#My beautiful robot with a malfunction

[gigglefriend]

aigisssssssss

[imnotjustreadingg]

how not to date an avenger (according to bucky barnes) pt.1

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x avenger!Fem!Reader (y/n) Genre: Fluff - Bucky is a sweetheart - slight jealousy - little angst Word count: 1108 Summary: Bucky faced nazis, world wars, aliens, Thanos, survived in Siberia but his most difficult mission is to gain your heart

Attempt #1: Coffee.

It started with coffee. Bucky stood outside the kitchen on the 12th floor of the Avengers Tower for ten minutes, pacing like a malfunctioning robot. He was holding two cups from the small café down the street, the one you said had “the best oat milk cappuccino in all of Manhattan.” One cup was black and bitter for him. The other had your name scribbled on it, complete with a sad smiley face from the barista who always tried to flirt with him. He wasn’t nervous. He was a hundred years old. He’d lived through the Depression and the snap. But somehow, the thought of handing you a cup of overpriced, frothy oat milk made his metal fingers sweat. Metaphorically.

He finally marched in and slammed the cup on the counter in front of you. “Here.” You blinked up at him from behind your laptop. “Oh. Uh… thanks?” He crossed his arms and leaned against the fridge, trying to seem cool and casual. “It’s just… you said you liked it, so I figured-yeah.” You gave him a confused smile. “That’s sweet of you. But I just made some.” You held up your reusable mug. It said Please don’t talk to me until I’ve had my second coffee in aggressively sarcastic font. “But thank you!”

He nodded once and left without saying another word. Back in his room, he stared at the untouched black coffee and muttered, “Cool. Totally normal. Crushed it.”

Attempt #2: Flowers.

Sam told him that people liked flowers. “Just give her something pretty. She loves that stuff.” So, Bucky went out and bought a gigantic bouquet of wildflowers. Not roses, too obvious. Not lilies, too funereal. Just cheerful, colourful blooms that made him sneeze.

He waited until you were in the library on floor 17. He saw you typing something furiously, earbuds in, mouthing what he assumed was a dramatic monologue. Probably from a Shakespeare thing. You were always reading. He cleared his throat. Nothing. He cleared it again, louder. You flinched and pulled one earbud out. “Jesus, Bucky, you scared me.” He held out the bouquet like a nervous child handing over a science project. “These are for you.” You stared. “For me?” He nodded. “Yeah. Just, you know. I thought you might… like them.” Your expression softened. “They’re beautiful. But… is this because I beat you in chess last night?”

“…What?” You gave a teasing grin. “Is this a peace offering? Because I told you I didn’t cheat.”

“…No. It’s just-I wanted to get you flowers.” You tilted your head. “Oh.” Then came the words that haunted him for three weeks, “Well, thank you. But you don’t have to do all this. We’re friends. I like you just fine without bribes.” He left the flowers on the table and pretended to have somewhere urgent to be. Sam laughed at him for hours.

Attempt #5 (because 3 and 4 were just him “accidentally” brushing your hand during movie night and “coincidentally” showing up at the same bodega as you).

He was done being subtle. It wasn’t working. You were smart, sweet, and either completely oblivious to his feelings or, worse, not interested. So, he went with blunt force. He found you in the gym one evening, beating the hell out of a punching bag with the kind of intensity he usually reserved for Hydra agents. “You mad at someone?” he asked, keeping his tone light. You shrugged, sweat-slicked and glowing. “Just stress. Mission’s reports. Steve’s moral superiority. Take your pick.” He laughed. Then, before he could chicken out, he said, “Hey. I was wondering if you’d like to go out sometime.” You blinked. “Out?”

“Like… a date.” You looked genuinely surprised. “Oh. Bucky, I-I thought you were just being friendly.”

“Not very good at that,” he mumbled. You gave a small smile, almost apologetic. “You’re great. I just… I’m not really dating right now.” His heart sank. “Right. Sure. That’s fine.” He walked off before you could see the way his shoulders dropped. That night, he sparred with Natasha for two hours and didn’t block a single hit.

Attempt #6: Reverse Psychology.

If you didn’t want to go out with him, fine. He’d just… stop trying. For three weeks, he acted normal. Friendly. Polite. Aloof. You noticed. “Bucky,” you said one morning, poking your head into the common room, “are you mad at me?”

“No.”

“…Are you sure? You’ve barely looked at me lately.”

“I’m just giving you space.” You sat down beside him. “I didn’t ask for space.” He turned to look at you. “You didn’t want to date me.” You sighed. “That doesn’t mean I want you to ignore me.” He frowned. “You’re confusing.”

“You’re persistent.” He didn’t know what to say to that.

Attempt #7: A Proper Conversation.

He cornered you on the roof one night, both of you staring at the Manhattan skyline like you always did when life felt too big. “Look,” he said, fiddling with the zipper of his jacket, “I know I’m not great at this. And I know I might be... too much sometimes. But I really like you.” You looked at him, unreadable. “I like how you read three books at once and cry at Pixar movies. I like how you argue with Tony and win. I like that you remember how I take my coffee and yell at me to wear sunscreen. I like you.” He held your gaze. “So, if you’re saying no because you’re not interested, I’ll stop. But if you’re saying no because you’re scared or not ready or something else… I’ll wait.” Silence. Then, “I wasn’t sure if you were serious,” you whispered. “I thought maybe you were just being nice. Or bored.”

“I’ve been through wars. I’ve been brainwashed. I’ve been cryogenically frozen. I’m not bored.” That made you laugh. Soft and genuine. “Okay,” you said finally. “Ask me again.”

“…What?” You stepped closer. “Ask me on a date. For real. One more time.” He swallowed, heart thundering. “Will you go out with me?” You smiled. “Yes.”

Sam found Bucky the next morning sitting at the breakfast table with the goofiest grin he'd ever seen. “What happened to you?” he asked, suspicious. Bucky looked up, dreamy. “She said yes.” Sam blinked. “Wait. She? You mean-finally?!” Bucky nodded. Sam threw his arms in the air. “Jesus. I thought I’d have to ask her out for you.” Bucky growled, but he was still smiling. He had a date with you on Friday. He’d already bought the oat milk cappuccino. Just in case.

next part -> here

[xiao-come-home]

Even MORE pre-release Boothill. Please bear with me im doing my best,, slightly sug/gestive in one paragraph 🤸‍♀️

I've read somewhere that Boothill short-circuits when he's embarrassed AND I STAND BY IT. 1000%. I am here to spread this like a disease. His system is definitely able to process his emotions, but when you do something that makes his heart skip a beat, he freezes in his spot, his cheeks gain the most beautiful scarlet color... And then you hear the worst combination of malfunctioning robotic noises, AND then sparks fly off of him. Might have to wait a few minutes until he comes back...

Boothill might look like he's calm outside, but he just FEELS the blue screen coming when things get too heated with no break whatsoever or too much fluids go past the protective metal plates. His body stops in place, is absolutely unresponsive, and his eyes flash blue.

Don't worry though, your Boothill has a restart button, right in the middle of his upper back, hidden by his half-vest (or.. whatever that is). He might overheat a little bit though, so be careful not to give yourself unnecessary burns.

In rare cases when his blue screens get REAL bad, you have to stick a USB drive he gave you in those special slots he has on the left side of his hips to bring him back.

Boothill most definitely does not sleep, but gets recharged by electricity or fuel instead. Perhaps that's the reason for the hole he has on his back? Either way, it gives you an opportunity to "plug him up", which he hates, despises even, to hear from you when he feels low on energy (he still wants a goodnight kiss btw).

Boothill swallows bullets. He also spits them out when needed.. usually, he's very careful not to spit them into your mouth when you kiss, but gravity betrays him on his worst days.

Boothill probably works like Siri or Alexa when battles leave him a bit too wounded. You might wonder about something, say it out loud, and then Boothill just can't stop reading the first thing that came up on Google.

"What's the best recipe for carrot cake?"

"2 cups (260g) all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons baking soda, ½ teaspoon fine sea salt—" Boothill gasps and covers his mouth, "1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon, 1 ¼ cups (295ml) vegetable oil, 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar—"

He just can't stop.

[areyoufuckingcrazy]

I love how you write Tech! Could I request something with him and a super clumsy and oblivious reader please? Thank you!

Thank you! Sometimes I feel like I write him too robotic like ahaha

⸻

“Statistical Probability of Love”

Tech x Reader

⸻

Tech had calculated—twice, actually—that if he complimented you at least three times a day, you might eventually understand he was flirting. The odds weren’t stellar (34.7%, to be exact), but he was determined to try.

“Your ocular symmetry is… exceptionally pleasing,” he said one afternoon, eyes never leaving his datapad.

You blinked up at him, mid-attempt to carry a large crate that was clearly too heavy for you. “Uh… thanks? Are you saying my eyeballs match?”

“Precisely.”

You smiled, almost tripping over your own feet as you finally got the crate to the other side of the Marauder. “Cool. I like symmetry. Good for… art. And, like… walking straight.”

Tech stared after you, baffled. That had been his best one yet. He even rehearsed it.

⸻

Later, you were in the cockpit, absolutely tangled in the cords you were trying to organize. Wrecker had asked you to help. He did not, however, explain how not to fall into a mess of wires like some kind of malfunctioning protocol droid.

“You seem to find yourself in precarious entanglements at an impressively consistent rate,” Tech noted, crouching beside you with a slight smirk.

You groaned dramatically. “It’s a talent. Maybe I should join a circus.”

“I find it… endearing,” he muttered.

You were too busy trying to untangle your foot from a power cable to hear him.

⸻

It got worse.

He started trying “casual” physical contact. A light touch on the shoulder here, a hand on your back when guiding you through the hull. Subtle. Calculated. Measured. He was certain you’d notice.

You? You thought he was just awkward and accidentally touchy.

Once, he brushed your hand while passing you a tool. You jolted, dropped the hydrospanner on your foot, then thanked him for it.

“You—you thanked me?” Tech asked later, clearly flustered. “I caused minor bodily harm!”

“Yeah, but it kinda woke me up. I was zoning out hard.”

He turned away, muttering something about “social cues being an imprecise science.”

⸻

Hunter noticed first. “You gonna tell her you like her or keep complimenting her neural pathways until she dies of old age?”

“I am trying to initiate courtship gradually,” Tech replied, defensive. “She is just… uniquely unresponsive to conventional—or unconventional—methods.”

“She’s got no idea,” Echo chimed in, amused. “You could tell her she was beautiful in binary and she’d thank you for a firmware update.”

⸻

Eventually, Tech snapped.

“Your clumsiness is statistically improbable and yet, inexplicably, I find myself drawn to it. To you. In a—romantic sense.”

You blinked at him from the floor, where you’d just slipped on your own jacket.

“Oh,” you said. “Wait. You’re… flirting with me?”

“I have been flirting with you.”

“For how long?”

