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darkficsyouneveraskedfor · 4 months ago

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Besotted 7

No tag lists. Do not send asks or DMs about updates. Review my pinned post for guidelines, masterlist, etc.

Warnings: this fic will include dark content such as noncon/dubcon, virginity loss, age gap, and possible untagged elements. My warnings are not exhaustive, enter at your own risk.

This is a dark!fic and explicit. 18+ only. Your media consumption is your own responsibility. Warnings have been given. DO NOT PROCEED if these matters upset you.

Summary: your new neighbour brings intrigue and a bit of danger.

Characters: ex-con!Bucky Barnes (silverfox)

As per usual, I humbly request your thoughts! Reblogs are always appreciated and welcomed, not only do I see them easier but it lets other people see my work. I will do my best to answer all I can. I’m trying to get better at keeping up so thanks everyone for staying with me.

Your feedback will help in this and future works (and WiPs, I haven’t forgotten those!) Please do not just put ‘more’. I will block you.

I love you all immensely. Take care. 💖

You're stiff and sore. Every part of you is cramped. You open your eyes, lids as heavy as the rest of you. You groan and shift as a weight rests against you. Bucky's arm is hooked around you as he holds you close.

"Doll," he rolls his pelvis against you. Again.

You shield your face from the slat of sunlight leaking in around the curtains. You brush his arm and sigh, "I gotta go, Bucky."

"Where?" He nuzzles the back of your head, rocking against you.

"Stop!" You smack him and giggle. "I mean it. I have to work."

"I'll put you to work," he grits.

"No more," you reach to shove his hip. "Bucky, I can't go anymore."

"You can't?" He tickles down to your pelvis. "Didn't you beg me for this?"

"I did, but... "

"You got what you want, huh?" He snickers.

"More than," you assure him and clutch his thick fingers. "I'm sorry, but I can't miss work."

"Baby," he drawls as you sit up, pushing past his resistance. You grip your head as dizziness swells inside. "When are you done?"

"Oh, gosh," you stand and shake your head. "Haven't you had enough? Don't you have stuff to do?"

"Only you," he growls.

You stop and look at him, hands on your hips. He shamelessly scales your body with his eyes. You wave him off and gather up your clothes. You don't say anything as you dress. How do you break it to him that he's right? You did get what you want but now you have to go back to real life. You have a trip to plan for! And an Angelique to brag to.

"You're so sweet," you grab your phone from the table and your purse. "And... that was amazing. Mind blown, back blown," you keep your thighs apart as you waddle.

"Mm," he hums and sits up. "So you're off?"

"I gotta shower."

"Could do it here."

"My clothes are at home," you argue as you cross the room, your pelvis scraped and hollow. "Oof."

"Grab 'em and come back."

"I don't have long," you check your cell. "I'm sorry but I need all the money I can get right now."

"I can spot you," he insists.

You stop with your hand on the doorknob. "No, no, I couldn't. That's... I don't want your money, Bucky. I'll see ya around."

You smile and quickly unlock the door. You flit out and snap it shut behind you. You stumble across the porch and whimper. It's going to be a long day sitting behind the desk. Maybe you should get one of those special cushions.

👙

"No way," Angelique sneers. "You actually did it?"

"At least six times. I lost count," you say proudly as you suck pudding off your spoon.

"Holy shit. You're fucking lying. Six? I'm surprised he got it up the first time," she cackles.

"He did. I can't walk straight," you hiss and shift on your chair.

"You have to be lying. Half the guys I'm with fall asleep the minute they blow."

"I don't know, Ang, maybe try an old man," you sigh. "And he wouldn't keep his mouth off of me--"

Theresa looks over her shoulder as she waits for her coffee to brew. You grin and turn away.

"He ate you out?"

"Mhmm," you giggle again.

"Wow," she drones. "Maybe you should introduce us..."

"Ew, sloppy seconds?"

"Maybe he has a friend?" She suggests.

"Now who's lame," you chirp.

"Shut up."

"And coming to the beach..."

"Yeah, whatever," the sniffs. "You know, you were always invited. You didn't have to go fuck a geezer."

"Jealous."

"No," she snips.

"It was your idea."

"I didn't think you had the balls to do it," she retorts. "I mean, sure, your tits are huge but--"

"Oh, fuck off, Angie," you roll your eyes.

She laughs again, "I'll see you soon, bitch. You earned your vacation, but remember, you already spent enough time on your back."

You make a face and hang up. God, she's such a bitch. Still, you can't wait. You just need to get through today and tomorrow, you'll be off into the sunset. What timing.

👙

You meet up with Angie after work. You need a new bikini and she's always ready to spend money. It also gives you buffer between you and your neighbour. While your night with Bucky was everything you dreamed an more, you really can't take the awkward aftermath right now. You're too excited for your vacation. The weekend is one more work day away and you're out of here.

You go to the mall and scowl at the hordes of fellow shoppers. You have no right to despise them but you do. Why do they need things? Can't they come at a different time?

Angelique chooses her typical fare; strings and not much else. You find a cute red gingham tankini that isn't entirely too modest. According to your outspoken companion though, you could show a bit more skin. You roll your eyes and pay as she continues to pile purchases on at the counter.

"You wanna come hang out?" You ask as you stop to get a soft pretzel in the food course.

She snorts, "oh really? You're not too busy banging the old man next door?"

"Whatever, Ang. It's a one night kinda thing. Really. There's a bit too much time between us." You shrug and thank the guy behind the counter as he hands over your pretzel.

"I mean that sort of gap is kinda in now," she snickers as you turn down the tile.

"Yeah, well, I don't know if I should be hanging around him. Apparently he just got out."

"Got out? Of a dead-end marriage? Divorced men are hot. Probably why he took the time to kiss your kitty," she slithers.

"No, prison," you lower your voice. "I don't know. I wasn't thinking. I was in the moment when he told me and..." you shrug. "Now I think about it, I'm just... I wonder what he did."

"Probably drugs or some shit. They give you twenty for a joint in some cases," she slurps on her milkshake and hums. "Bad boy. Oof, sexy daddy."

"Really? You said his dick wouldn't work?"

"I've been with older guys and they are just..." she makes and O with her index and thumb.

"They are what? Trent wasn't old. He was twenty-eight."

"Well, how old is that criminal, then?" She snaps.

"I don't know," you pick a piece of the pretzel away. "It's got me thinking. I don't know much about him, do I?"

"And yet you fucked him. I pass my slut crown to you, your majesty."

"Shut up. Okay? It's... whatever. It was good. I'm glad it's done with, I just..." you eye your sugary pretzel, "I need this vacation. Give him time to cool down. And me."

👙

Angelique ditches you. She says she needs to pack but you saw the message from Kev on her phone. She needs something to brag about at the beach so she can drown out your own boasting.

You yawn as you get to the duplex. It's dark. the streetlights are on. It's past nine and you're going to regret this when you have to get up for work.

You jingle your keys lazily as your shopping bags rustle together. You pull open the screen door, shrouded in shadows, and search out the right key. Why do you have so many?

A thump behind you makes you jump. Your keys fall to your feet. You turn to the silhouette watching you from the bottom step.

"You're home late," Bucky says.

You bend to get your keys and blow out a breath, "you scared me."

"Did I? Probably shouldn't be creeping in after dark," he grits.

You stand and narrow your eyes. You can't see him through the dark. "Right, well, I needed to grab some stuff."

"Sure," he clucks.

You frown. What's his problem? You turn and shove the keys in the lock. You quickly reach inside to flip on the porch light. You drop your bags inside and face him. You gasp as he's right behind you. You grip the door frame as you step back into it.

"Bucky, hi, uh, I need to get ready for bed."

He's quiet. The yellow bulb shines over him and pools in his eyes. You gulp. His expression is rigid.

"Can I join you?" He speaks at last.

"Oh, uh," you smile, "that'd be great but I had a long day," you pat his chest. "Maybe another time."

He huffs, "sure... guess we did stay up pretty late."

"Right. Besides, I'm sure you have lots of stuff to do."

He tilts his head, "nothing important," he puts his hand on the frame, just above yours. "I had a really nice time with you, doll."

"It was great," you chime. "Really, it was... super."

"Your first time," he tuts. "Wish you'd said something."

"I didn't want to ruin the moment," you brush his fingers. "Well, Bucky, you have a good night."

"Hmm," he inhales, "sure you don't want me to come in and check for bugs?"

"All good," you cover your mouth and force a yawn. "See ya around."

His face falls again. You hold back a shiver as his pupils grow and you gulp. You gently reach for the screen door.

He moves away and watches you. He just stands there until you snap shut the outer door. You slowly push the inner one into place and twist the lock. You hold your breath and listen. You don't hear him go.

You shake it off and back away. You grab you bags and turn on the hallway light. You make your way down to your room. That pretzel upset your stomach. Too much sugar.

You unpack your things from the bag, sorting it into what to take and what you might return. Angelique always talks you into the worst things.

You fall asleep easily. You really are worn out. You drift into a slog of roiling shadows and silence. You roll over as your arm tingles from being trapped beneath you and you grumble as your head spins. You blink at your room and shift in your bed. The moonlight streams in and casts across your messy blankets.

You open your eyes and nearly scream. There's the outline of a man right outside. You blink and sit up, heaving in horror. No, it's gone. Was it even there? You're tired. Seeing things.

You lay back down and shudder. You brush your hands over your face and sigh. Just one more day and you can forget about it all.

👙

Your last day of work drags. You nearly fall asleep at your desk. The hours are dull and so are you. You go through it all like riding a bike. It's all muscle memory.

It isn't until you leave that the uneasiness stirs. You have to sneak past your neighbour who always tends to be outside. Before, you looked forward to the encounters, now you're playing hide and seek. Maybe he was right... You should have listened.

Yet, you don't regret any of it. Just thinking of it makes you tingle. You smile just before you cross the street but quickly wipe it away. You keep your head on straight and rush down your walk. You dare a peek to his side of the property as you get to the steps.

His bike is gone. He's not there. Or at least not that you can tell.

You run up the stairs and quickly skirt inside. You need to get everything ready. You put a pizza in the oven and get to work.

You pack a single duffel and your beach bag. Angelique will have at least triple that even if she won't use it all. You spend the night double-checking and re-checking as you eat nearly half the frozen thin-crust on your own.

You fall asleep watching Golden Girls and wake as your phone buzzes beside your pillow. The morning dances between your curtains, drawn almost shut since the night before. It's not paranoia. Not at all.

Angelique's message slowly unblurs in your groggy visions; 'up and at em, bitch'.

The only thing she ever wakes up early for is the beach or shopping. You roll out of bed and nearly fall on your ass. Your bags are at the door. You just need to get yourself together.

You rush around and get into your new tankini, covering it with shorts and a crochet sweater. You pop on a sunhat and step into your sandals. You check the battery on your phone and nearly forget to snatch up your solar charger. You're just about ready, Angelique just needs to step on the gas.

You grab your tumbler full of iced coffee as the knock comes at the door. You skip to it and swing it open with a smile and a hop. You stop short as the screen door is propped open against Bucky's shoulder. You shrink down as his eyes slowly descend your figure. His brows draw together.

"Morning, doll," his hand is on his hip.

"Um, hi, Bucky, how's it going? Oh, did my pool blow away again?"

He shakes his head, "you headed out?"

You look down at yourself then at him. "The beach! Going to go get some sun."

"The beach," he echoes. "Right."

"I would invite you but it's Angelique's thing and... yeah," you wiggle your shoulders and look past him.

As if she hears her name, your friend pulls up in her Barbie pink convertible and toots the horn, "come on, whore!"

You cringe and glance at Bucky again. You clear your throat. You turn and grab your bags.

"Sorry, I gotta get going." You manage to balance it all on your shoulders as you grip your keys and cup. "Needa be early to get a good spot."

You step out and he backs up, still close, crowding you as you lock the door.

"Hm, I'll... keep an eye on things then." He growls.

"Oh thank you, Bucky," you preen and face him. "You're the sweetest."

You twirl away and hurry across the porch. You nearly sprint down the walk and toss your bags in the back of the open top car. You get in and pop your cup into the holder near the console. Angelique giggles.

"Aren't you in a hurry?" She cackles.

"Shut up," you send her a cringe. "Just drive."

