#very willing to explain if asked btw | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

bluesidez · 1 year ago

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Hi I saw your req open and I flew here ehe-

Hear me out please 😭

Miguel is a geneticist (someone who works around denetics) and sometimes he doesn't understand the programs that he 'made' and Lyla has to help him. That makes Peter B. and the spider-teens very suspicious of him.

What's even more suspicious is that once a month he leaves the Spider HQ to who-knows-where.

After some stalking investigating, they find out that every time that he leaves; he goes to a park to meet [Reader], that is the one who helped with all the tech he has at HQ.

When he returns the next day, he is confronted about it and explains that [Reader] is an old friend and he trusts them with the Multiverse secret. However Peter B. and the others obviously saw the mutual attraction between both of them so they help out Miguel confess to [Reader].

Fluff + a little suggestive with Gn Reader please ^^

Anyway drink lots of water and keep yourself healthy!! ❤❤

[Undercover Lover]

lab tester: @hikaru-sama 🩻

pairing: Miguel O’Hara x gn!Reader

summary: Miguel is willing to stop the world for you, you just want to be the small part of his world that makes it better.

content warning: fluff, longing from reader and Miguel, the spider-teens are all menaces (as in they all have chismosavirus), Peter is Peter, a little suggestive but nothing crazy, I also made Miguel’s relationship with the teens pretty adorable (Papa Miggy 🥺)

word count: 5.8k, halfway proofread (don't ask...)

a/n: This request is not outlandish in any way, btw. It's very cute! I hope you don’t mind that I added a little extra to the programming aspect. THANK YOU TO THE MIGGY SERVER FOR YOUR HELP AS ALWAYS! I have been wallowing in the chats for who knows how long. I thought it would be cute and funny. Also, I've been doing better with my water intake! I hope you're proud. 🥺

Miguel blew out a tired breath, eyes blurry after staring at the same set of files all day.

“Lyla, could you replay the scan from this morning?”

“I don’t know, can I?”

Miguel frowned as his eyes panned to the flickering yellow glow, “Are we doing this right now?”

“Doing what?” Lyla posed with her head tilted in her hand.

“Lyla. Replay the scan from Earth 450-”

“Here’s what I found on scams on 4chan.”

“I said scans not scams- what are you talking about? And what is 4chan?”

Lyla switched to a pose that mimicked The Thinker, her heart-shaped glasses morphing into ones made of stone.

Miguel shifted his weight to one side, hands on his hips as he watched Lyla float around his desk.

“Pull up the LYrate Lifeform Approximation code.”

Lyla snickers, glasses shifting to match the marks of a clown’s face, “You don’t know how to work that, buddy.”

“I didn’t ask you to tell me that, I asked you to-”

Lyla opens the file before he can finish his spiel.

“Now, what?” Lyla whispers with glee. “Gonna hack into the motherboard? Break down the firewall?”

Miguel ignored her and read through the constant formulas, coding that he's never even seen before becoming longer and longer.

Lyla popped up right in his peripheral view, pulling out one of the smaller codes to highlight, “What’s this one mean?”

Miguel squints at the line, “Something about how you respond to tone?”

“It’s my hair color,” Lyla’s voice is high and giggly like she was anticipating his completely wrong answers. “What about this one?”

“I, I don’t know. Your jacket?”

“Voice modulator,” the code danced around him as Lyla switched her voice to something of an old Hollywood star. “You’re not very good at this, tuts.”

Miguel felt a strange chill as Lyla walked around with a long white dress instead of a jacket and her brown hair in curls falling down her back. She laughed at him some more as she pulled her now, thick-rimmed triangle-shaped sunglasses to the top of her head.

“Lyla-”

Miguel’s watch jolted, a notification blaring at him. He answered with haste, mind frantic.

“Miguel? Is something up with Lyla, because I asked her to find this Mysterio’s dimension, and she started playing some wrestler’s theme song instead,” Jess huffed, throwing the villain's body over the back of her motorcycle. “Now, he won’t stop singing it.”

Miguel felt his head start to pound, “Something’s going on with her. She’s not functioning at her normal state.”

“You’re never functioning at a normal state,” Lyla sighed dramatically, arm over her head with wind blowing around her. “Always so tense!”

“Oh my god?” Jess’s eyes went wide as she took in the Lyla at Miguel’s side. “Why does she sound like that?”

“I’m not sure, but I’m shutting her down until I can fix it. Just send the Mysterio back here.”

“You can’t turn me off, Miggy! Don’t you want me to sing for you?”

“Yeah, hurry up and log her off. She’s freaking me out.” Jess ended the call with a disgusted face.

With her gone, the room was filled with Miguel’s thoughts and Lyla humming and brushing her hair in a vintage mirror, something she would have never cared to do on a regular day.

Looking at the lines of coding in front of him, there was no way he was going to find what was happening.

He reached across his desk to a new screen, searching for a certain folder. Miguel laughed to himself as he read the title.

Don’t open unless it’s ABSOLUTELY crucial to your health…and well-being. .3.

Miguel would consider this a crisis.

He tapped the folder, watching as a sprout of several different colors surrounded him. He shifted it through the lights, some of them being pictures of you and him, some of them being animated GIFs of cats, and others being helpful guides to small technological problems. He kept searching until he found a yellow tab that read “LYLA? LIGHTS OUT!”

With one click, Lyla went from twirling and singing in heels to being dormant, gone to the Spider Society. Letting out the breath he was holding, he shifted the files back into the folder and geared up to make the announcement.

“Attention Spiders,” Miguel held his watch up to his mouth. “Lyla will be down for maintenance for a couple of hours.”

He could hear the collective groan from the society all the way in his office.

“And I will try my best to get her up and running for future missions. Until then, please send any anomalies directly to Margo and stick to local crimes as well as protecting your respective neighborhoods.”

As soon as he ended the announcement, Margo was flooding his watch with back-to-back memes. Miguel remained confused watching a little girl in a cowboy hat complain to her grandpa while he dismissed her.

“I can send someone else down there to help you.”

“no because if anyone breaks my tech, it’s coming out of YOUR 🫵🏾 paycheck”

“Everything comes out of my paycheck.”

“whatever dad”

“?”

Perturbed, but not wanting to waste any more time, Miguel locked his office and called your number.

Two rings and you were picking up the phone.

“Hey, Spider-ider!”

“Hi,” Miguel refused to admit how the nickname sounded cute coming from you. “I need your help with something.”

“No ‘How are you?’ or ‘Sorry I haven’t checked on you in forever.’ Just straight to business, huh?”

“Sorry,” Miguel collected himself. “How are things? Did you manage to get the job with that tech company?”

“Why, thank you for asking, Miguel! I’m pretty good. Things are different! I did end up getting that job, but the manager is eerily creepy, so I’m trying my best to pile up the meanest HR case or try to wiggle my way into a new department. So far, the former is slowly but surely working, not sure if my sanity can take much more. How are you?”

Miguel's eyebrows shifted a bit, “You know you can just call for my help if anything goes wrong, right?”

“Miguel, you’re protecting so many people. More than I can even fathom, actually. I’m not going to ask you to stop to check on me.”

You should. He’d drop everything.

“It wouldn’t take much from my end, I could just-”

“Miguel.”

He bit his cheek, knowing you wanted to move the conversation along.

“How are you?” you asked again, tone back to normal.

“I’m neutral. Same thing as always. Now, it’s just that Lyla was really unbearable today.”

“Unbearable how?”

Miguel went into every detail, pulling in some last-minute reports from other Spiders that managed to use her before he shut her down.

“So you’re telling me she glitched out, wore an alligator head, and integrated ‘Flat Fuck Friday’ into every conversation?”

“Well, that was just one of the many cases. Is that, is that all you heard?”

“No, I got it,” you fixed your face to try and hold back your laugh. “It sounds like she hit her funny bone.”

Miguel looked up at the ceiling and back at you, “This is serious.”

“And I’m being as serious as I can be!”

“She’s causing all of this trouble because of a funny bone.”

You laugh at Miguel’s deadpan tone, “Ok, so technically it’s called a laughing virus. It’s been hitting a lot of major search engines for some reason, but Lyla is the closest to human-like AI there is, so it’s a funny bone!”

“As stupid as that is, I need your help to come fix it.”

“Aw, you need me to come check your work?”

Miguel avoided your gaze, “There is no work. I couldn’t tell one line from the next.”

“But Miguel, you were doing so good last time. What happened?”

“I-I don’t know, I thought I had one right but I mixed up tones with shades.”

“That’s still on the same playing field, so you got something right! That’s good progress, Miguel.”

“Mm.”

“I’ll be there soon. Don’t do anything crazy, although you’ll probably just loom over the desk dramatically.”

Miguel opened his mouth to rebuttal but you already ended the call with a laugh.

With truly nothing but his thoughts, he hurried to clean his space. There were a few loose wires and an empty box from the cafeteria scattered around.

By the time you were tapping the code into his office door, his platform was back on the ground and he’d just swept up some dust that managed to build in the corner of the room.

“Don’t clean up now just because I’m here,” you watched as his shoulders jumped a bit at your voice.

“I’m not,” Miguel huffs and sets the broom against the wall.

“Sure.”

Miguel comes closer to you with his hands on his hips.

You were probably the main reason that Lyla was the way she was, sarcastic and immature.

The only difference was Miguel could mute Lyla or switch modes for some peace. For you? It was non-stop. The only way he knew how to get you to stop was a method that’s been crowding his dreams ever since he met you.

He saw your lips moving at a mile per minute, but nothing was really reaching his ears.

They looked so soft, so perfect. He wondered if he should just let the society function on its own for just a few more hours.

“Miguel!” You waved your hands in front of him. “Lyla being down has really stressed you out, huh? You’re unfocused.”

He cleared his throat, “I still have a lot of work to do.”

“Well, let’s get to it!”

Miguel moved so you could walk to his desk, heart racing.

Whatever it was you were about to try to teach him wasn’t going to stick. He just knew it.

“Hey, Miguel! You know, I was wondering if we could implement some type of spider-baby daycare? MJ is pretty busy these days,” Peter strided into Miguel’s office with a wiggly Mayday strapped to his chest.

The platform was down, but the serious figure was nowhere to be found.

“Miguel?”

Peter tried to feel him out, but there’s no way anyone could miss Miguel in plain sight.

“Hm,” Peter put two fingers out for Mayday grab. She squealed glee, taking one finger to chew on. “If I were a Miguel, where would I be?”

He pondered through the halls, eventually finding himself at the entrance of the cafeteria. Mayday looked up almost as if she was disappointed.

“I need fuel to think!”

Peter ran down the line grabbing his usual: a 2099 burger, a large fry, and a medium cola, he’s dieting!

