#sv winter exchange

[stardust-falling]

stardust_falling 2023-24 Gift and Giveaway Fics Masterpost!

While SVLPO has been on hiatus, I've participated in several gift exchanges and also written three fics for a follower milestone giveaway, so I decided I would go ahead and list them all in one big post!

SV Summer Solstice Exchange:

Mirror's Reflection

Pairing: Shen Jiu/&PIDW!Native Shen Yuan Rating: M (read warnings!) Length: 63k

After killing his cruel shifu at the Immortal Alliance Conference, Shen Jiu rejects Yue Qingyuan’s attempts to bring him to safety and flees the conference. By chance, while fleeing the cultivation world’s pursuit of Wu Yanzi’s accomplice, he happens to run into a boy who shares his face and surname. This boy, Shen Yuan, is nothing like Shen Jiu— he’s the third young master of a wealthy family, who has lived his life without a single moment of hardship, and spends his days reading novels and daydreaming about traveling the world. Shen Jiu, jealous of his double’s easy life, is surprised and a bit baffled to find that Shen Yuan is discontent with living his life safely inside the walls of his family’s manor, and even a bit jealous of Shen Jiu’s ability to go where he pleases and do what he wishes without worrying about his family’s reputation or concerns. After Shen Jiu is mistaken for the lookalike by members of Shen Yuan’s own household, he proposes an solution: that the two switch places, letting Shen Jiu live Shen Yuan’s comfortable, idle life while the other boy travels the world.

SV Winter Solstice Exchange:

Basic Instincts

Pairing: Gen Luo Binghe & Sha Hualing & Mobei-jun, background Luo Binghe/Shen Qingqiu Rating: T Length: 5k

Keeping the demon world from collapsing into shambles isn't an easy task. Sometimes, Sha Hualing needs to let out a bit of pent-up tension with a nice friendly brawl against her fellow rulers.

QiJiu Secret Santa Exchange:

The Weight of a Promise

Pairing: Yue Qingyuan/Shen Jiu (pre-slash) Rating: M (read warnings!) Length: 27k

Yue Qi made a promise, and he will do whatever it takes to keep it-- even if he nearly destroys himself in the process.

At Cang Qiong Mountain's sword trials, Yue Qi rashly draws the ancient, powerful Xuan Su sword from Wan Jian Peak. He hopes that such a powerful weapon will give him the strength he needs to rescue and protect the friend he left behind, but when the backlash of a failed sword bond nearly costs him his life, he learns that impulsive decisions can have far-reaching consequences.

SV System Server CNY Exchange:

Counterfeit Jade

Pairing: Luo Binghe/Shen Qingqiu, referenced Yue Qingyuan/Shen Jiu Rating: M (non-explicit sex) Length: 11k

Shen Qingqiu would have been perfectly content to live the rest of his life as Shen Qingqiu, thank you very much. Unfortunately, the system had other ideas. It seemed that Shen Qingqiu— no matter which soul had donned this persona— was doomed to have the secrets of his past dragged out into the open and laid bare for everyone to see.

100-Follower Milestone Giveaway:

Twists of Fate

Pairing: Shang Qinghua/Shen Jiu (pre-slash) Rating: T Length: 8k

Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky's one goal as Shang Qinghua is to live as long and comfortably as possible in this world-- and to that end, he has resolved to stay as far away from the scum villain, Shen Qingqiu, as he possibly can, since nothing good could come from that association. Now, if only the two of them could stop being sent out on missions together!

Unfortunately, when someone makes a mistake, it's usually left to the two of them to clean it up-- and sometimes, Shang Qinghua can't help but be reminded of some of his own mistakes that can't be untangled so easily.

Two Birds

Pairing: Yue Qingyuan/Shen Jiu (pre-slash) Rating: T Length: 5k

Newly-ascended peak lords Yue Qingyuan and Shen Qingqiu are still adjusting to their new roles. When they attend a meeting for the upcoming Immortal Alliance Conference, Yue Qingyuan notices that his shidi is very tense, and he resolves to do what he can to ease his mind.

An Unlikely Mediator

Pairing: Yue Qingyuan/Shen Jiu Rating: T Length: 5k

Shen Qingqiu and Yue Qingyuan find a stray kitten while out on a mission and decide to bring it back to Cang Qiong Mountain. This makes all the difference.

OR

The unstoppable force of Qijiu's Communication Issues meets the immovable object of Cat-Induced Inertia.

----

Thank you to everyone who reads, comments, & gives kudos, and I look forward to another year of writing!

[maffickingcowplants]

Day 6 of 7, Winter 2004

TOP SECRET

INVESTIGATING AGENT: SILHOUETTE

AGENCY: ACUMEN CONSULTING

REPORT NUMBER: SV-006

SUBJECT: Investigation Report - Strange Phenomena in StrangerVille

I am pleased to report the successful completion of the encryption decryption process for the USB stick obtained from the Roswell residence. The contents of the decrypted files shed new light on the enigma surrounding the Mother Plant and its insidious influence on StrangerVille.

MOTHER PLANT ORIGINS AND INFECTION SOURCE

The decrypted files contain references to an extraterrestrial entity referred to as "The Anomaly." According to the data, The Anomaly arrived in StrangerVille several decades ago, concealed within a meteorite. The meteorite crash led to the formation of the crater, becoming the epicenter of the entire situation. It appears The Anomaly's influence gradually manifested through the growth of the Mother Plant, which sprouted from the meteorite's impact site.

MAYOR TED ROSWELL'S INVOLVEMENT

The decrypted files imply that Ted Roswell, the Mayor of StrangerVille, has a deeper connection to The Anomaly than previously suspected. He is mentioned in several confidential correspondences as a key operative, his role appears to have been focused on maintaining secrecy and managing potential threats arising from the Mother Plant's influence. He may have been the first infected - patient zero. His infection is deeply rooted, a disconcerting pattern emerges regarding Ted Roswell's relationship with the Mother Plant. It appears that his affinity for the plant extends beyond the periods of direct influence. His behavior reflects an almost cult-like devotion, an unsettling form of worship that defies rational explanation. Discussions within the files allude to the possibility that Roswell may have knowingly contributed to the Mother Plant's propagation by distributing its fruit among the local populace. This revelation raises significant questions about the depth of Roswell's involvement and the extent to which the Mother Plant's influence has permeated StrangerVille's power structures. It becomes imperative to ascertain the origin of this allegiance and the true nature of the control it exercises over him, as it could provide crucial insight into combating the Mother Plant's pervasive influence.

EXCERPT OF EXCHANGES

Roswell: "The Mother is our salvation, Captain. We must ensure her reign remains unchallenged." Unknown Contact: "Understood. Keep her growth under control and ensure no one interferes." X

Ted Roswell: "The local law enforcement is growing suspicious. They are digging into the Mother's influence." Unknown Contact: "Handle it discreetly. Eliminate anyone who poses a threat to our operation. We can't afford exposure." X

Ted Roswell: "The Mother's energy is thriving. Her presence is undeniable." Unknown Contact: "Continue to cultivate her influence. Once she reaches her full potential, our objectives will be realized. Acquire more host bodies if needed. The Mother's growth is our priority." X

Unknown Contact: "The Mother's growth is impressive. Have you seen the latest readings?" Roswell: "Yes, her influence is expanding rapidly." X

EXPERIMENTS AND CONTAINMENT

Further information from the decrypted files indicates that experiments were conducted to understand the Mother Plant's properties and potential applications. Some records suggest that certain individuals willingly subjected themselves to exposure, possibly as part of the experiments to harness the plant's power. The encrypted data reveals hints of an underground lab within the crater, where these experiments might have taken place. As Roswell still appears to have access to the Mother Plant, but the military controls the lab built in the crater, we can only draw conclusions that indicate that the infection infiltrates the military. When this may have occurred, before the lab was built or after, is hard to determine. The communication logs between Roswell and unknown individuals seems to indicate that Roswell invited the military to StrangerVille with the goal of spreading the infection, and building the lab to protect the Mother Plant - as well as contain it for research purposes.

