#time management? i don't know her

[rosyjuly]

I. After Esteban has sent the pictures to the groupchat Gina made months ago, they have to wait hours until she finally wakes up. Finally, Gina texts back a string of crying laughing emojis and then, Did you steal Mom’s hat?????, which is just plain rude. It makes Este laugh like a hyena, though, and he bullies Mick into FaceTiming her. Gina, soft faced in the early hours in Texas, laughs until she cries. 

II. “Did you bring anything that doesn’t match?” Lance asks in his usual drawl when he FaceTimes them. He’s half propped up. The scowl is visible even behind his sunglasses. 

“Man, it’s warm here, of course we’re wearing white–”

“Save it, Mick,” Lance says, probably rolling his eyes as he pops a grape into his mouth. “You look like you’re on a bloody honeymoon.” 

Este takes the phone from him, says, “Well, next time come with us, then, instead of bailing last minute–” 

“I wanted to spend time with my sister–”

“Who’s actually on her honeymoon–”

III. Este’s mother calls when they’re having lunch. Mick eats his grilled octopus, only half listening to the rapid French conversation. The table next to them is sharing a huge plate of calamari and fries. As he pushes away a piece of lettuce with his fork, Este is putting the phone down in the middle of the table, stuffing a huge bite of fish into his mouth. 

“Um, hi,” Mick says, swallowing his salad. 

“Mick, sweetie,” Esteban’s mom says, kind as always, “you really should get lunch with us in Austria.” 

Sorry, Este mouthes at him, still chewing his food. Mick only shakes his head with a smile; it’s not like spending time with them is a hardship. 

IV. They’re out on the sea when Pierre texts. Mick’s sitting on the edge of the boat, taking pictures when Esteban folds himself down next to him, phone clutched in his hand. It’s a voice message, because of course it is. 

“A joint Instagram post,” Pierre is saying, grin evident in his voice. “Este, man, I can’t believe you’d do this to me. Yuki is going to kill me, are you kidding me?” 

They call him once they’ve stopped laughing. Pierre picks it up after the first ring; he’s in the gym, doing his warm up. 

“Well, it’s not my fault that you’re too lazy,” Este says in lieu of a greeting. Pierre laughs and tells him to fuck off. “Plan a little trip, Pierre, it’s not that difficult–”

“Sure, sure. Mick, can we use your boat?” 

“What part of don’t be lazy did you not get?” Mick asks mildly, lifting his camera to take a picture of their feet, the blue of the sea glimmering beneath it. 

“I hate both of you,” Pierre says, and then hangs up. A minute later he sends a selfie where he's flipping them off. 

V. He rings Seb from the balcony once he and Este retreat to their own rooms. It feels a little ridiculous, given that Este clapped him on the shoulder and said he will go call his girlfriend, but– it’s fine. It’s just a call. Sebastian might be busy anyway. 

He’s not. Mick makes him tell all about his new sailing team, the lessons he’s started to take. Some of Sebastian’s stories sound like straight out of a show he’d normally scoff at in disbelief, and yet he can’t be surprised that Seb got invited to attend at a brain surgery. There’s just something magnetic about him. 

When Sebastian asks how he’s doing, he tells Seb about the little getaway they’re on, about the vintage drive, the jet skiing. 

“Send me some pics,” Seb says. 

Of course he hasn’t seen the ones Este posted already. Mick puts him on speaker – they don’t really do video, he’s not sure why – and sends a few in their Whatsapp thread. He hasn’t imported the photos from his camera yet, so these will have to do. Seb likes them just fine, anyhow, asking follow up questions that make Mick feel all warm in the stomach, until he gets to the last pic. 

“Oh,” Seb says, clearing his throat. “I–. You two look very, ah, cute.” 

Mick frowns. The photo is– well, it’s cute, probably? It’s just a selfie of Este and him out on the balcony after dinner, the sea stretching out endlessly behind them. But Sebastian sounds– weird. 

“Thanks,” he says with a chuckle. “It’s nice here. We both needed to get away from everything, I guess.”

“Yeah,” Seb says. “I bet.” There’s a small pause. It’s definitely weird now, like Sebastian is fighting hard not to say something. But this isn’t a drivers’ meeting where he needs to stay quiet; it’s just the two of them. Then Seb finally says, very quickly, “Well, I’m happy you’re happy.”

