utsuro?
brief emeto joke that’s the only cw i think? anyways. this fucking guy…..
- My identity hc for them
iiii….. think his whole “nothing matters because i get whatever i want” had already set in by the time he would’ve really started getting interested in other people? i don’t really have identity hcs for him i don’t think he actually exists. collective hallucination by the entire sdra cast.
also i think the divine luck got him gender affirming healthcare. but anyways.
- Thoughts on their home life/family
i hope his parents explode ! anyways i wonder if utsuro (prior to his no emotions no attachment era) was like damn i’ll find some people to actually love and respect me!! and sure enough found a couple willing to love and dote on him w/o knowing about his divine luck but he got paranoid and dipped out because he felt he was forcing them into it and they actually hated him.
- How i feel about their canonical writing/handling
underutilized sorry. sooo much more could’ve been said could have been done et cetera. the ramifications of the divine luck are underused his coming back in sdra2 was underused etc etc. there’s sooo much that could be said with him and it’s so easy to do it is the smallest fucking reach and linuj is like. this is utsuro he is like kamakura but with divine luck :). and everyone was like omg so true!! and he’s reduced down and isn’t handled with actual depth. like. there’s Reasons for why he is the way he is. aaa!
- The one thing i’d want to make canon about them
system. for utsuro specifically i think he struggles a lot with detachment and has frequent dissociative episodes. he’s not quite prone to third person/out of body episodes but i think he struggles with orienting himself in the world (spatial awareness) and staying aware of his surroundings.
- My number one favorite ship for them
*looks up from where i’m poking utsuro with a stick while in the rain* huh.
- …Now everyone else i ship with them
*goes back to poking at him*
- The thing i will NEVER ship
utsutai. im pretty much chilling with whatever else (above answers were just me conveying that idgaf im neutral whatever happens happens!) but i think reading their interactions as romantic is a disservice to their characters. like if u look at them and go yeah there was romantic love and desire to date here. ?????
- a dynamic/relationship i wish was explored more (in canon, or in fandom)
was trying to think of smthn and i think we should chat about utsuros feelings on mikako more. she tries to get him yeeted in ch5 as we all know and also there’s everything with pre game and it’s just. ??? why do we not address this. alsoooo i’ve yet to see like. a non despair/post game/etc au or fic or anything that portrays utsuros vibe with the voids/cou in a way i enjoy. so. …. maybe i need to read more fic tho
- thoughts on their design (appearance-wise)
cute! sometimes it looks a bit off to me but i think that’s just a matter of hues/undertones. i reaaaally like his color palette in sdra2, it hits right there. i’ll always think the color choices of the uniform were a bit silly but ultimately it looks cute!! in dra it’s just a weird mix of warm hues vs gray undertones (this applies to like.. skin and hair not just clothes) but sdra2 looks very nice!!!
- A music-related thought- a song that reminds me of them, or what their music taste is, etc
AGH. hold it in, and beady eyes on the horizon, both by jukebox the ghost. i don’t want to talk about it tho. i have nothing else to say. im gonna go throw up over beta.
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thank you @insideline for tagging me literally like 2 months ago!! i'm finally doing it today i'm DOING IT
Tag 9 people who you want to get to know better!
Favourite piece of clothing you own?: going full cringe immediately to say my vintage midtown band hoodie :) yes gabe saporta's pre-cobra starship emo band that broke up in 2005 :) i was so depressed and obsessed with their third album when i was like 16 and at some point my horrible sister moved out and i was also given autonomy over some of my own money for the first time and i'm pretty sure this is the first thing i really decided to buy just because i wanted it. i wore it like 24/7 when i was Going Through It at uni but now i'm in love and i live with my girlfriend and she wears it to sleep in :)
Favourite time of the year?: the HEIGHT of summer! long days heat waves baby!!!!! i wanna tan i wanna sweat i wanna walk into the sea with the sun on my face and feel like nothing else is real. and i do NOT want it to rain unless the rain is WARM and i am wearing SANDALS
Favourite song?: if i am being really HONEST it's up the wolves by the mountain goats because baby seasons change but people don't and though other songs may come and go i am fundamentally unwell and entirely uncreative! it has meant a lot of different things as Events have happened to me over the years but it's always uh A Lot. and one day it won't be and then i will know i am truly in my living laughing loving era xx
Comfort food?: mmm when i was at uni it was fried chicken wings & cheesy chips w/ garlic yoghurt & chilli sauce from this specific food van in town lol. now it's probably plain jasmine rice with something simple like tomato egg stir fry or pak choi in oyster sauce that i would make myself, or even just like preserved mustard stem/olive veg from a packet/jar. and a soft boiled egg w/ soy sauce and sesame oil. simple easy delicious
Do you collect something?: friends and neuroses. millionaire men to be obsessed with.
Favourite drink?: i used to only drink fruity cider but i've recently (re)discovered the joys of tequila :)
Favorite fanfic?: a DIFFICULT choice but i will say. kelfin's a month of sundays. i first read it in 2014 and re-read it properly several years later; both times inspired genuine personal growth i think. who needs therapy when you have fanfiction!!!!!!
ummmmm this is so old i don't know if it's of any interest any more or if you all have done it already. but if you haven't and you want to please do !!!!!!!!!!
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JessLeto + you need someone. let me be that person. let me be what you need.
Early-era, PG-ish, also on ao3.
She is learning her place. Learning what she was thrown into and how to survive. Learning-
This could have been so much worse, Jessica reminds herself. A few months in and at worst that man is cold and even that rarely, nothing for her to fear or immediately correct or-
This could have been worse, but it stings anyways.
It is not personal; she does not dare to assume anything is about her yet. Or if it is… she is an off-planet unknown, apparently not as well-socialized as she or anyone else assumed, on the line of almost too young for her positions, and already something of a problem. Like it’s her fault, she thinks, like-
She’d hoped for a clearer assignment, something where she would have enough pressure to keep her interested. Instead this waiting game, an evening or two a week of being cooperative but otherwise no one asks anything of her, otherwise she has free run of the place and too much time on her hands and-
She’s learned some hiding places these past few months, different corners of the complex where no one would find her even if they wanted to, and exploring has become one of her pleasures. The place is due for a major renovation that won’t happen, her counterpart too apathetic to do so much as change the color of a curtain, and when she has more power-
When she has more power…
The idea tempts her, on a rainy afternoon she has decided to spend learning a hallway that hosts very occasional off-planet diplomatic guests but otherwise collects spiderwebs for years at a time. It would not be hard to manipulate her circumstances more than it was implied she was expected to. It would not be hard, perhaps not even requiring a shift in her voice, to become infinite here. That man would respond to her too easily, wouldn’t question her quiet desires, wouldn’t-
Oh, speaking of…
Of all people who might also be seeking quiet in empty spaces…
Jessica stands in the half-open doorway and watches the reaction she had not meant to provoke, her counterpart turning from an open window and bracing for just a moment before seeing her, before-
“I should have known-“
“I didn’t mean to-“
“Stay. Come over here. You’d like this view.”
He has tried to make this place a home for her, she reminds herself, consistently pointed out the beauty around them and she has little to compare it to but she has never seen a person so completely of their place in the world and-
She crosses the near-empty space to stand beside him, and it is a good view, almost as good as the room she’s tempted to reclaim in their own hallway because it’s pretty enough she’d abide a ghost for a roommate, almost-
On instinct, she reaches for his hand, needing the tether of it, needing something real before-
“You may not be surprised, but I am,” she murmurs. “You don’t wander as I do.”
“Not as often,” he corrects. “And not as aimlessly anymore, but… you have to understand, this has been my entire life, I know every quiet place in and around these walls and-“
“If I have disturbed one of yours-“
“I would not put it so harshly. You did not mean-“
“Exactly, and I-“
“Your presence may be an answer I did not know I needed. As you have often been in these months.”
She has pieced together the situation into which she was placed, what is said about her counterpart when he isn’t listening – a competent steward of the planet his family has held for centuries on end, an adequate link in a chain, no instability on the horizon but something directionless about him, still learning to focus, still-
If she is a solution, she thinks, then the whole place will be underwater in a year.
“Tell me what troubles you and I will-“
“It would be improper to burden you with-“
Jessica turns to face him, free hand on her hip and fire flowing through her and if she really is as fearless as her lover seems to think then let her be fearless now, let her be-
“This is what I was given to you for. You need someone. Let me be that person. Let me be what you need.”
“It would still be-“
“Is there any reason you hold your tongue other than-“
“No. You are… you have earned your place beside me, and that is why I struggle to-“
“I will not fault you. Whatever you need to say will not change-“
“What if there are not words?”
She can’t stop the eye-roll – already she has seen how he moves through the world, how his voice is all he really has, same as her but somehow so different and-
“Then let me be a comfort in the silence. Whatever you need, I am yours.”
She almost expects maneuvering, at least for his arms to wrap around her, but he barely moves. The fingers entwined with hers start tracing patterns, familiar enough already, but nothing-
“Does this make you happy?”
“Does it matter?”
“I can’t imagine this is what you thought you’d get. You seem like you were meant for something more…”
“I was not told my fate until it was aligned. I had hoped for different, but… this does balance out.”
“Oh?”
“I have not had to defend myself against you or anyone else since I came here. You promised me safety the first time we were alone, and you have not broken that promise.”
“Your standards are that low…”
“I would not describe them as such. I am meant to be adaptable. I would tolerate much worse before I would move against it.”
“I would hope for more than tolerance, but-“
“Why?”
He turns to face her better, clear eye contact and there is something hidden and haunted in that man, something-
“Because you hate everything and fear nothing, and I am fascinated by how you move through this world unlike anyone I have ever known.”
“You misjudge me. I do not hate everything. I do not hate you.”
She knows these are the kinds of words that bring pain later on, that any indication of affection will become a problem she will not want to solve, but-
“I had hoped, but… good to know.”
“Do you believe me?”
He pauses, takes a steadying breath, but still-
“Yes. Completely.”
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Big rant about my Capsule Zaurus stuff below. Mostly about fanworks, copyright, concept art, and how I use copyrighted material in my stuff.
Before I start the rant- I want to mention that I put a lot of links in here. A few go to my artwork. But most provide extra info and clarification. Some of it is because Capsule Zaurus is a pretty overlooked prototype to Digimon, so not all Digi-fans know what it is. Some of it is because I have been in fandom a long time and I lost track of when people stopped using squick and I don't know what the kids use these days. Feel free to click a link if you're confused about anything.
I want to return to my Capsule Zaurus project because Tomoya (the character in the header) is doing that "character wants attention and occupies your thoughts" thing. I really don't want to focus on fanfic right now (mostly because I'm drowning in WIPs). But I don't know if the project counts as original fic, or to what extent.
For the uninitiated, here is a brief timeline of Capsule Zaurus from conception to today.
Bandai draws concept art for a virtual pet game for boys in 1997
Doesn't use it because it's too similar to Pokemon
Puts it in a drawer
Does NOTHING until 2013
Puts it in an artbook
NEVER mentions it again
Fandom posts translations and then sleeps (you can read all the info in the first two links)
I learn about it almost a year ago at an anime con and get inspired
I draw all this stuff- including some redesigns, but also original Zaurus and human characters
I come up with this batshit insane plot and world to go with the concept art
I find myself in a tangle of mostly original ideas, with vestigial but clear connections to Bandai's work
I'm not sure if it should just go to Ao3 or if I should rework my elements and characters into something else
Bandai's Capsule Zaurus isn't a finalized work. It is concept art. I'm a raccoon digging through the trash and taking things Bandai doesn't even want. But chances are they still hold the copyright for it. Not to mention the name likely comes from Pocket Zaurus, which is published and certainly copyrighted.
Putting the work on Ao3 would be extremely tricky, too. It would have to be tagged as Capsule Zaurus- which is not a fandom at the moment- plus Digimon, plus Original Work. This obtuse collection of fandom tags would likely be confusing, and I doubt anyone would read it.
It doesn't help that the story is T at mildest and M at highest. I don't write E-rated content. But that's what people want over there. I've noticed some authors who write both get a lot more hits on their sexy stuff over their tame or gen work, and good gen writers often go ignored.
So if I don't want my story to rot on Ao3, I'd probably have to remove the Zaurus characters entirely and make it original. This seems counterproductive. But it's the more likely route I'd go to preserve my original stuff. I don't want to do that, since I love Digimon and I like the "what could have been" nature of the concept art. But I really hate filing the serial numbers off of shit without acknowledging it as parody/mentioning the creators which...this isn't.
Below are two examples of me acknowledging parody and playing with copyright. Keep in mind I cut my teeth on 2007-era fanfiction, so people were constantly writing "I do not own this" on their shit.
For my Toon-iverse Saga, I have a Character Who's a Lot Like Tai (Soren, actually- it's more obvious in his backstory). But the back of the book credits Bandai/Toei/everyone I can possibly think of. The books are made of characters like this, and calls back to the source material while doing something unique. You don't need to know the original material to understand the plot, though doing so helps if you're looking for Easter Eggs.
Then, there's Zunru, which is a love letter to and critique of Pokemon. You don't need an in-depth knowledge of Pokemon to understand it (though as with the Toon-iverse Saga, it helps with Easter Egg hunting). The first few chapters even seem like "we live in harmony with these wonderful creatures!". But then the charade falls away, and the story reveals itself to be its own animal. At the end of each of these books, there is a credit to "Satoshi Tajiri, GameFreak, and Associated Parties", indicating that this is parody, I acknowledge the original but this is my own thing, etc., etc. Which is more than Temtem/Palworld did, but that's another story.
These are both instance of fair use, with possibly too much butt-covering spurred on by my fanfiction dot net heritage. They aren't like, say, writing a Twilight fanfiction, changing only the names, publishing it, and deleting the evidence. Which I feel trying to publish Capsule Zaurus as it is right now is pretty close to.
I just don't know what to do for Capsule Zaurus. I don't want to focus on fanfiction right now. But Tomoya is screaming against my skull and banging pots and pans. I'm sure I'll find the solution. It might be as simple as changing a few designs a bit more to make them more unique and not using the word "Zaurus". But that's still filing off the serial numbers.
Dammit, Tomoya.
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Natalia Trevino Amaro: When Fashion Meets Fanbase
When it comes to fashion and music, the synergetic relationship between the two has a long-running history. 23-year-old fashion designer Natalia Trevino Amaro bridges the two and the fashion needs of Taylor Swift fans awaiting to attend one of the dates of the singer’s The Eras Tour.
Owner of a brand named after herself, Natalia started her business in June of 2020 after graduating from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. As she was living with her parents in Indiana during the early stages of lockdown, Natalia found herself struggling with the lack of work opportunities available in her field at the time – “I figured I’d just start making clothes and selling them since I had nothing else to lose; fast forward almost three years later and it’s my full-time job.”
Now, alongside her own original designs, Natalia is selling custom pieces to Swifties (Taylor Swift fans). “Like a lot of other businesses, I was hit hard with inflation and had very little sales through the second half of 2022; I started making custom pieces for fans in December”. Knowing she’d be making her own custom outfit for Swift’s tour, Natalia documented the creative process and uploaded it to TikTok. “I was honestly looking for any sort of sale at this point because things weren’t looking great for me. Luckily the TikTok I made hit the right audience and I was able to take in custom orders!”.
Though making custom pieces for fans is “more of a one-time thing” for Natalia, she is open to making more custom outfits for people in the future, no matter the occasion. “If I had to choose another fanbase to make customs for, I’d love to do it for Harries! Harry Styles’ fans have a fun sense of style at concerts so it would be super fun to make outfits for that!”.
As previously mentioned, selling customs to Taylor Swift fans has brought exposure to Natalia’s original pieces: “My personal designs hadn’t been doing too well prior [to selling customs], so I’m okay with letting that fall behind for a couple of months as making custom orders for fans is the majority of my work right now”. This said, she is trying to find a healthy balance between the two, lowering the number of custom orders she is accepting to bring her original work back into the production mix – “I do want to make sure people remember that I’m, a fashion designer first, not just someone who will recreate other people’s looks.”
A self-proclaimed Swiftie “since the beginning”, Natalia assures to be 100% of a fan girl, which is “so fun because you get to connect with so many people who love the same music that you do which is really special”. “I’d say [Taylor Swift] is the artist I most fangirl over, but I also love Selena Gomez and Miley Cyrus, who I also feel I ‘grew up’ with”, whilst as of more recently she has also become a “huge Harry Styles fan”. Though fan culture hasn’t necessarily impacted her work in terms of style, “it has definitely helped get my creative juices flowing again after being in a creative rut for a couple of months.”
According to Natalia, fashion is crucial to the music industry: “Most artists are known not just for the music they put out, but for their entire ‘artist image’ […] Clothes speak for themselves and as much as a performance can be incredibly memorable, sometimes having that ‘reveal’ moment of wearing something show-stopping can really make it 10 times more memorable for years to come”. And of course, when she thinks ‘fashion icon’ in music, Natalia thinks of Lady Gaga – “I grew up seeing her wear so many ‘controversial’ outfits and pushing the boundaries of fashion; you never knew what she’d show up in. That really stayed with me and I still view her in that light”.
To keep up with Natalia and browse through her collection, you can check out her socials and website below.
Instagram - nataliatrevinoamaro.com - YouTube
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The next whack of 10 in the Archive
This reminds me of how i'd used to do recap episodes every 10levels i looked at on LittleBite-sizedPlanet, so i could take the earliest set of 10 off my playlist. Fell out of doing that when lbp.me went tits up, and collecting links in one place stopped being doable. i like this format, tho'. Setting up the b-roll for 10levels all in one go was a real pain in the rear.
i loved this level. Just well-presented enough to look like it was planned, just kludgy enough to still have heart, and a solid focus on pretty well-paced platforming. The difficulty was on the easy side of medium, which is a nice sweet spot for me to just play around wiv. i've never felt much need to really beat myself up just to flex on a superhard level.
