#AI Swipe Technology

[gadgethubone]

SwipeFunnel Review – Swipe Funnel OTO Details + Bonuses + Honest Reviews By Gadgethub1

The World First AI Swipe Funnel!

Brand New  AI “Swiping Technology”

Taps Into 6.8 Billion Mobile Users Goldmine 

TO Get UNLIMITED Traffic, Leads & Sales

Someone Swipe or Tap! Earn Up To $577 Per Sale With $3,000 In JV Prizes!

SWIPEFUNNEL REVIEW – WHAT IS CALLED SWIPEFUNNEL?

SwipeFunnel is the world's first system that allows you to use swiping technology. This technology will pay you whenever someone swipes or taps their phone. Once you become a member of Swiptiz you will quickly discover something you have never seen before.

SWIPEFUNNEL REVIEW – ABOUT THE CREATOR

This software was created by Jason Fulton and his collaborator Seun Ogundele. They both have a lot of experience with online marketing and have been through many ups and downs in their careers, which has helped them gain more experience and come up with innovative product ideas.

>>>Get It Now>>>

SWIPEFUNNEL REVIEW – FEATURE DETAILS

Swipe Funnel Creator:

With just a few clicks of your mouse, you’ll have your first Swipe Funnel created and online so you can start getting results fast. No technical skills or prior experience is needed!

DFY Swipe Funnels:

We don’t want anything to stop you from getting results quickly, so we’re going to give you access to PROVEN swipe funnels to use as your own right out of the gates.

Access To Our 7 MILLION MEGA Stock Image Library:

Never worry about having the right content – Search and deploy attention-grabbing images to use in your campaigns with the click of your mouse!

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GIFs Integration: Get UNLIMITED GIFS Animation From Just a Keyword:

GIFS are PROVEN to get engagement, and when you combine these with the power of swiping, you’ll quickly see your traffic, leads and sales go through the roof!

Countdown Timers – Induce Scarcity and 10x Your Leads & Traffic:

If you want to maximize your campaigns, get more traffic, and ultimately make more sales, then we’ve got just what you need! These timers are PROVEN to boost results fast!

Facebook Pixels – Retargeting Ads & Building Audience:

When you add retargeting to your Swipe campaigns you are able to quickly get more eyeballs on your campaigns, improve targeting and 10X your overall results without hard work!

Exit Intent Pop-Up – Reclaim Lost Visitors, Leads & Sales With Our Exit Intent Pop-up:

A powerful predictive software tool will help grab the attention of a visitor before they leave so you can reclaim that traffic and get visitors to TAKE ACTION NOW!

Integrate With Autoresponders:

Maximize lead generation results by linking your favorite autoresponder with Swipr so any campaign becomes a lead-grabbing machine!

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Mobile Ready Swipe Pages:

Since more and more traffic is going mobile, we’re made Swipr mobile-friendly by giving you the ability to quickly create mobile-ready swipe campaigns with no coding!

Embed Swipe Funnel Anywhere:

Take your swipe card and embed it anywhere. Embed it on your blogs, websites, marketing pages, stores, Ads or just let us host it on our server.

HOW TO BUILD PASSIVE INCOME WITH SWIPEFUNNEL?

In this section, I will show you how you can apply this product and earn money from it

♦ Home Page

As soon as you first login to your account, you can see an overview of what you have done so far on your dashboard.

Finding Offers:

As you can see, in order to obtain any CPA (cost per action), which means you get paid whenever someone takes action, you must first sign up.

You don't even have to sell anything to be able to acquire the free trials or join up or enter their email or zip code and get paid up to $100 each action.

All you have to do is search for a certain term for the deal you want to advertise.

You can register with any of them to obtain your connection. In addition, by clicking Warrior Plus, you can gain access to the highest-converting deals and obtain your affiliate link.

♦ Create Swipe Funnel

This software allows you to create highly engaging and addictive swipe cards with images gears and videos. Then you can redirect them to your affiliate offers or CPA.

You can start off by designing an eye-catching welcome page to attract people’s attention.

And the most important part is to paste your link to the campaign, you can choose to add in swipe offers or Warriors plus affiliate links:

And finally, you can start creating cards to complete your campaign and profiting from people doing swipes for you:

>>>Get It Now>>>

DOES THIS SYSTEM REALLY WORK?

♥ Getting Paid $154.09/Hour For The First Time Trying

It will automatically detect traffic, SWIPE or TAP on their phone and create a list of who SWIPE or TAP. You have no par.

So without any kind of tension, you just watch the training videos carefully, then setup your over and change it as needed. And you will instantly be paid $154.09/hour in pure profit for getting people to tap and swipe on their cell phones.

Well, thanks to this product, you will no longer have to deal with any of the following issues:

[+] Struggle with list building

[+] Create email marketing

[+] Build a solid website

[+] Have your own product

[+] Or pay for ads

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Proven To Be Effective For You:

The method was thoroughly tested and proved before it was released to deliver the best and most immediate results for consumers.

All 35 beta testers made their first money within the first 12 hours. A tester made $144.95 in ONE HOUR using the simplest method from this SwipeFunnel and $45,227.43 after 60 days.

So there's no doubt in my mind that you'll be able to achieve the same!

If you're fed up with wasting time and money and don't want your 2023 to go to waste, this SwipeFunnel is the EXACT method you've been waiting for all along.

As a result, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for you to succeed this year.

SWIPEFUNNEL REVIEW – PRICE & UPSELLS:

If you take a look at what you get with SWIPEFUNNEL the current market price is $6,170. However, you only have to pay $19.10 for the front-end pricing of this product today. 

As I previously stated, this price is incredibly affordable when compared to all of the goodies available inside. 

So acquire this bundle now, because this limited-time offer will expire soon, and the price will gradually rise.

WHO WOULD TRY THIS SWIPEFUNNEL?

SwipeFunnel is suitable for those who want to see their business turn a profit with no investment and want to see a profit the first time without any investment. It's suitable for:

Affiliate marketers

♥ Media creators

♥ Social media marketers

♥ Product creators

♥ Coaches

♥ Consultants

♥ Freelancers

♥ Local marketers

♥ Email marketers

♥ Entrepreneurs

CONCLUSION

I hope that my SwipeFunnel review was informative enough for you. Remember that this is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to increase your income with free traffic. Use this limited-time offer before it expires and all of the best rates are gone.

I wish you the best of luck with your decision once more.

>>>Get It Now>>>

[o-pandora-o]

What in Hell is Bad? Kings! Steamer AU! Part 1 (Satan, Mammon, Leviathan, Beelzebub)

In the demon world where streaming is a trend, what would the kings stream?

a/n: I wrote this because I had inspiration from HCs (from HSR). I'm trying my best to be interested again in WHB, will post more Hcs and fics this year, I promise. I have several fics that are WIPS and now I'm just writing the ending of several parts. I will probably do and post the ones I have most interest in, as apparently first come first serve isn't working for my brain LMAO.

Satan

🩸 Satan would be a streamer that plays multiplayer online battle arena games (MOBA) (e.g. League of Legends, Dota 2, etc.)

🩸 He mostly uses DPS/Atk based characters. If he needs to change roles (Tank/Support) it's still on DPS/Atk build. You're asking him to revive you? Nope. He's killing the enemy team using a healer. You're asking him to tank? Nope. He's gotta be the MVP (enemy deaths, not as support).

"Hah face me like a man, you scaredy cat!"

🩸 In terms of his setup, it was a simple gaming setup with LED lights and a decent gaming chair. The background was simple, a few posters, Gundam Models, and a few figures here and there.

🩸 Invites and plays with mammon often (and streams it). One time, he invited Mammon to play League (it was Mammon's first time playing), he raged when Mammon became the MVP and doesn't know the significance of it.

"YOU TOLD ME THIS WAS YOUR FIRST TIME PLAYING??"

Mammon laughs heartily "Hahahah it was! I kind of enjoyed it"

"YOU FUCKIN-" Satan's mods muted his mic for sa safety of the ears of the viewers.

🩸 Hosts one of those games where viewers can also challenge Satan. Of course no one beats him.

🩸 Satan is secretly called by his fanbase as "Sahua", which was short for Satan Chihuahua.

"Sahua gettin mad, get yo popcorns ready" A viewer commented.

Satan saw this and asked "Who is Sahua?"

The chat flooded with 'Uh oh..." "he's onto us...."

Satan got more curious and said "Okay ya'll are hinding something! Who the $%&# is Sahua?"

One anonymous viewer commented "Sahua = Satan Chihuahua"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLIN CHIHUAHUA?!" his mod, Sitri, decided to cut the connection before Satan decides to ban his viewer one by one.

🩸 His fanbase and viewers are called Warriors of Gehenna (he named himself).

"It's kinda cringey..." Beelzebub says

"TF YOU MEAN IT'S CRINGEY, YOU $=#£"

Mammon

🪙Mammon would be the type of streamer that plays Gacha games (similar to Genshin Impact, Honkai Star Rail, Wuthering waves etc.) and Casual games (Stardew Valley etc.).

🪙Tartaros being the lead country of technology, he owns the MOST expensive gaming PC and chair known to mankind, his chair even has the built in massage function.

🪙Once invited Satan to one of his streams while playing Stardew Valley. Satan once commented to "stop being a wuss" because Mammon played Stardew Valley but little did he know Satan was becoming hooked.

🪙Hosts one of those events where he pulls on viewer's accounts. Ofc you can trust him with your account because he's hella rich.

🪙If he loses on a viewer's account, he'll ALWAYS swipe because he feels bad.

"Oh. I lost the banner." After a while....*insert recharge noise* "Alright, where were we?"

"Congrats y/n for winning the limited character banner!!!" he said as he laughed heartily.

🪙He also hosts one of those Minecraft Realms that is open to the public. Though his server mods, Bimet and Valefor, occasionally bans players who uses cheats.

🪙He hosts giveaways and competitions for his fanbase. For giveaways, he picks fans randomly from his livestream. For competitions, it's mostly art competitions (despite of being one of the people who have the best gadgets and pc, he hates AI work).

🪙He appreciates and keeps all of the artworks of him. He currently has a gallery filled with all the artworks and even a TV that plays his fanbase's creation of him whether it be memes, best videos of him (edited) or even animations.

"Oi. How come you have a lot of artworks from your viewers?" Satan asks, a bit jealous.

"I don't really curse at them when they lose at games" Mammon smiles at Satan

"WHAT DOES THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN, HUH?!"

🪙His fanbase and viewers are called Mammy's, which is a cuter and shorter name for Mammon's (get it? Because he own's all of you...).

Leviathan

��️"Streaming? Why would I please other people? They should please me for giving them an ample amount of my time. No, they should hang themselves for wasting my time!" Leviathan said as he set up his camera.

⚰️He does vlogs instead of streaming. He mostly creates a series of "Daily Life in Hades", which is honestly just the camera pointing at him while he signs documents.

⚰️In some occasion, viewers can see a naked Barbatos running around the garden (which results in Levi hanging him), Glasylabolas recommending Caskets and Torture devices (which Levi covers the camera), and Leviathan getting caught into Orias' traps and schemes kill Leviathan (in which Foras covers the camera instead).

⚰️In a rare instance, Leviathan plays games (preferably mind games such as Chess) with viewers.

"Pfft you call that games? Hah. Boring!" Satan scoffs.

Mammon laughs heartily and pats Satan's head. "Call it boring but he still makes an effort to entertain his viewers" Mammon states as Satan tries to bite off his hand.

"Why are you idiots here and why are you talking about what I do?! Get out or I'll hang you both!!"

⚰️The viewers and fanbase call levi as Levianyan because of his similarity to a cat; beautiful, sassy, and just a tsundere.

"Stop calling me that! I'm not as weak as a cat! I'll hang all of you one by one!" Leviathan glares at his chat

"Hah! Look at this one getting called a cat by his fanbase! But you know it's kinda cute if your fanbase gives you a nickname" Satan smiles smugly.

"WHY ARE YOU STILL HERE?" Leviathan covers his camera and all of you can hear small explosions and fighting.

⚰️The fanbase and viewers also call themselves "The Levianyan Club" while some...extra lively viewers call themselves "Leviathan's Skincare Routine" (Leviathan does me before going to bed)

"Skincare routine? That's a lively fanbase Hahahaha" Mammon comments on his recent live stream (just a casual talking stream)

"Ugh don't even ask, Mammon." Leviathan glares as he responds to Mammon's chat.

Beelzebub

🕶️He does both streaming and vlogging. He plays cooking mama and some adventure or open world games. While he sometimes vlog about his daily life, travels, and usually ASMR mukbang (eating tons of food).

🕶️He plays cooking mama and recreates the recipes with his own twist. Fried chicken with ice cream? Yeah he does this. Hotdogs and pancakes as hotdog buns? Tastes good! However some recipes.... aren't as good.

🕶️He also plays open world games like Genshin Impact or Minecraft. He lets the viewers join him but there are instances he left the game open and gets distracted by something else.

"Imma go get more food and soda!!" Beel said hurrying.

After a while the chat goes "Beel?" "OML he left us again!" "That's Beel for you....a fly"

🕶️Most of the time Bael will go take over, saying the stream has to stop because Beel decided to buy Pizza...in another country. "Uh Chat....the stupid king can't continue the stream. I apologize for the inconvenience..." You all heard Bael say, as he rubs his temples while facing the camera.

The chat goes "Can you play with us instead, Bael?"

"Me? Well... let's look at his character first...LEVEL 30 AT A WORLD LEVEL WITH ENEMIES ARE 60?" Bael had a migraine.

-Sometimes play with Satan and Mammon but...well you know the drill....he often gets distracted, and leaves the game (irl).

"Bell we need help here? Where are you?" Satan asked as he's focused in killing the enemy in front of him.

"Bell?" Mammon asked while in voice chat.

They both died because of the enemy.

"BEELZEBUB WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU? BELL??" Satan screeches and Mammon laughs as they both know he's gone.

🕶️There were times wherein he live streams mukbang, he stands up to get a drink and ultimately forgets about the stream LMAO. Which leaves him accidentally streaming 'a daily life in Avisos'.

"We got the new menu from House of Avisos! Fried Chicken with Angel Blood, Devil Noodles with extra sauce, and Magma Cakes!! Oh wait we can't forget the drink now!!"

🕶️If he accidentally leaves the live stream open, you can see: Amon drooling at the food that was left, Naberius and Stolas running and flying around, and Bael screaming on top of his lungs while holding a shit ton of receipt "BEELZEBUB COME BACK HERE, I WILL SKIN YOU ALIVE!!!"

🕶️Beel would most likely start the stream, Bael would take over and end the stream. Is that what we call friendship?

-His fanbase and viewers call him "Fly King", while they (fanbase) call themselves "Flies".

"Fly King? Suits him well." Leviathan comments

"Jealous, Levianyan?" Satan sneers as he typed.

"Stop calling me that!" Leviathan glares at Satan's comment.

[lena-in-a-red-dress]

My newest chromebook stopped holding an internet connection, so I had to get a new laptop today, and friends-- the state of technology today is dim.

AI this, copilot that. Almost all of them had a dedicated Copilot button on the keyboard. Almost nothing was in stock.

I got lucky and found a relatively cheap, relatively dumb pc laptop-- with Windows 11 S.

Which is apparently dogshit if you wanna use any third party apps that aren't Microsoft. Luckily I'm only using it for browsing and word processing, so I should be fine. But still.

Oh!! And guess what! The full MS Office suite is subscription now. Which I did not know right up until I almost swiped my card. I noped right out of that for a single purchase of a limited MS Suite for a single machine. Which cost me more up front but is way worth the lack of subscription.

