#ANYWAY.. also if you want to see the stinky game I made that's not actually related to my own worldbuilding really (why I have never
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I made a few new wax seal stamps out of clay (like the ones I did for my worldbuilding stuff forever ago), this time just of random symbols that I thought might look good done in the style of painting over the raised part of the wax or etc. :0c Some of them aren't carved deep enough to really show up that well, but overall they worked okay for being clay lol
#wax seal#crafts#wax stamp#stationery#Window one is kind of stinky.. I was imagining like a swirly night sky sort of looking thing so it would be a surreal contrast of a night#sky with a window in the middle that shows a daytime sky - but the silver and purple wax kind of mixed too much together#with the black and it just looks very plain black and not all that starry or anything hjbhj.. Of course the eye is probably my favorite#since all I ever do is draw eyes and still like eye imagery for some reason. The four leaf clover is very lumpy and skrunkty but also it wa#the smallest in size out of all of them so was easier to do multiple stamps of just to try it out.#The heart with eyes wax is actually more swirly in person. I wanted it to be a mix of light pink and red and white. and the wax#did kind of all blend together but in person you can definitely see MORE of the intentional swirlyness. in this it just looks plain pink.#I was going to do one eye in the heart but it looked weird. but now two seems too plain. i could have done 3?? in a pattern.. hmm#alas. I wish I could make actual metal ones. With the clay i have to paint them in a thin layer of olive oil before stamping because#otherwise the wax just kind of gets stuck in the grooves of the clay and then you can't pull it up. Very wacky ''unprofessional'' looking#set up where I'm hot gluing circles of sculpey clay to short stumps of a wooden dowel that I sawed apart with a serrated bread knife#and then using an old paintbrush to put olive oil on them whilst holding a spoon over a yankee candle flame hjbjh#ANYWAY.. I think if I were middle class/rich/etc. this would be one of the main things in my crafting room is like.. SO many colors#of wax. and all different custom made stamps designed by me. which could be much more elaborate in actual metal.. muahaha.... >:)c#RHGghhh... I actually don't want to talk much about it since (this is probably just my Obsessed With My Own World Artist Delusions) I#think I have a really cool idea for a game that could genuinely be successful if i ever get to make it and I don't want to give#everything away and spoil the whole plot/concept in hopes that one day I can actually do it - BUT - a game that I'd like to make after the#visual novel I'm making now has partially to do with the main character working as a sort of writer/scribe/artist assistant in an elven#city (set in my world/with my worldbuilding species and versions of elves and etc) and I was thinking of maybe incorporating#somehow being able to collect little writing type items like these like.. you can get different wax seal patterns or pens or etc. when I do#stuff like this in Real Life it always makes me think of that like.. ouh... this is good research.. what it shall be like to be a littol#elf collecting wax seals and such.. indeed... GRR i need to be finished with my current game NOWWW... i MUST work on other#thingss... aughh... ANYWAY.. yay. accomplishment to do One Single Thing other than Sit In The Summer Heat And Rot#though also hilarious as this was the first cool-ish day that was below 80F in a while hgvh#waking up like 'wow.. i actually feel okay today?? like I could do things?? how mysterious.. I wonder why..?? :0'' Its The Weather You Fool#Tis Always The Weather
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Things that happened in my sims game today that ✨just make sense✨
-My sim went on a date with his stalker
#so i have this one house in which a romance sim lives who can't get laid#god knows why he can't get laid. he's hot and bisexual and he's a line cook. like what more do you want#anyway i finally resorted to using the matchmaker just to try to get him laid and for whatever reason she sent me this woman#who could not be interacted with aside from talking; flirting and influence#which meant i couldn't end their date and it also couldn't really progress? so i was like 'well this sucks'#so i had him get another date#obviously she was PISSED that he rejected her for this hot policeman so she left him a fiery bag of poop on his doorstep and a stinky lette#(he didn't even get to first base with the policeman btw)#except that wasn't the end of it. she kept COMING BACK#she'd just stand for hours upon hours looking at his house. i mean literally she was there ALL DAY#it seemed like she only left when i directed him to go greet her. literally as soon as i put 'greet elle' in his queue she left#eventually i managed to have him actually greet her and there was still only talk; flirt or influence available#(once he greeted her btw she completely made herself at home in his house. she took like two bubble baths?? and i couldn't ask her to leave#she eventually left because she was hungry and i wasn't going to feed this crazy ass woman who had literally been lurking outside his house#for damn near two weeks straight. i was like you can die here if you want to. that's fine#anyway. i decided to have him invite her over for a date to see if that unstuck her because by this point i was weirded out by the limited#interactions. so she agreed to the date but didn't get unstuck#i had to use boolprop testing cheats to make her selectable and then unselectable. THAT finally worked#for some reason casual romance settings (acr) still don't work on her though? so she can't be woohooed because he's not in love with her#i suspect she's a young adult and something's messed up in her coding. or i have a mod conflict. despite my best efforts#i've never seen a sim behave like her before. she was literally just standing unmoving STARING at his house. no idles or anything#i thought she was stuck but she could blink. fucking eerie#tl;dr ts2 remains the game of all time#personal
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silly Aiden headcanons because I have no impulse
i probably already done these before in other headcanon posts I made but ermm I’ll do it again 😹
small TW for scars at the end 🗣🗣
AIDEN :
Aiden has the most unhinged playlist ever like oh my giggly goodness we got metal we got rock we got classic we got indie we got pop we got vocaloid Idfk whatever you can think of ( same 😹 )
totally had an immense phase of just everything . Creepy pasta , animation , FNAF , idk any other phases from 2016 help
Probably dated like once or twice , but they weren’t serious at ALL and mostly online . He just said yes because he wanted to be nice since he never really had friends ofc , so why hurt someone you barley know if it means getting a friend ? ( I’m gonna explode 😭 )
I’m not sure when this was actually invented , but he’d probably try and convince everyone to make battery acid candy drinks . ( they all say no 😔 )
Sorta sad headcanon they if no matter how hard to tries to solve a difficult puzzle , and he fails , he just starts silently bawling his eyes out . Cause you know he’s really good at them right ? He can solve them pretty quickly ? So if he’s like absolutely pressured by a bunch of people watching expecting him to win ( or like his friends cause yk they believe in him !!!! ) and he can’t solve the puzzle he’ll be like “ why can’t I solve this why is this hard why am I failing “ or something and then start crying ig ( Yeouchers angst 😿 )
Bro is the heaviest napper ever you can stack things on him for HOURS but the moment he actually sleeps most things can wake him ( if he’s not comfortable at least . He’ll sleep pretty well at sleepovers )
I can’t figure out an art style for him but I updated it so ignore that last drawing it’s grody anyway he sometimes draws people but prefers just random splotches of color . He has extremely stylized art but yk , it’s just ‘ weird ’ according to some people since it’s really . . graphic . Not in a BLOOD BLOOD BLOOD way but very mixed ( if you get what I mean )
Hugs everything when he sleeps you can’t tell me otherwise like you seen his old bed ?? He had NOTHIN so absolutely is he gonna cuddle everything near him
Hates competing . ( idk if he did it before but we’ll see ) like he doesn’t like doing puzzle competitions anymore that much , he just got bored of it and was really kinda forced to do it when he was younger . BUT if it’s in a game against his friends , he’ll probably do it just to help them out cause they always get stuck if Logan can’t figure it out either .
Does that thing with music where If it absolutely hits he just starts spazzing out and dances to it
that one thing where he walks around in a circle talking to himself if he’s really deep in thought ( he could go on for hours so someone has to pull him out to drink water at least )
TONS of posters in his room
Him and Taylor binge shows together , often ask the others to join when they aren’t busy . They totally watch anime ( Tyler calls it childish then gets really invested in uhhhh let’s say full metal alchemist and sport animes like haikyuu or something I can’t think of any he’d like . But I’m gonna make them all watch Ghost stories because it’s funny )
Aidlyn cuddling is mostly done at Aidens house cause his parents rarely go up to check on him ( 😅💥 ) and also he had a ton of blankets for Ashlyn to wrap herself in . He got her a heavy weighted blanket for her birthday one time so when that’s not around she just uses Aiden as a blanket if she’s feeling affectionate ( he’s warm in the winter time and pretty light believe it or not )
Has a medium spice tolerance , eats more then what he can handle like a stinky loser
doesn’t like anyone pointing out his growing hair roots so just don’t talk about it much 😅😅
steals chopsticks from restaurants cause who needs to buy any ??? They’re free if you don’t get caught / hj
sometimes just locks himself up in his room and lays in his bed thinking about life
LOVES drawing his friends ( especially Ash ) in his free time because he rarely draws in front of people , and will make an airplane out of it to throw it over to them . But he has that mentality where “ Everyrhing I make kinda sucks “ so expect to find doodles in the trash or hidden in his room
IPad kid , can’t tel me otherwise .
Loves hover boarding but he kinda sucks at it so he just 🧍🕺☠️ ( falls )
Will ram into everyone in bumper cars , almost sent someone flying ( Lilly , he bought her candy as a sorry )
rarely catches cavities because he actually has really strong teeth and willingly bites down on hard candies ( I do the same thing because I’m impatient 😹 )
Does all his school work at home cause school has too many distractions ( real )
Buys like body foundation to smear onto his legs and arms . He doesn’t want anyone to point out them out , and if they do he just tells them their from skateboarding . It can come off after a few days if he doesn’t reapply , but it’s fine since he does it again in between and would have to reapply anyway . Idk how it works 😿
Anyway who shall I do next ????? Put your answers in the comment section below subscribe like and support my Patreon see you in the next video 😹😹😹☝️☝️💥💥
#school bus graveyard#sbg#sbg (webtoon)#school bus graveyard webtoon#I’m so mean#I got to stop I’m going insane#He has one of those ugly - cute stuffed animals with the fake teeth#aiden clark#aiden rambles#Will update tags later maybe
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Listen.... Phoenix as a divorce lawyer we get with during the divorce procedure w our stinky ex husband
A/N: Pookie you're a genius I'm buying you coffee and Mars bars next time I see you. Writing this was so much fun!
DivorceLawyer!Phoenix Wright x GN!reader
Warnings: swearing, a bit spicy (heavily implied that they had sex, but I didn't write any explicit smut), alcohol, a bit angsty
Words: 1,776
P.S. I don't know anything about being a divorce lawyer, so if there's any misinformation, just ignore it or let me know so I can fix it!
Your life couldn't be any worse right now.
The man who you thought was the love of your life, your best friend, your ride or die, was playing you like a game.
15 affairs in 5 years.
You meant nothing to him.
You found out about this a few months ago. Your mind immediately went to divorce, but a big problem presented itself. You didn't have any concrete proof that he was unfaithful to you.
So, you spent these past few months gathering as many screenshots, videos, pictures, and profiles as you could, desperate to just get out of this relationship (if you can even call it that). Your husband had no idea what you were up to because you were very careful about your cover. You kept track of every meeting he had with his mistresses, every text he got from one of them while he was away from his phone, every phone call, and soon enough you had over 100 pieces of evidence to prove his unfaithfulness.
The first thing you did afterwards was confront your husband about it. You didn't yell or scream; you didn't insult him; you calmly stated why you wanted to divorce him and showed him only a bit of the evidence you had. To your surprise, he actually cried and yelled at you for it before desperately trying to take you back.
"Please, baby, I swear I won't do it again," he sobbed, clinging to your sleeve as he tried to pull you in for a hug. You pushed him away, taking at least 3 steps back before sighing.
"Liam, I really don't want to hear this right now. Just pack your shit and leave my house," you responded sternly, pointing towards the direction of your front door.
His pleading facade seemed to crack, but he didn't give up.
"C'mon, love, it was all a mistake, I promise! I don't know any of these women. I only care about you, Y/N," he pleaded, taking a step closer to you. You groaned as you tried to collect yourself.
"You clearly didn't care when you went screwing around behind my back. I don't have time for your excuses, so just shut the fuck up and get out," you spat.
Liam's pleading facade faltered, now replaced with an angry scowl. He grumbled something incoherent before grabbing some of his stuff and stomping to the door.
"Whatever, I was only using you for sex anyways," he hissed, slamming the door behind him, the loud noise making you flinch slightly.
His words hung in the air, and it made your heart feel heavy.
Is that really all I'm good for?
You quickly wiped the single tear that slid down your cheek, getting your head back in the game. This was no time to dwell on what a cheater has to say about you.
Here came the worst part. Divorce procedure.
Now, you needed a divorce lawyer to guide you through the procedure. Mostly because you had no idea how the process goes, but also because you needed extra emotional support to get you through this period of life.
And you really hit the bullseye.
You somehow managed to get a hold of Phoenix Wright, the best divorce lawyer in this district. When you first contacted him, you had little hope that he would take your case considering he's a very busy man. That's why you practically jumped when he agreed to it.
"Really? You'll do it?!" You gasped, holding your phone tightly next to your ear. You heard him chuckle on the other end of the line.
"Yes, please don't be so surprised. Actually, you're my first client in a while," he responded. You were taken aback by that considering he's the best out there, but you didn't comment on it.
"Thank you so much! Oh gosh, I'm going to pay you double, I swear," you sighed in relief, letting out a breathless chuckle. He laughed aloud at that.
"No, no, there's no need for that at all. Now, which date are you available so we can meet up and talk about your case?"
You began talking dates, and he gave you a quick run-down of how the procedure goes. Thankfully, you and your husband didn't have any children or shared assets, so this process should be rather painless and last shorter than divorces usually last. Phoenix was also glad to have an easy case after a while of not taking any.
However, what he didn't expect were his growing feelings towards you.
Of course, he'd never consciously act on these feelings. You were his client, and going through a divorce, for Christ's sake, the last thing you need is your own divorce lawyer professing his love to you.
But God, was it hard to suppress these feelings.
He caught himself caring about you in a way that blurred professional lines. He took you out to eat sometimes to make you feel better, bought you stuff, and even gave you a discount on his services. He felt guilty for even charging you for his services.
This was the worst period of your life, and yet, you were standing stronger than ever. That made Phoenix admire you more than words can describe, and that's what drew him towards you in the first place.
A few times (more than you'd like to admit), you'd end up crying in front of him because of the divorce, blabbering about how disgusted you were that Liam would do something like that to you, wondering what you did wrong to make him do this, calling yourself all kinds of names... Hearing you talk about your own self like that, your strong, beautiful, admirable self, made Phoenix's heart break as he held you.
Even though he wanted to just scoop you up and show you how real love looks like, knowing you'd grown accustomed to your husband's pathetic excuse of being a husband, he knew he couldn't, and that was eating him from the inside out.
This was hard for you especially.
Not only were you just starting your journey towards self-acceptance, but you also started falling in love with your own divorce lawyer. He made your heart skip in ways your soon-to-be ex-husband never did. However, you had to push these feelings away. At least until this procedure is over.
Surely you can wait that long, right?
One night, he'd had enough of listening to you talk smack about yourself and took you to a bar to distract you from the whole situation, at least for a few hours. The offer caught you off-guard, but you sure as hell weren't going to deny alcohol.
Hours felt like minutes, the sound of glasses clinking and laughter filled the air, and soon enough you were both drunk as hell, and the last ones in the bar along with the bartender.
"...aand then she, liike, called me a bitch for jus' speaking factss," you slurred as you giggled. He cackles in response.
"Wow. She's the bitch," he commented, taking the last swig of his drink.
The bartender who's been serving you drinks all night approached you.
"Hey folks, we close in a few minutes. I called you a cab, and it should be here soon. Stay safe, alright?" she said with a smile, wiping the inside of a glass.
"Huuuh? What time's it?" you asked, looking at her dumbfounded.
"It's 3 AM," she responded.
"Whaat?! 3 AM?!" you gasped, turning to look at Phoenix. "Didn't we get here at, like, 8?? Or was it 10... I dunno," you shrugged. He had the same confused look on his face.
"Dunno, don't care, let's go home," he slurred as he got up from the bar stool, nearly falling over from how dizzy the continuous Malibu shots made him. You wheezed as you saw him stumble, your drunk mind finding literally everything funny.
The rest of the night was a huge blur. You couldn't remember anything if your life depended on it.
You slowly roused from your sleep, the raging headache greeting you first thing in the morning.
"Owww... what the..." you whined, your eyes fluttering open as you sat up. Immediately, you felt different.
These bed sheets didn't feel like yours. More importantly, why did they feel so close...?
You look down at yourself.
You're completely naked.
"Oh my God!" you shout in surprise, instantly going to cover yourself. You look around the room, not recognizing your surroundings. A wave of panic washed over you.
You turn your head to the side, your eyes widening at who you saw sleeping shirtless next to you.
"Mr. Wright?!" you gasp in shock, your mind immediately connecting the dots.
Oh.
You drunkenly hooked up with your own divorce lawyer.
What the fuck.
Because of your shouting, it didn't take long for Phoenix to wake up. He looked just as confused as you were. You both got dressed before sitting down in his living room and talking about what exactly went down last night.
"So... What do we do about this now?" you asked, looking down at the ground. He sighed, rubbing his temples as he thought about what to say.
"I... I don't know. I mean, we both like each other, but I don't want to rush you into anything," he said softly. He saw the confused, almost worried expression on your face and took your hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. The touch made your heart flutter as you looked up from the ground, your eyes meeting his.
"The decision is up to you," he added. "If you want to wait until this procedure is over, that's completely fine by me."
A moment of silence was cast upon you two, his eyes searching yours as you weighed out the pros and cons of the situation until you spoke up.
"I want nothing more than to be with you right now and make it official, trust me. But I'm scared that somebody will find out and spread it around," you stated, concern in your voice.
"If you think it would be better to keep a low profile until this whole thing is over, that's completely fine," he agreed. Your concerned expression softened into a thankful smile, a smile that nearly took his breath away.
"Okay. Thank you," you said, making him chuckle bashfully.
"There's no need to thank me," he responded, brushing some of your hair behind your ear.
The rest of the procedure went smoothly, and only a month later you were officially divorced.
It felt like a huge weight had been lifted off your shoulders, and you felt even more relieved with Phoenix by your side.
#ace attorney#gender neutral reader#x reader#ace attorney phoenix wright#phoenix wright x gn!reader#phoenix wright x reader#hurt/comfort#fluff
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homecoming crush
platonic! bertholdt x annie, RBA, slight hitchannie but isn’t the main focus, bertholdt kinda has a romantic partner (you can imagine it as you 🤭) but it’s not the main focus
modern au, high school au, crackfic but not really, annie has comphet, bertholdt is jokingly using the phrase ‘ur so in there’ not seriously lol, also im not a lesbian so im sorry if this isn’t totally accurate to the experience for queer women 😭, i just feel that annie would have romantic feelings for women lol
a/n - i sent this idea to another blog before and just now writing it so if that blog sees this randomly, hi 👋🏽 im the anon who sent you this scenario heehee
The air feels so much more crisp after a school event.
Football games, school dances, morning of a field trip.
Annie can’t find the reason why she came here. She feels awkward in the dress she’s wearing and she’s not even wearing the right shoes. She didn’t even know there were designated shoes for certain outfits until Pieck told her she looked like the protagonist of an old Disney channel show from 2008. All jokes of course.
Annie never lets it get to her. But right now, she is a 16 years old girl in a dress too tight around her growing body and in her old dirtied tennis shoes she wears everyday. Never has it ever occurred to her that looking like an old Disney channel star was a bad thing. Annie has never felt ugly, or pretty for that matter, in her life until now. And it is the most excruciating thing she has ever experienced. Ugly doesn’t even begin to describe how she feels. The eyes of her peers she never cared about are all of a sudden all on her and suddenly she has every reason to care about them now. Her hair is in a low bun and the only makeup she has on is lip balm.
It is homecoming night. The gymnasium has been turned into a starry night in Paris. Armin Arlert had been stressed about it the weeks leading up to the dance. Complaining to Mikasa in their shared history class how it seems like no one apart of the leadership committee actually wants to stick to the theme this year. Annie just felt stressed out listening to him. Perhaps this is the reason why Annie said yes to him when he had asked her to be his date for homecoming, perhaps this is the reason why she’s even in the old sweaty gym anyways outside of school hours.
