#I am peripherally geek

[chromochaotic]

Thinking of that time I was on a date and we were talking about tattoos

And he said he had one of a whale falling and I, being a little gremlin, got excited thinking he meant the eerie and beautiful marine phenomenon of a whale carcass falling to the ocean floor and providing sustenance to the unfamiliar forms of life there

But it was actually some Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy reference… classic nerd to geek miscommunication

[mischivana]

Are you just going to leave me here?

Connor Stole x Athena!reader

Genre: Fluff

Requested by anonymous

Masterlist

I was in my cabin quietly reading a book my sister Annabeth recommended to me about ancient architecture in western civilizations. It was surprisingly good, she’d been trying for a while to get someone else into architecture so she could geek out with her. Her plan had worked, I was hooked.

I was reading about Athenian architecture in the United States capital specifically when there was a knock at the cabin door. I grabbed my owl bookmark to keep my page, set down my book, and walked over to the door.

Before I could even get to the handle the door swung open revealing my best friend, Connor Stoll. With his curly hair and cheeky smile he walked into the Athena cabin and slumped down onto my bed. “Making yourself at home are ya?” I said, with a small laugh.

“You know it. Your cabin is so much nicer than Hermes” he said, his face in my pillow. “That’s because we know how to keep our cabin clean” I responded, walking over and sitting at the foot of my bed by his feet.

He flipped over and looked at me and then back at the large library room in the center of the cabin. The only part of the cabin that was any sort of messy. Looking at it, it was somehow easy and impossible to believe it belonged to the children of wisdom, books were everywhere. Unevenly on shelves, in large stacks on tables and desks, chaotic piles on the floor, you name it. There was one large circular table in the center, with a cutout so people could get to the middle. There were chairs on either side, though no one ever used them, a lot of our work was done standing. The table was littered with loose papers, torn up documents, finished and unfinished maps, stuff like that. There were all sorts of writing utensils as well. There were pencils, pens, markers, highlighters, even a few quills in ink pots. It looked like an archive had exploded but to me and my siblings, we knew where everything was and where everything needed to be.

“Clean” he said in a sarcastic tone. “I looked at him with a playful grin and said “ha ha you know what I mean,” I looked back at the room and remembered the map I had promised I’d finish for my brother and got up. “That reminds me,” I said “I needed to finish a map for Gabriel” and walked over to the table to start working.

I felt a hand grab my wrist, stopping me in my tracks. “Wait-” I heard him say. He was sitting up now, his arm outstretched to grab mine and his face tilted slightly up to look in my eyes. He continued, “you’ve been reading and working all day, you deserve a break” he told me with a sympathetic smile. Gods how I loved that smile, it always made a dark situation have a little bit of light. “I haven’t been working that long, it’s only been a few hours” I said, not moving still. “You skipped lunch, I don’t even think you realized it” he told me, starting to sound a little worried. He was right, I skipped lunch and hadn’t realized. I was reading so much and working so hard I hadn’t even acknowledged how hungry I am. “It worries me when you put work over eating,” he said.

I blushed a little, I wouldn’t tell anyone and especially not Connor himself but last summer I’d fallen for him. How funny is that? Daughter of wisdom falling in love with the son of tricksters. To know he cared about me made me feel special, but he’s my best friend, he probably was worried because of that reason, not because he loves me back.

“I know,” I lied, I hadn’t known, “but I promised Gabriel I’d finish this” I said and turned to keep walking to the table. I picked up a compass and a pencil that’d been lying somewhere on the table and started to chart the map again. I saw Connor pull out a chair and sit in my peripheral vision. I looked at him quickly and gave him a small laugh which he returned. We remained that way for a few minutes, me in the zone charting the map and him watching, before I heard let out a sigh and started to get up. I looked at him as he said “well let me know when you’re done, I have an awesome prank planned for the aphrodite cabin but I need a strategist” before turning to the door.

I dropped the compass and the pencil and grabbed his wrist, stopping him like he’d stopped me before. He turned to face me with a little bit of a questioning look on his face. “Are you just gonna leave me here? To work on this map all alone, in an empty cabin?” I said, in a joking tone. A smile crept up onto my face.

He smiled back and looked at me for a sec before dipping his head and laughing a little. He had a big smile on his face, like he was planning something. Before I knew it he’d leaned down and planted a kiss on my lips. It was short lived and over before it began,“as long as you’re done soon” and took his chair back to watch me work again.

I stood there for a moment, stunned at what just happened. The boy I'd been in love with, my best friend, just kissed me. I turned around to face him, he was in his chair looking at me with that same cheeky smile. The one that always made me happy. And I smiled back. I walked back over to the table, grabbed my compass and pencil and began to work again, him watching me with loving eyes. At that moment all my fears about him not liking me back flew out the window and we sat there for what felt like ever. Alone in the cabin, as I worked, as he watched, in love.

[smokeybrandreviews]

Heartsigh

I’m in love with Mary Jane. She’s my main thang! Look, it’s no secret I shill hard for Spider-Man. I love the kid. I have since I was a little boy. Peter Parker was the first character in which i saw myself. Obviously, not physically. I’m a huge Black dude. Pete is, decidedly, not. However, I was a nerd and a geek. I had very niche hobbies, an encyclopedic knowledge of dinosaurs, and basically lived in my own head. My friends and I would go LARP in a field during recess instead of playing sports and what not. You can imagine I was not popular in my youth. I had my fair share of bullies but I never stopped being me. I never changed to please other people and a lot of that took strength of will. Strength of character. Spider-Man comics showed that to me. Watching Pete struggle, fight, and ultimately prevail, gave me the strength to do the same. I’m an old man now, today I turn forty, but I still adore the kid. But I AM forty. I adore Pete and his adventures but I’d be lying if I said I’m having fun in the same way I did as a kid. I’m not. I hate where 616 is and that’s because they took the best part of the character away from him; His relationship with Mary Jane Watson.

I’m an Eighties baby. My Spider-Man was married to MJ my entire adolescence. The Clone Saga ran basically my entire childhood, culminating in MJ losing their kid. Peter and Mary Jane canonically have a child! How do you take a bond that strong away? You make a deal with the devil. That’s crazy to me! The Peter Parker I know, the one that showed me how to be me, assholes be damned, would never. But editorial made that happen and it’s sucked ever since. No shade to Gwen because she has a place in Pete’s heart, and mine, as well. I don’t hate Gwen. I hate she got Fridged but I don’t think she was “The One” for Pete. The “First”, sure, but it was always MJ in my head. Their chemistry together, especially during the Eighties, was outstanding. Everything got gritty back then and MJ was just this lovely beacon of light in an otherwise very dark era of the comics. I don’t know how editorial axes that because “marriage ages Peter too much”. That’s dumb. Every time you put the two back together, sales surge. Every time you break them up, sh*t goes sideways. I mean, look at the state of the mainline Spider-comic right now. No one likes that sh*t. At all. However, the run right before? Nick Spencer’s take on the character? One of the most popular (and bestselling) Amazing runs in decades. Why? MJ. Also, the writing. Zeb Wells is trash, man.

Now, I’m not going to sit here and fellate Spencer’s most recent run because it ended in a wet fart but, that arc went a long way to corrected several Sins against Pete and I will always be grateful for that. MJ was back to being basically Peter's wife. Their relationship was strong, loving, and adorable. Two nerds in love, as they should be. MJ even got a solo limited run, which was f*cking hilarious. Those books were just a plain good time, so when Spencer bowed out and Wells took over, starting with bringing back Ben Reilly, I shuddered. Radiation poisoning? Really? Well, whatever. MJ and Pete were still together. The promised move-in was still on the table and even Black Cat got an MJ team-up, which, in of itself, was a pretty solid read. And then Zeb dropped his number one and I’ve hated everything about Amazing ever since. Even if MJ has powers now. I take solace in the peripheral Spider-books. Miles is still a pretty strong read but my bread-and butter, in terms of more mainstream books, has been the Spider-Verse titles and their spin-offs. Lots of great stuff in there, particularly Spider-Girls where we see May and Annie Parker meet for the first time. Anya’s there, too, for reasons, but it was the dimension displaced sisters which did it for me.

Love seeing Mayday anytime a writer deems her worthy of inclusion (Mayday is the teenage to young adult version of the child MJ lost during the Clone Saga. She has her own MC2 book, the first in the little sub-line, and it’s a brilliant hundred issues, if you like Nineties schlock) and Anna-May Parker, the second daughter of Pete and MJ from the Renew Your Vows universe. Renew Your Vows dropped at the height of the “Give MJ Back” discourse and was initially a middle finger to the fans. Editorial, at the time, basically released the issue as a “This is why Peter and MJ need to be apart” but it back fired. That sh*t was awesome. Annie was awesome. MJ with powers is kinda was awesome. The limited sold like gangbusters and Marvel had to admit that Peter was better with MJ. We got another Renew run, a longer one where we saw Annie grow up, MJ become Venom, and another round of record sales. Not only is Peter better with Mary Jane, their kids kick ass, too! Which is no wonder why Hickman decided to write his Spider-Man with the Spider-family in tow.

Coming off the best X-Men comics in probably three decades, Jonathan Hickman was given the reins to reshape the brand new Ultimate universe of Marvel Comics. The OG one has been defunct for years, but we got Miles out of it so it’s not like it was super missed. Hickman is the overall architect of this new take on Ultimate fair, but he is personally writing Ultimate Spider-Man and it is f*cking exceptional. There is so much to like, so many common sense changes that give a brand new, yet, familiar life to the book. Hickman opted for an older, more settled, more established Peter Parker that becomes Spider-Man. In this world, Pete and MJ have been married for years. She is mad crazy successful and he still does his Bugle thing, but they have two kids in tow. That’s not something that throws me as MC2 Peter had Mayday and Benji, plus April for a little while, so multiple Spider-kids is par for the course. But, seeing the mature relationship between MJ and Pete never gets old. They are loving, supportive, and the way the interact on the page is classic, Eighties, nostalgia. I love Ultimate Spider-Man. It is everything a contemporary, mature take on Pete should be. It helps tremendously the art and writing are stupid superior to whatever the f*ck Romita and Wells are doing. F*ck, man, just let Pete and Mary Jane be together. The Parker luck can f*ck something else up, goddamn! Paul can eat a sack of baby dicks!

[on1tea]

My thoughts race with you, my mind filled to the brim and more with only you. I would wait to the ends of the earth to be yours again, I would wait until the beginning of time starts again.

I’ve come to another revelation that healthy isn’t what I need. It isn’t what I want either. I’ve had healthy, I’ve experienced it in all it is. Clear communication and boundaries, not feeling rushed or used or disgusting. But it wasn’t the same, it was missing something, it wasn’t you.

I want teasing and bickering, I want inside jokes and to be driven to madness, I want apathy and empathy to clash into a beautiful mix of dark and light. I want to watch what you do on discord while I do my own thing just to know you’re safe or that you’re having fun doing something you enjoy. I wanna surprise you with dark jokes. I want to geek out about music with you and get into mischief. I want to buy you drinks you’ve never tried only for you to turn and ask if I’m sure there isn’t alcohol in it. I want to scratch your back while sitting behind you in a car. I want to sing shakey duets together while we speed down the road. I yearn for our adorable nicknames for one another, for our developing flirts, for our adventures to continue. For late night calls and bending backwards in vrchat only to realize you’re actually laying down. I want to play games and see you looking at me in the peripherals of my eye, or watch you turn back just to see if I’m still there and ok. I wanna shit talk with you about anything and everything. I want you. I want all of that and more, but it would never be the same if it isn’t with you. You’re irreplaceable, you’re brilliant and you don’t even know it. I want to give you every ounce of love I have, every drop that you could possibly crave for and more. I want to have firsts and lasts with you. I want to see every ugly thing life has to offer with you. I would pick up a spider with my bare hands for you, sit in a room of angry hornets, Id’ work as a waitress in that restaurant you always go to if it meant getting to see you everyday, I would do anything for you to know you’re loved. That I love you for all that you are, even for the things you haven’t told me, the things you’re too nervous to show, with all that I am. Through every single fiber of my dna. And I hope you see this, I know its a lot of words..I hope you know how much I love you, and how much I wish I could have sent this to you personally..

[contentpharm]

I wanna be geeked. Like. Geeked out of my mind. I want to get past peripheral glitches and shadows and start seeing shit right in front of me. Every single time I ask someone about some kind of noided ahh experience i have they all AGREE and im liek...WDYM IS TS (THIS) 💔 LIKE A NORMAL EXPERIENCE???☹️ I SWEAR if what i cknsider mental issues is a fucking age relayed thing im gonna lose it. Like. That's why I keep getting on that ZA cuz once after a three (technically 4 but i ate so it didnt take effect) night streak, i started seeing shadows, glitches and bugs in the corner of my eye, and started noticing and jumping at everything. That BETTER NOT be a purely vision related thang. I want to be a fucking insane, delusional, paranoid nutcase. The only fucking reason I dont trust so many people is BECAUSE I have like 9000000 opps EVERYWHERE and even my friends dont view me like their other friends cuz of my superficial "skibidi hawk tuah lol!" Bullshit and complete ineptitude. ION SEE YOU TALKING TO ANYONE ELSE LIKE THAT 💔💔💔 LIEK WHAT YHE MANGUZZ 💔💔💔‼️‼️‼️ And the only reason i FEEL targeted is cuz I am. It's not fucking paranoia if I'm right. I have cameras in my house in EVERY SINGLE ROOM including MY ROOMS (one of them is "unplugged" but I CANT PROVE YHAT) and practically my entire school is just braindead opps that snuck onto earth from fucking Kepler-16b. I WANT TO BE WRONG I WANT TO BE DELUSIONAL. "Oh, but you'll regret it when it gets tuah tuah that point" NO TF I WONT??? Every single time my mental health degrades I feel better and i dont regret a thing. I want tuah feel worse because

1.i am NEVER taken feiniously (even if i do ill feel horrible and like an evil wizard of homeless soiled temu attire)

HAWK TUAH. The actual feeling feels kinda good

3. Personal milestone. Idk it just feels rewarding tuah be massively geeked

4. I am a PRIVILEGED FRAUD!!! There are people fucking DYING of some rare bone disease and im here thinking of my normal probably age and drug relayed experiences as some kind of feinious mental issue.

I hope i get an actual psychotic disorder from that good kush (minus the alcohol) I want to be confined tuah straitjacket and forced to stare endlessly at the flickering fluorescent lights of some making brown grade psych ward with homeless people crawling all over the walls. Besides, the anxiety ive been experiencing rn is kinda mid and i just feel more neutral and distant from memories. Like HELLO??? What happened to shaking violently every night for hawk threeuh days cuz i was in an airbnb? Its slowly coming back but idk i want tk go back to that

I want to be crazy enough to not seal everything away and uncontrollably scream wt people when i dont like them. But nooooo i cant even teust my OWN judgement 😒😒😒

[smokeybrand]

Heartsigh

I’m in love with Mary Jane. She’s my main thang! Looks, it’s no secret I shill hard for Spider-Man. I love the kid. I have since I was a little boy. Peter Parker was the first character that I saw myself in. Obviously, not physically. I’m a huge Black dude. Pete, decidedly, is not. However, I was a nerd and a geek. I had very niche hobbies, an encyclopedic knowledge of dinosaurs, and basically lived in my own head. My friends and I would go LARP in a field during recess, instead of playing sports an what not. You can imagine I was not popular in my youth. I had my fair share of bullies but I never stopped being me. I never changed to please other people and a lot of that took strength of will. Strength of character. Spider-Man comics showed that to me. Watching Pete struggle, fight, and ultimately prevail, gave me the strength to do the same. I’m an old man now, today I turn forty, I still adore the kid. But I AM forty. I adore Pete and his adventures but I’s be lying if I said I’m having fun in the same way I did as a kid. I’m not, actually. I hate where 616 is and that’s because they took the best part of the character away from him; His relationship with Mary Jane Watson.

