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justagalwhowrites · 4 months ago

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Take Care - A Dom!Joel Miller One Shot

Joel has a bad day at work so you give him something he can control: you.

Pairing: Dom!Joel Miller x Sub!Female Reader

Warnings: No Outbreak AU. Established relationship, husband and wife. Dom!Joel x Sub!Reader (light). Ages not really established but I picture them both late 30s/early 40s (Sarah is away at college and they are empty nesters.) Reader uses her safe word and Joel listens. Unprotected P in V sex. Oral sex, M receiving. Creampie. Sensory play. Overstimulation. Aftercare.

Length: 3.8k

A/N: I saw a TikTok about praising subs for using their safe word and decided Joel Miller would do exactly that. This is the same couple from the one shot Undone but can definitely be read independently.

Joel had had a shitty week at work.

It had been stressful for a while, a project getting more and more behind schedule because shit just kept going wrong, all shit that he had no control over. Deliveries were late, one of the apprentice guys on another team fucked up, winds were too high one day to keep working.

That day, it had all come to a head. The supplier fucked up their order, it started pouring rain at 10:30 in the morning, the contract holder decided to change the tile at the last second. He came home in a bad mood, still wet from the rain and desperate to feel like he was in control of something for a goddamn change.

You seemed to sense it when he came in, poking your head out from your home office as he stomped to the kitchen.

“Everything OK love?” You called at him.

“Shit day,” he growled, yanking the fridge open so roughly that the glass jars in the door clattered against each other. He found a beer and cracked it open and knocked back damn near half the thing in one go.

You came into the kitchen, frowning in your usual work from home uniform - yoga pants that made your ass look so fucking good and a v-neck t-shirt that seemed designed to drive him crazy - with your arms crossed over your chest, pressing your tits together like you were putting them on display.

“What’s going on?” You frowned, looking him up and down. “Talk to me.”

He quirked his jaw but did as you asked, ranting, raising his voice more than he was proud of when he was near you. But you just nodded along until he finally fell silent and took another sip of beer.

“What can I do?” You asked gently.

“I dunno,” he sighed. “Nothin’. Just need shit to work the way it’s supposed to for a minute, to actually be in control of one fucking thing so I don’t lose my goddamn mind. It’ll be fine, baby. Just gotta get through it.”

“Well,” you shrugged, stepping closer to him. “Want to be in control of me?”

He frowned a little.

“Baby…”

“I was just finishing up work for the day, anyway. I’ll be a good girl for you,” you smiled a little at him. “Do whatever you ask me to. If you want, of course.”

His heart beat a little faster. Fuck, that sounded so, so good. Having you in every way he wanted, getting to know he was taking care of you, making things go just the way they should. He longed for that control. Maybe a little too much.

“I dunno baby,” he sighed. “Might not be the best idea, I’m a little worked up right now. I don’t want to be too rough with you.”

“You won’t be,” you reached up and trailed your fingers through his hair. “And even if you are, I have my safe word. If you think it would help, I want to do it. I want to take care of you, Joel.”

He looked at you for a moment, into your soft, earnest eyes.

“Promise you won’t push yourself too far?” He asked. You nodded eagerly. “Promise you’re offering because you want this, too?”

“Yes sir,” you smiled, a little mischievously.

Joel stood up a little straighter, setting his beer on the counter and taking your chin in his hand.

“Then go to our room,” he said, voice low and gravelly. “Get undressed and get ready for me.”

“Yes sir,” you said again, slipping out of his hold and damn near skipping away.

Joel palmed himself through his jeans, his cock already aching and leaking, a sense of peace settling into him at the thought of was waiting for him just down the hall.

He downed the rest of his beer before going to find you, peeling his damp shirt off as he did. You’d done as he asked, sitting almost demurely in the middle of the bed he shared with you. You’d gotten out some of Joel’s favorite bondage gear and arranged it on the bed. He raised his eyebrows at you and you smiled proudly.

“I know what sir likes.”

He quirked his jaw, trying not to smile back.

“Yes, you do,” he said. “Such a good girl for me.”

He knew just what he wanted to do with you. He bound your wrists together over your head, attaching them to the headboard so he could have you on your back or your front before putting you in the spreader bar, opening you to him. The sight of your exposed pussy, dripping and waiting for him, made his mouth water.

But he wasn’t done with you yet.

He took out one more thing: the blindfold from your nightstand.

Joel had always loved toying with your senses, seeing how much more intense your pleasure seemed when you were tensed and waiting for it but not knowing how you’d get it. But he’d never used a blindfold with this combination before. You’d always been free to move as you wanted or restrained by his command or tied completely to the bed. He’d never tried it where he could manipulate your body like this, move you in just the way he wanted so he could use you in just the way he wanted.

You looked up at him from your position bound to the bed, your eyes a little wide as he held the blindfold.

“Remember your colors?” He asked.

“Yes sir.”

“Remind me.”

“Green, yellow, red,” you said obediently.

“Good girl,” he said. “Right now?”

“Green.”

“Good,” he said. “Gonna put this on you and I’m gonna take over. You’re going to be mine. All mine. Understand?”

“Yes,” you breathed.

“Yes what.”

“Yes sir,” you said.

“Good girl,” he said and put the blindfold on you. He took a moment to look at you like this, all spread out for him, ripe and ready for the taking. The trust you had in him to be so vulnerable, the confidence you had to offer yourself so willingly made his heart ache. Fuck, he loved you.

He unbuttoned his jeans and unzipped them slowly, as silently as he could, before freeing his cock. He stroked himself a few times, spreading his precome over his shaft as his eyes lingered on your breasts, trailing over the softness of your stomach to your bared pussy and spread thighs. Fuck, he was going to enjoy this.

He kept working his cock with one hand as he reached out with the other, watching your face as he brought his fingertips ever so lightly to your wrist, just below where you were bound to the headboard. You gasped at the contact and he trailed his fingers slowly, lightly over the silk of your skin. He continued his path over the crook of your elbow, your arm, your chest, his fingers tracing the outline of your plush breast. But he took his fingers away before he reached your nipple, watching as it pebbled and hardened in anticipation of a touch he wasn’t going to give you.

You whimpered when he stopped touching you and he smirked at that.

“So needy already?” He asked.

“I’m sorry, sir,” you said, voice tight. “I just know how good you make me feel.”

“Don’t worry,” he said. “Be my good girl and I’ll make you feel good. When I want you to feel good, I’ll make you feel good.”

He explored your body like that for a while, his fingers getting close to your most sensitive parts, always stopping just short of giving you exactly what you wanted. But you were craving it more and more, he could tell from the tension in your body as he teased you and the way your pussy was fucking weeping for him, your slick making your spread skin glisten.

“My baby need more?” He asked, standing at the foot of the bed, not touching you at all.

“Yes,” you panted, squirming as best you could in your bonds. He moved up the bed while you did, silent as he could. “Yes, yes, please sir, I…”

He took your head firmly in his grasp, making you gasp, and turned it so your mouth was facing him.

“Open,” he ordered and you obeyed so fast he laughed a little at it as he guided his thick, hard cock to your lips. He pushed inside slow at first, giving you a moment to adjust so you wouldn’t accidentally bite him in shock, but then held your head in place and thrust in quick, all the way to the back of your throat. Your gasp was quieted by his intrusion and he felt you struggle to swallow him. He held himself there, buried in the wet heat of your mouth as you worked to contain him and then started fucking into you there, watching your lips wrap around his shaft, feeling you swallow around him to take him into your throat, your tongue pressing up against the underside of his shaft just the way you knew he liked.

“There you go,” he praised, his grip on your head tightening. “Just like that, such a good girl for me.”

His free hand moved to your breast and, when he pushed himself against the back of your throat and held himself there, he took that full, soft mound in his palm, your nipple firm against him as he squeezed and held you. You groaned at that, and he almost did, too, the vibration of your vocal chords and the heat of your mouth and the plush of your tit almost too much for him.

Almost.

But he wasn’t ready to come yet, even though filling your pretty throat with his spend sounded so fucking good in that moment as you sucked him. He pulled free of you and you coughed and sputtered, a trail of spit going from your lips to the head of his cock.

“You’re too damn good at that,” he said, releasing your head and your breast, no part of him touching you anymore. “Color?”

You panted for breath but didn’t answer.

“Be a good girl,” he said. “And tell me your color.”

“G-green,” you managed, chest heaving.

“Good,” he said before moving quickly, quietly, to the other side of the bed, stopping at your waist. He jerked his cock, gathering your spit from his skin, and carefully aligned two fingers with your leaking entrance, being sure not to touch you anywhere else as he did. He watched your breathing ease, your head still turned toward where he’d just been standing. A false sense of security. But he’d control that, too. He thrust his fingers inside you, swift and hard, and your back arched and you gasped, your channel clenching tight around him. You looked around - as if you could see him, anyway - trying to figure out where he was standing. He helped you figure it out, pressing the heel of his hand into your clit while he took your nipple in his fingers, twisting and pulling just enough to make you whimper.

“So fuckin’ wet for me,” he worked himself as deep as he could reach, grinding against your clit as he scissored his fingers inside of you. “That what you like? You get off to someone else taking over this gorgeous fuckin’ body of yours, that it?”

“Yes!” You cried out. You were trying to kick your legs but couldn’t manage it with the spreader bar and Joel smirked, loving what he could do to you.

“Yes what.”

“Yes sir!” You said quickly. “Yes sir, yes sir, I love it, fuck!”

“Go ahead and come for me pretty girl,” he said. “Come for being so good for me.”

You obeyed, throbbing and fluttering over his fingers, breaths frantic.

Normally, he’d keep pushing you in an orgasm. Try to pull the strongest one from you he possibly could. Not this time.

Right at your peak, he pulled his fingers free and he watched as your tight little hole grasped at nothing, leaking and desperate. You whimpered, your fists clenching, and you fidgeted as best you could but he’d taken that outlet away. You were pent up, needy, totally reliant on him and his touch to give you what you were aching for.

Joel went to the foot of the bed and took the spreader bar in his hands, using it to flip you onto your stomach as your pussy was still fluttering and you cried out as he climbed on the bed between your open legs, grabbing your hips and pulling you into the position he wanted. He lined his cock up quickly and fucked into you hard and fast, bottoming out in your still orgasming cunt in one stroke.

“Fuck,” he panted, buried totally inside of you as you struggled to get your bearings. He ran a hand up your back, planting it firmly between your shoulder blades to push you further into the mattress before running up to the small of your back. “So fuckin’ pretty, all open for me like this.”

He started to fuck you then, moving inside you forcefully, savoring the way your body molded to his. You always took him so damn well, your channel so fucking tight and warm and soft and he knew just how to drive you higher, make you needier.

Joel reached between your spread legs and toyed with your swollen clit and you cried out as he worked you there, bringing you closer and closer to another orgasm before easing his touch, pulling you back from the brink but leaving you even tighter around him. He did it again and again, pushing you further with every motion. The whole time, he was finding new places to touch you, tease you, never giving you a hint at what he was doing next, each new sensation a surprise to build your orgasm more and more.

“Love this tight little pussy,” he panted, driving into you again and again. “Always so good for me, just made to take this cock weren’t you?”

You didn’t really respond, just giving a muffled little groan. Joel frowned, slowing his pace and relaxing his touch on your clit.

“Baby,” he said, his voice tight. “You OK?”

He looked to your hands, you fingers fumbling against themselves and he stopped moving, still inside you.

“Honey,” he said. “Need a color.”

Your voice was muffled and then he felt you move, lifting your torso just enough to turn your head.

“Red,” you panted, voice wet. “Red, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”

“Shit,” Joel said, pulling out of you gently but moving fast then. He freed your ankles quickly and delicately adjusted you so you were on your back, Your chest was heaving and your face was wet and you kept apologizing over and over. “I’m gonna take off the blindfold, close your eyes so it’s not too bright.”

You nodded quickly and he gingerly pulled the blindfold off, the fabric wet with your tears.

“Oh baby,” he said softly, freeing your wrists next and pulling you into his arms. You buried your face into his neck, trembling and crying against him. “You’re alright, it’s OK, I’ve got you.”

“I’m sorry,” you hiccuped against him. “I really tried not to safe word, I…”

“What?” He pulled away from you ever so slightly, just enough that he could see your tear-streaked face.

“I thought I could take it but it was too much but I tried and…”

“Baby,” he said gently, running his hand over you to cup the back of your head. “Don’t you dare apologize for using your safe word, you hear me?”

Your eyes searched his and you sniffled, frowning.

“But…”

“I’m so proud of you for using it baby,” he said, watching you closely. “You did so good for me. I’m so proud of you for telling me when it was too much, so proud of you for not letting me push you too far. I’m sorry I did. We have the system we do for a reason, so we can explore and push limits and enjoy each other to the fullest but it only works if you use it when you need it. I never want to push you too far, honey, never. You did so good, using your safe word. You were so good for me.”

“Yeah?” You sniffed.

“Yeah,” he said, kissing by the corner of your eye, drying your tears with his lips. “So proud of you. So happy that I can call you mine.”

You nuzzled closer to him, your breaths calmer and deeper now.

“I was supposed to be taking care of you though,” you said, almost pouting. “I was trying to give you what you needed and I screwed it up.”

“You didn’t screw up a damn thing,” he said, his lips brushing the crown of your head. “This is part of it, baby. You’re lettin’ me help you, letting me take care of you when you need it. This is something going the way it’s supposed to go - maybe not the me pushing you here part but the part where you told me it was too much? That’s us working how we’re supposed to. I needed something to work and it did. Understand?”

You nodded into him, pressing yourself closer. He held you like that for a while, rocking you gently until your breaths had calmed and you weren’t crying anymore. You adjusted in his hold, fingers tracing over him, kissing his neck. He groaned a little at that.

“I still want to take care of you, though,” you said, voice low and a little needy.

“Don’t need to do that, baby,” he said, forcing himself to not grind his aching cock against you.

“I know,” you said, pulling back from him. “But I want to. Will you let me, sir?”

He smiled a little, searching your eyes, making sure you were really in a good place.

“Alright, baby,” he said. “Take care of me.”

You smiled and nudged him onto his back and he went where you guided him, grinning a little to himself as he watched you. How’d he get so lucky, having you all to himself?

