#(which basically just led to me not getting help most of my life even though i needed it) | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

dawnisatotalqueen · 7 months

Text

PROMISE

title: promise

character: steven hyde x reader

warnings: alcohol use, marijuana use, mentions of virginity, mentions of assault, cursing, semi frequent use of l/n (last name), zen masters (jackie x hyde) if u squint

summary: when you met the boys, you made a promise to never date any of them. though this gets harder and harder to follow as you all get older and more attractive.

disclaimer: i do not support danny masterson in any way, shape, or form. i just have an attachment to hyde </3

word count: 2972

part two

You were a maneater. At least, that’s what your friends said and you didn’t necessarily disagree. In your mere 17 years of life, you had accumulated nearly 30 boyfriends. In a town like Pointplace, there weren’t very many eligible bachelors, and it didn’t help that you swore off dating the hottest one.

Years prior, at the very beginning of middle school, when you had met Kelso, Foreman, and Hyde, you made a promise. You promised to yourself, and to them, that you would never date them. You enjoyed their company a lot, which is exactly why you didn’t want to risk dating any of them.

Naturally, as time progressed and Fez joined the group, he was included in the group of boys you wouldn’t date, though in all honesty, you probably never would have dated him regardless.

As you got older, you had started to ever so slightly regret your promise because as you got older, so did the boys, and oh boy, was one of them hot.

Hyde was gorgeous and exactly your type. But did you think Hyde was hot because he was your type, or did you think he was hot because he set the standard for your type? The world may never know.

To put those feelings aside, you upped the ante on your dating game. You were the most “desirable” out of your friend group except for maybe Donna or Jackie. You dated jocks, nerds, stoners, and basically any other clique in your high school.

That led you to now, walking into Eric Foreman’s basement, which is where you usually were, waiting for a guy to show up for a date.

You wore a pretty black dress and your signature green bomber jacket.

Donna was the first to look over, whistling with a grin. “Damn! You look great.”

Jackie looked over, gasping a little and pushing up off of Kelso to rush over to you. “That dress is gorgeous!! Much better than what you usually wear.” She looked over the dress.

You giggled at the backhanded compliment. It was something you were used to with Jackie, and you found it endearing. “Thanks! Got it just for the date. Definitely keeping it, though.”

Hyde raised a brow. “You don’t usually dress up for dates. Must really like the guy, huh?” You didn’t notice it then, but he shifted uncomfortably, his posture tensing.

“Damn it!! Stupid lucky guy, getting (L/N) to dress up all nice for him..” Kelso crossed his arms over his chest, pouting.

“At least we get to be blessed with the sight.” Fez sighed happily.

“I don’t know, I don’t really like him.” You shrugged. “He’s just takin’ me somewhere fancy, figured it was the least I could do.”

“Well, you look great. Hope you have fun.” Donna got up, patting you on the back.

“Thanks!! I’ll swing by after, yeah?”

“We’ll leave the door unlocked.” Eric commented, smiling.

“Great!” You heard a honk outside. “That’s my queue. Cya!” You grinned, heading out the door.

Hyde rolled his eyes, or, that’s what everyone assumed. It was a little hard to tell with the glasses. “Doesn’t even have the decency to knock, and she’s giving this guy a shot?” He scoffed.

“Someone sounds jeaaalouusss!!” Kelso snickered.

“I’m not jealous. I just think (L/N) could do better than some dude who can’t even knock on the door.”

“It’s okay if you’re jealous, Hyde! I mean, she’s going out with a popular jock. It makes sense you’d feel insecure.” Jackie returned to her spot next to Kelso.

“Why would I care?”

“It’s obvious you guys have a little back and forth thing.” Jackie giggled.

Donna hummed, leaning against the couch. “I figured you guys would’ve at least made out by now.”

Hyde scoffed. “Never gonna happen. She literally swore off ever dating me, Foreman, and Kelso.”

“Is that all that’s stopping you?” Eric raised a brow.

“No.” Hyde was almost too quick to answer. What he didn’t say was that he thought you were out of his league. He was a teenage dirtbag, and while you were their friend, you also were more of a social floater than anything. You dated jocks and the most popular guys in school. He’d be stupid to think you could ever be interested in dating him..

Right?

It had been a couple of hours since you left, and everyone had sort of faded out. Eric retreated upstairs to his room, heading to bed, and everyone else had returned to their respective houses.. Everyone except for Hyde, that is, as he had found himself recently staying in the Foreman’s basement after an incident with his Mom.

He lounged on the couch, taking a puff from a blunt that he had rolled when he heard the door open.

You stumbled in, reeking of cheap booze. More importantly, though, you had visibly been crying. Your mascara left streaks down your face, and your nose was red and puffy.

“What happened?” Hyde sat up straight, stiffening. Did that guy hurt you? He would kick his ass if he hurt you–

“That guy was a douche.” You huffed. “Got me drunk, then tried to get laid.” You wobbled over to the couch, sitting next to him. You held out your hand, and Hyde got the message, passing you the blunt.

“Did he hurt you?”

You shook your head. “Pushed him off.” You deeply inhaled the smoke before blowing it out, sighing. “Sucks. Used to it, but it sucks.”

“You’re used to it?” He stared at you, a little bewildered.

“Most guys get pissy when I won’t sleep with them.” You kicked off your heels, leaning back. “Don’t wanna lose my virginity to some guy I don’t even like.. Is that bad?” You looked at him, frowning.

“That’s not a bad thing.” He pushed a piece of your hair out of your face. “Plenty of people wanna save it for someone special. Like the whole til marriage shit.” He shrugged.

“Guess so..” You looked down before smiling, nudging him. “Why can’t every guy be as nice as you?”

He raised a brow. “You think I’m nice?”

“Yeahh!” You grinned, your slurring words the evidence of the alcohol still in your system. “In your own way. Liike, you may not act like it, but I think you care about everyone. At least a little. Like when you took Jackie to prom! Or now, you’re comforting me after a shitty date.”

“If you keep goin’ you’re gonna make my ego big.” He snickered.

You smiled, leaning your head on his shoulder. “Shut upp.. Point iss, you’re super sweet in your own way, and that’s what mattersss..”

He wrapped his arm around you. “You flatter me too much.”

After you didn’t respond, he looked over and realized you had fallen asleep on his shoulder. He sighed a little, propping you up and then picking you up. He took you to his room, laying you down on his bed and tucking you in.

He sat down next to you, watching you for a second. You looked so completely and utterly peaceful. He let out a breath before standing up.

Was your promise all that was stopping him from pursuing you?

He stood still for a second before heading to the door and flipping off the light. “Night, doll.”

You were very confused when you woke up the next morning, and you were in Hyde’s bed. You were still in the same clothes from the night before, and there was no evidence that anyone else had been in bed with you, so you felt pretty confident that you didn’t sleep together.

You scooted off of the mattress, getting up and peeking your head out the door. You didn’t see anyone in the basement, so you figured it must’ve been earlier in the day. You walked around, spotting a blanket on the couch, and you figured Hyde must’ve slept on it. But, he was nowhere to be found.

You decided to head upstairs and hopefully wash your face, maybe even get a change of clothes that Laurie left behind.

When you opened the door to the basement, you hissed a little upon seeing that the Foreman family were all sitting around the table, eating breakfast like the classic sitcom family.

You turned around, trying to tiptoe down the hallway when the floor board underneath you squeaked. You hissed, turning around when you heard Kitty’s voice behind you. “Y/N? Is that you? This early in the morning?”

You turned around, smiling awkwardly. “Ah.. Yeah, sorry. I um– I let myself in.”

Kitty gasped a little, getting up from her chair. “Goodness! You look awful!”

You assumed she was referencing your tear smudged makeup. “Yyyeah.. Rough night.”

“Let me get you cleaned up.” She put a hand on your shoulder, ushering you through the hall.

That left the boys in the kitchen. Red looked at Hyde, raising a brow. “You slept on the couch last night.

Hyde paused. “Yup.” He shoved a bite of his food in his mouth.

“Did she stay over?” Red leaned back in his chair, eyeing the curly haired boy.

Eric whistled lowly. “Dang, Hyde. Maybe Jackie was right about you being jealous.”

Hyde rolled his eyes. “It wasn’t like that. She had a crappy date and passed out. I didn’t wanna wake her up just to make her leave.”

Red looked at him for a second before raising his brows. “Well, that was nice. But you two really need to stop letting random kids crash here.” He cringed.

Meanwhile, you were in the bathroom with Kitty. You washed your face, looking at yourself in the mirror. Your eyes were a little swollen, but it was nothing major. You sighed a little before Kitty spoke. “I’ll get some clothes from Laurie’s room for you to change into. I can wash your clothes for you.”

You smiled at her, nodding. “That’d be appreciated, thank you.” You took off your jacket, handing it to her.

She smiled at you, taking your jacket before freezing when she saw your wrists.

You hadn’t realized it, but the jackass that you went on a date with had left bruises on you when he was trying to get handsy.

“Did.. Someone..” Kitty trailed off.

“No! No, no. Nothing like that. I, uh, I pushed him off of me.” You reassured her.

She frowned. “Oh, dear.. That had to have been hard.”

You looked to the side, frowning a little. “...Yeah.”

She put a hand on your shoulder, giving it a comforting squeeze. “Well, you’re safe now. And you’ll have clean clothes soon enough.” She smiled, heading out the door and getting you some clothes.

Laurie’s clothes were comfortable. Kitty got you a pretty simple tank top and some pajama pants, which you didn’t mind. She told you she’d let you know when your clothes were clean, so you made your way down to the basement. It had been about an hour since you had seen Hyde and Eric since you took a shower during that time.

The usual group had gathered in the basement during that time, watching something stupid on TV. You made your way down the stairs, running a hand through your hair.

You casually walked over, sitting on the arm of the couch, putting you next to Kelso and Jackie. Only then did everyone realize you were there.

“Hey (L/N)!” Donna grinned, raising a teasing eyebrow. “How was your hot date–” She paused when she saw your appearance. Slightly swollen eyes and bruised wrists were the first thing to stand out.

“Jeez! You look awful!” Jackie looked over at you, and you couldn’t help the giggle that came out. She sounded just like Kitty.

You hummed. “The date was shit, but it’s cool. Didn’t really like the guy anyway, and I got free food.” You shrugged it off.

Hyde watched you, his eyes drifting down your body before they landed on your wrists. He didn’t see that the night before. You really did have to fight off that douche-bag.

Donna got up from where she was next to Eric, going to the back of the couch and hugging you. “Aw.. I’m sorry, babe. You can do better anyway.”

“Like Hyde said yesterday, you could do way better than a guy who honks!” Fez hummed, nodding to himself.

You blinked, looking in Hyde’s direction, seeing him shrug. “It’s true.”

You could feel your cheeks heat up, and your eyes soften, but before you could dwell on the butterflies in your stomach, you heard a honk from outside. You all paused, and Eric looked in your direction. “Do you have another date?”

You shook your head, getting up off the couch. “Who could that be?” You went to the door, opening it and going up the outside stairs, spotting a familiar car. “..Oh god.”

The guy you had gone out with the day before got out of his car, spotting you. “(Y/N)-- Can we talk?”

You grimaced, crossing your arms. “Why?”

You could hear your friends gathering up behind you as you walked up the driveway.

“Listen, I get kind of weird when I’m drunk, I didn’t mean to be so pushy.” The boy frowned, looking down at you.

You grumbled, rolling your eyes. “And I suppose you didn’t mean to ditch me and make me walk home too then?”

“You had to walk here?” Before you knew it, Hyde was by your side, looking at you.

You looked at him, frowning a little before shrugging. “Yeah. It’s–”

“Please, just– just give me another chance.” The boy stepped closer to you, trying to grab your shoulders.

Hyde stepped between you, pushing the guy away by his chest. “I think you’ve done enough.”

“And who do you think you are?” The guy stood up straight, getting in Hyde’s face.

“I’m her friend. And I don’t appreciate how you treated her.”

“Well, frankly, I think it’s none of your business how I treat her.”

“It kind of is when she busts into my basement crying.”

“Don’t be dramatic. I was just trying to have some fun.” The guy rolled his eyes. “And the bitch was basically asking for it with that dress–”

Hyde punched him, and he held his bleeding nose. The guy growled, throwing a punch at Hyde, and before you knew it, they were fighting. You squeaked, reaching your hand out. “H– hey there’s no need to fight it’s fine–”

The guy elbowed you. Right in the eye.

You hissed, holding your face. “Fuck–”

Hyde looked between you and the guy for a split second before he nailed his knee into his stomach. “You’d seriously fucking hit a chick?! What is wrong with you?!”

The guy coughed, holding his stomach and backing up toward his car, hurrying in.

“Yeah, screw off!” Hyde called after him, looking over to you.

Donna and Jackie rushed over to you, Donna, holding your shoulders. “O– ow shit– How bad is it?” You moved your hand off of your eye.

Jackie hissed. “Yikes. That’s gonna bruise. But it’s okay!! I have some absolutely great makeup that’ll cover it up, no problem!”

You giggled a little through the pain. “Ah, I don’t think that’s my biggest concern–” You looked in Hyde’s direction. “Are you okay?”

You and Hyde were left alone in the basement as the others were grabbing some stuff to help with your current conditions. Donna and Eric were getting an ice pack, Jackie was getting her makeup, and Kelso and Fez… Well, they were doing something.

You held a warm washcloth, dabbing at the little cuts and bruises on Hyde’s face. It was one of the few times you had seen him without his glasses for such a long period of time.

Once you were done, you sighed, smiling at him. “Y’know, you don’t need to get into fights for me.”

Hyde leaned back. “What? For you? Nah, the guy just had a very punchable face.”

You playfully rolled your eyes. “Right, right, my bad.”

He straightened up a little, clearing his throat. “Well, uh, are you good? I mean, that guy said some pretty nasty things..”

You shrugged a little, looking down. “I’m all good. He’s not the first guy to react like that to me rejecting them. He is the first guy to give me a black eye though.”

At the mention of your black eye, Hyde leaned forward, pushing your hair out of your face and oh so carefully touching your cheek. “Does it hurt?”

You stared at him, your breath hitching. “A little.”

He seemed to take in the fact that the two of you were mere inches away. He swallowed, looking down at you. “(L/N).. I uh.. I didn’t like that you went out with that guy.”

“What?” You furrowed your brows. “Why? Because he was like– a douche?”

“I mean, yeah, but I think it was ‘cause I uh…” He licked his lips. “I might, uh..”

Before he could say what he had on his mind, Donna and Eric made their way down the stairs, and you and Hyde quickly scooted away from each other.

Donna handed you the ice pack, and you pressed it to your eye, hissing a little.

“Jackie will be back with her makeup pretty soon, but I’d suggest not putting it on at least until the swelling goes a little down.” Donna hummed.

“Yeah, she–” Eric had started to go on a ramble about something, but you weren’t paying attention. Your eyes were on Hyde, who had casually gone back to his chair, acting as if your moment didn’t happen.

Was he going to say he liked you? What would that mean for your relationship? You were attracted to him, you had to admit, but did you like him?

Should you break your promise?

#x reader #fem reader #friends to lovers #hyde x reader #steven hyde x reader #that 70s show #that 70s show x reader #maneater!reader #playgirl!reader

384 notes · View notes

greynatomy · 1 year

Text

Espresso

Alex Morgan x Fem!Reader

I really liked how this came about when writing. I was scrolling through tiktok and this came around again of andrew garfield describing emma stone (which is the most romantic thing to describe a person you love).

Let me know what you think!

-grey

———

All of the United States Women’s National Team players are in the conference room, just finishing up a meeting with their coaches. Everyone is split up in their normal groups with the younger players sticking together. But there was one thing that they all have in common. It’s the love of one particular artist.

“Ohmygod! It out in five minutes!” Sonnett practically yelled for the whole world to hear.

“What’s starting?”

“The documentary all about how Espresso was written and put together.”

“Wait! That’s today?”

“Yes, Ashley. Come on. Keep up.”

Emily sets up her laptop, refreshing every second until the documentary shows up on Netflix.

“It’s right there! Click it.”

“I am, chill.” She swats Ashley’s hand away.

———

“Now, ‘Fairytale,’ what’s that about?” The interviewer asks.

A smile instantly shows up on your face.

“Uh, it’s pretty straight forward.”

“But go into detail. From listening to it once, I know it’s about how much you love someone and always wanting them close by.”

“That’s basically it.”

“Give me more man.” You both laugh. “Who’s it about?”

“Uh, I won’t be saying who, but she was-is pretty special. I’ve known her since we were kids. I was a pretty shy kid growing up, kept to myself most of the time, then she shows up out of nowhere basically demanding to be friends.”

