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idorkish · 4 years ago

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Piotr “Colossus” Rasputin SFW Alphabet

The SFW Alphabet is from @snk-warriors

A/n: There are no tags because I haven’t started a Marvel tag list really. Check out the pinned post on my page for my Masterlist and to sign up for my tag list! OR just send me a message.

Activities - What do they like to do with their s/o? How do they spend their free time with them?

In the rare free time that Piotr has, he is in the art room either painting or drawing. If his s/o is available, they are either in the same space working on their own things and enjoying the rare moments of silence. OR, they’re out and about! Want to go to the museum? Let’s go! Aquarium? Mall? Sure, why not. Piotr is willing to power down and just be content in human skin while walking around with his s/o. It’s also a rare time for him to indulge in a bit of bad eating with his s/o.

Beauty - What do they admire about their s/o? What do they think is beautiful about them?

How much time do you have? Piotr is in love with every aspect of his s/o. From the top of their head to the tip of their toes. But it goes so much deeper than that. He loves how his s/o’s face scrunches when they’re concentrating on something. And how their try to hold back their laughs and snort instead. He loves that his s/o is by his side, for better or worse. Their entire essence and radiance is so beautiful that Piotr does find is hard to articulate what is beautiful about his s/o/

Comfort - How would they help their s/o when they feel down/have a panic attack etc.?

Panic attacks, depression, anger, PTSD. Being a teacher at the institute and an X-Men, there is not much he’s not prepared to help with. If he knows that his s/o suffers from these ailments early on, he will ask how they would want him to best help them. Does he need to hold your hand and remind you to breathe? Do you need him in the room but not touch you? How about space - do you just need to be alone in a space for a bit of time? Let him know what the best way to help you is and he will do it. If this is your first panic attack though, well, he is known to be a mother hen for a reason. He will be right there, knelt next to his s/o, a gentle hand on your thigh as he guides you through some breathing exercises and have you tell him 5 things to ground you - 5 things you see, 4 things you can touch or feel, 3 things you hear, 2 things you can smell, and 1 thing you can taste.

Dreams - How do they picture their future with their s/o?

Oh our sweet dreamer! Piotr wants the stereotypical dream life. A spouse who loves him, a house with a white picket fence. A couple of young ones running around, maybe a dog or two to keep the kids active. If that’s not what his S/o wants though, he’s ok with that. Talk to the big guy, communicate what you want! He will find a way to make it work.

Equal - Are they the dominant one in the relationship, or rather passive?

Piotr is pretty passive. He is easy-going and always wanting to please. There are aspects that he takes the lead on - mostly when it comes to his s/o’s health and well being. No, he will not allow you to eat nothing but junk food. Yes, you will have balanced meals. Do you take medicine? Well you can’t find him on it, you’re taking it at the exact determined time, every day. Oh you have a doctor’s appointment you don’t want to go to? Well you will get the disappointed speech and look from him, AND he will throw you over his shoulder and take you.

Fight - Would they be easy to forgive their s/o? How are they fighting?

Piotr fights enough with the X-Men. He does not like fighting with his s/o. On the rare occasions there is an argument about something important, he is STUBBORN. He will not back down. If voices eventually get raised, he’s walking away before he says something stupid and unforgiveable. Depending on the severity, he’s sleeping in the guest or art room to cool down. Once BOTH of you are calmed down, he wants to talk about what happened and how to make sure it doesn’t get to that point again. He doesn’t want to fight with the love of his life, nor does he want to make them sad or hurt.

Gratitude - How grateful are they in general? Are they aware of what their s/o is doing for them?

Piotr is grateful for everything in life. For the chance to leave Russia. The chance to teach young mutants and to be an X-Men. And most of all? That he had the chance to meet his s/o. He is very much grateful for all the little things they do for him. It’s the small things like making sure his favorite tea is stocked in the kitchen, that his alarm is set in case he passes out right away, and most of all, how they are willing to just sit in the same room with him, quietly, while he decompresses.

Honesty - Do they have secrets they hide from their s/o? Or do they share everything?

This man? Secrets with his s/o? Not really. He tries to keep quiet when he’s hurt from missions. Or when Charles has given him information not to share with anyone yet. That’s about it. Otherwise, he’s open with his s/o and expects similar.

Inspiration - Did their s/o change them somehow, or the other way around? Like trying out new things or helping them overcome personal problems?

Piotr has always been a gentle giant, however no matter how much he’s come to terms with his mutation, he still worries that he scares people or that he’s limited in what he can do. His s/o would help him realize he can still do everything that others can, he just needs to take more care in how he approaches.

Jealousy - Do they get jealous easily? How do they deal with it?

Piotr is very secure in his relationship and rarely, if ever, gets jealous. He trusts you 100%, so why would he ever get jealous? But when he does get jealous, oh boy. Be ready for a pouty and cold Piotr. He will shrug it off and walk out of the room. He will likely ignore his s/o and become slightly passive aggressive and petty. For someone who does so well with communication, this is the one time that he holds it all in and is unsure of how to express himself. Give him some time, then go and give him extra cuddles and kisses to bring back your gentle-giant.

Kiss - Are they a good kisser? What was the first kiss like?

Sweet. Slow. Sensual. Soft. Rough. Demanding. Desperate. His kisses run the gauntlet depending on his mood. The first kiss with his s/o was slow and timid. He didn’t want to overstep any boundaries, so he took his time. Cupping his s/o’s jaw gently, his thumb smoothing across their cheek. Piotr’s other arm was wrapped around his s/o’s waist, holding them gently but close to his own body. Piotr leaned down and ghosted his lips over theirs before applying the slightest bit of pressure.

Love Confession - How would they confess to their s/o?

It took a long time, and a lot of help from the other X-Men, for Piotr to finally express his feelings. It honestly was his S/O to make the first move and ask him out, but it is Piotr who is the first to drop the L-bomb on them. They were walking around the grounds of the manor after dinner, exchanging stories of the past week when Piotr stopped and pulled his s/o against him, wrapping his arms around their waist and just holding them. He pressed the softest-feather-like kiss to their forehead

Marriage - Do they want to get married? How do they propose? What would the marriage be like?

Piotr has thought about marriage since he was a little boy. When he meets his s/o and their relationship progresses, those thoughts come back. He wants to marry his s/o one day, but knows it is best to hold out until both are ready. He will openly talk about it with his s/o to figure out if it is something they want. If they do? Awesome! Even though he won’t propose just yet, he wants to figure out his s/o’s ideas for both marriage and proposal. If they don’t want to get married? Well, he’s going to be hurt a bit. Piotr will become a little insecure about why his S/o wouldn’t want to marry him, but that is where his great communication skills come in handy.

Nicknames - What do they call their s/o?

“lyubov moya” (my love), “zaika/zaichik” (bunny), “malysh” (baby), “lapochka” (sweetie pie), “zvezda moya” (my star)

On Cloud Nine - What are they like when they are in love? Is it obvious for others? How do they express their feelings?

IT is SOOOOOOOOOOO obvious to everyone when Piotr is in love. He is full of heart eyes and heavenly sighs when thinking of his s/o. He expresses his feelings verbally to and about his s/o.

PDA - Are they upfront about their relationship? Do they brag with their s/o in front of others? Or are they rather shy to kiss etc. when others are watching?

He is 100% up front about his relationship. Why shouldn’t he be? He loves to hold his s/o’s hand as much as possible and likes to keep an arm around their shoulder or waist when in the company of friends. He’s not afraid to press soft kisses to his S/o’s when around students and/or friends. But that’s about it.

Quirk - Some random ability they have that’s beneficial in a relationship.

Piotr’s s/o is able to make him relax when it comes to some rules - mostly sleeping in, and indulging in junk food.

On the other hand, Piotr brings down the chaos in his S/O’s life.

Romance - How romantic are they? What would they do to make their s/o happy? Cliché or rather creative?

Piotr is the epitome of romance - flowers, bubble baths, and potentially, a night out. He takes into consideration what his s/o likes and incorporates that into their dates and daily time together.

Support - Are they helping their s/o achieve their goals? Do they believe in them?

There is no one better at supporting their S/o when it comes to goals, then Piotr. He is the best accountability buddy! If the goal is to work out and eat healthy, then Piotr is there helping come up with a meal plan and find exercise that they will enjoy. If the goal is to explore their creative side, then Piotr is taking them to the store to get what they want/need and clearing out a space in the art studio just for his s/o.

Thrill - Do they need to try out new things to spice up your relationship? Or do they prefer a certain routine?

The king of routine honestly. There are things that Piotr does that help him and his S/o keep sane. Consistency does not mean boring when it comes to Piotr though. Also, this doesn’t mean that there isn't’t some spontaneity. When his S/o wears a certain outfit, his brain turns to mush and he can’t keep his hands off of them. Was there a bad mission? Well, things change for a while because of that.

Understanding - How good do they know their partner? Are they empathetic?

Piotr and his s/o have been together long enough, and talked enough that they know each other really well. Piotr is extremely empathetic, it’s just his nature. Although they know each other so well, it doesn’t mean they don’t surprise the other once in a while.

Value - How important is the relationship to them? What is it worth in comparison to other things in their life?

He might not fully leave the X-Men, and he definitely will NOT leave the school, but if things are getting in the way of his relationship, Piotr is willing to step back for a while. Anything else, he will talk with his s/o to determine the issue and see if it is something he needs to be rid of from his life.

Wild Card - A random Fluff Headcanon.

When Piotr finally gives in to his S/o’s request to just relax, oh boy watch out. He ends up sleeping in until almost noon. It freaks everyone out in the mansion when they don’t see him at breakfast, nor around the grounds. When he finally awakes and makes his way for food, he’s powered down and in cargo shorts and a hoodie. The students hanging around stare at him like he’s grown another head. Piotr just smiles and waves to them on his way to get food. Once fed, Piotr seeks out his s/o. He finds them lounging on one of the couches, hanging out with their friends and watching a movie. So Piotr nudges his s/o to sit up so he can curl on the couch with his head on their lap, and moves their hand to his hair. And that’s where he spends the rest of the day until dinner.