She wasn’t planning to go. School events weren’t really her scene. But Armin, sweet old Armin who is practically a parents wet dream, needed a date. He practically deserved this just for somehow turning the old sweaty, stinky gymnasium into a romantic Parisian night sky. Who was she to say no? Armin was already on his way to earning the class presidency and later in life, he’ll probably earn the real thing. Compared to herself, quiet, drawn into the background, made to be forgotten - Armin could possibly be the best thing for her. When he asked her out to be his homecoming date, she tried to imagine a life with him, that this date would go really well and they’ll be boyfriend-girlfriend, high school sweethearts. They’d go off to different colleges, maybe go through a weird separation, but eventually find their ways back to each other, get married, have a few kids, grow old together - the whole shindig. The key word is tried though, she tried to think about it working; something in her can’t bring herself to even muster an image of it.
Dread stirs inside her as she realizes she might’ve been stood up. Well, technically she wasn’t, as she did arrive to the event with Armin in hand. But he was nowhere to be found, as he was running around trying to prevent his perfect homecoming dance turning into a disaster. Not only does she feel ugly, but now she feels embarrassed by the fact that she came to this stupid dance for no real reason. She could’ve said no and it wouldn’t have made any difference. She should’ve realized it beforehand. Of course the head of leadership would be busy at a school dance he was in charge of. She wants to cry, she feels stupid about it. It’s so stupid how badly she wants to cry right now. This stupid insignificant dance has done emotional damage to her own being.
Annie’s never felt this alone in her life. Some stupid song is playing and people are moshing around the star football player Reiner Braun as they lift him into the air, or as she knows him, the guy who she used to beat up when they were kids. She watches from a distance, twinges of nostalgia tugging at her heart at the sight of her old friend being celebrated for once in his life. She knew how his home life was and he knew how hers was; they have virtually nothing in common except not liking their home lives. But hey, at least Reiner Braun is dancing tonight and Annie Leonhart is in the corner.
Hitch from her Math class is there too. She’s jumping and shouting with the rest of the crowd, celebrating her old friend. She has her heels in her right hand and she has this big smile on her face and doesn’t feel embarrassed about taking a high school dance this serious, probably from the booze or probably because she’s still in high school, or probably because she didn’t have a bad home life holding her back. I bet Hitch doesn’t feel ugly, Annie thinks.
She can’t feel ugly looking like how she looks right now, at this moment; under the fake starry lights in fake sweaty gym Paris, her gums are showing as she smiles this big toothy smile and her eyes are crinkled like crescent moons, and the baby pink of her dress just further extenuates her whole entire being; this is what beauty is, Annie thinks - a girl laughing and dancing.
Hitch catches Annie staring at her, and her smile just gets even wider as she keeps her eyes on the quiet girl from her math class. Annie returns her eyes and just continues to watch her dance, and she feels a little awkward about it but it sure does beat watching Armin and Jean trying to keep the cardboard Eiffel Tower upright.
Annie doesn’t know much about Hitch. All she knows about her are all the observations she’s made while sitting behind her in Math this school year. How she’s often scolded and told that this isn’t a beauty salon every time she reapplies her lip combo, and how she still continues to do whatever she pleases, how she always has ‘tea to spill’ as she calls it to Mina (Annie secretly listens), how she always plays games on her laptop instead of taking notes, and how she often smiles at Annie when she catches her glance in the hallway, and even if they never talked outside of math class, their conversations being limited to geometry, she still thinks to smile at her, pulling at Annie’s heart, and that’s gotta mean something.
Oh god.
Annie can feel her heart in her throat.
She runs to the nearest exit for a breath of fresh air but instead, runs into a slightly disheveled Bertholdt as he’s trying to hide the fact that he’s been doing nothing but smoke and wait for a drunk Reiner to be done so he can finally go home.
Bertholdt is a bit frightened by Annie’s abrupt appearance, hiding his cigarette in the process thinking Annie was going to be a staff member.
“You scared me!” Bertholdt sits back down against the hood of his dad’s car.
Annie calms down at the sight of her childhood friend. Bertholdt hiding outside makes her feel less bad about her hiding in the corner while their childhood friend gets all the glory. At least they’re both losers.
Annie doesn’t say anything to Bertholdt but goes and sits with him.
“Can I get a cigarette?”
Bertholdt looks at Annie a little surprised. He carefully takes out a cigarette for her, making sure to not mess up the formation, and gives it to her.
Annie puts the cigarette in between her lips, not taking her eyes off the double doors separating her and Hitch.
“Light.”
Bertholdt takes out a candle lighter out of his pocket to light Annie’s cigarette, Annie looks down at the enormous lighter and looks to Bertholdt for an explanation.
“Sorry,” he says while trying to fit the candle lighter into the pocket of his suit, “I’ve been outside this whole time and my lighter ran out of fluid.”
“I’m so fucked Bertholdt.” Annie says, her eyes solemnly closing for a moment. “I’m so insanely fucked.” her sad cerulean eyes open back up, looking at those dreadful double gym doors again.
Bertholdt’s eyebrows furrow in worry. This isn’t the Annie he knows, the Annie who he’s known since they were 7, the Annie who can only express herself through labored sighs and punching Reiner, the Annie who he hasn’t had a proper conversation with since the summer and has made it her lifeline mission to completely ignore the two boys who’s she somehow manages to create a meaningful friendship with. What could fuck up the Annie Leonhardt, who Bertholdt hasn’t even seen angry, let alone sad, let alone happy, this bad to the point where she is expressing her fucked up feelings to an old childhood friend?
Hitch, Hitch from math class is what fucks her up, Hitch and her stupid fucking moshing is what’s fucking Annie up, Hitch and her lip combo, Hitch and her stupid gossip, Hitch and her stupid smile.
“Uhhhh..” Bertholdt doesn’t really know what to say as he starts looking at anything else but Annie, “did Armin do something?” he asks, knowing she went to this dance with Armin in hand. He doesn’t know what else could fuck up her night like this, he hasn’t talked to her in months and he’s desperately looking for answers.
“No. I wish he did.”
“Well what didn’t he do?” Bertholdt still doesn’t know what to say or how to comfort his old friend. He’s literally searching up on his phone how to comfort an old friend and typing out Reddit right afterwards because he doesn’t have the time to read PsychologyToday.com’s whole ass article.
“He did nothing.”
“I’m sorr-“
“He literally did nothing. He was just running around trying to make sure that the fucking lights didn’t go out and the speakers wouldn’t malfunction. As soon as we came into the gym, he’s running right to Jean fucking Kierstein to lecture him about whatever the fuck those leadership nerds even worry about.” Annie is starting to shake and tear up a bit. Bertholdt awkwardly places his large hand on her shoulder, literally doesn’t even try to soothe her, just places his hand on her shoulder.
“I feel so fucking stupid. I don’t even know why I said yes to go to this dance with him just so he can run around doing whatever the fuck he’s doing. I don’t even know him like that.” Annie holds her head in her hands, knowing damn well it isn’t Armin turning her into a crying mess.
“All I did was stand in the fucking corner while the ‘star quarterback’ Reiner Braun was having the time of his life.” Annie is just now finding things to be mad at, trying her hardest to avoid these feelings she can’t possibly be having right now. She knows she’s not mad at Reiner or even Armin, but that foreign ache in heart is trying to find someone to blame.
“Is it Reiner you’re upset about?” Bertholdt softly asks.
Annie doesn’t respond as she quietly cries into her hands.
“I get how you feel. I know me, you and Reiner haven’t been close friends since freshmen year but I really did miss when we were all close. Now all I talk to is Reiner. Sometimes it feels like I don’t even know Reiner.” Bertholdt mindlessly says, his thoughts drifting back to when it was just them three, unburdened by the possibility of becoming strangers, old stories to tell their future children about. He starts to ponder about the old days, when the three of them were still kids and had all the time for each other. Now, Reiner is being celebrated for the star athlete he is and the pasts of his childhood is outside, smoking fakedeep cigarettes and talking about their feelings. It’s gayer than Annie.
“But honestly,” he starts to confess, “I don’t think Reiner really knows me either. And Annie,” his eyes flicker to her, “i don’t think I even know you, Annie. We haven’t talked in a while.” Bertholdt said without thinking, the words slipping out as if they’ve been waiting for the perfect moment. Deep inside he knows they’re outgrowing each other; he knows that the versions of Reiner and Annie who would spend weekly nights at his house whenever their parents became too much to deal with are long gone. The versions of themselves who knew each others deepest secrets and the most embarrassing, the versions of themselves that they’ve only given permission to each other to see; the versions of themselves they’re not sure other people would ever get the pleasure to witness.
And yet, Annie and Reiner weren’t the only ones who’ve changed over the years, meek and timid Bertholdt has changed as well. And he at least has the courage to try and keep this lifelong friendship lifelong. He owes it not to just himself but to them. He knows what they have is special, a bond that transcends lifetimes and he wants to keep it that way.
“I mean the new and growing and developed Annie! I’d love to get to know new Annie!” Bertholdt frantically explains just in case Annie understood what he said the wrong way.
“It’s not Reiner, or even Armin, it’s Hitch.” Annie admits, her voice heavy trying to move past her throat, leaving a guttural admission; Annie hasn’t fully comprehended what Bertholdt was trying to say but it made her feel comfortable enough to show Bertholdt who she really is, what she’s realized tonight.
“Dreyse?”
“Yeah.” Annie sighs.
“Well what about Hitch-”
“I like girls, Bertholdt.” Annie finally spits it out. These foreign feelings that slowly crept up to her just from seeing Hitch Dreyse dance has manifested into this very moment, where she’s quite literally sobbing into the palms of her hands because she thinks it’s the worse thing in the world - to love a woman and to be loved by a woman. Tears only rush out once more once she realizes it feels so right, that it’s something she could actually dream about, something that’s so natural to her.
Bertholdt doesn’t know what to say. He isn’t really equipped to deal with situations like this. Now he’s searching up on Reddit how to react when your former friend comes out to you. But school Wi-Fi always sucks, and Reddit isn’t loading. So he says the next the best thing.
“I mean, I like girls too.” Bertholdt admits like it’s wrong for him to like women. He’s a bit shy about it as he bashfully rubs the back of his head thinking about a certain girl he’s been texting back and forth for the whole entirety of the dance he’s been outside.
Annie looks up at him, a little sick from the cigarette smell in the palm of her hand and her light eyebrows furrowed while her eyes widened in awe of Bertholdt’s awkwardness.
“You’re so brave Bertholdt.” Annie says sarcastically and chuckles softly, a light smile gracing her lips.
Bertholdt returns her smile, his nerves relieved as he suspected his friend felt better.
“Me and Reiner were gonna go get some burgers after this. You wanna join us? We can talk about girls together?” Bertholdt places his large hand behind his even bigger head, rubbing the back of his head bashfully.
“Please,” Annie doesn’t mean for it to sound desperate, but she’s just now realizing how hungry she is and she misses her two only friends.
Bertholdt’s lips curl into a small smile, subtly changing the subject just so Annie won’t feel too bad, “Yeah, now we’ll have to wait on Reiner’s fat ass, you know how he is.”
Annie scoffs, “don’t get me started, he was crowd surfing when I was in there. I’m not sure how they could even hold his fat ass up.”
Bertholdt lets out a calming laugh.
For a moment, they sit in a comfortable silence. The night air feels cooler now, less suffocating, full of hope and wonder similar to the morning air of a field trip.
“Thanks, Bertl,” Annie says suddenly, her voice calmer than he’s ever heard it.
He looks at her, surprised, “For what?”
She wants to say some corny shit like ‘for accepting her,’ but Annie has expressed herself far too much than she would like too tonight.
“For being here,” she says like it’s second nature, her gaze still fixed on those damned double doors. “and for staying outside with me while Reiner gets all the glory.”
Bertholdt looks back at up, “Yeah, well he’s deserved it.” He praised his best friend, compensating for calling him a fat ass a few minutes prior.
“At least we’re losers together.”
“Holy shit, is it fucking hot in there!” Reiner comes rushing out like he’s escaped hellfire, huffing and puffing as he put his hands on his knees.
“Finally, it took you long enough,” Bertholdt stands up, going up to Reiner to pat him on the back. “Come on, we’re starving.”
“We’re?” Reiner looks up to find the we’re in question and finds Annie awkwardly looking back at him, a little frightened from his sudden appearance and intrusion of her little moment of vulnerability. Reiner notices her eyes a little worn out, like she’s been crying. He doesn’t say anything. He’s just glad she was here with them.
“Oh hi Annie,” he cheeses at her, “you’re coming with us?” he questioned, hoping for a yes.
“Yup,” she gets off from the hood of Bertholdt’s dad’s car, and makes her way towards her designated seat she used to always sit in (behind the passenger seat). Reiner and Bertholdt follow her.
Bertholdt begins to play the static noise he calls music and Reiner tries to change it but Bertholdt keeps his foot down about how it’s his car, his music. Reiner offers to pay for gas and Bertholdt complies, but as soon as Reiner plays ‘Better Now’ by Post Malone, he immediately revokes his radio rights, even passing on free gas. Annie would rather listen to the static noise Bertholdt calls music than Top 40.
She casts one last look at the double doors from the back of her window, and she solemnly thinks about Hitch and her stupid smile, Hitch and her stupid lip combo, Hitch and her stupid dancing. Annie still doesn’t know what to do with all of her feelings. But for now, eating burgers with her two childhood best friends and talking about girls together will have to do.
And somehow, that’s more than enough.
“I don’t know man, I think I really have a shot with Historia. Even Ymir thinks so.” Reiner says to Bertholdt. He’s eating Annie’s leftover fries she never finishes as Bertholdt and Annie give each other a knowing look. A look that doesn’t know whether they should let Reiner know that Historia is a girl kisser.
Ymir and Bertholdt are a lot closer than some people think, and there’s only a few lesbians in this whole entire school for Annie to flock to so she keeps her options known.
“You’re so in there, dude.” Bertholdt chides Reiner, not wanting to out Historia while also attempting to encourage his best friend. He’ll ponder whether this is fucked up or not later when he’s about to go to sleep.
“What about you, with your little thing going on with that 53 year old man?”
Annie lets out an unexpected laugh that would originally be a huff through her nose in the last, not even letting Reiner know she thought he was funny at times. Reiner looks at her, a surprised smile on his face.
“Shut up,” Bertholdt retorts, “53 year old man or not, I’m still in it.” He jokes, looking down at the goodnight text from the girl he’s been talking to the whole night. His eyes glint in love, sending her a goodnight text back.
“Yeah, me too.” Annie says sheepishly, a bit embarrassed.
Reiner looks to her laughing a bit, smiling as this is the first time he’s ever seen Annie embarrassed. “Who’s the lucky boy?”he slightly laughed.
Bertholdt begins to laugh at the mention of a boy.
“Girl actually.” Annie admitted in an elated tone, contrasting her usual deadpan nature.
Bertholdt gave Annie a surprised look, a proud smile decorating his face as he was happy she was more comfortable about who she was.
“Oh? Then who’s the lucky girl?” Reiner has the same smile on his face, not even questioning Annie’s sexuality, like he knew this whole time.
Annie slightly laughs to herself, a big smile painted on her own face, her porcelain skin blushed and warm, “I…was lying, there is no girl,” Annie’s ears perk up at the sound of the door opening, Hitch Dreyse coming in with her own group of friends. That toothy grin is painted onto her face and her curls are starting to unravel out of her bun, her face is flushed from the bottle of booze someone had snuck in and from how much she danced tonight; “Yet.” she finished her sentence.
“Weirdo, weirdo, weirdo,” Reiner jokingly chants at Annie’s lie.
Annie flips him off and shakes her head unseriously, “Shut up dumbass.”
Bertholdt audibly laughs at Reiner and Annie’s bickering, shaking his head in disapproval.
“Oh god you’re so in there, Annie.” he joked, adding his own 2 cents to their banter, already knowing who she was talking about. Reiner and Annie laugh at Bertholdt’s comment.
He missed this; his childhood comes back to him in a burger joint after homecoming, he’s trying to make it poetic but all he can think is how much he’s missed this.
So he takes the long way home when he’s dropping off both Reiner and Annie. They’re in his dad’s old minivan and it smells like the time Reiner threw up in the back seat and all the windows are down. All 3 of them are sharing Reiner’s dying penjamin and Ribs by Lorde is playing. It’s one of those nights where summer creeps back into fall and it’s warm, and the wind feels good against her skin, and their old hometown of Liberio starts to look too good to leave. It’s the way everything starts to look like an oil painting when you’re looking out a car window; with the night sky being the canvas, emphasizing the street lights blending together in warm hues, and the familiar houses they’ve walked/drove past their whole entire lives combines into an array of colors that paints nostalgia. Annie can feel tears in her eyes and it makes her feel free and it’s pathetic but Hitch Dreyse would never feel pathetic and she looked so beautiful tonight and she loves her friends.
Her face begins to warm up as Bertholdt slowly pulled up to her house, driving slower than usual, not wanting this night to end.
“Thanks for the ride.” Annie smiled at both him and Reiner. She left the car, a bit awkward coming down from her high.
“Annie,” Bertholdt called out to her. She looks back, Bertholdt and Reiner’s eyes being red from the dying penjamin. She smiles, just knowing they’re gonna say the stupidest shit she’s ever heard.
“We’re proud of you, Annie.” Bertholdt told her. “Thank you for telling us that you’re gay.” Reiner puts his hands together and bows his head at her.
“Yeah, yeah.” She rolls her eyes at them. She began to walk away.
“Annie!” Bertholdt called out to her one more time, driving up so she can hear him.
Annie looks back once again.
��Don’t be a stranger, okay?”
Annie chuckles lightly, “Okay,” she waves him off, “now go home already freaks.”
Bertholdt and Reiner wave goodbye and Annie sees them drive off. She began to make her way towards her home, entering quietly. It’s close to 12 am and Annie’s glad she wore her dirtied sneakers instead of the “right shoes.” She’s a bit bloated from the burgers and the girl talk, her dress a bit tight and uncomfortable. She looks in the mirror as she got ready for bed, her eyes a bit red and a small smile still decorating her usual stoic features. She’s still a bit high off of Reiner’s pen and she takes in her features.
And for the first time, she feels pretty. Maybe it’s the way the light redness and slight hood in her eyes accentuates the blue in them, maybe it’s the way her aquiline nose hooks so elegantly, maybe it’s the way she feels tonight, maybe it’s the way Hitch smiles at her.
She feels like an old Disney movie protagonist and her arc of loving and accepting herself has come to an end. She’s in bed and she’s looking up at her ceiling, no longer feeling stuck, like she wants the ceiling to crash onto her, and she just thinks about going off to college, getting a job that would be enough, creating a life with Hitch, meeting new people and having weekly dinners with Reiner and Bertholdt. She thinks about adopting children, and loving them to the point where they’ll always feel like this and never have to feel shame.
And Annie takes the first step.
She pulls out her phone, enters the passcode, goes into the Instagram account she forgot about, and she goes to @/hitchdr3yse, the first account that popped up in her search history. She’ll feel embarrassed about it in the morning, but she quickly follows her, watches her story, pausing at a mirror selfie she took of her in her dress, and she almost swipes up to send this message but she decides against it, because than she’ll feel really embarrassed.
But she has no reason to be embarrassed. Because when she hastily sends Hitch a message: hey, I saw you at the dance and I wanted to say you looked really..” she wanted to say beautiful, gorgeous, the light of her life, but than she realizes it may be too creepy so she goes with “you looked really cool. I was wondering if you would wanna hangout sometime?” and when she hits send, she sits up quickly and puts her face warm with blush into her pillow, and screams.
But than she hears the joyful ping of Instagram, matching the smile on her lips when she reads hitch’s text message: ‘OMGGGG YESSSSS!!!!:D’
And Annie likes her message, and tells her she’ll see her in geometry on Monday. She takes a quick screenshot of her text with Hitch, and sends it to the group chat labeled, ‘zaaaa boyzzzzzzzz’ that hasn’t been active since the summer.
She sends the screenshot, and she feels a little shy when Reiner and Bertholdt read it. It instantly receives both hearts from both of them, and she breathes through her nose and lets out a chuckle from their responding text messages.
@/armoredbraun - YEAHHHHH GEDDIT ANNIE RAHHHH ‼️🤝
@/bhoover You’re so in there Annie 😭💪🏽💪🏽
hope you enjoyed!
