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katsu28 · 3 months ago

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summer's golden haze - chapter three

pairing: lando norris x reader

summary: bar hopping, damsels in drunken distress, and a late night heart to heart. (5.1k)

warnings: swearing, alcohol, lando talks about the hungarian gp shitshow

a/n: yes this is me maybe slightly projecting my feelings about hungary onto my characters okay! they're my barbie dolls to play with i can do whatever i want 😌↕️ anyways hope u enjoy <3

previous chapter | masterlist

“Hello? Are you even listening?”

You blink, bringing yourself back to reality and back to the current conversation. Your friends are looking back at you with matching concerned, albeit a little annoyed expressions. “What? Sorry, I was—I’m here, sorry. What’s going on?”

Samira tuts, but not unkindly. They all know you’ve got a million things running in your mind at the moment. “I was saying our dinner reservations got canceled. Something about the kitchen having to close down for maintenance, I dunno. Anyways, it frees us up tonight and we’re trying to figure out what to do instead.”

“Oh. We could stay in? Order some food, watch a movie?”

“I know what we need,” Camille gasps suddenly, eyes lighting up like she’s just had a brilliant idea. “We’re going bar hopping tonight.”

“Bar hopping? We haven’t done that since—” You pause, taking a moment to think. You haven’t been bar hopping since Samira got dumped by her girlfriend a few months back, the time before that when Maren finally cut ties with her situationship last year. The only time you all go bar hopping is after a breakup. They think what happened with Lando is the same as breaking up with a partner. “Guys, seriously, I’m fine. He was never even my boyfriend anyways!”

“Say what you want, but you’ve been super out of it these past few days. You need to let loose, do something that makes you stop thinking of Lando and start thinking about yourself again.”

You scowl, crossing your arms over your chest. “I think about myself plenty.”

Camille rolls her eyes at you. “I mean not in that mopey, sad ‘I say everything is fine even though it’s not’ way. There’s more fish in the sea than Lando. Find one, or don’t, it’s up to you. But you need to forget about him.”

Your lips press into a thin line as you sink back into your seat.

You don’t want another fish in the sea. You want the weird little crab with the cute accent and the sparkly eyes, the one you’ve already let back into the water.

The one you can’t have.

Things haven’t been too awkward with Lando yet, but they definitely aren’t the same. Two people who really like each other but have decided to remain friends doesn’t really scream smooth sailing from now on to you. The wound is still fresh, and there are hints of it as you spend more time with the guys.

Immediately filling the empty seat next to each other like it’s second nature but then having to awkwardly scoot away when your shoulders bump or your hands brush. Lingering glances across tables and rooms until one of you breaks and looks away first. Finding him first in a place full of other people and drifting towards him, only to come to your senses and switch up directions at the last moment.

You wish you could say forgetting Lando would be easy. It really isn’t—not when your friend groups have basically melded into one big one, and everyone gets along so well. It would’ve been easier if you’d gone your separate ways, but you don’t think your heart would’ve liked that very much. Not that it enjoys skipping a beat every time you catch Lando’s eyes on you a little too long either.

You wrinkle your nose, brows following. “I’m sad and mopey?”

“A little bit.”

“Okay, fine. Fine, let’s go bar hopping,” You concede, letting your shoulders drop.

If you’re going to get over him, you might as well start right now.

That’s how you end up in bar number one of the night, four tequila shots on the bar table in front of you. You eye the unassuming little glass warily, even as each of your friends snatch one up eagerly.

Samira, as if sensing your hesitation, nudges yours toward you. “It’s one shot, babe. It won’t kill you.”

“I know that,” You insist, throwing your shoulders back. “I just…need a second.”

“Take all the time you need. We’re going all night.”

Tonight isn’t about your feelings for Lando. Tonight is about you moving on, moving past what could’ve been with him and looking forward to what might come next. With or without him.

You hold up your shot towards them, grinning big. “Here’s to moving forward, and making memories that’ll last a lifetime!”

Clinking your glass against all of theirs, you throw back the clear liquid as smoothly as you can, only wincing a little bit at the burn of it going down your throat. It isn’t your usual drink of choice, but change has to start somewhere, right?

-------

As far as bars go, this one isn’t the worst one you’ve been to tonight, but the fun has started to wear off for you. You’d stopped drinking around bar number two, the buzz of your much tamer drink choices after those first few shots starting to die down bit by bit. On the other hand, your friends are still going full steam ahead. You’ve honestly lost track of how many drinks they’ve had at the bars you’ve hit tonight, but they’re holding on pretty well.

“Fuck boys!” Samira exclaims, slamming another shot glass down onto the table with gusto. Maren and Camille agree wholeheartedly with identical slurred ‘yeah, fuck ‘em!’s that make you chuckle into your glass of water.

You know they’re just trying to make you feel better about your decision, and in a way, it helps. You’d finally been able to talk about what went down that afternoon without feeling an indescribable rush of guilt, and although they were disappointed at first, it became less when you’d told them why. They’re your best friends, and they know you better than anyone, so they know for a fact Lando’s lifestyle was not the one for you.

Tonight was supposed to be all about forgetting your feelings, but as the night went on longer and your inhibitions became lower, you still couldn’t help but think about Lando. That mental box you’d put him has burst wide open already.

You’re a little embarrassed to admit it, but you’d done a little research on him after getting home, which turned into a deep dive of his career, his life, anything that piqued your interest in him. You were curious to know what a guy like him saw in someone like you.

It felt a little weird to see him outside the Lando you’ve gotten to know him as, because he seemed…different. He’s still the same sweet guy you know, but on video he’s a more tame version of himself.

Carefully chosen words and shy smiles, he wears his confidence like a suit of armor on camera, to protect himself against the world. Here, he’s all bursting grins and loud belly laughs, unfiltered and so, so happy. He seems so normal, it��s hard to remember that he’s not just your everyday guy. Lando is one of the best and well known racing drivers in the whole world.

Making sure to separate the two is important if you want to stay firm in your decision.

Somehow it hits nearly four in the morning, and it’s about high time you make the executive decision to call it quits and go home. The only problem is, you’re the only semi-sober one out of the four of you. You have the car, but you don’t trust yourself to drive in this state. None of your friends are in any shape to be of any help either, not when Maren is nearly passed out on the tabletop, and Camille and Samira drunkenly swaying with each other right next to you.

You don’t really trust any rideshares at this time of night in an unfamiliar place, and even then, there’s no way you can get them all home by yourself. There’s only one other thing you can think of, one other person you can call to help you out. The one person you were hoping to not have to call.

The moment your finger hits Lando’s number, you have half a mind to hang up. You’re about to, but then the line connects.

“Yeah, what?” Lando’s voice is gravelly, thick with sleep. A little grumpy. Of course he’s grumpy, it’s nearing three in the morning and he was probably asleep. You feel bad that you've woken him up, but you couldn't think of anything else.

“Lando? I’m so sorry to be calling you this late, I just didn’t know what else to do.”

Immediately, he sounds more alert when your name leaves his lips. “Is everything alright? What’s up?”

You gnaw on your lip in contemplation until he says your name again, gentler this time. “We’re at a bar in town and the girls are really drunk and we need to get home, but I had a few drinks too so I didn't think I should drive. And I tried to call an Uber but at this time of night I don’t—”

“Hey, no, it’s okay. I can come pick you up.” He interrupts your rambling and you're grateful for it, because the more you talk the more you think this was a bad idea. You’re asking him for too much, you're stretching the limits of an already awkward friendship too far, you're— “Just tell me where you are, I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“Really?”

“Of course. Drop me your location and stay there.” You can hear rustling on his end of the line, pounding on a door, someone’s groggy voice saying something you can’t make out. Then Lando’s voice fills your ear again, soft yet firm. “Hang tight, ‘kay? Be there soon.”

“Thank you so much,” You breath, truly grateful. He hangs up, and you can finally let out a breath of relief. Lando is coming. You won’t be stranded here.

Lando jumps out of the car as soon as it pulls to a stop in front. He’s got on some nondescript jumper with the hood pulled up over his head and a random pair of joggers, and he definitely doesn’t look like he’d just been roused from his sleep. In fact, seeing him all disheveled with worry like this is kind of doing it for you.

You’re in the middle of apologizing again when Lando crashes into you, arms wrapping around you tighter than you’re expecting, nearly squeezing the breath out of you. You meet Max’s eyes over his shoulder, who you’d just realized was also here, and he doesn’t look surprised at all. He looks rather smug, actually.

“Are you okay?” Lando holds you at arms length, worried eyes scanning you for anything out of place, any injury. Other than your pride, you remain unharmed. Though that pesky fluttery feeling in your stomach is back again, as is the warmth in your chest, and it isn’t from the alcohol.

His hood has fallen off from the force of his hug to reveal the tornado of curls on his head, flat on one side from his pillow most likely, as are the lines on his face from what was probably a good night’s sleep. Until you called, that is.

You blink at him, caught off guard by the amount of care he still seems to have for you. It feels like an impossible feat to tear your gaze away from his. “Yes? I mean, yeah, I’m fine. You—wow, you got here fast.”

“I thought maybe something—nevermind.” He cranes his neck around you to glance at your half asleep friends on the bench. “Are…they okay?”

“Yeah, they’re fine. Tequila, y’know?” You shrug.

Max lets out a snort of laughter from where he’s wandered over to check on them, waving a hand in front of Samira’s face. She swats at him halfheartedly, mumbling a sleepy, “Fuck off, Fewtrell.”

“Sorry to wake you too, Max.”

“Oh no, you didn’t wake me. He did.” He juts his chin over at Lando, who still has a hand around your elbow. You can’t help but let your eyes drop down to it, and Lando does too, inhaling sharply before letting go. Still, the warmth from his grip lingers. “And not very nicely might I add.”

“I had to get you up quick!”

“You nearly took my head off with a pillow, you dickhead!”

“Oh, I’m sorry, did you want a kiss on the forehead?” Lando snorts.

“Not from you!”

“Come off it already, won’t you?” Lando turns his attention back to you instead, rolling his eyes playfully when he finds you stifling a giggle behind your palm. “You said you had your car?”

“Um, yeah, it’s around the corner. We can just leave it here, I’ll circle back and pick it up in the morning.”

Lando clicks his tongue, shaking his head. “It’ll probably be stripped for parts by tomorrow. How bout we split up? Two and two?”

“Well, we all know who you want,” Max says knowingly. It makes your cheeks flame hot and Lando’s flush pink, but Max doesn’t waver in his shit eating grin. For some reason, you find his candid bluntness refreshing, even if it is poking fun at what’s going on (or not going on) between Lando and yourself. “You guys take Maren in your car, I’ll take these two and meet you at your house.”

Max manages to coax Camille and Samira to their feet with little trouble, and before you know it they’re off, leaving you alone with Lando and a very sleepy Maren. He rocks back on his heels, biting the inside of his cheek awkwardly, like he’s not sure what to do.

“Should we—”

“I think—” Lando bites back a laugh, gesturing for you to speak first.

“We should probably get going.”

“Right. Let’s get her in the car then, yeah?”

You couldn’t be less well versed in cars if you tried, but even you know the one Lando came to your rescue in is expensive. You’re almost too reluctant to even sit in it. But then Lando’s hand touches softly against the small of your back as he pulls open the door without hesitation, and you have no choice but to help Maren in.

Not like you had much of a choice anyways, what with him being the knight in shining armor to your damsel in distress call.

“Did you have fun? Before having to play mum to the girls, I mean.” Lando asks a little while later, not taking his eyes off the road.

You blow out a deep breath, sinking back into the plush leather of the passenger seat. The soft smoothness is heaven on your skin. “Kinda. The first few drinks, at least. Felt a little out of place, honestly.”

“What, you didn't charm some guy the same way you charmed me?” Silence fills the car like cement as soon as the words leave his mouth. A pang of something sharp shoots through you, something akin to hurt that flashes through your chest but is gone a second later.

No, you shouldn’t feel hurt. You’re the one who hurt him. Even though he’s told you over and over that it’s okay, it’s fine, he understands your decision, Lando has every right to express his true feelings, no matter how it makes you feel.

“Sorry, that was—that came out wrong. I just meant—”

“I know what you meant,” You say quietly. He wants to know if you met someone else, and the answer is no. No, you didn't meet another guy, because all you could think about was him. But you’re just friends. You’d made certain of it. So why did you feel like you’d done something wrong? “I didn’t meet anyone else.”

“Oh. Cool.”

“Is it?”

A muscle in his jaw clenches as he swallows thickly, nodding. “Yeah. I mean, if that’s what you want. What you’re looking for.”

“I don’t think I’m looking for anything right now,” Your voice is soft, nearly a whisper.

I’m not looking for something that isn’t you, you could add. You don’t. It wouldn’t do anything other than hurt him, and yourself, even more.

The rest of the ride home is basically silent, and Max is waiting on the sofa with the other two when you finally get there, entertaining a story that Camille is telling not unlike one would with a child, uh huh-ing and wow, that’s so cool-ing until he realizes you’re finally here.

You take over from then, thank him profusely yet again when he says he’s going to head home, before corralling all three girls into the bathroom like a zookeeper with their animals.

One by one, you help each of your friends through an abridged version of their night routines until they’re all ready for bed, and then you tuck them into the same bed as best you can. You’ve relegated yourself to the floor with a littering of pillows for the night. It’ll be easier to get to them if they need anything during the night if you’re all in the same room.

You’re surprised to see Lando in the doorway once you’ve gotten them all settled in for the night. You thought he'd left with Max, but apparently not.

He glances up as he hears you approach, frowning. “You’re gonna sleep on the floor?”

You shrug. “Yeah, it’s fine. I can keep an eye on them that way. You can, erm, you can go home now. Go back to sleep.”

“No offense, but I’m pretty sure they’ll sleep through the night. Plus, you must be knackered too. You should get some rest, yeah?” You want to say no, but your body’s response betrays you in that moment, because you yawn big, and it makes him chuckle. “Come on. Sleep in your own bed. I’ll watch over them.”

“No way.” You shake your head insistently, despite the enticing offer. “You’ve already done more than enough, Lando, I can’t ask you to stay up all night. I’ve got them covered.”

“You shouldn’t either.” He shoots back, chin tilting up in challenge. You match him as best you can with your eyes growing heavier and heavier by the moment, and eventually, he backs down, hands up in mock surrender. “How ‘bout we take shifts? The living room’s right across the hall, if we camp out there and anyone makes a racket, whoever’s up will be able to hear them.”

You twist your lips to the side in thought. “Deal. I call first watch though.”

“I can live with that. Why don’t you go freshen up, or something?”

“Is that your way of telling me I stink?”

Lando’s eyes glint with mirth, teasing smile curling his lips. “Maybe.”

“Well, maybe you don’t smell too good either!” That’s a total lie. He actually smells really nice, a mixture of remnants of his heady cologne from the day and something fresher, a little citrusy. His soap, maybe?

A hot shower certainly does wonders to sober you up the rest of the way, and as you’re toweling your hair dry enough to where it won’t be dripping water down your shirt, you take a good look at yourself in the fogged up mirror.

This is fine. You can spend a night alone with Lando without feeling anything towards him. You can do this. You’ve done harder things than this.

Lando’s frowning at something on his phone when you make your way back into the living room, scowling like whatever’s on the screen has personally wronged him. It isn’t the first time you've noticed his demeanor turn sour like this, and your concern is piqued each time.

You clear your throat as if to announce your presence, offering him a small smile when his head whips up. “Hi. Is everything okay?”

“Yeah. Yeah, everything’s fine. It’s just work.” He tosses his phone on the coffee table, dragging a hand forward through his curls, mussing up the front before raking them back. It doesn’t seem to do anything but make them messier, but you suspect it’s more of a nervous habit than anything.

He smiles back at you as you sit a respectable distance away from him on the sofa, though even that looks entirely forced. Something is wrong, and it’s eating away at him.

“Look, I know things aren't how they used to be with us, but I hope you know I’m still here for you. You can always talk to me if you need to.”

Lando gnaws on his bottom lip, head tilting from side to side like he's unsure. “Really? You’d do that for me?”

“Friends are there for each other.”

He blows out a deep sigh, sinking back against the pillows like a deflated balloon. “Yeah? You’re sure?”

“I’m a good listener, remember?” You nudge his knee with yours gently. “Whenever you’re ready, I’m all ears.”

He isn’t ready right away. For a little while, you sit in silence. You get the feeling Lando doesn’t have much experience with letting people in very easily, but it's okay. You’ll sit here as long as he needs to get his thoughts together.

Finally he speaks, but even then, his tone holds hesitance.

“I feel like everything is going to shit. The car is great this season, it’s better than it's ever been before, so that’s not the problem. It’s me, I’m the problem, I keep fucking everything up," He sighs, shoulders slumping. "And my team work so hard for me to be able to perform and deliver and I feel like I’m just letting everyone down, y’know? They deserve someone who can give them better than the shit stuff I’ve been putting out these past few races.”

Lando as a person is impossibly hard on himself, you’ve come to learn—always thinks he could’ve done better, even if what he’s already done is enough. The same is true when it comes to his job.

You’d know—you checked. In your uninformed opinion, the results he’s been achieving in the races are great. To be finishing high in the top five out of twenty of the best drivers in the world in almost every single race recently, it’s enough to make anyone proud.

But when you think about it from a competition perspective, a cutthroat drive with everything you’ve got, put everything on the line perspective, you get a sense of why he’s beating himself up.

To know he can win and still fall short, race after race…god, you can’t even imagine how he must be feeling.