XOXO - Are they very affectionate? Do they love to kiss and cuddle?

Piotr is an affectionate man. He will give small kisses and hugs when he sees his s/o between classes or when on the grounds, and he’s not against wrapping his arms around them. It’s not often that he cuddles up to his s/o in front of others. When in the privacy of his or their own room? Piotr is the ultimate cuddle-bug. He powers down to his human forms and loves to lay his head on his s/o’s stomach or lap and have them run their fingers through his hair while his nuzzles against them.

Yearning - How will they cope when they’re missing their partner?

Depending on why he is not around his s/o, Piotr can be a bit pouty. If he’s off on a mission, he keeps his mind at the task on hand. Otherwise, it can lead to mistakes that he’s not willing to take. If his s/o is out on a mission, he is keeping himself busy with work around the mansion and classes. If his s/o is just away or busy doing something, Piotr tries to keep busy. He really, really tries, but he will eventually seek them out if they’re nearby. He doesn’t always need to be touching his s/o but he likes to be in their presence.

Zeal - Are they willing to go to great lengths for the relationship? If so, what kind of?

Anything he sets his mind to, Piotr gives it his all. This relationship is no different. He has his responsibilities and there is no getting around that but he will fight for his relationship. There is very little that will make him hesitate to work on the relationship. Is his s/o feeling lonely and ignored? Well, Piotr is going to Charles to ask for the weekend off so he can shower his s/o with love and affection. Is his s/o struggling with insecurities and trying to push him away? Oh no sweetie. Piotr can be immovable. He will stand his ground and get his s/o to talk to him. He is not easily scared away.

#sfw alphabet #colussus #Piotr Rasputin #marvel x-men #x-men #marvel headcannons #xmen headcanon

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i-drink-and-i-write-fics · 4 years ago

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Original Female Characters

These are all the Original Characters I have made for past, current, and coming soon stories. They will be organized by Fandom, much like my Master List.

Now updated with Pronouns and Sexuality.

Story: If You Could Live Forever (Series. Fandom: MCU)

Name: Rose Fauna

Alias: Mother Nature

Age: Over 450 years (exact age unknown)

Pronouns: She/Her

Sexuality: Straight

Race/Ethnicity/Home Country: White/Germany

Hair: Silver (Changes colors when powers are used)

Eyes: Grey (Changes colors when powers are used)

Height: 5'5"

Species: Mutant

Any Markings: An old scar on the front of her body from when she was tortured as a child.

Powers: Controls the elements, controls animals, minimum flight ability, control of the weather, uses the earth to heal, immortal.

Relationship status: On and off relationships with both Wolverine and Everett Ross, eventually married Everett

Spouse: Everett Ross

Love Interest: Wolverine & Everett Ross

Bio: Born during the time of the witch trials in Europe, Rose was proclaimed a witch when her mutant powers manifested. She was tortured and barely escaped with her life thanks to Loki and Thor. The Earth healed her and it was then she was given the gift of immortality. Ever since the trials, she has tried to stay hidden to stay safe.

Story: Against the Odds (Fandom: MCU/Olympus Has Fallen Crossover)

Name: Charlie Jones

Alias: Turbo

Age: 35

Pronouns: She/Her

Sexuality: Bi

Race/Ethnicity/Home Country: White, United States

Hair: Silver normally, Blue when using her powers

Eyes: Grey normally, Blue when using her powers

Height: 5'2"

Species: Mutant

Any Markings: None

Powers: Telekinesis, Telepathy, ability to make force fields, Omega Level Mutant

Relationship status: Single

Spouse: None

Love Interest: Mike Banning

Bio: Charolette (Charlie) is the youngest in her family. Her sister, Margaret, marries Ben Asher who eventually becomes the President of the United States. A family tragedy forces Charlie to go into hiding and for Margaret to lie and say she’s an only child to help Ben’s election. The return of Apocalypse brings everyone back together.

Story: Mirror (Fandom: Marvel/MCU)

Name: Sonya, No Last Name

Alias: Mirror

Age: 50, though the project to begin her cloning was in the 1940s

Pronouns: She/Her

Sexuality: Unknown

Race/Ethnicity/Home Country: None - clone of Steve Rogers

Hair: Blonde

Eyes: Blue

Height: 6'2"

Species: Human Clone

Any Markings: None

Powers: Super strength, speed, healing that comes with the super-soldier project.

Relationship status: Casually dating Bucky Barnes

Spouse: None

Love Interest: Bucky Barnes

Bio: Created as a clone of Steve Rogers by Hydra, leading to the sharing of physical features. Trained by the best team Hydra has, she is very deadly.

Feared by Hydra, she was locked away until they felt they could have more control over her. But then she discovered her origins and snaps, breaking free and going on a rampage to destroy any and all Hydra facilities before focusing on her last target: Steve Rogers.

Story: When The World is Broken Series (Fandom: Marvel/MCU)

Name: Juna, Last name Everhart created during the advent of last names.

Alias: Mother Nature, Mother of Mutants

Age: 20,000 years, give or take a century

Race/Ethnicity/Home Country: Unknown

Pronouns: She/Her

Sexuality: Pansexual

Hair: Black when undercover, green naturally

Eyes: Brown undercover, gold normally

Height: 5′4″

Species: First Man, First Mutant, External/Omega Mutant

Any Markings: None

Powers: Control of elements, weather, gravity, animals, use of lightning for teleportation, resistance to extreme heat and cold, faint connection to humans.

Relationship status: None. Finds it pointless as she never dies.

Spouse: None

Love Interest: Everett Ross, much to her annoyance.

Bio: Juna was one of the first species of humans to grace the earth. Born with a connection to the planet and humans, when they evolved, so did she so she would be able to blend in. She is responsible for the catastrophic events from the ice age ending to Pompeii, all in an effort to maintain the balance of earth and nature. She is not fond of humans and grows more and more annoyed with them as the years go by and the planet becomes more trashed. She’s not a villain, she just wants to save her home.

She doesn’t remember her parents, her family if she had one, or really anything of her past after the first one thousand years.

Story: Battle of the Billionaires (Upcoming. Fandoms: Marvel/DC)

Name: Mya, No Last Name

Alias: Elemental

Age: 1,500 years old

Race/Ethnicity/Home Country: Mexican & Mexico

Pronouns: She/Her

Sexuality: Bi

Hair: Black

Eyes: Grey

Height: 5′6″

Species: Mutant

Any Markings: None

Powers: Can control the four main elements: Earth, Air, Fire, Water (hence her name), super strength & speed, super healing.

Relationship status: Currently single. Briefly dated Diana Prince back on Themyscira and Alfred back in the 1970s

Spouse: None

Love Interest: Bruce Wayne & Tony Stark are making their bids known.

Bio: Born a mutant with the ability to heal from any wound and control the elements, Mya goes around helping humanity when she can. She mostly lends a hand to the X-Men or the Avengers when asked, until two friends of hers, Alfred Pennyworth & Diana Prince, ask for her help against Dark Side. Bruce Wayne takes an interest in her, but to his dismay, she is close friends with Tony Stark.

Story: Timeless Warrior (Fandom: Lord of The Rings)

Name: Phoenix Garcia (formerly Phoenix Nowak)

Alias: Khaleesi, Dragon Rider

Age: 40 (shortly after the story begins she turns this age)

Race/Ethnicity/Home Country: White. Mexican on her mother’s side, Polish on her father’s. Born and raised in Arizona, USA.

Pronouns: She/Her

Sexuality: Queer

Hair: Dark brown before the war; silver due to stress of the war

Eyes: Blue-grey

Height: 5′5″

Species: human

Any Markings: A few tattoos: Valar Morghulis on the inside of her right wrist, Valar Dohaeris on the inside of her left wrist, the three-moon symbol for her pagan religion on her left shoulder, a skull with a chef’s hat and crossbones of a chef knife and whisk on the right shoulder, a red rose with one black pedal on the inside of her left bicep (a tribute to Rosa). Crisscross scars over her left eye from when she tried to save her wife’s life.

Powers: No known supernatural ones. Controls a mechanical dragon.

Relationship status: Widowed. Wife died saving her life

Spouse: Rosa Garcia. High school sweethearts. Built Meraxes to help win the war. Sacrificed herself to save Phoenix’s life.

Love Interest: Lord Elrond of Rivendell

Bio: Phoenix was born and raised in Phoenix, AZ as the oldest of two kids. Her mother was abusive and her father stayed married to keep the kids safe. Phoenix met Rosa in high school and the two became instant friends, starting a relationship their senior year. Rosa went off to get her degree and a job at NASA while Phoenix went to culinary school and opened a restaurant in Downtown Phoenix. The pair got married once it became legal in their country. They then sold the restaurant so the couple could move to Houston for Rosa’s job. Phoenix began teaching cooking classes that went virtual once a pandemic hit their country. Not even a year later, a war broke out and they found themselves leading a small group of survivors. With Rosa’s intelligence and connections, she got a group together to turn an old plane into a mechanical dragon. Unfortunately, Rosa was killed two years before the war ended and Phoenix blamed herself.

After the war, Phoenix accidentally flies through a portal into Middle Earth where more problems require her help.

Story: Kings & Queens (Fandom: The Hobbit)

Name: Ladien Peredhel

Alias: Ladi

Age: 3,041

Race/Ethnicity/Home Country: Half-Elf, Noldor, The Grey Havens

Hair: Red

Eyes: Dark Grey

Height: 6′6″

Species: Half-Elf, Half-Human

Pronouns: She/Her

Sexuality: Straight

Any Markings: Tattoos on the top half of her body. Flames that wrap around her shoulders like a shawl

Powers: None

Relationship status: Single

Spouse: None

Love Interest: Thorin & Thranduil (Love Triangle)

Bio: Ladi was born in the Grey Havens to an Elf mother who sailed West shortly after Ladi reached maturity. Her father was a human who died in a shipwreck. Because she is a Peredhel, she never felt she truly fit in with the other Elves in the Havens and left to travel Middle Earth.