At the end of the line, a familiar voice called his name.

“Hey, kiddo! How’s it going?” Peter made his way to the table occupied by the younger spider crew.

Miles squinted at him, “Not a kid, but it’s going good! Have you seen Miguel? He was supposed to be training me an hour ago, but he’s not answering his watch.”

“Funny that you say that,” Peter stuffed his mouth with a handful of fries. “Went to his office and he wasn’t there.”

“What is with him and disappearing lately? It’s not like him,” Gwen mumbled. “I was supposed to report to him not too long ago and he wasn’t here.”

“Time is an enigma,” Hobie was tuning his guitar. “Glad he’s finally taking advantage of it instead of chatting about doomsday.”

“True, but he missed part of the big party we planned three months ago, too,” Pavitr supplied.

The table stopped and stared at Pav with various deadpan looks.

“What? He promised he’d try my special dish! He never breaks our promises.”

“He did pile a load of work on me when Lyla broke. Usually, he would come down and help me, but he said he was busy fixing her,” Margo turned to Peter.

The table sat and pondered for just a second then the teens started spouting out nonsense.

“He’s retiring!”

“He’s going to give HQ up.”

“He’s not going to another universe again, right?”

“He’s finally taking breaks.”

“He’s dying!”

Again, the table stopped to look at Pavitr.

“False alarm?”

“Look,” Peter held his hands up. “I don’t think it’s any of that.”

“What makes you so sure?” Gwen sounded nervous.

“Uh, he would tell me!”

Miles snickered at that which caused Mayday to fall into a fit of laughter.

“What? He’s told me things before. We’re buddies!”

“And where is your so-called buddy right now?” Margo folded her arms.

“Touche,” Peter took a giant slurp of his drink, cupping a hand under it to make sure nothing dripped on Mayday’s head. “But don’t you have a way to find him?”

“The Grumpy GPS? Yeah, but I’ve never used it because he’s always here,” Margo sighs.

“How about the next time he disappears, you let us know?” Gwen suggested.

“Love it,” Hobie fist bumps Gwen.

Miles scratched his neck, “I don’t know if this is a good idea.”

“Says the guy that snuck into the Spider Society,” Pavitr shook his head.

“That’s different.”

“Is it?” Gwen raised her eyebrow. “Margo is on Miguel-duty. We’re going to get to the bottom of this, right guys?”

Everyone nodded their head in determination.

Peter smiled. He’s still got this mentor thing down!

Margo was down near the Go-Home-Machine running Style Savvy through an emulator.

“That is so ugly,” she sang as she watched another contestant’s outfit go down the runway.

Her judging was interrupted by a dancing cartoon spider with bushy eyebrows.

She paused the game and stretched her arms to the other side of the room to give everyone a call, “Mission ‘Where is the Old Man?’ is up and running. The Grumpy GPS has been added to you guys’ gizmos. I’ve got everything ready to hack.”

“It sounds like we’re doing a lot more than tracking,” Hobie mumbled.

“But what if he actually is dying?” Gwen was lacing up her ballet shoes tight. “He would tell us, right?”

“Oh, but when I said that, it sounded crazy,” Pavitr pulled his mask down. “The double standards are appalling.”

“He could be just avoiding us. Can’t say it hasn’t happened before,” Miles’ voice was low and testy.

“He wasn’t avoiding you, Miles, he was just…projecting,” Gwen said matter-of-factly.

“Are we back on this? Sending the entire society after me is projecting. Missing our training sessions that he set up multiple times? That’s just foul.”

Gwen and Miles went back and forth, fussing over little things.

“They’re bickering again. How cute,” Pavitr stage-whispered.

“1 mission on Miles winning?” Hobie asked.

Pavitr thought for a second, “Deal.”

“You’ll probably be the most upset if he really is sick,” Gwen comments.

“Says who? I’m not worried,” Miles zipped up his jacket halfway.

“Then why are you bouncing around like that, Miles.”

Hobie sighed while Pavitr cheered.

“If you guys are done, Miguel’s moving on foot heading down 5th. I pinned a checkpoint,” Margo sent the coordinates to their watches.

“Time to go see if big man’s a killer,” Hobie yawned. “Or not.”

Peter felt the ground shake under him, hair rising on the back of his neck. His senses were screaming at him to turn around.

The thing is, if he turned around, he'd lose track on Miguel who was currently inside of the very building he was standing on top of.

The shaking grew, pebbles and vent plates rattling around him, then everything fell back into place.

One, two, thre, four pairs of feet hit the ground.

“Where’s Margo?” Peter asked, eyes not leaving the ground under him.

“In our ears singing,” Gwen groaned. “Where’s Mayday?”

“Enjoying a lovely Mommy-Daughter date with MJ and her girlfriends. Glad to have you all join me.”

“How’d you know he was going to be here?” Hobie crossed his arms.

“Like I said, buddies!”

“You waited outside of his office, didn’t you?” Pavitr pointed his finger at Peter.

Peter turned around with an offended face, “Details-schmetails!”

“Well, do you have any idea what he’s up to now?” Gwen put a hand on her hip.

“Well, we’re on the roof of an apartment, super expensive might I add, and I’m assuming his apartment is here. So maybe he’s just getting a nap in.”

“He’s on the move,” Margo’s voice buzzed through all of the teens' ears and they ran to the edge of the building, practically pushing Peter to the side.

“He’s wearing normal clothes for once,” Gwen’s voice was shocked.

“His trousers are quite nice,” Hobie nodded as if he was looking at a magazine.

“It’s so…weird,” Miles shuddered. “I’ve never seen him in anything else but his suit.”

“He wore a nice button-down to my Zoom celebration once,” Margo hummed.

“Guys?” Pavitr’s voice went high. “Where’s Peter?”

The three of them turned around to see a missing pink-robed Spider.

“Oh, come on!” Miles jumped from the roof to the next one, following the pink fluff. Miguel was walking fast on the sidewalk and Peter was keeping his trail from up high.

“Really, Peter?” Gwen swung alongside the two with the rest right on their tails. “Some mentor you are.”

“I’m a great teacher! You’re all catching on quite well,” Peter swung lower as Miguel crossed the street.

Colors flew across the sky, contrasting with the constant grays and small specs of green of Nueva York. Scaling from building to building was a lot easier with flying cars added to the mix, but it was a little odd to see wobbling vehicles every now and then.

“I think you guys should slow it down. His pace changed,” Margo noted. “He’s stopping at…a park? Didn’t know they still had those here.”

With a sturdy pull, Miles used his web to stop Peeter from running any further and the now quintet landed on the ground a safe distance from the park.

“A little dreary for a park, innit?” One eye on Hobie’s mask went higher than the other.

From where they were hiding, steel statues stood tall, tufts of greenery growing up the structure. There was more pavement than grass and the walkways contained several dips and turns.

“I think there’s some flare to it,” Miles countered. “Could use a lot more color.”

They quieted down as they watched Miguel find an empty bench. He sat down and started to rub his hands against his pants. He sat for a minute or so before he checked his watch and his leg started to bounce.

“Is he waiting on someone?” Gwen whispered.

“Oh, I wonder who it could be?” Pav whispered back.

“Why are you guys whispering?” Margo paused her side mission of trying to find any security cameras in the area.

“Doesn’t he have super-hearing?” Miles asked.

“Over this much noise?” Hobie brought the talking level back to normal. “If he doesn’t suspect us of following him, there’s no need for him to focus on us.”

After about five minutes of watching and making a game out of how many times can Miguel check his clothes, with Peter mumbling about how the pants aren’t going to get any looser with those thighs, everyone holds their breath as they watch someone take a seat next to him.

Miguel’s entire demeanor changed.

His face lit up, his back straightened, and the tension from his body fell.

“No way,” Pavitr whispered excitedly. “Guys!”

“What’s going on? I still can’t get into the security cams,” Margo’s voice was impatient.

“Miguel…has a partner?” Gwen tilted her head watching the two react. The mystery person got up to hug Miguel as he sat on the bench. He hesitated a bit, fingers twitching awkwardly before he hugged them back. “Or not.”

“If one of you could get closer, I could pitch the sound to everyone. And, I could see!”

Everyone turned to Miles.

“Why is everybody looking at me?”

“You can turn invisible, genius,” Gwen said.

He just sighed and faded from head to toe.

“How’s it going Spidey?” you lean back from your hug to look down at him. Your hands rub his shoulders. “You look nice today.”

Miguel averted his eyes, “You’re not supposed to call me that-”

“Outside of HQ or our phone calls. I know, I know. Seriously though, why are you so dressed up today? Got a hot date waiting?”

Miguel tilted his head, “Do I really look nice?”

The shirt he was wearing was barely hiding anything, any tighter and it would have been considered a muscle tee. It was tucked into some slacks with a belt that made his tiny waist even smaller. The pants hugged his thighs just enough.

“Yeah!” More than he could imagine.

“Thanks,” he smiled a bit. “There’s no hot date. Just wearing something casual.”

Your shoulders lifted at the words.

“Cool, cool.”

“You look nice, as well.”

“Really?” you looked down at your last-minute outfit. Some gray joggers you found at a thrift store and a hoodie you’re almost certain has a random bleach stain somewhere on the back. “You’re digging the midnight chic?”

“Midnight chic?”

“Yeah, an outfit you wear when going out for a snack in the middle of the night.”

Miguel pursed his lips, “It looks soft. Comfortable.”

You involuntarily gripped your bag tighter, watching Miguel’s eyes roam you from the neck down.

Lately, he’s been saying things that make your stomach flutter, from being willing to beat up your boss to fussing at you for running errands so late to remembering small details from months ago.

Only recently has his eyes began to wander. He doesn’t catch on as fast when you explain things to him. You’ve caught him staring at you while you’re looking at other things. His smile lingered a little longer. His hands were a lot more careful. Sometimes, he’d tense up when you touched him.

It was all so confusing and the feelings you’ve pushed down for years have crawled their way back up, waiting at the back of your tongue to be announced.

Still, you were just here to help him for as long as he needed you. Nothing more, nothing less.

You cleared your throat, “Okay so, you said you needed help with…Excel?”

“Mm hm,” Miguel nodded and locked his eyes back on your face.

You pulled your laptop, turning up the brightness so that the scenery wouldn’t shoot straight through the transparent device.

“So, this program is like, extremely old.”

“I know, but it's a middle ground for all of the Spiders. Anything newer would be too much for about a fourth of them and anything older would take ages for anyone to complete.”

“Got it,” you inch close enough to Miguel for his cologne to dance around you. He leaned closer to squint at your laptop and you had to will your hands to not shake like jelly. “So, the program is actually pretty simple. You just enter formulas, charts, numbers, or information in these boxes. There’s a lot more manual work than we’re used to, but it won’t take much to get used to.”

