to pretend that they're not engaged in price-fixing for labor.

Veena Dubal calls this "algorithmic wage discrimination." Algorithmic wage discrimination doesn't need to use third-party surveillance data: Uber, who invented the tactic, use their own in-house data as a way to make inferences about drivers' desperation and thus their willingness to accept a lower wage. Drivers who are less picky about which rides they accept are treated as more desperate, and offered lower wages than their pickier colleagues:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/12/algorithmic-wage-discrimination/#fishers-of-men

But this gets much creepier and more powerful when combined with aggregated surveillance data. This is one of the real labor consequences of AI: not the hypothetical millions of people who will become technologically unemployed, numbers that AI bosses pull out of their asses and hand to dutiful stenographers in the tech press who help them extol the power of their products; but rather the millions of people whose wages are suppressed by algorithms that continuously recalculate how desperate a worker is apt to be and lower their wages accordingly.

This is as good a candidate for AI regulation as any, but it's also a very good reason to regulate data brokers, who operate with total impunity. Thankfully, Biden's Consumer Finance Protection Bureau passed a rule that made data brokers effectively illegal:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/06/10/getting-things-done/#deliverism

But then Trump got elected and his despicable minions killed that rule, giving data brokers carte blanche to spy on you and sell your data, effectively without restriction:

https://www.wired.com/story/cfpb-quietly-kills-rule-to-shield-americans-from-data-brokers/

(womp-womp)

Also, Biden's FTC was in the middle of an antitrust investigation into surveillance pricing on the eve of the election, a prelude to banning the practice in America:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/07/24/gouging-the-all-seeing-eye/#i-spy

But then Trump got elected and his despicable minions killed that investigation and instead created a snitch line where FTC employees could complain about colleagues who were "woke":

https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/bedoya-statement-emergency-motion.pdf

(Womp.)

(Womp.)

Naomi Klein's Doppelganger proposes a "mirror world" that the fever-swamp right lives in – a world where concern for children takes the form of Pizzagate conspiracies, while ignoring the starving babies in Gaza and the kids whose parents are being kidnapped by ICE:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/05/not-that-naomi/#if-the-naomi-be-klein-youre-doing-just-fine

The pricing revolution is a kind of mirror-world Marxism, grounded in "From each according to their ability to pay; to each according to their economic desperation":

https://pluralistic.net/2025/01/11/socialism-for-the-wealthy/#rugged-individualism-for-the-poor

A recent episode of the excellent Organized Money podcast featured an interview with Lee Hepner, an antitrust lawyer who is on the front lines of the pricing revolution (on the side of workers and buyers) (not bosses):

https://www.organizedmoney.fm/p/the-wild-world-of-surveillance-pricing

Hepner is the one who proposed the formulation that personalized pricing is a way for corporations to decide that your dollars are worth less than your neighbors' dollars – a form of economic discrimination that treats the poorest, most desperate, and most precarious among us as the people who should pay the most, because we are the people whose dollars are worth the least.

Now, this isn't always true. Earlier this month, Delta, United and American were caught charging more for single travelers than they charged pairs of groups:

https://thriftytraveler.com/news/airlines/airlines-charging-solo-travelers-higher-fares/

That's a way to charge business travelers extra – for valuing their dollars less than the dollars of families, not because business travelers are desperate, but because they are, on average, richer than holidaymakers (because their bosses are presumed to be buying their tickets). Sometimes, price discrimination really does charge richer people more to subsidize everyone else.

But here's the difference: when the news about the business-traveler's premium broke, its victims – powerful people with social capital and also regular capital – rose up in outrage, and the airlines reversed the policy:

https://thriftytraveler.com/news/airlines/delta-rethinks-higher-fares-solo-travelers/

If the airlines are still pursuing this kind of price discrimination, they'll do something sneakier, like buying our credit histories before showing us a price. This is something British Airways is already teeing up, by offering essentially zero reward miles to frequent travelers for partner airline tickets unless they're purchased from BA's own website:

https://onemileatatime.com/news/the-british-airways-club/

But BA operates in the UK, where most of the pre-Brexit, EU-based privacy regime is still intact, despite the best efforts of Keir Starmer to destroy it, something that neither Boris Johnson, nor Theresa May,nor Rishi Sunak, nor Liz Truss could manage:

https://www.openrightsgroup.org/press-releases/uk-privacy-erosion-sparks-eu-civil-society-call-to-review-adequacy-data-deal/

So for now, BA travelers might be safe from surveillance pricing, at least in the UK and EU. And that's the thing, America is pretty much cooked. It might be generations – centuries – before the USA emerges from its Trumpian decline and becomes a civilized democracy again. Americans have little hope of a future in which their government protects them from corporate predators, rather than serving them up on a toothpick, along with a little cocktail napkin.

The future of the fight against corporate power and oligarchy is something for the rest of the world to carry on, as the American hermit kingdom sinks into ever-deeper collapse:

https://pluralistic.net/2025/06/21/billionaires-eh/#galen-weston-is-a-rat

And as it happens, Canada's Competition Bureau, newly equipped with muscular enforcement powers thanks to a 2024 law, is seeking public comment on surveillance pricing and whether Canada should do something about it:

https://www.canada.ca/en/competition-bureau/news/2025/06/competition-bureau-seeks-feedback-on-algorithmic-pricing-and-competition.html

I'm writing comments for this one. If you're in Canada, or a Canadian abroad (like me), perhaps you could, too. If you're looking for an excellent Canadian perspective to crib from, check out this episode of The Globe and Mail's Lately podcast on the subject:

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/podcasts/lately/article-the-end-of-the-fixed-price/

Just because America jumped off the Empire State Building, that's no reason for Canada to jump off the CN Tower, after all.

(Eh?)

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2025/06/24/price-discrimination/#algorithmic-pricing

Image: Cryteria (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HAL9000.svg

CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en

[heartyluv]

Note: This is a little self indulgent because despite how cringey these movies are, I loveee Fifty Shades of Grey. Was never really a Jamie Dornan girlie, but I felt this worked the best. I’m sorry it took me so long to get to this, my luv. And thank you so much for your kind words! I hope you enjoy! Please —Click Here— to view the ask if you’d like!

Warning: Zayne’s a little jelly, but it’s nothing serious.

Word Count: 946 ~ i’m sorry if this is too short :(

Zayne/Reader

Your boyfriend was having an…interesting time, trying to figure out what about this film had you captivated. What about this woman blindly trusting and agreeing to have—something be ruled as explorative—sex with a rich stranger, had you so infatuated. So much so that you’ve watched it dozens of times.

“Why would he tell her that she must steer clear of him if he’s the one who invited her out for coffee in the first place? Surely he could tell she wasn’t someone to care only for the physical aspects of a relationship.” He was completely perplexed.

Zayne wasn’t a fan of romance movies. Not because they were inferior or anything, they simply weren’t his cup of tea. And scenes like this proved to him why he felt that way.

“It’s to build the characters and the foundation for his development, babe,” you chuckled. “He wants her, but can’t have her type of thing.”

“He is a billionaire and she clearly seems willing to indulge him. In fact, he’s the one to push her away. What is the issue?”

Your sweet and very matter-of-fact lover has always reminded you of an alien trying to understand Earth and the behaviors of humans for the first time when it came to him attempting to enjoy some of the things that you liked. He would always join you when you asked and if he was available, but you knew to be prepared for him to ask you all kinds of questions to better understand.

You honestly loved it, being able to enlighten him about things in the same way he does you with absolutely, well—everything. Even if it’s fiction, you still were like his trusted guide.

He occasionally looked between you and the screen as you two sat cuddled up on the couch, beginning to realize that it wasn’t particularly the movie itself and its…questionable story that always brought you back.

It was the man.

He noticed how you’d bite your lip and smile when this Christian Grey would say lines so cliche and cringey that it nearly made his eyebrows touch.

“You like him.” It wasn’t a question. Factually, an observation.

You turn to look at him, pressing your lips together to suppress your smile. “He’s like…my celebrity crush, kinda. I guess. But you’re my boo, Zayne. You know that.”

“I do,” he responds with confidence. “This crush. I didn’t know you had one. I can’t decide if it’s cute or not.”

You pout your lips and smile fully this time, gently nudging his side. “Awww, don’t tell me you’re jealous, babe.”

“I’m not—” His jaw clenches and the blue light of the TV lets you see how his ears began to tinge red. He looks back at the screen. “Jealous isn’t exactly the word I’d use.”

“Mhmm,” you hum, kissing his shoulder through his shirt.

The movie progresses and Zayne knew there would be sex involved based on the brief description you gave to convince him to watch it with you. What he didn’t expect was the first time between the two characters, to be so intimate.

The music, the atmosphere—it was certainly unique for the type of trope that was being portrayed.

He looked over at you again subtly, his perfect brows raising when he sees how intensely you stare at the way Christian pulled Ana’s jeans down. How your thighs shifted and pressed together beneath the blankets when he kissed down her stomach until he got between her legs.

It was very easy as your man and your doctor to notice subtle changes about you. So naturally, he saw the way your breath increased and stared closer to see how your heartbeat was thumping faster right beneath your jaw.

Even how your damn pupils dilated when Christian ripped the foil wrapper of the condom open between his teeth.

Yeah, he was cutting this off.

You were taken out of your trance-like state when he grabbed the remote and paused the film, leaning over to turn the lamp on.

“Zayne!” you exclaim with a slight whine. “Why’d you stop it like that?!”

“Are you aroused?” He asks you so flatly and abruptly that it’s amusing. Well, it would be if you weren’t being questioned like you were sitting on his examination table and not in your living room.

“What does that even matter?!”

“Because your answer will determine if we will continue watching.”

“So you are jealous!”

“Can you blame me for feeling that way? You’re close to drooling over everything this…person says and does like you wouldn’t be cringing from inside out if you heard any of it in real life.”

“Oh, pooka butt.” Your tone raises a few octaves like you’re trying to coddle a baby. The corner of his mouth tilts in slight amusement at your teasing. as you pull him in to wrap your arms around him.

“Come to mama,” you coo when you squeeze him tight. “You know how much I love you, Zayne. In every universe and in any crowded room full of thousands of Jamie Dornans, I’d always pick you.”

“Frankly, I wouldn’t give you a choice, but the sentiment is…sweet, I suppose.”

“Okayyyyy,” you stretch out the syllable with an exaggerated, but playful sigh. “Don’t ruin my attempt to assure and love on you.”

“You’re right. My apologies. Please,” he presses a kiss right below your ear. “Continue.”

“If I continue anything, it won’t be with words…” you flirt.

“Actions do tend to show you what words can’t, or so I’ve heard. Maybe you should prove how much you love me.”

Creds to @/sweetmelodygraphics for the dividers!

A/N: I honestly don’t know how well I did with this…Time to shut my phone down LOLLL

[donat-senpai]

You know in your Jinshi and maomao yandere series, how'd you think they'd react if it was reader who was kidnapped in the show clan arc?

Yandere!Maomao X Reader X Yandere!Jinshi Please don't read this if you are uncomfortable with the yandere! tw: abduction themes I’m not very familiar with this story arc, so I made the kidnapping theme a bit more general.

They would (both go completely insane, lol) join forces and launch an investigation. They’d start with a classic examination of the "crime scene," looking for clues that might hint at where you could have gone. Maomao would use her knowledge to make the search more effective, while Jinshi would focus on witnesses, questioning everyone who last saw you.

If bringing you back turns out to be more difficult than they initially expected, Maomao wouldn’t hesitate to ask her father for help. (Luohan Han would be so thrilled to get involved that he wouldn’t even ask unnecessary questions.) Right after the initial inspection, she’d ask for a dog to be brought in, hoping the animal could pick up your scent. Throughout the entire search, she'd constantly blame herself for leaving you unattended and allowing this to happen.

Jinshi, much like in the canonical situation with Maomao’s kidnapping, would still be heavily restricted by his status. He’d want to use every resource available but would fear revealing his secret and making it obvious that you mean more to him than anyone else. If the kidnappers were to discover your value to him, they’d definitely use it against him.

