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vqrtualheartss · 20 days

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The Culture— A black love story, sort of

It was past midnight, wayy past midnight— perfect time to execute your plans. Sneaking past multiple security guards, the escape didn't stop until a few fences were jumped and a small walk in the cold to the basketball court a few blocks over. No, it wasn't trespassing to be there after-hours, not if anyone outside your circle saw at least. You were there with your friends: Jh'mhaya, Kaior, and Syain (Cy-aiiin).

There were new faces, always were everytime the community kids held gatherings. This face and figure however was one to catch your eye. He looked exactly like the boy they rumoured about at Brooklyn Middle, you're in the upper class so the description was to stick with you. Brownskin, about 6ft, dark-brown curls, you couldn't catch his eye color though because of the slight darkness.

Kaior started to dress himself in his basketball attire, fixing his shorts after tapping your shoulder.

- "It's rude to stare, go say hi!!"

- "I'm not staring"

- "Sure you aren't"

You scoffed, he laughed. You looked around to spot the rest of the group, Jh'mhaya stayed talking to the "organizers" and Syain looked high already, the whole group he was with seemed so.

- "Wish me luck boo"

- "Always"

Jh'mhaya called you over with her hands and eyes to converse with the rest, the rest being: Keziah, Xavier, Aisha, Nia, and Tyler. There wasn't much to be said, the gist of it was to give you info on the up-and-coming social, something more of a spoken word vibe, not being held at the court. You were given special invitation as a host (courtesy of Jh'mhaya) since it was 'your thing.'

Not that this wasn't, the focus of the event was to scout out players for the local b-ball team, something mellow and tranquil to those that find peace in the sport. After exchanging contact, other tiny groups and people wanted to speak and re-unite given it were the first time for most seeing you since numerous absences to these parties.

Going to the bleachers, you took out your phone to record Kai, he was playing gooddd.

Mwah, as a starbwoy

Avoiding commotion, aside from the few cheers here and there the only noises made were from partners to partners. You knew who on the court was who, except for the new guy— and no one was cheering for him. You figured that out since you heard no new names that would've automatically been his.

"That's sad lowkey"

Stooping beside the benches, you called out to Amaria, her head turning around before her body did. Her eyes shifted upwards to meet yours, raising her eyebrows with an inquisitive hum. "Hm?"

- "Who's new guy over there? The brown one"

There wasn't need to point, she already knew who you were referring to.

- "Miles?"

- "You tell me"

She started to chuckle as you toyed with the buttons on your phone.

- "Yeah, fo' sure that's Miles. He's not too too new, he came around about the same time you stopped coming"

Her eyebrows jumped like she had a lightbulb moment, she turned her head from the court and therefore her boyfriend to focus all her attention on you. Her hands became support to her tilted head.

- "How's everything regarding.. y'know"

You sighed, a harsh reminder of why you came here in the first place. Be it anywhere else and you would've voluntarily showed up, but Mhaya had to drag you out your bed after days of residing there following what had happened. Looking down at the floor, you inhaled a deep breath before looking up.

- "I don't know honestly, maybe some day I could give you an answer but not right now"

Your words sound dragged out, different from the tone you came to her with. Not wanting to dim the light from an already dark place, Amaria switched the topic of convo.

- "See something that you like?"

- "Excuse me?"

- "Miles"

You sucked your teeth, the corners of your lips tugging themselves into a wide smile jumping from you to Amaria. Without a proper finish, noise suddenly erupted at what seemed to be an anticipated shot from Miles. Wasn't enough for you though.

Jumpstarting a fire with years of cheer training you induced a better-sounding crowd.

- "Brooklyn, that's all you have? 3 pointers that far from the line don't come easy. Show our players some love people. Go Kaior! Go Miles! Go Kaior! Go Miles!"

Despite the noise restriction, clusters formed around both players cheering and congratulating them. Too busy basking in the fame, Kaior gave you two thumbs up and a smile as his thanks. For Miles, he glanced at you— and not with the blunt expression he played with, it was something deeper, it felt like something deeper. Waving at him, he flashed his signature one dimple smile waving back.

Looking back at Kaior, he wore a teasing grin and mocking eyes— he was sure to interrogate you about all this later.

Little by little, the court started to empty, about 6 other people stayed besides yourself and your friends— including Miles. With his own ball in hand he dribbled while speaking to who you assumed to be his friends and you to yours. Both groups merged and soon the topic came to be about after-plans.

- "I mean it's not that late- early- whatever you wanna call it. There's still time for more shit" you commented in retrospect to Nia's idea to go back to dorms.

Leaning against Mhaya's shoulder you toy with your Cupid's bow observing who was most likely to stay and who wouldn't. You were right of course, except on Miles' case. He seemed jittery thinking about something, puzzled at most deciding whether to stay or not.

- "You have somewhere to be don't you? it's cool, I'll go with who I came with. Nice meeting you though— Miles"

You said his name with a tone airy than the what you normally used. Some would say flirty, others would say that's how you talk. He stood tall, looking directly at you, the others too distracted, un-bothered or high to notice. He put on a light smile, doing a once-over at you before continuing.

- "Actually I don't gotta be anywhere. I have time to go the arcade or movies with you" He proposes taking off his jersey, revealing a grey undershirt, and body.

- "Movies are a bit touché for a night out Mr. 'Moral-less' "

Quickly his eyes dart back to you, he knew what you were hinting towards, what he didn't was how you knew the tags around the city were his.

- "You've been spying on me?"

- "Some would call it that, others would say looking out, admiring. Depends on your perspective"

- "Yo! Star" Jh'mhaya called out. Syain and the others were already over the fence ready to go. Looking back at Miles, he raised a brow and you shrugged leaving him.

- "Y'all ready?"

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mydarllinglover · 6 months

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Alone || Better Man

Settling into the Commonwealth was a strange experience for the Dixon family, for starters, it was like being in the old world again, with electricity, stores, parties, and money, yes, the US dollar was the currency used in this place, and for the children who had never seen something like this, it was especially weird to explain.

Another thing that had made Natalia want to run for the hills, was being reintroduced to her parents, who she believed were both dead on a cruise in the middle of the ocean, but as luck would have it, they had wound up here of all places.

Not only was she surprised to find out that her mother had lasted ten years, but also that she had left her husband alive, instead of sacrificing Natalia's step father a long time ago.

The woman who had initiated the couple in, had been very thorough in where she was trying to place where she had seen Natalia's face before, and then it hit her, that one of their upper class elites, had to be of relation.

Apparently, due to their rankings, and how well off they were before, Natalia's parents had earned themselves a level of importance in the Commonwealth, because that was how things were done around here, who cares about walkers when you can have classism and capitalism.

Considering the parentage of Natalia, and her schooling, she was seen as a "well of" Person, from what she told them, at least, though Daryl, obviously, was not, which put them at not complete bottom, but they weren't becoming millionaires anytime soon, this had helped them at least get a house to fit their five children and Dog.

Evelyn, their eldest, had decided she didn't want to join her parents on their move to the Commonwealth, even though they had pleaded, and begged, and bribed, she'd stuck with her decision to go back to the Hilltop, with Maggie and Lydia.

When Natalia had finally met her parents, accidently, whilst on a tour of the community, it hadn't ended as sweet as you'd reckon a thirteen year reunion would go.

Natalia's mother had made a scene in the crowd, over the appearance of her daughters husband and children, the woman could not believe it, and had left in a hurry, not before delivering a slap to the adult woman's face, for her "whorishism."

It was late at night on their third day in the Commonwealth, the kids were all tucked up in bed, after a long day of unpacking, leaving Daryl and Natalia to finish exploring the downstairs part of the small house, changing things to fit their old one, until a knock at the door.

"I'll get it." Daryl told her, as she stirred her herbal tea, hoping to lift up her spirits.

"Okay, baby." She sighed.

She dipped the teabag once more, before draining it and tossing it in the trash.

"Nat." Daryl hissed from the front door.

"Who is it?" She asked, leaning against the wall, looking at him.

"Yer step dad." His eyes widened in urgency as he revealed their late night visitor.

"What?" She gasped.

"Nah, I just made it up." he rolled his eyes "He's right outside, alone."

"Okay, here's what we're gonna do, just back away from the door, turn off the lights and pretend we're not home, problem solved."

"Talia." The old man called through the door. "I know you're in there, could you open the door, my old bones can't handle this weather."

"Stop lying, you ain't that old, Peter!" Natalia clapped her hands over her mouth as soon as she spoke, her eyes shooting wide.

Daryl threw his hands in the air, sick of her shit, always running her mouth.

She rolled her eyes.

"Please, honey, I just want to make sure you're okay, y-y'know, we thought you were dead, this entire time, and I still never managed to get over it... too painful." He stammered.

Daryl looked at her, and she sighed.

"Open it." She folded.

Daryl did as told, opening their new front door.

