#since i got a mod to clear all the old stuff out so it should be simple in theory

[puretopia]

🌹

[unspeakablehorror]

Where to Find Me

Date Created: 7/20/2023 Last Update: 9/1/2023

Edit on 9/1/2023: Added a link to my personal website to the Fanworks section as well, since my fanfic can be found there.

Edit on 8/7/2023: Added a second website that's for archiving fanworks and other stuff I like to 'My Websites'.

EDIT on 7/21/2023: The @ symbol was automatically redirecting (or attempting to redirect) the second part of the pillowfort, dreamwidth, and cohost urls to tumblr accounts, so I got rid of these in all the links.

NOTE: I HAVE STOPPED REGULARLY CHECKING TUMBLR.

The interface of this site has become nearly intolerable for me, and it's become clear to me over the intervening years that Mullenweg is committed to making it progressively worse. So if you've wondered if the reason I've stopped commenting on your posts has anything to do with you, let me assure you, it's not. It's not you. It's not me, either. It's Tumblr. I logged out like maybe a week ago? And it's been amazing? I can live my life again? Miss you all, though.

So anyone who knows me (or has looked through this blog carefully enough) knows I haven't been on here since 2018. But it's been a few years, so now it's time to update my 'Where to Find Me' post! Since there have been several notable changes, and because I wanted to change how this post was structured a bit, it felt easier to me to just make a new post rather than editing the old.

My Websites

Unspeakablehorror's Site - I'll be keeping copies of my fanfic here, recipes, assorted essays, and other things of interest to me here. I will also archive select works from others on this site (with the creator's permission).

New Old Web - This is my website where I talk about how the web is crashing and burning and think about how we can make it not crash and burn. I'm still building it up, but I hope I can add lots more thoughts here.

Main Social Media

I currently feel that I use Pillowfort the most and Dreamwidth the second most. Something my main social media sites both have in common? They don't take venture capital. They're also great for longform writing and conversations.

unspeakablehorror at Pillowfort - Like if Tumblr and LiveJournal had a baby. I love the way this site handles commenting, reblogs, post edits, and privacy. And I love the communities feature. I'm the mod of 3 different Star Wars comms on here: Andor, Sith Empire, and Star Wars-The Sacred Texts.

unspeakablehorror at Dreamwidth - LiveJournal but better. Interface is a bit retro but I absolutely love the tag cloud. Every social media should have tag clouds. Dreamwidth has so many customization features. Also this site has my favorite setup for privacy options. And I love the communities feature on here. I'm the mod of the Sith of Korriban comm here.

Secondary Social Media

unspeakablehorror at Mastodon (fandom.ink instance) - I am on Mastodon, too, which is similar to Twitter with respect to the character count limitations, but has many exciting ideas, like using a protocol for social media that allows accounts on different servers to seamlessly interact with each other (as long as the server isn’t blocked for incompatible rules). It also incorporates the idea of decentralization in a very intriguing way and is entirely non-profit.

unspeakablehorror at cohost.org - Yeah, I'm here too. I don't currently use this account as much, but I do check the site from time to time and I've made a few posts here. I'd be here more often if any of my friends used this platform, but I don't prefer the interface, which is too much like Tumblr for my taste. Basically this is Tumblr if the interface wasn't total garbage, lol. I think I clash with some of the core principles of this site somewhat, and the only way to delete your page is by emailing the site owners, but at least it doesn't have ads or take venture capital. This site is what happens when some furries with coding and design skills are given a bunch of $$$ to make a social media site.

You can also PM me if you want to inquire about other ways to contact me or discuss anything else. I might be a little slow to answer Tumblr PMs, but I'll try to log in from time to time to check for them. Hopefully Tumblr doesn't end up breaking that, too, lol.

Fanworks

I am actually in the process of decentralizing my fic storage! Currently using a combination of social media posts for my oneshots and external storage links to store pdfs and epubs of my longfic. These can be found by examining my 'About me' in my bio on Pillowfort and my profile on Dreamwidth. My eventual goal is to also have my own website to store my fic on.

Unspeakablehorror's Site - I'll be keeping copies of my fanfic here, among other things.

Fanfic on Pillowfort - Access all my fic from Pillowfort!

Fanfic on Dreamwidth - Access all my fic from Dreamwidth!

unspeakablehorror at AO3 - Ah, I hope AO3 can work out their, uh, severe organizational issues, but in the meantime, I'm uncertain how much presence I'm going to have on this site.

unspeakablehorror at ffnet - This site is awful. The ads alone cause me psychological damage. Probably going to have to phase out posting here.

Well, that's all. Time for me to take my leave of this ball pit!

[cattytheartcat]

💜welcome💜

Been here since 2015, so I feel I should make an actual bio thingy. For those who has known me since 2015, I'm so so sorry for who I was then. I was 12 years old when I began Tumblr, and was immediately groomed and thought I was mature enough since my 13th birthday was the next day or so at the time. I'm 20 now, and learned from my mistakes and absolutely got therapy. Anyway uhh--

This will get rlly long so I'm adding a "read more" thingy so you dont gotta scroll through my post, but if you're new to my blog I advise checking this post out.

💜BASIC BIO💜

♡Catty

♡she/her [cis woman]

♡bisexual • polyamorous • spectrosexual

♡assistant Public Relations and assistant Music Department Head for PoniesOnline

♡artist, sometimes writer, shitposter, reblogger

♡Creator of The Matrix 5; Reformations AU, Ashesverse AU, Running Like Hell ARG, Slendyverse (MLP x Slenderverse) AU, Grand Eden Hospital, Nightmares In Paradise (fan spn) AU

♡creator of the blogs; Ask Psychosishy, Ask the Ashesverse, Ask the Hugoverse (multiverse of Hugo Weaving), Ask All MLP OCs

v--links to ask blogs--v

♡past creator of the blogs; Ask Slenderverse (deleted), Ask Zalgoverse (deleted), Ask all the mlp OCs (deleted for a long ass time lmao), RaveV blog (deleted), Smynth blog (deleted)

[Divider by etNoir on Deviantart]

💙DNI💙

《If you disregard any of this "just to spite me" you are getting blocked immediately》

☆proship/profiction (any content that fetishizes, sexualizes, glorifies and/or romanticizes pedophilia, zoophila, necrophilia, incest, abuse, etc)

☆loli/shota content

☆feral NSFW (feral x human, feral x feral, feral x anthro, etc)

☆LGBT-phobia (exclusions included. I.E ace/aro erasure, pan vs bi discourse, neopronoun discourse [not including obvious trolls that put a bad rep], etc)

☆racism, sexism, ableism

☆(irl person, ethnicity, etc) fetishizers (i.e, asian fetish, fat fetish, etc)

☆controversial content/persons (until clear evidence is provided during drama, I wish to NOT partake or be involved)

☆(irl people) shippers

⚠️BLACKLISTED USERS⚠️

☆TC/Simon/ChurchGrimmed [personal issues]

☆Dandelionmoths [personal issues]

☆Freakwolffreakish/Caresse/GoreyBloodyTeethsArts [groomer, erp as a minor character x an adult character, drama queen]

[Divider by King-Lulu-Deer on Deviantart]

💜frequent tags💜

♡important -> something I think is important to know. PSAs, warnings, etc

♡very important -> similar to the above tag, however much more urgent

♡wishlist -> things I might buy for myself

♡[name] aesthetic -> aesthetic posts that remind me of my OCs or favorite characters/people

♡[ship name] -> aesthetic posts that remind me of my ships

♡my art -> art I've made

♡old art -> art I've made from 2015-2020

♡amazing -> Tumblr classics baybee (funny or really bizarre things really)

♡other art -> artwork made by others

♡fanart -> artwork made by others for me

♡witchy tips -> tips and stuff regarding witchcraft

♡towards toxicity -> vague posting towards toxic people who fucked up my heart big time

♡art tips -> helpful artwork tips!!

♡me fr -> stuff that I feel represents me!

[Divider by King-Lulu-Deer on Deviantart]

💙FIND ME EVERYWHERE ELSE LOL💙

Deviantart: CattyTheArtCat

Art Fight: CattyTheArtCat

Toyhouse: CattyTheArtCat

YouTube: Catty TheArtCat

Instagram: catty_the_art_cat

Discord: [gotta be someone I know lol]

Kofi: Catty The Art Cat

RedBubble: Catty The Art Cat

💙💜💙💜💙💜💙💜💙💜💙💜💙💜💙💜💙💜

That's all really lmao. Yeah I may have been in some shitty situations and been a dumb fuck of a kid but uh. I'm better now weehee

Also even though my account says "NSFW", it's moreso because I post/reblog (cartoon/drawn) gore and blood and violence. Yknow, creepy Grimmdark Creepypasta shit. I also post/reblog suggestive content, maybe even sexual humor, but I never post flat out porn (at least, not anymore). Do NOT follow me if you're expecting trans fetish bullshit or cheap PornHub shit. I don't do that shit.

Another thing I wanna add is that even though I'm anti-proship, I DONT CONDONE HARASSMENT AND DEATH THREATS. That's just as low as the proshippers themselves, you are no better. Most proshippers are a hive mind (teehee The Matrix reference go brr), yknow, saying the same shit; "antis should kay why ess!!", "Minors DNI unless you're an anti", "being anti [pedo, rape, incest, etc] = evangelical puritanism even though they mean actually bad shit not kink and sex in general!!", etc. They are hypocritical bastards that push and push until they can milk out "receipts" to publicly shame you.

If you're an anti but go out of your way to "prove them right about antis being horrible", you are not welcome here. You are the reason why people prefer proship rather than. You are the reason why we are seen as the "bad".

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Know me from petty immature drama? Here's some clarification!!

My stance with minors interacting with my accounts

My stance with Palestine [I also have a post about trying to support Palestine and Lahaina]

My response to the Pyro situation

My stance and response to Rashad

If you want more info or evidence for any of these DM me and we can talk it out like actual mature adults 👍

[thedamageofherdays]

This week's (16-08-2021 - 22-08-2021) reading log is here. This week's reading log is super duper long and filled with lots of good things (my apologies for the long post, I really could not find a good spot to do a read more). I discovered some new favourites and re-read some old favourites and while I had an intense week personally at least the fics I read were absolutely phenomenal. I do recommend checking out the warnings as some fics are a bit heavier/angstier and you might wanna be prepared. Most of these fics are Stucky but there are a couple of other ships in between.

If you are looking for more fun and/or good things make sure to check out the @marveldisabilitycelebration as well to see all the awesome art, fics, meta, etcetera people created! And while I am mentioning events I am a mod for let me also just quickly mention that sign-ups for the @stuckygiftexchange are still open until the end of the month <3

Favourites are marked with a 🌻 Fics that are only available to AO3 users are marked with a 🔒 and Tumblr fics are marked with a 🍀

🌻 The Bends by dreamsinthewitchouse @dreamsinthewitchouse [Danbeau, side Stucky, 2k words, Teen]

Memory is not a house you can just walk back into after finding the key you thought you’d lost. It’s a thing you wade into and out of, rewriting it as it rewrites you.

It’s not without its rewards, either - recovering a memory about Maria and Monica, about her life, feels better than socking a thousand bad guys in the face, better than all the photon blasts in the world.

Then again, realising there’s still memories she can’t access, even after all this time, feels like drowning in space.

Not the one out there - the one inside her.

🌻 Sweet & Salty by musette22 @musette22 [Stucky, 3k words, Teen]

Idiots in love. That's it. That's the fic.

When life gives you lemons by moonythejedi394 @moonythejedi394 [Stucky, 34k words, Explicit] (11/15 chapters)

Or 13 Terrible Things to Do With Lemons Other Than Making Lemonade

Steve Rogers is a home health nurse. He works for an agency, which assigned him to the aging Winifred Barnes, the one and only Silent Era Hollywood darling. As her needs increased, she requested the agency assign Steve to her full-time. She could pay for it, so she got it. Steve then moved in with her, becoming her caregiver; he cooked, he cleaned, he managed her medications, he made sure she was comfortable.

Winifred's children treated him less than ideally. He was the help, after all. And then Steve had the audacity to go and turn out to be eldest son James Barnes's soulmate. No one saw that coming.

🍀 SamRhodey Tumblr Fic by ipoiledi [SamRhodey, ? words, Teen?]

“Wilson, this is Rhodey; Rhodey, Wilson,” Tony Stark says, and suddenly some six foot tall sexy guy is shoved right in front of Sam, and they both stumble a little, bumping into each other. This is a crowded party. “You guys have things in common, right?” Stark asks. “Uh, Army stuff. Talk about that. I hate wallflowers; stop wallflowering and talk to each other.”

Shorteralls by moonythejedi394 [Stucky, 6k words, Explicit]

The first time Bucky ever saw Steve Rogers, he was struck by how Neanderthal-like his response was. It was immediately followed by a bout of mental scolding. The second time was just about the same. The third time, it was actually appropriate for Bucky to start a conversation with him, at which point he was determined to be the gentleman.

No such luck. Steve Rogers is, always has been and always will be, a relentless flirt. These days, Bucky's Neanderthal-ist feelings about Steve are consensual and highly appreciated. More so now that they're having a baby.

what the fuck are perfect places anyway by tigerlilycorinne [Stucky, 6k words, Teen]

Steve clears his throat and stands. “Well, I should head in. I might want to begin packing.”

Bucky stills. “You won’t,” he says, trying to sound commanding. It only comes out uncertain. “Don’t.”

Steve shakes his head. “Maybe not tonight,” he says, and Bucky knows they’ll be discussing this again soon.

“Then stay. Play… play cards with me or something.”

Steve’s eyebrows jump up, his mouth tugging up in another of his bemused smiles that do things to Bucky’s insides, but he drops his hand from the doorway and steps back into Bucky’s room. Somehow, Bucky feels as if he’s won—not the war, just the battle.

Steve won’t stay forever. But he’ll stay for cards.

Steve and Bucky, on the run after Civil War (with a few alterations to canon), are laying low in Wakanda. But they can’t stay there forever.

🌻 honestly thought i’d be dead by now, but what you can trust is that i need your touch by moonythejedi394 [Stucky, 105k words, Explicit]

Bucky is 37 years old; he’s unmarried, hasn’t had a Sub of his own, is definitely not ripped, comfortable at his job as an Advanced Practice RN at Brooklyn General ER, and just got his Five Years coin from AA.

Steve is 26 years old; he’s unmarried, his last and only Dom has Alzheimer's, he's worryingly muscular, uncomfortable in his job as the government’s poster Alpha for masculinity and strength, and worries more than he should about his BMI.

Unfortunately, Steve and Bucky meet initially in a not-cute moment. Bucky’s tired as shit thanks to the sudden alien invasion that shook New York and Steve is tired as shit because he hasn’t slept more than 20 minutes at a time in – well, since 1936, probably. Bucky’s Alpha instincts get irritated at the sudden presence of another "Alpha" into his territory and Steve’s suppressed submissive tendencies latch onto this grumpy bachelor Alpha and he only suppresses it further.

Bucky’s grumpiness and Steve’s duckling impressionism aside, both of them are a mess. But since both of them are a mess? Their messes seem to fit pretty well together.

Deep Sea Diving by Aida Ronan [Stucky, 5k words, Explicit]

Steve's wallowing in heat-related misery under a shade tree in Central Park when a man walks by in bright red booty shorts and a crop top. RIP Steve Rogers. It was nice knowing you.

honey, make this easy by steebadore [Stucky, 8k words, Explicit]

Bucky likes the way he looks. His silk button up with the tiny gold polka dots feels soft on his skin and is tailored perfectly; no pulling at his chest or belly. His hair falls in shiny dark waves and his skin is smooth and dewy. He looks expensive. He looks taken care of. He looks like Steve’s.

🌻 let's take it back to the start by howdoyousleep @howdoyousleep3 [Stucky, 6k words, Teen]

How it all began.

This sleepwalking through my life. by barthelme [Stucky, 1k words, Explicit]

The internet is an interesting place and when Bucky came home (or, when he came to live with Steve), Steve did a lot of research. Apparently, it’s not safe to wake a sleepwalker. He assumes that waking a sleepwalker with traumatic dreams and PTSD is beyond just being frowned upon.

And he tells himself--has told himself--that this is safer for Bucky. That if he were to stop him and wake him up, that Bucky would be mortified to be slurping on his best friend’s cock. That all of the improvements he’s made would be lost, would be repressed, would be just--

They’d be back at square one.

So he lets Bucky do it.

🌻 the way i've been craving by howdoyousleep [Stucky, 3k words, Explicit]

"Lunch break at 12:30. My office. Hope you’re hungry…"

It’s the ellipsis that sends Bucky’s insides swimming warmly, his heart beating twice as fast against his ribs where he sits in class. Senator Rogers is concise, direct, to the point. Without an ellipsis this is lunch, this is a meeting. With it though?

This is a booty call.

nasty but classy by howdoyousleep [Stucky, 4k words, Explicit]

“No, you don’t have to know the purpose, that doesn’t matter. Nat showed me this challenge where couples drink a lot of wine and get drunk together but they can’t touch each other. And whoever touches the other first has to...has to give the other head.”

🌻 Put It on Repeat, It Stays the Same by giselleslash [Stucky, 20k words, Explicit]

Steve and Bucky have a one night stand that turns into a friends with benefits situation. A weekend snowed in at Bucky’s apartment brings to light how much that really doesn’t suit either one of them.

Greetings to the New Brunette by victoria_p (musesfool) [Stucky, 10k words, General]

"You said he should have a hobby. That it would help."

"I meant, like, knitting or coin collecting. Motocross, if he was feeling antsy. A baby's not a hobby. It's lifetime commitment."

