#adventures in tech hell
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>Play a large online match
>It runs fine, no hiccups
>Match ends
>PC crashes 200% because letting go is hard :((((
#mine#vent post#adventures in tech hell#I think this time my graphics managed to crash which would be bullshit because the game wasn't running even half of the available memory#it's almost gotta be my power supply. or the motherboard. or the brain. one'a those.#I have to use my shitty low ass tax return to gamble on which part it's gonna be because that's all I have for money coming up#really would be nice if I could rely on this asshole to actually give the cat her insulin so I could get a job now but noooo#he never even knows what time it is and refuses to keep his phone around so an alarm wouldn't even help#fucking prick
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Finally updated my contact prescription and excellent bonus, the corneal dystrophy is much less visible and i can actually be corrected to 20/20 again. Slight annoyance; everything is big and bendy again. My phone is weirdly concave and flat surfaces are too. I know it'll go away but 🎶it's been awhile 🎶
(Also the doc brought me a glasses case (which i had asked for) and the 'sorry we blew up your pupils' sunglasses (which i had not - sidenote, the retinal imager thing? Fuck yes i would rather pay the $40 than be destroyed all day). I took the glasses case but said i don't need the sunglasses bc i always have glasses in the car. She pointed out that i was wearing contacts and my prescription sunglasses would be less helpful; i said oh, no, i always have a big plastic pair of cheap sunglasses in the car that'll fit over my glasses in case i forget my sunglasses. She went 'huh.' I went 'yeah the dangerous $1 aisle at target is great for that.' Now, are the cheapo sunglasses polarized? No. Which sucks, but better than being blasted by the Great Unfeeling Glowy Orb. She thought that was pretty entertaining too.)
#adventures in being blind as fuuuuuck#the tech walked in on me trying to update part of my file on the patient portal with my glasses down and the phone 3in from my face#and started laughing#laughed harder when i demonstrated what i would do constantly when wearing my contacts and trying the same#and how my mom would cackle at me if she caught me doing it#also apparently bc my eyes need 2x the drops for dilation and thus like 4x the time spent blown out they can bill the $40 to insurance#so like#hell to the fuck yes my dude
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Re: analog photography, it's pretty funny seeing the cycle of nostalgia/celebration of flaws playing out in real time. Couple of years ago i informed my dad that nowadays the effects of a "failed" film photograph (his mortal enemy!!) are celebrated in numerous Instagram filters, and he was shocked that people would want the "failed" look when phone cameras today can deliver such sharp and high-fidelity images. Likewise, at the fair last week i saw some teens nerding over the "Cyber-shot" look of some digital cameras that were on sale... i owned one of those in high school... can't say i'm particularly drawn to their aesthetic but that's just the nostalgia wheels turning again ig
#julia's photo adventures#where's that quote about this. the one that goes 'the flaws of each tech thing become their charm once tht tech is surpassed by smth better'#and it IS funny like. why the hell am i nerding over analog exposure and film speeds when digital is so much easier and forgiving of errors#the process has been really interesting and i'm a nerd who likes to study history and how stuff works. so that's the main reward i think
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so many swag epic awesome tmnt iterations (/gen /pos) and then I realise I Have Not Solidified Mine
anyways need to actually make the au premise other than random fun facts about them and their dynamics then come up with a name and then :3 the guys !!!
#i rant about them often but only occasionally realise that Ah. no one can hear the thoughts. i gotta actually make them#theyre in my head interacting constantly why do i never tell anyone about them#anyways so little bit about the iteration (if anyone's interested)#love when the turtles can just do mystic stuff for whatever reason (big plot in rise but also in 12. heard that 03 has magic stuff too)#so there's some magic/potions/light witchcraft/alchemy#but also a lot of crappy old tech frankensteined together. because i couldnt decide on a specific time that it's set in#because i love 90s/00s/10s stuff (victim to nostalgia. i am not ashamed) and my don is messy as hell#some of tbe characters will focus on specific pop culture from certain eras (mondo the y2k king)#but mostly you just need to know that the iteration is messy as hell. and i love it for that :]]#i have a secret little thing that ive planned on using in like a game someday but will beta with this iteration#not in full though because you know. games are interactive and making the iteration interactive in the same would isnt possible#i guess i could make a small 'choose your own adventure' site but that may be too much#who knows. just need to make sure im not overzealous. again. cant have too many big undertakings or burnout for things i love will happen :[#viv.txt
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we've found it folks: mcmansion heaven
Hello everyone. It is my pleasure to bring you the greatest house I have ever seen. The house of a true visionary. A real ad-hocist. A genuine pioneer of fenestration. This house is in Alabama. It was built in 1980 and costs around $5 million. It is worth every penny. Perhaps more.
Now, I know what you're thinking: "Come on, Kate, that's a little kooky, but certainly it's not McMansion Heaven. This is very much a house in the earthly realm. Purgatory. McMansion Purgatory." Well, let me now play Beatrice to your Dante, young Pilgrim. Welcome. Welcome, welcome, welcome.
It is rare to find a house that has everything. A house that wills itself into Postmodernism yet remains unable to let go of the kookiest moments of the prior zeitgeist, the Bruce Goffs and Earthships, the commune houses built from car windshields, the seventies moments of psychedelic hippie fracture. It is everything. It has everything. It is theme park, it is High Tech. It is Renaissance (in the San Antonio Riverwalk sense of the word.) It is medieval. It is maybe the greatest pastiche to sucker itself to the side of a mountain, perilously overlooking a large body of water. Look at it. Just look.
The inside is white. This makes it dreamlike, almost benevolent. It is bright because this is McMansion Heaven and Gray is for McMansion Hell. There is an overbearing sheen of 80s optimism. In this house, the credit default swap has not yet been invented, but could be.
It takes a lot for me to drop the cocaine word because I think it's a cheap joke. But there's something about this example that makes it plausible, not in a derogatory way, but in a liberatory one, a sensuous one. Someone created this house to have a particular experience, a particular feeling. It possesses an element of true fantasy, the thematic. Its rooms are not meant to be one cohesive composition, but rather a series of scenes, of vastly different spatial moments, compressed, expanded, bright, close.
And then there's this kitchen for some reason. Or so you think. Everything the interior design tries to hide, namely how unceasingly peculiar the house is, it is not entirely able to because the choices made here remain decadent, indulgent, albeit in a more familiar way.
Rare is it to discover an interior wherein one truly must wear sunglasses. The environment created in service to transparency has to somewhat prevent the elements from penetrating too deep while retaining their desirable qualities. I don't think an architect designed this house. An architect would have had access to specifically engineered products for this purpose. Whoever built this house had certain access to architectural catalogues but not those used in the highest end or most structurally complex projects. The customization here lies in the assemblage of materials and in doing so stretches them to the height of their imaginative capacity. To borrow from Charles Jencks, ad-hoc is a perfect description. It is an architecture of availability and of adventure.
A small interlude. We are outside. There is no rear exterior view of this house because it would be impossible to get one from the scrawny lawn that lies at its depths. This space is intended to serve the same purpose, which is to look upon the house itself as much as gaze from the house to the world beyond.
Living in a city, I often think about exhibitionism. Living in a city is inherently exhibitionist. A house is a permeable visible surface; it is entirely possible that someone will catch a glimpse of me they're not supposed to when I rush to the living room in only a t-shirt to turn out the light before bed. But this is a space that is only exhibitionist in the sense that it is an architecture of exposure, and yet this exposure would not be possible without the protection of the site, of the distance from every other pair of eyes. In this respect, a double freedom is secured. The window intimates the potential of seeing. But no one sees.
At the heart of this house lies a strange mix of concepts. Postmodern classicist columns of the Disney World set. The unpolished edge of the vernacular. There is also an organicist bent to the whole thing, something more Goff than Gaudí, and here we see some of the house's most organic forms, the monolith- or shell-like vanity mixed with the luminous artifice of mirrors and white. A backlit cave, primitive and performative at the same time, which is, in essence, the dialectic of the luxury bathroom.
And yet our McMansion Heaven is still a McMansion. It is still an accumulation of deliberate signifiers of wealth, very much a construction with the secondary purpose of invoking envy, a palatial residence designed without much cohesion. The presence of golf, of wood, of masculine and patriarchal symbolism with an undercurrent of luxury drives that point home. The McMansion can aspire to an art form, but there are still many levels to ascend before one gets to where God's sitting.
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My favorite crimes Barbara Gordon has committed
Full disclosure, I am considering only New Earth Babs because the other versions are simply inferior. I will ignore the typical masked adventurer crimes she did as Batgirl, like assault, breaking and entering, trespassing, obstructing justice and vigilantism. I will also not really consider the very classic Oracle shenanigans like hacking, accessing some databases she probably shouldn't, stealing from rich criminals to fund her own (kinda criminal) operation, invading privacy and literally doing illegal spy work with Birds of Prey. Because those are boring and I want something that's not just another Tuesday. So, in no particular order:
Changing the light on traffic lights
Stupid and small but I love it. Very iconic and very Barbara-like.
+Extra Helena who has very logical and understandable qualms about Oracle's power and influence

[Birds of Prey (1999) #58]
Blackmailing Catwoman into returning stolen paintings
And threatening to send her money to charities. Catwoman begrudgingly obliged.
I am not too sure about what happened leading to that moment. That comic didn't have a particularly strong story. I think Selina stole them while Barbara was still Batgirl?
Either way, the ending is pretty memorable for me. Ultimate irony - threatening her into returning stolen goods by stealing funds from her.

[Birds of Prey: Catwoman/Oracle]
Making a deal with Gotham City's emergency services
and then using the tech she implemented to override the control of the vehicles when needed. Or, when she wants to. This one instance was because Steph just got shot in the head and didn't really want to end up in an ER where her mother worked, exposing her (third) secret identity. It worked out so yay?
[Batgirl (2009) #6]
Sort of kidnapping Wendy Harris
To be fair, she did it because Calculator, Oracle's arch nemesis and Wendy's father, was endangering her and she did it to protect her but a little more explanation couldn't hurt. But that wouldn't be Barbara without her genial tendency to keep everyone but herself in the dark. I guess she really did keep Wendy in the dark. In the basement.
[Batgirl (2009) #11]
Political corruption
We never get to learn what exactly she did. She just said that many leaders owe her their positions. it sure as hell doesn't sound legal. World-wide corruption? Why not. Entirely too much power for one person to hold. 10/10
Also, I bet you that those power grids aren't exactly controlled legally.
[Birds of Prey (1999) #103]
Blowing up a government facility and getting rid of some evidence
Well, Cass decided to break into a government facility and free a terrorist to prove a point that everyone can change. And in doing so she left them some photo, video and DNA evidence.
Oracle therefore later sent her back there to destroy it, blowing the building up in the process. Oh and she also presumably helped the guy get fake documents but that's not 100% confirmed (Cass said that it's from her friends as she gave them to him).
She really cares about her not-quite-daughter <3

[Batgirl (2000) #17]
Her father/uncle (the Gordon family was kind of a mess after Crisis) might be the commissioner of Gotham but she clearly doesn't respect the law in the slightest. They love eachother, of course, they just don't share the same views on the law.
I simply enjoy how unhinged her methods sometimes usually are and we need to recognise that. Also, while we are at it, get rid of Prime Earth Barbara's characterisation and bring back the competent and sarcastic control-freak.
#barbara gordon#batman#dc comic#dc comics#oracle dc#birds of prey#dc birds of prey#batgirl#helena bertinelli#huntress dc#cassandra cain#stephanie brown#catwoman#dc
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Handle With Care 1
Warnings: non/dubcon, and other dark elements. My username actually says you never asked for any of this.
My warnings are not exhaustive but be aware this is a dark fic and may include potentially triggering topics. Please use your common sense when consuming content. I am not responsible for your decisions.
Characters: Bucky Barnes
Summary: your work blurs the lines between professional and personal.
Note: I'm on a Bucky kick and can't stop myself.
As usual, I would appreciate any and all feedback. I’m happy to once more go on this adventure with all of you! Thank you in advance for your comments and for reblogging ❤️
The caller ID flashing on your dashboard display makes you groan. What the hell is Sam calling for? He should be patiently waiting at the venue.
You know even before you answer what the issue is. It's the same as it always is. It can never be about anyone but him.
"Wilson," you answer matter-of-factly, "I know I'm not late."
"Never are," he confirms. "It's not you."
"Oh, I know," you put your blinker on and check the traffic behind you, "you're really going to make me pull a U-ey."
"I know, I'm sorry. Again."
"You know, I never had another job where I had to make sure my co-workers got their asses out of bed," you spin the wheel and your tires squeal on the tarmac.
"Co-workers... dang, I thought we were more than that." You can hear his pout through the phone.
"Me and you, maybe," you drone.
"Hey, he's been trying," he argues.
"Yeah, I know. You think I don't try, Wilson?"
"Look, I'll make it up to you."
"You say that a lot," you shake your head at the road.
"Look, I gotta go. It's my big day," he intones.
"Please, do. Stop worrying about the old man." You insist. "Might not be in the job description, but I'll get it done. As always. See ya soon."
"See ya." He hangs up and your music comes back on. Not for long. You idle at a light and dial out another call.
Bucky's name flashes as you wait for a pick up. Of course, he can't be bothered. On this day of all. You sigh and try two more times as you get closer to his place. Nothing.
You get out and nearly trip out of the strappy heels. Wilson owes you indeed, for more than the personal house call. You teeter up over the curb and grab onto the railing. You climb the concrete steps and pound on the front door of the townhouse.
"Barnes," you holler through. "I know you didn't forget."
You hammer again. You only stop when your fist throbs. You shake out your hands and huff. You stomp and feel the skinny heel bend dangerously. Fuck.
You don't got the tech on you to unlock the keypad, looks like the old-fashioned way will do. You shift your clutch and pull out your nail file. Bastard. You better not break a nail for his reclusive ass.
You go around back and use the file to latch the kitchen window. You know Bucky is his own security but he really should get a proper alarm. You punch the screen in and grab the frame. You haul yourself into your waist and balance there, the ledge pressing on your stomach. The smell of coffee greets you in a bold waft.
You look up as Bucky leans his vibranium palm on the counter and watches you. You snarl and reach out. "A little help?"