"Thought you guys were dead, too." Natalia told the man, that had been her step father, longer than her real father was alive in her life.

"Oh, Tally." He sighed, rubbing his balding head, his eyes meeting hers, realising the daughter that he had spent years mourning, was alive, and well, and somehow, had travelled hundreds of miles to end up in the same place as him.

"Nat?" Daryl asked, quietly, wondering if this was too much for her, he'd kick the old man out of his home, if he had to, he didn't give a shit.

"S'fine." She nodded at him, but her focus didn't leave the old man. "Pete, how- what happened?"

"Do you mind if I sit down, this, this is just..." He couldn't finish his sentence.

"Sure." She waited for him to sit down, before she decided to sit down on the opposite couch. "Daryl, you mind getting Michael a hot tea?"

"'Course." He patted her shoulder, moving towards the kitchen.

"So, that's...?"

"Daryl." She answered.

"Looks nothing like Harry."

"And he ain't nothing like him, either."

"Thats good, never did like that boy. But what.... what happened... to him and- and Winnie?" He stumbled through his sentence, trying to speak through the clog in his throat, that man had loved her daughter, as if she were his own grandchild, it was something she had always admired and respected him for.

"They didn't make it." She whispered. "Was early on, I'm sorry."

"Honey, don't say that, I am incredibly sorry, I'm just thankful that you're here, and I hope they didn't suffer too much."

"They didn't, I promise." She lied, but what could she actually tell him? Definitely not the truth. "So you and Mom, how?"

"With a whole lot of luck, actually." He chuckled, but he didn't even find anything funny. "It was about two weeks into our cruise, they started getting this weird message on the radio feedback, but when they tried to get a response, there wasn't any, then we saw all these helicopters flying over the waters, none of them took notice of the large ship full of people, well, eventually, one had thought we were worth being filled in on, what was going on around the world, they had told the captain, over the bullhorn to redirect to Virginia, here, because of that Helicopter, they accepted us in, let us join the community, me and your mother, we helped set it up, we helped establish the same systems as the old world, matter of fact, you remember your mothers old friend Pam?"

"Yeah, sorta?"

"Well that's the Governor?" He smiled brightly.

"Yeah, I knew one of those, once..." Natalia commented, bitterly. "So, you and Mom have been here, the entire time?"

"Can you believe it, I'm just glad that you're finally here, but tell me, what have you done in the last ten years?"

"Here." Daryl set the tea on the small table in front of the man, he went to head upstairs, give them some space, but Natalia grabbed his arm, tightly, pulling him to sit down beside her, refusing to let go as she pinched the skin, in her grasp, without even looking at him.

Daryl got the message, she didn't want to be alone with the man.

"I see you have a ring." Peter looked at Daryl, "Did you have a wife before?"

He patted his thigh, looking at Natalia.

"Nope."

"Oh." He realised. "Well, congratulations."

"Uh huh."

"Y'know, your mother would be glad to know that you found happiness."

"Don't ruin this by lying to me." Natalia stared him down. "You were there the other day."

"Your mother, she doesn't know much about the outside world, we were very sheltered from it all, she thinks that you just simply left him, and moved on with... another man, that's all it is."

"Who gives a shit? Think I'm a bit old to need my mothers approval."

He laughed, "You haven't needed your mothers approval since you started middle school."

Natalia heard a scuffle In the hallway, but apparently the two men had missed it.

She held up her hand, twisting to look at where the noise was coming from.

"Girls? Why aren't you in bed?" She called.

"Told you to be quiet." Daisy hissed.

"Alright, come on out." Daryl called to the twins. "Now."

"We weren't eavesdropping, promise." Daisy told them, when they shuffled out, Bambi stood quietly behind her sister.

"Then what were you doing, should be asleep." Natalia said.

"Couldn't sleep." Daisy shrugged, as they both walked towards their parents.

"You got your first day of school tomorrow, you wanna fall asleep during class?"

"But, Mommy, I'm scared, you said it's gonna be different to regular school, what if the other kids are mean."

"Or what if they think we're weird, cause we ain't like them, we ain't soft."

"Honey, they're not gonna think that." Natalia shook her head. "And they ain't gonna be mean, either, cause if they are, then you tell me and I'll deal with it."

"But, Dad said that they're not like us, they're weak, and they won't like us, cause of it." Daisy huffed, pushing her hair out of her face.

"Well, your dad should keep his mouth shut, sometimes." Natalia looked over her shoulder at him.

"Mommy, who's that man?" Bambi whispered.

"That's..." She gave it some thought. "Babies, I want you to meet your Grandfather, Grandpa Pete."

"What's a grandfather mean?" Daisy asked, confused.

"Well, honey" Natalia ignored the teary eyes of her stepfather. "You know how you have Daddy, one day, if you have children, they will have a daddy, maybe, and then, he" She pointed at Daryl, "Will be your children's grand daddy, the daddy of the parent, does that make sense, yeah, well Grandpa Mike, that's my step dad, so that's your grandad."

"Where's Daddy's dad?" Bambi asked.

"Dead, sweetheart." He answered. "Watched it happen, too, don' worry, he ain't coming back."

"Pete, you okay?" Natalia asked, finally paying attention, but making a mental note to bring up Daryl's dead dad talk, later.

"Yeah." He blinked. "Uhm, what are your two's name's?"

"Girls." Daryl urged them to answer, prying Bambi off of him to face the man.

"My name's Bambi."

"Daisy." Natalia warned her.

"Fine." The girl rolled her eyes. "My name's Daisy."

"I'm Bambi." Bambi gave him a small wave.

"Hello, it's nice to meet the two of you, I just- you both are just as beautiful as your mother, when she was your size."

"What was Mom like at our size?" Daisy tried.

"An angel." Natalia answered, quickly, earning a snort out of Peter.

"Y'know, I could tell you girls some story's about your mother." He chuckled, gleefully.

"We love story time!" Bambi cheered.

"Aunt Nat, He's awake, again!" RJ called, from upstairs.

"He's crying for you." Judith reported, also from upstairs.

"Would you look at that? No time for stories, I gotta go settle your brother again, and you should be asleep too, so I think it's time for Pete to go home, as well."

"You have a son?" Peter asked, his jaw slack, his eyes wandering to Daryl, who gulped.

"Yes, who apparently needs me."

"And the other children, they are?"

"Our niece and nephew, look, it's really late, and I gotta deal with these lot." Natalia sighed, taking the twin's hands, leading them towards the stairs.

"Right, right, my apologies, but, Tally, please, I would love to take you to lunch, maybe the both of you, or all of you, I just want to get to know you and your beautiful family, if you'll let me."

"And what about..."

"Your mother doesn't need to know, not until she or you are ready to make amends, I promise."

"I'll think about it, Daryl, would'ya." She nodded at the door, and he took the hint, moving to open it once again.

"Mommy." Daisy started, as they walked up the stairs.

"Yeah, honey."

"Even though your Mom isn't great, I think you're the best mom in the world."

"I do, too." Bambi agreed.

"Girls." Natalia felt her cheeks get hot, as she smiled to herself. "I love you both, so much." She hugged them tight, as they walked to their room. "But I don't wanna see you until the morning, goodnight, and I love you, your father will be up to resay goodnight, in a minute."

"Momma!" Archie screamed from his bedroom.

"Aunt Nat." RJ repeated.

"Yeah, sweetie, I can hear, I'm coming." She turned back to her twins. "Lay down, go to sleep."

But before she could walk out the room, she rushed back in to tuck them in tightly and kissed their foreheads and cheeks, just as Daryl walked up the stairs.

"Your turn." She patted his chest, going towards the boys room. "Jude, go back to bed, lovey." She shut Judith's door.

"Momma." Archie whimpered, his tiny hands reaching for her, when Natalia entered his and RJ's room.

"Babyboy, what's wrong?" She asked, picking him up, wiping his tears, kissing his cheek.

"He just kept crying for you, guess he just misses you." RJ shrugged.

"I'll take him to my room, so you can get some sleep, buddy." Natalia gave the boy a side hug, kissing his head.

"Night, Aunt Nat." He yawned, climbing back into his bed.

"Night, sweetie." She walked out his room, closing the door. "Sleepover with Momma and Daddy, baby?"

"Yeah." Archie pouted.

"What's wrong?" Daryl asked, closing Judith's door, again, after saying his goodnights to her.

"Missed me." She answered, entering their room, the last one for the night.

"Ya missed yer dad?" Daryl asked his only son.

"Momma." He snuggled into her chest, making the woman smirk.

"It's okay, Mommy and Archie cuddles." She dropped him down on the bed.

"Hey, you alright?" Daryl asked, pulling his shirt off over his head.

"About what?" Natalia asked, pulling off her own top, exchanging it for a comfier one, for bed.

"Him." He nodded his head to the door. "Coming to the house."

She shrugged.