You see, I’m an Eighties baby. My Spider-Man was married to MJ my entire adolescence. The Clone Saga ran basically my entire childhood, culminating in MJ losing their kid. Peter and Mary Jane canonically have a child! How do you take that bond away? You make a deal with the devil. That’s crazy to me! The Peter Parker I know, the one that showed me how to be me, assholes be damned, would never. But editorial made that happen and it’s sucked ever since. No shade at Gwen because she has a place in Pete’s heart, and mine, as well. I don’t hate Gwen. I hate she got Fridged but I don’t think she was “The One” for Pete. The “First”, sure, but it was always MJ in my head. Their chemistry together, especially during the Eighties, was outstanding. Everything got gritty back then and MJ was just this lovely beacon of light in an otherwise very dark era of the comics. I don’t know how editorial axes that because “marriage ages Peter too much”. That’s dumb because, every time you put the two back together, sales surge. Every time you break them up, sh*t goes sideways. I mean, look at the state of the mainline Spider-comic right no. No one likes that. At all. However, the run right before? Nick Spencer’s take on the character? One of the most popular (and bestselling) Amazing runs in decades. Why? MJ. Also, the writing. Zeb Wells is trash, man.

Now, I’m not going to sit here and fellate Spencer’s most recent run because it ended in a wet fart but, hat arc went a long way to corrected several sins against Pete and I will always be grateful to that. MJ was back to being basically Peters wife. Their relationship was strong, loving, and adorable. Two nerds in love, as they should be. MJ even got a solo limited run, which was f*cking hilarious. Those books were just a plain good time, so when Spencer bowed out and Wells took over, starting with bringing back Ben Reilly, I was shuddered. Radiation poisoning? Really? Well, whatever. MJ and Pete were still together. The promised move in was still on the table, and even Black Cat got an MJ team-up, which, in of itself, was a pretty solid read. And them Zeb dropped his number one and I’ve hated everything about Amazing, ever since. Even if MJ has powers now. No, I take solace in the peripheral Spider-books. Miles is still a pretty strong read but my bread-and butter, in terms of more mainstream books, has been the Spider-Verse titles and their spin-offs. Lots of great stuff in there, particularly Spider-Girls where ewe see May and Annie Parker meet for the first time. Anya’s there, too, for reasons, but it was the dimension displaced sisters which did it for me.

Loved seeing Mayday anytime a writer deems her worthy of inclusion (Mayday is the teenage to young adult version of the child MJ lost during the Clone Saga. She has her own MC2 book, the first in the little sub-line, and it’s a brilliant hundred issues, if you like Nineties schlock) and Anna-May Parker, the second daughter of Pete and MJ from the Renew Your Vows universe. Renew Your Vows dropped at the height of the “Give MJ Back” discourse ad an middle finger to the fans. Editorial, at the time, basically released the issue as a “This is why Peter and MJ need to be apart” but it back fired. That sh*t was awesome. Annie was awesome. MJ with powers kinda was awesome. The limited sold like gangbusters and Marvel had to admit that Peter was better with MJ. We got another Renew run, a longer one where we saw Annie grow up, MJ become Venom, and another round of record sales. Not only is Peter better with Mary Jane, their kids kick ass, too! Which is no wonder why Hickman decided to write his Spider-Man with the Spider-family in tow.

Coming off the best X-Men comics in probably three decades, Jonathan Hickman was given the reins to reshape the brand new Ultimate universe of Marvel Comics. The OG one has been defunct for years, but we got Miles out of it so it’s not like it was super missed. Hickman is the overall architect of this new take on Ultimate fair, but he is personally writing Ultimate Spider-Man and it is f*cking exceptional. There is so much to like, so many common sense changes that give a brand new, yet, familiar life to the book. Hickman opted for an older, more settle, more established Peter Parker that becomes Spider-Man. In this world, Pete and MJ have been married for years. She is mad crazy successful and he still does his Bugle thing, but they have two kids in tow. It’s not something that throws me as MC2 Peter had Mayday and Benji, plus April for a little while, so multiple Spider-kids is par for the course, but seeing the mature relationship between MJ and Pete never gets old. They are loving, supportive, and the way the interact on the page is classic, Eighties, nostalgia. I love Ultimate Spider-Man. It is everything a contemporary, mature take on Pete should be. It helps tremendously the art and writing are stupid superior to whatever the f*ck Romita and Wells are doing. F*ck, man, just let Pete and Mary Jane be together. The Parker luck can f*ck something else up, goddamn! Paul can eat a sack of baby dicks!

[unkownknowledge]

Genshin characters and their spider s/o

A little crossover HC post between terraformars and genshin.

Basically the reader is the result of a messed up experiment and now they look like a monstrous humanoid spider, like this guy:

Except you have no human skin or hair, just pure chitin, extra legs out the back, and mandibles(like a turian)

Also: request are still open, feel free to request!

Including: Jean, Xinqiu, and Razor

_____________________________

Jean: hollow knight

_____________________________

Jean had been receiving reports of frightened merchants and townsfolk, all of whom had been found on the road ranting about a giant spider.

Jean was sure it was nothing more than hilichurls or hoarders or abyss mages and the people were merely suffering panic induced hallucinations, this was supported by the clear signs of such dangers at the scene of the crime.

But still, neither any of the knights nor adventurers in the guild reported saving these people, nor did Diluc claim that he did when she asked him.

So Jean decided to investigate, after all not only is there a chance of finding camps of the three above dangers, but also the chance of finding a new ally.

When she saw you in a clearing you looked like a normal human, until you turned your head in an inhuman manner and looked at her with eight red glowing eyes.

You screamed at her and used your geo vision to grow eight giant legs out your back, which you used to run away.

Jean, being the persistent woman she is, wasn't about let you go until she confirmed if you were a friend or foe.

She chased you through the forest for a while, and unfortunately didn't notice a group of hilichurls hiding behind some trees.

One swung out and struck her from behind, knocking her to the ground.

At the sound of this you turned around and saw Jean on the ground.

While she easily could have beaten the hilichurls, she didn't have to. This is because you were immediately next to her, sword drawn and slicing through the monsters like a hot knife through butter. Your geo legs acted like extra blades that parried any attack directed towards the knight.

Because you're other legs were busy, however, you were unable to block the attack from a crossbow that shot right through your knee.

You fell down and were beaten senseless by the hilichurls, the last thing you remember was the sounds of a blade and the monsters turning to dust before you blacked out.

You woke up on a soft bed inside an unfamiliar building. You tried to get up but your knee had a large hole in it, luckily for you your ability to feel pain was long lost.

Jean entered a minute later with some food, "good, your awake."

"Where am I?" You asked.

"In my home, the guest room to be exact."

"Why did you save me?"

"Because you were in danger."

"Yes but why? Aren't you afraid of me?"

"Considering how you saved me as well? No, not at all."

Jean poured some tea for both of you, "now onto-"

You felt your eyes water, something you didn't realize you could still do.

"What's wrong?" Jean asked.

"It's just, it's been so long since anyone was...nice to me. My appearance isn't exactly very welcoming."

"And yet you still help people, the same people who call you a monster?"

"Of course! I might be an abomination, but I'm not a monster. In fact, before I became...this I had always dreamed of joining the knights."

"Well, that makes things easy."

"What do you mean?"

"While I cannot officially make you a knight, I can make you an honorary member of the knights of favonius."

"REALLY!?" You said, a child like excitment on your face.

So you joined the knights, of course not everyone was happy about this.

But noone doubted the acting grand master's decision, after all she never once failed the city.

After a while the city warmed up to you, even hailing you as a hero thanks to all you've done!

But the city's attitude towards you wasn't the only thing getting warmer.

Infact, a certain person's cheeks seemed to grow red as Amber's ribbon at the mere mention of your name.

Lisa and Kaeya were the first to notice Jean's infatuation with you, and they were quite intent on helping her.

It would be easy for them to set it up: you were cold blooded, so you had a heater in your room during the winter, and thanks to a 'freak lightning strike', your house was under renovations for the whole season, this caused Jean to let you stay in her home until yours was repaired.

Now all they had to do was sneak in an 'cool it' down.

You awoke in the middle of the night due to the temperature suddenly dropping. You tried turning on your heater but that didn't work. You went downstairs to make some hot tea, unaware that Kaeya swapped the labels on Jean's coffee and your tea. After making the beverage you sat down in the warmest corner, covered in blankets, and with a warm drink in hand.

Fun fact! Spiders get hella drunk off caffeine.

You are a spider.

One sip of the coffee and you felt funny, you couldn't think straight and felt wobbly.

Kaeya and Lisa giggled watching you.

"So, how DID you get them drunk? You couldn't exactly have spiked their tea could you?" Lisa asked.

"I swapped the labels on their tea and Jeans coffee. Spiders get hella drunk on-" Kaeya noticed Lisa worried face, "fuck, what did I do this time?"

"Kaeya, spiders don't get drunk on caffeine like humans do with alcohol."

Lisa pointed Kaeya towards the window

"Whoops"

Caffeine doesn't make spiders drunk the same way alchohol does a person, which is what Kaeya expected.

Caffeine makes spiders hyper, very hyper.

When Jean heard skittering and clanging she thought someone was robbing the house, so she was reasonably surprised to see you lying in the center of the kitchen, crying, and with webs all over.

When she asked what happened you just rolled over and mumbled out gibberish about how you can't catch any flies.

Jean picked you up to take you to bed, but you wrapped your arms and legs around her and caused her to fall.

"(Y/n), please let me go." Jean pleaded.

You shushed her, "nap time" and fell asleep.

Your grip was to strong for her to get out, and with your weight she couldn't get up in this position, so she just had to wait for you to get up.

The next day Jean got up the same time as you, she would have said something if you didn't kiss her and pet her head.

"I love this dream." You said, nuzzling into the crook of her neck.

Jean was shocked, what dream? You were clearly awake.

"I wonder if Jean is this warm in real life....I wish I could find out..."

"(Y-y/n)" she stuttered out, "you're not dreaming."

You shot up with all your eyes wide as saucers.

You immediately thought of running. But where would you go? The forest? Yeah, that works, just go there a-

You felt a warm sensation on your cheek.

"So (y/n), how does this dream usually go?" Jean said with a suggestive wink.

.

.

.

"(Y/n)?"

404 error, reader.exe has crashed

After that rather unconventional confession session, you both started dating.

Jean was concerned about not having enough time for you, but that proved to be very unfounded. Thanks to your many years alone you didn't know what dating was, so to you simply working together was fine.

On every mission out of the city you would bring gifts or a picnic for when the sun was setting.

On days where you both had paper work you would make tea and buy little cakes or biscuits and sit on her lap as you rested on eachother's shoulders and fed each other snacks, under the excuse that "sharing a chair saves space".

On the rare occasion Jean gets to have a day off, she showers you in affection.

She'll make you breakfast in bed(it's not good 80% of the time, but you don't tell her), she'll cuddle with you all day, she'll even read to you if you want. She wants to give back to you for all the time she couldn't give you her full attention.

_____________________________

Xingqiu: it's like one of my Inazuman graphic novels

_____________________________

Your meeting with the guhua geek was far more coincidental.

You were just minding your business, catching some animals to eat, when some weird guy just walks by you, not noticing you at all, as he reads his book.

You were rather suprised and, by extension, curious about this boy.

Was he blind in peripheral? Was he that brave? Was he an idiot?

A bit of colum B, mostly colum C.

Xingqiu sat down on a rock and continued reading, given how he was reading aloud you figured you might as well take advantage of his lack of notice and learn to read.

But he did notice.

"Ah shoot, spaces out again." Xingqiu cried, "now I have to start all over."

Xingqiu started reading the book all over again, much to your joy.

You could easily match his words to the page thanks to your speed of comprehension.

When the boy noticed it was getting late he decided to head home, while you were upset you didn't try and stop him. In fact you immediately darted away before he saw you.

The next day he came back, and read from the same spot.

And again

And again

This went on for quite some time.

Xingqiu knew someone was watching him, but he never was able to catch a glimpse. He just figured it was someone who wanted to read legends of the shattered halberd but couldn't find any copies, and so the chivalrous thing to do would be to read it for them.

One day he finished the fifth book and proclaimed it was the last one, which made you rather sad.

Until he spoke to you.

"Well my secretive friend," he turned around, "shall w-"

You screamed

He screamed

For about five minutes.

After which you both just stared at eachother.

He pointed a shakey finger at you, "you're-"

You turned away, 'a freak I know' you thought.

"SO COOL!"

"What?"

Xingqiu immediately ran at you and started inspecting you.

The whole time he had such an amazed look on his face.

"Woah!" He said as he grabbed your mandibles, "are these real?!"

"Ye ey are, a ah ee e ah a" you said hoping he would understand that you need them to talk.

"Oh. Hehe. Sorry." He said releasing them.

"Aren't you...scared of me?" You asked.

"Why would I be? If you wanted to kill me you would have. It's not like I was particularly on guard when I was reading for you."

'Y-you knew I was there?"

"I knew someone was there, and I knew they were watching me read. Since you showed such interest in my book I thought the only chivalrous thing to do was to keep reading."

You were shocked, most people just ran and screamed upon seeing you.

"Now, shall we go look for the sixth book?"

After that you and Xingqiu became fast friends.

He used some of the money he made from the scam he pulled on that scammer to buy out the forest you lived in, making it officially private property so that people won't go after you.

He kept coming back with books for you both to read, you absolutely loved it!

And while you never realized it, you also loved him.

He however, did know he loved you.

Being the menace to society he is, Xingqiu decided the best way to confess was to just kiss you.

You're sitting on a stump with your head on Xingqiu's shoulder.

"This book isn't as good as the others." You say.

"Ah don't be like that, fairy tales are the foundation of all those 'knight in shining armor books' you love."

"Yeah but this is boring."

"True, true. But I think it has a great ending." Xingqiu turned to the final page, "and then the knight told the (royal title) how much he loved them, and to seal his love he placed a kiss on their cheek."

"That wasn't good."

"Why? It was very realistic."

"In what reality does someone confess by kiss-"

*smooch*

It took you a solid five seconds to process what happened.

Xingqiu smirked at you like the bastard man he is, "this one I believe."

Your mandibles hung slack as your face got a dark shade of blue.

"Uh, (y/n)?"

"Clothes off, now."

Xingqiu stumbled out the forest four hours later. Chongyun, who was protecting his privacy, asked him what's wrong.

"Absolutely nothing." He responded with the largest grin a human could muster, before his legs gave out, "can you carry me home?"

Your relationship was more steady than just that bit though.

Xingqiu spent as much time with you as he could, he even learned how to hunt so he could be with you while you hunted for food.

You never left your forest though, you were far to afraid of people and especially the vigilant yaksha(which Xingqiu tried to convince you was friendly).

Of course, not everything goes so simply.

Xingqiu was skipping through the forest, far to enamoured at the idea of you to notice someone following him.

You sat calmly on your rock and awaited your boyfriend of two years, today was his birthday so you made him a beautiful silk picture of his favorite scene from 'the legend of the broken halberd'

You felt the boy drop into your lap, "hello my love!"