You stroked his cock, which quickly went from half-hard to fully erect, and you got this proud little look on your face as you did, as though he’d ever have a prayer of not being hard and needy for you.

“Can I ride your cock?” You asked, still stroking him. “Please sir?”

“Fuck,” he said, something about you asking permission to be on top making his heart speed up. “Yeah, baby, yes you can.”

“Thank you, sir,” you said, straddling him. You planted your hands on his chest for balance and eased yourself down onto his firm length and he groaned as he felt you make room for him inside yourself. You started slow, finding a rhythm and an angle that let you grind your clit down against his skin as you worked him before going harder, faster. His hands roamed over you, spreading over your thighs, running over your sides to your breasts, watching the place where he was disappearing into you. His climax was growing fast, already so close before the two of you had stopped before. It had been waiting just below the surface and you were expertly drawing it out of him with every stroke of your tight, wet heat. You felt just so fucking good inside, like you really had been made to take him. You made him come harder than anyone else he’d ever been with, made him more desperate and needy than anyone else ever had and, right now, you seemed bound and determined to make him fill you up.

Your breaths got faster, needier and your back arched as your pussy got even tighter on him.

“Fuck, you about to come for me?” He asked, having to clench his jaw to keep from coming himself in that moment.

“Yes,” you whined. “Yes sir, if it’s OK, I need to come, please sir, please.”

“Come for me,” he said, rocking his hips up into you and making you cry out. “Come all over my cock, baby.”

You obeyed, gasping “thank you” over and over as your channel throbbed so hard around him it almost hurt. Your hips stilled, holding him deep inside and he ground himself deeper, your orgasm triggering his own. He pulled your hips down on him, holding himself so deep inside you as he came, feeling you as close as he possibly could.

You collapsed on him as your orgasm eased, panting for breath as you nuzzled into his chest, his cock still throbbing within you. He put his arms around you, holding your soft warmth close, breathing in the smell of your hair and skin tinged with sex as he did.

“How are we doing, pretty girl?” He asked eventually, his hand tracing a slow, soothing pattern over your spine.

“I’m good,” you said, voice light and airy and completely blissed out. He chuckled a little at that and you sat up ever so slightly from him. “How are you? That is the real question.”

“Oh, I’m amazin’,” he smiled and kissed you lightly.

“Better than when you got home?” You asked, hopeful.

“So much better, baby,” he said, kissing your lips again before going to your cheek, your throat, tugging you closer again as his cock softened inside you. “Take such good care of me.”

You hummed happily and kissed his chest.

“Can I keep taking care of you?” You asked.

“You feelin’ up for that?” He frowned, his hand stilling on your lower back. “Don’t want you pushing it.”

“I know,” you said. “I had planned to cook tonight but I was thinking we can order dinner instead. Chinese? General Tso’s chicken and egg rolls and beer?”

“Sounds amazing,” he gave you a squeeze.

“Then we can watch Curtis and Viper IV,” you said, kissing his chest. “They just put it on Amazon. As long as you promise to cuddle me during, of course.”

He laughed a little.

“Good luck stopping me,” he said and you sat up from him a little, smiling down at him, making him stretch up to kiss you for a change. “Thank you, baby. Don’t know how I got so lucky with you.”

“Back at ya,” you smiled and, as the two of you went to get cleaned up, Joel knew that the rest of his week was going to be better. After all, he had you.

#fanfic #joel miller x female reader #joel miller x reader #joel miller x you #joel miller x oc #dom!joel miller

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brailsthesmolgurl · 9 months ago

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APPRENTICESHIP

Preview: Set back in the olden days of China, your attendance was much summoned by Master Li Shen, a renowned Medical Physician that is in need of an apprentice. Known for his stoic personality, your temperance was definitely tested. But, could there be an actual explanation behind his stoicity?

Warnings: This is gonna be quite of a long read for you Zayne girlies out there so pls strap in. Fluff, makes your heart giddy in a funny way. A possible new series.

P.S: I am not a doctor, hence most of the 'medication methods' mentioned in here are for the sake of the plot and is not and shall not be implied to real life practice! Futhermore, I am not a historian so I am not the best at depicting traditional China perfectly, all of the basis of my descriptions are taken off of the Chinese dramas I used to binge on. This story was also highly inspired by this amazing artwork and the most recent memory of his! He is always known as Doctor Zayne in modern days, so why not give it an inspirational twist and make him a highly honoured doctor in the older days of Chinese history! Divider is sourced from here!

READ PART 2 HERE!

"We had arrived, Miss y/n." Waking up to the jolting of the chariot and the shoutings of the driver. Her head was ringing, possibly a light comatose from the constant bumpiness of the muddy roads for the past fortnight. Rests were only necessary for food and bathroom breaks but other than that, most of the time was spent encaged within the four walls of her chariot. Occasionally, the books may be entertaining; a romance novel, a literary piece and a biography of the great physician named Li Shen. The man named in the biography shall be her soon-to-be-teacher.

Master Li Shen is in need of an acolyte and y/n was called upon to meet him due to her father's connections. The old man boasted her to be a capable physicist, mildly implying his greed to receive a reputable name for his own bloodline. Although y/n father's opinion was distasteful, but she had decided to go through with it. Anything would grant her a better life than to be at home, waiting to be married off to some man who might be thrice her age and a pervert. Marriage is not the one thought she would want at this moment, let alone a marriage that she holds no control over.

Stepping out of her chaise, covered feet coming in contact with rocky pathways and eyes welcomed the sight of the abundance of verdurous greenery. Everywhere she looked, it was aligned with bamboos and wild grasses and ferns, standing on-guard and surrounding a standalone courtyard house. The courtyard house was mostly white and brown, the body of the walls being white whilst stilts were clearly constructed from lumbars. It sat within the same aesthetic framework as its surroundings.

The driver got off of his seat at the front of the chariot and he retrieved y/n's bags from under the chariot. “The master shall await for you in the house. I will get your bags into your chambers later. It is best to bid your greetings to the master as of now.” She heeded his instructions, walking over towards the grand doors of the standing structure. Pushing upon the heavy doors, it revealed a wall with a carved symbol—a standardised design of houses back in the days. The symbol is intricately carved by hand, taking shape of a leaf cradled by a pair of hands. It is a symbol that could only be bear by the best of physicians, an indicator of intermediate medicinal herb practitioners.

To the left, the hallways extended into a total of three rooms. All of the windows aligned with paper maché as windows and doors made out of varnished bamboo wood. On the right, only a set of sliding doors were found, no paper maché to be found on the windowsills and you assumed that is where the treatment room is allocated at. The courtyard in the middle held a small pool of lotus flowers, blooming elegantly on non-rippling waters. A stone table placed next to the pond, with incense burning on a wooden bark. It explains the lingering of a smoky-jasmine scent in the air.

“Y/n right?” A young man revealed himself from behind one of the sliding doors, adorning a cotton Hanfu. His features are sharp, pinched cheeks a good mixture with his chiselled jawlines. But his body was taut, the clothes he wore hung onto his mannequin-like body structure. “I hope the ride here has not taken too much of a toll of you as I could not afford to care for you the next day.” He was just as what was described in his biography. A man that owns an ego higher than his height, with a handsome face but too cold to touch. “Your chambers are located at the end of this hallway. Be awake at dawn tomorrow.”

Y/n laid in her bed at night, listening to the choirs of nocturnal bugs outside of her window sills, the haunting howls of wolves, the ricocheting chirps of the grasshoppers, the piercing screams of the cicadas. The room she was assigned to was fairly large, with more than enough space to fit a double bed and a dining table in it. The room is not anywhere special, it looked oddly familiar to her own room at home but minus the amount of gilt paintings and ornaments. It also reeked of herbs and incense that leaves a smoky aftertaste through one's nostrils. After a short staring contest with the ceiling, her dreamland beckoned and she willingly submitted to it.

The next day, y/n got jolted awake to screams followed by gibberish that was indistinguishable. Sitting up in a hastened manner, eyes widened and hair messily sat on top of her head. Oh no, the sun is up. She pushed herself off of her bed and scrambled to make herself presentable then proceed to storm off to the treatment room where she was expected to be. Sliding open the bamboo door, and she was welcomed with the sight of a young man wincing in pain, with the master holding a thread in his hands.

"Your habit of waking up to the sun heating up your bottom is unfavourable." Master Li Shen spoke, not sparing her any eye contact as he continued his suturing on the guy's back, and her peripheral vision eyed the man biting down onto a wooden bark to muffle his screams. "Don't just stand there, make yourself useful. Get me the herb in the mortar." And she did as she was told.

A huge gash streaked on the back of the young commoner, now sutured up neatly in measured knots. It seemed like it could have been caused by a blunt force of trauma. "Here." Y/n handed the filled mortar to Master Li and he applied it onto the wounds, the patient of his hissing in response. "How did he obtained this wound?"

"Whiplash, he said it was an accident, but judging by the wet patch at the front of his pants, I assume it's intentional for the whipping, just not expected for this aftermath." Hearing that, her face heated up at the context that she was provided with. Men of lower classes clearly have lesser safety measures when it comes to fulfillment of their kinks. "Serve him a cup of tea that would suit his current conditions. He has sutures and a mild fever from the infection." Then the physician got up, his outfit emitted his elegance, long and flowy, just like his hair; a symbol of virility in this age.

Once Master Li had left the room, y/n scooted over to the tea table, looking at the array of loose tea leaves at her disposal. She took up the small tea pot, and filled it up with the chosen tea leaves before brewing it for the patient. Amidst waiting, she decided to observe the lotus flowers in the courtyard. She slid open the door and there is Master Li, sat at the stone table, with a calligraphy brush in his hand and a scroll laid out in front of him. "Master Li." Y/n mustered up the courage to approach him. "I apologise for my tardiness this morning. I did not mean to be late."

He looked up, hazy green eyes glanced at her. His hand still hovering over the scroll. "Being tardy is not professional, it is not tolerable for me. Do not repeat that mistake, do you understand y/n?" She nodded quickly and sat yourself opposite him, watching him quietly as he started producing strokes of words on the scroll. His handwriting is surprisingly neat, and fulfills the box-like characters for Chinese writing. So he is not only a good physician, but also has good handwriting. When he is done, he set the brush aside and looked up at her again, expressionless. "I will be setting into town tonight to gather some herbs. Would you like to come with?"

"Yes, I would love to. I have not been here before." She smiled at him and the man in front of her sighed contently. Getting up to retrieve his scroll and he walked towards the room the patient is in. "The tea should be brewed by now, you should serve it while its hot. After you're done with this patient, you may rest and I shall see you later during dusk."

Two hours was spent on treating the oncoming patients and Master Li Shen had asked her to tend to them as he had some other matters to care about. The patients ranged from having a mild cold to obtaining wounds from their harsh work. The only weird case of the day was surprisingly the one that she woke up to early in the morning. Throughout the treatment process she got to hear what the patients have to say, particularly this old lady with the surname Hwang. "He is a lovely young man you know? He never charges us a single penny and always prepares chrysanthemum tea for me to bring home. Even on the days I am not sick, I could come over just to have a cup of tea with him and talk."

"I see." Y/n replied with her back turned towards the lady as she was preparing the medicated powders for the lady to bring home to her granddaughter. "Does Master Li Shen talk a lot?"

"He does, but not as much as he does for listening." The old lady chuckled, her sign of age disappearing for a moment whenever she smiles. "I was telling him the other day that my granddaughter is almost at the age of maturity. I figured I could introduce them together. It would be nice to get her to marry a physician, especially one who is so good looking and kind like him."

The load of information caught y/n off guard slightly, not being able to properly process it as she did not know him well enough to be a judge of character just yet. She instead, focused on the task at hand, wrapping up the earthly toned powder in a thin piece of brown paper and wrapped it with some thin bamboo strips and turning to face the woman, placing the packed medicine onto the table and sliding it over to her. "I guess marrying your granddaughter to a physician may not be a bad idea afterall." Slender fingers tapped onto the medicine pack. "Mix this with hot water and drink it twice a day. If she does not show any signs of improvement, you may bring her back next week."

After the dismissal of the old lady, y/n walked her out towards the main entrance. Upon arriving at the main entrance, the heavy wooden doors were pushed open and her hands unconsciously held the lady's shoulders, backing her up so she would not get hit by the doors given her poor vision. "Master Li Shen." Y/n greeted the towering man that slotted into the entrance and his eyes glanced over towards y/n, and towards the old lady.

"Y/n, Madam Hwang." A curt nod was accompanied with his greeting and he turned towards the young acolyte of his again. "You may get ready, I can lead Madam Hwang back from here." He extended an arm forward for the old lady to grasp onto.

Y/n was slightly reluctant of course. He had only came back and now he has to leave the premise again just to walk the old lady home. She did wished for him to take a rest before the outing with him later in the late evening. "But Master Li Shen, you had only came back from your trip to--"

"I will be fine y/n." The end of his lips pulled up slightly, revealing a small smile of solace. For a man whom had always been content with their own loneliness, having someone who cares for such a minute detail made him felt acquainted. "I shall send Madam Hwang home and await for you in the courtyard for our outing in a bit. Come Madam Hwang, let's get you home." His tone, amiable towards the senior as he slowly walked her out of the premises. It was at this moment that got the young maiden wondering if Master Li Shen had always been such a warm fellow and he is the total opposite of what the rumours had suggested of his attitude.

The town was much bigger than what she had expected, streets lined with stalls selling various goods, foods and beverages. Lanterns lit up the street in a warm glow, a stark contrast towards the silverish-blue rays of the bright moon for the night. People of all ages flood the street like ants within a colony, busy yet lively. Y/n walked next to Master Li Shen, cautious in herr steps as she does not wish to bump into anyone and cause any trouble.

A kid was shouting something incoherent, the thick accent of his made the dialect sounded like a foreign language. "Watch out." A palm landed onto her shoulders and she was forcefully tugged aside, her other shoulder bumping into something solid and she winced at the interaction. Looking over, y/n noticed Master Li Shen was the one who has his arm around her, a glare sent towards that mischievous kid who charged right towards you earlier. But when he looks down towards the young maiden again, his glare dissipated. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, Master Li Shen, thank you for watching out for me." You bowed slightly, a common courtesy in the olden days to show one's respect to another. His arm around her shoulder dropped and she could feel the heat prickling on her cheeks. Never once, she was touched by a man other than her father. Although the touch does not mean much, it still lingered on her skin.