🌻 Rogers & Barnes: Partners by triedunture [Stucky, 10k words, Teen]

Steve and Bucky have to pose as a couple for a mission. Nat insists it really is the only option. She's checked.

The complication: unbeknownst to even Natasha, Steve and Bucky's friendship has been rocky ever since Bucky confessed his tender feelings and Steve left him out in the cold. Can asexual, completely-in-love-with-his-angry-best-friend Steve complete the mission and win Bucky's heart?

(The answer is yes. Yay!)

this will be our year (took a long time to come) by biblionerd07 [Stucky, 4k words, General]

Bucky's therapist is worried he's using Steve as a crutch and wants him to try going on outings without Steve. It wouldn't be terrible, honestly, if Bucky could just manage to open his mouth and say something to Steve.

I'll hold my breath by Little_Lottie (tfwatson) [Stucky, 8k words, Mature]

Sometimes Bucky’s hands flex in Steve's direction. Neither of them knows exactly why, but at least one of them has a hunch.

Bucky touches everything but Steve, even though Steve is all he really wants to touch.

Start from the Beginning by Mumble_Bee [Stucky, 13k words, Explicit]

What about a sex pollen fic where the pollen-ed one doesn’t remember getting hit in the face with a sex flower, and wakes up midway through the depollenating?

Or: the one where Steve wakes up on his back with a stranger buried balls-deep in his ass.

Match by emphasisonem [Stucky, 4k words, Mature]

The situation’s actually kind of funny from the right perspective, Bucky thinks as he reads the message for what feels like the hundredth time. He’s finally matched with a hot, funny guy. Tall and broad and clean cut. An absolutely breathtaking smile. Bucky’s walking wet dream. And he’s good. They haven’t messaged on the app, but Bucky already knows him.

He knows him because Steve Rogers is an art history professor at his university. His art history professor.

Best friends and married since childhood by StuckySituation [Stucky, 1k words, General]

Inspired by @/peterssquill's post in tumblr: "bucky and steve got married on the playground when they were like eight and though neither of them would ever admit it to anyone, even each other, they still consider it official"

~♥~ ♥~ ♥~

“Natasha, stop trying to set me up with every woman you meet, I’m-”

“Too shy? Too scared?”

“No, I’m-”

“Too busy? You’re mostly retired these days, not a good excuse anymore.” Natasha smirks and then drawls: “Or just too gay?”

Steve flushes at that, even if isn’t true -- he’s bisexual, not gay. “Let it go, Nat, I’m not looking for anything. I’m already married, for fuck’s sake.”

Clearly not what she expected. “What.”

Steve grimaces. He didn’t mean to tell anyone that, ever.

“Sorry, can’t talk about it right now!” he says and jumps out of the plane.

Nobody Should Be Alone on a Holiday by emphasisonem [Stucky, 2k words, Teen]

“So, um-” Bucky begins speaking again, pulling Steve from his less-than-work-appropriate thoughts. The brunet has shoved his hands into the pockets of his dark slacks, and he’s shifting from one foot to the other as he smiles shyly. “I have a question for you.”

“Shoot,” Steve grins, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms over his broad chest. Bucky swallows deeply as one of his hands comes up to pull at the collar of his button-up, and Steve can’t help following the motion of his Adam’s apple.

“I was, uh-” Bucky continues- “That is, I heard you don’t have Thanksgiving plans?”

In which Bucky finds out that Steve's going to be alone on Thanksgiving and invites his coworker to spend the holiday with him.

🌻 It's Been A Long Season Through by thiccbuckybarnes @thiccbuckybarnesfic [Stucky, 49k words, Explicit]

Bucky Barnes is in desperate need of a change in scenery, which is why he makes the foolhardy decision to quit his job, leave his asshole of a fiance, pack up his life, and move to his grandfather’s old farm all within a single day.

He expects confusion, hardship, and maybe even failure. But love? He wasn’t expecting that.

--

Or, a Stucky Stardew Valley AU that nobody but me wanted and that’s ok.

oh, peach pit, where'd the hours go? by thiccbuckybarnes [Stucky, 10k words, Explicit]

Can't see the forest for the trees.

--

Or, Steve learns that just because he and Bucky got their happily ever after, it doesn’t mean the past won’t come back to bite them.

I'll find my way by rainbow_nerds [Stucky, 725 words, Teen]

Steve had watched Bucky fall, and nothing had been the same since.

AU-gust day 19: Daemons

special delivery by glim @glim [Stucky, 6k words, Teen]

It's not that Steve's bad at taking care of himself when he gets sick; he just wishes he didn't have to all the time.

At least he can order most of what he needs online. That's some small comfort, that he can have soup and ice cream and everything else brought to his door.

at first chance i'd take the bed warmed by the body by spacebuck @spacebuck [Stucky, 8k words, Explicit]

This close, Steve can see exactly how beautiful his hands are. He’s never really noticed before, or at least he’s never really had a reason to notice, but the man’s hands are large, tanned like he works outside all day. There’s an endearing callus on the heel of one of his palms, and Steve can’t quite work out when calluses became endearing.

Steve pauses the video. Swallows hard. Casts his eyes around for anything that’ll keep his mind off the hands on his screen, off the words inked into those hands, the delicate shape of a bird’s wing, the curling edge of a vine.

He looks down. The name of the channel is right there, blaring the man’s name right into Steve’s brain until it feels like he’s known it all along.

Bucky Barnes.

OR: the one where Bucky's a youtuber who solves puzzles on camera, and steve's smitten and horny

🌻 Rock On! by millesable @marvelousescapism [Clintasha, 700 words, General]

“Hey, Romanoff!”

He lifted his hand, index finger and pinky finger raised, thumb out, all other fingers tucked. Their secret sign; their confession for the world to see, safe in the knowledge that the world wasn’t listening.

“Rock on!”

🌻 You Like the Way I Look by dontcallmebree @iamthe-wo-manwhocan [Stucky, 2k words, Explicit]

Bucky sidles up to him, hand boldly coming to rest on his chest. “What about you, big guy? Care for a dance?” Steve watches Bucky’s eyes twinkle with satisfaction, somehow already knowing he’s got Steve on the hook.

A decade out of the ice, Steve Rogers returns to New York. Reeling from a battle against the Chitauri, a night with the troublesome Bucky Barnes might be just what he needs.

Join the Rebellion by rainbow_nerds [Stucky, 765 words, Teen]

Bucky knew he shouldn't be out after curfew, but he couldn't resist the urge. He didn’t know where he was going, but he knew it was where he wanted to be.

AU-gust day 20: Dystopia

🔒 Five Days in December by mywingsareonwheels @mywingsareonwheels [Evanstan, 4k words, Teen]

“Shit shit shit shit...” muttered Chris to himself, glad that the sound of piped Christmas carols was drowning out his swearing amid the picture books. Most of the store was heaving even though it was Sunday, he’d been recognised at least three times, finding presents for all of his nieces and nephews was proving far more of a headache than expected, and he’d just sent a pile of copies of "Strictly No Elephants" tumbling off the bookshelf.

He scrambled about trying to pick them all up, and then dropped them again as someone bumped right into his backside. He lost his balance, caught himself against a bookcase, and a landslide of "Carter Is a Painter’s Cat" joined "Strictly No Elephants" on the floor. He yelped.

“Ah fuck, I’m so sorry… Chris!”

* * * * * * * * * *

London, December 2021. Amid cats, books, and the cold English drizzle, Chris finds everything he was hoping for and thought he would never have.

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

Reaching for Fire by dixons_mama @dixons-mama [Stucky, 7k words, Explicit]

Bucky has always felt a fire in his heart (and other body parts) when it came to his boss, Steve Rogers, but he's made sure to never feed those flames. When he finds out about Steve's second job, though, he's tempted to let that fire out.

i've been dreaming of a face like yours by thiccbuckybarnes [Stucky, 3k words, Explicit]

Bucky is about to busy himself with making a small dinner for himself when he stops in his tracks at the figure drinking a cup of coffee in the kitchen, leaning against the counter and smirking at him.

It’s Steve.

“Surprise, sweet boy,” he says before setting his cup down.

--

Or, PWP reunion sex

🌻 Somewhere, Under Your Skin by thiccbuckybarnes [Stucky, 16k words, Explicit]

Bucky Barnes treats himself to a one-night stand after having a very bad no good day.

The sex is good--great, even. Might be the best sex of his life.

But Bucky wouldn’t have slept with the guy if he had known that he was going to continuously run into him every day for the next fucking month.

--

Or, a Big Grump Bucky has a hot one night stand with a college kid who is popping up everywhere in his everyday life and he doesn’t know how to deal with it.

(Written for HYBB Bingo Square: Grumpy Bucky)

i've played heartstrings before but not in your key by thiccbuckybarnes [Stucky, 11k words, Explicit]

He glances down, seeing a folded couple of papers, before peering up at Bucky. The older man is biting his bottom lip, making it pretty and red. Steve wants to run his tongue across where his teeth are digging into his flesh.

"What's this?" Steve asks, setting his phone down, emails forgotten. Bucky shrugs and looks away.

"I dunno. You tell me, genius," he says, sounding bratty enough that it makes Steve's dick twitch in his pants. Jesus, there has to be something wrong with him.

Steve glances once more at Bucky, who now has his arms crossed against his chest and is pointedly not looking at Steve, before picking up the stack of folded papers. He opens them, seeing a collection of maybe five or six sheets of paper. His eyes immediately land on the list of familiar words with negative next to each one. -- Or, Steve Rogers is a jealous, possessive little shit that wants nothing more than to mark up his boyfriend and stake his claim. And Bucky knows it. (And he likes it.)

🌻 I'm Home (With You) by BonkyBornes @padfoot-and-the-marauders [Stucky, 2k words, General]

In any other circumstance, the apartment would've been perfect. But it was today, and the fact that he was here meant he wasn’t out searching. He knew they hadn’t had any leads for weeks and he knew Natasha was right; all three of them were exhausted and a break would do them good. It just felt wrong to Steve that he was comfortable while Bucky was still out there—somewhere. Probably cold. Probably hungry.

The knock came again. Sighing, Steve unwrapped his hand from the dog tags and remembered how to move. Cold wind and snow greeted him when he opened the door. The solitary figure was walking down the steps, collar popped against the chill.

“Did you need something?” he called.

The person stopped. They were still. And then they turned. *

Or, the Christmas Steve deserved after Winter Soldier.

The portrait by rainbow_nerds [Stucky, 915 words, General]

Steve Rogers has a Gift. He can help people find their soulmates, all he needs is some art supplies, a quiet place, and eye contact.

AU-gust day 21: soulmates

Maybe A Muse by buckybarnesdeservestobehappy [Stucky, 2k words, Mature]

When Bucky Barnes needs extra money, he’s appalled that his best friends think he should become a model for the art department on campus. Shy, nerdy, and socially awkward, he’s not sure that’s something he feels comfortable doing. Still, he needs money, and he likes the idea of becoming someone’s muse. The problem is he had no idea two things would happen. First, one of the students in the class is exactly his type; second, he has to model nude.

[askaceattorney]

[MEANWHILE AT THE ASKACEATTORNEY BLOG]

Another day, another night of answering six more letters. Hm.... maybe I should scroll down a bit at the old Mod letters. They seem a bit interesting.

Huh, was there ever a Character Essay on Gumshoe? I don’t think there ever was. Maybe the Mod Just overlooked this....

Oh wow, two? Maybe he just...

............................................................ you have got to be kidding me. How many of these character requests are in this pile of letters for the Mod? ................

61.... character essay requests.... gone unanswered.... since 2012? .... fine, I’ll answer them. Let’s finally get Scruffy a character Essay, shall we? I’ll get to the.... other requests later... hopefully. 

The very thing that stands out about Dick Gumshoe is just how lovable he is. I consider him the most lovable character in Ace Attorney. Every fan known to man of the game loves Dick Gumshoe, even when he sided with the opposition. The issue most people have is that he’s considered underrated, but I don’t think so. As I’ve said, there’s not an Ace Attorney fan I know that hate or dislike Dick Gumshoe. It’s hard to hate Dick Gumshoe really. What most fans are seeing is that, while Dick Gumshoe is the most lovable character in Ace Attorney, he neither falls as the most favored, talented or even hated. He often falls in the middle of most recognizable. If anyone was to name their top five favorite characters from Ace Attorney, it’s likely that most that choose Dick Gumshoe, would place him at number 5 or 4. Though, that doesn’t make him less beloved or even underrated.

To start from the beginning, we’re first introduced to him as the main Detective of the game. His first introduction is when he’s investigating a murder witnessed by April May in the second chapter of the first game. He arrests Maya on the spot, after spotting a receipt with her name in blood that’s supposedly written by the victim. He never questions if the note was forged or of their relationship. You’d think a smart detective would question why someone would want to murder their own sister in cold blood or why the older sibling would want to out their little sister. After all, sibling love is never something to be underestimated and, even if someone was murdered by someone they adored and loved, they’d certainly be reluctant to outing them out. Yet, we find out later that Dick Gumshoe isn’t one to ask questions about philosophical stuff like that. He just sees something and believes it as true gospel. He’s simple-minded and that’s what makes him different from Miles Edgeworth, the main foil of the game.

It does seem confusing during the first half of the entire game of why Dick Gumshoe would want to work for or defend Miles Edgeworth, considering he’s a… well…  

Gumshoe makes it clear that his reason is because Miles Edgeworth recognizes what he and the other officers do. He trusts them to do their job correctly. This is the guy that shreds Gumshoe’s salary like paper to a shredder, yet this detective enjoys working for him for the simple reason that he recognizes and trusts him. Even as simple-minded as Dick Gumshoe is, it’s clear he can recognize that Miles Edgeworth doesn’t treat him or the other officers like tools. He can recognize someone as simpleminded as Dick Gumshoe as someone he can depend on.

It becomes apparent, once the fourth chapter of the first Ace Attorney comes, how dedicated Dick Gumshoe is to Miles Edgeworth. He’d go as far as to help the Defense, if it means proving Miles Edgeworth is innocent of murder. It’s also worth noting that, if you were to answer Dick Gumshoe’s question about if you knew Miles Edgeworth or not, that he’d get angry if you were to answer “no” and hurt if you said “yes, he’s a cold-hearted jerk.” Considering that it’s revealed in the fourth chapter of the first game that Phoenix Wright and Miles Edgeworth were childhood friends, I can’t help but wonder if Dick Gumshoe might’ve been told about this. If so, then it shows the great level of trust Miles Edgeworth has for Dick Gumshoe to tell him something as personal as that. It might also explain why Dick Gumshoe eventually becomes less hostile towards Phoenix, after asking him if he knows Miles Edgeworth, and isn’t afraid to leak any information to him.

In the second and third game, Dick Gumshoe becomes the detective for two other Prosecutors: Prosecutor Franziska Von Karma and Prosecutor Godot aka Diego Armando. Both prosecutors have close connections with Miles Edgeworth. Franziska Von Karma is considered Miles Edgeworth’s sister figure and colleague, while Godot/Diego Armando was someone recognized by Miles Edgeworth as the Greatest Prosecutor in the country. Considering that Miles Edgeworth claimed to not have known who “Godot” is, it’s to be assumed that he might’ve made this claim about Diego before he changed his name to “Godot.” After all, Dick Gumshoe is not the kind of person to work with any Prosecutor he doesn’t trust wholeheartedly. The reason Dick Gumeshoe trusts Franziska Von Karma is because of their history and her connection with Miles Edgeworth, even telling Phoenix that she does look after him and the other officers regardless of her brashness.

It's clear that Dick Gumshoe isn’t just a simpleminded character, but a man that is able to look passed any brashness or abuse of any kind made against him and is able to see the good in everyone. He’s the kind of person to see the glass half full. Even with how many times his salary gets shredded to the point it’s become a running gag, he still sees the good in everyone. Gumshoe sees that Miles Edgeworth recognizes and trusts him to do his job correctly, Franziska Von Karma only wishes to look after him to ensure his safety and Godot is very fair to him. Of course, it is clear that Dick Gumshoe is more loyal to Phoenix Wright than Franziska Von Karma and Godot combined and that’s likely because he sees that Phoenix is more focused on finding the truth over petty revenge. Whereas Franziska Von Karma and Godot seem to have some petty vendetta against the Defense, Phoenix Wright only focuses on defending his clients and finding the truth. Even Dick Gumshoe can understand this much.

Of course, Dick Gumshoe had likely learned this through experience on how to know who to trust. When he first started working in the force, he was framed for a double murder before a young Miles Edgeworth and Franziska stepped in to save him. During this time, Dick Gumshoe had thought the worst of Miles Edgeworth, assuming he was some stuck-up kid with a stick up his rear end, likely wouldn’t have the heart for a little girl that had just lost her father. Dick Gumshoe is proven wrong when he notices Miles Edgeworth showing compassion for Kay Faraday, who had lost her father to a murder by allowing her to blow her snotty nose on his nice clothes and allow her to have it. This act of kindness might not seem much, but for Dick Gumshoe, this spoke to him about Miles Edgeworth’s character. 

This especially would show after the Terry Fawls suicide. Miles Edgeworth had performed a number of mistakes, including withholding evidence from both the Defense and Detective Gumshoe himself. Miles Edgeworth isn’t the kind of person to place the blame of his own failings on someone else and will take the fall for his own actions much deeper than others would towards him. It might seem subtle, but Dick Gumshoe learning to see the good in everyone stemmed from his years of working under the brat younger Miles Edgeworth.