"Dunno how to feel, honestly, I'm too tired, what's the point of feeling, shit's just gonna happen anyway." She pulled off her jeans.

"He uh, he wanted me ta give ya this." He hesitated before holding out his hand, a silver chain on his palm.

"Oh my god." She gasped. "He gave this to me at their wedding, said he was trying to buy my approval." She couldn't help the small smile that slipped on her face, as she held the top of it, to examine it, the N dangling in the air. "I left it at my mothers, I can't even remember why, but I was so mad that I did, and he had it this entire time, help?"

She passed it back, grabbing her hair and holding out of the way, so that he could put it back on, which he did, kissing her shoulder when he had done it, but he wasn't expecting her reaction to be shrugging him off and moving to climb in their bed, holding their son, who layed in the middle.

He evaluated anything he could've done to earn that, before getting into bed on his own side.

Archie had fallen asleep pretty quickly and easily, in the comfort of his parents, but Daryl watched out the corner of his eye, how Natalia dragged that initial across her lips, her brows furrowed as she seemed deep in thought.

"You sure you're okay?" He whispered.

"Fine." She dismissed, the chain falling from her fingers, instantly, as she turned over, her back facing him.

A month had passed, with them living in the Commonwealth, Natalia had agreed to meet up with her stepfather, Peter, but she hadn't allowed her children, she decided she'd be keeping her family away from her parents, until her mother wasn't such a large question mark, on whether she would "attack" them or not, until she had joined Peter on one of their lunches, making the man double back on his promise.

Apparently, Monica, her mother, had given up on her daughter, but not her grandchildren, Peter, the weasel, had shared the news about their twin daughters, their two "adopted" daughters, and their son, she especially wanted to meet her biological grandkids, is what she had said in her own words.

It had taken Natalia a week, to finally approve of her mother joining them for dinner, in the instance that she pays, to be near her kids, letting them meet the wicked woman, this had only been, as Monica had kept appearing in the places they were, trying to make her own meet and greet happen.

"There's my lil cowgirls!" Natalia cheered, her Pumpkin, Archie, in her arms, as the twins were the first to emerge from the haunted house, dressed in identical cowboy outfits, Daisy sporting a green scarf, and Bambi in blue. Judith, who was dressed like a witch, followed, RJ and Daryl were the last to come out.

The Commonwealth had thrown an whole festival to celebrate Halloween, and it was the first time the kids would be even celebrating a holiday, which had made Natalia very, very giddy.

"Here, Luicfer, here's your devil mask, did you enjoy it?" She asked, handing RJ his missing part of his costume.

"RJ cried like a lil baby." Daisy told her, tilting her cowboy hat back.

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Dais, didn't you scream for your daddy, when the fake walker came out?" Judith asked her, raising a brow.

"Yeah, only cause he didn't let me bring my bow, I woulda handled it." She rolled her eyes.

"Well, you ain't seeing that bow of yours again, since ya decided ta bring it to yer class." Daryl weighed in.

"It was an accident." She argued.

Judith nudged her head to go get a cake, from the bakery Carol works at, whilst Daisy argued her innocence, and Natalia smiled at her agreeing she could go off, on her own.

"Mommy, I wasn't scared of the house."

"I know you weren't, baby." Natalia told Bambi, petting one of her braids.

Carol had then walked over, with a tray of baked goods, letting the three pick off it.

"What do you say?" Natalia reminded.

"Thank you." All three kids groaned.

"Thanks, Carol" Natalia spoke for Archie, snapping bits of the cookie off so that he could eat it.

"So, what do you think?" Carol asked.

"Takes a minute to get used to all this, you know?" Daryl spoke.

"You know, this place was up and running long and before we ever got here." Carol commented.

"We're aware, my mother never lets me forget it." Natalia rolled her own eyes.

"Point is, maybe we don't have to do anything to make it work."

"No, there's always something you gotta do to make it work." Daryl slightly tapped the swinging apple, as the kids played around it.

Cheers erupted as Pamala Milton emerged from her building, her assistant, Maxine followed behind, with a tray of candy floss, as the Governor chucked candy into the crowd.

"Kids, scatter, where she is, your grandmother isn't far away." Natalia warned the twins.

"Well, she isn't gonna miss the pumpkin you're lugging around, if your idea is to hide from her." Carol warned.

"Yeah, but the perk of that is that Archie doesn't know many words, compared to his sisters, so he can't do or say anything to cause anything. He's just my sweet lil adorable pumpkin." Natalia kissed the poor boys cheeks, whilst he ate his cookie.

Next, the Governor had started the costume competition, a little girl who was dressed as Michael Mercer had won 10 lottery tickets, he was the guy who was in control of the "Military/ police force" at this place.

"I always thought she was so classy." Carol smiled as everyone clapped for the woman.

"I never knew anything about her." Daryl added.

"She shouted at me once, cause I got juice on her expensive rug, I was seven." Natalia sighed.

"Hey, you two look busy." Carol caught Connie and Kelly's attention, as they walked up to the three.

Connie smiled at Archie, waving her finger at his costume.

"Connie's a reporter for the paper, and we've got a full day, so..." Kelly explained, signing as she spoke.

"How's work?" Daryl asked.

"It's nice to be reporting again, but Commonwealth news isn't exactly... hard-hitting." Kelly translated as Connie signed.

"Have you met Pamela yet?" Daryl continued.

"I've interviewed her once before the world fell." Kelly translated again. "Yeah, and you also got her uncle kicked out of Congress, so..." Kelly said for herself.

"That was you?" Carol asked.

She shrugged with a smile.

"We got to go. We have a lot to do before the masquerade ball, so..."

"See you later." Daryl nodded.

Natalia watched her husband as he looked after the woman, with her sister, holding their son rather tightly, a weight on her chest, that had been there since a month ago, felt rather heavy.

"I hear the both of you are going to this ball." Carol smiled.

"We got to get to work." Daryl spoke for her, taking Archie from Natalia.

"Yeah. See you guys later."

"Yeah, see you, Carol." Natalia smiled politely.

They had dropped Archie off at the Daycare before getting ready for work at their home, where they had also met up with Rosita.

The three of them had ended up working at the military, Daryl and Rosita were troopers for the army, whilst Natalia, with her college degree's, had ended up becoming an interrogator/ detective, something she was planning on becoming, before she had become pregnant, of course. But it meant that they all worked at the station together.

"Hey, there you guys are." Rosita smiled as they walked up.

"Hey to you, too" Natalia jogged forward, hugging the woman tightly.

"You want to tell me about any cases?" Rosita asked.

"Oh, you know I can't do that, that's for the big leagues to know, sorry, but Mike asked about me helping out with your guys training today, so, there's that."

"Mike? You're calling him Mike?" Daryl asked.

"Well, yeah, we do work together, a lot, same as he calls me by a nickname." Natalia looked over her shoulder at him, holding Rosita's hand, as they walked in the rain. "Not a big deal."

"Yeah, yeah, I bet it ain't." He grumbled.

Once they had reached the abandoned houses, Natalia went off to speak to Mercer and the other lieutenants.

"Hey, you guys doing okay?" Rosita asked Daryl, watching him watch his wife.

"Yeah, yeah, we're fine, why do you ask?" He replied.

"I don't know, you guys seem pretty tense with each other, you hardly talk with out making things awkward."

"I don't know, neither." He sighed. "Probably got something ta do with her parents being around, gotta be weird for her."

"Yeah, yeah, could be that, or maybe it's just something to do with finding out her husband left her alone for months to go live with some woman in the woods, then lie about it for years to come, whilst she was pregnant, with his kids." Rosita said, thoughtfully.

"She- she told you-"

"Of course she did, said she forgave you... but, I was with her, when you wasn't, I had to see the pain she was going through everyday, Michonne might've lost Rick on that bridge, but Nat lost you, and you never were really gone." She left him with that, before joining the other trainees.

"Welcome to the kill house." Mercer began, when ready. "In this exercise, killing is not your primary goal. I'm looking for speed and teamwork. Two teams of two will start the course simultaneously. One team goes through the house on the right, the other team takes the house on the left. There's one weapon per team, that must be shared. Your objective; get through the house, and all the rotters inside. There will be a rotter marked in red at the end of each house. First team to take out their red gets one step closer to earning their stripes. But fail to work as a unit, see what you get. Dixon, wanna tell them the teams." Mercer waved for Natalia to step forward.

"Alright, Hart, your with Tomas. Espinosa and Green. Quintana, Johnson. Dixon and Daniels. Team up, and lets get to it, we ain't got all day."

"You mind if I go with Espinosa? We make a good team." Daryl asked, as Natalia handed him a knife, looking at Mercer.

"Daryl, I didn't choose the teams, we did it by random, there's no switching." She looked at him through her brows. "So work well with Daniels, you guys are up first"

"We got this. I know you're the fastest and I'm the baddest, so we're good." Rosita laughed with her team mate, Green.

