#the engineers...not exactly the same but an inbetween

[dcggone]

i think ill taking an office position at this philosophy club i joined at school. i say that knowing the workload ive already taken on is daunting and a wee bit scary

[samdeancass]

Movie Night

Requested by: Anonymous

Pairing: Isaac x reader

Genre: Fluff, slight smut

Characters: Y/N, Isaac, Scott, Stiles, Kira, Lydia

Description: The pack are having a movie night so Y/N and Isaac decide to take this opportunity to get as close to each other as possible.

The ringing from the school bell awoke you from your daydreaming, startling you a little. Your mind had been a little preoccupied with something all day, or rather someone. Isaac. You and him had gotten together a few months ago after you both bumped into each other in the hallway and you had been inseperable ever since. Well, apart from the last couple of weeks anyway. He had been busy helping Scott and the others with the Alpha pack and you had been busy studying for the finals. You hadn't seen each other properly for weeks, which was why you were so excited for the nights events. The pack was having a movie night, so you and Isaac both decided to make the most of this opportunity.

You stood up, gathered your belongings and rushed out of the classroom, eager to find Isaac. As you walked out of the front doors, you spotted Isaac leaning against the front of his bike talking to Scott. You made your way towards Isaac, excitement slowly creeping up your body. Isaac looked past Scott and spotted you walking towards him, causing a large smile to creep up onto his face. Scott noticed this smile and immediately knew what the cause of it was. He waved goodbye to Isaac and made his way to his own bike, leaving you and Isaac alone.

You dropped your books and bag onto the ground and engulfed Isaac into a hug, wrapping your arms tightly around his neck. You could hear Isaac inhaling your scent and smiled a little, knowing how much he loved your signature scent. Isaac wrapped his arms tightly around your waist in response. "I've missed you so much, Y/N." You leaned back and planted a deep, loving kiss onto his lips. You both melted into the kiss and forgot about the world around you until the sound of a horn blaring broke you two apart.

"Get a room you two!" Stiles leaned out of his window and flashed a cheeky smile at you both, earning a low growl from Isaac just loud enough for Stiles to hear. He rolled up his window quickly and carried on driving out of the parking lot before Isaac hit him. You chuckled at Stiles' response and picked up your bag and books from the floor before getting onto the back of Isaac's bike. You wrapped your hands around his waist and braced yourself for the rumble of the bikes engine before you took off.

Later on, after dropping off your bag and books at your house, you both made your way to Scott's house where the rest of the pack were situated for the movie night. You and Isaac were sitting together on the couch. His arm was wrapped around you whilst your legs were resting on his. You rolled your eyes at the childish rantings of Scott and Stiles over which movie to watch. You looked over at Kira and Lydia who had the exact same reaction as you.

"You still haven't watched Star Wars?! We are watching that!" Scott threw his hands up into the air in defeat and shook his head in disbelief. "What about the girls? I'm sure they dont wanna watch it!" Stiles looked over at you for a reaction. You shrugged your shoulders, indicating that you didnt really mind. "I've watched them all, so I'm not really bothered." Stiles looks to Kira and Lydia to back him up. Lydia made a disgusted face. "It's really not my sort of movie, Stiles. I'm sure Kira feels the same way." Kira nodded in response, earning a smile from Scott. "FINE! We'll watch one of those soppy, romantic films. But I swear one of these days, Scott, you will watch Star Wars."

You all cheered as a movie was finally put on and you all settled down in your respective places. Scott was sitting inbetween Kiras legs, whilst she was messing with his hair. Stiles and Lydia were sitting next to each other with Stiles trying to wrap his arm around Lydia, but ultimately failing. You had moved from your previous position and had settled yourself on Isaac's lap, with your arms wrapped around his neck.

Whilst watching the movie, Isaac's hand had moved from the back of the couch to your waist, absentmindedly tickling the skin hidden underneath your top. Shivers were sent up and down your spine as Isaac's fingers moved further and further under your top. Isaac noticed this and sniggered to himself, deciding to take things up a notch. His head leaned down to your neck and his lips attached themselves to the sweet spot on your neck. You tried your best to keep your concentration on the movie and not make any noise, but it was proving very difficult.

You soon realised what Isaac was doing and decided to play your own little game with him. As he was kissing further and further down your neck, your hands slid down his torso and made their way to the top of his pants. You head his breath hitch as your hand brushed across his clothed package and he decided to pick up the pace. His hands travelled down your body, causing goosebumps to rise on your skin. You tried your best to resist what he was doing, but it proved very difficult. You maneuvered yourself slightly and dragged Isaac's head down to yours, lips attaching to his. Tongues fought for dominance for a while, until Isaac won. You both hungrily kissed each other, forgetting the present company in the room with you. Everyone's attention was now on you two instead of the movie, chuckling and giggling slightly. Stiles cleared his throat loudly, causing you and Isaac to jump apart.

Red creeped up into your cheeks as you realised just exactly what had happened. A smile creeped onto Isaac's face as you hid your head in Isaac's arms. "You guys were putting on quite the show there. Are you sure you dint want to get a room now?" Stiles grinned mischeaviously at the both of you, earning a look of disapproval from Lydia who whacked him on the back of the head.

Isaac stood up from the couch, lifting you with him, and walked up the stairs. He looked back at the pack and wiggled his eyebrows, earning a roar of laughter to come fro, behind you. You smiled into Isaac's arms as you were both finally going to get much needed alone time.

[incorrectshantaequotes]

Shantae Headcanons - Risky Boots + Barons

Time for more headcanons! For this batch of headcanons, I’ll be covering Risky Boots, Ammo Baron, Techno Baron, Squid Baron, Hypno Baron, and Armor Baron. Once again, this is long, so I’ll keep it under a read more.

Risky Boots

There isn’t actually anyone who knows Risky Boots’ full story, aside from the Pirate Master, the Tinkerbats, and Risky herself. The effect dark magic has had on her appearance, the name “Risky Boots” most likely being some kind of alias, and a lack of friends and acquaintances make it hard to get a read on just what her deal is. Making it even harder is that Risky is oddly protective of her past - there have been researchers aplenty trying to track down Risky’s history, only to disappear without warning and without a trace...rather unnervingly unlike Risky. The most anyone’s managed to figure out is that she started making an appearance on the Pirate Master’s crew in her late teens after his first raid to make headlines - an island housing a good portion of Sequin Land’s nobility - meaning she most likely hailed from there. Exactly what kind of position she was before then is up in the air, however. One of the oppressed peasants who wanted to get back at the nobles? A noble herself, fallen from grace and seeking revenge? Somewhere inbetween? No one knows, and anyone who’s tried to do research on any of those routes has ended up disappearing, so no one dares to ask.

The reason Risky’s aging has been slowed is actually not because of dark magic, but rather because of pixie magic (more on them in another headcanon post). She found the spell early on when she began her reign on the seven seas, and since then has been sure to reapply it to herself constantly so the residual dark magic in her captain’s old gear doesn’t degrade her appearance further. It...hasn’t actually brought it to a complete stop - just really slowed it down - but that’s enough for Risky. If she hadn’t been using the spell this whole time, she’d look more like a zombie than anything. The side-effect of keeping her in her prime is just a bonus.

Before she claimed control over the Pirate Master’s crew and declared herself their captain, Risky did this at the funeral they held for the Pirate Master.

Risky actually wore more conservative clothing before she became captain. Afterwards, however, she switched to her current, more risque (heh) outfit to ensure that her enemy’s attention would always be on one of two things: Risky herself...or her captain’s bare skull.

Ammo Baron

Ammo Baron is actually the one baron who earned his title in a legitimate way before he became who he is today: he was a former commander in Sequin Land’s armed forces, but was discharged for his needlessly aggressive tactics and egomaniacal behavior. This proved to be a mistake, however, as Ammo Baron used his charisma to convince other soldiers to defect with him when he was discharged, then gathered enough soldiers and resources (possibly with the help of some magical artifacts here and there) to form the formidable Ammonian Army - easily the biggest threat to Sequin Land outside of Risky Boots.

The longest he has ever gone on with an explosion onomatopoeia is one minute. Twitch and Vinegar timed it. He would’ve gone on further, too, if he didn’t notice them and get distracted.

Techno Baron

The one baron who doesn’t deal with magic, period - he gained his associations with the barons due to his long-reaching underground businesses. Because, as everyone knows, the only thing worse than someone who lies and manipulates people to get their hands on magical artifacts, is a capitalist.

Techno Baron’s technology is reverse-engineered (and then some) from siren technology. There was more than one siren colony, after all; the one at Siren Island was just the biggest. To be more specific, he found the tech as a hatchling in the ruins of a freshwater siren colony near his home, which he learned from to eventually create his own tech.

Squid Baron

The funny little meta comments about Squid Baron exploding and coming back repeatedly, as well as other various fourth wall breaks? Those aren’t just jokes for the player to laugh at. As will be explained in another headcanon post, Warp Squids and the Heart Squid subspecies have a natural ability to come back from the dead, and Squid Baron is no exception. However, the way that ability normally works is tied to their teleportation magic...which Squid Baron lacks. As a result, his resurrections are off. As in, he’s completely aware of the process between death and his subsequent resurrection, when it should just be like a pleasant little nap with seemingly no time passing between the two events. This has resulted in Squid Baron being aware of things his mortal eyes were not supposed to see, and this awareness leaks onto others when they talk with him. He’s taken it all surprisingly well, all things considered.

Hypno Baron

So, before I go into this, full credit to @squidbaron for this idea. Like, it isn’t exactly the same as theirs, but when I read the tag in which the idea was proposed, it stuck in my subconscious, and later popped into my mind when I was thinking about Hypno Baron...albeit without the name attached. Thankfully, I was reminded where I got the idea from when I was scrolling through their posts before I committed accidental plagiarism, so...yeah! Go give them a follow; they’re not that active, but when they are, they reblog good Shantae content.

Hypno Baron was originally a Relic Hunter, like Mimic and Sky’s dad, but ended up stumbling upon a cursed artifact and got hit by it, turning him into his current, wraith-like form and driving him mad. He did manage to fight off the madness, but, as he learned after his recovery, it took months to fight off - and during that time, he’d established himself as a powerful and wicked mage building up a wealth of magical artifacts for unknown (but probably malevolent) purposes, earning him the title of and causing him to be associated with the barons. Realizing that there wasn’t really a plausible way to go back to his old life due to his actions under the influence of the curse, he decided to maintain the image of an evil sorcerer to discreetly keep the more dangerous artifacts out of the other baron’s hands...and also because the whole “evil wizard” thing is more fun than he’d like to admit.

Armor Baron

Originally the stealthiest and least known baron - something he held over his brother’s head (and the other barons) very, very smugly. In his mind, his reputation and discreetness was the best way to go about things. Sure, he was collecting artifacts more slowly than the others, but with their operations getting busted left and right by heroes such as Shantae, while his were completely under the radar, it ultimately meant he was getting more, so who was the real winner among them, hm? He could probably even take on that half-genie himself...! Unfortunately, everything crumpled when he saw Shantae and her friends on vacation while on an unrelated assignment and decided to prove how much better he could do to the other barons. The incident with Shantae and Sky was spread around by the two to make sure he didn’t try pulling the same trick again, inadvertently wrecking his reputation due to Shantae’s recent time in the spotlight. In the end, he had no choice but to turn to Ammo Baron, who’s accepted him with open arms...and a very menacing grin to go along with it.

[taltos-seidmadr]

Okay so I just happened to be working on two playlists that had nothing to do with each other but coincidentally their common aesthetic was “unhinged“. And then suddenly, at a moment’s notice, a god more ancient than pagan beamed an understanding into my brain in a matter of something like 10 seconds and my third eye just opened so wide that it fell right out of my skull. NONE of you are ready for the forbidden knowledge that I’m about to unleash

I would like to point out that a). what one’s definition of “unhinged“ is, is a personal metric that is not only very subjective but doesn’t need to be made objective, and b). the names are just meant to be taken as examples, they are obviously limited to music that I could think of off the top of my head, and c). regardless of a) and b) the spectrum itself in essence is still factually accurate and transcends musical genres or personal tastes

Why yes, thank you for asking, I actually DO have a playlist with examples to illustrate my point, MOREOVER even working on an extended edition of the playlist where I welcome your recommendations of music that you consider to be unhinged.

A little bit more wordy explanation of my playlist under the cut.

First, the purest forms:

St. Anger by Metallica (I meant the whole album, but the titular song is as good as any) a good example of Vaporwave that I could find Elddansurin by Heilung (pretty much anything from Heilung, but this particular song is both short enough to prove the point succinctly and fucks)

I don’t have a lot to say about these, listen into them for a few seconds and you will get a good idea what each tip of the triangle really means.

The 50/50 forms:

Sexy + angry: Engin Miskunn [No Mercy] by Hatari Their perfectly balanced nature is heightened by the complementary duality of their vocals - Hatari is like a two-headed monster whose one head is trying to seduce you and the other is very, very angry. Though, that can also be seductive in it’s own way, if that’s your thing, I’m not judging. Hatari would certainly agree from what I would know. Their entire oeuvre is kinda like this, so here’s a fresh and sexy sexy song by them that, indeed, mercilessly slaps.

Angry + c̵͓̗̿͘u̶͈̾̍R̸̪̔͠s̸̖͙̀e̶̺͖̓d̴̦͂̎?̶̥͂͋ͅ,̷̟̀,: Good God by KoRn KoRn has always been famous for doing their extremely unhinged own thing, especially in their early days. This is not even their most unhinged song from the album that this song comes from, but i felt like this is a good intersection between accessible + illustrating the point.

Sexy + c̵͓̗̿͘u̶͈̾̍R̸̪̔͠s̸̖͙̀e̶̺͖̓d̴̦͂̎?̶̥͂͋ͅ,̷̟̀,: Грустная Сука [Sad Bitch] by IC3PEAK If you don’t know them already, allow me to introduce you to absolute embodiment of Feral Big Dick Energy music of IC3PEAK. This is their most famous banger but literally everything that they make sounds like this.

Perfectly balanced, master of the three elements, the avatar themselves:

Blue Mark by Altan Urag Exactly what it says on the tin tbh. I want to add that technically any combination of modern music genre + leaning into a folk music aspect in a feral way + strange vocalizations/instruments could fit this bill, but there is something specifically about Mongolian metal that makes me instantly regress into the genetic memory of an 1200 year old ancestor who was still backwards-riding a horse on the Eurasian steppes as a nomad warrior. So here’s a little Altan Urag. If you think Apocalyptica is cool, you will like this A LOT.

Mixed forms:

Crucify Me feat. Lights by Bring Me The Horizon 60% angry, 40% sexy I had to ask for the expertise of my sister on this, who literally grew up on screamo. Based on my limited experience, I think the cursed aesthetic is missing from this genre entirely by definition, though there might be some variation to that.

Holidays In The Sun by Sex Pistols 85% angry, 15% sexy The spiritual great-uncle of screamo, this genre is an almost pure manifestation of angry unhinged, but as opposed to early Slipknot, with more of a slight sexy streak.

Human Behaviour by Björk 90% sexy, 10% c̵͓̗̿͘u̶͈̾̍R̸̪̔͠s̸̖͙̀e̶̺͖̓d̴̦͂̎?̶̥͂͋ͅ,̷̟̀ For me personally, Björk plucks the blurred line between “normal“ and “unhinged“ like the string of a harp, just being a tiny little bit off-kilter enough to be categorized as such, which in itself ads an uncanny aura to her otherwise whimsical music.

Székely keserves [Transylvanian Lament] by Kodály Zoltán 80% sexy, 20% c̵͓̗̿͘u̶͈̾̍R̸̪̔͠s̸̖͙̀e̶̺͖̓d̴̦͂̎?̶̥͂͋ͅ,̷̟̀ Kodály is a Hungarian neoclassical composer. Not everything he wrote is like this, but he can lean into the cursedness surprisingly hard if the topic/emotion demands. Please enjoy his unhinged interpretation of a miserable folk song.

Very different genre, but same sexy to cursed ratio: Too late, all gone by How To Destroy Angels

I admit that I have zero idea who the big names are in contemporary jazz but I added the first thing that sounded similar enough to what I imagined in my head. Since fluidity and going off the rails is a big staple of jazz, I think the whole genre deserves the honor. Depending on song and performance I would rate it on average about 50+% sexy, ~30-40% cursed and up to ~15% angry.

What You Believe by Jonathan Davis  20% angry, 40% sexy, 40% c̵͓̗̿͘u̶͈̾̍R̸̪̔͠s̸̖͙̀e̶̺͖̓d̴̦͂̎?̶̥͂͋ͅ,̷̟̀ This is such an interesting example because the chorus is completely unironically normal but the verses inbetween are just so cursed in a peculiar way, making the song overall both extremely strange and SUPER catchy at the same time. To the point you’re almost feeling like you’re being somehow subliminally manipulated. Just don’t worry about it mate. Everything’s fine. It slaps.

Closer (Deviation) by Nine Inch Nails Not everything that they make would I consider unhinged, but Trent Reznor has a great flare to inject music with electronic effects that sound kinda bizarre, putting his work somewhere in the direction of ~30% angry, ~50% sexy and up to 20% cursed on average. I added the most unhinged song that I could think of, and possibly one of the most unhinged songs ever made. 50% sexy, 50% cursed and 120% gnawing on the walls levels of sexually frustrated. Very NSFW.

Bitches by Mindless Self Indulgence 30% angry, 30% sexy, 40% c̵͓̗̿͘u̶͈̾̍R̸̪̔͠s̸̖͙̀e̶̺͖̓d̴̦͂̎?̶̥͂͋ͅ,̷̟̀ MSI, within this spectrum at least, is almost exactly the same as Nine Inch Nails except that they are way more cursed leaning. They are also a pretty good illustration for the point that sexual topics and “sexy” unhinged as an aesthetic are two completely different things. NSFW.

Apex Predator by Otep 60% angry, 30% sexy, 10% c̵͓̗̿͘u̶͈̾̍R̸̪̔͠s̸̖͙̀e̶̺͖̓d̴̦͂̎?̶̥͂͋ͅ,̷̟̀ I don’t have a lot to add about this, but if you wanna hear a truly unhinged woman lead a band, then you’re going to have a field day with Otep. Enjoy to your heart’s content. 

