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vettelsvee · 2 months

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CLIFFORD AND EMILY | Sebastian Vettel

f1 masterlist | ao3 | ask me anything or let's talk!

ferrari sebastian vettel x race engineer wife!reader

word count: 3195

summary: y/n tells seb that it would be a great present for his birthday to adopt a puppy, and they find the perfect one

warnings: fluff, fluff and more fluff. dad ferrari!seb as i can't get rid of him. based on 2018 season and narrated on seb's pov

a/n: once again, this is part of history series (coming soon as is being heavily edited) and translated by cele! changed my layout to my comfort people so are you like it? also, as always, i'll be waiting for your feedback, as well as comments and chats on that anon button please! and also, don't forget reblogs are truly appreciated guys! tysm <3

Normally, I didn't have trouble getting up in the mornings, especially during Grand Prix weekends, but today it had been incredibly hard to leave Y/N and Emily sleeping.

Maybe the problem was that today was my birthday, and, in part, we couldn't spend it like a normal family. I didn't mind working on such a special day, but it did bother me when I thought it was my first birthday with Emily.

Very reluctantly, I decided to start my day, trying not to let my bad mood consume me. As soon as I set foot on the floor, I adjusted the sheets to cover my girlfriend, taking the utmost care not to wake her. Nights with our daughter were exasperating, and I didn't know how Y/N managed to be at one hundred percent during team meetings, press conferences, free practice sessions, qualifying and the race, and especially the briefings and all the data analysis her job entailed.

I trained with Eddie for just an hour and a half. According to him, my birthday present was a less strict training session; even so, we ran a lap around the block where the hotel was located, and then we went straight to the gym.

At half-past seven in the morning, to my good fortune, he told me I could go back to my room to get ready for that Friday.

I entered as quickly as I could, being very careful because it was still quite early, and I assumed my girls would be resting. Deep down, I knew that wasn't going to be the case, so I wasn't surprised to see Y/N, still in her pyjamas, walking back and forth while breastfeeding Emily and trying to eat a piece of toast.

“God!” She quickly swallowed the bite and pretended she hadn't been eating. I couldn't help but laugh at how cute the scene seemed to me. “I'm so sorry, Seb. I had ordered breakfast to be brought up and ready for when you came, but I was so hungry and wasn't sure when Eddie would let you go today…”

I shook my head and approached her. I left a short kiss on her lips and then placed another on my daughter's forehead.

“Happy birthday, sunshine,” she said, wrapping her free arm around me. “How many birthdays have we spent together now? Eight?”

“Seven,” I corrected her, remembering we didn’t get to spend the 2008 one together. “And I hope there will be more because I'm not going to let you get rid of me anytime soon.”

“Do you really think I'm going to get rid of you so soon? In case you don't remember, we not only work together: we also share a house, a cat, a daughter, and we're going to have a dog…”

After that last part, Y/N let out a small scream and covered her mouth with her hand.

If I was the one who could keep secrets perfectly, Y/N Y/L/N was the complete opposite.

“What do you mean by a dog, Y/N?”

“Oh, well, I don't know… I must have mixed up some conversation I had with Aristella about Cherry,” her nerves were quite noticeable. “I got confused, and…”

“Y/N, I know you perfectly, and I know when you're lying to me. What did you mean by we’re going to have a dog?”

Given my insistence and, why not say it, the poker face I probably had, my girlfriend sighed. She placed Emily in the crib next to our bed and, while asking me to sit down and start having breakfast, took her mobile phone and immersed herself in it.

“Well, you see…” she began, sitting in front of me and taking a strawberry in her hands. “Since you adopted Vanilla as a surprise for me, I've been thinking that I would like to do the same for you, but between the chaotic 2013 we had and Emily's birth, I found it a bit impossible. It's also true that it's something I would like to discuss before doing it because it's a matter that depends not only on me but also on you,” she clarified.

“And that means…?”

“Forget it, Seb. It doesn't matter. I haven't told you anything, okay? Forget it.”

It bothered me to see her so indecisive, though it didn’t stop me from finding her idea quite endearing deep down. I knew she was nervous; the constant fiddling with the napkin and her flushed cheeks were proof of that.

“Do you want to adopt a dog?” I asked her, loud and clear.

“It’s not that I want to adopt a dog. Well, I do, but…” she sighed, stopped eating breakfast, and looked at me directly. “The thing is, I know you’d like to have a dog, and you’ve had that idea in your head for quite some time, so I thought that, only if you want, we could adopt one,” she finally explained.

“Do you want to wait until we get back home? If you want, we can talk to Michael and have him recommend…”

“No, no, not at all! I’ve already talked to Lewis about it, and he’s informed me,” she hastened to clarify. “Since I wanted to do all this, if possible, today, I asked him where he adopted Roscoe and Coco. I thought today was the perfect day for the adoption because it’s your birthday,” she repeated.

I nodded as I got up and headed towards Emily’s crib, who had started crying once more.

“I mean, all this is only if you want, of course,” Y/N spoke again. Before I could respond, she interrupted me once more. “But if you want, we can do it when we get back home. I don’t mind, except I wouldn’t have another birthday present to give you…”

Still holding the baby in my arms, I approached her and silenced her with a long, slow kiss, one I took my time with but received no complaints about, quite the opposite.

Y/N always went out of her way with gifts, even during times when her finances weren't the best. I much preferred her giving me something symbolic over an expensive whim.

So, the fact that she wanted to adopt a dog today, as my birthday present, made this thing I had wanted for so long even more special. Plus, thinking that Emily would grow up with the new member of the family made it a thousand times better.

“If my girl says it’s happening today, then we should follow her lead,” I finished saying. “What time do you think we’ll be done with everything we have to do today?”

[...]

“I hope there aren’t too many people, because if Britta finds out we’re doing all this without telling her…”

“Y/N, relax. If there’s any problem or anything, I’ll handle the press. Besides, it’s not like they don’t know me: remember I adopted Roscoe and Coco there, so they know me quite well.”

Lewis had decided to come with us to, according to him, ensure his friends received proper treatment. Deep down, I knew it was because he didn’t want to see Aristella, Britta’s niece and Y/N's best friend, hanging around Rosberg even while they were in the middle of their divorce process.

Hamilton’s concern for the girl wasn’t just something a friend would have, and I knew he was fully aware of that.

“Do you have something in mind, Seb?”

Lewis’s voice snapped me out of my trance.

“Sorry, what?”

“If you’ve thought of a name for the dog,” the dark-haired man spoke again. “I hope it’s something different from the usual. You know, the world has too many Tobys and all those common dog name variants.”

“If we’re talking about giving common names to pets, Seb is your guy,” Y/N spoke now, almost shouting. “When he adopted Vanilla just to get me to move in with him, he told me Garfield was a better name. Garfield, like the cartoon cat! If that’s not common…”

“What do you want to call an orange cat, Y/N? Vanilla? I remind you that you wanted to name her Cheeto…”

“Because she looked like a Cheeto and I thought it was a male!” she retorted. “Later, when I realised she was female and not so orange, I named her Vanilla.”

“Vanilla, I like it. It’s an… interesting name,” Lewis intervened. “Can I ask why you named her like that?”

“Y/N's favourite ice cream flavour is vanilla. That, and if you add the fact that cats are her favourite animal…” I answered in her place.

I saw Y/N's lips curve slightly in the rear-view mirror.

Then, she turned around and put a hand on my leg, stroking it.

“I hope you find the perfect name for the new family member, love. Even if it’s the same as every other dog in the world,” she said ironically.

After those words, I realised we had arrived at the shelter Lewis Hamilton seemed to admire so much.

The Brit, as he guided us towards what appeared to be the entrance, commented that we should be careful with Emily, not because the furry ones were aggressive, but because they got very excited when they had visitors, especially if they were children.

A dark-skinned woman with completely dark hair was at the door, as if she had been waiting for us for a while. Lewis gave her a hug and immediately introduced us.

“These are Sebastian Vettel, his girlfriend Y/N, and their daughter, Emily.”

She gave us a smile, and I saw she intended to shake our hands until she saw our little one. She approached to dote on her as soon as Y/N gave her permission with a glance. Emily’s laughter began to fill the room, and she started to move cheerfully in Y/N's arms.

“I’m so sorry for my lack of manners, but when I see such a beautiful baby like this little one…” the woman began to say, still playing with the child. Then, she cleared her throat and looked at both of us. “Nice to meet you, couple,” she finally shook our hands. “I’m Jade, and well, I’ve been a volunteer at this shelter since time immemorial, back in the prehistoric times.”

“Don’t say that, Jade! You look wonderful,” Lewis told her, placing a hand on her shoulder.

“Don’t be so flattering, young man,” she chided him. “I appreciate all kinds of compliments for my age, but that’s not why we’re here. Well, tell me: if I’m not mistaken, and as your friend here has told me, you want to expand your family, right?”

Now she was looking intently at both of us. I nodded in response; at the same time, and by inertia, my right arm wrapped around my girlfriend’s waist, which made Emily start reaching out her little arms to come to me.

“Today is Seb’s birthday, and he’s been wanting to adopt a dog for quite some time,” my girlfriend explained.

“Oh, the adoption is a birthday gift!” Jade exclaimed, beginning to clap and approaching me quickly to give me a hug that I gladly accepted. “Happy birthday, dear! How old are you now?”

“Twenty-eight.”

“Oh, dear. If I could be that age again…”

I smiled at her response as Y/N handed me Emily, who had started babbling to come to me.

“A daddy’s girl, I see, huh?” Jade chimed in. Y/N was about to answer, but before she could even do so, the woman was already speaking again. “Well, since it’s your birthday, I think I have the perfect gift for you.”

Without saying anything more, the woman gestured for us to follow her, and we did. We passed through several areas with dogs of different ages roaming freely, who approached us to sniff and perhaps convince us to adopt them.

Lewis mentioned that some of them were related to Coco. I laughed at the supposed joke, which stopped being a joke when Jade confirmed it. Y/N lagged behind a few times because she stopped to play with the dogs that approached her, which were quite a few. Emily and I, however, kept a brisk pace, possibly eager to find out what the woman was talking about and why she was being so mysterious.

Finally, we arrived at a kind of room with less light than I expected and, to my surprise, full of what seemed to be soft little beds. On top of them, not only was there a dog lying down that seemed quite tired, but there were also several puppies nursing from her.

Jade indicated before we entered that we should remain silent.

“One of our dogs gave birth last night,” she told us. “I don’t want to give all her puppies up for adoption since I’d like at least one to stay with her, but considering that the puppies and you share a birthday, I’d be delighted if you adopted one of them.”

I opened my eyes wide and couldn’t say anything. Next to me, Y/N seemed to have reacted the same way I did.

Saying we were surprised would be an understatement.

“But… are you serious?” my girlfriend commented, still in surprise.

“Of course, dears!” the woman responded cheerfully. “The only issue, so to speak, though it’s not really a problem, is that it’ll take about a month and a half before you can take him home. You know, the separation process from the mother is crucial.”

“No problem, really. We’ll wait as long as it takes,” I finally spoke. “Besides, I think we have a break around that time, right?”

“Yes, about a month,” Lewis replied.

“We’ve already got our vacation destination, sunshine,” Y/N said to me, apparently much more excited than I was.

“Now, I need you to tell me something important: which one of them do you want to be your little girl’s new brother?”

Still holding Emily, Y/N and I carefully approached the puppies.

To our eyes, they all looked exactly the same. We couldn’t see their eyes, but I was almost convinced they would be similar to the colour of their fur, a light brown skin similar to beach sand. They were huddled together and didn’t seem to be doing anything other than trying to nurse for as long as possible.

“Do you know what breed or mix they are?” Y/N asked the lady with that characteristic curiosity of hers.

“If I remember correctly, their mother is a golden retriever and their father, a big labrador.”

My girlfriend thanked her, turning towards her and leaving Emily by herself for a moment. At that point, seemingly unaware that her mother wasn't watching her every move, the little one began to crawl towards the puppies. Instinctively, I quickly scooped her up in my arms to prevent her from doing so. However, she didn't seem to give up: she started kicking until, just like that, I brought her a little closer to the furry animals.

While Y/N and Lewis chatted with Jade, I remained seated on the floor next to my daughter, who seemed to have settled on a particular puppy. I tried shifting her gaze from side to side, attempting to get her to notice the rest of them, but it seemed the one farthest from its mother had caught her attention the most.

“I think Emily has chosen who’s going to be her adopted sibling, hasn’t she?” I remarked.

As soon as I said that, the three of them turned towards me, crouching down to my level. Emily was still engrossed with that little one and seemed to continue being so until we left.

“Have you chosen for Daddy, Emi?” Y/N asked, almost lying on the floor to join the game that Emily was playing with the one who seemed to be our new child. “Do you want this to be your new little brother? Or sister, of course.”

“He's a boy, actually,” Jade intervened. “And, if I’m honest and don't recall incorrectly, he’s the oldest of the whole litter.”

“Do you want to adopt this little one then, sunshine? Honestly, if you’re not convinced we can wait a bit…” Y/N whispered as if wanting it to be a secret between us.

“Clifford,” I suddenly blurted out.

They looked at me as if they had seen a ghost. Of course, I would act the same if someone dropped a name out of nowhere in a situation like this.

“I want to name him Clifford,” I clarified. “Remember the series about that big red dog you told me you watched with your sisters when they were little?” I asked my girlfriend, who nodded. “Well, if I remember correctly, you told me that the main character of the series, who was also the owner of the dog, was named Emily.”

“What’s that got to do with it, love?” she asked, curious. Did she really not know why I had suggested that name?

“Well, it just so happens that your daughter is named Emily and she seems to have chosen for us.”

Y/N’s eyes lit up and widened exaggeratedly. I swear I saw them get a little misty when she finally seemed to understand what I meant. Immediately, she stood up, took the baby in her arms, and began to talk to her while they played as if they were the only ones in the room.

“I guess I already have a birthday present, right?” I asked the redhead, standing beside her and giving her a kiss on the forehead and another to our daughter.

“Emily and Clifford…” she murmured. “I like it. I love it, actually.”

“Well, I hope that when we have the next baby, I can nail it in the same way.”

Jade, after the last sentence that I had just said, was left dumbfounded. Lewis, for his part, tried to turn a deaf ear and, instead, told me that they would be waiting for us at the entrance to do all the necessary paperwork, not without whispering to me in the least blatant way possible that he hoped that this would be my other birthday present.

Obviously, he deserved a well-deserved punch from Y/N.

“Are you already thinking about the next baby, love? Emily hasn’t even turned one yet!”

“I always think about the second baby, to be honest,” I replied. I was convinced, and I knew as well as she did that we had barely laid the foundations of our family. “A puppy brother for Emily is fine, but a human one would be a thousand times better. Don’t you think so?”

Y/N rolled her eyes and turned away, heading towards the shelter entrance. I quickly caught up with her, and her laughter filled my ears.

“If you're already thinking about our second baby, then we'll have to listen to Lewis and start practising tonight before dinner with my parents,” she suggested.

Her mischievous look infected me, and I couldn’t help but return it.

“As the birthday boy, I vote for squeezing in a free practice session before dinner with my parents tonight. How does that sound?”

“Whatever you wish, birthday boy,” she replied. “But I hope you come up with a good enough excuse for them not to suspect anything when we arrive late, and also when you ask if they can keep Emily overnight.”

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lemonmaid · 9 months

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Also for some reason I cannot edit on the app? Nor on the website, so please work with me here, sorry about the confusing layout, I know I hate it too.

“I don't need you hovering”.

(name) glared at Xiao, who was literally watching (Name) as a hawk as he tried to feed their four year old pup.

“Ah!!”

(Name) resumed his attention onto Yuen, who was glaring at the two for interrupting his feeding, “Oh I know buddy, Dada can be so mean”.

“He is four, I think he can feed himself”.

(Name) rolled his eyes, “I'm still cutting up his food for him, he could literally-”.

“Let me do it”. Xiao gently moves (Name) over to cut up Yuen's food.

(Name) silently seething; his scent souring,”I'm pregnant not incapable” he mumbles.

(Name) was only six months pregnant, not too far into his pregnancy but not too far away from giving birth. Did he appreciate Xiao's helpfulness? Of course, some omegas would be delighted to have a mate so helpful and understanding as Xiao. Xiao was very experienced in the field, having a pup, Yuen, before meeting (Name) with a one night stand.

(Name) excuses himself from the room to finish getting ready for the day. Looking at the bathroom mirror, his stomach barely dropped, perks of being a male omega.

“You should be getting bigger soon”.

(Name)’s eye twitched, “Wow… Thanks”.

Was Xiao a great mate? Of course! (Name) couldn't be happier, but it's Xiaos overbearing that got (Name), it's ‘You're doing that wrong’, ‘no let me help’, ‘you shouldn't pick up Yuen’. It was very exhausting.

Xiao was dressed in his work clothing holding Yuen who was ready for school, hence the yellow bucket hat and blue school uniform. “Yuen say bye to Papa”.

“Bye-bye!!” Yuen does the kiss motion towards (Name).

“Are you going to be okay going to University today? I don't want you walking that far-”

“Again, pregnant, not broken, anyways I was going to pick up groceries after class”. (Name) gave the two a quick hug and the two goodbye.

“And then he tells me “yoU ShOUld bE geTTinG biGGeR sOOn” like fuck off please, I understand that he is trying to help but, it's overwhelming! I can do things by myself! I'm a big boy!”. (Name) ran to his father-in-Law, Zhongli, who was his Political Science professor.