Remember when technology was designed to be actual tools to make life easier and NOT a million different pitfalls to avoid?

[watatsumiis]

Intense Concentration (Part 1)

Reactions to a reader who sticks their tongue out when concentrating intently on something.

Featuring: Ayato, Kaveh, Neuvillette, Thoma, Yae Miko, Zhongli

All platonic fluff!

Ayato finds it rather amusing. He won’t tell you, but you’ll find that he’s sneaking glances at you far more often than usual, hiding his smirk behind a gloved hand. After a while, he simply can’t help himself, and before you can react, he’s reached out and swiped the seal of an envelope over your protruding tongue so that he can close it. He won’t even make eye contact with you, acting as if it was an entirely sane and normal thing for him to do.

Kaveh mimics you. Not consciously, he doesn’t even process the fact that you’re doing it until all of a sudden he’s been doing it for ages while working on some diagram or other and now the tip of his tongue is all dry and he can’t quite figure out why. Once he’s finally savvy to it, he finds this habit of yours utterly adorable and will do it along with you on purpose just so that you match.

Neuvillette tries to disregard it, though he ends up failing rather spectacularly. He finds it super adorable, and recalls that Melusines will do the same thing. Once he’s drawn that parallel, he can’t seem to stop thinking about it, and may end up just looking over at you more often than not with a tiny smile on his face. He may eventually bring it up, but he’s sure to be polite about it and explains that he’s simply curious, not judgemental.

Thoma calls you out on it. Every. Single. Time. “Hey, put that thing away!” “I don’t think you’ll have much luck catching flies like that.” “You know, if you’ve been up to something mischievous, you’re obligated to let me know.” He seems to have infinite quips up his sleeve for this exact situation. He may occasionally stick his tongue out at you in return if he’s too busy or distracted to pull you up on it verbally.

Yae Miko thinks it’s weird, but also quite fascinating. She’s drawing all sorts of conclusions in her head, comparing you to different animals she’s caught with ‘blep’ expressions in the past. She’ll just watch you without a word and wait to see how long you might take to notice. If she starts to tire of this ‘game’, she may just reach out one finger to prod the tip of your tongue, then chuckle at your perplexed reaction.

Zhongli doesn’t really think much of it. He’s met plenty of people who do the exact same thing. Though he’s also a little bit fascinated by the reasoning behind why others do it. He may occasionally try it himself, though it may look a little unsettling thanks to his abnormally long forked tongue, and the fact that it tends to subconsciously flick about, much like it would when he’s scenting the air for danger in his more draconic form.

Please don't repost, steal, copy or otherwise plagiarise my writing! I do not consent for my works to be translated and posted elsewhere, or copy - pasted into bot or AI technology

[whenthedeeppurplefalls]

Late Shift

A ltww fanfiction.

Can be interpreted as gen, or Waldo X reader. Also a little bit of Waldo x detective in there.

You sigh, drumming your fingernails against the counter. Yet another late night spent closing after all your coworkers have gone home- no doubt to cozy beds, hot dinners, welcoming loved ones and lovers- and here you stay, sweeping the floor for the fourth time this evening.

You glare up at the clock, willing it to move faster. There’s still another four hours left in your shift, and with your luck, each minute is going to feel like eternity. Worse yet, it’s a slow night. The only customers you served were a giggling pack of preteens, arms loaded with chips and candy, and a really sad looking middle aged person in a trenchcoat who bought cigarettes and nothing else.

Scanning the storefront and noting the distinct lack of customers, (no one comes into this shithole past five anyway.) you take out your phone. You’re well past the point of caring if they catch you leaning instead of cleaning. (At least your manager is chill.)

You mindlessly scroll for a few minutes. Your feed is chock full of the usual- pointless, junk content, ai generated slop, depressing news, and hateful bastards spewing out the most vile rhetoric their pea-brains could conceive. You definitely don’t need the added mental stress of reading it, what with all your current troubles- rent being late, your cat and her recent appetite problems… (she needs a vet trip, and you definitely can’t afford it.)

So in other words, nothing new. You swipe over to another app, flicking through your notifications, snorting at a meme here and there- when you have the distinct impression you’re being watched. You glance up instinctively for a moment, expecting to see nothing there- just your imagination. Instead, you’re greeted with a long, lanky torso perhaps six inches away from your nose. Clothed in a bright red and white sweater, nonetheless.

You flinch back, completely stunned by the intruder. How in the world did they get so close without you noticing-? Especially in an outfit like that?

“I-“ you stutter out, too startled to compose yourself. You drop your phone in the confusion, then mentally curse yourself. You sure hope the screen didn’t crack. “I’m so sorry- uh, sir.” (He’s a customer, after all. You should be polite to him.) you look up at him, offering a friendly customer service smile, then falter. First of all- he’s almost unnaturally tall, and gangly as a scarecrow. Weirder still is the grin he wears- broad and straining, as if seeing you made his day. (And he’s carrying a walking stick… who carries a walking stick in this day and age?) His hair is black and greasy looking, thankfully hidden by a hat that matches that abomination of a sweater.

He cocks his head at your words, grin somehow stretching further.

“It’s no trouble.” He says. “So sorry to interrupt your break.” He bends to pick up your phone off the ground before you can get to it, and holds it out to you. You take it, noting with some relief that the screen is in one piece.

“Oh- no, no, I wasn’t on break,” You clarify, embarrassed to have been caught slacking. “Just… uh… figured, since no one was here-“

He chuckles a little. “Oh, I see how it is… boss makes a dollar, you make a dime…”

You laugh nervously, praying this guy doesn’t tell on you. “R-Right, yeah… again, I’m sorry about that. I didn’t mean to ignore you.”

He watches your face intently, as though you were a particularly interesting little bug.

“I’ve never understood the fixation on technology,” He says, not unkindly. “It makes it so hard to… notice things. Wouldn’t you agree?”

You have to admit, he’s right. “That’s true… I have a bad habit, I guess.”

He winks, eyes sparkling with some mischief. “So do I.” You have the feeling you’re being left out of some big secret, and cock your head, a little confused. Still, you smile and nod at him.

“Anyways..” You stutter, “Is there anything I can do for you, sir?”

After a moment, the strange man pulls something out from behind his back, holding it out to you. Upon further inspection, it’s a red envelope. You flip it over, noting the lack of postage.

You look back up at him. “Is this… for me?”

“Yes… but not quite. I have a strange request, you see.” Tilting your head, you let him continue.

“Someone very… special, comes in here every so often. They buy a pack of cigarettes?”

Well, very few people come into the shop nowadays, and you can count the number of people who buy cigarettes on one hand, so you nod. “Um… okay?”

“You’ll know them by their trench coat. Dark circles under the eyes.” A sort of spell washes over him. “Strong, commanding voice… well spoken… distinguished grey to the hair… a scar on the ring finger-“

This is getting weird. It sounds like he’s describing his ideal date, really. “Uh… right…” the description sounds familiar, anyway. You’re certain one of your customers has to be the person in question. “I think I know who you’re talking about. I think I saw them earlier.”

He looks satisfied with this, and steeples his fingers together, walking stick hooked over his elbow. “I was wondering, then, if you would do me a little favor.”

“A… favor?”

“You see,” He continues, “Most of the time, I would find a bit of… dangerous cancer in the area to pass on messages for me. But the powers that be have told me to abstain.”

You blink.

So.. working the night shift does tend to bring in an odder brand of person now and again, and this isn’t your first time being rambled to about some weird subject matter, usually from the depths of the internet… but this is new.

However, you’re no stranger to being polite to weirdos. So you smile, nod, and act like he isn’t being crazy. “I see.”

“So in that case… I need someone to pass on a message for me.”

…You have a bad feeling about this. Even as he holds the red envelope out to you, your heart begins to pound.

“In return… I will give you…”

Oohhh fuck. Yeah, this isn’t good. Here it comes.

His other hand reaches out. Oh god. It’s probably a bomb.

You instinctively brace for it as you reach out and take the red envelope, cringing as he holds out his other hand to reveal…

A neat stack of bills, bound together by a rubber band?

Incredulously, and with some hesitation, you take it at his prompting. Looking up at him in shock, then down at the money, you flip through it with your thumb. It’s a stack of twenties, over an inch thick. There has to be over a thousand dollars here-

“That should cover, oh, a month or so of rent I’d assume?” He asks, breaking you out of your trance. “I’m not familiar with the local economy in these parts.”

“I-It’ll cover… it’ll cover all of it.” You stutter, totally astounded. “Oh my god. Oh my god.” You thumb through it again. They’re not fake. You can tell at this point. In disbelief, you grab the counterfeit pen by the register and swipe one. It’s real. They’re all real. “Oh my fucking god-“

“So, that’s sufficient, then.” Waldo clarifies. Shocked beyond words, you nod.

“Good. I was beginning to think I’d wasted my time with that stockholder I encountered…”

You’re not even going to pretend to understand that. “And… and all you want me to do is just… give this person the letter?”

He nods. “More specifically… the next time they come in to buy cigarettes, give them that instead.” After a moment's thought, he continues. “I’d like them to kick the habit… it’s such a filthy thing, really… not that I can point fingers. I have a few filthy habits of my own.” He chuckles, amusing himself.

“And I’d like them to be around a while longer. You know how it is, don’t you dear?”

Blushing slightly, you nod. As he’d spoken, you had counted through the stack, surmising it’s actually more than you expected- there are a few hundreds stuffed in there. Not only will it cover at least two months rent, you can pay for your cat's vet trip.

You have no idea what to say. This random guy decided to change your life for a letter? A letter he could have easily sent in the mail. Whoever he is, this guys great in your book.

Seeing that his task is finished, he pats you on the head (to your immense confusion, it feels like being pawed at by a lion. There’s a lot of strength behind that thin, wiry hand.) and taps his cane on the floor. You feel bad for judging him earlier. Slightly embarrassed, you blurt out- “I-If you ever need any more letters delivered, uh- just let me know, okay?” You blush, but it’s true. You’ve done worse jobs for less money.

He smiles at you, as if noticing a particularly unique rock, or some other interesting natural formation spotted by a well seasoned traveler. “I’ll consider that.” He says with a grin. “Of course, I have to keep my dear… ‘friend’ on their toes. But who’s to say? You could be useful down the line.”

Practically vibrating with excitement, you nod eagerly. “Whatever you need. I’ll be here as always.” And you’re going to make damn sure you get this letter to this person. Anything to stay in this guys good graces.

“That’s excellent.. I’ll thank you again. But now, I’d better be on my way.” He looks up, as if scenting the air. “I have a good feeling my friend will be back here. Very soon.”

You raise your eyebrow. “I’m pretty sure they were in here earlier. They already bought a pack.”

He snickers. “They smoke when they’re stressed. They already- I mean, I’m sure they’ve probably finished it by now.”

Wow. From the sound of, they do need an intervention. “Well, I’m happy to help.” You look down at the red envelope. “By the way, what was your name-?” You go to look up at him but-

He’s… gone?

You look around, totally disoriented. How did he leave so quickly? You crane your neck, but you can’t even see him walking out in the parking lot.

Another thorough glance at the wad of cash indicates you’re not hallucinating, and this isn’t a dream. So what the hell-?

You’re startled again by the bell hanging over the door chiming as another customer enters. You snap out of your trance- especially when you see the familiar trench coat.

Your grip tightens on the red envelope, and you smile in preparation.

You have a good feeling you’ll see the strange man again.

[thefangirlfever]

In this lifetime (a Miguel O'hara fanfiction)

Summary : When Miguel had jumped into an other dimension to replace his variant, he had not expected life to be so different…

Tags : fluff, romance, F/M, domestic fluff, kind of slow burn, suggestiveness (I tried to keep it PG-13), angst, mention of death, Miguel being a girl dad, soft Miguel O’hara, idiots in love, he fell first and hard, this is not a self-insert but it kinda is, maybe Miguel os a little OOC (he is just silly sometimes)

Notes : I sacrificed sleeping for this. The idea was too fresh in my mind and I didn’t want to let it go to waste. I’ve been inspired by all these amazing artists who have made horror concept arts about Miguel infiltrating this other dimension and those wondering about the possibility of Miguel’s partner in this dimension. I hope you enjoy my take on this.

English is not my first langage and I wrote this in the middle of the night. Therefore, I apologize in advance for my crimes against the English language.

Word count: 14 285

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Miguel looked at the shopping list with a highly focused look, way too focused for something as trivial as this but he was on a mission. And it may have been one of the most difficult he ever had to face : being a functioning father. Since he jumped into this new universe after the death of his variant and decided to settle in for the good of his daughter -or rather his variant’s daughter but Miguel tried not to think too much about this- he only had one thing in mind. Making this work.

Not a lot of things had worked in his past life, and it all started back in his childhood. That’s why he had made the promise to himself that he would not make the same mistake with Gabriella. He was no longer Miguel, the messy vigilante, tortured scientist who broke hearts here and there. No, he was a respectable father and this new attitude of him had to shine every time. He would just not allow himself to make any mistake. Even in the way he would follow a grocery list.

Miguel was a new man and that meant no more tantrums, no more stress and just an overflowing sense of calm and control. He had everything under control. He could easily balance the vigilante life with the domestic lifestyle. He would not be the first one doing this. Weren’t most mothers already doing the same ?

But it seemed that the world had already decided to test out his new resolutions. Just when he had stepped in front of his apartment door and passed the badge that allowed him to enter, the digital reader made a red light and a robotic voice said:

“Try again”.

Usually the calm of the robotic voice would have pushed him over, only making his frustration grow even more. But not now. He was a new man. He was ‘cool dad Miguel’ who never throws a tantrum, even when he is tired, locked out of his apartment with his arms filled with groceries on a hot Summer day. He took a deep breath and swiped his badge another time. Must be a small mistake.

“Try again.”

The echo of the mechanical voice definitely got on his nerves.

When he arrived in this dimension, he was amazed and relieved to see that it was not so different from his own. Most of the technologies, slang and even clothes were alike. He had no problem blending in. The only difference was that he couldn’t talk freely to Layla since his variant never had an AI assistant. He didn’t want people to ask questions that could lead them to suspect that he was not who he pretended to be.

Then why was this stupid machine not working?

An other deep breath, an other pass of the badge.

“Try again.”

Miguel groaned in annoyance. He was close to dump the bags on the ground and force the door at this point. He was already late on his schedule at this point of the day; Gabriela would be back from school any minute now and he still had to make dinner… Why wasn’t this working?

“Shock!”, he cursed under his breath before pressing the badge with more strength, trying his best to not let any grocery items fall from the bags. He knew that applying the badge like this would do nothing, since he already had that system in his own dimension. What he also knew was that after three trials, the box would send an alarm signal to the owner of the house.

He was about to curse an other less polite word when the door suddenly opened and to his surprise, the person in front of him was no one he knew. It was not Gabriela. It was a woman, a grown woman. She looked sleepy. Sleepy and pissed off.

Miguel eyed up and down the woman, from her bare feet and oversize shirt to the mess of her hair above a very tired face. He immediately recognized this look for he often had the same one. This was the look of someone who barely managed to sleep because of work, an underlying pressure and an unhealthy stress level. His sympathy went to the woman standing in front of him. Confusion ran through Miguel’s expression, along something else, something like curiosity. His eyes didn’t leave the silhouette of the woman in front of him and they did linger a bit too long on her bare legs to not look rude. A rush of heat ran through his cheeks, and he was pretty sure the summery weather had nothing to do with it, but those slender legs were more likely the cause of it.