My Plague by Slipknot 85% angry, 15% c̵͓̗̿͘u̶͈̾̍R̸̪̔͠s̸̖͙̀e̶̺͖̓d̴̦͂̎?̶̥͂͋ͅ,̷̟̀ When Slipknot first entered the scene, I heard a lot of metalheads turn their noses up at their work for not being “heavy enough(?)“ whatever that even means, but I think that their earliest stuff is bravely unhinged in a way that seems entirely unique to them. Kinda like the sloppiest, dirtiest of punk, but in an intentionally unappealing, even disgusting manner. Early Slipknot shamelessly embraces the filth and that earns my respect, in a way (their later stuff unfortunately lost this quality but they still write good songs, I think?) You could listen to literally anything from their first album Iowa to get my point but to be seasonaI, I added a #quarantine mood to the playlist.

So that would conclude my introductory 101 tedward talk about unhinged music that literally nobody asked for but hopefully got you acquainted with some new music and/or ideas that you have never heard before!

[kileyrose-2003]

Rose the Hat x Fem! Reader

A/N: This imagine is for @chilling-agents-of-deanoru I'm sorry it took me so long to write. I struggled with the ending and I got really busy with Theatre rehearsals. I hope you enjoy.

You weren't supposed to be turned but you were. You had Rose to thank for that. She saved you from one of the brothels that served as an underground ring for slavery in the slums of Ireland a few hundred years ago.

You were a petite and pretty little thing when she first met you and she loved that about you. You were a little skittish at first but the way you looked at her, spoke to her, it warmed her soul. It was hard for people not to like you or want to protect you.

Rose especially, was extremely protective of you. Everywhere you went she had an arm slipped around your waist or placed a subtle kiss on your cheek. Cold nights she'd hold you close to her as if you would disappear if she didn't. Friendship eventually turned to a relationship and you were her anchor. You were her Y/n and she wanted everyone to know it.

It pissed some of the others off to no end particularly, Crow Daddy didn't like it at all. It wasn't that he was jealous of the relationship you had with Rose because he had a very unique one of his own with her, he just didn't like all the attention she gave you. He found it quite odd and honestly it was starting to annoy you.

You could remember the first the first time you mentioned something to her about it. It was a quiet Saturday morning in Upstate New York and the True Knot were currently spending the morning relaxing and meditating, hoping they'd find some nearby steam.

Rose was lounging on the top of her RV with Crow, her mandala printed pillows supporting her back. "Find anything?" Rose let out a tiny huff. "You ever think if you didn't talk to me while I was up here I would find something?"

"Sorry, sorry." Crow muttered and stood up. "It's fine. Anybody see where Y/n went?" Rose hummed. "I sent her out grocery shopping this morning."

Rose snapped her head in his direction. "Why?" He looked taken aback. "Because Grampa Flick wanted burgers and we needed food.." She rolled her eyes. "I tell her where she goes. Not you. You don't send her anywhere."

They heard the crunching of leaves and Rose's Old Jeep pulled up, engine roaring and soft music playing. "Speaking of the devil.."

Rose glared at him and climbed down the ladder of her RV. You turned to look at your long time girlfriend and smiled. "Hi honey."

"Do you know how much of a heart attack you could of given me?! I thought you were sleeping."

You nearly dropped the groceries. "I-i was and then I got up and we needed food so I-"

"We absolutely do not need to eat that rube shit they call food. I send you places. He-" She pointed to Crow Daddy. "Does not. Do not ever do that again understand?"

You stared at her for a few moments before nodding. "Okay, sorry Rosie." She angrily kissed your cheek, nearly nipping it. "It's fine." She turned her attention back to Crow Daddy and you took it upon yourself to bring the groceries in the Earth Cruiser. The sounds of her mini meltdown fading away. This was something you'd grown used to over time though and learned to live with. Rose was never a happy woman when she was angry.

After a couple of minutes Rose came inside and plopped down on her sofa, rubbing her hands on her face. You kept quiet until she finally semi cooled down. "Y/n/n, baby?"

"Yes, Rose?" You kept your head down. "Come here." She opened her arms up to you and you settled yourself down next to her.

Rose pulled you inbetween her legs, setting her head on your one shoulder and held you tight. Peppering your face in kiss after kiss. "My Y/n.." You could feel her grip tightening and you relaxed, just treasuring the silence for a few minutes.

After a couple of minutes you finally found the courage to speak up. "Rose are you mad at me?" You asked softly. "No honey, I'm just mad at Crow. He should know better."

"You don't think that was a little unnecessary to yell at him?" She laughed. "No baby, I don't..why, do you?" You wouldn't respond and Rose sighed.

She kissed your cheeks. "I just worry about you Y/n...because you're so sweet to people and others take advantage of it and it's not exactly a secret the kids haven't been as steamy and if something ever happened to you I'd never forgive myself."

"Rose, nothing bad is going to happen to me. I promise. I can handle myself and Crow wouldn't do anything to me." She shook her head. "Don't promise me something you can't keep and assume things you can't tell..you remember what would of happened if I got to you a day later right?"

"Yeah I know..I know." You muttered and nuzzled closely to her. She held you tight and kissed your cheeks. "I love you so so much Y/n..I already told Crow but I'm telling you now, it's only going to get worse. So I just want to protect you, okay?" You nodded and kissed her cheeks. "Okay Rosie." And Rose was right. It only did get worse.

The True was getting sick and you were feeling the starvation running through the tribe as a whole and Rose had only gotten crazier.

She grew more clingy as time went on and her touch slowly began to turn more rough, almost borderline on hurting you at times even if it was accidental. She was at the end of her rope and you were at yours. You still loved her with every piece of your being but it was hard somedays. Your screaming matches were rough and always ended with one of you in tears.

She wasn't the same as when you met her and sometimes you had to fake a smile and force a laugh just to try and make it through the day because you knew if she seen your true emotions it would only fuel Rose more.

You were currently in Rose's RV laying with your head in her lap as she talked to Crow Daddy as they tried to figure out what to do with caravan and who was going.

"So how long are we mourning Flick again?" Crow Daddy asked. He had his hat off, showing all the grays in his hair. He looked tired. You all were tired.

"Two days and I haven't even picked where we're burying his clothes." She got tears in her eyes and quickly wiped them away, running her fingers through your hair. "You're leaving Thursday night, correct?"

"Yeah, I am." You reached your hand up to hold Rose's hand, feeling her anxiety. She eagerly squeezed it and looked back at Crow. "Who are you bringing? Name them off."

"Now you see, that's what I wanted to talk to you about." You sat up, still holding Rose's hand. You already knew what he was going to ask and you both expected it to be a fight.

Rose tensed and wrapped her arms around your waist. "I was wondering if I could take Y/n-"

"Absolutely not." Rose strengthened her force around you. "Rosie, you know I would never ask if I didn't think it was necessary." Crow tried to reason. "I don't care. I won't let you have her. She's mine." Her voice started to rise in volume and emotion. She accidentally scratched your waist and you winced. "Rose-" You said softly. "Quiet Y/n!"

"Rose I'm going to need back up just in case Andi can't persuade the kid and that's if the kid doesn't have any parlor tricks up her sleeves too."

"If I can't go then she can't go. End of discussion." Rose said firmly. "..I actually told him I would go with."

Rose's grip loosened and she looked at you like you were insane. "What the fuck did you just say to me."

"You heard me. I told him I would go with him." Rose's face turned beat red. "You have no fucking authority to make that decision. You are mine." The words were like venom.

"Rosie, you're not going to be able to protect me all the time. The True needs me. I have to-"

"I need you. Do you fucking understand that? Because if something happens to them I can't be by myself."

"Rose do you know how selfish that sounds?" You tried to push yourself out of her grip. "Are you telling me you're okay with dying and just leaving me?!"

"It's not that it's just..look, I can't be tactful about this anymore. If you being safe means I die in the process, I'm perfectly okay with that."

Rose looked mad. More mad than you ever seen her. She turned to Crow Daddy and furrowed her brows. "This is all your fucking fault. You turned her against me!"

"Rose this has nothing to do with him and you know it. Look, I can't take it anymore!" Now it was your turn to raise your voice and Rose looked taken aback.

"I can't handle this anymore. You're driving me insane. I can handle myself. They need me. I'm only one person. You have to share me with them. Why are you being such a bitch?!"

She said nothing at first but you knew you crossed the line"..Fine. Go with him. I don't care but if you end up coming back don't expect for our relationship to be the same."

"Rosie-" You felt tears in your eyes threatening to flood. "Don't you fucking cry to me Y/n. I don't care anymore. I'm done. Now get the hell out. Both of you. I hope you're both proud of yourself."

Crow Daddy rolled his eyes into the back of his head and helped you off her bed. "Come on Y/n." You turned to look at Rose, still upset and surprised by her cold nature and left the RV with Crow.

"I got to admit Y/n..I never thought you'd have the nerve to stick up to her." He was smiling a little bit. "Yeah.." You mumbled softly. He noticed this and looked at you. "You okay Y/n?"

"I.." You broke down in tears and he patted your back. "I feel like such a bitch and so ungrateful. If I didn't have her I wouldn't be who I am now! I feel like it's a mistake.."

"I know..I know but you did the right thing. Whether she realizes that now or later. She did the same shit to me at one point too. It will all work out though. I wouldn't lie to you about that." You nodded and wiped your eyes. "Okay..okay." You tried to calm yourself down a little bit. "Come on, let's get you all ready to go."

Meanwhile Rose was watching the two of you out of her RV window. "Better hope it is the right thing Crow Daddy because if anything happens to her you're a fucking dead man.." She growled, tears flooding down her pale cheeks and staining her skin.

Two days later Crow Daddy was most definitely a dead man in Rose's in eyes. The bitch child tricked you all but Crow got her at a large price.

"I'll protect her, you said. Well did you end up fucking protecting her, huh?" She stormed up to him, getting ready to take a swing at Crow Daddy who just got back from his mission.

"Rosie I couldn't control if the little girl-" She interrupted him. "Don't give me fucking excuses. Where is she?"

"Passenger seat." He choked out the words. Rose opened the door and stared at the one thing remaining of you. Your pile of clothes and a ring she bought for you shortly after leaving Ireland with her. A symbolic promise she'd always be there to protect you.

Rose put her hand over her mouth and gently lifted up the pile, almost cradling it in her arms. "I didn't think she still even had it.." She held the ring in her hand.

"She loved you Rosie..she wanted you to have it. You deserved that much at least." She started sobbing and buried her face in the area right around where you chest would of been. The loss finally hitting her.

"Oh god.." He rubbed her back. "She's dead! She's dead and I'm never going to forgive myself." She screamed, finally releasing all that pent up emotion.

Crow Daddy frowned. "It's not your fault Rose. Either way the outcome was going to be the same. Providence always rules in the way of The True rather then the Rubes, even if that means it's not exactly the best outcome everytime."

Rose just ignore him. She was just so distraught. "What am I going to do Crow?" He sighed and wrapped his arms around her.

"I don't know Rosie." He looked down at your pile of clothes. "We should give what's left of her at least a proper burial though."

"Yeah.." Rose nodded and carefully handed him over your pile clothes as if it a newborn baby. "I want this though."

She held the tiny ring that once lay on your ring finger in her hands. "My little piece of her I can hold forever even if she's not physically here." She kissed the piece of jewelry and slid it on her finger.

"That's fine Rose." He squeezed her shoulder for a brief second then walked off to go find the traditional white linen all members of The True got when they even cycled away.

Rose wiped her face off and walked back to her RV. Plopping down on her bed as soon as she could.

She held her hand up in the air, staring at the ring and just thinking about you and all the good times you had together. No one could ever replace you. Not even Crow.

"I love you Y/n." She hummed softly out loud and suddenly she felt a warm press of air go past her followed by slight pressure on her hand.

(I love you too.)

She turned to look at where you would of laid on the bed and smiled when she seen the light of a shadow.

(Stay with me?)

She felt a kiss being pressed to her cheek.

(Always.)

[hollyxqx]

just business  // shownu  //  03

↪ PAIRING: Reader / Shownu ↪ SUMMARY: Y/N’s mysterious new neighbour has definitely caught your eye. He’s quiet but the two of strike up an unlikely friendship. He doesn’t speak about his work to you and you don’t ask, but when his job puts your life in danger questions have to be answered once and for all.

↪ WARNINGS: hurt/angst/violence/guns/more shameless sex

ONE | TWO | THREE | FOUR | FIVE | SIX | SEVEN | EIGHT | NINE

Work turned out worse than you expected it to be. Not only was Kihyun actively ignoring you, the bar was also very busy. It was a Saturday night which was peak trading hours for you, meaning even if you wanted to talk to him you weren't able to. It did however make your shift fly by and before long you were sending staff home, ready to shut the bar down for the night.

You didn't expect Kihyun to give you a lift, seeing as he was pissed at you so you took your phone out ready to phone a taxi. "Bye, Y/N!" One of your bar staff, Holly waved at you as she walked by on her way out.

"Wait, Holly - " You shouted and she stopped. "Is Kihyun here?"

"In the back." She replied. You didn't say anything, hoping this would be your chance to corner him. "Is that everything?" Holly added.

You gave her an appreciative smile. "Yeah, thanks. And thanks for tonight. Have a good night!" She waved bye and left out the back door that staff used. Standing up, you made your way to the back room where the staff kept their belongings intending to find Kihyun. As Holly had said he was in there shrugging into his jacket. "Kihyun." You said softly and he turned at the sound of your voice. His blank, almost cold, expression made your heart sink.

"Do you need a lift home?" He asked, his voice sullen. You hadn't expected him to say that.

"Uh, no. I'm going to phone a taxi. I just wanted to talk to you." You said sheepishly.

"It's a Saturday night you'll wait ages for one." He muttered, zipping up his jacket. "I'll take you."

"You don't have to do that, Ki." You said quietly.

"I'm mad at you but I'm not heartless. I still want you to get home safely."

"Can we talk first?" You asked hopefully.

"I really don't feel like it, Y/N." He sighed. You didn't want to push him so you stayed silent. The two of you gathered the rest of things and walked outside to his car. He unlocked the vehicle and you climbed into the passenger seat, feeling a little awkward. You didn't want the drive back to be in stony silence. You hated that you'd hurt his feelings.

You drove for a few minutes in silence, the engine humming in the background. It was deafening to you. Unable to stand it any longer you spoke. "When do you think you'll stop hating me?" You asked. He let out a heavy sigh.

"I don't hate you, noona." He looked in the mirror as he merged lanes. "That's the problem." He muttered under his breath but you caught it.

"I still want to make it up to you." You said, deliberately not addressing his comment. "I meant that, you know."

He just gave you a somewhat forced, but slightly sad smile. The drive was silent until you reached your home. He parked on the street and you watched curiously as he cut the engine and the car fell silent. His remained in his seat looking straight ahead, one hand gripping the steering wheel. "Y/N, are you dating that man?" He asked suddenly.

"No," You answered. Where you dating Shownu? You were too lost in the thrill of it all to even think about that. Technically you had had one date but that hardly qualifies. He hadn't even asked for a second one. "I think it was just that one time." You admitted, suddenly feeling foolish.

"You deserve better than that." He mumbled.

"You're so sweet Ki." You said softly, touching his cheek affectionately.

"I mean it." He said. You found his sincerity endearing. This was the sweet kid you knew. "I was jealous this morning." He confessed. "Do you know why?" He asked and you shook your head. "I wanted to be the one you spent the night with." He let out a deep breath as if he was releasing the weight of his secret

"What are you trying to say?" You asked, feeling your heartbeat start to speed up.

"I think you know what I'm trying to say." He turned to look at you for the first time since you began this conversation, his face illuminate by the orange of the streetlight. His expression was serious. "I like you, Y/N. More than just friends, more than just co-workers."

"Kihyun." You sighed. Your voice felt far away.

"I'm sorry I got angry and spoke to you like that this morning," He admitted, his face softening. "But seeing you like that, no underwear, clearly fucked out...it did something to me." You blushed at his words, heat creeping up your face. He had noticed. He kept talking, somehow the more he confessed the easier it was to reveal his true feelings to you. "Noona, it should have been me. I want to spend all day with you, talking, laughing...I want to be the one to fuck you, make you cum. Make you feel good. Me."

"Kihyun!" Yours went wide at the dirty words that spilled from his mouth.

"I told you I'm not a kid." He smirked a little at your reaction. It was exactly what he wanted.

"I honestly don't know what to say," You breathed, anxiously fiddling with the sleeve of your jacket. Kihyun stayed silent watching you. "I'm your boss, I'm older than you...I think crossing that line would be a bad idea."

"What if I quit?" He asked. He'd joked about this so many times but you knew there was no humour in it this time.

"Don't be ridiculous." You scoffed. "Don't you dare be that stupid!"

"I just want to show you how serious I am." He shrugged. "Will you let me take you out then? Just once. Give me a chance before you reject me."

"I really don't think that's a good idea." You said quietly. It didn't feel good to turn him down. He was still your friend after all.

"That's it? No - just like that?" He asked. You noticed his knuckles turning white from his death grip on the steering wheel.

"I'm sorry." You couldn't look at him anymore, it was breaking your heart. He just nodded, jaw clenched. The air felt heavy now. "Thank you for taking me home." He didn't say anything, didn't even look at you, just waited patiently for you to get out his car. With a heavy heart you watched him drive off and hoped that this wasn't the end of your friendship.

***

Days turned into weeks and things with Kihyun were just not the same. You still saw him at work, that is on the days he hadn't swapped shifts to avoid you, but he kept any and all talking he needed to do to you at the bare minimum. He barely even looked at you anymore. As sad as it made you at least things with Shownu seemed to be progressing. He'd actually taken you out on real dates. It was a nice surprise to you at how well you got on with him.

"Are you working tomorrow?" Shownu asked as he held the door open for you. You were leaving a restaurant after another one of your proper dates.

"Nope, I'm off." You replied. You'd gone to a place close to the apartment building you shared, opting to walk there. He grabbed your hand, interlacing his fingers with yours. Holding hands was something he started doing recently and it made your heart swell every time he did it.

"Stay at mine tonight?" He asked. Your stomach flipped with excitement. It was the first time he'd invited you over to his.

"Okay." You said in a small voice. It didn't take long for the two of you to reach the apartment. Shownu led the way inside and pressed the call button for the lift. It arrive and he pushed you inside. "Can we stop by my place first, I need to get clothes for tomorrow."