You wrapped your arms and extra legs around him, "hello my little knight, I have a wonderful gift for-"

"XINQIU! WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!"

You both turned around to see a man who looked oddly like Xingqiu.

"H-hey big bro..." Xingqiu said, clearly nervous.

"You're his brother?" You asked, "nice to meet you! I'm your future sibling in law!"

His brother looked surprised, then angry, "Xingqiu, a word."

"No," he responded, "anything you can say to me you can say to my (s/o)."

"Xingqiu, this is not a game."

"ANYTHING," Xingqiu said, far more aggressive, "you can say to me, you can say to them."

His brother sighed, "you can't date them."

"I believe I can."

"XINGQIU! ME AND FATHER HAVE TOLERATED ENOUGH OF YOUR CHILDISHNESS! YOU ARE AN HEIR OF THE FEIYUN COMMERCE GUILD, YOU CANNOT DATE THAT-THAT THING!"

Xingqiu shot up into a fighting stance, "care to repeat that?"

Xingqiu stared down his brother with murderous intent.

"So you wont back down?"

"Never, I love (y/n) to much!"

"If you don't leave them, you'll be disowned by father, all your wealth, power, and influence will be forfeited. All for an inhuman freak!"

"Xinqiu please," you tried telling your beloved, "I won't let you sacrifice-"

"Sorry darling, but I don't give a damn." He interrupted you before turning to his brother, "I will NOT abandon my beloved (y/n)! They are the most precious thing in the world to me! So go ahead! Strip me if my title, my riches, of my very skin! My heart will yearn for nothing else but the cold hard touch of love that is my (s/o)!"

Xinqiu's brother smirked

"So, you promise to always be with (y/n)?"

"Yes!"

"Through both sickness and health?"

As smart as he was, Xinqiu couldn't see what was happening, "with all my heart and soul!"

"And you would take (Y/N) as your contractually bound spouse?"

"I would sooner bite my arm off than live another day without them as such! In fact!" Xinqiu turned to you, "(Y/N)! WE'RE GOING TO GET MARRIED RIGHT NOW! COME ON!"

"Hold it!" His brother demanded, "(Y/N)! Would you stay with my brother, Xinqiu, through sickness and health, through rags and riches?"

You nodded, "forever and always!"

"And would you take him to be your contractually bound husband?"

"E-even if I had to fight Rex Lapis himself!"

Two burly hands grabbed the couple and pushed them together, "You may now kiss the bride!"

Without thought, you two kissed each other, not thinking to question the cheering, clapping, and crying-

You both pulled apart, "what the abyss is happening here?!"

The burly arms, now wrapping you both, was an older crying man who also looked like Xinqiu.

Xinqiu's Brother was crying and clapping.

Chongyun was blasting off party cones(🎉🎉these things)

And several other of Xinqiu's friends were there celebrating.

"W-wait..." Xinqiu started to remember that his brother, as a high ranking member of a commerce guild, can officiate marriages.

The older man, Xinqiu's father, cried and said, "finally! Grandchildren!"

(If you can't have babies, adoption exists and is perfectly normal)

Needless to say

404 error, Xinqiu.exe and Reader.exe have stopped working

_____________________________

Razor: the big bad spider and the itsy bitsy spider

_____________________________

(Please understand that my knowledge of Razor is based on his quest, I know of his special vision but it won't be brought up for this. I will be sure to read the wiki page for him if I write him again)

Razor knew something was wrong.

His wolf side told him something was wrong with the forest, and his human side told him it should be either avoided at all cost or destroyed.

Because it had stayed away he had largely tried to just avoid it and keep his lupical away from whatever IT is.

Until a foolish pup decided to try and defeat whatever big bad monster had their protector so scared.

Razor ran faster than any lightning bolt upon hearing the news.

Razor didn't know what he was seeing: giant webs strewn out covering entire trees, boars and Hilichurls wrapped in webs and frozen in a sickly green.

And at the center of it all was a giant, monstrous creature with eight leg like roots coming from it's back, feeding off the life of all the creatures stuck here.

This is what he was afraid of, the beast that every inch of his primal self screamed to get away from.

But he couldn't, not until he found the pup!-

"Hello." You said calmly to the strange man coming into your home, "is this your's?"

You outstretched your hand and a sleeping pup drifted towards razor on a flower.

"He caused lots of problems, so I made him sleep. Don't worry, it's nothing permanent, give him an hour or two and he'll be right up."

After Razor left, you assumed that would be the last disturbance for a while.

But it wasn't.

Razor's wolf half still feared you, was still mortified when he pictured your spider like face, your towering body, everything.

But his human half...teembled.

Not in fear, but in a different way.

He couldn't stop thinking of you, and his primal upbringing did little to quell the less romantic thoughts about your gem like eyes, the way your mandibles clicked and moved when you talked, the overwhelming nature energy that you radiated.

But he still knew good enough to get to know you better.

Just not HOW to do it.

"Why are you spider?"

Is not a good first thing to ask.

But you explained regardless: you were taken as a kid and experimented on by some rogue students from Sumeru academy.

Then some purple lady rescued you, and while you were grateful you much preferred living out in the wild.

"Yes...wild is good! Wolvendom, especially good!"

Someone please help him.

"Purple lady....ah! Shockey wizard lady from knights?"

You nodded

"Razor good friends with her and honorary knight! Do you know red flamy girl?"

"Klee? Oh yes! I love her! She's such a nice kid!"

"Yes, Klee is like lupical! Even if she...burns down forest from time to time."

Lucky for him, your shared familial love for the pyromaniacal minor helped bridge the gap between you two.

Eventually he even got you to leave your grotto(?) And meet his lupical!

He introduced you to the wonders of actually eating rather than just sucking the life force out of animals.

You both love and protect the forest of wolvendom, and if any large threat arises to it then you both will fight fang and claw to protect your home!

Neither of you know what love is in the human sense, but you both feel it to each other and act upon it: giving each other a portion of your food, taking blows in battle for each other, and cuddling more intimately than just friends would.

You are his lupical, and so much more.

_____________________________

I started this near last year's end, it took me till now to realize I should only do 3 characters.

(Paging: @golden-wingseos, @storytravelled)

[perriewinklenerdie]

Change my plans (Ethan x MC)

Open Heart, Ethan Ramsey x MC

A/N:  Hi guys! How are we doing? I've been writing this fic for a little over a week, in the breaks from being a scientist and sleeping till I drop because uni is starting next week :D I wanted (needed) some fluff for my girl Claire (don't I always, tho?) so I tried to maximize the tooth-aching sweetness in this one, sprinkling in some humor here and there.

Summary: Eager to not have to hide his feelings for Claire and get away from it all, Ethan organizes a trip for them.

Tag list: @paleweasels, @kittykatchoices, @valiantlychaoticbarbarian, @radlovedreamer , @usuallyamazinglyaverage, @awhmilkywey @palestazure, @cordoniaqueensworld, @princess-geek, @faithhasnowords, @mightyfangirlofthefandoms, @drakewalkerfantasy, @timmagicktoad, @laceandlula, @greywitchyshots, @llamasgrl, @gingerjane15, @marywrites-things , @ethanplaysfavorites , @mfackenthal , @betelgeusebee , @simsvetements, @buzz-bee-buzz, @owleyes374, @cora-nova, @aworldoffandoms, @l822, @cream-ray, @ughhhxjazzy, @silverlitskies, @justendlesssummerfeels, @togetherwearerapture, @desmaranj, @edgiestwinter, @friedherringclodthing, @waytooattuned, @choicesgremlin , @lapisreviewsstuff, @the-soot-sprite, @writerapprentice, @chasingrobbie, @choicesobsessedd, @x-kyne-x, @thisperfectmemory, @drakewalker04, @rookie-ramsey, @jlynn12273, @thepinknymph @dr-brianna-casey-valentine, @a-i-n-a-a-s-h @justanotherrookie @mvalentine @starrystarrytrouble @akshara16 @maurine07 @natzz-b @aylamreads @openheartthot @tsrookie

Enjoy! <3

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

„Is this going to become a ‘thing’ now?” Jackie joked when she opened the door, only to find Ethan Ramsey on the other side. He scoffed and rolled his eyes, hesitation still present in his movements.

By ‘thing’, she meant that it’s been the fourth time that week that she had to let him into the apartment. First time it happened, they both stared at one another in discomfort, unsure how to proceed. It wasn’t that Jackie didn’t know why he was there; she did. Claire made a point to sit all of her friends down and give them a heads-up, and yet, despite all that, they still had to take a moment before moving on from the uneasiness.

“I don’t want any uncomfortable situations or misunderstandings.” She began, her hands shaking with nerves, but most of all, with excitement. She’s waited for an opportunity to finally tell them about her budding relationship with Ethan for what felt like ages, and now that she finally could, even if only to her inner circle, she felt butterflies in her stomach.

“We already know, but we won’t take the satisfaction away from you.” Elijah snickered, leaning away just in time to avoid Sienna’s punch to the shoulder.

“Good. We’re trying. Ethan and I, I mean. We’re trying.” she said, smiling so widely that her cheeks were hurting. Breathing out a sigh of relief at the happy expressions she saw on their faces, she leaned back in her chair.

“Took you long enough.” Aurora smirked, patting her on the shoulder with a knowing look.

“I’m afraid so.” He tried to find the, very familiar by now, sound of the alarm that he usually heard when someone was close to discovering what was going on between him and a certain blonde doctor. To his surprise, he didn’t hear it. In fact, he hasn’t heard it in over a week now. He’s slowly been getting used to letting his heart do the talking when it came to Claire, giving into his desires and feelings every moment he could without the typical for him hesitation. So did she, using every opportunity she got to enjoy the newly gained freedom to express her affections.

“You do know it’s her day off, I assume, so what are you doing here?”

“I’m picking her up.” he explained, explaining immediately when Jackie’s eyebrow shot up in question. “Not for work.”

“Herondale, your boyfriend is at the door! Again! Pick him up or kick him out.” She called out, then waved her hand at him and disappeared into the kitchen, leaving him alone in the doorway.

As he closed the door behind him, blonde locks appeared in his peripheral vision. With a smug grin, she grabbed his hand and pulled him into her room, slamming the door behind them. She stood on the tips of her toes as she simultaneously grabbed the back of his neck and yanked him down towards her, making their lips meet. He hummed gently, his body leaning into her, arms wrapping around her to hold her against him securely.

“I missed you.” she muttered, punctuating her words with small kisses. Ethan leaned back, speechlessly looking at her with mock confusion.

“You literally saw me last night.”

“I missed you all the same, your point being?”

Claire started walking backwards towards her bed, pulling him along with her without breaking the kiss. With every time their lips touched, he forgot why he ever came to see her in the first place, and that wouldn’t do. He trailed towards her ear, breathlessly whispering his true intentions. “Pack a bag.” When she stopped in her tracks to look at him, he explained more. “We’re leaving for three days. Take whatever you want or need.”

“Why? Do you want me to take a longer break? Cause I really don’t need it- “ she jumped into conclusions, shaking her head while trying to reason her way out of it. He stopped her spiraling, silencing her with a slow kiss.

“I want you to go away with me for three days because I want you all to myself. No hiding, no sneaking around, no interruptions.” He nudged his nose against hers playfully, though his eyes betrayed his vulnerability and hesitation to even say anything. “And if we both catch a break from the mess in here, then even better.” Realization dawned on her all at once, and suddenly she was nodding vigorously and throwing her arms around him.

“In that case, do you want to help me pack? You can choose the lingerie.” She teased, alluding to what they both knew would be happening during their trip, sooner or later. He laughed, kissing her forehead before stepping towards the door.

“Surprise me. We both know that if I stay here, we won’t leave this room at all.”

“Wise words, Dr. Ramsey. Wait in the living room, then.” She winked, turning towards her wardrobe as he closed the door, his feet carrying him to the rest of the housemates.

Sienna smiled at him as he leaned against the counter that separated the kitchen from the living room. Over the last few days, they’ve become something that Ethan could only describe as friends. She was there when he finally came to terms with his own feelings for Claire. He wouldn’t say that they were going to start telling each other everything, but Sienna offered him her support, both silent and not so much, whenever he needed it. Not to mention that she was the biggest ally his relationship with Claire could ever ask for.

“So, where are you taking her?” she asked, drumming her fingers against the cup she was holding. Her tone was suggesting, as she was somewhat sure of how far their relationship has progressed already. His cheeks became tinted with a hint of a blush as he answered.

“Knowing, Claire, she’s right behind the corner and eavesdropping, so all I’ll say is ‘away’.”

“Sorry, C, I tried.” She giggled, looking over his shoulder. When he turned around, his girlfriend was standing right behind him, amused smile on her face.

“Don’t worry, he’ll tell me eventually.” She winked at her best friend, then reached for his hand, brushing their fingers against each other gently. “Are we ready to go?”

“After you.”

They said their goodbyes, then walked out to his car. The screen of the GPS didn’t state where they were going, but it did show the time needed to get there, which was all she cared about. Ethan might have thought that she’d probe him until he told her where he was taking her, but the truth was, all she wanted was to get away with him, no matter where that would be.

Sitting comfortably in the passenger’s seat, she had the first-row view of him. He drove the car seemingly without a single care in the world, nothing to worry his mind. His eyes were focused on the road, which meant that he could only see her in his peripheral vision. Well, that, and feel the pleasant warmth of her gaze on his cheek.

“You’re staring.” He stated, the corners of his lips going up. She shrugged, placing her elbow on the cushioned compartment in the space between them and leaning onto it.

“Cause you’re handsome.”

“Am I now?” Smirking, he risked letting his eyes wander towards her. She was much closer than he anticipated, so close that he would be able to see little golden specs in her otherwise emerald eyes if he had enough time to look into them properly.

“Your ego must be really enjoying it, huh?” Claire teased, tilting even closer to him, letting her fingers trace the lines of his muscles beneath the fabric of his shirt. She pressed her lips to his cheek, then brushed her nose against his jaw and went back to her previous position.

They continued their journey in silence for some time. Trees were blurring into a consistently green patch of color, interrupted only by the sky peaking through from time to time. The low hum of the engine would be enough to lull her to sleep if it wasn’t for how excited she was about this trip and endorphins that were rushing through her bloodstream just because of how close they were.

“I want this.” Ethan mused under his breath, shifting in his seat a little. Claire hummed quietly, facing him to hear him better.

“Want what?”

“The freedom to do this.” he clarified, taking her hand in his, his hold firm and secure. “And this.” he pressed his lips to her fingers, keeping them in place for a few breaths. “And this.” he placed her hand back where it was before, and then allowed his own to rest on her thigh with a squeeze. A shiver ran through her, goosebumps appearing on her arms.

“Are these the only things you’re happy to do?” she breathed a little heavier, her teeth grazing her lower lip. For a moment he could only guess what her face looked like, but then the light turned red, giving him a few seconds to turn towards her. Their faces were mere millimeters away from each other. Ethan let his eyes drop to her lips.

“If only there was any place to park…”

“My, oh, my, Ethan! In the car, again?” The corners of her eyes crinkled as a sign of her good humor. He wanted to say more but couldn’t, the light already turning green and pulling his attention away from her and onto the road. He replied after a moment of thinking.

“As if you didn’t enjoy it.”

“I always did. I always do. As you said, whatever, wherever. Maybe not now, but soon.” With a few words, she managed to make his blood rush through his veins faster, the temperature of his body rising slightly. Ethan took in a shaky breath, voice wavering when he spoke.

“You like teasing me, don’t you?”

“Immensely.”