She is resting in Rivendell when Thorin’s company arrives. Gandalf persuades her to join the cause in re-taking Erebor. Thorin begins to warm to her as they make their difficult journey north. When they get caught in Mirkwood, Legolas reports to his father, Thranduil, that there is an Elleth amongst the Dwarves. Confused and intrigued, he commands she be brought before him. And is shocked to see someone almost identical to the wife he lost long ago.

Story: Peredhel (Fandom: LoTR)

Name: Samantha Johnson

Alias: Sam

Age: 30

Race/Ethnicity/Home Country: White/United States

Hair: Black

Eyes: Brown

Height: 5'7"

Species: Human

Pronouns: She/Her

Sexuality: Pansexual

Any Markings: None

Powers: None

Relationship status: Single

Spouse: None

Love Interest: Erestor Peredhel

Bio: Sam was a full-time chef and a part-time bartender when she accidentally finds herself in Middle Earth. Gandalf determines there is no way to send her home and so the Rohan take her in since it was their land she appeared on. After serving King Theoden for a few years, she travels all over Middle Earth learning different cooking techniques and even works at the Prancing Pony for a couple of years, where she meets and befriends Strider. Sam returns to Edoras just as a farewell party is being held for Elrond and Galadriel, where she meets Erestor.

Story: The Hidden Realm (Upcoming. Fandom: Lord of The Rings/The Hobbit)

Name: Rhyannon

Alias: Queen of Tir Na Nog, Fae Queen

Age: 34,000 years old (Born at the end of Years of the Lamps)

Race/Ethnicity/Home Country: Fae, Home: Tir Na Nog

Pronouns: She/her

Sexuality: Queer

Hair: Midnight Blue

Eyes: Midnight Blue

Height: 7′

Species: Fae

Any Markings: Has wings she keeps hidden until she uses her powers.

Powers: Spells, magic, flight, super strength, communication with animals, control the elements.

Relationship status: Single

Spouse: None

Love Interest: Lord Elrond

Bio: Rhyannon is the Queen of the Fae and one of the first of her kind. Tir Na Nog is her kingdom and was one of the first realms established in Middle Earth. Contrary to what the Elves know, the Fae were actually the first beings of Arda. This realm borders both Mirkwood and Dol Guldur, causing tension between all three realms.

Thranduil has been engaged in a petty battle with Rhyannon since his father passed (who started the battle). The problem is, the realm is hidden so no other Elves believe it exists. Until Rhyannon decides to crash the Midsummer Festival in Mirkwood.

Story: The Queen’s Guard (Fandom: Game of Thrones)

Name: Myria Storm

Alias: Storm Breaker

Age: 30

Race/Ethnicity/Home Country: Bastard child of Storm’s End

Pronouns: She/Her

Sexuality: Straight

Hair: Ebony

Eyes: Black

Height: 5′6″

Species: Human

Any Markings: A tattoo of a black rose, to show her loyalty to Olenna Tyrell.

Powers: None

Relationship status: None

Spouse: None

Love Interest: Jorah Mormont

Bio: Myria Storm is a bastard child of Storm’s End. When she hears of the killing of Robert Baratheon’s bastard children and what they look like, she suspects she is one and flees her home. Myria had learned to fight from her older brother and soon becomes a sellsword. By the time she reaches High Garden, her reputation precedes her and Olenna requests an audience with the young woman. She is offered a job as Olenna’s personal guard.

When Varys brings word of Daenerys Targaryen’s return, Olenna sends Myria to have Dragonstone prepared for the future queen. And when all parties officially meet, Myria is noticed by the Dragon Queen’s right-hand man, Jorah Mormont.

#marvel #marvel cinematic universe #dc/marvel crossover #olympus has fallen #The Lord of the Rings #lord of the rings #lotr #game of thrones #got #original female character

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chromosome23hq · 4 years ago

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august 11th, 1997, 6:05 am, silverhouse apartments

One fine morning, with a mug of coffee in one hand and a watering can in the other, Billie Foster was not prepared for the crack of a gun to kick her into a vision. A crowd. A masked figure. Mayor Peter Webber, now with a hole in his forehead. So many lives altered in one fell swoop that the crowd overwhelmed her. A small stampede had Billie stumbling back into her apartment. Coffee in her monstera and water soaking her feet. She didn't get a chance to see anymore details, only a masked figure and an untimely death.

It’s not something Billie can just ignore, especially when it comes to the death of a public figure, much less the mayor. She needed to tell someone, an officer of some sort who can protect the mayor from anything. It’s when she remembers them, the Omegas. It’s a part of their job description to protect the weak and innocent, which includes the mayor. A heavy and deep sigh leaves between her lips. This is not how she wanted to start her morning.

august 14th, 1997, 11:45 am, somewhere in the city

This has to be the most boring protection assignment in the world. For the past few days, all Yazmín Navarro Montes’ (also known as Siren) done is escort Mayor Peter Weber everywhere to defend him against an assassination threat. He still has his bodyguards, but extra cushion with Yazmín here, as Prism described it. Of course, it’s unspoken that this also works as great publicity. She had wanted nothing to do with it, which meant Prism had to pick her for this. Her luck always worked that way. Today, she’s starting to wonder if this threat was real at all, or a phony stunt to benefit the mayor and the Omegas. There’s been no suspicious figures lingering around his office or home, no attempts, and no threats sent to him.

Still, Yazmín doesn’t slack on her job. She always has an eye out, ready to push the mayor out of the way or stop a would-be killer. They’re outside for a few minutes when something starts to bother her. There’s water everywhere she can sense, then suddenly there’s a spike. It’s nowhere near winter, but something freezing just entered the vicinity. No one stands out in the crowd, until—

Already running behind schedule after sleeping in late, Ethan Sato pays no heed to his surroundings as he cuts past a gentleman on his journey to class. He’s cursing himself internally, vowing for the umpteenth time to start going to bed earlier, when his internal monologue is drowned out by a wave of terror. Ethan stops in his tracks, his heartbeat thundering, panic squeezing down on his chest. Breathe, he needs to breathe. He takes in one, shuddering breath, knowing that this—whatever this is—isn’t his, then turns around and he sees—

“Oh, my God.” He claps his hand over his mouth. Behind Ethan is the Mayor, haloed by his own blood as he lays on the footpath. It takes Ethan a solid minute to process what he sees, what he feels, before he scrambles backwards, yelling, “Help! Somebody help!”

As soon as his co-worker had walked in, Jaewon Oh had scampered off for his break. An entire hour away from inane questions was exactly what he needed. Deciding to take a stroll to his favorite nearby coffee shop was done automatically, he ate there almost everyday. Unfortunately for him, his hour was coming to an end and so he made his way back with an extra sandwich in his hand.

He was contemplating whether or not he could get away with leaving the store early when he saw it. Or, rather, them. A person in a mask appeared seemingly out of nowhere and Jaewon, curious, watched as they walked ahead of him with purpose. something about this didn’t feel right, he wasn’t sure exactly what was going on but there was a sinking feeling in his gut.

Should he do something? No, yes? He was just about to shake off the feeling, not wanting to get involved in business that wasn’t his own, when he saw a man ahead of him go down. It took him a moment to register that it was the mayor and said mayor had just been shot. The masked figure was running and Jaewon watched, frozen to his spot, as they did so. On the sidewalk ahead of him the mayor lay dying, the particles of energy around him turning a meek gray as the life left him.

Jaewon took several steps back and pressed himself against a storefront, brows furrowed. it couldn’t have been a normal bullet, a gun going off was loud. this had been too quiet. suspicion rose in him, humans could quiet a gun, sure, but not to that extent. could … could it have been a mutant? Jaewon looked back at the scene that was now filled with people, all as terrified as they were shocked, and wondered. It certainly seemed like a possibility. shit, he’d just witnessed the mayor getting shot, the mayor being killed. Soon enough police sirens would echo down the street and detectives would go looking for bystanders. Not wanting to be questioned, he quickly walked in the opposite direction and stewed in his own theories.

Sitting on the stairs of a building that had been ‘under construction’ for five years now (he’d been keeping track of time—the crew seemed to have abandoned it), David Castillo withdrew his flask and took a swig, eyeing the passersby—trying to find who best to focus on. Woman with the dog thinking about how the groomers screwed her poodle’s nail polish up completely? (he didn’t agree, they looked marvelous)—she walked by too fast. Man with the shirt that read ‘D.A.R.E - to keep kids off drugs’ and was already thinking about that sweet weed he would score later? Also too fast.

That was the only problem with a staircase in the middle of an ‘under construction’ type of place!

Voices swirling around, from those thinking about their affairs to those thinking about their loyal spouses, he shook his head viciously.

And then a strong voice emerged.

Strong emotion.

Strong passion.

Strong thought.

‘Got ‘em.’

Followed by screams—real ones.

And a silence. Even amongst the screams... a silence.

It’s too late.

There’s barely any noise between the mayor standing in front of Yazmin, and dropping to the ground. Blood is everywhere. Some of it’s even on her suit, her hands. She had bent down to hold the wound without thinking, before realizing it’s all too late.

There’s people running away in the crowd, and that’s how she knows the shooter isn’t far ahead. She’s running before the bodyguards do, head going through anyway she could to slow them down. Every option can lead to civilian injuries or worse. Shit! Yaz speeds up, water rising from her side pouch and striking out toward the assailant’s ankle as they round the corner. It misses by an inch.