"You should walk in front of me," she raised an eyebrow at his suggestion. "So you may be safer in this crowd." Nodding her head, she position yourself in front of him and slowly lead him through the crowd, cheeks still burning whenever his chest would accidentally bump into hers due to the crowd flow. The man behind her however, had no issue following behind her, his vision clear given his height difference from the norm. Or so he thought. "You may turn right on the upcoming junction. That should lead us right to the--- y/n?" Looking down, y/n's figure is nowhere to be seen. "Y/n?"

The crowd was too hectic, she had underestimated the crowd flow as she weaved through individuals, totally forgetting the fact she was supposedly accompanied by a giant. Given her small stature, she managed to get past the crowds easily only to find herself lost in a small alley. The darkness loomed over the alley, swallowing everything within its path to blend it within the shadows. Y/n could make out movement from within the shrouded darkness, but it sent goosebumps down her spine. Something does not feel right.

Suddenly, a bony hand reached out from the dark and she cried out as it grabbed onto her arm. The force then started to reel her in, and she could feel her tears surfacing to her eyes, too stunned to fight back. "Let me go!" She shouted in a desperate attempt to flee, head turning towards the crowd to grab someone's attention with her voice. More hands had started to extend from the dark alley to secure her legs and the ends of her dress, ready to drag her into god-knows-what. "HELP---" Another hand slapped itself over her mouth and she was immediately voided of her attempts to free herself as she got dragged into the darkness.

How long has it been? Her eyelids lifted every once in a while, visions went from black to blurred in a few blinks. She was drifting in and out of a state of unconsciousness and her ears could only take in the sounds of someone breathing hard. Her body was jerked back and forth, feet are certainly not on solid ground. But it felt like she was floating?

When y/n managed to snap her eyes open, she shot up while inhaling a breath so sharp it jabbed her lungs. "Careful, you might hurt yourself." The voice got her snapping her head towards the side, seeing Master Li Shen seated next to her, blowing onto the tea cup in his hand. "Here, have some of it. It shall quench your thirst." He handed her the cup that he had blew onto. Sipping onto it, the warm temperature soothes her body immediately.

"What happened?" Y/n asked, placing the tea cup back onto the table and looked at him. The moonlight gleamed through the wax papers of the window sills, an unnatural soft glow coming into the room and lighting his face up just enough to for her to read his expressions, which holds a blank slate. "You just got a little bit of a concussion. Nothing much to worry about." His voice was hushed, cool-headed as always. "You shouldn't have ran off like that, the town is dangerous. Especially for newcomers like you. You're fresh meat alike to them." He then leaned forward with a piece of cloth in his hand. She was too fixated on trying to regain her memories of the happening that she had totally missed out on him wringing out the cloth.

The way she had withdrew herself out of shock halted his movements from reaching his hand out further. He figured it would be best to get her permission before he proceeds. "You have some cuts on your cheek, I am going to clean it for you." So much for asking for her permission, it's more like he is demanding for her face to be served to his treatments. It does make one wonder if he treats all of his patients like this? Demanding.

To Li Shen however, it was more of an act of service. He could care less if someone was found in the state she was in earlier. Finding y/n in the alleyway, strewn on the muddy floor like a puppet as men stood over her, ready to do whatever they had planned to do. Alleys were never known to hold people of high morality and it got Li Shen irked on what he thought they might do to someone so beautiful like y/n. Yes, Li Shen does think of her as a beauty. Hence, he went out of his way to save her. He did managed to save her in one piece, but part of his guilt still troubled him, wishing that he could have stop them from digging their dirty nails onto her skin and causing those scratches and cuts.

"I can do it myself Master Li--" She was paused when he put the wet cloth over her mouth to shush them. He was so close that she could smell the scents of the market she was in earlier. Smells of the sweet tanghulus and freshly made baos, enveloping his usual jasmine-incense musk.

"Please, call me Li Shen from now on. We are quite close in age, there is no need for so much formality." His wet cloth pressed against the cut on the right side of her cheek and she winced in return, cheeks turning the opposite direction due to the stinging pain. "Stay still, it will only hurt a little." His free hand came up, and two fingers were placed under her chin as he turned her head back to face him. His gaze was steady, not on her wound, but staring right into her soul. Those emerald orbs that held a lot of emotions in them, yet she could never seem to read through them.

The tension grew between the both of them, as the staring contest went on. For a moment, she was encaptivated by him, a man so ethereal and smart and mysterious that it makes one want to fall for him. Maybe he is not the same as what the rumours had always suggested. "Li Shen." Her mouth blurted out his name before her brain could even process the emotions and she immediately looked away to hide her embarassment.

When she broke off the eye contact, it got Li Shen to snap out of his own reverie as well. His heart was thumping against his chest when he looked at her a while ago. It was as if the night had gotten longer. She looked ethereal to him too, the shine of the moonlight highlighting her facial features; her big eyes that had always held sincerity in them, soft and plump lips that makes the best smiles and laughters, her long brunette hair that flowed down to her waist, a heart so big that if given the chance to fit everyone in it, she would. She had never changed from the last time he had last seen her.

Li Shen had never really been associated with any females for any romantic relationships. Even when he was introduced to different potential marriage partners, he had never felt the need to be in a relationship. But with y/n, he just knew that it had always been her. Even from young.

"Yes?" It had never felt so right for him to hear her say his name out loud again. But, did she remembered him? Before her last accident? Right before he had left to the city for his physician test? When he had gotten news of her drowning because she fell into a well by accident and only to be awoken to a fresh start for memory collections. Had he ever once popped up in her pretty little head?

He anticipated for her response, trying so hard to not break the ice and to ask her the question he have had the moment he saw her within the candidate pile to be his assistant. However, his anticipation diffused as soon as she answered. "I...I didn't know why I did that. I apologise." Her apology was frowned upon for the wrong reasons, but Li Shen of course, was discreet about it. "I only remembered I blacked out."

"You don't have to know what happened." Li Shen tilted her head back to its initial position and wasted no time in pressing the cloth against her cheek. She hissed this time, biting her lip to stop herself from turning her cheek again and to disrupt his aid. "But you are safe now and that should matter the most." The statement came off to be more bitter than what he had intended to. It was a long awaited sentence. But with the current context of her not even having a slither of memory of him, it hurts him to say it. "The water was mixed with some herbs, it shall promote healing within a couple of days. You had a few cuts on your legs and arms too but I had helped you to apply some medication onto it while you were unconscious just now. I will see you tomorrow morning."

The physician then got up, his height immediately taking up space within her room. She may not know him, but she could tell that he seemed bothered. His sudden change of tone and body language got her curious. Without much thought, she leaned up slightly and grabbed ahold of the ends of his outfit. He stopped in his tracks and turned to look down at her. "I will not run off again next time, Li Shen. I'm sorry for what happened today. And thank you, for saving me." Accompanied with her smile, it only got Li Shen's heart weighing more than ever. The physician only gave her a nod of acknowledgement and sees himself out of her chambers. If only he had never left her from the start, then perhaps, he could have actually saved her.

OKAY BBYGURLS, this is soooooo long overdued because of a writer's block. Lemme know in the comments if this is worth for a part 2 hmmmm :)))

READ PART 2 HERE!

#love and deepspace #love and deepspace x reader #zayne love and deepspace #lnds #fluffy #zayne x reader #zayne sfw #zayne angst #zayne lnds #zayne fluff #l&ds zayne #dr zayne #li shen #love and deepspace zayne #lads zayne

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groovyfrog420 · 1 year ago

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SV Redeemed AU

INTRODUCTION / DISCLAIMER

First things first, these designs for Shadow Milk and Pure Vanilla are FAR into the future. Quite literally end game phase of the story, the “they grow old together and live happily ever after”. There's a long way to get there, and while I will write some of my thoughts about their journey, I'm a shitty writer. There's no single thought-out plot, it's just bits and pieces of my thoughts in one place.

I don't think I'd be making a tag or naming this AU anything specific. I'm still calling it an AU because there is a bit of canon divergence, but I don’t have a start-to-finish story. (EDIT: wellp that lasted long. new name is #False-Truth AU because I like the oxymoron. I still don't think I'll do much - maybe a few short comics, which you'll be able to find under that tag on my profile)

Keep in mind that these are just my own interpretations, if you imagine these cookies acting differently, that's ok! This is just my own made-up alternate version

LONG POST UNDER THE CUT - don't say I didn't warn ya

I’ve tried to divide it into sections, so if you are looking for just smth specific / only care about one of the characters, you can skip right to it!

Prepare for the ramblings.

PURE VANILLA'S DESIGN

more relaxed now - doesn’t need to keep up perfect appearances and the image of a hero, so he can lay back a bit more. (messier, less perfectly styled hair - more like his younger years. comfier clothes.)

focusing on herbology - with less power now (why explained below) and trying to not overwork himself, he’s taken to different healing methods, as well as taking on gardening as a hobby

slightly more open eyes - (heavily elaborated on bellow)

different staff - due to being able to use his own eyes more now, as well as staying more on the low, he’d decided to retire the famous staff. Since it’s a flower, it was planted somewhere and allowed to blossom and grow freely - fitting symbolism for a new beginning, I think. The lantern light glowing blue makes it easier on his eyes.

PV STORY BITS

In this AU Shadow Milk and Pure Vanilla retire together. I think PV would still like to teach, but would focus more on the medical and practical side of things, like herbs and healing practices. (He’ll leave telling tales about the past to Shadow Milk, though he might throw in his own comments from time to time…) He mostly offers advice and shares every-day methods for protection of different kinds with those who ask, but may take on an apprentice or few to fully pass down his healing knowledge to. He uses magic sparingly now.

This way with not focusing on a variety of subjects and many, many students, he’s able to rest more and doesn’t have to split himself between multiple worries. He can focus properly and give his students more individual attention, to make sure his knowledge will be retained for the future.

Eyes

(don't jump me pls read the footnote)

I've decided to take the closed/covered eyes motif PV has in a bit more symbolic way *. I want to interpret it as PV being blind (=ignorant) to the world around him, choosing to see the world and his own actions in an idealized light, and to look away from anything that doesn't fit that idea. Light sensitivity would be very ironic yet fitting - since his own powers are very light-based, by using them to help others he’d be blindinding/hurting himself in the process...

Over time, he realizes how futile it is. Even if he turns his eyes away from the wrongdoing in the world, from his own mistakes and imperfections, they will still continue to happen. He begins to understand that he has to accept that neither he nor the world is perfect, to stop wallowing over the past and start fixing the present. To keep moving forward and keep working on himself, not hide his imperfections under literal and figurative wraps.

With the help of Shadow Milk, he begins to open his eyes more and more and accept the real truth, no matter how imperfect it is.

*I’m not sure how confirmed it was in canon that he’s blind (from what I’ve seen it was mostly implied, but still). I'm not erasing that - for the sake of this AU, I'd like to say that he has partial issues with sight (including the mentioned light sensitivity), but now he learns to accommodate them rather than ignore them and hurt himself more for the sake of others. No, he doesn't magically gain full sight now, but he's more comfortable, healthier, and more honest about the world around him with all of its imperfections.

Burnout

I believe SM and PV complete each other so perfectly because they can help each other grow in areas where the other is lacking/struggling. With PV, I’d like to focus on burnout, false ideas, and how the pressure he’s constantly under has affected him. He was very much just a normal guy before receiving his Soul Jam. Years beyond a normal cookie’s lifespan of hard work and trying to be the perfect leader, to always ensure the happiness of all his people (whether that be as king or otherwise) are bound to take a toll on anyone. Obviously he'd never admit that, always putting everyone else before his own needs, and he’d likely run himself into the grave. That's where I think Shadow Milk would be helpful - he’d make him realize how unsustainable what he’s doing really is. He wasn’t built for handling immense power for all of eternity, he’s just a single cookie and whether he likes it or not, he can’t save everyone or make every single one of his people happy... Being selfish isn’t entirely wrong, sometimes might even be necessary.

Onto the idea of false truth - Pure Vanilla has a very idealized view of a lot of things and people. He’s trying to see everyone in the best light, but he also holds a high standard for himself - that he must be the ideal, shining and caring hero and a beacon of perfection . Shadow Milk is likely to pick that image apart - probably not in the kindest way, saying that in trying to be perfectly selfless, PV is putting himself on the pedestal above everyone else while still being just a single cookie with limited capabilities. He’d likely call this image egoistical, and while PV would argue that he’s doing it for the good of others (he is helping after all, right?), Shadow Milk wouldn’t be entirely wrong - this way of thinking, that he’s the one who must take care of everyone else, is harmful for both him and the ones he’s trying to protect.

Shadow Milk would show him that truth is relative, that “pure truth” doesn’t exist, for anyone could interpret it differently. That PV isn’t (and doesn't have to be) the perfect blameless hero. That his people aren’t as good or pure as he’d like to give them credit for, but neither are they helpless.

Shadow Milk metaphorically and literally helps him open his eyes - he slowly learns to lay back, to accept the reality and “truth”, whatever it may be, and is no longer blinding and burning himself out by trying to help everyone at once. With a new mindset and outlook of the world, he can allow himself to retire, and leave a calmer, out-of-the-spotlight life.

Retirement

Ok, controversial idea, but I think the ancients will have to one day retire and pass down their SoulJams. Yes, I played Cookie Odyssey, I know how important it is to them, but hear me out. As I said above (which is shown in the game btw, but correct me if I'm wrong), they were just normal cookies before taking on the roles of the Ancient Heros. Cookies with high achievements, yes, but still. They aren’t The Beasts, baked specifically for the purpose of handling the Soul Jams, and even then, The Beasts weren’t perfect. I’m not saying they’re bound to get corrupted like their predecessors did, but I am saying that this role is bound to take a toll on them. Not even just from the perspective of power, even just handling so many responsibilities with running their kingdoms is going to be extremely draining mentally. (Physically likely too, even if they’re said to stay “always young” thanks to the Soul Jams - many stories teach that you can’t mess with nature and that nothing lasts forever...)