#annie leonhardt#bertholdt hoover#reiner braun#rba#hitch dreyse#hitchannie#hitch x annie#hitch dreyse x annie leonhardt#annie leonhardt x hitch dreyse#bertholdt hoover x annie leonhardt#annie leonhardt x bertholdt hoover#reiner braun x bertholdt hoover x annie leonhardt#platonic beruani#beruannie#bertholdt x annie#armin x annie#attack on titan#RBA fanfiction#aot fanfiction#aruani#wlw yearning#wlw aot#armin arlert#aot scouts#aot warriors#pieck finger#porco galliard#annie is a certified girl kisser yams told me himself#platonic RBA#bertholdt x reader
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ballora redesign!!! feel free to use the redesign (w credit pls :o]) long explanation below!!! rest of the sister location animatronics coming later, lmk if u guys wanna see any more redesigns :)
imo the sister location animatronics were WAY too sleek for the period of time they were meant to originate in. unlike the previous games, they didn't have that grungy-spooky-stinky feel and just felt more…. sci-fi than anything.. which didn’t make sense when sister location came out, but is clearly the direction fnaf is going in….. so anyways!! here's where the redesign comes in!
(also apologies if the "no support layer" thing doesn't make sense, lol, that's referencing my reference sheet i made a while ago for my redesigned au thing!! ill make another one in the future)
anyways!! in this au, unlike the rest of the animatronics, all the sister location animatronics are made of rubber! the wires inside are for the purpose of not only making the rubber feel more realistic when it's pressed, but bulking up the interior of the animatronics. i feel like afton takes a more realistic and kinda wrinkly approach to animatronics so all the animatronics are less cartoony than the ones he & henry (or just henry) made.
anyways, to add to realism, ballora's clothes are real (except the shoes) and she can actually walk! i know in an obscure steam comment he said she walks around on a track or something but if they're rented out where's anybody gonna get the track??? so. chunky but walkable feet (horrifying statement). YIPPEE!!
the bun on her head is also synthetic hair because i think that's more fun and the silly disguise pins (or whatever they are) are more naturally integrated into her design.
there's also the thing with the face plates being missing... so! controversial but i think they're ugly and if i were a kid i would've shat my pants it i saw their platey asses! so instead i replaced it with a simple two face plate system + hinge joint combo so maintenance on them would be easier, because, you know, they're rubber. i didn't want to add too many because just one would work!! i know it's an iconic part of the design so i had to keep it while also incorporating it into the redesign :) she's still got all her original functions, the au's only changing the appearance of the animatronics.
all that stated im not an engineer. im just silly. so if anything doesn't make sense mechanical wise. Oh well. i made all the redesigns a LONG WHILE AGO so there are some things i would change, but. i needed to get these out. lol. anyways!! posting the rest of the designs later!!
#nmonarch art#nmonarch theory#nmonarch redesigns#fnaf#five nights at freddy's#fnaf fanart#fnaf sister location#sister location#sister location fanart#ballora#ballora fanart#fanart#fnaf ballora#fnaf redesign#fnaf au
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The Starfield Experience: Crimson Fleet
Never before have I been so mixed on a video game. And that's really something, bc I'm a little shit who isn't happy with anything.
I thought, rather than attempt to "review" Starfield, I'm just gonna catalogue my journey through the respective faction questlines, culminating in actually doing the main story. To star: Space Pirates. Yo ho hohohohohohohohohohhoohoohohohohooohoohhohohhhohohhhhh
Of course it's a pirates life
so two things motivated me going evil mode: for one thing, I like pirates already. Second thing is feeling out the game's morality system. Are we getting Skyrim-style slaps on the wrist or can I be, if you will, the king of the pirates? I had been talking in some Discord, doesn't matter which one, about morality choices in video games, and decided, since I was agnostic to Starfield, I would stress test the system by being the worst guy possible. And the Crimson Fleet, the game's premiere bandit faction, promised to get me there.
The way you initiate this quest is kind of funny and also immediately disappointing. I can accept having to join up in some way other than asking the first pirate who doesn't immediately open fire, but... okay so like--
The first time I was arrested in Starfield (it can be for literally anything) instead of being taken to jail I was instead taken to the UC Vigilance, a giant space cop flagship, and interred under Commander Ikande. He made me a deal: rather than serve my sentence, I can instead become a dirty filthy stinky RAT. He wanted me to join up with the Crimson Fleet and find out whatever they're up to because they were apparently real excited about something. You can refuse him, and I guess proceed to jail, but I wanted to be a pirate anyway and accepted, planning on cutting Ikande off the moment I could***************
What sort of crime did I pull? Failed a pickpocket check. Intentionally. Because by then I had already killed like three people unnoticed, one of which out in broad daylight trying to get caught but New Atlantis clearly doesn't do "see something say something." By then I just wanted to see what jail looks like, man. Now I did pick the "Gangster" trait at the character creation, a background picked up by Ikande in dialogue. So that was cool. Idk what he brings up for players who didn't pick that. "Based on your failed attempt to steal a lollipop, I think you're just who we need to infiltrate the Turbo Murder Gang."
Turbo Murder Gang
The Crimson Fleet initiation was deceptively simple. I first meet up with first mate Naeva Mora. She sends me off to kill a Crimson Fleet deserter named Austin Rake. Zooming off to his location, I discover Rake had shacked up with a civilian ship. Boarding, I ask for Rake, they say they don't have him, I say I'm going to shoot everybody (evil character), they say "oh nevermind he's right here," he shoots everyone, and then I shoot him. Yo ho.
After that, Naeva decided I was one cold sonofabitch and invited me to The Key, Crimson's Fleet main hideout. Here I met their leader, Delgado, and realized terribly quickly that things were gonna be a lot less violent than I was anticipating.
Before setting you loose, and constantly as you report back to his bitch ass, Ikande urged me to avoid killing anyone. Seeing as he was a space cop, I ignored this. I'm about to join a gang of space pirates whose canned NPC text is twenty four variations of "hmm I think I'll have murder for dinner." Odds are slim we avoid violence.
Delgado's grand plan is finding the Space One Piece. Legend has it an old banking ship crashed out in wildspace some years ago, and the credits (bc we're in space) inside would set us up for life. It's very pirate-y to be hunting for treasure, okay, I get it. But space pirates? We'd be robbing a bank with extra steps. We're really building to a bunch of credits? This is not a game where money is hard to come by; half the NPCs are walking about with 1000 bucks minimum, and baby I'm running a pickpocket build.
ugh, fine, okay, treasure hunt. But I better get to plunder a few ships along the way.
Ice Planet with a bunch of bug enemies
(I didn't take any screenshots and couldn't find any online, so here's a picture of Greenland)
Our first mission was to go to the ice planet The Key orbits in order to find some leads on the ultimate treasure. This ice planet prison does lead to some lore on the Fleet, but man I was pitching a fit the whole time. I wanna plunderrrrrrrrrruh. Suffice to say my first impression of space pirate questing was not too exciting. All the enemies here are native bugs you gotta aim at the floor to shoot. Felt very wimpy, even when the big one showed up for a boss fight later.
But that's ignoring this quest's diamond in the rough, a man named Mathis:
He's also a Crimson Fleet initiate, just like me. When we landed on ice planet the game started feeding me all these dialogue options to antagonize Mathis. Unprompted, mind you. It's always trying to underhand me some bad guy options, and this time they were all "fuck Mathis" flavored. I thought it was funny, so I picked them every time. This got Mathis quite heated with me, and to put the candle on this filler episode birthday cake, Mathis and I found ourselves on the other side of a cave in, separated from the rest of the pirates. Here's when he dropped all the antagonism and immediately dealt me into his plan: kill Delgado. Why he wanted to do this, I still don't know. Why he would invite me in on the plan, even though we hate each other, I wish I knew. But I wasn't exactly loyal to Delgado, by any means. That, and when Mathis brought this up I started to turn around on the guy. Thought "wow, Mathis doesn't fuck around. Maybe he's alright."
From then on, Mathis and I were pals. We killed bugs, found sick gamer loot, and he was over the moon when I told (lied to) Delgado he was one hell of a pirate. Not that killing bugs in a space prison would prove this, anyway. But Delgado was happy with our work, and from then on we were Crimson Fleet bona fides (the way I'm pronouncing that is a secret, oohohohohoho). Soon after this, Mathis pulled me aside and suggested we drop that "killing Delgado" business. It was never brought up again. Still dunno if I would've gone through with it or not. Probably would've.
Siren of the Snores
(not my screenshot)
I haven't been super clear on what this ultimate treasure is, and I have to be now for any part of this next mission to make sense.
Kryx' Legacy is the name. All I knew at the start was it's a bunch of credits. Come to find out, Kryx is the founder of the Crimson Fleet and Legacy is the name of a GalBank ship lost in an unknown nebula. I said this earlier but I wanna be super clear right now. A high ranking GalBank executive, with the credentials needed to get inside the bank's archives (housing the final known location of the Legacy) is currently lounging on a big space yacht. This is the Siren of the Stars and my goodness is it a snoozer of a quest. And it shouldn't be! It's perfectly in line with my character build! Even so! Even sooo!!!
It's a whole process just getting to this executive guy. Gotta talk to all the patrons until one of them decides to tell you something useful. Then you talk to his mistress, then you talk to some third guy, then you talk to... whatever his name was. It's talking in circles with one--maybe two--persuasion checks. On one save, I went postal. Killed everyone on the stupid ship and got the info I needed. Only to discover my Crimson Fleet contact inside the ship, guy by the name of Rokov, got scared(?) and locked himself inside a room I couldn't open??? Sorry, Rokov the space pirate, is this not your speed?
Ugh. Loaded a save and did the quest orthodox. After one lap of this damn boat I was sick to death of it. Seven laps later I was thinking of quitting the Fleet. They talk a big game. You're in for life or you're dead, sucker. Or else what, Naeva? You're gonna send three ships at a time every six hours? Execute this (picture me flippin her the bird. Hell yea).
Quick thing about Naeva Mora: she gave me an optional goal in this quest. Steal an expensive award set with precious space diamonds. Only one woman on board had access to the award. But I, the silver tongued devil of the stars, was able to persuade her into giving me the key to the vault. You ask, how. How did you, a space pirate dressed in rags, convince a stuffy lady on an expensive pleasure cruise to just give me her multimillion dollar trinket? I don't know. This is the most absurd persuasion check in the game, so far.
From there I jetted over to New Atlantis and snuck my way inside the GalBank archives. There was less money to steal than you would think but I suppose this isn't the vault. Killed some mercs, got the location.
How are we doing on heist missions over here?
So we've got the location of the Legacy, but no way to get close. See, it's in a hazardous nebula that'd fry any normal ship that dares approach. The cynical man would assume the game's solution was some novelty ship part that protects from the nebula and has zero function outside of this questline. And sometimes cynics are correct.
We need the ComSpike, dammit! What's a ComSpike? I forget. Protects ships from bad nebula juju. I'm not knocking the story for details that I forget, to be clear. Nor was I happy that the pirates were sending me off on another secret heist. In fairness, I didn't have to do these missions the way the game suggested. I could go postal on every facility I'm told to infiltrate (more on that later). But because I was so oddly punished for doing so on the last quest, that led me to assume some approaches were preordained. The Crimson Fleet has connections to uphold (WHY).
Whatever. I go to New Atlantis and talk to Huan Daiyu, pictured above. She's a smuggler, owns a pretty cool ship called the Jade Swan (am I a bad person for predicting her ship would be called the Jade Something?). I'm gonna bum a ride to her next dropoff, dropping off myself and sneaking aboard a research station that just so happens to be working on that ComSpike technology. In the opening steps of this quest, I encountered the first real Bethesda Moment of this game.
Picture this: I'm on the intercom with Huan. She tells me I need to find a keycard to get to the next level of this station. In her dialogue, explicitly, she suggests picking someone's pocket. Well, you read my mind, Huan. Just so happens I've been dumping skill points into pickpocketing...
Imagine my deflation when I had checked every pocket in that damn storage room, only to find the keycard was on a table and only accessible by talking to multiple guards in a specific sequence. Let's be really nice and say not all of Huan's suggestions are going to work. Dynamic world, indeed! I'm gonna throw myself out the airlock!
Throughout the infiltration I was only answering Huan's calls to be nice. Couldn't trust one bit of advice from her after that. She's not a reliable source. So I throw on a security uniform, talk my way into the engineering bay, find the ship fitted with the ComSpike, and perform a high-precision shipjacking outta there. Not an ounce of booty plundered, not a doubloon to be seen. What a life, the pirate's life.
We have Night City at home
It only occurred to me in this mission. Something that should've occurred to me about three heist missions ago.
The NPCs in this game are so fucking mean, all the time.
It's not even prompted. Mathis, I get. I was busting his chops something fierce. But everyone else is just off rip "wassup dickshit, I'm Suzy Cosmonaut, and you're dirt on my boot. Hows about you go find a USB stick but hey don't forget to kiss my ass on your way out."
What am I supposed to do? I say something rude back. What, I'm supposed to take that? My dream was to fill my ship with my best buddies in the galaxy but I think I mostly hate all of these people.
Ugh. I fly off to Neon. Great city name, guys. This must be the criminal underbelly. Where do you think they shack up? The part of Neon literally called the Underbelly? And what do you suppose this crime syndicate is called?
Neon is a city built out of placeholder names. Indistinguishable from any cyberpunk town in all of fiction. Uninspiring place. One of my character traits is being from here, which is more embarrassing than the city I'm actually from irl. But fuck it, whatever, let's ride.
Estelle Vincent is my contact in Neon. She knows where I can find the schematics for the conduction grid the Fleet will need to access nebula space. But she won't give that info for free! Nothing comes cheap in Neon, baby!
I was in full Fuck It mode by this point of the questline. My promise for this quest was to kill everybody I could get away with killing (more, on, that, later). So when Estelle wants me to go talk to Generdyne executive Ayumi Komiko about gaining access to their computers, well... sorry Ayumi. Victim of circumstance.
After Ayumi was super dead, I stomped over to Generdyne with her access card and opened fire. Terrible scene, no survivors, yo-ho-ing all the way. One must imagine justice served somewhere in this--no doubt cancelled out by the rest of the carnage. But whatever. This is the piratiest I've felt so far. I shoot my way to the top floor, where the brother of the CEO just gives up the computer. Turns out he hates his stupid CEO brother and I should probably kill him too. Noted.
When I go to meet back with Estelle, that Generdyne CEO is sitting in her place. He offers me a deal to sell out Estelle, which I refuse. Estelle was my test subject, to see if I could make someone less mean to me by sticking my neck out. I lied and said it was all me, he didn't believe me, I put a shotgun to his temple and realized he's an essential NPC and cannot be killed. Party's over.
After this, would you believe it, Estelle did like me! I only had to sell myself out in her place and pay her like 9000 credits for like no reason. But I turned someone around. Now it was time to finally get me treasure.
The One Piece Is Real
I'm gonna bring this up now before I forget. Periodically, after every heist or so, I was instructed (by the quest markers, not anyone else) to report back to the UC Vigilance and Commander Ikande. Because this is also Point Break and I'm technically a government agent. Despite me showing no loyalty, lying to his face every chance I had, insulting him and his crew, and straight up shooting his flagship twice, I was Ikande's spy on the inside and expected to give report. The whole questline I was looking for outs. Some reason to cut these dorks off and go full pirate. To my knowledge, there's scarce ways of doing this. Won't say there isn't one, just nothing immediately obvious.
Until now.
I'm called to the bridge and Ikande's super pissed about my Neon killing spree. Just steaming mad. So mad he's ready to terminate this deal and send me to jail. I give his crew the rope-a-dope and run back to my ship, just barely shootin out of there. Exciting! Felt appropriately climax-ey, and it's genuinely cool that was a moment I could orchestrate with my own choices.
No time to lose. I'm off to Kryx' Legacy while the rest of the Fleet at the Key gets ready for the UC Vigilance to come knocking. Should've guessed I'd also be getting the ultimate treasure alone. This was so far the most impressive setpiece of the game. The thundering of the space lightning outside while I navigated the dead stranded spaceship was sufficiently immersive. I was immersed, for the first time in this game, and I was savoring this moment. The flashlight was on, people.
It's sci fi, so all this treasure is loaded onto an external hard drive. Look, I didn't need a big wooden chest with gold doubloons spilling out but I shouldn't be able to fit a bajillion dollars in my backpack. As soon as I have the treasure, the ship is critically damaged and I gotta skedaddle. I'm always down for a "flee the facility" type mission and this one delivers. Hop back in my ship, make just enough distance to avoid the magnificent explosion of the Legacy, and now all that's left is to get the gold home. Easily the best quest in the Crimson Fleet, no contest.
And now, the worst quest in the Crimson Fleet
angry emoji angry emoji devil horn emoji angry emoji
Right when I get back to the Key, Delgado tells me the UC Vigilance is knocking at out doors. It's now or never, them or us. Turns out, had I not burned that bridge earlier, I would've had the choice of fighting for either the space pirates or the space cops. My decision had been made hours ago, and that aforementioned bridge was aforementionably burnt. We're fighting for the pirates, gah dammit.
Oh my god
Who playtested this. Still riding in the starter ship, I was now tasked with fighting off like a half dozen ships double my level and working off WWII flying ace AI. I died, and I counted, nine times. Half of which in the first two minutes. oooooh, gamer rage. By attempt ten, and sorry for breaking my own immersion, by I jumped outta that part of space, over to a shipwright, and got my weapons upgraded along with a new shield. I could barely squeeze out a win with this boost. No I did not lower the difficulty because I shouldn't have to, dammit, and yes this put and impenetrable stank on the final leg of this questline.
One silver lining to all this: I'm a reincorporation loving person, and was delighted to see all those pirates I had worked with across the questline suddenly swooping in for the final stand. Cinematic stuff, I loved it. Mathis was there, Rokov was there (who?), Huan was there, Estelle was there. Even Adler Kemp was there. I didn't even mention him, he seemed so inconsequential. But he showed up! Love that sort of thing.
We in tandem blow away the auxiliary space cops (not for lack of gamer rage) and board the Vigilance to kill Ikande. High energy firefight, this. I'm constantly impressed by the number of players in any one fight, in this game. Back in the Skyrim xbox 360 days, I remember doing the civil war questline and going "wow, there's like twenty NPCs in this thing." In Starfield, that number's the standard. Truly next gen, amiright guys.
Me and my friends blow our way through the Vigilance, I spend like ten minutes looking for a healing item of some sort, free some prisoners, and eventually we're at the bridge. The game even leaves in some briefs moments where I can chat with all the friends[citation needed] I made along the way. Me and Huan high five. There wasn't an animation for this or anything, but I imagine we did a jumping high five. Excuse me for roleplaying. Me and Mathis bump hips.
At the bridge, and really I should've seen this coming, there's a dialogue with Commander Ikande. The honorable man he is, Ikande calls for his crew to abandon ship and plans to self-destruct the Vigilance with all of us on it. There's precious little time to talk him out of this, and scarce options for doing so. But I'm a gangster, and have exclusive ganger dialogue options. So I have the option of telling Ikande "hey, cancel the self destruct or we're gonna torture your crew," thinking this would open up more dialogue.
But he chickens out right here. Goes "okay, fine, I'll cancel it just don't hurt my crew." And like, dude. We've been hurting your crew. They're all dead, actually. This is the most empty threat possible in this situation and this disciplined space cop chief buckles at my first threat. What a guy. We take him prisoner and the Vigilance is ours. Supreme Victory.
I deeeeed it
Here comes my favorite part of any Bethesda questline epilogue. When all the celebration dialogue is exhausted and all the NPCs just start to aimlessly wander away, throwing out a few more canned "wahoo we did it" lines. It's a joy, I'm so glad Starfield still does this.
Delgado gets me my cut of the Legacy: 200k credits. This feels like a lot of money for this point in the game. I have seen ships that cost twice this, but it's a decent reward all the same. That, and I had picked up plenty of paychecks along the way, so my ultimate takeaway is bigger.
Best of all, Naeva doesn't think I'm lower than dirt anymore. She gives me a cool Crimson Fleet jacket and a room on the Key. I promptly placed one chair down in the dead center of the room. Home. Naeva's a classic NPC who talks a herculean game and does jack shit the whole questline. I warmed up to her.
With my new credits, I bought a Crimson Fleet Phantom ship, and hired my first crew member. Finding him piss drunk in the Key's bar, I threw my arm around the shoulder of good ol' Mathis and offered him a place on my ship. He agreed, now my best buddy and no longer wishing to kill Delgado. I also tried to get Huan on my crew, but I guess she's got her own thing going on. I wished her well, Mathis and I cleared out bounties, and we took off for our next adventure.
Crimson Fleet: In Conclusion
Pretty mixed on this. While there's a pretty strong ending despite the awful awful HORRIBLE ship battle, everything leading up to this felt distinctly un-pirate. As if the game wasn't comfortable with me going morally undercarriage. Odd stance to take, with the space pirate questline, but this is the studio that watered down the Dark Brotherhood (I said it). While the gameplay loop is showing me some promise, I was always feeling like I had to fight the game to play it my way. Maybe I take this as a lesson: I gotta commit to the type of character I wanna be. The game will attempt to lure me away, but I gots to be evil.
