#Sauna time (Culture.)

[sserpente]

A/N: Request from anon. Fluffy skinny dipping with Loki. Tell me something better than that, I’ll wait. Enjoy, everyone!

Words: 2568 Warnings: skinny dipping, implied smut, fluff

The air in Asgard smelled different. Fresher. Richer. You took a deep breath, inhaling not only oxygen but also that foreign Asgardian vibe. Summer felt a hundred times more intense around here. The heat was on the verge of unbearable, the glistening water right outside the palace inviting you for a swim to cool down. The whole planet felt like an Instagram filter—like someone had turned up the contrast, the saturation and the brightness all at the same time.

“How do you cope in this heat?” you complained, fanning air to your face with your right hand. You were sat in the lower parts of the palace with Thor’s friends Volstagg, Hogun and Fandral and of course, Lady Sif.

Odin had commanded you remained under supervision at all times. You didn’t quite understand what the fuss was about—it wasn’t like a mere Midgardian could wreak havoc among this realm but then again, he was probably just traumatised from the time Thor brought an Aether-infected Jane to Asgard a few years back.

But the company wasn’t so bad, especially upon learning new things about Asgardian culture. One person was missing though. You’d hardly seen Loki since your arrival even though it had been him to promise to keep you safe.

Boom—it had been like a heartbeat, like an explosion and just like that, you had fallen in love with the God of Mischief. It had started with a crush. A purely physical attraction that made you see beyond the things he had done on Earth all those years ago. Then you had gotten to know him and witnessed his wit and sarcasm day in and out. Soon, you began to see past the cheekiness and mischief until you had discovered a vulnerable god who would die for the ones he loved, an intelligent and kind man who might not have been a superhero and leaned toward a little selfishness every now and then but a good man nonetheless.

Loki had never been evil and you were now determined to convince everyone else of that mind-set as well. Especially now that you had been brought to Asgard for your own safety.

“It’s not so bad down here. I feel sorry for Idunn and her workers. The apple orchard is a sauna at this time of the day but the work won’t do itself.”

“First of all… you have saunas on Asgard? And second of all, if this is a realm of magic, why is there any labour at all?”

Volstagg’s cheeks reddened as he fought to explain it to you. “Well, let’s just say Idunn’s apples are special. They require skilled hands to handle them.”

“Right…” With a court nod, you emptied the rest of your drink and carefully put it back on the table—like hell you would smash it to the ground and scream “Another” like Thor and his friends did.

“Where’s Loki, actually?” you asked, attempting to sound non-chalant.

“Who knows? Causing some mischief somewhere probably. I for my part am glad I don’t have to see his face.”

“He’s been nothing but kind to me so far, Volstagg.”

“Hmm…” Hogun began, “He’s like a flesh-eating plant. He lures you in and then traps you in his claws. Be careful. We have known Loki for a lot longer than you.”

“Maybe you guys should stop giving him reasons to stab you in the back. Think about that.” Checkmate. That shut them up for a good minute.

You sighed. Well, in the end, you’d likely have a lot more work to do for them to accept the cheeky God of Mischief for who he was and why he behaved the way he did, it seemed.

“If you say so… I’m gonna go find him.”

“You can’t wander through the palace alone.”

You chuckled. “Watch me. I know where Loki’s chambers are. And I promise to scream if I’m getting murdered.”

“You shouldn’t joke about things like that,” Hogun insisted.

“I’m trapped on a different planet surrounded by gods. If I don’t joke about it, I’m gonna lose my mind.”

“I am still going to escort you.”

You rolled your eyes. Always obey Odin. “Fine.” Hogun wasn’t very talkative, at least.

It was a lot cooler in the palace—but then again, sacrificing a wonderful day that you could spend swimming and tanning and exploring to hide within some palace walls wasn’t all that appealing.

“Loki? Are you there?” Hogun was waiting around the corner with his hands clasped behind his back when you knocked.

Silence. You cleared your throat. “Loki, your hearing is a thousand times better than mine, I know you can hear me.”

A pleasant shiver ran down your spine when you heard a dark chuckle behind the door. A sliver of magic tore through the heavy wood of his door and it swung open, revealing him sitting in the shade on his bed with a book on his lap.

You blinked. He was dressed so casually. Bare feet, a green and soft-looking shirt with sleeves ending right below his elbows and wide black trousers reminding you of a comfy pyjama. Summing up, he looked hot.

“What are you doing here?” He was practically purring when he spoke your name, pulling a pleasant shiver from you. Something told you that Loki knew you were absolutely infatuated with him and boy, was he having fun with it. You sighed, letting it go for now. It was too hot to complain.

“I want to go swimming.”

“You want to go swimming?” Loki frowned at his book as if you’d suggested going rollerblading on the Bifrost bridge. Although… that actually sounded like a fun idea as well.

“Yes, Loki. It’s summer, it’s hot and I am melting. You’re a Frost Giant, how on Earth do you cope?”

“By staying inside where it’s cool, reading and most importantly, keeping my mouth shut.”

You grunted, closing the door behind you. “I’m gonna pretend like I was unable to take the hint to leave you alone. What are you reading?”

This time, it was Loki who sighed.

“Why don’t you ask Thor and his foolish friends? Are they giving you trouble?” he asked instead of responding to your question.

“No. Just… Because I want to spend time with you. And because they’re boring, obeying every single word the oh-so-allmighty-Odin says.” You threw your hands to demonstrate how ridiculous you found the whole situation.

Finally, Loki looked up from his book, a sly smirk tugging at his lips. “What makes you think that I won’t?”

“Please. You are the God of Mischief. And rules are made to be broken, right? You remember that pretty lagoon west of the Bifrost Bridge that you told me about? The one with the cave? I want to go there. Please, Loki. Pack your book and let’s go. If I’m on a different planet, at least I want to explore it a little.”

Loki considered you for a moment, almost as if he was trying to figure out whether you were just mocking him. Then, finally, he shut his book and elegantly stood from the bed. “Very well. Let’s go.”

His smile was genuine—it had to be. His book vanished into thin air the very moment his door swung open again.

“Quick. Before Hogun realises we are not really headed to the kitchens for a cool drink.”

Loki escorted you through one of the servants’ exits to avoid the guards and more importantly, Thor and his friends. The earthy path was steep as you followed him down further and further away from the palace until you reached the shore and the ground to your feet turned into warm sand.

A small boat was swaying in the water, tied to a rock in the sand with a thick rope. Loki, however, did not make a move toward it. Instead, he offered you his hand. Intrigued, you took it. Next thing you know, he transformed into an eagle, his talons gripping your hand tightly.

You cheered when you took off and he flew across the water towards the lagoon, your naked toes grazing the cool ocean water in the process. The landing, a few minutes later, was smooth and then, just like that, Loki’s eagle aspect disappeared again.

“That was incredible! Can you turn me into an eagle as well?”

“Potentially. It takes years to master transfiguration like this. Your body would have to adjust to the new form and you would have to learn how to fly. If I transformed you now, you would quite possibly drown.”

“Right.” You turned around, taking in your new surroundings. The lagoon was stunning. It looked like the inside of a volcano, a hollowed-out rock with a pond with the clearest sea water you had ever seen in the middle. Vines, trees, and flowers all grew around it, spreading a lovely scent, and the small cave at the opposite end looked like the perfect spot for camping. The waterfall was by far the best part of it all though. It was gushing and loud, drowning out all noise from the outside and reverberating within the lagoon.

“This is beautiful. How come no one ever comes here?”

“Well… Asgardians are not too keen on swimming. Most of them never even learn it unless they’re training to fight battles. It is considered impure and in some cases, disrespectful to swim in open waters.”

Loki waved his hand, letting a dark green picnic blanket appear in the sand that mixed with green grass where you stood. Along with it, he conjured up a golden plate full of grapes, apple slices, strawberries and other fruit you didn’t recognise. He sat down on it with his book in hand.

It was then you realised you didn’t actually have any swimwear.

“What? Why is that?”

