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watevermelon · 4 years

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Tease | Venti (Genshin) x Reader (NSFW)

✧ Summary: Venti wielded his appearance like weapon, pouting his bright puppy-like eyes at you whether on the battlefield or the bedroom. There was something about the Archon that moved you to play along, at least not until tonight.

➳ Tags: some semi-public teasing and eventually fluffy sexytimes; Venti is a teasing lil shit; LOTS of humor and most of the Mondstadt characters show up ➳ Navigation

—xXxXxXxXxXxXx— One of the lessons you learned very quickly in your relationship with the Anemo Archon was that Venti was a teasing lil shit.

Venti loved you — there was no doubt. But his mischievous side popped up in almost every avenue of your time together. When fighting hilichurls or hunting down abyss mages, all it took was a bat of his eyelashes and you were ready to wield a sword on his behalf.

He played on his appearance heavily — puppy dog eyes gazing up at you no matter what the conversation was about. It was easy to look at him and think he was a humble bard who enjoyed a glass of fine wine. Instead of the thousands of year old God who had the power of wind at his mercy.

All it took was a couple smiles and nicely placed laughter and Venti knew he had you under his spell.

And you were even aware of it, the asshole.

Presently, the original Dvalin team had gathered together in Mondstadt. Diluc was hosting again, the bar open even though he grumbled multiple times. Plates of food were displayed on the main table as Barbara and Mona perused the feast, Paimon right alongside them. You were altogether celebrating a time of true peace, one that Jean had called after both Venti and Dvalin were finally long freed by your hands.

Even though your relationship was relatively new, it did not stop the weight of the promises you made to one another. Venti was well aware of your pursuit in finding your brother and you knew that there was nothing that could tie down the God of Freedom.

But that did not stop either of you from falling in love.

Venti took you on private dates where you glided high above the skies — the last time you ever flew this high was alongside your sibling. Your reminisced over solemn moments, Aether simply a memory as you poured out to Venti your past. He would pull you close as you recalled, nuzzling your face into the crook of his neck as he comforted you. And you gladly did the same, pulling Venti into a tight hug as he spoke about his time simply with the wind.

Your favorite moments were the quiet ones - like when Venti pulled you into your first kiss as a couple, smiling at you widely as you returned for more and more.

You cherished these moments when you were traveling, only Paimon at your side. Venti would join you sometimes as you explored the Liyue mountain ranges, but his responsibilities lay in Mondstadt. No matter how far you traveled, you made it work by returning back home to the Anemo Archon.

And now you were enjoying the night, sitting at one of the back corner tables as your friends mingled around the bar. You were sitting closer to the wall, Venti at your side while your favorite Outrider sat across from you.

Amber was discussing some of the adventures in the city, something that included slimes but was suddenly evading your memory when you felt a warm hand on your thigh.

You shot a quick, curious look in Venti’s direction, but the Archon was still focused on Amber in front of you. Not for the first time, you cursed your everyday attire, lots of skin on display despite being on the battlefield every day.

This was something Venti took plenty of advantage of.

His hand slid higher up your thigh and you swore that his happy expression only grew. Amber was none the wiser, continuing in her story as Venti’s hand ghosted over the fabric of your underwear. Your gaze flew to the rest of the party, plenty of other eyes that could catch you in the act.

But it seemed Venti could not care less.

His touch only grew bolder, index and middle finger rubbing against your clothed sex. You fought the urge to move into the motion, trying to focus back on the conversation and the woman in front of you.

But Venti knew your mind was anywhere, but here.

And so of course he had to tease you.

“Don’t you agree that they should continue research by the temple in spite of the ruin guard?” Venti asked, mischievous eyes turning toward you and dragging you back into the conversation.

“Yes.” You answered back clipped.

“Really?” Amber questioned, genuinely curious.

“With the proper knights and if their envoy is careful enough…” You continued, but just as you paused Venti pulled the cloth fully aside to rub at your core. It took all your willpower not to stiffen under Amber’s direct attention, but you stuttered to complete your thought.

“Then…?” The Outrider continued for you.

You shut your eyes to remember, attempting to drown out the mischievous God alongside you. But it seemed you could almost hear the smirk Venti was shooting you.

He had wasted no time in intimately joining with you the night prior, when you had officially returned back to Mondstadt. Almost every surface of his humble apartment was paired with a memory. And even then, it seems Venti could not get enough of you.

“Then they should be able to safely conduct their necessary research.” You finally finished your thought.

“Maybe you should join them next time.” Venti proposed as his fingers continued to play with your clit.

You couldn’t even deny the effects that he had on you — your essence starting to leak out in response to his touches. That was one of the things he loved about you — how eager you were for him in kind. Very rarely did you ever push him away and, if he pushed the right buttons, you would rise to his challenge later that night.

“Oh, you should! Nothing like the protection from our favorite honorary knight.” Amber replied with a genuine smile.

“It’d be my pleasure.” You responded, reaching for your glass to drown out your expression with wine.

“Your pleasure indeed.” Venti murmured under his breath, loud enough only for you to hear.

Amber was called by one of the other Knight’s and she turned in her seat to face him. Her back was facing you now and you let you out a quiet, but incredibly long sigh. Venti’s expression could be compared to a lighthearted smile, but you knew that a smirk was underneath that forcibly innocent aura.

His fingers rubbed circles against your clit — his skin a wildfire against yours as you wet the seat beneath you. Venti shoved in his middle and index with little warning, pistoning them while the other partygoers lay innocent to his dirty deed.

“My love, if you continue to make that face then surely everyone here will know.” Venti murmured this against the skin of your ear for a second, before straightening back in his seat.

You tried your best to hide your impassioned look, but it was hard to do so when your lover was working directly against you. You felt this thumb rolling harshly on your clit while his fingers thrust in quickly. Trying deep breaths to hide your moans, Venti leaned down to kiss you on the lips proper.

You followed the motion immediately, chin lifting as you savored the feel of his lips against yours. The crease of your lips parted for him, Venti immediately licking at your wet cavern. He knew you completely and this included how to throw you right over the edge.

One of your hands grabbed at his arm and just as you were about to feel that sweet release, Venti pulled away entirely and sat back in his seat.

“Alright, lovebirds. No need to gloat your kissy face in front of the rest of us single people.” Amber’s voice cut through your thoughts and you blushed at her words.

“Hehe.” Venti giggled aloud, his laugh while usually endearing, was nothing but mocking toward you.

At least Amber did not catch more than kissing.

But just as you were relieved to have not been caught, you were annoyed that Venti had just teased you right to your breaking point. You turned to the Archon, but he was already looking at you.

Expecting a teasing smirk in place, you were pleasantly surprised to see the loving gaze he was throwing you. Venti instead grabbed your hand, lifting it to his lips and kissing the top as he maintained eye contact with you.

It was hardly scandalous, but Amber still exclaimed. “Oh my god — just get married already!”

Venti laughed, but did not let go of your hand. At this point, while you were glad to see everyone again, you had one thing on your mind and it had much to do with what was leaking out of your sopping wet pussy.

But Venti was intent on celebrating tonight, drinking plenty of wine and shooting you looks over the rim of his glass. Different faces stopped at your table, Barbara exclaiming her greetings and Jean formally addressing the both of you. Kaeya flirted with you while Venti sat right alongside you, but hardly batted an eyelash when he was waved away by the Archon.

The hand holding yours squeezed once the Cryo user walked away. Venti leaned into you, kissing you on the nose before murmuring. “You’re mine; don’t forget that.”

You narrowed your eyes in response and gritted out in frustration, “Then why don’t you fill me up proper so I remember?”

“Hehe.” Venti chuckled before moving to whisper by your ear, “Don’t tell me you're still dripping wet with all these people around us?”

“You’re such a lil shit.”

“To think you’re so naughty.” Venti continued, crafting a sensual word picture through his words. The Bard too often used his powers against you. “Surrounded by all our friends and your main concern is the feel of my cock as I split you wide open.”

He was so smooth with his words, the same lips that poured out endearments was just as likely to light your nerves aflame.

“Tell me how hard you need me inside you.” Venti demanded, “Would my little minx prefer it if I painted your walls white tonight? Or are you so desperate for me that I should take you right here?”

“Venti—“

“Ah, not a good enough answer.” He cut off, “Looks like you’ll have to wait.”

And he sure as hell made you wait. Through stories and conversing with the rest, you were stuck at the bar until Diluc was finally shutting the lights off. You waved at Amber and the rest a warm goodnight, not at all gentle as you gripped Venti’s wrist and stalked in the direction of his apartment.

He openly laughed at your eagerness, but did not fight your grip.

The moment his door slammed behind the both of you, you were gripping at his clothes and throwing them off to his hardwood floors. Your mouth gravitated towards his — for once you were commandeering the lead tonight.

You pulled Venti towards his bedroom, open mouth kisses as you pulled him along. Once you were close enough, you practically pushed the poor man onto his own bedsheets. Your dress followed as a heap on the floor before you hovered over the Archon. You held a firm grip at his wrists, keeping his arms in place as you nipped at his neck and sucked dark hickies along his skin.

Venti was usually the one who took the initiative in the physical aspect of your relationship and for once, you were dominating the bedroom activities. After all, he had all the power to push you off, but Venti was relishing the way you lost yourself to the lustful passion.

Grinding your naked hips against one another, Venti openly moaned into the air. You just kept sucking at his skin, running down his chest before surfacing back upward. Running a playful tongue over each of his taut nipples, you loved the way Venti was gazing at you from beneath.

“I should make you have a taste of your own medicine.”

“Oh?”

“Should I bring you right to the precipice, my sweet bard?”

Venti smiled before challenging you, “I’d like to see you try.”

You licked your lips before trailing downward, a confident hand wrapping around his shaft. Giving only small kitten licks at the throbbing, pink head, Venti watched you as he folded his arms behind his neck.

To catch him off guard, you took a breath and downed his dick in one swallow. His dick poked at the back of your throat and you fought the urge to gag, your nose prodding against his skin. Venti’s voice broke the cool evening air as he moaned loudly, one hand reflexively carding through your hair.

You swallowed around him before pulling off his dick entirely, placing a small kiss on the head before repeating. Venti continually groaned at your rapidly deep pace, vibrations from your mouth only heightening his pleasure.

To think that you were so meek when you first started being intimate. You were hesitant to hold hands and never really had experience being like this with another person. Venti loved the fact that he was guiding you through it and was almost proud at how he was fully at your mercy now.

Even balls deep inside, you licked at the underside of his shaft and tried your best to swallow around him. He had to fight the need to curse, pleasantly surprised at how you were dominating the night. Venti planned on teasing you the entire time, but it was even better finally seeing you snap.

You felt his hips spasm in place and pulled off of him before he came, hearing a soft groan in response almost immediately.

Venti tried to guide you back to his dick, but you pulled off and shook your head at him, eyes latching onto his from your lowered position.

“You better finish this.” His voice held little patience.

Instead you smirked and shot back, “Like you did with me earlier?”

With little preamble, Venti wiped the smirk off your face by pulling you up and maneuvering into switched positions. You suddenly found yourself on your stomach as Venti aligned himself from behind, the only moment of reprieve was when he pushed in the head of his dick. He stewed there for a few seconds, giving you time to push him off if you did not want it, before thrusting himself all the way through.

You nearly screamed at the long impale, his shaft filling up your pussy as you gripped his bed-sheets tightly. Head shoved downward, you grinded your ass in tandem with his thrusts, a slave to your passion as you wanted to feel him in the most intimate way possible.

His pace ran wild, varying in speed and intensity with each thrust as if to keep you on edge. You felt one of his hand glide its way up your back, outlining your spine before he buried his fingers in your hair. His hold was not gentle, keeping you head down and ass up as he rut harshly against your ass.

His other hand snaked around your waist, returning back to the area that he had graced back at the bar. You tensed around him as he played with your clit, earning a harsh groan in response from the sudden tightness.

Venti leaned down to kiss at your neck, eager to mark those planes of skin as his alone. You expected to be fucked stupid, but he guided you onto your back in the next second.

“Look at me, taking you.” He instructed, connecting eyes with you before motioning down to where you were joined. “It was cute watching you try to take over tonight.”

It was becoming too much for you. Venti was attractive on multiple levels, but what really drew you to the bard was his way with words. And it seemed he picked up on that quickly, eager to whisper sweet nothing or even better, dirty words into your ears at almost any time.

You moans bounced off the walls, along with Venti’s mischevious words, mixed with the sound of skin slapping skin as his thighs continuously met your ass.

“Look at the way you grip me so good. Your sweet lips give such a good nectar, but I’ll get a better taste later.” Venti continued before leaning your foreheads together. “You’re mine.”

To think the God of Freedom was so possessive.

But it seemed he also wanted a response, from the way he kept staring into your eyes after.

“Always yours.”

He shot you a genuine smile in response, more sloppy, open-mouth kisses following as he continued to slap skin against skin. You folded your fingers behind his neck, trying to get any semblance of balance as you lost yourself to the feel of his glistening cock.

Venti continued whispering similar thoughts to you, receiving moans and labored agreements from you in response. He was very vocal during intimate times, which you absolutely loved hearing.

Formal words escaped you as Venti joined your hips together, moans pouring out in a reverence that the Archon cherished.

Taking advantage of your lost mental state, Venti asked. “Tell me, does my little minx want me to fill her up?”

“Yes!” You exclaimed, pussy throbbing just at the thought of it.

You heard him swear under his breath, his hips faltering in rhythm as you both neared a similar end. Like a spring being quickly uncoiled, you felt the pressure in your lower stomach burst almost all at once. Clenching hard on his cock, you clawed into his back as he rubbed at a particular spot in your greedy pussy.

“Please!” You begged without direction, Venti following your hidden words as he all but slammed your hips together.

All at once, you felt your tight hole fill to the brim with your shared essence, walls finally painted white as you both finally reached your end. You felt like a puddle of bones on the bedsheets, Venti pulling you to his chest as he laid on his back.

Venti did not hesitate, kissing your forehead even as he struggled to gain his breath. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too.” You replied, much more fatigued than he as you lazily pawed at his hair.

You were hardly equals but in moments like this, Venti made you feel like the most loved person in the world. He placed butterfly kisses along your neck — you could feel his smile on your skin.

“I’m always so grateful when you come home.” Venti continued, lips murmuring against your skin.

Home.

You started here as a simple traveler, without Mora to your name and not a single family member alive. But Venti and all the wonderful people of Mondstadt filled the hole in you heart.

You inclined upward to meet his lips and replied saying,

“I’m finally home.”

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land-of-brains-and-chocolate · 3 years

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Rec list for Eddie and Symby being vaguely to very gay?

I'm sorry for coming to you with my monsterfucker agenda 😔👊 (no I'm not)

i mean, i probably could’ve seen this coming.

venom is dominated by two opposing narratives. let’s call this the “relationship narrative” and the “control narrative”. they’re not perfectly separated, like, you’ll definitely get elements of one in the other, but generally one of them describes what the story, at its core, is using the symbiote for.

now comics are an endless tug-of-war at the best of times, much less the gayest and slimiest of times. there’s a neverending backlash and backbacklash going on between these two takes. what you want is the relationship narrative.

everything very much started out with that take. eddie and the symbiote are two characters who forge an evil alliance because it lets them do what they wanna do (kill spider-man, more or less) and they have the same kinds of neuroses and complexes and syndromes. lots of early comics are also very fun about the merged consciousness, merged identity deal. that’s kind of the textbook relationship stuff.

personally i absolutely think the original stories (venom was created by david michelinie) have romantic undertones, even starting in the villainy days. eddie describes their first meeting as “a shadow moved, caressed me.” he takes the rejection of the symbiote still being “in love with” spider-man really hard. he sobs his eyes out when he thinks it’s dead and promises to avenge it bare-handed. they totally expect to live happily ever after on a deserted island together.

then there’s venom: lethal protector, which is cute on its own, but if you’re reading for slime romance, i very specifically recommend the novelisation. i won’t even spoil it. and then, planet of the symbiotes is the first comic that i would say has outright queer themes, intentional or not.

so all those recs until now are collected in this post.

we're trucking along through the 90s, we explore elements of one take and then the other and sometimes we ignore the symbiote completely, but not too much changes, overall. the next BIG stop in Gay Venom is, of course, the hunger.

miniseries by len kaminski, just venom: the hunger. plenty of people have written their essays on it, but what’s always important to me is that it DID NOT come out of nowhere. as said above, it expanded on themes that were there, it references michelinie venom very explicitly, like you get your SECOND “tenderly touching the green glass tube” scene.

but yes this one is specifically about, like, stigmatisation, otherness, mental illness, meeting all those things with care and empathy and optimism, tentacle sex. again, many essays. a venom comic that can go “look at the twisted deviance of this relationship” and then turn it around into “but how are you looking at it” is good. god how good would it be if they also did that to eddie more. anyway.

a few years later you get the first MAJOR fucking backlash, culminating in the SECOND story titled the hunger. spectacular spider-man: the hunger, from 2003. completely reboots venom and retcons their motivations and backstories, makes very spiteful references to planet of the symbiotes and the hunger, like it is not also called that by sheer coincidence. literally starts out, in a comic that wants to tackle and redefine venom, with the line “the PROBLEM is that you guys are like an old married couple”. so the new status quo is that the symbiote only ever used eddie to be with spider-man, and eddie only ever used the symbiote to not die of cancer.

the “control narrative” that really kicks in here uses the symbiote as, you know, a thing to control, eddie’s demons personified or even a completely foreign force to torment him. if eddie is evil, it’s not because of what he thinks and believes and wants, it’s because he couldn’t control the symbiote and gave in to its inexplicable bloodlust.

this is an unambiguous downgrade in terms of complexity, in my humble opinion, completely fucks up eddie’s responsibility themes, and is also a pretty clearly petty reaction to venom’s absolute oversaturation in the nineties. the bitch was everywhere and most of it wasn’t good. so there was LOTS of “look at this creepy loser” content by writers cringing themselves into self-awareness at the time. the 00s were going to be GRITTY and MATURE.

this of course means that we get to see eddie slit his wrists and bleed to death on panel after selling the symbiote to supervillains as an attempted act of redemption???

wild fucking times! it’s not exactly worth recommending as ~shippy~, but the first real backbacklash to this first round of retcons comes from dan slott, who just kind of ignores it all in new ways to die. drags eddie back to the land of the living and relevant, makes the symbiote refuse to let its new host kill him, telling that host, and reestablishing, that it loves eddie. and then, to keep him living and relevant, slott makes eddie anti-venom.

don’t even worry about it. anti-venom is essentially eddie seeking redemption with symbiote powers, but without the symbiote, except he pretty much acts no fucking different at all, just keeps on being a murderous vigilante with cracked ideas about innocence and guilt. people still act like he’s better now because, in its metatextual ways, the hunger was right.

then fucking uuuuuuhhhhhhh. agent venom. symbiote goes to flash thompson and the us military, and the writer, rick remender, goes really, really, really hard on the control narrative. the symbiote becomes a substance flash is addicted to, gives a voice to his past abuse, it’s dark times all the times.

people very much do like that narrative for flash, like at least from that perspective it was worth it. i don’t like it much for the symbiote. for the symbiote, representing everything fucked up with flash and forcing him to murder kill bite all the time is resolved via the good guy avengers literally lobotomising it so flash can wear it without further resistance or input. imagine doing that to a human person. you’re uncooperative so we’re gonna turn off your higher cognitive functions and wear you like a meat suit. happy ending for everybody! truly we’ve conquered our demons this day.

then! at the same time, there’s a cartoon coming out, it’s called ultimate spider-man. THAT one does the control narrative take with harry osborn, but then does the relationship take with flash, making it the only cartoon to outright redeem the symbiote and let it find friendship and be valued as a person.

and people loved it! so brian michael bendis gets it in his head that he’s going to redeem the symbiote and make it partner up with flash. and he does redeem it by the highly fucking questionable means of having it be “cleansed”, aka brainwashed and relieved of its memories and personality. not that it matters for long. nothing fucking matters in comics. take this with you if it’s the only thing.

so then for fun friendship times you get venom: space knight, flash and the symbiote’s adventures in space! and then that gets cancelled. eddie is off somewhere being toxin and hunting carnage (2016). many good comics but you did not ask for them.

and THEN.

it is time for the next MOTHER of backlashes.

flash gets literally discarded at fucking roadside to put the symbiote back on eddie and turn back time on their relationship to RIGHT before the FIRST backlash happened. you know, all those 2003 retcons. gone. ignored. no more. venom’s themes are now those circa 1996 again. full fucking on relationship narrative. ROMANTIC relationship narrative, and that after the symbiote was turned into eddie’s evil shadow, after he hated it and spent a LONG time seeking to eradicate all symbiotes (and not even for the first time).

the COSTA run. venom (2016). reviled and beloved.

like this comic is fucking ANGRY about symbiote treatment. i HAD to tell you all of that so you’d understand ANYTHING it’s doing. the first thing it does is flip it completely around, puts the symbiote on a military guy who’s making IT do bad things, makes his ability to control it horrifying and abusive instead of heroic and admirable. one of the later things it does (in the follow-up venom: first host) is outright feature a villain who lobotomises symbiotes, ending on a symbiote serving him swift and sweet payback by doing the same thing TO HIM. it’s exactly as unsubtle as the hunger (2003) was about its hang-ups.

comics... are a conversation.

flash remains a symbiote friend but still got fucked over big time by it all, symbiote-focused writers slott and costa also kind of use him to literally, in case anybody hadn’t caught on, literally spell out the REAL story that’s been going on in the writer's room for the past THIRTY YEARS:

you’ll notice i didn’t actually list any of the Gay Shit for you, you’ve probably already seen it or you’ll get to see it for yourself. yes, they are deeply in love, yes, it’s fucked up and flawed, yes, it is real and taken seriously and has ultimately redeeming potential. yes the concept of that nearly knocked me off my feet and in front of the subway at one point. yes there’s mpreg

it’s also fucking riddled with events, which spin off into other comics, so either ignore those and rely on the recaps OR click yourself forward through the “next issue (story)” button on marvel wikia to know what to read.

and after that must of course come the backbackbacklash, as certain as death or taxes. in the next run, we retcon everything once more, eddie just needs to control his darkness, the symbiote was an evil abuser all along, nothing on earth is ever new.

i’m not gonna go through it, i’m just gonna point you to the backbackbackbacklash issue that came out during this time: venom annual volume 2 number 1 - it’s confusingly named, it’s the one that has a blue-skinned space lady on it. this one ignores the backbackbacklash going on very pointedly and goes “it’s not ABOUT control” again, it’s pretty explicitly romantic.

and then there’s also marvel comics presents (2019) #5, which, oddly enough, does not particularly feature the characterisation you’d typically see in the relationship narrative? but it does feature eddie and the symbiote literally fucking, so you’d want to know about it.

that’s the overall, like, frame of eddie and the symbiote being in a relationship (nuh uh) (yeah they are) (NUH UH) (YEAH THEY ARE)

some stuff that’s smaller but still notable, uh.

nova (1999) 6 - 7, that’s the “we’re space married”

venom: dark origin, that’s an ALTERNATE (!!!) take on the character, don’t expect a likeable eddie but it’s very darkly funny and gay so what can i say.

venom: the end, which i would absolutely fucking hate to be canon, i think its characterisation is quite regressive, but the symbiote sure is in love, i guess.

venom: separation anxiety, the dawn of the control narrative but eddie’s characterisation did not have to go so wrong from here, like if they’d just figured out AT THIS STAGE that he's STILL acting like venom without it... i digress. it has the symbiote going eddie eddie eddieee

venom: sinner takes all, this is the first she-venom comic so that’s. hm. interesting. healing symbiote blanket

don’t read venom: license to kill just look at this panel with me

if i think of more comics worth adding i’ll add them.

the subtext slash text is heavy enough to be present to some degree in literally every cartoon adaptation of eddie brock. spider-man: the animated series goes FULL control narrative, in fact it started the “the symbiote corrupted peter” take that we to this day cannot escape, but the first few venom episodes are VERY playful about their relationship.

in spectacular spider-man it’s canon, but horrible. eddie’s in love with it, but eddie's a good boy and the symbiote is played very, very, very abusively. i think this is an evil symbiote adaptation that works well enough, at least it’s an actual meaningful character instead of just a malevolent force to resist.

in marvel’s spider-man, the only venom episode worth watching is venom returns.

i’ve actually got every symbiote-relevant episode listed right here from when we did our communal watch-through.

also watch truth in journalism. idk if it’s exactly shippy just do it

#venom #symbrock #tl;dr i wish i could tl;dr this #no off-site links to please the gods of tagging

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kanene-yaaay · 3 years

Text

5+1 [Part 3] - Updated

5 times Iida was tickled and the one time he wasn’t.