Something to take note about Miles Edgeworth and Dick Gumshoe is their age gap. They are 6-7 years apart with Dick Gumshoe being the oldest. At the age of 20, Dick Gumshoe was 26-27 years old. It’s normal for someone at the age of 26 to see someone at the age of 20 as an obnoxious little brat, but to learn to see passed that only comes from someone with a good heart. Dick Gumshoe is definitely someone with a good and noble heart, something that even Miles Edgeworth forgets as well.

In the Miles Edgeworth Investigation spin-off games, Dick Gumshoe is often depended upon to find the evidence needed to solve a murder. He’s also the one to help Miles Edgeworth analyze certain evidence, since it is unlawful to touch evidence with bare hands and can only be handled by professionals. It’s during the second game we see how far Dick Gumshoe will go when working for Miles Edgeworth. He will stick with Miles Edgeworth, even after losing his job and badge. Despite Dick Gumshoe not knowing what to do or how to help Miles Edgeworth, he kept investigating for him. It’s easy to take someone for granted and Miles Edgeworth began realizing that he had taken Dick Gumshoe’s loyalty for granted, realizing that Gumshoe wasn’t just his detective, but his friend.

The last time Dick Gumshoe had worked for anyone outside of the Police Department was when he was fired and willingly decided to work for Phoenix Wright instead. This also shows us that Dick Gumshoe’s level of trust and loyalty to Phoenix Wright is on equal par to his trust and loyalty with Miles Edgeworth. While one could make the assumption that this was due to Phoenix Wright defending and proving Miles Edgeworth’s innocence in court, this is most likely due to a friendship he also formed with Phoenix Wright, something that isn’t shared with Franziska Von Karma or Godot.

Knowing who Dick Gumshoe is friends with explains why his undying loyalty lies with mainly Miles Edgeworth, Phoenix Wright and arguably Maggey Byrde. Dick Gumshoe might not be the brightest detective, but he knows who his friends are and would happily work for them than anyone else. It’s for this reason why it’s so difficult to hate Dick Gumshoe. Even when he messes up, anyone can see that Dick Gumshoe has a good heart. Even when Miles Edgeworth was a complete jerk, Dick Gumshoe stuck by him, knowing that there was more good inside Miles Edgeworth than even he knew. Dick Gumshoe stuck by Franziska von Karma, knowing she was only looking out for him and the other officers with good intentions. Dick Gumshoe stuck by Godot, knowing he’d always be fair with him, despite the defendant being his crush, Maggey Byrde. Even when Maggey Byrde was angry at Dick Gumshoe, he still continually bought her food to cheer her up, knowing she’d come around eventually.

(Model found in this link by  tidiestflyer)

It’s my sincerest hope that Dick Gumshoe does make a return in a future Ace Attorney game. It was kinda disappointing that he never showed up in Turnabout Time Traveler, but I’d like to think it’s because he was promoted. Perhaps he could be… the Chief of Police in Spirit of Justice? I suppose we can only dream. Though, I do sincerely hope he was promoted to a higher position seven years after the trilogy. Here’s to you, big guy.

- Mod Edgeworth

[beggingwolf]

hi so I've just eaten too much ice cream, feel vaguely ill, and I'm here to tell you All About How I Failed At Outlining for SGKF this year!

that's partially just a fun tagline, but it's also a bit true. I told my friends I'd be trying to use several different outlining methods to try and knock out a plotty piece for the fest, and things did not go to plan!

important to begin with: I am what is referred to as a "pantser." I tend to just start writing. this is strangely contradictory to my personality, which deeply loves plans. unfortunately, what often happens is plans and outlines ruin my excitement and drive while working on a project (it tricks me into thinking I've done all the work and resolved the plot), leading me to abandon it.

and though I can throw together pretty words and made a decent fic, my fics never turned out as good as they could have been. I kept telling myself that if I planned in advanced and worked out what I was doing BEFORE I did it, I'd be able to craft a fic with such care and attention as to make it really SHINE.

so, uh, kinkfest rolls around, and since I was a mod I could see all the prompts before they even got released to the public, so I basically had a WHOLE EXTRA two-ish weeks to start planning and writing.

did I? NO.

so, despite the fact that I collect writing advice like a magpie , I'm not the greatest at implementing it. if you go into my SGKF google folder, you'll find a few instances of me TRYING to implement writing advice like metawriting:

(and you'll see some fics that didn't get finished/make it into the fest!)

my issue was (and still is) that I think I value every little word too much. this is a bad thing: I'm an overwriter by nature. when I get words down, I want to keep them because I feel like I worked hard for them, even if they're not great or don't actually serve the story in the way they should. that's not to say all my metawriting was bad; it wasn't. I tried it out for A Drowning in California as well [which will henceforth just be referred to as "California").

I had a whole subfolder for California. what kind of amazed me is how different my initial notes for the prompt are from what the story actually ended up being. here, take a look:

literally almost none of this is in california. the WWE and UFC stuff made it in, and so did sid wrestling with horny, but that was it. I was going to start this fic in the locker room, with sid wrestling someone, and it was seriously going to be a story about sex—about sid wanting to hold geno down in bed. that was the premise.

and instead, we got a really emotional story about familial rejection and the isolation it can make people feel. SO! something happened along the way, right?

when I started getting into the plot that would support this supposed sexfest, this is where I went at first:

geno wants the relationship to get serious, sid is like mentally still a 12 year old who just wants to wrestle people and doesn't want to talk about his emotions, and prefers to use physicality to communicate. this doesn't work for geno, who wants ... more

we can start to see the actual emotions come through, the things I was interested in: sid using touch to talk, and geno desperately wanting more

what did the most good for me, in the end, was "doing" the metawriting by talking with my friends.

I told them what i thought this story was about ("I'm thinking about making this a story about relationship-defining, maybe? and the communication needed for a lasting adult relationship? I think I'm going to set it in california/LA, where Sid has invited Geno along for the first time for his California Summer Fun/Training/Escape, whatever, and Geno's going to be emotionally preoccupied with Defining The Relationship—maybe they've been on-again-off-again? maybe they're just new to this, like almost a year deep, and they're not getting younger—and thinking this trip is about that [or hoping this trip is about that, and realizing it isn't, and being disappointed].") and they told me what jumped out at them.

Jes told me what would ramp up the tension would be a deadline of some sort; "Geno’s going to break up with Sid or make some decision or something, or there’s something approaching where they have to make a will they or won’t they decision of some kind related to the core ‘defining the relationship’ issue. Geno’s going back to russia and in previous summers they’ve always slept with other people while apart? or Sid has a wedding coming up and he’s offhandedly mentioned taking someone else as his plus one?"

I liked her thoughts. it made sense to add an external pressure to all this, and that wedding idea stuck out to me the most.

Lis said I should add a jealousy angle, so you can largely credit her for the club scene: "one thing i like to sort of headcanon/imply about sid's california trips is he uses them to hook up anonymously. so you could have, like, sid and geno seeing sid's friends, but also accidentally running into some of sid's friends. and geno's like oh, great, so here i am doing this horrible summertime training that i hate because i don't need to train in the offseason actually, and i'm learning what exactly sid gets up to when we're apart."

My magical solution these days is GOING FOR WALKS. do it if you're able. it clears out your brain. so on my walks I ended up deciding that I wanted a taylor crosby wedding. I like taylor as a character, and as a person with sisters I just like writing her in. best of all, she and sid are close and I like writing "I'd do anything for my family" sid.

and then I was like. oh. what if it's not that sid is afraid/nervous to bring geno, it's that he can't.

I... wasn't as conflicted as I thought I'd be about writing sid's parents as homophobic. I prefer to write them as supportive; I think troy crosby's been eviscerated more than he should have been in older fanworks, and though I respect their right to make fictional!troy whatever they want, I've been a little skeptical of outlandish takes on him ("he doesn't say I love you to his son because a camera caught them mid-interaction once!") ever since I read how the media has found him a convenient narrative villain while he tried to keep his underage son safe from the media as a child and while they needed to cook up Spicy Stories about squeaky-clean sid.

uh, tangent aside, I always thought I'd never write a "parents are the villains" story, but I did here. it felt right. it was easier, too, because they're not PRESENT in the story. I didn't have to write trina actually being horrible to her son. I just had to skirt the edges of the wound.

which works well on two fronts: I don't have to actively write the crosbys being horrible to sid, and I also leave more to the imagination of the reader, and that almost never fails to make the work better. whatever the reader imagines them saying to sid, it's going to be 10x more hurtful than anything I'd write.

I dug really deep on some personal emotions and fears I experience as a gay person for a lot of sid's arc here. sid is deeply imperfect in this story, and he's internalizing his pain and the horrible thing that's happened to him, which is making him pull away from his partner, and sid is not responding how geno wants, nor is he responding well, period, though he's trying in his own wounded, stilted way.

and beloved geno, whose tender heart is so hidden away for fear of someone hurting it. I really like writing geno; he's huffy and emotional and sometimes bitchy and feels things SO deeply.

once I had more of an idea, I was already working on a more detailed outline. this is where I seriously took Jes's advice and WROTE EVERYTHING OUT! it made it so much less daunting, because I didn't have to be figuring out my next steps AND crafting sentences at the same time. also this is where I tell you that the title of this post is mostly a lie, it was metawriting I failed at.

This outline also meant I avoided writing large swaths of things that should've been cut. Another beta told me I should delete three scenes and condense a bunch of emotions into the club scene, and she was SO right. Cutting events out of an outline is WAY easier than cutting out pages of text.

Ironically my outline kind of deteriorated after the club scene, but that's alright: after I wrote the club scene, I actually had a clear vision of what I wanted the end to be. I just had to trust myself. I CAN do this, I CAN still just write intuitively sometimes!

I think California did what I wanted it to do. I'd love to try something out that's longer and has more story arcs in it (jes has a post for that too!) but I think that's best saved for another, longer project, though 18k isn't short.

next up is maggie stief's writing seminar that I bought a month back. I'm going to start working on that this month and see how I like it. I have a few halloween fic ideas, plus spookfest, so these next two months we should be cooking in the kitchen!

[dramarising-replacement]

G1 Hoarder Revamp and the Mountain of Salt

Can we all just acknowledge how much of a total fuck up the new G1 ping system is? I feel bad because they obviously went through so much work and beta testing for this system but it’s absolutely garbage in practice. This isn’t meant as a huge roast (even though I do think the creators could do with getting knocked down a few pegs given how poorly they’ve treated people through this entire process, oops) but I hope they at least see this and see things that they can work on. Obviously, going to them and sharing this stuff in person isn’t possible since L from arcane is notorious for gossiping and overall not super trustworthy, so anon route we go. I’ll give credit where credit is due: they definitely tried to go on the right path and the coding is good in theory. The big issue here is that they tried to fix something that was not great but worked with something that is not great and barely works. Sure there are some good things about the new ping system: if it’s not busy it’s not longer than six or seven minutes to do all of it for a few dragons, which, compared to the previous method? Pretty good timing. Helps automatically tag some colorgroups without having people confused about if their dragon counts or not, and uh... probably something else. The cons far outweigh the pros though: -sheet can only be used one at a time: terrible in theory, terrible in practice, there’s no queue system either so you’re not even guaranteed to go next even if you’ve been waiting ages. This becomes a nightmare around any holiday, as we’ve seen around notn, since everyone flocks to the ping generator and then quickly abandons after seeing the mess there. This should have been something that they found a way to work with from the start, especially since the previous spreadsheet, despite how long it took to sift through if you were actually assed to do all the specifics, could still be used by multiple people. -userface issues: going into the spreadsheet and it may all just be blank, does this mean someone’s using it? Someone isn’t? If you go ahead and assume not you’re going to get warned that you overrode someone since they get the ID to your dragon, if you don’t assume then you end up waiting for ages like an idiot and someone else swoops up the opportunity. The loading bar on the side doesn’t help give that info either since it constantly reloads due to the poorly planned code. Where users have their cells selected also doesn’t help since that isn’t always accurate. There are many times where the loading bar isn’t seen going, there isn’t any visible text on the screen, no comment in the box, but it’s still in use. This isn’t viable for anyone, especially not people who don’t fully understand how the system works. If you’re going to make it for only one person’s use at a time, you need to ensure it’s easier to see what’s going on for everyone. -laggy as all get out: sure, I don’t have to go through 15 pages of different types of pings on the old G1 pinglist and shovel through all the duplicates and specifics list people, but having more than 13 dragons or even doing a bigger lair sale (or even just anything during notn) means you get to wait for the program to chug away for ages (as well as the easy chance for someone to just cut in halfway through a load and have you start all over again or wait) and hope that the three people behind you don’t get impatient or angry as you have to do three separate input sessions rather than massing them all together as you could with the previous spreadsheet. -poorly designed aesthetically: maybe this may sound petty to some, but the design of the system is pretty terrible in terms of layout and color choice. This isn’t to say it’s just ugly though; after speaking about it with people who aren’t neurotypical, have disordered thinking processes, and/or have generalized issues reading things (autism spectrum, dyslexia, semi-visually impaired, etc.) it’s pretty clear that the entire thing is not accessible whatsoever for anyone who can’t immediately decipher what anything is. Black text on bright red is not a good thing for most people beyond old MySpace edgies. If you, as someone without reading or comprehension difficulties, are having a difficult time focusing on it: maybe consider how difficult it’d be for anyone else. The way the rules or tutorial section is laid out also does not help in terms of accessibility! It’s clunky and hard to read, does not flow well, and doesn’t explain as thoroughly as you may think. If you’re someone who uses coded spreadsheets often? Yeah sure, it might be understood. If you’re not? Welp. Good luck kiddo. -very poor user help: this is on the mods or creators more than the spreadsheet itself. If someone has a problem, the first thing you should do is talk with them to find the difficulty and tackle it from there. I’ve seen, multiple times now, where either N (plague) or L (arcane) straight up tell people that they can’t help them and that they should just read the guide on the front page. Like sure, they read them, but something is tricky for them and they’re asking for help. They can read the rules and guide again but without outside help, guess what? Not gonna help them. If you just keep linking them the forum or telling them to read the first page it won’t actually help anyone! One of your jobs as the creators here is to help the community that you made it for, not just parrot that they need to read. Be better. Add that to a system which is not forgiving of any mistakes whatsoever and it becomes a terrible little cocktail. Also does not help that, despite their sugar attitude about having people test it in discord servers, the creators l and r/p (both arcane) don’t actually help people who need help using it. -wait times/queue: this ties in to an earlier point, but there’s no way to organize who goes next. Sure, it might sound strange, but when you have to wait ages to get access despite you being there ahead of anon llama/drama/dingdong/animal because they can all hop in ahead of you, it becomes frustrating. People don’t always type in that itty bitty box to say what they’re doing, and people easily erase it or write over it, or they just outright ignore it. Obviously not everyone is going to do that, but it’s way too easy for people who are greedy/entitled to step over those who are being polite and patient. -no quick ping options this is also kind of minor, but at least with the old spreadsheet you could just click in and say “okay, I just want to ping XXY general for this because I have a quick sale.” Guess what: nah. You have to go through the entire chugging process and queue and everything else just to get that snippet of information on who to ping. What once took maybe five clicks is now five minutes to thirty depending on how many people are using it. Wanna quick check if a dragon with XYZ colours you hatched is one that someone wants specifically? Nah, fuck you. You have to input all the data and wait instead of just doing what was once a super easy quick search. There is so much other shit wrong with this system and I’m honestly surprised N (plague) allowed them to do this. Sure, the old pinglist could have done with some updating, but that should have been done in the form of clearing redundant double pings, maybe a way to sort through specifics like ‘male only’ and mass copy names there. Quality of life things, not this just... total mess. I understand that L and R/P got it into their heads that they needed to fix it and that they wanted to take over the entire system themselves, but they should have kept their pride out of it for once. The sheet to input what dragons you want is also another entire nightmare. It’s frustrating to go through the google poll a dozen times to say exactly what colors/eyes/gender/pasta-shape/siesta-fiesta under the sun you want rather than have a quick way to input it by drop-downs or even just a text based option like the old one had. It’s so easy to forget what you put in or which one you want to put in this time, so easy to end up making mistakes that you don’t see, etc. It’s just not an effective system. It’s great in theory, and sure, it’s all sparkly and new, but it’s like admiring an aluminum trash can. Shiny and sparkly under the sun, still holding a whole lot of hot garbage though. I understand that some people may find it easier, and that’s great! I’ve used it for a few things and yeah, it’s okay, but I wish the old one was back given all the grief and frustration this one has caused. Obviously I’m not in the place to be like DO THIS OR DO THAT since I’m not the one making the sheet here, but I do feel like the people who use it have every right to give commentary and feedback where possible. Even moreso when the creators and team aren’t actually as welcoming as they try to appear to be. As much as it sucks, a lot of L and R/P’s (primarily L) false niceties have kind of come to the surface lately which makes this whole situation just that much more awkward. If people don’t feel like they can approach you because they know you’ll rip into them here or on the anon site immediately, maybe you shouldn’t be a main creator of something for the user base or a mod for a bigger group. Just some side-thought to all this other stuff. Big post, big rambles, I can’t bring myself to organise it though because I’m pretty fed up and tired. Take from this what you may, but basically fix your shit new G1 Hoarder peeps.