(Name) usually got to school early to help Zhongli set up the classroom, but that was both of their excuse to gossip.

Zhongli watched the younger omega scrub the chalkboard harshly, putting his hand gently on the younger male’s shoulder, “Maybe see it from his perspective… when Xiao was… Expecting, he was alone, besides from me and his step father, think of it as he doesn't want you to feel alone. Also culturally speaking, he the rest of his siblings were raised that a pregnant omega shouldn't be do anything but resting, so this is a change for him as well”.

(Name) snickered at the memories from early into his pregnancy, how Xiao told him not to rub his stomach often or the pup will end up being spoiled or how when he came back from night school, Xiao lit sages around the house.

“Just communicate with him”. Zhongli said with a soft smile on his face.

After class was done for the day the two omegas walked home together.

“Hmmm, what is for dinner tonight (Name)?”.

(Name) hummed, “I've been craving some Tangbao, the big ones, no, bigger”. (Name) drooled at the thought of a hot doughy, chewy, flavor filling bun in his stomach, the thought earned a kick from the pup inside of him.

As the two walked into the shared home space, the aroma of dinner hit their noses.

“Papa!!”

Yuen ran up to (Name) and Zhongli, giving the two a giant hug, or as big his small arms could.

“Hello to you too Yuen, I trust you've been a good boy for your fathers?” Zhongli said as he patted the boy's head.

Yuen nodded his head, grabbing Zhongli’s hand, “come! I wanna show you! My book!”.

(Name) took his shoes off carefully before stepping up stairs to join the family in the living space, (Name) drooled at the thought of dinner.

It wasn't too abnormal for Xiao to be cooking but usually (Name) to cook.

(Name) slouched down into the comfortable recliner in the corner of the room, waiting for dinner, closing his eyes, listening to Yuen speak his mind to his grandfather.

“this is! Uncle… Bo-sac-i-us!”

“That's a very good illustration, young one, who's that right there?”

“That's my new baby sister!”

“Oh, you're sister?”

“Mhm! Papa said he thinks it's a girl and Dada says Papa is always right”.

(Name) smiled fondly.

“Dinner everyone” Xiao spoke softly, taking in (Name)’s tired form.

The table was set up neatly, dinner looked perfect, it was almost like a mutton hot pot.

“Now Yuen, do you want to eat with a fork or your training chopsticks?”.

“I wanna practice!!”.

(Name) looked at the food in awe, but his hormone pregnancy brain nagged at the thought that this wasn't what he wanted, but the food looked so good at the sametime.

“Are you okay (Name)?” Xiao whispered.

(Name) started grabbing greens and beef and putting into his bowl, “I'm- fine”.

Xiao didn't press any further, picking up food and putting it onto Yuens and (Name)’s bowls.

Dinner was calm, well, for everyone else. (Name) was quietly seething, he felt guilty about it though, he didn't mean to feel this way but he can't help it, pregnancy brain.

“Yuen, make sure grandpa sees his way out the door”.

“Yes dada!!”.

(Name) helped collect dishes to put in the sink.

“Are you sure you're okay? Your scent is off”.

(Name) finally quietly broke down, “I wanted Tangbao for dinner, not a hotpot meal, I hate that you do things for me, I hate how I can't go anywhere without you hovering! I'm sorry! I'm just overwhelmed!”.

(Name) quietly sobbed into his mate's chest.

Xiao rubbed (Name)’s back, leading the omega up the stairs to their share bedroom.

“I'll be back, let me finish cleaning and get Yuen to bed”.

Xiao was gone for 40 minutes, giving (Name) time to breathe and calm down. When Xiao came back, he had a small plate of melons and tea with him.

“I'm sorry”.

(Name) took the plate, calming down, “was this the good melon?”.

“The one that's been in the freezer since New Years”.

(Name) hummed, “I forgive you, for now”.

Xiao chuckled, massaging (Name)’s swollen legs, “I mean it. I'm sorry. I wasn't aware of your feelings. That makes me a bad mate”.

(Name) sighed, “You're not a bad mate, you..just… are not emotionally self aware sometimes”.

Xiao nodded, “I'll work on it, I'll do better”

“I appreciate that”.

A small knock on the door interrupted the two. “Papa, can I sleep with you?”.

The two omegas smiled softly, “Yes Yuen, give us a minute to get change. We'll come get you”.

#genshin xiao #xiao x reader #omega xiao #omega reader #omega male reader #genshin impact x reader #gensnin impact x male reader #genshin impact omegaverse #xiao x male reader

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solradguy · 6 months

Note

What’s been the most fun and/or challenging part of working on the wiki? Also is there anything that still needs to be worked on that other people can help with?

THE CODE KILLED ME. So the wiki has a template that automagically puts this cool little Wikipedia help thingy next to Japanese text (the "?" on the end) in infoboxes and by command in text using some {{wiggly boys}} code:

And we wanted to try to get the Korean stuff on the wiki too because it's the second most officially supported language behind English and there's a bunch of cool exclusive Korean GG stuff no one's ever documented before. But there wasn't a module like this to help out with Korean text like there is for Japanese text.

I put one together based on the Japanese template's code and it was a nightmare. I was fighting for my life in the template trenches. It works though!! I did get it after a while!!

Mostly.

Shoutout to the Final Fantasy Wiki for the original JP template code and to the Dragon Blaze Wiki for seemingly being the only other English language wiki out there that cares about Korean text lol I don't know anything about Korean writing beyond super basic stuff (like what "hangul" is) so I had to do research into that alongside trying to learn wiki code.

The most fun part was probably getting GG World together, honestly. We couldn't believe that no one had actually transcribed those anywhere online before. Well, there was a file compiled by Lux for Revelator, but we wanted to transcribe these as-presented in the games and we couldn't use Lux's file since the goofy typos and some lore oopsies had been edited haha

Toxic and Elk have hauled ass getting those entries ripped and added. Major shoutout to them. I got the base layouts together and they went to town lol It's so cool seeing it all together now. We even started getting the official languages besides English and Korean added for Strive too.

As for what someone could do to help........ There's.... a lot...... Of the 4,532 image files currently on the wiki, only a very small handful of them were organized into categories when we forked. Here's the page of all the files currently not in a category: https://guiltygear.wiki.gg/wiki/Special:UncategorizedFiles

And all of the image categories they need to be sorted into. Note the subcategories under some of them: https://guiltygear.wiki.gg/wiki/Category:Images

I think I made the correct amount of categories for stuff but there may be one missing here or there. There were a lot and it was hard keeping track of them lol Feel free to holler at me on here or on my talk page over on the wiki if you need something made. I'm solradguy on the wiki.

These major character pages are also either entirely lacking citations or only have maybe 1 or 2 on the entire page (bad!!): Johnny, Chipp, Kliff, Baiken, Venom, Jam, Robo-Ky, Slayer, Sin, Izuna, Dr. Paradigm, Valentine, Bedman?, Answer, Haehyun, Elphelt, Giovanna, Happy Chaos, Asuka R♯

Swapping out the vague "GG World" citations on the wiki with the correct entry would be very helpful too. Like some pages will cite something and it just says "GG World" instead of " 'Axl Low' Xrd Rev2 GG World entry" or whatever relevant entry is needed.

If you know Korean, we also need to have the romaja added for the GG World entries. None of us knows Korean well enough to do that so not a single one has it filled in lol.... We were planning on using Revised Romanization of Korean since it's the official South Korean romanization system but if there's one that's more commonly used/accepted that's cool too (like how Hepburn is used for Japanese more often than the official Kunrei-shiki romanization)

#asks #long post #Axl Low is my example guy for GG World stuff because he was the first entry that got added #The GG Bible's Glossary was the start of the GG World project and Axl's the first thing listed in it #So the GG World test dummy he became

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unseededtoast · 1 year

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Light As A Feather | Spencer Reid x F! Reader

Summary: The gravity of your job begins getting to you, and you come to realize you've forgotten how beautiful life can be. And one tranquil night, it's like Spencer is able to lift the weight and makes you feel light as a feather. Inspired by Hozier's "I, Carrion (Icarian)"

Cross posted on Wattpad and AO3 and here is my masterlist!

Word Count: 8.7k

Warnings: General violence, angst, pining. Poorly Edited

a/n: howdy folks. I'm still in my spencer reid/hozier brainrot era and so here's another. I hope you all enjoy it and thank you for all of the support I've received, it means the world!!

His presence is enough to make you forget about the horrors of the world, of your job. Right now, it's just you and him, and you've never felt lighter; so unburdened. You're convinced that if he wasn't there, holding onto you with his magnetic pull, that you may just float away in the breeze like a feather.

You had never been to Colorado before, and now you wish you could be here under different circumstances. It's the beginning of fall and it seems as if the people of Boulder are head over heels in love with the season. Which is understandable, you think you'd love fall this much too if you lived in a place this beautiful. The trees are painted in vibrant shades of yellow, orange, and red and the distant mountains stand proudly in the background with their snow capped tops. Your eyes are glued to the lush landscape as the SUV drives through Boulder to reach your destination.

You, along with the rest of your team, were called by the Park Rangers from the Rocky Mountain National Park about a few bodies they had discovered. Your superior, Hotch, decided their case was odd enough for you all to pay a visit. At first you hadn't wanted to come, convinced that there would be something closer to home to tend to, but now you're glad you agreed to come. Fall time in Quantico just isn't as picturesque.

Eventually, the SUV you're crammed into alongside three of your other team members drives up a long winding driveway to a hidden cabin in the woods. Hotch had booked the place, seeing as how close it is to the National Park and how secluded it is from potential people of interest. Once again, you tried to argue that the cellphone reception would be terrible up here and that it might hinder the case, but you were outvoted, and the rest of the team wanted to stay here. You hadn't understood why, but when the venue comes into view your jaw almost drops and you understand.

The cabin isn't at all what you had been expecting. Instead of some run-down, small, stuffy house, you see a large, sprawling log mansion. There are large windows adorning the front, accompanied by a wraparound porch on the second level. It's very reminiscent of a tasteful ski lodge.

"Wow." You breathe out as the car comes to a stop outside the front door.

"Still think it's a bad idea?" Hotch smarts off as he opens the trunk and starts handing people their bags. Fighting the urge to roll your eyes, you grab your bag from him and stare up at your home for the next few days.

The rest of the team wastes no time in going inside to claim their room, but you're happy to meander around for a little bit to familiarize yourself with the layout. You'll let them fight over the rooms and take whatever is left. After all, in a place of this size, even the smallest room is bound to be plentiful.

As you go through the halls admiring the artwork on the wall you spot Spencer doing the same, staring at a particular painting on the wall. You take just a second to appreciate the way he looks, standing there and analyzing art. You've always had an appreciation for Spencer, and not just for his good looks, but also his intelligence and his company.

Since your first day at the FBI you've felt drawn to him, he made you feel important, and heard, when others dismissed you. In fact, he's the reason you're on the BAU team in the first place. He was the only one to recognize your abilities and talents. You try not to hold a grudge about the fact the rest of the team was ready to let you transfer out after your internship. But instead of standing there and gawking at him like some braindead fool, you walk up to him, setting your bag on the floor beside your feet.

You look at the painting that's caught his attention and try to see what he does, try to think about how he interprets it. His mind is an amazing, complex thing, and you hope that one day you'll be able to understand just a small portion of it. It's a painting of the Great Rocky National Park, you can tell from the mountain formation and the river running through it. The painting is almost an identical match, as if it's actually a picture rather than painting. However, there's one small spot on the painting that looks like it's been painted over and over, it sticks out to you.

"What do you think happened there?" You point out the flaw and look up to Spencer, whose eyebrows are drawn closely together as he leans in and looks at the spot. After a few moments of quiet reflection, he stands back to his full height.

"I'm not sure. It looks like maybe the painter had difficulties finding the right shade." He says, still staring at the spot. Your eyes linger on his face before tearing them away before he catches on.

"You're probably right. I'm going to go find what room they left me." You say, grabbing your bag from beside you. Spencer bends over to pick up his as well,

"I should probably do the same." A small smile adorns his face, and the two of you begin walking through the cabin to find the empty rooms the team left you. According to the venue's website there should be one room for each agent, and you're thankful for that. You had never been a fan of sharing room with your coworkers, something about it just feels wrong, but when there's no way to avoid it you endure without much fuss.

The two of you check every room on the first floor only to find that they had all been claimed, meaning you two had to climb the stairs for rooms on the second level. Of course the rest of them would all claim the first floor rooms first, nobody likes to bother with stairs first thing in the morning.

You and Spencer find the empty rooms, side by side with direct access to the porch. You suppose there are worse rooms to have. Eager to step out onto the porch, you toss your bag on the bed and open the sliding door. Colorado's crisp air envelopes you as you step out and you take a deep breath. The air out here feels so clean and refreshing. Great Rocky National Park is directly in front of the porch, giving you an eagle's eye view of a portion of it as you lean onto the banister. Might as well enjoy a little bit of peace before you start working the case.

-----

"Three women were found in the same spot days apart from each other. All bludgeoned and stabbed through the heart." The Park Ranger speaks, indicating to the crime scene that's been barricaded with yellow tape. The Ranger stares at the scene, which is now an inconspicuous patch of dirt and grass, as if there weren't several dead women resting here. The scene is right beside a big body of crystal blue water.

You hang back from the rest of the team, opting to look at the surroundings instead of the immediate scene. The team knows now that finding the tiny details is your forte, and they leave you to your own devices in the beginning of investigations. The cold breeze causes you to hold your too-thin jacket closer to your body as you begin your observations.

"They were all found in the same spot?" Hotch asks the Ranger, who confirms that all of the victims were found in the exact same spot. As you examine the landscape, your eyes narrow in an attempt to find even the subtlest detail. Before too long, you see something out of place in the lush grass and walk over to it while pulling on a pair of gloves.

There's a pamphlet laying in the grass and upon further examination you see that it's been marked up like someone gave the traveler directions. Directions right to this spot. The killer lured at least one victim here. This trail is far off the beaten path, it's not marked by the Rangers. Only someone familiar with the area would know about it.

"Look at this." You call out to your team, and soon a few of them join your side to examine what you found. Spencer and Morgan look over your shoulder at the pamphlet, which is in better condition than you would've thought considering it was laying in grass beside a body of water.

"They're familiar with the area, they had this planned." Spencer speaks up and you nod your head, agreeing with him. Morgan holds out an evidence bag once he's done looking at it and you slip it inside, protecting it from any further damage. Morgan walks off with the pamphlet, leaving you and Spencer together, both deep in thought.

"What have you come up with so far?" You ask softly, curious to see if his theories line up with yours. Spencer shifts his weight and sighs, looking back to the crime scene.

"The killer is organized. They lured at least one victim right to this spot, and I'm assuming they did the same with the others. And they had to have brought the weapons with them. While there are branches to bludgeon people with, there's no evidence of anything nearby being cut down recently. If they used a natural object, it's likely they would've tried to blend it back in with nature." He explains and you nod your head along with what he's saying as you observe the scene and the scenery surrounding you.

"Unless they tossed the weapon into the water. They could have easily used a rock to bludgeon the victims." You counter his explanation. Spencer and you always did this with one another when forming theories. Not as to dissuade, or prove the other wrong, but to make your theories and explanations stronger. It's one of the qualities you most like about him. His eyes drift to the water.

"They could have. But they had to have brought the knife, there's no natural substitute that would leave that precise of a wound." He says, and you relent, agreeing with him.

"I want to question the Rangers, get their work schedules, and see the call logs. I also want to know where the victims were staying and if there's any camera footage of them in the welcome center." You shiver with a gust of wind and hold your arms tighter around your body as you walk off to gather the information you want.

Spencer decides to join you in going to the welcome center, claiming that in a huge national forest that none of us should be traveling alone. He has a good point, but you wouldn't have objected to his company either way. The Ranger from the scene escorts you two to the welcome center in his cruiser, the warm air letting your fingers regain their feeling.

"Who found the bodies?" You ask as you hold your hands in front of the vent emitting warm air. The Ranger looks at you through the rearview mirror before focusing on the road again.

"I found one and Birch found the others during his patrols." He answers and you mentally make a note to find Birch.

"Is that area regularly patrolled?" You push further for more information and the Ranger shakes his head.

"No, it wasn't, until I found the first girl. She had to have been out there for at least three days. After that I sent Birch out to keep an eye on the area. He found victim two a couple days after the first, and found the third a single day after the second." He says and you look to Spencer, both noting the decrease in time between kills. A sinking feeling in your stomach tells you that if you don't find the killer soon, then you may be finding a fourth victim any day now.

Once you reach the welcome center, the Rangers are more than happy to provide you with the security camera footage, work schedules, call logs, and anything else you may need. In fact, it's Ranger Birch that hands over the information himself. He's a young man, maybe mid twenties, with meticulously groomed hair and pressed uniform pants.

"Thank you." You tell him with a warm smile, taking the footage and other information off the counter and into your hands. He nods back with a wide, white-toothed smile and tells you and Spencer to come back if you need anything else. The moment you step out of the welcome center you give Spencer a pointed look with a raised eyebrow.

"What do you think?" He asks you before you can ask him. You lick your lips and glance back into the welcome center, Ranger Birch still looking at you. Your eyes find Spencer's and you motion for him to follow you.

"I think he takes pride in both his appearance and work, and he knows the park well." Hotch pulls up in a black SUV to pick you and Spencer up to return you to the cabin, where the entire team will discuss what's been found so far.