CONTAINMENT PROTOCOLS AND ONGOING MONITORING

The files contain discussions regarding containment protocols designed to control the spread of The Anomaly's influence and protect The Mother Plant. These protocols include curfew enforcement, misinformation campaigns, and isolation of affected individuals. It's evident that there is a projected timeline of events, and communications appear to indicate that crucial milestones are being reached unchecked, with more and more Sims becoming possessed by the Mother Plant's influence - and towards what end? Perhaps these files should be submitted to one of the analysts for further review to ascertain the end goal. The encrypted files underscore the urgency of our mission and the critical role StrangerVille plays in the broader scheme of things.

Please find attached the Mother Plant Intel Packet, containing detailed reports, transcripts, and extracted data. I await your guidance on the next steps of our investigation.

**Attachments:**

Mother Plant Intel Packet, Decrypted Files, Photos, Transcripts

END OF REPORT

Posts about Bella: « PREVIOUS / BEGINNING / NEXT »

Posts about Operation Mother's Influence: « PREVIOUS / BEGINNING / NEXT »

[svexchange2k19]

Nominations so far

Nomination form is here

Hello everyone! Ship/character nominations for the exchange close 15 November (Pacific Time -8:00 UTC). Thought I’d publish what’s been nominated so far:

Jared/Richard

Gilfoyle/Monica

Ed Chambers/Richard

Dinesh/Gilfoyle

Big Head/Jian-Yang

Dinesh/Gilfoyle/Monica

That’s it! Those are all the ships that have been nominated so far. So if you want to receive a gift in the exchange that features a ship not on this list, or if you want a non-ship/gen gift (AKA no romantic/sexual relationship), then please submit your desired ships/characters :)

[enbystede]

I’m so terribly sorry this is late!! This time of the year is always busy, you know? I just got side-tracked. Here is my (late) gift for @dineshgilfoyle for the Silicone Valley Winter Gift Exchange! Thanks to @carrot-gallery for setting it up!

So here you go, Len! Hope you enjoy!

—–

Dinesh wanted to stay. He really, really wanted to stay. But that wasn’t what they did after they were together. Gilfoyle wasn’t really the type to want to cuddle after sex. Dinesh was, though. Sex was totally great and everything, but he missed the good old fashioned feeling of cuddling up to someone at night. It was secretly one of his favourite things, though admitting that would probably lead to a never ending cycle of teasing that he didn’t want to deal with.

“See you tomorrow.” Gilfoyle said in his never changing monotone as Dinesh got up to leave. “Uh, yeah. Bye.” He replied awkwardly, not really sure how to navigate this not-really-a-relationship-but-also-kinda-a-relationship-but-not-really. He wished he knew how to ask for what he wanted here, but he honestly had no clue on how to approach it.

XXXXX

Without any warning, Richard walked out of his room one morning with a bunch of wrapped presents. He silently handed them all a package each, then just stood there awkwardly wringing his hands. “I, uh, I know not all of you do Christmas, and we haven’t really done anything the last few years, but my parents always taught me that the holidays were more about, uh, spreading joy to, uh, the uh, the people you… care about, or, yeah. That’s what I mean, not going back on that. Things haven’t… been very joyful. Things have been really shit, actually, super shit, and I kinda missed assigning presents. So, happy holiday of your choice.”

Richard slumped down into his seat with a blush once he finished stuttering through his speech. Jared was beaming, already carefully pulling at the tape, Bighead was just ripping at it like a kid, and Gilfoyle was eyeing his with curiosity. With a glance back at Richard, he started tearing at his own paper, only to stop when Bighead let out a wild “Yes!” and jumped up to hug Richard tightly. “I’ve been looking for this for ages! How’d you know?!” “Every time you see a pop vinyl in the shops or advertised online you go: ‘Oh man, I’d love to have the sharknado pop figure’, Bighead.” “Oh, yeah. And you got me the first three movies, we’re so doing a marathon.”

Jared let out a happy little gasp, a bundle of bird documentaries and new knitting needles now sitting on his desk. “Oh, Richard, thank you! I haven’t been able to find this series in years, and you remembered what I said about my needles! This is wonderful, thank you so much.” Jared gushed enthusiastically. Richard was turning darker and darker shades of red, mumbling off the thanks and staring down at his lap.

“What the fuck.” Gilfoyle said, interrupting Jared’s continued thanks. He levelled Richard with a look of shock, his eyes slightly wider than normal. “This is a first edition of my fav- a very good book. First of all, how do you know this is a good book and how the hell did you get your hands on a first edition?” He asked, voice rather sharp. “You, uh, mentioned it once when you were drunk. Really drunk. Someone said something and you asked then if they were quoting it, they said no, and then you got pissed off at them for not even knowing what the book was.” Richard explained, only glancing towards Gilfoyle once, still mostly staring at his lap.

Dinesh remembered that night. He was the one who had accidentally quoted the book, and it led to him and Gilfoyle having sex for the first time. To him leaving after for the first time. The night that had been his downfall in terms of him falling in love with his best friend, without that night, he wouldn’t be in this situation. Getting sex regularly, while simultaneously being touch starved and in love with someone who didn’t love him back.

Shaking those thoughts away, he opened up his own present, confused by the printed out google maps page at first, but noticing the book underneath. It was a cookbook, written in Urdu, and directions to a marketplace that was open every weekend with Middle East and Asian stores. Dinesh knew the conversation that led to this present, the way he complained that 'Middle Eastern’ take out never compared to his mothers cooking, but he only knew the spices in Urdu, his mother never shared the full recipe anyway. He hadn’t thought Richard had been listening, he’d been typing away at his computer, humming slightly in a seemingly fake reply every time he paused.

Before he could get over the shock and thank the man, he was pulled out of his seat by a surprisingly strong grip. Bighead dragged himself and Gilfoyle around the table and piled them onto Richard, then took Jared’s hand and pulled him into the group too. Now they were all just standing there, hugging, and normally he would just pull away and make some joke about not being gay, but it felt so fucking nice. Dinesh wanted this, some freedom from his starvation for just a little while. To his surprise, Gilfoyle didn’t pull away either, and it was Richard who did first, his mind and body taken all the physical affectation he could handle at the moment (and if Dinesh stayed under Gilfoyle’s arm a moment or two longer, that was no one’s business).

Dinesh had forgotten that Richard was a good guy, that he’d just been twisted by this cruel and unforgiving town into what he was now. At heart, Richard was a good guy, even if he was a bit of a genius idiot. But this, putting thought and dedication into getting something each of his friends would enjoy just for the sake of it? That was the Richard that wanted a music search engine so people couldn’t claim copyright on new music by new artists. That was the real, untwisted Richard. It was a shame what this place and these people had done to him.

XXXXX

Dinesh hadn’t worked in a kitchen for several years now, but it was simple enough to recreate his mother’s actions once he knew where everything was (with only a little bit of guidance from Jared). The pre loved Urdu cookbook had handwritten suggestions and extra recipes scribbled in and Dinesh adored it. Gilfoyle walked in just as he was ready to plate up, and he smiled over at him. “You want to join me?” He invited easily, already serving up two plates. Gilfoyle stabbed a fork into a piece of food and tried it, then shrugged and sat down at the bench.

They ate in silence for a while, then Gilfoyle started up a conversation about work. Their usual back and forth banter felt slightly different, less biting more… familiar. The words were the same, but the tone was gentler. Bighead interrupted them, looking sheepish about it, grabbing a few drinks from the fridge. “Jay and I are gonna take Richie out back, try and get him to destress a bit. You’re welcome to join us, or if you’d rather not, I’ll try and keep everyone out there for a while so you can… do whatever you want.” He smiled, grabbing some extra drinks before heading for the backyard.

Dinesh and Gilfoyle both blinked, glancing towards each other as Bighead left, Dinesh feeling his cheeks heat up. “How can he be so smart and yet so stupid at the same time?” Gilfoyle pondered aloud, finishing off the last of the meal before standing to grab a drink. “Want to head out there? Winding down doesn’t sound like a half bad idea.” “Sure.” Dinesh nodded, deliberately not touching the other man as he grabbed his own drink and followed him outside.