Throughout the process, the two of them would be completely honest with each other. They’d share every piece of new information and theory. Their goal is simple: to bring you back as quickly as possible. Competing with each other or withholding facts would only get in the way.

If a ransom is demanded, Jinshi would meet the kidnappers’ conditions without hesitation—as long as he’s sure you’ll actually be released afterward.

And if all of their efforts still aren’t enough, and they both start to lose hope, Jinshi would be willing to take the ultimate risk and ask the Emperor for help. He’d reveal the truth about you. It’s unlikely the prince would face serious consequences, but a harsh conversation would probably follow, reminding him of his place in the palace. Jinshi would accept the help without hesitation, even if it meant being removed from his position as overseer of the inner palace. Even if he were ordered to send you away once you’re found, he would make sure to arrange a safe, comfortable place for you. And in that case, he’d give up. He might even send Maomao with you, to keep watch and protect you.

The guy would be utterly crushed. He’d accept the heartbreaking condition—to never contact you again—if it meant knowing you’re safe and well.

Taglist: @iamrgo, @hellishdevotee, @levifiance, @bloodypawzies, @greensunflowerjuna, @jackiebluh, @thefawnmadeofstars,

(I'm tagging these people in a fic that isn’t an official part of the series, but its concept is directly inspired by it. I assumed you might still enjoy it, but if you’d prefer to only be tagged in the main series and not in related fics, feel free to let me know! 💙)

[not-fortune-cookie]

I know it was a prompts but can you please continue the Beast-yeast history.... I'm so curious about what happened next 😔

𝐍𝐨𝐭-𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐞 𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬:

I'll try to get back to this blog with the best of my abilities. Apologies for the long break! I also added a bit of self-indulgent role for [Y/N] Cookie...

Sequel of: Lamenting Companions

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

              �� "Silver Knights! To me! Heed my call at once!"

                [Y/N] Cookie commanded as their weapon aimed at the sky, a light ignited to which caught the nearest knights of the silver kingdom. Eyecings wide and sharpening, each faeries unsheathed their weapon as they flew with haste to their call.

                Gusts of wind breached through the vast Silver Tree, the cracks enlarging despite the vines that gripped tightly around the trunk. Particles of red hues made the aide sense the chill that ran down their dough. Their weapon shook with dread, making their dough tremble to their very core. Not only does it weaken White Lily Cookie's sealing spell, it threatened the escape of the Beasts imprisoned within the Silver Tree.

                "Impossible...!" A murmur upon their lips. The work of the infamous Dark Enchantress Cookie was at work, eroding the sealing magic. Yet they have no time. They tightened their grip upon their weapon, allowing their magic to spread and manifest from the ground to envelope the whole surrounding. It was weak compared to White Lily Cookie’s but they had to buy time.

                 “I will not acquiesce this!”

                The sound of metal made them turn, finding Mercurial Knight Cookie. His figure in alert, awaiting their next command. With adrenaline coursing through their jam, they called, “Mercurial Knight Cookie! At haste.” They commanded, “Call to White Lily Cookie’s companions. Quickly!”

                Peals of giggle made their nerve ran cold. The familiar chaos and deceitful voice that haunt them for eons. They froze in their tracks, eyecings wide and the grip on their weapon weakened. The hammering within their chest and the ringing within their ears, added with the cloudy senses that surrounds them, the cookie wished they had never heard that laugh ever again. Not even the faeries’ worried calls to them could break them out of their turmoil.

                Unbeknownst to them, White Lily Cookie’s sealing spell had eroded, and out came the freedom of the Cookie of Deceit.

                “My, my, my~! I knew you’d welcome us with open arms!” A cackle filled with mischief pierced through their ears. Wishing it could go away, shaking their head yet to no avail. That deceitful tone filled with mischief and chaos. They had longed and loathed to hear.

                “[Y/N] Cookie!” Said the gleeful jester—the Beast of Deceit, as his voice continued to torment their mind. Calling, enticing, as if once he had invited them to join the side of the beasts. “Come, Light of Trust. To us, your long-lost friends. To me.”

                Guilt gnawed to them. For eons of their closeness to them, the 5 virtues, even a millennia of their absence never ebbed the time they had spent filled of wonderful memories. The Guardian of the Silver Tree had countless times bid them to forget, but it was impossible. For they are the holder of Light of Trust, the Emissary of Hope. A hidden Virtue baked alongside the 5 now-Beasts.

                Their resolve weakened, making their whole figure drop on their knees. The voice of her closest Cookie basked in their mind. Persuading them, as he always does even during the chaos of annihilation of Cookiekind. A weak Cookie [Y/N] ever was…

                They extended their hand; blurry haze of their eyecings clouded their rationality as they reached for him. The mischievous voice snickered with triumph, for a chance of reunion between him and the Emissary of Hope was nigh. He would make sure to turn them to his side. The side of the Beasts. Corrupt their view and see the truth behind the life of Cookiekind.

                A blade broke the connection between [Y/N] Cookie and the voice. The luminescent sparkle of light reflected upon their [e/c] eyecings, concealing their view to the cracked Silver Tree. Elder Faerie Cookie had arrived, lacking his armor. Along with the rest of the companions, and the newly awakened White Lily Cookie (to which [Y/N] Cookie has not made aware yet). Mercurial Knight Cookie had successfully returned with the rest of the heroes.

                A protective hand cradled the back of their head, embracing their fallen form as he pushed their face to his chest. His lips rest upon their forehead, a hidden promise he made to himself that he vowed. Protect them at much cost, if he cannot persuade them to rule alongside them… then, by the Witches, allow him to comfort [Y/N] Cookie.

                “Elder Faerie Cookie, I—” They tried to speak, but the Guardian only gave them a gentle gaze. He knew it was still a difficult path for [Y/N] Cookie to face the former Fount of Knowledge again. The Emissary of Hope within [Y/N] Cookie was a naïve Virtue, who is also the Light of Trust, which still made them think for the Beast of Deceit has a chance of redemption.

                To believe that the Beasts they called friends to have redeemable quality. Truly, his heart ached for them.

                “…Shadow Milk Cookie, Cookie of Deceit,” Elder Faerie Cookie uttered under his breath, facing the Silver Tree to meet the Cookie in blue. His gaze sharpened as he tightened his hold of his blade. Even in his weakened state, he would protect the holder of the last surviving Virtue, even if it crumbled him.

                “YOU!” Shadow Milk Cookie seethed, his figure revealing from the cracks of the Silver Tree. His hair stood on end, the eyecings within widening in malicious anger at the Guardian that stood between the formidable reunion between him and [Y/N] Cookie. He gripped his staff, an evil smirk adorning his lips as he cackled. “You always ruin everything,” He clicked his tongue, shaking his head, “No matter. I’ll have fun crumbling you!”

                With a click of his finger, darkness embraced the whole Faerie Kingdom. Engulfed with the power of Shadow Milk Cookie’s influence, the sky had filled with staring eyes that almost reflected the moon. The residents, once adorning silver attire, transformed with jester themes. The serene atmosphere now surrounded with manic jolly.

                The fallen cookie shook their head out of their stupor. They then looked over at Elder Faerie Cookie, eyecings widening at the sight of his weakened form. They observed the trembles of his shoulder, the strength wavering with each passing second. “Elder Faerie Cookie, don’t… Save your strength! The Faerie Kingdom needs you—”

                Strings strapped along their body, yanking them away from the Heroes and the Guardian. A startled gasp constricted their throat as the sudden capture brought them away from everyone. Tangled with marionette strings, [Y/N] Cookie strung up above. They squirmed, wriggling against the confines of the white ropes that clung to their body.

                Elder Faerie Cookie tensed at the sight of his aide caught between the strings of Shadow Milk Cookie’s marionette. He tried to spread his wings and reach them but with his Life Powder drained, he only fell to his knees and clutched the stinging side of his dough. Worry painted over everyone’s dough, making Mercurial Knight Cookie and Silverbell Cookie rush to his side.

                A manic grin stretched Shadow Milk Cookie’s lips, finding amusement to the Guardian’s weakened state. He chuckled, floating beside [Y/N] Cookie as he stared down at the Heroes with condescending tone, “Funny, isn’t it, my light?” He snickered under his breath. “The Fool-King has the power to seal me back to the Silver Tree. Yet even the smallest amount of one Cookie’s helplessness stopped him from truly doing it.”

                “Let them go,” Elder Faerie gritted his teeth, glaring at the blue jester as he afloat around the captured Cookie. Anger boiling within him as the Cookie of Deceit would brew lies and mix the truths, deceiving [Y/N] Cookie once more. He wanted to stop Shadow Milk Cookie from talking but with his Life Powder almost empty, he had failed to protect them once more.

                “I’ll tell you a funnier one!” Shadow Milk Cookie taunted, “The Foolish King has a silly revelation! Not only did he believe he can stop the Six Great Cookies—He grew to have a weak spot to one of them!” He turned to the strung up Cookie, one hand brushing beneath their chin to force their gaze to Elder Faerie Cookie, “Isn’t that right, [Y/N] Cookie?”

                The Emissary could only crease their brows together, their chest churning with something. Their nerves shook, realization dawning in their mind. For the amount he had stayed by their side, especially to their melancholic episodes within the past centuries mourning their fallen allies… They let out a breath at finally piecing the thoughts that they were Elder Faerie’s weakness. She was startled when suddenly; Shadow Milk Cookie shoved their form into his shadow portal.

                “But know, my fairest Cookie,” Shadow Milk Cookie leaned in as he followed in the realm of his powers. With no way out, and their hands trapped by the strings of his marionette, their life now lay before the Cookie of Deceit, “You’re really never free of me. I’ll make sure Cookiekind know of your true potential, Sentinel of Delusion~!”

[a99jazzybean]

HIIIII! I just binge read your date everything fics and I love them! May i ask for yet another Chance fic, where y/n is familiar with g&g and used to play with their friends from time to time - using his dice of course! And... y/n used to kiss the piece for the "lucky shot", doesn't matter if it worked or not. So now, with Skylars help, y/n can speak with him and even play a session or two and it is so much fun! But she is completely oblivious to the fact that he remembers every time y/ns lips touched his dice-y form and each time he silently yearns for her lips to touch him once again... The rest is up to you, lots of love!

I love this prompt so much! Thank you for the request!

With a Taste of Your Lips...

synop: You and Chance decide to play another session of G&G. Little do you know, a special tradition of yours has him feeling all sorts of hot and bothered. i.e. You discover Chance can feel when you kiss his die.

words: 4.7K

includes: chancexfem!reader, ttrpg playing, making out, fondling an object?, cumming untouched kinda, smut

a/n: I might make a part 2 to this one, thoughts? Also, its got smut. No minors!

“You feel yourself growing weaker. The spell the lich cast on you drains your life force. All of your comrades are downed. You are their final hope.” Your GM stares you down, brow raised. “What would you like to do?”

Looking around the table you see all of your friends' faces are grim. All eyes are on you. Taking a look at the battlemap before you, your eyes widened. 

“Past the cliff, it’s the Abysmal Pit, correct?” You asked the GM. 

“Correct.”

“And anyone who falls in is erased from existence, right?

“Correct.”

“No!” Sam shouted. “I know what you’re thinking. You can’t do it!”

You give her a solemn look, eyes filled with sadness. 

“I’m sorry.” You pick up your red D20. “But you can’t stop me. I’m going for a grapple on the lich, then I’m dragging him over the edge with me.” 

A chorus of gasps erupts from your party members. Some are getting teary-eyed. 

Two years of a campaign filled with adventure, friendship, romance, and tears. This is how it ends. Perhaps it was destined to be. 

“Make your roll.” Your GM feels tears prick in their own eyes. Not knowing whether they want you to succeed on this or not. 

As is tradition on major rolls, you bring your trusty die to your lips. Pecking it softly, you pray that this works. 

“Lucky shot,” you hear Sam say under their breath. 

Cupping the die in your hands, you give a good shake. Then you release it onto the table. Everyone in the room is holding their breath as it rolls. Finally, it stops. Natural 20. 

Normally, the table would erupt with cheers. This time, it wasn’t proper to celebrate. 