"Okay." The doors shut and instantly his mouth was on yours. You kissed him back hungrily as he pushed you up against the cool metal wall of the elevator. His tongue dipping into your mouth, greedily devouring yours.

"I couldn't wait any longer." He whispered inbetween kisses. He fisted a hand into your hair and pulled, yanking your head back, exposing your neck to him. His head dipped down to the exposed flesh and he began to place wet kisses, stopping to suck and bite making you moan out loud. He guided your hand down to his clothed erection and you gasped feeling he was rock hard already. He wasn't joking about wanting you already. You rubbed him teasingly and he groaned into your skin.

The elevator stopped at your floor and he reluctantly let go of you. Taking your hand again he led you down the hallway. You almost crashed into him when he stopped suddenly. "Shownu, what's wrong?" You asked, but your question was answered when your eyes fell on your door. Your front door was ajar and you suddenly felt ice cold with fear. You were always so careful when it came to locking it.

"Wait here." He commanded, letting go of your hand. Your eyes widened when you saw him reach inside his jacket pocket and pulled out a gun. You didn't know he carried one. "Don't go anywhere." He said, giving you one last look before heading into your apartment. He flicked on the light and disappeared inside.

Your heart was in your throat, pulse rapid with adrenalin. It was quiet and your mind was racing. You stared at the open door almost expecting to hear gunshots any second. After what felt like years, Shownu appeared in the door way, his eyes were cold, expression one of steel. "It's empty." He informed you. "Are you sure you locked it?"

"100%." You said quietly. He sighed at the frightened look on your face.

"Grab some clothes, enough for a few days." He said, pulling you into a hug. "You're staying with me until we get the lock changed ok?"

You just nodded and followed him into your apartment. You did as he said and grabbed enough clothing to keep you going for a few days, shoving the items into a duffle bag. Shownu waited in the hallway for you, almost as if he was keeping watch. Once you were done the two of you headed to his place.

He let you in to his apartment, setting his keys down on a small table by the door. "I feel like this is my fault." He ran a frustrated hand through his hair. "Now that you're involved with me, you're a target too." He muttered.

"What do you mean?" You inquired, tilting your head to one side. As long as you'd know him he'd made similar sort of references but never elaborated.

"You know that there are people who want to hurt me right? Well these people might want to hurt you as a way of hurting me."

"Why do they want to hurt you?" You asked in a small voice.

"Because I have something that they want." He uttered darkly.

"What's that?"

He just shook his head. "The less you know the safer you are."

"You're still such a mystery to me, Shownu." You said, reaching up to cup his cheek. He closed his eyes at your touch and place a hand on yours.

"Y/N," He said quietly, opening his eyes once more. "I want you to know that even though I don't tell you everything, I've never and will never lie to you." You believed him. "I promise I'll keep you safe."

He pulled you into his arms and kissed you softly. "Let me keep you safe." He murmured against your lips, his kisses becoming rough and desperate now. "I promise." He repeated. You fell into him, fingers gripping at his chest. His hands dropped to your waist and pulled you close to him, making you whimper against his lips. Him revealing a more vulnerable side to you only made you want him more.

The kiss was quick to grow heated when suddenly Shownu picked you up, wrapping your legs around his waist. He carried you to his bedroom, mouth never leaving yours. He began undressing you, peeling off your clothing, throwing it to the floor. He looked at you with such desire in his eyes it made you shiver. Soon you were completely naked beneath him. He licked his lips at the sight. "You're so pretty, Y/N." He whispered and began kneading your breasts with his palms, occasionally catching a nipple between his fingers. You melted at his touch.

"Please take this off," You whined, tugging at his shirt. "I wanna feel you." He did as you asked, yanking the white cotton over his head. "And these." You said, wiggling his belt buckle.

He stood up, doing as you asked, getting completely naked as well. You reached for his dick and gave it a few strokes, causing him to groan, eyes fluttering closed. When you replaced your hands with your mouth, deep throating him straight away he swore out loud. You bobbed up and down his length, eyes starting to water. He gathered your hair in his hands, encouraging you. "Fuck, how did I get so lucky, huh?" He breathed looking down at you.

Without warning he pulled you off him. You looked up at him in surprise. "I wanna be inside you. If you kept that up I was gonna cum." He smiled. "Get on all fours for me, pretty girl." He instructed. Your stomach twisted with desire as you complied. Shownu kneeled on the bed behind you, running a finger down your slit. "Sucking my dick made you this wet?" He mused and you cried out when he pushed two fingers into you.

"Fuck Shownu - !" You gasped as he started to move them in and out of you. Your head fell and you gripped the sheets tightly.

"Fuck yourself against my fingers," He said. "Show me how much you want it." You moaned when he stopped moving and started to grind against his hand. You were losing yourself now, free hand flying down to your clit, lost in pleasure. "Fucking god." Shownu groaned watching you go. He couldn't handle it anymore and ripped his hand from you, quickly manoeuvring so his dick was pressing into your core. One swift move and he was buried inside you, hands gripping your ass cheeks tightly, spreading them so he can get deeper. You couldn't control the moans spilling from your lips. "Keep touching yourself." He growled as he began to thrust in and out of you.

"You feel amazing," You whined, rubbing faster. You weren't lying, he felt perfect, the way his body fit yours. You were tightening around him, orgasm rapidly approaching. "I'm gonna cum!" You squeezed your eyes shut, letting the waves over pleasure wash over you. He fucked you through it, slapping your ass, the sting intensifying your high.

He laid you down flat on the bed so that his chest was touching your back, hands underneath you holding him close. "Spread your legs for me." He whispered, hot breath in your ear and you did, giving him easier access. He began to fuck you hard, this new position giving him even more control. "Ugh, Y/N." He grunted. The sound of his skin slapping on yours filled the room as he drove into you relentlessly. You had fucked enough to know he was close.

All of a sudden he pulled out of you and flipped you over. "I wanna see you when I cum." He said huskily, voice thick with lust. He pushed himself into you again, staring deep into your eyes.

"Cum for me, Shownu." You whispered. "Show me how much you like fucking me."

He groaned at your words, immediately picking up the pace. His eyes never left yours as he peaked, spilling into you with a moan of your name. He collapsed on the bed next to you, breathing heavily. "You're too good to me, pretty girl." He said, giving you one of his rare smiles. He rolled onto his side and pulled you close. "I meant what I said, I'll keep you safe if you let me." he spoke softly.

You melted into his chest feeling safe and secure in his arms, like this was where you belonged, danger or not.

***

Weeks passed without another incident or break in and you were starting to feel a sense of normalcy with Shownu. Nothing was official, he hadn't asked you to be his girlfriend or anything but things were good. You enjoyed each others company. You were back in your apartment, the break in a distant memory. Shownu had ensured your door was fitted with a more secure lock and between that and the amount of time he spent there, you felt safe.

Kihyun had been particularly frosty with you after a tense incident when Shownu arrived to pick you up from work one night. It was clear to him that you and Shownu were together, whatever that meant, and he didn't like it.

You were alone tonight. As you'd come to expect, Kihyun swapped his shift leaving you to lock up alone. You were doing a once over on the bar, making sure everything was off. You were just about to lock the main door when it opened, a stranger boldly striding into the room. "Sorry sir, we're closed." You apologised.

The stranger didn't move. Cold, hard eyes bored into you. He wasn't very tall but he was very muscular. You noticed his broad shoulders and bulging arms almost instantly. "I'm only going to say this once," He spoke slowly but there was an underlying threatening tone to his voice. "Do what I say and I won't hurt you."

You froze, a wave of panic immobilising you. "What do you want?" Your voice escaped, barely above a whisper.

The stranger smirked. "You, princess." Your eyes flitted over to the open door the man had entered from. If you were quick could you make it in time? You'd have to run past him, and he could easily grab you. As if reading your mind he said "Don't even think about it, princess." chuckling darkly. He carefully reached into his jacket and you knew what was about to happen. The silver of a gun flashed before your eyes and he cocked it, pointing it at you, still smirking. "Now are you going to do this the hard way or my way?" He asked.

"I don't know what you want from me." You said, trying to stop your voice from shaking.

"I told you, I want you." He gestured with his gun at you and you flinched. "So be a good girl and come with me, I really don't want to hurt that pretty face of yours."

"Go with you?" You repeated. "Go where?"

"My boss wants to have a, uh, chat with you." He said, smirk returning to his face. You felt cold with fear, his words implying that this person wanted more than just a conversation.

"Me?! Why me?" You asked, voice trembling a little.

"He wants to know all about that boyfriend of yours." He chuckled darkly, setting off an instant panic in you.

"I don't have a boyfriend." That was sort of true.

"Didn't take you for a liar, princess."

"I'm not!" You half yelled.

"Baby, I've seen you with him. Many times." The stranger cooed. "Now come with me, before I get impatient and really take it out on you."

Acting on pure instinct you ducked and ran as fast as you could, reaching the back hallway before he even had a chance to fire. You heard the bang of the gun exploding followed by glass shattering. "What did I say princess!" He called out, footsteps approaching you. You dived into your office and locked the door, crouching in the corner. "It's going to be you that suffers not me!" He yelled.

You saw the door handle rattle, bile rising in your throat. Suddenly there were other voices joining the strangers. Of course he had back up, they must have expected you not to go willingly. You clasped your hand over your mouth and screamed when they fired three shots through the door. They didn't care whether you were dead or alive.

The door was rattling on it's hinges now and you suspected they were kicking it down. You were trapped. There was no window in this room. There was nowhere to go. You hadn't been thinking when you ran into here, blind panic clouding your judgement. It flew open with a crash, one of the hinges flying off. The muscular stranger strode into the room, eyes landing on you instantly. Behind him was two new faces you didn't recognize. He sighed and stepped over to your cowering frame. "Just remember, you made me do this princess."

In a flash he raised his arm and swung, using the but of his gun with blunt force. It whacked into the side of your skull with a loud crack, knocking you out like a light.

***

Kihyun's POV

The next morning Kihyun arrived for work at around 11am. Y/N was scheduled to work that day but not until later, so he felt confident walking into the bar that day knowing she wouldn't be there. Entering through the staff door he headed straight for his locker. As he walked down the hallway he froze. The door to the manager's office was hanging off it's hinges, half destroyed. He got closer, noticing the bullet holes for the first time. "What the fuck." He muttered to himself, running a hand over the broken door.

Instantly the hairs on the back of his neck stoop up. Something wasn't right. He peered in the office half expecting to find someone in there, but it was empty. He moved further into the silent bar, noting the smashed glasses and another bullet hole. Something definitely wasn't right. He did the only thing he could think of, slipping his phone out of his back pocket and dialling Y/N's number.

The phone didn't ring, going directly to voicemail. He tried two more times but yielded the same result. His stomach dropped with dread. This wasn't like the last time when he couldn't get ahold of Y/N. This time he knew something bad had happened. So he did the only logical thing he could think of and phone the police, silently wishing Y/N was okay, and not lying somewhere with a round of bullets in her.

masterlist

[charanteleclerc]

love is found in crowded streets and coffee shops

For Quagswagging as part of the Summer Break Fic Exchange 2019. As usual, crossposted to my AO3 (Charante_Leclerc). Prompts are always open. Enjoy! ❤️

The residents of Stirling Street were, for the most part, good friends. They were a tight knit community of five shops, and possibly a little co-dependent for their own good. Seb owned Horse & Bull Repairs Shop, fixing anything from watches to car engines. Kimi and Kevin were next door at Iceman Tattoos, which sometimes also did alcohol (it was never advised). On the other side of him was Restaurant de Monte-Carlo, run by Romain and his trusty crew, and kept very traditionally French. Across the road was Jenson and Fernando’s Champions Coffee Shop & Bakery, once started as two separate shops, but they had ended up sharing so many customers they’d eventually given in and taken down the inbetween wall. Next to them was Jev and Andre’s shop, which was… well, they seemed to change it every week, the rest of them had given up trying to predict what shop it was going to be.

Stirling Street was great. Except for the fact that Seb and Kimi hated each other.

No-one knew how the rivalry had started, not even the two of them. It was just a fact of life by now. They opened their shops, argued about where their poster boards were situated at 9.15 exactly, sniped their way through their lunch break at Champions, and yelled at each other through their shared wall about their choice in music.

“We need to do something.” Jenson groaned, after Seb and Kimi had left following another tense lunch-break. “They’re always at each other's throats, and frankly, it’s driving me insane.”

“I can’t hear myself think.” Kevin muttered. “I need to stay out of there as long as possible.”

“Romain said he has heard them yelling three time this week. Three times. It is insane.” Fernando said glumly. “And they argued over what was the best flavour muffin. And they were both wrong.”

“They didn’t choose my Key Lime Pie muffin?” Jenson sounded wounded. “What did they choose?”

“Seb said chocolate chip.” Fernando flinched at Jenson’s sharp intake of breath. “You do not want to know what Kimi said.”

“Tell me what he said.”

Fernando sighed. “Vanilla. He said vanilla.”

“He said what?” Jenson yelped. “Is he open? I need to have words with him.”

Fernando watched Jenson leave, shaking his head. He’d said that he wouldn’t want to know. People really should listen to him.

“How can we stop them fighting?” Lando asked, clearing plates. “They’re pretty much always at each other’s throats.”

“You’re missing the point.” Lewis said from a nearby table, who had before looked completely asleep. He still did, except for the part his mouth was moving.

“What’s the point then?” Kevin asked curiously.

“It’s not that they hate each other. It’s that they don’t.”

“What do you mean, they don’t?” Lando frowned. “Of course they do. They fight all the time!”

“It’s because they’re scared.” Lewis shrugged. “They don’t actually hate each other, but they’re terrified of not-hating each other. It’s comfortable, it’s a relationship they know.”

“That makes sense.” Fernando shrugged. “I can work with it.”

Jenson stormed back in, eyes suspiciously red. “He won’t apologise. Said his opinions are his own and that vanilla is a valid choice.” His voice sounded wobbly. “It’s fine.”

“Did you cry during or after this discussion?” Fernando raised an eyebrow. Jenson shuffled.

“During.”

“You do know that he’s going to remember that forever.”

“Yep.”

“Just checking.”

“So,” Lando leaned on the counter. “So we need to convince them that they don’t hate each other? How hard can it be?”

~*~

It was pretty hard.

Romain kept on complaining that he could hear Kimi shouting at Seb, and had even sent his waiters over to try and calm the situation.

It hadn’t.

Pierre, Charles and Esteban had stumbled back to the restaurant terrified, Kevin alongside, and needed two shots each until they stopped trembling. They looked shell-shocked for another week.

Jenson tried talking to Seb one afternoon, bringing muffins as a go-between (chocolate chip included). Seb had taken the muffin’s, had listened as long as it had taken to eat them, before turfing Jenson out. (He’d agreed to mend the bakery clock free of charge though. It might have something to do with Jenson lying in the doorway, holding his muffin tub, determined not to move. Bribery was sometimes needed).

Even Jev had tried. Which was something that no-one had ever imagined happened, as Jev and Andre acted like the cool kids that thought everything was beneath them. Jev had wandered into the bakery at lunchtime, looking unconcerned, and had attempted to mediate one of their arguments. When he’d left, his usually perfect hair had been sticking up on end, and something was popping in his jaw.

Everyone had tried, except for Lewis, who refused to get involved. Something about them figuring it out for themselves.

“What are we going to do?” Jenson moaned. “It’s like everything we do makes things worse!”

“No more meddling here.” Fernando threatened. “Look at George.”

Jenson looked over to where George was lying with his head on a table, cheesecake in his hair. Lando was patting him on the back, while Carlos was trying to brush as many crumbs as possible out of his hair. Alex was playing gentle music from his phone, making comforting noises.

“Look at him Jenson.” Fernando repeated. “He has cheesecake in his hair. I don’t even know how they got cheesecake, we don’t sell cheesecake.”

“It was fantastic aim though.” Andre shrugged. “Can’t deny that. Two double espressos to go please.”

“Those are going to keep you up all night you know?” Fernando said. “Or give you superpowers, you’ve been getting those everyday for a year.”

“Betting on it.” Andre winked. “Plus, gotta keep looking hot somehow.”

“Amen.” Lewis chimed in from the back of the bakery. Jenson jumped a little, staring at him.

“I thought he was asleep, didn’t you think he was asleep?”

“Maybe you should convince them of the things that they like about each other.” Andre suggested. “Vodka, racing, ice-cream. Start slow.” He picked up both espressos, downed one after the other, before grinning. “See you later.”

“He’s going to die.” Carlos said in admiration. “He is insane.”

“Do you think that would work?” Jenson asked. “Slowly warming them up to each other?”

“Cannot do much worse, can it?” Fernando replied. “It will either stay the same or they will want to bang each other in a week.”

“Challenge accepted.” Jenson looked determined. “Better than the arguing.”

~*~

“So, Seb.” Jenson leaned up on Seb’s counter, grinning. “Ice-cream?”

Seb gave him a weird look. “Sure.” He said slowly, taking one of the offered ice-creams. “What do you want?”

“I can come and hang out with you, can’t I? We’re friends.” Jenson laughed. “So, vodka? What’s that about?”

“Are you trying to make me like Kimi?” Seb raised an eyebrow, tapping a finger against the counter. “Because it’s not going to work.”

“What, no! No, no no…” Jenson trailed off. “Well, good chat.” He backed away towards the door. “Lovely, lovely chat.”

“Tell them it’ll take more than that to sort out your problem.” Seb called after him. “And I want a free coffee for that attempt!”

~*~

Jenson spent twenty seconds in Kimi’s shop before something was thrown at him. He didn’t stop to find out what it was.

Valtteri, who was in the shop of the time, only shook his head when asked.  

~*~

“We’re doomed.” Romain said gloomily. “I’m going to need to buy earplugs.”

The majority of the Stirling Street residents (minus the significant two) were sat around a few tables pushed together, nursing various coffees and teas. Charles, Pierre and Esteban still looked jittery. George was still finding crumbs in his hair. Jev still tensed up when he heard their names mentioned. Kevin was just starting to pretend that he didn’t exist.

Lewis was still asleep in the corner. Or maybe he wasn’t, they weren’t sure.