“I, um– Thank you?” Mick blinks at the sudden change of topic. “I guess it’s coming along, you know, with the talks Sabine and I have been having–” 

“No, yeah, that– that too, of course, but–” Sebastian clears his throat again. “I meant, just, you know– with Esteban.” 

“With Este– you mean–?”

“Well, he’s a nice young man, and– well, I guess I knew you were close but– anyway. So. Any plans for the rest of your– trip?” 

“We’re still trying to convince Lance to come down tomorrow,” Mick says, finally catching up with the implications, “since this was supposed to be a boy’s trip, you know, with him and Jack, actually…”

“Oh! Ohh,” Sebastian says. There’s something different in his voice. It sounds lighter, maybe. “So it’s not– you’re not–?” 

“I– no. No, God. It’s like I’m on holiday with Gina, except we don’t have to fight over who sits where in the car,” Mick says, and then Seb’s finally laughing, and something sags in his chest in something akin to hope. He’ll ask Seb to come to Austria, maybe, or go see him after Silverstone, and maybe he could ask, this time, for real.

[omg-snakes]

I had a late class tonight, my phone was on silent, and Melanora Nightshade went on unauthorized walkabout.

[mortiscausa]

i can't stop thinking how funny it would be if gareth's brothers did in fact recognise him and were just like 'well clearly he has his reasons so let's all be good big bros and pretend we don't know him' and then spend the next few weeks before he goes off on his quest pretending extremely badly that they have never ever met this kitchen boy before nope not at all even while other knights are looking at them and looking at gareth and going 'hmmm'

[herearedragons]

tag the oc that's most likely to get stuck in a time loop and what kind of time loop it would be

[in-fair-verona-we-set-our-scene]

I think Slay the Princess is so popular partially because the *gets stabbed* "I'm in love" reaction is both intentional on the part of the developers and then they completely follow through on it.

[hlo-pok-hopey]

What if mold simply doesn't know how to human?

Let's say there're 3 types of the infected:

- molded (mold completely overtakes the body)

- controlled by Evie (e.g. Jack, Marguerite and Mia)

- conscious (e.g. Lucas and Ethan)

As it was stated in the game, mold is very defensive.

Take Lucas' case for example. He already feels threatened, unloved and unhappy. Mold simply takes on these emotions and also amplifies the already existing mental illness, leading to extremely violent behaviour.

In Ethan's case, he doesn't feel unsafe. Therefore, mold doesn't act up during the break between re7 and re8.

If we talk about Jack, Marguerite and Mia, their violent behaviour is caused by Eveline. Evie's case is similar to Lucas'. She was deprived of family and love since birth, which obviously made her traumatized and unhappy. Mold inside her tried to compensate this unhappiness by protecting Evie from everyone who tries to harm her and also by giving her comfort in creating a new family for her. However, Evie doesn't know what family should be or feel like. Her frustration activates mold's defensive mechanisms, which leads to violent behaviour in Mia and the Bakers.

In addition, mold itself might have trouble grasping the concept of humanity. After infection, it acquires all of its host's memories, but it struggles to properly execute human behaviour. This might also be the reason for exaggerated facial expressions seen in the Bakers (especially Lucas). Mold is trying to figure out emotions, affection, love and human connection, but fails miserably.

[winepresswrath]

Armand's simpering little "and I never have" has taken on new dimensions for me. Technicality king and also I think very in keeping with his whole malign fairy creature deal. You can tell him not to hurt the bae, but you should really specify what "hurt" entails. Is chopping someone's hands off really hurting them? If they have annoyed you very much I mean.

-questions Armand might pose to Lestat that inspire him to leave the country

[trappedinafantasy37]

Time to go back to Act 1 for some shenaninanigans and to gobble up some missing XP!

First, went back to the goblin camp. But, no one was there except for this little guy. So, Minthara took out what was left of the goblin trash.

Went to the creche. I had heard some rumors that Minthara had spoken dialogue here. I was actually surprised to hear it though! What could have been if Larian let us recruit her in Act 1...

Gotta keep the hood up to protect her eyes from the evil evil sun!

Fought some evil cats.

And some evil birbs.

And killed a kid! HAHAHAHA! Maybe Minthara is the real Dark Urge.

Hopped in the zaithisk to get the Awakened buff, she wasn't too thrilled about it. Also stole all the worms in the infirmary and Minthara now has all the illithid powers!

