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8aji · 1 year

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you're the sunflower, i think your love would be too much. // m.c.

a collection of spiderman!chifuyu hcs + drabble of you finding out about spiderman's real identity

pairing. spiderman!chifuyu matsuno x reader

wc. 3.7k (hcs - 1.8k, drabble - 1.9k)

tags/cw. spiderman au, fluff, very very minor angst, mentions of injuries, implied violence, mentions of doubt and insecurities, mix of past + present tense for story telling purposes (hcs), a little ooc, not beta-ed (?) + please let me know if i missed anything !

a/n. second time writing bullet hcs !! it was definitely an experience and im definitely up for creating more short-format content im the future. this story was inspired mainly by @/_slvx0 spiderman!chifuyu fanart and my recent tasm obsession. PSA. chifuyu’s character was adapted to fit my vision of spiderman instead of fitting spiderman to who he is. this means his character might be ooc. bear mind that this is my first time writing for chifuyu and so im not a 100% with his characterization — i apologise for any ooc-ness in that regard.

m.list ˖ tags ˖ byi/dni

Got so insanely giddy when he found out about his powers. He was so close to making a group chat with all of his friends to break the news to them. Thankfully he managed to stop himself from sending the message because he had already created the group and come up with the lamest excuse to cover his tracks

Comics and Shonen manga become his personal bible. Every superhero-related thing he did was likely inspired by one of those. That included the way he patrols the city at night and the ways in which he hides his identity. Too bad none of them show how to balance superhero-life along with his college one, a step-by-step guide would be of great help

One time, when swinging through the city, he forgot to shoot his web at another building and just found himself freefalling for a bit — he almost gave himself a heart attack that day

Found out about a video of him going viral while he was eating a sandwich on top of the Tokyo tower. He was so taken aback he almost lost his balance; in his defence, it was a really cool video of him. And deep down, reading the comments underneath the video gave him a sense of relief. He had always wondered if his job as a night vigilante was worth it, often doubting whether he had any sort of positive impact on people, but the support he was flooded with was enough reassurance for him to keep going

For a while, he favours Spiderman over Chifuyu — he wasn’t particularly insecure per se, but he found out that he felt the most comfortable and confident when he was wearing the mask, he felt a lot more freedom whenever he did.

Kazutora was the first to find out about Chifuyu being a superhero. It was 3 in the morning and he was sitting on their living room couch doing some homework when Chifuyu came through the window, almost crashing against the coffee table and knocking over a flower vase. The two of them stood frozen in place, tension rising by the second. Kazutora was getting ready to call out for Baji because a random masked man wearing a leotard had just broken into their living room, never mind the fact that it was a relatively famous and beloved superhero. But before he could, Chifuyu took his mask off in a panic AND BAM Kazutora was flabbergasted, speechless, unable to comprehend the fact that one of his best friends was risking his life protecting the city — ‘Tora then proceeded to beg Chifuyu to let him be the man on the chair.

Being a vet student isn’t of much help when it comes to making superhero equipment, so he follows multiple youtube tutorials whenever he wants to make improvements to his suit — the first time he tried to follow one he fucked up so bad he was tempted to spill his secret to Mitsuya just so his friend could help him out with the suit design.

One of his favourite pastimes is finding the tallest buildings and reading manga or comics while sitting at the top. He will sometimes listen to music as well. Makes a playlist titled ‘Rooftop reading’ or something corny like that

His favourite superpower is his ‘spidey sense’, he would pick the web shooting but it still freaks him a little.

He met you one night after getting home from his patrol when he swung onto the fire escape. As far as he knew, everyone in the building was asleep and the apartment next to his was empty. But of course, he had been wrong and instead had given you the fright of the century by coming out of nowhere and landing right in front of your window. — you ended up recognising him as Spiderman right after he apologised, and intrigued by his presence you asked him a couple of questions along the lines of ‘Why the fuck are you outside my apartment at 4 in the morning’

From then on, he makes sure to be more careful whenever he returns home. Though every now and then he will purposely make his presence known by landing a little too roughly on the iron platform or by knocking on your window just so the two of you could chat for a couple of minutes. Bear in mind that he only does it when the lights are on, which is more often than not; turns out your sleep schedule is just as messed up as his — and with the schoolgirl crush that has his heart

Sometimes he will add a few ‘trapeze-esque’ moves to spice up his swinging routine. Makes him feel more like a superhero — and yes, he also learned those from youtube video tutorials.

His enhanced vision comes in handy whenever he finds himself too busy being Spiderman to study for exams. Tries not to feel bad about it, and has to remind himself that Baji and ‘Tora have both done the same thing to feel better

He becomes a little too chismoso because he can’t help but hear the gossip no matter how much he tries to tune it out and turns into somewhat of a picky eater.

Learning how to keep his superhuman strength in check was the hardest thing in the whole ‘Spider-acclimatization’ process. Before he figured out how to, he had already broken multiple glass jars, splintered the window and broken the hinges off of three doors before — Though the thing that hurt the most about not being able to show his super strength was knowing he could easily win an arm wrestling match against Baji but not doing so to keep his identity hidden.

Still, Baji had a hunch that something was going on with his best friend. With both, the superhero and the man on the chair. He had seen Chifuyu return to the apartment through the fire escape very late at night and managed to catch a glimpse of the red suit underneath an oversized hoodie and sweatpants, and he had heard the incoming ‘disturbance reports’ through the radio in Kazutora’s room. But in spite of his own curiosity, he refused to press his friends for the truth — he ended up officially finding out when he saw Chifuyu coming out of the bathroom fully dressed in his suit.

No doubt he will most definitely use his costume for Halloween, and absolutely adores it when people compliment it because ‘omg it looks literally the same as Spiderman’s!’

Freezed the first time he met you face to face without the suit, unable to apologise when he bumped into you by mistake. He just stared, and his friends were the ones to break the awkward silence when they recognized you as their neighbour.

He was ecstatic to finally be able to talk to you without having to wait for the early hours of the morning. For some reason, he hadn't thought about introducing himself as Chifuyu, but now the four of you hang out pretty often.

He would follow you around like a lost puppy around uni, force himself to do his homework to spend some time with you in the library and bring you coffee every time you met up. Whenever Baji and Kazutora had classes during the afternoon, think 6pm to 9pm lectures, you would get together at one of your apartments and watch movies — though these hung outs ended before 11pm max. he would come up with a very believable excuse and bolt out of the apartment, running down the fire escape to not be seen until next morning.

That didn’t stop you from growing even closer. By then you had alrwady started to develop something a little more than a platonic fondness for the blond and his childlike excitement.

He was adorable, almost reminding you of someone you had met before…including his unusual nighttime behaviour. It always got your mind wandering, but you stopped yourself before it did any further. You could be a bit of an overthinker, and you missed your ‘spider-friend’.

It was true that the closer the two of you grew, the more spaced out his ‘spider-visits’ im not sorry for calling everything he does spider-something became. It got to the point he stopped showing up at your apartment for a month. He was too lovesick and too focused on being Chifuyu to notice that you missed his alter ego’s company

He found out you did one day when he saw you sitting on the fire escape. You had been bottling up your feelings for a while and just needed to let it out. Of course, you didn't tell him you it was Spiderman you were missing — he would probably think you were insane. So instead, you told him you missed a friend and after a little thinking, it clicked for Chifuyu.

At first, he felt a little self-conscious. Was his company not enough? Would he ever live up to what Spiderman had become? But then it clicked, once again, that you had no idea that both Spiderman and Chifuyu were the same person. Plus, you had explained how the person you were talking about had been your first-ever friend when you moved to the city — the melancholy in your voice was enough for him to promise himself he was going to visit you one last time, and maybe if he made up his mind, he would tell you his secret.

But of course, the night he planned to come clean was the night he got into ‘real’ trouble as Spiderman for the first time. Getting ambushed by 7 people at the same time was no joke — Both Kazutora and Baji, the newest member of the ‘man in the chair’ club, had warned him about the dangers of confronting the group of armed men, but he had let his ‘spider-ego’ get in the way of his rational thinking and now every muscle in his body ached as he made his way home.

So in retrospect maybe it hadn't been so bad, his body was just achy achy but other than that and a couple of cuts on his arms and legs he was fine !! And he was still determined to carry out his plan.

But he hadn’t taken into account how exhausted his body truly was. He ended up miscalculating the distance from the neighbouring building to the fire escape.

Thank whatever higher power that your window was wide open because he crashed straight into your apartment, falling right into your coach and knocking over a lamp.

But ! you ! were there ! Glued in place, the movie you were watching still playing in the background and popcorn laying all over the floor

“I love Wall-E!” he exclaimed while dusting himself off and wincing as he raised his arm to point at the tv.

“What the fuck are you doing in my house.”

He winced again when he tried scratching the nape of his neck in embarrassment. He thought you would’ve been a lot happier to see him, maybe jump into his arms and tell him you had missed him so much. Maybe you would even pull his mask up enough for you to kiss him — though thinking about it, the idea didn’t sit well with him. He wanted you to kiss Chifuyu, not Spiderman.

“You’re hurt.” You pointed out once the initial surprise had worn off.

“It's nothing I can't handle, give me a couple of minutes and I’ll be as good as new.” He was proud of himself for the confidence he had exuded with his heroic nonchalance, though he was dying on the inside and most definitely needed to lay down.

“How many minutes?”

“Huh?”

“Until you’re ‘as good as new’, I mean.”

“Um,” he wasn’t prepared for you to question him on his healing factor. It wasn’t exactly something you would ask someone you hadn’t seen in a while — ‘it’s nice to see you again! By the way, how long exactly does it take the cells in your body to regenerate? Just curious, toodles!’. Imagine someone asking you that, wouldn't it be weird? You were weird for asking him that, definitely weirder than the random man who jumped through your window and forced you to spill popcorn all over the ground. “Maybe, uh, 120 minutes for the cuts and then a little over 480 for the rest of my body?”

You looked unimpressed.

“So ten hours in total.”

“I promise it's usually a lot quicker than that, it's just been a rough night.”

When you rolled your eyes at him, he was sure you were gonna kick him out of the apartment — and start locking your windows at night. But instead, you gestured for him to sit down before rummaging through your kitchen cabinet for a white box with a cross on it.

“You a first-aid fan?” he asked when you sat down next to him, cringing at the stupidity of his question.

“All apartments in the building have one.” You brushed off, chuckling, and pulling out some gauze and hydrogen peroxide. He swore he could melt against your touch, the pain of his injuries melting away. And maybe it was the glimpse of a smile, the comfort in the creasing of your eyes, that turned him stupider than he already was.

“Ours doesn’t.”

He joked, forgetting for a minute that the version of him sitting in front of you wasn’t Chifuyu. But as soon as he saw your hands freeze in place, your gaze locking with his in confusion, he could feel the colour drain from his face.

“Wha– what I meant was that my, you know, apartment, which is somewhere that’s not here, because I don’t live here–”

“So you live here.”

“Well, I just said I don’t–”

“And you still couldn’t bother telling me you were going to suddenly disappear.”

“I’m sorry I–”

“You’re unbelievable.” You scooted further away from him, brows furrowed in simmering frustration. “All this time I was worried about you.”

Frustrated, annoyed and pissed off. He had seen you like that before. Annoyed at people who walked too slowly on the street or at men who couldn’t bother moving out of their way, bumping into you because they expected you to move. Pissed off when you received a ‘bad’ grade according to your standards, or when one of your groupmates refused to respond to the group chat even when the project was due the next day.

Frustrated, annoyed and pissed. He had seen you like that before. But never had it been directed at him.

“I understand–”

“No you don’t!” you interrupted him. “If you did, you would’ve said something, and it’s not like it’s hard to put on your costume and climb down a couple of floors to let me know that you were okay.”

“It’s not a costume, it's a super suit…” he trailed off, and you sighed in response, letting yourself fall back against the backrest of the coach. The growing silence between the two of you only fed the tension dense enough to be cut with a butter knife. And it killed you to feel the tangible difference between your previous interactions and what you now thought would be the last one.

He had become a very important person in your life, the first friend you ever had after feeling desperately lonely without your family or friends in a new city. And of course, there was always the possibility of him not feeling the same about you. Maybe you weren’t as important to him as you would’ve liked.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled, “I know I should’ve let you know I wasn't coming as often.”

His voice had curled onto itself. It was strained as it tried to make its way past his throat, like he was trying hard not to choke on his own words. It made your heart ache in return. And maybe it hadn’t been nice for him to just disappear, but he was a superhero for fucks sake. Were you really expecting a super-fucking-hero to make some time in his ‘saving the city’ calendar for you?

You thought he had been unfair, and now you were taking it out on him. Hypocrite; you complained about him not being nice to end up being not so nice yourself.

“I know…I know you’re busy doing hero stuff and all, I'm sorry for snapping at you.” You mumbled, gaze stuck on the ceiling. “And I’m sorry for making fun of your suit.”

He smiled at that, and like a peace offering, you nudged his arm with your hand, asking for permission to help patch him up. It made his cheeks flush underneath the mask, biting the inside of his cheek to stop himself from squealing at the fluttering in his stomach. It was true that he had been primarily reading action-hero manga and comics, but that didn’t mean his love for shojo was cast aside. Sometimes, he couldn’t help but imagine he was the main character of a romance story, and, in spite of how cheesy it sounded, he really wanted that with you.

“You know, I,” he tried to swallow the lump in his throat. He wasn’t sure if it was too soon to be revealing a secret of such magnitude. Especially after the tension that had risen between the two of you. But his goal was not only to apologise but to offer you a proper explanation. “The reason I wasn't coming here as often was, um,”

You stopped dead in your tracks, the gauze soaked in hydrogen peroxide lingering over one of his cuts. Still, you avoided meeting his gaze, eyes stuck on the ripped edges of his suit as if scared of what he was going to tell you.

“It was,” breath in, breathe out. His quickening heartbeat was so loud it wouldn’t allow him to hear what he was saying. Breathe in, breathe out, maybe he couldn’t do this, maybe this was a bad idea. Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out, “because I was already over all the time, just not as Spiderman…”

Your head shot up in the blink of an eye, and even he was surprised you hadn’t somehow given yourself whiplash. But never mind that, because the sudden familiarity that flashed through your eyes as you mentally pieced together every single event, clue, hint and theory you had discarded along with the new information you had received, was enough to let him know you recognised who he was.

“You are–”

“Yeah,” he nodded, biting his lip in anticipation. “It’s me–”

“Keisuke.”

“What? No, It’s me, Chifuyu.”

And as if to prove his point, he pulled off his mask, revealing the tousled mess of blond locks and the purple bruises underneath one of his eyes and his lower lip.

He had to hold back a whine at the ruined grand reveal.

“No, I know.” you deadpanned, and he had to hold back a whine at the ruined grand reveal. Had it been any other circumstance, he would’ve felt proud to be mistaken for Baji. But when it was the love of his life doing so, it felt more like a flat-out rejection instead of a compliment.

“Chifuyu,” you called out to him, effectively pulling him out of the self-pity spiral, and pointed at your window. “I mean ‘Keisuke?’”

“Sorry to interrupt,” Baji waved at the two of you from outside, “were you about to kiss?”

“No!” “Not yet.”

“Oh okay, cool,” he shrugged, pointy canines sticking out as he smiled. “You were taking longer than usual, we figured you had gotten in trouble or something.”

“Yeah!” Kazutora poked his head from behind the wall, hair tied in a messy bun. “But then we heard your voice coming from here and we thought we’d check it out.”

“Well, I'm fine, so you two can,” he made a gesture with his head, urging his best friends to leave the two of you alone. “You know, go.”

He hadn’t expected it to work. They weren’t ones to pass on the opportunity to tease anyone, especially him, being the younger of the group and all. But to his surprise, all they had done was send a wave your way with a promise to hang out tomorrow night and left.

Now the two of you alone, all he wanted to do was stare at your face all night while you patched him up because if there was any trope that concocted the perfect mix between action and romance was when someone took care of another person's injuries. And wasn’t it one of the sweetest displays of affection? Just taking care of the one you love? Even though he wasn’t a hundred percent sure you liked him like that, at least he could dream, right?

“Wait,” remembering what you said earlier, it felt like an ice water bucket was poured all over him. Suddenly, the giddiness inside his tummy had returned with full force, and he could feel his cheeks straining with the inkling of a smile. “You said ‘not yet’.”

You hummed in confusion, biting on the inside of your cheek. Sure, Baji and ‘Tora had spared him from the teasing — although one could argue that showing up had been the teasing itself— but you could always make up for it with a sprinkle of intentional obliviousness. “What do you mean?”

“When Baji asked if we had kissed, you said ‘not yet’, does that mean you want to kiss me?”

“I don’t know,” you shrugged, a cheeky smile on your lips as your fingers traced aimless patterns up his forearm and bicep, to then let your hand rest on his cheek, your thumb caressing the soft skin. “Do I?”

He leaned closer to you, prompted by your touch, and you were quick to follow through, letting your leg rest against his. He looked so cute with his eyes sparkling with excitement, lips parted in contained desperation as he waited for you to say ‘I do’.

“Can I kiss you?” He whispered, breath mingling with yours, and lips barely brushing against each other. He looked so pretty sitting on your couch, the light of the tv casting shadows on his face, and absolute lovesickness coating every single inch of his body.

You nodded in return, smiling as you basked in the taste of him, the man behind the mask, because even though he had his own waves of doubt, it had always been him.

It would always be Chifuyu for you.

#chifuyu x reader #chifuyu matsuno x reader #chifuyu matsuno fluff #chifuyu fluff #tr fluff #tr x reader #tokyo revengers x reader #spiderman au #master collection.#tr collection.