“Seventeen days, four hours, and—”

“Tech. You should’ve just said something.”

“I did! Your neural symmetry, the entanglement commentary, the guiding hand—”

“Okay, yeah, that’s on me,” you admitted, grinning sheepishly. “I’m a bit slow.”

“Not slow,” he corrected. “Just… delightfully oblivious.”

“…Was that another flirt?”

“Affirmative.”

You laughed. “Okay, I’m catching on now.”

“Statistically overdue,” he muttered.

But you leaned over, kissed his cheek, and said, “Worth the wait?”

His ears turned red. “Yes. Highly.”

⸻

[xvazx]

The Beauty of Our Chaos

Part 14 - Heat Wave

Prev. Part / Next Part

The next morning, my dad did what he did best—ruin sleep.

“¡Arriba, a bañarse!” he called out, knocking on the door like we were late for school. (Up and to the shower.)

I groaned, my voice muffled against the pillow. “Me encanta levantarme a las 8 am en vacaciones…” (I love waking up at 8 am during winter break.)

“El desayuno es gratis, no hay que desaprovecharlo,” he announced. (Breakfast is free, we shouldn’t waste the offer.)

I pulled the sheets over my head. “¿Y si mejor no desayuno y duermo hasta tarde?” (What if, I skip breakfast and sleep til late?)

“Me too,” Alex mumbled from the other bed.

Yael chimed in from the hallway. “We can go to the spa for facials after breakfast, déjalas dormir.” (let them

sleep)

There was a pause, followed by my dad’s reluctant, “Muy bien. Marquen cuando se despierten.”

They finally left, closing the door behind them.

I sank deeper into the bed. Glorious silence. Darkness. Comfort.

Until my phone rang.

I groaned, blindly slapping around the nightstand until I found it. Yael’s name flashed on the screen.

“Bueno,” I muttered, voice thick with sleep. (Hello)

“Apúrate niña, your boyfriend is here.” (Hurry up)

I sat up, adrenaline rushing. “¿No mames, Bieber?” (Holy shit)

“No,” she said, clearly unimpressed. “El chamaco de ayer. His family’s by the pool.” (The boy from yesterday)

“So?” I asked, still half-asleep.

“Ponte bonita. Bring Alex you need to eat.” (Make yourself look pretty)

I blinked at the time—11:13 a.m.

I nudged Alex. “Your mom’s orders. Time to go.”

She groaned, but rolled out of bed.

I made a break for the shower, letting the hot water drag me back to life. Meanwhile, my brain buzzed: What does ‘ponte bonita’ mean exactly? Like… cute pretty? Or ‘wash your sleepy face’ pretty?

I did what I could. A little concealer under the eyes, some blush to fake vitality, and a touch of brow gel. Natural effort. Like “I woke up like this” but tried.

As I was finishing up, Alex stepped out of the shower and looked at me like I’d just joined a beauty pageant.

“What’s with the morning glam?” she teased.

“¿Exageré?” I asked, suddenly self-conscious. (I overdid it?)

“No, no,” she said, pulling a towel around her shoulders. “You look good. Never seen you wear more than mascara, though.”

“I looked like a zombie, had to tone it down.” Half true.

She smirked. “Get him, girl.”

“Apúrate.” (Hurry)

…

Once we were ready, I threw on a baseball cap, and we headed toward the pool. As we walked, Alex and I did what we always did—bond over dumb shit. We started humming the Spanish version of an Enchanted song, giggling.

“¿Cómo sabrá que la amas?” I sang softly. (How does she know that you love her?)

“¿Cómo le muestras cariño?” she replied with dramatic flair. (How do you show her you love her?)

We harmonized the next lines, lost in the moment—until—

“You guys are killing it,” a voice interrupted.

We turned to see Luigi and one of his sisters watching us.

He grinned, all stupidly cute, while I felt my soul detach and float away.

I looked up and realized his entire family was sitting there. Watching. Listening.

Crap.

Alex leaned toward me and whispered, “Be polite.”

I cleared my throat, internally dying. “Oh, good afternoon. Apologies and excuse us,” I said like a malfunctioning robot, and offered a tight, awkward smile.

He just chuckled and gave a small wave.

I motioned frantically to Alex. “Go. Go go go.”

We speed-walked across the pool deck toward our family’s table.

“Buena entrada hicieron,” my dad said, smirking. (Great entrance)

“Ni me digas. Me quiero morir,” I muttered, plopping into my chair. (Don’t tell me about it. I wanna die)

“At least you made your first impression,” Yael chimed in. “Very Disney princess.”

I groaned and buried my face in my hands. “Oh god.”

“Go order something to eat,” Yael said, motioning toward the cabana. “It’s late enough as it is.”

Alex and I made our way over to the cabana bar next to the pool, the sun finally deciding to be merciful after a blinding morning. We grabbed two tall stools under the shade and asked the bartender for the menu. While flipping through the laminated pages, I felt someone step up beside me.

“Boo,” came a low voice by my ear.

I turned, already knowing who it was. “Boo back,” I replied, unimpressed but unable to hide my smile.

“I’m gonna head to the restroom,” Alex announced, already sliding off her stool. “Order for me.”

Traitor.

I glanced back at Luigi as she disappeared. He stayed beside me, arms crossed casually over his chest, sun still glinting on the damp edges of his hair.

“You missed breakfast,” he said, like we were mid-conversation.

“I prioritized sleep,” I said flatly, flipping the menu like it was a newspaper and not a lifeline.

The bartender walked over and asked for our order. I pointed to two paninis. Luigi raised an eyebrow.

“I’d recommend the smoothies,” he said, finishing off whatever he was drinking with a satisfied sigh. “They’re surprisingly good.”

“Alright,” I nodded. “Two mango smoothies.”

“Make it three,” he added, leaning on the bar.

The bartender asked, “Cabin number?”

“Five,” he replied.

I added, “And…”

“Nah, it’s on me,” he interrupted with a grin.

“Don’t do that,” I tried, but the bartender had already turned to shout the order into the kitchen.

I turned on Luigi, mildly scandalized. “Your parents are going to hate me. That’s two full meals.”

He shrugged with a boyish smirk. “I’ll take the heat.”

Alex returned a minute later. “I got us smoothies,” I announced.

She raised a brow. “Nice.”

Then, as casually as if she were commenting on the weather, she looked L dead in the eye and said, “Has anyone ever told you you look like the lovechild of Joe Jonas and Dave Franco?”

He chuckled.

“Oh my God, Alex,” I groaned, covering my face with both hands.

He grinned and leaned toward her. “The Joe Jonas thing, yeah. Your sister made it clear since day one.”

“Hey, your friend called us Malibu Barbies. I had to fight back,” I muttered.

“Well, according to Google Maps, he wasn’t far off.”

I narrowed my eyes at him and attacked. “And Alex just proved my point, Jonas Brother.”

The bartender returned and handed us our drinks. We each took one, and the atmosphere lightened.

“Most Italians look related anyway,” Luigi added, continuing his earlier thought.

“Well, not all Californian girls are Barbies,” I retorted.

“You are not the one to make that call,” he said without missing a beat.

“Take that back.”

“Make me.”

From behind us, Alex rolled her eyes and stood up. “Get a room,” she muttered. “I’m going back to the table.”

“Smooth,” I whispered under my breath.

I turned to the bartender and asked him to bring our food to our table once it was ready. He gave a nod and a thumbs up before heading back inside.

Just as I was leaving, Luigi asked, “Did you tell them? About the non-consented elopement?”

I paused. “No,” I admitted quietly. “And you?”

“God, no,” he said quickly. “I’m kind of… avoiding the conversation altogether.”

“Same.” I looked away, unsure whether to laugh or cry. “My dad would freak out.”

“Mine would throw a funeral,” he said. “You know, for the death of my future.”

We both laughed a little too loudly at that.

“Oh, and by the way,” I said, pointing my straw at him. “That little scene from earlier. Mortifying.”

He smirked. “It was a full performance. Solid vocals. Hand choreo. What song even was that?”

“Spanish version of a Disney movie,” I shrugged. “Enchanted.”

“No clue.”

“You know… How Does She Know That You Love Her?” I switched to English and sang the line softly.

He smiled. “I was kidding. I’ve seen it. My sister made me watch it when we were little.”

“How dare you?”

He gave me that look—playful and slightly dangerous. “I just wanted to see it again.”

Out of spite, I bumped him with my hips. The motion made his smoothie splash slightly over the edge of his cup straight to the floor.

“Rude,” he said, mock offended.

“You’re the one who’s standing over a spill and not cleaning it,” I called back, already walking away. “Now that’s rude.”

I made my way to our table, heart embarrassingly light.

Moments later, I was finishing the last bite of my panini when my phone buzzed on the table.

🤓Luigicito🤓

“My sisters want to meet you.”

I almost choked mid-chew.

My eyes darted across the pool. Sure enough, his oldest sister waved in my direction like we were long-lost cousins. I blinked. Once. Twice. That was not a hallucination.

“Wdym?”

I texted back in a silent panic.

“Can you come when you’re done?”

I looked up again.

I stared at my half-done plate like it might offer me an escape route. I considered faking a faint. Or maybe hiding behind a pool float. Meeting the sisters was one thing. But walking over there meant walking into the whole damn family.

Still, I wiped my mouth, took a sip of water, and muttered to myself, “What’s the worst that could happen?”

I excused myself from my table. My dad raised a suspicious eyebrow. Yael gave me the world’s most obvious wink. I ignored all of them and started the walk across the pool deck like I was heading into battle.

Luigi stood and gestured to the group seated in a semicircle of pool chairs.

“I’m here,” I said, voice just a touch higher than normal.

“Great,” he said, all casual charm. “(Y/N) This is Lucia, my second-oldest sister, and her husband Josh.”

I smiled, extended my hand. “Nice to meet you.”

“And this is Maria, my oldest sister, and her husband Darren.”

Again, polite handshakes all around. I was starting to feel the rhythm of the whole thing.

“And this is (Y/N),” he added, “Academic rival, dancer, singer, general overachiever. Am I missing anything?”

“Please stop talking,” I whispered through a strained smile.

“We haven’t had the pleasure,” said a voice behind me.

Oh no.

I turned. There they were. Luigi’s parents.

I suddenly became hyper-aware of the way I was standing, the fact that I had just reapplied my very thick sunscreen layer on my face, and maybe I still had the white cast.

“Hi,” I began, trying to sound poised. “I’m (Y/N). I study with Luigi.”

“Yes, we’ve heard,” his mother said with an unreadable smile. “Pleasure to meet you.”

I shook her hand, then turned to his father and did the same.

“You’re hard to miss,” his mother added with a straight face. “Distracting.”

I laughed awkwardly. “Sorry about that. My stepsister and I got carried away with a musical moment.”

“Lucky you were gifted with a decent voice,” his dad said, clearly trying to lighten the mood.