“Ah, well, you see, according to our lore, the giant Ymir was slain so the worlds could be built. His brains became the clouds, his bones became the mountains and his blood became the oceans.”

“Are you trying to tell me I’m about to swim in someone’s blood?”

Loki chuckled. “Something like that.”

You suppressed a grin. Should you? It was only the two of you here after all. And what sent a clearer signal for “I like you, I’m attracted to you and I want to have sex with you” than skinny dipping? You shrugged your shoulders. You were on a different planet. Things couldn’t exactly get any crazier from here.

You pulled off your shirt and then peeled yourself out of your shorts. Your bra came off first after that. With your back turned to Loki, you could still practically feel his blue eyes boring into you. By the time you stepped out of your knickers and revealed your arse to him, he sucked in air so loudly you could even hear it over the waterfall.

Unceremoniously and gathering all of your swimming training from your school days, you dived head-first into the clear water as gracefully as you could muster. The water was divine. It was cool and salty enough for you to float without too much effort and the little fish you saw swimming past you didn’t even seem to be scared of you. You’d have to ask Loki for some fish food for them.

“I could have conjured you some swimwear, you know.” His blue eyes were glued to you. You grinned, swimming in his direction. The clear water did very little to conceal you and it was even clearer that the God of Mischief was having a hard time not to look down.

“And where would have been the fun in that? What are you doing, come in! It’s lovely! I dare you,” you added. “Oh no, whatever will all those fancy royals at the palace say if they find out one of their princes is skinny dipping with a peasant?” Dramatically, you brought the back of your hand to your forehead and then disappeared underwater for a moment.

When you emerged, Loki was standing and taking off his clothes. Yes.

“Last time I caused an uproar, I was in the middle of a feeble attempt at taking over Midgard. They’ll be relieved to hear I have resorted to less scandalous activities.”

Seeing Loki shirtless was quite possibly the highlight of your entire day. But he didn’t give you much time to drool over his muscly pale chest and those strong arms. He wasn’t wearing any underwear. When those comfy trousers came off, he was naked and damn, was he glorious even in a flaccid state. You didn’t even bother pretending not to stare.

Loki smirked and then, much more gracefully than you, dived into the pond. He looked downright gorgeous with wet hair when he emerged only a few inches away from you, so much so that you almost forgot to keep yourself afloat.

“Cat got your tongue? You aren’t going to back out now, are you?”

“Wouldn’t dream of it, Loki.” For a split second, playing Marco Polo with him crossed your mind but now that you had him naked in the clear water, you could think of more… adult activities.

“Can I ask you something?” You just needed some confirmation first. He’d promised to keep you safe but did that mean he reciprocated your feelings? Not necessarily, right?

Loki raised his eyebrows at you—in a gentle, teasing manner this time.

“Why did you agree to come here with me? I mean… the others… they’d never let me be alone with you. If they knew, they’d drag me out by the hair. Or you, whoever they manage to grab first. I guess… after everything that happened between you and the entire planet Earth, I didn’t think you’d want anything to do with a human beyond a genuine promise to make up for the past.”

Loki’s face fell.

“What? Did I say something wrong?”

He shook his head. “You did not. Let’s just say I forgot for a moment that you are mortal.”

Oh. “Is that bad?”

“I will have outlived you in a matter of decades. So yes. That is bad, pet.” Pet. You sincerely hoped he wasn’t able to hear the moan that escaped your lips. “I am not a villain. And it took a lot of convincing to make me realise that. So why would I not? I have no reason to meet you with hostility if you don’t either.”

You smiled at him. “That’s what I told them today, you know? That you wouldn’t have betrayed them if they hadn’t given you a reason to do so. And… That just means we’ve gotta make use of the time that we have even more, no?”

With that, you took the leap. You leaned forward, clung to him like a monkey and wrapped your arms around his neck. Your naked skin against his felt heavenly, even more so underwater. You kissed him as if your life depended on it, teeth clashing, tongues battling… your entire being lost itself in Loki, how good he tasted and how skilled of a kisser he was.

When you broke apart, you were both out of breath and a little surprised by what had just happened. Your eyes fell on his swollen lips.

“Admit it,” you whispered.

“What?”

“Admit it. You like me.”

Loki chuckled. “I wouldn’t put up with you if I didn’t, pet.”

A/N: Come say hello on my blog for more Imagines and my novels! ♥

#loki imagine #loki x reader #loki x you #loki fluff #loki x female reader #loki #loki laufeyson #loki laufeyson imagine #loki laufeyson x you #loki laufeyson x reader #loki odinson #loki odinson x you #loki odinson x reader #marvel #marvel imagine #mcu #mcu imagine #thor #thor imagine #the avengers #the avengers imagine #tom hiddleston #loki series #loki series imagine #loki show #loki show imagine

[survivalove]

Katara the selfcare queen

Every canon instance or mention (that i can rmr) of Katara indulging in selfcare in the middle of a war because I find it quite amusing yet fascinating.

I may or may not have made a post like this before but I wanted to expand on it.

1. Skincare routine

In 1x14, The Fortuneteller, Katara reveals she has a special seaweed lotion that she carries with her for soft skin. (Avatar Extras also made a point of saying that it smells…?) She even offers to get Aunt Wu some, as if she has extra. So my question is, who is this plug that she gets her steady supply of seaweed lotion from? 😭

Real-life: Seaweed has been used in skincare for thousands of years, first recorded in ancient Chile. Nowadays, seaweed extract is pretty common in skincare products especially from emerging brands in Nunavik and Iqaluit, Canada.

My headcanon: This is probably a recipe Katara picked up from the older women of her tribe, so she just plucks some seaweed whenever the gaang stops by a body of water. And she definitely makes it in cute glass jars and shares it with her fellow healers in the Republic City Hospital ✨selfcare queen✨

2. Spa Day

I just find this funny because when and how did she even find this spa? How long has she been going by herself? Look how comfortable she is like dhjfjcd she’s definitely a regular and they all know her.

Real-life: Saunas are pretty modern, starting up in Finland around 1112. (In canon, I think a firebender and a waterbender run a sauna in Republic City so hey.) Mudbaths on the other hand have been around for centuries and people have been doing it at any naturally occurring hot spring they can found. I don’t even have to tell you about massages so

My headcanon: Katara always knows where the spas and selfcare places are wherever they go. I definitely think she scooped up some stuff at the perfume abbey in season 1 (because she’s a kleptomaniac). I also headcanon she would have a spa setup in the back of Republic City Hospital because selfcare is healthcare too. Also, Aang gives her massages at home and he’s surprisingly good at it, but, Katara sucks at massages and Aang never lets her do it to him after that one time 💀

3. Yoga

In 3x11, Nightmares & Daydreams, Katara teaches Aang yoga to de-stress in a hot spring. My thing is, when did she learn about yoga and how often does she do it? We needed the Katara yoga mini shorts special. The kids would’ve loved it.

Real life: Yoga originating from ancient India is practised in a variety of forms in Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism. The poses they do are the Upward Salute and the Wide Legged Forward Bend.

My headcanon: I imagine Katara must have read about this at the Air Nomad Section of the Spirit Library, given the cultural heritage. Knowing her she found a yoga scroll and swiped it (can you say klepto?). This is another selfcare thing she does with Aang because it’s his culture! They do it every Saturday until he starts complaining about his old bones 😅

4. Hair care

Katara also wears a special cap on her head when doing yoga which I assume is to protect her hair from the steam 🤔 I just found it very interesting since we hardly see her hair covered. Then I also realized Katara is the only character shown actually combing her hair and styling it like 4 times: from the bun-braid, to the formal earth kingdom look, to her fire nation look and finally the bun with her hair out.

Real life: I typed so many things and I finally found something similar called a chinoiserie satin skull cap? (sorry pic limit). It’s similar in design and even has a tassel like Katara’s. Focusing on her hairstyles, the signature “hair loopies” are actually based on a traditional Inuit style known as qilliqti and her earth kingdom look is based on a traditional Manchurian style called liangbatou.

