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#that's my take on it at least just some personal blabbing
lord-squiggletits · 2 years
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I know I haven’t posted detailed meta or thoughts of any kind about Impactor, but I really do rotate him in my mind a lot because mmmmm, he’s actually kind of relatable to me. Not in a “he’s just like me fr fr” way, but in a way where he has a lot of my strongest/most negative personality traits turned up to 11, so in him I see a sort of “worst version” of who I could be. But saying “worst version” as if he’s evil is misleading. Mostly when I look at Impactor I see someone tragic, someone who does have a noble heart but is drowning in too much violence and recklessness and anger to be the best version of who he could be.
Like (pardon me b/c it’s been a while since I read LSOTW), when Impactor shot those Decepticon POWs, it wasn’t “haha I’m gonna commit war crimes for the lols,” it was “these guys have killed thousands including my comrades and now I have to let them go just because of some fucking galactic politics? It’s not fucking fair that they get to get away with what they did, I didn’t come all this way to deliver justice to them just for them to be let go on a technicality” so he killed them.
In a way it’s admirable to be so hellbent on justice that you would go against everyone in order to kill people who did evil, but on the other hand, it was also incredibly short-sighted for Impactor to put killing a couple guys over an entire major political relationship in a war. But I think that goes to show that he thinks in terms of the here-and-now, in terms of what’s directly in front of his face and what he thinks is right or wrong. And I suppose that’s what I find so intensely relatable about him, because I can also be prone to blinding anger and passion, and just because you feel intensely that something is wrong doesn’t excuse you from doing it, and yet it just seems so unfair in the moment. Anger and passion can make you forget the principles you stand for when the heat of the moment comes. And it’s not because you’re an evil bastard who wants to hurt people, no; it’s because you DO believe in justice and you DO want to do the right thing, but your anger at injustice overcomes your sense of reason and you end up doing something evil against your moral code because you got caught up too much in your emotions...
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thebisexualdogdad · 2 months
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can u make a sequel (or maybe even a prequel 😉) to ur tim x male! chen reader fic?
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Lucy's brother part 1
Tim Bradford x Male!reader
So finding out that you had slept with your sister's training officer was pretty awkward to say the least but you really liked Tim and talked to them separately to see if there was any possible way you could continue to see him.
They each had valid concerns and neither wanted anyone to think Tim would give Lucy special treatment just because he was dating her brother but after a couple of weeks the two of them decided you and Tim should give this relationship a real shot.
You didn't necessarily keep it a secret but you weren't so open about it either which wasn't hard for Tim since he already preferred keeping his private life private… well, except for his best friend Angela who still found this whole situation quite amusing, most people at the station didn't even know he was gay.
Lucy on the other hand had a much harder time not spilling your relationship to everyone especially Jackson and Nolan.
“Tim seems in a good mood, maybe he'll take it easy on you today,” Jackson laughs as they collect their war bags for their shift.
“Huh? What? I have no idea what you're talking about I wouldn't know why he's in a good mood,” she rambles, avoiding eye contact as she ejects herself from the conversation and hurrying out the door to the patrol cars.
You rarely brought Tim to the apartment, usually spending time at his house to avoid creating any awkward run ins like the time he used your shower after a day at the paintball range and Lucy came home to him walking around in only a towel.
Tonight however Lucy told you she was going to be gone due to plans to go bar hopping with Jackson, Nolan and some of the other rookies they graduated with from the academy and her crashing at Jackson's apartment afterwards.
You took the opportunity to invite Tim over for a date night in, cooking him dinner and watching a movie however the movie was forgotten about half way through when Tim started kissing your neck.
Now you were on top of him making out on the couch, your phone on the kitchen counter where you couldn't hear your it buzzing with texts from Lucy saying how plans changed and Jackson was crashing with you guys instead.
The movie was too loud for you two to hear the front door opening and Lucy turned the light on to the sight of you in Tim’s lap, both of your shirts gone but luckily you were still dressed from the waist down.
“Oh my god,” she says covering her eyes.
“Hey Tim what are you doing here?” Jackson says pretty tipsy, taking him a minute to put the pieces together yet, “woah wait, are Y/N and Tim dating?”
You quickly hop off Tim and you scramble for your shirts, “you can open your eyes Lucy we’re decent.”
“You really couldn't go to your bedroom to do that?” Lucy questions, her words slurred, “now I have to burn the couch.”
“Don't be so dramatic nothing happened,” you sigh, “come on you are both drunk you should drink some water and go to sleep.”
“I can't wait to tell Nolan that you and Tim are dating Y/N, he didn't believe me when I said Tim was totally gay,” Jackson laughs.
After getting Jackson set up on the couch and Lucy in her bed you stand outside your apartment door with Tim saying goodnight to him.
“Sorry our date was a bust,” you apologize.
“It's alright let's just stick to having dates at my place,” he chuckles, “but uh could you talk to Jackson? I don't care if Nolan knows about us but I don't need him going and blabbing my personal business to the whole station.”
“I'll talk to him in the morning,” you smile, “but you know he's gonna tell Angela about this right.”
“Oh great, something else for her to tease me about,” he laughs, kissing you sweetly, “are you still in for the double date with her and Wesley next weekend?”
“Looking forward to it,” you say, kissing him one more time.
Dating your sister's TO was a lot harder to navigate than you thought it would be but you had fallen hard for Tim so you wouldn't change a thing.
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yunjardi · 1 year
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my heart bel♡ngs to daddy [series]
[young sugar daddy!jake × fem!reader]
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[click here for this series' masterlist to read previous chapters, general warnings, and playlist]
[!!chapter warnings!!: smut [mdni], angst, some fluff?, DADDY KINK, overstimulation, unprotected sex, reader gets lifted up, smoking weed, arguing, crying, mentions of food, mentions of toxic family (!!!) lmk if i missed anything!]
*sorry for any grammar errors
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chapter 15: lipstick stains
upon arriving home from the japan trip, you gave perry some extra food whilst telling him how much fun you had as if he was listening to your rambling. traveling is fun and all, but nothing beats the feeling of being able to take a shower in the comfort of your home before climbing into your own bed. really the only downside to coming back from a few days off is the work shifts you have to make up. good thing you had an earlier than usual shift; earlier shifts mean you'll have more free time later in the day when things get really busy.
it was quick for you to doze off considering that you had such an eventful few days and now you were thinking about working. but before you could fully fall asleep, you remembered to text jake. you knew he'd worry if you didn't text him at least once before you went to bed.
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your tummy filled with butterflies from simply texting the guy, so you could only imagine how much more excited you'll be to see him.
an uneasiness crept up on you while you read the texts over and over again.
why did he speak to you as if he's your boyfriend?
why is he always so affectionate?
'whatever, it doesn't matter, i'll just sleep,' you forced yourself to stop thinking about it in order to get to sleep.
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you woke up at the ripe hour of 3PM in the afternoon which left you with only about an hour and a half to get ready for your shift. springing out of bed, you ran to begin getting ready.
since it was your first day back, you wanted to look extra appealing to the customers because tips are always appreciated, right?
you made sure to put on a bit of makeup to hide the fact that you'd woken up so late, and you headed off to the bar.
the bar had become a bit of an anxiety trigger ever since that girl came around, but you came to realize that she was probably just trying to start some shit because she was most likely bored. you were there to work and nothing else; she just happened to get in your way. 
before you could even get to the break room to put your personal belongings in your locker, an excited yeji engulfed you in a tight hug.
"ah, it feels like forever since i last worked a shift with you! innie and i missed you so bad while you were away with your little boyfie in japan!" yeji blabbed excitedly while you two were still hugging, "innie was all sulky because he was stuck with me the whole time ha! you already know how i like to annoy him on purpose."
it made you feel genuine joy to know that your friends were at home waiting for you to come back. you decided to wait until you could all meet up to give them souvenirs that you bought them.
"i never wanna leave you guys again," you remarked as you two broke the hug to begin your shift. yeji nodded in agreement while you guys made sure your outfits were in check before heading out.
the feeling of mixing drinks again felt oddly comforting. after all, it's all you used to do before jake came around; taking care of your customers was something that was important to you because it was once your main source of income. but now that jake was in your life, you didn't have to worry too much about how many tips you made, though it still boosted your confidence to see stacks of cash being given to you.
secretly, you'd been saving up all your tips to get jake a nice gift as a way to thank him for everything. sex was still somewhat a way to 'thank him,' but your heart wanted to make something truly meaningful for some reason. you also didn't want to use jake's money to buy a gift that's for him, so that was a reason to work harder.
your plan was to buy a designer white, long-sleeve button up shirt and make a recreation of the iconic maison margiela kiss-mark shirt. you thought of buying him an original one, but 1. there are only a few in the entire world, and 2. it's a crazy expensive piece of clothing. but it's more personalized and truly one of a kind if you remade it yourself, so you were trying to earn and save as many tips as you possibly could. your backup plan if you didn't have enough money was to make him some sort of baked good that was decorated to say something not-so pg-13 as a little joke. you felt more driven to put even higher quality work into your job because of this. you almost didn't want your shift to end because you were hungry for as many tips you could get. plus, you were having a great workday since no one who's previously messed with you during a shift has shown up.
when the time came for your workday to end, you eagerly walked back into the staff lounge to gather your belongings and head home to count up your money. you hoped and prayed that you could slide by with the money you'd earned.
you wanted to give something, even if it wasn't much, back to him for giving you what you feel you didn't deserve. you always believed that he could put his time, money, and energy into someone or something else, but after he told you that he chose you, you couldn't help but feel guilty for the times you pushed him away, for the times you didn't trust him because you barely trust anyone.
'i want to prove myself to you,' you thought to yourself as you walked to the bus stop, 'i need and want to trust you.'
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the bus ride felt so long which made you even more antsy to get home, but you were more than happy to hop off the bus and speed-walk to your place.
you barged into your house, locking the door behind you before busting into your room to quickly count up your money. if you had enough, you were immediately going out to get the materials you needed so that you could finish tonight and give him his gift the next day.
your heart beat got faster as you realized that you had more than enough money to get everything you needed for your project and some supplies to bake something for him as well as an extra surprise. letting out an excited squeal, you quickly changed out of your work clothes to speed to the shopping center that was closing in an hour and a half.
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you swore that your heart rate hadn't slowed down until you got back home from the shops, hands full of everything you needed to begin making your gifts for jake.
you decided to mix the ingredients for a tray of brownies and put it in the oven so that you had enough time to complete the shirt just in time for the brownies to be baked. you managed to quickly get everything in the oven and began prepping the shirt soon after.
laying out the (outrageously overpriced) white gucci long-sleeve button up on the clean counter, you applied a shade of red lipstick that jake had bought you and began meticulously placing gently kiss marks on the top part of the shirt. it was, surprisingly, turning out better than you anticipated. once the lipstick was set, you took out some fabric paint you bought from the store to touch up the kiss marks, afterwards putting paint sealing solution onto all the kiss marks to further protect them.
as if the timing was perfect, you heard the oven beep. you hung the shirt up in your bedroom before placing the warm brownies on the counter to cool down. you couldn't help but smile to yourself as you imagined what jake's reaction may be to your gifts, especially the brownies.
once they were cool enough, you spelt out 'i love ur huge dick' in chocolate letters as a joke. you knew jake would have a good laugh before eating them. placing the finished brownies in a clear plastic container, you put them aside to begin packaging the shirt in a flat box.
there was one last touch to the gift that you'd been meaning to do for a little while.
you dug out a small ring box and placed a spare key to your house inside it. you figured that he deserved to have one considering how much he took care of you. plus, everyone, 'everyone' meaning yeji and jeongin, who you'd trust with your life had one, therefore it'd be fitting if jake had one.
placing the dainty little ring box inside the same box that contained the shirt, you sealed it so it was ready for you to take to his house the next day.
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the next day came quickly, and you hopped out of bed to gussy up before calling a taxi to head to his place since it'd be quicker to do it that way than if you were to go on the underground train.
you wore a cute, short, pleated white skirt paired with a black and white prada cardigan, white knee-high stockings, and some simple black prada heels to tie the outfit together. you wanted to look pretty for jake since you were showing up to his place unannounced.
the taxi ride to his place was quite long considering that he lived on the opposite side of the city, the city being heavily divided by social class, but it was interesting to look around at the other houses.
finally, you arrived outside the gate of jake's house, typing in the security code that jake gave you to open the gate. now, you had to practically trek across his extravagant front yard and circular driveway just to get to the damn front door. the walk you had to take throughout the front yard felt longer than the taxi ride.
you reached out to ring the doorbell, hearing it echo through the house from outside. since jake's ahem- mansion was quite large, you always expected to wait a minute before he actually came to let you in; it was honestly painfully awkward to just stand there. finally, you heard the door unlock, and you were greeted by a shirtless jake clad in only joggers and a small towel around his nape. you also could help but notice that his hair was now a shade of brown which made you laugh do yourself because of how you made fun of him about doing bald. regardless, his image was making you blush.
"oh, princess," jake said with surprise in his tone, "i didn't expect you to come this early in the day." he smiled sheepishly as he witnessed the shock in your face from seeing him shirtless as if you hadn't seen him in this state a million times. "well, i came early because i brought gifts!" you smiled at jake as he guided you inside, his hand on your lower back. "that reminds me," jake smiled, "i have something for you as well." you couldn't help but become shy at the thought of jake getting you a gift even though he does it literally all the time.
once you got into his main lounge area, you set the clear brownie container and the gift box side by side on his coffee table. jake hovered over the container to read the little message you left on the brownie slab, his giggle turning into his signature laugh. jake moved toward you, hugging you from behind.
"well, if you love it so much, why don't you fuck it?" jake asked you teasingly, gently biting and kissing your neck. "now?" you asked with wide eyes to which jake responded with a hum, the feeling of jake's hard becoming prominent against your back. "if you say so," you shrugged, trying to tease him by seeming nonchalant.
jake moved onto one side of the couch, tossing the towel that was once around his nape onto the table whilst inviting you to sit on his lap.
he pulled you into a messy kiss as you began to grind your hips down hard against his, jake feeling the soft moans you were letting out against his lips.
without breaking the kiss, jake managed to get you out of your clothes, besides your knee high stockings which jake found incredibly sexy, and have you grinding on his bulge. you moved your hands to pull his joggers and boxers off, still as impressed as ever at the sight of his cock. pushing your hips toward him, you took hold of his member and put it against your lower stomach, admiring how deep his cock would be buried inside you. seeing you 'measure' how deep he would be turned him on even more, which he didn't even think was possible considering the fact that he's already fully hard and hot and bothered.
jake quickly lifted your hips, impatient and wanting to be inside you. feeling his thick tip pass through the first few inches of your entrance made you go insane, your walls already tightening around jake's cock. "it barely fits yet you still take every inch so well, princess," jake praised, "now be a good girl and start moving for me, okay?" you nodded in compliance as you gently lifted your hips and collided into his, jake letting out a satisfied groan. jake was so deep inside you that you swore you could feel him all the way in your stomach.
he let you bounce on his cock, adoring how cute you were while moaning as you fell into spells of pleasure. "fuck," you let out a whiny moan, biting your lip gently afterward, "you feel so good, jakey. it's so deep inside me." jake smirked at the way he could feel your thighs gently trembling on top of his, knowing that you were falling apart over his dick.
at this point in time, jake was fully just thinking with his dick which led him to swiftly get up off the couch, still holding you, and begin fucking you while standing up.
your eyes were rolling back as you moaned loudly for him. you were so overtaken by pleasure that you couldn't even let him know that you were about to cum. the feeling of your cum running down jake's hard-on had him fucking you harder, faster. even after all this time, jake's stamina still takes you by surprise. no one could ever do it like jake; he's the only one who could make you go this crazy.
jake soon brought you back to the couch, still not finished with you. he roughly turned you around so that you were facing away from him and made sure you were comfortable before shoving himself back inside you. you let out a loud moan at the sensation before jake began thrusting into you from below, his hands running all over your body yet still keeping you steady at the same time. you, once again, found yourself cumming all over his cock without warning, your orgasm washing over you in waves. "mmm fuck," you whined out, still being stuffed with jake's member, "that feels so good, daddy."
not long after you, jake's orgasm also took over him, hot ropes of cum spurting into you as you tried to catch your breath. it was probably one of the craziest orgasms jake has ever had.
still quietly panting, you let jake pull out so that you could plop down on the couch next to him.