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leadenn · 7 months

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OH YEAH!? YOU WANT MY THOUGHTS? YOU WANT MY THOUGHTS!? (I did that AND some, oops)

Absolutely adore your fic front and back. The entire concept had me intrigued, and once I started reading, I was OBSESSED. Legit, I would talk to my friends about it, talk to my shower, talk to my Twitter mutuals about it.ALSO ALSO I adore how you write monologues, it's so funny and so descriptive, makes me feel things good things. Every single one of them you write so well, like YES he would say that! I see a lot of Raph and Leo being writen so off, like their manorisms are so yes, I could see him doing that. Casey is so cool and I adore his relationship with Abby, big bro and lil sis, he would give the world for his sister and she would love the world for him. You feel me? Oh and I love how all of them just were like "yes Abby is my favorite little sister, I would kill for her", so fucking obsessed. Casey and Abby have gone through so much shit and I'm so happy for them being around people who love and care for them. Leatherhead and Casey and Abby and Mikey are so sweet. Leatherhead is also a sweetheart, he's so nice and the way you write him makes me melttt, I become a pile of mush 🫠Mikey and Him are soooo sweet too and I swear to god you have changed my ENTIRE perspective on those two as a ship its incredible, like before I ddint even THINK that much about it, but here I am in my notes app with a full on page of how to implement leatherhead in my au AND in my fanfic, the note title is legit called 💥THAMK UOU LEADENN💥 also just read the newest chapter came back to edit this, YAY! FUCK YEAHH!! Those twoooo OUGHHHH!! The inner monologues you write are so fuckin good, like I can read that thing good without getting confused and having to re read, I understand it because you explain well! The scenes play out good and are incredibly funny or incredibly sad or both. Like holy shit. Also the way you write and hint has me going "WHAT? WHAT DOES THAT MEAN??? WHA WAIT WHA??" like I end up shocked eyes open. I also enjoy your writing so much I usually don't venture off into the collection of other stories unless they still include my favorite character but with how you write I just love everyone so much I'm like eating that shit up, full course meal gourmet food 5 stars. I know you get a lot of Mikey stuff so I left him for last on how much I fucking LOVE HIM HES SO COOL like mental stuff aside his one liners and his kick ass brain lines are awesome oh my god he comes off so damn cool like daaqmnnn who made you king of Antarctica, lord of coolness. I love his inner monologues so much, its so funny and so real like, "Yeah he underestimated how much of DICK the forest would be." Had me HOWLIBG, first thing in and I get hit in tge face with another real as hell Mikey line. That was actually one of the things that keeps me reading, what drew me in when I first found your amazing story. He'd just started spitting facts and a gnarly backstory and in my head I was like "ohhhh shittt!!" I get so excited every time an update comes out, goddamn chapter 5??? I am so goddamn proud of you for reaching 61 CHAPTERS AUGH I can't stress this enough you are doing AMAZING, you're writing so much and it's terrific every single time, every single comment, kudo, fanart, just everything, you deserve it. You're so awesome-sauce! I think I would bite the dust if I wrote as much as you, as much as I love it I am already struggling with getting past 5k words. Anyways, your writing genuinely is my coffee in the morning especially when I've run out of coffee and my phone is the only thing that morning to bring me joy. Also you intimidate me, most fanfic writers do but the moment you interacted with an account, boss music started playing in my head

I think I'll combust if I proof read this so before the guy in my head backs out I'm just gonna send it 👍😩👍

*pukes in joy*

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

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ardent-fox · 1 year

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✨️ Joy List ✨️

Got tagged by the wonderful @metalheadmickey, @look-i-love-u and @deathclassic to create this joy list, thank you my darlings! 🥰

💙 Coming out bi after 20 years of feeling all the feelings. It only happened 3 weeks ago, first here and then to a handful of close people. I grew up and still live in a pretty conservative, close-minded country where saying such a thing could get you in trouble, so having the opportunity to be myself here has been very important to me. Putting a finger on this in this stage of life has been a strange, emotional roller-coaster, but I already feel like a happier, more confident person for finding the balls to ride it.

💙 This place, all of you, the friendships I've made and all the things I got to learn and experience because of them.

💙 The bunny content that Myn @vintagelacerosette shares with me! It's so sweet and thoughtful, especially when life is crazy and I'm not that active here.

💙 Fanart! Fanfics! Gif sets! Headcanons! Having my mind blown by everything on a daily basis cause the boy dolls inspire us all so much is a beautiful thing.

💙 Maintaining a healthier sleep schedule. I'm a person that has to actively keep it going cause it doesn't come naturally to me and being able to experience sunny mornings while in the right state of mind has been amazing.

💙 The job applications I've been sending out. There’s only one I'm really coveting, but no matter what happens it's been great finding decent ads to inspire some daydreams.

💙 Crazy Ex-Girlfriend marathons. I've just finished binging season 1 and the theater buff in me has been living, it's so good!

💙 The fact that my brother and his family will become my neighbors this autumn once they finish renovating the apartment in the building across from ours. Can't wait to have my nephew live so close and have him play in our building's park as he grows up, what a small world.

💙 Our plan to start major renovations on our own home in the summer of 2024. A few things have to line up for that to happen and it's going to be a challenging thing to live through, but the idea of it makes me excited like nothing else.

💙 Going to the movies more often lately and getting tickets to two upcoming local concerts. Hubby and I decided to prioritize experiences over gifts to mark certain occasions and I think it's the best decision we've ever made.

💙 The decision to invest in myself this year and change up my wardrobe and style a little once my financial situation is a bit more stable. I feel that I've neglected this while working from home for 5 years and am ready to introduce Lyds 2.0 to the world.

💙 How happy Jasper the bun has been lately. Just running around, doing binkies and honking his little heart out for no particular reason.

💙 The day getting longer and the mild, winter sun keeping me warm on my walks lately. It feels like spring is around the corner and I couldn't be more glad.

💙 Just hope. After the last few crappy years, I realized I've been afraid to feel it because of all the hardships that kept dashing it. But I'm slowly finding my way back to it as I try my luck out in the world again, and realizing I can restart my life an infinite number of times makes me want to hold on to it with all I have.

That's about it for this time around, I feel like this was an intense joy list and I probably should have journaled some of this shit out instead, but oh well 🙃 I'm a little out of the loop so ignore me if you've done this already, but I'm tagging @look-i-love-u, @celestialmickey, @gallawitchxx, @vintagelacerosette, @heymrspatel, @thisdivorce, @crossmydna, @squidyyy23, @mikhailoisbaby, @auds-and-evens, @sickness-health-all-that-shit, @imikhailotakeyouian, @too-schoolforcool, @tanktopgallavich, @ian-galagher and anyone who sees this and would like to play!

#i need to start making this more compact and readable #feeling like the 'i just have a lot of feelings' girl from mean girls rn #except i actually do go here so imma pester you all a little bit #tag game #joy list #about me

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mrspasser · 2 years

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5. Replacement

The detective is never late for work, so it's only natural that Nines worries about his partner being anything less than punctual. When Gavin eventually arrives at work, he is clearly distraught. When Nines finds out why, he makes it his mission to fix things. Only... his good intentions are not appreciated at first.

Cover made with fanart by @donlemefo

It is 8.32 AM. The detective is two minutes late. He is never late. Depending on traffic and the stress of their week Gavin Reed always enters the precinct between 8.15 and 8.30 AM. Except when they have the night shift, a rotating schedule that has the detectives and other higher ranking officers work nights on thursdays to sundays. Crime never sleeps, especially not on the nights that most of the bars in Detroit are open until early morning. When they work a night shift, the detective arrives during the fifteen minutes before 8 PM.

He might be hungover, sleep-deprived or unshaven, the detective’s punctuality never falters.

Three minutes late. Nines checks their work calendar; there is nothing scheduled that would keep the detective out of the office. He has a dentist appointment next week, the android put it in when he heard him talk to the assistant on the phone. He also set an alert to inform detective Reed of the appointment an hour beforehand.

Four minutes late. There are no traffic warnings for the roads between the detective’s home and the precinct.

Five minutes late. Nines decides to send a message to the detective’s phone.

> You are running late, detective. I hope there isn’t anything wrong.

He deletes the last sentence before he sends out the leftover five word text.

The message is read three minutes later. There is no reply. Nines ponders on whether he should worry or not. There is a multitude of reasons that could make the detective run late, from simply having overslept to being kidnapped by Red Ice dealers. The list in his brain is long, one reason even more improbable than the other. The fact that the message was read means detective Reed is alive, unless someone took his phone from him. That seems highly unlikely; like a true child of his time the detective is glued to his phone.

Connor walks past his desk with a cup of coffee for the lieutenant in his hand. “Good morning, Nines,” he says pleasantly. “Something on your mind?”

“That doesn’t mean it’s not worth sharing.” Even in casual conversation the negotiator in Connor pops up.

The RK900 schools his face in an even more neutral expression. There are not many people who pick up on the only minimal expressions his facial features are capable of, though it is easier for androids than humans. It’s something the detective keeps surprising him with; he seems to have a high alertness to his android partner’s mimic.

“I’m sure it’s nothing.”

“The detective is running late.”

“I see.” Connor is silent for a second, no doubt running his own checks on traffic and other events that would have an effect on the detective’s arrival. “Maybe he overslept?”

“He read the message I sent him.”

“A personal appointment perhaps?”

Nines nods. “That must be it.”

“He’ll show up. The detective is harder to get rid of than a mustard stain on your favourite shirt.”

Detective Reed enters the bullpen at 11.07 AM. Nines’ sensors are immediately on alert. Hunched shoulders, a drag in his step, dark rings under his slightly red eyes… The detective must have hardly slept last night. His brows are furrowed like he has a headache. The android’s systems alert him of the possibility of a hangover. Maybe the detective drank too much last night and that’s why he is late.

“White vinegar should help to remove the stain,” Nines replies, before realizing it was only an empty expression. The RK800 is significantly better at emulating human behavior and speech than he is. Connor ignores his silly answer and smiles before walking away to present the lieutenant with his coffee.

His predecessor is probably right. The detective has personal business to attend to and will arrive at the office when he is done.

His partner doesn’t react to his initial ‘good morning’ and Nines decides that 11.09 is a perfectly adequate time for morning coffee. He goes to the break room to get a cup of coffee - black, one sugar and a drop of milk - and places that on the desk beside the detective’s keyboard. “Good morning, detective. Did you have a rough night?”

Nines leaves the detective be, keeping an eye on him from his own desk. Detective Reed works on the report of their most recently closed case and it takes him 2.8 times longer than usual. He’s also sighed a total number of twelve times in the past hour. When the detective pushes his chair away from his desk and grabs a pack of cigarettes from his desk drawer, Nines decides to follow him outside.

The detective grunts a reply, sounding like a combination of ‘thank you’ and ‘fuck off’.

Nines backs off, returning to his desk and wondering why he didn’t pick up on any signs of alcohol in the human’s system. Perhaps his body had already worked it out, although that didn’t explain the bloodshot eyes and heightened stress level.

“I want to inform after your well-being, detective,” Nines answers. “I suspect something is wrong and perhaps talking about it will help deflate your stress levels.”

Detective Reed leans with his back against the wall next to the back entrance of the office. He struggles to light his cigarette and sighs deeply after the first draft.

“What do you want, tin can?” he asks tiredly, acknowledging his partner for the first time since his arrival.

“You scanning me again?” The sting in his words is less effective because of the tiredness the human displays.

“I don’t need to scan you in order to see you don’t feel well. Did something happen, detective?”

Detective Reed takes an angry draft of his cigarette. The smoke curls up on both sides of his nose. Nines would like to remind him of the dangers to his health, yet now is not the time.

“My cat died,” the detective suddenly says. “That fucking happened.”

“Nancy.” The detective squashes his cigarette against the wall and flicks it away towards the gutter. “She had a stroke last night. Vet tried, but she was too far gone. Had to put her down.”

The detective’s cats. Two American Shorthairs from the same nest. One male, one female. Both white with patches of grey and black stripes. Nines has seen them a couple of times when he picked the detective up at home.

“Sid or Nancy?”

Before Nines can offer some consoling words his partner trudges back inside, purposefully ignoring him.

Detective Reed stays quiet for the rest of the afternoon. He works on his reports and stares at his terminal, avoiding eye contact with the people around him. Officer Chen comes by, also picking up on her friend’s bad mood. They exchange some quiet words, ending in officer Chen giving him a one sided hug. Nines yearns to give his partner some consolation too, yet he doesn’t know how.

<RK900> Connor? Why do humans have pets?

<Connor> Companionship. They enjoy taking care of them. Cuddling.

<Connor> Why do you ask?

<Nines> The detective had to euthanize one of his cats this morning. It has him feeling very down.

<Connor> I can imagine. I would miss Sumo very much if he came to die.

Nines reflects on that. He preconstructs visiting the lieutenant’s home without the large Saint Bernard welcoming him by slobbering his pants. It leaves him with clean slacks and a strange, hollow feeling around his Thirium pump.

<RK900> I think I know what you mean.

His partner lost his cat. He no longer has the pet who offered him companionship. An unrequested preconstruction of detective Reed snuggling up on his couch with two cats on his lap pops up. Nines processes it thoroughly before dismissing the preconstruction. The detective once explained him he had two cats so they wouldn’t get lonely if he worked long hours. That leaves Nines with the notion that not only the detective misses his cat, but the remaining cat would miss its sibling too. He would very much like to fix that for both of them.

The kittens are white, one completely and the other two with a couple of black spots.

The solution presents itself at an unexpected place. Nines is at the hospital’s morgue to take some DNA-samples of a stabbing victim, when he notices a cardboard box inside the little office. The assistant that showed him the body explains how they found some stray kittens in the back alley. She plans to take them to the pound after her shift; her boyfriend already dropped off their own pet carrier so she can transport them more easily.

“They seem to be in good health,” she says as they are both looking at the three kittens inside the box. “I don’t think they need their mama anymore, but they’re too young to wander around in an alley.”

“Cute, aren’t they? You can pet them if you want!”

Encouraged by the young woman’s words Nines lowers himself to a crouch and puts his hand inside the box. The white kitten comes sniffing at his hand, rubbing its chin against his fingers.

“Aww, she likes you!”

“She?” Nines carefully folds his hand around the small belly and lifts the young animal from the box to hold it to his chest.

“I checked. Two girls, one boy.”

The kitten’s nails hook in his jacket and he carefully pries them loose. A quick check on the internet tells him what to look for and the cat is indeed female and seems to be in good health at first sight. He estimates her to be about eight weeks old.

“Do you maybe know a good home for them?” The young woman scratches the cat under her chin with her finger. “I’d take them, but we already have three of those furballs at home.”

“I might…” Nines says, the idea not even half formed yet he already likes it.

He walks out of the hospital’s morgue with the pet carrier in his hand, having promised to return the thing tomorrow. The morgue assistant assured him the cardboard box would do fine to bring the other two kittens to the pound. She was very excited for him to take the white kitten and Nines finds himself to share that excitement. The detective should still be at the precinct when he gets back, there is still some time before he will clock out for the day.

Walking into the bullpen with a pet carrier gets him some odd looks, though nobody says anything. Detective Reed is sitting at his terminal, clicking from tab to tab to compare things with each other. He is peering intently at the screen; Nines’ earlier suggestion he might need glasses didn’t go down well.

“Is it a dead guy’s fingerprints?” Without looking up from his screen the human holds up his hand and makes a grabby motion. “Gimme.”

His partner doesn’t look up as Nines comes to stand on his left side. On the way to the precinct he preconstructed multiple ways to present the detective with his new pet and he found the direct approach the most appropriate. After all, detective Reed likes to be straight forward himself too.

“Detective, I have something for you.”

Of course. Nines has those too, it was his original purpose for visiting the hospital’s morgue. He extends his hand to his partner’s terminal, the artificial skin peeling back towards his wrist. White and grey chassis connects with the black terminal, transferring the requested data. He adjusts the screen settings while he’s at it, making it easier for the detective to read. It’s a subtle change, the human probably won’t notice it consciously.

As expected, the stabbing victim pops up in their system, red alerts pinging up on the terminal. Nines pulls them to the front before taking his hand back.

“Well, wha’do ya know! Our dead guy is connected to two unsolved cases!” The detective gestures at his screen, briefly looking up at the android. He clicks on the credentials, showing that one case was assigned to them, the other to lieutenant Anderson and Connor. Detective Reed scoffs, clicking a few buttons to request changing the assignment of the latter. “Ha! That’s our case now! I bet we can close both of them within the week.”

Nines nods. “I’ll inform our colleagues of their bereavement.”

His partner leans back in his chair, his arms behind his head. “The fuck, Nines? Did you just make a joke?”

The open smile that the detective sends him causes a temporary software instability. The android doesn’t hurry to patch up the small error, giving himself some time to revel in the sensation.

“Who knows, tin can. There might be a day that you become a real boy!” The smile turns into a smirk, one that is still a hundred times more friendly than the detective’s usual snarky grins.

Nines likes this part of their communication, savours it even. The light hearted banter, the insults without sting. The nickname ‘tin can’ used to be derogatory in the early stages of their partnership; over the months a certain fondness seeped into it. Even ‘terminator’ has its own appeal, as Nines has discovered the detective uses it mostly to refer to his ample strength and superior endurance. Nothing beat the use of the name ‘Nines’ however. Others have started to use it too, many of the humans finding ‘RK900’ to have too many syllables. The android even considers registering it as his official name; he already filled in the file, it is only waiting to be send. Connor asks him from time to time about choosing a name different from his model number and Nines has trouble coming up with a name for himself. Connor and the lieutenant try to help him by giving suggestions, ranging from spins on his model like Richard or Rick to names that sound similar to Connor, like Conan. Not one name stuck, until detective Reed came up with Nines.

A small mewl pulls Nines back from his internal musings and he notices how his partner is staring at the pet carrier in his left hand. His hands that were behind his head slowly fall back to his side, gripping the armrests of his chair. The detective leans forward, to better look around Nines.

The android turns the pet carrier towards the detective, lifting it a little so he can have a good look inside. “This is your new cat, detective.”

“My what!?” The astonished look on the detective’s face is one that Nines stores away in his personal folder. His partner is thoroughly surprised, something that is not easily accomplished with a seasoned police detective.

“The fuck did you do?!”

There’s a hint of anger in the detective’s voice, yet Nines chalks it up to being surprised. His partner doesn’t really like not being in the know. Also a trait of being a police detective.