“Then you became more?”

“Then we became more. She helped me open up and like the song says ‘with you I lose all my fears,’ she was always there to help me get by.”

You are now sat on a stool with your guitar and perform the song that was just talked about. (Fairytale by We Three)

“Are you still together?”

“Oh.” You let out a breathy chuckle. “No.”

“What happened?”

“I actually have no clue. It’s been, what? Thirteen years.” You start giggling.

“What’s got you gigglin’ over there.”

“Nothing, nothing. Just the number, that’s all. Don’t ask me about it.”

“Alright then, let’s backtrack. You said you don’t know what happened. How is that possible to not know what happened that led to the breakup?

“I just never got the closure that I needed, I guess. I mean yeah, she said she just didn’t love me anymore, but what else? What did I do? What could I have done differently? Just those questions that I have that haven’t and probably never will get answered.”

“Do you know what she’s up to now.”

“Uh, yeah I do. Not to sound creepy, but I’ve seen how she is and she’s doing amazing. She’s moved up in the world. A true inspiration, especially to her daughter.”

“So she has a child?”

“Yeah. And she looks so much like her.” You give a sad smile, a tear slipping from your eye.

“She must be real special to you, even after all these years.”

“She was like a shot of espresso, she’s like, being bathed in sunlight, she’s incredibly energetic and enthusiastic and she had this sense of play and fun which was, incredibly exciting. And then just like the sunset that illuminates her beauty she left, while like a dark night I got pulled into darkness.”

———

Alex Morgan sat in silence throughout the whole documentary. She hasn’t caught up with your career like you had done with her.

“I’ve never been described as a shot of espresso.” Ashley breaks the silence.

“That was the most romantic thing I’ve ever heard. Also very heartbreaking at the same time.” Rapinoe speaks up for the first time.

“But isn’t it weird that she’s still caught up on this girl after thirteen years?” Kelley questions.

“I don’t think she’s caught up, she just wants the closure she never got.”

“Man whoever left her just like that, we needa have some words.”

Alex excuses herself, saying she was tired and was gonna go up to her room. On the way to her room, she though about more of her life and the evens that happened in the past year.

She divorced her ex-husband after nine years, co-parenting—if you can call him seeing his daughter only when he feels like it.

And now that she’s thinking about it, the only reason she can come up with was not wanting to be the reason that you can express your love freely to the world. Alex isn’t out, she never was, never even planning to. That’s why she broke up with you because it wasn’t fair to you.

No, she just needs to tell you.

For closure.

Her thumb hovers over your contact, hoping it never changed.

Sunshine ☀️

Hi.

It wasn’t long until she got a reply.

Lover ♥️

Hey.

Sunshine ☀️

Would you like to grab a cup of coffee with me? To catch up?

Alex throws her phone on the bed, anxious to know what you would say. Her phone vibrating makes her grab her phone just as quick as she threw it.