You walked Miguel through everything you’ve taught yourself over the past few days. Having him put in formulas and waiting for the result.

“Like this?”

“Almost! You’re missing a letter here.”

“Can you go over it again?”

Miguel's hands would hover over the keyboard, eyes focused and nose scrunched. Sometimes you would fight the screaming in your head and place your hands over his, helping him punch certain numbers in.

“Miguel, I think you’re messing with me. We’ve repeated this same thing on four other sheets now. I know you’re smarter than that.”

He poked his tongue in his cheek, “I’m just quadruple checking. Gotta teach this to some older people.”

“Fine,” you snort. “One more time and then I have to get ready to go.”

“Already?” Miguel turned to you. “I thought you didn’t have to be somewhere until this evening.”

“I don’t, but I can’t go looking like this. You spent 30 minutes arguing with me about the interface. Don’t you have to go back to HQ soon?”

“No.”

There was a noise behind you. You turn around to see nothing but a curved wall embedded with vines.

You put your heart to your chest, “God, I thought that was a reporter or something. Just the wind I suppose.”

Miguel’s eyes stayed planted on the empty space, “On second thought, let me walk you there. Don’t want any surprises.”

“So you don’t need me to go over this for the fifth time?”

“Nope,” Miguel grinned down at you. “I got it the first time, actually.”

“Oh my god,” you laugh as you hit his arm. He doesn’t even flinch. “You’re such a jerk.”

He looked around and got behind you to squat down, tapping on his gizmo. You could only hide so much of him. “Would a jerk swing you to your apartment?”

You look up at him equipped with his mask.

“He probably would, actually.”

“Aw,” Miguel said, red marks for eyes holding so much sadness. “Oh well.”

You yell as he yanks you up by the waist and shoots his web up to the nearest flying car.

“Miles! You almost screwed us over!” Margo did her best to wipe their trace.

“I panicked!” Miles tried to explain himself as he ran on the windows of a skyscraper.

“For what?” Gwen flipped as she connected from one structure to the next. “It was so clear that he meant that he wanted to be with whoever that was, not because he wants to quit HQ.”

“Seeing him like that feels like we met a new man,” Hobie said. His boots were light in the air. “Don’t like it.”

“You say that like he doesn’t let you get away with everything,” Pavitr said.

“Like what?”

“Like giving away food to the street cleaners.”

“Or like pasting your band stickers everywhere.”

“Or painting an ACAB mural.”

“To be fair, Miguel aligns with every single one of those things,” Hobie shrugged.

“This is great and all, but talk about a major fail,” Peter sighed. “He clearly needs a wingman.”

“I thought he did pretty good!” Miles said.

The rest of the group made a range of judging noises.

“His game definitely needs some work and he’s already on his way back to HQ, so hurry it up, guys. We need to hustle and huddle.”

Miguel was at his dock again, preparing to go check out the anomalies of the week.

He was back doing the thing that distracted him most: thinking about you.

Yesterday only confirmed what he’s been thinking about ever since you opened your mouth.

He’s absolutely infatuated with you.

At first, he thought it was a fluke, a blip in his timeline. No matter how many times your jokes made him chuckle or your smile brought him warmth, he wasn’t going to lean into it.

But then, you called him one night and your voice brought him back from the darkness that was consuming him. Stories of your life, an exchange of nostalgia, a whisper of hope for the future, and the confirmation that he was more than the error in time that he thought he was.

You’re something that he more than adored.

And yet, he still hasn’t figured out how to tell you.

He wanted more than the monthly meetups to refresh his memory on the stupid tech that kept this building running.

Truthfully, he could call Gabriel, or worst case scenario, Xina for help, but every time he got a chance it was your name that crossed his mind.

Miguel sighed as he started to shut some tabs down.

“Spiders incoming,” Lyla popped up to inform him.

Miguel saw the gaggle of teens plus Peter walking to his office.

“Here we go,” he grumbled.

“Turn that frown upside-down! Company is always good,” Lyla said.

Before Peter can open his mouth Miguel is beating him to it.

“What do you want?”

“Ouch!” Peter laughed. “Not up for a bit of family bonding time?”

“Not with you.”

“Oh c’mon, Miguel,” Peter inches forward as Miguel’s platform comes down. “Hear us out.”

“Make it quick.”

The teens all stared at Peter who looked back and forth between them.

“Do any of you not know what the word ‘quick’ means?” Miguel asked with irritation lining his voice.

“Well,” Miles started.

“You see, we were thinking that you might need some help,” Gwen finishes.

Miguel crossed his arms, “Help with what.”

“Your sad flirting,” Hobie says.

“What?”

“You know,” Peter puts his arm around Miguel’s shoulders. “You need a wingman!”

Miguel’s frown grew deeper, “What are you talking about? Did you guys spy on me?”

Six voices overloaded Miguel’s eardrums, all explaining their part of some convoluted scheme.

“Alright, alight! Quiet!” Miguel holds his hands out. “Margo!”

Miguel pinned his eyes to her with his eyebrows pinched.

She danced from foot to foot, face scrunched, “We just! We were worried about you so we followed you and saw you making googly eyes at someone!” The words spilled out of her like water.

Everyone but Hobie looked at Margo incredulously.

“What?” she whined. “He was giving me his disappointed look. The disappointment was torturing me!”

Miguel turned and paced, pinching his nose as he whispered to himself.

“Miguel, they could help you!” Lyla said cheerfully. “You’ve only been crushing on them for what…multiple years?”

“Lyla!”

“Multiple years? No wonder you’re always so tense. That’s pretty sad, bro,” Pavitr hummed.

Miguel pointed his finger, “Don’t bro me.”

“Still seeking authority in his moment of weakness. Something’s got to give,” Hobie went to lean on a wall.

“We really thought something terrible was going on,” Miles’ shoulders drop. “You also go M.I.A. whenever you have a problem.”

“We just wanted to help,” Gwen supplied.

“Hey man, don’t blame the kids for this one, alright?” Peter’s voice lowered so only the two of them could hear it, albeit a bit useless in a room full of power-holding teens. “Say the word and we’ll stay out of it, but the kids deserve to know why you were canceling on them at least.”

Miguel looked at Peter with an exasperated face before looking at the teens, three of which looked like they were about to cry.

He rolled his eyes to the ceiling and let out a deep breath, “I’m not sick.”

“But lovesick?” Margo asked.

He gave her a tired look, “Yes.”

“Well why not say that instead of just disappearing?”

“They’re the one who helped make the tech for this society. Without them, there would be no updated gizmos, no updated Lyla, no new ideas. Every time I left it was to…get insight on something here. To fix broken tech.”

“And to stare in their face,” Pavitr snickered.

Miguel panned his eyes to the floor, too embarrassed to admit it.

“What’s the hold up in telling them how you feel?” Peter asked. “There’s no time like the present.”

“Don’t tell me yesterday was an example of what happens when you try to confess?” Gwen’s face twisted up, teeth clenched in second-hand embarrassment.

Miguel’s silence was enough of an answer.

“Tío,” Miles closed his eyes then looked back up dramatically with his hands out. “¡Vamo’! Sácale, llévale al cine.”

Lyla put a spotlight on Miles and held a microphone out to him while Miguel groaned.

“Cómprale, un ramo de flores!”

“Ya no puédo mas,” Miguel swiped through the holographic mic. “Eso no va a funcionar.”

Miles slumped, “But how do you know? You haven’t even tried! Bañate, junto con el-”

“Don’t finish that song, Miles,” Miguel’s fingers went to his temples.

“You should really listen to the lyrics-”

“Why don’t we help you win them over?” Margo stood in between the two, ending the squabble. “It’s clear that they seem to like you too.”

Miguel's eyes went softer staring at Margo’s pleading face, “How do you know?”

“We quite literally saw it,” Hobie spoke as if Miguel lost his mind. “No one ever talks to you that sweet.”

The teens all nodded their head in unison and Peter did a horrible job at hiding his laugh.

Hobie wasn’t done, “Don’t let someone like that slip through your fingers.”

Miguel was at the park again, dressed up even more than last time. An open navy button-down was tucked into his pants, his slacks were dark gray, and he had on one of the more expensive pairs of dress shoes he owned. A chain he borrowed from Gabriel adorned his neck and he let his hair natural and loose for once.

Under Miles’ advice, he did buy some flowers. Hobie told him to remain calm, Gwen told him to just talk, Pavitr gave him a bullet point list of what and what not to do, and Margo told him that he was the best no matter how the confession turned out.

Peter went on and on about the importance of love and relationships but Miguel was never inclined to listen to him. He did keep the comment about letting you know how much he means to you to heart, though.

He was so in his own thoughts when you showed up in front of him that he didn’t even notice you at first.

He jumped when you tapped his shoulder.

“Woah, it’s just me. And you’re super dressed up today. What’s the occasion? I’m not taking ‘casual’ for an answer this time.”

Miguel swallowed dryly, grip on the bouquet of cool-toned flowers almost enough to wilt the stems.

“Flowers?” your eyes went to his hand.

“Yeah, um.”

Just breathe, Miguel!

Margo’s perky reminders sounded off in Miguel’s head.

“I brought them for you,” Miguel placed them in your hands.

“Oh!” your face lit up. “These are beautiful. Thank you so much. I didn’t get you anything, though. I didn’t know we were bringing gifts today.”

“No need. I wanted to get them because,” Miguel felt his throat closing in. “I really, really like you.”

The smile on your face dropped as you stared at him.

“It’s been particularly hard over the past years to try to focus without you running through my thoughts and I don’t want the fear of myself or my circumstance to stop me from having a chance to be with you.”

Maybe his ears could pick up how fast your heart was going, too.

“So if you’re willing, will you please go out with me?”

You dropped the flowers and brought him in for a tight hug.

“Are you kidding me? Of course, I’ll go out with you.”

Miguel was quick to wrap his arms around you today, burying his face in your neck, “No hesitation?”

“I’ve been wanting and honestly, waiting for one of us to make a move for years. You’re always so busy, so I was too nervous to even bother,” you look back at Miguel’s face, smiling from ear to ear.

“Sorry to keep you waiting then.”

You looked from his lips to his eyes, “Can we skip a few steps?”

“Such as?”

You pushed forward, melting into him as you slotted his lips against yours, head full of warmth and clouds. Miguel matched your pace, hand on your back as he pressed against you. When he opened your lips you pulled back, breath dancing against his.

“Swing me to my apartment?”

Miguel smirked, “Always.”