Richard was leaning against Jared’s shoulder, Bighead on Richard’s other side gently rubbing his arm, the three of them leaning against the burnt remains of the palapa. Jared gave them a smile and a wave, and Dinesh did his best to swallow an emotional wave of want and jealously. A hand grabbed his shoulder, making him look up in confusion at Gilfoyle who didn’t respond, just quietly led him over to where the others were sitting.

They were so close. Sides touching from shoulder to knee, still just far enough apart that if they got any closer only then would it feel deliberate. It was slowly killing Dinesh, so close to having what he wanted, but still so terribly far away from it all. His only small comfort was knowing he wasn���t the only one, both Bighead and Jared staring at the man between them the same way he privately looked at Gilfoyle while Richard remained oblivious to them both. They all sat drinking together in silence, a comfortable silence where they all simply lived in the moment instead of trying to make a moment happen.

XXXXX

When it started getting too cold outside (it was December), they piled into the house. Jared started making cocoa for them all, Bighead setting up a movie while they set themselves up on different chairs. Gilfoyle placed himself on the two-seater, looking up at Dinesh for a moment before gesturing to join him. Dinesh glanced back at the other three, but they were wrapped up in themselves, so he sat.

They started off the same way they’d been in the backyard, just far away enough for it to not be weird. Then Gilfoyle shifted to put his cup down, and when he moved back, he was closer to Dinesh. His skin tingled with warmth where he was pressed against Gilfoyle, his heart pounding so loudly in his chest he was sure the others must hear it. Instead of mentioning it though, Richard just fell asleep on Bighead’s shoulder, Jared’s arms around his waist.

An explosion happened onscreen, shocking Dinesh out of his head and further into Gilfoyle. The bearded man chuckled while Dinesh sighed. “Didn’t think you could scare so easily.” Gilfoyle teased, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. Dinesh froze for a moment, but relaxed into the embrace. “I just wasn’t paying attention.” He replied, trying to let a hint of annoyance show through even though he wasn’t really. “I’m well aware of how oblivious you are.” Gilfoyle muttered, in such a way Dinesh didn’t think he was meant to hear. It could be dealt with later.

XXXXX

Dinesh moaned into Gilfoyle’s mouth, pushing his shirt off his shoulders, every part of them itching to get closer together. When they pulled apart for air, and for Gilfoyle to take his shirt off, Dinesh thought for some reason this was the perfect time to bring up that comment. “What did you mean about me being oblivious?” He asked, then instantly regretted it. Gilfoyle stopped, Dinesh’s shirt still in his hands as he stared for a few moments before dropping it with a sigh.

“It means I’ve been wanting you to stay for months, but by the time I go to ask, you’re already mostly dressed again so I don’t.” Gilfoyle said bluntly, a very light dusting of red colouring his cheeks. “Holy shit.” Dinesh whispered, blinking rapidly as he tried to process what he’d just heard. “I was just going to leave it. Friends with benefits was fine. But then you kept hugging me the other day, you made me dinner tonight, saw the way you kept looking at the other three hugging. It clicked for me, that it hadn’t clicked for you. Like I said, I was going to leave it, but you asked, so here I am.”

Dinesh kept staring for a while, before pulling Gilfoyle in and kissing him. It was different than all their other kisses so far, slow and meaningful, filled with emotions other than lust. His desire to be touched being fed steadily as Gilfoyle wrapped his arms around his waist, his own hands cupping the man’s face, his beard soft of his palms. Gilfoyle didn’t pull away like he was expecting him too, didn’t push him away, didn’t act weirded or grossed out, or any of the things that Dinesh had always thought he would do if he ever did this. He was pressing back just as eagerly, just as wanting, just as much emotion as himself.

They both smiled as they pulled apart, just enough to draw in air and not a bit further. “Okay, so maybe you might have a point about me being just the slightest bit oblivious. Only a little bit. I’m still way smarter than you.” He said, the breathiness of his voice and the grin on his face ruining the effect. Gilfoyle kissed him again, just a peck on the lips, before tugging him by his belt loops to the bed.

XXXXX

Dinesh rested his head on Gilfoyle’s shoulder, sleepy and satisfied. His satisfaction increased as warm arms wrapped around him, a large hand gently rubbing his back. “This is nice.” He mumbled into freckly skin, feeling the taller man’s chest rumble under him as he hummed. “Yeah. Wanna do it more often?” “Definitely.” “Cool.”

[carrot-gallery]

SV Winter Exchange 2k17 is on!

Hello friends! I have received copious interest in my running an SV fandom winter gift exchange! So let’s do it!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdTdLtCDCowRVGg1p14C1vqFtqYR9Z9wjaPAQ4tZTlEv7R15A/viewform?usp=sf_link

Please fill out this form by November 5 (about 2 weeks away)! Rules and dates are on the form! I’m not making a sideblog for this so please message me with questions! 

[retrauxpunk]

how shitty would it be of me, organiser of the sv winter gift exchange, to do all my timings in GMT instead of an american timezone (i suspect most of the sv squad live in the usa?) because i live in GMT and i can use the excuse of ‘hurr durr it’s the same as UTC which is the standard hurr’

[svexchange2k18]

For @safebird from @shfzw as a pinch hitter :) (I’ll edit this image later sorry) <3

[itsevidentvery]

This is an SV winter exchange gift for the incomparable @workplaceromance! I tried to write you a Jarrich epistolary romance, but could only manage it partway. Hope you enjoy anyway!

And a huge shout-out to the wonderful @carrot-gallery for organising this entire thing!

So without further ado:

[Richard Hendricks: 02:23 a.m.]

jAred

[Jared Dunn: 02:24 a.m.]

Hello Richard. Can I help you?

[missed call from Jared Dunn: 02:30 a.m.]

[Jared Dunn: 02:32 a.m.]

Richard, are you all right?

[missed call from Jared Dunn: 02:33 a.m.]

[Richard Hendricks: 02:36 a.m.]

hI

[Richard Hendricks: 02:36 a.m.]

yOu uP

[Richard Hendricks: 02:36 a.m.]

Bar

[missed call from Jared Dunn: 02:36 a.m.]

[Jared Dunn: 02:37 a.m.]

Richard, are you all right?

[missed call from Jared Dunn: 02:37 a.m.]

[Jared Dunn: 02:38 a.m.]

Richard, where are you?

[Richard Hendricks: 02:38 a.m.]

wasted

[Richard Hendricks: 02:38 a.m.]

wIsh you were HERE

[Jared Dunn: 02:38 a.m.]

Where are you?

[Richard Hendricks: 02:38 a.m.]

Come

[Richard Hendricks: 02:38 a.m.]

Here

[missed call from Jared Dunn: 02:38 a.m.]

[Jared Dunn: 02:39 a.m.]

Where are you?

[Jared Dunn: 02:39 a.m.]

I’ll come to you. Where are you?

[Richard Hendricks: 02:40 a.m.]

Come GEt me

[Richard Hendricks: 02:40 a.m.]

(Sent location)

[Jared Dunn: 02:41 a.m.]

Don’t go anywhere.

[Jared Dunn: 02:41 a.m.]

I’ve called a Lyft.

[Jared Dunn: 02:42 a.m.]

I’ll be there in 15 minutes.

[Richard Hendricks: 02:43 a.m.]

cOme heRe

[Jared Dunn: 02:43 a.m.]

On my way.

[Jared Dunn: 02:43 a.m.]

Have some water.

[Richard Hendricks: 02:44 a.m.]

(beer emoji)

(Martini glass emoji)

(champagne bottle emoji)

(eggplant emoji)

[Jared Dunn: 02:45 a.m.]

(smiley emoji)

[Jared Dunn: 02:45 a.m.]

I’m in the Lyft now.

[Richard Hendricks: 02:45 a.m.]

(eggplant emoji)

[Richard Hendricks: 02:46 a.m.]

thaNks

[Jared Dunn: 02:46 a.m.]

My pleasure.

[Richard Hendricks: 02:47 a.m.]

take me hOME

[Jared Dunn: 02:48 a.m.]