He had to internally taunt himself: “Cool dad Miguel wouldn’t pry upon the legs of one of his neighbors this way.” No matter if said legs looked absolutely dashing with their tan, toned and almost endless. Just when his mind was starting to touch upon riskier territory, he lifted his eyes up and all trace of admiration disappeared. Not that the woman’s face was not the type he would usually admire, quite the opposite, but her gaze made it clear that any word from him would put him in great danger of getting his butt kicked.

“You think this is funny?”, the woman asked in a voice that left no room for any hesitation.

She had just spent one of the worst nights of her life, endlessly working under the worst conditions possible and just when she thought she could get some rest and take a nap, she had been woken up by the alarm signal coming from her door. The least person she was expecting to find on the other side of the door was her neighbor, Miguel O’hara. So far the single father had struck her more as the quiet type and not the type who would wake you up from a peaceful nap unannounced.

Right now the guy seemed like he wanted to disappear into the ground. His larger silhouette almost seemed crushed under the weight of her dark gaze and he only stuttered:

“I..I’m sorry...who...what are you doing here?”

At this point, she was suspecting that either the Sun had hit him too hard on his way here or that he was dumb, or maybe playing dumb. She replied with a sarcastic snicker:

“Oh, you mean, what am I doing here in my own apartment?”

Miguel’s brows rose in confusion, although the small grin of the woman only increased the warmth in his cheeks. He hoped she would put it onto the account of the really hot weather.

“Your apartment? There must be a misunderstanding, miss. This is my apartment…” His voice sounded less confident as he kept talking and the woman’s sarcastic grin only widened.

She pointed at the door at the end of the floor, the one facing a large window and replied:

“This is your apartment. Now, if you will excuse me, mister O’hara, I’ve had quite the rough night and I would like to rest now!”

“Wait...I’m so…” before Miguel could even finish his sentence, the door slammed shut in his face. A pack of cookies he had just bought fell to the ground and he couldn’t feel more stupid than in this moment. He didn’t need a mirror to know that he was red to the root of his hair, just like when he was a kid caught red-handed.

He had only just settled in this dimension and he still needed time to adjust. It was not enough that this world looked like his, because it was not his world. And that thought always made him feel sick in his stomach. Unlike his variant, he didn’t know every little detail about Gabriella or their apartment. So, the first night he didn’t find the cabinet with the plates, nor the one with the glasses. He didn’t know Gabriella’s schedule without looking at the planning on the fridge while his variant knew it by heart. He didn’t know what Gabriella’s favorite dish was, nor did he recognize her friend’s names when she mentioned them in a conversation. In these moments, he felt like an intruder and that thought always made him feel nauseous. He had already thought about leaving and returning back to his universe but… he couldn’t leave Gabriella alone. He knew what it felt like to grow up without the care of a father or to be betrayed by him. And he had sworn that he would be better than this.

But he was off to a rough start. Hell, he didn’t even find the door of his apartment. He didn’t even remember meeting his floor neighbor, which was a shame. The woman seemed to know him since she called him by his name but he had no idea of what hers was. Did his variant and her go along well? Now that he thought about it, Miguel has never been the friendly type. He didn’t know the names of his own neighbor in his original dimension. Maybe it was time to change this, and the fact that the said neighbor looked very charming had nothing to do with this decision…

“Dad? What are you doing here?”

Miguel turned around and noticed Gabriela on the apartment floor, holding her pink backpack on her shoulders. The sight almost made all the air in his lungs disappear, just like every single time. He couldn’t believe that she was there, all real and looking just like him. Maybe it could have seemed uncanny to see a mini-him, but every time he saw her dark brown eyes, her freckles and the long strands of chestnut hair, he was just in awe. She may not be his daughter, in the sense that she was not made out of his own flesh, but they looked too much alike for him to care. He was determined to take care of her as if she was his own daughter. Affection swelled in his heart and he replied with a light-hearted tone:

“Mija! You’re home early.”

He gestured in a way to open his arms so she could run to him and hug him, just like they did every day, but he only managed to make more groceries spill from the bags. And yet, he couldn’t care less. It was like, as soon as Gabriella was around, the moody Miguel just disappeared for a new version of him, one that seemed unable to get angry.

“Yes, Sandy’s mom got me home after the …” Gabriella replied while helping him gather the fallen groceries.

Sandy. He knew that name. He could even picture this girl. He was not doing too bad; he was a quick learner. Miguel was pretty sure that in less than a month, he would know everything about this world. His world.

Gabriella looked at the door her father was standing in front of and asked: “Did you talk with the new neighbor?” Miguel could feel the back of his neck burning under the heat of the shame he was feeling. Talking? Kinda. If you call being yelled at by a pretty woman talking, he wouldn’t mind talking a bit more often with her.

“It’s nothing, Gabi.” He would never admit that he had mistaken their apartment’s doors.

“You know she doesn’t like when people come talk to her.”

Oh really? Miguel grinned and replied:

“Yeah, I noticed.”

The little girl grabbed the box of cookies and a wide smile immediately blossomed on her face, making her nose scrunch up and Miguel’s heart melt.

“Those are the ones you wanted, right?”

“Yes, they’re my favorites! Thanks, dad.”

A wave of pride washed over Miguel as his daughter hugged his waist. He was still learning but he was definitely a quick learner.

***************

It’s been almost a week since the accident with his neighbor. Miguel hadn’t had the opportunity to see her again and he found himself looking at the closed door of her apartment every time he passed by. From what Gabriela had told him, she was the grumpy type, barely leaving her flat or speaking to anyone in the building. She moved in a few weeks ago, so it was not surprising that she was still shy. However, in her case shyness and grumpiness were two sides of the same coin.

This afternoon, Miguel had made extra time on his schedule to pick up Gabriela from school. The two had made a short stop at an ice cream shop on their way back home and were now waiting for the elevator while Gabriela’s incessant bubbling entertained him.

If someone had told Miguel that one day he would have the time for such mundane things and enjoy them, he would have not believed it. He never took the time for anything, not even having a decent meal sometimes. So, getting ice cream was not even an option. Hell, the moment he tasted that ice cream, he swore that his taste buds had never tasted anything this good in a long time. Was he really living such a dull life that he almost forgot the taste of ice cream?

Just when the doors of the elevator were about to close, he spotted someone walking in its direction and so he held the door for the newcomer. As soon as he recognized the silhouette, he felt a small tinge of both excitement and apprehension in his heart.

His neighbor thanked him with a sign of her head for holding the door and got into the small cabin without saying a word. She was standing in front of him and once again, he didn’t resist the temptation to eye her up and down. Her hair was tied in the back and she had her earphones on -clearly she was not the most talkative person in this building and she made it quite clear -, everything indicated that she must be coming back from some workout session. Her athleisure clothes highlighted even more the shapeliness of her legs and how long they were. This time, his gaze traveled a bit higher and he noticed her wide hips as well as the patch of bare skin above the hem of her yoga pants.

He must have been quite a desperate case if something as simple as the sight of some lower back and a hint of a belly got him all riled-up, he thought. But it turned out that ice creams were not the only thing Miguel had to deny himself with his busy lifestyle. He doesn’t even remember the last time he flirted with anyone; not that he didn’t get the occasion but he had never been prone to flirting with his colleagues and well, he never saw anyone outside of his colleagues. Needless to say that his last romantic experiences didn’t end well either. He had all the reasons in the world to keep it to himself.

But, does this mean that he couldn’t admire a beautiful woman or even try to engage in conversation with her? Absolutely not.

He was a new man, he was ‘cool dad Miguel’ and this new persona of his could definitely be a little friendlier toward his neighbor, right? There was nothing strange about engaging in a conversation with your friendly neighborhood. Miguel even began to think that he could become the type of guy who can easily chat about the weather. Everything was possible in this new life.

“Mhh, excuse me, miss?”

With her earbuds on, she didn’t hear him at first. It’s only when he cleared his throat that she turned around. Her lips were pursed in what could be either a grimace of disdain or annoyance and she looked absolutely done with everything and everyone.

For some reason, this only made Miguel more of a flustered mess.

“Hum...Hi...I wanted to apologize for the next day…”

Why did he have to stutter? He never stuttered. The piercing gaze of the woman didn’t help his stuttering. It seemed like his words had brought no emotion to her face and he even wondered if she remembered that day. Even Gabriella was staring at him as if he was some madman. Finally, the woman replied:

“It’s okay.” And without saying anything else, she turned back, clearly ending the conversation. Miguel didn’t know exactly what he was waiting for but it was not that. Was his pride hurt that a pretty woman didn’t seem to recognize him? Maybe. Was he a bit annoyed at her attitude? Maybe. Was he finding this attitude really attractive? Definitely.

He didn’t have any time to think about what was pulling him closer to this woman since Gabriella quickly resumed her ranting. Miguel was listening to her without saying a word, a fond smile on his lips as he wondered over her amazement of the whole world. At least, until Gabriella mentioned how impatient she was to do his nails again. That was one of the other tings that surprised him the most about himself -how easily Gabriella got him to do anything. She just needed to do her puppy eyes and he would agree on absolutely anything. Again, if someone had told him he was a girl dad, he would not have believed it. But here he was, playing dolls with his daughter or letting her paint his nails. He was very confident in his masculinity, so these things usually didn’t bother him. At least he thought so. For some reason, he was not too fond of the idea of a pretty woman hearing about his next nail appointment.

It looked like the woman didn’t hear Gabriella’s comment and for some reason, he felt relieved. He gave his daughter a soft smile and nodded his head.

“I want to try the one with the glitters! I’m sure it will look good on you!” Miguel internally winced in pain. It seemed like each sentence Gabriella uttered was like a direct kick into his ego but he knew better and simply replied:

“I’m sure it will, mija.”

“There are glitters in it!” Miguel will never understand the enthusiasm about glitters. He had stopped counting the number of times he found glitters on the pillows of the couch. These things should be banned.

A small chuckle echoed through the elevator. It was definitely not him and it was not his daughter either, so it could only be… Both Gabriela and him look at each other with a look of surprise until the woman slowly turned her head to look at them. And to Miguel’s surprise – and joy – a smug smile had crossed her lips, making one of her dimples pop out a little more. That was one dangerous smile and he understood why she wouldn’t smile too often. Not everyone deserved to see such perfection on a daily basis.

He gathered all his courage -who would have thought the moment you need to be the bravest is not in front of an army of zombies or a super villain but while facing the mocking smile of an attractive woman? - and tried to talk. But the words got stuck in his throat and before he could say anything, the doors opened and she left them alone in the elevator.

Miguel stayed frozen for a few seconds until Gabriela pulled on his hands and finally got him back to their apartment. He couldn’t resist giving one last look toward the door of the mysterious woman.

********

Miguel would only catch a glimpse of the woman during the next few days and he never had the chance to initiate the conversation, not that he knew what he would say. If it was like the last time, he would probably just end up stuttering a bunch of nonsense while getting lost in those deep brown eyes of hers like a man doomed to die in quicksands.

So, when he saw her entering the elevator that Tuesday afternoon, he made himself the promise to not speak a word and keeping it low. He didn’t need to embarrass himself more than he already did, twice. The woman seemed to recognize him as she nodded her head in his direction, which both scared him and made him feel butterflies in his stomach. He could notice more details about her as she stood by his side in the elevators. She had let her hair loose today and they bounced around her face in thick curls; glass frames in turtle-shell sat on top of her crooked nose and she was wearing one of these power suits with large shoulders. The color highlighted the glow of her skin and he couldn’t help but notice the subtle fragrance of her perfume.

But overall, he was not staring and he was definitely chill. Very chill. And laid-back. Not at all wondering what it would feel like to smell this scent directly from her skin.

To his surprise, he noticed her sneaking a quick glance in his direction from time to time. He subconsciously straightened up his posture –he had stopped counting the number of times he had been called out for his terrible back posture – and puffed out his chest. He would probably smack himself in the back of his head later for acting like some peacock. But it seemed like her eyes were more drawn towards his hands, especially the glittered pink nail polish on them. A smile curled up her lips, and this time it didn’t seem as mocking as it was the last time. Just when he was about to break the heavy silence between them, she said in a small voice- it was almost a whisper and he thought he had misheard her for a few seconds:

“She was right; it looks good on you.”

The doors opened with a small ‘ding’ and Miguel found himself dumbfounded once again, his jaw hanging low as he whispered in a hushed voice “Thank you”.

******

Miguel was heading toward his apartment building, more than eager to throw himself on the couch, and probably just dive into an endless slumber after that long day at work. Just when he entered the building, he noticed two things. First of all, there was a small sign on the elevator indicating that it was broken. And reading this sign, standing there, her arms overflowing with grocery bags stood his cute neighbor. As he stepped closer, he could hear her groan in annoyance. He didn’t need to think much before addressing her in a faint voice:

“Can I help you?”

Not only did he manage to talk to her but he also didn’t stutter. So, that was a win. The woman turned around and maybe it was his delusion speaking, but her smile seemed even more genuine when she saw him. Or maybe she was just happy that someone would help her out…

“Thanks but I’m okay.”, she politely declined his offer even though she was clearly not okay. Miguel didn’t dare saying anything and he didn’t need to. As soon as she made a step, she almost dropped one of her grocery bags down the floor. Thanks to his superhuman reflexes, Miguel was quick to catch it and she couldn’t deny that she in fact needed his help. Miguel sensed that it costed her to admit this and truly speaking, this was something he could understand and respect; being himself unable to ask for help even if his life depended on it.

The two of them climbed the stairs in silence and Miguel couldn’t resist peaking at the inside of the bags he was carrying. He had no idea on how this woman was living since she was always so secretive and it seemed like no one could get a glimpse of her life behind this closed door. In one of the bags he could spot a box of eggs, frozen pizza rolls and among other snacks one green vegetable. This made him laugh quietly as his own groceries were not so different when he used to live alone, before Gabriella. Not that he minded adding more vegetables to his own diet now. He also noticed a few cans of tuna in the other bag and multiple period pads. His cheeks instantly flared up at the sight, which made him curse himself internally for that. He was a grown man for God’s sake and a scientist. But periods were not what got him reacting this way, it was more likely the fact that he could catch a glimpse of such an intimate part of her life, when he even barely knew this woman.

He forced his eyes to focus somewhere else and they landed on her back and drifted towards the swaying of her hips as she moved up the stairs. Not good for his blushing.

They finally stopped at the right floor and he watched her opening the door. For the first time he noticed the small charm that she used as a keychain. It was one of these small Japanese cats with one of their paws raised to their head and a peaceful smile on their face. He smiled at the sight, finding this little touch of personality quite endearing.

The two of them parted away after she had thanked him and Miguel didn’t dare saying anything more than a polite “You’re welcome” but he was sure he had heard something, or someone, moving on the other side of the door.

******

After only two months in this dimension, Miguel could proudly say that he was fitting in nicely. He knew Gabriella’s schedule by heart, he had met all of her friends and he didn’t mistake the door of his apartment with the door of someone else anymore. Of course this didn’t mean that he knew everything about Gabriella or this world yet. But he had understood that he would need a lot of patience and that was fine by him. Overall he was satisfied by this new life, and it was easy to see. Or course, it was tiring to juggle between saving the multiverse on a daily basis and being a single father, but he managed to make it work. He had even fallen into a comforting routine.

Among all the small rituals he had now in this life ��� like doing Gabriella’s hair every morning before school, making a lunchbox for the two of them every night or their weekly movie nights – one of his favorites was seeing her...

At this point, Miguel had accepted the fact that he had a crush on his neighbor.

There was nothing wrong in having a small crush, even at his age after all. That’s what he liked to tell himself every time he was delusional. He was pretty sure that the feeling wasn’t mutual and that she was way out of his league, but a man could dream. Either way, he already had too much on his plate, right? Romance has never been a part of the plan anyway.