“I thought having a new cat would cheer you up,” the android answers pleasantly. “And now you have two cats again, which means they’ll have each other when you’re at work.”

Nines stills, his processors scrambling to find an explanation for his partner’s anger. None of his pre-constructions accounted for this reaction.

Detective Reed pushes his chair back and stands up. He lacks a few inches to look Nines straight in the eyes, although that never holds him back in confronting the android.

“So you thought I would like to complete my set again? Like Nancy is a broken vase or something?!” An angry finger is pushed against the android’s chest.

The detective turns away from him, hastily shutting down the programs on his terminal. He mutters angrily under his breath. “Fucking plastic prick. Did Nancy’s death fuck up the order of things in your perfect plastic world? Trying to bring back the fucking balance?”

“I assure you, detective,” Nines hurries to say, “I was only -”

“What the fuck were you thinking?” The detective turns to him again, his face flushed with anger.

That is a question Nines can answer. “Humans have pets for the companionship they experience from them. Losing Nancy made you feel down. I merely wanted you to feel better.”

“And you thought getting me a new cat would be a good idea? On the same day I fucking put one down?” The detective is shouting now, though he quickly lowers his voice again when he notices how much attention they’re attracting. He hisses the next words. “Did you think I would order a new CyberLife android the moment you kicked the can? No, I wouldn’t! Stupid plastic!”

Detective Reed grabs his jacket from the back of his chair and stalks towards the exit. Nines turns to watch him go, too perplexed to know what to do. “Detective! Your pet!”

His partner flips him off over his shoulder. “You fucking keep it. Your cat, your problem!"

A gentle hand falls on his arm. From the corner of his eyes Nines sees the uniform of officer Chen. “I think we should have a chat, big guy.”

***

The door camera shows a familiar white and black jacket with a high collar. Gavin sighs and opens the door. “What are you doing here, tin can?”

“Well, good for you,” Gavin grumbles, his hand still on the door and ready to close it. “Was that all?”

“I came to apologize,” is the stilted answer. If possible, Nines’ posture is even straighter than usual. His hands are clasped behind his back and his gaze is strained, like he has trouble looking Gavin in the eyes. The damn terminator is nervous, his LED yellow.

“You are grieving the loss of your beloved pet and I understand now that you don’t wish to replace her.”

“I haven’t said sorry yet,” Nines says, clearly confused. His LED is pulsating yellow, meaning he is either very stressed or working through a large package of data. The fucker is really feeling bad.

“I thought that was implied. Whatever, tin can, it’s okay.” The yellow in Nines’ LED does another round or two and then it makes way for the stable blue. Good. Conversation finished. Gavin moves to close the door, dismissing his partner.

“Detective? Do you care about me?”

“You said you wouldn’t replace me if I ever died,” Nines answers, his voice sounding deceptively calm. “I believe you made a comparison between me and your cat. I know you care a lot about your pets.” The android leaves the rest implied: does that mean you care about me too ?

The unexpected question makes Gavin pull the door wide open again. He stares slack jawed at his partner, thinking for a second he must have heard him wrong. The android simply stands there, waiting for his answer. His hands are in front of him now and he’s fucking wringing them - or the understated equivalent of wringing your hands that the android prototype does. His LED is blue, but it’s whirling and it probably will go to yellow again soon.

Gavin opens his mouth a couple of times before he can get a full sentence out. “What the fuck makes you ask that?”

Well fuck . He did say that, didn’t he? And he should have known the android would value his words, like he always does. Especially when it comes to fucking feelings or emotions. He can be six foot something, he is still not even a year old. His terminator partner is nothing but a big child in some cases, insecure and basically just trying .

“I know. You stuck googly eyes to it.”

Gavin could of course make some insulting remark, he has several at the ready to chase the android away from his doorstep. He doesn’t. Nines is his partner. And however stupid his idea of giving Gavin a kitten was, he somewhat appreciates the gesture.

“Fuck, whatever. If things are around for long enough, you start to get attached to them,” Gavin admits roughly. The android practically preens at his answer, however subtle the emotion displays. Gavin tries to ignore the warm swirl in his chest that is triggered by his partner’s pleased reaction. “Don’t get any ideas, plastic! I’m also attached to my Roomba.”

They stare at each other for a moment, the android showing that small tilt upwards at the corners of his lips that means he is happy. And fuck if that not makes Gavin happy too, no matter how troubling that thought is.

The android tilts his head a little, looking slightly confused again. “You said I should keep it myself,” he says.

“Wait!” Gavin suddenly exclaims. “What exactly did you do with the cat?”

Gavin left Nines standing at the precinct with the kitten. He hasn’t been home for that long. Certainly not long enough for Nines to have brought the animal back to the shelter it came from.

Gavin rolls his eyes. Sometimes that million dollar processor can be really slow. “Yeah, yeah, I know what I said. But where is it?”

The android clasps his hands behind his back again, standing ramrod straight. “There are no pets allowed at the precinct.”

Nines glances at something a little down the corridor. Sure enough, there is the pet carrier on the floor. There’s a ball of white fur curled up in the back of the carrier.

“Jezus! You’ve been toting the damn animal all over town?”

Ah yes, Gavin should have thought about that. He always tries to forget about the fact that his partner stays at the office at night. That android storage room is too fucking depressing to be thinking about. And of course there is no room for a cat there; it’s not like it can use a stasis pod as a litter box.

“I thought I would take it to the lieutenant’s house,” Nines explains.

“Are you nuts?! Doesn’t he have that large dog? It will fucking eat the poor thing whole!”

“You’re not leaving me with many options, detective.” The android starts to sound a little peeved.

After making sure the door to the hall is closed and Sid is holed up in his bedroom, Gavin tells Nines to open the door of the pet carrier. “Let her out so she can explore the room.”

“For fuck’s sake, get inside.” Gavin steps away from the door to give his partner room. “And bring that fucking cat with you.”

He’s pretty sure he’s going to regret this, even though seeing Nines walk stiffly into his home with the pet carrier in his hand is vaguely endearing.

The snow white kitten carefully sniffs the edge of the crate before tentatively walking out. She is clearly aware that there is another cat living here and she cautiously steps away from the pet crate. Gavin watches her for a moment before he walks into his kitchen to reheat his forgotten dinner. It was a microwave dinner anyway, heating it up twice won’t make it any worse than it already was. While the microwave buzzes, he puts some food out for his new furry companion. He’ll have to go out and buy kitten food for her tomorrow, but for now the regular will do.

He sits down on the couch, his dinner in his lap. The tiny white cat is sniffing the floor length curtains of his living room window, pushing her little head underneath them. He makes a mental note to get the spray bottle out to prevent the kitten from climbing in his curtains. If you look closely you can still see the damage Nancy did to them when she was young.

Nines looks from him to the assigned spot and then tentatively sits down on the seat cushion. They watch the kitten in silence, as she disappears and appears behind the long curtains. Sometimes only her miniature tail is visible, a tiny paw coming to claw at it from underneath the floor length fabric.

To the side of his couch stands six foot plus of looming android. His eyes are fixed on the kitten, though Gavin knows he’s probably keeping check on him too. He undoubtedly has already scanned his meal for high levels of salt or something. Or would he have to taste it to analyse that? Gavin looks down at his plate, imagining the android dipping his finger in the food and sticking it in his mouth for analysing. Less gross than with blood, but still.

“Would you sit the fuck down?” he exclaims, pointing with his fork to the bit of empty couch to his right. “You’re making me lose my appetite with your looming.”

“What do you want to name her?” Gavin asks, scraping the last bits of his plate with his fork and putting them in his mouth.

“She’s your cat, detective. Shouldn’t you name her?”

“I said she’s yours, didn’t I?” He puts the plate on the coffee table and kicks his feet up next to it.

“I’m confused, detective,” the android says, folding his hands in his lap and turning slightly towards Gavin. “I thought letting her into your home implied that she could stay here.”

“She can, yes,” Gavin admits with a sigh. “Sid will probably not mind very much. Nancy always was the bitch of them two, Sid sleeps most of the day anyway. Lazy fucker.”

“Then how can she be my cat?”

“Because you’ll be paying to get her vaccinated and spayed and shit,” Gavin smirks. “I’ll just be her… I don’t know. Think of it as foster care or something.”

The android thinks for a moment before he answers. “That is a satisfactory arrangement.”

"Good - whoah!” Gavin jumps up from his seat to get the kitten out of his curtains. She had started to climb up a good way already. He puts her down on the floor in front of the couch. “Here, you keep an eye on this devil’s spawn while I go fill up the spray bottle.”

He rummages around in his kitchen cabinets until he finds the sprayer in the back of one of the bottom cabinets. He fills it up and places it on the coffee table, within reach for the moment the kitten does something else that will fuck up his home.

“You named your cats after Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen, two famous figures from the British punk scene in the previous century.” The android is apparently back to the previous question on how to name the cat.

“You’re an excellent detective,” Gavin mocks, making sure he wears the appropriate expression for Nines to pick up on his sarcasm. It wouldn’t be the first time the tin can took his words too literal; though he had come a long way when it came to understanding the gradations in human language.

“I am merely looking up references to see if there is a name that would fit the same category.” The android frowns lightly. “There are many to choose from, many dysfunctional relationships between famous rock stars and groupies, yet there is no name that particularly stands out to me.”

His partner turns silent, no doubt wracking his brain and searching the entire internet for a suitable name for the cat. His LED goes from blue to yellow, sometimes stuttering back to blue before going back to churning yellow. Gavin turns on the tv, letting the android be. The white kitten has clawed her way up the couch and is now sniffing at his hip. He lets her, knowing she has to get used to his smell and movements. It’s a pretty little thing, her fur completely white. He’ll have to take her to a vet to get her checked out and vaccinated, or maybe have Nines do that for him.

“It doesn’t have to be a name like that,” Gavin says, familiar with Nines’ hopeless indecisiveness when it comes to personal things. Hell, the time Gavin had urged him to wear something else for a change, he had turned up in a navy blue turtleneck, the same brand as the black ones he always wears.

“You can choose anything you like.”

After the LED next to him has been yellow for a solid fifteen minutes, Gavin sighs. “Stop thinking about a name before you fry your processors, tin can.”

Nines looks up at him, the frown slowly dissolving into a blank look. “I find myself unable to come up with a suitable name.”

“Yeah, no shit,” Gavin chuckles. “You still go by your model number. You’re not even able to pick a name for yourself.”

“Actually…” The yellow ring at his temple starts turning. “I was thinking of making Nines my official name.”

“Is that so?” Gavin keeps his eyes on the tv, thinking about his partner’s words. Nines is the name he gave the android. It started as a nickname, something to call him that didn’t sound like he was berating him. Gavin thought it was quite fitting, though he hadn’t expected the android to immediately take a liking to it back then.

“With your permission, of course.”

Gavin frowns, shifting his gaze to his partner. “Why would you need my permission for that? It’s your name, it’s your life.”

“You came up with it,” the android explains.

“Isn’t the whole purpose of having free will and stuff being able to do what you want?” He brushes a hand through his hair. Conversations like this aren’t exactly his forte. “If you like the fucking name, then make it official. I’ll keep calling you whatever I want anyway.”

“Thank you, detective.”

“Gavin.” He rolls his eyes at his partner’s initial incomprehension. “Call me Gavin, dipshit. You might as well…”

Nines does that thing he calls smiling again. It’s just the corners of his mouth lifting up and the skin around his eyes crinkling a little. He doesn’t do it very often, although the frequency seems to have gone up the longer Nines is with the DPD. Or with Gavin , his mind supplies unwarranted. Gavin bristles at his own thought, thinking it is perfectly normal to like one’s partner. They work well together, he’s smart and he’s a good detective. Also, Nines is nice to be around, even when it’s sometimes awkward because he has trouble with some parts of deviancy. Like, it’s the first time Nines has been in his home for this long, the first time they hang out outside of work, save some after work drinks with colleagues, and Gavin is perfectly comfortable with having the android on his couch. Even when he’s looking at Gavin like he hung the fucking moon from less than three feet away.

The kitten tumbles over to the android, who scoops her up and places her on his lap. She is hardly bigger than his hand, his fingers curling carefully to scratch her belly. Babies, kittens, the terminator’s hands were gentle with all of them. It didn’t take long for the perfect Kodak moment to appear: a little white ball of fur curled up against the palm of Nines’ hand, fast asleep.

Gavin puts on an old cop show and him and Nines take turns in digging at the show’s factuality and fake police procedures. He also lets Sid back in the living room again, the lazy fucker only sniffing at the still sleeping kitten before settling in in his usual spot on the armchair. Nancy would’ve knocked the white puffball off the android’s lap, Sid on the other hand barely even cares he has a new roommate.

After a few episodes of the cop show Gavin yawns, stretching his arms behind his head. “I’m gonna hit the sack.”

“Yes, I suppose it’s time for me to go,” Nines answers, shifting gently in an attempt to get up without waking up the small cat in his lap. The little furball has been awake for small bits, Nines taking her to the kitchen for some food and a drink. She did some exploring too, trying to get acquainted with Sid, only to run back to Nines after repeatedly being hissed at.

“What, and wake tiny up? No, tin can, you’re stuck being a cat bed I’m afraid.” Gavin chuckles, getting up from the couch. “You can stay here if you want, unless you need your stasis pod or something.”

“I don’t require a pod to go into stasis. I could go without stasis for the night too,” Nines answers flatly. His lips pull in a thin line. “Are you sure you want me to stay? I wouldn’t want to impose.”

Gavin shrugs. “No problem. You can watch the kitten for me too, make sure she doesn’t get scared alone in the night or attacks my curtains again.”

Nines settles back into his original position on the couch. “I can do that.”

“Okay. Good night then.” Gavin had almost reached the hallway when he turns back. “Hey, Nines?”

His partner turns his head to him. “Yes, Gavin?”

“You uh.. you need anything?” He scratches the back of his neck. “Like a blanket or something?”

“I’m good, thank you.” Another one of those smiles.

“Okay. Right. Well. Good night.” It feels a bit weird to leave the android out in his living room for the night, without a blanket or a pillow. Yet he knows the stasis pods are bare too, the androids even stand up in those for hours at a time. Gavin’s old couch is probably more comfortable than those pods.

“Good night,” Nines says and his voice almost sounds warm. “Oh, and Gavin? I think Tiny is a good name for her.”

“Tiny? Yeah, that suits her, I guess. Then Tiny it is.” Gavin smiles, looking back at his impromptu houseguest one last time. “See ya tomorrow, partner.”

<< 5/10 >>

DBH Partners series masterpost

#detroit become human #dbh partners series #dbh #gavin reed #rk900 #slowburn #gavin reed x rk900 #reed900 #fanfiction #also available on AO3 #and wattpad #reblogging is appreciated #cats #gavin reed loves cats

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en-abime-updates · 4 days

Text

June 4th

Morning

Henry answers an ask sent to @williamy3w from @chthonianalacrity, which includes a picture of a hand painted Big Red Box button he made. (Summary below.)

Will answers an ask at @williamyew that reads “what exactly do you feel or think when you touch something? just in general. (Summary below.)

Afternoon

Will reblogs a picture of vintage glass medical syringes to @williamyew. His tags read “#Ain't found a fitting sedative for this “Digital” world yet ! #Used: #White noise #Pink noise #TV static #Sine waves #Silence #At least when I performed that procedure* on Henry he said it didn't hurt a bit! #So I must be doin' somethin' right!”

* Will is referring to when he gave Henry bottom surgery

Will and Henry answer an ask sent to @williamy3w, which simply reads “Ground beef” and includes an image of raw ground beef. (Summary below.)

Evening

Tati responds to an ask sent to @fortunateisle, which reads “Tati you’re so cool! Happy pride month!” She responds positively, wishing the asker a happy pride month.

Will and Henry respond to an ask wishing them a happy pride month. They wish the asker a happy pride month and briefly flirt with each other.

Will and Henry respond to an ask showing a bunny with a pancake on its head, captioned “I found a photo of Henry he didn’t want anyone to see.” Will says it looks just like Henry, and Henry jokingly claims it is insulting.

Night

Player Candle shares her En Abime Pinterest board in the discord.

Summaries Below

Henry’s BRB ask summary:

Henry replies happily and lets the player know that he added it to “[his] collection,” by which he means the Big Red Box “Found Band Records” page. He adds that these items make the band more popular, or at least seem so. This comment may be in reference to how Henry has been creating fictional backgrounds for all of the fanart that has been created for the Big Red Box to make it fit with the website’s theme that it’s run by someone uncovering information about the lost band Big Red Box.

Will’s touch/feeling ask summary:

William describes how he feels things a “data ghost” (a term many of us fans call the people in en abime, as an affectionate joke) in the digital age. He says that it’s generally hard to discern, but image descriptions help because “[he] can feel that information too.” He says that “[p]ixels are sharp unless there’s a lotta them, in which case I s’pose it’s almost fuzzy…”. He seems to be talking about resolution, but we may not be able to have a clear answers due to his somewhat limited knowledge on modern technology, which is all foreign to him as someone who is (or maybe just we have theorized to be) from the 1900s. He goes on to describe how different images feel. His descriptions of graphite and Polaroid pictures seem normal, but it may be worth remembering that he describes ink as “hard to differentiate from the parchment itself — it’s caught in the li’l’ fibers of the stuff.” While this may at first seem to have no bearing on the story or character analyses, this may be a subtle reference to Thomas, which provides us with information (which is greatly needed). The last thing he describes that may have some significance is that he has “visited a sailor’s tattoo or two in my time, so I know what skin feels like…”. This comment begs the question “Why was he intentionally visiting sailor tattoos?” Such an activity may make more sense if it was possibly code for something else. Additionally, this statement implies that he can feel images, seemingly without needing to create them in the abime plane, and, therefore, it may be smart to carefully consider if an image is safe for William to have before sending it.