My next questline is the Freestar Rangers, and only because that's the first major one I was introduced to apart from the main quest. See ya there, I say shooting away in my new spaceship which you're gonna have to imagine.
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❨♡❩ valentine's week ; familial day
familials have been such an important factor in my time as a selfshipper recently because i truly came to appreciate what is familial love. it's just that really nice feeling of pride and appreciation for someone you really care about. i'm excited to say that i have a lot in my roster to share! reading isn't mandatory for anyone viewing - writing my feelings help me articulate my words well.
first and probably my most important one yet is ruby stone! at first, I wasn't really interested in the whole "he's my son concept" but i just knew that ruby was an instant favorite of mine after reading the manga. it's funny, because i actually did kin him at one point (i mean, i can still say i kin him but because i'm a selfshipper first, manga consumer second. i see him as my son more). i see myself a lot in him especially in his flaws. but because a friend told me it would be fun if i had called him a familial, it wouldn't be so bad (and steven is also there. wouldn't it be a cute family?). i initially drafted jaide stone and ruby to just be friends but ruby has a special attachment to her (due to his personal issues with his father) but that shit changed FAST and thus, ruby stone was born. i adore my silly boy, he makes me so happy and i admire his character. he's different from the other protagonists and it makes him stand out all the more. I'm so proud of him, his whole story made me so emotional and i just want to hug him and let him know everything's okay and he has every right to be who he wants.
am i allowed to talk about my husband? i mean he IS ruby's father so,,, heheh. ill keep it short or else it becomes a romantic love letter to my hunni sorry 😚 anyways i always imagined steven to want to have kids and ruby was the best thing he ever asked for. he's so proud of him too. they went through a rough patch as a father and son but things gotten better and they're very happy to call each other family. 💚
ahh, my favorite silly stinky little brother. gold! this one's got a long history. i was always a big fan of ethan/gold as a protagonist in the games. but i had no idea that this version ethan (or as the manga calls him, gold.) was simply the best for me. he's got this special spark that really checks off my list of what makes a character my favorite! just like ruby, i also see myself a lot in him. (heck, even my sister thinks i'm super gold-coded) he was so shaped to be my best friend or little brother, and i picked the latter. he's probably the most comedic, and has a very deep emotional side that i like to philosophize about. po.kespe kids are written with much difficulty and he's no exception. if i had a brother, i feel like this is how i would treat him.
okay this one's gonna be SUPER confusing which i'll apologize over and over again i'm so sorry 😭😭 for this one, i'd like go introduce blake and nate (respectively). these two are completely different from each other, but i still have this maternal/big sister care for both of them. just like gold - nate is one of my favorite protagonists by game and learning their personalities in both manga and game (pkmn masters ex) made me adore them even more. i think ilynne (oc) is the first girl who has more priority over familial and platonics than romantics. i think that's very cool! it's hard to say everything here why i love both versions but if you took a look for yourself, maybe you'll understand hehe. (also, nate just has the BEST protagonist design. hello? who wouldn't love him? definitely not me!!!!) it was only because of pkmn masters ex that made me like nate a lot. his voicelines makes me feel so comforted like that's just a really happy boy! he sounds so excited for everything and his giggles just cleanse my soul 😭 i could pat his head all day. silly pineapple boy. blake just... i dunno man. it's probably because i already liked his base design so naturally I'd like his manga ver too 😭 they pulled a wildcard in designing this kid like he's a fuckin agent!!! that's so cool!!! hes a fuckin hater!!! look at him go i can fix the edgy kid !!! by being his mom!!! (lore accurate btw)
ah yes. the most fanbase developed kid ever. it's carmine! this kid is so special. his entire existence came from a fan created f.n.f mod and everyone ran with it - just like me. i remember constantly keeping tabs with this mod and i was always curious to know what carmine has in his story - playing the mod itself was such a pleasant surprise. my whole attention was shifted to carmine's story - it's rewritten slightly to make the creepypasta more impactful and it certainly did make me feel sympathetic for the little guy. giving him the sweetest and admired big brother to love and care for him was the best design i ever thought of. after the devs added more story, it made me feel all the more protective of carmine. unfortunately he's not the most lively boy around as he's bullied for his insignificance. i would do anything to let him know he's loved. (AGGRESSIVELY FORGETS THE PART WHERE HE'S PAINFULLY POSSESSED BY THE FUCKIN GHOST BEGONE!!!!)
i think what also powered how much i love carmine was the endless support i got from the actual fans of the mod on twt. even the devs approved it and it made me feel so happy and reassured that it's okay to appreciate him (it was actually a little nerve-wracking to post rhys and carmine on twt because carmine is... technically an oc). that's why i describe carmine to be a special kind of fo. he's an oc of a mod and that's pretty neat
those are my main familials, but i'd also like to give a shoutout to my secondary familials!
when i tell you there's so many cool characters in this game I wasn't JOKING. these guys are so... AUGHH i feel like they would be the best guys to have around to make my day better. looker is more uncle shaped to me, he's not exactly the BEST caretaker (shh i know emma) but i know he's trying his best. it's hard to juggle being an agent and a friend but i understand that and i appreciate his efforts. playing platinum to see this guy appear, i just KNEW he's gonna be the coolest. and i wasnt wrong! he's associated with my oc ilynne along with blake! for po.kespe consumers, yes - they are all coworkers!
professor sy.camore is definitely a father figure to me. i love his enthusiasm and i know he's the best guy to cheer someone up. his cheerfulness is endless and he literally mentors 4 kids, if he can do that then surely he can make my day better (a miserable young adult /jjj) i really wanted to make a kalosian oc for him. i envisioned the oc to be an ex team flar.e member who wanted to renew herself from her past deeds (as she was foolish to not understand lysandre's grand plan) and sy.camore was there to rescue her from her crisis and helped her start somewhere by being a student under his care. they would develop a father-daughter dynamic and i think that's very sweet 🥺💚
in case you noticed. my main familials are a case of like ... me wanting to nurture them. but my secondaries are the other way around and it's like... what if i was the one being nurtured and cared for? pretty cool...
that's all for today. thank you familials 💚
#~ rambling#~ lovemail#ruby.fam#gold.fam#carmine.fam#i accidentallu posted it and im pretty sure its not even the right time in most timezones but ohh welll#nate.fam#blake.fam#looker.plat#sycamore.fam
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Game Hammers
HELLO! This is the first-ever-world-renowned Game Hammers blog. There are 2 Developers on this week's post, they are hopefully going to be on future blogs as well. The developers of this blog will track their progress in the week and whatever difficulties they encountered. The mission of this blog is to create a good environment for learning and exploring. Nolam This week I was working on a witch game, so I started by creating a new unity project with some cubes. I want to set it up to be a 2.5D sort of space, where you can move left and right but also see the depth of scenes, kinda like Tomba. In this project, I set up some core mechanics like wall jumping, ledge grabbing, moving, regular jumping, and some scaffolding for more complicated things like combat.
Here you can see the little block guy finding his way in life. In my progress towards moving, I thought it would suit the game to add a sliding mechanic for rails. So you can like, slide on rails. For this, I turned to splines - which I would later regret. If you don't know what a spline is: it's a bendy line. Bendy lines are very useful but very complicated as well.
This was an attempt at a homemade spline made with the help of chat GPT. It was very rudimentary and I abandoned it after realizing unity has built-in splines. All of this so that I could make a bendy banister. For about 4 days I farted around and wasted my time with this, realizing that it's probably better to just do an easier straight line anyways. Whoops! After that cr*p, I tried to find a new productive avenue - so I went towards making some art.
The game is about a witch who has to clean a house with her broom, and crossing my vision with Flodo's, I was able to come up with a model of the character, after an interesting attempt.
that attempt ended up having cool hands, but they likely are to forever rot on my hard drive. This attempt, however, was much nicer despite having no fingers to speak of.
The character ended up having a poofy outfit that looks very warm on her - which I like a lot. I did lots of new things making this like faces and hair, and have been trying to improve my topology. Yesterday, my parents left on vacation and I am in charge of my 3 siblings. It's going to be a difficult week ahead - going back to school and stuff - so I'm excited to see what progress I can make in school and with modeling and game design. PS. Grammarly on tumblr is booty.
Spebby Hey there! This is the Spebby section of the weekly Game Hammers Blog. Like my compatriots, Nolam and Flodo, I’ll be rattling on about what I’ve been learning and doing this week of my life. It’s midterm season, and I’ve been hard at work on studying up. My focus has mostly been upon Calculus, with a focus on Parametrics, Polar Graphs and Surface Area of Rotation. I’m feeling pretty good about my study actually, I have a pretty good grasp on Integration and Convergence, and this midterm’s topics are pretty similar, so I think I’ll be all good! While studying Polar Graphs, I came across a pattern I particularly like, which I’ve dubbed “The Lotus”. Not a super original name, but I think it fits. I accidentally stumbled across this one, the function that creates it is 4cos(5θ/13). A render of it can be found below.
Outside of Calculus, what else have I been working on? As a stinky Comp-Sci major, I’ve been working on that. I’m still fresh meat. I very much appreciate my CS professor. He’s quite willing to throw us into the deep and push the limits of what our little brains can think of. I’m pretty brash, so I don’t quite give each assignment the thought I probably should. Learning about in-line assembly arguments and how to effectively use them, proper memory management, creating truly class-agnostic functions and how to write fast and efficient code. I find programming quite fulfilling and therapeutic honestly. Making something run faster and figuring out why something wasn’t working quite how I suspected is always quite the reward.
I’ve unfortunately not had much time to work on programming in the lens of game development. Perhaps Nolam has better time management than I do, he always seems to find time to crank out another prototype. Prototyping is quite the art, I’ve never really had to write something from scratch like that, Flodo or Nolam have always beaten me to the bunch in regards to these sorts of things. At some point it’s on my todo list to get cracking with a prototype. I’ve found it frustrating being limited on what I can feasibly do in a project, but to be honest that’s given me some liberty to get the creative juices flowing and try something wacky within my limitations.
Continuing the theme of academics, outside of my STEM major, I’ve been trying to take some interesting humanities classes. Anthropology has been an interest of mine for awhile, at first I thought only Cultural Anthropology would interest me, but Primatology and other Biological Anthropology subdisciplines have proven to be even more interesting to me. Learning about how odd humans are from an evolutionary perspective, and the adaptations that were taken in order to allow for our unique form of movement or perhaps our ancient ancestors, those of Selam, Toumaï and Platyops. Anthropology is such an interesting subject; If you have the ability, enroll in an Anthropology class, they’re super interesting and can teach you a lot about the world and perhaps change your worldview.
I could go on and on, but I feel it’s best to bring this entry to a close. Be catching you next week. Perhaps we could have a longer chat, no?
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Hexphae, Time-lost Shieldmaiden of Stromgarde
Al's new mission is to help someone dangerously beautiful and very, uh... special.
Alessandre didn't like dealing with Mattias Shaw. The Human was full of himself, and being a spymaster, a spymaster for Stormwind, made him worse off than most. Well, Al conceded he had his own vanity, few in the roguish line of work were lacking in confidence. (Al remembered how he had insisted on being called something better than master rogue if he was going to share the title with two colleagues, for example.)
However, Al was furious at Shaw for giving him mission orders, to his face, as if the Kaldorei worked under him. A ridiculous notion that the Alliance badly needed to shed, if they all were going to be actual allies. Treating whole races of people like your personal errand boys, rather than it being a real collaboration, just rubbed Al the wrong way.
"Not that everything needs to be run by a council vote, but I don't need to be sent and fetched!" Al let his complaining be as loud as he liked. The other rogues lingering in the halls of the SI:7 headquarters turned their heads as the tall, darkly handsome Night Elf spymaster headed into Matthias Shaw's office.
Al's friend... frenemy, Sharpen Jadescythe, anyway, he was an in-law, once told a story about punching Shaw in the face. Sharpen's outrageous tale had also involved wrestling sharks, and kicking a Dwarf in the face too during a botched SI:7 Seals swim test, all planned by Shaw himself. Al, seeing Shaw's prickish 'I own your secrets' grin again after so long, fully believed the stinky fish tale was true.
Al glared.
"Have a seat, please."
Al didn't sit.
Then, it was awkward, as both men had something to prove. Shaw could hold the entire meeting hostage, Al began to realize. Then again, Shaw surely knew that Triumvir Alessandre Shademoon was among the most vocal Night Elves petitioning Tyrande and Malfurion to withdraw from the Alliance. It was all because of how the War of the Thorns got botched, leaving the Kaldorei with far less support than many believed they should after putting so much into the Alliance over a lifetime.
"Standing is better for one's health anyway. I hear," Shaw let out a breath, drummed fingers on his desk. "I'll begin, then. There is someone we can't officially handle--"
"But the Kaldorei are fine with getting their hands soiled by messy Human matters?"
"Hear me out. It's for the good of everyone that we hold Arathi, Stromgarde especially, and keep the Forsaken in check. A wayward kingdom of Undead were being ruled by Galen Trollbane until recently, if you recall."
Al remembered it. He'd hated hearing about the rise of another cult-like kingdom hungry for revenge, under a demagogue like Sylvanas. It had been a tenuous waiting game to see if these Undead were going to be more loyal to their Human predecessors or the Forsaken of the Horde.
Al still wasn't saying anything useful. Shaw itched his scalp, smoothed red hair back, "There is a contact I want you to make, who has invaluable knowledge of the Arathi Highlands. Not just strategic knowledge, but a real grasp over the history, the ancient rituals, the tribal, uh, magic used around that time. Much of it was lost when Humans turned to the arcane teachings of the Elves."
Al smirked, "You mean the Highborne, specifically the Quel'dorei. My people were not involved, we were on a whole other continent."
Shaw snapped his fingers as if he'd simply forgot the name of a particular flower or something. "Nice! Thank you."
Al went to leave, "You've mixed us up at your own peril. Go talk to one of Alleria's lapdogs."
"I can't!" Shaw stood from his desk. "Hexphae dislikes the Quel'dorei."
"Oh, I see..."
"You don't see, actually," Shaw came around his desk quickly. "She never liked arcane magic. One of those odd sorts there to witness Humans use magic for the first time, at the dawn of time, and resent it so much, she quit Arathorian society and never returned. She's the daughter of shamans. Or, we think she is."
"Well, she and I can agree on one thing. I'm not so sure about having the Highborne back, using magic in our cities the way they do. What is left of our cities. "
"But, Al. Your people have learned to accept the magic users of the Alliance. If you could persuade Hexphae to do the same?"
Al paced away from Shaw, lingered near an interesting looking bookshelf, "It has to do with reining in the Forsaken and it has to do with someone who dislikes the Humans about as much as I do right now. I can see why you singled me out for this mission. But you're forgetting one little thing, Shaw." Then, at last, Al sat. Put his feet up on the edge of Shaw's desk. "What’s in it for me?"
Shaw came over quickly, pulled the other chair close. Al mused at how Shaw resembled a used cart salesman, but didn't realize it. "We want to hold Arathi, for good this time. Aggression with the Horde over this land is supposed to be over."
Al nodded, "Supposed to be. But I'm a posioner, a killer, a man who wants an independent Kaldorei nation that can fend for itself."
Shaw squinted an eye, "I hate to tell you that Night Elf world-domination ended with Azshara."
"I wonder how much insult you think I'll take, cornered in your office, before my dart-throwing arm begins to twitch."
Shaw was menacing, "Get over yourself, Al."
"I still don't hear my incentive on the wind."
"This is all about runestones. This potential contact, Hexphae, must know all about them. We're sure she does. Those are supposed to be deep underground beneath Arathi, all over the plains. It turns out, runestone magic predates arcane magic. Ancient Quel'dorei and Humans, even shamanistic Humans, were able to use runestones. But that's a secret forbidden to us in Stormwind even now."
"Well, your sin'dorei spy network broke down under Sylvanas." Al leaned in, his fine black leather creaked, "You telling me that the Quel'dorei or Void Elf contacts the Humans got a hold of won't betray tradition, either? Ha! Good luck!"
Shaw defended himself as Al got up, edged his way out of the office. "That runestone tech would be invaluable, to all of us, ontop of everything else! Al, don't be a stubborn ass like always. We are so close to results. Just go and see her for me. Please!"
Al strutted down the halls of SI:7, with Shaw yelling for him to just listen. But maybe it was for show. Maybe both of them knew it was the only way to end that meeting with neither man losing face. It was a bitter situation, asking any Kaldorei for a political favor these days. Beyond the loss of Darnassus, the shame was great. Night Elves were strapped for manpower, resources. There wasn't much they could contribute to the Alliance, among those who still wanted to. That nagged at Al as well. He covered up for it pretty well with his lofty ideals, but the reality was, the Kaldorei were coming up short. Alliance superfriends or not, it couldn't last.
Anyway, if Shaw was as good as everyone claimed, then Shaw saw the light in Al's eyes when the word 'runestone' was mentioned. Al played it off as well as he could.
Runestones kept the Quel'dorei safe from the Scourge and nearly every other threat for thousands of years. It took espionage and assembling a fifth pillar among the elite, Dar'khan, to infiltrate and get the runestones down at long last. Arthas Menethil had done that.
But what about in an era of mortals who had learned better? In an era where Arthas and the Dar'khans of the world had been defeated? Runestones had been done so well, proven true before. What if the Night Elves used them this time, to seal their lands? Or, great swaths of Kalimdor? Hell, why not all of it? Al wasn't ashamed of his greed when it came to protecting his people.
So, Shaw had to be left thinking that Al wasn't voraciously interested in this plan. At least, for now. Never let a rival know when they've got you in the palm of their hand.
Later, in Duskwood...
Al spent a few days at the Duskwood inn before he realized Shaw meant it when he said the Human woman Hexphae was a hermit. With no sign of her, the almost wild woman was apparently happier in a tent surrounded by feral Worgen and spiders, than inside the walls of civilization.
After scouting her out in the forests, Al literally dug himself a pit downwind of Hexphae and laid in it for a day, before he caught sight of her. That would have been the other reason Shaw wanted Al on this mission. He'd lived for an age as a hermit himself. He knew the mentality.
Rather than approach her outright, Al played it safe. He built a fire and cooked a delicious-smelling dinner. However wild this cave woman was, it would be better to meet on her terms, not trespass into what would be seen as her own territory. And he'd hidden well just beyond her doorstep till now. Any hermit would at least investigate. It was like waving a white flag from across a battlefield.
Around suppertime, this tall brown-skinned woman with bare, muddy legs walked into Al's camp. She was armed, but didn't have any of her weapons in hand. He also noticed that she was far from some tribal savage. Al had assumed animal skins would be involved.
He beheld a true daughter of Arathor, wearing thick, but finely crafted armor. The ancient plate was done over in runes that had a dull glisten, as if the metal was aware, sort of alive. She wore light cloth skirt beneath the wide betal belt.
Time-lost, definitely. She somehow had stumbled out of a rift from her time, into this one. She'd got beneath the gaze of the Bronze Dragonflight so far. Or, she was using powerful means to hide herself from them. Al would need to deduce that, fast. He had no intention of getting involved in some dramatic Twilight Dragon war.
"Hail."
That greeting reminded Al of an Orc or a Tauren.
"Evening." Then, he gestured for her to sit and share his fire.
"You know my name. You've been sent."
Al thought over how to handle this. Pretty quickly, they had both got on the same page. As if she were a decent spy as well. He told himself that it was just good instinct, from living outdoors. You always had to work out where and why you had new neighbors near your camp, man or animal.
"Hexphae, I believe. But am I pronouncing that right, my lady?" Al hoped charm worked in any age.
She warmed to him. She relaxed her shoulders. But Hexphae wouldn't sit just yet. "You're not Human."
"Does that make you trust me more? Or less?"
"Did the other Humans send you?"
Al couldn't hide how that irked him. This made her smile. She sat down and reached for the venison Al had roasting over the fire. She used her own knife to carve off a piece.
"You're not the first one they sent. But you are the first who didn't worship this Shaw idiot. They speak of him like some god. No man is a god. No magic is some god to be worshipped. Also, all of them wanted my armor. Do you want my armor?"
Al blinked. That definitely came off as some kind of invitation, however subtle. Usually, he did rely on a little flirting to get what he wanted. It was a part of who he was as a person, he couldn't help how people, especially women, responded to him. And, well, he'd started it.