“Prim,” your GM took in a shaky breath as he spoke your character’s name. Trying to hold back tears. “You muster up the final dregs of strength within you. Pulling yourself up with a groan. Everything hurts, but your mind has been made up. Pushing through it all, you start to run. Taking one final look at your fallen teammates. This is the last time you will see them. Tell me how this ends.” Their voice wavered. 

“As I run toward the lich, I let out a final ‘goodbye’. I grab it around the waist, then throw both of us off of the ledge. No matter what it does I keep ahold of it. It’s coming with me.” Your own eyes fill with tears. 

“As you fall, the lich tries to get you off of it, but to no avail. For a brief moment you can see a flash of its past humanity. Fear filling its face as it realizes the one thing that it tried to run from has finally arrived. Death in the shape of a half-elf rogue who risked it all to defeat it.”

Chance sighed dreamily, remembering your great sacrifice. Seemed like you frequently played characters that laid their life on the line. No wonder he was absolutely smitten.

While you weren’t able to see his personified form at the moment, he was able to see you. Back hunched over as you typed on Mac. The computer feeling pretty good about themselves as you cranked out your latest self-insert fanfic. What else were you supposed to do when an AI took over your job? 

Chance wasn’t able to see what you were writing, but could see Mac occasionally blush and chuckle at the words you were typing onto them. 

“Care to share?” He asked the computer. 

Mac glanced over at him, then back to one of the screens in front of them. 

“I’m not so sure that’s a good idea. She’s kind of mortified that I’ve even read this stuff.” Mac turned back to read what you had just typed out, red blooming on their face. “Yeah, no. You don’t need to know about this.” 

Chance grumbled to himself. It didn’t feel fair that Mac got to see the sexiest innermost thoughts of yours. Actually, he was kind of jealous of many of your objects. Betty slept with you every night, witnessing the limited sexual exploits of yours. Johnny, he wouldn’t talk about it, too much of a gentleman. But the massage setting on his shower head? He might have alluded to activities you had accomplished with that. 

It was frustrating to say the least. Seeing how much better the other beings in the home got to know you intimately. All Chance wanted was a taste of that knowledge. 

He hoped you’d put your Dateviators back on again. Now that you had been able to see him, all he wanted was your attention. It didn’t help that you enthusiastically offered to play G&G with him. Only feeding into the ever-growing obsession with you. 

It didn’t start when you put those glasses on, no. It started when you came up with that damned tradition. Kissing the 20 side of his die body. You didn’t know, couldn’t know, really. But he felt it, every single time. It was special, something you only did when making a major roll. And you always picked him. Your “lucky shot” for your “lucky die”. 

The thing was, you hadn’t ended that tradition. When you began playing with Chance, you continued to make your lucky shots. Not realizing that although the personified version was sitting in front of you, Chance was still very much connected to the object he was. He would have you roll on something difficult, and as if it were instinct, you pressed your soft lips right on the20 side. Thankfully, Chance had been able to maintain his composure as you watched the die roll. However, it was beginning to become too much. 

Each press of your lips to the die had him falling for you harder and harder. 

With a sigh, you pushed away from your computer. Eyeing the die beside you with a smirk. Tapping on the desk, your gaze flitted over to your glasses. It had been a few hours since you had them on, couldn’t hurt to say hi to your office. And there might have been a specific object that held your affections.

“You know. I can feel you looking at me, right?” You teased the die before putting on the Dateviators. 

Chance’s face was ruddy when you looked at him, caught red handed. Rubbing his neck sheepishly, he gave you an apologetic look.

“What can I say? You’re nice to look at.” 

Now it was your turn to blush. The damned man always seemed to fluster you in such innocuous ways. Somehow always polite with his flirting. 

There were times he could be fairly forward, but he never pushed. It was sweet. 

Thinking about it, you could go for something sweet now. But nothing that was consumable. 

“Do you have a session prepped?” You asked.

Immediately, he perked up. A bright smile on his face complimented by an enthused flush. 

“Of course! Ever since you’ve come along, I’m like ten sessions ahead!” He leaned toward you, bouncing on his toes. 

“I’m glad that you’ve been so inspired. I love your stories.” You gave him a soft smile. 

His eyes widen, practically sparkling at your words.

“Y-you love my stories?” He held his hand to his heart, feeling the muscle pump faster at your compliment.

“Why do you think I want to play with you so often?” You pulled his die over with a finger, rolling it around. “I have a lot of fun with you.” 

“We could have more fun.” He raised a brow suggestively, looking over his glasses at you.

Red in the face, you waved him off with a giggle.

“Do you have time to play now?”

“I always have time for you.” 

You were sure you heard Timothy scoff somewhere in the distance. That was no matter though, for now you had the full attention of your favorite die. 

“Shall we play, then?” 

Chance nodded enthusiastically, then proceeded to get his GM station set up. When his screen and notes were all in place, he gave an approved nod. Looking up, he beamed at you again. Feeling his heart squeeze at the content smile on your face as you sat on the other end of the table from him. Oh how he wished to always keep you happy. He would play forever with you just to make sure that smile never fell from your lips. 

“Alright, where did we leave off?” He glanced over his notes.

“I managed to talk myself out of being eaten by a giant.” You had your own notes pulled out. 

Chance felt his heart swell again. You took notes! Oh, you truly were the perfect player. 

“That’s right! My charismatic girl!” He chuckled as your face grew red. 

He was glad that he managed to make you as flustered as you made him. Equal opportunity flirting to make the other squirm. Again, perfect. 

“You’ve gotten away from the giant, but you still have yet to find the gilded egg laying hen.” 

“Thankfully, you have quite the wise girl as well!” You let out a satisfied huff. “Can I make a perception check to see where the chicken is?” 

“You may.” He motioned for you to continue.

Shaking the die in your hands you urged it to roll well. 

“C’mon D20, show me what you’re made of!” 

You released the die, it clattered into your dice tray. After a moment of circling, it landed on a 16. 

“Nice! And that’s a plus four to my perception!” 

“Wonderful!” He cleared his throat, continuing his tale. “As you look around the foyer of the giant’s castle, you aren’t finding any indications of where a hen might be roosting. However, after a moment of hearing silence, there’s a new sound filtering down the hallway to the north.”

“What’s the sound?” You ask with a knowing smirk.

“It’s soft harp music, almost dreamlike.” 

After your previous character died valiantly saving a village from a dragon, Chance asked if you would mind experimenting with a fairytale themed game. Of course, you agreed, excited to see what he would come up with. While some of the quests you have been on so far were a bit predictable, he had many twists and turns added in. 

Like Cinderella’s slipper turning out to be a baby mimic. When you had managed to aid the prince in finding his lost love, the mimic revealed itself, chomping down on her foot. However, she didn’t scream. It turned out, Cinderella’s ballgown had already consumed her and was using her head and limbs to blend in. The fairy godmother revealed herself as a demon looking to collect on the souls of the kingdom. All she needed was the prince to disappear so she could take his place. 

It was a lovely twist that ended with a fairly hard battle. Thankfully the prince that accompanied you turned out to be part of the bloodline of very powerful sorcerers, so he was able to aid in the defeat of the fairy godmother. 

The prince tried asking for your hand in marriage, but you had other adventures to go on. Instead, you left with a hefty amount of gold. A token of appreciation for saving the kingdom. The engagement ring hidden amongst the coins didn’t go unnoticed, Chance giving you a cheeky wink when he mentioned it. 

You had noticed the man had been throwing romance options at you throughout each of the fairy tales. Many of them were love stories, sure, but it seemed like he really wanted you to get with someone. Little Red Riding Hood, growing smitten with you after you saved her from the belly of a wolf. A huntsman asking for your hand after you aided him in saving the kingdom from a corrupt king. Snow White practically begged you to marry her after you turned out to be her “true love's kiss”. He was laying it on pretty thick, so to speak.  

Truthfully, the reason why you never accepted was because you wanted Chance to stop hiding his affections behind characters in your game. The two of you had constant flirty banter, but it felt like he could only speak through innuendo when hinting at wanting anything more. While it was endearing, it was starting to become tiring. 

Though admittedly, you were a coward too. It would be hypocritical to judge the man considering you couldn’t muster up the courage to do anything either. Instead, you sat in a flirtatious purgatory. Something that could be viewed as a comfortable platonic relationship, but in reality had very, very heavy overtones of desire. 

Neither you or Chance could be subtle. There were times where you could feel the hunger in his eyes as he ran your game. Usually when you did something quite clever. 

That time when you answered his Latin riddle? The man was very glad he had baggy pants on. 

Then there was you. Easily bending to his dominating whims when he was GMing. Something about him having that kind of authority over you often had you clenching your thighs and squirming in your chair. And don’t even get started on the villain monologues. He pulled one of those out, you left the gaming table with your panties soaked. Giving Betty quite the show when you couldn’t get to sleep. 

Back to your current game, Chance asked for your next move.

“I follow the sound of the harp.”

“You feel almost entranced at the music. Your steps pulling you to the north hallway. After about an hour of walking (remember, this is a GIANT’S castle) you made it to the room the music was coming from. Peering inside, you see a giant sitting on a bed. She appears to be much shorter than the one you first encountered, but still clearly a giant. You can tell she is related to the other giant, both sporting the same nose shape. The giant girl is playing the harp, her fingers delicately plucking at the strings. You look across from her and see what you’ve been looking for. A hen nestled in a nest of straw. Its body swaying side to side with the music. Below it you see a peek of gold. What would you like to do?”

“I’m not going to try and hide.”

Chance looked at you with wide eyes, surprised at your blatant move.

“I handled the other giant with my words, I can easily do the same again.”

Oh, he loved your confidence. Your willingness to dive in despite the consequences. He just hoped that it wouldn’t end with your bones ground up to make bread. Quite the horrific way to depart this mortal realm.

“If you say so. You stride inside with confidence. Hyping yourself up from your previous encounter with a giant.” He rolled a die, giving a grimace. “The giant girl doesn’t appear to see you. She’s looking right at the hen, swaying side to side as she continues to play the harp.”

“I try to catch her attention by clearing my throat loudly.” 

“You clear your throat, and she stops playing. A sour look grows on her face as she looks for the source of the sound. Looking down, she finally spots you. Crossing her arms, she gives you a pout.”

“You know, it’s quite rude to interrupt a performance.” Chance put on the voice of a little girl, making you chuckle. “What’s so funny?”

“Chance, you know that wasn’t in-game.” You gave him a stern look. 

“I know, I’m just messin. Anyways… she looks at you, waiting for you to respond.”

“I apologize, your music is lovely.” 

“Then why did you interrupt me?”

“Well, I have some important matters to discuss.”

“Important matters? What’s important is that Bailey gets her proper rest.” Chance returns to his normal voice. “You follow her gaze to the hen in the nest.”

“Is Bailey your hen?” 

“Obviously!” The character voice returned. “And she won’t lay eggs unless I play for her.” 

“I see.” You ponder on that information for a moment, then ask. “Is the harp huge?”

“It’s giant, so is the hen.”

“Didn’t the asshole who hired me say he had been here before? Why send me up if there’s no way to bring the items down?” You huffed in frustration at the quest-giver.

“Who said there wasn’t a way to bring them down?” He clicked his tongue at you, admonishingly.

“Hmmm. I think I'll talk to the girl some more.” He motioned for you to continue. “I’m sure Bailey loves your music.”

“She does, she always lays an egg when I play! My daddy says I’m gettin just as good as my mama!” Chance goes back to narrating. “After she says that she goes quiet. Her eyes widening as if she’s just realized you were here. There’s a darkness in them that surprises you for a girl so young.”

“I don’t have a good feeling about this.” You bit your lip nervously.

“You’re a human. Humans aren’t allowed here!”

“Um, you’re dad let me go. At least I think it was your dad.” You give Chance a nervous glance.

“Roll on persuasion.”

Shaking the dice, you let it drop. Watching in fear as it lands on a three. Chance’s gaze grows dark.

“You only think you know? How can I know if you’re telling the truth?” Chance narrates again. “The giant girl stands up, towering high over you. A glare on her face as her eyes narrow. But you spot something odd, her eyes are watering.” The little girl voice is put back on. “All humans lie! I bet you’re no different!”