-----

The trip up to the cabin only takes about ten minutes. Your mind works to put pieces of the puzzle together the entire trip back, but there's just not enough known information yet, and it bothers you. You like to have answers quickly because the faster you get answers, the less people will die. Your leg bounces up and down the entire way back, eager to begin deciphering the evidence.

The SUV comes to a stop outside the cabin and before Hotch can turn the car off, you're out and making your way to the entrance. A man dressed in a casual flannel shirt hunched over the flowerbeds stops you in your tracks before you get to the front door. He wipes the dirt from his landscaping gloves onto his worn overalls as he greets you.

"Good afternoon ma'am, I hope you enjoy your stay here. I'm James, I do the landscaping work around here and a few other cabins nearby." He offers you a warm smile, which you try your best to return, but your anticipation is causing you to become short.

"Nice meeting you." You go to walk into the cabin, but James' voice stops you once more. Spencer and Hotch approach, engaged in a conversation likely pertaining to what happened at the welcome center.

"Wait, ma'am. I never caught your name." James smile is reminiscent of an old friend, and he looks at you expectedly. Against your best wishes, you answer him, not wanting to be unnecessarily rude to your host.

"We'll, it's been a pleasure to meet you. Maybe I'll catch you around before you head out. Are you here for work?" He continues his conversation as Spencer and Hotch walk into the cabin undeterred by the landscaper. Maybe if you had just slowed down one of them would've been caught instead. James' eyes linger on the items in your hands.

"Yeah, the whole team is here for work." You answer, shuffling some items around in your grasp. James nods his head and tears his gaze away from the items, the warm smile returning to his face.

"Must be some important work if a whole team is here. By the looks of you all I'd say you're some sort of police." He guesses, eyeing the firearm that's strapped to your thigh. Your eyes narrow at the man, and you nod.

"Yeah, something like that. I really have to get going, they're probably waiting for me in there. Have a nice night, James." You find your exit route out of the conversation with the friendly mannered landscaper. As you step through the door you hear his voice call out to you once more.

"If there's anything I can do to help, number's in the guestbook." The door closes, and the conversation finally ends.

Taking a cleansing breath, you join the rest of the team who are all gathered around the rectangular dining table, which has been designated as the investigation headquarters. On the table are a slew of files, photos, and papers. You add the information gathered from the welcome center to that collection and Hotch starts the conversation.

Hotch reviews the known information and circulates photos of the victims. They're all beautiful young women, and according to Garcia, were staying at nearby resorts and cabins for vacation. The photos get passed to you and you look at them intently, committing to memory every detail you can absorb before you pass them along. It's obvious that these victims were chosen because of their physical appearance, they all share the same basic features such as hair color, eye color, and stature. And eerily, you seem to match the profile as well.

"The physical appearance of the victim is important to the unsub. Having three victims with similar features is no mistake, nor is it a coincidence." You add to the conversation, seeing your team members look from you to the photos on the table.

"Maybe the victims represent someone who scorned the unsub? Extracting revenge through them." Spencer suggests, and it's a good theory. You chew on the skin of your bottom lip as your mind races with theories and trying to piece the information together like a puzzle.

After the general briefing, Hotch assigns Morgan and Prentiss to interview the Park Rangers to establish alibis, JJ and Garcia to continue conducting their online investigation, and Spencer and yourself to go over the welcome center footage. Hotch was going to speak to the people running the cabins the victims were staying at to see if there are any leads there.

You and Spencer are on the second hour of footage when your eyes start becoming heavy. Reaching for the remote, you pause the footage and stretch, needing to take a break.

"You want some coffee?" You ask him, needing something to keep yourself awake. He nods his head,

"Yes, please." You stand from your seat and go to the kitchen to prepare the two of you some coffee. You're sure to put an ungodly amount of sugar in Spencer's, knowing that if you don't you'll hear him complain about it. And most times you enjoy the sound of his voice, but you don't know if you can stand hours of CCTV footage and him complaining about a lack of sugar right now.

You return to the table and place his mug in front of him, steam rising from it. You sip your own and resume your position at the table and reach for the remote. Spencer reaches for it at the same time, your hands brushing one another's. His hand is warm and soft, perfect for the chilly autumn air.

"Sorry." You say, pulling your hand away and forcing any other thought than the footage from your mind, knowing that there's already a faint pink adorning your cheeks. No matter how long you've worked with him, even just simple touches is enough to send you spiraling if you let it. You try not to delve into what that might mean; you profile people for a living, the last thing you want to do is profile yourself. Without a word, Spencer just smiles back politely and presses play.

The footage rolls and you two identify the victims who all showed up unaccompanied, which you find odd considering they were on vacation with their families. Your hand jots down quick notes in sloppy handwriting as you critically examine what you do, and don't, see in the footage. Spencer and you replay the footage showing the victims easily five times each, both silently taking notes, knowing you're going to compare soon. After watching the third victim's footage for the last time, you look over to Spencer, who's face is illuminated by the golden glow of the setting sun.

"Do you want to go first?" He asks and you nod, trying not to stare at how the sunlight reflects the amber color in his warm prismatic eyes. You look down to your notes and try to get your thoughts straight before speaking.

"I noted that all three victims walked into the welcome center with a pamphlet already in hand. None of them took the ones provided by the park. They all showed up alone. I can only assume that the unsub gave them the pamphlets with instructions on how to find the scene. Only, I'm willing to bet it was framed as a good-intentioned suggestion. There's no way those women would have gone if they didn't trust the unsub to some degree." Your eyes glance from your horribly written notes up to Spencer, who's leaning on the table, clinging to every word you say. He hums in consideration before he speaks up.

"I would agree. And if the victims were all staying at tourist destinations, those pamphlets were likely already there. So now the question is whether or not the unsub talked to them at their cabins or before they walked into the welcome center." He says, and a lightbulb goes off in your mind.

"Wouldn't it make more sense for the unsub to speak to them at their cabins? I mean, if the unsub caught them in the parking lot there's a chance they might have their families with them. But if the unsub spoke to them at their cabins, the women might be persuaded to leave their families behind for some reason." You say, going with the logical deductions that pop into your mind. Spencer mulls over your words, his eyes narrowing, staring back at you in deep thought.

"You're right. The unsub likely works for the resorts. It would give them access to the victims and it wouldn't be weird for them to give suggestions to guests." He confirms what you thought and you look back to the screen, seeing the third victim frozen in time.

"We should let the team know." You say and Spencer nods. The two of you finish off your coffee and wait for the rest of the team to arrive. You're confident that the two of you have a solid lead on this case. You only hope you can find the unsub before there's a fourth victim.

-----

The sun sets on the scenic landscape and you lean against the banister of the wraparound porch. The rest of the team isn't back yet, and the last thing you want to do is stay inside when it's so beautiful out here. The snowcapped mountain in the distance gleams brilliantly, and it's almost blinding, but you can't look away. Sounds of water rushing and birds chirping fill the air and if you let your mind relax enough it's almost like you're not here to solve murders.

Your head rests atop of your arms on the railing and you breathe in the cool air. The breeze gently blows your hair around, sending a shiver up your spine. You had severely underestimated how cold it would be here, and as a result, you failed to pack adequately because you were basing your packing off of Virginia fall time temperatures, which are noticeably warmer.

The sliding door opens and you turn to see Spencer walking out of his room. He joins your side and leans forward on the railing, looking out at the breathtaking view. His curly brown hair gets blown into his face, and you have to stop yourself from reaching out and tucking it behind his ear. You're also enjoying the breathtaking view.

He looks at peace, which is not something you usually see in him. His mind works overtime almost twenty four hours a day, especially on cases. It has to be torturous sometimes, to never get a reprieve from your own thoughts; and that's something you know all too well. There are some nights where you can't sleep because gruesome memories from the job haunt you.

Noticing that you're staring at him, you turn your gaze back to the colorful trees. The two of you enjoy a moment of tranquility together, a rare moment in the fast-paced career you pursued. A bird flies by, and you can only imagine what that freedom feels like. Most times you feel like your job keeps you cemented in one place, always dealing with death and the most heinous monsters that reside in this world. You often forget just how beautiful and free life can be.

A particularly crisp breeze comes through and you visibly shiver, which Spencer notices. Without a word, he goes into his room and comes back moments later with the throw blanket that was folded at the bottom of the bed. It's burnt orange in color and is made of faux fur, warm and soothing. Spencer drapes it over your shoulders and you hold onto the ends, keeping it secure around you. If you could stay in this moment forever, you would.

Spencer stands so closely beside you that you feel his warmth coming through the blanket, and without much thought, or care, you lean into him just slightly. He makes no effort to move, and the two of you stay like that for what seems like an eternity. His warmth and his smell are so comforting and makes you feel safe. Deep down in your heart you know he makes you feel at home.

The two of you enjoy each other's company in a peaceful silence. There's never been the need to fill the silence with him, like there is the others. While you two are quite talkative in the team dynamic, when you find yourselves alone it's often relaxed with no expectations. You two talk when you want, or is needed, but when there's nothing to say you're more than happy to just be around him. And you hope he feels the same about you, and you think he does, but you're never brave enough to ask for fear of ruining whatever relationship it is that you two share.

Sighing, you cuddle yourself further into the blanket as the sun dips lower and lower, the golden hue turning orange. Spencer moves beside you, and you see his fingers twitch, like he was going to reach out for something but doesn't. Your head turns to look at him above you, and his head lowers, so that your eyes meet one another.

You had always known his eyes were beautiful, but up this close you can truly admire the depth of them. The golden hues remind you of the sunsets, the green in them is like the rich moss that adorns the sides of the rocks; or like the pine needles on the tall trees, and the brown is reminiscent of swirling espresso. Taken aback from his closeness and the heat creeping up your spine, your lips fall open and his eyes glance between them and your eyes. He's so close to you, your bodies practically pressed against one another. You feel yourself being drawn to him, like he has his own magnetic pull.

But whatever was about to happen is cut short by the rest of the team arriving back to the cabin. You and Spencer seem to come back to reality and step away from one another. Flustered, you unwrap the blanket from your shoulders and hand it back to him, already missing the warmth.

"Thank you." Your voice is soft and tender, and his hand brushes your own as he grabs the blanket from you.

"Of course." He smiles softly back, and the two of you part ways to join the rest of your team downstairs to catch up on the latest information. But you can barely pay attention to what is being said, for your mind is drowning with flashes of Spencer out on the porch.

-----

The next morning you wake up as the sun shines in through the windows, illuminating the room beautifully and warmly. Hotch had given everyone the night to mull over the information and said that the investigation will pick right back up in the morning. After you get dressed and ensure your service weapon is properly attached to the harness around your thigh, you make your way down the stairs for a morning cup of coffee. Morgan, Prentiss, and Hotch are already sat at the table, picking at some toast for breakfast as they get the sleep rid from their systems.

You make a cup for yourself and Spencer, knowing he will be up any moment now. As per usual, too much sugar gets put into his and then you pour your own. The warm drink calms your nerves and you close your eyes, trying to get your mind prepared for whatever the day may bring. You know there may very well be a fourth victim found soon and you need to be on the top of your game to find the unsub.

"Good morning." A raspy voice makes your eyes open, and you see Spencer walking into the kitchen, dressed in a button up and tie. It's quite casual for him, but you like it, it looks nice on him.

"Good morning, made yours right here." You say and nod over to the mug on the counter. He looks from you to the mug with a smile on his face.

"Thanks." He says, and the two of you stay in the kitchen, sipping on your coffee and waiting for Hotch to give everyone orders.

"Feeling good about today?" It's something you always ask when an investigation seems to be coming to a close. You think it sets a tone, an expectation that the team will succeed. Spencer sips his drink and nods,

"I feel good about today." He confirms, flashing his bright white smile.

Last night, after the team had arrived, Hotch had shown everyone the list of employees from the neighboring resorts and cabins and today the team will be interviewing those employees. You're convinced the unsub has to be on that list and you intend to find out who it is. The questions have already been sorted in your mind, though you're able to adapt to anyone's personality and are prepared to get answers.

"Same teams as yesterday, we're going to divide and conquer." Hotch says, handing each team a list of names. You look down at the list he handed you and see that there are a total of fifteen employees for the small resort that you and Spencer are covering. It catches your attention that seven of the fifteen are women, and you mentally place them lower on your suspect list. This doesn't seem like a crime women usually commit, no, this seems like the work of a man as evidenced by the brute force used.

Morgan and Prentiss take off in one car, Hotch takes another, leaving you and Spencer with your own SUV. The two of you gather your needed materials, such as photos and notepads, before you head out. Spencer grabs the keys and tells you that he's going to warm up the car as you finish organizing your things, and you're grateful for that. Sitting in a cold car doesn't really appeal to you right now.

Once you're content with the items you've chosen to bring along you head out of the cabin. The bright light almost blinds you, and you squint in order to see. From the corner of your eye you see something move, and when you turn to look you see it's the landscaper from the other day, already flagging you down. Resisting the strong urge to just ignore him, you wait for him to reach you on the porch steps. He looks like he's already been hard at work today, he's covered in dirt and sweat.

"Well good mornin'. Got anything interesting going on today?" He asks, shielding his eyes from the light with his gloved hand. You shift your weight and look to the running SUV, already planning your escape route out of this conversation.

"Uh, yeah, you could say it'll be an interesting day." You reply as politely as you can. James smiles widely at your response.

"What sort of thing you have planned?" He asks and you sigh, not wanting to be part of this conversation any longer.

"I'm not at liberty to say, but I've gotta go, my partner is waiting for me." You excuse yourself from the conversation before he can get another word in. From behind you, you hear him say.

"Well alright then, I'll be around if you need anything." As you slide into the driver's side of the car and hand your bag to Spencer, you see the man heading back to the tool shed.

"That's twice now that he's singled me out." You say, keeping your eye on him for a moment longer, watching his moves. The fact that you match the victim profile is not lost on you, and you think it might be making you just slightly paranoid.

"I noticed that too. Could be that you were the first one there the last time, and the last one out this time, but it's definitely something to keep note of." Spencer says as you drive off to the tiny resort the two of you had been assigned. You know he might be right, but the man went out of his way to flag you down this morning and completely ignored everyone else. An uneasy feeling in your stomach tells you that the landscaper should be looked into more thoroughly.

When you and Spencer reach the resort you waste no time in beginning your investigations. The two of you are laser focused on the task at hand, and agree to split the list equally. Spencer volunteered himself to question the extra person. Luckily, the front desk attendant was more than helpful and secured two rooms for the interviews to be conducted.

The first four interviews go by without incident, all front desk attendants and kitchen workers who have no indication of manipulative traits and answer your questions openly. You've done this enough times to spot exactly what you're looking for, you know what gets under the skin of unsubs, especially the organized ones who think they have it all figured out.

A couple other interviewees give you good information about the victim who stayed here. They tell you how they remember seeing her with her family in the hall, and how nothing seemed out of the ordinary in the room when it was cleaned. Hotch had questioned the families last night, and cleared them from the suspects list.

By the time you reach the end of your list, you know you can safely cross every one of them off. None of them responded to the misinformation you sprinkled in the questions, things the unsub would've been known to be untrue. And none of them had any sort of reaction to you insulting the intelligence of the unsub, something that would have surely set them off in some way. But to your dismay, none of them had any clue of who could be capable of this kind of malice. Typically, there's at least one person who's able to spot something weird about someone, but not this time.

You group back up with Spencer, the two of you comparing notes in the room he used for his questioning. He had the same results as you and you both were hoping someone else on the team was more successful.

"We got all of them except for James Hilton. The others said he bounces around to each place and some days he's not even here." Spencer says, pointing out the only uncrossed name from the list.

"James Hilton. That's the landscaper." You say, barely able to recall his name from yesterday. The uneasy feeling in your stomach grows.

-----

In the afternoon, the team reconvenes in the cabin around the table to compare findings. Every other agent was able to interview everyone but James Hilton. Granted, his job requires him to go from location to location, but it seems like he's been hanging out around this cabin often. However, he was nowhere to be found when everyone came back. But maybe he went to another location to work on their flowerbeds.

"We'll need to get his statement today. Anyone up to track him down?" Usually you volunteer to go after someone like this, but something is telling you not to, and you listen to your instincts. Thankfully Morgan offers to track him down, and Prentiss joins him once more. You pick at a piece of paper on the table as your mind works, mulling over what you know about the case and the overly-friendly landscaper.

Before Morgan and Prentiss leave, Spencer informs the team about the conversations that James has dragged you into. You tell them exactly what happened, and they all agree that it seems suspicious. Hotch goes off to make some calls to JJ and Garcia, leaving you and Spencer at the table.

"Hey, are you okay?" Spencer asks, leaning forward on the table. His voice snaps you out of your trance and you cease to fiddle with the paper.

"Me? Yeah I'm fine, why?" You ask, not sure why he's concerned. He looks conflicted, opening and closing his mouth a few times before he answers.

"Well, it's just that you fit the victim profile and the conversations with the landscaper seem to be suspicious. And you keep playing with the paper which is an indication of anxiety." He says, trying his best to not profile you in front of your face.

"Spencer, I'm okay, promise. I was just thinking." You tell him, and it's the truth. While James makes you feel uneasy, you're confident that nothing will happen to you. Spencer nods and you stand from the table, wanting to inspect the cabin with finer detail and stretch your legs.