William and Henry’s beef ask summary:

Will responds by saying that it looks like a human heart, but Henry disagrees. William then says that it looks like what his heart when he looks at Henry, which- despite being said in a joking, flirtatious manner- may be an insight to William’s actual anatomy in the abime. Henry then replies by jokingly calling him a sap, before switching to a serious tone to, somewhat unsurely, say that he believes beef is “par t o f a c o w”. Will replies by saying “[l]earn somethin' new every day!” This implies that he was unaware that beef is a cow product, which may give us further insight into the full extent of his loss of pre-abime memories.

#en abime #⚔️#Tati engelejes #William yew #henry bicknell #6/4/24

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tsukikoayanosuke · 3 years

Text

A Brief Ramble about the Fangame Drama

Good morning/afternoon/evening everyone.

It seems like we've fallen into another drama pit. Nothing special.

Well, usually I don't want to get involved, but I kinda want to give a bit of my own two cents from someone who made fangames in the past.

Before we start, I think we need to recap a bit. I won't be tagging people just in case.

So, kulfidraws created a sweet little fangame titled Twisted Wonderland: Your Story [BETA 1.0]. The official game blog can be view here, and please read it, it'll be important. Or if you want to see the gameplay, you can watch Ami Yoshiko (that's how I know about the fangame).

However, Proud Hufflepuff and The-Heartslabyul-Hatter posted some false information, creating the drama we have today (I cannot find the original Proud Hufflepuff's post but I vaguely remember seeing that, but I'll link to kulfidraws' post about The-Heartslabyul-Hatter's Twitter post since it was deleted now). This includes kulfidraws receiving anons messages, The-Heartslabyul-Hatter spamming the official Twisted Wonderland twitter, and recently about a Discord conversation.

Now, this might not be the best summary of the drama, because I'm not the best at digging deep. kulfidraws posted the timeline today if you guys want to see it. And a few days ago, The-Heartslabyul-Hatter posted an apology.

From what I see, there's a few major discussion here:

1) Misleading Information

Remember how we are pissed of when someone calls Twisted Wonderland an otome game? Well, the same can be said here.

First of all, this is a fangame with no association with the real game, Aniplex, or Yana Toboso. kulfidraws even said it themselves on their game blog.

This game is, as kulfidraws pointed out, "merely a fan project for entertainment".

But this is what The-Heartlabul-Hatter said about it:

Someone made a fake Twisted Wonderland game. This is copyright infringement. Game creators do not follow the rules. This is copyright infringement and should be stopped. Please share this message!

... spread the word on fake Twisted Wonderland games that make fans believe it's real! The game creator blocked the warning. Send a message to the creators!

There are a couple of things that I wanted to point out.

The-Heartslabyul-Hatter called this fan game a "fake Twisted Wonderland games that make fans believe it's real". This contradicts what kulfidraws said in the disclaimer that this is a "fan project". Surely when you read that, you wouldn't think that this game is real right?

However, let's just assume that people don't read that and try another angle. The fan game is known because Ami Yoshiko played it. Now, compare her gameplay of the fan game to the actual game prologue. Surely when you see the difference you can tell which is official and which is fan content. Even her title says that "Someone made a Twisted Wonderland Dating Sim and....💔💀😱 | Ami Yoshiko" and she put a link to kulfidraws's game blog. not an official google play. Surely that's an indication that this is a fangame right?

Want another angle? The news spread about the "fake Twisted Wonderland game" is from Twitter. When you search #twistedwonderland, the first thing that came out is the official Japanese Twitter. You can see that Twisted Wonderland is a gacha game, but the one that kulfidraws made is an Otome visual novel. Sure you would believe the actual Japanese Twitter to be the real thing, right?

There are so many angles to look from, I don't see how people can still make mistakes. There are clear differences between the original game and the fan-made one. Google is free. Do your research.

2) The Copyright Problem

On July 5th (or 4th, depending on your timezone), kulfidraws received an ask, related the copyright problem.

Now, copyright is a tricky thing that I'm not versatile at, but what kulfidraws said was correct. If a single fan game can get copyright problems, imagine what will happen to the fanart and fanfictions. We're all screw if Disney and Aniplex are that strict. But also, following GE1KGQEJWHRKGRQOGRQO's logic, if we need permission to make fangames, wouldn't that mean we also need permission to draw fanarts, write fanfics, and edit the sprites for Discord stickers or incorrect quotes?

However, I also wanted to point out that in the disclaimer kulfidraws stated that "This is merely a fan project for entertainment, non-commercial purposes". kulfidraws won't get anything from making this game, only entertainment. Even their interaction with one commenter on the blog pointed this out:

kulfidraws won't get anything from making this game, just like many other fan artists and fan writers in this community, even deny profiting from this. Us fangame creators are just doing what others are doing: making something for fun because we love this media.

But, if I can give one piece of advice for kulfidraws is that maybe add the disclaimer and credit in the game, just in case anybody only skims through the blog post. Even if the game just a demo, always put a disclaimer and/or credit, just in case.

I asked my brother for a second opinion and he did make a good point. Probably the biggest concern is the use of official arts. Because we can see the art in use, it becomes more noticeable than using OST (where there can also be remixes).

So, speaking from a personal experience. I used to be in the Hetalia fandom. There, there are hundreds of fanmade sprites and facesets for many fangames. For someone who can't draw, this is a goldmine, as long as we give credits. I myself had made two fangames with fanmade assets, so the credits are very long. Twisted Wonderland fandom hasn't reached that point yet and I only know two fan game creators, so using the assets from the game is an option, especially those who can't draw.

So, just in case, disclaimers and credits are needed (like a disclaimer at the beginning of the game and/or rolling credit at the end).

==========

Now, I had a script where I want to address the asks, however, I haven't done much research and I don't think I'm the best person to do that.

I'm only speaking this from a perspective of a fangame creator who also used many assets that's not my own, but I do give credits as much and complete as possible; in the actual game, in the description, in a post connected to the game and a word doc in the game file.

But the biggest issue is the spreading of misinformation. What kulfidraws made was not a remake or "fake" Twisted Wonderland like what The-Heartslabyul-Hatter claimed to be. We always tell people to do their research when they think Twisted Wonderland is an otome game, why can't we do that here as well?

But you might say, The-Heartslabyul-Hatter apologized.

Let's see that apology.

So, from this apology, we can see that:

They are not Proud Hufflepuff, but they share the same Discord server.

They weren't the ones sending the Japanese messages to kulfidraws.

They are sorry for accusing kulfidraws of ignoring and deleting things.

Now, do you see what's missing here?

The biggest issue, the stem of the drama, is Proud Hufflepuff and The-Heartslabyul-Hatter spread misinformation of the fangame, but I don't see any mention of that here. So, if kulfidraws doesn't accept the apology, it's not a surprise. The-Heartslabyul-Hatter and Proud Hufflepuff don't even apologize for that when they're technically the ones who started this.

==========

The bottom line is don't just go spread misinformation about something when you don't have a clear grasp of the thing.

We're here to have fun and creates various content (fanart, fanfic, fangames) because we love the game. Just, don't do any of this.

Thank you for reading. If I made any mistake, I sincerely apologize.

#the captain's rambling #twisted wonderland #disney twisted wonderland #twst #twst fangame drama

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sweettodo · 3 years

Note

LMFAO- can u headcannon the aot warriors + y/n in a zoom meeting. and y’know y/n a little baddie and wears a revealing outfit 😩😏

i just saw this tiktok of some fanart of them in a zoom meet and it was the cutest thing EVERRRR.

EREN-

• doesn’t even bother to get out of bed, he just rolls over, picks his laptop from the floor and joins the zoom only to fall back asleep.

• levi constantly attempts to get his attention, and eren doesn’t even budge.

• seldom awake, but when he IS, he will usually interrupt to ask a stupid question: ‘hange where did you get that cool plant?’ or ‘jean i smell you through the zoom call, did you shower today?’

• enjoys changing his background to an odd photo of jean or one of his friends.

• hange will be the first to kick eren out of the zoom, and it’s not like mr. jaeger cares or anything.

• not to mention, he leaves his camera on too. so everyone sees shirtless eren passed out under the blankets with not a regard in the world.

• eats while on the call.

• one day, ( he still thanks god he was awake to see this ) you were working out in the morning before realizing you were already 10 minutes late to your meeting.

• jumping on to the meeting, sweaty, in a revealing sports bra and shorts, you’re apologizing profusely to levi and hange for being late.

• ‘lookin’ good y/n’ eren cackles, but what you or your friends realizing was that eren was now breathless, trying not to stare at you with every bit of will-power he could muster up.

• ‘seems that eren’s pretty awake now, heh’ jean taunts, eren quickly turns off his camera, so he could enjoy looking at you, who decided to wear... that

JEAN-

~ also likes to change his background, plays on his xbox with or without connie, headphones on his head and screaming while levi is muting jean to proceed talking.

~ jean has the pc set up and everything with the two monitors and the colorful custom pc.

~ eren makes fun of him because he uses a microphone. like the ones that have the stand and everything.

~ his room is never fully lit. he used leds, ( blue or green tbh ) shades are always closed.

~ ‘jean, turn off the game. now’ hange swears she tells him everyday.

~ ‘hey jean, didn’t you wear that sweatshirt last time? do you have any other clothes?’ eren ridicules, of course interrupting levi, who’s talking.

~ ‘i see the crumbs on your bed, jaeger!’

~ jean finds himself staring at you once you joined the call, wearing a... revealing... tank top with a very generous bra. his mouth growing increasingly dry.

~ he assumes that no one seems to notice, but when his friends see that he’s quite literally frozen in place, mouth slightly open as he’s looking at your chest.

~ ‘jean’

~ no answer.

~ ‘jean!’

~ ‘hu- yeah, yes?’

~ ‘is your internet having issues? you’re frozen’

MIKASA-

: sits at her desk, she has a picture collage of her, eren and armin on her wall.

: pristine white walls, very clean.

: always needs to call eren to wake him up before the meeting so he doesn’t miss it.

: if she forgets to call eren to wake him up, he blames her for missing the meeting.

: mikasa and armin are always firsts to the meeting.

: she always speaks, and fully participates.

: levi and hange usually are apt to call on her first for her opinions.

: she never turns her camera off, she’s wearing a comfortable but appropriate outfit, jeans and a blouse or shorts and a t shirt.

: sends group emails, for literally whatever reason.

: compliments others backgrounds ( their rooms ).

: reminds eren that his room is a pigsty and he needs to get out of bed, ‘eren, it’s 11:30am, get up.’

: ‘jean, you need to make your bed once and awhile’

: she always compliments what you’re wearing too, ‘i love that top y/n, where’d you get it?’

: and will have absolutely no problem with putting the boys in their place when she catches them gawking at you.

: ‘you guys are like dogs’

: she tells levi to kick them from the meet if they keep staring at you.

ARMIN-

∘ always early.

∘ room is neat, warm looking and he sits on the edge of his bed with his laptop in his lap.

∘ most talkative one here besides levi and hange.

∘ also calls eren every morning to ensure he’s awake.

∘ armin has a notebook and pencil next to him, constantly writing down notes.

∘ always has a presentation ready, a powerpoint or a document to show everyone.

∘ usually sticks to casual, t shirt and jeans.

∘ room is well lit, camera and mic are always on.

∘ also reminds the others to pay attention and be quiet, pleading with them, ‘guys, captain levi is trying to talk.’ also always lectures eren to get out of bed once and awhile.

∘ he doesn’t really pay much attention to what the others are wearing, but he can’t help but glance a few times at your outfit for the day.

∘ it makes his heart pound of his chest when you move to stretch or prop for hand under your chin to listen, your chest on display, arms squeezing them together only a little. he was in awe, swallowing hard and trying not to blush.

∘ avoiding you at all costs.

∘ armin won’t admit it, but he’s a hypocrite, so he’s gonna lecture the boys not to objectify you and tells you that he’s sorry for their immaturity.

∘ but yet here he is.

LEVI-

» cup of tea ready.

» sits at his dining room table.

» dreads having to do the zoom meet, so he’s pretty short tempered the whole time.

» wearing a button up per usual.

» well lit, has a plant in the corner of the room, most likely a cat in the windowsill.

» very english teacher-esque.

» swears the whole time at eren.

» kicks eren and jean out almost every zoom meeting.

» relies on armin for detailed information and analysis’

» needed to ask hange in secret how to present his screen, pin / mute people because he was pretty inept at computers for the most part.

» doesn’t use the mouse pad on his laptop, he connects a mouse because he despises that stupid mouse pad.

» the second he sees what you’re wearing, he shakes his head, ‘tch, i can hear these hounds now’

» yells at the boys to stop being perverts.

CONNIE-

‣ similar to jean, he also used led’s most of the time.

‣ has posters on his walls of music artists, shows, games and people

‣ he sits at his desk, which is cluttered, occasionally plays video games ( not as much as jean )

‣ zones out, looking at something random and blocks out a lot of what hange and levi says.

‣ yawns like 80 times in the span of an hour.

‣ drinks soda, or surfs the web.

‣ his bed is made, and he wears sweatshirts and sweats because like eren, he just got out of bed too.

‣ though connies bed is made, he still has clothes littered here and there, has a rack of shoes in the corner of his room ( he’s a sneaker head )

‣ most likely to not turn his camera on because he leaves the room to do god knows what.

‣ plays imessage games during the call.

‣ teases eren constantly.

‣ he won’t be AS dog-ish when he sees what you’re wearing, but he will say to himself, ‘she has some pretty nice tits’ and will probably text jean saying exactly that. but then he just moved on with his day.

‣ presents memes before the meeting to try and get levi to laugh. it doesn’t work.

HANGE-

≈ shes on her couch.

≈ wears casual outfits.

≈ ushers the boys to participate.

≈ very upbeat and happy.

≈ first person to make an interactive slideshow to get everyone to participate.

≈ shes into sending levi cat memes.

≈ has a cup of coffee next to her, plants and pictures of plants on her wall.

≈ likes to unmute people purposely if their mic is muted.

≈ emails back and fourth with armin and levi for plans for the upcoming meetings.

≈ she will not tolerate anyone disrespecting one another. kicking the boys out to stop them from harassing you about what you’re wearing.

HISORIA-

‹ her room is like a oasis, pastel walls, the vines on her walls and everything.

‹ diffuser in the background and incense.

‹ shes drinking coffee, always dressed, makeup on ( if she chooses to wear it ) and she attends these meetings on her laptop, sitting in front of her vanity.

‹ wears pretty blouses, or a summery dress, hair always fixed to perfection.

‹ sometimes her mom comes in, with cut up fruit and ice water, giving it to her and then leaving.

‹ she has framed pictures of her and everyone on her wall.

‹ also has honor roll certificates on her wall.

‹ she makes sure her vanity light is on so she has good lighting.

‹ also takes notes- color coordinating notes.

‹ she does participate, she laughs at the boys when they act up.

‹ also compliments everyone.

‹ when she catches the boys looking at you, she tells levi to make them knock it off, and then shakes her head in disappointment, ‘you all are so weird, leave y/n alone, you’re making her uncomfortable’

YMIR-

≍ shes usually propped up on her side, laying on her bed or the couch.

≍ she doesn’t participate unless she’s chosen to.

≍ keeps quiet, pays good attention.

≍ she sticks to wearing a sweatshirt and shorts or just a t shirt and leggings.

≍ clean room, warm blue sheets and gray walls.

≍ she gets furious when jean and eren go at it.

≍ shes gonna defend you against the boys pertaining to what you’re wearing, saying, ‘take your dirty eyes off of her’

≍ she doesn’t mind what you’re wearing, she thinks you look really good, but you wouldn’t catch her dead making a comment on your body.

≍ won’t admit it but it makes her flustered seeing how your body looks.

SASHA-

⇝ sits at her kitchen table.

⇝ eating full meals while the meeting takes place.

⇝ doesn’t hesitate to talk when her mouth is full so levi keeps her muted.

⇝ house is very home-y, warm and decorated well, her kitchen is seen in the background with her mom or dad occasionally walking past.

⇝ sometimes asking her mom to make her another sandwich, ( after her third one ).

⇝ always laughing with connie and jean.

⇝ sticks to casual outfits, sweatshirt and leggings, hair always up.

⇝ no filter, so if she catches eren or jean looking at you, she’s gonna jump into action.

⇝ ‘i know you’re not looking at her like that!’

⇝ ‘you better stop looking at her before i go over there!’

⇝ ‘captain if you don’t kick these fools out right now i’ll go over there and kick their asses instead!’

#eren jaeger #sasha aot #connie aot #attack on titan jean #send me drabble requests #hange zöe #levi ackerman #mikasa #armin arlert #ymir aot #historia #attack on titan headcanons #attack on titan #aot drabble #drabbles

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maxdark158 · 3 years

Text

OOOH two chapters in one week??? damn even i’m jealous. of myself. though this also isn’t edited so i might read it tomorrow morning and regret life, soooo

Angel in Gotham: Part 1 ~ Part 2 ~ Part 3 ~ Part 4 ~ Part 5 ~ Part 6 ~ Ao3

Demon in Gotham: Part 1 ~ Part 2 ~ Part 3 ~ Part 4 ~ Part 5 ~ Ao3

Fanart for AiG: Riddler ~ Joker thank you @thegreysman

Please tag me in any fanart you draw for this guys ^^

oooOOOooo

The large plant in the street wasn’t promising.

Neither was the very loud scream of pain they heard as they arrived to the scene.

Damian might’ve popped some knuckles when he clenched his fists, he wasn’t fully paying attention. What the ever-loving fucking hell in a fuck was Ivy doing? Harley best not be here too or Damian may strangle both of them for coming near his Angel.

Deep fucking breaths I’m going to fucking lose it-

When they arrived, father signaled a quick “to first two follow” plan and he and Grayson went ahead, leaving Damian and Drake on the roof. Damian itched to jump and move forward. The worry was awful, filling his mind with the most unrealistic of thoughts. He tried to correct them, prove them wrong, but they were overwhelming.

What if I check through her window to make sure she’s in there and oka- he didn’t know which room she had and it would take too long.

What if the scream was hers- It was deeper, male sounding.

What if she was crushed under that plant- She wouldn’t be, right? There wasn’t any evidence of someone being under there-

What if she’s hurt? Afraid? Dying?