Then, how come he always ended up acting like a fool when this woman approached him? He had a phd on neuro-physic, had practically invented the inter-dimensional travel and was overall a pretty smart guy but she just had a way to send him back to default mode with one look. He clearly remembered that day he saw her approaching with her wet umbrella and the only thing he managed to say was:

“It’s raining, huh?”

Like, no shit Sherlock, of course it’s raining, he immediately thought. He genuinely wondered how this woman was not already fed up with him but she seemed to hold as much as patience as phlegm in her. He even caught her smiling in his direction from time to time, clearly feeding in his delusion. She didn’t seem to find him as annoying as he found himself and they even ended up chatting a bit.

But most of the time, he would only see her in the morning when he was heading off to work, just when she seemed to come back from work. He guessed that she must have some type of jobs with unusual schedules and this was only confirmed the day he caught a glimpse of her still wearing her scrubs. She must have had a rough night of work and Miguel felt even worse for the day he had woken her up. Her hair was tied in a tight up-do and dark bags settled under her eyes. He was not looking any better after spending a whole night in an other dimension trying to catch an anomaly. The two of them exchanged one knowing look inside the elevator and after Miguel asked “Rough night again, huh?”, she found herself chuckling a bit. This was the kind of sound that he could listen to on repeat for days, he thought.

When he first heard the knock on his door, Miguel wasn’t expecting to find her waiting on his doorstep at this time of the day. But here she was, dressed in that dainty sundress with a flower pattern that just perfectly highlighted the curves of her shoulders and hugged her belly tightly, asking him to borrow some eggs. At this point, he was close to ask for some mercy on his poor mind and body but he managed to calmly give her what she had asked him for. With this dress on, he would have given her all the eggs in the world if she had asked for.

The second time, she came asking for some flour. The third time, it was sugar. Surely, she would soon find herself out of things to ask for, which scared him a bit. He liked these moments when he would see her at the most unexpected times, asking him in a quiet voice to help her with those big brown eyes playing tricks on his brain. After some time, he slowly realized that she must be doing all of this as an excuse to see him; that or she was preparing to open a bakery of some sort.

She always made sure to let enough time between each visit to not look too suspicious but she was fooling no one, not even herself. And one day, Miguel had the utmost pleasure of seeing the subtle hint of a delicate blush on her cheeks when he joked about the fact that they literally had a supermarket down the street. She grumbled something he barely understood and he thought he would never get tired of seeing her like this.

*****

So, when he heard someone knocking at the door this Sunday morning, he immediately jumped on his feet and ran toward the door, hoping it would be her. And it was. But this time she seemed slightly more concerned and flustered.

“Hum...sorry to bother you but I have a problem with the water at my place… Do you think you could maybe take a look at this? It’s okay if you can’t...I just didn’t know who else to ask in this building…”

Miguel practically melted on the spot when he heard her asking for help. It was still early on the day and she was still in her pajamas. She had hastily thrown a robe over her clothes and her face was practically covered by a thick mass of heavy curls, the tip of her nose pointing up out of this beautiful mess. It took him all his willpower to not lean close to her face and start kissing her there, right on the tip of her nose. He had never been a romantic person but there was just something in her that got him enthralled by every detail he found on her body, even the smallest or most insignificant. Not that anything was insignificant with her, whether it was her laugh, her smile, the depth of her voice…

That’s how Miguel found himself lying on her bathroom floor, looking at the underside of the sink. He had been a bit impressed when he first stepped into her apartment. The place was a bit smaller than his and he found himself feeling quite comfortable with the muffled atmosphere. The gentle lights didn’t trigger his very sensitive eyes and he was very glad for this. It seemed like she had settled very well inside this apartment as it was filled with a lot of stuff already; she seemed to be more on the maximalist side of things, and it looked very lively overall. Even the bathroom had a certain level of messiness that he found charming. He quietly laughed when he noticed the huge mass of green plants hanging from different pots, some of their vines even running along the showers walls.

“I’m really sorry for the mess.”, she quickly apologized but he gave her a reassuring look as he began to fix the leaky pipes. He didn’t find this a problem, quite the opposite. He was glad to discover so many new sides of her after being so long in the dark.

He was so focused on the task at hand that he didn’t hear her coming closer, watching him work in silence. The small look of admiration she gave him filled him with pride and a softer feeling that dispersed through his chest.

“Is it bad?”

She had asked while leaning over his shoulders and as she did so, he could catch a whiff of her scent. It was not the same as in the elevator. This time, it was not some sort of expensive and delicate fragrance that perfumed her skin but her natural scent. It was a very heady scent with some spicy notes in it. He could discern something like cinnamon and an other more delicate and dainty scent close to vanilla. His hypersensitivity made the sensation even stronger and his nostrils flared up while he fought the urge to pull her closer to inhale deeply this scent.

“No, it’s nothing. We also got this sometimes at the apartment. You just gotta make sure those pipes don’t get clogged too often…” His words died on his lips when he noticed just how close they were now. Her warm breath was brushing against the back of his ear and he could feel the small hair on the back of his neck standing up. He suddenly realized just how small the bathroom actually was as their bodies were suddenly very close to one another and he tried to move away. Due to his larger frame, he only managed to hit his head against the edge of the sink. He was expecting her to laugh or at least crack a smile but she seemed genuinely worried as the impact had made some of the stuff on the sink fall.

“Are you okay?”

Without giving him any time to reply, she leaned a bit closer and her fingers carefully pushed some strands of hair on top of his head to check if he had any concussion. Miguel felt like her fingertips were directly sending a jolt of electricity down his whole body and to the tip of his hair. He sat there, quietly, letting her slender fingers rummage through his locks, trying to keep his gaze focused somewhere else, anywhere else than the pleasing sensation of her warmth so close to him.

She had insisted on thanking him with a cup of coffee and no matter how hard he had protested, she managed to make him seat on one of the stools in the kitchen. Miguel was still a bit flustered from their little moment earlier and he was trying his best to not stare too much at her, so his gaze traveled through the apartment. That’s when it hits him. Everything looked strangely old inside this place, or was clearly thrifted. Miguel knew that his original dimension and this one were really advanced in terms of technology compared to many others and therefore, a lot of the items and devices peopled used on the daily were highly futuristic and sometimes seem soulless… But here, everything, even the smallest trinket, seemed to have a soul, a story. He liked how everything seemed to belong to different eras and seemed frozen in time. The place was like a small, comforting bubble of warmth in the chaos of this futuristic raging city.

When she presented him a warm cup of coffee, they both exchanged a smile and she couldn’t help herself but joke:

“It’s not the finest China I have…”

“It’s perfect.”

Miguel made sure to carefully hold the cup as it seemed even older than both of them combined. He gave the apartment one last look and his eyes stopped on a fuzzy shape that he hadn’t noticed before. The thing moved and two pointy ears appeared from the depth of its black fur. Then two round eyes stared at him from the living room.

“Or should I rather say that it’s purr-fect.” Miguel chuckled, knowing that his lame dad joke was either a hit or miss and to his delight, she chuckled even more. His grip on the cup went a bit more shaky every time he heard her laughing.

The cat at the other end of the living room yawned and stretched on top of one the numerous pillows thrown on the couch. With a place like this, he definitely understood why she would never leave her home. He didn’t even want to leave himself.

****

“Look, dad, a cat! He is so cute.”, Gabriella cooed while looking through the kitchen’s window. There was indeed a small, fuzzy black cat resting on top of their balcony, a sluggish look on his face while his tail swayed from side to side in the air.

Miguel smiled as he recognized the said cat. However the cat didn’t seem to recognize him and he ran away as soon as Miguel made a move to open the window to Gabriela’s disappointment.

Nevertheless the cat came back a few times and soon even Miguel was smitten by this little fuzzball. There was even something in the mean looks the cat was giving him that reminded him of his owner. Even the shape of their eyes were almost alike.

Miguel could be in the middle of cooking when he would suddenly hear the cat meowing on the other side of the window, begging for some leftover, as if he wasn’t being fed already enough. To his surprise, Miguel found himself feeding the cat from time to time, even buying some designed snacks for him since he wasn’t sure that the feline could eat everything.

As soon as Gabriela had managed to pet the small feline and he had purred in her arms, Miguel knew it was over. She would beg him to adopt one cat and he was right. For the first time, he had to refuse his daughter something, no matter how much she would plead with her hangdog look or her sulky face, there was no way they could handle a cat here.

But Miguel had to admit the small feline had a certain charm to himself. He might look cold and unapproachable at first but as soon as people gained his trust, he was almost clingy. Like someone else Miguel knew too well… He even found the cat waiting for him on top of their building when he would come back from a mission late at night as Spider-Man. It felt good to see someone waiting for him, even if it was just a cat. It was like a link between the two lives he was living. Because there was no way he would tell anyone else about his secret identity.

***

“Why the glasses?”

“I’m sorry? What?”

Miguel had perfectly heard the question but he didn’t know he would answer it yet. She had asked him quite abruptly this question and he was a bit unsettled to say the least. Coupled with her most innocent-looking eyes, he was unable to think for a clever answer. The truth was that Miguel had to wear these glasses because of his mutation. His eyes were more sensitive than most people’s and if he didn’t want to end up with excruciating headaches, he had to result to this.

He stuttered:

“I...hum...when the Sun’s a little too bright, I end up having migraines and it’s very painful…”

Her silence made him feel a bit more uncomfortable and he kept sinking more into convoluted explanations:

“It’s like a condition...from my mother...hum...it’s very rare…”

It was a rather vague explanation but she seemed satisfied by it, or at least acted like she was. While they were walking to the doors of their apartments, Miguel couldn’t resist asking her why she asked this question in the first place. To which she replied:

“I just thought it was a shame that you had to cover your eyes like that…”

****

Miguel was quietly laughing as he looked at the different brands of snacks in front of him. The racks of the supermarket were overflowing with different varieties of chips, candies and probably enough sugar to kill an elephant; exactly what he needed. Gabriella was off to a sleepover with her friends and he finally got the whole evening for himself. What was making him laugh was the fact that all these brand’s names were almost the same as in his universe, but not exactly quite the same. It was often a small letter that changed the whole name and this has always been something funny to him to look at. It truly was fascinating to see how many changes there were between all the different universes, and yet, everything was part of something bigger and united. Like some sort of web.

He finally chose a pack of chips and an even larger one of marshmallows. A small chuckle that he immediately recognized rang behind him and he slowly turned around to face her. Of course they were leaving in the same neighborhood, so it was inevitable that they would end up shopping at the same place. Miguel gave her a stupid, little giddy smile and asked:

“Someone finally came to buy her own eggs and flour?”

Seeing the blush that spread all over her cheeks, Miguel felt very satisfied with himself. Not that he minded her visits at the apartment, but at this point she must know it. She was holding a basket with her own groceries and Miguel couldn’t help but smile when he saw all the cans of tuna she had bought for the cat. He assumed she just came back from either one of her yoga classes or a jogging because she looked a bit disheveled and her face was still red from the effort. Her skin looked very flushed around her face but what caught his attention was the way her skin seemed to glisten from all this sweating. He was clearly not about to complain about the view. Was there even a moment when this woman was not stunning? Must be something in the air of this dimension…

She looked at the bags of marshmallow he was holding and her smile only widened.

“Let me guess, movie nights?” Miguel watched her trying to grab something on the highest shelf and despite her more than respectable height, he had to help her. When he handed her the small box, he finally replied:

“Not really. I’m just planning on stuffing my face with as much snacks as I can. No particular reason.”

“I’m sure Gabriella gonna love this program.”, she replied with a soft voice that barely showed any sign of mockery. He had always noticed how she seemed to have a soft spot for Gabriella. Honestly, who wouldn’t? Maybe he wasn’t very objective, but he could proudly say that his daughter was like some sort of angel. And it seemed like she could even agree on that.

“Gabriella is not here tonight. She’s at her friend’s place.”

“And that’s a good news?”, she asked with a bit of a smile. She must have noticed how slightly disappointed he sounded while saying so. To be quite frank, Miguel was glad that his daughter had friends to spend time with. She was a very sociable little girl, unlike him when he was younger. He just couldn’t help but think that after waiting so much time to have his own family, he wanted to make the most of it. Maybe he was also a bit too protective sometimes, which apparently was not exactly his variant’s type. He was sure the variant made a good job raising Gabriella, especially since he was alone, but Miguel knew better than this. The dangers of the world were nothing new or strange to him and he wanted Gabriella to stay away from these as long as possible. To some extent, he wanted her to stay the little girl she was. Not in some creepy way but he had never seen her as a baby; he had missed her early years too and he wanted to enjoy these last years with her before she would enter high school and then leave for college… This thought alone made his head spin. For one of the first time in his life, he was able to make plans for the future.

He knew that this was just a slumber party but so many things could happen while she was away from the house. What if she fell down some stairs at her friend’s house? What if she burned herself while they were making s’more? What if she had an allergic reaction? What if…

The woman put one of her hands on his arm and asked him if he was okay. Miguel must have looked like someone who was spiraling down his train of thoughts.

“Yes, thank you. I’m perfectly fine. It’s just that…”

He didn’t need to say more. With an understanding smile, she replied:

“It’s her first slumber party and you’re afraid to let her out of the house?”

Miguel wasn’t sure that it was Gabriella’s first slumber party. She must have had many others before but for him this was totally new. All of this was new to him, just like the contact of her warm hands on his bare arm. “Focus, Miguel, focus.” He cleared his throat and asked:

“Is it that obvious?”

A cheeky smile curled up her lips, and Miguel could swear he saw more understanding in it than just amusement at his situation:

“You look like my parents when I used to go on slumber parties. I remember my dad willing to come pick me up at any hour of the night and my mom who could barely fall asleep if she knew I wasn’t at home.”

She even sounded nostalgic when talking about this. Miguel had the feeling that he was looking at a new part of her personality through a tiny window opened just for him.

The only problem was that he was pretty sure that ‘cool dad Miguel’ was not the type to spend hours getting his daughter ready before an innocent slumber party and stressing over everything and nothing. That wasn’t very ‘cool dad’ of him and he must have looked like one of those overprotective parents who would wrap their kids in bubble wrap if they could.

Was she viewing him like that?

“I think I understand your parents…”, he simply replied and to his relief she agreed with him.

“I never said I didn’t understand them. I mean, yes, it was frustrating sometimes to not be allowed to go out or go to some parties or even have a curfew while everyone was outside…”

Miguel’s chest tightened as he imagined a teenage Gabriella wanting to go at a party. That would be hypocritical of him to deny her this but at the same time, he knew he would spend his entire night worrying about her.

Was Gabriella frustrated with him being over-protective? Was he a little bit too much?

“...but one day I understood that they were doing this for my own good. In their clumsy, sometimes very awkward way, they just wanted to protect me.”

Her last words brought some comfort upon Miguel’s heart and he was thankful that she was willing to talk and listen to him about these things. For most of his life, Miguel had never been a father or even a parental figure to anyone and he never had the chance to learn this from his own parents.

“I just don’t want her to resent me for acting this way. I’m glad she is going out and making friends, really… But...I don’t know, maybe this is going too fast?”

Like, literally too fast. He was expecting a strong reaction from his interlocutor, but she only smiled even more softly.

“Trust me, she won’t resent you.”

“Hod do you know that?”

“Because I’ve seen the way you are with her. She is lucky to have a father like you.”

If Miguel could have combusted right on the spot, he would have done it. His face was probably the same shade of red as Gabriela’s ladybug cuddy toy and he could feel even the back of his ears heating up. How embarrassing would it be for a grown man to have a meltdwon in the middle of the snack alley? He didn’t want to try his luck and find out, so he took a hold of himself and managed to keep his composure. First, she was touching him and then she was giving him one of the most beautiful compliment he would ever dream of...