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

“Care to tell me why we’re parked outside the supermarket?” Claire’s confusion reflected in the way she looked around hesitantly, waiting for some sort of explanation. Ethan offered her his arm, which she took gladly, allowing him to pull them closer together.

“We need something to eat. Come on, we still have about ten minutes of driving from here.”

They strolled through the alleys at a leisure pace, holding hands as though it was the most normal thing for them in the world; as though they’ve been doing this for years. While he went to the winery section to get a bottle or two, she separated from him, heading off in the opposite direction. When they met up again, she put two boxes of cake in their cart, linking their arms together again. His eyebrows shot up in a mock question, which was met with a shrug.

“What? You said it yourself, we have to eat something.”

“It would be nice if we didn’t get diabetes while we’re at it. What about dinner?” he asked as they made their way towards the main section of the store. She skimmed her gaze along the selection of protein laid out in front of her, shaking her head indecisively.

“You choose. I’ll eat whatever we cook.”

Five minutes later they were back on the road, groceries in the back. The car turned left, off the main road and onto the rocky one, leading deep into the forest.

“It’s as though you want to kill and then bury me somewhere.” Claire joked, pushing his arm lightly. He laughed, throwing her a humorous look.

“I wouldn’t have let that many people know that I was taking you out of town if I wanted to do that.”

A rustic cabin revealed itself after a while, surrounded by what used to be a flower garden during summertime; now it was covered in withered plants and a few bushes here and there. The small winter garden was tucked away in the corner of the whole clearing, partially hidden from the view. The cold wind rustled the leaves, filling the air with soft hum.

Claire stood on her tiptoes, throwing her arms around Ethan’s neck to pull him to her. “It’s beautiful.”

Their lips brushed against each other a few times before the biting coolness of the early winter made them rush inside. Leaving their bags by the entrance, they started with a tour of the house. Kitchen was connected to the living room, a dining table between the two. Bathroom right next to the bedroom, and in the said bedroom, the door to the outside.

She turned towards him, walking backwards with a wink. Her hand was extended in his direction, which he took, twirling her into his arms and leading them out of the room before she could protest.

“Let’s cook first.” He explained, helping her sit down at the bar stool. She pouted playfully.

“You’re no fun.”

“I think we’ve established that I am plenty of fun.” He muttered as his hands gripped her hips, giving them a short squeeze.

Ethan acquainted himself with the layout of the room before he began working. Claire watched, at least at first, before getting bored and jumping off the stool to search for something that could provide them with music. Having set it up, she danced her way to his side, observing what he was doing.

“Do you need me to do anything?” she asked, pressing her lips to his upper arm. He looked at her, feeling content with how easy it was to be with her like this. He could do this more often; all the time, in fact, if only he was allowed to do so.

“Get started on the dough for the dumplings, I’ll join you in the moment.”

She took her rings off her fingers, leaving them next to her phone. After mixing eggs and water with flour in a bowl for a bit, she dumped the dough onto the countertop. Using the back of her hand, she kneaded it for a while, then covered it to let it rest. A wave of heat brushed against the back of her neck.

“I wanted to help you, but it seems as though you don’t need it.” he mused against her ear, running his hands up and down her sides. Claire turned in his arms, locking their eyes in a heated gaze. With an innocent look on her face, she brushed her fingers against his cheeks, smearing flour all over his skin. Surprise bloomed in his expression, then morphed into mischief when he grabbed some more of flour and spread it on the tip of her nose and leading it down to her chin.

“I can cook too, you know. You watched Nigella, I watched Gordon.” She taunted him breathlessly, her eyes fluttering close.

Ethan wrapped his arm around her shoulders, bringing her body closer to his, their lips meeting halfway in a slow kiss. Instead of leaning down, he picked her up, smirking when she gasped in surprise. Her hands, previously unoccupied, now were gripping his shoulders tightly, holding onto him as her feet tangled off the ground. Ethan’s fingers dipped beneath the fabric of her sweater, running along the seam of her jeans with featherlight touch, making her nerve endings go crazy.

By the time the timer on the oven went off, they were both breathless, their lips bruised, and clothes covered in flour.

“Saved by the bell.” He kissed her one last time, stepping away reluctantly to continue their meal.

“As if I ever needed saving from you.” she countered, straightening her sleeves, trying not to make even bigger of a mess around her.

With at least some tension released, they were able to go back to work in relative peace. Food was on the table before they knew it. While he was pouring them each a glass of wine, she went on a hunt for candles, finding two in the cabinet underneath the TV. They sat closely together instead of making use of the large table, preferring the closeness their current seats provided.

“How is it possible that you can’t make pancakes? They’re like, one of the easiest things to cook.” Claire choked on her sip of wine when he complained about the dish, coughing a few times. He threw her an annoyed look, his cheeks reddening slightly.

“It’s just not working for me. I have no idea what I’m doing wrong, but no matter what recipe I try, it’s not coming out right.” His frustration was evident in the way he stabbed a dumpling with his fork. She patted his wrist pitifully, taking great pleasure in having at least one skill over him.

“So that’s decided then, we’re teaching you how to make pancakes in the morning.”

Claire stood up to carry their plates to the sink before Ethan could even push his chair back. As she walked back to her seat, she grabbed cake and two forks, placing it between them, then sat back in her place.

They reached for a fork at the same time, their fingers touching midair. His hand jumped back instantly like he was burned, only to go back in and take her hand properly, stroking her knuckles with his thumb.

“It’s like we’ve just met.” She joked, grabbing the utensil and digging into the sweet treat. He followed suit, taking a bite, only to immediately be overcome with the intensity of the candied orange that cut through the richness of the chocolate, smoothed out by the gentle vanilla frosting.

Claire was deep in thoughts, so she didn’t notice the way his finger swiped against the edge of the cake to pick up the frosting, nor did she notice how it flew towards her cheek. Only after the fact did she turn around, disbelief spelled out on her face, an expression that quickly gave way to the troublemaker grin when she pushed the table away from them, stood up and straddled his thigh, bringing them to the same eyelevel.

She pressed her cheek to his, leaving some of the icing there, then licked it off, her mouth staying in place for a bit. Moving slowly, she traced the lines of his face with openmouthed kisses, listening to how his breathing got caught in his throat when she let her hands wander his body. His arms circled her without a moment of hesitation, pushing the chair further away from the table to make room for her.

Her lips claimed his at long last, the room slowly filling with heavy breaths and sounds of clothes being grabbed and moved out of the way. Ethan stood up abruptly, holding her tightly as he pushed away everything on the table from them to make room for her to sit. As soon as she was steady, he assaulted her neck with hot, lingering kisses. His arms formed a cage of sorts, keeping her in place just as much as she kept him close to her with her legs wrapped around his hips.

Claire grabbed the sides of his face, bringing him back up so they could stare into each other’s eyes. His irises were darkened by desire, so much so that they might as well have been black. Blood was rushing in her ears, filling her head with a soft hum. Their lips brushed softly when she whispered.

“Soon is now.”

He’s never carried her towards the bedroom that fast.

----------

The sun was setting over the horizon, barely visible between the trees that surrounded the house. Ethan ran his hand up and down her back, tracing the line of her spine meticulously. Claire ran her fingers over the gentle rise and fall of his collarbone, resting her head on his chest comfortably. The comforter was thrown over them haphazardly, barely covering their naked bodies.

“Can we just stay here?” she muttered quietly, words muffled with how her mouth was pressing against his skin. Ethan laughed warmly, adjusting his grip on her to pull her closer.

“I won’t let you leave the bed tomorrow, how about that?”

“You know what I mean.” She pretended to be annoyed, but humor in her voice betrayed her. He leaned down, pressing his lips to the crown of her head, inhaling the soft scent of her shampoo that lingered in her hair.

“I do. And I wish I could say that it’s going to be easy from now on.” regret slipped into his tone, but then he shook himself out of it and placed his finger under her chin to tilt her head and make their eyes meet. She waited for him to say something that would burst their bubble; for another shoe to drop. But it never happened. Instead, he smiled smugly, nudging her nose with his. “I’ll just have to steal you whenever I can.”

“Only if I can steal you too.”

“I thought that was obvious.”

[sif-the-tsunami]

A king meets his queen

Summary: Henry has a somewhat anonymous encounter with a Persephone cosplayer at a hotel bar.

Warnings, sleezy men, and smut. unprotected sex, oral sex for everyone 

rating 18+ smut below the cut

Word count: 3.3K

Texas in August was something no mere mortal should have to endure, and even though it was still sticky with humidity, the hotel bar was full of people milling around. The only way to really describe the heavy air near the Gulf Coast was to say that it was moist. Between the low buzz of conversation, the women on stage singing bluesy country songs, and the sweet and smokey bourbon took away the stresses of the day for the woman seated on a low leather sofa. She swayed to the rhythm of the acoustic guitars and the women singing cover songs.  There was a fun mix of people still wearing their costumed from the convention happening about two blocks away from the hotel she was staying in.

Long pink ringlets bounced as she enjoyed the steel guitars, her friends had gone back to their hotel room after they finished their drinks. The women still in their elaborate cosplay outfits were wonderful for people watching, even though she sat in her own. A floor length black gown hugs her body, with a deliciously low neckline and two teasing slits up to the tops of her thighs. Attached to the back was a thin cape that dragged behind her with delicate pink petals in swirling patterns. One the top of her perfectly pink hair was a tiara made of dark crystals with two little blue flowers on the right side. Noticing that her glass was empty, she decided to head to the bar for a new drink.

“Hello there princess Pinkie Pie, what are you drinking?” An eager blond man came up to her, blocking her access to the bar. “Let me get you another.”

“Hi, excuse me. Thank you, I’m fine.” She tried to move away.

“Come on, a beautiful woman like you shouldn’t be buying her own drinks.” He said a little too eagerly. He kept getting closer to her, looming over her even though she was wearing heels. “You are here by yourself, you need a little company.”

“I’m waiting for someone, thank you, again. I’m fine.” She looked down for a second so she wouldn’t step on her cape.

“Don’t be like that sweet thing, I would love to keep you company while you wait for your friend.” He put his hand on her upper arm and she yanked herself back. Before she could say anything a tall, dark haired man pushed himself between her and the blond man. He hovered his hand over her exposed shoulders as he made himself look as large as possible as he got her out of the way of the potential danger.

“Darling, I’m so sorry to keep you waiting,” The new man said leading her to the bar. “Are you alright?”

She peeked around the broad man, and the blond seemed to roll his eyes, walking away. Still not sure if she was safe, she nodded. She said a little louder than normal, “Yes, sweetheart. Its so nice for you to join me finally.”

“I’m sorry to intrude, I’m sure that you could have handled yourself but I thought it would have been safer for everyone if I got you away from him. He had been making some comment earlier that suggested he had anything other than good intentions.” The man’s voice was deep and reverberating like a cello. They waited for their turn with the bartender. His English accent made him stand out from the Texan locals. His dress pants and shirt were also heads and tails better looking than the rest of the room. He looked like he could be James Bond.

“He’s not the first guy to hassle me at a bar, he won’t be the last. I’m more upset that he called me Pinkie Pie than anything else. And thank you, I mean it, that was kind of you.”

“Anytime, truly, and Pinkie Pie, like the Little Pony?” The man asked, with a comical head tilt. He ordered himself a whiskey, and offered to get her a drink, she ordered herself another bourbon. He was clearly amused by her order.

“Yeah, I know right, nothing about this says kid’s cartoon.” She said, gesturing with her hands to her dress.

“No, if my nephews watched a cartoon with you in it, I would be very confused. Please, forgive my ignorance. Who are you dressed as?”

“Persephone, Goddess of Spring, Queen of the Underworld.” He handed her the glass of smokey amber liquor. She raised her glass in a small toast to him.

“Well, it is a pleasure to meet you, Your Highness. I’m He….” he was cut off when his companions eyes grew large.

“Oh shit, he’s coming back, do you mind walking with me?” She gently placed her hand on his forearm. He looked around and sure enough that other man seemed to be staring down the woman.

“Of course, Your Highness.” He said with an amused eyebrow lift. They moved to dark corner with a comfortable looking sofa. He sat down with his legs spread out comfortably, with a little hip wiggle once he was down.

“I’m not keeping you from anyone, am I?” Persephone asked her white knight.

“No, I am in town for the convention but by myself. You?”

“I have a bunch of girl friends with me for the con as well.” The two ended up chatting for a while, they laughed and bonded over books, video games and movies they both enjoyed. When their glasses were empty her new friend asked if she wanted another. He seemed to enjoy her company, and she was enjoying staring into his deep blue eyes. When the light hit just right, she could see a small spor of brown. She politely declined the whiskey, but asked for a tonic water with lime. During the few minutes that her well dressed friend was away, the blond man hovered closer. When he returned, handing her the water, Persephone leaned in closer to him.

“He’s coming near us again, do you mind that I’m in your bubble?”

He moved his arm around her shoulders, oh my lord he smells good, she thinks. She tentatively rested a hand on his knee. A careful glance around, the man still seemed to be hanging around the peripherals. “No, not at all. I’ve been enjoying our conversation. It’s been a while since I’ve just gotten to geek out with someone new.”

He leaned in closer to her and he put his other hand on hers. Anyone else looking at them would assume they were a cute couple on a date. “This is going to be really forward, but I’m going to ask you to kiss me, because our friend is still looking and I think that might really send the message home.”

He gulped and nodded, then kissed her as convincingly as he could. Every nerve in her body was suddenly on fire.  His kissing became more passionate. His hand went from her knee and started sliding toward her thigh.  He asked her, his voice husky, “Is this alright, little goddess?”

She nodded and then leaned back into him. Placing on hand on his beautiful face. She moaned into their kiss and bit his lower lip gently. They pulled apart for a moment, and the first thing out of her lips was “Do you want to get something to eat? I know of a place within walking distance if you want to try something fun.”

She was desperate to get to know him better, and she wanted to know him physically but she wouldn’t make it too easy for him. His pupils were blown out with lust, his heart was beating in his ears. He had to catch his breath just a little.

“I could eat...” He nods. They began to stand up. “Before we leave the hotel I want to go up to my room and grab my jacket, do you mind?”

“No, not at all.” He held her hand and led her out of the hotel bar.  He said a quiet word to the bouncer about the blond man and they moved out to the hallway. As they wait for the elevator to chime, the two start making out. The metallic doors open and she pulls him in with her. He pressed the button for his floor. He nuzzles his face into her neck, planting sweet kisses and nibbles gently where her shoulder and neck meet.

“Mmm.” he almost purred. “Since our introduction was interrupted, if you, my darling, are Persephone, I suppose you could just call me Hades.”

“Well that depends a little, do you plan on kidnapping me?” She half joked as he kissed her neck.

“No, my little goddess, but I will treat you like a queen tonight.” He whispered into her ear then nibbled on her her ear lobe.

He knelt down and scooped the woman up from under her bum, wrapping her legs around his waist then pinning her to the wall of the elevator. He slid a hand up one of the slits of her dress, seeing at the tops of her stocking clad legs was a garter belt with her silky panties over the straps.

“I think you put these on in the wrong order, Your Highness.” He chuckled.

“What? Put me down for a second. No. If I put my panties on under the belts, I couldn’t do this.” She said taking the undergarment off and holding them in her hand. Her Hades started to laugh more. She then looked at her panties in her hand and then back at him. “Oh… I see what you did there.”

The elevator door dinged saying they were on his floor. He yoinked her panties out of her hands and danced off the lift. She playfully chased after the man to his room door. He walked in, grabbed his coat and wallet from the room.

“We can always order in?” He suggests.

