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bump1nthen1ght · 1 year

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All the better to eat you with (Werewolf x M!Reader)

Pairing: Male!Werewolf x Male!Reader

Warnings: Dubious Consent, Explicit Content ahead (18+ ONLY)

Word Count: 2004 words

Summary: You're walking the familiar path to grandma's house, when a friendly stranger offers you some protection. Unbeknownst to you, everything comes with a price.

Request: Can i request for a werewolf x male reader with knotting and breeding kink please? And can you like maybe make it base of the little red riding hood? Thank so much in advance bye!

“Y’know, red is a really good color on you.”

The stranger remarks, holding up the bottom of your red riding cloak. His voice is almost a purr, that lascivious smile on his face only a little bit off-putting.

“T-thanks, this is one of my favorites.” You brush off some imaginary dust from the cloak, feeling bashful under his undivided attention. “I have a blue one as well, but this used to be my older brother’s so…it’s kind of sentimental.”

The stranger smiles again, that genuine and unnerving kind.

“Well, I love it. I think red might be your signature color.”

The stranger throws a large arm over you shoulder, pulling you to his side as you walk. You nearly yelp st the sheer force, noticing just how tall he is; When standing right next to each other, you barely each his shoulder.

“Yeah, m-me too.”

—

Your mother had told you that there were dangerous things in the woods, but the stranger didn’t seem to be one of them. Even with his wide, wild eyes and his far-too big grin, he had offered to accompany you on the long journey to your grandmothers house. You had politely declined at first, you were a grown man and walked this path plenty of times before, but he had insisted. Not in a creepy way more like a…naive gentlemanly way.

You had given the stranger your name, to which he nodded and said you had a great name. He didn’t give you his, you didn’t press it.

He was enthusiastically touchy, talking your ear off with questions about your life and the food you had brought with you. He was an apt listener, his big yellow eyes never straying from your face as you talked. It was kind of nice, if only a little disconcerting.

So here you are, still by his side and only a mile left to your grandmother’s house. The sun was in the beginning stages of setting, but you would likely get to her home before dark. Even if not, the strong stranger gave you some comfort. He was built like an ox, with strong shoulders and a barrel chest. You’d be lying if you said you hadn’t caught yourself staring at his figure a couple times. But hey, when he’s only wearing a tight undershirt, how could you not stare?

“We’re around 20 minutes away. Thanks again for walking me all the way here. I normally don’t mind walking alone but..this was quite nice.” You blush, trying to not let it show.

“Oh, it’s no problem! It wouldn’t be right if I had left a cute thing like yourself to fend by yourself.” He winks. “There are dangerous things in these woods, y’know. Things that would snatch you up in an instant.” He leans in close as he says that, his voice low and flirtatious.

You feel the hot blush across your face heat up even more. The stranger had been quite familiar this whole time, but never this direct. Maybe your stares weren’t so one-sided after all.

“Well, I guess I’m very lucky to have bumped into you, my knight in shining armor.” You chuckle, trying to match his coy way of flirting. It makes him laugh, but his wide eyes still stare you down, feasting on your entire body. “I’m sure my grandma would appreciate it too. Would you like to join us for dinner? She always has the best tea and biscuits.”

There's that cackling laugh again, all wheezes and smirks. His eyes crinkle up at the thought and you’re afraid he’s rejecting you, before he pats you on the shoulder. “I’ve never been invited in before! How sweet of you, little one, to offer someone like me inside.” He stops walking, the hand on your shoulder pulling you right alongside him. He turns you so you face directly towards him. His eyes are still lit up with that friendliness, his smile even wider, but there's something underneath it all. It’s something desperate, something knowing, something starved.

The stranger squeezes your shoulders together, making you wince a bit. His teeth seem whiter in the setting sun, larger, sharper. “Maybe next time, little red. But I think tonight I’m hungry for something else.” His voice purrs, his head cocking as he winks.

Before you can even suggest your grandmother make something else for dinner, he has you shoved up against the tree, your bodies moving faster than you thought possible. Your yelp is suffocated by his kiss, overwhelming and passionate. His large hands stop pinning your shoulders and instead wrap around your jaw, his large body now pressed against you and weighing you down. The moan you let out is downright pitiful and the stranger gobbles it up like a three-course meal. One of his hands moves down to caress your side, wandering down until he reaches your butt and squeezes. You yelp again, the stranger snickering into your mouth.

The stranger pulls away, saliva dripping from his lips as he forgets your head to the side so he can suck at your neck. Your hands claw up his back for purchase, too shell shocked to even speak. The stranger likes the feeling, like the feign of resistance, and growls into your neck.

“So perfect for me. So fucking perfect.” He laps and sucks at your jugular, nipping the skin around your jaw with desperation. You try to form words, but the breathe is knocked out of your when the sizable bulge in his trouser rubs against yours. He growls again, his hand squeezing your ass as he grinds into your crotch. You cant your hips upward, meeting the pleasure. The stranger chuckles. “Such a submissive little mate, so sweet for me.”

He hikes up one of your legs over his hip, grinding more fervently as he laps your skin. His warm drool drips down your neck, making your skin tingle. You moan again, digging your nails deeper into his back. The pain seems to make him more voracious, cackling as you scratch lines into his back.

The stranger finally moves back up to your mouth, trapping you in another hungry kiss.

“Say my name.” He orders, that crazed look still in his eyes.

“Oh..uh-” He barely lets you get out the question, forcing you into another kiss. When you get the chance to breathe, you mutter “I don’t-”

“It’s Mac.”

You nod your head, closing your eyes when he grinds against you. Biting your lip, you whisper, “M-Mac. That feels good.”

He finally pulls away from your mouth with a deranged smile, licking his chops.

“Perfect.”

Just like that he throws you to the ground, laying himself across you as he fiddles with your belt buckle. This has all been so overwhelming, so sudden, but you can’t say you hate it. Mac has got your blood searing, your cock raging hard.

Mac’s breath is heaving, was he always that hairy? On the ground, he almost seems bigger, impossibly so. He pants, a long tongue hanging out with his mouth. My…what big teeth he has.

You hear a shing, as if a blade was being unsheathed, then your pants are ripped open. Mac is pawing and tearing the fabric, sharp black claws cutting through like scissors. His eyes glow in the setting sun. What’s that on top of his head?

“I’m going to make you mine.” He mutters, sucking on two of his long fingers.

“What-” but you can’t even finish the sentence, Mac easing two of his fingers right into your asshole. Your cock jerks and your hips instinctually shove backward at the intrusion, but Mac keeps a firm grip to keep you in place. He sets a brutal pace, stretching you open with a fervor. You can’t even catch your breath, can’t even speak. His tongue lolls out of his mouth as he looks at you, a heavy blush darkening his cheeks as he admires you.

“Have to prepare you…so small, so fragile. So good for me.”

Another gasp as you feel his fingers grow larger inside you. How is that even possible? You throw your head back, covering your eyes to hide from the pleasure. All you can hear is Mac panting, the schlick of his slobbery fingers as they fuck you. But then there's more fabric tearing, no, bursting at the seams. You force your delirious eyes upward, your heart stopping.

Above you is Mac, but he isn’t human anymore. The long tongue now hangs out a muzzle full of sharp canines. His undershirt lays ruined to the side, not able to contain the extra muscle and fur of the beast above you. No, the wolf above you.

“That's good enough.”

Before you can get a word in, Mac is yanking his fingers out and folding your legs backwards toward your face. You can’t feel the burn amidst all the sensation, only noticing a jingle as Mac undoes his belt buckle, pulling out his large cock.

All you can do is moan, bend to his will. Mac smiles, that same wicked smile.

“I’m gonna breed you, mate.”

And without another word, he shoves his cock deep inside you, stealing the air right out of your chest. Your nails caked in dirt as you dig them into the ground, biting your lip until blood is drawn.

It’s too much, too much-it’s too good.

Mac pants, his mad eyes burning deep into your skin. A clawed paw reaches down and grabs your jaw, yanking you to look at him. Drool drips from his jaw and onto your chest, his tail wagging desperately behind him.

“Look at me, look at me.” He keels and whines, swiveling his hips against yours. The crack of shock that rubs up your spine makes you moan, which Mac laps up like its the sweetest treat. “Ugh, you’re gonna take my knot so well. I know it, I know it.”

All you can do is nod your head, your dirt-caked fingers finding purchase in his fur. He lets you yank him closer, the warmth of his chest a contrast to the wet dirt beneath you.

When Mac thrusts in earnest, you swear you lose feeling in your legs. But even so your ankles hook around his shoulders, pulling him in for more and more. Your cock weeps precum, burning and begging to be touched. But Mac is a wolf on a mission, chasing his own high with delighted barks. He keeps that firm grip around your jaw, his thumb brushing against your cheek with a shocking sweetness. Mac never closes his eyes, content to watch you come undone under him, watch the way he wrecks you.

The slap of skin-on-skin and your heavy pants rings in your ears. You pray your grandma hadn’t wondered if you got lost and came to find you, because the sight of you was surely filthy. But with your cock twitching and a ferociously handsome wolf on top of you, it’s becoming harder and harder to care.

You can feel Mac’s dick throb inside you, a distinct whine coming from his chest. He claws his grip into the ground, his ears twitching as he looks down at you.

“Yes, here it comes. Take it, take it.”

You’re not sure what it is, but there is no way you’re not taking it. Your hips jerk as the rubber band reaches its most taut, your orgasm so, so close.

“F-fuck, fuck!” You moan, yanking and tugging on Mac’s chest fur as you explode into climax, cum spurting all across your stomach. With a final thrust, Mac shoves his hips into you and throws his head back into a howl, a warmth expanding inside you.

This must be it.

You ponder, letting out an ‘oof’ as Mac collapses on top of you. Still inside you, he nuzzles his muzzle into your neck, his hands gently rubbing your sore hips and thighs.

“So good for me.” He pants, licking up your throat with half-kisses. “My sweet little red.”

#my writing #reader insert #male reader insert #monster romance #werewolf #werewolf x reader

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loganlermanstanaccount · 1 year

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Meet the Millers (part 1)

Neighbourhood dilf!Joel Miller x Reader

(AO3 mirror) TLOU Masterlist

summary: Your neighbour, Joel Miller, has always caught your eye. After a perfect storm of events, you end up in his house. Or more accurately, in his bed.

warnings: pwp, at least half of this is just smut, fingering, grinding, squirting, dirty talk, eventual fwb, reader and Joel are oblivious asf, a bit of angst (bc i love any excuse for angst). 18+ Minors DNI

a/n: this will be a (short) series! lowkey just an excuse for me to write fwb!Joel lmao. Also, don’t look too closely: it's an au set in 2004 cuz I said so.

wc: 4k

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He knows exactly what he's doing. Joel Miller on Mrs Harris’ porch, in a tank top and snug jeans, wiping the sweat of his brow. Fucking delicious in the hot summer air.

You're not watching, of course. Just…. checking the mailbox. It's not an excuse to see the way his arms ripple as he tugs at the cord of the lawnmower, or how his tanned back flexes in the sun. Nope. Not at all.

You sidle up to the mailbox, giving discreet glances at Joel on the porch opposite. The rip and roar of the lawnmower is so loud, you barely hear him call out to you.

"Hey neighbour!" He calls, giving you a wave. The hem of his shirt slides up to reveal his v-line. You make a point to keep your eyes upwards.

"Hey yourself!" You open up the mailbox to find a couple of letters. Perfect for pretending like you weren't ogling the man opposite a mere few metres away. Unbeknownst to you, he chuckles at your attempt to distract yourself from him. He thinks it's cute. He jogs across the road.