This was a pretty chonky, ambitious level for LBP1. Aside from the second fight wiv the security drones, there wasn't anything too difficult, but it felt expansive, and it's really well presented (except for some issues wiv Magic Mouths, where you couldn't cycle through them if you'd missed something; i think that's LBP3 mucking things up, it's a pretty consistent issue playing LBP1 levels in it). It's maybe a touch too big to come back to often, but i had myself a good time wiv it.
i had a hard time deciding to share this level or not. i'm not embarrassed of it or anything, i think i did a pretty good job for not knowing what i was doing (even tho' there are a few jokes that will only make sense if you were teaching at Nova when it was going bankrupt in 2007, which is a vanishingly small audience). The issue is, 2008 was still very much in The Before for me, it would still be 11years before i really figured my stuff out. i didn't know if i wanted to share the secret (well, one of the secrets) in the level, since it's a message from a me that only kind of still exists to my ex-wife, but the sentiment, if not the speaker, is the same. And if it's going to be a real archive, i have to show as much as i'm able to do.
A tropical-themed level that doesn't use the Tiki kit? Be still my beating heart. Seriously, tho', that's a good kit, but it gets overplayed. This is a nice little level in what feels like should be called early-LBP2 standard, which sounds like i'm being backhanded, but there's a certain style you'd run into all over in that era of levels that still really appeals to me. It's impossible, but i'd love to see, like, an academic broad and deep look into the trends in creating styles over the different eras of LBP's community life. What points you'd find in commonality and the like. Something like that would just curl my toes in all the right ways.
This is such a weird one, even beyond it just being really weird. bing2go's levels are usually these really expansive, beautiful pieces of art, wiv a heavy reliance on custom stickers, like really make you sit up and pay attention jobs, and then one day they felt like doing some creating wiv their nephew and we get this masterpiece. i honestly love it to bits.
We talked about this one last week, but just go and compare this to Roasting Oranges 2! up top and see how much difference a bit over a year made for LBP levels (tho', these are different creators, so that's not entirely a fair comparison, but i do think the community in general had moved solidly in a forward direction in that time).
This is such a good one. The presentation isn't quite as tight as what we saw in Wooden Castle in the previous batch of 10 (tho', i have to say, i love that glossy red wood material, i don't think i've ever seen anyone else use it as a main ingredient like we see here), but i think it does a better job of keeping the pace up, and keeping the mechanical and gameplay interactions front and center. Some nice use of Wall Jumps too. You can do good work wiv that technique, but most times i see it used, it feels a little lazy? Fun side point, but if you ever see me just stop and do nothing for a bit midlevel, maybe just wave my arms a little, i'm probably grabbing the screenshot for the thumbnail. The thumbails/title page are all done in-game. Honestly, it's kind of fun, and i'm a little proud of this iteration on what i do for LittleBite-sized planet.
This level feels like it would be much better served as part of a series of levels, it's very much a "here's how you play the game, here's simple platforming as translated through LBP." i don't want that to sound like a dig, that's actually a really good kind of level to have; but there are a lot of them floating around the community, and i always feel a little like, "this is great, now where's the follow up?" Like, i would never complain about the first couple of levels of the Gardens, but it'd feel a little weird if the game just stopped there, you know? i do like the presentation here, for the most part, it's very warm and low-stakes, you know?
This one was a little charmer. The starting area was cute, and i really liked the SackThings just, kinda, lounging around the wharf? The shark was a nice touch too. Not a lot to say beyond i had a good time wiv it.
Serious question, but is there any better material than basic cardboard at the end of the day? Battered Cardboard is up there, and it has the edge in that the colour is tweakable right from the chump, but i find myself coming back again and again to just regular old, humdrum cardboard. There's something very tactile about it, and it maybe best sells the original conceit that these are creations kids could make. This level is... it's fine. Honestly, it's fine. Probably could have used a little more playtesting, because i think some of the jumps are a bit fiddlier than it feels like was intended, but, eh... you know.
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Oh, hello there new ideas... you are not suppose to ring at the door when I already have so many others to deal with...
Guess who's back into Randy Cunningham 9th Grade Ninja?
Yes, that's me.
Anyway, considering I already have a folder full of stories I SHOULD finish before embarking onto something else, I decided to leave this here for people to, I don't know, doing it themselves, because, well, I would read this the moment it came out.
.
It’s a crossover between RC9GN and My Hero Academia:
- Story is from Howard and Randy's point of view. Mostly.
- Howard has a transformation bird quirk that somehow ended up being called “The Tengu” (prolly Randy's fault). He can't control it and has caused a lot of damage over the years
- Randy is quirkless, but being part of a family of Ninjas with over 800 years of history, he knows various martial arts and can bring down opponents stronger and faster than he is with minimal effort. Give him a weapon (a sword especially), and he can be deadly. His family has made sure he could take care of himself.
- The Ninja suit is not magical in origin (nor made from the Tengu's feathers), but a heirloom passed down from the Dawn of Quirks era. Created by one of the Ninjas in the clan with a quirk that let them weave cloth and quirks together. The process was lost to history, but the end result is that the ninja suit has quirks woven into it, effectively giving Randy several quirks to use (the most powerful being the Art of Healing since it can resurrect living creatures long dead).
- The NinjaNomicon is another family heirloom from the Dawn of Quirks. Just another of the clan using their quirk to create a sentient book that could collect knowledge and guide future generations.
- Not sure if Randy and Howard were forced to leave Norrisville or never lived there to begin with. What matters is that they end up in Musutafu.
- Whatever it is that happens, Howard is forced to attend UA due to the need to learn how to control his quirk (somehow, counseling and suppression methods don't work). Randy tags along, because he is all for being a hero.
- Bakugo Katsuki still gets the most villain points, with Randy on second. But because Randy also help out others when they need, he scored enough hero points to take lead.
- Howard somehow manages to get in the middle of the ranking. He's lazy, not stupid.
- Izuku still get last spot (poor broccoli boy)
- Mineta Minoru might or might not exist. Howard could easily take his place in the story and we'd lose nothing.
- Shenanigans ensues. Mostly Howard doing things (he doesn't really care about being a hero) and Randy having to bail him out. Often with the use of the ninja suit. Especially when he loses control of the Tengu quirk.
- The Sorcerer's powers are a quirk called “Chaos”. He can turn anyone into monsters as long as there's a negative emotion. Thankfully, saving the victims is as easy as it is in the show. Just... very chaotic at times. Lots of collateral damages due to rampaging monsters before they are dealt with.
- The Sorcerer has been hunting Randy's clan because he wants the suit and the secrets contained into the NinjaNomicon. Also because the ninjas have been stopping him since the very beginning of the era of quirks. Yes, the Sorcerer's quirk has also turned him into a monster that doesn't die of old age. Or something like that.
- Randy going to fight as the Ninja because this is a family problem and the Sorcerer won't stop until he show his masked face. The fight usually ends in a draw, with Randy foiling the Sorcerer's new plan and forcing him to retreat.
- Randy avoiding getting in troubles by using half truths and omissions. (“of course I smell like him, Mr. Inui. We're from the same clan of ninjas. We use the same weapons and tools. The entire family smell like Smoke Bombs!” or “oh yes, I know who the ninja is. No, I'm not going to tell you, Detective Tsukauchi. Some things are meant to stay secret.”)
Optional:
- All For One makes an offer to the Sorcerer. The Sorcerer might or might not accept depending on how he wants to achieve his end goal (kill the ninja and create a world of chaos)
- Aizawa fighting the Ninja. And either losing or loosing track of the vigilante kid. Damn those Smoke Bombs. And damn that Cunningham kid for not saying who the ninja is.
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201128 Weverse Magazine ‘BE’ Comeback Interview - Namjoon
RM: “I spend a lot of time thinking about where I am now”
BTS BE comeback interview
2020.11.28
The story of BTS’ new album BE started on April 17, 2020 when group member RM announced its production on the BANGTANTV YouTube channel. In the seven months that followed until the album’s release, RM’s mind was full, his thoughts flowing in and out of his head.
How do you feel about the unique approach you took to making your new album, BE?
RM: The other members were a ton of help to me. My lyrics made it on the album, but the music I composed didn’t, so I’m really thankful to the group for the music. How should I say this? I feel like everyone is doing a great job. There are so many parts in these songs that I’m indebted to them for. “Stay” was originally going to be the title song on Jung Kook’s mixtape, but everyone liked it so much, and they all agreed to put that on our album. That’s how much influence they had. I’m really happy my room idea was chosen to be the album photos. Since we’re spending a lot of time in our rooms because of COVID-19, we laid out the idea of each of us decorating a room in our own style. I can’t remember for sure (laughs) but I think I’m the one who came up with that. I made a comfortable room, one that’s modern and warm because that’s what I like.
There’s a painting in the middle, and symmetrically arranged figurines.
RM: The figures are from my own collection. I wanted to show one of my paintings, but that didn’t pan out. But still, those are the things I hold most dear to me right now, so I let the room embody the things I wish I had, too.
It’s well known that you like art and frequent exhibitions, but how do you feel when you look at art in your home or another space where there are no people, like in the album art?
RM: Someone said, “You don’t have to buy this painting; it’s yours so long as you’re looking at it.” That’s my favorite sound bite these days. What I most envied about painters was that, even after they died, their work would be hanging up somewhere, maybe even in another country, still defining that space. Musicians leave behind their songs and videos, too, but it’s only through fine art that viewers in the future are able to completely meet artists from the past. I’m envious that this is only possible for painters. These days I’m trying to find spaces where I can have more relaxed viewing experiences.
There’s a full experience involved, from the time you get ready to leave your house until the time you’re actually looking at artwork in the gallery.
RM: That’s perfect to me. There’s art you can keep at home, and then there’s art that should always be viewed in museums.
What effect do you think that type of experience has on your music? You didn’t compose any of the songs but instead participated in writing the lyrics to all of the tracks. Did that experience affect your lyric writing in any way?
RM: I think it’s helped me develop a way of thinking using all the senses. I used to be attuned to speech and focus on language and auditory textures, but now I can look at my thoughts from many different angles. That’s why I spend more time studying art now. I’m waiting for the day that it all comes to the surface, like when you paint the base on a canvas over and over so the colors pop. It’s hard to answer in one word if it has a direct influence on my work, but I think people who create music develop a way of seeing the world through their personal experience and their creative process. Painters naturally exhibit their art over a very long period of time. I think it gave me an eye for looking at the world in one long, continuous stroke. So now it’s become a little challenging for me to write lyrics these days. I’ve become more cautious.
Why is it so challenging?
RM: I used to have so many ideas pouring out that it was hard to pluck one out. So I would stack them up like a Jenga tower and ponder over which one to remove. But now, it’s hard to even add a block to the stack. I’m not sure why but, when I look at these artists whose works span their entire lives, I sense that the rhythm of my creativity is slowing down more and more. That’s the source of my dilemma. I’m only 27 years old. I still need to wander around and get tripped up a little. But am I just trying to imitate what the fine artists are doing? Or maybe BTS experienced so much in the past seven years, that now it’s time for us to take a breather? I’ve got so many questions, I feel like my hair’s turning white. That’s why none of my songs are on the album. I wrote some, but they were too personal to use there. I don’t exactly like myself like this, but I have to see through to the end in this direction and find the answer.
Maybe for that reason, your rapping has shifted focus to the lyrics more so than trend or musicality. It emphasizes the feeling of the words over a particular format or beat.
RM: Exactly. In—was it 2017? Pdogg was talking to Yoongi, Hobi and me about our style, and said, “Namjoon, it feels like you’re becoming a lyricist,” and it really stuck with me. I have a lot of thoughts lately when I watch Show Me the Money or listen to hip hop songs from the Billboard chart. My music started out all about my life as a rapper, so I spend a lot of time thinking about where I am now.
So you’ve started to ask yourself who you are as a musician?
RM: I listened to Lee So-ra’s seventh album again today. I keep changing my mind but, if I had to pick between her sixth and seventh album, I like her seventh a little more. And then I listen to the most popular songs on Billboard, and I feel kind of thrown off. Um … There’s something Whanki Kim said that’s been running around in my head lately: After moving to New York, he embraced the style of artists like Mark Rothko and Adolf Gottlieb, but then he said, “I’m Korean, and I can’t do anything not Korean. I can’t do anything apart from this, because I am an outsider.” And I keep thinking that way, too. That’s my main concern lately.
You can feel that on BE. As the members take on more prominent roles as songwriters and producers, characteristics of old Korean music—the kind of music you likely listened to in middle and high school—gradually entered your sound. But your music isn’t from that era, and it sounds like pop, but not quite.
RM: The sound has to fit with the whole album so I couldn’t incorporate that feel into BTS songs, but the songs I’m listening to most lately have been Korean. Songs like P-Type’s “Don Quixote,” Dead’P’s “Spread My Wings,” Soul Company’s album The Bangerz. The impressions the songs from back then have left on me, the lyrics from back then and the lyrics from now, they’re different. So BE is both Korean and pop; it’s very unique, in my view.
I think that’s especially true for “Life Goes On.” It’s got a pop melody, but compared to “Dynamite,” it has a very different feel. It doesn’t slip deep into the sentimental, instead allowing the melody to flow naturally.
RM: Exactly. The chorus is totally pop, and one of the writers was also American. But the song doesn’t really follow American music trends, weirdly. So I don’t know how “Life Goes On” is going to be received. It’s really calm, almost contemplative. So there’s lyrics, like, “Like an echo in the forest,” and, “Like an arrow in the blue sky.” The song kind of feels like that: It could just float off and disappear. It might even come off as bland next to “Dynamite.”
If nothing else, it seems the song will stick around for a long time. Maybe kids now will listen to it later on in the future.
RM: I hope so. That’s the one thing I really hope for, people in the future, thinking back and saying, “Oh, right! Remember that one song?” That’s what my favorite artists and other people who leave a lasting impression on me have in common. One thing common among the songs that have affected me a lot, like Lee So-ra’s seventh album, is that the lyrics they utter in their voice along with the overall sound stick with me. I hope when people look back, my words uttered with the sound of my voice, echoes for a long time in an auditory or visual way, or even throughout their entire lives. But that’s the dilemma: We have all these bling-bling symbols of our success, but we’re not that kind of team.
And yet, BTS’s career path is even more “bling-bling” than ever. “Dynamite” was the top song on the Billboard Hot 100.
RM: I was the first one to check our position (laughs) but I didn’t want to get too excited about it. I was scared of facing disappointment so I put the brakes on out of habit, and restrained myself. But on the other hand, I feel like I should relish this moment. This is a once-in-a-lifetime thing; shouldn’t I enjoy myself a bit? But I disliked that sensation of only feeling elated so I tried to be as objective as possible. I was just one small part of everything that made this happen.
It reminds me of that part, “Running faster than that cloud of rain / Thought that would be enough / Guess I’m only human after all,” from “Life Goes On.”
RM: “Only human” sounds so appropriate for me right now. One time, I saw a dark cloud over the N Seoul Tower while I was walking along the Han River. I was with a friend and we talked about where the border between where it’s raining and where it’s not might be, and suddenly, we came up with the idea to run and find that spot. But after running for 10 minutes, the cloud was even further away than it had been. At that moment, the puzzle pieces snapped into place. You think you can go faster than that dark cloud? No. That’s what I realized then. And I just like what Whanki Kim said, that maybe I can’t do anything not Korean, because that’s what I am. I used to work late and then stay up all night when things weren’t working out, sometimes walking from Samseong to Sinsa station, thinking everything through. But now, like the saying, I realize that maybe I can’t do more than what I am.
On Weverse, you said that you gained some muscle from working out. Could the change to your body improve your creativity in the long term?
RM: I started to think I better change myself a little, physically or mentally. I’m talking about being steady. I used to bombard myself with challenges and worries and just get over them, but now I think it’s time to find that one sturdy thing and plant myself there. The best choice was working out, and I think it’s changing my behavior a lot. I’m hoping that, if I keep working out for a year or two, I’ll become a different person.
Music is your job, but also your life. Like you expressed in “Dis-ease,” how would you say you feel about your work?
RM: This is my job and my calling and I feel a great sense of responsibility. I think I’m lucky and happy that I can solely worry about my creative process. And I feel very responsible to those people who put their trust in me, so I try not to cross any lines, judge myself honestly, and always be professional. Those are the responsibilities that come with the job—the things I have to do and the promises I won’t betray. But if I’m going to do it, I’m going to be happy while I do it. That’s not always going to be possible, but that’s generally how I feel.
Well then, how do you feel about BTS at the moment?
RM: BTS is … Well, it’s really hard to tell. (laughs) When BTS started out, I thought, “I know everything there is to know about BTS,” but now it’s, “I don’t know a single thing about BTS.” In the past, I felt like I knew everything, and that anything was possible. Call it childish or ambitious. But if I were to ask myself, “What is BTS to me?” I would say, we’re just people who met each other because we were meant to. But it feels like the stars aligned and a startup company became a unicorn, with perfect timing and lots of smart people. Looking back, there were a lot of ironies and contradictions in this industry. I thought I figured them out one by one, and then finally understood the whole thing. But now I feel like I don’t know anything at all. Anyway, to sum up: My young, reckless twenties. The events of my twenties. There were a lot of contradictions, people, fame, and conflict all tangled together, but it was my choice and I got a lot out of it, so my twenties were an intense but also happy time.
And what about you, as one individual person?
RM: I’m a real Korean person. (laughs) A person who wants to do something in Korea. I think millennials are charging into society stuck between the analog and digital generations, and what I chose is BTS. So I try to integrate myself into our generation, try to understand what people like me are thinking, and try to work hard to capture that feeling without being a burden on them. This might be another kind of irony itself, but this is who I am. I’m a 27-year-old Korean. That’s what I think.
Trans © Weverse
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Dinner With May (PS4!Peter Parker x Reader)
[Summary: After the events of the PS4 Spider-man game, you find yourself and your boyfriend, Peter, having dinner at his aunt’s house. For some reason, Peter seemed even more anxious than usual. It wasn’t until you overheard a conversation between him and his aunt that you figured out why. (She/Her pronouns)
Warnings: PS4 Spider-man spoilers, not canon compliant, marriage/proposals, anxiety
Request: From my request survey (https://forms.gle/LbodcqZ7nxfGbNW96)]
It had been a chaotic month for you and Peter. Peter had been working almost nonstop as Spider-man, having to fight all of his biggest villains along with his mentor and the man that his aunt worked for, two men that he looked up to and trusted. He had been hurt fairly badly at certain points, and you had to patch him up when he did.