[lunartearrose]

hello. bestie. info about this fantasy au WHEN 👀👀👀👀👀

Aaa I can give you some right now!!!! For some reason this au comes to me whenever im working so thats why its art is all on stickynotes audjskjsj

BUT ANYWAYS uh. No better way to say this but it all started out with a modded skyrim character creator that i made skull in! I thought it was cool and going thru both main q and whatever stupid civil war to skip the broken seasons unending quest is annoyin but fun was had for maybe some hours

But! I had to make skull twice due to the first skull files getting corrupted. So that has a piece to it

But anyways context over and now this au has been in my brain with only vague skrim assets because i fucking hate that that civil war has anything to do with anything of the main questline it can FUCK. Right off

Basic storyline premise my brain had! We start out with a currently human vintage caught between a mysteriously similar civil war :) he's chosen neither side but since his home was destroyed by the stupid shit idiot war he's basically gotten really good at pissing off both sides. Sometimes he gets caught! And the good-ish soldiers will see that he is you know a still kinda baby-side teen full of anger and try to lrt him go with a talking to. But his worst encounter would be when the angy soldiers catch him and beat him up, which just deepens his hatred. And one time someone really messed him up bad!

He ends up limping away into an enchanted forest and drawn by a really good smell, he passes out just in front of this really beautiful lilac tree that was in a clearing like "ok this is a nice tree to die by. Peaceful" but ofc he didnt die. He just woke up to a nymph of the tree he chose taking him up to the center of the tree. And that's how he befriends Skull, he's recovering with him and keeps mumbling about how nice the smell is while skull both cares for him and looks around for his potion savvy friend. Once vin is healed up by aviators he realizes pretty quick that this forest is very much between the war path and figures it's highly appropriate to set traps all over!!! But ofc giving avi and skull very specific instructions on how to avoid the things he sets. He also makes good pals with omega in the town nearby bc she helps at an institude and she's been sneaking him into their library to read up on nymphs and share his own notes in return. Shes like you're my little brother and hes like fuck u (but also thank you sorry) and he gets to discover he has a high affinity for magic despite being human. Weird! Anyways now that he has a place of study he can figure out how to teach skull weapons.

But all is not peaceful for long, bc some old shitty wizard trails this knowledgeable little jerkwad, because variant nymphs are rare! And as the guy comes out of the bushes and pisses vintage off by treating skull like a specimen and taking out a pair of scissors like, "i wonder if its really true that you can take memories of one by severing branches from its tree:)" Vintage basically attacks the guy! Because no taking Skull's memories! And skull helps of course bc friend, but unfortunately this guy is very strong and seasoned. So when vintage almost gets a good life ending hit, the wizard wounds him heavily (resulting in an x-shaped scar deep on his face that got him bad in one eye) and opens a portal to basically hell! Vin is gonna fall in but skull makes the effort to try and use the roots of his tree to pull him out. But knowing he can get sucked in too, vintage just makes a promise to get out somehow and come back, sealing it by giving the gift of a small ring he was saving. Unknown to him once he falls and portal closes, skull definitely makes the wizard into plant food! But on the floor of this hellscape, vintage finds himself with some flowers and seeds that had fallen from the tree, a tail, and a new nubby pair of horms and wings. But despite this, he gets up, gathers the seeds, and thinking back on his affinity for magic, he decides he will grow the lilacs while he figures out an escape, all the while being reminded of skull every time he looks at the stuff. It takes some years, and some demons also looking for an escape love his tree and his story (mainly double who helped persuade spirits into protecting the tree and gave vin tips on horn and wing upkeep) but eventually vin has his break when he hears omega call and together they pry open a portal out of there. He's pulled along by a red sole (very excited feral magician) and now he and double are finally out. Double introduces himself while vintage, with magical hell-lilacs tied around tail, disguises his demon features and runs off to find skull.

Only to find the entire forest burned down. He's in shock for some time, wanting to know how and why. One of the last things he saw was a killing blow from skull, it couldn't have been that wizard- but then he spots a soldier's settlement nearby. Hidden amongst charred trees. They chatted merrily, loading up gathered game, and when he asked, they told him the forest was another victim of their pointless war. It wasn't even a turning point, and one of them even laughed and said they'd get "the bad guys" next time.

When the sick of this, much older teen, gets angry enough that his horn-hiding illusion falls, they all quite suddenly realize they've majorly screwed up. And vintage figures out that he has a taste for souls. Red finds him again after though with a gift, a calm pet and a gentle informing that he should be able to visit his hell lilac tree anytime he wants at least. A nice gift, but vintage is too angry at the moment to appreciate it and decides that hes ending the war himself by killing every single person directly involved with it! At times the armies had tried to work together to stop him, but with the power to morph melificent style into a dragon is a pretty solid way to make sure you're just wasting lives, and people figure out pretty quick it's the commanders he wants. Those are sacrificed, but now you just have a very powerful demon with nowhere to place his still burning grief that's very very hard to approach! But word gets around as it does and a blue group of adventurers take up the task of calming the demon and dealing with his haywire magic and deliver a hard truth - that he might have to move on with the friends he made along the way. Post fight, the vampire cruising with blue team scoops vin with some tlc plans and asks that blue team to locate the friends vintage had, and maybe even look into his older friends. And once vintage is awake in a rather cleanly and impressive vampire mansion, he's given news that emperor had heard of a wood elf taking care of a rather flowerless and purple nymph, working with a lot more potions than usual. One can't even begin to describe how relieved Vintage is by this info that his first friend, at the very least, is still alive. It may just take time to get to him with post-magic owchies and all, so emperor decides to send out a nice and classy letter to those friends he had found, inviting them over.

Oh and the only reason skull miraculously survived the warring and forest fire is definitely becausee of the lilac tree currently sitting pretty in hell

SO UH YEAH THATS MY PLOT SO FAR FOR THIS FANTASY AU YEAH VERY WILD I HATE CIVIL WAR QUESTS FUCK CIVIL WAR QUESTS

[biotic-boshtet]

Aftermath - Chapter 2

Read on AO3

Chapter 1

Sugar?

Kaidan steps through the door into the medbay, greeted by the smell of antiseptics and the doctor’s warm smile. “You wanted to see me?”

“Yes, I’m having a bit of a problem with our dear Commander, she’s locked herself in her quarters with a migraine, and normally I wouldn’t fuss, but she’s been in there since yesterday, and when I stopped by to check up on her this afternoon, she wouldn’t open the door. As far as I can tell she hasn’t so much has poked her head out that door since she shut it. I did consider calling Jeff down to check on her, but I’d hate to bring him all the way here and have Shepard turn him away. You’re the one best equipped to handle the situation at hand.”

“And you said she’s been in there for 24 hours?” Kaidan knew the stress of the 2 weeks since Virmire was taking its toll on the Commander, and that she’s been working through a migraine, but he’d never seen her down for more than a few hours.

“A little longer than that, really, she stopped by yesterday around noon to tell me she was locking herself in there until the worst of it passed. I believe her exact words were ‘Once my brain stops trying to implode and ooze out of my amp jack’.” Dr. Chakwas grimaced at the description as she repeated it. “I offered her a dose of painkillers, but she waved it off and went on her way.”

“Yeah, ouch, I’ll see if I can’t convince her to at least eat something.”

“Thank you, and good luck.”

-

Thermos of coffee, water bottle, and hot leftovers in hand, Kaidan leans against the wall beside the door as he sends off a message to Shepard. Hopefully, she was awake. Knocking wouldn’t work, the chances of her hearing aids being on were slim. He’d noticed she had the habit of turning them off when things started to overwhelm her. Feels like they’ve been off more than on lately. He breathes a sigh of relief when the indicator light flashes from red to green, and the door hisses open. As the door shuts behind him, it’s clear that she’s turned off every light she possibly could. The emergency lighting along the floor is still on, though he’s sure she considered cracking into the electrical panel to deal with them.

Walking further into the dark room, he almost believes she isn’t there. Almost. He spots her curled up with a pillow over her head as he pulls a chair up to the side of the bed. Her field feels different without her amp in, softer around the edges, but it still vibrant enough to pop and fizzle against his own. As he sits down and sets the food and drinks on the end table, Shepard moves her pillow to squint at him. He tries not to let his eyes linger on her bare arms or the near meter of hair spread across the mattress.

“Doc told me it was a nasty one.” Kaidan signs, “So I came with coffee. Pretty sure it’s strong enough to give a Krogan heart palpitations, so it should help.”

She pulls herself up to sit against the headboard. She looked like hell. “Sugar?”

“Plenty, don’t worry.” He uncaps the thermos and passes it into her waiting hands. As she takes a sip, her eyes slide closed and Kaidan swears he’s never seen such a blissful look on her face. He lets her enjoy the coffee for a moment before catching her attention again. “If you’re feeling up to it, I’ve got some leftovers too. If you don’t eat soon, I think Chakwas might break down your door and sit on you until you do. Or worse, drag you to the medbay.”

Shepard almost reluctantly sets the coffee down, reaching for the container as Kaidan snaps open the lid and sticks a fork in the steaming spaghetti. The second she takes a bite it’s like a switch flips and the second and third bites follow soon after. Half the container is gone before she pauses to take another drink of coffee and glances up at Kaidan. “I know this is just leftovers, but fuck, it tastes so good I could kiss you.”

Kaidan laughs as his cheeks redden, and he brings up his omnitool to check some emails while she finishes her food. He needs to distract himself from the fact that he wants her to kiss him. He makes sure to send one off to Chakwas, reassuring her that he’s gotten Shepard eating and at least caffeinated. He moves the bottle of water closer to the coffee, waving his hand next to it catch her attention and let her know its there.

“So. Ears are on now, by the way, don’t worry about signing. I had an idea, to boost morale. I can’t be the only person on this ship cracking under the stress, so I’m gonna see if I can’t work out some kind of sparring match in the cargo bay. Prizes and stuff, plus something extra for the first crewmate who can get me down on the mat.”

“Yeah? You sure anybody’ll go for it?” He spoke softly, the way she kept her eyes half closed told him the pain was still very much there.

“Oh, you know, I’ve overheard a conversation or two, some of the other marines are totally sure they can take me, just, without the biotics. Remember, some of these jarheads have never actually seen me in the field.”

“Yeah, or they’d never dream of going toe-to-toe with you. What’s your grand prize?”

“Probably some credits and a few pistol mods? I don’t know for sure yet.”

“I think it’s a great idea, help everybody loosen up a bit.” He checks the time; he drew the short straw for the watch in the CIC. “Alright, I’ve got my watch coming up soon, so I’ll get out of your hair. Go check in with Chakwas if you can brave the lights out there.”

“I’ll try.”

Kaidan makes it halfway to the door before he remembers the chocolate bar in his pocket. The good chocolate. Not impossible to get ahold of in space, but also not high on any Alliance requisition lists. He walks back to the bed, partially melted chocolate in hand.

“I forgot about this. A good bar of chocolate almost always helps a migraine.”

She looks reverently at the chocolate, hand outstretched, but not grabbing it. “Are you sure? This is definitely not on any of our supply lists.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ve got a few more stashed away, don’t worry about it.” He presses the bar into her hand, closing her fingers around it. He’s halfway out the door when she speaks again.

“Kaidan? Thank you.”

“Anytime.”

-

Kaidan watches what has to be at least 2/3 of the crew milling around the cargo bay, navy and marines, humans and aliens, all chatting and joking around. He’d picked a good spot, back near a wall, next to Joker. Near the center of the bay, he hears a thud as the Commander puts another marine on the mat. She offered up a prize of 300 credits and a few choice pistol mods to the first person who could get her on the mat, no biotics, no tech, just good old fashioned hand-to-hand. At least Shepard’s got the decency to help them up off the mat after she kicks their asses. Still, even after half a dozen crewmates beat, there’s still plenty looking to try their luck at beating Commander Shepard. She doesn’t even look like she’s broken a sweat.

Kaidan fiddles with his omnitool, pretending he isn’t interested in the match. Another marine hits the mat, and his eyes flick up watch Shepard help Fredricks up onto his feet, and this time she looks right at him, a mischievous glint in intense brown eyes.

“You up for a challenge, Alenko?” Her voice carries clearly over the chatter and general noise of the cargo bay.

Kaidan knows he’s got the look of a deer caught in headlights but recovers gracefully enough. “Oh, no, Commander, I’m content just watching you take out every other marine on board.”

“What, are you scared you’ll beat your CO? Don’t worry, you won’t.”

Joker leans over, with a hand up to his mouth for an especially dramatic stage whisper. “You know if you walk away the crew will never let you live it down. Neither will Norah Jean. She’ll be bringing it up for at least the next 10 years. Believe me.”

Kaidan looks between Joker and Shepard, who’s still standing on the mat, hands on her hips and already looking like she’s won. Then he sighs and wades through the onlookers. Once in the ring he looks down at her. “You know, you’re a real pain in the ass, right?”

“I try.”

Kaidan makes his way to the table set up a few feet from the edge of the mat and makes a show of taking off his uniform shirt, then unplugging his amp, setting both on the table beside hers. Slowly they begin to circle each other.

“Think you can beat me?”

“Shepard, I have no illusions of how this is going to end. I watched you bring Fredricks down in 6 moves. He’s twice your size. My chances aren’t looking good here.” He throws a jab at her left side, testing her reflexes, and she blocks it easily.

They trade blows, trying to whittle each other down, and Adams is clearly about to call it in a draw when Kaidan lunges forward. Then the cargo bay blurs and his back slams onto the mat, knocking the wind right out of his lungs. Shepard is beaming above him. She offers a hand to help him haul himself up, and he moves for his discarded shirt and amp.

“Uh, yeah, Shepard, remind me not to get in your way.”

She pats his shoulder and gives him a thumbs up as she drinks her water.

[gamma-cray]

16.11.20 / some old notes from talks I went to in the past (I collect most of them in a notebook)

I can’t believe I managed to post almost everyday this semester, for (?) 96 consecutive days:”) now that it’s more or less over, I guess I won’t be posting as much for the next few weeks. Some reflections/future plans after the break

Reflecting upon this semester, although results are not out yet, I’m glad these things kinda worked for me:

sleeping more regularly (reallY helped with overall wellbeing and ability to function;;; probably had.. less than half an all-nighter)

although not having all-nighters meant asking for deadline extensions, I learnt it’s actually !!okay to ask for extensions;; (afterall, especially after a few semesters, I know my own pace I guess)

clearing lectures more quickly (rather than hogging/accumulating pictures of slides and recordings? still can work on this tho)

using office hours! to clarify doubts! so I can move on and learn more effectively!

less is more: taking less physics mods (like 3, rather than 5), this allowed me to gain more from each rather than scramble to catch up in all of them

I still find that, yes, indeed, I freeze up and don’t absorb much content a few days before an exam. (I suppose this means I should continue putting in consistent effort during the rest of the sem so I have more to “fall back on”?)

! I gotta do my tutorials more diligently (sometimes I get stuck because I’d feel like I need to nail the content before attempting problems, but I guess that’s not optimal for progress during a busy semester. Would have to continue finding a balance between I need to get this content right and hell with it I’ll just whack the problem set first)

So I guess this is for future me to reflect/learn from? 

Also, since my exams were so early and I had no finals, I’ve got an extra 3 weeks of winter break:)) plenty of stuff I’m looking forward to this break:

starting discussions about urops/final year project (and perhaps start on urops?)

side job: coaching secondary students for a physics competition

having some time to do more in our science comm/outreach/demonstration “club”/organization thing!

time (and headspace) to learn things I didn’t get to effectively pick up during term time: LaTeX, coding for plotting, so on

hoping to get an interface and figure out how to connect my electric guitar to computers and mess around a little:^)

!! probably gonna update the theme/picture/stuff for this blog:))

general decluttering/brain dumping, at the end of this weird year

for now/for today, I’ll just be doing some light reading for tomorrow. Gonna meet the professors for the first time to kick off discussions about urops/fyp;; shall see if I have any questions/doubts to bring up?

to quote lyrics from The Who, I’ve got a feeling 21 is going to be a good year

but after 2020 I don’t think any of us have any much expectations so;;

anyway, next year/sem (second half of year 3), I’ll be on to start on urops, taking level 4k core modules, working towards finishing A2 German, and before I know it I’ll be in my last year of undergrad:”) time flies and life sucks sometimes but I guess there’s still things to look forward to!

[mydearestreaderfanfics]

Rather Be (Keith x Reader)

Warnings: swearing, alcohol, pining, light angst (with a happy ending)

Word Count: 4,858

Prompt/Request: wb an imagine with my boy keef and a childhood best friend crush,, bonus for blushy flustered keef lmao

Summary: An old promise from their childhood brings back old feelings. When both Keith and the reader fail to communicate, though, will the promises from the past be kept?

Author's Note: Rather Be by Clean Bandit is the musical accompaniment for this fic. What do you guys think, should I add on a song for all fics/fic requests?

Author: Mod Alex

“Keef!”

The young boy dropped his toys and turned around to see his best friend. Although he’d never admit it, he loved the way they mispronounced his name, it was… cute. “(Y/n)! What are you doing here?”

“I came to make a deal.” You held out a paper to him, an adorably serious look on your face.

“A deal?” He took the paper, looking over the crayon written words. The writing was messy and mistake-ridden, but it didn’t matter to Keith, what mattered was that it was a proposal to Keith, a marriage proposal.

“You are my bestest friend ever. So, I’ve decided that if I’m not already married in twenty years, which is like a million years away anyway, then we should get married.”

Keith’s surprise turned into a smile which turned into a laugh. “(Y/N), you’re only 7-”

“And a half! You're only 4 months older anyway, I’m basically 8 like you!”

“Okay, you’re 7 and a half, but shouldn’t you wait until you're older to get married.”

“I am, didn’t you read it? It says 20 years away,” you pointed at a large blue 20, “see? Right there.” You huffed crossing your arms and looking down, your serious face crumbling as you toed at the dirt.

“Okay.” Keith figured if he did want to marry someone one day it should be you.

“Okay?” You looked up, failing to mask your surprise.