I don’t know who they’d pass the Soul Jams along too - whether that’d be Gingerbrave and his friends, or a new batch of heroes, that is to be decided. The point is, they have served their purpose, they have (from the perspective of this AU) defeated Dark Enchantress, and deserve to now leave the rest of their lives in peace.

SHADOW MILK'S DESIGN

“mellowed out” a bit - continues to be eccentric and dramatic, but less manic

still unsettling - most level-headed cookies upon meeting him immediately get a feeling that there's something.. off about him, even if they can't put their finger on it. (I purposefully left some of his corrupted design elements or callbacks to them, like the marking over his eye, for that reason)

vibrant, colorful, very extra in both behavior and looks, everything he does he does with drama and flourish

quiets down when out of the eyes of the public, or alone with Pure Vanilla

peacock elements - fitting for someone with such a vibrant personality. also the eye connection is perfect - if you look closely at the feather he's wearing, you might even notice a familiar symbol in its “eye”

a playful bard - (elaborated heavily bellow) - an identity allows him to enjoy his favorite activities, while also being a slight callback to his academic past

SM STORY BITS

The bard

While spending more time with Pure Vanilla, PV encouraged him to pursue his creative interests. Partly to have smth to get SM’s mind off of causing chaos, and partly because they let him indulge and express himself without causing any serious damage. Now he’s joined PV in retirement, though still not fully stepping down from the stage.

Being a bard allows Shadow Milk to indulge in everything he likes most: being the center of attention, dramatics, theatrics, mischief, a tasteful dose of lies and half-truths, but also, in a way, calling back to his past self: for while a lot of his stories are made-up tales, he can also share the history of Earthbread that he’s witnessed. Yes, he may do so through over-dramatic performances or behind caricatural characters, but every tale holds a grain of truth, does it not? Whether his audience chooses to believe him or not is their choice to make.

Referencing the fact that a big part of human history survived through word of mouth, and how storytellers play an important role in preserving it, I think it’s only fitting to make him a bard.

About visual choices

I made his redeemed design less chaotic and asymmetrical, but still vibrant and based mostly on his current color palette, rather than the one from Blueberry Academy. That's because while he may be rediscovering his interests from the past, he’s not the person he was before corruption and never will be again. Instead, he too is learning to rediscover the world in a new light, with a new identity.

Visually I’ve tried to keep some elements from his current design, if slightly toned down: a wide collar, puffy sleeves, a flowy cape. Elements of his corruption are also still there: different colored sclera (= his one eye being black), the sharp teeth. He may have settled down and calmed down slightly, but he remains as playful as ever :))

He still causes local chaos once in a while or resorts to pranking unsuspecting cookies nearby (the slight charring at the bottom of PV’s robe is a result of one of such pranks getting out of hand), and PV has accepted that he'll never be a calm, put-together cookie he once might have been. However, SM's learned to not be a danger to others for the sake of the one he cares about the most, and that's enough for the both of them.

And that's all for now! If you've managed to get this far, thank you SO much for your patience, I hope you've enjoyed my thoughts and brainworms <3

#funny how this turned into an essay on accident #shadowvanilla #pureshadow #vanilla milkshake #shadow milk #shadow milk cookie #shadow milk cookie run kingdom #shadow milk crk #pure vanilla #pure vanilla cookie #pure vanilla crk #shadow milk au #cookie run au #blorbo-time #False-Truth AU

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mostlysignssomeportents · 1 year ago

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Solar is a market for (financial) lemons

There are only four more days left in my Kickstarter for the audiobook of The Bezzle, the sequel to Red Team Blues, narrated by @wilwheaton! You can pre-order the audiobook and ebook, DRM free, as well as the hardcover, signed or unsigned. There's also bundles with Red Team Blues in ebook, audio or paperback.

Rooftop solar is the future, but it's also a scam. It didn't have to be, but America decided that the best way to roll out distributed, resilient, clean and renewable energy was to let Wall Street run the show. They turned it into a scam, and now it's in terrible trouble. which means we are in terrible trouble.

There's a (superficial) good case for turning markets loose on the problem of financing the rollout of an entirely new kind of energy provision across a large and heterogeneous nation. As capitalism's champions (and apologists) have observed since the days of Adam Smith and David Ricardo, markets harness together the work of thousands or even millions of strangers in pursuit of a common goal, without all those people having to agree on a single approach or plan of action. Merely dangle the incentive of profit before the market's teeming participants and they will align themselves towards it, like iron filings all snapping into formation towards a magnet.

But markets have a problem: they are prone to "reward hacking." This is a term from AI research: tell your AI that you want it to do something, and it will find the fastest and most efficient way of doing it, even if that method is one that actually destroys the reason you were pursuing the goal in the first place.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/security/engineering/failure-modes-in-machine-learning

For example: if you use an AI to come up with a Roomba that doesn't bang into furniture, you might tell that Roomba to avoid collisions. However, the Roomba is only designed to register collisions with its front-facing sensor. Turn the Roomba loose and it will quickly hit on the tactic of racing around the room in reverse, banging into all your furniture repeatedly, while never registering a single collision:

https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2021/04/when-ais-start-hacking.html

This is sometimes called the "alignment problem." High-speed, probabilistic systems that can't be fully predicted in advance can very quickly run off the rails. It's an idea that pre-dates AI, of course – think of the Sorcerer's Apprentice. But AI produces these perverse outcomes at scale…and so does capitalism.

Many sf writers have observed the odd phenomenon of corporate AI executives spinning bad sci-fi scenarios about their AIs inadvertently destroying the human race by spinning off in some kind of paperclip-maximizing reward-hack that reduces the whole planet to grey goo in order to make more paperclips. This idea is very implausible (to say the least), but the fact that so many corporate leaders are obsessed with autonomous systems reward-hacking their way into catastrophe tells us something about corporate executives, even if it has no predictive value for understanding the future of technology.

Both Ted Chiang and Charlie Stross have theorized that the source of these anxieties isn't AI – it's corporations. Corporations are these equilibrium-seeking complex machines that can't be programmed, only prompted. CEOs know that they don't actually run their companies, and it haunts them, because while they can decompose a company into all its constituent elements – capital, labor, procedures – they can't get this model-train set to go around the loop:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/03/09/autocomplete-worshippers/#the-real-ai-was-the-corporations-that-we-fought-along-the-way

Stross calls corporations "Slow AI," a pernicious artificial life-form that acts like a pedantic genie, always on the hunt for ways to destroy you while still strictly following your directions. Markets are an extremely reliable way to find the most awful alignment problems – but by the time they've surfaced them, they've also destroyed the thing you were hoping to improve with your market mechanism.

Which brings me back to solar, as practiced in America. In a long Time feature, Alana Semuels describes the waves of bankruptcies, revealed frauds, and even confiscation of homeowners' houses arising from a decade of financialized solar:

https://time.com/6565415/rooftop-solar-industry-collapse/

The problem starts with a pretty common finance puzzle: solar pays off big over its lifespan, saving the homeowner money and insulating them from price-shocks, emergency power outages, and other horrors. But solar requires a large upfront investment, which many homeowners can't afford to make. To resolve this, the finance industry extends credit to homeowners (lets them borrow money) and gets paid back out of the savings the homeowner realizes over the years to come.

But of course, this requires a lot of capital, and homeowners still might not see the wisdom of paying even some of the price of solar and taking on debt for a benefit they won't even realize until the whole debt is paid off. So the government moved in to tinker with the markets, injecting prompts into the slow AIs to see if it could coax the system into producing a faster solar rollout – say, one that didn't have to rely on waves of deadly power-outages during storms, heatwaves, fires, etc, to convince homeowners to get on board because they'd have experienced the pain of sitting through those disasters in the dark.

The government created subsidies – tax credits, direct cash, and mixes thereof – in the expectation that Wall Street would see all these credits and subsidies that everyday people were entitled to and go on the hunt for them. And they did! Armies of fast-talking sales-reps fanned out across America, ringing dooorbells and sticking fliers in mailboxes, and lying like hell about how your new solar roof was gonna work out for you.

These hustlers tricked old and vulnerable people into signing up for arrangements that saw them saddled with ballooning debt payments (after a honeymoon period at a super-low teaser rate), backstopped by liens on their houses, which meant that missing a payment could mean losing your home. They underprovisioned the solar that they installed, leaving homeowners with sky-high electrical bills on top of those debt payments.

If this sounds familiar, it's because it shares a lot of DNA with the subprime housing bubble, where fast-talking salesmen conned vulnerable people into taking out predatory mortgages with sky-high rates that kicked in after a honeymoon period, promising buyers that the rising value of housing would offset any losses from that high rate.

These fraudsters knew they were acquiring toxic assets, but it didn't matter, because they were bundling up those assets into "collateralized debt obligations" – exotic black-box "derivatives" that could be sold onto pension funds, retail investors, and other suckers.

This is likewise true of solar, where the tax-credits, subsidies and other income streams that these new solar installations offgassed were captured and turned into bonds that were sold into the financial markets, producing an insatiable demand for more rooftop solar installations, and that meant lots more fraud.

Which brings us to today, where homeowners across America are waking up to discover that their power bills have gone up thanks to their solar arrays, even as the giant, financialized solar firms that supplied them are teetering on the edge of bankruptcy, thanks to waves of defaults. Meanwhile, all those bonds that were created from solar installations are ticking timebombs, sitting on institutions' balance-sheets, waiting to go blooie once the defaults cross some unpredictable threshold.

Markets are very efficient at mobilizing capital for growth opportunities. America has a lot of rooftop solar. But 70% of that solar isn't owned by the homeowner – it's owned by a solar company, which is to say, "a finance company that happens to sell solar":

https://www.utilitydive.com/news/solarcity-maintains-34-residential-solar-market-share-in-1h-2015/406552/

And markets are very efficient at reward hacking. The point of any market is to multiply capital. If the only way to multiply the capital is through building solar, then you get solar. But the finance sector specializes in making the capital multiply as much as possible while doing as little as possible on the solar front. Huge chunks of those federal subsidies were gobbled up by junk-fees and other financial tricks – sometimes more than 100%.

The solar companies would be in even worse trouble, but they also tricked all their victims into signing binding arbitration waivers that deny them the power to sue and force them to have their grievances heard by fake judges who are paid by the solar companies to decide whether the solar companies have done anything wrong. You will not be surprised to learn that the arbitrators are reluctant to find against their paymasters.

I had a sense that all this was going on even before I read Semuels' excellent article. We bought a solar installation from Treeium, a highly rated, giant Southern California solar installer. We got an incredibly hard sell from them to get our solar "for free" – that is, through these financial arrangements – but I'd just sold a book and I had cash on hand and I was adamant that we were just going to pay upfront. As soon as that was clear, Treeium's ardor palpably cooled. We ended up with a grossly defective, unsafe and underpowered solar installation that has cost more than $10,000 to bring into a functional state (using another vendor). I briefly considered suing Treeium (I had insisted on striking the binding arbitration waiver from the contract) but in the end, I decided life was too short.

The thing is, solar is amazing. We love running our house on sunshine. But markets have proven – again and again – to be an unreliable and even dangerous way to improve Americans' homes and make them more resilient. After all, Americans' homes are the largest asset they are apt to own, which makes them irresistible targets for scammers:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/06/06/the-rents-too-damned-high/

That's why the subprime scammers targets Americans' homes in the 2000s, and it's why the house-stealing fraudsters who blanket the country in "We Buy Ugly Homes" are targeting them now. Same reason Willie Sutton robbed banks: "That's where the money is":

https://pluralistic.net/2023/05/11/ugly-houses-ugly-truth/

America can and should electrify and solarize. There are serious logistical challenges related to sourcing the underlying materials and deploying the labor, but those challenges are grossly overrated by people who assume the only way we can approach them is though markets, those monkey's paw curses that always find a way to snatch profitable defeat from the jaws of useful victory.

To get a sense of how the engineering challenges of electrification could be met, read McArthur fellow Saul Griffith's excellent popular engineering text Electrify:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/12/09/practical-visionary/#popular-engineering

And to really understand the transformative power of solar, don't miss Deb Chachra's How Infrastructure Works, where you'll learn that we could give every person on Earth the energy budget of a Canadian (like an American, but colder) by capturing just 0.4% of the solar rays that reach Earth's surface:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/10/17/care-work/#charismatic-megaprojects

But we won't get there with markets. All markets will do is create incentives to cheat. Think of the market for "carbon offsets," which were supposed to substitute markets for direct regulation, and which produced a fraud-riddled market for lemons that sells indulgences to our worst polluters, who go on destroying our planet and our future:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/04/14/for-sale-green-indulgences/#killer-analogy

We can address the climate emergency, but not by prompting the slow AI and hoping it doesn't figure out a way to reward-hack its way to giant profits while doing nothing. Founder and chairman of Goodleap, Hayes Barnard, is one of the 400 richest people in the world – a fortune built on scammers who tricked old people into signing away their homes for nonfunctional solar):

https://www.forbes.com/profile/hayes-barnard/?sh=40d596362b28

If governments are willing to spend billions incentivizing rooftop solar, they can simply spend billions installing rooftop solar – no Slow AI required.

Berliners: Otherland has added a second date (Jan 28 - TOMORROW!) for my book-talk after the first one sold out - book now!

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/27/here-comes-the-sun-king/#sign-here

Back the Kickstarter for the audiobook of The Bezzle here!

Image:

Future Atlas/www.futureatlas.com/blog (modified)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/87913776@N00/3996366952

CC BY 2.0

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

J Doll (modified)

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Blue_Sky_%28140451293%29.jpeg

CC BY 3.0

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en

#pluralistic #solar #financialization #energy #climate #electrification #climate emergency #bezzles #ai #reward hacking #alignment problem #carbon offsets #slow ai #subprime

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hswriting · 3 months ago

Text

Inked Souls - Part 1

[Image Alt ID: a three picture collage with a black background. The first picture is of a tattoo shop with framed pictures on the wall. A tattooing chair sits in the middle of the room. A cabinet and a music stand sit behind the chair. The second picture is of broken glass on a black backdrop. The final picture is of Harry Styles in a black t shirt and jeans. He is wearing a cross necklace. He is also holding a microphone. End Alt ID]

- - -

Masterlist Series Part 2

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2.1k words

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Joey is setting up her new room in the tattoo shop when she gets injured. Fate had placed her soulmate there when it happened and they exchange their first words, which have been marked on their wrists since they were teenagers.

