#4) gifts can still be food or experiences it doesn’t have to be limited to An Object They Keep | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

sillystardew · 2 years

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could u do "loved gifts" post with non-datable villagers? thank u!

Non-romanceables and their loved gifts

Since there are so many of the non-romanceables, i kept the amount of gifts limited to 2-4 (instead of doing all of the non-universal gifts like i did with the bachelor/ettes)

Caroline

-Summer spangles are her favorite flowers. She likes the way they look, and they smell amazing when she walks by the community center to read or meditate. She likes to grow them in her greenhouse during most seasons, but she thinks they smell the sweetest when they grow wild in the summer.

-She likes anything tangy or strong smelling, and tropical curry just has a perfect blend of spices for her tastes. She considers it her favorite food

-Living on a coastal town, you get pretty accustomed to eating lots of seafood. Fish tacos are so cheap and easy to make, and the fish from the ocean just taste different from the ones harvested on farms. They’re her go-to thing to make after workouts, too, because they’re quick and filling :)

Clint

-Artichoke dip is pretty easy to make, and he doesn’t have to spend a lot of time making it. It’s one of those meals that are easier for him to eat and make during the day while he works

-He loves fiddlehead risotto. He doesn’t really consider himself a foodie, but he always appreciates a high-quality and well made dish. Its what he usually eats at the saloon if he doesn’t want to cook for himself.

Demetrius

-He built an ice-cream machine with Maru when she was younger. It was just an experiment, but eating ice-cream reminds him of one of the first times he and Maru worked on something together. They still have it (along with it’s additional improvements).

-Bean hotpot was something he ate frequently as a kid. He likes healthy foods and wants to encourage good habits for his kids, so he makes it pretty frequently.

Dwarf

-He enjoys breaking open geodes. It’s a nice way to pass the time, and most of the stones that come out of omni geodes are ones he likes

-His favorite crystals and minerals are the bright and colorful ones. They’re easier to find in the dark caves, and they add some nice color to his otherwise pretty monotone decor

Evelyn

-She really enjoys traditional holiday foods, stuffing being one of her favorites. It reminds her of all the holidays she has spent with her family and friends

-She’s grown flowers since she was very young. When she was a child, her and her family had a tulip garden. She still loves to grow tulips every spring, and the flowers makes the whole town smell vaguely sweet (poor Sam with his allergies, though)

George

-Food is something He’s always been able to appreciate. He might be a grumpy old man, but he’ll warm up to anyone who can cook a good meal.

-He really doesn’t like much fried food, but mushrooms are the exception.

Gus

-He thinks it’s fun to try to overcomplicate very simple dishes. There’s beauty in the simplicity, of course, but he still loves to see what he can do to put even more effort into a dish. Fish tacos are something he’s constantly making new recipes for.

-Being able to enjoy food from people who he knows and being able to share his food with people who truly appreciate it is something completely priceless to him. He’ll enjoy pretty much any food you give him

Jas

-She likes fairy roses because they’re her favorite color, purple! She also likes their name – she’s always liked fairies :)

-She likes sweets, like any kid, but pink cake is special to her. She remembers having it on her birthday with her parents.

Jodi

-She doesn’t like to snack throughout the day. It makes her feel hungrier, so she just prefers to eat larger meals. She doesn’t hate cooking, but its always nice to be able to enjoy a meal someone else prepared, so she loves when people offer their leftovers to her and her family. Caroline makes excellent eggplant parmesan!

-The ring kent proposed to her with was a diamond on a gold band. Seeing the clear stone always brings her back to when they were younger

Kent

-Unlike Jodi, Kent prefers to snack lightly throughout the day and eat a nice dinner by the end. Roasted hazelnuts smell amazing, and the taste reminds him of the holidays.

-Fiddlehead risotto was something he hadn’t tried until his family moved to the valley. It was one of the last meals they ate together before he was sent to war.

Krobus

-Krobus has never truly had a friendship with a human before. He admired them from afar, but until the farmer came along, he had never interacted with one. Being given man-made gifts reminds him of how close he is with the farmer now. (He’s also quite crafty, so he appreciates the extra material.)

-Wild horseradish was one of the first things he ate when he came to the surface. It is spicy to humans, but the taste is different to him. He’s not quite sure how to describe it.

Leo

-He likes to hear about birds from other places. The parrots are some of the only birds on his island, so he appreciates the tales of differently colored birds, and other animals for that matter. The farmer bringing him a duck feather was one of the most beautiful gifts he had ever received.

-Poi is a food he learned how to make on the island. Its fairly easy and the ingredients are easy to find, so he and the parrots enjoy it a lot. After he leaves the island, it’s harder for him to get the ingredients, so he loves whenever he’s able to eat it.

Lewis

-Lewis has lived in the valley for a very long time. He loves any meals that remind him of the town around him, especially autumn’s bounty.

-He doesn’t have much of a tolerance for spicy food, but when you removes the seeds from a hot pepper, it’s easier for him to eat. He loves the taste of them, and finds them strangely refreshing

Linus

-He loves the nature around him, and loves to taste things from other places as well. Coconuts and cactus fruit let him enjoy the life of other places in the valley.

-Him and willy are fairly close, and any time he goes to the docks to spend time with him, Willy makes dish o’ the sea. Its a filling meal, and Linus doesn’t eat ocean fish all that often

Marnie

-Another villager who just can’t get enough of seasonal foods. Pumpkin pie is her favorite, it reminds her of fall

-She likes to eat dinner with her family. She makes farmers lunch for Jas and Shane a lot

Pam

-Like penny, she really enjoys root vegetables, especially parsnips. Parsnip soup is by far her favorite meal

-She’s not much of a sweets gal, but cactus fruit is the exception.

Pierre

-Fried calamari is everything to him. It is his life. It is his love. It is his god. It is his soul. It is his purpose.

Robin

-She likes a lot of classic meals, like lasagna and spaghetti. Any pasta dish is good in her eyes, really

-She likes to eat quick snacks while she works, so she loves if the farmer ever offers her some of their produce while she’s building things for them. She’s always liked dairy, but the farmers goat cheese is out of this world!

Sandy

-She loves stardew valley. Like Linus, she appreciates being able to admire the beauty of life. Emily brings her foraged gifts often. Her favorite is Crocus plants

-She likes anything mango-flavored. Mango sticky rice was one of those foods that she knew she would love, even before she tried it

Vincent

-He loves sweet and sour candy! Cranberry candy is his favorite, he likes the color and the taste :)

-He loves snails. Bugs in general, but ESPECIALLY snails. They’re his favorite animal

Willy

-He loves fried catfish, especially when its homemade. Any additional catfish he can add to his batch is a great gift

-sturgeon are valuable for a reason! They have a great flavor, and they have a lot of meat on them, so they can feed a lot of people. He sells most of the ones he catches, but he admittedly saves some for himself

Rasmodius

-He never stops learning about the arcane. Any additional things he can add to his studies is welcome, and he appreciates any gifts of magical items. He particularly appreciates void/solar essence, as They’re harder for him to get on his own (they’re also used in a lot of recipes)

#stardew valley #stardew headcanon #stardew fanfic #my writing

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lacasitamadrigal · 3 years

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Casita and its Family

Hi I’m very tired and running on 4 hours of sleep but my mind is GOING so have some ramblings about Casita and kids.

Sorry this is so long but it kinda ran away from me. If you manage to read it all and would like to discuss my inbox and messages are open.

Someday I would really like to interact with any children with Casita just because I know the house would love them and be so gentle and kind and playful.

Casita 100% helped raise the triplets you can’t convince me otherwise. How else did Alma make it through the first year alone as a single mother of three infants?? She had help. And not in like the diaper changing department but more along the lines of bringing blankets and burp cloths, moving toys back to the babies when they accidentally threw it out of reach, rocking cribs when they had a particularly fussy night and needed the extra comfort. And Alma appreciated the heck out of it I guarantee it.

When they got older Casita still helped. Mobile infants are a disaster waiting to happen. If they got too close to something they shouldn’t have or if they were gonna attempt to climb the stairs because they know that this time they’ll make it. Nope, all aboard the tile train! Lets just chug a lug you away from that potential mess or that injury you really don’t need to experience just yet.

Oh and if you thought mobile infants were bad, wait till you meet toddlers... I swear every toddler I have ever met (Mine being my prime suspect here) Believes they are indestructible and bullet proof when in reality if you gently pull them away from the object of their want (emphasis on GENTLY) You have harmed them beyond belief and they must express that to you in a very loud, very high pitched in human scream. Not only that but they try to launch themselves off any and every surface over three inches, that being the minimum appropriate jumping height. The maximum end is similar to a three headed snake singing like a barber shop quartet, It doesn’t exist.

Between the three of them I guarantee Alma had her first grey hair by the time they were the age of 3. But with the help of Casita and by the skin of her teeth she stayed somewhat sane. Of course for the house that meant a lot of play. From the simple little tug of war games and keep away to the floor is lava. Casita would constantly be waiting for when someone would jump, trip, fall, be pushed, or launch themselves with lots of pillows and cushions. And when inevitably someone did get hurt, suddenly their favorite toy or their blanket would be there for comfort as Alma would rush in with the first aid kit.

And all of that would be before any of them even got a gift.

Now why Casita gave them the gifts it did at the tender age of 5? I can only speculate from some things I’ve read but that’s another long thread for another day. But you better believe Casita was there for them when they needed it. Of course Alma was too, but she had a town to run, she couldn’t be there for everything. And even if she was there, the kids may have just kept it to themselves. They saw their mom work her butt off as well as take care of them to the best of her abilities and on top of that had expectations thrust upon them. No child wants to disappoint their parents.... No child wants to feel like they’re being a burden....

Of course they would have each other, one of the perks of being a triplet, But they would also have Casita.

When they move into their new rooms and its too empty or too dark or too lonely,, there would be Casita, making the rooms just a little more cozy for the night, armed with nightlights and stuffed animals. Bringing them a cup of water or warm milk to calm them and, on occasion, rocking their beds like it used to do in the nursery to lull them to sleep.

In the early days of them learning their gift and their limitations Casita would be invaluable to them.

On days when Julietta would accidentally burn food or measure too much of this or not enough of that to the point she’d just want to cry from frustration. Casita would wipe up spills and shuffle dishes through the sink and clean the mess that exploded in the kitchen. It would rattle its tiles at the girl in encouragement and play little games of keep away until she would smile again and if that didn’t work It would resort to some form of food fight that would ultimately end in all three children covered in flour or cocoa powder, laying on the floor and giggling until their bellies hurt. And then it would still help clean that mess up too.

On days when Pepa couldn’t find a single thing to be happy about no matter what chant she said (clear skies my butt) and with a frown weighing her whole frame down as if her sadness was physically manifesting. Casita would make sure she had her favorite warm beverage and one of her favorite books by her side. It would lead her to a window seat with cushions and blankets a plenty and plop the book right in her lap, much to Pepa’s amusement. And Pepa being the book worm she is (I can feel this in my bones) would concede defeat and relax. She would loose herself so wholeheartedly in the book. She would go through the emotions with the characters and let herself feel with them. And yeah on occasion that meant there was a small shower outside or a rumbling thunder cloud but afterwards she would feel so light and content and truly happy.

And Bruno... I honestly believe Casita would almost regret the gift he received. Of course it’s to late to take it back but Casita would try its best to be there for him. Some things shouldn’t be seen, especially for a child. Children don’t need to know anyone else’s struggles and woes, they already have enough on their plate learning how to be a person and trying to figure out who they are. And on days when Bruno saw those heart wrenching visions, the ones of a marriage gone wrong or an injury that hurt to the core.. or the unexpected loss of someone who was held near and dear to their loved ones. On days when, even if they wouldn’t say it to the child himself, he could see the anger, sadness, frustration, heartbreak, anxiety, all play across their faces and flash in their eyes. He would know from context or from reaction or sometimes both that what he saw was not wanted. On those days when the burden of pain and suffering and an adults issues pressed so hard on his shoulders that he could almost collapse on the floor from the weight of all the negativity that he saw, to the point it had bowed his shoulders so deeply and he hid in his hood in an attempt to hide away from the world outside and all of its atrocities. Casita would provide that hiding space.

I think Bruno would have known from a very early age that the second floor painting had a hidey hole behind it. Casita had shown it to him. And just for a bit he could hide. He could run away from the expectations forced on him at too young an age and just. Be. Casita made Bruno’s room behind the walls decades before he even considered living there permanently. Before the cracks, before the magic couldn’t reach to the inner walls, Casita built Bruno a sanctuary just for him. No it wasn’t fabulous, it had a little table and chair for him to sit at though and Casita would fill it with paper and crayons, paints and pencils, A hammock in the corner with a soft blanket for naps. It wasn’t as big as it would be when he was older, Just a little hideout for a child when he became too overwhelmed with the world. And it would help. It gave him the solitude he craved when a particular vision weighed too heavily on his delicate heart.

And when those children grew and had babies of their own? Oh Casita would be the happiest a house could be. Because it could do it all again. It could care for and nurture and help raise the new generation, and that would mean the world to one loving Casita.

By this time Casita has this babysitting thing down.

Sneaking Isabela out to the backyard where she could make mud pies and sleep in the grass. Spinning Dolores around in dance as Augustin played a tune in the other room. Using a (Not too high) railing to lift Luisa up and down to her utter delight. Moving the plants around the home to make better hiding spots for Camilo to jump out and scare the unsuspecting adult who just happened to think a trip to the kitchen was in order. Throwing balls of yarn at Mirabel and reducing her to a fit of giggles that had her out of breath and unable to walk because if she tried, ball of yarn to the face and another giggle fit. Playing tag with Antonio using one of his many animal plushes to “run” after him and make him hide behind one of the elder children, claiming with all the earnesty of a 3 year old that “The lion gonna eat me!!!”

AND ALWAYS. THE FLOOR. IS. LAVA. There can never be too many cushions around when there is a young child in the room.

Casita cared for these children because they belong to it. This is its family. Its rocked babies, tagged toddlers, hidden the hiders from the seekers, comforted ouchies and booboos and the ‘I can’t sleep’s and somewhere along the line shown every single one of those kids where the new hiding place for the cookie jar is. It’s their protector, not just their house but their home. It would do anything for this family until it simply... can’t. And even in its last desperation, as its walls crumble and its boards break, Casita still protects the family. It made sure to throw the family out. I’m convinced it weakened its own wall for Bruno to flee. And with broken pieces of itself it sheltered Mirabel from its own crumbling broken self.

And even after its rebuilt and brought back from non existence, Casita will be ready to do it all again.

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blouisparadise · 4 years

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Upon request, we’ve added to our friends to lovers rec list. You can find part one here and there will also be a part three (and possibly a part four!) up eventually, which will be linked here when it’s been posted. We hope you enjoy these fics! Happy reading.

1) Roses In The Rain | Mature | 5267 words

“Don’t- I know what you’re going to ask, and I… Harry, I can’t,” he said, his voice cracking. “Please. You know that I can’t.”

Louis had his six siblings and his old house with its falling-apart porch to take care of. This town was where people still approached him, 8 years after high school graduation, to tell him that they loved him as Danny in Grease. This town was where he had his pick of suitors, where he had his first kiss, where he took his first steps, where his mama lived, died, and was buried, and he couldn’t leave just to follow some man that he loved.

Harry, for now, seemed to understand that.

“Okay, baby,” Harry sighed, rubbing his eyes. “Okay.”

2) Candy In Your Mouth (I Know You Love Me) | Explicit | 6937 words

Things have shifted since last Christmas.

3) Glimpse Of The Silhouettes | Explicit | 7181 words

Harry isn't sure what the rules are for this. It's hard to believe that there are any, that's there's a handbook just waiting for him to buy: why is my best mate getting hard in my lap when I touch his arse?

4) Woke Up Feeling Knotty | Explicit | 7903 words

Beta Louis has a kink for knotting and the secret aesthetic porn blog he runs about it is more than proof. When he accidentally finds out his alpha best friend Harry is one of his biggest fans, he knows he has to come clean after everything that has already happened between them. Harry just might be willing to help him out anyway.

5) A Love Reaction | Explicit | 9968 words

It's never been a thing. Not until now.

6) Got It Right Such A Long Time Ago | Explicit | 9699 words

Four months into One Direction's hiatus, Louis comes to stay with Harry after a bad breakup.

7) (You're Gonna See Me In A) New Light | Mature | 13631 words

A fake relationship AU where everyone knows it's real but Louis.

8) As A Memento From Me | Explicit | 15817 words

Five lives in which Harry and Louis didn’t end up together, and one in which they did.

9) I Put A Spell On You | Explicit | 17525

A BBC/Secret Santa mashup featuring Captain Niall, our intrepid weatherman/amateur matchmaker, rather clueless sports reporter Liam, charming political analyst Zayn, and cheeky entertainment reporter Louis. Harry is the new fashion correspondent who prefers to dress like a flamingo. And pining. There’s a lot of pining.

10) Oblivious | Explicit | 19095 words

Where Louis gets a little crush on Luke and for some reason Harry starts acting weird.

11) Break Open The Sky | Explicit | 20372 words

Werewolf AU. Harry might be a werewolf, but he still wants to experience Uni like everyone else. Turns out he learns a lot.

12) Runnin’ Like You Did | Explicit | 20061 words

The college AU where Louis knows how to hold a grudge and is definitely not in love with Harry Styles.

13) UN(RE)SOLVED. | Explicit | 20873 words

The ghoul boys are back, but this time around there are some unresolved feelings involved. Harry is a skeptic, Louis is not. Watch them go on their ongoing investigation into the question: are ghosts real?

14) Hats Off To My Distant Hope | Explicit | 20990 words

Harry is in White Eskimo. Louis is in London.

15) The Way The Storms Blow | Explicit | 20649 words

Louis doesn’t have a habit of thinking about Harry’s dick.

That would be weird, seeing as they’re best mates, and they share a flat, and they’ve spent holidays at each other’s family homes. Their friendship hasn’t ever risen to a point where Louis should want to see his mate’s dick, and he’s happy to keep it that way.

Except, all that Louis can think about is exactly that. The size of it. The shape. The amount of people it’s been in.

Maybe it’s the tequila talking, or the fact that Louis’ just recently walked in to an eyeful of Harry taking turns on some slags that he’s never seen before, but. Louis’ mind can’t stop obsessing over the idea.

16) Love Like Wildfire | Explicit | 21774 words

Louis was an Omega and a Prefect. Harry was an Alpha and a little rascal. They were mates, drawn to each other since they first met in the Hogwarts Express. They worked well like that, or at least they tried, which only made their relationship way more interesting.

17) Indestructible | Explicit | 24423 words

“Hi,” Harry murmurs, and Louis hiccups out a sob.

“Hi,” he manages, still clutching onto Harry’s shoulders. Harry’s fingers drift across Louis’ cheeks, and there’s something off about Harry’s expression, but Louis can’t figure out what it is.

“I’m okay,” Harry says, and Louis is going to say something to that, even if he doesn’t know what, except Harry’s kissing him.

Louis freezes.

18) A Whole New World | Not Rated | 24967 words

Louis has moved into his new apartment to start his new job as a teacher. Things would be great. If only his arsehole neighbour didn't wake him up every morning by playing piano.

19) Another Day Gettin’ Into Trouble | Explicit | 25619 words

Harry’s drunk when the idea occurs to him. He’s also a pop star, so sometimes his drunk ideas turn into actual things instead of just ideas. The clone-a-willy kit is one of them.

In Harry’s defense, when he first thinks about it his intention is just to buy the kit and give it to Louis to make his own dildo with, because that’s what he wants anyway, right? To have a penis filling him up?

Then he realizes that it would be weird if Louis made a copy of his own dick to fuck himself with. It’d be super weird. Louis fucking himself? That’s a weird idea. Harry’s pretty sure Louis wouldn’t like that.

Clearly the only solution here is to use his own dick for the mold.

20) Brooklyn Saw Me | Explicit | 28537 words

In the cold and unforgiving city of New York, Louis doesn't have a home and Harry wants to give him one. But as their heartstrings become increasingly intertwined, and the snow continues to fall, home is getting harder and harder to find.