He keeps his coffee to his lips and nears, grabbing your forearm to leverage you inside. Your knees touch the counter and you kneel there as you catch your breath. He lets go, watching you over the brim.
"You coulda knocked," he says.
"I did," you slip your legs out from under you. "Loud."
"I was in the shower."
"Great, at least you got that done," you chide.
"Coffee?" He offers as he points to the french press.
"Barnes," you warn with a point. "Please."
You stare at him. He's in a pair of sweats and a tee shirt. His slippers are the sort of plaid that you find in a nursing home. You hold back a growl.
"You know what today is."
"I don't think I should go," he grumbles.
"Are you serious? Don't be a sour puss--" A sudden white flash lands beside you and the rattling purr rumbles against your leg. You pause to pet Alpine as if she heard you deriding her breed. "Not you," you assure her.
"I don't want to ruin it--"
"Barnes, you can put a suit on and sit pretty," you push off the counter and your ankles turn to noodles as you barely keep from a sprain. "Look at me, all dressed up like a prize pig, so go put an apple in your mouth."
He rolls his eyes, "he doesn't need me--"
"Bull," you interject.
You march past him. This is how it is. You can deal with it on missions. That's just how it goes. Most men you work with are obstinate to the point of being another adversary on their own. But outside the job, it's a bit too much.
You go down the hall and slow. It takes a moment to get your bearings. You've never been much further than the front door. You ignore the clutter across the front room floor and charge upstairs.
"Hey, what're you doing?" Bucky stands at the bottom as you stomp up.
You don't answer him. You go into his bedroom. You stop and look around. The bed is made, possibly unslept in. The room doesn't look used much at all. You go to his closet and slide the door open. You find a pair of slacks and a jacket. Tie, shirt, all presentable enough.
He appears in the doorway. You lay everything on the bed.
"Get dressed," you demand.
"I'll call Sam--"
"No, Wilson is busy. It's his day. You wanna know how you're going to ruin it?" You approach him and cross your arms. "By going AWOL. Not today, Barnes. Now, get yourself together."
You strut out and shut the door. You stop outside and call through. "Five minutes."
You continues down to the stairs and idle there. You check your phone. You can make it. Easy. He just needs to get his ass in gear.
When the door opens, you turn to him. His tie is undone. You go to him and grab it, knotting it roughly, not that he would notice.
"You couldn't shave in the shower?" You huff.
"Hey, I can do it," he tries to bat you away.
"Then why didn't you do it twenty minutes ago?" He shrugs and you pull his tie straight. You tug his lapels and straighten his jacket. "And the rest." You flick your fingers toward his face.
He shakes his head and goes into the bathroom. He grabs his comb as you linger and you see him in the mirror dragging the teeth through his thick hair. It's to his collar now. You told him to get a hair cut. He never listens. Not your problem. Well, only for today.
"Damn..."
"Here," you dip into the bathroom and grab the comb. "Just--"
You reach for the tin of gel. You just need him to look somewhat presentable. You part his hair neatly and comb it back behind his head, moving around him to check nothing's out of place. He stares at the floor. You don't want to embarrass him but goddamnit.
"Okay," you pop the cap on and wipe your hands on the towel hanging in the loop. "Let's go."
His eyes stray to the wall and he mopes. You take a breath.
"Barnes, it's for Sam," you say.
"I know," he croaks and heaves. He lifts his head and puts his shoulders straight. "I'll do my best not to fuck this up."
#bucky barnes#dark bucky barnes#dark!bucky barnes#bucky barnes x reader#dark simp?#handle with care#drabble#series#mcu#marvel#winter soldier#captain america#avengers
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pleasure doing business with you
luigi mangione x reader
。𖦹°‧ you’re a broke college student in a pinch. but not to worry; you’ve found someone willing to help.
word count: 14k (sorry?😭) • part of a spoonful of sugar (read here!) • nsfw • read on ao3
tag list : @mangionebabymama , @mangobabygirl , @jenisaswift13 , @mangionesdaisy , @iinfinitelimits , @daydreamingwithluigi , @mrs-cactus69 , @mashkatzi , @straw8berry , @bean-is-reading (comment to be added)
warnings : f! reader; EXPLICIT; sugar daddy AU; some OCs; unironic use of the word “brunch”; ⚠️DADDY KINK⚠️; luigi calls U “princess”; praise; oral (m! + f! receiving); some spanking
notes : hi ok i’m so excited to post this pls let me know if U like this and want me to post more of Him because i have more sugar daddy ideas💚💚
In your defense, you’re broke as hell.
That’s a blunt way of putting it. To be more direct: you are a twenty-something college student barely scraping by on financial aid and tips from your opening shift at Hilton’s Cityscape, on top of the typical, abysmal, average salary of a bartender. You live in a somewhat cheap apartment at 1 Powell Street with your cat, Butters; you sleep on a stiff mattress and survive off the local Panda Express and suffer through the chilly nights—hell will freeze over before your landlord fixes the AC. You go to class and your shifts and barely get your bills paid each month, not unlike most of the nation, and you try. You try to smile and enjoy and appreciate what you have, even if it’s next to nothing.
The good news? You’re hot.
Not because of the shitty AC. You’re hot in the colloquial sense. You were blessed with all the features other women your age pray for, a natural beauty—something quite normal to see in San Francisco, but you have something rare to offer, too: a personality. You’ve got the looks and the brains. You are what people who are too polite would call “conventionally attractive”. You’ve got it going on. You are it.
So, what do hot women who are strapped for cash in San Francisco do?
They go to Red Velvet on Bryant Street, of course.
What the fuck is Red Velvet? is exactly what you ask Sheri when she thinks out loud to you at 3:36 one afternoon.
Sheri looks at you like you’ve grown two heads.
“Red Velvet,” she starts, “is the hottest bar for sugar daddies in SF. It’s always overflowing with guys who have too much money than they know what to do with—big tech CEOs and bankers and those types.”
“Right,” you nod, listening attentively. “So you think I should pick up a sugar daddy.”
“Well…” Sheri swipes the rag she’s holding over another glass swiftly. “I think you should pick up a sugar daddy safely.”
“Have you had one before?” you ask.
Sheri is your favorite co-worker. She’s older than you, closer to her fifties, and she is nothing if not an adventurous woman. You’ve heard many a stories of bad sex and strange men, collected over her years of hopping around the West Coast—a wonderful distraction from the equally strange men that often find themselves visiting your place of employment.
“A sugar daddy?” She laughs, grabs another glass from the dirty dish rack. “Honey, I was far too busy for that in my heydays. But a few of my girlfriends dabble in that space.”
You lean forward with your chin in your hand. “Do they like it?”
“I know a friend who’s got an arrangement with some politician from Washington,” Sheri says. “She hasn’t paid for anything in two years. I always see her wearing the gaudiest shit—fur coats and Balenciaga and shiny jewelry. She’s happy. Real happy.”
You smile to yourself.
“Sometimes,” she adds, “he lets her take some of us out to dinner with her. And, not to sound prissy, but the whole ‘fine dining’ thing? Just doesn’t make sense to me.”
“What?” You furrow your brows. “What don’t you like about it?”
“The portions are just too damn small!” she exclaims, face holding genuine resentment as she speaks—you’ve always appreciated her expressiveness. “The staff is always nice, but there’s just not enough food, if you ask me.”
That makes sense. Sheri loves her food. You do too, honestly.
“You think a sugar daddy would take me to McDonald’s?” you joke, giggling at her snort.
She shrugs it off—but you could find out.
That’s exactly what you decide to do one Saturday night, waltzing up to Red Velvet in the best dress you own: a flattering jade green with ribbing around the torso and a tight fit on the hips. To be completely transparent, you are nervous; you’re quite used to male attention, used to handling it with grace and respect for yourself, but this spot is an entirely new environment with entirely new patrons. You don’t know what to expect. You have an idea of what a sugar daddy is, what he looks like and how he acts and dresses and speaks, but it’s quite different to encounter one in the wild. People only ever do this kind of thing online, you think.
You scan the scene. There are mostly men of varying, typically older age, but there are some women, too, mainly concentrated at the bar to your left. Eye candy. Probably not regulars. You conclude that this must be your best bet, and so you grab a seat at the far end, looking over the menu and deciding on something simple: a gin and tonic.
And for a while, you enjoy it in a comfortable silence, sipping and appreciating the scenery, the ostentatious decor and dim lighting and cursive signage. It’s definitely the kind of bar that rich guys would frequent, more specifically sugar daddies, if the guests in attendance weren’t proof enough.
But your expectations are firmly challenged when you are approached by your first man of the night.
Well, not quite approached. Rather, he comes up to order, and you are at the bar—so naturally, your eyes meet and your paths cross. You survey your catch and quickly find that he is different; most of the men at Red Velvet are fifties-to-sixties, not particularly attractive (definitely not without its silver foxes, though!), typically already accompanied by a woman. This man, though…He catches your eye. He’s young, perhaps even close to your age, and he’s fit, and he’s fine. He is fine as a motherfucker, indeed. At first you peg him as a Montgomery Street type, maybe a stock trade guy—but despite his current location, ordering a drink at this high-end sugar daddy outfit, this man looks unconstrained; put together but certainly not flashy. His suit is as simple as his choice of beverage—a banana daiquiri—and the first words he utters to you are modest but direct:
“You’re wearing green.”
That you are.
You turn to him, face kind but slightly puzzled. “Yup. Green.”
He explains: “Forgive my candor. Green is my favorite color—I never see women as pretty as you wearing it, though.”
Oh, so he’s slick.
“I’m flattered,” you say with a smile. “Thank you.”
Looking him in the eye, you can get a much better picture of this man, even in the low light of the bar. His hair is curly, wild, begging for hands to touch and pet and pull, and his eyebrows are just as sharp as his jawline and the bridge of his nose. He’s clean-shaven, for the most part, but a neat five o’clock shadow is growing in on his jaw and under his chin; you imagine, briefly, how that stubble might feel against your lips, your neck, your—
“May I ask what brings you here?” he inquires. “It’s not often this place is blessed with such beauty.”
Man, he’s persistent, isn’t he? You tuck your hair behind your ear and rest your chin on top of your clasped hands.
“Are you here often?” you ask. It’s best to scope out any danger before you get down to business—as a young woman, you learned that the hard way. This guy could be a creeper, for all you know, picking up girls at niche bars and taking them home to chop up or god knows what.
He grins, traces the rim of his glass. “How’d you think I could point out a newbie so easily?”
You smile back.
“Do you live in the area?” he asks.
You definitely don’t. Bryant Street is twenty minutes out from the lofts at Powell. You’re starting to wonder if maybe newcomers aren’t welcome at Red Velvet; perhaps this man didn’t come to flirt. Perhaps he’s sniffing you out, keeping the turf safe from intrusion.
“Close enough,” you lie. “I work in the area.”
It isn’t that crazy of a fib—Cityscape is only an eight minute drive from here.
“Well, where do you work?”
Fuck. Fuck. Might as well stick to reality as much as you can, right?
“I bartend at Ernest,” you say, sipping your drink. Ernest is more of a fine dining establishment than a bar, but it’s on Bryant—albeit further down the street—so it works. Sheri has mentioned grabbing drinks there before. It surprises you that you even remembered Ernest exists.
He nods, seemingly trusting. “Is it a nice place? I’ve never been, but some of my buddies have.”
You shrug. “It pays. You get pretty tired of all the sexual harassment after a while, though.”
He laughs—a soft but warm chuckle, his dimpled smile practically reaching his ears.
You’ve always liked being able to make men laugh. It helps quite a lot when they’re this handsome.
“What about you?” you ask. “Do you work around here?”
“In the city,” he answers simply. “I do data for TrueCar. Not very special.”
Ah. You’ve heard of it in passing, probably online, but you don’t know much beneath the surface. Admittedly, it does sound pretty boring. You imagine cars have to be involved, which is a bit surprising—car salesman is a certain type, and this guy is not it. Data must mean he’s either a statistics or computer science major, which aren’t the most promising career paths as far as money goes—but he is in California, which might mean he got lucky.
“And how is that working out for you?” you ask, stirring your gin and tonic.
“It pays,” he says, mirroring you. “No sexual harassment, fortunately for me. I’m very sorry about yours.”
You wave a hand and laugh. “I’m quite used to it at this point.”
Right then your eyes meet. And for what feels like forever the two of you just stare at each other, smiles bright on your faces, chemistry rippling between the bar stools that keep you apart. The tension isn’t thick—it’s palpable. You’d need more than a knife to cut through it.
“Can I be honest?” you pipe up. As if you didn’t lie to this man about your job just a few minutes ago.
He nods. “I like honesty.”
You sip your cocktail. Swallow. Breathe. Then:
“I’ve been in a tight spot with money, recently,” you explain. “A friend told me about this place, that I could maybe find someone to help me out here, so I came looking for…”
How do you put this?
“I came looking for an arrangement.”
His smile spreads across his teeth slowly, but its flame casts bright light throughout the bar—as if you are a speck of an ant on the ground, scorched by the mirror he holds.
“I knew you were here for a reason,” he remarks.
Yeah. You’re quite obvious, aren’t you?
“I feel like maybe I should apologize,” you mutter, shoulders sulking. Suddenly you feel quite shy.
“You shouldn’t,” he assures you. “Can I ask for your name?”
So you tell him, meekly. And then:
“Well,” he starts, echoing you; you make a mental note of how good your name sounds in his mouth. “I’m Luigi. I think I could help you with that money problem you have, and—if you don’t mind my saying—I’d be quite eager to.”
This Luigi guy is nothing if not blunt.
“So…” He reaches back and snatches his phone from a pocket, leaning toward you. “I’m gonna ask for your number. If you want to make one of these arrangements you speak of, you can call me anytime you like. How’s that sound?”
He’s handing you his phone now, screen already open to an empty contact page. You accept it hesitantly.
“You want me to call you?”
Luigi nods. “I want you to have time to think it over. If you change your mind, I wouldn’t want you to feel pressured.”
That makes your heart flutter a little. He’s sweet for a stranger.
You hand your completed contact to him with a smile, and he sends you a text so his number is easily accessible.
“I think you’ll be hearing from me,” you say, emboldened.
He grins as he stands from his seat. “I’ll be looking forward to it.” Then he adds: “No pressure.”