I will

[Jared Dunn: 02:48 a.m.]

Sit tight, Captain.

[Jared Dunn: 02:49 a.m.]

I’ll be there soon.

[Richard Hendricks: 02:53 a.m.]

Youre so good

[Richard Hendricks: 02:53 a.m.]

So fkng good

[Richard Hendricks: 02:54 a.m.]

I thiNK aBout you sometimes and

[Richard Hendricks: 02:55 a.m.]

Your eyes your hANds yuor voice and I want to bend yoU OVER SOMETHNIG sometisme

[Richard Hendricks: 02:55 a.m.]

Or you can bend me over whatevr

[Richard Hendricks: 02:56 a.m.]

fUCk I want to lick you

[Richard Hendricks: 02:56 a.m.]

What do yuO taste like

[Richard Hendricks: 02:57 a.m.]

Are you swEeT I bet yuo are

[Richard Hendricks: 02:57 a.m.]

do you taste of autumn

[Richard Hendricks: 02:58 a.m.]

What dO you look like when you cOMe

And then there’s a soft hand on Richard’s shoulder. Richard turns and blinks owlishly as his vision refocuses and Jared’s concerned face swims into view.

‘Richard?’

‘Jaaaaarrrreeeeeed’, says Richard. He’s feeling fine. ‘This guy – this gucking fuy – this fucking guy is my CFO! My – my – this guy fucks, he’s’ Richard hiccups, he only just now thought of this, this is so fucking good, ‘my Chief Fucking Officer!’

Jared smiles at Richard and calls over the bartender. Asks for a glass of water. Makes Richard drink it. Richard says ‘I can – anything for you, Jar’d’, tries to drink sensually and slops half the water over his shirt. Dabs at himself giggling while Jared calls for the bill and tries to get Richard to drink some more water. Richard says ‘I’ll drink ALL the water’ and chugs from the glass. He drinks too fast and some spills out his mouth, but Jared’s smiling warmly and saying ‘good’ as he pays the bill.

Jared insists on taking Richard home. Richard’s delighted to have him, especially when they have to make an emergency stop for Richard to heave his guts out by the side of the road, with Jared rubbing soothing circles along his back and murmuring something kind and supportive.

The next morning, Richard wakes up feeling like he’s died.

Correction: wishing that he’d died.

It feels like someone’s hollowed out his skull and replaced it with a dental cavity. And then stuck him in a wind tunnel at a fucking Slipknot concert. Any movement – any breath of air – has him whimpering pitifully.

He feels green. Like, all over. And too feeble to even attempt nausea.

His eyes drag themselves open. He swears he can feel his eyelids scraping against his cornea.

The movement exhausts him so much that he lies in bed panting.

Never again. He is never. Drinking. Again. It’s a miracle he even got home last night, which – how did he get home?

Oh – oh yeah. Jared. Jared brought him home. Well, at least he’d kept his wits about him that much. It was – smart – to get in touch with Jared. Jared would just – snap into action and, like, do what needed to be done, and, and, and he wouldn’t give Richard shit, or get Richard to give him a Board seat, which he has already anyway, but you know.

Jared’s good.

Jared’s so fucking good.

Wait.

Why are those words so horribly, horribly familiar?

Wait.

Wait.

Oh no.

Oh no.

Oh no no no no NO no no.

Oh fffffuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck.

Richard’s mouth hangs open in a silent scream.

He winches himself up and registers faintly that sheer panic has overwhelmed the hangover. He crawls to the foot of his bunk bed and sees his cell on his desk, laid out precisely perpendicular to the edge.

Jared’s doing.

Oh God, Jared’s doing.

He climbs down the ladder with shaking legs and makes his way to his desk. Wipes his sweaty palms down the side of his jeans and gingerly picks up the cell.

It’s – okay, maybe this won’t be so –

Richard takes a deep breath. Flicks to his messages.

Oh.

Oh, it’s worse.

Oh, it’s so much worse.

It’s a fucking – cornucopia – of creepy buried desires and feelings vomited onto the screen. And fucking drunk-spelled just enough to make him look illiterate, but not enough to confuse the unmistakeable, sexual-harassment-lawsuit-in-every-syllable intent.

It’s like the fucking…verbal equivalent of a dick pic with a grubby thumbnail in shot. Like, what even.

Richard drops the phone. And okay, he thinks he has the energy to throw up. So that’s….progress?

Richard stumbles out to the bathroom. And of course, because this is his life, he runs immediately into Jared.

Who is standing just outside Richard’s room with a tray. On which lies a sandwich, a cup of coffee and a pill.

Because Jared can’t, like, let Richard wallow in guilt and terror and self-loathing in peace. Or even wait till Richard’s got a little bit of his shit together. Enough to have upchucked, had a shower, crawled like a nanometer towards normal, changed into clean clothes, had something to eat that Richard thought to get for himself without Jared fucking anticipating his needs.

Jared doesn’t even have the decency to look, like, torn-up, or untidy, or even a little bit gross. I mean, yeah, he looks a little underslept – Richard dragged him out of bed and across town in the middle of the night, after all – but the dark circles only make his eyes look even bluer, like Jared’s giant Disney Princess eyes needed the help there.

Nooooo, Jared’s gotta, like, be aggressively kind and thoughtful and put-together and fucking unnecessarily perfect on this day of all days, when Richard’s feeling like something the Swamp Thing shat out after a cheese nightmare and fucking five days of indigestion.

And sent Jared graphic, misspelled, tragic, titanically inappropriate messages, let’s not forget that little detail.

After Jared rescued him from a bar.

Goddammit.

Goddammit.

He smells nice, too. Jared. Jared smells nice. Like he always smells nice but right now it seems cruel that he smells so crisp and clean and fresh and comforting and, and, and, and fucking lovely.

He probably does taste of autumn.

Fuck.

And God, it’s not like Richard ever thought he’d get to find out for himself, he’s not that optimistic, but Richard’s been, like, dealing as best he can with Jared’s hands and his wrists and his eyes and his soft voice and his naval metaphors and his fanatical but still frustratingly platonic devotion to Richard that makes Richard feel like a special kind of creep for the hot dark thoughts that come to him at night, the thoughts where one of those giant hands has wrapped around Richard’s neck and the other one’s around his cock, or where Jared’s staring at Richard over his shoulder with those huge blue eyes and moaning Richard’s name while Richard does something that even his imagination fritzes at shaping, or……

He’s been dealing with it. He has.

He has.

Well, he hasn’t jumped Jared or thrown up on him. Or, y’know, both. So. You know. Dealing with it.

But now Richard’s

1)      Gotten wasted at a bar

2)      And made his CFO – made Jared – come out in the middle of the fucking night to get him

3)      And sent him a billion texts outlining all his pathetic, stupid, ill-conceived, hung-up longings

a.       Texts which included the phrases ‘bend you over’ and ‘lick you’

‘Richard?’ Jared’s frowning in concern at Richard. Who has presumably been gawping at Jared like a murderer confronted by, like, the ghost of his latest victim.

Which he basically is.

A victim who has brought his murderer sandwiches because that’s just the kind of guy he is, so why not remind the murderer of just how entirely too good for, like, this entire sinful earth he is in general, and for the murderer in particular?

‘Richard, do you think you could try to eat something?’

Ah what the hell, why not. He’s gotta have something to throw up before, after or during the inevitable conversation where Jared gently reminds him of Pied Piper’s sexual harassment in the workplace policy.

Assuming Jared still wants to stay with Pied Piper.

Oh God.

What if –

Oh fuck.

Like, it’s not – he wouldn’t blame Jared. But ohshitohshitohshit.

‘Don’t leave’, he says on a rush, fist clenching around the sandwich – PBJ, presumably Jared knows that’s all Richard can handle right now.

Jared’s eyes widen. ‘Richard? Why would I – Richard, what’s wrong?’