You might be clueless still, but at the very basis of it all, you understand. Lando has worked so hard for so many years, put in blood, sweat, and tears, and he feels like he’s not living up to expectations.

You know what it’s like to have such high expectations placed on your shoulders and nearly be crushed by the weight of everyone counting on you. Surely not on a scale as large as his, but you understand the struggle.

Then he goes into the race in Hungary a few weeks back, and you can tell there’s some lingering hurt in him about what happened.

“It’s like they were guilt tripping me or something. Telling me I’ll need the team in the championship fight, that I should do the right thing and give up my position. Call me crazy, but that just didn’t sit right with me at all. They want me to be a team player and that’s fine, I’m happy to, but I dunno…” Lando trails off, nose wrinkling like the words leave a bitter taste in his mouth.

You notice him picking at the skin below his nail and move without thinking, closing the distance between the two of you and redirecting his fiddling fingers by linking them with your own.

It gets him to stop picking, but it also makes him stop talking. Whatever words are about to come out of his mouth die into a drawn out exhale, eyes drawn to your joined hands like a magnet.

“Yeah? Keep going, I’m still listening,” You urge gently, nodding. Lando blinks at you, as if he’s lost his train of thought. “Hungary? The team?”

“Uh…yeah. Right. I was—I guess I just didn’t think they’d pull all that crap over the radio. Like, everyone could hear what they were saying—other teams, the commentators. It was on live broadcast too!” His fingers tighten around yours ever so slightly, dark brows knit with frustration.

Even though you know close to nothing about the sport, what his team pulled seems like a dick move. You understand wanting to put their drivers in the best position possible, but airing things out on a radio where everyone can hear it feels wrong to you. Then again, you have no idea what goes on within a team at this type of performance level.

“It’s like, they knew I’d do what they wanted me to do and I did, but for a moment, I almost didn’t. I almost went against team orders, and that’s…” He laughs humorlessly, shaking his head. “You don’t do that. You can’t. You listen to what your team says and you do it, and that’s the end. My boss has been calling every now and then, trying to get me to talk and shit, and I just don’t really wanna talk about work right now. I don’t even wanna think about it.”

“Oh, Lando…” You sigh. Your thumb rubs circles over the prominent ridges of his knuckles, hoping it brings him some sort of comfort.

“I know I probably sound like such a brat right now, but I’ve given everything I have to McLaren and it still doesn't feel like enough. They want more, and right now…I’m not sure how much more I’ve got in me.”

“Can I be completely and totally honest with you right now?”

“Yeah, please.”

You hesitate, taking a beat to reply. You don’t want him to take your response the wrong way. “I’m not gonna sit and pretend like I have any clue what it’s like to be in your situation, because I don’t. But I do think you’re being too hard on yourself. Yeah, sometimes you might not get the results you’d hoped for, but you’re doing the best you can, and that’s all you need to be doing.”

Lando doesn’t need your advice, and you’re in no place to be giving any in the first place. He just needs someone in his corner, someone who cares about him to tell him that it’s okay to not be perfect. You want to be that person, even though you’re both still trying to settle into this new dynamic with each other.

Thankfully, your words seem to soak in, easing the tension in his shoulders just a little bit. “Thank you. I think I really needed that.”

“Glad I could help,” You say warmly, squeezing his hand.

“Y’know, I just realized that I’ve never said any of that out loud to anyone.”

“Do you feel better?”

Lando chuckles, and somehow, he even seems better. Like whatever was weighing him down was gone. “Yeah, I do. I feel…lighter, actually? Is that weird?”

“Not at all. That’s what letting things out will do for you.”

“Maybe. But maybe it’s more than that, maybe it’s…you.”

Your breath hitches in your chest. “Me?”

“You make me feel like I can be myself around you. Like, the real me, not the me the rest of the world knows me as. I feel genuinely happy around you, and I—I can’t just sit here and ignore it any longer. I still really like you. And I know what you said about us, and I know why, but I can’t help the way I feel around you. The way I feel about you.”

“Lando, I—”

“I swear I’m not trying to change your mind or make you feel guilty, or anything like that! I just had to say it before it made me explode,” He adds, exhaling shakily. “In the spirit of letting things out.”

You’d be lying to yourself if you said you hadn’t been starting to question whether or not you’d made the right choice by deciding to walk away from Lando, because the more you get to know him, the more it chips away at your resolve. He’s kind and sweet and funny, and he gets you like nobody else has before. It’s been hell these past few days, tiptoeing around each other when all you want to do is kiss him senseless.

Right now, you want to kiss him senseless. He’s right here in front of you, holding your hand, looking at you with those stupid sparkly eyes. You want to say it’s the leftover alcohol buzzing in your veins making you feel this way, but that would be a lie too.

Fuck it.

You cross the already dwindling space between the two of you, sliding a hand around the back of his neck, and kissing him softly. Lando freezes for a split second, but before you know it, he’s kissing you back, guiding you closer until you’re nearly on his lap. His hands roam your back, curling into the material of your shirt, thumbing under it just a tiny bit to stroke at the warm skin there.

It isn’t at all like the first time you kissed. He lets you set the tone, following your slow lead without question.

You’re not sure how long you keep at it—lazy, gentle kisses punctuated with hushed giggles and tiny satisfied noises from the both of you.

Lando takes a pause every so often, pulling back just enough to look at you, take in the sight of you breathless from his doing, and every time, his mouth curls into a squinty, close mouthed smile. You can only bear the fondness in his expression for a few seconds before growing too aware of the way he looks at you and kissing him again.

Your brain doesn’t want to stop, but apparently your body decides you’ve had enough action for a day, because at some point you feel your eyes start to droop, chin following.

As if sensing your exhaustion, Lando pulls away, chest rising and falling heavily. He’s breathless, lips kiss-swollen as they curve into a soft smile. “We should stop. You need to get some sleep.”

“No! We should talk about this. Us.”

“I agree, but I don’t think you’re really in the right headspace to do it right now.”

“I’m fine! I’m okay, I swear.”

“You just nearly fell asleep whilst we were making out.”

“For a second!” You whine, letting your head thunk against his chest. A chuckle vibrates through him. “Don’t laugh at me, I’m tired.”

“Then go to sleep. We’ll talk about it in the morning,” He insists, lips pressed to the crown of your head. You sigh through your nose. You’d argue a little more, but Lando is right again. All you want to do is go to sleep. “I’m not going anywhere, alright? I’ll be here when you wake up, we can figure it out then.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.”

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#lando norris #lando norris x reader #ln4 x reader #ln4 #lando norris x you #ln4 x you #lando norris x fem!reader #lando norris fic #lando norris series #ln4 x fem!reader #lando norris imagine

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bambiesfics · 10 months ago

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Cock in a Gloryhole - Ellie x reader

𝜗𝜚 Author’s notes ✦ public sex, reader deepthroating Ellie’s cock (strap-on), Ellie cums untouched, Ellie yearns for readers lips, very hyper-sexual descriptions. Ellie’s strap is almost exclusively referred to as a cock/dick/etc, pining, missed connection. This is a filthy fic.

Ellie’s a slutty gay and very judgmental.

!!! [please help palestine] !!!

kisses u. ⋆ 𝜗𝜚 ˚⟡.

Ellie slid her converse off of the toilet handle. The brazen girl fished for her pants’ zipper. She held her cock in one hand, and fought with the zipper with the other. The cheap metal wasn’t fastening over the straps on her hips, it was catching on her harness. “Jesus fuck. Now? Seriously?”

She rolled her eyes and smoothed her bangs down. After a few beats, the bored brunette circled the stall, then slumping against the chipped navy door. Cock in hand, balls barely zipped up. She chuckled to herself, there was probably some stupid fucking metaphor for that out there somehwere. She wasn’t going to step out like that, with the veins of her dick saying “hi” over her half zipped pants? Fuck. No. It wasn’t in the cards. But the zip wasn’t budging. Ellie felt a scowl forming; The kid was pissed. She didn’t have time for this, not now. Not when there was a gorgeous service teller at the center that she’d been mentally undressing for the better part of her visit. A woman who belonged on her knees, in front of Ellie. A woman with the perfect mouth to suck dick clean. Ellie toe’d her converses on the dirty grout lines hatch marked across the tile floor. The repetition of it lulled her into a meditation as she contemplated how to escape this awkward mess she somehow tripped headfirst into. Getting into awkward shit like this was her forté, but the benefits of packing far outweighed the headaches.

The stall next to her swung open, the clacking heels were rhythmic and sharp. Feminine little steps. A woman sat down, and did her business as she hummed. Ellie scaled her eyes along the bathroom wall that separated her and the lady. The wall was grotty. Old and well worn from years of servicing and decades of business. The maintenance was abysmal on its best day, and it made for a pleasant surprise when Ellie’s eyes zero’d in on the hole carved out haphazardly. There were still pieces of drywall sticking out past the lament of duck tape all around the hole. Ellie chuckled grimily, just high enough that the woman paused her rustling once the realization that she wasn’t alone had settled. The prick-fucking developers who were responsible for this project definitely forgot to remodel this bathrooms stalls’ when they added a new male bathroom to the bottom floor of the building. The little glory hole had a glaring missing chunk of ‘wall’ from its separation of the two stalls, and it’d had that for years from the looks of it. It had a bunch of old thin splinters of amber oak and drywall sticking out. The eyesore pointed to the empty hole like a pair of flashing neon arrows pointing to a seedy Las Vegas strip club.

Ellie doubted it got used much, if at all. If any of the prissy women who sat down to release themselves understood why there was a giant fucking hole the size of a two baseballs stacked vertically in their bathroom stall. Nah, Ellie mused. They definitely just kept their gaze straight ahead if they noticed anything amiss. A prim attempt at respecting the other woman’s privacy. Except, the irony was in the fact that, the point of that hole carved in the wall, the hole yelling “FUCK ME,” was to trample all over another stranger’s privacy. To proclaim yourself a king with a heavy cock and see if they’d submit to it.

Ellie stroked her cock, squeezing the base then working her way to the tip, warming it up in her hands. She unzipped the rest of her pants, and let the balls spring free. The balls dropped a little past the zipper, it took the edge off the pressure in her leather jeans. Mmm, now this felt right.

She took a tentative step forward, debating her next step. But then she rolled her anxiety off her back. Undulating those fast twitch muscles that lined her back to stretch and warm, to relax. It wasn’t that serious. Call it “part of the plot,” call it whatever you want. But what Ellie wanted to do was going to be insanely amusing. She needed the amusement if she was gonna be stuck here until her zipper decided to cooperate. Ellie’s converses padded to the wall, it’s toe box lined up with the bottom of it. Nosing against the edge. She lined up her cock with the glory hole and slowly fed the hole inches of her cock, until she bottomed out and her balls were trapped between her hairy pelvis and the wall. She held her breath. Her palms scaled the wall. The woman on the other side gasped, Ellie could only imagine how she clutched her hand to her chest and scrambled to pull her bag up over her shoulder. Ready to run to building security and report the “creep” in the ladies bathroom stall. The creep was Elizabeth “I <3 pussy” Williams with her cock fucking a glory hole. This would make for a hilarious prank to joke about with Jessie later. Jesse would think Ellie was bustin’ his balls, making up some new lie to fuck with his head. And she’d revel in the way his face would drain of colour once he realized she wasn’t.

Ellie grasped the base of her cock and lifted it up a little bit, practically taunting “yoohoo!” With the motion. Letting her heavy shaft say “hi” to the poor woman who was facing it head-on. She grinned again, and prepared herself to tuck her dick back in her pants like a good boy and behave.

But then she heard clothes rustling, and the tug she felt on her harness made her eyes fly open. Her heart rate picked up. Blood was rushing in Ellie’s head. She didn’t actually expect a sweet lady to open up her lips and suck her off. But the eager lips on the other side, started sucking her cockhead before she could process it. The woman bubbled saliva onto Ellie’s tip to aid in the lubrication. Then the lady sucked Ellie’s fat cock in all the way to the hilt, until her nose bumped the soft skin shove Ellie’s groin. All that could be seen were puffy red lips and the tip of the girl's nose. But it made Ellie fucking sprung. Her mind was clouded with raging lust as the moans of “…fuck baby..” whimpered from Ellie’s lips. The rest of the sentence would’ve concluded with “…I didn’t expect you to actually blow me.” If Ellie could think straight.

The girl on the other side of the stall was enthusiastic to have cock in her mouth. She was sucking up and down Ellie’s full length. Using her sloppy saliva to help her lips slide up and down the length. Ellie shoved her pelvis into the wall until both of her hip bones were bruised and beat grinding against the wall. She was greedy to feel more suction. Ellie’s chubby cock had a puffy head, and a fat veiny shaft. Her cock was the color of obsidian, just like Ellie’s harness. And her wrinkly fat balls held her squishy testes. The ones she forced all girls to palm for reality’s sake. For all intents and purposes; this was Ellie’s fucking cock. And so she could feel it when the woman on the other side gagged on her dick so eagerly, it was as if she was desperate for Ellie to paint her throat in warm cum.

Ellie started moaning the more she heard the woman on the other side gag on her. She could just imagine the way her dick was creating an imprint in her throat, sliding down and bulging. Ellie was large, she’d seen her do that to a girl before. She couldn’t help but whimper at the image of a sweet girl impaling her dainty throat around Ellie’s thick piece, in a seedy business bathroom. God what a beautiful fucking piece of ass must on the other side of the stall. A girl with the lips of a killer, sloppy and greedy. Hungry to suck off a creep. Probably with a perfect vagina to match; a hole just as sloppy, just as greedy. A hole only fit for a King to thrust into. Good thing Ellie thought of herself as a King too. Ellie decided, as she watched your red lips deepthroat her length, that the very moment the girl on her knees was done digging her tongue into Ellie’s cock slit, she’d knock down the door of the stall you were in, and ram into your glossy pussy over the toilet. You would coat Ellie’s cock in the sticky saliva held inside your puffy little hole too. Two sets of lips for Ellie to abuse.

Ellie bit her fist to prevent herself from choking out a moan. God. You popped your lips off, and stroked up Ellie’s dick with your little fist. Up and down and up and down, before you put it back in your mouth to deepthroat one more time. You wanted to nose against the pale girl's skin again, feel her bush tickle the tip of your nose. Smell the soft patch of hair, the salt of her skin. The sexy art of her bush and happy trail. Ellie yelled out a hoarse “Fuck-k!” And you could tell she came. She soaked her black Klein boxers. Maybe she came from those eager motions grinding her harness against her swollen pink clit. Or maybe she came untouched, hole spasming scarily just because of how aroused Ellie was by you. You placed a gentle kiss on her cockhead with your red lips. Ellie bit down her fist, hard. She broke skin, and drew blood.

If you could’ve, you would’ve loved to have Ellie’s real cum dribbling down your tongue instead. You stood up to pull your panties flush against your plump cunt. Finished with your prior business. There was slick dripping in between all of your puffy folds, and you knew your panties would stay wet the entire rest of the day from just the way they were suctioned to your cunt alone.

You stepped out to wash your hands, heels clacking with an air of comportment. You waited for the girl whose cock you inhaled, to come out of the stall and address you. But she never came. Her back was pressed against the wall. Instead she slid down to collect herself. So you fixed your blouse, hid your cleavage, touched up your smeared lipstick after rubbing it all off on Ellie, and massaged your nipples so they wouldn’t poke so prominently through your blouse. You shimmied in your tight skirt and clacked out of the bathroom. Leaving the girl hiding in the stall, to catch her breath and will the staccato of her heartbeat away. Ellie wasn’t new to coming untouched, but coming from the visuals and motion of a stranger sucking her cock clean? That — that was a new one. She gulped and adjusted her boxers, because fucking Christ, they were heavily soaked from her own slick. With shaky hands the pale girl fished for her leather pants zipper. Pleading with the bitchy, cheap, metallic hardware over and over, until it finally pulled all the way up.

A rapid river of relief washed over Ellie, she couldn’t afford to be stuck in there anymore. Ellie stumbled out of the washroom, hoping to find you. She snapped her head back and forth, then stumbled around in circles trying to catch a flash of sloppy red lips. She thought of going to people and asking if they’d seen a lady with puffy red lips strut by. But then thought better of it. The idea sounded dumb as rocks, even to her own horned-out brain. Ellie rubbed her cock through her pants, feeling phantom sucks from memory. You were burned in her brain, forget the cute teller from earlier. You were her new Madonna, her new whore.

In your honour, she’d stroke her g-spot to a hot strap blowjob video tonight, to keep the memory of your filthy cocksucking mouth fresh.

Ellie hoped if there ever was a next time in that glory hole for her, that you’d line your little greedy hole right up in front of the glory hole in the stall, so Ellie could make you drip your cream down her cock. She’d love to pull her dick out of you, just to marvel at the beautiful rings of milk wrapped around her veiny shaft from your own sopping cunt. Ellie savored the idea of the screams she’d rip out of you, the cries and pleads you’d wail for her ears only. She’d rip you apart, and that would be the fucking cherry on top of her fucking birthday cake.

If she got the cake, she’d love to write “Ellie ‘Hung’ Williams” on the face of it just for shits.

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luvvixu · 1 year ago

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how to tame your boyfriend

content: bf!gojo, mentioned of sex and sexual stuffs, 16+, fluff, drabble, does not contain any smut, i think gojo's like this can't blame me

wanna know how to tame your annoying (and horny) boyfriend when your flight is delayed?

that's very easy. just buy him some lego and he would go on instant mute.