Lover ♥️

When and where?

~~~~~

no part 2

#woso x reader #woso #uswnt x reader #uswnt #woso imagines #uswnt imagines #alex morgan #alex morgan x reader #alex morgan imagines

387 notes · View notes

am-i-the-asshole-official · 4 months

Note

AITA for "forcing" my best friend to break up with his boyfriend?

🧸

I (22 cis m) and my best friend 'A' (21 ftm) have been friends since we were 10 years old and I love him more than anything. He’s genuinely the sweetest, most thoughtful, and funniest person I’ve ever met. He means everything to me and we’ve been there for each other through the hardest times of our lives so far and I plan on staying until the end.

It’s always been us two. Btw, everyone mentioned here uses he/him pronouns exclusively.

A has been with his boyfriend (21 cis m) for about 2 years now, and from what he told me, things were going great. Even if I’m not too fond of his boyfriend. A few days ago, we got pretty drunk at a friend’s housewarming party. A and I live together, and as soon as we got home, he suddenly started rambling about how he wishes his boyfriend cared about him the same way I do.

Legit felt like I was in some dumb romance movie for a moment there. I felt a little uneasy and asked him to elaborate. In short, his boyfriend essentially treats him like a doll instead of a person with real emotions. He feels as though his boyfriend just uses him to get his daily fix of physical affection and sex, that’s it. The only positive thing his boyfriend can say about A is that he’s cute, which boggles my mind. It’s true but there’s so much more to him as a human being.

A is an incredibly talented artist, super kind, super emotionally intelligent, and has a plethora of interests he loves to infodump about. I’m trying my hardest not to make this entire post about how amazing he is. He’s helped multiple friends clean their depression apartments and took them out to get fresh groceries etc. because it’s basic decency to him. He has such a big heart and holds so much love in it for everyone in his life. Being around him is just so easy and makes life worth living.

He’s just an incredible person all around and every single person that has him in their life recognizes that, except his boyfriend. They’ve had issues in the past because they’re not sexually compatible, which led to some miscommunication and made A feel like he was coerced into things he didn’t want to do. He just did them to make his boyfriend happy. He does a lot of things for his boyfriend, actually. He’s constantly buying little gifts, remembering what he likes, and plans cute dates for them to go on. His boyfriend does none of these things.

I want to mention that A has bpd and avpd. He has an intense fear of rejection and will do everything in his power to appease others so they won’t leave him. I always take the time to reassure him that I love him for who he is and not what he can give me. Basically just making sure he feels loved. Keep in mind, his boyfriend is aware of this but he just gets annoyed when A seeks reassurance from him. His behavior has made my blood boil several times in the past already, but I always kept it to myself for A’s sake. If I was vocal about disliking his boyfriend, it probably would’ve caused A a lot of distress and emotional turmoil.

Still, I don’t think this relationship is healthy for A and I know him well enough to know he won’t break it off on his own. It’s just his combo of personality disorders that makes it impossible for him. I told him about my concerns and he agreed, but said he feels bad for his boyfriend since he apparently doesn’t have any friends outside of A. From my POV, it just looks like his boyfriend knows A is out of his league and is grasping at straws to make A stay with him out of pity.

This is where I might be the asshole. I got a little frustrated and raised my voice, which I severely regret. I don’t want to blame it on the alcohol but it definitely had a hand in it. I finally told him about all these grievances I have about his boyfriend, how much I dislike him and how A deserves so much better, etc.. At one point, I essentially gave him an ultimatum. It’s me or his boyfriend. I didn’t really mean it, it was just a heat of the moment thing I spat out. I would never leave him like that.

A started crying and begged me to calm down, at which point I realized how shitty I was being and immediately began apologizing. We hugged, I comforted him, and we spent the rest of the night cuddling and talking about how he could approach the breakup.

Now that I’ve sobered up I feel like absolute shit. I know it’s not my place to tell A what to do with his romantic relationships, even if I’m his best friend. Plus, I want to be 100% honest here and say I might have romantic feelings for A. I think I have for a long time, but I always wrote it off as intense platonic love. So I may be biased in this whole conversation about his boyfriend.

I didn’t say these things because of that. I genuinely think his boyfriend is a huge dick and full of shit, no matter how sweet and loving he pretends to be. It’s all in the way he treats A. He’s one of those guys that paint their nails (nothing wrong with that but you know the kind of guy I’m talking about), pretend to be feminists, and steal their romantic partner’s personality to seem cooler. He even asked A to stop taking testosterone because he didn’t like how hairy A was getting or some shit like that.

He’s pansexual but has only ever dated girls and started dating A before A began medically transitioning. There’s obviously nothing wrong with that and changes nothing about the fact that he’s pansexual, he just pisses me off when he criticizes A for being 'too masculine'. You can have a preference for feminine people but don’t make that shit your partner’s problem when they just want to pass.

I feel like A’s boyfriend just thought A would always stay the smooth, baby-faced twink he was before going on testosterone and now makes him feel guilty for looking like a grown man. Some people don’t know how to appreciate hairy tummies.

Sorry for making this so long but I just want to be as honest and informative as possible to get proper opinions on the issue. A is now dead set on breaking things off because he now knows that I actively despise his boyfriend and he always puts my opinion above everyone else’s.

Was I in the wrong for doing this or am I just protecting my best friend? I’m glad he intends on ending things but I feel a bit like a conniving snake considering everything. It feels like I’m taking advantage of his mental state even if I’m not doing it consciously.

#aita #am i the asshole

121 notes · View notes

riveroftales · 13 days

Note

😗Ummm…. Do you think you could do a little Drabble or some HCs about Genya with a mom figure? Like, maybe Himejima gets married and his wife meets Genya and is determined to give him a stable family and a good female role model. Like sure he totally ignores or is embarrassed by her at first but then she makes him food or cuts up watermelon for him 🥺 Maybe he eventually opens up to the “mom” and she tries to help him untangle all his teenage anger. MY POOR BOY NEEDS A FAMILY AND HIMEJIMA CANT DO IT ALONE. (Also pls feel free to ignore if you don’t like the prompt. Tysm I love your writing and the blind Genya AU kills me in the best way possible)

➳ ғᴀᴍɪʟʏ

𝖢𝖢'𝗌 𝖭𝗈𝗍𝖾: AHHH IM SO SORRY FOR BEING INACTIVE MY EXAMS LITERALLY START THIS THURSDAY AND IVE BEEN CRYING BECAUSE OF IT🥹

Himejima was like a father to Genya. His father was an asshole, so having a good role model made Genya adore him so much more.

He loved his mother. His mother was gentle, smiled a lot and despite being weak, she was able to protect.

He didn’t have anyone in his life to replace his mother and he wanted to keep it that way. That is, until Himejima got married.

Genya was beyond happy that Himejima got the chance to fall in love with someone who loved him and who he loved back, but he didn’t know how to approach the new addition to their tiny family of two.

The poor boy’s cheeks would always flare up intensely whenever he saw you. At first, you thought he genuinely liked you which led you to reject him politely during the hashira training one day in front of everyone else.

It was after Genya passed out from embarrassment when Tanjiro told you Genya just got nervous around every girl whether he liked them or not.

Genya was basically your son, so you had a mission to get him to think of you as a mother.

Even though he ignored you at most times, you managed to talk to him even if he didn’t respond. You opened up about everything and told tales of your past.

You ruffled his hair often with a soft smile before you always went up to your husband to kiss his large hand since he was far too tall for you to kiss his cheek.

Genya stayed up late often to train, so you also started staying up to make him little snacks occasionally.

You would call his name and give him a small plate of a few pieces of onigiri and smile when you see his eyes light up as he ate. Your favourite part was occasionally surprising him with another small plate of watermelon cut into adorable shapes.

You really babied him a lot. He was a huge kid, but you couldn’t help it. Genya was like a shy tiger.

The kid occasionally started warming up to you and he started initiating conversations. He could see the way your eyes lit up every time he made effort into your relationship.

You often say together with the three of them, showing them how to make some of your dishes. Himejima would help with the cutting and washing, while you guided Genya with the cooking.

You cried for the first time in years in your husband’s arms after Genya had left for a mission and he had said, “Bye, mom! I’ll be back soon! Please make a lot of food for me when I get back!”

You obeyed your baby’s request. How could you not? You loved seeing the hidden joy in his face whenever you fed him some food directly. Himejima smiled to himself when he heard the laughter his newfound family let out. He was beyond thankful to the gods above that he was alive to experience something so precious.

Genya soon realised that you weren’t his mother. You were never his mother, and you would never be his mother, but he would love you the same. He loved his mother, but he also loved you. His mother taught him how to love because it was all she could teach before she passed, while you helped teach him the rest.

You were there to hold him when he cried in your shoulders on the day his older brother nearly blinded him. You didn’t judge him for eating demons. You didn’t look down at him when he confessed he couldn’t use breathing forms.

You were there for everything. You were there during both Genya’s and Himejima’s sparring sessions, you were there to cook for your family, you were there to listen, you were there to love them. You were even there when Himejima had to leave abruptly to the demon amuse headquarters after an emergency meeting was announced. You were there when you saw Genya fall in the trapdoors on the floor which appeared so suddenly because you didn’t have a good feeling of leaving him alone, making you run up to his training ground to retrieve your son.

You ran as fast as you could when your husband’s kasugai crow led you to where the big battle was happening, only reaching during daybreak.

You felt your heart drop and tears sting your eyes when you saw corpses everywhere, but the sight of your unmoving husband was the only thing you were focused on.

The kakushi had to hold you back even when you screamed at the top of your lungs, yelling at Himejima to open his eyes.

You choked on your tears when you asked about Genya, your son. You knew he was also gone from the silence you received.

You couldn’t even cry anymore. Your eyes just closed before you passed out.

You woke up with a message from Sanemi that Genya had turned into ashes. Your little boy didn’t have a body to bury, meaning he’ll never have a proper funeral.

You folded Genya’s clothes really neatly and placed it in your dead husband’s arms as he laid so beautifully in the casket. You placed your son’s gun on top of his uniform, unable to watch the burial since tears were blurring your vision.

You woke up the next day, wishing you could feel the weight of Genya’s leg over your stomach as he slept in the most atrocious position ever while Himejima’s arms refused to let you go even in sleep one last time.

#demon slayer #kimetsu no yaiba #kny #genya shinazugawa #gyomei himejima #kny himejima #demon slayer himejima #kimetsu no yaiba genya #demon slayer fluff #kimetsu no yaiba fluff #himejima x reader #genya angst #himejima angst #demon slayer angst #kimetsu no yaiba angst

49 notes · View notes

avelera · 1 year

Text

Headcanon: ADHD Hob and Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria

So I went down the rabbithole on ADHD and rejection sensitivity dysphoria (and found this lecture that legit made me tear up if you have or think you have ADHD, go listen to it here) and it got me thinking, as everything is wont to do, about Hob Gadling and how if he had ADHD, which I think there's lots of fun in-text hints at that at least allow that interpretation, what are some other ways that could manifest besides his ebullient and never-ending love of life in all its endless variety?

So as sufferers of ADHD know, it's not all fun and games. The flip side of living with a dopamine-starved brain that's always seeking out new experiences and seeing the world through that lens is that other emotions slam us hard too, like rejection sensitivity dysphoria aka, "the most minor criticism can feel like an actual knife in the chest, no I don't mean mildly bummed out, I mean full on fight-or-flight brain meltdown because someone told you a comma is in the wrong place in your manuscript (not that I'm speaking from personal experience yes it's that dumb)".

ANYWAY, so I'm thinking about Hob and RSD and specifically 1789.

Specifically the line, "It's just how it's done," referring to horrific practice of human trafficking and how Hob basically shrugs while, to his minor credit, looking suddenly uncomfortable and guilty, about the fact he actively profits from this industry, and the way he cringes in on himself when called out kinda seems to indicate that he knows it's a vile practice and isn't super comfortable with being reminded of his fact by someone he respects, like Dream.

A couple notes on that little exchange between Hob and Dream:

1 ) The face Ferdinand Kingsley-as-Hob makes in that moment is absolute textbook adult ADHD rejection sensitivity dysphoria. Namely, the point where you know criticism hits you like a knife in the heart, particularly from people you respect, and you just have to cover that flinch of literal physical pain with a careful poker face.

The way Hob's tone suddenly goes cold and with his very genteel, received-pronunciation manners he levels Dream with perhaps the closest he's ever come at this point to lashing out, "You're giving me advice...?"

I'm not saying that canonically it's RSD, or that neurotypical people don't suffer pain and disappointment when receiving disapproval, but to my eyes at least, Ferdie Hob takes Dream's comment very seriously, much more so than the comic counterpart did (who needed multiple nudges before he even realized what Dream was trying to tell him about getting out of the shipping business and still seemed a bit clueless about why Dream would want that or care by the end).

2 ) Going into proper headcanon territory, I personally chart Hob's journey from destitute to wealthy slave trader as the product of someone who stopped giving a shit about others after everything he suffered in the 1600s. To be perfectly clear, this is not a fucking excuse for it, it's an examination of motives.

Because technically, after everything Hob suffered in the 1600s, he could have emerged with more empathy for the plight of others. But clearly that didn't happen. From an entirely human motivation level, that leads me personally to the conclusion that since no one helped Hob when he was at his lowest (not even Dream, though I dearly wish it was otherwise and wrote extensively on what would have happened if he had) that led him to the belief, put simply, that fuck the world so long as he got his. Why should he care about anyone else if no one cared about him?

But to go back to the topic of this essay, RSD, there's an additional element to that theory on why and how Hob leaned into not giving a shit about others, and that missing factor from what's described above is the element of everyone is doing it. Specifically worded as, "It's just how it's done."

Another really fascinating lecture I listened to on ADHD talked about how the most common trauma reaction ADHDers have to their sense of rejection, shame, and guilt that comes the way our brains react to the world is by hiding. And that also got me thinking about 1789 Hob in this context.

Because Hob as we see him in 1589 is loud in his happiness. He's sitting there, bold as brass in the middle of the White Horse, showing off his wealth with a banquet, loudly declaiming about how he pretended to be his own son twice, worked in the Tudor shipyards (what would have been 50+ years before) and just how he spent the last 100 years working his way up to his knighthood. The man does not have an ounce of caution in him. But, he is also by far the happiest we ever see Hob (up until Dream ditches him in the middle of their date).

This is important because to my eyes, Hob is living openly and unashamed and with only the barest hint of caution typified by pretending to be his own son every couple decades. The way he describes his last 100 years sounds like an ADHD dream, basically getting a boat load of money from Caxton's printing press (basically the first tech startup unicorn of the modern era) and then running around wherever his interests took him where he also made money hand over fist, kept climbing, and eventually reached the point where he could purchase the acclaim and regard of a member of the (albeit minor) nobility. All of this after being born a peasant. That's just validation and money and prestige and getting to pursue your special interest and live as your authentic self all over the place. And I do mean authentic, Hob doesn't even seem particularly worried about talking openly in the White Horse about being 200+ years old, a strong case could be made that he's not that careful in his personal life either.

So anyway, Hob has this amazing century literally followed by the worst century imaginable, filled with the sort of horrors that can tear a man's soul asunder. Losing his family, his beloved wife in childbirth with their new baby, his adult son, his home, his money, everything he spent a century building. His title and name are gone too because of the nature of how he lost it with the accusation of witch craft, which also means he can't just fake being his own son again to get it all back because they're explicitly going to notice that this time.

And how did this all happen? Because Hob got noticed. He lived there 40 years, overconfident is his own words. Which is a wild thing to say about a bunch of witch hunters showing up at his door! He blames himself for being drowned as a witch. On the one hand, I imagine he has to think that way because otherwise he has to admit to the sheer brutal randomness of life, so in a way he's trying to take control of the narrative by blaming himself.

But it also smacks of ADHD again because ADHDers very commonly shift the blame onto themselves after years of their unique nervous system response making them a round peg in a square hole of wider society. We learn over and over that the mistakes we make are our fault, because of "laziness" or "apathy" which isn't apathy at all but deep agony over our inability to accomplish tasks in a neurotypical way without the support we need, but I digress. But it sure sounds like Hob may have been paralyzed by grief for literal decades and then blamed himself for not getting the mental spoons together in that context to move on and reinvent his life after losing his wife and child. Which would be a very ADHD thing to do.

So after this absolutely brutal smackdown by reality for living too openly, too loud, too ADHD, getting paralyzed by the powerful emotions he felt (if we follow the headcanon) over the grief and loss in his life, what is Hob's next step?

Hiding.

Blending in.

Not rocking the boat.

And again, not excusing it, there's plenty of other industries he could have gone into to blend in that didn't involve human trafficking. That said, if he went to sea, which we know Hob did on many occasions from the comic, it would be seen by his peers there at sea as a normal way to make one's fortune, and then.... well, we have as evidence that this is his current peer-group the sort-of pride with which Hob announces how he's making his fortune these days in the "shipping business", as if he's expecting Dream's approval.

That to me, reads a bit like the people pleaser/social chameleon aspect of ADHD. Hob is expecting to be praised for being successful by Dream the way he would likely be praised by his peers in the shipping business or among the wealthy privileged men of England. He's so steeped in that world now that he's clearly taken aback when Dream takes the (at the time more radical but not uncommon) stance of, "This is wrong."

And Hob knew it. But he was blending in. He was going along with how things are done. He wasn't rocking the boat. He has other hints at trauma responses too, "salting money around the world" in case there's political upheaval, for example. This is not the loud, boisterous Sir Robert Gadlen untouched by loss or trauma. He has been humbled and tempered and, indeed, made afraid by what happened to him.

This sort of wild swing towards protectiveness? Again, also ADHD. As the lecturer I linked first noted, ADHDers are textbook defenders. They are always defending themselves from the world that can suddenly, unexpectedly, plant a knife in their heart because of a perceived rejection. From a world that wants their brain to work in a way it doesn't, so they have to come up with myriad painful coping mechanisms to fit in, blend in, mask, and function. Hob was forced to protect himself after the 1600s, so he did, with money, and with not caring about other people, and with insulating himself from privilege, and becoming a social chameleon.

1589 Hob tries to earn back Dream's interest, but he doesn't fawn. Dream shows interest in Shaxberd and Hob, already starting to get irritated, tells him no, Shaxberd is crap.

And you can tell in 1789 that Hob is thinking about that day again when he gets Dream's disapproval, because who does he reference? That lad, Will Shaxberd. He's fearing rejection and abandonment again, or at least it's crossed his mind after Dream's admonishment. But this time, Hob is fawning more, very nearly flirting. He's trying to play the game better this time, trying to keep Dream's interest, social chameleoning the subject onto safer topics, things he thinks will interest Dream, as Shaxberd so clearly did, so let's talk about him if that's what you care about. Again, another ADHD social chameleon, people pleaser aspect. We are nervous empaths, we are constantly picking up a bazillion signals both real and imagined. And we're so fucking terrified of that RSD knife in the heart, we become people pleasers to avoid it. After the shipping business brag fell through, Hob pivots to talking about Dream and what, in his experience, Dream seems to like and talk about favorably.

So anyway, many many ADHD-esque rambling words later, there's a few more little details I'd add to the list of "possible ADHD behavior, not just the fun parts" for Hob Gadling. Is it canon? Maybe not. But it does make for a great headcanon, in my opinion.

#hob gadling #the sandman #sandman meta #adhd #omg this got so long lol that's perfect fits the subject huh

263 notes · View notes

duchess-kyuupid · 2 years

Note

Can you do one where the twst boys are walking with Fem!reader to class or something and reader trips but instead of getting up they just lie there contemplating life and acting like everything is falling apart but they as just being dramatic for the hell of it-

Crack and fluff basically lol

It doesn't matter who just whoever you like writing the most! Thank you ❤️

Of course! I'm going to do three characters who I thought would fit the scenario the best <3 Thank you for being my first request dearie!

Ik it says fem!reader, but I didn't use any pronouns or anything so it can be read as gender neutral :)

~ Twst Men with an overdramatic Reader Falling Down~

[Ft. Rook, Idia, and Sebek]

Rook

- In a moment of weakness on your part, you had asked Rook to help tutor you in the basics of etiquette in this world. Namely, you were just curious about the differences between your world and theirs- for example you mentioned once in a passing comment that it was common curtesy to open doors for people, even strangers, if they were going to be coming in after you. You've even done so when you were walking into class with some people behind you, but all that resulted in was weird looks from your classmates. And not even a thank you! And I mean, it's not like you were expecting to get a thank you, but at the very least, those people could try acting a little more polite! You recounted this story to Rook and he laughed, saying that such a courtesy is not only seen as a lowly servant's job, but it's also the fact that everyone at NRC are mages, so most people will just open the door with magic. - Anyway, so that's how you ended up here, receiving a lecture from Rook about etiquette and the importance of being elegant and beautiful- even more than you already are, at least. - You've been here for hours now, and your initial curiosity has basically evaporated into boredom with a strong longing to just go back to Ramshackle and relax. But you knew there was no way you were going to be able to escape, not with a hunter like Rook keeping his eyes on you like a hawk. - "Ah, mon coeur, it appears as though you've stopped listening! Non, non, mon beauté, this simply mustn't do! Why don't we practice something a little bit more engaging? Some dance lessons shall do just fine, allez!" - And then suddenly you were dragged out of your comfy chair as Rook leads you to the middle of the room to start his lesson with you. He's clearly been enjoying this, with the big smile that hasn't left his face since you've walked in. - So, despite how tired you feel, you accept his proposal to dance. I mean, how could you say no to his face which smiles so brightly that it puts even the sun to shame? - But of course, you also didn't really have the heart to tell Rook that you've never danced before- at least not like this. This formal type of dancing, with Rook's hand settled on your waist and gently holding your other as you two sway to the non-existent music- you don't have very much experience with it, not at all. - So it was only natural that you got stuck staring at Rook's face, again not paying attention to the words that he was speaking about how to waltz elegantly. Your body followed his movements and words on instinct, like you were stuck in a trace just so that you could focus on the one thing that was most important right now: him. - Alas, all good things must come to an end. While you were busy shamelessly staring at Rook as he led your dance, you tripped over your feet and landed face first on the floor. ....Why are we here, just to suffer? - You made no movements to get up, if only to hide the embarrassment ridden on your face. - "Rook, I think this is the end for me...Tell my wife I love her," you made a fake coughing noise, "And delete my search history." - God, how did you even get here? Falling to the floor is literally the last thing you want your crush to see you doing, and yet here you were- your only salvation is to joke about it and hope that Rook doesn't think of you any less for your terrible dancing skills. - But as you were wallowing, Rook simply smiles and picks you up off of the floor with a chuckle. You stare at him in surprise at his strength, as he literally just treated you as if you were as light as a stick. -"Oh là, là, mon beauté! Your dancing skills are truly magnifique! Especially for a first time, I must say you glided through the floor like you were the epitome of dance!" He says as he inspects you for any injuries, making sure to dust off and straighten your clothes in the process. "Vraiment élégante! S'il te plaît, mon coeur, dance with me again!" - Honestly, if your face could get any redder, it would. This man is going to kill you one day if you don't get your pounding heart under control.

Idia

- It was one of those rare days in which Idia was forced to go to class in person, and the two of you were literally watching the clock and counting down the time for the lunch bell to ring. - As it so happens, there was a new, special event that was only going to go live for 24 hours, but the gacha pool only had a limited amount of units that were going to be released per server. - If you two didn't hurry, then everyone else was going to snag this thing and you two would be left with nothing! Nothing but crushed hopes and dreams after months of saving specifically for this day. - Of course, Idia lost his chance to get it in class when Professor took his phone and chewed him out for using it during his lecture, and you didn't have the game downloaded on your phone yet (you really only played it when you were hanging out with Idia in his dorm room, after all). But you were both determined to get it. - When the clock strikes 12, the two of you were going to bolt out of there and make a break for his dorm room to hopefully make it in time. Idia would have to get his phone back later, right now the surest bet would be at his dorm, where he keeps several different computers so that you can try to get the thing too. - 11:58.....11:59.... 12:00!!! - The bell rings and the race to his room begins! - Alas, neither of you could really straight up run there, because if you got stopped by a hall monitor or a teacher, then that would be the end. So you two decided that the best way to go about it was to speed-walk there. - Oh, but you had almost forgotten about how enormously tall Idia is. His version of a "speed-walk" is basically your sprinting pace. You'd never notice because most of the time he's slouching, but this man stands at (183 cm/6'), and his legs are just so ridiculously long that you couldn't help but to fall behind simply because you weren't running. - And Idia notices this too, so in an attempt to help you, he decides to pinch at a loose piece of your clothing (this was already going out of his comfort zone, so don't expect him to just outright initiate physical contact without asking) and drag you forward to meet his pace. - Unfortunately, he failed to think his plan entirely through, as his grip on your clothes were not very tight and you were not expecting to be dragged like that. To make matters worse, the halls were also getting crowded as people were making their way to the cafeteria. - Long story short, Idia lost his grip, and you tripped over, getting lost within the crowd of people at the same time. Idia stops to look behind him in surprise to see you getting swallowed into the mob with a terror-stricken face. - "Go, Idia! This is your chance!" you cry out with fake tears escaping your eyes, "You're gonna have to leave me behind, but don't worry, I'll catch up with you. I won't die here...." You give him a tearful thumbs up as the surrounding students calmly walk around you. - He salutes you with tears in his own eyes, "Your sacrifice will not be forgotten." And he turns around to start full-on sprinting towards his destination. - And you stay there on the floor for another second before chuckling when you come to a certain realization: - "I have now both literally and figuratively fallen for him now, haven't I?"

Sebek

- Sebek, being the gentleman that he is, has decided to walk you back to Ramshackle after learning about Malleus' fondness towards the human who calls him 'Hornton.' - Of course, this has become a regular occurrence for the two of you now. Sebek still walks with you under the guise of making sure that you're not a threat to Malleus, but that's only because he doesn't know how to admit that he's become fond of you too. - The two of you were joking around, generally enjoying each other's company on your walk back home, when all of a sudden you find yourself falling to the ground. - You honestly have no idea what had happened to get you here, but what you do know is that following the few seconds after, Sebek is already yelling at the top of his lungs and interrogating the surrounding students who were unlucky enough to have seen you fall over. - "YOU! DID YOU TRIP THEM ON PURPOSE?" - So you just stayed on the floor, pitying the poor people he began to yell at for basically no reason as you began debating with yourself on the purpose of life. - For the most part though, you were just waiting to see how long it would take Sebek to stop for a moment to realize that you were still on the floor. - Ironically enough, it was when he started interrogating some other people when the ones who he just chewed out came over to you to ask if you were alright and if you needed help standing back up. - "WHAT ARE YOU DOING SO CLOSE TO THEM?? BACK AWAY THIS INSTANT, HUMAN!" Sebek yells (when is he not yelling?), this time actually scaring off the people he was just accusing of tripping you. - "ARE YOU ALRIGHT?" - "No, I think I must've broken my back falling for you." - "I'LL TAKE YOU TO THE INFIRMARY THIS INSTANT, AND THE ONES WHO DID THIS WILL NOT GET OFF LIGHTLY!" and just like that, your pick-up line is ignored as Sebek picks you up and begins to run over to the infirmary. Literally the only thing that you could think of now is the fact that, even if you weren't joking and you had actually broken your back, Sebek would probably have made it worse because this is definitely not the correct way to carry someone who's broken their back. In fact, you think, I don't think you're even supposed to pick them up in the first place. - Well, you wanted to tell Sebek that you were fine, that you were just messing with him when you said that. But at the same time, you kinda liked the feeling of having Sebek carrying you like this. It was rather comfy. - "Sebek, I have a first aid kit at Ramshackle that has some things that could help. It's closer than the infirmary, so let's just go there," you say, adjusting yourself so that you were more comfortable leaning against him. - He looks down at you and notices your peaceful-looking face- a face that does not say "help me I've just broken my back and I am in immense pain," and he finally takes a moment to think back on what you said earlier when he asked if you were alright. - With a dramatic gasp, his face flushes pink as he realizes what you had actually meant to say, and in his surprise, he accidentally lets you go too. - "Hey! Was that really necessary?" you pout as you fall to the ground, again, for the second time today. You look up from the ground to see his flustered face and you catch on that he finally figured out what you told him earlier. - "Sorry! You just caught me by surprise," Sebek states, his voice sounding quite meek in comparison to how it was earlier. - "You're going to have to make it up to me for dropping me like that, you know," you say, standing up and dusting yourself off lightly, "And my price is that you carry me back the rest of the way. That's the only way to make things even." - With a flushed face, Sebek nods and picks you up again, this time he became much more aware of how close he was holding you, but he noticed that, strangely enough, he didn't have any problems with it.

Just thinking about how many seagulls it would take to drown out the sound of Sebek's voice lol I'm thinking around 78, honestly

~~~~~~~~~

Sorry for being a little late with your ask! I was hoping to post this for Valentine's day but then work and college decided to drag me through the mud for a bit </3 Anyway, I hope you enjoyed, and thank you for reading!

814 notes · View notes

adamcoled · 1 year

Text

comfort | rhea ripley

rhea ripley x fem!reader

summary: comforting rhea as she handles the disappointment of not being on the summerslam card.

word count: 1,620

warnings: some small sexual implications basically

a/n: just something simple i wrote in my upset over no rhea at ss :/

With Rhea’s schedule, you definitely didn’t get to spend time with her as much as you’d like. She was on the road often, and you led a normal life at a home she’d frequently have to be away from for days at a time. You tried to attend any shows that were close enough and aligned with your schedule, but your priority was always PLEs. And of course, with SummerSlam being the second biggest PLE of the year, you were absolutely going to be there. While you and Rhea would be traveling together for the most part, she had plenty of media events so you wouldn’t be seeing much of her in the days leading up to the show. However, Rhea was home for a couple of days ahead of her schedule in Detroit, and those days would be reserved solely for the two of you.