21) Rivers ‘Til I Reach You | Explicit | 29315 words

AU. Louis studies astronomy; Harry studies Louis. They spend their summers on the water and it shouldn't be complicated (spoiler: it is).

22) If Ignorance Be Bliss | Mature | 30429 words

Uni AU: Harry is too experienced, and Louis just wants to get to experience him.

23) Blind From This Sweet, Sweet Craving | Explicit | 31170 words

"So, I guess we'll go?" Louis asks later, when Harry has calmed down and eaten his weight in Chinese food. He plays with this chopsticks, spearing another piece of chicken and pops it in his mouth. "I mean, I wouldn't mind. We could make it an adventure."

Harry observes him, watches him seated across from him on their old living room carpet, with a container of food on his lap. He's fidgeting, avoiding meeting Harry's gaze–he probably knows that Harry's mad at him for ruining the one chance they had to get out of this situation. And he's not wrong, Harry is definitely very mad. Harry wants to strangle him and castrate him and smack him upside the head.

But he's also Harry's best friend, and despite everything, despite all the fuck-ups and the plot twists and everything just not playing out the way it should, he'd still rather be stuck in this situation with Louis than any of the other boys. He's got Harry's back, and in a weird, abstract way, he knows they'll be able to get out of this situation, together.

Harry sighs. "We're going," he says resignedly, his shoulders slumping.

Oh well. There are definitely worse ways to spend the weekend than pretending to be engaged to his best friend.

24) Welcome Back From The Friend Zone | Mature | 32354 words

The one where an idea to create a fake wedding with the sole intent to receive gifts from billionaires took a turn no one, but also everyone, saw coming.

25) The List | Mature | 32074 words

'In the weeks that follow, Harry opens his old journal more than he has in the past two years each time he remembers Venice or thinks about Louis. He always flips to the same random page in the middle of the book, marked by the picture of himself that Louis sent him a few days after they got home. There’s a message on the back that says, ‘Spontaneous looks good on you! See you soon,’ and it makes Harry’s chest warm each time he reads it. He wedges their list out from between the worn pages, and it feels silly staring down at a folded up piece of paper with a strange sense of nostalgia for experiences they’ve yet to have; for places they’ve never even been.'

26) Mark My Word (We Gon’ Be Alright) | Explicit | 35524 words

An A/B/O AU featuring an oblivious Harry as the pack leader, a pining Louis as his second-in-command, and an entourage of friends and family who are a little too good at keeping their mouths shut.

27) The Sun Will Rise With My Name On Your Lips | Explicit | 37927 words

When Eleanor breaks up with Louis he finds it hard to keep pretending that Harry isn’t what he’s wanted since the day he first met him.

28) Runner On Third | Explicit | 39643 words

Note: The sequel to this fic is not BL.

The AU where Louis and Harry were best friends growing up, but lost touch after Harry moved away. Ten years later, Harry has moved back to town, but he and Louis don't pick up where they left off.

29) My Sweetest Downfall | Mature | 42048 words

Louis is a retired guardian angel. After the death of his last charge, he became jaded. Humans die—what use is prolonging the inevitable?

He's more than happy to forget about humanity altogether until one day, when Louis is pulled from his desk job for a new assignment: protect One Direction's Harry Styles. It doesn't help that there's something about Harry that Louis can't resist, and it's making him question everything he's ever known. Humans are strictly off limits, and breaking that rule means risking everything, but Harry just might be worth it.

This is a story about forgiveness and discovery, featuring an angel who wants to be a little more human and a human who is so much more than he seems.

30) For the Sake of Propriety | Mature | 52360 words

Louis Tomlinson is the caretaker of an estate that is not truly his, and when his Uncle calls upon him to take it back, Louis knows he will soon be out on the streets with four overly zealous sisters to care for. His only solution: wed the eldest two off and pray for the best. When an even better solution unexpectedly presents itself in the form of the charming Mr. Styles, Louis is faced with a difficult choice. But as with all things in the regency era, reputation very well may threaten to outweigh the fleeting matters of his heart.

31) The Bachelor | Explicit | 53953 words

The one where Harry dates six other guys and still falls in love with Louis Tomlinson.

32) We’ve Got the World in Our Hands | Explicit | 54964 words

Note: This fic has been locked and can only be read by AO3 users.

A mutants/superpowers AU. Louis and his friends attend the Cowell Institute for General Education and Mutant Training in London; when Louis meets Harry, the newest student at the Cowell Institute, he immediately recruits Harry to help play matchmaker for his friend Zayn. Harry and Louis are so caught up in meddling in Zayn's love life, though, that they don't notice that their own friendship is progressing into something more. Meanwhile, an ominous threat up north grows slowly until suddenly, no mutant - or human - is safe.

33) Waiting For The Tides To Meet | Explicit | 49873 words

Soulmate AU. Everyone is born with heterochromia — one eye is their own eye colour, while the other is the colour of their soulmate's. It's only when they meet their soulmate for the first time that their own eyes match properly. After a hazy night at a frat party, Louis wakes up to blue eyes and the shocking realization that he had met his soulmate, without any sober recollection. Seven years pass where Louis comes to terms with the fact that he'll never know who his soulmate is. Then one fated summer, a beautiful green-eyed photographer arrives at Louis' workplace, with promises of endless laughter and a familiar feeling in Louis' heart.

34) Since I’ve Found You | Mature | 74005 words

Louis woke up on the morning he was meant to volunteer at the Feed the Homeless program at St. Mary's church hoping for an opportunity to give back a little to a city that has given him everything he could ever want. Little did he know, there was one more great thing waiting there for him; a boy with radiant green eyes in a weathered jacket and a beat-up backpack slung over his shoulders.

35) Saving Symphony Hall | Mature | 124766 words

Note: This fic is a sequel to this fic.

“I think I have an idea,” Louis said. Slowly, and reluctantly, but with a growing sense of the inevitable. “God damnit, I think I have a really good idea.”

“Oh christ, that's the problem-solving face,” Babs said. “Last time we saw that face, he sold a company.”

“Wait, what?” Zayn asked.

“Right place, right time,” Louis said. “Also, fuck my life,”

“What?” Zayn repeated. Niall patted his hand.

“I usually just roll with whatever Louis is about to do,” he said. “It’s better for us all.”

“That’s the attitude,” said Louis, “I’ll tell you tomorrow. Tonight, I need to do some research. Zayn, give me your number. I’m gonna save our symphony.”

36) Falling Into You | Mature | 143517 words

In the grand scheme of adolescence and boyhood, Harry was still working himself out, so far with little luck. But four things he could say for certain: 1) he'd been at the top of his class all through primary and secondary school, 2) he was the shittiest alpha to ever walk the earth, 3) Liam Payne never let him forget it, and 4) he’d been in love with this boy, Louis Tomlinson, ever since he was fifteen years old.

Check out our other fic rec lists by category here and by title here.

#larry #fic recs #friends to lovers #bottom louis #top harry #blp #blp fic recs

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painted-crow · 3 years

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Did you model Bookkeeper Badger or Courtier Badger most of the time ?

In regards to the past tense you're using--it's the Badger primary model I dropped. Which, I've held on to some of its ideals, but they're just another part of my Bird primary system, and that feels very different.

My Badger secondary model is still good and kicking though!

I was just gonna write about how I use it (and how I try not to use it) to answer this ask, but then it turned into

Secondary Toast Revolving Door, Part 3

(Badger model edition)

and I'm just gonna roll with it.

I did have an unhealthy way I used my Badger secondary model that was... either extreme Bookkeeper, or it's actually been unhealthy Lion secondary all along and I've been mis-Sorting it and this is why the idea of using Lion secondary wigs me out a little. (It's fine when other people use it, but I find the prospect of using it myself at least slightly terrifying.)

Part of my problem is that I'm way too used to situations where pushing through despite feeling like I was about to collapse was the only option. It's probably got to do with... well, some childhood stuff I won't go into too deeply. My mom was in the hospital a lot. The school situation I was in just made everything worse. It's complicated.

Anyway, if I'm under stress, I dissociate out exhaustion, hunger, emotional distress, and even physical pain for hours or days at a time, and I can buckle down and hyperfocus on work (in what would be panic mode if I were more aware of my emotions during these periods). It sounds useful and badass but it really isn't.

Downside #1 is that I will eventually feel the effects of that panic, and any other needs I've been ignoring--it might be at a more convenient time, but those effects definitely won't be lessened.

Downside #2 is traumatic burnout. Do not try this at home. (I always hesitate to use the word "trauma" for my experiences, but the physical reaction I get to writing about some of this stuff says otherwise.)

Downside #3 is that I don't get to choose when my brain does or doesn't do this. It just happens when I'm under stress. I can't count how many times I've had an actual migraine and not noticed why I was so irritable for hours, when I could have taken something.

Downside #4 is that it works. This is possibly the worst one, because the phrase "do your best" takes on a cold sweat-inducing new meaning. My little "ability" has led to some absolutely buckwild performances under deadline, none of which I want to repeat, and I'm not sure I like knowing how much I can get done if I prioritize not failing over not burning out.

(On that note, if you thought my Badger primary model was Exploded last year, you should've seen it 3-4 years ago. I remember when this Kitten Witch post first went up, because I was like "...what? wait--")

In short, this is a very shitty superpower and I would like to re-roll.

I'm undecided whether this is a Badger flavored emergency mode, or the only Lion secondary I can recall using. I lean towards Badger because I have this pathological inability to half-ass anything, and it does not go away during emergencies. But it's possible that it felt Badger flavored because my unhealthy Badger primary model was egging it on with its self deprecating (...self dehumanizing?) exploded Badger crap.

So, wanna know how I got into these nasty deadline crunch situations where emergency hardcore Badger mode became "necessary"?

(I feel like I should reiterate my trigger warning on this series about now: we're talking about gifted kid burnout stuff and I'm about to sarcastically skewer some of my old thought processes here.)

Adequately warned? Great! Here are the step by step instructions to a real shitty time!

Take on a bunch of work while you're feeling okay, based on how much you think everyone else is doing.

Depression gets inevitably triggered somehow, by life stress or overwork or winter or whatever. Burn Bird secondary because that's been a stress response at least since high school.

Have absolutely no clue about the fact that your "limits" vary drastically and your productivity has huge peaks and valleys due to various forms of undiagnosed neurodivergence, which school/college is not designed to accommodate. So, rather than taking a rest and sorting out the stressful thing, get mad at yourself for "being lazy"!

Continue trying to work. Struggle wildly with executive dysfunction. Panic. Get frustrated and angry at yourself. It's cool, I'm sure this will make your Bird secondary start working again soon. (just kidding lol it's making it worse)

When you've aggravated your depression enough, shut down for a few months! Your work will still be there. Piling up. Taunting you. you're falling so far behind what are you doing everyone else can keep up except you

Get sick for a week. Feel relieved that at least now you have a legitimate excuse to not be working. This benefit may feel like it outweighs the symptoms of the flu or sinus infection or whatever you have.

Go into emergency hardcore mode, complete a ridiculous workload in the week before deadline, turn it all in, be almost too exhausted to feel guilty about doing everything last minute.

me: "I don't have ADHD! My focus is usually fine."

also me: this. ^ what is this.

So, I avoid that now. If I notice when Step 3 is happening and I can switch tasks--maybe clean my living space, do some laundry, get some good food, take care of tasks unrelated to whatever project it is that I'm too freaked out to work on--then Bird will be back in a week or two, assuming nothing else huge and stressful happens, and I'll have another productivity peak that'll let me catch up.

This is not the conventional wisdom. Conventional wisdom says you must never break momentum, you must schedule your work out 6 weeks ahead so you always know if you're on track, you must...!

Totally counterproductive for me. My brain is weird and did not come with a manual.

These days, on top of my Bird secondary, I model a mixture of Bookkeeper Badger and mirroring (a Courtier skill), for a number of purposes. I find work satisfying, I'm not afraid of long projects (that I choose), and that shifting, empathetic mirroring response is my default social mode.

But Badger's most important job is to gently take over when Bird is stressed out, and give it space to recover while methodically fixing anything about my situation that's not helping. It's good for that.

I prefer it to the alternative, anyway.

#sortinghatchats #secondary toast revolving door #hufflepuff secondary model #burned ravenclaw secondary #shc models #asks #paint speaks

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crabbng · 4 years

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did this on twitter for hana and bon! i’ll put all their answers under the cut, please enjoy <3

HANA:

1. what's their favorite beverage - alcoholic and/or non-alcoholic? hana likes nice, comforting warm drinks like hot chocolate and apple cider, he hasn't really had experience with alcoholic drinks 2. what's their favorite flavor? (spicy, sweet, sour, etc.) umami tbh, some nice hearty savory stew flavors 3. what's their favorite food? BEEF Clapping hands sign STEW Clapping hands sign he also like sweets, pastries and candies and whatnot 4. breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, snacks - which do they look forward to the most? dinner cause he imagines it as a family meal, and also it's the heartiest meal 5. do they have a food or flavor they absolutely hate? bland things like.. boiled green beans.. like.. wet tasteless vegetables.. he is not a fan but who is tbh 6. can they tolerate spicy food? yeah! he likes some good heat in his meals 7. what is their favorite animal? DRAGONS! cause they're cool. also... because baby. 8. what do they wear to bed? boxers or nothing in his own home, in the castle tho he wears like. pj bottoms. 9. what position do they like to sleep in? curled up around a pillow or in a blanket, or flopped on his belly 10. are they a morning person or a night owl? he would like to be a morning person, but he tends to get excited about whatever he's working on and accidentally staying up late, which then makes him sleep in late.. 11. are they a heavy sleeper or do they wake up easily? HEAVY SLEEPER. the boy sleeps like a rock. 12. it's a rainy day, what will they do cooped up inside all day? hana has a WHOLE ROOM of stuff to work on. he tries to get old tech up and running again (with.. limited resources) or to get it to be useful in other ways. 13. do they have a favorite scent or smell? honestly... musty smell of city that was cut off and unused for a thousand years. 14. what do they smell like? do they wear perfume or cologne? a little bit sweaty, a little musty from hanging out in an abandoned city, a little like oil, wood shavings.. he smells like whatever he's been working on. he tries to just smell neutral around other people. 15. baths or showers? BATHS! BUBBLES! RELAX TIME!! taking time just to be hana. nice. 16. how good are they at cooking? it's not gourmet or anything but he can cook a tasty meal. he's worse at baking but he's practicing!! 17. what's their favorite time of year and why? winter!!! pretty snow.. relaxing quiet.. getting to go inside and get all warm and cozy.. nice. 18. do they have a favorite holiday? tbh i dont know what holidays there are in kos world... i oughta think of that.. but anything with people getting together and celebrating together is something he'd like to participate in someday 19. do they prefer buying or receiving gifts? buying!!!! hana loves giving gifts. tbh he doesn't receive a lot of gifts. maybe like.. a jar of jam one time and it made him cry. he kept the jar. 20. how tall are they, and how do they feel about their height? 4' even. he's fine with his height tbh, his insecurities come in when he thinks about what OTHER people think about his height. he definitely recognizes that he looks different than everyone he's been around. 21. can they play any instruments? not really.. he made a guitar once. was NOT good at it. 22. do they have a nice singing voice? NO! cant keep a tune to save his life, but he's the only one (besides baby) who's heard him sing so it really hasn't mattered 23. do they talk to themselves? YES! it could seem like he's talking to baby, but really... she can be asleep or somewhere else and he's just still talking to himself. who else does he have to talk to?! let him live. 24. do they enjoy music? what kind? tbh he probably enjoys "old timey" music he found in the ancient city so like.. synth pop LMAO 25. do they make friends easily? yes! surprisingly, from his popularity in the town. he had a bad first impression whoops. but he's just very charming and sweet and wants to be your friend. 26. surprise birthday party! how do they react? crying. happy crying. but a lot of crying. he won't stop. please stop crying hana. second surprise party would go over better, he'd just cry at the beginning and then have fun at the party. 27. what is their favorite flower, if they have one? hydrangea.. symbolize heartfelt emotions 28. how does your character feel about wearing jewelry? neutral? i like putting him in a lot of jewelry, but it's not something he'd do himself. besides like. his ear and nose piercings (and the other one lol) those are kind of special. he's had those since before he can remember 29. if they wear jewelry, what's their favorite piece? his teal earrings! he was gifted those (one of the like 2 gifts he's received lol) by someone very important to him 30. fashion forward or fashion disaster? fashion neutral? he's definitely not fashionable when he dresses himself (in the clothes he made himself lmao) but he's not like.. offensively disastrous 31. what kind of underwear does your character wear? boxer briefs? for comfort. that's hana's goal picking out his own clothes. comfort. 32. do they wear makeup? what kind? not regularly but he's not against it. he likes looking pretty. he likes eyeliners especially but will sit there and let u put whatever on his face. 33. do they paint their nails? HELL YEAH he paints his toenails since he works with his hands and it'd chip off. after bath nail painting time. paints baby's claws too. 34. are they quick to get haircuts or do they often let it grow out? after his introduction to the townspeople with his hair that had been grown out for years and NOT well taken care of.. he keeps up with haircuts now. he doesn't want to give people reasons to dislike him lmao 35. do they know how to whistle? through the front gap in his fangs yes 36. or how to braid hair? he knows how to braid his own hair for sure. he hasn't had other hair to practice on but he would know how to braid like.. leather cord or stuff for other crafts projects. so i think he'd be good at it. he'd learn like fancy patterns and such 37. are they scared if anything in nature - bugs, snakes, lightning, being on the water, etc.? lightning and storms definitely. he spent his formative years under a mountain, safe from all that, any sort of dangerous weather freaks him out. 38. have they ever thought they were about to die? not that he remembers. but there were times. 39. how do they react to getting sick? a big baby. snuggled up in a thousand blankets with chicken noodle soup and hot teas. 40. are they afraid of blood? not especially? he's been injured before and had to patch himself up. bad injuries tho... lots of blood..... he wouldn't do great with that. 41. how do they earn money? hana builds and repairs stuff for the town mostly in exchange for produce and such. he doesn't really.. have money. 42. are they satisfied with their occupation or long to do something else? he enjoys helping people, so in that way he's satisfied. he'd rather people were more interested in his side job of repairing old tech and making his own tech stuff but... that's not legal. 43. how creative are they? quite creative! he has a number of different crafting hobbies and is always looking for more. he's not great at like.. like if you gave him a paintbrush and were like 'paint' he would just paint whatever was in front of him. not some imagined thing. 44. do they know how to draw? how skilled are they? he's good at like.. accurately drawn schematics? technical drawings. i dont think he would be great at like. portraits tho. like. he could probably draw an accurate face but it'd like completely lifeless. 45. what do they carry around with them during the day (ie in their pockets, a bag, a purse...) 1) a baby 2) his tablet, that's what's with him all the time.. except rn in the story.. when he is without both.. :( 46. do they have a sweet tooth? OH YEAH. he doesn't get a lot of sweets where he is (he's working on learning how to bake them) so he really enjoys good sweets when he gets his hand on them 47. haute cuisine or cheap eats? hana likes good homemade food, i guess cheap eats would be the closer of the two 48. do they know how to swim? HONESTLY.. PROBABLY NOT.. boy has not been around water much 49. do they have any scars? how did they get them? nah! at this point he is more or less scar free. i'm sure he has a few tiny ones from like.. when baby was playing a bit too wildly or something and he got a nasty little scratch but nothing like... big. 50. what kind of handwriting do they have? neat, messy, cursive, MESSY. like a kid who was never really taught how to write. he usually writes on his tablet, which has been taught how to recognize his handwriting and converts it to readable text.