“Do you really want cold cheeseburgers?”

“No, not really.”

“Trust me, they have a chef’s plate that is absolutely phenomenal. We have all night, handsome, let’s enjoy each other’s company.” She said, biting her bottom lip hopefully. Her hands ached to hold him again, her lips burned to kiss him.

The well dressed man chuckled. “I suppose you are right. Let’s go get a bite to eat.”

Persephone leaned in the corner of the elevator, her companion leaned down and kissed her again. His touch was hungry and urgent.  He starts kissing her neck again and murmured “I think I want my dessert first.”

Her Hades knelt down in front of her, and started kissing the exposed parts of her thighs, gingerly lifting the center panel of her dress. Impossibly blue eyes looked up at her. “May I?”

She nodded, he began gently massaging, kissing and licking at her exposed sex. She moaned in bliss, enjoying his attention. He slid a finger into her sweet center and started coaxing pleasure out of her. “You taste so good. That’s right, my little goddess, come on my face.”

The elevator slowed down and chimed. He quickly adjusted her dress as the doors opened. She was still panting and gasping as she made eye contact with the older couple wanting to get on.

“Why yes, ma’am, I don’t think your ankle is sprained, however you need to be really careful with those shoes.” He said loudly, trying to cover up what they were doing.

“Uh, we’ll wait for the next one.” The older man said. And the doors closed. She looked down, and they started laughing. She leaned her head back and then he proceeded to worship at her alter. He moved one of her legs on top of his shoulder to give him better access. Before long her eyes were rolling back, grinding her hips against his face and tongue. He moved his tongue back and forth, occasionally swirling and lapping at her clit. He slid a second finger into her rhythmically thrusting his fingers inside of her as he sucked on her sensitive nub.

“Oh fuck, I’m going to come.” She laced her fingers through his hair as the wave of pleasure overwhelmed her.  He kissed her thigh that was on his shoulder. She gasped, holding onto the handles on the walls, trembling.

“Good girl.” Pulling her panties out of his pocket, he cleaned the arousal off of his face. “I can definitely go for something a little more filling now.”

“Is it too late to choose room service?” His Persephone asks, still out of breath. He stood up, and wrapped his arm around her to brace her.

“Oh no, Miss, we are going to this restaurant you hyped up. Although, if you keep being a good girl, little goddess, this is what is waiting for you.” He took her hand from the bar on the wall she was holding, and placed it on his erection. Her eyes grew wide as she felt how thick he was. “Don’t worry, sweetheart, I promise I know what I’m doing. I won’t hurt you.”

He adjusted himself as the elevator opened on the ground floor to make his discomfort less obvious. They walked across the street from the hotel to the restaurant, the dining room was lively. The hostess looked panicked over the excess of patrons.

“How many for your party?”

“Just two, ma’am.” Her Hades stated.

“We have one table available, it’s the chef’s table. Otherwise it will be a thirty minute wait.”

“Its fine with me if its alright with you,” His little goddess said to him.

Sitting at the chef table of the restaurant, the companions had to sit side by side, learning more about each other. Persephone insisted that they ordered the chef plate the came with a variety of meats, cheeses, mustard and little other tasty bites. There were deviled eggs with crispy pork belly bits and bacon wrapped sweet potato batons. The volume of the restaurant caused them to keep leaning in to hear the other person. The culinary team brought them freshly made pretzels to try with the mustard. They enjoyed a lovely meal, the food was delicious, the conversation never dulled. He would run his hands on the exposed skin of her leg closest to him. It was like they had been friends for years. When the check came, they play fought over who was going to pay. She practically begged their server in the name of feminism and equality to let her pay the bill.

“Let me pay for my mistakes.” She teased. “Besides, this was my idea.”

On the way out, with his smooth cello voice, he asked, “So, what made you want us to grab food? Aside from having a booze mop.”

The goddess of spring cosplayer lowered her head for a moment, pink curls falling forward, “I guess, I just didn’t want to be seen as being easy.”

“Oh no, darling.” he came up and rubbed his hands over arms. “You are a rare creature. I don’t think I’ve met anyone as warm as you have been. I understand if you are not up for returning with me to my room. However, I would appreciate it if you did.”

“I mean, if you still have an appetite. I know you had your dessert already.” She said with a wicked smile. He leaned in and kissed her ravenously. “Yes, I think that answers my question.”

Even though the sun had set hours ago, the air was still heavy with humidity. They made it into the hotel elevator with a new found urgency, unable to keep their hands off of each other. He kept his hand on the small of her back when they were in front of other guests but as soon as their small chamber was vacant, he groped and pawed at her. This had to have been the slowest elevator in the entire southwest. He whispered what he wanted to do to her once they reached his room as he nibbled and caressed her neck and exposed shoulders.

They made their way into his room, tugging and pulling off the other’s clothes. The coat jacket was thrown over his shoulder as they began exploring the other. His pink haired goddess unbuttoned the soft linen of his light blue shirt, looking upon the thick curly hair on his chest. She placed soft kisses on his chest as they exposed the freckles that laid in waiting under the fabric.  The shirt was removed, then his belt, he kicked off his dress shoes.

“I want to rip this dress off,” He said lustfully.

“You are going to have to, I’m sewn into it..” She raised an eyebrow.

“Hmm, but I can’t have you parading home in the buff. That is no way to treat the Queen of the Underworld, is it?” He pressed his fingertips gently into her hips as he pulled her to the couch. She was pulled onto his lap, throwing the center panel of her dress over her hip, exposing her sensuous core to him. He reached in between her legs again and started rubbing his thumb against her most sensitive part.

“I want you, my little goddess, my Persephone.” With his other hand, he placed his hand on the back of her neck to pull her down to kiss her again. She moved her hand to the button on his trousers. He took his hands away from her and pull down his pants and exposed himself to her. It was the thickest erection she had ever seen. “I know, sweet girl, I promise I wont hurt you. If you say we stop, we stop immediately.”

“It is really cute that you think you’ll hurt me, I’m not as delicate as I look.” She positioned herself to ease herself down on him. Her warmth overwhelmed him, once she stopped moving he grabbed her hips.

“Baby, you feel so good. Give me a second, you are going to make me cum.” He sounded like he was in pain. Gasping, he grabbed one of her breasts through her dress. “Shit, I promise that this isn’t how it usually is. Fuck, you feel so good.”

She squeezed herself on him and his jaw went slack. After a moment’s pause, they start moving slowly in unison. He groaned and gasped as she arched her back to let him in deeper. Their bodies complimented each other in ways they didn’t know could happen. He watched as her cheeks and chest became warm with her rising climax, coaxing his own out of him. She bucked against him as she succumbed to her orgasm. Her Hades started thrusting deeper and harder, he whimpered as his orgasm threatened to irrupt.

“Baby, I’m going to cum.” He whispers breathlessly. His little goddess moved off his lap quickly and positioned herself between his legs. She greedily put his cock in her mouth and begins to suck on the head of his cock while pumping her fist on his shaft.  “Oh fuck… oh fuck, I’m..”

She felt the pulsing as he came in her mouth. She swallowed every drop of him. Looking up at the quivering man, he twitched and trembled. He reached out for her to hold her and kiss her more. He wrapped his arms around her and held her, resting his head on hers. He lifted her hand and kissed the back of it.

“I swear to god that I last longer than that normally, but oh, little goddess, you fucking rub me the right way.” His voice trembled. “Stay the night with me. Let’s… lets do that again. Please? Besides, you can show me the best place to get breakfast.”

“I suppose, but I think we should finally introduce ourselves. Don’t you think?” She giggled.

 @littlewrenofrivia what do you think?

[finleyjayne]

Living a Lie: Chapter 2

Thank you for everyone who helped with this fic, including the fantastic @2smittinkittin​, the wonderful beta for this chapter, and @kittykatlow​, who is still forever supportive.

Summary: Penelope Grace Darling: the name you live by, the only name the world remembers. That doesn’t keep the memories of Y/N out of your head. All you ever wanted to do was create a better world. You thought you were doing that until some unexpected visitors to your hometown turn your world upside down. Can you leave your past behind you in order to keep your loved ones safe? Or will your fragmented memories keep you from the truth?

Pairings: Past Winter Soldier/Reader, Plus sized!Reader. Slow burn Bucky Barnes/ Reader.

Warnings: Dub/Noncon, Rape, Kidnapping, human trafficking (referenced), Underage Rape, Swearing, PTSD, Anxiety attacks, Unhealthy coping mechanisms, Non-consenting drug use, underage Drug use, Violence, Domestic Violence, I’m trying to remember what else comes later in the series.

This is a Dark Fic if you don’t like it, Don’t Read It!

Chapter 1

Looking genuinely confused as you try to place the name with the context, your eyes flipping between the four people who were now staring at you. Three highly amused with your confusion and one completely flabbergasted. “Daisy calm down a bit? I am apparently missing something here, and you yelling is definitely not helping me piece it together.”

  At this, Clint bends over himself, clutching his sides as his laughter rips through his chest. What a sexy laugh? Even though it’s at my expense. Nat smirks a little longer than her usual quick flashes. Wanda, ever the peacekeeper, extends her hand, “Hello, My name is Wanda, but I’m usually more recognized by my superhero name: The Scarlet Witch. These are my teammates and friends, Natasha, or The Black Widow, and Clint, also known as Hawkeye. It’s very nice to meet you, Penelope. We definitely appreciate the help with the shoes.”

As her sentences click in your brain, your eyes grow as big as your glasses’ rims. Your jaw pops open, “Oh, well, it’s nice to meet you, too?” You say with a nervous laugh, well, this is embarrassing. “Thank you for coming into our store. Daisy, don’t do anything stupid. I’m going to go grab my purse, and then I’m going to lunch.” you face still plastered with saucer-sized eyes as you slip through the curtains.

How could I not know who they were? I know I use Daisy and Bruce as my source of current events, but I should at least know the Avengers’ faces. You grab your purse, slinging it across your body before proceeding out the front door toward the little corner bakery. At least I didn’t act like a complete fool. Daisy is probably freaking out. I shouldn’t have left her alone with them, she’s going to eat them alive. Who am I kidding? They’ll be fine, they are the Avengers, they can handle an over-excited almost adult. 

Thankfully, lunch and the rest of your shift flew by without any other famous guests. Your nerves were on the fritz, though; it felt as if someone was watching you. No matter what you did, You just couldn’t relax. Every movement drew your attention. Every sound made you flinch. As Bruce came through the door, you burst at the seams with the need to make your escape. You threw a passing goodbye to your boss as you jogged to your car, not even sparing a moment to change the radio back to a public station. You were out of the parking lot and on the road in seconds, causing Gertrude to complain loudly. Fighting off the sharp edges of the panic that blistered your mind. Within two blocks, you were pulled over, hand clawing at your chest, sight wavering as you throw Gertrude into park. Before you can even think about counting the rails in the fence, your vision is black. 

“Пожалуйста, прекратите! [Please stop!]” The high-pitched scream echoes through the small, dark room. “Вам не нужно этого делать [You don’t need to do this].” a shock of pain courses over your back as a second resounding crack follows. 

“Тишина [SILENCE],” comes the cold order. “Вы говорите, когда я хочу, чтобы вы говорите! [You speak when I want you to speak!]” two more cracks and, after a second, two more blazing paths are scorching your skin. Confusion is mixed into the muddled neurons of your brain as you hear the metal door sliding open. 

Cautiously you lift your eyes, peering over your shoulder, only to be met by another crack that catches you across the cheek. With another bloodcurdling scream, you fall onto your freshly whipped back. Holding a cuffed hand to your sliced cheek, you meet the coldest pair of steel-blue eyes you have ever seen. “Этого достаточно. Они готовы к этому. [That’s enough. They are ready for it]” came the icy baritone through the black mask. 

    Your assailant scowls at the man. “Пациент не готов. [The subject is not ready]”

    The empty-eyed man ignores him as he steps closer to you. “Они готовы [they are ready],” he repeats. He reaches for your arm mechanically. It was as if he was only going through the motions without knowing what he was doing.

     You flinch from his extended right hand, cowering away. “Вам не нужно этого делать [You don’t need to do this].” comes the pleading voice that you realize is coming from you. 

     He continues forward, dragging you out of the room to the scream of the man you left behind. “Она не твоя [She is not yours]!”

     Sobbing into the steering wheel of your beloved clunker, you hold onto your thick sides. The black-rimmed, ice-filled eyes continue to hover in your peripheral as you come out of the onslaught of memories. It’s not real, I am in Utah, they are not here, he is not here. I am safe. Coulson promised I am safe. After eight more deep breaths, your thoughts are cut off by a peppy, upbeat melody sung by a flowy lyric-soprano. “I know you can hear this Penny, so pick up, or I’ll sing it higher.” As the melody repeats for the third time, you scramble to pick your phone up. 

    “Delilah, I hope you realize that the ringtone you made me is, in fact, the cruelest practical joke anyone has ever succeeded in pulling.” You snip the need to portray normalcy coming through in your irritation at one of your best friends. 

    “I loooove you too, darling.” came the cloying giggle from the other end of the line. “Taylor and I were just talking about the Stark expo that is opening tonight. Also, we haven’t heard from you in a couple of days. Please save me from going to this thing without you. You can interpret Tay’s wild ramblings for me, and you can get out of that dungeon you call a bedroom for a night! It’ll be fun! Pleeeeeeeease~.” 

You can see the bright amber puppy-dog eyes she was giving you through the phone. There was no way she would let you off the hook if Taylor was dragging her to the Expo. Knowing Taylor, they had probably pre-ordered three VIP passes months ago and had been secretly geeking out since, waiting to haul us to their favorite displays and setting up the perfect itinerary. But also in their excitement, forgot to tell us about it until now.  

With a sigh, you throw your head back onto the headrest. “I’m going whether or not I want to, aren’t I?”

“You know us so well,” came Taylor’s dark-tenor chuckle through the speaker. 

“Well, I’m headed to my appointment up there right now. If you want to meet me at the east entrance of the Salt Palace afterward...” You resign, glancing at the radio clock in the dash. “I should be done by the time you get there, but I’ll text you when I’m on my way.” Delilah squeals, and Tay’s hums in contentment. 

“See you there,” they both reply. “Drive safe, Drive smart.”

“You too. I’d suggest taking Trax if you can. The parking is gonna be a nightmare. I can take y’all home when we’re done.”

“Sounds like a plan. See you there,” Tay calls through Lila’s squeals before hanging up.

Staring blankly through the window for a minute before turning on the radio and making your way back into heavy Utah traffic.  

An hour later, you pull into the large parking structure, running out of the car and into the blazing summer heat. Fucking Utah drivers. Unable to go a single day without causing some sort of preventable crash. Bursting into the large hospital, you clip your little identification tag before heading to the research lab where they run all their tests. Pulling your shoulders back as you scan your ID and pass the double doors that say: AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY.

You follow the labyrinth of hallways to a small medical-exam room in the furthest corner of the buildings. X-rays, MRIs, and Photos were stuck to lightboards around the room. With a huff, you look away from the gruesome images, towards a devilishly-handsome blond clothed in SHIELD emblazoned shrubs and a University of Utah Hospital doctor’s coat. The modelesque picture on his ID not doing him justice. 

“Hello, Miss Darling, only ten minutes early. What happened, you get stuck in traffic?” His aggravatingly-nasal voice pierced through the sounds of him typing on his small laptop, reminding you just how much you dislike this man. 

“Yes, actually, Dr. Fenris. There were three crashes on I-15, and then there was a line of cars four miles long getting off for the Expo. I never realized that there was enough parking for that here.” I grit my teeth, plastering on my smile at his joke. 