“Triviale,” his mother muttered. (Tacky)

I caught that. So did Luigi—he pinched the bridge of his nose like it physically pained him.

“Anyway,” she said briskly, “please, sit.”

I did. Because what else could I do? Politely cartwheel away?

“So, Pep told us you’re on a full scholarship,” Lucia said, jumping into girl talk.

“Yes,” I nodded. “I applied during my senior year of high school and thankfully, it worked out.”

“It covers everything?” Josh asked, leaning in with polite curiosity.

“Tuition mostly. In exchange, I have to roll in extracurriculars, do campus community service, that’s why I joined a sorority. It checked all the boxes.”

His mother sipped her drink, then asked, “Your parents couldn’t help your education?”

“Mom,” Luigi interjected sharply.

I forced a polite smile. “They sure can, but I wanted to carve my own path.”

“Miss Independent,” Maria said with a smile that was actually sincere.

“Those are your parents?” his dad pointed toward my table.

“Oh, that’s my dad, his wife, and her daughter.”

“And your mother’s not in the picture?” his mom asked.

Luigi shot her a death glare. “Mom enough.”

“It’s fine,” I said, even though it wasn’t. “My parents divorced when I was seven. My mom stayed back home, and my dad moved here in California, started a new life. Everyone’s doing great.”

“Ah, like that new term,” she said, tone flat. “Blended family.”

Here it comes.

“Oh, it gets better,” I said while cracking my knuckles. “I’m a one-night stand gone wrong. My mom’s best friend told her she couldn’t get pregnant on her period. So, my parents had a wild New Year’s night. Then boom, a miracle of life happened. They got married because it was tradition. She wore white, but I was her something new, super on-brand for the nineties. Oh, and that best friend is my godmother. Obviously, they ended up with a terrible marriage. Great parents though. Anyway, here we are.”

Silence.

The kind of silence that drops like a bomb in the middle of brunch.

Lucia snorted. Maria looked like she’d just been handed backstage passes to a stand-up show. Luigi’s jaw was tight shut and his eyes were wide open.

His mom blinked at me like I’d just recited a spell. His dad looked… oddly impressed.

“That was fun,” I said, standing with grace that could’ve won me an Oscar. “I should come by again. If you excuse me.”

And then I walked away. Head high. Liberated.

I was on my way back to my family, head held high like I hadn’t just delivered a TED Talk on the dysfunctionality of my origin story, when I heard footsteps behind me.

Without turning, I sighed. “Before you say anything, I know I was rude, and that your mom deserves respect, blah blah—but so do I.”

“I agree,” he said calmly.

“Perfect. Bye.”

I didn’t break stride. I made it back and slid into the jacuzzi next to my dad like I’d just returned from war.

“Solo dime y le parto su madre,” my dad muttered under his breath. (Just say it and I’ll beat the shit out of him.)

“No se le parte nada a nadie,” I mumbled back. “Aquí sí demandan.” (No beating. They can sue.)

Later, as the sun started melting into the sea, I told Yael what had gone down. She didn’t disappoint.

“Son ricos y peor del este,” she said, flipping her sunglasses up. “You scare them.” (They are rich and from the east)

“Mándalos a la chingada,” my dad added in a completely relaxed tone, as he drank his beer. (Tell them to fuck off)

I laughed.

Eventually, we all dried off and started making our way back to the cabin when—of course—fate wasn’t done screwing with me. Luigi and his sister intercepted us midway.

“Hi,” she said, offering a warm smile. “I’m Lucia—this dork’s sister. We wanted to apologize. Our mom… well, she’s a handful.”

She placed a hand on her chest like she meant it. I glanced at my family. Alex was staring Lucia down like she was trying to decide if this was real.

Luigi turned to my dad and Yael. “We were wondering if (Y/N) would like to join us on a hike tomorrow. It’s along the coast. If she’s up for it. And—uh—if that’s okay with you.”

He looked adorably terrified of my dad.

“¿Para qué o qué?” my dad asked, genuinely confused. “To do what?” (For what?)

“Walk… up the coastline?” Luigi said, like it was the most obvious activity in the world.

My dad looked at me and snorted. “¿Ella, caminar en la playa?” (Her, walking down the beach?)

“What do you say?” Lucia asked, turning to me directly.

My mouth opened. Then closed. I think I short-circuited.

“She’d love to,” Yael cut in, answering with the firm authority of a second mom. “Right nena?” (Babygirl)

I forced a smile that looked more like I had a muscle cramp. “Pff… sure.”

“Awesome,” Luigi said. “We’ll swing by your cabin at 7 a.m.”

“Awesome,” I echoed in the same tone used for finding out you have to do your taxes.

“Great! See you tomorrow!” Lucia waved as they turned to leave.

As soon as they were out of earshot, I let out a sound that was somewhere between a groan and a dying animal. “Me voy a morir.” (I’m gonna die)

“No es para tanto, solo prepárate,” Yael said, trying to encourage me. (Nothing out of this world. Just be prepared)

“Necesitamos hablar,” my dad whispered to Yael. “No me gusta esto.” (We need to talk. I don’t like this)

“Hiking. At 7 a.m.,” Alex said in a deadpan tone. “Yaaay.”

I gave her a sideways glare. She just laughed.

I had twelve hours to emotionally and physically prepare for hiking up the Malibu coast with my secret husband.

RISE AND SHINE

It was 6:45 a.m., and I stared at my phone like it held the answers to the universe. I could text Luigi right now. Fake food poisoning. Say I threw up during the night. Add some voice note sound effects. A classic get-out-of-hiking-free card.

But then I thought about Lucia’s kind smile and how genuinely excited they’d looked. I sighed.

I sat up slowly. My dad, of course, was already awake, sipping coffee and reading something on his phone.

“Ni por mi te levantas temprano,” he joked. (You’ve never woken up early for me)

“Yael made me compromise,” I yawned, dragging my feet toward the bathroom.

I threw on simple activewear: long sleeves, matching leggings, high-top sneakers.

I packed my side bag with a fully charged phone, my wallet, and, of course, my overpriced SPF 50 sunscreen. Then I went to town with said sunscreen. Face, neck, ears, shoulders—if I could’ve lathered my soul in zinc, I would have.

Staring at my reflection, I asked myself a question that I should have asked two days ago: How the hell did I let myself end up in this situation?

I hated the outdoors. I hated uncontrolled environments. Why did destiny marry me to someone who thrived in these conditions..

This would be hell.

I sighed, grabbed my water bottle and my collapsible umbrella—yes, umbrella—and headed out.

“You look ridiculous,” Alex said groggily, emerging from the bed.

“I know,” I said flatly.

“You could just say you don’t feel comfortable.”

“She already said yes,” Yael chimed in from her pillow fort. “Ellos amablemente la invitaron.” (They kindly invited her.)

I sighed. Right. Be the bigger person.

Then my phone buzzed.

🤓Luigicito🤓

“We’re walking to your cabin.”

Mi hora llegó.

I stepped outside just as they appeared: Luigi, his two sisters, and their husbands. They looked like an REI commercial. Tanned, toned, and way too happy for this hour.

“Morning,” Luigi said, all chirpy and chipper.

I yawned. “Back at you.”

“Too early for you?” Maria asked kindly while knowing the answer.

“Kinda,” I replied, wishing I could trade places with my pillow.

“Once we get to the trail, you’ll wake up,” she said encouragingly.

“We’ll see.”

Luigi looked me up and down. “Are you… preparing for battle?”

He motioned to my umbrella and side bag.

“These are the basics,” I replied with zero shame.

“You don’t feel too covered?” Lucia asked gently. “The sun gets intense.”

“This is my shield.”

Darren clapped. “Alright, team! Let’s hike.”

And so we went. Me? I looked like a soccer mom going through a midlife crisis. Everyone else? Athleisure models, ready for a campaign.

We’d barely started and I already regretted every decision in my life.

“I appreciate you coming,” Luigi said, walking beside me.

He was fast. Why was he walking like he was late for the shore?

“No prob,” I lied, wheezing slightly.

“We heard the coastal view is beautiful this time of day,” he added, like I cared.

“I bet.”

He gave me a side glance. “You’re mad, aren’t you? I should’ve said something. I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine,” I said too quickly. “It’s not like we were supposed to be together during this holiday.”

That slipped out harder than I intended.

He blinked. “Right…”

“C’mon guys, up the hill!” Darren yelled from ahead like he was auditioning for Survivor.

Luigi jogged up to catch up, but I slowed down. Pulled out my sunscreen and reapplied like it was war paint. This time, I opened my umbrella.

“You really came prepared,” Lucia said, suddenly beside me.

“I’m just not a nature person,” I admitted, breathing unevenly.

“Totally fine.”

As we picked up the pace, I glanced at Luigi again. He was talking animatedly with Josh. His hands were flying. Classic. Italians could host full debates with just their wrists.

And me? I was in pain and my face screamed it.

“You know…” Lucia began, lowering her voice, “I probably shouldn’t say this, but I’m glad he found someone. He’s been different this semester. More relaxed.”

“Oh! Uh—we’re just friends,” I said way too fast and way too high-pitched. “He’s great though.”

“Sure,” she said, clearly not believing a word. “That’s why he rehearsed what to say before walking over to you yesterday.”

I winced. “That’s my dad’s aura. He’s 6’5 and allergic to smiling.”

“You’re funny,” she chuckled.

By 11 a.m., we were finally heading back. The sun was at its peak. My water bottle was nearly empty. My soul was left on that hill.

I stopped walking. I couldn’t. My legs were jelly. My body was spaghetti.

“You okay?” Luigi jogged back to me, concern in his eyes.

“I’m not made for this,” I panted.

“You’ve got this. Is like another workout.” he tried to encourage me to carry on.

“It’s not that…”

“Come on,” he offered his hand. “I’ll help you when you’re ready.”

I eyed his hand. Why was it so stupidly charming?

This could look compromising. But I didn’t care anymore. I took it. No shame. I tightened my grip on the umbrella with the other hand.

“Don’t like hikes?” he asked, trying to keep the mood light.

“They’re not for me.” I whispered.

“Why not? There’s actual research showing how—”

We were nearing the resort. I could see the deck chairs. Shade.

12 pm, heat peak.

“See? Told you we’d make it,” Luigi said.

And that’s the last thing I remember.

My legs gave out. My vision blurred. I heard someone yell my name but couldn’t make out who.

Then everything went black.

Way to go sun.

@nosebeers @mrs-cactus69 @iinfinitelimits

hi i’m Vaz, this was just a product of my active imagination, free time, and the need for a better outcome. Hope u enjoy xxx

So, I disappeared. I know I know, bad Vaz. I was stuck creatively and personally. I took a few days.

And no. It is not what yall might think 👀

[ssruis]

Rui gets catified ohe au still in my head I like the idea of him being a guy who imbues stuff with magic and combines magic + engineering to create some truly whimsical things while tsukasa’s thing is imbuing his food with rpg type buffs/healing for adventurers (today’s special is a stir fry that improves your running speed). Both because I like the idea and also because I think in any au they need to have a shared interest to obsess over.