"you're fucking insane, you know that?" you asked with a light laugh once your breathing slowed down. "only because of you, you know that?" jake countered your comment, nudging you on the shoulder playfully before standing up to retrieve some wet wipes from one of the bathrooms so that you two could clean up.
"here, i'll go upstairs and get us some clothes," jake smiled at you as you now tried to hide your body away as if he hasn't seen it a million times already, "if we don't cover up soon, we'll probably end up fucking again." jake joked and let out a laugh, though you both knew his statement was fully true. taking his discarded sweatpants with him, he headed upstairs to his bedroom to fetch some clothes.
you took that time to put your underwear and bra back on before jake came back downstairs. after all, it was kinda starting to feel weird just sitting fully naked in his mansion that had huge windows off to the side from where you were sitting.
soon, jake came back fully dressed and holding out something for you to put on: one of his short-sleeve shirts, a pair of your leggings, and those mid-calf nike socks that you thought were obscurely over priced for just a pack of 4 (but you had to admit that you loved them).
"ah, i forgot your gift," jake sighed as he remembered that he'd left the gift he had for you all the way upstairs, "wait right here, i'm gonna wrap it real nice since it's still up there." he flashed his cheeky yet shy smile, slightly embarrassed that he had 1. forgotten it and 2. hadn't even packaged it yet. "you're silly," you laughed as jake dragged his socks on the marble floors to get back over to the stairs.
you took it upon yourself to get up and go place your gifts for jake over on the kitchen counter since the brownies seemed out of place just sitting on the coffee table. picking up the brownie container and gift box, you headed over to the kitchen to place them both on the counter.
glancing off to the side, you noticed two glass cups next to each other. of course, you wouldn't have thought much of it because why would you, but you couldn't help but notice that one of the cups' rims had faint traces of red lipstick on it.
suddenly, your stomach felt sick. you couldn't tell if you were upset or angry. all you knew was that you wanted to get the hell out of his house.
you sped over to the coffee table, swiftly retrieving your bag and walking into the foyer where you put on a pair of sneakers, that you usually left at his house, and walked out the door.
you didn't slam his door per se, but you closed the door loud enough to make it known that you were leaving.
quickly, you dashed down his driveway and front yard, making it outside of the gate before hailing a cab to take you home.
it took everything in your power to not start crying in the taxi, your phone now ringing off the hook with multiple calls and texts from jake wondering where the hell you ran off to.
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"yeah, and n-now i f-feel h-horrible," you blubbered to yeji over the phone after explaining the situation and how you made the gift yourself only to be confronted by lipstick stains from someone else, "i literally d-don't even w-wanna think about h-him. god, i could puke right n-now." you sniffled loudly and blowed your nose into a tissue. "my sweet y/n," yeji sighed softly, genuinely feeling for you, "i know, i know, let it all out. heck, you could even scream at me if you want to. but seriously, he's such a jerk for that." yeji continued to listen to all the little things you had to say whilst she tried her best to cheer you up.
yeji was really the only other girl you had in your life besides literally yourself. you knew that you couldn't lean on any other woman for issues like this; especially not your mom for because she's on another level of asshole-ness, you didn't talk to your siblings either, your sisters in specific who you could really use right now, at all, so without yeji, you'd probably be doomed when it came to stuff like this.
"honestly," you sniffled, "...i feel like smoking weed right now." yeji couldn't help but chuckle at you. "go ahead, girl, just be safe or you'll get it from me" yeji joked from the other line, "anyways, you know exactly who to call for that stuff."
after hanging up the phone with yeji, you went straight to your contacts, calling someone else up while trying your hardest to avoid all of the missed calls and texts from jake.
.
.
.
"hey, yeonjun."
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knock, knock, knock.
you sprung up from your bed upon hearing the knocks at the door.
looks like yeonjun is finally here.
you opened the door and were greeted by his sly smile as usual.
you offered him to stay the night since you two would be getting high together, and you didn't want him driving home whilst not being sober. he, of course, jumped at the opportunity.
"hey, it's been a little while," you laughed quietly as he pulled you into a hug, "thanks for showing up on such short notice."
"oh, it's no problem, really," yeonjun shrugged with a chuckle, "now that university is over, i have nothing else to do."
you led him over to your room so that he could set his bag down and get everything ready. he made sure to bring some food over as well since weed tends to make you hungry. yeonjun may seem like the type of guy to just go over to a girl's house and not think about anything but getting some action, but he cared deep down.
both of you sat on the couch, and yeonjun got everything ready for you two to start smoking.
you let him take the first hit, watching him inhale deeply before letting the smoke pass through his pretty lips.
they weren't as pretty as jake's, though.
passing the blunt over to you, he let you take a hit before he pulled you closer and put his arm around your shoulder.
"you don't look the way you usually do," yeonjun pointed out, "there's something wrong, isn't there?" you sighed out after your next hit, nodding in defeat as you rested your head on his arm. "do you wanna talk about it, beautiful? a pretty girl like you should always be smiling," yeonjun asked, not forgetting to add a dash of flirting as he usually did.
"do you remember jake?" you asked as you passed the blunt to him, him nodding before taking a hit, "i think he's seeing someone else at the same time as we're having a... thing, if you can even call it that. i went to his place earlier today to bring him some gifts that i made him the night prior as a surprise, and i saw that he had two cups in his sink, one of them stained with dark red lipstick. it made me feel shitty, so i decided to leave without saying a word to him." you explained between the passing of the almost gone blunt which prompted yeonjun to get up and prepare his bong to smoke from.
"bro is a fucking sleaze, seriously. and i'm not just saying that to make you feel better, i'm saying it because i think you deserve someone who won't lead you on like that. please don't think that you're at fault for being upset," yeonjun reassured you, putting his arm around you again and letting you fall into him after taking another deep inhale of weed, "god, he's a fucking dick for that."
you couldn't help but let a few tears roll down your face as you opened up to him about what happened. you weren't even particularly close to yeonjun, but he just felt so trustworthy. were those thoughts maybe a side effect from being high? possibly. did you really care? nope. you just needed to get everything off your chest.
"please don't cry," yeonjun said upon feeling his shirt become wet with tears, "he is not worth it. guys aren't supposed to leave women in tears like this. remember that, okay?" you nodded as yeonjun helped you dry your tears.
at this point, you couldn't even keep count of how many hits of weed you'd taken. all you knew right now is that you were overcome with intense sadness, barely being able to stop your tears as yeonjun hugged you tight, his sweet cologne tickling your nose.
you were so out of it from your emotions paired with weed that you didn't even notice how quickly you drifted off to sleep.
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waking up, you didn't expect to feel your mattress underneath you. you got up and peered out your open door, seeing yeonjun fast asleep on your couch with a cozy blanket and pillow underneath his head.
quietly, you snuck over to your bathroom, looking at yourself in the mirror and staring at how shitfaced you looked from smoking all night. you decided to brush your teeth, wash your face, and fix your hair a bit to see if it'd make you feel better.
you suddenly heard the bathroom door creak open, seeing yeonjun's reflection in the mirror.
"oops, i didn't even think of knocking," he looked down sheepishly. "don't worry about it," you chuckled in response, "i was just on my way out anyway. wanna go out to get breakfast or something?" yeonjun nodded, already beginning to brush his teeth. you smiled at him before walking out of the bathroom to give him privacy.
while you were waiting on him, you decided to plop onto your bed and check your phone.
the calls and texts from jake were reaching the hundreds at this point. from what you could see, he'd been texting you almost all night.
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you felt your stomach tie itself into a knot. you slid your phone to the other side of the bed and lied down, pretending to sleep so that yeonjun would leave you be once he got out of the bathroom.
you felt like sobbing your eyes out.
you hadn't gotten texts like these since you left home all those years ago.
shutting your eyes tightly, you tried to think about something else, anything else, but you simply couldn't.
the bathroom door creaked open, yeonjun walking out and spotting you on your bed. he figured that you went back to sleep and decided to chill on the couch until you "woke up."
suddenly, you heard a weird noise that startled you a bit, but you decided to ignore it until you heard the door open.
your soul fully sunk through your body. you forgot that you gave jake a spare key.
"and what do you think you're doing here?" you heard jake's deep aussie accent question yeonjun as you gulped. "i should be the one asking you that question," yeonjun argued back, "y/n? are you awake? we've got some company."
you had to bite the bullet, you had to. you crept out of your room, seeing jake and yeonjun staring at each other with fury in their eyes.
"jake, what are you doing here..." you sighed out as you looked down. jake ran toward you, relieved that you were safe. he reached over to pull you into an embrace which you rejected. jake swore the world stopped spinning when you moved yourself away from it; you'd never done something that...cold.
"uh, s-should i leave?" yeonjun asked awkwardly though still worried. "i advise you do," jake replied to him immediately. "don't talk to my friends like that..." you glared at him, causing him to stiffen.
"okay, i'll go," yeonjun sighed as he walked over to grab his backpack off the floor, "but if i hear that you put your hands on her, you're done for; i'll fuck you up, remember that." before he walked out the door, made sure to mouth 'be safe' to you.
"what the fuck, jake?!" you yelled out once the door was shut, "you didn't have to be aggressive with him! h-he was just helping me with something." it wasn't a complete lie.
"if anything, i should be asking you 'what the fuck!' you literally haven't contacted me since you abruptly left my house yesterday evening no matter how many times i messaged and called you! you had me worried sick! what the hell is going on?! was he here all night? is that why you didn't talk to me? did i interrupt your little fling?" jake rebuttaled.
"you're one to talk about having a little fling," you said under your breath before going off, "you're the one having girls over at your house one after another! you probably dyed your hair for her too... you were probably shirtless and fresh out of the shower because you had something going on before i got there, huh? you're lucky she left before i got there, right? she would've been so upset to see another girl over, wouldn't she? i saw that lipstick stained cup, jake, and i'm absolutely over it. i'm not just gonna sit here and act like i'm fine with this because i'm not."
jake sighed in frustration as he put his forehead on one of his hands. "look, it's seriously not what you think-"
"don't waste your breath. get out, get out and go back to her. what you do is none of my business; i don't give a fuck anymore."
"y/n, fucking listen to me, okay?!"
you flinched at the way he raised his voice. for the second time today, you were brought back to when you were still living with your shitty family. the yelling was getting to be too much, and you were trying your hardest to conceal the tears that threatened to pour from your eyes.
jake noticed how your body seemed to stiffen at how he was talking to you, and he felt horrible about it, but it was the only way you'd listen; he knew you well.
"that girl who was at my house prior to you coming over was the same girl who'd been harassing you at work. she came over unannounced to whine and question why i took you with me to japan instead of her, and i explained everything to her. i kindly asked her to butt out and which only made her angrier. she's trying to get between us, and i don't know what else to do but wait things out and hope she eventually leaves us alone and-"
"if i'm you're "everything," then why are you having such a hard time being assertive toward her? i trusted you, jake... i thought you actually cared, but it seems like you don't anymore."
so much for wanting to trust him, right?
jake's eyes widened in shock at the sudden realization that you heard him say that you're his everything when you guys were back in japan.
"w-wait, you heard that?" jake asked.
"wow, is that really what you're worried about right now? the fact that i heard you lie?"
"i wasn't lying! y/n, please stop being like this. i was serious then, and i'm still serious now. please don't cry."
you honestly didn't even realize you began crying until he pointed it out. frantically, you wiped your tears in embarrassment.
"h-how do y-you expect me t-to believe y-you?" you hiccuped through your tears, "j-just admit t-that y-you don't c-care about m-me." you fully sobbed your eyes out in front of him, your emotions making your body physically weak.
"y/n," jake's voice broke as tears rolled down his cheeks, "i-i just- i really care about you. fuck it, y/n, i can't take it anymore-
.
.
.
i love you..."
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a/n: dramaaaaaaa hehe, i hope you enjoyed this one 🩷 it's very plot heavy, but i hope you were able to read it all the way through without falling asleep 😭
taglist: @axartia @jjhmk @jayroseyy @ayohahaha @asaheyow @bunhoons @red-xherry @duolingofanaccount @lix-freckle3 @leeis @green-orangeade @imbaeksbae @sunghoonmybeloved @tum73er @sjakewrld @jeondolly @lalalalawon @jckeplanet @meinapricity @bubbleseo @cherryunie @bently-baby @fluffypiesstuff @teti-menchon0604 @rjsmochii @omgjwon @sunshine-skz @wy1999t @oceanyocean @nyfwyeonjun @mxshimoo @multifandombtvh @donghyckl @iloveoceaneyesss @jakeswhore @jinsfavoritedoll @brownsugarbaybee @heehee01 @mesopret @heesitation @heeverseblog @yoursjaeyun @mklhyvn @jungwon-xo @crazydelulu @kyurizeu @ineedsomezzz @graythecoffeebean
p.s. i removed lots of accs from the taglist that i have never been able to tag, so pls lmk if you don't see yourself here but you originally asked to be on the taglist! tysm!
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friendsoup · 10 months
Note
HALLO!! I THE ONE WHO REQ THE MEDI AND DIKKE FIC AND OMG THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR WONDERFUL WRITING!!! I ABSOLUTELY LOVE HOW YOUR WROTE THEM ALL. I legit have lot of fun reading it and laughing at poor digger but got bully by two serious person. I really adore how you write their interactions that just seem in character of them and then the end had me screaming in giddyness.
If is okay could i req again for medi and dikke with a reader that often sleep randomly at the most uncoventional of place, which is how vertin found out your relationship with them. Feel free to decline if you cant but still thank you so much again for writing my req i really love it and i hope you have a nice day!! 😭💖💖
Also i so sorry for ranting
A Quiet Moment
Recipe: Established romantic relationships, GN! Reader, Reader x Medicine Pocket, Reader x Dikke, Dumbass and idiot used as petnames, You and Medi try to out fluster each other, Dikke is a super simp for you, Vertin is supportive WC: 2,001
Chef's Note: WAAAHHH I'm glad you enjoyed the last one!!! I had a lot of fun writing it!!! I'm super happy to write for you again, anon! Don't be afraid to be a repeat customer! If you want, you can assign yourself an emoji even :0! Anyways, I had fun writing this! I have a bunch of requests I gotta bang out though....hehe
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Medicine Pocket wasn’t the type for “love”. Or any other foolish emotions. They’ve always found romance to be such a stupid waste of time, taking away from more important things, like their research. More than once a scientist on their team would do something absent mindedly while thinking of their wife at home. Then they’d mess up, ruining Medi’s most important results. Those times were met with no sympathy, Medi ruthlessly tearing into her team members for their foolishness.
…However, you were kinda cute. And interesting. That’s what Medi liked about you most. You were strange, not like the other people they’ve met. They liked everything about you that was different. Your laugh, your personality, your interests. They found it fascinating the way you thought, the way you acted. Medi wanted to study you, and if that wasn’t love? They didn’t know what was. However, the two of you had been keeping things on the low. Medi didn’t want their reputation as a mad scientist to be tarnished, nor did they want to show any weakness in front of their fellow arcanists. Not to mention that you had a reputation of your own to uphold, and a lack of close friends on your team to blab to. The two of you kept quiet about your little arrangement, but that was fine. Neither of you felt the need to brag, and given how fast gossip spread around the suitcase, the two of you were happy to stay far from it. But oh, the foolishness of a person in love never fails.
Naps had always been one of your favorite ways to pass the time, and with how much training you were getting, a heavy layer of exhaustion hung over you like a blanket. No matter how hard you tried to fight it, you were always a few seconds from falling asleep. Lost within your own dreamy haze.
Today just happened to be especially tiring. You were helping out with some chores around the suitcase, preparing for the next mission, when you felt the strong siren call of another nap wash through you. You dragged yourself through the halls, your body too tired to stay upright for long. You needed a place to sleep, and quickly. You found your respite in the dining room, underneath the table. It was nowhere near meal time, so you were certain you’d be undisturbed for a while. Dropping to a crawl, you made your way underneath and placed your head on the wooden floor. It wasn’t comfortable, far from it, but it was enough for you to begin to drift off. Medi hadn’t been looking for you. At least, they didn’t think they were. They’d been wandering all day, avoiding chores like the plague and ignoring the urge to continue their studies. They’d been suffering through a major creative block with their experiments, which frustrated them to no end. They were a genius! Why couldn’t they get it together?