[PART ONE]

[PART TWO]

[PART THREE] - Not updated

Kanene’s note: Heyaaa! Okay, You may be wondering “Wait, but I already read that!” But there is where you’re mistaken!! This chapter was edited by the amazing, lovely @made-by-jade-222 who honestly did a very good job and that is so cute sxdfghjkjhyg.

Just remembering: Iida is 12 years old now!

Warnings, fun facts, random things and stuff:

* This characters don’t belongs to me! They all belong to the anime/manga Boku no Hero.

* This is a SFW tickle fanfic with family tickles, so, if you don’t appreciate this kind of content, please, look for another blog. There are a plenty of very greeat arts in this site!! ^w^)b

* This is Lee!Tenya with Ler!Hizashi + Ler!Aizawa with brief Ler!Tensei and Lee!Aizawa. All relationships are platonic. Around 1.800 words.

* Sorry for any spelling, pontuation and grammar mistakes! Any and every advice is very very welcome! \(-w-)/

* Take a very deep breath, sometimes that can be enough, drink water, sleep and eat! <33

[~*~]

Iida sat at the kitchen table, smiling to himself as he thought about the day’s activities and drank his special orange juice. It was an expensive brand, so he was only allowed to have it on special occasions, and his birthday was certainly one of them. His parents had planned to host his party in the evening after work so they could be there, along with the rest of their family. As for the day’s activities, Iida would spend the whole day hanging out with his brother, and his two honorary Uncles, Aizawa and Yamada. Iida had offered to help with the decorations, planning, organizing and everything but he’d been forced by his parents to sit back and relax for once. It was his birthday, after all.

(Tenya one day protested at the nickname, pointing it didn’t make sense call them ‘Uncles’ since they aren’t blood related. However, his parents explained that this was just a way to express fondness and closeness for someone you care about. The younger one began to call them uncles with more frequency, except on social gatherings)

Iida finished his breakfast quickly, though he savored the last of his special juice. He was beyond excited to be able to spend the day with his brother and uncles, he didn’t get to do that very often since their work took up most of their time. He was putting his dishes away when the doorbell rang. He answered the door, a polite smile on his face, about to greet his guests. The smile quickly faded.

There stood his two honorary Uncles, Aizawa and Hizashi. They were standing there with mischievous smirks on their faces, sending shivers down Iida’s spine.

“Hello! ~” Hizashi chirped.

Hearing the sinister undertone of his uncle’s voice, Iida slammed the door in his face and backed away. He winced at how disrespectful that had been, but at the moment he valued his safety over his manners. But actually, he wasn’t anxious about what they were going to do. They were always nice and kind with him, making him smile and enjoy himself to give him a break from trying to be perfect, which he couldn’t. (Something they wondered if he’d ever learn.)

Tensei came into view as he quickly walked into the room, giving his little brother a smile as he ran into him. “Who’s at the door?” he asked.

“Uncles!” Tenya said, trying to move around him but being stopped by his brother’s hand on his shoulder. He frowned, blushing as he thought of his impending fate, which was all the more evident now that Tensei was here and would most definitely be on their side. “They are going to do the hideous tr-tradition that you started when I was a kid!” he said, or rather, whined, stumbling over his words.

Tensei laughed, and Tenya pouted, though he’d deny that till the end of time.

“Oh, yeah! I forgot about that! It’s so nice of them to help me to remember our wonderful little tradition, isn’t it?”

“No! Far from it! Pro-heroes like you shouldn’t be committing such em-embarrassing, hideous acts in the first place, even l-less repeating it yearly!”

“Aww, you’re stuttering! You’re excited, aren’t you?” Tensei asked, smiling knowingly. His little brother could verbally protest all he wanted, but the eager gleam in his eyes gave him away. He ignored the squeaked “NO!” he got in responde and smiled even wider. Tenya made a move to leave, but Tensei grabbed him around the waist and held him close.

“You know, since they’re being so kind by helping us remember our tradition, it’s only fair that we let them participate, right?” Tensei asked, holding onto Tenya tighter as the nearing footsteps made him struggle all the more, trying to get away. “HEY, GUYS! THE BIRTHDAY BOY IS HERE!” he called.

“Tensei!” But the boy was already smiling, squirming excitedly on his brother’s hold, especially when a loud, happy ‘YEAHHH!’ boomed through the house.

“No, no! This is betrayal! Deception! Dishonesty! Trickery! Treason!”

Tensei laughed. “Now you’re just reciting the dictionary!” he said, no hint of regret in his voice, distractedly nodding at his uncles when they appeared at the door. “Look,” he whispered conspiratorially, “I need you to distract them until Shouta lets his guard down so I can sneak up on him. Hizashi would never pass up an opportunity to tickle him too, so while we’re doing that you go run and get something to bribe them with, okay?”

The younger gasped, quickly nodding.

“Right. So, are you ready for your part of the plan, sidekick?”

“YES!” Iida shouted, chopping the air. Tensei squeezed his side to remind him to be quiet, but that only made him squeal. Thankfully, the two men who were walking towards them didn’t seem to catch on to their conversation.

“Now, now. It seems like a certain little listener here is excited for birthday tickles!” Hizashi said, wiggling his fingers in his direction. “Oh! They grow up so fast!” he said, putting a hand on his chest and sighing longingly. “It feels like it was just yesterday that we were playing heroes! And I, the evil LoudChaos, would be defeated by Ingenium Junior and his vicious attacks of kicking his pillows at me!” The blonde ruffled his honorary nephew’s hair and then pinched his cheek playfully, grinning at the groan he got in response.

Iida batted his hand away and faced the two of them, a determined look on his face. “You will never be able to crack me, villains! Not even with embarrassing childhood memories!” he said, gesturing energetically.

“I don’t know about that,” Tensei said, smirking. “I can think of plenty myself, like the time we had to buy at least three more of your favorite plushie because you wouldn’t let us wash the original one was pretty funny- ack! Hey, hey!” Tensei snickered as he tried to dodge from Tenya’s warning kicks, “I was kidding! I was kidding!”

“Want me to hold him?” Aizawa asked nonchalantly, a small quirk of his mouth showing his amusement about the whole situation. At Tensei’s affirmative nod he quickly grabbed Tenya’s wrists and held them above his head with one hand. He smirked at his nervous nephew, who was trying to fight a smile. He ruffled his hair. “Congrats on being another year closer to death, brat. You’re twelve, so that means you’ve got...what, seventy eight more to go?” he asked.

Tenya’s face deadpanned, unamused.

“Ooh, right, twelve!” Hizashi’s fingers were teasingly getting closer, slowly and then even slower, almost touching a spot before pretending to launch at others, resulting in kicks and muffled shrieks from the younger one. “You know what that means, right, Shou?”

“Yep. We’ll have to tickle him for twelve years.”

“Aw, what a pity.”

“No! Lies! That is incorrect!”

“Oh really, not-so-little listener? Please, enlighten us.”

“According to the silly and foolish tradition that you insist on doing every year, you should tickle me for twelve entire minutes. One minute for each year,” Iida said automatically, going into school-mode, unaware that he was only sealing his impending doom. “That’s how it’s always been done.”

Aizawa and Yamada exchanged an amused look, while Tensei was doing his best to hold back his laughter. His little brother was just too precious.

“I don’t think I heard you correctly. We should, what?” Aizawa asked, his voice emotionless. questioned.

“Tickle me!” Tenya repeated, then gasped, realizing what they’d just tricked him into saying.

“Well, if you insist!” Hizashi said, then attacked. He reached out and used his skilled fingers to tickle and tickle every spot he could reach.

There were fingers dancing on his ribs and poking his stomach. There were agonizingly ticklish scribbles and pokes and prodding at his sides, and even a couple squeezes on his knee.

Iida squealed and burst into loud laughter, squirming in his tickler’s grip. The anticipation made him skip the giggles and just laugh right away. “HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

A lazy and almost unbearably light touch drew shapes on his neck, then scribbled over to his ears and then all the way back to his collarbone, going from one side to another, over and over again. And no matter how much he scrunched his neck, that did nothing to deter the tickle monster.

“Coochie coochie coo, little listener!”

“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! NOHOHOHOHOHO!”

That unbearably embarrassing tease brought his focus back to his more aggressive tickler, who was currently targeting his armpits. His loud laughter, mixed with squeaks, yelps and guffaws at the mix of soft and aggressive tickles made him almost forget the teasing completely. Almost.

“Have a tickle, tickle here!” He shook his head, trying to dislodge the fingers on his neck as his sides were squeezed. “And tickle, tickle, tickle there!” Spidering, tickly fingers on his shoulder blades made him squirm all the more. “Have all the tickles! Tickly, tickly, tickles here, there, and everywhere!”

“YOHOHOHOU WILL NOT DEFEHEHEAT ME!” Tenya shrieked, grinning from ear to ear as chuckles and giggles spilled freely from him.

‘I have to stay strong!’ he thought. ‘I have to keep them distracted so Tensei can get Uncle Shouta!’

That was why he wasn’t fighting back much. He knew he could get away if he really wanted to. It certainly wasn’t because he enjoyed the silly, playful attention and affection from his uncles.

“Of course we will,” Shouta said, pausing to check the timer. “We still have five minutes left. I’m sure you’ll surrender eventually.”

“Nehehehehever!” Iida giggled, taking in several large breaths when his Uncle Hizashi decided to give him a break, leaving only the light tickles from Uncle Shouta to keep the smile on his face. But the break lasted only a moment.

“Hey, hey, hey, little listener!” Hizashi said in a sing-song voice.

Tenya knew that tone. He immediately shut his eyes tightly, a wobbly smile on his face, not noticing that the neck tickles from his other uncle had stopped.

“Aw, come on Tenya! Don’t leave me hanging! Look at me, pleaaase?”

The boy shook his head, eyes still firmly closed.

“Shoouuu, he doesn’t want to see the big, great, amazing birthday surprise I have for him! He’s so ungrateful!”

Shouta scoffed. “No, he’s smart. And besides, it’s not his fault that you’re not charming enough to get him to look at you,” he said.

Hizashi gasped dramatically. “Oh! You wound me! Friendship ended with Ereaserhead! Tensei, you’re my new best friend!” he said.

He thought for a moment, then smirked.

“Buuuut, the vacancy is still open if maybe, just maaaybe,” A wiggly finger tickled under his chin, making Tenya snort, “if a clever teenager with a cute laugh and navy blue hair decides to open his eyes…”

“Yohohou will not crahack me!”

“Please? Please, please, please please please!” Hizashi begged, punctuating every word with a poke to the boy’s tummy, getting faster and faster until finally-

“Stop!”

Iida opened his eyes, finding a very smiley Hizashi in front of him, who made a silly face. He half groaned and half giggled, the former action only due Aizawa’s renewed back tickles, of course.

“Aw, you didn’t find it funny?” The blonde crossed his arms, pretending to think about his next move. “Alright then, I know something that’ll make you laugh!”

And then, in a blink of an eye, he yanked up his nephew’s shirt and blew a gigantic raspberry on his tummy.

Tenya squealed and fell into hysterics, the sudden change in volume surprising Aizawa and making him let go for a moment. Then the man began to snort and try to fight his laughter as his other nephew, Tensei, attacked him from behind, tickling his unprotected armpits. His rumbling chuckles filled the air as Tenya fell to his knees, hugging his tummy and giggling non-stop as Yamada knelt next to him tenderly ruffled his hair, then kissed his temple before standing up. He grinned wickedly as he saw his best friend being tickled to pieces.

“Is it already Tickle Shouta hours?” he asked delightly. He cracked his knuckles and wiggled his fingers in Aizawa’s face, making a show of getting ready. He chuckled, amused, as his silly antics only made his best friend laugh even harder, covering his mouth and laying limply against Tensei, a slight blush on his face. Hizashi descended upon him with tickles, pulling his hand away and sending him into gales of laughter, his legs kicking from the silly tickles and teases he was getting.

And, as Iida laid on the cold floor, still giggling occasionally as he watched his uncle get tickled silly, he found that he didn’t actually mind this tradition. It was silly, it was foolish, and juvenile, but...it was also a lot of fun.

And it made him feel very loved.

41 notes · View notes

not-all-dead · 3 years

Note

"It’s not a surprise when the Chief of Police comes out. There have been betting pools for years, and the announcement is met with mostly indifference. What is a surprise, however, is the interview that comes out alongside the announcement. The interview that is complete with a photoshoot of Lin Beifong in civilian clothes, talking about the challenges of her position. No one can remember the last time the Chief has given an interview, and the photo becomes the talk of the town."

How do you think the interview goes? What would Lin say?

link to (what i believe was) the original post of this! with some amazing art that VERY much helped me write this :DD (by @mgthejerkbender)

i was originally just gonna write a dialogue or notes for this but uh- i got a little carried away so here’s a 3687 word fic of the interview oops

CW: implications of past trauma (mentions of r@pe/s*xual assa*lt, public humiliation, not graphic at all), homophobia, sexism

fic under the cut :)

Lin walked into the room in a soft green turtleneck and dark brown pants that almost looked black without the light. There was sound equipment set up all over the place, with two armchairs in the middle of it all. A desk sat over to the side, a typewriter and paper sitting atop it. Quite a few people were rushing around, making sure that everything was in place for the broadcast. She watched a young woman sit at the desk, prepping the typewriter to transcribe the entire thing.

“Oh good, you’re here,” Lin turned to see a man in his early forties standing with a small journal behind her.

He wore a plain suit with a pale orange tie, his greying hair slicked back neatly. His eyes flitted around the room, checking things briefly for himself before focusing on Lin. He opened the notebook to a page about a quarter of the way through and smiled at Lin, nodding at the chairs behind her.

“Care to sit?” he asked, moving toward the chairs.

She took the seat farthest from where they’d just been standing, shifting to get comfortable while she waited for him to sit and get things rolling. She didn’t want to admit it, but her heart was racing. She hadn’t done anything like this is ages, especially not so casually. The topic of discussion also made her nervous, both because her job was something she rarely spoke of with anyone outside a professional context, and because of the announcement that would come with the interview. She’d encountered plenty of bigoted people in the past, and had no doubt that her officially coming out would only press them to question her position more than usual.

She picked idly at the fuzzballs on her turtleneck until the man sitting beside her cleared his throat. Her head snapped up to look at him, her body tensing briefly before seeing that he was testing the microphones. She sighed and relaxed slightly, speaking into the microphone placed before her when the sound technician prompted her to do so. Once everything seemed to be in place and ready to go, the broadcast started.

“Welcome, listeners, to tonight’s special program. I’m your host, Kaja Posicopolis, here with our esteemed Chief of Police, Lin Beifong. So, Chief, how are you on this fine night?” he started, putting on his radio voice.

“Good, I’m good,” Lin responded, leaning slightly forwards in her seat.

“That’s good to hear. I think I’ll launch right into our questions if you don’t mind, we’ve got a lot to get through tonight,” Lin nodded when he looked over to her, giving him the go ahead.

“Why don’t we start with something positive. What’s your favourite thing about your position as Chief? What about the job brings you the most joy?” he turned to watch her while waiting for her answer.

She looked at the floor for a moment, thinking before speaking.

“I think I’d have to say getting to help people. Ever since I was young I’ve wanted to protect others as much as possible, and being Chief makes that a lot easier and a lot more… legal,” he joined her when she chuckled lightly, but her smile only lasted a moment.

“Of course, I’m not perfect, and there are always times when things go wrong. I can’t say that those times don’t affect me, but I try to think of the people we as a force have helped over the years and that keeps me going,” she took a deep breath and looked to Kaja as he glanced at his notepad.

“That leads right into my next question; how do you do it? Not even your infamous mother was Chief for as long as you’ve been, and her time was already impressive. You’ve given so much to Republic City already, why, and how, do you keep giving?” there was a look of wonder and admiration on his face when he finished the question.

“I grew up in Republic City. It always has been, and will be, my home. And who doesn’t want to protect their home? I think that as long as I live here, I’ll be working to do anything in my power to help the city. I hate watching neighborhoods suffer… actually, I’m working on a plan with President Moon at the moment with the hopes of helping out the poorer parts of the city, providing homes for the homeless, all that good stuff. I just want to see Republic City thriving, and I want to help it get to that point. As I said before, it’s my home; everyone here is part of a community, a family, if you will, and that means everything to me,” Lin leaned back, resting against the cushion behind her, setting her right foot on her left knee.

“That’s a beautiful sentiment, thank you. I love the idea of the city being one big family, and that project sounds like it’ll be very good for the future of Republic City,” Kaja turned his gaze back to his notes, stopping the conversation briefly.

“The next question I have here is less uppity; what has your biggest struggle been with regards to your job?”

“That’s a hard one,” she paused. “I’ve had many struggles with work over my years as Chief, but I think of everything that’s happened… being a woman, and a queer one at that, has definetly taken it’s toll. Other things have been more directly challenging, but that’s been present since day one.”

“Would you care to elaborate on that?” he prompted leaning slightly towards her.

She inhaled and held her breath for a split second before sighing lightly.

“Sure, why not,” she gave a small smile to Kaja before starting.

“When I was much younger, just starting out in the force, I could already see the inherent bias against women that so many male officers held. My mother wasn’t immune to their verbal attacks, though she would give them a good… sparring match, lets say, if they ever so much as laid a finger on her. After a few times, that generally stopped happening, but people would still talk. The number of disgusting, awful things I heard coming from some of those men…” she huffed and shifted in her seat, putting one elbow on her armrest and resting her head on her hand.

“Anyway, I started to pay attention to every little thing. I noticed how many male politicians talked down to my mother, and not because of her blindness. Even a few of the men on our own council at the time would treat her as less-than for no apparent reason.

“I saw it happening in my own life and career, too. How my male counterparts got the promotion before I was even considered, despite performing just as well as them, if not better. How I was never asked for input on supposedly collective decisions or plans, and if I was or tried to interject, I was almost always dismissed. It seemed like any man of higher or equal rank to me thought I was some… assistant to bring him coffee and reports and not do any actual work.

“Seeing that attitude so often pissed me off. I made it my mission to prove myself beyond what was necessary. I wanted to show them that I could do anything they could just as well, sometimes even better. My work paid off eventually and I began to climb the ranks, not letting myself rest for a second. And I wanted to help people as well, of course, but it started out more as wanting to teach those bastards a lesson,” she moved again, uncrossing her legs and leaning forward on her elbows.

“Once I became Chief, a lot of people seemed determined to put me down. Practically every man, be he politician or merchant on the street, told me something insinuating that I was handed the position just because my mother was Chief before me. Every time I wanted to yell at them, to show them records of how hard I’d worked to get there, how much harder I’d had to work than most of my colleagues. With the politicians and other major figureheads, how much harder I’d had to work than they probably had.

“It was frustrating, but I got used to it. It was a constant that came with working a so-called, and I’m not making this up, it’s been said directly to my face before, ‘Man’s job’,” she stopped for a moment and looked over at Kaja, who was staring at her in disbelief.

She couldn’t help but let out a small laugh at his expression before looking back down and continuing.

“There was also the issue of my queerness,” she shook her head and took a deep breath, sitting back as she continued.

“I started working as a proper officer when I was about eighteen. Within my first year working, I was-,” she closed her eyes and clenched her teeth for a second.

“I had an encounter with a man, an older officer who was overseeing the training group I was a part of. He tried to initiate certain… activities with me, none of which I wanted to partake in. I did manage to get rid of him and filed a report against him, but it wasn’t the last time it happened.

“I was a pretty regular customer at a few of the underground bars for people like me at the time. I did my best to hide my face when I left, but there were always times I was careless, or somebody saw me in the seconds I let my guard down. Usually it was no big deal, but occasionally it was someone from work. Once, it was that man.

“He found me at work the next day and asked me about it. Yelled at me, really. He tried to make it seem like that’s why I’d denied him, and the names he called me weren’t pretty to say the least. He started to physically attack me, throwing punch after punch and not giving me the slightest chance to fight back.

“After that day, I stopped going to those bars altogether. The first time I went back to one was actually just a few years ago. I started dating Tenzin a few years later, and though people weren’t so outwardly expressive of their opinions on my relationships, the disapproval was still present.

“By the time Tenzin and I split up, I think some people still suspected my queerness, but it wasn’t a widely adopted theory. I had my fair share of men approach me, some with better intentions than others, and turned down most of them. Some of them didn’t react all that well, and I ended up filing several more reports. I don’t think any of them actually got charged, though.

“I entertained short romances with some men, some women too. Nothing stuck, not really anyway. I kept every relationship very quiet, including those with men, just for the sake of privacy. When I was with women, it was also to avoid getting hate-crimed, but I really did prefer to keep at least some things private.

“In the context of work, there were also challenges. That first superior to try getting at me like that must’ve talked, telling anyone who would listen about my excursions to the underground bars. People looked at me oddly in just about any shared workspace there was, though a few times I made friends because of it. Those were always good times, even if few and far between.

“Some people just gave a judgemental stare or vaguely rude comment every so often, but a few others took it further. Much further,” she looked up to the ceiling as she recalled another story.

“I had a supervisor when I was probably about, oh, twenty seven or so. He was a few ranks below my mother, and I one below him. He decided that one day it would be absolutely hysterical to cover my desk in obscene printed images of women I didn’t recognize, along with toys of a certain nature. I was mortified when I came in and saw the spectacle. The worst part was that almost everyone working in that part of the building at the time laughed with him, and those who didn’t weren’t exactly helpful.

“I didn’t come back to work for a week after that. It was awful, his stupid prank making me so shamed of who I was, who I loved. I know now that my loving both women and men isn’t a bad thing, and is simply part of me. It was harder to accept that, to accept myself, when I saw people like him in positions of power over me.

“I kept working though, and there was never an incident quite like that one again. A few others were more directly hateful than most, but it was easier to deal with. As with people treating me as less because of my gender, I got used to it,” she turned to Kaja, a hint of guilt on her face after talking for so long.

He shook his head, disbelief still spread across his face. His eyes flitted back and forth between floor tiles as he searched for the right words to respond.

“That sounds awful. I’m so sorry you had to deal with people like that,” he looked back up at Lin.

“So am I,” she scoffed, her fingers picking at her turtleneck again.

There was a small silence before Kaja looked back down at his notepad and then at the clock on the wall.

“We’ve got enough time for one last question, so is there anything you’d like to tell young women and queer people living in the city?” His expression was almost hopeful now, desperate to end off on a lighter note.

Lin smiled in amusement at him before looking down at her hands, fiddling her thumbs in her lap. After a moment, she looked back up at him and started speaking again.

“Absolutely,” she began, her gaze drifting around the room and landing on each individual at least once.

“To all the women working your asses off in the workforce: stand up for yourself. Don’t let any man devalue you because of your gender. Be the best you can be and wipe the smiles clean off their faces as you do it. Start your own businesses, get that promotion, set goals for yourself and fly past them. You can do just about anything you put your mind to, despite what many men might say,” her voice was strong, almost commanding as she began her final statement.

“And to all the young queer people out there; you are so, so strong. Keep loving each other, keep being yourselves. I know how awful people can be, but their opinions do not define you. You are perfect exactly as you are, and nothing can change that. It might seem like it’ll never be true, but I believe we will live in a time when acceptance is the norm. I believe that that time, with hard work and patience with those who need teaching, will be here soon.”

“Perfect. Thank you so much for your time, Chief,” Kaja said, looking at the clock again.

“Thank you for having me,” Lin replied, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath.

“And with that, folks, we wrap up today’s special broadcast. I’ll be back in the studio tomorrow resuming our usual radio program. Until then, I’m Kaja Posicopolis, and this is eighty six point four, your favourite music station,” Kaja finished, staying silent for a few seconds until a man from across the room nodded at him.

He rolled his head around and got up from his chair, setting his notepad down behind him.