"i can't believe you really bought satoru—a full 27 years old ass man—a set of legos?" your friend from the other line, shoko, wheeze and at the same time confused for your action to tame your boyfriend.

sighing hardly while massaging your temple, you answered. "i had to, sho. he won't stop bothering me to have a quickie since our flight was delayed and he was bored."

your flight overseas was delayed for three hours because of some maintenance needed to be checked in the aircraft. now, satoru thought it is a good idea to spend those three hours having a passionate fornication.

of course you immediately dislike the idea even though you are tempted too. you value your morals, ethics, and dignity. unlike your boyfriend, he has no shame and would even proudly tell some random people that you are his by some marks solely created.

"could've played with his phone but seriously, why lego?" shoko was still laughing, now that you opened your camera and showed her your boyfriend who's literally sitting on the airport floor with bricks of lego on his hands.

satoru looked so focused and unbothered, which is an extremely good thing—like he couldn't stop whispers in your ears, whining about how needy he is right now and how badly he wanted you. but now he's occupied, it is the greatest relief for you.

"first, his phone is dead and was tempt to buy a new fucking phone just because he said charging using a power bank takes a lot of time. had to smack the shit outta him and force him to get out of the apple store."

yep, the idiot forgot to charge his phone before you left for the airport. now his phone is dead, the desire to buy a new one instead of waiting for his phone to be charged in a powerbank is crazy. although, money is not a problem for the head of the gojo clan—he got figures that cost more, more, more than your annual salary.

"second, lego made him focused and entertained on building it, not for having scandalous sex with me. i feel like he's being my child than being my boyfriend at this moment." you joked, lowering your voice so your big baby wouldn't hear you.

"you said it yourself that satoru is a full package." shoko rolled her eyes, but she's not wrong tho. satoru is everything, he could easily afford things and could even make some things impossible to possible.

"touché."

shoko let out a laugh. "anyway, gotta go now. got a client in an hour so bye my boo, mwa!" sending also a virtual flying kiss to your platonic friend, you both bid a farewell to with sweet smile on your faces.

as you ended the call, you turned your attention to your boyfriend who's now almost done on his lego that he's been occupying himself for like an hour now.

you made to take some photo of him and post it on your close friends in instagram because this scene of your boyfriend is literally a wholesome and definitely iconic. satoru glanced at you when he heard you giggle at some adorable shots of your boyfriend.

"what are you laughing at?" your boyfriend glanced up to you, confused and warily.

you shook your head, holding your laughter to not raise any suspicion. "nothing babe, just focus on fishing your lego instead of other things."

satoru showed you the figure "oh but i'm finished and we still have like an hour before our flight…" he paused. your mouth hangs wide, questioning about how the hell he builds almost five hundred tiny pieces in just an hour?! truly your boyfriend was really something but this is wild.

"how did you—"

"can we have a quickie now?" satoru smiles sheepishly.

your face turns more sour at his shameless request. although you understand that satoru is a man in need, but his neediness sometimes is really out of place and it took a lot of effort just to stop him from doing so.

"no, satoru. instead, we're going to have a quickie stop at the lego shop to buy you some more entertainment."

your boyfriend pouted at your answer like a hurdled puppy. "but i'm enjoying it more when i'm inside you."

that completely took you off guard.

"... tempting but no."

©luvvixu2023

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anystalker707 · 22 days ago

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Catch me when I fall

Pairing: Hayden Christensen x [gender-neutral] Reader Summary: Being stuck in a small city with barely any service during the business rush of the holidays feels like hell when you're an agent of a great company. Tags: very generic, cliche, cheesy christmas plot / very very very sweet / comfort / decorating christmas cookies / watching christmas lights / ice skating / christmas activities

requested by ms rain the queen herself @bimbo-baggins17

MASTER LIST

Christmas wasn’t important. Well, actually, it was, when it came to numbers. Profits went high, people and sales everywhere, and you’d usually always be the one going on business trips for the company, going around to sign contracts or take pictures shaking hands with people to seal business deals and keep the appearances.

Business kept your mind busy during the holidays, set on what needed to get done, away from distractions. The November-January period was busy, much like June-August, so the main difference was simply the weather and decorations.

This year’s destination seemed nice—a little, cozy city that made its profits mainly during the holiday season because of tourism, and encouraging small businesses was the company’s great aim this time. The pictures of you with the mayor and other local authorities were everywhere by now for the new campaign.

Everything was going great. Maybe a little too great to be true.

“The road’s blocked?” You blinked a couple of times, taking a deep breath.

“Well, you see…” The driver cleared his throat and coughed, looking away, looking at the cars that eventually passed down the frozen streets, though there weren’t many. Not in such a small city. “The weather was too intense, so the bridge’s under maintenance. It will take a while to fix since we gotta make sure it’s safe ‘n all, y’know. Gotta have a good weather t’work.”

Something felt like it was about to snap inside you. There was going to be another important meeting in two days. “What about the other exit? Plane? Boat? Helicopter?”

The driver flinched a little more with each word. “Look, Mx., I really believe the best’s t’wait. M’bad, but safety comes first, y’know? ‘N the city’s small. No other exit.” He shrugged as he leaned back against the car, but quickly fished his phone out of his pocket with a sigh. “Look, Mx., I really gotta go. Y’got my number ‘lready. Y’gonna know when the bridge’s fixed, then y’can call me. Uh—” He paused before he answered his phone. “There’s a lil’ inn there, good prices.”

He didn’t spare another word, pressing the phone to his ear and getting in the car before he slammed the door shut, and the car sped away with a rhythmic sound of something loose, leaving you standing alone in the cold streets with your suitcase. Fuck. You had planned to stay in a hotel in the state’s capital, not… there.

You finally found the sign hanging from a large building, black letters on light brown wood saying ‘Donna’s inn’ in cursive. The wooden building seemed cozy, surrounded by dark green pine trees and deep red decorations that matched the ornaments along the light posts that decorated the street, with the touch of accumulated snow. It hadn’t snowed so much since you arrived in the city by the morning, but it was noticeable the weather had been harsh lately. Now that you think of it, the drive into the city took longer than expected, and the line of cars seemed explainable now, given the bridge’s situation.

A sigh escaped your lips. It is what it is.

The nice smell of gingerbread cookies and cherry pie greeted you the moment you stepped past the door, welcoming you with a warmth that gave your nerves a break from all the trembling—a little piece of heaven in the middle of nowhere. Small cities felt claustrophobic when you were used to big centers.

You inhaled to call for someone when an old lady showed up behind the counter in a red dress and a dark green apron with a nice print of white polka dots around the edges, which matched her mitten. “Oh, hello, dear, good afternoon! What can I do for you?” She adjusted her glasses with her free hand.

“Oh, hi,” you said with a nod, observing the flour fingerprints on her lenses for a moment. “I’d like a room. Uh, until the bridge’s fixed. However long that takes…” You sighed.

A crease showed up between her brows, and the lady sighed. “Everyone knew that was going to happen. I—” A clanking sound came from the kitchen, along with a patterned beeping. “Give me a moment, dear, I’ll fetch your keys. Make yourself comfortable, huh?” She smiled warmly before walking through the door, which you presumed to lead to the kitchen, leaving you alone in the reception.

The room was cozy and warm, with a fire, an armchair, and a couch. Christmas decorations hung everywhere, a nice jar with some flowers sat on the side table, and the carpet seemed to be picked out for the holiday season as well. Red, white, and green were practically everywhere, aside from when they gave place to the golden wallpaper. Whoever took care of the place did it well.

You left your suitcase near the counter to step closer to the window, observing the darkening sky, the snow accumulating on top of trees and houses—

“Fuck!” Your heart almost jumped out of your chest when a figure emerged outside, making you take a step back, but damn, it was just a man. He had a few layers of sweaters and a hood on as his gloved fingers tried to untangle a line of Christmas lights. The dumbass— Fuck, he didn’t even notice you standing there, almost having a heart attack as you held your chest and gripped the window sill with your free hand, trying to catch your breath.

Blue eyes glanced at you once, then twice, before they widened in realization. “Did I scare you?” He mouthed, letting out an awkward chuckle when you nodded. “Sorry.”

The man leaned forward to look at the counter through the window before he let the Christmas lights down, and the next thing you knew was that he was walking through the front door, exhaling as he brushed the snow off his shoulders and took the hood off, tucking it somewhere behind the counter along with his gloves.

Now that you took a better look at him… Fuck, if he had a sharp suit on, you’d easily mistake him for one of the great businessmen you didn’t even dare to look at directly. Tall, handsome, and intimidating even in his gentleness.

“So…” He cleared his throat, grabbing a book from behind the counter. “A room?”

You blinked a couple of times and looked past him, but the door to the kitchen was still closed. “You work here?”

“Maintenance guy. A little bit of everything, really. I fill in when Mrs. Lee is busy in the kitchen,” he said with a shrug as he grabbed a pen. “So?”

Reality dawned once more, making you sigh for the thousandth time of the day, rubbing your temple. “A room. Until the bridge’s fixed.”

He raised his eyebrows and tilted his head, eyes raking over you swiftly. “Oh, shucks, big city kid.” Something in it sounded like mockery, but you left it at that, only watching him grab a key that hung on the wall and check the number on the tag before writing something in the notebook. “Uuh, sign your name here, also write down your number,” he said as he turned the notebook towards you, handing you the pen. “Room number twenty-five. Very Christmas-y.”

You furrowed your eyebrows, shaking your head to yourself. As if it had to do with anything. Irrelevant. After checking your information a last time, you handed the pen back. “Is there any fee?”

“Nope,” he said. “As long as you don’t run away during the night.” A chuckle escaped his lips, but you didn’t share the humor, and he didn’t mind it, simply taking the notebook back and nodding to himself. “Come on, I’ll show you to your room.” He walked around the counter in long strides and reached for your suitcase, not caring that you were already holding the handle. “Leave it with me, sweetheart. You seem tired.”

His gaze held yours for a longer moment, blue eyes warm. His hand covered yours to squeeze it gently. The touch was so warm and caring, and fuck, did he call you sweetheart? That— Damn, you were supposed to—

“Sweetheart?” He called from the hall, and you cursed yourself while rushing after him. He stopped in front of a door, the frame lined with red and white decorations that made you think of candy cane and holiday profits off decorations. Your suitcase was by his feet as he unlocked the door. He was so annoying, suddenly. Something about the way he stood, spoke, talked to you…

“Do you have a name, or are you just the maintenance guy?”

Maybe the bitterness was easy to notice. He raised his eyebrows lightly as he looked at you and handed the keys over. “It’s Hayden.” He smiled softly. “Uh, dinner’s from seven-thirty until nine. Self-service, with pretty much all kinds of options. No extra fees charged. Breakfast is from seven to nine, and lunch is from eleven to one,” he said before he paused, rubbing his chin lightly. “Just a tip, but since you’re staying until the bridge’s new again, then maybe you should check the city lights at some point. If you need me, ‘m just down the hall, sweetheart.” Hayden winked before walking down the hall, probably going back to fixing the Christmas lights or anything.

Damn. He looked so… Ugh, you weren’t supposed to pay attention to those things. Reality barged in again within seconds, preventing you from just stupidly standing there while looking at where Hayden had disappeared.

The mess hall was quite cozy, making it feel like a big family was eating together despite the different tables. A sweet smell of something being prepared for later came from the kitchen when you walked past the door, catching a glimpse of the old lady—Mrs. Lee—with another younger woman with aprons and bowls. And yeah, they did a great job. Hayden wasn’t lying when he said there were a lot of options.

Quite a few other guests had lunch at the inn, enough to fill the mess hall with quiet chatter and the clinking of ceramic against ceramic, but still, not enough people to fill out all the tables, leaving a four-seat one free for you.

Your phone rested beside your plate, ever loading, unresponsive with the bad signal that’d been pestering you ever since you woke up. Those dark clouds in the sky didn’t seem promising at all, though.

“Oh, look at who’s here!” The sudden voice made you look up to see Hayden approaching with a plate of food to take a seat across from you. “Didn’t see you during breakfast.” He raised an eyebrow, picking up the cutlery.

You raised your eyebrows, tilting your head. “I had gone to check if the bridge was fixed, or if I could find another way to leave,” you exhaled, pushing your food around the plate a little before finally taking another bite.

Hayden hummed as he nodded slowly. “Not successful, I presume.” He only smiled at the glare—that damn smile. “Why the rush? Going back home to see family for Christmas?”

“No!” You scoffed. As if you’d go back home right at that time of the year when business is so agitated. “I have an important meeting in two days. It’s important for the company, and I can barely get enough signal to let anyone know that I’m stuck here, though, hopefully, the bridge’s news will reach them.”

A crease showed up between Hayden’s eyebrows as he looked at you, swallowing before he could speak up. “What could be that important that you couldn’t enjoy Christmas with your family?” He paused and cleared his throat. “Sorry, that sounded too intrusive. I mean—” he paused. “What could be so important that you would rather work than enjoy Christmas?”

After a moment of staring at Hayden—at that stupidly handsome face—, you took a deep breath. “How else is the market supposed to keep running if people like me weren’t active during the Holidays? I mean, things can’t just stop completely.”

Hayden raised his eyebrows as he hummed slowly, that attitude from the first day coming back already. How entertaining could it be to mock you? Honestly… “Not so lucky, it seems.” And you sighed, about to say something when he looked at you. “However, you’re actually lucky to be here to see the city’s Christmas festivities.”

You shot him the same mocking look. “How productive.”

A hint of exasperation crossed his face before Hayden shrugged. “Better than just sitting there, since you can’t work or anything anyway.” And a small, fake apologetic smile crossed his face because he knew exactly how much of a low blow his words were, then proceeded to go back to eating as if nothing had happened. He even had the audacity to look at you with an inquiring gaze, blinking a couple of times as he still smiled, munching on his food, and you had to hold yourself back from wiping that look off his face. Whatever it took…

Most of the guests left after lunch to explore the city or anything else related to Christmas, but there was barely anything you could do when the signal was so bad and the bridge wasn’t fixed yet. After being trapped in your room for long enough, you decided to lounge a little in the reception, given the warmth of the fireplace and the snacks in the glass jars, but you found yourself standing by the window and watching sparse snow fall. Being trapped in that city made you think of all the reports you could be writing, all the e-mails that must be flooding your inbox, the missed calls, unanswered messages…

“Oh, you’re still around, sweetheart,” the voice cut through your thoughts. Was Hayden everywhere? Though you didn’t mind seeing him, even if he wore that ugly sweater, sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and an apron much like the one Mrs. Lee and her helper were using. Where did all that charm come from? “Got nothing to do?”

“No.” It sounded heavier than intended, but the frustration was real.

“Maybe you could help me with decorating some cookies?” Hayden raised his eyebrows a little. “Mrs. Lee left last minute and said I could decorate this batch, and since you’re around so melancholic like that… ‘Could be a good way to pass the time.”

Cooking was far from the reality of paperwork, meetings, and screens that filled your life, and that reality only hit you now that you imagined yourself in a kitchen, decorating cookies. Christmas cookies.

“It’ll be fun, I swear,” Hayden said before you could overthink, and maybe it worked, because he soon had an arm wrapped around your shoulders while guiding you behind the counter and into the kitchen, also decorated in a Christmas theme, wide, with enough apparel to attend the demand of three daily meals for the inn’s guests. The surface of the island’s stainless steel counter was covered in cookies. “We have gingerbread men, trees, snowflakes, and icing in different colors,” he said as he grabbed one of the aprons that hung on the wall. Dark green, polka dots details. “There we go.”

Hayden slipped the top part around your head and stood behind you to gently tie the straps around your waist, fingers brushing against you gently. “Well, aren’t you just cute?”

Cute? Out of your element and dressing something like that? But he said it in such a smooth voice and genuine appreciation. How even were you supposed to feel about that? The embarrassment and confusion must’ve been evident, given the chuckle you earned from him.

“Uh, thanks,” you muttered with uncertainty, trying to move past the situation as you washed your hands in the sink.

“Let’s start with the gingerbread men, how’s that sound?” Hayden clapped before he grabbed one of the bags with icing and pulled the closest cookie closer, glancing at you with those pretty blue eyes.

Focus. You took a deep breath before adjusting the icing in your hands, trying to find any position that made it feel more natural, or at least… less difficult to decorate those cookies and make something that didn’t look ugly. Unfortunately, measuring the pressure and coordinating things was a little too hard, making you curse under your breath when the white icing started falling off the side of the cookie.

Hayden looked at you once, twice, then hummed before rushing over. “Oh, fuck, it’s okay, sweetheart. Happens to the best of us,” he said before he moved to next to you—a little too close, but not unpleasantly. He took the cookie from the counter, wiping the extra icing off the counter with his free hand before he licked his fingers clean, his lips wrapping around his middle and ring finger…

Blue eyes met yours, and Hayden raised his eyebrows lightly. “Tastes good,” he whispered as if it were a secret before licking the white remnants off his lips and wiping his fingers on the apron. “Well, the thing is, you have to hold it like this and do not apply pressure on the bottom, okay? Not a lot, at least.” He set the ruined cookie aside before wrapping his arms around you, hands over yours ever so gently, his face next to yours, so close you could catch a faint hint of cigarettes in his breath. “Careful, sweetheart. We want pretty cookies, hm? I’m sure you can make some as pretty as you.”

And you didn’t know whether it was Hayden or you actually doing the thing because your brain could barely process anything but every point where your bodies touched, and his words still swam across your mind. Nonetheless, you still had to put some minimum effort into it so that you didn’t look like a complete fool.

“There we go. This one looks cuter, don't you think?” Hayden tilted his head before his eyes met yours. So close. “I knew I was making a good choice by asking you to help me. Well, let’s go back to work. Try not to waste anything, okay?”