Medi found you underneath the table. At first they laughed at the sight, then a fond smile came to their face. And then, realization. “[Y/N]!” They called, kneeling down to your side. “You’re going to hurt your back if you sleep on the hard floor!” They warned, shaking you awake. 
Groggily, you turned to them, annoyed that your nap had been cut short. “Nuh-uh.” “The fuck do you mean ‘Nuh-uh’?!” They exclaimed, “Dumbass! You’re going to hurt yourself! What are you thinking?!” “Tired.” You answer. “So, so tired.” Medi bites their fingertip through the glove, narrowing their eyes at you. “I’ll have to take a blood test to make sure you’re healthy. Even for an idiot like you, this isn’t healthy.”
“You’re worried.” You state, a warm smile growing on your sleepy face. “Nuh-uh!” Medicine Pocket shoots back, turning their face away from you. You can see a blush on their cheeks.
“You know…” You begin, reaching for their hand, “I might sleep better if I have something to rest my head on.” Medicine Pocket’s face grows redder, a pout twisting their expression. “What are you getting at, dumbass? Spit it out!”
“Can I rest my head on your lap?” You ask, bluntly. 
Medi covers their face with their hand, still not daring to look at you. A smug smile grows on your lips, enjoying how much you’ve flustered your partner. You don’t expect them to agree, PDA isn’t something the both of you necessarily enjoy. It’s more a game of chicken, seeing who bends first. Medicine Pocket swallows, then nods. “Of course you can.”
Your eyes widen in surprise. “Oh, I wasn’t serious!” You argue, the thought of PDA making your face heat up. “Too late to back out now!” They giggle, scooching next to you. They take a seat right next to your head, patting their lap. “Come on, sweetheart, take a nap with me.”
The pet name, despite how mockingly it’s used, sends an arrow straight through your heart. Though you’re hesitant, the offer is appealing. Cuddling with Medi isn’t something you often get to do, and here they are, presenting you with the opportunity. And so you lift your head, and place it on their lap. They squeak instantly, the flush returning to their face all at once. “Hey! What if someone sees us?” “They won’t.” You mutter, already losing the battle to sleep. You yawn. Medicine Pocket is so warm, and feels so soft beneath your head. You could stay like this forever, you think. “Nobody will.”
“Are you sure?” Medicine Pocket asks, yet they get no answer. You’ve already fallen asleep, lost in your own dreams. Medicine Pocket sighs, putting a hand on your head and stroking your hair softly. You remind them of one of their dogs like this. All gentle and cute. They find themselves smiling uncontrollably, lost in the bliss of being close to you. About a half hour later, Vertin enters the dining room. “Medicine Pocket? [Y/N]?” She calls, glancing around the room. “Where did the two of you go?” She asks herself, a scowl deepening on her face. The two of you were skipping your responsibilities, and as leader, she had to get you both on track. Medi froze, eyes wide with fear. They couldn’t be caught in a situation like this! Especially by the Timekeeper! But they also couldn’t escape! Your sleeping face was just too cute, they didn’t want to disturb it!
And then you snored. It was a slight, quick breath, but Vertin is a very perceptive girl, and she heard it right away.
“[Y/N]?” Vertin asked, “Are you napping again? You’ve ought to get your tiredness checked out by a-” She leaned over to peer under the table, locking eyes with Medicine pocket. “Oh!” Vertin exclaimed, before her eyes fell upon you, slumbering away. “Oooh.” “It’s not what it looks like!” Medi objected, keeping their voice to a hush. “It’s just- I’m just! It’s an experiment! They’re a test subject to me!” A light danced in Vertin's eyes as she saw you two, though her face bore no changed expression. “It’s alright. Your secret is safe with me.” She gave a curt nod, and stood. “Vertin- Wait!” Medicine called behind her, panic in their voice. “You’ve got it all wrong! No!” “You have nothing to worry about.” Vertin reassured them. “I wish you two love and prosperity.”
“Vertin?!”
Though Vertin did not breathe a word to a single soul, the suitcase was alight a week later with rumors of the new couple among their numbers. And though your days of being a quiet couple were over, at least Medi didn’t feel so embarrassed to be seen sleeping next to you anymore.
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Her Peace
Dikke had never been a fan of romance in plays.
The way bards would speak on and on about the sweetness of love, of the bliss of another’s touch, of the pangs in one’s heart, it didn’t seem possible to her. How could love be so powerful? She’d felt romance before, towards some fellow knights, though her feelings never clouded her judgment. She always managed to keep a clear mind, and was able to keep her thoughts rational. The stuff the bards spoke of was hyperbole. …You muddied that belief. Dikke was unbelievably weak for you. It scared her, in all honesty. She’d never been so vulnerable around someone before. Your smile made her sway, your laugh made her weak in the knees. She found herself thinking of you late into the night, unable to close her eyes without seeing your face. The walls she’d spent so many years building, crashed around her. Destroyed by a single person. Nobody knew of this relationship of yours. It wasn’t as though it was secret, it just wasn’t something you discussed with other people. Dikke didn’t often speak on matters of the heart, and you never found a good excuse to bring it up. And thus, the suitcase was unaware of the budding relationship in their midsts. Dikke had been training for hours. It was what she did to clear her mind, to calm her anxieties. There was something comforting about doing repeated exercises. It kept both her and her blade sharp. However, it was also extraordinarily tiring. The hard labor strained her muscles, making each movement painful. Though she was careful to never overexert herself, she still remained sore after each intensive workout. This time was no different.
Dikke dragged herself through the forest, focusing on her deep breaths. Birds sang in the trees around her, the same songs they’d sung in her homeland. Bees buzzed by her, brushing gently against her as she walked, clumsily making their way through. The same way they did a hundred years ago. And before then as well. Dikke lost herself in thought as she walked, allowing the nostalgia to ease her weary bones. And then she saw you. Like something out of a fairytale. You were sprawled beneath a grand oak tree, your chest rising and falling in a gentle rhythm. Dikke was stunned by your beauty, completely beside herself at the sight of you. Was it OK for her to see you like this? So vulnerable and pretty? Her heartbeat quickened, it was so loud she was worried it would wake you. You looked so peaceful, it made her dizzy. The fact that you could sleep so soundly here, without a care in the world… She wanted that tranquility. That trust in the world. Dikke sat next to you in the plush grass, keeping her guard up. She couldn’t just leave you here! What if something happened? She’d never forgive herself! As quietly as she could, she removed her cape, draping it over you in a single movement. Dikke loved the view of you in her cape. Seeing it made it hard for her to think, her brain only filled with thoughts of you. Surely it was alright to indulge. Just this once? You wouldn’t mind the company, would you? Holding her breath, Dikke laid beside you, leaving a few inches of space between the two of you. She didn’t want to intrude, but she wanted some of that peace. Some of that tranquility you held.
It didn’t take long for her to fall asleep. The mix of the workout and your presence was too much on her weary mind. By the time Vertin found the two of you, you were entangled in each other’s arms. Your head on Dikke’s chest, and her face pressed into your hair. The sight surprised the timekeeper, though she knew better than to react. She didn’t want to risk waking you up.
Later, Vertin would seek you out. “I see you’ve found your knight in shining armor.” She tells you. Though it doesn’t reach her face, you can hear the smirk in her voice. “What do you mean by that?” You ask, confused. “I wish you and Dikke well. That’s all you need to know.” She responds. You grow too flustered to continue the conversation any further.
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usmsgutterson · 2 months
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The Collector - S.R x Hotchner! Reader
Oooookay!! I've developed a little bit of a pattern of having m u l t i p l e spencer reid fics out with only a few days between and I feel like my current wip is going in a direction I don't really like, so this is just a cute little fic because I feel the urge to publish something instead of watching more criminal minds or editing my current wip to fix it's course.
I've had a l o t of thoughts about spencer with hotchner! reader who's also an author and bibliophile, and while yeah, that's the premise for my current WIP, it's also a point in this one (they'll be two different depictions in two different settings) because I just can't stop thinking about it. The concept has me wholly entranced.
The fic title is riffed from the song The Collector by Searows because I listened to that while writing this one and I am simply too lazy to come up with something else.
Fic type - fluff with some hurt/comforty undertones
Warnings - there are mentions of a difficult case (not specified), there are mentions of sharks (hammerheads are blabbed about a la reidsplaining, and thresher sharks are mentioned), and this one is not edited beyond bare bones because I whipped it up in an hour and a half and wanted to get it out as soon as possible.
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When Spencer gets home, the part of him that actively seeks you out is a little anxious not to find you in the living room, lounging on the couch while drinking tea and reading a book like you usually are when he gets home after a case, but it takes him a second before he remembers why the routine has changed.
You, a very accomplished author and person both, are writing again. Your agreement with the publishing house that's been with you since you were seventeen states that you have to have one book out every year, and while sometimes your books don't require a lot of research, a fair bit of the time they require at least or two of it before the drafting process begins.
And, Spencer remembers, you like to write in what he knows to be your domain--since you'd moved into a house that was almost too big for just the two of you, you've had a little home library. It's floor to ceiling with shelves, and the ceilings are pretty freakin' high out, taller than Spencer is by around four feet. You need a ladder to get to some of the stuff you read, and the walls are lined with more than 1,000 books that both you and Spencer had read in varying languages.
He sets his messenger bag down at a chair in the dining room table and pretty much makes a beeline for you from there--it's been a tough case. He's spent the last two weeks in Nevada and while he did get the chance to see Ethan while he was there, the case itself took a toll on his mental health and he just wants to steal one minute of your time.
He opens the door quietly in an effort not to disturb you, but it hardly works. You turn around when the door croaks because the hinges are rusted to hell and neither you or Spencer has had the time to put some WD-40 on them to stop the squeaking.
When you see him, your face breaks out into a grin. "Hey, Spence," you greet. He steps into the room, closing the door behind him as you approach, and like you know exactly what he needs, you pull him into a tight hug.
"How'd you know?"
"Aaron texted," you answer. "While you guys were on the way back--said you looked a little worse for wear. Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," he answers. "Just--case took a lot out of me, and I really missed you."
You've developed, over the last ten years of the relationship, the sort of innate ability to read Spencer like he's an open book, and you know he doesn't really want to talk about it so you don't push him.
"I'm right here," you respond, squeezing him just a little. You've missed him too, while he's been gone, but that feels like bullshit because you always miss him when he's away. Every single time, without fail, when you have to go to bed alone, you find yourself putting on one of his work shirts because it smells like him and spending the night all yearny because you miss him until you fall asleep.
When you pull away, your head tilts on instinct. "You okay?" You ask again. "What are you thinking? I can see the cogs turning in that handsome brain of yours, Spence."
"I'm sorry for interrupting," he says. "I know that you're working, Y/N, and--"
"You're not interrupting anything," you answer. "Aaron told me you'd be coming back today and I've been hopped up on caffeinated tea waiting for you to get home. I've been trying to do a bit of research with regards to the book I'm supposed to start next week, but I haven't been able to focus because you're the only thing I can think about."
Spencer smiles softly, and you turn your laptop off and then shut it before pulling him back in.
You bury your face in the crook of his neck before you can stop yourself, really--you've missed him like hell, and when you feel him do the same to you, you know that he's really been through hell since he was last in Virginia.
The two of you hug for a lot longer than either of you initially expect. You don't pull away until Spencer does, which must be fifteen minutes gone.
"We're staying in tonight," you murmur, e/c eyes meeting his brown ones. "Ordering pizza or pasta or--something good, and we're going to watch the shark documentary we saw on Netflix the day before you left."
"You've decided, have you?" Spencer asks, a teasing smile threatening to poke at the corners of his lips.
"Yeah," you nod. "And Penelope sent me her recipe for carrot muffins so I'm gonna make those to eat as a snack, and I've really missed your voice so I--just talk, Spence. Please."
You're grabbing him by the hand and leading him out to your kitchen as you speak, and when he starts rambling per your request, you're grabbing a mixing bowl and a spatula.
"Hammerhead sharks are a lot more interesting than they seem," Spencer begins. "Their scientific name is Syphrnidae, they keep to a carnivorous diet and they live 20-30 years on average while in the wild. They use their heads to help them hunt for their food, which is primarily stingrays as well as other kinds of rays, squids and crustaceans that live on the ocean floor. There are nine different species of hammerhead and with a length of an average 13-20 feet, the great hammerhead is one of the largest sharks in the world and it's the largest species of the nine in the Syphrnidae family."
As he talks, you get yourself busy with the baking, happy to let Spencer ramble until he runs out of breath because you've missed the sound of his voice. By the time the carrot muffins are in the oven, he's moved from hammerhead sharks to thrasher sharks and when you've closed it, he's stopped talking and is just--looking at you like you're the love of his life.
"What?" You ask, noticing his gaze.
Spencer shakes his head as though he means to clear his thoughts from it, shrugs, and says, "nothing."
You laugh. "I call bullshit," you say. "Just because my brother went on to be one of the profilin' types and I became an author doesn't mean I can't read you like an open book, Spence. What's going on in your head?"
He leans against the counter top, crosses his arms over his chest, and smiles.
"You fell in love with "one of the profilin' types", Y/N," he says. "And, yeah, you can read me like an open book. Never thought to be closed around you, and a decade gone, I am reaping the benefits."
"Yeah?" You ask, putting your dishes into the sink and giving them a rinse so that they're not mucky when they go into the dishwasher. "How so?"
"I'm home after two weeks on one of the roughest cases of my career," he says. "And I get to come home to you. That makes me feel lucky in and of itself."
"Yeah?" You repeat, turning to him with a grin as you wipe the water off of your hands and onto the nearest dry washcloth. "You're sure that the whole--the whole double PhD in Creative Writing and Psych, or the multiple pieces I've written that've been put into reputable news sources, or all of the books I've written since we met when I was nineteen and you were twenty--that has fuck all to do with it?"
He reaches out, his hands gracing your hips with a touch so delicate that it's almost intoxicating. "I fell in love with you for you, Y/N," he says. "Not your accomplishments, though boasting about you does have it's bonuses."
Your arms wrap around his shoulders. "I love you too, Spence."
"Because of my genius, or in spite of it?"
"Because of it, but it's not the only reason," you murmur. "I love you because of how kind you are, how courageous you are in the face of danger. I love you for your occasional sarcasm and the rambles that it seems nobody else in your office really enjoys. I love you because of earl grey tea on sunday mornings and forehead kisses when you're coming home from a case at three in the morning. I love you for who you are, not everything you've done."
When he finally kisses you, he tastes like earl grey tea and mint, and you love it--you love him so much that it just about consumes you whole, but you're happy to let it if it comes to that.
When Spencer pulls away, his brown eyes meeting yours just before your foreheads touch, he breathes in.
"It's good to be home," he whispers. "Amazing to be home, actually."
You laugh, kissing him quickly before turning your attention to the living room. You take him with you, the two of you waddle-walking because you don't want to separate after days spent only communicating through phone calls and facetimes.
When you finally plop onto the couch, you let yourself be held by him, and man, does it feel amazing.
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Text
pairing: dad!bucky barnes x au pair!reader
warnings: age gap (reader is 10 years younger than bucky), smut (18+, dni if under 18)
author’s note: sorry this one is a bit short. i am worrying myself silly until tomorrow.
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and wouldn't you love to love her?
Bucky didn't know if Y/N wouldn't be back. He had decided to give her space, allow her the time off since she never had any but explaining it to Sadie was, to say the least, complicated. The two year old had decided to live up to the terrible two cliche and between refusing to go to school and kicking any time he tried to bathe her. Whenever she asked when Y/N would be back all Bucky could say was that he did not know and, honestly, that was the truth. The more the days passed by and her viva examination got closer, he was starting to believe more and more that maybe she just wasn't coming back at all. I like you just the way you are, what ever happened to Hey Y/N, would you like to go for some coffee? No, he just had to be upfront about it.