Not to mention, at one point Dr. Octavius had released a plague onto New York in an attempt to get revenge against Norman Osborn, and for the few days after that, you were helping Miles Morales and Peter’s Aunt May work to help all the people at the F.E.A.S.T. center that were going there for shelter as the city descended into chaos. By the end of it, May had gotten sick, Peter had broken multiple bones, and you and Miles had been almost killed a few different times. Peter was barely able to save May in time, and the clean-up still wasn’t done, but you guys were finally able to take a day to relax.
May had noticed that the two of you had been working nearly constantly, so she had invited the two of you over for dinner. May was a sweetheart. And she was an amazing cook, too so you were relatively excited to get to sit down for a nice meal with Peter and his aunt.
She was making your favorite, which you had told her a thousand times she didn’t need to do. But she was insistent. At this point, she switched between cooking your favorite meal and Peter’s every time the two of you went over for dinner.
You didn’t get the chance to go over to her house as much as you would like. You were busy enough with your job, and most nights Peter was gone before dinner to go stop crimes throughout the city. So more often than not, you were on your own for dinner, grabbing something quick from a shop that does takeout on your way home from work late in the evening.
But you had taken the day off of work to finally get a chance to relax, and you had insisted that Peter do the same, despite his protests that he was “totally fine” and “couldn’t take a day off”. Eventually, you had to get Miles to promise that he could handle one night on his own and that he would call Peter if anything came up that he needed help with. He was still pretty new to everything, but he could manage the petty crimes on his own.
- - - - -
The sun was already setting by the time the two of you got to May’s house. It had taken you almost an hour to get Peter out of the apartment that you shared, between him needed to call Miles to check-in and him nervously trying to make sure that he remembered everything. He apologized profusely for the entire trip over for making you late, and you spent the entire time trying to convince him that he didn’t need to apologize.
He had finally calmed down a bit by the time you got to his aunt’s house. He was always pretty anxious, especially when he wasn’t in his Spider-man suit, but somehow he seemed extra nervous tonight. You wondered if maybe his mental health had been suffering lately, after everything that had happened. You had to admit that you were starting to get a bit worried about him. You knew he could take care of himself, but sometimes he just didn’t. He had this bad habit of sacrificing his health and safety for the people around him and you were worried that he was doing that again.
So you hoped that dragging him to a nice dinner with his aunt would get him to take a bit of time for himself. She had been trying to get him to take better care of himself for as long as you could remember, so maybe she could do something to help convince him to take a few days to himself every once in a while. You didn’t want to make it seem like you were ganging up on him, but you had almost lost him a few times in the recent past and you weren’t ready for that.
“So which one of us do you think is going to insist on doing dishes after dinner first tonight,” You asked, your tone a bit teasing as you tried to lighten the mood a bit and distract Peter from his anxiety.
“Hmmm,” He pretended to think about it, the way he usually did when you teased him and he decided to play along, “Probably you, since you always seem to beat me to it.”
“Now that’s not true,” You place your hand over your heart in mock offense, like one of the ladies in a Victorian Era period drama, “I let you do the dishes on my birthday.”
He shook his head and chuckled a bit at that, before finally knocking on the door to his aunt’s house.
She opened the door with a smile on her face and the smell of amazing food wafting out of the kitchen. She greeted you each with a hug, letting you into the house like it was your house too. She had tried to convince you that you didn’t need to knock, but you insisted. You got a bit anxious when manners were in question. Maybe your anxiety was part of the reason that you and Peter worked so well together.
“It’s so nice to see you two,” May said as the two of you walked into the house. Her eyes almost started welling up with tears as she looked at you and Peter. Peter had officially revealed his identity as Spider-Man to her in the heat of everything happening and, while she had known the entire time, she had been incredibly worried for his safety with everything that was happening.
“It’s nice to see you too, Aunt May,” Peter almost melted as he walked into the living room. The tension seemed to drain from his shoulders as he looked at his aunt and took in the fact that she was safe, “How are feeling?”
“Just fine, Peter,” She said, her voice kind and reassuring in the way that you knew would calm Peter’s nerves a little, “I’ve been recovering pretty well, and it helps to get a day off to rest.”
You could tell that the last sentence was a little pointed, not in a scolding way, but instead in the way your mom did when she knew you hadn’t had any water all day. With a bit of teasing but mostly with care and concern for your wellbeing. And you could tell that he could hear it too by the slightly sheepish look that crossed his face.
“Well, I’m glad to hear that you’re doing well,” You responded, unable to stop the smile from crossing your face. It was always kind of cute to see him come back home. You got to see him in a lot of different lights, as Peter Parker the scientist, the photographer, the awkward date, and of course, the city’s hero. But despite all of these different personas, you had to say that Peter Parker, the doting nephew was one of your favorites, “Thank you so much for inviting us over.”
“Of course, dear,” She turned to you with the same soft smile on her face, “You know you’re always welcome over, I’m just thankful that you managed to convince my nephew to take enough time off to come to visit me.”
You chuckle a little at that, “Of course, May. You know he’d come visit more if he wasn’t so busy with trying to stop every crime in New York.”
“Oh, I know. And I appreciate you looking out for him, dear.”
- - - - -
Dinner was nice. One of those moments that you wished you could freeze in time. You were warm and your stomach was full and you were smiling the entire time. It was the first time in a long time that you were pretty sure that nothing bad would happen for at least the next hour. You got to be domestic for just a little while, safe and happy and surrounded by the love of your life and his family.
“Alright, I’ll get started on the dishes,” You said when the meal ended, shooting a wink at Peter as you stand. May shot you the same exasperated look that she always did, but let you take her plate. She had given up on trying to stop you a long time ago, realizing that you would insist no matter what she said. Peter just chuckled a bit, remembering your conversation from earlier.
Doing dishes alone in the kitchen was nice sometimes. It was a moment for you to collect yourself. You loved May and Peter, and you didn’t mind spending the whole night with them, but sometimes a few moments of quiet was nice. The smell of the food still wafted around you, and the sound of the water rushing from the sink made you think of a waterfall sometimes, even though doing the dishes wasn’t exactly the most enjoyable chore.
Sometimes, if you focused, you could still hear the conversation that was going on in the dining room. You didn’t intend to eavesdrop or anything, you were just curious. Usually, they’d just alk about F.E.A.S.T. or maybe reminisce about when Peter was a child. It was just nice to listen in a bit on their small talk, getting to know what Peter was like with just his aunt and no one else around.
Today’s conversation was a bit different, though.
“So have you asked her yet, Peter?” You heard Aunt May ask, piquing your interest.
“No, of course not,” Peter sighed, “With everything that’s going on, all of the clean-up throughout the city, there really hasn’t been a good time.”
“I suppose that’s fair, Pete, but you’re going to have to ask eventually. Unless you don’t want to,” You were sure they were talking about you, but you weren’t quite sure exactly what he was planning on asking you. Well, maybe. But you didn’t want to assume. You didn’t want to get your hopes up.
“I do! I really do,” Peter responded, almost outraged at the idea that he didn’t actually want to ask, “I just want it to be perfect. And you know we’re so busy. This is my first day off since everything went down with Mr. Li, so I hardly have time to plan a romantic dinner.”
“Peter, you don’t have to plan out the perfect romantic dinner, I promise.”
“But what if she says no,” He sighed, sounding defeated, “It’s dangerous to be with me. I could put her in danger. And even if I don’t, what’s going to happen when she gets sick of having to take care of me? It’s not easy to deal with me running off all the time and coming back with cuts and broken bones.”
“No, it’s not easy,” May sighed, “But she’s been here for this long. She knows what she’s getting herself into, and she’s stayed this long. Has she ever asked you to stop what you were doing or to choose between her and Spider-man?”
“No, I guess not.”
“Then she’s not going to,” May explained, and you couldn’t help but nod, even though neither of them could see you, “She’s chosen to stay this long. If she was going to leave, she would’ve done it by now.”
There was a silence creeping out of the dining room as the conversation paused. You wondered if he believed it. Because May was right. It was hard, and you worried almost constantly about Peter, but you loved him. You loved him no matter how many dates he skipped out on to go fight crime or how many nights he woke you up at two in the morning to help patch him up after a fight. And you weren’t going anywhere.
The air felt heavy, and you felt your heart tighten a little. You knew Peter was a bit insecure and anxious. You knew that sometimes he didn’t feel good enough, he was overwhelmed and he felt as though the world was on his shoulder. But you had hoped that he knew that you would never think that he wasn’t good enough.
You weren’t quite sure what to do, but you couldn’t let him think like that. Before you could even think of a plan, you were walking into the dining room.
“Oh, uh, hey,” You could tell by the look on Peter’s face that he knew that you had heard their conversation, “How much of that could you hear?”
“All of it.”
All three of you froze for just a moment, before May stood up, “Well, why don’t I go finish the dishes while you two talk.”
“Peter, you know I’m not leaving, right?” You asked, sitting next to him as May walked out of the room.
“I know,” He sighed, “I just… You deserve so much better. I’m kind of a terrible boyfriend, (Y/N). I’m not super reliable, and I know I stress you out.”
“I’m stressed because I care about you, Pete. I love you and you’re constantly putting yourself in danger, but I understand it,” You explained, grabbing his hand on the table, “I love how much you want to help everyone, and I’ll always be here when you need me. I don’t mind if you have to run out on dates, because I know you still care. And you’re not a terrible boyfriend. You’re an incredibly caring person with the world on your shoulders, and you don’t have to do that alone, Pete. I’m right here, and I’m going to stay right here.”
You could see tears welling up in his eyes like he had been waiting for years to hear that. And maybe he had. You squeezed his hand lightly, hoping to reassure him a little. He looked up at you, looking at you like you were the only person in the world. Like if he had to trade the moon and all the stars in the sky to keep you safe, he would. Like you were the only thing that has ever and would ever matter.
“I love you, Pete,” You whispered, hoping it would finally get through to him.
“I love you too,” He replied, you saw his hand slip into his pocket, his fingers nervously fidgeting with something. You could tell he still had something on his mind, and you were pretty sure you knew what it was, but you didn’t want to push him. He’d ask when he was comfortable and you didn’t want to push him before that, “You heard the whole conversation, right?”
“Yes.”
“So, I’m sure you already know what I have to ask,” He sighed, sliding out of the chair and down to one knee, verifying your suspicions, “I wanted this to be more romantic, but, uh, well…”
You nod. You had a feeling he had already rehearsed the speech he was about to give at least twenty times, so you weren’t going to interrupt him, but you wanted to signal that he should keep going.
“(Y/N), I know it’s not easy to be with me. I’m flaky, I stay stupid stuff half the time, and I’d never wish the pressure of dating a superhero on anyone. But through all of this, you’re here, and I wouldn’t have it any other way,” He took a deep breath before continuing, “I don’t know if I could do what I do without you. You make me feel like the weight of everything I do isn’t as much as it is. And you give me something to go home to, somewhere safe and warm. (Y/N), you’re my lifeline through all of this mess, and it would be the greatest honor of my life if you would marry me.”
You’re crying so hard by the end that you don’t even notice the ring he pulls out of his pocket. You’re too busy trying to look him in the eyes through your tears, “Of course I will.”
You dropped down to hug him, and he pulled you as close to him as he could. It was a firm hug, and you could tell he was focusing really hard on not squeezing too tight. So you hugged him tighter. You staying like that for a few moments, soaking his shirt with happy tears, before he pulled back from the hug to grab your hand and slide the ring onto your finger.
“Congratulations,” May interrupted from the doorway, a wide grin on her face and proud tears in her eyes, “Now what do you say we have some cake to celebrate?”
“I think that sounds like a wonderful idea."
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Are you still working on your Commonwealth study? Do you have any thoughts on Arthur's relationships with his colonies apart from Canzuk + US?
Not properly, unfortunately with exams and then work I haven’t had mental/emotional capacity to do real research (and probably won’t for a while 😔). But I have continued to think about and develop certain relationships, and I think I also have old hcs I’ve never shared, so I’ll put those down!
Born into the Empire
Australia
@oumaheroes has already done such great hcs on him idk what I can add, but basically he was a little bit of a rowdy child, always breaking windows and shattering fancy pots, never able to sit still. I think rainbow once mentioned that Ken (short for Kenneth, my name for Aus) was a lot like England as a child in his curiosity and energy, and I wholeheartedly agree. But I think Arthur’s intensity was more inwardly directed, pushing him to pursue and master new talents and learn whatever he could, while Australia is a little more carefree in his love for the outdoors, exploring, jumping around and off things, little wild animals. Unfortunately for him, he was born in a period of the empire when Arthur was very serious about his kids education, and therefore often praised those who studied hard and learned fast, which really just wasn’t Australia’s cup of tea. Australia took this kinda hard and thought he was the “dumb” one in the family that Arthur was always scolding, but in reality Arthur knew and appreciated that Australias interests lay elsewhere — he was just a frustrated, tired, parent who really wanted to give his kids the best while also holding his empire together, two goals that were never going to fit well in the end and would completely exhaust him.
As Australia’s grown older he’s realized a bit of this (not entirely, though) and also that 1) he really did break a lot expensive things and cause general mayhem 2) scolding us Arthur’s way of showing he cares, if he didn’t he wouldn’t have payed attention to him at all 3) despite being a penal colony, he was still one of Arthur’s more “legitimate” children (being white and a boy) and was therefore still incredibly privileged — never having to question, for example, why it was that Arthur was his dad, if it should be this way, or if he had a seat at the family table at all (more on this later).
New Zealand
Zee, from birth, was a clear favourite. Obedient, calm, quietly intelligent, he would also later develop a blistering sense of humour which combined with his appearance made it overwhelmingly clear who’s child he was. If Ken questioned his place in the family because of his poor academic record and others did because of their appearance/race/other complications, Kaelan never had such problems; his siblings called him the “prince.” Zee, however, also had a charm that, like Matthew, endeared him to his siblings and mostly protected him from jealousy, though he certainly still had issues with being called a try hard, daddy’s boy, bossy, arrogant. Certainly as a child Zee was a little prideful and, under that unperturbed demeanour, willful, but he grew out of it by the 20th century and became one of those most trusted by Arthur, second only to Matthew. He’s also always been inseparable from his brother Australia despite their differences, and today they both have one of the healthiest and most amicable relationships with Arthur of any nation, let alone former colonies (family road trips, every summer).
Bermuda
I absolute fell in love with this girl after reading about here, once, in this fic by @shachaai, and after that my mind just ran away with me. For me, her human name given to her by Arthur just has to be Ariel — for the little mermaid reference, yes, symbolizing her connection to the sea and stunning good looks, but also because:
1. Ariel is a biblical name, meaning lion of God. This makes sense to me, because Bermuda began as a Portuguese trade post, so Arthur definitely consulted our resident bad catholic Port before naming her.
2. Ariel used to be boys name. This also makes sense, because I hc Bermuda was and still is a tomboy. Bitch is fierce, takes no prisoners, and has zero filter. Her letters to Arthur, which all the colonies sent so Arthur could keep an eye on things, were full of shit like “I swear to god if the Spanish don’t get out of my waters I might eat one of them,” and “father, I asked you for destroyers two months ago, and yet you sent them to Hong Kong — could you explain this most unusual occurrence, surely it’s not that you forgot”, and “thank you for the harpoon on my birthday, I caught a small shark a couple days ago and have sent you some of its teeth for your collection.” Arthur tolerates this attitude because he’s weak when it comes to girls; he absolutely spoils his daughters (and flushes like a 16 year old when a woman so much as bats her eyelashes at him). Yes, p*ssywhipped Arthur is a hill I will die on.
3. It also suits her because? Ariel? Shakespeare? The Tempest? Bermuda Triangle? Shipwrecks? Daughter-like figure of powerful and vengeful sorcerer? Yeah. And this girl is a fire spirit — she is so lively, snarky, clever. As she’s grown older she’s mellowed out a little, but still: a no shit taken, no fucks given type of gal.
4. Speaking of growing up, she’s also become quite the beauty. Shacha, if I’m remembering correctly, described her as dark skinned, wavy-haired, and green eyed and that image has been burned onto the back of my eyelids ever since. Those Iberian genetics really be pulling through for her, that’s for sure. Engport love child if I’ve ever seen one. Definitely one of the prettiest in her family.
Singapore
I’ve already mentioned this to needcake, but I’m not too big a fan of canon Singapore, so this is my oc version. Singapore is fascinating to me because it had only a very small local population before it became a colony (The original settlement had actually been destroyed by the Portuguese about two centuries before the British started building a port there.) So nation-tans like Singapore and Bermuda really are Arthur’s children in the most direct sense of the word. And yet, Singapore is mostly ethnically Chinese, with Malays being the second largest group. Growing up Asian in a white, Victorian era family surely cannot have been easy and more than once Singapore probably wondered if there hadn’t been some mistake. To make up for the constant fear that he wasn’t “really” British, Singapore studied ferociously and had a truly terrifying work ethic. I’m not sure if this is common knowledge outside Asian circles, so I’ll mention that this hc comes from the fact Singapore is well known for having truly exceptional students and some of the most prestigious schools. Singaporeans score highly in literally everything and they have an advantage with good English learning environments, a highly desirable trait in Asia, but these results come from brutally long hours — and its really saying something that they’re known for working hard, considering the studying ethic of students in Korea, Japan, and China aint nothing to sneeze at, either. To me this actually fits really well with Singapore’s upbringing in Arthur’s household, because Arthur himself prizes intelligence and hard work above all else, being a workaholic himself.