I think if I did write it it would be like… chapters of tsukasa and this Fucking Cat with interludes about how rks met and grew closer

In my beautiful mind palace

> the source of magic is fragments of feelings or whatever the hell they’re called. I’ve played this game for a year I should know this. wish pieces? Whatever. Those are the source of magic and people often go on expeditions to find them, which can be dangerous because there’s classic rpg type enemies out and about. Tsukasa tenma voice I don’t go out on expeditions because my job of helping people prepare for expeditions is too important (he went into the forest once and got attacked by a big bug like the ones in the Stardew valley mines and he classifies that moment as his greatest trauma)

> rui keeps to himself because people think that he does human experiments with the crazy wish piece harnessing gear he makes (incorrect he always tests it on himself) & they are scared of his silly little robots because giving life to the artificial bad (they’re not alive he just puts his will into them and that’s what they’re programmed to follow)

> nene brings rui to the cafe after she accompanies him on some sort of expedition & she’s like the owner is kind of a pain but the food is really good. She also wants to see emu (who likes hanging around tsukasa’s restaurant in her free time and annoying him/helping him with orders and waitressing/talking to saki) but she will not admit that

> before rui meets tsukasa saki has already left to travel with Leo/need. just for a bit. but tsukasa knows she’s definitely going to go on longer and longer trips and he is being so normal about this. No emu he’s not stress baking those 50 immaculately decorated cupcakes are for customers. Even though the restaurant is closed tomorrow. Ok fine you can take a bunch of them.

> rui thinks tsukasa is an interesting critter & tsukasa thinks he’s a weird guy who won’t touch vegetables but any friend of saki’s is a friend of his (he’s really stretching his logic. Emu is a friend of saki’s -> nene is friends with emu so she is by association a friend of saki’s -> rui is friends with nene who is friends with emu so he is also included in this). Tsukasa also forgets Rui’s name after this meeting it’s not his fault he sees so many people every day.

> rui eventually comes back for more food with nene because he is a lazy ass who hates cooking and also the food is just good. It’s during the mid day close to prepare for dinner rush but emu lets them in anyways. tsukasa is throwing a fit because the wish piece fueled oven is not working.

> while tsukasa is distracted by emu bugging him and nene making fun of him rui lets himself into the kitchen because he heard the siren’s song of a fun enriching task (fixing something and helping someone)

> tsukasa finds him and is like wtf get out (concerned for rui’s safety) & rui is like I fixed your oven and also your fridge and the freezer seems like it’s about to start malfunctioning you should get that fixed. (Post enrichment clarity) oh sorry I should have asked first.

> tsukasa is very enthused by rui’s knowledge and thinks it’s super cool & offers him a week of meals on the house for fixing it & they talk about the magic system for a while before he goes home

> rui takes him up on this offer. yay free food. He also offers to fix/improve tsukasa’s kitchen whenever needed for more free food and tsukasa is like yes of course i would be forever in your debt and rui is like ok great let’s make the oven reach up to 3000 degrees (has already started fucking with him)

> they grow closer over time & rui becomes a regular who visits by himself on a near daily basis (when he’s not busy)

> specific memory section of tsukasa bringing rui food and visiting him because he hadn’t seen rui in two weeks and was concerned. Which was fair Rui was locked in on a project. He gets to see all of Rui’s whimsical inventions. “Can you at least eat one vegetable I was chased by all sorts of unpleasant beasts on the way here (normal ass bugs)”

> specific memory of them going out on the town to buy ingredients and tsukasa nudging rui into socializing with people which in the long run dispels a lot of the “scary guy who lives in a house in the woods and does scary things there” rumors

> another specific memory of rui going into tsukasa’s kitchen while tsukasa is busy closing the restaurant & seeing ramune candy and being like yum don’t mind if i do & then tsukasa finds him and is like how many did u eat… bc they were specifically made to help with rui’s insomnia and mask the taste of sleep medicines/herbs (that rui refuses to take because they are green and leafy and therefore vegetable). Tsukasa has to drag rui up to his living space above the kitchen before he passes out so he can sleep it off which brings them into a new stage of their relationship: rui crashing at Tsukasa’s place when he’s too lazy to walk back home. He starts bringing work stuff with him & tsukasa only puts up a token complaint because ever since saki left he has been a little lonely.

> overall theme of “if you feed a stray cat it will not leave.” Sorry tsukasa you fed this man & now you’re stuck with him. Also the more boring theme of coping with people leaving (tsukasa) and actually interacting with people and becoming a part of the community (rui). Rui just kinda moves in after he gets un catted.

> I think emu should be a beast tamer type of character. Maybe Mr mascot is some huge scary beast she tamed & the otoris run a merchant guild that also transports people in and out of the wilderness.

> nene makes potions with wish pieces that can give you a quicker and more specific buff/heal on the go than what tsukasa’s food does but they met through this and have bonded over sharing methods and stuff. The food buffs are longer lasting than nene’s potions. but nene has potions that will allow you to get the buff you need for any situation exactly when you need it and they’re more concentrated. Think sdv meal that increases speed vs a coffee.

> ^ tsukasa could make more specific buffs for food but 1) there are so many and he is NOT keeping the ingredients for all of that on hand all the time 2) he likes variety and trying new things so if you go to him for a buff you’ve just gotta take what’s on the day’s menu.

> rui and nene have known each other for a long time and he frequently makes stuff to help her potion making + will accompany her on expeditions to get more wish pieces. She has to lead with that because if she says she’s gathering herbs he will refuse. Yes he will help her with her personal herb garden no he does not want to touch them once they’ve left the ground because he has chosen the anti vegetable hill to die on and die on it he will.

> emu met nene when accompanying her on a more dangerous expedition & frequents nene’s shop a lot for both the potions and to see her

> emu met tsukasa because he buys rare ingredients from her and she thought he was a funny little guy and now she is seemingly hellbent on eating him out of house and home. House and restaurant? Emu you can’t have a fifth helping of soup I have other customers. Ok fine just a little. Oh you’re hungry because of a long expedition ok you can have a sixth helping too.

> meiko is there she’s a merchant of sorts

> touya works at the library. This is relevant only because tsukasa doesn’t know shit about owning a cat and needed help.

> I want to throw an in there… maybe she’s at the library when tsukasa goes there in the story. Just because.

[moonbloodstream2424]

My Knights Of Guinevere guesses

I'm actually pretty excited about this show. It's a Sci-fi psychological thriller. It looks like it could be pretty great and I adore The Owl House.

But, Honestly, the teaser was just that, a teaser. Still, I would like to talk about what could be going on in the story based on what little they've shown and talked about.

The Trailer

The trailer starts with a young Maiden(Possibly the Guinevere of the story) in the middle of a dream. A powerful too.

She's surrounded by cute little critters. A variety at that. Many seem to be Rabbits, I also see Birds, Squirrels, and a Snake.

It then rapidly cuts to a scene of scientists presumably trying to repair a malfunctioning, broken robot. Could this be what the Maiden is dreaming about? The robot potentially attacks the scientists as the Maiden wakes up and then it cuts to the title card.

Teaser Image

There's a few notable things in this teaser image.

first there's the Blue Lung Blues poster. Some kind of virus? Starsnuff, a poster with a skull and mushrooms growing on it. Cordyceps? It's possible that these two posters are referencing the same thing. Finally a poster of the Maiden with Horns, Fangs, and an X drawn over one of her eyes. This could mean a number of things, like maybe this character is actually the villain of the story. Or that she isn't actually a popular character with the public. Or she'll lose an eye, and this is foreshadowing.

Arthurian Legends

I'm not the biggest King Arthur fangirl, but this was ultimately the first thing that popped in my head. I don't necessarily think the blue Maiden character is specifically Arthurian Gewn, though. She could still be named Guinevere, though, and if there's Knights, that means there's likely still some inspo there. We've only seen a Princess or at least that's what she looks like. Nothing about Knight characters. I've heard theories from a lot of people saying that there might not actually be Knight characters, that the "Knights" in the title refers to the workers who repair the park robots.

Disney and Other Fairytale Princesses

The Snow White, Bambi, and Sleeping Beauty parallels are there and not subtle at all. I've actually always wished Disney would do a Sci-fi Disney Princess, if that's sorta the idea behind KoG then that would be pretty great. Some of my favorite Disney movies are Sci-fi, Meet the Robinsons, Treasure Planet, and Lilo & Stitch.

The creators of Knights of Guinevere do have a history with Disney.

Princess Leia Organa - She has hairbuns like Leia and Padme. I wonder if Blue Maiden's story will parallel their stories?

Princess Gewnevere and the Jewel Riders - I'm not taking credit for this comparison. Instagram user Kmartbarganbin2 made this comparison. Give her some love.🩷🩷🩷

I've never seen Jewel Riders though, so I don't entirely know if any comparisons were intentional.

Sci-fi Stories this reminds me of

Westworld, My Life as a Teenage Robot, Jurassic Park, The Lost World

So, the artstyle, while clearly the inspired by early Disney Princess movies, it also seems like very early 20's cartoons could an inspiration too. It could just be a coincidence though.

Mascot Horror?

Theme Park✔️ Malfunctioning Robot✔️ Corrupt Expy of a childhood character✔️✔️✔️

I think it would be cool if this was like FNaF with Disney Princesses. Even with Mascot horror being a bit over done, I don't see it done with "Girl" Franchises very often. I did look to see if something like this had been done before. To my surprise, I don’t think Disney Princess mascot horror has been done before.

[elwenyere]

hey! this is more of a general question, do you have any book recommendations for someone who wants to start writing and get a better handle on language? if that’s too silly of a question, can you maybe just list your favorite novels/non-fiction books that influenced your writing? :)

Hello Anon! Thank you so much for this great ask: I think reading is an essential part of growing as a writer, and when I'm feeling blocked or dry or burned out, there are very few things that refresh my mind like spending time with beautiful, startling, upsetting, moving prose and poetry.

If you'll permit a momentary digression, I think one of the key parts of reading like a writer, no matter what the text, is to develop your sense of what you can pay attention to, in order to understand what the language is doing and how:

What effect is the text having on me? Is it disorienting me or producing a sudden sense of clarity? Revolting me or seeking to attract me? Asking me to make a connection or to draw a distinction? Drawing me in for a closer inspection or obscuring something in distance? Cultivating intimacy or refusing disclosure?

How is the text doing that? Through the way words are used (familiar or unusual, concrete or abstract)? The way sentences are put together and sequenced? The way the narration shifts (from a close focalization to a distant one, from present to past, from a blow-by-blow account to a summary)?

These are questions that help deepen textual analysis, and they can also be used to enhance your ability to riff on what other authors do that you dig - like disassembling a machine to see how the parts fit together, so that when you build your own, you have a wider array of components to draw from and functions to employ.