As always, like, reblog, and COMMENT. Let me know how you guys feel! 🩵

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bloodyinkandquill · 6 months ago

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phighting x reader christmas special

sup im in Honduras right now, so ill work on this intermittently, it’ll be… something i need to decide im thinking what each phighter’s christmas activities are and what they get you, yeah that’ll work, it’ll be in menu order btw

Sword:

He spends Christmas with his dad, and you’re invited! Venomshank has been alive a while but having a son to celebrate a holiday with is a new exciting experience to him, they have a lot of traditions surrounding it. Including having dinner together the night before, then Venomshank has to put out the presents at EXACTLY 11:59 because at EXACTLY midnight Sword come barreling towards the tree, it’s funny to witness, and definitely stems from when Sword was a kid. During the day itself after presents him and his dad cook an amazing breakfast together, they would probably ask what you want because they both cook each other their favorites and want to include you since you’re part of the family now.

I think Sword would definitely go with something super personalized, something that reminded him of you in some way. Or alternatively he’d also get you something rather cheesy and overly couple-y like matching sweaters that say something super over the top. He’s very sweet and loving about it and views Christmas as a family thing and you’re part of his family now!

Skateboard:

I imagine in Playground Christmas is more of a friends thing then family thing, so Skateboard hosts a big party with his friends and you! There is a lot of food and more drinks, it’s not like a crazy high energy party buts it’s also not a dinner party, he does his best to stay by your side since you’re his lover but he keeps getting distracted and running off to a friend calling him over or doing something crazy. But he reminds you how much he loves you and that he’s glad to be spending Christmas with you!

For gifts I think he’d get you something silly and fun, that makes you laugh and groan lightheartedly. I also think he’d get you your own skateboard or even maybe roller skates/blades so you can go skating around with him, he’s bashful about it saying it was just something random and you don’t have to or whatever- then one of his friends would put a mistletoe above you both with an eye roll and he’d blush but it’s a sweet and tender kiss.

Biograft:

Bro has the dictionary definition of Christmas and that’s it, so you have to teach him a lot about it. It starts to understand, not fully but he’s getting there. Its favorite part is all the lights, he thinks they’re really pretty. Since it doesn’t exactly have its own Christmas traditions he just participates in whatever you do. It might be tad awkward if it’s his first time meeting people who don’t understand it’s sentient so you might have to explain it a couple times. He mostly sits in the corner observing, or following you around like a fucking since it doesn’t understand just yet but you do so it’s the logical conclusion.

He gets you a gift late, it doesn’t realize he was supposed to get you something but then when it does he figures the logical conclusion would be to get it after Christmas because it would be cheaper anyways. I think he’d get you some sort of technology, maybe a new computer or handheld gaming console that it specifically modified to be linked to him so it can chat with you on it even if he isn’t nearby, and would make sure it’s your favorite colors.

Katana:

He’s sort of, withdrawn from Christmas, if it was his choice he’d stay home and treat it as any other day but with cafe trio and you, his plans have been foiled. Cafe trio invite you both to their apartment to spend Christmas with them. If you’re tempted to say no just remember Slingshot owns a bakery and baked so many different Christmas pastries for the event. You and Katana stay together the whole time but it’s still nice, the food is delicious and it smells AMAZING in that apartment. Katana doesn’t have great memories of Christmas due to his past but he’s willing to make new ones with you.

I think he’d get you a really nice (rather expensive) china set. And his favorite rare teas to go with it. When I say really nice set, I mean REALLY nice, probably one of a kind. He insists you do not need to get him anything but won’t fight if you want to get him something, he thanks you really sweetly and after you leave cafe trios place gives you a super sweet kiss where he can comfortably lift up his mask.

Ban Hammer:

Similar to Sword he spends Christmas with his momma, and again you are invited to join them! Their Christmas is a lot more chaotic, full of rough housing and the servants very nervously cooking a LOT of food. They eat a lot on Christmas and play fight even more, but there’s a lot of laughter and love in the house so all is well. Even if Windforce isn’t as affectionate towards you she snickers and pushes you against her son, maybe a little too hard but he catches you and his eyes are shining as he looks at you. (Pet peeve of mine he ONLY wears his blindfold during phights to challenge himself, STOP GIVING IT HIM WHEN HE ISNT SUPPOSED TO BE WEARING IT.)

As a gift he gets you front row tickets to your favorite band, and takes you out to a REALLY nice dinner, I’m talking probably a three month wait list. He also jokes that his gift is ‘his presence’ you jokingly smack some sense into him as he chuckles. Whatever you get him if it’s something he can he displays on his desk in his office, if not he gets a really good photo of you two and put that on his desk instead. It’s really sweet and probably lit up with candles behind you under the stars.

Rocket:

Again he goes to his dad’s house for Christmas, however he doesn’t spend Christmas eve night there, you and him just head over there in the morning. Zuka isn’t a great cook, Rocket’s even worse, so you settle for some basic pancakes with maybe chocolate chips if you’re feeling fancy. Then they do gifts after breakfast, they never make a big deal about it, Zuka grew up a soldier so not much time for festivities and Rocket was a street kid, so also not much time for festivities. So they don’t do too much, just enough that it feels like a special nice day but it’s not over the top. They think of it as just a nice day to relax and spend together and with you now, Zuka approves of you since you make Rocket happy so he gets you a little something, probably just some bux honestly.

Rocket gets you a big ass plushie, I imagine he has a lot of his own so he gets you one he thinks you’ll like, of some animal you like but huge, perfectly shaped for cuddling. He’d also get you a custom candle, colored and scented to your favorites with some stupid name that’s some sort of inside joke between you two. He also gives you a handmade coupon for a kiss, it’s so cheesy and honestly embarrassing that it’s cute, he’s a dork but he’s your dork.

Slingshot:

As mentioned him and the siblings host a small get together at their apartment, you and Katana are invited, he doesn’t go so it’s just you four. He asks you to come over the day before to help, or at least offer emotional support, as he bakes a lot of stuff for the next day. Gingerbread and other holiday treats galore. He asks what your favorite cookies are, if he doesn’t already know, and bakes a batch of those as well. If you don’t have any baking skills you just sit on a part of unused counter and maybe occasionally stir something for him. If you can bake you divvy up the work 50/50 and get to it, it’s a mess of pass the flour and where’s the butter but it’s fun and sweet. You and him make sure Vinestaff and Shuriken don’t enter the kitchen to mess the pastries up or to steal batter or cooling cookies. The next day you two are beat and just enjoy sitting together on the couch eating your hard work and watching Shuriken and Vinestaff bicker as usual.

For a gift Slingshot makes you ready to bake dough in a tupperware of your favorite cookies so you can make them at home super easily whenever you want them. He also gets you some cat themed trinkets, he really likes cats, freaking cat boy. (/silly) Shuriken and Vinestaff also get you something but it’s smaller and just a peace offering since you’re dating their boss, even if they have more of a sibling relationship with him anyways.

Hyperlaser:

He doesn’t really do Christmas, it’s not that celebrated in Blackrock and his job keeps him really busy, but he still tries and makes a time for you, if not on, around Christmas to have a night together. You just enjoy a simple home cooked meal at him place, making it together as Princess walks around your feet meowing for a piece of food. Get that you sit down together on his couch, snuggle up with a blanket and watch some movie, probably some action movie most Christmas movies are far too cheesy for Hyperlaser’s tastes. After you eat you exchange presents and split a small little cheesecake he bought. It’s nothing big but it’s so distinctly him that it makes you happy anyways.

As for the aforementioned present he doesn’t do anything much, just something small but meaningful, some sort of personalized trinket of sorts. Like if you go drinking with him and Katana he gets you a small bottle of your favorite drink and maybe a small but nice cup. Again nothing big since he is rather indifferent when it comes to Christmas.

Shuriken:

Once again, the cafe trio Christmas party. This time you’re helping him cause chaos, trying to steal pastries when Slingshot isn’t looking or doing little gag pranks to Vinestaff. Can’t forget pranking each other! You arrive a little after noon once the siblings have finished with their cheesy family time, all the baked goods have been prepared already so Vinestaff is in the kitchen working on the actual dinner so it’s just you and Shuriken at first doing random stuff since Slingshot is tired and Vinestaff is busy. Though between the chaos you have some sweet moments, Shuriken can be gentle and loving when he tries to, and he tries on Christmas.

I think gift wise he’d give you an unlimited free pass to Thieves rest, Slingshot objects but it’s more for show, he knows you won’t abuse it and you make his sudo-brother happy so oh well. He also gets you a shirt that says like a cringiest cheesiest thing, like something a middle aged mom would wear or one of those fake funny ones like ‘Christian dads against cool math games’ or whatever. You laugh and bomp him on the head since it’s so stupid but sweet still.

Scythe:

The church makes something special about Christmas, it’s a big ass event that seeing as Scythe is a very high ranking person in the church she busted her ass of planning and bossing people around for it. So once Christmas finally comes around she glad to finally have more time with you since she spent so long away from you working late hours preparing for it. After she says her greetings to whoever she needs to she immediately pulls you away to the side to make out with you, specially a special spot she planned out and put a mistletoe at as an excuse, and maybe to push some underlings under it for some entertainment. She also drinks quite a bit but she’s a heavyweight so at most she gets a bit tipsy, she’s just glad to have some time to take the edge off and wind down more.

Gifting she gets you some bigger more expensive gifts, most were probably stolen or taken from her assignments. She gets you a really fancy bottle of wine, expensive jewelry, all that kind of stuff, as well as a promise to spend at least a week straight with you after New years since right after this party she has to plan the new year’s party too, oh well at least you know soon enough she’ll spend time with you and probably spoil you as an apology for how long she was busy and away from you.

Medkit:

As mentioned the church treats Christmas as a big event, which he’s not as busy as Scythe but he still has to contribute to the planning and whatever, especially if anyone gets hurt. He views it more as a chore if anything, it was never that big of a thing in Blackrock and now he has to pretend to want to be at some dumb big party. Assuming you are not also in the church he returns home rather late at night and flops down on your bed with a groan. You exchange presents in the morning and go out for a simple easy brunch together. He’s not big on celebrating it but if you want to do something he won’t complain.

He doesn’t get you anything big, probably something pertaining to a hobby you might have, it’s just a smaller thing but it’s still sweet, he thinks gifts are pointless since they can be given anytime why put so much emphasis of these ones? But he will thank you for whatever you get him.

Boombox:

As mentioned I imagine in Playground Christmas is more a friends get together holiday, so you attend Skateboard’s party he hosts. You two stick together but as the night goes on Boombox gets rowdier and louder, but you’re used to the louder and calmer sides of him. Before the party he doesn’t do anything special you just meet up in the evening and go to Skateboard’s place together, unless you want to do something but he’d prefer to do it the day after since he prefers to only do stuff half the day, or so. But he won’t fight if you want to do something together that morning.