#bucky barnes #dark bucky barnes #dark!bucky barnes #bucky barnes x reader #series #au #besotted #avengers #mcu #marvel #captain america #winter soldier

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idiotlaintelligent · 2 months ago

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I um... May have made a master post for @fizzyboy's wasteland au...

I was very bored :p Doesn't include stuff any asks or wrong shrimp btw

Fizzy's masterpost/Team one (i couldnt get the pictures looking right)

Their boosted forms

"Twisted" Forms

Updated "Twisted" Shrimpo

Rage Shrimpo First Concept

Group 2: Finn, Toodles, Goob (and blobby!)

Their boosted forms

"Twisted" Forms

Prismatic Finn

Prismatic Finn [Revamped]

Comic-Verse

Group 3: Brightney, Shelly, Razzle and Dazzle

Their boosted forms

R&D Design Idea

"Twisted" Forms

Comic-Verse Shelly's Concept

Group 4: Scraps, Gigi, Flutter

Their boosted forms

Group 5: Rodger, Vee, Pebble

Their boosted forms + overclocked

Group 6: Cosmo, Teagan, Tisha

Their boosted forms

Lavender Form

Group 7: Sprout, Glisten, Astro

Their boosted forms

caramel

DANDY

Let's Talk About Dandy (pt 1)

Dandy's Comic-Verse Form

Connie and Cuburt's Intro to Tumblr

Looey Is Canon

Connie's Telekinesis

Vermin

Wilson

Comic Verse v. Doodle Verse

Hug From Connie

Ichor Resistance Scale

Pre-Destruction Lore!

Anger-Withdrawal Shrimpo

Trauma!

Source and Cuburt

Rupert

Cuburt's Regeneration

Lil' Blobby Lore

"The Scoundrel"

All Negative Forms

Under the cut: Sillier Posts and Comics

Sillier Stuff:

Doodle Mountain!

Astro Doodles + "New Moon" Form

Gifs!

Big Bork

"Good vibes."

What Did You Do?

Other Brush

Who Cooks?

Bobette

Timeframe

Cuburt's on the Death List

"She finna taz ya"

Square Pupils

Hard to Draw

Faceless Shrimpo

Cuburt's Hands

Swingin'

Blob Kids

Signs

Shrimpo Fire

Poppy Hates You

Rodger Can't See Jack

Ghost Finn

"TOO SERIOUS!"

Dandy and Source's Dynamic

Teagan Dropkick

BUFF BOXTEN

Fluffy Goob

Fumble (His Addition)

Wizard Toodles

Nerdburt!

Albino Blot

"Calories"

Winter Fit

Resting Furious Face (Colored)

Flying

Flying Pt. 2

"Confused."

Cuburt Boolynski

Right Arm Stronk

Swapped Source and Cuburt

"Meow"

Comics? (yea they're def comics)

"Injury"

Cuburt Casually Destroys Yang! (idk if this counts as a comic but oh well :p)

"Someone's dying..."

Taijitwo Fight: (prequel)

"No trade too far."

Yin and Yang Reborn

This is all just stuff that wasn't asks, I'll do that tomorrow, I've just been working on this index for 6 hours and am tired. Prepare for a part 2 post. Sadly I couldn't fit everything I wanted to (particularly the character gifs, finkins, and your part of the slumbrrr collab) because Tumblr only allows some links at a time.

Part 1 / ?

#feel free to use it fizzy #this was made for convenience's sake #why so long? I have no clue what's important :p Im pretty sure i accidentally made an index of all your Wasteland au posts #dandys world #dandy’s world #dandys wasteland #dandys world au #masterpost #bedtime for me

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absolutebl · 6 months ago

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2024 BL - Top 10 Trend Report

In last year's trend report I said:

"I think Taiwan has the chops to give us something as good as The 8th Sense or Old Fashion Cupcake but in their style, and I would like to see them exercise their talent for good rather than just profit."

And Unknown happened.

I asked for it, they gave it to me. I could not be more happy. So anyway, I just wanted to crow a bit.

And now...

2024's TRENDS!

1 Trope Subversion Levels Up

My Stand In went so far as to subvert the whole damn romance genre. But in general we saw a lot of BL recognizing, highlighting and calling out it's own absurdities and tropes. From Korea commenting on the Dead Fish Kiss to Wandee Gooodday actually promoting green flag behavior (the real deal).

It was an interesting year for meta commentary, it kind of whole scale left parody behind (say goodbye, Japan) and entered almost every BL from Thailand, even the ones who should have left it alone. (Side eyes Mame.)

2 Old Tropes Revisited

Unknown revisited the step-brother trope (as did Addicted Heroin of course). But there were other old ones we haven't seen in ages, like kidnapping for love, kissing on rooftops, and all the dub con (Blossom). Love Sick rebooted with very little modernization (except where it counted) right up to and including no kisses. Mix Up even did "trapped on the rooftop" which I haven't seen in over a decade.

And then Wimpy dropped. And it felt like I was reading yaoi in my tiny attic bedroom in the 90s.

3 BL Enters All the Workplaces

I love how many adult leads and sides we are getting, even from Thailand. By which I mean, BL outside of a school setting. We still have high school and university set stuff, but that used to be ALL we got. I don't mind school settings, but I like that we have some kind of balance going on these days.

We are starting to get not just cubicles and offices (as Japan foretold) but all kinds of workplaces from retail to authors to the film industry.

4 BL Passes the Sniff Test

He smells good has always been a trope that I love. It was one of my favorite things about Bad Buddy. But this year it felt like every third BL trotted this one out. I was delighted by it. Of course I was. But it happened A LOT.

Century of Love was a key use of it since smell is so coupled to memory, I thought they dealt with it particularly well. But even Japan and Korea deployed the sniff test.

(Seoul Blues)

(Blue Boys) Same actors, different characters.

Pitt Babe

Century of Love

Meet You at the Blossom

Soul Blues

Blue Boys

Dangerous Romance

This Love Doesn't Have Long Beans

Cosmetic Playlover

Sunset X Vibes

Monster Next Door

Secret Love

Perfect 10 Liners (technically a 2025 show, but the sniff happened in 2024)

5 Fewer Shipper Characters within BL

Negative trends are always harder to call (it's easier to track the presence of something over the absence) but I'm still calling this one.

In a discussion of The Shipper @heretherebedork and I got into a discussion about this. It really seems like both we are getting less "female shipper" characters and/or they are evolving into overly interested but very supportive female friends instead. Softening, if you will.

I think partly this is because there has been a general decline in this archetype in yaoi over the past 5-10 years, but also they tend to incur pretty bad reactions in fans, and Thailand (especially) tends to pay attention to that kind of thing.

Unfortunately this also means we are seeing a worsening of the "no female representation at all" backbone of BL. We Are, which I loved, didn't have a single female character. Not even a throw away.

6 The rise of the green flag seme!

The seme (active attacker in the relationship) got a lot of green flag action this year. We saw lots of Dommy boys, Daddy types, and players asking for permission, trying to communicate, talking about safe sex. Particularly out of Thailand.

To make sure this is clear, green flag means he communicates about the relationship and sex, takes no for an answer, asks for permission for (almost) everything, and doesn't do things like (just spitballing here) take a hotel room key and go into the other mans private room when he's not around (or asleep). Okay? Christ on a cracker. (When it comes to flags Mame has red/green colorblindness.)

Some examples:

Alan from Pit Babe

God from Monster Next Door (except for the one journal reading incident)

Sun from Sunset X Vibes (almost too far)

Yak from Wandee Goodday

Latte from Knock Knock Boys

7 Japan Came to PLAY

Japan came to play and will not leave the field that they built. I may not always like JBL, but when I love it, I REALLY LOVE IT, and when it hits it hit hard (pain or joy). And even when I don't like it, it always gives me a lot to think about.

We had 19 JBLs in 2024:

Sahara-sensei to Toki-kun

At 25:00, in Alaska

Dominant Yakuza and Wimpy Corporate Slave

I Became the Main Role of a BL

Love in the Air: Koi no Yokan

Takara's Treasure

Although I Love You and You

I Hear the Sunspot

Living With Him

Love is Better the Second Time Around

Love is Like a Poison

Perfect Propose

Cosmetic Playlover

Sugar Dog Life

0.5D

Let's Eat Together Aki and Haru 2

Mitsuya-sensei no keimakutekina ezuke

Happy of the End

Ossans Love Season 2

Japan had 18 total BLs in 2023.

17-15 in 2022 (a couple I couldn't get hold of and a couple I just don't think are BL, so 2022 is vague).

7 in 2021. <- THAT was when the big jump occurred, 3 years ago. Which might have more to do with the pandemic than anything else.

But back to now: 19 in 2024 means they are actually just increasing their production gradually and in a steady way, as might be expected. In round numbers we didn't see anything unusual.

BUT

The series they've been airing in 2024 are running longer (for them) and being aired over longer periods of time. Not to mention getting better and quicker distribution.

By which I mean, Japan used to have more shorts and movies, less actual series with full run times (by their & Korea's BL industry length standard) on streaming platforms. So I think it's JBL runtime and distribution that is experiencing real growth. And the consistency of that runtime.

In other words, it feels like there are more JBL airing because we have access to most of them (for a change) and they're running long enough to cross into each other (which has been rare in the past).

What's almost more interesting to me is...

8 What the hell happened, Korea?

Korea cut back on their BLs in 2024. I am not sure if that's money drying up, a crack down within the industry over there, the political situation, or something else.

Still, it was wild to see such a stark fall off in production. They had 18 BLs in 2024 but fully half of them were shorts, and more than half were poor production quality than is prior standard. By contrast they had 21 in 2023, but only 1 was a short, and most were very high production (getting 8/10 or higher from me).

Since Korea tends to produce some of my favorite shows, it's no surprise I had no 10/10 BLs at all in 2024 with so little KBL's stepping up to the plate.

I sure hope this isn't a trend but it feels like it might be.

9 Why the hell is the not-kiss back?

Korea doubled down on being a pain in 2024 by bringing back the "they don't actually touch lips and we pretend they did by panning around the back of the head" with the camera. (Jazz for 2 sides, example. Yes, I'm still mad.)

Then Thailand did the with Addicted Heroin. AND with Love Sick.

What is this, 2016?

Color me annoyed. I thought we saw the last of that nonsense with Make It Right.

I remind you all, if they would kiss if they het but they don't kiss when they gay, it smacks of a phobia and I'm salty about it.

Yes yes, there are actor (idol, age) excuses in play. But they should cast differently if this is going to be a problem.

End of discussion.

No really, I don't wanna talk about it. I just want it to go away.

10 The rise of Great Grandmas

We have had cool grandmas before in BL but in 2024 we had so many of them. The Sign, Love for Love’s Sake, Monster Next Door, Jack & Joker, Every You Every Me, The Rebound, Wandee Goodday.

(thanks to @small-dark-and-delicious for bringing this one to my attention)

See the comments for additional discussion of the "why" behind some of these trends as well as a few I missed.

(source)

2023's Trends report here.

#2024 bl #bl round up #2024 bl trends #trend report 2024 #unknown the series #taiwanese bl #japanese bl #korena bl #what happened to korean bl?#My Stand In #wandee goodday #Century of Love #thai bl #daouoffroad #green flag seme #jazz for two #grandma in bl #bl grandma

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grandisknight · 10 months ago

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zayne: a doctor's companion

summary: A certain healthcare companion finds its way into Linkon City, and a particular doctor is about to discover what it means to say ba-la-la-la-lah.

tags: established relationship, baymax (big hero 6), fluff, canon-complaint, one-shot, medical terms, phone call, gender neutral reader mentioned, mostly zayne's POV, first meetings

word count: 1.8k | (ao3)

notes: inspired by this tweet! also i just love baymax a lot and i think him and zayne would be a cute duo thank you ; including the stanford article i read for the surgery mentioned here! (not necessary for understanding though) (also if i get any med stuff wrong apologies i did my best! i was a girl in stem but not Stem yk)

+ update: the cutest zayne baymax art just dropped everyone say thank you mimi (zaynefied) (i cried)

⊹˚₊‧───────────‧₊˚⊹

Zayne was sure he had slept well the night before. Had his full eight hours, breakfast accomplished and a handful of kisses from his partner before heading out in his pristine, white coat. The drive to work was the same scenery of Linkon City rushing past, soon parked in his designated lot and tracing a familiar path towards Akso Hospital’s entrance.