As if Sadie living up to her prophecy wasn't enough, Christopher was equally on him blabbing and wondering about Y/N. He could only tlel him so much before Chris charted a jet to Ohio and he was certain Y/N would hate that more than what he told her.
Bucky was in the middle of dealing with Sadie screaming bloody murder about the pancakes not having chocolate chips when he heard the front door close. At this point, if someone came to shoot him in the head he wouldn't mind. However, it turned out to be a much pleasant sight dressed in a professional black dress.
      - Why is she crying? - Y/N drapped her coat over the chair.
      - There's no chocolate chips. - Bucky sighed both of relief that Y/N was here and of tiredness.
      - Sadie Barnes, you either eat your pancakes or there will be no TV, no tablet, no toys, no Etch-a-Sketch and definitely no Bluey, Disney + or any other streaming service your dad may be paying for. Your choice.
The redhead stared at Y/N before starting to eat her pancakes. That's it, Y/N was a witch. She had to be a witch. That's it. She was a witch, a very pretty witch who looked way too polished to have come out of an Ohio farm, but a witch.
      - How were the cows?
      - Pardon?
      - Your parents. You went to see your parents right? They live in a farm in Ohio?
      - Yeah. They were ok. Apparently mum has named them Rose, Sophia, Dorothy, and Blanche much to dad's dismay.
      - Like the Golden Girls. - he chuckled. - So, your viva is today.
      - Don't remind me. It's like walking into a slaughter house and then being denied being called a doctor. They should decapitate me, put my head on a spike, and parade me around Columbia as the massive disappointment.
      - What's decapitate? - Sadie asked.
      - It's the capital. - Bucky said not wanting to traumatise his two year old with the scenario Y/N had just described. - Go wash your hands and get your backpack, bug.
Sadie nodded but not before going over to hug Y/N's leg. Y/N ruffled her head before sending her along to wash her hands. Bucky got to making Y/N a plate, patting the chair next to him. She smiled at him before taking a seat and cutting a bit of the pancake. She stopped chewing, looking at him with a forced smile.
      - Good?
      - Buck, why are they salty? - she put a napkin in front of her mouth to spit out the pancake.
      - They're not salty. - Bucky took a forkful from her plate to try it himself.
      - We've had this discussion, Buck. Salt is in the black pot and sugar in the white one.
      - I'm gonna be a mess when you quit. - he pushed the plate away from her. - Speaking of which, I would like if you interviewed your future replacement. I trust you to pick the right person.
      - Most likely you won't need a replacement because I'm failing my viva today.
      - You are not. - Bucky put his hand on her shoulder. - You are smart, Baudelaire.
      - Baudelaire?
      - Do the scary thing first. Get scared latter.
(...)
Bucky drove Y/N down to Columbia, ensuring she got there safe and ready for her VIVA before driving down to take Sadie to school. Y/N swallowed in empty, merely staring at the hallowed halls of a building which had many notable alumni and she was now hoping she would be one. The VIVA was intense to say less and as she came out of the room, she was sweating buckets and wanting to be as far away from the building as possible.
      - Y/N! - shit. Shit, shit, shit, she'd forgotten he existed. What ever happened to men taking a hint?
      - Chris. - she turned around with a fake smile. - What are you doing here?
      - Anderson told me it was your VIVA today, I wanted to come see you. I haven't seen you in a while and Barnes said you were on holiday.
      - I thought after our last chat you wouldn't want to talk to me, Christopher.
      - It was a hurdle, Y/N. - he got closer to her. - Listen, I understand it was rough of me to attack your job like that but you have to understand it's because I care for you and that job is beneath you.
      - No job is beneath anyone, Christopher. You think that silver spoon mouthed talk is gonna make me forget you basically insulted me, my boss and the child I look after?
      - You have a Bachelors and a Masters, Y/N. You should be working internships, assistant positions to help you build your curriculum, not being a silver spoon mouthed man's child's babysitter.
      - That's all fine when you can afford to work a non paid position, Christopher.
      - I care about you, Y/N.
      - But I don't love you.
      - I don't expect you to love me yet, we haven't been seeing each other for too long and if we ...
      - Christopher. - she interrupted him. - I love someone else. It's not gonna stop.
(...)
Y/N dragged herself home. It was now a week, a week long of worrying wether she passed or not. She guessed it was better than having to do it again, heck she hoped she wouldn't have to do it again. She opened the door and heard mumbling with all the lights being off. She moved to turn the lights on, coming face to face with a home made sign and Sadie yelling surprise.
      - What is this? - she smiled, leaning down to pick Sadie up.
      - You're done, it's a party. - Bucky chuckled, pointing to the sign. - We have reservations in about 3 hours. Bought an ice cream cake and Sadie made you a card.
      - You shouldn't have done this.
      - What? After 3 years and a half of you moaning and whining over psychology, you need a nice night out.
      - You do know she'll start crying at around 10.
      - That's why we have dinner reservations at 6.30 and once she's in bed, I will allow you full control of the television. How does that sound?
      - I may not pass.
      - You got this far. You deserve a celebration just for you.
taglist: @talesofadragon @themermaidscales82 @winters1917 @vladsgirlxx @stinkerbelle007 @maybefoxysouls @blackwood-bodecker-housewife @chipilerendi @kandis-mom @belennasif @abitofblues @buckybarnessimpp
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ughtyrell · 5 months
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Model Oliver Quick
Dying at the idea of part time model Oliver. Was scouted when he was a teen from someone who said he had potential. Did a few shoots but never went anywhere with it seriously because he had to study and focus on getting a scholarship. Once at Oxford though Ollie realizes he needs an income to help him along, because while the scholarship takes care of the bulk of it, he still needs some money for other things. So he gets back into contact with the person who helped him get jobs before. He tells them clearly though he wasn't looking for a career. He just wants to do some shoots when in his free time while going to uni. He knows he probably doesn't have the proper looks and attitude to have a career anyway. (Something the person denies but agrees to help him do this part time.) Ahhh the ideas I have in my brain. He doesn't ditch his nerdy/stiff style when he's not working but he does indulge in buying higher quality clothes because he likes the feel of the material alright? He has some really nice, stylish clothes because sometimes he would be gifted/paid with them because he's basically a newbie. He just doesn't wear them often if at all because he feels like an imposter in them, or just awkward about standing out. It's fine when it's for a shoot because then, he's just being a good worker and making sure he earns his paycheck. Obviously he tells no one because he doesn't have anyone to tell and even if he did, it'd feel weird to say it or bring it up. It's not like he's a professional or anything. He eventually meets Felix and doesn't tell him. He does say he has a job that he goes to sometimes because he needs the money. Ollie tries to stay vague about it? "Oh it's a...manual job." "My job doesn't have set hours, I get called in or told when something comes up for me to do." Farleigh hates how Oliver dresses but can't help but notice how it isn't cheap clothing like he expected. It irks him because if he can afford clothing like that, why can't he at least buy something that looks good? Random bits and moments that won't leave my brain. -Felix accidentally finds out about Oliver's nicer wardrobe because he's nosy and doesn't understand other peoples privacy. "Mate don't you have anything other than these old man clothes? You have to have something!" Opens Oliver's wardrobe and quickly starts looking around before Oliver can say or do anything. -Once again, Felix doesn't understand that Oliver doesn't tell people about these things for his own reasons and Immediately blabs about his findings to Farleigh and everyone. "Ollie actually has such nice clothes! Fit and stylish enough to be for models even! LOL!" -Oliver having to explain they are his work clothes because he needs to look proper and doesn't feel comfortable wearing them as everyday clothes. -Maybe Farleigh forces his way into Oliver's room to have a look at these so-called model worthy clothes because he doesn't believe Felix. Gets even more mad at Oliver because, wtf?, this little weirdo does have clothes that look good, why doesn't he wear them?! -If Oliver goes to Saltburn, because his plans were to work as many modelling gigs in the summer as he could during the summer, he gets found out and exposed by Venetia or Elspeth. Not immediately, either because Elspeth is charmed by his looks and says he seems familiar but can't quite place it? Or because Venetia wants to wait for a perfect moment to say something. Maybe double check her magazines before bringing it up. asdfghjkl, if anyone knows any fics with this idea or makes one, please, tell me!
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piosplayhouse · 6 months
Text
Niche fandom happenings to take your mind after whatever stuffs happening in your fandom:
So as you can probably deduce, the model horse collecting hobby is made up mostly of older people. The hobby has been well established since the dawn of the Internet and I've talked a few times about how it's difficult to find some older resources about it/its history because of how every other link you click on which used to lead to a hobbyist artist's angelfire blog now is just a dead link or worse, bought out by some ad company sitting on the URL. Up until recently, a huge portion of hobby talk still relied on now-defunct Yahoo groups; now most have moved to either forums like Model Horse Blab or private Facebook groups. Individually most of these are pretty decentralized, but since model collecting by nature is a hobby that requires a significant amount of financial interaction (buying, trading, selling, commissioning, etc.), there has to be some kind of centralized marketplace for people to pitch their goods to as many corners of the hobby as possible.
Enter Model Horse Sales Pages (MH$P), a, well, site where people can post sales pages for model horses and accessories. It's an old fashioned sales pages site from the 2000s with a somewhat shitty layout but unparalleled detailed search functions-- to order things from a seller, you'd have to personally email them to negotiate for their listing. Though this seems somewhat inconvenient to our modern senses used to one click payments and speedy delivery, MH$P is undoubtedly a pillar of the model horse community.
... So that's why people are scrambling as it's allegedly been hacked and taken down for the foreseeable future. Worrying about personal information aside, now fans are left to wonder: what's the alternative? Well, the first one is of course eBay, which many hobbyists already use. However, eBay is obviously less catered to model horse hobbyists and is therefore a bit harder to search if you're deep in the hobby and can't be assed to look through 4000 "plastic horse" titled listings to find the 2008 SR glossy xX Devilish Girlfriend++ Thoroughbred you want. MH$P occupied a specific niche for long time fans looking for grails.
So what are our alternatives for people in the hobby looking to buy from others in the hobby? Well, there's a few decentralized official dealers like Chelsea's Model Horses or Triple Mountain who you can consign older models to, but going through a middleman takes time and you have much less freedom in your personal listings. Alternatively, you could go grassroots and post listings in Facebook groups and on forums, but those have reaches limited to the members of those specific, often small, groups, and it can be hard to move stock that way. So now people are looking for a backup marketplace platform, both for the current situation and longtime health of the hobby. But imagine my surprise when I went on Model Horse Blab and saw people suggesting an alternative site kickstarted by
STAR STABLE ONLINE YOUTUBER DENIS/DENISE WISESTORM. Denis has been a controversial figure in the SSO fandom (though there's pretty much no uncontroversial ssotubers especially on ssoblr because clickbaiting and weird reactionary takes are like the bread and butter of that side of the fandom) who's been called out for having some alt-right homophobic views in the past, as well as for his abject and unproductive negativity towards improvements made on the game. He's a lps customizer and pretty prolific breyer collector, though, so his drive to create a model trading and selling platform makes sense at least. But still! Why him!!!!!!
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mychoombatheroomba · 6 months
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Don't Let Go
Between the Bones (Leon x GN! Reader) - Chapter 36
You get some unexpected support, and you and Leon come to an understanding that neither of you likes.
(Cross-posted from Ao3)
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They had the day off, but the first thing that everyone wanted was answers.
To his credit, Krauser took the time to answer them all as best he could. 
“Why didn’t you warn us?” 
“I didn’t know.”
“Do they have the authority to even do that?” 
“. . . Yes.” 
“What are they so afraid of us blabbing about?” 
“You’ll be learning that in the coming weeks.” 
“Are those assholes really going to be staying?” 
“Yes.”
Leon stood in the back as the rest of the squad learned what he already knew: what they’d suffered for. What some of them were being sent home for. No one was happy with the answers given, but most understood. Leon understood. The reasoning, at least. Not the practice. Not the torture. He would never understand that. 
Nor would he understand the answer to the question Valeria hissed out, one that had been eating away at Leon, too. The one thing he wasn’t reasonably sure of, on Krauser’s end regarding the whole experience. 
“They had our letters,” she said, her foot tapping against the floor beneath where she sat on her bunk. “From months back.” 
Leon watched shadow overtake Krauser’s eyes, that crease between his brows deepening. 
“Hadn’t heard from my mom. Is it because they held those letters from us?” 
Krauser nodded once, his gaze unwavering even if it was full of regret. “Yes.” 
“And you knew?” Valeria pressed, hurt evident in her features. 
Another pause, before Krauser nodded. “Yes. STRATCOM procedure. No communication with the world outside during training.” 
“So any letters we sent home . . .” 
“. . . Were never sent.”
Top-secret shit, even before the bioweapons were brought into play. 
Not that it made the pill any easier to swallow. 
Still, the Major didn’t try to shift the blame off of himself, even as Valeria fixed him in a scalding glare. If looks could kill, Jack Krauser would be a pile of ash on the ground. “That’s bullshit,” Valeria snapped. “Sir.” 
“Watch that tone, Soto,” Krauser met her, steel for steel. Leon had seen the man make soldiers give him fifty push-ups for mouthing off . . . but he’d also seen him allow Leon to speak his mind. He’d seen the Major listen to Leon’s own concerns, even if the Major seemed to like quite literally everyone else better than him. So, even if he barked at Valeria now, Leon wasn’t surprised when a moment later, the Major just gave her an apologetic look. There were a lot of those that he gave that morning, until there were no more questions. 
None that anyone was brave enough to ask, anyway. 
Their personal effects were passed back out to them - the ones that had been abandoned in the Humvees when Reed and Hellman had taken the squad. Three days ago. Three days and a lifetime, it felt like. 
Just like how Raccoon City felt like a lifetime in one night. 
Pain had a way of doing that, didn’t it? Warping the world. A day became forever, forever became attached to the idea of something terrible. A cage with no bars. He wondered how long he and the rest would be stuck in that cage? How long the bruises would take to heal, how often, like last night, someone would hear movement in the barracks and jolt awake, expecting a blow for having fallen asleep . . .
Everyone was still so quiet as they unloaded their freshly returned packs. Hard not to be when Andersen and the other three who had failed were there, not bothering to join in the unpacking. What was the point if they were going to be gone by tomorrow anyway?
As for the rest, the day was theirs to do with as they pleased, and no one had any idea how to spend that free time. 
Not until heavy footfalls against the floor made Leon and those around him - Alenko, Williams and Valeria - look up, and they found the Major standing there, his hands behind his back. He looked at each of them, gaze sweeping from right to left before landing on Leon and hardening. Sharpening. Leon was sure then that he was about to hear a speech about his failure. About how he’d broken and the only reason that he and Valeria were being allowed to stay were because of Krauser’s own intervention. Or maybe that this entire thing was because of a request that Leon made. He could think of no other reason for the loathing in that stare. 
Instead, the Major looked back at the group as a whole. “Heard you had some trouble back at Fort Benning,” he said, and Leon’s brow furrowed. So the conversation wasn’t going to be about the beatings taken in those cells, but rather the one that he and the others had taken in defense of one another. “Got a call from Commander Cortez a few days back. Said you got into a fight. That you put twelve of his men in the hospital. That true?” 
That, too, seemed like a lifetime ago. Alenko was the one to nod and answer Krauser’s question. “Yes, sir.” He frowned as he spoke, the expression tugging at the splotches of blue and purple on his face. 
Krauser nodded once, his face set in stone. 
“Good,” he finally said, and Leon recognized veiled pride in his eyes. “Make sure you don’t end up in the hospital too, next time.” 
It was one of the few orders that Major Krauser had given in his time here that Leon agreed with. 
Of course, when the Major unclasped his hands and tossed what he’d been holding onto the bunk nearest him, Leon felt an entirely different wave of emotion sweep through him. The little radio rolled onto its back as it landed amidst the scratchy blankets, leaving a flash of recognition to cross Williams’ and Alenko’s faces as they saw it. The same radio that had been in Cortez’s office. The same one you’d somehow stolen for them, that you’d all been listening to on the ride home before everything went wrong. 
Krauser was giving it back to them. 
“And don’t make a habit of stealing from your Commanding Officers.” 
Leon might have laughed, under different circumstances. 