“How are you now?” he asked Lin as he stretched his arms out and cracked his back.

Lin scoffed and stood, going through a couple of her own stretches. She straightened her shirt and tucked a few stray hairs back before responding.

“I feel like I just stood naked in front of the entire city,” she said, unable to hold back a small smile when Kaja laughed.

“Well, we’re about to expose you even more. You ready for the photo shoot?” he grabbed his notebook and pen and closed them, watching Lin for an answer.

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Lin sighed before following him out of the room.

They walked down several long hallways, eventually coming to a large open room. The walls and floor were a pale grey cement, and there were expensive looking lights set up all over the place. A dark green upholstered bench sat to one side of the room, a tall light shining down on it. A few people saw them coming in and rushed around, turning off almost every other light. One of them knocked on a door that was on the other end of the room, calling for someone inside.

“This seems a bit excessive,” Lin muttered, her eyes wandering the room.

“Only the best for you, Chief,” a man said from somewhere in the shadows.

Lin glanced behind her only to see Kaja talking to someone near the door. When she turned back to where the voice had come from, she had to bite back a laugh. She tried not to, but couldn’t help smiling at the absolute glow that radiated from the man in front of her.

“You like my outfit?” he asked with a grin, twirling around for her.

He had on bright red fit-and-flare pants with a stripe of gold sequins down their side; a matching red low-cut tank top; a purple feather-covered knee-length jacket; gold sparkly platform shoes that made him tower over Lin more than he already would have; and a top hat that belonged with a businessman’s black tie attire.

“It’s incredible,” Lin chuckled, crossing her arms casually over her chest.

“You look sharp yourself today, Chief,” he said with a grin, taking a few steps towards her.

Before she could object, he pulled her into a tight hug. His arms squashed her face against his lower chest, making Lin painfully aware of the extent of their height difference. She laughed and patted his arm, thankfully getting him to release her.

“I’m assuming you’re the photographer, then?” she asked, grinning up at him.

He nodded enthusiastically and spun on his heel, walking back into the darkness. She heard a couple of small crashes and a string of profanities before he came back, a large camera and it’s stand filling his arms.

“Uh- where am I going?” he asked Lin, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye.

She let out a small laugh and stepped towards him, placing her hand on his arm. She guided him towards the bench setup, stopping them near where the light stood.

“Thank you, thank you!” he exclaimed, setting down the camera’s stand first and then fastening the camera to it.

“Of course,” Lin breathed, suddenly nervous to have her photo taken.

The photographer immediately noticed her mood change and put his hands on her shoulders.

“Don’t worry, I’ll make you look,” he closed his eyes and blew a chef's kiss to the side.

Lin nodded and took a deep breath, filling her lungs as much as she could before letting it all out. The photographer made a few adjustments to the camera stand, making sure it would stay while he got her in position, and then led her to the bench. He sat her down in the middle of it and walked back to his camera, dragging the stand loudly over so he was more to her right.

“Don’t be so stiff,” he called, looking at her through the viewfinder and flapping his hand in the air.

“Just- pretend I’m not here, you’re just sitting at home listening to the radio.”

He stepped back from the camera and watched Lin as she settled her head on her left fist with her right elbow on her knee. The photographer gave her a big thumbs up, calling “Much better!” and going back to looking through his camera.

He shifted it a few times before taking any photos, wanting to get it right in as few shots as possible considering the price and rarity of film in stores. Lin looked at the camera for the first few, looking away because of her boredom growing steadily. When he seemed satisfied with the shots, he took the camera off the stand and walked over to the bench.

“Room for another?” he asked, not letting Lin answer before settling himself beside her.

The images printed slowly, one at a time. After each was out, he placed them in the shadow under the bench to protect them from overexposure. Once the last one printed, he reached down and grabbed the first. It had settled well, the colours coming out nice and bright.

“It’s perfect,” Lin gasped, staring in wonder at the photo that managed to make her alright with how she looked out-of-uniform.

The photographer grinned at her, holding the photo up.

“I agree,” he said proudly, forgetting his other photos and standing.

Lin watched as he brought the photo to Kaja, engaging the shorter man in a quick and lively discussion before handing off the photo and walking back. He grinned ear to ear at her, and she sighed before relenting and giving a small smile back.

“Nervous, Chief?” he asked, standing before her with his hands shoved into the pockets of his jacket.

Lin chuckled and shook her head.

“I just haven’t done something like this in ages… or ever, really,” she said, her hands moving to grip the edge of the bench.

“Hey,” the photographer moved to place a hand on her shoulder, prompting her to look up at him.

“You’re doing great, Chief, trust me,” Lin let out a breath and really smiled at him this time.

“Thank you,” she said quietly, meaning it with every ounce of her being.

67 notes · View notes

my-writings-and-musings · 3 years

Text

TFA Bulkhead/Bumblebee

Bulkhead, hoping to paint Bumblebee, finds a number of unexpected hurdles in the form of a willing but very fidgety model.

Got a lovely commission that the commissioner was okay with me sharing, so here it is! I had so much fun writing this, and remember, I'm always open if you'd like a fic for yourself.

Working up courage wasn't something one had to do often when they were as big and strong as Bulkhead, but he'd needed every bit he could spare to approach Bumblebee with what he'd feared was a ridiculous request. The fact he could expect his friend to say yes had brought him little comfort, because being rejected just scared him too much. He didn't want to admit how long it had taken him to prepare…

But finally, the day had come, and he approached the little bot as one might an armed explosive.

"Uh… Bumblebee?" he spoke softly, tapping his big servos together to try and call himself down. Bumblebee was relaxing and watching something on TV, and Bulkhead was so nervous he couldn't even tell what. Primus, he was just grateful they were alone, or else this would have been impossible! Bumblebee thankfully noticed him right away, lifting his helm to look at his friend with a smile.

"What's up, Bulk?" he said in greeting, half turning back to the television before doing an actual double take back to the big bot. Concern crossed his features, and he raised a curious brow ridge before he spoke again. "You feeling okay?"

Bulkhead realized just then that his nervousness was probably showing through like a beacon, and he gulped in embarrassment, wanting nothing more than to disappear on the spot. Just his luck that things would already be going poorly… Steeling himself, he took a deep vent and put on the biggest smile he could manage. "Yeah, f-fine!" he gasped out, trying not to tremble. Wishing he'd written down what he wanted to say, he just managed to put some words together and speak, hoping he didn't look as ridiculous as he felt. "I just wanted… wanted to ask you something."

"Yeah?" Bumblebee asked, expression not changing once. Near to collapsing, Bulkhead soldiered on, wondering with every word if he'd made a huge mistake.

"Well you… you know I've been painting a lot lately, and I was wondering…" he gulped again, closing in on the final thing he'd come to ask and hoping he wasn't making a huge mistake in the process. If this worked, it might just be the happiest day of his life…

"I'm kind of tired of painting trees and flowers… could I paint… you?" he asked, not even waiting for a reply before he clarified extensively. "Paint a picture of you, I mean! Like… would you want to model for a painting? That's… what I meant…"

"Oh, model?" Bumblebee repeated, optics lighting up like a supernova as he repeated the word. Bulkhead felt relief like nothing he'd ever experienced wash over him as the question got exactly the answer he hadn't dared to hope for, enough so that he struggled to stay standing as he sighed. Bumblebee hopped upright and stretched, lean little frame already eager to get moving as he stepped beside his much larger friend. "What are we waiting for? Let's go!"

"Yeah, sure!" Bulkhead said with enthusiasm, trying his hardest not to cry a few happy tears at the turn of events. Moving as fast as he could, he followed Bee to his room, where all of his supplies were waiting for them in the unlikely event this worked out. The big bot had done everything in his power to get all the paint and brushes he would need if Bee said yes, so hopefully he did indeed have enough, or at least what he'd require to get started. He'd gotten so many shades of yellow…

When they arrived to his room, he briefly scolded himself for not fixing it up better, not that Bumblebee ever bothered to clean his own room, but he wanted to be a good host.

Pointing to the smushed couch he sometimes liked to relax on, which was also in a good spot for lighting, he tried to ensure he was calm despite his still fluttering nerves. "You can, uh, pose however you like. How about there?"

"Sure, sounds fun!" Bumblebee replied, quite enthusiastic as he hopped on over. Not minding that the furniture was beyond lumpy, he began finding a comfortable way for his frame to lay, moving his tiny self about as Bulkhead got everything ready. Trying not to blush at how happy he was, the big bot grabbed a spare canvas and his favorite cans of paint, along with a few brushes in his size. Someday he'd have to properly thank Sari for introducing him to art, and being kind enough to provide tools in his size as well. When his easel was in place, he looked up to see Numb laying himself over the couch and grinning in his usual goofy way. "Paint me like one of your French bots, Bulkhead…"

Even if he hadn't been so distracted by what he was feeling, the big bot would have had no ability to make sense of what he'd just heard. All he could manage was a one word reply of total bafflement. "...What?"

"It's a… a human quote. I don't get it either." Bumblebee mumbled in reply, likely referencing some movie he and Sari had watched together at some point. Not wanting his friend to feel awkward, Bulkhead happily helped the conversation continue, smiling as he grabbed a brush.

"Oh, well um… how about we start small? Just sketches and stuff, you know?" he offered, trying to think of the best way to proceed. It was hard to plan much of anything when he was this happy, especially because he didn't want Bee to know how he felt, in more ways than one. He had to keep going as if this was just a casual thing, and not something that really meant the world to him.

"Works for me, just don't forget to get my good side… which is all of me." Bee said proudly, striking a pose and grinning as he did so. It was a perfectly in character position, so Bulkhead got to work right away, carefully articulating his large digits to control the brush. While small mistakes were just part of the process for painting, he didn't want to make one here. This piece was going to be perfect, so every stroke had to be the same, and thus his digits had an almost vice-like grip. It didn't escape his attention how few bots got to pursue their greatest wish like he was doing now. Keeping his smile to himself, he cast his optics to Bumblebee and back to the canvas, wanting to have the perfect grasp of scale before he began. Having a friend with such particular proportions wasn't going to make this any easier.

Sticking with the core of his muse, he made a few careful strokes to get the basic gist of his friend's pose, hoping to capture both his sense of excitability and his current relaxed mood. It would be hard, but he was more than up for the challenge. This would be worth every last second of work...

"Actually, hang on, my arm looks better like this."

Bumblebee surprised him with the words and the sudden movement he made to match, his arm swinging about to rest almost opposite to its original pose. As he hadn't yet started drawing that particular spot, Bulkhead let it go, having expected a little bit of restlessness. It was also only fair that Bee liked the final result and was comfortable with the process. Getting back to work, the big bot wondered if his friend's face might be a good place to start. His horns certainly added an additional detail for him to take into consideration… Perhaps he'd ask if Bee wanted his face to be more in profile or at an angle. All he wanted was to capture the essence of the bot he was so close to.

Bumblebee coughed, optics looking about bashfully as he blushed and shifted on the couch to move his other arm. It wasn't a big move, but the small bit clearly realized it was inconvenient, and looked guilty for the move. "Need to change this too, it's not working. This look better?"

"Oh uh… yeah!" Bulkhead replied quickly, uncertain how he should respond beyond acceptance as the last thing he wanted was for this to be uncomfortable for either of them. Some small changes would need to be made to what was already on the canvas, but that was hardly a bother. Getting more paint on his brush, he tried to work a little faster as he got the bottom layer established. Not that he didn't trust Bee to keep his word, but the little bot often fidgeted without even meaning to. Sticking out his glossa in concentration, Bulkhead worked fast, using up a fair amount of paint as he got what he presumed to be the core of the piece. Next would come the much tricker details…

Or at least they would have, if he hadn't glanced up to see Bumblebee in a completely different pose and half asleep...

"Bumblebee?" he said on reflex, coughing to try and gain his friend's attention. Startling awake, the little bot looked around in surprise, seeming to have forgotten exactly where he was and what was going on. When recognition dawned on his features, embarrassment wasn't far behind. A light blush lit up his cheeks as he shrunk down on the couch.

"Scrap, sorry, wasn't thinking." he apologized, trying to remember how he had originally been posed and failing to do so. Bulkhead felt a bit of frustration stirring, but he kept it well under wraps. Just because this wasn't going according to plan, didn't mean he was going to give up.

"That's okay! Just… need a new canvas." he said, keeping his smile even if he was a little more flustered. With a little bit of white paint he could salvage the canvas and use it later for something else, plus it wasn't like Sari didn't provide him with plenty of supplies. Getting set up all over again, he looked back to Bumblebee, who was once again settled in what appeared to be his position of choice. Hoping to begin in earnest, he was careful as could be when he broached the question on his mind. "Is that the pose you want?"

"Definitely!" Bumblebee said enthusiastically, giving him hope that he'd be able to paint for real this time. Not wasting even a moment, he painted as fast as he could, glancing back and forth between the painting and his subject to make the process as smooth as possible. It was an effective strategy, as it allowed him to get the outline twice as fast. This time he wanted to fully capture his friend in the picture as he'd been trying from the start. Some part of him just knew it would be worth it, and that they'd both be thankful he put in all this effort.

Or, at least, he thought he knew...

"Actually, sorry about this, but…" Bumblebee was bashful but not especially hesitant as he moved to lay on his side, stretching as he moved into an entirely different position. The poor artist felt his spark drop at the loss of progress all over again, even as his friend tried to cheer them both up by looking as chipper as possible. "That was so much more uncomfortable than I was expecting. Go on!"

Bulkhead didn't say a word as he grabbed another canvas, and did his very best not to look as discouraged as he felt. It didn't seem like this was going to stop any time soon, as much as he wished it would, and that didn't bode well for his wish to get this done. Perhaps he'd been far too hopeful…

Still, he did everything in his power to stay positive and make the painting he'd dreamed of become a reality.

Painting faster than he ever had in his entire life, the big bot ignored the imperfections that came from moving so rapidly, setting his jaw tight as little flecks of paint spattered across the canvas. At this point, such little things hardly seemed to mind. What really mattered was getting this done. A familiar form began to take recognizable shape on the canvas, and the artist started to plan ahead for his next move from then on. Shading would come after these little details, which he'd be able to put together thanks to having a lot of his friend's appearance memorized. Hope blossomed in his spark as he finally saw Bumblebee in the picture he was painting.

Getting so close to what he wanted made seeing a repeat of what had happened before hurt more than it should have.

Catching himself, Bumblebee blushed and shrunk down on the spot, smiling bashfully in apology for his unintentional movement. It really wasn't something he was doing on purpose; he wanted to see his friend happy! Sitting still just didn't work for him. Seeing Bulkhead look hurt, however, made him feel especially bad for the mistake.

"I don't think this is a good idea." Bulkhead said with a sigh, putting yet another canvas to the side and looking quite deflated as he did so. There wasn't anything he could think to do that might change this, and he was ready to just throw in the towel. Perhaps this was just the one thing he wasn't meant to paint.

"Aw come on, why not?" Bumblebee pressed, aware of the answer but hoping there was something he could do to fix it. Staying still just wasn't in his programming, but perhaps… he could get some tape? That wasn't realistic, but he wanted to try something to make up for this. Bulkhead only sighed again.

"You won't stay still?" he said simply, frustrated but not antagonistic in his summation. It was something neither of them could change, and that left both more than a little helpless.

"I…" Bumblebee stuttered off, tapping his digits together as he saw his friend get even more sad. Unable to help getting a little defensive, he got up from the couch, throwing up his arms as the big bot cleaned up some of the mess. "Come on, Bulk! You know me! Staying still isn't my thing, and I can't force that!"

"Well yeah, but… couldn't you just stay mostly still?" Bulkhead asked, still not ready to just give up all at once. Even if he had no idea how to fix things or make it work, he wanted this painting too much to just give up, no matter how many canvases it took. All he needed was a little bit more time than he had been getting. His determination must have shown, because Bumblebee furrowed his brow ridges in consideration.

"I… I can try! I…" he faded off as the pressure weighed on him, and thankfully his friend caught that quickly. To be clear; he wanted this a lot, but he could never want anything badly enough to make Bumblebee uncomfortable. Perhaps it was best they rested a bit, to restore their patience and approach this with clearer heads. He certainly needed a minute to relax from all this frustration...

"How about a break? We've been trying for a while, maybe a bit of down time will help." he proposed, already feeling a little better at the prospect of cooling down. Bumblebee shared the sentiment straight away, visibly relaxing on the spot and letting out a tiny sigh of his own.

"Great idea Bulk! Let me just grab something…" he said happily, darting off and leaving the big bot alone with his supplies. Deciding to clean a bit to ease his mind, Bulkhead sorted the discarded canvases, hoping that he could paint over the unusable pictures with some white and reuse them. Seeing how much and how little progress he'd made at the same time made him wonder how he might improve on their next attempt. Nothing was coming to mind just yet, but that didn't mean he had lost hope. There had to be something on this planet that would motivate Bee to stay still, and by Primus he would find it!

As he was wiping up some paint that had managed to drip onto the floor, Bumblebee quite literally skidded back into the room, coming to a dead stop after running at full tilt.

"I'm back! Just wanted to grab my game!" the little bot declared happily, waving the device about as he went to sit back on the smushed couch. The game had been a gift from Sari as well; some kind of earth console that had been sized up a few times over to better fit the servos of a Cybertronian. Smiling in acknowledgement, the big bot nodded as he went back to cleaning. Digital music met his audials as his friend started up the system and began to play, reclining on the couch as he settled in for a much needed break. Bulkhead had only had middling success with the games popular on earth, owed in large part to his size, but he was at least happy his friend could have some much needed fun with them.

When the floor was finally cleaned up, he took stock of his slightly diminished inventory. There was still plenty of paint, and more than a few canvases, but if they continued at their current pace… He'd have to figure out a strategy before they tried this again, because otherwise this just wasn't going to work. Looking up at Bumblebee, he briefly considered proposing that they try this another day before his thoughts were systematically interrupted.

Laying on his back over the pile of stuffing that had once been a couch, the small mech was entirely engrossed in his digital world, optics focused only on the screen as his digits rapidly tapped away on the controls. Other than the occasional shift of his expression, he was entirely motionless. It took Bulkhead a moment to process what he was seeing. Bumblebee was so rarely still, and never for this length of time… He didn't need to think much before he was reacting the only way he could.

Moving as silently as a mech of his size was able to, he grabbed what he needed, gathering his paints around himself as he got a fresh canvas and sat down before his easel. He couldn't have asked for a better setup; the pose, the lighting, it was all perfect. It was almost too much to hope this was real. Considering how many false starts he'd had, most could probably understand why he felt that way.

Daring to take his time, the big bot made every brush stroke count, trying to think of all the reasons he liked Bee so much as he made each one. His friend was confident, energetic, brave… All those thoughts motivated him every second he worked, and the results were soon apparent. The form of Bumblebee began to take shape rather quickly, coming together far more smoothly thanks to how relaxed he was. A base layer was ready to go in what felt like only a few minutes.

Oblivious to everything, Bumblebee kept right on playing, occasionally sticking his glossa out as he did so. Bulkhead contemplated including that detail in the piece, but ultimately decided against it. This was going to be a somewhat more dignified painting than that.

When the time came to add lighting, he was almost over the moon, but he kept all the excitement to himself. Colors mixed together beautifully on his palette, forming the light and dark shades to the vibrant yellows and deep blacks that made up his friend's paint job. It was far more satisfying than painting even the most beautiful landscape he'd ever seen. Perhaps he was just a little biased on that front, but he did believe that painting things you truly cared about just brought them to life. One only had to glance at this piece to understand how much this bot meant to him.

It almost seemed like he was dreaming when each and every glance revealed Bumblebee to be sitting perfectly still, without a hint of movement beyond the minor. If this did turn out to be a dream, he'd at least be happy it was going so well. Fate had truly designed the perfect setup for them to finally get this done without any stress for either individual.

Everything came together with what felt like only a few of the most well done strokes he'd ever painted. At long last, the bot he'd wanted to paint so badly had been captured on canvas! It was so exciting he couldn't hold back an exclamation as he set his brush down theatrically.

"Done!"

"Huh?!" Bumblebee gasped, half jumping on the spot as his game nearly flew from his servos. Looking about in a daze, he put the pieces together when he saw his friend, at which point guilt crossed his features. Time had slipped away from him even more so than it had for the very busy Bulkhead. "What? I… oh, Bulk! I didn't mean to get distracted! You could have stopped me earlier, I wouldn't have minded."

Waving off the appreciated but unnecessary apology, the big bot only smiled and wiped some paint from his servos, rising from his chair to puff his chest out with pride. "That's okay, I'm already finished."

"How?" the little bot gasped in awe, checking his internal chronometer to see just how long he'd been wrapped up in his game. It had only felt like a few minutes, but this wouldn't be the first time he'd gotten lost in a video game.

"Well, you were pretty content playing your game, so…" Bulkhead allowed his friend to put the rest of the pieces together, and in no time understanding dawned on the little mech.

"Oh, I gotcha!" Bumblebee replied happily, quite relieved to have not held them up. If playing video games was what it had taken to make his friend happy, then he was quite fine with that. All he wanted was to get a look at the results, which he was certain would be incredible. "Here, let me see!"

Feeling a bit of shyness amongst his pride, Bulkhead handed over the canvas, careful to avoid the still drying paint.

"This is amazing!" Bumblebee proclaimed without hesitation, trying to be delicate even as he felt a surge of excitement upon beholding the painting. Of course he knew his friend had talent, but this was incredible! "Look at me, I look even better than usual!"

Bulkhead looked down to the floor and shuffled his pedes, doing his best to hide the blush creeping along his cheeks. "Well, I had a pretty great model."

"That's gonna sell fast, Bulkhead. No doubt about it." Bumblebee praised as he gave the painting back, confident in what he was saying. It didn't hurt that he was a good looking bot, but his friend had really done an especially good job on this one, and he was sure it would be bought up in no time. Taking the piece, the big bot smiled softly as he beheld it again. It had taken a lot of courage for him to get this, and he was quite proud of himself for that. As such, he held the painting very near and dear to his spark.

"Maybe, but… I think I'm gonna keep it, actually." he said softly, wanting to see it every day. There was a perfect place for it where he could do just that, not that he would say where that was. Bumblebee didn't mind the decision in the slightest.

However, when the little bot ducked in his friend's room later to pick up a borrowed item, he learned the true value of the painting to Bulkhead. On a wall reserved for only his most precious of works, the portrait sat high in a position of honor. Usually unable to say everything that came to mind due to overwhelming volume, Bee had been rendered speechless by the sight. Only a soft smile revealed how touched he was by the gesture.

#transformers animated #tfa #bumblebee #bulkhead #commission #my writing #my commissions #fluff

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rallamajoop · 3 years

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How (not) to say ‘fuck’ in Etruscan (and other things I cannot believe I spent so much time tracking down for a throwaway joke in a Witcher slash-fic)

Buried in chapter 4 of my fic Something Nice is a joke which, as much as it amused me, no-one else is going to get unless I explain it. So here we go.

For the last few people in this fandom who haven't heard yet: The Witcher 3's vampire-language is Etruscan. To my knowledge, there's never been an official statement from CDPR to confirm this, but the evidence (ie. that basically all the vampire vocab can be found in online Etruscan sources) seems pretty solid. To explain why this made me go oooooh that's so NEAT, we need a little context.

Context!

The Etruscans (in my admittedly far-from-expert understanding) were a people who lived in Italy back before the Romans got around to conquering-slash-assimilating the rest of the peninsula, and the language they spoke is one of the most frustratingly mysterious of the ancient world. Most dead languages are at least related to something modern linguists have a decent handle on, but Etruscan seems to have been related to almost nothing else spoken – it may even have pre-Indo-European roots (a whoooole other tangent I am in no way qualified to cover).

Surprisingly, we do owe our modern Latin alphabet in part to the Etruscans, since the earliest Roman alphabets were adapted from the Etruscan (who got it from the Greeks, who got it from from the Phoneticians, and so on). The Etruscans may even be the reason we're stuck with so many weirdly redundant K-sounds (not only K and C, but X and Q, which are really just 'ks' and 'kw' with an overblown sense of superiority).