So, even with such a practiced routine, how did he end up here?

“I will scan you now. Please remain in place, Dr. Zayne.”

Zayne raises a hand in an effort to dissuade his unforeseen guest. “That won't be necessary.” But his rejection, in turn, was rejected itself—his brows narrowed at the losing notion.

“But it is. I am Baymax, your personal healthcare companion.” The robot calmly states, reflecting a similar monotone diction to the doctor. “I was alerted to the need of medical attention,” he continues, plush footsteps along the hardwood floor squeaking as he approaches the seated doctor. "When you said 'Oof.' So, I am here."

That singular oof traced back to the faint murmur under Zayne's breath just minutes ago when pushing through the growing crowd of peering eyes at Baymax's unprecedented presence. An unusual sight for everyday work life, the mysterious yet kind robot drew in the attention of incoming patients and passersby who happened to catch a glimpse. Zayne’s opportune timing and arrival to work hurriedly whisked away the looming inflatable as crowds huddled in growing excitement, geeking and gossiping alike. Most of his efforts thus far were put into escorting the curiously soft giant through the pristine halls and past the doorway of his office without garnering further unwarranted attention.

And currently, Zayne found himself subjected to a consultation by said robot.

“On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate your pain?” Baymax inquires. A chart of faces ranging in emotion and color flash over his chest in display. At the highest end stood a red expression painted in anguish, and to the lowest was a green facade of serenity.

Quickly, Zayne plainly states his number to mirror his current state. “Zero.”

Baymax stares him down with the abyss of his rather blank eyes wordlessly after receiving the response. In mere seconds, a pixelated, monotone hum with a hint of warmth made its way to Zayne’s ears. “Scan complete. You have sustained no recent injuries. However, your cortisol and neurotransmitter levels indicate that you are experiencing stress.”

No, really? Zayne’s brows and posture straightened then, removing his glasses and setting them aside. He echoes the conclusion, pushing down the unspoken remark with a bite of his tongue. “Stress? Is that so?”

Baymax nods, holding up a singular finger as he continues to reveal his findings. “This can be attributed to, for example, overconsumption of sugary foods or work overload. Have you had any of these two things recently?”

Zayne’s lips purse in thought, remembering the new maple syrup you had doused his pancakes in over an hour ago. ‘I picked this up during an overseas mission and thought you might like it,’ you explained to him, drawing an intricately sticky pattern of hearts atop his breakfast. It was still just syrup—not so much a difference in flavor to a regular one you could find at the nearby supermarket—but he was grateful for the gift nonetheless as he indulged in the sweet treat with you.

“Sugar, yes. Nothing wrong with it when done in moderation.”

Sure, he had a sweet tooth. But had been doing well to maintain a healthy intake of sugary pieces, lest he wanted another round of your ‘scoldings’ and an appointment to the neighboring orthodontist again.

With a slight sigh, he clasps his hands together over the expanse of his desk and continues. As for workload? He was almost always caught up in it, whether it were hands-on procedures or consultations. Today was no exception to the rule.

“And I do have work, if that’s what you’re referring to.”

“I see. May I make a suggestion?” Baymax asks.

Zayne gives him a curt signal of acknowledgement. “You may.”

“I can assist you with said workload. I am equipped with several modules and sensors that will be of use.”

Zayne contemplates for a moment, curious to the veracity of such a claim. Well, when one forms a hypothesis, the best way to test out the theory was through a designed experiment; and he was ready to do just that. “Alright. Give me just a moment.”

With a couple of speedy taps, Zayne pulls up a recent patient file and gestures for Baymax to approach. As the airy robot bounces into place beside him, Zayne points towards a diagram, a series of numbers and waves indicating observational data. “Here. Based on what you see, can you tell me what surgery this patient underwent?”

Baymax follows the trail of red lines, analyzing quickly in succession. “Their ECG fluctuations are affected by the noraderaline administrations over time. This line,” Baymax points to a blue parallel. “Indicates the oxygen levels throughout the surgery duration.” Calmly, he turns to blink at Zayne. “Diagnosis? The patient underwent a coronary artery bypass grafting procedure.”

Zayne nodded. Each detail was right on par, much to his surprise. “I’m impressed. Your creator must have put a lot of great effort into you.”

“He did. He was wonderful.” Baymax gives a thumbs up in return. “Am I to take it that I have passed your test?”

So he knew, even without having to say anything. “You have,” Zayne confirms with a small smile.

“Here.” Baymax raises his fingers and curls them into a fist, waiting for Zayne to meet him halfway. Slowly, Zayne does just that, meeting the soft plush before it was pulled away and sealed with a robotic tune.

“Ba-la-la-la-lah.”

“Bah… What now?”

“We have completed our first task together. This warrants a celebratory fist bump.” Baymax returns his enclosed fist towards the confused doctor once more. “You must also say it while our fists connect.”

Not finding it in himself to disagree, Zayne repeats the actions from before and adds on with an unsure, “Ba-la-lah.” Slightly strange, though it held a tinge of endearment that reminded him of a certain someone; he suddenly didn’t mind it as much then, shaking his head to himself.

It satisfied Baymax all the same, hand wiggling away before a sound disrupts the next file to be displayed. Zayne’s phone rings then, a custom set of notes indicating there was only one special caller. Your name flashed on his screen, buzzing in patience as his gaze flicked between that and Baymax.

“Do you mind if I take this?”

Baymax blinks. “I do not mind.”

“Thank you.”

With a swipe, Zayne presses his phone to the cup of his ear, voice softening to answer your call. “Good morning. Are you heading out now?”

“Morning! How did you know?”

Zayne could make out the rustling of keys with the pattern of your footsteps, a light yet amused scoff from him trickling into the receiver. Even if it weren’t for the traces of noise, you usually left around this time and always texted him a new emoji without missing a day. So, of course he knew. You followed up almost immediately with another answer to support your stance.

“New mission just came in, and it happens to be near Akso. Guess we’ll be seeing each other again pretty soon.”

“Oh?” His brow quirks at the idea. “What requires you to be in the area, exactly?” Zayne’s hazel hues instinctively settle on the black pools of Baymax’s blink, already knowing the answer that you proceeded to relay.

“There was a… Wanderer sighted?” Even over the phone, your voice relayed doubt amidst a warm crackling sound. “Well it’s not exactly one…allegedly. But rather something big, round and white? Tara said it looked like a walking marshmallow,” you chuckled. Well, it’s not like you were wrong, Zayne confirms with another glance.

“Either way, it’s caused an uproar and the Association is sending me to check it out. I’m assuming you already know what it is?”

“I do.” Baymax tilts his head, pointing a finger to himself in quiet curiosity. Zayne raises his own to his mouth, indicating for a secret to be kept as he muses into the call. “And no, not a Wanderer. Stop by my office when you get here and you’ll see.”

“I’ll be there in 15 if traffic is kind to me,” you chirped in reply. He could make out the humming of your motorcycle come to life, indicating the start of your journey. “See you then! Love you.”

“Alright. Love you too. Be safe.”

As the call came to an end, Zayne shifted his gaze to the even shiftier companion before him. Though Baymax couldn’t necessarily smile, the doctor could feel it radiating off of its plush form as he lifted a familiar finger.

“Your pulse and heart rate have quickened greatly. The rate went from 87 beats per minute to 102 in about ten seconds.” Baymax pauses, and a screen with infographics begins to luminate across his chest once more. “Symptoms may include, but are not limited to, your pituitary glands—“

“I’m aware of how hearts work.” Zayne gestures around to their environment, the glimmer of his name tag reflecting the morning sun filtering through the tall windows. “And… everything else.”

He was a cardiac surgeon, first and foremost. His efforts and contributions have earned him plenty of accolades in the field, a testament to his brilliance and especially at a younger age in comparison to his medical peers. But second to none was he also your partner—naturally, his heart would’ve soared regardless. He was aware of the source to his increased palpitations.

“You are also smiling,” Baymax comments. “Does this person make you happy?”

Zayne freezes then, unbeknownst of how the edges of his lips were curled into a gentle grin. His mouth almost straightens, fingertips brushing over them in thought. He lets out a resounding hum in confirmation, looking away bashfully for a brief moment. “Very much so.”

“That is good. Having someone who makes you ‘happy’ will improve your quality of life.” As if sending him his seal of approval, Baymax gives an affirmative fist of encouragement. No sooner did a wrapped lollipop appear between said fist, and he held it towards Zayne in offering. “Here, have a lollipop.”

“Thank you.” Zayne takes the candy in acceptance, wrapper crinkling in removal before a taste of winterberry spreads across his tongue. “Shall we go through another file until a certain someone comes barging in?”

He could already imagine how your grand entrance would play out, and this time, knowingly smiles to himself at the thought.

With an enthusiastic nod, Baymax takes a nearby chair and places it beside Zayne’s own. Deflating slightly to fit the mold, he puffs up once more in preparation.

“I am ready. Let’s work together, Dr. Zayne.”

#love and deepspace #zayne #baymax #lads zayne #lnds zayne #zayne love and deepspace #lads imagine #love and deepspace imagines #lads fic #lnds fic #zayne x reader #zayne x you #love and deepspace scenarios #lads scenarios #grandisknight fics #gklnd

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monstrousgourmandizingcats · 2 months ago

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Gotta say, thank you very much for sharing your insights into the 2025 conclave. I love reading them; your takes and bringing into focus people largely overlooked by English speaking media.

I'd love to know where you look for information and (you've probably answered this before but I'll ask anyway) was there anything that you think may have happened prior to the 2013 conclave that influenced appointing Francis as Pope?

Once again thank you for sharing your takes, I'm looking forward to your posts!

Hello!

So to answer your second question first: yes, I know a fair amount about the dynamics leading up to the conclave that elected Francis twelve years ago, although a lot of it is stuff I've actually learned fairly recently. While official balloting counts of papal conclaves do not exist, unofficial counts do tend to emerge afterwards, and from the ones for 2013 we see the future Pope Francis (i.e. Jorge Mario Bergoglio) initially positioned as one of three softcore/mainstream conservative vote-getters, along with Canada's Marc Ouellet and Italy's Angelo Scola. Bergoglio then cannibalizes the votes of moderate cardinals Sean Patrick O'Malley (USA) and Odilo Scherer (Brazil), and finally picks up more and more of Ouellet's supporters until he defeats Scola after five ballots.

This is in part speculative, but the conventional wisdom/widespread educated guess is that Bergoglio started as a Latin American regional favorite who then gradually became the "anyone but Scola" candidate because of how the math shook out. It should be remembered that the 2013 conclave, unlike this year's, was, or at least seemed, fairly ideologically homogeneous; everyone in it had been appointed by John Paul II or Benedict XVI (themselves very similar to each other in most ways), and there was not a clear "progressive" option. What happened with Pope Francis as time went on was that it turned out that the Latin American cultural and theological environment that he came up in, when "scaled up" to the global Church, looked very different from Euro "conservative Catholicism". What we got from that was twelve years of a Pope who didn't actually make any major changes to Catholic doctrine and who had plenty of "hot mic" moments about women or gays of the sort one would expect from an elderly Peronist living and working in Italy, but who was enormously more concerned with what kind of place the Church was--how welcoming it was--for people who just "weren't like" the Central European and Northern Italian aristocrats and academics around John Paul and Benedict.

Also, people forget this today, but as Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Bergoglio came across as much more doctrinaire and conservative, especially on issues related to sex, than he did as Pope. You can still find lots of LGBT South Americans, including LGBT South American Catholics, who have a very different and much less positive opinion of Francis than do similar people from other parts of the world. Suddenly having to deal with a worldwide constituency genuinely changed his way of looking at some things. The same might happen with a successor who isn't as good on these issues (then again it might not). With Cardinal Ambongo (papabile, deeply homophobic but otherwise Francis-aligned Archbishop of Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo) in particular there are reasons to believe that if he became Pope it'd be politically and logistically very difficult for him to reverse Francis's more pro-LGBT decisions, even though he might want to.

The Latin American cardinals of twelve years ago, who weren't well-understood in the West and who ended up producing, arguably even imposing, a Pope who reigned the way Francis did, are today the African and Asian cardinals who don't like gay people very much and often aren't crazy about women either, but who over the past week have mostly been interested in talking about climate change, decentralizing Church governance structures, and fighting terrorism through interreligious dialogue.