"I got something for you," Your eyes practically bulge out your head. "Think Sarah took your spare keys by accident." Oh. Oh. She'd been coming over to feed your cat for a couple weeks, whilst you were away. Procrastinating, as usual, you'd been putting off getting your keys back for the past week.

~~~

You'd moved in about six months ago. As someone who worked from home, you'd quickly built an odd routine. Joel was in the same boat: a contractor, working odd hours, some days at home and some days working from 8am to 8pm. As a new neighbour, you tried not to make a splash - quiet and respectful in the quiet Texan suburb. No kids, no husband - just you and your cat, Arlo.

You didn't ask for him in your life: sometimes seeing Joel in his yard or packing up his truck. Occasionally, you'd pass each other picking up the morning paper, or late at night after your runs. Sarah was the one to say hi first, complimenting your clothes just before a night out. You're waiting for a cab on the front porch when you see her.

"Hey neighbour!" She called, her dad behind her slamming the boot in a huff.

You wave back, dolled up in a little black dress and probably a little too much makeup. "Hey, yourself!"

She jogs towards you. "God, that is a cute dress! I've been bugging my dad for ages to let me get one just like it, where's it from?" She knocks you off guard, stuttering as you tell her the brand.

"Thanks, it's not too expensive either, and it has pockets ," Despite yourself, you give her a twirl, showing off its hidden feature.

"No freakin' way!" Sarah smiles warmly, hand on your arm and introduces herself. "Sarah. We met at the potluck a couple weeks ago."

You furrow your brow. "Oh, the Millers! Of course, you brought the veggie hotdogs and grilled kebabs."

She nods. "We haven't had the chance to say hi yet! My dad, Joel…" she turns to wave at the man who stands at the car, arms crossed like a gruff bulldog. "...he's not the friendliest. But Mrs Harris, next to us, says you came round and took a look at her computer. She said it was half dead and you fixed it up for her; you… work at a fancy tech company and you're really good at that stuff? So, I've got a weird question to ask."

"We were wondering if you could have a look at our new computer for us? I think we messed it up trying to set up and it keeps coming up with this blank blue screen…. no pressure of course! A-And we'll pay you in pancakes and coffee!" The young girl seems jittery, bouncing on the balls of her feet. You can't say no to her.

"S-sure. I've got some time, tomorrow morning. Let's say… after 9? If that's okay with your dad."

She squeals, almost knocking you over in a frantic hug. "Thank you, thank you! Dad? Dad, guess what…?"

She bounds off into her Dad's arms, excitedly babbling about your conversation. You chuckle to yourself in the light of the streetlamps. You'd noticed him around, of course. He's the only one on your street the same age as you: the rest were old and retired. At the potluck, he manned the grill, reserved but skilful. A man of few words, but Joel Miller laughed and smiled like a hyena around his daughter. It was sweet. You were happy to help.

The morning after, you felt rough, admittedly. Technically, you'd gone out for networking - strictly business. But one work drink turned into two, two turned into three; and then you were downing shots until 3 in the morning. The pounding headache at your temples seemed punishment enough. Shit. The time.

You get to Joel's at 15 past 9, impressive considering that you were in bed 10 minutes ago. You're dressed in a light sundress and slippers, standing on the doorstep. You knock, and Joel opens the door: scruffy and in a t-shirt and low gray joggers. There's the scruff of a 5 o'clock shadow on his face; making him look rugged and good in the morning light. You're imagining how it would feel on your thighs, rough beard scratching at the plush skin, dragging your sweet cunt on the apex of his nose…..

"Sarah's upstairs," He clears his throat, morning voice low and gruff.

"I'm not too early? Looks like I woke you up." You walk in and he points you up the stairs.

"S'alright sweetheart. It's not a bad view to wake up to."

You almost trip up the stairs at the implication. Joel's behind you, hand steady at the crook of your back to stop you from falling.

"I j-just meant getting our computer fixed. Sarah's been so excited and I'm not good at that kinda thing…"

"I get it. You're okay." You chuckle. He's beautifully flushed, hand snaking around the back of his neck to scratch at it nervously. "But is this all okay with you? She kinda ambushed me yesterday, and I can't make any promises-"

"-she tends to do that. She looks at you with those big brown eyes and then all of a sudden…." ...you're in your hot neighbour's house, on your hands and knees. To fix his computer, of course. "That's my Sarah. I'd be more scared if she wasn't my own."

You like her. She's buzzing through her door when you walk up the stairs, excited. She grabs your hand and leads you to Joel's office. "Morning! So, I've been fiddling around with the parts but I can't get her to turn on…"

"Her?" You laugh.

"Her name is Carol, and she's basically my kid." She kneels at the wires under the desk. "Dad had no clue how to set this up so, of course, I had to do everything. See, with this cord…"

She chatters as she explains her process. You find out she's funny, and bright: a smart young kid who sourced most of the materials herself. Frankly, she reminds you of yourself; a young upstart in college looking for an explosive new career. Under his desk, you trace the cables and explain what they all do, peeling back the clunky tower to find the source of the problem. Sarah listens, intently, asking you questions about how it all works - clearly inquisitive. Joel watches at the doorway, equally enraptured. The technical details all go over his head, but he softens when he sees Sarah so free with you. You laugh at her jokes and indulge all her questions, no matter how small. You are kind and patient with her, refusing to be patronising; engaging her at her own level.

When you finish up, Joel calls you downstairs for coffee and pancakes, as promised. Sarah races down the stairs, and you trail behind her. From the kitchen, Joel likes the way you look in his home, in a pretty dress and a smile on your face. He shakes the sudden thought out of his head.

"Dad, I swear to god, Lindsey's not gonna believe it. She told me about MySpace, but she didn't think I'd actually do it-"

"Lindsey? S'that the girl who came to your party, the one with the buck teeth?" He says, between mouthfuls of pancakes.

"That's Linda, Lindsey's-"

"The one in your math class, right? With the-" You put your hands up by head to mimic horns, pulling a face that makes her laugh. It makes him laugh, too.

It's been a couple of hours, when you get back home. You collapse on the couch, warm and content. It becomes the beginning of a gentle back and forth with the Millers.

~~~

"You alright there, sweetheart?"

You've spaced out on Joel's sofa. Joel’s by the kitchen island, rummaging around the drawers and running a lazy hand through his locks. With the way his arms flex and stretch with ease, you’re left practically drooling; head swimming with all the ways you could make his legs buckle, or how his hand would feel between your thighs, or…

He cocks his head to the side in amusement. “Think I lost you again.”

Embarrassed, you cringe into yourself. “Sorry, Joel. Just thinking.”

“....about?” He prompts.

“Work. Mostly.” You lie. “Sarah, too. Thinking about if she knows you whore yourself out to the neighbours like this.”

“I don’t know what you mean.” He keep his head down, pointedly.

“... I bet Mrs Harris enjoys the view, then.” You say it under your breath, but he hears and laughs. Quiet, at first and then roaring; laughing so hard tears form at his eyes.

“You're gonna kill me, sweetheart .” he laughs.

Time and time again, the pet name makes something at the pit of your stomach bubble. At first, you thought it was Southern hospitality, something you weren’t used to before moving down here. The doll’ s and the bless ‘yer heart ’s rolled off your back coming from everyone else; at the grocery store, grabbing lunch, at the bank. But coming from Joel : with a warmth that knocks you over every time? It would be the death of you, you’re sure.

“What’s she payin’ you, then?”

His back is turned now, head into the depths of a cupboard. “..just needed to get out the house. M’goin’ crazy in here.”

You hum. “It’s quiet downtown?”

“Too quiet. The Kier contract finished a while ago, and now m’just twiddling my thumbs waiting for another one to tide me over.” He peeks out from the wooden frame. “I think I’m actually bored without Sarah.”

You giggle. God, he was such a softie. A couple days of Sarah at a summer camp and Joel seemed to be bouncing off the walls already. It was cute, even if the deep furrows in his brow made him look so frustrated. “I think if she heard that she wouldn’t let me live it down.”

You’re up now, palms dragging along the surface of the counter, a grin as big as a dinner plate plastered on your face. “Wouldn’t it be such a shame if someone were to tell her…”

He stops, dead still. “You wouldn’t dare.”

You get a little closer. “I would.”

He narrows his eyes as you step closer, until the tips of your noses almost brush together. “You-”

“- would. ” You say, barely a whisper. Thick, long eyelashes frame the chocolate brown of his eyes: stormy, lidded. You can't help it, in the tension. Your own eyes flick towards his lips and you bite down words that are a little… inappropriate.

Instead, you tap the drawer by your hip and open it up to a tray of knick knacks. In the rough and tangle, your spare keys sit squarely in the nest. Joel grabs them and takes your hand, softly, to put them in your palm.

"You wanna stay? For a drink?"

You cut the air with melodious laughter. "It's 11am, Joel."

Indifferent, he shrugs. "I've got some beer in the fridge, and an empty house. Could do with some good company…"

"...why not?" You smile.

You sit on a battered loveseat outside, on his deck. The sun is shining, the sliding door open, and you're nestled in the cushions next to Joel. He sits closer than expected, a lazy arm draped on the back of the furniture and the other swigging a cold beer. You place yours in the gap of your lap, giggling at the way he clinks your bottles together. He makes you feel like a teenager, the meat of your thighs peeking out from your shorts and touching the cool glass.

"Didn't think I'd see you out this morning.

"And why's that?" You ask.

"Would'a thought you'd be nursing a pretty mean hangover." He shrugs.

"Ummm…?"

"I saw you last night," He explains. "Real late, stumblin' out of a taxi. You were wearing a different dress to the last time, so I just thought-"

"Well, last time it was work drinks."

"S'always work drinks, sweetheart." Your heart goes thud-thud. Sweetheart.

"Last night, it was a date." You see him clench his jaw and tense up slightly.

"...But?" He prompts, taking a long swig of his beer.

"But…" You sigh. "I got stood up."

He almost does a spit take, choking on his drink. His eyebrows are raised, confused. " Seriously? "

"Seriously." You deadpan. "Probably should've known. He sounded weird on the phone a couple of days before…"

"-He didn't call you right before your date?"

" God Joel , I know how it sounds, okay? Thought I was overreacting but I guess I'm not good at seeing red flags."

He deliberates for a moment. "Yeah, me neither."

It's your turn to be confused, and so he clarifies. "Sarah's mom."

Your mouth forms a silent Oh , in realisation. You put a hand on his arm, that flopped down by your side. "Was it just you and her in the beginning?"

"Me and Sarah? Sure feels like it." He mumbles. "But I wouldn't have it any other way."

"She's a good kid." You say softly. "You did good."

He grunts in affirmation before turning to you. "You're probably the smartest person I know. Sarah looks up to you for good reason. You dodged a bullet. That dickbag doesn't know what he's missing."

"Thanks, Joel." And then you titter, softly. "Would've been nice to get laid, though."

He makes a face you can't quite read, so you nudge him with your elbow. "Not like that! It's just been a while with work and-"

"You're okay, sweetheart." He smiles with a faraway look in his eyes. Unceremoniously, he downs the rest of his beer, and says something you don't quite hear.

"I could help with that." He tucks away your hair absentmindedly, and rests his hand by your cheek.

"Huh?" You almost splutter. It comes out like an unintelligible garble.

"I could make you feel good." A little louder this time, but low and sultry. The tips of his fingers brush your cheek. Honestly, it makes you short circuit, overloading your brain with a million ways to interpret his words. He takes your silence for a no.

Apologetically, he says, "Forget I said anythin’-"

You kiss him, impossibly soft at first. You lean into one another, gulping down air with the way your chest pounds. It could be the beer, or Joel, but you feel light-headed when you separate. He stays close, thumb on your chin and never once breaks eye contact.

"Need to hear you say it." He strains.

From your mouth comes the three words it feels like he's been waiting a lifetime for. You chew your lip, but without missing a beat you say what you both need to hear. " I want you ."

He crashes his lips to yours this time, sloppy and needy and desperate. You want to swallow him whole, warmth radiating off you both. You're not thinking when you clamber onto his lap, dragging your pussy on his jeans. Groaning, he separates like it's all too much.

" F-fuck, sweetheart. "

You're sure it's suggestive, in tiny sleep shorts and no bra, eaten up in a large t-shirt. The material of your panties have been swallowed up by your cunt, soaking wet. You need his hands on you, but he seems surprisingly chaste - having them rest on your back for now. Smiling into the kiss, you tug them lower and he squeezes the plush of your ass in response. You reward him with a moan and the delicious roll of your hips in his lap. Joel’s rock hard in his jeans, and you savor the feeling of it against your pussy.

“Want you to be more specific, doll. What do you want?” He pauses to nip at the juncture of your neck, leaving wet kisses in his wake. You can’t think properly with the way his hands knead at your hips and your ass; strong, rough palms brushing against your skin under your shirt.

Without thinking, you croak. “Y-your hands. Need your fingers in me.”

He groans, hips jumping up at your words, and then takes a moment with his head on your shoulder. Cursing, he lifts you up with ease so you're on his lap facing the garden.

He slaps a big palm on the crotch of your shorts, making you jump. One strong around your waist, the others strums at your clothed cunt - rubbing you until you're soaked through. You turn your neck as much as you can to suck hickeys into the base of his neck. Flushed, you realise just how exposed you two are: with the slatted wooden fence barely covering you from view. All your neighbours had to do was step out into their gardens to see you writhing on Joel's lap. Against all reason, the thought makes you wetter, and you whine.

Ever perceptive, Joel traces his hand around the waistband of your shorts. "You like this, don't you darlin'?"

You whine when he dips his hand lower, barely glancing your clit. "F-Fuck… don't know.. what you're talking 'bout."

His other hand snakes under your shirt, slowly but surely brushing against the apex of your nipples. "That someone could see us…"

"N-no, Joel-"

"That someone could see you fucked out on my lap like this. Like a dirty slut…"

"J-Joel-"

"Can't go saying my name like that, sweetheart. Someone might hear you," He wrenches your legs open with his knees and finally, finally, circles your clit quicker. " Fuck, fuuuck, listen to how wet you are f'me. Prettiest fuckin' whore this side of town.…you make the prettiest noises.."

It's not fair, really. He kneads at your tits, sending pleasure up your spine at the way he manhandles you. He slips a thick finger into your hole and you clench at the stretch. The bulge of his cock rocking into your ass, his fingers at your pussy, and a hand pawing at your tits? You had no chance.