As for their relationship, it was probably the best when Singapore was young and peaked in the 1930s with the massive naval base the British built at Singapore, at the time the largest dry dock in the world. Singapore was a well-behaved child, not necessarily introverted but not rowdy either, and all the way into his teenage years he truly admired Arthur and was proud to be a part of the British Empire, despite his lingering unease and insecurities. The British defeat in World War II, however, was a massive turning point. He had worked his ass off to be a good son, a good brother, to contribute to the only family and system he had ever known, and he had thought by the 30s he was finally on his way to becoming a fine adult. And suddenly, the British surrender brings his entire world crashing down. He had followed the rules faithfully thinking it was his destiny, but suddenly it was clear that all rules were made up. Of course, his insecurities exploded. If the empire was a ruse, what the hell was he? A part of the illusion? He couldn’t have a truly Asian identity, because many of the old East Asian nations shunned him for his Western upbringing, and he could not entirely understand their values either. So he was a kid who kinda had to figure out late and very very suddenly who the fuck he was and wanted to be.
And, well, he’s done pretty well for himself, hasn’t he. After having a total crisis and questioning everything, I think Singapore slowly started to realize that just because the British Empire as a political entity didn’t last forever, that didn’t mean that his entire childhood and identity weren’t real. The love he gave to his siblings and the love he got back, the hard work he put in, his bond with Arthur and the safe, happy childhood he had — those memories and feelings didnt have to be diminished by what came after. Essentially, he learned the lesson all nations have to learn, which is that one needs to be able to discern between duties as a nation and feelings as a human being, and to some extent keep them separate to protect both.
Whoooooo ok I’ll stop there because this turned into a dissertation, sorry. Let me know if there are any specifics u want me to elaborate on or anything I missed, but I’ll leave this here for today :)
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NSFW Headcanons: Izuminokami Kanesada, Horikawa Kunihiro,Nagsone Kotetsu
Give me an instance to talk about the Sin-sengumi, I will take it. The Sin-sengumi shall soon become gospel, just y’all wait. It’s catching on. I also don’t give Naga enough love so here I am.
Warnings: S I N. I’m projecting
Izuminokami Kanesada
I would like to clear this up before we continue, this man is a brat and he knows it. Bottom, top, Izumin don’t care. He can and will tease you however the hell he wants. Maybe he’ll hide something under his clothing for you, but it’s easy to tell with his red face and overly trying to make you look at him and notice him, damn it! Look at what he did for you! Be proud of him! Get horny for him!
He is a horny lil shit when he is in the mood and you can tell, he’ll want to always be close to you, hugging you to his form, glaring at others, kisses pressed to your open skin, if he’s feeling naughty, sucking on your fingers. Sure in public he’ll control himself (MAYBE) but wait until you two are alone.
Izumi gets off on praise and that is a fACT. Call him a good boy as he plows into you or services you with his mouth, his moans during these times will be oh so heavenly, vibrations jolting up and down your spine as he does so. Tug on his hair during sex too, it gets him going.
Izumi is loud, gag him, gag him for me. He’ll look so pretty when he’s gagged, trust me. Do it with your underpants if you must, he’ll look so beautiful, flushed and screaming into the object, desperate for you to touch him.
Yes he gets off to your scent, don’t be surprised if you find him touching himself with an article of clothing against his nose when he misses you, hand furiously stroking himself, wishing that it was your hand or your mouth instead.
Izumi is a bottom-leaning switch, he wants to be taken cared of but that doesn’t mean he won’t hesitate to top you anytime soon. Push his buttons enough and he will. He’ll mark you, mark him in return. He’ll flush as he tries to hide the love bites you give him. But is more than proud when he can see the bites he has given you.
The times when Izumi tops are...whoo baby. He’ll spill nothing but filthy praise from his lips about how your mouth feels on him, how good his cock feels whenever you do something to him. He’s highkey possessive as hell, so catch him calling you ‘mine’. “This is mine, right, master? You know I’m the only one that can make you feel good like this~”
Izumi is fucking greedy as hell whenever you decide to wear something underneath your clothing for him. A glimpse of it and he has a heart attack, Izumi.exe cannot work. Please come back later. He might straight up run away before coming back two seconds later to try and drag you into a secluded corner of the citadel to rip those damn clothes off of you and how dare you wear such a thing that’s only for his eyes.
Yes he isn’t afraid to publicly tease you or being caught having sex. Sure he’ll scream and be super duper embarrassed about it for a while but he’ll be fiiiine. It’s not gonna stop him from dragging you into your office and closing the door and curtains to fuck you on top of your desk anyway.
Izumi has a pretty decent sex drive, which tends to come and go but he’s honestly always ready to fuck you at any given point. Just give him a good reason to. He’ll flush and be flustered, stutter over his words and may downright pass the fuck out but he won’t hesitate to tease you right back with some naughty words.
Izumi loves it when you are on top of him, taking your pleasure from him as you see fit - he also secretly loves it when he’s being tied down when you do this. He loves seeing your face as it contorts in pleasure, and his mouth having an easy reach to your chest and nipples.
Damn it put his mouth to WORK. Shut him up with your nether regions, make him service you. Izumi adores being between your legs and watching every movement, every gasp and moan you make. He wants to drink up your moans like water if he could.
There are times when Izumi denies how horny he is, especially when you can see it in his body language, the way his oceanic blues ghost over your skin, how he bites down on his lower lip when his eyes glaze over your chest and ass - keep pushing his buttons, if he’s in denial that normally means he wants to be topped. He’s also very very much into overstim.
Loves it when you are wearing nothing but his haori, you cannot tell how many times you two fucked on top of that thing to the point it permanently has your scent on it.
Aftercare is rather quick. Clean you up to the bare minimum than pass the fuck out and cuddle. He has to cuddle you! No arguments here!
Horikawa Kunihiro
Hori Hori may have a pretty low sex drive, but he is a little shit about it when he wants to. You can tell when he’s in the mood, he isn’t as showy as Kane-san but it’s much more subtle. Soft whispers when you two are alone, his cheeks lightly flushed at the naughty thoughts in his head. “I want to give you my love tonight, master. Will you let me taste you until you cannot remember anything else but me?”
Hori doesn’t pleasure himself often whenever he misses you, as said before, pretty low sex drive. That doesn’t mean he won’t do such a thing though, it’s quick and seamless, almost preparing himself for the night to come. Of course he knows to control himself but sometimes he can’t help it!
Hori’s favorite position is him between your legs, servicing you until you are screaming his name, where he can watch you with hooded eyes, forcing your legs apart for better access. He lives to pleasure you, to see you cum at least six times more than he does.
Hori is also a service top, treating you as glass whenever he is on top. Soft kisses to your thighs, peppering kisses to your chest and marking them as his. That being said, he doesn’t mind being on the bottom. He has a habit of covering his mouth whenever you pleasure him in turn though, tIE HIM DOWN. His moans are beautiful, don’t hide them.
Speaking of tying, yes he will use the red ribbon on his uniform to tie your hands together. Don’t you fucking dare hide your screams and moans from him. Hori will not hesitate to gag you if needed, but would rather not. Would have you choke on his fingers if he must. Yes you can suck on his fingers, it’s great as hell and it gets him going.
Will also love it when you wear nothing but his shirt or jacket. It’s also a surefire way to get him in the mood. He’ll flush, clear his throat, and almost try to adjust it to look more proper on you. “Did you miss me that much, love?” he would question before kissing you.
And then we get to marking. Hori is very easy to mark, his skin bruises pretty easily and he won’t hesitate to show off his marks with a sense of shy pride. He loves marking you up though! It brings him a sense of pride whenever you two are in public and he sees that you are also showing off the marks he gave you.
Oh Hori is very curious about toys, will dedicate an entire day of learning about the kinks and toys of the modern era. Consent is very important for him of course so he will always ask before doing anything naughty to you, unless you like the spontaneous stuff then he can do that! He caters his needs around yours as he is so giving after all.
Rarely does Horikawa get jelly at all, he trusts you! But he won’t lie that it makes his skin crawl when someone looks at you with interest in their eyes. Even Kane-san is not safe from Hori’s glares. Expect him to mark you up even more after this incident.
Hori is very versatile. Top? Bottom? Whatever! He’ll be oh so happy just to be connected with you like this! He doesn’t care what position he’s in as long as he can be with you!
Horikawa always wants to see your face whenever you two are fucking. So if you two are doing doggy style, expect some mirror sex with some dirty talk thrown in there. He loves seeing your expressions as you two fuck.
If Horikawa is ever bottoming for you, it’s beautiful. He becomes so needy, praising you no matter what positions you two are in, begging for more. He’ll always be touching you somehow, and giving up control is something he isn’t against. He’ll tug on your hair during these times, arching his back, so on and so forth.
100% is that one dude who wakes up their partner with oral sex, change my mind. It’s gentle and sweet, fingers toying with your nether regions and a smirk dancing on his lips. And then he’ll pull away, is a weeee bit into orgasm denial until one of y’all is a sobbing mess - prefers it if you orgasm deny him though. But is more so into overstim, he loves you so much after all! You need to be fucked properly!
Yes Hori will 100% steal your bank account to find you something cute to wear under your clothing. Will love it when you model for him too! Has an entire collection of tabs saved of things for you to wear.
Super prepared for aftercare. Sheets? Changed. Water? Ready! Cuddles? Mandatory.
Nagasone Kotetsu
His nipples and chest are his biggest weak points, tweak them, nip them, suck on them. Oh man Naga-san will be putty in your hands. He just has really nice man tits i want to suck on them. But Nagasone will do the same to you! He will lavish your upper body with nothing but marks and kisses, adoring the way you squirm in his arms. During sex, Nagasone’s mouth has to be on something. Be it sucking on your fingers, a gag, or something or other man. It’s good as hell.
He has more control over his sex drive than Izuminokami but his sex drive is a lil bit more higher than Horikawa’s. Right in the middle. He knows he can keep control of himself but then there’s moments when he goes feral, pinning you down to whatever surface you have, teeth digging into your skin, giving you all of the love he can ever give you and more. Nagasone loves you, he wants to show it to the world.
There is a sly smirk whenever someone notices the love bites he has, or he has given you. He may have a light pink flush that decorates his cheeks when someone teases him about it, but he is proud of the marks he bears whenever you mark him. Won’t hesitate to show them off to the world if he must. Hachisuka might tell him to cut it out but is that going to stop him? No.
Like Horikawa, Nagasone is a service top and gives more than he gets back. He may be a fake but Nagasone thinks that you are his sun, his stars, his moon, the one who loves him despite who the hell he is. He wants to show you how much you mean to him, so most of the time the sexy times between y’all is soft as shit. He worships your body oh so much.
Do the same to him! Like I said, his chest is his weakest point. Mark it up, lavish him with praise and affection. Nagasone will act like it doesn’t do anything to him, but the way his cock twitches with your words speaks volumes. “Don’t say such things, love, you never know what I could do to you next.” though Nagasone always makes sure to return the favor!
Nagasone is so into body worship it’s not even funny. He could spend the rest of his day in the temple that is your body, between your legs, marking your thighs up and just basking in your presence. He also loves it when you wear something of his. It smells like him and it’s warm and cozy but man does it get him going.
Like Horikawa, Nagasone will be rather curious about toys and lingerie. Yes he may have tabs open on your computer on things for you to wear, but it’s all leather and lace. A few toys here and there, he doesn’t go fully into it like he will but he will happily learn more to pleasure you and please you!
Wear something under your clothing and flash it to him. I dare you. He will not hesitate to drag you away to somewhere private and make you fucking sob. “Wearing something like that? I didn’t think you would find out I liked that kind of thing, master. Mind if you take it off for me?” and then its ripped, whoops.
Nagasone loves your hands and how they deal with the rest of the swords. Loves kissing your fingertips and finger pads, sucking on your damn fingers and smirking as your eyes glaze over with lust.
Oh dude praise dOES something to Nagasone. He loves it when you praise him for doing such a good job when he’s servicing you, tug on his hair. He loves it when you’re rough with him.
If you ask him to be rough with you, you’re not walking for a week. He’ll make sure that you are fucked properly, overstimmed to the point you might just pass out from the pleasure. Pinned down to whatever surface he deems right, kissed until your lips are swollen and sore. Oh Nagasone will not be holding back. He will drag his nails down your back when you cling on to him, your body will be covered in nothing but his bites and marks now.
Is not into choking. I’m gonna put that out there right now. But kinda into collars?
Loves it when you sit in his lap and he’s ramming into you from below. He loves seeing your face when you get worked up like this! He always wants to see your face when you two are fucking, and also sucking on his fingers as he sings nothing but praises about how good you feel. Will also love to sit on your lap whenever he is taking you.
Nagasone will not deny that he has thought about fucking you under a table, your desk most likely. He’s a sneaky little shit and smirks as his fingers find your sex, toying with it until you want to snap. He’ll hate you forever if you do the same to him, expect him to slam you against a wall in frustration and roughly take you right then and there.
After care is simple. Swiftly clean and then pass the fuck out. Nagasone is a fucking furnace of a big dude so you’ll always be warm around him. Maybe he’ll joke that he wants a second round? Who knows, fufu.
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Sensitive Seeker-TF TK Fic
Repost of fan fiction of mine.
To think, it all started with just a simple gesture.
Thundercracker mused in how he had gotten to the scene he stood in now: Starscream shooting off blast after blast at Skywarp, yet the purple and black Seeker just treated the entire thing as some sort of game.
And, perhaps in some weird way, it was a game. As “‘playful” as a “self-respecting” Decepticon could be, he supposed. Yet still, he’d known he would need to separate the two (as always) eventually. Yet when to jump in was the question, as he was in no mood to have a shot of raw, stinging energy or a null ray being delivered to his facial region, should he intervene at the wrong time.
‘How did I get here, dealing with this?’ He questioned, inwardly groaning. It was a useless question, having already known the answer.
It had begun but a few short Earth minutes ago, at least, it had for him and Skywarp, yet for their Commander, it had begun but a few solar cycles ago (at least that measurement of time was fairly close to those used in this planet). Once again, Starscream noticed a, in his own words, “massive flaw” in one of Megatron’s bids to acquire more energy, and thus, just HAD to point it out and make sure everyone around him could hear it. This then led into the regular bickering, which led to the Seeker (once again) proclaiming he’d make a more suitable leader for the Decepticons, which led to Megatron “reminding” him of his place (once again), which resulted in a trip to the infirmary (once again).
And, while Thundercracker felt Starscream deserved to be told to keep his mouth shut, the blue Seeker found himself dreading what Megatron had planned for the Air Commander, as while it was Starscream’s punishment, somehow, in some way, it would affect his wingmates. Once again. Thankfully, it wasn’t overly extreme, mainly because Megatron had two locations of interest in mind, and probably declared that more worthy of his time than looking over his shoulder for his 2nd in Command’s potential assassination attempts. The Decepticon Leader had assigned Starscream and his wingmates to keep watch over the Space Bridge until the operation to seize control over the locations was completed or disregarded.
“And knowing our ‘glorious leader’, he’ll probably fail at this plan too.” Starscream grumbled to himself, arms folded over his chassis.
Thundercracker only sighed. Ever since he had come here, slag, back when was alerted of his duties, the Seeker had done nothing but complain over his leader’s orders. Of course, with a little “encouragement” from Soundwave (as in, alert Starscream he would be relieved of his wings for a good while if he didn’t do as he was told), their Air Commander (begrudgingly) accepted the assignment. Of course, now that they were here, Starscream had seen it as the perfect time to go ahead and start his tirade against Megatron again.
And suffice to say, it was beginning to get on his trine-mate’s nerves.
“Guard duty,” Starscream growled. “Of ALL the humiliating tasks he could’ve thrust on me...guard duty?!”
Skywarp began to shake, fists trembling until finally, he had finally reached his breaking point. “Is it possible for you to shut the frag up for at least a FEW cycles?! Is that too hard to ask?!”
Thundercracker was quite taken aback by the violet Seeker’s outburst. If anyone was being told to shut up, it was usually him. ‘Primus, he must be REALLY mad.’
“I’ll say whatever is slagging well please, thank you very much!” Starscream retorted, clenching his fists.
“Well go off and do it somewhere else away from me!” Skywarp argued back. “I’m getting sick of hearing that shrill dog whistle of a voice you’ve got!”
“Then get used to it, because I have no intention of stopping until I’m done!”
While he had no appreciation, let alone any sense of respect for it, since their arrival to this primitive world, some Decepticons had taken to using Earth expressions and terms in comparison to some more traditional, archaic language. The Casseticons were the worst out of these bots, outright using terms such as ‘dude’ and ‘man’, as well as copying much human cursing (a good portion of which humans based on their own bodily functions, to Thundercracker’s confusion). Skywarp, whether he had just decided that their regular curses weren’t enough, or he had been hanging out with Rumble and Frenzy on one too many assignments, decided to unleash everything that had been, as humans say, getting under his skin.
“Oh boo-hoo! You think YOU’RE the only one that doesn’t want to be here?!” the Seeker shouted, approaching Starscream. “This entire damn thing is your fault anyhow! You just HAD to go and run your mouth about how much Megatron’s plans suck and how YOU obviously had the better idea!”
“Because I do!” the Seeker Commander countered. “He wished to attack both locations at the same time, yet didn’t wish to better separate his forces into equal groups! Even if one was easier to access than the other, did he not think those blasted Autobots would just LET themselves be overtaken?!” he fumed, releasing a frustrated cry. “Bah! He had NO good reason to NOT send the Constructicons! There would’ve been no way that any of those slagging Auto-dorks would’ve stood a chance against Devastator! But NOOOOO! Apparently, they were needed elsewhere!”
“Because there was a crack in the hull,” Thundercracker interjected himself. True, he had little intention of getting involved, yet Starscream was forgetting one vital factor in Megatron’s decision. “The lower sections would’ve been at risk of getting worse and potentially breaking open. Then the entire Nemesis would’ve been flooded.”
“The pressure at the depths the ship’s at is far from enough to cause a breakage in such short a time!” Starscream argued. “We are situated in what the under evolved primates of this floating rock called the mesopelagic zone. True, we are away from the primary star of this current solar system, yet a majority of sea life in that area are perfectly capable of withstanding the water pressure. And they’re also organic, mind you!”