Beyond that, which texts scratch our brains in the most inspiring way probably depends on a number of things - like taste and prior exposure and what styles open up a new way of looking at the stories you need to tell - so your mileage may vary. But here is a non-exhaustive list of texts that have taught me something about various aspects of craft (revision, setting, plotting, narration, etc.). I've tried to pick some different options than the ones in this list from a while ago, but feel free to check those out as well!

Kiese Laymon, Heavy: a memoir that combines gorgeous writing in its own right with incredibly compelling reflections on revision and the work of memory. I love the way Laymon talks about revisiting and rearranging words as a way to revisit and rearrange thought patterns.

Patricia Lockwood, "Malfunctioning Sex Robot": Lockwood (of Miette internet fame) is one of the funniest people alive, and this review essay (about John Updike's writing) is one of the most remarkable examples I've seen of joining uncompromising clarity with capacious generosity in reflecting on another author's work.

Tracy K. Smith, Life on Mars: Smith described this poetry collection as an elegy for her father, who worked on the Hubble Telescope, and it also explores how we represent/picture space in other forms (in the family home, in racial segregation, in the sci-fi cultural imaginary). I love the way the poems play with scale and the way they mix kitschy particulars with existential abstraction.

Jorge Luis Borges, Ficciones: Borges collections are master classes in what stories can do, in part because they are often meta-explorations of storytelling (like a review of an imaginary book or the description of an infinite library), informed by the incredible amount of literature Borges read. Layered, allusive, and genre-bending, each story is like trying to see language with an extra dimension.

Ling Ma, Severance: a fascinating novel in many ways, including a non-linear plot, an uncannily prescient speculative premise, and a deliberately elusive narrator, Candace, about whom I change my mind every time I reread. Ma creates one of my favorite examples of what sometimes gets called "an unreliable narrator," and a strong contrast to the omniscient style in the next entry.

George Eliot, Middlemarch: in my heart of hearts, the greatest novel ever written. There's so much to admire in Eliot, but in terms of narration in particular - and the narrator's movement from tracing the contours of a particular fictional mind to knitting together reflections on the web of human connections - she has very few peers.

I hope this post is helpful, Anon! Thank you again for the wonderful ask, and happy reading/writing. <3

[wraithsoutlaws]

[ SUBJECT INTERVIEW: "DRAGULA" ]

NAME? I was given a name that is no longer relevant. NICKNAME? Dragula has existed in the net since 2071. GENDER? I never put stock into it. Male, I suppose. STAR SIGN? It spans 330 to 360 degrees of celestial longitude.  HEIGHT? Six feet. Or 182 centimeters. I find the metric system to be more appealing.  ORIENTATION? Meat is meat, it serves a function either way. FAVORITE FRUIT? I can almost remember the taste of a pear but the harder I think about it, the more it feels like ash on my tongue. FAVORITE SEASON? I’m partial to the autumnal equinox. Cooler temperatures provide the illusion of cleaner air and the cooling system in my unit is perpetually malfunctioning in the heat, but all things considered, I like to watch the leaves die. FAVORITE FLOWER? The Titan Arum, which blooms only once every decade and smells of rotting flesh. I would very much like to see one some day.  FAVORITE SCENT? Fresh rain on the concrete. For a few brief moments it covers the city in something real.  COFFEE OR TEA? Matcha. I’ve blackmailed a cafe in Kabuki to supply it to me free of charge.  AVERAGE HOURS OF SLEEP? I try for several. I rarely get more than few.  DOG OR CAT PERSON? My mother had a dog when I was still a child, a relentless creature that barked at every whisper. One day the door was left open and I watched it run into the street where a Mackinaw eviscerated it on the pavement. I’ve not seen one since, nor would I want to. Felines have a calmer presence. Quieter, too.  DREAM TRIP? Away. FAVORITE FICTIONAL CHARACTER? I used to watch a cartoon robot on tv. He would take his head off to end unfavorable conversations. I wish I could do that now. NUMBER OF BLANKETS YOU SLEEP WITH? I don’t. This city is an inferno, in fact, I’m not convinced these aren’t the very fires of Hell.  RANDOM FACT? A snake driven mad will devour itself whole. Like a glitch in it’s self-preservation, something inside compels it. Have you ever witnessed such a beautiful act of destruction?

tagged by: @chevvy-yates (ty for giving me a reason to do this again!). not tagging anyone specifically now, but if you'd like to participate (or play again) please feel free to tag me!

[duckchu]

I've literally been on the fence about submitting this request for a week now.

Well…

Only if it's possible, I would like a request for Sett Heartsteel with a girlfriend who is like Hiro Hamada… I'll try to explain it… let's say that Reader is an intelligent inventor (her older brother is still alive, I don't want to cry here), and she lives and works in her aunt's cafeteria, goes to university from time to time and she spends sleepless nights improving her older brother's medical robot. Let's say that reader met Sett when she was going to visit her older brother recovering from burns, and Sett was only accompanying her mother to a medical checkup for pain in her shoulder.

bye bye

I kinda got inspired by the old Inventor trait from tft so reader is friends with Ezreal

Heartsteel Sett x Inventor!reader

If you kept on working like this, you would end up in the hospital like your brother. You knew that. Especially with the way you were getting restless at night and started messing up during university and your work. But oh well. You made really good progress on the bot! You had to tell your brother about that! After your work you went into the hospital, but you felt hungry...so you visited the cafeteria, looking for something to eat. It wasn't crowded, only you and a lady with purple, almost white hair. You went to the vending machine and decided on what to get. And of course it got stuck. You tried shaking it, but you were too weak, especially since you were skipping meals to work on the robot...then the machine shook again, finally letting your food out. You looked to your left, and saw a tall, muscular guy with pink hair and a cute cat-ear beanie

- Thanks - you smiled, retrieving your meal and sitting down next to the woman, since the other tables were dirty. You didn't expect the guy to also sit down

- Momma, they said you're gonna have to wait half an hour.- he looked annoyed at the queues to the doctor.

- Oh, that's not so bad. Other wait longer - the woman smiled

You didn't want to interrupt their conversation, but the woman asked

- And how long for you?-

- Oh...I'm...here to see my brother...but he had to wait for like an hour. With burns.-

- Oh my...-

-Just an invention malfunctioning, I'm working on it right now -

- Ezreal's friend also had an accident like that -

- Wait you know Ezreal? - you pulled out your phone, showing a photo of you, Ezreal and Seraphine with the little crab bot you three made.

Sett looked at you, eyes lighting up as you finished your food and stood up.

- Well I got to go see my brother...- you left the room, going to your brothers room. You excitedly rambled about how you upgraded his bot. Also mentioned meeting Ezreal's friend

After you left, you went to your room, prepared to spend another night with barely any sleep, when you heard a notification from your phone. It was Ezreal

"Hey, just wanted to let you know my friend wants your number, mind if I give it?😘"

You smiled at your phone

"Not at all, tell him I'm waiting for a call 💦💦💦"

You laughed at yourself for sending those emojis. But that was the charm of texting Ezreal

After the exchange you went to get some work on the bot, making another batch of improvements. You then heard your phone ring. Unknown number. You picked up

- Heeey, I got your number from Ez, care to tell me your name beautiful?- you laughed at how straightforward he was

- Y/N - you said, a smile tugging at the corners of your lips as you set your phone on speaker and went back to work.

After that, you and Sett talked about well, everything. For the whole night. You were surprised when you realised the hour

- Not asleep yet? -

- Nah, too busy talking to you~ - he really had the audacity...but you liked it.

Maybe he wasn't a bad idea at all...

[pastxlscorp]

Palia Character Impressions (pt.2)

I wasn't expecting my last Palia post to attract the fandom! I actually have played hours of it since then but because of college haven't had the time to get to writing another post! Thankfully I just finished my finals, so I'm back to being chronically online. Hope you all enjoy :)

Einar

A lot of people asked me about my thoughts on Einar, which was super surprising! I honestly didn't have many thoughts on him when I first started playing Palia. His dialogue was not very engaging to me. After HOURS (and I mean hours) of playing AND the most recent Ancient ruins that got added to the main storyline, I see why he is so well loved! He is such a fucking cutie! I find how much he enjoys the beauty of the world he is around so sweet, especially trying to understand the culture of the humans and engage with them in it. The recent story quest was sooooooo good at characterizing him.

*Spoilers*

In the most recent ruins added to the game, we meet another Galdur called the Gardener. His setup is so dystopian, I fucking adored it. Essentially, The Gardener is an AI of sorts that is able to control all Galdurs because he created them. That is his Oneness. He was abandoned by his human and was rarely acknowledged as a sentient being, thus he cannot understand the purpose of life if not to fulfill ones Oneness. When first meeting them, Gardener reveals that Einar is malfunctioning. I initially thought it was something serious, but the Gardener considers Einar a malfunction because he has more than one Oneness. He thinks Einar must be suffering from a lack of fulfillment and purpose and thus tries to reset his system. He continues to refer to Einar as "The Carpenter" (also calls him the "vertically gifted" one which I thought was fucking hilarious), which heavily implies Einar's oneness was something related to construction and he likely was a builder robot. I find that really wholesome compared to the Einar we know now, someone who finds fulfillment in fishing, something so far from his original Oneness. The Gardener also confirms that Einar likely has so many Onenesses because of his relationships with the humans he's met along the way, which put Einar in a whole new light for me. I didn't find my interactions with Einar anything special but now knowing that he does think fondly of the humans he is friends with really shows that his dry demeanor does have a lot of sweetness and thoughts behind it. Especially taking useless items to him, like carrots (that I always gift him) and using them as decor. I wouldn't romance Einar personally, but I can see why anyone would. Total cutie, and easily one of my favorite NPCS now.

Hekla

HEKLA MY BELOVED!! I love she. She became one of my favorites early on when I first started playing Palia. She is just so cute! She is so loving and kind and her adoration for Jina is so sweet. *Somewhat spoilers* I thought her lore was really depressing and it's somewhat angsty when you realize she latched on to Jina because she failed her prior child. It's even more angsty when you do her friendship quests and find out she is aware her attachment to Jina initially started because of her instinct to find a new Oneness. She's such a mom with her awkwardness sometimes and lack of awareness of social cues. I thought her friendship with Einar was always cute since she confirms she plays mental chess with him, but the recent quest shows that they really do respect each other in a high regard. They have somewhat of a familial relationship, almost like brother and sister. I think having Hekla be so spherical is a really nice contrast to her character. She is big like a shield, providing protection but also comfort and companionship-- like the whole idea around loving someone who can give "bear hugs."