“Well, I see no use dilly-dallying any further; if you’ll change into your gown and then sit on the exam table, we’ll start with that today, then we’ll head to the MRI and X-ray followed by your physical strength and endurance testing.” Dr. Fenris said as you grabbed the scratchy hospital gown off the end of the exam table and started changing. There is no use hiding your body, this man has seen every part of my it over the last four years since you’ve come back to the states. If you were honest with yourself, you would stop these useless exams. The longer they went, the worse you were being treated, and the more you get the feeling that something is wrong. It’s not like they were making any progress in making this “cure” that you are supposedly helping with. 

Gown on, you sit on the bed. Legs dangling off the floor slightly as you wait for Fenris to finish whatever he is typing. As he turns his attention to you with a smirk, a wicked glint enters his eye. “Look at that; just as predicted, your healing time has decreased since the last time you got an abrasion. This week we’re going to analyze how your platelets are going to react to different poisons.”

Looking at him cautiously, you move the slightest bit away from his seat.

“Oh silly, we are going to do it in the lab. Just a couple of vials of blood from you are needed. For now, at least.” He placates jovially, pulling out a tray of vials and a winged phlebotomy kit. 

You warily keep your eye on him as he comes around to the side of the table. Right as he’s about to stick you, a knock comes at the door. You look at the doctor surprised. He just gives a tight smile, showing a tight smile as he turns to the door, opening it. “Dr. Banner, I didn’t think you were going to come in today.” the jittery surprise made evident his cheerful mask. 

“I wasn’t planning on it. Then I noticed that the subject of your tests was going to be in today and couldn’t help but want to see her for myself.” responded the gentle-looking man with salt and pepper hair and black-rimmed, nerd glasses. “My name is Dr. Bruce Banner. I am here to check on the status of Dr. Fenris’ research.” 

“Hey,” you say with an awkward little wave, “I’m Penelope, but I guess you knew that already since I am his research,” you can’t help the self-deprecating chuckle and tight smile that follow Dr. Banner’s staring. “You just got to his favorite part. Fenris here was just about to stab me like Vlad the Impaler.” Your anxiety at Fenris’ obvious joy from your pain showing slightly.

Dr. Banner looked at you with complete horror. Turning to Dr. Fenris with a look of disgust. “I should hope not. It would be disappointing if this project were to stop. There is great potential for new knowledge and understanding here.”

Giggling slightly at the furious look Fenris throws you, your chest releases. “It was one time, Ms. Darling. And you healed before you even left the hospital.”

“Doesn’t mean you won’t do it again, Dr. we-are-testing-your-platelets’-reaction-to-poisons-this-week. I feel like my cautiousness is well deserved, and I still hate needles,” you pout. “Now, if you’ll hurry up and stick me so we can get this over with. I’m supposed to be going to the Stark expo thingy. Gotta play the interpreter between my friends. Though, I’m pretty sure they are just using that excuse to get me to go with them.” 

Dr. Banner chuckled awkwardly as you turn to him, trying to ignore the deplorable doctor to your right. “Anyway, how hopeful are you for this research Dr. Banner? Are you going to the Expo? I hear that they will be talking about the new renewable resource cells Stark Industries is working on. I hope that they are planning on making them powerful enough to bring about an electric car. There are just too many oil refineries around here to be healthy. I personally would hop on that electric car bandwagon if there was one affordable and efficient.”

As you rambled, two large sterile culture bottles and six smaller tubes are filled with your blood. Dr. Banner keeps out of the way as Fenris goes about testing your reflexes and taking measurements of your leg, inspecting the other doctor’s work before Looking at the pictures, and medical imaging on the wall. “How long ago were these pictures taken?” He finally asks, pointing to the first set of photographs. Your leg was utterly ravaged, exposing the metal skeleton while the flesh looked like it was used as a cougar’s chew toy. 

“Four years.” I wince, remembering the carnage that Fury and Coulson had found me in. “Almost to the day.” 

“And this one?” gesturing to the next picture; muscle and tendon now in some sense of a sinewy leg. The skin overlying the fragile tissues without much scar tissue. 

“Two weeks later. The next is two weeks after that. I can tell you that growing pains are indeed worth all the crying that children do over them.” You joke, looking at the almost normal looking appendage in the picture, then at the more tone,d version currently attached to your body. 

“Can you feel it? When did it start?” You could tell that Banner’s questions were from a scientific fascination that made you smirk. He looked kind of like a little boy set loose in a candy store; intrigued, and full of genuine curiosity.

“I can’t really feel it, but my brain started to connect to it a few months after the initial accident. I am kinda glad I can’t feel it though. Getting back feeling all at once makes ‘pins and needles’ look like child’s play. Though according to Dr. Fenris, my body is apparently fully healed, and I could get the feeling back any second.” 

“Have you had today’s scans? Can I see them?”

“Not yet. That comes after the blood draw today, Then it’s time for some superhero training. Apparently, it’s not enough to take all my healing into account. I’m also being studied as a Superhuman… Fenris here likes to refer to me as a Supersoldier. I don’t really see how that fits since I never was technically a soldier-” 

“Well, if you wouldn’t mind me accompanying you, we can see what you can do. Who knows maybe by the end of today you’ll be vetted into the Avengers.”

“I don’t think that will be a possibility, Dr. Banner. I don’t think SHIELD is a big fan of my existence. I am only useful as a lab rat.”

The man looks to Fenris through the corner of his eye. “Is that right? I have a feeling many things about this research are going to be changing,” a deep undertone of discontent laced through the Dr.’s words. 

Throughout the next hour, more medical tests are done. By the time we are back into the little exam room, you are full of pent up energy. Now was your favorite part of these appointments. You get to actually use some of the ‘powers’ that You were given. You could set yourself free.

If you want more Winter Soldier fics, check out @darkficsyouneveraskedfor​. They have a great one called Breach.

Thank you all for reading.

Tags are open for this fic; I am also curious to see what you all think. Share your truth with me.

People I think will enjoy reading this: @star-spangled-beard-burn@angrythingstarlight​ @tossacoin2yourwitcher​ @navybrat817​ @nekoannie-chan​ @donutloverxo​ @stargazingfangirl18​ @nsfwsebbie​ @jtargaryen18 @buckys-broody-muffin​ @nacho-bucky​ @giorno-plays-piano​ @buckybarney

[the-cyberpunk-zeitgeist]

The Cyberpunk Zeitgeist

>>>𝕄𝕜𝕕𝕚𝕣 "𝕤𝕠𝕔𝕚𝕖𝕥𝕪"...

>>>ℂ𝕕 "𝕤𝕠𝕔𝕚𝕖𝕥𝕪"

>>>𝔻𝕠𝕨𝕟𝕝𝕠𝕒𝕕 𝕙𝕚𝕧𝕖𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕕.𝕖𝕩𝕖...

>>>𝔻𝕠𝕨𝕟𝕝𝕠𝕒𝕕 𝕔𝕠𝕣𝕡𝕠𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕜𝕝𝕖𝕡𝕥.𝕖𝕩𝕖...

>>>ℝ𝕦𝕟 𝕤𝕠𝕔𝕚𝕖𝕥𝕪.𝕖𝕩𝕖...

>>>𝕄𝕠𝕣𝕒𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕪 <𝕝𝕠𝕒𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘-𝕗𝕒𝕚𝕝𝕖𝕕: 

      "𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕒𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕪.𝕙" 𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕗𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕕>

>>>𝔼𝕣𝕣𝕠𝕣 𝕞𝕖𝕤𝕤𝕒𝕘𝕖: "ℂ𝕒𝕟𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕗𝕚𝕟𝕕 𝕤𝕠𝕔𝕚𝕖𝕥𝕪.𝕖𝕩𝕖. 𝕎𝕖 𝕝𝕚𝕧𝕖 𝕚𝕟 𝕚𝕥."

>>>...

Flash into the past and look into the future. Recall the early stages of the digital age—the new millennium—and how, at the precipice of a thousand transformations, civilization was defined by its endless climbing innovation. In the 80’s and 90’s, when consumer use of the personal computer was infecting society like a virus, our entire idea of communication changed. The net became a pivotal point in shaping what it meant to be human. Through an ever-expanding web of information, human innovation seemed to spiral until promising “authorship over reality itself”. Those who felt constrained by the world, escaped into a fractal space with infinite possibilities of connecting with others. 

Douglas Rushkoff termed it ‘Cyberia’—a dreamlike place offering “a way to crack open our civilization’s closed-mindedness, and to allow for a millennial transition that offered something a lot better than apocalypse: consciously driven evolution”, but the mesmerizing unity in this newfound cyberscape didn’t last. What followed—what we see around us now—may lead us to believe that all is lost, but perhaps there’s something more than war, corporate politics, espionage. Perhaps, there still exist some humans among us interested in a higher cause: unlocking the mysteries.

While the net was first adopted solely by military personnel and groups of scientists across academia who saw fit to interconnect themselves for research and communication purposes, it soon fell into the hands of the geeks using hypertext forums to discuss niche hobbies or send pictures to one another. The net became a mystic place of interlocking minds, where interconnected collections of data contributed to the neural network of humans that composed a global brain. As this paradise aged, however, the desire of investors to monetize and capitalize from the cyberscape arose alongside it. Advertisements flooded the web; businesses sprung up in every forum, website, and chat client. It wasn’t long into the 21st century that the nature of the web was forever molded by a greed to optimize its use for social credit, capital, and leverage for everything from corporate intelligence, to data harvesting, to control and censorship of media. The symbol of freedom and exploration was thus transformed into a stratified market and a subversive survival game. It’s all so… Cyberpunk.  

In the 80’s and 90’s, alongside the rise of computers and the net, came the rise of Cyberpunk literature—a sci-fi subgenre defined by its retro aesthetics intermixed with contrasting commentary that showed us the wonders of new technology while simultaneously revealing the deep divide that emerged as a result of inequality. Pioneers like William Gibson in Neuromancer, Neal Stephenson in Snow Crash, and Katsuhiro Otomo in Akira revealed the true impact of this divide. In a world where everyone in the streets is chromed up with augmented cybernetic prostheses, but can still hardly afford to eat—a world where cities have been replaced by endlessly sprawling megalopoli—we’re left immersed in the aesthetics of ‘high tech-low life’ people struggling to get by. 

Cyberpunk showed sci-fi fans what it might look like if kleptocratic corporations spiralled further and further into the power vacuum created by advancing technology. If caution and regulation aren’t put in place to protect the people from marvelous creations that humanity could hardly predict outside of science fiction, the people are further exploited and economic classes are further stratified. When this is combined with life-threatening dangers around every corner, the difference between economic class can mean life and death. 

While the additional flourishes of weapons-grade cyborgs, sentient and sentimental artificial intelligence, and laser guns can make Cyberpunk seem like a farfetched reach into a future that will never come, I am here to tell you that this is Society, and we are living in it. Around the world, rising sea levels begin to swallow more of the coastline, and megafires consume any shred of nature or infrastructure in their path. Both of these events are spurred by human-driven climate change which is created in large part by first-world corporations churning out fossil fuels or slicing up rainforests for profit. The global hivemind that is the internet has become the limitless communications apparatus we wanted it to be, but it is covered in adverts and subverts its users attempts to harness its power with misinformation, propaganda, and profit-driven exclusive content. Riots over authoritarian state measures have propped up not only in the United States, but in Hong Kong, Belarus, and all across the globe. Pandemic disease and refugee crises displace hundreds of thousands of humans each year, and the rich keep getting richer by the billions.

In more recent Cyberpunk writing like William Gibson’s The Peripheral, Gibson describes the Jackpot:

And first of all that it was no one thing. That is was multicausal, with no particular beginning and no end. More a climate than an event, so not the way apocalypse stories liked to have a big event, after which everybody ran around with guns… or else were eaten alive by something that caused the big event. Not like that.

It was androgenic… that meant because of people. Not that they’d known what they were doing, had meant to make problems, but they’d caused it anyway. And in fact the actual climate, the weather, caused by there being too much carbon, had been the driver for a lot of other things. How that got worse and never better, and was just expected to, ongoing. Because people in the past, clueless as to how that worked, had fucked it all up, then not been able to get it together to do anything about it, even after they knew, and now it was too late.

...it killed 80 percent of every last person alive, over about forty years.

Jackpot. The repercussions of humanity’s actions finally catch up, and those bits of humanity that do remain are saved by an extreme surge in innovation that manages to save society’s elites. As Douglas Rushkoff puts it in his recent essay The Privileged Have Entered Their Escape Pods, more and more of those who have the capital to do so have already begun their plans, whether those plans are to escape to Mars or to set themselves up with a cushy work-from-home job while the lower class workers are forced into the public during the pandemic crisis. The need to automate away positions for the safety of our species is becoming even more prevalent than it once was in the minds of corporate conglomerates, but the cancerous overgrowth of our bureaucracy has become so bloated and tripped up in its own processes that we can no longer look to our political systems to keep up with the exploitation of innovation. Lo and behold, the world’s looking pretty CPAF to me.

Where have the visions of Cyberia gone? What happened to the early stages of internet punks, pushed aside in their desire to surf the datasphere purely for the rush of uncovering swathes of data? Where did visions of “authorship over reality itself” twist to become ‘authorship over reality by those with the capital to control’? It may seem that this explosive spiral of technological innovation in the new millennium is driving us towards extinction and only saving those with enough coins in their pockets to buy a ticket on the ark, but perhaps it’s not too late to change course and save ourselves from the ultimate Jackpot.

United by the global nature of the net, every one of us is connected as a single living entity that is the Earth—a Technogaia. Developments in artificial intelligence promises us exponential increase in information processing capabilities across all fields. Breakthroughs in genetic engineering could allow us to delete diseases from our genomes, and have already shown minor success in the de-extinction of species. With the first cyborg part already installed in each of our pockets, every citizen can extend their minds beyond capacity; each one of us becomes a journalist at a moment’s notice when injustice needs to be documented and challenged. Nuclear, hydrogen, solar, and wind energy lead us towards a cleaner and greener future. The rise of urban ecology shows a path to optimize the use of space to lower humanity’s carbon impact while providing more space for habitat rehabilitation and the reintroduction of lost biodiversity.

In the palm of our hands, humanity has taken control of the world. With science and technology, we’ve become the manipulators, but if we do not recognize what our impact is on the Dao of Earth, we may tip the scales too far into the Chaos. I’ll be honest in saying things look grim, but these same innovations that have paved the way for flying killbots and smoke stacks spewing gases into the sky have given us the power to reshape the world in a beneficial image. Futurist politicians call for universal basic income in a world increasingly run by machines. Transhumanists pave the way for the radical extension of the human lifespan. Technogaians design solarpunk arcologies to house a society ready to save their Earth rather than one intent on consuming it. Cyberians fight for our rights to privacy and the freedom of information. Just as the visions of grim dystopias in the 80's and 90’s saw themselves transformed into modern realities, we can use humanity’s greatest tool—this near-deific domain over innovation—to mold this fractal reality into our vision. But is it chaos, order, or some harmonious Dao in between that we seek? 

No matter our choice, it’s going to take a lot of united high tech-low life cyberpunks to get there. This is the Cyberpunk Zeitgeist, and we’re living it.