He heard yelling. Angry yelling, in a male voice. The constricting worry reminded him of every dangerous male villain in Gotham right now. He went through a list of those currently MIA, those who might’ve yelled. It didn’t make sense, no villain sighting was reported aside from Ivy…

But it was possible.

And the possibility made Damian want to puke.

He had to move he had to do something. He jumped down. It hadn’t been enough time yet but he didn’t care. He heard Drake hiss something in warning about Batman’s orders or something Damian didn’t fucking care about, because he had to see for himself. He had to walk in there and he had to make sure she was okay.

Before he could go in, he saw Ivy walk out through the door. What?! he moved to intercept her before seeing the blood going down her leg- What the fucking fuck happened?! Why was she bleeding?

Ivy raised a brow when she saw him. “I got a pass this time, bird. Might want to help them in there.”

The sick feeling returned. He didn’t want to trust a villain, a criminal… but Ivy wasn’t the most horrible.

He eyed the blood, the worried weeds supplying images of his Angel bleeding in the same way. Ivy was not the worst that could happen… His mind went through that handy list of villains again. Many much worse than Ivy.

Damian turned away from Ivy. Father and Grayson shattered the window the plant hadn’t gone through, he made a motion toward it before Drake grabbed his shoulder.

“Let go of me you-“

“If you’re going to disobey Batman, at least let me go with you,” Drake looked exasperated. “You’re focused on your friend, right? Someone needs to watch your ass then.”

Damian glared before prying Drake’s hand off his shoulder. If he wanted to follow, fine. Damian wouldn’t stop him. He went through the broken window and finally entered the hotel.

The vending machine was unplugged and face down on the ground, glass surrounding it. Ivy’s giant plant was in the middle of the room, steam thicker than the pot it previously inhabited and petals as big as the Batmobile’s tires. Other miscellaneous things were strewn across the room, including cut hair near the elevator.

But what had Damian’s heart pounding was the playing cards. Playing cards that were embedded in the walls and the front desk and the floor. Razor sharp playing cards. A certain villain’s playing cards.

Fucking fucking shit fuck bitch ass fuck-

“Father,” Damian’s voice was surprisingly level as he spoke. His eyes landed on the fucking purple suited clown mother fucker himself. “What is Joker doing here?”

Father however seemed to be answering something Grayson must have said, “It appears she was rescuing…”

Ivy was rescuing.

Ivy was helping.

Damian’s eyes scanned the room right as someone else made themselves known.

Marinette!

The air left his lungs. She looked worse for wear, dark circles under her eyes and blood- fucking hell blood on her person. She was shaking like a leaf in the wind, and Damian wanted nothing more than to comfort her. Help her.

He opened his mouth to speak, stepping toward her.

She began to sob.

As if Damian somehow needed to panic even more.

“I’m sorry,” the words were quietly choked out between hics and sobs. “I’m a hor- horrible person and-”

“Hey now,” Grayson took a step closer, trying to comfort her. Damian’s feet were stuck to the floor, the words stuck in his mouth, preventing him from doing the same. “I’m sure you’re not-”

She held up her hands, showing the blood on them. Damian inhaled sharply when he saw the bits of glass embedded into her palm – the green haired fuck hurt her.

“I broke his leg,” she took a big gulp of air. Damian bit back the words and he deserved it. “With a rock. And I threw things at him. A chocolate bar, a cookie, a phone, a lamp, a vending machine-”

“A vending machine?” His father glanced at the vending machine on the ground. Damian didn’t bother trying to decipher his expression, Marinette was turning red and gasping between her sobs. She needed to breathe.

“Miss, please calm down,” Grayson began to step toward her. Damian’s feet finally moved, and he began surging toward her as well.

She fell, nearly hitting her head on the way down. Damian caught her before she could though, barely. Fuck, she needed to breathe like yesterday.

“I’m terrible, horrible, I shouldn’t have done this,” the words used the last of her breath and were only a whisper.

Panic made his throat feel stuck and his voice thick. “Angel,” Damian spoke as calmly as he could. “You need to breathe.”

She didn’t breathe.

oooOOOooo

Usually, lack of sleep was associated with the coffee obsessed Drake, but it seemed Damian’s own mind was determined to show him what it was like to live like a lunatic. He wasn’t able to sleep even when he tried, though he didn’t try that much either. He’s pretty sure he spent an hour staring at his weedkiller order – an order that somehow got lost in Kentucky – wishing it to suddenly appear at the front gate. Then again after coming home, most of the night was a blur.

He rubbed his eyes and let his thoughts wander through the memories of last night. Or, early morning technically.

Marinette looked delicate and broken on the stretcher as she was loaded into the ambulance. Damian had to turn his head away. He saw Drake and Todd looking at him, but he didn’t want their fucking pity.

She’d be fine.

She had to be.

After Angel had passed out, she began to breathe again. She immediately got medical attention for her injuries, riding in a different ambulance than Joker, who also got medical attention at Arkham. Damian wanted nothing more than to skin him alive as he left, but he avoided doing it for the time being. Barely.

“There’s some of Joker’s laughing shit over here, B-man.”

“Have Red Robin neutralize it. We’ll have to check the tapes and see if anyone was affected.”

“Besides the guy who’s body we found behind the desk, I don’t think anyone else got hit. But good call. Red Robin, over here!”

Drake got the security camera feed and Damian saw the entirety of what happened in the hotel lobby. His Angel fought bravely and intelligently, though he couldn’t say he was a fan of the bitch who left her behind.

“Why did she go for the elevator? I’d hate being stuck in there with the Joker. And she let her classmate just fight?”

“Maybe she called for help once she got away. And even if she didn’t, we can’t judge a teenager for panicking in this situation, Tim. Damian’s friend is an anomaly.”

“I don’t know… too bad the cameras don’t have audio, I wonder what she’s saying before they realize that Joker is there.”

“Are you able to read her lips?”

“Golly jee I wish I fucking thought of that! Thanks for reminding me to read her lips on this old and grainy camera footage where you can barely tell her eyes from her nose!”

“Jesus Replacement, no need to bite my head off.”

Damian looked into it,and found that no calls were made to the police until the plant fell through the window. The calls then were about Ivy appearing, deduced by people nearby who saw the plant. That good for nothing bitch left my Angel with the Joker-

“No calls were made by anyone within the hotel. All the calls were made by people on the street or living nearby who saw the plant.”

“Hmm… Odd…”

“…I’m sorry but how the fuck did someone sleep through a giant ass plant breaking the main floor windows? How?!”

“Maybe it’s a French secret.”

He shook his head. After they got all the information, father decided to send the French children back early and pay for it himself. Damian, internally, knew why. He painted a target on Angel’s back, if she didn’t have one before.

“You realize he heard you, right?”

“What do you want, Todd?”

“Fucks’ sake demon spawn, listen to me. Joker heard you call her Angel.”

“…”

“I was already aware of that. I’ve made plans to have the class moved back in Paris. If it gets around, She’ll be an ocean away and more difficult to harm.”

��Alright, B. Was just trying to warn Demon Spawn.”

“Maybe next time he won’t fuck up.”

“Tim, no need to be harsh.”

“It’s vigilante 101, Bruce. Damian’s been doing this for years.”

“Perhaps instead of being berated for a mistake he didn’t intend, you should let Master Damian retire to his room to rest.”

Damian grumbled to himself, trying to push the intrusive awful worrisome thoughts out of his head. The ones that said maybe going back to Paris wouldn’t be enough to protect her. The ones that said Joker would want revenge, the ones that-

The ones that he wasn’t fucking listening to right now thank you very fucking much!

Damian sighed to himself. He needed some sleep. After handling the news, getting the class handled, and looking into everything involving Joker’s break in at the hotel he was told to get to bed as the sun began rising. It hadn’t really worked, as now a few hours later he was debating stealing some of Drake’s coffee to make it through the day.

Because he did have one very important task to do today. He needed to check on his Angel, and say goodbye to her. He had her number of course, and they could text as often as possible for the two of them, but he still needed to see her. See her and apologize for how horrible this trip must’ve turned out for her.

I’m bad luck, being near me ruined her trip.

Damian went to the bathroom to brush his teeth, ignoring that train of thought.

Riddler attacked her when I was there. Joker appeared after I dropped her off. I made her unlucky. I got her hurt.

It’d be easier to ignore that train of thought if it weren’t so fucking loud.

Time felt blurry right now. Probably because he was tired. But soon he was dressed in a hoodie and sunglasses, disguised so he didn’t get mobbed by paparazzi while visiting his Angel in the hotel. He was pulling his shoes on when there was a knock at the door.

“What do you want?” The knocking bounced in his head and made it hurt. Maybe he had a migraine, he wasn’t sure.

“Such a nice way to say good morning Demon Spawn,” Todd strolled in like he fucking owned the place and leaned against the wall next to the door. Damian wondered what it’d be like to have Jon’s laser sight so he could glare at Todd and kill him.

“You didn’t have permission to come in.”

“I wanted to talk to you.”

“That doesn’t mean you get to.”

“Tough shit,” Todd rolled his eyes. “…You… alright?”

Damian narrowed his eyes at him. “Why are you asking something like that?”

“Your friend got attacked and is leaving the city because of a target on her back. Which, while I did point out that you called her a petname in front of Joker-“

“It isn’t a petname-“

“-It isn’t your fault.”

The words starkly contrasted Damian’s internal beliefs and he had to blink a few moments to make sure what he heard was real. Because what the fuck? Why would Todd try to convince him his fuck up somehow wasn’t his fucking fault!?

“It’s… not my fault that I stupidly revealed a relationship connection to a civilian in front of one of the worst villains this city has suffered?”

“Okay, that was all you, smartass,” Todd sighed. “but the other shit isn’t your fault. You didn’t hurt her, the fucked up clown did. You didn’t put her in danger, her fucking teacher and class did by abandoning her. You’re at fault for your actions, not other people’s, so if you’re blaming yourself then fucking stop. Freckles’d probably get upset if you were using her to hate yourself.”

“What on this planet makes you think I’m doing that?!” Damian’s voice rose in a snap, hypocritically, because he realized as he spoke the words that he… kind of was doing that.

Fucking feelings and fucking worry and fucking weeds in his head were the reason, of course, but he… was… fuck, he’s tired isn’t he?

“I died, Demon Spawn.” Damian raised a brow at Todd, waiting for the halfwit to continue. “Bruce and I… aren’t on the best of terms, but I did realize he… he did that. Where what Joker did was his fault. I’m not happy the fucker is still alive, but that doesn’t mean Bruce was the one who killed me. No that was all Joker.”

“What does that have to do with anything again?” Damian really just wanted Todd out of his room and not talking about things in the past. He totally understood his point and everything, but it wasn’t anything a gallon sized bottle of weedkiller wouldn’t fix.

“Wow, you must be really tired, damn,” the fucker smirked before his expression changed into something less asshole-ish. “I’m saying that if you’re blaming yourself for what the Joker did to Freckles, stop it. The fucker lost a leg and she’s on her way to the hotel from the hospital now.”

Wait.

Wait what?

“Wait what?!” Damian wasn’t even sure which one he was reacting to – the news that Angel was okay or the news that the Joker was permanently damaged.

Angel’s self defense might’ve permanently helped Gotham?!

Okay maybe he knew what he was reacting to.

Todd turned to leave like a fucking dickhead and Damian could hear the smirk in his voice as he walked away. “Check the news for the Joker thing and ask Alfred to take you to Freckles in like an hour.”

Damian was smart enough to realize that not checking out of spite for Todd would only disadvantage himself.

He still only checked a couple minutes later though. After glaring at his phone willing himself to somehow know without checking.

He needing headache pills.

oooOOOooo

The Unnamed Teenager That Defeated The Riddler Cripples Joker!

Just days after beating The Riddler at his own game, the same teenage girl holds off The Joker until Batman arrives!

“We had to amputate him below the knee,” Arkham doctor says. “There was too much glass in the wound, it cut several muscles, tendons, and arties. The shattered bone didn’t help.”

French Teenager Unavailable for Comment.

[Read More]

oooOOOooo

Damian had snuck through the lobby up to his Angel’s room. Some of her classmates were downstairs, but he hadn’t paid much attention to them, not caring at the moment.

The last memory he had of her was the blood on her hands and tears in her eyes before she fell to the floor. He wanted to change that, wanted to maybe even see if he could get her to smile. Though that felt ambitious…

He just… needed to make sure she was okay.

Damian knocked on Marinette’s hotel room door.

#daminette #maribat #damimari #maridami #marinettexdamian #damian x marinette #Damian Wayne #Marinette #joker #joker mention #he's pretty quiet in this POV #the badassness is in AiG #rip mari's health #in a week alfred be like master wayne #why is there a delivery for weedkiller in your name #damian takes it from his hands #and chugs

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neonponders · 3 years

Text

I never thought I’d write a court jester!Steve x King!Billy fic, but here we are. I entirely blame @ghostofjellyfishforgotten and @drinkingbeerfroma for this 💋

The original king!Billy and jester!Steve fics are here~ (this is a gift for Ghost and meant to be read in tandem with their fics 🌹)

Drinkingbeerfroma’s fanart is here~ (the enabling source, send them some love 🌹)

P.s....you can probably tell how much of The Witcher: Blood and Wine influenced this for me lol Ch. 2 coming soon! Or, you know, some time!

Read on ao3.

• • • • • • •

Billy strolled into his royal chambers with a tune on his lips. Usually the rustle of clothing, the scoot of furniture, reacted to his whistle so that he could meet his jester right at the door. Or by the bed.

Then again, Steve did wander. Perhaps that’s why he worked as a jester: always the desire to move, to fidget, and it had lent into a natural proclivity for acrobatics.

Billy had never much cared for the athleticism of the job. Not that it wasn’t impressive, but the stunts were the bottom of his jester’s abilities. His Steve.

Steve, who was nowhere in the expansive rooms. Billy huffed a sigh through his nose. He began loitering around, investigating what his jester had left behind and what it could mean for where he’d gone.

Except…he’d left everything behind. Billy’s gaze locked on the sapphire and green velvet of the suit he’d gifted Steve himself, now left in a rumbled state on the bed. The gleaming silk fibers moved with the midday light of the window as Billy circled around the bed to touch them, as if to test that they were real. The fool as good as lived in the king’s royal chambers by this point, so he opened the dresser beside the large writing desk and—

Steve’s original suits and garments sat in the drawers, untouched. The yellow shirt Billy had torn—twice—until Steve left it in disrepair, tired of mending it. The red and purple suit which he’d first strolled into court wearing. His blue boots. The red boots. The god-awful yellow boots to go with that shirt apart from how stained they were from daily living.

What the hell is my fool wearing? Billy mused in disbelief, his amusement only checked by worry.

Amusement that snuffed out under the weight of a paper he finally saw on the desk itself. Both of Steve’s jester hats stood on either side of it, crowning the white square to garner Billy’s attention. More than once, Billy had marveled at his jester’s ability to read and write. This was not one of those times.

Majesty,

An emergency called me home. Nothing to worry about. I’ll return soon.

Yours,

Steve.

Billy read those four lines over and over again, worry tussling with indignant rage, and then confusion. He wanted more out of a note from Steve, which ought not be the prior concern in his mind, but there it was.

Why not address me by my name? This note is for me, nobody else. Who did you fear seeing it? In my own chambers? We’re far past courtly manners.

Largest understatement of his entire reign, but whatever. More annoying and concerning details eclipsed Billy’s focus.

He had no idea where ‘home’ meant for Steve. His Steve. Billy’s pride ordained that Billy is his home; what other place—or person—could have the audacity to yank his fool right out from under him?

Billy’s voice roared down the corridors outside his chambers. His staff was certainly used to making haste in their duties, but this was something else. The king had lost something precious to him, and hell would shiver until he had it back.

It is both a blessing and a curse that the lesbians in his court did not fear him.

“Would you shut the hell up?” Heather barked, swinging out of her room fully dressed in robes but hair a disaster. “Some of us like to do our own fucking now and again.”

“Where is Steve?” Billy growled, damned note in hand. “When did you last see him?”

“This morning,” she sighed with a tone that Billy did not understand until she added, “When he left with Robin. He warned me that you might be grouchy—”

“Grouch—” he began to seethe, but Heather took the paper right out of his hand to give it a look.

“He said he left you a note, your majesty,” she purred through a voice he now noticed to be quite raw. Overused. Her eyelids hung low like she was drunk, or three orgasms gone to the wind.

This only abated Billy’s nerves slightly. Steve genuinely left on his own?

“Where is home?”

Heather frowned at the lines. “For a musician, he isn’t great with words.”

“HEATHER.”

“Same home as my lady, Robin’s. They complain about their corner of the kingdom often enough,” she retorted while surrendering the note as if it had caught flame. “Good grief. How many months has it been? You really don’t pay attention. Your majesty.”

He grimaced pointedly at her lackadaisical manners this morning, but snatched the page up. The sour expression did not fade as he asked, “Who are you fucking if Robin’s not here?”

Heather’s groggy eyes rolled. “I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself many times over. You’re not the only one around here with an abundance of energy.”

Fuming and feeling too hot for his clothes, Billy marched back to his chambers, yelling orders about a horse.

* * *

More than one person urged against this decision. The more people who tried to talk him out of it, the more disheartening the whole point of secrecy became. Then again, roaring for the whole castle to hear, might not have been the wisest start.

So he sent a rider in one direction, on some pointless “errand for the king,” while he road in another.

It had been a long time since Billy wore commoners’ clothes. He also did not usually go clean-shaven, but he was a different person now. A lone rider on the king’s road, journeying his way to the edge of the kingdom. Two advisors had urged him to take an entourage, at most his best guardsman—but Billy is the best guardsman. First knight and crown prince under his father, The Tyrant. Every dawn stolen from him until the late king’s passing, utterly devoted to training hard, practicing consistent, and never, never losing.

Until the old bastard finally croaked from pneumonia. How simple. How mortal. And ironic, considering his playboy—rat of my blood—heir paraded around with open shirts whenever he was off duty. Constantly challenging gods and climate to do away with him whenever they wished.