BON:

bon can be hard so on questions where it's not really applicable now (like.. favorite foods and the like), i'll just go with what WOULD have been the case. when he was younger. 1. what's their favorite beverage - alcoholic and/or non-alcoholic? flavored sparkling waters, he likes the bubbles. he likes high alcohol content drinks, so it does its job. 2. what's their favorite flavor? (spicy, sweet, sour, etc.) he likes fresh, citrus-y flavors, whatever category that slots into. 3. what's their favorite food? THE ALL POWERFUL ORANGE, a good orange is a treat for bon 4. breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, snacks - which do they look forward to the most? snacks, cause he can generally eat them alone and not be judged 5. do they have a food or flavor they absolutely hate? puddings and yogurts and stuff like that, soft foods 6. can they tolerate spicy food? a fair amount, but he does have limits (he will not admit it) 7. what is their favorite animal? farm animals, especially working animals, they're nice and usually calm, bon likes that 8. what do they wear to bed? either whatever he's wearing at the time he knocks out or nothin 9. what position do they like to sleep in? huddled in a corner 10. are they a morning person or a night owl? BOTH! he's not a sleeper. if you find him sleeping its because he was probably up the past 3+ days and he just knocked out. 11. are they a heavy sleeper or do they wake up easily? if he's sleeping cause he hadn't slept the past week, he doesn't wake up easily, but if it's a purposeful rest he wakes up to a pin dropping. also re: bon sleeping, he technically can go without sleep indefinitely but he has to go into his lava form to kinda.. refresh his stats so to speak 12. it's a rainy day, what will they do cooped up inside all day? pre-incident: read! study! practice magic. post-incident: think about mortality and stare at a wall 13. do they have a favorite scent or smell? fresh air on a cool day. but he's also nostalgic about the stink smell of a tavern. 14. what do they smell like? do they wear perfume or cologne? ash and smoke. and on special days ;) burnt flesh ;) he doesn't wear perfume or cologne, he just smells weird all the time. 15. baths or showers? showers, a quick spray down and then he's out of the water as quick as possible. 16. how good are they at cooking? QUITE! bon can cook and he can cook good. he's stayed with a lot of families over the years and learned a lot of good tricks and recipes, plus what he learned from when he was growing up and would somewhat regularly cook for himself. 17. what's their favorite time of year and why? summer. he does well in the heat. also the days are longest. bon likes it when it's light out. 18. do they have a favorite holiday? bon doesn't like holidays! cause holidays come with traditions. and traditions come with expectations. and expectations come with punishments. 19. do they prefer buying or receiving gifts? giving, i guess? receiving gifts can come with a price. but it's nice to give a gift and know you expect nothing in return. 20. how tall are they, and how do they feel about their height? bonk is 5'9", he's fine with it 21. can they play any instruments? YES!!! he can play a variety, his favorites are harp and fiddle, though he also can play a mean flute, though that was mostly from his upbringing so he doesn't like it all too much 22. do they have a nice singing voice? YES!!!!! he has a most beautiful voice. he can rouse a room with a good folk song or bring a room to tears with a mournful ballad 23. do they talk to themselves? ahahaha yes. we have already seen this in comic. bon struggles with differentiating between reality and his.. imagination i guess. so. that can often lead to him just talking to himself. 24. do they enjoy music? what kind? yes! bon enjoys all sorts of music, but mostly songs you can sing along to. bar songs, shanties, ballads, he enjoys them all. he like songs that have an emotion to them if that makes sense. 25. do they make friends easily? NO. bon is both unfriendly and untrusting. however. if you are nice to him but once........... he Will die for you. and he will die for any child. loves childs. 26. surprise birthday party! how do they react? POORLY. either confused why people thought it would be a fun idea or angry that he was caught off guard. now... if you do it right..... have the surprise just be like.. a cake waiting at home or something.. a quiet night.. he will appreciate it. he Will die for you. 27. what is their favorite flower, if they have one? daffodil.. rebirth.. eternal life.. unrequited love.. perfect 28. how does your character feel about wearing jewelry? he's not a huge fan tbh. makes him feel like someone's shiny show piece. but he does like an earring or two or three 29. if they wear jewelry, what's their favorite piece? he doesn't wear jewelry regularly :( but he likes earrings! he likes little hoops that go on the top of his big ears 30. fashion forward or fashion disaster? more fashion forward than a disaster. he doesn't dress himself like.. super well.. cause his clothing tends to not last super long, but he knows how to look good 31. what kind of underwear does your character wear? NONE he's flying free 32. do they wear makeup? what kind? again, not any regularly, but will rock a good eyeliner if offered 33. do they paint their nails? no lmao good luck painting his lava nails, he'll melt ur brush, oh god and im sure the smell of burning nail polish is just awful 34. are they quick to get haircuts or do they often let it grow out? he cuts his hair pretty frequently (not well) he cuts like.. parts at a time. like 'hm this section looks a lil long' CHOP~ 35. do they know how to whistle? like a got damn bird 36. or how to braid hair? yes! he is good at this. 37. are they scared if anything in nature - bugs, snakes, lightning, being on the water, etc.? not really? he's had a lot of experience living outdoors so things that may have scared him at one point have been dealt with and most things it's like 'well i cant die so it really doesnt matter', cold and rain it's like 'well ill get real hecked up for a while but.. whatever' 38. have they ever thought they were about to die? YES! quite a few times, though not anymore lmao. one of the first times he ran away from home and nearly starved to death, the... incident, and when he was turned into a basbeo, just to name a few 39. how do they react to getting sick? pretending like he's not. pushing himself too hard until he cannot pretend anymore. nowadays tho.. he just turn into lava man and boom. all better. 40. are they afraid of blood? nah, he's seen plenty of it by this point to just not even register it. not even mostly his own! see this isn't a sad answer. 41. how do they earn money? HE DON'T! what use does a dog have for money u feel me 42. are they satisfied with their occupation or long to do something else? bon was basically a travelling bard at one point and oh boy he longs to go back to those days. his current occupation of 'guy who steals, kidnaps, murders and destroys on command' just isn't fulfilling for him. 43. how creative are they? i'd say pretty creative. he's not really doing anything with it right now, but he's a pretty imaginative guy. 44. do they know how to draw? how skilled are they? i think so! i figure that would be part of his lessons when he was younger. so he's probably.. too good at it. opposite of hana, where he's be good at portraiture and like.. pretty scenes. this also makes me think of little bon running around and putting lil devil horns on his mom's portraits 45. what do they carry around with them during the day (ie in their pockets, a bag, a purse...) doesn't really have.. a lot of things.. in the same vein tho, that jacket he wears, he's had for a while, and it's been through a lot now (i.e. the missing bottom) but. it's something he repairs and takes care of. it's special to him. for reasons. 46. do they have a sweet tooth? not especially, he doesn't like Sugar Sweet stuff, but he does like.. apples n stuff. he'll eat a peach croissant and enjoy it. everything in balance. 47. haute cuisine or cheap eats? cheap eats: more food for less 48. do they know how to swim? yes but he doesn't do it anymore cause he'll get too cold and seize up and lava man will just become a rock. he can use like.. hot tubs and very warm baths. he CAN enjoy those. 49. do they have any scars? how did they get them? well! bon had scars previous to his charred limbs (you'll see them soon) from being burned. because of.. reasons. i never know how depressing to get when talking about bon :( anyways, his charred limbs didn't happen immediately after becoming a basbeo. it basically happens when there's like.. a struggle for control between bon, his elemental, and who or whatever (maighstir, priomh, tera, his cuffs, etc.) is trying to control bon's transformation abilities. like either trying to use more power than he's being allowed, or to resist using it at all. they feel weird and crusty and leathery and warm! so the last one is kind of nice. it is unpleasant to hold his hand. 50. what kind of handwriting do they have? neat, messy, cursive, BOY CAN'T WRITE ANYMORE! he used to have really neat cursive handwriting like.. calligraphy style.

#hana #bonic #kings of sorts #my city now

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tundrainafrica · 4 years

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Hey Secret Santa here!! I would first like to apologize for not sending many messages for a long period of time. I would like to notify you that your gift is being planned and I really like it so far!! I do have a quick question though, how would you describe the relationship between Levi and Hanji?? Hope your having an amazing day ❄️ — Signed by Your Secret Santa

Hello! Thank you for your question and apologies for the long wait. I have some pretty limited Tumblr time now since starting a new job but I still wanted to keep my answers extensive so yeah, I took my sweet time with this.

To answer your question, here are five adjectives I would use to Levi and Hange’s relationship.

1. Balanced: keeping or showing a balance; arranged in good proportions.

The most obvious characteristic of this ship is the fact that these two are complete opposites. Hell, no one needs to be a Levihan fan to see it.

Although they were introduced as clashing characters who couldn’t stand each other in the first season (e.g. Ilse’s notebook, post courtroom scene and the castle scenes), we eventually learn that their opposite personalities do not necessarily clash. In fact these two complement each other, particularly highlighted in Season 3 when the pair were forced to work together, It’s pretty cool when you think about the fact that when they needed to step up, they fit into their roles way too smoothly. It was as if Levi and Hange had this silent understanding about where their skills were most needed and that they both had a specific niche to fill in the whole uprising arc.

You can say that their personalities and quirks were arranged in such good proportions that when faced with struggle, they just fell into their cookie cutter jobs so smoothly.

This isn’t the beautiful part of the relationship though. I would say, the fact that they maintained a strong dynamic in their relationship even while striking a safe balance is what makes it such a delectable dessert in the midst of the torturous spicy food buffet that is Attack on Titan.

Which brings me to the next adjective.

2. Dynamic: characterized by constant change, activity, or progress or positive in attitude and full of energy and new ideas.

Balanced and Dynamic are contradicting adjectives. Physics wise, when something is balanced, it doesn’t accelerate and consequently it doesn’t progress. In fact, stationary objects are the results of forces being balanced.

I mean yeah, it’s hard to explain without explaining calculus but this is a relationship not math class and Relationships are complex things that transcend science and some philosophers have actually described relationships to be constant power struggles between both parties trying to achieve dominance until the relationship ends or someone dies.

Levi and Hange at both ends of their spectrum are dynamic human beings. You have a clean freak and you have a titan freak. You have the crazy woman who can go a week without bathing, is constantly loud and curious about the world and you have the crazy man who obsessively cleans everything, can barely express his emotions and gets so much happiness from small things like tea. You have two powerful and dynamic people, at a point in their life where they are constantly growing, faced with mortal danger and mysteries everyday. Their relationships have become a safe, stable and balanced spot for both of them yet while they are completely comfortable, their dynamic attitudes still continue to clash, and they find themselves growing in ways they would have never experienced in the battle field. They balance each other out yet, they are still in a position to still learn about each other. They balance each other out but they still progress as characters together when faced with conflict together.

Hange and Levi are constantly in a power struggle but their struggle flows smoother than most couples because they have both mastered the art of figuring out when to give in for the other. (e.g. the bathing, the cleaning, the experimenting on Eren, the torturing, come on, they’re still really close even if their personalities drive the other crazy, you need mad conflict resolution skills and mind reading skills to make all this shit work while working together to fight a war.)

3. Powerful: having great power or strength.

They're a power couple. You have literally one of the only two characters with 11/10 stats, Hange for brains, Levi for brawns. Their skills complement and I'm pretty sure you drop them in life threatening situations and 99% of the time they'll find a way to survive, through strategy, sheer will or both.

4. Subtle: delicately complex and understated, arranged in an ingenious and elaborate way.

I have gushed about the subtleness of the relationship multiple times already but yes, let us gush once again. There are no “I love you’s.” There are no kisses so if there is any romance between them, it is definitely considered understated. We do have the elaborate web of a blooming relationship in interactions such as “dedicate your heart” and “why don’t we just live together.” We see it in the “there’s an abnormal titan right here.”

These are small things we can argue are just playful banter but if anyone does look closely, this playful banter, this set of interactions overall, only exist between both of them. Levi has only been playfully touchy with Hange. Hange has only ever been meta about her emotions and her relationship with Levi. Come on, like literally just imagine Hange and Levi’s interactions when they find out the other is danger, they subtly freak out.

The hints are small but there are just too many of them and they were so carefully weaved so well into the story that no one really considered their interactions to be unnatural or OOC, even for non Levihan fans.

5. Steadfast: resolutely or dutifully firm and unwavering.

Levi and Hange literally experienced everything together since they met in the survey corps. They must have gone through some major conflict resolution challenges to see past their own personal pet peeves about each other and to be able to work together.

Hange picking Levi over her post as commander when it became a question of life and death for Levi, is the culmination, and is the largest representation of how steadfast their relationship actually is and has only proved the lengths Hange would go for someone. Like Levi set the bar for how crazy Hange can be for an actual human being (not a titan.) The relationship must be pretty strong for Hange or Levi to break whatever duty they have since we all know both of them really respect Erwin. Levi and Hange have both considered abandoning post for each other at different points of their life.

This steadfastness of the relationship could be seen as a culmination of everything else. The balanced struggle for power between too powerful beings, the subtleness of the relationship which only helped the relationship grow both slowly and naturally is what built it to be such a steadfast relationship, and naturally such a complex relationship to appreciate.

#levihan #levi ackerman #hange zoe #levi x hange #good night will answer the other asks tomorrow #so sleepy #sorry for not making sense

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terresdebrume · 5 years

Text

The Witcher - Favorite Reads Masterpost

So, the previous one was getting really super long and Tumblr refused to save the latest update three times, which I’m taking to mean I’ve reached some kind of length limit. In view of that, and with a poke to @nyliekeo who asked to be tagged, here’s the second volume of my Witcher fic-reading adventures!

(Pretty much all Geraskier, because I’m only a multishipper in the sense that I have many ships across many fandoms.)

Volume 1

Last updated: April 10th, 2020.

Non geraskier fic

Her Current Is Pulling You Closer - TheMarvellousMadMadamMim

Specs: 1 900 words - Teen & Up Audiences - Eist/Calanthe - Swimming, shameless flirting

Summary: After nearly three years of marriage, Eist Tuirseach realizes there are still things to learn about his wife.

Becoming Water - Orockthro

Specs: 3 456 words - Mature - Trans woman!Geralt, curses, happy ending

Summary: When Geralt was a child his mother kissed his forehead, wove flowers in his hair, and let him dance around the campsite they shared with the other druids. He loved dancing, the way his body moved and flowed; he was like water.

And then she left him in the road, spilled water on his feet, and a faint trail of dust where she and the cart were no longer. And a man came and took Geralt and made him into something new.

“Were you short? Waifish? Did those witcher mutagens turn you into, you know, the hulking sexy man that you are? At least they gave you such male perfection, what with the stubble and the jaw and the--”

“Shut up, Jaskier.”

(Or, Geralt is cursed with a female body during their travels. Only it's not so much a curse as a gift she didn't know she so desperately desired until now.)

of cockroaches and men - Potrix

Specs: 1 442 words - Teen & Up Audiences - Yennefer & Jaskier, Getting to know each other, BAMF Jaskier

Summary: As if being stuck waiting for her supplier in this sorry excuse for a town full of narrow-minded, superstitious simpletons isn't already frustrating enough, the first familiar face Yennefer spots when she walks into the grubby tavern is that of her least favourite bard.

Or, alternatively; sometimes you misjudge people, but there's nothing some badassery and booze won't fix.

all cooped up - alittlebitmaybe

Specs: 4 205 words - Mature - Polyamory, Pandemic 2020, Non-explicit sex, instigator Yen

Summary: Geralt's old university roommate, Jaskier, needs a place to ride out the pandemic. Geralt and Yennefer conveniently have a couch and Geralt, inconveniently, has a crush.

Cover it over and write it out - TheArcheologist

Specs: 3 214 words - Mature - Dyslexia, implied child abuse, Dandelion is a noble

Summary: There is something Geralt has noticed, after traveling so long with Jaskier. It is nothing major, nothing world ending or even warranting bringing up, but it is there, nonetheless, a funny little habit he can’t unsee.

“You’re better at this stuff than me, Geralt, you read it.”

Geraskier fics

pride - Besully (Briar_Elwood)

Specs: 737 words - Teen & Up - Trans Jaskier

Summary: Geraskier Week Dealer's Choice

He only manages to get the shirt untucked from the bard’s trousers when Jaskier’s smile disappears, and he scrambles backwards, holding the edges of his shirt down.

Do It Again - thisgirlsays22

Specs: 6 771 words - Explicit - Time Loop

Summary: By the twentieth time Geralt has gone through the loop, he decides to just throw himself off the cliff’s edge after Borch.

He wakes up to his twenty-first attempt.

“Fuck.”

Interlude; The End of All Things - TabbyCat33098

Specs: 3 496 words - General Audiences - Growing Old Together

Summary: Geralt realizes Jaskier is growing old and tries his best to return the rest of Jaskier's life to him. If only Jaskier would cooperate and take it.

How much longer will Jaskier be content with weathering the elements and contending with the uncertainty of mercenary work? How long until Jaskier realizes that in devoting himself to crafting a legacy for Geralt, he has forgotten to create a legacy of his own?

After all, he does not have a wife or children, for their nomadic lifestyle is conducive to neither. He has no home to return to between stints with Geralt, whether a sprawling mansion vaunting his wealth or a comfortable cottage replete with souvenirs from his varied exploits. How many experiences has Jaskier sacrificed because some contract or irate nobleman drew them elsewhere? How many untouched fields of snow has Jaskier never seen; how many harvests at Novigrad has he yearned to celebrate from halfway across the Continent—

“You’re staring,” Jaskier points out.

“You wanted to go to the Kovirian coast,” Geralt responds.

a tapestry of scars - splendidlyimperfect

Specs: 7 688 words - Mature - Modern AU, Birpolar disorder, self harm, references to previous suicide attempt and car accident.

Summary: Jaskier comes into Geralt's life on a sunny afternoon in May - wide smiles and baby blue eyes; breathtaking stories and half-written song lyrics. He's mesmerizing and full of life, and Geralt can't look away. But sunshine doesn't last forever, and when Jaskier disappears, Geralt learns that beautiful things have dark and broken pieces, and even damaged people can help fix them.

Summer Mornings - The UnamazingTrashKing

Specs: 3 241 words - Mature - Fluff

Summary: Geralt and Jaskier are sort of a couple. They definitely wake up together and talk about spending the rest of their lives together.

An Incomplete Happiness - BlossomsintheMist

Specs: 22 497 words - Mature - Serious injuries, injuries recovery, unresolved sexual tension, unresolved romantic tension

Summary: Jaskier is traveling with Geralt when a hunt goes badly wrong and Geralt ends up injured. Geralt soon realizes that the bard can take care of Geralt better than he'd realized, in his own way.

Hide Behind The Mound of Dead Bards - Bones (Doctorbones)

Specs: 17 296 words - Explicit - Temporary character death, Graphic depiction of violence

Summary: Jaskier is really bad at two things: shutting up and staying dead. Luckily, he can do both at the same time...for a while.

faith in transience - unconscious

Specs: 12 532 words - Explicit - Monster of the week, Service top Jaskier, attempted mind control.

Summary: “I learn stuff about you to enrich my songs, thanks very much.” Geralt starts.

“Like what?”

Jaskier strums a chord. “Plenty of things. You always ask the contractor if they want the head or not instead of just showing up with it, because you don’t want to shock people. You eat normal amounts of food when eating in public, instead of your usual awe-inducing giant amount. You sleep more when you’re hurt, but that’s the only way I’d ever know. You’re a bit weird about your potions and you count them a lot.” He glances up and grins. “Shall I continue?”

A handful of contracts go sideways. Recovering is easier with Jaskier there.

when midnight breaks their sleep - SummerFrost

Specs: 16 736 words - Mature - Modern setting, polyamory, polyamory negociation

Summary: The first Snapchat that anyone ever sends Geralt is a picture of his own irritated face.

shrike_princess: can u believe this dumbass finally got a snapchat bc a cute boy asked him nicely

"It wasn't even that nicely," Geralt says flatly.

AKA: The one where Geralt is a bartender and Jaskier sings karaoke.

he, who i love - kinneyb

Specs: 1 279 words - Teen & Up Audiences - Established relationship

Summary: Jaskier looked forward to these nights the most; he was playing in a rundown tavern in a small town near the coast, coins gathered at his feet, knowing that at any moment Geralt would come bursting through the door.