Even out of your element, even if you’d laugh if someone told you yesterday that you’d be doing that today, decorating the cookies with him, it gave you some sense of home, even if you never grasped the concept properly before. It felt like a glimpse of a life you’d have if things had gone differently in the past. Living in a small city, being married, doing the simple things, it all felt so distant.

“You okay there, sweetheart?” Hayden’s voice cut through your thoughts before you nodded, finishing organizing the cookies so that the icing could dry before they were put in jars. There was a clear distinction between the ones you decorated and the ones Hayden decorated.

You nodded. “Yeah, just lost in thought,” you said softly, giving him a small smile, a forced one, for the sake of the moment. He smiled back with an understanding nod, and none of you really seemed to be truthful.

“Well,” Hayden took a deep breath as he nudged a cookie into place before placing his hand on top of yours. “I know you’re very frustrated. Being stuck in a city like this, nothing like what you’re used to, away from a lot of things, it might feel at least,” he paused, seeming to think for a word, “claustrophobic, but it doesn’t have to be totally bad.” He glanced down at your joined hands before nodding with a hum. “Anyway,” he cleared his throat, “I’m very thankful for your help. We were a great duo today.” And you couldn’t even continue your overthinking, not when he sent you that smile.

Everything was organized again, back into place or put away, aside from the cookies that waited for the icing to dry. Having the moment slipping through your fingers gave you a weird sensation in your chest, almost an ache.

“Let me help you,” Hayden said softly, and his hands grazed your back again as he untied the apron, always so caring and attentive, with some sort of tenderness that only seemed unreal until now. How real could it be, though? “Do you want to go with me to the rink someday?” He always interrupted your thoughts in the best-worst moments, as if he had a sixth sense or something. “Ice skating can be boring when you’re alone, y’know.”

“Ice skating?” You furrowed your eyebrows. Far from your usual activities. “What if something needs maintenance by then? Will you just be away, ice skating?”

“Normal humans don’t work the whole time, I’m not sure if you know that.”

You blinked slowly, glaring. How could someone be so annoying and nice all at the same time? Far from your usual conversations. “And what if there’s service before we can go? Maybe the bridge’s already fixed by then.”

Hayden scoffed. “Yeah, no. This is no New York—”

“New York isn’t—”

“—so the best you can do is really just wait patiently. You may not see how you can make it better, but making it worse won’t help either,” he said slowly, holding eye contact. Part of you wondered where all that patience came from. Surprisingly, he didn’t sound patronizing, but caring instead.

Despite how annoying it was to admit it, Hayden was right. Just staring at the ever-loading circle on your phone or laptop screen while stressing every second that went by didn’t seem so helpful, and even if the bridge did happen to get fixed and service suddenly came back, you wouldn’t be able to solve everything in a snap of fingers either. Damn it. Rationality felt like defeat, even if there wasn’t anything to lose.

A hand rested on your shoulder, thumb rubbing circles into your skin. Intentionally or not, Hayden did a good job at comforting you.

You had to use every ounce of strength to avert your eyes away from his, trying to find something interesting in observing all those colorful cookies, anything that didn’t show his reaction. “When’s the rink open?” You asked, voice strained through all those feelings.

Hayden’s approval simmered in the air before his voice replaced it. “Uh, this weekend, if I’m not wrong.”

“What?” You widened your eyes at him. “It’s Monday!”

Despite your panic, he laughed. “You overestimate some things ‘round here.”

You rubbed your forehead, observing the fire flicker in the fireplace, trying to think about anything other than checking your phone. Your brain melted like the marshmallows in the cup. “Now, what’s this again?”

Hayden sat on the armchair beside yours, ankle on his knee, hanging out with you in the inn’s lounge while Mrs. Lee cooked in the kitchen to the sound of cheerful Christmas songs on the radio. The inn wasn’t so agitated during the afternoons, the space between lunch and dinner always filled with a nice calmness, even if everything still gave you a small sense of unease. Some of your emails had been delivered through the night, but service was still too slow to let you check all the updates properly. At least someone knew you weren’t dead or something.

“Chilling.”

You feigned a smile. “Uh huh, wow.”

“Do you like the hot chocolate though?”

“Well,” you tutted, “it's not bad.” Giving in was hard, but you didn't want to be unpleasant either. After all, Hayden was just being nice so far, despite the attitude… “What's this? A streak of Christmas activities? Christmas to-do list?” You grabbed the mug from the small side table, taking a look at the exaggerated Santa Claus design. “Is everything over here Christmas-themed?”

Hayden looked around, from the ceiling to the floor, before looking down at himself, then at you. “Uh, I suppose you aren't Christmas-themed.”

“You’re so funny.” You sighed and sipped on the hot drink.

“Thank you.” Hayden tilted his head, his eyes scanning your face for a moment. His tongue darted out to lick his lips before he spoke up. “Any success contacting your company or something?”

“Actually, yes!” You replied a bit too fast, but he smiled. “It seems like my email was sent! I received a few, but they won’t load, unfortunately. At least they have time to rescue me or send someone else in my place.”

Hayden nodded slowly. “That eases part of your stress, right? Now that they know, you don’t need to keep observing your phone your whole time.” His hand found yours before you could grab the phone, warm fingers enveloping yours and giving your hand a reassuring squeeze. “Come on, staying here isn’t all that bad, you’re just…” He paused, shrugging. “…not used to slowing down like this,” he said each word carefully and nodded after noticing you didn’t complain, but how could you think about anything other than how nice his hand felt around yours? His thumb gently tracing your knuckles in such a nice, loving way.

“Hayden?” Mrs. Lee showed up from the door to the kitchen. “Think you can buy me some more sprinkles, deary? I need those.” She adjusted her glasses, squeezing her eyes while bringing up an empty wrapper. “The red and green ones. Silver or golden will do just fine if it’s sold out already.” She waved it a little, compelling Hayden to stand up with a soft sigh and retrieve the plastic bag, letting the cold air replace the warmth of his hand around yours. “You know they opened the Christmas expo near the glass house, hm? You should take your partner with you.”

Hayden glanced back at you, your eyes meeting for what were just seconds but felt like an eternity. His partner…? You couldn’t afford to have a partner, no matter how appealing the idea sounded. Despite the shared look, he just nodded at Mrs. Lee before he pocketed the wrapper and made a motion for you to follow as he walked to the door, seeming pleased when you stood up. Well, it was no use arguing with Mrs. Lee over something so insignificant, right?

Gentle hands helped you into your coat, delicately adjusting the lapel. “Let’s go.” Hayden waited for you to make sure you were ready before he held the door open. “She’s probably preparing donuts. You gotta try them on, even if you’re not into donuts.”

You hummed with a nod, watching your breath turn into steam in the cold air, before avoiding slipping on the frozen part of the sidewalk became your new focus.

“Easy there,” Hayden said as his hand immediately grabbed your upper arm until you were steady enough for his hand to drop to your waist. “Good, sweetheart?” His hand pressed firmly against your waist, and you couldn’t help but gravitate to his side. After all, Hayden was so warm, and his presence gave that sense of protection. Comfort. Naming it was hard.

“Yeah,” you said softly, glancing at him. He didn’t let go of you, and you didn’t push him away either.

The walk was silent, and you didn’t do much besides following Hayden around the little convenience store and accepting the warm cup of coffee he bought for you, and another for himself. A shiver ran down your spine as you two left the store, leaving behind the muffled talk with a background sound of distorted voices among the TV’s white noise and warmth, replaced by the silence brought by the snow accumulated on the streets and steam rising from the coffee cups, their warmth pleasantly penetrating your glove. Mrs. Lee’s sprinkles were safe inside the pocket of Hayden’s jacket, leaving his hands free for you and the coffee.

“Let’s take a different way back.” Hayden’s hand went from your waist to your hand to guide you into the street you would’ve otherwise walked past, and you followed with a light groan when your coffee almost spilled over. “They always decorate the square nicely. Last year, the decoration was a little… weird. The angels— They were supposed to look like angels, but were more like ghosts,” he said with a chuckle, grin widening once he noticed your smile.

“Oh? That’s…”

“I don’t think the decorator thought it through,” he said, clicking his tongue, that charming smile still across his face. Fuck, he made you feel such things. “But it’s beautiful this year.” He sipped on the coffee, finishing it before he tossed the empty cup into a trash can, and you did the same. Appreciating the decoration would be better without the coffee to worry about.

Golden and silver lights lined the trees and light posts, fading out a little until they became bright again, giving a cozy vibe to the square. Just like Mrs. Lee had said, there was, indeed, a building with big, glass windows, lined with lights as well. The Christmas tree was made out of golden LED lights with a pretty star on top, and there was a tunnel of silver lights and stars hanging in it… Everything was far from the extravagant decorations you were used to, but something about it gave you a comfort you’d never felt. It was scary, overwhelming, like it would burst out of your chest, explode, and…

“It’s beautiful,” Hayden said as he walked through the tunnel with you, his hand down your arm until his hands found yours then gently intertwined your fingers, grip firm and caring. “I’m glad it’s beautiful this year, so you don’t have a bad impression about our town,” he whispered.

Your gaze averted to him briefly, and you nodded faintly, unable to look away from the stars that hung in the tunnel of slowly twinkling lights for too long, accompanying Hayden in unhurried steps. Everything is so different, and it didn’t feel like you’d expected it to be—like you’d feared. You stopped by the end of the tunnel, afraid that magic would disappear if you stepped out of it, so you just stood there, by the end, a step away from all that daily stress, anxiety, and bullshit.

“You know, it is so—” The words escaped your grasp when your eyes averted to Hayden, and he was already looking at you. Something about his gaze made your heart skip a beat. He offered a smile, but it only helped your brain malfunction more, and the only thing you could give in return was to squeeze his hand back after his fingers tightened a little around yours. You exhaled, trying to look at anything other than Hayden, maybe at the… mistletoe.

Hayden’s eyebrows raised as he followed your gaze, eventually noticing the mistletoe, which seemed like the most important thing in the world until your eyes met again, hesitant, expectant, something like that. How could you ignore the pull? The sweet gaze that seemed to look right through you…

How it happened didn’t matter, not when Hayden’s lips pressed to yours, and only now did you notice how much you’d wanted it to happen, now that his arms wrapped around your waist and your body molded against his so perfectly, and no kiss had ever felt that good, never made your heart beat like that.

His lips were as gentle as they appeared, making you feel better than any good millionaire deal made on Christmas ever could, and it felt pathetic now to think that your Christmases had been filled with that until now. Felt stupid. Was that how everyone else saw you? As someone stupid? Because it didn’t feel very wise to have spent all that time drowning yourself in work, just work, not even enjoying all those places you’d traveled to, and fuck. No, no, that was your life. You couldn’t throw away all those years because it wasn’t stupid. A few kisses wouldn’t keep money running, people employed, and money in their accounts.

It hurt when Hayden’s lips sought after yours after you pulled away, but it was needed. You hadn’t gotten so far—dedicated so many years—just for that, but you couldn’t help letting your hands linger on his chest before finally stepping back and looking away. Falling in love was too far off the question, too much for someone like you.

Not much was left to be said.

“Oh, honey, good morning,” Mrs. Lee said as soon as she saw you by the main table to grab some breakfast, adjusting the thick glasses that made her green eyes seem a lot bigger, but in an endearing way. “Has Hayden told you?”

Just hearing his name made your heart skip a beat, making you thankful you weren’t holding your mug with hot coffee. It wasn’t like you did anything wrong. Get a fucking grip. “Uh, told me about what?”

“The bridge, honey!” She clapped her hands together. “It’s fixed!”

“Fixed?!”

“You can go home!” Mrs. Lee seemed happier than you, patting your shoulder before she rushed into the kitchen as soon as a beeping sound cut through the chatter and clinking of porcelain. Not that it was too hard to be happier than you—or anything at all more than you—given the mess of sentiments swirling inside you like… Ugh, not everything is like something else. Maybe all those feelings were starting to take up food’s space, making your appetite vanish, but you still grabbed a cookie, since Mrs. Lee could be watching. That cookie looked awfully familiar.

Focus. The bridge. You had to find that driver’s card somewhere in your things.

“Gonna pack up, sweetheart?” Hayden almost gave you a heart attack, standing there when you turned into the hallway, and you wanted to smash his face when he chuckled at your reaction.

“I mean, the bridge’s fixed.” It took you a long moment to gather your thoughts, take them away from how loving and gentle he is, and the kiss was so perfect— Get a grip. “Can’t waste time.”

Hayden took in a breath to say something, but he ended up replacing it with a sigh when you walked past him, shaking his head to himself. “Well, let me drive you to the city, then?” He followed. “I can take you there in a second, no charges.” And it was easy for him to take long strides to stand between you and the room’s door.

Seriousness swam in blue irises, like you’d never seen before, sending a shiver down your spine, and the silence it created was heavy and oppressing. Hayden made you feel weak, but not like the powerful, grumpy bosses would—no, that was like hell, but this? You actually wanted more of it, more of him. If only it didn’t mean putting so many things at stake. Damn him, for seeing right through you with those beautiful eyes and charming smile.

“What?” You asked as if your tongue was made out of lead.

Hayden gave you a look, and you didn’t know whether you wanted to throw yourself in your arms or run to the capital without even getting your bag back from the room, and that same indecision kept you rooted on the ground.

“I don’t want to force you into anything,” Hayden said softly. “But I really don’t want to lose this. You know what I’m talking about,” he continued, despite how you looked at the ceiling, thankful there wasn’t another mistletoe around, but his sigh made your heart ache. Giving up seemed easy until things started slipping through your fingers. “At least keep your promise? The rink opened today.”

Low blow. How were you supposed to resist that voice tone? Not even risky deals had your stomach doing flips like that. Damn. Work.

“I don’t…”

“Will some hours really make a difference?” Hayden moved into your sight. His gaze always carried that softness and intensity at the same time, perfectly balanced. “I mean, it’s okay if it does make a difference, but I want to make sure.” A heavy pause. “You showed up out of nowhere and made Christmas feel different for once in a lifetime. I just…” Maybe you weren’t the only one who had a lot going on. “I can’t just let this go without even trying first. I— You know what I’m saying. Or at least trying to.”

It felt like forever ago, uselessly arguing with that driver while he pointed at the inn, and you had been doing everything and going everywhere with Hayden ever since, sometimes just sitting there and watching him do something as mundane as fix the heaters. It had been such an experience. Worrying about anything other than deadlines, calls, e-mails, signatures. Nonetheless, Hayden had never looked that vulnerable during all this time; he was always strong and caring, as if he was smoothly encouraging you through what seemed to be the most difficult terrain ever—standing on thin ice as if he belonged there while you walked over pointy rocks, preferring the comfort of the wounds you already knew.

“I don’t know how to skate,” you muttered quietly. You’d dealt with so much shame for not having done such trivial tasks during these past days, so admitting it didn’t feel like punching through a wall anymore.

“I will catch you.” The promise meant more than just for skating.

Taking Hayden’s hand felt like stepping into the darkness, but his words from earlier still rang through your mind, and he was right. You didn’t want this to end in regrets, either.

The rink was crowded, with people gathered in small groups while kids ran around and Christmas songs played in the background, ones you’d grown familiar with lately. Warm Christmas lights reflected on the snow, illuminating the place, despite the moon already being high in the sky. Hayden made sure to keep an arm around you, protectively guiding you through the people. He was so caring and gentle while helping you put the skates on, chuckling warmly at the messy waddling toward the rink, but you had to pause when you finally reached the ice.

Hayden stood there so confidently, holding your hands in his. He didn’t say anything, but he didn’t need to for you to know he would be patient and take care of you. Catch you if you fell.

You squeezed Hayden’s hands, finding the exact safety you looked for when you looked into his eyes, and you tried not to think much before you finally stepped on the ice.

“It’s okay,” Hayden reassured as he adjusted his hands around yours, slowly moving back as you moved forward. “Try to keep balance,” he said as he moved to your side, still holding one of your hands despite how one of his arms wrapped around your waist for leverage. “Don’t look down so much or else you’ll lose your balance, okay? Keep firm, sweetheart.”

With a certain notion and Hayden’s tips, you tried to glide instead of taking steps. And fuck, it wasn’t so easy, far from being as easy as people made it seem. You could end up falling on your face, breaking your nose, your teeth, being away from business for so long— Your heart skipped a beat when you lost grip on the ice, but firm hands did hold you firmly, just as promised, slowly helping you regain your balance while everything still spun around you, your chest heaving up and down.

Hayden’s face came into sight, in front of blurry lights, with concern in his eyes. “Are you alright, sweetheart?”

You nodded slowly, trying to catch your breath. You didn’t fall, nothing happened. Everything was alright. You held his hand tightly before wrapping your arms around his neck, craving his warmth, trying your best not to lose balance. “Never let me go, please,” you whispered, and he knew you meant it beyond just letting you fall on the ice.

“Of course not, sweetheart,” Hayden whispered, kissing your temple, your cheekbone, gently coaxing you to turn your face until his lips met yours again. It felt like coming home—finding home.