Just like that, he’s paying his tab, and the next moment he’s gone.
There are several thoughts swirling through your mind right now. But one thing you are sure of is that Sheri was right: Red Velvet is the spot.
“You’re telling me you found a daddy your first time there?”
Sheri looks flummoxed.
You tighten your apron and smirk. “I mean, I don’t know for sure if he’s looking for that.”
“He implied it,” she counters.
“Nothing is set in stone,” you say, popping the chewing gum in your mouth. A flood of tangerine works your tastebuds. “I’m supposed to call him to figure out our arrangement.”
“What’s he like?” Sheri asks. She turns toward the cash register.
Where to start? You hardly even know him and yet you could probably run your mouth for a solid hour about just his appearance, his honeyed voice, his sharp features.
“He’s cute,” you say simply. “Young. Kinda tall. Curly hair. I think he’s Italian, or something.”
“Italian?” She looks over her shoulder at you, quirks an eyebrow.
“His name is Luigi,” you enunciate. “You gonna tell me that’s not Italian?”
Someone at the bar orders a Galileo Highball. You pull a bottle of Hendrick’s from the shelf.
As you pour, she asks, “he got a brother?”
“Very funny,” you say, not laughing. “I don’t know. They say Italians like big families. I’d bet his is no different.”
You slide the finished cocktail toward your patron with a small smile, and Sheri comes up behind you, holding her own drink—probably Macallan, if she’s the same Sheri you know.
“What did I tell you about drinking on the job?” You shoot her a glance; half disapproving, half amused.
“It’s a slow night, mom.” She gives you a light shove on the shoulder, bangles clinking. “Tell me more about your beau.”
“I think he’s a nerd,” you offer. “He mentioned being a data scientist, or something. He works at TrueCar.”
“What is that?” Sheri narrows her thin eyebrows at you.
“They sell cars,” you shrug. “It doesn’t matter to me if he has money.”
She takes a swig from her glass. “Well, does he?”
“You said Red Velvet is where all the rich guys are, and that’s where he was at, so I don’t know, Sheri, you tell me.”
“That’s what I heard!” She raises her arms defensively. “Did he tell you how much he makes?”
Your eyes stiffen. “I think that would’ve been rude to ask.”
“It’s not rude if he’s gonna be your sugar daddy.”
She has a point.
You should probably find out.
One Tuesday afternoon before work you decide that a call is indeed in order—something to settle your nerves, fraught with anticipation since the night you met Luigi. His number is accordingly labeled with his name in your phone and it is not hard to find among your texts. Your hesitation only lasts a few seconds before you press the call button.
A familiar modest tone is quick to answer.
“Hello?”
Fuck. Fuck. You hadn’t quite thought out the rest of this.
“Luigi, hi! This is—”
“From Red Velvet,” he interjects. You’ve been recognized by voice alone. “Hi, there.”
He sounds busy. Men always sound busy.
“Is this a bad time?” you ask.
“Not at all,” he assures you. “I’m on lunch. Happy to hear from you.”
How does this kind of thing normally come together? You’ve never taken the 101 on sugar dating, and there’s certainly not a handbook—not one that you’ve heard of, anyway. Maybe you should’ve done a little more research.
You clear your throat. “So. I’ve been considering, um…The arrangement thing.”
His voice rumbles on the other end. “Mhm?”
“I think…I wanna try it. With you.”
It sounds like he chuckles. Then: “Is that so?”
Man, he’s not helping your nerves at all.
Swallowing thickly, you ask, “…is that okay?”
“Of course it’s okay,” Luigi says, voice warm. “I offered, silly.”
Why is it that the overwhelming urge to explain yourself always comes on the strongest with silence?
“I’m kinda nervous,” you preface. “I’ve never done anything like this before, and you’re really nice, so if I sound awkward or like I’m being an idiot, I promise it’s not on purpose—”
“Sweetheart,” he interrupts. You can practically hear the smile on his face. “It’s okay. I understand. I’m gonna walk you through it, okay?”
You nod like he can see you. “Okay.”
The noise in the background starts to quiet down as Luigi speaks:
“We’ll meet up to discuss everything first, lay out the rules and your pay and all that,” he starts. “Somewhere public. Nothing has to happen yet. Just for us to make a plan and get to know each other a little more.”
It’s comforting, how he goes out of his way to ensure that you feel safe. Meeting in an open, people-filled space seems like something you should be suggesting, rather than him. It’s sweet. Makes you feel a little woozy—in more places than one.
“You like brunch?” he asks. “I’ll get you some brunch if you want. I know a spot.”
Brunch. The word alone makes your face scrunch up. He’s cute. “Okay. That sounds nice.”
“Are you sure? We can go somewhere else. Whatever you want.”
“Brunch sounds good,” you concur. “I’m not picky.”
“Okay. Good deal.” You hear what sounds like a door closing. “Are you free this weekend?”
I can be, you don’t say. “You bet.”
“Saturday?” he pitches.
“Sure.”
“How’s eleven?”
A bit early—you like sleeping in! But you’ll do it for this gorgeous man.
At your agreement, he bookends the conversation:
“Alright. We’re gonna meet at the Wooden Spoon, on Market Street. At eleven. On Saturday. Sound good?”
“Sounds good,” you affirm.
Wooden Spoon. Market Street. Eleven. Saturday. It repeats in your head like a mantra. What will you wear? What time should you wake up? Should you eat a little bit before, so you don’t have to go wild in front of him? Not important. Not right now.
Your mind wanders further, because you allow it: do you deserve this? Are you worthy of a wealthy man’s spoils, of finer things, of something you believed you’d never once know the luxury of having? Not a day in your life did you imagine you’d wind up with this, on the phone with someone in a tax bracket you’re miles and miles behind, someone so humble and yet so blessed by whoever counsels the elite class up in heaven (or hell, more likely). These opportunities are one in a million, and you’ve found yourself lucky enough to draw the eyes of a willing devotee—you should be proud. You should be arrogant, bragging, full of yourself, flaunting the kind of ego you’ve managed to avoid for the twenty-ish years you’ve been on this planet. You just feel guilty.
Wooden Spoon. Market Street. Eleven. Saturday.
Luigi shows up not a minute after eleven o’ clock.
You’re already there. You made the effort to show up early—thirty minutes early, exact—wearing your favorite blouse, the one with little dragonflies printed all over, nails painted and lips glossed. You smell like a bakery and you look even more delicious. Yes. You feel ready.
At least, you do until he walks in.
Because he looks great. Even for a little brunch date, he’s glowing—practically a walking fucking Caravaggio painting. His baby blue button-down compliments his olive skin perfectly, collarbone peeking out from under almost sheer linen, and when you look closely enough…A thin, silver chain snakes around his neck, hidden underneath his shirt.
Fuck. You want it in between your teeth.
“Hey, sweetheart.”
You’re almost speechless as he takes a seat across from you. Man, you really should have prepared yourself more for this.
“Hi,” you greet, meekly.
“You haven’t been waiting long, have you?”
“Not at all,” you lie. He doesn’t need to know how much time you spent sitting in this very chair, worrying about this very moment. All at your own accord.
“Good,” Luigi says, nodding. Good that you weren’t waiting long. Good that you’re here, with him. He adds: “I’m glad to see you again.”
You attempt a smile. “I promise I am, too, I’m just—”
“Nervous?”
“Yeah,” you laugh. “Very.”
He taps his fingers over the menu laying on the table invitingly. “Let’s get some food in you. That’ll calm your nerves.”
So you look it over, ponder your options: avocado toast, smoothie bowls, fried chicken, patty melt…It all sounds really good when you haven’t eaten since your drunk lunch yesterday (which, to no one’s surprise, was similarly marred by your anxiety). You know one thing: some fresh squeezed orange juice sounds fucking bomb right now. Eventually you decide some scrambled eggs and buttermilk pancakes sound nice, too.
Luigi gets the avocado toast. Not what you were expecting.
“I felt like you’d be a bacon guy,” you say as the waitress waltzes off.
He shrugs, grins a little. “I don’t eat meat.”
Okay. So, you weren’t expecting that, either, but your next question is: How the fuck do you get that broad with no meat? You decide that’s an inappropriate question for brunch—table it for later. Later. You like the sound of a later.
“So, you work at Ernest, right?” he asks, sipping his tea.
Oh. Fuck. You forgot about that.
Fuck.
“I should probably tell you this now,” you start, voice shakier than you anticipate. “I, um—I lied. To you. About my job.”
His face doesn’t change much—Luigi just furrows an eyebrow at you. “Did you?”
“I know, I know, I’m really sorry!” By this point you can’t even remember why you lied to him—not after he’s taken this much caution in ensuring your comfort. “When I met you I had never been in the area before, and I was trying to play it safe, so I lied about where I work and I’m so so sorry—”
“Sweetheart,” Luigi interjects, placing his big, warm hands over yours. “I get it. Take a breath for me. Okay?”
He’s smiling a little, but only in amusement at how quickly you work yourself up. Over nothing. Per usual.
You breathe. “You’re not mad?”
“Not at all,” he says, shaking his head. “I understand why you’d want to keep that to yourself at first. You barely know me.”
Oh. Oh, wow. This is the very first time you’ve met a man who isn’t personally offended by your apprehension, and you’re starting to wonder if this one in particular is just a living fever dream, something you conjured up half asleep and yearning, something angelic. Something too good for you.
“I want to know you,” you utter.
“Okay. Fresh start.” He (gently, so, so gently) slaps his hands onto the table for emphasis. “Pretend Red Velvet didn’t even happen. Where do you work?”
“Cityscape,” you say, “at the Hilton in Union Square. Honest this time.”
“I believe you,” he nods, smiling. “Is that a bar?”
You nod with him. “I work opening shifts with my friend Sheri. She’s the one who told me about Red Velvet.”
“So, what you said about the sexual harassment must’ve been true.”
You almost choke on your mouthful of OJ. “Yeah. That part was true.”
While the two of you wait for your orders Luigi asks you some basic questions: how old you are, where you’re from, if you’re in school, what major, etc etc. You spend some time talking about college; you learn that Luigi is a much more impressive man than you would’ve guessed at first glance, a man with not one, but two degrees, each in computer engineering—turns out your intuition is pretty good! There’s also a background in some ultra nerd frat. That you wouldn’t have guessed. He’s halfway through a story about the night of his hazing when the hostess brings your plates out, sets them down on the table, aromatic and steaming.
You were already feeling less on edge—but the scrambled eggs certainly help.
“So…” Luigi starts after a bite of toast. “Do you want to get down to the nitty gritty?”
You blink. “You mean money stuff?”
“Yeah,” he chuckles. “Money stuff.”
Another bite. A sip of tea. Then:
“I like to start with paying per meet,” he says. “I figured I’d base your pay off of how much you’re needing, though. Do you have an idea of what that might be?”
“Hmm,” you hum, forking some eggs into your mouth. “Let’s see. Rent is $3,300, on top of utilities. My aid covers most of my bills for school, so that’s not a problem right now. I just need to keep a roof over my head.”
“How much are you making a month?” he asks.
“Uhh…” You rack your brain. How much do you make? “About $2,000ish?”
“And how often would you be able to meet me?”
You grin. “I can be all yours on the weekends.”
Luigi looks like he’s crunching some numbers in his head. You decide to crunch on a pancake while he works that out.
“What if we did $1,000 to meet each weekend?”
Jesus. Christ.
“$1,000?” you repeat.
“Yeah. $1,000.”
You consider it. If you’re meeting with him every weekend, for $1,000 each time…That’s $4,000 in an average month. On top of your regular salary. Much more than you typically make. More than your rent costs. More than living costs at your current rate, maybe, probably. It’s a good deal. It’s a damn good deal.
“That’s—” you stutter. “That’s a lot.”
He smiles, softly. “For you it is.”
Meaning…It’s not for him?
“Do you like the sound of that?” he asks.
Well, yeah. It’s money. Money always sounds good. But you can’t shake the feeling:
“Are you sure that’s…like…okay? With you?”
“I think it’s fair,” he says, nodding. “If you’re only making $2,000 a month, $1,000 each weekend should be enough to keep you on your feet.”
Not really what you were asking.
“But…” he continues.
But?
“We can wean off of that, eventually.”
Wean off. Like you’re a kitten on wet food.
“What do you mean?” you ask.
He takes a bite of his toast, then speaks:
“After a while, if you still like how this is going, we can start you on an allowance.” Luigi pops a berry into his mouth, leans back in his chair. “I’m thinking $4,000 a month, give or take. We can adjust that if you need.”
Oh? Oh. Oh, okay.
$4,000 a month. To fuck and go on dates with the sexiest thing on two legs you’ve ever looked at. To sacrifice (a word that is doing some serious heavy lifting) your weekends for dick and some good food. To be able to take care of yourself, for once—and not just that, but to have all the fancy things you dreamed of having as a girl: clothes, jewelry, books, shoes, cosmetics, stuff, just stuff to have. The kind of consumption only a lucky few are entitled to enjoy. And there are future implications, too: eventually, once you graduate, you’ll have some loans to pay off, perhaps another degree to pursue. A new car to drive. Your very own home to live in.
$4,000 a month. $1,000 per meet.
“I’m in,” you nod.
Luigi raises his eyebrows, smiles slightly. “You’re in?”
“Yeah. I like what you’re laying out.”
His smile is wider now, dimples defined in the creases of his face. “Okay. That’s all I want to hear.”
You shovel some eggs into your mouth and watch, completely unsubtle, as he adjusts his shirt on his shoulders, the veins lining his arms flexing.
Can’t you get to the sugar part now? You don’t even need a bed. You could find some space in your car, certainly.
“So,” he pipes up, “I think next we should lay down some ground rules.”
“Rules?” you iterate.
“Nothing crazy,” he assures you.
“Like…Boundaries.”
“Exactly!” With that Luigi finishes the last of his avocado toast. “I only have four.”
“Hit me,” you tell him.
He claps his hands together over his plate for effect.
“Okay. First off: be open with me. If you want something, ask for it. If you need something, tell me. Unfortunately, I can’t read your mind, so I appreciate bluntness.”
Bluntness. You can do that. Tending bar throughout your college years has taught you strength in that regard. Nodding, you down the rest of your OJ.