‘I’m sorry’, says Richard, ‘I – fuck, I shouldn’t have – I shouldn’t have made you – woken you, made you – come to get me, and then – I shouldn’t – oh God, fuck, the texts, Jared, you have to know, I’m so - ’

‘Oh’, says Jared. And he goes pink. Richard thinks he looks unfairly pretty that way. ‘Yes. I was - ’ he coughs delicately, ‘I was planning to schedule a one-on-one with you about that. But – Richard, I think you should – why don’t you get some food inside you, and some water, and some coffee, and then we can talk?’

Richard sighs. It’s probably just postponing the inevitable, but what the hell.

He eats the sandwich. Keeps it down, even. He drinks coffee. He drinks water. Has a shower. Changes into a button-down and a sweater that he realises kinda-sorta matches Jared’s? Wonders whether to change. Doesn’t. Wonders why he chose that colour. Decides he’s not gonna think about it.

Accepts Jared’s calendar invitation for a ‘catch-up’. Tries not to hit his head on the table when he sees that Jared’s linked to the employee handbook with particular reference to the guidelines on creating a hostile workplace environment.

I know, Jared. I know.

Manages to get stuck far enough into debugging that he actually, sincerely jumps out of his skin when there’s a soft touch on his shoulder and Jared murmurs ‘Richard, our scheduled discussion.’

Richard blinks, and Jared immediately offers to reschedule if he’s caught Richard in the zone.

Richard contemplates taking him up on the offer, and then thinks better of it. Rip off the Band-Aid and all that.

‘No’, he says, and jerks his head to his bedroom. ‘Let’s – we’ll do it now.’

They head off to the room and shut the door behind them. Jared takes a seat opposite Richard, and smiles. And it is so obviously his HR smile, his establish-a-non-threatening-environment-prior-to-engaging-in-a-difficult-conversation-with-a-difficult-colleague smile, that Richard can feel his PBJ crawl up his throat.

‘Richard, how are you feeling?’

Richard scrubs his hands over his face. ‘Look. Jared. Can we – please can we just – get this over with?’

Jared purses his lips. ‘Richard, I need you to take this seriously. I’d like you to respect the process, please, we need to establish a protocol for future occurrences so that - ’

‘There won’t be future occurrences’, says Richard, desperately, ‘please, I, Jared, I’m sorry, all right, I’m so sorry, I don’t know what happened, I - ’

‘Well’, says Jared, ‘let’s find out what happened. Recall the words of George Santayana, Richard. ‘Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.’’

He nods earnestly at Richard, all help me help you. And goddammit, goddammit, goddammit.

Richard sighs. ‘I met old friends from Stanford. I got drunk. I got very very drunk.’

Jared nods. ‘Well, you texted me to come and get you instead of trying to drive while intoxicated. Which was very responsible of you, Richard, and I think you should give yourself credit for that. I’m also - ’ and the colour rises in his cheeks, ‘oh, Richard, I’m so honoured that you selected me to come for you. That you’d choose to trust me this way – to lay your sword on my shoulder and say ‘I am wounded in battle, but my ensign, my Lancelot, my trusted standard-bearer is come to bear me away’, I - ’ and his hand splays out over his chest. His eyes glisten.

Richard swallows. It – okay, so – I mean, trust Jared to be grateful for what anyone else would treat correctly as an incredible fucking imposition, but, like, if he’s – all dewy-eyed about being yanked out of bed in the middle of the night, then like has he…forgotten…..about the gross text messages, or…?

‘It – sure, Jared.’

Sure what? Like Richard agrees that he did Jared a fucking favour? Fucking…throw yourself into traffic, Richard Hendricks.

Jared sits up straight, sniffs and composes himself. ‘I’m sorry, Richard, I – I didn’t mean to – intrude my own preoccupations, it was selfish of me. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.’

‘No’, says Richard, ‘no, it – no.’

‘Well’, says Jared, his cheeks still delicately pink, fuck, ‘I would – thank you, Richard, it meant – it means – a lot to me.’

Richard can’t think of what to do or say, so he nods.

Jared squares his thin shoulders and looks grave. And here it comes. ‘Richard, there is one thing I would like to ensure does not happen again.’

Richard is nodding. Nodding and cringing.

‘The other text messages, Richard. The – explicit ones.’

Richard’s nodding picks up speed, yes, I know, Jared, no need to spin this out, can we just…

‘I don’t know if you’ve had the chance to look at the employee handbook excerpt I sent you…’

Richard hasn’t looked. He opened the attachment and wanted to die. Shut it. Opened it again. Wanted to die in a whole different way. Shut it again. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

He shakes his head. Jared gives him a slightly reproving look – Richard winces – and goes on.

‘Well, Richard, we have – specific policies – preventing any speech or action or communication that can make your colleagues uncomfortable. Now, I understand that we weren’t in a workplace environment, and that I wasn’t meant to see those messages, and those are mitigating circumstances, but we should have a discussion about managing consumption of…alcohol, or…psychotropic substances? To make sure that it doesn’t happen again?’

Richard’s nodding so violently his head feels like it’ll fall off. Which. Might not be such a bad thing? But maybe, just maybe, this nightmarish conversation is coming to an end and somehow Jared seems to be taking it in stride that Richard came on to him and look at no point did Richard ever think that Jared was going to throw himself into Richard’s arms and like look shyly at him and whisper ‘Me too’ and use Richard’s bedroom to, to, to, to, for Richard to, or for Jared to, or like whisper in Richard’s ear ‘what do you taste of, Richard?’ and okay so maybe Richard was hoping just a little because like where would we be without hope and maybe Richard’s mildly disappointed/completely crushed that Jared’s just fucking briskly swatting aside Richard’s heartfelt and yes problematically harass-y declarations but mostly it looks like Jared’s not going to quit and he doesn’t hate Richard forever so that has to be a win.

Jared smiles at Richard, and there’s a little…strain?....in the smile. ‘But I’m – happy for you, Richard. Who’s the lucky lady?’

‘….Who’s what lucky lady?’

Jared blinks. ‘The messages, Richard. They were…’ and Jared’s pink again, ‘I’m sure it’s very…oh, I’m sure she’s exquisite, Richard, I’m very happy for you.’

Richard is staring at Jared, so hard he can feel his headache start up again. ‘…….What?’

Jared blushes deeper. ‘Of course, if you’re not comfortable discussing it, I completely understand, it was…impertinent…of me, but you see, Richard, this is the difficulty with bifurcating personal and professional relationships, this is why we need a policy in place to prevent this sort of…’

Richard lets Jared’s words wash over him.

Okay. O-kaaayyyy.

So. Jared thinks the texts were meant for someone else.

That does explain why he’s so chilled out about them. Relatively.

Okay.

Okay!

Okay, this is the out Richard wanted!

Richard lets out a noisy exhale of sheer relief. Jared looks at him, surprised.

Richard’s beaming at Jared like a loon. Fucking….heteronormativity, and Jared’s fucking ridiculous self-effacing modesty, to the rescue.

Goddamn.

Jared smiles back at Richard, uncertainly, and Richard’s stomach and heart do something very uncomfortable.

‘Richard? I – of course it doesn’t matter, since the recipient was only me, but -’

‘I trust you’, Richard blurts out. ‘I – with everything. That’s probably why I. I’m sorry, Jared, but that’s what happens when. People trust you. You. You find out. Things. That maybe you don’t wanna – I’m sorry.’

And Jared’s face is doing this thing, this terrifying wonderful thing. His eyes are, they’re bluer and bigger with every passing second, and he’s smiling like he’s found a whole new planet or something, and Richard can feel himself just….racing forward towards that smile, just with like empty pockets and a bucket, just trying to hold on to as much of it as he can before it vanishes, he can’t help it, he can’t –

‘The texts were meant for you.’

Welp. There it is.

Richard can’t even – he’s not gonna blame himself. He held it together as long as he could, and that smile, fuck, if the CIA knew about that smile he’d never see Jared again, they’d just keep him in like a cage like Weapon Fucking X and only let him out to unleash him on like terror suspects until they cracked and told him everything, everything, Jared probably collects like five declarations of undying love and twenty secrets on his way from his condo to his car, he probably thinks that’s how people say ‘Good morning’.

Jared’s staring at Richard. The smile’s vanished. ‘Richard?’