"Let's do this." He nodded back at her.

"Hey, I'm Jake." Daniels introduced himself.

Daryl put the knife in his open hand.

"What's up, Jake?" He grunted.

"So, I'm guessing that's your wife, heard she's Mercers new deputy, or something." He nodded at Natalia, who checked with the rest of the duos, before walking away to stand by Mercer, again.

"Your guess is as good as mine." He replied.

Mercer raised his hand, before blowing his whistle, letting the two teams start.

"Taking it he doesn't work well in a team."

"Neither of them, really, but they're good at what they do, can get creative when need to."

"But that's not what this is about, its about teamwork."

"That's the part which scares me." She sighed.

Daryl had ended up failing the mission, when Daniels called out for him, Mercer had to shoot the walker.

"Man, what was that, He was good, I was right there." Daryl told him, as they walked out the house.

"I said speed and teamwork." Mercer replied. "Green, Espinosa, nicely done. Dixon, You're with me."

"You're an idiot." Natalia snapped at her husband, following behind the large man.

#daryl dixon smut #daryl dixon #the walking dead daryl #twd daryl #carl grimes #carol peletier #daryl fanfiction #glenn rhee #michonne #rick grimes #daryl dixion smut #daryldixonalonetwd #darylxnatalia #twdcommonwealth

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keyh0use · 6 months

Text

Kinktober Day 15: Praise Kink

Rafe being the most stuck-up, pretentious kook the mainland has ever had the displeasure of hosting

Contrary to what Rafe had spent the better part of their relationship believing, Barry didn't graduate in the Outer Banks.

After being introduced to high school buddies while down on the cut, it was an easy assumption to make.

But that wasn't the case. Barry's family had moved to the mainland during his senior year which meant he had to finish the last semester at a new school where he knew no one. That part of his life was very short lived and according to the dealer, unimportant to disclose.

It wasn't like, a private school, y'know? Nothin' like The Kook Academy or whatever, Barry had told Rafe one evening. But everyone was way better off than my folks, I got made fun of for it. Not a big deal, though.

Only Rafe did find that to be a big deal, couldn't imagine a time where Barry wasn't how he is now; mean and confrontational and trigger-happy.

Like a beacon calling him to relive the worst months of his life, Barry receives an invite to his highschool reunion and like everything else, can't hide it from Rafe.

"You're going," insists the boy.

"The hell I am," counters Barry. "Bunch'a assholes I don't wanna waste a night I could be with you on."

Rafe tells him, "Oh, I'm going too."

Arguing with the kook—who was not only an excellent negotiator but could also cry on command—wasn't something Barry did lightly, so with a heavy sigh he agreed.

That was how the older man ended up in front of his old high school, looking the same way it did all those years ago. Only now Barry was dressed exceptionally nice, something he was accustomed to after being with Rafe and forced to attend every prestigious event on the North side, mingling amongst the kooks like he was one of them—and maybe he was, after all this time.

The entryway was decorated with cheap looking fairy lights, glittering white and bright now that the sun had fully set. Everything was so familiar it was unsettling and Barry kept a firm grip on Rafe's hand, a silent plea not to be left alone for even a second in this terrible place. It wasn't that Barry was bullied or anything, just that almost all of these people grew up as upper middle class and had brand-name clothing and fancy Christmas vacations to show for it, a stark contrast to the dealer's upbringing. As someone who spent most of his life in the Outer Banks, Barry could attest that not even the snootiest kook would blindly turn their nose up at him, too familiar with how the other side lived down in the cut. Besides, both sides of the island shared moments together, usually on the beach at the end of summer, and Barry had always had fond memories surrounding those days. Especially when Rafe waltzed into his life. But he supposes it all makes sense; every one of the families in this little town live the exact same cushy way, so it's inevitable that when some boy from the barrier islands shows up with scuffed shoes and second-hand clothes, naturally he would be beneath them. There's a large frame propped up on a table just outside the bustling auditorium filled with grad photos, and Barry can physically feel his boy grin as he's tugged over to it. Blue eyes scour the last names printed beneath the black-and-white pictures but Barry isn't interested in reliving his bad hairstyles, back when he didn't have a clue how to properly care for his curls and instead took the moment to try and make out who was in attendance. Some of the football jocks, clearly, given how obnoxious they were. An English teacher Barry was fond of because she would get side-tracked easily and go on rants instead of making them do work. The vice principal, who now appeared to have been promoted, taking photos with former students with a big, practiced grin plastered on his face.

Once Rafe had snapped a photo of Barry's awful picture, and presumably sent it to Sarah, they were joining the hordes of people from the older man's past. But as the evening slowly went by, Barry hadn't considered who he had at his side. Rafe—who usually carried himself with an air of superiority—was ramping his conceitedness up. They made rounds and the kook was perfectly attuned to his man's demeanour, picking up on Barry's fidgeting and terse words, knowing to turn his nose up at the people before them.

When some guy who used to gang up on Barry in gym class comes over to start bragging about some start-up, claiming it's the next best thing and he's at the top of the game, Rafe listens with the most uninterested look until the other man starts to stumble over his words.

Rafe has a ton of accomplishments under his belt from working with Cameron Industries—seeing how he's their best negotiator and has closed an unbelievable amount of deals in his short few years in the business. The kook will gloat for a few minutes and then smoothly change the conversation to Barry by saying I owe everything to my husband, without his continued support who knows where I'd be and it's so genuine and proud the older man can't find it in him to feel embarrassed, even when Rafe continues to boast about him.

The same process repeats, people will make their way over and try to impress the well-dressed kook to no avail, Rafe only being polite to those who don't make his man all tense and jittery.

Then a woman Barry vaguely recognizes joins them and gets a little too friendly. The older man feels like he's suffering from a spell of insanity at just how upset he gets and how fast, after all, people were drawn to Rafe and flirted with him everywhere they went; the country club, dinner dates, the damn gas station. It always pissed Barry off but this time, watching some random girl from senior year bat her lashes at the kook is too much.

Barry opens his mouth but Rafe beats him to the punch, rejecting the advances without missing a beat and doing it rudely, like the boy is disgusted. And Rafe always does that, too, has never in all their years of being together strayed for even a second, never letting the compliments get to him.

Pride swells in Barry's chest and it's overwhelming, the love he feels.

For a moment the woman can only stare in shock and then her husband is looping an arm through hers and introducing himself.

"Let's go somewhere," Barry leans over to whisper once they're left standing alone.

Rafe takes a sip of the watery cider from a clear plastic cup, mumbling against the rim, "Now?"

"Yeah, now."

With a slow nod, Rafe slips his hand into Barry's and they make their way outside into the dimly lit hallway, only a few people rushing by on the way to the bathrooms.

"You wanna go home?" asks Rafe.

"Nah, not yet," Barry answers. "Havin' you here makes this shit bearable."

Rafe can't wipe the smile off his face as they walk the corridors hand-in-hand, talking idly until Barry tries the door on a dark classroom, finding it unlocked.

The lights aren't switched on as the kook is ushered inside, Barry swiftly closing the door behind them and crowding Rafe against a wall to kiss him heatedly.

There's only one thing on Barry's mind and that's being inside his beautiful boy, leaving a trail down Rafe's throat as he yanks on his own belt.

"You're such a good boy, y'know that?" whispers Barry, sucking harshly on the skin just below Rafe's collar. Hands twist in his dress shirt, black fabric wrinkling but neither of them care in the moment.

Rafe does know—how could be not, when his man is always reminding him? But the compliment makes his belly swoop and his cock jump, half hard in his slacks already, he'll never getting tired of hearing it.

Footsteps fall just outside the door and urgency sets in, Barry turning the kook around, Rafe's cheek pressed against the cool chalkboard as the two of them work together to get his pants and briefs to pool around his ankles.

Barry yanks down his own zipper and feeds his hard cock through the opening, spitting into his palm to smooth down his shaft. Precome drools from the tip, connecting a sticky string from his slit to Rafe's puckered rim where they teasingly meet.

Both of Rafe's hands flatten against the board on either side of his head, panting into the dark room as he impatiently waits, mindlessly squirming in an attempt to get friction.

"I love how desperate you get," Barry mumbles, holding the base of his dick and smacking the tip against Rafe's hole.

The boy snaps in a bratty tone, "Do you like fucking me? 'Cause you're about to miss your chance." His prick hasn't flagged since he got hard, even with all the waiting and Rafe knew without looking there was a small puddle of his precome pooled on the ugly tile floor.

"Yeah fuckin' right," counters Barry, finally easing his fat cockhead in the boys greedy hole. "Could do this anywhere I want, tease you as much as I want, smack you around as much as I want. You're so good to me, baby, letting me do anything to you." Once he's fucked all the way in, one strong arm wraps around Rafe's stomach and his other hand holds the kooks hip in a bruising grip. "You're so fucking sexy when you're mean, actin' like a spoiled little brat—"

"Your fault," gasps Rafe.