“I also need you to never be afraid of saying ‘no’ to me,” he says next. “Again, not a mind reader. Please let me know if you’re uncomfortable or unsatisfied or anything like that. This isn’t just for me—I would never want you to feel obligated to do something you don’t want to do anymore.”
“Sure,” you agree. “That’s easy for me.”
“Good.” He smiles warmly.
Third: “This can end any time you want. No questions asked. That goes for me, too, but I mean it mostly for you.”
What if you don’t want it to end?
“Okay,” you nod. “Any time?”
“Any time.”
You just hope he doesn’t change his mind about this whole thing.
“That being said, though…” he continues.
Oh?
Luigi extends his pointer finger outward as he continues. “I only ask that you be exclusive to me.”
Ah. This must be his fourth rule.
“Exclusive?”
He nods. “No dates, no one-night stands, no boyfriends or girlfriends. I want to be the sole provider in your life.”
So he’s a possessive type, too. You suppose it makes sense. Men don’t like to share their toys.
“Well,” you perk up, “am I going to be disappointed?”
The smug motherfucker smirks. “I don’t like to overstate my abilities, but I think you’ll be plenty satisfied.”
Plenty satisfied. You realize now that you don’t really need to fuck him to feel that way.
He adds: “I’m an earnest lover.”
Getting laid earnestly, every weekend, for $1,000. All to earn a whopping $4,000 a month, if he likes you enough.
You’ve done worse for less—and none of it involved a sexy Italian.
“I’ll need some proof,” you say, “but I think I’m down for that.”
“I’d be happy to prove it to you this weekend.”
Well, that was fast.
You quirk a brow. “Yeah?”
And then he leans in close to you, speaking barely above a whisper: “If you can be good, that is.”
Oh. Oh.
He’s doing this. He’s doing this at noon on a Saturday, in public. At brunch.
You graze your foot over his from under the table, gliding up, inching into his pant leg. Teasing. “If I’m good, what’s in store for me?”
Luigi smirks as the waitress makes her way toward your seat with the check—for him to pay, of course. “I’ll text you the details. Sound good to you?”
You smile back. “Yeah. Sounds good.”
He decides to walk you to your car, standing close, but not too close for comfort. There is an easy space between the two of you as you make your way to the parking lot on Sanchez Street, right behind the Wooden Spoon.
“I didn’t get to ask,” he perks up. “Do you have any rules?”
You certainly didn’t prepare any.
“Umm…” you trail off, giggling. “I didn’t make a list or anything.”
“You don’t need a list,” he says, smiling back at you. “Are there any boundaries you want to set?”
There are some obvious, more sugar related things you want cemented: condoms every date, no reverse cowgirl, probably no nudes, for the time being. But right now you’re just happy to be seen beside such a handsome man. All of the “nitty gritty”, in his words, can wait until later.
“I can’t think of anything,” you answer. “Just that I want respect and…Well, compensation.”
Luigi winks. “You’ll get that. Promise.”
You reach your car and pause, turn on your heels to face him.
His hands are in his pockets, curls rustling in the early spring wind. “So…”
“So?”
“This weekend, right?” he asks. “I’ll hit you up, probably Friday.”
“Okay,” you agree. “This weekend.”
Then, he asks: “Do you have any rules against kissing?”
You grin and blush like a little girl. “Nope. Definitely not.”
So he steps close, lingering just slightly as his hands meet your hips—and then he kisses you, sweetly and smoothly. You pull him ever closer to you by the chain on his neck and sigh against his mouth. He tastes like Earl Grey.
When he pulls away he flashes you a warm smile.
“I think I’m gonna have to build a time machine,” he says, “so I can skip ahead to this weekend.”
You laugh. “Good luck with that.”
Luigi doesn’t get that time machine built, but the weekend comes faster than you expect.
The first text you receive on Friday is quite surprising:
Luigi : Can I get ur address so my driver knows where to pick you up?
Driver? He’s sending a fucking chauffeur for you?
The next two texts he sends you once he has what he needs are straightforward:
Luigi : OK She’ll be there like 8:30 so be ready for her
Also we’ll be in a hotel after so maybe bring anything else you’ll need for tn
At that you put together a quick overnight bag: a change of comfy clothes and an outfit for the day after, toothbrush and toothpaste, comb, a pack of wet wipes, some hair ties. Some courage you definitely don’t have—not right now, at least.
You’re nervous.
But you’re not going to think about that, because you’ve got a date to get ready for. You’ve got a dress to put on—the very dress you met him in—makeup to do and dinner to eat…And, of course, dick to take. Luigi didn’t really give you pointers on how to look, so you pick your accessories carefully, settling for a plain silver necklace and some studs to match. Your shoes are simple: black heels, with a glossy finish that you’ve managed to not scuff up somehow.
You glance at the clock on your nightstand. 8:19. When he said 8:30, did he mean on the dot? Doesn’t matter—every second counts. You feed Butters and fill his water bowl; take a shot of Grey Goose for encouragement; unpack your overnight bag to brush your teeth twice, then pack it again. If you were a smoker you’d need a cig right about now.
And then, at 8:27, your phone buzzes:
Luigi : She’s there
Grey Mitsubishi
No backing out now.
Sure enough, a grey Mitsubishi Lancer sits parked on Cyril Magnin Street just outside your window. With your bag slung over your shoulder you make your way down to the lobby, heart pounding behind your ribcage.
The driver of this Lancer, as you soon find out, is…
“Cheyenne,” she says, extending a hand to you. Her fingers are decorated with rings of all shapes and colors, including a few with gemstones cemented in their center. She is cold to the touch, but her smile is inviting, dark, black-lined eyes staring into every layer of your aura.
As she turns the key in the ignition, you clear your throat.
“How do you know Luigi?” you ask.
At that moment, “Dance, Dance” by Fall Out Boy blasts from her speakers at 75% volume. You immediately wince at the loud assault to your eardrums.
“Shit, shit! Sorry! I’m so sorry!”
Her fingers are fumbling with the dial instantly. “Bad habit, I know, I’m so sorry—”
You laugh, heart still pounding. “I’m fine. Just startled me. I like your taste.”
Cheyenne begins to pull off onto the street with an uncertain smile.
“So, how do you know Luigi?” you try again.
“Oh, college,” she says. “We used to shoot the shit in Calculus II.”
“Was he any good?” you ask. “At calculus?”
“Luigi is good at just about everything,” Cheyenne says. “Well, except talking to girls. I’m still not sure how he bagged you.”
You snort. “He seemed like he knew what he was doing.”
“Trust me, he didn’t.” You pass by the Panda Express that saves you from cooking dinner most nights as Cheyenne makes her way towards…Wherever you’re going. “He called me and crashed out over the phone the night he met you. He cried because, and I quote, ‘she’s so fine it makes me sick to my stomach.’ I think he was drunk.”
The image of that is quite precious, indeed. You giggle. “That’s sweet.”
“Sweet as pie,” she agrees. “He’s got integrity. Very driven. I’m not just saying it. I’ve seen that dude help blackout drunk girls to their dorms because some guys were creeping on them.”
He certainly doesn’t fit your usual stereotype of “privileged white frat rat from the suburbs”, doesn’t give off a fuckboy vibe that you’ve been able to pick up on. No cocky posturing. No fake interest. Luigi is different. Laid back. Responsible. Tender hearted.
“And,” Cheyenne adds, “he was my wingman for a good while.”
“Wingman?”
“He helped me sneak into parties so I could get with sorority girls,” she clarifies. “I wouldn’t have met my girlfriend if it weren’t for him.”
How gallant. Luigi Mangione: Friend to Lesbians. “Ah. I see.”
Now you can see why Cheyenne seems to be so comfortable with Luigi; their bond is clearly interwoven with the safety he’s provided her throughout their friendship, likely a stark contrast to her Ivy League atmosphere. He’s probably the only male friend she’s ever had that’s never pitched the “I like someone and you know her very well” conversation—you’re still waiting to meet that unicorn.
“What do you do?” Cheyenne asks.
You assume she means job-wise. “I bartend at Cityscape, but I’m in school full-time.”
“Oh, nice!” she says, nodding. “Where at?”
As she turns onto Fifth Street, you tell her—your university, your major, how your classes are going, all the rage around campus. Cheyenne listens intently, drumming her painted nails against the steering wheel in time with the radio. By the time you’re finished complaining about the difficulties of your required second language credit, the two of you are making your way down Harrison.
“What about you?” you ask. “You look like you do something really badass. Like archery, or witchcraft.”
“I wish!” she laughs. “I’m a marine biologist. Right now I’m at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.”
“Oh, nice! You live down there?”
Cheyenne scratches her neck. “Sort of. I’m a bit of a couch hopper. Rent is brutal in Cali, so I jump between my friends’ places.”
You shrug in understanding. “Totally get it. I almost ended up on a boat with some of my dorm mates before I found my place.”
She snorts at that. Cute. You like Luigi’s friend.
The rest of the ride goes smoothly; Cheyenne’s Lancer speeds down the 280 as you overlook San Francisco, its heaving waters and cloudy skies. Occasionally she asks if you’d like to pick a song, but you decide you’re quite alright with her aux control, so you decline and leave it up to her. When she makes a sharp turn onto 25th Street, you start to understand where this might be going—perhaps Luigi knows a nice place right by the Bay.
Your destination is either what looks to be an apartment complex or a storied building squished next to it. Cheyenne directs you to the spot on the left, the taller of the two.
“He should be waiting for you up at the very top,” she explains before you get out of the car. “There’s an elevator to your right once you walk in. If you press 13 it should take you to the roof.”
The roof? Okay. This is weird.
You thank Cheyenne and carefully make your way inside, surveying the lobby. You realize now that this is somewhat of an office space, with several businesses leasing a spot in the building; you find a directory hanging on the wall by the elevator Cheyenne mentioned. On the thirteenth floor is something called “Ive’s”, and it is indeed at the very top. You step inside the elevator and observe the clock built in above the rows of buttons; its face reads 8:01. Nobody set this one back for Daylight Savings.
The building must be old, what with how the elevator rattles as it ascends to the thirteenth floor, and you thoroughly do not expect what’s waiting in front of you: the doors open to a beautiful rooftop terrace, with moody lights strung over tables and a perfect overlook of the Bay as a backdrop. And waiting by the bar is Luigi, hands clasped in front of his pelvis, standing tall and clearly alert. His eyes widen when he spots you emerging from the elevator.
“You made it!” he exclaims. “I was worried Cheyenne might confuse you.”
“Nah, I got here fine,” you say, smiling. “It’s good to see you.”
He leans in for a hug that you gladly return, whispering into your ear, “that it is.”
Luigi’s embrace is the warmest you’ve ever felt. It’s like walking into a heated pool; your body recalibrates in response to his touch, thoroughly lit alive by the mere presence of this man and his gentle ways. He holds you still for quite a while, maybe a minute, and when he pulls back his smile is bright and dimpled, only sweetened by his blush. You take the chance to look over his suit; he dons a paisley-print purple tie and a jacket with blue suede lining the inside. Prim with just a hint of fun. You would not have expected paisley.
“Shall we?” he says, offering a hand.
With your fingers interlaced, he leads you to a table at the far edge of the rooftop, and you start to realize now that, as a matter of fact, none of these tables are occupied—nor are they set, aside from the one he’s currently guiding you toward. There isn’t a single soul at Ive’s besides you and Luigi.
“What is this place?” you ask.
He grins. “It’s called Ive’s, if that’s what you’re asking, but if you want to know what’s up…”
At that Luigi moves to pull out your chair for you. “I’m tight with the owner,” he continues as you take your seat. “I got him to clear out the place just for tonight, so we could have somewhere all to ourselves.”
He’s nothing if not a pro at blowing you away. Your guilt at even accepting his generosity flows at full force, stunning you where you sit as Luigi settles down opposite you.
“You did all of this for me?” you ask.
He shrugs flippantly, still smiling. “Ive owed me a favor.”
From…somewhere, your host for the night emerges, holding two menus and cheesing at the both of you from under a thick handlebar mustache. The first order of business:
“What are you folks drinking tonight?”
The cocktail menu excites you—lots of vodka and gin, and there’s an entire section dedicated to rosé—but after some deliberation with the waiter, you decide on a Rooftop Mojito as a fitting welcome to your date. Luigi is not a complicated drinker, because he orders the same exact thing he ordered at Red Velvet: banana daiquiri with a slice of lime. The host prances off and leaves the two of you alone.
“Sooo,” you perk up, “you said you do data stuff for TrueCar, right?”
He winces. “If we’re going to talk about me, let’s not make it about my job. I promise it’s really boring. Last thing I want to do is make this date a snoozefest.”
You scoff. “I don’t think you could manage that.”
“What, boring you? I’ll bet I could.”
With a shake of your head, you say, “not when you look like you were blessed by Venus at birth.”
Luigi chuckles at that, nose flushing rosy pink. “Well, that’s flattering. I think you’re a more apt example of that description, though.”
“Just accept the compliment,” you chide playfully. “What if I have other questions that aren’t about your job?”
“Hit me.”
Well, shit. Maybe you should’ve made a list.
“How old are you?” you settle on eventually. Not a bad inquiry, you think. He’s quite young for a sugar daddy.
“Twenty six,” he answers. “Twenty seven in May.”
A Taurus. You consider it: loyal. Stubborn. Diligent. Possessive. Truly a toss-up—any of these qualities could spell both good and bad news for you. One thing you know for sure is that Luigi’s greatest strength is one quite common for Taurus men—he is entirely irresistible.
“And you’re from San Francisco, right?” you ask.
He shakes his head. “Maryland. Baltimore.”
He really looks more Italian than anything.
“County,” he adds. “Not the city.”
There’s a Baltimore county?
“I see,” you nod. “I’m assuming Baltimore-the-county has a much different environment than Baltimore-the-city.”
“Very different,” he confirms. “What about you? Are you from San Francisco?”
“Nope,” you answer. “I moved here for college.”
That sparks a quick conversation about your home state and whether or not Luigi’s visited. As you wrap up a memorable story about the corner store you frequented in your childhood, your waiter returns to the table with your drinks, quickly retrieving his notepad and pen from his pocket.