Notice: I don’t fully know how tattoo shops work so I’m just guessing so please forgive me if I get something wrong. I’ve only been in a tattoo shop twice! This is also a short little introduction chapter.

I wake up to my alarm tone. I am very excited to get started. Today is the first day being an artist at the local tattoo shop called Mack’s. I’ve been an apprentice there for a while but I finally got my own room to fill with my designs and artwork. My own room to book appointments and have my own clients. I am thrilled!

I brush out and braid my red hair. The braid runs down my back. I apply some makeup to my freckled face to hide them. I’ve never been a fan of my freckles. I slip on a plain black t shirt and some ripped blue jeans. I put on a light jacket over my shirt.

I pack my bags full of the stuff I want to hang on the wall. Framed designs, binders full of more stuff to tape to the wall, and my tattooing supplies.

As I pack the bags, I glance at the soul mark on my wrist. It reads “Are you okay, love?” I’ve always wondered what’s going to happen for someone to ask me this. Do I get hurt? Do they catch me crying? What is going to happen? I’m 24 years old and I’ve had my soul mark since I was 14. It’s been a long time waiting and wondering. Of course people have asked me if I was okay before, but I’ve never been called love. I’ve also know from friends that when your soulmate says those words, your soul mark changed colors. They say that tingles but I wouldn’t know. Not yet.

I get anxious at the thought of meeting my soul mate. Most people’s first meeting goes really well and they kick it off quickly. They begin to date and start their lives together right away. There are some cases where people don’t click as quickly. They don’t fully understand why, but they don’t immediately get together. It depends from case to case on what that reasoning is, but it’s not very often. It depends on how you meet someone I guess. I hope mine goes quickly. I’ve waited for what feels like forever.

The drive to work takes forever with this traffic, but I eventually make it after 5 chapters of my audiobook.

I get to work and Mack is already there, looking at his appointment book. I place mine beside of his. His is black and mine is a dark purple. His is full and mine is empty.

“Ready for the big day?” He asks.

“You have no idea.” I tell him with a smile. “I’ve got everything I need to put up. I might need some help hanging up some of the frames since you’re taller.”

“No problem. I’ve got some time before my first appointment.” He says and we head into my room. A tattoo chair is sitting in the center. A small desk with a rolling stool underneath of it sits in the corner. A cabinet of basic supplies is beside of the desk. I set my bags down on the floor and take out my bluetooth speaker.

“Do you mind?” I ask, pointing to the speaker.

“Not at all.” He says. I turn on some music and get to decorating. We begin to jam out as I begin to unpack the binder as Mack hangs up some of the frames. Mack picks up my large mermaid arm sleeve piece.

“How long did it take you to draw this one?” Mack asks.

“It took hours!” I tell him. “I drew it and erased it just to do it again and again. It took forever to get it the way I wanted it to look. Some of these pieces didn’t take me long at all to do because i knew exactly what I wanted, but the mermaid idea was very vague.”

“It looks amazing though. You should be really proud. Know anyone who wants to get it yet?"

"No, but hopefully I can get some clients to come in and view my work." I say to him. He gives me some tips on what to do to get more clients. We have a Facebook page I can start uploading to put my designs out for people to see. I can post status updates to let people know when I have walk in time. I can make my own page if I’d like but for now I won’t.

I am nowhere near done when the bell rings on the door to let us know someone has walked in. Mack finishes hanging up a frame and goes out to meet them. I pick up a frame that I know will be low enough for me to hang up. I grab a nail and hammer.

“I thought you were my appointment. It’s good to see you Harry.” I hear Mack say. Why don’t you come on back? I’m helping hang stuff up.” I hear him say. I am putting the frame up when it slips from my hand and shatters on the floor. Mack and his friend Harry appear in the door way talking about making an appointment.

“I wanted to get something small on my other wrist. I’m not sure what I want yet but I know I want something.” I hear Harry’s thick accent.

“Unfortunately I am booked out for a few weeks, but if you want something soon I highly recommend Joey’s work. She just finished her apprenticeship but she’s amazing. I think you should talk to her about it.” Mack says to Harry as they walk to my doorway. I scramble to pick up the glass when I accidentally slice my hand. Mack hurries to get the first aid kit.

“Are you okay, love?” Harry says to me while walking me over to the sink. He turns on the warm water and puts my hand in.

“That really burns!” I tell him and he looks at me with wide eyes. I wash the cut quickly and Mack opens the first aid kit. He helps me patch up my hand as Harry silently stares. He holds his wrist in his hand, fidgeting.

I look down to see my soul mark changing colors until it finally settles on red. The realization dawns on me. I was so caught up in being hurt I didn’t even notice what he said to me. “Are you okay, love?”

“Oh my god.” I say. I look at Harry. He looks back at me. “It’s you!” I tell him excitedly as Mack finishes applying the bandages and putting a wrap around my hand. I feel my heart swell and everything that I’ve read about just makes sense. I want to jump into his arms. I want to hug him so tight. I’ve waited for this for so long and now it’s finally my turn. It’s this beautiful stranger that I’ve never even seen before. He just happened to stop by on my first day.

“What’s up?” Mack asks curiously.

“Looks like we are soulmates.” Harry answers almost too quiet to hear. Mack gives Harry a knowing look. They must be closer than just artist and client. Mack knows something that I don’t. They are friends. I will have to ask him about it.

“Well that’s great. I wasn’t expecting my best friend and my coworker to be soulmates. That’s pretty awesome.” Mack says, trying to get Harry to smile, but he is riddled with anxiety. “You’re going to do your soulmate’s tattoo if he books an appointment.” Mack directs the last part to me.

“I don’t even know what I want yet. It’s going to take some time to figure out. I think I’m going to go home and think on it.” Harry says. “I’ll text you later Mack.” He says as he walks out of the door. I feel my heart sink.

“Did I do something wrong to make him run away like that?” I ask, disappointment clear in my voice. Mack sighs.

“No. It’s not you. I don’t want to tell you all of the dirty details, because frankly you and Harry need to have this conversation, but there’s a reason behind it and it’s not you.”

“Come on Mack, tell me something. I feel so terrible.” I practically begging him for an answer as he grabs another nail, not letting me hang pictures anymore. Mack sighs again.

“Harry was in a hard circumstance as a child. I’m not going to tell you that because that’s Harry’s business, but it affected how he views the whole soulmates thing. He’s really anxious. This is really a conversation you need to have with him.

“I have no way to get ahold of him.”

“I’ll text him and ask him to come back. That’s the best I can do.” He tells me. I feel defeated. I thought the day I met my soulmate would be a happy day. I’ve found my life partner. He is skeptical and anxious. I understand the anxiety but I can’t understand not believing in soulmates.

Our first words are literally inked into our skin. Of course there is always the ability to tattoo over them, but you can’t get rid of them. You can’t control how it happens. It’s an inevitable part of our lives. He can’t avoid me. Fate will draw us back together over and over again until it works. It has to.

Mack finally hangs up the rest of the frames, just in time for his first appointment. He said it’s just a small piece. It shouldn’t take more than an hour. I finish hanging up the loose papers. I look around the room at all of my hard work and can’t help but feel proud. It’s my whole life of tattoos and designs all in one place. It just sucks that Harry isn’t here to see it. He could have picked one out for his wrist. He could have requested a design if he didn’t like any of the ones on the wall. The world of possibilities if he hadn’t of walked out of the door.

An idea pops into my head after the small pity party I throw myself. Mack did mention about putting my designs on the business Facebook page. Since I have no appointments and am taking walk ins today, I take my phone and take photos of all of my designs. I go to the check in desk and log on to the computer. I upload them and post them quickly online.

I go back to my room and wait. Mack finishes his appointment and comes out of his booth. He gives them aftercare instructions and they leave with their new tattoo wrapped up on their arm.

I keep myself busy with drawing until a few walk ins come in. A group of girls all wanting their septum pierced. I did that and went back to it. A few hours have passed when Mack walks in my room.

“Hey.” He says after he pecks on the doorframe.

“Hey.” I say softly, focusing on my work.

“Doing alright?” He asks me.

“As alright as I can be I guess.” I tell him. He looks at me with sorry eyes. “Have you heard from him?”

“No. Sorry.” He says. “I’ll let you know if I do.”

“Thank you.” I tell him.

“What are you working on now?” He looks over my shoulder to see my work.

“I was thinking about a forest sleeve or something. I’m just trying some ideas but nothing is working quite right.”

“Do you want help or do you want to figure it out?”

“I want to figure it out to keep me busy, but you’re welcome to stay and keep my company if you’d like.” I suggest to him. He grabs a chair from the waiting area and brings it in. He sits down near my desk where I’m working.

We make small talk for the rest of the evening until it’s time to close.

I take the drive home slow. I know Harry and I just met today, but how can he already have his mind made up? Does he not feel the pull to me that I have for him?

I turn the radio up as loud as I can stand it. I scream until my throat is raw to the songs that know exactly how I’m feeling.

I finally arrive home and go to bed.

The next few days are like this. I take walk ins, make appointments, and work on some sketching. It’s the same day on repeat for a whole week. My days off were just spent sketching as well.

I come back to work and I walk through the door. Mack immediately greets me before I even get to my appointment book.

“You have a visitor in your room.” He tells me. My heart leaps at the possibility of it being Harry. Maybe he has changed his mind. I rush over to my door and open it. When the door opens enough, I can’t help but to have a smile on my face.

It’s Harry. He is sitting on the chair in the middle of the room.

- - -

Masterlist Series Part 2

#harry styles #harry styles fanfiction #hswriting #inked souls #is

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flowerakatsuka · 10 months ago

Note

Do you have a fave hesokuri au or skit au and have you kuroba’d them 👀

HI EVAN, THANK YOU SM FOR THE ASK!!! 😊✨

and yes, i do!! a few actually, heh. i've talked a little bit about the youkai & denki mystery aus i have for kuroba before and i really love those, but i think my favorite might actually be their royalty / prince au. which i haven't really talked about before so uh. i hope you don't mind, but i'm gonna use this as a excuse to ramble about it.

i'll put my infodumping under a cut bc it might get long, but here's their designs for the au. 🤭

SO. kuroba comes from a commoner household, but because their grandfather was the royal gardener to the matsuno family and they acted as his apprentice, they've basically lived their entire life on the castle grounds in spite of their status. they've gotten to meet and come to befriend quite a few people of a higher social status than them, the most notable being the 2nd prince of the matsuno royal family, karamatsu.

they first met as children, when karamatsu ran away from his caretakers to hide in the gardens and cry by himself. kuroba had been helping with cleaning up the rose beds that day and stumbled upon him. they've always been the meddling type and can't leave others alone when they're upset so they sat with him and tried to comfort him to the best of their ability, ( even if it was just providing him company and a hand to squeeze while he cried. ) after that, karamatsu became very curious about kuroba and would often visit the gardens in the hopes of spending time with them. the two became very close over time, with him following them around the gardens as they worked and running to them whenever he needed a shoulder to cry on ( which they were always happy to provide. )

they're still very close as adults despite some things changing, like karamatsu adopting a more flashy personality to stand out more amongst his brothers and kuroba taking over their grandfather's role as royal gardener. a lot of the things stayed the same, though.

however, their close friendship starts posing some issues within the royal counsel. one of the princes having such an intimate relationship ( and obvious infatuation ) with a commoner is unsightly in the eyes of the nobility and could make them question the integrity & stability of the crown. so iyami, ( who's a sketchy noble adviser to king matsuzou, ) proposes that karamatsu be engaged to duchess dobusu to help quell the rumors going around about kuroba and him. matsuzou agrees and even though he tries to protest it, kara eventually agrees to go along with it for the sake of his family and kuroba.

when karamatsu tells them the news, kuroba takes it pretty well and congratulates him with a smile... or at least, that's the reaction he gets out of them. in reality, they're fucking devastated because they've been harboring feelings for him for years at that point. they already accepted the fact that they could never be together, but that doesn't make the reality of the situation hurt any less. still, they want to support karamatsu and be happy for them so they're taking the truth about their feelings for him to the grave. ( that's what they planned on doing, at least. )

they slowly drift apart after that ; karamatsu's visits to the gardens become less frequent, kuroba stops personally delivering fresh arrangments to karamatsu's quarters, they barely even greet each other when crossing paths. it doesn't help that iyami got into kuroba's ear, warning them that they should keep their distance from kara to preserve his reputation and not lose their job — which they really can't afford as the main breadwinner for their family. neither of them are happy with how things have changed, but there's not much they can do about it.

as karamatsu and dobusu's engagement party draws closer and kuroba has to help with the decorations, their discontent really bubbles to the surface. one of their noble friends, ( i haven't decided who yet lol, ) finds them crying and tries to comfort them, eventually convincing them to sneak into the party and dance with kara so they at least have one unforgettable memory of him to hold onto. with their help, they manage to do it with their identity hidden behind a mask.

things seem to go off without a hitch ; they'll be able to have to moment with karamatsu all for themself and basically no one will be the wiser. that is until they slip up and speak while dancing with him. they start to leave when he almost says their name, but he stops them and gives them the pine-shaped brooch he was wearing before letting them slip away. to make matters worse, iyami sees this all go down.

the events after that are a lot less plotted out, but i imagine some standard historical fantasy romance webtoon bullshit going down. like karamatsu trying to confront kuroba about that night, but them telling him to stop and leave them be. it's be some wild melodrama, which i do kinda live for.

the climax would probably be iyami staging some villainess-esque condemnation event to expose kuroba for sneaking into the party and get them kicked out of the castle. but queen matsuyo and some of the nobles kuroba had befriended come to their rescue. basically, they argue that if there's someone who's willing to be with karamatsu's annoying ass, then why would you force him onto someone else? none of the other nobles want him, please let kuroba have him so they don't have to deal with him. this includes dobusu, who agrees to give the royal family her duchy's support if they break off her engagement with karamatsu and let kuroba take him off her hands. so after getting matsuzou's approval, they live happily ever after theeeeeee end. there's probably other factors that could play into them getting together at the end, but yeah.

anyways thank you for coming to my rambling, i am so sorry it got this long. this is one of the aus i've thought about A LOT so i ended up having a lot to say. 😭

#TY AGAIN FOR THE ASK!!! sorry i would've replied faster but i wanted to add drawings...#this au also had me thinking about kuroba interacting w/ erina in her villainess au.....#i can imagine kuroba telling erina that talking to her is so easy it's like chatting with another commoner rather than a noble #and she just goes *uncanny mr. incredible face*#there's a few other hesokuri aus i've thought a lot about #like a yakuza wolf au & magic school / magic au #there's also some non-canon aus like a high school sweethearts one that's been rattling around in my head...#all i've been thinking about for the past month has been kuroba & kurokara so uh. i've gotten a lot of ideas.#it's super late when i posting this so i need to head to bed but yEAH #osmt #osomatsu-san oc #yumematsu #karamatsu #mj ocs #oc : kuroba #ship : kurokara #au : royalty #mj draws #asks #mj rambles

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ladykailitha · 2 years ago

Text

Royal Pain Part 9

Hello! Thank you so much for the out pouring of support last time. I love that everyone loved the tattoo idea. If you want to see a basic idea of what it would look like, check the reblogs of part 8 (though if I had the energy I would throw into an editing program I’d skinny up the sword a bit and make the wings wider).