But being able to sound out every surplus K-word from an Etruscan inscription isn't much help nowadays when there are no surviving Etruscan dictionaries to tell us what it actually means – not even a decent Etruscan Rosetta stone to give us a push-start. So while modern linguists may rattle off Ancient Greek fluently or puzzle out Egyptian hieroglyphs from thousands of years before the Etruscans even had an alphabet, the Etruscan vocabulary available to us nowadays remains embarrassingly limited. Bits have been figured out from context or thanks to loanword exchanges with their neighbours (plenty of ancient Greeks and Romans certainly spoke Etruscan, even if they failed to write it down), but a lot is still as mysterious to the experts as it would be to you and me.

So why to I love the idea of using Etruscan as the Witcher’s vampire-language so much? Basically, if you want a language that will sound both old and reliably alien to anyone listening to it – be they the mainstream English-speaking market or the original Polish-language audience – Etruscan is a damn good call. You're not going to have much vocabulary to draw from, but it's not like there's a lot of vampire-chatter in the game anyway. It's a cool little easter egg for fans nerdy enough to try and figure out what they're saying.

Translations and Sources

You aren’t going to find a lot of great Etruscan language sources on the web – few of the easily-discovered online sources on Etruscan vocab appear to have been updated within the last ten years, and lord knows how consistent some of these are with current scholarship (let alone how sure linguists can be about anything with a task like this). All the same, have some links you may find useful:

Etruscology – Brief, but more readable than most

Lexicons.ru Etruscan Glossary – Probably one of the best collections of many terms in one place

Maravot.com Etruscan Language pages – Hard to navigate, but gosh there are a lot of vocab here I have not seen elsewhere

Old, Tripod-hosted Etruscan Glossary – I think these are mostly just the same terms from the Lexicons page, but in harder-to-use format

Etruscan word search – Decent, but not the most extensive vocab

Introduction to the Etruscan Language – Looks to be from Maravot.com, but in pdf format

Paleoglot.com’s Etruscan tag – Blog by an actual linguist who regularly discusses Etruscan material, and who even created their own translation applet! – which was, unfortunately, in flash, and is thus no longer usable. (There is a certain irony that even the tools available online to help you understand Etruscan are written in a language that is now no longer supported or understood by any modern browser.)

Not that translating what’s in the game is going to be easy, oh no. Take, for example, the oh-god-please-don't-kill-me ceremonial greeting Geralt has to offer to the Unseen Elder to survive that meeting – "Eclthi, lautni ama".

'Eclthi' is apparently a "demonstrative (locative)" (’here’, ‘there’, etc). "Lautni" is trickier – it means a freed slave, but may also imply a familial relationship or a client of sorts, while the root “lautn” apparently designates simply “possession.” House slaves in the ancient world were often considered part of the family, and freed slaves were an important class in many ancient cultures, who often maintained relationships with their former masters, so you can see the internal logic, but what sense was the Witcher using it in? It’s hard to know.

"Ama" is possibly worse – most translations seem to have taken it as "to be", but sometimes also “to love”, or even "now" or "meanwhile." Then you hit the question of Etruscan grammar, and I have no idea where I’d even start. So, with a little creativity, you could probably translate that phrase as anything from "take this and consider me a friend" to "meanwhile, this is family" to "a demonstration of love from your slave." I mean, you've got the same general theme going there regardless, but there's a lot of ambiguity in the inflection.

For what it's worth, I feel garasham's translation efforts are easily the most convincing I've seen – they have the above line as “Here I am a slave / a friend / kindred” FWIW. (Mind you, given the wiki doesn't even try to do more than offer you one possible meaning for each word, there's not exactly much competition out there).

So, bringing this all back to that fic and how to say ‘fuck’ in Etruscan...

I've already gone to the web's Etruscan dictionaries once while I was writing Forget-Me-Not, seeking inspiration for a 'real' name for "the Queen of the Night" from the first Witcher game. Neither 'queen' or 'night' got me far, but the Etruscans did apparently have a goddess of the moon called 'Aritimi, Artume or Artames', which worked pretty well. If anything it's almost too close to the better-known Greek goddess Artimis, who was obviously a relative (ancient cultures bleed into each other even when they're not bleeding all over each other, nothing new there), but I'm not going to be picky.

However, being a) a giant nerd, who b) writes a lot of smut, and c) is no more mature deep down inside than the rest of us, I couldn't resist seeing if I could find some slightly more obscene vocabulary. Did the Etruscans have a word for, say, 'fuck'?

Alas, if they did (and I mean, they totally did, c'mon), the web wouldn't tell me about it. Nor could I find much else relating to sex or genitalia (male or female), or even a decent word for 'thrust'.

On the flipside, there were a couple of different terms meaning 'plough'. And anyone who's played – well, any of the games, but especially Witcher 2 – would probably realise exactly why that filled me with so much glee.

Speaking of which, here, have a picture which is in no way related:

The fact that the various Etruscan terms meaning ‘plough’ could also apparently be translated as things like “to worship“ or “to act through movement, including ritual acts,” or that an important mythological figure was “a prophetic child who sprang from a freshly plowed furrow” was in no way discouraging.

The word I ultimately picked was 'esari'. Admittedly, variations on the prefix ‘ar-’/‘ara-’/’aras’ were much more consistently attested to throughout the various online Etruscan dictionaries as ‘terms meaning plow’, but figuring out how to convert an Etruscan prefix into a satisfying word is officially where even my enthusiasm for all this nonsense gives out. Esari was, by comparison, already a much more solid-sounding term, so let’s go with that.

Why go to all this trouble anyway? Well, the honest answer is “entirely for my own amusement”, but the nominal excuse comes right back to “so I could give Regis and Geralt this little exchange during a sex scene.”

"Unless you have any particular objection," said Regis, moving to straddle Geralt's body, "I thought we might engage in some esari... hm, what was the equivalent term in your language again?" The vampire leaned in close to Geralt's ear as he made a show of remembering his answer, "Ah, yes—I thought I'd fuck you."

Never let anyone tell you you never learnt anything from porn!

#The Witcher #Etruscan #vampires #Regis #Emiel Regis #fic #history geekery #also contains a snippet of Geralt x Regis fic #so #you know #be warned

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potteresque-ire · 3 years

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Hi! I have been reading your posts and responses to anonymous and I am inclined to comment on your broadly realistic views and detailed analystic answers and let us not forget your ability to be warm in putting forward your opinions. I am truly a huge fan. Thank you for being a station for various answer seekers.

If you have time and patience, please elaborate on the situation GG is still facing post 227. Recently I read various comments insinuating GG copied DD for Douyin night which is absurd but the implication that only one party is still being targeted unnecessarily raise hackles of a lot of solo fans. And I, under any circumstances, DO NOT believe the involvement of the other party. Firm believer of BJYXSZD.

My point is what is being done to stop these antis from targeting GG. Since one of the motive to target GG is to severe the relationship of GG and DD, IMO at least. Does constant attack (external stimulus) on GG (belittling him by comparing him to DD) may have the possibility to effect their relationship (internal reaction)? Objectively yes, but given your perception of their relationship, what is your opinion in this matter, however subjective it may be?

Moreover, how much extreme and sometimes irrational analysis done by bjyx community can lead to harm to both of them especially GG?

Also, I have seen DD being the captain of BJYX in various circumstances but also throwing off people from their old predicted/maintened theories especially in case of Kadians. I am not sure how much to trust these 'candies' since he has a reputation of not giving a f*** of others opinion. So why would he post GG related or non-related content with same kadians. I mean if he posts private content with GG related kadian then why post promotional content with GG related kadian. Does it imply that kadians are related to GG or not or he doesn't care and we are thinking too much. I am not sure what I am writing now, maybe multitude of thoughts poring out here. I am extremely sorry for that.

I do not know whether people believe or not but 1st post by GG yesterday had initials YB in the circle. Not at all explicit, and depends on believers but I felt like he was just trolling BJYX, it may be good naturedly but after his promotional brand picture of shrimp in bunny's hand. I do not know I just felt, dissappointed/bitter/unsure about all of this. I think it is normal to feel this way from time to time even for SZD because along with emotional investment we have rational perspective which is necessary to scrutinize evidence(maybe) from time to time.

I whole heartedly apologize for writing an essay length ask, this is the reason I wanted your patience 😅.

If any other blogger wants to add or comment on this please feel free to do so. Your suggestions are highly welcomed. 🙏

Hello Anon!

I take it that your questions about safety are concerned about the behaviour of c-solos and c-turtles? International fans aren’t likely to put Gg and Dd at any risk. That said, however, frequent fighting among i-fans would likely drain Gg and Dd’s international fanbase, as many fans do not enjoy being a combative atmosphere (I, for one, will run away as quickly as a turtle can run!). Lost i-fans can’t be easily replenished, whether they’re turtles or solos ~ The Untamed, as a foreign language show so beloved that fans are willing to scale tall language and cultural barriers to understand it, isn’t something that comes around often. (stanning Gg and/or Dd does take a lot of work!)

About the arguments. I probably only know about a fraction of them since I do not interact directly with fans outside Tumblr . As far as I can tell, however, recent arguments among c-solos and c-turtles have been ordinary fights, and also, fairly “bi-directional” between the solos (ie. I don’t think Gg or Dd has been relatively exempt from attacks compared to each other).

These arguments can be heated and some of the attacks may sound vicious, but there’s nothing much to worry about from a safety angle, as they haven’t caught the attention of those outside the fan circles.

The theorising by turtles are also not inherently dangerous. c-turtles have mostly been careful about keeping their discussions among themselves. The only risk it may lead to in the future, that I can think of right now, is the associated YiZhan content on China-based websites (ex. Bilibili, Douyin), which has become fairly plentiful. YiZhan candies used to be relatively obscure given the guidelines of CP fans to keep them among themselves (they call this practice 圈地自萌, literally, drawing a circle on the ground and have fun in it by oneself). These days, however, anyone who’s curious can get a good sense of YiZhan’s story by browsing Bilibili.

This probably contributes to the continued growth of the turtle population; however, some of this content is created by non-turtles who seek viewership and have little concern over Gg and Dd’s safety. They are the ones who re-upload the BTS, for example, despite the repeated pleas and warnings by the “站姐”s—the superfans who take/purchase these videos—as well as the turtles to not do that. If these content creators go overboard, there’s a possibility that YiZhan content may get caught in the government’s “Eradicating Pornography and Illegal Publications”（掃黃打非) movement. The movement originated in the mid 2000s, and its recent waves have been used as pretext to remove LGBT+ and BL content on line (I will eventually set up a post re: those events). Just last month (2020 Dec), Bilibili has been explicitly named by the government for hosting questionable materials, which means it’s already under scrutiny. Sweeps performed on an entire website are usually broad-based enough that no specific individuals are targeted; however, the government also encourages, with financial incentives, the reporting of specific content and has set up a dedicated website for doing so. While all YiZhan content has no direct relation to Gg and Dd, removal of such content may cause an over-reaction from fans, which can, in turn, lead to accusations of poor fan management by Gg and Dd. Most people will also assume the YiZhan content to be created by turtles.

(Another example of how an alleged turtle mis-step can get the YiZhan fandoms and Gg and Dd tied to the 掃黃打非 movement: a few days ago, a Weibo post showed a photo of a hardcover version of an explicit BJYX fanfic, reportedly sold for profit, and GG haters were calling for an arrest for “illegal publication.” So far, there’s minimal noise on the issue, so it isn’t something to worry about. It can also be fake news, which is so bountiful on the platform and on every aspect of daily life that most die a very peaceful, very well-deserved death.).

Whether fan arguments / theories may affect Gg and Dd’s relationship (assuming they’re in a relationship) … my guess is, not much. Gg and Dd are busy people, unlikely to closely follow their fans’ discussions. Again, I expect effects to be felt only if the arguments get out of hand ~ as in, if they begin to involve the public and/or the government.

As for the question about what is being done to stop Gg being targeted: fan wars are incredibly common in China (as in everywhere else), and Gg and Dd’s aren’t special in that sense ~ it’s just that as turtles, we know about those surrounding Gg and Dd and they feel significant to us. No individuals can stop a fan war ~ all we can do is to not join these wars ourselves.

Personally, I think the international fan base of Gg and Dd, as solos and cpfs, have more chance to achieve peace than its Chinese counterparts — if they choose to want that. Popularity in China is not only quantified (which is likely true everywhere, by marketing departments), but very visibly so. Sales numbers, votes, traffic attributed to each idol are frequently released to the public, possibly to foster competition among fans and drive these numbers further upward. c-turtles’ demonstrated strong performance in pushing these metrics has made them a target to those who wish to have usurp their consumer power. They, therefore, have good reasons to be wary of anyone who try to sway them from their “turtle-ship”, whether to turn them into solos or to lure them into an entirely different fandom. The swaying messages are also not always obvious, not always a direct “your cp suck”. They can be subtle, many even come from netizens who appear to be fellow turtles, who may say “oh, maybe we (turtles) are wrong” or “we have to be realistic; Gg and Dd will never look at each other publicly again”—messages that cast doubt and sink morale in a fandom that’s already running an uphill battle. Remember: traditionally, CP fandoms are not expected or welcomed to last, and solos have been happy to (correctly) point out that the BTS, the origin of the most solid “evidences” of BJYXSZD, are getting older by the day. c-turtles can’t expect anyone else to help defend their ship if something happens, given CP fandoms’ lack of respectability, given YiZhan being a real person M/M pairing that is often frowned upon. So it’s understandable, to me at least, why c-turtles are on guard, and occasionally, clash with those who they feel may be trying to take away what they love.

i-turtles, I feel, don’t have that many reasons to fight. We don’t really have other fandoms (for example, the up and coming danmeis—the adapted BL dramas) vying for our attention (and wallets). No one can put an expiration date on the YiZhan communities except ourselves.

Another way to see this is: we—as in, the combined Gg + Dd international fanbase, the solos + CPFs—are lucky in a way the fans in Gg and Dd’s home country are not. Collectively, we’re much further removed from the pressure to perform as fans, which is immense in China with their fan circle culture and fan economy. i-shrimps and i-motorcycles ~ some of you are reading this, I think? (hello!) ~ here are my humble thoughts: the solo/turtle ratio of Gg and Dd’s international fans doesn’t make much of an impact on Gg and Dd’s star status, on the popularity metrics that matter. Our spending power is limited outside China’s borders, and while Gg and Dd likely love us equally as fans, our adoration for them doesn’t really matter much, if at all, to the production/media/commercial companies that control the trajectories of their careers.

Along this line, the turtles’ “double loyalty” doesn’t have much of an ill effect, because there are few popularity contests here that mean much; few times (if any) when the turtles must face the dilemma of whether to vote for Gg or Dd because only a single vote is allowed; few situations where they have only x amount of dollars and must split it equally between Gg or Dd’s endorsements. There’s also much less cause to worry that i-turtles may draw the attention, or ire of the Chinese government ~ the whole international fanbase is too far away, too spread out to destabilise the regime in any way.

What the turtles do have in common with you, the solos, is their knowledge, their love for Gg/Dd. Knowledge, in particular. The people who know about Gg/Dd are still far and in between—at where I am, at least, and my guess is, it’s likely true for many of you too. Think of the turtles as people who you can talk to about your favourite star in places where few people know about him, can help promote The Untamed far and wide—many people still haven’t heard of the show, and they deserve to.

For the turtles ~ no one can take away our turtle-ship identity, as long as we don’t give it away. No one can report on the our communities to the government and get them dissolved. Our votes, our spending habits are no one else’s business but ours here.

So, Anon, here’s what I think, and these are all very personal opinions, very personal decisions on how to navigate fandom …

I truly hope that we, as the international fanbase, can try to use this luck that we have. Make our communities not mere copies of their (combative) Chinese counterparts but something different, something with our own flavour, something with more peace and less fighting.

Specifically, I see little cause to try to persuade/dissuade anyone to be a solo/turtle. I find them… not the best use of time. Why? Because frankly, neither solos nor turtles have a better grasp of who Gg and Dd are. Neither solos nor turtles have a truly good grasp of who Gg and Dd are. These discussions are therefore bound to end up with more ill will than conclusions, since both sides are short of facts.

We’re all short of facts as audiences, who’ve all only seen a tiny sliver of who Gg and Dd are as human beings.

I don’t mean Gg and Dd’s star image is fake ~ it’s just that, their star image is their “work face”, and even I, a lowly turtle, must act somewhat differently in my own office. It’s part of being professional.

Gg and Dd’s star image are their professional face, and no professionals worth a salt truly ignore other’s opinions, especially when the profession is being an entertainer whose job is to face and hold the attention of the public.

This is true for Gg; this is true for Dd.

Social media accounts are also part of Gg and Dd’s professional face ~ whatever is posted on there will be scrutinised by millions of fans, and they know that. The posts do provide some insights about Gg an Dd’s personalities, but they can’t be expected to show a complete picture. No parts of these posts, therefore, whether it’s the content or the kadians, are sufficient evidences for / against any aspect of their personal lives (especially as private an aspect as their romantic lives). Anon, you mentioned promotional marketing materials, and here’s my understanding of them ~ ambassadors such as Gg and Dd have minimal control over their design. The shrimp-holding bunny you’re referring to, for example, is very likely provided by the company.

However, may I also add this? Please try to not think of the shrimps / motorcycles as enemies of the turtles. Millions of people are behind each of these labels, and true for any group of this size, a fraction of its members are bound to be annoying. A small fraction may be awful, even. But they don’t represent the entire group. The shrimps are not only Gg’s fans, many of them have supported him longer than any turtle (since turtle-ship can’t be older than 2018); they’re also the reasons why Gg is in the industry ~ they voted for him in X-Fire. Likewise, a subset of motorcycles have been with Dd since UNIQ; they were there when the Korean ban effectively dissolved his group; they stuck with him when he was attacked for taking on the role of LWJ.

We’re all Gg and Dd’s fans, if you ask people outside the fandom. Remember: few outside China understand why heated arguments can occur between a bunch of shrimps, turtles and motorbikes. (It sounds a bit kafkaesque, just typing it out.)

It’s important not to lose sight too, that Gg and Dd’s social media accounts, where many new candies are found, primarily function as bridges of communication between them and their fans. These accounts do have different degrees of “professionalism” ~ Weibo and the official accounts being more formal, and Oasis, Douyin being more laid back and intimate; still, they all serve similar purposes. They’re not candy generators, or a script Gg and Dd have an obligation to follow to confirm / refute BJYXSZD.

Also: these accounts are accessible and watched by the public, not all of whom are friendly to Gg and Dd.

Re: Gg’s drawing on Oasis. He used the account as it’s intended for—to interact with his fans (the caption of the first draft was an unspoken invitation to shower him with ideas) and maybe, to show off a little (it was a very nice piece of artwork ~ a comment that I, sadly, haven’t seen much of). I doubt he posted his drawing because he wanted fans to carpet-search for traces of Dd in it (even though he probably expected that would happen); I very much doubt he posted his drawing because he wanted his fans to fight over scratch marks or black dots.

If these fights keep happening, I can imagine a possible outcome. He’ll stop showing us his drawings. His social media accounts will become less and less personal, as they already have.

I’ll share with you my thoughts about candies too, while I’m at it. These are probably not-so-popular opinions, so please take them all with a grain of salt.(Salted caramels? 😊 )

I haven’t looked at why candies are called candies, but I find the name appropriate for how I think of them ~ candies are 1) neither evidences or truth, 2) sweet, 3) treats (non-essential, not like the main course).

The first point is, perhaps, the one I try the hardest to keep in mind. There are posts out there claiming the candies as made-beliefs—generated from edited pictures or videos, exaggerated translations, and their interpretations forced by “guidances” in the annotations/narration. There are also posts claiming that turtles are deceivers, or have been deceived by brainwashers who maliciously created these make-beliefs. A turtle may assume these posts are all lies, all made by antis.

But, speaking turtle-to-turtle, I’d venture to say this … there’s some truth in the *first* statement. Many candies do, indeed, taste different if their taster returns to the original source—not necessarily unsweet, but less sweet. Candies, remember, are generated by fans like you and I. Same for c-candies ~ they aren’t endorsed by Gg and Dd, aren’t necessarily closer to the truth just because of the relative proximity of their birthplaces to their leads.

Candy generation is The Tradition of CP fandoms. It’s a celebrated skill, and who doesn’t want to generate a candy that will be talked about, that will be part of the BJYX canon, for as long as the fandom lasts? Some fans are, therefore, also more … efficient in the “marketing” of the candies they generated — in persuading others that their candies are evidences, the truth. “Guidance” photos and videos (which pinpoint the place to watch, sometimes with appropriate sound effects for emphasis) have come about that way, and because they’re easy to digest—especially where language barriers exist—they end up spreading to i-fandoms.

These photos and videos may look more professional / trustworthy, but they often have an additional layer of subjectivity ~ on top of the already subjective opinion of what makes a candy. Translations (of BTS, fake rumours house content etc) also introduce a subjective element. Word choices can significant modify the tone of a conversation; speakers of different Chinese dialects may also have different interpretations of the same phrases. Example: I, as a non Chongqing/Sichuanese speaker, can guess the literal meaning of the “puppy” term Gg used for Dd — 狗崽崽 (gou zai zai) — but I also had to rely on others to tell me how endearing the term is; me being a Chinese speaker actually doesn’t make my interpretation any more valid, or authoritative, in this scenario, because my dialect doesn’t use this term at all.

It doesn’t mean the people who’ve put in the work have any less-than-good intent; the vast majority of them come from a place of deep love. It’s just that we all carry our own perspectives, and as fans, our strong emotions in our fanworks.

This is why candies are often insufficient as good “points” for arguments, why they fail to convince non-believers, sometimes to the disappointment of some turtles. As evidences, they aren’t objective enough; they’re also often touch upon the assumption that’s mark the fundamental difference between solo and cp fans — the assumption that Gg and Dd are (not) together. Take, for example, this segment from a (polite) ask I got from an anon solo:

All the matching clothes, jewelry, shoes etc. Stopped being valid candy when I realized that the brands have popular stars "endorse" their products. The lightning pendant? Other actors have also worn it. Does that mean they are in a 3-way with (Gg) and (Dd)? Probs not.

Solo anon was correct! Brands have star endorsers, and other entertainers have, indeed, worn the same lightning pendant. The implied argument is also valid: people who don’t care about, don’t even know about each other can wear the same things. Most of us do that on a daily basis with our mass-produced garments.

However, a counterargument can also be made to the statement above, and easily: even the most precious, most beautiful wedding rings (say, from Tiffany!) are not exclusive to the first RL couple who bought them. It doesn’t mean the first RL couple is sleeping with all the couples who bought the same rings afterwards, doesn’t mean those rings aren’t significant to every one of these couples as romantic mementos. More often than not, couples wear matching things not because these things are exclusive to them—because how often can one find things that only exist as a single pair in this world? They wear matching things because they want to see something on themselves that remind them of their significant other and so, as long as the things aren’t so prevalent that everyone is wearing them, they can already serve their purpose.

But you see, Anon, that arguing over this would’ve been a waste of time? Because the solo came in with the assumption that Gg and Dd were not a couple, and the counterargument was made with the assumption that they were. The pendants alone are insufficient to prove either side correct or wrong. No one knows why those pendants ended up on Gg and Dd’s necks, except Gg and Dd and their teams. If I were to argue with anon solo, we can go on and on and on until we’re both left with bitter tastes in our mouths and WWX-red in our eyes, and forget the one thing that really matters: we’re both Gg’s fans.

(We could’ve spent the time talking about how that scene in The Wolf with Ji Chong throwing Zai Xing in the water is ❤️.) (I can’t believe the script waited 30+ episodes to do it. 😂)

This leads to my second point, Anon. Candies are meant to be sweet, and they’re meant to be sweet for you. In Chinese, a term for an expert candy person is a 嗑學家 (the candy-eating in CP fandoms is called 嗑糖 (ketang) ～ with 嗑 ke denoting a specific form of eating that requires breaking something open first with teeth—such as watermelon seeds; a 嗑學家 is a 嗑 (ke)-ologist). A 嗑學家 isn’t someone who can recall the longest list of candies, or spread the most candies around, or convince the most people that the CP behind the candies is real; they are those who can find their own candies in a source material, and be overjoyed by the sweetness of their discoveries without outside help. To me, at least, this term encapsulates the subjective nature of candies ~ what’s right for you may not be right for me and vice versa, and that’s perfectly all right. In other words, there are many candies out there but you’re not required to believe in all of them; instead, you’re free to choose candies to your own liking, compose your own version of the BJYX canon that you love, that you find sweet.