But during those days, you couldn’t help but notice that Rhea seemed off. You knew her better than anyone, so when there was a difference in her mannerisms, you could tell. She wasn’t her usual smiley, flirty, goofy self that she was with you; she was much quieter, reserved, and seemed to be lost in her own head. When she arrived home late Tuesday night, you figured she was just tired. You had greeted her at the door by practically throwing yourself into her arms, and she kissed you chastely before placing you down and mumbling that she wanted to shower and get in bed. Salaciously, you offered to shower with her - smiling innocently despite your intent - but she said she was going to be quick and you’d might as well just wait for her in bed. You frowned at that, but tried not to feel too disappointed since it was late and she probably was exhausted; you just hadn’t seen her in days and missed her desperately.

Then the next morning came, and you were certain something was up. You’d woken up before her and decided to let her sleep in - even though she would probably give you hell for it later. Some mornings, you two would go out for a nice little breakfast, but you took it upon yourself to cook up something for you two at home. Cooking wasn’t exactly your specialty, but for her, you would always go all out (to the best of your capability). Once the meal was done, you made a plate for Rhea and set it aside before checking your bedroom to see if she was awake yet.

Sure enough, she was, but when you walked in you saw her sitting up with her head in her hands and her phone discarded to your side of the bed.

“Rhea…” you began, making your way over to her in concern. “What’s wrong baby?”

Hearing your voice, she lifted her head and you placed a soft kiss to the top of it, to which she immediately smiled, but it wasn’t a genuine, wholehearted Rhea smile you knew so well. She saw the worry in your eyes and knew she wouldn’t be able to fool you for a second, nor did she want to. With you, she knew she could be open, transparent, and honest; with you, she could be weak when she had to be strong everywhere else.

“They’re keeping me off SummerSlam,” Rhea revealed, pushing hair out of her face in frustration. “Not enough time and not enough build for me and Raquel.”

Your eyes widened upon hearing this, because it didn’t make sense to you how she just wasn’t on the card to defend her title as one of the most over wrestlers in the company. Even more puzzling, it truly seemed like they were heading down the Rhea v. Raquel path, something even Rhea had told you about weeks ago. Now, she was matchless and off the card besides any Judgment Day antics for such a major PLE, making Rhea’s feelings entirely reasonable. You weren’t even sure how to comfort her, but to her, all she really needed was just you.

“Oh, Rhea. I’m so sorry, you deserve to be on the card. You’ve worked your ass off for this,” you consoled, crawling back into bed next to her. She leaned into you, relishing in your warmth despite how defeated she felt.

“It just fucking sucks. Even worse when it makes people start questioning me as a champion, I’ve seen that a lot on social media recently.”

Just hearing that made you angry, because it was entirely out of Rhea’s hands at that point.

“What control do you have over the booking? Of course you’d be out there if it was up to you!” you exclaimed, letting your emotions take over for a moment. Rhea chuckled at this, loving how passionate and fiery you could be - especially over her.

“People don’t think about that, they just see me not defending the title and run with it,” she sighed, shifting from her spot beside you to lean back against the headboard. Her eyes focused on the ceiling, lost in thought and vexation. “I’m sorry for how I’ve been last night and this morning, love. I know you were worried.”

Your gaze softened, placing your hand against her cheek before connecting your lips to hers. It was the first real time you’d gotten to kiss her since she left the week prior and you had missed the feeling so terribly, and so did she. Rhea deepened the kiss, her tongue swiping across your bottom lip deviously. You were glad she seemed to be feeling better, at least.

“You have nothing to apologize for, I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I know you try to shoulder things on your own sometimes,” you chided, pushing a few of her stray hairs behind her ear. Though you thought she looked incredible every time she showed up on WWE television, you loved being able to see her in this state so much - bare-faced, still not even fully awake, hair a little messy.

“Well you always pry it outta me,” Rhea laughed, squeezing your thigh.

“Because I need Rhea Ripley to know she doesn’t have to be invincible. You can feel things like a normal human and I’ll be here to remind you how amazing you are.”

“Baby, I knew I wasn’t invincible the moment I met you,” she corrected. “My kryptonite.”

Rhea pulled you on top of her, earning a surprised gasp and giggle from you which she adored. Once you were settled, she took a moment to appreciate how beautiful you looked. She was so in love and so in awe of you, and she felt that constantly, but it was like her heart was going to burst out of her chest each time she was physically near you.

“I feel like I’m disappointing you. I mean you took off work and committed to traveling to watch me perform, and now I’m not even on the show,” Rhea spoke honestly. She was heartbroken that she wouldn’t be able to see you in the crowd, cheering her on during her match.

“Shhh,” you silenced her. “I’m only disappointed for you, but I still get to be with you for a few days even if you’ll be busy most of the time. I don’t have a single regret.”

She knew you would feel that way, but that didn’t erase the small amount of guilt she still felt. Regardless, she appreciated the hell out of you, and already was in much higher spirits just from talking to you. Of course, her frustration was still there, tugging at her, but now she had you looking at her so sweetly and it helped infinitely. You were proud of her no matter what and she could only hope that she’d make it onto the next PLE card to put on a good match for you.

“God, how did I get so lucky?” she asked, kissing your forehead, and then your nose, and then your lips. You rolled your eyes, about to open your mouth to tell her you were the lucky one (which she already expected you to say) but she stopped you in your tracks by bringing her hands to your butt and squeezing. She watched your eyes light up mischievously and laughed, certain the action had your thoughts running - it absolutely did to her.

“I made breakfast, by the way,” you mentioned, almost as a joke because you were well-aware food was likely the last thing on her mind now. And you were right about that.

“You’re an angel, but do you really think I’m thinking about breakfast right now?”

“Hmm, maybe,” you giggled. “And I’m not an angel. I’m just your girlfriend.”

You were still teasing, so Rhea played the same game. She traced her thumb along your bottom lip, reveling in the way your lips almost instinctively parted as if you were inviting her in. Realistically, you were. You had been craving her since she got home the night before and now she had enticed you fully.

“Don’t play dumb, pretty girl. But at least you know you’re mine,” Rhea grinned. Her thumb left your lip and instead her fingers entangled in your hair. Her lips came crashing onto yours, now a much hungrier, devilish kiss. She was consumed by both passion and love for you, but also anger over SummerSlam. Even still, you and Rhea were going to have a great weekend in Detroit and show them exactly why she should have been on the card.

“‘M not playing,” you got out between feverish kisses.

“Then how about we start?”

But for now, you two were just going to enjoy each other.

#rhea ripley x reader #rhea ripley x you #wwe imagine #wrestling imagine #wrestling fanfic #wwe fanfic #wwe fic #wwe fluff #rhea ripley imagine

303 notes · View notes

mapileonxputellas · 2 years

Text

Hola (Alexia Putellas x Reader)

Request found here. Yes! Yes! Yes! Love this! So I contemplated making this a bit more saucy but then I wasn't too sure so this is like just sexual tension! 3.5k words x

If your friends and family had to describe you using one word, it would be confident. You learnt from a young age confidence is everything in sport, especially being a striker, without that you would never be where you are today. That confidence was needed to take you on your next journey and led you to Barcelona. Having spent your whole career at Arsenal, from the academy to a regular player, when it came to renewing your contract you felt that now was the right time to make the change, at the age of 25 you were ready for a new challenge. Having made a name for yourself in the WSL and in the Euro’s, when Barcelona approached you it seemed like the perfect fit. Having Lucy and Keira also making the move was a massive help to you, settling into the city together and having someone you could speak English to with your very basic Spanish knowledge.

What you would say was definitely your best season to date was rewarded with a Ballon d’Or nomination, though you knew it was already staying in the arms of your current teammate. A teammate who you were yet to meet. Though you’d been in Barcelona for over two months now and were loving your new life and teammates, it seemed like fate didn’t want you and Alexia to meet. Even though she was injured she still attended the odd training session but you never seemed to be in the same place.

You knew that would change today as you arrived at the pick-up point to head to the airport, you would be heading off with the men’s team and staying overnight before making your way back to Barcelona tomorrow. Asisat, Lucy and Frida had already arrived by the time you got on the coach, sitting at a table to yourself, but you were just missing the final leading lady.

You could hear the commotion at the front as she arrived, greeting the men’s players before joining your group at the back and the first thing you noticed was how attractive she was in real life. Of course she was attractive on photos but in real life she definitely hit another level.

“Hola,” She finally came around to greeting you with a little smile as she took the seat opposite you. “I can’t believe this is the first time we’ve met.”

“I was beginning to think we never would, it’s like you’ve been avoiding me.” You replied, which received a wink in return. “Are you excited?”

“Si, if not just to spend the night with you.”

“Always the charmer Putellas.”

“Always.”

If this was any other situation you would be the first to spark up the conversation but for some reason the girl in front of you was making you nervous, the odd look shared between the two of you but for the most part the conversation was initiated by the others in the group.

Not much changed on the short plane journey either though Lucy did bring up an awkward topic on the group after you’d all moved around one table on the private jet, Alexia to one side of you as Lucy was opposite you with Frida and Asisat.

“So how’s Ana?” Lucy tried to tease you with that cunning look in her eye that you knew so well.

“I mean I think she’s fine, why’d you ask me?”

“Oh come on we can all see it, you two are like always together.”

Whilst that may have been true and you had made a good friend in Ana, there was nothing more than that to it but before you could reply Alexia made her feelings known. “Wow and you say I have good charm.”

“I never said mine isn’t better but just to confirm we’re friends, I can’t just spend my whole time third wheeling you and Keira.”

“That makes a change.”

…..

The rest of the journey carried on in the same vain, mostly just a lot of you and Lucy teasing each other and the other girls joining in. You kind of wished you would have had a bit of time to get to know Alexia, of course you were going to be teammates at some point but the girl next to you intrigued you. You were alike in many ways in that you exuded confidence on the pitch but you wanted to know about the other side to her.

Arriving at the hotel, the club had organised a make up artist for each individual player in their rooms and all was going well until you realised once she had left you had no-one to help you get ready. If there’s one thing you were known for other than football it was your quite bold fashion statements and this time you had chosen a cream suit with a lacy bralette showing underneath attached to a chocker made of pearls. You’d barely even got through the first piece without encountering an issue and that came in the form of your bra which had a set of hook and eyes leading up to the neck. You tried with all your might but you just could not get them to do up properly, which left you with only one choice and that was to go and get some help. The problem was that you hadn’t taken enough notice of who was in the rooms around you and you knew the girls probably wouldn’t answer their phones.

Taking a deep breath you fixed the bathroom robe over the loose garment and went out into the hallway and with no idea who’s it was, knocked on the door across from your own.

Things could not get much more awkward as the girl you only met today opened the door, already in her own dress. “Hola, are you not going to get ready?” You barely heard the question as you took her whole outfit in, from the slick back ponytail to the incredible dress, she looked amazing. “Y/N!”

“Sorry, I was hoping you could help me, it’s got a fiddly fastening.”

“You better come in then.”

“Thank you.” You walked further into the room, noticing the stark contrast in her organised room compared the chaos behind your door. “You look good by the way, more than good, incredible actually….”

“I’d return the compliment but I don’t think you’re going in that bath robe.”

“No this is for your eyes only.”

“I’m honoured.”

Turning your back to her, your first instinct was to just drop the bath robe completely but you only realised once it was too late that doing so left you stood in someone else’s room in only a see-through bra and matching thong, quickly bending down to secure it round your waist. “Sorry.”

“No don’t apologise for that.” Her cold hands left shivers down your spine as she lightly made contact with your back whilst doing up the fasteners, continuing to work her way up until she reached the final one. “Cold? You’ve got goosebumps, I thought it was pretty warm in here.”

“Something like that.” You quickly muttered before pulling your robe back up. “I’ll see you later.”

“I look forward to it.” Just as you went to open the door a hand on your back stopped you. “You look great too by the way, breath-taking.”

“Smooth talker Putellas.”

“Like you said, I’m a charmer.”

You quickly escaped the room before your cheeks became anymore red, completing the outfit with your matching suit and killer heels that your stylist had forced you to wear. Forgoing a bag, you stuffed your phone into the inner pocket before rushing down to meet the others, knowing you were already slightly behind schedule.

“Here she is.” Lucy announced your arrival as you walked into the entrance hall, all eyes on you as you grabbed a quick glass of water before the photos started.

As Alexia and yourself were the highest in contention for the main award, you took your places in the middle of the group photos, Alexia to your left and Gavi to your right. “I was right, you look incredible.” Alexia whispered in your ear as everyone settled around you, her arm wrapped around your waist much like your own onto hers. “Fucking incredible.”

“Can’t let down La Reina over here”

It felt like you were stood there for hours taking photos, different combinations of people with the president coming in for some and the managers joining for others, but finally you were loaded off into the cars to the venue.

“Now I can’t get rid of you.” Alexia joked as she joined you in the car for just the two of you, a healthy amount of distance between you both as the car started though you could still feel her eyes trailing up and down your body. “Do you have a stylist for events?”

“They offer suggestions and then I have the final choice, this was my suggestion though. I don’t know suits kind of make me feel powerful, in control. Some might say dominant.” Now it was your time to turn on the charm as you could see her slightly moving in her seat. “What do you think?”

“You definitely look dominant right now.”

“Good.”

“Do you enjoy evenings like this? The paparazzi are always crazy at anything like this.”

“I like that we’re finally getting the chance to have some praise for our achievements. Interviews and all that don’t bother me, it’s just the initial photos. I don’t know sometimes the bright lights panic me, I know it’s stupid because we play in front of thousands every week but just standing there….”

“It’s not stupid.” She reassured you, gently placing her hand over your own on the middle seat, lightly tracing her finger over your hand. “No-one is the same on that field and with our family and friends as we are with the media.”

“What about you, you must be getting used to this all now?”

“I’m still not comfortable with it but I just know that tonight I’ll just be getting questions on the whole Spain situation and the injury. Like if I win, no-one will even be talking about the football.” She was obviously trying to be conservative but everyone knew Alexia would be the one taking the award home tonight.

“You’ve just got to remember you’ve had an amazing season and you got voted to be in this position, no-one can say you don’t deserve it.”

“I won’t say it was a positive because it was a shit time all round but this injury did mean that I got to watch a lot of you at the Euro’s and you deserved the player of the tournament. If anyone should win tonight it’s you.”

“Thank you.”

….

All too soon you arrived at the venue, the red carpet lined with photographers up to the interviewer at the end. You could feel the panic in your chest when you all stood for the photos but the ever-present hand on your back from Alexia grounded you. Every few minutes she would check you were fine before the both of you conducted a joint interview.

“Alexia how does it feel to be nominated tonight for your second Ballon d’Or in a row? You’ve got stiff competition this year.” The woman asked.

“It feels incredible to be here tonight, celebrating football and how it can be enjoyed by everyone regardless of their gender. The competition this year just shows how competitive the women’s game is and I’m in awe of every single player nominated tonight, including Y/N.”

“Y/N this is your first Ballon d’Or, you had an incredible summer but would winning tonight top it all off? Is this awkward trying to steal Alexia’s crown?”

“It was an incredible summer and of course it was nice being nominated but I know what incredible season’s everyone on that list had. In terms of Alexia, she’s an incredible player and she deserves this award, I’m just glad I can spend more time with her this season and I’ll see if she can give me any tips.”

“Good luck tonight girls.”

“Thank you.”

Both Alexia and yourself were shortlisted into the top 5 players and had managed to be seated next to each other as you awaited the final results and for the winner to be announced. Before the camera panned to yourselves you leaned over in the seat to whisper into her ear. “Good luck making the speech if you get nervous just picture me earlier. You know the effect you had on me, I wanted to be powerful tonight and you made me want to get on my knees for you.”

“And the winner of the Ballon d’Or is… Alexia Putellas.”

You thought she would just send you a smile before walking onto the stage but she leaned over to pull you in for a hug instead her arms low on your waist, taking the chance to whisper in your ear. “You don’t understand how much self-control it took to not rip that off you.” Thankfully she managed to compose herself, quickly making her way up to the stage, you watched on almost in awe as she nailed the speech, thanking her teammates and her family and friends before she looked your way. “I also want to applaud and congratulate my fellow nominees, I for one cannot wait to see you all thrive this year, especially those at Barca, we all have so much to show one another and the world. Thank you.”

@yourusername: Ballon d'Or 2022.

Comments:

@/alexiaputellas: 🔥🔥 photo creds?

↪️ @yourusername: always ❤️

…..

That night felt like months ago though in reality it was only a few weeks, the only negative being that straight after the awards Alexia was whisked away and didn’t even travel back with you all. The most disappointing thing for you came in the lack of contact between the two of you, she’d probably forgotten all about you once the night was over. It’s fair to say you hadn’t though, you could remember all the tension you felt between you both, the spark you felt when her hands touched your skin. Everything. You’d kept an eye out for her during the training sessions but you never spotted the girl who was in your thoughts all the time.