Richard swallows. Fidgets with the sleeve of his sweater. Is about to gnaw at his fingernails when Jared’s giant hand reaches out to gently capture his.

Oh God.

‘Richard?’ Jared’s looking earnestly at Richard. ‘What did you mean?’

Richard sighs. Manages to make eye contact for one entire second before his gaze falls. ‘The messages were – they were for you.’

When Richard risks a look up, he can see Jared’s lowered his own eyes. When he speaks, his voice is carefully calm. The voice he uses when he doesn’t want Richard to freak the fuck out. ‘Richard? I think we may need to have a different kind of discussion.’

Richard nods, miserably.

Jared takes in a breath. ‘Okay, we first need to establish – Richard, what was the nature of the reaction you were hoping for?’

What was Richard hoping for?

What was Richard hoping for?

Oh, hell no.

No no no no no no NO.

‘It – Jared, how can that – I’m sorry, you’re right, it’s – fucking – I’m really sorry, it was… seriously fucking not okay, and I’m really sorry, and it was my fault, and –’

‘I meant’, continues Jared, pinkly but firmly, ‘was this horsing around, or a – booty call, with - ’

‘I like you’, says Richard, because God help him he wants Jared desperately but nobody – nobody - wants to hear Jared Dunn say things like ‘booty call’. ‘I like you – fuck – I like you so fucking much, you’re so, with your, your eyes, and your hands, and your hair, and you’re so good so fucking good at fucking everything and you, you fix things, and you, you’re so fucking stupidly perfect and like I don’t even know why you’re still here but don’t leave Jared please I can, I can manage this, you’ll never hear about it again, I promise, Jared, I-’

Richard stops because Jared’s hand on his has tightened. He leans in to Richard and kisses him.

Gently.

The lightest, sweetest kiss, just….gracing Richard’s mouth. Just…showing him how those soft, full lips might feel.

A tease, really.

So Richard’s also not gonna blame himself for attacking Jared when he pulls away.

Or for scrambling onto Jared’s lap and nearly knocking them both to the floor.

Or for fisting his hands into Jared’s sweet-smelling hair.

Or for biting at that lush bottom lip.

Anyway, Richard’s vindicated when Jared takes control of the kiss, deepening it, spearing his fingers through Richard’s hair, chasing every atom of breath Richard has.

When they part, winded and staring at each other, Richard knows he’s grinning and thinks he’ll probably never stop. And Jared’s eyes are shining, so impossibly bright.

‘How long?’ breathes Jared, and Richard has to think for a moment before he realises what Jared means and shrugs helplessly.

‘I don’t – those messages? I’ve had…something like them….in my drafts folder for….I mean, they were nicer, like…not like….and they were like spelled properly and, and I was like asking you out or whatever and – they weren’t gross like those ones but….yeah. Months. Like – god, Jared, a year? At least? Longer, I think.’ He looks at Jared. ‘You?’

Jared laughs a little. ‘Oh, Richard. Always. The instant you walked away from Gavin, I knew.’

Richard’s brain short-circuits. ‘We could’ve been – we could’ve – for a year?’

A year’s worth of, of kissing, and, and looking, and touching and – oh God – permission to touch, and and saying things, and – every day they could have – every hour, every – oh, they have a lot to make up. Starting now.

Jared licks his lips and Richard groans, leaning forward. Jared puts his hand over Richard’s mouth, gently. ‘Richard, I – Richard, we should have a discussion about … the implications for the sexual harassment policy and workplace conduct, it would be - ’

Richard licks Jared’s palm, a wet, hungry sweep, and relishes his friend’s shudder. ‘I know, Jared, I know.’

‘Richard – Richard, darling, I’m serious, we have to outline protocols for – mmph!’

‘I know’, says Richard, against Jared’s mouth, ‘I do, I do, Jared, I’m listening, just-’

‘We’ll need to’, gasps Jared, wrenching his mouth away from Richard’s, ‘ensure that we have clauses in place protecting –  oh – the company, and – and us – from – oh Richard, darling, yes, like that – abuses, we - ’

‘Anything’, says Richard, ‘anything.’ He pulls off Jared’s long throat, bared just so for him. ‘You don’t – Jared, you don’t taste of autumn.’

Jared angles his head in unquestionable invitation for Richard to nibble and suck beneath his ear. ‘N- no?’

‘No’, says Richard, giddy with delight. ‘You – Jared, you taste of spring.’

[malspinningyarns]

It’s time for the Silicon Valley Winter Exchange 2k17!  I got @asimiento so I wrote a Jarrich fic.  Happy Holidays!

It started with a loud sneeze.  

The Pied Piper gang was in their new offices when they heard a particularly loud sneeze coming from their tiny break room.  It was so startling that Dinesh and Richard jumped in the air.

“What the fuck was that?” Dinesh asked.

“Your last remaining piece of  dignity trying to escape your body,” Gilfoyle deadpanned, not looking up from his screen.  

 Dinesh tried to argue that that didn’t make any sense when Jared came into the room, blowing his nose on an honest-to-god handkerchief and carrying a mug of tea.  

 “Jared, was that you just a minute ago?” Richard asked pointing in the direction of the break room.

 “Yeah, sorry,” Jared said, “I think my allergies are just making themselves known with the change in the weather.  I want to stop by the drugstore on the way home, if that’s all right with you Richard.”

 “Sure, that’s fine,” Richard answered his boyfriend.  He looked over Jared again, “Are you sure you aren’t getting sick?”  

 “Oh, I’m sure.  I’ll be fine once I start taking Claritin again,” Jared waved him off, heading towards his own station.  

 “I thought we said no relationship shit in the workplace,” Gilfoyle said once again from his computer.

 “I don’t think checking on someone’s health is ‘relationship shit’,” Richard tried to argue, “I listen to you and Dinesh flirt all day and you don’t see me complaining.  So there.”

 “We aren’t flirting,” Dinesh and Gilfoyle said simultaneously, then looked suspiciously at one another.

 “Whatever.  Just get back to work.  We need to get this piece of coding done this week,” Richard said, turning back towards his own computer.  

 Within a few days, it became clear that Jared’s issues weren’t allergies.  The Claritin barely helped.  The sneezing became worse and then coughing started.  Jared began shaking like a nervous greyhound in the middle of a snowstorm.  His teeth chattered as he tried to bundle himself up.  Jared still insisted he was fine though; work needed to be done.

 The final straw came for Richard when he accidently brushed his hand on Jared’s forehead one morning in bed.  It was scalding hot.  

 “Jesus, Jared.  You’re burning up,” Richard said, “I’m taking you to the doctor.”

 “I’m fine,” Jared tried to argue, but it came out weakly.

 “Quit being a martyr. It’s been three days and you’re clearly not fine.  You’re clearly sick.”

 “But work-“

 “Jared, we’ll be fine without you.  Well, probably.  You aren’t a coder and we can do without our head of business development for a few days. Besides, the sooner we get you to a doctor, the faster we can make you healthy again.”

 Jared relented and let Richard take him to the doctor.  Richard told Dinesh and Gilfoyle that he would be a little late to work, but to keep working without him.  

 At the doctor, it was revealed Jared had the flu.  While Richard was hesitant to leave Jared alone, he knew he had to go into work.  If they didn’t finish this section of code, by the end of the week, they would get severely behind and time was money in the Valley.  He decided to call Jared’s friend Gloria to take care of him.  Gloria gladly came to their condo with a homemade blanket, a large container of chicken soup, and a DVD set of classic MGM movie-musicals. She reassured Richard that she had plenty of experience taking care of sick people and finally pushed him out the door.  She was surprisingly strong for a woman in her seventies.  

 Richard spent most of the day worried about Jared.  Why did Jared have to be so self-sacrificing?  Flu was a serious business and it helped no one if Jared worked while he was sick.  He loved Jared, but he seriously questioned Jared’s judgment.  What if everyone else got the flu?  Dinesh and Gilfoyle would use it as an excuse to take as much time off as possible- or at least be very annoying about it.   However, Richard knew he wasn’t being fair.  He knew he’d also be difficult and try to push through the sickness until Jared made him stop.  He didn’t even think to get a flu shot.  They lived in California, after all.  