Wait, but you may say. Doesn’t that make my canon fantasy? Yes and no, because candies are based on real events. They’re interpretations, which sit somewhere between reality and fantasy. They’re like … opinion shows on news channels.

But what if I need to convince people of my canon —

Your “opposition”’s canon is as fantastical, and as real as yours — maybe it isn’t, but neither of you have a way to prove it one way or another.

Wouldn’t solos call me delulu, or clowns?

Maybe. But one step outside the fandom, and all of us fans—solo and cpfs—are delulu, clowns.

(That’s why while I’ve used the cpn label, I haven’t called myself delulu, or a clown. Anyone who thinks I have the truth about the love story about a pair of idol I haven’t met from thousands of miles away … the joke’s probably on them, don’t you think?)

Of course and again, Anon, this is only my take! I like candies precisely because I like to watch the real-time generation of candies, which ones different people claim as their own, which candies fall away and which stick around in the fandom over time. As a fic writer, this ship has gifted me with a treasure trove of information ~ what do people think of as romantic gestures, as give-away signs of love? The fun/amazing part of BJYX is that candies are available for so many different answers to these questions. Some people think of longing gazes and sweet smiles; some think of touches that can’t be helped (the many, many, many “fights”); some think of service (buying foods, designing clothes); some think of caring about the other’s well-being (throat candies and dumplings + noodles + crackers); some think of being The Other’s One and Only Exception (Dd being so talkative around Gg, Gg being so … fussy around Dd); some think of expressions through the arts (songs, drawings, dances); some think of grand gestures (the wave heart in the ocean); some think of matching clothes and symbolic accessories (rings); some think of birthdays and anniversaries (314, 622, the first snow); some think of sharing life’s hassles and small tidbits (fake rumour house); some think of … just looking VERY good together. Etc etc.

Some think of a subset of these, some think of all of these…

(Personally, I’m a very picky candy eater. I know about many of them, but only a small fraction impresses on me.)

(Still, I love watching candies. I love watching the joy of people sweetened by them ~ or, when c-turtles exclaim kswl! — the short form of ke si wo le! 嗑死我了! I “ke”ed so much I’m dying!)

This gets to 3), Anon, and I apologise to you too, for answering your not-essay-at-all with an essay! Candies are, to me, treats, and I don’t expect them to come at any frequencies higher than treats do. The reason isn’t because I don’t like candies ~ I enjoy watching them, as I said, even if I don’t eat many of them; the reason is because I don’t expect anyone’s romantic love to leave a trace in everything they do. For example, if I truly find myself in a SZD/SJD discussion re: Gg’s drawing, I’d say the lack of Dd in Gg’s self-portrait doesn’t really mean much. Even if Gg and Dd were head-over-heels in love with one another, Gg doesn’t have to put Dd in everything he touches. Likewise, Dd doesn’t have to present a consistent, or decipherable story with his kadians. This is true for the real-life couples around us too, isn’t it? They don’t perform every single act in life leaving a noticeable trace of their significant other. And the misunderstanding that couples do that — that their romantic lives take over who they are as individuals — IMO, partially explains why people who choose to not to date or marry, people who’re aro-aces, often have a difficult time convincing others that they’re complete humans. Romantic love is, of course, very, very important and can be life altering, but it also isn’t everything about a person ~ especially not if a person who has a career as exciting as Gg’s and Dd’s. Gg and Dd who also have friends, family, (many) talents and interests …

(And lots of ugly icons on their cell phones. Yes, I’m talking about you, Gg. That long-armed Pepe from your 2018 snowless Beijing post will give me nightmares…)

#pie metas #pie answers #yizhan #BJYX

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another-rogue-trevelyan · 3 years

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If you liked Dragon Age Masterlist

If you’re anything like me, you’re into niche market, high fantasy, single player RPGs, preferably with a historical setting and romance options. So if you’re looking for a new game, here I am with some suggestions!

Sorted by studio:

Bethesda:

Oblivion (2006)

“In the shadow of evil, a hero will rise from the ashes of a fallen empire. The gates have been opened, and the battle has begun. Only one thing can save the world from Mehrunes Dagon and the demonic hordes of Oblivion. The true heir of the Septim line must be found and restored to the Imperial throne. The fate of the world rests in the hands of one. Find him, and shut the jaws of Oblivion.”

The Elder Scrolls series were my gateway into RPGs and hold a special place in my heart. Oblivion features a wide open world, immersive combat, and the ability to customize race, class, and gender.

Skyrim (2011)

“The Empire of Tamriel is on the edge. The High King of Skyrim has been murdered. Alliances form as claims to the throne are made. In the midst of this conflict, a far more dangerous, ancient evil is awakened. Dragons, long lost to the passages of the Elder Scrolls, have returned to Tamriel. The future of Skyrim, even the Empire itself, hangs in the balance as they wait for the prophesized Dragonborn to come; a hero born with the power of The Voice, and the only one who can stand amongst the dragons.”

I have sunk so many hours into this game and still have not experienced all there is to experience. Just like Oblivion, Skyrim offers the ability to customize your character and find a play style that suits you. A huge open world offers tons of opportunity for exploration and questing. You could play this game many, many hours and not even touch the main quest if you wanted to.

BioWare:

Mass Effect Legendary Edition (2021)

Just do it. Just fucking do it I’m still sobbing I’ve never had a game wreck me in this way. I might possibly like it more than Dragon Age which feels sacrilegious to say but it was so good. You follow Commander Shepard (customizable) for three whole games and the choices have serious consequences. Also, romance. Truthfully this might be the most well written storyline I’ve ever seen in a video game. Also, same studio as Dragon Age.

CD Projekt:

The Witcher III: Wild Hunt (2015)

I’ll let the website description speak for itself, but Witcher III was good enough that I didn’t mind being forced to play as a man (those who know me know that I exclusively prefer to play women and often dislike games where I can’t do so)! The characters that make up this story are captivating and suck you into their world, leaving you with some tough choices to make. Also, bonus points for romance! (Yen is one of my all time favorite characters, Triss never stood a chance for me. Sorry Triss fans 😂)

Larian:

Divinity Original Sin 2 (2017)

“The Divine is dead. The Void approaches. And the powers lying dormant within you are soon to awaken. Choose your role in a BAFTA-winning story, and explore a world that reacts to who you are, and the choices you make. With five races to choose from, and an adventure playable solo or as a party of up to four, lay waste to an oppressive order in a world afraid of magic. Become the God the world so desperately needs.”

Full disclosure, I have not finished playing this one yet and will update when I do, but what I’ve played so far has been great! A classic, turn-based RPG that allows you a wide range of character customization. I find this game incredibly satisfying to be a rogue (my preferred class) because it lets me live my dream of throwing knives at people. Also, romance!

Baldur’s Gate III beta (2020)

“An ancient evil has returned to Baldur's Gate, intent on devouring it from the inside out. The fate of Faerûn lies in your hands. Alone, you may resist. But together, you can overcome. Gather your party.”

Fair warning, as of my most recent update to this post (March 30th, 2021) this game is still in a beta phase, which means it is NOT complete and has aspects that are missing, glitchy, or subject to change. With that being said, I’m so obsessed. It’s so, so good already and is only getting better. Another wide open world to explore with a group of companions with strong and sometimes clashing personalities, choices are abundant in this game and will affect how your party members think of you. This game so far gives me the feeling that choices are complicated and aren’t always easy to tell which is morally right, which I personally love. Also, I can be a sarcastic ass with a good heart, which is always fun. Astarion basically owns me now, but if you can resist him there are plentiful other romance choices as well! Customization is already a wider range than I’ve seen in most RPGs and they haven’t even finished the character creator yet, which has me SO excited for the finished product. Also - good hair?!??!! I love it!

Lionhead:

Fable III (2010)

“Lead a revolution to take control of Albion, fight alongside your people, and experience love and loss while preparing to defend the kingdom against a looming threat. Your choices as ruler will lead to consequences felt across the entire land.”

I’ll be honest, this one isn’t my favorite on the list, but was good enough to still make it! This game allows you to choose between playing as the prince or the princess on a quest to save your kingdom from itself, and then a greater threat as well. The game takes place in a kingdom loosely modeled after industrial England, and what did score it some major points were (SPOILER WARNING - skip the purple if you don’t want to know!) that the last act of the game lets you play as the monarch, where you are forced to make some tough decisions in order to save your kingdom. It is very easy to back yourself into a corner, pinch pennies in order to fund the army and save the kingdom, but make your citizens hate you because of it. You’re gonna have to be very, very careful, which is something I did really enjoy about this game. (I’ve heard Fable II was better, and that’s also on my list to try, will update in the future!)

Nintendo:

Fire Emblem Three Houses (2019)

“War is coming to the continent of Fódlan. Here, order is maintained by the Church of Seiros, which hosts the prestigious Officer’s Academy within its headquarters. You are invited to teach one of its three mighty houses, each comprised of students brimming with personality and represented by a royal from one of three territories. As their professor, you must lead your students in their academic lives and in turn-based, tactical RPG battles wrought with strategic, new twists to overcome. Which house, and which path, will you choose?”

Currently playing this one and I’m so addicted! This one is slightly outside of my usual taste but it has made me interested in playing more games like it. The player controls Byleth (you can rename them if you wish), who becomes a professor of combat and battle tactics despite their young age at a monastery and finds themself in charge of a house of students. Battles are tactics and strategy based and classes are highly customizable. I sunk like 30 hours into this game in the last three days. I won’t say more about the plot to avoid spoilers, but it’s been a ton of fun and also has slow burn romance

Spiders:

Greedfall (2019)

This game destroyed my soul in the best way and when I finished it I immediately started a new game to play it again. You play as Lady or Lord De Sardet, Legate of the Congregation of Merchants and effectively the right hand of your cousin, who has been appointed governor of your new colony on the island. While I enjoy the combat in this game, which allows you the choice between one handed, two handed, magic, and pistols or rifles (save that ammo for when you really need it!), this game focuses heavily on diplomacy and relations. Be careful what information you give to whom and how you treat every decision. The enemies you make early on might be people you need on your side later. I also love that choices aren’t always clearly right or wrong, and often are more complicated than they first appear. Even the best intentions can sometimes go awry.

Ubisoft:

Assassin’s Creed, Syndicate (2015)

“London, 1868. In the heart of the Industrial Revolution, lead your underworld organization and grow your influence to fight those who exploit the less privileged in the name of progress”

Another one that I’ll admit, I haven’t finished, and is definitely the odd one out on the list because it’s set in Victorian England, but I was having fun with what I had played so far before Greedfall distracted me. In this game, you alternate between controlling twins Jacob and Evie Frye as you explore and liberate London while meeting famous historical figures and running a gang on the side.

Assassin’s Creed, Origins (2017)

“Ancient Egypt, a land of majesty and intrigue, is disappearing in a ruthless fight for power. Unveil dark secrets and forgotten myths as you go back to the one founding moment: The Origins of the Assassin’s Brotherhood.”

In the spirit of honesty, I haven’t started this one yet, but I am so confident that I’m gonna love it when I do that it’s here anyway. I’ve purchased it, and will get to it soon, I swear! In the meantime, I wanted to put it here because I’m confident some of you will enjoy it. Will come back with a review once I know more.

Assassin’s Creed, Odyssey (2018)

“Write your own epic odyssey and become a legendary Spartan hero in Assassin’s Creed® Odyssey, an inspiring adventure where you must forge your destiny and define your own path in a world on the brink of tearing itself apart. Influence how history unfolds as you experience a rich and ever-changing world shaped by your decisions.”

Y’all this game owned my soul for a while. I’ve sunk so many hours into it. You have a choice to play as either Kassandra or Alexios and navigate the wonders of Ancient Greece. The world is stunning, the choices are important, and this game took a big step for the assassins creed series in becoming a true RPG. I can’t recommend this one enough, you should absolutely go for it!

Assassin’s Creed, Valhalla (2020)

“Become Eivor, a legendary Viking warrior. Explore England's Dark Ages as you raid your enemies, grow your settlement, and build your political power in the quest to earn a place among the gods in Valhalla.”

This game is brand new, hot off the press, and has already been a massive hit. I have only JUST started playing it and am about an hour in, but so far so good! It’s here on my recommendations list because of its wild popularity and because I’ve already enjoyed other games in this series, so I feel confident that some of my fellow dragon age fans will enjoy it. Will update again once I get further in.

Other games on my To Be Played list (otherwise known as things I don’t want to recommend because I know almost nothing about them but will update here after I know more)

-Pillars of Eternity 1 and 2

-Horizon Zero Dawn

-Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag

-Fable 1 and 2

-Kingdoms of Amalur

-Breath of the Wild

-Crimson Desert (not out yet but I’m intrigued)

#will update as I find more #if you liked dragon age #dragon age #video games #video game recommendations #op #rpgs #masterlist

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vintagedolan · 3 years

Text

mixtape | track nine

| masterlist | faceclaims | playlist |

Eden arrived in New York in the biggest coat she could find in a store in Los Angeles, which came equipped with a furry hood and enough stuffing in it to make her resemble the michelin man when she climbed into the car.

She leaned back against the headrest of the seat with a sigh, an iced coffee in each hand. Her eyes closed for a minute, like she was trying to find her inner peace, and then she sat up and passed a cup to Indy in the driver’s seat.

“Vanilla, oatmilk right?”

“Always,” Indy laughed, taking a sip before putting it in the cupholder. “So uh, I love you and all, but are you finally gonna tell me why you changed your flight and made it so much earlier?”

“Drive to your place, and I’ll explain.”

Eden waited until she got out of the majority of the traffic.

“So, I had my original ticket and I was just gonna rent a car and show up, you know this, we planned it. But then I had the brilliant idea to come early and kidnap you,” she grinned, sipping her coffee.

“You’re kidnapping me?”

“Kinda. Well, reverse kidnapping I guess cause I’m forcing you to host me. You told the boys you were Christmas shopping like I said right? So you’re clear for a few hours?”

“Yeah.”

“Well good, cause we’re having a girls moment, because you need me.”

“I need you?” Indy laughed. She could never imagine possessing the confidence that Eden manifested every day, but she hoped one day she could have a fraction of it.

“Yeah, because you’re surrounded by Dolan twins, not Dolan twins girlfriends. And I’m sure neither of them have shut the fuck up about everything going on, right?”

Indy sighed, which Eden took as a yes. The two had been talking more and more, but especially since the absolute blow up on social media. Eden had been the first one to text her that day with a simple message.

Been there, I know how much it sucks but it’ll pass. Call me later when you’re up for it

Indy hadn’t called. She didn’t want to be a burden, didn’t want Eden to think she was weak. Instead she’d gone onto Eden’s instagram, tried to see how she handled things, and from the first few scrolls on her feed it was blatantly obvious that she didn’t give a shit. Just a few weeks prior she’d posted a picture of her and Ethan in the mirror dressed up for a date, his hand fully grabbing her ass with the caption miss you bby. Indy scrolled the comments, blood boiling at some of the shit people said to her. She wondered if she’d ever get to the point where she could even stand to reopen her own instagram, much less post with reckless abandon.

“We love men who think they know what it’s like to be a woman,” she teased, shaking her head as they continued down the road. “They’ve got such a protection complex, both of them, but Gray especially. Don’t get me wrong, I love it most of the time. Actually, it’s kinda hot. But holy shit does it get annoying when they underestimate you.”

Indy had experienced it first hand in the last week, and she couldn’t disagree. It was like she was on lockdown. Gone were the days of Grayson meeting her in the lobby of the building, or waiting for her outside of Jets. When he came to her apartment he was in sunglasses and a beanie, sometimes even a scarf pulled up over his mouth in an attempt to hide from any cameras he couldn’t see. He relaxed marginally when he got inside, but the only time he really seemed to catch his breath was when the sun set and they were tangled in each other’s arms, or when they were off the interstate on the back roads to Jersey. His shoulders would sink a bit, and his grip on her hand would relax when they took the exit. Something about the trees, still coated in snow, made him feel safer, made him feel like he could protect her somehow.

It felt like a breath of fresh air to walk into her lobby with someone by her side. There were no cameras, but Eden wouldn’t have cared even if there was. She held her hand and walked in as if she’d done it a thousand times, though she had to wait for Indy to hit the right elevator button.

When they got inside the apartment, Eden plopped herself down on the couch with a smile and patted the cushion beside her.

“Alright, spill. Give me all the details, how’s it been going?”

Indy started to talk, and then she couldn’t stop. It spilled out of her like water, every single thing that had happened since her graduation date. Eden listened intently to each detail, from the way they’d changed their walking path to the hospital to the fact that he was looking into a new paint job for the truck to make it less recognizable.

“And he’s just so paranoid, and I mean I guess I am too in a way, cause I like my privacy too. But it’s like he thinks I’ll die if a picture of me gets out or something, like damn, I’m a little sensitive sometimes but I’m not that fucking fragile.”

“You should have seen Ethan when the pregnancy rumors started for me. One big lunch at Monty’s later and all of a sudden I’m 3 months pregnant and I don’t know which twin’s it is,” she rolled her eyes and sipped her coffee through her straw with a smile.

“No fucking way.”

“I thought he was going to actually murder the dude from Hollywood Fix for that one. We burned through two Relax candles that week. Wild.”

“Jesus christ.”

“But hey, you already got the engagement rumor out of the way, so pregnancy is probably next. To be safe though, never even look in the window of a wedding dress store, and definitely don’t go to the baby section anywhere.”

Eden said it all so casually, as if making sure to avert your eyes from a wedding dress in a window was a totally normal thing to do. Indiana’s breathing picked up at her words, afraid that somehow she’d accidentally start a rumor about herself that would come back to bite Grayson.

“Isn’t that exhausting though? Being worried about that shit all the time?”

“You get used to it, and you adapt. Like the topaz ring for Lisa. That’s from Ethan and Grayson together, but they decided to send Gray in because if Ethan got spotted in a ring shop there would be an article about our secret wedding on DailyMail next week. Of course, that plan didn’t work out for Gray so well either, as we now know. Why the fuck he didn’t think about that is beyond me, but whatever,” she laughed.

“No one was supposed to know about me,” Indy said, and her words didn’t resonate until they hung in the air. Was that what it was? The sudden shift in him being so damn worried about someone possibly seeing them together? It made her palms sweaty and she rubbed them on her pants before she spoke again.

“When did Ethan get over it?”

Eden scoffed. “He’s not over it. Still makes him want to lose his mind when someone says some shit about me. He broke a knuckle last year punching a wall cause a news outlet got pictures of me in a bikini while we were in Hawaii and said I’d gained weight.”

“That’s… absolutely fucked Eden, I’m fucking sorry.”

“I put it on my instagram story and laughed it off.” She shrugged her shoulders, as most women do when they have to accept unsolicited opinions from strangers. But something about the confidence she exuded when she said it made Indy believe that, somehow, she really had just brushed it off for the most part.

“Is it hard to do that? Laugh it off?”

“Sometimes.” She sat up, getting more serious as she looked at Indiana. “But here’s the thing babes. Someone is sitting in an office somewhere, probably in their little house, with a bunch of clutter on their desk writing shitty articles about me. Meanwhile, I’m living in a nice ass house in LA with my hot ass boyfriend who bought me that bikini and took me to Hawaii. So who's actually winning?

“People talk shit about you when they wish they were you, that’s just how the world works. It’s shit, but once you accept that it changes your perspective on a lot of things. I mean honestly Indy, who gives a fuck what dolantea with 7 a’s the end has to say on instagram when you have Grayson fucking Dolan in your bed every night?” She raised her eyebrows, happy to see the smile she got out of Indy. “And if you ever tell him I said that I’ll put Nair in your shampoo.”

“My lips are sealed,” Indy teased, suddenly filled with a boost of confidence. “You have a very interesting perspective on the world Eden, I like it.”

“Coming from the college grad, I take that as a major compliment.”

“Believe me, there’s plenty of dumb people with college degrees. Doesn’t mean much at the end of the day.”

“But it gets you into a career that means something,” she mused. “I mean, being a doctor is a big deal, you’ll help a lot of people.”

Indy chewed on her lip. Every intrusive thought she’d had in the last few days that didn’t revolve around Twitter had to do with her imagining herself as a doctor, but it always faded into something else. It was her at a patient’s bedside, her helping them get to their feet, her sending them home with their family. Things that nurses did, not doctors.

“Yeah. I hope so,” was all she could say.

“That wasn’t very Indy of you.”

She quirked an eyebrow at Eden and waited for an explanation.

“You always keep a convo going, and you let that one drop, which means you probably don’t want to talk about it. But I’ll listen if you want to get it off your chest.”

“I don’t know… it’s just. The more I think about it, the more I realize that maybe being a doctor isn’t exactly what I thought it would be.”

“Oh. Well, then don’t be a doctor.”

It was Indy’s turn to scoff. “It’s not that simple Eden.”

“Isn’t it though?”

Indiana couldn’t come up with an answer. So instead, after the silence became too much, she deflected, making Eden walk her through the plans for the day.

A few hours later, once they’d gotten ready, they headed out to Jersey for the early birthday surprise, which Lisa was in on. She had ordered a massive vegan cake from one of the bakeries in New York that Indy picked up on the way, making Eden hold it for the majority of the ride. But when they got to the start of the driveway, she pulled over and had her counterpart climb into the trunk of the SUV, sticking a shiny blue gift bow on top of her head while she held one hand on the cake box to keep it steady.

Grayson appeared on the porch at the sound of the gravel crunching, cocking his head to the side when he noticed that Indy was backing in. He jogged up to the window when she put it in park, waiting for her to roll it down so he could lean in to kiss her. She hummed and smiled at him.

“Happy Birthday.”

“It’d be happier if you were out here,” he mused, leaning back to pull on the door handle, frowning when he realized it was still locked.

“Go get Ethan for me, tell him I need help getting the cake out of the trunk.”

Grayson turned to do as she asked before he did a double-take at the very cake shaped box in the passenger seat.

“But…”

Indy repeated her sentence with a tight smile, but he still just frowned.

“Is that not the cake? Mom let it slip that she ordered one, I can just get it, cause Ethan is grumpy.”

“BITCH JUST GO GET HIM.”

Eden’s yell was so loud that Grayson jumped, putting a protective hand on Indy’s shoulder, though he didn’t know what he was protecting her from until he peeked into the car.

“Oh thank god,” he laughed at the sight of her, half hidden by the back row of seats. “He’s been moping for like three days!”

“Oh believe me, I know. Now go get him, I’m getting a fucking leg cramp back here.”

Gray grinned, already feeling his brother’s happiness somehow as he bounded into the house, yelling incessantly until Ethan finally came trudging down the stairs, muttering profanities as he stepped out into the New Jersey cold.

“Bro, be nice, Indy worked really hard to make this birthday nice for both of us, even if Eden couldn’t be here. Just help me carry the cake,” Grayson said, doing his best to keep his voice steady.

Ethan took a deep breath and nodded.

“Dee, open the trunk babe!” Gray called, having to turn away to hide his grin. But he looked back quickly, not wanting to miss his brother’s face when the door lifted and revealed his girlfriend, sitting adorably with a bow on her head.

Ethan just stared for a moment, mouth hanging open so wide that it made Indy laugh as she watched in the rear view mirror.

“You little shit!” He finally said, closing the distance and pulling her into his arms and out of the car, spinning her around for a moment before peppering kisses all over her face. It was like he couldn’t let go. Every time he went to pull back he caught sight of her face again and pulled her back against him until they were both shivering out in the cold, wind whipping at their exposed hands and ankles.

Grayson helped Indy out of the car, warming her lips with a welcoming kiss before they moved to unpack the car, letting the lovebirds have their moment. Lisa greeted her as soon as she made it in the door and sat the gifts down, her hair smelling like she’d just put on hairspray. Eden and Ethan trailed in moments later hand in hand, with Ethan yelling about how Li had been in on it the whole time.

In terms of birthdays, it was a chilled out evening. The twins birthday used to be a huge event, full of laughter and excitement. Now, there was a blanket over the scene, a silent understanding that one person was missing from the table - one who should have been a year older just a few days prior. But they made the most of their time together, eating the cake first gathered around the table before moving into the living room and starting on presents.