"M'gonna cum, fuck , Joel m'gonna.."

"Cum for me, sweetheart."

His voice is low and tender, and pushes you off the edge. With a moan, your walls clamp down onto his finger, and you see white in the heat of your orgasm. It's been a while since you've cummed; usually a desperate hand in your pussy for a quickie every now and then; but the feeling is amplified 10 times as much with Joel whispering obscenities into your ear. You shake with the aftermath and pull him into a deep kiss.

"You ok?" He asks, the concern making you laugh after the filth he had been saying mere seconds ago. You nod, smiling warmly at him in the morning sun. He gives you another kiss and then you jump as he slips another finger in you.

"Wanna give you another one," Eyes lidded, he slows, waiting for permission. "And another, and another. As many as you'll let me."

You nod, gently, and he picks up the pace. His fingers go in and out of your sopping hole, thumb tightly on your clit. Joel's fingers are magical - unwavering and hitting all the right spots. He plays you like a guitar, listening for your moans and the way your body reacts - strumming this way and that to get you to orgasm. And you do, again, but gentler; bliss washing over you like the tide.

He's your neighbour, and you've never seen him like this: in a trance-like state, moulded into you and hellbent on your pleasure. All you can do is sink into his embrace, drunk on him and the way his lips taste - beer and breathmints - in the airy light of the morning.

He's coaxing you through your third orgasm when you feel it, a pressure just behind your swollen clit. Joel notices the way your legs shiver and the subtle shake of your hips.

"You're so beautiful." He says, pumping faster. "Knew it when I saw you in that little dress, tits spillin' out and I knew it when I saw you today. You look so good with my hand buried in your cunt, humpin' my lap like a bitch in heat..."

"J-Joel I can't…"

"You can, baby, jus' one more."

"I can't.."

"So, so close for me, please . Cum on my fingers f'me, sweetheart , please -"

With a sob, you clamp down on his fingers once more. Your orgasm ripples down your body, like a tight thread snapped in a split second. Liquid gushes from your cunt; so much his hand and your shorts are covered in it. Did you just…? The pressure at the base of your stomach peters off, and Joel talks you through it.

He covers you in kisses at the apples of your cheek, your forehead, anywhere he can reach. "Did so good f'me. You're such a good girl, baby."

You whine when he separates his hand from your slick. Groaning, he brings his fingers to his lips and licks them clean; of which his fervor makes you dizzy. All you can do is watch, exhausted but satisfied, through lidded eyes. He rubs your knee with his other hand.