We meet the candidates for the apprenticeship and we learn the history of Jeff’s tattoo (warning for racism and bad cops) and Eddie’s reason for the wings.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8

Steve walked back to the front the little paper in his shaking hands.

“I’ve already had a couple people this morning asking about the apprentice gig,” Robin told him. “When should I have them come in?”

Steve rubbed him bottom lip thoughtfully. “I don’t have to go to Dustin’s until 5pm on Sunday, so have them all come at 10am then.”

Robin nodded. “He choose a design then?” she asked, nodded to the paper in his hand.

Steve nodded back his lips pressed together as he handed it to her to scan.

She looked down at it in shock. “He picked this one?”

Steve nodded again, unsure if he could trust himself to speak.

“This is going to take a long time and a lot of money,” Robin whispered. “He’s aware of that, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Steve croaked. “He knows. He was very insistent and is able to pay for it. All of it.”

Robin nodded. “Then let’s get this bad boy printed for him then.”

She printed it into three pieces. One for each wing and one for the sword.

When he came back into the room, Eddie was laying on his chest with his shirt off. Steve licked his lips as his eyes trailed down the plains of Eddie’s back to where it dipped into the man’s jeans.

This was going to be a lot harder than he thought it was going to be.

“Okay,” Steve said after taking a moment to compose himself. “What we are going to do is trace the outlines and then we’ll spend two to three hours each week, working on it. It will probably take about ten to twelve weeks, doing it once a week. So if you want to move it up two days a week, I would recommend that.”

Eddie twisted to face him. “Yeah, I figured it was going to take some time. When I set up my appointments with Robin, I’ll make sure to do twice a week.”

“Sounds good,” Steve said, pulling on the latex gloves and sitting down. He scooted as close to Eddie as he could and picked his gun.

“You know,” he murmured over the sound of the gun. “I don’t think you ever said why you wanted the tattoo so badly you waited to find the right person to do it for you. And thanks for trusting me with it by the way.”

“You’re welcome,” Eddie said. “The work you did on Jeff’s tattoo was phenomenal. It was a very personal tattoo for him and you made it special. Did he tell you how got the scar he wanted you to cover up?”

Steve hummed, placing the first stencil down. “Yeah, something about how when Miranda and him first starting dating, someone called the cops on him, thinking he was kidnapping her. And how despite both of them saying they were on a date and Jeff having his hands up, the cop still fired, hitting his right arm.”

Eddie nodded. “It was messed up. He thought for sure Miranda was going to book it, but they stayed together and it’s been five years now.”

“So he got it for the fifth anniversary?” Steve asked, concentrating on the outline.

“Yeah,” Eddie said. “It was Miranda’s suggestion, actually.”

“They seem like great people.”

Eddie smiled fondly. “The best. I think he’s still working up the courage to ask her to marry him.”

Steve laughed. “He better hurry up otherwise Robin might try and steal her from him.”

Eddie laughed too. “Well considering they both swing for both teams, she might actually have a chance.”

“Oh god,” Steve said as he finished the first wing. “Don’t tell Robin that. She might actually try. And I don’t want to mess up a good thing, you know?”

“Fair.”

Eddie chewed on his bottom lip a moment. “But, yeah, the tattoo. It’s to commemorate a poor boy from the trailer park making it in the big city to play music for a living. Actually fucking making it.”

Steve smiled. “And the bat wings were for the aesthetic?”

“Hell yeah they are,” Eddie replied with a grin. “But, holy shit, Stevie. The sword of fucking Kas...it’s like you read my mind or some shit.”

Steve lifted the gun as he laughed. “Nah, I just listened when you and Dustin talked about it.”

Eddie adjusted himself in the chair and loosened the muscles in his shoulders a bit. He settled and nodded. “You did really good, sweetheart. I love it.”

They just fell into conversation as easy as breathing and far too soon Steve was done with the outline.

Steve pulled off his gloves, having set aside the gun already. “Go on, it’s not much to look at right now, but the bare bones are pretty fucking all right.’’

Eddie immediately bounced to his feet to go look in the mirror. He turned every direction and after a moment of watching him Steve stood up with a large hand mirror and tilted it until Eddie could see his back.

Eddie let out a gasp. “Holy fucking shit. This is going to be so epic. I can’t wait!”

Steve smiled fondly. “I’m glad it’s starting out okay, at least.”

Eddie grinned at him through the mirror. “It’s absolutely wicked.”

“Do you have someone who can rub the lotion on your back?” Steve asked, biting his bottom lip.

Eddie nodded. “The guys have offered to take turns helping me with it until it’s done.”

Steve hummed. He was a little disappointed. He was going to offer to do it for him. But it was a bit of a relief, knowing Eddie had such good friends that were willing to take care of him.

“That’s sweet of them,” he murmured, taking the time to gently wrap the tattoo the best he could in Saran wrap to protect it on the way home.

Eddie scoffed. “They only offered because they’re excitable children who want a sneak peak at the tattoo before anyone else.”

Steve huffed out a laugh. “Yeah, okay. That sounds like what I’d seen of them.”

Eddie turned around once Steve was done and grinned at him. “Am I going to see you at Nightmare Holes again this weekend?”

Steve winced. “I want to but I can’t this weekend. I’m meeting a couple people on Sunday morning morning and I cannot be hungover for that.’

Eddie huffed out a small chuckle. “Maybe.”

Steve shoved at him playfully. “I’ll make it up to you. Why don’t you come over again next Monday and I’ll make dinner for us again.”

Eddie’s eyes lit up. “That sounds great, wha’cha making?”

“What do you like?” Steve asked as he cleaned up. “Italian, Chinese, Mexican? Something else? I’m sure I could find a good recipe in time.”

Eddie tapped his lip with his index finger thoughtfully. “Can you do sesame chicken?”

Steve grinned. “Oh, I knew there was a reason I liked you. I love sesame chicken and have a kick ass recipe, I think you’ll love.”

Eddie grinned back. “Can’t wait pretty boy.”

Steve flicked his cleaning rag at Eddie’s ass. “Now go on, some of us poor schlubs have to work hard for our living, rock star.”

Eddie laughed in delight as he skipped away from Steve’s deadly aim with his rag. He got to the door and saluted, before turning on his heel and walking back to the front desk, shirt in hand.

Steve picked up a dozen donuts and coffees for him and Robin. Robin had already gone in to open the shop for the interviewees so he felt he owed it to her to at least get her coffee and donuts.

When he got to the shop he was a little surprised how many cars were out front. They couldn’t all be there for the apprenticeship, could they? He walked into see the entire waiting room filled with applicants.

He turned to Robin and she looked as shocked as he was. He set the donuts in front Robin’s desk and handed her the coffee.

“Hello,” he said turning around to greet the...he quickly counted, the six hopefuls. “I’m Steve Harrington and welcome to Royal Pain. You’re all welcome to have a donut and we have water and paper cups over to the side.” He gestured to where it was and most head turned to see where he meant.

“Is this really a tattoo parlor, man?” one of the applicants asked. He was what Steve would have stereotyped a California surfer boy. Bleach blond hair that fell to his shoulders, tanned skin, dark blue eyes that were currently glaring at Steve.

Steve let his shoulders roll back as he regarded the man in question. “What? The bright, colorful design precludes it from being a place people come to get tattoos, how?”

The guy leveled another glare at Steve and then leapt to his feet. “Whatever, this blows. I’m out of here.” He stormed out, pushing the door so hard it clanged against the wall harshly.

Steve looked at the remaining five. “Anyone else have a problem with the aesthetics?”

There were people that exchanged glances, but they ended up all shaking their heads no.

“Good.”

A pretty blonde girl with bright green eyes and a sparkling smile raised her hand.

“Yes?” Steve asked pointing at her.

“Not to be lumped in with the asshole that just left,” she began shyly, “but I really don’t see any tattoos on you and, well...”

Steve grinned. “And it makes it a little hard to trust me as a tattoo artist, right?”

She nodded, her high pony tail bouncing as she did.

Robin rolled her eyes, but wisely said nothing. Steve showed her his right forearm. “I didn’t do this one, this is the first tattoo I got though.” It was of a small vanilla ice cream cone. “I got this after my first real job at an ice cream shop that burned down.”

A lot of eyebrows shot up at that, but no one uttered a word.

He pulled at his collar showing a female robin on his shoulder right below the clavicle. “Got this one when my best friend turned twenty-one. She has a matching tattoo in the same place.”

He pulled up his shirt to show a lion devouring a bloody heart on his right side. “My friends called my lion-hearted, my detractors called me a bleeding heart, so I got this.”

Steve put his shirt down. “Yeah, I don’t look like your stereotypical tattoo artist that has their whole body covered in tats. But I’m one of those weirdos that only gets a tattoo if it means something to me. But make no mistake I’m good. I have had this shop for three years and only been a tattooist for five. And I’m taking on apprentices because this shop is so busy I need the help to lighten the load.”

The girl blushed. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” he said, heaving a heavy sigh. “People who look like me don’t usually become tattoo artists and I think that’s stupid. It shouldn’t just be a certain kind of person that has dyed black hair, piercings, and their body of work all over their body.”

She nodded. “I get what you mean.”

Steve smiled at her. “I figured you would.” He knew that if she was any good, he was going to pick her, hands down.

“Right,” he said turning his attention back to everyone. “I wasn’t expecting so many of you and I realize that isn’t fair to you. If you have somewhere else to be today, make an appointment with Robin,” he cocked his head her direction, “and I’ll meet with you personally at another time. But otherwise, I’ll have Robin call you in the order you arrived and we’ll talk in my room.”

He clapped his hands. “First, let’s give you a tour of the place and if you decide it’s not for you. No hard feelings. Except that guy.” He winked at them and they laughed.

He showed them his room and the other rooms that would be for the apprentices to practice in or once they got their own chair if they stayed, it would become their room.

One of the other guys decided that it wasn’t for him and Steve was left with four remaining hopefuls.

And what a strange bunch they were, too. He had the prep girl, but he also had a native boy that while he didn’t look the part of the surfer dude, embodied it with his very soul. If the guy got brought on, Steve would have to pull him aside and make sure he didn’t do marijuana at work, because the guy looked a little baked at the moment. He also had a Goth chick complete with the tattoos and piercings, and dyed black hair. She stuck out like a sore thumb, if Steve was honest. And the final hopeful was this squirrely looking guy with dark wavy brown hair.

All of them had more tattoos than Steve did.

He sighed to himself. He wasn’t sure this was going to work out. He knew he shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, better than most, but still as he looked at the remaining applicants he felt a little disappointed.

He sighed and went back to the office to wait for Robin to call the first one in. It was going to be a long day.

***

Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20 Part 21 Part 22 Part 23 Part 24 Part 25 Part 26 Part 27 Part 28 Epilogue

Look, I love Robin with all my heart, but we all know the reason she didn’t ask Vickie out wasn’t that she had a boyfriend, but that her partner was a boy. She would 100% back off if told to, but she would so go for it if she thought had a chance. (Looking at you Ronance shippers, if you think that Robin was flirting with Nancy in the Upside Down, Nancy was still with Jonathan at the time.)

Tag List: @spectrum-spectre @estrellami-1 @zerokrox-blog @artiststarme @swimmingbirdrunningrock @gregre369 @pyrohonk @renaissan-vvitch @goodolefashionedloverboi @chaoticlovingdreamer @maya-custodios-dionach @messrs-weasley @val-from-lawrence @plyerice27 @thedragonsaunt @chaoticlovingdreamer @sapphirecobalt-1 @a-little-unsteddie @i-must-potato @danili666 @carlyv @rozzieroos @wonderland-girl143-blog @itsall-taken @justforthedead89 @emly03 @bookworm0690 @aizawa-emma @redfreckledwolf @thesuninyaface @bookbinderbitch @yikes-a-bee @littlewildflowerkitten @scheodingers-muppet @archermightbegay @hallucinatedjosten @ellietheasexylibrarian @anne-bennett-cosplayer @cinnamon-mushroomabomination

#My writing #stranger things #steddie #ladykailtiha writes #tattoo artist steve

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theplushiefox · 2 months ago

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Heyyy, March 2025 marks the 10th year since I've started reading Warriors, and that made me excited, so I jumped on the bandwagon and completed this meme I've seen floating around - it was made by fungicats on twitter!