Two weeks had passed since the ceremony and you were celebrating a 2-1 win over Levante having scored both of the goals.

“Y/N I’ll pick you up tonight.” Ana shouted just as you were about to leave the changing room. “9 alright with you?”

“I’ll be ready, thanks.”

The team had organised to celebrate with a few drinks at an exclusive bar, come club, that had recently opened. With it being an evening kick off you only had a few hours to get ready and into the outfit you had chosen, a black silk shirt and skirt combo which you left open at the front.

“You look great.” Ana said as I got into her car that night. “Out to impress anyone?”

“Only myself.” Through spending a lot of time with Ana you’d told her vaguely about what happened that night, she tried to persuade you to just message Alexia but your nerves of getting rejected pushed you back each time.

“Good for you.”

“How’s your girl been?” Ana had also confided in you that she had been dating someone but didn’t want to make it public just yet.

“Really good, I have officially have a girlfriend now.”

“Shut up! I’m really happy for you Ana.”

“Thank you, now we just need to get you one.”

Arriving at the club you spotted all the girls in a private section, stopping at the bar for a shot to take the edge off and a drink for yourself and Ana as a thank you. After the initial welcomes, you took your spot on the dance floor, messing around with a few of the girls, letting your hair down and forgetting about the pressures of being a footballer.

That came tumbling down when you spotted the brunette in the corner of the room, her eyes trailed on you as she nursed her drink. Your eyes locked together, neither managing to turn away as you continued to dance with Ingrid and she tried to vaguely listen to what Mapi was saying.

“Are you even listening to me?” Mapi asked, noticing Alexia was barely even focusing on their chat anymore. Following her eyes she was met with you dancing with her girlfriend, your eyes though only meeting the girl next to her. “Wow I didn’t know you two even knew each other.”

“We don’t… not really anyway.”

“But you find her attractive.”

“Of course I do, I mean have you seen the girl.”

“Follow her.” Mapi almost pushed the Ballon d’Or winner out of her seat noticing your retreating figure. “Go.”

“I’m going.”

“Don’t come back without her.”

You didn’t know how long you could take the tension out there, even across the room it felt like she was invading all your senses. Retreating into the bathroom you took a deep breath, giving yourself a silent peptalk in the mirror.

“Hey.” Your thoughts were interrupted as Alexia walked into the bathroom, leaning on the counter next to you. “I thought you’d forgotten who I was.”

“I thought you’d forgotten about me.”

“I’m sorry about that night, I really wanted to spend the night with you girls, especially you, but then the media duties took over and I had to spend an extra night in Paris.” She admitted, her hand coming up to stroke down your face as you lent into her touch. “I thought I must have read the signals wrong when you didn’t message me.”

“I was waiting for you to message me.” You admitted. “I thought I misread the signals. I guess we both got the situation wrong.”

“Where’s little miss confident gone?”

“What can I say? You make me nervous, even tonight I would usually be the first to go over but you just paralysed me.”

“I saw you arriving with Ana and I didn’t want to make a fool of myself by approaching you.”

Before you had the time to reply you could feel footstep approaching and grabbed Alexia’s hand to lock yourselves in a cubicle, a mere few inches between you both that were immediately removed as you backed her into the wall behind her.

“I thought I told you there was nothing going on there.” Every inch of your bodies was touching as you left no room between you both, your lips grazing her ear as you tried to whisper. “She’s not the one I think about in bed, she’s not the one who’s hands I can feel on my back when I’m alone.” You traced your hands up her sides in the cut out of her dress, you could feel both your hearts racing as her leg wrapped around your thigh. “She doesn’t drive me crazy after one meeting.”

“I’m guessing she doesn’t do this then.”

Before you even had the chance to reply she’d propelled you backwards, your legs instinctively wrapping around her waist as her lips crashed down onto yours. You’d never felt like this just from a kiss before as her tongue battled with your own, one hand holding you up whilst the other knotted itself in your hair. You own hands wrapping around her neck. She definitely had the smoothest lips you’d ever felt as her lips detached from your own only to trail down your neck, sucking on your sweet spot.

“Stop.” You whispered before crashing your lips together once again, not wanting her to leave a mark.

This time when you separated you stayed in close proximity, your forehead resting on her own as she let you get down. “Did you not have anyone to help you today? You seem to be missing something.” From her position she could see your lack of clothing underneath your shirt.

“I should have asked Ana.”

“Say that again.”

“Maybe Ana might not want to help.” Even though you knew that was a complete lie you couldn’t help but tease the other woman as her anger began to show. “Especially if we lose contact again.”

“I’m not sure that would be a good idea when I’m the one you’re thinking about.” You should have known she would use that against you. “Let me take you out on a proper date, maybe you can tell me about these dreams you’ve been having.”

“I’d like that.” You admitted. “About the date.”

“Of course.”

Taking one final glance at you, she pecked your lips once more and gave your behind a pat to move out of the cubicle. Only there you were met with Mapi and Ingrid washing their hands at the sink, your cheeks blushing as your eyes locked with their smirks.

“Good night?”

“You have no idea.”

#alexia putellas imagine #woso imagine #woso imagines #alexia putellas x reader #espwnt x reader #espwnt #barcelona femeni #alexia putellas

578 notes · View notes

batmanisagatewaydrug · 11 months

Note

Hey Sex Witch!

I am a gay cis man, and while I don’t consider myself ace, I find it difficult to feel either romantic or sexual attraction to other men. Now, I’ve spent most of my time around straight men, and most of my queer friends are women. I also didn’t have any out queer friends at all until well into my adult life, largely through lack of access. Porn was basically the only source of sexual gratification for me.

I suspect that a fear of rejection/physical assault led me to overcorrect and just assume that all men around me were inexorably off limits during my formative years. Which, while not GREAT, did offer me some emotional and physical protection. I now live in San Francisco though, but while I’ve visited the Castro many times, I still can’t quite break out of the “everything is platonic by default” and feel the emotional sting of desire that I feel when I look at a male pornstar. (This is despite despite the fact that the men in these bars are at least as attractive as the men on the screen - I can say “This guy ticks all the boxes I find appealing” but still feel like any prospective spark is being smothered. I understand some of it is the fear of being “the creepy predatory gay” (thanks Popular Culture!) but I also just find my brain going into the platonic interaction zone before I’ve even considered making eye contact.

(For the record, I don’t blame the porn. “Porn addiction” is, ironically, quite the fresh load. I’m as sure as I can be that this is just late-stage pragmatic sexual repression refusing to die completely.)

Do you have any recommendations for normalizing (renormalizing?) sexual attraction and potential chemistry? If so, I’d love to hear!!

hi anon,

I have a question: you mention that you go to "platonic interaction zone" before you even make eye contact. what happens after that? do you ever actually talk to these men? based on your statements about growing to think of all men as off-limits and fears of coming across as predatory, I worry that maybe you don't.

it sounds like, more than anything, what you need is some practice initiating interactions with people who strike you as cool and attractive and interesting to get to know better, particularly in gay settings where the risk of hitting on someone who will respond with homophobia is very low.

I'm not talking about flirting or pickup lines or waltzing right up to someone and announcing sexual interest, I just mean approaching and striking up conversation. give them a compliment, ask a question, offer to buy a drink or an appetizer, whatever. just, you know, talk to them and give them an opening to talk to you back. deepen that conversation if it's going well, and politely bail if it turns out you don't click.

the worst thing that can happen is a bit of awkward conversation, which happens to everyone all the time anyway and is more or less the price of being human, so no real loss there. the best thing that can happen is that you meet a new best friend or a great romantic love. the middle ground between those two points is a thrilling mix of potential dynamics, none of which you'll ever discover if you never put yourself out there.

back to your idea of the platonic interaction zone: I get what you're saying, but I also think a lot of unintentional hurt can come from the idea that there's anything fundamentally different about approaching someone in a platonic manner vs a sexual/romantic one. either way, the goal is to make a good impression on another person and learn more about them to assess them as potential company.

making a habit of approaching people to chat can also help dispel that sense of being creepy or predatory. every time you have a perfectly pleasant interaction with someone, boom, there's another reminder that you're not a criminal of the heart who's skeezing everyone out. hell, if anything you'll actually get better at picking up cues by regularly talking to a wider variety of people - and, if you're ever in doubt, just ask and give them the option to continue the interaction on their terms. "hey, it seems like you wanted to get back to your friends. should I go?" "you can be honest: would you rather keep sitting alone? no hard feelings!" "I'm gonna pop outside for some air, do you want to keep talking when I come back?"

now at this point you're probably saying "hey Makenzie how does this apply to sex and romance" because you still have to talk to people that you want to do sex and romance with!!! and you'd be amazed how easily striking up a friendly conversation can turn into sex and/or romance. very often the thing that makes people most attractive is getting to know more about them and finding little things that excite you and draw you to them. sure, they're good-looking, but you're never going to find out about their very cute laugh or their passion for cooking or your mutual interests unless you actually go talk to them.

and hey, listen: knowing that someone was interested enough to take the plunge and start a conversation is a great feeling. someone confessing interest right up front, that's good shit. people like to feel seen and wanted. but very few people want to be the one to take the plunge, so being bold enough to do so automatically sets you apart.

you're smothering your own spark, babe. next time a guy is ticking all your boxes, get out of your own way, tell him you're digging the vibe, and see what happens next.

#sex edventures 2023

71 notes · View notes

limitbreaker23 · 1 year

Text

How to watch episode 19&20 wearing shipping goggles

So, I rambled about the beloved Zhancheng Sunshot Campaign episodes here, but still have many thoughts within me, which culminates in this extended cut.

I'm calling episode 19 and 20 of The Untamed the Zhancheng Sunshot episodes, because they basically are just one mini-movie of them wandering around, investigating Wei Wuxian's disappearance and sunshooting while being cute.

Starting with their power couple entrance.

We're picking up with them after the entire "insert Golden Core in shidi" drama after a 3 months timeskip. This is just a whole banquet served for a starved shipper like myself. Just think of all the sweet and salty filler you can use those 3 months for. Jiang Cheng was all by himself after the Core debacle, having nothing but spiritual power and a fancy hat. Without a sword, he basically had to hitchhike or walk to the Cloud Recesses to find help. Lan Wangji had just led an group of disciples to take his home back from the Wens. His uncle was still injured, most of the Cloud Recesses had been burnt, his sword was also unavailable. He does carry a sword in episode 18, but it doesn't seem to be Bichen and he is without one when we pick up with him here.

This is also the first time we hear Lan Wangji speak again since episode 14. So, it's necessary to have him say something iconic like "Kneel" to make Jiang Cheng melt on the inside. He does make an incredible entrance, even without a sword. As does Jiang Cheng.

Jiang Cheng flies in all by himself. He has no sword, no disciples, and no one knows where he got the fancy robes from. He has Lan Wangji though, who basically works like a sword to carry. Good choice, Jiang Cheng!

Wearing your shipping goggles, you can happily fawn over them taking the lead in this moment together. Lan Wangji walks ahead, he has Wangji somewhere in his pouch, some neat strings available for chord assassination. Jiang Cheng isn't using it in this scene, but he does have Zidian. Even without borrowed swords, it wasn't a bad idea of them to infiltrate the Indoctrination Bureau. There's an entire fic waiting there how they did that. I can already feel the tension in their sudden need to trust each other in several life threatening stealth situations. Tehe~

After retrieving their swords, Zhancheng find themselves staring dramatically at the horizon to discuss their feelings. Jiang Cheng discusses his feelings because he does that all the time. It's all very normal. They match sky for cinematographic purposes, not because my shipping goggles come tinted.

We also learn that Jiang Cheng thought he'd find them all (aka Lan Wangji, Jin Zixuan, and probably Nie Huaisang who fainted and was carried back to dage, and even possibly Wei Wuxian) regrouping in Lanling. So, during the three month timeskip, he did in fact either go there first to get his new robes and help, or directly to the Cloud Recesses, where we last saw Lan Wangji's grand return after missing him dearly for several episodes.

I'm in favour of Jiang Cheng hitchhiking to the Cloud Recesses for simple reasons of it being closer, him having no means to travel without Sandu, and mostly because he reunited with Jiang Yanli only later in Qinghe when she was with Jin Zixuan in Lanling after departing with Song Lan. Obviously also because I wear shipping goggles and want Jiang Cheng and Lan Wangji to go purple robe shopping. Which they could also do in Lanling. Many options, much food.

After sharing his worries with Lan Wangji, they are reunited with their swords. Sandu and Bichen are very sad to be separated. Jiang Cheng and Lan Wangji look cute together.

Jiang Cheng lets Lan Wangji pull at Wei Wuxian's sword to find it has sealed itself. The utter display of trust and lack of questioning is something people wearing shipping goggles latch on. There is also delicious tragedy in this, because if Jiang Cheng had pulled Suibian now, the Core debacle might have doomed all of them less or more, we'll never find out. What we can find out, after adjusting our shipping goggles, is that this moment can come back to haunt Zhancheng almost twenty years into their future. As if they needed more angst potential.

Zhancheng regroup with their supporting cast on the Unclean Realm's battlefield. Jiang Cheng can finally reunite with his sister, hugging her while Lan Wangji watches like he wants to be hugged like that. Jin Zixuan also regrets not getting any hugs. With the Jiang siblings hugging it out, Lan Wangji can also marvel at Wen Xu's head, taken off by Nie Mingjue. Ah, the delicious fuel to have Lan Wangji of all people look vengeful at someone. Wen Xu broke his leg, burnt his home, murdered his fellow disciples. Lan Wangji could really use a hug right now. Looking at you, Jiang Cheng, not at Jin Zixuan scooting in there.

The best thing about their strategy discussion with Nie Mingjue aside from all the looks Lan Wangji throws at Jiang Cheng is them asking for the same assignment without previous discussion.

Lan Wangji looks delightfully worried about Jiang Cheng's angy moment, but does not have a snickers available. A hug might do. And Jiang Cheng searches for Lan Wangji to look at in his worried moments. Just hug.

Some wordless communication and in sync movement fogs up the shipping goggles. Nie Mingjue also approves of young heroes sticking close together for fighting and comfort. Jin Zixuan almost gets smacked out of the way by Lan Wangji trying to hurry after Jiang Cheng.

Next time we see Jiang Cheng, getting some soup from his sister, it is dark. This can mean many things like they finally had time to take a bath and stop smelling of blood, but they can also have a few lovely fic filler hours together. Tehe~

Next time we see them, Jiang Cheng has also retrieved/recruited some disciples of his own and is allowed to command the Lan disciples, except for Lan Wangji, who has a special spot at his side. The disciples seem very used to Jiang Zongzhu giving commands, they are off like he threw them a treat. Dog trainer Jiang Cheng strikes, I guess. Lan Wangji approves of good displays of leadership.

Sticking close to Jiang Cheng means Lan Wangji can witness the beautiful display of leadership and Zidian usage from the front row. His glance from the side is gasp and giggle worthy for a lost shipper soul like mine. He approves of an efficient, dramatic usage of spiritual weapons.

Their investigation of the reversed talismans not only comes with memorable lines, but another display of standing closer than necessary and trusted words. Their hands almost touched. Jiang Cheng has never heard of reversed talismans, he doesn't know about this, and he isn't afraid to ask for Lan Wangji's opinion and help, which is just melting me like butter in the sun.

Honourable mention to them putting Lan Wangji on a Scully box for this scene to appear giant because his heels didn't seem to have been enough next to Jiang Cheng. Lan Wangji's magically changing height doesn't seem to bother Jiang Cheng. He will be fine with three centimetres smaller Lan Wangji, three centimetres taller Lan Wangji, and Lan Wangji wearing heeled boots to appear taller. He will have to carry him when his little feet hurt, though. Do not go Sunshooting in heels.

Alas, the necessary heartbreak for such legendary love stories! Lan Wangji watched Jiang Cheng return from his confession scene to Wen Qing. Don't be sad, Lan Wangji, he came back to you! The disciples in the back cannot believe the audacity of Jiang Zongzhu giving a comb to somebody else. Bless them being on our side!

The episode then follows our heroes on their travels around Yiling where mysterious murderings hinder the sightseeing but give us more shared looks and words and standing next to each other.

Jiang Cheng has also taught his disciples to bow properly to Lan Wangji and him at the same time, which is very gasp-worthy.

The climax of the Zhancheng episode is approaching, and Jiang Cheng can't wait. Lan Wangji can't quite wait either, touching Jiang Cheng. Lan Wangji often touches people. It is normal.