“That’s...thank you. You’re...you’re being too nice.”

“I’m not. I wouldn’t be saying this if it wasn’t the truth.”

Her firm tone left no room for any doubt or way for him to talk back. This was like a nice pat to his ego but also very reassuring words to hear. It was not every day that Miguel got praised this way and he wouldn’t complain about getting this kind of praises by her, out of all people. Miguel appreciated how brutally honest she could be at times for it only made this type of moments even more enjoyable and he was sure she wasn’t lying to him just to make him feel nice.

“Thank you.”

She nodded in acknowledgment while the two of them moved toward the checkout. While Miguel was putting all his stuff on the conveyor belt, he saw her looking at a few newspaper put near the cash register. He cringed as soon as he was the front page. A large picture of him in his Spider-suit, in full color was on the first page.

Miguel knew he had to protect his identity but it didn’t mean that he couldn’t help the people from this realm. Just like in his own Nueva-York, the city’s underbelly was a paradise for any kind of criminals and the traffic of the rapture wasn’t helping either. He just couldn’t stand there and let this city be run by crime, even if it meant sacrificing some of his time with his daughter to run off in the middle of the night. Every time Miguel thought about the death of his variant he was filled with so much frustration. The fact that an innocent man could have been killed this way in the middle of the street and left for dead without anyone willing to help him really strained his faith in humanity. He couldn’t let that happen again; he wouldn’t let any criminal in this city make an orphan of a kid.

However, he was aware that some people were not very found of him and especially the way he was not collaborating with the police. But after all, it has always been part of Spider-Man’s identity. He had to work hard in order to gain people’s trust.

He couldn’t help but look at her face while she was looking at the front cover and when he saw a small smile on her lips, he really thought that was over. He will definitely have a melt-down at the checkout.

The title of the paper reads: “Spider-Man, criminal or hero?” and Miguel was curious about her answer.

“So, what do you think?”, he asked in a small voice. She looked back at him and Miguel was again about to lose it when he saw the pink hue covering her cheeks.

“You mean, about Spider-Man? I mean, is there even a need to ask this question? Of course he is a hero. I mean, before moving in Nueva York I was very anxious and everyone was warning me about this city. But since he is here...everything changed and for the better.”

Take a deep breath, Miguel. Just take a deep breath. Just don’t look at her in the eyes and everything will be fine. Of course, he looked at her in the eyes and he almost lost it. If this fool didn’t know better, he would have thanked her for this.

“You don’t think so?”, she asked and Miguel panicked a bit, trying to find a good answer without cringing at himself.

“I...I think that what he is doing is admirable. But I don’t know if he would consider himself a hero…”

“Then how would he see himself?”, she asked in an interested voice. Miguel swallowed hard before replying:

“I think, and that’s just an hypothesis of course, that sometimes he just feels alone… He probably didn’t have much of a choice when it comes to being who he is and he probably just feels like a guy who tries his best…”

The silence that followed his words made him immediately regret what he just said and he was about to back off:

“It’s just an hypothesis of course…”

“I’ve never thought about it this way…”, she replied slowly. “I hope he doesn’t feel as lonely as you think he is… He doesn’t deserve this.”

At this point of the conversation, Miguel’s legs were very mushy and his brain had some trouble forming even a simple sentence. The way she was looking at this picture of him made his limbs go all jittery and he wished that she could look at him this way. If she did one day, he would die happy.

They kept chatting all the way back home and when they finally parted way, Miguel felt like there was an unresolved tension in the air. They both stood in front of the door and looked at each other as if they were waiting for the other one to say it, to make the first step. He was alone tonight and so was she. What’s wrong in asking your friendly neighbor if they wanted to spend a nice evening with you? Nothing. Then why couldn’t he just invite her to come over?

He knew that as soon as the door would be closed on them, he would barely hold himself together. He would just burst into a million pieces like a broken puzzle just to let her build him back together. He would let her do anything she wanted with him, whether she desired to break him or just pamper him. He was hers without any doubt and that thought both made his heart race faster and ache. When was the last time he allowed himself to be this vulnerable around someone? What if he had to leave in the middle of all of this because of a mission? What if the feeling wasn’t mutual and he came off as pushy? What if she didn’t like him back?

Miguel felt like years of self-doubt and hesitation all rushed back to him. He suddenly remembered the fact that he was a mess, someone who didn’t really belong here and that his body was the one of a mutant. How would he explain the talons on his hands or even his fangs?

And that’s how the two of them parted away that night. Miguel knew that whatever choice he would make, he would regret it.

****

Miguel smacked an other kiss on Gabriella’s cheek before leaving his apartment. He was in a rush and under a lot of pressure as well as an unhealthy amount of caffeine. He hadn’t slept that much last night because of a mission he had in an other universe and when he was expecting to spend this day at home with Gabriella, chilling and rewatching one of their favorite movies together, he had been called at work for an emergency. If not for his brother, Gabriel, he would have had to leave his daughter alone at home all day.

Maybe it was time for him to find a baby-sitter. He knew Gabriella would hate this idea. She was already ten and she would argue that she would be fine alone. He didn’t doubt her maturity any minute but an accident could happen so fast… Even if he didn’t really like the idea of letting a stranger come into his house, he had no other choice. He just needed to find someone he really trusted enough to take care of Gabriella, and someone Gabriella appreciated.

He was very much lost in his thoughts when he heard a soft voice greeting him. Miguel lifted his eyes from his shoes and when he saw her, his breath almost left his lungs. She must have been going out today because she looked all dolled-up. His voice croaked out a small “Hi” and suddenly all thoughts about baby-sitters or work left his mind. The off the shoulder dress made his imagination run wild while his senses succumbed to the sugary aroma of her perfume. She was so close to him in this small cabin, so close he could run his hands over the satin of her dress if he just stretched his hand a little further, and yet so far away like some forbidden fruit. The memory of this aborted evening together had left a sour taste in the back of his mouth and he resented himself for chickening out every single time he found himself alone with her.

They engaged in some light chatting and Miguel couldn’t help but feel a slight pang of jealousy when she mentioned going out with friends this afternoon. He couldn’t really afford to be jealous since he was nothing to her and was too much of a coward to make the first move. He also knew how shitty of him that was to feel such things but he couldn’t deny it. The longer he kept looking at her in this dress, the more he wanted to pull her closer to him and keep her wrapped in his arms for days and days. It’s been months since he met her now and he was still at the first step of it all, which consisted of daydreaming about her and immediately feeling ashamed of his fantasies. This woman was turning him into a mess.

“It’s very rare to see you out there on a Saturday? I hope nothing bad happened…”

How sweet and considerate of her… If only his attraction to this woman depended only of the physical attraction he was feeling for her, this would be easier. He would just put it on the account of all these months he spend alone, living like some monk. But it was more than that. Miguel didn’t just want some easy hook-up with her. He wanted to wake up with her every morning; to have her taking part in their movie nights with Gabriella; to let him braid her hair before she went to work; to love her… He wanted so many things. He wanted that wit, that laugh, that tenderness of her into his life.

“No...it’s just that...we are working on something and they needed me at work… It’s...it’s complicated…”

Miguel didn’t want to bore her with his work stories but every single time he did so, she just stayed quiet and let him dump his worries on her shoulders. He felt terrible because he knew she already had a lot going on her side but at the same time, it felt good to have someone listening to him and even understanding him.

“Hopefully my brother managed to get some time off today to watch Gabriella. But I think next time I will need to find some baby-sitter… Do you think I could place an ad at the supermarket?”

“I could do it.”

“Placing an ad?”

“No, I mean, watching over Gabriella.”

Her proposition took him by surprised and he was too stunned to speak for a few seconds. This could be the right solution after all. Gabriella and her seemed to get along very well and she had her way around children with her job. He also knew she was someone he could trust…

“But I don’t want to bother you…”

“You’re never bothering me, Miguel.”

***

It was past midnight and Miguel was afraid to go back home, just like when he was a teenager coming home after his curfew at the Alchemax Institute. Only this time, he was worried for different reasons. He had managed to leave work early today but due to some troubles in one of the worst neighborhood in town, he had to put on his Spider suit and go, barely having the time to call for his neighbor to watch over Gabriella. He had thought all of this would be over soon, but it turned out he was wrong. He felt terrible, knowing he had to ask her for her help in such a short amount of time and he was coming back home way too late without looking suspicious. And if that wasn’t already enough, he was spotting a pretty bad bruise on the right side of his face.

When he entered his living room, he found her sitting on the couch, her legs under her body, wrapped in a cozy blanket, fighting off sleep with a book in hand. This triggered his sense of protectiveness and he just wished he could run to her and take her in his arms. He couldn’t believe she was waiting for him all this time.

“Hi…”

She was a little startled by the sudden intrusion and she jumped on the couch. She turned around and as soon as she saw his bruised face, her smile disappeared. Miguel tried to act as if nothing was wrong, asking if Gabriella was already asleep, to which she slowly nodded her head:

“Yes...yes she is. But...what happened to your face?”

“Oh this?”, he said while touching the bruise with his fingertips, “Nothing. I just...tripped.”

This poor explanation didn’t convince her and she was back on her feet in a matter of seconds. Her hands immediately cupped his face and her fingertips brushed against his bruise. The very focused and serious expression on her face made him imagine that this was what she was looking like when working. He always guessed that she must be a great nurse but he was definitely certain of it when he saw all the care she put while handling his beaten up face. He barely felt her touch, except for when she pushed her fingers a little more against the skin that was already turning purple.

He made a soft sound that he wasn’t even aware he could do and that made him feel terribly ashamed of himself and very self-conscious. The sound was between the gasp and the moan and made his loins burn immediately with the need to release all the heat trapped in his body.

“Shh...it’s okay. It will take maybe a week or two to heal but that will be fine…”, her soft voice comforted him and he had to fight the urge to just rest his head against the palm of her delicate hand.

She went to the kitchen to grab a bag of ice for his face and Miguel released a soft groan when her fingers left his cheek. He must really be down bad for acting like such a fool. When she went back and put the bag against his face, he immediately felt relief wash over him.

“I’m sorry for being home late…”, he whispered after a few awkward minutes of silence.

“It’s okay. We had a great evening together with Gabriella. She is really cute.”

“Yes, she is.”

He was growing a bit more uncomfortable under her gaze. There was no way she believed his lie and he knew it. But he couldn’t tell her the truth and risking her safety. Little did he know she already had some suspicions about him at this point and if he was suspecting it, he decided to let it go. He was too tired to have an argument or even a conversation tonight and he just rested his back against the couch, his head thrown over the pillows. The only thing her remembers before falling asleep was her voice:

“Please, be careful, Miguel.”

***

Not all Miguel’s missions implied fighting off goons or criminals. Sometimes he would have to rescue people trapped in a burning building or from any other type of disaster honestly. And today was one of these days. As soon as he had heard that a train had deviated from its usual route and was about to crash down the bridge in the middle of the city, he dropped everything he was doing and ran off to the place of the accident. Apparently one person was still trapped inside the wagon.

Miguel moved as carefully as he could, using his webs to swing from one part of the bridge to an other before landing on top of the train. A woman was holding one of the bars for her dear life and she looked so pale, he thought she was about to pass out from fear. It was true that the whole thing had stopped at a really concerning height. If the train just fell, this would kill them both instantly and this was without even talking about the shock of hitting the cold water underneath.

When he recognized the face of the woman, Miguel’s anxiety skyrocketed and it took all his willpower to not call for her and stay calm. He needed to keep a cold head and not let his emotions take over him during a mission, which was something he had learned to do years ago. He carefully slipped into the wagon through a broken window and made his way towards her, using his palm to stick to the wall.

“Hey, are you alright?”

She didn’t answer. Her gaze was locked on the dark water underneath and Miguel immediately guessed that she must have been scared of heights.

“Hey, look at me. It’s going to be alright.”

The woman turned his head toward him and her expression really shattered his calm behavior. He had never seen her so distressed and scared. She was usually so calm and collected, even wearing a slug smile from time to time. There was none of that now as her eyes were open wide and her lips quivering in fear. Just when she was about to say something, a strong gust of wind blew against the wagon and the fragile structure lost its balance and hung more in the void. She pushed a scream of pure terror while nervous tears rolled down her cheeks.

Miguel jumped as fast as he could across the train and wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him. He was no longer thinking as Miguel but as Spider-Man. Usually, this contact between the two of them would have made him flustered but not today. His grip around her waist tightened and he pulled her closer to his sturdy chest.

“Just close your eyes, okay, and trust me.”

His warmth wrapped around her as she closed her eyes and her own arms wrapped around him.

“That’s right. You’re doing just fine.”

When he was sure she was holding him tight enough, Miguel carefully took the two of them out of this hazard situation and shot one of his web toward a pillar of the bridge.

“We’re gonna move just a bit, okay?”

“What?”

She didn’t have the time to voice her concerns that Miguel jumped from the platform of the train while this last one dived into the water. Unlike what she was expecting, no sound of terror left her lips when she felt their bodies swinging through the air. Even if she was truly terrified, she trusted him and either way, her body wasn’t able to move from his tight grip and her fear. She just nuzzled her face deep onto the crook of his neck while holding him tightly. The wind blew through her hair with force and Miguel wished he could have felt it brushing against his skin, without the mask blocking it. He was a bit more relaxed now that they were out of this situation and he basked himself in the warmth of her body, certain that he would never have an other opportunity to feel it. The scent of hair made him feel ill with a fever so intense he never encountered one before. The need to just dive his face into those luscious curls was getting too strong for him and he needed to collect himself asap.

When he finally landed on the ground, he made sure to gently let her down. His voice was a bit hoarse after all of this when he asked her is she was okay.

But no matter how much his voice had changed, she definitely recognized it.

***

The sudden flash of a flashlight blinded him for a few seconds and he groaned in annoyance. Miguel was still wearing his Spider suit and he was panicking, hoping he could make it clear out of this situation from anyone who caught him going back to his place this late at night. He was just hoping that it wouldn’t be Gabriella because he knew he wouldn’t be able to lie to her. He wouldn’t even be able to lie to...

“I knew it!”

Shock! It was her. Miguel’s eyes squinted in the direction of the silhouette holding the light. Long curly hair, loose bathrobe and thick brows furrowing into a concerned expression. He was done.

“That’s not what it looks like.”

“You’re dressed as Spider-Man in the middle of the night, on top of our apartment building, Miguel. What does it look like to you?”

He was not sure if she was angry, frustrated or maybe both. Miguel tried to explain himself but after seeing him jumping from a building to an other and using his web, he would just lose his time denying it. She had recognized his voice, she was suspicious since the day she mentioned his glasses. There was no escape for him.

“I...okay, you got me there but…” Why was he acting like he needed to apologize? He did nothing wrong? Yes, he did lie to her and hid the truth from her but it was for her own good. He never intended to hurt her feelings or make her feel like he wanted to keep her out of his life.

“But what? Do you really think I was this stupid to not connect the dots?”

“I’ve never thought you were stupid!”

“Do you realize just how worried I was?”

This time, he didn’t have any word to reply to her. His mouth just hung low and he was breathing out some deep huffs. Did he hear this right?

“You...you were worried?”

Her fists tightened into balls and she kept on ranting:

“Of course I was worried! How do you think I felt every time I saw you coming back late and all beaten up! I even imagined the worst case scenarios, Miguel! I swear to God, you’re gonna make me go crazy one day! I just…”

Before an other word could leave her lips, Miguel put into action his other plans for them. He didn’t think of anything while doing this. But the fact that she cared so much about him, when he has spend his whole life thinking no one would and that he was worthy of such attention, had broken his last resistance. If she knew who he truly was and didn’t mind it, she might as well know what he was thinking and feeling.