After going from room to room looking for the tiniest thing that might be relevant to the case, you find yourself staring at the same photo that caught Spencer's eye when you all first arrived. There's something about it, something about the discolored spot, that you just can't let go of. It's bothering you for some reason. Frustrated, you take it off the wall and bring it to where Spencer is in the main living area, nose in a book. He looks up from the page when he hears you coming, his eyebrows scrunching closely together.

"What are you doing?" He asks, putting the book on a side table. You place the painting on the large coffee table and put your hands on your hips.

"There's something about this that's driving me insane." You say, eyes drifting from Spencer's face to the painting. It takes Spencer all of ten seconds to analyze the painting again.

"It's the same place the bodies were found." He says and your eyes widen, taking in the scene again and realizing he's right.

"Wait. If this is the same place the bodies were found, then that, is the exact spot they were in." You say, pointing to the discolored spot. The discoloration is where the grass meets the water, the mountain in the background. Your eyes drift to the bottom corner of the painting where you see a cursive 'J' painted in white.

"Do you think the killer is the one who painted this?" Spencer asks you, and you nod.

"I'm sure of it. There's a J painted in the corner. It has to be Hilton. Can you call Garcia?" You ask, mind feeling like it's running a marathon. Spencer doesn't hesitate to get Garcia on the phone.

"Hello my beautiful boy genius, what can I do for you today?" Penelope's voice sounds throughout the room and you smirk at her entertaining phone greeting.

"Hello my beautiful computer genius, can you do me a favor?" You speak first and you can hear her laugh through the phone.

"Oh my darling anything for you." Her voice is melodic and you shake your head at her antics. You love Garcia, she's one of your closest friends inside and outside of work.

"Can you find anything on a James Hilton from the Boulder, Colorado area?" You ask her, knowing your answer is about to be served on a silver platter in just a few moments. Garcia's quick typing echoes through the phone.

"James Hilton, born and raised in Boulder. Has been working as a property manager for the last ten years at the property you all are staying at. Has one traffic record from the nineties, but other than that he's clean." She says, but you were hoping for something more incriminating.

"Anything about a wife, or a girlfriend? Maybe even a sister or mother?" You ask her, staring down a the painting.

"It looks like he was in a long term relationship with Valerie Wilson, also of Boulder. But according to her Facebook page, they are over with." She says, Spencer and you looking at each other, knowing you may have just found a potential piece of the puzzle.

"Perfect. Can you tell me what she looks like and how to contact her?" You ask and write down the details Garcia recites. After you get the needed information, Spencer hangs up and calls Hotch to inform him of what the two of you just found out. Hotch tells us that he's on his way back to the cabin after he's done with the last interview.

The painting lays in front of you two, and you take a seat on the arm of the chair Spencer is sitting in, your leg brushing up against his and your arm resting behind his head to keep yourself stable. Your eyes are glued to the discoloration, and you know there's just something about it that's more than just not being able to find the right shade.

"Is there a way to see if something has been painted over?" You ask Spencer rather than Googling it, knowing he can probably get you an answer faster. He clears his throat and nods his head.

"A few years ago it was found that Vincent Van Gogh painted over several of his works due to the cost of canvas. Experts used x-ray to see through the layers, revealing the original painting." His answer is exactly what you were looking for.

"We have to get this thing x-rayed. And someone needs to contact Valerie and ask her about her relationship with James. His tool shed should be examined as well" You jump off the chair's arm, ready to leave immediately, but having to wait for Hotch before you can proceed with anything else.

-----

Hours later, your leg is bouncing up and down, eagerly awaiting the results of the x-ray. The hospital staff had never encountered something quite like this, but you were thankful that they were cooperative. Spencer had come along with you while Hotch stayed back to get in contact with Valerie. You check your phone every ten seconds to see if you have a new message for him, but your screen is blank.

Thankfully, a few minutes later an x-ray technician comes out and beckons you to a dark room where she clips the x-ray images onto a lightboard. While the images aren't in color, you can still see exactly what you need to. The images show that where the discoloration is, there used to be a woman standing and a man on one knee. A gasp leaves your mouth, the pieces finally fitting together in your mind. Without a doubt, James is the unsub.

Spencer and you race back to the cabin and spill the findings to the rest of the team. Hotch informs you that Valerie had confirmed that James recently proposed, but she turned him down. All of the victims match her appearance. He must have been killing to fulfill some sort of revenge he felt was necessary.

The team calls each of the resorts that James is employed at only to find that he's not at any of them. While the others scramble to try and find a way to find him, your eyes land on the guestbook.

"Guys. I can call him. He told me his number is in the guestbook and we know I fit the profile. He won't be able to help himself." You say, and the others don't have any good reason as to why you shouldn't do it. Your hands shake from the adrenaline as you dial the numbers and the phone rings, your heartbeat resounding in your ears. You're so close to catching this depraved man.

"Hello?" He answers finally. You let go of a breath you weren't aware you were holding and speak up.

"Hi James, you told me to call you if I needed help with anything. And, um, I think I might have broken one of the outside lights." You quickly come up with a lie, hoping to lure him out here for the arrest. You hear him moving around on the other end and the start of an engine.

"Of course, I'll be there in just a moment, honey." He says and you hang up the phone, trying not to gag from his pet name.

It takes James all of fifteen minutes to reach the cabin. When he pulls up, the entire team is waiting for him, but you were the one with cuffs in your hands. As soon as his feet hit the ground, Hotch and Morgan were out the door ordering him to the ground. With smug satisfaction, you step over the man and secure his hands in cuffs behind his back.

As the local police show up to take him away, he's spitting every expletive in the book at you. Rage and hatred show themselves very clearly on his face, and you see who he really is. You smile sickly sweet at him as he's shoved into the back of the cop car. Another monster off the street, unable to do harm to another woman. It's like a weight gets lifted from your shoulders.

-----

After the excitement of the arrest, you come down off your adrenaline rush. The rest of the team are packing, getting ready to leave in the morning, but you can't find it within yourself to do it. You're too struck by the beauty in front of you to worry about going back home. You just don't want to part with this yet. So you find yourself out on the wraparound porch once more, the sun retreating far too quickly behind the horizon for your liking.

Despite the waning sun, the landscape looks brighter, more vibrant now that you know that the killer is in custody. Usually, the team gets only a few hours of celebration before you're saddled with paperwork and the next case. A bird flies past again, and you appreciate its freedom again. Its sweet melodies carry in the breeze and soothes your weary soul.

You love your job, you can't imagine doing anything else, but it does wear on you. Both physically and mentally. Before you had started working with the team, you never could have imagined the kind of evil lurking everywhere, even in a place as gorgeous as this. But now, it's like wherever you look, no matter how beautiful the surroundings, you can always spot something amiss. You feel weighted by the knowledge of what reality actually is.

The familiar sound of the sliding door catches your attention, and you see Spencer coming towards you, blanket in hand. A smile finds its way onto your face as he closes the distance between you, securing the blanket around your shoulders. Just like yesterday, he stands right beside you, admiring the view.

"The others are all leaving tonight, they said they want to get a headstart on the papers. But I told them we'd go back in the morning." His voice is raspy, yet soft.

"But what about the plane?" You ask, eyebrows knitting together. He shrugs his shoulders and looks down at you.

"I told them we'd fly back in the morning, already have the tickets arranged." He says, easing some of your anxiousness, but not satisfying your curiosity.

"Why?" You search for the answer on his face.

"Because I saw how much you like it here. You deserve one workless night." He says with sincerity and your heart swells at the sentiment. You fully turn towards him, soft blanket draped lightly across your shoulders. You notice that Spencer has traded his button up for a simple pullover. Something so simple has never looked so good before.

"Thank you, you really didn't have to-" He cuts you off with a smile,

"I know, but I wanted to." He admits, pink coloring his cheeks. You stare up at him in awe, not quite sure what you did to deserve his thoughtfulness. Not being able to hold back your affections, you reach out and engulf him in a hug.

"Thank you, Spencer." You reiterate into his chest, feeling his arms wrap around you. After a few fleeting, precious moments, you let go of him. Staring up into his eyes, you reach a hand up and stroke the soft skin of his cheekbone with your thumb. He doesn't flinch from your touch like he does with others, no, he leans into it as if he's savoring the feeling.

His arm that was around your waist come up to cup your cheek, and he gently brings your face towards his, pressing a tender kiss to your lips. You hold him close, a flurry of warmth spreading from your face down to your body. His other hand finds its way around your waist, securing you to his body.

You break the kiss as your chest begins burning with the need of oxygen, and he rests his forehead against yours. Your hands come up to gently grasp the sides of his face, keeping him in place so that you can admire his beauty. After minutes pass by in silence as you two appreciate each other, Spencer tilts his head up and kisses your forehead.

He turns you around so that you're facing away from him, and he grabs the blanket from around your shoulders. Seconds later, you feel him standing behind you, wrapping the soft blanket around the both of you. His chest is behind you, and he hands you the edges of the blanket so that his hands might find the soft curve of your waist. Spencer pulls you in to him so that you're leaning back on his chest.

Spencer rests his head atop of yours as the two of you relax your minds and bodies, focusing solely on each other and the scene in front of you. Your hands come down to entwine themselves with his with a soft smile on your face.

A lone tear falls from the corner of your eye as you're overcome with emotion. You cannot recall a single time in your life that you've felt this serene, where everything just feels perfect. Your soul is well nourished and full from Spencer alone. All of those cases you worked together, the stolen glances across the office, the simple acts of kindness and thoughtfulness for each other has culminated to this one precious moment in time; and you've never felt more content.

The sun eventually sets behind the horizon, the chilly breeze billowing the blanket around you both. Above you in the sky, the stars shine brightly, and you tip your head back to admire them. You can never admire their true beauty in Quantico, their shine is dulled by light pollution, but you can see them clearly here. You can see everything clearly here.

"You know, scientists estimate that there are about two hundred sextillion stars in the sky within the Milky Way." Spencer whispers in your ear as you two bask in their soft white light. You turn around in his hold and smile up at him,

"And yet none shine as brilliantly or as beautifully as you." You say, and pull him in for another soft, heartfelt kiss. As you pull away, you watch as his eyes flutter open and he smiles endearingly. You've never seen such a beautiful sight, never felt comfort as warm as him, and you know as you lean into his embrace, that you will not bear the weight of this world or this life alone.

#spencer reid #spencer reid x reader #dr spencer reid #criminal minds #emily prentiss #derek morgan #aaron hotchner #spencer reid fluff #spencer reid fanfic #spencer reid fanfiction #hozier #spencer reid x you #Spotify #criminal minds fandom #criminal minds x reader #spencer x reader #spencer reid comfort

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the-orange-tabby-cat · 1 year

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Wings Of The Dawn | Chapter 1

Joel miller x fem!reader

Summary: You are Jackson's librarian, a doll with a good heart, that has your life changed when a handsome man decides to take his kid and start again in your small town after completing their cross country journey. Having a hard time ignoring Joel's dark brown eyes, you find yourself wishing to have him close as you both navigate through love triangles, teenage drama, city gossip, and ghosts from both of your pasts. This is a comfort fic filled with slow burn and small town dynamics.

read on AO3 | fic masterlist | masterlist | playlist | next chapter

Rating: 18+ eventually (first chapter free of smut)

Warnings/Tags: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Slow Burn, Slow Build, Friends to Lovers, Age Difference, Small Town Dynamics, No use of y/n

Word count: 7.5k

Late A/N: Howdy! I re-edited this chapter (just the text layout, nothing about its content) to be more in sync with the writing style of the rest of the story. All changes were on the text structure, not the story.

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CHAPTER 1

"You have searched me, Lord, and you know me.

You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.

You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.

Before a word is on my tongue; you, Lord, know it completely.

You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain."

Psalm 139:1-6

The green of the moss was brighter after the early morning rain, the droplets of water made the color pop as the ground absorbed all the night's moisture. Into the mountains, deep in the woods, the river followed its gentle course, while its cold water was now sharper from the rain. Shades of light pink and orange filled the horizon line with the sunrise. Jackson was mostly asleep, enjoying the peaceful start of the day, just the bird tweets filling the city atmosphere. In the early hours of the day, the orange tabby cat tried to chase the swallows down the porch. The flock flew through the sky seconds before the cat’s attack.

"Better luck next time, baby," you exclaimed while petting the cat's head. It was a classic morning action up to this point: the bird's early chants with the cat (attempt at) hunting. Over the last three years, not even once has the cat been able to attack their prey, but the lack of self-awareness seems endearing to you.

It was somewhat after 5 a.m., not that you cared that much, the sunrise sky was one of the simple pleasures you could still slurp on. Sometimes, if you let your mind wander enough, there was a sense of mundane in it, just peace. The cat started to purr while rubbing its face on your calves, bringing you back to reality. It was a spring morning, and you were on your porch up your feet with your pajamas.

"Hungry? C'mon, I will get you something," you echoed to the creature's delight.

The city was slowly gaining new sounds as the time went by. You could hear from your kitchen the horse's blow coming from a recent patrol, the neighbor’s baby crying, and the final chant of the birds that the cat tried to hunt earlier. You changed your clothes, wishing for a cold day, not early summer weather, and left your house to walk down the wet pavement in the direction of Nath’s house. The sky still held the light pink and orange shades, making a pleasant view as you hurry your steps. Inside your head, you were reviewing the day's tasks, "wake up Nath, attend the council meeting, get more food supplies for the cat and me," not much going on.

If you were honest, the easy, simple life wasn't entirely your heart's desire. You knew Jackson was probably the best option for you out there after the outbreak. You were soft, and the idea of safety was enough for you over the last three years. But sometimes, just sometimes, you couldn’t help but wonder if following your routine and finding your house empty once you left work wasn't starting to get on your nerves.

You shook that thought from your head as you got to Nath’s front door, slowly twisting the doorknob. Of course, she left it unlocked, you were the best alarm she ever had – her words. On the kitchen countertop were some tea bags with a mug on the side, and the kettle already had water on, just waiting for someone to turn on the stove. You scowled while making you both a cup of tea, her with less sugar.

Holding both mugs, you went down the hall, using your hips to open the already open door of her bedroom even wider.

"Wake up, lazy ass, we have 15 minutes" Nath opened one eye slowly as she heard you scream.

“Strawberry tea? Little sugar?” she replied as you shoved the mug in front of her face, taking a small sip while smiling a little. Your only response was to roll your eyes, "What would I do without you? You know that you are the early bird from us two," she endorsed you with a playful look.

"If somebody told me that I would have to wake up your lazy ass every morning, I would have preferred to be Maria's best friend," you glared as she sat down, wholly offended by your statement.

She knew you were only joking, but you couldn't help but smile to her absolute horror. The short blonde hair was all over her face, and the small almond dark blue eyes wide shot made the scene even better.

“Just put something on, we don’t have the whole day, we can eat at the Bison after the meeting.”

"Yeah, by "we can eat" you mean "you can cook me something." Unbelievable, you make me one cup of tea and already think that you can shout me orders," she replied after gulping part of the strawberry tea, jumping out of bed.

She wasn't entirely wrong; the Tipsy Bison, Jackson’s only bar, was hers after her granddad passed away a few years back. With an impressive number of two staffs, including Nath herself, she was your barman and chef most of the times.

As you two walked to the mess hall, you pondered how you were quite different despite being close in age. Nath had just celebrated her 34th birthday during winter, and you were just a couple of years younger. She seemed more juvenile than you, starting with her wardrobe. While you were with the combo of a long skirt and a shirt with the sleeves down your elbow - a heritage of your upbringing - she wore low-rise jeans and a pale blue t-shirt written: "Keep staring, I might do a trick." Charming. She also had a tomboy way of life, speaking the first thing that came to her mind, which, as you got closer to the mess hall was starting to worry you.

“Hey, Dolly." Alfie nodded in your direction, his green eyes bright with a small smile. You smiled back at your politeness, even though you hated the nickname.

You felt Nath exhale hard next to you. Maria was all joy as the rest of the council spoke about her pregnancy in the corner. With hands softly caressing her belly and her dark skin glowing in the yellow light of the mess hall, it was easy to see her as a non-threatening figure, despite Nath constant banter of how much she didn't see in this madonna image in her. Nath came from a founder family of Jackson just like the pregnant woman, which was the origin of her beef with Maria and constant animosity.

"I can't believe she uses it to get more attention," you look at Nath while raising your eyebrows.

"Well, her belly is getting bigger, and a child is a small miracle, especially nowadays." Nath rolled her eyes at you, and you felt missing something.

“You see, that shit you speak is how I know for sure that you grew up Mormon. Small miracle my ass”, she retorted getting herself a chair, still moody.

Oh. Yeah, sometimes your mind formed phrases that sounded much more like your mother than yourself, that being one of them. You felt your face heaten as the council sat in a circle right at the center of the hall, waiting for the spokesperson of the day to start.

“Good morning, I hope nobody got bitten by the bed bugs today.” Chad started with positivity that filled your heart with joy. Despite being the tallest man around, his face was constantly an open invitation to sweet talk, with round cheeks and a soft gaze. “Edwin, could you please read for us the topics in discussion today?”

"Okay, we have the new division of this season's crops" the old man said looking in Chad's direction with his glasses low at his nose, "The dam amendment before raining season", Edwin continued, now pointing a finger towards Alfie, "and the new residents". Maria chewed the inside of her cheek, and you immediately sensed something.

The council was one of Jackson’s pillars as an independent society. A collaborative system, no more currencies in paper money, and a collective mind elected for the community's well-being. At least this is how Nath convinced you to accept the position a year ago after nominating you for one of the six positions and, somehow, convincing the other citizens to vote for you. It took you months to learn that she used her influence with more than just arguments to have you there.