As to where I look for information: I first found these sources by Googling the cardinals' names and reading anything that didn't look like generic Global North boilerplate, but some that I've found that way are ACI Africa, 9News Nigeria, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Kaniva Tonga News, Radio New Zealand, the Papua New Guinea Post-Courier, and the Straits Times out of Singapore.

I hope some of this helps/is of interest to you!

#catholic #news #conclave 2025 #deadfrank 2k25 #heyneon

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tanadrin · 19 days ago

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so the First Age of Middle Earth lasts around 4,000 years, but that's fine; the vast majority of this is sort a mythological dreamworld, where everything including time happens on a much grander scale. the interesting bits, the wars in beleriand and all that, is only six hundred years from the rising of the sun, and tolkien earns each and every one of those years by making them feel jam-packed with events. what's kind of baffling to me, though, are the extreme lengths of the second and third ages.

the second age, very generously, has about as much happening in it as the first (post-Sun), but it's three and a half thousand years long and told in much less detail. depending on how you count it, numenor is in decline for sixteen centuries. and sure, the lives of the numenoreans are really long. but they still have to be doing stuff. it can't all just be the human equivalent of the valar sitting on their thrones contemplating how nifty valinor is. the valar get to be ineffable godlike spirits; but human societies are dynamic and always changing!

the third age magnifies this problem bc now we're into definitively more recognizable kinds of dynastic decline and political tensions and wars and stuff; gondor and arnor aren't magical island-kingdoms of virtue blessed by the gods, they're normal human states who happen to have a long-lived aristocracy. almost nothing happens for the first thousand years, it takes another thousand for the western roman empire arnor to collapse, and another thousand after that of Sauron slowly returning to power and rebuilding his base. in the time between the onset of the Greek Dark Ages and the invention of the Internet, we have stuff happening that, thematically, seems to cover a period loosely equivalent to, i feel like, the one between the Crisis of the Third Century and the middle of the Early Middle Ages. so like five or six hundred years.

all in all, the timeline of middle earth just from the rising of the sun to the destruction of the One Ring covers a span of time equivalent to the Ubaid Period to the present day. even allowing for long periods of rise and decline, the whole thing also mostly has the flavor of a mythic ancient/medieval past, with the occasional magic sword or ring or seeing-stone thrown in. i know tolkien genially detested high-tech shit, and there are hints you could build on to imagine that numenor for instance had some crazy fantasy pseudo-technology, but this is the kind of thing that i feel like one has to headcanon in order to make the vast expanses of stasis in the timeline of middle earth make sense.

and this isn't so glaring when the story is purely mythic, but there are occasional places where the real-world parallels are so clear (like the Riders of Rohan being to Gondor as the Goths were to the Byzantine Empire) that it calls attention in my mind to the big historical questions. i wonder things like "how come the Dwarves never industrialized even in a crazy magic kind of way, seems like the Eregion/Moria alliance was ripe for that sort of thing," and "where is the Shire getting the material goods to support its equivalent of an early 19th century English countryside, when the rest of the world is high medieval at best," and "where the fuck are the other towns and polities that Bree-Land has to be connected to in order for it to make economic sense" and "the same thing times a thousand for Dale." i think in a few of these cases you can suggest answers that sorta fit--I guess the Shire does a big trade with the Dwarves to the west?--but the distances and the relative emptiness of Middle Earth in the late third age make a lot of them feel pretty unsatisfying.

#you KNOW sauron and/or saruman would have invented artillery #the same way the Devil is responsible for the invention of cannons in Paradise Lost

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supernovafics · 2 years ago

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𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 𝐈𝐒 𝐀 𝐆𝐀𝐌𝐄

"i'll be there for you" universe masterlist

pairing: bestfriend!roommate!steve harrington x fem!reader

word count: 5.6k words

warnings: explicit language, alcohol consumption, mentions of weed, “the beatles” slander (sorry?), just a lil bit of angst

summary: in which you force you and steve to have a housewarming party

general note: everything in this universe/series can be read as standalone oneshots but to understand the full “lore” it would prob be best to read the other stuff too<333

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Fall 1985

“Oh no, you’re playing The Beatles at full volume... On a scale of one to ten, how worried should I be for you right now?”

Hearing Steve’s voice right then put a timestamp on how long you’d been in your current position— lying in the dark on the couch in the living room of your shared apartment, an oversized hoodie, which just so happened to be Steve’s, covering your body; even the hood was pulled over your head because you wanted to feel completely cocooned.

He finished his shift at Family Video at seven and the drive usually took no more than twenty minutes, and you’d gotten home from your last class around five. That meant you’d been sulking for over two hours. A part of you felt a bit disappointed in yourself.

Not enough to stop sulking and get up from the couch, though.

Steve flicked on the light, which made you groan and pull on the strings of the hoodie so that your eyes were covered too, and then he walked over to where the record player sat atop a low shelf that was full of books, magazines, and random trinkets including a pink piggy bank that contained stray arcade tokens rather than actual money. He turned off the record player, putting a stop to the Abbey Road vinyl that you had been playing on repeat for hours. You absolutely detested The Beatles so whenever you were in a melancholic mood, it felt only right to play their music.

“Our neighbors probably hate us now,” Steve said as he joined you on the couch, moving your legs for a moment so that he could sit down and then placing them over his lap. “If we don’t get the cookie basket from Miss Johnson for Christmas, I fully blame you.”

He expected that to get a laugh or at least a smile out of you. The mention of the sweet old woman a few doors down who had given you two a welcome basket full of freshly baked muffins when you moved in and then promised to bring you the cookies that she always made and gave to people in the building during the holidays.

You didn’t do either of those things though. Your mouth felt too stuck in a straight line to even think about smiling. Therefore, you instead disregarded everything Steve had said since he’d entered the apartment and mumbled, “Why are guys such idiots?”

He placed a hand over his heart as if he’d just been wounded. “Ouch.”

You pulled the hood off your head and then propped yourself up by your elbows to finally look at him. “Obviously, you’re the exception.” You then thought about your words for a brief moment. “Well, sometimes.”

“Double ouch,” He said. “But yes, guys are idiots. Which one are you talking about, in particular? Charlie?”

You sighed and looked away. “Sadly.”

“He’s lasted longer than I expected,” Steve told you. He fully thought that the crush you had on this guy from your early morning Statistics class wouldn’t stem past a few weeks.

“At this point, I wish I didn’t like him anymore,” You responded and then looked at Steve again, a small amused smile gracing your lips as you thought of something. “Any hot people come into Family Video lately?”

Steve simply laughed and shook his head at you.

It was almost too easy for you to develop a crush on someone. So much so that many of them you wouldn’t even mention to Steve or your other friends because of how fast they’d come and go.

Most of the time, the inevitable abrupt ending of the crushes would leave you feeling something adjacent to heartbreak because most of the guys you’d ended up liking were, in fact, idiots, or you’d feel disappointment because your feelings never lived up to how they were at the beginning of the crush. But there was always still something about the idea of liking someone that was surprisingly fun to you. You wouldn’t necessarily call yourself a hopeless romantic, but it sometimes felt as if you were exactly that.

You finally sat up from the couch and moved close to Steve. “Okay, spare me the supportive best friend ‘we’ve known each other since we were ten and I only want the best for you’ spiel for a few moments and just answer a quick question for me, okay?”

Although he was completely confused and would’ve killed for more context, Steve nodded at your current antics. “Okay.”

“If we had just finished a really hard test, and you were worried about how you did on it, and I did this,” You grabbed his hand, linking it with yours and giving him the sweetest smile that was typically only reserved for when you were hardcore flirting with someone. “While saying ‘I’m sure you did great,’ you would understand that I have a massive crush on you, right?”

He glanced down at your intertwined hands for a brief moment before ultimately nodding. “Yeah. Yeah, I would.”

“Exactly,” You said as you dropped Steve’s hand and then slumped back against the couch. “So Charlie pulling away— no smile back or anything— and simply saying, ‘Thanks. You probably did good too,’ in response to that means either he can’t read my stupidly obvious flirting cues, or he’s not into me. And, honestly, I’m almost certain it’s the second one.” Suddenly you were hit with a fresh wave of sadness and you pulled the hood over your head once again. “Please put back on The Beatles and let me wallow in peace for the rest of the night. I promise I’ll be better by the morning.”

“I’d rather hear Harold running on his squeaky wheel all night than The Beatles on repeat,” He said and you actually perked up at the mention of the pet you two had gotten only a few months ago, barely a week after you’d fully moved into the apartment, the brown and white furry creature formally known as “Harold the Hamster.”

Currently, he was sleeping only a few feet away in his cage that sat on the coffee table. Somehow he managed to be completely unbothered by the music you’d been loudly playing.

“Okay, how about this,” Steve started. “Let’s order a pizza from that place close by. I’ll even suffer and let you put olives on it.”

You pushed the hood off your head again so that you could look at your best friend, only slightly intrigued by what he was saying. “Keep talking…”

“And then we’ll watch The Breakfast Club because you love it and you immediately rented it out from Family Video when we got it in,” He continued and you perked up even more at the mention of one of your favorite movies. “Which, by the way, is a copy that is weeks overdue and has probably racked up an insane amount of late fees at this point.”

You smiled at him. “Good thing I know someone who works there. And he would never let me pay any late fees.”

“Wow, he sounds like a great guy.”

You shrugged as you looked away from Steve. “Meh, he’s alright.”

He immediately poked your side, causing you to laugh loudly. “I’m gonna make you pay all of the late fees now.”

“That’s very evil,” You said with a shake of your head, but you were still laughing because you knew that he wasn’t being serious.

Steve ordered the pizza as you put the Breakfast Club tape in and then you both settled on the couch again. You had probably watched the movie five times since you rented it, but somehow you hadn’t grown tired of it yet. Instead, it managed to effectively take your mind off of Charlie and the entire situation with him, at least for the time being.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Steve may have been the one who worked at Family Video, but you knew that place so well it was almost as if you worked there too. His almost never-changing schedule was practically seared into your brain, and you knew the exact times the place was always busy and the moments when it was pretty much dead aside from a handful of random customers.

Somehow Fridays at noon were one of the store’s emptiest times.

Steve was standing behind the counter sorting through movies on a cart when you walked in.

“Hello,” You smiled at him. “I come bearing one not-at-all overdue copy of The Breakfast Club and very fun news.”

Steve was quick to smile back when he saw you, but it dropped when it seemed as if he remembered something. “Shouldn’t you be in your Psychology class right now?” Just like you knew his schedule like the back of your hand, he knew yours. “Your parents will find a way to blame me if you’ve dropped out of school, y’know.”

“My professor canceled last minute; her sister went into labor. So, don’t worry, you won’t be hearing any sort of lecture from my parents,” You answered as you dug in your bag for the movie.

Steve grabbed it from your outstretched hand and placed it on the cart before looking back at you. “What's your news?”

“Okay, so remember when we were ten and on that cruise, and you liked this random girl from New Jersey— Rebecca, I’m pretty sure her name was?” You said. “She was sixteen, completely unattainable, but I still tried to help you talk to her.”

That cruise was actually when you and Steve met. It was a very weird serendipitous kind of moment where your parents bumped into his at the buffet one of the first few days and found out that they not only lived in Indiana, but in a town that was two over from yours, and they even had a son that was the same age as you.

You had been somewhere sitting by the pool when this romcom-esque “meet cute” happened, but when your parents found you, they introduced you to Steve. Although at first, it felt like a friendship that was being forced upon you both, it was still nice to have someone other than your parents— actually, someone better than your parents— to hang out with on the ten-day trip.

You beat him countless times at air hockey at the arcade onboard and the two of you spent most of the nights successfully sneaking into the “club” that was only meant for kids fifteen and up— which was where his crush on Rebecca began and subsequently ended.

“Yes, I remember that, not my finest moment. But, I also don’t blame her, it probably would’ve been weirder if she wanted to flirt back to a ten-year-old,” Steve responded and then furrowed his eyebrows. “Wait, I’m confused, though. Is your news that you found her or something?”

You immediately shook your head at his question. “No, what I’m gonna say actually has nothing to do with that, but I wanted to remind you of how supportive I was of you during that time, and how supportive you should be of me right now with what I’m about to say.”