My headcanon: Like Katara’s mysterious seaweed lotion recipe, she probably makes several haircare products for herself, and has a major hair routine. So, it would make sense she wears protective caps from time to time. I also think both Hama and Katara are tied to the myth of Senna, the Inuit sea goddess, through the comb Katara uses which I headcanon is the identical comb Hama had in her home (again klepto).

If there’s any more selfcare moments I left out, please feel free to share or reply with your own Katara ✨selfcare queen✨ headcanons!

#atla #katara #self care #self care queen #skincare #spa #yoga #haircare #culturalexploration #my headcanons #kataang #anti zutara

[jokeroutsubs]

Joker Out, who rose to popularity from the Eurovision Song Contest, starts off their European tour in Finland. A unique friendship was also born during the contest with Käärijä

Original article 

Caption: On their last visit to Finland, Joker Out surprised everyone by playing Cha Cha Cha. During the song, Käärijä also appeared on stage. Photographer Niina Mäenpää.

The Nordic gigs may also feature a tourist, Käärijä.

Original text and interview: Niina Mäenpää

A gold record from Finland, fans camped outside the venues from the early hours of the morning, the new song Everybody's Waiting streaming at a fast pace. Slovenian indie rock band Joker Out are going strong. The band, who emerged from last year's Eurovision Song Contest, have been super-popular in their home country for a long time, but it was the Eurovision Song Contest that blew them up.  

The European tour, which kicks off at the House of Culture this weekend, will run well into April. The band, who won a gold record  in Finland for their Eurovision song, Carpe Diem, will be coming to Helsinki for the second time. 

"We feel at home in Finland, and last time it was very cosy for us. Finns and Slovenians have a lot in common", says singer Bojan Cvjetićanin in a remote interview. 

Liverpool's Eurovision Song Contest not only left them with Europe-wide popularity, but also something else unique - a friendship with Jere Pöyhönen, aka Käärijä.

"Buddies for life. In all the Eurovision hype and chaos, we managed to find a very close friendship, and that is something truly unique", says Bojan.

After the weekend in Helsinki, the tour continues to Tallinn, Estonia. Käärijä will jump on board. 

"Jere will be joining us as tourists because he has some time off. We are definitely going to spend a lot of time together during those days", Bojan says. 

"Hopefully I'll get to the sauna in Finland too! I'm really looking forward to the gigs, and as Jere says, it's crazy, it's party."

See embed video on the original article: watch Joker Out reminisce about their experiences in Finland and Bojan imitating Käärijä.

Joker Out was seen at this year's UMK as Slovenia's point presenter, and the Nokia Arena went wild as Bojan, bassist Nace Jordan and drummer Jure Maček took the screen to present the points - Bojan wearing a green Käärijä shirt.

How did it feel to make an arena full of Finns scream remotely?

"We just hoped that our internet connection would last", drummer Jure laughs. 

The Nokia Arena was a special place for us, as the last time we saw the arena was when we drove past it during our gig in Tampere. Jere joked that, one day we'll make this arena, Bojan imitates his friend's rally English. 

So maybe a joint tour?

"Maybe we do, maybe we do, we’re gonna plan it now..." Bojan grins.

What is Joker Out?

Slovenian indie band, which describes their music as shagadelic rock ‘n’ roll

A Slovenian indie band, who describe their music as shagadelic rock and roll

Members: singer Bojan Cvjetićanin, guitar players Kris Guštin and Jan Peteh, bass player Nace Jordan and drummer Jure Maček.

Best known for Eurovision 2023, where the band jumped to popularity with their song Carpe Diem.

The new single ‘Everybody's Waiting’ tries a new musical direction and tells the story of the downsides of life in the crossfire of demands. The music video was directed by Bojan Cvjetićanin.

At the House of Culture Joker Out will play on Saturday 2nd and Sunday  3rd of March 2024. Saturday's concert is sold out, but there are still some tickets available for Sunday's extra show. Tickets on Lippu.fi.

Translated by @niini5 @drugsforaddicts @saallotar Proofread by IG Gboleyn123

#joker out #bojan cvjeticanin #bojan cvjetićanin #jokeroutsubs #jan peteh #kris gustin #nace jordan #kris guštin #jure macek #käärijä #see you soon tour

[witchofthesouls]

We need more cultural/species clash, especially in the "humans into Cybertronians" scene.

The giant robots don't have hormones like humans, so anyone who's afab or going through hormone therapy will be like, "Hey, no more pms-ing symptoms, endocrine dysfunctions, or related conditions? Neat!"

The thing is, the Autobots and Decepticons went through a massive, catastrophic war that they're still reeling from the widespread health impacts, but any random human-into-a-Cybertronian-via-magic-tech-bullshit... didn't. They're healthy. They didn't enter a starvation mode or constantly function at the dregs for countless millennia.

Imagine that human-into-Cybertronian going into a heat because of that. Even the non-Seekekin or beastformers because the conversion is trying to make heads-and-tails with old human body and new Cybertronian frame. So reproductive heat it is.

I know heats are generally seen as "Help me uwu," but we're sleeping on aggressively raging cat/FIGHT ME COWARDS

Imagine that slow, creeping irritability and frustration. That deep yearning for things you can't have anymore, even when it's dangled in front of you. A strange, persistent "itch" all over the body. (They have already been cleared of a potential rust infection by the medbay. Multiple times. And their diagnostics are running as a mocking clear.) Temperature every so slowly increasing until they have to occasionally step away to just steam out like a self-made sauna. And enough frustration/anger to power a few cities.

Imagine the relatively mild-mannered or relaxed civvie, just suddenly breaks the basketball pole -as in the one that was built for giant aliens- to use it as impromptu swatter and yeets it into an incoming raid or does it to clear space between them and everyone else.

The resident Seekerkin: Alright, I see where this is going...

Everyone else: What the flying fu-

#transformers #fic ideas #humans into cybertronians #humanformers #cybertronian biology #culture clash #cultural misunderstandings #maccadam #my thoughts #heat #mating behavior

[patty-the-otterette]

Ahhh!!! I'm still trying to process how wonderful UMK was for me.

A year ago the only word in Finnish I knew was "sauna".

This year, in February 2024 I travelled all the way from Poland to Finland to participate in their national preselection for Eurovision.

I loved the acts participating in the competition. Although the act I was waiting for the most wasn't one of this year's contestants. It was Käärijä. Both Ruoska and Cha Cha Cha performances were out of this world. I was so engaged in them, that I was unable to take any photo or video. I was so much here and now. I was shouting, dancing around and singing in Finnish. The language that I cannot speak in and at the same time I'm so fascinated by.

I spent the second half of 2023 getting to know more about Finnish culture, music and people. I made friends with people from all over the world. I got to see how beautiful Finland is, especially during winter. I had a chance to take part in an extremely well prepared, high-quality music tv show.

My world became so much bigger.

And that's all because of one and only Jere from Vantaa.

Thank you Jere. I love you with all my heart. Thank you for gathering such beautiful people around you and your music. People who don't want to be scared of this world anymore.

Kiitos Suomi!!! Kiitos Jere!!!

#käärijä #jere from vantaa #jere pöyhönen #umk #uuden musiikin kilpailu #finnish music

[bengiyo]

Sukiyanen Kedo Do Yara ka Ep 10 (Finale) Stray Thoughts

Last week, the guys tried to figure out what a long-distance relationship might look like for them and it wasn’t great. Soga decided he’d rather leave his job than give up on this relationship, and Sakae felt guilty about Soga giving up on a big goal and an important promise. We left at Sakae ruining the sanctity of the sauna by initiating a breakup with Soga.

No! Don’t mention the sauna in the breakup speech! I’ll cry!

I actually liked the reasons given for this breakup and the execution of the scene. Because they’re in the sauna, they are essentially bare before each other. It’s a cool choice to highlight the emotional honesty.