Skywarp scoffed. “You saying all that fancy mumbo-jumbo to make yourself sound smarter or something?”
“Hey, I WAS an accomplished scientist back in the Golden Era of Cybertron!”
“Of which you quit!” the purple and black Seeker countered. “And accomplished? That’s a fat load of shit, and you know it! I bet you only got a passing grade on whatever research logs you presented to those old farts running the academy!”
“Why you slagging piece of-”
“All right, both of you! That’s enough!” Thundercracker had decided that now was the time to step in, lest things start getting violent. Violence was an accepted part of Decepticon culture, seeing as many of their members had been forced to engage in it just to scrape by and survive via gladiatorial matches and other low ranking jobs (which didn’t house the most respectable of bots), yet the blue and black Seeker wasn’t in the mood in having to bring both of his wingmates into the infirmary because they decided to behave like a couple of Sparklings and duke it out.
That’s when the discovery had been made.
Thundercracker had pushed back against Skywarp’s chassis, yet he must’ve misjudged the distance between him and his oh-so-mature Commander (seriously, and he said Skywarp was the one who behaved like a sparkling). His servos made contact with the red and blue Seeker’s waistline, and that was when he and Skywarp heard it. It was a cross between a frightened gasp and an attempt to choke back laughter. Any anger between them had died that instant, replaced with curiosity and bewilderment. Their Commanding Officer was looking quite frazzled and on edge.
“Whoa, time out for a nano-second,” Skywarp said, lightly shoving Thundercracker off him. Nevertheless, he turned to him for confirmation. “You hear that too?” He then turned his attention to Starscream. “Hey, Screamer, what was that noise you made just now? And don’t say it’s nothing, I’ve got a witness right here!” Skywarp gestured to Thundercracker.
Starscream paled (even if there was no change of color) and stood there with wide, red optics. Nonetheless, he quickly straightened himself out and appeared to be cool and collected. “I was merely taken aback by Thundercracker’s sudden movements was all.” He explained, all the while trying to choose his next words very carefully. “You should be grateful he stepped in, lest I fire my null ray right in your face.” He glowered at the black and purple Seeker, hoping that his display would get his subordinate to back down.
But, as the humans said, no dice.
“Uh, correct me if I’m wrong-“ Skywarp began, taking a few steps toward, noticing how Starscream took a few steps back.
“And you are.” Starscream interrupted.
“But you seem a little nervous there.” The Seeker’s grinned. “All I’m asking is why you made that noise.”
Slag, Starscream thought. He wasn’t buying it. Ok, don’t panic. Just come up with another excuse. One that he surely couldn’t refute. “Well...it seems that my inner components are still a little sore from my last...disagreement with our all-wise and all-powerful leader.” He snarled that last part. Even if he were trying to get Skywarp off his back, it wasn’t all a lie. Hook had told him to take it slow for a few solar cycles for his internal repairs to mend the rest of him back together.
“Oh dear, are you ok?” Skywarp asked, an uncomfortable amount of mischievousness in his voice.
Slag. “Yes, I’m fine,” Starscream assured. “But...you shouldn’t touch me. In fact, I outright forbid it.”
Thundercracker analyzed the situation, looking back and forth between Skywarp and Starscream. He was puzzled at first regarding what had happened when he separated the two, yet given one Seeker’s predatory grin and the other’s excuses, it slowly dawned on him what was going on, as well as what Skywarp intended to do.
“Why?” He asked, taking a step towards Starscream while Starscream himself took a few steps back. “You took quite a bruising not too long ago. Maybe something is out of place or broken.”
“No! No, nothing is out of place or broken!” The SIC shook his head wildly.
“Are you sure? Because last time, you said Hook was a piss poor excuse for a medic.” Skywarp chuckled, raising his hands and spreading his servos out.
“Well, I think maybe he’s improved his craft these last few human weeks!” Starscream said, beginning to look around for any escape routes. “But...just in case, you shouldn’t touch anything! You could only make it worse!”
It was then that a familiar, magenta hue began to overtake the purple Seeker, Starscream’s optics widening in horror. “Why Starscream, I’m hurt! Do you think I’d actually hurt you?” He said coyly, optics fittingly red and devilish. “You’re my Commander, my trine-mate. It’s mine and Cracker’s job here to tend to your needs.”
Thundercracker gave a low growl, Skywarp knowing well how he hated being referred to by that name. Despite that though, he kept quiet.
“C’mon,” Skywarp cooed. Then, the magenta hue overtook his entire form, and in a flash, the Seeker was gone from sight.
“N-No! Stay away from me-“ Starscream shouted, yet was cut off when he felt digits traveling along his waistline.
“No need to be so tense.”
The reaction was immediate. Skywarp’s servos lightly stroked and scratched at the other Seeker’s ivory midsection, Starscream seizing up and doubling over, trying to get his “comrade” to release him.
“N-No! Stop it!” Starscream hollered, trying to grab at Skywarp’s hands. “I command you to-“ then out it came. “St-Sto-hoho-p!” A chortle caught in the middle of a demand (or was it a plea) to cease the infernal movements. Starscream had managed to wrench himself away from his assailant, but the damage was already done.
His terrible secret had been uncovered.
“No. Way.” Skywarp said. True, he suspected it, but to actually have confirmed blew his processor. “No. Fragging. Way!!!” He then pointed to his superior. “You’re ticklish!!!”
Now it was Thundercracker’s turn to be surprised, he looked at Starscream with bewilderment and shock. While it wasn’t a topic relatively discussed among themselves, he and the rest of the Decepticons would be fools if they didn’t acknowledge that their “hosts' ' shared more than a few qualities with the ones that had crashed landed on their planet millions of years ago. They were the only species to have similar civilizations to their own, same general body shape, they had an internal, skeletal structure that greatly resembled their own, lived as the dominant species on the planet (well, they were until the Decepticons and Autobots awoke), and fought and warred amongst themselves over the centuries. Yet when it came to the way their organic structure was put together, no one had an exact idea of how the human body functioned. Soundwave suggested gathering a few “lab rats'' and transporting them to Shockwave, yet so far, nothing else had come from that suggestion. Good thing too, Thundercracker felt such a thing was both unnecessary and, while he would never say it aloud, savage. But from what he had seen from Skywarp’s experiment, it seemed that they now were the ones to share the trait of ticklishness with the humans.
Starscream stood there, completely at a loss at what to say or do, processor scrambling to try and find something, anything, to keep the inevitable from happening. “I-I am not-AH!!!” He protested, only for Skywarp to teleport behind him and deliver a servo right in the crease where his hips met his waist. “Stop it!!!” He then aimed the weapon situated on his left shoulder in the other Seeker’s direction. “Try that again, and this null ray is going to blast you right in the face!”
Skywarp wasn’t the least bit intimidated. In fact, this just seemed to make him even more eager to go through with his plan. ”Primus, you’re acting like I’m going to kill you!”
“I’ll kill YOU if you get any closer! I mean it!” Starscream shouted, still aimed right at Skywarp’s head.
“Fine. Do it.” Skywarp laughed. “In fact, I doubt you’d be fast enough to hit me before I just warp out of the way.” He drew closer. “Well? I’m waiting.”
Thundercracker stood by, ready to jump in if things got too ugly. Starscream was cornered, he knew it, yet he seemed to be leaning much more into flight than fight. He looked to the blue Seeker as if trying to gain some support (or maybe a shield to use in case Skywarp made the first move), yet his optics mainly stayed on the third Seeker, trying to gauge what the next plan in his strategy was.
And it was then that Starscream made a critical decision. Frag it.
Immediately taking flight, Starscream transformed into his jet mode and zoomed off, leaving a long, cloudy trail as he departed.
“Oh no!” Skywarp declared, also transforming and chasing after his superior. “You’re not getting away that easily!”
“The slag do you think you’re going?! Get back here!!!” Thundercracker bellowed, yet either Skywarp didn’t hear or just outright disregarded his command, because he and Starscream flew off, leaving him alone.
Why did he always have to be the one to reign those two in?
…
“Aw, c’mon! I’ll go easy on you if that’ll get you to slow down!”
“NO!!!”
“I’m not going to hurt ya!”
“That makes it worse!!!”
“Don’t be such a baby!”
“Frag you!!!”
Back and forth the two Seekers went, Skywarp going back between promising to be ‘gentle’ with his Commander to outright declaring that resistance was futile, and Starscream shot back with threats of murder and dismemberment. All of which didn’t deter Skywarp a bit.
Seeing that the other jet was gaining on him, the Decepticon SIC went as fast as he could to where he was certain he would blow out his thrusters, yet he had to veer over to the side when Skywarp appeared before him via teleportation. He dove upwards, yet found his route blocked by the purple and black Seeker cutting him off via a barrel roll. Starscream went in the opposite direction, yet found himself cut off there as well, Skywarp just barely colliding into him.
“Hey, watch it!!!” he hollered. “You could’ve clipped my vertical stabilizer!!!”
“Then stop flying off and I won’t have to get drastic!” Skywarp shot back, yet inside his alt-mode, he was grinning ear to ear. Or at least he would be if he had any. “Try all you want, I’m not letting up anytime soon!”
“Then you’re going to be doing this for a long time because I have no intention of stop-” Starscream was interrupted by the horrific sight of Skywarp’s body being engulfed with magenta before disappearing from sight.
Oh, Primus. Oh Primus, no! Transforming into his root mode, Starscream looked around, panicking as he found himself surrounded by clear, blue skies, the sun shining high and bright. The intensity of the solar rays blinded him momentarily when he turned in that direction to look for any trace of his pursuer, yet this proved to be a fatal mistake. From beneath, the Seeker was rammed, his subordinate having decided to stay out of his line of sight long enough, and by the time Starscream realized his error, it was too late.
“Aha!!!”Skywarp seized him by the waist and immediately went to work. His servos went in and scrambled along the area he had attacked before, Starscream immediately seizing up and trying to contain the chortles that threatened to spill out of his vocals.
“S-Stop it!!!” Starscream shouted, twisting as much as he could to dislodge himself from the other jet’s hold, yet it seemed that whenever he made a movement, Skywarp just focused on another part of his midsection, the continuous switching of locations making Starscream’s processor be torn between staying still or continuing to writhe around. It was all so confusing and torturous! He was at a loss at what to do! “Stop!!! I-I comma-ha-nd you!!!”
“Hmm...nah.” Skywarp responded, continuing to scramble over the bends and angles of Commander’s midsection.
“I-I’ll kill you!!! Do you hear!? I’ll kill-” Starscream’s voice, unfortunately, chose that time to not cooperate with him. “G-Gah! N-No-hohoho!!! STOP!!!”
“Ah, there you go!” Skywarp congratulated. “Now, was that so hard?”
“Get off!!!” Starscream practically shrieked, both from frustration (and panic), yet also from the sensations that were plaguing his cerebral chamber, sensors lit a fire with horrid tingles and shocks. He only wished that they were of pain. “I-I can’t-'' he then nearly fell out of Skywarp’s arms before he was, unfortunately, caught, the torment continuing. “I can’t stay alo-ha-ft!!!”
“No problem!” Skywarp said, shutting off his thrusters. The two Seekers then began to plummet downwards.
“What in Primus’ name are you doing?! We’ll cra-ah-sh!!!” Starscream hollered, all the while trying to contain himself as Skywarp’s servos still continued to torment him.
As the ground continued to come closer and closer, Starscream braced himself for impact, yet found that it never came, magenta filling his vision before everything around him froze. He wasn’t a stranger to this phenomenon, yet it still perplexed and bewildered him that such an impulsive oaf had such an ability bestowed on him. The times were far and in between, yet whenever it happened, Starscream had gone into the strange dimension between planes of existence with Skywarp when the Seeker teleported both of them. The world looked the same as it had before, yet everything was still and silent. No movement, no sound, nothing. Nothing but their own, as if they were the only things that existed in this small pocket universe.
Then, as quickly as it began, it ended, both Seekers landing on the ground, yet far from at the velocity they were previously traveling at. The landing didn’t mean that Starscream was free, however, the lack of the need to look out below allowed Skywarp to fully focus now on the movements of his servos, which quickly went back to work.
“Stop it, stop it, STOP IT!!!” Starscream commanded, yet he was quickly shut up as giggles threatened to pour out from his vocal processor. He then lifted up his arm in an attempt to, out of desperation, fire his null ray in the other Seeker’s direction, this proved to be yet another fatal error.
Once Skywarp shot his hand underneath to scrape at the cables and joint that linked Starscream’s shoulder and upper arm, he could hold it in no longer.
“Gah!!! Gah-hahahahaha!!!” Starscream released loud and slightly hoarse laughter from his vocals, using his other arm to push back against the other Seeker tickling at his underarm. “S-Stop!!! Stop it!! Sto-hahahaha-p!!!”
“Ha! Gotcha!” Skywarp shouted in triumph, spidering along the red area that rested above his white waist just below the arm joint, this forcing Starscream to retreat into himself and cease his attempts in getting the purple and black Seeker off him. “You’ve got no chance now! Surrender!”
“Hahaha, n-never!!!” Starscream shouted back, trying to turn the opposite way to keep Skywarp away from his side. “Ge-hehehe-t off!!! Get-ah!!!” Skywarp swiped a digit just underneath the area where Starscream’s chest protruded outwards, running the servo along the rim. “Don’t touch me there-AHH!!!”
Skywarp smirked. “Why? Does it tickle?~” he asked oh-so-sweetly. “So you admit you’re ticklish.”
“I admit nothing!!!” Starscream choked in between bouts of involuntary laughter. “I’m not tick-“ he tried to finish but was cut off by more chortles forcing themselves out.
“Then what do you call this? Just a WEE bit of sensitivity?” The purple and black Seeker asked. He stroked and pinched along the SIC’s upper chest region, dipping his hands in the small, square-shaped hollows that rested by his white shoulders, this causing said SIC to try and make another grab at his hands to stop the attack. Unfortunately, Skywarp used this opportunity to dive in under Starscream’s arms and begin scribbling at the joints and cables and whatever other components he could reach. Starscream howled with laughter the moment he felt the wildly moving digits, his arms hugging around himself and clamping themselves down.”Oh great, I’m stuck. Now, what are you gonna do?”
“Wh-Wha-hahaha-t?! You ge-hehe-t them out!!!”
“Can’t exactly do that with you holding my hands down, can I?” Skywarp asked, not letting up in the slightest. “Lift your arms up and I can get free.”
“N-No!!! You’re just gonna-hahaha!!! STOP!!!”
“Hmm...nope.”
Starscream was in, as the humans would say, stitches, his body torn between twisting around and curling up into a ball in a vain attempt to lessen the sensations plaguing him. He knew well that Skywarp would go for the same areas and perhaps others if he lifted up his arms, yet, as he found out, the seams of his underarms were deathly sensitive. It was the equivalent of either having Megatron rip off his limbs versus his fusion cannon blasting him right in the chest. Neither of them was exactly pleasant options. And he didn’t care if he would be called dramatic for making such a comparison! This was torture! He needed this to stop! He HAD to make it stop!
Yet he wouldn’t beg. Not to Skywarp of all mechs. That fool would never get the satisfaction of hearing him grovel for mercy!
And speaking of members of his trine, where in Primus’ name was Thundercracker?! Useless piece of scrap-
“All right, that’s enough!” a voice called out from high above, a blue jet zooming down and transforming, landing a short distance away from his fellow wingmate and Commander. “C’mon, Skywarp, you’re going to kill him.”
“Am not!” Skywarp protested. “I’m just trying to lighten Screamer’s mood here! And from what I’ve seen, my method’s working!
Starscream tried to protest, yet had taken to tightening his lips as much as he could, strained whines coming from in between gritted, grinding dentals. Still, he managed to make out some words (though it was NOT a plea!). “G-Get him off!!! GET HIM OFF!!!”
Thundercracker sighed, crossing his arms. “You heard him. Get off.”
“Aww, do I have to?” Skywarp whined.
“Unless you want a report regarding your insubordination, I’d suggest you do so.”
The purple and black Seeker huffed and begrudgingly stopped moving his hands, Starscream immediately seizing the chance to scramble away, standing up and dusting himself off. Skywarp began to rise as well, yet Starscream pointed one of his cannons in his direction, eyeing his every movement.
“He isn’t going to bother you anymore.” Thundercracker assured.
“I should blast you in the face JUST for what you put me through alone!!!” the Decepticon SIC snarled.
“Hey, I was just trying to get something out of you that wasn’t complaining!” Skywarp countered. “You think you’re the only one that wants to be here on guard duty?”
“I’d much rather be in the company of Megatron at the moment rather than you two!!!”
“Hey, c’mon, that’s enough.” Thundercracker began, trying to cool things down, yet his Commander wasn’t having it.
“I’ve done nothing wrong to even be here!!! I was made Second in Command by Megatron himself!!! And, like it or not, that means I have the full right to question and propose any sort of adjustment or improvement to whatever backward, ridiculous, and foolhardy mission he’s got in mind!!!” Starscream shouted, clenching his blue fists. “And if that’s not enough, he had to stick me with YOU TWO of all bots!!!”
“Hey, c’mon!” Skywarp shot back. “We’re the only ones that can fly besides those damn cone-heads! And Primus knows they won’t put up with your bullshit.”
“I’ve had it up to here with yours!!!” Starscream retorted. “I don’t know why I even continue to allow myself to work with you two!!!” he then pointed to Skywarp. “You are an immature, idiotic thug that has been graced with a power that you clearly do not deserve!!!” he then pointed to Thundercracker. “And you…” Starscream paused. “You...you...well...you didn’t get here fast enough!!! I was under attack by one of my own wingmates, and here you were, lollygagging and taking your sweet time!!!”
Thundercracker was somewhat taken aback. True, this was typical of Starscream, ranting and raving about all the unfairness of the world and how he was slighted by whomever he decided had insulted him, yet the blue Seeker felt a twinge of anger flare up in his spark. “I was TRYING to keep back to make sure you wouldn’t clip a wing or something. You were behaving quite...erratically.”
“That’s no excuse!!!” Starscream countered. “I am your superior, and thus, am your utmost concern!!!”