He spun on his heels, strumming his lute with nimble fingers, the mark of a practiced player.

Jaskier had thought he’d reached his peak when he was younger. He had been proven wrong, of course, practice truly did make perfect. He was getting more attention than ever, and only half of it probably had to do with his new songs, all depicting the Witcher’s love story with a bard of the human variety.

He never directly mentioned himself, but the people had made the connection fairly easily, anyway.

Near the Coast - IantoPace

Specs: 2 164 words - Teen & Up Audiences - Dresses

Summary: Geralt finds out some of the feminine things Jaskier likes. This is inspired by the images of Joey Batey & Madeleine Hyland in the woods wearing each other's clothes.

Shoot First, Ask Questions Later - Ladivviniatravestia

Specs: 3 427 words - Teen & Up Audiences - Defining the relationship

Summary: Geralt and Jaskier fuck, then try to define their relationship. Too bad Geralt has no idea what he really wants and Jaskier has been hiding something.

parry, riposte - plutoandpersephone

Specs: 5 230 words - Explicit - Established relationship, competence kink, power dynamics

Summary: "How about it?"

Geralt looks at Jaskier like he’s just started to speak in some long lost, foreign tongue.

"You want to take me on in the sword ring?"

Jaskier challenges Geralt to a bout in the fencing ring. They both get more than they bargained for.

The Coast - NinjaSniperKitty

Specs: 1 856 words - General Audiences - Established relationship, overly protective boyfriend!Geralt

Summary: Geralt takes Jaskier up on his offer to get away and go to the coast for a while. While Geralt sees danger hiding everywhere along the coast, Jaskier hasn't been to the sea in years and only sees a good time!

Sweet, Silky, Soft, and Shiny - Girl_in_Red_Crossing

Specs: 3 251 words - Mature - Inappropriate use of candy

Summary: Just a couple of bros, sucking on sweet things... sharing silky things... lying in soft beds together... (kissing)...

The Witcher Wolf 2: Geralt’s POV - im_fairly_witty.

Specs: 15 338 words - Teen & Up Audiences - Animal transformation

Summary: It's been two weeks since Geralt drove Jaskier away from him on that mountain top and Geralt's been doing his best not to think about it by accepting every contract he comes across. But when a job goes badly he find himself cursed into the form of an injured wolf and is then saved by none other than Jaskier himself, who has no idea that the animal he's taken under his wing is his own witcher. Geralt must now try to alert Jaskier to his real situation and adjust to his new life traveling with the bard, learning several hard but very much needed lessons along the way.

Shadowplay - sospes

Specs: 26 539 words - Mature - BAMF!Jaskier, Espionnage

Summary: Geralt returns to Oxenfurt on a bright May morning to find flowers laid outside Jaskier's rooms and a fresh grave in the cemetery.

Except, as Geralt is about to learn, in Jaskier's world things are never quite what they seem.

An Old Man’s Tale - NotebooksandLaptops

Specs: 1 448 words - General Audiences - External POV, Old age

Summary: At the edge of the village, in a house surrounded by wild-flowers and weeds - re-built from its former crumbling foundations – there lived the Old Man. He’d earnt the rights for the capital O, capital M off of the rest of the villagers barely a week after he’d moved into their humble world. For he had not grown up here, like everyone else did. Yet he settled and settled as if he had always been there. He wandered the cliffsides, the beaches, the streets. He strung shells together and gifted them to the ladies of the village with a wink that betrayed the charming young man he once must have been. He bought the little ceramic pots Alicja sold on the market, and he filled them with weeds as if the weeds were flowers worth showcasing. And – most importantly – he sang.

-///-

Or, Jaskier settles in a costal village towards the end of his life.

For The Joy Of It - vvitchering (Witchering)

Specs: 848 words - Teen & Up Audiences - self esteem issues, body image

Summary: After spending years on The Path together, Jaskier and Geralt finally settle down. Jaskier notices one day that his new sedentary lifestyle has changed him in ways he fears Geralt won't accept.

The Silence Between Heartbeats - anarchycox

Specs: 7 969 words - Teen & Up Audiences - Jskier knows Geralt better than anyone

Summary: Geralt faced off with a sorceress, only instead of her magic killing him, it stole his voice. But this should be an easy fix, he knew many women who could heal this. But that would mean anyone noticing something wrong. He knew he was quiet, but seriously, did no one wonder why he wasn't saying a single thing? Months he traveled silent, no one noticing and it was driving him mad.

Until he runs into Jaskier, who notices immediately that something is wrong.Because of course it is Jaskier.

Who else in the end would it be, who properly saw the White Wolf?

tailored - jeannie_tangerine

Specs: 4 874 words - Explicit - Geralt has a kink and Jaskier is absolutely into it.

Summary: in which Jaskier finds out that Geralt has a kink and is more than glad to indulge it.

oh darling please be mine - kickassfu

Specs: 749 words - General Audiences - Introspective, fluff

Summary: Geralt’s head turns to him just as he’s jumping into his arms. Obviously, he catches Jaskier, in his very strong, very big arms. Still probably processing what’s happening, Geralt’s body is tense, unmoving. Jaskier doesn’t care.

New Monsters Stories - Kathkin

Specs: 20 209 words - Explicit - Urban fantasy, mutual pining

Summary: “So do you have a name?”

“Yeah.” The man who had saved his life less than an hour ago – the white-haired, absurdly buff, weirdly sexy man Jaskier might have called taciturn if he was feeling charitable and surly if he was feeling less so – dug into his second burger.

Jaskier waited. “Are… you going to tell me what it is?”

The man paused mid-bite, and looked at him reproachfully as if to say how dare you. How dare you interrupt me. Can’t you see I’m enjoying my cheeseburger. Can’t you see this cheeseburger is the most important thing in my life right at the moment. He swallowed, and said, “Geralt.”

It turns out almost getting eaten by a werewolf can make your whole life go careening off in a new, terrifying, wondrous, artistically flourishing direction. Who knew?

Professor Pankratz - martistarfighter

Specs: 1 147 words - Teen & Up Audiences - Established relationship

Sumary: “Come teach my class with me tomorrow.” He whispers in the witcher’s ear. He’s sporting a neatly trimmed beard these days, and it tickles Geralt’s neck in the most tempting way.

Geralt chuckles dryly, but the lack of an immediate quip tells him that Jaskier is serious. It’s a little scary how often they can read their minds by now.

“Don’t think so. You’re the teacher, Jask. I’ve got nothing to tell them.”

“But you’re the reason I’m still alive and teaching in the first place. Besides, you can just sit there, look pretty and answer some questions. My students have heard a lot about you, they’ll adore you.”

As someone pointed out, there's too much 'witcher watching out for his idiot' and not enough 'the witcher is a himbo who loves his college educated bard husband, who is qualified to teach' content out there. So I'm fixing it with a self-indulgent ficlet!

and i plan to be forgotten when i’m gone (yes, i’ll be leaving in the fall) - Stockholm_Syndrome

Specs: 18 083 words - Mature - Discussion of assisted suicide, discussion of suicide, depression, curse, no MCD

Summary: “That was more emotional than I expected.” He finally said “I didn’t think I’d have time to share this with you, and I.” Jaskier interrupted himself, as if unsure if he should continue. “I suppose I didn’t think it would upset you so.”

“Jaskier” Geralt growled, not able to express how ludicrous that idea was.

“Yes, I suppose I was wrong there.” Jaskier replied with a helpless shrug.

---- Or, Jaskier is cursed to turn into a monster. He doesn't think this is important information to mention.

Chopsticks - thisgirlsays22

Specs: 12 175 words - Explicit - Piano teacher!Jaskier, friends to lovers, modern setting

Summary: “Yennefer sent me a check for eight lessons for you,” Jaskier said the following weekend, wearing a beige button-down with--

“Does your shirt have owls on it?” Geralt asked, caught somewhere between amusement and horror.

Jaskier looked down and tugged on the front of his shirt as if he had to remind himself what was on it. He beamed at Geralt. “Yeah! Do you like it?”

“Not particularly.”

The smile swiftly disappeared.

“It’s not terrible,” he amended, stepping back to let Jaskier inside the apartment. Then Jaskier’s initial words sank in. “Wait. Yen did what?”

Hanging up on Yennefer was always a mistake.

what’s in a (pet) name? - janie_tangerine

Specs: 1 415 words - Teen & Up Audiences - Fluff, pet names

Summary: "So," he clears his throat one evening, having just rinsed Geralt's now clean, soft white hair, and damn how he wishes the man would just take care of it somewhat decently, "I was wondering."

"What?" Geralt says after he doesn't go on for a bit. It didn't sound particularly annoyed. Right on.

"This is a very broad question, but I was just curious, no need to answer if you don't want to -" Jaskier starts, having learned that giving the man a way out is always a good bet.

"Just get on with it, won't you?"

Jaskier clears his throat, leans down, puts his elbows on the rim of the tub. "How do you feel about pet names?"

Or: in which Jaskier has a question for Geralt. It doesn't get answered the way he had assumed.

As Long As You Were Mine For A Little While - whisperedstories

Specs: 12 815 words - Explicit - Friends with benefits, mutual pining

Summary: It starts with Jaskier offering a helping hand when Geralt needs to let off some steam. The thing is, Jaskier likes taking care of Geralt—however he can—and Geralt lets him, so he just keeps doing it.

And as long as they never talk about how he's in love with Geralt, they're both happy with the arrangement, right? Right.

Of Debt and Debtors - sp_oops

Specs: 5 136 words - Explicit - Semi-public sex

Summary: Two bros, chillin' in a ta-vern, five feet apart ‘cause they—fuck, they really missed each other, not that Geralt will ever admit it—and anyway, in a minute here, they're gonna have to get closer than they ever thought possible. (Or, sometime after Episode 6, they meet again, Jaskier’s in trouble again, and Geralt saves them. Again.)

This One I Shall Choose - DorkMagician

Specs: 3 751 words - Teen & Up Audiences - Quiet pining, the exact moment Geralt falls in love

Summary: Geralt falls in the river fishing for a djinn and winds up soaked. Jaskier sees the opportunity to do as his mother told him a long time ago and takes the first step when he offers Geralt his handkerchief.

Skin Deep - Sospes

Specs: 8 935 words- Teen & Up Audiences - Fluff, getting together, non consensual tattooing, implied/referenced rape, implied/referenced childhood abuse

Summary: “What’s that?” Geralt asks.

Jaskier blinks. “It’s a tattoo,” he says. “Have you never seen a tattoo before, Geralt?”

Geralt fights the urge to roll his eyes. “I know it’s a tattoo,” he says. “What’s it a tattoo of?”

They say there are 5 ways to show your love (and I don’t know any of them) - Mayathelittlebee

Specs: 5 989 words - Teen & Up Audiences - Fluff, humor

Summary: May be if Geralt stopped being so dramatic for a moment he'd finally realize that loving Jaskier is not as hard as he thinks.

I don’t mind if I’m with you - janie_tangerine

Specs: 11 152 words - Explicit - In which Jaskier has to quelle his murder instincts concerning how much Geralt’s life sucks

Summary: or: five times plus one in which Jaskier finds out that Geralt is missing on good life experiences and promptly sees to fix it.

Fill Me Up - Mysticmajestic

Specs: 402 words - Teen & Up Audiences - Romance

Summary: Geralt only knows how to give, and give, until he's empty. What is he to do with Jaskier, who only wants to give back to him?

Little Things - QueenForADay

Specs: 3 315 words - General Audiences - Domestic fluff, Ciri ships it

Summary: In the first few months of knowing the Witcher, he experienced first-hand how shut-off Geralt could be with the world around him and those within it.

At some point, and he can’t pinpoint where, that shroud started to slip away. He saw how much Geralt could, and does, actually care. It’s as fierce as the way he fights.

They spend a great deal of time watching each other; when they finally fell into a bed together, they spent most of their nights learning what the other liked, mapping the plains of skin and muscle underneath the other.

But it’s the other things, the little things, that Jaskier thinks about the most.

O, Empathy - almostnectarine

Specs: 32 624 words - Mature - Body swap, friends to lovers, questfic

Summary: “How did you manage,” asked Geralt, with infinite patience and only a desire to know the facts, and not at all a little meanhearted glee, “to insult a sorcerer while his tongue was down your throat?”

“Don’t make me recount the entire sordid affair, Geralt,” said Jaskier, with a surprising note of desperation breaking through his gruff monotone. “I’m already having a rather shit day and all I’ve done so far is wake up.”

“In my body,” said Geralt.

“Yes,” said Jaskier, with the insolent cadence that was unmistakably Jaskier’s, but in Geralt’s voice, emerging from Geralt’s face and frame.

“And I’ve got yours,” said Geralt, from Jaskier’s.

and for that love to be with men - sebviathan

Specs: 6 734 words -Mature - Emotional constipation, self discovery, self acceptance, geralt is a whole ass gay man who doesn’t know what being gay is

Summary: Something's not right about what I'm doing but I'm still doing it—living in the worst parts, ruining myself. My inner life is a sheet of black glass. If I fell through the floor I would keep falling.

The enormity of Geralt's desire disgusts him.

at last, at last, at last, oh I thought you’d never ask - elegantwings

Specs: 15 040 words - Explicit - Arranged marriage, slow burn, trans!Jaskier, in this house we love Yennefer of Vengerberg

Summary: Geralt is given firm instructions from Vesemir: He is to get married to a Redanian noblewoman in the hopes of improving relations between witchers and the rest of the world. Once the ceremony is over, he plans to drop his new spouse off at their new home and carry on with his life as he always has. Little does he know, his future wife is not a woman, and not so easily left behind. He's not really sure he'd like to get rid of Jaskier, either. Over the next several years, they learn to navigate their new relationship, first while Jaskier completes his degree, and then when Jaskier insists on accompanying him on the road. And no matter what anyone else has to say about it, Geralt is absolutely not in love with his husband.

it’s what my heart just yearns to say - chasing_the_sterek

Specs: 1 071 words - Teen & Up - Slice of life, Jaskier: what if I found a way to make Geralt admit when he needs things

Summary: "If you could have one blessing," Jaskier says, eyes lit green by the fire between them, "What would it be?"

Geralt looks at him. The whetstone is smooth and friction-warm in his palm, edges rounded from use. It's been with him for a long time: almost four years.

Jaskier has been with him for even longer, but he's never done this. Geralt squints at him, but only thing different to this morning is the yellow firelight changing the colour his eyes appear.

"What," he says.

not a goodbye, a thank you - Potrix

Specs: 2 915 words - Mature - Graphic depiction of illness, near death experience, talk about death, found family

Summary: Somewhere further in the courtyard, Lambert yells out a colourful curse while Ciri cackles maniacally. Eskel is taunting the former through his laughter, and Vesemir’s voice joins in with barked commands and corrections once the clang of steel against steel continues. Somewhere above them, on one of the balconies overlooking the yard, Geralt can hear the scratch of quill against parchment as Yennefer works on her correspondence, interrupted every now and again by the tapping of nails against an inkpot.

He realises what’s wrong an instant before everyone else grows suddenly, eerily still; Jaskier is quiet.

After Summers of Fasting (I Feel Hunger At Last) - Artemis_Unbound

Specs: 3 793 words - Teen & Up Audiences - A six pack you can see is not a good thing, Jaskier tricks Geralt into Not Being Starving anymore, Love confessions

Summary: Defined six-pack abs are a sign that someone has been starving and dehydrating themselves, not a sign of incredible strength. It's just not healthy.

Jaskier sees Geralt shirtless for the first time, sees all that defined musculature, and is Horrified. He's slept with enough warriors and soldiers to know what that means. And he decides, this stops now.

Tunes Without Words - foxy_mulder

Specs: 22 021 words - Mature - Self-esteem issues, past abuse, miscommunications, misunderstandings

Summary: The plan is this:

He will note all the things that annoy Geralt, and he will stop doing them, and then Geralt will want him around. It will work.

It has to work, because Jaskier cannot be left behind.

The Path Not Taken - sospes

Specs: 40 149 words - Mature - Extraordinarily bad misunderstanding, Idiots in love, Explicit sexual content

Summary: Jaskier comes across an injured witcher in a backwoods town, months after the events of the dragon hunt. It all just sort of escalates from there.

#The Witcher #Geraskier #Geralt of Rivia #Jaskier #My Posts #Witcher Fic #Fic Rec #Masterpost #100n #150n #200n

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drdln3-blog · 3 years

Text

The Secret to Happy Life

Here is a list of 15 essentials a person should strive to achieve happiness:

1. GOOD HEALTH - First and foremost is GOOD HEALTH. So take care of Physical and Mental Health problems. If you do not enjoy good health you cannot be happy. Any ailment, however trivial, will deduct from your happiness and make it harder to be happy. While it’s not always possible to “cure” everything, address your physical and emotional needs as best as possible. Some people allow themselves to have lingering pains, or struggles with depression. Take the steps to address it. It will change your entire experience of the world.

2. A HEALTHY BANK BALANCE - Money cannot buy happiness is true and every billionaire is not happy. However, poverty is stressful; and if you can pay for the basics comfortably - it will remove a lot of that stress from your life. You don’t have to be wealthy, but some amount of financial comfort will prevent the worries about the basics of everyday life. It need not run into millions but should be enough to provide for creature comforts and something to spare for recreation, like eating out, going to the pictures, travelling or going on holidays on the hills or by the sea. So have a few bucks in the bank. Shortage of money can be demoralizing. Living on credit or borrowing is demeaning and lowers one in one's own eyes.

3. A HOME OF YOUR OWN - Rented premises can never give you the snug feeling of a nest which is yours for keeps that a home provides; if it has a garden space, all the better. Plant your own trees and flowers, see them grow and blossom, cultivate a sense of kinship with them. "God is not found on mountain tops. He lives in cozy homes and within you."

4. AN UNDERSTANDING COMPANION - Be it your spouse or a friend. If there are too many misunderstandings, they will rob you of your peace of mind. Don’t settle in who you marry. Marriage is the single biggest decision you make, so be picky and marry the right person for you. Don’t rush in because you think it’s “time” or you feel “pressure.” Marry someone you are excited about, who makes you feel amazing, and who is good to you down to their last breath. Don’t compromise or settle on this one - it makes a large part of the mood of your home every single day…why not make it great! It is better to be single than to bicker all the time. Choose your friends and people around you carefully - they will have an effect on your mind and soul.

5. LACK OF ENVY - Stop comparing with those who have done better than you in life; risen higher, made more money, or earned more fame. Envy can be very corroding; avoid comparing yourself with others. You will become vain and bitter. Because there will always be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Being happy in your own skin is one of the biggest keys to happiness. A lot of unhappiness comes from people believing that they are “less than” because of images they see or messages they ingest. You can be so much happier going all-in on you.

6. BE OKAY WITH BAD DAYS - Part of living a happy life, is realizing that you won’t be happy 24/7, and being fine with it. You’ll have times of grief, and times of irritation, and times of stress or anxiety…and that’s fine. Accepting that you’re a human with a range of emotions, and seeing every day as a new day, is part of what makes you happy. Self-acceptance of just being human and not too hard on you is massive. “Life isn't burger king. You can't always have it your way.” “Life is a circle of happiness, sadness, hard times, and good times. If you are going through hard times have faith that good times are on the way. The higher the aim, the more struggles.”

7. DO NOT ALLOW OTHER PEOPLE - to descend on you for gossip and bad mouthing about others. By the time you get rid of them, you will feel exhausted and poisoned by their gossip-mongering. Always remember: "Intelligent people talk about ideas. Average people talk about things. Small people talk about other people. And fools argue."

8. CULTIVATE SOME HOBBIES – that can bring you a sense of fulfilment, such as gardening, reading, writing, painting, playing or listening to music. Do more things you like! This sounds silly, but there are people who say they used to love painting, but haven’t done it in 10 years! Why? Life gets so busy that the first things we cut are sometimes hobbies - we don’t see them as “essential” or “important,” but they absolutely are when we’re talking about happiness. Make time for things you truly enjoy - it makes life more enjoyable. Going to clubs or parties to get free drinks or to meet celebrities is temporary fun and waste of time.