Instead, he found himself even more surprised as Krauser went on, this time looking towards Valeria. “Your letters,” he began, “they were from your mother?” Hellman must have told him, then. Or maybe Krauser had read the letters himself, after the fact. Leon hoped that wasn’t the case. He hoped he hadn’t read through Sherry’s letters before Leon even had the chance to. Still, he knew enough about the contents to ask.
Valeria’s mouth twitched down, and she nodded once in response, stiff and all too plainly upset. 
Krauser nodded too, and again Leon saw conflict in the Major’s face. Whatever combat his thoughts were doing, though, it was over quickly. “I’ll do what I can to get you clearance to write home. All of you.” 
That was all Krauser said . . . but just before he turned away, his eyes found Leon again. Fixed on him like crosshairs. The words spoken were all that were said, but Leon could see that Krauser had more to say. Something lurking just beneath the surface, unformed but sharp. Leon only glimpsed it for a moment, but it was there all the same. Leon almost didn’t care if the Major was angry, now though. Because even if he didn’t have a home to write to, really, he could write to Sherry. 
He might be able to tell her he was sorry for not answering her letters. To tell her he was okay, to make sure that she was alright too. 
So, whatever was behind the sharp look that he received now, Leon just met that sharpness with gratitude. He didn’t get much but a moment of that gaze losing its edge. Just a second or two, and then the moment was gone, and so was Major Krauser, moving down the rows of bunks. He hesitated as he neared Andersen, the older soldier sitting on the edge of his bunk, looking shell-shocked. 
Krauser looked down at him, his jaw tensing as he reached out a hand, patting the other man on the shoulder. 
Then, lifting his chin, he left the barracks. 
More silence followed, until at last, Williams spoke up. “Looks like Sarge was right about him being proud,” she muttered, watching as he stepped through the door. 
There was no doubt in Leon’s mind. Jack Krauser was an asshole. He had a sadistic streak. He liked to push people and he would never apologize for doing it. All of that was still true. 
But maybe you’d been right about more than just Krauser being proud of you all. 
“Do you buy it?” Alenko asked, looking over at Leon. “That he didn’t know about Reed and Hellman?” He didn’t sound overly skeptical. Just like he wanted to be sure. That he needed that one last opinion that reinforced his own. 
You had faith in the Major. Leon had criticized you for that, once. 
Now he understood it better. 
“He’s telling the truth,” Leon nodded, and he could have sworn he felt hell freeze over because he was defending Krauser of all people. “You saw how he reacted to . . .” to your injury. Leon had seen it up close and personal. The shock that mutated into rage. Rage enough to make Krauser nearly do something stupid. 
“Yeah,” Alenko conceded, knowing well enough what Leon was referring to. They’d all seen the concern the Major had for you. The regret he’d hidden poorly as he answered the questions today. He had not meant you all to come to harm. Not like that. 
Didn’t change the fact that you were still going to be hospitalized for who-knew-how-long. 
“Never seen him worried like that,” Williams nodded, shaking her head. 
“Never seen Sarge hurting like that either,” Alenko said, and tensed when he felt Valeria’s gaze turn on him. She was still feeling guilty, Leon could see it. Alenko could too, shutting his mouth when he realized he’d just reminded Valeria of what she’d inadvertently caused. 
Because Reed and Hellman had asked about the two of you specifically. That’s what Valeria had said last night, and those words had Leon on edge. That’s what made him worry even now that there was danger, even now that they were all free of those cells. 
You’d told him last night that you couldn’t risk him being there, and you hadn’t known how right you’d been. 
The two of you had been obvious with your care for one another. So, even if she’d given up information about you two being close, Leon didn’t blame Valeria for what happened. Even if it was clear that she blamed herself. 
Maybe that was why, after a moment, she reached for the radio that Krauser had left on the cot in front of her, and stood. “Come on then,” she said to the group, and her voice had more resolve in it than Leon had heard in a long while. 
“Where are you-”
“We weren’t the ones that stole the radio, right? And Sarge is gonna get a lot more use out of it than we are.” 
It was a day for looking past old angers, Leon found. He hadn’t liked Valeria much before the trip to Fort Benning. That had changed steadily while there. Now, though, as she marched off in an effort to try and alleviate your loneliness, whether to lessen her guilt or because she genuinely cared for you, Leon didn’t care. What mattered was the effort. It mattered that someone besides him cared enough to think of that before he could even voice it. 
And Leon, for the first time in the last few days, smiled. He didn’t hesitate as he stood alongside her, following her as she moved towards the door. It didn’t take long before Williams and Alenko were following along, too. 
⧫⧫⧫
As soon as you heard the knock on the door, you steeled yourself. 
You weren’t sure how you were going to tell Leon. Distancing yourself had been the first instinct. You were good at that. It would be easy. Well, not easy, but doable. You’d done it once before, after all. 
It had left you feeling like shit, and it hadn’t solved anything. 
You’d both promised to talk about what you were feeling. It was a promise you regretted now that it made things more difficult, but you wanted to honor it. You owed him that much. So, you’d torn your mind apart all morning trying to put together the right words. 
Krauser knows-
Reed and Hellman will be watching-
We can’t-
All of them seemed like bullshit, even if the concerns Krauser had raised were valid. Real. Just as the happiness that Leon Kennedy brought you was real, too. The most real thing you’d felt in months, besides that old and aching pain that you could never be rid of. Pain that was dulled and, sometimes, forgotten around the man you’d come to care for so much. The man you’d watched grow into a stronger person, inside and out. The man you would take a thousand hits for. 
You couldn’t just let that go. 
So when you heard that knock, you weren’t sure what the hell you were supposed to do because Leon wouldn’t want to end this. Not now. And neither did you. 
The door opened and you found yourself speaking on instinct alone. “You shouldn’t be in here,” you repeated the words from the night before, not looking up from that spot on the floor you’d chosen as yours. 
And then you regretted not looking up as soon as you heard a smoky but strained voice reply. “Nice to see you too.” 
Your head snapped up and you pushed yourself up from bed, thanking the pain meds in your system for allowing the movement. Valeria didn’t wait to be invited in. Neither did any of the three people following her. Alenko and Williams gave you gentle, apologetic smiles as they followed the shorter woman in, and you felt your heart splinter because you’d thought to spend this day alone, like the last time. You thought you’d have to push Leon away the moment he stepped through the door, just for the sake of keeping up appearances. 
Instead, you found yourself looking at your squad mates with wide eyes. 
And when Leon did walk through the door, you felt that splintered heart break apart when he smiled at you. 
“Hey,” he greeted, and you knew this conversation was going to hurt. Both of you. 
But what conversation was it going to shape up to become? 
You didn’t know, and, as you looked at the four visitors in front of you, you decided that maybe you didn’t want to know, either. 
“Hey,” you said. “What are you all-”
“We got the day off,” Valeria answered. “Figured you could use the company.” 
“If you wanted it,” Leon added, giving you an understanding look. 
You’d been alone during your recovery from Finland. Krauser had checked in on you when he could, but he had a life and duties to attend to. The nurses that pitied you had made for shitty companions. Not that you’d wanted anyone, anyway. Solitude. That had been your companion and your shield. You’d thought just Leon had the ability to break down that barricade around you. 
You’d been wrong. 
It wasn’t quite a smile that you gave the group as you nodded, but it was close enough. “Okay.” 
That surprise and that slight smile only grew as Valeria held out her arm and presented you with none other than the little radio you’d stolen from Cortez’s office. “Think you’re missing this, too.” 
You weren’t sure what to think as you took the radio from her. Valeria seldom did anything without cause. What was her reasoning for this? For being, well, downright kind to you? You didn’t know, and, honestly? In that moment, when you had been so sure you’d been condemned to isolation in every possible way, you decided that you didn’t care, either. 
So, you settled the radio between your hands, fighting back the new kind of pain in your chest. One not born of your cracked ribs or the fear that Krauser’s words had instilled in you. 
This pain was sweeter. One you hadn’t felt in a long, long time. 
“Thank you,” you murmured, looking from Valeria, to Leon, and then the rest. 
Valeria just shrugged. “You’re no fun when you’re miserable. So pick a station and let’s fucking relax for once.” 
You couldn’t really argue with that, so you flipped switches and dials until you heard a synth beat and vocals you hadn’t heard in so long. A song from another life. 
“. . . there’s no turning back.”
“Even while we sleep . . .”
“Shit,” Alenko smiled wide as he took a seat a ways away from the bed you sat in. “I love this song!”
Williams just nodded, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning against the wall. “Least it’s not the Spice Girls,” she mumbled over her split lip before she looked over at the rest of you who, back in the Humvee, had made her sit through one of their songs. It seemed her opinion of them hadn’t improved. “Respectfully, they’re shit.” The near-apology was delivered with a near-smile to match. 
“Well, Williams,” you found yourself saying, even if your words were muted by the ordeal you’d just been through. Still, there was something familiar there. Something you’d rediscovered at Fort Benning, and were glad to find at your fingertips now; humor. That was what ever-so-slightly colored your words as you told Williams, “ respectfully, go fuck yourself.” 
An Army brat like you, Williams just smirked right back. 
“Help me make the-”
“Most of freedom and of pleasure-”
“Nothing ever lasts forever . . .” 
It made it easier, having them there. There weren’t many words, but there didn’t need to be. You all just listened to the song as it played, finding a comfortable state of quiet between each other. Valeria moved to lean against the wall by Williams’ side. Leon . . . you could tell he wanted to move closer to you. You wanted that too. You wanted it to be just the two of you, like in the hospital in Fort Benning, but Krauser’s warning hung over your head. 
“There’s a room where the light won’t find you-”
“Holding hands as the walls come tumbling down-”
“When they do, I’ll be right behind you . . .”
Being alone with him was dangerous, more so now than it ever had been. That didn’t change simply because you wanted his presence or company. Your desire for him wouldn’t be pitied in a court martial. Not if Reed and Hellman were already looking at you like an infected limb that needed to be cut away.
You needed to heal, and Leon needed to finish this training. You both did. You’d just never thought it would be apart. 
“So glad we almost made it . . .”
So . . . you would be alone with him one more time. At least for a while. 
“So sad they had to fade it . . .”
You hoped he would understand that this was for the best, for now. 
The song eventually finished and you looked up to meet his eyes. You’d learned to speak without words to each other, now. So many stolen glances and nights spent side by side, in training or with him pressed up against the wall of the mess hall, you had a language all your own. Insight into each other’s thoughts. And as you looked into those ocean blues, you saw your own thoughts reflected back at you. 
There was a talk to be had, and both of you knew it. 
⧫⧫⧫
The day went on and eventually the others left. Alenko was first, saying he was going to go in search of food. Had to be desperate, to want what the mess hall served, but Leon didn’t begrudge him. The hunger of those three days had left them all empty just as much as the rest of the experience had. 
Williams went next, saying she needed to move, to make up for those days spent in captivity. Valeria didn’t take much convincing when asked to join her.
Leon almost told them to be careful. To not let the agents see them. 
To not end up in the predicament that the two of you were in. 
A situation that became clear and present, once the two of you were left alone, the radio playing on. 
“How are you feeling?” He knew what the answer would be, but he asked anyway.
“They gave me pain meds,” you shrugged as best you could, “so not that bad right now.” 
At least there was that. Even if you shouldn’t have had to be in the infirmary in the first place. “Have they told you how long you’ll be on bed rest?” Leon asked, because he didn’t want to have the other conversation. Not yet. 
The mirth that had been present on your face, however muted, faded. “It was a six week recovery last time. For the bones.” 
“Six?” The number sounded so much worse than what Leon had imagined. He remembered his own long recovery from the gunshot wound he’d suffered in Raccoon City. It had seemed long then, but he hadn’t been kept from anything. It hadn’t stopped him from living his life. Not that he’d done much living after that night anyway. Still, he couldn’t imagine what this was like to you, because it would be six weeks without physical training. Six weeks without sparring, without being able to clear your head in the way Leon knew you would need. Six weeks of what would be hell to you. 
And if you couldn’t train for combat like the rest of them . . . would you be able to graduate with the rest? With him? 
“You need to keep practicing,” you told him, and by the stiffness of your words, Leon could tell that you were thinking of exactly what he was thinking of. It sounded like you were telling him to go on without you. “Train with the others, but ask Krauser to spar too. He’s the best. He’ll kick your ass, but he’ll make you better.”
“You say that like you’re not gonna-”
“I’m not gonna be able to spar with you, Leon. Not for a while. I’m not gonna be there. You can’t let yourself fall behind with me.” 
The words, while well intentioned, were painful to hear aloud. True, but painful because after months of training with you, he couldn’t imagine not being by your side. He didn’t want to have to train for hell on earth and not know that you would be there to face it with him. 
But you were right. 
As unfair as it was, as completely and utterly shitty, you were right. 
“Okay,” he nodded. “But then when you’re better, we’ll catch you back up.” Because he knew you would need it. He knew you’d want it, too. That after so long letting your body heal, you would want nothing more than to throw yourself back into the swing of things. 
The trouble was-
“Leon . . .” you shook your head, and he knew that the conversation he’d dreaded was here. “Krauser knows.” 
Just like that, the color drained from his face. You’d never been one to beat around the bush, but those words were like being doused in ice water.
“About . . .”
“Us.” 
He felt a pit open up in his stomach that threatened to turn him inside-out, and all he could do was sit on the bed beside you. The jaws were closing in. Had that been the cause of that look from Krauser earlier? Had the Major been looking at him with such disdain because of that?
“. . . Fuck.” It was really all he could say. Why even warn you about Reed and Hellman if the game was already over . . .
“He’s not going to report it.” 
. . . or maybe not as over as Leon had thought. 
“What?” he blinked, turning to look at you without bothering to hide his confusion. Major Krauser hadn’t exactly been by the books, as far as Leon knew, but he’d been so adamant about respecting the order of things. This whole mess had happened because he’d not wanted to step outside the bounds of red tape. Why the hell hadn’t he reported fraternization? 
“Said he doesn’t care. But he also said that Reed and Hellman will.” 
Leon nodded, trying to reconcile all the mismatched thoughts and solutions buzzing around his mind. 
“So he’s saying he won’t stop us but if we get found out we’re fucked.” 
You just nodded, the air growing heavier and heavier with each moment. Because Leon knew where this was going, just as much as you did. 
Leon pursed his lips, looking down. “They asked about us during the interrogations,” he finally said. “Reed and Hellman. Valeria told me they were asking.” 
It was your turn to frown, he could see it out of the corner of his eyes. He wouldn’t rat Valeria out, but you deserved to know that the agents were onto you, even if Krauser wouldn’t be the one to confirm it.
Why wouldn’t he confirm it?
“Then they’ll be watching.” 
Leon nodded once, feeling emptiness beginning to set in. “So what do you want to do?” he asked, dreading the answer because he’d heard the distance in your voice last night, and he could hear it even then. He’d heard it once before, after you’d kissed him that first night and tried to convince yourself and him that it was a mistake. 
The difference was that, then, he’d seen that emptiness in your eyes, too. He’d seen you retreating into yourself. 
He knew you well enough now to know that the look that he saw in your eyes didn’t match the attempt at distance in your voice. Because, as you turned your gaze up towards him, Leon could see only conflict. Only you, a casualty of the crossfire between what your mind had to be telling you and what your heart wanted. When you answered, that conflict was all the more apparent. “You know what I want. But we have to be smart about this. Because if Krauser knows - and has for months now - then Reed and Hellman will pick up on it too, and they’re already gunning to cut me for this shit,” you gestured down to your ribs, and Leon swore he heard your voice waver.  
“They wanted me out, too,” Leon admitted, and he watched some fear seep into your expression. “Krauser convinced them to let me stay.” 
And again, Leon found himself wondering why?
“They wanted . . . why?” you asked. Why they’d wanted Leon gone - that’s what you were asking about. 
“Because I broke,” he admitted, his voice hushed. Not ashamed, but overwhelmed by other emotions. “When they were hurting you, I had to get them to stop. So I was going to tell them what they wanted to know. Right before Krauser got there.” 
You looked at him then, silent, your eyes piercing his own. Searching and seeing straight through him, just as you always had. 