"Let's get you cleaned up." Nonchalant, like it's the most obvious thing in the world. You bury your head in the crook of his shoulder, embarrassed at the mess you've made. Joel only laughs, squeezing you into a hug.

~~~

Simply put, he's a gentleman; making you feel completely at ease. He urges you towards a hot shower, with a change of clothes folded neatly by the door. It's his clothes - Sarah's were too small to fit - and they're big but familiar on your body. You traipse down the stairs in Joel's old sweats and a flannel, padding into the kitchen. Joel's at the hob, wearing a new t-shirt and loose tartan bottoms. You try not to think about how he was almost elbow deep in your pussy not too long ago. Or how he made you see stars more times in an hour than you have in months .

"Just made lunch." He stirs at the pot on the stove. You sidle up to him, close but careful. He dips in a finger to the sauce he's making. "Pasta. Think it's missing something, though."

Without thinking, you hold his hands to your lips and suck the sauce off his finger. "More salt, maybe?"

He looks a little dumbfounded. Oh. Oh. God, you can't help it when he looks like that, stormy and brooding and…

"More salt it is, then. You could help me finish it? I can put on a movie or somethin’."

You want to, you really do. It would be like heaven with your head on Joel Miller's shoulder, on the sofa - seeing him soft and domestic . Like a relationship.

"I should head home, I think." You don't exactly know the etiquette for one night stands. "Next time."

To be honest, you didn't even know if this counted as a one night stand? Just sex? Friends with benefits? Would there even be a next time?

His smile seems rueful for a second before he nods.

"Next time, sweetheart."

#HE'S SOOOO #joel miller x you #joel miller x y/n #joel miller x reader #joel tlou #joel miller #tlou x reader #tlou fic #tlou #tlou smut #joel miller smut #fwb #pwp #pedro pascal fic #pedro pascal x reader #kat_writes😼

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hostilemuppet · 2 months

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Saw the JD & Floyd post and was about to say “Maybe he should” but then it just made me sad. Like damn he cares about his family to the detriment of himself, what does that say about his relationship with Creek. I think I remember you writing something about Floyd realizing he’s genuinely fallen in love with him.

you want me to show how much thought ive put into tdau floyd? the funny cokehead with commitment issues? the guy who posts thirst traps out of spite? okay (keep in mind that most of this is just what *I* think and hasnt been cleared with alex, but when i write for floyd its genuinely what i consider in the back of my mind)

i think he was 13 y/o when he went out on his own (1999), began seeing the rest of the troll tree for himself, until he finally escaped on his own at around 15 (2001), a year before the entire tribe was evacuated (2002). he hitch hiked a bit and got to see a bunch of tribes but he only really got to see techno reef and volcano rock city, staying in vrc a lot longer (LONG before barb was in power and turned rocks view on pop from "they fucked up a really long time ago but were safe from them now" to "we need to colonise them back") and discovering a lot about himself in the process

he turned 18 (2004) and, as most ex-child stars do, immediately went IN on hard drugs and sex with strangers, as if thats the test for proving your adulthood. and he had a good time! he spent most of his life drugged to the gills and unable to look himself in the mirror the rare moments he was sober, but, yknow. details. then he got bored. and he went travelling again

at the age of 20 (2006) he left troll kingdom entirely. obviously he stayed CLEAR of bergen town (and silently prayed to whatever god pop trolls typically believe in that his family were safe and undigested). but he saw all sorts of places! places we havent seen yet, with species we havent seen yet, of extremely varying sizes! hell, he mightve met a species or two that are smaller than trolls! imagine that. but spending years travelling, it gets lonely. he never got to connect with anyone. hell, he never even had a real boyfriend! the most he had was that situationship he had that lasted 5 weeks before he got ghosted when that techno troll got back with his girlfriend. (its okay though, he channels his pain into his art, and that was one became his most popular song on bandcamp by a significant margin!)

at 27 years old (2013) he arrived in mount rageous. sure, they were huge, and he was terrified of being eaten, obviously. but they didnt want to eat him! they thought he was cute. and, he wont lie, he liked the attention. he became a novelty, that tiny little creature with his even tinier guitar, who apparently built up such a tolerance he can handle mount rageon drugs. imagine doing blow with stewert little. they loved him, as entertainment. he still didnt have anyone who loved him as a person, but at that point he was willing to settle.

when hes 36 (2023) he gets kidnapped by velvet & veneer, and of course no one thought to look for him. you wouldnt notice if the mouse in your house suddenly went missing. at most youd think someone you live with finally took care of it, and youd move on with your life.

the events of the movie happen, hes reunited with his siblings, he actually feels valued as a person again, AND to top it all off, those two months in the bottle did WONDERS for detoxing. next time he tries pop troll coke he actually feels a buzz! he never thought hed see the day!

brozone reunite, we see the early days of their career carry out in the au. floyd feels like hes on top of the world. hes got his family back, hes back in pop village (albeit, its a different pop village than he knew. hell, they used to all it troll village back then!) hes releasing actual music again, and not just busking for tips (its okay he didnt need much, he rented out a mouse hole for cheap). but he wants an actual connection. he wants a relationship. but hes never actually had that! hes never even felt respected by a potential partner! so he goes back to random hookups. and, yknow, its fun, he guesses. but he wants more

the first troll who seems to actually take interest in him as anything more than a hot piece of ass or "that guy from brozone" rocks his world. hes ashamed to admit that after knowing the guy for 3 hours he already thought about spending the rest of his life with him. he just wasnt used to being spoken to like a person by anyone other than immediate family members! its okay though, he couldnt scare him off, because he was being paid to be there, and after recording himself getting in floyds pants (the only way he knows how to show affection at this point) it was all over the internet

so, you know, obviously floyd wasnt doing great. hes gotten good at hiding his feelings (not like anyone really cares about them anyway) but he was clearly struggling. he did what he does best, and turned it into a joke, so maybe itd hurt a little less. he probably made it worse, but at least he was numb now. he goes back to hookups, deciding hell never have an actual boyfriend, hell never get married, and hes okay with that. well, hes clearly not, but its not like anyone ever asked, so he has to deal.

then he meets creek. and at this point hes not stupid. hes not that naive little kid anymore, and when he wakes up the next morning and realises his newest one night stand was that guy, the asshole, the one who everyone hates, he knows hes the butt of the joke, again. theres probably a camera, again. he leaves before creek wakes up.

but then he meets him again, a few days later. and creek says how much of a shame it is he never got his digits. and floyd doesnt know what to make of this. but he knows he shouldnt trust him. he heard everything riff said about him, everything BRANCH said about him. he knows every one of creeks crimes. but maybe he just wants to have some fun, yknow? everyones always fucking with him, maybe he wants to play around sometime. show the world hes not some little helpless doll.

what follows is about a year and a half of gay chicken on expert mode. creek pretends to love floyd. floyd pretends he doesnt know creeks pretending. floyd feels in control, almost. he gets comfortable. he refuses to believe its love, how could it be love? theyre awful to each other. but its, technically, his first real relationship. he tries not to think about it.

maybe encouraging creek to propose was a little more than seeing how far he can push him before he snaps. maybe he wanted to prove that hes worth it, even if the other guy wasnt. maybe he genuinely cried when he got angelinas egg, even if hed rather die than let creek see him express genuine emotions. he knows hes the sensitive one, but hes more than brozone. hes a person. a person that people dont ever seem to want to know.

then he realises. hes not the only one whos gotten comfortable. creek looks... not happy, exactly. but content. and floyd thinks thats terrifying. its too far, thats not how any of this was supposed to work. it was REVENGE. floyd was fucking with him, because creek was fucking with him first! now hes married, hes MARRIED, with KIDS, TWINS! THAT HE NAMED! and he loves them! and he loves creek! and creek loves him! hes gonna be sick. he cant do this. he cant be here. he lives in a mansion but its suffocating him. he leaves. he divorces creek.

hes miserable again. jd doesnt notice bc hes "the sensitive one", and his other brothers dont know how to bring it up without making it worse. branch is the only one who asks how hes holding up, but he just says hes fine, hell bounce back. he doesnt bounce back

when he meets creek again, he wants to cry. he wants to get on his hands and knees and beg him to take him back, but he has a LITTLE bit of self respect left. when he finds out creek missed him too its more than he can take. when they get drunk, and floyd forces jd to re-marry them, floyd actually feels like a person. a broken person, who healed in a creek-shaped mould, but a person nonetheless. and maybe thats all he can ask for

#ask #tdau #yeah ik i always insist its a comedy au. okay. there has to be a bit of bitterness so you can taste the sweetness of the comedy

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annieqattheperipheral · 6 months

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for reference here's michael nylander's hockeydb

for my willy babes💕 here u go:

- - - - - - -

STOCKHOLM — About 35 minutes outside Stockholm sits the place that always felt most like home for William Nylander.

It is the long-time offseason home of former NHLer Michael Nylander, and it’s where the Nylander family has been congregating every summer since William Nylander was a boy.

There’s the main house, the guest house and the barn where William practically lived from the time he was old enough to hold a hockey stick. It isn’t the kind of barn where you might house cows, horses and piles of hay. It’s nicer than that, William says. There are wooden floors and, as you might expect in a household of hockey players, two hockey nets.

William and his younger brother Alex would be holed up there for hours, day after day, every summer when they were kids.

Alex would play goalie and William would fire shots. Sticks would be thrown. Fights would ensue.

“But then after the fight, no matter what happened,” Alex said, “we would be best friends again.”

Then they might step and fire pucks on the shooting ramp Michael built in the yard by the soccer nets. After that, zip the 30 seconds it took to the nearby dock for a jump in the lake. Then, a visit to the sauna.

As boys, William and Alex would often make their way over to their father’s gym, where they would watch Dad go through his offseason workouts in preparation for another NHL season.

Then, the summer would come to an end and young William, and the rest of the family, would follow Dad back to North America. Somewhere in North America.

William Nylander’s life has been forever split between two worlds and two homes.

- - - - - - -

Almost every fall, it seemed, Dad’s NHL jersey changed.

Which meant a new city, new school, new friends, new home, new minor hockey team and new hockey heroes for William (outside of Dad, of course).

William Nylander was born in Calgary while his dad was playing for the Flames. Michael was traded there from Hartford. He spent parts of five seasons with the Flames before they dealt him to Tampa Bay. Michael played only 35 games for the Lightning before another deal sent him — and the family — to Chicago.

Trades weren’t talked about in the singular, but rather, the “we.” Michael Nylander wasn’t getting traded. The Nylanders were.

William was just starting the first grade when the Blackhawks traded his dad yet again, after only nine games in the fall of 2002, to Washington. The Capitals flipped Michael to Boston not long before the 2004 trade deadline.

Michael signed with the New York Rangers not long before the 2004-05 lockout. After two seasons there, the family trekked back to Washington, where Michael signed as a free agent.

Over 17 years, Michael Nylander played for seven teams – none lasting longer than a 239-game run with the Blackhawks. He also suited up in Sweden, Switzerland, Russia and Finland, as well as minor league outposts in Rochester and Grand Rapids.

“Moving around – it’s been like that since I was born,” William said. “It’s just the way it was. And actually, every time we moved somewhere, we thought it was fun.”

Moving came to feel normal. The first week at a new school was nerve-wracking, but also familiar. So was making new friends in Chicago, Washington, and New York, the three spots that occupied most of William’s childhood.

It helped that William and Alex always had each other, along with four sisters. Alex was born in Calgary two years after William. They did everything together.

“Willy and Alex, they’re like stuck,” said Rasmus Sandin, the former Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman and a close friend of the Nylander family. “They’re together all the time.”

Alex says William is a little quieter than he is, a little less goofy, and more similar to their dad.

Thommy Nylander, Michael’s younger brother and William’s uncle, thinks William inherited his father’s mentality, among other things. Thommy trains William every summer (he’s also a chiropractor and often treats William) and said his thoroughness in preparation is very much like Michael’s.

“He’s so warm and a nice guy, but when you get to the gym, he’s very serious about working,” Thommy said. “He’s probably the best player, but he’s still doing the hours and he’s serious. He doesn’t want to waste time.”

Anders Sorensen, who coached William when he was a kid in Chicago, saw him do things that seemed beyond the comprehension for someone his age. Like the time William dropped the puck behind his own net and took off.

“What are you doing?” Sorensen asked.

“Well, we’re breaking out!” Nylander responded. “It’s a power play!”

He was unmistakably the son of an NHLer.

Michael would bring William and Alex around to the rink often. They thought it was the coolest thing imaginable, being there with Dad where actual NHL hockey was being played.

William would hop onto the ice with Alex and shoot pucks before practice. Then he would retreat, on Dad’s orders, to the ping-pong lounge. From there, they would amble over to the dressing room and inspect the sticks of their father’s teammates – stars like Tony Amonte and Doug Gilmour in Chicago or Jaromir Jagr and Peter Bondra in Washington.

When Michael played for the Rangers, the Nylanders lived for a time in Greenwich Village — about a half-hour’s walk from Madison Square Garden. William’s mother, Camilla, would walk the kids around midtown Manhattan before Michael’s games and then walk up the stairs into the arena.

The “green room” at MSG was particularly special.

“I guess it’s called a family room,” William said. “But me and my brother called it the green room. ‘We’re going to the green room!’ Go smash a Coke every period and watch the game.”

In the green room, they could sip as much Coca-Cola as they wanted.

“It’s like ‘Mom, can I have a Coke?’ ‘No. Today’s not Saturday.’ There you don’t even have to ask mom,” William said.

Their mini sticks were with them always. William and Alex didn’t need much to create a playing ground. A doorway for a goal was all it took.

That’s what made their house in Washington so thrilling: It had a big basement that was perfect for hockey. And because their dad just happened to play in the NHL, those games grew to include actual NHL players.

Fellow Swede Nicklas Backstrom visited the Nylander home for dinner frequently. Backstrom says he felt like another one of Michael’s kids. For William and Alex, Backstrom was their dad’s work colleague and also an honourary sibling.

At one Thanksgiving dinner, the Nylanders — with chef Michael doing the cooking — hosted Backstrom and his even starrier Capitals teammate, Alex Ovechkin.

Life amongst the stars was just part of the deal for William growing up. There was that one time he looked up in the elevator at MSG and saw Mario Lemieux standing across from him.

- - - - - - -

Michael taught William the game. At first, he just let William and Alex play for fun. But as they grew older and more serious about the sport, he would instruct them on how to shoot, how to skate, how to do everything on the ice. They would watch, take notes and try to do it all the same.