If cocktails were hard, the food is even harder to choose from. The entire list of appetizers sounds pretty good to you, and you could go for at least three of the sandwiches—but alas, you narrow down your options to the tomato soup with a grilled cheese and a Caesar salad on the side. Meat-Free Luigi goes with the veggie poke bowl and some French onion dip with house-made chips, even though he looks like he could absolutely kill some chicken wings. Whatever.
Sipping from your mojito, you ask, “so, no TrueCar talk—what do you do outside of that?”
“A lot of reading,” he says. You could’ve guessed that. “And I like to stay active.”
Yeah, no shit. With shoulders like that?
Luigi likes Bertrand Russell and going on hikes and he can solve a Rubik’s cube in under a minute, which isn’t hard to imagine, what with those long, dexterous fingers. He wants to see every continent on the planet at least once. You ask him if he likes traveling solo or with friends and he tells you he makes do with both. His face lights up like never before as he describes a drunk night of catching crabs in Cabo San Lucas. You ask him to tell you his favorite destination he’s ever been to, and he says, “right here, with you.”
He’s perfect. There is truly no better word for it.
As the two of you wait for the food to come you jump from topic to topic: favorite movies, the best music for a long drive, politics, least favorite movies. The backdrop of the San Francisco Bay mellows the mood, with the waves chopping and seagulls wailing in the far distance, the moonlight shining bright against the water. You both down your drinks within twenty minutes and you eventually move on to the basket of bread rolls at the center of the table, paying no mind to the passage of time; it’s simply you and him by the Bay, with a romantic scene and some good liquor to keep you busy as the cooks work their magic.
“What made you want to spend your money on this?” you ask over a nibble of bread.
He tilts his head quizzically. “Dinner with you?”
Swallowing, you clarify, “the sugar thing.”
Apparently Luigi needs a moment to ponder that one. He rests his chin on his fists and looks up to the darkened sky as if to signify to you that he’s thinking.
“Sometimes I get in my head about not doing something more productive with my money,” he says. “There isn’t enough for people who need more. The best I can do is pitch in when the opportunity presents itself.”
“So…” You chew another piece of buttery bread roll. “It’s like charity.”
He grimaces. “That just makes it sound twisted.”
“I’m fucking with you,” you say, smiling.
You feel his foot nudge yours under the table.
“It’s rude to fuck with your date,” he quips, smiling bashfully.
“Is it?” you retort. “What are our plans for tonight, then?”
With that he leans forward, extends one of those long arms across the table and grabs your chin, gentle but firm. Looks into your eyes.
“Don’t make me hard at dinner,” he murmurs lowly. “That’s rude.”
Wow. Wow. This man is truly the peak of duplexity.
As Luigi settles back into his chair, leaving you blushing and achy between your thighs, the host and his magnificent mustache return with your food.
And oh, man. Luigi told you that Ive’s is a family owned restaurant, one that truly values its customers—and the mouth-watering smell only serves to prove that. Rickety elevator and somewhat hidden location be damned; Ive’s is a fucking Ritz-Carlton compared to what any fine dining establishment could ever provide. The portions are hearty and, with how long they took to prepare, your chefs of the night have clearly gone out of their way to make the best possible dish for you and your date. You feel like Gordon Ramsey with your mental commentary: the grilled cheese is stunning, with sharp cheddar and fuckin’ muenster—the most underrated cheese, in your book—stacked between crispy, pillowy artisan bread, toasted to perfection. And dunked in the tomato soup? A glorious pair. You even taste hints of cream and basil among the natural sweetness. It’s rich, flavorful, and, most importantly, delicious.
Halfway through your Caesar salad, Luigi poses a question for you:
“What about you?”
You pause, mull over it through a bite of lettuce and croutons. “What about me?”
“What brought you here? With me?” he elaborates.
Desperation? Envy? Loneliness? It could be all three, if you’re being completely honest with yourself. The truest answer, though, is quite simple:
“I didn’t have much growing up,” you start. “I’ve always been hand-in-hand with the poverty line, pretty much since the day I was born, and it’s only through scholarships and awards I worked my ass off for that I’m able to go to school in the city.”
You remember: nights spent breaking yourself apart for a steady GPA and perfect attendance, typing away and rubbing at the tension held under your pulsing temples. College in America is a bit like gambling—place your bet, and if you play your cards just right, it’s easy to get lucky. The problem is that some people are dealt a shit hand, and nobody is giving away their cards for free.
“I never got gifted with generational wealth or blessings from my bougie ancestors,” you continue, tossing your salad back-and-forth with your fork. “I never got the chance to do things I dreamed of doing as a girl. My parents struggled for as long as I can remember—and I guess, after a while, you get pretty tired of it. You start to want safer ground to land your feet on.”
Luigi nods, listening closely.
“I guess it just felt like the best option, the most doable,” you say. “I realized once I made it to college that I couldn’t take care of myself on my own. And I felt like, after all I’d done to even afford my tuition, I could really use not just the extra help, but…Everything else that comes with it. Stability. Comfort. You know?”
He smiles softly. “Everyone deserves nice things.”
A seagull whines in the distant Bay. The air smells like sea salt and sweet, sweet magnetism.
You twist the handle of your fork uncertainly. “Do you think I deserve it?”
“You deserve someone who wants to put in the work,” he answers, cupping his warm hands over yours.
“Have I found him?” you ask.
Leaning forward, he plants a kiss on the back of your hand. “I’d say so.”
Grinning, you suggest, “I think we should get the bill.”
Luigi raises a brow playfully. “No dessert?”
You shake your head. “I don’t need it. Not tonight.”
Cheyenne and her Lancer await outside of Ive’s, still carrying your bag in the backseat. When you and Luigi approach, you can hear My Chemical Romance blasting even through her rolled-up windows. She startles when she first sees the both of you, then settles and smiles shyly, tinkering with the volume dial for what must be the gazillionth time tonight.
“Hey, kids,” she greets as you file into her car. “How was dinner?”
“I really wish you wouldn’t make me feel like the troubled son of a middle-aged mother going through a divorce,” Luigi jokes with a sigh, buckling his seatbelt. He turns to you and winks.
Cheyenne whips around, eyes wide and brows furrowed. “Divorced? Middle-aged? Fuuuuuck you. We’re the same age, dick.”
“Physically,” Luigi says.
“If you didn’t have a lady with you I’d make you walk,” she barks, pulling back the gearshift. “You didn’t switch hotels on me, right?”
“Nope,” he answers, popping the p.
The hotel in question is just a few miles past Mission Bay, exactly a twelve minute drive from Ive’s. The Palace is an elegant, almost industrial building smashed between parking garages that, from the looks of the entrance, seems to be hiding a ravishing interior. Luigi opens your door for you and helps you out of the car, hand gently grasping yours.
He offers a two finger salute with his free hand, standing tall. “Thanks, Chey. I really appreciate it.”
Cheyenne mirrors him. “Don’t mention it. Nice meeting you,” she says, gesturing toward where you stand next to Luigi.
You nod, smiling brightly and waving goodbye. “Thanks again!”
Luigi waits and watches to make sure that Cheyenne pulls off safely before he’s guiding you to the massive front doors of The Palace, past the lobby, through the high-ceiling hallways toward the elevator. It’s like something from a Wes Anderson film. When the fanciest you’ve seen is your local Hampton Inn, something like this is truly breathtaking. Your heels click against the marble of the floor as you walk with Luigi, stunned by each new chandelier you count on the ceiling. The two of you pass patrons sat in the common area, sipping from glasses of champagne or mugs of coffee and chatting amongst themselves—you imagine about fucking over the poor and hungry. What else do the horrifically rich discuss?
But god, they have taste.
“This place is gorgeous,” you murmur to him as the two of you wait for the elevator to reach the ground floor. “Have you stayed here before?”
“Just once,” he says, still holding your hand. “You like it?”
“I do.”
He smirks. Squeezes your fingers lightly. “You haven’t even seen our room yet.”
And, much to your awe, he was right—it’s not just a room, it’s a suite. Luigi stands by and watches with subtle pride as you tour your surroundings: king bed, beautiful view of outside The Palace, separate lounge area with a variety of seating options, and a bathroom fit for a Victoria’s Secret model. There are even two white bathrobes hanging on the wall opposite the gigantic mirror. They gave you robes! You want to fall to your knees and cry with joy. You emerge from the bathroom and, to Luigi’s surprise, immediately tackle him in a hug, nearly tripping over your own feet.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” you chime, swaying him back-and-forth. “I’m so happy I could die.”
“Don’t die,” he chuckles, smoothing his hand over your lower back. “I’m happy you’re happy.”
You squeal with joy when he presses a sloppy kiss to your cheek and slowly lets you go.
“Oh,” he continues, reaching up to swipe something from the top of the dresser you’re stood next to. “And this is for you.”
Luigi hands you a plain white envelope, scrawled with your name. Cute. You can only imagine what must be inside. Carefully, you tear open the seal and pull out…
A Hallmark card. In curly font, the front reads, “If EVERYBODY had a NIECE as terrific as YOU, it wouldn’t be any BIG DEAL.” When you open it, the inside loudly remarks, “BUT THEY DON’T, SO IT IS! Hope your birthday is as terrific as YOU!”
The money is inside. Obviously.
You try not to shriek with laughter.
“I felt like it would be rude to just give you an envelope with money, but I didn’t really know what to do with the card…?” he interjects, as if he’s trying to defend himself.
“The card is a nice touch,” you agree, failing to bite back your smile. “Are we roleplaying or something?”
He cringes in anguish. “Jesus. I’m an uncle already. I don’t need to roleplay.”
As you giggle, your thumb brushes over the cash.
“You can count it, if you want,” he adds.
It feels a little callous, but you do, since he seems unbothered. There’s a $100 bill, then another, then another—ten in total. $1,000. In cash. All yours. And it’s real.
This is real. Really happening. Real money, real man, real room. Suite. Goddamn.
“Okay,” you breathe, nodding. The bills are spread out in your hands, a sight you’d only ever dreamed of before. “Okay.”
Carefully, you stuff the cash back into the card neatly, tucking it back inside of the envelope to put in your bag, which you leave next to Luigi’s by the dresser.
“All good?” he asks.
You smirk coyly. “All good.”
“Do you mind if I kiss you now?”
You have to swallow your giggle—Luigi is almost polite to a fault, so much so that it feels silly to maintain it when he’s about to fuck you (and when he’s paying you for it, no less). So you decide to answer his question directly, physically, threading your fingers in his curls and bringing your lips to his, slow and smooth. He grunts in surprise but is quick to return the kiss; his hands caress your upper back, thumb toying at the zipper of your dress and then sliding lower, gripping your hips. The way his mouth moves against yours is leisurely but intentioned, deliberate, confident. He is certainly not new to this.
“Luigi,” you breathe against his lips, and you try to steal another kiss, but he pulls away.
He tuts, a little tsk tsk. “Is that what you call me?”
Oh. Oh. Right. He never laid his cards out on the table that clearly, but you suppose it makes sense for this to be part of your arrangement.
“Sorry, Daddy,” you murmur, face burning.
You’re certainly not mad about it. You could get used to this.
“That’s better,” Luigi whispers. “That’s much better.”
He kisses you again, harder this time. Now his hands are on your ass, alternating between groping you with greed and gliding back up to your hips; when his tongue grazes yours you let your mouth fall open for him, head lolling, and he brings up one hand to tangle his fingers in your hair and keep your lips connected to his. Having your hands in his curls after countless nights of fantasizing feels almost surreal—this whole situation just feels like the porno of your dreams playing out in front of you, right down to the exquisite location, the gorgeous man, and the events leading up to now. Having sex with other guys your age has never felt like this before.
When your calves hit the small sofa in front of the bed you decide to sit down, pulling Luigi closer to you by his paisley tie so as to not lose his kisses. He leans over you, big hands sliding up your thighs, past the hem of your dress, feeling the warmth of the flesh on your hips beneath his palms—you realize then that there are quite a few pillows in your way, and so you push them off. Luigi huffs a laugh.
His mouth moves down, over your throat, mesmerizing you effortlessly. And his hands move up, slowly but surely, tracing the outline of your body in your dress, admiring the way the green satin hugs your curves; this particular shade makes your skin tone shine, he thinks.
“I do really love this dress,” he says into your cleavage, pressing absentminded kisses here and there. “Looks so pretty on you.”
Further he goes. Cupping your breasts, feeling around. Gliding north, to your back. A palm drifts up. Fingers dance over your zipper.
“Can I take it off?” he asks, soft against your ear.
You nod. His face sinks in disapproval.
Seizing your chin between his thumb and fingers, he chides, “answer me when I ask you a question.”
“Yes, yes,” you insist. “Yes, Daddy, I’m sorry.”
Luigi grins. “That’s okay, sweet girl,” he whispers, kissing your jaw. “You’ll get the hang of it.”
His lithe fingers begin to work your zipper down, down, down, the sound of it echoing in your ears, until you can feel silver resting against your coccyx. Then he helps you slip each strap off of your shoulders, peeling the dress down your torso and your hips, and you laugh lightly when he guides you backward to tug it down your legs. With your heels still on the movement is a bit clunky, but Luigi pays the hiccups no mind. Cheyenne was quite serious about him being driven.
You’re wearing a plain pink set—not very extravagant, but still the most elegant you own. There are frilly edges and a little bow on the front of the panties, girlish and angelic details. You hope he won’t be disappointed in your lack of fancy lingerie. Perhaps some of the cash he’s paid you could go towards something nicer, more intricate—an investment for him, a treat for you.
His hands scan over your body, admiring, beholding.
“What a pretty sight,” he purrs, face flaunting a Cheshire Cat-esque smile. “Did you wear this just for me?”
You shrug, grinning, flushing madly. “It’s the best I’ve got.”
“It’s perfect,” Luigi says. “Absolutely perfect. You look radiant.”
“Thank you, Daddy,” you mutter.
And then he steps back, gets onto his feet, hands moving upward.
“Why don’t you take that off for me?” he asks. Then there’s that killer smile. “Not that I don’t love it on you. Just makes my job a bit easier.”
You grin.
As he starts to undo his tie you reach behind yourself to open the clasp of your bra, heart pounding as your chest is slowly revealed to him. Luigi is learning that you follow orders well. You move with leisure so as to even the playing field; by the time he’s wearing only his slacks, belt, and black crew socks, you’re working your panties down your thighs, arching your curves every which way to put on a show for him. You sigh at the sound of metal clinking, fabric shuffling.