You had suffered on account of him. It was the last thing he ever wanted for you, but you’d endured it. You’d taken pain for him, in fights and behind bars, and you’d been taking pain from him for far longer. With your company, with your touch. You’d helped each other learn to walk again. It was what had made him fall in love with you, even if it had been something that happened to him at the end of your knife. 
He loved you. So, he made a decision. 
“Look,” he went on, turning to face you more, feeling something in him building. A resolve or a desperate hope, he wasn’t sure. “I’ll focus on training. I’ll work with Krauser, I’ll . . . I’ll only visit you with the others, if you think it’ll be less suspicious. But I’m not leaving you here by yourself. I’m not letting go of this. I can’t do that. Not if you don’t want to let go, either.” 
He watched you, feeling emotion overtaking him. Bearing down on him, nearly making him shake because it had all been too much. Raccoon City. STRATCOM. All the hurts he’d suffered - that you’d suffered - and the best thing to come from it all had been this. You. 
So, his throat constricting, he hoped that you felt the same way. 
For a moment, he worried, because you were staring at him like he was something you could never have. He saw the regret in your eyes, the tension in your body, like you were bracing for some great pain. It all faded, though, and the corners of your mouth turned up just a bit. The dark of night graying as the sun tried to appear once more. 
It was all the warning he had before your lips were on his, and Leon felt the resolve he’d built up for months, the guard he’d put around himself in that prison, crumble. Emotion and relief flooded him, and his hand shook a bit as he lifted it to your face. It was different from the kisses the two of you had stolen in the shadows. Different than the sweet one he’d given you in the hospital at Fort Benning. This was all longing. Wordless in its declaration. He held you gently, no longer needing to memorize the feel of you but trying to hold on to every detail anyway. 
Because he didn’t know when he’d next get the chance to kiss you. Or hold you. Or be with you the way he wanted. 
But he wasn’t letting go. 
“I don’t want to let go, either,” you told him, your lips against his. “I don’t know when we’ll be able to-”
“Neither do I,” Leon admitted, as the words tore at him. “But . . . we’ll find a way.” 
He had to believe that. 
He had to believe that this wedge being driven between the two of you wouldn’t change what he felt. And to that end, he would watch. He would find moments of safety for the two of you, he would learn to play the spy game if it meant he could steal a few heartbeats with you. He’d wait for those moments, and he’d wait for you. 
However long it took. 
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astrhoeluvr · 2 years
Text
Astrhoe Observations Pt.6🫂🥰🫶🏻
(I’m back with another one😘)
Back to 👉🏻 my materialist 👁️🫦👁️.
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a lil disclaimer : these are just my personal observations, so don’t take any of them to heart🥳.Some could be applicable to you and some would differ, so take all of them with a grain of salt OKIE! enough of me blabbing let’s get on with it🫶🏻🥰
👕🖤: Venus in the 8th house 🤝🏻 wearing baggy clothes!
🛒🛍️: Moon in the 2nd house, bestie how many items do you have in your shopping cart?👀😘
🛁🫧🔥: Scorpio/ Aries placements would prefer taking an extremely hot shower 🥵🥵🥵. They’re the ones who’d literally take a shower in blazing hot water😭😭🙏🏻 like?? Must be all that Martian energy phew 😮‍💨
🧿♏️🍀♓️: A lot of water placements, especially Pisces and Scorpios are into astrology. Most of the people who are into astrology could have at least one of these placements 🥰🤔 how many water placements do y’all have??? Lmk in the comments 😘
🎨🤫: Venus in the 8th house could also indicate hiding your beauty, talent or artwork🫣👩🏻‍💻🖼️🎭. People with this placement could have social media accounts dedicated to their art work/ fan edits or blogs but would never use their actual name or in general not put out any of their personal information!!🕵🏻🤫🤐 But nonetheless the work the put out is nothing less than phenomenal. Will definitely catch your eye and you will naturally want to know more about this individuals work🤩.
🧠🧐: I’ve noticed people with earth signs in the 3rd house could have such good memory 😳.
🗣️😳😮: Uranus in the 3rd house could mean the native is down to talk about anything and everything🧐😭. Aliens, conspiracy theories, fantasise, kinks, any absurd or mind boggling questions, YOU NAME IT👽👾💭🤨😭such amusing people istggg.
But if Uranus is aspecting Saturn/ Mars or Pluto, the native could become highly defensive and rigid with their thoughts,beliefs and morals and outcomes could highly differ 🥲😦
🧐😋💞: Wherever your 3rd house ruler is placed could indicate what you like talking about the most.🗣️
Eg. having your 3rd house ruler in the 6th house could indicate talking a lot about your pets, or your daily routine (makeup/skincare/ after school etc) 🐶🐱💄🧼🫧or having your 3rd house ruler in the 8th house could mean you could genuinely enjoy talking about taboo,mystical and occult related stuff😳🧙🏻‍♀️🧚🏻‍♀️ and could also mean that you wouldn’t shy away from topics related to any seggsual stuff🤩😈.
👺🥴: Mars/Venus in the 8th house 🤝🏻 people constantly staring at you😀😀. my god it must be so annoying👎🏻 like you could just be eating something and people would be eyeing you like “👁️👁️”.
🎶👨🏻‍🎤🎧👩🏻‍🎤: Pisces placements like to listen to specific playlists depending on their moods 🥲😍🤬.
For egs. If they’re feeling sad, they’d search up “sad songs/ heartbroken songs” 😭😭 or if they’re crushing on someone they’d look up “I think im in love or pov : you have a hopeless crush” and end up fantasising their asses away😭😭📸📸.
Okay that’s all for today luvs🫶🏻🥰
(Please do not copy or plagiarise any of my work <33)
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- san✨🍵🪴📖🧘🏻‍♀️
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nanaten · 5 months
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I'm sorry for not requesting a drawing with this space, but I just have to ask... what is the appeal of Clausten? I am not trying to be mean or anything, I legit am very curious.
I can kinda understand Nesscas, it's the result of fledgling mother fans from Smash going "these two would be cute together" (at least that's how I always took it, apologies if that seems rude), but Clausten feels kinda like... those same mother fans finding out about claus and ninten and going "gasp! leftover stripe boys" and mashing them together like... idk what a good term is for this.
Again; sorry for misusing this space, i kinda just want to understand this ship. Not dogging on you or others for enjoying it, just wanna understand it.
I suppose while I am here, I guess I could request a doodle of Lloyd. Maybe of him blabbing about Superman comic stuff to Ninten or what have you. Lloyd needs more appreciation.
Also sorry this may be a mess to read, it was just kinda stream of consciousness
Hi! No need to apologise, I think this is a very good question!
I understand that the ship, on a basic level, doesn’t really make much sense at all! It began as a crackship enjoyed by a small percentage of the mother community and slowly developed into what it is now— a ship with many enjoyers, but not many that know exactly why they enjoy it.
I want to preface this by saying, I do not speak for every person who enjoys Clausten. I am just one of many, and this is all my personal perspective. Thank you for enquiring about it, honestly, because I love speaking about them. So, here we go!
First and Foremost: It’s a crackship— so more than any other reason I can give, it’s just plain fun! These are two characters I love and adore with my whole heart, so it’s just fun to have them interact, and of course, it’s fun to view them as a potentially romantic pairing! Ninten is my favorite character of all time, and Claus is my favorite in Mother 3 specifically, so it’s like a personal wish fulfilment to draw them together.
It’s fun to not take strict canon all too seriously. I pull my silly guys from the source material and I mess around with them whichever way I desire B).
I definitely don’t think it’s entirely fair to view Clausten as, like, Nesscas leftovers either, lol. Ultimately these characters are all very different in terms of stories, how they’re written etc, and both ships have very different qualities that make them loveable in their own right! Liking ships like Clausten has alot to do with how you view these characters— What do you gather their personalities are, how compatible would they be, etc? And the way I characterize Ninten and Claus, atleast in my head, make them very compatible. (Ninten being adventurous, outgoing, snarky, and boyish, and Claus being similar— but more reserved, and more careful as a product of his experiences.)
And finally— I really think them as people— not my own view of their personalities, but judging based on canon events— that the two are very similar, and could find solice in their similar experiences. I think the characters are weirdly connected, in a way, for starters— Claus, if you think about it, is Porky’s second Giegue/Giygas. A new puppet, a new ace, a new strength that he takes away the humanity of.
Ninten, being directly related to Giegue, who I can imagine feels somewhat responsible for the corruption of Giegue alongside what comes after the events of Mother 1 , is also connected in some way to Porky, and then Claus. This is basically an extended way of me saying “Their stories are linked in the overarching tale that is the Mother series”.
Claus’s feelings towards Ninten would be complicated initially, or atleast I think so— for his inability to defeat Giegue weirdly, inadvertently caused a chain reaction that lead to the events of Mother 3. (Giegue lives —> Invades Eagleland —> Porky Gets corrupted —> Giegue is then defeated by Ness and Co by going to the past but Porky Escapes —> Porky goes to the future, Mother 3 time —> The Plot Of Mother 3 Happens You Get It). The two’s distant but important connection in the story of the games leads to some extremely interesting food for thought, or at least I think so. How would Claus view the situation? How would Ninten feel after finding out what happened to Claus? How would the two bond over this weird experienced they’re both tied in?
And that is made all the more interesting to me when possibly viewing it in a romantic lense, or atleast something that could become romantic. It’s complicated and messy and there’s so much history behind the two, it’s interesting to think not only about how they’d meet and how they’d feel about eachother, but how they would handle romantic feelings— how a relationship between two very troubled people could work and be okay, and help them mutually heal.
All this is to say, they’re tied in the story and I think putting the two in a romantic relationship is very interesting. Also, it’s just fun :’)
(This post is a TOTAL mess, it’s midnight and I should be sleeping, but I got too excited to write about them hahaha. Thank you so much for the question! Also, I’ll make my next post a big lloyd appreciation, I like to draw him. Thanks again! X))
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cloveroctobers · 4 months
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BODYGUARD — VICTORIA HUGHES [Summer Writings]
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A/N: where is the fandom on this site? Nowhere to be found and only on Twitter! Easily became my fav fem character of the series and would have loved at least ONE MORE SEASON. Would definitely watch if they decided to do a crisis one spin off in the future. Anyways Vic deserves all the love she can get and it’s a special month so here I am—if you catch my drift 😉
SYNOPSIS: life in DC has taken some time getting used to but thanks to having Travis by Vic’s side she manages—although she’s sure she would have figured it out regardless! Vic has begun navigating Crisis One on her own and being in charge of a team leads to her spending the weekend with a member Vic’s not entirely sure likes her but decides to push her pride aside through persuasion of her best friend…later bringing on further rejection?
WARNINGS: curse word dropped + fem reader has southern roots + a few OC’s added just for the purpose of this mini story + mentions of injuries and procedures & Travis still being Travis…
<- read my previous summer anthology fic here.
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~WASHINGTON, D.C.~
A few bruises, a very large angry mosquito bite, and the stench of a cigarette is the first thing Vic notices when she spots you looking out into the distance above the river. You’re not far from where your RV is parked along the growing grass and Vic snorts to herself, realizing that you weren’t bullshitting when you chatted about your ride/home down at the center. You were the first to show up before everyone else on the official start of crisis one (always on your electric scooter with a seat attached and a small wired basket in the back) tipping your, “bless your heart,” trucker hat in greeting along with a apple lollipop hanging in between your lips.
Granted the crisis one team would all receive their uniforms in due time but it certainly wasn’t what Hughes was expecting just based on your file and word of mouth from HR. Vic liked to say she handled herself well trying to work with this new team but there was something about the woman from Texas that liked to throw Vic for a loop.
“Just go over there and hint at the idea of spending some one on one time together,” Travis whispered to Vic who threw her hands up in the air in annoyance.
“We’re not even supposed to be down here! The event is back that way and I don’t even know why I let you talk me into taking a walk.”
Travis gave her a side eye, “hey, I stopped you from jamming a foam board over Duke’s head, you should be thanking me.”
Duke Conway was another member of Crisis One, a bit of a airhead surfer dude that came from a wealthy family that also helped fund this program. The event held vendors that showcased many programs over the state that didn’t mainly cater to mental health services but also just health in general. There were pamphlets, foods proven to uplift your health, demonstrations, games and even other various of activities for all sorts of ages! It was a beautiful scorching hot day out here at the recreation area that felt as big as Central Park! It also started off as a good day until Duke began blabbing to the others about how he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to purchase this new surf board on this salary (yes in DC!), purposely ignoring this elderly woman who wanted more information on crisis one.
That ticked Vic off since she always has a soft spot for the elderly, her personable trait coming into play as she assisted the woman, apologizing for Duke’s actions and answering most of her questions before Travis took over so Vic could tell Duke a thing or two. That of course led to Duke still being oblivious and Vic ready to flip on him since he’s done nothing but kick back and act as if this was some chill weekend outing.
Which led to Travis leaving the booth in Vic’s second or third in command—Travis always assumed it would be you and should be since you two seemed to work together best besides the few times you agree to disagree but instead it went to Duke’s cousin on his mother’s side, Arlington Wraith. Who was a bit of a classist snob but agreed with Vic on their cousin’s stupidity but felt they should be the only one that got to say it—despite Vic out ranking the both of them.
To cool off, Travis and Vic decided to take a walk and now Vic felt like maybe this wasn’t the best idea. The braided haired leader wasn’t sure where you ran off to since one minute you were there with the rest talking to a man that approached the vendor and then in the next you were yards away.
“Thanking you for what exactly?” Vic pulled her bottom lip into her mouth by her teeth, then used a finger to scratch at her scalp in confusion, “Trying to meddle with my love life?”
A freckled face Travis lolls his head around, “Vic it’s been how long since we’ve been in DC?”
Vic lifted her shoulders exasperated, “I dont care and I don’t need to constantly be in a relationship.”
“Who said anything about that?” Travis replied with a frown, “You two may just have sexual chemistry.”
Vic rolled her eyes at this, finding this statement to be so typical of her best friend.
“Again, been there and done that! And this isn’t even what this day is about. I’m supposed to be working and she should be too which means we should only have our heads in the game.”
Travis shrugged, “well maybe your head can be in her game.”
Vic twisted her face in disgust as Travis laughed to himself, “I can’t believe you just said that cringy garbage to me and if you want to be horny—save it until one of your late nights down at those clubs you spend twelve hours in, it’s like you think we’re in Europe or something.”
“Hey, I’m single and like to have fun.” Travis argued with his hands raised.
Vic mumbled, “Yeah that’s your problem.”
Travis fires back, “And your problem is not being laid enough.”
Vic pinched the space in between her brows, “Travis…I love you truly and i broke my celibacy a while ago and still chose to focus on my work even after that but we’re older now. Supposed to be smarter even! I’m pretty sure I’ve had this conversation with you before but I think I’m ready for more than just a lay again. I’ve worked so hard to be here and sure of myself and I want to share that along with having an endless love that lasts until I’m ready to kick the bucket.”
Travis softens his teasing as he reaches to grip Vic’s shoulders and then caressing them, “that’s sweet and I love that for you but how do you expect that to happen if you don’t take another leap of faith with someone that’s right in front of your face?”
“Again!” Vic yells, “Did the whole dating a co-worker and someone that works in the same field as me.”
Travis nods his head knowing of Vic’s dating history, “fair but you’re the one that thinks she doesn’t like you…and you could at least try to be friends since it’s actually nice having someone in your corner in the work place. I mean hey look at us! So go over there and just try.”
“You’re acting as if I’m some kid at the park that’s scared to go play with the other kids or something.”
“Well I think you are honestly,” Travis states making Vic raise her brows in disbelief, “it’s just you and I out here and I know someday will be the day where you’ll want to build a family—outside of me—with someone else and she might be the answer to that.”
Travis didn’t mean that in the sense of having children since he was sure that really wasn’t in Vic’s cards. She liked being the cool aunt to Maya and Carina’s kids and basically being the godmother to Pru, who she shared conversations with every other day but a family didn’t always have to mean producing children, it could be with the people you already surrounded yourself with.
“What exactly am I even going to say? It looks like she’s in deep thought along the horizon and I’m not sure I want to disrupt that.” Vic makes excuses now, molding her lips together as she awkwardly swayed her hands back and forth.