Grayson kept a hand on Indy’s knee unless he was unwrapping, looking over at her with a warm smile any time that he could. Lisa’s gifts were first - new sweaters, Ethan’s red and Grayson’s green, a bottle of shampoo each, specific to their hair texture. They gave each other such an incredulous look that Eden and Indy couldn’t help but laugh, only growing louder when Lisa leaned over to smack their heads lightly. They got individual gifts too - a new helmet for Ethan for his longboarding trips and a nice drill that Grayson had asked for. They both stood up to kiss her cheek in thanks before they settled back down to open gifts.

Indy was let in on the tradition that Ethan always opened first because he was older, and she was more than happy to lean on Grayson and watch his brother open his gifts. He started with Eden’s, eyebrows shooting up when he pulled out an odd arrangement of things. A bottle of sparkling cider, sunscreen and a pair of swim trunks that were adorned with a pattern made of a picture of Gizmo. He checked the bag for anything else before looking back at Eden and waiting.

“Read the bottle.”

He held it up to his face, reading aloud. “Passionfruit Cider. Made and bottled on Maui. Oh shit. Oh SHIT! Are we going back to Maui?”

“We’re going in March cause that’s the only time when I could put two weeks together where we both don’t have work.”

Indy sunk down even further despite already being on the floor while they celebrated. She looked at the tiny box she’d brought for him, wanting to reach out and hide it behind her back.

She didn’t get the chance to, because Ethan had already grabbed it, reading the tag.

“Indiana you didn’t need to get me anything,” he said, and his sincerity made her feel a fraction better.

“Well, it’s no trip to Hawaii, so don’t get too excited. And your mom helped.”

He unwrapped the box carefully, opening the lid and staring down for a moment.

“It’s a key,” he murmured, reaching in and pulling out the necklace, a silver key which sat on a matching chain horizontally.

“It’s a copy of the key to your house here, but as a necklace. I know you really miss home while you’re gone, and you wear necklaces sometimes, so I thought I could make you a little reminder.”

“You made this?” He looked up at you with wide eyes.

“Yeah! It’s not much, I’m sorry.”

“No, no, it's perfect Inds. Seriously, I love it, thank you so much.”

Indy blushed anyways, not really believing his words but trying to accept them as he leaned over to hug her, grateful for the change of subject when it was announced that it was Grayson’s turn.

He started with Eden’s, smiling wide at the tool belt that he pulled out, yelling when he realized it was customized with his name on the side.

“You can use that to build that side table you keep telling me you’re gonna make me,” Eden teased, which devolved into a moment of playful bickering. Indy used the time to line up the boxes in the right order, biting her lip when she handed him the first one.

“That’s way too many gifts,” Grayson said, frowning at her a bit.

“It’s really just one, it’s like a - well they go together - just, just open it.”

He did as she asked, pulling the paper off and unboxing the first one.

“A fucking nutcracker! Fuck yes!” He yelled, starting to look at it a bit closer. “Wait. WAIT. Is this Cudi?”

“What!?” Ethan piped up before Indy could even answer.

“Bro it looks like Man On The Moon End of The Day cover, look at the fucking colors, and the moon.” He pointed to specific parts on the body of the doll, showing his brother who leaned over his shoulder.

“Open the next one,” Indy laughed, passing him the box.

He was quicker with that one, yelling so loud that Gizmo started to yell in the kitchen as he recognized the album art from Man On The Moon II, all tans, blacks and stars.

“Holy fucking shit these are so fucking cool! Give me the next one, holy fuck.”

Indy passed them along, laughing when each reaction was just as dramatic as the first. The Indicudi was Indy’s favorite, with the mixture of reds and oranges. The collection started to take shape as he sat them out next to one another, adding the simplistic Satellite Flight nutcracker next, followed by the neutrals of Speedin’ Bullet 2 Heaven. Passion Pain and Demon Slayin’ matched well with the bright colors of Man On The Moon III, and Grayson was so excited by the end of the six that he had to stand up and run a lap before he came back and pulled Indy to her feet.

“You like them?”

“You got me Cudi’s discography in fucking nutcracker form. I fucking love it, and I fucking love you.” He kissed her like no one was in the room, her heartbeat so loud in her ears that she didn’t even hear Lisa’s ‘awe’ from behind them.

“I love you too,” she murmured against him, letting him hold her for a minute before he dropped back down to his knees to look at the collection, dissecting every detail like a six year old with a brand new toy.

Ethan was just as enthralled, and she wished she could be as chilled out as Eden seemed as she sat and watched them. But instead, she was running numbers in her head, trying to calculate how much a trip to Maui for two would cost with airfare and lodging put together.

She’d thought she’d gone overboard with the $300 collection of nutcrackers. For her, it was anyways - she’d timed her showers for two weeks and left them lukewarm in an attempt to save some money on her utility bill to justify it. Her mind spun for a moment as she thought about the little stack of Christmas presents hidden under her bed. A sweater for Lisa, a roll of film for Charlie to go with the new camera Dev was buying her. Fuzzy socks and a candle each for Eden and Cam that she’d found on a good sale. The thought of them sitting next to big extravagant gifts she was sure would arrive on the 25th made her deflate, so much that Grayson sensed it enough to pull himself away from his new toys.

“Hey, where’d you go?”

“I’m here,” she said, giving him a smile that didn’t make it to her eyes. The last thing she wanted to do was have him worried about her on a day that was supposed to be about him. He returned one in hopes it would lighten her mood, but he knew not to push it. In fact, he didn’t bring it up until they were back at Indy’s apartment, in their pajamas after eating extra cake that Lisa had sent home with them.

“Did you have a good birthday?” Indy asked, tracing H-A-P-P-Y-B-D-A-Y on his chest.

“I did. Did you have a good day?”

“Yeah! Yeah, it was good. But today was for you, it doesn’t really matter what kind of day I had.”

“It always matters what kind of day you had,” he countered. “You seemed kinda upset when we were giving presents.”

“Oh, yeah, it was no big deal. I just didn’t feel like I got you guys enough stuff. 21 is a big birthday.”

He leaned back enough so he could see her face, frowning down at her.

“First off, it’s only a big birthday because you can drink, which doesn’t matter to me. Second, you gave us both more than enough, I have no idea why you think that.”

“Eden got Ethan a trip to fucking Maui.”

“And?”

“I got him a key. On a chain.”

“Which is probably the most thoughtful gift he’s gotten in a really long time.”

“It cost $20.”

“Doesn’t matter.”

“That’s easy for you to say, you can buy people whatever you want.”

“We’re just in different life stages,” he said. “You’ll be making bank once you’re out of school, you just have to get to that point. And even then, it doesn’t matter what you buy people for gifts. They only care that you’re there with them.”

Indy resisted the urge to repeat her words back to him again. She didn’t really expect him to understand where she was coming from.

“Yeah, I hope so.” She ran her hands down over his ribs under the covers, smiling when she felt him sigh under her. “By the time I pay off my loans Ethan and Eden will probably have three kids, you’ll have to spot us for all the baby shower presents.”

It was Grayson’s turn to fall quiet. He could see it - see Indy in a little pink sundress out in their LA backyard, celebrating a new baby on the way, talking with Eden and Lisa, helping Adele organize tables. And he wanted it. But he held her in his arms and thought about all that would come for her before that time came, and his heart tightened in his chest when he realized that he wouldn’t be there to see it.

“Tell me about school.”

She sat up a bit, running her hands through his hair.

“That’s what you wanna do with the last hour of your birthday? Hear about school?”

“Yeah. Just wanna hear you talking to me,” he said, ignoring the tightness in his throat.

She did as he asked, talked about the classes she had left and what order she’d have to take them in, the application process, the in’s and out’s of medical school as he tried to memorize every inflection of her voice, her laugh, and the feeling of her pressed up against him.

When they woke up, it seemed that the holiday season had fully taken hold overnight. Suddenly, the days were flying by in blurs of Christmas lights and shopping. The pair were together 24/7, attached at the hip every moment that they could get away with. When Grayson was recording the podcast, Indy was just out of sight on the floor listening. While Indy was clearing out her laptop from the semester, Grayson was sitting behind her on the bed braiding her hair. Before they knew it they were trying to fit Bekah’s presents, and the cookies they made for the nurses into an already packed backseat of the truck on Christmas Eve.

A blanket of snow still rested in the city, muffling the city sounds it seemed as they drove. They were bundled up enough that Grayson wasn’t worried about them being recognized in the short walk to the hospital, and they shed their layers once they were inside the warm walls. They took the elevator, not minding the slow climb up to Bekah’s floor. But when they got to the desk to sign in, the nurses looked weary. Indy chucked it up to having to work the holiday and hoped that the cookies would lift their spirits when she left them on the counter.

Bekah’s room had a small tree in the corner, covered in colorful lights and generic silver and red ornaments that were identical to those in every other room of the hospital. Bekah hardly reacted when she saw the duo enter in, though she tried. She sat up as much as she could but ended up back flat on her bed.

“Hey Beks, hold on, let me help.” Indy rushed over to her side, fumbling for the buttons to raise the back of her bed up so she could sit up and see the room. Grayson held up her stack of presents with his biggest smile, the one Indy loved where he would clench his teeth. Bekah lit up, grinning wide at the two of them. Her skin was pale, and they could tell that she’d lost weight, but her smile was just the same.

“Earrings, you double as Santa on the weekends or something? They already give the sick kids pity presents, you didn’t have to go so hard.”

“These are from Indy actually,” Grayson said. Indy bit her tongue. She’d picked them out, but Grayson had footed the bill.

“They’re from both of us,” she corrected. “You feel good enough to open them now?”

“Yeah, yeah I’m good.”

And she was good. But she wasn’t great. Just unwrapping the boxes seemed to zap out the small energy store she had left. Indy wished she’d had the foresight to package them in bags instead of boxes, make it a bit easier for her to open. But the excitement was enough for her to make it through opening the new Christmas blanket, which was covered in cats and dogs in festive sweaters, a Harry Styles crewneck and new fuzzy socks. The last box was an Among Us shirt, with a little purple crewmate peeking out of the pocket - Bekah was notorious for how many hours she spent playing (Gray and Indy would sometimes hop on and play a few games with her when they weren’t there).

“You guys are the best,” she said, letting the pile of presents rest on her bed. She yawned, so hard she leaned back and her beanie slipped off her smooth head. Grayson watched as she reached for it and winced, and suddenly he was watching his dad there in the bed, trying to get to his phone on the bedside table, wincing in pain. His breath caught in his chest and he blinked hard, trying to come back to reality.

And then Bekah closed her eyes, and laid perfectly still. It was quiet in the room for a moment, and a wave of nausea rose in Grayson, so strong that he raised his hand up to his mouth.

“Beks?” He choked out.

“She’s okay, she’s okay.” Indy rushed to reassurances. “Look, look at her monitor.”

The blips on the heart monitor line meant much more to Indy than they did to Grayson, but he recognized them enough to catch his breath.

“Sometimes, when someone is exhausted like that, they lapse in consciousness for a little while. It’s a defense mechanism, she’s okay.”

“For a second I thought - fuck,” he huffed, running his hand over his face. Indy moved beside him, taking his hand in hers and kissing his knuckles one by one.

“What the fuck.”

They both turned to the bed, where Bekah’s eyes were open again. But they were unfamiliar somehow, none of that usual Bekah charm that warmed the dark pools of brown in sight.

“Bekah-” Indy tried, but she was cut off.

“You two are dating? Seriously? What is this, community service date night?”

“Beks-” Grayson spoke up.

“I never ask for much, but fuck you two. Fuck you.”

“Bekah, hey.” Indy took a step towards her bed, and Bekah recoiled.

“I try. I try really fucking hard not to think about how fucked up and shitty my life is. I’m 15, and I’m dying. I’m never gonna go back to school. No prom, no graduation, no wedding. Not even a fucking boyfriend before I die and everyone forgets me. The least you could do is not rub it in my fucking face.”

“Bekah, you can’t think like that. You’re gonna get better, you’re gonna get all those things,” Grayson said, blinking through the tears that had formed without warning in his eyes. They fell down his cheeks in uneven droplets, hot and unfamiliar.

“Yeah? Just like Emma was gonna get better right? Well, her funeral was last week. She’s never going to play hide and seek again, much less anything else. What about Damion from my last radiation rotation hmm? God was gonna come down and heal him too right? Then why is he dead, huh? Where’s God in all this? Where’s my fucking happy ending? I’m gonna get the inside of a box, that’s what I’m gonna get, and no one will fucking admit it because I’m a kid, and I’m supposed to be here longer than this! I’m supposed to have more time! I’m supposed to get to do stupid shit in college, and grow up, and find my person but no. I’m never going to get those things, so fuck you both for throwing it in my face.”

“Bekah-” Indy’s voice broke on the word.

“Get out. Both of you, out.”

“Bekah please.”

“OUT!”

Her yell was loud enough to alert a passing nurse in the hallway, and she stepped inside.

“You two need to step out of the room please.”

The sobs didn’t take hold until they were in the hallway. They ripped out of Indy without warning or grace, and Grayson did all he could to hold her pieces together as she started to shatter.

“Shhh, Dee, hey, it’s okay, let’s go outside,” Grayson tried to comfort her through his own tears, leading her towards the doors.

A hand caught his shoulder and he turned his head to see Jessica in her scrubs, coming out of another patient’s room.

“What did she say?”

Indy perked up from where her face had been buried.

“What did Bekah say?” She asked again

“She’s agitated, talking about how her life is being cut short, how she’s dying. She told us to leave.”

Jessica sighed, looking down at her shoes.

“We’re on our last resort. A final round of chemo and radiation. If this doesn’t work, we’re out of options. And it’s going to be brutal, it’s spread to her brain. You’ll have to be patient with her, she’s probably going to go through some personality shifts. She’ll be more emotional, more irritable. Sometimes she might be disoriented. This type of cancer, when it’s in the brain, it’s unpredictable. One minute she could be fine, the next she could be completely unrecognizable. Give her a few days, wait until after the holidays when everything is back to routine, and give it another try okay? Hopefully it’s better when things are a bit more normal.”

“Yeah,” Indy sniffled. Jessica put a hand on her shoulder.

“Indiana her face lights up when you two walk in that room. She talks about you guys non stop when you aren’t here. She’ll come around from whatever it was, okay? Just give her some time. We’ll be here to take care of her, don’t you worry.”

Indy wasn’t sure why, but she pulled Jessica into a hug. The woman was surprised, but she reciprocated anyways with a squeeze.

“Sweet girl. It’ll be okay,” she murmured, which only made the tears flow even more when she let go.

Indiana transferred from one set of arms to the other, back into Grayson’s strong grip which only loosened when he pressed the button for the doors. When they made it to the ocean hallway, it all hit at once, and her legs gave out. She caught herself on the support bars as Grayson lowered her to the ground. They came in waves that she couldn’t control, not for want of trying.

“I’m s-s-sorry,” she stuttered, trying to force air into her lungs. Someone down the hall pulled a door closed quietly.

“It’s okay, hey, it’s okay. Breathe baby, just breathe,” Grayson murmured, running his thumbs under her eyes to try and wipe her mascara, which was running down her red cheeks in dark streaks. He waited until she was able to take a few solid breaths before he spoke again.

“C’mon, let’s go to Jersey. I’ll take you to Jersey.”

She put most of her weight on him while they took the stairs out into the cold streets. It had begun to snow again, and the cold only added to the stinging in her eyes as he led her to the truck. She wondered in that moment how many times he’d had to hold her together, and her stomach twisted in guilt for a moment at the thought. Even still, she huddled into Grayson until he opened her door for her, immediately moving over as close to him as she could, pushing the middle console up to make it a bench seat and scooting to the middle when he climbed in.

His Dad had once told him it was important to be a confident one handed driver - you never knew what you’d have to hold in your passenger seat, he’d said. At the time, he was referring to the four large pizzas that ended up leaving a permanent grease mark in his jeep seat. But Grayson was thankful for the advice as he maneuvered the car out of the spot and out of the parking garage with an arm still around his girl.

The roads were quiet, and he questioned it until he remembered that it was in fact Christmas Eve. He slowed down when they got to the Jersey neighborhoods, looked at all the lights, all the families he could see in the windows, huddled around their bright trees. He could remember those nights like they were yesterday, him and Ethan sneaking to the top of the stairs to try to catch a glimpse at the big man with the red sack. When they were five they’d seen him and ran to wake their sister. They’d all watched in amazement as he placed presents under the tree and ate the cookies they’d left.

He’d found the santa suit in a box in his dad’s closet when they went through his things after his funeral.

“Does your family have any Christmas traditions?” He asked quietly, running his arm quickly over Indiana’s arm in a bid to keep her warm as he drove. The cool wind that was whipping the snow around seemed to be outrunning the heater in the truck.

“We did. We would watch Elf the night before, cause it was mom’s favorite. We did the cookies, the stockings, all that stuff too. But we always had grilled cheese and soup for dinner too.”

“Grilled cheese and soup?”

“Yeah. That was mom’s idea too. She always said we could leave extra room for a good Christmas morning breakfast if we ate grilled cheese and soup. So we always ended up in the living room with our plates and bowls and Christmas PJs watching elf. Turns out, warm soup was always her trick to get us to go to sleep early. Made me and Charlie tired I guess. She told me it worked like a charm every time. What do the Dolan’s do?”

“Ours is more Christmas morning. We do the whole giant breakfast thing. We open stockings first, and Santa presents, then we do breakfast and then we do the rest of the presents. Used to drive us crazy when we were little, cause all the presents would just be waiting for us. But Mom said it was so we were grateful for our food too, cause it was a gift that we had it on our table at all.”

“Li is a good mom,” Indy sighed, resting her cheek on his shoulder. Her eyes were tired, the kind where your eyelids feel like they weigh ten pounds a piece, but she fought with them and won, still awake when they made it to the house. She hopped out and moved to the backseat, but Grayson caught her.

“I’ll carry the stuff in. Go get cleaned up, take a hot shower and relax. Mom will be worried, she always knows when someone has been crying, it’s like a sixth fucking sense.”

For once, Indy didn’t argue. Instead, she went in the house as quietly as she could, grateful that even Gizmo didn’t seem to note her arrival. She snuck up the stairs to Grayson’s closet, grabbing an old thick flannel and a sports bra that she’d left, plus some sweatpants, considering she’d left her bag in the truck.

She had never been so thankful for a shower. She lost track of how long she let the warm water wash over her head, closing her eyes and focusing on the feeling of the stream against her skin. It was peaceful, but surreal in a way. She thought about where she’d imagined herself on Christmas Eve night at the beginning of the year, and it looked so vastly different than where she was, on the cold tiles of a New Jersey shower with her boyfriend carrying in gifts downstairs. The thought of him waiting for her gave her enough motivation to get cleaned up, though she had to resort to using Grayson’s shampoo and bodywash, which was an unlabeled Wakeheart sample he’d been testing out it seemed. It smelled fresh, with a vanilla mixture that was reminiscent of Jet’s.

Indiana was in higher spirits when she sauntered down the stairs, and her heart swelled a few sizes when she heard a familiar song in the background - the title screen of Elf, waiting on the TV in the living room. She checked rooms until she found Grayson, standing in front of the stove with two pots and a skillet going. She didn’t have to ask. Instead, she walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around him.

He spun around, spatula in hand until they were chest to chest as he watched the stove over her head, holding her close to make sure she didn’t get burnt. He nuzzled into her wet hair, and then sniffed harder.

“You smell like me,” he noted.

“Had to use your stuff. I like that body wash though, which one is that?”

“Can’t remember. Let me see.” He reached around and caught her arm, smelling her skin.

“Ah. That’s Polis.”

She looked up at him.

“Polis? Like… Poland?”

He chuckled against her, flipping over a grilled cheese.

“Polis as in the end of Indianapolis. A smell that makes you seem put together and professional with a sweet note at the end. Vanilla. Like your lattes.”

As he often seemed to, he rendered her speechless enough that all she could do was press a kiss to his chest and wrap her arms around him, under his sweatshirt to trace on his back.

L-O-V-E-Y-O-U

He kissed the top of her head and stirred the soup.

Ten minutes later and they were cozied up on a makeshift palette on the floor under a few blankets, with soup and sandwiches in hand. Grayson had made himself three vegan grilled cheese and tomato soup, and caved and given Indy the last can of chicken noodle in the cabinet because he knew it was her favorite even if it wasn’t vegan, though her grilled cheese was vegan as well. They watched Elf play, laughing and noting all the familiar NY scenery. Indy swore the man in the red jumpsuit had come into Jet’s before. They sipped their soup out of the bowl, and Indy listened to Grayson talk about the cinematography, trying to follow all that he was saying.

Once the bowls and plates were sat aside, they found themselves wrapped in each other’s arms, and Nicole’s old trick seemed to work, considering Indy was asleep before the end credits. Grayson carried her upstairs and put her to bed before going back down to clean up.

Though he tried to get into bed without waking her up again, he didn’t quite manage it, his weight moving the mattress just enough for her to stir and open her eyes.

“Sorry baby, it’s just me. You fell asleep.”

“Hmmm. C’mere,” she murmured, opening up her arms. He laughed, knowing that if he laid on her the way she was asking that he’d press all the air out of her lungs. Instead, he pulled her on top of him and slotted their legs together, revealing in the feeling of their skin pressed together. She was warm for once since she’d been under the covers, and he hoped his fingers weren’t cold as he began to trace patterns against her back.

“I love you,” she hummed, tracing a swirl over his ribs lazily.

“I love you too.”

“Forever.”

“Hmm?” He asked.

“I’m going to love you forever. I can feel it. I’m yours forever Grayson Dolan, and don’t you forget it.”

He pressed a kiss to her head and felt her finger against his ribs. F-O-R-E-V-E-R.

“I’ll love you forever too Indy. Forever.”

The tears returned.

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

Grayson was the first up the next morning, after a restless night of sleep - or so he thought. Lisa was in the kitchen, watching the snow continue to fall outside. It coated the trees outside and muffled the woods in a blanket of white. Lisa turned to greet her son, and frowned.

“Have you been crying?”

He hadn’t shed a tear since the night before, but he should have known she would know. A mother always does.

“Just some stuff with Bekah. She’s not doing well, and I feel bad cause I won’t see her again until next time we come visit after we leave.”

“You can always call, and she’ll have Indy. She’ll be okay love.” She stood and ruffled his hair as she passed, headed to pour him a cup of coffee.

“It’s not as good as Indy’s, but it’ll do,” she smiled, rubbing her hand over his shoulder. They sipped in silence for a moment as the world woke up.

“Do you remember the year Dad dressed up for Christmas? When we were five?”

“Oh yeah. That was your Poppy John’s idea, he did it for Sean when he was little. Said it made him believe in Santa for a few more years. Your dad wanted to keep you guys kids as long as he could, and he knew Cameron was going to figure it out sooner than later. He also knew you two would be spying. You tried it when you were four, but you both fell asleep on the stairs before you could see any action. He told you Santa must have carried you to bed when you woke up that morning.”

“Holy shit, I remember that.” He paused for a moment, reflecting. “You all always went all out for us on the holidays, I never really thought about it. Thanks.”

Lisa smiled the warm smile that only mom’s could really give, and patted his hand on the table. “I just hope you’ll do the same for your kids one day. I know you will.” She paused for a moment, and then she smiled. “You remember what he told us, on that last Christmas? About what he was gonna do?”

Grayson could hear his father’s voice in his head for a moment, and it made his throat tight.

“Yeah. Said he’d give us white Christmases for the rest of our lives if he could.”

Lisa lifted her mug towards the windows.

“Merry Christmas Sean.” Her words hung in the air, and Grayson swallowed the lump in his throat, watching the snow fall.

Eventually he went back to bed to coax Indy awake about an hour later, smiling at her bedhead when she rolled over.

“Merry Christmas Dee,” he said, leaning over to kiss her cheek. Her eyes widened a bit quicker than normal.

“It’s Christmas!”

“Yep,” Grayson laughed, brushing her hair out of her face. She caught his hand and pulled him down over top of her, the covers wedged between them as she kissed him.

“Merry Christmas,” she said against his lips, and he melted into her. He couldn’t think of how many Christmas morning’s he’d woke up wishing to have someone there with him. It brought a new kind of excitement that quieted his mind for the time being, and he happily scooped her up and sat her on her feet so they could go wake up the other duo of the house.