Al stretched out, folded arms beneath his head. "It is very fine armor. What is that made of, exactly?"
She chewed meat for a while. "No one ever asks if I'd like get home. This must mean... it cannot be done."
Al felt terrible about that. "You feel used, I can understand that. I'll level with you... it may be partially because, the same ones who would send you back may also punish you for being here at all."
Hexphae balked, greasy meat in one hand, dull gray knife in the other. "Who has the right to choose that! Or the power? To damn people for things beyond their control."
Al sighed, "Dragons."
"Those are real?? Well, I suppose like magical lanterns that turn themselves on with a flick of your wrist, and orbs for scrying on people. Portals that take you halfway across the realm. Damn magic! Damn Elves!"
Al chuckled, "My people resisted practicing, well, a sort of full-on magic until recently. I feel your pain."
"Hrmph!" Hexphae finished the meat she had. She glanced at Al, who nodded, before she went in for seconds. "I see you're a kind of Elf. But I never met one who cooked meat this good. It's like home, over a simple fire." She blinked, "This isn't magic, is it?"
Al shook his head.
"That's right! The way to a girl's heart is through her belly. This is deer. It is delicious."
"A Kaldorei recipe. My name is Alessandre Shademoon. Call me Al. My people worship the night, the stars. We were made to rely on Humans in recent memory. Before then, we were a great nation, and we did that on our own backs. We were not addicted to magic, like some others. Like the ones who came and taught magic to your people so long ago."
Hexphae ate more slowly, she was getting contemplative or full, hard to tell. "They worshipped the sun."
Al wasn't sure what to say next. He seemed to have Hexphae on his side, but he didn't want to go straight into asking for big favors. Right now, they felt like neighbors, having a chat.
"I am called Hexphae. But you must understand, it is not a name. It is who I am, it is what I do. My true name... that belonged to my family, my loved ones. That is lost."
Al decided to let the silence continue to work for him.
She wiped a hand on her mouth, and then her cloth skirt, as if remembering her ancient manners. "I know you want to learn about the runes beneath Arathi. My clan, we tended to those."
Al tried not to sing and do a dance right there. "So, the runestones do exist."
"You can guess my price for tending them again, and you can't cheat me. You'll never manage it on your own. There is no way down, no tunnels. It's in my blood, and my bones. When I die, and I must be the last of the Hexphae?" She looked off through the trees, "The secret of Human runestones will end with me."
Al nodded. He sat up, and cut free some meat for himself. It seemed rude now not to share, to deal with her like some lost, hungry animal.
They ate together and talked of the land, the stars, the seasons. The eternal and natural way of things, the things that never cease to make one wonder at the world, for some time.
Al decided to be straight with such a kindred soul, "So. You would risk dragons to go back home? And that's after helping me--us, that is. The Alliance. The Bronze dragons may forbid you to go back. Or, worse. You could get caught up in their squabbles with the Twilight dragons."
Hexphae bowed her head, hearing all that. "I miss the old ways. I want to revel in the runes again, before I die. It may be that the means justify my end."
"I see."
"And to be called my true name again, after so long. By my own people. Eventhough I walked away from them, back then. I must not give up hope."
Al gave Hexphae a hard look. "You may have to begin again. Many on Azeroth have found themselves in this same position, their old ways destoyed. It was hard, but they made a new life, new family. I am not saying that it is fair, nor easy to do. But that may be the real hopeful end to this."
It began to rain. Al grimaced.
"Come, Elf." She thumped her chest and gave a weird smile. "My tent is dry."
"Uh, I'll give you an example of what I mean. See this?" He hastened to get the damned stone out of his vest.
Hexphae flinched, and her hand went for her greasy stone knife in the dirt.
"No, it's alright!" Al ducked as the rain kept falling on them, "It's a hearthstone!"
"Oh, a little runestone, how cute!"
"Yes. Cute! That's what it is. Here, hold onto me and watch what it does. Perfect for situations like this one."
Hexphae was not opposed to going over and squeezing Al at his inviation. Something that made him flinch this time. "Uh, hold on! Here we go!"
Al used his hearthstone. Hexphae squealed like it was a thrill.
The green magic faded, and the warmth of Darkshire Inn was suddenly all around them.
"Yes!!! Do that again!" Hexphae was still hugging him.
"Eh, kind of a one-way trip. That's the point, a hearthstone takes you home." He was nice about it, and smiled until Hexphae let him go.
Then, she growled and snatched it. "Mine!"
Al looked over this cave woman he'd suddenly adopted. "Uh... innkeep? Can I get another hearthstone? Seems we're staying."
"Can you make more meat! Hexphae hungers!"
"Uh, and some stew please? Calm down, we're in a house, not a cage."
But then it occurred to Al that he was the one in a cage. At least until he could teach Hexphae to be indoors around other, modern people.
"And after the meal, we will wrestle!"
Then, maybe things might calm down? His wife Opal would kill him.
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Part two!
@nameaprice : It's been a while that we've known eachother, and still crazy how you managed to meet one of my best friends irl unrelated to it all. You're so incredibly talented and give Sivir, Sej, and anyone you touch the attention and depth they deserve. You deserve all the attention you get and I would argue deserve so so much more too!!
@ecglesoul : To see AC characters get attention is to give me life. And you write such good ones, not only for the quality but also for the personal nostalgia value for me. Watching you shine a spotlight on Malik, Edward, Federico and just everyone there is such a self-indulgent treat. I'd love to get started and introduce Zagreus to any and all of them, because it really is a privilege!
@vastayah / @psielapki : Softie I know I been very quiet and bad with keeping up , but all the same I hope you know how fantastic it is to see your lil blorbos pop up in my friend's inboxes and occasionally on my feed. If you ever have ideas please do yeet them at me, I'm glad we get to be mutuals and I'd cherish anyone you threw Zagreus's way!!
@wolfkcst : Eivor is a character I never had much exposure to prior to your blog. Like I had always heard of them and such but actually getting to sit down and read your about and then some of hte posts you've made / written for them made me enjoy that character SO much more than I initially did. I'm really excited to do more stuff and flesh these two out.
@dshret : Mar I promise I'm interested in tossing Zagreus at Ares and/or Apollo, I've just been so damn busy sdkfjhk THAT SAID please let it be known I stare longingly at your posts and crave content. I'm stoked and I'd love to get the ball rolling somehow!!
@erobret : FERGIE MY BELOVED. Your muses are fantastic and your graphics are to die for, I've had such a blast plotting and chatting about everything we've got going so far. I always wanna take your blorbos and hold them up like Simba but I think you know that at this point skdjfhks. Always always always feel free to just jump into my dms and ramble ideas at me because it's such a pleasure every time, and I look forwards to interacting for a while to come!!
@crvptd / @incanting : Okay first of all one day I'm gonna GET YOU!! I was NOT expecting P.izza T.ower roleplay on my dash and it flashbanged me so hard KFDHKDFHFD OKAY THO FOR REAL JOKES ASIDE, Creecher your artwork and character building is so passionate and it's wonderful to see. OCs getting cherished is always something I'm here to love and support and your blogs are a shining example of that. If you ever wanna work something out with regards to plotting or anything in between my dms are always open and thank you so much for being a joy on my dash!
@jinxe : RAY MY BELOVED.. I've already screamed sm about how I love Jonx but I'll do it again. She's fantastic and you write her wonderfully, on top of just being a great person to talk to out of character. I always love just doin silly stuff with you or plotting or anything in between. We've been kickin it for a second now and I dont regret a second of it, thank you for being such a consistent point of joy!!
@lronwilled : SHEP U STINKY. I love seeing your characters when they crop up even if you INFECT my tabletop games with your old man yaoi (PEOPLE ASK ME FOR IT NOW BTW. THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU'VE DONE) and I really do mean to plot and do other stuff (like help with character sheets) but I am. Stupid. And also busy. ANYWAY MWAH KISSY.
@venstm : YOU.... VEN... BARKBARK SNARL HISS GRRR BARK BITE WOOF this is how you sound. BUT NO FR I love your writing, your personality, and just hanging out with you. I'm always happy to plot and see your writing, it's such a joy every time and even though I know like NOTHING about most of your characters?? Bro feel free to hit me up ALWAYS.
@likemosaic : Randi I know I owe you a starter and probably some plotting stuff, but I want you to know your writing is fantastic and I'm so excited !! Seeing people give Lae'Zel and all your Dragon Age muses love is something that would add years onto my life and frankly I'm ready to get things started however we can!! I just wish life would let up a bit but REGARDLESS it needs to be said!
@keepmovinjunior : I would not have guessed to interact with Meg but I cant say how ready for it I am!! The personality, the sass, everything in between is just so good and I cant wait to see how she and Zagreus interact. I'm not really on / in the Disney scene but seeing your blog and interactions (like with the Belle you write with) is such a privilege and I cant help but appreciate every post. It's a smaller niche I only casually enjoy but I'm so happy she's being taken care of by somebody so passionate about the character!!
@hexsreality : It's so good to see Wanda get some spotlight from you, Itzel!! Honestly it's just a nice refreshing take on the character and one I sincerely appreciate. We haven't done a whole lot but I'm super excited, your writing has always interested me and getting things going is such a joy!!
@apalestar : Your Astarion and Multi are always welcome sights on my dash! The characters are clear and concise, the portrayals are thoughtful and I don't think I can do you credit to be honest. I know I need to get back to you for plotting and starting threads, but regardless I wanna let you know you are appreciated and I have not forgotten!!
@singofus : Just seeing more consideration given to mythology muses is such a fun thing to be honest!! Even though not all of them are Hades SSG based, I still find it fantastic that the interest is there and you do such a good job putting them into words! I also owe you stuff but (As I write this I realize I owe a LOT of people things) please never be afraid to give me MORE!!
@tewwor : Goose i promise I'mma reply and get to you about plotting things BUT . I wanna say you're always a delight and so positive to see on the dash. It really does make a difference and I pay attention to how you care about all your characters and just?? MWAH it's so good to see.
@vilence & @cupcait : I'm pinging both of you in the same message because it's funny and also because I wanna say how great both your portrayals are. YURI IK I GOTTA APPROACH YOU FOR PLOTTING AND STUFF BUT LISTEN. You two might as well be canon with how well you both portray Cait and Vi on an individual level, but also just nail their dynamic. I had to get you both with this, it's so needed / warranted.
@dreadwo1f : Ren Ik you're kinda on Haitus but let it be said that when you come back I'm COMING FOR THE EGG!! And very excited to do so <3 I love your take on him and I'm so ready for more. (Also you have an absolutely goated mod list)
@morteuse : THANATOS MY BELOVED. I'm so glad there's a good chunk of people giving Thanatos the love he deserves and bron buddy?? Man do you nail him. Just like I'm sure Than would like to nail zagreus to a wall just so he'd fucking SIT STILL FOR A SECOND BUT you get the idea KFJDHKFD IM VERY GLAD TO HAVE MET and I'm stoked for whatever is to come!!
@mortshe : Speaking of Thanatos, I want to draw attention to how well you portray your version of her. Like I'm ngl it's so compelling to see how there's such variety in how people paint this character that has so many different shades to them (get it. Shades? I'm funny I swear--). And You do that so so well and even though we haven't interacted yet, I'm always always open for it whenever the right meme or plot idea comes by!!
I wanna keep this brief (graphic design is my passion level effort but also it kinda works in a really funny way) !!! I wanna let you all know I appreciate the love you've given Zagreus and I'm so so happy to be here. You're all great and wonderful and I could say so many good things to say about each and every one of my mutuals. So fuck it, that's what I'mma do. Because you all truly deserve it. I'm super happy with Zagreus and being able to share my portrayal and have it be well received means so much !!! It's easy to say 'thank you all so much' but I want to acknowledge that I truly do appreciate and care about each and every one of my mutuals, even if my time / availability makes it tough at times. PART 1/4
@withinchains / @hercarnality : Elle you already know how much ily so I'm gonna keep this short. You're such an amazing friend and writer and you already have the screenshot about me gushing pinned so eat my shorts and play arams with me. Your Morgana is to die for and you write every character to a fucking T because of how you just interpret all their personalities and put them into words SO effortlessly.
@lasraichean : NEMO U SMELL LIKE BEEF and I think you're fantastic. You pour so much effort into all your OCs and that passion does you so much credit. You absolutely shower Annie with love in such a way that I shower everyone else with unrequested amounts of fromsoft lore so MWAH.
@blackrosesmatron : Lucy your LB is fantastic and you're so easy to talk to and communicate with. Genuinely every time we sit down and plot I find myself getting so enthralled in her antics and character. You do her so much justice
@avernusfuries : HAN You single handedly made me like Karlach and that isn't even a joke. Before we met and started writing I always thought her story was one of the weaker ones and you somehow managed to turn her into one of the more realized characters in the game. HATS OFF TO YOU and every day I beg for more of this big doofus.
@feuerwizard : Crys I know I need to get back to you for plotting things, I've just been so busy but I want to say: You and some of the other CR writers you write with are so talented and I adore reading your posts. Were it not for you guys I still probably wouldn't have any interest in CR and I'm so so excited to get started with more stuff and actually get threads going!
@soulcluster : Lilah I think all your portrayals are excellent. Your MM deserves all the attention it gets and I honestly couldn't pick a favorite muse if gave me truth serum. Plotting with you is a blast and I'm so thankful for all the ideas we pass between eachother!
@pitgritted : Your Sett, Taric, and Mutli are all so well done Jojo. I can tell you really care about all the people you write and it shines so brightly, right down the amount of detail you place into every reply and how you format things. Passion shows in the end and this is no exception!!
@palespawn : This sassy motherfucker. We've only just started writing and I still need to get to replies but you've showed interest since almost day one and I cant say how much I appreciate that. Courtney you do such a beautiful job with the twink, I almost dont wanna stab him. Almost~
@infinitysagas : I first of all wanna say thank you for writing such underappreciated characters. To see Damon get love brings me so much joy, I always take a second to read his posts when I see them come up. I know we haven't done a ton but please know that I see your writing and totally wanna do stuff, I'm just very busy skdjhf.
@deathdxnces : Irelia was a character I never cared about too much, but how you humanize her so much and have expanded on her character beyond what Riot's given us does SO much for me. I actually adore how you portray her, Mel, and I wish to get writing at some point soon!! I know you liked a starter a bit ago and I do plan to get to that, but please do not hesitate to hit me up for plotting in the meantime. It really does help and I promise I don't bite!!
@tealbeats : I know you're not super active on Ez (and I still owe you a lot of stuff actually) but I wanna say I love the amount of his personality you're able to paint into every interaction. You have such a way of making him the perfect amount of insufferable (in the best way) while still twisting it in SUCH an endearing light. I love that annoying little bug and I'm so glad you do too, because it really shows.
@agonizedembrace : Han it's been really nice to reach out and get into contact again. You're genuinely a really funny, interesting, and thoughtful person who cares about Evelynn in such a way that brings out every aspect of her character. The agony, the sex appeal, the sass, the confidence, you just nail all of it and I'm really hoping we can get stuff going soon!
@bendwill : Elder scrolls blogs are few and far between, but Miraak is absolutely one of those characters that deserves to be more written out. We haven't gotten to do a ton but please don't hesitate to hit me up and scream ideas at me, the idea of Tamrielic Zagreus is very fascinating to me. (And also I need somebody to ramble about my Oblivion D&D Campaign ideas with skdfjh)
@ofweave : First of all, trans gale is based as fuck and you have a vision. Second of all, I know you're on hiatus but once you come back I'd be so happy to get the ball rolling with this stinky wizard man!!
@kismetwilled : I'm not gonna lie, seeing how you pour effort into your headcanons and thoughtful replies kind of inspired me to do similar with my own. I also want to say that I'd love to plot more and yell ideas all day with you, your style is gorgeous and I find myself appreciating characters on your blog I've never even heard of or are barely familiar with. Seriously Dani, it's top tier and I'm so happy to be mutuals.
@enrogued : We haven't gotten anything started with but I'm so hyped. Rogue as a character has such fascinating potential with her powers, and that's not to mention her attitude towards others in general. Once stuff gets started I'm probably never gonna shut up in your DMs but like that's a constant sdfjkh STILL!!
@lunarrepel : Shadowheart my beloved. The aesthetics, writing, dialog, everything you do with her is SO on point and I can't get over it. I was already biased and liked her after Larian adjusted her a bit during the beta phase of BG3 but still. Man you just nail her and I'm so excited to develop these two out. They give wine aunt energy and THAT alone gives me so much life.
@dreadgloom / @cinderschild : I wont lie to you I was GIDDY when I found out you wrote a WoTR character. I honestly expected that fandom to have more of a presence on tumblr but I'll take what small fanclub we can get right?? And also can I comment on the takes you have from Salvatore are absolutely genius and play really well into WoTC's drow?? Genuinely fantastic worldbuilding and it's always a pleasure to see you crop up on the dash.
@nightsbloom : Your headcanons and replies have been gorgeus and I just want to say despite me being really busy and not getting around to approaching yet, I'm so excited??? Also a while back you reblogged a Qimir gifset and it's still living rent free in my head so thank you for the food chef--- Please though, if you have any thoughts or even just dynamic ideas - toss them at me at mach 5 and I will run with them because I'm HYPE.
@spiderwarden : I think you officially win the title of Minthara's #1 fan. Her performance (as I've mentioned) is absolutely captivating, as is your writing. I'm very excited to see where her interactions with Zagreus go and writing with you (or even just seeing your random hc posts and comments) is such a blast. I will always sit down and listen to you ramble about her, I think she's so fascinating and that's in no small part to how you manage to inject so much life and love into her despite all the cut content.
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I’m always paranoid of my tumblr being deleted or malfunctioning or something like that someday, so here’s other places to find me/follow me, just in case lol
~ instagram - https://www.instagram.com/lucalicatte/
~ main youtube - https://www.youtube.com/c/LucaLiCatte
~ games/sims youtube - https://www.youtube.com/@cloudycatte
~ facebook page (I rarely use this because I hate facebook but.. it at least allows text posts better than instagram does, so idk maybe I’d use it more if tumblr went away? lol) - https://www.facebook.com/cloudycatteart/
~ Other Links (stuff I don’t use often/isn’t Main enough to list here, like twitter, neopets, other tumblr sideblogs, youtube channels, etc.) are here - http://icewindandboringhorror.tumblr.com/otherlinks )
#An updated version of this since some of the links on the old one are no longer the same lol#I might make a website website one day (not with a custom domain since I'm not paying for that/dont have the money lol#but like a 'my name.weebly.com type thing lol) but I haven't had the time recently. If I ever get around to it I'll update the post and#reblog that version. ANYWAY.. I just like to have one of these written out to reblog every once in a while. During the once ever few months#when poeple are like 'tumblr is failing again! it wont survive!' which has happened like 80 times but I'm still always like :0c what if!#also love the ms paint art done with a mouse ghhj#ANYWAY.. also if you want to see the stinky game I made that's not actually related to my own worldbuilding really (why I have never#posted anything about it publilcy because it's like.. how do I talk about it lol) I have my itch.io linked in the 'other links' page#as well as my General Projects blog. which talks about all the ongoing and upcoming projects I want to do that are#actually set in my world and can give you previews of some of the things I'm working on. Currently resuming my Game after abandoning it#basically for the entire pandemic and a little before that - as mentioned before - so that's OUgh.. in terms of A Lot Of Work#Especially since while kind of 'revamping and updating' I want to add a few features which are mostly easy but every once in a while#I don't understand something and it's like....... hGGhh...... Ironically despite Blogging I just hate talking to people in public open foru#.. I love privacy and security lol.. and I always feel that ONE day I am going to have a question that has not already been asked on a foru#somewhere and I am going to have to post myself and.. no.. I shan't even imagine it.. It's not even really social anxiety it's just like..#efficiency.. instead of wating like days to get an accurate response and resolve the problem with the general public I would rather just ha#e a one time 30min conversation with an expert and resolve it quickly. PLUS then I also only interact with One stranger instead of Many Of#Them lol.. any 6+ yrs of experience Ren'py experts hmu so I can pay you like $50 to have a single 45min conversation#with me over an insanely simple question and then never talk to you again until a year later when I have a second question. hhjb#ANYWAY.. I still really don't like instagram or it's layout and I never understood how it works like.. if I should be tagging photos or wha#or how you really use it and I just... euGH... stimky.. but it is one of the most popular so I feel obligated to link it. I wish facebook w#sn't such a nasty poo poo because I do actually like the variety of posts you can make and how Pages on facebook operate. In the scense of#it being similar to tumblr that you can make a VARIETy of styles of post. not just Only Post Photos or Only Short Text or Only Video which#is still like.. how the funk does sutff like that even get popular lol.. the Limited nature.. hewwo.. but alas.. and NO way I'm touching#fucking Threads please do not make an account on there and don't let your friends do it and don't let that shit catch on lol.#BUT YEahg... links...... just in case.. i hope tumblr stays aroundin it's current format forever though lol..#I'm pretty sure even facebook doesn't have audio posts. or tags the way this does. or CHRONOLOGICAL FEED. custom html for pages.. aaaaa
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The Love Among Us
Chapter 1-- I’d Never Snitch On Daddy
so i haven’t seen many corpse husband x reader stories on here, so i decided to upload one myself. i’ve been watching jacksepticeye’s among us videos and when i heard corpse talk for the first time, i was like, “hol up” and now i’ve been obsessed with him. also, go stream his music on spotify, it’s amazing. enjoy! x.
corpse husband x female!reader
summary: while playing among us, y/n watches corpse kill felix in o2. when his body is reported, however, she doesn’t tell who killed him.
word count: ~3.6k
warnings: swearing, mentions of death (not real death), mentions of murder (not real murder)
EDIT: before i wrote this and after i published it, i did not know that corpse did not like to be referred to as “daddy”. had i known this, i would have not even thought of posting this. and since i know now, i won’t refer to him as such in the future. thank you. (10/19/2020)
EDIT 2: this is the first part to my corpse x reader series. i will be adding chapters as we go!
next>
4 rounds before the incident
“I was in coms with PJ!” Sean exclaims.