Barry's hips are snapping forward, the sound of skin on skin echoing throughout the spacious room almost as loud as their combined moaning. "Yeah. Yeah, I'd give you anything," pants out Barry. "You feel so good, so tight around me, fuck."

"Make me come," demands Rafe, though it's followed by a whimper. The kooks ego has inflated tenfold since the two men got together, a damn near constant stream of praise falling from Barry's mouth to shower Rafe.

It doesn't matter if he burns the chicken to a crisp or his teeth accidentally graze the underside of Barry's prick too hard—Rafe is such a good boy, such a good cocksucker and the older man worships the ground he walks on.

It's intoxicating and addicting to have a man like Barry, who's tough and strong and unfriendly want him so ardently, to be willing to do whatever it takes to keep the boy happy.

Leaning forward to kiss devotedly over Rafe's clothed shoulder, Barry reminds him, "Good boys don't come without asking permission and you're so good," while speeding up the thrusting. "So go on, baby, ask me."

One of Rafe's hands slide down and off the chalkboard to curl around the arm baring across his stomach and he cranes his neck to look back pleadingly, taking the fucking as quietly as possible given their location but he's losing his composure, shamelessly whining.

"Please?" the boy asks sweetly, glassy eyes wide.

Barry crowds in closer until his whole front is flush with Rafe's back, more rocking into him than actually thrusting, keeping his cock buried deep.

"Please what, baby?" Barry asks.

Rafe begs brokenly, "Please can I come?" while rocking back on the thick length pressed heavenly against his bundle of nerves.

Keeping the kook pinned in place Barry reaches down to wrap a firm fist around his cock. "Yeah. Yeah, go ahead, baby boy, make a mess," he encourages.

Come paints the concrete wall in thick ropes, Barry's hand working Rafe over until he's squeezing his eyes shut in oversensitivity, rim squeezing around the cock pistoning into him.

A litany of praise falls freely from Barry's mouth when he empties inside his boy, lips pressed against Rafe's nape and eyes squeezed shut in concentration.

Barry helps right the boys clothing, kissing over Rafe's ruddy cheeks while smoothing out any wrinkles he may have caused in the boys dress shirt before doing the same to himself.

"You sure you don't wanna go home?" asks Rafe, tucking a curl behind his man's ear. "I just wanted to show you you've got it good, much better than those assholes."

"That's why you dragged me all the way here?" Barry can't suppress an eye roll, palms trailing up and down Rafe's sides. "I know I got it good, baby, I have you." this could technically be an extra from my they don't know they're dating fic that I've only half written, as almost all of the little details are from it

#i finished this in line for a haunted attraction lmao #and then was too busy to read through it #rafebarry #rafe x barry

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woodblxssomcrowned · 2 months

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You can turn this into whatever you want but..

What abt hc of how the Uchiha and/or Senju would differ depending on education? Like would one clan be better at say; science, or math, or literature, etc.

Or what about the little things? Y'know things like what are some of the social etiquette rules that each clan would follow?

Sry I'm rly ecstatic that there's someone who is eager to go into the deep dive of lore behind a story when there is little to no info!

oof, I'm afraid I'm not very good with comparison as I suck at writing headcanons for the Uchiha, and there are plenty others who are great at that. Not that i feel super confident about my Senju headcanons either most of the time...

But I can say this: I don't think they were very different in terms of education, and you really can't note one clan as being better at one thing compared to another.

In my mind, shinobi clans were overall considered lower class members of society as a whole. Upper middle-class at best.

They were mercenaries. Highly skilled professional fighters with unique abilities. Being professional soldiers was their job, and they had to do it well if they wanted to make sure their clan thrived. And I think their education would reflect that occupation as well as the state of the clan at the time and the resources available. So during the WS era, when there was no organized academy system and likely not any public schooling available for shinobi children, the clans educated their own members with what means and knowledge that existed within the clan and probably had their own ways of doing it.

I do think that being literate and having at least basic math skills was very valuable knowledge to have so that would likely have been among the first things they'd learn. And we do know that both Madara and Hashirama were able to read and write by the age of like 12-14.

Again, the shinobi were mercenaries. Soldiers. Fighters. Not nobles, scholars or artists. And they lived short lives. Skills and knowledge that first and foremost served and made it possible for you to survive and do your job as a shinobi well were prioritized, and that was true for most clans.

Aside from just grueling physical training, these fields of skills and knowledge could include : Tracking, hunting, fishing, survival training, basic medical skills/first aid (not medical ninjutsu), identifying plants and knowing their various purposes, making and caring for tools and equipment, map-reading, understanding social structure, setting up and taking down camps efficiently, undermining enemy fortifications and understanding military organization, language and strategy. Mental and emotional endurance and focus against pain, loss, or fear. The ability to think fast and act quickly, perceptiveness, see opportunities and take initiative, efficient cooperation with others as well as independent action and thinking.

Although respect, loyalty and discipline was important, blind obedience and inability to think for themselves was discouraged, as it made for inefficient soldiers that wouldn't be able to act unless they were continuously given clear and explicit orders. The shinobi of this time had to be able to act and think on their own if needed, and the choices they made would reflect on their clan. They prided themselves on being high-quality fighters, and being mindless fools who would falter and lose all manner of discipline and focus if they lost their commander was not how they maintained a good reputation.

'Humanities' like artistic expression or literature were not among these fields that shinobi would prioritize. The warring states period wasn't a flourishing time for these fields I'd imagine, and for shinobi they were rarely useful in practice. (If they wanted they could engage in these fields when they had free time, or during the winter when campaigning often took a pause and left a bit of room for leisure.)

Ofc there were those who found their strength in books and scrolls, in experimenting and developing new tools and techniques, in digging deep into what was known and pushing the boundaries of what was possible. But pretty much all clans prior to the villages being developed were terribly limited in their resources, so there was only so far one could go in research before hitting a wall.

The Senju valued learning, and sharing knowledge, a great deal. Teaching and training younger members of the clan was an essential task that pretty much all adults would do to some extent at one point or another, everyone held responsibility to ensure the next generation had the skills and knowledge necessary for a life as shinobi, as professional fighters. The younger members of the clan were encouraged to see all their elders, regardless if they were just a year older or several decades, as teachers, and respect them as such.

They were the clan of a thousand skills after all, and to ensure all those skills that existed within the clan would survive they needed to be passed down.

If knowledge was exclusively passed down from parent to child then the width of knowledge and skill sets would quickly become limited. Individuals who might have an undiscovered talent for a certain skill may never reach their full potential because they were never exposed to its existence. Some skills could even be lost completely if that family-line ended, which was always a risk since many died before they had children of their own. Hoarding knowledge within a family-line was deeply frowned upon.

So to prevent this, young members regardless gender and of roughly the same age would from the age of three be trained together in groups, but they could come from many different families and bloodlines. Still, for almost two hundred years leading up to Hashirama becoming clan head, these kids would usually be sent out on missions before they were anywhere near fully trained or educated in truth. It was idiotic and impractical, but a persistent remnant from a period where illness and war made it necessary to have even the younger members of the clan fight. Some groups would be completely empty before any of the members had even turned eleven years old.

Even if young Senju, who were often in a league above many others, were learning quickly and efficiently and having the strength and stamina of their genetics on their side, when they ended up in a life-or-death fight against an adult shinobi (or even non-shinobi) with decades of experience, the odds were overwhelmingly against them. And those who would have been pretty average shinobi, those who despite carrying the Senju name, in a different time would not have gotten very far and might have gone on to dedicate themselves to other tasks that would support and keep the clan running smoothly, were often the first to die. You were either strong or you were dead.

In my continued warring states verse, since Hashirama became clan head he set a strict line on when young Senju are allowed to get anywhere near a potential battle. Before fifteen, no Senju was given missions. They are to focus on training and studying. On growing. On flourishing and settling into their unique strengths. And even at fifteen, they are still not allowed into open combat. The Senju's coming-of-age milestone was sixteen, and only at that point were they allowed to fight in open combat, if they were deemed to have sufficient strength and ability to be capable of it.

Because of this, the number of fighting Senju did drop for a little while, but the ones that then entered the field when they became eligible were far stronger, thoroughly trained, educated, and competent, and had a much higher survival-rate.

Now, as I said I generally don't feel super comfortable writing headcanons for the Uchiha, I find that very difficult so I rarely do it. But, I do sort of imagine them teaching and training their young members much more centered within individual family units. Parents teach their older children, and the older children teach their younger siblings. Close cousins, aunts and uncles might be involved too. And I like to think that Madara implemented a similar age-restriction for the Uchiha as Hashirama did for the Senju.

---

Honestly I don't think the Senju have very unique mannerisms that are specific to their clan. They are sought after as mercenaries and as such have had to adapt to the social etiquette of the class they usually serve so as to not offend their employer.