For more works by The Cyberpunk Zeitgeist, see our Twitter page @CyborgZeitgeist

[nikkxb]

7. Talk about me. :}

Unusual(ish) Asks || @uchihacollector

7. Opinion on Lady

Well, we start with the fact that you disappeared off the face of the earth and didn’t call or write or anything and now you pop back up as if nothing’s happened and completely glossed over the fact that I MISSED YOUR FACE AND I MISSED YOUR PRESENCE AND I MISSED JOKING WITH YOU. And I’m really not okay with the lack of Lady in my life so I need you to know that.

Also combined with a bit of aggravation because I spent last night with a group of friends who are all geeking over the FFVII remake. They promised one of the group to explain the entire backstory behind why Sephiroth only has one wing and to answer all of her questions. I, as the resident FFVII Noob™, was geared up to sit there and learn some things because I’m very new to the entire thing.

Only to realize that YOU DIDN’T TELL ME HOW MUCH LORE CRISIS CORE CONTAINS YOU ASS. So I’m actually answering these goddamn questions and filling out the lore that even someone who has been playing FFVII SINCE IT CAME OUT didn’t know because he never had the opportunity to play CC. I’m halfway through explaining how the Buster sword came to be and why it was so big and I’m not supposed to know this, I’ve played 30% of One game. But noooooo, the 3 1/2 hours of cut scenes you had me watch + the really good fanfic writers you recommended who actually built on the world HAD ME GIVING VALUABLE INFORMATION AND I AM NOT OKAY.

You’re a menace. You are an absolute menace who is never satisfied with having your friends on the peripheral of your obsessions and so you drag us in and get us hooked and then laugh and snicker and gallivant off into the sunset celebrating your wicked ways and I would never ever ever want to live a fandom life without you.

I love you dearly, I miss you muchly, and I will forever happily strangle you while also laughing over every little thing that amuses us. ❤️

[penmansparadise]

Billy Hargrove Imagine Request - Songbird

*I DON’T OWN ANY GIFS POSTED* *CREDIT TO ALL GIF OWNERS*

Here it is, the imagine requested by @hargroveswift​ !! I cannot tell you how much I enjoy writing for his character.  This was an imagine requested from my Tumblr.  So, I mentioned two really AMAZING songs in this one.  One is "Lay It Down" by Ratt, my personal fav Ratt song, and "Songbird" by Fleetwood Mac, also my fav song by them.  Yes, the Fleetwood Mac song has some significance because it is the title of this piece.  Take a listen to both while you read, or not, but you should definitely check them out.  This was your first request and I hope you really like it!!! Enjoy everyone!!! Xx.

Warnings: Mild language (literally its one word, but still)

Pairing: Billy Hargrove x Choir!Reader

_______________________________________________________________________

You watched him stand with confidence as he told his story. His shoulders rolled back, puffing his chest out just slightly. His arms made a large gesture causing the crowd of people around him to erupt with laughter. You didn’t know what he was saying, you never did, and you probably never would.

Billy Hargrove was the King of Hawkins, and notoriously known as the town flirt. He was beautiful, funny, and way out of your league. Billy was a part of the “cool kids,” and you, with the lack of a better description, were a part of the “band and choir geeks.” You hated labels, but you knew the one that was given to you was accurate. Although you weren’t welcome in Billy’s clique, that didn’t stop you from crushing on him and crushing hard. From the moment he moved to Hawkins, you fell head-over-heels. You loved his cool car and the way he drove way too fast in the parking lot. You liked the way he ran his fingers through his hair in an attempt to tame his messy curls. You couldn’t get enough of him. Everything about Billy was perfect, but you would never tell him that. Instead, for months, you settled on loving him from a distance and keeping your dignity. Things drastically changed one day after choir practice.

You and your duet partner, Sarah, walked out of the school building and headed toward the parking lot.

“So, I was thinking of asking Ms. Harold if we can change the key. I think F sharp Minor would fit us better, you know?”

You fixed your backpack and slowly nodded and hummed a little in the new key.

“It is easier to hit the notes in that key.”

The two of you laughed in unison before Sarah veered away from you.

“I’ll ask her. See you tomorrow, Y/N.”

You gave her a wave goodbye and walked to your car. The sad piece of metal sat perfectly in the parking spot. Opening the squeaky door, you threw your bag in the passenger seat and hopped in. You stuck the key in the ignition and gave it a turn, but nothing happened.

“Oh, please not now,” you begged your 1973 Chevy Nova. Rubbing the dashboard, you gave the key another turn.

“Come on, baby, work!”

The engine clicked a couple of times before going quiet again. You let out an annoyed grunt and turned the key once more. The same clicking noise filled your ears, followed by a puff of smoke coming from under your hood. Your eyes widened before you jumped out of the car. You looked at your smoking car and grabbed your head in disbelief.

“Great, I just set my car on fire. Awesome job, Y/N. Seriously, way to go.”

As you stared at the smoke creeping out the sides of your closed hood, you heard someone approach you. When you turned around, your chest clenched.

“Need some help?” Billy asked, throwing the butt of his cigarette onto the pavement in front of him.

Your mouth fell agape as you took him in. He was wearing a white shirt that clung tightly to his chest, a jean jacket that hung loosely around his torso, and jeans that hugged him in all the right places. You opened and closed your mouth like a fish thirsty for water. He had never been that close to you, let alone said anything to you. His eyebrows rose in question and anticipation. You shook your head before speaking.

“I, uh, it’s, uh, my…my car. It’s, um, the engine,” you fumbled lamely over your words.

A red hue rose to your cheeks as you failed to complete a coherent sentence. Billy let out a light chuckle before tugging at his jacket just like you loved.

“Let me take a look.”

He popped the latch on the hood, and, as he lifted it, smoke billowed out around him. Waving his hand in front of him, Billy let out a stream of coughs. Once the smoke subsided, he leaned forward. Your eyes traveled the full length of his body, and your heart began to jump in your chest. He was even more beautiful up close. His skin was smooth and tanned to perfection. With the sun beating down on him, tiny hints of gold shined in his hair. You could tell he worked out from the way his jacket tightened around his arms. Your stomach did flips as you drank in every inch of his God-like image. The sound of his voice pulled you from your thoughts.

“Well,” he said, taking a step back from your car, “your engine is shot. There’s no way this thing is running without going up in flames.”

Your face fell at his words. You stared at your broken car and let out a huff of frustration.

“Great,” you said mostly to yourself.

Billy took a step toward you and motioned toward his car.

“Do you need a ride?”

Excitement and nervousness blanketed you. You could feel your whole body heat up at the question.

“Are you sure? I don’t want you to have to go out of your way.”

Billy let out a breathy laugh,

“It’s really not a big deal. This town isn’t that big.”

You watched as he moved past you and grabbed your stuff from your car. He began walking toward his car without you.

“You coming?” He asked with a light chuckle.

A blush rose to your cheeks again before you quickly fell in step next to him.

Billy’s car was almost as perfect as him. It took every ounce of you not to admire it. You cleared your throat as Billy tossed your things into the front seat.

“Thanks for giving me a lift. I’m Y/N, by the way.”

Billy held the door open for you to climb into the passenger seat.

“You’re welcome, and I know.”

He shut the door and leaned onto the open window.

“I’m Billy, by the way.”

“I know,” you said with a playful grin.

Billy let out a light laugh,

“Glad we’re acquainted,” he said before hopping into the car himself.

The drive was quiet at first until Billy, with a swift flick, turned on the radio. Ratt’s “Lay It Down” started blasting through the speakers. You watched as he bopped around and hummed along to the music. Unconsciously, your head began to nod along to the beat. Before you knew it, you were singing the song quietly under your breath. Every now and then, you could see Billy turn to look at you, but you kept your eyes fixed on the road ahead.

When the song finished, Billy turned the radio down and looked to you with curious eyes.

“What were you doing at the school after hours?”

“Choir practice,” you said without moving your gaze, “I’m a singer.”

From your peripherals, you could see Billy nod his head slowly.

“Hm,” he began, “Y/N, the Rockstar. I can see it.”

You shook your head but didn’t say anything in return. The silence settled on the two of you again but didn’t last very long. Billy, not missing a beat, spoke again.

“Sing something for me.”

Your head swiftly turned toward him.

“I’m sorry?”

He laughed a little at your reaction but quickly regained his composure.

“If you’re aspiring to be a Rockstar, you need to be good at singing. So, let me hear it.”

You let out a huff at his cockiness but didn’t refrain from throwing it back at him.

“I already know I’m good, Billy.”

Billy narrowed his eyes at you and scoffed.

“I’ll be the judge of that.”

The air around the two of you went still for a moment as Billy waited. You closed your eyes and let out a breath before finally giving in. The lyrics to “Songbird” by Fleetwood Mac flowed effortlessly from you. The song was way out of Billy’s repertoire of music, but you didn’t care. You hit each note and run with ease. Your eyes were closed, and your body swayed as you serenaded Billy. Just as you were finishing the last lyric, Billy pulled his car to a stop. You opened your eyes to see Billy staring at you openmouthed. Heat climbed up to your face, and you quickly looked away. You brushed your hair behind your ears in an attempt to calm your nervous hands.

“Well, am I good?”

“Y/N,” Billy said in a whisper, “you’re way better than good.”

You gave a soft “Thank you,” before gathering your things and getting out. As you were walking up your driveway, Billy’s booming voice stopped you.

“I’ll pick you up tomorrow morning at 7.”

“What?” You asked, dumbfounded.

Billy leaned a little farther into the passenger seat. You could see the cocky grin playing on his lips.

“You’re going to need a ride to school. I’ll be here at 7, so don’t make me wait!”

He gave a playful honk before peeling out of your driveway and disappearing down the street.

The next morning, Billy showed up exactly at seven and took you to school. From that day forward, he was your permanent ride. Even after your car was fixed, he insisted on driving you everywhere. You didn’t argue, though, you kind of liked the extra time with him. It was only a few months later when he asked you to be his girlfriend.

After that, Billy started meeting you in the hall and walking you to class. Every day, he waited for you after the bell would ring. He would even sit outside the choir room and listen to your practices. When practice ended, he would give you continuous praise.

“Baby, you sounded amazing! I loved it when you did that thing where you started at this note way up here and then went all the way to this note way down here.”

“It’s called a run, Billy.”

“Well, it sounded great! You always sound great, baby.”

Billy began to attend every choir concert and was very supportive. Being dressed up in a concert hall was not his usual playing field. He would often clap or hoot at the wrong time earning dirty looks from those around him. From the stage, you could see him beaming in his seat. After each concert, he would be waiting for you with a kiss and a bouquet.

“You sounded so good, baby. There was this guy next to me who literally started crying during your solo.”

“Are you sure he wasn’t just irritated that you kept clapping during it?”

Your relationship was playful and different. No one ever expected Billy to end up with the quiet choir girl, but you wouldn’t have had it any other way. You loved your badass, silly, and confident boyfriend.

One night while you were lying in bed, you heard a tapping come from your window. You looked at the clock to see that it was after 10 o’clock. A wave of anxiety surged through your body as you stood up and moved toward your window. With shaky hands, you pulled the curtain aside to find Billy. He was leaning against your window lazily. The light from your room cast shadows on his face making it look badly bruised. When you opened your window, you realized that it was not shadows. Billy looked up from his feet, and you saw the black and blue marks strewn across his face. His eyes were red and puffy from crying, and his usual confident stance was gone. His shoulders were slumped, making him look smaller than you had ever seen him. Your heart fell in your chest at the sight of your broken boyfriend.

“Billy,” you whispered before pulling him into your room.

As you closed your window, he sat down on the edge of your bed. You could see a few tears fall down his face as he sat there. You moved to his side and took his large hand and gave it a squeeze.

“What happened, Billy? Did you get in a fight or something?”

He let out a sad laugh,

“Yeah, something like that.”

His voice was thick with sadness and tears. You brushed your free hand over the black and blue marks on his face. He winced a little under your touch making you sick to your stomach.

“Billy,” you began, “what really happened?”

His eyes were fixed on the white carpet filling your room. You could feel his body tense next to you.

“Baby, you can tell me anything. I want to help you, but I need to know what happened.”

Billy was silent for another minute before he finally cracked. He let out a shaky breath as more tears traced down his cheeks.

“It’s my dad,” he said, “he gets angry sometimes.”

You felt nauseous but didn’t say anything. You wiped the tears from his face and encouraged him to go on.

“It’s not the first time he’s done this. He’s been…beating me…since I was a kid. I can’t remember a time when he didn’t hit me out of rage.”

You could feel tears welling in your own eyes, but you swallowed them back.

“Billy, why didn’t you say anything before?”

He didn’t answer. Instead, he shook his head and dropped it again.

“Have you told anyone? Your step-mom? Hopper? Anyone?”

The silence that you received was all you needed to know the answer was “No.” You sat next to him in your quiet room before he completely broke down. Soft sobs racked his body as tears poured from his eyes. You pulled him into a warm embrace before lying down with him. With his head on your chest, he melted into your arms. Your fingers raked through his hair, letting each strand curl around your digits.

After a few minutes, he finally calmed down. The only sounds that filled your room were the sounds of both you and his breathing in harmony. You shut your eyes and listened to the soft music.

“Y/N?” Billy asked, interrupting the song.

“Yes?”

“Can you sing that song to me?”

Your eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“What song?”

“The one you sang in the car the very first time we met.”

A small smile came to your lips before you started singing “Songbird” softly to him. When you finished, you thought he was sound asleep. You shut your eyes and began to drift when Billy spoke.

“I love you, Y/N,” he whispered into the still air.

You planted a slow and soft kiss onto his messy hair.

“I love you too, Billy. Like never before.”

He let out a long breath before the two of you finally drifted off to sleep, wrapped tightly in each other’s arms.  

[ravencromwell]

Signal Boost: Free Scifi Con This weekend!!!!

I'd been hearing some delightful whispers of a virtual scifi con this weekend, and then the inimitable Marie Brennan made this excellent overview of both the con and her workshop: mythology and folklore in science fiction and fantasy.

I'm not certain of precisely how the Flights and Foundry planning came together, but this team is pretty damn incredible--turning on a dime from an in-person to virtual con so swiftly. If any of you register and can, I'd highly encourage a donation at the door.

Anyway: I've adored Brennan since her Lady Trent books--about which I've squeed verbosely to lots of you!--(if I haven't, lady dragon naturalist! in a country very much like Britain, save that our lady naturalist develops a social conscience, and finds herself peripherally involved in some excellent decolonizing work they're really fucking awesome if you're a science geek ok). So, I'm always eager to see Brennan in any context, and have rarely had the opportunity, since she's on the opposite side of the U.S. to me.

Which meant I was crossing my fingers her panels would be open to the financially woebegone incapable of donating. It was! and more to my shock and delight when perusing scheduling, a tremendous amount of free content was available at Flights and Foundry.

Furthermore, this is a convention trying its best to extend the net beyond your western scifi, brimful of panels about translation and bringing nonwestern lit into the mainstream. The schedule, with events nigh on around-the-clock to fit non-U.S./UK timezones set my geek heart aflutter.

Also really have to praise the accessibility so far--have had one friend using slightly different adaptive tech have a bit of trouble--but my own experience was intuitive and hitch-free enough to make me astonished in the most delightful way. "Is this what it's like for sighted folk to sign up for things?" I rather bemusedly wondered when it only took me about half an hour to set up my schedule/get registered with a suite of programs I'd never used. (most any blind person will tell you that when looking a new program over, they pretty much expect to lose days to figuring out how the maze works.)

As you can see from my personalized schedule I intend to play gloriously irresponsible geek this weekend who pulls an all-nighter!