As she enters the alley, she sends a dozen sharp edged droplets at the wall with a yell for them to stop. But no one’s there. The only evidence that remains is a spray painted symbol.

august 17th, 1997, 5:34 pm, ramer cemetery

Peter Webber is found dead on sight. Upon inspection, they’re unable to find a bullet but water is found. Because of Yazmín’s ability and past criminal record, the suspicion falls onto her. Banks and schools are closed early that day, and remain that way until the funeral. National news channels cover it nearly twenty-four seven, wondering how the mayor of one of the most prominent cities in America was shot in broad daylight and by who. All channels in New York cut into their current programming to broadcast the funeral, from the funeral home to the drive to the cemetery. Crowds line the streets during the procession to show their love for the beloved mayor, as well as grieve his loss and the loss it is to the city. His children and wife thank those for being there with them through this difficult time. The vice mayor, who was sworn in days before, tells the city they’ll get through this together and follow the vision Mayor Peter Webber had.

august 18th, 1997, 9:30 am, new york city hall

This isn’t the first time that Han-Byul Song (also known as Prism) stands surrounded by cameras, microphones, and journalists waiting for what he has to say. But he can say that it’s the first time dealing with them like this. Individuals who once looked at him as if he was like them, now they see him as something else. It doesn’t sit right with him, none of this sits right with him. However, he’s a professional and never the type to let someone see him when he’s at his lowest. With a straightened back and squared shoulders, Han-Byul begins his statement.

“Ladies and gentlemen of the city, my name is Prism and as you all know, I’m the current leader of the Omegas. We are tasked with protecting the lives of the innocent, both mutants and non-mutants. Recently, we were given the mission to watch over and protect Mayor Peter Webber, sending one of our own to act as one of his bodyguards.” His eyes fall on Yazmín, the young mutant standing beside him with a cold stare and a rigid body. “Despite our best efforts to protect the mayor, we—” Failed. The words fall from his tongue but it doesn’t feel like he’s the one saying it. He can see the questions that are ready to leap out of their mouths, the hunger in their eyes, beasts. They were all beasts. “However, this doesn’t mean that our mission ends here. We’re now undergoing an investigation to look for and capture the person behind this. Once we find this individual, we’ll bring justice to all of you but also Mayor Webber.”

There are questions, lots of them, and he answers, some of them. There isn’t enough or maybe that’s what he tries to tell himself as Yazmín takes his place to read over her apology. He’s listening but also not, he’s mainly just watching her and the crowd. Even though she was there acting as a bodyguard, she’s a suspect. Just because of her ability, just because she’s a mutant, just because they needed a scapegoat.

OOC INFORMATION:

Mayor Peter Webber died on August 14th, 1997 and his funeral was held on the 17th. Various radio talk shows and news articles report on his death. Your muse can react however they want to this!

The masked killer is Daichi Kato (played by Admin Kashia). No muse is aware of him killing the mayor, outside of Magneto. Yazmín is under the suspicion of partaking.

This marks the true beginning of The Brotherhood showing themselves to everyone, which also means they’re recruiting people in. Your muse has the decision to join them but be aware of the true purpose of The Brotherhood! The spots are unlimited.

If you play a Xavier student or staff member, things will be tense as Charles plans on what to do next.

And that’s the way the pussy crumbles.

#c23plotdrop #murder cw #death cw #murder tw #death tw

11 notes · View notes

master-sass-blast · 6 years ago

Text

It’s Truly Magical.

IT’S HONEYMOON TIME!!!

Summary: You and Piotr enjoy your honeymoon --by going to Disneyland, no less.

Pairing(s): Piotr Rasputin x Reader.

Rating: T for implied sex, mention of needles, and briefly referenced childhood trauma but this fic is a fluff fest I promise.

Set after “In the Dawn of a New Day.”

Taglist: @marvel-is-perfection, @chromecutie, @super-darkcloudstudent, @girl-obsessed-with-things, @nebulous-leo

“So let’s see… a week and a half is… uh…”

“Make list.”

You stare down at your suitcase as you try to do the math in your head. You’re trying to pack for yours and Piotr’s honeymoon.

Because the two of you are married now. You, Y/N Rasputin, managed to snatch up the world’s greatest catch for yourself.

Suck it, universe.

“That’s… ten-ish days, so ten outfits –except for the nice dinner, so that’s another outfit, oh, and the plane flights…”

“Just make list.”

The two of you are going to California, courtesy of your uncle; you two get to spend the first four days of the trip at Disneyland, and then the rest of your honeymoon will be spent at a little beach house AirBNB where the two of you can just chill and enjoy the ocean.

“So that’s like… twice as much underwear? Three times as much?” You blink when you remember that this is technically your honeymoon. “Do I even need underwear?”

“This might be easier if you made list, moya lyubov’.”

“And I’ll need… uh…”

“Darling wife of mine.”

You smile bashfully, butterflies fluttering in your stomach at the reminder that you’re his wife now, and look over where Piotr’s sitting on your two’s bed.

He smiles at you, loving and endeared, and tosses a pen and notepad at you. “Just make packing list already.”

(You do, eventually, wind up making a list –though your husband does have to help you with the process.)

***

The day of the flight brings its own boughs of anxiety and struggle. There’s the prospect of trying to navigate the airport properly and get through security –which promises to be a headache regardless of how much time you give yourselves—and then underlying tension that the two of you might get thrown out for being mutants—

But the unarguable worst part of the day happens before the two of you even leave home to head to the airport.

Piotr crosses his arms over his chest, face strained with worry as he stares down the small vial of yellow fluid in your hands. “I do not like this.”

You’re not cleared to fly on commercial flights –and technically won’t ever be, since the psychic scarring on your brain is permanent—without having your mutation repressed in some way, shape, or form. After an extended discussion between Hank, Professor Xavier, Alyssa, and your uncle, the four of them figured that you’d be unlikely to get a repression cuff or collar through airport security, which only left one option to keep your mutation repressed in the event –albeit unlikely—that you had an episode.

Repression serum.

The dose in the vial is only enough to get you safely to California –and you’ll have to use it all for it to work properly. Another vial will be provided before you and Piotr leave California to come back home. There’s no way for you to use it under any other circumstance or hoard it away for later, and Alyssa and Professor Xavier were both confident that you were well past the issues that led you to using it regularly that you wouldn’t be likely to relapse—

But yeah, you don’t like it either.

“It’s what we have to do, sweetheart,” you say, expression grim as you load up the syringe. “It’s for everyone else’s safety. And mine.”

“I know,” Piotr says, paling slightly as he watches you prepare the injection site on your arm. “I just… I really do not like this.”

“It’s going to be okay, honey,” you reassure him. “I’m going to be okay. I promise.”

There’s really not much else to say, considering what you have to do or your history with the repression serum, so you take a deep breath and insert the needle into your arm.

The serum hits as fast as you remember it hitting (since the dose was calibrated for your resistance to the stuff). Within about thirty seconds, you can feel your connection to the air around you being tamped down. It’s almost like someone’s put on a very thick jacket all over every inch of your body.

You grimace once you remove the needle and press a piece of gauze against the injection site. “I don’t like that.”

“Are you alright?” Piotr asks, panic evident in his voice and on his face as he kneels in front of you. “Do you feel sick? Do we need to see Hank?”

“No, no, I’m fine, I just don’t like how the serum feels,” you clarify. “I don’t like not feeling connected to the air. It doesn’t feel good.”

Piotr blinks as understanding flickers across his face, then he abruptly claps a hand over his mouth and stands, turning away from you in the process.

“Baby, what’s wrong?” You quickly set the syringe and the now empty vial aside and stand, maneuvering so you’re positioned in front of your husband. “Piotr, talk to me. What’s going on?”

Piotr shakes his head as he wipes a few tears away from his eyes. “I was afraid… that you would like it. That you would miss using serum. And that you do not… it is big relief to me.”

Tears well up in your eyes as your heart tears for your mush of a man. You wrap your arms around Piotr’s waist and hold him while he takes deep, shaky breaths. “It’s okay, Piotr. I’m okay.”

And you are. You really, truly are.

***

Getting through the airport is just about as much of a hassle as you anticipated. It’s confusing, it’s chaotic, there’s far too much standing in line involved, and the ratio of people to available outlets –logically—should’ve caused a bloodbath by now.

Fortunately, you and Piotr don’t get tossed out for being mutants (even though the two of you “pass” relatively well, you’re both legally required to register as mutants, which always opens up the risk of being thrown out of anywhere that checks your ID).

(Piotr also doesn’t set off the security checkpoint metal detector when he goes through it, which –while logically being a good thing—is honestly kind of disappointing.)

You opt to lean against your husband’s shoulder while the two of you wait to board, at which point you lament over having to wait even longer, to which Piotr remarks that the two of you will still get to board earlier than everyone else because you’re flying in first class, which prompts you to pull out your boarding pass and study it—

“We’re flying first class?”

Piotr chuckles as he drapes his arm over your shoulders. “You just realized this?”

“You’re the one who checked all the tickets and reservations, not me!”

The ticket does, in fact, confirm that the two of you have first class seats reserved –next to each other, too, which is a bonus.

“Why’d my uncle get us first class seats?” you ponder quietly. “It’s so expensive.”

“Probably my size,” Piotr reasons. “I have trouble fitting in smaller seats.”

You shrug, then smile up at your spouse. “Well, we can at least have fun with flying first class for the first time!”

“That we can,” he agrees before dipping his head to kiss you.

***

As it is, Piotr still barely fits into the first class seat. It’s clearly better suited to accommodate him than an economy seat –but only barely.

Fortunately, you don’t need the dividing armrest down to be comfortable, and you’re more than happy to be closely snuggled against your hubby for several hours. You take the window seat so Piotr has an easier time getting in and out of your seat and nestle up against him while he scans the in-flight safety pamphlet.

“You two are absolutely adorable,” one of the flight attendants comments with a smile. “We don’t see a lot of super lovey couples on the flights.”

“I think it helps that we’re flying out for our honeymoon,” you joke; at home, it’s a well known fact that you and Piotr are a pair of regular lovebirds –though, the added buzz from the wedding and honeymoon doesn’t hurt.