“I’ll always support you,” He didn’t hesitate to tell you. “Unless you’re pitching the matching tattoos idea again. And then, in that case, I guess our decade-long friendship will have to end here.”

“One day I’ll eventually convince you to do it; mark my words. And the tattoo will be one of those stupidly cringey ones where we each get a flower with the other person’s name blooming out of it.”

Steve did nothing but groan and shake his head at you, which only made you laugh.

“But, anyway, my actual news is that we’re having a party tonight,” You said and then continued before he could say anything in response just yet. “Kind of like a housewarming party. I realized that we never really had one.”

“We did have one.”

You shook your head and let out a sound that was a cross between a scoff and a laugh. “Robin and Eddie coming over on our first night and all of us smoking weed on the fire escape and then falling asleep on our mattresses in the living room because we didn’t have any furniture yet did not count as our housewarming party.”

Steve laughed a bit. “It was very fun, though.”

“It was great,” You agreed with a nod. “But, not an actual party, so that's why we're having one tonight.”

Steve only looked at you for a moment and you knew that he was trying to read you. He was the only person that you were certain could completely see through you— he could tell what you were feeling even when it was too hard for you to put those muddled thoughts into words, and he could see right through all of the bullshit you’d spew at times. Sometimes it annoyed you, but most times it felt nice to be so completely seen and understood.

It only took a second for things to seemingly click into place for him. “Is all of this about Charlie?”

“No,” You immediately answered, but you didn’t even sound convincing to yourself.

Of course, Steve didn’t believe you at all and he didn’t have to verbally say that for you to know, the unspoken words were clear in the deadpan look he gave you.

“Okay, fine. Yes, it is,” You said and then sighed as you leaned against the counter. “I saw him today and he said that he was planning to go to this party tonight and he wasn’t that excited about it, but it’s better than doing nothing on a Friday. And then for some insane reason, I blurted out that he should come to my party tonight instead. In hindsight, I probably should’ve immediately backtracked when I said that, but I didn’t and instead, this whole “housewarming party” plan was born.”

“Is there any way I can say no to this?” Steve asked and you quickly shook your head.

“Sorry, but no. Remember what happened on the cruise. Remember how I tried to be helpful with Rebecca,” You told him as you walked around so that you were behind the counter with him. You began sifting through the cart which was full of movies that people had just returned. “And honestly, I just wanna use this party as a last-ditch effort to see if he likes me, and if not then I’ll just make out with someone else at the party to get over him. So, actually, this is a win-win situation no matter what, and this party needs to happen.”

Steve only sighed in response at first, which made you look at him again. He then was quiet for a moment before ultimately nodding and plastering on the brightest and fakest smile you’d probably ever seen from him. “Okay, fine, let’s throw the best two months late housewarming party ever.”

You smiled back at him. “Thank you.”

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

There were a lot of things Steve wanted to tell you.

One of the main things being how even though he hadn’t met him yet, he knew that Charlie definitely didn’t deserve you basically throwing a whole party for him just for you to see if he liked you back. Also, how actually most of the guys you ended up crushing on didn’t deserve your attention for a second.

However, he knew that he couldn’t tell you any of that. Not when you’d been there through his ups and downs when it came to dating, and not when you were always supportive; even though a lot of the time it was easy to tell that you weren’t the biggest fan of the girls he went out with.

Early on in your friendship, it was unspokenly decided that bearing through each other’s plethora of shitty relationships just came with the territory of being best friends, and whenever things inevitably went downhill you’d both just be there for each other to pick up the metaphoric pieces.

However, that didn’t mean he couldn’t internally roll his eyes when about an hour into the party he finally did meet Charlie. It was a brief interaction where you introduced them when he entered the apartment and then Steve almost immediately walked away because he knew that you wanted to be alone with Charlie. Well, as “alone” as you two could be with a party that was in full swing around you.

Your shared apartment quickly became full of at least forty people. It was a mix of people from your classes, the small handful of people from high school that you still sometimes talked to, a bunch of people that Steve knew, and anyone else that Robin and Eddie also wanted to invite. For a party thrown together at the last possible second, you both had to admit that it was a pretty solid turnout.

And also for a party that Steve hadn’t really wanted to have in the first place, he was actually having a good time. He was playing a drinking game version of Uno with Robin and a few others circled around the coffee table; Harold’s cage was placed next to him on the couch for the time being.

After a second round in a row where Robin won— she was always crazy good at the game— Steve wanted to ask you to join because he knew how much you loved the game, even though you were very bad at it. He was even tipsy enough that he would’ve been fine with Charlie joining in as well.

He looked around, trying to find you, and it was something that should’ve happened in seconds. No matter what, it was always somehow easy to spot each other in any sort of crowded room— how effortless it always was almost felt equivalent to some weird kind of party trick. However, this time, Steve couldn’t find you.

At first, he thought that that meant that things were going well with Charlie, but when he eventually spotted him standing in the kitchen talking and smiling at a girl who was definitely not you, he had a feeling that things had probably gone the opposite.

“I’m gonna sit out this round,” Steve said to Robin as he got up from the couch.

The short walk to your bedroom was more difficult than expected because maneuvering through all of the people in the apartment proved to be a battle in itself. He ignored the sign on your door that said “Keep Out!” which you put up right before the party started to discourage people from going into your room and using it as a place to make out or have sex; Steve also had a sign on his door.

When he walked in, he didn’t see you on your bed or sitting at your desk, or even lying on the floor, so he headed to the door right next to your closet that led to your bathroom.

“Hey, you in there?”

Twenty minutes ago, when you went into your bathroom, you had initially thought that you didn’t want to talk to or see anyone— you wanted to wallow alone and in silence. But, it turned out that hearing Steve’s voice right then didn’t annoy you or make you upset. Instead, it was the exact voice you wanted to hear in that moment— because, of course, Steve never counted as just anyone.

You were sitting in your empty white tub. The cool porcelain felt nice against the exposed parts of your skin that the dress you were wearing didn’t cover, and you thought that the small confines of your bathroom would be the perfect place to spend the rest of your night; a night that had gone downhill almost too fast.

“Yes,” You mumbled, but it was loud enough for Steve to hear.

“Can I come in?”

You nodded even though he couldn’t see you. “Yes. But, please don’t turn on the light.”

“Okay.”

You heard the door open then close and then the sound of the shower curtain being pushed to the side caught your attention and you looked up at Steve.

“What happened?” He asked. Your eyes had long adjusted to the darkness so you could make out his face fairly well and you could see the concerned look on it.

“I don’t wanna lie and say nothing, but I also don’t really wanna talk about it right now.”

“That’s okay,” He said with a small nod. “Can I sit?”

You didn’t verbally answer and instead simply pulled your knees up to make room in the tub for him. He got in, pulling his knees up as well, and for a few moments, it was quiet. You could faintly hear the sound of music coming from the living room, but you couldn’t fully make out whatever vinyl Eddie decided to play on the record player.

“Someone gave us a plant,” Steve told you, breaking the silence. “Housewarming gift.”

“Oh, no,” You responded with a small sigh. You and Steve were probably the least “green thumb” people ever. “It’s gonna be dead in a week.”

“She said it’s a low-maintenance one so we’ll see how true that is,” He said as he shrugged. “Now that I’m thinking about it, though, is it weird that we can easily take care of a hamster, but a plant will barely last a week with us?”

You shook your head. “Harold provides us constant love and affection— even when he’s running on his squeaky wheel at three in the morning, it’s somehow still adorable— a plant does not do that. So, which one are we gonna remember to care for?”

“Very, very true.”

“At least one person gave us a gift, though,” You said. “Now that I’m remembering that we called this a housewarming party, I’m actually kinda upset that we didn’t get any more presents. Where’s our fancy plates and cookware, or even a nice throw blanket?”

You were only slightly joking with your statement, you would’ve actually loved getting a blanket.

Steve laughed a bit. “If that’s what you wanted then we should’ve invited our moms and their friends.”

“Fuck, we really should’ve done that when we moved in. Such a missed opportunity.”

“I fully think that if we did do that our apartment would look eerily similar to Miss Johnson’s,” Steve said and you could imagine it completely. Frilly white curtains in the living room instead of the black ones that were currently up that blocked out the sun perfectly, and flowery pillows on the gray couch instead of the sage green ones that you found on sale a few weeks ago.

You inwardly shuddered at the thought. “Okay, yes, that’s probably true, but at least we would be using nice plates and not the Mickey Mouse ones we got from that thrift shop.”

Steve jokingly gasped, offended. “I love those Mickey plates, actually.”

You couldn’t help but laugh at that. Just for a moment, it was nice to completely forget about what happened not even an hour ago and what led you to essentially hide away in your bathroom in the first place.

Things got quiet again and it was the kind of silence that you liked; the kind that made you feel completely comfortable with spending the rest of the night avoiding everything and staying right there in your tub with Steve, and you knew that he would’ve been okay with that too. Even though your bodies would’ve probably started aching after just thirty minutes of being in this position, and he was taller so it would be worse for him, he wouldn’t have complained.

You focused on the muffled sound of the music playing in the living room. This time you managed to make out the familiar beat of the song; Somebody to Love by Queen. You let out a sigh because that song playing right then somehow felt way too on the nose.

Steve reached over and lightly poked your knee. “You okay?”

You were so close to pushing the question away again, avoiding the topic and bringing up something else completely— maybe saying that you actually loved those damn Mickey Mouse plates too— but you actually didn’t feel like brushing the topic away anymore.

“He doesn’t like me,” You abruptly said, voice quiet. “I was tired of trying to read between lines and shit, so I just asked him, and he said no.”

You noticed the sad look cross Steve’s face, which only made a fresh wave of embarrassment and sadness wash over you, but you kept going before he could say anything just yet. “And then to make that whole moment even more embarrassing for me, after he said no he pointed at this girl— I don’t know her name, I think Robin invited her— and asked if I knew if she was single or not.”

Steve’s response of “What the fuck,” was immediate and it was really nice hearing how angry he was on your behalf and it made you smile a bit.

“This past hour has been extremely humbling for me. And I know I said I’d find someone to make out with if things didn’t work out with Charlie, but I’m not even in the mood to do that,” You told him as you leaned back against the cool tub and closed your eyes. “And you wanna know what the worst part of all of this is?”

“What?” “I’m not even drunk right now, so I’ll sadly remember all of this tomorrow.”

You weren’t entirely sure what you expected Steve to say in response to that, but you fully did not expect him to laugh. You opened your eyes and lightly kicked his leg. “Wow, thank you for laughing at my pain.”

“I’m sorry. I am a little drunk right now, so you saying that you’re not is kind of funny because it feels like the roles are reversed,” He said and you slightly hated how right he was. At any party you went to, he was usually the sober-ish one helping you out whenever you drank too much. “Robin and I were playing the Uno drinking game with some people.”

“What? I can’t believe I missed that.”

“We can go play it now. You’d honestly probably win for once since you’re the only one of us who isn’t drunk.”

“Ha ha,” You said with a roll of your eyes as you reached forward so that you could playfully hit him. “I know I’m the worst at that game, but it doesn’t make it any less fun.”

“Okay, come on, let’s go play,” Steve said before standing up, and then reaching his hands out toward you so that he could help you up.

He was trying to cheer you up, you could clearly see that, and you almost took him up on his suggestion. But, the thought of leaving your bathroom or even the comfort of the tub didn’t sit well with you. Mainly since you were unsure if Charlie was still out there and you didn’t want to see him or what he was doing because you knew you’d only feel embarrassed all over again. Yes, it was your apartment and you could’ve easily kicked him out if he was still there, but it felt so much easier to simply stay right where you were.

You looked up at Steve and shook your head. “I don’t really wanna play, actually.”

Steve sat back down with you. “Okay, I haven’t seen you this upset over a guy in a long time. What is it about Charlie? Why is he so special?”

It only took a second for an answer to come to your mind because it was something that you had actually been thinking about a lot lately but had yet to verbalize it.