He makes you a specialized mixtape of all your favorite songs and songs that remind him of you, and to go with it a small portable music player to listen to it, sure could it have been easier to do like a spotify playlist on your phone? Yeah, but where’s the fun in that! He also gets you your favorite candies and chocolates to go with it.

Subspace:

As I’ve said like 20 times Christmas isn’t that big of a thing in Blackrock, it’s not contributing anything so why waste time celebrating? So being the head engineer for the Blackrock government means he doesn’t really do much about Christmas. However he does invite you to his lab, something he rarely does, and shows you something he made you, after that you leave and wait for him to return home, you have some hot cocoa and go to bed.

The something he made you was a personalized small Biograft, about the size of a Chigraft, specially engineered and designed to assist you with everyday life and have a programmed personality he thought you’d like, it’s also painted to be your favorite color instead of orange, unless orange is your favorite color. He lets you name it and tells you all the intricate details of how he customized it, even if you don’t understand any of the words he’s saying.

Vinestaff:

Once again, you go to the Christmas get together at her, Shuriken and Slingshot are hosting, it’s just you four since Katana declined. When you first arrive you help her ‘give gifts’ to all her plants, which entails giving them specialized fertilizer and watching as she fawns over all of them. Then you help her in cooking dinner, it’s nothing too fancy just some traditional Thieves Den dishes and maybe one or two bonus holiday additions. She’s not amazing at cooking but she’s at least better than her brother, who’s trying to prank you two as you cook unfortunately. After dinner though you all relax and exchange gifts it’s a sweet moment the air filled with laughter as she snuggles up against you.

She gets you a starter kit to grow your favorite flowers, a special bag of soil, a cute pot, and the seeds obviously. You may have to wait until it’s the proper growing weather for the flowers but it’s still a super sweet and thoughtful gift. She also gets you a spa set, amazing creams and lotions, all in your favorite scent, not to mention a nice neck pillow specifically for a bath.

Coil:

Again, Christmas in Playground is a friend’s holiday, so you go to Skateboard’s apartment for the party he hosts that both you and Coil were invited to. You arrive some of the first and watch as Coil jokes around with Skateboard as he sets out the last of the snacks and drinks, poking fun at him in a friendly way. The party doesn’t have a ton of people but still it’s not a small thing either, so you have people to chat with whenever Coil runs off to joke around or grab snacks. You probably crash at Skateboard’s place for the night since they’re best friends and have that permission, you wake up the next morning with a headache and glitter on your face you don’t know where it came from. But it was still a fun night with your lover.

I think he’d get you, oh man Coil is tough, stuff he stole from Blackrock nobles, like maybe jewelry, items from traveling, or even a fancy ass bottle of alcohol. Or maybe a gag gift, something funny and jokey that leads you to start play fighting, I’m honestly not so sure about him my apologies.

alright and that’s a wrap! that was fun to write, i’m currently at dinner i’m not at home i’m on a cruise waiting on my steak, today we hit honduras tomorrow we hit belize! it’s been fun and i got some art i needed to get done for my best friend done, we did an art exchange for christmas on top of the pins of empires season one characters, we’re matching roseblings! i’ll hopefully have the venomshank request done and posted soon, im hoping tomorrow at the latest, have a merry christmas everyone and would you guys like me to do the same thing but for any other characters? if so send a comment with the character but if you want to be anon send it on my personal account @inkcoveredmoon !!

unfortunately i do not know much about chanukah so i will not be doing a special for it, im not christian but we celebrate the christian holidays in my household

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thelien-art · 4 months ago

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WIP for an AU

So, I thought about Dagor Dagorath the other day and then I came up with a crack concept and now it ended as a Hades!game AU (and then I dove deeper into it and now it´s not but I like the layout) >:)

So basically, Túrin has to travel through the void to kill Melkor, little does he know Melkor is still trapped in the void, which he only realizes when he´s almost out, but the Void is easy to get lost in, lucky for him he meets a stranger out there willing to help him :)

See both Melkor and Túrin finished line art here (no colours) more info dumping below

So! In the land of where men go an unrest is beginning to appear, dark creatures from the void or other are slowly seeping in through the tears in the fabric of their world and wars are starting. Melkor is gathering his might.

Túrin finds Gurthang and Gurthang helps him towards the entrance to the void, making it sound like the easiest ever and hey! Túrin AND Gurthang will get to see Beleg again?? Isn´t that great!? no no Gurthang, defiantly isn´t jealous about Beleg´s love for Túrin

A lot of time goes by where Túrin is just miserable and Gurthang blames him for everything btw no one knows where Túrin is and the void is ever changing to fit his anger and fears throwing monsters at him to fight before he throws Gurthang away in a fit of madness, Gurthang who still has Eöl´s blessing, so with the loose of Gurthang Túrin quickly begins being torn apart by the void, both physically and psychologically.

When he is too tired to move and his body is disappearing before his eyes, a stranger is suddenly there, a bright smiling stranger, with Gurthang in his hand and dagger by his side, clad in white and gold, willing to help Túrin through the void as the stranger was sent by non other than the allfather, by Eru himself as a guide. What would the guide like? Help with finding his beloved, such a small thing to ask for indeed. And isn´t it nice that the deeper in they come the stranger can just bring him to life again!?? Although they have to go a bit back for that to work, and is it a bit disturbing that if Túrin dies he has to relive something more than once? Well, the stranger didn´t ask.

Btw Melkor is very aware of where the doors of night are, but he can´t open them himself, only Eru or a mortal, or something like that, can.

Also yes Melkor has become WAY more insane in the void but was quickly put to sleep by Eru when Eru noticed Melkor being torn apart, which means he has insane fits where he doesn´t know who or where he is or sees things that has already happened, convinced they are happening now... the only reason why he woke was because of Túrin´s disturbance.

I will explain further when the drawings are out here/if someone wants to know anything specific, cuz I have thoughts...

Also, I have made small speech bubbles for them... I also gave something for Varda to say when they are out of the void... spoiler she calls Túrin an idiot and loser

#tolkien #jrr tolkien #silmarillion #the children of hurin #coh #thelien wips #fight the wips #melkor #morgoth #turin #turin turambar #dagor dagorath #dagor dagorath au

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makerofmadness · 6 months ago

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ok so: Beast-Ancients Swap AU but actually the Beasts messed up the timeline and made it one

(I will explain I swear-) The following sprite edits and designs were a collaborative effort of me and @driftwoodmfb

(Lily's design and edit is not finished yet, and Ssalt isn't getting one until that character is released-)

general shoutouts to Driftwood for collaborating with me on this in a lot of aspects btw she's the mvp of this whole project

I am Very bad at concise descriptions but basically: "5v5 climactic final showdown occurs but the bad guys win and then the group consensus on what to all do together to compromise thanks to slightly different priorities is 'Hey we all really hate the ancients now so let's just like. Screw them over' so they basically used their combined virtues' powers or something (look all of this I came up with just to justify the AU's actual concept) to like reset and alter the timeline to swap their places with the ancients basically. and then they kinda accidentally get redemption arc'd in the process. Meanwhile the og ancients... are not happy"

I'm def gonna post more about these guys in the future (and also I like. Encourage people to send asks because I need enrichment dndndnmd! I have a ton of stuff sitting around about them and I love talking about them- so. Here's my attempt at an overview (I. Suck at being concise this took all day to not make way too long dndndndm):

Shadow Milk Cookie - Calls himself the Dark Moon Magician. He's quite braggadocious and more than a little mischievous, quite the show-off too, but he has a good heart down there (nowadays). Though he has often had to be badgered by the Light of Truth into actually telling the truth on things...

Eternal Sugar Cookie - You'll meet them someday. Just not now.

Mystic Flour Cookie - Her face and voice do not do much to express how much she despises the Cookie she used to be, and the Cookie she still sees whenever she looks in the mirror. She is the most eager to come clean to her Cookies, but something is holding her back... she decides to save it for when she has finally repented enough by her standards, to earn her position as queen. It's never enough.

Burning Spice Cookie - For the kingdom he rules, you may (or may not) be surprised seeing how little he cares for material riches. To him, lived experiences are the most precious things- hence why he's always looking for a good fight. Or to just have fun with those close to him- which is not many as he has had a history of issues- after all, transient things fall to time, but the impressions they leave can last up to forever...

Silent Salt Cookie - The fallen hero. It wasn't supposed to happen again. They all knew it could happen, they agreed to prevent it. Why did they make the same mistake...?

Pure Vanilla Cookie - The embodiment of the most common lie. He can string Cookies up to make them move and speak against their wills. He does this to himself often, when he grows tired. He is very ashamed of what he has become, but no matter, he will be fine once he regains the light of Truth, and exposes the truth of this world to all Cookiekind...

Hollyberry Cookie - Berry juice is a comfort to her, such is why she had wished so badly to drown her mind and all her pain in it. She is... frankly, harmless the way she is now. She doesn't have the power, pride or energy to fight. Her heart is just as full of love as it's always been, even if her mind's gone fluffy as frosting. So much that even being in a permanent stupor won't stop her from missing her family, still...

Dark Cacao Cookie - As he describes himself fully, an empty vessel without a will of his own, whose only goal is to carry out the will of fate. He will play his part in this story, for he knows there is no other way. After all, they'd tried to resist already, and it was all in vain. He is cold, empty, such was his resolve: to be unburdened by feeling, so that he would feel no pain...

Golden Cheese Cookie - Calls herself the Demonic Goddess. When she gets upset, she tends to fly into fits of destruction- which she has become very, very good at causing. She laughs it off, she laughs a lot in general, but she really does not like what she's become. However, she is still the same greedy Cookie as she always was, and still wants nothing more than to annihilate the ones who had displaced her and her friends and take back what is rightfully hers...

White Lily Cookie - Founder of the Lily Kingdom. She is a stern, serious figure who tries to keep everything under her control. She quickly silences those who tell her what she does not wish to hear untrue, unkind, or unnecessary things. She does not get very openly emotional often, and tends to address everyone with the same attitude even if it's her friends. (They can generally tell when she means well). She plans to silence all lies from Cookies' mouths, especially regarding who the "Heroes" and "Beasts" are...