Travis gives her shoulders a shake, “you’re Vic Hughes…I’m sure you’ll manage,” before he circles around Vic to lightly shove her in the direction of a potential love interest, “I can confirm that they also identify as queer.”
Vic whipped around to face her best friend who grins at her, “how? What? That doesn’t automatically mean—
“Sure it doesn’t but I didn’t exactly get the chance to ask if you’re her type.”
“Uh, I’m glad you didn’t! You’re so embarrassing.”
“That’s my job. Now shoo!”
Vic glares at Travis who sends her a thumbs up in encouragement. Turning to face where you stood, it appears that you’re now facing in their direction, watching their exchange but Vic isn’t sure for how long. You pluck the cigarette forward, leaving Vic to pause and shake her head as she now charges forward to stomp it out.
“Seriously?” She holds her hands down at the stomped out lipstick covered cigarette.
Your hands goes to your hips as you await for Vic to get closer, “what?”
“Not only are you killing the environment but also your lungs and possibly other organs, you do realize that don’t you?”
“Sorry mom,” you respond while Vic rolls her eyes.
Vic fans the air before taking an inhale, “What’re you doing all the way out here instead of you know, helping back at the vendor?”
You blink, “it’s actually my day off but I pushed myself to be there since I’ve been parked out here for awhile.”
“What?” Vic looks off to the side in thought, “I don’t remember that on the schedule.”
You joke, “ah, forgot all about me as soon as Duke and Arlington showed up instead huh?”
“Yeah because they give me ulcers.”
You chuckle, “And what do I give you?”
“Hmm…Second-hand smoke?”
“That’s my first one in six months!”
Vic folds her arms, “You’re right, I remember you saying that you quit so that adds more to my disappointment.”
“Oh no, what will I ever do without the approval of Victoria Hughes?”
“Okay, I’m the only one that gets to be sarcastic here.” The brown eyed woman points, leadership kicking in just a bit.
“It was more snark but—
“Whatever! I’m here to ask about your well-being.”
You stare at Vic then, “You don’t need to do that.”
“I know I don’t but if everything doesn’t flow right then I need to check on the state of my team to make sure that it does and I can tell you’re not exactly thrilled about that but…you’re on my team.”
Watch this curveball, “Right…and you’re deflecting from what you really came over here to ask me.”
“Excuse me?”
You’re waving your hand about now, “You and Travis really know how to use your outside voices so…go on ask me already.”
Vic blinks rapidly and tightens her crossed arms as she studies your shell of a face with a clear of her throat, “I don’t even know what you’re taking about I—okay.” She exhaled before continuing, “Would you like to go on a date or hangout with me sometime…even though I’m not sure you even want to be bothered with me?”
“Wow you’re really selling it,” you snort, “what’s the matter, been out the streets that long?”
“Okay, never mind. Screw this.” Vic whips around, ready to walk away until you speak again.
“I would have said no anyway.”
Vic halts and turns back around, arms still crossed as she sways from one leg to the other as the sun burned the back of her bare arms, “What was that?”
You shake your head with your eyes closed, “And not because I don’t like you or find you unattractive because that would be a huge lie. I’d say no considering I also put in time off because I’m getting surgery.”
Vic frowns for another reason now and not just at the rejection although her mind is still spinning, “oh…is everything alright?”
“Cataract surgery…I know that’s usually an older person’s problem but I beat the odds.” You unconsciously rub at your blurry eye, “They said it’s a mixture of genetics but mainly from trauma—
Vic exhales, “from that call we received a month ago? You mean to tell me you’ve been dealing with this since then? You were cleared, I saw that paperwork.”
Vic remembered that day, witnessing you double over after a schizophrenic patient rammed a pen right into your eye. The patient was calm until you turned back around to assist with wheeling them out of the home. Everyone seemed to miss checking the pockets of her robe, where a pen with a frog top was pulled and aimed right at an off guard version of you.
It felt careless and stupid and most of the team knew this. Errors were meant to be made and it should have been one of the first things they checked after securing her but it was a small pen that held quite the damage.
You nod, “yeah guess I wasn’t as cured as they thought. It’s only in that eye so it’ll take less amount of time.”
“When is it?”
“Thursday.”
“And you’re working up until that time?”
“Yup.”
“Well send me the information so I can check up on you.” Vic holds out her phone while you take it with a curious stare.
“This a way to get my phone number?”
“I can get it anyways,” Vic honestly answers, “but i also want the details…you do have someone looking in on you afterwards right?”
You shrug, not wanting to get too personal, “I’ve got Uber and Limbo.”
“Uh…limbo?”
“My ferret.”
Vic says, “You have a ferret…of course you do, you live in a freaking RV!”
You laugh as you send a text to your own phone, listing the details in the message before handing it back over to grab your own phone to send a thumbs up emoji, “if this is your idea of a date you’re more of an oddball than I am.”
“This isn’t a date! It’s simply checking in.”
“After I told you that I’m going to be preparing myself to get my eye scrapped like nails on a chalkboard.”
“I did not need that mental image.” Vic winces.
“I know,” you smirk.
“Are you nervous about it?”
“Do I seem nervous?” You question.
Vic does that thing where she talks fast but in this circumstance was to hide the fact that she may or may not being caring in different ways about you, “Some people tend to hide their emotions better than others so I can’t exactly tell.”
You lift your shoulders, “not really afraid of a little surgery but I’m open to you holding my hand later…if that’s not crossing a line that is.”
“It is crossing many since I’m essentially the head of crisis one but I was also the one who approached you about going on a date or hang out.” Vic exhales in realization that this was basically another pattern that she ultimately wanted to avoid.
Yet here Vic was acting up in the summer time with the stamp of approval from a best friend who still hasn’t gotten their own love life together.
Funny stuff, really.
You reminded, “Which I sorta rejected.”
“Until a later date.” Vic added.
“Until a later date,” you echo meeting Vic’s eyes, “…for now do you want a shot of whiskey? I’ve got some of the best in my humble abode…and don’t worry I’ll bring it out to you to avoid any other problems.”
Vic emphasized, “We’re on the job…”
“You’re on the job.”
“And you’re about to get me into a world of trouble aren’t you?” Vic laughs with her head thrown back, somewhat scared but excited to jump into what’s to come.
There’s a glint in your eye at that as you step even closer to Vic now who feels like she should be breathing regularly but knows that she’s not, “you’ll learn to love it if you haven’t already, Victoria Hughes…so? What do you say?”
She inhales with a pretty smile, “I say sure, I’ll take a shot but just one. I don’t know much about how you Texans get down.”
“I’ll teach you.” You wink, which makes Vic’s belly flutter.
“I have no doubts about that.”
“Good.”
“Great.”
“…I’m gonna walk away now so you don’t kiss me.”
Vic scoffs but her face is tight with humor,“Please get over yourself.”
You walk backwards to your RV, “Never, it’s what makes you so fascinated with me.”
“Oh god…I didn’t realize your head was so abnormally big!”
“With the brains to match.”
Vic pushed her lips out not even mad at that comeback, “…Alright I’ll let you have that one.”
You hum with another wink, leaving Vic for a few moments while Vic peers down at her phone at the text message, adding a name to match the number. When she glances over her shoulder, Travis is nowhere to be found—which actually makes Vic relieved until the creaking of your door hits her ears.
Down the steps you go, making your way back to Vic with your baggy ripped shorts, holding two shots of brown. Vic carefully takes it and holds it out to the center, “what are we toasting to?”
“Better beginnings?”
Victoria nods with crinkles by her eyes, “Better beginnings.”
“Should I be cheesy and say, together?”
“Please don’t.” Vic groans, “I’ve had enough corny for today.”
“Noted.”
They clink their glasses as you tell, “make sure you make eye contact or it won’t seal the deal.”
“So you’re superstitious?” Vic makes a mental note of that.
“To a certain extent but it’s common courtesy.”
“Fine.” Vic comments with a sigh as they briefly break eye contact to place their glasses to their lips before holding each others stares again.
One winces while the other grins, “to better beginnings.”
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Continue with my summer anthology writings & prompts here.
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danieyells · 4 months
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I have major Rui brainrot. But anyways-
A couple of things I caught onto.
At the beginning of the game, they list off all the houses in Darkwick except for Obscuary before finally mentioning there’s a new house being added. That it doesn’t have any general entries (this is after speaking about Jabberwok btw) and that it’s also pretty exclusive to even ghouls. They’re heavily alluding to Obscuary, here. Kaito also starts to say something about their captain before being cut off (this is in one of the entrance ceremony chapters in the prologue).
But heres a couple of brain rot things I have.
If Obscuary is a newer house- what house was Ed and Rui in prior?
I’m sure they were moved to Obscuary because they’re considered high risk to the general populace (and also why there are no general admissions as well).
Ones a vampire. One is a reaper cursed guy who’s touch can kill you. And then they’re moving Lyca there- who is also considered pretty high risk (at least, Darkwick seems to think so).
Additionally, Haku goes out of his way in the beginning to warn Rui about Article 77 & 78. Well- now we know what those Articles entail per the new chapter. Rui seems pretty high risk for getting slapped with that considering his curse makes him a danger to be around. I’m assuming the same for Ed since he’s a vampire but also he did something that I’m sure we’ll find more information out on the next chapter. I hope. I cope.
I’m curious if Lyca being placed in Obscuary is also meant to be taken as a message (he’s definitely going to blab about being held in PRISON since he seems to say whatever is on his mind- according to Rui affinity lines). The message being “If you fuck up, you’re next”.
Anyways- I could blab more but I have just been turning this over in my mind and I saw you mention somewhere in one of your blogs about Obscuary possibly having general students. But early in the game, they say that the new house (alluding to Obscuary) has no general populace and isn’t even an option for the ceremony and that they’re specially selected to be put there. (If I’m recalling correctly).
Brainrot is always welcome here anon -u- i may just be slow at responding to it sometimes lol.
But yeah I did forget that Obscuary was stated to not have general students--I tend to forget things that're earlier in the game because the hyperfocus wasn't as strong when the game first launched hhhaaaa but thank you for the correction!!! 💞
To clarify Obscuary wasn't newly being added but rather it's the newest house of all of the current ones(implying Dionysia, Ultio, or Clamentia may have been newer.)
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We don't know how long it's existed so it could be brand new, but we only know that it's existed the least amount of time of the currently active ones. That doesn't necessarily mean that they had to be in another house before this. Some of Darkwick's rules have existed for like 100 years apparently, according to one of Ritsu's lines, so for all we know the house is 10 years old and they just haven't added more that are currently active since Obscuary. ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯
However we do know Rui was likely in another house(or school?) before this because he got his reaper curse on a mission.
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I assume he was in one of the defunct houses before this, personally--maybe Dionysia since he's a bartender? Or Clementia since he's a pretty peaceful and kind person? Clementia would also make sense since they did exorcisms and presumably worked with spirits. . .so if he was on a mission that ended up involving a spirit and a reaper didn't take kindly to his involvement. . .curse? We don't know exactly how one gets a reaper curse--it could not involve a reaper at all.
As for Ed. . . . . .well all of this hinges on the simple question of how long has Ed been a vampire. Because Haku mentions in one of his chats that he's not trying to end up a super senior(i.e. he wants to graduate and be a 4th year) so he goes on missions instead of going to classes instead of being held back. And we know Ed is a lazy fuck lol so it's entirely possible that Ed's been here for ages and just never went on enough missions or to class enough to graduate!
Of course if he's been a vampire less years than he's been in Darkwick then he likely was in another house. . .we know he likes his tablet and he's lazy and irresponsible, so he's likely captain out of seniority rather than skillset, but we don't really have any clues as to what house he would have been in beforehand. . .which house would be most likely to encounter a vampire? Frostheim? Mortkranken?
It's also possible that he was a vampire when he got here and was placed in Obscuary immediately after being brought in, no weighing of souls or anything.
BUT AAA I HOPE YOU'RE RIGHT ANON I HOPE THEY TOUCH ON THESE IN THE OBSCUARY CHAPTER i mean they have to right???? Or maybe it'll be in their character stories(so after the Obscuary chapter lol)--either way I hope it's addressed a little bit. . .even just a quick "this is how i ended up this way" thing--maybe the mission reminds Rui of the one he got cursed on and he doesn't want you to go. We know Lyca was born part werewolf, so I'd absolutely believe Ed was a vampire all along and just rolled up that way.
I figure they're gonna place Lyca in Obscuary both as a message(assuming he isn't somehow prevented from talking about being imprisoned, or maybe once he's out he just doesn't care much about that he was locked up a moment ago because he's more concerned about exploring his new surroundings) and because they just Do Not Trust Him even though he's clearly just a large dog at worst.
(thank you for sharing your brainrot with me! There's so much to think about haha)
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IOTA Reviews: Elation
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Today's an Andre episode, so get ready for a lot of shipping fuel that goes nowhere, kids.
Let's get into the ninth episode of Miraculous Ladybug's fifth season: Elation
We start off after an Akuma fight, where Ladybug attempts to make a move on Cat Noir... even though he's about to detransform and needs to hightail it out of there. Ladybug then tries to force a kiss on Cat Noir's cheek, but because she isn't Adrien, she's actually questioned for this violation of personal space. Cat Noir thinks it was all a test for the whole secret identity rule, so the two part ways. It's weird how Cat Noir is the more sensible one in this opening scene.
Back at Marinette's place, Alya is sleeping over while the two talk about the former's feelings for Cat Noir.
Marinette: What if Cat Noir’s declining all my invitations because... because he’s... no longer in love with me?
Alya: You mean, you as Ladybug? You said it yourself a hundred times: Cat Noir and Ladybug just can’t work. You’d end up blabbing your secret identities to each other, Monarch would find out and your Miraculous would go “bye-bye”.
Marinette: Just because you couldn’t keep your secret from Nino when you’re both superheroes doesn’t mean I can’t do it with Cat Noir!
Alya: Hey! Who gave us both a Miraculous at the same time? And if you love a superhero, you’re gonna want to know who's behind the mask. How else are you supposed to live a legit love story?
Hey, remember when Alya was actually able to admit her mistakes last season? Good times.
First of all, Alya clearly forgot to mention that Ladybug giving her and Nino their Miraculous at the same time was because it was an all hands on deck situation, what with Scarletmoth amassing an army of Akumas and all that. Alya was specifically told to keep her identity secret last season because her family was in danger, and she chose her relationship with her boyfriend over keeping her and her loved ones. Second, isn't this the exact opposite of what Alya said last episode? She tried to argue that superheroes shouldn't keep their personal lives involved when fighting crime, but now, she's saying that Marinette needs to know who Cat Noir is in order to “live a legit love story”. I get that they're at least trying to acknowledge the problems with the whole identity stuff, but it contradicts the stuff Alya told Marinette last episode.
Either way, it leads to the same conclusion: Alya's all like “You're still in love with Adrien!”, and Marinette's all like “No, I love Cat Noir now!”, and then Adrien's all like “Hey Marinette, I conveniently chose to talk to you so you have an excuse to be embarrassed.” It's the same stuff we've already seen so far this season, and we're not even halfway through yet.
But yeah, Adrien came over to talk with Marinette, but Marinette's insecurities cause her to tell her mother to tell Adrien that she's busy. Before Adrien can do anything else, he's harassed by some of his fans. It's a pretty amusing scene, as it calls back to an earlier bit where Cat Noir is harassed by some different fans, and it made me smirk a little. Adrien transforms into Cat Noir to get away, only to run into Marinette, attempting to get some privacy after an argument with Alya. The two talk, and their banter is... tolerable. There's some decent chemistry here, and for once, Marinette is talking to a love interest without stuttering. I hate that it took until Season 5 to get a scene like this, but hey, it's better than nothing. There's also a really interesting take on the whole “Marinette is caught in her pajamas” gag (which has nothing to do with the fact that it lets the animators reuse one of their models), in that Cat Noir reassures Marinette that he doesn't mind.
Meanwhile, Alya came to the realization that she shouldn't force Marinette to go after Adrien... a piece of character development that came almost halfway through Season 5... after four seasons of essentially nagging Marinette to keep going after Adrien. You know what? If it makes the episode end faster, I'll go with it. Alya and Tikki go to apologize to Marinette, only to see she left with Cat Noir.