"I needed someone I could trust, and I can't let Maria have everything her way. People already think that she owns this city. You’re my friend, and I would follow you without holding back. Plus, I need someone to help me develop my brilliant plans", she argumented one day after you put some pressure on why she thought having you as part of the council would thrive.

Three women and three men were elected by the people every two summers. As spring was coming to its middle, you started to wonder if you would continue as part of it by summer or if you would be taken off. "Odd years we have elections, right years we vote to take out council members. If one of us gets voted out, we make a whole new election, Dolly", Edwin explained with a stern voice to you once. You didn't know if it made you calmer or restless.

The meeting went smoothly, a little bickering between Nath and Maria as always, but nothing new. They were constantly up on each other necks, and at this point, everybody already understood it as normal behavior. Chad offered to help the mess hall kitchen with the menu for this season greens and fruits, Alfie would open a few positions to get more hands on the dam, all good.

"I believe we can follow with your topic," Edwin pointed vaguely toward Maria. The older man looked like a villain from a child's cartoon: full gray hair, short in stature, thin frame, and a hook nose that only amplified the villainess type by having his glasses at the tip of it. His stern voice had a neutral tone, with no menace behind it, but as Maria started to speak, you again noticed something was off.

"As you might recall, Tommy's brother came to Jackson with a girl last winter. On the occasion, they had to finish a trip to the west, despite being told that this city would welcome them." She lifted her head and cleared her throat, "Two days ago, they completed their journey to finding their way back to our city, they already have been provided a house and some basics for a new life. The girl will start school in a few days. I know that normally I'm the one that coordinates the new welcomers. Still, this time being family, I thought it would be better to involve the council on it."

"Wait, two days ago, right?" Nath asked Maria, who replied with a single nod, "So they came by the track near the river to the city?" Something clicked inside your head, and you quickly looked at Maria waiting for confirmation.

She nodded again, "I think so," she simply pondered.

Two days ago, Nath appeared at the library's back house. As the weather got warmer, you and her got into a small routine: bicycle rides in the woods with river swimming at the end. Entering the library, she screamed for you, "You can work on books every day, but this weather is one in a lifetime!" She wasn't wrong, the winter had been a little cruel to you, and you both craved warmer days. You started sweating a bit from how warm the day had begun, hair up and everything, dreaming of some coolness. For once in a long time you accepted that despite being a very responsible city librarian and archivist, you could give yourself a break and followed her to the city gate.

Of course, the bicycles had seen better days, but you worked with what you had. They were a gift from Alfie, who found them a while back and made some improvements to you both. Nath spent the whole week teasing you that he would try to find any excuse to be close to you, going for as much as giving her a gift. The path between the trees and the open field was easy, the only snow at the peak of the mountains surrounding Jackson, and no risk of slip and fall.

Nath was rambling about how she thought this was the year she would meet the love of her life, "I can feel it, I swear to God!" she giggled as you both went a slight fast downhill.

"You say that every new season, plus you don't even believe in God," you retorted, amused by her joy.

"I don't, but you do. Do you believe I’ll find love this time?" she asked, smiling at you.

You slowed down a bit, taken by surprise. You didn't know when it was the last time you had faith in a creator, in something looking above for you. It had been a while since you had fully believed in something out-worldly. It was tied with memories you couldn't fully deal with yet.

"I do, Nath, I truly do." You said, smiling lopsided in her direction. A little bit of positivity wouldn’t bite back.

She pedaled faster and screamed from the front, "Told ya, sucker!”

The river wasn't that deep up on the hills. It was no more than a bit after noon, meaning that you could have a lot of daylight to enjoy the day and still go back. You both stripped into the underwear, the long-forgotten swimwear with the other pleasures of pre-outbreak. During the heat waves days, Nath would get bold and be topless by the river despite your warning that it was reckless behavior. Today you both were wearing a full set of underwear. It was the first hot day, not even proper hot.

“Holy shit, I can feel my uterus giving me hell," Nath said, retorting her face while stepping on the river margins, her feet touching the cold water.

"Cramps?" you asked as she made faces towards the sky. The apparent truth of the cold waters of Wyoming being constant, even more during spring, didn't matter that much, you both could deal with it for a free day.

As time passed and you got tired of swimming, you decided to get sun on your skin in the meadow nearby, still in Nath's eyesight. She was the reckless one, the bad influence, you still thought this was the outbreak, and some sense of safety was important. As you walked chasing the sun, you felt the soil getting stuck in the soft skin of your feet, the leaves and dirt making you jump a bit. The sky was mostly blue, and you could feel your skin getting warmer as you got closer to the sunlight.

"Are you getting hungry? I think we still have about two hours before getting to the city gate," a low register man's voice asked nearby. The hair in your arms and neck lifted, and your breathing started to get quicker. You tried to find from where the voice was coming to be able to hide from it.

"Not really," a girl answered it, a flat delivery. Your nipples were stiff from the panic of not being alone, you became aware of your state. The wet cream bra was transparent, the wet panties showing more than you felt comfortable of yourself.

You had nothing to fight back if they attacked you, vulnerable and shivering from the cold air getting in touch with your wet body. Staring to chatter teeth, you tried to get back for the river and alert Nath slowly but stepped on a stick, making some noise.

“What was that?” the girl asked, now putting more life in her voice. You quickly hid behind a nearby tree from the direction of the voice, your heart beating faster.

"Probably an animal. I haven't heard anything", the man said back after a few seconds, in a gentle tone.

You tried to spy from your hiding spot as you sensed they were moving downhill. The girl was at the front wearing a white and red plaid shirt and jeans, her hair up. From behind, you could only notice how small she seemed next to the man, reaching no more than his shoulders. The man was tall, with broad shoulders and a longer hair with salt and pepper. His dark gray shirt did not contrast his dark jeans, he was carrying a backpack, a gun carefully put on his jeans at the right side. You shivered, noticing it. As you felt they were getting far, you decided to look better and fully stepped on in front of the tree you were using to hide. Unfortunately, it was the exact moment that the man decided to look back.

You only got a glimpse of his face before hiding again, his dark brown eyes and strong nose burned inside your head. Your breath started to rise again. Now you had no idea if it was by fear of him being armed or because you noticed that the stranger was handsome. There were no sounds of footsteps towards or downwards, just the river and birds filling the air. After what seemed to be a lifetime, the girl came back.

"Joel, let's go! I want to get there for dinner time," she urged him. He sighed in response.

"Thought you weren't hungry," he replied grumpily as they continued their path toward what seemed to be Jackson.

You waited a few seconds more and went straight to Nath, who continued on her lazy journey of doing nothing. Getting closer to her, you whispered.

"Hey, hey, look at me: There was a man and a kid walking nearby. I think they are going to Jackson as well. His name is Joel, do you know him?"

"Joel? I don't think so. Wait, are you sure that they were going to Jackson? Damn, we have no weapons with us," Nath replied while putting her clothes back, you did the same. It was no longer a lazy day but a refuge that got caught. You both decided to return to the city using the longer path, unwilling to cross ways with the strangers.

You came back from your memory as Nath sucked her cheek while crossing her arms in front of her chest, looking in front of her and then back to Maria.

"They have been here before, right? I didn't catch their names," she inquired.

"Joel and Ellie, and yes, just like I said, they were here last winter" Maria said, softer than expected. From her seat, Nath locked eyes with you, in your mind flashed the sight of dark eyes and a strong nose.

“You mean that you want us to decide where your brother-in-law will be starting to give back to the city?" Alfie asked, mouth open while resting an elbow at his knee, getting closer to Maria, his accent thicker as he phrased.

“Something like that. Tommy said he used to be a contractor. They worked together before the outbreak. He traveled from Boston to here by feet with a young girl if this means something to any of you." Putting her hand on her belly, Maria looked at you. "Dolly, do you have any insights? You seem quieter today than usual."

“I think you should ask Alfie’s opinion on it. We just spoke about getting more hands to work on the dam. Am I right?"

Alfie smiled, showing his teeth to you despite you being oblivious to its meaning. You honestly had no idea why he was always so gentle with you, but now wasn't the time to figure it out.

The whole council was looking at him. Maria seemed impatient, Nath was still merged in her thoughts, Chad and Edwin were waiting. Alfie took another look at you before speaking, "If he has the skills and the willingness to help, I can't see why this would be a problem. When can he start?"

“Let’s make it soon as possible, shall we?” Maria said, getting up, her hand still upon her belly. "Do we have any more topics, or this is it?"

With that, the meeting was done. Everyone got to their primary jobs: Edwin to the clinic where he was the doctor, Chad to the city garden, Maria to coordinate the patrols, and Nath to the Tipsy Bison. You were slowly walking to catch Nath when Alfie started to walk with you.

"Do you like Mexican food?" he asked, looking into your eyes.

He was somewhat close to you, making his freckles even more visible. He was clean-shaved, but his stubborn 5 o'clock shadow continued there. His strong brows and deep, dark short hair made him very masculine, even with softer features. The eyes, green with a hint of brown, were so sweet, holding your gaze.

“Uhm, I think so. I can't say that I have eaten a lot of it before. Why?" you pondered, stopping on the mostly dry pavement. Alfie was a handsome and sweet man, he had been trying to get some excuses to talk with you over the last few months, and you found a reason to get away every single time.

“Amazing! Then you will try my food. It won’t be fully authentic because I can’t find everything here, of course, but Catarina wanted to eat quesadillas and thought you would like them too." His thick accent, combined with his beautiful smile, made you consider his proposal this time.

“Well, if it is Cat’s idea, why not?” He smiled even wider with your response. “Do you have a date in mind?”

“Oh, no, no, n-not a date, Dolly!” He raised his hands in front of him in panic, eyes widening as he stuttered.

"I mean, if you have a day for it already. I understood what you meant, don't worry," you chuckled as he blushed.

“What about tomorrow night? Are you free?”

You nodded, "Yes Alfie, I am. See you then", finishing the sentence with a smile and leaving, finally, for the Tipsy Bison.

When you got to the bar, it was easy to sense some tension in the air. Seth, the barman and general helper, looked at you like you both had a secret. Nath was in the kitchen muttering something to Seth, unaware of your presence. You noticed that the bar was emptier than normal, squinting your eyes a bit at the older man as he finally gave in.

"Alright, you haven't heard from me, but Tommy's brother is making a hell of an impression," he whispered to you, furring your brows to him, you didn't have time to ask what he meant when Nath came from the kitchen holding two plates with sandwiches.

“Are you deaf? I said we need more chicken, go get some, the patrols will be here soon, man!” she impatiently rambled to him. You shared a look with Seth while he got his coat and left the bar.

Nath sighed and shook her head, "Seven years, I still have no clue what Pawpaw saw in that man."

Seth was one of the first residents outside the original families, setting down in Jackson a few months after the settlement. Nath’s granddad’s best man, she promised him that he could continue to work there at Bison, something that she still felt unsure about years after it.

“Seth is a kind man, I think you are just jealous because your grandpa gave him his baseball cap," you said, getting one of the plates in front of you.

“Yeah, I won't get over it," she replied, pouting a little and making you laugh.

"So, low movement today?" you asked through a bite of the sandwich. Nath looked back at you with intensity.

"Yeah, seems so, apparently, Tommy's brother, Joel," she stressed the name, "has a reputation for himself. Everyone wants to know how the hell he got able to travel this far with a kid. They are settled down near the cemetery, nearby here.”

"It's a small place. Everything isn't as far," you pondered with another bite. By the way her eyes were on your face, it was clear that she wanted to cut to the chase. “Do you remember his first time here, during the winter? Because I don’t, we haven’t crossed paths. I kept wondering what could have happened to us in the woods that day, we had no protection.”

She nodded deeply, took another bite, and turned her neck towards the door. Deep in thinking, she said, "We should get ourselves a gun for situations like this. I mean, I have mine, but you? Oh Doll, I know you by heart, you don't have a gun."

You rested your chin in your hand, she was right. In the years before Jackson the maximum you were allowed to have was a knife, your brother and father had done everything to protect you.

"My heart is soft, am I right?" you shrugged, Nath laughed, "But I can use a gun, I just chose not to use one still. Sometimes I forget that we are in a bubble."

If you had a gun with you, would it have been different two days ago in the woods? Maybe, but now you were sure: you needed one for minor emergencies. Still, even if you were paranoid about your little ritual with your friend, something about Joel gave you the feeling that you could trust him.

You were sure he saw you hiding and chose not to chase you down. The council hasn’t spoken a word about it, Maria seemed unaware of it as well. Not that you were obliged to stay inside at all times inside Jackson, but people knew you and Nath left the city space occasionally for a few hours. What people had no clue is that you left without any protection. And this is what could bring you problems.

“I’ll get you a gun, don’t worry. What librarian amazing adventures do you have planned today?" She took another bite, waiting for your response.

"Esther asked me to restore one of her books about sheep, something about their reproduction cycle. Don't ask me, I have no clue." Nath seemed amused enough by your response, frowning.

Esther took care of the sheep farm, a little further on the hills, a few miles from Jackson. She also spent a few days of the week with the sheep inside the city, enhancing why she needed to keep the formal process updated in case someone else had to do her function.

In case, everything after the outbreak has to be in case of something. In case I can't be back, in case something happens in the way, in case someone dies. Your reluctance to have your gun was because it made you blue to think about tomorrow with the tone of "what if?" You wanted to be free in a world that never allowed you to be. First, it was the religion, then the outbreak, and now your sense of preservation.

Outside the Bison, you heard Tommy's voice. You looked to picture what was happening and saw him speaking with a man with dark brown eyes and a strong nose. You stiffed a bit in your seat. Joel smiled back at his brother and joined him in the Bison.

“Gentleman, how can I help you?” Said Nath, already going to the other side of the counter.

Joel looked at you for a second. You felt your cheeks blush a bit but maintained the pose. You were right, he was handsome.

"This is Nath, the firecracker I told you about. Her family helped to create Jackson, she takes care of the bar with Seth." Tommy started his explanation to this brother, looking at the blonde woman waiting for some explanation of where Seth was.

“He went to get me some chicken for this afternoon patrol’s food.”

“Oh, well, you’ll meet him another time for sure!” Tommy continued and moved on to stay by your side.

“And this is the city librarian, she takes care of the books with her life and restores them as well. Needless to say, I don't spend much time in the library, but I know for a fact that our Dolly is taking good care of it." He put a hand on your shoulder while smiling big towards his brother.

“Dolly as in Dolly Parton?” Joel asked, his low register voice trying to sound amicable, even though his face was still somewhat menacing.

You took a good look at his face. The salt and pepper appeared more near his temples, with his hair making soft curls near his forehead. Beard was patchy with a prominent mustache, making his bottom lip appear even plushier. The nose shaped like a triangle, strong with a small scar near the bridge. His square face was adorned with a few moles and wrinkles, deeper near his eyes and between his brows. A quick thought of wanting to kiss every single one of them appeared in the back of your mind. You spoke before analyzing it.

“As in doll face. People around here seem to think that I'm some kind of sweet creature," you responded, doing your best to replicate his tone with you. Your smile wasn't genuine, but it seemed enough for Tommy to smile back.

The nickname was horrible. You hated it since the first time you heard it. It made you feel weak. You were the middle child of seven kids in a classic Mormon family from Utah, from the moment you came into this world your life revolved around the idea of being a pretty thing on someone's shelf.

Never smartest, never funnier, not even prettiest, but definitely the sweetest. Putting men's needs above yours, letting people choose your path, you were hoping that by the time you got into your thirties you would have this behind you, but from the day you got in Jackson and Eugene said you were a Dolly, everyone just bought it and voilà, back to the place you tried to run from your whole life.

“Uhm, and do you like it?” Joel asked. You furrowed your brows a bit, "Being called like that?" His eyes went back and forth between yours.

"Not really," you answered, no longer fake smiling. “Perhaps you can call me another thing if you prefer." You could feel Nath’s eyes looking at you.

"Give me your name, and I’ll call you by it," Joel continued, you grinned and said it. He repeated for you while staring still. No more than a few seconds passed before Tommy opened his mouth.

“Girls, always a pleasure. I have to continue introducing my brother here to the other council members. See you at the mess hall.” Tommy waved his goodbye, Joel said “ma’am” to Nath and your name for you as he bowed his head and followed his brother.

That night you took longer to sleep from overthinking how your name sounded right when coming from his lips.

---

Nath wasn't joking when she said she would find you a gun. Not that you believe she was joking, but you mistook her influence around the town. She took in some favors and got her hand on a pistol, the same one that she dropped softly in your hands to right after putting both of her hands on her hips.

"I won't lecture you about it, so you know safety pin, how to properly store when traveling, don't tell Maria, the usual shit." She sighed, looking around your backyard as you put the gun safe in a box. When you looked back at her, she continued. "So, the cowboy liked you, huh?"

"What cowboy?" you asked, putting the box away and plopping in a chair, the orange cat nestling in your lap.

"So we have more than one cowboy? Interesting," she laughed, and you rolled your eyes. "C'mon, you know which one, the stranger danger."

"We only saw him once, quit it. Besides, it was just southern politeness," you replied while petting the cat.

Nath hummed a bit. You felt her mind pondering something before she spoke again, "Okay, no more Texans then, what about the Mexicans? How was last night's dinner?"

You stopped a bit pouting, trying to think of how you could describe the experience. "It was nice, turns out I like quesadillas.”

“That’s it? This is your whole summary? Gotta give me more," Nath replied, and you did.