(i. Never mentioned the name of the AU itself the whole time in this post did I? Ok uh that's Immemorial Interchange btw if I ever say that or II then I'm talking about this thing for future reference XD)

Edit: I have a tag on my blog for the au and I just kinda post whatever I feel like. Hope y'all can enjoy this I'm probably gonna be dumping a lot of stuff I've held on to. And I would love it if people send asks X3

#cookie run #cookie run au #crk au #cookie run kingdom #shadow milk cookie #pure vanilla cookie #eternal sugar cookie #hollyberry cookie #mystic flour cookie #dark cacao cookie #burning spice cookie #golden cheese cookie #silent salt cookie #white lily cookie #I see there's a tag for “beast ancients au” but it appears that's mostly for a specific au by someone #I think I see some other people use it so idk but I don't wanna risk uh. Infringing /silly so I won't use it X3 #Immemorial Interchange AU #<- hey. Hey driftwood look I did it I posted it it's live it's Born at last X3

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dr-spectre · 1 year ago

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Splatoon 2 Callie Explained - (In my interpretation)

So in this blog post I wanna go over what is going on with Callie in Splatoon 2 because there's a lot of misinformation being spread around due to how unclear the events of Splatoon 2 were. I'm going to provide my own thoughts into how the Hypnoshades actually affect Callie and clear up what hypnosis actually does to a person, because a lot of people think that Callie was kidnapped and then mind controlled but its actually a lot more complicated than that. I've done a ton of painstaking research into this so if you would like some sources to what I'm saying then I'll be happy to provide it in the comments below when asked!

Okay so first off we need to establish one thing right off the bat, no, Callie was not kidnapped in the sense that she was snatched up by DJ Octavio and then brainwashed while she was kicking and screaming trying to stop him. The idea that Callie was snatched up randomly is simply not to true due to the fact that the OFFICAL Splatoon 2 relationship chart states that Callie was willing to hear out DJ Octavio and go with him. Why? Because if you look at Sunken Scroll 21 and 22 in Splatoon 2, it gives insight into Callie's declining mental health as she struggles to put on a happy face as she walks through a huge crowd of people, as well as the fact that she drew a squid with a sad face on it in Sunken Scroll 22 which is a very clear giveaway that she isn't doing well. Also keep in mind Marie was busy with her own solo thing too and Callie even states in the relationship chart that she's busy and lonely. It also explains why Callie doesn't experience any sort of trauma, turmoil or resentment after Splatoon 2 because well, she wasn't kidnapped and the shades were not forcibly put on her. (Also in Squid Sister Stories chapter 7 there's an artwork piece of Callie walking towards DJ Octavio's star mark so there's that too....)

Now I want to get into how hypnosis actually affects a person and what being hypnotized is actually like. Being hypnotized is described as having "heightened attention, increased focus and heightened suggestibility." You do not get put to sleep and become a puppet as popular media shows it to be, but instead you are hyper aware of what is going on around you. It's also said to be highly relaxing and can help with patients who struggle with anxiety and other mental issues, which might explain why Callie kept putting the shades back on, she enjoys wearing them to some degree as it helps her deal with the pain of being a celebrity, kind of like an addiction but unfortunately Splatoon 2 doesn't explore it at all and Marie (CALLIE'S OWN GOD DAMN COUSIN BTW!) jokes about it..... ugh...... at least she overcomes that addiction OFF SCREEN unfortunately....

Now that part about "suggestibility" is important to consider because contrary to popular belief, you don't lose awareness and memories while you are hypnotized and the person who is in charge of hypnotizing you, CANNOT force you to do anything that's against your wishes and you do NOT lose control of your behavior. Meaning that on some level Callie actually wanted to side with the Octarians because her life beforehand was shitty. The shades do not control Callie but instead put her in a hypnotic state that relaxes her and increases her attention and suggestibility.

For example, if DJ Octavio were to tell Callie to kill Marie instead of Agent 4, she would probably have a ton of hesitation about it and probably not follow his orders. Callie doesn't want to kill Marie, but she doesn't care or know about Agent 4 and that's why she had no problems with following DJ Octavio's suggestions. She also didn't try to attack Marie during the final boss when she was flying around and she just wants Marie to leave her alone because guess what, she's suffering from mental health issues!!!!!! And her relationship with Marie got worse and worse overtime as shown with the Squid Sister Stories.

If you were hypnotized and then the person responsible of your hypnotism handed you a weapon and told you to kill your best friend, you wouldn't do it because it's against your wishes (unless you secretly wanna kill your best friend for some reason....)

With all of this information laid out, it actually does make Splatoon 2's admittedly mid story a bit more interesting, it shows that Callie does have these dark traits and flaws about her, and the Hypnoshades bring out the worst in her. The angry, power hungry and harsh side to her, that was even built up from Splatoon 1. If you look at the dialogue from the Naughty vs. Nice, Early Bird vs. Night Owl and Callie vs. Marie Splatfests, you can see that Callie actually got upset at Marie multiple times due to her attitude.

It really does make Tidal Rush more emotional and powerful as a song if you really think about it. It's a clashing of two cousins whose relationship has been broken apart and Marie is desperately trying to reach out to Callie and fix what she has done. Maybe Marie blames herself for why Callie ran away and that's why she sounds like she's on the brink of tears in the song.... And it makes Spicey Calamari Inkantation more triumphant as a song too.

It does make me a bit angry that Nintendo doesn't wanna dive into these topics as well as Callie. She is flawed and has dark traits about her but, she doesn't try to change or grow from them in any significant or well written way, its like they forgot about it in Splatoon 3 which.... sucks man. I'm hoping we get a Side Order type deal with the Squid Sisters for Splatoon 4 and we dive deeper into the psyches of these girls, because what we have is really interesting but it lacks explanation and nuance and everyone keeps boiling it down to "welp Callie got kidnapped and mind controlled!" Which... its more complex than that... With Agent 3 and Marina it's for sure mind control and i would like to talk about them in a future blog but, with Callie? It's different and there's a lot of layers a lot of people tend to ignore because Splatoon 2's story is just... meh.

#splatoon #splatoon 2 #callie cuttlefish #callie splatoon #hypno callie #octo callie #marie splatoon #marie cuttlefish #dj octavio #essay #writing

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r1pp4r · 2 years ago

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• i wrote this and i just had to share it 😭😭 its abt you and simon’s first time together !! i wanted to show him from my perspective n make him accurate w my headcannons so here ya go!! i hope yall enjoy :))

this one is really sappy. i rewrote it a bit but tiktok saw it first!! btw my tiktok is @r1pp4r 🫣

• !!WARNING THIS IS 18+! MDNI!!

——————————————————————————————

• warnings: smut!!! 18+ this is honestly just a vv fluffy and comforting smut oneshot.. hinting at SA!

tonight, you had simon over to your apartment. the two of you were on a break from missions, and you both had been in a relationship for almost two and a half years. and neither of you could explain what happened tonight, or why it happened truthfully.

maybe it was the way he smelled, or the way your hair was down tonight.

maybe it was because your apartment was tiny, or how you never looked where you were going.

maybe it was the way you bumped into him walking out of your bathroom while he was walking from the kitchen sink, or the way he looked down at you.

maybe it was the way he instinctively grabbed your waist instead of your hips, or the way you could feel each others heartbeat when he pulled you flesh against him to steady himself.

but somehow you ended up in your bed, with simon between your thighs, pumping his manhood out of your sex slowly, as he watched you very carefully. the two of you had talked about this day, but wanted it to come naturally and you wanted simon to be comfortable enough to make the decision himself.

so when his hands were against your hips, his fingers digging into the skin while your hands were sprawled against his chest, he couldn’t help but lean down and kiss you. you looked up at him so innocently. with all the love in the world and even though simon was absolutely terrified, during the past two and a half years you had shown him everything, given him more than he could’ve asked for.

and that’s how he ended up between your thighs. you wouldn’t have had it any other way though. you truthfully were usually more of a dominant stature in the bedroom. more in a sense where you took control, but tonight.. tonight simon wanted that control and you knew he needed it more than you.

so you obliged happily.

and now you had your hands on his cheeks, and your foreheads were pressed together. his forearms were on either side of your head as he was caging your tiny body in and holding up his huge frame as he split his cock into your tight entrance. you were moaning like it was a symphony and simon loved knowing he made you feel good.

he was terrified that he was ‘tainting’ you in some way by pressing himself against you, but god he could’ve swore that was the sound of heaven falling off your lips. your cries of how good simon felt, were liquid gold.

you couldn’t breathe. he took up your entire being, soul, heart and mind. this man was giving you everything and you were giving him your all in return, because of course he was terrified but you had given up control to him. he had your body, and you loved every bit of it. he controlled the pace, when you looked at him, where he pressed his hands and where your own went.

his words of praise had you falling onto cloud-9, your body was set ablaze with the heat from simon’s movements. the way his cock fit so perfectly into your cunt. it was like he was made for you… and the way he was groaning, the mask muffling them a bit, but truthfully just making it better. you could tell he felt the same.

and this is how the two of you gave up trust.

this is how simon was offering himself to you. he was giving you his all, and asking for yours in return. and you gave yourself.

but, even with his thrusts and his praise.. his slow, languid thrusts and those sweet, sweet words.. it was enough but you needed something. you needed more, and you were willing to ask.. beg, even. but you didn’t want to scare him, so you began to press soft, but wet, open mouthed kisses to his shoulder and jaw. you loved hearing the way he groaned, and grunted above you, letting you know he was enjoying himself.

you were gentle in your touches now, letting your moans sync up with his. the two of you were enjoying each other but you just.. needed one more push, and you could tell he did too. but again you didn’t want to push him, so you tapped him gently, and he immediately stopped, almost backing away but you held him in place, softly.

your eyes told him everything and he nodded, breathing heavily from not only how aroused he was, but how nervous he was now..

but you just looked up at him with all the love, and trust in the world. you ran your hand over the balaclava softly, pressing kisses over where his lips and cheeks would be. then all around.

your voice came out above a whisper before you spoke..

“ghost.. ghost please i- need more..”

“you feel so good i just.. need a little more baby.. can you do that?”

“deeper.. i need to feel you.. if you can..”

you brushed your lips against his balaclava, seeing as he didn’t want to take it off as this was the first time. he’d taken it off before but you respected his decision. you knew what he looked like and his eyes were enough to explain his whole face. you pulled away and you swore the sight of his eyebrows furrowing as he thought about your words. you watched the way he screwed his eyes shut and fully bottomed out inside you, making you cry out once more.

“ghost!”

you cried, screwing your eyes shut as well. your back arched as he had moved your legs a bit higher, causing a new, deeper angle. and simon stopped there, not moving an inch. you opened your eyes, ready to reassure him that it felt good- but when you opened them, simon was looking at you with such an intense gaze.

you could tell his jaw was hanging open under the mask, as his eyes contorted into complete pleasure, feeling you clench around him at this new angle. you were so tight and it was so sweet, the way your pussy was gripping him..

“simon.” his voice was almost a command. “say it. call me simon..”

“please.. i need to hear it..”