9. SEEK OUT THE GOOD – Your mindset and mood are often influenced by what you feed it. This is true of people you surround yourself with, and even the media you ingest. Limit toxic people. Limit toxic headlines/news media, and seek to spend more time/energy with the good. Choose your friends and people around you carefully - they will have an effect on your mind and soul. “A good life is a collection of happy moments. Be happy for this moment this moment is your life.”

10. HELP OTHERS - If you want to be happy, there is a lot of joy in helping others. Some of what makes life wonderful is feeling useful, helping another without expecting return, and being reminded of your own good fortune (gratitude)…even if that is driving a friend to a doctor’s appointment, or helping a neighbor carry her groceries. Making the world a better place makes you feel better too.

11. LIVE IN THE PRESENT - Today is a new day, and some people have pasts that are incredibly hard. Live in the present, not in the past…or you’ll be stuck there and miss the great stuff of today. “Yesterday is a history, tomorrow is a mystery, and today is a gift that is why we call it present.” Live each day as it was your last. Tomorrow is not promised." “Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass. It's about learning to dance in the rain.”

12. MOVE YOUR BODY - Being able to move your body a bit will keep you happy. There are seniors doing shows where they dance, and young kids running in the yard. You don’t have to be an Olympian to move…just even going for a walk every day, or doing some stretches. Your brain has a way of responding to movement that makes people feel happier. “Life is like riding a bicycle, if you don’t move you fall.”

13. HAVE NEW EXPERIENCES – Doing something new doesn’t have to be traveling to a distant land - maybe it’s just trying your hand at baking a pie, eating a new type of food you’ve never had, fixing something around the house you never did before, taking a new route for walk, or visiting a small town nearby you’ve never been to. New experiences give us things to look forward to, things to talk about, and bring back some of the curiosity of being a child.

14. LOVE IN YOUR LIFE - If you have a person who truly loves you in this world, and accepts you for exactly who you are - it will help contribute to your sense of happiness. Even having a pet that loves you can also help this. Love is powerful, and while it isn’t everything, it makes the bad times easier to bear. Being loved, and loving another brings many people great satisfaction and joy.

15. INTROSPECTION - Every morning and evening, devote 15 minutes to INTROSPECTION. In the morning, 10 minutes should be spent on stilling the mind doing meditation and breathing, and then five in listing things you have to do that day. In the evening or before sleeping, 10 minutes to still the mind again, and five to go over what you had undertaken to do.

Here’re some quotes for you to enjoy!

“Your career, your spouse, and your children are like a three-legged stool of Happiness. The stronger the legs the better is the stability.”

“A good life is a collection of happy moments. Be happy for this moment this moment is your life.”

“Our attitude defines life:

Life is best for those, who just want to live it.

Life is difficult for those, who want to analyze it.

Life is worst for those, who want to criticize it.”

“One of the greatest blessings in the world is to be able to be happy even when things in life are not going the way we planned.”

“Don't wait for the perfect moment, take the moment and make it perfect. And be happy for this moment; this moment is your life.”

“Never blame any day in your life. Good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience, and the worst days give you a lesson.”

About the Author: Dr. Sukhraj S. Dhillon is an eminent Scientist with numerous research publications in life sciences who studied at Yale University and served as a Professor at University in North Carolina. He has written more than a dozen books on topics of Health, Aging, Vegetarianism, Weight control, Stress-free living, Meditation, Yoga, Power of Now, Spirituality, Soul, God, Science, and Religion. His articles and books are a pointer to his line of thinking including current publication. He has been the President, Chairman of the board, and life-trustee of a non-profit religious organization and has expressed his views in the congregation and at international seminars.

Reference: “Health, Happiness and Longevity” available from popular booksellers throughout the world including Amazon Kindle and Barnes & Noble.

https://www.amazon.com/Dr.-Sukhraj-S.-Dhillon/e/B004584DL0?ref_=dbs_p_ebk_r00_abau_000000

http://www.dpcpress.com/pa.html

#happiness #stress #health #health habits

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fanfictiondreamscape · 4 years

Text

First Kisses (Haikyuu - pt. 5)

Title: First Kisses (Haikyuu - pt. 5)

Genre: *deep inhale* FLUFF.

Pairing: Oikawa/Iwaizumi/Bokuto x Reader (separate)

Notes: Okay, fair warning. I’m not too proud of this one, but I knew that an issue would come up the second I decided to include Oikawa in this. (I am seriously trying to write him, but he is surprisingly hard to write for how accidentally transparent his character is.)

Otherwise, I think that this is a pretty decent contribution to the series. I hope you enjoy reading it!

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 6 Masterlist

Oikawa Tooru

trash can needs someone stern

keep him and his somewhat sleazy habit of flirting under control

his s/o was most likely friends with him as well.

they’re also pretty similar to hajime, though they are nowhere near as violent and brash with him as hajime is

that doesn’t mean that they aren’t assertive, though.

they’d be strong and smart, and they’d know the self-worth of themself and him

otherwise, this boy would want to make a huge show out of the kiss.

like seriously.

this man has it planned.

super elaborate, super extravagant, and super sweet. that was the general aim for it.

what exactly was to happen? well...not what did.

it was valentine’s day.

a day meant for romance

and, of course, oikawa was gushing about you to anybody that would give him the time of day.

you had tried to stay as close to him as possible, but his delusional fangirls were constantly getting between you two

(you could have sworn that a few of them had been stealing some roses from the nearby park garden to give to him, and that one of them had stabbed you with the stem of one.)

(they’re vicious, you’re getting pissed.)

you have to realize that there will be a dance hosted that night for the event, and that you and oikawa have tickets to it

so you can rest a little easier for the day knowing that you will be able to thoroughly celebrate the day with him once school’s out for the day.

with the thought lingering, you went about your day and would stay by oikawa as he got pulled between classes by some of his fans

you could always appreciate how he would find a way to get beside you

it was endearing seeing him pout and apologize cutely.

(you wouldn’t ever say it out loud, but your face said all that he needed to know)

anyways, the day goes by, and eventually lunch hits you two in the gut

hajime had decided to lay back a little as you two went on your way.

you witness a few love confessions in the hallways on the way there, and while you watch the underclassmen blush and stutter, you snicker to yourself

it reminded you of oikawa’s confession to you, and you found it endearing.

(for context, he had asked without stuttering, and when he had gotten giddy and ready to leave, the typically-graceful oikawa tooru had continually tripped and fallen on his face. he sent an unaware smile in your direction every time as you laughed at his overly apparent misfortune.)

he watched as you smirked.

he found it amazingly devious, yet oh-so attractive.

it only added to the fact that you were the perfect foil to the setter.

the rest of the walk to the cafeteria was spent in comfortable silence as you two listened to the chattering and the swishing of the wind outside.

it wasn’t until you reached the aforementioned part of the school that your growing bundle of annoyance had reared it ugly head and disrupted the sweet mood.

you deadpanned as you watched oikawa’s fangirls drop in all at once and practically throw you off and throw their valentine’s gifts in his face.

you hit the floor with a thud, and when you went to get up, you saw hajime holding his hand for you to grab.

he had the same expression on his face, and while you already planned to grab his helping hand, it made the scene a little more manageable

someone didn’t look away from this crap.

oikawa had noticed how the girls had become rougher than usual today

and he had been getting as annoyed as you had by them

and he had enough when he saw them make you a physical ragdoll.

he tried to compose himself well enough to say something in a mature manner (or, as mature as he could get, at least)

he had an image as a role model to some people, and he didn’t want to reflect a bad persona for them

nor did he want to show you his truthful angry side again

(you had seen it once, it freaked you out. it took a couple minutes to get you back to your senses.)

so he had made a final decision.

as hajime pulled you up and you brushed off your uniform, oikawa had gently nudged the females away and walked up to you.

with a smile on his face, a genuine one, he cupped your face in his hands, closed his eyes

and kissed you in front of the whole student body.

it was deep, very passionate, and threw you for a loop.

it took you a moment to melt into the experience and, when you did, it got 10x more passionate.

as well as a little messy.

hell, the two of you got so into it that tongue got involved.

it took hajime tearing you two apart to make the time continue and the room stop spinning.

(seriously, any longer and you two would have been full on making out in front of every student. can’t have that, can we?)

safe to say, that whole romantic gesture screwed over his plan to do something even bigger at the school dance.

otherwise, the whole school now knew that you two were an item, and that oikawa was off-limits.

(and that if they were to lay another finger on you, they’d have an angry hajime and oikawa after them)

(the two of you got relentlessly teased by the other volleyball third years afterwards, though)

in conclusion:

fangirls will be annoying, kisses will be magical.

seriously.

it was surprisingly rough and somewhat harsh

you could still feel the drive to not only protect you, but also pour his heart out to you.

you did the same, of course.

and if it weren’t for the unorthodox timing, the kiss would have probably been more mechanical.

(the whole topic was something that oikawa had to come to terms with when he had spilled his initial plan to him. he still hates to hear that talk.)

final words? impulsive, passionate, loving, and messy .

for the whole of the scenario.

Hajime Iwaizumi

hajime here?

he’d like someone responsible.

right off the bat.

he and his s/o would be able to tackle anything together with their work ethic, and that is something that he’d admire

otherwise, they’d have a similar sense of humor to him and be intelligent (same class, possibly?)

would also be somewhat into athletics.

imagine like, a past athlete or someone that enjoys working out but doesn’t do it often

(gym buddies? he’d love that)

and the kiss, i imagine, would happen when oikawa and iwaizumi are leaving the game between Karasuno and Shiratorizawa.

the two of them are both a little peeved, which is understandable

but you were there to cheer them up just the slightest

(and help hajime knock some sense into the walking, six-foot-something trash can)

it was following the match that the day just...

went.

it was a little dull (just like my writing as of late, holy-)

but you were persistent on lightening up the mood.

you tried to engage oikawa with talk of space and aliens

(“how about mars? do you think that aliens exist there? if so, would their body directly counteract the heat of the planet?”)

(“how about venus, then? i know that there are different standards of beauty everywhere, but what do you think they’d be like? like, your definition of ‘beautiful’?”)

he was so angry and distraught that he just walked off.

considering you had been friends with the trash bin as long as hajime, you knew to let him be.

you admittedly felt a little dejected, but you knew that things would work out eventually.

hajime had tried to do the same before you had joined them, but the same thing had happened to him in the long run.

with a sigh, you suggested getting some take out and watching a movie at one of your homes.

though slightly reluctant, he agrees.

you shrunk a little further in at his reaction, but you knew that the reaction was just a response to the horrible atmosphere

he, truthfully, was just a little nervous to be alone with you.

he had been having the urge to kiss you as of late, and he didn’t want to make anything awkward between you two

you had been thinking the same thing, but, hey-

you were trying to focus on the thought of a movie, food, and cuddling with him

so far, it was keeping you from falling completely into a hollow being for the next few hours.

the walk to the nearest house (yours) was about ten minutes from the intersection that you two left oikawa at

your parents were on a business trip and they trusted you, so things worked out.

when you and hajime were inside the home, you had taken to picking a movie and he had taken to looking at menus that had been stashed in your kitchen

you had settled on a dark comedy while he had reached for a pizza place menu.

everything had slowly but surely begun to settle into numbness (in comparison to the depression of earlier)

it wasn’t until the pizza came that things took a turn.

you had grabbed the pizza and paid for it with some money that had been left for you.

you took it into the living room, propped the box up and everything.

all ready to devour, your mind went straight to the food.

you took two pieces and ate the both of them before reaching for another piece.

(hajime found the sight of your with your cheeks puffed out from the food the cutest thing he had seen.)

(he also started blushing and tried to hide his face behind a napkin but failed miserably.)

(you noticed.)

anyway, the pizza was slowly being eaten.

you had been fairly clean when eating, and with the movie contributing to an even higher rise in the mood, you had gotten just the slightest bit messier.

a small spot of tomato sauce was right on the corner of your lips.

haijime noticed this immediately and just knew he had to kiss you now.

his cheeks flared up again, and he grunted.

“you’ve got some sauce on your cheek”

you turned to face him, and with the way things were looking at the moment, you thought that this would lead to something like a kiss on the cheek to remove it.

oh boy, how wrong were you.

he raised his hand and slowly wiped the small bit off your lip.

his hand never left when he got it off, though.

the two of you were just staring into each other’s eyes, both turning as red as the sauce that you had just eaten.

he gulped before he asked you the question.

“can i kiss you?”

it was quiet, it was serene, and the tv in the background was completely forgotten when you responded with a ‘yes’.

he leaned in and met your lips with his, and hoLY-

time really flat out stopped.

he was a little rough, but he was pouring every ounce of love he had for you into that smooch

his passion shone through and jesus, you couldn’t help but do the same.

you wrapped your arms around his neck as he raised his other hand to cup your face completely

his rough hands were so gentle, and so was the kiss as the two of you broke away from the other for air.

both slightly breathless and panting, a smile sealed the upgraded atmosphere very well.

the two of you then proceeded to cuddle for the rest of the movie.

in summary?

hajime is a person of passion and care, and that can be seen in his kiss

it was just so-

gAH so SwEEt.

easily perfect for the both of you, as cliche as it sounds

(also, the way that the night ended perfected everything - you had fallen asleep on his shoulder about 4/5 through the movie and he refused to move from his position even when the movie ended. he just turned the tv off and cuddled up next to you and feel asleep as well.)

10 out of 10, i would most definitely love for something like this to happen to me, as cliche as it is.

crap, i’m starting to realize that i am a hopeless romantic in denial, help-

Bokuto Kotarou

buff boi here needs someone like akaashi

straight outta the gate, he needs someone that can handle his moodiness

someone that can handle his hyperness

someone that can keep him in control whenever he begins to lose it.

(what little impulse control he has left, at least-)

anyway, yeah, you get it.

i would imagine that they would be (possibly) a little more talkative, but generally similar to akaashi

the kiss, though...

let’s be honest, that’s how he would respond to you

so, to sum that vague statement up:

he’d kiss you as a confession.

that’s all there is to it.

how the confession itself would go?

well...

he was nervous.

akaashi and bokuto were walking and the owlish ace was ranting

“i want to tell her, but she won’t like me.”

akaashi was almost completely fed up with his whining.

keyword: almost.

what bokuto failed to notice was that you and akaashi are friends and classmates, as well as colleagues on the volleyball team.

you were a manager, and had been a huge help to the team when akaashi wasn’t there (for whatever reason).

so, with that knowledge, akaashi knew.

you had told him what you felt in regards to bokuto, and he listened.

the catch was that you didn’t want him to tell bokuto or anyone else.

he wanted to end this whole back and forth on both of your parts,

(”i like them, but they don’t like me. and even if they did, they could find someone that’d be more fitting for them.”)

BUT, he is a good friend, and good friends keep promises and requested secrets.

he was dying to just cut the crap and get you two together.

quite frankly, he was ready to. he just had to do it incognito

(read: hope to god you don’t tear him a new one if you find out that he was willing to play matchmaker from behind the scenes.)

anyway, as he listened to bokuto rant and whine and drone about you, the idea hit him.

he’d need the help of another manager, though.

eventually, the day had come to end (with both you and horned-owl man being oblivious), and practice had begun.

bokuto was screwing up more than usual.

he still had his good moments, but anyone could tell that he was bothered by something.

it got so bad that akaashi had to call break.

he had asked to speak to the other managers, kaori and yukie, when he had called it.

you were curious, but you didn’t want to pry.

you had taken to making sure that the team could help bokuto get back on it.

akaashi had planned something, though, and he was sure that this would work.

once the break was up, bokuto went back to practice.

you found it odd when you noticed that he was starting to mess up again.

this time, it got so much worse - akaashi forced bokuto outside to take a good, long breather.

kaori had asked you to check up on him after a few minutes.

being her kouhai, you went along with it and left the duties to yukie.

when you went outside, you noticed the two-toned hair sitting on the steps to the gym angrily pouting.

you wanted to calm him down and get his focus back on the game, but something was becoming a problem.

things between you two had grown more awkward than usual, and you didn’t like it.

especially now, seeing as it was only you two in the chilly autumn wind.

that being said, you decided to sit next to him on the steps.

when he heard your footsteps, he quickly peeked up, blushed at you, and looked back down with a less hostile pout.

you found the sight adorable, but you had to push that away right now.

the Fukurodani ace wasn’t at his best - that needed to be fixed first.

“what’s going on bokuto?”

he, if possible, got even quieter.

now, not many things scare you, but that?

a silent bokuto?

get your apocalypse materials together, shit’s about to hit the fan - chances are the world’s gonna end in T-minus ten seconds.

you nudged his shoulder and persisted.

“c’mon, the team needs their ace to be at their best, and they can’t if he can’t tell me what’s bothering him.”

some more silence lingered before he spoke.

“there’s this person. they’re really pretty, and really sweet, and really smart.”

your mood dropped, but you tried to keep it up for his sake.

“they’re also really good at comforting people, and they have patience with me.”

your mood really didn’t wanna work with you, did it?

“and i wanna ask them out, but i don’t think they like me.”

that was when you took your chance.

yeah, if it wasn’t you, you could at least give him the confidence to ask out whoever the mystery person was.

“then ask them out, bokuto. people admire you, you know? how could they say no to the great bokuto kotarou?”

that seemed to give him a boost, and with quick succession, he had jumped up and stood proud.

“you’re right, y/n! so, do you wannt go out with me?”

y/n.exe has stopped working.

your jaw dropped to the floor, your eyes went wide, and your heart and mind started racing.

‘holy- he likes me? he likes me? he really likes me?’

bokuto noticed your silence, and he took it as a rejection.

he slumped off and fell to the steps again.

“if you don’t feel the same, that’s oka-”

“wait, no! i didn’t say that!”

your outburst was admittedly uncharacteristic, but for the moment, that was all that was needed.

his golden eyes lit up, and you blushed bright red.

“really? you really like me too?”

you nodded shyly.

in a fit of happiness, he lifted you up and swung you around.

the action shocked you, but you were giggling by the end of it.

despite his excitement, he still had some decency in the moment.

“can i kiss you?”

a smile fell onto your face and you uttered a small yes.

he kissed you immediately after.

the entrance was extremely rough, so much so that you nearly fell backwards had it not been for bokuto’s strong arms holding you in place.

otherwise, there was teeth (by accident, of course), and it was very messy and a little slobbery

(forlackofabetterword,iswear-)

it lasted for a decent amount of time.

in fact, it took so long that akaashi got a little worried that you and bokuto had run off (or something like that)

kaori had decided to check on you two, and you two were found sucking face.

yeah, that’s right.

the kiss was romantic, but it was bordering on a makeout. (never reached that point, but most definitely seemed like it)

she decided to leave you two alone.

when you pulled away, the both of you had a slight flush to your faces

neither of you would have changed the moment, though. no way in hell would that happen.

and, in a twist of events, bokuto was the one dragging you back to the gymasium with a new burst of energy and confidence.

the rest of the night flowed fairly smooth, and bokuto dealt with his fair share of teasing from his teammates after kaori had let the team know what had gone on.

so, in conclusion:

very, VERY, V E R Y messy.

it was an impatient kiss, an immature kiss, an overall inexperienced kiss.

though, you could only imagine, that the moment was everything you could have asked for and more.

also, the setting was perfect for the two of you.

a new s/o, the first kiss, and the slight chill of the wind combined with the gleaming moon and stars?

beautiful, perfect, gorgeous, you name it.

just-

buff owl boy needs love, you give him that and more.

he does the same with you.

(please cherish him, you’re the only person that can calm him down quickly aside from akaashi)

#oikawatooru #oikawa #oikawa x reader #oikawa tooru x reader #hajimeiwaizumi #hajime iwaizumi #iwaizumi x reader #hajime iwaizumi x reader #bokutokotarou #bokuto #bokuto kotarou #bokuto x reader #bokuto kotarou x reader #iwaizumi #oikawa tooru #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu headcanons

79 notes · View notes

howwelldoyouknowyourmoon · 4 years

Text

Faith Yen interviewed by Caleb Maupin

youtube

Twitter: www.twitter.com/faithy3n Instagram: www.instagram.com/faithy3n

“I was 18 when I got kicked out of HQ. I was 19 when I started breaking rules but was still mentally in. I was 25 when I realized I was completely mentally out and had a Neo in the Matrix panic attack.”