“I don’t– I don’t even think it’s really about him specifically. It’s just, I’m so tired of having crushes— of liking a guy and it going absolutely nowhere… I want something real. It’s been what feels like forever, and the last time was with that guy whose name we will never say in this house. And we both know how that horrific relationship ended.” It was rare that you ever talked about that relationship anymore, so hearing you mention it right then— even in just a minor way— actually surprised Steve, it even surprised you a little bit. That relationship was something that went on from the end of your Sophomore year of high school to the middle of Junior year; close to a year of your life that you really wished you could get back because you put up with a lot of shit that you now knew you shouldn’t have.

“I want something good for once, and I thought that maybe I could have that with Charlie. I thought maybe he wasn’t an asshole. But, now I’m back at fucking square one, and it’s just so…” You trailed off with a sigh, not bothering to finish your statement.

“It’ll happen. You’ll find someone. Someone actually good,” Steve told you, his voice was soft and you could hear the sincerity behind his words.

You let out a sigh and leaned your head back against the wall. “Sometimes I hate talking about relationship stuff with you.”

“What? Why?” Steve asked. He sounded genuinely confused and for a second you felt bad because there wasn’t supposed to be anything you didn’t like talking about with him— you were best friends.

“Because you can get a date with any girl ever, and you could probably easily be in a committed, serious thing if you wanted to. Meanwhile, I’m getting rejected left and right or falling for complete idiots,” You answered, letting the words fall out and not really thinking about them too much because they just felt way too true. However, once they fully registered in your head, you could feel yourself inwardly cringing. “Ew. Oh, God, I sound pathetic. Please forget I said anything.”

“It’s not true,” Steve told you with an immediate shake of his head. You almost said “Which part?” but he continued before you could ask that question. “I go on dates, yeah. But, none of them are close to, or are even leading to, something real. Even if I wanted it to, the girls I date don’t want something real with me.”

You considered his words for a second. “Well, in that case, they’re idiots.”

“Charlie’s an idiot too.”

“Cheers to that,” You responded. “God, I wish I was drunk right now.”

Steve laughed at your words and then opened his mouth to say something. For some reason, you had a feeling that he was going to try and coax you out of the bathroom again, and you were still unsure if you wanted to get up just yet, so you decided to say something before he could. “Do you ever want something serious?”

He was quiet for a second, as if really thinking about your question. “I don’t know… It changes a lot.” You nodded at that before he continued. “Most of the time I think I do, though.”

“Well, with what you just said about the girls you date and with what happened to me tonight, I think you and I are just gonna be alone together forever.”

He let out a small laugh. “I think so too.”

You smiled at him. “And I know that should sound at least a little bit sad, but right now, it honestly doesn’t.”

He smiled back at you. “Yeah, that actually sounds okay.”

Neither of you got the chance to say anything else because the sound of the door opening caught both of your attention.

“Okay, two things,” You both recognized Robin’s voice before she pulled back the curtain to look down at you two. “One, I really need to pee so I need you both to get out of here, please. And two, Eddie pulled Harold out of his cage and is trying to teach him to do tricks.”

You groaned as you started standing up. “Oh, God. Not again.”

Steve followed suit, standing up as well, as he rolled his eyes. “Why is that always his go-to thing to do when he’s high?”

Robin laughed, you easily noticed how tipsy she was. “And what makes it even funnier is that he does this all the time but Harold has not actually learned any “trick” yet.”

“The day that Eddie somehow teaches him how to “roll over,” I will pass away in shock,” You said as you adjusted your dress, fixing how much it had ridden up while you were sitting in the tub.

You and Steve stepped out of your bathroom to let Robin use it. But, you hesitated to open your bedroom door and let you two step back into the party happening in the rest of the apartment.

Steve easily noticed your hesitation and his hand found yours, giving it a light reassuring squeeze. “You handle Eddie, and if Charlie is still here, I’ll tell him to leave, okay?”

You inwardly sighed in relief hearing him say that because, of course, he knew the exact thing you had been worried about.

“Thanks.” There was so much more said in the simple one-word— thank you for reading my mind, thank you for always being able to do so, thank you for being the best goddamn person in my life.

Steve nodded and gave your hand another squeeze, hearing all of those underlying words and then some. “I have been waiting all night to do this, actually, so thank you. And we’re playing the Uno drinking game after.”

You smiled at that and gave him a quick nod. “Okay.”

You then opened your door and stepped out, giving Steve’s hand a squeeze of your own before pulling away as you started making your way toward Eddie, who was sitting on the couch with Harold in his lap. You pretended as if you were completely unaffected when you briefly noticed Charlie standing in your kitchen and talking to the same girl he had pointed out to you earlier.

“Edward Munson put Harold back in his cage right now.”

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

let me know ur thoughts<333

(also requests are open for stuff you wanna see in the universe/series!🫶🏾)

#steve harrington x reader #steve harrington fic #steve harrington fluff #steve harrington smut #steve harrington x you #steve harrington imagine #steve harrington x fem!reader #stranger things fluff #steve harrington #steve harrington fanfiction #stranger things fic #stranger things imagine

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ivys-garden · 7 months ago

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Life Series Session Recap and Alliance Analysis

Pearl opens her episode clarifying she and Impulse did nothing wrong. Finally I don't have to write “get over double life, tumblr” every week.

Yes, another Saturday means another instalment of the Life Series. This session was far more chill and slow paced than last weeks, ironic considering that this week's Wild Card was a perpetual speed increase! Going from a complete time freeze to full hyperspeed. Naturally, this led to about a 7.5 on the madness scale, so let's see what those teams were up to.

The Final Girls - (Scott, Cleo, Pearl, Impulse & Bigb (not anymore ;3 ))

On the topic of Pearl and Impulse, Cleo decides that they will fully enable all of they're future actions. Yes, she might sigh when they talk about all the evil stuff they're going to do, but she's fully on board.

Right about now Scott is probably regretting being team mum for three chaos gremlins as he's already had to instruct them not to give Gem any more reasons to kill them & had to break up the fight that was issued once they all went Matrix mode.

Speaking of Gem & Joel, a new development in the great drama sees Impulse explain himself and apologise to Gem. She doesn't buy it but it's the thought that counts. During this apology Pearl, the attack dog, is ordered by Gem and Impulse to slaughter grian. So while Cleo and Scott go off to make friends, Impulse and Pearl pop over to Rens for some very serious murder discussion, with an eventual “let's murder Grian” party forming consisting of Pearl, Impulse, Ren, Martyn, Bigb, Scar & Jimmy. If even a fraction of these people stick to this next session Grian is pretty firmly doomed.

In other news Scott manages to make allies with the Bamboozelers through several means, including staring at Jimmy's ass. Cleo & Impulse have a little caving adventure and Impy manages to make a working Creeper farm that they may or may not be sharing with Renwood. This leaves Pearl once again building the tower, which is good since she has arguably to much experience in that

While building the tower we get more Drama! Grian and Mumbo managed to get a quick kill on Scott early on the session by digging a big pit under the tower and spleefing him in. Mumbo and Skizz later come back to this trap only to be discovered by Pearl. The Suits try to get her to lure Scott over, but Pearl is far to loyal for that…. But not loyal enough to kick them out, reasoning that it would be really funny if it happened twice. On top of this she negotiated the ability to kill grian without them stepping in, very useful given her current plans & the second spleefing doesn't work anyways, so no harm no foul.

No one would actually agree to luring their team to their Death intentionally… right Bigb?

I'd say I'm surprised, but I'm not. He's worked again every team he's been in except Nosey Neighbours. I guess the “B” must stand for “Betrayal”

Bigb pulls the same thing Pearl did only not under the pretence of a joke, when Grian is around to actually make sure his team gets the kill, actually agreeing to lure Scott and doing it INFRONT OF CLEO. This being the second time this has helped to them, Cleo immediately goes off to find Scott to warn him about the traitor…Scott still falls into the trap anyway but that was a skill issue on his part. Bigb actually tries later to gaslight Scott into thinking that he didn't mean to betray the team, which almost worked until he started saying Cleo was the traitor, which obviously Scott would never buy. Oh he also did this in earshot of Cleo so she set her attack dog (Pearl) on him.

Bigb also later betrays the “Let's Kill Grian Gang” and warns Grian about the plan to murderficate him. I guess someone hasn't gotten over Double Life after all.

The Fast And The Furious - (Joel & Gem)

Actually, the fast and the paranoid might be more accurate as while Joel is just off having a grand old time prattling speed bridging, Gem is terrified that everyone is out to get her and doesn't seem to understand that putting your base on the main path means more people will come visit.

Aside from sending everyone they can to kill Grian and disregarding Impulses genuine apology, the team due doesn't really do much themselves

Gem was officially the last person to lose a life though, with no less than 4 people, including 2 greens, having to help kill her.

Also Joel added racing stripes to the car and… it actually made it a lot less hideous, well done Joel.

The Bamboozelers - (Jimmy, Scar & Lizzie)

Jimmy has regained the title as most confident member of this team…scarily confident in fact, just this session he was able to steal a potential kill from Skizz & kill his teammates, get another good kill on Joel using Lizzie as bait, managing to turn his relationship with Joel around to become allies and reaffirming his alliance with Renwood. Honesty 100 IQ plays from Tim all around.

He did die once this session, but that wasn't his fault and was also incredibly funny to watch Martyn bimbo his way through traps made for Bigb and accidentally kill Timmy. Great job everyone.

Speaking of failed traps… oh Scar… he started of strong, absolutely annihilating Etho in slow motion and living up to the villain he shares a name with by tossing him off a cliff, but after that every single attempt to trap someone fails miserably and he's forced into a cheap kill on Grian that results in him calling for vengeance… wouldn't be to worried about that tho considering Skizz and Mumbo's track record.

The Spanners - (Mumbo, Skizz & Grian)

How are these idiots not dead yet.

They get one (1) successful kill this session, spleefin’ Scott. A trap Mumbo tries his luck with several times after this despite knowing the Final Girls already knew about it.

Skizz gets no kills despite Grians efforts. An attempt to build a super TNT minecart launcher is made… on Scars mountain… and Grian spends several.minutes explaining to his worst enemies how the trap works… and then he and Mumbo stand directly under where they know the TNT will land. Yeah obviously Jimmy sneaks in and pulls the lever to kill them.

A second attempt to launch TNT is made, but this launcher is pathetic and ends up being turned into a party game. oh, and then Grian gets hotguyed by Scar. Grian immediately screams vengeance and blows up the reputation board, ranting about how little it meant since he was in good favour… which only proved he never read the damn thing but it's the thought that counts.

In their last hoorah for this session the team goes on a proper hunt The Bamboozelers as they hide in Joel's car. Mumbo sneaks up to pure lava on them… and burns himself to death. He then tries to hypersonic pvp Gem and you can guess how that went. He then joins in trapping Gwm in a big hole and burning her, only for the kill to go to Ren anyway.

These guys are Doomed. Especially because Final Girls & The Family are allied with Scar & The fact that Renwood actively wants to murder them.

Predictions: Grian goes Yellow next session, Mumbo goes out-out and Skizz is somehow still Red.

Renwood - (Ren & Martyn)

We actually covered everything these guys did already, The Grian Murder Crew, Martyn being a trap bimbo, Ren allying with Impulse to make up for beheading him, really the only thing we haven't discussed is Martyns strange choice to make the first 5 minutes of his episode unlistenable

The Tuff Guys - (Etho, Tango & Bdubs

Etho finally admits they're the comic relief. Like any good comic relief, these three stooges spend the entire session failing at everything. Tango fails on the same trap 3 times. Bdubs almost kills himself in said trap. There's more fights and bickerings than you could count on 15 hands and a toe

Oh also Tango also perma-died to Pearl after going invis and being pumped full of arrows.

Honestly it's not a question of if someone dies next session, it's a question of who.

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kiame-sama · 5 months ago

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Humans Are Extinct TWST Yandere AU Masterlist pt 2

Links to my various HAE stuff, some mobile devices do not show the links properly.