(no, not my fur-babyin the personalized schedule photo; it's my I want a kitty in my avatar for various places internet please provide me a nicely cropped picture I won't need much sighted help to upload standard-issue for joining new places. It is, I've been informed, quite pretty and I wish it were my furbaby and understand why it's master is so proud and puts up lots of pictures for free use.)

Hoping some of you can catch panels--if there's anything on my personalized one you'd like to see but can't, will be taking copious notes for absent friends and am happy to share. Just hit me up with a message.

[woofwalkies1-blog]

The definition of Stress is “a physiological or biological response to a stressor such as an environmental condition. Stress is the body’s way of reacting to a condition such as a threat, challenge or physical and psychological barrier”.

We sometimes have to have uncomfortable conversations with dog owners, because as much as we love all dogs, sometimes our environment just isn’t suited to all dogs. FACT!! This doesn’t mean you are a bad dog owner, or you have a bad dog, it just means we are the wrong choice for your dogs needs.

Some people may choose to continue to work with your dog, take your money, and allow your dog to be uncomfortable and or become “stressed”, because they need the business or most likely, they are not noticing the subtle signs that your dog is unhappy, but we don’t work like that, and if your dog is not comfortable here, we will likely discuss this with you and come up with a plan to ensure everyone is happy, both humans and dogs.

Stress can present in many ways with dogs, and this post isn’t about how it is presented but why it is presented, because if you can understand why, then that may help you understand why we don’t want to cause any extra stress for your dog.

We may tell you that your dog is excessively humping, displaying aggressive behaviours, excessively barking, becoming nervous, or simply not wanting to be here. Your dog isn’t being naughty, they are usually stressed by our very over stimulated environment and asking us for help.

I am a biologist, and I am a geek, and I work with 60 dogs a day so let’s talk dog biology.

The Central Nervous System (CNS) and Peripheral Nervous System (PNS) are responsible for all of a dog’s bodily functions.

The Peripheral Nervous System controls the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS), which is responsible for all involuntary responses by your dog. Involuntary responses being the functions that your dog does not have to think about before doing them.

The ANS never stops functioning, but it will adjust what it does dependant on the situation presented. It increases functions or regulates functions but it never stops functioning, unless due to ill health.

To confuse matters, the ANS splits into 2 divisions:                  

The Sympathetic Division which is stimuli responsive, and controls Critical Survival Responses, think “Fight or Flight," activates stress responses, and your dog does not have any control over what he does, during this type of response. He is being driven by survival. A dog who is threatened or in a stressful situation may react out of character, for example, a dog who is injured may bite you or your vet, this isn’t unusual and this is not a display of aggression or a naughty behaviour, it is a survival response.

Then there is the Parasympathetic Division of the ANS which is responsible for the regulation of every day functions, Heart Rate, Respiration, Hormone Production and Rest and Digest to name a few. Through hormone regulation, the Parasympathetic Nervous System will “normalise” the body after a stressful event. This is how dogs stabilise and return to a normal behaviour, and move on from a stressful situation, and return to a “normal” biological state.

Examples of isolated stressful events, which are usually quickly overcome are the occasional trips to the vet, once yearly fireworks night, loud noises whilst building works maybe taking place or after an accident or injury. These short-term stressors for most dogs can be upsetting at the time of incident, and can cause a dog to present with anxiety and unwanted behaviour, however the stress should quickly dissipate and the body should “normalise” when the Parasympathetic Nervous System recognises the issue and kicks in.

Important to note here is that it can take up to 72 hours, for hormone levels to normalise and this would be subject to NO further stressors taking place. A dog will usually remember such an incident, and will learn in the example of becoming injured or frightened not to put himself in that danger again, he should however not continue to be “stressed," over a one off event.

In cases of continued stressful events, it is much more complex, and difficult to understand, and much more important to treat and take professional advice on, either from a qualified canine behaviour therapist, or your vet.

When we think of dogs who are “Stressed”, “Anxious”, “Reactive”, “Naughty”, “Out of Control” (all terms we hear on a daily basis at Woof Walkies, from clients), we actually need to look at what is happening, on a molecular level, before we can figure out how to treat the situation here, and decide if our environment is suitable for the dog.

Dogs are not born nervous, anxious or stressed. They develop these conditions over a long period of time, following prolonged and repeated release of stress hormones.

As discussed above, in the event of a one off stressor, stress hormones will be released, but then the body will return to normal, usually within 72 hours. The dog will continue to act in a stable, and normalised biological state. If however, a stress trigger is on repeat, for prolonged periods of time, every individual stressful event that takes 72 hours to recover from, builds up, and that 72 hour recovery period, is never met. The dog never achieves a “normal” biological state.

Here is one example of how a dog may become clinically “stressed”. A young puppy in a “normal” biological state with no cares in the world, is taken for a walk to the park. He is on his lead, with nowhere to escape to, and is run at by an over zealous, over friendly, large dog, who knocks him to the floor and jumps all over him, being overly playful. The big, scary, dog is removed from the situation, and pup is physically unharmed, but is left shaken and scared, but his mum looks after him and takes him home to safety.

The puppy is then taken for his walk the following day, and he is again on the lead, and another dog is walking towards him, the other dog isn’t too happy around other dogs but his mum really wants to see the puppy. Sadly, the unhappy dog, lunges at the puppy and really scares him, pup drops to the floor, and the unhappy dog barks really loud at the puppy. Both mums want to chat about the puppy and both dogs continue to be in a “stressed” state. Once again, the puppy finally gets home after his second ordeal, although remember he is already still in a “stressed state," from yesterday, and now has to deal with this on top.

What is even worse is, the neighbours who live next door to the pup have 3 noisy and over playful dogs, and they keep barking over the garden wall at the pup, causing him to be a bit nervous for the rest of the evening. Pup knows they are in the garden, all the time, so every time he goes out into his back yard, he is also becoming stressed by the neighbours dogs, even though, they haven’t hurt him in anyway. All he wants to do is learn to toilet safely.

At this point, pups mum knows he is a bit anxious, he is a bit fearful and timid, but it’s ok, she is sending him to daycare tomorrow and on Thursday and Friday too, whilst she goes to work all day. She can’t wait, as her little pup, will learn to love dogs……won’t he……?!?!

STOP: Puppy has had 3 really traumatic events happen, all associated with dogs, in the last 48 hours, biologically, pup isn’t going to recover from this until Saturday, and that is based on him having no more stress in between. Sending him to daycare is only going to heighten his stress and make him even more fearful of dogs. Unfortunately, we don’t know about the previous events because his mum didn’t tell us, and so we do everything we can to encourage pup to be sociable and probably cause him even more stress, without even knowing it.

After 4 weeks of the pup being continually stressed, and being subjected to more and more stress, including the neighbours dogs continuing to cause the pup to feel uncomfortable, and the pup coming to daycare 3 days a week, we need to look at what biological state the puppy is now in.

The pup has now been subjected to “long term stress”, and the repeated release of Adrenaline, Cortisol and Norepinephrine, mean that the pup is probably presenting with obvious stress signals, such as separation anxiety, reactivity towards dogs, being destructive at home, especially when he hears the neighbours dogs, seemingly unwilling to go for walks, being nervous and unsettled at daycare, excessive barking, humping, excessive grooming, over stimulated behaviour, and loss of appetite, amongst many more symptoms.

As the pup gets older, and continues to stay in this unstable state, and his stress hormones are always active, he is unable to normalise, and he develops behavioural issues, which puts his physical health also at risk. Whilst a dog is stressed, he will likely be in “fight or flight” mode constantly. Dogs when in this survival mode, will have a depressed digestion capacity, and will suffer with a decreased appetite, they are constantly on survival alert and ready to run away, and for that, they do not want a belly full of food, which would slow them down.

The dog is now not eating very well, is quite lethargic, which is probably due to the reduced intake of calories, is losing weight or unable to maintain his ideal weight, he has less energy and will be a lot more susceptible to ill health and autoimmune issues. So now, the dog is showing behavioural issues, not wanting to exercise, not wanting to eat, and appears depressed and dog reactive.

Mum is doing everything to help her pup. Changing his food to see if he’ll eat better, but this gives him a bad belly, which makes him feel poorly, and stressed…….She walks him in new places to see if he prefers it there, but this is an unfamiliar and even more scary place, which makes him stressed. She takes him to puppy training where he will learn to “behave," but this is just more stress. She even tries a new doggy day care, because we say he is unhappy here. BUT this is just new people, new routine, new dogs, he doesn’t even want to be with dogs……..And they have no reference to how pup used to be in his “normal” state…………and so enter the ladder of aggression. This is a separate article, but can you see how this story will unfold…...

If we suggest that your dog is “stressed” at Woof Walkies, it is usually an indication that we believe your dogs welfare is at risk. It is not a cop out by us, and it is not us giving up on a difficult dog. We are really just looking out for their best interests.

Not all stress in dogs stems from other dogs, in-fact it is quite unusual here, most dogs blooming love it, but there will usually be something that you should be able to pin point, which is causing your dog to be “stressed”.

How the dog presents with stress will be dependant on your dog as an individual, but learn what is “normal dog behaviour," attend them canine behaviour and communication classes, not obedience classes, behaviour classes. Your dog doesn’t need to be forced to sit, stay and wait right now, he needs to learn to trust you.

Learn about canine body language, speak to your vet, and more importantly, listen to your dog. They are usually trying really hard to tell you they are not happy, trust them! Don’t let them climb that ladder of aggression because they have no other choice.

Apologies for the dodgy diagrams, they were my starting point, but they maybe a bit more useful for those people who are visual learners.

Any questions ask.

[forever-forgotten-angel]

Strange But Familiar (Prologue)

Summary: Virgil Sanders is offered a second chance at life after dying to protect his host. The trouble is, he can’t tell anyone it’s him. Waking up in the recently deceased body of Thomas’ (annoying) neighbor is startling enough. Now he has to try to form a bond with his grieving host, brothers, and boyfriend without them getting suspicious. He can only hope that Roman’s insistence that they are soulmate holds true, as his soul is the only part of him left on earth.  

Prinxiety, Side Logicality, Platonic Virgil and Thomas. 

Warning: Temporary Character Death

Hello. Yes, I am again starting yet another chapter story. When will I end this madness? Who knows. This story was originally going to be for another pairing but my brain kept screaming at me to make it Prinxiety instead and my brain (as usual) won. Hope you enjoy!

He wishes it had been a dark and stormy night when it happened, he would have appreciated having the aesthetic to match his final moments.

Instead it is a fairly sunny afternoon without a dark cloud in sight. Four sides and their host are walking towards the restaurant they had made reservations for a late lunch at. Virgil himself is walking hand in hand with Roman, and attempting to appear as if he isn’t enjoying holding his boyfriend’s hand as much as he truly is. His act is not fooling anyone who actually knows him.

It is not so long ago that publicly walking together in the real life sunshine would have been an impossibility. It has only been a few months since Thomas told his fanbase that the sides were actually real. Some had already guessed, Thomas was far from the first human to be able to manifest their sides, though he was the only one to make a webshow about it to date.

He and Roman are walking parallel to Patton and Logan while Thomas takes a bit of a lead. Virgil is content with that. It is easier to keep an eye on him with him in front.

It isn’t long before they are walking through a large wooden door into a small, homey restaurant. They are seated quickly in a booth near the front. Patton and Logan sit on on side with Virgil in the middle of his host and his lover on the other.

They chatter for a few minutes, barely even glancing at the menu. They came here fairly frequently and all pretty much knee what they wanted. It isn’t long before a waiter arrives to take their drink orders and bring them some rolls. The waiter is rather attractive and Thomas suffers some teasing for most definitely checking out his ass as he walked away despite the YouTuber’s denial that he did any such thing.

Virgip is just taking his first bite of one of the warm, buttery rolls when it all starts to go wrong.

It’s like the scene of a bad movie. Something Roman would come up with at three in the morning just to see Virgil huff a laugh and roll his eyes fondly.

A silver colored car plows through the wall of the restraint, sirens sounding loudly on its tail. A woman with a gun jumps out of the driver’s seat one the car skids to a stop, another out of the passenger’s side. The first woman darts behind the podium the restaurant’s hostess stands behind. The hostess attempts to move out of her way but is pulled back.

Outside the police have arrived, also exiting their vehicle. Virgil can hear them calling for the two women to come out with their hands up. His heart tightens as he can see that is clearly not going to happen. He desperately tries to think of a way for his family to escape without notice but there is none. He can only sit here and hope for the best.

That hope proves futile mere minutes later. A little girl who had been in the restaurant's restroom came out right into the middle of the tense scene. Virgil supposes it’s too much to expect that a the child would be able to remain calm. She doesn’t screaming and running. The first woman threateningly aims her weapon at the tiny girl. From his side he hears a cry of “No!” leaving his kind-hearted host’s lips and he can see movement in his peripheral vision.

Sure enough when he looks over, Thomas is lurching forward as if automatically, his eyes wide in fear for the innocent kid. Virgil’s brain runs through scenarios and picks the most likely one in a fraction of a second, and it is not good. He is sadly right, at Thomas’ cry the first woman’s accomplice spins around and seeing him moving as if to come toward them, raises he weapon. Virgil gets in front of the host just in time, the shot ringing in his ears. A sharp pain pierces his chest.

He isn’t sure exactly what happens next. Fear grips him as he falls, waiting to hear another shot fired indicating his sacrifice was not enough. The sound never comes.

The next thing he knows his head is being cradled in his crying host’s lap, Thomas barely managing to inform him the police were now taking care of the two criminals between sobs. His boyfriend is at his side, following a shaky Logan’s instructions on how best to help his wound until the ambulance gets to them. He can see Patton making a weak attempt at a smile and assuring him he was going to be okay.

The lie is so obvious that Virgil half expects Deceit to show up.

He can feel himself shutting down. He is scared and sad but it’s worth it. He did his job. He protected his host and his family. He grieves, knowing how much they will miss him and he them, wherever he ends up. He looks at them all, making sure he has their faces memorized, though he intends to remember them much happier than they are now.

He knows for certain it’s over when Logan gives up with an anguished, choked sob. Telling a desperate Roman he needs to stop, that it is useless and only causing Virgil extra pain. The princely trait ignores him, refusing to concede until the very end, like a true brave knight. Virgil manages a small, lopsided smile at that though.

It takes effort but he lifts one hand and places it on one of Roman’s arms. His boyfriends head whips towards him and their eyes meet. “Come on Princey, you’re the drama geek. Shouldn’t you be giving me one last dramatic kiss, just like a movie?” His voice doesn’t quite match his usual teasing tone, but it’s the best he can do.

The creative side glances back at his wound, Virgil gives his arm the tightest squeeze he is capable of right then and Roman’s rigid body slumps, seeming to finally acknowledge the inevitable. The tears in Roman’s eyes spill over as he turns back towards Virgil, making a failed attempt to speak before simply leaning down to comply, though there is not a single sign of the joking nature that wove through their relationship evident in the prince’s frame.

Figuring he should address the rest of his family if this is the last time he’ll see them he gets out a quick “I love you all.” before his boyfriend’s lips crash against his.

The kiss is desperate and clingy and he can feel Roman’s hot tears dripping down onto his cheeks from above him. It is still a great kiss in Virgil’s totally unbiased opinion. He can feel the love his lover has for him and tries to send just as much back.

It is probably odd that his last thought as he fades with warm lips still pressed against his own, is that the sunlight streaming through the window should really be a bolt of lightning, to perfectly complete the somber mood. He mentally chuckles as he thinks he may have spent too much time around his boyfriend. Not that he regrets it.

Scant seconds after that last silent laugh, Virgil ‘Anxiety’ Sanders is no more.