“Yup. Oh, I think we need to sign this, right?”

“Oh, right!’ You fished two crayons out of your pocket, handing him the red one, and keeping your favorite colored one for yourself. After setting the paper on the sandbox’s lining you both signed, sealing a contract that would be forgotten for a long time. 19 years to be exact.

-

You were going through some old things of yours (your parents had asked you to come home to see what you wanted to keep and what you wanted to toss as they needed your old room cleared since they were planning on moving). As you were in the process of going through your childhood stuff, you stumbled across your old treasure chest filled with drawings, toys, and crumpled at the very bottom-- a wedding certificate. You laughed as you pulled it out, flattening it as best as you could. Keith absolutely had to see this. After tugging out your phone you sent him a quick message to hurry over.

Keith got there not even twenty minutes later looking for you somewhat panicked. After an apology and a brief explanation, he calmed down. Actually, he was pretty amused. “I can’t believe you told me I was going to marry you.”

“Hey! You’re the one that agreed.” The both of you were laughing as Keith looked over the paper.

“According to this, we’re supposed to get married in a couple weeks.” Keith grinned at you, blushing slightly from what you assumed was second-hand embarrassment from your younger selves.

“Oh gosh, so it does.” Your giggle fit picked up again, as you continued to speak through it. “Guess we have to get married. A contract is a contract, as they say.”

“I’ve never heard that saying, I’m not entirely convinced you didn’t just make that up.”

You held your hand to your chest, barely containing your grin. “Are you, Keith Kogane, saying I’m making things up?”

“Oh absolutely.” He smiled, not even trying to hide his smile.

You gasped dramatically. “How rude.” The paper in your hand caught your attention once more. “Why did you sign it? Way back then, I mean.”

“Why?” Keith took the paper from you, smoothing out some of the worst folds and eyeing it fondly. “How could I not? You came up to me that day and I vaguely remember feeling intimidated-“

“What?! By me?! Your friend?!”

“Well, sure. You came up to me holding this sheet of stark white printer paper- which has seen better days now, but back then it looked official-“

“Kind of what I was going for,” you laughed.

“Right. So any way you come marching up with an official-looking piece of paper and then basically declare that you were going to marry me. And I was intimidated. I mean there was this person I liked-“ Keith fumbled over his words, speaking more quickly after his accidental confession, “and they were asking me to marry them. It was a time of very strong intimidation.” He laughed awkwardly, hoping you hadn’t caught his blunder. “Anyway what are you going to do with this?”

“Wait! You liked me?!”

“I- um- yeah…” He fiddled with the edge of the paper before handing it back to you, noticeably uncomfortable.

“Wow.” The word came out as more of a sound than an actual statement. “I’m just- I can’t believe it. I guess since we signed this I’ll have to keep it. Just, y'know, in case I don’t fall madly in love with some rando within the next three weeks.” You spoke clearly, although your voice did have a slightly teasing tone. It wasn’t mean, though, far from it, if anything it sounded kind of flirty. You hoped Keith understood you were being genuine.

He flushed. “Yeah, maybe… Hey, I’ve got to head out, Shiro’s having this thing and he asked me to go. I’ll see you later?”

“Sounds good. Maybe Sal’s tonight?”

“Sure.” Keith grabbed his bag and basically bounded out of the room, face aflame.

You felt a little guilty about flustering him so much, but really you were feeling quite overwhelmed yourself. Keith and you’d been friends since basically the day you were born and yeah, you’d had a crush on him, and yeah, maybe you still did. But you couldn’t just come out with it. Besides, there was no way he liked you still anyway. You’d gotten a rise out of him for your own amusement (and maybe to see if he still had feelings for you), but you were certain it was just his embarrassment at the situation that made him so flustered. You were a little crushed, to be honest. To be completely truthful you wanted to do nothing more than bottle your feelings up and binge video games all night to forget the awkwardness you’d just set in place, but no, you had already asked Keith to meet you at Sal’s.

-

By the time evening rolled around and it was time to head to Sal’s you had worked yourself into a pit of guilt and regret. Keith wasn’t there when you got there. So you took up residence in the lone booth at the back where the two of you usually sat. Ten minutes had passed before you saw your friends Shiro and Matt walk in. Keith still wasn’t here so you waved them over. They seemed happy enough to see you, you were happy to see them too, even if you had been hoping they had Keith with them. They didn’t.

“(N/n), hey! Is Keith with you?” Shiro grinned, leaning down to side hug you before sliding in opposite you. Matt slid in next to you pulling you into a hug that quickly became a noogie.

“Gah! Matt what the hell, what are you five?” You shoved away from him, giving him the bird as you turned back to Shiro. “No, he was supposed to meet me here like half an hour ago, I thought maybe he was with you.”

“I haven’t seen him since this afternoon.”

“Shit. Did he seriously stand me up?”

“Oh? Did you two finally confess your undying love for each other? And here I thought we had something, (N/n).” Matt lounged against you and you grumbled despite smiling at the dramatic man.

“First of all shut your mouth. Second of all, you know you’re the only one for me.” Shiro barked with laughter and Matt nuzzled in closer to you and you rolled your eyes playfully at the act. “Jesus, you’re being worse than usual, are you drunk?”

“He’s got a buzz.”

“Ah. That makes sense then. Matt, my darling lover, I need you to get your bony ass elbow out from my rib cage.” He laughed as he sat back up.

Though he had been smiling at the antics of his friends only moments prior, Shiro was quick to take up the serious role. “Wait, so you haven’t seen Keith since this morning.” You nodded. “Did something happen between the two of you?”

You flushed, this was the conversation you were hoping wasn’t going to happen. Still, you couldn’t lie to Shiro, the man was pretty much a human lie detector to his friends. “Kind of… I found this dumb thing from when we were kids this morning and I think it upset him.”

Shiro cocked his head to the side. “But Keith loves looking through things from your guy’s childhood.”

“Well, I think maybe it was more so what I said about it. I may have been a bit out of line with my joking.”

“What’d you say?” Math looked at you, eyes widened.

You buried your head in your hands to hide your face. “I may have implied we should get married.” Both Matt and Shiro broke into a fit of laughter at your expense and you groaned. “Guys shut up! Look I didn’t know what else to do, he told me he used to have feelings for me and I guess I was just feeling bold. I’ve been beating myself up for it all day.”

Shiro caught his breath, quietening his chuckles momentarily. “He told you that? And I assume it’s safe to say that you're referring to the fake proposal back in- oh gosh, I want to say first, maybe kindergarten?”

“Second-grade, and yeah. I mean, what would you do? You know how I feel about Keith and it was like he was saying the very thing I wanted to hear for basically all of my life and then he bails the second I reciprocate. The only thing I can think is that I fucked up, which honestly let's be real, is probably the case. And now he’s uncomfortable around me, and I don’t know what to do.”

Shiro blinked, face going slack. “Oh, wow. Okay. I can’t believe he actually told you. I don’t think you scared him off, (N/n), I think maybe he wasn’t expecting you to say anything like that and he didn’t know how to handle it. I’m sure if you give him time he’ll work it out himself. Until then you need to stop beating yourself up over it.”

“Easier said than done.” You crossed your arms, slumping in your seat.

“I know, but you’re going to have to trust me on this one.”

-

Keith had never shown up to Sal’s and honestly now that a few days had passed with him one wording you, Shiro's advice was getting harder and harder to follow. You were in your apartment, putting everything from your old room away when you stumbled across the object that caused this whole situation. You crumpled it, tossing it aside. “As if I needed the reminder.” Your birthday was rapidly approaching, with only little over a week left until the day. It was supposed to be a joyous occasion, but it only served as a reminder that Keith was avoiding you. You glared at the piece of paper laying crumpled pathetically at the floor. A sigh escaped you and you sunk to the floor, grabbing it again. It hurt sure, but you felt bad just tossing it aside like that. Why couldn’t life be as easy as you thought it would be all those years ago? You’d always loved Keith, that much should have been obvious from your proposal. But the idea that your feelings had been reciprocated and that they may not be anymore crushed you; even more than that, the idea that you’d ruined your friendship with Keith completely wrecked you. Even if you couldn’t have him as your significant other, you would always want to be friends; he was your other half.

Your phone rang and you jumped, startled by the sudden noise. The caller ID said it was Matt. Decline. You just couldn’t deal with his silliness right now. The phone rang again and you were irked to see Matt’s face pop up again. Decline. You pressed down on the screen as if the more aggressive action would keep him from calling again. A moment later a message popped up. It was from Matt.

Answer my call D:

You rolled your eyes. A second later the phone started buzzing again. You slid the answer button, annoyance written in your words as you clipped out a curt “What?”.

“About time, I was wondering if I’d have to come to your house to tell you.”

“Tell me what?!”

“Now, now. Is that any way to talk to someone with good news?” His voice was a singsong that only proved to grate on your nerves further.

“You know what, I don’t care.”

His laughter faded. “Okay, okay, sorry. Yeesh, this whole thing has really gotten to you, hasn’t it?” He was quick to take on a more empathetic tone, it was much appreciated on your end.

“I’m sorry, I’m being kind of an ass, aren't I? But, yeah, it has. Anyway, what was your news?”

“Shiro has a surprise for you!”

“Wait, what?”

“Can you meet us at his place?”

“Yeah-- wait, Matt, what’s the surprise?”

“It wouldn’t be a surprise if I told you, now would it?” You tried to speak again, but the line went dead. He’d hung up.

You wanted to ignore the phone call, but you know if you did the curiosity would linger much longer than you’d like. So instead, you huffily slipped on your jacket and shoes and headed out to Shiro’s place.

For having a surprise for you, Shiro wasn’t very quick to answer his door. When he finally did open the door he was red in the face and looked like he had just been running laps. You guffawed. “Are you good?” Too breathless to answer, he just nodded, stepping aside to let you in. “What were you doing-- the hell is this?”

“Oh that, that’s nothing. You look great, but hey have you thought about going out, like with us?” You blinked slowly at Matt who was trying to pull your attention from reusable grocery bags that were spilling out streamers and other various decorations.

“What are you talking about?”

“We’re going to go party and you’re coming with us. No more moping. But maybe you might want to get a little more dressed up, that’s on me, I should have told you before. I was just worried you wouldn’t show up.”

"I wouldn’t have. Matt, I don’t want to go out partying. Besides you’re a little early, my birthday isn’t for-”

“We know! But you needed a pick me up, look it won’t be one of those shitty bars, okay. Somewhere more laid back.”

You rolled your eyes again. “What's wrong with what I have on now then?”

“Pwetty pwease. Look, we even bought you a gift!”

Matt pulled out a nicely wrapped gift box, Shiro must have wrapped it.

“Go on, open it.”

So you did, pulling the ribbon and tearing the paper off. Inside the box was an outfit, and despite your earlier protests, you smiled. It was a number you’d been eyeing for a while now. “Thank you both. Fine. We can go party, but just for a little while. Let me go get ready first, yeah?”

“Sounds good.”

-

The place they ended up taking you was Oriande, a place that landed somewhere between a club and a bar. It was classier than most of the bars on the road, but it also still had a dance floor giving it a more casual atmosphere as opposed to the high-class lounges up the road. It was still early in the evening, the sun just barely touching the horizon when you went in. Pastel neon lights engulfed you, the soft yet bright pinks blues and purples inviting you deeper into the establishment. Honestly, you were surprised you hadn’t been here before, it was just your style. Shiro ushered you over to a table nearer the back that looked like it had been decorated for an event. Oh, dang, were you here for someone else's party? But you didn’t even bring anything-

A cheery lady approached you. “You must be one of our bachelorxs!” She clapped a hand on you back and before you could get a word in edgewise she continued. “Now, your hubby-to-be isn't here yet, but that doesn’t mean the fun can't begin right?” She laughed friendly, before continuing, barely a breath in between her last sentence. “So," she stretched out the 'o' so that it sounded more like 'ooh', "we’ve set up a nice little bar section for your party, and of course since it's your party there's an open bar. Your planners were very thorough! If you need anything just holler!” And like that she had run off to attend other matters.

You rounded on your friends who were looking particularly guilty. “What the hell did you do!?”

“Look before you say anything-”

“No. I-” You pinched the bridge of your nose. “I get that you wanted the discount or special treatment or whatever, but did you really have to rope me in?”

“Well actually-”

“Shiro? Why’d you ask me to meet you here? Isn’t it kind of loud--...” There was Keith looking a little worse for the wear than when you’d last seen him, but he had still cleaned up well. Your attention immediately left Shiro.

“Keith?” His face paled as you approached him, eyes darting away as if searching from an exit; your heart clenched painfully. When he realized he couldn't so easily dart away he begrudgingly looked up at you, face a soft pink, although it might have just been the lighting-- it was hard to tell.

“(Y/n)... Hey…”

“It’s nice to see you again.” Even though you don’t want to see me, you thought bitterly. “Did Shiro invite you? It looks like it’s somebody’s party.” This caught him off guard.

“I... it is?”

You shrugged. “I’m assuming, although I think Shiro,” You yanked the fleeing man over, grip iron clad on his arm, Matt had already made his getaway, “and Matthew are running a bit of a con, but there are free drinks so...”

“Oh, my gosh, you two are so cu~ute! You must be our bachelor, I'm sure your fiance must have filled you in, so if you need anything let me know. I’ll let the bartender know that you’re both here.”

You watched in mortification as the chipper woman from before clapped a hand on Keith’s shoulder, effectively labeling him as your fiance. His face was burning with a blush, you were certain it wasn't the lighting this time. “No- that’s not--”

“Berry! We got an issue!” Someone from behind the bar shouted at who you assumed was the chipper lady. She frowned. “Shoot. Sorry, I gotta go handle this, enjoy your party!” Your anger from before you saw Keith had been reignited with a vengeance.

“Okay, so maybe I should explain…” Shiro looked beyond nervous.

“You think?!”

“It was Matt’s idea. Well, okay so originally we thought maybe we could pretend to be getting engaged for a couple of free drinks but then you two… well, you’ve both been a mess and refused to confront each other… So Matt came up with this idea, which in hindsight is kind of a shitty one, but hey now you can talk and there's plenty of pre-paid liquid courage to help you.”

“Shiro!”

“I’m sorry that we put you in this situation, but I’m not sorry I tricked you both into coming. Who knows how long you two would’ve gone on avoiding each other? And I can't deal with you both being upset over the same thing just because you don't want to confront each other. You both have been beating yourselves up, and waiting around for the situation to just magically right itself. So if it takes alcohol to get you to talk, then so be it." Shiro had taken on that authoritative aura of his and you huffed. You hated it when he was right, and he usually was.

"Fine." Your voice sounded cold even to your ears. You hadn’t meant for it to and you couldn't stand the thought of seeing if Keith reacted to it. Honestly, you weren't sure if it would hurt more if he did or didn't. Instead of looking you stubbornly grabbed his hand and dragged him to somewhere you could talk without shouting. You ended up finding yourselves alone in the hallway to the restroom, the music was still blaring but it was far enough away that you could actually talk. You finally let go of Keith’s hand, turning around to face him. It was almost too much, after so many days of having been rejected by him. Your nerves gripped you with a renewed sense of terror. You couldn’t talk, instead, you felt your throat tighten. Fuck. You were gonna cry. You hadn’t dragged him all the way over here just to cry in front of him. A strained whimper left your lips when you made to speak and you quickly snapped your mouth shut, turning away in embarrassment. Why now, of all times did your emotions have to be getting the better of you.

A shaky hand wiped your tears away. Your eyes shot to meet Keith’s. He looked unsure of himself like he would dart away at any second and yet, he still stood before you, gently brushing away the tears that refused to stop flowing. “H-hey, (N/n), hey… No, no, fuck. Shit. I’m sorry. I didn’t-- I didn’t mean to make you cry.” That only made you cry harder and soon enough Keith had awkwardly pulled you into his arms. It was no unknown fact that physical affection was one of the quickest ways to comfort you and as your childhood best friend, Keith knew this better than anyone. “I,” He cleared his throat, “I know I fucked up. I never wanted to hurt you. I’d rather die.” He paused and for a moment you thought that he was done talking and tried to focus on recomposing yourself. You never left his arms though, afraid that stepping away would mean you’d never get to be this close to him again. “But I- I didn’t know what to do… I was scared. My feelings for you were laid out and I couldn’t be sure what you were thinking.” Something wet hit the top of your head-- Keith was crying too? “So, I did what I do best and I ran away. I shouldn’t have, but… What else was I supposed to do?” His voice wavered, his question coming out near breathless and timorous.

“I don’t understand? Why were you scared? I don’t care if you used to have a crush on me as a kid! I’m sorry if I scared you off with that stupid comment, I just… I don’t know. I thought maybe…” You had pushed back, this wasn’t a conversation you could very well have with your face smooshed into Keith’s chest. Regret clenched around your heart like a chain, but you’d already froze before. You forced yourself to meet his eyes, the beautiful violet-grey causing a short-lived wave of calm to wash over you. They were familiar, and yet the tears falling from them were not. Keith rarely cried. Acting on instinct alone, your hands made to wipe his tears away. He let you, watching you with a piercing gaze that was trying to dissect your every movement, find answers in the space between your words and your actions. He couldn’t find any hidden meanings, but he couldn't find any answers either.

“Comment?”

“What?” Your voice croaked out, sounding just as confused as he had.

“You said stupid comment? What comment?” Was he serious? Hadn’t your flirting been what caused this all to spiral?

“When I was flirting with you! Isn’t that what ran you off? I mean I didn’t actually mean we had to get married, just like a date or- or whatever…”

“Wait you were flirting with me?!” You felt like screaming, how had you managed to get yourself into this predicament of giving Keith your feelings on a platter thrice in your life now? Regardless of whether he knew or not, you felt like vomiting from the nerves.