Zhancheng stake out Wen Zhuliu and Wen Chao from a rooftop spot. They are sitting delightfully close to peek into a tiny hole. Most likely, they just jumped up there without making much of a sound. But how did they find the delightfully useful hole? It's nice sometimes to think about them giving each other a leg-up and then wandering around the shingles in search of the hole. Maybe their shoulders touched.

In times of shock and disgust, find yourself a travelling companion to share the burden.

A compilation of Lan Wangji watching Jiang Cheng hug everyone but him.

Sadly, our beloved Sunshooting with Jiang Cheng and Lan Wangji episode comes to an end with a devastating break up. Sandu touched Lan Wangji's chest much like Lan Wangji's arm touched Jiang Cheng's chest before. The rift between them grows. Lan Wangji leaves. Jiang Cheng stands up for his family. There was never a happy ending here. But food was served to fight the sadness.

#zhancheng #chengzhan #cql #jiang cheng #lan wangji

111 notes · View notes

hana-no-seiiki · 2 years

Note

well now that your ocs have been brought to my attention I can’t stop thinking about them 😭 so that led me to think about if justin and reader were dating before, doesn’t that mean everyone was trying to kill him too?

I answered this thrice and every time it got deleted for absolutely no reason.

Tumblr. Why?

I’m not mad anymore just tired 😭 This happened to my Batfam x Deadpool reader + other drafts too wtf

Thank you for your curiosity over my babies though anon! It gave me the motivation to write this several times over lmfao

warnings: mentions of dick size, tons of justin (yandere ex & jock) slander, slander towards filipinos cause i hate my fellow countrymen sometimes, attempted murder, cheating (by reader)

[ previous ask for context ]

So, Justin is pretty smart. He knew what he was getting into from the beginning. He knew the risks. He knew that he’d potentially get killed.

His archetype is morseso based on the bad boy who’s smart rather than the usual jock. I’m thinking of making someone else the himbo or even making a bimbo/thembo but we’ll see.

So, despite his grades being rock bottom due to the Yan! Faculty, Yan! Student Council, and Yan! Rich Students teaming up to end his academic life, they can’t change his wrinkly brain.

Justin prepared every meal of his (male wife material fr fr) and shared them with you to squash any attempts at poisoning.

He got buff(er) and attended Aikido + Boxing lessons to help defend himself when he’s apart from you.

Did I mention he’s like, the tallest, buffest dude in school? (Which isn’t a huge achievement in a school set in my universe’s version of the Philippines.)

( Fun Fact: Midnight Darling is set just a little south east of The Guest is God )

Canonically speaking, my character design sketches of him is just the genderbent version of the mc. Albeit his fashion sense included less b l a c k and is leaning more to the basic sports for brains guy style. So he technically is on equal footing with you in everything if not excels more.

But he’s unfortunately late to the party.

And he gets slandered to hell and back every single day.

I mean, if they can’t kill him in the physical sense, might as well emotionally damage him til he breaks, right?

Your poor goons had to pull a lot of strings and delete so many goddamn posts about him. Many rumors and articles were about his appearance, his terrible grades and how he’s definitely not worthy of you. A lot of those posts shit on his dick size.

Your goons mostly did it for your approval, they couldn’t care less about him. They also made sure to destroy the social lives of those that questioned your decision to date him. Sure, they sooner want him dead and all, but arguing against the decision of your being was utterly disgraceful. Horrid to even think about doing.

In addition to all that, you had to publicly cheat on him just to lessen some of the blows. He has received so much footage of you being with someones else that people have begin to add that he likes getting cucked to all the rumors that has piled up.

And don’t get me wrong, most if not all your harem are down bad masochists, but it still hurts seeing you with someone else.

Yeah, Justin would have already lost his sanity with the shit he has to deal with everyday if he were anything close to normal.

177 notes · View notes

sevileviathan · 1 year

Text

Why Betty Grof And Simon Petrikov shouldn't be together!

⚠️THIS IS MY OPINION! (I respect Betty x Simon Shippers and understand it's canon) ⚠️

here are my opinions of why I think they should not get back together or shouldn't have happened in the first place

This is more about Betty than Simon

As someone who does like them being together and seeing how much they love each other, I personally think Betty and Simon deserved better than each other. Simon is selfish and Betty is a people pleaser/push-over.

WARNING: FIONNA AND CAKE SPOILERS!

Let's start with how they first met: in the recent episode of "Jerry", Simon tells Fionna how he and Betty first met

It's told before that Simon and Betty met in a library, and they touched hands. Soon Betty went to one of his lectures about ancient artifacts and sparked up a conversation with him, telling him how much she admired him and his work. This led Simon not to directly but to asking Betty to join him on his next trip to find The Enchiridion, which ended with Betty saying Yes as this was a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity"

as they both went on that trip and came back, they've both shown to like each other. the only problem is and still is that Betty never saw herself equal to Simon

as he came out of the car to show he found the book, Betty shyly refused to take his spotlight even though she helped him to locate The Enchiridion

As Simon finishes that chapter of the story for Fionna, Fionna herself says that Betty basically left everything for Simon

This will be a recurring issue with Simon and Betty as they live on. as the episode went on, Simon continued his story.

Simon and Betty somewhat parted but Betty ended up writing him a note for him to read fully knowing he would pick up that book (very cute) and wrote a note for him (Mind you! They only known each other for at least a couple weeks before parting to do their own thing for a while) after reading it, it seemed like Betty was truly in love with him, talking about how she wished to be by his side but still doing her own thing.

She was ready to go on that trip she had been waiting for a while. As she was waiting for the bus, Simon ran to go see her

her friend told Simon "Don't make her miss that bus" as it implied that Betty was happy and dreaming of going on that trip (It's also brought up in Betty's Past memories when she was in mars how she really felt during that whole thing)

but he stops her, tells her his feelings, and lived happily ever after, I'm sorry but that's a load of shit

Simon didn't even go with Betty to that trip she wanted to go to, soon after all of this they went off to find items HE wanted to find, going on trips to help HIM find lost artifacts

as betty always went along with him, as it's said Betty kinda of picked this way of living, always following Simon because that's what "she" wanted. saying "I want to be by your side" but in that same letter she says she wanted to do her own things BUT have Simon by her side. To me it speaks that she still wanted to do her studies but with Simon there- but we all know how Simon treated her, What did Betty want to do after she got with Simon, We never found out and we all only know she just wanted to be with Simon. Betty nowhere in the series is shown to be her own person besides being the woman Simon is in love with.

Adventure Time: her past before she became Golb

Betty is the whole reason why she fucked up her own life and I mean this in the most respectful way to put it because she really became "God" to save SIMON

When Simon and Betty found the crown, Betty ran away from Simon but as we all know, she ran to the future Simon because He looked "normal" speaking as Betty did not like change whatsoever.

She ended up doing her own thing to see if she could help Simon to no longer be the ice king. Leading to Betty becoming the Magic Woman

Slowly making her go more and more insane as she still had her memories but every time she looked at Ice King it made her go mad. She betrayed Finn to save Simon but failed again (I know I missed the other time where she made an AI version of her to fix the crown but I don't find it too important besides showing how far she's willing to go to save Simon even if it meant killing him)

Betty ended up being on Mars for a while before Finn and Jermaine arrived, they all ended up seeing Betty's old life young Betty, the Betty that was meant to leave to her trip that even Present Betty herself changed the dates to make past Betty leave on her trip because Betty knows that Simon was something she may have wished never happened

She herself said that she gave so much to Simon that she didn't know if there was any left for herself

throughout all of Betty's life, it's always been about Simon she gave up her trip, she left her Simon for future Simon, she became mad to save Simon, she became a God to save Simon

In the ending of Adventure Time, Betty pushed Simon out of Glob and made one last wish "I wish for the power to protect Simon" making her fuse with Golb itself

Her last moments, her final wish, it was to protect Simon not save the beings of OOO, or OOO itself- just Simon

as much as they seemed to be in love, Betty was always in the shadow of Simon, giving up her own life for him

Not to mention that it seems like Betty did most of what she did through Puppylove and the honeymoon parts of relationships we don't really know how long they were together before finding the crown but it couldn't be to long after they got together (but I could be wrong) so half of the things she did was for Simon to be his normal self (to me it seems like Betty just wanted to be with Simon as she did go through a portal to be with him as he looked normal instead of staying with her Simon to help him with the crown, Betty doesn't want change)

I can only compare Betty to Millie from Helluva Boss she's an amazing fighter as Betty is smart but what are they?

Millie is Moxxie's wife, and Betty is the lover of Simon. But what else is there to them? besides Betty being a God what more do we know about her? The fact that she studied petroglyphs

There is so much to Betty that even the show called it out but even now, as Fionna and Cake come out, what will happen to Simon and Betty? will she come back as normal Betty to be back with Simon, I really hope not if Simon keeps going to only think of himself

In my personal opinion, I really don't want Betty and Simon to get back together but I at least want Simon to get that closure he needs to move on

Final words:

Sorry if some of the things I said were repeated, I just needed to air this out, if anyone has questions I'll be willing to answer them but if not, that's cool, please don't be mean to me about how "I'm wrong"

we all have different views on how ships should work in media but in opinion, a woman giving up her life for a man isn't for me! even if it's for true love, because even that same man didn't help her with her dreams

I hope what I write makes sense, sometimes I can't get my words right about how I feel about topics

Thank you for reading!

#adventuretime #fionaandcake #simon petrikov #betty grof #adventure time fionna and cake #golb #betty grof golb

51 notes · View notes

thenightfolknetwork · 9 months

Note

Hello!!

I don't know how to explain so I will probably ramble a bit, before, yk, actually explaining.

So, I have this friend, they are of this analogue-to-god species. They look like sapio enough I guess, I'm no expert on this subject and sapios are kind of basic.

Of course, unlike sapios, they have the typical symbols of a deity: hands with wounds, an eye on the tongue and the most beautiful horns, intertwined around the entire skull like a crown and yeah, I also think they're super badass, even without the miracles and powers and everything.

The fact is that they are having problems at university. We don't know who, but someone is filling their dorm room with these most horrible notes about them being a freak or a demon (which isn't bad, but it's said in such an offensive way) and someone just shoved all their books in one of the university lakes and now they are banned from borrowing any more books and I helped them make a formal complaint and still no one will do anything about it! My friend is incredibly sweet and kind, they can't hurt a fly, even though they definitely damaged space time when he was born, but who hasn't?

The thing is, we recently discovered who was behind it and we've come to an agreement: maybe it's time to teach them why they called us monsters in the first place. A little payback? Installing a bit of fear of god on their souls? Nothing permanent of course. Nothing that could be tracked back to us either. But if these bastards think we are freaks, well we can behave like ones.

Still, I don't know. They don't know either. When is it revenge and when is it simply survival? I don't believe that if you break a nazi's arm you're equal to one. I do believe that a Nazi with one arm has one arm less to make Nazi stuff. Anyway, we need advice.

This is an extremely difficult situation, reader, and I'm so sorry you and your friend have been put in this position. I agree, it is a ridiculous bit of rhetorical nonsense to say that anyone acting against bigoted behaviour is “just as bad” as their aggressor. It is one thing to take violent objection to a person's (violent) behaviour. It is another thing entirely to object to a person's mere existence.

All this said, I am simply not in a position to condone violence towards this person, much less encourage you to any particular act. This blog is not a private conversation, and it would be highly irresponsible of me to say anything about your situation which might be construed as encouraging violence.

I must say, I am frankly appalled at your institution's lack of response. Please do double check your university's harassment policy. You have every right to demand action in accordance to that policy, especially if you have evidence of who it is behind these attacks.

If they continue to drag their feet, you might explore other ways of putting pressure on them to act. Peaceful protests, letter-writing campaigns, or going to the press with the story of their failure to protect vulnerable students are just some of the ways you can press the issue.

I also feel obliged to mention the possibility of getting the police involved. This seems to me a rather clear-cut case of harassment, but I understand if your friend does not consider this a viable option. Goodness knows the police have done little enough to earn the trust of the liminal community over the years, and you must be led by your own personal politics.

All of this to say that there are other options here, and I encourage you to explore all of them before resorting to violence. As I said, I cannot possibly condone violence on this platform – no matter how extremely tempting it might be to do so. Besides, if this person were, for example, to suffer some kind of extremely painful and humiliating accident, you and your friend would be the most obvious suspects.

Besides, it would be extremely unethical of you to curse this person to within an inch of their life, causing them never to know a moment's peace, plagued as they are by visions of a world more horrible than they ever imagined. Under no circumstances should you and your friend stand your ground, bare your teeth, and show this revolting excuse for a human being the true meaning of monstrosity. Certainly not.

[For more creaturely advice, check out Monstrous Agonies on your podcast platform of choice, or visit monstrousproductions.org for more info]

#answered #the nightfolk network #monstrous agonies

26 notes · View notes

huffle-dork · 1 month

Text

Swap Beyond the Crystalverse Chapter 14: Outer Space AU

Co-written with @crystalninjaphoenix Read Swapboys | Read Crystal’s AUs

Other Multiverse Stories: SITCV | SATCV | GITHV

SBTCV Masterpost

"This is a bit of solar cloth, it's used to take power from starlight--or sunlight, I suppose," JJ says, tapping out his words on his brace. He and Alt are sitting at the table in his room. The 'solar cloth' in question is a small hankerchief-sized square that... isn't actually cloth, per se. It's made of tiny, tiny metal strings woven together, giving the copper material a shimmery effect. Just as flexible as cloth, if a bit heavier. "It's used in a lot of transportation back home, made into sails, but it's very versatile."

Alt is marveling at the tightly woven cloth, feeling it with his fingers and glitching a bit in excitement, “That’s so fucking cool! Solar powered sails… on space ships??” He asks with shining eyes as he looks up at JJ.

JJ grins. "Not just ships, but a lot of surface transportation, too. There's a popular sport called sand-sailing, where you go out to the desert, stand on a hovering board with a solar cloth sail, and skim the surface of the dunes. And there are larger versions of those for mass transportation. Like... like boats for land."

“Ohh! Sounds like something straight out of star wars-“ Alt laughs.

The door opens, and Sam flies in. "Alt, I realized you might be hungry," they say. "Are you? We do have food here."

Alt blinks up at Sam and makes a face, touching his stomach. “…I… I guess I am kinda hungry…” he says quietly.

JJ nods. "We can have lunch."

"Great! Do you have any allergies or strong aversions to certain tastes or textures?" Sam asks.

Alt hums, “Uh- not really? I’ll eat most anything.”

"Good to know! You're probably not familiar with most of our food, though," Sam says. JJ blinks.

"How about something simple? Do we still have pleries?"

"Of course we do."

“A… plery?” Alt asks with a tilted head.

JJ looks over at Alt. "A plery is basically dough wrapped around meat or fruit or vegetables. Sometimes cheese. They're originally from Caphomia but the form has been adapted."

“Oh that sounds good.” Alt grins.

"You can't have just that, though," Sam says.

"Well, bring whatever else you think we'd like, then."

Alt blinks at Sam and nods. “yeah I’m not picky. I need food to fuel my magic so I’ll take anything usually.”

Sam shifts up and down, a nodding form. "I'll be right back, then. This shouldn't take long." They turn around and fly out again.

"In your time, you haven't been found by other life, right?" JJ asks. "I mean... aliens and such. This must be very confusing."

“Oh yeah no…” Alt says with a laugh as he crosses his arms and leans on the table. “In our time- we still had people debating if things in the skies were UFOs or not but they never were. I think… we found water on mars? I dunno- don’t really keep up with a lot of space stuff.”

"Oh yes water on Mars! That's what led to the settling on there," JJ says. "And if that hadn't happened, there wouldn't be humans on Olinion, Haivis, or Vara. Though... we never would have had the opportunity without the help of more advanced species like the optels--which is what Sam is."

“Optels… ha- cuz they’re like… optic nerves,” Alt laughs a bit, “You always hear in movies and tv shows about humans settling throughout the universe… crazy to actually hear parts of it! In our time- feels kinda like we’re still just… stuck on earth, you know?”

JJ nods slowly. "Well... once upon a time, I'm sure the oceans seemed impossible to cross. I'm not sure if your world will ever get in contact with other species, or if other species even exist there, but I'm sure you'll start exploring more. It just... will probably take a long, long time."

“Ah yeah… guess it makes sense in that perspective,” Alt laughs. “Nah we haven’t found anything yet. It’s been… chill. Space wise, at least.”

JJ chuckles. "Chill is better than trouble, if you ask me. Things weren't always perfect, even if things are... relatively peaceful now. Relatively. I mean, I was kidnapped, technically."

Alt laughs, “Yeah, not exactly the definition of chill.”