I chatted with @lurkingshan and @ginnymoonbeam earlier and have to agree that it’s nice to see a show delving into the immediate aftermath of a breakup. Seeing Sakae struggle with work tasks because he’s distracted works well, as does Soga still remembering key details he had plans for Sakae.

I feel like sending a gift to your ex is a well-intentioned bad idea.

I love everything about this video message and gift. I love how awkward and nerdy Soga is. I love everyone heckling him. I love Kanda taking the glass back and declaring it innocent. I loved Sakae’s smitten smirk by the whole video.

Suddenly Mizuki. I still don’t trust this demon twink.

Hold on, Mizuki is giving good advice. Nevermind, I’m back on his side again.

Not the senpai café callback!! I’m okay with this development. I wish Mizuki and Ryuji the best.

I have really enjoyed the friendship between Sakae and Kaname the whole show.

Good job, Kanda. You have been a real one the entire show.

This joke about them both missing each other and going to the other’s city only works because of a robust transportation network. If you want your populace to fall in love, you need a fast and frequent intercity rail network supported by robust local networks.

The neutral ground conversation is kinda weird, but I’ll let it pass as a way to show them trying to find a compromise because they miss each other.

Soga is such an incredible character. “We’re definitely gonna fuck tonight, so let’s clear things up first.”

There it is: the blinding flash of love.

Final Verdict: 7.5, I Like the Characters. I want to like this show a lot more than I do. I think part of it may be that I’m missing some of the cultural competency around the differences between Tokyo and Osaka. I liked that both Sakae and Soga were coming out of important romantic relationships that didn’t work, and how that also complicated some of the cultural baggage they were bringing to their romance. I hoped we would spend more time with them working through that, and also that we’d involve food more consistently. Overall, I’m not sure I followed the romance of this easily despite really liking the entire cast and some of its ideas. Much of this is probably on me, because I was perhaps looking for something else in the show, which wanted to be about how change was still possible for adults.

#Ben watches #sukiyanen kedo do yaro ka #although i love you and you #japanese bl #bl series

[whorety-k]

Ebony Coasts [Part 4]

Pairing: Merfolk!Corvus Corax x fem!Marine Conservationist!Reader (second person POV)

Song recommendation: Love Will Tear Us Apart - Joy Division “Is my timing that flawed? / Our respect runs so dry /Yet there’s still this appeal / That we’ve kept through our lives / But love, love will tear us apart again.”

Warnings: Ocean mentions / potential thalassophobia, culture shock and misunderstanding between species, suggestive actions, angst, minor blood / injury (a cut), unresolved conflict

Word Count: 2.3k

[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3]

Nothing could stop you from returning to the beach each day after having a lap full of purring merman. As time went on, more often than not there would be a sly raven figure meeting you at the water’s edge to engage in whatever natural conversation crossed your minds at the time. 

It’s your weekend. You return to the beach wearing the black halter-top swimsuit, hoping that perhaps today you’ll be able to actually try to swim with your new friend. He, however, seems to have other plans.

“How does the device work?” Corvus asks.

You look around the beach, not certain what the merman is talking about. “What device?”

Corvus moves beside you in the hot sand, completely silent as he hauls himself forward on his hands. His tail is slithering behind him, kind of, to support the action. “The one you left. Silver and red. I have seen many similar things before, but I have never seen one that moved,” he replies, tilting his head softly. 

His explanation jogs your memory: you had already forgotten about the compass that you had left at Corvus’s cave the previous week. You had multiple in your pack because no one ever seemed to have theirs the moment they were needed in your line of work, so leaving one behind wasn’t any trouble for you. “The compass? It’s used to find out what direction you’re facing.”

The perplexed look the giant gives you is nothing short of adorable incredibly amusing, eyes partially squinted and ear fins pinned back against his head. Corvus’s abyssal eyes look you up and down. “Are humans incapable of using the sky and familiar structures to determine their location?”

“Some of us can– but what if we’re at sea, or if there are clouds?” you rebut, playfully stopping in front of him and rounding his front. You stand directly in his path. 

Corvus reflects over the scenario while staring deep into your soul. The thought that humans need so many tools when it comes to any sort of sea travel crosses his mind several times as he realizes just how lost a human would be if they were dropped in the middle of the ocean. It kicks up a protective instinct within his hearts. Corvus lowers himself down to your level, placing a cold hand on your shoulder. “The more I learn about humanity, the more I understand how woefully inept your kind can be at the basics of survival,” he says. His tone of voice is reassuring, an attempt at expressing something you can’t place. 

Still, you scoff at his words, placing your hands on your hips. The merman’s eyes flicker down when the action causes the chiffon frills to bounce. “Try putting yourself in my shoes for a day, and we’ll see which one of us is woefully inept.”

A hum leaves the giant, and he nods his head, “I suppose we are built for different environments.” The grace of a soft smile finds his lips, and Corvus’s face softens. His hand on your shoulder slides to your neck, then moves to cup your cheek. The honeyed baritone that leaves his lips is intoxicating, “I am grateful that you are the human that fate has granted me, for you do well to keep me humble.”

Your eyes slowly look from the hand on your cheek to Corvus’s eyes, bewildered. With how he’s been treating you, you must feel like a sauna against his frigid skin. The afternoon sun has nothing on your burning flesh.

Corvus pats you and moves around your frozen body, elegantly striding past you. You catch back up with him and see his den come into view, realizing that’s where he must be taking you. He holds up the vines covering the entrance, allowing you to enter first before following behind. 

From the last time you entered Corvus’s den there have been some serious renovations, the merman explaining each one as you pass by. Along the bedrock walls, in intervals, bioluminescent algae and mushrooms that you have never seen before illuminate the previously pitch-black halls. 

“I didn’t wish for you to flounder in the dark as you did before.”

The stone floors, which had been previously completely waterlogged, are nearly completely dry outside of a little saltwater stream that leads deeper into the cavern.

“Having you perish from the cold due to being wet is not in my best interest.”

When you reach the first open room, there is a large central table of stone with a (somewhat shoddy) driftwood chair. It is definitely not Corvus’s size.

“My family is not the greatest at hospitality, but I thought it rude if I did not try to accommodate you having… legs.”

The den may not be heavily decorated, but you get the feeling that more will be done. Corvus continues into a deeper room, but when you try to follow, he hesitates. He looks over his shoulder at you with furrowed brows, then continues up the slight incline anyway. 

The end of this final tunnel is a curtain of dried kelp that opens into a small bed space. At least, you think it’s a bed space, given the glowing algae alights a nest of grasses, furs, and feathers against the wall. The walls are heavily decorated with objects like stones, jewelry, any shape of shining metal, black feathers, bones, skulls, and some artifacts you can’t identify. You recognize your compass and former moonstone necklace just above the ‘bed’. Corvus swells with pride as you look over his collection, trying to appear modest by looking everywhere but at you. 

This room is the warmest by far, and you suppose that’s intentional. “I do not always rest at sea,” is Corvus’s only comment on this room.

You’re led back into the first room with the table and invited to sit. You do, of course, trying to be a kind house guest amidst the constant worry of accidentally learning another new merfolk tradition the hard way. 

Despite being in his own space, the ebony giant is visibly bashful when he curls at the table beside you. Beside is a strong word, really, considering that Corvus is long enough to wrap around the small stone structure completely. One of his fins covers your exposed legs delicately where his tail rests alongside you. The vast size difference between the two of you is made palpable; to any outside observer, he’s a dragon protecting his treasure. 

“You seem to be keeping yourself busy when I’m not here to bug you,” you taunt, gesturing at the space around you. 

Corvus props himself upon the table beside you, arms folded beneath his chest. The rippling muscles of his arms relax. Filled with amusement, he quips, “Do you presume my life stops in your absence?”

The retort jars you. “I’m not that shallow,” you huff, instead of what’s actually on your mind. As of recent, your life has begun to feel utterly barren when the reserved merfolk isn’t around. Days that used to fly by before now crawl at a snail’s pace while waiting to go to the coastline. It’s odd to think that Corvus likely doesn’t feel the same. 