The gods took a different king, though. Billy is the monarch now, and for a while, he will be nobody. A fool searching for his fool, and it was not lost on him how ironic his own death might become. But traveling alone on his own roads did not deter him. He’d been on these highways many times—hell, he’d even been assigned to designing and monitoring the reconstruction of the kingdom’s infrastructure.

His last steps on these roads occurred during the funeral tour for his father. An obnoxious tradition, but he’d made the journey in his first month as king. He wondered if anyone would recognize him now. He’d grown his hair out, and so often adorned his face with nothing less of stubble; often indulging in his own shaving kit to manage his facial hair himself and styled it differently whenever he wished. He liked the way lovers shivered against him when he touched their skin. When the lion pressed his lips against the lamb’s pulse.

He liked applying creams to Steve’s inflamed, beard-burnt skin.

He sighed over his horse’s even, medium paced trot. He was a fool, indeed.

* * *

The only thing keeping Billy from scolding himself for knowing so little about his jester, was the fascination of where he came from. Lady Robin entered court to jeers and teasing over her humble, bumpkin origins—before she rightly debated and venomously talked her way around every gnat who dared flaunt a lower intelligence over her.

Billy knew she and Steve got along, but not how much they had in common. Originating from one of the farming districts was one thing, but specifically the dairy and vineyard region proved a fascinating piece of information.

As well as a gorgeous journey. It took a day and two nights, but forests soon exhaled into rolling hills for lines of grape trees, pastures for cattle, sheep, and goats. Billy knew he was getting closer to the center of it all because grapevines began to line the road, with signs every couple of miles encouraging travelers to eat their fill, along with a number informing how far they were to more accommodating civilization.

The smell of shit and manure dampened the experience, but Billy could not claim ignorance over how his own city smelt during the summer. Even under royal decree that half the fleabags leave the capital in order to minimize summer fever and pestilence, the place still reeked.

The road began to veer down into a lush valley of hills; below was the bustling city of this region, and above stood a number of large homes. One ought to have appeared bigger than the rest, but such shared opulence suggested a wealthy middle class instead of one lord standing above them all. Economically, this was healthier. Socially, Billy felt utterly foreign to this hierarchal shape. His court was an uneven, pyramid hourglass. With himself standing on its point, a bloated pool of lords and deceit, then a strangled middle class before an even bigger pool of lower class just trying to feed themselves. It is a shape which cannot hold itself up, and yet he tirelessly managed it.

It’s not my fault, he defended to nobody. It’s what I inherited.

He pat his horse’s neck, feeling the silken grey fur that drew passersby’s glances. He had a beautiful mount: a grey so vibrant she looked blue under storm clouds. His saddle and bridle were humble; couldn’t very well walk around with his embossed leather saddle or a bridle glittering with the king’s golden medallions on every buckle.

When a woman gazed a little too long at him instead of his horse, Billy eased to a stop and smiled charmingly. “Excuse me, where might I find the House of Buckley?”

She adjusted the basket in her arms to hold it on her hip while she swayed coyly. “Peach-colored house on the hill, sir. May I ask what business you have there?”

“Visiting a friend.” Unless she’s in disguise too.

“Best to wait until evening time. Everyone’s in the market or out in the fields right now.”

Billy tilted his head at her. “Buckley is a noble house.” Nobody is working in the fields from that family—

Then she laughed. Laughed. “Are you from the capital?”

Billy’s charm faltered on his face, but he picked it back up easily enough. “Thereabouts. Why?”

“Because people from the capital believe everyone’s rich. Rich enough to sit or poor enough to not own a chair. We all work here, and we’re all in the market or the fields. I can tell you which are Sir Buckley’s, though.”

The little twit liked being a know-it-all, but it served Billy a great deal to be given the tour. Here, property decided who reigned, and property came in the form of land, livestock, or both. With that came a handful of useful names: Buckley, Hagan, Harrington, Wheel—

Billy’s eyes widened like a cat’s pupils dilating on prey. “STEVE!”

Because…there he was. His Steve, strolling right up the cobbled road from the hills and into the market with a donkey loaded with grape baskets beside him. He hadn’t heard his name, giving Billy the time to absorb every new detail about the man who vanished from his castle.

The white, puffy shirt held close to his body with a waistcoat. High-waisted trousers made his legs look long and lean over workman’s boots. He shoved up the colorful fabric ties around his biceps, holding up the shirtsleeves but failing due to all of the sweat from a day in the sun. A belt sagged a little diagonally around his hips, on which such things as pliers, shears, a garden knife, and a pair of leather and canvas gloves waited for use.

Steve took off a large sunhat and set it on the donkey’s head, combing both of his hands through his voluminous, brown hair—

“Steve!”

Billy began to walk his horse in that direction, having long since dismounted for the courtesy of his guide, but now the latter gripped his arm in warning. “That’s Lord Harrington to you.”

Billy blew a raspberry right into the air, scoffing, “Excuse me?”

The woman rolled her eyes so hard, she would have been thrown into a stockade for behaving like that to—well, to a king. But she let go of him and went on her way, leaving him to his fate.

So off he went. Billy walked his mount over to where a collection of people were attending to the donkey and the grapes, and Steve nodded in discussion with an older man.

“Lord Harrington, I hear?” he crooned in greeting.

Two heads rotated toward him, and Billy felt rather smacked in the face by the matching eyes and nose. Father. This is Steve’s father.

Lord Harrington. Twice over.

Steve’s features opened with shocked eyes and a dropped jaw. His eyes darted to his father’s frown, and Billy quickly backpedaled, “I apologize. I know the younger, but not the older. My name’s Billy Hargrove.”

He’d bowed his fair share as a knight, though the gesture felt far removed since he was out of practice. Never the less, Steve gaped at his king bowing slightly at the hips and extending a hand for Lord Harrington to shake.

Thing about being king, not many people actually know the monarchy’s family name. They knew William the Second. William of the Grove. Some whispered the Second Tyrant, but only because Billy was still young and new to being king. They were waiting for him to prove them right.

Lord Harrington shook his head with a glance at his son. “You didn’t say anyone was coming with you.”

“I didn’t think anyone was,” Steve answered bluntly, but he picked up the gist of Billy’s disguise easily enough. “Billy’s been a big help to me in the capital.”

“How so?”

Billy’s brows lifted, but before he could provide a veiled innuendo, Steve chirped, “Roommates. Got me a job. Kept me fed.”

“I did my best,” Billy crooned. He watched Steve’s apple bob in his throat.

Lord Harrington, with his similar, albeit shorter and silver, hair and weathered skin opened his arm to gesture Billy up the road. “You’ll be our guest, then. I’ll show you along. Are you staying at the inn?”

“No, my lord. I’ve only just arrived.”

“Very good. This way. Steve, remind Roger about the textiles. We’ve sheared the animals twice already this season. He needs to either wash it or sell it. We can’t hold onto it or else it will mold and be useless to barter.”

Billy peeked at Steve, who similarly veered to go on his separate way. He met Billy’s gaze for the briefest second, and he looked…not entirely happy to see Billy.

The king did not like that at all.

* * *

Billy looked around the Harrington estate, taking in every detail that Lord Harrington granted him. He had yet to see an inkling of whatever this emergency could have been to rush Steve out of the capital. Out of Billy’s bed. It made sense, now, why he had left everything behind, since he had a home and full wardrobe waiting for him here. Billy had not seen a glimpse of Lady Buckley, though.

People are supposed to ask my permission to leave, damn it. Or at the very least, inform him first. Not skip town like bandits.

The Harrington house looked out over the estate’s vast hills of grapes, goats, and sheep. It would have been endearing, the farmers using their canes to nudge the goats along the alleys of vines so they could snack on fallen grapes. Endearing, if Steve had been the one to show him all this. Billy wanted Steve next to him on this veranda—if it could be called that. The house and its balconies overlooking the city and hills were much smaller than his castle’s, of course.

Billy did not stay long in his rooms—room. Just a room. You certainly acclimated to luxury, he reminded himself. One of his first orders in the castle had been a complete renovation to his chambers. He would not live in his father’s rooms. Those were turned into a storage branch of the castle, and Billy had several walls knocked down to make way for the new royal apartments. Let the old bastard haunt the broom cupboards.

Billy trotted down the narrow stairs into what felt like an abrupt arrival at the dining room. Further down in the house would be the kitchen but there was a smaller, stewards’ pantry, of sorts, in which a woman stood and rotated upon hearing him. It took a second, but Billy remembered to bow.

“Am I correct in addressing the lady of the house?”

“You are,” smiled Lady Harrington. It came as no surprise that she looked at least ten years younger than her husband, but the blonde hair did catch Billy off guard. She offered her hand, which he took and kissed its back.

“For some reason, I didn’t think Steve took after his father so much.”

“In looks only. He has all his personality from me.”

Billy rocked a little on his heels, humming an acknowledging sound. He certainly did not voice his amusement that she might’ve just revealed more about her marital bed than she meant to. He simply replied, “I believe it. May I ask: Steve and Lady Buckley rushed out with hardly any explanation. Is everything all right?”

“Oh, everything’s no more out of the ordinary than it usually is,” she began, returning to her task of preparing what looked like a fruit-soaked wine for their dinner. She sliced up apples and peaches with a curved blade and a practiced hand. “However, our ordinary can be quite sudden and busy.”

A different hum came from Billy’s chest at that. “I understand. Is there anything I can do?”

“Well, if you’re offering, you can half those grapes right there.”

Billy sent the wooden bowl of fruit a dubious glance and then laughed breathily, “I meant—”

“I know what you meant,” she smiled. “For now, you can help me prepare the wine.”

A long dead growl moved through Billy’s mind. Woman’s work—

Stay dead, tyrant, Billy hushed with finality. He accepted the spare knife from her and did the task he was given. She couldn’t know that he was who he was, after all. No one in this town apart from Steve knew that Billy could supply the money, machinery, and manpower at a moment’s notice for whatever reason they might need—

Chatter and laughter moved like a reverse echo outside the house, blooming quickly until, of all people, Robin Buckley herself clapped on the stoop of the Harrington’s side door. Open as it is for the breeze to come and go, she waltzed right in, and stopped at the sight of Billy. Her laughter cut off only to be replaced with, “You!”

“Me,” he threw right back. He raised a brow at a woman of the royal court wearing trousers and boots.

Lady Harrington chimed, “Oh, so you are friends.”

Billy peered back at her. “Was there any doubt?”

“Oh, dear, you look like you’ve never worked a field in your life.”

Billy had never heard his jaw hit the floor until that moment. Robin’s chuckle arrived beside him as she ripped off a handful of grapes for a snack. “When did you get here?”

“Not an hour ago.”

“You could’ve stayed put.”

“You’re enjoying this,” he growled, hoping that she heard his meaning through the words. I’m still your king even if no one here knows it.

She smirked, hearing loud and clear. “Steve gave me the heads up.”

He matched her smile, tone dripping with charming venom. “And where is he?”

She shook her head at him, cooing a tone that was both soothing and condescending. “He’ll be around. You’re in…his house, after all. Thanks, Anne.”

“You’re welcome, dear,” came Lady Harrington’s reply, but Billy hardly heard it.

He was in Steve’s house. A lord’s house. Lord Harrington’s house…and Billy was just some nobody.

Robin really was enjoying this too much.

#harringrove #jester!steve #king!billy #ficlet #neonponders #ghostofjellyfishforgotten #here we go again #pondermoniums

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nialltlynch · 3 years

Text

book challenge!!

thank u @flitwickslittlebrotha 💟💟 i am a little late but this was hard!!

favourite book from this year: alone with you in the ether - olivie blake

ebooks, audio books or prints? ebooks. let me confess something...i pirate almost all my books. i pirate almost everything first, actually. BUT I do buy things that i either really, really liked or things that i think come from a good place but is still a little rough and i like what the creator was going for so i send them money somehow. disclaimer: i have purchased most of the books mentioned herein

top five of all times: oh fuck off uhhhhhhh

a good man is hard to find and other stories - flannery o'connor

october country - ray bradbury

the stranger - albert camus

dark tales - shirley jackson

the faraway nearby - rebecca solnit

this is based primarily on things i could read again and again. i really only go back and read short story collections because i don't always have it in me to read novel length things...

faves for: (look this is gonna be really hard because i don't understand genres but oh well here we go)

sci-fi: do androids dream of electric sheep - philip k dick. on account of that's the only sci-fi i can remember actually reading. fun fact, ive attempted to watch blade runner (1982) at least three times and every time ive fallen asleep!

contemporary/romance: does gillian flynn count as contemporary? she's my wife, i love her. also i feel like these are two completely disparate genres why are they slashed here

historical fiction: does jude the obscure count? tbh i don't care. i just remember being in high school english and all the girlies were swooning over the scarlet pimpernel and at the time i was a cringe baby weaboo who only watched anime so now i have petty beef with "historical fiction" as a genre and it also doesn't help that i've never really been interested in historical stuff much anyway (though i'm willing to have my mind changed)

fantasy: this is totally a copout answer but... grimm's fairytales. the problem is this is such a fraught genre for me because spiritually it's my favorite genre but practically the vast majority of it sucks. or i guess i should say it isn't to my taste. sorry.

queer: on earth we're briefly gorgeous - ocean vuong has some immense staying power, so that i guess. i do want to say that i dont actually know what this means? like written by a queer person? contains queer perspectives? has queer characters in it?????

top 3 [canon] book couples:

jordan/declan (dreamer trilogy)

regan/aldo (alone with you in the ether)

sophie/howl (howl's moving castle)

(these aren't necessarily my faves, but just the ones ive been thinking of as of late)

top 3 book characters:

eleanor vance (the haunting of hill house)

hercule poirot

adam parrish

(these are characters i wanna put in little monogrammed koozies and carry in my purse)

book(s) with potential that didn't quite pull it off: imagine me saying this quietly after taking a long sip from my morning tea and staring distractedly out the window, unable to make eye contact.... s*mmer s*ns

book(s) that got you through something: not to be cliche but trc really did awaken something in me

book(s) you'd recommend: i suffer from i-have-bad-taste-and-no-one-can-know-it disease so I don't really have any random recs without knowing a person's taste but uhhhh i think it would be cool if more people read alone with you in the ether because i want to see pretty fanart and edits and stuff.

a genre you want a book recommended from: genre-defying books. those ones that dabble here and there and cut the pieces they want from this and take cues from that until what they've built is this patchwork mishmash that by all means shouldn't work so well yet something about it is so compelling. as i often say: thrill me.

i'm so sorry none of these are real answers. i don't think i like books. i talk too much. i think there's something wrong with me. thanks for coming to my ted talk.

#tagged stuff #books and lit #im gonna read so much next year #so much #thats on the list #long post

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fiveminuterice · 3 years

Note

hey was there an update to that stolen poster situation?? it's still on the site :/. is there anything i can do to get it taken down?

Yes they’re still on both websites. Yes there are two websites now.

So here’s what I know about the situation so far.

1. The first website that stole my art goes under BaubleMart, I found this out from a bot who commented under a post I made on r/lovejoy about this poster design. They linked the poster website, saying that’s where people could buy the poster. The mods have since taken that comment down since it’s pretty obvious I didn’t want this poster to be sold.

BaubleMart seems to be a RedBubble-type website, and this particular website only sold my design as a poster. They claimed it was a campaign only lasting for “10 more minutes” with a giant count down under the product when I first found it, only if you refresh the page it gets reset to 24 hours. They also claimed to have sold 31 posters so far, which I will address later on in the post.

2) This morning another bot commented on my post, this time linking to CartTee where they’re selling it as not only a poster, but as canvas prints and mugs as well. Very annoying.

3) Both of their FAQ pages link to the same policy page under Custom Tee Sales. I looked up this company at Better Business Bureau, and from what I can tell after doing like 20 minutes of snooping on the internet…

This website is a scam. It has a 1/5 star rating from consumers. Usually these complaints come from either the product straight up never arriving and the costumer never getting a refund, or the printing is janky and them also not giving a refund for their faulty product.

Either way, this company is an overall shitty cash grab.

4) The bots. I’ve had people ask if my poster design was up for sale, which is probably what set off the bots.

It’s fine if people ask if I’m selling, but usually the answer is no since I don’t have a store open and I don’t have a redbubble. Especially since I make a lot of fanart for the dsmp and I don’t wanna overstep cc boundaries when it comes to fanmerch. If I ever make a store/redbubble, I’ll link it on my tumblr.

5) What am I doing about it?

Well, I’ve seen a post on Tumblr before about people finding these scam websites, and then trying to find Disney affiliate stuff being sold on there. From there, they make a deal with the Mouse Devil. Basically, they tip off Disney’s piracy email if they find Disney merch on these sketchy websites, and sometimes by doing this you can get these websites straight up taken down.

That’s what I did, I linked both of the websites after I found some Shang-Chi and Star Wars posters on them, and tipped off that they work under the same company.

Hopefully that works, but at the very least Disney’s not gonna be happy with this company. At best? This website gets taken down.

6) Why haven’t I reached out to these websites?

Basically, I can file a DMCA notice to this company, but I also don’t have copyright over this poster since I never filed for copyright (since that costs money). If they refuse to take down the poster, I can’t take it a step further legally and threaten to sue for damages.

From what I can tell from their costumer service, there’s a slim chance they’ll take down my poster. I’ll send an email tomorrow telling them to take down my designs, but likely nothing will come out of it as most interactions with consumers on Better Business Bureau have been answered by automatic responses, and consumers have also complained that all of their emails have been met with automatic responses.

Basically if the Disney thing fails, I’m fresh out of luck, since even if I do file for copyright, that’s still a minimum of $35 I’d have to spend, and it could take over a month for the copyright to go through.

Basically, I’m just encouraging people not to buy this poster. From what I can tell, the only way to even find these websites are through bots spreading links, as I tried looking up both websites on Google with nothing except links to my reddit post.

About those 31 posters sold…

After some deliberation, most likely? They lied about the numbers. It’s pretty difficult to even find these websites, and I only have the links because I copy+pasted them into my browser before the r/lovejoy moderators took down the first comment. I’m guessing they lied about the amount they sold to entice people to buy the poster, along with lying about how much longer the product would be available.