“Growing up, we would follow him around and stuff, but it wasn’t like he was pushing us or anything,” William said. “But once we decided that we wanted to play, he helped us out a lot and pushed us in the right way.”

Dan Houck, who coached William when he lived in Washington, saw the same thing in him that he did with all the sons of the Capitals he coached. They all seemed to come fully stocked with a certain hockey intelligence.

William saw the ice just like his dad, Thommy Nylander says.

“William was front-row to some of the most dynamic offensive talents in the NHL,” Houck said. “I think that was formidable for him in his development as a player.”

Backstrom remembers watching William and Alex both play for a local youth team. “I knew they were special players, for sure,” he said. “They were dominant.”

“I always looked up to my dad and wanted to be like my dad,” William said.

But William never played much like his dad. Michael was a pure setup man. He didn’t have William’s power as a skater or shooter.

Sorensen wonders if William, raised on all those North American rinks, had more of a shooter’s mentality than his dad, who came up in Europe, where most players think pass first.

Sorensen coached William and his dad together for Södertälje in the Swedish Hockey League when William was 16 and Michael was almost 40. They would all chuckle at signs in the rink that said explicitly: “No parents allowed on the bench.”

Not only were they on the same bench, but often the same line, with William at right wing and Michael in the middle. During one game, William pleaded with his dad: “Pass me the puck instead of hanging onto it!”

Michael wasn’t an overbearing hockey dad. He even pushed his boys to explore other sports. He did like to ask lots of questions though.

“I call him ‘Wallander’ sometimes,” Sorensen said, referring to the fictional Swedish detective, “He’s always like, ‘Why is that? What do you think about that? Why did you do it this way? Why did you do it that way?’ He’s a smart man. He’s a very smart man. He cares for his family, he cares for people around him so I’ve always got along with him great.”

As Sorensen noted, it was usually Camilla who handled a large chunk of the duties when it came to getting William to the rink.

- - - - - - -

Even as a youngster, the skill always popped with William.

Houck remembers the first time he faced William, when he was 10 and playing for the Greenwich Jr. Blues. Houck’s squad was a year older, but they still trailed by a goal late and pulled their goalie. The puck popped up and hit the stick of the “wrong” player — William Nylander. He calmly shot it down the ice into the empty net.

“Not many kids at age 10 would have the wherewithal [to do that],” Houck says. “If you miss that and it’s an icing, then the puck’s pinned in your end again.”

Sorensen remembers a select tournament in Toronto when William faced off against future NHLers like Connor McDavid, Josh Ho-Sang and Robby Fabbri. Someone came up to Sorensen and said: “This Nylander kid, he’s right up there with all those other guys.”

Michael was a little surprised when he heard about it: “They really think he’s that good?”

Houck’s primary objective when he coached Nylander was to ensure he didn’t stifle that skill. He wanted to let those gifts shine as brightly as possible, especially in key spots with the game on the line.

What sticks out most in Houck’s memory of William is how he loved the game. This wasn’t a kid who played because of his dad. It was the opposite with William, who would even sneak onto the ice with Alex’s team whenever he could.

“We always just loved hockey from the first time we ever played it,” Alex said.

- - - - - - -

William still retreats to Sweden every offseason.

“Mostly what you miss about Sweden is the family,” he said.

The Nylanders are an especially tight bunch. Michael is one of seven siblings himself. It’s not uncommon for the Nylanders to make their way to Toronto. Thommy and his older brother, Peter, came to watch in April.

In his early years with the Leafs, William was announced at home games as hailing from Calgary. That changed a couple of seasons ago. Now, when he’s introduced, it’s “from Stockholm, Sweden.”

Stockholm became home on a more permanent basis at 14 when Michael’s NHL days came to an end and when William, with Canadian and Swedish citizenship, had to decide where he would play his hockey internationally. He and Alex both opted for Sweden. That’s when he and Alex could begin to enjoy the outdoor rinks in and around Stockholm and “play and play and play and never go home” as Alex remembered it.

For a long time, William stayed with his parents when he returned to Sweden in the summer. He’s since bought an apartment in Stockholm and invited Alex to live with him in the offseason. They take William’s two dogs for walks down by the water. They hit Ciccios for dinner or Brasserie Astoria next door, or Restaurant AG for a quality steak.

William will golf five days a week with Sandin during the offseason, forever finding space for a daily nap. William and Alex might have friends over and still William will dip out for his daily nap. “We both nap a lot,” Alex said, “but you’ll never see somebody who naps more than my brother. He’ll nap 365 days of the year.”

William is still trained at home by his dad through his Playmaker92 agency.

William and Alex will usually hit the gym around 8 a.m. By 10, it’s over to the ice with a much larger group that includes Sandin and his brother, Linus, for on-ice sessions lasting an hour and a half led by Michael.

Few, if any, NHL players are trained by their former NHL-playing fathers. Michael is known to be a master of the details, creating the kind of skill drills that only a former player of his calibre could.

Another bonus of returning home to Sweden for William is the chance to eat his dad’s cooking.

Michael has been something of a foodie dating back to his playing days. He prepares “gourmet” meals with a starter, main, and dessert. (Unprompted, Backstrom mentioned Michael’s excellent food.)

Sandin remembers a particularly delicious potato pancake and says the experience of eating a Michael Nylander meal is “like you’re going to a Michelin-star restaurant.”

That’s the thing about Sweden for William. It’s home. It’s family. It’s the place he could, and can still, always come back to. It’s the place where he’s able to find some distance from his hockey-playing life.

The days of hopscotching around North America have long been over. William has played the entirety of his career with the Leafs. Toronto has become his adopted second home. He rides the TTC to most home games these days.

He feels settled in Toronto, though, he adds with a big laugh, “With every year having a trade rumor.”

Two worlds. Two homes. Forever the life of William Nylander.

It’s how he was made.

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intrepid-fictioneer-7 · 2 months

Text

Somewhat detailed sypnosis of Fate/school life, the 4-koma spinoff of Fate/stay night following the regular lives of the Homurahara students, specifically the track team trio. A manga that has never been translated into English, and so is largely unknown in the English fandom. This would largely not be a problem, except Fate/strange Fake is set in its continuity, or close enough, which makes its allusions to it and important plot points derived from it incredibly confusing.

Not my work, this sypnosis was exclusively typed up by Comun (@kaibutsushidousha here) on Beast Lair:

Ok, I have time now. Here's what the general deal with HimuTen is. Himuro no Tenchi is a yonkoma manga starring the normal girls of the track trio + Mitsuzuri, and the much less normal Sajou Ayaka from Fate/Prototype. As the "Fate/school life" subtitle implies, it's wholly slice-of-life, featuring its cast involved in everyday situations, the many original games they play, and supernatural shenanigans that they don't realize are supernatural thanks to Rin or Ayaka cleaning things up neatly.

Publication started in 2006 covering a story set 9 months before the Grail War, but then during its 2015-2017 run, it covered the Grail War from the perspective of people who didn't know the Grail War happening, and is currently set after the Grail War.

In terms of timeline, the main point of divergence that defines HimuTen is Kotomine's handling of Tokiomi's property. Like in the Fsn timeline, after the 4th Grail War, Kotomine was in charge of Tokiomi's finances until Rin grew up, but he made categorically stupid decisions on what to sell and what to keep, and his disastrous management was the cause of Rin's current money problems. But in HimuTen's timeline, while the outcome of Kotomine's poor management was still the same, what specifically he chose to sell was different. This results in two major consequences that separate HimuTen from Fate/stay night:

1)A lot of Tokiomi's less practically useful artifacts and Mystic Codes were sold to Makidera's father's antique shop, which often results in Makidera and her friends being involved in strange phenomena that Rin needs to take responsibility for.

2) A plot of land directly above Fuyuki's best leyline was sold to Sajou Hiroki, causing him to move with his two daughters to move to Fuyuki in 1994. By 2003-2004, Manaka already moved away from her father's house, and Hiroki himself never appears because he's always out of Fuyuki either meeting up with his mage buddy from Tokyo or dealing with Manaka situations, but Ayaka is a main character in this story, so that obviously has many ramifications.

Also, Ayaka's and Manaka's characters in HimuTen are pretty different from their Prototype counterparts. Fake Ayaka is about as much of a self-hating introvert with no self-esteem as Proto Ayaka, but she didn't get from the real Ayaka of this timeline.

The younger Manaka still had the same propensity to set the world on fire for her Prince Charming, but direct quote: "Her excessive omnipotence caused [REDACTED] to [REDACTED] because it was [REDACTED], thus [REDACTED] went completely off-rails, resulting in the collapse of her most confident plan. Catastrophic shipwreck. She learned that picture books are pictures books are for a reason. The Prince Charming of her dreams wasn't real. Disheartened, she [REDACTED]. [REDACTED]. She turned harmless."

Meanwhile, since Manaka never found her ideal hot man, this Ayaka has none of her Grail War trauma. Instead, she had the experience of witnessing depression turn her highly competent sister into an unproductive failure of a human being, and built an actual self-esteem from training in Fuyuki's best leyline, so she internalized that she needed to be the responsible sister.

And, relevantly to /strange Fake, Ayaka also left Fuyuki in the July-August 2003 period for a student experience in the Clock Tower. Waver naturally got interested in a new student with the same last name as Manaka, so they met and she was a temporary student in his class, where she also got to realize her Formalcraft talents from Proto and was advised to specialize in plants since she was so opposed to sacrificing animals.

The last major thing to talk about is the Grail War arc, although I think this was already discussed in the thread when FsF being a HimuTen sequel first came up. Due to the premise of the manga, we don't see anything of the Grail War actually happen, but from its consequences to the people around the track trio (Kuzuki's disappearance, Mitsuzuri's assault and hospitalization, Zouken's death, the Ryuudou family needing to move to the Semina Apartments after the collapse of the cavern under their temple, Medusa's post-war presence, Shirou's survival and relationship status with Sakura, etc.), it's completely that HimuTen follows Heaven's Feel Good End except for the minor divergences caused by Ayaka's presence. And those are only two:

1) During the weeks of the Grail War, Ayaka was teaming up with Ciel (yes, Ciel was there, but she isn't a character in HimuTen, she's just an incognito figure you find, exclusively during the Grail War chapters, talking to Ayaka in the background, appearing on the corners of pages, group shots, etc. and what is up with her cameos is only revealed in profiles outside of the story proper) to kept outside scavengers from interfering with the Grail War. Mashin's official statement is that together the thwarted 9 out of 10 invaders, and the 10th one that slipped past them would have consequences later in the United States. (This seriously implies that the Fsn timeline had a bigger number of scavengers profiting from the Grail War, which certainly will come up in some spin-off, probably the El-Melloi series)

2) Shinji lost a bet to Ayaka during that week, so he had to wear a magical wig that copied his hair, but slightly off-center, making people think he was wearing a wig all along. This protected his head from Sakura's attack, so in this timeline, Shinji was only injured rather than killed.

I suppose I could also talk about Tsunokuma since he cameoed here and how the reveal that the real Ayaka is currently studying in Romania is an extension of Manaka's and Celenike's relationship in HimuTen, but I'll stick to the Ayaka parts to keep this post as short as it can be.

#lololol #fate series #type moon #nasuverse #fate school life #fate/school life

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endlich-allein · 10 months

Note

QUICK, I'M DESPERATE! SHARE A FACT (or two) THAT YOU FIND INTERESTING ABOUT TILL THAT YOU THINK PEOPLE DON'T TALK ABOUT ENOUGH!

FAILURE TO DO SO WILL LEAD TO MY DEATH...or well...not death, but at the very least gentle disappointment....

THANKS!

OKAY !!! HERE ARE A FEW ANECDOTES I LIKE ABOUT TILL. THERE ARE PLENTY OF OTHERS, BUT THESE ARE THE FIRST THAT CAME TO MY MIND :

— Till loves SMALL dogs. He loves animals, we know that, and he's already had dogs of all sizes. But he loves small dogs, very small dogs. A man built like a refrigerator who loves small dogs, that's a strange image... ;

— Till spent all the money he received after the Fall of the Wall on gummy bears. He loves sweets, has a sweet tooth and you can sometimes bump into him in candy stores ;

— Till loves parties, but it's been reported several times that he's not very comfortable when he's the center of attention. For example, for his 20th birthday he organized a party and didn't want his parents to be there. The party was in full swing when Werner decided to drop by to see if the house was still standing. He found his son, sitting alone in a corner with a sad expression on his face and a bottle of vodka ;

— Till had written a great many poems (some say over 5,000, but I don't have the source) before someone discovered that he wrote ;

— Till had a very sweet nickname: Donuts. Richard had nicknamed him Donuts because Till kept asking him to make him donuts, and as the ingredients were expensive, they kept stealing them ;

— Till loves Christmas time. What's more, it's a chance for him to show off his kleptomaniac skills by stealing Christmas trees in the forest ;

— Till and Flake have had many adventures together, including once at an awards ceremony, when a celebrity and his five bodyguards attacked our two Rammboys. This resulted in a fight, 2 against 5, and of course they lost and were kicked out. Actually, it was more like 1 vs. 5, as Flake yelled at them to stop beating Till and go after him instead...;

— One day, while babysitting his grandson, Till was shopping and flirting with a cashier, but his grandson wanted chewing gum and kept asking for it: "Grandpa, I want chewing gum". Till was a little embarrassed ;

— Till has a long scar (among many others) on his left forearm because once, when he was young, he tried to open a tin can without a can opener but with a knife because he was so hungry ;

— Till and the Rammstein boys were very poor when Rammstein started. They recall in 2004 :

"Flake : Do you remember how we stole ducks in the village? We knew that they were fed corn flour, so the gizzards were cooked with corn, it worked very well.

Till : It's true, yes! When Rammstein began, we lived, as in prehistoric times. Next to our house was a railway line.. At dawn we went out to collect corpses of animals left from the night train: the train always kills two or three animals, it is only necessary to find them. These we also ate . Well, not only them, of course. We also caught fish in a trap. It’s much easier to concentrate on music when you are not worrying about where to find money for dinner."

I HOPE YOU WON'T BE DISAPPOINTED AND STOP YELLING AT ME 🤣

#anon asks

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transboysokka · 10 months

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Reasons Taipei 101 is the coolest building in the world

Yeah, locals say it's a tourist trap but I will go to my grave defending it. It was the VERY first thing I did when I first came to Taiwan. I've been to the top four times and it's not nearly enough

1. Just LOOK at it! So beautiful!!!

The entire design of the building is chock full of symbolism, but that would honestly take a whole other post.

2. It's really tall!!!

More than half a kilometer tall! It was the tallest building in the world from its completion in 2004 until the Burj Khalifa was finished. The only building outside of Asia that is taller than Taipei 101 is the One World Trade Center in NYC. It is STILL the tallest LEED-certified building in the world.

3. It also used to have the fastest elevators in the world!

You can get up to the observation deck in 37 seconds!

4. It's really tall AND was built in a VERY Earthquake-prone area, which is just badass