“Sometimes it is beneficial to have a location away from home to be,” he notes, all but reading your mind. Corvus places a hand at your back tenderly, deftly pulling you closer. You think you can feel a soft rumble against you, but as soon as you register it, it’s gone. A figment of your imagination.

You look up at the merman, eyes soft. Sensing your gaze, Corvus meets it. Despite the stony decorum, you swear you feel his cool body relax against you. The protective curl he has you in tightens around you like a gentle hug. 

Two distinct heartbeats accelerate as Corvus admires you, even as time seems to slow down. Unconsciously, you run a hand along his side, fingers tracing the jet gill covers of his left side. 

Corvus shudders.

You reach up to do it again, testing the waters, but a large hand stops you.

Corvus’s eyes are still closed when he speaks, “Those are incredibly sensitive. I’ll allow you to explore them another time.” 

You apologize, realizing that you had gotten caught up in the moment, but when you even think to move away, Corvus stops you with a hand on your cheek. 

You can barely identify it in the black abyss of his eyes, but a glint of blue from the bioluminescent glow around you allows you to see just how blown out his pupils are. One of your hands moves to rest on top of Corvus’s, and he becomes transfixed on the sensation of you against him. 

Ba-dump. Ba-dump.

You lean into his palm. He leans towards you.

Ba-dump. Ba-dump. 

Your free hand reaches for his face. It’s cold against your palm.

Ba-dump. Ba-dump. 

Everything in the world clicks into place when your foreheads touch, sharing a breath. Time stands still as your eyes begin to flutter shut, leaning forward to close the distance.

Ba-dump. Ba-dump—

The merman suddenly goes rigid, pupils snapping into slits. Doubt and hesitance bleed into every part of his long body. “...I have something important to attend to,” he mutters, abruptly pulling away from your hands. You’re in a daze when he sloppily uncurls his body from around you and moves away.

The swiftness of his withdrawal brings you to the present and causes you to reach out for him, catching one of his clawed fingers in your hand. “Wait, Corvus, please–” you beg. 

Corvus shakes his head, looking away from you with a troubled expression as he aggressively runs a free hand through his hair. He yanks his hand from yours roughly, voice raising, “I must return to my brothers, I–”

You yelp in pain as fire suddenly sears across your fist, the instant ache of something tearing forcing you to pull away. Blood drips from your hand, splattering onto the rock below, and you look down to see an angry laceration spanning the width of your palm.

There’s a tense moment of silence where neither of you move, Corvus unable to tear his gaze away from the tear in your skin as you both take in the situation. Your hand begins to tremble as the adrenaline sets in, the pain slowly dulling as you try with ferocity to prevent shock from setting in. 

You look up at the onyx giant, and it’s the clearest you’ve ever seen him express any emotion.

Corvus is statue-still with a pallor paler than his alabaster skin already is. His posture is ramrod straight and arched away from you, an arm crossed over his chest defensively. His mouth hangs half open in a silent gasp contorted with dread, and his ear fins droop so low that they blend into his raven locks. One of his ebony talons is a damning crimson, and when he sees it, all hell breaks loose.

“Throne, I’m so sorry. I–” Corvus’s words catch in his throat. The mer reaches out towards you, only to flinch like a man shot when he sees his claws near your delicate skin again. He retreats his hands close to his chest, fists white-knuckled and trembling. His eyes clench shut as shame boils within him, and the trepid merman winces. You hear a shuddering breath leave him before he turns away hastily, head bowed low. 

You hastily try to call out to him. “Corvus?” you try, stepping toward him.

The movement shakes him from his trance, and his face crumbles with deep-set guilt. “Forgive me,” he whispers, pulling himself rapidly towards the mouth of the cavern. For a creature designed for the water, he moves with terrifying agility over the rocks and out of the cave.

You try to catch up to him– you really, really do– but the merman doesn’t hear any of your pleas as he flees to the waterline. Your feet couldn’t hope to match his speed against the wet terrain. You fumble, sticking into the muck, legs swallowed up to the ankle in earth the texture of quicksand. The last glance of Corvus you get sees him gliding into the surf gracefully, disappearing into the tides as you trip, clawing your way forward in anguish.

You finally find your footing in the dry sand and rush for the waves. You stop at the water’s edge, staring out over the water. There’s no hope of trying to catch up with him in his natural environment, and you know that getting yourself stuck in a dangerous situation would only serve to upset him further. The air in your lungs begins to burn as your throat constricts, the horrible aftermath of the chase making your limbs heavy. You feel yourself choking up, sobs building in your chest for reasons you couldn’t even hope to explain. 

Your eyes scan the water for any trace of the midnight giant desperately, but there’s no trace of him amongst the sea foam. Defeated, you sink to your knees in the waves, clutching your injured hand close to your chest for comfort. 

With a start, you look down when you feel it brush against something around your neck. Between your collarbones, tinted crimson, is a corvid skull pendant. It’s nearly an inch long, black diamonds delicately set within the pendant’s silver eye sockets. The jewelry is so distinctly Corvus that it makes your heart seize.

Looking once more over the water, you grip the necklace tightly in your bloodied fist, willing the tears not to fall as you stand and return to your car. 

You’ll worry about it after the hospital.

___________________________________ I'm not sorry <3

This one is for you, necklace anon :) [Part 5]

#primarch x reader #warhammer fanfic #warhammer 40k #warhammer 40000 #warhammer 30k #horus heresy #warhammer 40k x reader #wh 40k #corvus corax x reader #corvus corax #mermay #primarch #raven lady writings

[wifetomegatron]

countries and cities i've been to that i think the lost light crew will enjoy (vol. i)

i think ratchet would like switzerland. snowy alps, open green fields where purple and yellow poppies littered across the grass dance with the northern wind. he enjoys the secluded valleys and will spend hours just driving past the topaz lakes. he likes the quiet of it all, the serenity, the closure. he makes drift join him in their holoforms to walk, taking in the traditional log houses and brightly-colored buildings, shops, and restaurants surrounded by lush woodlands, upland meadows, and snow-capped cliffs. grindelwald because drift is fascinated by humans and their winter sports, ascona for when it gets warmer and the boats are out by the docks. in a first contact au, ratchet would most likely end up working in either zurich or geneva, working closely with earth's international bodies like the united nations to facilitate human-cybertronian relations. i can also see the medic crew stationed there as well; running the first cybertronian medical facility on earth.

drift, predictably, would prefer japan more. osaka and tokyo for its entertainment, where he and rodimus would spend hours exploring the nightlife in their disguises. at times, they would even go as their alt-modes. rodimus gets ahead of himself with all the attention he's getting. he'd travel through many prefectures, driving past the borders to clear his head — perks of having a conjunx that works closely with human organizations is that he gets exempted from all the paperwork — but always end up somewhere private, tranquil. the shrines, the forests, the mountains — he would even be bold enough to dream of settling down there. one time ratchet flew in to visit him at a resort by the foot of mount fuji, and his husband was neck-deep inside the natural saunas. content and purring, sinking into recharge against the stones.

i have a feeling brainstorm and skids would stir up trouble somewhere in the netherlands. most likely in the infamous lecture halls of leiden university, where great minds like descartes and rembrandt once walked in. they'd hate the weather, where the sun becomes optional the moment it hits autumn (even before, apparently.) the roads are small, so they'd have difficulty navigating at first, nearly driving into a canal because of how fast people bike. direct, with just the right amount of witty, the pair are glad to enjoy the company of dutchies without having to rely on their (human) food because nothing that they've seen looks appealing or digestible. getaway is also there, most likely in amsterdam, where his holoform is most likely to get cornered in an alley and have his bike stolen.

nautica would love the sea, the vast, great open oceans of southeast asia would be the perfect place for her. ever the adventurer, she would drag riptide and velocity with her to explore the islands of the philippines & indonesia. where she'd learn how to dive and swim with the animals past the coral reefs. sweet girl nearly cried when she saw a group of whale sharks. anode and lug are content sitting by the beach, sipping on their latest invention — coconut-infused energon. bali is where i imagine the girls ( and riptide ) would go for a nice getaway. the people are all smiles, warm and friendly, and passionate about their culture. even if the two are more inclined towards the sciences, the flourishing art and spirituality of the balinese people made them feel at home again. ( if not nostalgic for caminus.)

i know rodimus is living his life in spain. maybe it won't be his designated home on earth. but with the lost light stationed in geneva, where ratchet, minimus, and megatron are with the rest of the united nations council ( because there is no way they can park the ship anywhere in the new york branch ), barcelona was his first solo trip on earth without straying too far from his co-captain's watchful eye. it was the peak of summer and there he was under the sun. the people were only initially surprised, but then again, they'd probably seen weirder things than a sixty-foot-tall robot asking them if he could join their game of volley by the beach. he bumps into krok and his rag-tag team — who's also trying to get away from minimus — so that's how he and misfire end up nearly drowning after a competitive game of water tag.