“I decide to stay quiet, letting her speak.” You say to Chance. Again, he’s surprised at your action.

“Your people killed my mom!” He switches back to normal. “You now see tears falling from her eyes. She’s going to reach for you.” He rolls a die, eyeing you expectantly. “Would you like to do anything to stop it?”

“No. I let her.” 

“A large hand grabs you with a crushing squeeze. You feel the air forced out of your body by the strong grip of her hand. She lifts you to her head.” He clears his throat, going back to the girl voice. “I should just eat you, show you how it feels.” He gives you another expectant look. “Are you going to try and do anything?”

“Nope. I’m gonna close my eyes and accept my fate.” 

Impressed, Chance sits back with his arms crossed. Pondering on what to do next. While you had managed to talk your way out of the last giant encounter, he thought you would at least try to fight your way out of this one. The giant child’s stat block was something that you could manage on your own. 

“Okay. I want you to roll persuasion, and I’ll be nice and give you advantage for what you’ve managed to do so far.”

Pumping your fist in the air, you reached for the die. This time, you brought the D20 to your lips, giving it a light peck. This was a roll that was gonna need it. 

“C’mon lucky shot, don’t let me down now.” 

The first roll landed on a 6. Again, you brought the die to your lips. The kiss to the dice slightly lingering, just for good luck. You shook it in your hand and released, crossing your fingers for a good roll. Slowly, it spun to land on a 20.

“Nat 20 babee! Let’s gooooo!” You stood up and cheered, your character saved.

Chance remained seated, face beet red. His breathing had become labored. For some reason, he couldn’t get himself to calm down. Maybe it was the fact that you had kissed the die in succession. Something he could feel burning through his body. 

Coming down from your high, you realized Chance hadn’t continued. Turning, you gave him a concerned look. Walking over, you eyed the state he was in. Face still extremely flushed. 

“Are you okay?” You leaned toward him, trying to figure out what was wrong.

“I-I’m fine. We can continue!” He rubbed his neck nervously.

“Are you sure? Your face is really red.”

“What did you expect after kissing me like that!” He clamped his hands over his mouth, face turning another shade darker. 

“What? I didn’t kiss…” You looked over to the die, feeling a heat crawl up your neck. “C-can you feel that?”

Hands still over his mouth, he nodded. You realized you had been performing your luck ritual the entire time you had been playing with Chance. He could feel it. Every. Single. Time. 

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” You felt terrible, doing that to him without asking.

“I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable.” He said softly.

“But then I kept making you uncomfortable! Kissing you without your consent, ugh. I’m so sorry, Chance.” You gave him a sad look that pierced his heart. That wasn’t what he meant at all!

“I never said I was uncomfortable.” He composed himself somewhat.

“Huh?” 

“I might have liked it…” He trailed quietly. 

“What was that?” You couldn’t make out what he said.

“I like it!” He blurted. “I really like it when you kiss me.” His face grew red again as he waited for your response.

“Y-you do?” 

He nodded sheepishly. 

“Yeah. It feels… nice. Really nice.” He bit his lip nervously. “You’re always so soft and sweet.” 

“Oh.” Your face was burning.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.” He gave you an apologetic look. 

“Chance…” This time you were nervous.

“Yes?” 

You leaned down toward his face. Arms planted on the headrest of his chair.

“Can I actually kiss you?”

“I-I mean technically you are ‘actually’ kissing me…” He stuttered out, eyes flitting between your eyes and lips.

You gave him an unamused pout.

“You know what I mean. How’s about this? Can I give you a reciprocated kiss? One that you also participate in?”

“Yes. Please.” 

With that, you pressed your lips to his. Chance froze up at first, eyes wide at the fact that this was happening. Leaning into the kiss, his eyes fluttered shut. You let out a content sigh at the feel of his lips against yours. Soft and plush, perfectly meldable with your own. 

With your tongue, you teased at his bottom lip. Gladly, he slightly opened his mouth for your tongues to intertwine. A low groan left him as he tasted you. So fucking perfect.

The man pushed the chair away from the table, letting you sink onto his lap. Your hand trailed up his neck, fingers lightly scratching at his scalp. He moaned against you at the action. His own hands trailed over your body, mapping out your slopes and curves. Ultimately they landed on your ass, giving it a quick squeeze. You giggled against his lips, pulling away to get a good look at him.

Face still flushed with kiss bitten lips and blown out pupils. He stared up at you like you were a goddess that was granting him a blessing. That was sure how this encounter was feeling. Something that he had only dreamed of. 

“You’re so handsome.” You pressed kisses against his jaw and down his throat, making him shiver. 

“And you’re beautiful. So perfect.” He pressed a kiss to your lips. 

Leaning your forehead against his, you smiled. Then an idea came to you. Biting your lip, you wondered if the man beneath you would oblige to your whims. 

“Chance…”

“Hmm?”

“When I kiss your die, where do you feel it?”

“Oh, um, I guess on my face? Like a whisper against my cheeks and the corner of my lips.” He let out an awkward chuckle. 

You shifted off of him to grab the die, then returned to his lap. Holding the die in front of you, you looked over the numbers.

“So what would happen if I kissed the other numbers?” You asked, gaze hungry.

Oh, oh, this was hot. So fucking hot. Chance thought just kissing you was a dream come true. You wanting more from him? That was merely a fantasy.

“I suppose I would feel you kissing me on other parts of my body.” He answered. Truthfully, he had no idea what would happen. You only ever kissed the 20.

“So if I kiss the one.” You brought the dice to your lips, pecking the side.

Chance giggled at the feeling. Right on the bottom of his foot. 

“I take it that was your foot?”

He nodded, excited to see where this was going. Already feeling himself growing semi-hard in his pants as  he watched you in anticipation.

You pressed a kiss to the five, eyeing Chance’s response. He twitched under you with a whimper. 

“Where was that?”

“My left thigh.” 

Okay, so if five was the left thigh then… you pressed a kiss to the six.

“R-right thigh.” He groaned out. Having your lips on him like this was something else. 

It was probably a good thing you never kissed the other numbers. He was sure you would make him cum from just kissing him alone. 

“So if six is your other thigh then that must mean seven or eight is likely your-”

“What if we avoided that area?” He cut you off, a nervous sheen of sweat on his forehead. 

“Why’s that?” You leaned in, giving him a deep kiss.

“I-I just…” He couldn’t finish the sentence. 

“Chance, would me kissing the dice equivalent of your crotch make you cum?” Wow, just right out with it. 

“Y-yeah, yeah. It would. I’m gonna be honest. With the way that you’re already going at it, I’d probably cum just from you kissing me.” 

“Really?” You sat upright, eyes sparkling. 

He nodded, blushing furiously. 

“Could we try it?” You bit your lip. 

The thought of having the man fall apart just from you kissing him had you riled up. You could feel yourself growing wetter at the thought. Seeing him squirm from your kisses before coming undone. Oh, that was very appealing. 

“You want to?” He was surprised.

“Yeah, I do. Only if you want to.” 

“You don’t have to ask twice.” He wrapped a hand around your neck, pulling you in for a kiss. Your tongues tangled with each other as you moaned. 

Pulling away, you brought the dice back up to your face. Eyeing the numbers, you decided to go for the 19. You gave it a slow kiss, watching Chance as he shivered and moaned. The feeling reached a sweet spot on his neck that had him keening. He was pretty sure he was addicted to your lips now. 

You continued to press kisses to various numbers. Loving every whimper and moan you managed to get out of the man. Occasionally you would lean back in to give him a proper kiss on the lips, only to return to tease him with the die. 

Chance could tell you were avoiding the seven and eight. Eventually, he couldn’t take it anymore. 

“P-please.” He groaned through gritted teeth as he felt your lips on his chest. “I need you…”

“Need me to what?” You teased with a smirk.

“Kiss the seven and eight. Please.” He begged, squirming beneath you.

“Hmm. Good boy.” Oh fuck. That had his dick throbbing. 

Slowly, you brought the die to your lips. You pecked all over it, then finally pressed a kiss to the seven. Chance cried out at the feeling. Your lips right where he needed them. Feeling them press against his throbbing length. He was sure the next one would be the last he needed. You gave another slow kiss to the eight. It was his undoing. Cock twitching in his pants, releasing a sticky load into his boxers. His hands gripped at your hips as he rutted against the feeling of your lips. 

“Oh f-fuck.” He stuttered out. 

You pressed your lips to his, then kissed all over his face. The man melting into your affection. 

“How was that?” You asked softly.

“Amazing. Perfect. Wonderful. Perfect. Did I mention perfect?” He chuckled.

“I’m glad I could give you that.” You picked up the die again, giving it a peck on the 20. 

“Guess I’ll be keeping my lucky shot tradition for our other games.” You gave him a sweet smile. 

“Oh sweetheart,” Chance pulled you back to him, “did you think playtime was over?”

[wangxianficfinder]

Fic Finder

June 25th

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1. I’m looking for a fic - it’s post canon and two chapters. In the first chapter - the juniors talk about how Wei wuxian is attractive especially after he got soaked saving them. The second chapter has a maid sneaking into his room and the whole troop barges in to save him. @misscrazytastemaker

FOUND? 🔒 A Lure and Catches not Intended by mondengel (T, 3k, WangXian, WIP, Humor)

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2. Hello—

Looking for a modern fic where lwj chases off any male that shows interest wwx & all their friends assume they are together. But then it comes out that they are not together, or wwx is a virgin?

FOUND? envy by quillifer (E, 5k, WangXian, Bottom LWJ, Top WWX, A/B/O, Omega LWJ, Alpha WWX, Modern, College/University, Misunderstandings, Jealousy)

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3. Alrighty, I got another request and I can't seem to find it. Wei Ying offers Lan Zhan a heart as a courting gift and Lan Zhan, horrified by the heart and not knowing it was a courting gift, drops it. Not knowing that it signifies rejection at the harshest level. Wei Ying is devastated and ignores Lan Zhan and Lan Zhan has no idea what he has done. It ends with a happy ending. @marietsy40-blog

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4. Hi! I’m looking for a specific fic that I’m kind of shocked I can’t find by myself. It’s a vampire au where lwj is a vampire prince that picks wwx as a companion. The setup is that the vampires go around to different villages and see everyone of a certain age, and the day lwj comes is wwx’s birthday so it seemed like it’d be unlikely he’d be picked. But then he is! I thought the word they used was “blood singer” but couldn’t find it just on ao3 :/ also checked “vampire au” but to no avail.

FOUND? red likes roses, red like blood by bubble_t (lokwacious) (Not Rated, 8k, WangXian, Rape/Non-Con, Dark LWJ, Vampire, Royalty, Mild Blood, Forced Marriage, Forced Relationship, Morally Questionable LWJ, Shameless Smut, Everyday is everyday)

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5. Hello!

I'm searching for a fic where yllz!Wei Wuxian teaches kids how to read& write by writing on mud while their mothers are washing their clothes in the river. I think it leads to wwx being a real teacher to them? I read it last year but can't find it again.

Thank you for your help! @kaptainkoalaoshiz

FOUND? Just as the Snow Melts by draechaeli (T, 66k, WangXian, Everybody Lives, Canon Divergence, Mojo’s bookmark)

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6. hi. Can you help me find a fic where Wei ying is old omega wolf from different clan. It’s like hunger game style but they all finding mates. And alpha lan zhan from different clan found wei ying on top of the mountain. Not sure if they’re both wolves or not.

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7. Can you help me find a fic where

• Each pack/clan sends one alpha and one omega into a forest,

• Omegas go first and run,

• Alphas follow a day later to find their mates,

• All shapeshifters are the same animal species (not necessarily wolves), I don’t remember

• It’s a pack-based hunting ritual or competition for soulmates/mates,

• Modern setting, WangXian characters.