Are you truly a lesbian if you don't habitually commit mass murder with your evil girlfriend?

If Lathander didn't want me to take it, then why did he put it on a pedestal? Is he stupid?

Cute date ideas for evil lesbians: a hike in the mountains, mass murder, pissing off the gods, and the destruction of sacred temples!

Welp, one of my most despised areas of the game is done! Got some goodies, got some monies, and a level up! Now to officially dive into Act 2. Thanks for tuning in, see you in the next progress update!

[glasswingowl]

caught in your own web, just like your mother

[genderfluidgothwitch]

For those who are unsure of whether or not they really have the "sensitivity to cold" symptom of fibromyalgia, because you think that it's just you not being able to handle colder temperatures like other people, that's one way of putting it. The other way is, when it's winter and the temperatures start dropping, do you feel your pain more intensely? Do you feel like you have more problems with your joints? Is your partner always commenting how cold your fingers and toes are, but it somehow gets more frequent in winter? Those are other ways to consider being sensitive to the cold.

[tinyghostotus]

Someone really said Sam would be a te//rf as if Sam isn’t literally one of the most supportive characters in the entire show...

Many LGBT+ people, from what I’ve seen, have said that Danny being half ghost can be viewed as a metaphor for being LGBT+. Sam LITERALLY supports him 24/7 and tries to encourage him to be himself

Not to mention that Sam’s entire thing is her wanting people (mostly her parents) to accept who she is which, again, could be seen as her being LGBT+. Her parents want her to be someone she isn’t while Sam is fighting to be herself

Like how can you look at this entire show, and especially Sam’s character, and ignore the evidence that Sam would be 100% supportive of trans people??

[gumm1defloor]

Personally speaking if I had to pick one rairpair out of the entire hellaverse to become canon it would be Velvette x Verosica but man it is going to be the most lavish, fluffy, intensely intimate, passionate, rancid & disastrous 24/7 trending full blown shitstorm hell has ever seen I don't think anyone is going to be ready. Not even these two. Dear god especially not these two.

Man Verosica is just 2 for 1 on short gremlin kings who are also coincidentally emotionally constipated walking talking sacks of untreated mental illnesses wrapped up in 3 layers of intimacy issues isn't she but hey at least this one's pretty much guaranteed never to steal your credit card for horse riding lessons and most definitely won't be caught one ring down in wrath in the middle of fuck knows where with said credit card so.... yay improvement?

[tennis-kittens]

The emotional support Federer moms to the rescue 🥺♥️

Not Roger's mom stopping on her way to Mirka to give Casper a hug when she sees him wiping the tears off his face I'm sobbing

[softquietsteadylove]

It’s time to read more about tomb raider! Let them meet again after the almost drowning incident and let there be teamwork fighting against a group of treasure hunters! :D

"Will you stop?!"

Thena - surprisingly - stopped squirming behind his back against her own binds. Her chair stopped rattling against the floor as she stilled. She huffed. "I'm sorry, were you trying to get some sleep?"

He joined her in her frustration. "I just mean conserve your energy. We don't even know how long we've been down here, let alone how much longer we have ahead."

She went quiet, and he was quite sure he was more uncomfortable with it than she was. Thena spoke two languages: yelling, and sass. He was unfamiliar with any quieter sides of hers.

"I'm sorry."

The simple words gave him chills. He whipped his head around but all it did was hurt his neck, and he couldn't even get a glimpse of her anyway. "What?"

"They followed us all the way out here and I had no idea."

"I didn't either," he interjected.

"I was the one who came up with the plans. The next time they come down here, I'll tell them I can guide them, but only if they release you." Now she was really talking crazy.

"What the hell are you talking about?" he grumbled, now starting the game of fruitlessly tugging at his binds again. "You think I'm going anywhere without you?"

"We may not be afforded another option," she bit back, also turning her head. He could feel her ponytail against the back of his neck. "If at least one of us makes it out, there's a chance of escape."

"There's no way you believe that if you cooperate they won't hurt you," he snorted.

"I didn't say I believed that."

He jerked his shoulders, attempting to get a look at her again. The backs of their chairs clanged together, although they were still technically bolted to the floor. What little movement they did get on them was from the general state of the ship's disrepair. "Don't be stupid, Thena."

She didn't even have a scathing retort about him assuming such a thing about her Ladyship.