“Wait, here they come.” Jenson shushed the group. They all turned to watch out the window as they came out of their shops, scowling as they saw each other.

“Your board is in front of my store.” Seb snapped, locking his shop. “Again.”

“Well, it’s not like I’m stealing your customers. How many people did you see today?” Kimi countered, crossing his arms.

“Don’t change the subject. Also, why do you have to play your music so loud? It’d be nice not to have it drill into my head.”

“Well, I’m sorry... “ They continued bickering down the street. The group turned back to look at each other, dismally.

“Doomed.” Romain repeated sadly. “Doomed.”

~*~

Jenson picked up his tub of muffins, steeling himself. “Half for Seb, half for Kimi. As an apology of sorts.”

“They need to learn for themselves.” Fernando agreed. “We cannot have anymore scared kids. They do not need to see that ever.”

Jenson sighed, picking up the tubs. “I hope Romain buys those earplugs.” He said, walking towards the door. “Really hope.”

He crossed the street, opening the door to Seb’s shop. It was before opening time, but Seb never locked his shop (which was probably a really bad idea considering his shop was filled with valuables).

“Hey Seb, just brought some more muffins, five chocolate chips and one of my new inventions, Blackberry Crumble muffins. Thought you might one to try it, and - er, what?” He stopped as he finally took in the scene in front of him. “What is happening?”

Seb looked up, blinking. “Huh?”

Jenson gaped. “But… you’re here! And… and him!” He stuttered, pointing at the other guy in the room. “It’s Kimi!”

Seb turned to Kimi sat next to him. “Huh, it is. Funny that.”

“But… you hate each other!” Jenson clutched his muffin box to his chest. “You hate each other!”

“Well, we did.” Seb said, tapping away at his laptop. “For ages.”

“Arguing is the way to a man’s heart.” Kimi muttered from behind his coffee. Seb nodded absentmindedly.

“Exactly.”

“So, we’ve been trying to make you two not hate each other when you don’t actually hate each other?” Jenson asked. “I think I need to sit down.”

“The floor is just there.” Seb said helpfully. Kimi snickered.

“How long has this been going on?” Jenson looked between them wildly. “How long?”

“Since those poor French boys walked in.” Seb replied. “I really am sorry for traumatising them.”

“I’m not.” Kimi shrugged.

“Oh my… oh my god.” Jenson put his tub on the counter, resting his forehead on the counter. “Does anyone else know?”

“Lewis.” Kimi yawned.

“Lewis?!” Jenson screeched. “He knew?!” He took a deep breath, looking at the two men in front of him. “Give me a minute.”

~*~

Jenson would later admit that running back across the street, screaming words with no coherence at Lewis, and then promptly fainting was not his finest moment.

However, he’d also say that his emotions were running high. It was justified.

~*~

“So, they don’t actually hate each other?” Lando asked. “Wow.”

“All this time?” Andre said. “Wow.”

“I think it is sweet.” Fernando said. “That Seb and Kimi - do not flinch -” as Jev, Charles, Pierre, Kevin and Esteban all involuntarily shuddered, “that even they can get over their differences.”

“I can’t believe they let me find out like that!” Jenson still looked haunted.

The door opened, and the usual bickering being heard again. “If you move that sign one more time …”

“Love at it’s finest.” Lewis said smugly. “I said to leave it to themselves.”

“I swear you were asleep a second ago!” Jenson yelped. “You were asleep!”

[caroline18mars]

A Man On Fire - Chapter 47

Up in the air, his mind kept wandering off to that beauty he had left back there in New York, he grabbed his phone to check for the umpteenth time if there was any mail or text from her..but still nothing, wait..what time was it there now? she was probably asleep already. Ok, he would start, so that she would have some news from him the minute she opened her eyes, he switched screens and in doing so, the picture of Val popped back up and he smiled, well at least she was gonna be there to distract him from his loneliness when he landed in Italy, it wasn’t gonna fix anything, but it was something to look forward to. How was it even possible to fall asleep when her sheets still smelled like him? Just close your eyes and fall asleep, it’s not that hard, you’ll see him again soon enough, what is one month without him in the scope of eternity?. This wasn’t gonna work, just thinking about him made her even more restless, ok fine, she grabbed her phone and tapped on her mailbox app, whoopwhoop mailmailmail, yesss, mail from him already.

From: BJLCubbins

To: HCDeRobiano

Subject: Not my first, but definitely my last!

Babe,

I’m sitting here several miles up high here in the sky, and the most rational thing I can come up with is that I miss you, I know how corny that probably sounds to a tough cookie like yourself, but whatever, I just needed to say it! Unfortunately it won’t do anything to keep this blues at bay, but on the other hand, it made me realize that from this moment on, I can start counting down the days, the biggest hurdle => leaving you behind has been taken, from here on it just can’t get any worse, tomorrow when I wake up or go to sleep (see? This jetlag is already getting me all disorientated) it’s gonna be 29 days until I see you again, not 30, because 30 is unbearable, but 29 is not.

Out of the window, I can see this one, amazingly bright star, can you see it too down there? I’ve had a talk with that star and I’ve told her to keep an eye on you, can you see her? It’s the third one from the right and she’s twinkling like crazy, that’s because she’s trying to tell you what I’ve told her about you.

Halfway between America and Europe, that’s what the little screen in front of me is telling me, every mile is a mile more distance between us..and right now that’s hard to live with..

Anyway, I’m gonna try and get some sleep myself, so I won’t be such a jetlagged zombie when I land, and it’ll take my mind off you for a while, although I’m sure you’ll still be there in every single one of my dreams.

I love you x 1000000

Jay

Sweet, beautiful, hunk of a man, my man! She sighed and clutched the phone to her chest, thinking of what she was going to write to him, just not..now..god she was so tired..her eyes slowly fell shut, all the stress and the commotion of the last couple of days, was catching up with her. Touchdown in a rainy Florence, the sound of the screeching breaks and the wheels splashing over the wet tarmac, this was real, life as he had known it for so many years was about to start again, life on the road, with her it had been so much more fun, it had so much more meaning to it. Stop complaining, Jared, do as you told her, count down the days, hidden behind umbrellas he could already see the welcoming committee, he shoved all his belongings into his bag and as soon as the jet had come to a stop, he hopped down the stairs. “Welcome back little brother!” Shannon pulled him in for a bear hug while Stevie bumped fists with him, “did you get my message?” his brother wiggled his eyebrows at him, “yeah, I did, where is she?” he shouted above the noise of the engines, “back at the hotel, she’s expecting you” Shannon said all excited and held open the door for him. “How was NY?” his brother tried to distract him from constantly checking his phone, “haven’t seen much of New York, we spent most of our short time together indoors, we had so much time to sort out and talk about” he breathed absentmindedly, why hadn’t she sent anything back?. “Talking? Is that how they call fucking your girl’s brains out, these days?” Shannon and Stevie burst out into a fit of giggles, “how old are you both? 5?” Jared threw them an annoyed glare, she would have probably laughed about it too if she had been here, but right now their words only bugged him. “Anyway, everything set up for tonight? Is there time to have a couple of hours of sleep before we hit that stage again? I think I’ll skip soundcheck just this once” he quickly changed the subject, couldn’t this car go any faster? He just wanted to be horizontal for a couple of hours.

After half an hour, the car finally stopped in front of the hotel, he jumped out and pulled his hood over his head when he noticed a vast row of fans waiting for them at the side of the entrance, he loved them all dearly but right now, he didn’t exactly want to be disturbed, so he quickly gestured at Shannon to go see them and hurried inside the lobby. His key ready in his hand, he walked out of the elevator and headed for his suite, putting the card in the lock he opened the door, “well hello stranger” her voice startled him, there she was lying on her side, tapping the empty spot next to her. “Val..” he dropped his bag and walked over to the bed, sitting down waiting for her to sit up and give her a hug, “hello stranger” wow, a moist kiss landed under his ear “been way too long” and her hot breath raked across his throat as she pulled him down with him. “Heyheyhey” his hand locked around hers when it ventured down his back to the curve of his butt “I’ve already got someone special to do that” he tried to keep his tone light but her audacity bothered him, ok so they had a thing a while back but that fizzled out because he had lost interest. Yes, she was a model, that type that everyone expected him to fall for and be with but there just wasn’t enough to keep him interested..sometimes he could have sworn he heard the wind blow right through that head of hers, cliché? Maybe but oh so true, intellectually he needed more in a woman than this bubblehead, he couldn’t fill his days talking about make-up, weight loss and whose yacht the vacation should be spent on in order to get maximum exposure in all the right gossip rags. “Someone as special as me? I find that hard to believe” she let go of him with an annoying giggle, “anyway, Shannon reserved a table at one of these cool trattorias for all of us and after that we’re going to party” she grabbed her phone and showed him a picture of what looked like the hottest club in town. “I don’t know, I’ve got a show to play and I’m completely jetlagged” he already knew her answer, “what are you? 105? You’re coming, we’re definitely dancing tonight, a little bit of alcohol will help even more with sleeping off that jetlag”. Purring in anticipation she cupped his chin and pushed a quick, chaste kiss on his lips before she got up, adjusting her hair in front of the mirror, “I’m not making any promises, in the meantime this 105-year old is gonna have a little nap” he so wanted to wipe the taste of her mouth off his lips, “ok, Daddy, or should I call you grandpa now? I’ll let you snooze, I’ll see you at the show” the deviousness lit up in her eyes as she let her thumb seductively caress her lips, throwing him a fat wink as she exited the room. What just happened? He hung his head and shook it, Val happened, that’s what, he had moved on, she clearly hadn’t, he let himself fall back against the cushions, her perfume lingering there, and boy did it smell like trouble.

From: HCDeRobiano

To: BJLCubbins

Subject: Re: Not my first, but definitely my last!

Love of my life,

That’s definitely a first, saying that or writing that down, and boy it’s scary, but I refuse to delete it, so you enjoy that.

I’ve been painting all night and all morning, with a little nap inbetween, and it’s been a blast, don’t take this the wrong way, but in a way I’m glad, for all the obvious reasons, you’re not around, because it’s simply impossible to keep my focus when you strut around my loft oozing pure sex. No, I’m not gonna do this, I’m not even gonna think about having rampant sex with you or I’ll never finish this painting..that being said, I should have made a cast of that amazing dick of yours so I could make a dildo out of it,(hey I’ve had enough sculpting classes to pull it off, no pun intended), and fuck myself silly with it, because I could do with one of your thorough fuckings right now..NO! no dirty talk, no online sex, and definitely not via e-mail, nope not gonna do that, not gonna happen! Do you touch yourself thinking about me at all? Stop it Harper, stop it right now!

Anyway, by the time you’re reading this, you’re probably already on a stage singing, girls fainting in the front row, throwing themselves at your feet..*sigh* it’s hard (I bet it is though! No stop Coco, just stop shooting off that sassy mouth of yours, only filth seems to come out of it today anyway).

I’m gonna take a cold shower and then I’m heading to bed to wake up soaked all over again, I’m sure (I swear I’ll stop)

You know what you are, Jared Leto? A shot of life, that’s what you are, I can feel it more than ever now ‘that shot of life’ has flown away from me. And here I thought I’d prove that romance wasn’t dead and I was planning on writing you a long, handwritten love letter (I used to love writing letters, and receiving them, the waiting, that crazy longing for a mailman to stop by your house, the moment you saw him slide that envelope inside the mailbox..) and all I end up doing is writing some smut on a white screen!

Love you too!

A horny Harper Coco! x

”Jay? You comin?” airhead’s voice startled him, comin? Oh yeah he was gonna come in a minute and on the spot, that was one hot e-mail, suddenly it felt really uncomfortable having an ex-lover stand here in the same room as him, an ex-lover Harper knew nothing about, just don’t get photographed with her, and hope that she soon has some catwalk to grace with her presence. “Jared? Shannon is waiting for us, the end of the show was almost an hour ago, I really want to go out!” she became a little more persistent like a a spoiled brat that was afraid not to get her way, and in the blink of an eye she snatched the phone from his hands “if you want this back, you’re gonna have to come along right now and if you’re a really..” she stepped in front of him and let her finger slide up and down over that part where his shirt met a bare piece of skin of his chest “really, really good boy, I might just give it back to you” she breathed and hopped out of the room into the hallway where Shannon was waiting for them.

[redrosella]

Passion

Chapter 2 of 2  Part 1 Here 

Summary: An old photo in Patton’s room brings up new questions for Virgil. Who was Passion? Why had he never heard of him? Where is he now?

…Can Sides die?

Author’s Note: Here’s the second chapter! The whole thing is under the cut because the first line is a spoiler for the first part. Read part one above if you haven’t seen it! This part has grieving as a main topic, so if that makes you uncomfortable, please skip it. However, it’s all done healthily.

Tags: @whatevertheheckiwantthanks @nbpidgeon @musicwithalex @liz-a-bell @romanasanders @wisepuma23 @fandomsandanythingelse @pipedreamprayer

“You… You were both Passion?” Virgil stuttered out, trying to take in the story.

It was almost impossible to comprehend. Nothing the anxious side had ever heard pointed to the idea that sides could just split apart and become two different people. It wasn’t something he had ever thought of because it sounded just so ridiculous.

“Yes. I was Thomas’ more academic passions, Roman was Thomas’ creative passions. Although of course we were just one back then, there was no separation in our mind. We were just Passion,” Logan explained, like it was all logical and Virgil’s entire worldview wasn’t just shifted five degrees to the left.

“I... “ Virgil ran a hand through his hair. “What changed?”

Roman sighed. “Passion… He was always very conflicted, even before things started to pile up. For a side that emcompasses such a broad range from academic to creative, to everything in between, it can be tough to keep it together,” Roman explained, his usual flair more restrained. “The straw that broke the camel’s back, so to say, was just Thomas trying to figure out whether he wanted to spend more time on school or theatre. We were young, and weren’t really thinking about trying to find an inbetween, so there was a constant flipping back and forth that was too much to handle.”

“It’s a good thing it happened then and not any other time. If Passion was still there when Thomas was deciding between chemical engineering and his vine career, the consequences would have been drastic. Roman and I were already arguing like crazy when that happened; if we were still one side, Thomas’ mental state would have suffered greatly,” Logan said.

Alright. That was starting to make a bit more sense. It was still crazy to think sides could split like a fusion from Steven Universe, but even he could tell that Roman and Logan staying as one side would not be a good idea. They were practically made to be arguing with each other.

While putting this together, Virgil’s eyes darted towards Patton. The fatherly side seemed oddly subdued, his eyes averted and not really paying attention to the situation. Virgil could only imagine what that must have felt like, being there as his boyfriend split apart before his eyes-

And that was another thing. Boyfriend. Patton had been Passion’s partner, even though they were young and weren’t quite sure what that entailed yet. They were still together, and losing a friend like that must have been crushing.

He did still have Roman and Logan, though...

“So are you still dating?” Virgil tentatively asked.

Patton’s head shot up, eyes wide.

“Oh uh...” Logan looked similarly caught off guard. “No. No we aren’t.”

“I was with Pasha, not them, Virgil,” Patton spoke up. “It’s… not the same. I was in love with Passion, not Creativity or Logic.” Virgil could almost see the beginnings of tears in Patton’s eyes. He wasn’t sure if it was a trick of the light or not, but it didn’t really matter. It was clear that Patton was hurting, and there wasn’t much he could do. Virgil was still reeling, and this situation wasn’t really his place. He had just learned about it today, no words he could say would have any meaning.

Both Logan and Roman looked down as well, unsure what exactly to say.

It became abundantly clear to Virgil that this wasn’t something the three of them talked about often- if ever. The anxious side sympathized with that. Conversations about something like this would be nerve wracking and embarrassing and a huge mess, and if it happened to Virgil, he would want to be anywhere but there. But that’s because Virgil was anxiety, and that was kind of his M.O.. These three were supposed to be the more put together sides that didn’t just ignore their problems and hope they’d go away.

But they did, and here Virgil was, opening back up that wound.

Well, maybe that wasn’t the most apt analogy. It was more like a broken bone that had healed incorrectly and everyone was saying was healed, and Virgil had just re-broken it.

Patton stood up abruptly, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand. “Sorry kiddos, I… have to go.” He left without another word, walking up the stairs to his room. No one made any attempt to stop him, too caught up in their own worlds and unable to figure out what to do.

Virgil looked back at the other two sides, who both looked taken aback and remorseful.

“I’m sorry for bringing this up.” Virgil rubbed the back of his neck. “And sorry for worrying you. I just didn’t know…”

“It’s okay, Virgil,” Logan started. “Curiosity is perfectly natural. You were just formulating a hypothesis with the data you were given, and it happened to lead to this. It’s not your fault. In all actuality, it’s our own fault for never telling you before.”

“Did you… not want to tell me?” Virgil asked. The idea that they didn’t trust him with that hurt, but...

“No, no,” Roman quickly said. “It’s just a… sensitive topic, as you can see. We never really thought to bring it up,” he clarified.

The anxious side nodded. “Alright. I’ll… talk to you guys later.” He was ready to slink back into his room and not think about this embarrassing misunderstanding of a situation for a long time, and readjust his entire concept of how sides worked in peace.

Maybe take a nice long nap and try not to think about death for a long, long time. Maybe try to figure out what he could possibly say to the side that was so much like a father to him, without it feeling worthless.

----

The next day, things were tense in the mindscape. Logan took to spending time in his own room away from the cacophony of emotions plaguing everyone, but of course he was once again dragged back out and into the fray.

“Roman?” Logan poked his head into the side’s room. He had gotten an odd text message from him asking to join him in his room- confusing because he could have just walked down and asked Logan to join him like usual- but he still obliged, because as sides communication was of the utmost importance.

Immediately he was taken aback as he came face to face with what wasn’t Roman’s room, but what looked like a miniature ballroom. Logan knew that Roman could change his room to look however he wanted it to, but he was not expecting… this sight to greet him.

In the middle of the room, Roman stood, looking incredibly extra. He was wearing what looked like a tuxedo and a dress combo, completely impractical and yet completely Roman.

“Logan.” The creative side smirked. “Would you care for a dance?”

Logan stayed put outside the door, blinking like it would change what was in front of him. “Are you trying to court me?” He raised an eyebrow. “Because I’m not sure this is the right way to go about it.”

Roman rolled his eyes with an exaggerated huff. “No! Ugh, just come here Logan.” He held out his hand. “Just dance with me. I want to test something.”