“He is doing the liar voice!” Felix shouts with a laugh.
“I’m not,” Sean tries to say, but everyone talks over him and the voting time ends. Everyone left alive, though it was only four people, had all voted for him and he yells at them as he gets ejected.
stinky was not the imposter
2 imposters remain
The round ends and everyone unmutes themselves.
“Lizzie, you saw Felix kill me and you did nothing!” Roomie yells as soon as the round ends and the imposters are revealed.
“Yeah, because I was the other imposter.”
“Oh. Okay, well that makes sense.”
Everyone laughs and Ken starts the round again.
“Wait, can I invite y/n to play? She’s doing her twenty-four-hour stream and she just finished playing Monopoly with Mark, Bob, and Wade,” says Lizzie, looking down at her phone as they all appear back in the waiting room.
“Yes,” Corpse blurts out and there are a few laughs and chuckles.
“You were quick to answer, Corpse,” Sean teases.
“Shut up,” Corpse mumbles and there are even more laughs.
Lizzie smiles and taps into her phone. “I’m gonna invite her.”
~
“I can’t believe that you actually made that deal, y/n,” Wade is telling you after ending the second round of Monopoly that you’ve played with them.
You smile and cross your legs on your chair. “Look, I was going bankrupt and it seemed good at the time. Besides, Mark was going to win anyway, he owned half of the board.” Your phone buzzes beside you on your desk and you pick it up. “Lizzie texted me.” There’s a sound effect that plays in your headset and you look up at your screen and smile. “Thanks to _lorieplays _for donating a hundred dollars, that means a lot. Thank you so much.”
“Do you want to play another round?” Marks asks.
You shake your head, reading the text from your friend in England. “No, I don’t want to lose to you again.” You laugh. “Nah, Lizzie wants me to play Among Us with her and a few others. It was fun playing with you guys.”
“It was even though you took all of my money,” Bob snaps.
You laugh. “Yeah, yeah. See you guys later.”
“Bye,” says Mark.
“See y--” Wade begins but you cut him off when you disconnect from the call.
“Oops.” You put a hand over your mouth and laugh. “Sorry, Wade. Okay.” You straighten up and glance over everything, making sure it’s all working properly. “I have to pee and I think my roommate ordered pizza, so we’ll be back after this short break. Enjoy this live feed of my pet rats.” You giggle and switch the stream over to a view of your two rats in their cage where you have a camera set up. You take your headset off and head out of your recording room.
Every two months, you have a twenty-four-hour livestream where you play games with your friends from all around the world. Despite being only twenty-five, your Youtube channel had grown exponentially in the past three years and you’ve had the chance to meet lots of other Youtubers like Markiplier, PewDiePie, and your close friend, LDShadowLady.
Currently, you’re on hour twenty of twenty-four and you’re beginning to feel the effects of not sleeping for a whole day. You had been drinking coffee and energy drinks for the past four hours and that seemed to perk you up for two hours max. But your roommate had ordered pizza and that would hopefully wake you up.
After going to the bathroom and grabbing an entire box of pizza, you return to your recording room and sit down. You put your headset back on and eat a slice of pizza before switching the views back to you. “And we’re back. I hope you guys enjoyed my rats because I don’t. They keep me up at night.”
You read a comment while loading up Among Us and laugh. “No, they’re not dead. They’re sleeping. They do that a lot when they’re not fighting.”
When you finally get into the game and entire the code, you spawn in. You also quickly join the Discord chat and wince when nearly ten voices hit you at once.
“y/n!” exclaims Lizzie and the other voices die down for a moment before rising to greet you.
You wince again but laugh. “Jesus, you guys are loud. Hey, Lizzie.” You move your character to the customize tab and go to try and switch your color. But then you frown and realize that you’re stuck with being dark blue. “Damn, I wanted to be white.”
“Do you want to switch?” Corpse asks.
Your eyes widen you your stomach flips. You hadn’t noticed Corpse was in this game. Immediately, your chat became flooded with keyboard smashing and lots of “omg my shipp” and “y/n rlly said ‘anna oop-’”
“Uh, yeah, if you don’t mind,” you manage to stutter out and take a bite of pizza as Corpse’s player comes over and the white option becomes available. You select it and also select the goggles in the hats menu.
“How’s your stream going?” asks Sean.
You shrug. “Pretty good. I’m super tired, though. I literally almost fell asleep while playing Monopoly with Mark, Wade, and Bob.”
“You went to college, right?” You’re pretty sure that’s Roomie.
“Yep,” you affirm with a nod even though they can’t see you. “You’d think that those all-nighters writing papers and studying for finals would make me able to do this.”
There’s a laugh in the group and the round starts.
3 rounds before the incident
You scratch your eyebrow and sigh in relief when you’re the crewmate. You mute yourself and slide up in your chair.
“I like being the crewmate,” you say, heading towards admin as a habit. “It’s a lot less stressful than being imposter.”
After doing your tasks in admin and fueling the engines, you stumble across a dead body in the lower engine and a vent closing.
“Oh,” you say, and press the report button. You unmute yourself and begin with, “So I saw a vent close but I didn’t see who went in.”
“Who died?” asks Lizzie.
“Felix,” says Sean.
You smirk. “It’s always yellow that dies first.”
“Where was the body?” Ken asks.
“Lower engine,” you reply.
“I was in medbay with Corpse doing the scan so it wasn’t him,” PJ says and Corpse makes a noise of confirmation.
This makes your cheeks heat up and you smack a hand over your mouth. Your chat explodes again but you decide to ignore it.
“And I was doing wires in cafeteria,” Lizzie says.
“Sean, where were you?”
“I was in reactor doing the simon says thing,” he answers.
You sigh. “I hate that one. What about you, Ken?”
“I was with Roomie in electrical doing the power thing. You know, the one where you have to divert it somewhere else.”
“So do we skip then?” asks Lizzie.
“No one is super sus, so I’m going to skip,” you answer.
When no one is ejected, you mute yourself again. “I dunno why, but Sean seems pretty sus. Because I didn’t see him on the way down from upper engine. But I guess he could have gotten there in time.” You shrug and run over to the trash chute in the cafeteria. “RIP to Felix, though.”
After doing the trash there, you head down to storage, running into Corpse doing the wires in there. You wait there to clear him and once you do, you run a few circles around him to get his attention and he follows you over to the trash in storage and watches you do that. After that, the two of you head over to electric together and do wires there.
Suddenly, there’s a body reported and you unmute yourself.
“Sean just killed Lizzie in front of me!” exclaims PJ.
“PJ killed Lizzie,” Sean retorts, flipping the blame. “I watched it, he didn’t realize I was there and murdered her.”
“I watched PJ do the scan in medbay, he’s cleared,” Corpse says and you find yourself smiling for no reason. “Sean, you killed Lizzie.”
“I knew he was sus,” you say, grabbing another piece of pizza. You look at the box and your eyes widen. Had you really already eaten half of it?
“Wait wait, how am I sus?” Sean asks.
You take a moment to swallow. “Because when I was doing fuel earlier, I was running down from upper engine and didn’t see you in reactor. Sure, maybe you could have gotten there earlier, but it was super weird.”
The discussion time ends and PJ immediately goes to vote for Sean as well as you, Corpse, and everyone else still alive. Sean ends up getting ejected.
stinky was an imposter
1 imposter remains
“You’re such a detective, y/n,” Sean says when he gets ejected.
You laugh. “I just play this game too much.” You then mute yourself and smile. “I am a genius.”
You end up finishing your tasks quickly after that and then stand in the cafeteria and eat another piece of pizza and read some of the chat.
“’ What am I going to do after this?’ I don’t know. I might play some Minecraft. Should I have a poll on Twitter? I’m stuck between public Among Us games, Minecraft, and taking random quizzes on Buzzfeed.” You smile and hear another sound effect and something pops up on the screen. “Thank you to coochie man for donating a hundred dollars, that means a lot.” You laugh at their name. “I love your name, by the way.”
There’s some rattling in the cage behind you and you turn around to see one of your rats drinking water. You turn back to the chat and read another comment. “’ Do you have a crush on Corpse?’” You blush and smile, biting your lip. “I mean, his voice is hot. I’ve never met him since he lives in San Diego and I live in h/t, but yeah, I guess I do. I’ve been listening to his music for the past few days and it’s really good, you guys should go check it out.”
You look up and unmute yourself when a body is reported. “Who died?” you ask. “I wasn’t paying attention.”
“Are you already done with your tasks, y/n?” Corpse asks.
God, even the way he says your name is making you blush. “Yeah, I get them done quick.”
“She does that,” says Lizzie, “She always gets her tasks done quick.”
“Ken is dead by the way,” says Roomie and your snort, smacking a hand over your mouth. “I found him in the hallway by navigation. Where was everyone else?”
“I was in cafeteria doing nothing,” you say, leaning back in your chair and spinning around just a little. “I think I saw PJ downloading while I was in there, but I wasn’t paying attention.”
“Yeah, I was downloading,” says Ken.
After more discussion, Corpse points out that Jaiden had been following him and it looked like she had been faking tasks.
“No I haven’t,” she says.
“That sounds like something the imposter would say,” you hum with a smirk. “That’s pretty sus, Jaiden.”
Everyone else agrees and you all end up voting Jaiden out.
jaiden was the imposter
0 imposters remain
You cheer as the round ends and a blue victory screen pops up for the crewmates. “Good game, guys,” you say and play again, waiting for the host.
~
1 round before the incident
“Oh my god, I’m imposter again?” you groan and sigh when you spawn back in. “I was just imposter, I don’t want to be it again. I’m so bad at it,”
After another short round of you and Felix losing to the crewmates, you all agreed to play two more rounds before Sean had to leave. So you move your character to admin where PJ is and fake the card swipe before moving over to the admin security thing where you could see who was around where. Luckily, no one appeared to be near admin, so you quickly kill PJ and escape through the vent and come out through medbay.
“Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god,” you whisper over and over, running down to storage. “That was clean.” You fake getting fuel and go back up to the upper engine.
When PJ’s body is reported, you see that your fellow imposter, Sean, had reported it. You stay silent for most of the round and only say that you were in the fuel area when it was reported.
“Yeah, I saw her run past electrical earlier,” Corpse says. You blush and glance at your exploding chat and shake your head.
After everyone skips the round, you mute yourself once more and head towards navigation. “I hate this.” You drag the last syllable and watch Lizzie enter the room. You wait a moment before walking towards her and killing her, jumping into one of the vents. You let out a sigh and flex your fingers. “I’m so stressed.” You exit out of the vent into shields and your heart stops when you see someone else in there but you realize that it’s the other imposter, Sean, and you relax.
You run past him and go to the trash compartments and pretend to unload those. And that’s how the rest of the round goes. You kill someone, someone reports it and you vote someone off. Eventually, you and Sean do a double kill and end up winning the round.
You unmute yourself.
“Let’s go!” Sean exclaims and you smile.
“I can’t believe you killed me, y/n!” shouts Lizzie. “I thought we were friends.”
You laugh. “There are no friends in this game. I’m not loyal to anyone in this game. You could be my best friend and I would fucking murder you.”
“That’s cold,” says Roomie as everyone else spawns back in.
“Yeah,” you nod.
“Wait, PJ disconnected,” says Sean, and you all end up waiting for him to rejoin.
In that time, you look at your chat and say, “Hey, do you guys have any questions for who I’m playing with. I’m asking you, chat.”
“I swear if someone asks about my hands, I’m leaving,” Corpse says and everyone laughs.
You laugh louder when you read a comment and read it aloud, “_Ironlady _says that you should be a hand model, Corpse.”
“Okay, I’m leaving,” you hear Corpse say over everyone laughing.
“No, stay!” you exclaim, trying not to laugh. “C’mon, don’t leave.”
He sighs deeply and your brain goes fuzzy. “Fine. I’ll stay for you.”
You beam and your tummy turns. You ignore the whistles and remarks from everyone else and stand beside Corpse. You suddenly wish that the little bean characters could hold hands.
When PJ joins the server again, Ken starts the round and you cross your fingers, hoping to get crewmate.
0 rounds before the incident
You mute yourself and sigh when you’re a crewmate. “Thank god.” You let out a breath and go over to admin with everyone else. You swipe your card and go to the cafeteria to do some wires there.
The game turns out to be rather uneventful. A few people die and two people are voted off before the game gets truly interesting. And that happens when you walk in on Corpse and Felix.
“I’ve had this song stuck in my head for days,” you’re saying, walking from electrical over to O2. “And I can’t get it out of my head. Maybe singing it will help.” You hum the first part. “Don't go in there, you'll become one. Freaky creatures, monster party. Eyes of yellow, scales and feathers, tails in tethers. Turn the lights off. Bend the nightmare, you control it. Artful dodger, easy does it. Shut the closet, get under the covers. Snakes and lovers. Turn the lights off.” You do a little dance for a moment and continue hum the song, glancing at the chat as you go towards O2 after doing wires in storage.
“Like, I know the song, it’s just been stuck in my head,” you explain. “And it kind of annoys me--”
But you stop as you enter O2 and watch Corpse murder Felix. Neither one of you move and you don’t know what to do. “Uhhh.”
Then, without thinking, you turn straight around and make your way away from the scene of the murder. “I didn’t see anything!” you shout to no one. “I suddenly can’t see who murdered Felix.” You smack a hand over your mouth and stand in the middle of a hallway. “Oh my god, what do I do? I don’t want to snitch on Corpse, he’s hot.” You scratch the back of your neck and shrug, continuing on to reactor. “I didn’t see anything.”
You’re in the middle of doing the simon says in reactor when Felix’s body is reported. You unmute yourself and fidget with the sleeve of your hoodie. You know exactly who killed Felix.
“--was in O2,” says Jaiden and you focus back into the conversation. “And I didn’t see anyone around.”
“I saw you heading that way, y/n, but I know it wasn’t you because I saw you do the trash in storage.”
You look at the screen when Sean talks to you and you chew your lip. “I know who killed Felix.”
“Who?” asks almost everyone at the same time.
You close your eyes and swallow. It’s just a game, why are you taking this so seriously? Suddenly, a song lyric pops into your head and your stomach flips. You imagine yourself saying it and no one knows who you mean except for him.
You open your eyes. “I’d never snitch on daddy.”
There’s a laugh in the chat and you blush fiercely, your livestream chat blowing up once again.
“I think we know who it is, then,” says Sean, laughing.
“Yeah,” agrees Lizzie and your eyes widen.
“Wait, what?” you ask, watching everyone vote almost as soon as the discussion time ends. “Wait, hang on, who--”
“We know who you’re talking about, y/n,” PJ tells you.
You vote for yourself and your brain goes blank as you see that everyone voted for Corpse. He even voted for himself. They knew. They all _knew _about your feelings for Corpse.
The round ends with Corpse being voted out and the crewmates win. There’s some talking, but you stay on the victory screen. You’re trying to decide if your mad or embarrassed or both.
“I didn’t know you’d say that, y/n,” Corpse says, effectively breaking you out of your trance. “I thought you were gonna snitch on me.”
“You heard her,” teases Lizzie and you can tell she’s grinning. “She’d never snitch on you, Corpse.”
He laughs and you feel something in a certain place. “Oh my god, I’m gonna die of embarrassment.” You put your face in your hands, listening to your friends tease you in the chat. You suddenly want to jump out your window and run into traffic.
“Don’t die,” comes Corpse’s voice through the onslaught of teasing. “I’ll be sad.”
“Fuck!” you shout and slam your hand on your desk, shaking your equipment and scaring your rats. “I’m so sorry, Corpse, that was really weird, I--”
“Stop.” He interrupts you and the chat goes silent and you look up at the screen even though you can’t see him. “It’s okay. It was funny.”
Your eyes widen and then narrow. Funny? He thought what you said was funny? How could he think it was funny?
But then he speaks again and he sounds oddly flustered. “Uh, I gotta go. Um, it was fun playing with you guys. Bye, y/n.”
“Bye Cor--” but then he disconnects and you’re left talking to no one. “--pse.”
There’s a long moment of silence until Felix breaks it. “I can’t believe you just watched me die and didn’t do anything about it.”
There are some laughs and you smile faintly, rejoining the game. “Yeah, uh, sorry about that.”
“Are you okay, y/n?” asks Lizzie.
You blush and swallow. “I don’t know. God, I’m so weird.” You run a hand through your hair and adjust your headphones
“No, you’re not,” Roomie assures you. “He has a crush on you, too.”
Your eyes widen and you scoot up in your chair. “He does?”
“I mean, he called you pretty once during a game and said that he watches your videos a lot, so maybe.”
You groan and sink in your chair. “I’m gonna go, I need to run into traffic now.”
A few people laugh or chuckle and Lizzie asks you if you’re actually going to leave.
“Yeah,” you tell her. “But not to run into traffic. I’m going to go play Minecraft to soothe myself.”
“Aw.” You can practically hear her frown. “Okay. Bye, y/n.”
“Good luck with your stream,” Ken tells you.
You grin. “Okay, thanks, bye.”
When you exit the game and leave the chat, you scream. You actually scream and it’s loud. Your roommate even knocks on your door, asking if you’re okay.
You look at them and nod. “Yeah, totally fine. Probably about to have a mental breakdown, but I’m fine.”
“Okay,” they say and lean on the doorframe. “But I’m not cutting bangs for you again.”
You laugh and nod. “Yeah, okay, fine.” They leave and you turn back to your stream, feeling like you’re about to cry. Corpse knows you have a crush on him. And it seems like he has one on you as well, but now you’re embarrassed because you called him ‘daddy’ on stream.
You rub your eyes. “Well, now I know what’ll be streaming on Twitter tonight,” you tell the chat.
#corpse_husband#corpse husband#x reader#female reader#corpse husband x reader#corpse_husband x reader#jacksepticeye#among us#ldshadowlady#pewdiepie#fanfic
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Brachio! I was just thinking about the Jedi having a buddy system--just imagine older younglings being buddies with younger younglings. But also Padawans being buddies with younglings and Knights being buddies with younglings.
Maybe the older buddy tells their buddy stories about what they've done, or helps teach/tutor their younger buddy, or they're just there to offer advice or a listening ear or a difference perspective.
It would make so much sense, given how important teaching/learning is to the Jedi -- and maybe having a buddy is like preparation for taking on a Padawan.
Not every buddy-pair becomes a master and Padawan, though -- many just become friends -- but some do.
(I think Quinlan and Aayla would have been buddies.)
Shadow, your mind. It's a gift to the fandom.
I'm now accepting this as canon because the Jedi would definitely do this, especially to create more community between generations. It's also a way to train everyone to be good with younglings and take some of the load off the creche masters.
Yoda would be the biggest supporter of this because spending more time with younglings would help all of the older Jedi to think more like them. "Truly wonderful, the mind of a child is." He also wants all of his grandkids to appreciate and take care of each other. He may have been the one to start it several hundred years ago. Or he remembers how much he loved his own buddies and made sure it continued.