 Eventually Dinesh and Gilfoyle’s mockery got him to focus.  They insinuated Jared and Richard had begun melding into one person once they started dating because Richard was acting like Jared.  Monica just rolled her eyes at them all and told them to act like adults for once.  Time went by quickly after that, with small breaks to obsessively check his phone for updates.  He did get a few blurry Snapchats from Gloria that said things like “Feeling A-OK!” with a nonsensical collection of emojis.  

 By the time Richard got to his and Jared’s condo, it was well into dinner.  Richard brought egg drop soup for Jared from his favorite Chinese restaurant.  He had gotten himself chicken fried rice and a couple of spring rolls.  Gloria smiled when she saw him, updated him on Jared’s condition, and left after promising to send over more soup.  

 Jared was bundled up on the sofa.  He definitely looked better, but still looked pretty rough.  His eyes were watery, his nose seemed a little red, and his usually well put-together appearance was rumpled with messy hair and kind of threadbare pajamas.

 “Hey,” Richard said.

 “Hello,” Jared sniffed.

 “I brought you some egg drop soup,” Richard said holding up the bag.  Jared smiled and thanked him.  While Richard grabbed some mismatched plates, bowls, and silverware out of the kitchen, he called out, “Did Gloria treat you well?  Or did she torture you with stories of her grandchildren?”

 “I love stories of her grandchildren,” Jared said as he watched Richard awkwardly plate the food. Some of the soup spilled onto the coffee table, which he mopped up with some paper towels, muttering that he should have plated in the kitchen.  “But I actually slept a lot.  She did take good care of me though.”

 “That’s good,” Richard said.   He handed Jared his soup and sat himself on the sofa next to his boyfriend.  He spoke again after a moment of silence, “I’m sorry I couldn’t stay here with you.”

 “It’s all right, Richard,” Jared said, “Your work is important.”

 “I just feel bad about it.”

 Jared steered him to talk about what happened at Pied Piper that day, which got Richard going.  He complained about Dinesh and Gilfoyle being assholes and how he was worried they would get done by their deadline, although they did get quite a bit done today.  As they finished off their food and found a lull in their conversation, Richard could feel Jared leaning on his shoulder.  

 “Is this a tired thing or an affection thing?” he asked.

 “Can’t it be both?” Jared asked, looking at him with red-rimmed eyes that made the blue really stand out.

 Richard smiled to make Jared feel better and offered his arm so Jared could snuggle in more, “Yeah, it can.”

 They had a nice evening watching whatever mindless thing they could find on TV.  Jared kept dozing on Richard’s shoulder, but would sometimes awaken and say something about what was happening.  He enjoyed listening to Richard’s commentary.

 Eventually it was time to go to bed.  As Richard led Jared to their bedroom, he let out a huge sneeze.  He looked to Jared in distress.

 “Why didn’t I get a flu shot?”

[rabbitcruiser]

Mora, Sweden (No. 4)

A Dalecarlian horse or Dala horse is a traditional carved, painted wooden statue of a horse originating in the Swedish province of Dalarna (Dalecarlia). In the old days the Dalecarlian horse was mostly used as a toy for children; in modern times it has become a symbol of Dalarna, as well as of Sweden in general. Several types of Dalecarlian horses are made, with distinguishing features common to the locality of the site where they are produced. One particular style has, however, become much more common and widespread than others. It is stoutly carved and painted bright red with details and a harness in white, green, yellow and blue.

It was in the small log cabins deep in the forests during the long winter nights in front of a log fire that the forerunner of the Dala horse was born. Using simple tools, generally only a knife, woodcarvers made toys for their children. It was only natural that many of these toys were horses, because the horse was invaluable in those days, as a trusty friend and worker who could pull great loads of timber from the forests during the winter months, and in the summer could be of just as much use on the farm.

The art of carving and painting the small horses quickly flourished in the 19th century, as economic hardship in the region inspired greater production of the small horses, and they became an important item of barter. Horse-making may have started as something to do during the long dark winter months, but soon the Dala horses were traded in exchange for household goods and their carving and painting blossomed into a full-fledged cottage industry. The rural families depended on horse production to help keep food on the table, as the skills of horse carving and painting were passed on from generation to generation.

The carving of Dala horses as a livelihood is thought to have started in the village of Bergkarlås [sv] in central Sweden, though the nearby "horse" villages of Risa [sv], Vattnäs, and Nusnäs were also centres of horse-making. The villages were involved in the art of furniture and clock-making, and it is likely the leftover scraps of wood were put to use in the production of Dala horses. Many early Dala horses were not painted at all, but in the beginning of the 19th century painting them in a single color, white or red, became common practice. The decoration of the Dala horse has its roots in furniture painting and was perfected over the years. According to a local tale, a wandering painter in the style of kurbits came across one of these Dala horses in a farm he was decorating. When asked by one of the children why that horse was not as beautifully painted as the ones in the decorations, he painted the Dala horse in the same style. This tradition was then carried on in order to raise the market value of the Dala horses.

The earliest references to wooden horses for sale are from 1623. In the 19th century, Stikå Erik Hansson [sv] from the village Risa in the parish of Mora introduced the technique of painting with two colours on the same brush, still used today. In the book "The Wooden Horses of Sweden," the author mentions that this famous Dala painter is buried in a small churchyard in Nebraska after having immigrated to the Midwest in 1887 at the age of 64.) He changed his name to Erik Erikson upon coming to America and is buried at Bega Cemetery in Stanton County Nebraska, outside of Norfolk.

While there were many horse whittlers in the early production of Dala horses, there were comparatively few horse painters. The large number of whittlers and a lack of distinguishing features makes it difficult to distinguish between different whittlers. Early painters very rarely signed their work, but they did have their own distinct pattern from which it is often possible to identify who painted a particular horse. In the 1930s (especially after the World's Expo in Paris 1937 and World's Fair in New York 1939 in which Dala horses were shown) mass production of Dala horses started. This marks the beginning of a new era for the Dala horse, transitioning from toy to a national symbol and popular souvenir.

The Dalecarlian horse of today is still a handcrafted article, made of pine, and its pattern is about 150 years old. At least nine different people contribute their skills to create each horse. The distinctive shape of the horse is due to the usage of flat-plane style carving.

An apocryphal legend of the Dalecarlian horse is that they became the national toy in 1716. According to the legend, soldiers loyal to King Charles XII were quartered in the Dalecarlian region and carved the toys as gifts for their hosts.

In the 2003 Norwegian film Kitchen Stories, a small Dala horse is part of a joke when a character expected a real horse as a reward.

Early production of Dala horses was concentrated to four villages: Bergkarlås, Risa, Vattnäs, and Nusnäs, all in the parish of Mora. Production is believed to have started in Bergkarlås and later spread to nearby villages Risa and Vattnäs through kindred. At about the same time production started independently in Nusnäs, and being farther away their style was less influenced by those of the other villages. The individual painters each had their particular style, and the few who are old enough to remember first- or second-hand the history can often tell which village, and in some cases which carver or painter, turned out a particular horse. The distinguishing features of many early painters from these villages have now been documented.

Many of the works by the earliest horse makers are no longer in existence but those that remain are cherished by their owners and have often been passed down through generations. These are also coveted by collectors, and their value has risen markedly over the years.

Today, many of the villages in Dalarna county make Dala horses with individual styles representing the district of origin. These horses also have distinctive shapes and often come in different sizes. Some horses like the Nusnäs horse are stocky work horses; others are lean and upright with stately countenance like the Rättvik horse. Many of these can be seen at a yearly exhibition (since the year 2000), which is held at Klockargården in Leksand, Sweden. Currently about forty present carvers and painters show their Dala horses and put them up for sale.

Source: Wikipedia

[anxiouslyfred]

Springtime Deceitber 2020 masterlist

Probably the only time I’ve tried making an interconnected story from a prompt list.