“I thought it was obvious?” You laughed, but it came out strange and garbled, “I mean, shit Keith, I only propositioned you for marriage twice now.” The idea was both incredibly embarrassing and way too funny.

He seemed to feel similarly as a snort left him, quickly preceded by a fit of laughter that you too couldn't help but join in on. The both of you sounded delirious, and honestly, you kind of were. Tears flowed freely as you laughed, making you feel as though you may have lost it. When the laughter finally died down you were left shaky and almost numb. But the weight was no longer on your shoulders so that was something. “In your defense,” Keith’s hands had come to wipe away your tears again, completely dismissing his own, “I’ve technically never refused your propositions either.”

Your hand met his on your cheek, stopping the motions but also stopping him from leaving. “I mean, you did run away the second time…”

“But I never said no.”

“Are you saying you want to marry me?” Your brow arched, eyes searching his for a sign that he was joking. Surely, he wasn’t actually saying he wanted to marry you.

His eyes widened and he glanced to the side bashfully. “Maybe not a week from now… Honestly, though, I don’t think I could ever even imagine myself spending the rest of my life with anyone else? Like you’ve been my constant since basically day one and I’ve… I’ve had feelings for you for almost as long.” You could feel the tremble of his hands, letting your grip tighten slightly afraid he might run again if you didn’t. Your other hand moved to press his ridiculous fringe out of his eyes.

“Oh, Keith.” You couldn’t help the soft smile that found its way to your lips. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

He bit his lip. “That depends on what you think I’m saying?”

“Keith… Please don’t make me wait any longer to hear it.”

He laughed, although you could still feel the slight tremble in his hand. “(Y/n) (L/n), I have wanted to be with you since we were in second grade, maybe longer, and that’s never changed. If you’ll have me, I’d love nothing more than to be with you.” He paused a beat. “Oh, but, um, I do think marriage would be rushing it... “

You giggled, though he sounded monotone, you knew he was joking. “I’ve waited this long, I think I can wait a while longer if that’s what it takes.” The two of you shared a laugh and before you knew it, Keith had gently tugged you back into his arms. With your face pressed firmly into his chest, you could feel the erratic beating of his heart. “But really, Keith. I’ve had feelings for you for as long as I can remember. I’m glad we finally get to be here like this.”

“Speaking of, do you want to dip out and go somewhere-”

“Less loud?”

“Yeah.”

“That would be lovely.” With your hand in his, Keith led you through the crowds, neither of you bothering much to say goodbye to the now tipsy Matt and supervising Shiro, instead of finding your way outside into the crisp evening air. It felt like you could breathe finally, although you suspect part of it was because you no longer felt the crushing pressure on your chest of hiding your feelings for Keith. In fact, you realized with delight, you could now… “Hey, Keith?” You stopped on the sidewalk, with him by your side, eyeing you curiously. “Can I try something?”

“Okay?”

Letting the last of your nerves roll off of you, you took your moment of boldness and leaned up to press a chaste kiss to the corner of his mouth. Keith startled, after a moment his hand left yours, instead, finding purchase on your waist to tug you closer. “(Y/n), can I try something?” His voice was barely audible, but it still sent shivers through your spine.

“Okay.”

He smiled softly before moving to capture your lips with his own. The kiss was tender and filled with love. His inexperience showed, but it was endearing and you found yourself leaning in to kiss him again after he pulled back. You were left breathless under the lamplight, grinning just as brightly as that day on the playground when Keith first agreed to be yours. And now that he’d agreed once again, well you couldn’t be any happier.

[pcprminibigbang]

PCPR Mini Big Bang Fic Claiming Time!

Today’s the daaaaay!

Under the cut, you will find the summaries of the fanfics our Writers have been working on. They have been posted anonymously, labeled only by number.

Artists, go through the summaries carefully and figure out which ones you’d like to work on the most! Please pick three choices and then hop on over to your email to send your fic claiming email to pcprminibigbang@gmail.com! If you are confused as to how this process goes, please check your email inbox for emails Mod has sent concerning the full details on how to claim a fic.

For those not participating in this event, please feel free to read through the summaries as well to get a sneak peek of what our Writers have been working on!

Okay, that’s enough talking from Mod. Here are this event’s fics!!!

FIC #1 : CLAIMED!!!

He shuffles to the door, reaching for his gun just in case before he pulls it open, startling the short man who was waiting on the other side.

"Goddammit, Burger!" Vang0 hisses, leaning a little closer, eyes darting to the sides. "Can I come in?" He asks bluntly, as if they had been talking just a couple minutes ago and this wasn't their first chat in about a week. We're not that codependent.

"Wh- why are you out this late? And with a bag?" He frowns when he sees the uncharacteristic plain green duffle bag hanging from Vang0's shoulder, completely contrasting with the man's clothes, even if this time he went for more subdued colors.

"Let me in and I'll tell you," the blonde retorts as he puts a foot in the corner, ready to push himself inside as soon as Burger gives him room for it.

And Burger can't say no, has never been able to say no to Vang0, so he just rolls to the side and lets Vang0 in before slamming the door closed again.

"Why are you here? Not that I don't appreciate ya visiting, just... it's late and yer carrying a bag," he points out, tilting his head a little. "Y’know you can talk to me, Vang0, right?"

"Y-yeah, that's why I'm here, I-" he pauses, taking a deep breath "I got in trouble, I hacked into something I shouldn't have and I need to lay low for a while"

-

Vang0 Bang0 messed up, big time, he needs help to get off the radar for a while, and of course that his best friend Burger Chainz would help him, and a road trip seems to be the best way to make him drop from the face of earth until things have quieted down. But the empty roads bring nostalgia and an unearths feelings both of them thought deeply buried. They say that road trips change you, why should that be different in the cyberpunk future?

-

Vang0 Bang0/Burger Chainz, getting together fic, Teen rating, no ao3 warnings needed, maybe some minor canon violence. It's a slightly introspective fic, more focused on how Burger realizes some stuff and how he deals with it.

CLAIMING RESTRICTIONS: None

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FIC #2 : CLAIMED!!!

Turtleneck Heathen Today at 8:15 PM …… did u just ping me to ask if i wore heals

Badass Business Bitch Today at 8:16 PM *heels yes i did and do you?

Turtleneck Heathen Today at 8:17 PM not usually?? ill wear em if its like a big thing or w e i guess (Edited) i mean i havnet really had the oprotuntiy to wear em

Badass Business Bitch Today at 8:19 PM are you intentionally misspelling words to make yourself seem cooler to me?? Vang0 I watched you lick a stranger’s nose

-

Vang0 doesn't remember his birthday. Or his age. Or his interests, his likes, his dislikes, the password to his CollegeBoard account.

(Well, one of those is less important than the others.)

That being said, Burger wants to throw him a birthday party. Dasha is interested, despite herself. A series of assumptions are made, some feelings are hurt, and some lessons are learned.

-

Ships: Vang0/Dasha/Burger if you squint but pretty much a gen fic

Rating: Probably G, bordering maybe on T for swearing

Sensitive content: Canon-typical amnesia, a little bit of angst, some oblique canon-typical gun mentions, maybe a panic attack later in the fic- I haven't quite decided if that's gonna happen or not yet?

Other info: It's a pretty lighthearted fic focusing on the relationship between the three of them! No AU, pretty much just comedy and fun all the way through. I haven't ironed out all the details of what's going to happen yet, but that's gonna stay pretty consistent- there'll be some angstier/less funny bits here and there, of course, though.

CLAIMING RESTRICTIONS: None

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FIC #3 : CLAIMED!!!

Vang0 chewed his lip, feeling uneasy.

“What’s up, friend? You’ve got a big ol’ frown on your face.”

Vang0 blushed. “I’m not- I’m just- thinking. I mean, Joltik usually travel with their mother Galvantula, and it’s unusual for them to be seen without one, so these ones might have been separated from their mother.”

Burger frowned. “Well, that ain’t good.”

Vang0 nodded. “And Galvantula can get very angry when separated from their young.”

Burger opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by someone yelling loudly.

“BURGER! Burger, where the fuck are you!?”

Vang0 watched as Burger spun around and started towards the basement door.

“Burger!? Are you down here? There’s a huge fucking-”

“No, don’t come down-”

Burger was cut off as the door flew open, and someone catapulted into the basement.

Vang0 stared, eyes wide.

“Burger,” he said, “why the hell is Dapper Dasha in your house?”

-

Seven months ago, Vang0 woke up in a half-destroyed laboratory with no memories of his life before that. He's made something of a life for himself fixing people's technology, because he somehow knows how to do that really well.

And Burger Chainz is just another one of his clients. That is, until it turns out Burger's hiding ex-Pokemon Contest star Dapper Dasha in his house - who hasn't been seen in two years and just so happens to be Vang0's role model.

Vang0 definitely isn't freaking the fuck out. And he definitely isn't falling in love with Burger, either.

-

Vang0 Bang0/Burger Chainz. A Pokémon AU where Burger owns a farm, Dasha is an ex-contest star in hiding, and Vang0 has no clue what's going on. Rating: Teen. Warnings: mentions of blood and violence, nothing explicit

CLAIMING RESTRICTIONS: None

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FIC #4 : CLAIMED!!!

clink!

clink!

clink!

Vang0 Bang0 jumped in his seat as the van hit a bump in the road, speeding upon the old, graying highway. The trinkets they had collected over their various traveled crashed and banged, one almost hitting the window. The loud trinkets and music blaring from the car stereo didn’t phase Vang0. They weren’t sure where he was going, but it sure wasn’t home.

Vang0 wasn’t focused on the road, he was focused on something...else. It wasn’t the other cars; there weren’t any. Most people stayed in Night City, so the roads weren’t full a lot, he knew that. But this road doesn't have anything, anything that would ever prove that anyone had ever existed near here. Not even a bottle.

-    

After an eventful drive, Vang0 Bang0 finds themself on a beach with no discernable exits. No stairs, no ladders, not even a boat. Confused, Vang0 comes to terms with what he’s found in Night City, and what they’ve lost along the way. (Also they/he pronoun Vang0 rights)

-

There are no ships in this fic. I am likely to rate it Teen and Up audiences, since while there is no explicit or intentionally upsetting content, it might get a little sad at times. I’m not 100% sure about the exact direction my fic is going to go, there might be a car crash (not to graphically described, Vang0 is not hurt very badly, since this is [spoilers] a dream or metaphor about Vang0 coming to terms with memory loss). And since it is a dream sequence with no clear exit, this may be an unreality situation.

CLAIMING RESTRICTIONS: Only minor Artists can claim this fic.

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FIC # 5 : CLAIMED!!!

Upon Burger barging into Dasha’s bedroom and announcing that he got tick- stop screaming Vang0, it’s just me, got tickets to a film festival tonight, are you guys in, Vang0 informed him that they had “a job tonight, Burger, did you even check the zoogle calendar, we’ll go tomorrow or something,” and no, of course Burger hadn’t checked the calendar, that’s Dasha’s job, and sure we can get tickets for tomorrow too but the Winston Rider film is only showing tonight and I thought you guys might be interested -- “Winst- do you mean Winona Ryder?” -- and after about five minutes of schedule comparisons Dasha simply shoved Vang0 out of the bed and declared that she was going to the movie with Burger, Vang0 was finishing their job, and Burger was going to make her some coffee because “it’s too fucking early for this” even though personally, Burger thought 11:00am was a perfectly reasonable time to be awake -- he was probably missing something, or maybe Dasha had just been up late, Vang0 was definitely a blanket hog and Burger knew from experience that sharing a bed with them would be more likely to result in a semi-conscious tug of war than a decent night’s sleep -- so Vang0 got up to do their job and Burger went and made some coffee and Dasha relocated to the couch, where she downed the coffee and some eggs and promptly fell back asleep for another three hours.

-

Burger loved Dasha, of course he did, he loved spending time with her and he thought she was beautiful and the idea that they might be dating -- might have been dating for a while -- sat warm and comfortable in his chest, but, except, it just was that, he hadn’t realized that how they interacted might be how two people that were dating behaved, he was just hanging out with his friend, he did stuff like this with Vang0 all the ti- -- now wait, wait a second, now hang on just a second --

a.k.a. 5 times Burger missed the point +1 time he caught a clue

-

Dapper Dasha/Vang0 Bang0/Burger Chainz, Rating: Teen, content warnings for implied violence, drinking, implied sexual content

CLAIMING RESTRICTIONS: Only adult Artists can claim this fic.

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FIC # 6 : CLAIMED!!!

“What is this? What’s going on? Why am I dressed like I’m straight?” Vang0 hisses, gesturing to everything around him and the wrongness of it all.

“Seriously?” Candella rolls her eyes, unimpressed. “You couldn’t have scheduled your existential work breakdown until after our shift? You don’t see my lesbian ass complaining while I’m on the clock, do you?”

“I—What? Am I speaking another fucking language? You answered none of my questions!”

“Yeah because it’s 9am and the morning rush just ended so I do not have enough energy to indulge just,” Candella gestures at all of Vang0. “whatever is going on with you right now.”

“What’s going on with me right now is that I’ve found myself in a bougie caffeine establishment fever dream that just so happens to have the shittiest store playlist in the history of ever.” Vang0 says, bordering on manic as he looks up at the ancient speaker up in the corner of the shop. “Seriously, what is this terrible song?”

“Hey, Soul Sister by Train.” Candella still, amazingly, does not look alarmed or worried.

-

Or the one where Vang0 is a barista at Zero and One’s Cafe...except he’s not.

This isn’t his fucking job, this isn’t his fucking life, and it takes a quick look around the horrifyingly low tech coffee shop he’s in and the fact that he’s missing a USB port on his neck to be painfully aware that this isn’t his fucking universe. This is a 2010s over idealistic portrayal of adult mundanity that he and his friends are stuck in and Vang0 has to get them all out of this nightmare before he commits customer service acts of violence.

Bring it on, Coffee Shop AU. Bring. It. On

-

Dapper Dasha/Vang0 Bang0/Burger Chainz. An absurd existential romantic comedy where the trio somehow get transported into a Coffee Shop AU against their wills. Rating: Teen. Content warnings for slight absurd horror and canon typical violence.

CLAIMING RESTRICTIONS: None

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FIC # 7 : CLAIMED!!!

“That guy in my english class,” Dasha could hear through the speakers the distinct sound of combat boots stepping on cement. What was Vang0 doing outside at this time, alone? “The one I told you about! Burger-” “The one you’ve been crushing on for months and you’re too much of a coward to ask out?” Dasha already knew everything about this guy, Vang0 saw him on the first day of senior year in his english class and he hadn’t shut up about him ever since. 5’10, large and muscular shoulders, nice to everyone and just dense enough that everytime he said something you would automatically think “wow… thank fuck you’re attractive,” but not in an irritating way, you know? Vang0 exhaled, which Dasha interpreted as a yes. “Well I couldn’t ask him out even if i wanted to,” “Huh?” Dasha could hear the cogs in her own brain turning, trying to process what was being said to her. “Because he’s dating a blonde g-” she heard Vang0 stop on his steps and his tone becoming more dry, “are you even listening to what I’m saying?” Dasha yawned audibly and tried sitting up again. This time she succeeded, “yeah, yeah, I’m listenin’. How did you find out about this and why did you decide to call me at nearly 2 am instead of just waiting until tomorrow?” “I followed them and I saw them talking.” “You’ve lost it.” - Dasha received a call from Vang0 at 1:47 am one saturday night, and everything went downhill from there. They were not friends, she couldn’t understand why Vang0 acted like they were, but they weren’t, because Dasha didn’t have any friends. Except that, when she sees Vang0 struggling, for the first time in 18 years of life she decides that maybe this one idiot is worth getting soft over. And so she helps him bleach his hair over a cup of coffee and a can of Spunky Monkey. Because why the fuck not. - Main pairing is platonic Vang0/Dasha, background ship is Vang0/Burger. The whole story is from Dasha’s POV. Genre is just a very typical teen romance story except that it’s focused more on platonic bonding rather than the actual romance. Vang0 calls Dasha late at night, tells her he wants to bleach his long dark curly hair and cut his bangs after seeing Burger with a blonde girl, and he goes to her place. She helps him do the deed in her bathroom (she’s still elite) as they realize how much they care about each other. Initially inspired by that one scene in Scott Pilgrim where Knives Chau dyes her hair. Rating: general audiences, content warnings: lots of swearing, implied addiction/addiction enabling, shoplifting mention. CLAIMING RESTRICTIONS: None

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FIC # 8 : CLAIMED!!!

vang0 officially disappears on march 23rd, 2040. exact time unknown, but whatever conspires that morning takes place before burger wakes up.

if he’s being honest with himself; he’s seen it coming for a little while now. vang0 isn’t the routine type, he’s young and whip smart and drinks so much redbull that the stuff must pump through his veins.

burger’s an old dog. older than vang0 by at least 2 years, he’s sure. he doesn’t have much, and god doesn’t that sound cliche, but he’s stupid and optimistic- and really. he must’ve known somewhere that the kid wouldn’t stay. he’s got a nasty drug habit that burger cant support and a look in his eyes like he wants the world- burger cant even buy him a fake ID.

this happens sometimes, the coming and going. vang0’ll disappear for a week if he’s lucky, a month if he’s not, but never longer than that.

no use crying over spilled milk.

-

vang0 goes missing, burger velmently pretends nothing is wrong until he doesnt, and dasha has to pick up the pieces.