Thank you so much

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8. Hi again, little by little I remember past fics. Tnx for always finding them :)

So this fic is about little wwx who grew up alone and not with any sect. I remember him mastering demonic cultivation and then solving the nie saber issue while nie mingjue's father was alive thus creating a good relationship with them. Nobody knows him tho except ppl whom he helped before. And lwj heard of him but nie huasang never told him that he knew him personally or that they were friends. I'm not sure but it might be time travel considering the events of the fic @raven-hale

FOUND? Practical Mythology by metisket (T, 17k, WangXian, Time Travel, YLLZ WWX, myths and legends, apparently the burial mounds has to fix everything itself, zombie farm collective, accidental deities, Families of Choice)

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9. Hii I'm looking for a fic where it's A/B/O and alpha Lan Zhan and Omega Wei Ying are gonna share Wei Ying Heat and Lan Qiren has Lan Zhan locked in the hospital and it almost kills Wei Ying due to it looking like Lan Zhan didn't want to be with him and Lan Qiren saw Wei Ying coming to the hospital due to it

It's a one shot and is canon dynamic

FOUND?🔒mistaken measures by cherishthespark (M, 4k, WangXian, A/B/O Dynamics, Hurt/Comfort, (though the comfort is a bit limited in this fic), Themes of Coercement, Separation Anxiety, Non-consensual Hospitalization, Modern AU, Alpha LWJ, Omega WWX)

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10. Hi! I'm looking for a fic in AO3. It was an Among Us AU but I can't seem to find it in the tag. It was where both Wangxian were the alpha imposters/alien monsters but normally there is only one alpha that can be on a ship at a time. They skirt around each other not sure if they have one of their kind there but the signs are there. In the end, LWJ wifes up WWX and they eat everyone in the ship. It had a horroresque vibe to it. I've been looking so hard for it but I can't seem to find it. Thanks a bunch if you do! @theninziparadox

FOUND? Two Alphas, One Ship by fenaly (E, 6k, WangXian, Rape/Non-Con, A/B/O, Bitching, Rape/Non-con Elements, Non-consensual sex, Non-Consensual Bitching, Aliens, Non-Human Genitalia, Blood and Gore, Murder Husbands, Feminizing genitalia terms, Among Us AU, Sci-Fi, Explicit Smut, Tentacles, Shapeshifting, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, Monsterfucking, Violence, Alpha/Alpha becomes Alpha/Omega, Breeding Kink) might not be this one but it's somewhat similar

~*~

11. Hii mods!! It's my first time submitting for someone else, so i will just put here what they writed word by word:

"Hi, I need help finding a fic I read a few months ago. It’s an MDZS fic where JZX and JYL don’t die, but WWX still dies and then is resurrected via MXY. WWX, JC, JZX and LWJ go to follow the ghost hand tgt and JC knows about the Phoenix Mountain kiss, cuz LWJ got drunk and told him about it, so he forces LWJ to tell WWX the truth. That’s all I can remember pls pls help me find it I’ve been looking for weeks 😭😭(I just want JZX and WWX to be brothers in law 😭😭 they’re hilarious in every fic where they’re frienemies)"

Hope someone can find it. As always thank u in advance!! @for13years-i-play-inquiry-foryou

~*~

12. Hi, me again. i wanted to find the fic where Jiang cheng is owns bakery shop and mia mian wrks for him but wen chao wanted revenge thus kidnapping Jc. lan xichen is a judge, lan wanji a lawyer and wei ying a detective that has put wen behind the bar.here they torture jc for 7 days something like that.. pls help me @jiangcheng1709

~*~

13. Hello, my lovely! This is my very first ask, it's a long shot: Is it possible to find such a fic, in which Wei Ying is pregnant with Lan Zhan's baby. And they (the whole clan) are under attack (by another clan, not sure exactly who). Wei Ying wants to carry on fighting with Lan Zhan side by side, but Lan Zhan desperately doesn't want him to, because he's carrying their baby. I don't know how it ends. I'm really sorry for such a vague description, please help pretty! Thank you so much! @kalevala568b

~*~

14. Okay so I found this fic sometime between 2020-2022 (incomplete at the time) and it was an arranged marriage between Wangxian but Wei Wuxian had to wear the silver mask the whole time for an unknown reason (although it’s heavily hinted Lan Wangji is cursed by something). Lan Wangji is very cold to him during their marriage and then takes Wen Qing as a concubine (although not because he likes her but because he needs her medical skills without anyone asking questions). Wei Wuxian doesn’t know that though and runs off meeting A-Yuan’s parents and living with them for a while. It’s implied that when Lan Wangji finds him he think Wei Wuxian fathered A-Yuan with the mother (he didn’t) which Wen Chao mocks him about during the Indoctrination. They kiss in the Xuanwu Cave and LWJ calls WWX ‘airen’. But then his chest starts hurting and he calls out for Wen Qing - WWX misunderstands.

WWX sends a baby A-Yuan and Jingyi to Cloud Recesses before the Sunshot Campaign to keep them safe and has them adopted under the Lan Family name.

Later on WQ mentions something about a “vine” to do with LWJ’s curse. After WWX does demonic cultivation, the Qishan Wens are taken in by Cloud Recesses as long as WWX agrees to have the resentful energy purified. WWX knows that this will kill him since the resentful energy is keeping his Burial Mounds’ wounds from reopening but goes through with it because he wants the Wens to be safe and he thinks Cloud Recesses want him dead anyway. His mask falls off mid-cleansing and he collapses coughing blood.

When he wakes up, the Jiang family including Madame Yu are pissed at Cloud Recesses for nearly killing him and have begun divorce proceedings. WWX doesn’t want to get divorced by LWJ does. But because A-Yuan and Jingyi are on the Lan family register WWX is furious he can’t take them with him.

The fic hadn’t updated after that the last time I read it. I read it before 2023 so it would have been started before then. It was implied LWJ did love WAX but because of some curses (that weren’t fully disclosed at that point) he couldn’t commit to their relationship.

FOUND! The deleted "A Price to Pay" by wangxianist. Not avaiable on the Wayback Machine but in this Google Drive folder

~*~

15. Looking for a fic I read pre-2023. Complete.

Lan Wangji hears that the Lan elders are trying to arrange a marriage for him but then he suddenly turns into a fox. Everyone thinks he’s cursed because (I think his mother) tells everyone it can only be broken when finds his true love.

So the Lan Clan calls in various people but no one seems to be able to break it. The WWX shows up and immediately starts teasing Fox!ji. He works out immediately that LWJ isn’t cursed, he’s a fox shifter and is refusing to turn back to avoid having to get married. LWJ later finds out that WWX is also a fox shifter after chasing an unknown black fox away.

LXC sees the two foxes and then panics because what if LWJ’s true love is a fox. So he starts trying to shove human Wei Wuxian at LWJ because he’s the only person he’s seen Fox!Ji tolerate.

LWJ does eventually turn back into a human for WWX and I’m pretty sure they banged afterwards. LXC was thrilled when he saw LWJ back to being a human.

FOUND!🔒 A Mother’s Curse (A Mother’s Blessing) by Eudoxia (E, 33k, wangxian, A/B/O, Omega WWX, Alpha LWJ, Huli Jing LWJ, Huli Jing WWX, Everyone Lives, Curses, Case Fic, Animal Transformation, Arranged Marriage, Misunderstandings, No Sunshot Campaign, No Yīn Iron, Cloud Recesses Study Arc, LXC is a good brother!, He tries so hard!!, Mentions of Ace LXC, Mentions of Ace WN, Knotting, Rimming, Blow Jobs, Oral Sex, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Mating Bites, Mating Bond, Size Kink, 69 (Sex Position), Mpreg, Pregnancy, Pregnant Sex, wangxian Have a Breeding Kink, Intersex Male Omegas, Vaginal Sex, Vaginal Fingering, Cunnilingus, Squirting, wangxian Have a Non-Con/Rape Kink, but no actual CNC/rape play occurs in this fic. It’s only discussed. there is also discussions of monster fucking but no actual monster fucking)

~*~

16. i'm looking for a fic about wei ying getting cursed by the lan olders by being a perfect lan while lan zhan is away. The cursed is broken when jiang cheng uses lan sizhui as bait. Anyone know what is fic is called?

FOUND? Perfect to Me by theearlymorningmist (T, 12k, WangXian, LSZ & WWX, LXC & LWJ, JL & WWX, JC & WWX, Protective LWJ, Good Uncle LQR, Yunmeng Siblings Feels, JC & WWX Reconciliation, Location: Cloud Recesses, Gusu Lan Elders Bashing, Curses, WWX is Loved, protect wei ying squad, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Good Nephew JL, Protective JL)

~*~

17. hello! i am looking for a fic where wen qing (after circumstances i cant remember) travels back in time, and eventually realizes she's travelled back MUCH further in time than she thought. she's there to see the great clans form (i think wen mao or lan an or both mightve been in the fic?) and eventually she decides to retreat from society and live on a mountain. the end of the fic is the realization that she is baoshan sanren, as she catches up to her present and sees cangse come and go. thank you! @summerwoodsmoke

FOUND? The Immortal Wen Qing by Nillegible (G, 1k, Time Travel, Canon Compliant)

~*~

18. Hi! I’m looking for a fic I read where after WWX and LWJ move back to Cloud Recesses, Lan Qiren leaves some students with WWX to supervise temporarily while he finds a teacher for them. When Lan Qiren takes too long, WWX ends up teaching them by taking them to practice wind (I think) talismans by having a snowball fight. When Lan Qiren realises that WWX has been teaching the students the whole time he freaks out but when he sees WWX help the youngest kid he decides to offer WWX a permanent job as a teacher.

FOUND? 🔒❤️ Joy In the Midst of These Things Series by Glitterbombshell (T/G, 53k, WangXian, Angst with Happy Ending, Post-Canon, Teacher WWX, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff) (various podfics available)

~*~

19. You’re doing incredible work! Hope you can help me :D

I read a fic back in like 2021 and for the life of me I can’t seem to find it again. Its wasn’t complete at the time so I’d love to know if it is now!

It’s post canon and Wangxian are living at Cloud Recesses happily. Then someone breaks into WWX’s workshop - where the Lan Clan gave him permission to work on some of his stuff - but nothing seems to have been taken. WWX is quite touched that even Lan Qiren seems pretty upset on his behalf. There’s a few more weird incidents including WWX finding a paper left for him that’s dosed with some kind of drug (he catches it though and doesn’t get affected).

Later on, he’s talking to LXC (I think) and gets a brief glimpse of a financial report and finds out that all of his inventions are so good that he essentially brought in a fortune to the Lan Clan that could even rival the Jin Clan by this point.

WWX realises that someone might be targeting him rather than his work so he decides to disguise himself as a Lan disciple and investigate. His disguise is so good that when he leaves the jingshi, Lan Sizhui briefly points a sword at him because he doesn’t recognise him for a moment. WWX then goes to one of LWJ’s meetings/classes (can’t remember exactly what) and after everyone leaves, the two get very flirty with one another. Someone walks in and then quickly leaves but it’s implied that they don’t recognise WWX either.

Because then a rumour seems to go around that LWJ is secretly seeing another disciple. WWX did bump into someone while disguised who was acting very weird but didn’t confirm whether or not that was who was after him.

I’d love to find this fic again!

FOUND? How Odd by bedheadrat (M, 35k, WIP, WangXian, Case Fic, Fluff and Smut, BAMF WWX, Protective LWJ, Possessive LWJ, Rich LWJ, Genius WWX, Separation Anxiety, Demonic Cultivation, Evil Plans, Touch-Starved, lwj’s white robes kink, Attempted Kidnapping, Attempted Seduction, Misunderstandings, Not Cheating, Threats, Vandalism, Stealing, Canon Compliant, Post-Canon) I’m pretty sure the no.19 on this week’s fic finder is ‘How Odd’ by bedheadrat. It’s incomplete but it has some of the details the anon mentioned.