“please ripley.. fuck..”

his voice was strained as he looked down at you. he was completely lost in the pleasure between the two of you and you were as well.

but he asked once again and you knew he wouldn’t ask twice.

“simon…”

“simon please.. i need it..”

“i love you simon.. i’m yours.. i’m only yours..”

you whispered softly, and you could hear the guttural groan that fell from his lips. he quickly rolled up his balaclava, only to his lips. he looked down at you with an expression you’d never seen before. at the sound of his name, his eyes darkened with a hunger and love you hadn’t experienced he pressed his lips to yours with a fervor and began to move once again.

but this time his movements were deep, and a bit more unsteady, but god did he know what he was doing. he was bottoming out every time and he had you keening and reeling for him. you couldn’t help it as your head rolled back and so did your eyes, your back arching into his chest. he knew exactly how to hit that spot over and over.

“are- are you okay?”

simon asked as you had yelled particularly loud on one thrust. and you nodded quickly, pressing your lips to his once more in a heightened state. you need to explode around him and you needed him to claim you. you needed to be his. and then he continued his brutal pace, feeling the way you clenched around him as he began to praise you once again.

“god.. ripley i.. you feel amazing.. i can’t..”

“fuckin’.. fuckin’ hell.. oh you sweet girl. you spoil me..”

“givin’ me all this.. all of you.. your trust.. fuck.. i don’t- god i don’t deserve you..”

and though his words were few, you knew what he was saying and though his cock was absolutely plummeting you, you couldn’t help the tears slowly run down your cheeks. but simon was just listening to the way you cried his name over and over like a prayer. he continued to ask if you were alright, and you continued to assure him that you were okay, and that everything was so good. it just felt too good.

simon began to slow down his thrusts as he couldn’t continue looking at your tears. you choked back softly, wondering why he slowed but he just spoke sweet nothings into your ear and pressed soothing kisses to your shoulder and neck.

he waited until you had calmed down a bit, but not enough to where you weren’t still on the edge. and he began to move again, very slowly, keeping a tentative eye on you to make sure you were okay, and he could tell his thrusts were making you feel absolute euphoria.

but one particular thrust had you seeing stars, and simon haulted but you shook your head, ushering him to continue and he did, watching the way your face began to screw up in absolute pleasure.

simon had never seen something so beautiful and he just continued his pace. he had never wanted something this bad. he needed to feel you give your all to him and he was going to bring you over the edge

“yes- yes simon i’m- oh my god-“

“i can’t- you’re so- deep-“

“simon!- i’m gonna cum-! fuck!- right there!-“

and you did. your body erupted into a beautiful explosion as you released onto simon, and gave him your all. you arched your back off the sheets, your fingers gripping into them so tightly you were afraid they’d tear. you cried out his name one last time, your lips parting open as you panted and began to come down.

simon continued to lead and guide you through your orgasm with slow and deep thrusts, and sweet words. but he grunt and groan loudly, his pace becoming uneven and you could tell he was about to come.

“simon.. simon i’ve got you.. go ahead, let go.. it’s okay..”

“you can.. inside.. shh let go my love..”

you said reached up, wrapping your arms around his neck before pulling him flesh against your body. simon for the first time cried out, gripping onto your body tightly as he slowly began to lose his rhythm and stilled, pressing his cum deep into you, which forced a cry out of you as well.

simon didn’t move from your arms and stayed inside you. the two of you were breathing heavily, the smell of sex and sweat was in the air. you could feel the way your sweat mixed with simon’s as he laid against you.

you began to run your fingers from the base of his neck, into his hair, scratching at his scalp softly. you could feel the way simon began to shudder softly and you pressed kisses to his forehead, pulling the blanket around the two of you.

you whispered sweet words into his ear. reassuring him that he was safe and it was the two of you, there was no one else. no one could hurt him and that he was safe with you.

he squeezed you tightly, you could feel his nails digging into your flesh slightly but you knew he needed to feel you and that was okay.

so the two of you stayed intertwined, as you spoke sweet nothings into simon’s ears until you could feel him fall asleep.

#cod modern warfare #cod mw2 #cod x reader #ghost cod #ghost mw2 #ghost smut #ghost x female reader #ghost x oc #ghost x reader #simon ghost riley smut #simon ghost riley #simon ghost x reader #simon ghost x you #simon riley smut #cod smut #call of duty mw2 #call of duty smut #mw2 smut #mw2

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stop-talking · 1 year ago

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Breakdown of the @joshsbimbo controversy.

@mike-schmidtten already made a detailed list of every reason why people are upset with you, "lamb", but I'm going to quickly go over it all anyways because you obviously didn't get the memo.

Extreme trigger warning for this entire post, I'm going to be talking about rape, SA, assault, violence, abuse, incest, stepcest, pedophilia, substance abuse, and probably a lot more.

First of all, you tagged this fic where Mike literally rapes the reader as "cnc". That is not correct.

I mean, if we look at the definition of CNC, it says "this type of scene does not encourage ACTUAL rape. All proper scenes are done after much negotiation between of-age, consenting adults."

But I don't need to explain that to you, do I? You know what CNC is. You said yourself MONTHS ago that you tagged your fic incorrectly and NEVER went back and fixed it.

Mike's next point was that you make it impossible for people to "steer away" from their triggers when you don't tag your posts properly.

And as an example he used this post of straight up incest porn between Mike and his little sister. All completely out in the open, tagged under "#mike schmidt" and "#mike schmidt x reader" for all to see.

He followed it up this this. A plea for you to, at the bare minimum, tag the major triggers in your posts and hide it under a "read more" section.

Let's take a look at how you responded to that very reasonable request.

Oh. You DM'd him the word poop and blocked him.

Instead of reblogging to respond, you actually deleted your origional post so your followers couldn't see the criticism of you as easily. I wonder why? You made your stance clear, though. "I should have put more warnings on my work, but it doesn't matter anyways because it's all fictional." But then, immediately after, you started relogging an account that makes photoshopped foot fetish content of male celebrities for some reason...?

(I censored the feet myself because its just weird) Oh, and weird AI pictures of him, too.

There were worse ones, but I didn't screenshot everything, and you deleted these posts just a few hours after reblogging.

You followed it all up with this now-deleted post about how you wish you could make your notes private. Again, I wonder why? If it really is OKAY to sexualize incest, rape, and abuse just because it's fictional, why would people be scared to support you? Why is no one willing to publicly like your posts, or speak out in your favor? Even some of your biggest supporters (@leah-hutcherson @teenagedreamsss @cuteskunkz @renaissancebewbies) who continue to like (some) of your posts, still haven't come to your defense. If writing about fictional rape, abuse, and incest really and truly wasn't harmful, why would you need to hide?

Once other people started catching wind of what was going on, you responded in some... interesting ways. Like here, in response to this ask (from a person who is a minor BTW). You switched up your story from "I should have tagged my work better" to "everyone hates me now because I forgot to put warnings on ONE story" (which was just blatantly false, as you had been posting other triggering things at the time with no warnings whatsoever.)

It was absolutely ridiculous of you to claim you put warnings on your work when I could scroll down two posts (back before you deleted this) and see a post about Mike beating his kid.

Like... please show me where exactly the warning is?

Then, when this person, (another MINOR, btw!!) posted after reading Mike's breakdown of your behavior, your responded by DMing them a slur.

I don't even know what to say to that. A minor. A slur.

But as much as you like to INSIST your work isn't for minors, you sure seem to interact with them a lot.

This person who reblogged your masterlist? They're a minor.

^^ You can't say you don't want minors to read your work without actually taking all precautions possible to prevent them from seeing it. (Tagging your content, blocking ageless accounts, NOT REBLOGGING MINORS!!!)

Yes. This person is also a minor. Which makes, what, the 4th minor you've interacted with in the past few days? At least from what I can tell.

They also hate you btw so I don't even know why you reblogged them.

FINALLY, this user commented under one of your posts in an attempt to get you to AT LEAST tag your posts correctly if you're going to write triggering shit. (Which was the same think Mike asked you to do, if you remember, but he got "poop" and reblogs of foot fetish posts as a response.)

But then it looked like you either blocked them or removed their comment, so they tried again.

You ignored this message, then apparently posted this?

So they tried again (being much nicer that I would have)

And you finally responded (and still got blocked anyways because your posts are DISTURBING and GROSS)

I doubted you'd actually fix your page, because again, you ignored the same request when Mike asked, and in the past admitted you tagged your fics wrong but just never bothered to change it.

But surprise surprise, you actually went through with it and added trigger warnings to your content.

Though, I'm still not sure "non-serious" is an appropriate tag for a post where mike beats you to death...??

Look. I appreciate that you're at least TRYING now, but it was a fucking FIGHT to get you to do the bare minimum. What I, and apparently 84% of people actually want you to do is delete your account.

(This is from @mike-schmidtten's breakdown post from a couple days ago)

I know you want to PRETEND that just because something is a work of fiction, it doesn't have negative real-world effects, but that's just not the truth.

A lot of people were hurt when you posted things without trigger warnings.

And even now, as you continue to post fetish content for rape, incest, and abuse, people are still being hurt. MINORS are still being hurt.

Yes, obviously, if you post something on the internet, you can't completely 100% control who sees it. But you don't even seem to TRY.

(Dming minors slurs, letting minors reblog your masterlist, letting ageless accounts interact with you, reblogging minors, answering asks from minors, etc)

People, minors, CHILDREN, are raped and abused by those closest to them every day. It's disgusting and horrifying to think about, but it's the world we live in.

You aren't "helping people cope" by writing these stories. You're normalizing abuse. And allowing the most vulnerable people to read it.

You're taking actual things that have happened to real people, and sexualizing it for others to get off to. It's immoral, disturbing, and disgusting.

To my followers, if any of you support this kind of content, you are NOT welcome on my page. Please unfollow or block me and go seek help.

And to you, lamb, I hope you come to your senses and either delete all of your rape & incest fetish content or delete your account entirely.

At the end of the day, you KNOW you're in the wrong. Or at least some small part of you does, or you wouldn't have been afraid to reblog Mike's post and respond defending yourself directly. And you wouldn't be afraid to reblog mine either, which you undoubtedly will.

I know you used to follow me, so maybe you'll take this all to heart. But probably not.

I won't block you. (for the next few days, at least). I'll be here if you want to try and have a civil discussion. But just know I will NEVER agree with the sexualization & glorification of violence and abuse.

#PSA #anyone connected to this person DNI

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laughatlocksmiths · 1 month ago

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As far as I remember, the three vampires in Dracula's Castle are never referred as brides. It seems to me that it is from movies.