I ramble a bit under the cut (especially about Lionblaze)

People are gonna be surprised by Lionblaze, but just trust me. The alternative would have been Clear Sky, but I revisited DotC a short while back (thanks to Moonkitti's Talking: Bumble video) and realized he's a major b-hole. I don't know why I ever defended that guy. He's still interesting, but I'm fine without the babying from the writers. I had a bit of trouble coming up with a different cat, I don't really have many "problematic faves", BUT then I remembered that Lionblaze is a pretty unpopular one due to him just not having a character. HOWEVER I just enjoy the hell out of the murderous Lionblaze that we've been seeing lately since The Broken Code, I feel like he kills at LEAST 1 cat in every arc since lol. Sooo I kinda made his design a bit crazed too. (Also, back when I was reading PoT and OotS for the first time, I kinda liked Lionblaze, I thought he was pretty cute, but that might have been me projecting Nifty-Senpai's take on him in their The Fourth Apprentice animation. I would definitely be bored of him if I re-read those arcs now) And the other "anomaly" so to speak - I made two versions. First one with Jayfeather as the "old fave", but then I remembered Brightheart exists and she deserves that slot a lot more, so I just made an alternative one, because I'm too in love with my Jayfeather design and I didn't wanna get rid of it lol. And now as I'm writing this out, Briarlight would have deserved that spot even more than Brightheart, but making 3 of these would be a bit much huh haha

haha

anyway, I don't really have a favorite SE/Novella exclusive character, I was thinking about Gremlin, but I never really fell in love with her that much. I, however, LOOOOVE Puddleshine! So "background character" option it is. I think he also deserves some kind of POV short story, I just feel like he's such a little trooper, taking on the role of medicine cat without any complaints, not even chosen by StarClan, and growing into a wonderful clan doctor whom Shadowsight and all of ShadowClan can trust! (we don't talk about the Mothwing-Shadowpaw thing we don't talk about the Mothwing-Shadowpaw thing we don't talk about the Mothwing-Shadowpaw thing)

Cinderpelt is a given, she's been my absolute favorite for 10 years.

Alderheart - more specifically early AVoS Alderheart is just me as a cat, I love him, he's adorable and I can't get enough of him, more Alderheart pls.

Frostdawn is quickly climbing the ranks and is currently considered my 2nd favorite, nestled between Cinder and Alder.

Thank you if you've read this far and have a wonderful day! 🐾

#warrior cats #wc #warrior cats fanart #cinderpelt #alderheart #lionblaze #frostdawn #brightheart #jayfeather #puddleshine #warrior cats meme

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amorest-viesse · 1 year ago

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[Your Warm Hand in Mine] - Chloe SR Card Story Translation

Ft. Figaro (Akira and Western wizards mention in card episode)

A Line for the Lady - Chapter 1

[Weeping Princess’ Castle]

Chloe: May I have your hand, my lady?

Chloe: …No, that’s not right. Maybe it needs to be more gallant.

Chloe: To ensure you’re not swept away by someone else, may I have your hand, my lady?

Figaro: Ahaha, how forward of you, but by all means.

Chloe: Whoa! Where did you come from?

Figaro: Oops, sorry for the scare. You just seemed so serious, I thought it might help to have a partner.

Figaro: Although, it doesn’t look like things are going too well right now.

Chloe: Ahaha… You got me there.

Chloe: Truth be told, I just can’t get the hang of this escorting thing. No matter how much I practice, I always get nervous and totally freak out.

Figaro: Really? I never would’ve guessed from the number of times I’ve seen you invite the Master Sage out.

Chloe: It’s totally different with them though!

Chloe: We’re basically BFFs, so if I goof up, we can just laugh it off!

Chloe: I can’t exactly do that during a ceremony with strangers though… If I leave a bad first impression, it’s totally over for me!

Figaro: Hmm, I see the dilemma now. Well then, what if you did this?

Figaro: Don’t put too much pressure on yourself and try treating it like a game.

Figaro: You Western wizards are always doing that kind of stuff right?

Chloe: Think of it like a game? You know, that might just work!

Chloe: Oh, but what should the setting be? A ball? A birthday party? A theatrical production?

Chloe: What do you think, Figaro?

A Line for the Lady - Chapter 2

Figaro: Let me think…

Figaro: What if… you were the heir of a noble family meeting your betrothed for the first time, and you needed to take her out on a very special date?

Chloe: Me? An aristocrat?

Figaro: If the situation is too difficult to imagine, I could always turn into your beautiful betrothed for practice sake.

Chloe: Eh!? You? As a noblewoman!?

Chloe: As much as I’d like to see that… I wanna give it a shot on my own first.

Figaro: Ahaha, fine by me.

Chloe: Alrighty then, here I go. …Ahem.

Chloe: …It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, my fair lady. I have been eagerly awaiting this day.

Chloe: Dressed in dusky blue with luminous diamonds about your neck, you’re the very vision of a star, descending from the heavens to grace us with your ethereal presence…

Chloe: Now, may I have your hand, my lady?

Figaro: …

Chloe: So? How did I do?

Figaro: It was even better than I’d expected. You really are Rustica’s apprentice.

Figaro: I think you’d charm just about anyone like that.

Chloe: Really?

Figaro: Really. Every word was elegantly and beautifully delivered.

Figaro: Although, it was funny to hear you compliment your partner’s dress and accessories without them actually being there. I’m sure no one but you could’ve come up with a line like that.

Chloe: Ehehe, I’m glad to hear it! I think I can totally take on the real thing now.

Chloe: Thanks so much for helping me out, Figaro!

We Gotta Go All Out! - Card Episode

[Manor Living Room]

Chloe: This should go… here. And the fabric should be gathered here…

Akira: Good afternoon, Chloe. Is that a new dress design?

Chloe: Oh, Master Sage! Great timing!

Chloe: This is super random, but what kinda dress do you think would look good on Rustica!?

Akira: This is for Rustica, you say?

Akira: Um, I feel like he could make anything work, but maybe… He’d like one with a bluebird embroidered on it.

Chloe: You think so? Alright then, I’ll keep that in mind.

Akira: Did Rustica request this?

Chloe: Ehehe, these outfits are actually for a special class session.

Chloe: When I told the other Westerners about how nervous I was during the mission, they offered to give me a special lesson on escorting…

Chloe: We’re using transformational magic so I can have practice with both men and women!

Akira: Oh I see now! That sounds like a lot of fun.

Chloe: Right? Figaro also gave me some really good advice during the mission.

Chloe: Which is why he’ll be there too as a special guest instructor!

Akira: (A Western wizard lesson with Figaro in attendance… I’m really curious now…)

Akira: …Hey, do you think there’s room for one more? I want to see how your lesson goes.

Chloe: Of course there is! In fact, you should join us as a participant!

Chloe: I’ll make sure to design you the most beautiful dress and dashing suit ever!

Home Screen Voice Line

“Ehehe, do you remember how I gave everyone presents to show my appreciation the other day? Well, as a thanks for the thanks, some of them gave me a gift back. I totally wasn’t expecting it, so it made me super happy. W- Wait, you’re giving me one too!?”

#mhyktl #mahoyaku #mhyk #chloe collins #mahoutsukai no yakusoku #figaro garcia #this should be mhyk required reading #im so serious

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ghoulsbeard · 3 months ago

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ooo the Fool and the World??

ahh thank you mouse :) <3 !!

Where did Rook's journey begin? What were they doing before joining the Veilguard?

Cracks my knuckles evilly… Mikal is honestly one of my favorites sfgds and she has the big indulgent backstory… she grew up in the free marches, became a friend of red jenny at the end of the “old guard” (when the jennies were a little bloodier and grimmer), fucked over the merchants’ guild, fucked over the coterie, lived to tell the tale… became the inquisition’s enchantment expert. she and dagna have dissenting opinions on the fade and love each other for it…she and varric do not get along but he really respects her so she ended up called in for the solas hunt (mostly by tessa and charter’s doing, they both thought she’d be a great help, and she does like them both.) i think she was on tessa and vaea’s team and saw the others infrequently before she was moved over in the last year to helping lace and varric; she and lace got along fairly well in the inquisition and worked together great.. she and varric clashed a lot as usual, especially since he’d begun to get more sentimental about solas... I think a hunt of ten years wore on him a lot.

Vasiliki was an old watcher; well known as a bit of a troublemaker for years before she got put on leave for antagonizing the nobility (again)… she grew up in Cumberland alienage i believe, if i have my cities right, and worked on a fishing trawler before she became an apprentice at the necropolis. she’s always prodded at a few of the traditions of the Necropolis - the organization of labor, for one- so she wasn’t at all surprised when Myrna told her to take a vacation, though it was a blow as the necropolis is her home the wisps and spirits are her family and neighbors... i think varric and lace persuaded her to join them by promising her plenty of fade weirdness

What does happily-ever-after look like for Rook? Is it attainable, or just wishful thinking?

they’re both very pragmatic women, they live in the present, mikal’s big pie in the sky dream is to see the thaigs of Rivain but besides that they both roll with the punches so to speak.. not much wishful thinking for either of them..

Mikal is pleased to live day by day.. she wants to see her family as much as she can before she dies, explore the world and see new artistry and craftsmanship, read widely as she can, create whatever burns in her mind and soul… she romanced bellara so i think they visit bel’s clan and mikal’s family together :) mikal’s family has a tradition of engraving a stone to honor those who have passed, and mikal does one for cyrian as a gift to bel. I think they’d be happy to explore and travel together, no matter where they end up living mikal will be a friend of red jenny and bel will be a scholar of dalish magic, and she’ll have mikal read her drafts, and mikal will show her the plans for her designs, and they’ll collaborate on enchantments and so on and so forth… :) clan lutare and the glavonaks celebrating together. i think it would be great

vasiliki would be pleased just to sit by the sea and have a nice meal with someone she likes. I think if she and neve decide to make it work, they’d want to go long distance and visit a few times a year or vasiliki would consider moving to minrathous… she might do so.. her faith in the watch is deeply rattled by johanna.. she’d be a great shadow dragon all things considered, she enjoyed the work while the dragons were scattered post-dragon attack and she and neve balance each other really well … if she hadn’t romanced neve i think she’d move to Rivain, learn more about spirits… not sure what she’d do for a living though… she’s honed herself as a mourn watcher and it’s a particular set of skills

I did briefly lament that she should have been a decade younger and romanced davrin… she would have relished the challenge of training griffons & thumbing her nose at warden politics as the order changes… she and dav have a fantastic and very fun dynamic. ah well </3

#mikal #vasiliki

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tildeathiwillwrite · 1 year ago

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Changing of the Guard, Part 2

WoW Birthday Whump Day 13: Natural disaster / Shock collar / "Shut up!"

Prompt List

first part

TW: imprisoned, electrocution, earthquake

Context: It has been several weeks since Henry has been appointed as Dragon Keeper. Arcturus has come to value their friendship. But the magic designed to keep Arcturus imprisoned might be stronger than Henry had anticipated.

-----

It wasn’t the distant rumbling that signaled to Arcturus that something was off. He was used to inexplicable phenomena in a world where wizards could conjure storms and create fire with nothing but a source to draw from. Earthquakes were uncommon in the valley, sure, but not unheard of.

It was when Henry arrived hours before he was supposed to.

During the weeks since his appointment as Dragon Keeper, Arcturus had gotten to know Henry quite well. More than he had any of his previous Keepers. And the boy had not raised his hand against Arcturus. Not once.

He had a good heart.

Surprising, given the upbringing Arcturus had come to expect of the Order. But such was the passage of time for humans. Death came knocking, and new generations replaced the old, removed from the reasons for their ideologies. And so cultures change. Such a thing was obvious to someone with a longer lifespan, such as Arcturus. But anyone who’s studied history can come to the same conclusion.

From what Henry had told him during their visits, it was pure luck which resulted in his appointment. He was one of many apprenticed wizards, never even set his sights on Dragon Keeper. But when Lars fell ill, the Order drew lots among the apprentices. It was clear by their actions they did not understand what sort of person was expected to be a Dragon Keeper.

In a way, Arcturus pitied Henry as much as Henry seemed to pity Arcturus. The boy was a black swan among his predecessors. It was only a matter of time before one of the more rigid members noticed his milder disposition.

So the first thing on Arcturus’ mind when Henry entered the cavern, long before the day had elapsed, was that the Order had discovered what was happening.

“What are you doing here?” Arcturus asked softly.

The boy hesitated, the golden light floating above his hand flickering briefly before stabilizing. He’d gotten better at keeping his magic from reacting to his emotions under Arcturus’ guidance, but he still had far to go. “An earthquake has struck the valley,” he said, “I was sent to make sure you haven’t caused it.”

Arcturus snorted, wisps of smoke puffing from his nostrils. “These chains greatly hamper my magic. I might be able to shake my cavern, but not the entire valley to such magnitude. You know this. Why are you really here?”

Henry was silent for a long time. Far away, deep in the valley, the earthquake continued. The vibrations reaching Arcturus’ prison were pitiful, but it must truly be devastating if he could sense it even at this distance.

“I’ve decided,” the boy finally said, his light brightening, “that we are leaving.”

Arcturus blinked in surprise. “Leaving? We?!” It had been a long, long time since he’d been rendered nearly speechless from shock.

“Yes,” was Henry's response before he crossed the cavern, purpose in his stride. Arcturus watched him carefully. Was this some sort of trick? As the thought crossed his mind, Henry reached Arcturus and put his hands on the chains. He murmured the words to a disintegration spell, one Arcturus hadn’t heard in many, many years.

As the chain crumbled into dust, it glowed with electricity, a last-ditch effort in case of escape. The pain that followed was like a thousand sharp needles digging underneath Arcturus’ scales, burning across his body like wildfire. His muscles spasmed, and he could only watch as Henry crumpled to the floor, shaking and thrashing, the scent of burning flesh heavy in the air.

The shock passed as soon as it had begun, and Arcturus lay limp, focusing on his breathing and trying to remember the spells for healing. The chains were designed specifically for him, they would have released enough electricity to incapacitate him.

The boy had taken most of the bolt upon himself. He wouldn’t survive without intervention.

And Arcturus would rather spend an eternity imprisoned than do nothing for the first human he ever considered a friend. The words of a healing spell fell from his lips as he struggled to get off the ground. The magic flowed around Henry, mending the damaged skin of his hands and sinking into his body. His muscles relaxed, and his breathing eased as the magic put him into a healing sleep. When he awoke, his memory would be the only thing remaining of the injury.

Arcturus didn’t dare do the same for himself. With Henry now incapacitated, it was up to him to get them both out. He gently picked up the boy in one of his claws and, for the first time in decades, walked along the tunnel to the outside world.

It was snowing, the tiny frozen droplets cold against his scales. Far below, the grove in the valley shook, still affected by the earthquake. Arcturus breathed the freezing air in for several moments before setting his sights south and spreading his wings to their full span.