The flight attendant beams when you show off your engagement ring and wedding band. “Congratulations! That’s so wonderful! We do offer complimentary beverages and snacks to our first class passengers. Maybe some sparkling wine to celebrate, or a cookie and some milk if you’re not alcohol drinkers?”

You look up at Piotr. “Cookies and milk?”

He smiles down at you, then nods at the flight attendant. “Cookies and milk would be nice.”

***

Fun fact: A non-stop flight from New York to California is a little over six hours.

Additional fun fact: years of being able to fly one’s self makes travelling by plane a touch lackluster.

“We’re not even breaking the sound barrier,” you whisper to Piotr at one point. “Where’s the fun in that?”

He merely snorts and kisses the top of your head.

All in all, though, it’s a good time. The two of you snuggle against each other as the plane soars through the skies, Piotr fills you in on all things Disney, and you play games provided on the little screen interfaces on the backs of the seats in front of you.

You’re also provided a proper meal a couple hours into the flight –and, much to Piotr’s delight, it’s reasonably healthy, if not necessarily portioned out for someone of his size.

“The perks of flying first class, I guess,” you comment before starting in on your food.

***

Actually arriving in California, admittedly, is a bit of a mindfuck, solely due to the time difference between the East Coast and the West Coast.

“None of this feels right,” you mumble as you try to reconcile the earlier time to your inner body clock.

“Imagine how I felt first coming from Russia,” Piotr comments as he scans the directional signs to figure out where the two of you need to pick up your luggage.

“Shit, yeah, that’d be insane.” You frown. “How does your family manage to jump between here and there, then?”

Piotr shrugs. “Lots of coffee, probably.”

***

The process of getting to the famed park is far less drawn out than the flight. Once you two have your luggage, you head over to the car rental place and pick up your car –rented so the two of you have a reliable way to get around for the rest of your honeymoon—and take the half hour drive to the park.

You give Piotr a goofy smile when another motorist curses you out for abiding by the traffic laws. “It’s like we never left home.”

Piotr just tips his head back and laughs.

***

To make everything extra special, your hotel reservation is at one of the hotels in the park itself –very appropriately named “Disneyland Hotel.” The two of you get checked in and head up to your room—

And it’s nice. There’s a massive king-sized bed that sits directly across from a combination dresser and TV cabinet. A desk and chair sit next to the dresser-cabinet combo, and a cushy looking armchair sits next to the bed on the far side of the room. Everything’s decorated in warm, inviting tones of brown and gold, save for a genuinely pretty blue and gold carpet. On the other side of the bed, closest to the door, is another door that leads to a bathroom.

It’s nice. Clean. It has amenities like a mini-fridge and a coffee maker and an ironing board.

It’s also like almost any other hotel you’ve ever been in.

Piotr shrugs when you remark as much. “Were you expecting something else?”

“I don’t know… mouse ears everywhere? Super bright colors and patterns?”

Piotr chuckles as he sets yours and his suitcases down. “The crucial experience is park. Rooms are supposed to promote rest and relaxation.”

“Fair enough.” You dart over to the window on the far side of the room to check out the view, then chuckle when all you can see is the parking lot. “Oh, damn, can’t get this view anywhere else.” You whip out your phone to take a Snapchat video of the view, then tuck it back in your pocket and turn around when you hear Piotr groan and the bed creak ominously.

He’s dropped face-down into the bed, arms spread out like a starfish and legs hanging haphazardly off the bed.

You cross your arms over your chest. “Feeling comfy, baby?”

“Planes do not agree with me,” he laments, voice muffled by the bed.

“I bet.” You cross over to the bed and hop up next to him. “How about this,” you suggest as you gently rub his back. “We just get some room service –because I’m hungry—and then just stretch out and rest. We’ve got four days here at the park; that’s plenty of time to check everything out.”

“Sounds wonderful.” He lifts his head and grins at you. “We are at Disneyland.”

“Yeah, we are,” you reply with a grin of your own. “Are you excited?”

He giggles and nods before dropping his head back down. “Very.”

You gently run your fingers through his hair and kiss the top of his head before turning and rummaging through the nightstand drawer for a room service menu. “You get comfortable, babe. I’ll get us some food.”

***

The two of you eat and take a little nap before unpacking. Since you aren’t staying the entire duration of your trip at the park, you only unpack what you need –a few clothes, some toiletries, a couple of things to do during down time…

And, in your husband’s case, an entire pantry’s worth of healthy snacks and protein bars.

You gape as Piotr carefully tucks away a supply of unsalted veggie chips, mixes of dried fruit and nuts, crackers with “extra fiber” (whatever the fuck that means), and a couple boxes of protein bars into one of the dresser drawers. “You’ve got to be kidding me. Piotr! We are on vacation!”

“We still need to eat!” he retorts defensively.

“They have restaurants and room service here!” you argue, trying to hold back amused laughter. “And we can always buy food if we need something they don’t have!”

“It is still less expensive this way,” he reasons.

“The park expenses are on someone else’s tab, and we’ll still have to get groceries for the rest of our trip.”

The gears in Piotr’s head visibly turn while he processes your statement. He huffs –and shoots you an amused glare when you giggle—and continues unpacking his snacks. “Just wait until end of trip, when you are sick from travel food and I am not. You will eat words then.”

“The only thing I want to eat is your dick,” you fire back, snickering when the tips of Piotr’s ears go red. You pick up one of the boxes out of the dresser drawer and read the label. “‘Multi-grain Nutritional Crackers, now with Extra Fiber.’ Honestly, you are such an old man.”

Piotr shakes his head, takes the box from you and puts it back in the drawer, then lifts you up into his arms. “Not old just yet.”

You giggle and press your lips against his.

***

The following morning hosts massive bouts of excitement –Piotr—and general disgust at the existence of mornings in general –you.

Your mood does perk up, though, upon having some proper breakfasts in one of the restaurants in the hotel –accompanied by coffee and some of the park’s legendary Dole whip, no less. By the time the two of you head into the “attractions” part of the park, you’re just as pepped up as your Disney-loving hubby.

The two of you wander around a bit, getting a sense for the park and where everything is, until—

“Babe!” You point at the Alice in Wonderland spinning teacups ride. “Let’s go on that one!”

Piotr acquiesces, and the two of you get in line for the ride. It takes a fair bit of standing and waiting, but eventually the two of you are ushered onto one of the massive teacups. You both get settled, then wait for the ride to start.

“What’s this for?” you ask, tapping a stand in the middle with what looks like a steering wheel attached to the top.

“To spin ride,” Piotr explains. “It makes cup spin faster.”

Your eyes widen as you stare at the device. “I thought the ride just spun the cups on its own.”

“It does.” Piotr gestures to the frame the cups sit on. “Entire ride spins like merry-go-round. Riders can spin cups while ride spins.”

You grin, borderline maniacally. “Fuck. Yeah.”

Once the ride starts, you immediately start trying to spin the cup as fast as you can. Under any other circumstances, you suspect the cup would spin without too much resistance.

However, those circumstances don’t involve having the world’s heaviest Russian husband in the cup at the same time.

You grunt as you try to spin the cup. “Dammit! Why do you have to be so heavy?”

“It is not end of world, msyhka,” Piotr chuckles. “Just sit back and enjoy ride.”

“I want to go fast! But I can’t do that because I just happened to shack up with the one Russian juggernaut that eats lead for breakfast!”

Piotr laughs again –then grips the wheel and gives it a mighty yank.

You shriek, delighted, as the cup whips around at maximum speed. The world dissolves into a blur of color and noise as your hair whips around and smacks your face.

It’s like flying without the physical effort of flying. It’s amazing.

“That was awesome!” you giggle as you stumble off the ride. “We should go –babe?”

Piotr staggers after you, looking considerably worse for wear. He’s gone pale –paler than usual, at least—and clammy looking, and his jaw is clenched tight. “I think,” he manages in a weak, shaky voice, “that was mistake.”

You put your hands on his arms, helping steady him. “Holy shit, baby, you look awful. Come on, let’s get back to the hotel room so you can lay down.”

“Perhaps that would be for best,” Piotr agrees as you steer him in the direction of the hotel.

***

“No fucking way. The Steel Boy Scout can’t handle rollercoasters. That’s incredible!”

“I mean, in his defense, it was a spin heavy ride,” you say to Wade as you stroke Piotr’s hair.

The two of you are back in your hotel room; Piotr had opted to lay face down on the bed and bury his face in a pillow, while you’d opted to call Wade and update him on how the vacation was going –or, rather, wasn’t.

“Yeah, well, still,” Wade insists in your ear. “It’s funny. He’s a superhero who battles diabolical villains on a regular basis, and he can’t handle spinning around a little.”

“I mean, you make a valid point—”

The bed lurches as Piotr shoots off it and sprints to the bathroom.

“Ah, shit. I’ve gotta go.”

“Has Chernobyl finally decided to blow?”

You wince as the sounds of Piotr emptying his stomach contents into the toilet emanate from the bathroom. “Yeah. I’ll talk to you later.”

***

You spend the rest of the day in the hotel room to let Piotr properly recuperate. You order room service for the two of you once Piotr’s feeling well enough to eat, and otherwise spend the day texting, scrolling through social media, or watching TV while you hold your husband and stroke his hair.

All in all, it’s a day perfectly spent.

And, fortunately, Piotr’s feeling well enough by the time the day comes to a close that the two of you can catch one of the park’s famed fireworks shows. Granted, you have to stand off to the side so Piotr doesn’t block anyone’s view, but it’s still a stunning spectacle to behold.

(It also gives Wade’s fireworks “demonstrations” a run for their money, which isn’t something you’d ever thought could be possible.)

“Are you feeling better, honey?” you ask as the two of you stroll back to the hotel, hand in hand.

“Much.” Piotr squeezes your hand gently. “Tomorrow should go much better.”