“I was-”
“No, I’m not done!!!” the other Seeker interrupted. “You know what? You’re just as useless as Skywarp here!!! Only you’ve got no discernable skills or anything spectacular in your arsenal. I lack Skywarp’s little ‘talent’, but I come packed with null rays that can disable and render any machine, Earth or Cybertronian, useless. But you? What, the typical blaster? And such an outdated model too!!! Perhaps even one of the cone-heads would be better suited to be here in comparison to-”
Starscream got out no more before he found himself tackled to the ground. Thundercracker was on top of him and, at a blinding speed, as if in response to the SIC’s remarks regarding his skill and prowess.
“What do you think you’re-” Starscream shouted, yet soon felt his shoulder cannons being removed from his arms. “H-Hey!!! Put those back!!!”
Thundercracker didn’t answer him, continuing his work until his Commander was relieved of his weapons. Then, the blue Seeker delivered a blow to Starscream’s face when the other Decepticon tried to rise. He was disoriented long enough for him to be seized from behind, Thundercracker having ducked his arms underneath Starscream’s own and lifted them up, holding them together with one hand clasping around his wrists, effectively keeping the SIC in place.
“Skywarp,” the blue Seeker began, voice low and emotionless, yet the other members of the trine knew well what such a tone meant when it came to Thundercracker. “He’s all yours.”
Skywarp beamed and made a motion of ‘cracking’ his knuckles (even if he had none). The grin on his face filled Starscream with the utmost dread and fear. “Y-You can’t do this!!!” he protested. “I’m your superior!!!”
“Yes,” Thundercracker responded. “A superior asshole.”
“A superior asshole that’s been getting on my and Cracker’s nerves,” Skywarp said, grinning. Thundercracker despised the nickname the other Seeker had given him, yet at the moment, what was at the forefront of his mind was his Commander’s “disciplinary” session. “And since we’re both done hearing you bitch and moan,” Skywarp raised his servos up, wiggling and making clawing motions with them. “We’re gonna hear you laugh it up instead!”
And then, he went in and continued where he had left off.
Starscream had no chance to brace himself, his focus torn between trying to get Thundercracker off of him and Skywarp’s advances. The purple and black Seeker dove down and traced his servo-tips all over the red and blue Seeker’s chassis, running along the curves and bends, dipping his digits in the vents situated on his chest, and down the midsection where his cockpit was located.
“N-No!!! No-hahahahaha!!! St-Sto-hahaha-p!!! Stop!!! I or-hoho-der you to STOP!!!”
“Not happening.” Skywarp responded, now skittering along the white waist.
“You-hoohoo dare defy an or-hoho-der from your Comma-hahaha-nder!?!”
“If said Commander is being a little bitch, then yes.”
“Th-This is ahahaha-assult on a supe-hehhehe-rior officer!!!”
“Fine then. Stop me.”
Starscream didn’t answer that, knowing well that, despite himself, he was effectively rendered helpless. Thundercracker wasn’t letting him go any time soon, and Skywarp was more than content to keep tickling the ever-living shit out of his Commander. He was completely at their mercy. But he would not surrender. He couldn’t! Not to them! They wouldn’t get one word out of him that was begging for mercy!
At least, that’s what he tried to keep in mind, all the while fighting against said pleas that were forming in his processor.
Skywarp continued to let his servos dance all over Starscream’s upper half, Thundercracker keeping him immobile. The other Seeker’s added weight made struggling difficult and sometimes near impossible, and the maddening sensations made his futile attempts to escape no better. Skywarp had gone for the SIC’s underarms, Starscream’s laughter raising in volume and his struggles increasing, yet Thundercracker held him firm. Skywarp spidered down Starscream’s sides and chest, even tackling the red sections that stood upward on his shoulders. The red and blue Seeker howled with laughter, Thundercracker keeping up his efforts to hold him tight. Despite his current predicament, Starscream could at least take comfort in that the three were clearly alone out here. The only downside to that was that it was Skywarp of all bots doing the torturing! That mech left no inch of his upper body untouched, making sure to give each and every portion of it equal attention. Odd that he would be so precise given how impatient and foolhardy he was.
Having decided that he had explored all he could in that area, the purple and black Seeker shifted his attention to Starscream’s hips, dragging servos along where it connected to his waist and squeezing the sides. The Decepticon SIC continued to release mad cackles from his vocal processor, Skywarp’s servos traveling down to his inner thighs, teasing the joints and cables he could reach. The purple and black Seeker went down the other jet’s legs and reached his knees, swiping servos behind the blocky sections that essentially served as ‘kneecaps’. He even dipped his digits in the vents that rested there.
Starscream was being driven mad, his frantic struggles weakening, though whether it was due to him losing strength or some part of him simply accepting his fate, he was unsure. Regardless, he was reaching his limit and frankly, beginning to lose his mind. “W-Wait!!!” the Seeker got out. “O-hoho-k!!! OK!!! You-hoohoo-’ve had your fun!!! Stop!!!”
“Not yet,” Skywarp said. “I’ve still got a little more of you to tend to.” he then turned to the blue Seeker. “Hold him tight. I gotta feeling this is going to send him over the edge.”
“What do you mean…” Starscream asked, yet trailed off when he saw Skywarp secure his ankles, the undersides of his peds and thrusters completely exposed. Oh no. Oh Primus, no! “W-Wait!!! WAIT!!!” Skywarp and Thundercracker were quite shocked at how loud their captive had gotten, both looking at him with wide, red optics.
Skywarp then smirked. “Oh my,” he glanced at one ped he had in his grasp. “This a particularly sensitive area?” as if to demonstrate, he ran one servo down the length of the side of it, Starscream trembling and straining to keep noises from exiting his throat. “Oh hot damn!” the purple and black Seeker looked to his comrade. “Look at this Cracker! Screamer here’s got sensitive tootsies!”
Tootsies? Was that a human word? Well, whatever. Thundercracker had to strengthen his hold on Starscream, the other Seeker growing even more erratic than before.
“Not there!!!” Starscream finally threw all pride and dignity aside and went to one of his desperate fail-safes: begging. “Please, not there!!! Anywhere but there!!!”
“Why?” Skywarp coyly asked. “Does it tiiiickle~?”
“All right fine!!! Fine, I admit it!!! I’m ticklish, ok!?! There, I said it!!!”
Skywarp stopped his teasing, yet still held Starscream’s ped in his hold. “And?”
“And…” the SIC couldn’t believe he was doing this. Megatron was one thing, but these two? He would NEVER live this down. “And…” he felt a servo place itself on the underside of the ped. “And I’m sorry!!! I’m sorry for everything I said!!! You’re not useless or idiots!!!” Starscream sighed, having gained both of the other jet’s attention. “It’s just...it’s just so frustrating.” He said, lessening his struggles. “Your position means nothing, and whatever contribution you have to give is treated little better than the ramblings of a fool. How nothing you could ever say matters…”
Starscream looked away from both of them for a second, his wingmates quite baffled and confused by what they just heard. True, complaining was one of the hallmarks of their Commander’s personality, yet it was quite a rarity to hear him display such raw honesty with them. It wasn’t a completely alien event, the two having heard these supposedly heartfelt (or in their case, sparkfelt) confessions before, but they were far and in between. Yet whenever they happened, despite their probable better judgment, they listened. And Starscream, even if he didn’t say it outright, acknowledged that they were indeed listening. These moments were always awkward and generally uncomfortable for all three of them, the mood not exactly being positive but oddly calm. And neither Skywarp nor Thundercracker could tell whether these were genuine or not. Their Commander was very much what the humans called a social chameleon. Oh sure, he had his distinguishing traits, yet it seemed that whenever he had to play a certain role (aside from a duplicitous usurper), he usually took it and made it his own. He could have solid strategies and plans, he could be deadly in combat and made use of his airborne advantage well, and when, rarely, Megatron’s plans aligned with his own, he would follow it to a tee. But whether all these were just an act to get what he wanted or a rare display of inner, truthful self (even if partway), neither of the Seekers knew. And in a way, Starscream would probably have it no other way.
Skywarp looked at his partner in crime, then to his victim. “You believe him, Cracker?”
Thundercracker was silent for a moment, Starscream looking up at him with wide, pleading optics. “I don’t know. You know Starscream.”
“Oh, you think so little of me, dear Thundercracker?” The SIC asked, seemingly hurt. “I merely let my own grievances with Megatron affect my sense of professionalism.”
“And?” Skywarp asked. “You sorry for being the King of the Assholes today?”
“King of the...what!?” Starscream began to protest, yet the sensation of Skywarp’s servo kept him in his place. “Yes!!! Yes. Yes, I’m sorry. I apologize. I apologize for everything that’s come from my vocal components.”
The purple and black Seeker looked and Thundercracker and nodded his head. “You know what? I believe him. How about you?” Thundercracker remained silent, yet when his hold was loosening, he noticed Skywarp look at him with a coy, calculating smile. “I think Cracker here forgives you too, Screamer.”
Starscream sighed in relief. “Yes, well...I suppose, as the humans say, to err is, well, human. But to forgive is divine.” He tried to get up, but still, found himself being held tight.
“Hold on there! Let’s not get too ahead of ourselves.” Skywarp said. “I said I forgive you.” He then placed a servo on the underside of Starscream’s ped and dragged it down, noticing how his Commander’s face tensed up. “I didn’t say anything about letting you go. And neither did Cracker.”
Starscream’s red optics widened in terror, his fate had not been changed. “But...but you said that you forgave me!!! You have to release me!!!”
“And we will,” Thundercracker spoke up. “But, it would be bad form to leave Skywarp’s job unfinished, right?”
“Was that an actual joke from you?” Skywarp asked, genuinely surprised. It was just as, perhaps even rarer than Starscream’s “honest” moments, yet once in a while, the blue Seeker showed he was capable of humor, albeit mostly dry, but still, humor. “And yeah. I’ve only got one more place to cover. So I’d suggest you buck up and take the rest of it like a mech!”
Shit, Starscream thought, a part of him surprised that he had used a human curse. Still, the sentence had been delivered. He was doomed. “N-No, wait!!! You don’t understand!!! I can’t take it there!!! It’s too much!!! You’ll drive me crazy!!!
“Hmm...those are all rather bold claims. But you shouldn’t have told me that.” Skywarp said, eager to start his tickling torment up again. “Because now I’m going to have to see it for myself!”
And thus, Skywarp wasted no time in getting started, Starscream having no chance to maintain any semblance of self-control the moment he felt a servo quickly swipe itself back and forth on his ped. The reaction was immediate, Starscream having no chance to try and even contain himself. Skywarp traced down the entire length of the ped, the red and blue Seeker released loud and slightly hoarse laughter from his vocals, he desperately trying to twist his way out of Thundercracker’s grip.
“Skwarp!!!” Starscream hollered. “Ple-heeheehee-se!!! STOP!!!”
“Oh no, Mr. General Dickweed!” the Seeker answered back. “Forgiveness or no, you’ve been in dire need of an attitude adjustment all day today!”
“I sa-hahaha-id I was so-hohoho-rry!!!”
“And you lied to us about being ticklish. Shame on you!” Skywarp teased, continuing to scribble around on the underside of his Commander’s ped.
Starscream was in absolute hysterics, trying with all his remaining power to break free and escape his torment, yet it seemed that his fate was sealed. He was going to have to stay here and endure the continuous, soft, agonizingly light yet maddening sensations Skywarp’s servos created. Eventually, his struggles ceased, no longer having the energy to fight back. Or maybe, somewhere in his processor, he knew that he was fighting a losing battle and simply relented to those that currently had power over him. Skywarp then ceased tickling the peds, yet Starscream had no time to rest. Despite his hopes, pleas, and prayers (he hadn’t really considered himself a religious bot, yet he was singing praises to Primus at that moment in his head), Skywarp had discovered his Commander’s Achilles Heel. Literally.
“PRIMUS, STOP!!!” the SIC shrieked, living up to his name. Out of all the spots that could’ve been at the mercy (or lack thereof) of Skywarp’s servos, he knew well that one would be enough to make him go crazy. “YOU’RE KI-HIHIHIHI-LLING ME!!! I’M DY-HIHIHIHI-ING!!!”
Skywarp scoffed, yet he found this whole thing hilarious, his servos dancing along the lining of and inside Starscream’s thrusters. “Oh please. If anything, this is a spa treatment compared to what you usually get hit with from Megatron.”
“I’D RA-HAHAHAHA-THER TAKE THAT!!! OH PLEASE!!! PLE-HEEHEEHEE-ASE!!! I CAN’T TAKE ANYMORE!!!”
Thundercracker glanced down at his captive, taking a look at the Seeker’s ever-present smile he had plastered on his features, yet also of how hot he was beginning to feel how warm he was becoming. His internal systems had steadily been heating up from all the exertion of energy, yet the fact Thundercracker could now feel the heat himself signaled to him that Starscream was truly reaching his breaking point.
“Ok, I think that’s enough.”
Skywarp looked up. “Aw, why?”
“Is your processor malfunctioning? Feel how warm he is!” Hmm, now that he thought about it, Starscream DID feel like he was heating up the further along he went. Still...did he have to? “Skywarp!”
“Ok, ok! Fine!” the purple and black Seeker groaned.
Begrudgingly, he ceased the movement of his servos and raised his hands away from Starscream, who was still caught in the throughs of laughter. Yet after a few moments, said laughter began to soften and decrease, the Seeker resting in Thundercracker’s arms mainly because he couldn’t do much else. Despite there being no need to take in oxygen, Starscream was quite appreciative of its abundance, his vents taking it in and filtering out the heat that had been building up.
“Oh, and here you actually had me...going,” Skywarp said, gesturing to Starscream. “See? He’s fine!” The word ‘concerned’ was about to exit from his lips, yet the Seeker kept them back. Like the Pit he was going to say that. Starscream then glared in Skywarp’s direction. “See? Totally fine. He’s already back to his bitchy self.”
“You…” Starscream huffed, sounding as if he were short of breath despite not needing to breathe. “You think you’re VERY clever, don’t you?”
Skywarp shrugged. “On occasion, I like to think so.”
Starscream only narrowed his optics. “The moment I get my strength back up, your termination will be slow and painful.”
Despite this threat, the Seeker wasn’t intimidated in the slightest. “Yeah right. I stopped believing you after the...what was it, the millionth-and-first time you said that?”
“Well...who’s to say I don’t mean it the millionth-and-second time?” Starscream questioned, beginning to reach for his null rays, yet ultimately, had tired himself out too much to even move from where he was. As the human said, screw it.
“Are you all right?”
The Decepticon SIC looked up at Thundercracker. “Oh, so NOW you care about my wellbeing?”
“I stopped him, didn’t I?” The blue Seeker asked, pointing to Skywarp.
“And you’re also the one that restrained and let him torture me.”
“...touche.” he then began to rise. “Come on. On your feet.” he slowly hoisted his Commander up. “You’re still cooling down, so it’d probably be good to wait for a klik or two before you take to the air.”
Starscream didn’t argue with that, yet he went over to retrieve his arm cannons. Skywarp soon found the Commander’s eyes looking straight at him. Yet still, his cannons didn’t fire, though whether because he was too tired to do anything or he actually didn’t have it in him (at least at the moment), to shoot Skywarp was unknown. Yet the result was the same.
“So...now what?” the purple and black Seeker asked.
“What do you mean, now what?” Thundercracker asked. “We go back to our posts! Slag, we shouldn’t even be out here anyway!”
Starscream dusted himself off, trying to straighten out his appearance. “As soon as this is over, I’m punishing both of you.”
Skywarp mockingly gasped. “Aw, why?”
“Why?! You know slagging good why!!!” Starscream responded. “And by the time I’m done with you, a session with Megatron himself will sound exceptionally pleasant in comparison!!!”
“Oooh, that’s pretty big talk, Screamer.” Skywarp chuckled. “And just how are you going to do it?”
Starscream didn’t exactly care for how close the other Seeker was. “I...I’ll find a way. I’ll find several.”
“Of course, you do realize you’re not the only one with an advantage, you know?” And before Starscream could ask, he felt a poke in his side, the red and blue Seeker recoiling from the touch. “Y’know, I can’t help but wonder how the guys would react to this when I tell them.”
Both Starscream and Thundercracker were taken aback by what Skywarp had just said. “Why would you tell anybody?” Starscream asked.
“Because it’s adorably precious and funny.” The Seeker answered.
“You had better not!!!” Starscream ordered. “Or I’ll make your punishment even worse than Thundercracker’s!!! I’ll…” he then went over and fell at Skywarp’s feet. “Please don’t tell anyone. Please. I’m begging you.”
“Relax, he’s not going to tell,” Thundercracker assured his Commander. “Right, Skywarp?”
Skywarp folded his arms. “Only if Screamer takes back his punishment threats.”
Starscream relented. “Ok, yes. Fine. No discipline. Ok?”
The Seeker smiled. “And since you’re feeling so cooperative, I’ve been meaning to ask you some...stuff.”
Starscream did NOT like the sound of that. “What kind of...stuff??”
“Well, c’mon.” Before he knew it, the Air Commander found his trine-mate’s arm slung around his shoulder as if he were a long-time friend. “We can discuss it on the way back to the space bridge.”
Starscream groaned, not liking where this was going at all.
Thundercracker only looked on, still trying to swallow everything that had happened. Suffice to say, he found himself feeling rather...odd about it. And he could tell Starscream held this sentiment as well. Truly, it sounded unreal: he had just held down their superior while his wingmate tickled him into near insanity. Had he not seen it himself, let alone participated in it, he wouldn’t have believed it. Frankly, he was beginning to feel quite embarrassed about how he had sunk so low to be involved in something so childish, but…
“Oh, come on! It wasn’t that bad!” The blue Seeker heard Skywarp say. “You were smiling the whole time!”
“Yes, against my will!!!!” Starscream retorted, folding his arms and, for lack of a better word, pouting.
“But don’t you feel just a little bit better?”