The door opens again. "But apparently you could leave whenever," Sam says as they fly in. Their flying device has been connected to a floating tray via a tether of blue light.

On the tray are two plates of food, two smaller plates with utensils, a bowl of fruit, two cups, and a pitcher of what looks like milk.

Alt blinks at Sam coming in and looks at the food curiously. “Huh- doesn’t look too futuristic.” He chuckles.

"Well... most of this is from alien worlds, I think," JJ says. "Unless the nuggets are chicken?"

"Nope. Boral nuggets," Sam says. "And the milk?"

"Cow milk--but I do think the cow was raised in Vara so it's sort of alien."

“Boral?” Alt asks.

"Birds from Artatov," JJ says. "Thick black feathers. They live in the north of the planet. They are sort of like chickens, so if you have a recipe that calls for one, you can switch it for the other. Including nuggets."

One of the plates has these nuggets, which don't look too different from present-day chicken nuggets, only with a darker brown breading. Another has spherical roll-like food, made of a yellowish bread. The fruit in the bowl looks like apples at first, but the pattern on the skin is off, more stripey instead of the spotty pattern apples usually get.

JJ moves everything to the table. He tears open one of the rolls, revealing that there are green vegetables and green cheese inside. "This is a plery," he explains. "Originally they were just filled with meat--the felorrs on Caphomia are mostly carnivorous--but you can put anything inside the plery dough."

Alt looks at all the food and hums curiously. He grabs one of the rolls and turns it over before biting into it.

The plery is like biting into a calzone, but with a bit of a tang. The vegetables inside crunch but don't seem to have too much of a taste.

“Hm! Interesting-“ Alt says as he digs into all the food- finding it comforting and almost familiar. But not quite.

"And these are honishe," JJ says, then picks up one of the fruit. "They're from Sessirya... and they're notable because the sysrevs who live there can't actually eat them but almost every other known species can. Ironic."

The fruit is a bit softer and juicier than apples, tasting like someone mixed strawberries, apples, and oranges into a smoothie.

“Woah! That’s really good-“ Alt says after trying some. “Shame the Sessiryans can’t eat ‘em! Kinda like how humans technically eat poison when we eat spicy food huh?” He laughs.

"Oh you have no idea how much humans can eat that others can't," JJ says, chuckling. "Capsaicin is a big one, but also caffeine, cacao--"

"And all the things that are poisonous to you that you eat anyway," Sam adds.

"Oh yes, like alcohol and those pufferfish!"

“Oh yeah!” Alt laughs, “Listen man they’re good! S’not our fault nature’s defenses taste delicious!”

"If you say so," Sam says.

"Can you even taste anything, Sam?" JJ asks. "I've always wondered that."

"Not the way you do," Sam says.

The door to the room opens again and Anti pokes his head into the room. He looks back and forth between the three of them.

"...yes?" Sam asks.

"Checking to see if this is a good time to talk about the IRIS building," Anti says.

Alt looks intrigued by this but then looks at the door as Anti comes in. He shrugs, taking another bite of his food. “I don’t see why not.”

Anti nods and walks fully into the room. Sam flies downwards onto the table and disconnects the tray. "Here." Anti puts a small round device onto the table, pressing a button on the side. It projects a hologram of the space station. "The Zypso Station is composed of six layers. The IRIS building is a tourist attraction on Layer Four, composed mainly of offices, near the center of the station." As Anti talks in his robotic voice, the hologram zooms into Layer Four, past tall buildings, towards the tallest building in the middle, shaped a bit like a sword. The IRIS logo in this world is an eye shape with the word IRIS in the center, curved like a bubble. Lines of blue lights go up the side.

Alt watches the hologram with starry eyes, “Woahhh-“ He whispers, watching it work. Then he shakes his head and tries to focus. “Right okay uh… which layer are we on?”

Anti hesitates, looking at JJ. Sam lightly slaps Anti with their tail, and JJ rolls his eyes, covering his ears. "We are between two layers--Three and Two. Three is for commercial activities. Buying items and such. Two is residency. We will have to make our way into Layer Three and then into Four from there, but that will be simple enough. It will be more difficult to get into the IRIS building. It will doubtless not be in the public areas. Do you know where in the building your item is located?"

“Um.. not yet- but lemme see?” Alt says as he takes out the tracker again. The same knowledge gets beamed into his mind, with the only additional information being that it's in the upper half of the building.

"If you are unable to have that information, we will have to plan for all eventualities," Anti says. "We will have to get through high-security doors without being spotted by the camera system. I am recalling your teleportation ability. Do you think that could help?"

Alt frowns, “Usually we get more information once we’re closer. But it says it’s in the upper half….” He nods to Anti. “I can glitch us past and maybe even disable the camera systems too… I have electric based magic.”

"Magic?" Sam repeats, surprised.

Alt blinks then opens up his hand and lets a collection of electric magic form a ball in his palm. He then shifts into his calico cat form in a quick glitch before popping back into his chair, casually. He grins, “Magic!”

"I see. That is your abilities?" Anti nods. "Magic does not exist here. Or if it does, I am unaware of it, and so is IRIS. They will not be prepared for that specific ability. But they are armed with stun guns and EMPs of all sorts."

“…EMPS will be an issue…” Alt grumbles, crossing his arms.

"And you will not shut down when one goes off within range," Anti says. "It will be quite dangerous. Which is why our goal will be to get in and get out without being noticed. IRIS will notice if the systems go down for too long, as well, so we will have to be fast.

“I won’t shut off sure but it’ll disturb my powers…” Alt mumbles. “But yeah- we wanna make this as simple as possible.”

“Jameson..." Anti pauses. "Is there... anything you could do? If you want... to help?"

JJ had removed his hands a while ago. He grins. "If you want," he types.

Alt blinks at Jameson then grins too.

Anti fiddles with the holo projector, flipping through several diagrams. "This is common IRIS-style tech. Is there anything you can do to disrupt it?"

"Leave it with me, I can look it over later," JJ says. "For now, continue on about the building."

Anti nods and flicks back to the diagram of the IRIS building. "The upper floors are pretty much closed to the public. Except for roof access, where tourists can get a view of Layer Four. We could work our way up from the bottom or down from the viewing platform. Either way, we will need to disrupt the scanners at the front entrance. They will definitely detect me."

Alt nods in agreement, “Alright- sounds simple enough. I should be able to do that.”

Anti nods. "Now as for your brother. We will probably need to find him as well, I'm assuming? Does he have magic as well?"

"So bizarre to hear that question," JJ says.

Then Alt's phone starts to chime again.

Alt opens his mouth to answer then blinks and takes out his phone, “Anti?” He asks.

"Yes?" says the robotic Anti.

"Yep," says the Anti in the phone. "Or, partially. I just wanted to let you know that your brother is on the way. Along with the four others from this world."

“Oh! He found the others then?” Alt asks. “Glad he’s not in trouble then…”

Sam flies forward. "Why is there a screen assistant in your phone who looks like Anti?"

Alt blinks at Sam, “Oh he’s not a screen assistant- he’s our friend. He’s another Anti from a universe separate from ours. He’s been helping us.” Alt explains.

"Another me?" the robotic Anti repeats, looking confused.

JJ nods. "Of course, if you travel through worlds it makes sense you would've picked someone up along the way." Anti shakes his head. "What did he mean, there are others on the way? They will be seen!"

"Nope, I'm taking them through a path with blank spots in the camera systems," Anti in the phone says.

Anti's expression shifts to fear. "You found the path?! And--and strangers are coming this way?! Five of them, you said--how do you know they won't be followed?!"

"I'm keeping an eye on them," Anti in the phone assures him. "I can be in two places at once."

The robotic Anti does not look reassured, his expression stuck on fear.

Alt looks to robotic Anti, “He can he trusted- he’s just as paranoid as you are. He will make sure they get here without IRIS noticing.”

One of Anti's green irises flickers. His expression still doesn't change.

Sam flies over and puts their tail on Anti's shoulder reassuringly. "They won't find us," they say, removing their tail again to type.

Anti stands up abruptly. "I am going to go do some work in the studio before we go. Feel free to look over the diagram at your will." And he turns around, leaving.

JJ stares. Then he sighs. "I suppose I can't blame him for the paranoia."

Alt watches him go and sighs, “…I get it. I’d… I’m usually paranoid about stuff like that too. Especially when it comes to companies like IRIS…” He looks at Sam and Jj though and raises his eyes, “…do you all know why he’s.. like this with IRIS?”

JJ shakes his head. "I think there's more to it than this, but I know that him being an android is a part of it. Especially one so... alive." He pauses. "The creation of true artificial intelligence has been outlawed for centuries. If a robotic being is installed with AI, they must be programmed to follow all orders as their highest priority. That is called false AI. Obviously, Anti does not do that. As an android with true AI, his existence is illegal."

“Oh… well… yeah I guess thats enough to make anyone paranoid…” Alt mutters.

Sam flicks their tail, seeming somehow hesitant. "Want to look at the IRIS tech diagram some more?"

"Yes, that would be great. Then I can start putting things together." JJ reaches out and starts looking through the diagrams on the holo projector.

Alt scoots up to look with JJ, but- his eyes wander to look back at the door. …is he actually worried for his other self? He hasn’t exactly been… the most hospitable.

Sam flies down as well. "I'll look too. Anything I can do to help? I'm not familiar with Olinion stuff, obviously."

JJ smiles. "Advice would be appreciated," he types. "Let's see what we can do."

-----------

"I didn't know we could go this far down," Chase mutters. "Is this safe? What even is this?"

"For maintenance, I suppose," Schneep says.

Anti led them on a winding path down to the ground level of this layer, and then to a maintenance hatch in the floor that he said he unlocked earlier. From there, they've gone down, down, into winding tunnels, many of them blocked off by hidden entrances. The area they're in now is a gradual downward slope, metal hallways lined with tubes and ducts and bundles of wires. Clearly this area is not meant to be seen by the public. It might not be meant for people to walk through at all, with the irregular shape of the tunnel. The guys are taking this walk with varying degrees of ease. Marvin seems to be handling himself the best, quietly slipping through the small space. Schneep is lagging behind a bit, occasionally tripping over things. Jackie lingers back to keep an eye on him.

Bro feels a bit cramped in this small space, brushing aside wires and grumbling a bit. “You said this other you lives down here? How can anyone live down here…?” He mutters.

"Very carefully," Anti says from the phone screen. "Sorry to leave you on your own by the way. I could manifest, but I think it's best I don't add another person to this small space."

"It's like some sort of... of secret lair," Jackie says in a hushed voice, then giggling a little.

"Still, it's pretty uncomfortable," Chase says. "Why go through so much trouble to stay away from IRIS?"

"You wouldn't do it without a good reason," Marvin mumbles.

“I mean… I can get it if it’s IRIS.” Bro says quietly, “in other universes… those guys have really hurt my friends.” His eyes burn bright blue in anger as he thinks about this- what they tried to do to Schneep… what JJ said happened to him. “I don’t trust them- not one bit.”

Chase frowns. "Brave thing to say while you're on a space station mostly built by them."

"Crawling in between their walls, too," Jackie adds.

"I understand what he's saying, though," Schneep says. "IRIS has always seemed... strange to me. In ways I cannot put a name to. Just a faint feeling of unease. Perhaps it is a difference of cultures."

The ceiling is slowly getting lower as they go on.

“Well I didn’t exactly chose to come here you know,” Bro chuckles, “And even if I don’t trust em- IRIS doesn’t scare me! I’m sure they’re something me and Alt can handle- even more so with good friends helping us!” He smiles at the others.

"We'll do everything we can," Marvin promises.

"I mean... not sure how much we can do, but we'll try," Chase says. "Do you guys think we should wear masks or something?"

"For what?" Schneep asks.

Jackie gasps. "Yes! We should totally wear masks!"

"For what?" Schneep repeats.

"I'm not sure. Just... the thing is in the IRIS building, right? If it's in a part closed to the publice, we'll have to break in or something."

“Most likely- maybe the other Anti will have some! I already have one~” Bro grins, digging out his pink mask and putting it on, his hair flaring to yellow-green. “See? Hero mode~!”

"Oh that's so cool!" Jackie gasps.

"Your love of old comics stuff is really coming out on this wild trip, isn't it?" Chase laughs.

Bro grins, “ha! Just like my Jackie! He loves comics! Especially superheroes.”

Chase thinks. "Yeah... I should have a mask, if possible. I am a bit of a public figure. Did you guys have streamers in your time, other-me? Or did that really start to get popular later?"

Bro nods to Chase, “Yeah actually I help my Jackie with his streams sometimes- he does more long form videos though. I bet streaming is way different now than it was for us though!”

Chase grins. "Ah, well, not much has changed, I think. The culture of it, I guess, changes really fast, but I can't imagine the actual process has changed that much. I have a room for streaming, I play games of all sorts on camera, I have mods who help keep chat orderly. I guess in your time you didn't have to worry about the connection issues streaming to other planets."

“Oh yeah no we had enough trouble streaming across our own planet!” Bro laughs.

In the distance, at the end of the tunnel, something flickers. A bit of light, very hard to catch. Was that his imagination?

Bro blinks and tries to focus up ahead, “…did you guys see that?”

"Hmm?" Chase blinks. "See what?"

Marvin crouches low to the ground. His eyes dilate wide. "There's something moving down there," he whispers.

"What? What's moving?" Schneep whispers back.

"I think it's our size."

"Ah. I think that's safe," Anti says from Bro's phone.

“Oh- well if Anti says it’s safe then it’s fine!” Bro grins as he hurries forward.

"Well still be careful--" Anti says.

“I’ll be careful!” Bro calls.

Bro reaches the end of the tunnel, which seems to just... end. But there's slight movement in the wires to the left... and more flickers of green light. Two of them.

He blinks at the slight movement and moves to look closer at the wires. “…hello?”

After a second, a metal hand reaches out and pushes aside some of the wires. "Are you... Alt's brother?" asks a voice--familiar, but computerized.

"Holy fucking pasta!" Chase jumps at the sound of it.

Bro yells a bit in surprise then blinks rapidly, “Yes! Yes I am! …I’m Chase-“

"I didn't know you left," says Anti on the phone screen.

The robotic man's green eyes flicker as he looks down. "Oh. So you really can be in two places at once."

"You said something about going into the studio?" Anti persists.

"I did go there. Then I left." The man pushes the wires aside, revealing that he's standing in a hidden branch off the tunnel, and also showing his appearance for the first time.

The other four crowd around Bro.

Marvin blinks. "A... cyborg?"

"Nooooo," Jackie says, eyes wide. "I think this is a robot."

"No," the robotic man snaps. "I am an android."

"You're a fucking what?!" Chase gasps.

Bro looks between the group and the robotic man, blinking in confusion. “… what’s the difference? I mean- a robot I get. But…”

"Robots cannot think," the man states. "Robots are not alive."

"Androids also haven't been made in a couple centuries, because the GC thought they'd be too dangerous," Jackie adds.

All four of the others are looking at the man warily.

"Who... are you?" Schneep asks hesitantly.

"Anti."

“Ohhh- huh… why did they think they were dangerous?” Bro asks. He doesn’t seem very troubled by any of this. He brightens as he says his name. “oh! You’re this world’s Anti! That makes sense!” He grins.

"Well--because androids are strong and they don't feel pain--unless you want to program that into one, but why the fuck would you do that--" Chase says.

"I am incapable of hurting any of you," Anti interrupts. "That is my second core program. I would only be able to break it if it got in the way of my first core program."

Schneep tilts his head. "What is your first core?"

"Self-preservation."

“Ohhh I think Alt said that’s like- a robotic law or some shit.” Bro says nodding.

Anti looks at Bro. "Makes sense, you say?"

Bro looks back at Anti and shrugs, “You kinda look like Alt! Also must of the Antis we met are based around tech so!” He grins, “It’s nice to meet ya-! you know where my brother is, right?”

"I see." Anti nods back. "Nice to... meet you... too." His face shifts into a smile for a moment before falling back into that same neutral expression. Pleasantries must be difficult for him. "Yes, I can take you the rest of the way. Follow me." He turns and disappears down the narrow tunnel he'd apparently come from. The low ceiling forces him to crouch.

"We're sure about this?" Chase mutters.

"Androids cannot lie," Schneep says. "Or break their word. They still have computers for brains, and computers cannot deceive people."

"Unless they're really poorly programmed," Marvin adds.

"Yes, but I think if someone goes to the effort of making an android, they are going to program them well, yes?"