“Here’s hoping. No more spinning rides for you, mister.”

Piotr chuckles and shakes his head. “On that, we are agreed.”

***

The following morning, Piotr’s in a much better state than the previous day. After a hearty breakfast at the hotel, the two of you head back into the attractions part of the park and scope out more rides to try out –with a strict emphasis on “non-spinning” for your husband’s sake.

Eventually, the two of you come across a ride called “Big Thunder” that seems promising. The two of you hop in line to get on the ride—

Except upon finally being able to get on said ride, it turns out that Piotr’s too big for the safety mechanisms to work properly.

You burst out cackling as Piotr sheepishly extricates himself from his seat and steps back onto the platform. “We can’t win with you, huh, baby?”

“It would see not.” He kisses you gently. “I’ll see you back at walkway.”

You smile at him and blow him another kiss as he heads towards the exit.

Then, an attendant comes by to check your harness and the harnesses of the other rides. There’s the sound of the motors that run the coaster coming to life and hissing –and then the ride shoots forward.

And you scream.

***

“It was awesome!” you gush to Piotr once you find him outside the ride. “It’s like flying, but I get to sit down the entire time. It’s basically perfect! Although, I think we’re gonna have to skip rides while we’re here. You’re not gonna fit on… any of them, really.”

Piotr chuckles and kisses the top of your head. “You can still go on rides, myshka. This is your trip, also. And there are calmer rides and other attractions I can enjoy.”

“Alright.” You take a moment to check a map of the park that Piotr downloaded and sent to your phone. “Do you want to go find a ride we can both go on?”

“That sounds very nice.”

You smile and take his hand in yours, then the two of you head off in search of a ride that both of you can go on.

***

The two of you wind up going on Astro Blasters –even though neither of you are very good at hitting any of the targets—and going on the famed Pirates of the Caribbean ride together, and you also hit Splash Mountain and the Indiana Jones rides on your own.

(Piotr pays to get pictures of you riding the rides on your own and gets a good chuckle out of your open-mouthed, exhilarated expressions.)

You also take time just to wander around the park and take everything in. You two take a selfie in front of Sleeping Beauty’s castle, spy the Mickey Mouse costume character strolling around and saying hi to kids, and generally take in the sights and sounds of the park –of which there are many.

Just like the advertising says, it’s genuinely magical.

***

“Are you enjoying Disneyland?”

Piotr grins as he wipes his fingers on a napkin. “Da. I really am. Are you?”

You grin back and lean over to kiss his shoulder. “Yeah. It’s pretty awesome.”

The two of you had opted to stop for lunch after a bit, with Piotr citing that getting overtired or going too long without eating in the baking California heat would wind up doing either of you in. You’d decided to get a corndog and a soda, whereas Piotr had purchased one of the famed turkey legs and a bottle of water.

(The picture you’d taken of Piotr biting into his turkey leg was nothing short of priceless.)

“I want to get something to remember trip by,” Piotr continues as he polishes off his turkey leg (which had taken him the same time to eat as it had for you to devour your corndog). “Proper memento.”

“Well, Mikhail did give us that jar of money after the reception,” you point out. “You want to use that to get a little honeymoon treat? Maybe some matching mouse ear headbands?”

Piotr beams and nods. “That sounds wonderful.”

***

The two of you resume wandering around the park after eating lunch. You briefly stop to watch a parade of characters and decorated vehicles go by, then resume the hunt for some proper mementos to commemorate your honeymoon at the park.

Which, actually, is easier said than done. The park has several shops scattered throughout it and different kiosks by rides that host specially themed mouse-eared headbands. Trying to compare all the options available, let alone narrow things down to a top pick, is almost too tall a task to handle.

(Not to mention that the headbands themselves are egregiously expensive. Holy shit.)

Eventually, though, you settle on a sequined Minnie Mouse ears headband –complete with a sequined red bow with white polka dots—while Piotr opts for a classic –sequins free—Mickey Mouse ears headband.

“I think we look pretty good!” you declare as you post one of the selfies you took of you and Piotr to Instagram.

Piotr brushes a soft kiss against your temple. “I agree –but you look best.”

You sputter and duck your head bashfully. “You’re awfully sweet, Mr. Rasputin.”

“Says person eating cotton candy.”

“Not my fault it’s good.” You split your last bite in half and offer part of it to him –then gape when he actually accepts it. “What’s this? You actually ate cotton candy!”

Piotr rolls his eyes good naturedly –though he does pull a face at how sweet the candy is. “Is my vacation. I eat treats if I want.”

You grin and giggle, then yank on his hand and head in the direction of another vendor stand. “Ooh, come on! I need to get a pretzel!”

“You just finished cotton candy.”

“Yeah, but—” you glance around and lower your voice carefully “—I need to get a Snapchat of it so I can send Wade a snap about being a ‘childless whore fucking up the pretzel line.’”

Piotr’s eyes widen and he claps a hand over his mouth to stifle a massive snort. “What?”

“Baby, please?”

He shakes his head, but ultimately acquiesces. “Lead way, myshka.”

***

You wake up on the third day of your trip with sore legs and feet, a barely there stomach ache from eating too much cotton candy the day previous, and an erection pressed against your ass.

You grin when Piotr’s lips start pressing against your neck. “Morning, sweetheart. Feeling good?”

“Chrezvychayno.”

You sigh, content, when his hand latches onto your hip and his other arm presses against your chest, pulling you flush against him. “Y’know… we’ve pretty much done everything we can do in the park. We could just…” You swing one of your arms back so you can slide your hand down his side. “Stay in bed today. Order room service. Do what all honeymooners do.”

“That,” Piotr murmurs huskily, lustily. “Sounds perfect.”

***

You two spend the last day of the Disney part of your trip largely lazing around. You stroll through the park to get more pictures and check out a few more rides, but other than that you two simply enjoy each other’s company until the time for your dinner reservation at the renowned Blue Bayou restaurant comes. The two of you take a few hours to get cleaned and dressed up for the dinner –a cocktail dress with blue and purple flowers for you and a suit with a blue and purple tie for him—and head over to the Blue Bayou restaurant.

The space itself is nothing short of breathtaking. There’s trees along the edge of the outdoor dining area, and lanterns and flowers are strung across the space to give it a soft, ethereal feel.

You two are seated in a quiet corner of the dining area at a sleek black table bordered by chairs with elegant backs that look like wrought iron; the waiter hands you two your menus and takes your drink orders—

And then it’s just you and Piotr.

You glance up from perusing your menu and smile at your husband. “Anything in particular looking good?”

He “hmms” thoughtfully. “Possibly lamb… or roasted chicken.”

“They both look good,” you agree. You nudge his leg under the table, then grin at him when he looks up at you. “Love you.”

Piotr beams at you. “I love you, too.”

The waiter returns a couple minutes later with your drinks, jots down your orders, then takes your menus and whisks away once more.

Piotr reaches across the table –careful not to knock into either of your glasses or the candle at the center of the table—and takes one of your hands in his. “So. We are married.”

You grin. “Hell yeah we are.”

He smiles back, then gazes thoughtfully at the engagement ring and wedding band on your left hand while rubbing circles against the back of your hand with his thumb. “What comes next?”

You let out a huff. “I mean… we have a house to furnish.”

“That we do,” Piotr chuckles. “But I meant more for us. What do you want us to do next, as couple?”

You glance around surreptitiously, then quietly suggest, “Have lots of sex?”

Piotr snorts. “Duly noted, myshka. Answer question seriously, please.”

You sit back in your seat, taking a moment to enjoy the way his thumb rubs against your hand before mulling over the question. “I don’t know. Right now, I’m kinda just content to enjoy the moment and our new life together.”

Piotr nods after a moment. “Okay. And… in future?”

“Kids, eventually,” you say, flashing a demure smile at him. “I mean, I think we should get the house furnished and functional first, but… maybe in the next year or two.”

Piotr smiles at that, eyes sparkling and face glowing. “Alright. It is your body; you set all rules.”

“I think in a year or two we can start trying,” you reiterate. “But, right now, I’m just looking to enjoy us. You.”

His smile softens, and he squeezes your hand gently. “That sounds very nice.”

You smile back, slowly getting lost in the depths of his sparkling blue eyes—

It really is magical.

#sass writes #piotr rasputin x reader #colossus x reader #IT'S HONEYMOON TIME #BOW CHICKA WOW WOW #deadpool fanfiction #x men fanfiction

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miloscat · 5 years ago

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[Review] Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2 (PS4)

Another day, another Lego game played to completion with my spouse.

As always, we played this in co-op. She says the superhero games are her least favourite because the stories are so stupid, and I can’t disagree with that. This time around is a bit better than poorly abbreviating a bunch of movies we haven’t seen; the idea of this one is a big dumb crossover between different time periods and parallel universes in the Marvel thingyverse. This lets them cram in... 18 different settings into one hub, which makes for decent variety.

The levels are your standard Lego fare. Punch the things, get the studs. A rotating cast of Marvel busybodies bashing up anonymous goons and the occasional villainous face, while big baddy Kang—suffering a severe personality deficiency—occasionally taunts them. I do always appreciate the bombastic designs and powers of the playable characters, especially diving deep into the expansive roster to find a new favourite or two.

There’s a lot of movie influence of course, with all the big names I don’t care about turning out with their endlessly tedious quips: Corporal Yank-o, Metal Dude, Professor Weirdo, Cat Guy, Space Bro. They do expand the roster pretty well, elevating the likes of Ms. Marvel to prominence (while giving her many tedious quips), as well as heavily featuring the Spider-verse while again studiously ignoring the existence of mutants or the Fantastic 4.

After playing some earlier games, I appreciated the quality of life tweaks added here: summoning vehicles anywhere, auto-highlighting a contextually useful character in the picker, character bios, things like that. The hub has lots more to do as well, with scavenger hunt-type “challenges” along with the usual quests, races, and puzzles. The random NPC dialogue is among the most annoying I can remember though, and for some reason complete split-screen is now forced at all times; it never shifts or joins up even when in the same place during a level.