Logan finally walked into the room, taking an extra look around. “And this is how you chose to do it? Wouldn’t a normal room and normal clothes have sufficed?”

Roman scoffed. “I needed to set the mood! There’s a certain finesse to dance that must be achieved. Now dance with me, no more questions asked! There’s time for questions later.” He shook his hand out again, and Logan carefully took it.

“Alright. But-” There was no time for him to finished as the wind was taken out of him by a quick spin by Roman, who apparently couldn’t wait another second to dance.

They were swept into a quick dance that almost felt like a combination between ballroom dancing and tango, Roman taking the lead and deciding that, yeah, picking up Logan was a completely reasonable idea.

Logan was no novice at dancing, however. He could keep up with Princey’s footsteps quite accurately, owing the knowledge to Thomas’ own proclivities for theatrics and learning how to step in time. He was not prepared to being swept off his feet and dipped to the ground, however, and when Roman attempted to execute the last move, his center of gravity was set off and they ended up falling into a pile on the floor together.

“Ow,” Logan said blandly, rubbing his head and adjusting his skewed glasses. Thankfully they didn’t seem broken despite Roman elbowing them sideways in an effort to gain ahold of him before toppling down. “Well, that was a massive failure. I’m not sure what you were expecting there.”

Roman huffed. “Well maybe if you tried to actually dip with me rather than staying stiff as a board, we would have gotten somewhere. Do you have two left feet or something?”

“What are you trying to achieve, Roman?” Logan asked, deciding to ignore his provocative question.

The creative side looked away, his arms crossed and a blush dusting his cheeks. “I was just trying to test a theory…” He mumbled, trailing off.

“What kind of a theory involves dancing ourselves into a pile? And why could you have not asked Virgil or Patton?”

Roman mumbled something under his breath that Logan couldn’t catch.

“What?” Logan asked.

“I was… trying to fuse.”

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

It was a stupid idea. A really, really, stupid idea. Roman knew it from the beginning. But a small part of his mind still thought that maybe, just maybe, because they weren’t real people, fusing like the gems in Steven Universe could work.

He knew it wouldn’t, and he knew Logan would have told him exactly that if he brought it up to him, but he just had to try it… He couldn’t keep going on without at least trying something.

“You’re… trying to bring back Passion?” Logan asked, looking caught completely off guard for once.

“No, I… Yes, but… I…” Roman stuttered out, running a hand through his hair haphazardly. “I don’t know. I just thought maybe if Passion was back even for a little bit, Patton would be happy. I don’t like seeing him so down.”

Logan sighed. “If Passion came back, Patton wouldn’t be happy, Roman. He’d have lost two of his close friends.”

“I know that! But… I don’t know- do you ever think that we would be better? If we were still Passion? If Thomas would be better?”

His voice cracked at the end. Ever since this whole problem was brought back up again, all he could think about was whether splitting up was the best thing. He thought it was, but these little doubts wouldn’t let go.

“Roman…” Logan sighed sadly. “Passion was never meant to stay forever. A passion is… not always stable. Usually they dry up after a time. Concert pianists tire of playing the same songs day and in and day out. Mathematicians get bored of doing the same calculations. Their passion is lessened. It can be rekindled, but there is no guarantee. Passion may seem like the most important thing in the world, but without substance it will never stay. It needs a strong foundation. WE are that foundation. Together we are passion. But we don’t have to be one to be it.

“In all honesty, Passion shouldn’t have even existed in the first place. He was too specific, and too broad at the same time. There are such a wide variety of passions one can take up, trying to fit them all into one side would just be pointless. But because passions have multiple facets to them, different ideas that fuel them, just passion alone was too specific. Roman, Passion was always going to split. It was inevitable.”

Roman hummed half heartedly in acknowledgement. He remembered the feeling of not being whole all too well. Passion always felt one second away from breaking in those later years. It was impossible to forget. But still...

“Did you enjoy it?” Roman asked. “Because I did. At least, I think I did. You probably did too, since we were the same. I don’t know, this probably doesn’t make sense.”

“The concept of one mind becoming two is incredibly complex, I doubt it makes sense to most,” Logan comforted him. “Even I have trouble sometimes with remembering that Passion wasn’t just me. And yes, I did enjoy it. Why wouldn’t I have?”

“I dunno. I guess I’m just feeling a little… less than confident right now.” Roman traced a line on the ground absentmindedly, not willing to look up at the other side.

“We did pretty much ignore it since it happened. This is the first real talk we’ve had about it in years. I thought we were just going to ignore it for the rest of our life.” Logan shrugged.

“Do you still love Patton?” Roman whispered under his breath, like it was forbidden to say. “I do, in a way. I still have memories of loving him, and I know that love didn’t just go away, even if it did for Patton since…” Roman trailed off.

“Patton loved Passion, but we’re not Passion,” Logan finished. “I don’t think I love him anymore- I see him as a close friend, and I would never want to risk losing that- but I know I did in the past, just like Pasha did. His feelings didn’t just instantly disappear. It’s tough to say, really.”

The hurtful truth was that even if Roman wanted something with Patton again, he’d always feel like he was trying to measure up to Pasha. He’d never be able to feel like his own side, rather just a byproduct of Passion. Not that he wanted to pursue anything- despite being the personification of romance, he couldn’t see Patton as much else than a dad anymore, but the feelings were still always there like an unforgotten memory. A memory that didn’t feel like his.

A lot of Pasha’s memories felt like that. Like slices of a life he lived, but also didn’t. It was weird to think about, and that’s why he often just pushed the memories away, deciding not to dwell on them. If he thought too much about it, he’d become like… this. Laying on a ballroom floor because of a stupid idea he thought might fix things but ended up failing. Thinking back on Passion would always bring out the worst- maybe that was indicative of the kind of side Passion was at the end, maybe it was just how Roman was as a side, too proactive and nitpicky, but it never led to anything good.

He really wished Virgil had never brought this up again. He hadn’t thought about the whole situation in a while, too busy with his creative endeavours, and he was doing just fine. He didn’t have to think about these complicated questions that inevitably sprung up whenever it was brought up. But he also didn’t blame Virgil. It was a big part of their lives, and Virgil was a part of their group. He deserved to know about the past- it wasn’t like it was a big secret or anything, there was nothing wrong with him knowing.

He just wished it didn’t end up hurting Patton so badly.

Because really, that’s what it all came down to. Roman could deal with some existential questions and memories that didn’t feel like memories any day. But seeing Patton so hurt because of something they did in the past, even if they didn’t have control of it, it was upsetting. There was such a large part of him- and Logan as well- that cared so much about Patton, Something that the disappearance of Passion couldn’t ever take away. And it felt horrible knowing there wasn’t anything he could do, other than a few experiments that were never going to work.

Logan seemed to pick up on his train of thought and sighed, readjusting his glasses.

“Would you like to try one more time, Roman?” He held out his hand.

“Really?” Roman propped himself up on an elbow, looking up to the logical side for the first time since they fell.

“Really. I think it’s completely illogical and will never work, but there’s no harm in trying.”

Roman gave a soft smile, grabbing his hand and letting him pull him up.

They repeated the same steps once again, this time even more in sync as both knew exactly where the other was going to go, stepping in time together and not missing a beat. Logan even made an effort to fall into the swings and dips more, not freezing up as he had done before. The finally dip was executed perfectly as Roman held his forehead close to Logan’s, and they both waited with baited breath…

But nothing happened.

“I figured…” Roman breathed out.

Logan laughed. “Yeah, it was a stupid idea. But you wouldn’t be Roman if you didn’t have stupid ideas now and again.”

Roman let out a fake indignant scoff. “How dare? I’ll have you know that all my ideas are perfectly reasonable.”

Yeah, there was a reason Passion broke up. But damn if Logan and Roman didn’t still have a natural sync with each other that allowed them to flow so seamlessly together, and yet work so differently.

-----

Patton held the picture of Pasha close, memorising the details of his face. It had been so long since he had last seen him, he’d almost forgotten the way his eyes shown with knowledge, the way he seemed to snuggle into his scarf at every moment, and the way he blushed when caught off guard.

The picture didn’t bring back the feelings that it used to. He used to feel a burst of love and happiness whenever he saw Pasha, enamored with him in every way. Now, when he was older and Pasha was still just a ten year old kid in his mind, he didn’t feel the same way, but man did it still hurt. He still felt the loss he did all those years ago, that grieving that he wondered if he was even allowed to feel because technically Pasha was still there- he was just two people now.

He knew he was allowed to grieve now, learning to embrace all of his feelings and not just the happy ones, but there were still years and years where he was never sure if mourning his loss was appropriate. Now, though, all he really wanted to do was just feel. Even the bad feelings. They’d tell him that Pasha was still there in his memory, and his spirit was still here in the mindscape, just in two seperate places.

He loved Roman and Logan. They were his close friends, his family, and even if he missed Pasha, he could never regret having them. They were what Pasha was always meant to be, and their existence meant that Pasha wasn’t hurting anymore.

There was a knock on the door that snapped Patton out of his musings, a head popping into his room without preamble.

“Hey Pat,” Virgil said, walking into the room with his hands stuffed into his pockets.

“Hey Virge.” Patton wiped away a few quick tears from his eyes.

“Are you doing okay?”

The fatherly side nodded. “Yeah. Just thinking. Y’know, I hadn’t thought about Pasha in a while until I found the picture. I could never forget him, but things have just been so busy I barely had any time.” He laughed. “I know you guys worry about me, but really, I’m fine. Just embracing my emotions, and remembering the good times. It’s been… nice.”

“But isn’t it also sad?” Virgil asked.

“Of course it is. But sadness just make the times when you’re happy all the sweeter. If I wasn’t sad about Pasha being gone, then I wouldn’t be happy about all the memories I shared with him. Besides, he’s not completely gone, just two seperate people. I have Logan and Roman- and you! You’re all my family.”

Virgil gave a soft smile, interrupted by Logan knocking on the door, obviously him by the precise way he knocked and waited for a reply rather than barging in like the other two sides.

“Come in, Lo!” Patton called.

The door opened, letting Logan and Roman spill into the room.

“Hello, Daddy-o! We are here to spend some quality time! We’ve been severely lacking lately, and that needs to be rectified immediately!” Roman said boisterously.

“We noticed you’ve been spending some time in your room alone, and worried you were feeling lonely,” Logan added. “I know you are simply remembering Passion, but perhaps if we all talked about it together, the healing process might move along faster, and will be less arduous.”

It really was a healing process. It should have been done years ago, really, but with being sides who are constantly busy, and the uncomfortableness of the situation that no one wanted to address, it never really happened. Better late than never, however.

“Well, sure, that sounds nice.” Patton flashed a smile. “Come join us on the bed, kiddos.” He patted the spot next to him, grabbing a pillow to hug. The two sides both took up residence on the large bed, Roman sprawling out and Logan sitting criss crossed taking up as little space as he could. “So what’d you want to talk about kiddos?”

“Sharing memories about a loved one is a vital part of the healing process, so I believe doing so might do us all some good,” Logan explained.

Roman jolted up. “Plus, Virgil never got to know Passion! Just think of all the funny stories we never got to tell him! Like remember that one time we tried to make brownies for Patton’s birthday and ended up mixing up the baking soda and baking powder?”

“That might be why Thomas never got into baking,” Logan quipped.

Patton let out a large belly laugh. He had completely forgotten the day that happened. It was just one of the complete and utter mishaps that occured in the mindscape back when they were kids, so common and yet so out of left field.

The rest of the night was filled with stories of days long forgotten, and memories that Patton could never forget. Roman and Logan seemed to be in perfect sync, both recalling the same memories with accuracy, and yet each having their own take on them. It reminded Patton that Pasha’s spirit was never truly gone.

Yeah, it hurt to know he couldn’t cuddle him or give him a chaste kiss in the night, but it didn’t matter when he had a family that cared so much about him right here.

And besides, remembering Pasha just reminded him to cherish the family he had.

[wowheadquarters]

Which Hogwarts houses are they in?

For a lovable anon. Before I start here, it is good to remind to you all that I do not create canon WoW content and my interpretation of certain Warcraft characters may differ from yours, therefore sorting them into different houses. So. Don’t start a discourse. Your opinion is as good as mine and I am just saying what seems most likely to me. (How to start a Tumblr discourse: [Character] is [Hogwart house].)

Anduin: Hufflepuff. Anduin is nothing but fair and loyal. Maybe too fair and too loyal for his own good, but well, he’ll learn that in time.

Ghost Varian: Gryffindor. Persistent and straightforward, fights for friends. And also he is the lion guy, it was meant to be.

The Council of Three Hammers: 

Muradin: Ravenclaw. He shares it with Brann... and most of the Explorer’s League members. There are things that needs to be found, examined, and poked. He is all about that. Moira: Slytherin. She is forever the opportunist, knows her rights and claims them for herself and her own people. She fights with words, not weapons. Falstad: Hufflepuff. Loyal to the bound, hardworking the most of all the leaders, especially when it came to uniting the Wildhammer clans. And later patching them together after... After what happened in the Twilight Highlands.

Tyrande: Slytherin. What she wants, she gets. She is making other people fight so she doesn’t have to personally, manipulates people into making sacrifices that needs to be done. She pushes people around her so things happen.

Mekkatorque: Ravenclaw. So obsessed with the question if he can that he forgets to ask if he should. Knowledge (of engineering) matters to him the most, he just happens to need it for his people too.

Velen: Hufflepuff. He worked hard to get where he is now (that is safe), his people and him. He is a thorough person who first lays the foundations and then the rest of the bricks. (If he was a Ravenclaw, he would have joined Sargeras back on Argus.)

Genn: Gryffindor. He withstands whatever life throws at him and shrugs it off. His cause is right, therefore he will fight for it and make everyone understand it is the right choice. Either you are with him or against him, there is no inbetween.

Aysa: Hufflepuff. Hufflepuffs do, that is true, but they do after they have settled on what needs to be done. They need to know the consequences.

Thrall: Ravenclaw. Thrall’s entire life has been about him learning and discovering things. His Orc-dom, shamanism, how to lead, his origins, the elements, the cost of not knowing or thinking about his decisions. And this learning and discovery always suppressed what he needed at the moment.

Spirit of Vol'jin: Slytherin. He falls under the sneaky cunning stereotype. He also follows the law of purity (of soul), and the goal justifies the way.

Ghost Garrosh: Gryffindor. He would sacrifice everything for his honor and his people. And by everything he means everything. He goes thorough the obstacles, not around them, too.

Baine: Ravenclaw. One of the few who isn’t focused on learning new stuff, but more keen on figuring out what to do with the old knowledge. Because what is history good for if we don’t learn from it? People today are too focused on the discovery for the discovery’s sake, and they completely forget what it is all .

Sylvanas: Hufflepuff. Following the “When life gives you a lemon, make a lemonade.” ideology to the last letter. Except it is more “When death gives you corpses, make an army.” but that’s the same difference.

Lor'themar: Gryffindor. Maybe done with everyone’s bullshit and soaked in wine most of the time, but he is determinated, he is getting the shit done, and he will fight the battle that needs to be fought.

Gallywix: Slytherin. Of all virtues, he places creativity and ambition the highest. He didn’t get where he got by hard work, but by making people believe he should be there. He wasn’t exactly wrong, he is actually a good Trade Prince (but still a terrible person).

Ji: Gryffindor. Gryffindors take the direct and usually radical action in a matter that needs to be done, and their greatest strength is their instinct. that has Ji Firepaw written all over it.

Taedal: Slytherin. Sure, he claims he is Gryffindor, because Slytherins are usually viewed as evil (and as a Demon in need of aid he doesn’t need that kind of prejudice adding up), but he is Slytherin from horns to his hooves.

+Bonus Kel’thuzad: Ravenclaw. The most prime example of a Ravenclaw you can get. For Light’s sake, half of the Naxxramas is one huge laboratory! He hoards knowledge like a dragon!

[simaethae]

That alien au is fantastic! it's so great and I want to know more of the plot

ldgblgb you’re assuming there is a plot and not, like, a series of bad excuses but thank you <3

anyway here’s the chatlog where we came up with it, warning for some nsfw and @yavieriel and i being nerds at length ^_^

simaethae: so what’s YOUR worst modern AU

[20:07] simaethae: i think i’ve read coffeeshop AUs in otherfandoms which talked about baking, which was their one redeeming feature

[20:10] Yavieriel: Coffeeshop AUs do have that redeemingfuture

[20:10] Yavieriel: (well, sometimes)

[20:10] simaethae: occasionally!

[20:10] Yavieriel: man there’s so many awful modern AUs tochoose from

[20:10] simaethae: oooh, sports AU. i know nothing aboutsports but i’m sure they have to exist

[20:12] Yavieriel: I’m not sure if it still counts as amodern AU, but for most what-the-fuck fandom trends, “the characters aremerpeople who are kept in captivity and forced to breed to produce mer-caviar,which is considered a culinary delicacy” has to win some kind of prize

[20:12] simaethae: oh my god

[20:12] Yavieriel: I’m trying to think how that would evenwork with Sauron and Tyelpe

[20:12] Yavieriel: suddenly Sauron is a lot moresympathetic?

[20:13] simaethae: i mean i would not exactly be AGAINSTsome xeno dubcon but the problem with AUs for the Silm is that without thecontext it’s really hard to get the characterisation remotely similar?

[20:13] Yavieriel: right, I was trying to think of some kindof.. parallels and

[20:13] Yavieriel: it very quickly turns into a completelydifferent dynamic

[20:14] simaethae: ….Sauron as the unethical scientistexperimenting on mer-Tyelpe. sexy bad experimentation. but that makesTyelpe…. kind of boringly passive?

[20:14] Yavieriel: Sauron as a traitor mer who’s beenselling other mers into captivity, maybe?

[20:14] simaethae: lmao

[20:15] simaethae: i still feel like that would be kind of adifferent dynamic tho

[20:15] Yavieriel: man one of the things that was reallystriking in the Strife of Truth with Art was how similar Sauron and Celebrimborstart sounding once you summarize too much and lose the context/details

[20:15] simaethae: bc External Threat?

[20:16] simaethae: yeah!!