Perhaps they have multiple buddies, at least one of the same species. It would probably help younglings feel more comfortable with themselves, especially if they're a less common species like Wookies and could be one way the Jedi encourage interaction with their birth culture.
Quinlan definitely brought Aayla to the Temple and introduced her to everyone as his buddy, effectively claiming her. While he was at it, he also decided to claim her as his future padawan, which everyone laughed at until a few years later they realized he was serious. The masters all just nodded their heads in agreement at that point because the two of them were such good buddies anyway and he'd actually taught her a lot already and—to everyone's surprise—had proven himself somewhat responsible with her.
We're going to call them little buddies and big buddies for clarity.
Big buddies giving little buddies piggyback rides around the Temple, this continues well into adulthood.
Buddies being best friends and doing secret handshakes when they pass each other in the halls. This also continues well into adulthood.
Little buddies that refuse to admit that they actually like their big buddy a lot, but as soon as the big buddy leaves they draw tons of pictures and ask their creche master if they can give it to them. The big buddy is at first disappointed that their little buddy doesn't want to interact with them but then gets the pictures and realizes that they're just shy.
The big buddies that are so enthusiastic about it that they totally embarrass their little buddies.
Big buddies dunking little buddies into the fountains. Little buddies ganging up together for revenge. Big buddies claiming "revenge is not the Jedi way" before dunking them again. The creche masters watch this and decide that the big buddies can find everyone towels and dry clothes.
Little buddies seeing their big buddy in the halls and just running up to them and hugging them.
Big buddies absconding with the little buddies to go play pranks and cause other mayhem around the Temple.
Little buddies picking a flower and shyly walking up to their big buddy to offer it to them. Big buddies weaving flower crowns or braiding flowers into their little buddy's hair.
Big buddies helping little buddies with academics and telling them which masters are the most fun in class.
Little buddies teaching big buddies games.
Big buddies helping little buddies with lightsaber forms, then showing off & teaching them cool tricks.
Big buddies listening intently to whatever their little buddies are saying, usually something about made up fruits or animals, or something they made in art class, but occasionally very serious problems like "so and so said I was a stinky poodoo head and I'm never going to be friends with them again" and depending on the buddy they'll respond with helpful advice to resolve the situation or they'll say "call them a stinky poodoo head back" and get swatted by their master.
Big buddies telling their little buddies complete nonsense with absolute seriousness like "the 3rd mango tree in the garden is magic and there's a secret passage beneath its roots that takes you to the lower levels of the Temple. It only opens once a year and you have to be wearing pink socks when it happens otherwise you won't be able to enter." The creche masters are very confused as to why everyone is asking for pink socks and to stakeout the mango trees.
Big buddies throwing the little buddies back and forth with the force. They raise the stakes by throwing multiple at a time. This occasionally grows to a full circle of big buddies throwing little buddies around and across between them until one of them almost falls or the creche masters break it up before someone actually does fall.
Big buddies supervising as a group for the night so the creche masters get some time off. All the little buddies look forward to this because the big buddies will let them stay up a little later if they don't tell the creche masters and they'll read extra stories and play extra games before going to bed. Sometimes they get to watch a holo and the big buddies become great pillows that also hold popcorn. Maybe the big buddies sleepover in the creche; everyone sleeps in the giant blanket forts they build.
Little buddies practice telekinesis by levitating their big buddies, who are very excited about this. They also try to get the little buddies to throw them with the Force.
If the big buddy is a padawan, their master also often ends up fond of the little buddy. Sometimes the little buddy ends up being the master's next padawan. It's just the will of the Force.
#headcanon accepted#headcanons#jedi younglings#jedi order#jedi appreciation#jedi positivity#jedi#yoda#quinlan vos#aayla secura#quin & aayla#master & padawan#star wars#brachio answers
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DaveFarts - Episode 6 “Fart Bet, Easy Bucks” [Episode List] When, rather immaturely, Tim’s friends are doing some random, silly bets, things soon turn stinkier and gassier as Dave joins the game…
Fart Bet, Easy Bucks
The immature, roaring laughter of me and my friends echoed in the living-room as another pal of mine, Jim, took one last bite of an onion, his cheeks turning red, teary eyes, almost puking in front us. We clapped our hands like the drunk monkeys we were, ignoring our friend’s gagging sounds, and we all took another shot of vodka in his honor.
“Well done, Jim!” Adam laughed, as tipsy as the rest of us.
That’s what we were doing in Adam’s parent-free house: really mature bets. At late night, it was almost 3:00 a.m. Our onion-eating friend just lost one of those silly bets we were challenging each other to do. Pretty stupid tasks, like standing on one foot for 3 minutes or reading stuff upside down. Quite mundane, easy, but try doing it after two bottles of vodka-lemon. Each. The loser had to take a couple of bites of an onion, because as I said, we’re very mature. And clever.
The entire room stunk like that stinky vegetable and alcohol, didn’t help that some of us were also burping loudly and proudly, but we were too tipsy to even notice or even be bothered by that (plus, it’s not like I’m not used to… bad-smelling stuff…). When not betting each other to do shit, we were all sitting on two different couches: Adam, Jim and a couple of other guys were all sitting and burping on a longer couch, while I was on a smaller one with Dave, sitting next to me.
As more laughs roared in the room for no reason, in the chaos, Dave elbowed me and chuckled a bit, bringing to my attention the weird vibrations on the couch: he was ripping one of his big farts, the sound completely muffled by the pillows, his loose dark grey jeans probably making it sound even louder and manlier. I only smiled a bit a took another shot of vodka; my gassy friend did the same, finding my awkward reaction hilarious as usual.
“Tim, it’s your turn!”
I almost chocked on my own drink when I heard my name: Dave’s flatulence usually makes me very absent-minded. I finally realized that Adam was standing in the middle of the room, each one of us, one by one, whistling a song to him: if he guessed wrong, then it’s onion-hell for him. It was my turn to whistle a song then. I think about it for a moment, and then I start to whistle this famous hit from a couple of years earlier, but I was pretty drunk, so I didn’t really realize how weird the sounds coming out of my lips were, but my friends laughing should have been a wake-up call.
Eventually, Adam ran out of time, because he couldn’t guess the song I was “singing” to him. He was mad, almost furious, but it was the alcohol talking.
“Tim, you’re an idiot!” he was understandably angry, because it was my fault. “That wasn’t even a real song, you asshole!”
Didn’t help that we were all laughing at him, but my friend didn’t accept defeat, and he actually had all the rights to.
“I’m not going to eat those fucking onions!” Adam shouted. “Tim made me lose: he should be the one choking on that shit!”
I wasn’t offended, to be honest. I was actually laughing like the rest of the guys.
“Dude… we’re out of onions!” Jim said, noticing the empty plate.
We all laughed even more after that and I may have given to my angry friend a smug-ish look. I was just kidding, but he took it very seriously.
“Oh you’re going down, Tim. Just you wait…”
He eventually convinced our other pals that I was, indeed, deserving a “punishment”.
“Make him lick your dog’s balls!” someone suggested. “Leave my princess out of this!” Adam replied, offended.
It’s like the entire group stopped being drunk just to decide what disgusting task I should have done. I just laughed the whole time: it’s part of the game, they were not mean-spirited. Even Dave suggested some stuff, like drinking expired milk with my nostrils. Each suggestion was met with a mixture of laughter and disgust.
After a couple of minutes of discussion, I felt Dave once again elbowing me.
“Gentlemen, please!” he shouted, in a slightly sarcastic tone. “Since you’re wasting my time, I propose an entire new bet. Whether the result, Tim will still get his… punishment, trust me!”
He was trying not to laugh, but he did earn some puzzled looks from our other pals.
“If Tim survives to this for 5 minutes straight…” he leaned a bit, the couch shaking again under the pressure of his enormous, muffled fart, which lasted 4 seconds. Our other friends laughed immaturely and I started to sweat. “…then you guys are going to give us 20$. Each.”
Dave was insane. Was he really going to do what I think… no, that’s just crazy. It can’t be, come on! There was people watching us! Our friends were a both amused and disgusted. But also intrigued.
“But if he gives up, then Tim owes Adam… let’s see… 200$” “What?!” I thought, the money-part being the only thing I disagreed with. The thought of Dave face-farting me was amazingly distracting as usual.
As our friends discussed Dave’s proposal, my gassy friend just patted my shoulder. “Come on Tim, that’s some easy bucks, right?” he whispered, chuckling a bit. My fetish was just a weird, fun game to him, and I couldn’t have been happier. But in front of our pals? That was too strange even for my standards.
When I turned to my gassy bro, however, he was already leaning on his back, his legs cocked up, his loose dark grey jeans forming that well-known “barrage” made of denim, a really familiar sight for me. I heard my friends laugh, Adam getting closer to me, his hands on my shoulders.
“Come on Tim… I want to see your face turn green!”
He was trying to sound threatening, but he couldn’t help but laugh; I know Adam: he’s just a friendly dork trying to act tough and I knew that he was actually finding the entire situation immaturely hilarious. But he had to look mad, it’s part of his… character.
I heard Dave sucking some air in his ass, his jeans now sagging, exposing a bit of his red underwear (interesting color, that’s for sure). The weird sounds coming from my friend’s butt were the only thing I could hear, despite my friends laughing. Every time Dave farted was like a dream coming true, but this time we were not alone. I stopped thinking about how risky the situation was for a moment, knowing that my friends would never suspect what was really going on between me and Dave, and just listened to the chorus of “Sniff it!”.
I gently buried my face in that soft, denim pillow, his legs slowly wrapping around my head, as if he was hugging me, trapping me in his gas-chamber. With my nose touching his underwear-covered anus, I could still feel the air being sucked in. A moment of silence, and then I felt his butt-muscles relax, and a first fart began.
It was so loud it’s hard to describe. Despite being on command, it was incredibly gross and wet-ish. The smell was rancid and unbearable, the mixture of alcohol and onions in Dave’s stomach probably produced something that no human would have been able to handle. The fart was so strong… loud, manly: my entire face was shaking, I swear I’ll never get used to his gassy talent. I could barely hear my friends laughing: my ears were devoted to Dave’s immense display of flatulence.
I coughed a bit, pretending to hate the smell, when the truth was obviously really different. This first fart alone lasted almost 20 seconds, one of the longest I’ve ever experienced from him. Our friends clapped their hands in approval, having yet another shot of vodka, a toast to the incredible display of fart-talent they just witnessed, and just kept laughing immaturely.
As they laughed, I saw Dave’s face just above that “barrage” of sagging jeans: as usual, he was laughing, and smiled at me, and then winked: his “plan” was working great. I felt his hand brushing through my hair and gently pushing me even deeper into the denim depths of his ass, this time with my nose almost perfectly aligned with his underwear-clad anus.
Dave’s grip, as usual, felt more like a caress, and the fart that immediately followed was just as big as the first one. And hilarious as well. “This is a natural one!” I heard him say, basically bragging about his gassy-abilities, as the fart kept going strong, our friends laughing again. “Pull him closer!” Jim shouted, then (probably him) pushed me even more “inside” of Dave’s butt (I couldn’t tell if it was Jim, as my face –and eyes- was completely buried in my friend’s fart-shooter). Dave made his butt comically wiggle a bit, forcing some toots out: my nostrils were almost burning, the stench being a mixture of rotten onions and burning vodka-lemon.
“That’s so gay!” Adam laughed. Ironically, he was right, about me at least.
“3 minutes already!” I heard somebody scream. I almost lost track of time: as I said, those farts make me absent-minded. Dave just kept ripping this series of loud rips one after one, without even sucking in. I couldn’t tell anymore whether he was farting on command or not anyway: he was just so good at it that the farts always felt natural (and, 99% of times, they were). “Aww man.” Dave chuckled, lying down slowly. He was tired, exhausted. “Can I turn around?!” he asked. They all simply laughed in response, though I also heard some gagging sounds.
My best friend turned around slowly, adjusting his position, his legs somehow keeping my face planted in his ass, as if he was “wrestling” me down, albeit very slowly and gently. He was now lying on his stomach, his loose-jeans butt looking like a beautiful pillow made of denim, his red underwear slightly popping out.
“Do your longest one, Dave!” Adam suggested. I was both mad and grateful for that.
He then came closer and made sure that my face was buried in the farter’s butt, pushing me even deeper in it. Dave just laughed, while I was trying not to get as red as tomato. I just couldn’t believe how open-minded Dave was about this, going as far as face-farting me in front of everyone else; granted, the bet was a smart excuse, but still, I was speechless. I didn’t even feel embarrassed: it was like a big prank, and friends alway prank each other, but the friendship remains intact, if not even stronger.
“Alright, I feel a good one… ready?” my gassy friend said, but it’s like he was talking to me only, as if we were alone as usual, during one of our fart sessions.
It’s like his butt “hugged” my face even more, right before the explosion that engulfed my entire, defenseless head in a cloud of stench. The fart shook my entire face and part of the couch like an earthquake. The chainsaw-like sounds were as loud as a thunder; the whole flatulence sounded fake, but it wasn’t, at all. 10 seconds, but the fart kept going strong, almost unnaturally.
I caught a glimpse of Dave’s smile as he slightly turned his head around, making sure I was enjoying it, but the rest of our friends didn’t notice that apparently, as they were too busy laughing and clapping their hands. “No way!” Adam shouted, in a mixture of anger and hilarity: as the fart was still being ripped, Dave slightly lowered his jeans a bit, fully exposing the red underwear, the sound getting even louder. I felt his hand again pushing me between his buttcheeks, as he spread his legs a bit more. I was having a close-encounter with his anus, the underwear acting as one final line of defense separating me from the real source of that gas. The smell was unbearable: onions smelt nice in comparison. And it was great.
As a “big finale”, as Dave announced it, the flatulence turned as loud as it was humanly possible, the ear-piercing sound almost destroying my own eardrums. My nostrils were burning, my nose getting wet-ish due to Dave’s sweaty buttcheeks. It was the most intense face-farting that my best friend ever made me experience… and he was straight: imagine if he was gay!
“No fucking way!” Adam roared. “5 minutes!”
Everyone else cheered and laughed, playfully throwing pillows at our angry friend. I slowly sat back, Dave doing the same, tying his jeans belt again. He patted on my shoulder, laughing, while I was doing my best to tame my huge boner, hidden by my own jeans.
“No way! You guys did this before, come on!”
Adam asked, ironically (if only he knew…), now laughing too, as he took a 20$ bill out of his wallet. The rest of the guys reluctantly did the same, throwing money at us, disgusted and amused at the same time.
The entire living-room now smelt like onions and rotten alcohol (if rotten-alcohol existed… does it exist?), everyone moaning in disgust, while me and Dave counted the money we just earned… by cheating.
“Easiest bucks we ever made!” he whispered, handing 50% of the cash to me, elbowing me like he did other times. “Great job!” he chuckled.
We all had another shot of vodka-lemon, and the night proceeded as usual, as Jim found another stash of onions hidden in the fridge. As the really clever betting continued, my gaze landed more than once on Dave… just Dave, sitting next to me, as if nothing happened. He’s like a brother, my best friend. He did that for me, he felt he was really gassy because of all the alcohol… and so farted in my face as an excuse, money or not.
Yes, I bet Dave did all of that for me, not just the money. And that’s another bet I’m sure I’ll win.
End of Episode 6
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A Little Braver - Chapter 2
I think I will be brave as well and post chapter 2.
In the chapter when Rowan muses about his call sign he uses the term FNG - it literally mean Fucking new guy. In US military it describes a newcomer.
Enjoy the chapter!
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The next morning Rowan was on his way to the fire station. He had left the house a bit early to allow for traffic or getting lost. In the end he had arrived with ten minutes to spare. He parked the car along the road and walked to the main area in front of the station and stopped.
The tall training building was on fire and a few people were outside in front of it as if in waiting. He searched for the captain but she was not there. He wanted to go and ask to the team about her whereabouts but did not want to interrupt the training session. So he just decided to lean against a wall of the fire station, arms folded at his chest and just watch the drill.
He was curious about why they were not using the truck or water and wondered if they were following a specific exercise.
Being a fighter pilot was full of risks but by looking at the raging fire and thinking that there were people willingly putting themselves through that inferno made him shiver. He’d rather been strapped in a metal cage than in a house on fire.
All of a sudden a figure ran out of the building carrying what looked like a dummy and two more followed. He gasped when he recognised the captain. The dummy she was carrying on her shoulders must have weighed a ton and he was impressed. He followed her, dumping the dummy on the ground and joining the tall blonde man and pat him on the shoulder looking happy. His lips turned up in a hint of a smile.
Her eyes met his and she gave him a huge smile and Rowan straightened up and pulled away from the wall. She walked to him while unbuttoning her bulky fireproof jacket.
“Morning Captain,” she brushed her hair away from her face and Rowan’s heart started to race.
“Enjoyed the show?”
He cleared his voice while he tried to gain some sense again “That was fascinating.”
“Can you give me twenty minutes to have a very quick shower and get changed? You don’t want to be in a meeting with a stinky woman.”
Captain Whitethorn nodded “Take your time.”
“You can go and meet the guys. They are a friendly bunch.” She offered “just ignore the lewd jokes.”
“Thank you for the head’s up.”
Aelin ran away and he gathered some courage and walked to the team. He was not the best around people he did not know, but he wanted to play nice.
He took another step and the tall blond man noticed him and walked with purpose toward him and offered him his hand “Captain Whitethorn isn’t it?”
Rowan nodded.
“Aelin told us you were coming. I am Lieutenant Ashryver.”
Rowan nodded and studied the man in front of him and noticed that his posture and attitude screamed military. After he had spent all his adult life in the force he had gotten used to spot one of them. He had the same feeling at the base during the fire.
“Can I introduce you to our team?”
“Gladly.”
Aedion turned to the red-haired woman “Ladies first. This is Ansel. Never leave her and Aelin alone because then you are in trouble.”
“Hey, I’ll tell her you said that and she will put you on truck cleaning duties for a month.” Aedion ignored her and continued “then here we have Brullo, Nox, Ress, Ren and finally Luca.” He grabbed the young man’s shoulder “he is our probie. He finished the academy and he joined us a few months ago. For now he is coming to the less serious calls but we are planning on coddling him a bit less and make him see the real stuff as well.”
Then the man turned around, scanning the area in search for something or someone “we also have two EMTs, Elide and Lysandra but they must be around the station doing something. You will meet them anyway.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you all.”
“Everyone, clean up and don’t leave everything to Luca. All of you haul ass. Nox, Ren you are on equipment duty. Ansel, Ress you two are on uniform checks. Brullo, take Luca with you and go over him some truck procedures for before and after calls. Now away all of you.”
Rowan chuckled. The man was definitely ex military.
“Where did you serve?” He asked the man taking a chance.
“I was in the army. I was an artillery specialist. Once I retired Aelin called me saying her station was looking for recruits and I applied for the job. Guess my experience with explosives and such was a plus. Many years later I am still here and still loving it.” Then he studied the Captain “how did you guess?”
“Your posture. It’s the stick up your arse, as Captain Galathynius would say, that gets drilled into you from day one. The way you give order, again, very familiar.”
“Call her Aelin, Cap or Captain. She hates being called Captain Galathynius.”
Rowan raised a eyebrow with curiosity for that statement.
“I usually call her brat or menace.” Aedion chuckled “she is my cousin. I have known her since we were little. I have earned that privilege.”
Aedion started walking back into the station and Captain Whitethorn followed him.
“She has the bas habit of not filtering what she wants to say, can be brash and very vocal when she is mad at something or someone, but she loves her job and her team. She loves being a firefighter. She might be young be she is extremely capable. She is the first female captain. Absurd to think that before her it was just a boy’s club, eh?” The man joked, and lead him into a big spacious room with a lone table and chair and a kitchen at the bottom of it “If she keeps likes this I can see her climbing up the ladder pretty quickly, although I cannot imagine her in a desk job.”
Rowan knew very little about the woman but he had the same feeling.
“This is where we spend most of the time when we are on shift, all tasks are done and just wait for a call. We have books, video-games, tv… you name it. And like all families we fight for who controls the remote.”
Aelin joined them a moment later “Are you giving our Captain the tour?”
“Yes, just the cheap tour for now. You can give him the proper one later.” Aedion winked at her.
“I guess that after our meeting, the Captain will be more than happy to get rid of me.
“I gave you a tour of the base, I would love a tour of the station.”
Aelin’s mouth almost fell open in disbelief.
“If you are not fed up with me we can think about it.” And she turned around and walked away the same way he did the day before.
Aedion gestured with his head to follow her and Rowan ran after her.