Still, the game runs pretty well and is reasonably bug-free. And it’s a Lego game! I like those! I like big hubs with lots to do as super-doofuses! And I like playing with my chosen life-mate, she’s cool.

#lego #lego marvel super heroes 2 #traveller's tales #ps4 #review

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eggoreviews · 6 years ago

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My Top 25 Games Advent Day 18 - Fallout 4 (#8)

"Humanity is so resilient, to cling to life despite all of this. It is the duty of us all to further that survival."

Before Bethesda irreparably ruined one of their most lucrative franchises with Fallout 76, and after everyone went hog wild over New Vegas, there was Fallout 4, the definitive Fallout for the new generation. It had a fully open world, a great cast of companion characters, factions to join and endless quests to overcome. This game became my life for a hot minute there and this slightly edgy, tonally weird open world adventure stuck with me long after the genuine fear of real-world nuclear annihilation set in. I love immersion.

So what do you do in Fallout? You fuck around in the wasteland, you shoot horrifically mutated creatures, you marvel at what could’ve been had the world not obliterated itself, you build badly misshapen houses in the crafting menu and realise there’s nothing you can do to stop random villagers from stealing your bed aside from literally blocking up the front door. Fallout 4 takes the post-apocalypse open world adventure and stretches the concept to its limits. Immediately, your wonky main character’s motives and ideals become clear as your spouse is murked by the breakfast cereal guy and your son has been kidnapped by a shady organisation known only as the Institute. What follows is a moral-centric epic spanning 50 hours, including multiple branching endings depending on your chosen faction and plenty of spicy, lofty questions to answer about the nature of consciousness or whatever in the form of the synths. The main story is highly satisfying and embodies the importance of player choice, allowing you to decide for yourself whether synths deserve persecution or salvation, or whether they need to be contained by those that created them. Or hey, if none of these sound tempting, just side with the farmers and you won’t have to bother (if you’re curious, I’m personally Railroad bc the synths did nothing to us and also hoo boy the Brotherhood are fuckers).

To accompany you on your edgy journey is a whole cast of lovable and diverse characters, each with their own character arc, quest-line and, for the majority of them, a romance option. The synth detective Nick Valentine, the snarky pirate ghoul Hancock, the mysterious yet lame Railroad agent Deacon, the cunning news reporter Piper and your dog, among others. Building your relationships with this band of odd survivors is immensely satisfying to do, especially since these relationships build directly into the story with many of these companions playing integral roles in the main plot. This also informs your choice as to which faction to side with, as you end up with a companion from each faction that embodies that faction’s motives and moral compass. In the same way, each companion reacts realistically to your actions and choices throughout the game, making them feel even more real as you know your actions truly do reflect on everyone you meet and makes everything you do have much more weight to it.

What helps this epic blend of story and character along is the beautifully dilapidated world they inhabit. Fallout 4’s Commonwealth makes it clear exactly what everything used to be, from levelled cities and husks of theme parks to drive-in cinemas and murky harbours. The world of Fallout truly embodies a thematic blend of 1950s American values and futuristic technology and architecture, as if the dreams of those living in the 50s came true through the retro-looking tech that fuelled the society of before. The mixture of grainy propaganda footage of the iconic Vault Boy, alongside literal killer sentry robots is a brilliant contrast that somehow doesn’t feel at all out of place. The world building is absolute; nothing feels wrong or weird because Bethesda were endlessly consistent with their own rules in the world they’ve made. They also went hard with the optional dungeons too, with the majority of these also reflecting how things were before the nukes went off; half-destroyed subway lines, abandoned vaults and shopping complexes filled with burned up sundries and rubble. Fallout 4 truly makes an almost entirely dead world feel alive. But equally, exploring that world can be as terrifying as it is melancholy. While tuning into the Diamond City Radio and listening to hits of the 40s is satisfying in itself to be fair, nothing beats the pure adrenaline of running into a brand new mutated monster. Sometimes, you get lucky and you only need to use your frankly massive arsenal of weapons on a Mirelurk or a Radroach. But sometimes, out of nowhere, the game throws at you an Albino Deathclaw or a mutant behemoth in a pond or a giant hermit crab in an ice cream van. The possibilities really seem endless when you first embark on your journey, especially since you have no idea what kind of post-war monstrosity will assail you next.

Point being, Fallout 4 is a perfected apocalyptic adventure. It excellently blends satisfying gameplay and unique design elements with enough emotional impact in the narrative and world-building that stay with you long after you’ve blown up your chosen enemy. Fallout 4 changed the way I see open world games and still stands out as one of my favourite adventure games ever made (but not quite my favourite Bethesda game. I’ll be covering that a little closer to Christmas).

Standout Moment Award: The takedown of the Mirelurk Queen in the Castle is exhilarating and I was not ready for something so massive to come charging at me. Standout Character Award: Nick Valentine. Valentine’s enigmatic personality and unique backstory made him the most memorable character in the game by far, as well as my favourite cosplay I’ve done. Tomorrow: No. 7; Dead guy gets bad PR, hunts down queercoded magician who’s responsible.

#gaming #eggoreviews #best games advent #fallout #fo4 #fallout 4

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darkstrangevirgilanxiboi · 7 years ago

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Petty Things My OCs Do

All right so quick intro :

Arashi Hokkaido,my OC, is an immortal mutant. He wasn't born that way though, he got cursed by a powerful witch. His mutant ability grants him the power to see and manipulate electricity, but he ONLY sees electricity. Otherwise he's blind. When he was a young homeless man many centuries ago, he accidentally angered a witch who had cursed his village with a plague. He survived the illness, and in her rage at his survival, she cursed him to live forever. Her exact words were " Until the very last star in existence burns out, you, boy, shall remain. Your wounds will heal, your body will not age. You will survive , and you will long to join your wretched village in death. " It's been a lonely 5,000 years since then. Arashi has spent much of it becoming an expert at being alone, or so he's tried. Turns out he has a soulmate, one destined to be reborn eternally . And as much as he tries to avoid said soulmate, they ALWAYS find him. But the thing is, the witch knows about the soulmate thing . And she often goes out of her way to kill his lover .

( Desmin is a special kind of bitch )

Desmin , a powerful witch who uses her magic to torment others for the fun of it. She made a deal with a demon and now is effectively immortal because her soul and heart are hidden away in heavily magically protected locations, and in order to kill her you have to destroy her heart and soul at the same time. She's spent the last 5,000 years slowly killing off or tormenting anyone Arashi comes to care about.

- Arashi always manages to find out where Desmin is living when she moves , and immediately sends her an obnoxious amount of water chestnuts. She's violently allergic

- Desmin once set a children's home on fire because she found out Arashi's soulmate was among the children.This backfires because Arashi puts out the fire AND adopts all 34 of the children living there.

- Arashi frequently creates huge scandals to get Desmin run out of town or in legal trouble , and once he actually enlisted a friend of his ( the sister of his soulmate ) to dig up connections to a string of murders Desmin committed.

- Desmin sent her familiar, a white tiger, to kill his soulmate in the 1960's . But Arashi managed to tame it and because he treated the tiger kinder than it's master, the tiger stayed with him and Arashi's soulmate only suffered a concussion and a gash in the arm. He still has the tiger. He named her ' Zen'.

- Arashi once crashed Desmin's wedding in Italy back in 1876. Claimed to be her estranged son and loudly announced to the whole wedding party that she'd murdered her former spouse and made off with his fortune ( which was in fact true, but she was much madder about him pretending to be her child. )

- Desmin was planning on destroying a town in order to have enough human souls for a dark spell , Arashi got wind of it and so got a sorcerer friend of his to transport the town elsewhere.

- Arashi pays several personal shoppers to go through every store within 100 miles of Desmin and buy the entire supply of size 7 footwear because he knows she won't shop online and distrusts having anything mailed to her ( largely because of him and his squad of prankster friends)

- Arashi found out Desmin wanted to get a cat so he just notified every petstore and adoption center he knew of that Desmin was into dark magic and had a history of animal abuse , AND adopted every cat the town she lived in at the time for good measure. ( He's rich he can do such things. He's a genius who's patented a lot of technological marvels)

- Desmin started a smear campaign against him and he retaliated by being so charitable and courteous his city elected him mayor. She can't ruin his reputation now, the guy's started 47 nonprofit children's hospitals, personally paid off the debts of his city's college students, given scholarships to poor youths , created a medical center for the poor and underprivileged that's entirely free of charge, runs 12 large animal shelters that are non-kill , and donates large sums to foundations like Make-A -Wish . And he and his husband are the proud parents of 12 orphans and one biological child ( It's complicated, Renji is actually a clone of Arashi. ) Their large home is also a homeless/youth shelter for anyone that needs it.

#arashi hokkaido #desmin

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dnowit41 · 7 years ago

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Letting Go of Dirk Nowitzki and Remembering Greatness

By Andy Tobo

The most important shot of Dirk Nowitzki’s life before 2011 was, of all things, a driving, baseline layup, Manu Ginobili’s hand on his wrist like someone trying to hold back history.

At the time it meant everything, and it should have meant more. It didn’t because of what happened in the Finals, and history swung away. After 2011, though, there were so many shots, and I almost feel like I remember them all. That game against OKC where a visibly frustrated Scott Brooks spread out a cornucopia of bigs for Dirk to roast, on his way to 48 points on only fifteen attempts. That three-pointer that arced so high it talked to god before coming down to barely bother the net on its way through. In the Finals, it happened almost every game. When it was all over, when the dust had settled, Dirk had secured his place in the basketball cosmos at the tender age of 32.

It should have happened earlier, a statement that has nothing whatsoever to do with Bennett Salvatore and whether Dwyane Wade deserved what he got. Had the rest of the NBA simply been watching Dirk between 2006 and 2011, which they would have had things gone better, they would have seen him average roughly 25 points a game while shooting .489/.391/.897, despite being so much the focus of other team’s defensive schemes, I’d be surprised if their coaches spent five minutes on anyone else.