With one swift move of hi wrist, Miguel launched a web at her and pulled her closer until she ended up in his arms, all pressed against his solid chest and stammering heart. And without giving it a second thought, his lips found her in a kiss he wished he could have given her sooner. His hands cupped her face, his thumbs playing along the edges of her jaw, holding back as much as he can to cover it in kisses and let his hands slide down her neck.

He wished he could devour her with his kiss, make up for all the time they lost. His heart practically bursts out of his chest when he feels her indulging into the kiss, tilting her head to the side so they could deepen the kiss. Her hands grabbed his suit tightly while she moves her plump lips against his. They are breathing into each other’s mouth and their bodies molding against one another, making him feel weak in the knees. Her soft curves brush against his body and he can’t fight back the urgency of this situation. Some strands of her hair get tangled with his fingers and he wants more. So much more in this moment.

They both had to break the kiss at some point because the heat between them has become unbearable and they needed to breathe. They huffed into each other’s face with their foreheads touching. Her eyes are still closed and he is watching her, admiring her like one admires a piece of art. His fingers brush against her cheek, her nose, her lashes and he shivers when he feels them fluttering against his skin. Her eyes are beaming with affection, the same way his do and he feels like he is watching a galaxy of lights and stars unraveling into these deep sloes.

“Do you always resolve a conflict this way?”, she asks with a small grin that almost makes him start to kiss her again.

“Only when it’s with you…”, he breathed out in a tender voice.

***

“Stop moving around.”

“Stop torturing me like this, then.”

She immediately stops the movement of her wrist and therefore of the needle she was using to stitch him up. He is sitting on the floor of her apartment on top of a mountain of soft and fluffy pillows while she was tending to his wounds, sitting behind him on the couch, his head on her lap. Life couldn’t get any better than this to his humble opinion and he couldn’t resist the temptation of bickering around. He slowly shifts his body, half-facing her and grips her thigh with his hand, a smug face on his lips:

“What kind of nurse are you if you’re always this brutal with your patients?”

He was clearly messing with her since she was nothing but pure softness when it came to his wounds. And God knows he was giving her a lot of work. But he couldn’t help it. It was like she had unlocked a new side of him and when he was around her, he couldn’t help but feel playful, as if all the weight on his shoulder had disappeared.

“If you’re not satisfied, then you can go and find someone else as your new healer.”, she replied with a sarcastic tone, knowing damn well he wouldn’t leave even for the most talented healer out there.

“Mhh...I think I’m gonna stick around with you a bit more…”, he replied in a low voice before kissing her bare knee.

His eyes lifted up to look at her from above and his gaze darkened under his lashes when he saw her flustered expression. He could trace his way all along her thigh, only using his lips if he wanted to and the need to do it was growing stronger with every minute. Instead he kept squeezing her plush thigh with his hand, letting out a low hum when he realized how easily he could dig his fingers into her plump skin.

“How generous of you…”, she replied with a flirty smirk.

“I know, I’m so selfless sometimes…”. Just when he finished his sentence, he squeezed a little harder her thigh. But despite being careful and trying to keep it playful, one of his talons pushed against her flesh making her gasp.

“Shock! I’m sorry, it’s not supposed to happen. I didn’t mean to…” Embarrassment was filling up Miguel’s face. This was the reason why they had never been intimate together yet. There was no way he could trust himself around her. He knew he wouldn’t hurt her on purpose but he also knew an accident could happen so easily. His guilt would never let him find peace again if he hurt her.

“Wait, those are claws?”, she asked in an unexpected tone. No one has ever looked at these claws with a tone like this one. She looks genuinely curious and a bit… impressed. Her hands gently held his and she asked:

“May I?”

Miguel was genuinely too flabbergasted to even make a coherent sentence so he simply nodded his head while her fingers traced the lines on his palm. The feeling of it tingled him a bit and he squirmed a little. Not that he was uncomfortable but every contact skin to skin with her had this effect on him. In the silence of the room, he could hear his heart beating in his ears.

She was studying every detail of his hands, from the rough fingertips to the veins on them. One of his hands could easily hold both of hers and the skin on them was warm, just like a small personal heater. When her fingers brushed against his fingertips, one of his claws came out. He hated the fact that even after all these years, he couldn’t sometimes control them perfectly. Usually he did a great job at holding them back but he needed to stay absolutely focused in order to do so. And with her being so close and her breath hitting his skin did nothing to help his focus.

“You’re not scared?”

“Why would I be scared?”, she replied in the most genuine tone, almost making his heart melt. If he hadn’t already been on his knees in front of her, he would have fallen to his knees.

“Because...I could hurt you…”

A gentle smile cured up her lips and she brought his hand closer to her face. When she began kissing his fingertips, Miguel was left breathless, almost shaking. No one had even treated his body with such care after his transformation, and not his claws out of all the spots on him.

“You could never hurt me, Miguel…”

***

Miguel’s hands couldn’t stop shaking as he slipped them under the fabric of her top, feeling the smooth and soft skin of her belly. In fact his whole body was shaking and he felt like he needed to calm himself, to pull back just a little. But it was impossible. They had been waiting so long for this moment, he couldn’t let it go.

They were stripping each other off their clothes with a growing urgency. The cold air of the room brushed against his burning skin and he felt like he won’t be able to survive this moment. His body was burning hot like a furnace and he needed to release all this pent-up tension as soon as possible. Every muscles under his skin rippled, tensed and locked while he tried to hold himself back.

When the last piece of clothing had disappeared from his body, she looked up at him and Miguel swore he could have died right on the spot. It was worth waiting this long for the look of awe she was arboring.

“You’re gonna be the death of me…”, she whispered in a breathy voice and Miguel’s vision almost turned blurry the moment she touched him.

“Are you sure you want this?”

“Yes, I do.”

***

She was slowly waking up when she felt something sliding along her waist. Miguel’s strong arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her closer to his chest. It was barely 8 in the morning and he was already acting this way. She loved it.

“Hi.”

She felt his breath warming up the shell of his ear and her chest tightened when she remembered all the things he has whispered to her the night before. And all the other nights… She had stopped counting them but Miguel didn’t. He even remembered clearly every one of these moments they’ve shared together and he could have easily told them apart.

“Hi.”, she replied in a sleepy voice and that triggered something deep inside him. His hand left her waist and slides up and down her body, his fingertips gently tapping against her skin. Miguel’s face nuzzled against her neck and he proceeded to leave a trail of sloppy kisses all over her skin, from her ear to her shoulder. Her hair brushed against his face and he was close to let himself be suffocated by those locks.

When his hand slipped under the hem of nightdress, she shifted her body, trying to get him off her.

“Miguel...we already talked about this…”

“Please, just five minutes…”

“You said that the last time and I ended up being late…”, she lazily protested. The weight of his body was making her sink down the mattress and despite how good it felt, she knew she had to act upon this. She gently pushed him back and he obliged, after leaving one last kiss on her upper arm.

“I have to go to work…”, she said with so little enthusiasm that Miguel just wanted to pull her back into his arms.

“I know, bebita, I know.”

“Then maybe, you could let go off my dress, please?”, she replied with a cheeky grin. Miguel finally reluctantly let go off her. His arm stayed on her empty side of the bed, taking in her warmth and the scent she had left on the pillow. She grabbed her clothes on the floor and was about to go for the bathroom when she noticed his sulky face and the way he was running his fingers along the mattress.

When she leaned against him and placed a kiss on his lips, Miguel’s face immediately lit up.

“Tonight?”

“Tonight.”

***

There have never been a ‘tonight’, nor a ‘tomorrow’.

There have only been this day ever since.

Miguel will never forget it as it plays on repeat in his head, again and again.

***

First, there has been confusion. And then, denial. When he saw the whole world around him unraveling, he only had one question in his mind. Where were they?

Gabriella was at a game’s rehearsal but her… She should have been on her way to work by now… He couldn’t be less sure of it. Wait, didn’t she say she needed to get something at her place first?

Miguel remembers running as fast as he could. The door was still open and when he entered the small apartment, his heart sunk down his chest. It looked like madness. All the colors of the room were mixing together in a dreadful mix of shades. All the precious stuff she had accumulated over the years were gone, disappearing faster than he could even register it. But the worst was yet to come.

She was laying there, on the ground, the lower half of her body was slowly disappearing into what looked like a myriad of pixels. Her cat pushed a last meow and vanished as it it had been blown by the wind, as if it was nothing.

Miguel had only seen her this scared once before. It was that day on the train. Tears were running down her ethereal face as she was suffocating for air. Miguel knelt down by her side and immediately wrapped his arms around the last remains of her body. The pixels were growing and going higher on her with every breath she took.

He remembers that he had cried, that he wanted to tell her so many things… But all he managed to say was screaming “No” in denial. He couldn’t lose everything right now, not after he finally managed to find happiness. She couldn’t disappear like that. He remembers holding her in his arms almost an hour ago and she was fine. Her body was still whole, it was real and she was his just like he was hers.

“Please, don’t leave me! Don’t go!”

No plead could stop that. Her body was being consumed and he had no clue about what was creating this. She cupped his face one last time, begging him to let go, to go look for Gabriella, to make sure she was safe… She knew it was too late for her. And Miguel knew she was right. After that, everything happened so quickly. He remembers the taste of their last kiss, bitter like his tears as she vanished into the void.

***

Miguel already thought that his heart was broken at this point.

That nothing could ever compete with this moment.

And then he lost Gabriella.

In his arms.

He saw her vanish, he heard her last cries of terror and sensed the despair in her eyes.

He had failed her.

He had hurt them.

***

Miguel gave one last look at the screen in front of him. His office was dimly lit and he could watch on one of his giant screens one of his favorite memories.

Gabriella had won one of her games that day and she was hugging him. Gosh, he looked so proud of her and he certainly was. He took her in his arms, made her swirl around while she kept on laughing. Her little nose was scrunching up, just like every time she would smile.

When he finally put her down and looked up at the camera filming them, his smile became charming and his eyes lit up.

He could see himself talking at the person behind the camera, his voice warm and filled with nothing but longing.

And every time the Miguel from the present heard the voice talking back, he would finally let go of the tears he was holding back.

================================================

Notes: Thanks for everyone who read this story. I hope you all enjoyed it.

I’ll be posting less things this month because of college but I’m not forgetting mu dbf! Fiction and I’m already working on the next parts.

[chrispywhispy]

First Kiss

I felt like writing for some reason and decided to write about one of my oldest ships, NoiCle from DMMD. Yes, a DRAMAtical Murder fanfic in 2024. There’s not much involved in here except for some kissing. Anyway, I just wanted to share these two 💚💛

Electronics has always been Noiz’s forte.

Whether it was hacking, fixing AI, or participating in Rhyme, he could do just about anything as long as it involved technology. It wasn’t a surprise when he saw a discarded and half damaged android while passing by a dingy alley. He’s fixed robotic pets before, but most definitely not a full scale model of what looked like a human, with half of its face torn off to reveal mechanical innards. Noiz was eager to explore new territory, and maybe even stave off some boredom, so he took the damaged robot and began working on it for the next few months. 

His hard work of staying up every night to monitor and run diagnostics was rewarded by a chipper voice as the android introduced himself by the name of “Clear,” now fully functional and repaired of missing skin and wires. The robot was a lot more expressive than he ever could, which made him equally amazed and jealous of his bubbly personality. Seriously, the guy was so lifelike, you’d never think he was all gears inside from all the programming behind the scenes. 

And speaking of personality, Noiz wasn’t sure if following him around his messy apartment was also part of it, but he didn’t seem to care either way. Clear just liked to observe him playing games on the hologram or fixing something on screen. He would also ask multiple questions a day, almost akin to a toddler with a mind of his own. Well, he did fix him. It’d be natural for the robot to be curious about anything and everything from someone who fixed him. 

Noiz also taught Clear the wonders of food, (not that he needed to eat but whatever,) things he enjoyed, testing out his features and whatnot. He had to admit, he was slowly falling more and more interested in Clear. He would deliberately insist on cooking for him instead of ordering take out pizza, and would even drag him outside for some fresh air. The industrial district wasn’t really as fresh from where he lived, but walking beside Clear’s unusual cheerfulness made the atmosphere ten times more enjoyable than being alone like he always was.

Today Noiz felt particularly lazy and stayed inside, laying back on his worn couch to click the TV’s channels on with a swipe of his thumb on the remote. Clear joined him soon after, just a comfortable distance of half a meter. Not that he was calculating. He just felt the shift of the couch move from Clear’s weight, who was inching closer by the second. 

“Noiz-san?”

Noiz mumbled a short hum of acknowledgment to let Clear know that he was listening, anticipating whatever he wanted to ask this time. He admired that Clear was respectful with his ‘-san’ but it was technically unnecessary given that he was younger than most mechanics out there.

“Why do you have piercings on your face?” 

“I just think they’re cool.” Not exactly a lie. He once saw a piercing shop and returned every few weeks or so to get more wherever part of his body could reach.

“Do they hurt?” 

Well that was a new one. The blond turned to face Clear’s ever so curious gaze, finding nothing but pink shiny eyes full of wonder. It’s not like they ever hurt on the day he got them. He couldn’t even feel an ounce of pain no matter how many injuries he got. 

“Not really. Why?“

“It just sort of looks like it does since it goes through your skin and all.” Clear points to one of them, his head tilted slightly to the side.

Eh, it wasn’t the most gruesome one. Probably even tamer. Worst case scenario would be a knife to the skull. That’d be a great piercing for sure. 

“Y’get used to it after a while. It makes for a nice permanent accessory so you don’t have to remove and put it on all the time.”

This time the android tilted his head back to its original position and put a hand on his chin in a classic thinking pose. What could he be thinking about anyway? Staring at his piercings so much… Actually, on second thought;

“If you’re so curious about them how about I show you what they can do?” 

Clear breaks his pose, only to be followed by wide beaming eyes. It was almost sparkling. He was sparkling. “Really? Please show me, Noiz-san!” 

Noiz sighed and stifled a smile of his own. He’s already got him hooked on, might as well play along right? To start, he points at the ring piercings on  one of his brows.

“You see, these make me look more expressive. I don’t express as much emotion as you so I got them.” He received a fascinated nod by Clear, to which the other replied; “That’s true. It makes up for the rest of your eyebrows. They’re very short.” 

He raised said pierced brow. “Hey, just because it’s short doesn’t mean they make up for it, idiot.” 

So what if his brows were short? They’ve always grown that way. He felt weirdly offended and pinched Clear’s cheek out of impulse. 

“O-Ow…!” Noiz allowed himself to grin this time as Clear scrunched his face up with a pout. “What was that for!” 

“Making fun of my brows.” He didn’t mean it in the slightest, but he enjoyed Clear’s reactions. Their banters always came as naturally as the wind. 

“Now these,” The blond pointed to the studs horizontally across his nose bridge. “They help me sneeze.” He glanced down Clear’s hand, prying one off his lap to replace his own. “Go on, try and pinch them.” 

As hesitant as he was just after being pinched playfully, Clear placed his index and thumb on the cold metal and waited. Noiz faked himself a sneeze as soon as Clear’s fingers touched the studs, eliciting a small gasp from the android. “See?“ He pointed to the last piercings on his face just below his lips. “Finally, these help me speak when I’m kicking ass. Cool, isn’t it?”

Today was probably the most he’s ever spoke in his life playing for a simple prank. Of course, whatever he said was total bullshit, but the way Clear attentively listened and observed with such focus, taking in every fact like some newfound discovery, made it hard to break the truth to him. 