Faith Yen Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCC2eGLsbToZ5so4VVpRuJPw

_________________________________________________

Shamanism is at the heart of Sun Myung Moon’s church

Sun Myung Moon organization activities in Central & South America

The Dark Side of True World Foods – owned by the Moonies

Sushi and Rev. Moon – Chicago Tribune special 2006

Sun Myung Moon could have spent a second spell in a US jail in 2007 – for encouraging poaching baby leopard sharks

United States Congressional investigation of Moon’s organization

Gifts of Deceit: Sun Myung Moon and Koreagate – Robert Boettcher

Moon Church human trafficking is despicable

The Moon Church schism explained

‘Will they let us live?’ Inside Xinjiang, survivors of China’s internment camps speak – Los Angeles Times Dec 17, 2020

_________________________________________________

Cult Indoctrination – and the Road to Recovery

Contents

1. VIDEO: Why do people join cults? – Janja Lalich 2. PODCAST: The Cult Vault – Introduction to the Study of Cults by Kaycee 3. VIDEO: The BITE model of Steve Hassan / The Influence Continuum 4. Father Kent Burtner on manipulation of the emotions by the UC 5. VIDEO: Terror, Love and Brainwashing ft. Alexandra Stein 6. Robert Jay Lifton’s Eight Criteria of Thought Reform 7. VIDEO: The Wrong Way Home . An analysis of Dr Arthur J. Deikman’s book on cult behavior 8. Cult Indoctrination through Psychological Manipulation by Professor Kimiaki Nishida 9. Towards a Demystified and Disinterested Scientific Theory of Brainwashing (extracts) by Benjamin Zablocki 10. Psyching Out the Cults’ Collective Mania by Louis Jolyon West and Richard Delgado 11. Book: Take Back Your Life by Janja Lalich and Madeleine Tobias (2009) 12. VIDEO: Paul Morantz on Cults, Thought Reform, Coercive Persuasion and Confession 13. PODCAST: Ford Greene, Attorney and former UC member, on Sun Myung Moon 14. VIDEO: Steve Hassan interviewed by Chris Shelton 15. VIDEO: Conformity by TheraminTrees 16. VIDEO: Instruction Manual for Life by TheraminTrees 17. The Social Organization of Recruitment in the Unification Church – PDF by David Frank Taylor, M.A., July 1978, Sociology 18. Mind Control: Psychological Reality Or Mindless Rhetoric? by Philip G. Zimbardo, Ph.D., President, American Psychological Association 19. Socialization techniques through which Moon church members were able to influence by Geri-Ann Galanti, Ph.D. 20. VIDEO: Recovery from RTS (Religious Trauma Syndrome) by Marlene Winell 21. VIDEO: ICSA – After the cult 22. “How do you know I’m not the world’s worst con man or swindler?” – Sun Myung Moon 23. VIDEO: What Is A Cult? CuriosityStream 24. VIDEO: The Space Between Self-Esteem and Self Compassion by Kristin Neff 25. Bibliography

_____________________________________________

6. Robert Jay Lifton’s Eight Criteria of Thought Reform

“I wish to suggest a set of criteria against which any environment may be judged — a basis for answering the ever-recurring question: “Isn’t this just like ‘brainwashing’?” – Robert Jay Lifton

“Ideological Totalism” is Chapter 22 of Robert Jay Lifton’s book, Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism: A Study of ‘brainwashing’ in China

Dr. Lifton, a psychiatrist and author, has studied the psychology of extremism for decades. He is renowned for his studies of the psychological causes and effects of war and political violence and for his theory of thought reform. Lifton testified at the 1976 bank robbery trial of Patty Hearst about the theory of “coercive persuasion.”

His theories — including the often-referred to 8 criteria described below — are used and expanded upon by many cult experts.

First published in 1961, his book was reprinted in 1989 by the University of North Carolina Press. From Chapter 22:

8 CRITERIA AGAINST WHICH ANY ENVIRONMENT MAY BE JUDGED:

Milieu Control – The control of information and communication.

Mystical Manipulation – The manipulation of experiences that appear spontaneous but in fact were planned and orchestrated.

The Demand for Purity – The world is viewed as black and white and the members are constantly exhorted to conform to the ideology of the group and strive for perfection.

The Cult of Confession – Sins, as defined by the group, are to be confessed either to a personal monitor or publicly to the group.

The Sacred Science – The group’s doctrine or ideology is considered to be the ultimate Truth, beyond all questioning or dispute.

Loading the Language – The group interprets or uses words and phrases in new ways so that often the outside world does not understand.

Doctrine over person – The member’s personal experiences are subordinated to the sacred science and any contrary experiences must be denied or reinterpreted to fit the ideology of the group.

The Dispensing of existence – The group has the prerogative to decide who has the right to exist and who does not.

Eight Conditions of Thought Reform as presented in  Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism, Chapter 22.

1. Milieu Control The most basic feature of the thought reform environment, the psychological current upon which all else depends, is the control of human communication. Through this milieu control the totalist environment seeks to establish domain over not only the individual’s communication with the outside (all that he sees and hears, reads and writes, experiences, and expresses), but also — in its penetration of his inner life — over what we may speak of as his communication with himself. It creates an atmosphere uncomfortably reminiscent of George Orwell’s 1984…. (Page 420.) Purposeful limitation of all forms of communication with outside world.

The control of human communication through environment control.

The cult doesn’t just control communication between people, it also controls people’s communication with themselves, in their own minds.

2. Mystical Manipulation The inevitable next step after milieu control is extensive personal manipulation. This manipulation assumes a no-holds-barred character, and uses every possible device at the milieu’s command, no matter how bizarre or painful. Initiated from above, it seeks to provoke specific patterns of behavior and emotion in such a way that these will appear to have arisen spontaneously from within the environment. This element of planned spontaneity, directed as it is by an ostensibly omniscient group, must assume, for the manipulated, a near-mystical quality. (Page 422.) Potential convert is convinced of the higher purpose within the special group.

Everyone is manipulating everyone, under the belief that it advances the “ultimate purpose.”

Experiences are engineered to appear to be spontaneous, when, in fact, they are contrived to have a deliberate effect.

People mistakenly attribute their experiences to spiritual causes when, in fact, they are concocted by human beings.

3. The Demand for Purity The experiential world is sharply divided into the pure and the impure, into the absolutely good and the absolutely evil. The good and the pure are of course those ideas, feelings, and actions which are consistent with the totalist ideology and policy; anything else is apt to be relegated to the bad and the impure. Nothing human is immune from the flood of stern moral judgements. (Page 423.) The philosophical assumption underlying this demand is that absolute purity is attainable, and that anything done to anyone in the name of this purity is ultimately moral.

The cult demands Self-sanctification through Purity.

Only by pushing toward perfection, as the group views goodness, will the recruit be able to contribute.

The demand for purity creates a guilty milieu and a shaming milieu by holding up standards of perfection that no human being can attain.

People are punished and learn to punish themselves for not living up to the group’s ideals.

4. The Cult of Confession Closely related to the demand for absolute purity is an obsession with personal confession. Confession is carried beyond its ordinary religious, legal, and therapeutic expressions to the point of becoming a cult in itself. (Page 425.) Public confessional periods are used to get members to verbalize and discuss their innermost fears and anxieties as well as past imperfections.

The environment demands that personal boundaries are destroyed and that every thought, feeling, or action that does not conform with the group’s rules be confessed.

Members have little or no privacy, physically or mentally.

5. Aura of Sacred Science The totalist milieu maintains an aura of sacredness around its basic dogma, holding it out as an ultimate moral vision for the ordering of human existence. This sacredness is evident in the prohibition (whether or not explicit) against the questioning of basic assumptions, and in the reverence which is demanded for the originators of the Word, the present bearers of the Word, and the Word itself. While thus transcending ordinary concerns of logic, however, the milieu at the same time makes an exaggerated claim of airtight logic, of absolute “scientific” precision. Thus the ultimate moral vision becomes an ultimate science; and the man who dares to criticize it, or to harbor even unspoken alternative ideas, becomes not only immoral and irreverent, but also “unscientific”. In this way, the philosopher kings of modern ideological totalism reinforce their authority by claiming to share in the rich and respected heritage of natural science. (Pages 427-428.) The cult advances the idea that the cult’s laws, rules and regulations are absolute and, therefore, to be followed automatically.

The group’s belief is that their dogma is absolutely scientific and morally true.

No alternative viewpoint is allowed.

No questioning of the dogma is permitted.

6. Loading the Language The language of the totalist environment is characterized by the thought-terminating cliché. [Slogans] The most far-reaching and complex of human problems are compressed into brief, highly reductive, definitive-sounding phrases, easily memorized and easily expressed. The cult invents a new vocabulary, giving well-known words special new meanings, making them into trite clichés. The clichés become “ultimate terms”, either “god terms”, representative of ultimate good, or “devil terms”, representative of ultimate evil. Totalist language, then, is repetitiously centered on all-encompassing jargon, prematurely abstract, highly categorical, relentlessly judging, and to anyone but its most devoted advocate, deadly dull: the language of non-thought. (Page 429.)

Controlling words helps to control people’s thoughts.

The group uses black-or-white thinking and thought-terminating clichés.

The special words constrict rather than expand human understanding.

Non-members cannot simply comprehend what cult members are talking about.

7. Doctrine over Person Another characteristic feature of ideological totalism: the subordination of human experience to the claims of doctrine. (Page 430.) Past experience and values are invalid if they conflict with the new cult morality.

The value of individuals is insignificant when compared to the value of the group.

Past historical events are retrospectively altered, wholly rewritten, or ignored to make them consistent with doctrinal logic.

No matter what a person experiences, it is belief in the dogma which is important.

Group belief supersedes individual conscience and integrity.

8. Dispensed Existence The totalist environment draws a sharp line between those whose right to existence can be recognized, and those who possess no such right. Lifton gave a Communist example: In thought reform, as in Chinese Communist practice generally, the world is divided into “the people” (defined as “the working class, the peasant class, the petite bourgeoisie, and the national bourgeoisie”), and “the reactionaries” or “the lackies of imperialism” (defined as “the landlord class, the bureaucratic capitalist class, and the KMT reactionaries and their henchmen”). (Page 433.)

The group decides who has a right to exist and who does not.

The group has an elitist world view — a sharp line is drawn by cult between those who have been saved, chosen, etc., (the cult members) and those who are lost, in the dark, etc., (the rest of the world).

Former members are seen as “weak,” “lost,” “evil,” and “the enemy”.

The cult insists that there is no legitimate alternative to membership in the cult.

The full text of Chapter 22 appears HERE courtesy of Dr. Robert Jay Lifton.

___________________________________________

The Cult Vault #1, 3 and 45: Introduction and The Unification Church

This Introduction to the study of cults is excellent and helpful for understanding #3 and #45.

#Faith Yen #Moonies #indoctrination #undue influence

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zerdodcirzo-blog · 4 years

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Sex and the Holidays

In the rush of the holiday season with its parties, dinners, family get-togethers, gift buying, baking, and celebrations, it's not uncommon for a couple's sexual relationship to flounder. Even couples with a relatively good sex life often feel the strain of holiday pressure.

Stress and time constraints are a set-up for sex to be a disappointment, non-existent, unsatisfactory, or half-hearted. And if one spouse is doing significantly more of the holiday preparation and work than the other, the potential for a sexual desire mismatch between husband and wife increases even more.

After all, there's no way to "burn the candle at both ends" and not have it affect your sexual energy eventually. It's not conducive to heightened sexuality to be sleep-deprived, exhausted, stressed, rushed, harried, over-whelmed, and frantic about getting everything done on time.

The holidays can also take an emotional toll with resulting depression and holiday blues. If a family member has died during the previous year, if your own marriage is shaky, or if a divorce or marriage of family members has changed the holiday dynamics, there can be deep grieving and pain. These factors can profoundly affect sexual desire.

The following seven tips will help you to keep the sparkle and sizzle of your sex life intact:

1. Talk with your spouse about which activities to schedule during the holidays and which to consider leaving out or changing in some way. Stress intensifies when you try to cram too many activities into your days and weeks. Just because something has always been done one way doesn't mean that you can't consider making a change.

Set priorities and then stick by them. Remember what's most important to you--your spouse, children, and extended families--and schedule your time accordingly. Cut back on or skip activities that aren't fulfilling to you both and that drain time and energy. Face the reality that you can't do it all--no one can. Look for ways to save time and energy and still accomplish your goals and honor your priorities. You can't sizzle in any area of your life--and certainly not your sex life-- if you fall on your face from exhaustion.

2. Schedule some time for yourself--even if it's much more limited than usual. The goal is to take good care of yourself by scheduling some time each day--even if it's only 15-30 minutes--to focus on your needs.

Can you allow thirty minutes for a nap before you go shopping or can you schedule a massage or pedicure? Can you soak in the tub for fifteen minutes or take a twenty-minute walk around the block? What about working out at a gym or at home for thirty minutes?

If you ignore your basic needs for nurturance during this stressful time, then you may start resenting your spouse for his or her sexual desires and needs. You'll view sex as one more "duty" that's on your "to do" list.

3. Be realistic about time and energy constraints. The holidays are demanding for most people and require more energy than usual--emotional as well as physical energy.

You might only have time for a "quickie" instead of a more lengthy time together, but that's fine as long as you don't just settle for "quickies" all year long. But they certainly have their place and can add fun and excitement to your day.

It's okay if you or your partner are tired and don't feel as sexual as usual. Let the person who is more aroused take the lead while the other has permission to be more low key. Just enjoy being together and reconnecting.

4. Remember that intimacy in the bedroom starts in the kitchen, in the laundry room, in the living room--it's about much more than meeting in the bedroom for a romp under the sheets.

Some of you may have seen the saying contained in a widely-circulated email letter that "No husband has ever been shot while doing the dishes." Another way of reframing this is that a spouse can accumulate good will points by sharing the housework, chores, and errands--and those good will points can certainly help in the bedroom.

Yes, I know that there are cases where a spouse does more than his or her share of the work and the spouse is still rejecting of sex. And certainly I'm not suggesting that a spouse owes a partner sex because he or she helps around the house. Not at all.

But I am saying that to create the maximum potential for a sexual relationship to be satisfying for both partners, wise spouses look at how they treat their partners outside of the bedroom. And this applies more than ever during a stressful time like the holidays.

5. Look for ways to do something nice for your spouse that has the potential to activate sexual desire, such as a foot massage or a back rub. It's hard to turn down the offer of a foot massage at the end of a long day.

The key is to not expect sex as a reward for your efforts. Talk to your spouse during the massage and show interest in his or her day and feelings. Ask questions and really listen to what your spouse says.

Give compliments to your partner while you're giving the massage: "You work so hard," "I appreciate you and all that you do for me and the kids so much," "You're a wonderful wife (or husband)," or "Your skin feels good to the touch--it's so nice and warm."

You might ask your spouse if the two of you can just "snuggle," that you don't have any ulterior motives. Just enjoy snuggling and talking, perhaps laughing together, and then keep your word--don't initiate anything sexual.

You want to let the good will points accumulate and let the good feelings physically and emotionally build up until your partner's desire also builds up. When you're not expecting sex, you make it more likely that you partner will relax into the experience and feel sexual desire.

6. Be aware of how your choices about alcohol and over-indulging in holiday foods can affect your mood and sexual desires. In many marriages, when one or both spouses drink too much, arguments and fights result.

Also, a spouse who is reeking of alcohol can sexually turn off his or her mate who may be repulsed by the smell and by drunken behavior. Throw in the erratic holiday mood swings that can happen naturally at any time along with the alcohol, and you have a formula for trouble.

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mystery-star · 5 years

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Threshold of Space - Chapter 13 Put to the Test

Pairing: Spock x OC

Warnings: slight sexual innuendos mentions of violence, swearing

Words: 6806

All Parts:

If you want to be added to the taglist let me know!

Please do not repost my work on other sites or platforms!

Much to her dismay, the Academy had replaced Moore with someone else only a month later. Although the new professor was great, she was still sad that Spock didn’t teach them anymore. The rest of her class, however, seemed relieved that he was gone. Especially the boys, who seemed to be pining for the female professor.

At that time, they also had to start with their final projects but right now, Carissa had other stuff in her mind; Spock had asked her out on their anniversary at the end of February. Nialaxe helped her getting ready and they were joined by Lucie too. Somehow she wasn’t sure if she liked all the attention she got but she was glad about their opinions. (At least Nia’s because Lucie always assured her that she looked great whereas Nia as a Betazoid was awfully honest)

“Girls, it’s only our anniversary”

“Yes but you didn’t have one before, did you?” Nialaxe asked

“Well we broke up after nine months and got together a year later. So we actually were together a year some months ago. But we didn’t celebrate that or whatever”

“See? Who knows what’s gonna happen? Maybe he’ll propose”

“I don’t know…” Carissa said, cracking her knuckles

“Oh okay, I can understand you’re not ready for that yet” she pinned back some of her hair with her flower-shaped hairclip “Yes, I think that’s it” she said, nodding as she stepped away. Carissa had a look in the mirror and smiled.

“Yeah, it looks good”

“Really does” Lucie agreed. Since it still was a little early for her to go outside, the three girls sat down on the bed and talked until Carissa had to leave. Lucie squeezed her hand

“Have fun”

“Oh God, was that imagination really necessary?” Nia moaned

“Well looks like being a telepath has its disadvantages”

“Can’t you just… switch it off?”

“There might be a way but I don’t know. I’ve only got the abilities like five years ago” Carissa made a mental note to ask Spock if he maybe knew something she could to do control it a little “Hey, that’s a great idea. Vulcan’s are touch telepaths and they’re very private. Maybe they know something… oh God, Lucie, you’re a genius!”

“What did she think?” Carissa asked

“You could make your final project on that matter. You know, telepathy, its limits and ways to control or steer it”

“That really doesn’t sound too bad” she said “But would you even want to be my guinea pig?”

“I’m still learning to use it and it would be cool to see what things I can do” Carissa shrugged.

“I’ll think about it. Thanks for the idea, Lucie. If you want you can have the topic yourself though, after all it was your idea.”

“Nah. I’ve already got my topic with the question which non-human species is best integrated into the Federation”

“And I’ve got no idea what I’ll do” Nia said with a grin

“Well, you’ve still got two years to think about it”

“True”

“Okay, I gotta leave. Vulcans always come on time”

“Sure… Lucie keep that perverted thoughts private!” although she hurried downstairs, her boyfriend was already waiting for her.

“Sorry” she breathed, “the girls held me back”

“There is no reason to apologize, you are still two minutes and thirty-four seconds early” she gave a quick nod as she pecked his cheek.

“Shall we?” he only offered her his arm which she took, almost feeling like a lady from the Middle Ages. “Where are we going?” she asked when he led her off the school grounds

“You asked me to surprise you. If I told you now, I would ruin it”

“Good point” she giggled. They walked in silence for almost half an hour before he led her into a cozy looking restaurant and where showed their table. “It’s nice here” she said, her fingers toying with the flowers on the table.

“It is good to hear that the location is according to your liking”

“So, how are the reparations of the ship going?”

“We are approximately 2.26 days behind to the schedule since the re-installment of the gravity stabilizer has taken longer than I have anticipated as I was not aware that a third year cadet would be allowed to help during his traineeship”

“Oh you still have trainees onboard?”

“Only engineers as everyone else would not be able to work“

“That makes sense. What about you? Do you miss your work?”

“I am working”

“Sure, you do, but I mean don’t you miss working as Science Officer?”

“Science is needed for the reparations, which makes your question redundant”

“Okay, I didn’t consider that. But wouldn’t you prefer if the ship was already repaired and you could do what you usually do?”