︶⊹︶︶·𖥸·︶︶⊹︶

#hayden christensen #x reader #x female reader #x male reader #gender neutral #sam monroe #anakin skywalker #james kelly

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hopelesslydimwitted · 4 months ago

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some fun facts from my portal reversal au with fiddlestan

fiddleford’s first gift to stan was a keychain, complete with fuzzy dice and a bottle opener

ford keeps said gift, along with all of stan’s things, for thirty years until he returns

stan’s not a very good gift giver but fiddleford doesn’t mind. he keeps all of stan’s gifts anyway

stan’s the little spoon. always

fiddleford was taller than stan for the majority of their time together. only recently has he shrunk

stan does most of the maintenance on fiddleford’s robit arm, even tho fiddleford can do it himself

ford used to wear contacts, but stopped once stan and fidds disappeared. he didn’t like looking in the mirror while wearing them

stan has saved fiddleford’s life (in various ways) a total of 60 times

fiddleford has saved stan’s life a total of 71 times (but he’s not counting)

they used to have an alien pet. it looked like a fish but could survive in the open air. they named it gilliam (RIP frilliam)

they have friends in as many dimensions as they’re banned from. fiddleford’s southern charm works even in different realms

before the portal, fiddleford tried to teach stan how to play the banjo (he wasn’t good at it)

likewise, stan tried to teach fiddleford how to box (fiddleford already knew, but let stan teach him anyway)

after weirdmaggedon, fiddleford’s second proposal included the line, “will you let me fall in love with you all over again?”

#fiddlestan #fiddlestan portal au #the aliens at their wedding are also a couple— they saved fiddleford’s life #they knew as soon as they saw stan never leaving his side as he recovered #that they’d be partners for life. so they put a cosmic google alert on their wedding so they could crash it

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ikeoji-subs · 6 months ago

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Zettai BL Ni Naru Sekai VS Zettai BL Ni Naritakunai Otoko 2024 - Episode 2 Eng Sub

VS SMELLS and VS AGE GAP RELATIONSHIPS

For downloading instructions and where to find the raw files please check our masterpost

Subs link

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Sharing with friends is fine. We’re also OK with folks sharing them in other ways as long as they aren’t public. Please use discretion when talking about the fansub outside of tumblr, but don’t hesitate to get the word out in other ways, and feel free to promote it here. Please credit ikeoji-subs whenever possible--we put a lot of time and effort into this.

Feel free to use the fansub for fandom purposes. Gif-making, meta-writing, and other fandom-related creative endeavors made using our fansub are not only welcome but encouraged.

translation notes:

about Fish Cake Man (7:28)

As we state in the subtitles, this guy’s monologue isn’t something we’re equipped to translate and if we did, it probably wouldn’t make much, if any, sense to English-speaking viewers. We learned from Snow’s Japanese friend that he's a comedian who is famous for doing this particular bit. After we had already finished most of the subtitles, I rewatched seasons 1 and 2 of the show and found that he was also in the other two seasons. In the first season, when Mob is explaining about how he's a side character and intends to keep it that way, he looks at a gardener on his university campus who is pulling weeds, illustrating that the world of BL needs to include some people who are unlikely to ever become main characters. That’s this dude. He appears again in season 2, when Mob is scouring the university for signs of Kikuchi after reading his goodbye letter. In every appearance, he's shown wearing the same sort of nondescript work clothes and cap and seems to work in some kind of maintenance or cleaning capacity at National BL University. –Towel

His name is Nou Misoo (脳みそ夫) which means brain tissue. I believe there's a pun here I'm missing but you can check our his sillyness on youtube, instagram or tiktok. –Snow

about “the gods decided to smite me” (10:24)

The first version of this line said that Mob “received divine punishment” for his Mob Move. That was already a great line! But I thought it had the potential to be a little more specific and evocative in an English-speaking context. At first, I was just trying to think of something a bit more specific to replace “received.” I thought of a few possibilities, including “I was smitten by divine punishment.” But since “smitten” is barely used anymore except to describe someone who's in love, it had the wrong connotation. Then I thought about how another tense of the same verb, “smite,” avoids those connotations and has a kind of King James Bible quality. But if I was going to say “smite,” I’d have to change the sentence from passive voice to active voice (which is generally best anyway) and give the sentence a subject who is doing the smiting.

I thought a unitary, capital-G God would make it sound a little too Biblical, possibly tipping it over into sounding overtly Christian. I knew that some religious traditions practiced in Japan, like Shintoism, included multiple gods. So I tried “the gods decided to smite me.” This seemed to balance out the Old Testament-ish aspect of “smite” a bit. The end result seemed more vivid than the earlier version, and it seemed like something Mob would say.–Towel

about “select shop” (11:30)

Observant English speakers might notice that when the guy who used the same shampoo as Mob talks about where he got it, he uses a term made up of English loan words. He says he bought it at a “serekuto shoppu" (in English, a "select shop"). While both parts of the word are borrowed from English, the term you get when you put them together isn’t commonly used in the US. I ended up replacing it with “boutique,” which gets across some of the meaning. But I’ll explain in more detail here.

It turns out that a “select shop” is a kind of smallish shop with carefully curated items that all fit a certain aesthetic. A business like this might be called a “lifestyle boutique” in America, but it’s slightly different from any business model used widely here. The big selling point of a shop like this is the fact that they’ve already vetted and coordinated these products. Their offerings are tailored for a particular niche, so that if you’re into the general idea a select shop is going for, you’re likely to be interested in a lot of what they’re selling. The items for sale will also have been hand-picked by a professional who’s able to find just the right thing in a way that a typical consumer wouldn’t be able to.

You can imagine what kind of college student would not only shop at this sort of place but declare it proudly. Even if Mob was going to fall in L with a B, this guy would be a bad fit.–Towel

about “a listless ne’er-do-well” (19:04)

The more literal translation of this part goes “a man like this, without ambitions or vitality.” It’s a nice turn of phrase, definitely, but I thought if I could localize it a bit it might evoke more of the right feeling. I thought it would be more typical in English to express this in terms of an adjective plus a noun describing the kind of person he’d appear to be, rather than saying he was without these qualities. From “without ambition” I got “ne’er-do-well” and from “without vitality” I got “listless.”–Towel

Tag list: @absolutebl @bengiyo @c1nto @come-back-serotonin @lurkingshan @my-rose-tinted-glasses @porridgefeast @sorry-bonebag @twig-tea @wen-kexing-apologist

#zettai bl #zettai bl 3 #zettai bl season 3 #zettai bl 2024 #zettai bl ni naru sekai vs zettai bl ni naritakunai otoko #a man who defies the world of bl #translation notes

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abbysimsfun · 14 days ago

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Dating Deanna Entry: Nicola Moody-McMillan for @changingplumbob

Hey everyone! I've never done anything like this before so I don't know exactly how to introduce myself. But I'm a schoolteacher in Henford-on-Bagley, the same small town where I was born and raised.

I'm currently living in my childhood home in the Bramblewood with my mother, Kim, and my younger brother, Dominic. Our relationship is pretty good even though my mom can be a bit of a problem at parties, but I'm a family-oriented sim! My mother and brother mean the world to me, and we've been especially close since my dad passed away not that long ago.

Apart from my job, which I love, I like doing Henford things - offering favours to people in need, cross-stitching, gardening, and talking to birds! I haven't really travelled much, but I'm ready to get out of my comfort zone!

I think. I really love comfort, and I've heard these bachelor shows can get a little wild. My friends said not to worry about my manicure - but honestly, I'll probably always worry about my manicure.

The big elephant in the room is my marital status - divorced. At 24! I married my high school sweetheart but she turned out to be less sweetheart, more heartless...sorry, that's a boring story! We grew apart.

Some days it feels like we divorced just yesterday. But some time has passed, I really believe in counseling, and I'm ready to try dating for, really, the first time in my life. That's kind of embarrassing to say out loud!

My friends said don't be negative. But some days can feel like the worst day ever, you know? Maybe you don't know. I don't know. I'm not always great at first impressions and I can be a little high maintenance, but I'm excited about this experience!

I can't wait to meet Deanna. Joey can flirt with me if he wants, but I'm a high maintenance lesbian who wants a family, so he'd be wasting a good line on the wrong gal! Even though I can be a pretty competitive teacher on School Sports Days, I'm really looking forward to getting to know the other contestants, too. People who don't know Hazel. Who isn't important.

More about Nicola, housekeeping, etc...

Nicola Kimberly Moody-McMillan (she/her), daughter of Henford townie Kim Goldbloom, and granddaughter of townies Ian McMillan and Derek Moody, who adopted Kim. Nicola's father was a very blond randomly-generated sim named Eddie Harmon (RIP!). She has a younger brother named Dominic.

She's grown up from a wee sprite in my Sims In Bloom legacy challenge as a best friend and then girlfriend/later wife of my Gen 2 heir's little sister (until it all fell apart).

Nicola is a cis lesbian who is exclusively attracted to women, both romantically and sexually. She is a monogamous sim, but Henford is a small town. Whether her interests include non-binary or trans women remains to be discovered, actually.

Goes By: Miss Moody-McMillan (in class), Nicola, Nic, but not Nicki Hometown: Henford-on-Bagley Traits: High Maintenance, Family Oriented, Good (originally she had one of @maplebellsmods's More Traits - Spoiled - in addition to the last two, and I figured High Maintenance was closest to that one). She had a fourth bonus trait, Childish, which I lost when I switched out Spoiled, but feel free to add it back in for the sake of keeping her canon if you have the extra slots! Fears Being Cheated On (I think this should carry over into the Gallery-saved version but I'm actually not sure...) Likes: Bowling, Gardening, Handiness, Research & Debate, Cross-Stitch, Fitness, Wellness, Physical Intimacy, Flirtation, Deep Thoughts, Compliments, Stories, Small Talk, Discussing Interests, Discussing Hobbies, and has a more upbeat, poppy, or catchy singer-songwriter driven music taste Dislikes: Dancing, Fishing, Programming, Arguments (they make her feel bad even though she can be combative), Deception Favourite Colours: Blue, Grey, Purple, White

Open to flirt/get intimate with other contestants? She's there for Deanna and to build a future with her, but she's also spreading her wings for the first time so yes.

Open to polyamory? As much as marriage sucked for Nicola the first time around, she still believes in soulmates and true love and monogamous commitment.

Open to woohoo? She would be if it feels right.

Doesn't vibe with pessimistic, argumentative, and ambitionless sims. And yes, with her traits and Henford origins she's definitely grown up to be a little fairytale princess-coded. Maybe she's a little like The Princess and the Pea, so we'll see how she does with the challenges and her high maintenance mood swings.

Now that introductions are out of the way, she and her Watcher are All In.

Download Available: On the Sims 4 Gallery under userID simcann, 'Nicola for DatingDeanna.'

cc used? The submitted version of Nicola has EA eyebrows in a shade darker than her hair colour, but normally she has TwistedCat's Lush eyebrows which are Maxis-friendly. Even though they look darker on her, they're the same shade of blonde as her hair. Most of the above photos were taken with her new eyebrows, except the portrait with her mother and brother, which shows her OG cc brows.

For anyone curious to see her dear departed dad, Eddie, here he is with Nic's mom, Kim, in their younger years, next to a shot of kid Nicola because I'm shamelessly buying affection for her:

And recently, Nicola randomly dressed for Spooky Day as The Final Girl. Just saying:

WCIFs: The picture of Kim, Nicola, and Dominic is from @simmireen's amazing Ultimate Family Portrait posepack, a perpetual favourite of mine! The classroom is just a room, but I found it on the Gallery by Jmadyson1030 - I love the aesthetic, the hamster cage, and the cushy extra seating along the walls. Felt like a classroom I'd almost want to be in myself!

#datingdeanna #sims in bloom #gen 2 #bachelor challenge #kim goldbloom

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skellymom · 11 months ago

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"Sunset Over Pabu"

Hunter X OC/Reader One Shot

Word Count: 910

Background: An "Old Love" relationship. Nostalgia. Saying Goodbye. Using planet and star interchangeably. The celestial body in this fic is a Moon, similar to our planet Mars it reflects light so the appearance is a shining star.

The inspiration for this story came from @lightspringrain artwork. Including the link to her Etsy shop and image of "Hunter's Moon"

https://www.etsy.com/listing/1556715876/star-wars-the-bad-batch-omega-or-hunter?ref=yr_purchases

There are parallels to the first time Mad met Hunter in this fic. To read how they met, here is the link:

https://www.tumblr.com/skellymom/738467105361494016/vagabonds?source=share

Warning: Sadness.

(Credit: Cool moving star dividers by @4ngelic-wh1spers )

They snuggled close on that settee just as they did the first night meeting on Ord Mantell. In between trips off world, children, weddings, funerals, holidays, and all manner of life Hunter and Mad carved out while on Pabu to watch the sunset together. Approximately 10 standard cycles of building a bonfire on the beach and cuddling up together to watch the sky turn deep shades of crimson, purple, and eventually black. Gazing at the stars as they cycled by with the seasons in the night sky.

The broken settee was resurrected by Hunter’s own hands when they first settled. He built it strong enough for two. A solid foundation so it would never break again. Mad helped weatherproof it to withstand the ocean salt. Together, they performed maintenance when needed, so it would last for many years. A continuing project and labor of love.

In addition, a firepit was constructed to hold the burning heat kept within. Hunter and Mad collected stones on their travels around the galaxy. Bringing back chunks of memories to line into a continuing never-ending circle. Occasionally family and friends would add their own additions when returning to Pabu. Wrecker kept his eye out for oddly shaped or colored rocks while fishing and would surprise them with a new addition already stacked against the ring.

Tonight, Hunter had a bit of difficulty making his way down the stone steps to the beach. Mad took his hand, providing support. His long hair and beard had gotten greyer the last few months. She joked that he was almost as silver as her. The wrinkles and laugh-lines accumulated since being together, a happy long life for a clone prominent on his face. He smiled as she fussed about him being careful not to slip.

“Taking good care of me.”

“Of course, what else would I do.”

She winked, and he chuckled.

He told Mad tonight he’d forego their usual “Spotchka under the stars” and just do “The Stars” for tonight. The alcohol was wearing heavily on his system, making for extremely tiring mornings after...even with him cutting back considerably.

In the last few months, Hunter and Mad watched a vibrant moon make its transit across the heavens. It stood out amongst the other stars. Burning a brilliant red flicker that could be easily seen even though it was millions of light years away. The bright red star reached the zenith of its orbit and total brilliance tonight per Tech’s calculations.

“There’s YOUR moon, Hunky!” Mad pointed up above.

There was a number for this moon at one point. With millions of celestial bodies orbiting the galaxy, only numbers were given to keep track of them all. That wasn't good enough for Omega though. She named it “Hunter’s Moon” rotations ago before leaving on her own journey with Echo and Crosshair.

“Shame it’s the last night we’ll see it on Pabu.” Hunter mused.

Mad sighed. “Didn’t Tech say something about it being visible somewhere else?”

“Think he mentioned another planet not far from this one...” Hunter trailed off.

“Whattsamatter Hunky?”

He looked a little guilty “Not sure I’m up to traveling much any time soon.” He also sounded tired.

“Not in any hurry. We have a sky full of stars.”

“Mhmm, that’s my Mad... always thinking ahead.”

“It’s the wanderlust. Brain never shuts off.”

“I LOVE you, Maadienne.”

Mad smiled and squeezed his hand. “I LOVE you too, Hunky.”

They both gazed up at Hunter’s Moon.

“Make a wish, Mad!” Hunter said quietly.

They were both silent for a while. Then Hunter gently rested his head against hers.

She knew he wouldn’t come out and tell her his wish, that to tell it wouldn’t come true. Mad still liked to chide Hunter and try to playfully tease it out of him. It would end in tickling, laughter, hugs, kisses...and on less tiresome nights love making. On tiresome nights they fell asleep in each other's arms on the beach.

“Okay Hunky, spill the beans.” Mad hugged Hunter tighter. He didn’t reply.

“Hunky..?”

Mad brushed Hunter’s long locks away from his face. She gazed down at him, marveling at how the bonfire illuminated his hair, tattoo, dark skin. The face of a sleeping angel. A rhyme in time back on Ord Mantell all those years ago. The younger man who decided to buy her a drink in Cyd’s Parlor. A partner that travelled with her across the galaxy, helped care for her family, whose brothers adopted them all, and a partner that never left her side.

She caressed his face lovingly, immersing herself in the scent of his skin, hair, and...

...breath...?

Hunter’s chest had stilled. An expected, but heavy weight resting against her body, a bit heavier than his usual bodily presence.

“Oh...Hunter...Hun...” Mad suddenly hitched and exhaled, tears running down her face.

She knew this day would eventually come. And as the full rotations went on, she kept wishing on a certain red star that she could have another standard day with him. Every standard day she wished to have another.

But wishes only carry you so far...and there are only so many wishes granted.

And you must accept that the universe has other plans.

To believe in having just a moment of happiness instead of none.

Mad kissed Hunter’s forehead. “Aw, Hunky...we were REAL good... Weren’t we?

The red star above Pabu twinkled in reply to Mad’s words as she hugged Hunter for the last time.

PLEASE like, comment, and/or REBLOG!

IF YOU WISH TO BE ADDED OR DROPPED FROM MY TAG LIST, PLEASE MESSAGE ME! Don't just comment as I might miss it. Thanks!!! <3

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readyforthegarden · 9 months ago

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kait my beloved! i saw your prompts earlier and then forgot to send one, but allie's just reminded me, so i came here to request "peppering small kisses all over their face to wake them" with jakey pleaseeeee 🥰

we know he's a giggler as much as he tries to be serious all the time, and the thought of quiet little morning voice giggles almost just sent me to the hospital

okay i'm back with these prompts!!!! thank you for your patience pj my love!! i hope you enjoy!!

It had been a long week, and you were so ready to be home. Your mother had decided to put your childhood home up for sale, citing the lawn care and general maintenance was becoming to much for her to do alone as she got older. Instead, she had found a nice condo, where everything would be taken care of for her. You'd flown back to your home state to help her pack and clean out the house.