Will note that this was from before Janus’s name reveal so for all of it, he’s called Deceit

Ships are Anxceit, Loceit, Prinxceit, Prinxiety, with background Remus/Patton

Stolen Hat - Deceit steals his hat back from the 3 who keep stealing it

Warm Scarf - Patton gives Deceit a scarf

Cold Hands - Virgil helps Deceit warm up when the air con is set too cold

Sick Snake - Logan starts looking after an unwell Deceit

Homemade Soup - Virgil makes soup for Deceit

Pretty Lights - Remus and Deceit discuss the relationships possibly growing

Fuck Society - Deceit has a yelling fit, gets helped by Lo, Ro and Virge

Frozen Lips - Deceit and Roman have a talk and cuddles, getting together

Holiday Treats - Virgil and Deceit bake together and start dating

Meteor Shower - Logan and Deceit get together

Christmas Music - imagination inhabitants are superstitious, Dee, Ro, Lo and Virge talk about how their relationships will work

Lit Candles - Deceit has some time out for himself

Peppermints - Dee doesn’t like the taste of peppermint

Soft Blankets - Virgil makes a blanket nest and pulls Dee into it

Fuzzy Socks - Remus and Patton try being sock salesmen

Fireplace - After an adventure in the imagination Roman warms up in Dee’s room

Dreary Darkness - Deceit visits Virgil’s room and gets hung up on the changes

Family Time - Creativitwins hang out with each other in the imagination

Pleasant Heat - Virgil and Deceit cuddle

Feeling Loved - Roman has a breakdown following SVS Redux

Decoration Mishap - Janus wants a date with his 3 boyfriends

Star Shapes - Logan and Janus go Stargazing

Gift Exchange - the title speaks for itself

Movie Marathon - Patton and Janus plan a family movie night, worry over Ro

Dry Scales - Remus interrupts their date night for a spa night instead

Hot Water - Virgil gets Roman to conjure hot springs, throws Janus in

Holiday Sales - Roman wants to shop, it takes some convincing for anyone else to join him

Winter Wonderland - To escape the heat of the real world, the imagination is frozen

Cuddle Pile - Janus listens to the rain, gets joined by his boyfriends

Fireworks - A surprise Birthday party is arranged for Roman

[nesttech]

WEEKLY MARKET WRAP - 16 OCTOBER 2022

Market Update With inflation showing no signs of letting up, Thursday's hotter-than-expected  consumer-price index report for September, which reflected worrisome jumps in the core readings that exclude food and energy and produced the seventh straight 8%-plus annual headline reading. Until now, many in financial markets have struggled to adjust to the likelihood of just a roughly 4% fed-funds rate by November, which would be the highest level in more than a decade.  Expectations are building in financial markets for a 5% fed-funds rate by March that's likely to bring more volatility across equities, bonds and most surely extend the crypto winter. Recently treasury Secretary Janet Yellen had voiced concerns about the potential for problems related to thin trading conditions in the market for U.S. government debt, raising concerns about a loss of adequate liquidity in the market. In the coming months economists are expecting a 6% fed-funds rate at some point, which will exacerbate global recessionary headwinds and keep the dollar strong. The first thing that could break in the global economy will be Europe as it might go into a severe downturn although raising rates is inevitable considering that U.S. inflation is soon getting out of hand. With the severity of the Crypto Winter growing or Ethereum Co-founder Lubin puts it “"So we remain the tail that is being waged by a very sick dog: the global macro situation”; it seems that it will be not before 12-18 months before we see more investors and crypto enthusiast returns to the space. However, all major companies are now focusing on product enhancements and better market fitment. Despite the crypto winter and investors staying away from crypto as an asset-class; Ethereum Decentralized Exchange – Uniswap, raised $165mm in fresh funding. This funding was led by Polychain Capital and other participants in the funding round being a16z crypto, Paradigm, SV Angel, and Variant. Stablecoin – best use case of crypto and soft target for regulators Stablecoins have emerged as the life-blood of the crypto industry. At a hefty $150 billion in total market capitalization, even after the collapse of Terra's algorithmic stablecoin UST earlier this year, they may be one of crypto's best current use cases. With the top two USDT and USDC having a market capitalization of $68 and $45 billion respectively. The two have grown in size by 353% and 1,400%, respectively, in just two years. Compound that launched in 2018, is one crypto's first decentralized borrowing and lending platforms that allows users earn yield on their idle tokens or take out crypto-backed loans. Today one of their largest borrowing market is for Circle's USDC stablecoin. Any individual be it retail, hedge fund, exchange or Web3 business, there is and will always be a need for stablecoin; as it is a cheaper and faster way to transfer money. With its growing prominence regulators are beginning to zero in on stablecoins as the route through which to regulate the entire industry. Citing the main reason as lack of regulation could hurt the ordinary investor and the entire financial system. Regulatory scrutiny has primarily revolved around transparency as well as determining how these assets could affect traditional financial markets. Tether, for example, has faced years of negative attention due to how opaque the firm has been about its reported 1:1 backing with the U.S. dollar. This lack of clarity has improved some over the years, with Tether now delivering monthly asset attestations; but the stablecoin issuer has never worked with a “Big Four” accounting firm to date. Circle has battled similar issues and now issues a regular attestation. Tether now commercial paper free Tether has completely eliminated commercial paper from its reserves. The largest stablecoin announced this milestone in a blog post that it would replace those investments with U.S. Treasury Bills. In a move towards transparency the largest stablecion has replaced all commercial paper much of which was rumored to Chinese and Asian and were being traded at a 30% discount. Commercial paper is unsecured, short-term debt issued by a corporation. Tether earlier this year had committed that it would reduce its commercial paper holdings and has gradually done so this year. Is this also a move as a result of pressure from regulators towards more transparency and accountability. USDT runs on a number of different blockchains, and as the most traded cryptocurrency, it is considered by many to be the backbone of the crypto economy. Bitcoin mining in Texas – regulators cracking down on electricity usage Is Texas becoming a “deregulated safe harbor” for crypto mining firms, with the state's cheap power and laissez-faire regulation? These are the latest concerns being raised about the potential for mining operations adding to the stress on the state's power grid. Law-makers are not investigating if companies are taking advantage of the subsidies by not mining during peak hours and profiting more by way of subsidies since the value of Bitcoin has also dropped in the last couple of months. In simple terms, the Bitcoin miners make money from mining that produces major strains on the electric grid: and during peak demand when the profitability of continuing to mine decreases, they then collect subsidies in the form of demand response payments when they shut off their mining operations and do nothing. Law-makers are also opposing the carbon foot print of such activities and effect on climate change and our environment. Energy-Efficient Bitcoin mining hardware Cryptography hardware technology  company Fabric Systems raised $13 million in a seed round from investors to build energy-efficient Bitcoin mining hardware. The money came from early-stage investment firm Metaplanet, run by Skype co-founder Jaan Tallinn, crypto exchange Blockchain.com, and venture firm 8090 Partners. Silicon Valley-based Fabric Systems will use the money to build an “immersion-native” Bitcoin miner and a general-purpose accelerator for cryptographic algorithms. The cryptographic accelerator is intended to make calculations faster and more efficient on the blockchain, allowing for advanced cryptographic algorithms such as zero knowledge proofs (ZKP)— a cryptography method to prove that something is known without revealing the known information directly. The tech was first used by the privacy coin Zcash but Fabric Systems said the plan is for the accelerator to be used by other industries outside of crypto—such as real estate. “Immersion-native” machines refers to Bitcoin miners which are dunked in a thermally-conductive liquid to cool them down and make them more energy efficient, because the process allows for more BTC to be mined with fewer machines.

Tylden D'Souza

nes.tech

Read the full article

[svexchange2k19]

names have been sent

heya exchange participants — you should now have all received an email with the name(s) of your gift recipients. feel free to add those to your Tumblr/AO3 submissions!

if you haven’t received any email and it’s not in your spam folder either, feel free to hit me up here, by email at svwinterexchange2k19@gmail.com or on my main @retrauxpunk

just a week left until the reveal! xoxo

[gameotheque]

Noooot really, it means less money, unfortunately and-

Awww, nevermind me, then!

[carrot-gallery]

SV Winter Exchange is this Friday!!!!!

Can't wait to see everyone's gifts!!