But here’s some general brainstorming on both big and small things, not sure its what you were thinking of bet here it is. Again, for the Senju.

- Don't settle for 'good enough'. Always strive towards perfection and precision. Don't leave things half-finnished.

- Honor and respect your parents, your elders and offer prayers to your ancestors.

- Do not speak ill of or disrespect the dead.

- Honor your clan. Wear your crest with pride and dignity. When you wear your clan's crest, you represent it, so never act in a way that will bring shame upon it and all others who wear it, have worn it and will wear it in the future.

(Note :: The shinobi's view of shame and dishonor is different from that of say samurai and most of the world, which is also why so many look down on them) - Do not use your last name when speaking to strangers. - Be mindful of social ranks outside of the clan and within it, and act appropriately when in the presence of those that are higher rank than you.

- Life is fleeting and impermanent, and death is an inevitable part of life. Everything ends one way or another. Accept this irrefutable truth. Train hard, and fight with discipline and vigor and with the anticipation of death, and seize and enjoy the time between.

- Don't speak without thinking, and speak only when you have something worth saying. Speak clearly. Senju can be considered blunt, but overall sincere.

- Do not overindulge in alcohol, sex, or the like. Less is more.

- Treat and love all your peers as your brothers and sisters. Get along, be respectful of each other, and stay close. Love and support each other for life. Senju put a lot of emphasis on camaraderie, promoting relationships of trust and devotion between peers over strictly familial or filial ones.

- Some acts of disobedience are more acceptable than others, and it is usually rather a matter of if you get caught doing it. For example, if you get caught sneaking out of the house at night you'll get scolded or disciplined for being caught, rather than the act of trying to sneak out itself.

- Do not waste food or drink. If you really do not wish to eat or drink what you are offered for some reason, accept it politely but leave it without eating or drinking it. Food was frequently scarce during the WS era, so refusing food was not only impolite but also just plain wasteful.

- Shinobi children often had many siblings, and parents that could be away from the home for extended periods of time or die suddenly, so being able to help care for their family by performing domestic and household tasks and being self-sufficient was important. This responsibility particularly falls onto the oldest child, but everyone is expected to pull their weight when needed and however they are able.

- Maintain good hygiene. When in the field, take all opportunities that are offered to wash up.

- Keep your clothing and equipment clean, neat and maintained as well. Treat your belongings well, or they might fail you when you need them, and they may not be easy to replace. Treating your belongings poorly or having a dishevelled appearance can not only be cause of disapproving looks, but even disciplinary action.

- A shinobi will have to do and endure terrible things, you are expected to be relentless, cold, and uncompromising in battle, but you must keep the one you must always be on the battlefield separated from the one you are at home. You have to learn this. If you get consumed by anger or pain or grief and can't function off the battlefield, or start engaging in antisocial behaviour, you are a burden to the rest of the clan.

- Treat guests with respect and hospitality. Although the Senju rarely bring outsiders into their settlement, they are excellent hosts when they do. And once the village was founded and you visited a Senju household, you would always be offered to at least sit down and have some tea before you left.

- (I have a full post on HCs about Senju clan Love, sex and marriage coming up soon)

#;;headcanons #;;brain storming #;;answered #;;senju #v; warring states #v; main #echo28

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oh-hush-its-perfect · 9 months

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this is me officially asking you to infodump/ramble/anything about quinn :)

QUINN AHHHHHHHH MY BELOVED

so so so Quinn is the main character of the third (?) graphic novel in a series I plan to create that takes place in my hometown. Each story has a supernatural twist to it, but with Quinn's story in particular, the twist isn't revealed until Act 7 out of 8 (I could hypothetically make it a more typical three-act story, but the acts would have wildly different lengths if I did.) Feel free to guess what the twist might be having read this whole description!

It's worth noting that I originally conceived this story as a film. It's entirely written as a script; all I have to do is actually draw the panels for the graphic novel. Anyway, if I had decided to make it a film, it would be about an hour and a half long, approximately.

Enough about the actual story. What about Quinn?

So Quinn [Last Name Confidential] is a junior at [High School Name Confidential], and boy, does he have a reputation! Quinn has very apparent undiagnosed ADHD and behavioral problems. I wrote the biggest chunk of the story right after I received my own ADHD diagnosis and I wanted to write a protagonist who thought like me. He's also partially inspired by Holden Caufield from Catcher in the Rye, since I had just read that book when I started writing— and personally, I adored it. One of my favorite classics. I do know it's not everyone's cup of tea, and if you walked away from CITR resenting Holden, a) did we read the same book? and b) Quinn also probably won't be your cup of tea. He's aggressive, he's directionless, and he feels like no one in the world understands him— least of all his family.

His parents are upper-middle class folks with good upbringings (and family histories on both sides of people mysteriously going missing?). His siblings are both on scholarships going to prestigious colleges— his brother has a scholarship for football and his sister has an academic full ride. If it weren't for Quinn, the family would be perfect.

But Quinn! Like I said, major behavioral issues. The inciting incident of the story is Quinn throwing a terracotta pot at another student's head (he does miss, though, because he has terrible aim). He has a criminal record because of his tendency to shoplift candy bars from convenience stores. He only has one friend— and that single friend is his complete opposite. But all this isn't to say that Quinn isn't smart or talented. He's extremely smart and talented, actually, but has a hard time committing to tasks. Like, y'know, me, he has a really hard time doing laundry because he feels the need to check every single tag before he sorts his clothes. He does enjoy repetitive, simple tasks, though, like pulling weeds or other garden chores.

Some other fun facts about him:

He has a GIANT sweet tooth and loves sweets and milk and cream

He has a hard time making choices when given open-ended questions

He thrives in nature

He has very little sense of time

He has a bit of an obsession with counting things

He's left-handed!

On the side of his left hand, there's a white birthmark stretching from his wrist to the knuckle of his pinkie

He's pansexual and doesn't have a super strong relationship with his gender

He is also extremely oblivious and can't tell when people are hitting on him

At the beginning of the story, he looks kind of ugly— not because he is, but because he wears his bangs in front of his eyes so, like, half his face is covered and because he only wears black or other muted, desaturated colors.

His eyes are BRIGHT green

He is a white American, but about 75% of his ancestors were Irish.

He's got black hair and pale, clear skin.

He really looks good in jewel tones (vivid, bright colors) but almost never wears them.

He gets jealous easily

Remember that best friend I mentioned earlier? Quinn is a little in love.

If you're curious, please send more questions about him, his story, or any of my other stories to either this account or my art account, @zodapopz!!

#oc #original character #my original works

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pynkhues · 1 year

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Re: the Roy kids and colleges - I think Logan would obviously want Kendall, Roman, and Shiv to attend elite universities to demonstrate their "seriousness", but we also know he has a complicated relationship with that particular strain of American culture, so I think there'd also be a lot of comments around the dinner table about "pointy-headed Harvard f*cks" or whatever when Kendall comes home wanting to show off what he's learned in his macro-economics class. In other words, the kids' relationship to a college degree/experience and the status it brings would range from "i need to do this because I'm going to take over the empire one day" (Kendall) to totally dismissive (Roman). Another thought is that none of them have any real interest in developing social lives or making real connections beyond the incredibly narrow social circles of the 1%, which would definitely affect their choice of school. ie - my headcanon is that Roman either follows Kendall to Harvard for his undergraduate studies or else attends NYU or Columbia, both elite schools that would allow him to maintain a totally separate social life from his "normo" classmates while still showing up to class very occasionally, something that's harder to do at Dartmouth (in the middle of nowhere New Hampshire where it's snowing six months out of the year) or another bucolic elite liberal arts college.

As for Shiv, I could see her choosing the West Coast as a way of putting some space between her and her brothers--Stanford, or USC for their communications school. She wouldn't need a graduate degree for a career as a political strategist, especially not if she majored in political science or communications (I feel like Logan made a call to hook her up at a PR or communications firm for her first "job", which is how she made the jump to the liberal political world).

I totally agree Connor dropped out of whatever university he started attending, and Logan probably didn't notice or care.

(x)

Oh, I loooove your point about Logan's complicated relationship with that part of American culture and how that likely trickled down to his attitude with the kids. I think you're spot on, particularly in terms of his own degree of education. I hadn't really given all that much thought to whether or not Logan himself was college educated, but I'm inclined to think he's not (I imagine he was working for Noah at the print shop from the time he was pretty young), which is an interesting beat in furthering that divide of Logan having been raised working class vs himself raising upper class children.

It makes me think about Logan's fixation on Roman not knowing the price of milk, and how much the internal company management training meant to him. There's a degree of control in that, of course, but it's an interesting shift when you consider Kendall's canonically pretty educated (likely the most educated of the siblings at least), and that narrative choice timing with Roman's ascension in Logan's eyes and the focus on Roman having something akin to Logan's gut instinct - a sort of masculinised trait - while Kendall's losing rank and temporarily(?) locked into an emasculated / feminised role as Logan's handmaid / nurse / sacrificial lamb.