Your boyfriend, Jake, had wanted to go with you, however his own schedule had been full of studio time and rehearsals before he and his brothers went back on the road in a few weeks. You made do with facetiming almost every night, or talking on the phone. You were usually fine being without him for stretches of time. You had to be, knowing your work would keep you from joining him on tour a lot, and during album cycles he'd be busy. But there was something about the emotional time you were having, packing up memories from your childhood, or setting them out for a garage sale or into a donation box. It made you crave the comfort of your partner, the reassurance that even through the changes that were happening, he was going to be steadfast.

You hadn't told him you changed your flight to an earlier one. Jake was supposed to pick you up from the airport at one-thirty in the afternoon, but your mom had been settled into her condo for a few days, and there wasn't anymore reason for you to stay. You'd opted for an uber back to your home, the sun just starting to rise as you arrived. You were thankful the uber driver got out to help you get your bag out of the trunk, it being heavier with a few extras from your home.

Rolling it up to your front door, you fished your keys out of your bag and quietly unlocked it. There was a fifty/fifty chance that either Jake was still awake putzing around the house, or he was in bed, dead to the world. You had fallen asleep on the phone with him last night, listening to him talk about at restaurant Sam had taken him to, that he was exited to take you to try. But that didn't mean Jake had fallen asleep.

The house was quiet, still dim with just the early morning sun starting to creep in. You could hear the faint hum of your fan on upstairs, meaning Jake was indeed in bed. You left your suitcase and bags at the door after locking it again and kicking off your shoes, nearly tip-toeing across the foyer and making your way upstairs. Pushing open the door to your bedroom, you were hit with the cool air in there, the fan blowing on you as it swiveled. Jake was tangled up in the bedding, his dark hair splayed across the pillow. As you stepped closer, you saw his phone clutched in his hand, a sign he also fell asleep while on the phone with you, no doubt listening to your breathing on the other end of the line to fall asleep himself.

Softly, you climbed into the bed, smiling at your love and how serene he seemed while sleeping, his mouth parted slightly. Jake's round face was always something you found so sweet, so handsome. His cheeks were the perfect place to leave kisses, other than his lips. You couldn't help yourself, you'd missed him too much. Leaning forward, you pressed a soft, gentle kiss to his cheek.

One turned into to two, and then suddenly you were raining soft kisses all over Jake's face, feeling him start to wake underneath you. As his body stretched, his chest rumbled with deep giggles, turning his face so you could get the side that had been resting on the pillow.

"Well good morning honey," he chuckled as his arms encircled you, rolling over so you were on top of him. You mumbled out a good morning reply between smooches, making sure to get every square millimeter of his face. Jake continued his laughter as you kept going. "I missed you too,"

"I'm sorry," you sat up, brushing the hair out of your face as you gazed down at him and caught your breath. "I just needed to kiss you, I missed you so bad." Jake raised a hand, sliding it under your hair and around the back of your neck, gently guiding you down for a sweet, slow kiss on the lips.

"You booked an earlier flight just to come home and shower me with affection?" he asked, a playful smirk on his lips. You shrugged with a small nod.

"And what if I did?"

"I'd say that's the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me." Jake smiled sleepily. "Now, why don't you change into your pajamas, crawl back into this bed, and cuddle with me until it's a decent hour to be awake?"

"That sounds perfect." you climbed off him, and moved to your dresser, taking off your plane clothes and changing into one of Jake's old t-shirts and a pair of your sleep shorts before crawling back into bed, snuggling up into Jake's side, catching up on some much needed sleep.

#jake kiszka #jake kiszka x reader #greta van fleet #greta van fic #greta van fluff #writing prompt blurb #jake gvf #jake kiszka fluff #jake kiszka fic #jake gvf fluff

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willowser · 1 year ago

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okay this but more.

the man staying in room 6 is kind of...odd. very handsome, dresses nice, has a great charm about him—but he comes in at terrible hours of the night, a little more ruffled than he left. and there's something so surface level about him; his penchant for standard small talk and his perfectly timed quips, almost like he's recited the same lines a dozen times and practiced them even more.

gojo satoru is the name you find on the registry.

(a series of spontaneous, not-so-thought-about decisions have left you working—and staying—in the far countryside, at an inn on a hill overlooking a meandering river. it's a far drive from town, but the views are nice and the worst guest you have is a high-maintenance woman in room 2, that would never forgive you for serving tea cold.)

(you're up late fixing her a glass of warm milk, in the tiny kitchen of your tiny lodgings, when everything goes awry.)

"got enough for one more?"

you jump at the sound of his voice, hushed and raspy as it is, before spinning from the counter to face him. it's the kind of quiet night that makes the crickets sing and footsteps thunder and you're not so sure how he managed to slip into the kitchen behind you, pull out the chair at the small dining table and plop himself down without rattling the whole inn.

—but he's there regardless. gojo satoru, looking a little worse for wear; hair shiny and down, clothes dark and clinging to his skin, as if they'd been soaking wet not long ago. it hasn't rained in days.

your heart is nearly beating out of your chest, but all you can manage to say is, "you're bleeding."

the smile that brightens his face drops, sending the little droplet of blood down his cheek. there's a small gash marring his perfectly high cheekbones, vibrant and stark against his smooth, pale face.

gojo reaches up a long finger to wipe it away, and when he pulls his hand back to assess the stain on his hands, he frowns.

"yowch," he pouts, and his eyes drop to his chest, as if he's expecting there to be more. "someone has to do something about that gang of cats living outside."

when you snort, it draws his eyes back to you and something silly warms the center of your chest; his wide gaze has always made you feel a bit young, school-age and easily flustered. you're sure he can hear the stutter of your heart and the flip of your stomach.

you gain a little bit of ground when the microwave beeps behind you. "cats, huh?" you ask, though instead of pulling out the mug, you fish a dish towel from the drawer. "that why you need the milk?"

gojo takes it quietly, when you offer it. but instead of dabbing at his face, he only stares at the little flowers patterned on the material, runs his fingers over the thread. it's an old, handmade thing, knit by the wife of the owner to the inn—but it looks small in his large hands, heartfelt in contrast to his expensive suit.

something shifts, as if you've given him more than you have, and when he raises his head to look at you, his wound seems brighter, fuller and painful. his eyes are always so big on his face, but they're—too big now, round and all-seeing, like whatever it is scares him.

"gojo?" you murmur, but his head wrenches hard over his shoulder, looking out into the small lobby, and before you can question him further, he's dashing out of his seat and crushing you into the countertop.

the edge digs into your hip painfully and you cry out against his chest as he hugs you—but the sound is lost under the deafening blow that tears the inn in two.

gojo's body is further rammed into yours, but he's all encompassing; a shield against the explosion at his back; cradling you beneath the ceiling as it comes down on the both of you.

you try to scream but inhale drywall and debris, the fabric of his damp shirt with how tight he's pressed you to him. when he groans, you feel it in your teeth, the sound lost under the incessant ringing in your ears; you think you say his name, but you can't hear.

the explosion has completely shattered your bearings, and you don't realize you've been shoved to the floor until gojo is throwing pieces of the upstairs carpet off his back and hauling you to your feet. he says—something, but you can only blink the dust from your eyes, even as he shakes your shoulders and begins to drag you along the battlefield of the kitchen.

a gaping hole has been blown into the right side of the inn, the night ready and waiting as you come to stand at the precipice. gojo is still talking, shaking you by the arm until something catches his eye: he brings a hand up to your head, lightly touches at your ear before curling a fist. blood is on his fingers—but you can't even be sure if it's his or yours.

"gojo?" you feel yourself ask again, and just the movement of your jaw has a sharp pain shooting to your head. you think you're going to be sick—even moreso when that horrific look pales his face again, has him twisting around to see a ghost you can't.

again, gojo winds his arms around your body tight, before tossing you both off the ruined edge of the inn. the grass rushes up to punch the air out of your lungs as you're flung downhill, barreling straight for the river below as a second explosion blows what remains of your quiet life apart.

#okay i could not help myself #✿ willow writes #✿ thoughts: gojo

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bridgyrose · 6 months ago

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Weiss sat down and wiped away a little sweat from her brow. “You both can go. Its still a bit too warm for me to go out right now. Just… dont be out too long, alright?”

“We’ll be back soon,” Penny answered as she followed Ruby out the door.

Weiss smiled a bit as the door shut, standing up and rushing to the kitchen. Knowing Ruby, she’d be out for a walk with Penny long enough for cookies to be baked, but she needed more than that. Today, she was ready to take a step she’d been too nervous to take before and she needed everything to be perfect.

And to start, she needed to make sure dinner was ready by the time the two came back. Or at least ready enough for Ruby to sit down and focus on something other than her next mission or weapon maintenance. And to start: a meal she could look forward to.

Weiss scrambled around the kitchen to look for Ruby’s cookbook, nearly causing a few glasses to fall out of the cupboard. Once she found it, she flipped to the page for the strawberry cookies that Ruby liked and searched for all the ingredients she needed. And while she wasnt too familiar with baking, she at least knew enough from watching Ruby that it was a science and that as long as she followed the instructions, she would be fine.

She set the oven to preheat and mixed the ingredients into two bowls, separating the dry and wet ingredients as instructed. Once she was sure she hadnt been missing anything, she mixed the two together and waited for the oven to finish preheating.

Weiss once again found herself flipping through cookbook pages, looking for anything that resembled a main course. Cookies, tarts, brownies… enough sweet recipes to fill a bakery lined each page as she continued to look through. Finally, she came across a page that was torn and crusted with some old batter along the edges.

A smile crossed her lips as she spoke to herself. “Fried fish? I think I can handle this.”

She started by getting a pot on the stove, filling it with a cup of oil and let it heat up to 425 degrees. Then, she looked through the fridge for the salmon that Ruby had come back with a few days previous, relaxing when she found it still wrapped up in newspaper from the market.

Weiss then placed it on the counter and paused when she read the next step. Filet fish. She quickly pulled out her scroll, not quite sure what the recipe wanted her to do. After watching several videos, she found a knife that looked like the fish knife the videos used. She placed a hand on the fish and slowly and carefully cut through it to try to mimic how the videos showed her how to filet a fish. Though, it didnt take long for her to lose control of the knife and cut the fish unevenly. She sighed and tried to salvage as much as she could, putting chunks of fish onto a cutting board and doing her best to make them as even as possible.

Next came the batter. She added a couple cups of flour, a teaspoon of sugar, and a pinch of salt into a bowl and mixed. Next was to add twelve ounces of beer. It took her a little longer than she cared to admit with finding the beer, almost mistaking it for soda.

Once the beer was mixed in, she took chunks of the fish and added them into the batter, making sure every piece was well covered before tossing it into the hot oil. The oven went off and she nearly dropped a piece of battered fish on the ground, not expecting the chime to be so loud. Still, she finished putting the fish into the hot oil and started to get the cookies into the oven.

As everything started to cook, Weiss flipped through the cookbook again, slowing down as she passed through a few of the recipes. It was almost like she was catching a better glimpse into the woman she loved, who Ruby was outside of huntressing. A blush crossed her cheeks at the thought of calling Ruby someone she loved. Still, this was the step that she wanted to take. And she knew that Penny felt the same about Ruby and wanted her in their relationship just as much.

She smiled as she started to smell the fish, turning them in the oil with a pair of chopsticks to make sure the fish cooked evenly. Then, she started some rice and vegetables to have along with the fish, wanting to make sure she had a full meal ready.

“We’re back,” Ruby called out as she walked back into the apartment. “And the fish smells good.”

“I hope it tastes as good as it looks,” Weiss said as she finished getting the rice cooking. “Would you like to help? Its my first time doing any of this and I’m still not quite sure what I’m doing.”

Penny smiled and pushed Ruby forward a bit. “Go on, maybe it will give you something to talk about.”

“S-sure,” Ruby said with a blush as she made her way to the kitchen. “What would you like me to do?”

“Could you keep an eye on the fish?” Weiss relaxed a bit as she checked on the cookies by opening the oven door, only to stop when she felt Ruby’s hand on hers. “I’m just checking on them.”

“Its better to check while the door’s closed. There’s a light you can turn on to see into the oven.”

Weiss blushed a bit as she felt Ruby press up against her to turn on the oven light. “You know, I could get used to this.”

“Used to this?” Ruby asked.

“You helping me cook and… being here with me.” Weiss took Ruby’s hand for a moment and smiled at her. “You’ve been close to Penny and I for a while now and… we’d like for you to be with us.”

“If you are willing to,” Penny chimed in.

Ruby slowly nodded. “I’d… I’d like it.”

Weiss blushed and gently leaned against Ruby. “Then maybe we can make this our first dinner date.”

“As long as you dont let me burn the food,” Ruby said as she started to spoon the fish out of the oil. “The fish are done.”

“Right.” Weiss turned the oven light off and started to focus on the rice and veggies, taking a few glances at Ruby. “But with you here, I’m sure everything will be perfect.”

#rwby #ruby rose #rwby ruby rose #weiss schnee #penny polendina #drabbles #frosen steel #ruby x weiss x penny

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katblu42 · 10 months ago

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Dinosaur Bandaids

I am totally blaming thanking @womble1 for inspiring this one, with one little line from her Sweetapple Slice 8 fic.

Also many thanks to @gumnut-logic for the read-through and help with the piece that was missing.

CW for mentions of blood/bleeding (nothing gory)

Virgil fumbled the opening of the box, contents spilling to the floor as he attempted to grab what he needed with just one hand. He cursed himself for his clumsiness. Again. It was clumsiness born of distraction that had necessitated the raiding of the little first aid kit to begin with.

Just a simple slip of the screwdriver and his left hand now had a nice bloody gouge in it. Not deep, and not longer than a few millimetres, but bleeding profusely, and a little painful. He had immediately wrapped a somewhat clean rag around his hand to staunch the bleeding while he fetched a bandaid to put over the wound. Next stop would be the sink to clean the area before applying the sticky plaster. If he was quick no one else would be any the wiser about his little mishap.

Of course, his hopes on that front were dashed as he bent to pick up the mess.

“Hey Virg! Watch doin’?” Gordon asked with mock innocence.

Virgil simply huffed in reply as Gordon scooped up the handful of little paper packets.

“Dinosaur bandaids, huh?” A raised eyebrow to rival one of Virgil’s own was deployed, along with a knowing grin. “Here, let me help.”

Plain beige sticking plasters were a rarity on Tracy Island.

The older residents of the villa would say it was because the Terrible Two had always demanded bright colours and fun designs on their wound dressings when they were little, and no one had ever bothered to change the habit during re-stocking purchases.

The Two in question would complain and say it was because said older residents had never admitted that the little ones were now adults.

There were some practical reasons too. A brightly coloured sticky plaster that had fallen off while performing tasks like food preparation or some types of maintenance would be more easily visible than plain beige.

If Virgil was honest with himself he’d say the real reason was because they all sometimes needed the little mood lift the bright designs provided. It was part of the magic ability bandaids had to make small injuries better.

Virgil allowed Gordon to take his hand and begin the process of cleaning and dressing the injury. Once done, Gordon gently smoothed the sticky plaster’s edges down one last time before looking up and locking eyes with his big brother.

“There you go. All better. The dinosaurs will take care of that little scratch.”

Virgil matched his little brother’s smile and thanked him with a hug before returning the box of bandaids to their rightful place.

Long gone were the days when Gordon or Alan would come running to a big brother because of some perceived injury that was completely invisible. The application of a blue bandaid covered in brightly coloured fish, or a black one with little red rockets, and a kiss to make it better was all it took to have a little brother smiling and running off to do more mischief.

Mom had done the same for the older boys when they had needed their bumps and scrapes tended. And Dad and Grandma had done their share of both patching up, and sticky plaster purchasing. There had never been boring beige ones as far back as Virgil could remember. And there had often been a variety of sizes and shapes in the medicine cabinet.

The habit had stuck so fast (not unlike the plasters themselves) that it had even affected the restocking of the Thunderbirds. Plain bandaids in a variety of sizes and skin tones were carried in every kit and medbay, but there were almost equal numbers of the patterned ones in the larger first aid kits.

Offering an injured child a choice of dinosaurs or aeroplanes was sometimes just the right kind of distraction from the fear and confusion of whatever event they had just been through. Virgil had even patched up a few beloved dolls and plushies with their own teddy bear plaster.

But, the novelty bandaids worked equally well on adults.

There had been so many occasions when Virgil had treated a rescuee with only minor cuts and scrapes, but with the tell-tale tremble and haunted expression that prompted him to offer the choice of plain or patterned. Without fail the glassy eyes would focus on the various designs, the tension in their bodies would ease and the bandaid magic would begin to take effect as they made their choice.

After all, when you’ve been through an event traumatic enough to require a Thunderbird to the rescue, doesn’t everyone deserve their very own superhero or fairy princess plaster to patch their wounds and lift their mood.

#thunderbirds fanfiction #thunderbirds are go #thunderbirds fandom #virgil tracy #gordon tracy #cw blood

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sparkarrestor · 25 days ago

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Henry The Green Engine 5: Just As Good As Gordon

Written By: SparkArrester

When Henry returned from Crewe, all the engines were happy to see their friend again. The other big engines especially liked not having to cover his work. In fact, Henry was so capable in his new shape that he was able to lessen their workload. James was especially thankful for less goods work. Gordon, however, found himself becoming jealous.

“Henry’s quite… chipper, these days.” He said to James one morning.

“Yep, that holiday at Crewe really did wonders!” James replied, “He can properly pull his own weight now, and even take a load off of engines like me!”