“Wow… that’s amazing, Noiz-san!”

The android cheerily clapped his hands with a bright smile, almost as blinding as the sun. “Do you have more?” Clear’s lashes fluttered with eagerness, face inches away from his. 

Oh he does alright. 

“Well… I have this one right here.” 

Noiz stuck his tongue out to show the piercing embedded there, drawing out a look of astonishment and a hint of pink of the android’s face. That gave him an idea. 

“Wanna test it out? You did help me sneeze.” 

That seemed to make Clear blink, eyes glued to his tongue as he drew out a slow, “What will it… do?” 

“You’ll see.” At this point the distance between them was almost nonexistent, and If he was going to hell for this, Noiz will make sure it’ll be heaven for him and Clear. So Noiz leans in for their first kiss. It wasn’t any different than a human’s, and Clear’s adorable squeak to intimacy pleased something in him he never thought he had. 

The blond also takes the opportunity to study Clear’s features up close. He’s worked on him for months but the robot never failed to mesmerize him with how human he looked. His hair, albeit synthetic, was silky smooth to the touch. His porcelain skin soft and pale with two moles adorning his chin. His pastel pink eyes crowned with long snow white lashes carefully laced with precision. This unit was a work of art. His cheeks were now flushed the same color as his eyes at the contact of Noiz’s warmth. He was even able to react to sensations and temperature. 

Noiz began to test the waters by running his pierced tongue against Clear’s soft lips. The android made a sound of surprise and tentatively parted his lips to let Noiz enter, tasting and feeling the piercings he was oh so curious about. Truth be told, the only sensation he could feel was his tongue, and he hadn’t expected Clear to taste oddly sweet. Did he eat candy or was he just naturally tasty? Either way, Noiz wasted no time exploring what Clear had to offer, enjoying this manmade masterpiece letting out soft hums and pants. 

He pulled the android closer by the cheek, while the other hand snaked around his waist. They would’ve gone hours making out if it weren’t for the need to breathe. Noiz had to pull away much to Clear’s dismay.

“How’s that?” 

Clear almost wanted to go for a second round but decided to lick his lips instead, missing the taste of Noiz already. The cold metallic dud on his sensors made the experience strangely addicting.

“It was… good.” Good enough for him to bashfully turn away, making the blond snicker. “You have the nerve to look away from our first kiss.”

“E-Eh?!” 

Clear’s blush had already darkened into a nice shade of tomato red since they locked lips, now impossibly redder than ever. Noiz found it fun to tease this little white rabbit. 

“This really is my first kiss with Noiz-san… hazukashii~!” The android now fully covered his face with his hands, ears bright red complimenting his silver hair. 

“You just noticed that now?” Noiz found himself smiling at the flustered mess that was Clear, bringing his hands down despite Clear’s shy protests. 

“Let’s make that a second kiss then.”

Clear’s complaints soon died out once Noiz took his lips for another session, melting in his embrace. Although Noiz had other plans to spicen up whatever they had going on, he didn’t want to rush Clear into something he wouldn’t want. Like the ones on his… you know what. And so they shared kisses throughout the day onwards, teasing Clear and Clear teasing him back. 

It was a good time, and not once has Noiz regretted fixing Clear since the day he found him.

[feckcops]

Joan Is Awful: Black Mirror episode is every striking actor’s worst nightmare

“A sticking point of the near-inevitable Sag-Aftra strike is the potential that AI could soon render all screen actors obsolete. A union member this week told Deadline: ‘Actors see Black Mirror’s Joan Is Awful as a documentary of the future, with their likenesses sold off and used any way producers and studios want. We want a solid pathway. The studios countered with ‘trust us’ – we don’t.’ ...

“If a studio has the kit, not to mention the balls, to deepfake Tom Hanks into a movie he didn’t agree to star in, then it has the potential to upend the entire industry as we know it. It’s one thing to have your work taken from you, but it’s another to have your entire likeness swiped.

“The issue is already creeping in from the peripheries. The latest Indiana Jones movie makes extensive use of de-ageing technology, made by grabbing every available image of Harrison Ford 40 years ago and feeding it into an algorithm. Peter Cushing has been semi-convincingly brought back to life for Star Wars prequels, something he is unlikely to have given permission for unless the Disney execs are particularly skilled at the ouija board. ITV’s recent sketch show Deep Fake Neighbour Wars took millions of images of Tom Holland and Nicki Minaj, and slapped them across the faces of young performers so adeptly that it would be very easy to be fooled into thinking that you were watching the real celebrities in action.

“Unsurprisingly, Sag-Aftra members want this sort of thing to be regulated, asking for their new labour contract to include terms about when AI likenesses can be used, how to protect against misuse, and how much money they can expect from having their likenesses used by AI.”

[heaven-in-a-wild-flower]

Jurdan Headcanon (Jude Duarte and Cardan Greenbriar)

I’ve also published this on ao3 if you’d rather read it there, here’s the link. I’m making this a full series (Cardan in the Mortal World).

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 2.5

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Previous Chapter (Chapter 7)

Chapter 8

Cardan’s POV

It is a day of rest at the Vivienne-Heather household and Jude is in light slumber with her head atop my lap. Oak is watching moving pictures upon the black cage (Jude has assured me many a times that this ‘Television’ is no cage but I shall say it as I see it). This moving picture is named ‘Despicable Me’ which features some atrocious yellow absurdly-shaped monsters following an even more absurdly-shaped man. However, I do have to admit that their antics are quite entertaining.

It surprises me when Oak tells me that Gru is seen as a villain in the world of the moving pictures. If I’d had a father even half as kind, it would’ve changed my world, why it would have changed the very essence of who I am today. I tilt my head down to hide the traitorous tear slipping down my face, and I see Jude’s face peaceful in slumber. I have only one warrior to thank for invading the thorny barrier protecting my heart and conquering it, scarred and rotten though it may have been. I kiss her upon her brow and promise silently that I shall never let her down nor waste the value she conferred upon my kindness, I shall be a good uncle to Oak, always.

I gently ruffle Oak’s hair who shakes off my hand and continues to remain seated on my legs and pretend he is riding a horse. I acquiesce to his commanding pats upon my shins and raise my legs to fully satisfy his rich imaginings. Suddenly he is distracted by Heather’s mobile device which chirps like a bird (Jude has also assured me that no birds are encapsulated within the devices, that it is merely ‘modern human technology’). He picks it up and begins tapping furiously at its surface. These mobile devices will be the death of humans, building up merely finger dexterity and no other useful fighting or survival skills.

“Uncle Cardan,” Oak calls. “Hmm?” “What would you be if you were a human?” He asks. I ponder the question. I am king in my realm, although that was entirely by luck (and Jude’s devious scheming), so I do not place much faith in my ability to successfully rule humans. However, I am skilled at entertaining and remaining fashionable in every realm. “An Influencer,” I reply, having recently learned of them from Heather, whose attention is often completely captured by influencers on her mobile device. Oak simply nods and continues swiping and tapping at the mobile device. I think nothing of the question, children, human or fae, have wild imaginations.

“Uncle Cardan, look, look!” He shrieks, shoving the mobile device right in front of my eyes. I squint at the image. It is an image of me wearing a gauzy purple top with loose white pants, my neck is decorated with swirling dark tattoos and my eyes are painted over with glittery paint. I cannot deny that it is a highly flattering attire (although all attire is flattering on me), but I am utterly confused how this image exists when I have never worn these clothes at all, nor commissioned any such painting.

“Oak, where did you source this painting of me?” “It is not a painting, Uncle Cardan. It’s AI,” he explains, laughing and confusing me further. What sort of witch is this Ae-Ai, is she divining the future?

All this excitement wakes up Jude, who frowns at me confusedly and mildly annoyed. She wears irritation as beautifully as every other expression but I quickly vanish it by placing quick kisses upon her nose and cheeks and lips. Her hair is a certified nest, but she wears this upon her head as grandly as she wears a crown.

“What are you guys arguing about now?” she grumbles. “And is it really worth disturbing my nap over?”

“I apologise a thousand-fold, my darling queen, but it is indeed of utmost urgency. I suspect a witch is plotting against me.” Jude squints at me and I pluck the mobile from Oak’s hand to show her the evidence. Oak meanwhile is rolling around the floor laughing and laughing, I have been sorely amiss in my duty of teaching him the appropriate royal etiquette.

“Cardan, babe, this isn’t a witch. It is, once more, just mortal technology. Oak put in a picture of you and this created what it thinks you would have looked like if you’d have been an influencer. Speaking of, Oak, save that image and send it to me,” she says trying to keep her face unmoving, but I see a twinkle of excitement in her eyes. It sparks an idea of my own, “Oak hand me the mobile device.” I quickly enquire what mortal profession is appropriate for one with Jude’s skills and the mobile device answers with the police, more specifically, the FBI. I type in my request and the Ae-Ai provides an image of Jude in a complete FBI attire. I stare at the image long enough that Jude leans over to see what has so fully absorbed my attention. She blushes at the image and rolls her eyes. My modest queen, able to make any attire seem magnificent. I whisper to Oak to preserve this painting as well and send it to Jude.

Heather strolls into the room and states that she’s found another Ae-Ai witch, this one’s skills lay in extending eyelashes. Jude seems uninterested but self-proclaimed fashion connoisseur that I am, I decide to accompany her to test this witch for myself. (The earlier one’s skills have left me quite intrigued).

“Babe, your eyelashes are long enough already,” Jude grumbles. “Only the better to bat them at you, my sweet villain,” I reply, winking at her. She blushes once more and kisses me goodbye.

We ride in the metal monstrosity that Heather chariots, Vivienne holding her hand in the front seat and I lounge in the back. We pass through a food tunnel, I have no other description for this ‘McDonalds’ Drive Through’ and I munch on some French fries (the French are talented chefs in every realm).

We arrive at the witch’s lair. It is decorated quite beautifully, I concede, in gleaming white marble streaked through with a rainbow of colours, although it must be to lure in victims. A woman, presumably the witch’s minion (This minion is not yellow unlike in that ‘Despicable Me’ picture), explains the process. I zone out as I look around the space, wondering what the witch uses to extend eyelashes and whether I can abduct her for my own kingdom.

Finally, it appears to be time for the witch to do her magic. Vivienne and I enter a different room, while Heather opts to wait outside with a cryptic statement, “I’m not letting any technology near my eyes, god forbid, I’ve watched enough final destination movies.”

The room is sparsely decorated with plain white walls, however, there is a giant technological monstrosity in the middle of the room. It has pincers like a crab, although made of metal (What are crab pincers made of, I wonder) surrounded by a glass cage and a bed below. The human woman directs me to lay down on the bed.

“So, this is Kate, our eyelash extension AI. You’ll just have to lay here while she does her work. We recommend taking a beauty nap because the process will take between 15-20 minutes. I’ll be controlling it remotely, so you don’t need to worry.” I nod, not that I need sleep to enhance my beauty but I wouldn’t mind the rest. She also adds, “The metal parts are magnetically attached so they can’t pierce your eyes, if you bump into them, they’ll simply fall off and get detached.” I sigh softly, not that I was worried at all, but Jude likes my eyes, it would be a shame for them to be wounded.

“As you wish. I am ready to begin.” I lay down and the witch, Kate begins her spellcasting with a low hum. I must have fallen into a light slumber because I am woken by the human woman announcing that the work is complete. She smiles and exclaims, “Wow, you look amazing. Are you a model? Or influencer?” It is easier to merely agree than explain that I am the High King of Faerie (I attempted it once and the woman I explained it to was extremely angry with me because she believed I was jesting and Jude was not pleased either).

She places a mirror before me and I am indeed impressed. My eyelashes look significantly longer, closing and opening my eyes nearly has the effect of waving a fan. They now skim the tops of my cheekbones, highlighting my face structure pleasantly.

“Would you mind if I record a reel?” The woman asks, pointing her mobile device at me. I reply that I do not mind, although unsure what a reel is.

After paying the human woman, we all set off back to Heather’s abode.

Jude’s POV

They return quite late from the eyelash extension parlour. I’m half asleep when Cardan joins me in bed and I’ve forgotten all about where he just came from. I just squeeze myself into his arms and fall right back asleep.

In the morning, I wake up to Cardan’s face in the sunlight. It nearly infuriates me how beautiful he looks, but he’s mine so I can’t complain. And his eyelashes leave me speechless. They look like those annoying pixies’ that used to be always fluttering around him when he wasn’t mine, who’d enhanced their beauty with magic. He opens his eyes and it’s a whole show. He blinks those long lashes innocently at me and it makes me blush so hard, I kiss him so he doesn’t notice. He seems surprised at the sudden affection, but is soon to reciprocate and thread his long fingers through my hair.

“Aunty Jude, Uncle Cardan!” Oak shouts running into the room. I frustratedly pull myself away from Cardan turn towards Oak. He has leaped onto the bed and is excitedly showing us something on his phone. “Look, look! You’re famous!” We watch a reel of an eyelash extension parlour showing off Cardan’s face, and the hundreds of thousands of likes and comments it has accrued. ‘Step on me Daddy’, ‘Cut me to ribbons with those cheekbones king’, ‘Why do men get the prettiest lashes ugh’. I agree with the last comment but I stop reading them for fear that they’ll make me angry at all these shameless men and women fawning over my king.

“Aha! I was right to assume I would make a successful influencer, wouldn’t you agree, my sweet god,” Cardan gloats with pride. “I suppose your vanity in your appearance is only going to grow from here,” I reply, fake disappointedly.

“Indeed, perhaps I should begin an account of my own,” he replies. He leans into my ear and whispers, “but no matter how many people gaze upon me, I will always be only yours to touch.”

Next Chapter (Chapter 9)

Tagging @jurdanhell @nee-naw-nee-naw-beepbeep

Let me know if anyone wants to be added to the tagging list (or removed).

[havenawaits]

Characters

Welcome to Aether Academy

Aether Academy, one of the highest buildings in Luxura. By that I mean it's actually floating in the sky. It's located in crystalite and if you couldn't guess, the main school within the whole city. Yes, each district has their own schools but if you manage to get into Aether Academy, you're practically set for a good future. As long as you don't fuck things up obviously.

You were lucky enough to actually get in, you and your family were all ecstatic when the message came through the mailpad (a screen typically placed on the inside of the house, next to the door. If you want to open mail, just swipe it outwards and a hologram with the message will appear and an AI voice, modified to your liking will read it out). You remember your mother hugging you tightly and your dad's hand clenched around your shoulder as the voice informed you on wether or not you got in.

Now here you are, all packed and standing in a queue as guards check everyone's name and luggage before placing the bags in a bubble that goes up a tube straight to your dorm room along with sending you through a teleportation device. As a human, you rely on technology to feel any kind of magic and after looking around, you clearly aren't the only human but the amount of supernatural people in the 3 queues is higher than you thought. "Guess they've come out of hiding." you mutter

"We've been out of hiding for years dumbass." a gruff voice jumps in, making you yelp much to the others' satsfaction if the huff of laughter is anything to go by. You turn to scold the male, pausing when you actually see who and what it was.

A werewolf: quite tall, brown, messy hair, golden eyes and damn, their teeth is sharp. You can't help but blink in awe at the sight. You lived in Earth district so you've never actually been able to see the supernatural up close. Clearly you've been staring too long though since the man's eyes are narrowing and subtly twitching.

"You done gawking as if I'm some kind of monster?" he snaps, bringing you back to reality.