I like your point about their social circles too, and how that impacted the way they engaged with college. I was least sure about Roman, and I think your theory makes a lot of sense, especially with the way he tends to dismiss things out of what I tend to interpret as a fear of rejection. He can't fail if he never tries, y'know? And I can see Roman doubling down on just passing and not bothering deeper engagement if Logan himself is dismissive or snide of college achievements or even the college environment broadly.

Your Shiv point is definitely making me rethink her path too, because while I do think she's competitive enough with Kendall and (despite herself) enjoys a fishbowl enough to do postgrad too, I think you're right that she might want both distance and to get out there faster. I think I've talked about it before, but I'm a little obsessed with Shiv's impatience, haha. I think it's a really realistic character beat for her to constantly be feeling like she has to catch-up and overtake her brothers, both as the youngest and the only girl, and I can see that making her wanting to power through college and get out into the workforce faster. Depending on what you think the age gap is between her and Kendall too (I think I tend to think it's less than most people? I do think the golden trio are supposed to be relatively close in age), she could be gunning to be out in the workforce at the same time as him to give herself and their father the illusion of them kicking off the same starting line for once.

It's such an interesting period to think about!

#i've been thinking relentlessly about the daddy make work line from last episode too #which is unrelated to this post but also kinda not #i might make a post about it haha #logan roy #roman roy #shiv roy #kendall roy #succession meta #welcome to my ama

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desireandduty · 8 months

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What caused Padme to fall in love with Anakin? ie: what draws her to him?

These are in no particular order okay? Also this post got so long I can't even. I also took so long responding to it bit by bit that now I have to tag your new blog @inevitablehe aslkdfjadslf.

Reason #1 - because he's forthright and therefore dependable I think this is a common head canon, but his utter lack of guile and the word vomit-y way he tries to flirt with her is a perk not a bug. She's had a decade of being surrounded by smooth-talking courtiers, politicians, business leaders, etc. who will flatter her ego in order to get what they want out of her. Padmé is very smart and a good student of people. She can tell when she's just being buttered up. She might find the dishonesty irritating, but it's just part of the world she's chosen to enter. And by the time she's 24, she does know it's a downside. Imagine what 10 years of living in that world would do to you? Always having to suspect and question people's motives when they do or say something nice for you. Always wondering if or when an ally will turn on you.

Then in marches Anakin, who has been raised and socialized by space monks all through puberty. He has never seen the concepts of smooth talking, flattery or even honest flirting modeled for him by the adults in his life (because space monks, remember.) And to top it off, he has an extremely expressive face. They haven't seen each other in ten years, and the very first thing he says to her is: "So have you, grown more beautiful... for a senator, I mean." And then he immediately blushes and looks down, because he realizes that delivery was... so rough. She knows he can't have said that just to butter her up, because he said it in the most awkward way possible. If he was an accomplished flirt who used his boyish looks and charm for his own gain, he would be... y'know... good at flirting.

Reason #2 - because he helps her lighten up and makes her feel free There's a deleted scene from the Naboo mountain meadow where he's talking about how she has the weight of the world on her shoulders and needs to lighten up. And then he starts juggling fruit or something ridiculous to make her laugh. But notice that in the 3 films of the prequel trilogy, most of the time when Padmé is smiling or laughing, it's because of Anakin. Especially in AOTC.

In general, Padmé is a very strong, determined leader who willingly shoulders heavy burdens, who feels responsible for like... billions of beings who she represents. She knows that she is gifted, beloved, respected, and she feels like she cannot just squander those things and lead a frivolous life merely because she was also born into upper middle class privilege. Her compassionate heart makes it hard for her to rest and relax when she knows there's so much evil and horror out there in the galaxy.

The people she spends her time with on a daily basis are her staff, who treat her deferentially, and other politicians, who are also ambitious workaholics like she is. Then, suddenly, she is sent back to Naboo on what's essentially a forced vacation with Anakin as escort. And while he is also deferential to her (because it's his nature thanks to his upbringing), he primarily interacts with her as Padmé the person. He talks about real things with her, but he also gives her the freedom to ask questions, express her real feelings/opinions. And, most importantly, he encourages her to laugh!

Reason #3 - because he sees her as Padmé, not Amidala It helps that in their first meeting, she was posing as "just Padmé." But even the snippets that we have from books and stuff, we know that over their 10 year separation, he was always thinking of her as Padmé the woman not Amidala the Queen-turned-Senator. He fell in love with her, not her job or title. And even 10 years later in AOTC, then ROTS, everything he does is not for the sake of "protect the Senator," it's from a place of "protect Padmé."

She knows that if she quit the Senate tomorrow, he wouldn't love or respect her any less. He tells her in a million little ways that he thinks she's capable of anything she sets her mind to, that she'll be an asset no matter where she decides to work. Contrast this with the realm of politics where everyone is always looking for things to nitpick about her. She's spent so long living and working behind her Amidala mask, partially to be more effective but also to protect herself from that unending criticism. And yet Anakin has always seen her real self. She's never felt the need to hide from him, because he's always accepted, supported and cherished her.

#{i meme it}#{otp: rewrite the stars}#{i am queen amidala: headcanons}#{duty vs desire: metas}

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a-tale-never-told · 6 months

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Easy way to tell, can you see any red Porches nearby guys?

Nope, not really. Most of the cars I see are Mercedes, Chevrolets, Ford's, and the usual Volkswagen fucking Beetle. Unless you count the 911, most Porsches are a rarity for the middle class. Really, it's only available for those in the upper middle class, that have the necessary payment or cash to buy one. It's also available for the high-class folks, so it's a luxury.

Oh! By the way, you're going to need this! *hands out a card to Hajime*

Okay?...*Grabs the card and begins to read* "Soda and Son's: The Best Car Mechanic Shop In the Country". Who's that?

Oh, that's a mechanical repair store, run by the Sodas. They're well renowned for their incredible mechanic techniques, and the ability to get the car fixed, no matter the cost! The son of the owner, Kazuichi Soda, is a fellow classmate of mine. He's the Ultimate Mechanic and it really shows when he gets to work.

While he certainly has his issues, and believe me, that's just counting the crush on my fellow classmate, Sonia. But he's a good guy deep down, and If there is anyone I would most definitely trust in fixing and repairing cars, it's him. So I recommend you check it out and go to his repair shop because it's truly of high quality. The address and the company number are on the card.

Huh... thanks Fuyuhiko! That's really nice of you to do something like this. Though I'm going to have to either take a bus or my dad's car from now on, because well *points to the upside-down car* Y'know.

#mod talks #hajime hinata #fuyuhiko kuzuryu #dr #dr2 #twlight syndrome arc #a tale never told #ask #anonymous

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dani-the-goblin · 7 months

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Bold the Facts: Giah's Version

I already did this for the Vs, but I then got tagged by @wistereia. 💜💜💜

So I decided to do one for our beloved doctor, too.

🏙️🌃 PERSONAL 🌇🏙️

Financial: wealthy / moderate* / poor / in poverty

Medical: fit / moderate / sickly / disabled / disadvantaged / non-applicable

Class or Caste: upper / middle / working / unsure / other

Education: qualified / unqualified / studying / other

Criminal Record: yes, for major crimes / yes, for minor crimes / no / has committed crimes, but** not caught yet / yes, but charges were dismissed

*Militech takes care of what she needs, but she herself isn't particularly rich.

**corpos, y'know?

🏙️🌃🌇 FAMILY 🌇🏙️

Children: had a child or children / has no children / wants children

Relationship with Family: close with sibling(s) / not close with sibling(s) / has no siblings / sibling(s) is deceased

Affiliation: orphaned / abandoned / adopted / disowned / raised by birth parent(s)* / not applicable

*single mother and maternal grandparents

🏙️🌃 TRAITS & TENDENCIES 🌇🏙️

♦ extroverted / introverted / in-between

♦ disorganized / organized / in-between

♦ close-minded / open-minded / in-between

♦ calm / anxious / in-between / highly contextual

♦ disagreeable / agreeable / in-between

♦ cautious / reckless / in-between / highly contextual

♦ patient / impatient / in-between

♦ outspoken / reserved / in-between / highly contextual

♦ leader / follower / in-between

♦ empathetic / vicious bastard / in-between

♦ optimistic / pessimistic / in-between

♦ traditional / modern / in-between

♦ hard-working / lazy / in-between

♦ cultured / uncultured / in-between / unknown

♦ loyal / disloyal / in-between / unknown

♦ faithful / unfaithful / in-between* / unknown

*non-monogamy makes questions like this difficult

🏙️🌃 BELIEFS 🌇🏙️

Faith: monotheist / polytheist / atheist / agnostic

Belief in Ghosts or Spirits: yes / no / don’t know / don’t care / in a manner of speaking*

Belief in an Afterlife: yes / no / don’t know / don’t care / in a manner of speaking*

Belief in Reincarnation: yes / no / don’t know / don’t care / in a manner of speaking*

Belief in Aliens: yes / no / don’t know / don’t care

Religious: orthodox / liberal / in between / not religious

Philosophical: yes / no / highly contextual

*all in relation to her work, the whole reason she's here. Shit's complicated when you're looking at V as she is now, and engrams in general, etc etc.