#i hope these are accurate let me know if i should fix something ! #dutchies i'm speaking from the heart when it comes to the food i cannot anymore live off bitterballen & haaring #nee bedankt #transformers #maccadams #drift #misfire #nautica #mtmte #skids #idw mtmte #mtmte x reader #mtmte imagine #lost light #idw transformers #transformers lost light #tf headcanons #tf imagines #tf idw #transformers headcanons #transformers hc #tf hc #lost light x reader #lost light au #getaway #brainstorm #imagine #transformers imagine

[nordickies]

Could we have a little more Estonia and Finland? I just love the way you draw them ^v^

Finland and Estonia's relationship is something so special, and any interaction they have makes me full of joy. But maybe it's one of those things only Finns and Estonians understand - these two connect so much more with each other than they do with the rest of the Nordics or Baltics

Some of my random views on their relationship are under the cut

Finland and Estonia have known each other for as long as they can remember. These two cultures have always interacted and traded; after all, they only have 80 km (~50 miles) of sea between them. And I am not opposed to the idea that they're actually related! They have a lifelong bond and have been with each other through some of their worst moments. Sometimes Finland and Estonia feel like only they truly understand one another, and everyone else is an outsider in their world. There is a lot of love, validation, and support between them!

Estonia should be older than Finland, and he has a lot more life experience than him. In their youth, Estonia was the protective one with great skills, who didn't fear other nations around them, while Finland was too young to understand what was happening. I would argue Estonia can be even more intimidating than Finland if he really wanted to be. Even Sweden didn't dare to mess with him (at first). Estonia was a wild one back in the day, never letting go without putting up a fight, but since then, he has become more calculative. Simply put, Estonia is the brain, while Finland is the brawn. You can see it in the way they approach things, too; Estonia is more knowledgeable but careful due to his experiences, making sure to plan things way up ahead and taking a long time to trust others. Meanwhile, Finland is more trusting and stays neutral in many matters. Because of his people-pleasing personality, Fin just doesn't want to be enemies with anyone. Estonia, however, finds it impossible to sustain. These two have been under the same rule twice, but their experiences have been very different

Finland values their relationship highly and spends a lot of time with Estonia, though Estonia sometimes sees Finland as a little too dependent on him. Finland can be tiresome at times and doesn't always understand Estonia's worries, but Estonia knows Finland loves him deeply and would do anything for Estonia, even against orders. There have been times when their leaders haven't approved of their cooperation, yet they have always found sneaky ways to support each other

They're poets, just like the rest of the Baltic Finnic people, and music plays a huge part in their life, especially for Estonia. Estonia has an amazing singing voice and produces music in his free time, but Finland is more skilled with lyrical writing and instruments. Their "alien" status among other Europeans and dying roots have driven them to cooperate more together to preserve their heritage and traditions

They share similar lifestyles and common interests, to the point that they can almost read each other's minds. They both have a great sense of humor and a lot of insider jokes. Estonia and Finland are both silly and curious, constantly getting stupid ideas they just have to try out. Estonia is very clever and a bit of an inventor. These guys have come up with the wildest usages for old vehicles and electric scooters. Speaking of cars, these two are crazy (but skilled) drivers. Both countries are known for their cold-nerved WRC champions, so it's a hobby that they share. They're daredevils who want to go fast on rural forest roads or frozen lakes. To them, it's a ton of fun - for others, it's a nightmare. Estonia and Finland can turn anything into a challenge, like throwing various items, seeing who can stay in the sauna for the longest, or competing about wife-carrying. They have a lot of competitiveness but in a healthy way. Fin and Eesti are happy to compliment and cheer each other on. All they wanna do is have fun! (While Norway and Sweden will argue and diss one another mercilessly over the smallest of wins)

They're both party-loving people who have get-togethers all the time, usually involving alcohol and sauna. When they're intoxicated, they can begin to understand one another, which is freaky. When they hang out together, they speak a weird mixture of each other's languages, switching between Finnish and Estonian and, in some cases mixing some other language in there too. And no one else has any idea what is going on. Finland especially finds Estonia's language hilarious, and they get into some awkward misunderstandings from time to time

THEY'RE INSEPARABLE BEST FRIENDS, END OF DISCUSSION. THE IDEAL AND PURE MASCULINE FRIENDSHIP! Plus, FinEst literally says "finest"! If you ship them, all my love to you <3 But in my opinion, Estonia deserves someone less draining than Finland, hah. And male friendships can be so pure, and I want to see more of them!!

#hws finland #hws estonia #my art #headcanons

[just-antithings]

I come from a culture that's pretty chill about nudity in some contexts. Saunas are a pretty big thing here, most apartment buildings have communal ones you can reserve, sometimes with certain times where everyone who lives in the building is free to use them, public swimming halls have them by default, although, okay, those are generally split by gender, summer camps have them, if your family has a summer cottage you'll probably have a sauna there, a lot of over-the-weekend events will have the option as well. Like, saunas are everywhere, going to them, including with people you don't know well, including potentially with people of genders other than your own, and people of all ages, is a pretty neutral thing to do.

And you don't, as a rule, wear a swimming suit or anything to sauna, you go in naked. I've been naked around strangers, I've been naked around family members, around summer camp counselors (and other kids at the camp), and so on and so forth. So like generally speaking, while i have some body image issues, I'm pretty chill about the thought of both other people seeing me naked, and me seeing other people naked, and nudity is not something I really automatically think of in a sexual way, like, people can bathe/go to sauna/otherwise wash themselves around each other and why should that be sexual?

And sometimes I find it extremely funny how many antis would probably find it sooooo wrong and disturbing, because frankly in my experience antis tend to view the world from a very, well, usamerican kinda perspective. Wonder how many death threats I'd get if I casually wrote a scene in some fic where some characters go to sauna and there happens to be children also there? Like, nothing weird happening, characters just talking about something plot-relevant, but they just happen to be in sauna, naked, relaxing in the warmth, and there's also other background characters there, some of whom happen to be kids. I'm almost tempted to try, just to see how quickly I'd get people hunting me for sport for it, but, meh. I mean maybe if I end up writing a fic where a scene like that will come naturally, which i might, i have some Aragorn & the rangers of the north fic concepts where it might end up happening if i ever write them...

.

#mod erin #ask #posted without comment #death threat mention

[queer-coded-camaro-driver]

Not to hurt anyone’s feelings tonight but I think the Mindflayer targeted Billy specifically because he had no support system in Hawkins. 

The Upside Down goes after Will Byers twice. His friends are there to save him both times without fail. Will has a caring, determined mother who won’t give up until she finds him. He has an older brother who’s invested in his growth and supports his interests. Will has an entire group of like-minded, tight-knit pals who refuse to accept his loss twice in a row. They fight tooth and nail to keep him away from the Mindflayer’s control and they WIN both times!

By the second possession the whole squad knows about the Upside Down. They know “he likes it cold”, they know strong emotions can help bring the victim back into control, and they know how to take out Demodogs.

But Billy Hargrove? He doesn’t have anyone.