[20:16] simaethae: i commented on how all the “whobetrayed whom” and “who stole knowledge/rings from whom” stuffwas getting super confused

[20:17] simaethae: which makes sense! especially when it’sbeen filtered through humans who’ve also been getting Sauron’s side of thestory

[20:17] Yavieriel: otoh in less-weird modern AUs, I feellike some kind of holiday-retail employment setting would be the meanest/mostinsulting to the characters

[20:17] simaethae: ahaha omg

[20:17] simaethae: but Sauron as the world’s worst managerwould be great. especially because he thinks he’s the best and has theflowcharts to prove it

[20:17] Yavieriel: at least in high school there’s the weirdsocial stuff where Sauron and/or Celebrimbor can have extravagant degrees ofinfluence over others

[20:18] Yavieriel: oh lord, yeah Sauron would be

[20:19] Yavieriel: although then I feel like Tyelpe has tobe, like, the other manager?  Or hisboss?  Everyone is baffled why theirgenuinely good boss decided to hire this asshole and thinks he’s so great

[20:19] simaethae: Tyelpe does a work placement with AngbandLLP, accidentally invents a way to improve [productivity metric] by 80%inbetween Sauron trying to do the good corporate mentor thing which, uh, doesnot exactly /not/ look like sexual harassment but Tyelpe isn’t sure he. minds?

[20:19] Yavieriel: [snorts]

[20:20] simaethae: it’s still not exactly getting theEregion dynamic tho is it

[20:20] Yavieriel: “is it sexual harassment if you’reinto it?”  "yes, but for thepeople around you instead"

[20:20] simaethae: lol yep

[20:20] Yavieriel: no, they’d need to be like…Tony-Stark-type genius inventor CEOs and Annatar is in disguise doing corporateespionage

[20:21] simaethae: oooh, yep

[20:22] simaethae: Tyelpe’s the Stark-type CEO and Annataris his terrifying PA, popular rumour has it that they’re sleeping together,Annatar started the rumour out of sexual frustration

[20:22] Yavieriel: the degree of influence and independenceand power they both have is just too high to really translate into being anysort of average person

[20:22] Yavieriel: [chokes]

[20:22] Yavieriel: does Tyelpe even notice that everyonethinks they’re sleeping together?

[20:23] Yavieriel: Annatar as secretly-evil!Pepper Potts,flame powers and all

[20:23] simaethae: yeah also realistically Annatar - doesn’twork for me very well as a human? because the bullshit he pulls is interestingif he’s a powerful alien who doesn’t get it, but would just be ordinarilyboring and shitty from a human :/

[20:23] simaethae: YEAH

[20:23] Yavieriel: right, if he’s human it’s just regularassholish-ness

[20:23] Yavieriel: shapeshifting alien Annatar?

[20:23] simaethae: …how would “secretly evil”even look in Marvel, all their governments are dying to be dictatorships anyway

[20:23] simaethae: yeah!!

[20:24] simaethae: i think you fixed it

[20:24] Yavieriel: if you go with an actual comic-book-typesetting that’s totally within bounds of plausible/normal

[20:24] simaethae: i think i’ve actually read fic along/vaguely/ similar lines involving Tony Stark and Loki, tho i might just befree-associating

[20:25] Yavieriel: keep the industrial espionage angleexcept Annatar was formerly like, Dr. Doom’s chief henchman?  Only he decided Tyelpe makes a much betterboss so Doom can go fuck himslef

[20:25] simaethae: shapeshifting evil alien Annatar decidesto work his way into a position of trust with Tyelpe, powerful CEO doing cleanenergy stuff, to get access to world leaders and work out how to work thesystem in advance of his bid for power

[20:25] Yavieriel: no I think I have too

[20:26] Yavieriel: or possibly we’re both free-associatingLise’s Steve/Loki series + all the Tony/Loki fic out there

[20:27] simaethae: Annatar is unavoidably distracted fromworld conquest because a) he kind of likes running a multinational company,it’s genuinely well-suited to his talents, and b) significant amounts of timewondering why Tyelperinquar won’t take the hint and importune his assistantalready

[20:27] simaethae: i think i actually still have thatbookmarked to read? but yeah

[20:28] Yavieriel: right, can’t Tyelpe at least be immoralenough to take some of the really blatant cues Annatar has been giving him

[…]

[20:44] simaethae: yeah, i was going to say Annatar would bereally great at running a big company, albeit partly by terrorising otherpeople into doing a good job and relentless delight in bureaucracy, so he’saccidentally damaged his prospects by making Tyelpe terrified he’ll quit

[20:44] Yavieriel: right, that time Annatar was running hishands of Tyelpe’s latest prototype and super into Tyelpe’s explanation of[obscure technical aspect of it] was honestly the closest he got to actuallypersuading Tyelpe to make a move

[20:44] simaethae: Tyelpe really likes being able to trustsomeone else to do the paperwork! what if he hits on Annatar and Annatarresigns and then he has to go back to filling in Form 33.C in triplicatehimself again!

[20:45] simaethae: :D Tyelpe is uncomfortably aware that hisfantasies about Annatar touching his engineering work are getting kind ofinappropriate

[20:45] Yavieriel: spend all that time actually managing hiscompany instead of inventing stuff and letting Annatar handle thelogistics?  The horror

[20:46] Yavieriel: (the potential for incredibly high-techbdsm sex toys in this scenario :smile: :smile: :D)

[20:46] simaethae: everyone else assumes they’re definitelyfucking and Tyelpe’s protests about how he would Never Do That are just areputation thing

[20:46] simaethae: (ohh, yes, excellent point!!)

[20:48] Yavieriel: people would be more concerned about thisin the general “unethical behavior from my employer” way except thatTyelpe has never even hinted at interest in anyone else, so everyone sort ofshrugs at it

[20:49] simaethae: also people who have actually met Annatartend to form a pretty accurate opinion of who would REALLY be more likely tosexually exploit who >_>

[20:49] Yavieriel: RIGHT

[20:49] Yavieriel: the handful of people who have consideredbringing this up with Annatar very quickly end up disabused of the notion thatAnnatar is being coerced in any way

[20:50] Yavieriel: if anyone’s getting coerced it’s them,they will be very happy to never be in the same room with Annatar again, thankyou

[20:51] Yavieriel: (obviously none of them had actually metAnnatar before, beyond possibly a polite handshake)

[20:51] simaethae: ….probably slightly more worried aboutTyelpe tho! Galadriel is one of the few people to be mostly sure they’re reallynot fucking, but it took some really embarrassingly conversations with Tyelpeto get there

[20:51] simaethae: yeah, or not in more than smileycorporate assistant persona :>

[20:53] Yavieriel: Galadriel is actually sure they’re notfucking and not entirely sure how she should feel about this, because on theone hand Annatar seems like a terrible choice, but on the other hand… Tyelpedoes need someone to take care of him, actually seems rather attached toAnnatar, and Annatar bizarrely enough seems to have some genuine feeling forTyelpe?

[20:53] simaethae: presumably it actually works out onceEvil Shapeshifting Alien invasion happens and Annatar changes sides orsomething because this was Not The Plan, he’s increasingly unsure what the planwas but it was Not This, but with some dramatic interludes in which no oneincluding Annatar is completely sure which side he’s on

[20:53] Yavieriel: why couldn’t her favorite cousin havebetter taste, she asks

[20:53] simaethae: yeah, Galadriel can’t stand Annatar butTyelpe seems…. happier?

[20:54] Yavieriel: right, like he’s definitely not on TeamSave The World, but he is on Team How Dare You Make My Boyfriend Unhappy andThreaten My Corporate Empire

[20:55] simaethae: or at least, happier when he’s aroundAnnatar, he gets this wistful look somtimes and she grits her teeth and tellsherself that bastard had better look after her cousin

[20:55] simaethae: yeah!

[20:55] simaethae: team How Dare You Touch What’s Mine :)

[20:56] simaethae: Annatar eventually gets fired, mayberehired, but also finally laid in the space of about an hour

[20:56] Yavieriel: tbh I think I read something like thatwith Superman and Lex Luthor, where Luthor ends up using his powers for goodbecause no one else is allowed to kill Superman and destroy Earth, how darethey

[20:56] simaethae: didn’t astolat maybe write some stuffalong those lines?

[20:56] Yavieriel: very probably

[20:57] Yavieriel: that would explain why I was reading it,usually I’m strictly team Superman/Batman

[20:57] simaethae: (so if Annatar’s actually a shapeshiftingalien I assume Tyelpe is. curious about the biology involved. he doesn’t wantto make Annatar feel as if Tyelpe’s not into his real form - if he has a realform, obviously this is purely in a spirit of scientific enquiry - )

[20:58] Yavieriel: yesssss

[20:59] Yavieriel: possibly there are tentacles involved:heart:

[21:03] Yavieriel: but definitely Weird Alien Biology,Tyelpe is very into this, Annatar finds it all fascinating and they mutuallyfind it really sexy when Annatar shows off his assorted alien features toTyelpe

[21:03] simaethae: yeah!

[21:04] simaethae: also Annatar being kind of - genuinelymoved by how into him Tyelpe is <3

[21:05] simaethae: turns out Tyelpe actually likes Annatarfor himself even when he forgets to constantly fake a more amenable persona??

[21:05] Yavieriel: right, and being surprised how much itmatters to him that Tyelpe does care about his not-human aspects

[21:05] simaethae: yesssss

[21:05] simaethae: Annatar wouldn’t have expected himself tocare!

[21:06] Yavieriel: right! He’s a shapeshifter by nature, it shouldn’t matter which form[s] hislover is attracted to they’re all his technically

[21:06] Yavieriel: but. Tyelpe is just into him, as a person, regardless

[21:06] simaethae: probably they go through kind of a weirdphase where Annatar’s like “so what would you like me to look liketonight” before they both work out that’s…. not really doing it foreither of them

[21:07] simaethae: (well, for Annatar maybe a /little/, but)

[21:07] Yavieriel: maybe Annatar’s native species is somekind of hyper-evolved octopus

[21:07] simaethae: ….i mean on the one hand excuse fortentacles, but on the other hand cephalopods ARE really good at camouflage??

[21:08] Yavieriel: it does a little for Annatar but he sortof realizes that it’s more “letting Tyelpe decide what he looks like/setrules” than the shapeshifting per se

[21:08] Yavieriel: right, like I was trying to think of whatwould be a good shapeshifty-species and also a native form that’s still atleast sorta appealing by human standards?

[21:10] Yavieriel: Annatar as something sort of like thishttps://i.pinimg.com/736x/83/61/49/836149daf9187173d766a3076eb762f9–octopus-mermaid-a-mermaid.jpg

[21:10] Yavieriel: but with golden hair-tentacles

[21:10] simaethae: YEAH

[21:10] simaethae: sharp teeth :)

[21:11] Yavieriel: and like, extrasensory stuff going on viaidk, telepathic tentacles or something?

[21:11] Yavieriel: RIGHT

[21:11] simaethae: some sort of electromagnetic ESP stuff?

[21:12] simaethae: because i’m p sure some fish can actuallydo that, idk about cephalopods but it wouldn’t surprise me

[21:12] Yavieriel:https://i.pinimg.com/736x/dd/6a/9b/dd6a9b56efa1308938dd8f9eee4cc4a4–elf-warrior-fantasy-warrior.jpgooooh, there we go, the hair-tentacles like I was thinking

[21:13] Yavieriel: yeah, and also now Tyelpe knows whyAnnatar always had perfect hair

[21:13] simaethae: NICE

[21:14] simaethae: also Annatar getting turned on by Tyelpebeing an alien to /him/?

[21:15] Yavieriel: Annatar’s native form isn’t actually verywell adapted for surviving on land, but they have a great deal of fun figuringout a sort of hybrid state that’s a bit more humanoid and handles being on land(or at least, in bed) better

[21:15] simaethae: (“your spinal vertebrae are in thesame place /all the time/?” “yes, uh, please don’t try to rearrangethem - ”)

[21:16] Yavieriel: the oxygen-deprivation can be fun, butthey’d rather not have to work around it every time they feel like getting thetentacles out

[21:17] simaethae: yeah, and also presumably Annatarwouldn’t actually be super comfortable in unsalted chlorinated water withoutany adaptations, so the bath wouldn’t be a great solution

[21:18] Yavieriel: right, like, sure Tyelpe can afford tohave a large saltwater tank installed but that has it’s own disadvantages, andAnnatar really enjoys the more decadent lifestyle possible when everythingisn’t underwater

[21:18] simaethae: …Tyelpe kind of pausing and blushingwhen Annatar gets comfortable enough to start, like, picking things up with hishair :)

[21:18] Yavieriel: yesss

[21:19] simaethae: yeah, or at least when the localtechnology isn’t well-adapted for underwater and your boyfriend can’t breathewithout air

[21:19] Yavieriel: also really fascinated by the variousneurotoxins and whatnot that Annatar is capable of producing

[21:19] Yavieriel: that too

[21:20] Yavieriel: hypothermia tends to be an issue as well

[21:20] simaethae: oooh, accidents with chemicals

[21:21] Yavieriel: Annatar’s completely resistant to allsorts of chemicals that are poisonous to humans, but turns out [totally commonhuman food] is a potent aphrodisiac for his species

[21:21] simaethae: Annatar’s species totally produce a wholerange of neurochemicals for reproduction/bonding with a mate and they’re not…totally incompatible with human physiology, although it’s a slightlydistressing interval before Tyelpe reassures him this is the GOOD kind of pupildilation

[21:21] Yavieriel: oooh, yes

[21:22] simaethae: or gets him drunk! :)

[21:22] simaethae: that one time Annatar walked out of ameeting where they had [snacks with ingredient in] now suddenly makes a lotmore sense

[21:23] Yavieriel: right! And another common food is extremely poisonous and there’s a ratherworrying incident where Tyelpe has to desperately hope that his understandingof alien biology is sufficient for him to appropriately treat it

[21:24] Yavieriel: also, Annatar now has an entirely newrange of options for terrorizing his subordinates

[21:24] simaethae: mm, and/or Annatar being like “don’tworry, I’m used to dealing with toxic chemicals, let me just do some quickinternal surgery” while Tyelpe’s like “what”

[21:25] simaethae: (i kind of think Annatar would be veryneedy and demand to have his brow mopped in response to minor injuries butdisturbingly blase about more major ones)

[21:26] Yavieriel: true, Annatar basically reaching in andrearranging his own internal organs in a very disturbing fashion

[21:27] Yavieriel: well, I was going for “actually foronce genuinely incapacitated”

[21:28] simaethae: aw, yeah. Annatar being like “youidiot I’ll be fine I just need to - ” [drops unconscious] :/

[21:28] Yavieriel: of course possibly Annatar doescavalierly rearrange his own organs and then passes out, all “I’ll be fineI just need to sleep this off now” but Tyelpe is understandably (andcorrectly) Very Concerned about this

[21:29] simaethae: right, also someone going bonelesslyunconscious when they literally do not have any actual bones is a surprisinglytricky logistical challenge

[21:30] Yavieriel: akldfj;sdk yeah, Tyelpe trying to figureout how the hell to move an unconscious octopus that’s basically twice the sizeof an adult human once you factor in all the tentacles

[21:32] simaethae: right, and kind of hoping he doesn’ttouch anything that triggers a reflexive sting while Annatar’s unconscious>_>

[21:33] simaethae: aslfn wait let me make it worse. Annatartotally does sting on reflex while unconscious, but his body recognises Tyelpeas his mate and decides now is definitely the time to shoot him up witheuphorics

[21:33] Yavieriel: ooooh

[21:33] Yavieriel: yeah that would be extremely not helpful

[21:34] Yavieriel: mmm, and leading in tonot-really-conscious Annatar trying to mate with Tyelpe like he’s another ofthe same species

[21:34] Yavieriel: which

[21:34] simaethae: which doesn’t make Tyelpe exactlynot-worried, because getting high isn’t the same as not having emotionsanymore, but does make him kind of poorly coordinated and probably prone toending up with both of them half-in the bathtub with Annatar on an improvisedIV line, while Tyelpe gives in and snuggles

[21:34] simaethae: omg

[21:35] Yavieriel: Does Not Work, but in ways that are…decidedly interesting

[21:37] Yavieriel: Tyelpe snuggling Annatar in the bathtuband waking up to tentacles doing something that is… not exactly pleasant butstill rather sexy

[21:38] simaethae: Annatar being groggily affectionatebecause mate! here! everything is correct and good! while Tyelpe is kind ofworried he’s taking advantage of Annatar in an altered state of consciousnessbut also a) that feels really good if extremely weird and b) it’s a good jobTyelpe’s into this because Annatar’s pretty determined to snuggle >_>

[21:38] Yavieriel: yessss

[21:39] simaethae: right, he’s kind of worried this is goingto end with eggs being laid in /someone/ but not enough to actually stop :)

[21:40] Yavieriel: warm salt-water because Tyelpe did havethe foresight to put together an emergency kit of sorts to make the bathwatermore appropriate for Annatar’s natural state, but that’s also encouraging, ah,mating behavior

[21:40] simaethae: yep!!

[21:40] Yavieriel: la;dkfjs;lkafj YES >.>

[21:41] simaethae: Annatar’s biology being like, “ah,clearly this is a warm tidal rock-pool, the perfect place to spawn”>_>

[21:41] Yavieriel: he’s pretty sure the thought ofegg-laying shouldn’t be turning him on either but he did decide to bang anoctopus-alien, soooo

[21:41] simaethae: alfgblgn

[21:43] Yavieriel:https://thattoychick.wordpress.com/2014/07/12/weird-sex-toys-o-the-week-the-what-dildo-edition/it is a thing

[21:43] simaethae: Annatar’s been great about exploringhuman sex, Tyelpe doesn’t want to make him feel as if his natural behaviour isunwelcome! Tyelpe can totally try out whatever Annatar’s into for once! no,really. he’s ready to explore this any time now

[21:44] Yavieriel: hilariously I once ran across someoneusing one of those to do jello shots, because you make the “eggs” outof gelatin

[21:44] simaethae: oh my god

[21:44] simaethae: what do you know you really can findeverything on the internet

[21:45] Yavieriel: you can! It’s amazing

[21:48] Yavieriel: [sighs]

[21:48] Yavieriel: alright, it’s quarter to five, and if Iwant to finish sweeping the driveway before it gets dark, I need to go do that

[21:49] simaethae: yeah i’m getting sleepy again

[21:49] Yavieriel: go sleep, that’s important if you’regoing to feel better

[21:49] simaethae: good luck with the driveway in that case!i’m glad we managed to get from “really bad modern AUs” tooviposition kink in a single conversation :>

[wellhellsbelles]

There Goes Our Love Again

You will get three chapters after this inbetween now and Christmas day. The third chapter is Christmas related. I have more written and more to write, but I just thought it'd be cool to put out a Christmas chapter on Christmas. :)

ao3 link here!