“I cannot understand why I should wish for something that is impossible”

“Okay, let’s forget this” she said opening her menu. Again they were silent until they had ordered dinner. Then Spock asked how her studies were going. “Good, as always. Professor Moore’s replacement is much better than him. Not as good as you though” she chuckled and took a sip from her drink.

“Were you referring to my expertise, my way of teaching or the fact that I am your partner when you mentioned that you preferred me?”

“Uh… you being my boyfriend and of course your intelligence.”

“Alright. Have you been informed about the final projects yet?”

“Yes. We need to find a topic and evaluator until the end of next month”

“Have you already decided on either of those points?”

“No. I’ve got some ideas and just today Nia gave me a new one. Well actually it was Lucie’s idea but they said I could write about it if I want”

“That subject being?”

“Telepathy” she looked at him to see his reaction and wasn’t disappointed when he raised an eyebrow

“I take it that Cadet Uvestri has volunteered as test person for your project?”

“Yeah she did. I’d try to find out what the limits of her telepathy are and if there are ways to stop it”

“Maybe you would want to consider making a comparison between telepathy of different species?”

“Is that an offer to help me as in participate in the experiment?”

“Since I am your boyfriend I would consider it appropriate to do so, yes” she smiled.

“Thanks. I’ll think about it”

“May I ask what your other suggestions for your project were?” after she told him of her other ideas, she asked what he had written about

“I bet I won’t even understand the title. So maybe just tell me the area”

“Astronomical spectroscopy” she frowned

“And there it already starts… I don’t even remember what that is. What score did you receive on it?”

“97% although it should have been 97.2 but decimal places were not allowed”

“I see. That’s very good. I just want an overall score of 75% or more at the end. I mean as my graduation mark, not from the project. Then I’m happy”

“Do you think you can achieve this?”

“I guess so. Up to now I have 81% which means I have a slight cushion” he nodded. Their food came and for a while they were silent before she asked him what he would like to do on the five year mission. Once they had finished their plates, they continued talking for a while before they left the restaurant. Spock accompanied her back to her dorm and decided to say goodbye outside because no one was here at this time.

“I have heard that it is human custom for the male to gift his partner something on their anniversary” she instantly started to feel bad because she had nothing for him

“Oh. You shouldn’t have gotten me anything. And I uh… don’t have anything for you”

“There was no reason for you to give me something in return. Besides, I did not have to obtain this” he said as he pulled out a small casket and opened it to reveal a necklace.

“It’s beautiful” she said, tracing her finger over it “Thank you”

“You are welcome” he took it out “May I?”

“Sure” he put it over her head and she took the pendant between her fingers to have a look at it.

“Where did you get it?”

“It has belonged to my mother” she stared at him

“Spock I-I don’t think I can accept it. I mean… maybe you should keep it if it was hers” he took hold of her hand, gently squeezing it.

“I want you to have it. I am certain that my mother would have been very fond of you had she met you”

“Are you sure?”

“Affirmative” she nodded and let go of the pendant, hugging him instead

“Thank you. It really means a lot to me. Especially considering what the necklace means to you.”

“It is good to hear that it pleases you” he placed his hands on her back and leaned his chin onto her head.

“And thanks for the evening. I really enjoyed it”

“So did I”

-oO0Oo-

It was time for the fourth years to find themselves a job for when they finished the Academy in summer. So she applied for jobs as biologist on every ship that offered this position. She was quite certain that she would get a position on a ship, if not she still could apply as a biologist on earth. Somehow she found this wouldn’t be all too bad in the beginning because a part of her wasn’t so sure she’d be able to constantly go onto missions. What if they were attacked something dangerous happened? A part of her even regretted joining Starfleet and she was almost surprised to have made it that far into her education.

Somehow she was surprised that she already had a reply two days later. But once she saw who it was, she only grinned. Of course Jim Kirk would be the first one to reply and invite her for an interview. So she agreed to his suggestion to meet him three days later and was a little disappointed when she saw that he was alone today.

“Hello there” he said with a grin

“Hello”

“How’d you start at the Academy?”

“I haven’t seen you since the end of term party, respectively the trial later on, so which start did you mean? In summer or now after the winter holiday?”

“Both. I don’t even know what fourth year is like”

“As always” she shrugged. “Just the final project coming up”

“Oh I’ve heard about those” he smirked “Well anyway… I’ll make this short. I wanted you on my ship last time but that didn’t work out. But now I’d really like you to take you onto that five year mission”

“R-really?” she choked out “Are you sure?”

“Do you think I’d have called you here if I wasn’t serious? Starfleet has ordered me to take some new graduates with us… from all departments so I’ll need freshly graduated scientists anyway. And I must admit I really want to have you. You’re one of the best cadets and I know how you work”

“And this decision isn’t just because… I don’t know… because you know me and of my relationship with Spock?”

“Nope. Well, I want you because I know you and know that you’re a great scientist and a quick learner and a good person”

“Really?”

“I read your report. You told Admiral Marcus to go fuck himself and I want people like you on my ship” she grinned

“You want me to tell you to go fuck yourself?”

“No, of course not… but you know what I mean. I’ve only got two people who put my orders into question, one being Bones who’s my best friend and Spock who questions anything that’s not from him anyway”

“So you want me to doubt you too?”

“I sometimes need someone telling me off when I’m an idiot. And I know you’ve got the balls to do so” she snorted with laughter, not too sure about his words. “But if you’d rather start on another ship, where you don’t go onto such a big mission at the beginning I understand. Or if you have enough of me and my crew”

“No, of course not. I mean… thank you for your offer, I feel honored”

“But?” he asked

“Well you’re right, I’m not sure I actually am ready for such a mission now”

“If I can be honest. I bet if anyone can do it it’s you. Besides, you won’t be alone. You already know a couple of people on board”

“Yeah but only bridge crew. And I doubt that this will be where I’ll be working”

“Okay, let me put it that way. I can really see you climbing up that career ladder. We need to report to Starbases at least once a year anyway, so each time we do that, you can complete a new test there and get promoted. So once you’re Lieutenant, which you could be by the end of next year, I could assign you to the bridge. Besides, the Enterprise doesn’t have a Junior Science Officer during Alpha shifts because we got Spock but we may change that…”

“You really don’t need to do this. I mean, I probably am just as happy if I can be working somewhere else on the ship. Maybe even better because then I won’t have responsibility. It’s just… I’d love to go on away-missions too but I know there will be many other scientist who have better qualification for that” he clicked his tongue

“Well, usually an away-team needs the best people. So it would be, speaking like Spock, logical to take people with different talents. And you are a great scientist and are skilled at diplomacy. We can always use someone like you if there are other cultures involved.

“I doubt I could speak their language”

“We’ve got translators for a reason… or Uhura comes.”

“Right”

“So what do you say? Are in interested in a tryout?”

“A tryout?”

“Yeah. We want to see how you’re doing before we can decide. And it’s what Starfleet requires at least for all the cadets. So there will be a big tryout day for all of you, all departments.”

“But how is that possible? I mean, the reparations on the Enterprise aren’t finished yet, so how are you supposed to see us in action?”

“That’s easy. Starfleet Academy has given us permission to use the Kobayashi Maru rooms for the cadets that study Command. As for you scientists, we will find you a ‘mission’. It’ll just take place on earth but we’ll pretend it’s a foreign planet. The procedure’s the same, anyways. Maybe we can still use one of the labs on the Enterprise in the end. It’s not all sorted out yet.”

“Oh okay. When will this be?”

“I’ll need to interview other cadet first and when I’ve made the first decision, we will let you take this ‘missions’ on a weekend. Maybe you’ll have a part in the Kobayashi Maru simulation too. But don’t worry, you won’t need to save another ship or so. We merely need the environment to let you investigate the destination”

“That makes sense” she smiled.

“Oh. One last thing. Did you tell Spock about your application for the Enterprise yet?”

“You mean if he knows that I want to join you on the mission maybe? No, he doesn’t”

“Right. I’d like to keep it that way until the tryout. I can’t wait to see his face when he sees you”

“Does that mean he’ll be there too? I mean… sure he will since he’s your First Officer and Chief Science Officer at the same time”

“Exactly. He’ll be the one to help you with this task for the tryout” he got up and shook her hand “You’ll hear from me as soon as I know more.”

“Sure” she smiled and he opened her the door

“Oh and Carissa?”

“Yeah?”

“I just wanted to apologize for having been an idiot when we first met” she smiled when she thought back of the Kobayashi Maru simulation oh so long ago where she had first met him.

“Forgiven and forgotten. I kinda think it’s funny now. Except for the fact that you cheated on the test”

“Glad to hear that”

“You’re welcome. Thank you for scaring off Andrew last year at the party when…. you know”

“Sure thing” he nodded at her and they parted ways.

-oO0Oo-

In the three weeks before she heard from Jim again, she had been to two other interviews and had been invited to yet another tryout. She also started with her final project and had the first talk with her evaluator. But once she heard more details about her tryout for the Enterprise, this was everything she could focus on. A part of her hated herself because she feared that Spock was the only reason she wanted to be on that ship but she had to admit that this wasn’t true. There were many other reasons and yet she still wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to directly go onto a five year mission. Her parents definitely wouldn’t like that but she didn’t care. In fact, she believed that she’d try even harder to get onto the Enterprise if they tried to prohibit her from doing it.

All too soon another month had passed and the day of the tryout had come. By now all they knew was that they would need to gather data about their atmosphere in the bridge of the Kobayashi Maru simulation, pretending it was a foreign planet, before they would be split into two groups and fly to Europe with a shuttlecraft where they had to fulfill the next part of their ‘mission’. When she entered the classroom they were told to meet, she realized that she knew almost every other science cadet there since they were in at least one of her courses. She took a seat next to Evans and nodded at him, pulling out her PADD to make some notes.

“You applied here too?”

“Of course I did” she said

“Oh okay. I just thought you weren’t the type to be that long into space”

“I admit it is a bit much for the start but I’m sure it’ll be fine”

“Yeah. I really hope I’ll manage to do this”

“Good luck then”

“Thanks. Same to you”

“How’s your project doing?”

“Fine” as he started to explain what he was doing, Jim entered and greeted them.

“Good morning, Cadets. Thank you for coming on that Saturday morning, I know you’ve probably got better stuff to do than participating in an ‘improvised’ tryout. Anyways, Mr Scott, my Chief Engineer, has already taken the engineering cadets with him because they’ve got heaps of work to do on the Enterprise. Doctor McCoy and my First Officer Mr Spock should be arriving any moment. And I will take care of those who want to pursuit a career in command but they’ll only arrive in a few hours. Now, to your assignments. As you have been already informed, everything is a bit improvised and we’ve agreed on the following program: We will make three groups, medicals and other sciences mixed, and you all will spend some time on the bridge of the USS Trainor, where the scientists will investigate a fictive planned we called AlphaBetaGamma. However, the medics among you will pursuit other task on the bridge at that time because we won’t always need you in Sickbay and then you might be working on the bridge one day. Then, we will make new groups and the medics follow McCoy to the Academy’s sickbay to learn something about viruses and bacteria and complete a little workshop on hypos and whatever. Meanwhile, the scientists will be divided in two groups of four and each group gets an instructor who will fly them to Europe in a shuttlecraft, where you’re supposed to pretend you’re on AlphaBetaGamma and collect rocks, bugs, plants and whatever and do some experiments on them before you decide to take them back to the ship, which will be the science lab of the Enterprise because that’s like the only thing that’s working on this ship. There you will finish your tasks and if everything works well, you’ll be finished by tomorrow afternoon. And yes, you will spend a night in Europe. The people from the command division will just stay in the Kobayashi Maru rooms with me and fulfill a couple of tasks once they arrive. Any questions so far?”

“What exactly are we supposed to do with these elements we collect?”

“Mr Spock will explain it to you once you’ve determined everything about our little planet. He’ll also give you more details about what you need to collect.” Jim said “Oh and speaking of him, he’ll accompany you to Europe but he’ll go to Geneva because they asked him to have a look at their particle accelerator because they seem to have a little issue” he shrugged and Carissa remember that Spock had told her about that when she asked him what he was doing on the weekend (because she wanted to find out if he guessed that she would be coming to the tryout). “So he’ll stay there and one group will pick him up on their way back” they nodded and Jim had a look at the time “I bet Spock’s been taking my instruction to give me five minutes a bit too literally…” he said “And Bones’ late anyways” he walked to the door and opened it. “Oh there you are. Come in, I’m done” he said and his First Officer as well as the medical officer entered the room. Their eyes wandered through the room and she could see Spock freezing when he must have seen her and his eyebrow cocked up. She grinned at him, waving a tiny hello with her hand. “And?” Jim asked, standing beside the Vulcan and glancing at him as if he expected a reaction “What do you think of them?” he looked at the Captain

“I trust your judgement that they will be distinguished”

“That’s the spirit” he patted his back before he went to introduce McCoy, then his other friend.

-oO0Oo-

After everyone had a detailed assignment, they left for the Kobayashi Maru simulator. Since they needed a Captain and an evaluator for this task, Spock sat down in the Captain’s chair and told everyone what they had to do. Since they couldn’t all be at the science desk, they took other roles and would all determine one thing about the fictional planet, just that the instruments would take the data from the devices that had been installed on the roof of the Academy. She suggested it had been Spock who made sure the data was visible in on the instruments of the USS Trainor Finally, it was Carissa’s turn and she had to determine what kind of life that could be found on the planet.

“Definitely humanoid lifeforms but different species. The vegetation is almost similar to the one on planet Earth but sparse in that area and I get indicators of vertebrates and also other animal phylums, such as mollusks and arthropods. Most of them also belong to different classes. So I guess it’s safe to say it’s very biodiverse. Wow, even the water has many living things inside it” she decided and had to pull herself together not to get off the point too much. Plus, she was also surprised by how good and detailed the measuring devices on the roof were working “Funnily all lifeforms have already been identified, so there probably won’t be much that is unknown. At least not in that area. And there’s a civilization that’s using advanced technology. But I think we’d better land somewhere else where there isn’t that much populated so that we don’t go noticed. Shall I make out coordinates that we could land?”

“Thank you, Cadet Wiley. Cadet George, please take over and determine convenient landing-coordinates”

“Do I need to find them in Europe?”

“Have I mentioned the continent?”

“Err no?”

“May I hear from you what task I gave you?”

“To find coordinates to land?”

“Exactly”

“Oh I see, I just need to find a good spot and then we pretend that the place in Europe are those coordinates…” he got to work and for a couple of minutes not much happened until he said two coordinates. Spock asked another cadet at the helm to check them out.

“It looks like a shuttle landing place from an airport, Sir”

“Cadet George, I do understand why you think such a place would make a good area to land but the point of our mission is to not get into contact with the natives if possible”

“But Wiley said they’re a known species. So they won’t cause us trouble. Besides, we could land in the night…”

“Yeah sure” Carissa muttered “Because no one will be there then because of course no shuttles land at night. And just because we know a species doesn’t mean they don’t mean trouble” her classmate sighed and tried again, naming two other coordinates.

“That’s a corn field” the helmsman reported after checking

“Yeah, then we could hide the shuttle in there” Spock shifted in the Captain’s chair and she was sure had he been human, he would have buried his face in his hands.

“What if someone is there? And do you really want to destroy their food when we land? That surely won’t cause trouble at all” Carissa asked

“Your classmate is right” Spock said “Please, try one last time”

“What do you expect me to do? Shall we land in the Antarctica or what? You’ve got no one there” Carissa muttered to herself that there still were some science outposts.

“Can you repeat your mission?”

“We’ve got to find three different samples, like rocks, plants or insects”

“Do you expect to find the latter two at the place you just mentioned?”

“Err no?” Spock raised an eyebrow “Yes?” now Carissa buried her face in her hands. “No anyway? I’m confused. You make me nervous”

“I have made that observation as well, yes. Cadet Wiley, please take over” although she felt pride the he wanted her to do it, she felt sorry for her fellow cadet, knowing he had forfeited his chance for a place on the Enterprise.

Once everything was sorted out, they left the simulation room and gathered in the classroom from the beginning again. When the second group was finished, Spock sent the medics away with Leonard before they made two groups of four with the rest of the scientists. Again they were told what they had to do and then left for the ship hangar where they would meet their instructors, the ones who would also evaluate them.

-oO0Oo-

Somehow Carissa felt strange knowing that she had been to space and another planet before but never to another continent on Earth. They landed somewhere in France for all she knew and had to take the samples and do some experimenting there.

“Almost a pity we can’t stay here longer. I’d love to spend a day here before we return” a classmate said as they tried to collect some bugs they had found.

“Yeah. How did your part in the simulation go?” Carissa asked

“Quite well. Though Evan didn’t even ‘scan’ the planet and just told us about Earth’s atmosphere what he knew himself and I guess he made at least one mistake.”

“Oh. Ryan wanted us to land on an airport, then a cornfield and then went for Antarctica” her partner looked at her and grinned

“Okay, I think that’s worse. So where are we now, according to him?”

“Oh Spock was fed up with him and told me to take over. No idea where exactly I brought us but there’s a like some miles away from San Francisco. At least if we had landed at the place I wanted us to go….”

“I still don’t know why they couldn’t just let us stay in America”

“Well maybe that would have been to close. Here it’s a bit different already…Besides, like this we needed to be in that shuttlecraft a bit longer… or maybe because the Commanded needed to go to Geneva anyways”

“Okay, that makes sense” they fell silent again and tried to get the bugs into the jars.

“That somehow reminds me of elementary school”

“Yeah” he chuckled “Wouldn’t have thought back then that I would be collecting bugs in space one day. Well not in space itself, on foreign planets I mean.”

“If there even are bugs on those planet”

“Well, AlphaBetaGamma has bugs” he said, holding up his jar with two bugs in it

“Yes it does. Agile ones” she chuckled. “Hey do you have any idea what the time is?”

“Uhh… I know our American time but I have no idea what time zone we are in right now. Why did you ask?”

“Just because. We need to plan our night and it looks like it’s getting dark soon. Besides, you remember that Commander Spock said he would contact us at 2000 hours local time. Not that we miss his call”

“I still don’t get why he has to call us? We’ve got our instructor”

“He’s our captain in this exercise, don’t forget that. We need to report to him as we would on a mission. Besides, he is responsible for us. What if we got attacked by wolves?”

“I bet the instructor has a phaser. But hey, imagine we would take a wolf with us to examine it. We’d definitely get that place on the ship”

“Still. What if it’s a pack and he’s killed? Then we’re screwed” she shrugged “But I doubt there are wolves here anyways. Maybe he just wants to make sure no one got lost or left or whatever” she shrugged.

“Okay, we can go back to meet the others again” her partner said and got up, wiping the dirt off his trousers. “I think five bugs should be enough for now. We’ve still got to make the experiments” she nodded and took a handful of soil which she put in the container as well. “Do we need to take soil?”

“Nah, but it’ll help to calm down the bugs. Besides more samples are better than too few…” she gave a shrug and they returned to the shuttle. Their teammates were already back and did the tests on their rocks and plants. Also Carissa and Theodore took out the supplies they needed to perform their examinations. The instructor walked over to them and asked them to explain what they were doing as they did it.

-oO0Oo-

Suddenly Carissa saw that the sun had sunk and frowned. This probably meant that it had been 8 PM and she wondered why her boyfriend hadn’t gotten into contact with them yet. She asked the instructor what time it was

“2024 hours” he replied.

“Commander Spock hasn’t contacted us yet” she said

“He must have forgotten it” Theodore suggested

“Definitely not” Carissa said

“The CERN has closed now, hasn’t it?” an alien cadet called Syl asked.

“Yes. So he can’t have been distracted” Carissa said “Which is rare anyways. Vulcans never forget things”

“Maybe he forgot his PADD somewhere?”

“Or the other group has taken longer with their report”

“I guess we should contact them to ask”

“What for? I bet he’ll get in touch any moment now”

“Don’t Vulcans meditate?”