-

missing person fic, burger/dasha/vang0 implied, but nothing explicitly mentioned or talked about, drug use mentioned, mature, canon typical violence, kidnapping, and other canon typical shit- it is night city after all lmao, kind of introspective, alot of burger just thinking back on his relationship w vang0 and shit, but there is some plot as well ig

CLAIMING RESTRICTIONS: None

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FIC # 9: CLAIMED!!!

“Anyway, dude, what’s up? Or did you just come over for a cola because you ran out of your own?”

“Oh, right,” Vang0 says. He is still thinking about the man, and Dasha, and Dasha and that man, and Dasha’s long fingers and Dasha’s hair falling over her face as she purses her lips and blows upwards, her breath scattering strands of brown hair around her sharp cheekbones. “Um, there was something on the forum, I think - I think there’s a thing. For us. Should we call Burger?”

“Oh, Burger’s here,” Dasha says. “Somewhere. Burger!” she yells.

“Burger - but he spent the night?” Vang0 says, brain processing too slow somehow.

Dasha doesn’t respond.

“Did you -”

“Have a threesome?” Dasha asks, in her usual blunt way. Her face is pretty expressionless, eyes severe under the liner and blinking less than a person should, but Vang0 knows her pretty well, he can see the corners of her mouth turning up. That means she thinks something is funny. “I don’t think so. Burg!” she calls over her shoulder. “Did we?”

-

When Vang0 sees a JumpTrash post about vandalism at a club down town, he figures it will be an easy job for the trio - find out who did it, have Burger intimidate them, done. But things are more complicated than they seem, and the gang ends up drawn into a complex scheme involving the Brotherhood of the Screaming Abyss, conspiracies and hit men, and people from their past they thought were long gone. Along the way, they'll have to decide what they want out of this job - and what they want from each other....

-

This is basically an elaborate CAPER, with a bunch of feelings and shit thrown in. It's a job and then it's a crime story! Its kind of a noir? Can I write a noir? WE"LL FIND OUT. It's gonna be fairly long assuming I can get my act together and put in all i want to put in. Like every good story, it's got plot and whatnot but the plot is just a fulcrum around which to wrap some found family polyamory shit, baby. It's Vang0/Dasha/Burger, duh and it takes them a minute to get there but they'll get there! Its gonna have canon-typical violence, basically - none of the trio die or anything, but other people do, and there's blood. There's gonna be a sex scene because I'm not an AMATEUR. Drug use, too, but mostly in happy fun ways. I haven't fully sussed out some of the flashbacks, but probably some oblique references to past traumas, probably Vang0. Nothing explicit, no reliving events or anything. Also i'm 1000 years old, be warned!

CLAIMING RESTRICTIONS: Only adult Artists can claim this fic.

[avengers1shots]

Shut Up and Punch Me

Peter Parker x Fem! Reader Warnings: some bullying (name calling), which is never cool lol Request: Girl going to school with Peter Parker, and having abilities of your own. You two are recruited for opposite teams and having to fight each-other. He is very intrigued by your fighting techniques, and when you get back to school he realizes it was you he fought. Thank you!! 

A/N: I used Y/s/n to mean your superhero name, as well as the usual Y/n for your name.

   Midtown High School was just like any other high school. You learned stuff, drowned in homework, and experienced occasional typical high school drama. There was one anomaly that set Midtown High apart from all others (except for Xavier’s of course). Two superheroes hid among the student body: you, for one, and Spider Man. You happened to see him sneak into the building in his suit once, but you hadn’t seen who was under the mask. Not yet, anyway, and it was driving you insane. You weren’t used to being caught off guard.

   When you first started patrolling NYC, you didn’t expect to run into him nearly as frequently as you did, and you certainly didn’t expect to run into him during your most important battle yet. Of course, he was always interrupting your bad-ass bad guy takedowns, but now your super cool, super critical-to-your-superhero-career, super dangerous team battle too? This had to be some sort of joke. The guy was entertaining at times, but lately everything he did rubbed you the wrong way.

   Just a week earlier, you had been stopping crimes with the friendly neighborhood Spider Man, and now you were fighting alongside Captain America, The Falcon, Scarlet Witch, The Winter Soldier, and Hawkeye to face Iron Man and his equally powerful superhero lineup. You had been instructed by Captain America to stick with him and only engage in battle if absolutely necessary, but for some reason, as soon as you saw the red and blue spandex-clad teen hero, you went for it. Wasn’t there such a thing as turf or something? If there was, the arachnid was definitely all up in yours. You tackled him to the ground, only to be greeted with the same idiotic remarks as usual. 

   “Y/s/n, fancy seeing you here. It’s almost like we planned it, I-I mean I didn’t plan it, but we run into each other so often, fighting and stuff, you know, it would almost seem like-” you cut him off.

   “Oh I know. It’s beginning to get on my nerves, web-head.” You replied rather pointedly, pinning his arms to the ground while straddling him. The position you were in was no doubt suggestive, but you were too pissed to care.

   “Is it really? Oh I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-”

   “Spidey-boy?” You whispered.

   “Y-yeah?”

   “Shut up and punch me,” you continued, voice low. With that, you pushed yourself up and off of the utterly confused teenage hero, taking a defensive stance.

   “Wait, what?” Spider Man replied, getting up and scratching his head. 

   “Spidey, you are always getting on my nerves,” you say as you throw a punch aimed for his jaw. He barely manages to dodge it, as he throws his hands up in a defensive attempt. 

   “What was that for?” He asked, taken aback, as he sprung up.

   “That was for you interrupting every. single. one. of my takedowns,” emphasizing each word with another punch. “Also, for every witty line that escapes your mouth, and for being a superhero in the same freaking school as me,” you paused for breath. “Oh, and in case you didn’t notice, we’re kinda on opposite teams.”

   “Wait wait wait. Hold on,” he paused, bewildered.  “How do you know we go to the same school? I wasn’t even sure that we were the same age! You’re always so quiet when we fight and kinda angry, I guess, and I-”

   “You’re doing it again.” You cut him off.

   “Y/n?” You stopped advancing on Spider Man as Steve spoke through your earpiece.

   “Steve? What’s wrong?” You immediately responded while you tried to locate him in battle.

   “In case you forgot, I told you to not engage unless absolutely necessary, and we need your help. Now.”

   “Sorry Captain!” You quickly apologized, already beginning to run to his location.

   “Nice to see you, Y/s/n,” Steve teased.

   “Sorry, I thought you’d be able to handle yourselves,” you replied with a smirk. Just as you were about to spring back into action alongside your team, your ever-present interrupter swung down to stop right in front of you.

   “Hold on! You can’t just try to attack me, say we go to the same school, and run off!” Spider Man exclaimed, clearly exasperated. 

   “Seriously, how old are you guys? Like twelve?” Hawkeye chuckled.

   “Y/S/N, get your middle school boyfriend outta here,” The Falcon joined in.

   “Spidey,” you said, ignoring them while advancing on Spider Man, “I can run off when I want, and I did. Problem?” 

   “Yeah!”

   “Then do something about it.”

   “Tony, why’d we recruit him and not her? I like her,” said Black Widow. 

   “Fine! I will!” Spider Man then webbed your hands together.

   “Finally,” you said, rolling your eyes, as you swing your now connected fists into Spidey’s side. With the distraction of you and your frenemy’s verbal battle now dissolved, the fight truly broke out between both teams.

   Spider Man let out a groan, and as you managed to hit him already, you weren’t going to go easy on him. As much as the thought of fighting someone you knew from school might have pained you, you had to remain focused since Spidey was on the opposite team. Spider Man noticed you were lost in thought, and he decided to take advantage and webbed your ankles together. You looked down, trying to escape from the webbing that was binding your hands and legs, but your struggle made you fall forward, crashing into Spider Man and falling on top of him. (Insert flirty pun here lmao). Your face flushed slightly, but you quicly refocused and headbutted Spider Man before rolling off of him and onto your side. Squirming around quickly, your body bent so you could reach your tied hands into the pouch attached to your belt wrapped around your waist. You pulled out a knife, flipping it around to cut the webbing off of your ankles and then your wrists. Getting back up from the ground, you noticed Spidey had recovered from your  headbutt.

The two of you continued to fight, the battle between you was fairly even. You groaned out of frustration, this was becoming pointless. As much as you hated admitting it, Spider Man had the same skill level as you. The two of you were just tiring each other out - and that’s when shit hit the fan.

As soon as Ant Man grew to the size of a formidable skyscraper, Cap yelled for you to leave the airport. Knowing this fight had evolved past your ability level, and with Steve’s heads up, you managed to escape before anyone even noticed you were gone. It sucked to have bailed early, but you knew your parents would ground you forever if you weren’t home in time for school tomorrow.

   Despite the fresh bruises, and having been involved in the biggest superhero fight of the century just the day before, Peter made his way to his first period class. He couldn’t help but wonder as he wandered the familiar halls if you were at school too, and if you were wondering who he was. Of course you wouldn’t be, he thought to himself, as just the day before you had seemed extremely annoyed with him. He shook his head to clear his thoughts as he ran a hand through his hair. That was when he noticed Y/N, standing in the hallway trying to defend her friend. He didn’t really know Y/N well, but he shared some classes with her and thought she was a cool person, and also super pretty. She and the aforementioned friend were just minding their own business at a locker, but Y/N’s friend was being relentlessly taunted by one of the queen bees. Peter was just about to jump in when Y/N finally snapped. 

   “Look, I can insult my best friend, but if you do it again,” you stepped closer to the girl, “You’re going down.”

   “Do you remember when I asked you for your opinion? No? I don’t either,” the girl said and pushed you out of the way.

   “Do you really want your ass handed to you in front of this many people?” You asked and gestured to the crowd gathered around the two, hoping to watch the drama unfold.

   “Like you could hurt anyone more than your friend’s face does on the daily.” Following that last remark, you put your hands on either side of the girl’s face and headbutted her. 

   “You should learn to use your head more often; there’s got to be something in there other than air,” you stated, as she lay on the ground clutching her head. You turned to your friend, “Come on, let’s get to class.”

   As you walked away, Peter couldn’t help but recall the similarities between the headbutting of that girl and the one he received from Y/S/N yesterday. Y/S/N had said that they went to the same school, but what are the chances it was actually Y/N? Only one way to find out.

   “Hey, Y/N!” You turned around at the sound of your name, only to come face to face with Peter Parker. He was some totally adorable super genius that you hadn’t really ever gotten around to speaking to.

   “What’s up, Peter?”

   “I was just thinking, that that was, ya know, pretty cool of you.”

   “Thanks,” you smiled, and maybe even blushed a little.

   “Some would even say heroic.”

   “Oh I doubt that,” you smirked. Little did he know.

   “So do you headbutt people often?”

   “I wouldn’t say so,” you paused, as you narrowed your eyes, “What are you getting at, Parker?” Now it was his turn to smirk.

   “I dunno. Maybe you should shut up and punch me?” He had the biggest shit-eating grin on his face.

   “You’re freaking Spider Man?!” You whisper-yelled in the busy hallway. He simply shrugged, his face still adorned with that smile, as he backed away and began to disappear in the crowd.

  “Hey! Parker! You can’t just say that and run off!”

  “I can run off when I want. Problem?”

- Mod Mainframe

[catboymuqing-moving]

this is just a long paragraph of me lamenting the state of my sims game

uggg ever since i got snowy escape the simulation lag in my sims game has gotten unbearable and then a sim in my household died and suddenly it’s completely unplayable.. i tried deleting all the random townie households and clearing out my other played households and deleting a load of mods but it’s still not working as well as i want it to :/// i think i have to just give up and move my household to a new save file and start over, which sucks bc i’ve been playing the same file for like 2+ years and have 4 generations worth of family tree and stuff built up (i have a FUNCTIONAL CEMETERY with generations of sims in it!!!) but it’s so unplayable now i think i’ll just take the L and see how much stuff i can transfer over -.- and ik that if you’re getting a lot of lag u should have less objects on the lot but decor is the 1 thing i refuse to compromise on so. fuck. it might also have a lot to do with the new custom traits i added to replace all the broken ones i used to have so that’s double annoying since i LOVE those. i forgot where i was going with this. i don’t want to start with the same old shitty townies again

[photorose11]

An Unbreakable Bond Ch. 4

Here’s chapter four of ‘An Unbreakable Bond”! Finally. I need a new laptop; it takes me so long to type on this thing cause the keys are so damn old. So I really love this chapter. The beginning is cute. There’s a father and son talk in here that I think is important; and is my favorite part of this chapter to be honest. The end of this chapter is definitely DIFFERENT cause I NEVER write stuff like that, but this time I couldn’t help it SO DONT JUDGE ME. LOL 

The Chapter is titled “Unconditional’ which is a song by Freya Ridings. I HIGHLY recommend checking out this song. I pretty much sang it the whole time I wrote and typed this chapter out. lol It is beautiful and it has MAJOR ichiruki vibes AHHHH I love it!  

Disclaimer: I don’t own Bleach (Just really good fanfic idea..)

--------

Chapter Four: Unconditional. 

An hour had passed since they had talked. Afterwards, Ichigo had gone downstairs to grab some snacks which included chips, Pocky and two cans of soda. They sat cross legged on the bed again, leaning against the wall with a bag of chips between them. He had grabbed the Pocky from the kitchen cabinet for her, since he knew she loved Pocky. He figured she probably hadn't had it in awhile and he was correct.

"Thank you for the Pocky! I haven't had it in so long, I forgot how good snacks are!" He could practically see the heart emojis jumping out of her eyes while she happily munched on another Pocky stick, he couldn't help but be highly amused by her enthusiasm for sugary sweets.

"I figured you missed it." He said simply, before grabbing another chip out of the bag. She looked at him sincerely before taking a sip of her soda and setting it back on the floor. She had missed this more. She never thought she would get the chance to spend time like this with him again. The snacks were nice, but being able to talk and laugh with him again felt like one of the greatest things to ever happen.

She stole one of his chips before grabbing the bag and leaning over to put it on his side of the bed. She scooted closer to him, so she can lean her head on his arm. She knew she could get used to this, she did not want to leave in two weeks. She felt more at home in the Kurosaki household then anywhere else.

Then something dawned on her. What were they after everything that had just happened between them? Would she be considered his girlfriend? If so, would they tell everyone right away? Could she even tell Soul Society about this? She knew with the last, probably not. She glanced up at him and saw a light blush beginning to creep up his cheeks.

"So, would this make you my girlfriend?" He asked her, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. She continued to look up at him, her face growing warm again. 

'How the hell does he constantly know what I'm thinking?!'

Not that she minded it. She preferred him being on the same wavelength as her. It just showed how connected they really were to one another. His question made her blush, but she had to remember this was Ichigo. She had nothing to be shy about with him, not after he had just been kissing her against his bedroom wall. Her blush deepened. But she thought about his question.

Suddenly she jumped up out of her position, her box of pocky flying off the bed. Her sudden burst of energy made him jump and he gave her a questioning look. She sat in front of him tucking her legs underneath her, and gave him a sneaky look before clearing her throat.

"Ichigo Kurosaki, are you asking me to be your girlfriend?!" She asks in her chipper High chool voice she used to use on their unsuspecting classmates. Ichigo gave a deadpanned expression, before a grin over took his face. He had even missed her bubby facade she put up for everyone at school, and to think years ago he had found it annoying.

"Is that a yes?" he asked her hopefully, eyebrows raised. She gave him an exasperated look before leaning over and smirking.

"What do you think, fool?" she whispered, meeting him halfway. Rukia could get used to this. she felt him begin to wrap his arms around her waist, before they heard the front door opening. They pulled apart, eyes wide.

"That would be dad. Should we... you know.." he looked away, hoping she was understanding what he was trying to say.

"Tell him? I think that would be best." She kissed his cheek before pulling away and sitting back on the bed, awaiting his father who was sure to burst through the door. Sure enough...

"ICHIGOOOOOO!!!!!" Isshin Kurosaki bursted through his sons bedroom door, arms failing. Ichigo stood up, putting a hand against his fathers forehead to slow him down, a look of irriation on his face.

"WHY ARE YOU SCREAMING AT ELEVEN AT NIGHT OLD MAN?!" The orange haired senior shouted back. Isshin stopped then, and looked to ichigo's right seeing Rukia sitting on the bed smiling at the two. Tears instantly trailing down the older mans face, a look of glee on his face.

"MY BEAUTIFUL THIRD DAUGHTER IS FINALLY HOME!!!" Tears started to stream down his face in a comical way before he calmed down and looked at her, a smile setting on his face.

"It is good to see you again, Mr. Kurosaki." Rukia said, sincerity in her voice. She had missed Ichigo's father as well. He may be loud and over does it a little much (Okay, a lot) but it was because he loved his family and he had always treated her with respect and kindness.

"Hey now, we're practically family! Call me Isshin or even dad, being called 'Mr. Kurosaki' makes me feel like an old man." he said, laughing.

"But you are an old man, old man." Ichigp muttered under his breathe, in return Isshin slapped him over the head.

"OW! What the hell?!"

"You had that coming, son."

All Rukia could do was cover her mouth an laugh while Ichigo rubbed his head but then smiled over at Rukia. Isshin looked at the two and noticed his son giving an actual smile for he first time in two years at the Shinigami sitting on his bed.

"Think you and me can talk downstairs for a minute, son?" Ichigo looked over at his father in surprise, meeting his eyes.

'Does he already know? Just from being in here for two minutes?' Ichigo wondered.

"Yeah, I'll meet you downstairs." Isshin modded, before smiling ar Rukia and walking out the door to go back downstairs. Ichigo turned back to Rukia and gave her a look she could easily read. Rukia got out of bed and stood in front of him.