“Yes, well-”

“Besides,” Continued James absent-mindedly, “I heard he’s set new timings for that fish train of his. I wonder if he’ll work his way up to the express…”

“Pah! I doubt it!” Gordon harrumphed, “Little Henry’s rebuild is all well and good, but there’s still only one engine that’s big enough and strong enough for the express! And that’s me!”

Without another word, he puffed off to do just that.

“What is this?!” Exclaimed Gordon as he came up to the platform.

There was Henry, at the head of the express! He was sizzling happily as he waited for the guard. Gordon was about to tell him off when he saw the Fat Controller walking towards him.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you sooner,” He began, “But Henry shall be taking the express for the rest of the day.”

“What?! But why?!”

“Well, Henry’s fast timings on the Kipper have proved he can keep up with the express, and he deserves it after working so hard. I’ve arranged for you to cover his work for the rest of the day. Is that alright with you?”

“Yes sir…” Grunted Gordon.

Gordon took Henry’s goods trains for the rest of the day, grumbling all the while. Henry, happy to be pulling the express, took no notice.

He did notice that night, when Gordon trudged into the sheds and made his grievances known.

“You spend all winter getting pampered at Crewe, and then immediately coming back and taking the most prestigious jobs, it’s disgraceful!”

“It’s not disgraceful at all!” Countered Henry, “Today was just a trial! And it went well, in case you were wondering…”

“That’s all very impressive Henry, but it’s unnecessary. I’ll always be here to pull the express! I appreciate the effort, but it’s best you stick to your ‘Kipper’.”

“Well I don’t know about that! The Fat Controller seemed plenty impressed with me. Maybe I’ll take the express more often!”

“That,” Said Gordon, “Remains to be seen.”

And he grumpily went to sleep.

His mood didn’t improve the next morning. He simmered impatiently as his fire was lit and his tender was filled.

“I’ll show Henry that there’s only one engine for the express!” He thought to himself as he collected his train.

It was longer than usual, filled with visitors that wanted to see the beautiful beaches and lovely spring flowers. Gordon didn’t care, and ran harder than he had in a while.

“Must be on time, must be early!” He said as he rocketed down the line.

His crew tried to ease him off, but that made him even more defiant as he sped across the rails and made it to the other end of the line. He was uncoupled from his train, turned around, and refueled. He was ready to leave when his driver got out.

“Come on, Come on!” Snorted Gordon, “The express is waiting!”

“Just doing a routine inspection.” Replied the Driver.

“We can do that later!”

The driver tried to inspect Gordon, but he let off so much steam that he couldn’t see anything, and gave up in the end. Gordon felt pleased as he backed down on the express.

This continued for the rest of the day. Gordon was pleased with himself as he arrived early every time, but he was setting himself up for trouble. Most engines have only two cylinders, but Gordon had three; two on the outside and one inside. While this makes him the strongest engine on The Fat Controller’s railway, it also makes him the most sensitive to poor maintenance, especially in his inside cylinder and motion. Gordon should have known this, and let his crew inspect him, but he was so jealous of Henry that he forgot. Eventually, Gordon backed down to the last express of the day. He barreled down the line as his paint shone against the setting sun.

“Early every time!” He chortled, “That’s one in the headlamp for Henry!”

That train of thought was interrupted by a crack and a terrible grinding noise.

“Woooooooosh!” Exclaimed Gordon, “Stop! Stop!”

His crew brought the train to a halt and inspected the damage. It didn’t take long to see the problem.

“You’ve damaged your inside motion!” Scowled the Driver, “This is why we inspect before taking out a train, you silly engine!”

Gordon stared at the sleepers in shame.

He was roused from his stupor when he heard a whistle. Henry was passing by with a goods train. He was flagged down and was told of the situation. Quickly, he left his trucks at the next station and ran back to fetch Gordon.

“Don’t worry!” He said, “I might not be as fast as you, but I’ll certainly make up the time!”

Gordon was silent as Henry, with much snorting, started the train. As they got up to speed, Gordon spoke.

“My behavior was most unbecoming…” He whispered, “I feel rather low. You are a good engine for the express, Henry. You're almost as good as me…”

“Don’t mention it.” Replied Henry, knowingly.

They arrived at the big station, only 5 minutes late. The Fat Controller, who had been told of the incident, waited for them.

“I’m disappointed Gordon!” Scolded The Fat Controller, “You know how important maintenance is!”

“Yes sir…” Whimpered Gordon.

“Even so,” Continued The Fat Controller, “That middle cylinder of yours has been playing up more and more lately. Perhaps you might be in for a rebuild of your own…”

Gordon and Henry raised their eyebrows.

“Anyways, you may take Henry’s goods trains while he takes the express.” He finished.

“Oh, Thank You sir!” Smiled Henry.

Now, Henry and Gordon are good friends once again. When Gordon is tired or needs repairs, Henry is always there to assist. James complains of the competition for the express, but we all know he’d never incur Henry’s ire, lest he can back his goods trains!

#ttte #ttte fic #ttte henry #ttte gordon #ttte james #henry the green engine #Henry The Green Engine Rewrite

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genshin-impact-updates · 1 year ago

Text

"To the Stars Shining in the Depths" Version 4.1 Update Details

Dear Travelers,

Below are the details of the Version 4.1 update "To the Stars Shining in the Depths" and the update compensation.

〓Compensation Details〓

Maintenance Compensation: Primogems ×300 (60 Primogems per hour the servers are down)

Issue Fix Compensation: Primogems ×300 (please refer to the relevant compensation mail for more details)

〓Scope of Compensation〓

Maintenance Compensation: Travelers who have reached Adventure Rank 5 or above by 2023/09/27 06:00 (UTC+8).

Compensation must be claimed before the end of Version 4.1.

Issue Fix Compensation: Travelers who reach Adventure Rank 5 or above by 2023/09/27 06:00 (UTC+8).

Please log in and claim your compensation before 2023/09/30 06:00 (UTC+8).

Our developers will distribute compensation to Travelers via in-game mail within 5 hours after the update maintenance is finished. The mail will expire after 30 days, so don't forget to claim the attached compensation in time.

〓Update Schedule〓

Update maintenance begins 2023/09/27 06:00 (UTC+8) and is estimated to take 5 hours.

〓How to Update Game Client〓

PC: Close the game, open the Genshin Impact Launcher, and click Update.

iOS: Open the App Store and tap Update.

Android: Open the game and follow the directions on-screen.

PS5™ and PS4™: Highlight Genshin Impact from the Home Screen, press the OPTIONS button and select "Check for Update."

Please do not hesitate to contact Customer Service if you encounter any issues installing the new version. We will do our very best to resolve the issue.

〓Update Details〓

I. New Areas

New Areas in Fontaine Now Available

◇ In Version 4.1, the following areas in Fontaine will become available: Liffey Region and Fontaine Research Institute of Kinetic Energy Engineering Region.

※ After the Version 4.1 update, as long as Travelers have completed Archon Quest Prologue: Act III "Song of the Dragon and Freedom," a Teleport Waypoint will be automatically unlocked in the north of the Court of Fontaine Region (If you have already completed this Archon Quest, the Teleport Waypoint will be unlocked after the update). You'll also receive the Primogem reward for this Teleport Waypoint when it unlocks automatically. If you've already unlocked this Waypoint, no new Waypoints will be unlocked.

New Daily Commissions will be added in Fontaine.

◇ New Daily Commissions Unlock Criteria:

Complete World Quest "Fontaine Research Institute Chronicles"

In addition, there will be new Fishing Points and "Radiant Spincrystals" in Fontaine.

II. New Characters

"Ordainer of Inexorable Judgment" Neuvillette (Hydro) (5-Star)

◇ ???: Hydro

◇ Weapon: Catalyst

◇ The Chief Justice of Fontaine, known as the Iudex, is renowned for his unassailable impartiality.

◆ Neuvillette's Charged Attacks can be charged up. While charging, he can move and change facing, and also absorb any Sourcewater Droplets in a certain AoE. Every Droplet he absorbs will increase the charging speed and will heal Neuvillette. When the charging is complete, then a Charged Attack: Equitable Judgment will be unleashed, dealing continuous AoE Hydro DMG to all opponents in a straight-line area in front of him. If Neuvillette's HP is above 50%, he will continuously lose HP while using this attack.

◆ Elemental Skill "O Tears, I Shall Repay"

◆ Summons a Raging Waterfall that will deal AoE Hydro DMG to opponents. After hitting an opponent, this skill will generate a certain number of Sourcewater Droplets.

◆ Elemental Burst "O Tides, I Have Returned"

◆ Unleashes waves that will deal AoE Hydro DMG to opponents and will generate a certain number of Sourcewater Droplets.

"Emissary of Solitary Iniquity" Wriothesley (Cryo) (5-Star)

◇ Vision: Cryo

◇ Weapon: Catalyst

◇ Duke of the Fortress of Meropide, Lord Incognito of the murky depths.

◆ Elemental Skill "Icefang Rush"

◆ Allows Wriothesley to enter the Chilling Penalty state. This state increases Wriothesley's interruption resistance. When his HP is above 50% and his Normal Attack hits opponents, it will consume Wriothesley's HP to enhance this attack and increase its DMG.

◆ Elemental Burst "Darkgold Wolfbite"

◆ Activating his boxing gloves, Wriothesley uses Icicle Impact to cause multiple instances of AoE Cryo DMG in a frontal area.

III. New Equipment

New Weapons (Examples based on Refinement Rank 1)

Tome of the Eternal Flow (5-Star Catalyst)

HP is increased by 16%. When current HP increases or decreases, Charged Attack DMG will be increased by 14% for 4s. Max 3 stacks. This effect can be triggered once every 0.3s. When the character has 3 stacks or a third stack's duration refreshes, 8 Energy will be restored. This Energy restoration effect can be triggered once every 12s.

◆ During the event wish "Epitome Invocation," the event-exclusive 5-star weapon Tome of the Eternal Flow (Catalyst) will receive a huge drop-rate boost!

Cashflow Supervision (5-Star Catalyst)

ATK is increased by 16%. When current HP increases or decreases, Normal Attack DMG will be increased by 16% and Charged Attack DMG will be increased by 14% for 4s. Max 3 stacks. This effect can be triggered once every 0.3s. When the wielder has 3 stacks, ATK SPD will be increased by 8%.

◆ During the event wish "Epitome Invocation," the event-exclusive 5-star weapon Cashflow Supervision (Catalyst) will receive a huge drop-rate boost!

The Dockhand's Assistant (4-Star Sword)

· When the wielder is healed or heals others, they will gain a Stoic's Symbol that lasts 30s, up to a maximum of 3 Symbols. When using their Elemental Skill or Burst, all Symbols will be consumed and the Roused effect will be granted for 10s. For each Symbol consumed, gain 40 Elemental Mastery, and 2s after the effect occurs, 2 Energy per Symbol consumed will be restored for said character. The Roused effect can be triggered once every 15s, and Symbols can be gained even when the character is not on the field.

◆ During the event wish "Epitome Invocation," the event-exclusive 4-star weapon The Dockhand's Assistant (Sword) will receive a huge drop-rate boost!

Portable Power Saw (4-Star Claymore)

◆ During the event wish "Epitome Invocation," the event-exclusive 4-star weapon Portable Power Saw (Claymore) will receive a huge drop-rate boost!

Prospector's Drill (4-Star Polearm)

When the wielder is healed or heals others, they will gain a Unity's Symbol that lasts 30s, up to a maximum of 3 Symbols. When using their Elemental Skill or Burst, all Symbols will be consumed and the Struggle effect will be granted for 10s. For each Symbol consumed, gain 3% ATK and 7% All Elemental DMG Bonus. The Struggle effect can be triggered once every 15s, and Symbols can be gained even when the character is not on the field.

◆ During the event wish "Epitome Invocation," the event-exclusive 4-star weapon Prospector's Drill (Polearm) will receive a huge drop-rate boost!

Range Gauge (4-Star Bow)

◆ During the event wish "Epitome Invocation," the event-exclusive 4-star weapon Range Gauge (Bow) will receive a huge drop-rate boost!

Ballad of the Boundless Blue (4-Star Catalyst)

Within 6s after Normal or Charged Attacks hit an opponent, Normal Attack DMG will be increased by 8% and Charged Attack DMG will be increased by 6%. Max 3 stacks. This effect can be triggered once every 0.3s.

◆ Ballad of the Boundless Blue (Catalyst) and its refinement materials can be redeemed in the "Waterborne Poetry" event.

IV. New Main Story

1. New Archon Quests

Archon Quest Chapter IV: Act III "To the Stars Shining in the Depths"

◆ Quest Unlock Criteria:

• Reach Adventure Rank 40 or above

• Complete Archon Quest Chapter IV: Act II "As Light Rain Falls Without Reason"

Archon Quest Chapter IV: Act IV "Cataclysm's Quickening"

◆ Quest Unlock Criteria:

• Reach Adventure Rank 40 or above

• Complete Archon Quest Chapter IV: Act III "To the Stars Shining in the Depths"

◇ After the Version 4.1 update, Archon Quest Chapter IV: Act III "To the Stars Shining in the Depths" and Chapter IV: Act IV "Cataclysm's Quickening" will be permanently available.

2. New Story Quests

Neuvillette's Story Quest - Diluvies Chapter: Act I "The Remains of the Past Day"

Permanently available after the Version 4.1 update

◆ Quest Unlock Criteria:

• Reach Adventure Rank 40 or above

• Complete Archon Quest Chapter IV: Act IV "Cataclysm's Quickening"

Wriothesley's Story Quest - Cerberus Chapter: Act I "Reborn in the Land of Grievances"

Permanently available after 2023/10/17 18:00

◆ Quest Unlock Criteria:

• Reach Adventure Rank 40 or above

• Complete Archon Quest Chapter IV: Act IV "Cataclysm's Quickening"

3. New World Quests

New World Quests

◆ New World Quests: "Unfinished Comedy" Quest Chain, "Fontaine Research Institute Chronicles" Quest Chain, "Villains," "Both Brains and Brawn," "Treacherous Light of the Depths," "Road to the Singularity," "Our Purpose Is in Another Canal," "In Search of Lost Time," "A Letter," etc.

V. New System

New Daily Commissions System: Adventure Encounters

You can complete various encounters in your adventures to obtain Encounter Points, which can be used to collect commission rewards in place of completing Daily Commissions. You can obtain 4 commission rewards in this manner each day. Once you have obtained these 4 rewards by any means, completed your Daily Commissions or your Encounter items, you will not be able to obtain more rewards. At this time, you may go to Katheryne at the Adventurers' Guild to obtain additional Daily Commission rewards.

Your Encounter items will not affect your Daily Commissions. You can still do those Daily Commissions after you have reached the limit of obtainable rewards and advance those quests.

Encounter Points are only valid on the day they are obtained. Whenever the Daily Commissions refresh, so too will your Encounter Points reset.

◇ Methods of Obtaining Encounter Points:

1. Complete Quests: this includes Archon Quests, Story Quests, World Quests or Invitation Quests. The Encounter Points you will gain will depend on the length and type of said Quest.

2. Collection: Collect lost Oculi, Crimson Agates, Lumenspar, and Plumes of Purifying Light to obtain Encounter Points.

3. Chests: Open chests during exploration to obtain Encounter Points.

4. Events: Take part in events and complete event objectives and obtain rewards to obtain corresponding Encounter Points.

◇ Unlock Criteria (satisfy any one of the criteria below to unlock):

• Reach Adventure Rank 35 or above

• Complete Archon Quest Chapter II: Act III "Omnipresence Over Mortals"

VI. New Enemies

Millennial Pearl Seahorse

◇ A lonesome lord of seahorses that has gained the form of a fantastical beast and has surpassed almost all other Fontemer Aberrants.

The Xenomare Pearl beneath its head is a crystallization of Electro that will allow it to use more powerful elemental attacks and possess stronger defensive abilities. Other than using Elemental Reactions to destroy the Xenomare Pearl, you can also destroy the Resonant Coral Orbs it creates while guiding Fontemer Hoarthunder to deal effective DMG to said Pearl.

Located in the Liffey Region

Experimental Field Generator

◇ A large and out-of-control Fontaine Research Institute of Kinetic Energy Engineering device.

During combat, it will channel ousia energy to unleash a Gravity Reduction Field. Characters within this field can jump significantly higher. When the device is in this state, its Gravity Reduction Field will shut down if its core is annihilated by Pneuma attacks.

Located in the Fontaine Research Institute of Kinetic Energy Engineering Region

Frost Operatives and Wind Operatives

◇ Elite agents among the Fatui.

In combat, they will use the Hunt Down skill to attach a Life Bond to characters they hit. While Life Bond is active, the character will take continuous DMG, and Hunt Down will deal more DMG to them.

Deepwater Assault Mek

◇ Machines created from the union between Fontaine's intricate device and special energy technologies.

Based on whether it's imbued with ousia or pneuma energy, the machine will operate differently in battle. When either energy is annihilated upon being attacked by its opposite, an Overloaded state will be induced, causing the machine to lose energy and its combat capabilities.

VII. Other Update Details

New Recipes:

○ Hotel Debord, Fontaine: Boudin Noir aux Pommes, Tripes du Port, Consomme, Tomates Narbonnaises, and Cassoulet

○ Café Lucerne, Fontaine: Crepes Suzette

○ Wolsey (NPC): Trout Amandine, Barbeque Ribs, Coffee Bavarois, and Haggis

New Character Specialty Dishes:

○ Wriothesley's specialty: Secret Sauce BBQ Ribs

○ Neuvillette's specialty: "Consomme Purete"

New Achievement categories such as "Challenger: Series VIII," "Fontaine: Dance of the Dew-White Springs (II)," and new Achievements added to the "Wonders of the World" category.