Tamala

I love her design. I actually did not know Tamala was a NPC until I began engaging with Hassian and found out they were ex-lovers. She gave me witch vibes and I was right, not disappointed since they nailed that perfectly with her design (or at least an alchemist of sorts). She's a flirt and my first impression was honestly "Wow, I know why so many people love her. She's a milf." That changed when I found out she is hundreds of years old, using magic to rejuvenate herself. Makes sense since she does give off Mother Gothel vibes! Not only did she ignore all of Hassian's letters but she also laughs about it in the player's face. I feel even more bad for Hassian after learning this since Sifuu is implied to be somewhat of a neglectful mother and his other mom died. Poor dude already has mommy issues and gets groomed by a witch (I think it was also implied they had been intimate, considering Hassian wanted to marry her). I wonder if Hassian was always so closed in and it was encouraged by his heartbreak with Tamala, or if he became reclusive because of her. Very interesting background characterization, but this bitch is a predator since Hassian is most likely in his early or late 20s. Aside from her very obvious character flaws, I do love the choice of having a morally incorrect character. Most of the other villagers warm up to you, and even Eshe I would mark in the morally grey category. I also love the detail that most of the village is aware of her relationship with Hassian and doesn't fuck with her for what she did, or they just don't fuck with her period. Imagine being practically immortal and spending each century or so being hated by everyone.

Najuma

MY DAUGHTER! I love Najuma she's basically my kid. The parental figure you become to her has me weak in the heart every time she comes to you for help. I felt so bad when she comes to your housing plot after getting into a fight with her dad in one of her friendship quests. She even apologizes, not being sure you would kick her out or be bothered by her presence. She heavily confides in the player and even Hodari acknowledges this. When you try and talk to him about banning Najuma from the mines, he's firm on his answer and appreciates you looking out for her but that won't change his mind. I really wanna make a separate post on what NPCS would have a crush on the player despite not being romanced and Hodari is absolutely up there. ANYWAYS back to Najuma. I love how socially awkward she is too, really does a good job characterizing that she's just a teenager. I didn't even notice this until a friend who plays Palia pointed it out, but the fact she lost her leg in the explosion makes sense as to why there is such a big maturity gap between her and Auni. Auni has a good chunk of angst (which I will soon discuss) but he is certainly more on the carefree and energetic side compared to Najuma. Her intelligence is off the charts and makes sense considering she was hands-on working with both her father and mother. Her relationship with Auni is adorable, and I love how he looks up to Najuma. She's got the whole "Ahh you're so annoying but you can stay" dynamic with him and she clearly tries to act like she's annoyed by his energetic behavior with the player despite clearly hanging out with Auni enough to know a lot about him. Auni even has one of his friendship quests about Gardenia's, who he learned about from Najuma and wanted you to verify if it was true or not since she likes messing with him. Her bond with Zeki too was fairly surprising, and I like how Najuma is essentially an apprentice for him. He does not patronize her because she is a kid, however he does acknowledge that she has grown up too fast because of her experiences and is softer on her compared to the other villagers.

Auni

Last one for this post! Auni was always adorable to me, but his quests got him to be one of my favorite NPCS! I actually thought he was around the same age as Najuma because he has some pretty heavy inner turmoil for his age. He has a whole quest about wanting to run away because he feels so distant from his older brother, Nai'O. I absolutely adore their brotherly bond and Nai'O after this quest continuously mentions that's worried about Auni or mentions he appreciates you looking out for him. Nai'O (my impression of him has changed, I mind redo my initial impressions later on after I've written by impressions on everyone) is a super hard-worker and can't say no to people and frequently overworks himself (ex. that one bakery festival with his mom and the concert with Kenyatta). He has already confirmed his path as a farmer. His family is dirt-broke poor and frequently is behind on their taxes, which makes sense why Auni feels distant from him. Not to mention Nai'O is also dating Kenyatta, where some of his free time does seem to go. In addition to a less-than satisfactory relationship with his brother, Auni also is already having an identity crisis. He has an obsession with magic and is instantly enamored by the player upon meeting them because he thinks humans are all magical. His dream is to join the Order when he's older, but that would mean straying from his Path as a farmer. We already know what happens to villagers that stray from their path-- Look at Reth! He was not good at his path and went with something else and despite being good at it, he still receives a lot of judgment and shame. Then you have the angst with going along with your path, like with Jel. He is the only son in his family and all of his sisters are successful, creating a rivalry and tension between them all. Not to mention, his mom is still working as a high-end tailor present day. He has not been accepted by his mother and has been feeling the pressure since he was young, even going as far to steal one of his sister's designs. Despite having an obvious passion for tailoring, it makes sense why he's so melancholic. Imagine having this angst at Auni's age, especially seeing that his family is struggling and this Path is leading them into the ground. Not only does he have to acknowledge that this Path is not successful for his family currently, but that abandoning this path means it will die out (especially with the implications that Nai'O does not really wanna do this for the rest of his life). Aside from all that turmoil, his child-like innocence and his love for insects is so adorable. He admires Najuma (platonically or romantically as a little school-boy crush, who knows) and I love how he learns a lot from her. His relationship with Hassian too is also super adorable, since they seem to play cards every day. I was super confused when Auni tells you that Hassian is mad at you and then Hassian denies it-- for a good bit I couldn't tell if Auni had misread the situation or Hassian had gotten vulnerable and wasn't expecting Auni to tattle. In either interpretation, he clearly trusts Auni and I think that makes his whole situation with Tamala even more tragic. He was young and naive, and likely a lot more social-able before she broke his heart. I would say Auni is my son but my player would get jumped by Delilah and Badruu, so he's my surrogate son for the time being.

[winter-dayz]

Capable

Pairing: Kim Taehyung x Reader Android AU Genre: Smut Words: 1408 Warnings: sexual content (female receiving oral); strong language

Masterlist | Fictober Masterpost

Taglist:  @soobin-chois

He would be taken to a junkyard. I couldn’t just watch him be thrown away. A perfectly good android like him would be a crime to waste away and rust.

Sure, he was covered in oil. Some of his pieces weren’t properly screwed on, and he definitely needed new clothes and his hair brushed; but, it was nothing a little elbow-grease and effort couldn’t handle.

So of course I took him home.

🎃

It took plenty of time to get him into actual working order, but once I finished, I was glad I chose to rescue him. He was gorgeous. Not only was he physically beautiful, but his hardware was extremely high quality and mostly fully functional. I had fine-tuned any bits that seemed off, but overall, he seemed to be perfect.

I took pride in my passion projects, and he would be no different. Sadly, I hadn’t had time to boot him up, but patience is a virtue.

But finally, I had time.

He stood before me, five-foot-ten of wires, metal, and artificial skin. His hair was softer than mine, and he had facial features to die for. I turned him on, but it seemed to take longer than it should, and I wondered if I wasn’t as good at robotics as I thought.

His eyes flashed with the standard blue bootup before settling into a realistic humanoid version of eyes. The color was a deep, rich brown that was easy to get lost in. His head slowly lifted up until he stared straight ahead. And then he was still, waiting.

🎃

It took some getting used to. I had lived with roommates before, but an android was not the same. He was much quieter when moving around and was not a great conversationalist. He was a great listener though.

But something else was different about him. He seemed rather clingy for a being that was supposed to be without emotions or attachments. Maybe it didn’t help that I had named him… Maybe androids are like pets, and if you name them then you’re doomed to be attached. But I couldn’t help myself.

I refused to walk around referring to him as “android” or “robot” or anything else of the sort. So I named him Taehyung, and he seemed to like it if the tiny upturn of his lips was any indication. Then I worked on helping him with new slang, tweaking his vocabulary and speech to sound more human-like.

But that still didn’t explain the touchiness. It started out with him occasionally laying a hand on my shoulder. Then, he began sitting closer to me when I relaxed in my living space, and he would brush his hand along my back when he passed by me in the kitchen. Eventually, he worked all the way up to resting his hand on my thigh, hugging me from behind, and petting my head.

He was acting like a lover would despite me never asking that of him. I had never seen such behavior in an android before, but I couldn’t deny that it was getting to me. I don’t know what he was trying to accomplish, but if he continued to act that way for much longer then I’d likely let him get away with whatever he desired.

🎃

“Why do you never use me for my purpose?” He finally asked me one night. It was rare that he spoke, let alone without me addressing him first.

“Your… purpose?” I stared up at him from my place on the couch, cross-legged and comfortable in my raggedy sweats and oversized tee. He moved to kneel in front of me, placing his hands gently on either of my knees.

“I was originally created as an android for sexual pleasure.” The words were monotone, but they still managed to send shockwaves through my stomach, settling in the pit of my abdomen and leaving behind an uncomfortable warmth. He had to know how attractive he was—how attracted I am to him. “I heard them say they were going to throw me away because something malfunctioned in my system code, but I can still serve my purpose. I know I can; I just need to prove it.”

“Taehyung…” I began to speak; but, one of his hands tightened ever so slightly, and he peered up at me through his lashes in a way that rendered me speechless.

“Y/N. Let me prove myself worthy of the care you gave me. I need to show you that I am not a useless hunk of metal. I was programmed to provide pleasure for my owner, and I’ve been trying to get you to initiate. However, you have seemed uninterested in my capabilities.” I stared at him in shock, quite unsure how to respond.

Apparently no response was close enough to non-refusal in his eyes, because the next minute his lips were capturing my own. He kissed well, with sensuality and care, and it became quickly obvious that this was indeed his “purpose.”

Taehyung kissed with the perfect balance between firm and gentle—not too slow or fast—and since he didn’t need to breathe himself, he monitored my breaths in order to give me time to catch my own breath.

If kissing him was that magnificent then I couldn’t imagine what fucking him would be like.

His hands slid from their place on my knees and he uncrossed my legs, draping them over his shoulders. He drew the left leg of my pants up and pressed wet, warm kisses up the length of my calf before he repeated the action on the other side. His fingers slid slowly up the inner seam of the sweats until they caught on a couple holes in the thighs—worn down from rubbing together for so long.

Taehyung easily wiggled his fingers into the holes, despite the fabrics protest, and then he promptly ripped the crotch of my sweats away. I could feel myself clench at the action, which he caught of course.

My panties were no match either, which was not surprising after the beating my old sweats took. He stared at my cunt with a hunger in his eyes that shouldn’t be possible for an android. Or maybe I imagined it in the haze of my arousal. Regardless, he didn’t hold back for much longer.

His tongue swiped through my folds, eagerly stealing away the wetness he was to blame for. His lips attached to my clit shortly after, and my back lifted from the couch in response.

He sucked at the button, rolling his tongue around it several times, before pulling away and grazing it with his teeth. My hips bucked forward into his face at the pleasure, and I expected to be pinned to the couch for doing so. Instead, he smirked up at me and dove right in.

His tongue penetrated me, licking along the walls of my insides. His hands squeezed at the flesh of my thighs, pinching at spots that he knew were sensitive. I wouldn’t last much longer at this rate and he knew it.