It was built only 200 meters away from a major fault line. It was built with a TON of innovations to withstand earthquakes up to a 9 on the Richter Scale. There are videos online of the observation deck at the top rocking during typhoons and major earthquakes, but the building is TOTALLY stable because...

5. It has a GIANT METAL BALL at the top to keep it from falling down in earthquakes and typhoons

It's called a mass damper and it's one of the reasons I'm so obsessed with this building. This thing has a diameter of 5.5 meters and weighs 660 metric tons (that's 728 American tons or whatever they're called)! Typhoons and earthquakes make this thing swing around (it moved a meter during a typhoon in 2015!) and that keeps the building itself from moving too much

6. The damper has mascots - Damper babies!

There's mascots for everything in East Asia... But these guys are a hit. There are four different babies in four different colors, all with their own personalities. There's so much merch for them too, and even comic books.

Look at these guys!

7. The entire building lights up on New Year's Eve!

Okay, this might actually be the coolest fact. In America, you go to Times Square and see the ball drop or something for NYE. In Australia you see the fireworks over the Sydney Opera House or whatever. But in Taiwan, Taipei 101 LAUNCHES FIREWORKS OUT OF ITS SIDES! AND the countdown clock is just the entire side of the building and there's a cool light show during the fireworks! Check it out!

8. The top of the building lights up in different colors depending on what day of the week it is!

It's a nice touch. It'll also do special light things for special events (like pride or the war in Ukraine), but generally:

9. It has a vertical marathon every year!

I almost forgot about it, but yeah. You can run up the stairs all the way to the top. Wild!

#taiwan #taipei 101 #thank u for letting me share one of my special interests #everybody should come see this building #text

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anamoon63 · 11 months

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Sims Get To Know Me

Thank you @simsdastra and @nocturnalazure for the tag 🤗❤️

What’s your favorite Sims death?

None. My gameplay rule number 1: nobody dies. Ever.

Alpha CC or MaxisMatch?

I'm not quite sure if I understand what Maxis Match and Alpha mean, I just download the CC that is to my taste and anything that goes with my sims style.

Do you cheat your sims weight?

Yes, I have a mod that makes the sims keep their shape, because most of them are part of my stories and need to stay in their character. Though just like real life people, my sims come in all shapes and sizes.

Do you move objects?

A lot, especially when I'm taking pictures for my stories.

Favorite Mod?

For Sims 3, all the Nraas mods, as well as any mod to get rid of the silly faces the sims make when they're idle. I wish there was something that actually cancelled the autonomy, but I haven't seen anything like that so far. For Sims 4, Basemental and Wonderful (not Wicked) Whims are a must. Good Lighting Mods are essential too, for both S3 and S4.

First Expansion/Game Pack/Stuff Pack?

For The Sims it must've been Hot Date; for Sims 2 it was University; for Sims 3, I think it was High End Loft Stuff, and for Sims 4, it was Get to Work.

Do you pronounce live mode like aLIVE or LIVing?

aLive (like 'hey, we're going live' now'. Like when I yell "Action!" and start taking pictures for my story posts.

Who's your favorite sim that you've made?

I don't really have a favorite as I love them all. Plus, i have very few sims made by me since most of them were born in game. Now If I had to choose a favorite sim that I made from scratch, it would be a tie between Winston Casanova, Karen Valentine, Felix Ferdinand and (naturally) Robin Crane. Sorry, I can't decide myself, like I said, I love them all! 😄

Have you made a simself?

No, but I used to have a Sims 2 simself, it wasn't made by me, but by someone from the forum I was on in those days (circa 2004).

Which is your favorite EA hair color?

For The Sims 3 any color, for The Sims 4 I use black hair a lot.

Favorite EA hair?

All Banged up (Sims 3 Store), cause for a long time it was the official hair of my sim Tony Langerak (Tony Langerak's World Adventures). I also like some of the hair in the Supernatural EP, with the appropriate retextures, of course.

Favorite life stage?

I have no favorite; I play with all of them. But at the moment I'm playing more with young adults and adults.

Are you a builder or are you in it for the gameplay?

Gameplay, mostly because I'm not good at building. I've never built anything in The Sims 3, and The Sims 4's build mode gets on my nerves, so I don't touch it. In The Sims 2 I used to build and upload my houses and community lots like bars and dorms. Those were the days!

Are you a CC creator?

I started creating cc when I was playing The Sims 2, recolors mostly. I was just starting out when The Sims 3 was released, and no one was interested in my content anymore. I would make CC for the Sims 3 but so much time passed that I forgot how to use Photoshop and all the tricks I had learned to paste textures, etc. I would like to relearn to create something in The Sims 4, but now I don't have as much time as I used to, and I prefer to use the little time I have to take pics and advance my stories.

Do you have any Simblr friends or a Sim Squad?

A squad unfortunately no, but I have my mutuals. I hope someday we can form a club, or a chat, or something where I can communicate more with them. Again, if only I have the time...

Do you have any sims merch?

No.

Do you have a YouTube for sims?

No. I would have liked to have a Let's Play back in the day, I would have had fun and I would have probably amused other simmers, but now I don't know if I would dare, I'm too self-conscious and a bit too old for that.

How has your "Sims style" changed throughout your years of playing?

I started playing privately and "writing" my stories only in my head, then I started taking photos and sharing my stories, that's how I got started as a storyteller. My stories were quite popular on the forum I was on, with way many more views than I have now. Later, with Sims 3 times I created my Blogger and for a while I just uploaded my sims, shared sims memories and made tutorials. Then along came Tumblr and, from creating sims and helping others with their games, I became a storyteller again. (Calling myself a "writer" would be too much, as English is not my native language). I would really like to write and share more polished and structured stories, but I don't have the time and/or privacy nowadays to create the kind of stories I have in mind. In short, I no longer have time to write the intricate stories with lots of different characters and lots of drama that I used to write back in the Sims 2 days. nowadays my "sim style" has been reduced to sharing gameplay and the occasional story post. (If you can call that a style).

What's your origin id?

AnaMoon63 Like my Tumblr url, but with capital initials. ;)

Who’s your favorite CC creator?

Wow, that's a tough one. There are so many! You can check My Favorites Sites list on my old blog home page here. It sure doesn't mention all the wonderful creators that have been added to my sim universe since I wrote that list. And some of the cc creators from The Sims 4 are missing. I promise to update it soon on my new blog!

How long have you had Simblr?

My first Tumblr post I made on August 8, 2013, almost ten years ago!

How do you edit your pictures?

I find Reshade or whatever-other-shade too invasive and complicated, so I use a photo editor called Photoscape X Pro to (try to) enhance my pics a little, though I don't know a thing about editing, so I wouldn't call what I do "editing", lol.

What expansion/ gamepack is your favorite?

For The Sims 3, would be World Adventures and Into the Future (in that order) I also love University, Island Paradise, Late Night and Seasons. For The Sims 4, mm, I don't know, probably Snowy Scape. For the Sims 2 it is hard to decide, I love them all, especially University and Open for Business. And for The Sims it was Making Magic.

Like I said, English is not my native language so my apologies if some paragraphs were confusing.

I'm tagging all my mutuals and everybody who reads this! 😊

#sims tag #tag post #text post #los sims de ana #anamoon63 sims #get to know me tag #tagged

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lunearobservatory · 1 year

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Yk what, I shall fancy you by asking about Idaho and Oregon. Tell me your head cannons about the two of them.

And I mean all of it.

Whether it's crazy, angsty, or something else, I. Don't. Care.

Give me passion for the specific things you love or give me nothing

Grabs you firmly by the shoulders. You have given me Power. STRAP IN FUCKERS!

I'll start with Oregon. Little warning now for weed nicotine alcohol and a small hunting mention i guess? Just in case <3

He's chill! He's cool, he's doing alright. In his own words "good, not great". He seems pretty tight with Washington, they're besties.

The West Coast really do scream "dysfunctional family dynamics" don't they?

(Aka, my three girlfriends West Coast boys, and yes, they smoke weed.)

Anyway, he's with Washington the most. That bit of them hanging out together alone while ignoring California's calls? Yeah, that's them all the time. Washington info dumps about tech and Oregon is a little book nerd who absorbs info (Powell's city of books) and it's a very good combo. They share local coffee shop and microbrew recs and go hiking they are!! Hiking bros!!! They are also couch locked high as fuck watching runbacks of 2004 Cartoon Network bros!!! That La Niña bond!!!

Definitely get very philosophical a lot in conversation, like Wash gets viscerally emotional over space stuff and cried over Spirit the rover being shut down (rip to the real ones i miss them all) and Oregon is like god yeah man human attachment to inanimate objects is so wild. They'll either talk about it for hours OR bounce between topics so stupidly fast they don't even remember why they're talking about what they are or how they got on the topic from where they started.

Sorry for talking abt them forever I just think they're best friends.

As I mentioned Oregon is a big book nerd, he likes nature, probably has a house plant problem (they are all named), he hikes, and HUNTS!

This mf bow hunts, drag this out of my cold hands. Gun too sure but BOW HUNT OREGON. Washington gets icked about blood and killing animals probably so Oregon goes alone. Or maybe with Alaska sometimes? I really love Alaska and the PNW getting along for some reason.

Or, he goes with Ida :)

Idaho is Built Ford Tough thats for fuckin sure, this man's a farmer. And he fishes. He unironically owns several dad joke fishing shirts and a women love me, fish fear me hat. I love him. He's pretty outgoing, he Wyoming and Montana are all fairly good pals, hunting buddies and football friends definitely. Sometimes Colorado is alright to hang with, mostly when Denver is a little quieter.

And in a similar fashion, he and Oregon will get into bitchy fights bc Oregon really is still centered around Portland. Married couple spats yk?

Honestly they're just like. Domestic? I guess? They'll go on weekend hunting trips, Idaho really likes to cook esp with game, Oregon likes to try and pair whatever they're eating with a beer if applicable. It's usually applicable, they're "it's past five pm so it's socially acceptable to have a beer now, right?" people. They definitely have a wicked sourdough starter. Oregon likes kombucha sometimes and Ida thinks it's a hell liquid. They go to fuckin Albertsons and bring back like eight things they didn't need.

I've got a hc I've mentioned somewhere before that the West Coast/PNW including Ida have horrific nicotine addictions, and that Ida goes straight for cigarettes or steals off Oregon, who vapes and has a Juul that they scratched their names into with a pin. They're like That couple.

Idk they're in a way like the country/city boy dynamic but also not? Like Oregon is a bit rough and tumble he isn't a pure city boy. And Ida is like not country per se, more game hunting fisher boy. But it's similar yk? A little bit

Their dates are CUTE, they got that weekend hunting trip, Idaho is land locked so Oregon takes him down the coast, or like to an obscure distillery for flight tasting. Otherwise they just do movie nights and nice dinners. Oregon has taken them hiking to a nice place to see stars and has re-info dumped information from Wash about the stars and stuff and Ida is like wow that's so neat, absolutely not looking at the stars he's looking at Oregon.

I could get into angst but maybe i save that for now since I'm talkin about them bein cute and happy and i want them to have that rn tbh

#oofda that's long aint it #i think about them too much #lune talks #wttt #wttsh #ben brainard #welcome to the statehouse #welcome to the table #when ppl ask me things #wttt idaho #wttt oregon #wttt california #wttt washington #i'd tag Montana Wyoming and Colorado too but they're so lightly mentioned #wttt shipping #wttt headcanons

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cheer-deforest-kelley · 2 years

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DeForest and Carolyn Kelley lived in a Ranch-style home in Sherman Oaks, California (an upscale section of the San Fernando Valley which is north of downtown Los Angeles). He purchased it around 1962. It was a 2 bed/2 bath home and was less than 1,300 sq.ft., but it had a big back yard with a pool. De once said “Small birds need small nests.”

The little heart above shows the area in Sherman Oaks where he lived. That’s the 405 freeway on the left.

Above was his street sign and his quiet tree-lined street. His address was 15463 Greenleaf Street, Sherman Oaks, CA 91403 and his telephone number was 818/788-1196 (at one time, his area code was 213, but it changed when area codes in Los Angeles expanded).

This picture (of De giving Myrtle the tortoise a shower, while Cheers the dog looks on) shows a bit of his back yard. Note the stairs where his lawn sloped down from the house (important to know for later in this story).

Here’s De playing darts. He had a huge barbecue in the far corner of his backyard. The stairs in the above photo lead down to the barbecue area. Oh to have had a cheeseburger made by De’s loving hands.

De and Carolyn on the diving board of their pool. The pool was situated on the opposite side of their yard from the stairs and barbecue in above pictures.

Sadly, after De’s wife Carolyn passed away in 2004 (five years after De passed), the house was sold and torn down (torn down!!). A two-story, 6-bedroom, 6,200 sq.ft. house (what is derisively called a McMansion) was built in its place.

Above is the back yard of the new house (from a real estate posting). The diving board was replaced with a jacuzzi and the larger house took away much of the yard (no more sloping grass and the barbecue in the far corner is gone).

It breaks my heart to know DeForest Kelley’s beloved home is gone. 😢

#deforest kelley #deforest kelley’s house #deforest and caroyln kelley #sherman oaks

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haveyouseenthishorrormovie · 1 month

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Stats from Movies 1101-1200

Top 10 Movies - Highest Number of Votes

Plan 9 from Outer Space (1957) had the most votes with 1,168 votes. The Old Dark House (1963) had the least votes with 338 votes.

The 10 Most Watched Films by Percentage

Silence of the Lambs (1991) was the most watched film with 78.1% of voters out of 691 saying they had seen it. Stalker (2022) had the least "Yes" votes with 0.4% of voters out of 471.

The 10 Least Watched Films by Percentage

Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey (2023) was the least watched film with 79.1% of voters out of 611 saying they hadn’t seen it. Kraa! The Sea Monster (1998) had the least "No" votes with 6.8% of voters out of 381.

The 10 Most Known Films by Percentage

Silence of the Lambs (1991) was the best known film, 0.7% of voters out of 691 saying they’d never heard of it.

The 10 Least Known Films by Percentage

Kraa! The Sea Monster (1998) was the least known film, 91.9% of voters out of 381 saying they’d never heard of it.

The movies part of the statistic count and their polls below the cut.

Mother! (2017) Ma (2019) What We Do in the Shadows (2014) Swallow (2019) Suspiria (2018) Nothing But Trouble (1991) Chernobyl Diaries (2012) Return of the Living Dead II (1988) Pyewacket (2017) Hellbender (2021)

Gwen (2018) Lake of Death (2019) Leptirica (1973) You Are Not My Mother (2021) Censor (2021) You Won't Be Alone (2022) Stalker (2022) Berlin Syndrome (2017) Mandrake (2022) Raven's Hollow (2022)

Outpost (2022) Violation (2020) Unwelcome (2022) Brooklyn 45 (2023) Lovely, Dark, and Deep (2023) They (2002) Honeydew (2020) Ouija: Origin of Evil (2016) Alone (Pandemic) (2020) Alone (2020)

Dark Was the Night (2014) Animal (2014) White Zombie (1932) Venus in Furs (1969) Umma (2022) Renfield (2023) Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey (2023) The Silence of the Lambs (1991) Earth vs. the Spider (1958) Wicked City (1987)

The Uninvited (2008) The House That Jack Built (2018) Viy (1967) The Pope's Exorcist (2023) Winchester (2018) The Ruins (2008) The Old Dark House (1963) The Shrine (2010) The Head Hunter (2018) Under the Skin (2013)