Alfie showed up later at the library while you were cleaning some shelves, you knew that it was him before looking behind you because of the smell of sawdust and wood.

“I noticed that I haven’t said what time you could come tomorrow. 7 p.m. is fine by you?" He asked after greeting you with a smile. You already had forgotten about the dinner by this time, still thinking of deep brown eyes, very different from the green ones staring at you.

"Yeah, of course, what kind of dessert Cat likes? I will bring something." You got a little closer to him with a book in your hands.

Most of the time when Alfie tried to get close to you, he was alone: walking you to your house late at night, sitting down at your table in the mess hall, bringing you something from the patrols. You always politely said no or excused yourself early, you had no idea why he insisted so much on you. But this time, since he said it was his teenage daughter's idea, you finally gave in.

“Don’t worry, we’ll enjoy everything you make. 7 p.m. then, we’ll be waiting!" He said while returning to the door, leaving you with your thoughts. Cat was a good kid, always polite with you, and willing to spend some time by the library. What bad would it be to give her back some of the attention?

The rest of the day went fast. The book Esther asked for some small restore almost finished, the final task of getting more food for you and the orange cat waiting ahead. As you put some weight above Esther's book to make the glue stick to the pages, you heard the bell sound from the front door, courtesy of the library being in the same place as an old store from the pre-outbreak days. Leaving the back house and coming to the main room, you saw a small girl with her hair up, Tommy's niece.

You smiled at her. She was looking around the shelves with a hint of curiosity in her eyes. Still smiling, you introduced yourself and asked for her name.

"Ellie, as in Elena or Ellen?" you wondered while analyzing her face better in the artificial light inside the library.

“Just Ellie," she replied a little flat-toned, just like that afternoon near the river. Her dark brown eyes were a little lighter than Joel's, her skin paler too, a smaller mouth, and you remembered that Maria defined her as the girl, not his daughter or any other way.

"What brings you to the library?" You waited for her response; a few seconds passed, and she looked you in the eye.

“Do you have anything about space?" she inquired, and you smiled.

"Good choice. Anything specific in your mind?" you replied, looking for the right shelf.

The book collection wasn’t as extensive, but you thought the kid wouldn't care much. You were constantly adding new titles through the patrols and Eugene scheme with you, if you needed something different you could try to find it in another abandoned place. She continued in silence, trying to find the right words, "Okay, what about fiction? Do you like those? Have you read this one?" You placed a copy of Stardust by Neil Gaiman in front of her.

"Not a fairytale type of person," she grimaced, and you laughed. You believed the green book cover with a blonde fairy seemed a little childish to Ellie. Even though she appeared in her early teens, she had traveled across the country, and something told you that she had a hell of a time.

"Not exactly a fairytale. Okay, do you want to play a game?" She frowned and looked at you, "Take it with you. If you like it, your next book will be another recommendation from me, but if you hate it, I will read whatever you want to."

“I don’t know you, why would I say yes to it?” she asked, still confused.

“Have you ever talked with someone who read the same book as you? Or even someone with the same musical taste?" you replied as she shook her head, "then try it. You will be hooked.”

You wrote down her name with chalk on the board behind you, where you kept track of all the books and in which house they were. At the same time, Ellie left the library with the copy tugged in her arms. Life followed its natural track: you ate dinner and saved some for the orange cat, slept after a thread of thoughts about the handsome man, woke up early, and went straight to the library. The streets weren’t shining from rain just like the morning before, they were quieter than usual, if not for a girl seated in front of the library.

"You should have told me that this was an adventure book," Ellie exclaimed as soon as she saw you. Her eyes’ under bags were a little puffier than yesterday. She seemed somewhat sleepy.

“Did you read it all in one night?” You inquired while opening the library, her following your footsteps.

“Hell yeah, dude, they have pirates and witches. And Yvaine? The star? I need more of it," she spilled, the flatness of her prior tone no longer there. She was full of life, to your surprise.

You decided to take something a little bolder this time, handing her a copy of Coraline. She gratefully accepted it without questioning it.

"But make sure to breathe and sleep, okay? I don't want Joel worrying about you," you exclaimed as she left.

Marking down her name with a different book on the board, you remembered how you read underneath the sheets late at night as a kid before everything changed. Your brother would get you the titles he believed were appropriate growing up, very differently from your parents, who only wanted you to read the bible. It felt a lifetime of distance, but moments away. You sighed in relief but a tinge of guilt for making your way into a comfortable life in Jackson while your family had a different fate.

At 7 p.m. sharp you were up on your feet in front of the main door of Alfie’s house, knocking two times on the wood. You could hear from the door muffed voices speaking in a language that you weren’t familiar with, “como estoy? Me veo bien? No quiero que pienses que me arreglé demasiado”, “estás guapo, no te preocupes, invítala pronto!” and some quick steps in your direction.

"Dolly, good evening! How are you?" Alfie greeted you, opening the door and inviting you in.

“Hey, Alfie. All good, where can I put it?” You asked, showing the apple pie. He grinned and made some space at the table for it. Cat was already sitting, waiting for you both. “What’s up, Cat?”

"Not much, and you, Dolly?" she replied, looking at you with thick lashes. "Is that apple pie? Oh man, you got me by the stomach." The teenager looked like her father: hazel eyes, dark hair, and soft features. Her straight hair stopped slightly above her shoulders, with framed bangs the same height as her eyebrows.

"I hope you like my dad's food. Not to be modest, but he is a hell of a chef."

"Is this good or bad?" Alfie asked her, a little confused as you both sat. After 20 years in the USA, he still mixed some words in English.

"What do you think? Good, I'm starving for some of these!" His daughter got your plate, put two quesadillas then served her dad and herself.

The dinner went smoothly, even if you caught Cat trying to make you see Alfie in a better light at some points. She spoke about how he knew his way around the kitchen with more than just Mexican food, his passion for soccer (even if it was mostly long forgotten), about how he was present in the community with the neighbors and such. The teen was pushing you towards her dad, thinking you were unaware of all these traits, but you knew them, it just didn't make you head over heels for the man.

It was late at night when Alfie offered to walk back with you. At first, you declined, but Cat insisted it was bear attack season – nonsense since you lived inside the city walls. Still, her insistency made you accept the offer.

"If I saw right, your plate was empty after dinner." He started to converse with you as you strolled on the pavement. "So, did you like it? The quesadillas?”

“Ah, yeah, quite nice. You were right about it." You smiled and looked down the street, unsure of how to not give him too much hope.

"Whenever you want them, let me know. I’ll always make them for you, Dolly," Alfie said with his eyes shining under the moonlight and soft light of the lamppost.

As you approached your house, he continued speaking about the topics you shared during the evening. You tried to follow up, being polite despite wanting to be quiet. The orange cat jumped from the first-floor window to greet you as they saw you coming closer to the house. Alfie got the cat into his lap and petted his fur, looking straight into your eyes.

"You know, I really like spending time with you. I know I've been a little too on the nose with it, but it is true." He looked at the cat and then back to you, almost as if he couldn't hold your gaze. His voice was a little higher pitched than his usual register, the words faster. "I don't want you to think I will put pressure on you to like me back as I like you. But I would like for you to consider it, even if it is for just a second."

Your mouth opened, but there wasn't a sound, you shut it and pouted a bit. He had spent the last year trying to grab your attention, being nothing but kind to you. And yet, you didn’t feel it back.

"Alfie, tonight was nice." You weren't lying, it has been nice, "but I don't know. Haven't put that much thought on it." You finished looking down at the cat, who was purring in Alfie’s lap.

"Just think about it, would you? I’ll be here no matter if you want me or not," he said softly. You nodded back, smiling lopsided.

Putting the cat down on the pavement, Alfie kissed your check a little too long and walked back to his house. You sighed and straightened your back, wondering what you would do. At that moment, you felt a presence on the other side of the street. Joel was with Tommy, walking by, staring at you.

Had he seen Alfie kissing your cheek? Has he heard the conversation? You weren't sure, but when he quickly looked at his brother when noticed that you stared back, you felt that the ground opening and swallowing you.

You waited for Nath’s commentary after giving her what she wanted.

"Okay, now I need you to convince Alfie to make you more quesadillas so I can have my batch as well," Nath smiled, wiggling her brows. You glared at her. "What? You got a bike, I got a bike. The man wants you so bad that he will do anything you ask, help a friend.”

You had told her about the whole thing, just missing the details about Ellie appearing at the library and Joel watching you with Alfie. Those topics were still a blur in your head, you wanted a little more time before you spoke about it with her. Honestly, you wanted to see more of Joel before making your mind about him.

"I don't want to give the man false hopes," you replied, petting the cat on your lap. Nath snorted.

"It isn't false hopes. He is mental for you, has been since you came to this city! You said yourself, Cat planned the whole evening to make sure you would be closer to her dad. At his point, he just wants whatever you can give," she pondered, giving a big stretch and going straight to your kitchen. When she got back, there were two glasses of cherry wine in her hands.

"I’ll tell you this: you have two cowboys looking for you." She ignored the full glare you made in her direction as you grabbed the glass from her hand, "so why not allow yourself a bit of chase?"

“Fuck it, I will considerer it.” Clicking the glasses, you both made a big gulp. Delicious, Nath’s recipe for wine was one of the backbones of your friendship. "Just no more words about cowboys, okay? No matter what kind, let me have this."

"Yeah, I heard you, man." She said, ignoring you, finishing her glass and walking to your backyard door. "See ya later.”

In the silence of the late afternoon, with the sky once again painted pink and orange, you thought about dark brown eyes and why the idea of him seeing you with another man bothered you so much.

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chronotsr · 6 months

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Pre-G1 Modules, part 4B - The Judge's Guild Roundup Completed

Oh. Oh we're still doing this? It won't end? Gods. At least we made it to 1978. Anyway, happy eclipse to every. Reminder: the people who run Judge's Guild now are full-on nazis, do not buy their books. Go hug your loved ones instead.

The Thieves of Fortress Badabaskor (1978)

Maybe I was too hard on the Prince Valiant-ass artstyle. It looks very proud for a bandit fortress, don't you think? The full color version that comes out later is even nicer -- it's the one you find on google images first. Anyway. Fort Badboybaskaur was founded by ''The Emperor of Glorious Doomfire''. It truly was the era of so-bad-its-good naming! The fort was built so that if raiding happened, the many small villages could congregate there for safety. Only, it turns out there was a red dragon underneath. And then that got resealed. And then an evil demigod took over. And then bandits took that over.

I read this section like five times and for the life of me I cannot find a prophesy here. They just kind of say it because it sounds cool. The prose in this hand out is, really really rough, it's a lot of proper nouns and moral history tropes -- empire becoming successful and spawning evil religion yada yada yada. The proper noun addiction is strong with this one, we get quite a few undefined proper nouns here. He's another classic: "Zanaaphic the All-King of the Spirit Universe". I have so many questions! None of which will be answered. "Angall of the Perpetual Void" Wow! Those are some neat nouns! The net effect, however, is there was a really skilled evil wizard who got confronted by a god, beat him, and by defeating him became a four-armed dragon-skinned bat-winged magical null. He does up to 16 pips of damage with his silly flails!

So the cover image is lying a little bit about the fortress. In both of the presented maps, there is no cool rampart that you have to slowly siege, there are mountains both in front and behind the fortress, and there are way more than three turrets. I am actually a little fond of this keep layout-wise, it's less cramped than the Keep on the Borderlands is. Naturally, it sits at the foot of Mount Deception.

It's a nice little fortress, no? I would recommend getting a modern copy of the map if it wasn't for the ownership sucking ass in an extreme way. Plus, having dungeons under your keep on the borderlands seems like a great idea, actually. Or, shit, having a rival keep on a rival borderlands sounds kinda rad. Anyway, the room by room is pretty rote. The exterior rooms are mostly just services you'd give to anyone walking in, but the real juicy stuff is all kept inside the mountain walls. We've got your usual suspects. Guard captain, bossman, bossman's terrible wife (and the wife is legally required to be evil because male writers), pawnbroker, human trafficker, tavernsssssss, gemcutter, blacksmith, et c. Some of the names are okay, "Hole in the Hill Inn" run by ogres was really funny to me, I would change them to hill giants to complete the joke.

The dungeon has an interesting conceit where there are some generic "alternate rooms" in the back of the book that come with a blank room number that you can swap if you dislike the default room contents. I'm really in favor of this mindset. I have thought for a while that it'd be kind of nice for adventure books to be shipped in some sort of editable capacity? Like if I wanna do open heart surgery on a floor of a dungeon, but I like the other 4 floors, it'd be nice to keep it in the original format instead of having the adventure book and then some loose-leaf with the changes penciled in. Tragically, the alt rooms are overwhelmingly just monsters in a room, with the outlier being a wererats with a little kidnapping scheme.

Underneath the fortress there are five levels, one is actually above ground level and in the cliff face behind the keep, and the third level leads to the surface via caves. Neat! I'm kind of imagining Gerudo Fortress here on a lot of levels. Here's a quick skim of the best contents:

There appears to be a little rat treasure hoard where the rats have to pay their dues to their little rat kings? What's going on here is kind of unclear to me, but I can't help but imagine one of the guards trained the rats to hide money in the walls for him and the ten rats with silver formation are a kind of animal-passcode.

A chest trapped with some sort of reverse truth serum -- it removes your ability to speak, see, or hear for a week if you open it without permission. Naturally, the chest is decorated with the three wise monkeys 🙈🙉🙊 (and a mysterious fourth monkey the text implies nothing about, maybe it's Sezaru? Curse of erectile dysfunction!)

The alarm system seems to be gong-based

Oh, I don't like this beholder at all. Ewwww! But also, why is this drawing here? There's no beholders in here? Is this some kind of silly trap for snooping players? In fact, most of the monster illustrations are…kind of just random monsters.

The treasury is booby-trapped to hell and back. We have a standard guillotine trap disarmed with a tile puzzle on the wall, a hell-hound guard dog, and the most prominent magical item is a necklace of strangulation. Rough break! Just go ahead and put all of the treasure on pressure plates with flame jets at that point.

A reverse gravity pit-trap -- you pull a book, you fall through a hole in the ceiling and then it traps you in the ceiling. It's just a pit trap at the end of the day, but way vivid!

A chair made of a dragon's arms and horn that will animate and attack you if you try to pry gems off it or attack anyone

Two wizards are having a battle over who gets to own a trained lizard that can sing and carry heavy loads. I understand guys. That lizard is worth it.

Under a sarcophagus is written "If you can read this, you're too close", as well as some explosive runes

The treasure hoard of a lost king, if you attempt to steal it, will turn into a treasure construct shaped like the king. Awesome!

"A similar cabinet on the north wall is labeled "For Future Imperialists". In the top drawer is a Gem of Brightness, the second is a pair of Bracers of Defenselessness, and in the bottom drawer is a pouch of Dust of Sneezing and Choking." I would fully lean in, make it a Cursed Gem of Brightness that you can't turn off, and put the Bracers in the top drawer if the goal is to prank an evil character into hurting themselves.

A reverse-vampire giant lizardfolk that consumes the unlife from undead. So, Tomb of the Lizard King got beat to the vampire-lizardfolk punch, I guess?

Large swaths of this dungeon genuinely feel randomly generated. The worst parts are about half of floor 2, 3, and about half of floors 4 and 5. It just feels like padding to me. And in true Judge's Guild fashion, there are treasure stores in the temple that are "instantly max your character" amounts of loot. Now I get that shares are a thing and you gotta pay your hirelings, but still, 1.5M gold represents like, even if you're a party of 10 you're still looking at instantly maxing a thief, shooting a fighter to level 8, and shooting a wizard to level 9. And there's no way you were at 0xp when you smuggled that statue out, that's going to be an instant max for just about anyone. The big reveal that I…guess you could conceivably puzzle out? Is that the dragons were nearby because they were minions of a dragon-king entombed under this fortress before it was built. A cool idea, that desperately needs more foreshadowing. The love clearly went into making those tombs cool, so if I was going to rip anything off from this module that'd probably be my second port of call.

Gen Con IX Dungeons (1978)

What a name, right? How come Tsojconth got a name and these dungeons didn't? Blatant favoritism. Well actually one of the two dungeons may as well be called the Halls of Grsk. And, wow, everything about the design notes are ominous. "Simplicity would be the prime requisite". So….does that mean this adventure is boring on purpose, Bob?

The adventure is split into two bits, the player-side info and the gm-side info, which…okay. Sure. The titular dungeon is set in the "Celtic mythos", whatever the fuck that means (Bob, the Celtic cultures covered almost all of Europe and parts of Asia. That phrase is meaningless!). TL;DR the old king's wizard went evil and killed the king, left no one to rule, and then went nuts and much later summoned a bunch of demons to protect his loot now that he's old and dying. The local wizard, Framschamsnaggle (seriously?) bullies you into raiding his tomb to get a staff back. There's a dragon in there and you were handed a teleportation amulet that will zip you out as soon as you get your hands on the staff.

Oh. Oh that's not good. That's a very not good dungeon layout. That's a very bad dungeon layout. And the contents are, as bad. I wonder if it was considered bad at the con itself? I couldn't find a single remarkable thing in this whole dungeon. It is neither weird, nor funny, nor clever, nor interesting. It's 30 random dungeon rooms in a row, with a rare trap that is practically randomized also.

The sole joy I can find in this module is this illustration, which looks like a shitpost.