When your hands reach for the strap of your left heel, he stops you:
“Leave those on,” Luigi commands.
You smirk, enlightened. “You got a thing for girls in high heels?”
“I’ve got a thing for you, pretty lady.”
As he pulls his trousers down to reveal tight black briefs and an impressive imprint he steps closer. You look up toward him expectantly, batting your eyelashes.
“You know what to do, don’t you?” he coos, stroking your hair.
Normally you’re not the biggest fan of this—but you feel graced by god himself to have been given this specific opportunity. So you peel down the edges of his boxers until his cock is springing free, balls heavy and tip leaking, and Luigi blesses you with a delicious groan when you wrap a hand around his shaft and begin to pump him in your tight fist. You almost need both your hands just to stroke him off. It’s ridiculous. He sucks in a breath above you, sharp and rushed, eyes fluttering shut and lips pressed together.
And then you stick out your tongue and lick a slow stripe all the way up the length of his cock, ending with a pronunciated gesture against his frenulum. Luigi balls your hair into a fist; the defined muscles of his stomach are pulled taut, and you glide a hand up through the thick thatch of hair on his pelvis, up further, over his faint happy trail, and when you feel his belly flexing under your palm you moan against him. Your mouth comes to wrap around the first few inches of him, lips sucked in and cheeks hollowed. Two big, warm hands cup your face.
“My god, you’re beautiful,” Luigi breathes. His thumb traces the outline of your cheekbone, tucking stray hair behind your ear. “Has anyone ever told you how good you look with your mouth full?”
You moan around his cock, pull off of him momentarily to answer: “Only you.”
“Could be a pornstar with that fuckin’ body,” he groans—his hands apply the slightest pressure to your head as you take him again. “Fuck, you’d have ‘em lined up for miles, just waiting for a chance.”
His dick begins to press into your throat and you accept him happily. As you set the pace, bobbing your head up and down, Luigi angles his hips forward, and you subdue your gag reflex by digging your fingernails into his thighs.
He compresses his lips again, draws in a deep breath when you take him to the hilt. “But you’re smarter than that, aren’t you?”
The feminist in you wants to lecture him about the complexities of women in sex work, but you figure that’d be a bit of a turn off. And besides, when you tongue at his balls with his cock still lodged down your throat he makes a heavenly sound, something straight out of your wet dreams, something deep and rocky but still so vulnerable. You love it. You need more of that yesterday.
Luigi swears under his breath as you pull off of him, switching to licking around the fat head of his cock and stroking the length untouched by your tongue. The pre beading at his slit tastes sweet, sort of pungent, but not at all unpleasant—you assume you’ve got his diet to thank for that. He groans and shivers and goosebumps rise on his tan skin, prickling underneath your palms. You wrap your lips around the tip of his length, forming a tight suction—as you suck him your hand continues a steady back-and-forth over his dick, your spit creating an effortless glide.
And then you start twisting, as gently as possible, and every bone in his body melts inside of him.
“Oh, fuck,” he grunts, head thrown back. You can see sweat glistening on the column of his throat. “That’s a good girl. That’s a good fucking girl.”
You try to replicate the same feeling on his cockhead with your hand as you move to his balls, sucking each into your mouth, swirling your tongue, all while your beaming eyes stare up at him.
“Such a princess,” he murmurs. “Who taught you how to suck dick like this?”
You flash him a toothy grin. “You jealous?”
He moans loud when you guide your flat, wet tongue over his tip again, paying extra attention to the underside of his cock, the thin vein stretching down the length of it. Your fist continues its ministrations on his shaft all the while; stroking, twisting, squeezing, much to the delight of Luigi. As you lick your mouth moves lower, taking inch by inch, tongue still swirling to the best of your abilities—and even when it fails to circle his girth you sweep it side-to-side against his dick, your jaw slowly accepting the intrusion.
With his cock in your throat again you repeat the swaying of your head, bobbing slowly at first and picking up the pace as his sounds intensify. You hope to god that the walls of The Palace aren’t remarkably thin—the wet noises of your mouth moving are ringing loud in your ears, only bested by Luigi’s groans and whines above you. His hips start to meet your movements, thrusting up just slightly, and when you accidentally gag on his dick he moans loud. He fists your hair and growls, your nose buried in his bush, coconut and sandalwood filling your senses.
“Oh, Christ, yes,” he mumbles. “All of it, baby, take all of it…”
You drag your lips up his length and bring your hand back to work, tugging and twisting like before as your mouth works his cockhead. Only for a moment, though, because Luigi quickly guides you further down, until his heavy dick is fully seated on your tongue, probing your throat again. Your hand finds his balls instead, squeezing softly—you can feel them drawing up in your palm.
He sighs deeply, exhilarated. “Gonna make Daddy come in this pretty little mouth, sweetheart.”
You’ve never tasted a vegetarian’s sperm before. There’s a first time for everything, truly.
With a few more pumps of your head and some added action with your tongue Luigi is gasping and coming in your mouth, hips bucking with fervor. You don’t plan on swallowing, initially, but he tastes quite nice compared to other guys you’ve had—so before you pull off of him you gulp him down without much thought, making a show of opening your mouth to display its relative emptiness.
Luigi leans down slightly to kiss you. Unexpected, considering the circumstances—re: his jizz in your mouth about five seconds ago—but you’re not complaining. And you realize then that Luigi was hiding something under his suit: he’s wearing the chain, the very same one you’ve been daydreaming about seeing against his perfect olive skin again. Somehow you hadn’t noticed it earlier. You can’t help but tug on it as his mouth moves with yours.
“How’d you know I love this?” you ask against his lips, smiling.
He pecks the corner of your mouth. Shrugs. “You were grabbing at it the first time I kissed you. You’re not very subtle.”
You run your finger along the rough edges of the necklace as you lick inside his mouth; but eventually it becomes difficult to resist his gorgeous curls, so your hands trail, scratching at his scalp and tugging the hairs at the nape of his neck.
Then he kneels. You offer a curious whine.
“It would be rude of me to not return the favor, princess,” Luigi says, spreading your thighs apart and guiding your legs over his broad shoulders.
Wow.
Long fingers brush against your cunt. He’s spreading something else, too, exploring and relishing in how reactive you are to his touch.
“Oh, my,” he murmurs. “You’re so wet. Were you having fun, baby?”
The whine that leaves you is apalling. “Yes, Daddy.”
“That’s what I like to hear.” He plants a kiss to the back of your knee, glides further, down your thigh. “You’re such a gift. I’m a lucky, lucky man.”
Two of his fingers part your lips so that all of you is exposed to him. He begins with one flat lick from hole to clit, grinding the tip of his tongue against your fluttering cunt and sweeping it side-to-side. You cry out. It’s been a long time since you found a guy this enthusiastic about eating pussy, and you’re starting to feel immensely glad that Luigi isn’t showcasing himself online—any girl could have this, and because of one chance night, you are the one that gets to indulge in his greedy mouth. Before the insecurity can come flooding back to you he sucks your clit between his lips, slowly pulling away with a resounding pop.
“Fuck,” he whispers. “You’re really spoiling me, sweetheart.”
You’re spoiling him? Yeah. Because that makes sense.
Nothing needs to make sense, though; not when he licks up the length of your pussy again, steadying your body by wrapping his other hand around your thigh, and good god, the span of his fingers nearly covers the entire width. You could probably come just from looking at that. First his tongue circles the hood of your clit, just barely avoiding where you want him the most, and then he moves to teasing you with the pointed tip of it, flicking back and forth. It’s heaven. You’ve never had a man pay this kind of attention to your satisfaction, and you love that Luigi seems to be quite avid about your enjoyment of his efforts—every so often he’ll groan with hunger into your cunt, squeezing your supple thighs.
“Oh—” you whine, hips stuttering. “Oh, fuck, Luigi…”
And then he stops. You make a sound that can only be described as a shrill grunt, raising your head to peek at him between your legs. Luigi’s brows are set straight, eyes unamused.
Oh. Right.
“Daddy,” you plead. “I’m sorry. Please don’t stop.”
His wicked smile returns, then, and he gives your thigh a careful smack. “Atta girl.”
That perfect tongue returns, sliding up through your slick and lingering at your hole, pressing in just slightly. Your cunt is open entirely to him and he can reach every crevice of you, swirling and parting your folds, curling up to collect your arousal as it seeps from you. You’re starting to think that Luigi may not even have to pay you in cash from now on—he can simply compensate with this eager mouth of his. For a moment he takes your clit between his lips and sucks hard again, creating a pulsing sensation with the suction of his mouth that has your thighs trembling and forces sounds from you that would frankly terrify you in any other context.
When he pulls away, he murmurs, “you have the most perfect pussy, baby. Could taste you all day.”
Then he’s diving back in, hardly giving you any room to breathe—it’s just a never ending barrage of all the magic that his mouth can do, his dirty talk and the skillful work of his tongue. This time around he tenses that talented appendage and slots it inside of you, withdraws, and licks up the length of your slit, then repeats the gesture a second time, and then a third—and by the fourth time the tips of his fingers are teasing your entrance, silently asking for permission to explore.
“Please,” you whine, bucking your hips.
So Luigi licks up and collects your clit in his mouth, sucking as he eases his middle finger into your cunt. He hardly gives you time to adjust before he’s curling it, working that spongy spot inside of you with precision, and you cry out, squirming under his intensive ministrations. All the while his lips squeeze your firm clit, almost massaging it, his tongue making a special appearance every so often to stroke the sides of you.
“Fuck,” you sob. “More, please, more.”
He slides a second finger inside of you. Then a third. What really makes it special is the fact that the stretch of his fingers can’t possibly compare to his dick.
By now the build-up of your orgasm has begun to peak, coiling like hot wires in your stomach; you’re squirming ceaselessly on the couch, jittering all over, your fingers buried in Luigi’s thick curls as his fingers work inside of you. His other hand snakes around your thighs and presses against your abdomen, pinning you down so as to minimize your movements. Your thighs shoot up and frame his head, locking him in.
“I’m coming,” you warn, “I’m gonna come.”
Momentarily his mouth leaves your pussy to groan, “you’re doing so good, princess. Show Daddy how you come for him.”
And when his lips return to your clit, a deep hum vibrating in his throat and through your body, you’re coming hard on his face, gripping his hair roughly and rocking your hips against his mouth. Luigi returns your satisfaction tenfold; he moans and smiles against your cunt as he guides you through your climax, whispering fluff to you that you don’t quite comprehend through the rush.
“Such a good girl, sweetheart,” he’s saying when you come to, the ceiling almost spinning before your eyes.
You lean up on your elbows and offer a dazed grin. “Thank you, Daddy.”
“Don’t mention it,” he says, meeting your lips in a deep kiss. “It’s a treasure to get my mouth on you, sweet girl. I’ve been dreaming of it.”
His tongue tastes like your cunt. You moan into his mouth as you suck on it, fisting his tight curls in your hand.
“Would you mind terribly if I fucked you now?” Luigi asks when he pulls away, still smiling sweetly.
You kiss him again. “I wouldn’t mind that at all.”
At that he stands to retrieve a condom from his wallet, dick swinging shamelessly as he moves. Christ. You’re no better than a man.
He catches you staring, notices your bottom lip trapped between your teeth. “Like what you see?”
Flushing, you giggle. “I’m sorry. It’s kinda hard not to.”
Tearing open the packet, he orders with a smile: “Turn around and bend over on the bed.”
You’re obeying before the words are even out of his mouth. You sink your knees into the soft cushion of the sofa as you lean down onto the bed in front of you, back arched. Your soft ass and your sticky pussy are in perfect view for him, and he whistles lowly as you feel him approaching from behind.
“Look at that,” he remarks, spreading you with the same hands that can solve a Rubik’s cube in under a minute. “Fucking dripping wet. And all for me.”
He drags a fingertip through your slick, which is soon replaced by the head of his cock, swiping back-and-forth against your clit. You shudder at the smooth motion of it, at the way his hands knead your asscheeks.
“So gorgeous,” Luigi says as he presses inside of you.
The stretch knocks all the wind out of your lungs, and the sound you make is intense, pained, absolutely obscene. By the time he’s sheathed every inch in your cunt you’re gripping the bedsheets and squealing, praying to no one in particular that the rooms opposite each side of yours are unoccupied.
“There we go,” he murmurs, stroking your lower back. “Let it all out, sweetheart. How does that feel?”
“It—” You cut yourself off with a groan. “It’s so big.”
“Shh,” he whispers—his hand is now combing through your hair. “I know, baby, I know. Look at you, taking it so well.”
You don’t even know how to breathe again when he pulls his hips back and slowly presses inside of you once more. And then once more. And when Luigi starts to find his rhythm all you can do is blink away your tears and fall face-forward into the bed, your pathetic sounds muffled by the sheets, and he seems to return your enthusiasm—he groans, head thrown back and eyes lidded.
“Fuck, that’s perfect,” he praises. “You can handle it, can’t you, princess?”
Weakly, you nod and offer a whimper. His hand comes down hard on your ass.
“What did I tell you about answering me?” Luigi spits, voice gruff.
“Yes, Daddy, yes,” you whine, leaning back up on your elbows. “I can take it, I can.”
He squeezes your rear. “Arch your back for me.”
So you do, easily, and he’s quick to pick up the pace, slamming into you with no regard for anything that isn’t his cock pistoning inside of your warm, slick pussy. The man is relentless, tugging at your hair and panting beautifully; he’s pounding so deep that you swear you can feel the pressure of it in your chest, and you’re so wet that you’re almost worried you’ll leave behind a mess so horrific the janitors of The Palace will need therapeutic compensation for their shift tonight.
“Oh, fuck,” you cry out, “oh, fuck…”
It’s all too much and yet you can’t not want more. You’re working your hips back-and-forth in time with his thrusts, the soft globes of your round ass meeting his pelvis with a noise that is unbearably obvious. The stretch of his cock is unforgiving. Merciless.
With a fistful of your hair, Luigi grunts, “that’s it, baby, there you go. Fuck me back.”