His right hand slid higher, joining his face to meet my pussy. His thumb rubbed slow and steady circles against my clit, teasing, as he pulled his face away from my hole. I assumed he was going to move on to fingering me, but again he surprised me. He blew cold air directly into me, causing me to clench and squirm at the temperature change. I was too sensitive, but I didn’t dare ask him to stop. I only wanted more.

His mouth connected with my pussy again; his tongue reaching impossibly deeper and curling against the spot I needed most. At the same time, his thumb increased in both speed and pressure until I felt my toes curl against his back.

My hips were lifting off the couch and one of my hands flew to fist at the curls atop his perfect head. My vision went white and dotted with black stars. Never in my life had I orgasmed so hard, so perfectly.

He pulled away when he sensed I was becoming overstimulated, and I could tell he was waiting for a performance review. I could only pant up at my ceiling, still coming down from my high.

“If it wasn’t satisfactory, I could show you some of the other things I am programmed to do.”

“Oh trust me, we’ll be going through all of your capabilities, Tae.”

[thewomancallednova]

Brothers

really mixed feelings

i realized this episodew as gonna be about Lore when Data started malfunctioning in the turbolift and i groaned soooo hard

but on the other hand imagine if lore never appeared again and "data has an evil twin" is like. another trek thing that happened once and never came up again.

and the whole bit where Data takes over the Enterprise is sooo tedious, like okay yes, Data is super powerful etc. etc. do we really have to spend a half of the episode on that? Also, instead of making me think about how cool Data is it really made me think about how horrible an idea loudly said passwords are.

like do two-factor authentification! Require everyone to type in the password and then give a voice sample to prove it is them

and also like how exactly does that work with the voice

like maybe this is my transgender bias speaking but does the computer just magically know it's me when I speak in a higher or lower register?

if i enter all my passwords before coming out and then do voice training do i have to redo all my passwords?

what if im super tired at the end of the day and my voice training quality falls off, will the computer stop recognizing me?

okay okay sorry i just meant for this to be one bullet point and not eh half the post

This is actually a very intentional and astute commentary on how i had to suffer through half of this episode being boring and now you had to suffer through half this post being boring.

very clever of me

to my shock I actually really liked Lore in (most of) this. Him coming back, him being genuinely hurt when Soong said he's dying, him being at least generally willing to stick around and not just being the evil twin robot.

Love that shit. Also "we accidentally summoned the villain to our hangout and now they can't leave" is such an underrated story element

of course lore turns to the dark side in the end, and he probably faked all of that before, but look i did genuinely enjoy it at the time

Ironically, despite my hating the mere existance of Data's creator, Soong kind of agrees with all my takes on Data

And I think this episode does a lot for the "Data clearly has feelings crowd" (me). For one he smiles at the end when Soong dies, Soong openly declares that Data will grieve him, in spite of Data thinking he is unable to and of course the revelation that Data and Lore are only a few lines of code apart from each other.

Ironically it also gives us that fucking emotion chip

But that scene where Data realises that he's almost the same as Lore is so important, and it makes me wonder how much of Data's self-image is based entirely on Lore gaslighting him into that in Datalore.

Like, we see Data use contractions prior to Datalore (and on very few instances afterwards too). What if that isn't just a continuity error, but Data never really thinking about using contractions, and then Lore going "well, you're inferior to me, you can't use contractions but I can" and then Data going "I guess you're right" and subconsciously not using them anymore (unless in times of great distress like in Time Squared)

And that really opens so many doors for him.

And like Data repating "I am not less perfect than Lore" a whole three times is really such a beautiful realisation of his own possibility, but also a revelation that he has been limiting himself by what Lore defined as being achievable for him.

and like the fuck kinda emotionless robot repeats a phrase three times in astonishment, i mean come on

And I think this fits in a pattern of Data's (and Lal's!) emotions becoming more clear in moments of distress. I mean, here he just learned that his entire view of the world is wrong (both in terms of what Lore told him and that Soong was still alive), in The Most Toys we see him willing to overcome his programming and kill outside of self-defense and in The Offspring Lal is seemingly emotionless until confronted with being seperated from her father and familiar environment at the age of two weeks

What I'm trying to say is, Data doesn't need an emotion chip, we just need to put him in that torture tube from the Deadpool movie that gave Wade Wilson his powers.

okay enough on the droids, let's talk about the noids

there, i abbreviated humanoids as noids, thus becoming the only other known person to do so next to Guinan in The Outrageous Okona.

Briefly, "kid tries to prank his nine year old brother by faking the brother killing him. The brother then runs off and eats some berries and almost dies" is not really what I'd expect a tng plot to be, but sure, I'm always in favor of widening horizons.

Unfortunately the story just ends up revolving around how the nine year old should forgive his brother for harmlessly pranking him and posibly getting him killed (they're en route for medication when the Data stuff happens). Which like. what a shitty moral.

like i dont mind the nine-year old forgiving his older brother. but it seems really callous for crusher to reprimand him for not doing so, while he is literally in a quarantine field and days away from death because of the shit his brother pulled.

I did like how this forgiveness message is projected onto Data and Lore at the end.

oh also the kids' parent taking a sabattical and leaving their kids behind on the Enterprise is hilarious. Like imagine taking a leave from your office job and then just putting your kids in your cubicle.

[slightlyunconventional]

more snzcanons!! but this time not for characters i was requested lmfao. in this post you will find b/oothill and a/rgenti ❤️ my beloveds

b/oothill (no grey for text? boring)

i like cowboys and i like robots. isnt that nice

also i have no idea about the logistics of Cyborg Snz. is it even possible?!? this is snzblr so im making it possible.

i can see him covering/shielding his face with his hat on occasion when he snzs

↳ and it’s probably pretty soft-sounding? not overly quiet but softer than you’d expect from someone like him

↳ “hAH’tCHSHh’uh!” <- like so, first and last syllables are decently vocal but the snz itself is not does this make sense

↳ listening really closely and you can hear some kind of static/electric sounding buzz when he sneezes. robot things man idk

he doesnt like sneezing. like he just doesn’t. like the whole being completely inhibited by it till its over, the way it feels ….. Hate

not Allergic to anything per se, but with him being metal from the neck down i’d guess he has some kind of fan system for respiratory instead of lungs??

↳ so if any irritant (mainly dust i would say? seems the only logical one) infiltrated his fans then that’d make him snz

a cold for him would probably manifest as like. malware or a malfunction

↳ so not the kind of thing that just goes away on its own. he’d have to manually fix it or get it repaired otherwise he’d be stuck not functioning properly with a side of sneezing and chills

absolutely TERRIFIES people by sneezing while shooting. but his aim never wavers, even if the snz really catches him off guard right as he pulls the trigger - it’s pretty impressive !

↳ honestly something just so beautiful about the mental image of him hiding behind his hat as a snz explodes from him at the very moment a bullet explodes from his gun ….. weow

a/rgenti

knight of beauty a/rgenti hes my wife

his snz is. desperate, kind of unrestrained (not of his own will though), and doesn’t really match his put-togetherness and elegance. often has drawn-out, stuttery buildups that he just cant help and he’s kind of a little embarrassed about it

↳ also sneezes in doubles, 100% of the time. an allergic fit will consist of several spaced out pairs of harsh sneezed

↳ “hh’haah! hheh—heH’IISHH! oh, oh— hHISHHShhiew!”

apologises/excuses himself afterwards too very polite !

covers w steepled hands; it’s kind of the only practical way since the crook of an armoured elbow isnt exactly comfortable

definitely the kind of guy to absolutely love cats but also be allergic .. lmao

↳ him praising the beauty of things as he does but in between allergic sneezes ……. hhhhh

↳ he tries so hard to appreciate these things but they’re really affecting him!!

sensitive to very strong scents especially incense

whenever he falls ill, he’s very diligent when it comes to taking care of himself - he will be getting ample rest and taking time off if he isn’t fit to travel

anyway!!!! that is all for those two i hope u liked it :) remember my asks are still open for g/enshin and h/sr snzcanons !! i really enjoy doing these and i have a few more in progress too

[rustedmicrowave]

This is my first time posting in these tags, but I want to talk about my alterhumanity (please tell me if I use incorrect terms? <3)

I'm not sure if this is needed, but trigger warning for talking about disability being a direct cause for my alterhumanity. I suppose in a way this is a vent, but in a more.. poetic way. Sorry if anything is worded strangely.

I am both a robot and a zombie, I think.

I am a robot, in the sense that my joints have rusted with age and I can no longer move as effectively or as painlessly as I once could. My metal bones creak and grind together with every stiff movement I make.

I am a robot in the sense that my sensors and systems are malfunctioning and glitching, my files are corrupted and wrong. I can no longer store information as I once could, my system is outdated.

I am a robot in the way that I am broken, in a beautiful rusted way.

I am something you'd find in a junkyard, still functional, yet.. wrong. I think this is beautiful and comforting.

I am a zombie in a similar way.

I shuffle along, aided by crutches, as my rotting body can no longer hold itself up, my muscles weakened by death.

My brain slows down, forgetting more and more every day, slowly losing my ability to think, as I drift further from the living, breathing human I once was.

Some days I can only grunt and mumble because my vocal cords have decayed, and all that's left is the groan of undeath.

I crawled out of my grave with less ability than I went in with, but I crawled out regardless.

I am a zombie in the way that I am still moving despite everything.

[blackhakumen]

Mini Fanfic #1290: Lost & Found Family (Mother 3 x Wario Ware)

7:23 p.m. at Tazmily Village: the Sheep Farm.......

Doris 1: (Happily Marches her Way to the Barn with the Rest of the Sheeps Following Behind her) Come along with me now, sheepies!~ (Sweet Smile Turns into a Furious Look) OR GET LEFT BEHIIIIIND!

Mike: (Standing Right by, Using Two Signal Sticks to Direct the Sheeps to the Barn) You heard the mad robot maid! Hop those hooves to your destinated location! Hop! Hop! Hop!

Flint: (Standing by the Other Side of the Barn's Door Along with Dr. Cygor) You tellin' me you flew throughout space numerous times, with just those jetpack thingy-ma-jigs?

Dr. Crygor: (Points his Finger Up with a Proud as He Explains Himself) Ah, but it's not just any jetpack thingu-ma-jigs, my friend. (Turns On his Eye Sensors, Showing a Holographic Picture of his Jet-Pack and it's Detailed Features) I used my forever trusty Proto Jet Engine Pack 9001! PJEP for short. (Shows Pictures of Himself Using the Invention to Flying in Many Locations One by One) I've spent countless upon countless years reinventing her into the very best of her abilities. (....He Even Shows Pictures of Some of the Time it Malfunctioned on Him as Well) For better and worse.

Flint: (Grabs his Chin While Examining the Pictures Shown in Front of Him) Hmm. It's telling how much trouble that tech been givin' you. (Tips his Hat to Dr. Crygor) But I still say you did a mighty fine job fixing her up all things considered.