Starscream’s red optics widened. “No! It-“ had he been human, he would’ve been red as a tomato. Odd how the meatbag’s skin changed at just the slightest amount of extreme emotion. “Hmph!!! Well...I’m not talking to you right now!!! Or in the next few Earth hours. Or tomorrow. Or the day after that. Or-“ he was interrupted by a poke, unprepared to contain the giggle that slipped out. “Do that again, and I WILL blast you this time.” He threatened.
“That makes a millionth-and-three.” Skywarp answered, unfazed.
Thundercracker continued to watch the two Seekers argue and banter with each other, noticing that, even if he would swear to Primus Himself that it wasn’t the case, since his tickling session, Starscream seemed...less irritable?
“Well, maybe that’ll be the lucky number. What’s that human saying again? Third time’s the charm?”
“I don’t think they have plus a million in there though.” Skywarp chuckled, Starscream huffing.
“Shut up.”
Thundercracker could only speculate. One could never tell with Starscream. But from watching him, he had a vague idea of what was going in his processor. And that he’d keep it a secret from everyone.
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hey, i love your tight knit boys playlist. It fits so well sometimes but i was wondering how ou connect some of the songs (like a pound of flesh or bad blood) to sam and dean??
guys, i promise i didn't send myself this ask. someone honest to god prompted me to talk about radical face & supernatural.
say what you will about radical face but who else is writing songs entirely about codependent brothers and dysfunctional parents. exactly. i’ve connected them to sam & dean in specific ways, but i’m 1000% certain someone else could do it totally different.
so here goes! the playlist is roughly linear, although some are flexible. it goes in this order:
Doorways - sam before christmas 1991. It's "when i was just a boy, still owl-eyed, / i tried to count the stars while in my bed / to keep the thoughts of monsters from my head," it's "i believed in all your stories / i believed you'd never lie" (to john? to dean?). he's small and innocent and optimistic about the world.
Summer Skeletons - they're boys! they're kids! "when our heads were still simple / we'd sleep beneath the moon. / you were something / that would always be around" !!!!!!!! "and all the stars fell into the lake / when the water was warm / walked in over my head / but you pulled me out by the collar of my shirt" he can still save his kid brother, okay!
Mountains - i made a post here <3 their father is a mountain of a man and there is someone else out there who watches sam all the time! what else is there to say!!!
Sisters - i made a post here, but also, let's just look at the lines: "your hand rode the wind out the window of the train / we slept in our seats with our knees curled beneath our dirty chins / dad gripped the bags like they might fly away".
A Little Hell - he's ten years old he's got a bloody nose he's watching his big brother. i mean.
Ghost Towns - Dean, Stanford era. he's nameless and travelling and "i still dream of you / but everyone knows / yeah everyone knows if you can, let it go"
The Deserter's Song - Sam, Stanford era. "i knew in my heart that my old life was gone / that in walking away, my name was undone."
Always Gold - it's the sam&dean song, so i placed it at the pilot.
The Crooked Kind - s1/s2. they’re fucked up kids! sam wants to be part of a normal family but he’s as fucked up as they are! he can hear the voices of the dead and the dark! he feels himself growing up & growing evil! also: “and I sit beside my brother and i feel him shake / as he laughs himself right back to sleep / and i’m laughin' with him // but i smell their blood” okay s2 sam we hear you.
Names - they’re on the road. they’re lost and homeless. what else do you need.
Wandering - i always think of this one as dean leaving lisa, but it could also be sam’s realization that he’s not leaving hunting (which i think really dawns on him early s3).
A Pound of Flesh - this one could be s5 or s7, i think. it’s a very desperate things-are-kinda-fucked-but-here-we-go! song. in s5 sam held down by his guilt, s7 by his hallucinations and constant fear. i especially think these lines read like them: “you told me then, hold me down, hold me up to the fire / but don’t you dare hold me back”.
Guilt - s8 finale. don’t know what more to say.
Black Eyes - okay i’m going to be real i first put this here because dean & literally having black eyes in s10 lmao, but in retrospect, i think it’s sam’s mix of desperate mourning for dean and desire for ruby and cold cold fury for lilith in that s3/s4 summer. “i couldn’t count on anyone to stand there behind me and keep the dogs from dragging me off with them,” “my heart will be blacker than your eyes when I’m through with you,” “all of the roads are one now, each choice is the same.”
Chains - dean post-gadreel, I think. “i thought i had control / that i could always walk away / if things turned bad // we were thick as thieves / 'til i became the one / who always went too far / and I couldn't hear you.” also “but in the end I'm lost / and i'll drag you down / yeah, that's my cost” and the “i’m poison” speech lmao.
Bad Blood - this is such a fucking sam song holy shit. there’s some gadreel stuff (“so you said it was for me / when you tried to break me”), some religious pessimism (“i know, i'm not the kind you pray for”), some throwback to the dean who promised nothing bad would ever happen to sam in s1 (“you took all my fears and / you wrapped them in wonders / but there's no magic inside the moon / it's just a rock you can't reach”).
All is Well (It's Only Blood) - finale, part one. dean dying. “i said i'd fix this / that i'd set things straight / you begged me not to / but i couldn't stay”
All is Well (Goodbye, Goodbye) - finale, part two. “so i collected all our plans and crimes / and set them all alight / the only thing that bound me to this place / you took with you when you died / so goodbye, goodbye.”
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you said forever (peter parker)
Summary: Peter trained you to be an Avenger, and promised he’d be with you every step of the way. Turns out, forever isn't very long, and promises can’t always be kept.
WC: 1k
Warnings: death! angsty af. very sad (i’m sorry i had to do it to y’all)
A/N: Driver’s License by Olivia Rodrigo came out a few days ago and I had to write a lil piece inspired by it. This is really short, and really sad, so I’m sorry lol. I wrote the last half of this high so sorry if it��s a little weird lol. I love you all <3
(I encourage you to listen to driver’s license while reading)
~~~~
He said forever, now you walk past his suit in solitude.
It still stands in the lab, as if it’s waiting for him to come in and wear it again.
Sometimes, you see it in your peripheral vision, and you think it’s him. You always whip around towards it, thinking you’d finally woken up from this bad dream.
But then it’s just his suit, standing there next to yours.
Like he should be standing next to you right now.
Peter was many things during his lifetime, but there was one word that describes him perfectly:
Peter Parker was wholeheartedly, undeniably good.
You always loved that about him. He was caring, and kind, and was always first to help someone that needed it.
You never thought it would be his goodness that got him killed.
You remember the day that it happened. It was your first mission, the one that determined your future with the Avengers.
“If this mission goes well, that suit is all yours.” Stark had told you before sending you on your way, Peter and Natasha by your side.
The mission was simple, a big bank robbery downtown. These two had done a million robberies by themselves. Should be easy, right?
Wrong.
The information you had been getting from the news had been entirely incorrect. Reports said there were two guys on the job…
Turns out there was actually eight.
Already, you were severely outnumbered.
“It’ll be fine.” Peter said. “We’re superheroes, right? We can take a few bank robbers.”
“There’s more than a few, Pete. It’s eight on three. We should probably call for backup.”
Peter shook his head. “It’s fine, Y/N. We got this. And besides, when you earn your spot on the team, it’ll be even more impressive.”
All you did was nod.
God, how you wish you would’ve said no. You wish you would’ve protested further, insisted that you call for backup. Perhaps, if you’d pressed on a little more, he’d be with you now.
But you didn’t, and he isn’t.
It had all happened so quickly. You have taken down six out of eight guys, but two retreated back into the building.
Peter, being the hero he is, followed both of them back into the building.
At the time, you were apprehensive about it. But, it was Peter. What could go wrong?
A lot, apparently.
You don’t know what really happened in that building that day. Peter went in, the building went up in flames, and he never came out.
Now, you stand at the fireproof suit Stark had managed to collect from the fire.
“It should have protected him.” Tony choked out as he held the suit. “It must have been so hot, the suit deactivated…”
He had since restored it to it’s best form. The suit was clean and once again fully functioning, though you made Tony promise that no one else would ever wear it again.
It stood in perfect condition, right next to your suit of the same status.
The two looked so good next to each other. Your lighter colored suit was a perfect contrast to his dark red and blue one.
You were supposed to be there together.
But now you weren’t.
He’d promised he’d be there standing beside you the day you got your suit. He’d train you to be a fighter, taught you what it meant to be a hero. Showed you what it was like to be an avenger. He was there through everything, from the very start.
This was supposed to be the beginning of a new era for you, but it feels like nothing but the end of the old era.
Feelings of freshness and new beginnings couldn’t be had when you were focused on nothing than the late love of your life.
“I got my new suit last week, peter.” You said in the direction of the red and blue colors that you knew so well. You knew that the suit was occupied by a mannequin, but in your mind, you could see him wearing it instead.
“Just like we always talked about. ‘Cause you were so excited for me to finally fight alongside you. But today I went on my first real mission, and then I cried because you’re not around.
And you’re probably listening to me somewhere. But I honestly sometimes have doubts. But somewhere different from me, I think you can hear okay.
Yeah, today I went on my first real mission, but I don't want to fight alongside anyone else.
I know you’re a hero, that you saved us all, but you left me alone because you just had to be so brave.
But I don’t think I'll ever be okay again, now that you’re gone.
You couldn’t promise anything that you said to me, because of what you did.
But you said forever, and now I’m all alone with just your suit.”
And finally, you broke down crying again. You knew you weren’t talking to him, but some part of it felt like you were.
He said forever.
Why did he say a word like that? Like forever.
It seems like the longest time, but actually it’s not. It goes by so quickly, and you take every single moment for granted without even realizing.
Every hug could’ve been a few seconds longer.
Every kiss could have been with a little bit more love.
You could’ve had late nights and early mornings, just to cherish every last second with the boy you loved.
But you didn’t, and now you don’t have any moments left to cherish.
He was gone.
Forever really isn’t very long, after all.
~~~~
I’M SORRY OK
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The Wanton Song
Summary: How do you broach the topic of sex with the 90-something super soldier you've found yourself dating? That's the reader's question. Luckily, she and Bucky are no strangers to awkward conversations...
Pairings: Bucky Barnes x fem!enhanced! Reader
(Reader can see bits and pieces of the future in visions and understands all languages)
Warnings: SMUT, tiny bit of angst, lotsa fluff, maybe some past dub!con if you squint
Author's note: Wow... here I am posting smut on the internet. Never thought that would happen. Tmi, but I'm married, so I have a good amount of sex 🙀 and I actually had a great first time, but some people don't, and that's what I tried to represent. That, and CONSENT!!!! Consent is sexy, y'all. Safe, sane and consensual all day every day.
As always, the reader's name isn't stated so that you can read as a self insert, but I've written so much at this point that I refer to the Reader as Violet in my own mind.
*************************************************
Life has been going swimmingly these past few months. Better than ever before in fact, or at the very least, better than in a long time. She’s still a fugitive, living life looking over her shoulder, but now she has a steady job, a steady paycheck, and oh yeah, a steady boyfriend. Those three things have never aligned for her before (especially the last one). Overall, she’s pretty happy. But, because she’s her, there’s still a question niggling at the back of her mind.
The transition from “you’re my only friend” to “we’re together now” went smoothly, helped in part by the fact that Barnes had been at that particular juncture the whole time. From the outside looking in, the only major changes have been the addition of those three simple but very key words and an upping the anti in the cuddles department.
Speaking of cuddles, that’s a very mild term for what’s going on these days. It starts out innocent enough. The usual location is on the couch at one or the other’s apartment. There hadn’t been much distance between them since that first time where they ended up talking more than watching the movie playing from her laptop, but now, the space is nonexistent. As a general rule, within the first ten minutes, her legs somehow end up over his lap or in some way intertwined with is. The intention is always to pay attention to what’s on the screen but, well, when you’re that close, it would be rude not to snuggle up. And, when the other person looks that damn kissable, it would truly be insulting not to take the plunge.
Now, considering the angle, one of them has to lean in. Otherwise, it would be awkward. That generally determines who, somewhere from two to ten minutes later, is on top of who. Of course hands wander, and even though it’s understood that the word “no” can be employed at any time and immediately obeyed (not to mention the copious amounts of “Is this okay”’s being asked), she can’t remember a time either of them have said it.
If she had to attach a term to what comes next, it would be ‘dry humping.’ And then… nothing. It always ends far too soon, leaving her flustered and with her heart racing. At first she thought it was because he simply didn’t want her, but, well, there’s certain physical signs that point to that not being the problem. Her next guess was that he’s simply being respectful. Well, as sweet as that is, she’s ready to get on with it. She’s only human after all, and as such, has needs. Sure, she could take care of them herself, but if she had to guess, he’s experiencing those needs too, and from what she’s heard, it’s more fun to take care of it together.
The only issue: how the hell do you bring something like this up, especially when the person you’re bringing it up with grew up in a much more repressed era than you did? She’s been debating it for the past week, and despite having multiple visions, none of them have given her that key insight into what to do.
Finally, she decides to just say it. They’ve made a point to be honest with each other, and it’s probably best to get it out of the way. They’re adults, after all. They can have this discussion. She’s going to come straight out with it.
“Hey, can I ask you something? It’s kind of personal, and maybe a little uncomfortable.”
“Sure, Doll.” The response is immediate. “Fire away.”
Glancing up to make sure they’re not at a pivotal scene in tonight’s movie (they have a system; at his place, watch something he grew up with, at hers, something made literally anytime after 1945), she spits out the whole sentence in one breathless go. “Are we ever going to have sex?”
It feels like a branding iron where his arm is still wrapped around her shoulder. Still, it’s comforting. At least he’s not moving away.
“I gotta admit, that’s not the question I was expecting. What brought this on?”
She shrugs, carefully keeping her eyes trained on the wall behind his head instead of on him.
“Nothing in particular. Just…” is there a delicate way to put this? “...I think things are going well between us, and sometimes when we’re together… I’ve noticed that there’s a physical response.” She’s really hoping that’ll suffice, because she can’t think of a good way to say “I can feel that you’re hard when you’re on top of me”.
“Oh.”
Apparently, her meaning is indeed clear enough, because he removes his arm from her shoulders. She’s about to apologize (all the while mentally berating herself) when his hand closes over hers.
“I’m sorry about that, Doll. I’ll try to stay calmer.” Wait, that’s not- “It’s just an issue guys have. Don’t think it means you have to do anything that you don’t want to, because I would never-”
“I know you wouldn’t.” Without thinking, she cuts him off. “And I want to.” It feels like she’s sitting in a sauna, she’s so flustered from this conversation. “But only if you do, and I understand if you didn’t-”
“No.” It’s abrupt, cutting her off. A definite answer that leaves no room for questioning. “No, I do. I just-” He clears his throat. “-I didn’t want to bring it up, in case we weren’t on the same page. “ This seems to be a recurring theme, so far. “And it’s not a must. If you change your mind-”
It’s pure instinct. There’s no thought involved as she closes the gap between them, this time with her on top, and presses her lips against his. The response is immediate and enthusiastic. She considers just going on, not putting a stop to things, but realization hits that, although overall she’s ready for this to happen, she’s not ready for it to happen tonight. There’s still things she needs to take care of. Most importantly, protection.
So, gasping for breath, she pulls away. “I’m calling for a rain check, but if after that, you still think I’ll change my mind-” she pushes back her hair and forces herself to take a deep breath. “-then you may just be beyond help, Barnes.” If the chuckle is anything to judge from, she’s made her point.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Wow. Bucky thinks to himself as he exits out of the browser tab on his phone. That’s enough internet for one day. Too much, actually. He knows that it’s the information superhighway, but good god, no one needs THAT much information. He really needs to be more specific with what he googles… or less… or just not at all.
He’d never admit it (and really, who the hell is gonna ask him anyway), but he spent the last hour looking up how to have sex. He’s engaged in the act before, yeah, but it was seventy years ago. Plus, it used to be this huge taboo thing that you suspected was going on behind closed doors, but no one (not even the married couples) owned up to it. If you were ever found out, there were severe consequences. As a man, he didn’t have to worry as much, but if whoever the woman was had her dirty laundry aired… oh boy. She’d be a pariah, a “scarlet woman”, unfit for marriage or to even give the time of day. That led to limited encounters, and, well, it just seemed smart to brush up on what information is out there. As it turns out, people have written a lot about the fine art of love making. Unfortunately for him, most of it is absolute garbage. Some of the positions he just read about (because at that point, the article was like a train wreck; he badly wanted to look away, but he couldn’t) don’t even sound possible, much less pleasurable. He’s all for society being freer, but good grief!
He’s halfway through a bottle of straight vodka (it won’t have any effect, but he’s hoping maybe the alcohol will travel to his brain and sanitize his eyeballs from most of the shit he just read) when his phone rings. Great. He’s always happy to talk to her, but right now… wow. It’s gonna take him some time to recover, so he hopes she doesn’t need him to say much.
“Hey, Doll.”
“I am so fucking pissed off right now.” That sounds promising.
“At what?”
“The city of Bucharest, my apartment, the landlord, whoever the fuck did the plumbing in this building! God!” She’s clearly out of breath, so it takes a minute before she can speak again. “I’m sorry, Buck. It’s just that I came home from work, and one of my neighbors told me the entire sixth floor is under a good inch, inch and a half of water.” Wait-
“How-”
“I don’t know. Busted pipe. It’s leaked down onto the fifth floor, so I’ve got about fifty other pissed off people for company.”
“Jesus.”
She chuckles harshly. “Yeah, we could use him right about now to perform a miracle. This is a shit show, and I haven’t even told you the best part.”
“So the spontaneous flood wasn’t the highlight of your day?”
“I fucking wish! So, naturally, I tried to call the landlord, along with basically everyone else. Get this: since it’s after five o’clock on a Friday, he’s not gonna do anything. Told us collectively to suck it up! And of course, when there’s a leak, they have to cut the power…” He’s starting to see a pattern here.
She sighs. “I really needed to get that off my chest. How are you?” Still slightly weirded out by the information overload, but feeling a little more steady now that he’s got a good catastrophe to concentrate on. However, that’s probably not the best answer to go with.
“Better than you are.”