Adds some prompts for loading screens.

New Namecards:

"Neuvillette: Surge": Reward for reaching Friendship Lv. 10 with Neuvillette

"Wriothesley: Detention": Reward for reaching Friendship Lv. 10 with Wriothesley

"Travel Notes: Falling Star": Reward obtained via the BP system

"Achievement: Perpetual": Reward for completing all achievements under "Challenger: Series VIII"

"Fontaine: Redemption": Reward for completing all achievements under "Fontaine: Dance of the Dew-White Springs (II)"

New Wildlife: Subdetection Unit

Adds Set 26 of "Paimon's Paintings" chat emojis.

Adds the "Mute When Minimized" function to the PC platform, which can be enabled in Settings > Audio. When enabled, the game will be muted when the window is minimized. Audio will be restored when you reopen the game.

Fountain of Lucine: Increase in the Level Cap of Fountain of Lucine to Level 30.

"Genius Invokation TCG" Gameplay Update:

New Character Cards: Dehya, Wanderer, and Yaoyao, and their corresponding Talent cards.

New invitation duels and guest challenges added to the Player List.

New Action Cards: Moonpiercer, Crown of Watatsumi, Yayoi Nanatsuki, Gandharva Ville, Fresh Wind of Freedom, and Pankration!

The weekly Guest Challenge gameplay will be upgraded into the Sennight Gauntlet system:

1. The Sennight Gauntlet system will unlock at Player Level 2.

2. The rewards in the original "Guest Challenge" system will be issued in the "Sennight Gauntlet" system.

3. Win Guest Challenges, matchmade Co-Op duels, or Arena of Champions matches to earn Sennight Gauntlet rewards, including Player EXP and Lucky Coins. Rewards will further increase as your Player Level increases.

4. Player EXP and Lucky Coins earned from the Sennight Gauntlet are subject to the weekly limit, and the total rewards obtained through different game modes cannot exceed the limit.

5. The Sennight Gauntlet Rewards will refresh each Monday, and the weekly rewards for the Sennight Gauntlet will be determined based on your Player Level at that time:

Player Level 1-4: Up to 2,400 Lucky Coins and 800 Player EXP

Player Level 5-6: Up to 3,600 Lucky Coins and 800 Player EXP

Player Level 7-9: Up to 4,800 Lucky Coins and 800 Player EXP

Player Level 10: Up to 6,000 Lucky Coins.

The Forge Realm's Temper is once again available. The theme of this edition is "The Forge Realm's Temper: Clever Strategems":

1. During The Forge Realm's Temper: Clever Strategems, you can select the parameters for each stage. Parameters that may be set include: stage difficulty, enemy health, and the round limit for the match.

2. After you complete the stage battle, you will gain a score and the corresponding rewards based on the highest score you got in the stage.

Spiral Abyss

Floor 11 Ley Line Disorder changed to:

• All party members receive a 60% Cryo DMG Bonus.

• All party members receive a 60% Hydro DMG Bonus.

Updated the monster lineup on Floors 11 – 12 of the Spiral Abyss.

Starting from the first time that the Lunar Phase refreshes after updating to Version 4.1, the three Lunar Phases will be as follows:

Phase I:

Cleaving Moon

When the character's HP increases or decreases, their Normal Attack and Charged Attack DMG will be increased by 16% for 6s. This effect can be triggered once every 0.5s. Max 3 stacks.

Phase II:

Converging Moon

After the character's Charged Attack hits an opponent, the character will receive a 20% Elemental or Physical DMG Bonus, corresponding to the Elemental or Physical DMG type of the Charged Attack, for 5s. This effect can be triggered once every 0.5s. Max 3 stacks. Charged Attack DMG bonuses from different Elemental types or Physical DMG are counted independently.

Phase III:

Coalescing Moon

After the active character's Normal or Charged Attack hits an opponent, that character's Normal and Charged Attack CRIT Rate is increased by 6% for 5s. This effect can be triggered once every 0.1s. Max 5 stacks. Each stack's duration is counted independently. This effect will be cleared if the character leaves the field.

〓Adjustments & Optimizations〓

● Enemies

Reduces the DMG done by Annihilation Specialist Meks when hitting a character multiple times in a row with Ousia: Ceaseless Blade attacks.

Optimizes the patrol routes of certain enemies nearby the Domain of Blessing: Molten Iron Fortress in order to prevent an issue where characters would enter combat straight away after teleporting.

Optimizes the camera performance when the Aeonblight Drake descends from mid-air and lands on the ground.

● System

Optimizes certain creation screens.

a. After crafting, forging, cooking, or creating furnishings, the selected formula will no longer be moved to the last line in the list.

b. When crafting, forging, cooking, or creating furnishings, the currently selected character will appear at the top of the list.

c. After creating furnishings, schematics for which you've run out of materials will not be refreshed immediately. The list will only be updated after you switch to another screen.

Optimizes the Adventure Rank Ascension experience:

a. Enhances the Adventure Rank Ascension prompt in the Paimon Menu. Travelers can open the "Adventure EXP and Adventure Rank" screen and redirect to the corresponding quest by tapping the prompt.

b. Adds a prompt for the Adventure Rank Ascension Quest in "Adventurer Handbook: Guide."

c. Adjusts the lineup of opponents in the Adventure Rank Ascension Domain, and shortens the overall length of the Domain.

Reduces the Adventure Rank required to unlock "Adventurer Handbook: Embattle" from 20 to 16.

Adds enhancement quests for Prototype Rancour and Favonius Warbow in "Adventurer Handbook: Embattle."

Optimizes the "Change Avatar" screen: Avatars for the characters and character outfits you've obtained will now be displayed separately in the avatar list. Travelers can choose which one they want to use (you'll need to obtain both the outfit and the corresponding character in order to unlock outfit avatars). Account avatars will no longer change automatically when Travelers switch their characters' outfits.

Optimizes the navigation location for Hilichurl Shooters in Adventurer Handbook: Enemies.

Increases the amount of certain Character and Weapon Enhancement Materials that can be exchanged each month in Stardust Exchange within the Paimon's Bargains section of the Shop.

● Audio

Due to unforeseen circumstances, in Korean, the voice of Lisa in content related to Version 4.1 will be temporarily provided by Shin Na-ri.

Changes certain words in the Japanese voice-overs for the Traveler on the Character Screen.

Optimizes the sound effect heard when the character is climbing certain materials.

Adds sound effects for certain areas and NPC dialogues in the Court of Fontaine.

● Other

Optimizes certain anti-cheat mechanisms.

Adjusts the anti-piracy watermarks on terrain vegetation in earlier versions.

When speaking to the NPC Yayoi Nanatsuki, you can now start using the Crafting Bench right away by asking "May I use the Crafting Bench here?"

〓Genius Invokation TCG Balance Adjustment〓

Adjusts the skills of the Character Card "Tartaglia": His Elemental Skill now also applies Riptide to the target character, and the Duration of the Riptide effect is now unlimited. Hydro DMG caused by Flash of Havoc has been adjusted to 5.

Adjusts the Elemental Dice cost and effect of the Talent Card "Abyssal Mayhem: Hydrospout" of the Character Card "Tartaglia": The Elemental Dice cost has been adjusted to 3 Hydro Dice. In the End Phase, 1 Piercing DMG will now be dealt to active characters affected by Riptide.

Adjusts the Elemental Dice cost and Skill DMG of the Character Card "Kamisato Ayato": The available Usages of the Takimeguri Kanka state applied by his Elemental Skill has been adjusted to 3. The Energy Cost required by his Elemental Burst has been adjusted to 2, and the Hydro DMG caused has been adjusted to 1.

Adjusts the effect of Cryo Cicins summoned by the Character Card "Cryo Cicin Mage": After the Cryo Cicin Mage takes Elemental Reaction DMG, this card loses 1 Usage.

Adjusts the Elemental Dice cost for the Talent Card "Shaken, Not Purred" of the Character Card "Diona": The Elemental Dice cost has been adjusted to 3 Cryo Dice.

Adjusts the Elemental Burst DMG of the Character Card "Xingqiu": Hydro DMG caused has been adjusted to 2.

Adjusts the Elemental Dice cost for the Support Card "NRE": The Elemental Dice cost has been adjusted to 1.

Adjusts the Elemental Dice cost for the Event Card "Teyvat Fried Egg": The Elemental Dice cost has been adjusted to 2 Dice of the same element.

An additional effect has been added for the Support Card "Dunyarzad": The first time the effect is triggered, draw 1 random Companion Support Card from your deck.

An additional effect has been added for the Support Card "Chef Mao": The first time the effect is triggered, draw 1 random Food Event Card from your deck.

An additional effect has been added for the Event Cards "Master of Weaponry" and "Blessing of the Divine Relic's Installation": After changing Weapons or Artifacts, the number of times that the effect of the corresponding Weapon or Artifact can be triggered per turn will be reset.

Adjusts the effect of the Equipment Card "Emblem of Severed Fate": This card's effect can now only be triggered once per turn.

Adjusts the effect of the Event Card "Wind and Freedom" to the following: During this turn, after one of your characters uses a Skill: Switch your next character in to be the active character.

Adds the new Arcane Legend card "Fresh Wind of Freedom," with the following effect: In this Round, when an opposing character is defeated during your Action, you can continue to act again when that Action ends.

〓Version Update Known Issue〓

In Version 4.1, there is currently an issue whereby there is a chance that characters will lose any abilities previously obtained from Xenochromatic Fontemer Aberrants after teleporting to an underwater Teleport Waypoint. This issue is scheduled to be fixed in Version 4.2.

〓Bug Fixes〓

● Quests

Fixes an issue in the Archon Quest "Soloist's Prologue" whereby the NPC Cowell would appear wrongly in a certain scene.

Fixes certain images that were displaying incorrectly in Noelle's Hangout Memory "A Conundrum Called Love."

Fixes an issue on iOS devices whereby certain audience NPC models were displaying abnormally in the Archon Quest "When All Return to the Waters."

● Enemies

Fixes an issue whereby there was a small chance that Armored Crabs and other enemies would turn back abnormally while pursuing the character in certain situations.

Fixes an issue whereby there was a small chance that the Cryo Hypostasis would be unable to enter its regenerative state.

Fixes an issue that would occur in Co-Op Mode whereby the Electro Hypostasis's Lightning Burst skill would be abnormal in certain situations.

Fixes an issue whereby characters could not attack the Electro Hypostasis in certain situations.

Fixes an issue whereby Annihilation Specialist Meks could still inflict DMG on characters with the Ousia: Slashing Pirouette attack even after being frozen or petrified.

Fixes an issue whereby during the "Dirge of Coppelia" challenge, the AoE of some of Coppelius' attacks was inconsistent with the attacks' actual special effects.

Fixes an issue which would occur in certain situations where enemies would be affected by both Hydro and Pyro at the same time, but wouldn't undergo an Elemental Reaction.

Fixes an issue whereby certain attacks of the Aeonblight Drake, Ruin Drake: Skywatch, and Suppression Specialist Mek would go through walls abnormally on Android and PS5 during Version 4.0.

Fixes an issue whereby there was a chance that Anemo Hilichurl Rogues would stay suspended in mid-air for extended periods of time after being knocked away in certain situations.

Fixes an issue which would occur when challenging the Local Legend: Hunter's Rays where, after defeating one of the Hunter's Rays, the other one couldn't be defeated in certain situations.

Fixes an issue whereby the movements of some clockwork meka would be abnormal after they were defeated in certain situations.

● Characters

Fixes an issue whereby the special effect would appear abnormally high up when holding Lynette's Elemental Skill to enter a high-speed state on the surface of water.

Fixes an issue whereby Freminet's diving helmet would not disappear as it should after the end of his Elemental Burst in certain situations.

Fixes an issue with Venti whereby, after hitting certain enemies with his Elemental Skill, the skill's special effect would display diagonally.

Fixes an issue whereby the Wanderer would react abnormally after being hit by the Hydro Abyss Mage's Mist Bubble skill in certain situations.

Fixes an issue with Lyney's Elemental Burst icon and the fireworks ignited when the Grin-Malkin Cat generated by the Elemental Burst is canceled actively or its duration ends whereby the position of its eye teardrop is indicated wrongly.

Fixes an issue whereby Lyney would abnormally gain Prop Surplus stacks without consuming any of his own HP when unleashing a Charged Attack at Charge Level 2 in certain situations.

Fixes an issue on mobile devices where the brightness of certain special effects would be abnormal when Alhaitham unleashed his Elemental Burst.

Fixes an issue on PC and PlayStation whereby there was a chance that the screen would go blurry when holding the Elemental Skill button to enter Aiming Mode with Nahida.

Fixes an issue whereby pressing the Normal Attack or Elemental Skill buttons would not unleash the corresponding abilities properly when characters were moving underwater in certain situations.

Fixes an issue whereby the shape of characters' bows would be abnormal when they were performing Aimed Shots in certain situations.

Fixes an issue whereby characters would fall slowly and experience other abnormal states in certain situations.

Fixes an issue whereby characters would start swimming abnormally while they were still on dry land in certain situations.

Fixes an issue whereby characters would walk instead of swim at the junction of air between water bodies in certain situations.

● Audio

Fixes an issue which would occur underwater whereby, when destroying multiple Pufferfruit in a row, only the first one to be destroyed would make a sound.

Fixes an issue whereby opening or closing the party setup interface would cause the music to switch abnormally in certain situations.

Fixes an issue whereby the volume of the sound effects of certain items could not be controlled by adjusting SFX Volume in Settings.

Fixes an issue whereby the sound effects for certain buttons were missing when using a controller during Genius Invokation TCG duels.

Fixes an issue whereby the voice-overs of certain characters would be abnormally triggered when characters were moving underwater in certain situations.

Fixes an issue whereby certain monologue sound effects would not play during Archon Quests.

● Genius Invokation TCG

Fixes an issue whereby when the Character Card "Fatui Cryo Cicin Mage" equipped the Talent Card "Cicin's Cold Glare" and the Cryo Cicins reached their max usage count, if the player then used the Event Card "Quick Knit," the effect of the Talent Card "Cicin's Cold Glare" would not be applied properly.

Fixes an issue whereby there was a small chance that the HP of Character Cards would overlap abnormally when watching Genius Invokation TCG duels.

Fixes an issue in Genius Invokation TCG whereby if you had 0 Elemental Dice before the Action Phase began, you would still be able to abnormally play the Event Card "Covenant of Rock" due to the Omni Element generated by the Equipment Card "Gambler's Earrings" after the Action Phase began. (Under normal conditions, "Covenant of Rock" should not have been playable as you had more than 0 Elemental Dice at this time.)

● System

Fixes an issue which would occur in certain situations whereby, when characters were moving underwater, the camera view would go through the character and cause their model to display abnormally.

Fixes an issue whereby the diving camera effect would show twice when characters went underwater in certain situations.

Fixes an issue whereby the camera would shake abnormally when the water level was rising in certain situations.

Fixes an issue in Co-Op Mode where, after using an underwater Teleport Waypoint, Xenochromatic creatures would appear as if their abilities had not yet been gained even after a teammate had already gained them.

Fixes an issue whereby jagged light would show up around the edges of Xiao's character model on the Party Setup screen.

Fixes an issue whereby there was a small chance that the Crystalfly Trap wouldn't appear after being used in certain situations.

Fixes an issue whereby Talents would wrongly show as having been leveled up to Lv. 11 in certain situations (when in fact they hadn't).

● Other

Fixes an issue whereby after entering Wolvendom, Apep's Resort, or Bayt Al-Sukr, the corresponding area name would not display properly on the game screen in certain situations.

Fixes an issue whereby characters would arrive at the wrong location when teleporting in certain situations.

Fixes an issue whereby there was a small chance that the Antoine Roger Aircraft would automatically take off again after returning to its starting point.

Fixes an issue whereby, after a character ate an apple to restore HP, skill effects that were supposed to be triggered when the character was healed would not be triggered properly.

Fixes an issue whereby the Waverider's attacks would not automatically lock onto Explosive Barrels in certain situations.

Fixes an issue whereby some enemies in the water and some characters in swimming mode were unable to take DMG from Electro-Charged Reactions in certain water bodies.

Fixes an issue whereby some gadgets would still produce leftover special effects after the character had gone underwater.

Fixes an issue whereby there was a small chance that effects such as Slowing Water from the first half of the challenge would remain into the second half when challenging the Spiral Abyss.

Fixes an issue whereby Dehya's head would display abnormally when taking photos with her in certain situations.

Fixes an issue whereby the camera would feel like it was stuck when in Aiming Mode.

Fixes an issue whereby there was a chance that the game would get stuck when characters entered a body of water by climbing into it.

Fixes an issue whereby the timer in the Spiral Abyss would be abnormal under certain circumstances.

Fixes some text errors in certain languages and optimizes text. (Note: Related in-game functions have not changed. Travelers can view the changes in different languages by going to the Paimon Menu > Settings > Language and changing the Game Language.)

Text-related fixes and optimizations in English include:

◆ Fixes some punctuation and spelling errors in the stories and skill descriptions on the profile pages of certain characters.

◆ Optimizes an issue where the lines and voice-overs were inconsistent on the profile pages of certain characters.

#genshin impact #genshin impact updates #genshin impact news #official #genshin impact 4.1 #OUR PURPOSE IS IN ANOTHER CANAL LMFAO #you know what i wish they would do? add sumeru spincrystals to the traveling teapot merchant #i want for riddles for wonders as a spincrystal so i can make everyone who visits me CRY

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