His Mom is gone, his Dad is a piece of shit, and his stepsister can’t see past the vitriol and frustration to notice that he’s the same as her - hurting and afraid. He’s brand new to the town and the Midwest (which has a very different culture than the West Coast lemme tell you). His friends only stick around because he’s top dog at school and his fangirls think he’s hot but aren’t invested in him personally.

(If I get into the queer-coding aspect this will become a ten page paper. I’m saving that for later.)

As a psychic monster, the Mindflayer likely understands that the kids are afraid of him after the fight with Steve. It knows that there’s no way they’ll try and save Billy the way they saved Will... and the Mindflayer is right. As soon as the Party figures out that Billy has been possessed, they immediately start planning how to defeat him. 

Even after the sauna test, when they know Billy isn’t totally in control of his actions (because Will only feels the Mindflayer’s presence after Billy apologizes and begs Max to help him) they rally for violence. That’s all he knows from every side, violence, and nobody is there to say how loved he is or how important he is. He doesn’t have a Mike or a Joyce or a Jonathan. 

The Mindflayer knew that Billy Hargrove had no one to save him, and that’s why he was chosen.

#billy hargrove #english degree things #stranger things #stranger things academia #stranger things theories #stranger theories #billy hargrove character analysis #dacre montgomery really understood the assignment #dacre montgomery #stranger things s3 #the mindflayer #stranger things mindflayer

[cuprohastes]

Lunch In Space (Part 4)

There is an old Human tradition. We keep it alive to this day. When things are Very Bad(tm), for example, your shuttle is about to perform a high-velocity Lithobraking Manouver, you invoke the Ancient Words of the Ancestors. Usually "Oh, sh*t".

I, as I'm sure you're now aware, am culturally sensitive, and cultured, so when chunks of Oscar started becoming Free Range and my life support lit up red, and Oscar's little Atrix-face started doing some very worried little colour combos, I took solace in this hallowed and time-honoured tradition and went with "Ru-ROH".

Now you may be thinking, gee, having your life support blow out while flying around the backside of a planet while everyone is too busy to come to pick you up is bad.

I mean, sure. It literally is.

But what doesn't kill you instantly gives you the opportunity for a really slow, horrible death so you can appreciate it so much more.

I took the life support unit off.

Counter-intuitive, but there you go. I jsut clipped one of my lanyards to the bottom attach point and released all the clips.

All the connectors that move all my various essential fluids and gasses are on failsafe connectors. They close automatically because it'd be super dumb if they didn't.

So now I'm just using passive insulation and things are going to get very hot very soon.

I turned the Life Support unit over and found a... Space Squid. 

I mean that's what it looked like. This conical, bullet-shaped shell,  with tiny little thruster vents, and then on the bottom of the cone, a bunch of little tentacles, sensor windows and what looks like miniature tools.

At first, all I saw was the shell so I grabbed it and yanked it out. I screamed jsut the tiniest amount when it wiggled its tentacles at me, but then it folded up and glared at me, and tried to puff away. 

My mighty human fingers of course were more than a match for this.

My mighty human Brain took a few more seconds to catch up because Oscar wasn't loaded with enough coffee for peak human cognition and I did a comical flail and found two more of the little suckers trying to eat through Oscar's skin.

"I Yeet Thee!" I told them and yanked them off and threw them in the direction of away.

The first little guy was with me but still sulking. I think it was out of gas, to be honest.

So that leaves me inside Oscar, who's rapidly becoming a sauna.

Luckily, I am just covered in tools, patches, and other Fix-things stuff so I started checking the life support pack.

Not good. Squiddy had already chewed some quite important stuff - the valves all closed, but now there's no way to re-circulate a lot of the air supply.

A bit about life support. It's not just a couple of bottles of air mix.

There are coolants, thruster gasses that you just top up while you work, water, which is circulated through Oscar's inner lining, the uh, Yellow and Brown lines, and then the Scrubber which is kind of a back-up and also means you can go longer without an umbilical, or without large air tanks. It also prevents the inside of Oscar from filling up with condensation.

So anyway, the thruster tank and the air tank were basically there but unusable.

Two of four of the batteries were cracked. They got isolated by the technical process of just pulling them out. They're not supposed to be dangerous, but why take the risk?

Oscar was a nice toasty 40ºc by the time I got the life support back on and I almost cried when the cooling started to pull out all that heat.

And then I almost sobbed because Oscar told me I had three and a half hours until station rendezvous and approximately two hours and twenty minutes of life support.

So I shut almost everything down. Inspection lights, most of the computing, interior displays, and after one last use, the uh waste processing.

That got me an extra 40 minutes of power. What else?

Well duh.

My power tools have bi-directional charging. I plugged them into my utility ports and hey OK, now I was only 5 minutes shy. OK.

So what else?

The Scrubber - It's running out of... scrub-ability.

There's a thing you can do that you should never, ever do, because it's suicidally stupid and bad. Honestly, I've always wanted to try it.

I turned the temp down past freezing and told the auto-doc to go to Oetzie mode. 

Now, this isn't an official process. It's one of the macros I've developed in bored moments - I submitted it to a couple of trade journals, both of whom told me I was a dangerous lunatic.

So I asked the Most Dangerous Human.

Miranda is a mutant. She burns 4000Kcal a day sitting still. Her IQ is supposedly about double or more than a normal Genius. She hates her life. Literally everyone in her species is kind of sad and bumbling and unable to grasp concepts she finds simple.

She lacks intellectual stimulation, and just craves novelty or anything that might make her feel for a moment, that she can be part of normal life.

When I met her she was running a comic book store. 

She's considered the most dangerous living human because nobody can figure out if she's going to take a nap, then re-write the rules of linguistics, develop an AI that will take over the Human race or stub her toes and decide to eradicate all living things in a Light Millenium.

As someone who's spent an afternoon shovelling food into her and listening to her do the most hilarious routine on why Comic Books should be weaponised, I can tell you that she has no more ill will toward anyone who doesn't write Justice Interplanetary than the common dog owner has for their pupper.

But Stever Aronnomis and Gixy Lurraine? Your days are numbered. Especially after Issue 17.

Anyway, Mir-Mir took about eight hours and re-wrote the Oetzie protocol, and got published in about 19 interdisciplinary publications. She was nice enough to credit me with the original work, and that got me a job and a weekly visit from the People In Black to check that I'm not also a supervillain or plotting to steal people's essential fluids to make Tsin sports drinks.

Anyway.

Oetzie mode gives you near-fatal hypothermia. It's not quite suspended animation but it's close as you can get while maintaining a really good chance of waking back up.

All I had to do was program a really simple little macro that would ping for immediate assistance and flag the file with re-animation instructions.

Already I was getting chilled. My teeth were chattering and I was trying to relax and jsut lket it happen. My littel budd the spac squid was stuill floting her. gabe it one o th deb bat  klklklkkkkkkkkkk

Ow.

Seriously. I was feeling very disoriented. Everything was too bright and I felt very woozy and my jaw ached, but apart from that, the pins and needles, the way all my clothes felt like broken glass and the uncontrollable shivering, I felt surprisingly not dead.

Also not in Oscar.

I was having trouble focusing my eyes, but hearing I could manage.

Two Tsin were discussing eating me.

Voice One: "Well he's dead. I say we just ask. You know Humans - it's either 'no, you can't because we have a whole bunch of traditions and sacred laws that cannot be broken' or 'haha yeah that's what they'd want' and then they ask you if you want some sauce."

Voice Two: "Yeah but... what if the othre humans get upset that we asked? What if they think we killed this one to get the meat?"

Voice one: "They were in an un-powered EVA suit with no air, and the life support running colder than the Caffeteria Freezer. I don't care what stupid plan they had, not even a Human can survive that."

This is it. The moment that I have been living for all these years. You always hope one day you get the chance, and now finally it's my time to shine!

I sat up and said "Do you two mind? I'm trying to get some sleep."

Their horrified screams were like a warm bath. Ahhhh!