But you’re breaking out a sweat, lip tucked between your teeth. “I can’t—oh, fuck, please…”
“Shh,” he murmurs, tightening his grip on you. “Just rub that little clit and let me do all the work, okay?”
Your fingers swiftly find the slicked bundle of nerves between your thighs and stroke in circles, moving furiously. He’s got both hands planted firmly on your hips, thighs and arms tensing as he hunches over you, fucking into you like a madman, his dick brushing into every sweet spot deep inside of you. If you focus hard enough you can feel his silver chain swinging over your back.
Luigi makes a noise that sounds strangled and involuntary.
“Baby,” he says, “fuck, you’re tight. ‘M not gonna last much longer.”
You nod desperately, hand moving to meet his where it’s clasped over your hip. The fingers of your free hand speed up, slathering your arousal over your clit as Luigi slap-slap-slaps his hips into yours.
He wasn’t lying. It only takes a few more minutes of his vicious pounding for the both of you to come undone; you’re up first, jittering and falling flat into the bed as your toes curl and your cunt grips him like you never want to let go, and that’s all Luigi needs to meet you halfway, thrusts stuttering and slowing to a stop as you milk him. His chest is heaving and his Adam’s apple bobs as he catches his breath, his hand gently caressing your back.
“God,” he mutters as he pulls out of you. “You’re fuckin’ unbelievable.”
You’re sat up in bed, the sheets splayed over your naked body as the shower runs in the distance. By now it’s past midnight, the city only lit up by street lights and the brights of passing cars. As you watch the world pass by through the windows of your suite, you fork through a plate of chocolate mousse cake, specially made by The Palace’s chefs. The bite that fills your mouth is heavenly; it’s rich and fluffy, the icing creamy and the texture smooth. Something sweet to make up for your lack of dessert this evening.
The water turns off. Halfway through your slice of cake fresh from room service, Luigi emerges from the shower, curls wet and skin sheen with warm droplets as he tucks in the towel wrapped snugly around his waist. He smiles at you when you spot him.
“What do you think?” he asks.
You blink. “About my cake?”
He chuckles. “About tonight.”
Now you understand: he wants feedback. Wants to live up to his promises.
“I’m an earnest lover.”
Setting your cake and fork on the nightstand, you approach him—and he sighs happily when you wrap your arms around him and pull him in for a hug, your bare breasts pressed flush to his pecs.
Into his ear, you whisper: “I think you’re the very best Daddy I could ever ask for.”
Luigi smiles devilishly.
^ dividers by cafekitsune
#luigi mangione x reader#luigi mangione imagine#luigi mangione fic#luigi mangione fanfiction#flig’s work#🍷daddy luigi
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rick sanchez x (gn)!reader blurb

okay i fear i've rewatched rick and morty like five times now and I've gotten a little too into rick sanchez fics. sue me.
this isn't written out in a full-on story format, it's too humbling to write a fully-fledged story with proper grammar and plot development about fucking rick and morty, okay, so you get bullet point blurbs
summary: you're a family friend and space beth brings you home for the holidays. you've heard across the multiverse about the asshole known as rick sanchez, but for some reason he's... different with you?
wc: ~1.6k
i made a part two!
masterlist and taglist!
✮ you're beth's best friend from high school, a version of them anyway, and one day while out exploring, space beth stumbles upon you, and the two of you grab a drink or fourteen
✮ you and space beth go on a bunch of adventures and you end up learning a lot from her, both about the universe and tech. you partner up for a lot of missions against the federation (definitely has a bit of a rick and birdperson sort of vibe to it)
✮ anyways, she brings you home for the holidays to stay with the smiths, and everyone falls in love with you, especially domestic beth (obviously). the kids love you, and you guys spend the whole day hanging out, playing games, and sharing stories
✮ you've heard a lot about rick from beth, and honestly from a lot of people around the universe, but you get an earful once you're in the smith house. you gather upon his 'i'm god' mentality and notice it in the few times you see him around the house during the day. conclusion: rick is an asshole, just stay clear of his path. but something about him piqued your interest. after all, someone who referred to themselves as the 'smartest man in the multiverse' had to be quite the character
✮ eventually, the night turns to early morning and you're all pretty drunk, so everyone starts to part ways to bed. you start to curl up on the couch when beth speaks your name, pulling you out of your haze. she offers you rick's room with a shrug, "it isn't much more comfortable than the couch, but at least you'll have a door. plus, he'll be in the garage all night anyway"
✮ you slur out a thousand thank yous, stumbling down the hallway towards the door she was leading you to. the room wasn't much bigger than a closet and tucked against the wall seemed to be nothing more than a military cot. you smirked as you took in your surroundings, quite the palace for the smartest man alive
✮ basically, you pass out pretty instantly. while all this is going on, rick is tinkering away in the garage, trying to busy his mind. he furrows his brows as his rough hands work anxiously with the metal in front of him, and memories of earlier in the day flash through his drunken thoughts. he took another swig of his flask as he recalled when he first saw you, playing downbeat with the family. your laugh had been the most innocent sound he had heard in decades, and something about you made his chest feel weird. he immediately pulled morty away without an acknowledgment towards you, hearing beth sound a 'that's dad' as he portaled out of the room
✮ anyways, rick gets an alert that someone's entered his room and he flips to his surveillance to see beth offering you his bed, a smile plastered on your face. his lips almost curl in the same fashion. almost. instead, he lets out a belch and swigs his flask again, turning back to his work. he notes how you quickly fall asleep and he lets you be for a while, continuing whatever the hell he's up to
✮ he eventually needs to get a tool from his room and he grumbles as he makes his way into the house, not understanding why he was feeling so hesitant about waking you. he didn't let anyone in his room, let alone strangers. he hadn't even talked to you yet, what about you had him so pussywhipped?
✮ so he opens the door, seeing you asleep soundly on his bed. again, part of him almost wants to smile. what the fuck
✮ he turns the light on and stares at you. he hates people in his personal space. he should be angry. but instead, he's... curious? to have you in here? he lets out a belch, "w-what are you d -bleeuuughgghhh- doing in here," you startle upwards. your eyes go wide at the sight of him and you start to trip over your words, definitely still tipsy
✮ "oh my god, i'm so sorry! i just, beth let me crash in here and said you'd be in the garage, and i know you have a thing about your personal space but she said you'd be in the garage all night so i just didn't think about it. I'm sorry, let me grab my shit and I'll go back to the couch, i'm-" "no, its fi -bleuuehghghh- ine."
✮ a beat of silence passes and you're so confused. "i just n-needed a tool, I'll be in and, in and out", and then he's gone. and he... turned the light off and shut the door on his way out? this didn't seem like the rick that had been described to you
✮ but you brush it off and go back to bed. and the next day, you carry on with your activities until you're met with the sound of rick storming into the house and yelling with a bad taste in his mouth. "what the fuck morty? wh-wh-what are you doing in my room? what the -bleuugghghh- actual fuck do you think you're doing?" "oh jeez rick, I was, i-i-i was just trying to g-grab that thing y-you were asking for. i thought I saw it in-" "ge- get the fuck out, morty. you know how i -bleeuugughh- feel about people in my s-shit"
✮ and suddenly, you can't brush it off as easily. why didn't he yell at you like that?
✮ time goes on and everyone is definitely starting to pick up on how rick is acting towards you. and just like rick, they're all confused as fuck. no one's ever seen him be so weird or so... passive with someone. nothing specific happens for a couple days, but anytime you cross paths, the vibes are WILD and everyone knows it
✮ on christmas eve, beth makes a huge dinner for everyone and you're helping set the table, and eventually she just looks at you with such a sigh and goes "okay, i have a favor to ask. i need you to go ask rick to come out for dinner," and you go to protest and be like ?? why me?? but she cuts you off and goes "listen, I don't know what the fuck his deal is right now, but I think you're most likely to survive asking him to participate in a family activity"
✮ so you make your way to the door leading out to the garage and knock hesitantly, letting out a soft, "uh, rick?"
✮ there's a beat of silence as you hear mechanics stop whirring, and you go to walk away before you're burned at the stake for interrupting him when you hear him quietly: "garage, disen- bleughgh- disengage 'family time' protocol." you step back as you hear a lot of shit being deactivated, like, an impressive amount considering a simple deadbolt would've sufficed, and eventually you hear said deadbolt being unlatched followed with a faint "come in"
✮ you walk in slowly with a light "hey", earning a grunt in response as he continues to fidget with whatever gadget he is working on this time. you walk over to his workbench and begin to let him know about dinner and how beth really wants him out there. "I think I can guess the answer already, sorry to bug you too much rick, beth just would've killed me if I didn't ask," you let out with a soft chuckle
✮ a moment passes and he's so lost in thought, and not that you could read him before, but right now you definitely can't. so you offer him a smile and go to push yourself off of where you'd leaned up against the counter before you hear him speak, "c-could you hand me that -blleugeghhgh- screwdriver over there?"
✮ "oh my god yeah, o-of course, yeah," you grab the one rick's pointing at and turn to hand it to him, and as he reaches for it from you, your fingers graze each other for what feels like a lifetime. butterflies absolutely flood your stomach and overpower your senses. you let go quickly, trying to get ahold of yourself because this is fucking rick sanchez, he isn't going to give the time of day to whatever little crush you're developing
✮ the second your hands touched, rick also got a rush of butterflies. he of course wouldn't ever refer to them as that, but his heart sped up and his mouth went dry in an instant. he hadn't felt this feeling in... jesus, like 40 years? fuck. he needed to get a grip on himself. seriously, what is his problem? you've been around him for all of three days and he's acting like a teenager experiencing his first hard-on. jesus, rick, get your act together. what the fuck is your problem?
✮ you pull back and he averts his gaze from you, turning back to his work. he clears his throat and mutters a soft 'thank you'. you're immediately bashful, smiling at him and turning to head out of the garage. just before you're fully out, you hear him speak up, "I'll b-be out in a minute"
✮ and you smile. beth was right. for some godforsaken reason, you got him to join christmas eve dinner. you exit the garage, almost running into morty and summer who's jaws are nearly on the fucking ground. you hadn't closed the door behind you as you went in, and they watched the entire scene unfold before them. morty's eyebrows contort into confusion, "what the fuck?"
i fear i have so many more thoughts and ideas so lmk if you want more because I am a deviant and a freak, thanks
#I hope this makes it to the right side of tumblr#this is so humiliating#rick and morty#rick sanchez#rick c137#morty smith#rick x reader#rick sanchez x reader#rick sanchez fanfic#morty prime#adult swim#rick sanchez headcanon#beth smith#summer smith#jerry smith#rick sanchez x you#Rick Sanchez x gn reader#gn reader#rick and morty fandom#rick and morty x reader
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retraumatized Lilia giving reader that 1000 yard stare because not only do they look exactly like Raverne, they have Meleanor’s personality AND was a knight back in their world just like the knight of dawn.
I’ve learned that if I ignore lost asks then they’ll make their way back eventually, this one was adventuring for a week!! (It’s always the Lilia ones)
(contains spoilers for the first ~60 chapters of book 7!)
Even after all the years of reflection and busying himself, there are the rare moments that he lingers on his general days. Lilia didn’t allow himself to grieve- he’s never had the time between child rearing and shenanigans, but you’ve sent him right back to that awful time. It’d be going against your oath to not take responsibility, wouldn’t it?
“Nostalgic”!Lilia that is drawn to you, more than he’s been towards any human since Silver. He’s seen far too many faces since the invention of “moving pictures”, it’s obscene! But you, with the confident eyes of Raverne, and frankly bratty (he says this with affection) attitude of Meleanor is uncanny,, It’s exactly what he’d imagined Malleus as before his birth, and you will never know just how magnificent you are.
“Nostalgic”!Lilia can’t bear the thought of leaving you to those “teenage vultures”, so he’s gotta take you under his wing! (Third time’s the charm ig) The tech in your world is severely lacking, and you use the new freedom like any founding father would- Blurry Polaroids litter Lilia’s walls now more than ever, but they’re the closest thing he’ll ever have to the portraits of Raverne he enjoyed tolertated so many years ago,, You have his same too-sweet smile, but you’re much too forthright to smooze your way towards anything substantial. It’s what he likes about you, so human :)
“Nostalgic”!Lilia’s gears turn frantically for you. He feels a duty to aid your cause. It’s for nothing nefarious,, You just make him think. He’s sad that maybe in another universe where you looked or sounded different he hadn’t approached you and had not been able to enjoy your presence- Simply because you’re his friend. He has no debts to pay in his retirement, and it is his choice to help a buddy out!
If there is anything that Lilia has made peace with, it’s that people can change, and they do very often! He admires humans the most for their flippancy, and hopes to embody it with his new freetime. You mortals are only around for a few decades, but you sure as hell make it count! Never judge a book by it’s cover or else you might miss your new favourite! You’re definitely one of his better titles, and a little “shock” never deterred him in the slightest <3
#twst yuu#disney twst#yuu twisted wonderland#twst#disney twisted wonderland#twst x reader#twst wonderland#lilia vanrouge x reader#lilia vanrouge#twst lilia#twisted wonderland lilia#lilia twisted wonderland#lilia x reader
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Danny owns a ship.
A giant, wonderous piece of technology he is even! He made his ship from scratch!
Well, with a bit of help here and there from his parents, mom with the blueprints, him and his sister with design, and his dad showing how to fit certain pieces with each other that he couldn't do himself.
All of that resulting in the birth of his son, Tempest!
He did wonders on open water, a great ship all around that really only need him and him alone, usually at the very least. If he wasn't inviting a few friends on board, that is.
His ship was also fitted with some very good tech, wouldn't be of Fenton design if it weren't! Ghost shields, ectoplasmic canons, an engine running off of ectoplasm, etc, etc.
After he well outlived his friends and family (discounting Vlad, but that fruitloop would never die on his own anyway) he decided to sail Tempest into various waters, and by various, he meant various. Tempest, a ship unbound by time and able to sail along the timestream as long as he doesn't accidently fuck things up, lest Clockwork get on his ass about that.
It took a while of pleading for him to even agree to allow him to sail a ship as advanced as Tempest into the past, but he managed to do so. On an agreement that he would sail over to changes in time and fix them, which he does, and in the future it's pretty rad he won't lie.