//

iv. God Don’t Make Me Lose My Mind

Farkle blinked and suddenly it was October, almost time for Halloween. He’d been buried in piles upon piles of work at his job, and adjusting to his new environment proved to be a tad difficult, go figure. To be fair, engineering was demanding work, so there wasn’t much time to have an “adjustment period”. He was thrown back into projects almost instantaneously, so he concentrated solely on those.

Luckily for him, the gang all planned an outing for Friday night because they all agreed they needed some fun time since all of their jobs were taking up every bit of energy they had.

Never in his life had Farkle been relieved to be invited to get wasted with his friends. He was a little too focused on his education in college to want to wade in those waters, determined as ever to earn his degree as fast as he could. Of course, he did say yes to the occasional outing, but other than that, he was confined to his dorm very much so.

Now? He’d like to get out of the stuffy, indoor atmosphere and be out on the town, laughing and pretending that he doesn’t have to be a grown adult for just one night.

They all deserve it; they really do.

Unfortunately for Farkle, he arrived last, thirty minutes late to the party because work and blah blah blah. But he doesn’t care; he just plopped down in a seat at their table, immediately ordering a drink and shrugging off his jacket.

“Long day at work, Farkley?” Riley asked, sipping at her piña colada. Farkle buried his head into his arms.

“You can say that,” he mumbled. Maya patted him on the shoulder.

“Oh, chin up, Dr. Farklestein. You’ll get the hang of it. You’re a bigshot engineer, now!”

“And besides, we’re not here to talk about work. We’re here to party! Bartender, a round of your strongest shots, please!” Zay shouted, his voice barely reaching above the rest of the bar. The bartender nodded, fixing up their drinks while they waited.

“I take it you guys have already gone crazy and drank a lot within the thirty minutes I was absent?” Farkle asked, giving the waitress a head nod after she dropped of Farkle’s order.

“Nah,” Lucas said at the same time Maya said, “Of course.” Farkle snorted.

Not much had changed with those two. Not really.

“Okay, we did,” Lucas changed his answer hastily, “But only a couple of drinks. I told everyone to hold off on the getting drunk if only to let you get drunk with us.”

“Thanks, man,” Farkle smiled, taking a swig of his drink. “I have to say, though, I’m not looking forward to the hangover in the morning.”

“Focus on the now, not the future, Farkle. Drink and be merry!” Zay exclaimed right as the shots arrived. Zay grabbed one off the tray and the rest of the group followed suit, all of them raising their glasses in the air.

“To getting drunk!” Maya yelled.

“To getting Farkle drunk,” Zay corrected her.

“I’ll drink to that,” Lucas said.

“Same,” Riley echoed her sentiment. They all downed their shots after that, the liquor burning in Farkle’s throat as it went down.

“I’ll order us another round. It’s time we got this party started!” Maya said, raising her hand for the waitress to come over.

“Another?” Farkle asked.

“Oh, come on, Dr. Farklestein. We’re gonna get you a Phd in partying by the end of this night!”

“That’s not even possible,” Farkle muttered under his breath, but didn’t complain further. The waitress returned and took another order for shots, disappearing shortly afterward. Farkle went back to sipping on his beer tentatively, worried what his friends were going to bring him this night.

He never really could tell.

They all engaged in some small talk before the waitress had returned again, this time a bottle in hand.

“Here you guys go,” she said, relinquishing the bottle to Zay who had a devilish grin planted upon his face.

“A whole bottle?” Farkle griped. Zay nodded his head.

“You bet, Farkle. We’re all going to participate in a drinking game tonight. And you don’t get to Farkle your way out of this.” Farkle shot him a look of disdain.

“Did you just use my name as a verb?”

“We do it a lot when you’re not around, actually,” Riley admitted. Farkle narrowed his eyes at them, unamused.

“You guys are lucky I like you all. Alright, fine,” he gave in, “What’s the drinking game we’re playing?”

“Yay!!!” they all celebrated when Farkle finally agreed. He just huffed in response.

“Okay, so the game we will be playing is—Maya drum roll please,” Zay pointed towards Maya, who began mimicking a drum roll on the table, “. . . NEVER HAVE I EVER!” Farkle leaned back his head.

“Good lord.” Riley poked at his face, a bemused smile on her face.

“Lighten up, Farkley! This’ll be fun,” she giggled, already starting to get tipsy. Farkle threw up his hands in defeat.

“Alright, fine! Just start.”

“Sounds good to me,” Zay said, removing the cap to the bottle of liquor and filling everyone’s shot glasses. “So this is how it’ll go: we’ll all take turns going around in a circle, each stating something we haven’t done. But if you have done this thing, then you take a shot. Whoever reaches seven shots loses the game and gets a punishment of the rest of the group’s choosing. We all on board?”

“Yup,” Maya, Lucas, Riley, and Farkle all agreed in unison.

“Great! I’ll go ahead and start,” Zay announced, cracking his knuckles in preparation. “Never have I ever . . . been in a love triangle.” Maya, Riley, and Lucas all groaned.

“Come on,” Riley pouted. Farkle grinned, happy he didn’t have to take a shot for this round.

“It’s the rules, sugar,” Zay shrugged his shoulders. The three of them all took a shot, holding their glasses out for Zay to refill after. “Alright, Lucas. You’re up to bat.”

“Okay, got it. Never have I ever gone skinny dipping.” Everyone took a shot except for Lucas. He raised a brow at Farkle. “Farkle?”

“I’m not proud of it. It’s how my classmates and I celebrated after we got our doctorates,” he answered.

“Wow, nerds really know how to party,” Maya teased him.

“Ha ha.”

“You’re up, shortstack.” Maya nodded, waiting until their glasses were full again to begin her turn.

“Never have I ever . . . lived outside of New York,” she said. All the boys grumbled, taking their shots.

“Not fair,” Zay huffed, but Maya only smiled at him angelically.

“Sorry, sugar.” Farkle could already feel the room start to spin a bit, the alcohol getting to him quickly.

This was what he signed up for, unfortunately.

“Riley up to bat!”

Riley’s face didn’t change as she tapped her chin thoughtfully, and all Farkle could think was, Oh crap, she’s about to target me, isn’t she?

“Never have I ever . . . gotten drunk at my friend’s party and then thrown up in her kitchen sink,” Riley finally stated, her gaze fully on Farkle.

“You told me you wouldn’t tell anyone!” Farkle whined.

“Sorry, Farkley. I really want you to get drunk.” Farkle took his shot, albeit begrudgingly, thrusting it towards Zay for a refill. He felt himself grow bolder with each drink, his mind becoming wicked as he thought up another “Never Have I Ever” statement.

“Never have I ever . . . lost my top in the ocean while on a family vacation,” he stared back at Riley.

“Oh come on! You said you’d keep that a secret!” Riley exclaimed as her cheeks turned beet red, leaning back with the shot.

“And that was my revenge for you, my dearest Riley,” Farkle chuckled. Riley stuck her tongue out at him in response.

The rest of the game went off without hitch, and eventually Riley and Farkle were the two losers, both of them having reached seven shots. They both groaned together when Maya, Lucas, and Zay began laughing at them because they knew exactly what was next:

Their punishment.

If Farkle weren’t feeling so drunk already he might’ve just left the bar in a hurry, but he was, and so he was feeling ready to take on whatever challenge they had in store for him.

“Our punishment for the two of you is—drum roll again please, Maya—get ready . . . KARAOKE!!!” Zay announced, Maya and Lucas cheering alongside him.

“God, this is going to be terrible,” Riley snorted, and Farkle smiled knocking into her with his elbow.

“Indubitably.”

And terrible it was.

Because, between the two of them, they are godawful singers, exacerbated by the fact that they are indeed drunk. And to make matters worse for Zay, Maya, and Lucas, they’re actually into singing karaoke to the point where the three of them had to pry Riley and Farkle off the stage.

“~I BLESS THE RAINS DOWN IN AFRICAAAAA!!! GONNA TAKE SOME TIME TO DO THE THINGS WE NEVER HAAAAAAAAAAAAAD!!!!” Farkle and Riley shouted as they swayed together, Farkle’s arm around her shoulders and Riley’s around his as they sung their fifth song in a row.

“Alright, guys, I’m gonna have to insist you get off the stage now. The manager’s pissed,” Maya shouted to them from below the karaoke stage. Riley put her index finger to her lips sloppily, shaking her head.

“Shhhhhh, peaches! Farkley and I are singing a very important song right now!”

“I’m blaming you for this, Zay,” Maya muttered as she trudged onto the stage, dragging Farkle and Riley off along with her. She was lucky they were drunk or the task would be impossible.

“But I wanna sing more songs!” Riley whined, her hand grabbing wistfully towards the microphone.

“Me too!” Farkle cried.

“Nope. Absolutely not. You two are going home. Lucas, help me out here!” Maya called out to him.

“On it.” Lucas was by her side at a moment’s notice, grabbing Farkle’s arm and slinging it over his shoulder while Maya took care of Riley.

“You wanna just drop them both at my apartment? I think that might be easiest,” Zay offered.

“Good point, Zay,” Lucas agreed. “Let’s just do that.”

Together, the five of them loaded up into a taxi (yeah, not very “law abiding”, but the taxi driver agreed to shut up about it if they gave him an extra thirty dollars), and drove off towards Zay and Farkle’s apartment, ready to just crash once the night was over even though it was only half past midnight.

The pains of growing up, alas.

Riley and Farkle didn’t shut up the entire taxi ride to the apartment, much to the rest of the group’s chagrin, but by the time they arrived, the two had fallen asleep side-by-side, Riley’s head tucked neatly under Farkle’s.

“I almost hate to wake them up at this point,” Lucas said after he, Maya, and Zay had all slid out of the car. “They look so sweet and peaceful.”

“C’mon, let’s get them inside,” Maya grumbled, tugging at Riley’s arm. “Riiiiiiileeeeeeey,” she crooned, “We’ve got to drop you off. Come on.”

“Mmmmm . . .” Riley moaned but followed Maya’s instructions, reluctantly sliding out of the car. On the other side, Lucas just pulled Farkle out and slung him over his back, thanking the taxi driver and shutting the door.

“Remind me to never get them this drunk again next time,” Maya said as they carried the dead weight of their friends up inside their apartment, all the way to the third floor.

  The next morning, Farkle was definitely regretting the night. But at least he had fun and he got to spend it with his friends, and for the first time in a long time he felt true, unadulterated happiness course within him once again.

[spartanburger]

Source Engine’s vertex weight limit is bothering me.

Source engine has a limit to the number of weights you can have assigned to a single bone.  This limit is three.What this means is that, if you want to have more than four different bones independently move a single vertex, you’re going to have to use a better game engine.

This isn’t a complete barrier as a bone will move all the bones that are beneath it in bone hierarchy.  If you remember the arm example I gave from my previous post, what this means is that, despite the three-weight limit, the shoulder bone can still move vertexes in the fingers that would otherwise only be assigned to the finger bones.  This is because moving a bone will move any and all bones under it in hierarchy, and thus move the vertexes assigned to it.  The skin over your knuckle is only “assigned” to the bones for your fingers, but since moving your wrist or elbow moves those bones, the skin moves along with it.  

This is exactly what you want when creating limbs or tentacles or anything long and meaty.

*ahem*

Anyway.

Where this doesn’t work great is in instances where you need smooth gradients of weights over a large plate or “flat” area.  Like cloth.  Which is exactly where I run into issues.  This is going to be really hard to explain simply without spending the time to create examples.

Go back to math class.  Remember gridpaper?  Imagine you have a sheet of large-square grid paper.  At each point where the axis lines cross over (the vertex points), assign up to three numbers.  Each of these numbers have to add up to 1.0.  Any less and you get phantom “implicit” bones inserted by Blender. Any more and you get fucky weights. 

Each of those numbers represents a “weight” assigned to a bone.  A weight of 1 will move the vertex 1:1 with the bone. A weight of 0.5 will move it 1:2 with each bone.  

If you want to move the entire grid paper, you just assign one number to each vertex: 1.0

Now let’s say that one bone assigned to everything has four child bones, each spaced about the paper with the root at the middle like the ‘5′ side of a six sided dice.  You want the middle ‘root’ bone to move the whole thing, and each of the other child bones to merely morph a corner to the paper.  Well, since the four child bones are, well, child bones - below the root in hierarchy - as long as all vertex weights are assigned to either the root or any of the child bones, and the weights on each vertex all add up to 1, moving the root will move the entire sheet 1:1, exactly what we want.

Now, if you want to morph a corner, you want the weights to be very heavy for the bone in that corner, but you want it to gradually weaken as you get away from that bone.  In this case, the vertexes directly on or around the bone may be assigned 1.0 to that bone, but as you move away, you will start seeing vertex weights like [0.8,0.1,0.1] or [0.5,0.25,0.25] and so on and so forth.  

Think about the weights for the vertexes at the middle point between two corners. That being the vertexes if you follow along the edge of the paper to the exact middle between two corners.  You don’t want it to move exactly 1:1 with either bone - you want both to move it, but perhaps only weakly.  Remember, you want it to flex like paper.  So one thing you could do is assign say 0.25 of the vertex to each bone, and the 0.5 remainder to the root.  In this case, each bone will move the vertex 1:4 with the bone, while the root will still move it 1:1 as explained above.

Now place a new child bone under the root bone at that point.  Now you could go 0.5 to that bone, and 0.25 to the others and still be good.  Assuming you’re still with me, that’s essentially how vertex weights work for 3d modelling, only with the graph paper being a sculpt of n-gons.

Now, the limitation.  If you want a smooth transition between two bones, you need to gradually shift the weights when going between vertexes.  The more vertexes inbetween, and the slighter the weight shifts, the smoother it will be as long as you’re not taking up more space (e.g., using graph paper that’s the same physical size, but with much smaller squares on it).

However, when dealing with cloth, especially with cloth of unusual shapes, you will quickly start running into issues where the only way to have a smooth transition between the various bones is to have more than three weights.

Here is the weights for one of the bones in my Quarian hood:

Blue in this case means a weight of 0 on the selected bone (or “vertex group” in this case, but when exporting to source, they’re functionally identical, so I’ll just keep using bone) and the warmer it gets, the higher the weight.  1.0 is red.

Following the color gradients, you can see how the weights are smooth on and off.  Now let’s say I wanted to create a new bone that manipulated this area of the hood circled in punk right here:

It’s important to know what other bones are there, so I’ve highlighted the “spine” of the hood.  Each bone is a child of the other one, with bone ‘1′ being the root.  Moving 1 moves 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.  Moving 4 only moves 4 and 5.

So let’s  make our new bone a child of bone 4, named bone ‘4A’.  In order to get it to work right, we need it to have a smooth transition, both from bone 4, but also bones 3 and bones 5.

Each of these vertexes are already assigned three weights.  If I create bone ‘4A’ in the center of the pink circle, I simply just replace the weight assignments for bone 4 for those vertexes with bone 4A.  That keeps the smooth transition vertically, but now we have an issue with the transition to and from bone 4.  No matter what we do here, moving bone 4 will still work fine, however, unless we’re willing to deal with a sharp and sudden weight gradient between 4A and 4, there’s no way to set this up with only three bones.

The problems only get worse if you repeat this along the vertical axis, for hypothetical bones 3A, 2A, 1A, and 5A.  Essentially, to do that, which is exactly what I need to be able to do, I would need to be able to work with up to six weight assignments. 

And since I’m limited to three, I’m pretty sure I’m SOL on this one.

This is why it’s best to use flexes or shapekeys when working with faces.  Because so many “bones” need to be able to work with a given vertex, and since flexes don’t have this limit, flexes are used for faces.  However, if I were to create flexes for the hood in this manner, I would be sacrificing a lot of customization for the morphing of the hood in poses or animation.  With bones, you can manipulate a certain area in 3D space and with rotation.  With flexes, you have to key in each axis of movement or rotation to achieve the same flexibility, and then you’d still be limited by the ends of each flex.

so yeah.

foomp

Assuming I can’t find a workaround, I’m going to have to create some limited flexes. :////

[a-sweet-pea]

The Last Flight

A/N: I see ‘hyperfixation’ pop up on my dash every so often, and as far as I can gather its sort of related to add / adhd, and it pretty much is what it sounds like. With that in mind, if a person had plenty of other writing projects to deal with but then they watched an episode of a TV show, and a thirty-second portion lodged itself in their brain so firmly that they watched just that clip, like, eighteen more times, while walking to pick up some takeout, while on lunchbreak at work, and it made them absolutely fall in love with the idea of reinterpreting that whole episode in a G/T context, such that they pretty much couldn’t focus on any other WIP because they were too in love with the performance of this particular actor, the combination of old-fashioned military politeness, cocky fly-boy attitude tempered with vulnerability and confusion, and big dark scared eyes and clark-kent style hair, and then they wrote almost two-thousand words about it, is that what hyperfixation is? Asking for a friend.

On an entirely unrelated note, this is a short fanfic of Season 1, Episode 18 of the Twilight Zone. Some pieces of the dialogue are taken directly from the episode, and I highly recommend watching it (it’s available on USA Netflix) if only the segment from 3 minutes in to 7 minutes in.

- - -

Witness Flight Lieutenant William Terrance Decker, Royal Flying Corps, returning from a patrol somewhere over France. The year is 1917. The problem is that the Lieutenant is hopelessly lost. Lieutenant Decker will soon discover that a man can be lost not only in terms of maps and miles, but also in time and dimension - and all of these navigational touchstones are waylaid in the Twilight Zone.

Sara was just stepping out of her front door when the plane landed. The street was empty. Not many people were up at six in the morning on a saturday, at least not in the early early spring, when the weather had a habit of acting as if it was still winter. Sara was only up because a particularly loud bird had taken up residence in the tree next to her bedroom, and she was never able to go back to sleep once she’d woken up. She was only outside because inbetween bouts of birdsong, she’d heard this weird chattering engine noise and wanted to see what it was. And she saw it the moment she stepped outside; a model airplane landing on the sidewalk going up to her house like it was a runway. It touched down at the far end of the walk, by the mailbox, and came to a stop about halfway to the stoop.