The only two places this poster got traction was on Tumblr and on Reddit, on tumblr it got a bit over 1k notes, and when I posted it to r/WilburSoot (because at the time I didn’t know r/lovejoy was a thing lol), it got around 850 upvotes, and when I cross posted to r/lovejoy it got around 500(I think?) upvotes.

Basically all that to say: I doubt they actually sold that many posters. And even if they did, the poster quality is gonna be shit.

I printed out my own personal poster using a high resolution file, but I posted the design online using a lower resolution file so it could load faster. It’s still 11x17 inches at 350dpi, so pretty sizable, except for the fact that their website only offers the smallest size at 16x24. When I printed my own poster out, I printed it out at somewhere around 16x20 at 600dpi (dpi meaning dots per inch in printing terms).

So yeah, it’s not gonna look good. I’ll give out updates when I get them, but overall I’m not too hopeful. However at the same time, I’m not as angry anymore. I’m glad to the people signal boosting, but at this point there’s not much anybody can do.

Now it’s just kinda funny that they’re gonna post a poster with crunchy quality, that’s assuming they’ve even sold a poster yet and aren’t lying about the numbers (which I think is the case).

IN OTHER NEWS!

If you want to print out this poster for personal use, not for profit, then I’d be glad to send over the file, or you could even take the 11x17inch version from my socials. If you do get it printed, feel free to take a picture of it and tag me because I’d love to see it.

I’m okay with people hanging this up in their room! Just not when money is involved! This poster is not for sale, and it never will be for sale as I am not okay profiting off of lovejoy since we don’t know their stance on fanmerch.

#long post!#but that is pretty much the situation!#I basically used this anon as an excuse to talk about it lol #askbox #but yeah. if you have any other questions about this #just hit up my askbox or my DMs and I’ll be glad to answer them

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rum-and-shattered-dreams · 3 years

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20 First Lines

Tagged by @athgalla and @novantinuum! Thanks! This should be interesting!

Rules: List the first lines of your last 20 stories. See if there are any patterns. Choose your favorite opening line. Then tag 10 authors!

I don’t have 20 “published” fics so I might fill out the extras with some old or unfinished things.

Unless otherwise specified, these are Gravity Falls fics. I’ll just go in order from oldest to newest with the extras tacked on at the end:

1) Mending

A chilled evening breeze, laced in the scents of grass and evergreen, blew through the broken walls and collapsed beams of the Mystery Shack’s living room.

2) Behind the Facade (starts with a flashback to childhood)

Stan kicked his feet, sending his swing hurtling back and forth.

3) The Vandals

From the moment he returned to Dimension 46’/, Stanford wanted to know what had become of his old friend, Fiddleford.

4) Maybe It’s Not Too Late

The Stan O’ War II was a creaky vessel cobbled together by loving hands.

5) Artistic Differences

Crisp leaves rustled across the gravel path in a cascade of yellow and orange.

6) Letters to the Oracle

Early September brought a cool breeze to the forest making Stanford’s morning walks infinitely more pleasant.

7) The Gift of Sleep

Dipper yawned and turned another page, soaking in the story of a boy who could travel to other worlds in his dreams.

8) One Person’s Boredom Is Another Person’s Fun (One shot in the Maybe It’s Not Too Late series)

Stanford’s pen scribbled between the lines of a notebook, his curly cursive filling the backs and fronts of nearly every dogeared page with revised notes from a long day of lectures.

9) The Best Handyman This Place Has Ever Seen

Stan showed nearly every yellowed tooth of his dentures in a smile that strained his cheeks as much as his patience.

10) Maybe It's Not Too Late - deleted/unwritten scenes

Stan and Fiddleford dragged their feet across the terrazzo, slogging their way to the musty elevator through a maze of scuffed walls and hospital halls.

11) Heroism is Subjective (Starts with a flash forward to Dipper and Mabel as adults)

Dipper had barely climbed out of his slush-spattered SUV when a flash of pink and purple slammed into him and powerful arms wrapped around his neck. Mabel's quilted coat sleeves squished against his cheeks as she squealed in delight, "Dipper!"

12) The Plaidypus

In a tangle of half-shadows cast in purple, red, green, and blue, stretching from the base of each object on his desk, cast from the glow of every lamp in his study turned to its brightest setting, Stanford's head spun.

13) The Man Downstairs

A quiet mind was a rare occurrence for Stanford Pines, even before he'd made the deal that plunged his life into lonely confinement.

14) He Thought He’d Be Relieved (One-shot in The Man Downstairs series)

It had already been three years - Three years since that demon discovered a way to possess Ford's body whenever he pleased and they still had no way of stopping him.

15) A Fresh Start

Ford awoke, curled up on his side, to the nose-tingling scent of fresh-cut wood and a sneeze that alerted him to a more pressing matter than his irritated sinuses.

16) Devour-Ed (The only Ed, Edd, and Eddy thing I’ve ever written - from 2004 >_< If anyone wants to look at this atrocity it actually still exists on Fanart Central along with some old art which is half embarrassingly horrible and half actually not bad)

“Run, Ed, run!” Edd screamed, to a scurrying Ed. “I’m running, I’m running!” Ed huffed as he carried Edd on his shoulders. “Hurry, hurry!” Edd panicked. “I’m hurrying, I’m hurrying!” “In, in!” The two Eds scrambled through the door to Ed’s house. “I’m inning, I’m inning!”

17) Ripples to Waves (Working title - original WIP)

“Hurry! Uh… I mean… please, can’t we go any faster?” Thick navy cotton crinkled between Kai’s fidgeting hands leaving the hem of his military cadet coat pressed with wrinkles.

18) Untitled Prequel to Ripples to Waves (Is it? IDK. It might be part 1 of the series?)

Wilhelmina was, despite her habit of climbing dirt piles and rolling down the sides, a princess.

19) Maybe Part 2 or 3 of Ripples to Waves? This one might need some explanation since it would have been set up in a previous part that Alstr is blind, Kai has actually silver hair and uses tarnish remover to clean it sometimes, and they train together daily. (And they might be destined to be NB ace partners but don’t know it yet ;))

Alstr’s staff sailed through the air toward Kai’s head. He barely somersaulted out of the way, his braid flipping behind him and leaving a pungent trail of tarnish remover for Alstr to follow.

20) There is no 20 :P

Technically there are... other things I’ve written but I’m not going to be horny on main I mean there are a bunch of things that will never be finished and a bunch that are too nebulous to pick out an opening line so I’ll just leave it at that.

Welp, guess I go for a lot of description or setting the scene right away. Some are awfully wordy in looking back on them. The shorter, snappier ones feel better to me now.

As for a favorite, I kind of like # 18. It’s short but still sets up the premise of the character. And I’m pretty fond of #13 and #9 for setting up the mood/tone.

And now for the tagging! It looks like a bunch of people I know have already been tagged but if you haven’t been and you see this, consider yourself tagged!

#20 first lines #20 first lines meme #writing #fanfic #mo's writing and such #gravity falls fanfiction

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hms-harmony-discord · 3 years

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It’s time to announce the entries to the HMS Harmony Discord’s “Valentine’s Day” event! 💖

Fanfiction Entries:

Find all fics mentioned below in the Ao3 Collection Link.

A Day of Firsts, by Bob49

Summary: Fed up of having so many disastrous dates with fanboys/fangirls/bad partners etc. Harry and Hermione always spend their Valentine's day with each other. An offhand comment by someone (Old lady, muggle couple beside them at the restaurant whatever), makes them realise that perhaps the reason they spend Valentine's Day together was not because they couldn't find good partners for themselves but because they were the perfect partners for each other.

Gross and Boring (Or Thank God for Sleepovers), by Airen_Thiren

Summary: It's Valentine's Day, and romance is in the air. James and Elizabeth Potter are just glad to get away from their mushy parents for a night. Harry and Hermione take a night for themselves as their kids spend the night with their friends.

Just The Two of Us, by KingofTheFall

Summary: It's Valentine's Day at Hogwarts, and two professors couldn't wait any longer for their favorite students to get together, so they took matters into their own hands.

keep me in your glow, by c_tristesse

Summary: After Harry helps her salvage another failed date, Hermione notices something. Harry hasn't dated anyone since Voldemort's defeat. Why is that? And why do her friends and family seem to be growing more and more frustrated with her?' for the h/hr valentine's challenge

Looking After Hermione, by amidland

Summary: As a break from the stresses of moving house, Harry treats his girlfriend, Hermione, to a day full of dates for Valentine's Day. Only, when do Harry's plans always work out perfectly?

Love From, Your Secret Admirer, by TheOxen

Summary: Harry Potter has been receiving love letters from a mysterious stranger. Can he put his detective skills to good use and find out the identity of his secret admirer?

Of Gardenia and Roses, by Lestenil

Summary: Hermione Granger asks her best friend Jasmine Potter, who recently came out of the closet, to spend Valentine's Day together to avoid the courtship of Viktor Krum. But Jasmine is in love with Hermione, and decides to use the evening to confess her feelings.

Season of Love, by Arcan0s

Summary: Teddy may be young, but kids are smart and notice things that adults are too stubborn (or scared) to admit. "Will you get married today?" He asked one February morning and the two people he had taken to calling "Mum" and "Dad" promptly choked on their breakfast.

Shy Attraction, by ricochet7

Summary: In 5th year, Harry initially has his eyes set on Cho. But, as the year progresses, certain events leads to him noticing Ravenclaw!Hermione. Will he ever gather up the courage to let Hermione know?

Siriusly Drunk About Girls, by Stargon

Summary: "Harry and Sirius end up drunk one night Christmas of fifth year. Harry ends up telling Sirius about the mortifying poem in his second year. Sirius guffaws after hearing Harry recite it and proclaims, ‘I thought Hermione was better with words than that!’" Needless to say Harry has much to think about, and comes to a conclusion by Valentines Day. (full summary inside) - a Prompt Challenge from the H.M.S. Harmony discord channel.

The Date that Led to Something Spectacular, by Fantasygirl20

The Kiss Cam, by UntoldHarmony

Summary: Gred and Forge are proud to present our newest invention, and a muggle sporting tradition... the kiss cam!

Un Secret, by HarmoniousConvergence

Summary: Five years after the war and after several failed relationships, best friends Harry and Hermione spend Valentine’s Day together doing some mundane tasks. Hermione happens upon a hidden item from long ago and realizes that her best friend has apparently been secretly in love with a mystery woman. The revelations that emerge shock them both and could alter their friendship forever. Original prompt for the Harmony Discord Contest: "The boy sat in the window. He sighed, wondering what could have been if he was brave enough."

Valentine's Cliff Diving, by DarthGhengis (Ernstpiet)

Summary: "Deciding to add a touch more flair to the triwizard tournament, Fudge brings singing Valentine's back to Hogwarts. Backed into a corner by a persistent 'cupid' wanting to meet his quota, Harry is conned into sending a Valentine to the first girl he can think of - Hermione. Things going downhill from there as all the "cupids" find out he's a sucker and keep hitting him up for Valentine's which keep going to a progressively more confused and annoyed Hermione." The above was the original Prompt.

Valentine's Day Ball, by Rafessor

Summary: The Yule Ball was so well-received that a Valentine's Day Ball is introduced. The sudden hungry looks that Harry receives has him wanting to flee the Great Hall and forget about dinner. A small hand takes his, giving him a squeeze. He looks up and meets Hermione's eyes and she's giving him a gentle reassuring smile. He can't look away, and it feels like he'd been blind all this time. The crowd melts away, and it's just the two of them, as it had been for over a month that same year, as it always had been, really. "Hermione, would you like to go to the Ball with me?" Prompt for HMS Harmony Discord Valentines Day Contest 2021

A Patronus-Worthy Day, by Stargon

Summary: After a series of lessons with Professor Lupin fail to produce a patronus, Lupin suggests that Harry take the next lesson off. "It's Valentine's Day, tomorrow. Try to relax and we'll come back to it another day." (full summary inside) - a Prompt Challenge from the H.M.S. Harmony discord channel.

Startling Revelations, by damadape

Summary: A canon-divergent story set on Christmas Day at Grimmauld’s Place all the way until Valentine’s Day during Order of the Phoenix.

You Never Know What You Have Until It's Gone, by green__eyes

Summary: After Harry diverges from Ron and Hermione and starts focusing on the Hallows, he tries to figure out what else has changed since Ron's return. A surprise Valentine's Day dinner on the run brings everything to a head.

Fanart Entries

Art commissioned by Smoak from windbyfire, posted on Instagram

Art by quinsomnia, posted on HMS Harmony Discord #hhr-fan-art

Art commissioned by Stag, posted on HMS Harmony Discord #hhr-fan-art

Art commissioned by Micca from thespacekal, posted on Instagram

Art by yansart, posted on Instagram

Art by dinah.draws, posted on Instagram

Art by mnejart, posted on Instagram

Art by valkxxs, posted on Instagram

Art by disgruntledwing, posted on instagram and tumblr

#harry potter #hermione granger #harry potter fanfiction #harry potter fanart #harmione #harry x hermione #hermione x harry #hermione granger fanart #hermione granger fanfiction #hp fanfic #hp fanart #valentine's day #harry and hermione #harry potter fandom #hms harmony

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letshaikyuu · 3 years

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- one year anniversary | 27.01.21

Guys, it’s been exactly one year since I’ve posted my “A new HQ blog” post...time literally flies what even-

My first request went up on the 1st of February 2020 and, ever since then, I’ve received nothing but love and support from all of you who have been with me on this journey. I can’t thank you guys enough <3

To the 4.9k of you who follow me regularly, to the ones who happen to stumble upon my blog accidentally, to the ones who read my content when they’re feeling happy or sad, to the ones who don’t leave feedback yet still might say “oh, this was a good read” - thank you. I could have never gotten this far without all of you.

I know that I haven’t been the best blog and content provider these past few months, but I don’t want to give up on this blog or on the 500 requests sitting in my ask box, you all deserve content and all the emotions the Haikyuu fandom provides you

Please, don’t stop loving Haikyuu. The excitement over it might have toned down, but we’re still here for you whenever you decide to come back to it. Once more, thank you for everything <3

*below the cut are people I’ve met during this journey that made it all the more memorable, so please take your time reading this; a lot of people I’ve met, by this time, have either deactivated or moved, but they’ve still made this journey memorable, despite not being able to mention them*

@comidarecalentada - hello, hoe, we’ve talked like last night, but I already miss you. You are, easily, one of the most memorable people I have met on this blog. You sneaked into my PMs (kinky) for a matchup, you gave myself one in return and we somehow continued talking constantly after that. I’ve never met a person quite like you before. You’re literally hilarious and I don’t know if my sense of humor is shit or you’re really funny, but my stomach always hurts after I finish talking to you. You’re calming and know what to say and do to make me feel better and get my mind out of its dark places. If it wasn’t for you, this university shit would’ve been a lot more difficult. You’ve been such an amazing friend these past few months to me and I won’t ever be able to repay you for that. You’ve made these past few months that more bearable and enjoyable. Thank you for listening to every piece of bullshit I might have thrown your way, every cackle that might have hurt your ears and the sadness you’ve managed to take away when I was feeling down. There was never a time during our video calls when I’ve felt embarrassed about my voice and English or how I might look like because I knew that you wouldn’t care. Calling you during my toughest times became such a therapeutic thing for me because you never fail to make me feel better. It’s almost nearing our one year friendship anniversary and oh boy, it’s been one hell of a ride with a cute dumbass like you, but I love you so, so much and I know you know that, and I’ll stop being so sappy cause you’re only going to tease me later <3

@louddelusionaltale - my boo, omg hi. I was so thrilled when I found out that we live close to each other and that we understand each other without having to use English (even though we mostly use English to communicate cause why not), but you’ve been one of the best friends I could’ve met on this app. I wake up excited to talk to you and see what you’ve been up to, give you some good recommendations and playing Genshin together (is it that hard to get to AR 16 hoe, I mean come on.) Anyways, talking to you is always so easy and calming, funny yet serious and helpful when it needs to be. When you’ve asked for my opinion of you, I could only think of positive things because there’s nothing about you that people can hate. Thank you for making my mornings better wth your adventures in school, the sun hitting your face just right and sending me 92384 snaps in the process and just being there for me. There was never a time when I haven’t thought highly of you and I know you know how much you’re cool and stuff, don’t deny it <3 Thank you for everything boo and let’s continue being the dumbasses we are hehe

@brokutoforever - yo, yo. You’ve literally been one of the first people I’ve started talking to on this app and despite not talking in a long time, I’d be shameful had I not mentioned you here. You’re amazing and I can, without a doubt, say that you’re one of those people who I could talk to about anything, without worrying about the topic not fitting in right or us just not clicking well. Continue being the awesome person you are, I hope you’re doing well and take care <3

@kawaiibaka96 - babe, babe, babe - hi :3. Thank you for sticking with me for such a long time, you’re amazing and I can’t stress enough how talented and awesome you are as a person. You’re so easy to talk to and to share ideas with because you’re literally big brain energy here. Your art work never fails to surprise me because I can’t believe you’re so talented, like babe come on. Thank you for every recommendation (especially Given) and every piece of advice you have given me, you’re an angel <3

@mysticrainpain - I can’t believe someone as cool as you would talk to me, it’s still a mystery to me despite having being friends for a few months now. If it wasn’t for that Shiratorizawa post, I don’t know where we’d be right now, but thank you for every minute spent talking to me about the more “adult” things in life, talking about random things and showing me how talented you are in different departments, every fanart and MSBY art sent and fic written, and, most importantly, thank you for making this year amazing <3

@maitenight - the aesthetic friend out of us two, you’re incredible babe. You can’t see how easy it is talking to you, thinking your English isn’t good enough, but you’ve been nothing short of amazing during the time we’ve spent talking. Thank you for every picture you’ve sent my way that’s so aesthetic that I can literally cry looking at them, for every conversation we’ve had on and off Tumblr, and thank you so much for wanting to be friends with an idiot like myself <3

to all of you who have been such an inspiration for this blog and thank you for being such amazing blogs: @krisdreaming,@mikwrites, @briswriting, @kyovtani, @haikyuuopworld, @charmingchikara (not me not even noticing the blog change, omg sorry lara)

to everyone who has made this journey that much memorable: @t-amajiki, @caxsthetic, @lcaita, @celestialfoxess, @noahtriestowrite, @haikoo, @proplayer-kenma, @edensxgarden, @danibby, @meguyuji, @decora-peaches, @bareeganbaree, @iwaixiumi, @haru-senji, @reogou, @shqnsuke, @death-waves-to-me (i’ve known you for forever, but you were the one to help my blog get out there, so love you boo <3)

hope to see you all in 2022 too <3

#kat rants #kat loves ppl #not me being sappy on main #and i know exactly who'll tease me bout ut #but thank you <3 #even if we don't talk much #you were someone who left a mark on here #so thank you for that <3

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whenihaveyouromione · 4 years

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When I Have You - Chapter 1

This can also be read on ffn.net and ao3

A/N: This story will follow the lives of Ron and Hermione from the end of DH, to the epilogue and then beyond. This places all of my head canon in one story, along with tidbits of canon provided by JKR throughout. I like to stick mostly to canon post war, so I've followed the books to a T, and mostly everything post war is canon or canon-compliant. There will be the odd change, most barely noticeable.