Of course, then everything got kinda fucked up. You see, he was going back to his timeline via the timestream, and was going to drop by Vlad's place to drop off a few of his more recent spoils-
And yes, he dumps various things from his adventures on Vlad, least he could do after that whole trying to get with his mom and kill his dad thing. The dude's chill now, or as chill as he can get anyway, and has quite the interest in appraising the stuff he drops off, so a win-win for both of them honestly. Also, he uses the guy and his resources to upgrade Tempest here and there.
-When he uh, he well. He kinda, fucked up. Now you see, it wasn't his and it obviously wasn't the fault of Tempest either, but something outside the timestream (That Clockwork told him specifically not to look at) dragged his attention for a mite too long and suddenly he wasn't in the timestream at all.
Okay, so maybe it was his fault.
So now he was outside his dimension's timestream, and oh boy was trying to get back to it far harder than he was expecting. No wonder Clockwork constantly told him to be careful and pay full attention to navigating the timestream.
And he kinda, lost his...
He isn't a Master of Time like Clockwork is, though he does hold a good knowledge of the timestream he isn't as capable as Clockwork. So now he's lost navigating... wherever the hell he is, and is kinda hoping Clockwork would realize and find him.
He does manage to get back on a timestream though. He doesn't recognize it, but hell he only recognizes his because it was the only one he's ever entered so far. So he pops off to the present time of this timestream, and thinks that hey, yea, this definitely isn't his timeline.
Because there was a fuck ton of heroes, supervillains, magic, you name it, its here.
So, what was one eternally young-looking captain the Tempest, a time sailing ship, to do?
Explore of course!
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(Edited to add headshots because tumblr hates detail) I've etched away at this is a lovely few weeks, so click for full res and all the little details, okay? It's my love letter to the journey I've found myself on
This is long-ish, so its under the cut (but worth reading...)
I had been thinking a lot recently about that double feature episode, you know the one? I half remembered it then, when they chased a bunch of alien spies so fast through the solar system they all got thrown back in time. Half the crew went on a little undercover adventure in Toronto in 2024. It was great because they got completely cut off from the Enterprise, so half of them, well mostly Uhura and Spock if I recall correctly, spent their time collecting as many radios as possible and worked on building their own communications. Uhura and Spock were basically taking turns constantly tweaking radios by the window with wires everywhere. Oh yeah, their base of operations was the whole top floor of a worn out old building looking over a big square. They ended up in the really arty/queer part of town full of art galleries and thrift stores.....??
Chapel and Chekov were sent out to those shops to find disguises for everyone. I loved the joke that Chekov was puzzled and slightly alarmed that Christine just knew everyone's clothes sizes and measurements with no explanation. Later on, they ended up getting separated from the rest of the group and getting held up by B story shenanigans, mostly getting lost and running into culture shocks. It was fun to see them having their own adventures and made for a pretty interesting combo. Spock and Uhura spent most of their time with the tech, accidentally listening to the times most popular music while changing frequencies. Jim and Sulu paired off to search for clues, and getting supplies and spent a lot of time talking to the locals setting up for a Pride parade. McCoy, feeling paranoid and irritable that he had practically no equipment, wandered around with Dr Alfred Nahdi, the Botanist, who kept picking random weeds and talking about how extraordinary the little dandelions were. Oh and together they stole a whole medical bag out of an ambulance?? It was pretty funny. Anyway, the main issue was they couldn’t risk leaving the area because all these alien spies had assimilated into the population and they had to track them all down and bring them back with them so as not to disrupt the timeline or something. They had to track down the aliens while making sure the aliens didn't pick up on who they were or that they were also out of place. They ended up being there for around two whole ass months, I think. The spies were spread out all over and there were about 30 of them, but it ended up being the Botanist, Alfred (Alfie) Nahdi who found the enemy base of operations by complete accident. Alfred, who had spent most of the time studying all the common flowers and weeds that were so ordinary at that time but were extinct in their time, figured out where the aliens' base of operations was because the big plant shop at the end of the square had a few succulents that could not have existed in 2024. It was a big "woah" moment. And there was this whole thing where he had to act like he hadn’t just figured it out because the florist, who was almost certainly a spy, was watching him and McCoy. But soon after, it all went to hell anyway when a fight broke out and Sulu was straight up shot with the aliens' weapon that had bullets made from alien metal. So then Bones had to perform old school surgery on him in their HQ, with only 2024 equipment. Jim, Spock, and Uhura were out fighting and ran into Chapel and Chekov and were able to finish them off, but it got really crazy because there was a Pride parade in the square at the same time so they had to make sure no one noticed them. While Bones was pulling bullets out of Sulu, with the botanist assisting him until Chapel (who had been sent by Jim) appeared and took over. McCoy said something like, “Christine, I’ve never been so glad to see you in my life,” and they sewed him up all old school. And it worked out! But Bones was a mess because he had to do messy surgery with none of his kit, and so much pressure, and more blood than he was used to... Chapel stayed with Sulu, and Bones and Nahdi went to sit on the fire escape stairwell and had a sweet scene of Bones just full of adrenaline, his hands couldn't stop shaking. They sat hand in hand for a while listening to all the people on the streets below. Then Spock, Jim, Uhura, and Chekov appeared at the stairwell and they all had a happy, albeit exhausted reunion. After a day of everyone recovering from all the excitement, Uhura and Spock used some extra tech they got from the aliens and finally made contact with poor Scotty who was up on the Enterprise losing the will to live. Anyway, their outfits were iconic tbh.
I invented this whole thing to draw Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy in a sweater. I lost control of the situation. I spent a lovely two weeks etching away at this with the support of my lovely ST server, I love you guys. This ones for you.
#star trek#st tos#star trek tos#tos#star trek the original series#james t kirk#jim kirk#spock#bones mccoy#mccoy#dr mccoy#christine chapel#nyota uhura#hikaru sulu#pavel chekov#star trek oc#treksona#leonard mccoy#s'chn t'gai spock#spirk#star trek spirk#star trek fanart#star trek art#medliloveart#Chekovs actor is lithuanian so yeah he's wearing a ukraine pin dont @ me please im tired#pinterest#pinterest outfits
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Weird/Unusual Crossover time?
Weird/unusual crossover time! ദ്ദി(˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧ (oh shit~! She's back on her billshit!) (That's RIGHT! Nothing is sacred and NO ONE IS SAFE!)
ANYWAYS~
Danny Phantom. Cultivation Novels (my current obsession). A match made in hell? Or an exciting new adventure‽ Cause like... the Zone DOES go EVERYWHERE, right? Infinite means Infinite means "Literally Without End" Infinite.
As in, Forever.
You COULD, in fact, pick a direction and just... keep going. Forever. For always. Without end or limits. The Zone is not just "really, REALLY big and we need a word your mind could comprehend." Not "as big as a galaxy or the known universe". It is? On a scale that even GODS can not comprehend.
The place GODS go to die. A place they are BORN from. The great primordial soup where universe end and begin anew. Where the cracks are glued backed together, and the souls of the living flow in and out. Endless scraps of fabric, realities, atop a churning sea of green. Keeping everything even.
After all... you can't CREATE a soul. They got to come from SOMEWHERE. Where do you THINK they arrive from? When populations grow? Thin air‽
But... ah~, there in lays the rub, doesn't it? Would knowing the Zone? Knowing SOME of it's mysteries and machinations (for NO ONE, not even all the Ancients COMBINED, can ever claim to understand even a fraction of them all.) mean that Danny??? Was powerful in a Cultivation reality?
He's certainly a powerful GHOST.
But?? They FIGHT ghosts all the time. Wouldn't he be WEAKER and more in danger? As they try to hell the restless spirit move on? Not knowing he is balanced between life and death? They could very well kill him.
Which, given the moral standards of the Realm? Would NOT be viewed as a bad thing.
But! On the OTHER hand?
He is a ZONE ghost. Not a simple spirit. Far beyond what they are used to dealing with. Arguably? ASCENDANT. From a higher plane of existence. A lower one. Several steps to the side. He is, for all intents and purposes, shrimp colors to the human eye. The color blue to a blind man. An orb to the two dimensional.
CAN he even interact with the world's cultivation systems? Does it recognize him as a god? A dead man? Some sort of ascendant dead god?
Something... Not Right™
Yet still utterly natural? Clearly not meant to be here. Yet... not wicked. Granted, not, perhaps, benevolent. But...
Because what IS he? Is he a boy? A man? A corpse? Immortal, perhaps? Is this creature a demon? The resentful dead? They DONT KNOW! It... probably scares a lot of them. Makes some of them think he is a test. Probably makes OTHERS wanna fight (friend? Hey! New friend!).
And like? Why would Danny even BE there? He's already immortal. The swords are pretty cool... but he has Fenton tech.
So, WHY?
I propose?
His well know Anger Issues. His fear of becoming Dan. He's heard meditation is good for shit like that, right? Mindfulness and stuff. Sam recommended it. And? They were watching Fantasy Kung-fu 17, "bamboo monks of vengeance" (now with more slow motion aerial battles). So he was like? Hmmmm... those misty valleys and mountains shots DO looks relaxing... I could go camping...
Maybe find a mysterious old kung-fu monk? Is that what they are? Tucker. Tucker! What's the name of this genre again? Xanxia. Yeah. That! I'll do the whole "live, laugh, love. Hot girl, cultivation summer" thing! That'll fix my shit! This is a GREAT idea!
Thus? Danny. Terrorizing some poor Xanxia Cultivation world with his Zone Ghostiness. Pretending to be a human... very, VERY badly. Yes, hello Fellow Locals! It is him! Average Human Man! Take me to your *checks notes* Cultivation Sect! *smiles with far too many teeth*
#nailedit he's gonna get SUCH a good job at blending in! A thing that is both real and possible to achieve!
@babbling-babull @legitimatesatanspawn @mayfay @hdgnj @spidori @the-witchhunter @leftnotright @lolottes
#minji's writing#dpxcultivation#dpxXianxia#danny fenton#danny phantom#dp#dpxsvsss#danny is a little shit#danny is ALSO an invasive species#stop terrorizing the locals danny#cant you be chill for like FIVE SECONDS#no no of course not#hes a Fenton
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Hey you know your Ttrpgs , do you know any other Ttrpgs that scratch a similar itch to numenera? High tech fantasy , medieval society after a high tech empire has fallen etc? Where adventurer's with swords and magic use medkits as they battle robots in crashed spaceships to gather tech for their castle or something along those lines
Dungeons & Dragons

Okay that's a bit snide but it's important to understand that the sort of fiction that inspired D&D very much blurred the lines between fantasy and science fiction. D&D was not just swords and sorcery, it was also planetary romance, and this shows in many places, but nowhere more clearly than in the module Expedition to the Barrier Peaks. Heck, even the works of Jack Vance, the guy whom Vancian magic is named after, liberally mix sci-fi and fantasy.
In fact, one of the most common twists on old-school D&D I see is people effectively making a new science fantasy setting where the medieval fantasy world is actually situated against the backdrop of a wide high-tech science fiction universe.
Anyway, Old-School Essentials would be my go-to because it's old-school D&D compatible and has optional rules for lasers and other tech relics. The company behind it, Necrotic Gnome, is also apparently working on an OSE compatible post-apocalyptic game, which sounds cool as hell.
Another option would be to mix Worlds Without Number and Stars Without Number. The former is an OSRish science fantasy RPG, the latter is its sci-fi predecessor. Run the former and simply grab space age tech from the latter, because it's already fully compatible. There are free versions of both available on DriveThruRPG.
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Bayverse TmnT X Spiderman Reader; Spiderverse HC's
@yesthetrashbin ,"I just wanna say, I love your Bayverse tmnt with Spiderman Reader, I been hyperfixating on Spiderman so this gives me happy and pleasant tingles in my brain So thank you 🥺💖" "Idk if you watched the spiderverse movies BUT IF YOU DID how would the boy verse tmnt boys react to Spider-Man reader meet Miguel O'Hara?? And reader is like "DAYUM he's hot" gets recruited into the Spider Society and chaos ensures??"
A/N: Oh my goodness thank you! Also this request is just *chef kiss*. Miguel shan't know peace!
~xXx~
-chaos?! I think you mean tormented hell! For Miguel at least. . .
-I’d like to imagine the turtles find out about the multiverse when spiderman reader has been missing for a while and then one day gets randomly spat out of a portal right at their feet
-ninja bro’s are a mix of “where the hell have you been?!” and “????”
-meanwhile spiderman reader is just too excited to tell their friends about the escapades they’ve been on
-Obviously from a scientific standpoint point Donnie is the most thrilled
-The sassy genius has given Miguel so much stress from reverse engineering his tech that him and Lyla can barely keep up making new gadgets
-Mikey and Raph want so badly to join you but it’s really hard sneaking them on your adventures because you’re on Miguel’s “only teleport when needed” list, aka the “banned from free rain of hq list”
-Especially after the cafeteria incident. . .
-Leo loves hearing all the places you’ve been and hearing about the multiverses hits him on a sort of spiritual level
-He secretly ask you bring him back cool rocks from each one
-The brothers def get concerned the times you are pulled on missions, especially ones you come back battered and bruised from
-They will all dote on you, hating that they couldn’t be there to back you up
-Donnie is ofc the one to fix you up, Mikey always has your favorite meal prepped and ready to go, Leo makes you the most calming drinks, and Raph throws on your favorite shows and allows you and only you to cuddle up against him till you’re better
-The first time they really met Miguel, you, Mikey, and Donnie had to hold Raph and Leo back from kicking his ass because they 100% will not stand for someone who treats their spider person so bad with everything they’ve done for the spider society
-However, the one thing Miguel can count on when it comes to your turts is that if an anomaly ever ended up in your verse, that villain better start praying when you’re notified to take care of it, because you will NOT be taking care of them alone!
-Over all, it’s a really new and exciting thing in your shared lives, just not for Miguel, especially after your group of friends meet Miles and his group of friends
-At that point, Miguel should just really think about retirement
~xXx~
#bayverse tmnt x reader#bayverse tmnt#bayverse mikey x reader#bayverse michelangelo x reader#bayverse donnie x reader#bayverse donatello x reader#bayverse raph x reader#bayverse raphael x reader#bayverse leo x reader#bayverse leonardo x reader#aged up tmnt#tmnt spiderman au#yesthetrashbin#imababblekat's writing
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