Warnings: Yandere Twisted Wonderland AU, Minors Do Not Interact, Monster Twisted Wonderland AU, Fics and Head Canons, Links,

Link to pt 1:

Link to pt 3:

Group Headcanons: - Hoof Care (Riddle, Trey, Silver) - Rile the Dogs (Jack, Ruggie, Sebek) - Can Ace and Deuce Share? - Plucking (Vil, Neige, Crowley, Ambrose) - Waterproof? (Sebek, Vil, Crowley, Jack, Ruggie) - Dry Heaving (Ruggie, Sebek, Jack) - Divus is Parental Over Human (The Hoard, Malleus, Divus) - Vil vs Lilia - Introducing The Human to Trottr (Idia, Azul, Erikir, Lilia)

NSFW Group Head Canons: - General Anatomy? NSFW - Accidental 'Excitement' Centaurs NSFW - Human-Fuckers pt 1 NSFW - Human-Fuckers pt 2 NSFW - Centaur Logistics NSFW - More Logistics NSFW - First Horizontal Tango w/ Human NSFW - Walk in on The Human NSFW Pt 1 (Riddle, Leona, Jamil, Rook, Idia, Malleus) - Walk in on The Human NSFW Pt 2 (Vil, Lilia, Sebek, Jade) - Human Wants to Lose their Virginity - Monster Response to Tail Being Grabbed (Mix of SFW/NSFW) - Intimacy and the -taur (Cervitaur, Centaur, ect) - Monsters and Hookup Culture - Oral - Feeding Kink

General Head Canons (Including how the character looks in the AU) - Part 1 (Riddle, Silver, Grim) - Part 2 (Rook, Vil, Leona) - Part 3 (Ortho (Platonic), Ruggie, Lilia) - Part 4 (Riddle, Leona, Ruggie, Vil, Rook, Grim (Platonic), Ortho (Platonic), Idia, Silver, Lilia) - Part 5* (Malleus, Papa Hades, Riddle*, Azul, Jamil, Epel, Trey)

Individual Head Cannons Ace Trappola: #Hae Ace -

Deuce Spade: #Hae Deuce -

Cater Diamond: #Hae Cater - Cater Headcanons - Cater and Poachers - Cater Using Split Card (NSFW) - Will Cater Forgive Himself?

Trey Clover: #Hae Trey - Kelpies and Humans?

Riddle Rosehearts: #Hae Riddle - Riddle's Star HCs - Does he regret telling others MCs status as a virgin? - How do Unicorns Sense Virginity? - Riddle's Weapon* - Flowers - Riddle's Mane - Riddle and Swimming

Che'nya Pinker: #Hae Che'nya - General Heacanons - Bathing - Toe Beans - Territorial Grim - Kitsune vs Bakeneko Roots

Jack Howl: #Hae Jack - General Head Canons - Floofy Jack

Ruggie Bucchi: #Hae Ruggie - What is a Gnoll? - Ruggie and Human Food - Feed the Gnoll - Ruggie is a Gnoll - Grammy? - Cackle Ranking - Kiss on the Nose

Leona Kingscholar: #Hae Leona - Biting Him (NSFW)

Floyd and Jade Leech: #Hae Jade #Hae Floyd - General Head Canon (Jade) - General Head Canon (Floyd and Jade) - Hearts? (Jade and Floyd) - Cuddle Autistic Human (Floyd) - Mushrooms and Jade - Would they Gather Scales for The Human? - Floyd Finds The Human Hiding in Rook's Shed

Azul Ashengrotto: #Hae Azul - Is Azul Venomous? - Insecure - The Human Bites Azul (NSFW) - How Does Azul's Poison Work? - Azul Feeding His Tentacles to The Human pt 1 - Azul Feeding His Tentacles to The Human pt 2

Jamil Viper: #Hae Jamil - Coil Jail - Freeing Jamil - Human Proposes

Kalim Al-Asim: #Hae Kalim - General Headcanons - Wish on Kalim? (+ 2 other Questions) - Kalim's Wishes - Kalim's Lamp - Kill Count - Genie Reproduction - Destroy Lamp - To Kill A Genie - Kalim's Designs - Kalim and NRC - Genies and Food - Genies and Lamps - Time Inside The Lamp - Calm Kalim

Epel Felmier: #Hae Epel - Tree Nymph? - Epel Loses a Limb

Rook Hunt: #Hae Rook - Rook and Small Spaces (Partly NSFW) - Rook's Pupils (NSFW) - Rook Makes Clothes (NSFW) - The Most Dangerous Game HCs - Rook and Human Mimic - Rook and Napping Human - How Does Intimacy w/Rook Work? (NSFW) - Rook Shedding His Exoskeleton - Hiding In Rook's Shed pt 1 - Hiding In Rook's Shed pt 2

#kiame-sama #yandere #tw yandere #humans are extinct twst au #hae masterlist

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midnight1nk · 3 months ago

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Say, since SMG3 and 4 are ''cosmically linked'', do you think what happens to SMG4 impacting 3 or something like that? 👀

(Also I can't wait seven days either it's too long I'm worried ToT)

[SPOILER WARNING FOR THE HITMAN ARC] ...I think

Well, it doesn't have to be related to this arc, but I might mention some stuff soooo *finger guns*

Anyway, we kinda got a scene of their connection coming to play in "SMG4, Are You OK?", when 3 was able to sense 4 (and I quote) "damaging himself online" with his mind, and 3 came to come and help his guardian power. (Plus, if you consider the Genesis arc where they were both affected by their avatar Mario.)

So I imagine there is a certain line of pain/damage that one of them has to reach, and crossing it would alert their partner by projecting the pain in the same area on a smaller scale. This would include physical and psychological pain.

Back at the first example with 4. Maybe 3 experienced a tingle on his head. Just a bit, but enough to know something's wrong with 4.

The vibes were off, so to speak /hj

In the recent episode, 4 was slammed to the wall and fell unconscious. (Do we count the burns?) 3 probably got mild back pain or something. It'd be really funny if it did happen and 3 was like "this is what I get for sitting like this for 5 hours straight". and then we'll be losing it when 3 sees what it actually meant srry what anyway

I can't wait until next week! ....can it be like tomorrow please?

thanks for the ask!

#I NEED TO KNOW IF MY BOY IS OKAY #smg4 #smg4 smg3 #smg4 spoilers #<- gonna put the tag just in case #ink answers #can't believe the Team added the soulmates troupe in the show /silly #(and hey. soulmates can be platonic and/or romantic)

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skykind · 11 months ago

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A Clone Wars Episode Deep Dive

I didn't discover The Clone Wars fandom until 2021 and only started watching the show in mid-2023 (finished a few months ago), and I want to discuss and analyze all sorts of odds and ends—years after most people watched. This includes cool stuff in episodes I think some fans understandably skip when doing re-watches and therefore no longer remember well, but I’m digging into one of them anyway. So, have a long post about S2:E11, "Lightsaber Lost," and then come talk to me about it if you’d like!

This episode is saying three things at once, and the closer you get to the symbolic message meant for mostly adult audiences, the wilder things get.

The literal plot: Ahsoka’s lightsaber is stolen, and she recovers it with the help of a Jedi elder who teaches her life lessons along the way.

The morality tale for young viewers: gun control (a bold choice).

An eerie interlude for older viewers: A pair of brief scenes—only 45 seconds or so in length combined—communicate the future purge of the Jedi order via symbolic visual storytelling and a speech that’s being broadcast in the background. No dialogue required.

I'm going to focus on this third bullet point, but I also recommend a re-watch for the gun control angle. (Hint: if you think the writers are only arguing for handling guns responsibly, you haven’t taken the Jedi’s current context into account; also, the writers aren't referring to literal in-universe guns—Ahsoka’s lightsaber is the gun.)

Back to the episode’s message for older viewers: Split over two scenes, the audience watches Ahsoka chase a bounty hunter in possession of her lightsaber, then the bounty hunter partially damage and destabilize an enormous levitating billboard so she can get away from Ahsoka, and finally Ahsoka tumble down and precariously cling to the billboard’s screen. The billboard shows Palpatine delivering a—likely prerecorded—speech that is meant to sound supportive of the Jedi, but is instead priming Coruscant residents to believe anti-Jedi rhetoric; just before this two-scene sequence ends, Palpatine also begins to explain why he needs more executive power in order to support the Jedi.

It's great to pinpoint an example of Palatine's propaganda, but what does the visual storytelling communicate, with this speech for a backdrop?

Note: the text of Palpatine’s speech, shown in captions in the following screenshots, is not in alt text as that would chop the speech up between image descriptions, and is instead in a single paragraph after the final screenshot.

Palpatine's Speech

"I have no doubt that the Jedi are doing their very best to ensure the safety of every citizen in the Republic. The accusations that the Jedi created the Clone War to give themselves more power over the government is absurd and I will not stand for it."

Ahsoka as Symbolically at Palpatine's Mercy

After a scene break, Palatine's speech picks up mid-sentence and we see just how small and vulnerable Ahsoka is compared to Palpatine's soaring and vast projection. She appears entirely at his mercy, and somewhat at the mercy of Coruscant as well.

Palpatine's Speech, Resumed

"…Count Dooku and his droid army. To support the Jedi's efforts in the war, I ask the Senate to pass these new laws, giving more jurisdiction…"

The Genocide to Come

As this speech is broadcast to Coruscant, the seemingly trustworthy and dependable Chancellor of the Republic symbolically collapses beneath Ahsoka and leaves her stranded over a chasm. All while Palpatine spreads propaganda that will eventually convince the public to support her people's genocide.

Perhaps the best way to describe this is:

An unarmed Ahsoka struggles to hang onto the edge of a high precipice, that precipice is a symbol for Palpatine—and in a few years, Palpatine will shove the entire Jedi order off the edge of a much higher cliff.

Given how the sheer visual scale of Palpatine in this second scene represents the power he can wield over the Jedi—as the staging emphasizes Ahsoka's relative smallness and her physical vulnerability—it's clear the Jedi will not be able to rescue themselves when this future betrayal comes; Palpatine has amassed too much power and put too many plans in place. And no one who's bought into Palpatine's propaganda will try to catch the Jedi when they go over the edge.

Ahsoka’s Survival

Ahsoka’s individual survival of Order 66 is signaled here by her ability to get off the levitating billboard, but nothing about the staging suggests this comes down to unique skill—any number of well-trained Jedi could have gotten out of her predicament when the right opportunity (a single speeder that veers out of its lane and passes unusually close to the screen) presented itself.

In both “Lightsaber Lost” and "Victory and Death" (S7:E12, see below), her survival involves flinging herself through open air (and into an out-of-place flying vehicle), a nice nod to Ahsoka’s association with flight and Morai, though I feel like that’s a coincidence (?) as of season 2. Or maybe not. I have no idea if Ahsoka’s symbolic associations—flight in the case of “Lightsaber Lost,” rather than Morai specifically—were planned out in advance.

What About the Propaganda?

Returning to season 2, we come to the final big-picture takeaway of the "Lightsaber Lost" scenes: I’ve referred to Palpatine’s speech as something that plays in the background because Ahsoka doesn’t pay attention to his propaganda, even though it’s literally in her face. What does this mean if we treat Ahsoka as a stand-in for the Jedi, and Palpatine’s speech as a stand-in for his growing threat to the Jedi? In these scenes, Ahsoka first doesn’t pay attention because she’s trying to stay alive in precarious circumstances, just as Jedi across the galaxy are kept distracted from the big picture by trying to keep themselves, their Padawans, their troops, and civilians alive as war swallows up the galaxy. Then, Ahsoka is distracted by tracking the bounty hunter who has her lightsaber; in the context of this episode (which asks, ‘who should be allowed to use a lightsaber, and when?’), Ahsoka’s lightsaber also comes to represent Jedi’s efforts to fight the Clone Wars as ethically as possible. It presumably takes more time and effort to fight a war when you’re concerned with morals, at least when the opposition is perfectly happy to commit war crimes. By tossing the Jedi into a war, Palpatine keeps them too busy to systemically search for the Master Sith (in addition to Sith stuff diminishing the Jedi’s ability to use the force), as their time is eaten up by upholding the equivalent of the Geneva and Hague Conventions (etc.) when almost no one else is, by protecting as many other lives as possible, and by staying alive.

And The Clone Wars communicates all of this in a minute! Though I’ll admit my final point about Ahsoka’s lightsaber representing ethical combat is a stretch. I love it when TV shows and movies make full use of visual storytelling, and The Clone Wars is fabulous at it.

Whew—and that’s that! I’m grateful if even a single person has read this far and would love to know what you think, but regardless, I had fun analyzing this episode and organizing my thoughts about it. Cheers to the Clone Wars fandom.