~*~

20. for fic finder

it was a series w/ immortal wangxian in modern era

started out with lwj going to uni (to be a vet if i remember right) and becoming the campus heartthrob

main pov is an OC whos friends with an OC Yu character

JC runs a car company @whatifijustnifeyou

ridiculous future bullshit by sami (M, 190k, WangXian, WQ/JC/LXC, WWX & LSZ, LSZ/Other, JYL/OMC, Future Fic, in theory it follows on from an au specifically, The Same Moon Shines Series, the rewriting of history, if the past was different the future is different, But still ridiculous, Humour, the evolution of fashion, immortals through history, LWJ visits other cultures and judges them, Modern AU, a centuries-long game of telephone, best boy LSZ, Pride Parades, Cats, the legend of WQ, Academia, Border Crossings, biosecurity, Paperwork, Family, Parents and Children, Uncles and nephews, the mortifying ordeal of your family seeing how you really live, Social Media, Chaos Gremlin WWX, University, outsider pov, Movie Stars, Fluff, Weddings, Adventures) original poster is looking for this series. The first story with LWJ going to University is part 25 "Lan Zhan's University Days (JAFFY)". Jiang Cheng and the car company is scattered throughout the series.

~*~

[redwinelewis]

LIKE A MERCEDES | LH44

type social media au

pairing lewis hamilton x chinese!reader

face claim lexie liu

song like a mercedes by lexie liu

summary in which lewis' singer girlfriend is part of the f1 the movie soundtrack

warnings none i think idk

author's note super short one bcs i've been wanting to write a smau with this song and lewis ❤️

english is not my first language. all pictures taken from instagram, pinterest and twitter. credit to owners.

masterlist

INSTAGRAM!

f1 and 5 others

liked by lewishamilton, roses_are_rosie and 1,836,938 others

f1 Here's the lineup for F1: The Movie soundtrack with a special track from two more mysterious acts 🏎️ Available June 27.

#F1 #F1TheAlbum

view all 2,728 comments

user TATE????

user user ln4 x t8 agenda continues to spread we love to see it

user DOJA?? ROSÉ???? TATE???????

user who are these people

user the way i only recognize like 2 of these singers

user MADISON BEER OMFG

user wait mysterious acts?

user LEWIS LIKED

user user everyday i manifest for an xnda comeback

user i wonder if lewis produces the soundtrack as well

user user dear god pls

yourinstagram

📍 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

liked by dprian, kikagomes and 3,836,899 others

yourinstagram do me, you don’t have to do me properly

view all 4,726 comments

user RARE LEWIS SIGHTING ON Y/N'S POST

user okay freaky

user HIS BACK 🫦

yourinstagram user behave

user y/n feed your children we're starving for a new album

user i love how she brags about her bf

user user i mean it's sir lewis hamilton. i would do the same.

user user real

user third pic is so bf lewis coded

user THE DRESS OMFG

user sir lewis can u fight

flavy.barla that dress 😍😍

lewishamilton

📍 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

liked by charles_leclerc, francolapinto and 2,826,314 others

lewishamilton 與你一路飛馳緊握著方向盤

view all 1,026 comments

user ok what is up with the caption

user user a vacation in brazil and he wrote the caption in mandarin he's so random 😭😭

user user i mean his gf is chinese right

user can someone tell me what the caption means the translate button isn't working

user user "Feeling like going on a joyride with you through the night" something like that

user user .... is this a lyric?

yourinstagram not fair!!!! that's my favourite part!!!!

yourinstagram yourinstagram and i told you not to post the fourth pic lew!!!!

lewishamilton yourinstagram You used my favourite part as well. And I love that photo

user yourinstagram lewishamilton HELLO WHAT'S GOING ON??????

user yourinstagram lewishamilton are yall teasing us a new single with those captions? 🤨

yourinstagram user no (yes)

user yourinstagram AHSKSHSHSJSKSH WHAT

yourinstagram

liked by jacksonwang852g7, lilymhe and 2,733,927 others

yourinstagram but you already know what i'm about to say 👀 LIKE A MERCEDES, my new single from F1: The Movie soundtrack featuring the one and only xnda is out now 🏎️

i have always admired lewis, on and off track. he is as passionate about music as he is about racing and making this song with him has been such an amazing experience. i hope you all love this song as much as we had fun making it ❤️

view all 3,570 comments

user OH I FUCKING KNEW IT

user FEATURING LEWIS??????

user XNDA IS BACKKKKKK

user is this a dream can somebody pinch me rn

user a new xnda song in the year of our lord 2025

user user "thank you y/n" we all say in unison

user this is everything to me btw

user this song is gonna be the only good thing from that fuck ass film

georgerussell63 Hell yeah! Let's go! 🙌🏻🔥

yourinstagram georgerussell63 thank you george! ❤️

alexandrasaintmleux song of the year ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

yourinstagram alexandrasaintmleux i love you ❤️❤️

tatemcrae a bop

lewishamilton and xnda

liked by yourinstagram, f1 and 7,836,644 others

lewishamilton Say less

view all 6,836 comments

user KMS POSTPONED

user whoremilton is back

user user we cheer

user i'm still processing the lyrics

user user this feels like "pipe" all over again

user his gf is so lucky 💔

user user thank you

yourinstagram user 🤨🤨

user user my bad queen 🙏🏽

yourinstagram you're so fucking amazing

lewishamilton yourinstagram Right back at ya darling

user lewishamilton DARLING 💗🩷🌷🌸♥️❣️❤️💘💖💝💞💟

user lewishamilton oh to be called darling by lewis hamilton

user this is already the best song from that movie

redwinelewis producing the film about the sport he conquered AND creates a song for its soundtrack.... sir lewis hamilton everybody ✨

[amoracreations]

.˚☁︎Chance x singer reader☁︎.˚

[First ever fanfic I made! Hope you guys like it! I apologise as well if my grammar is mess up]

─── ⋆⋅ ☾⋅⋆ ────── ⋆⋅ ☾⋅⋆ ────── ⋆⋅ ☾⋅⋆

‧₊˚ ⋅Your lovely voice.𖥔 ݁ ˖

Chance just got out of a toxic relationship with that certain someone, and now, he's been visiting your place all the time, or sometimes you visit them. You care for him, comfort him, and sometimes you sing for him with one of your covers. He has always been close to you even before getting into a toxic relationship. But It's best to move on from it.

Earlier in the day, You and your friends were starting to practice the song cover however, before you guys started, Chance texted you, telling him that he needed something.

“Hey I know you're busy today, but I really really need you right now”

You sighed and texted him back, telling him that you're not available right now

“Chance I'm sorry, but I can't right now because I'm practising today with my band. I'll call you later, cya”

You put away your phone and started the practice. Chance, of course, didn't listen and decided to visit the music studio that you and your band work in. Once arriving at the place with an annoyed expression, he stops mid way and watches you rock on the stage. He couldn't stay mad honestly, Yet his jealousy is still there to taunt him for what he had done to the past, the reminder of how stupid he was that he couldn't bare to look at you while you sing. Why can't he really? He wasn't sure. Yet still, hearing your voice is something that he's hypnosis. Honestly, to him, he wished he could say those three words, but he can't for now.

After a few hours had passed, you and your band were finally finished. You got out of the room first before you saw chance sleeping on the sofa waiting. You smile and walk up to him. With a quick tap on the shoulder.

“Wakey wakey rich prince~” you said with a teasing look.

He woke up and looked around before seeing your face.

“Huh what- oh uhhh hey” He said while adjusting his glasses. “Damn you took so long dummy I fell Asleep” He smirk and stood up.

“Geez don't be so damn dramatic. You know how important it is to make songs as singer.” You roll your eyes and cross your arms.

Chance smirks for a little while before he leans in and whispers into your ear.

“Hey..uhh..listening umm there something I wanted to tell you.. Is it okay to have some privacy? I just don't want your friends to hear us”

You were confused at first, but seeing like this is kinda worrying. So you nodded and decided to go outside with him.

“Alright we're here now, so..what is it that you wanted to tell me so badl-”

Before you say something next, he pins you down on the walls, looking directly at you, His face is almost close to yours.

“I..I love you..and I'm sorry that I could told you this before beacause i never got the courage to say so myself...you had help me more than I helped myself…I want you..no…I need you”

He leaned in Inches away from your lips. Hearing his voice made you flustered and shocked for the first time, but this was moving too fast.

“Chance..this is going so fast..omg I.. I don't what to say” You look away, still flustered before, force you to look at him. He then held your cheek and started to caressed them.

“I need you please, and i know it's selfish right now but I just can't help it…I want to feel whole again but with you this time..I know you could be so much better than the previous one..your voice is what I want"

your heart skip a beat trying to find The words to say. You took a deep breath and said in a sincere tone.

“Then promise this a for both of us..please love me truly and respectfully..I know your relationship in the past is not pretty and I don't want it to repeat again..I promise to love you too chance..and I hope you will too..”

Chance tears up silently before nodding in agreement.

“I promise…I'll try to improve myself just for you..”

You smile softly before leaning in to the kiss. Chance wasn't surprised because he was happy to be finally accepted once again. You vow a promise to treat him better with love and care even if it's challenging for the two of you.

─── ⋆⋅✦ ⋅⋆ ────── ⋅⋆ ⋅✦ ⋅⋆ ────── ⋅⋆✦⋆

[changingplumbob]

Second Round - Day Six (BB) 1 of 2

@belsasim, @corrienteallita, @cawthorntales, @hashimasims, @ravingsockmonkey, @pixeldistractions - Sim creators and co-writers

Bright and early, the household wakes up. Room order was randomised with Mariela and Harmony getting the ground floor rooms. A wheel was spun for type of shower the contestants would have (opportunity for energised, flirty or inspired moodlet) and whether they would brush their teeth (possible confident moodlet). Once they are finished getting ready they're sent to breakfast. Autonomy is toggled on and room doors are locked.

The order the contestants arrive at breakfast matters a little. Deanna compliments each of them in the order they arrive. Those who are talked to early seem to have more chance of fitting in autonomous socials with Deanna. They might fit in a joke, flirt or gossip between her complimenting others.

Mariela: Good morning Deanna *hugs*

Deanna: *chuckling* In a good mood I see

Mariela may be first to breakfast but she's followed soon by Harmony and Sarah who grab some of the available french toast.

Sarah: Oh hey the curtains are gone

Deanna: Yes. For the challenge today we'll be at another location so no need to block off that room

Kaye: I hope it's something outside again

Billie: Like who can paint the coastline best

Harmony gets up and hugs Deanna before getting her social for the day.

Dee: Harmony, Kaye and I finally checked out your show, Adventures of Skunkbert

Harmony: Dare I ask what you thought of it?

Kaye: It was great! We only watched three episodes so it's good we've got more to go

Billie: I really like the animation style you've used for it. But how does it keep going while you're here?

Harmony: I work on it on our days off and send the drafts to the rest of the production team

Mariela: If they give you any trouble refer them to me, I'm a pro at protests

Sarah: That's awesome. What have you protested for?

Mariela: *awkward chuckle* You know, I'm never entirely sure...

Kaye: To be fair there's always some protest happening around the city. I seem to run in to one whenever I'm out of the apartment

Sarah: The city seems exciting

Billie: I went to the art gallery last time I visited, it was great but still not much like I do

Dee: That's good though right? Means there's room for your work

Kaye: That's rather mellow for you Dee

Dee: What can I say? I woke up in a good mood. Plus I believe there's nothing you can't do if you just work hard enough for it

Deanna: Interesting theory

Mariela: Not everyone can work though. There's no shame in having conditions that prevent it

Everyone turned to look at Mariela, that was a serious statement from the resident goofball.

Mariela: Take Billie here, she can't help having green hair

Billie: *pulls faces* Don't be silly, it's dyed. No one has green hair naturally

Harmony: You do hear rumors about some spellcasters though...

Kaye: I don't know about just spellcasters, a lot of my extended family have interesting hair shades

Sarah: I like having colour in my hair, but it's definitely not natural

Deanna: I'd never dyed my hair before Devin took me shopping for a makeover

Harmony: I think I got lucky with my natural hair colour

Dee: The red looks nice

While Harmony, Mariela, Sarah and Dee stay chatting with Deanna, Billie and Kaye decide to head outside and play some simbles.

Billie: You're really just human even though your ears are... you know...