The second round of the tournament (1st round eliminates) is set in a completely different place, which is more properly called the Halls of Grsk. Almost all of this area is also just, save or suck traps and monsters. There is one trap that's kind of classic and okay -- picking up the giant ruby locks all exits, many red herrings, room starts heating up like an oven. The solution is to smash the ruby, which instantly kills the heating element. It's not amazing (how are you supposed to guess it's a ruby? It behaves like a pressure plate trap but the ruby itself is contact-activated) but it's the least bad thing in here. The portal-that-eats-you prank in particular grinds my gears, the game communicates every possible thing to say it kills you, and by blind faith you go through and is the best solution. Picking up the fake secret item instantly kills you, because fuck you. The fakeout trap's sole hint is "why are there two normal doors on the north wall?" which, it's a points-based dungeon, they're going to assume it's for extra points. Also, the whole dungeon is a massive straight line in disguise. It's a wreck.

Actually, the whole scenario feels like a worse "Tomb of the Lizard King" in a lot of ways, down to the silly rhyme on the last page that gives you a critical clue about how to kill the undead baddie. In a sense it's also like Tomb of Horrors in that way, I guess, but the vibes are a lot more like Tomb of the Lizard King.

Damn it Bob, you made it boring on purpose.

Citadel of Fire (1978)

This is truly one of the dungeon covers of all time.

Is… is that The Golem? I hope Rabbi Loew is available. Or, maybe it's good that he's not in the module, because obviously this construct's creator is going to be evil in this module.

This is the least least imaginative of the Judge's Guild modules in this series. It is, simply a wizard's tower. If you have ever in your life read a wizard's tower module, you've read this one. The JG staples of constant slavery mentions continues with slave girls being in every single damn room of the towers. There's, not really much plot to go on either. There are wizards, the hill is good for magic, they are aligned with the goblins, go chop 'em up.

Sigh. Here's the memorable bits.

Nearly out the gate, we get one of those paragraphs that you would hope would be so obviously bad to the writers that they would second guess the decision. Why the actual hell did you stat out some 200 nearly identical goblins manually?

What is that and when do I get a bestiary entry for them? That's not a joke, the module never mentions what this is and now I want this Weresalazzle in my adventures.

The vague allusion to "Shabast", which are apparently a species of people who are intelligent clouds? But only sometimes.

A variety of pens for animals the wizards are working on, which include an Irish deer, a jackalwere, a baby lammasu, a giant slug named Skippy, some orcs, man-eating apes, an elephant, and a hydra

For…some reason there's a tavern on the 2nd floor of a dungeon. In the lightest defense of the module, at least the 2F has a surface access and no pre-programmed encounters between here and the tavern (random monsters thoooo). The owner sleeps with a new person every night, highly critical detail.

?????????????????????

OK so many rooms later there's a pyrohydra with a toothache. Mystery solved, that's why there's a magical dentist!

I hesitate to complain, but after multiple dungeons with 100k+ gold rewards, this dungeon's treasury having roughly 11,000 gold in it feels like an anticlimax. The fact that it's protected by that pyrohydra and electrified locks adds insult to injury.

This is a joke, right? That's your final floor? Anyway, this is just The Demon Floor. There is more treasure here than upstairs, which is a little strange given that the demon serves the wizard and not the other way around.

So on the whole, deeply shit. In conclusion, Early Judge's Guild leaves a lot to be desired. Next time we will -- wait, am I free? There's no more pre-G1 modules? I get to finally do TSR shit and leave this mire?

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS (edit: I was half-right -- there was one more pre-G1 module, but it was TSR!)

#0e #chronotsr #dnd #dungeons and dragons #tsr #ttrpg

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pialikesskz · 11 months

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boarding: the floor plans

so um... hi folks! if you're here, you've probably been reading my skz fanfic boarding over on ao3. some of y'all have been asking to see my floor plans that i've made for the story. this is me, obliging. hope you enjoy :)

introduction and vibes

i'm planning to upload some edits to the earlier chapters within the next month or so to give a bit more of an image of what i imagine the space to look like, now that i actually have it. in the beginning, i was really just putting scotch tape over the world-building in order to get to the character interactions. for now, here's the edited version of the initial description of the school:

"In the distance, the sparse forest through which they’re driving melts smoothly into a series of rolling hills. With how early it is, the hilltops still catch a hint of morning reds and pinks from the lazy sunrise. The car rounds one last bend in the road, and Felix’ breath catches in his throat. The ground slopes gently upwards for a few hundred yards, and at the peak of that hill stands an ancient estate, cloaked in brickwork and ivy, rising up out of the landscape with impossible grace. It is majestic, and dignified, and makes his heart sink in his chest with a pain like simmering water." (Intro Pt. I)

i can't actually draw, in fact i can barely sketch, so u will just have to use ur imagination on that. but keep it in mind for overall vibes.

the school grounds

this is the worst of these sketches, and i apologise, but this is generally how i imagine the layout of the school. that big thing in the front is the mains, then the courtyard, and the three houses: yang, park, lee. the line around it is a sort of brick-wall fence, old-looking and worn. it's all surrounded by forest that gets thicker the further u venture away from the school, but light enough to allow for hyunjin to catch glimpses of the sun reflecting off the lake on a good day. here is part of the updated description:

"Changbin directs them outside by way of the back door, which leads out to a large manicured courtyard bisected by cobbled walkways; it’s structured a little like a park, complete with benches clustered around trees and small sectioned-off parts clearly set up for games. It’s about a five-minute walk through the courtyard to the dorm buildings, though that’s with the added weight of the suitcase. Felix tries his hardest to memorise where he needs to go — the school grounds certainly seem large enough to get lost in at some point." (Intro Pt. I)

the distance between the houses and the football field is way larger than it appears here; unfortunately, i only had so much paper to work with, and i wasn't gonna start again at this point. it's definitely a five to ten minute walk from the field gate - u can see it in the gap in the fence - to the football field. the path to it slopes vaguely downward. the building next to the football field is the auditorium where choir practice happens, and sometimes assemblies. (we'll get to that in the story eventually, i promise.) also there's changing rooms for when there's football matches.

the mains

this is how i imagine the layout of the main building. the cellar is on a separate page because i make bad choices in life. "T.H." stands for teacher housing. anything with diagonal lines across it is storage of some sort. the grey-shaded thing on the second floor is a bit of roof - for architectural interest, u feel? i play a lot of sims.

the dorm houses

this is how i imagine the layout of the three houses - or, at least, park house. (btw has anyone figured out why i named the houses the way i did? it made me feel really smart when i came up with it.) more on the single dorms later. the stuff in dotted lines is, like, stuff that exists on one floor but not on others - like, the ground floor has those wing things to the sides, but there's no equivalent above or below, it's just roof. hope that makes sense.

the dorm rooms

and finally, this is the layout of the dorm in my head. yes, it's pretty small, but consider this: stuck-up private schools don't care about the rights of children. for this one, i actually tried to work with some realistic measurements, but like, take it with a grain of salt, y'all, i'm an english literature major. as to who's in which room, peek at the top of the page. updated description:

"(The door) opens into a small common room populated by an assortment of worn-looking furniture: a closed wooden storage cupboard in the corner, a mostly-empty bookshelf leaning against the wall, two sofas with a wild assortment of pillows on them placed haphazardly around a chipped coffee table." (Intro Pt. I)

fin

so that's that! i've put a lot of thought into this space, and i think at this point i've got it down pretty well. of course, these are all just what i have in mind myself - if it doesn't fit with your vision of the story, that's cool! keep picturing that! we love anarchy here.

feel free to let me know your thoughts on the floor plans, the story, anything at all! i am really happy to talk to y'all, and answering tumblr asks make me way less anxious than replying to ao3 comments lol. have a lovely day, and i'll see you for the next chapter!

-pia

ps: i took the leap out of my comfort zone and put this on my personal skz tumblr, instead of one specifically created for the purpose of sharing ao3 things. that's big for me. be nice.

pps: if you know me in real life, and you want to tell me that my writing is cringy: don't! it will make me sad. so mind your business.

ppps: if anyone steals/reposts this, i will hunt them down and make them eat a ten-pack of tissue paper. do not test me.

#my writing #fic writing #do not reblog #do not repost #skz fanfic #boarding ao3

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ancha-aus · 1 year

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The Skeleton House

Related to my story/fanfiction.

When I first started working on the chapter (chapter 64) where Sans and Frisk explored their new house. I had no idea what to write and no view for it myself. So like the nerd that I am. I decided to first make one on the Sims. Then use that as a blueprint to write with.

It worked perfectly and I got through the chapter no issue.

Then someone asked if they could see what the house looked like and I figured 'Sure. I can just make a tiny post and like upload the picture in the sidenotes.'

TURNS OUT! The Sims did in matter of fact NOT save the house that I made, anywhere. So that plan was a bust.

So obviously. I figured it would a great plan to REMAKE the house.

Turns out. Making it from text -> house is a lot harder than the other way around.

I was just going to show the finished results but I guess you all can see my struggle:

Try 1. I ended up deleting it as I could not make the layout work as I wanted and I decided I wanted more space to work with. Just in case.

So I went to look through the houses that were there to figure out which family I could evict and house I could bulldoze (Gotta love the Sims)

I ended up going for a house in Windenburg:

I picked it because there were no direct neighbors and no direct roads which worked for my emergence and so my overall idea.

So I bulldozed the lot and I got to work with the basic layout on the groundfloor.

At some point I was happy with the overall layout. You will see the upper left change a bit.

Once I was happy with the groundfloor I added the overall layout for the first and second floors as well. I also decided to struggle on the staircase for about 20 minutes to get a hole around the top part of the stairs.

This is the only picture I got where it is obvious but damnit I am proud of it and it deserves the spotlight. But I spend 20 minutes on it so it deserves the mention. No I did not do the same with the second staircase. I don't enjoy suffering.

After that I made a bit of a sandy path to the front of the house and I added some windows and lights, mostly to make it light inside to enable myself to see what I was doing. I have eben making small edits to the overall layout and shape but it remained mostly the same.

The next view updates go fast because I got in the decorating zone and I just kinda went.

Tada! The groundfloor! Some of you will notice it is slightly different than the house in the story. Mostly this is how I imagine it will eventually look. After the guys also made it a bit more there own: Blue circle: The first guestroom. I made all the guest rooms generic. mostly because I don't hate myself and was not in the mood to make them all different. Green circle: Groundfloor bathroom Purple arrow: The area that is different from the story. In my head the guys will end up renovating the house a little which means they will sacrifices one of the guest rooms for another staircase to the library that does not yet exist. White arrow: the dining room. I wanted to use a bigger table but the Sims does not HAVE bigger tables thant 3X1 and I couldn't find a good one that should look like a big one if you place them next to one another and I wasn't in the mood to try and make it work with moveobjects on cheat. At elast the number of chairs is enough Red circle: The pantry. Obviously in the center by the staircase you see the living room. Top right is the kitchen. and bottom right is the hallway and enterance to the house.

That was the rundown of the groundfloor!

First floor lets go!

Okay here we go!

Purple circle: The library that was added later by the guys, before that part of the house did not exist. Green circle: General bathroom Blue circles: five guestrooms Pink circle: Frisk's room and they bathroom, bathroom has a door both to the hallway and to their room. I want to add that I added the non-binary flag above their bed but you can't see it clearly but I want everyone to know it is there I swear. Yellow circle: Sans' room with bathroom, bathroom does not have a door to the hallway.

The top floor is honestly boring but to be complete I will show you

I did not decorate all the rooms because I didn't know what to make them all yet. The center room is just the bedroom for Horror, Killer, Dust and Cross. It is honestly just a room with a giant bed in it because all they do there is sleep and otherwise they are either on the bottom floor or in the garden.

Now. The garden.

As you saw with the tour of the house, the garden is still very empty. Not for long!

Here is the front garden and the roof. Fun fact. the roof is actually rather easy and If you are struggling with adding one because of the windows. If you use a slightly smaller window and put it as high as possible you get a little bit of wall under the window. Then, when you add the roof you can make the tip of the roof lower. Then it is a matter of making it smaller until it fits under the window. No cheats required, just some patience.

Anyway, that were the roofs. The garden was just me adding the sand path with the terrain editor. Digging a river type thing with the dig tool and add water tool. I made a tiny pit where I added a volcanic pit, just for flavour to serve as a firepit. Then I just added a buttload of trees and plants and waterstuff.

Some of it even lit up which made me very happy.

But that is it! the Skeleton Estate!

Final overview shot:

For those curious it took me about 5 hours to remake it (Not counting the 2 hours with the failed attempt at the start)

I will probably never use the house in the Sims but it is there and I actually saved it this time so hopefully if I even need the reference again I don't have to rebuild it again.

#AncientsAU #AncientsAndChampions

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vanlegion · 1 year

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So anywho...back to my Bullshit

Edit Note: So it's been a hot min since I've been back and with how Tumbles does the post layouts now, I apologies for the fact the picture is on top - I usually do Text posts and slot pics in at the bottom but that wasn't possible anymore, and then I started going on a tangent about Invincible so... just letting you know, in case you're like 'WTF' . . . . Clearing some dust and deciding to go ahead an throw up some art I've amassed since I've awayed. Still on my Big Mouth fixation (La :D) but also I just binged and finished Invincible the other day and I'm a little stoked on that too. Anywho, here's some Poly V cuteness. Image is called 'Baking 101' and a small rant. Literally I can not NOT love characters played/voiced by Andrew Rannells. I think it's illegal at this point. So yeah, you'll probably see some MarkWill crop up, bits and pieces. So, there was confirmation that Invincible dabbles in Multiverse usage (a tried and true of the Super hero genera) and that just means somewhere by boys are canon and happy. One could wish that for ONCE I could have my ship be the actual canon timeline/universe we follow, but alas... so few ever do. *shed single tear* Not unless Robert Kirkman or another comic artist (with permission I suppose?) were to be all 'You know what? Let's pull a Marvel Billy/Teddy' . . . Or like... I mean, while Nolan sucks ass... like that was *technically* a Superhero/Human married working relationship, with a kid, a house, and everything... So like it's not *impossible* for a Super/Human relationship to thrive. *waves hands* Ugh, It took me ages to finally sit down and watch the damn thing - binge it all in a day, and I'm all up in my feels about this shit and now season 2's trailer dropped for Nov 3, and just haven't had enough time to process it/stay in my delusions. But oh MAN would that be such a Subverting Exceptions part on the TV show to go that way? They've already diverged pretty extensively, apparently. But I digress. Maybe I'll pen something up myself. I dunno.

#big mouth #jay bilzerian #andrew glouberman #matthew macdell #jatthew #matthew x jay #matthew x andrew #jay x matthew x andrew #OT3 Poly V #invincible #mark grayson #william clockwell #MarkWill #WillMark #back on my bullshit #ranting over the gays #Andrew Rannells characters are all precious sassy queens pretty much

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shionu27cosplay · 1 year

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Vancouver FanExpo 2023

I know its been a while, but looking through the photos on my phone has made me miss FanExpo. I had such an amazing time going around a con sharing my love for cosplay with on of my best friends! (Thank you from coming with me Em)

youtube

I made a small blog of my time at FanExpo. I was super excited to test run my Tartaglia cosplay. The scarf was so last minute so it still haunting me in all the photos I have of it lol.

On day 1 I really wanted to go to the Genshin cosplay meet up. there were way more people then, those in this photo. More and more cosplayers showed up as the shoot went on. It was so much fun, but a bit stress full because there wasn't much space.

I got to see my friend FreckleBytes their Vi cosplay had come such a long way, and looks amazing! 100% wig goals. A photographer skywingphoto took some photos of me and did some quick edits. I think they came out super cute. (Check out their Instagram, you might seem them at Vancouver cons)

I ran into the best and most sweet Thoma cosplayer ever! (Mayumeicos) The card they gave me with their @ was just so cute. I just could not get over their Thoma.

Me and a bunch of my friends, and UVIC Cosplay Club members all went to a bunch of panels and watched the cosplay contest. I tried adding everyone's @'s in my youtube video. All the panels I went to were super fun and very interesting, I hope to go to more next time. Only issue was ALL the panels I went to were in the small theater which was right beside the artist alley so I was super busy and noisy. I hope they plan the layout better next year.

Final thing I'm gonna share are the photos from the Red Carpet. Me and my best friend did magikarp and gyarados on day 3. I did little sister on day 2.

I had a lot of fun at FanExpo. Although the sky was grey, it didn't rain until day 3. which sucked but it was still nice to have good weather for 2 full days of con.

#cosplay #cosplayer #fan expo #anime convention #cosplay convention #memories #Youtube

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lafiametta · 2 years

Note

Let's play "who's most likely to," Olek and Ling Yi edition:

Who's most likely to get lost?

Who's messier?

Who makes the other laugh more?

Who's the bigger worrier?

Who's the better cook?

Who will kill the spider?

Who's more romantic?

Who's more likely to wake up grumpy?

Who's more likely to get arrested?

Who has the better poker face?

Who's most likely to initiate PDA?

Who's most likely to cry on their wedding day?

Who is the animal lover?

Who's more likely to be scared of heights?

Who's most likely to win chess against the other?

Who is more ticklish?

Who would win in a pillow fight?

Who would use more nicknames for the other?

Such fun questions, Anon — thanks for sending!

They've both got a fairly good sense of direction, although if we're talking about the Kerberos, Olek knows the layout of that ship like the back of his hand, so no chance of getting lost there. (In a modern setting, everyone's got GPS on their phones, so it's almost impossible for them to get lost. There was that one time when they went to a party in Brooklyn and coming out of the subway, they hit a dead zone; despite having no familiar landmarks, Ling Yi was able to get them to the address without much trouble — it also helped that she was willing to ask for directions!)