The Lure (2015) The Sand (2015) Emesis Blue (2023) Where the Devil Roams (2023) The Deeper You Dig (2019) The Hatred (2017) Tokyo Gore Police (2008) Teddy (2020) The Night Stalker (1972) Wishmaster (1997)

DeepStar Six (1989) Plan 9 from Outer Space (1957) The Quatermass Xperiment (1955) The Monster Club (1981) Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) The Tingler (1959) Obereg (1991) The House That Cried Murder (1973) Scalpel (1977) Out of Darkness (2022)

Reincarnation (2005) Howling Village (2019) Suicide Forest Village (2021) The Forest (2015) Don't Look Up (1996) Kaidan (2007) The Dinosaur Project (2012) Exists (2014) Spook Louder (1943) Death Kappa (2010)

Red Dragon (2002) A Bucket of Blood (1959) Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004) Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010) Kraa! The Sea Monster (1998) Stacy: Attack of the Schoolgirl Zombies (2001) Gingerdead Man 3: Saturday Night Cleaver (2011) Wake Wood (2009) The Resident (2011) Sweet Home (1989)

The Silence (2019) #Alive (2020) Lord of Misrule (2023) The Day of the Beast (1995) Rigor Mortis (2013) Bloody Chainsaw Girl (2016) Freaked (1993) Demon Seed (1977) Raging Grace (2023) Safe (1995)

#recap

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scorpionyx9621 · 2 years

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Resident Evil Headcanons About my Favorites Because I'm Camping Out in My Room During a Heat Wave. (IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER) (Chris, Mia, Piers, and Ethan)

Chris

For as put-together and business first as Chris seems, a large part of it actually is his coping mechanism from The Mansion Incident and the whole litany of viral outbreaks/conflicts Chris has faced. Chris fully swamps himself into his work to escape having to deal with the trauma he's built.

After Chris snaps and goes on a year-long drinking binge to the point he forgets most of his identity following the Edonia incident of RE6 and after Piers's sacrifice at the end of that game. Chris does see a therapist and gets better, but he'd still rather be busy and overloads his plate than be left alone with his thoughts for too long. Thus furthering the self-destructive cycle.

Part of the reason why between the years of 2004-2013 Chris got so FREAKING SWOLE was because Chris is that guy who is in the gym pumping iron for 3 hours a day at minimum like he's fighting demons except Chris is actually fighting/running away from his demons.

I headcanon that Chris is bisexual. He isn't out of the closet so to speak but with how much he burrows himself into BSAA Missions and actual training/office work not many people are openly asking Chris what team he plays for. The only people who know are Claire, Jill, Barry, Leon (Claire let it slip accidentally), Piers, Sheva, Ada (Because it's Ada and she knows everything) and Wesker.

Jill was actually the first person Chris ever came out to. Jill could just tell. Mostly because Wesker was Chris's original bi panic™ and Chris would not shut up about it. This went from crush to abject, seething hatred of Wesker after Chris found out he was alive again at the end of Code Veronica.

It's stated somewhere that about 10% of the population is immune to the T-Virus. (Vanilla T virus not T-Veronica, T-Abyss, T-Phobos, TG, C, or whatever additional viral flavours we're adding) and Chris and Claire are a part of that 10 percent. But Chris also has the ABCC11 gene mutation that causes Chris's sweat to not smell. Conversely, Chris also has the gene that makes cilantro taste like soap and he HATES IT. He has to make a big deal every time he gets Mexican/Indian/Thai/Chinese food because he has to tell the restaurant no cilantro because it will RUIN the dish for him and he feels so bad having to do it every time. (Chris loves Mexican food too)

We don't have any birthday information for any of the more popular resident evil characters so Astrology is basically anyone's guess. But to me, Chris Redfield radiates Aries energy but also very heavy Capricorn energy too.

There's a line that was cut from RE5 where Jill teases Chris for flirting with a woman in the BSAA Tech Department who was a bit younger than him and Chris, embarrassed, denied the accusation. It's not a lie, Chris does like them younger than him. (Use that info as you want/wish) and while Chris denied it with the intern. Chris just tried to pretend the conversation never happened. When Jill, Chris, and Piers were all in the same room together and Jill always would just make eyebrows at Chris. Piers caught her doing it once, but Jill snapped back at him telling him to fall in line.

Chris circa 1997-Umbrella Chronicles absolutely did not learn or even know how to cook. This man lived off of take out, cigarettes, coffee, spite, and still had a damn near perfect Twunk physique. I'll bet once the BSAA got founded and really off the ground Chris realized oh fuck I'm actually in charge of shit now I need to get my life together. And Chris just went from burgers and fries 3-4 times a week for dinner is fine to just competitive bodybuilder school of dieting. And Chris just went in.

Chris, Barry, Jill, and Claire all have Thanksgiving together and they do it twice. Because Barry immigrated to Canada after RE1 the Mansion Incident Survivors plus Claire all always get together for Thanksgiving in October at Barry's house or at Chris/Claire/Jill's living situations every year. The triumvirate always ends up adding another person to the mix. One year Claire has brought Sherry numerous times after RE6. Leon was the most recent of the RE family to come to a Thanksgiving. Jill brought Carlos twice (Chris and Carlos DID NOT get along at first but eventually became friendly.) Chris has brought Piers once. The year prior he brought Sheva.

Chris's cheat meal/drink is so stupid. A venti java chip frappucciono from Starbucks. Chris just likes coffee flavored stuff. Whether it be using ground coffee as a rub on a cut of meat or a rich, espresso ladden tiramisu.

Chris eventually became Rosemary's sort-of surrogate father. After the events of Village the BSAA moved the Winters's back to California so Rose and Mia could be closer to Ethan's family and burial spot. Ethan didn't want to make things more difficult for the family so he had a whole base of operations set up outside the Winters's Northern California (we're talking Redding north not San Francisco north) and Chris really always was just this grump, cranky, older, often disappointed dad to Rose. But Chris had his moments.

Mia

HNNNNNGGGHHH BOY DO I HAVE A LOT OF FEELINGS ABOUT MIA AND A WHOLE LOT OF THEN AREN'T POSITIVE.

But this is a headcanon post I'm not going to rip her to shreds. I appreciate her as a complex, complicated character but I just have to say. While Mia sent out the distress call to Ethan in a moment of clarity from her mold infection. Ethan was ultimately the one who chose to try to find Mia. RE7 was Ethan's fault. he could have been completely sane and rational and chose either to take this to the police or to ignore this. But this love-smitten fool decided to fall for the trap and become the main character of Dumpyface: The Louisiana Chainsaw Massacre. RE Village was ALL on Mia. While the Winters's couldn't have foreseen all that went down. Mia knew FULL WELL about Mother Miranda, what her intentions were as a scientist, that Mother Miranda WAS in Romania, that Ethan was indeed very much still infected with the mold, that she knew the full extent of Ethan's infection as well and that this likely wasn't Ethan but that the mold probably re-animated Ethan, and she willingly allows herself to be impregnated by what is essentially a BOW with a consciousness and a good personality.

ANYWAYS.

We actually do know Mia's birthday! In RE7 it's on her driver's license! December 14th 1984. Meaning she's a Sagittarius! (And that makes too much sense for me to be comfortable with!!)

Mia being a researcher with The Connections instead of just being a random handler for Eveline adds such depth to her character (and not in a good way.) Like what makes you become a researcher with a literal bioterrorist organization in the Resident Evil Universe? Umbrella was publicly and openly shunned after The Raccoon Trials. Mia and Ethan would have been middle schoolers/high school freshmen during the Raccoon City Incident. Mia would have HAD to have known the ethical nuking she was doing.

We know she's from Texas so my vague background/life story she has is she was born/raised in Austin to a fairly affluent family. While her family was loving they cared more about her grades and appearances than actually caring about her. She excelled in school and got a full-ride to Rice University in Houston (a school often ranked in the top 10 in the country) and excelled in Biology. With a particular emphasis on biochemistry and particularly mycology. Hence why someone with the connections picked her up.

Mia was originally baited with the idea that what she was doing was experimenting on a fungus that could, in essence, end aging and could even destroy cancers. When she realized what she had gotten herself into The Connections basically told her she can leave if she wants. But they will kill her if she does.

She probably became disillusioned once she realized she was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Beginning to take up heavier drinking and not caring about herself. She eventually cut herself off from her family. Her younger brother died when she was a child. And her parents died in an accident right after she started with The Connections. Things were not okay for Mia at the beginning/middle part of her twenties.

Mia probably was sitting down at the bar of a cantina in downtown Austin on one of her rare evenings off. 3 mezcal margaritas and her usual bartender passively concerned about Mia but more concerned about a group of rowdy, twenty-something "tech bros" going on about the upcoming tech boom of people from San Francisco flocking to Austin soon.

Mia felt eyes gazing at her but pretended not to notice. She wasn't in the mood to entertain a boy at this time. Yet when she heard a voice ask why she was sitting all alone she turned to tell him off she stopped in her tracks. She was taken aback by the man. He wasn't a Greek God of a man but he had very appealing physical features and a smile that just made her think the whole world felt lighter. The blond man with a moderately slim build was trying to flirt with Mia but only being about halfway successful. Alcohol was not Ethan Winters' friend that night.

Nothing happened that night and both Mia and the man went their separate ways. Mia couldn't remember if his name was Evan or Ethan by the time she woke up. The next day was a horrific day at the lab in terms of biological horrors so she ended up going back to the cantina only to find the blond man from yesterday back at the bar sitting in her spot. Mia had playfully joked about how he was sitting in her seat. Ethan just retorted back that he didn't think he was back in high school to which Mia just let out a gruff chuckle. "Besides. You're much more beautiful than the girls I went to school with." The words took Mia back both by the abruptness and just how frank and honest Ethan was being. The two stayed at the bar till closing time that night.

Mia and Ethan soon started seeing each other more frequently. Every weekend at the cantina became once a week at the park, then became Ethan dropping off lunch at Mia's lab. (At the gate of course. Poor stupid Ethan had no clue he was putting his and Mia's lives at stake.) which eventually became the two of them moving in together.

The Connections quickly found out about Ethan and while they didn't forbid Mia from dating and eventually marrying him. They monitored Mia even closer now and made her take on more of the harsher approach and take on more hands-on experiments. With her superiors asking her almost every day about Ethan. Mia knew that Ethan was in danger but she loved him. And Ethan loved Mia. Ethan loved Mia more than she had ever felt love by anyone else in the world. The Connections could burn in hell. She wouldn't let them step between what they had.

My Headcanon is that right before Mia "went missing" when the transport tanker crashed in the hurricane in Louisiana prior to RE 7. Mia had finally concocted a plan to escape The Connections, turn herself into authorities, and attempt to get her and Ethan into the witness protection program. The Connections caught onto what she was doing and placed her as Eveline's handler during the treacherous voyage.

After Ethan passed Mia was relocated to Northern California at her request to at least be somewhat closer to Ethan's mothers. Chris reluctantly agreed and gave Mia and Rosemary a small security detail. Mia eventually did end up serving some time for her role in The Connections (like 9 months. Should be more but hey) and now she works remotely as a high school biology teacher for a remote GED/Homeschool program.

Piers

*through gritted teeth* Twink

In all seriousness Piers is such an interesting character. He actually has a character compared to your generic idealized action survivor tropes. And is character is that he's an asshole. Like as much as I love Piers I need everyone to take a second and look back at a YouTube run of Chris's RE6 campaign. Piers is not a nice person. Nor is he a good one. Ethically and morally yes, but he falls perfectly in the box of lawful asshole.

Like I love your Piers, I really genuinely do, and I know losing your daddy I mean captain was really hard for you. That being said it wasn't your brightest position to hunt down a bitter alcoholic with a temper and force him to lead a mission of bright-eyed soldiers into a literal war zone of zombie mutants.

ANYWAYS HEADCANONS AGAIN I NEED TO STOP RANTING ABOUT THESE CHARACTERS.

Piers and Chris fucked. You physically cannot convince me otherwise. Like I'm sorry I'm not sorry that you're wrong. You're just wrong if you think otherwise. I'm literally begging you to go back and look at the RE6 Chris campaign and all the supplemental material. In Revelations 2 this man literally has the gaul, the tenacity, the AUDACITY, AND the GUMPTION to email Claire DIRECTLY. Address her very formally, and asks for pictures of Chris when he was younger. What normal person does that. Like Piers babygirl I need you to stop.

If any of the RE men are going to be a yandere whose name isn't Albert Wesker. His name is Piers Nivans. He gives me crazy stalker ex vibes but in a hot way because he is hot.

We know Piers came from a long line of military men. That just happens in America. Some people are just products of that machine. Yet his parents were somewhat disappointed with Piers choosing to go with the BSAA as opposed to sticking with the US Army. I have a feeling his parents also didn't know about Piers's sexuality either but I'm not trying to think about potentially negative things.

Name a Resident Evil character with more Scorpio energy than Piers. I'll wait. His facial features scream Aries rising but that man has heavy Scorpio in his birth chart. Most likely in his sun, moon, and even Venus and Mars most likely. He just has those Scorpio eyes that make you feel like he's staring into your freaking soul man.

It may shock you but I get the vibes that Piers is from, of all places, Colorado. Colorado Springs to be exact. Very heavy military town out in the mountains. No real easily discernable accent. Piers was kind of equated to the "All-American Boy" trope.

Piers is a polyglot. He can speak English, Spanish, French, and Portuguese fluently. He's conversational in German, Dutch, Chinese, Indonesian, Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, and Swahili. Before he passed he was studying Arabic.

Piers played Baseball and Hockey growing up and being from Colorado he's an avid ice-skater and snowboarder, particularly Alpine snowboarding. Fun fact that's not so fun as a fact. Piers's most prized possession was a $2k customized Jones alpine snowboard. When Chris went to Piers's quarters back at BSAA HQ after RE6 one of the things he found was Piers's snowboard. Chris was given it with the permission of Piers's family where Chris got it sealed in resin and it's framed in his apartment.

Piers wasn't necessarily in charge of the aux at Chris's BSAA squad group but Piers challenged the last person to a fight and Piers beat the SHIT out of them so Piers controls the music. Hope the BSAA Alpha team likes Santana, Nelly, Linkin Park, Jimmy Eat World, Usher, Madonna, Eminem, Jennifer Lopez, and Pink.

Speaking of fights. Do not fight Piers. He may be a whole 155lbs at 5'9 inches tall but this man has pure, carnal, horrific rage if pushed far enough. He got called the F-slur once in high school and it was by the star football quarterback trying to get attention and be a dick. Two cracked ribs, 5 teeth knocked out, an eye almost out of it's socket and a major concussion and three broken knuckles out of Piers later. No one was ever calling Piers that again.

How does Piers stay so lean you ask dear Resident Evil fans who somehow are still reading this? He has Celiac Disease AND is very lactose intolerant. Piers literally cannot eat ANY of the fun foods without having to dedicate 2-5 hours a day on a toilet. Like he'll be fine if he has a burger on a regular bun but he's gonna regret in about 2-3 hours.

Piers is concerningly well organized. His bed is always made and in perfect shape. He has a shoe holder, so many organizers for things like toothbrushes, sports equipment, laundry, (Piers genuinely does 3 separate loads of laundry for colors, whites, and misc)