"Go talk to your father. Tell him." With that said, she gave him a short kiss before returning to the bed and laying. He stared at her, wanting nothing more then to do just hold her. She gave him a knowing smile before shoo'ing him with her right head.

"Go on, Strawberry. I'll be right here when you get back"

"Yeah, yeah Midget." he said annoyed, although he had a small smile on his face. With that said, she watched him walk out the door. She turned on her side, looking at the bedroom door and waited.

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

Ichigo walked down the stairs and saw his father sitting at the kitchen table, two cups of hot tea set out. Ichigo sat down at the table across from his father, where the other tea cup resided and picked it up. He took a sip before looking at his father, waiting for him to speak. The orange haired man couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the expression on his fathers face. He had his right elbow propped up on the table and his chin resting in his hand, an obvious grin on his face.

"So you did you tell her?" he asked his son just as said son had taken another sip tea. Ichigo spit his tea out, not expecting that question at all. He had never talked to his father about his feelings for Rukia, considering he hadn't realized their were romantic feelings until three weeks ago.

Seeing his son freak out and spit his tea out only made the older man laugh out loud, slapping his hand on the table; a knowing grin on his face. Ichigo looked at him in obvious irritation before getting up to grab a kitchen towel and wipe up the mess on the table. He settled back in his chair before speaking.

"How did you know?" his son asked, honestly curious. Isshin raised an eyebrow.

"How did I know that you had feelings for her or that you had told her? Which you did, right?" Ichigo rolled his eyes before crossing his arms, ignoring his fathers questions with a typical Ichigo look. Isshin signed, beginning to drum his right hand fingers on the table.

"You didn't make your feelings obvious or anything like that. But i know of everything you did for her. Going to Soul Society, stopping her execution. I know that is something you would do for anyone you care about, but there were moments in time years ago where I would see the way you looked at her when she wasn't looking. You actually gave her the same look before I came back down here. You probably didn't even realize you were giving her a look."

Ichgo's mouth hung open before closing it and speaking, very curious at this point with what his father was saying.

"What look?"

Isshin stopped drumming his fingers and looked up at his son.

"The look you give to someone you love more then anyone else. It's the look I used to give to your mother. And that's how I knew."

Ichigo set his gaze down at the table, mulling over his fathers words before speaking.

"I did tell her. I didn't know about.. my feelings until a few weeks ago. But I told her." he said, matter of fact.

"So you guys are together now?"

Ichigo gave his father another look. Isshin grinned.

"I don't need to ask if she has the same feelings for you, I've already known that." Ichigo held his breath, giving him a confused look, and in return Isshin rolled his eyes. 

"You know everything she's done for you. She risked her life to save you, son. She was willing to die for you in order to save you. Almost everything she has done since meeting you has been for you. And let me tell you, Kuchiki's do not go out of their way like that so easily. Not without a very good reason. They follow the rules, they believe in order." He stated, more referring to Rukia's older brother.

"Yeah, but Rukia isn't exactly like that with rules and order."

"Not since meeting you." was his fathers quick reply, before taking another sip of tea, holding the cup in his hand.

"You changed her for the better, Ichigo.  Just like she changed you for the better." He stated matter of factly, looking down into his tea cup.

"I owe that women my life, Ichigo. I won't lie, I was worried about you for a little bit before you two met. I became even more worried after she returned back to Soul Society and you lost your powers.. I saw how it broke you. Rukia may have hid it a bit better than you, but I'm sure Byakuya saw how devastated Rukia was once she returned. She jumped at the oppurtunity to help Kisuke return your powers because she knows you and knew that's what you wanted. She saved my son, again. I'll never be able to repay my debt to her for everything she's done."

After everything he had said, Ichigo was stunned. He was not used to seeing his father so serious, and also were those tears in his fathers eyes? He watched his father take another sip of tea before looking at the younger man in front of him.

"I will tell you this. I know you two probably haven't talked yet about hiding your relationship from Soul Society. I understand hiding it. Because of you, things have changed a little bit in Soul Society. But I honestly don't think they would agree to a relationship between one of their own and a human. But then again, you aren't really human. Your powers are restored. I know for a fact you are stronger then most, if not all the Captains. " Ichigo nodded, agreeing with the older mans words before he continued.

"But I will support you no matter what, son. Both of you. And if you decided one day, weather it be soon or far off in the future; to decide to live in Soul Society and build a life there.." he gave his son a look in that moment that made Ichigo feel like a little kid again. His father knew Ichigo was meant to be by Rukia's side. He was giving him his blessing in doing that, however he may need to.

"I will support you one hundred percent, no matter what you decide to do. I just want you to be happy. You are happiest with her. I want you to stay happy. You've been through enough pain and struggle in your life already, its time you have the happiness you deserve.”

His dad finished his speech along with his cup of tea of tea before getting up to put it in the sink. Ichigo stood up, feeling shocked and a little emotinal. He wiped at his eyes before his dad turned back towards him, and before Ichigo could think he reached out and gave him a hug. For the first time in years. Isshin stood there shocked, before patting his son on the back. Ichigo clutched his eyes shut, willing himself not to get emotional. He never expected his father to say such things to him and he was thankful for it more then he knew.

"Thank you, dad."

"Anytime, son. That's what fathers are for."

------

Ichigo ended up saying goodnight to his father before going back up he stairs. He went to open his bedroom door before he noticed the bathroom light, and heard the faucet running. He knocked softly on the door.

"Come in." he heard Rukia say from behind the door. He opened the door and saw her brushing her teeth with her Chappy toothbrush. He reached over and grabbed his, putting toothpaste on it before sticking it in his mouth. She looked over at him before spitting in the sink and returning the toothbrush back in her mouth.

"I mished 'tis toosbrush sho mush!" She somehow managed to get out which pointing excitedly at the brush. Ichigo understood her and decided the sentence was a complete train wreck, although her excitement was rather cute. He couldn't help but raise his eyebrow at her. He took the toothbrush out of his mouth and spit in the sink before speaking.

"Don't talk with your mouth full, that's not proper for Kuchiki." he said, grinning before rinsing his mouth out with water and washing his toothbrush before putting it back. He watched her take her toothbrush out of her mouth and glare at him before spitting in the sink again and rinsing her mouth. She washed her toothbrush before putting it back next to his. she stuck her tongue out, and prompty kicked his shin before turning off the bathroom light and shutting the bathroom door behind her, leaving him in there to fend for himself.

"That's not proper for a Kuchiki either, Midget!" he yelled. She laughed, walking back into his bedroom. She picked up their empty soda cans and the empty chip bag and put it in the small trash can beside his desk. She laid her Pocky on his desk before pulling his blankets back on his bed. Unnoticed to her Ichigo had walked out of the bathroom and was silently sneaking up on her from behind. Right before she turned her head around he put his arms around her waist and playfully threw her on the bed, tickling under her arms.

"I swear.. ICHIGO.. I WILL.. KIDO.. BIND YOU. IF YOU.. DON'T STOP." she said in between laughter. He grinned and tickled harder, she kicked her legs trying to gain leverage to push him away but with no such luck.

"This is payback for shin kicking me." he said with a grin on his face. she continued laughing, years forming at the corner of her eyes. He rested his knees on either side of her waist, before he slowly stopped the tickling and looked down at her. She stopped laughing and was brething heavy. He knew she hated being tickled, the nerve of him!

Realizing the position they were in, Rukia raised an eyebrow before giving a sly grin and gripping the front of his shirt and bringing him close. Ichigo had no choice but to oblige and stared into her violet eyes that were looking way to mischievously at him. Before he could process what she was doing, she put her hands on either side of his stomach and started tickling him. He thew his head back, laughing and before he knew what was happening she was on top of him tickling his sides.

"YOU... SNEAKY LIL..MIDGET." he got out between laughter. She laughed along with him because this was just to much fun. Soon enough he had tears streaming down his face. She looked at him, and decided she rather enjoyed him happy like this even if it was while being tickled to death. A minute later she stopped. He was breathing heavy wiping at his eyes before looking up at her.

"To think the powerful man that defeated Aizen and saved worlds, becomes powerless from a little tickling." She teased with a widening grin; before poking his chest. He rolled his eyes and looked away muttering something along the lines "Kuckiki's always having to have the last word in." After a moment he gazed back up at her, noticing the position they were in; with her legs on either side of waist and her sitting below his stomach.

'This is about to get really awkward really fact.'

He thought to himself before blushing. She noticed the blush staining his cheeks, and soon realized why. He face became flushed, before she could do anything he leaned up to kiss her; before he did he flipped them to where the dark haired women was now laying on her back again with him leaning over her. She looked up at him, surprised written all over her face. Her cheeks were red, she was still breathing heavy as was he. Looking like that was making it very hard for him to think straight.

She could see that some passion and resolve in his eyes again from earlier. She reached her hands out to grip his shirt in her hands. This was still so new to them. She was trying to focus on steadying her breathing, but she was a mess and he knew it. He took initiative.

He leaned down, giving her a short kiss before going further and placing a kiss on her neck. He felt her breath hitch.

'What is he doing?!'

He eyes widened as she grabbed the front of his shirt harder. His legs were still on either side of her, he lowered himself closer to her before placing a kiss on the other side of her neck.

Rukia Kuchiki realized in that moment that this is the first time in her 153 years of life that she has ever felt like this.

He leans back up so their face to face. she's surprised to see, he's not blushing or looking away from her. She moves one of her hands up to curl into his hair before bringing him down, she kisses his neck back and she hears him make a sound she's definitely never heard him make before; and suddenly she is not shy anymore. Wrapping her legs around his waist, bringing him closer she kisses him like they did the first time. He enthusiastically responds back.

Taking her turn to be intuitive, she uses her strength to flip them to where he's now laying on his back; she hasn't broken the kiss and at this point she doesn't want to. She feels his hands on her hips pulling her closer. She ends up groaning which causes him to make one of those sounds again that she finds much too attractive.

They realize they do not want to stop. But they do.

She pulls back, trying to catch her breath. He kisses her forehead before she decides to lay her head on his chest. He holds her to him, arms wrapped around her. She feels him breathing deeply, heart racing. He slowly puts one of his hands on her back, running circles into her skin. She can't help but smile into his shirt, feeling her eyes growing heavy.

A few minutes later, after he realizes she's starting to fall asleep he slowly moves to get up. She wraps her legs around his waist and arms around his neck. He gets up, turns off the lamp on his desk and goes back to bed. He lays her next to him, and pulls the covers over them. They lay side by side, looking at the ceiling together.

"I don't want to go back." she confesses, softly. He turns his head to look at her. She looks incredibly vulnerable, he knows she genuinely means it and it makes his heart clench.

"Come here." he moves his left arm up so she can slide in beside him. She goes back to laying her head on his chest with her left arm around her.

"I know. But we are never going to go long without seeing each other. I'm not going anywhere. I promise you, Rukia." She lifts her head up to look at him before she kisses him, he kisses her back without hesitation.

That night she falls asleep listening to his heart beat. It's the first time they have ever been this close to one another in this way. And the first time in years she falls asleep with a smile on her face.

[usagi-mitsu]

This is something I never thought I would ever write – or would have even considered writing down even a few hours ago. But I feel like this needs to be addressed and I hope you all can forgive me for venting my feelings – about art, the reader/author relationship, art-theft, and the following consequence: deleted art.

And… this is also some kind of diary entry for me, to never forget.

About three to four hours ago, an artist who I truly admire, closed their account on Wattpad. Wattpad is not my personally preferred platform, simply because I’m not sure it’s ok for them to monetize an authors content the way they do – and that is a topic for a whole different discussion. But they had pulled their stuff from fanfiction.net a few years prior and (if it even was their account) even from AO3.

The last message they posted on Wattpad reads as follows:

“DUE TO PEOPLE CONSTANTLY TRYING TO STEAL MY FICS AND CLAIM THEM AS THEIR OWN, I HAVE REMOVED THEM ALL FROM THIS PLATFORM. VERY SORRY TO THOSE WHO HAVE READ AND ENJOYED THEM BUT ALREADY MULTIPLE TIMES MY WRITING HAS BEEN STOLEN AND IM DONE.”

 The author I’m talking about was called “Lusterrdust” on Wattpad and wrote the very popular Skyrim Romance Mod fanfiction about their Dragonborn Niamh and the mods main character Bishop. Their first story “Ranger of the Woods” covered the whole of the mod in about 52-53 chapters and told it beautifully: From when Niamh and Bishop first met in Riverwood (?), to them fighting side by side, him leaving her to go fight Alduin alone, them reuniting a few months later, the journey to Solstheim, the battle with Miraak and finally a small wedding far away from the public. The second story was called “Saviour of Tamriel” and was set about four years after the first one, with Niamh yearning to be a mother, while the Aldmeri Dominion was planning on slowly expanding it’s … well … dominion across the continent, with Niamh and the High King Ulfric receiving death threats, her actually getting pregnant and Bishop trying to keep his family as safe as possible. A meeting with the emperor Titus Mede was on the way and I think Niamh and Bishop were about to drop their baby boy Julian off with the greybeards to keep him safe, since the Dominion had already put a hefty price on the not even three month old infant.

 The reason for why I write this, why this is affecting me like this, is that Lusterrdust was the first author I ever interacted with: I wrote comments when I read the story and I left my impressions and came back to read it again and again. I even dropped theories in the comments, even though I knew the story was not yet one and when I left my ideas and theories at the end of one of the last chapters, they even asked me, if they could use my idea. And my comments were not there anymore, since I offered them to delete them – just so that nobody else would be spoiled by my … inspirational rants at the end of each chapter. (Which is why I assume Niamh and Bishop were in Ivarstead at the end of the last chapter – it was my suggestion to place the baby with the Greybeards. Who better to look after a baby, than a bunch of super powerful elderly men and an elder dragon..?

But aside from having a baby at the worst possible time, aside from Niamh and Bishop still trying to learn how to communicate with her being the Dragonborn and therefore a person of public and political interest, aside from a potential alliance with Titus Mede and a hopefully good ending for them all.. there was so much more: There was the sub-plot with Breezehome being remodelled to be an orphanage, Niamhs brother having been brainwashed by the dark brotherhood, Lydia and Farkas having a third baby, Vilkas being with a Mere (elven woman), the implication of Ulfric slowly growing old and openly admitting to wanting Niamh to be his High Queen …

There was so much yet to explore.

But the author stopped updating in 2018, when their grandfather died. Which was ok. And everything was still ok to this day. At least for me: Even though they did not publish any new content, I still had all those many chapters to read again and again in my own time, whenever I got to it.

And it inspired me. It inspired me so much, that I went ahead and dove head first into Elder Scrolls Lore. A few years back, I could name all the Daedric Princes (Sanguine is the god of tits and wine – change my mind) and tell you which of Tamriels nine gods ruled over which dominion and why the fight between the Elves of Summerset and the other peoples of Tamriel was utter religious bullshit.

It even inspired me to think about my own Dragonborn, a nord woman called Kahira van Rae, and what she would do in a situation like Niamhs. A train of thoughts, that lead to me having RP sessions with my friends via WhatsApp and hour long talks about the politics of fictional lands. It even made me call my new character in the next fandom I’d dive into “Shia Tamriel”. In honour of a story and fandom I had come to love deeply.

And while it has been some time since I last checked in with these stories, I never forgot them. I did keep on coming back, enjoying them again and again. And every time I read them, I discovered something new.

These two stories were important to me.

The author was important to me.

 And now, all of those things are gone, because someone apparently copied their work and posted them as their own.

And that’s what really gets me.

Some random person out there on the internet thought it was ok, to simply copy-paste another persons hard work and put their name on it.

And let me put this as simply as possible:

THAT IS NOT OK! NOT IN ANY WAY!

 Because of your selfishness, a few hundred people will never get to know the end of Niamhs story.

Because of your selfishness, a few hundred people will never get to reread the story.

Because of your selfishness, an author was hurt and annoyed so badly they decided to pull all their content.

You should be ashamed.

You stole someone’s precious art that they decided to share with the world and let me be clear – just because they shared their art, you are not allowed to simply make it your own!

 Copyright is an iffy topic in fandom culture, with different countries having different rules and different companies going after fan works in highly differing intensities. But it should be common curtesy to not simply steal another persons art! Be it literal artworks as in pictures or edited videos or cosplay ideas or written art like fanfiction!

If something inspires you, that’s great! But you always ask consent before doing anything with the art! And if asking consent is an entirely new concept to you, I’d like to ask you kindly to go educate yourself on it. It will not only pop up in fandom culture.

 To conclude this…

I’m just sad at this point. I remembered the story two nights ago and I jumped right back into it at some random point and read it. I even put up with Wattpads shenanigans like forcing me to log in to keep on reading or requiring me to download the app so that they can show me stupid 30 second long ads in between reading.

I know that the world is not ending because of this.

I am well aware of the fact, that it was just a story.

And I truly support the authors decision.

 But until they pulled all the content, until they deleted their account, I had always hoped to maybe one day read more about Niamh and Bishop. And Bragor and Julian. About their Ulfric and Ralof, Lydia and Farkas and their children. I had hopes to discover their Titus Mede and how they were going to resolve the conflict between Skyrim, the empire and the Dominion

But now I cannot even go back and reread the sassy exchanges between Casavir and Bishop. I will never again be able to experience Bishops anguish when Niamh receives an almost mortal wound. I’ll never again know the inner thoughts of the Dragonborn, who thought she was barren, getting told that she is pregnant.

 I think the author did the right thing. It saddens me nonetheless.

 So let me end this here with one last plea to everyone in every fandom out there:

Do not steal art.

 Thank you for reading.