Kaye: *laughing* Pointy? Yep. Just human much to the horror of my mother

Devin: Hello everyone and welcome to Tartosa Gym. Today's challenge was picked by our pa, who is a fitness fan. Each of you has been tasked with completing the beginners endurance challenge on the rock wall. Fastest time wins. Good luck everyone

Devin hands it over to Aaron who gives a brief tutorial on how the rock wall works. It operates like a vertical treadmill, ticking over as contestants get closer to the top. Aaron takes everyone through some pre climb stretching to warm up, we need to be safe after all.

Aaron: I've picked this challenge because love is a marathon, not a sprint. You have to keep putting in the work if you want it to thrive. I'm looking forward to seeing who wins

Devin directs everyone to the right walls and the cameras position themselves.

Aaron: Any guesses who might win this one?

Deanna: I'm thinking Kaye. She's adventurous and she loves rock climbing. I mean I would be very surprised if she didn't win

Aaron: Care to tell me who you want to win?

Deanna: *laughs* Again? I'm not going to say it and jinx anyone pa

Mariela: I've seen those machines before. They're quite intimidating! I have to admit... I'm a little scared.

Harmony: I don't think it's a good idea for the clumsy girl to do this. But if it gives me a shot with Deanna I am game.

Billie: Hm. Rock climbing is pretty much the opposite to the painting challenge I was hoping for, but at least there are padded mats around!

Sarah: Whaaaat?!? There's gonna be an ambulance ready for me, right?

Dee: Now this is a challenge I can get behind! * flex *

Kaye: YES! I love rock climbing!

Despite strong starts both Mariela and Dee fall off the wall before completing the challenge. Luckily they make good landings, no broken bones here. Despite being clumsy Harmony does a fabulous job holding on and completes the challenge with a time of 37.58 seconds! Billie also completes the challenge with a slightly faster time of exactly 35 seconds.

Despite Sarah's call for an ambulance she doesn't fall. She completes the challenge in 33.65 seconds! Kaye, to no one's surprise really, is an expert on the wall! Her time? 23.19 seconds! Despite the fastest time Kaye has already had her date this round so it will be bonus points for her and a date win for Sarah.

Dee: I need a cold shower. Don't talk to me.

Mariela: Note to self: Stay away from Mt. Komorebi!

Dee: But we weren't even in Mt Komorebi

Mariela: Yeah and that's why we're not dead. Kaye told me about how her Uncle did on the real mountain *shudders*

Dee: Do I want to know?

Mariela: Despite rumors spellcasters aren't actually mind readers Dee

Harmony: That went about as well as I thought it would.

Billie: I'd rather paint the climbing wall than climb it again. Congratulations to Kaye, they were like a spider up there!

Harmony: She was so fast! Definitely done it before

Billie: But seriously, a painting challenge soon right?

Harmony: I might not do too bad at one of those

Billie: You're a professional animator, you'd be a challenger for sure

Villa renovation by @paracosmic-sims Gym build by @hashimasims

[ficwritersretreat]

Still Spaces Available!!

(Honestly, they usually fill up faster? Am half expecting a flurry of registrations all in one go...)

BUT ANYWAY, YOU (YES YOU) ARE CORDIALLY INVITED TO THE

EIGHTH annual Fic Writers' Retreat, first held in Canada in 2016, coming once again in 2025.

To Register, Click Here

When: August 7-10 2025

Where: Five Oaks Retreat Centre, Paris, Ontario, Canada

What is it? Four days spent with other fic writers, from Canada, the United States, and anywhere else we can convince people to come from! There will be a mix of workshops (Topics TBA and open to suggestions), prompts and challenges, and plenty of independent writing time for your own personal projects.

It’s also an opportunity to make connections with people who share your interests and passions, and where you can focus on your own goals and creativity.

Cost (in CANADIAN DOLLARS): $480.00 

(approximately $350 US, €301 and ¥2,511.45, as of this posting)

Here’s what you get for it:

All meals (dinner Thursday to lunch Sunday)

Accommodation (Shared rooms but NOT shared beds - sorry)

Daily workshops and writing sessions (planned and delivered by participants - you too, if you want!)

A retreat in a beautiful riverside setting

WiFi included

Registration Process:

Click on the Registration Link, above.

Complete the form and submit it.

Select a payment option: a) e-transfer (Canadian residents only) or b) PayPal (link in registration form)

Make your deposit of $240 CAD (50% of total cost) to complete your registration

Second payment is due on July 10, 4 weeks before the retreat begins.

Space will be allocated on a first-come, first served basis. There are 22 spaces available, after which names will be placed on a waiting list (no payment will be required unless you are offered a spot).

Travel to the venue is not included. However, shared transport from Toronto (airport or other hubs) can often be arranged with other participants.

Several participants (and the organizer) live in the area, and we have always been able to arrange ride-shares from the Toronto Airport to the various venues. These connections will be arranged after registration.

Contact me with any questions! Or see the FAQ Page

Tags under the cut

@keirgreeneyes @stellacartography @anotherwellkeptsecret @inexplicifics @inevitably-johnlocked @ivyblossom @mkengland @addictedstilltheaddict @totallysilvergirl @kettykika78 @fluffbyday-smutbynight @antheiasilva @blogstandbygo @doctornerdington @rianneeyre @elodieunderglass @myuglyone @cirquedereve @hoppip @helloliriels @muaddib-iswriting @amindamazed @lololollywrites @musical-chan @body-n-soul @gay-pirate-anime @shelleysprometheus @missdaviswrites @thegildedbee @pippn-frodo @otter-von-bismarck

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

tuesday again 6/24/2025

really homophobic for june to be such a slog so far

listening

i watched this movie once and the soundtrack made very little impression on me, but this came up in one of my spotify recommended playlists and fucks??? slow start, very Black Sails hurdy gurdy adjacent thing happening at 02:20

-

reading

three books enter, two books leave:

After Hours by Bowen McCurdy, a charming little one-shot comic courtesy of @sybilius ! real black cat/golden retriever lesbian energy where the black cat is completely shielding the golden retriever from some spooky shit. these woman are experiencing completely different genres lol

Queen of the Damned, by Anne Rice: tragically i have discovered i am not an anne rice girlie. what the FUCK are you on about anne

i don’t respect this one enough to properly capitalize it: mammoth book of dieselpunk, edited by sean wallace: sort of comforting to know this 2015 cover was lovingly hand-made by someone fucking around with photoshop and not AI. forgot that dieselpunk is mostly jerking off about WWII. unfortunately a lot of these short stories were not good on a technical OR story level and were incredibly racist. i don’t think this book cracked the code on the appropriate time to call a young white woman exiting a factory “she looked like a little old Asian man”. and this wasn’t even the worst racism in the book!!! there was exactly one i liked: “This Evening’s Performance” by Genevieve Valentine was about the last human actors where all others have been replaced by automatons, and the character work was lovely. plus it had a defined beginning middle and end and a fun ending. literally everything else in this book was not very good. and for that reason it will go back to the used bookstore.

-

watching

four episodes into true blood bc i liked charlaine harris’ other gunnie rose series so much. i would not say ms harris’ strong suit is names, however i am having a fun time with it so far. excited to find out if the “one extremely bad bdsm practice per episode is not actually the thing that kills someone” holds true for the rest of the season

-

playing

genshin has added (checks notes) a pair of mini games for this event. one is collecting some fruit. one is a full roguelike with a weapons and upgrading system.

-

making

going through some sort of brain time as evidenced by the fact i cranked out the part of the cross stitch that has previously taken me months in two days. the buildings on this incarnation of the Bless This Wretched Hive of Scum and Villainy sampler (for me this time) are not quite done, so who’s to say if this will actually take me several months to finish.

the berries and cream is a pi day Numerals of the World pattern from @mathysphere , not sure if I love this color combo on black and i feel that the color runs are perhaps not quite long enough in this specific flavor variegated floss, but we’ll see. it was the closest available colorway to the bi flag but it’s coming off more 80s than i want. perhaps i will do each line of numerals in a different pink or purple or blue? this will eventually be turned into a patch for my jacket so i want to really nail this lol

[iamasaddie]

so, Materialists

cw: movie spoilers, personal opinion, mention of sexual assault in fiction

i am not great at expressing all of my thoughts on paper, that's why i would be a shitty movie reviewer so this is all a bit jumbled and hectic, but i just wanted to get it out i guess

first of all, i am honestly surprised Celine Song made that movie. maybe the problem was that my expectations were too high after seeing 'past lives', or maybe because to me the promo-tour was a bit misleading. this movie lacks depth and progressiveness is tried to claim.

what i didn't like: the movie was painfully predictable from the first trailer but i nurtured a hope in my heart that Celine would surprise us, she looks like a very layered woman with unique voice that she lost during this film. this movie tried to be critical of modern dating and putting "a price" on something so unexplainable and etheral as love but it did it poorly. this is not the "broke man propoganda" that i first thought it'd be, no, it's a toxic man and low self steem propoganda. there's no great love story to see between Lucy and John, there's zero character growth. there's zero reason as to why she'd come back to him except for her painfully low self esteem that we witness during her moment with Harry at the restaurant.

the whole 'hight' ordeal and the forced stereotype of 'he could be the best guy in the world but if he's not 6ft no woman would date him', to me that was lame and honestly lowkey myisogynistic and lazy, it didn't do anything just annoyed me. the argument that "oh she came back to john bc she didn't love harry" pisses me the fuck off because SHE KNEW JOHN FOR TWENTY YEARS AND SHE KNEW HARRY FOR TWO WEEKS! she didn't even give love a chance to develop. love is not something that happens at the snap of your fingers if you're not a hormonal teenager and even then it's just lust. in my opinion she ends up with John because of her low self worth and their similar background with John, she could never "afford" a man like Harry, he's complex and she needed someone simple and...easy. at the end it just felt like he didn't choose John, she settled for him with hopes that maybe this time it'll be better (spoiler alert it won't). Lucy and Harry had a perfect ground to build respectable, kind, gentle and nurturing relationship that would undoubtedly turn into love but the writers decided to be ??? i dunno, lame.

the way they "closed" harry's storyline was so poorly written like he wasn't one of the main characters, he just kinda disappeared. no idea what was supposed to be groundbreaking and fresh about this movie. maybe they thought they were bending the genre by including a side character who is a SA victim and trying to make the movie "more serious than any other romcom" by showcasing her trauma without giving a proper warning to the audience. (before you @ me that it was not supposed to be a romcom check IMDB and look at genres. check any other movie site and look at genres, NOWHERE DOES IT SAY DRAMA)

what i liked: it's a "safe" movie, nothing will surprise you which can be both good and bad. the performances were great, Pedro, Dakota and even Chris Evans gave it their all, minor characters were also fantastic. the cinematography and soundtrack was beautiful. some of the dialogues stuck with me. also loved that Celine didn't shy away from trying to show the differences in physical intimacy for both "couples" to highlight the difference of Lucy's involvment in two relationships from the start. also Pedro's back in the shower.

overall it's a movie i wouldn't intentionally watch again, but if it came up on TV or if i had it available on a flight i wouldn't mind drifting off to it. like my bf said: it's like bringing the best ingredients to the world renowned chef and they serve you the blandest burger the world has ever seen. will you still eat it? yes, because it's food and it's fresh. but do you wish they at least used some fucking salt and pepper? also yes.

+ some of the comments from all the other reviews i've seen that made me laugh more than the movie ever did

[fox-teeth]

Did you miss out on my ShortBox Comics Fair '24 comic, The Maker of Grave-Goods?

Well I've got some NEWS! The comic has been re-released digitally on my Ko-fi shop plus, I am working on the much-requested...

...physical risograph edition.

Yes, last October I said it wasn't going to happen. I didn't think it was feasible. There was so much love for this comic I was looking into pitching physical editions to a publisher or crowdfunding an offset print run. But, uh to make a long story short, did you see the US tariff chaos in the news? That halted those ideas for now. But I didn't give up, instead I got deep into bookbinding youtube and figured out how to do it myself. Sometimes international politics drives you to greater unhinged self-publishing heights.

A limited risograph edition printed with violet and hunter green inks is currently in production. Copies will be available at:

CAKE - Chicago, June 28-29

Flame Con - NYC, August 16-17

CXC - Columbus, September 20-21

My Online Store (ships worldwide) - aiming for sometime in July

Once again, I want to thank everyone for all their enthusiasm for The Maker of Grave-Goods during SBCF '24. It meant the world to me! I hope you will also enjoy the risograph edition, and if you haven't read it yet consider picking up a digital or physical copy!