Marinette and Cat Noir decide to go to Andre's for ice cream (because I guess there are no other ice cream shops in the entire city of Paris other than his little ice cream cart), where we see another one of Andre's rules that makes you wonder how the hell he stays in business.
Andre: Marinette and Cat Noir! What are you two doing here?
Cat Noir: We’re here for ice cream, of course! Unless you’re selling hotdogs now. (the two laugh)
Andre: That’s a good one, Cat Noir! But I make sweethearts’ ice cream, not “jokers’ and good friends’” ice cream. Look, who do you see there next to Jean and Serge? (points at one of the photos posted on his cart) Ladybug and Cat Noir! Their flavor is one of my classics! Love is not something you joke about. You, Cat Noir, are in love with Ladybug, and you, Marinette, are supposed to be in love with Adrien Agreste.
Oh, for the love of—GET A LIFE, YOU CREEP!
This is the exact same problem Andre has had in his last two appearances: His entitled belief that he has to be right about love all the time, and how his ships are absolute. This man is way too invested in making sure two teenagers hook up even when it seems like one of them has found someone to love. And just like his last two appearances, Andre gets all pissy because his ice cream is supposedly never wrong, but we're getting ahead of ourselves.
Thanks to Andre's rambling, Cat Noir learns that Marinette was in love with Adrien, and the two talk about it. They eventually start kissing, but Cat Noir backs out of it, pointing out that he's essentially taking advantage of Marinette thanks to her being a fan of his, as well as his secret identity complicating things. Marinette doesn't take it well.
Marinette: UGH! I AM SICK AND TIRED OF PTHER PEOPLE DECIDING WHAT'S GOOD FOR ME!
Cat Noir: I’m taking you home.
Marinette: SICK! I AM SICK OF IT! WHY CAN'T I BE HAPPY!? WHY CAN'T I LOVE WHOEVER I WANT TO LOVE!? (breaks down sobbing)
Cat Noir: You can. I can’t. Not like this.
Honestly, this is a really great scene. While I think Cristina Vee and Bryce Papenbrook have been kind of phoning in their performances lately, they both do a great job here, with Marinette's breakdown sounding believable, and Cat Noir's somber delivery playing off it well.
Of course, this attracts the attention of Monarch, who attempts to akumatize Marinette, and Marinette seems to give in. Of course, because Astruc himself said Marinette isn't allowed to get akumatized, this potentially interesting idea is shot down thanks to Cat Noir kissing Marinette. Somehow, it works, causing Marinette to reject the Akuma, though Cat Noir still apologizes afterwards.
Cat Noir: I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have kissed you again, but you weren’t listening to me, I was just trying to help you! To save you! That wasn’t a love kiss, it was... ugh, I’m just making it worse!
You know your kiss scene is confusing when one of your characters isn't sure what to make of it. If the moral of the story is that Marinette and Cat Noir can't be in love like this, why have Cat Noir save Marinette from getting akumatized by kissing her?
Of course, we still need an Akuma fight, so of course, Andre is akumatized into Glaciator again through his ice cream scoop. This time, he has the Tiger Miraculous' Clout, giving him the ability to fire bursts of energy in addition to his power to... be an ice cream golem.
Cat Noir gets Marinette to safety and tries to fight Glaciator, who sets his sights on Marinette for having the audacity to criticize his life's work. I wonder if one of the writers is projecting here. Of course, seeing how Glaciator is essentially Bomberman now, Cat Noir is overwhelmed by the sheer destructive power of the Akuma. Right when it seems like Glaciator is about to take his Miraculous, Alya stands up to him and tries to fight back, but is knocked away. Thankfully, Marinette had time to reunite with Tikki and transform into Ladybug. Ladybug meets up with Cat Noir, and after Glaciator temps the two to give up their Miraculous so they can be together without worrying about secret identities, the two refuse and reaffirm their friendship.
Ladybug summons her Lucky Charm, a parasol, and comes up with a plan. While Cat Noir distracts Glaciator by pretending to struggle to get his Miraculous off (another admittedly funny joke), Ladybug throws the parasol through Glaciator's ice cream body, causing it to open up and blind him. Glaciator stumbles back and starts melting from being near one of the nearby fires, and once the ice cream body melts away to reveal Andre, Cat Noir uses his staff to break the scoop. Ladybug de-evilizes the Akuma, Andre apologizes for going on a homicidal rampage because his OTP didn't happen, Ladybug gives Andre another Magical Charm even though the last one didn't work at all, and uses Miraculous Ladybug to fix the damage.
Meanwhile, Monarch transforms back into Gabriel, revealing that his Cataclysm wound is getting worse.
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So remember when Gabriel started actually acting like a parent to Adrien in “Illusion”? It probably means he's only doing it because his days are numbered. Gabriel notes that now he knows that Cat Noir has feelings for Marinette Dupain-Cheng, and that he plans to exploit them.
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Yeah, five bucks says he'll go back to ignoring her by the next episode. Marinette and Cat Noir share one last conversation about how it's easy for Marinette to mistake her feelings for Cat Noir for just being a fan (ironically, you could say the same thing about Marinette's feelings for Adrien too) before choosing to break things off, Marinette breaking down crying again as soon as Cat Noir leaves. The episode ends with Adrien realizing that there's a chance that Marinette could fall for him again.
Anyway, this episode was honestly pretty decent. Aside from a few things that have been par for the course this season, I really didn't have a lot of problems with the episode. Marinette and Cat Noir had some okay chemistry, and I liked how Cat Noir was able to acknowledge how he was abusing his status as a superhero by trying to start a relationship with Marinette, even if it never came up last season with Kagami. I also thought the animation was the best so far this season, with a lot of good shots at night and some decent action. Of course, it wasn't perfect. While it was nice to see some character development from Alya, it came across as an afterthought since most of it happened off-screen, and as always, Andre was a gigantic manchild.
While I am glad that there seemed to be some kind of progress being made for character development as evidenced with Cat Noir and Alya, it does feel long overdue. We're almost halfway through the show's fifth season, and only now are we getting stuff like Marinette and Cat Noir developing feelings for each other, Adrien learning that Marinette had feelings for her, and Alya learning to not focus so much on forcing her ships to happen. All of this should have happened a long time ago, but after almost four seasons of nothing but filler, only now are we getting some serious plot and character development. Considering the fact that this was originally planned to be the last season before the show got renewed, I'm worried that the writers are just going to cram a lot of plot progression and character development into the second half of the season without giving the audience time to process all of it, all while acting like we should be grateful because at least something's happening.
Overall, this was a decent episode, though part of me is worried how the rest of the season will handle the story if certain developments only came this late into the show's run.
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THE BIGGEST IDIOT OF THE EPISODE IS... ANDRE
Yeah, this wasn't a surprise here. Just like the last two times he got akumatized, he threw a temper tantrum and tried to kill Marinette because one of his predictions based on his ice cream was wrong while ignoring the hundreds of other couples he's brought together as evidenced by “Wishmaker”, and needing to learn the same lesson he learned in “Glaciator 2”, in addition to turning down two paying customers because they're not Lucy and Ricky levels of being in love with each other. Hell, I'm pretty sure if Andre ever saw an asexual person, he'd have a heart attack trying to get them some ice cream.
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starrysharks · 1 year
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ive sent like 20 asks to you atp but i really love ur art soooo so so so much like ur like my biggest inspiration fr like seriously i could blab all day abt how much i love your art and your arts almost singlehandedly motivated me to start working on shape language more bc i think thats like the key part of your art (to me at least) and youre like the true embodiment of "same face syndrome fears me" but like fr because all your ocs are so distinct and unique
do you have any tips on creating unique silhouettes / just general character design tips?? also id love to hear abt how your use of shapes and shape language evolved over time if ur fine sharing that!!
ok this is literally the sweetest ask ever like first off thank you so much ;_; i'm glad i was able 2 inspire you!!!
for me if you look at my old art there's little to no focus on shape language cuz i wanted to express a 'pointy' animeish style. examples are from 2020, 2021 respectively
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as you can see i did NOT flip my canvas and my art was samey as hell,,, but in 2021 i started going for softer colors and shapes rather than points and spikes and brighter shapes. but, if you were to look through all of my art from either era, you'd see it's identical cuz i didn't care for shape language. this went on for quite a while :,)
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then i discovered worlds end club in late 2021 and everything changed !!! i watched playthroughs cuz i didn't have a means to play at the time, and decided on making my artstyle a blend of cartoony and animeish - which ended up in choosing more expensive silhouettes and faces in turn
honestly i'm too tired to actually chronicle my artstyle change so i'll just skip to late 2022 in this timeline, sorry 😭
so by now has my artstyle evolved into aomwthing super cool n expressive ? no actually i think my art got worse in late 2022
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as you can see, my colors got super washed out and i didn't really take risks, i guess? but i was finally starting to come into my own in terms of artstyle and was finally acknowledging shape language a little bit.
very early 2023 is the same, so let's skip to the one thing that changed my artstyle - the big 8 lineups
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suddenly everybody was like 'wow your shapes are so good!!!' this was because i had tried to challenge myself with character design in these drawings. so i tried to emphasise interesting shapes more - using a technique where i'd just take an interesting shape or line that corresponded with a character's personality and repeating it as much as i could across the design.
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like this deep cut art, where i tried to 'dial up'their already exaggerated shapes and design aspects (such as making frye's pants sag more or changing up shiv's hair. big man is perfect and needs no changes)
but this journey is still not over because a few months ago i rewatched all of panty and stocking and watched clone high for the first time, and both of these shows emphasise shapes a LOT in their designs, and i picked those up. here's art from a few months ago - in short, i tried to find the 'focal point' of the design, something that set it apart from other designs with similar body types or clothing, and built around that, if it makes sense? here's some art that i think expresses that well
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comparing the new quintet art to the old one, i think you can also see that i started to try and use different body shapes and shapes in general (such as clyde having a more triangular build ig) . and tumblr doesn't let me add more pictures so this is where the overview ends !
my advice is - watch and rewatch anything that might inspire you, because it has the ability to push you in the right direction. for technical tips, id say -
draw different body types and age ranges (often times same face syndrome is born from only drawing the same age range, usually 15-20 for most sufferers)
play around with style - do you want a more western inspired style or something more akin to modern anime ? maybe something entirely different! try drawing in different styles that you like and see which ones stick
research fashion if only a little bit - it can help understand visually pleasing silhouettes (such as the famous big jacket or big pants silhouettes)
speaking of big jacket or big pants, contrast is key !!! top or bottom heavy designs are an easy way to express personality and an expressive silhouette ig
ummm thaz it ithink. once again thank you for your kind words and remember to take advice from multiple artists im just one guy!! i hope anything in here helped or was at least interesting to read
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syntia13treeman · 4 months
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Case 16.01
CAT1RB1565-30102023-25032024
what I think happened in:
Case 16.01, the case of "The Inked 4eart" or "RIP your heart out, Madam E".
Today we have a little bit of social media drama. More specifically, a tragedy in 5 acts.  
Act 1, October 2023 (Halloween Eve)
FADE IN Enter stage left: Our protagonist – Madam Elecrum. She's a self-proclaimed ubergoth, and a lifestyle/beauty influencer, who'd apparently build her online persona by throwing fistfuls of trendy words and phrases at a bubbly / happy base to see what sticks.
Enter stage right: Our antagonist – Ink5oul (we've met before). They do magic tattoos and occasional grave robbing (it's for research). Their online persona is: 'I'm too cool for you. Loser.'
Madam E, long time Ink5oul fan, gets a tattoo (her 'heart's desire') done by her celebrity crush. For "free". (It's never free). Like we've seen before with Daria, she has no control over the design, and process is so painful she passes out.
Act 2, November 2023
The effects of Ink5oul's tattoo kick in fast, and they seem to be translating Madam E's popularity to a perpetual 'happy high'. Enamoured with her tattoo and tattooist, Madam E tries to start a relationship. It seems very one-sided, no matter how you look at it.
Act 3, December 2023
Ink5oul decides to find some fresh inspiration underground (again) and tries to manipulate Madam E (by questioning her self-image as 'goth') into doing the dirty work for them. Namely, digging up some graves. When manipulation fails to work, they resort to threats, which go right over Madam E's head (to be fair, if you don't know about their magic, 'I'll break your heart' is just a turn of phrase). Regardless, she does the smart thing and bails.
Ink5oul goes ahead with their grave-robbing plans anyway.
Then Madam E does the dumbest thing so far, and instead of going to the police or forever holding her peace, she blabs about the incident online.
Act 4, December 2023 cont.
Ink5oul retaliates with their own call-out video, among other things accusing Madam E of their own crime. And even though M.E. said the truth and I5 is lying, they have the power of larger fanbase and magic ink behind them. Things go poorly for Madam E. Being cyberbullied by enraged mob is bad enough, but the tattoo makes it so much worse, translating the 'hate' into physical pain (and injury?). M.E. still clings to her persona, but cracks are plainly visible (and full of fear). Ink5soul stans continue doing their worst, up to and including setting her place on fire.
Act 5, January 2024
Madam E is admitted to a hospital with some unspecified 'heart problems'. In her very last video her persona has gone out the window; she is scared and hurting and painfully honest as she begs for the pain to stop. As she begs for her life. I can only assume that the hate campaign is still going strong, since her condition keeps rapidly getting worse, until the cumulative effect rips her heart out in the most literal sense. I can only guess what was put down as cause of death on her death certificate.
FADE OUT
Here lies Madam Electrum. She was survived by her cats and her parents (now living together). So let's talk about the person who killed her.
Ink5oul, tattoo artist/influencer/streamer/grave robber. The Magic Ink Pal. Talking points:
They dig up old graves to study old tattoo's (are they a die-hard fan of Oscar Jarrett, or Sutherland Macdonald, or any old ink master in general?). I wonder if 'studying' takes form of 'looking at them for inspiration', or 'looking at them to learn new symbols and techniques used in them', or 'cut them out and frame them and hide them in my studio to get their power flowing through my space'. Or 'siphon their power through some other arcane means'.
They summon (potential) accomplices by sending them location in 3words code (which was a cool thing to learn about, ngl). I get it, why use rot13 when number 3 is so much more universally significant?
Their art is at least partially based in alchemy (that's how Daria found them – researching alchemy symbols; and there were some symbols incorporated into her paintbrush tattoo. They might have been in M.E.'s heart tattoo as well, we never got a description). I wonder if the symbols are the 'meat' of the tattoo, the things that carry the power, and the rest of design is just window dressing to keep the recipient happy, or are they equally important. They are significant for the people who get them for sure: Daria's paintbrush vs M.E.'s heart vs Ink5oul's floral snake (???).
Power of their art (as we've seen so far) was focused on appearances/image. Ink5oul is referred to as they/them even by a chronically off-line stranger in ep. 11, so there must be something going on with how they appear to others that conveys their non-binary-ness. (mind?) Daria hated her physical appearance, and was given power to change it. (body?) Madam E was living for her online image, and was bound to it so that it would affect her in ways beyond usual. (Feeling great when popular, getting ill and dying when hated and bullied). (soul?)
They occasionally offer tattoos for free or at a discount (both Daria & M.E.); ostensibly in exchange for views it gets them on live-streaming. I wonder if there's more behind that. Are they creating a magical debt, some kind of obligation they can later exploit?
The moment when they threatened Madam E. to 'break her heart', I at first thought they meant that being the creator of the tattoo, they had some kind of direct power over the person who received it. But with the way things went, I think it actually was that they knew how the tattoo worked, and they knew they had more than enough pull online to tank her reputation and send a tonne of hate her way, which in turn, through the heart tattoo, would hurt her and, very literally, break her heart.
I wonder if they actually know what they're doing (have full knowledge of how their craft works) or if they are experimenting. Maybe they once copied some symbols from an old book, just becaue it looked cool, noticed that things started happening, and are trying things out ever since. What will happen if I put this symbol next to this symbol? What if I arrange them this way? Wait, let me take a peek at how Oscar Jarrett did it. Oh, interesting. But what did it to? Must copy to a living person and see how it goes for them.
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