There might be a bride among them, particularly the blonde one because Van Helsing says that it looks like her tomb is crafted for someone beloved, and the other two likely his children or maybe sisters, given that they have a lot of resemblance to him according to Harker. But in any case it sounds like a family unit that he has a patriarchical responsibility to feed.

Interesting theory! It would definitely add some dimension to Dracula's character if he had turned some of his biological family, using vampirism to sort of metaphorically preserve them under amber. Especially since he seems very fixated on his family name and bloodline. That seems like something he might do. I think he would want to be the head of a household.

I guess I always assumed that the women Jonathan encounters in the castle were former victims of Dracula, who like Jonathan had been lured there over the years under some false pretense/coercion/blackmail, and who Dracula had just decided to keep so that he would have someone to rule over. Learning about all the victims that came before you is a classic horror trope, you know?

But it would also make sense if they were Dracula's (wife and) relatives, and I really like your idea of a "patriarchal responsibility to feed" them. That adds a fun tension to their relationship with Dracula, and would explain why they are willing to rely on him even though they seem capable of hunting for themselves.

BTW I know they're not literally his brides, but since they don't have individual names I used "brides" as easy, quick way to refer to them collectively that would let most people reading the post understand which characters I was talking about.

Thank you for the ask, it was very thought-provoking!

#dracula #dracula daily #family readings #op #asks

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daily-hanamura · 2 years ago

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If Rise is a proxy for the game trying to give Yu a thinly veiled "default romance", then her parallels with Yosuke and the way they interact with Yu make for a fascinating comparison

(aka follow me down this weird delusional rabbit hole. Strap in because this is going to be a long and very weird one.)

1. Similar patterns of flirting

Unlike Rise, Yosuke is of course a lot less intentional and a lot more oblivious to what he's actually doing, but his behaviour is actually very similar to Rise's in some ways.

For example, the both of them find an in with Yu through "being shown around" Inaba.

(actually there's a scene with naoto's first day at the school, where a few girls are trying to flirt with naoto using the same lines of showing him around, so that's fun.)

There's a difference in context here - Yosuke is playing that senpai-adjacent role for Yu, whereas Rise is asking Yu to play it for her (even though Inaba is Rise's hometown, and when you take her to souzai daigaku she says she's always wanted to go there).

But this difference is also important because...

Yosuke's type is someone he can look after. (Btw, this is an extremely common male response in Asia - that men like dating someone they can look after. Remember this because it'll come up again later.)

I think throughout the course of the game Yosuke is very much consistently someone that likes taking care of people - quite obviously he looks after Teddie, but he's also always looking out for Kanji and everyone else, actually.

But there's something that changes slightly between him and Yu - as their relationship develops, Yosuke becomes more willing to be the one being looked after, but by Yu especially! This is something that is picked up on by others in the group, such as when Kanji says that Yu tends to spoil Yosuke, or when Chie tells Yu that Yosuke is going to come begging him soon.

Neither Kanji nor Chie talk about how Yosuke asked them for help - because Yosuke, for the most part, is pretty resistant towards asking people for help... unless it's Yu. Yu is the exception in this regard, because where most people see Yosuke as being reliable, they also know that if Yosuke has issues, it's Yu that he turns to. And he does! In front of Yu, Yosuke lets himself be vulnerable, both in more serious settings but also in casual ones. Look at how Yosuke playfully ask Yu to "save him/them" (from Yukiko, Rise and Chie's cooking). It's a little dramatic. It's a little whiny. And it's all part of that role!

But this is exactly the kind of role that Rise is playing as well.

In Japanese culture, there is the concept of 甘え (amae), which is closely related to the (perhaps more commonly known) Chinese notion of 撒娇 (sājiāo). It's hard to explain this in English because it's not really a concept that exists in Western contexts in the same way, but I think it's important because Persona is ultimately a Japanese game, and so the cultural norms and contexts that inform the relationships there are important. It's been talked about in more detail by people smarter than me (see: Takeo Doi, 1971) but the tldr is that it refers to a kind of childishness employed as a means to seek indulgence from a loved one - it's a little bit affirmation, it's a little bit flirtation, but really, the point is looking for someone to care for them. And it works the same way for the other person as well - to indulge is to love! (Remember Yosuke's response of wanting someone he can look after? Yeah.)

When Rise drawls out the word "senpai" and whines a little, that's one example of her playing up that role so Yu would pamper her (actually I don't play in dub, so I'm not sure if she does this in EN too). But we see this with Ai as well, when Ai tells Yu to carry her shopping or buy her coffee. Ai is of course perfectly capable of doing both things, but the point is to have someone like you so much they do things for you.

Compare this to the way the others ask Yu for help - there's hesitation, and it's framed in a "if you have time, could you..." sort of manner and is markedly less playful. I think to some extent it's also their personalities, but that's kind of the point here.

I think it's important to caveat at this point that this "submissive" role during amae isn't, like, a fixed role that they assign themselves into in their relationship - critically, it's temporal, contextual and momentary. Yosuke and Rise are only playing up their childishness so they can get attention from Yu in that moment, but it in no way speaks to how they expect their relationship to function, because it's just brief instances of flirtation. For both Rise and Yosuke, their relationship with Yu is still primarily defined by their equalness and what they can do for Yu as well. It also goes both ways - Yu is also welcome to do the same with Rise and Yosuke! It's also very much a purposeful demonstration of vulnerability, because if you've read the signs wrongly, then it may not be perceived as flirting, just general annoyingness. Which is why...

I think they're both particularly sensitive about accidentally being a bother to Yu, and the way the both of them speak has these layers of boldness and shyness interspersed and folded into each other.

To put it another way, you can think of this indulgence as an extension of the love language of acts of service - and amae is essentially a way of pretending to be helpless to encourage that act of service. (this is an extremely dumbed down definition stripped of nuance)

The point here as Rise flirts with Yu in this manner... I think so does Yosuke, even if he's not totally conscious of it.

2. The shared fear of loneliness

Both Yosuke and Rise express this same fear - Yosuke's shadow reveals his fear of being alone so he actively surrounds himself with as many people as he can, while Rise reveals in her slink that she was a shy, lonely child and became an idol because she thought it would help her connect with people and make more friends. There's this powerful desire of acceptance on their part that forced them towards behaviour that they felt would make them desirable and liked - Yosuke makes jokes and buys food for his friends and tries to be a dependable big-brother type, and his shadow says he's only like that because he's terrified of being alone, while Rise's idol image is about being bright and enthusiastic and bubbly, but her vulnerable moments reveal her to be withdrawn and she says it was all an act.

I think there's a really interesting parallel here, because they both learn that it doesn't really work the way they hoped - the relationships that they had previously formed can be superficial (Yosuke talks about this point with Marie and Yu on the rooftop, while Rise learns that people only see Risette but not her), or temporary and easily forsaken (Yosuke doesn't really have anyone calling him back after his move, while Rise talks about how quickly people moved on from her).

Critically though, it's also in how they are resolved, and in both cases, Yu is the catalyst that helps them understand that not only is that desire normal and understandable, but that both that desire and their responses to it are all part of them. Yosuke's and Rise's cheerfulness and care are not any less meaningful just because of where that sentiment came from. There's no real Yosuke or real Rise, and while this is also a theme for the rest of the IT, I think it's with Yosuke and Rise especially that this particular thread of a fake self created to be accepted and help them make friends is especially pronounced.

(for Kanji, his violent, abrasive self was created to hide away and push people further away, while Naoto wasn't seeking acceptance amongst peers, but their individual ideal of whom they should be).

The distinction here is meaningful insofar as it then speaks to how Yosuke and Rise subsequently perceive Yu in relation to themselves and the rest of the team. For both of them, Yu was the first person where they actually felt Seen with, and in Rise's case, it's what sparked her attraction to him, with her starting to flirt aggressively with Yu after her rescue. I think that in Yosuke's case it's very much the same thing as well, which is how we have Yosuke calling Yu his 相棒 (aibou) shortly after the fight with Yosuke's shadow. I can't place exactly when Yosuke starts doing so, because it can be as early as Marie's slink rank 1 if you did it right after, but in their conversations after the fight at the liquor store, I think the foundation is already there.

In English, 相棒 is translated as partner, which I guess is a fair translation that is captured by the sentiment of "partners in crime". It's a term that is also used in, say, buddy cop pairs (like Reno and Rude in FF7. It's also how Adachi refers to himself, as Dojima's aibou), but it's intended to capture that essence of someone that you trust above and beyond everyone else. Working on a case and your boss and colleagues say no? Doesn't matter, you aibou's got your back. It's the person that you share this absolute connection with, that knows you like you know them, maybe even knows you more than you know yourself.

But imo there's a bit of nuance that is lost, because there's also the weight of exclusivity inherent in the term - you can have a lot of friends, but only one aibou. It's one of the highest, most intense and exclusive relationship that you can have with someone... platonically.

Kick that platonic label off and we find that Yosuke and Rise are the only two that end up attached to Yu with that same, absolute intent, and hold this similar wish for some exclusive relationship with Yu. By helping them understand their loneliness and what the intimacy of being seen means, Yu has triggered the same reaction in both Yosuke and Rise - just coloured slightly differently, romantic for Rise and platonic for Yosuke. But Yosuke's route wasn't even intended to be necessarily platonic so

3. They're the two that ask Yu about his type the most

I think that with a heteronormative lens, it's easy to interpret Rise's question as one coming from romantic interest and flirtations, while Yosuke's questions are coming from patterns of locker room talk, but fuck that, I think they're both testing the waters of romantic interest and looking to see what Yu would say.

Of course, if Yu takes that one opportunity he has to say Yosuke is his type, Yosuke gets flustered and his hair-trigger nohomo reaction kicks in... but then he goes into a thing where he talks about how yeah, he'd make a pretty good boyfriend! He likes Yu's answer here, he even has the little flower animation of happiness!

In contrast, if Yu picked Kanji, the conversation derails into a thing about Kanji's manliness. Furthermore, considering that Yosuke's romance route was cut but all of the previous conversations and interactions remained, there's no reason not to think that Yosuke wasn't responding positively to Yu's affirmations, even if he didn't necessarily understand what they meant at that time.

In the same way, if Yu responds positively or goes along with Rise's questions, Rise is also noticeably happy about it.

Because at the end of the day, they're not actually asking because they want to know what it is - they're asking because they want to hear Yu say that they are Yu's type. And I think Yosuke is guilty of this, even though he hadn't realised it yet.

#p4 #p4g #persona 4 #persona 4 golden #hanamura yosuke #yosuke hanamura #debated posting this one because im not even sure if im making sense to myself anymore but if you see my vision i am here to shake your hand #going in with a proper post today because my headcanon is not only very weird but also very very long #he's good with his queue

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