(And if you like ShortBox Comics Fair and anthropological sci-fi, stay tuned for what I'm cooking up for this October...)

[harleycommissions]

🔓,     public content     ·     deborah ann woll in daredevil: born again (s01).

#122 gifs in total.     ━━━━     this content is available to the entire community. click the source link below to be redirected to my ko-fi page, where you can download, view and use the gifs. all gifs were carefully made from scratch by me. i kindly ask that you respect my work by not claiming it as your own, not editing, and not redistributing. lastly, i’d really appreciate it if you could like and reblog to help spread my work within the community.

commission requests: if you’d like to commission a gif pack, check out my pinned post for details on how to request one.

content warnings: this pack contains alcohol. please review before use.

[janeway-lover]

“Let me go!” The woman strained against the ropes holding her to the chair, but to no avail. “You can't do this to me!” 

“Will you shut up? God, your voice is annoying.” She growled at the man in front of her, but he just shook his head. “Mikey! Gimme your bandana!” One of the other men - there were about a dozen altogether, gathered around her in a circle - stepped forward and offered the fabric. “There,” he said as he tied it around her head like a gag, “that oughta shut you up.” 

“Boss, why do we need a screaming broad anyway? We ain't gonna kill her or nothing, right?” 

“Tony, stop talking like we're in the mob,” the first man said, as if this is something he's had to say before. “I told you, we're not going to kill her. Old Scratch is gonna do that all on his own.” 

“And then we get rich, Bobby?” 

“Yes, Mikey, and then we get rich.” 

When Bob Rodes had found the summoning book, he thought he'd found a gold mine. This would be the answer to all his prayers! The ritual to summon the Devil required a group, so he'd put out an ad on Craigslist: “Wanted: A dozen men for weekend job. Must be willing to get hands dirty. Pay negotiable. Discretion advised.” He'd managed to get together a decent group, and together they'd broken into the abandoned warehouse on the edge of town. The woman tied to the chair was a stripper he'd hired. She'd been told this was a bachelor party (and had very quickly realized it was not). 

The summoning circle had been drawn around the chair, and candles placed around its circumference. Carefully, the candles were lit, one after the other until the entire circle was lit. 

“Alright, everyone ready?” The men all nodded, while the woman screamed through the bandana. “Here we go.” 

The chant started off quiet, but grew louder as all the men joined in. Their voices combined to drown out the woman’s muffled screams. But when the small flames began to grow, her protests died off, instead staring in silent fear. Even as the flames grew to be taller than the men, they didn’t stop chanting. Faces appeared in the fire, grinning teeth and sharp eyes. 

And all at once, the flames went out. The room was thrust into sudden darkness, all other lights having been covered as well. It had gone silent, the men’s chanting stopping as soon as it had gone dark. 

A laugh broke the silence. 

“Well, well, well, what do we have here?” a woman’s voice said. The candles magically were relit, revealing the newcomer in the center of the circle. The new woman stood behind the woman on the chair, with a crown on her head and a dark gown that clung to her. Her hair was red as blood, and her purple eyes made eye contact with Bob, her gaze never leaving his. “Chasing fame and fortune, are we?” 

“Who - who are you? We summoned the Devil, not -” 

“You summoned me,” she said, “the King of Hell. The Devil would be of no use to you, anyway.” Her nails extend to claws as she runs a gentle hand over the other woman’s head. “He left Hell long ago.” 

“We want -” 

“To make a deal, I know.” She turns her gaze to the woman who has been tied up, a calculating look in her eyes. “And you’ve brought along a sacrifice as well. You’re not willing to trade your souls, then?” A few of the men whispered amongst themselves. Souls? Bobby hadn’t said anything about that. “Uninformed accomplices, summoning demons, and tying a woman up? Why, Mr. Rodes, it looks like you’ve formed a cult.” 

The man growled at her. She growled back, a low noise that seemed to shake the very walls of the building. 

“Will you make the damn deal with me or not?” He’s clearly tense, thrown off by her attitude. 

“Of course.” She’s staring at him again, like he’s wounded prey. “Tell me, what is it you desire?” 

“I want to be rich,” he said, as if the words were being pulled from him. “Rich enough that my wife will change her mind about leaving me.” 

“And why does your wife want to leave you?” 

“She thinks I’ve been unfaithful.” 

“Is she correct?” Her stare felt like a weight pressing down on his chest. 

He hesitated for a moment, but he couldn’t seem to turn away from her. “Yes.” The grin she gave him was too sharp, too full of teeth. It was terrifying. 

“I propose a new deal. Leave now, and no one gets hurt. You can all go back to your families, and no one will ever be the wiser of what you tried to do here.” 

“What?” All the men echoed similar protests. “But, but we summoned you. You have to make a deal.” 

“I don’t have to do anything, darling. But even if I did, no one said it had to be your deal.” Her claws have grown even longer, her teeth even sharper. “If you do not leave now, you will be harmed, and you will be charged with kidnapping. I am offering you the chance to leave.” 

“I am not going to be scared off by some bitch playing dress-up,” he hissed, only to be met with her laughter. 

“Very well.” Abby leaned down to whisper in the captive woman’s ear. “Close your eyes, poppet. No need for you to see this.” The woman nodded and did as she was told, the last thing she saw being Abby leaping forward, wings out, claws and teeth bared. 

When the screams finally stopped, she hesitantly cracked an eye open. The men were all on the ground, groaning. Several of them were bleeding, and she nearly gagged. 

“Oh dear, no need for that now.” Abby stepped closer to be right in front of her. Gone were the sharp teeth and claws, and her wings had been tucked away. “Look at me, not them, dearie. That’s it, good girl.” She reached around and undid the bandana. “Do you have a name, darling?” 

“Ch-Chelsea.” 

“Alright, Chelsea, let’s get you out of these ropes, hmm?” She pulled out a small curved knife and, careful not to nick her, sliced the ropes cleanly off. 

“Are - are you going to kill me?” The poor dear was shaking in fear. 

“No, I’m not going to kill you. I think we should get you out of this room.” She held out a hand, and Chelsea took it, getting to her feet rather unsteadily. “There you go, I’ve got you. Chelsea, can you tell me how you got here?” 

“I drove,” she managed to say. “Thought it was a gig. I do a lot of bachelor parties.” Abby just nodded and continued to support her as the pair walked out to Chelsea’s car. 

“Can you tell me where we are, my dear?” 

“Alviso, outside San Jose.” 

“California?” Chelsea nodded. “Oh, that’s perfect. Do you think you can make it to L.A?” 

“Probably? Don’t know if I’ve got enough gas in my car for that, though.” This just got her a smile. 

“Never you mind about that. There’s somewhere I want you to go.” She flicked her fingers, and there was a business card in her hand. “It’s called Lux.” 

“The club?” 

“Ah, so you’ve heard of it. Yes, the club. The man who owns it is…very familiar with this sort of thing. He’ll be able to help you bring these men to justice.” 

“Why can’t you help me?” 

“I can’t stay on Earth that long,” she said with a sad smile. “But don’t worry. I trust him with my life; he will help you, I promise.” Chelsea still looked nervous. “What is it?” 

“What if something happens along the way? I’m…scared.” She didn’t look at Abby as she said this, as if she was ashamed of it. 

“Look at me, dear girl. Come here.” When she stepped closer, Abby reached out, gently taking hold of the sides of her face. “You shall have my protection. None shall harm you.” She leaned down and pressed a kiss to the woman’s forehead, leaving a perfect lipstick mark. It shimmered slightly before dissipating. 

“Who should I ask for? When I get to the club?” Her voice was wobbly, but she looked up at Abby with wide eyes. 

“The owner; Lucifer Morningstar.” 

“The Devil?” she asked. 

“My father,” Abby corrected. “He will recognize my protection. Go now.” Chelsea nodded and got in her car, taking one last look at the King. 

“Thank you.” The only response was a nod and a smile. As she started the car, she looked in the rearview mirror. Abby was gone.

[fairestbeard]

Is Claire even a doctor?

One thing I love about on this show is their subtle use of some obvious tropes. You almost think it isn't there but it is because without tropes storytelling don't really have coherence and structure. It's how we're able to connect certain dots in any narrative. In The Bear, some if them are directional and some I believe are mis-directional.

That being said, I noticed some things that made me wonder if Claire really is an actual doctor. I don't know what would be the intention or relevance to the plot for her not to be one but I just noticed a few things that I want to point out.

Of course there has been a lot of chatter in the fandom about her having way too much free time for an ER resident. In my last meta, I pointed out that the possibility that she wasn't even that available, we just assumed because it was made to look that way. A lot of the tricks they pull relies on how much we assume.

But there's more discrepancies.

1) The overselling of Claire:

This one I call the too good to be true trope. It's kind of odd the way Claire is oversold in the show. It's like every pro-claire character in the show just becomes a desperate insurance salesman. She also seems to be pitching herself a little bit sometimes. She always has to qualify why she's good, why she's fun, etc. That has made a lot of people suspicious for good reason, paying more attention to her character and observing disturbing details, because when something presents itself to be too good to be true, it probably is.

I also find it very interesting that she said to Carmy she was "almost a doctor" but a resident IS a doctor already especially one with 6 months to go in residency. Lord, she even has plausible deniability, herself. She never said she was a doctor.

2) There's no definite markers for her job

She says she is a doctor. Everyone says she's a doctor. But when we see her there's nothing that definitively says this is a doctor except that she wears scrubs in a hospital. She's definitely a medical professional, but is she an emergency medical doctor? We've never seen a clear badge of any kind. It is purposely blurry in my opinion so that your brain makes out what it should be. In Sundae when she calls Carmy, she's right in front of the camera but the badge is either blurred or turned. Even scrubs like hers can be worn by any other medical worker at all.

Just a coincidence? Maybe.

But she's never even been seen in a doctor's coat. Even Syd has been dressed more like an actual doctor (M.D) than Claire has.

3) Nurse-y duties

Every task we've seen her perform in the hospital has also been very nursey. We've never seen her consulting patients or doing anything exclusive to doctors. She says she fixes TBNs, we see her fixing saline IVs and giving shots. Even when we see her fixing a bone, in a scene which could be very well in Carmy's imagination, we see a gloved hand that we can't definitively connect to her, she talks about saline flush again like a nurse and when she is asked what happened, she just describes the incident in lay man's terms instead of replying with medical jargon. And this is a show that dumps us in the deep side if culinary jargons without a care in the world.

We never seen her outside the nurses station and dispensing treatment. We also see her very casual and friendly with the someone at the nurses station in a very familiar peer-like way which suggests she that's where her duty is around and we never seen her with an actual doctor clique or anything.

6) The con in the wild trope

The final coincidence that ties all these other coincidences for me is how they seem to have used the con in the wild trope in this scene where the Faks visit her in the hospital.

You know those movies where someone lies about their identity and then someone finds them in an unexpected place and calls to them but it takes a while for them to realize they are the one being addressed? That's a little bit what the scene felt like to me.

She doesn't respond to "Dr Dunlap", "Dr Claire Dunlap" She rouses with a confused look at "Dr Claire" and only turns after "Dr Claire bear". Also her immediate reaction was to whisper and try to quiet the conversation. Of course, her hair also covers the badges very conveniently. Now, it's shot in a way that there's a good enough excuse for these and it doesn't raise that much suspicion, eg, she was too engrossed in her work and the shushing and looking around was because they were embarrassing her at her work by coming to intercede for her estranged boyfriend.

Ted even says "I was coming to look for Dr..." and trails of so there is once more no definite marker since the statement doesn't get completed to be confirmed or denied.

The whole scene just resembled a con in the wild scene too much for me not to consider the possibility.

It seems very unlikely, though, and doesn't make a lot of sense to me for her to not be a doctor but it's also very possible when you line up these coincidences. I wonder if it's a switcheroo they're planning and what it would mean. My best guess is that it's probably another misdirect but if it's not, I wonder how such a development would play out.