Who on the street owns a model plane? She looked the road up and down but there were no conspicuous remote-control-holding children in any of the nearby windows. Maybe someone got one for Christmas and they only ever play with it early in the morning.

The propeller slowed to a lazy twirl as she got closer. Hopefully whoever owns it put their name on it so I can return it.

Something climbed out of the plane.

What the hell?

Sara had seen videos of people putting their pets in model cars or planes; hamsters or lizards, anything small enough to fit in the cockpit. It seemed like such an awful thing to do to a pet. I hope they didn’t put their name on the plane, and then I’ll have an excuse not to return it. You don’t get to have a pet if you’re going to fly it around in a remote control plane; I don’t care how carefully you land it, that’s just irresponsible.

No, it wasn’t a pet. It must have just fallen out of the cockpit, not climbed out, because it was shaped like a person.

Now, putting an action figure in a model plane; that’s fine.

An action figure that was standing up on it’s own, despite having tumbled out of the plane. An action figure that took off it’s helmet and tossed it into the plane. An action figure that turned around and looked at her, and stumbled backward, and took off at a run in the opposite direction..

Small as it was, it didn’t get very far.

She knelt down on the concrete and curled her fingers around the fleeing figure. It wriggled in her grip; tiny hands pushed against her fingers, struggling to pry them apart.

It’s not…it isn’t…

She grabbed the plane in her other hand. It was metal, and it was still hot, like the hood of a car that’s been running all day.

They make remote control airplanes out of metal, don’t they?

She pushed back through the door, hands full, and let it slam shut behind her. The thing that could not be what it looked like still struggled in her right hand. She let her grip loosen a fraction. The plane, she set down on the coffee table. The other thing, she did not set down. She sat down on the couch and took a deep breath.

Why am I so shaky?

Her hand shook as she lifted it toward her face, opening it as she did so that her palm lay flat. And on it was an impossible creature, scrambling to his feet.

A man. A man with dark eyes and dark hair that was parted at the side and touseled at his forehead. A man dressed in a leather aviator jacket, a white scarf, clean pressed pants, and tall leather boots. A man who was four inches tall.

“Holy…” He flinched at the sound of her voice, raising his hands in front of his face as if to shield himself.

“Sorry!” She cut her volume in half. “A-are you okay?”

He wasn’t listening. His eyes were fixed on her, but his attention was elsewhere, fumbling for something at his waist; some miniscule metal implement. When he raised it, gripping the handle in one hand and steadying his grip with the other, it became clear what it was.

“Easy, easy.” His shoulders were steady but his chest was heaving with hyperventilated breaths, and his hands were shaking so much the gun didn’t stay pointed in any one direction for more than a moment. Even so, she was such a big target (relatively speaking) that he was liable to hit something if he fired. “Put the gun away.” He swallowed, readjusting his grip. “I’m not gonna hurt you, I promise.”

“Are you American?”

It took her a moment to answer, she was so startled. He can talk. That somehow made him more real (one would have thought that seeing and touching him would have been enough to establish the truth of his existence, but apparently she had still been partway unconvinced).

“Yes. Are you?”

He shook his head. “British.” The tip of the gun faltered, and then lowered. “What-who are you?”

“I’ll tell you if you put the gun away.” He nodded and holstered the gun. “Name’s Sara. Sorry for grabbing you, hope you’re not too shook up. What’s your name?”

He stood straighter, a puppet with it’s strings pulled tight all of a sudden. “Leftenant William Terrance Decker.” He brought his hand to his forehead with rigid military precision. “Royal Flying Corps.” Hearing him speak properly, she could have guessed he was British. A refined and educated, albeit currently out of sorts, English accent.

“Pleased to meet you, Leftenant.”

He lowered his arm, but he still stood rigid as a toy soldier. He turned his head one way and the other, taking in his surroundings with increasing confusion. “Where exactly am I?”

“Havelock, North Carolina. In my house, specifically. Where did you think you were?”

“Well, I thought I was landing at 56 Squadron RFC.” He laughed nervously. “But I also thought the worst thing that could happen on patrol would be to run into was a German plane, and well, here we are.”

German? Despite the fact that Germans had no doubt made many planes since, ‘German plane’ was a phrase somehow inexorably tangled up with the world wars. Add to that a British pilot, and the connection was almost undeniable. And his plane has a definite early-World-War look to it, like the one on display up at Cherry Point.

“What’s today’s date?”

He answered without hesitation, although he looked puzzled. “March the fifth.”

Correct. “What year?”

He looked doubly puzzled. “Why, nineteen-seventeen.”

“Nineteen-seventeen?” The little figure in her hand suddenly felt different. More alien. More lost.

“That’s correct.” What little composure he’d mustered over the past few minutes faltered slightly. “Isn’t it?”

“It’s…” She paused, trying to choose her words carefully. Was it possible to phrase this delicately? “It’s two-thousand and seventeen.”

He stared past her. There was different fear in his eyes now; not the wild, dangerous fear of seeing her. Something subtler and stranger.

“Uh…look here…” He spoke much softer now, voice steady despite his obvious distress. He looked down at her palm; she felt the toe of a minuscule boot tentatively tap her skin. “You…” He looked back up at her, eyes wide with concern and confusion. "You’re not joking with me, are you?"

She shook her head.

“Good lord…” Already unsteady on his feet, his weight shifted and he fell to one knee.

“Careful!”

He didn’t respond to her warning, if he even processed it. He was staring into the distance, lowering himself to a sitting position in the center of her palm. She could feel his arms shaking where they touched skin.

“When I was landing…” He was whispering still, Sara had to lift her hand closer to hear him. He was too lost in remembering to notice. “There was a thick white cloud…I couldn’t hear my engine. It was like being swallowed in a vacuum. The same sort of thing happened to Guy Niemayer. He disappeared one day while flying. At the memorial service the Cardinal said ‘He belonged to the sky, and the sky has taken him.”

“Well, he never showed up here, if that’s what you’re wondering.”

He jumped, shaken from a reverie.

“Well of course not, I only…” His voice trailed away. He was looking at her as if he’d only just remembered she was there. “Is this what he saw as he was dying?”

“You’re not dying!”

“Aren’t I?” He gestured at the air, at nothing. “Castaway in time and space; in the clutches of giant? It all feels to real to be a dream, and if it’s not then I don’t see what else it could be.”

“You’re not in my clutches!” Sara lowered her hand to the coffee table; the Leftenant’s fingers dug into her palm at the sudden movement. “I-I’m not clutching. Honest.” He didn’t move at first, but the longer she kept her hand flat and still, the more assured he was that it wasn’t going to suddenly lift off again. He pushed himself to his feet and walked unsteadily off the edge of her palm. Sara lifted her hand away and absent mindedly brushed her palm with the thumb of the other hand.

He’s so light.

He took a few cautious steps on the glass table top, looking up toward the ceiling, what must have been a hundred feet above him or more.

“I’m sorry…” He turned back to her with a very militaristic about face. “I’m sorry if I scared you. I didn’t mean to."

He crossed his arms and furrowed his brow. “I’m not afraid.”

She smiled wide and did one of those quick breathy laughs you can’t politely supress because you weren’t expecting it. “Good.”

A/N 2 : If this is rushed and unpolished, it’s because I farted it out. This idea was literally posessing me. Also, I spelled Lieutenant weird on purpose because they pronounced it that way. This whole post is a fever dream. I make no apologies.

[mobileautorepairpros]

Goss’ Garage: Vital Fluids

Now whether your car is new, it’s old, or some place inbetween, it has vital fluids. And the most important of those vital fluids is the engine oil.

Now, you can have a newer car that may have an oil-like monitoring system on it, but remember that most of those monitoring systems do not tell you the condition of the oil. All they do is make a guess based on the number of revolutions of the engine, the temperature of the oil, and a bunch of other factors that they plug into an algorithm.

If you really want to be great about taking care of your car, find out what type of mileage you put on your car and follow either a time or mileage oil change interval. If you drive a lot of miles you change it on mileage covered by the wheels. If you don’t do much driving, well then you do it on calendar months. But the big thing is to change the oil. And to always use the proper type of oil.

You see, there are different qualities of oil and most modern cars require the highest quality that you can buy. Many require full synthetic oil in order to maintain warranty coverage. Also, there are all types of oil viscosities or thicknesses. And the one thing that you may run into is somebody that tells you that thicker oil is better. Thicker oil may have been better many many years ago. But not anymore. The car is set up today to work properly with the recommended oil in it. So follow the owner’s manual.

Then we have specialty oils that they address certain problems. While the advertising people would like you to think, that these problems are going to occur usually at 75,000 miles on every car out there. So they’ll tell you to use their product at 75,000 miles. Well, no two cars are exactly the same. Wait until your car has a problem that that specialty oil might address and then use it, not before.

Second thing, automatic transmissions. Virtually all cars these days come with automatic transmissions in some form. These transmissions have fluids. And the fluids have to be changed on a regular basis. Now the best way to do it is to flush the transmission, that’ll get rid of all the old contaminants and all the old fluid and so on. And, it’ll make the transmission last longer. But when it comes to fill or top off the transmission, well your going to be faced with a whole bunch of different fluids. And you will probably be faced with one or two that say they fit everything. Well one size does not fit all properly. You should always use transmission fluid that is recommended for your particular year, make, and model car. And that of course will keep the transmission going longer and help to prevent problems.

So vital fluids- they really are vital! Make sure you understand them and that you change them regularly. And if you have a question or comment, drop us a line right here at MotorWeek!

from MotorWeek Entries https://ift.tt/3ebyASB via IFTTT

[5hinexo-blog]

Under My Skin 2: The Reality

read on wattpad

word count: 2k

There was something off with Tae but you couldn't get a grip on what it was exactly. He's been weird for a few days, more than usual after a break up. Ever since he got separated from Ye-rim he was more than just absent, now that you think deeper about it. It was his thing to spend a lot of time in the practice room. He was never the lazy one. So why did you had this feeling like something was wrong even though nothing seemed to be? You had to talk to him soon. Not right now tho, you had something else to overthink.

Who was this Yoongi dude and why were you calling out his name in your sleep? A nap that was supposed to help you became a source of stress. Oh, how much you hated it! The only good thing of your day was ruined and now you were left with so many unanswered questions.

As a normal student you expected a break after the end of a semestrial project but no. Your classmates were out there somewhere, chilling, having good naps. And you were left here, alone, standing in front of Taemin's practice room with a huge headache because of the all nighter you pulled the other day.

Sigh.

Being a student was rough. At least before, you had Taemin to lean on but now, apparently, he had his own issues that he couldn't tell you about. Damn it.

'I will not let this ruin my day' you whisper to yourself as you start walking back to the park to read something since you had nothing else to do today.

Your phone starts ringing interrupting your introspective monologue. You answer it as soon as you hear it without even seeing who it is.

'Heya!' you try to sound cheerful to brighten up a little.

'Y/N!! What are you doing? I thought we were meeting at the cafeteria at 3 pm. We're all waiting for you. Move your ass here quickly or we're leaving without you.' Your classmate/friend Nara was shouting at the other end of the line closing the call as she finished her angry statements.

Fuck. You totally forgot about it! A simple 'let's go to the lake sometime' was instantly turned into a promise and now you had to go to some creepy lake in the middle of the day? In the middle of a bad day when you wanted nothing more but to sleep? Sure why not.

So you start to run to the cafeteria where they are waiting for you. Going without having anything packed up for this short trip is a bad move but you could at least try to have a good time. It was definitely a bad idea to skip lunch for a nap, the growls coming from your stomach were quite scary. Yet here you are rushing to go on a trip you didn't exactly desire to have.

Damn it. You're going to change today into a great day, you'll try to have fun with your schoolmates.

Even though you couldn't shake the weird feeling that was still inside your mind.

What's up with the lake? There was something quite bothering about it's history. Its been said that a long time ago, it was considered sacred because some angels and demons had wars on its surface leaving it be a neutral place, neither good or bad. It was also said that weird creatures were living inside, somewhere so deep in the dark waters where humans couldn't see anything. Well, it's not like that was the case because in reality, it was forbidden to swim in the lake. No one was allowed to even let the water touch their skin as it might cause severe damage and even death if they stayed long enough with the water on their skin. Visitors hours were from 11 am to 6 pm, being able to see the lake only while it was daytime.

When you were little you were so curious about why the poor lake was full of weird legends, but you didn't believe them at all. Something changed as you grew up and you didn't visit it at all after you heard someone died because they went swimming. Or at least so did the gossips say. Actually they never returned, nor was there a body found.

So many people had died ever since, but there wasn't a public reason as in why. Everyone kept quiet about the lake, only the tourists that were visiting it from time to time got close to it. The locals knew the truth. Most of them, anyway.

You shrug, feeling a cold shiver down your spine. Rule number one: don't get close to the lake. Rule number two: don't let anyone else get close to the lake.

You spot the cafeteria in the near distance. The loud music and the people singing send you positive energy, and you start to feel better. Maybe there was hope for you after all.

'Y/N!!!!!!!' Nada saw you already because of the red blouse she bought for you and now she was pointing her finger showing the others she found you.

She was with some of your schoolmates, but there were some unfamiliar faces as well. You wave at her, smiling, trying to put your shit together quickly before she starts questioning you in front of the strangers. Nada had a strong personality, a beautiful face and she was intelligent. She had it all and she knew how to use them.

'Be calm, chill' you whisper to yourself a part of your mantra as you get closer to them, still smiling, to leave a good first impression to the strangers.

Nada starts walking your way, welcoming you into her arms. A good hug will do its magic, you admit.

'Yah Nada, you missed me that much?'

'No, silly. You have your fake smile on so I'm trying to lend you a hand.'

'What?' You break the hug. She knows your smiles. Dangerous. 'I'm fine.'

'Sure babe, we'll talk.' She grins but she turns around to introduce you. 'Everyone who doesn't already know, this is the ever-late Y/N. Let's get going now, shall we?' She flips her ponytail over her shoulder and holds your hand, walking towards her car. 'I'll drive, you can do shotgun.'

Your mood instantly changes 180 degrees, with your eyes shining and all that. The good music was necessary to make this trip better. All this excitement was resourceful so your stomach starts growling again.

'Oopsie, sorry' you tell her and she laughs.

'I knew' she shows you the huge backpack that she was wearing. 'Food.'

'You know me too well' you start smiling.

'That's the Y/N I want to have with me today' she was honest, you begin to realise that she really wanted you to go with them.

'So who's everyone? I only recognize Ten, Kibum, Hoseok and Chanyeol.'

There were approximately 15 persons there, some still smoking in front of their cars, others searching for music on their phones. The 5 cars were aligned, ready to go.

'Well, those are the from the Music Masters Degree' she points with her chin the dark blue car, to your left. 'Some creepos in my opinion but Chanyeol insisted they should come, he said they're some childhood friends, so I had nothing to say against it.'

You analyze those men. They did seem creepy to you too. They were in their car, smoking something while looking at the sky, with all windows opened. There were 4 of them but no one was speaking. Weird.

'Then there's the music degree.' She does the same to the red car. 'Hoseok wanted them to come.' She shurgs. 'Then there's Key and the rest of the design major and Ten with some of his group members. Only Sunny and Seohyun will come from our class, the others were scared.'

'Shouldn't we hurry though? It's going to be 5 soon and we won't be able to see it. And by the way. Why are we going?'

'What? You're scared too? Come on, nothing can go wrong if you stay next to me. Trust me' she winks at you as she enters her car, starting the engine.

You take your time as you look at everyone else, each of them being in their own world.

'This is an interesting group to go on a journey with' you whisper to yourself and you sigh.

'Y/N!' Sunny comes your way accompanied by Seohyun.

'Girls! So glad you came! Nara is in such a good mood'

You all share a look. That means Nara is going to: do something stupid or make one of you do something stupid. There's no inbetween.

'All for one, huh?' Seohyun says laughing but she doesn't want to chat. She goes straight into the car and she starts talking to Nara.

Sunny hugs you. Both of you know it's going to be an interesting trip.

With everyone set up, you're on your way. The road is good and it only takes like 30 minutes to get there despite its location. The lake it's between the two mountains that surround the small city. You play 'Sober' by Big Bang as you're the one with the playlist for the road.

'So Sunny, what's up with you and Key? I've seen the looks he gave you when you arrived. Are you dating now?'

Sunny was one of the girls who could handle Nara's smart mouth.

'No Nara. Not everyone's dating or fucking. We just met at a party a few nights ago and we chat for a while. He seems nice, we really got along.'

'Ok, relax there a little your vein might pop up.' Seohyun was smiling too now. 'Just admit you've been flirting and we'll understand. You are allowed to feel things you know? Miss 'I only focus on uni, studying and working.'

'Nara, watch out!!' You shout as she almost hit the man that was crossing the street. He was most likely shocked, frozen in the middle of the road.

She stopped the car easily, luckily she slowed down the car while discussing Sunny's love life.

While you were all panicking, Nara was extremely angry. She went outside slamming the door.

The man was wearing an all black outfit, but because of the hoodie you couldn't see his face. He was really skinny and not that tall.

Nara approaches him and you see her posture changes while she talks to him. He slightly nods at her and both of them return to the car. You silence the music expecting Nora to introduce him to you but she just tells you to go  in the back of the car, leaving him stay in front with her. You do as she says, but something feels off again. Trying to get a glimpse of his face you turn around to see him, but he goes to the shutgun's place and you fail to see anything as you just go round the car at the same time.

After all that, she starts the car again, playing music so loud you can't talk anymore.

The drive feels eternal. When you see the parking lot you just can't contain yourself anymore. Who was this dude?

Nara parks the car and you rush out of the car to see who the man is. He comes your way too, lifting up his hoodie.

'Taemin?!'

A/N: the plot changed a little, I felt like the initial idea was headed to a more love oriented story and I don't really write that kind of stuff. But I know I know, Yoongi is the main male of this story. Trust me, you didn't want to meet him yet. He will make his big entrance in the next part don't worry too much. How do you feel about this chapter?  Please let me know! Any productive feedback is welcomed, I really want to be better at writing! Thank you for reading my story!

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