“I am sorry for the delay. Once I got back to work yesterday I had an email saying that our annual performance review is due in three weeks. I did not have a way to contact you otherwise I would have pushed the meeting forward a bit.”
“It was actually interesting watching you guys train.” He followed her to her office and took the seat she offered “we have performance reviews as well. What do you guys have to do?”
Aelin was caught off guard by him being talkative all of a sudden “We get tested on our abilities. We usually go to the academy, are given a scenario and the whole team has to work as if that was a real call. We also get to perform some individual tasks and those are timed. It’s a very stressful period.”
“You can leave our project to me until you are done with your review. I am happy to give you an update and you can come once a week to check how things are progressing if you are too busy.”
“Are you trying to get rid of me, Captain?” She smiled at him, leaning back in her chair.
He shook his head and she noticed him finally relaxing and sitting more comfortably in his chair “we have those review as well and they are always stressful for the team and I am aware how much of my time, preparing drills takes me. I am offering you to concentrate on your mission ahead for now and then catch up in three weeks.”
Was he actually being nice to her?
“I will be fine captain, but thank you for the offer. I appreciate it.”
“If you change your mind, my offer will still be on the table.”
“So,” she said quite abruptly changing the subject. If he even thought she needed his help because she was a woman he was in for a tough ride.
Aelin grabbed a folder with her plan. She had spent the entire previous day working on it. “These are the copies for you.” And she passed him a pile of papers “they are the ideas and changes I would like to suggest. I believe that is the part you will have to discuss with your CO. the biggest and probably most time consuming change is the extra door. All the other suggestions are repairs and perhaps replacements of old parts. I would like to explain again that these changes are not up for discussion. They need to happen.”
Captain Whitethorn nodded “I have discussed the matter with my CO after our meeting and he understands that and agrees. He promised me that he will fight until the last ditch if they start blocking him with budget bullshit, his exact words.”
“Please tell Air Commodore Salvaterre that I appreciate his cooperation. It goes in the interest of every single person who works at the base. Him included.”
“This pile here is a draft of possible training sessions for both your squadron and the ground crew. I want basic fire prevention training, fire extinguisher training, reviews of fire drills. I would like to do some training, especially with the ground crew on fuels handling, fuel storing and clearing spillages. Your squadron will be welcome as well. I think it will benefit everyone.” She flipped through her notes “I would like to nominate a couple of people as Fire champions or any other name we can come up with. Their role would be to perform monthly deep inspections and weekly spot checks. The idea is that by doing this, you are always on the ball with any problems. Of course we will provide training on how to do all this.” She kept explaining and the man in front of her listened to her with great interest, never interrupting her.
“Needless to say that fire prevention is everyone’s job. See it, report it. And if you can, fix it.” She jotted down a few things “of course all of this depends on our rosters. I don’t know how it works for you guys but we work in shift patterns.”
“My squadron and I, we work Monday to Friday when we are ground-side. Ground staff such as engineers for example, they tend to follow shift patterns as well. I can talk to the supervisors for the mechanics and engineering team and see if I can get a roster from them. They are aware of the fact that extra training is on its way.”
“Please do. I have a feeling that will be the biggest job.”
“Do you have any questions for me so far?”
“Which venue will we use?”
Aelin tapped her pen on the table “I was thinking here if it’s okay with you. We have the equipment, also we don’t have maximum security checks.”
“Speaking of security…” he extracted something from his pocket “`I have your badge.”
Aelin took the badge he offered in surprise.
“I imagine we will be working together quite a lot and you will need to visit the base as well on a regular basis. You have now the badge with consultant clearance. It’s not a lot, but it will grant you access to all the are you will need. And no more forms to fill.”
“Thank you, captain,” she was speechless “Thank you for trusting me.”
She smiled fondly at him and Rowan realised he’d do literally anything to see that smile. It was intoxicating.
They worked for a few hours and Aelin realised it was not as bad as she had feared. The captain had been very keen to listen to her plans and making suggestions according to his knowledge of the base and his team. He had also looked a bit less uncomfortable and more willing to have a full conversation instead of monosyllables. At least it was progress and since it looked like they were going to work together for a while it was a good thing.
When her stomach grumbled loudly she coughed embarrassed to try and cover it but the very faint hint of a grin on the captain’s lips told her that he had head her.
“We can stop for lunch, captain.”
Aelin almost blushed “I guess so. I think I have a black hole forming in my stomach. Those drills always leave me famished.” She stood “there is a lovely diner very nearby. Can I interest you in lunch? It’s on me. But no shop talk.” She was ready for a refusal but the captain stood and nodded.
“I’d like lunch.”
When they left the office they met Elide and Lysandra carrying boxes full of supplies to stock the ambulance. As soon as Rowan noticed he jumped forward and offered to help Elide.
“Let me carry them. They are quite bulky.”
“Thank you,” said the woman flashing a smile to Aelin then showed the captain the direction to the ambulance.
“Where do I place it?” He asked once they were arrived. Elide opened the back door of the vehicle “just here. Lys and I will sort through everything. Thank for the help.”
Lysandra dropped all her stuff and turned to the two captains.
“These are Lysandra and Elide, they are our two resident EMTs.”
“Ladies, this is captain Whitethorn.”
Lysandra mouthed hot to Aelin and the woman rolled her eyes.
“The captain and I were going for lunch. Could you please tell Aedion to man the fort for me while I am away? I am just going to Emrys and I have a radio with me if anything happens.”
The woman nodded “I know the drill. Go, enjoy lunch.”
The two captains left “we are walking. The place is just down the road. We are all regulars there.”
Five minutes later they reached the small diner and Rowan thought the place looked cosy and felt like the good old fashioned family run restaurant.
“Emrys and his husband Malakai have been running this place since forever. It’s an institution in the neighbourhood.”
“Aelin, my girl.” A very smiling Emrys walked from behind the counter and went to hug the woman “Are you keeping well?”
“Of course.”
“Two today?” He asked looking at the Aelin’s companion.
“Yes please. Can we sit anywhere?”
“Go ahead.” He gestured pointing at the tables.
“Quiet today?”
“Not at all. You just missed the rush. Until twenty minutes ago we were full. Malkai is delivering an order to the police station.”
Aelin walked to the table near the window and invited Rowan to join her.
“Here’s the menu for your friend. Let me know when you are ready to order.”
Rowan took the menu, opened it and lowered his head to start reading it.
Aelin studied him for a moment while he was distracted. Stared at his hands and noticed the hint of a tattoo sneaking from underneath the uniform. Interesting, she would have never pinned the man as someone who would have a tattoo. A smile tugged at her lips. A part of her wanted quite badly to get to know him a bit more. “Your hair,” she asked “has it always been silver or it became like that with age?” Then she stopped embarrassed “I mean I am not saying that you look old. I just meant as if it got like that as you grew up.”
He lifted his head from the menu and his piercing green eyes settled on her “I was born like this. Apparently it runs in my family.”
“I am sorry, I didn’t mean to pry. I was just curious.”
He gave her a half a smile. It did not linger. It was quick and for a second she thought she had imagined it “I am used to it.” He tapped on the plastic menu “you haven’t decided yet?”
“Oh no, I don’t need a menu. I know it by heart and I know what I want.”
Emrys came back and both placed their orders and Aelin enjoyed the shocked expression on the captain.
“You can’t possibly eat all that stuff.”
“Watch me.”
The silence grew uncomfortable again. It looked as if he was chatty only when it came to work.
“Why did you join the airforce?”
For a moment he looked stunned at her question “I was eighteen and fresh out of high school. Happy I was done studying. My parents wanted me to go to uni, but the idea of spending four more years on books was not for me.” He explained and noticed she had he hands folded under her chin “One day I met Lorcan. We knew each other from before already, being both from Wendlyn and all. It was nice to see a friendly face in a new place. Anyway, he told me he had moved here to Terrasen with the TAF. He told me they were recruiting and I went to the base during an open day. The day after I had signed up and a month later I was starting pilot academy.”
“Where in Wendlyn?”
“Doranelle.”
“I was there once. On holiday with…” no, not time yet “with a friend. We loved it very much.”
He nodded “It’s a nice place, but I must admit that after so many years I feel like an adopted citizen of Terrasen. Orynth is quite a gorgeous place.”
Emrys came with their food and Rowan noticed how skilfully placed all the plates on the table. As if he was used to have all those orders from her.
“You can’t be serious and actually eat all this food.”
Aelin tackled her first plate “watch the pro at work, captain.” She gave him a smile and Rowan shook his head and tackled his food.
“Why firefighter?”
He noticed her still for a second and the happiness wash away from her face in an instant. Fuck. Wrong question already.
“I was eight.” She said playing with her food for a moment “I was out playing with some of my friends. I was on my way home when I saw two massive fire trucks in front of my house and my home on fire.” She placed the fork on the plate “I ran toward the house but this fireman stopped me. I was crying and calling for my parents. He hugged me, he told me they were working to try and save my parents. I remember trashing in his arms to get free but he held me tight.” She took a bit to keep herself busy while telling the story “he took me to the back of the engine and showed me some of the tools and explained to me how the engine worked. He distracted me while his colleagues worked to stop the fire and save my parents.” She finally met his gaze “it took them almost two hours to kill the fire. After that there was nothing left of the house and of my life. My parents had been found dead in the house. The gas boiler has suffered a fault and basically exploded. They stood no chance.”
“Aelin I am…” his hand moved slowly closer to hers and brushed it gently “I am so sorry.”
“When I grew up I decided I wanted to be like the firemen who attended my fire. I wanted to rush into a house on fire and try to save some person’s parents of spouse and help them avoid the loss I suffered. I wanted to be like the man who stood with me and distracted me.”
Her finger lifted a little and met his almost in acknowledgement “Aedion’s family took me in. As soon as I finished high school I was like you. I had no interest in uni. So I signed up for the fire academy.”
“Sorry for ruining lunch.”
She shook her head and flicked his finger playfully. That had been the first contact between them. He had always kept his distance and that little flicker of affection made he heart flutter. The man was a puzzle. He could go from stone cold bastard to this in a small amount of time.
Aelin finished her food and noticed the captain staring at her with curiosity.
“I cannot believe it.”
“Told you,” she smiled at him with a smug expression “and I am even going to get cake.”
“No you are not.”
In defiance she stood and went to the counter and ordered chocolate hazelnut cake from Emrys. She came back and sat down again and ate the whole slice.
“Remind me to apply for a mortgage if I ever take you out for dinner.” At those words Rowan froze. He did not mean to do say that. It was supposed to be a joke but he should have learned by now that he was bad at making jokes.
“I’ll keep that in mind, Iceman.”
His head shoot up and looked at her. She had used his callsign. Something that only his squadron members would ever use. They all had one. It was a tradition. But it also meant something. It was always the other pilots in the team who choose the callsign. Never the pilot himself. It was a rite of passage that welcome you in the squadron. In a family. He got his one because of his hair. Everyone thought it was because he was cool and calm under pressure but no. When he was still one of the FNG he went through his naming ceremony like all the others FNG and they had decided he was going to be iceman because with his hair he reminded them of a creature from the snowy glaciers of the Staghorn mountains, hence iceman. Hearing her calling him like that made his heart skip a beat.
“We don’t have call signs. We got nicknames but nothing official like you guys.” She polished the plate from the chocolate left from the cake “the guys usually call me Captain or Cap. Aedion is the worst. Because he is my cousin he takes the liberty to call me brat or menace. I should really write him up for insubordination.”
She tapped his hand “come on grampa, let’s get back to work.” And stood. Rowan had wanted to grab that hand and hold it for a moment. It felt as if a small shift had happened in their weird work relationship.
Aelin paid for the meal as promised and they walked back to the station “are you sure you will be able to concentrate with all that food in you?”
On the way back Aelin looked up at the sky and noticed a few flakes that had started to follow. “Looks like it’s going to snow.”
She turned her head and caught Rowan sniffing the air, the eyes closed and a relaxed expression. The hard lines of his face had disappeared and the faint smile on his lips changed him completely. Yes, the man was hot but there was more to it. The very rare times that his face softened his eyes lit up as well turning a deeper green and made him stunning. She had a feeling those moments were rare and was glad that she had caught at least a couple. Like right now, his body relaxed enjoying the first flakes of snow. That was a precious insight in the man at her side.
“You like winter?” She broke the magic.
His eyes snapped open and his face turned hard again as if he hated being caught enjoying something.
“I do.” He said softly “I love the snow and winters in Terrasen are incredible.
Aelin smiled. His scent. His scent reminded her of Terrasen. Pine and snow. She had smelled it the other day while she was inside his plane and he was quite close to her. He smelled like winter and realised for a second that the nickname Iceman was perfect as well for that reason and not just because he could be a cold hearted bastard. They got back to the station and she found it quiet apart from Brullo and Luca near the fire engine. Apparently the man was explaining the youngster some of the routine checks they performed. He was their resident engineer and mechanic so he was the best one for that type of training.
“Nice lunch, Cap? Did you eat all the food at Emrys?”
“The vegetables are still there. They are safe.” Aelin turned when noticed that the joke came from Rowan.
Brullo and Luca burst out laughing “oh he is good.” Added the older man.
“My eating habits are the joke of the station.”
“Cap, they are insane.” Added Luca.
Aelin turned to Rowan and he lifted and eyebrow as if to say I agree with them.
She turned again on her colleagues “one more joke from the two of you and I’ll have you scrub the station from top to bottom with a toothbrush.” Then she turned on her feet and walked away to her office.
Rowan tapped his hat in salute to the two men and followed her. He found her in the kitchen making coffee “Do you drink coffee?”
“I don’t think I could function without it.”
“Good. We basically drink it by the litre. It keeps you alive on a night shifts.”
She made some coffee and offered him a mug “milk, sugar?”
“Black, thank you.”
He watched her as she dropped two spoonfuls of sugar in it “All this sugar is not good for you.”
“Shhh you heathen.”
He rolled his eyes and took a sip of his coffee “Thank you for lunch by the way.”
“My treat, for working with me.” She apologised, while leaning against the counter and drinking her coffee.
“You are not as bad as I thought. I agree with Aedion, you are a brat and a menace but I can work with that.” Bad idea. Rowan noticed anger flash in her eyes.
“I am not having you calling me that.” She slammed the cup on the counter “you barely know me and I have been professional, sure if cracking a joke or two makes me a brat it’s your problem you need sense of humour. I have been busting my ass to fix the shit that went down in your station.” She took a step toward him and Rowan braced himself “I know how I run my station. I am aware of every single problem or fault that happens here. Your fucking hangar went down in a blaze of glory and you had no idea of the shitstorm about to happen.” She was now a few mere centimetres from his face and a foolish part of him wanted to push her against the counter and kiss her senseless. She was mad at him and all he thought was how her lips would feel. What was wrong with him?
“Don’t ever call me that again with that smug face of your because I have no problems removing that smirk with a punch.”
Rowan kept staring at her in silence, not risking saying a word while she was that mad at him. Damn the woman had fire in her. And it did not matter he was getting a well deserved lashing down from her, he could not stop thinking that she was beautiful. Not just physically, she was fierce, brave and passionate and he was irremediably drawn to her.
Which it was totally crazy since they had met the day before.
“Now get the fuck out of my station. We are done for today.” And she stepped back.
“Captain, I did not mean to offend you.”
“I said out.” She repeated through gritted teeth “I have your contact. I will let you know when I am in the mood to meet you again.” She grabbed her coffee and walked away from him.
Rowan stood still and stared at the spot where she had been. He ran a hand through his hair and cursed himself for his stupidity. They had finally set aside the bad start they had, and messed up everything again.
He picked up his cap on the counter and then realised he had left all the documents in her office. He was about to walk to her but then changed his mind bad idea. So he just left the station, got back to his car and drove back to the base.
Aelin was furious. Why did he have to go and ruin everything with his bloody mouth of his?
That beautiful mouth of his.
She paced the office for ten minutes then she left, went to changing room and changed into her training gear. Some exercise will do her good to clear her head.
Aedion found her twenty minutes later “here you are,” he shouted as she ran back and forth in the yard with a dummy on her shoulders.
“Aelin!” He shouted when she did not stop. When she ignored him again he went in front of her and stopped her “Aelin.”
“What?” She growled dropping the dummy on the ground with a loud thump. She was breathless.
“I thought you were with the captain.”
She ignored him and grabbed the dummy again but Aedion stopped her and grabbed her hand “did something happened?”
“Yes, he happened. He is an arsehole and I don’t know why I am bothering to help him.”
“Because it’s your job.”
“Well, he can go and ask west station for all I care.”
Aedion shook his head “they are in our territory.”
Aelin ran a hand through her hair.
“Did he do something to you? Because if he did I am very good at hand to hand combat. I’ll destroy his stiff arse.”
Aelin chuckled. Aedion had always been very protective with her.
“He called me a brat and a menace. He said that I am not as bad as he thought and that he agrees with you for my nicknames.”
Aedion laughed “that’s why you are mad at him? Ace, I love you but you can be both.”
She sat down on the dummy “I know. But if you say it it doesn’t bother me. We grew up together. You know me better than anyone. He instead…” she punched the dummy’s face “he had this smug face and he used this tone like a condescending prick.”
She groaned “you can be a brat and a menace but I can work with it,” she repeated in a mocking tone “I am the one doing him a favour to help him. Idiot.”
“You just want to find an excuse to hate him and push him away from you.” He sat down on the dummy beside her “Ace, could it be that you like him but you are still too scared to allow another man in your life?”
“No. I have known the guy for two days. And no, I do not like him.” She protested.
“Would it be that bad?”
Aelin stood and faced him “I am not interested in getting any closer to him than what works dictates. Lie. Lie. Lie. Lie.
“You are overreacting and you are behaving like a brat and proving him right.”
She pushed him off the dummy “you are on truck duty for the whole week.” Aelin grabbed the dummy and went back to her training.
Rowan finally made it back to the base and went straight to his office but Lorcan intercepted him.
“You are back early. I thought you were going to be at the station all afternoon.”
Rowan ignored his CO and plopped on his chair and closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
“That bad, eh?” Joked Lorcan at the man’s reaction.
“I opened my damn mouth. That’s what I did.”
Lorcan sat on the chair on the opposite side of the desk “What did you do? I thought you were the guy who counted till ten before opening his mouth. That’s why I gave you this assignment. I need this to go smoothly and fix all the shit that the old CO messed up. If I wanted to piss off the TFD’s captain I would have sent Moonbeam.”
Rowan snorted “probably would have been better. Far more charming than this cranky old bastard.”
“I have seen the woman. Fenrys would end up fucking everything. Literally.”
Lorcan sat back relaxed “I am coming to the station tomorrow and I will talk to her and bring her back into our good books.”
“You?” Rowan scoffed “if there is someone who has a worse temper than me is you, Lorcan.”
“I’ll be my charming self.” The man joked.
“The gods save us all.” Rowan joked standing and pacing the office “trying to scare her will not work either.”
“I noticed that. I wish some of our men would have that level of balls. Quite amazing for a woman.” Rowan’s head snapped at his CO’s words.
“Don’t even dare say anything like that in her face or you are a dead man.”
He and Lorcan would go along on most of the days but on some concepts, Lorcan still followed the good old fashioned ideas that for example females were not suited for the military, a topic they had many fights on. Rowan had tried to open up the ranks to a few more females in the squadron but Lorcan had rejected the idea every single time.
“You know how I feel about those things.”
“Yes, our very progressive man. Equality and all.”
“You can be such an arsehole.” Rowan stopped at the window “even the Navy is accepting women. Their recruitment for female officers is up by 40%. We are still to celebrate when we will have our first female officer.”
Lorcan growled “well, then move to the Navy.” He stood annoyed “flying a jet is not like service on an aircraft carrier!”
Rowan turned furious “you are not seriously telling me that you don’t believe a woman could fly a jet.” He slammed his fist on the table “I have seen Aelin in action and during drills. I have seen her jump into a building on fire without any second thought to save one of our men. I have seen her drag a dummy twice her size off a burning building while wearing the fire suit and an oxygen tank on her shoulder. She could probably do a vertical, pull 9G and then get off the plane and have a dance in our face. She is definitely not the fragile thing you think she is just because she is a woman.”
“What is your point?”
“Stop being a misogynist prick.”
Rowan phone went off and Lorcan moved away “if you are coming tomorrow, you leave that attitude behind.” Lorcan left and Rowan took the call. Once he was done he sat back down on his chair and looked outside noticing the snow falling and a gentle smile tugged his lips at the memory of the moment they had shared at the restaurant. He had to apologise. And quickly.
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