"Oh, sorry!" you bow your head slightly. "I live in Earth district and have only heard stories so seeing a werewolf in real life is a new experience. Is your hair actually fluffy? It looks so soft!" you then realise what he said, "monster? Oh no no no you aren't a monster! I think the supernatural is cool! Sucks that I don't live in a district where I can actually interact with you guys." you ramble, making the werewolf raise an eyebrow at your energy.

He takes a breath before gesturing behind you. You turn, seeing that the line has moved a lot making you hurriedly move forward, bags set to automatically follow you.

Once you've caught up, you turn back to the werewolf, making him groan in annoyance. "Should've kept my mouth shut.." he complains under his breath. You paid no attention to it and turned your focus to his ears, they seem relaxed and extremely fluffy.

"No." the other said with a warning growl as he moved his head away from your hand that you didn't realise was reaching out for him. You hastily drop your hand with a sheepish grin

"Sorry, didn't realise."

"You don't realise a lot of things." he retorts "Move forward, you're next."

"Oh, right." you move forward, setting your bags to standby as you hand it over to the guards. The fact that they're robots doesn't surprise you, they won't let you try talk them into conversation. There are two of your typical robots, only difference is their arms. The robot on your right produces tags for your bags and the one on your left produces ID for the students. You hand your bags over and stand on the podium the lanyard bot gestured to.

"stand still." it says before scanning you, after a few seconds, it prints out your ID, and inserts it into the lanyard, handing it to you. "These are only for the first days so other students can get to know you. You can get inside the building and classes with your handprint. Any complications, please report to the principle." It explains making you nod and thank them as you head to the teleportation device.

Once there, you put the lanyard on and the bot scans you for anything that could interfere with the teleporter. Once cleared, they gesture for you to enter. "Welcome to Aether academy." it says before sending you off.

Hope people enjoy their time at Dream Haven!

[liquidbird-official]

Touchscreens have changed how we interact with devices, from smartphones to ATMs. They work by detecting touch and converting it into a command, replacing buttons and keyboards with a smooth, interactive surface.

The idea of touchscreens dates back to the 1960s, but early versions were bulky and slow. The first real touchscreen device appeared in the 1970s, but it wasn’t until the 2000s that smartphones made them a part of everyday life. Today, they are everywhere, using different technologies to sense touch.

The most common type is the capacitive touchscreen, found in most smartphones and tablets. It works by using a thin layer that holds an electric charge. When you touch the screen, your finger, which conducts electricity, disturbs the charge, and the screen detects the exact point of contact. This type is highly responsive and supports multi-touch, allowing pinch-to-zoom and swipes.

Another type is the resistive touchscreen, used in older devices and some industrial machines. It has two flexible layers with a small gap between them. Pressing the screen makes the layers touch, completing a circuit and sending a signal. These screens work with any object, like a stylus or glove, but they are less responsive and wear out faster.

Advanced touchscreens use infrared grids, ultrasonic waves, or pressure sensors. Some futuristic designs use flexible screens that can bend, while others explore touchless gestures using cameras or AI.

The future of touchscreens includes ultra-thin displays, holographic interfaces, and even touch-sensitive materials on clothes and walls. With ongoing research, touchscreens will keep evolving, making technology feel even more natural.

We hope this brought you some insights into the working of your smartphone screen. 😊

Check, our substack for more in-depth articles on such topics.

[ginatalks]

Technology has evolved throughout the years. I mean look where we're at right now with all kinds of AI. It's no secret technology has failed many times and I can say it especially failed me. Not too long ago my family and I were on our way back from Mexico. I was in charge of the plane tickets. I saved my tickets to my Apple wallet and screenshotted them. I was ready, nothing could stop me from getting my family on that plane… or so I thought. As they started calling up groups to board the plane I started to grab everything together. As I tried to log into my app it started the loading sign. I didn't think much of it until it started to become more than ten seconds, more than twenty, and eventually more than a minute. I started freaking out! I kept opening and closing the app as if that would help, which in some cases it does but it wasn't working. I turned my wifi on and off and nothing. It wasn't working. I decided that powering off my phone would be the smarter thing to do. So start doing it by holding the button down and swiping power off on my phone. You might be thinking why didn't I just open my photos for the screenshot? Well, I can't give you an answer because I don't even know why I didn't open the photos. I had completely forgotten I had screenshotted, yeah I know how dumb of me. As I start to turn on my phone I realized it wasnt turning back on now. And now I'm really freaking out and stressing wondering if we're gonna get on that plane or not. Everyone is looking at me and it starts to make me more nervous now. Then it clicked I had printed our tickets 2 weeks prior in case of anything and put them in my backpack. I looked through my backpack and found them. We were really on board the plane. But my phone still didn't turn on. The moral of the story is always to be prepared because sometimes technology has a mind of its own.

[mariacallous]

Of all things about dating that people got wrong in 2024, one remains the standout: that old people don’t have a lot of sex.

On several dating platforms, boomers (individuals aged 59 to 72) were actually the fastest growing userbase. Aging singles were also having the most orgasmic sex of their lives, according to data from Match.com, where 50-plus daters are joining at a higher rate than every other demographic. Since 2022, the kink-positive app Feeld has experienced a 340 percent surge in users who are 60-plus. “Feeld has definitely introduced me to new desires and made me 100 percent more aware of my body and what I enjoy,” Wendy, 72, said when we spoke in April. “It’s been liberating.”

Many other apps also reported a record 2024. Tinder, setting a new benchmark, reached 50 million users. Hinge’s global downloads topped an all-time high, ranking it as the second most downloaded dating app in the markets it serves, the company reported in a November shareholder letter. Sniffies, the platform for queer cruisers that uses map technology, saw a 26 percent increase in straight singles. A total of 130 billion chats—yes, billion—were sent between gay men on Grindr. On Bumble, where women make the first move, paid users increased by 10 percent, topping 3 million.

So why, in spite of that growth, was 2024’s unifying hypothesis that dating apps failed?

Modern dating is broken. If you caught any whiff of the cultural metanarrative around love and sex this year, that’s probably the story you heard. Many traditional relationship structures loosened as a result—polyamory was on everyone’s mind, for one—and many people turned to TikTok for dating advice from armchair therapists. A study released by Flirtini found that one in four people rely on TikTok to figure out how to navigate their relationship, despite a clear rise in misinformation.

Singles were also caught in an “assumptions epidemic,” according to Tinder’s annual trends survey, where many users said they regularly misinterpreted green flags for red ones. The study found that “65 percent of women thought men were mostly after casual flings, but only 29 percent of men actually said that was what they wanted.” In more ways than one, it was a year of mixed signals.

To fix that, several startups launched niche dating apps—some puzzling, others entirely predictable—designed to satisfy unique needs, with many of them built around the promise of AI. Volar, created by a former product director at Snap, uses a chatbot to message back and forth with potential daters on your behalf. There’s also Rizz, Iris, and Elate, all of which leverage AI to find your soulmate by helping users maneuver first impressions and awkward conversations. For singles interested in other, let’s say, avant-garde forms of companionship, ones that completely remove humans from the equation, there are apps like EVA AI and Luna, who act as your AI girlfriend.

It’s still too soon to say how effective any of these AI-powered apps are in lessening the possibility of people being ghosted, but a recent report from Hopelab found that 40 percent of young people rely on chatbots to have ongoing conversations. Dating’s future, the report concluded, promises to be chattier, and stranger, than ever.

Still, the exhaustion of swiping right remains a major concern among singles of every demographic. In the dating wilds, app fatigue is contagious. No one knows that better than JB, the power dater from New York I spoke with in September. At the time, he’d been on 200 dates following a breakup—the majority sourced from Hinge and Raya—and expressed a feeling of burnout, even as he couldn’t fully pull himself away from app dating’s addictive thrill.

I heard from JB in December. He reached out to let me know that he’d somehow forgotten to share the “most unhinged” dating story from our initial series of conversations. “I can’t believe I only thought of it recently,” he wrote via text message. “A girl on our third date saying, ‘If you fuck me really good tonight I’ll cancel my other dates this week.’”

Did she? I shot back.

“I was pissed. I almost ended the date,” he said. “She was winning until she hit me with that toxic shit.”

JB told me he is still exhausted by the apps but very much still on them. The week we talk, he is fresh off another breakup. A recent courtship in Philadelphia, he said, fizzled after the woman lied about talking to other people. She made the first move on Raya and they later established more of a bond trading DMs on Instagram. She had pursued him, which was rare and a refreshing change of pace. “I was smitten,” he says. Which made it all the more difficult when the relationship ended. “She sought me out, only to lie about it?”

JB is currently on the rebound, or what he describes to me as a period of “side quests”—pet-sitting his neighbor’s cat, surfing TikTok, trying new restaurants. “I was down bad but we back up,” he told me. He wonders if dating apps will ever have a solution for singles like him. “It’s truly rotten out here.”

[jamiemooreblog]

Digital Dreams: Finding Balance in a Hyper-Connected World

The average person spends over 4 hours a day on their smartphone. But how much of that time are we truly present, truly connected to ourselves and the world around us? (Don't worry, I'm not judging—I've been known to lose an entire afternoon to a particularly captivating cat video.) The digital world is a siren song, luring us deeper into its mesmerizing depths. We scroll, we click, we swipe—caught in the endless stream of information and stimulation. But amidst this digital symphony, a question lingers: are we losing ourselves in the process? This blog, a chronicle of my digital journey, explores that question. It's about unlocking technology's potential to transform our lives. It's about wrestling with the ethical dilemmas that arise as we become increasingly reliant on our digital tools.

When I first mastered HTML and CSS, I built my first website. It opened up a world of possibilities: expressing myself, connecting with others, building something meaningful. The thrill of creating something tangible from code ignited a lifelong passion for technology. This blog is my quest to share that passion and empower you to navigate the digital age. But be warned, my perspective might surprise you. I believe technology can be a spiritual tool, a way to connect with something larger than ourselves.

Yet, this newfound power raises fundamental questions. How do we reconcile the tangible with the intangible? The physical with the digital? The human with the machine? As technology intertwines with our consciousness, we must confront its ethical implications. How do we ensure AI is developed responsibly? How do we navigate the merging realities? How do we maintain our humanity? And, how do we harness the transformative power of technology responsibly?

Drawing on my unique insights from years in the tech world, I'll guide you through these questions. We'll embark on a journey into the uncharted territory where technology and consciousness converge:

* AI and Ethics: Will robots become our overlords? We'll confront the ethical dilemmas of AI, from biased algorithms to autonomous weapons.

* Virtual Reality and Consciousness: Are we living in a simulation? We'll explore the mind-bending possibilities of virtual reality.

And, of course, we'll navigate the daily dance of finding zen amidst the cacophony of notifications. We'll decode the secrets of digital mindfulness. We'll explore how to find balance in our hyper-connected lives.

Most importantly, we'll do it together.

So, are you ready to dive down the rabbit hole? Hit that follow button! Let's unlock the secrets of the digital mind together!

Join me on this quest for digital enlightenment—and discover how to reclaim your focus, boost your productivity, and find inner peace in the digital age—share your discoveries in the comments!

#DigitalDreams #Tech #Consciousness #AI #Mindfulness

[luna-figs-art]

Ok so I was reading y’alls tags, and I thought some of y’all might be interested with what I’ve come up with (some of you have given me ideas so thanks :D)

(Text post incoming)

The Velvet Room

This Velvet Room I imagine it to be a mash up of 3 things: the velvet room (duh), Iwatodai dorm’s command room, and the YoRHa bunker from NieR. Think the YoRHa command room but bathed in velvet room blue with bronze accents and blue led lighting. And the screens would display the stuff from the Iwaitodai command room and the party’s health and stats (which I like to think the info displayed in the command room is also what the navis of each game sees)

speaking of Iwatodai dorm and sees

1a. I think Velvet Room Command would function like Iwatodai dorm but is really only used as housing and mech storage after the P3 and P4 forces join together (and eventually P5)

Thinking of P4&5, I don’t know much about P4 but the Investigation Team would do their story (but place the setting within the au, whether it happens in a small town or on a remote planet) and later the P3,4,&5 groups would join together to basically form the Shadow Ops group but with Igor and all of the attendants forming the overarching command and support.

1b. The attendants, they’re still playing the role of persona providers but all of the siblings are together, and some of them help do software updates or specific maintenance on the persona mechas or they’re there for emotional support

1c. Teleportation exists, so there’s a command station in space and on earth as well as several hangers on earth for the persona cast

2. All groups live through their storylines but with mech battles, and yes, despite the sci-fi-ness of this au, magic is still heavily involved and is used as a handwavey excuse to fill any plot holes that may show up. Thier magic is harnessed and is powered by many sources

3. Now, do the persona pilots physically ride in their mechs like in Pacific Rim? Do they use neuro links similar to Neon Genesis Evangelion? A combination of both? I honestly think it would depend on the pilot, but I think a majority of the users would use both. Like the navis (P3&5 for sure, idk about P4) are definitely in their persona mechs but probably use neuro links as reinforced connections, and the other probably would use both to be able to fight further even if their mechs go down.

But what establishes the neuro links for each group? Well for the P3 team it’s their evokers, that’ll work kinda the it does in the game. For the P5 crew, their masks. The tech that probably makes the masks work as links would be similar to the technology in sword art online combined with the visors from NieR automata ( where they can see through the mask and it shows a hud/ui/ stats of party through the pov of their persona). But for the P4 cast, I’m not as sure. Maybe they’ll have a unique id-like card that they swipe/insert or in some form use since I can’t really think of a clever way to translate tarot card crushing into this au.

4. And at the mention of Evangelion, a certain someone asked about the Ryoji-Thanatos situation, and I think that it could indeed be like Evangelion where the mechas would have its own consciousness (from what I know, I’ve never seen Evangelion. I know blasphemy), and yes, Ryoji would be in there (imagine him post Christmas as something like a combat support ai until 3/5). Or you could go in the route where it’s the no one dies, everyone lives au ending for P3 in this mecha au, then this bit doesn’t matter, and Ryoji and Thanatos are separate entities, but Ryoji helped design/make Thanatos for Makoto and that can be the connection between Ryoji and Thanatos.

5. Shadows, Dark Hour, the fog(??), Metaverse?

I think all of these do exist in this au because magic, and why not have interdimensional/intergalactic rifts and portals where there are aliens that invade at attack. And the aliens are shadows. But, only the persona pilots can perceive the shadows but the masses can notice the effects of the shadows like the apathy syndrome.

6. Timeline wise I’m leaning toward the cannon/generally accepted timeline between the games, but shove everything a few hundred / a thousand year(s) into the future

7. Now the wildcards. In this au, because they’re special (and in some cases, god’s favorite chewy toy) I’d figure did give an explanation for why they can have multiple persona mechas. The reason being that in this au, one mecha takes every fiber of one’s being to control them. And in most cases if someone tries to control another, they’d lose control of themselves (go insane mental breakdown style), or get overloaded and unable to physically handle the mental strain and die because of it and their mechas would go berserk.

But wildcards being wildcards, they have the mental fortitude to have multiple mecha connections and in Akechi’s case, the will to have a couple.

Anyways, that’s all I can think of right now, but I’ll update this post if I think it’s needed.

But don’t be afraid to make your own additions to it if you’re felling ˖✧ inspired ˖✧

Thanks for reading and another project with P5 is soon to begin :)

[the-grand-av3]

https://www.tumblr.com/the-grand-av3/755979399653933056/httpswwwtumblrcomthe-grand-av375575666647413?source=share

Art but make it technology

Link

...So that artificial intelligence you two are going in about?

DIE AI WE HATE AI

Okay papa

No it's like

drawing but

on your phone

like yk how you fight pokemon by like swiping the ball

Uh-huh.

its like that but drawing

Oh.