By the time they convinced E squared to arise - which took jumping on the bed, a promise of lattes and the threat of cold water - Lisa was already halfway done with breakfast.

Grayson hadn’t exaggerated - there was a huge assortment of fruit, pastries and coffee to get everyone started.

“Stockings first! Well, coffee, then stockings!” Lisa clapped her hands and passed out mugs. Indy channeled her Jet’s days to make the lattes quickly, funneling in behind everyone as they headed to the fireplace to grab their stockings.

She melted when she noticed the I.

“Lisa, you didn’t need to do that.”

“Oh hush. Okay red E is Ethan, white E is Eden…” she trailed off as she passed them out, slightly confused when she watched Ethan reach underneath the tree to pull out a stocking for his mom that the boys had filled.

Indy was let in on the stocking tradition when she opened it. Everyone got essentials - a new toothbrush, socks, chapstick, lotion. She also threw in each person’s favorite candy and a giftcard to a local ice cream shop in town with vegan options. Lisa’s stocking was more extravagant, with some of her favorite high-end hair products, a certificate for a free massage, and lots of bath bombs that were Wakeheart testers. She hugged her boys necks when they all stood up, up on her tiptoes so she could reach. Everyone funneled into the kitchen after that, the boys in charge of the vegan meat options while Indy and Eden helped with the biscuits and cinnamon rolls. They ate around a full table, laughing and telling stories of Christmas. Eden won the most interesting story with one about her holiday with her extended family back in the Philippines, in which they’d spent Christmas using buckets to get water out of the house from a monsoon that had made landfall, a rarity for that late in the year.

Time seemed to fast forward as they moved to open presents. The boys spoiled Lisa, as they always did. A new iPhone, expensive tennis shoes to help her back while she worked. New signs for the garden beds that Grayson built and Ethan painted, a canvas print of the picture Charlie had taken from Thanksgiving. They saved the topaz ring for last, knowing it would make her cry. Her tears were enough to get Ethan’s eyes prickling - forever the mama’s boy, who just hugged her while she let it out, Grayson joining in a few moments later. She opened her sweater from Indy, complimenting the color, and a new set of Airpods from Eden, seeing that she’d lost her first set.

They moved on to Eden next. She also got a new phone from Ethan, which she smacked his arm for buying considering she knew how expensive they were, ignoring the fact that her phone barely held 20 minutes of battery anymore. Grayson got her a new sketchbook with a set of top line pencils and markers for her to sketch out her work designs, and Indy bought her a pair of Nike’s that she’d had her eyes on. Lisa got her a gift card to her favorite restaurant in LA - a non vegan one that she proposed could be used on a girls date when Lisa came to visit.

Indy was next. She had always hated opening gifts in front of people but she swallowed her un-comfort and proceeded through the boxes. Lisa bought her a nice blow dryer, remembering that she’d complained about hers once and raved about the one that she let Indy borrow. Eden bought her a new outfit - it was a bit out of Indy’s comfort zone, with the patterned pants and bright top, but she hoped she’d be able to pull it off. Both Eden and Gray assured her that she could. Ethan bought her a print of the state of Indiana, laughing at the way she tried to pretend that she loved it.

“Read the back.”

She flipped it over, squinting to try to read his messy handwriting that told her to check behind the tree. Sure enough, she found a box with a stethoscope in it. Top of the line, one of the more expensive brands.

“Every doctor needs one of those things, at least that’s what google told me. It’s got your initials on it too, cause apparently people try to steal them.”

He dismissed her claims that it was too much, and instead urged her to open Graysons gifts. The first was a speaker, because ‘Cudi needs to be played loud and well’, followed by a bag full of clothes. She pulled the first piece out and gasped.

“You bought me scrubs?”

“Yeah. I know you were stressed out about them being expensive, and I knew you’d use them. I bought five sets, I hope that’s enough. And I asked the nurses at Frazier what the best brand was, but if you don’t like those I have the receipt.”

“I’m sure they’re perfect. Thank you bub, I love them.”

She knew that Grayson had held back, and she was appreciative, especially as they got closer to his gifts. Luckily, Ethan was born first and therefore got first dibs. He got a custom longboard from Eden that she’d designed with all his favorite things, including a thermal painting of a very scandalous picture of her on the bottom that she’s covered with a piece of paper so Lisa didn’t see. Grayson got him an envelope with three tattoo appointments that he’d managed to get with their favorite artist in LA, who was usually booked up for months in advance. Lisa bought him a new jacket and boots, while Indy bought him a pair of headphones designed for the inside of a helmet, so he could listen to music while he skated.

Grayson was the last to go. Eden got him new sweatshirts since he ‘wore the same ones all the time’, while Lisa bought him a sweater and jacket. Ethan bought him extra organizers for his closet and a minimalistic nutcracker, though he admitted it didn’t stand a chance of taking the spot of one of the Cudi nutcrackers, which stood tall on the mantle. Finally, he opened his bag from Indy, smiling when he pulled out a few things. The first was a journal, made of recycled paper and bound in a dark green cover with his name on the front in gold. The next was a Jet’s gift card, a small inside joke between the two of them. The final one was a picture frame. It was simple, black with flecks of gold along the edges. Within it, the first picture they’d ever taken together, in the mirror of Indy’s room where half his body was covered in her writing, labeled muscles.

“Can’t lie, I spent most of my budget on your birthday. But I have a matching picture to put on my shelf, so I figured you might like it.”

“I love it,” he reassured her, kissing her cheek quickly, a sweet moment before the bustle of clean up began. The afternoon flew by with movies playing in the background and the snow continuing to fall outside. The boys cleaned off the cars, and after sunset, they appeared with a duffle bag each and a mischievous look on their faces.

“C’mon, we’ve got one more gift to show you guys.”

Lisa waved goodbye from the front porch as both couples climbed into the truck, the girls in the back.

“Do you know what this is about?” Eden whispered.

“No idea.”

So they waited patiently until they finally put the pieces together - it only clicked when Ethan got out and opened the gate.

The trail looked different from the seat of the truck. Partially because it had been cleared out, but mainly because they weren’t on the back of a quad, with the wind whipping in their faces.

Hidden away in the snow covered clearing, the tiny homes were covered in snow. The lights inside were glowing a warm yellow, inviting them in from the cold. Grayson parked halfway between the two, coming around to get the duffle bag before turning around, a sign for Indy to climb on his back.

She didn’t argue, considering he had the advantage of snow boots over her, and climbed on, hugging onto him tight as he trudged through the snow to the front door. He kicked the snow off his boots on the small front porch and then opened the door, the draft of warm air already enticing.

The inside was more beautiful than Indy could have imagined it would have been. She remembered trying to visualize it when Grayson had explained where everything would be - it felt like years ago, that warm fall day. But the kitchen was exactly as he had said it would be, minimalistic with dark wood that looked black in the dim light and white cabinets. The stairs were beautifully done, and Indy found herself climbing to the loft to find the queen size bed that awaited them, with the triangular window that looked out over the trees.

“This is incredible,” she mused, looking down over the balcony at him. He beamed up at her, taking her in. Her skin glowed in the warm light, her hair washed yellow in a beautiful tone as it hung around her shoulders. He found himself kicking off his shoes and climbing the stairs to meet her, abandoning his plan of giving her a full tour in favor of exploring her instead.

She followed his movement like water in an ancient stream, cut out and formed just for her to flow along, and they ended up on the bed with her back against the soft mattress.

“Are we christening the house?” Her words were muffled by his lips, which were eager and hungry against hers, a feeble attempt to drown out his thoughts. He kissed her incessantly instead of answering, pressing all her buttons to make her melt for him. The heater was small and nestled downstairs, goosebumps rising in the cold air as they lost layer after layer, chasing the heat of each other.

He held her as close to him as he possibly could, blocked out the cold and the doubt as he bit onto her shoulder and rocked her in sync with his hips, watched her head fall back and his name sing from her lips as she came undone over and over again until she was putty in his hands. He came so hard he saw stars, slowing down with her still in his arms.

She was in such a daze that it took her a moment to come to her senses and remember that she needed to go downstairs to pee and get cleaned up. As soon as she was out of his sight, the realization of what he’d just done came crashing down on Grayson. The guilt crushed his lungs as he finally admitted to himself that he knew he was hurting Indy. He knew she deserved to know where his mind was at, where it had been ever since Ethan had brought it up. He’d been selfish, and cruel, and as he sat there naked he’d never felt more ashamed in his life. He scrambled to get his clothes back on before Indy came back up.

She was still blissful, her legs a bit wobbly as she tried to navigate the unfamiliar stairs. But she frowned when she saw his winter coat.

“Those aren’t pajamas.”

Grayson jumped at the sound of her voice.

“Yeah, uh, Ethan texted me, he said their heater isn’t working, asked me to come look at it.”

“Oh. That sucks, you want me to come help? I can hold a flashlight or something,” she offered.

“No, no it’s cold, you just stay here and relax, I’ll be back. Might take a while, but I’ll be back.”

“No promises that I won’t be asleep,” she teased, climbing under the covers. “This bed is better than mine I think.”

“Get some rest, I’ll be back soon.”

“Okay. I’ll save a spot for you. Love you.”

“Love you too.”

He headed down the stairs, slipping his boots on as quickly as he could and choking back his sobs until he was out of the door. He trudged blindly across the yard, only guided by the lights from the windows, and he knocked on the door.

He couldn’t imagine what he looked like when Eden opened the door. But it was bad enough that she didn’t say a word. Instead, she simply turned and called for Ethan, who took one look at him and pulled on his coat, following him out into the snow towards the truck.

Safe inside the cab and in the presence of his brother, Grayson fell to pieces. Ethan could only remember a handful of times that his brother had cried so hard, and he held him tight in his arms as best be could, shaking with him as the sobs ripped their way out of him.

Ethan didn’t even attempt to talk, only to console as best he could until Grayson could finally breathe. He pulled the extra inhaler out of the glove box and made his brother take a few puffs when he started to wheeze, holding the canister up to his lips.

“Breathe Gray, c’mon, you’ve gotta breathe so you can talk to me. You gotta tell me what’s wrong so I can help. Hey, I’m right here, it’s me. You can tell me, it’s okay.”

Grayson finally caught his breath enough to calm down, with his hands gripping onto Ethan’s jacket collar like his life depended on it.

“I’m gonna break her E. I’m gonna destroy her and it’s all my fault. I love her, fuck, I love her. What am I supposed to do?”

Ethan sucked in a long breath through his nose, looking over at Grayson’s house.

“You haven’t told her.” It wasn’t a question.

“I wanted to, I fucking can’t. Every time I think I can tell her I just think about what it’s gonna do to her. What it’s gonna do to me. I don’t know what the right thing is here E, you gotta tell me.”

“You know I can’t do that.”

“Fuck that, you’re me, we’re each other, you know me better than I know me. Tell me what to do.”

Ethan could barely see his brother’s face, but the little bit of light from the moon showed enough pain in his eyes to have Ethan’s stomach twisting. He put a hand on his brother’s shoulder and squeezed.

“You know what I’m gonna say.”

Grayson’s breath hitched once, and then a new wave of sobs took over. He shook so hard that Ethan was convinced the entire cab was shaking with him. Ethan held him, willed himself to absorb some of the pain, as much as he could, anything to help.

“If it’s the right thing why does it hurt this bad?”

“I don’t know Gray. I don’t know.”

“I love her.”

“I know.”

“She loves me.”

“I know.”

“Then how is this the right thing?”

Ethan paused for a moment, holding steady on Grayson’s shoulders.

“What would dad say? If he was here with us, right now, what would he say?”

Grayson pressed into his eyes with the heel of his palms and sniffled.

“He’d say that it wasn’t fair. He’d be mad that I hadn’t told her yet, and he’d say that she’s a good person who shouldn’t have to give up on her dreams for mine. He’d tell me to do what’s best for her, I know that. God, FUCK!” He smacked the dashboard so hard that Ethan heard something crack. He wished there was a way that he could protect his brother in that moment more than anything. Usually, he could step up, take the heat, take the attention off him if he needed. It was one of the few times that he felt truly helpless.

“You don’t have to do it tonight. You still have a few days. Just think about what you want to say, and bring it up whenever you’re ready.”

“I’m never gonna be ready, Ethan. That’s the love of my life, and I’m just supposed to walk away? And what’s she gonna say, when she finds out I’ve been thinking about this for weeks, and I haven’t said shit, huh? She’s not gonna want anything to do with me. She’s not gonna love me anymore, Ethan, and I can’t live with that. I can’t.” His voice cracked, and Ethan’s heart cracked with it.

“If it’s meant to work out, it will somehow. We’ve always believed that.”

“How?” It was a plea more than a question.

“I don’t know Gray. I don’t know.”

Grayson didn’t know how long they sat in silence. They didn’t need words, just the comfort of each other’s presence as he ran through line after line of what he was going to say. He had to do it then, there was no other option. He had to tell her as soon as he got back, or he was afraid that he never would. But every time he closed his eyes to think, his mind was flooded with her, a kaleidoscope of memories and moments that he couldn’t imagine not making more of. He thought of the way his soul ached every time she cried, and he couldn’t fathom how much worse it would be when he was the cause of it.

He threw the door open without warning, stepping back out into the snow. It took Ethan a few steps to catch him, but when he did he pulled him into a hug, a real one, and pressed his face into his shoulder.

“I love you bro. We’ll get through it. You’ll be okay.”

Grayson always knew when his twin was lying, but he tried his best to believe it. The cold wind stung on his wet cheeks as he went back to the house, kicking off his boots. He took the stairs one at a time as slowly as he could, his panic growing with each one.

When his foot cleared the final step, he saw her.

She was asleep, curled up under the covers in her New York sweatshirt, hands folded underneath her face. He just stared at her, tried to memorize every feature on her face.

He could have stood there for hours, but she stirred only a moment later. Her eyes peered open just enough for him to see the blue, and then they closed again, a small smile stretching across her lips.

“Come to bed baby. S’warm.”

Every cell in his body screamed at him, tried to pull him back as he slid out of his coat, out of his flannel, stepped out of his pants. His brain called him every name in the book, told him he was pathetic, weak, manipulative.

But his heart beat just a bit slower at the thought of being in her arms, even if it was just for a moment, the familiar home he’d made for himself comforting enough to let him drown the rest out and climb under the covers and over to her, pulling her into his arms as he pressed his lips together and let his eyes fall closed.

#mixtape #WOOO #sorry it has christmas even tho christmas has passed hahaha FUCK #pls lemme know what you think :)#grayson dolan #grayson dolan imagine #grayson dolan fanfic #grayson dolan fanfiction

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sims2packrat · 4 years

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File Hunting Tutorial

In this tutorial I’ll be going through some file searching methods I’ve been using to find lost/hard to find files. I’m sharing this so you too can get good at using your google-fu and expand the list of useful sites and sources to help.

I started writing this already last year and had it saved in the drafts and then forgot all about it until vegan-kaktus noted that it’s still in the drafts. So I gave it one last poke and it’s finally ready to be posted. Consider it a parting gift from me (digi) It’s really long so the rest is under read more which, hopefully, should show up right after this row, happy reading! :)

1. File uploaded to Dropbox:

Oh no, the link is dead! What to do? Well there are two things you can do:

Slap that link to archive.org - sometimes if you’re lucky it has it archived and you can download through that. (not often but it’s always worth a try)

Look at the url and find the filename, for example:

highlighted above is the filename, now copy that part and slap it to google and if you have any luck somebody already has reuploaded it somewhere. If not then you still at least have the file name to help with the search.

2. I have picture of the thing, can I use that?

If it’s from the original upload that can be useful, now open google’s image search and hit this:

paste/upload your picture and if you have any luck you’ll get hits with the same picture, those are occasionally reuploads of the file or maybe even the original source. Sometimes this is useless though, google might just give you its best guess at what the picture shows and it’s pretty much always wrong.

Additionally, you can try other search engines since they give different kinds of results, Yandex has positively surprised me few times when google failed.

3. The thing was posted behind multiupload (or similar now dead service), what to do?

Okay so first, go to the page where the link was posted, right click on the download address and copy that with “copy link” or whatever it happens to be in your browser since those differ between them.

Open web.archive.org, paste the address you copied there:

With some luck you’ll receive some hits like this:

Click on any of the blue dots, if one doesn’t work, try another. Also note: if dots are green it means the link redirects somewhere, usually to random ad sites, but it could also just mean the address of the site has changed so be careful. If you have any luck the page has been archived and you’ll get something like this:

A lot of those files hosts no longer work so there’s no point in trying Megaupload, Depositfiles, hotfile, zshare or 2shared links but mediafire still exists so click on its “Download file” button. On first glance it looks like it doesn’t work:

You should copy the mediafire address (or if it was another file host then that address) and paste it to your browser’s address bar anyway to test it.

It doesn’t always work but usually, as long as the file hasn’t been deleted it should work.

Additionally about Mediafire: Sometimes some older mediafire links will tell you that they don’t work, you can sometimes fix them like this:

mediafire.com/c4txzwdlumxg/uy0nqwnjz0z/(fileName) (original link) mediafire.com/c4txzwdlumxg/uy0nqwnjz0z/(fileName) (delete the overlined bit) mediafire.com/file/uy0nqwnjz0z/(fileName) (= working link, it seems to add the /file/ part automatically to the link)

(fileName) above is stand in for “Janita-scott+male+clothing+-+07+-+Mar+-+2010.rar“ since it was too long. This is actual link that was coming up with page not found error but it’s actually not missing, Mediafire just changed something about their links that made it break at some point.

4. Check chomikuj.pl!

(http://chomikuj.pl) This is some sort of Polish file sharing site that has plenty of Sims files uploaded there. It has some caveats, for example if you don’t have account you can only download files smaller than 2 MB, if you create an account you can download worth of 50 MB every week for free. It’s sounds like a lot more than it really is so if you find good loot better bookmark that page since you’ll be spending weeks getting all those files. To use the site just type whatever you’re searching to search box (I’ve found that simply using the creator name tends to have the best results)

We’re gonna search for ripplesims, the following page has some ads first so scroll down until you see the results:

Then I recommend just opening those in new tabs since there usually are plenty of results. Then to download, click on the file title:

and this kind of window will pop up:

“Pobierz” means download, you’ll want to use the top one, the other one is some kind of ad or something again. Then your browser should give you the normal download prompt and you can save the file. Here’s few users who post Sims 2 content to get you started:

rakuyou

Thumbelina 21

Justyna211

aleksandra.przybylka

mgs1991

5. Check GameVN!

(http://forum.gamevn.com/forums/downtown.281/) this is Vietnamese file sharing forum, that gets updated occasionally. A lot of newer files are just stuff from tumblr (possibly your stuff if you upload custom content, don’t be upset, that’s just how internet works, you post it, you no longer have control over it.), but they also have some older files and for example some files from gamesir.

6. Check Game.ali213!

(https://game.ali213.net/forum-295-1.html) okay so this board is pain in the ass to browse since it’s in Chinese but these two are the section you’re most likely interested in:

First one is for sharing content made by others, second for sharing original works. There’s for example: daum content, stuff from ReflexSims, some stuff from Yuri and Gameski, more daum content....

Note that some files are posted to hosts that don’t work anymore such as namipan, pan.baidu, rayfile, 91files.com.... there’s a lot of dead hosts really and you’re gonna get disappointed many times when you click on the links. But the files hosted on the forum itself usually are available, they just tend to be in multiple pieces so you need to download all of them and then choose them all at once to extract correctly.

7. Check VK.com Albums!

There probably are others but the one I most often check is: https://vk.com/albums-52214 (hit on show all albums and then start browsing, the first albums are pictures, wcifs and member uploads but then there are reuploads. Not every link works but quite few do so it’s worth checking through.)

8. Check other sites that reupload files!

I’m of course talking about Booty, Simscave, TheSimsGraveyard and Liquid Sims. Sometimes the most obvious place is exactly where you’ll find it. :)

#file searching tutorial #tutorial #long post

190 notes · View notes

faulty-writes · 4 years

Text

Warning: None.

Fandom: My Hero Academia

Characters: All Might x Student!Reader

[ This is my fourth piece for the hero bingo event hosted by @bnhabookclub the theme for this square was flower picking. Originally I was going to do this piece with Himiko but as I was looking through some bnha fanart. I saw a picture of Midoriya giving All Might a bouquet of flowers and suddenly a new idea was born. I hope you enjoy. ]

[ When All Might announced he was the newest teacher at U.A. you could hardly contain your excitement. Despite being a third year, you couldn’t help but fan over your favorite hero and decide to try and thank him somehow. But what could you possibly give the number one hero? Luckily Midoriya has an idea, but you were a little hesitant if it’d work ]

When All Might began teaching at U.A. you were in your third year, slightly trailing behind the Big Three. Of course, it gave you plenty of motivation to improve. Along with the fact that your favorite hero was now a teacher, it made you train twice as hard and you often used up any extra time you had, with your teacher's permission, using the training field or USJ to improve your combat and quirk tactics.

On occasion, All Might would show up and observe you, which made you a little nervous but you tried to remain calm. If anything to try and impress the number one hero, sometimes it worked but when you happened to mess up, you took it rather hard. All Might never seemed to think less of you, “Do not fret young Y/n!” he’d say as he placed his hand on your shoulder. “I believe you have improved yet! Do not give up! For I am here and I believe in you!” he declared and you couldn’t help how your heart raced. Being around the number one hero would make anyone weak in the knees.

Still, you thought All Might’s dedication to not only the world but the students of U.A. was admirable and you wanted to try and do something special for him. Of course, you weren’t sure what you could get the number one hero that he didn’t already have. More than likely he had riches beyond belief and could get anything he desired at the snap of his fingers. So what could you possibly manage to get him that would impress him or at least earn you a hug?

You weren’t sure, but you knew of one student that might have the answer. He was supposedly teased about being All Might’s number one fanboy and though you had heard stories of how he couldn’t control his quirk yet. You decided he might be your only chance and so you tracked down the green-haired boy known as Izuku Midoriya. He was a student in Class 1-A and though he was a tad bit too ecstatic when you walked up to him asking for help. You managed to get his attention just long enough to tell him what you needed help with.

“Huh?” he seemed confused at first, you knew it was a strange request. Asking what type of gift you could get All Might, “I know, it’s weird. But...he is my favorite hero and he’s already supported me so much. I just want to do something nice for him.” you explained before Midoriya tapped his chin, you could hear soft muttering before he finally spoke. “Well...All Might did mention once that the Cherry Blossom Festival is his favorite nonhero event,” he said and your eyes lit up. “Maybe you could get some Cherry Blossoms? I mean...I don’t think he’d r-reject them or anything.” you smiled and reached over to pat Midoriya’s head. “Thanks,” you said, feeling more confident than ever that your gift would impress All Might.

You had actually skipped a day of extra training to go hunting for the Cherry Blossoms, locating them wasn’t a difficult task. However, climbing the Cherry Blossom tree to get the precious flowers was. You got several looks despite the fact you were dressed in your school uniform. But no one asked any questions so you continued on, picking every small branch of flowers you could get your hands on and tucking them away in the basket that hung loosely from your arm. Once you believed you had enough, you carefully climbed back down. Smiling as you looked at your now full basket, “I just know he’s going to love these.” you said before running off.

You had planned to give all Might the basket of the flowers the next day, though you couldn’t help but feel a little nervous. So you went to find Midoriya once more and he looked rather surprised you had taken his advice. “So do you think he’ll like them?” you asked and watched as Midoriya reached over to take a small branch out of the basket, he looked it over and brushed his thumb across the pedals. “I...I mean I’m sure he’ll like...them,” he said as he glanced down and a soft blush came to his cheeks. You partly wondered why he was so shy around you, but either way. At least you had the approval of the number one fanboy.

Still, you kept the basket of cherry blossoms safely in your locker, you weren’t about to risk them getting damaged in any way. Though your classmates noticed you seemed distracted throughout the day and you had almost gotten injured during training because of it. Well, that and the fact that All Might had shown up to yet again observe the hero students. Your heart raced thinking to the moment when you’d give him the flowers, there was that small doubt you’d make a fool of yourself.