“He seems fine to me!” Bro says brightly, “If an Anti isn’t immediately creepy or out to kill us, they’re good in my book!” Bro follows after him, crouching down through the tunnel. The four others exchange alarmed looks upon hearing other Antis have tried to kill Bro, but then follow as well.

The tunnel gets really uncomfortably cramped, but luckly, they're not walking for long. Anti crouches down close to the ground and grabs a handle sticking out of all the bits and bobs on the floor, lifting up a square and pushing it aside. Light spills from the opening. He then drops through.

Bro blinks a bit in confusion but then shrugs and drops down too, expertly landing on his feet like a superhero would.

He lands in a + shaped intersection of metal corridors, each ending in a round door that slides up into the ceiling. After a moment of hushed debating, Marvin jumps down after Bro, landing on his feet. Then Jackie lands, then, Chase, and finally Schneep, who stumbles a bit but has Jackie catch him.

Bro looks around the space and whistles, “Damn! This is very future-y! They even got those slidey door things!”

A door slides open, and Sam flies out. "Why didn't you say you were leaving?!" they type at Anti.

Chase gasps. "Oh my god! That's--you're an optel!"

Hearing that familiar voice, Alt glitches out into the hall, eyes wide. He relaxes as soon as he sees Bro. “Chase!”

“Alt!” Bro says happily, throwing his hands into the air. He rushes over to Alt and pulls him into a big bear hug that lifts him off the floor.

Alt squirms a little and pushes at him. “Where the hell were you??” Alt grumbles.

“Meeting the others!” Bro says, dropping Alt down and gesturing out, “Guys! This is my little brother Alt! Alt, this is Marvin, Jackie, Schneep and other me!”

Alt’s eyes widen as he sees the others- especially Schneep and Marvin. “O-Oh my god…! You’re … aliens- like for real!”

“Crazy, right?” Bro laughs.

Sam quickly turns to Alt and drops something in his hand. A crescent-shaped object. "Put that translator on really fast," they say, then fly back to Anti. Alt blinks and Bro gestures to his own and Alt quickly puts it on.

"Yep, aliens!" Jackie says cheerfully, waving a metal hand at Alt. "Nice to meet you!"

"I will point out you must have been spending time with an alien this whole time," Schneep says, pointing at Sam, who seems to be having an intense staring contest with Anti.

"It's different when they look closer to you, I think," Marvin says. "And other-Chase also mentioned we're all friends in their home world. So we're probably human there."

"We are?!" Schneep blinks. "I suppose that makes sense, but I cannot imagine being human. Can you picture me with warm blood?"

"Depends. Can you picture me with flat feet like all the rest of you?"

Schneep laughs, a sound that has a bit of a hiss on the end.

“Well I mean- I’m used to seeing things like Sam. They’re just more.. hi-tech here. But I haven’t seen anything like you guys before!” Alt says. He glitches closer, his eyes sparkling with fascination. He looks to Schneep, “Are you implying that you’re cold blooded? Like a reptile? And Marvin you’re -! You’re a cat person!” He glitches a bit more in excitement. “that’s so cool!”

"Not quite a reptile, I believe the classification is reshkaz, but a reptile is the closest thing on Terra," Schneep says.

Marvin blinks, ears perking up. "Thank you! Your, um--glitchy thing is cool too."

Alt grins sheepishly, “thanks…”

JJ walks out of the room behind Alt.

"Oh! Hey!" Chase raises a hand and waves. "Guys, that's JJ! Nice to see you again! Sorry it's been a while... Guess I kinda missed you disappearing."

JJ smiles back. "No, that's fine," he types. "I'm sure you were busy."

Bro looks at Jj entering and grins. “Hi J! I’m Chase! Or you all can call me Bro~!” He grins.

Chase blinks. "Dude... is your voice mod set to Marvelan English?"

Sighing, JJ turns a dial. "I set it to that for Alt."

"Why d'you even have that setting in the first place?"

"I think it's fun to sound fancy."

Alt blinks, “…we sound fancy?” He looks at Bro who shrugs, “Apparently- the way we speak is like… hearing all the pirates talk all fancy in the last world, I think.”

Alt frowns. “…that’s so weird-“

JJ waves at Bro. "Nice to see you. Alt has mentioned you. I love your outfit! It's like an old superhero movie."

“Thanks dude! This isn’t even my real hero outfit though- that’s a superhero costume!” Bro grins.

"Weird thing that the further you go back in history, the fancier people seem to talk," Jackie says. "Don't even get me started on Shakespeare. I can barely understand it sometimes. I need one of those side-by-side translations."

Bro laughs as Jackie, “I needed one of those in secondary school! Guess Shakespeare is too fancy for both of us!”

"Well, I guess fancy is relative, since they don't think they sound that way," Chase says.

Anti and Sam join the group again. "Do you all... need anything?" Anti asks. "We do have food here."

Bro blinks at Sam and Anti then waves his hand, “Nah we just ate!”

“…you went out to eat?!” Alt asks Bro with narrowed eyes. “While you had no idea where I was?!”

“…we brought you dessert….?”

“Hey I mean… as far as we knew you were with JJ, and his shop wasn’t too far away from where we were meeting,” Chase says. “And if you live on a planet that doesn’t have alien contact, how often are you going to eat alien food?”

“Sorry, though,” Jackie says sheepishly. “I guess we got caught up in the excitement of having someone from the past there.”

Marvin reaches into the bag he’s carrying and takes out the takeout box as Bro mentions dessert.

Alt makes a face then sighs, “Yeah I guess that’s fair…” he blinks at Marvin and glitches over to look at the takeout box. His eyes sparkle, “…is that chocolate…?”

Bro hides a laugh.

“Yep!” Jackie says. “These are something called a yessyir, they’re a traditional dessert from Sessirya. The chocolate is a relatively new addition, since it doesn’t grow on that planet. Usually they’re more like that purple one there.”

“Where did you guys go?” JJ asks, raising an eyebrow.

“This place called Kissarso’s, it’s very good,” Chase says.

“Oh that place is in the Gateway isn’t it? I’ve thought about trying someplace like that.”

“It was really good!” Bro says brightly.

Alt studies the desserts some more before grabbing the box from Marvin and looking back at Bro, “…I guess you’re forgiven then-“ He then starts to head back to the room they were in, “We should discuss the plans for getting into IRIS now that everyone is here- c’mon.”

"Right, right." Chase nods, then laughs. "I can't believe we're gonna fucking break into the IRIS building."

The group all files into JJ's room. There aren't enough chairs at the table for everyone--not nearly--so the group ends up standing around. Schneep looks around. "Is this where you have been staying? There is no bed."

"Panel on the wall rolls up to form a cabinet bed," JJ says.

"Oh pog!" Marvin says, getting surprisingly excited. "Those are the best beds!"

JJ laughs silently.

Sam flies down to the holo projector and turns it onto the IRIS building diagram. Around it are a couple devices and metal parts, all coppery and golden.

“Oh! Neat room!” Bro says then gasps as he sees the holo projector and bends down to look at it better. “Yooo!! This is sick!! …what’s all these parts for though?”

"I was making things to help us," JJ says. "But even before that, Anti and Sam were kind enough to give me things to work with. It gets really boring stuck in here."

"What sort of things to help us?" Jackie asks, intrigued.

"Something to deactivate electronic seals on doors, and something to set off a loud sound in case we need a distraction. I'm open to more suggestions, too."

“Ohh woah! That’s so cool!!” Bro grins. “Those sounds brilliant-“

"I will tell you all what I told these three," Anti says. "Your part is likely in a part of the building closed to the public. We could get in from the bottom or in from the roof access, which are both open to the public but still have scanners for safety."

Bro blinks at Anti then hums, “Alt can get us probably to the roof if need be- or I could but I think people would notice someone who can fly.” He laughs.

“Then we gotta get the scanners down to get inside.” Alt adds.

"Well, you can get to the roof from inside the building," Chase says. "There's a public elevator. It can only access the first couple floors and the roof."

"Have you been to the building before, Chase?" Schneep asks.

"Yeah, when I first moved here. It was a while ago but I remember that elevator."

"Either way, Alt is right, we have to get the scanners down," Jackie says. "We don't want them to take away JJ's devices. Or, uh... Anti, I guess?"

Anti nods.

"I will be staying back and advising you with the building diagram," Sam says. "I have a line directly into Anti's head."

"Sounds creepy when you say it like that," Chase mutters. "But anyways. Scanners? JJ, can you help with that?"

JJ shakes his head. "There will probably be a lot of people at the public entrance. We don't want to cause a scene.

“I can probably take them down,” Alt says, pulling out a yessyir and taking a bite before continuing, “I have electric magic so i can short circuit them.”

The yessir has a texture like a slightly more solid pudding, with the disk at the bottom being solid chocolate. Besides the chocolate taste, the main flavor is a strange sweet one, light like a fruit of some sort but not recognizable as anything on Earth. Alt blinks in surprise at the texture and taste of the yessyir. It’s… really good though so he finishes it off quickly.

"Magic, yes, I forget," Schneep says. "...Magic. Is real. Where you come from." He blinks, looking a bit overwhelmed by that.

"I'm sure IRIS would notice if the scanners short circuited for too long," Marvin says. "So we should be quick."

"Can you do the same with the camera systems, Alt?" JJ asks.

Alt nods to JJ, “Most likely! Since they won’t know to expect magic like mine- I think we should be good.” He smiles.

"And... do we know where in the building your piece is?" Marvin asks.

"I believe Alt said their trackers give more detail as they get closer," Anti says.

“Yeah… all I know right now is it’s in the upper parts.” Alt says with a shrug.

"So we will have to improvise?" Schneep says. "Is that... a good idea?"

"It's our only option, I guess," Chase says.

The four guys don't look so confident.

"Come on, you all, this is important," JJ says. "Do we want IRIS to get their hands on something that belongs to these two?"

“Luckily this one piece shouldn’t give them like… too much power,” Bro says, “but we need it to fix our own machine.”

“Don’t worry, me and Chase are pretty good at thinking fast on our feet,” Alt says confidently.

"Alright... we'll help where we can!" Jackie says, putting on a smile. "Not sure what we can do, though."

"Distraction, perhaps?" Schneep says. "Or lookouts?"

“… wait- do none of you guys have like… powers or anything?” Bro asks, “not even like- alien powers??”

“Chase don’t be rude-“ Alt hits him slightly.

“It’s a valid question!”

Alt looks at the others and smiles, “we’ll be grateful for any help.”

"Well... I am pretty fast and have a tight grip," Jackie says, opening and closing his hands. "I'm also about three inches taller than I was before the accident! They asked me if I wanted to be taller when getting the cybernetics and I was like 'yeah' and so they just did that."

“…that’s why you got robotic stuff?? Cuz you were in an accident??” Bro asks Jackie, bewildered.

Jackie nods. "Long story. Basically, vehicle accident. I passed out so I don't remember most of it. But it was a while ago. And I like customizing my hands and stuff!" He opens and closes his hands a couple more times.

“Oh… well- at least you can look at the bright side of things now!” Bro says.

Chase chuckles. Then he looks at Schneep and Marvin. "Well? Do aliens have special powers?"

"...no??" Schneep says, confused. "What do you even mean by that?"

"Well, in comparison to humans, felorrs like me are a lot quieter, and more flexible," Marvin says. "IRIS is a Terra company, they're probably expecting human abilities to be the default. So, Schneep, what are kritzeins like compared to humans?"

"Nothing all that useful for breaking into a building!" Schneep says defensively. "It is small things, like being immune to many diseases and enduring higher temperatures. I--well I suppose for me personally I am a doctor? So if anyone gets hurt I can help?"

Alt shakes his head, “you all are doing more than enough for us- and if you feel like this is too much, we understand.”

"Well, we've come this far, might as well go all the way," Chase says, shrugging.

Schneep nods. "It is as Chase says."

"When are we planning on doing this?" Marvin asks.

"I am assuming that the sooner, the better," Anti says.

Alt stretches and glitches to his feet, grabbing and slinging on his backpack, “I can get us to the building right now if everyone is ready.”

"Huh?" Chase blinks. "What do you mean? We're like... a whole layer and a half away."

"Alt has a teleportation ability," JJ says.

"Oh!" Chase's eyes widen. "Pog!"

"No, we cannot just appear right outside the building," Anti says. "We have to appear in a blind spot for the cameras."

"Have one in mind?" Sam asks.

"Yes. I also need to change clothes into something more covering."

"Riiiight." Jackie nods. "You might be able to excuse a couple metal bits as cybernetics, but uh... right now it's pretty clear that you're all metal."

"I will go do that now," Anti says. "We can leave as soon as I return." He heads out of the room.

Alt nods, “Alright.”

JJ gathers up the two devices. "Who wants to carry these? I don't have a bag."

Bro blinks as looks at his utility belt, “uh- I bet me or Alt could hold them?”

"Oh, they'd probably fit on your belt there! I made sure to include clips. That works out." JJ hands them over to him, then makes sure his monocle is secured.

Bro grins and puts the devices on his belt and gives JJ a thumbs up, “Awesome!”

"You can really teleport?" Marvin asks, pupils wide and dilated in awe.

Alt blinks then grins, quickly glitching around the room before appearing back in his spot and putting his hands in his pockets. “Yup~! I call it glitching-“

"Because it looks like computer glitches!" Marvin says excitedly, tail really waving in the air behind him.

"That's so awesome!" Chase shouts, laughing. "You're both like superheroes!"

Jackie says, grinning. "That's so pog!"

Alt and Bro exchange glances before Bro laughs, “Yeah I guess so! Alt helps me a lot in my hero duties now-“

Alt plays with his mask and shrugs, “…I dunno if heroing is… for me though but… I do like- using my magic for good. Helping people… it’s… nice.” His cheeks are red.

Jackie smiles at Alt. "Well I'm sure you're great at it! You seem cool!"

Alt smiles shyly at Jackie and then hides a bit in his mask.

Anti returns, wearing a different outfit. Still black, but now it covers everything except for his hands--even his neck. It's very cyberpunk looking. He also has a set of mirrored sunglasses on his head, which he pulls down over his eyes. "Ready to proceed. And I also got these." He puts some black, shimmery fabric on the table.

Chase reaches out, sorting through them. "Face masks?"

"They are designed to scramble your faces on most cameras," Anti says. "Most. I cannot guarantee that all cameras were blocked, as there had to be some exceptions made or else I wouldn't be able to identify you."

Bro blinks at Anti then grins, “yooo! Looking Pog my dude~!” He looks down at the masks, “oooh neat!”

"'My dude'--haven't heard that phrase in a while," Chase says, laughing. He takes one of the masks, turning it over a bit to figure out how it would fit, and then puts it on, hiding the lower half of his face.

"We're not going to stand out that much, are we?" Marvin asks.

"Nah, human fashion has included masks for a long time," Chase says. "You must've noticed."

"Why is that?" Schneep asks, interested.

"Not sure. I think they started as some sort of utility thing but then people thought they looked cool."

“It was to prevent sickness for a while,” Bro says, picking one up and putting it on, taking off his hero mask, “it was a popular trend in Japan. Just spread to other countries.”

“I think they look cool, obviously.” Alt says, flicking his own.

"It's something about the mystery of it all," Jackie says, taking one as well.

"Doesn't exactly go with my style, though," JJ says.

"Would you rather have your face recorded on camera?" Anti asks.

"I wasn't saying that." JJ takes a mask as well.

"Why do you have these, anyway?" Schneep asks as he takes one too.

"Precaution," Anti says slowly. "In any case. Ready to proceed when you all are."

Alt pulls up his mask and nods, “We just need to link up- and Anti you just need to visualize where you want us to appear at.”

Bro goes to take Alt’s hand and they both offer out their hands to the others.

"Okay. This will probably be really weird, but let's do it!" Jackie grins as he takes Bro's hand.

"There's a lot of us, are you sure you will be fine?" Schneep asks, taking Jackie's hand in turn.

"I'm sure it will be," JJ says. "We won't be going too far, really. Not like we're teleporting down to Terra." He takes Alt's hand once he's finished typing. Everyone else links up from there.

“Yeah it’s no big- I’m all fueled up,” Alt grins, his eyes sparking green blue. “…the yessyir helped a lot.” Bro laughs.

"Visualizing clear," Anti says.

"Androids are probably very good at visualizing, aren't they?" Chase chuckles.

Once they get the confirmation, Alt closes his eyes and they all glitch towards the spot near IRIS. Sam waves goodbye as they all disappear.

#SBTCV #swap beyond the crystalverse #SBTCV outer space #outer space au #everyone gets to meet!! and plans to get to IRIS!!#writing bro and alt being siblings is my fav gajhbka their whole dessert thing still makes me laugh XD

7 notes · View notes