#ahsoka tano #ahsoka #the clone wars #star wars #jedi #order 66 #sheev palpatine #star wars meta #beloved jedi #skykind meta

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violetjedisylveon · 1 month ago

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Rotten Fruit Character Profiles - Sun Yuebei-Xing

The first child between Xiuying and Qiuyue, Yuebei-Xing is the oldest of her (currently five) full siblings. Qiuyue carried her and her twin, Luzhen.

^ Yuebei's adult fur color

Sexuality:

Lesbian

Personality:

She has a big personality, she's a big, loud, passionate person who feels strongly and intensely.

A bit stubborn and headstrong, her first impression of someone is the one she'll stick with, she's judgemental, blunt and sometimes very rash, it makes her a little difficult to get along with the people who don't get her.

She doesn't like super drastic change, she wants things to stay stable due to the instability of her childhood, very common for LEMs. She's gotten better but she still doesn't take new things very well.

She's still really attached to her big sister, she's less jealous about it now, at least with her siblings, she gives Mei dirty looks whenever she keeps Chao-Xing out too long, or gets too “handsy” with her.

She doesn't like anyone who might take her sister away from her, she doesn't know why, she just wants her sister to stay. It stems from an incident when she was 3, someone spotted a little 7 y/o Chao-Xing without her headscarf and bad stuff happened including a nearly successful kidnapping and the whole family having to move cities again.

She loves all her siblings, as the second oldest daughter for a while she also takes on some of the responsibilities that Chao-Xing does, but she doesn't have nearly as much of it.

She's incredibly trustworthy, you tell her a secret and it's staying secret, she's too big and intimidating for most people to risk seriously questioning her.

Lots of people tend to be intimidated by her size. She doesn't like that people are scared of her without even trying to know her, though it's useful for intimidating people threatening her family.

Her favorite thing is dancing, and she's really good at it too. She does fan and ribbon dancing, and gladly helps her baby sisters with dance practice.

She has six ears, a little uncommon since both her parents have four ears but it still happens sometimes, and she really likes them, yeah they bring her trouble, but it's something she shares with her big sister.

She's very supportive of Luzhen, she always has been, they can always count on each other to be in their corner.

Likes:

Dancing

Having six ears like her jiě jie!

Her big sister

Her brother's cooking

Cats

People not being scared of her

Her siblings

Swimming

Baking with Chao-Xing & Luzhen(it's their sibling bonding activity)

Gossiping about ghost drama with Bai He and Wei-Chen.

Dislikes:

Her sister being taken from her

Xiangliu

LBD

Bananas, they almost killed her jiě jie

Getting kidnapped

Chao-Xing’s “contract”

People picking on her siblings, especially Luzhen

Her family being hurt or targeted

Her poor future hearing

Instability

Mei

Hobbies:

Fan dancing

Ribbon dancing

Dance practice with her siblings

Being a jungle gym for her little siblings

Goals:

Find and talk to her o’pa’s parents(they're dead)

Compete in local dance tournaments

Closest/Favorite sibling:

Chao-Xing, hands down, no competition, this girl loves her big sis

Closest/Favorite parent:

Qiuyue, she's a Mama's girl

Favorite fruit:

Rambutan

Trauma scale:

On a scale of 1-10, how traumatized is she?

7, girl got kidnapped, her o’pa nearly died and she was nearly trafficked, and then she's regularly held hostage by the guy who caused all it.

Yuebei is very big for a monkey demon, she's the largest in the family by far, she's nearly six feet tall, and monkey demons are 4-5 feet. She's the favorite sibling to play with cause she's so big and strong, the little kiddos love being tossed around by her.

Monkey demons grow thicker fur for winter and shed it in spring, cubs start to slowly darken after having their first spring shed at around 3, it's a very slow shift, and they don't have their adult fur, and are therefore considered officially of age and mature until they are around 35-36. Yuebei is 34 here so just a shed or two away from being at her adult colors.

Previous (Bai He)

Next (Luzhen)

Rotten Fruit AU Masterpost

@sakurablossoms-world

#lego monkie kid #lmk #Rotten Fruit AU #yuebei xing #Lmk Yuebei Xing #lmk fankid #lmk ocs #lmk oc lore #lmk oc art #lmk fanart #lmk art #monkie kid #lmk au #lmk aus #lmk au art #VJS Art:P #VJS OCs:P #VJS AU:P #VJS

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ryuzakemo128 · 1 month ago

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Bunny Girls

Pairing: Kyle 'Gaz' Garrick x Giant! Bunny-Hybrid! Female Reader

Content Warnings: Swearing & cussing, female reader is mean and traumatised, smut implied, cheating? Maybe. Affair? More likely than you might think. Infidelity, Absolute. Gaz isn't nice in this one. You're not going to like him. For that, I am sorry for the gaz lovers out there.

Note: Before you read this. I can't in my good nature let you go without warning you. This particular Female reader is described in this as tall, giant, and I am going to describe her chest to be bigger than the norm. (For this one, think DDD and beyond for scale). And this female reader isn't going to be nice, neat, soft, or delicate. If you don't like that, I would prefer it if you didn't read it.

Word Count: 1547

Summary: Perhaps it would have been better this way.

You were always mocked. Made fun of. You were always bullied and yelled at. Called names for how you acted. For how you looked. For things that you didn’t have any control over.

You never felt deserving of the love and care of a partner, you see everyone else having the privilege of getting.

When it did happen. You gave him your everything. But he never touched you. He never gave you the same affection he was willing to give every other bunny girl, now was he? No. No he wasn’t.

Your everything wasn’t enough. Your everything wasn’t even wanted either.

It didn’t matter anymore. You couldn’t take more hurt than he had been giving you already. Perhaps this is the time to cut things short with him. To start over again somewhere else.

Perhaps it would have been better this way. You were defective, and you were always going to be replaced by someone far more beautiful in the end, right? That's what you've been telling yourself lately.

Better to expect the worst than to hope for the best and to be disappointed by it all.

“I want to break up, clearly you’re not happy here,” you told Kyle, folding your arms across your chest. “And no, I know who she is. I don’t care to keep you around anymore.” You weren’t going to play around like you didn’t know.

You didn't wait for his answer, and you pulled on your leather jacket. You weren’t waiting for excuses, your skin is too thick to put up with ample amount of bullshit excuses.

‘If you don’t want me? I’ll find someone who will, understand?’ is written in a cursive that matched his own on the ‘letter’ you found mailed to him. This time, the same cursive is written on a note in the middle of the kitchen island.

‘I knew what you did and don’t try to hide it. Or I will tell everyone what you did to me. I have nothing to lose, and I am fully capable of ruining everything you've got.’ You were pretty tolerant, all things considered. You were kind and gentle because you knew how to treat people with kindness. If you knew this is what you were going to get in return. Maybe you wouldn’t have pursued a relationship with this man.

But that’s the thing, right? Hindsight is 20/20, and hearts break all the time. What is just one more amongst the hundreds already? A drop in the ocean. Meaningless.

You didn’t wait for what he always said, ‘She didn’t mean anything’. Bullshit. It was always them. He would pick the normal bunny girls over you. He always will. That’s the nature of men like him.

“If you preferred them, maybe you should have gone over them instead of me,” you texted him. A big mistake on your part. But you weren’t thinking straight, and you weren’t going to let him squeal this to his precious captain with lies about any of this, regardless of what happens next.

“There isn’t anything you can say to excuse this level of audacity. You used me to get to them. Unforgivable,” you added in before he could respond to your previous text. “For once in your life, save your bullshit tactics and tell me the fucking truth.”

“I want you gone before I get back home. Stuff included.” This part of the text is the icing on top. You weren’t giving him an inch.

“Your parents are rich enough. They’ll get you a new place with a maid you can fuck the shit out of. You’ll be better off there,” you added again.

Your apartment is empty. But at least he wasn’t there anymore. Thank goodness for that, right? You sighed deeply in the large amount of relief that you didn’t have to share an apartment with someone you had been betrayed by.

A month flies by, and you are still alone. Redecorating your space to fill the gaps he left behind.

When he saw you again? He had the acuity to look surprised. His friend? Soap or whatever his name was. He had the decency to look away from you at least. You moved past the two of them, pretending they weren’t even there as you sat down in your favourite booth away from the crowded areas of the pub.

You ignored them the same way he ignored all your affections. The same way he treated you. Fair is fair. And you’re all about being fair. You were all about dishing out the same thing he served you. What harm could there be in downloading a dating app?

It wasn’t like you were seeing anyone right now, right? It wasn’t like you were aiming to meet your ‘happy ever after’ on there. Not only that, but it’s just a great way to pass the time until you meet someone who wants you for the person you are.

After two whiskey sours, you started making a profile for yourself, your photos were all of you from the neck down. None of the pictures you decided to put on there had your face in them. Just like you wanted it to.

Before anyone could say it, you knew you didn’t technically need to be with someone. You wanted to be with someone. You knew the difference between needing something and wanting something. Knowing it like the back of your hand.

Meanwhile, as you were setting up your dating profile for the dating app you just downloaded, you forgot the people you were ignoring were still there and whispering in hushed tones near the window of the musky pub. You didn’t think too much of it. It was a Friday night. It was bound to get rowdy.

Gaz sees the dating profile on the dating app he used to find the women he cheated on you with. He didn’t expect you to take this leap so soon. He flicked through the pictures you had meticulously chosen to hide your face from the people who would recognise you. The same tactic he used.

He read through your dating profile, ‘Willing to have children with the right one’, ‘Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering and working towards PHD’, ‘I prefer red & black lingerie over white’, ‘My favourite food is Shredded Chicken, Spinach & Ricotta cheese lasagna’. Honesty is my policy.’.

You were still adding extra things to your profile too, by the look of things, because every five minutes he’d refresh your profile to see updated information like, ‘Smokes occasionally and drinks moderate amounts’ too now.

You even changed out one of your pictures to one with the recent lingerie you bought with your paycheck. Matching collar and everything. The set didn’t hide any of your curves or your giant bunny tail. It showed off your thick thighs, your luscious arse, your chest and this? This is the moment when you decided you weren’t going to hide it anymore.

You were keen on making sure Gaz regretted every single moment he laid his eyes on someone other than you. The thought alone of doing such a thing brought a twisted smile to your lips.

You weren’t sure what got over you, but in the heat of the moment, you asked out his friend, Simon Riley, on a date. Through text.

Someone else would have taken the high road and chosen someone else. But you weren’t someone else, were you? No.

You were a bunny hybrid with a heart full of spite and a vendetta burning hotter than the sun.

The thought of a date with Simon made you giddy with excitement, so much so that your leg did a thump. Your face heated up as you checked if anyone heard it.

“Looks like Simon's got a date this weekend,” Soap told Gaz as he read the text from Simon saying he’s got a date that weekend, and he couldn’t go out drinking this weekend. “I wonder whose it is with.”

“And before you ask. I asked him who it was with. He wouldn’t budge on the ‘who’ part. And yes, I begged him to tell me.” Soap added in.

“Whoever it is, they’ve got Simon excited,” Soap muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. “And Simon isn’t one to get excited about anything.”

Gaz’s heart started sinking to his stomach. Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no. Who could it be? He had to know. He couldn’t let Simon, of all people, take what he still considers to be his.

He couldn’t let him take what he carelessly threw away. No. He felt the jealousy burn within him. Even thought he had no right to have any claim over you after all the bullshit he put you through.

He waited until you were six whiskey sours deep and ready to call a cab to get home. He couldn’t even begin panicking until you weren’t within his or your eyesight. It would be foolish to let you see him undone by you. He knew one thing. He needed to win you back at any cost.

Thus. He waited. Until you were in the cab and slurring your address to the cab driver.

This is the moment where he and Soap hatched a devious plan to get you back to Gaz.

@saradika-graphicsb | credit for the dividers used in this.

#Cheater!Kyle Gaz Garrick #Cheater! Kyle Gaz #Cheater! Kyle Garrick #Kyle 'Gaz' Garrick x Giant! Bunny-Hybrid! Female Reader #Kyle 'Gaz' Garrick x Giant! Bunny-Hybrid! Fem! Reader #Kyle 'Gaz' Garrick x Giant! Bunny-Hybrid! F! Reader #muggy's ideas #Kyle Gaz Garrick x female reader #Kyle Gaz Garrick x fem reader #Kyle Gaz Garrick x f! reader #Muggy's Ideas

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