“What, the sky isn’t falling where you are?” He chuckles.
“No, it’s right where it’s supposed to be.” Which reminds him… “But since it seems like you’re short a functional home, why don’t you just stay here until they sort things out?” He’s got a couch that, while it doesn’t have anything on an actual bed, he can manage to sleep on for the next few nights. Or maybe they can share his bed. He shakes his head. That thought needs to be put to the side, even if it’s meant in the most innocent way possible. Of course, in case she decides to cash in that rain check…
“Yes. I mean, that would be great, if you’re sure.”
“I’m sure.” Actually, he can’t think of a better way to spend the weekend. The plan was to meet up either Saturday or Sunday, possibly both, so this isn’t that far out of the ordinary.
“Okay, but just a warning: They’re not letting us go up to our floor in case there’s been electrical damage as well-” That’s smart. If the pipes are in that bad of condition, who knows what the wiring looks like. “-so all I have is my purse, backpack, and what I wore to work. No toothbrush or pajamas, or anything like that.”
“That’s alright. All you have to bring is yourself.” He’ll have to look, but he’s pretty sure he has something in his closet that’ll work okay for her until she gets the all clear to go into her apartment. Plus, there’s a laundry mat just around the corner, not to mention a pharmacy.
“Thank you. I really appreciate it.”
“Not a problem.” He glances at his bedside clock. Five thirty-four. It takes roughly half an hour to get across the city by bus, so… “I’ll see you around six fifteen?”
“See you then.”
As soon as the line goes dead, he springs into action. First thing’s first: make sure there’s no dirty clothes, old dishes, or trash laying around. That takes all of five minutes. He should probably check that he does indeed have something she can wear so they won’t have to fumble around later. Tshirts are pretty universal and… yes, he has a few pajama bottoms that have a drawstring waist. How much time does he have left? The phone screen lights up, giving him his answer. Twenty-seven minutes. More than enough time to run around the corner and pick up a few things.
His intention is to buy the basics: spare toothbrush, deodorant, hairbrush, maybe a different shampoo than his three-in-one body wash (it’s convenient for him, but she might prefer something designated for hair specifically). But, well, there’s quite a few aisles, and he gets sucked in. Does he need to buy razors, or is that rude, like he thinks she’s hairy? What about aspirin? How often do most people get headaches? He honestly can’t remember.
By the time he realizes that he really needs to get a move on, his basket is full and he has no idea what aisle he’s on. Desperately, he looks around, and his eyes land on… huh. So they just have them out in the open these days. Last time he was in the market for that, he had to beg a married friend to make the purchase for him. He briefly wonders if he’ll need to produce proof of marriage or something similar, but pushes the thought to the side. It’s the 2000s. He can probably just go up to the register and pay, and no one will give him a second look. But there’s just one problem: which brand? He should google… suddenly remembering his adventure from earlier today, he decides to just go with his gut and pick one. There. Now, he needs to pay and get the fuck out of here because there’s only ten minutes left, and he’d rather not have these out in the open, in case she thinks that’s the reason he’s asked her to stay over. If it happens, great. If not… well, he’s made it for the past seventy years. What’s a few more?
___________________________________________________________________________________
She was still pretty shaken up when she arrived at his apartment, carrying her backpack and purse, slightly damp from the drizzle of rain now covering the city. But immediately receiving a long hug, being instructed to make herself at home, and hearing the offer to take a shower so she could warm up did a lot to restore her good mood.
It was one of the sweetest thing she’s ever experienced in a lifetime where most people have showed her their worst, going into that bathroom and finding a new toothbrush, stick of deodorant, nail clippers, hairbrush, and even shampoo. That and Barnes bashfully informing her that, “I’ll stay in the living room until you’re done. Take your time.” She almost suggested that he just join her in an attempt to broach the subject they left off on two nights ago, but thought better of it. She’s just started to strip when a knock comes from the other side of the wall.
“Sorry. I just remembered that I forgot to give you a change of clothes. Can I leave them outside the door?” A smile forms on her face.
“Sure. Go ahead.” No one’s given this much thought to her comfort or boundaries before. Yet another reason she knows this is the right decision.
She doesn’t stay in the shower for long, just enough time to wash and stop shivering. After toweling off and brushing out her hair, she cracks open the door. Sure enough, a worn but clean tshirt and pair of pajama bottoms are waiting for her. The familiar scent of the laundry detergent he uses envelopes her as she dresses and, at long last, leaves the safety of the bathroom.
True to his word, he’s still sitting on the couch, thumbing through a book she gave him some months back (he’s missed so many feats of literature that have made their way into pop culture; today’s choice is The Hobbit because, while it was out before everything happened to him, he’s never read it) when she emerges. Just in case he’s so absorbed that he hasn’t heard her, she repeats his gesture from earlier and knocks softly on the wall.
“Hey. I’m out. You can have your apartment back.”
“Hey.” That smile always makes her feel slightly unsteady on her feet. “Find everything okay?”
“I did.” She settles into the place next to him. “Thank you, by the way. You didn’t have to go out and get supplies.”
“I know.” He nods, hand closing around hers. “But I wanted to make sure you had whatever you needed.”
They chat for a while about their days, discuss what they should do with the weekend ahead, even throw out ideas for dinner. The entire time, she’s trying to figure out the best way to bring up that she’d really like to finish what they started the other night. However, by the time he’s left to grab some sort of takeout, she’s still no closer to an answer.
Fortunately, their dates usually follow a pattern. Food, a movie, and then the not-so-innocent cuddles. This time, he’s on top of her when she feels the tell-tale sign that he’s as fired up as she is, so she suggests,
“Do want to maybe move to somewhere more comfortable?” His already dilated pupils grow even larger, and he nods.
“Yeah. That sounds like a plan.” She waits for him to roll off of her and head towards the bedroom before she grabs her purse and, digging around inside, grabs one of the foil packages she bought after their last date.
It’s only once she closes the door behind her, shutting them into an enclosed space with a bed (not to mention it’s pretty damn clear what both of their intentions are), that nerves get the better of her. He takes a step towards her, and she leans up to kiss him, but he ducks his head out of the way.
“You’re shaking.” His hand ghosts over her arm, making it obvious that, by comparison, she’s practically vibrating on the spot.
“Sorry.” She chuckles nervously. “It’ll pass.”
“It’s alright.” As he says it, he meets her eyes. “We can stop. Nothing has to happen.”
“I know.” She nods, swallowing hard. “But I want it to.” Their lips briefly meet before he pulls away again.
“Let me ask you, just before we get started, is this-” He stops short, eyes darting from her face to the wall and back again. “...have you… before?” Oh. “Not that it matters, not to me, I just wanted to know so that-”
“I have.” She nods, feeling heat rise to her cheeks. “Once. I was eighteen, and-” It was awful. She’d been seeing the guy for a few months and he kept whining about her not putting out, so she decided to get it over with. He went in dry without any warning, and when she asked him to stop, give her a second to adjust, he told her he couldn’t. She was bleeding and in pain for days afterwards, and to top it off, when her period was late, she thought that, even though he’d pulled out, she was pregnant. That turned out not to be the case, but it, along with the fact that she usually doesn’t stay in one place for very long, has put a damper on her ever wanting to do that again. Except for now. “-it wasn’t a great experience.”
“I’m sorry.” On instinct, she searches for the judgment in his face, the disgust. It’s nowhere to be found, only genuine sympathy. “I’ll do my best to make sure this time is better. That is, if you’re still up to it.”
“I am.” Not waiting for a reply, she wraps her arms around him and starts trailing kisses up his neck towards his ear. “I am. I trust you.” She hears his breath catch, but before she can comment, he’s hoisted her up and is carrying her in the direction of the bed.
As he sets her down, she pulls him on top of her, letting her hands wander over his sides, up his back. After a few moments, she feels his fingers move from her hips to toy with the hem of her… his.. shirt.
“Is this okay? Can I take this off?” She starts to nod, but remembers just in time that he’s so close, they’d butt heads.
“Please.” She expected to feel exposed once she was at least partially undressed, but instead she feels… adored. His eyes are roaming over her newly exposed skin, though his hands have respectfully returned to her waist. In a moment of confidence, she reaches behind her and unhooks her bra. There. Now she’s completely shirtless.
“You’re so beautiful.” The flush from her cheeks is spreading down her neck, but she still smiles.
“Care to make things even?” It’s brief, but she catches the look of hesitation.
“Sure.” Before she can offer to do it, he shrugs his shirt over his head, revealing to her, for the first time, the entirity of his metal arm. She must look for a moment too long, because with a shrug, he informs her, “I can put my shirt back on. No big deal. I know there’s some scarring…” That’s not going to fly. She needs to reassure him, make him feel as desired as he’s made her feel.
“Or if you want to stop-” She stands and, after briefly making eye contact, places a kiss on the most prominent scar.
“Don’t you dare think that way for a second.” They’re flush against each other, chest to bare chest. “Not for one.” Slowly, she slides her hands from his shoulders down to his waist, hesitating just over the button. “Is this okay?” Another shakey breath.
“Yes.”
Going forward, it’s much less awkward. The rest of their clothing is shed, and soon they’re back to their previous position; on the bed, with him on top of her. She feels his fingertips brush the inside of her thigh and gasps.
“May I touch you?” She nods.
“You’d better.”
It’s gentle, more of him feeling her out than anything else. Still, she can’t help but think this is infinitely better already than last time around. Suddenly, he pulls his hand away, and it takes all her effort not to whine at the loss of contact. Before she can ask if something’s wrong, does he want to stop, he’s flat on his stomach, head between her legs.
“Tell me if you need me to stop.”
“What-” Her breath catches as it becomes infinitely clear what he’s doing.
Again, she’s expecting pain when, after several minutes he eases a finger into her, but at this point, she’s so wet that there’s absolutely no difficulty.
“Are you okay?” She nods.
“Don’t stop.”
The process is agonizingly slow, he’s so intent on his task. When, finally, he pulls away, she’s so close that she can almost taste it.
“Do you still want to-”
“If you don’t stop asking me that, I’m gonna slap you.” It’s a joke, and she thinks he knows it, but just to be sure, she siezes his hand (the metal one, which is usually cold but has now warmed from being held close against her body. “I’m ready, so long as you want this too.”
“I do. You wouldn’t believe how much.” Yeah, she thinks she would. “Just give me a second.” Perfect timing. He rolls off of her, which gives her the opening she needs to grab the packet she managed to hide under the pillow while he was… otherwise distracted. When he returns from digging inside the wardrobe, she holds it up, only to realize-
“Oh.” He’s got one as well. “Seems like we both came prepared.”
He chuckles. “Just in case, although that wasn’t why I asked you to stay.”
“I know.” She nods and pats the space next to her. “Not why I said yes either, although I can’t say I’m disappointed.”
He returns to the bed and drops his packet onto the nightstand. “Save this one for later?”
“Definitely.”
There is a bit of discomfort once he starts to push inside her, but it’s not painful. Just… overwhelming. Slightly embarassed she asks,
“Can you wait a second? Please?”
“Of course. Are you alright?” She shifts her hips slightly, making them both groan.
“Fine. You can move now.”
She may have only done this once before, and she has no idea what his experience consists of, but as she hits her peak mere seconds before he does, gently coaxed over the edge, she can’t help but think some things are better the second time around.
“I love you.” It’s whispered against her neck as, once she cleans up and returns to bed, she settles herself against him.
“I love you too.”
___________________________________________________________________________________
The first thing he thinks when he realizes that he’s not alone in bed is that HYDRA’s found him. He’s being activated. His eyes shoot open although apart from that he doesn’t move a muscle, and that’s when he recognizes the person next to him. It’s her. She’s here.
The events of last night come back to him all at once, and he feels a smile forming on his face. It’s been a while, and in any case, it would be wrong to run a comparison, but what they shared, the pure intimacy of it both physically and mentally was incredible. Maybe he should feel a sense of shame. That’s what he was taught growing up. But instead he feels… peaceful.
That is, until her eyelids flutter and she rolls over, shifting the covers so that he gets a good view of her still naked body, and with it, the bruises on her thighs and hips. Bruises unmistakably left by his fingers. Dammit. He’s done the last thing he ever wanted to do: he’s hurt her.
“Good morning, sleepy head.” She yawns, the teasing words muffled. “It seems like we overslept.”
His mouth goes dry, and all he can manage to choke out is a simple, “Yeah.”
She frowns, sitting up slightly, and lets out a small groan. “You alright there, Bucky? You look a little off.” The late morning light only serves to highlight more marks he’s left, this time on her shoulders, neck, and breasts. Stubble burn. Hickeys. Why the hell was he so rough? At the time, he thought he was being gentle, but obviously he’s just as much of a monster as Bucky Barnes as he is once the Winter Soldier takes over.
She’s still staring at him, brow furrowing in concern.
“Fine.” He clears his throat and begins to sit up. “Stay here. I’ll make you a cup of tea, maybe some oatmeal.”
“Alright. Don’t be gone too long.”
Her words follow him out of the room, and into the kitchen. Fuck. He should’ve known better.
Maybe once upon a time, he was a decent man, one who could be with a woman like her and not do her a disservice. But now, it’s clear that he falls short in every way. In an act that was supposed to be pure pleasure, a way of communicating how much they mean to each other, he’s hurt her.
“I trust you.” The words from last night ring in his ears. He shouldn’t have let her. It’s pretty damn obvious that, even at the best of times, he can’t be trusted.
“Tell me what’s going on.” Even with his enhanced senses, he still jumps in surprise as the unexpected words come from behind him. He turns around slowly, not wanting to startle her. She’s standing there, clad in only one of his shirts, arms crossed over her chest (now bearing his marks), staring him down.
“Nothing.” He shakes his head.
“Bullshit. I had a vision of you staring off into space, and here you are, jumpy as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.” At another time, her choice in phrases would make him chuckle, but right now, he can’t muster it.
“Last night-” Her eyes widen, but she stays silent. “I hurt you.”
“No, you didn’t. Not at all.”
“I did.”
She frowns. “Bucky, I think I’d know if you’d hurt me, and I’m telling you, I’m fine.”
“Doll, look at yourself!” He reaches out to take her arm, but immediately freezes. “Go in the bathroom and take off your shirt. Take a good look in the mirror and then tell me I didn’t hurt you.”
“Alright.” Her jaw clenches, and she marches off in the direction of the bathroom. A deep sickness gnaws at the pit of his stomach and, completely worn out, he sinks into a kitchen chair.
Not thirty seconds pass before she walks back into the room, this time completely undressed.
“Tell me you’re not talking about a few love bites.”
“And bruises! You may not have noticed, but they’re in the exact shape of my fingertips.”
“Oh my god!” She shakes her head. “It’s a sex injury. A minor one at that! If you didn’t heal so damn fast, you’d probably have nail marks all over your back!”
“That’s not the same thing.”
“How is it not the same thing?”
“I’m a monster! And you’re not.”
She takes a determined step towards him, and he leans as far back as the chair will allow.
“Bucky, you are not a monster, and I am not afraid of you.”
“Then you’re stupid.” He hates himself for his sharp words, but she needs to take this seriously. Underestimating how dark, how evil he can be, is a mistake. A deadly one.
“Hey!”
“Don’t you get it?” Without any input from his brain, he stands. “They could find me, and with a few words, I could stare you dead in the eyes as I murdered you! If you were my mission, I wouldn’t even hesitate, and you’d be dead before your body hit the floor!” Her mouth falls open, but she immediately closes it again. “This isn’t something that can be worked through with some patience and a positive attitude! I could kill you!”
“So could a million other things!” Her voice rises in volume, and before he can contain it-
“But they’re not in the bed sleeping next to you!” He’s shouting at her. God. Everyone is right. He’s beyond saving.
A few tense seconds pass before she looks up at him, a steely look in her eyes.
“Look, I get it. I know what you could do to me.” As she speaks, she pulls out a chair and sits. “But I could also get run over when I cross the road, or the room could fill with carbon monoxide while I sleep. I could have an aneurysm and drop before anyone knows what’s happening.”
He opens his mouth to tell her the likelihood of any of those things happening is far lower than the chance that he’ll hurt her, this time in a major way, but she holds up a hand, silencing him.
“I’m gonna be cautious, but I’m also not going to live my life in fear that the ceiling is going to collapse or nuclear war is going to strike, or that someone is gonna turn up and say the magic words that make you go cuckoo for cocoa puffs-” What? “-and I just realized you’re too old for that reference.”
“That’s another thing-” He’s about to remind her exactly how big their age gap is, that although he’s physically close to her age, chronologically, he’s closer to the age of her great grandfather, but she lets out a sudden groan of frustration, and that makes him bite his tongue.
“Oh, fuck off, Barnes! If you’re about to start in on how you’re too old for me, then I’m not gonna wait for you to go full Winter Soldier before I kick your ass!” Out of all things, that’s what snaps him out of it, makes him feel like maybe, just maybe, there’s still a chance they can make the best of things.
Smirking, he asks her,
“You think you could kick my ass? Really?” It must be the breaking point for her too, because she snickers.
“Of course. It’s the little bitches you have to watch out for.” That’s it, he’s laughing, nearly doubled over, and from the looks of things, she’s in much the same state.
“You’re something else, you know that?” He asks between stilted breaths.
“I think we both fit in that category, Pal.” Her smile fades, but only slightly. “Bucky, if you really want me to go, if that’s what’ll give you peace, then I’ll do it, but I meant what I said. I trust you.” Never. He’ll never want her to go, he’s sure of it. Well then, that only leaves one option.
“I know what we’re doing today.” It’s an abrupt segue, but it’s the only thing he could come up with on short notice.
“And what’s that?” The microwave dings, reminding him that he needs to stir the oatmeal, and he pushes past her.
“Sit down and have your tea. You’re going to need all your energy if I’m gonna show you how to use a gun.” If she’s staying, then at least he can teach her how to defend herself beyond the basics she already knows.
“So I guess this means you’re keeping me around for a little while longer?” It’s spoken like a joke, but he turns to her, meeting her eyes to drive the point home.
“Yeah, Doll. As long as you want me."
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