Also, standard message that this in no way follows the Cursed Child plot at all, and I ignore it completely. This includes Hermione becoming Minister for Magic (which I know is something people like to include), as it makes no sense in comparison to the other canon JKR has provided. Plus, I hate Cursed Child, so… yeah.

Also, prior to reading this, please be aware that this story is intended to be LONG, it is intended to be an extremely slow burn. The chapter length is currently unknown, but I am predicting well over 200 chapters by the end. This is also not action packed, nor is it filled with unpredictability. This is a story where I go into excruciating detail about their lives after the war, but the intention is to be no surprises. Everything you think will happen, WILL happen. Please be mindful of that before going into this. I don't want anyone to be left disappointed. The idea is to detail their lives, not to have you on the edge of your seat with anticipation! If that's what you're after, this story is not for you.

This story also will contain implied sex. Sex scenes resemble 90's sitcoms — you have the before, you have the after, but none of the in between. They also talk a bit (not a lot, because it's not my focus) about sex. I am writing about their relationship, so it's obviously going to exist, but it's not going to be detailed, just implied.

Also, last but not least, this story has an Instagram account. As it's so long and detailed, I've decided to add some hopefully additional entertainment to it. The handle is (with no spaces) 'whenihaveyou . romione' on IG. Please feel free to follow. If for some reason you can't see it on here, feel free to PM me for it. I'll be posting small sneak peaks, responses to questions, etc on there. I'm even throwing my hand up to attempt some fanart on my own story, but I promise that writing is more my thing lol.

And now, to the story (I swear the future a/n's won't be this long). I hope you enjoy, and as usual, your thoughts, comments, questions, are all appreciated!

----------------------

Chapter 1

Ron brushed a stray strand of hair away from Hermione's face, which lit up at his touch. A smile graced her lips, but her eyes remained closed for a few moments longer. It was their favourite way to spend their afternoons; lying on his Chudley Cannons spread, arms around each other, sometimes dozing or sometimes talking. After long days of preparing for the coming funerals and Flooing to Hogwarts to help with repairs, it was always nice to come back and not think about the devastation that had befallen the wizarding world. While everyone grieved, these few moments together were a welcomed solace.

When laying beside her, Ron allowed himself a few moments of happiness. Because that's what she made him feel: happy. When she'd thrown her arms around him and kissed him in the middle of the war, he thought he'd loved her then. Now, ten days later, he realised how mistaken he'd been. This was love. Spending almost every moment, day and night, with her; holding her, kissing her, had made him fall helplessly in love, and for the first time ever, he was almost certain that she felt the same way.

He kissed her lightly on the lips, running fingers through her thick hair. She smiled against him, her eyes finally opening.

"We should go down and help the others with dinner," he murmured. "Before Mum comes looking for us."

As was to be expected, Molly had been a mess since the end of the war. Fred's death had impacted all of them, but no one more than his mother. For the first few days, they'd not seen her as she kept herself locked away in her bedroom, Arthur bringing her every meal. On the third day, she'd ventured out for a few moments before taking one look at everyone and bursting into tears. She'd spent another two days locked away after that.

She was out and about now, but out of respect for her feelings, Ron felt it best to keep his sudden relationship with Hermione secret. He did not think his mother would take kindly to one of her sons finding happiness in such a dark time.

They'd intended to keep it secret from everyone apart from Harry and Ginny, but word had gradually gotten out amongst the rest of the Weasleys. Bill had stumbled upon Ron placing a kiss on her forehead one evening before going to bed. Charlie had caught them holding hands in the Burrow's garden another night. Percy seemed to just know, and Arthur had awkwardly found them in a passionate embrace one morning in a Hogwarts' corridor.

No one spoke of it after, though. Everyone seemed to know better than to mention anything in front of Molly, so meal times resulted in limiting their affection to smiles across the table. That made these moments alone even more special.

Hermione sat up, resting her back against the headboard and yawning. Today had been especially difficult; after days of being hounded by the press as they demanded answers and spat out ridiculous theories (at Hogwarts, of all places), Harry had Disapparated to who knew where and hadn't returned. If he had any sense, he would have gone somewhere no one would find him. Ron suspected he had gone to Grimmauld Place.

"You think Harry's alright?" Hermione asked, rubbing her eyes.

"No, not really," Ron said. "But I can't blame him. The media have been unforgiving. It's easier for us to brush them aside, because they don't care as much about us. Can't imagine what it's like for him."

"How long should we give him?" Hermione asked.

"A few days." Ron shrugged, feeling his mood darken. "Fred's funeral is in three days. Lupin and Tonks' the day after that. I can't imagine him missing them."

Hermione looked less convinced. She looked at Ron, clearly worried. Ron placed an arm around her shoulder and drew her to him so that her head was on his shoulder. "He'll be alright," he assured her. "He just needs some time."

There was a moment's silence, and then, "Ron?" Hermione's voice cracked as she spoke his name.

"Hm?"

Silence again. Ron squeezed her tighter as he felt hot tears against his shirt. It wasn't unusual for these moments to end in tears, for one reason or another. They'd both had their fair share of crying over the past week and a half. He'd lost count of the number of times she'd been there for him, especially after the first few days when the memories of Fred haunted him most clearly. They still did, but he'd managed to get them under control for the most part. Though, he was dreading the funeral.

"Hey."

Hermione lifted her head at the sudden voice appearing at Ron's bedroom door. It was Bill, looking at them both with defeat. "You two better come down soon, otherwise Mum'll send a search party. She wants to start dinner, and Dad is fighting her…"

"Mum wants to cook?" Ron asked.

Bill nodded. "She's insisting. Ginny is really giving it to her, but she's refusing to listen." He smiled slightly. "I guess it's good to see some of the old fight back, eh?"

Hermione pulled away, wiping the tears from her face. "We should go and help," she sniffed.

Ron nodded, and they both climbed off his bed. Hermione left ahead of them, walking past Bill as if slightly embarrassed that he'd seen her cry. Ron went to follow, but Bill stopped him by clasping a hand on his shoulder.

"You alright? Dad mentioned what happened with Harry today."

Ron nodded. "Yeah. I think a part of me knew it was coming. He's been one moment away from an explosion all week. We've just got to give him some time."

Bill nodded, squeezing his shoulder. "Let me know if you need anything."

"Thanks," Ron said.

Bill let Ron go past, following him down the stairs without speaking. Everyone was in the kitchen, Ginny arguing with Molly.

"We told you, Mum! You're not doing anything. The rest of us have got this. Look —" she threw a hand in Ron's direction, "— Ron's here now. An extra pair of hands, an extra wand! We'll have dinner ready in no time."

"Come on, Mum," Bill said, gently placing his hands on Molly's shaking shoulders. "Let's go and sit down." He slowly guided her from the kitchen and into the living room.

After she was gone, Ginny rounded on Ron. "Your appearance a little earlier might have been beneficial, you know." Her eyes flickered to Hermione, softening when they saw her tear-stained face. She looked away. "Sorry," she mumbled.

"It's alright," Ron said. "We're here now. Where do you want us to start?"

It had become the norm for all the children to prepare the meals each night, with some help from Arthur occasionally. It was the least they could do to make things easier, but since their mother had decided to venture from her room, insisting that they could handle it had become increasingly harder. Ron suspected she wished to busy herself by cooking for her large, yet broken family.

Tonight's preparation was sullen. Even the occasional laughter that had occurred other nights was gone. Ginny's mood was dark, her hurt at Harry's disappearance obvious. Like Ron and Hermione, she'd chosen not to share her relationship with Harry to her mother. If that was what it even was. Harry had pushed most of them away, including Ginny, and had snapped at all of them more than once in the last few days.

Dinner was even quieter, with no one speaking apart from asking someone else to pass a bowl over. Ginny, who had been the most cheerful of the bunch, said nothing at all and barely touched her food. Molly watched her with concern, but said nothing, perhaps understanding why her daughter was so upset. There was an emptiness around the table, one that could only be filled by Harry's reappearance — and, Ron thought, George's. Both were as much part of the family as the other, but neither wished to see anyone.

Hermione helped Bill and Charlie clear the dishes and do the washing up, while everyone else moved into the living room. Ron sat on a conjured two-seater couch that really needed a good clean, saving the second spot for Hermione when she returned.

A small chatter started around the fireplace, with Percy talking of how the Ministry was looking to get things back to normal in the coming weeks.

"Something needs to be done," he said to Ron. "In this time, people need leadership and we currently have none." He then lowered his voice so that only Ron would hear the next part. "Between you and me, the talk is that Kingsley Shacklebolt will be appointed the next Minister for Magic."

This surprised Ron, and yet, it didn't at the same time. He looked at his brother. Percy had become somewhat more enjoyable to be around since the end of the war. Ron didn't think they'd be best friends any time soon, but at least he didn't get the urge to roll his eyes everytime Percy opened his mouth any more. He was Ron's brother, after all, and finally, Ron was able to see him as such.

"That's a good choice, don't you think?" he said.

Percy gave a curt nod. "Yes, I think so."

Hermione, Bill, and Charlie came in after that, and Ron shuffled over so that Hermione could sit next to him. Instinctively, he reached for her hand, but she jolted it away and nodded her head in his mother's direction.

He flushed, his face turning even redder when he saw that his mother was watching the two of them, her eyes narrowed.

"Great," Ron muttered to Hermione, "now she probably thinks you're rejecting my advances, or something."

"Wouldn't that please her?" Hermione asked.

"I don't think either way would please her."

Slowly but surely, people began drifting off to bed. Bill left via Floo for his home — as he did every night — while Charlie and Percy headed upstairs to their respective bedrooms.

When Ginny announced she was going to bed fifteen minutes later, Molly's eyes flashed to Hermione. "I suppose you'll be wanting to go to bed too, dear, so as not to wake Ginny?"

Hermione jumped, her cheeks reddening from the brashness of Molly's voice.

"It's fine, Mum," Ginny said. "I'll be fine."

"But, you don't want to wake her, do you Hermione, dear?"

Hermione had not spent a single night in Ginny's room since being there, just like Harry hadn't spent any in Ron's — an arrangement all four had been happy with. Ron had a sneaking suspicion that something had finally clicked with his mum, because she was now watching Ron as if waiting for him to react.

"Right," Hermione said. "I-I'll go, too. Goodnight, Mr and Mrs Weasley. Ron."

"Er, night, Hermione," Ron said. "See you in the morning."

After Hermione and Ginny had disappeared, a silence fell over the living room. Ron could only stand it for a few moments before he jumped to his feet and said goodnight, too.

Taking the stairs two at a time, he was disappointed to find Hermione not waiting for him in his room. He knew it had only been ten days, but the thought of falling asleep without her suddenly made him feel lonely. He'd become accustomed to her presence, her smell, sleeping with his arms around her, and waking to find her cuddled up against him in the mornings. It was a feeling he had hoped would last longer; forever, if he dared think it.

Unable to help but feel angry with his mother, he changed into his pyjamas and climbed under the covers. It was cold, and he had far too much space in his magically extended bed.

He tossed and turned for what felt like hours, and just as he was finally drifting off to sleep, he was woken by soft, warm lips against his cheek.

"Hermione?" he mumbled, making out her figure in the dark.

"Who else would it be?" Hermione asked, pulling back the covers and falling in beside him. "Ginny figured your mum would come and check to make sure I really was there — I think she suspects I've not been sleeping in the spare bed — so we had to wait."

"Did she?" Ron asked, rolling over and wrapping her in his arms. Instant warmth washed over him, and he buried his face into her hair.

"Yes."

"I'm glad you're here now." He kissed her shoulder and held her even tighter.

"Ron?"

"Mm?"

"What I wanted to say before, when I… couldn't…"

Ron loosened his hold on her, and she rolled over so she was facing him. He reached for his wand and lit it. He'd not realised she'd wanted to say anything before. "What is it?" he asked.

Under the wandlight, he saw her smile. "I wanted to say that I… love you."

The wand slipped from Ron's hand. He scrambled to find it from within the tangle of covers and relit it. "You… do?" In the mess that was the aftermath of war, it only occurred to Ron now that despite his intense feelings and love for her, he'd not actually said those words out loud. He'd thought them — every moment of every day — but he supposed his brain had been so convinced that she knew how he felt, that he had just assumed it was something they'd said to one another.

"Yes," Hermione said, her face practically glowing in the dim light.

"Oh, geez, I didn't even realise —"

"It's okay, Ron. I don't mean to rush you. I just wanted to tell you." She sounded so calm, so pleased with herself.

"What? Rush me? Oh, God, Hermione, I love you a ridiculous amount it's not even funny. I thought I told you that? Why have I never told you that?"

"Preoccupied?" Hermione suggested heartfully. "With a war, with losing our friends…"

Ron kissed her hard on the mouth, to which she responded enthusiastically. He felt her heart beating furiously against his chest, she was that close to him. The kiss deepened — by her, not him — and Ron became suddenly aware of every part of her. Her hands, in particular, had become rather adventurous, running along his arms, his chest, trailing further down... (Merlin, she was enthusiastic)... and then it hit him. He understood. And his bloody nerves got the better of him.

He pulled away, staring at her, the wand still in his hand. She stared back, her cheeks flushed, her breathing heavy, clearly determined to not feel embarrassed by her advancement.

Ron, however, didn't know what to do. Like forgetting to actually tell Hermione how he felt, anything other than holding her at night had not been a priority for him. He loved her deeply, he sought her comfort, but the grief still lingered and he'd not even contemplated taking their relationship further. Well, it had crossed his mind, but not as a serious thought. Not until after the funerals…

But now that it had been presented to him, even if she hadn't said the words directly, it seemed highly appealing.

"Have you, er, been thinking about this?" he asked, pulling completely away from her and sitting up in the bed.

"It's not something that spontaneously popped into my mind, if that's what you mean," Hermione said. For the first time, her voice sounded flat. "Sorry if I scared you. I just thought… I should probably have asked. Do you want to?"

"Yes!" Ron said, a little too quickly. He blushed, but then noticing the smile on her face he added, "Merlin, yes. I love you. I want to. You just caught me completely by surprise. That's all."

"Sorry." Hermione also sat up, facing him. "Perhaps I was a little too forward."

"No, no," Ron said. "I liked that." He grinned, albeit awkwardly. It didn't stop his body from tingling all over, though. A seed had firmly been planted in his mind now, and it was a good seed. A fantastic one.

"Just not tonight?" Hermione guessed.

Truthfully, as much as the idea thrilled him, it terrified him just the same. He was more than happy to kiss her, to hold her hand, but the concept of sex was something different. The insecurities he felt about being so intimate washed over him, just like they had done when Lavender had asked the same of him all those months ago.

The only difference this time was that he genuinely liked Hermione a whole lot more...

Taking his silence for hesitation, Hermione said, "I'm sorry, Ron. I didn't mean to —"

"Don't be," Ron said, reaching out and running a hand along her exposed arm. "You just made me start thinking."

"About?"

He watched her, his heart beating rapidly as he did. She was just incredible. Amazing. She was perfect, and there she was, scarred as much as him from the war, but wanting him. Ron. She loved him.

"Not tonight," he said, shaking his head. "But tomorrow? As nice as it was, you throwing yourself at me isn't exactly how I imagined it to go… not for the first time."

She smiled and nodded. "Okay," she said, and she crawled slightly forward on the bed and kissed him. He wrapped his arms around her, now realising how much he wanted her back, how much he wanted to be with her. Now, he had to exercise a whole lot of control because her touch set his skin on fire.

"Hm," he chuckled, pushing her away.

"What?" Hermione asked.

"Maybe we should… take a break," he said, uncomfortably.

"Why? Oh," Hermione flushed, seeing Ron's own red cheeks. She climbed off him. "Right. Sorry." She laid back down on the bed with Ron beside her, though he dared not touch her again just yet.

As he drifted off to sleep, his mind trailed to tomorrow night, and despite his heart pounding in his chest, and his sudden sweaty palms, it couldn't come quick enough.

His last thought before falling asleep was of Hermione, and how he simply could not control just how much he loved her.

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And there is the first chapter of who knows how many! I hope you enjoyed, and remember, if you'd like some extra content, or just to interact, please follow the Insta (no spaces) 'whenihaveyou . romione'

This will also be published on ao3 (under FireTheCanon) and Tumblr (handle is 'whenihaveyouromione').

A MAJOR, HUGE, MASSIVE thank you to Autumn (insertcleverandwittytitlehere) who has graciously offered to beta this for me. Your feedback and help has already been AMAZING, along with your encouragement. THANK YOU.

#ronandhermione #romione #romionefanfiction #romionefanfic #ronxhermione #hermionexron #ronandhermionefanfiction #harrypotterfanfiction #harrypotter #ronweasley #hermionegranger #hermioneandron #hermioneandronfanfiction

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