Olek likes to keep things tidy. Ling Yi's much more comfortable with clutter and disorganization.

Olek makes Ling Yi laugh more, but she also laughs more in general. She loves making him laugh, though, and she devises all sorts of ways to make it happen (particularly in situations where he's supposed to be quiet and serious).

Olek is definitely the bigger worrier. He wishes he wasn't, but he's always been that way.

They're at the same place in terms of cooking skills; in the canon verse, that translates as having almost none, but in a modern scenario, they've both got some recipes they know well (but they aren't super skilled otherwise).

Ling Yi proudly kills the spider. Olek will too, but more often than not, he'll try to catch it and put it outside.

Olek is the more romantic of the two. He likes doing little things for Ling Yi, like buying her small things he know she'll like, plus he always remembers anniversaries.

Ling Yi's not a grumpy sleeper, but she definitely needs more processing time (and coffee) before she's ready to face the day.

Ling Yi would probably be more likely to be arrested than Olek (just because he's so cautious about things), but the irony is that Olek is the one who did actually get arrested. (A long story, but it involved a boys' night out with Jérôme, a public intoxication charge, and Ling Yi having to bail Olek out. Mostly she thought it was funny, and teases him about it from time to time.)

Ling Yi has the better poker face. Seriously, don't play poker with her. Olek learned that one the hard way.

Ling Yi is way more into PDA (hand-holding, hugging, kissing). Private displays of affection, however? Much more up Olek's alley.

Olek would totally start to lose it when he saw Ling Yi in her wedding dress. He'd try to breathe deeply and hold it together, but there would be no mistaking the emotion in his eyes.

They both totally love dogs. Their work schedules make it hard to take care of a dog, but that might not stop Ling Yi from getting Olek a puppy for Christmas!

Olek is much more comfortable with heights. Ling Yi's not necessarily scared of heights, but she's also not the one dangling her legs out over the open sea while casually eating a snack.

Ling Yi is not all that into chess (she's more into word games and puzzles), so Olek mostly wins by default.

Olek is ticklish (around his ribs), a situation that Ling Yi does her best not to exploit, despite the ever-present temptation.

Ling Yi wins the pillow fight, mostly because Olek refuses to participate in the pillow fight. So mostly it's just her squealing as she bashes him with the pillow and Olek doing his best to protect himself in the face of her onslaught.

Olek hauls out the Polish nicknames any time he can. (It turns out there are a lot of terms of endearment in Polish and he's determined to use all of them.)

#1899 #1899 netflix #olek #ling yi #olek x ling yi #ask and answer #anon asks #modern au

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empressxmachina · 8 months

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"Are the Kids Alright," a photo-manipulation by me (Also on DA)

In my constant search for new poses, I did a deep dive into more ground-level positions, especially kneeling, some time ago. (See Upright Traveler as an example.) I saw the photo containing the two peeping kids and wondered, "What would they be doing on the ground?" Being me, it had to be a person, and what better person for a kid to come across than a possible friend via another kid? 2-on-1 is not fair, so I had to make it even. But then two small kids wouldn't/shouldn't wander by themselves in a home as big as a starship, so there's a guardian, too. And then my mind started going and made a plot.

(some ideas and references below)

- Brother and sister ("Irish twins" aka born within a year of each other because of "reasons") Nina and Kai wanted to get a grander look at where they've been crashing around for some time - indeed only sleeping and occasional storage, aka no actual "borrowing" for "reasons" - and as 'it's their funeral,' their mom Tamara let them do so but under her guard.

- All was fine until the two kids from the family that habitually lived there - actual twins Rowan and Hazel Connolly - came running in, looking for something, and found the three under a couch.

- Not wanting to show fear, Tamara instructed her kids to keep moving toward the path from whence they came as if nothing had happened. Meanwhile, she did the same while judging the giant youths, only to be confused when she detected they had no bad intentions, just looking and giving space until they were out of view.

- Eventually, Rowan and Hazel inform their father, Gabriel, that they have had visitors, and here he is watching security footage proving his kiddos right on one screen and getting a closer look at the trio, specifically with frame editing on the other. From his spawn being distressed from the others' lack of action to the children passing through looking disenfranchised in some way, all Gabriel could ponder over, aside from the mother being unexpectedly pretty (because I'm a hopeless romantic), was ✨ the concern within this picture's title! ✨

There's more to this plot in my head, like why the phone is cracked (because, of course, there is), barely including a beginning but not an ending. There is a hell of a System™ they all live in, though, and they all have issues! In any case, I would love to deal with this dynamic more: chaos through a less mature lens, (single-) parent struggles to coalesce, finding one's place in Society™, etc. Right now, I've codenamed it Rent-Free because they're all in my and each other's heads, along with the small squad squatting in the Connolly home that way. (I have both of the screened photos separately, too, if you'd like to view them independently for whatever reason. 😊)

Honestly, I wasn't aiming for a particular size difference here. Yet, I know the tiny trio aesthetically resembles a Borrowers family. Does their sizing match the canon's 1:18 differential? From what I've seen, the legs of Chesterfield couches like this one tend to measure between three and six inches on average. But I can't be assed to detect how oversized (if at all) the couch is canonically or how kids would usually look against it. I think the miniature mother here would be a smidge under four inches if my calculations are correct, so maybe this does look right. Against the couch, I think those three look okay, but I cannot say the same with the big, little kids. What do you think?

Put them all in the Fast and the Furious saga with all this FAMILY.

~Autodesk Sketchbook

~couch and tan office

~Connolly kids

~nervous Nina

~shy Kai

~Tamara's toughwear

~part of Tamara's face

~the other part of Tamara's face

~Gabriel's POV and private place

~video player

~phone app layout

~phone cracked screen

~vignette border

Circa August 2023.

"Is the title a callback to The Who or The Offspring?" In truth, it's to Chloe x Halle, which I guess would also point more toward the latter.

Please don't be weird about the kids; that should be common knowledge. I'll snitch on you. 😠

#g/t #my art #rent-free #sm #sw #giant male #gts #borrowers #cuties all around #photo manipulation #collage #Family #Parents #Children #Kids #parental g/t

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josie-anne-darling · 1 year

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The Home of An Overlord

So I apologize in advance for this. I'm sure this isn't something a lot of people do and that the format is gonna turn out looking strange but here goes nothing.

I have not been on Tumblr for very long and I actually wrote this short story quite a while ago, although I have edited it since then (It was originally posted on Amino). It is a small narrative surrounding my Hazbin Hotel OC, Josie/Josephine who is Alastor's daughter.

I am aware Alastor is canonically asexual and I fully acknowledge and respect that. Josephine's story generally still paints him in that light actually but I thought I'd just make note for anyone who may be concerned. There's a lot more to the whole thing of course but I'll save explanations and Josie's full character layout for another day or DMs :)

I have had her for around 5 years now so she is quite dear to me.

I will do my best to respond to any appropriate comments or questions if I receive any.

Anyhow! I hope you enjoy the short read and if not, I still wish you a great day/night! ^-^

............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

The Home of An Overlord

A frost demon was exceptionally rare to be seen in Pentagram City, let alone one so young walking alongside that of yet another adolescent soul. To Matthias, it felt as if he'd been following Josie for hours despite it only being just under 45 minutes. The manor in which the couple of kids sought was quite a ways away from everything else the city had to offer, making it quite the trek unless one had the ability to teleport or fly. This was of course done on purpose as the master of the dark estate valued his privacy. Though it wasn't necessarily uncommon for various walks of death to come snooping around the place here and there. Just seemingly curious folks wanting to get a glimpse of it as if it were some sort of haunted attraction. Nonetheless the spry doe continued her stroll towards the main gates of the manor, not nearly as nervous or frightened as Mathias. One would think the girl should be quaking with fear and yet she seemed perfectly collected. It was odd to him how a single soul from the first circle could have such a comforting and exciting influence over him but for the record, he hadn't met many beings his own age. Let alone a female.

Josephine came to a halt just outside the gate, her delicate ears twitching as the two pieces separated and screeched open for her. All three of her friend's eyes blinked with awe as it did so. The boy appeared so easily amused at times.

"Alright. Let's go over this one more time, okay? Stay close to me and keep to the edges of the walls. If you absolutely must say something, keep your voice down and be sure to whisper. He's not home but we still need to be cautious. We'll be taking the long way around to the library, avoiding the kitchen and the den. Do you understand?" The fawn questioned, glancing at her friend, waiting for his response.

Blinking his darkly lit eyes in an expression of blank acknowledgement to her words, Matthias nodded. "Yeah, I think so." The young man answered, watching as Josie knelt down and gracefully placed a small green orb upon the ground just outside the property's edge. "Come on then, we most likely do not have a lot of time to waste."

With that being said, the crimson haired doe motioned for her companion to follow her forward. Their silent and seemingly tedious task began the moment they both set foot on the smooth stones that made up the narrowed pathway that led to the porch of the towering manor. Plucking a single and simple enough looking key from her messenger bag, Josephine carefully slipped the contorted piece of metal into the lock and proceeded to twist it until they both heard a decently loud click. The doe was quick to slide the key out and drop it right back into her satchel before hesitantly turning the handle on the left side of the double door styled entrance.

As delicate gray hands pushed the door open with a creak, a decent sliver of amber tinged light from the outside climbed its way across the main entryway, illuminating the details in the rug that laid there. However as soon as both teens were inside, Josephine immediately but softly shut the door and made sure to lock it back up from the inside. With little light coming in from the windows it was somewhat difficult to see much at all, let alone enough to navigate a place they had never been before. At Least that was what Matthias thought as he glanced about the darkened home in curiosity.

Josie immediately started off by taking her own advice and sticking close to the walls, her heels only an inch about from them as she slowly made her way along. Mathias followed suit, glancing about and taking notice of the only place any light seemed to emanate from. This being a large living space in the opposite direction of which they were heading, presumably the den mentioned earlier. The shadow of dimly burning coals danced about the ceiling, trickling into the hall every so often. It seemed there had been a fire burning not too long ago.

Mathias' thoughts were broken as he realized Josie was waiting patiently for him at the edge of the next doorway left of them. Picking up the pace ever so slightly, the young frost demon shuffled over to his friend whilst attempting to make as little noise possible. How in all the circles did this little doe-demon know where they were even going? Blueprints? Unspoken psychic abilities? It was anyone's guess if one were to ask Matthias. The further the two ventured inside the home, the darker it got and the more nervous one of them became. Just when it seemed pitch black, a delicate but bright enough light beamed from Josephine's eyes. A sort of golden glow. Some may argue that it was a useless skill at times but it was not one to be taken for granted and also one that she'd learned to control quickly after discovery.

“Why are we keeping so close to the walls like this?” Matthias asked in a whispered voice as requested, copying the way Josephine was moving to the best of his abilities.

“Traps. He leaves them around from time to time when he’s feeling…paranoid.” She answered, leaving her friend wondering how she knew all this.

Josie continued onward, leading their two person party along as she had been. She appeared to be on high alert, looking from corner to corner and avoiding shining her eyes in certain areas. The doe's ears twitched and moved as she surveyed each movement whenever they needed to turn a corner or pass another hall, all the while making certain she didn't lose track of Matthias. What a clever and meticulous little creature she could be when she so desired.

It was only a few moments later that the two of them reached a decently sized staircase, one that they needed to use from the look of Josephine's face. The girl turned her head slightly to glance at her counterpart, mouthing the word edges as a quick reminder and then pointed to the opposite side of the first stair. With a nod, Matthias caught on quickly to how they'd be going upwards. One step at a time. Once in position, the almost dance-like maneuver began as the two young demons matched their footing. Moving from one small platform to the next in perfect sync, carefully avoiding any loss of balance or falling out of rhythm with one another.

Smiling at each other in the presence of darkness, they made their way up the stairwell with little falter on both parts. Soon enough, the duo reached the end of the little game and came to the top of the stairs. Josie couldn't help but let out a single breath she had been holding within her chest throughout the tactful ascension of the stairwell, relieved that they had yet to set off any traps. She seemed almost bewildered with herself that she had actually managed to lead Matthias this far. If it hadn't been for her ears abruptly reaching for the ceiling at the sensation of noise - she may have felt the slightest bit of pride.

Unfortunately for Matthias and Josie, there would be no time for that or any other emotion beyond panic for the time being. Any noise was an unwelcome one in that moment and Josephine made that clear by quickening her pace and dragging the young frost demon along by his wrist. She knew that there was only one thing, or more accurately one being, who'd be making such blatant noise without a care in The Radio Demon's home. The crimson clad overlord himself.

Shoving open a door further down the hallway, Josie pulled her companion inside the room right behind her. As quickly and as quietly as possible, she shut the same door as impulse and guilt took the reins. She had obviously underestimated how much time they would have and now the plan would suffer because of it. But there was no time to dwell on it now and Josie knew that was certain. The doe pushed at Matthias' back, shoving him towards the closet.

"In there, as far back as we can go." She whispered into the side of his neck. It would be the best hiding place for the moment, given that her identifying smell was all over the various articles of clothing already. Hopefully it would be sufficient enough to mask Matthias' scent, surrounded by her own. She was fairly confident it would work for a while. Or at least this detour would give her some time to ponder what their next move would be. Regardless, Josie needed to think and she needed to think quickly.

The continuing sounds of a presence in the home seemed to consume the fawn’s train of thought. The downside of having such excellent, yet selective hearing. Her behavior definitely dredged up anxiety and panic within the young frost demon beside her. He looked to his friend to find her softly nibbling on her bottom lip in thought, being careful not to draw her own blood. Baby fangs or not, the girl's canines were still abnormally sharp. He wouldn't enter this room of all the ones that made up the large manor. Why would he? As far as he was aware, there would be nothing within those four walls to interest him after being out and about.

Thinking to herself, Josie began internally listing off the most likely places Alastor would venture to. His room, the kitchen, his studio or study and the room they were in seemed to be the most prominent in her mind - unfortunately. Out of those she could imagine, his studio would be her preferred choice. Worst case scenario out of the options would be the room in which they were hiding or his own as it was quite literally across the hall from the one they remained hopelessly trapped in. But even if he went to his studio, it would still be treacherous getting her companion out with both him and the book still intact.

Rolling the little green marble like trinket between her petite fingers, Josephine released a gentle sigh. She reminded herself of why she'd put herself in such a fine predicament in the first place. To help Mathias and ultimately The Pentagram in a way. The girl cautiously removed her bag from her shoulder and hung it up silently within the closet. It wasn't like she'd be needing a portable satchel anymore. The emerald ball of mysterious intent remained in her hand as she met Matthias' gaze.

"Matthias. Listen closely. The book you're looking for is navy blue with raised writing on it. It's leather bound and should be to the right between two similar looking red ones when you first enter. You must be very quiet and be sure to leave the door exactly as you found it. Opened or closed."

The young doe took the young man's somewhat larger hand into her own, placing the green pearl in his palm and then gently aiding his digits to close around it.

"As soon as you have the book, place this pearl on the floor and step on it. Make sure you crush it beneath your foot and do not raise it until you're outside. There’s no need to be frightened, it won’t cause you any harm." She instructed and reassured, letting her hands fall from his.

Matthias opened the hand that Josephine had caressed a moment ago, looking at the little orb with concern upon his brow. "But...I don't-"

Two delicate hands gingerly grip his shoulders in the darkness of it all, a reassuring gesture to balance him once more and bring him back into the moment. "Down the hall to your left and straight down, you can not possibly miss it." She smiled and gazed into his eyes, doing her damnedest to dispel any doubts he had. Those bright yellow eyes. So big and entrancing, maintaining a radiance within them that was all their own.

The boy gulped. "I meant to say, I don't understand. I thought we'd be doing this together."

His statement caused Josie’s smile to falter slightly although Matthias couldn’t see it too clearly. Of course she wanted to make sure her friend got home safe but plans changed and this seemed to be the best choice for him to move forward as safely as possible.

"I know but I can't have him hurting you and someone needs to keep him busy…it's the best idea we have and I don't believe we have the time to come up with a better one." She reasoned before finally pulling her hands away and turning around to place one on the doorknob of the closet, only to have her opposite wrist firmly grabbed.

"I'm not leaving you here, I can't. You're my friend and I don't want to imagine him chopping you up into itt- bitty deer pieces and eating you with a side of rice!”

His slightly louder exclamation earned him an immediate shushing from Josephine.

“...Please, let's find another way." Matthias pleaded, despite Josie’s arm slipping from his loose grasp.

"Trust me, he won't be eating me. I'll be alright I promise…" The young lady insisted with her ever present and pure grin that he could actually somewhat admire once the closet door was at last opened again. "No matter what you may hear or think has happened, you must stay here for a few minutes. Remember to keep to the edges and please be careful." She reminded him as she took the first step out into the large bedroom.

"Josie..?" Matthias prodded with a whisper.

"Hm?"

"Thank you...for everything. I hope we meet again someday. I think I might…ya know, miss hanging out with you."

A rather flattering and almost unnoticeable shade of pink dusted the fawn's cheeks in response to Matthias' kind words. Nonetheless, she replied.

"You're welcome...and perhaps I may miss your company as well, Matthias. I hope you make it home safely... goodbye and good luck."

"Goodbye... Josephine."

And with one somewhat blunt and final goodbye, the two young demons separated.

#hazbin hotel #writing #ocs

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