“Ah sure that must be the reason. It probably took longer than usual” the instructor said, obviously relieved

“He probably wouldn’t do it before he contacted us. I mean there’s always a chance it takes longer” Carissa corrected. She entered the shuttle and contacted the other group. They seemed surprised but they hadn’t heard anything from Spock either. “Well,” she said and gave a shrug “Then we contact him” she decided as she tried to reach him on his PADD, ignoring the frowns and protests from some of her teammates. Right now she didn’t even care if she disrupted his mediation, she was worried because she knew it was very, very much unlike him to not contact her at the time he promised. She saw that the connection was built, all Spock needed to do was to answer her call. Which he didn’t. In contrary, he dismissed her “He dismissed the call” she gasped and instantly tried to reach him again but the signal was lost “And his signal’s gone”

“Oh come on, it maybe just was the connection that broke. Must be a mistake in the network. We’re out in nowhere here.”

“That connection is supposed to work without an external network” she said “We can’t expect other planets to have this. I’m telling you one thing. There is something wrong. It makes no sense that he dismissed the call”

“Someone could have stolen his PADD”

“He probably has a communicator with him. He would have contacted us with that”

“Maybe he didn’t realize his PADD is gone and forgot to call us?”

“That sounds unlikely” Syl said “What should we do?” Carissa looked to the instructor

“I guess we should inform Starfleet and see if they can reach him. I’ve got no idea how to contact him on his communicator. Or do you know?”

“I know” he said as he took out his own communicator and switched it on, trying to reach the Commander “Nothing” he said

“Maybe someone stole his PADD and his communicator”

“He’s probably more intelligent than the five of us put together. He would have found a way to contact us if he is in a state to do so”

“He was robbed and knocked out”

“That would have needed to be a huge group who did this. Vulcans are much stronger than most other species that life on earth”

“Well then it was a large group that robbed and knocked him out”

“So we all agree that something is not alright?”

“What are we supposed to do?”

“We contact Starfleet and ask them if we can go and investigate”

“I bet this is just a test… they want us to worry and as soon as we arrive in Geneva, he’ll await us and tell us that we all failed because we ignored our task”

“Come on, if this was a test it we would act correct by go and having a look. Who cares about rocks when someone of our crew could be in danger?”

“Well he isn’t our crew. Besides, it aren’t just rocks, there are plants and bugs too”

“I bet you won’t pass this tryout with that attitude. And I’m going to contact Starfleet now and ask for their permission to go and have a look” before anyone protested she just did that, not even caring if their instructor was okay with it. Starfleet allowed them to go to Geneva to see if they could find the Vulcan, which didn’t really make everyone all too happy. On their way there, Carissa didn’t care about the other cadet’s looks since she could only think about her boyfriend and what could have happened to him. She even demanded the last coordinates of his PADD, what made her frown even more “He’s somewhere in France now. I mean at least he’s been there at the time before his PADD was switched off”

“Doesn’t mean he was there. Maybe that’s where the thieves went” Syl said.

“True. That’s why we’ll go to Geneva first anyway” Carissa said, not even noticing that she had kind of taken the lead of the mission “Someone should go to his hotel to ask if he has been there”

“How are we supposed to know which hotel he is in?”

“Good question” Carissa said, looking at their instructor “Do you know something?”

“I can’t recall the name”

“Then we’ll just look up which hotels are near the CERN” Carissa decided as she switched on the PADD again. Luckily, she knew him well enough to exclude three fancy ones and a hostel. She then handed the PADD to the instructor, who quickly retrieved the address of the right hotel. “Good. That’s where we head first”

“And what do we tell them?”

“The truth” Carissa said

-oO0Oo-

Somehow she was surprised that they were even allowed to have a look at Spock’s room. The other cadets didn’t even dare to enter and if she was honest, she wouldn’t have done it either if Spock hadn’t been her boyfriend. But after all she had lived with him for a year, so this didn’t feel wrong. After all she wouldn’t rummage his things and just have a look if she saw anything suspicious, like traces of a fight. It seemed like he only had been here to deposit his bag and change from his uniform shirt into something else, informal. She figured that he only reason he’d leave his room again was to get food. This was what she told the other cadets and the instructor after she left the room.

“Excuse me, have you seen him leaving maybe?” she asked the receptionist who shook his head. His colleague, however, seemed to have seen him. “Could you see what he had with him? I mean is it possible he had a PADD like this?” she asked, holding up the one from the shuttle.

“Probably…” she answered.

“Do you know what kind of restaurants are nearby? Like approximately ten minutes of walking? Nothing too fancy, crowded or loud. Nothing that mostly sells meat and probably not international kitchen. Maybe something typical from here?” she turned to her colleague and they talked in French before Carissa was told names of certain restaurants

“Oh wait. ‘The Space’”

“It’s international” Carissa was already getting information about it and a small gasp left her lips

“Not international. Intergalactic is more like it” she said

“You mean he went there?” Theodore asked

“I am quite sure they serve Vulcan meals, so yes”

“Alright, let’s go there”

“No, we should try to find out which way he took and take this one too… maybe we find traces of a fight there”

“Or he got involved in a bar fight”

“Definitely” she grumbled, asking the PADD for directions to said restaurant

“He could have just provoked someone without knowing. He just has a manner that makes you want to beat him senseless at times”

“Okay that’s true” she admitted. “We’ll just take different ways and meet at the restaurant in… 15 minutes”

“What kind of traces of a fight do you mean?”

“I don’t know, anything that could have been used as a weapon or blood”

“Isn’t Vulcan blood blue?”

“Green” she mumbled before she told everyone where they should walk through. On the way to the restaurant she didn’t know if she wanted to find traces of a fight. A part of her hoped she would because at least she would have an idea what happened, on the other hand she didn’t want something to have happened to him. But something told her that if he was alright he would have long gotten in touch with them somehow. She swallowed and walked faster. Her classmates were already awaiting her at the restaurant

“Nothing. We even were inside. He wasn’t here. So he either got attacked on the way here, without traces, he didn’t come here or nothing happened at all” she nodded and once again tried to contact him, just out of foolish hope. At least she saw that his PADD was on again. This time she cancelled the call, hoping there would be a way to locate it.

“I’ve got the signal of his PADD again. I’ll ask Starfleet to locate it”

“Good. Then they can come here and investigate themselves. This is not our job”

“We can at least go to have a look. Maybe it’s just the thieves that are there. But then they could tell us something about his whereabouts.” Syl said, offering Carissa some comfort

“Yes. We can get an overview of the situation” she contacted Starfleet and shortly after had the coordinates she asked for. “They said we could go there to have a look. They’re coming too” she informed her friends.

“Good. Let’s return to our actual task…”

“Look, it takes Starfleet over four hours to get here… we’d better go and have look because we’ll need about half an hour with the shuttle. If he was abducted, every minute could count”

“And what do you suggest? That we’d go and rescue him?” although she would have never admitted it out loud, she did somehow like the thought of rescuing him.

Next Chapter

#spock #spock x oc #spock fanfiction #fanfiction #star trek #Star Trek Fanfiction

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marshmallow-phd · 5 years

Text

Secret in His Eyes

Spinoff of Sins of the Father

Genre: Mafia Au

Pairing: Luhan x Reader

Summary: A vacation exploring China’s famous city was supposed to be relaxing. When you witness a horrifying murder, you instead find yourself in police custody, unable to run. Trying to stay alive, you meet Luhan, and you believe you can trust him. You never imagined that he might be the one you should be running from.

Part: Prologue I 1 I 2 I 3 I 4 I 5 I 6 I 7 I 8 I 9 I 10 I 11 I 12 I Final

This city was beautiful. The touristy parts, anyway. You were sure that – like every other city in the world – Beijing had its ugly scars, too. But you stayed in the areas that all the brochures and websites bragged about, saving you from having to see those not-so-shiny places.

You’d been saving up for this trip for the past year and a half. All your life you wanted to experience just one place new. Then you’d be perfectly content going back to your ordinary life with your office job. Or maybe this trip would just make you eager for the next one. It was kind of a toss up at this point in your youth. But you wouldn’t worry about whether or not you could be content with your boring routine until you were back home. For now, you’d continue exploring, taking in the beautiful, ancient architecture that was so unique to the region, visiting the art and history museums to learn more about what you were seeing, and trying all the street food you could get your hands on. Your main focus was to take in all that you could and not forget a single moment.

When you’d first arrived in Beijing, a nauseated feeling had bubbled up in your stomach. You were in foreign territory, completely on your own, with very little knowledge on how to navigate this roaring city. The feeling refused to die down as you checked into your hotel and searched the maps you’d been given by the front desk worker for something to eat. Even with as exhausted as you were from traveling, sleep didn’t come easy. By some miracle, however, you woke up the next morning much more at ease with your surroundings. Still nervous about getting lost or accidentally offending someone, but it wasn’t as threatening a feeling as it had been before. Going throughout your day, you nearly forgot all about your worries, too absorbed in your findings to pay attention to it.

By day three, you were practically a local. It was so magical, each new finding, that you couldn’t believe this was truly your reality, like soon you’d wake up to find it was all a dream.

“Oh, back again?”

You blushed as you bobbed your head in greeting. There was one vendor in the market place near your hotel that you kept coming back to. A mother and daughter team sold the most delicious baozi you’d ever tasted. Granted, your experience was limited to a few blocks, but it was a common street food and none compared to this dynamic duo’s. While the mother didn’t speak English, you were able to communicate with the daughter well enough.

“It’s my favorite treat,” you admitted shyly. The daughter waived you closer before pulling out two steaming, fresh buns, wrapping them carefully before holding them out to you. When you started to pull out your wallet, she shook her head. “No. These are just for you. Since you like them so much.”

You pursed your lips. “That doesn’t feel right.”

“You’ve been a loyal customer,” she laughed. “It’s the least we could do! However,” she rounded the cart, coming up close to you as she lowered her voice, “tonight is the Shangyuan Festival. My mother will be staying in, but if you would like to join me to make her happy that I won’t be alone, we’ll consider that payment.”

It still didn’t seem fair, but you laughed anyway. “Yes, of course!” You’d noticed the streets being decorated with paper lanterns since your arrival – some were the traditional round red ones you were used to, but others were shaped like flowers and animals, beautifully crafted and painted, making you stare in awe. “It’d be nice to have someone show me the festival.”

“Good! It’s settled then. We will close before the sun sets, so meet me here then. We’ll walk my mother home and then I will show you the festival!”

You nodded eagerly. Before parting so you could hurry to your other planned activities for the afternoon, you finally learned the daughter’s name: Shishi. It was cute and not something you’d really heard before.

The afternoon hours seemed to fly by and before you knew it, the sun was beginning to disappear from the sky. As quickly as you could, you ran back to the stall, careful not to ram anyone down in the process. Shishi was still waiting for you patiently, her mother shaking her head at you in a scolding manner.

“I’m so sorry,” you huffed, half doubled over from your exhausting sprint.

“It’s okay,” Shishi laughed at you. “Let’s get Mother home and then we’ll attend the festival.”

You nodded and stepped back for her to lead the way. Their home wasn’t too far from the stall and once Shishi saw her mother inside, the two of you took off towards another district in the city where a big crowd had gathered near the Chaobai River.

Lanterns of all shapes and sizes hung from nearly ever ledge. Children ran around the streets while carrying sticks that held small paper fish on the ends of strings, making it looking like schools of fish were swimming through the air. Different sweet scents drifted up to your nose, making your mouth water.

Perhaps seeing that ravenous look in your eye, Shishi pulled you over to one of the vendors, getting each of you one of those sugar coated sweets made by the true experts of the trade. The artists didn’t have fancy, expensive culinary schooling; they simply had tradition and a love for the for food.

You continued to walk along the street in order to take in all the sights happening around you. This was the reason you’d come to the beautiful city of Beijing. The joy and laughter around you was infectious and you felt as if you were on the receiving end of a precious gift. All the pictures and blogs in the world couldn’t truly capture the feeling, the essence of the festival and the deep rooted traditions happening before your very eyes. No matter what happened to you on this trip, you knew tonight would be something that you would never forget.

Luhan leaned back in his chair and waited rather impatiently for the underling to arrive. It was ten minutes past the time he was told to be here and Luhan was losing his patience.

For the past month, he’d had a man inside the main police department of Beijing and he needed his updates. Lately, the cops had been one step ahead of him while conducting his deals, putting several of his suppliers behind bars and ruining his business. His own customers were getting antsy, hence why he needed the information to squash the rat.

Leaning up against the wall to his right, Kris chewed on a toothpick between his teeth. “I thought he was supposed to be here by now.”

“Unfortunately, Xiaofei isn’t known for his punctuality,” Luhan huffed. He picked up the glass ball he kept on his desk and inspected it, although there was nothing wrong with the small paperweight. In the low lighting of his office, he could only make out a faint shadow on the smooth glass rather than his reflection. The small globe was almost completely see-through except for the etched continents covering the surface. While he couldn’t quite say that he held the world in his hands, the little globe gave him a sense of accomplishment, even when things went a little askew.

“I still think we should have sent someone else,” Tao whined from the couch. He was staring up at the ceiling, hands folded behind his head for a pillow as he reclined on his back. His suit jacket was draped across the back of the couch to save it from wrinkling.

Luhan rolled his eyes. He was tired of having this conversation over and over again. “Xiaofei already had connections within the office, I’ve told you that. Plus, he’d be able to blend better than most.”

There weren’t many people in the world Luhan could trust, the top two being in this room. Everyone who worked for him was under constant surveillance and he occasionally had to clean out the filth with little crumbs of fake information. It was how he survived all these years. The Chinese underworld was ruthless. He hardly had a moment where he wasn’t watching his back.

Just then, the door to the office creaked open. Tao sat up, eyeing the crack that wasn’t quite big enough to let a human through while Luhan placed the globe back down on the desk with a heavy thump. The vaguest outline of a shadow, visible against the white door frame, flinched at the sound. Luhan could practically smell the stench of fear radiating off of the underling from his seat.

Picking up his feet and placing them back down on the floor, Luhan growled, “Just come in before I lose my patience and shoot you through the door.”

That little threat did the trick. Xiaofei scurried inside the office, closing the door behind him with a sound that was halfway between a click and a slam. His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down as if he was trying to keep the contents of his stomach from spilling out onto the rug. The police uniform Xiaofei had been given was wrinkled and half untucked. Were his men really such slobs?

Clearing his throat, Xiaofei straightened up and then bowed at a ninety-degree angle. He was putting on a brave front, they all knew. And Luhan would let him play his little act.

“Sir, I have not been able to find the leak within the department as of yet.” The voice that left Xiaofei’s mouth didn’t match the round, burly face he was born with. It was of a higher pitch, not fit for his age. The face that Luhan imaged the voice belonging to was one of a rat, pointed and sharp, all the features focused in on the center. It was a face that fit Xiaofei’s character much more closely.

“Did you even really try?” Tao spat. His dark eyes were narrowed at the underling. He was not one to take kindly to a lack of results.

“Y-yes, sir,” Xiaofei bowed quickly to the silver-haired boss. “The department is very tight-lipped. They don’t take too kindly to new faces. It’ll take me another few months to get them to trust me.”

“We don’t have another few months,” Kris snarled, flicking the toothpick at the trembling man. The little piece of wood stuck to Xiaofei’s shoulder, but he made no attempt to brush it away, accepting the small but humiliating action.

Luhan let out a long sigh in order to make his displeasure known in a much more subtle manner. “Xiaofei.” The man flinched at the sound of his name even though Luhan didn’t raise his voice above a causal level. “Before I sent you in there, you swore to me that you had connections inside. Now, that wasn’t a lie, was it?”

“No, sir, I swear!” Xiaofei staggered on his feet as he tried to plead for his life. As soon as Luhan stood, the coward fell to his knees in a showy sign of respect. “My connections are good. It’ll just take a little more time. Please. I will find the leak. I swear it.”

Grabbing a fistful of his shirt, Luhan bent down and stared Xiaofei down. “You have one month left. I suggest you bring me back something viable at the end of that time frame. If you don’t, then you’ll be replaced.” Letting him go with a forceful shove, Luhan headed for the door. He only paused long enough to give one last warning. “I like to think of this organization as a well-oiled, well-maintenanced machine. The only way to keep it working is to upgrade the parts that have become useless. And there’s only one thing to do with useless parts, isn’t there?”

Though Xiaofei didn’t look back at Luhan, the shiver that ran down his spine and shook his shoulders was visible enough proof that the message had been received. With confident steps, Luhan glided down the hall of the mansion he called home. Soon, he would find out who was undermining his operations and he would make sure they regretted ever going up against The Deer before he ended their life for good.

Your feet were aching and throbbing, but you still weren’t ready to go home for the night. Stuffed full of delicious street food made only during this special time, you continued to follow Shishi through the crowds, stopping every once in a while to watch a choreographed dance by a group of performers ora magic show put on by a man you suspected might be tricking the audience in more ways than one.

The stars above were beginning to come alive for the night, adding to the mystical atmosphere. Only the strongest were able to be made out against the fading backdrop thanks to the stronger lights of the city. It made you a little sad, not being able to see a sky full of twinkling stars, but you pushed that emotion away, preferring to focus on the happier commotion around you.

However, when you brought your eyes back to the festival, Shishi was gone. You whirled around several times, but you couldn’t find her. Over and over, you called out, but no reply was ever sent back your way. Frantically, you shoved through the crowd. Had something happened to her? Or had you simply been separated? It was your own fault for dawdling and not paying attention. Panic was starting to set in. Until you saw a familiar bun of black hair resting on top of a head that was about Shishi’s height.

You followed the bun through the crowd until the owner disappeared into an alleyway. She took a few more twists and turns before you finally caught up to her, grabbing her shoulder in relief.

“Shishi!”

When she turned around, however, you were frustrated to find that it wasn’t your friend, but a stranger you’d never seen before. She threw you a snarled look even as you bowed out an apology over and over again. Soon you were alone again and utterly lost. The only light to see by came from the more occupied main streets, but you weren’t sure which one you should head towards to try and find your way back. Every direction looked the same. You cursed yourself for not paying more attention the further you got from the main street.

Crash!

You jumped back against the brick wall, collapsing down to hide in the shadow of a dumpster when you saw a man fall to the cracking asphalt, his head bouncing off the ground as he landed hard on his back. Even in the dim light, you could make out a stream of blood running down from his nose and over his lips before dripping off his chin. When another man stepped into your line of vision, you shrank farther back, practically melding with the grime-covered trash bin.

The man who was still standing pulled out a gun and pointed it down at the one on the ground. As if knowing that his end was near, the first man simply groaned and turned his face upwards towards the sky. The man with the gun chuckled and began speaking in Mandarin. You couldn’t understand a majority of the words leaving his mouth, but one word did stick out to you: Lu. He repeated it a few times, mixed around in sentences that you couldn’t make out.

Then he shot the man on the ground, the bullet slicing through his forehead.

You couldn’t stop the gasp that your shock and horror forced out. Immediately, you slapped a hand over your mouth, praying that he hadn’t heard you. Seeing that there was just enough space between the wall and the dumpster, you scrambled to better hide yourself, hoping that you weren’t simply jumping into the barrel for an easier target.

Footsteps slowly headed in your direction, crackling the loose pebbles under his shoes with each step. You squeezed your eyes shut and sent up a silent prayer to anyone who might be listening. And apparently, someone was.

Sirens blared from a street close by. You barely caught the man disappearing around the corner when you risked opening your eyes. Slowly, you crawled out from behind the dumpster. Your hand landed warm and sticky, making you jump back with a scream when you realized it was blood pooling out from the dead man’s head.

Two new voices shouted and you threw your hands up to show you were unarmed. A bright light made you squint and you couldn’t tell who was approaching you, but you hoped it was the police. The light finally lowered. You let out a sigh of relief. The two officers lowered their guns and exchanged dumbfounded looks.

You had no idea what kind of mess you’d stumbled into.

#exo #exo mafia au #exo mafia!au #luhan x reader #luhan #lu han #exo fanfiction #exo fanfic #kris wu #wu yifan #huang zitao #z.tao #tao #exo gang au #exo gang!au #exo series #Secret in His Eyes

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