"Once they come back, we'll reason our way through this." Sure, he didn't totally believe what he was saying either. But it was a better solution than Thena giving herself up as a bargaining chip for his life. "All they want is the bounty, right? Your plans were solid, and I doubt any of them can dive for as long as you can. We'll-"

"Gil."

She was right, there were few options they had which might lead to their escape. They knew the risks, running in the circles they did. There was always a risk.

"You have connections on the mainland," she continued to talk him through things like she was coaching him. "Tell them that they can collect your bounty if they return with you."

Rather then killing them both and leaving them somewhere.

"And what about you?" he just barely dared to ask.

She took a damn long time to answer, twisting his gut all the way around itself. "Karun and Druig always know the risks of our field. They have instructions should I fail to return one day."

Gil scoffed loudly, rolled his eyes, shook his head--all of it. Anything to convey to her just how ridiculous this was. "I am not going to just leave you here, let alone with those-"

"Gil-"

"They slapped you, Thena," he reiterated, since that didn't seem to matter to her as much as it did to him. "They backhanded you across the face. I'm not exactly counting on them to uphold a gentlemanly agreement."

He leaned forward, pulling at the legs of the chair, still bolted to the floor by a couple of rattling brackets.

"It wasn't how I saw our collaborative efforts ending," she tried putting on a lighter tone, as if that would distract him from the gravity of all this. "But I must admit, we make a good team, Gilgamesh."

He huffed, leaning as forward as he could, "don't 'Gilgamesh' me."

"Could we not spend what might be our last time together arguing?"

He paused in his efforts, partly to catch his breath, and partly to twist his neck again. "I thought you loved arguing."

"I love anything at which I can win."

Well, there was the Thena he knew and tolerated.

Her tone changed again, and he felt her hands move from being tightly balled up fists. Her fingers fluttered around, as if searching for his. "But arguing with you was always a byproduct of the job. Your company from the same side is far preferable."

If he didn't know better, he could think she was admitting to some fondness for him. But he did know better, and beyond that, this was not going to be the pre-burial-at-sea confession she thought it was.

"Who said you could talk?!"

The door slammed against the back wall. All the hinges in this place were falling apart. The men filtered into the room, fully armed and just as dark in expression as when they had found them.

Thena glared at them of course. "You didn't gag us. I don't see how you expected us to remain silent."

"Silence might do you some good." The same one who had struck her before raised his hand again, just barely in Gil's periphery.

He jerked in his chair, "don't touch her!"

They all laughed at his noble effort to protect her. The hand changed from an open palm to grasp her chin instead. She jerked back like a caged animal, but he grabbed harder. "Is she your pretty little treasure?"

Thena practically growled at them even with her cheeks smushed.

"That's all you want, right--the artifact we got sent here to find?" he clarified, doing everything but snapping his neck right off his shoulders to try and see what they were doing. "I'll take you, but only if she's unharmed."

"Relax, big guy," another one instructed, even slapping the grabby one's hand away from Thena's face. "The bounty from the artifact is only half of it. There's also the matter of you two."

Thena must have made a face, because they glared at her again. "We have no insurance policies on us, if that's what you're after."

"Not at all, girlie," he chuckled at her. "The museum will pay his ransom, surely. And as for you...you're sitting on an old family estate, aren't you? That will do nicely."

Gil was desperately trying to think of something but if anything, Thena relaxed. He kept his mouth shut though; they hadn't mentioned Druig or Karun, which meant they didn't know about them. They hadn't done reconnaissance on them or anything, they just happened to be their lucky catch of the day.

"You're right, you will guide us to the artifact." The men began gravitating towards the door again, one with his hand already on it. "And when we have it in our possession, then you'll make the ransom call for us."

The grabby one rattled the handle in his grasp. "We might have to rough her up some, just to make it believable."

Gil launched forward. The chair came clean off the floor as he cried out in his rage. He hunched forward, swinging the legs around as a line of defense. He turned, charging at their captors.

His shoulder jabbed into the most dominant one, crushing him against the handle of the door and doing some good damage to his back. He slumped down. He turned as fast as he could, using the legs of the chair to do some damage to the other two.

The grabby one grunted as he got hit in the gut. Gil positioned himself better, throwing himself back and ramming the legs into his shoulders. He screamed at the top of his lungs but Gil did little more than grimace. "Relax, it's not like I stabbed you."