And he did it with less: himself. A modern marvel of German engineering, Dirk is now sixth all-time in scoring despite shooting, on average, less than sixteen times a game (15.9). Jordan shot 22.9, LeBron is at 19.6, Kobe was at 19.5, and even Kareem, who also played forever, is at 18. He is one of the three or four deadliest offensive weapons in the game’s history, while taking about as many shots per season as Khris Middleton had last year.

He did so much with less, but the less counted against him, for so long, because he didn’t have the ring. He didn’t have a Kobe for his Shaq or vice versa, he didn’t have a David Robinson, or a Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker. If the guys he did have look comparable, today, for most of that time, it is almost exclusively because they were on his team, which gave them shots they hadn’t had since high school. You can’t find a guy who was important on the Mavs of the 2000s who is known for what he did after Dallas, and there’s a reason for that. Only nobody believed us.

The reality of Dirk

There’s nothing I believe in more than the fact that some day, some one will develop a stat that shows the reality of Dirk, how much more he did than the eye could see. It will explain how one great player took a team that, for example, started the first game of the 2006 Finals alongside Josh Howard, Jason Terry, Adrian Griffin, and DeSagana Diop to 145 playoff games and eleven straight seasons with 50+ wins.

I sometimes think he’d have been appreciated more if his teams were worse, like Kevin Garnett’s were, and like KG was. As if by making his teams better than Garnett’s wolf pups, he made it look too much like it couldn’t be mostly him. As if it’s somehow inexplicable how a titanic offensive force like Dirk would seem to be playing with better offensive players than a merely (sorry) really good offensive player like Garnett, by virtue of the shots that came their way. But then, in 2011, for no reason other than that his luck finally shifted, all that changed, and it has stayed changed. Nobody in the NBA is more universally beloved and appreciated than Dirk Nowitzki, now that his career is almost done. But 32 is too old for a basketball player to become famous and – unlike the rest of us, of course – he has since become older still.

Still, it might not have happened at all. It certainly didn’t look like it could when the series started – this was Mavs-Heat II, of course, but this was the mutant, Monstars version of what they had once been. It certainly didn’t look like it as the waning minutes of Game 2 ticked down, under the tense gaze of a scoreboard that showed a 15-point deficit, with a Game 1 loss already in the books. It certainly hadn’t looked possible before Game 2, when the Mavericks announced that, in addition to the loss of the game, Dirk would thereafter be suffering through a torn ligament in his left hand and a hundred degree fever. But it happened, starting with Game 2. The lead vanished. And with four seconds left, Dirk bounced right, rolled left, ducked between Chris Bosh and LeBron James, and hit a layup over Udonis Haslem with his broken left hand.

That night I said to myself the first time something I’ve told myself a hundred times since: sometimes, you have to hope even though there’s no reason to hope. And even when it isn’t safe to hope. And even though it hurts to hope. For the last three years I was caught in the waves of a brutal job market, never knowing where shore was. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think of giving up many times during that period, or that I think it ultimately worked out simply because I didn’t. But I wouldn’t have been able to make it through the worst times if I hadn’t been able to say to myself sometimes you have to be able to hope even when there is no reason to hope.

Reflecting on twenty plus years

I wanted to say something about a career that’s almost over. I don’t really know how. I want to say that if you just tuned in, in 2011, you were already too late. It’s not that Dirk in his early thirties wasn’t in some ways the best version of himself. The absolute best offensive players – and in my memory, only Dirk and LeBron have really gotten here – don’t beat you just by hitting impossible shots, they beat you with their complete mastery of the game. It’s a very hard thing to do, putting an entire team’s defense just where you want it, but that’s what they do, and did – they are planetary masses, shaping the gravity of the court, a higher basketball power. Nothing they do looks hard because they are where they want to be and you are where they want you to be.

That was certainly the Dirk who won the championship. Other than three-point percentage, nothing stands out about his 2011 numbers. Over his 145 playoff games, he averaged 25.3 and 10 while shooting .479/.892/.365, and in 2011 for the season it was 27.7 and 8.1 while shooting .488/.941/.460. But 32-year-old Dirk put the game in a cauldron and boiled all the fat off of it. Before you knew it, he’d have his back on you. If you jumped when he turned, he’d brush past you for a layup, and if you didn’t — and even most of the time when he did — he’d hit a jumpshot over you. And if you fouled him, he’d still make it, and hit the free throw. Simple as that.

But you can’t even imagine what Dirk used to be able to do. Even people who followed his entire career, as I did, can’t, anymore. I have this theory that we literally can’t help understanding a player’s entire career in terms of their current level of play. Kobe, who was at his worst an inefficient chucker hid how unbelievably deadly he had been by becoming more so over time — but resembling himself so much in the process that it was too hard to tell the difference. Dirk, too, is hiding behind himself. For one thing, people remember him, as they do all European players, as an outside shooting, light rebounding kind of big, but it’s just not true.

From 2003 until 2013, he took fewer than 23 percent of his shots from three every single year and all but three of those years, under 20 percent. He never averaged double-digit rebounds, but he grabbed 9.9 two years in a row, and believe me when I say that when it mattered, he was getting that board. In his one and only playoff matchup with Kevin Garnett, in 2002, he averaged over fifteen boards a game. When the Mavs beat Sacramento to make their first Western Conference Finals the next year, he grabbed 11, 12, 20, 11, 15, 12, and 19, then 15 in the first game against the Spurs — to go with 38 points on 10-of-19 shooting. Over his career, in playoff elimination games, he averaged 27.6 and 10.9.

Go watch a YouTube video some time — even those of us who remember, forget.

But I also want to say — as strongly as I can — that it doesn’t really matter. One half of a player’s career faces outwards, to the world. Do what you want with that part, I can’t stop you. But the other half faces in, towards those of us who were part of it. When a player matters to you, you own a little part of their career, and it becomes a part of your own story. For Dirk and Dallas, for those of us of a certain age, that’s more true than it’s been for almost anybody in the history of sports.

Every other character in the Dallas sports scene over the last 20 years has a bit part, compared to Dirk, and certainly nobody has 20 years. Tony Romo was the main QB of the Cowboys for about eight seasons, which is how long Adrian Beltre has manned third base for the Rangers. And it’s how long the JET was our shooting guard, before moving on. Twenty years. I was 13 when he showed up, all legs and elbows, and I am 33 now. Forgetting Dirk Nowitzki, after this season, after ten more seasons, after as many as I breathe air on this earth, would be like forgetting my own life. Do what you want, with the part you have. For me, I can see it all at once, like that long, dim corridor the players come out of, stretching backwards into shadows we cannot see. I see him coming out of that tunnel, at 20, 25, 30, 35, with different haircuts, a slowly dissolving gait. Maybe he will come out of it 80 more times.

Knowing how to live

It’s not enough, and it is. What I want you to know is that there will come a time, believe me, when you will wish everything had lasted longer. There will even come a time, not long now, when you begin to feel it while it’s happening. You will lose your youth, and some of those you love, and many more of those you love will be very far away. You will never have enough conversations with your parents, or your spouse, or your siblings. Some days, every minute I spend with my wife I think that I could never get enough of this, but time won’t stop passing. My heart could burst with it. It won’t stop being true. If “growing up” means anything at all it means finding the courage to go on, knowing how much will end, how soon. It’s a skill no one gains gladly.

But when that time comes you will know how to live, most days, with what has happened, as if it were enough. I could wish that I were in the middle of Dirk’s career, with ten productive years to go, and I also can’t live with the thought that they’d go any other way. I wish he had more rings, which easily could have happened, and he could easily have gone without having any at all.

I wish more people knew him, faster, but they know him now. He meant things to me no other player ever will — if I am less involved in basketball than I was seven years ago, and I am, it is at least 90 percent because I know that no sporting event could ever again make me as happy as Dirk Nowitzki getting the ring he deserved, in the most improbable fashion, against the most improbable team.

All I can wish, then, is that you will have, from sports, at least the bright days I have already had. Life is cruel, some stories will not end well, or will be too short — perhaps even yours, and certainly many around you. Some people are born at the end of an age, expecting the stability their parents enjoyed. I have already lost many friends, and relatives, and loved ones. I will lose many more. And all of us, if we live, outlive our strength. But maybe you don’t need a second chance when the first one was so beautiful.

This is the long goodbye. So is every day of your entire life, and this matters a lot less. But it mattered to me, and it’s a part of me, and that’s enough. I am lucky I grew up with Dirk Nowitzki, and it won’t ever have been any other way. It never won’t feel cruel, in some ways at least, to wake up where you are, and not where you were, whole landscapes of time suddenly stretching out beyond you. Because we want to hold on to some things forever. Because what we lose in time is truly lost, but we always feel like we just had it in our hands. Because we always think it will stay where we put it, that we will find it again if we just look where we remember it was.

In the end, the two things we can’t change are the past and what the past has done to us. What we have, we have paid for, one way or another. In this case, for Dirk, it was the hours and days in the gyms, for me the days and decades of hoping against hope and mostly losing. We are all sadder than we used to be, but maybe tougher, too. We are hopefully wiser, and everything leaves its marks on our skin. We are heavy with time, or we are growing heavier, and there is no other way it could be. What we own that no one can see — that’s what no one can take.

I am ready to watch Dirk play what is likely the last season of his career, as I never thought I would be. He is safe, his story already has a happy ending, and that part of my life, therefore, does too. We have held on to each other as long as we can, and it has been enough. Other things, I will never let go, until time pries the fingers from my hand. Some things you should never lose gracefully. And sometimes you have to hope, when there is no reason to hope. Either way, there is nothing we can do but keep jogging out of the tunnel until our time is up. We can live with that, and I can live with this. Ready or not, here it comes.

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