[ChicletPrime]

i am having heart palpitations. this is going to take a bit and i'm already running out of time tonight.  the highlights OUTSIDE of the kindled scenes:

-- woah. just. phwoar. as best i can tell, this is after Lucid Dream but before Painful Signal? Caleb is the Colonel but she doesn't know about his arm. 
-- every four seconds, he's staking some SERIOUS claim. personal boundaries, never heard of him.
-- every six seconds, she's not even pretending she's not letting him take all the inch-miles he wants.

some of the best lines in the main part:

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And last, but certainly not least -- i present the single frame that made me nearly flail back in my chair and then shove forward to watch it again: the instant flip from lover to destroyer and back again. ye gods. /chef's kiss. what the sweet hell was that.

[Coldsaturn]

THIS IS THE MOMENT THIS IS THE MOMENT!!!!
Absolutely feral about it. As the rest of the internet the moment people saw it. I've seen fans pull illusio on this single frame with all possible outfit combos, and they're all absolutely peak. Possibly the hottest he's ever looked, and this is the competition in the same kindled mind you (credit)



As for the timeline, yes I'm confused as well. I kinda think they're already post-romance established here, but clearly I misread his bday because it seemed to imply that they fucked there but clearly they didn't. Maybe they just spent the night kissing like two teenagers. If you remember, the summer card was also confusing because they were still flirting in a "should we should we not?" way that didn't make sense for a couple that has already crossed that line. And the camping trip with MC's colleagues was more of the same vibe, where Caleb's flirting still seems to revolve around heavily making out.

So in my head they confessed their feelings, are clearly romantically committed to each other (but their exclusivity is a little different from what you'd expect from others because they've always prioritized each other and have always been exclusive to each other, so nothing has changed on that front), but the lines were always so damn blurred between them that now it's difficult to see what is now allowed or proper to do. And MC's feelings are also still pretty recently realized, which gives us these sweet scenes where she's aware of Caleb as a Man and gets all flustered about it (compared to "possessive sister who takes for granted that her gege is hers and hers alone"), while Caleb is still waiting to do what he's wanted to do for years. Which makes his cn line "wanted to fill every inch of you" very literal. The guy wants to fuck and is waiting for girlfriend to stop squirming.

There's also the fact that the game tends to be very, very, very, very openly suggestive when sex is happening, especially if it's the first time. All the times after that it can revert back to more generic references of "they overslept" "they slept soooo well that night" "they merged and their souls sang" etc., but the very first time is a big moment that leaves very little to ambiguity. It's why the Nightly Rendezvous cards were so important, and why now you can have RafMC "sleep late" while 100% knowing that they fucked (without even mentioning this card where we literally see Raf naked after the kindled). For Caleb we didn't have a "100% clear, no possible other explanation, they banged" moment. It could have been his bday, but his later cards that are established through seasons to happen after that disprove that interpretation, so I believe we still need to get that special event.

[ChicletPrime]

...its too early in the morning and i haven't had anywhere NEAR enough coffee for that clip edit. people are out there, doing the lord's work is all i can say.

[ChicletPrime]

okay! part deux, or The Screencaps. i finally got the kindled segment to run without stutter, mashed all the buttons you told me to and got myself properly glitched (whee!)  and i've spent a quality evening ignoring dinner and gulping tea to grab everything that i possibly could and then a few more just in case, and then going through and truncating that down to the top 100+ that i couldn't bear to part with.

please find below my favorites of the bunch! ( i have soooo many screenshots)

(also, by the end of this, that song was INGRAINED. i will probably hum it in my sleep.)

oh, also, also! did you notice that the background decoration behind the stage Very Much Resembles the turbine on a jet?

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[Coldsaturn]

-"oh, also, also! did you notice that the background decoration behind the stage Very Much Resembles the turbine on a jet?"
And it also resembles the EVER eye!

God, he's so. I'm obsessed with their choreo because they keep on teasing a kiss that never happens, and it's like they're both edging each other wondering when the other is going to finally snap.
The last screenshot is a thing of art. You can add the pilot cap (and dark sunglasses if you have them) for the full stripper experience!

[ChicletPrime]

we are suspicious of all circular objects around here, that's for sure.