It felt as though the rest of the day progressed rather slowly and honestly, you were a little drained by the end of it. But you knew, more often than not. All Might was seen at the training grounds with Midoriya during free hours, though knowing the first-year would be there was a little intimidating. You still planned to give All Might your gift, so you changed into your hero costume and proceeded to the training ground.

“Ah, young Y/n!” All Might said as he saw you, his bright smile followed after. “As always it’s wonderful to see you here! Training hard to match up to the rest of us Pros I see!” he said as he raised his muscular arm into the air and you watched those fingers as they chopped through the air with ease. They could just as easily snap your neck if All Might so desired, it was amazing how strong and yet gentle the hero could come off as.

Still, you appreciated his praise, as much as a student could. Despite the fact that much like Midoriya, you might have the smallest crush on him. But who couldn’t? The man was amazing and it was an honor to be in his presence let alone have him speak to you, much less know your name and encourage you. “Uh...y-yeah! Anything...to be like you All Might!” you replied and almost face palmed yourself, damn why did you say such a stupid thing!? However, you heard the hero chuckle and your anxiety lessened.

You had placed the basket of Cherry Blossoms by a tree near the training field, your goal was to give them to All Might before he left with Midoriya. Though it annoyed you that Midoriya continued to give you knowing glances, it was almost like he wanted to watch you give the Cherry Blossoms to All Might and a part of you was almost suspicious that he’d want to write it down in that little notebook of his. Still, you proceeded to go through three rounds of training before leaning over. A sweaty mess, you might have overused your quirk but with All Might present. How couldn’t you?

You nearly shivered when you felt a hand on your back, gently patting it. “Wonderful job! You’ll make a fine hero yet, though I wouldn’t overdo it! When a hero overuses their quirk, well heh heh it could result in some minor consequences.” he warned you, though his advice wasn’t wrong. You took a deep breath and turned around. “Thank you, All Might,” you said with a smile, taking a moment to admire him.

Unfortunately, it seemed like his training with Midoriya was over and he nodded. “Well,” he said, bringing two fingers to his forehead in a salute type fashion. “Young Midoriya and I must be off, you know hero work!” he turned to leave and you panicked for a moment. “W-Wait!” you cried out and before you could register your own actions, you grabbed his arm. He turned to you with a surprised look and you blushed before releasing his arm.

Though you managed to get away with your actions after you explained you had something for him, a gift of sorts. “Well, that’s very nice! Hurry now.” All Might warned, though you were unaware of his quirk limitation and he needed to get back to the safety of the U.A. teachers lounge before his quirk timed out. He turned to look at Midoriya as you ran off to get the gift. “Go on ahead Young Midoriya! I will be there shortly!” he said and much like a good little fanboy, Midoriya nodded. “Uh, y-yeah of course! Anything you say All Might!” he said before running off.

You were a little nervous as you approached All Might, the basket was hidden behind your back and your stomach twisted with butterflies. “Uh...so um…” you tried to form words, but they all came out jumbled and you cursed yourself, now wasn’t the time to make a fool out of yourself. You took a deep breath before looking up at All Might. “I got these...f-for you, um...I thought you’d like them,” you said as you slowly brought out the basket. You watched as All Might’s expression went blank and he reached out for it.

You swallowed as All Might picked up a branch and a smile came to his face when he realized what it was. “Ah, Cherry Blossoms! Quite lovely…” he said before looking at you, “Thank you, for bringing such beauty to U.A. and for me, I couldn’t be any more surprised!” you gasped as you felt his strong arm wrap around you. Oh God, he was hugging you. The feeling of being pressed up against the muscular hero was nothing short of amazing, however, you didn’t get the chance to return the hug as All Might suddenly stepped back.

You looked confused before you noticed a thin amount of smoke begin to surround the hero. “Uh…” you wanted to ask if he was okay, but then you noticed the small trail of blood leaking from the corner of his mouth. He cleared his throat, “Thank you! Dear Y/n for the flowers, I appreciate it! Now I must go meet with Young Midoriya!” he said and before you could call after him, he used his quirk to make a hasty getaway. Leaving you a little confused and concerned, but at least he liked the flowers.

#all might x reader #toshinori x reader #bnha bookclub #bnha x reader

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jbbarnesnnoble · 4 years

Text

Just Desserts

Summary: An offhanded comment from Tony leads to you and your loves going overboard with pumpkin spice.

Features: Fluffy goodness; More pumpkin spice than recommended

Prompt: Pumpkin Pie

Pairing: Sam Wilson/Bucky Barnes/Reader

Notes: Day 7 of the OTP challenge! Very late, but its here. Because of how the fics play off each other, they need to be in chronological order, even though it’s not necessarily a chaptered fic. That might also just be a Mel brain thing where I just cannot bring myself to post out of order.

Word Count: 1065

A bell over the door jingled as you made your way into the shop. Ashton’s maintained their original decor from the 40s, replacing things as needed once they were too worn out. The cashier smiled when she saw you, calling back to someone that you were there. A man with grey hair emerged from the back, a smile on his face when he saw you.

“Ten gallons of pumpkin ice cream, freshly made,” Marcus said as he brought the containers out.

“Thanks Marcus. You know it won’t last long,” you replied.

“Big party tonight?” he asked curiously. Marcus was the owner, the grandson of the original owners. You shook your head.

“No, just family dinner. My turn to bring desserts. I’ve been baking up a storm. Tony asked for and I quote “a ton of pumpkin pie” so, I’m simply delivering,” you said with a devious smirk.

You, Sam, and Bucky had orchestrated the plan after Tony’s last prank. It had been an unexpected past time that had enraptured the team. Light hearted gags and pranks that took off some of the pressure and stress they still felt, even as they started moving toward handing over the reigns so they could enjoy family life.

“I don’t want to know, do I?” Marcus asked. You laughed as you shook your head, thanking him before carrying the containers to your car. You were grateful for the freezer that was in your pantry, something you insisted on with Bucky’s appetite. It wasn’t uncommon for you to freeze meals so he could go grab something to heat up.

The scent of cinnamon hit you when you walked in, along with the more subtle scents of the pumpkin pies. If Tony wanted a ton of pumpkin pie, who were the three of you to deny him? You entered the kitchen to see Sam pulling the last of the pies out of the oven. Another point of joy for all of you was having two ovens. Baking was a hobby that had started with Bucky. Having two ovens allowed for multiple food based endeavors at one time.

Bucky was checking on the pumpkin spice cookies that were in the oven, while the icing settled on the ones that had already cooled. You smiled at the sight of them, working around each other, a kiss exchanged when they maneuvered around one another. Sam’s smile grew when he saw you in the archway that opened into the kitchen.

“There she is. Let me grab those,” Sam said, taking the containers from you and heading into the pantry to put them into the freezer. You took stock of the desserts that were cooling. Several pumpkin pies, Bucky’s famous pumpkin spice cookies with cream cheese icing, two giant carafes filled with pumpkin spice hot chocolate, and then there was the ice cream. You had vanilla ice cream too, along with whipped cream and other toppings. If anything, it would be a good laugh and there would be plenty of leftovers for people to take home.

“I think we’ve overdone it,” Bucky said, a grimace on his face as he looked around. You shook your head.

“I’ll be surprised if there’s anything left by the end. Besides, Tony asked for a ton of pumpkin pie...we just delivered in an unusual manner,” you said with a shrug as Sam re-entered the room.

“When you’re right, you’re right. Besides, this is a win all around,” Sam said as he grabbed one of the cookies to take a bit.

It was a short time later that the three of you were loading up the red Radio Flyer wagon you had to drag the desserts over to Steve and Wanda’s. It was their turn to host the weekly Wednesday night dinner. The wagon had been a find at an estate sale the three of you had gone to one weekend when you were bored. You recalled it from your childhood, dragging it around the neighborhood sometimes. It helped when it came to bringing things to the others.

“Did you three buy out a bakery?” Steve asked when he opened the door.

“No. We made everything. Except the ice cream,” Bucky said, carrying the boxes of cookies into the Rogers-Maximoff home. Sam followed with the pies and you had the ice cream, after moving the wagon to the side of the walkway leading up to the door of the house. Steve helped you with carrying in the bag of ice cream and other toppings.

“We should take the ice cream out right after dinner to let it soften,” you said as Steve took it to put into the freezer. He nodded in agreement before directing you to the living room where everyone was gathered while he and Wanda put the finishing touches on dinner.

“Did you bring my pumpkin pie?” Tony teased when he and Pepper arrived with Morgan.

“Yes, as a matter of fact, we did,” you said with a smirk. Not long after that, everyone was called to dinner.

Laughs were shared over dinner, with new stories about the week, old memories shared by Bucky and Steve, and the general antics that came from being around the group. When it came time for dessert, you went to grab one of the pies, setting it on the table. Tony raised an eyebrow at you.

“Don’t know if you three realize, but one pie is not enough for all of us. I believe I requested a ton,” Tony joked. You shared a look with Bucky and Sam before they headed to grab the rest, with Steve’s help. Seven pies, ten boxes of cookies, and ten gallons of pumpkin ice cream were set on the table, along with the fixings for whatever toppings people would want for their pie or ice cream.

“I gotta say, I see this as a win,” Tony said. With that, the room devolved into laughter once more. Once upon a time, nights like that were rare. Nights where the team could relax, have fun, and not have the weight of the world on their shoulders. And you wouldn’t change it for the world.

It was past midnight by the time the three of you made it home, your own leftovers tucked away in the refrigerator and freezer. The three of you collapsed into bed, exhausted and happy, curled around one another as you all drifted off.

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the-odd-job · 3 years

Text

Up in Flames chapter 9 - Under Your Spell (Ashes Part 2)

Warnings: Major Character Death, Chose Not to Use Category: Other Fandom: Transformers Relationships: Megatron/Sunstreaker, Megatron/Sideswipe, Sideswipe & Sunstreaker Characters: Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Soundwave, Megatron, Thundercracker Additional Tags: Dubcon, Mechpreg, Sticky Words: 2818

( Previous )

Soundwave knows all.

How true was that and how far did it extend? What did it mean in practice, besides just him having intel that he had no right to have?

Sunstreaker accompanied Sideswipe as his brother set out to explore that very matter (in a very limited extent). They found Soundwave in the comms room as seemed to be the usual. Ravage was present too, and Lazerbeak was perched on Soundwave’s shoulder. Rumble and Frenzy though, were nowhere to be seen, but whether that meant that they were elsewhere on the ship, off the ship, or in Soundwave’s chest, he didn’t know.

It wasn’t really relevant either. They only needed Soundwave.

Sunstreaker hung back while Sideswipe traipsed right on over to the blue mech and leaned on the console next to him—though mindful not to press any of the many buttons on it. “Hi,” his brother grinned at the Decepticon TIC, getting nothing more than a blank look for his trouble.

But that was about what they’d expected, so Sideswipe wasn’t discouraged in the slightest. “So, being a tape deck and all, do you happen to have any music that isn’t just the same old, same old Earth stuff?” the red twin asked. If anyone would have some, it’d be Soundwave, right? Sideswipe enjoyed quite a few Earth bands, but there were other worlds out there with their own auditory entertainment.

And more than that… There was Cybertron out there, as much as Sideswipe didn’t say so directly. Earth wasn’t the worst place to be, but they still missed home sometimes.

They were in the presence of a telepath, though. Not everything needed to be spoken out loud for Soundwave to hear it anyway. The host inclined his helm, stayed still and silent for a while that the twins waited patiently during, before Sideswipe got a ping of a package that he accepted, briefly scanned and quickly opened.

It was full of songs. A whole load of songs. Cybertronian songs. Sideswipe didn’t recognize really any of them, but opened a few for inspection.

He nearly fell to the floor when they turned out to be Kaonite songs. There was no mistaking the harsh rhythms and heavy drums, the same stuff that had always played in bars and clubs—a reflection of the city, the constant hardship and fight for survival it was to just live there. The music was just as violent as the city itself.

And pits, but they hadn’t realized how much they’d missed that. It was their home, no matter how dangerous it had been and how badly they’d gotten treated by it. It was the city that had spawned and forged them into their utterly un-Autobot shape, and it was always a point of pride to have even survived life in it.

They were so far from home, but this… Was a piece of it.

“Satisfactory?” Soundwave asked, and Sideswipe nodded mutely.

But then, “Jazz: visited you.”

Both twins froze, but there wasn’t much reason to wonder how Soundwave knew. Even if Jazz had managed to come and go without the telepath growing wiser to it—and that was a pretty big if right there—all the telepath needed to do was read their minds to find out the whole deal.

And now they were definitely thinking about that whole incident, and Soundwave, as well as Ravage and Lazerbeak, were all staring at them. Very much for Soundwave to read.

Nevertheless, Sideswipe nodded again to confirm it.

Soundwave stayed quiet for a moment too long, and that was all the time to cook up wonderful scenarios of what might go down next. They had entirely failed to mention an Autobot had infiltrated the ship. Why? Because they still cared about the Autobot side? Or about Jazz specifically? Mech had been their friend, kinda.

He was a big ass risk too though, not just for them, but everyone else aboard too. That couldn’t look good for them.

But whatever Soundwave saw… He eventually just turned away. “Satisfactory,” he repeated, but this time it wasn’t a question.

Did that mean they were off the hook?

Maybe, maybe not, but Sideswipe still shook himself off. “Cool?” he said, though it came out more as a question, but… Soundwave didn’t do or say anything else.

Probably meant this matter was settled, at least for now.

Back to the original reason they’d come here, with just a little more anxiety over what the future might bring now that Soundwave knew (if he hadn’t always known).

There had been speakers in the rec room.

Sunstreaker moved out of the way when his brother bolted for the doorway. Sideswipe was already through it and two steps into the direction of the rec room before he remembered his manners and bounced back to the door, throwing a quick, “Thanks!” through it.

You know, for the music. Not for the scare of knowing about their illicit visitor.

And then he ran off. Sunstreaker went after him without much less speed. Of course his brother would want to show off a bit—show a bit of their culture, the one the Autobots had always denied and stomped all over as nothing but the savagery of lesser mecha.

Would the Decepticons? He doubted it.

They were quick to fly through the hallways and to the rec room, almost all optics there looking up when they skidded into the room. Sideswipe went straight to the back of it where the speakers were, and connected to them. The music was quickly scanned so he knew what it was, the rhythm of it, before he put it to play. A grin spread over his face as the beat of the first song began to play from the speakers.

“Why did no one tell me Soundwave has Kaonite music?” he hollered over the song to the room at large to a few exclamations of, “We didn’t know you wanted Kaonite music!” worded in slightly different ways depending on whose vocalizer it was coming from.

Well, that was alright. They had their music now. Sideswipe’s grin widened before he—like the attention whore he was—began to move to the music, doing little more than nodding and swaying along at first while he tried to get his bearings. The Autobots absolutely hadn’t had music like this, or else no one had ever given them it.

The Autobots had wanted to strip their past from them, replace what they’d known with everything they’d wanted of them.

This, too, they hadn’t had in so long. Even the Pits had had music, dancing.

The song started slower, calmer, giving few hints for what was to come, but everyone in the room who had heard the music of their city—and it was probably the vast majority of them—had to know it wouldn’t stay that way.

And it didn’t. The beat rose in the span of a few seconds and turned true to what Kaon offered.

It offered death and violence, suffering and struggle, and the only reward on the other side was that you were still alive, trekking in the dirt and grime that covered the city from the lowest decks to the highest towers.

It had been too long, but it was theirs. Their past, their home, their culture, no matter how the Autobots had tried to take it all from them. It was ingrained somewhere deep in their spine, and Sideswipe hadn’t forgotten. It took him a few moments, sure… But then he started to move.

Violent. That was the one word that summarized what dancing to Kaonite music was supposed to look like, and Sideswipe had never been a bad dancer. Not among the Autobots either, but this here… This here was their natural element. Their upbringing.

Them.

The beat of the music was heavy, so was the impact of Sideswipe’s pedes on the deck. His optics were closed, there was a smile on his face—not one of those empty grins he wore all the time, but a genuine one speaking volumes of how much he was enjoying this. Expressing himself in all the right ways, holding nothing back.

Fuck the Autobots. Fuck what they’d tried to make them. Fuck them for trying to make them deny themselves every step of the way.

Through every savage spin, every strike of his pedes against the floor, the clang of it that timed itself just right to the music because Sideswipe knew how… His field danced around him, blown wide to let every spectator know how much he loved this.

Mecha got up and began to gather around Sideswipe, curious, though giving him plenty room, never straying closer to him than what Sunstreaker did—and Sunstreaker stood off to the side, his spark fluttering with Sideswipe’s enjoyment.

And it wasn’t as if Sideswipe’s half was the only one to appreciate this. Sunstreaker‘s did too.

Their spark danced as well… As did a little something more as well. Sunstreaker raised one of his servos to his chestplates, rubbing over his spark chamber—over his scratched out Autobot insignia—unable to deny the little something flaring along with his spark. It enjoyed itself as much as they enjoyed themselves. His emotions reflected in it as it tested out what it was like to feel.

This was what it was like to feel, to feel the music pound through their lines, to feel their fuel pump join the rhythm, to move to it and forget everything else just for the time—work hard, play hard, as it’d always been. The miners toiled under the lived-in decks only to come up when they had free time, populate the bars and the clubs, wasting what little credits they had… Gladiators, the ones allowed to leave the arenas, getting up to much of the same. They danced, they sang, they fucked with the kind of abandon of mecha who knew they could die tomorrow, so let’s make the most of today.

A heavy field entered the room and Sunstreaker glanced towards the doorway to see Megatron walking in, Starscream trailing after him and Thundercracker after Starscream. Was there a bit of curiosity in Megatron’s expression? Drawn here by all the noise?

The warlord walked to the crowd that had gathered to watch Sideswipe. His soldiers stepped out of his way to allow him to the very front. It was definitely curiosity on his face, muted, but there. Sideswipe opened his optics, focusing on Megatron and grinning. Then he stilled and reached his arm, palm up, inviting the tyrant to join him.

Megatron was Kaonite too, wasn’t he? He should know how.

There was a moment of stillness in the room while everyone waited for what he would do, what his answer would be–

And it was a bit unexpected when Megatron did step forward and walked over to Sideswipe. His brother was practically vibrating with anticipation, moving in place restlessly, dying to join the music again. He still waited while Megatron listened to the music for a moment, catching onto the rhythm–

And then he moved, one pede forward, and Sideswipe moved one pede back, and that was all there was before Megatron took the lead. He broadcasted every move before he made it, but they were all familiar, and Sideswipe knew exactly how to match each of them. He didn’t have to think when Megatron led him through every motion, whether flowing or sudden—the clash of pede against the deck that vibrated under their combined strength, and the clash of palm against palm when they brought their servos together in a fleeting point of contact between them… The spins, the turns, the sudden reversal of your motion until your frame ached.

How long had it been since they’d felt this? The sensation, both physical and that of the spark and mind as you were led through a dance that sometimes emulated controlled fighting in its savagery when one wrong move would have landed dents on the other.

But Megatron knew what he was doing, and so did Sideswipe. There were no dents, just the exhilarating close calls that were intended to be no more than just that: close calls, motions that were aborted and rewound inches from your partner—if you had the skill.

Megatron did. Sideswipe did too, even if Megatron did most of the work now, Sideswipe merely the one that answered the orders Megatron gave with his body. They went fast, they went heavy, just like it was supposed to go, and Sunstreaker’s vents threatened to seize every few moments from the sheer excitement of it. His spark pulsed fast, pulling the little one into its rejoicing.

And it was rejoicing. It was finding a part of themselves again, a part of the culture they had always been proud of and had never wanted to bury. But who among the Autobots would have known to dance like this, willingly risking injuries with a partner so much larger and stronger than you were? Jazz, maybe, that mech knew far too much about everything and hid far too many skills under his friendly facade.

But who among the Autobots would have accepted this, a piece of what was so inherently Decepticon? So inherently Kaon, where the whole damn enemy faction had come from.

Sideswipe was crying, in a way. Tears were running down his face even as he responded to every single move Megatron made, but it wasn’t pain, it wasn’t sadness.

Just happiness, and that knot in him… It unraveled further. This was staying true to themselves and the past they had never wanted to be ashamed of—and hadn’t ever been, really, no matter how many times they were told they should hate it, apologize for it, see the error of their ways, redeem themselves.

Not here. There were smiles around them, some knowing, others just entertained. No judgment.

Sideswipe’s fans were whirring fast by the time Megatron stepped away from, only to–

Turn to Sunstreaker. And like Sideswipe had invited Megatron, Megatron now invited him, arm reached, palm up.

Sideswipe grinned behind the warlord before quietly slipping to join the sidelines. Sunstreaker only waited long enough to fake consideration, but from the beginning… There was no question on what he wanted to do.

He stepped forward and placed his far smaller servo onto Megatron’s. It closed around his, and just like that Megatron tugged him over, Sunstreaker going without any undue resistance. He was released only after he stood in front of Megatron, and off they were. Megatron took the lead again, as if he was used to always taking control —and he probably was. And Sunstreaker knew just as well as Sideswipe how to respond to all of it, when to move back, when to the side, when forward, when to turn his frame, when to meet Megatron’s palm with his own and where.

But Sunstreaker also knew how to turn the tables. He was the one that forced Megatron to retreat lest he break their dance, he became the one that directed the course of things, the one that led.

Megatron narrowed his optics at him, knowing exactly what he was doing. Sunstreaker’s mouth tugged into a smile, even more so when Megatron followed one motion of his only to throw it right back in his face and force him to follow unless he really wanted to get hit.

His fans were soon whirring just as hard as Sideswipe’s, his optics darkening as someone raised the volume of the music until it thumped through the air and throughout his frame. The sparklet pulsed urgently at him, demanding more of this, of the excitement that created a true storm in his spark—the experience of fighting Megatron once again, even if not in quite the same way he had before.

Back and forth, back and forth they traded their leadership, losing and reclaiming it in one rousing battle of wills—that Sunstreaker eventually admitted defeat on, when his frame began to betray him a bit too much for him to fully trust it anymore. Megatron, victorious, like he always was, led him even through the distraction of his titillation.

Sideswipe grinned as he watched it all, flying on the high of their spark. This was… Better than he’d ever dared to hope. He had never forgotten Kaon, had never stopped considering it his home, the place where he’d always… Belonged, almost.

He’d all but lost hope that he’d ever get even a fraction of it back, though. If the Autobots won, he could only imagine how thoroughly they’d try to wipe that aspect of their planet and species right off the map, because it was that that had given birth to the rebellion that had risen to threaten the Primacy. In that event, what would he have been except stuck with the reality and future the Autobots wanted to build?

But it didn’t have to be like that. They could have this, too. They could fight to make this the future.

Did they want to?

There was one sour face in the midst of it all, though. Starscream hung back, his face held in a firm scowl.

But, extremely handily, Thundercracker was only a few steps away from Sideswipe, and the twin weaseled his way over to the Seeker to end up next to him. Thundercracker gave him a questioning look, but didn’t shoo him off.

There was little hope of talking out loud with all the rhythmic noise filling the room, so Sideswipe employed short range comms instead. ::Why’s Starscream look like he tried to eat a lemon?::

Thundercracker glanced in the direction of his trine leader, then chuckled. ::He’s jealous,:: the Seeker grinned, and apparently now it was fully confirmed that Starscream just did not like the amount of attention Megatron was giving Sunstreaker.

But Thundercracker continued, ::Plus, Sunstreaker dares to be better at something than he is.::

Sideswipe laughed at that. ::The dancing?::

::Yeah.::

It made sense. Why would a Vosian know how to dance in the Kaonite style as well as a born and bred Kaonite did, if they knew how to dance in that style at all? And their wings would’ve been bound to get in the way, too.

Poor Starscream, getting outdone by a pretty frontliner way below him in rank. Didn’t sit too well with him, apparently.

Sideswipe’s attention was drawn back to the dancing pair when Megatron pulled Sunstreaker against himself. That really wasn’t part of the usual moves, but Sunstreaker was venting hard and they were staring at each other in the optic pretty intently.

Sideswipe’s grin widened. ::Those two are gonna head somewhere more private right about now.::

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#transformers #maccadam #sunstreaker #sideswipe #megatron #soundwave #thundercracker #fic #2020 #up in flames #ashes

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