#humans are space orcs #Lunch In space #Part 4 #atrix #Tsin #humans being weird little guys

[blessedpictures]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Alan Wake (Video Games), Alan Wake 2 (Video Games) Rating: Explicit Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Alan Wake/Ahti Characters: Alan Wake, Ahti (Control), Thomas Zane (mentions of both kinds) Additional Tags: Anal Fingering, Fingerfucking, Frottage, Hand Jobs, Healing, Bathing/Washing, Sauna, Couch Sex, Past Lives, Past Relationship(s), Singing Summary: Alan Wake 2 spoilers, through Final Draft, though you may not notice them if you haven't played it. Ahti shows Wake mercy.

Notes: So I was on tumblr and found a guide very helpfully made by Autumn and Van exhaustively listing and explaining all of Ahti's dialogue from Alan Wake 2, to show what Ahti's on about. I thought, hey, I've never tried Ahti before. Maybe I should. Had a fun idea, started writing, posted about it on Tumblr, and Autumn got in touch with me and told me to contact Van. Van was exceedingly helpful and damnably patient with every stupid question I asked them, even going so far as to exhaustively edit, offer separate options and explain Finnish objects and culture for me.

I can't overstate how much work Van put into this story, so I've listed them as a co-creator here. They've specifically requested that "any comments about the translation choices can be directed at me, I definitely made some Choices(tm) with the material I gave you", because I do not speak Finnish and the first few drafts made that abundantly clear, we can both assure anyone who's curious.

Because of Van's (and Autumn's) work and care, this is absolutely written for their tastes first, but I hope everyone else enjoys it too. I became very fond of this while we worked on it. It made me cry a few times, it's got some amazing imagery, I'm very proud. Just know: without Van and Autumn, this fic absolutely would not exist, so please show them both some love.

#alan wake 2 #aw2 spoilers #alan wake #control #ao3 #fanfic #ahti the janitor #alan wake/ahti #honestlyvan #+ the writer #+ our stuff

[anonymoushouseplantfan]

Plant, have you read Jia Tolentino’s Trick Mirror? She nails it. Read this part and think of Meghan Markle. This is everything!

The two biggest families in politics and culture today—the Trumps and the Kardashians—have risen to the top of the food chain because of their keen understanding of how little substance is required to package the self as an endlessly monetizable asset. In fact, substance may actually be anathema to the game. And with that, the applause roars, the iPhone cameras start snapping, and the keynote speaker at the women’s empowerment conference comes onstage.

Sophia Amouroso’s brand of “Girlboss Feminism,” and Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In brought in an era of CEO capitalism as a type of feminism.] #GIRLBOSS is an extended exercise in motivational personal branding … [the memoir implies that] becoming successful is a feminist project. The basic idea here is that, for women, photogenic personal confidence is the key to unlocking the riches of the world. The Girlboss Rallies [pay to attend conferences] are supposed to work the same way: you pay to network, to photograph yourself against millennial-pink and neon backdrops, to take the first step toward becoming the sort of person who would be invited to speak onstage. This is meant to scan as a deeply feminist endeavor, and it generally does, at least to its participants, who have been bombarded for many years with the spurious, embarrassing, and limitlessly seductive sales pitch that feminism means, first and foremost, the public demonstration of getting yours.

A politics built around getting and spending money is sexier than a politics built around politics. And so, at a time of unprecedented freedom and power for women, at a time when we were more poised than ever to understand our lives politically, we got, instead of expanded reproductive protections and equal pay and federally mandated family leave and subsidized childcare and a higher minimum wage, the sort of self-congratulatory empowerment feminism that corporations can get behind, the kind that comes with merchandise—mugs that said “Male Tears,” T-shirts that said “Feminist as Fuck.” (In 2017, Dior sold a “We Should All Be Feminists” shirt for $710.) We got conferences, endless conferences—a Forbes women’s conference, a Tina Brown women’s conference, a Cosmopolitan Fun Fearless Females conference. We got Arianna Huffington’s Thrive Global, which aims to end the “stress and burnout epidemic” through selling corporate webinars and a $65 velvet-lined charging station that helps you keep your smartphone away from your bed. We got the full-on charlatan Miki Agrawal, who was regularly given media tongue-baths on the subject of Thinx, her line of period panties, until it was revealed that Agrawal, who proudly called herself a “She-E-O,” was abusive to her employees and didn’t know much or care about feminism at all. We got, instead of the structural supports and safety nets that would actually make women feel better on a systematic basis, a bottomless cornucopia of privatized nonsolutions: face serums, infrared saunas, wellness gurus like Gwyneth Paltrow, who famously suggested putting stone eggs in one’s vagina, or Amanda Chantal Bacon, whose company Moon Juice sells 1.5-ounce jars of “Brain Dust” for $38. On the wings of market-friendly feminism, the idea that personal advancement is a subversive form of political progress has been accepted as gospel. The trickiest thing about this idea is that it is incomplete and insufficient without being entirely wrong. The feminist scammer rarely sets out to scam anyone, and would argue, certainly, that she does belong in this category. She just wants to be successful, to gain the agency that men claim so easily, to have the sort of life she wants. She should be able to have that, shouldn’t she? The problem is that a feminism that prioritizes the individual will always, at its core, be at odds with a feminism that prioritizes the collective. The problem is that it is so easy today for a woman to seize upon an ideology she believes in and then exploit it, or deploy it in a way that actually runs counter to that ideology. That is in fact exactly what today’s ecosystem of success encourages a woman to do.

Heading out, but posting this so I don’t lose it.

[bengiyo]

Sukiyanen Kedo Do Yara ka Ep 3 Stray Thoughts

Last week, Sakae tried to work on his friendship with Soga, and we got to see Soga struggle with the phrase "Do Yara ka." Soga eventually got himself into a bind and relented to accept Sakae's help with learning how to make takoyaki after remembering that his ex wife's last wish for him was to be more accepting of help from others.

Yes, remind me that Sakae is a fitness gay every episode. I wanna see him around a bunch of other homo jocks.

Oh ho! They're going on a date!

Episode 3: Different hobbies. What to do?

Now why is Sakae dressed like this??

Hahaha Soga took them to an art class! This nerd is having so much fun and Sakae is just confused.

This is why I've wanted more adult stories in BL. Dating is difficult when you're an adult. We've sorted into our cultural tribes and it can be hard if you can't share hobbies.

Excellent smash cut to them making al ajillo with the takoyaki maker and Sakae trying not to lose it.

Ah right, Kazuyo was going to shoot her shot at Sakae.

Oh, does Kaname like her? I'm okay with this development!

I like that Kaname called Sakae out on his people pleasing tendencies.

I really hope all these other guys in the sauna are invested in Sakae's romantic drama.

Now I'm thinking about Julian and Miles playing squash in DS9.

I love that Soga realized he may have been a bit selfish with Sakae's time and immediately tried to rectify it.

This was a beautiful moment. Soga is so earnest, and Sakae received it kindly. Soga wanted to share in a hobby with Sakae, and so Sakae taught him some basics.

Oh no, Sakae. Don't confuse this woman! You are GAY!

Cannot believe they ended on Soga's ex wife calling and Kazuyo confessing. We know Sakae is gay and earnest. He's gonna let her down.

I love this little show. Decent folks trying their best for each other will always get me. I needed this show today.

#Ben watches #sukiyanen kedo do yaro ka #although i love you and you #japanese bl #bl series

[windandwater]

globalization should be like. you take everything good from every culture and you can get it anywhere. every convenience store has Japan-level konbini and you have a Finnish style dish drying cabinet over your sink and you can go to a Finnish sauna or Korea spa and you can get a Norwegian bed anywhere and everywhere has efficient and easy to use public transportation. and you can get really cool art & food from all over the world from really cool artists & chefs.

but it's not like that. instead every mall in every country had a L'Occitane, a Dolce & Gabbana, and a Starbucks. and I just. I know why & where we went wrong. you don't have to tell me. but every time I travel I can see the world we should have. and I hate it here in the real world so much.

#adventures in text posts #travel #japan 2024