What's Piers's one secret food weakness (he'll love you forever if you get him this) snow cones, specifically Hawaiian shaved ice. Coconut and mint flavored Hawaiian shaved ice. Everyone on the squad has tried it and Chris was the only one who didn't spit it out. Telling Piers "the flavors work it's just not my thing"

Ethan

Mr. Moldman, bring me a meme (bung, bung, bung, bung)

Ethan is so fun to headcanon about because Capcom literally gave us ✨nothing✨ other than he's an engineer and the world's greatest dad.

Ethan was adopted in my Headcanon. His birth mother was in her mid-teens when she had Ethan and gave him up after he was born. Ethan's birth farther wasn't in the picture and didn't want anything to do with him and neither did Ethan's birth mom really. He did meet his birth mother right before he went off to college but when he found out she had a new family of her own and she made it known she didn't necessarily want him to be a part of her life, it shattered him. Ethan never got a chance to meet his birth father as he had passed when Ethan was still a child.

Don't be too sad though. Ethan grew up in San Francisco and after he was given up he was quickly adopted by another family. His adoptive mother and father were so ecstatic about their new baby boy. Unfortunately said marriage didn't last and his adopted parents separated when Ethan was about 3. Ethan's adopted mom got custody of Ethan and she eventually came out of the closet and got into a partnership with another woman.

Ethan's Dad still was a part of Ethan's life and Ethan got to see his adoptive father every weekend. His adoptive dad lived out in Santa Cruz so it only was about a 2 hour drive every weekend there and back. Ethan's Dad was around long enough to see Ethan and Mia get married but died during the time period that Mia was missing.

Ethan's mom's partner Elizabeth (Liz for short) was a Mathematics lecturer at a nearby prestigious university (Berkeley) and it was from her where Ethan got his love for STEM and eventually settled on Engineering to be his passion.

Growing up Ethan actually was a soccer prodigy in his childhood and teen years. Being a star striker that was the proud owner of 3 state rings in high school and multiple scholarships to play soccer in college. Ethan ultimately went with his dream school UCLA (much to the dismay of his Northern California parents. Like come on Ethan, Stanford was offering you a scholarship, STANFORD)

Ethan actually tore his ACL on his left leg at the last game of his freshman year. His leg never fully recovered so he eventually dropped soccer at the collegiate level so instead he burrows himself into his academics and his work outside of school (Ethan worked at a Nike store during the weekends/summers and during the school year he worked at the UCLA IT department) this is also the reason why Ethan's fastest movement is brisk walking.

Funny enough. Ethan hates mushrooms. It's his least favorite food (it's a texture thing for him) and this dislike for mushrooms did not change once he died and got reanimated and had his consciousness co-opted by a mold colony.

Another funny fact: Carla Radames from Resident Evil: 6 is actually Ethan's second cousin once removed from his birth father. (Ethan and Carla have the same Great, Great Grandparents. It's from Ethan's dad's-mother's-mother that they are related.)

Ethan is a passable chef. He's by no means bad, but him and Mia came to a mutual agreement that Mia would do most of the cooking unless Mia wanted a few specific dishes that Ethan makes. The first dish he ever made Mia was actually his steamed shrimp, pork and cabbage dumplings. Those dumplings funnily enough became Mia's pregnancy craving and Ethan was overjoyed to make food for Mia as opposed to any other odd cravings. Ethan also was known for his homemade chili oil, hummus, and sangria (Ethan's secret recipe for Sangria is Pinot Noir, Spanish brandy, watermelon puree, raspberry, blood orange and cucumber.) Plus Ethan can make a mean American diner-style omelette.

While I get Capricorn/Aries energy from Chris and absolutely get Scorpio energy from Piers. Mr. Winters gives me some very powerful Cancer vibes. Particularly a Cancer rising. Home and family is #1 for this man and Ethan is VERY SURE to physically force you out of this existence with a one-way ticket to the afterlife should you cross him or his family. Ethan probably has an Aries sun, but particularly Ethan being a March Aries but with a cancer rising.

Ethan needed A LOT of therapy after the events of RE7. Thankfully he did receive the help that he needed and so did Mia. Although Mia was less receptive to the idea of therapy and gave her therapist the cold shoulder more often than not. For a sentient mold colony he did surprisingly well at therapy. Way to go sentient mold colony that dog-eared Ethan Winters. You did good.

From what we see The Winters don't have any pets. There's an explanation for that. Ethan is allergic to almost all forms of pet dander. Even the dang mold collective got that right. Ethan was a sniffly sneezing mess when the therapist brought their shockingly well-behaved therapy husky.

Ethan became pretty good at making dumplings from his mom's partner Liz. Who is Chinese. And growing up in San Francisco Ethan got to experience the whole range of Chinese cooking. Poor Ethan's second time cooking for Mia he used WAY too much Szechuan peppercorn and Mia physically couldn't eat more than 2 bites.

Unfortunately for Ethan and his mom's the last time they saw Ethan was very briefly right after the events of RE7. When Ethan died back in 2021 they hadn't seen Ethan in almost 3 years. Thankfully the two of them are very heavily involved in Rose's life and, Chris Redfield allowing, they spoil her rotten when they can.

#resident evil #Chris redfield #mia winters #ethan winters #Piers Nivans #nivanfield #Resident Evil Village #Resident Evil 7 #Resident Evil 6

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kylekozmikdeluxo · 6 months

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Special Interest Timeline: Retro Games

I'm on a retro games special interest kick, and in my previous post on said things, I talked about how - in the mid-aughts - I really got into games made in the 1970s and 1980s... In the early 2000s.

And I got my history a little messed up when writing about it, so I shall do... a timeline!

Mostly for my sake!

I'm one of those autistics who tries to keep a whole-ass timeline about my special interests... When I got into it, what got me into it, how long it took me to take the next step and discover more things about it, etc....

My love of retro games stemmed from a childhood of playing simplistic MS-DOS shareware games in the late '90s. Games off of floppy disks, like HUGO'S HOUSE OF HORRORS, COMMANDER KEEN 2, CRYSTAL CAVES, WORD RESCUE, CD-MAN (a PAC-MAN clone), SKI FREE, and more... I also forgot to mention that I had a hand-me-down NES in the '90s as well...

Again, going off of my previous post, I mentioned that it kinda starts in the early 2000s. I want to say approximately 2002/2003?

Christmas 2002: I get a GameBoy Advance and SUPER MARIO ADVANCE 2. SMA2 contains a really good port of SUPER MARIO WORLD, originally released in 1990, and an updated version of the 1983 arcade title MARIO BROS. I don't know if this necessarily kicks off the special interest, but it definitely plays a big part in it.

Late 2002/Early 2003: This is approximate. A guess. Around this time, I went to my local swimming pool every mid-week, or something like that, with my father. Afterwards, we'd stop for a bite at a nearby diner. They have a MS. PAC-MAN machine in the vestibule. One day, I watched someone doing really really good at the game. I'm reminded of the old DOS games I loved so much. Around this time, I was obsessed with what year a piece of media came out, so upon seeing the "copyright 1980, 1981" on the attract mode of the game, I had learned something new: Arcade games like that dated back to the 1980s.

Throughout 2003: Going to arcades wherever I went (i.e. bowling alleys, restaurants, etc.) and seeing at least one retro arcade game there. A lot of the time, it was one of those MS. PAC-MAN/GALAGA "Class of 1981" cabinets that were pretty new at the time.

Christmas 2003: I'm given two plug-n-play retro games collections... This is where it all *really* takes off...

The one on the left is the Jakks Pacific Namco set, which contains PAC-MAN, BOSCONIAN, RALLY-X, DIG DUG, and GALAXIAN. Pretty solid ports, all things considered. This I got on Christmas Eve, and I remember that night trying out all the games... And I played the living daylights out of this thing after that...

The one on the right was a bootleg, a Frankenstein's monster-like controller system concoction that were sold in malls and on QVC and the like. My grandmother got that one for me, and it contained a cartridge containing 84 various Famicom and NES games. These "Famiclones" were common back then and it was a side-market that only mutated over time. Luckily, this was one of the less egregious ones, and it had an assortment of NES games I couldn't get elsewhere. The hand-me-down NES we had no longer worked, so this was a worth substitute... Take out the cartridge, there's 10 built-in games that are basically Famiclones. Weird thrown-together 8-bit games of origin I'm unaware of at the moment.

Early 2004: Near my dad's place is a warehouse selling arcade machines and cocktail tables. While they didn't allow customers to play the games, they did - somehow - make an exception for me. I visited a few times and loved it, it was like paradise to my 11-year-old self. I'm sure the guy running the place wanted us OUT, haha.

Next... This is going to sound super-nerdy, but upon doing very well in a spelling bee around February/March and winning... A $200 gift card to... Circuit City! Yes, upon a winning that gift card, what do I buy? Retro game collections!

I believe I got NAMCO MUSEUM and MIDWAY ARCADE TREASURES on one of the shopping trips, in addition to the GameBoy version of NAMCO MUSEUM, PAC-MAN COLLECTION, and KONAMI COLLECTOR'S SERIES: ARCADE ADVANCE.

I visit the website System 16 and KLOV (Killer List Of Video Games) quite frequently, too.

Also around this time, I get my hands on an Atari collection for the PC called ATARI ANNIVERSARY EDITION. I also receive a book called THE ULTIMATE HISTORY OF VIDEO GAMES by Steven L. Kent.

SUPER MARIO ADVANCE 2 is in regular rotation around this time.

Fall-Christmas 2004: For my birthday and Christmas, I get...

ATARI ANTHOLOGY for the XBOX, and another Jakks Pacific Namco collection, this time including MS. PAC-MAN, MAPPY, GALAGA, XEVIOUS, and POLE POSITION. I also get this fantastic coffee table book by Rusel DeMaria and Johnny L. Wilson:

I'll cap it off here, but this is where it peaks, and I'm all about these kinds of things from here on out.

#retro games #retro video games #light nostalgia #reminiscing #autistic #special interest #autism #neurodivergent #making my special interest INTO a special interest

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misfitwashere · 1 year

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What happened to SWA?

via FB. (Same thing that happened at Boeing, General Motors, etc. Operations staff replaced with accountants.)

Larry Lonero

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What happened to Southwest Airlines?

I’ve been a pilot for Southwest Airlines for over 35 years. I’ve given my heart and soul to Southwest Airlines during those years. And quite honestly Southwest Airlines has given its heart and soul to me and my family.

Many of you have asked what caused this epic meltdown. Unfortunately, the frontline employees have been watching this meltdown coming like a slow motion train wreck for sometime. And we’ve been begging our leadership to make much needed changes in order to avoid it. What happened yesterday started two decades ago.

Herb Kelleher was the brilliant CEO of SWA until 2004. He was a very operationally oriented leader. Herb spent lots of time on the front line. He always had his pulse on the day to day operation and the people who ran it. That philosophy flowed down through the ranks of leadership to the front line managers. We were a tight operation from top to bottom. We had tools, leadership and employee buy in. Everything that was needed to run a first class operation. When Herb retired in 2004 Gary Kelly became the new CEO.

Gary was an accountant by education and his style leading Southwest Airlines became more focused on finances and less on operations. He did not spend much time on the front lines. He didn’t engage front line employees much. When the CEO doesn’t get out in the trenches the neither do the lower levels of leadership.

Gary named another accountant to be Chief Operating Officer (the person responsible for day to day operations). The new COO had little or no operational background. This trickled down through the lower levels of leadership, as well.

They all disengaged the operation, disengaged the employees and focused more on Return on Investment, stock buybacks and Wall Street. This approach worked for Gary’s first 8 years because we were still riding the strong wave that Herb had built.

But as time went on the operation began to deteriorate. There was little investment in upgrading technology (after all, how do you measure the return on investing in infrastructure?) or the tools we needed to operate efficiently and consistently. As the frontline employees began to see the deterioration in our operation we began to warn our leadership. We educated them, we informed them and we made suggestions to them. But to no avail. The focus was on finances not operations. As we saw more and more deterioration in our operation our asks turned to pleas. Our pleas turned to dire warnings. But they went unheeded. After all, the stock price was up so what could be wrong?

We were a motivated, willing and proud employee group wanting to serve our customers and uphold the tradition of our beloved airline, the airline we built and the airline that the traveling public grew to cheer for and luv. But we were watching in frustration and disbelief as our once amazing airline was becoming a house of cards.

A half dozen small scale meltdowns occurred during the mid to late 2010’s. With each mini meltdown Leadership continued to ignore the pleas and warnings of the employees in the trenches. We were still operating with 1990’s technology. We didn’t have the tools we needed on the line to operate the sophisticated and large airline we had become. We could see that the wheels were about ready to fall off the bus. But no one in leadership would heed our pleas.

When COVID happened SWA scaled back considerably (as did all of the airlines) for about two years. This helped conceal the serious problems in technology, infrastructure and staffing that were occurring and being ignored. But as we ramped back up the lack of attention to the operation was waiting to show its ugly head.

Gary Kelly retired as CEO in early 2022. Bob Jordan was named CEO. He was a more operationally oriented leader. He replaced our Chief Operating Officer with a very smart man and they announced their priority would be to upgrade our airline’s technology and provide the frontline employees the operational tools we needed to care for our customers and employees. Finally, someone acknowledged the elephant in the room.

But two decades of neglect takes several years to overcome. And, unfortunately to our horror, our house of cards came tumbling down this week as a routine winter storm broke our 1990’s operating system.

The frontline employees were ready and on station. We were properly staffed. We were at the airports. Hell, we were ON the airplanes. But our antiquated software systems failed coupled with a decades old system of having to manage 20,000 frontline employees by phone calls. No automation had been developed to run this sophisticated machine.

We had a routine winter storm across the Midwest last Thursday. A larger than normal number flights were cancelled as a result. But what should have been one minor inconvenient day of travel turned into this nightmare. After all, American, United, Delta and the other airlines operated with only minor flight disruptions.

The two decades of neglect by SWA leadership caused the airline to lose track of all its crews. ALL of us. We were there. With our customers. At the jet. Ready to go. But there was no way to assign us. To confirm us. To release us to fly the flight. And we watched as our customers got stranded without their luggage missing their Christmas holiday.

I believe that our new CEO Bob Jordan inherited a MESS. This meltdown was not his failure but the failure of those before him. I believe he has the right priorities. But it will take time to right this ship. A few years at a minimum. Old leaders need to be replaced. Operationally oriented managers need to be brought in. I hope and pray Bob can execute on his promises to fix our once proud airline. Time will tell.

It’s been a punch in the gut for us frontline employees. We care for the traveling public. We have spent our entire careers serving you. Safely. Efficiently. With luv and pride. We are horrified. We are sorry. We are sorry for the chaos, inconvenience and frustration our airline caused you. We are angry. We are embarrassed. We are sad. Like you, the traveling public, we have been let down by our own leaders.

Herb once said the the biggest threat to Southwest Airlines will come from within. Not from other airlines. What a visionary he was. I miss Herb now more than ever.

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