Dr. Crygor: (Smiles Brightly and Proudly) Why, thank you!~ I wouldn't nearly be the the most magnificent scientist before you had I not put 100% effort to even my most stupendous creations thus far! I'd be more than happy to show you them if you like.

Flint: Sure thing. But do you think you could tell me more about your little space adventures first? (Looks Up at the Blue Skies) I always wondered what it would truly look like from up the horizon and beyond.

Dr. Crygor: It's simply a beautiful sight to behold, my friend. The trillions of stars aligned together, each of our seven neighboring planets are very fascinating to go and explore in their own right, the galaxies are breathtaking to look at up close, and I've narrowly escaped from getting sucked up and torn apart by a vicious black hole!

Flint: (Scratching the Side of his Head as his Hat is Tilt Up) How in the sand hell did you get yourself involved in that fiasco?

Dr. Crygor: (Chuckles Lightly) Oho well, that's quite the silly story actually. You see, it all started when my friend, Orbulon has invited my family and I to a one week space trip.....(Continues Telling Flint the Story)

Meanwhile, In the Distance........

Penny: Awwwww~ Lucas!~ (Uses her Binoculars to Watch Her Grandfather Talk to Flint While Sitting with Ashley and Lucas on the Picnic Table) My pop-pop is hitting it off with your dad so well!!~

Lucas: (Smiles Brightly) I know, right!?~ I'm so glad he finally has someone to talk to.

Ashley: (Turns to her Boyfriend Next to Her) Does your father not have any other friends, Lucas?

Lucas: (Turns to Ashley and Penny) He does. He just don't talk to them a lot as my mom used to do when she was alive.. (Whispers to Ashley) Don't tell him i said this, but I think my dad is a little shy.

Ashley: (Playfully Raises an Eyebrow) Oh?~ (Forms a Even More Playfully Smirk) Kinda like a very shy sunflower sitting next to me?~ (Gently Pokes Lucas' Cheek)

Lucas: (Giggles Ticklishly by his Girlfriend's Antics) Ashleyyyy!~ I'm not as shy as I used to be these days. (Turns Away....) At least....(....While Blushing) I don't think I am.

Ashley: (Smirk Grew a Bit Wider, Unconvinced) Mmhmm. Nice try, dear. But you could never fool me that easily~ (Starts Kissing Lucas on the Cheek)

Lucas: (Giggles Some More) Oho geez~

Penny: (Already Giggling andGushing at the Couple Beside Her) You guys are so precious~ (Looks Over at Ashley) Permission to poke his other cheek, ma'am?

Ashley: (Gives Penny the Thumbs Up While Still Kissing Lucas)

Penny: Yea!~ (Forms a Playful Smirk of her Own) Ready or not, here I poke!~ (Gently Pokes Lucas' Other Cheek)

Lucas: (Gets Even More Ticklishly) Pennehehey!~ Not you too!~

Penny: Sorry, bud!~ I could never ignored anything that screams cute to me. And you are one cutie patooie I'll tell ya what~

Ashley: Don't forget handsome as well~ Although, I do think it might be time to fix up your hair a little more, don't you agree?

Lucas: (Giggles Some More) I'll do it in bit, I promise. (Gives Ashley a Kiss on the Cheek Before Turning Back to his Father While Letting Out a Sigh) But yeah, it's nice that my dad found a friend to talk to these days, especially after everything we both been through.

Penny: (Turns Back to her Grandfather) You said it. I'm glad he see to him interested in listening to one of my grandpa's stories rather than giving him the strange look all day.

Ashley: Well, your grandfather does look like a half cyborg with those eye sensor of his.

Penny: But that's one of the key details that makes so cool! (Places the Palm of Her Hand on her Cheek While Pouting) Besides, it's not his fault people don't know the concept of not judging a book by it's cover......

Ashley: Penny, you can't change people's negative opinions on you or any of our love ones- (Rolls her Eyes) No matter how overly obnoxious some of them are about it.

Lucas: Try not to let them get to you, okay?

Penny: ('Sighs in Defeat') Yeah, that's probably for the best.....(Forms a Mischievous Smirk on her Face) Unless, I make a device that cou-

Lucas/Ashley: Penny!

Penny: (Smiles Sheepishly) I'm Kidding, kidding. You know I'm not too big on pranks.

Ashley: (Raises an Eyebrow at her Best Friend) Does last night's sleepover incident ring any bells?

Penny: (Fling her Hand Down a Bit) Oh, that was only harmless fun. (Forms a Cheeky Smirk on her Face) 'Sides, I think your hair looks better in pin-(Eyes Slowly Widens in Horror at the Sight of Ashley's Dark Glare Staring at her Before Smiling Awkwardly) O-On second thought, I'll shut up about the incident now.......

Ashley: Good choice. (Let's Out a Single Sigh as She Turns Back to Flint and Dr. Crygor Laughing with One Another From a Distance) It must be nice, having a dad, mom, or....any blood relatives to love, admire, spend time with, and share bond that could last a lifetime if it's strong enough.

Lucas: (Frowns Worryingly Along woth Penny) Ashley?

Penny: Say, Ash? Whatever happen to your parents anyways? They didn't.....(Turns Away With a More Somber Expression) You know.......

Ashley remain silent as the sound of the wind breezing by for a few seconds.

Lucas: Y-You don't have to tell us anything if you don't want to!

Penny: Yeah! It's your personal business after all. We have no right to pry upon it, you know!?

Ashley: Huh? (Turjs her Attention to the Duo, Finally Coming Back to her Senses) Oh. No, I don't mind telling you two what's up.

Lucas: Are you sure? You kinda look out of it there.

Ashley: Yeah, I was only thinking is all. I'm promise I'll be okay, love. (Gives Lucas Another Peck on the Cheek Before Taking a Deep.Breath) But to answer your question, I......don't know who my parents are. Or my family for that matter .

Penny: (Eyes Begins to Widened in Genuine Surprise Along with Lucas) No way.....

Lucas: Really? Not even Red knows?

Ashley: (Shakes her Head) Nope. He says they left me sitting on a basket, in front of our old haunted mansion, one night, back when I was an infant.

Penny: With no note or anything?

Ashley: None whatsoever. Red even tried using this magic spell to sample DNA from one piece my hair when grew as a child, until it came back with little to no results in the end.

Lucas: Do you want to give another shot it someday?

Penny: (Smiles Brightly) With the powerful science and high tech machinery back in grandpa's laboratory, we'll be able to find a matching DNA of your biological folks in no time.

Ashley: That would be an intriguing discovery to lay witness. ('Sigh') But I dunno. I can't shake this feeling that they don't wanna bother seeing me regardless if we do find them or not. They probably thought I was lost cause from the beginning.

Lucas/Penny: (Couldn't Believe What Ashley is Saying Right Now) What!?

Lucas: Ashley, don't say that! You're not a lost cause at all!

Penny: Yeah, not to us at least!

Ashley: (Smiles a Bit at Her Two Closest Companions) I know and I really appreciate the twio of you a lot for that- (Simply Shrugs) But the possibilities are out there. I wouldn't too surprised if they would see me as an emotionless weirdo like a few of my other peers.

Penny: Okay, that tears it. (Gets Up From her Seat)

Ashley: (Raises an Eyebrow at Penny Walking Around in Confusion) Uh what are you doing?

Penny: Just gonna move my behind over amd-(Sits Next to Ashley on the Other Side of the Seat) Sit right here for a while and- (Turns to Lucas) Ready, Lucas?

Lucas: (Silently Nods to Penny's Command)

Ashley: Wha- Hm!? (Suddenly Have Four Sets of Arms Wrapped Around Her)

Lucas/Penny: GROUP HUG ATTACK!!~

Ashley: ('Sigh') Of course....You guys have nothing to worry about, I'll be fine.

Penny: We know. (Starts Snuggling Up on Ashley with a Smile on her Face) We just want you to feel loved and appreciated right now~

Lucas: Ashley, you shouldn't think badly of yourself like that. You're anything but emotionless and weird.

Penny: Nah, I think she a biylt of weirdness factor like the us of us here, bud. But let's not sit here and forget that she's also cool, smart, mature, pretty, and super lovable when she wants to be~

Lucas: (Giggles Softly) Yeah, especially when she's around me~

Ashley: (Playfully Pouts at Lucas) And don't you ever forget it, mister~ (Gives Lucas a Big Kiss On the Cheek, Causing him to Giggle Some More)

Lucas: But still though- (Gives his Girlfriend a Reassuring Smile on his Face) You're an amazing girl, Ashley, and I'm sure your parents, wherever they are, would think the same too if you guys were to ever meet.

Penny: And if they think otherwise and wanna leave you behind again, then that's all on them. At least you still have us and a crap ton of our wacky friends and family here, who'll always love you just as much as we do.

Ashley: (Stares at the Duo For a Brief Second Before her Heart Begins to Melt in Genuine Happiness) Yeah. I guess I ended being super lucky this whole time. ('Sniff') Don't I?

Lucas: ('Gasps') Oh no, Ashley, you're crying!

Penny: Ahh~ (Forms a Playful Smirk on her Face) So the cool, scary witch girl has emotions after all~

Ashley: (Gives her Best Friend a Tearful Deadpinned Look on her Face) Don't start, Penny. ('Sniff') (Turns to her Boyfriend Next) And Lucas, please don't worry. (Wipes a Bit of her Tears Away) You two just moved me into tears for a moment there, that's all

Lucas: Okay. (Starts Snuggling on Ashley a Bit) Just know that we'll always be by your side no matter what.

Penny: (Smiles Brightly) Yep! We're stuck together like super glue, so you can't get rid of us that easily~

Ashley: (Giggles a Bit While Finally Hugging her Two Companions With In) As if I ever want to do that in the first place~ You guys are and will forever be my everything. Thank you so much for everything.

Bonus

Ashley: Hey Red, can I see you for a second?

Red: Yeah, sure thing, Ashley! (Flies Himself Over to Ashley) Wait a minute- (Starts Shaking a Bit in Fear) Y-You're still not mad at me for eating that last fruit roll up this morning, did you? (Sees Ashley's Hands Slowly Reaching Over Him Before Turning his Head Away).B-B-Because I swear, I'll snag you two amd boxes of them for- (Suddenly Gets Pulled into a Hug) You?

Ashley: That's won't be necessary. I'm over it.

Red: (Still Surprised by the Gesture Ashley is Giving Him) Oh! O-Okay, cool. But why exactly are you.....you know-

Ashley: Consider this a token of my thanks.....For watching over me for so long. I appreciate it.

Red: (Taken Aback by Ashley's Words for a Second Before Speaking) Y-Yeah! It's no problem at all, Ash. (Smiles Brightly) I'm happy to be by your side.

Ashley: (Smiles Back at her Most Loyal Little Helper) Likewise. (Points at Red with her Usual Netural Look) Never call me "Ash" again.

Red: (Happily Salutes to Ashley) You got it, ma'am!!

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