🏙️🌃 SEXUALITY & ROMANCE 🌇🏙️

Sexuality: heterosexual / homosexual / bisexual / asexual / pansexual

Sex: sex-repulsed / sex neutral / sex favorable / naive and clueless

Romance: romance repulsed / romance neutral / romance favorable / naive and clueless / romance suspicious*

*it would be more accurate to say romance afraid

Sexually: adventurous / experienced / naive / inexperienced / curious

Potential Sexual Partners: male / female / agender / other / none / all

Potential Romantic Partners: male / female / agender / other / none / all

🏙️🌃 ABILITIES 🌇🏙️

Combat Skills: excellent / good / moderate / poor/ none

Literacy Skills: excellent / good / moderate / poor / none

Artistic Skills: excellent / good / moderate / poor / none

Technical Skills: excellent / good / moderate / poor / none

🏙️🌃HABITS 🌇🏙️

Drinking Alcohol: never / special occasions / rarely / sometimes / frequently / alcoholic / former borderline alcoholic turned sober

Smoking: tried it / trying to quit / quit / never / rarely / sometimes / frequently / chain-smoker

Recreational Drugs: tried some / never / special occasions / sometimes / frequently / addict

Medicinal Drugs: never / no longer needs medication / some medication needed / frequently / to excess

Unhealthy Food: never / special occasions / rarely / sometimes / frequently / binge eater

Splurge Spending: never / sometimes / frequently / shopaholic

Gambling: never / rarely / sometimes / frequently / compulsive gamble

#cyberpunk 2077 #oc: dr. cahill #tag game

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caseyrussell · 1 year

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who: @elainexarcher what: it's that one scene in Our Flag Means Death where Blackbeard tries to blend in at the aristocratic party. That's the best way I can describe it. where: in the backyard of the holly party!

If he listens hard enough - over the hubbub of conversation - Casey can just about make out the pianist playing the chords of a bouncy holiday tune from indoors. He's long since snuck out the backdoor. Wanting the retreat of the cool air on his face and - if he's honest - avoiding the clammy feeling in his palms as he doesn't quite know how to work his way into a conversation between the adults.

"I dunno how you do these," he grumbles, looking over at two middle-aged Cherriots as they clink their glasses together and laugh in upper-class. "I know I never got it but it feels like the older we get the more I don't understand about... whatever they're doing. Like, honestly, half of these people might as well be speaking in, I dunno - Latin as far as I'm concerned." And maybe it's just the HOH internship decision that lingers above his head - the thought of potentially blending in with the who's who and having to actually engage at events like this - but there's a mixture of sympathy and intrigue in his eye as he glances at Elaine. Like he's simultaneously sorry for the fact she's had to be caged in to something like this ... and yet desperately seeks the answers to how he could blend in seamlessly. If he wanted. If he chose to. "How do you do it? Y'know, all these events... does it ever feel easier?"

#⋆✦.* 𝖎 𝖜𝖆𝖓𝖙 𝖙𝖔 𝖜𝖆𝖑𝖐 𝖎𝖓 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖔𝖕𝖊𝖓 𝖜𝖎𝖓𝖉 — interactions.#ft. elaine archer.

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multi-lefaiye · 2 years

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hi hello hi may we hear about the fictional gay people in ur head

HI hello i meant to answer this last night but. well. y'know how it is with mental illness.

anyway

so the main fictional gay people living in my head rent free right now are arthur huffman and noah phan, the protagonists of my wip for we are both fragile things.

i have a LOT of thoughts about both of them and i'm honestly not sure where to begin, so i'll just talk a little about them both at the start of the story.

arthur huffman is a white, cis, gay man from somewhere in northern texas. he comes from an upper middle-class family that isn't quite conservative, but they're definitely... not great, and at the start of the story he's struggling with a lot of internalized homophobia due to how he was raised. his parents also walk the thin between "not outwardly abusive" and "not good loving parents". they love him less as a person and more as an investment for their legacy and their future.

he has some serious trauma and is terrified of failure, abandonment, and disappointing his parents, but he covers it all up with a sweet smile and a charming, easygoing attitude. even if he's not the most educated on a lot of social issues, he's very much willing and excited to learn and support those around him. arthur is very outgoing and loves to befriend people who look like they're having a hard time, just so he can try and put a smile on their face. if he can't make himself happy, he'd like to make others happy at least.

at the start of the story, arthur is 20 (almost 21) and a junior in college, attending the same university (which i actually still need to name oops) as noah. arthur has recently changed his major from engineering to communications, specializing in journalism. his parents aren't happy with him for that despite this being a great decision for his mental and emotional wellbeing, so he's trying to get back on their good side.

noah phan is an asian-american (specifically vietnamese), trans, gay man from somewhere in western montana. he comes from a rather small, but very liberal/left-leaning community and was raised by a loving single mom after his father passed away when he was young. noah has never doubted that his mother loves him, but he struggles deeply with his identity and the fact that his mother has suffered and sacrificed so much for him and his younger sister. he wants to be strong and support his family, but he doesn't know where to start, and at the beginning of the story he's very much fallen into the habit of pushing his own problems aside so his mother has less to worry about.

noah has a serious case of depression, and at the start of fragile things he has only recently realized that he is trans and is dealing with that. however, he is still very much in the closet, and he hasn't told anyone except a couple of people he talks to online through forums and such. he feels isolated and has trouble reaching out to others, which has made it hard for him to make friends. at the start of the story, he has a very small friend group, made up of his roommate nina, her ex-girlfriend emma (they ended on good terms and are still close), and a classmate named tina. part of him is happy with the small friend group, but he still feels incredibly lonely.

at the start of the story, noah is 18 (almost 19) and a freshman/first-year in college at the same university as arthur. he hasn't decided his major just yet and is overwhelmed by all the options, but he likes the idea of becoming a teacher someday, if he can. noah loves children and loves interacting with them, and he thinks he might make a good teacher if he can just get over some of his anxiety first.

arthur and noah meet in the spring semester of noah's freshman year, in an Intro to Sociology course. arthur notices noah sitting alone in the back of the room looking sad and nervous, and he decides to plop down next to him and strike up a conversation.

okay this got a little longer than i meant for it to, so here's a rapid-fire little list of facts:

noah's favorite music genre is modern rock, whereas arthur's favorite is (predictably) country. they learn to appreciate each other's music taste more as they get to know each other.

arthur has a really good singing voice.

noah actually dreamed of being an author as a child, but he doesn't feel like that's a realistic goal for him. he still writes in his spare time, though.

noah is taller than arthur. i need to emphasize this. noah is 6'1" (~185 cm) and arthur is 5'11" (~180 cm).

when they start the story, arthur has also recently broken up with his latest girlfriend, because yes i'm gonna go ahead and establish this but arthur definitely tried to date women because he was THAT in denial about being gay. he's still gay though, make no mistake.

noah knows logically that his mother would probably be, at most, a little confused but ultimately accepting of his gender. however, he's so determined to make things as easy for her as possible that he's terrified of saying anything. no i'm not projecting <3

arthur really likes pokemon, but noah doesn't understand it. cue arthur very excitedly and enthusiastically explaining pokemon to noah, who's nodding and smiling but still doesn't quite get it. (he very much gets arthur pokemon platinum for his birthday one year <3)

okay that's all. i love these two so fucking much <3

(also yeah, noah later changes his name to ink nikodemos by the time bleeding over eden begins, but he does so to distance himself from the trauma he experiences relating to arthur's death. because ultimately noah phan died with arthur huffman, even if it wasn't a physical death.)

#talk to the bunnykitty #bat time all the time #long post #this got so long i'm so sorry ASDJF;K #fragile things wip #ink nikodemos #arthur huffman #i might make a separate tag for noah but. he and ink are the same character. idk we'll see #also re: noah's race #i am white and don't want to tell a story that isn't mine to tell. so the story isn't going to center-stage #the specific struggles faced by many asian americans #i won't erase them. they will be discussed. i'm not going to pretend him being asian american isn't going to affect him #and i am doing research and talking to people in that regard #as much as i can #however! again i don't think it's my place to write a story About Being Asian. if any of that makes sense #not saying all of this to start discourse tbh i'm thinking out loud here #realize this could've been a separate post but idk #sorry for the mile long post and tags <3

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