He tried to get a sound out, but the wind had been knocked out of him. Gil looked down at him, holding out at a hand as if to plead for something. Unfortunately for him, that was the hand he'd used to slap Thena, and Gil wasn't feeling particularly forgiving.

Thena winced as he rammed the chair leg into his open mouth. "I never took you for the sadistic type."

But he didn't have a witty retort for her. He knelt down, feeling around the mess of bodies for a knife. "I'm tired of him yapping."

Thena sighed as stood again. "I suppose it's a better option for us. We still don't know how many of them are out there."

"Let's not be tied up when we find out," he groused. He walked back around her. "Got it?"

She did have it, grasping the knife firmly, passed from his hands to hers behind their backs. "You seem confident I won't slice anything essential"

"Like you say, we may not have a better option," he conceded. He strained the ropes tired around him, pulling as Thena attempted to pressure the blade against them. It wasn't a great angle, or a serrated blade. But he continued to pull as she worked, eventually pulling them apart before she could slice through the middle.

The knife clattered to the floor between them.

"Okay," he sighed as he finally pulled his arms around to his front again. They hurt, and usually it would be more ideal to move them slowly. But he swung them around, desperately needing their full range of motion sooner than later. "I've got you."

He worked at Thena's ropes more gently. They were tied tight, but he could see the red irritation in her pale skin more. "Do you know how far out we were when they found us?"

Her ropes snapped apart, and he immediately grasped her shoulders, rolling them forward for her slowly and gently.

"Well, someone was hogging the radar," he commented, and was rewarded with her turning in the seat, skipping over examining her wrists in favor of glaring at him. He grinned, "but I know the jetski you used to get to the boat is still being towed. If we can get to a railing, we can definitely swim under the ship and get to it in time to get outta here."

It wasn't his most risk-free plan, but they both knew the risks--had just gone over them, in fact.

Thena nodded, rubbing her wrists but wearing the usually determined expression he had come to expect. "Lead the way, then."

He planned on it, and not out of some need to protect her or anything. It just made good sense.

They hugged the walls all the way up. He really didn't know how many of them were on board, but he dreaded to think about the possibilities considering the expected crew for any boat this size. He looked over his shoulder and nodded his head.

Thena showed her understanding; they weren't far now.

He held out his hand. She gave him a look but he shook it at her. He wasn't going to let them get separated again. Begrudgingly, she slipped her hand into his. It was cold.

Gil looked both ways before dashing across the deck and to the railing. No life boats, of fucking course. He climbed over the railing while Thena crouched between the top and middle bar. He looked at her. "Ready?"

She didn't reply, but she let her hand give his a squeeze.

"Don't let go." He didn't know why he said it. There was no need, but he held her hand, getting ready to free dive into the water and potentially be chased down like wild animals.

"I won't." That was much more assuring than anything she could have said about them making it. She looked ahead, resuming her usual role of being the one to pull him along.

And despite their rivalry, he would follow her anywhere.

[krysmcscience]

Saw this prompt for incorrect OC quotes and couldn't resist with a bunch of my Breach goobers. Some of them would absolutely say these things word for word in canon if I gave them half the chance to, though. XD

They're in order of when they showed up in person - Qīng, Ghost, Red, Marisol, Shio, Cam, Daruk, Tawoos, and Alondra - as well as some important honorable mentions who have only been mentioned or gotten dialogue - Star, Blake, and Creation.

Star's design is a slight spoiler, I suppose, but it doesn't reveal if they're human or impostor, so it's all good. Creation's "design" also isn't a spoiler at all, because They can look however They want, LOL. As for Shio...some of you who have seen the body horror I've done of them may be wondering why they look so normal here, but I promise there are Reasons. :3c

In other news, will I be making a liar out of Shio in an upcoming Breach canon divergence? ..........Maybe~ >:3c

[fideidefenswhore]

Anne's ability to hold the king off for seven years is part of her legend. The brilliance of her strategy was to cast herself in the role of the courtly lady, requiring Henry to play to perfect knight. Henry was nothing if not dogged in the pursuit of all the roles in which he cast himself—philosopher-king, warrior, even husband—and 'this persona of courtly lover...was fully formed in Henry and had been signaling...for an answering adept to come and lift its latch. In Anne, he had her: she was the mistress of Petrarchan contraries [...] the perfect [player] for the king's tender interest.'

Renaissance Prince: Elizabeth, Lisa Hilton