How good it felt to finally stretch them out after all these years! He doubted he would get very far on them, weak as they were, but it would be far enough. The Order would never find them again.

“Don’t worry, Henry,” he said softly to the sleeping boy, “we’re going home.”

@fourwingedsnake @whumperofworlds

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heroes-in-the-dark · 1 year ago

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Hello! Just wanted to say that your fanfiction I amazing, and that I can't wait to see what happens next, lol. I actually found a few days ago, while searching for Tokoyami fanfiction, as Tokoyami and Mr. Compress are favorites of mine, lol. It's really amazing to see how much effort, work, and dedication you've put into this amazing piece of writing. It deserves to be published, lol. I adore the beautiful relationship between Tokoyami and Dabi, and my heart longs for the mentor/apprentice relationship to be restored. I just hope Dabi will take him back, lol. I might make some fanart of Tokoyami, with or without Dabi, just cause the idea of him with a red Scarf is so cool! Thank you again!

Ahh, thank you so much!! When I first started this series, I had no idea just how much these relationships between Tokoyami and the villains would develop. It ended up being something special, and I love the way they work together and engage with one another. In truth, the mentor/apprentice relations with him and Dabi were there from the beginning, and its felt like the ultimate slow burn to build on these layers of trust and mutual admiration. I'm really fond of what I've made, and I'm so glad I get to share it with others who would also want to enjoy this kind of content! Making Tokoyami into something of my own has also been great, like by giving him new design elements that have greater significance. Like, giving him the scarf was something I'd been wanting to do for a very long time.

Currently within the story, we're actually pretty close to seeing Mr. Compress again. I have a soft spot for all the old League members, so of course I intend to continue revisiting them at various points in the story.

Thank you so much for taking an interest in Heroes in the Dark! I'm glad you're liking it!

#ask response #bnha #boku no hero academia #mha #my hero academia #fumikage tokoyami #tokoyami fumikage #mr compress #dabi #leage of villians

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nepticmancer · 6 months ago

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Head canon time? Now??

- So a big one I’ve had for over a year now is Cygnus being an amputee and being blind in one eye, I saw other people hc recently and I’m very happy to see people on board

- The Space Time Hotel was made by The Traveler’s emotions, this was another one for a while, but I recently started to think that the hotel also being kind of sentient. Like it has emotions and can communicate to only the traveler because it’s also connected to his life and his powers rub off on it

- The Traveler is actually a humanoid star. He has a form where he looks more like a star but prefers his classic Traveler look.

- My biggest hc and the one I’ve had the longest is the Traveler’s Association, surprisingly, The Traveler is not in command despite being who everyone there worships, the association might need its own thing because it’s a bit complex, but the man in charge is actually an OC who only has a design in a jd rp server(the lore there is different from my own because the server combines everyone’s lore)

- The Traveler physically cannot stop Night Swan himself, I have this one because I believe that The Traveler is an amazing man and caring father(Nep lore leading to me being his son is wild), he can’t stop her because when he realized his mistake and went to send her back to earth, he was punished for bringing her in the danceverses in the first place and he was made unable to defeat Night Swan himself(so was Si’ha)

- Kwang and Mothigan are actually half siblings…Just listen to me on this one- So Mothigan is the daughter of countess butterfly and the head traveler(my oc) and Kwang is the son of countess butterfly and Wild West ext, he’s the younger one and does not know anything about his family so he refuses to believe he’s related to any of them(except his dad who’s dead)

- Uptown Funk is a shapeshifter and I named him Simon, he’s also kind of a hitman🧍🏻

- Alex and Lukas are ferret parents, this is a canon thing in the rp server, they have three ferrets, one’s blood thirsty and would like to kill Gabriela

- So I know some people hc Smalltown Boy and Scotty to be the same, but I like to believe that Scotty Smalltown Boy(Tristan which is Angel’s hc name) and Lumen are all brothers, Tristan ran away and Scotty and Lumen were placed in an orphanage and Scotty started going to Eternyx where he then was taken in by Vester

- Mothigan is more moth like without the use of magic, she had moth eyes, actually antennas and four arms, but to fit in she changed her appearance with magic

- The Traveler has some false memories/he has missing memories, the head traveler liked experimenting with memory alteration and mind control, so he would test it out on the traveler which would often cause major confusion anxiety in the traveler and occasionally caused him to lash out because he could feel something was wrong but he could never pin point the issue

- The Nova kitty is a Cheshire Cat like fella, he can do everything the Cheshire can do but he prefers normal cat life because it’s easier to just do nothing

- Kapyy and Hoku are brother and sister who didn’t grow up together(Kapyy lived in Cyberfunk, Hoku lived in WinterHaven, Bo Blu was made to keep her out of trouble but she uncoded and recoded him to help her and be more of a comfort)

- Kapyy REALLY idolizes Cygnus and wants to be an inventor, he knows the whole Cygnus working with Night Swan thing should make him idolize him less, but after their separation, Kapyy started idolizing him more and he would like to one day be Cygnus’ apprentice

- These aren’t hcs but ships I created and love are Diego/Liege Rosal, Aria(Dance All Nite)/Sailor and Stormi(Umbrella)/Seymour(Hey, Ya!)

I have some just dance ocs too who I kind of wanna share a bit about too while we’re here

- I have ocs based on songs from Eurovision, the songs are Europapa, Doomsday Blue, The Code and Rim Tim Tagi Dim, the characters names are Elioson Phyles(he/him), Delilah Blue(they/them), Theo Collins(they/them) and River Dimmit(he/him)

- I have many ocs who’s songs are måneskin songs, my oldest one being Marlena Holloway who is Cygnus’ mother and a former ballerina who quit after experiencing some bad leg issues and losing a competition

- Dami is another jd måneskin oc, his song is L’altra Dimensione, he’s a human who wanted more and turned to the danceverses, I haven’t decided if he has beef with Cygnus yet

- Delilah and River are actually a couple who fall in love after getting separated from Elio and Theo

- My second oldest jd oc is Odette I think, she’s Cygnus’s older sister who’s cause of death is an earthquake in Floworld(she was an exchange student there and opened a bakery after she finished school, Cygnus moved in with her months prior to the earthquake)

- Since I introduced Cygnus’s mom and sister, his dad is named Mathias, he’s just been dead for a long time

- I have other måneskin jd ocs but they don’t have names and I forgot their songs, I think one was for Sh*t Blvd

(I’m a HUGE måneskin fan, feel free to feed my JD fixation or my Må fixation)

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seeyouonsaturn · 1 month ago

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MOAR HAVOC 🫵💖

Do they have a comfort object?

What is their name? Is it a number? Do they have a nickname? Who uses it? (I KNOW there's some good lore to be had here)

Do they have a person they care for? Is it someone they are supposed to protect or is it in spite of orders?

Would they survive a battle royale situation, like the Hunger Games?

Do they have any nervous habits? (and if so, do they affect the current job 👀)

ask game

6. Do they have a comfort object?

Havoc's little pocket watch <3<3<3

I wrote up the background lore for it here, but the basic summary is: Havoc met Whirl exactly once before the war, back when he was a watchmaker. She was already struggling with being unhappy with her assigned lot, and wanted to see if the rumors were true that a bot had managed to change jobs. Whirl told her that if she could manage to get a reassignment approved, he'd be happy to make her his apprentice if she wanted it - and showed her how to fix a pocket watch he was working on, to test if she'd be able to learn it. Afterwards, he told her to keep it.

The watch became a symbol of hope to Havoc, because that one day at the watchmaker's shop was the sole time in her entire life when she'd felt that maybe, just maybe, things might change for the better. Even when Whirl vanished and it all fell apart, she clung to it, wanting to hold onto just the feeling she'd had that day, no matter if it was wrong or not. It became an emotional anchor to her.

It's a bit small for her hand, intended for a smaller bot than herself, and it's been broken for a long time (few things are made to last 4+ million years without maintenance, and she won't let anyone else touch it), but she still carries it with her at all times.

12. What is their name? Is it a number? Do they have a nickname? Who uses it?

As far as I'm concerned at least, choosing their own name is one of the very few freedoms all bots have. D-16 got to change his name and have it get accepted after all. My headcanon (that I read in some post a while ago but can't find rn) is that bots are originally given a basic designation consisting of a number sequence (like D-16 and B-127) and can change it to whatever they like if they want to. Some do, some don't, either way is fine. Sometimes they also get named by other bots (sprinkling in some TFA lore here) but they don't have to go by those names if they don't like them.

Havoc and Mayhem got named together, which is why their names are matchy. It's also why Havoc keeps her name, even though it doesn't suit her. It's the other half to Mayhem, and she likes keeping that connection, even if "Havoc" really isn't the right name for a gentle medic.

Fun fact: I considered having her rename herself to Mercy before deciding she'd keep her name (in part also because I am attached to it). Her holoform still gets to be Mercy.

16. Do they have a person they care for? Is it someone they are supposed to protect or is it in spite of orders?

Two people, depending on when.

Whirl is obvious, yet I can't overstate just how precious he is to her, even long before they reunite. Havoc has spent long nights awake fantasizing about a 'what if' scenario in which she could've become his apprentice and lived in freedom with him far too much to not be attached to the idea of him. True, she doesn't know the real him just yet, and certainly has no idea just how fundamentally he's changed. But her feelings are far too strong to be altered even when she does meet him again and realizes he's no longer the kind mech she briefly knew. It doesn't matter. It's still him, one way or another, and nothing can change that.

It's just. That's her person man. It doesn't even need to be romantic. She doesn't even need it to be romantic, she just wants to be near him. Whoc has me in shambles.

And then of course there's Mayhem. Havoc's best friend. Mayhem has just always been there. Literally. Havoc and Mayhem aren't technically related - no split spark or anything like that - but they were created the same day, came online together. They even have similar alt modes. From the very first moment, they were two halves of a matched set.

Mayhem's the fighter of the two, the warrior who's happy to do as he's told and enjoys the feeling of metal crunching under his fists. Havoc has always been softer, but Mayhem was her rock. He always drove her on, motivated her to keep going and stay strong. She might've never made it as far as she has without him in her corner. Yet all the same, he was also the only bot she could trust with her true feelings. Mayhem may not always have understood her, but he always listened, and tried to help as best as he could. For the longest time, the bots around them only ever knew them as a duo - seeing one without the other was unthinkable.

Most of the time, it was Mayhem defending Havoc to others. But when it came to the battlefield, or the gladiator fights, Havoc was always right there to back him up too, no matter how much she hated combat. No amount of dissatisfaction could've stopped her from doing all she could to keep him safe, just as he did for her.

21. Would they survive a battle royale situation, like the Hunger Games?

Yippie we are referencing my other special interest!! Crossover time heehoo

Skills wise, Havoc would definitely have a shot. She's built for combat after all. I'm not saying she'd necessarily be the strongest bot on the playing field, considering at least the career district type bots would obviously be prepared to party too, but she'd definitely be up there. She's got a pretty good chance.

But that said, there's no way Havoc would be able to do it on an emotional level. She'd never be able to walk away from that level of carnage. Especially not after getting to know all her opponents during training, and probably getting attached to at least a few of them. And her own district partner? Primus, imagine it'd be Mayhem. She's too soft for that sort of bloodsport. Maybe in the very beginning she'd be killing just like everyone else out of pure survival instinct, but once the reality sets in, she'd refuse to participate any further. Havoc would just let someone kill her. It's far more merciful than having to live with the weight of surviving. Lord help me now I want to make a whole hunger games au

26. Do they have any nervous habits? (and if so, do they affect the current job 👀)

Hmm difficult question (thanks). One habit she has is fiddling with her pocket watch, as just having it in her hand grounds her. Havoc is very careful with it though, because it's so old now, and too precious to her to risk losing or permanently damaging it, so she rarely takes it out unless she's alone in her habsuite, or in a really bad place.

Other than that... well, nervous habits are a bit of a risk to have both in a battle and in the operating room. As I've mentioned in a previous post, Havoc has the ability to just Lock In and tune out everything around her until the job is done. It's when she's not in a high-risk situation that the ptsd symptoms start setting in.

For example, Havoc likes to keep her space organized and tidy. Knowing where everything is at all times was crucial back as a warrior, and even more so as a medic, along with making sure things are clean, so it's easy to see where she picked up the habit. But Havoc also can't stand having to sit still by herself, because that's when the thoughts start to surface. So she prefers to keep busy. Her cleanliness isn't quite enough to make Ultra Magnus happy - she's not that obsessed with it. Which is good, considering she will eventually wind up sharing a space with Whirl. Which... yeah, good luck with that bestie.

What might also count adjacently is Havoc's refusal to leave 'work mode'. She's never truly off the clock. She barely sleeps, unless the other medics practically force her to her berth and assure her they've got things covered, and even then she sleeps so light, she's ready to leap back up and right back into action at any moment. She won't drink either, because she's always worried that the one time she allows herself to let loose just for one little bit, some disaster will happen, and she'll be unable to help, and people will die because of it.

She's under so much stress 👍 and the worst part is that she's probably right considering how things are going on the Lost Light. Rip Havoc except she ain't resting any time soon.

#two talks #maccadam #two's ocs #transformers oc #answered asks #oc ask game #oc: step a little bolder #transformers idw #transformers mtmte

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checkoutmybookshelf · 10 months ago

Text

Rereading The Fellowship of the Ring for the First Time in Fifteen Years

The previous chapter was all grouchy wizards and atmospheric walking...and this one opens with the return of Professor Tolkien medieval literature scholaring all over the page. So let's just jump in and talk "The Bridge of Khazad-Dum."

So finding the tomb of a comrade always sucks, but context is EXTREMELY required in such cases. Unfortunately, this is the moment where Professor Tolkien rears his ugly head once again. I'm a Shakespeare scholar, and moreover I was a Shakespeare scholar at a reasonably broke school in Alaska, so I designed my thesis to not require me to go look at extant original texts. When I got to my PhD, some fuckery at an administrative level meant that when my first supervisor retired, I was dumped into the lap of a film scholar, so my dissertation because EXTREMELY about film adaptations. So I don't have firsthand experience with extant historical documents and texts, but I am aware of the process. As an undergrad, I once questioned why my text said "safety" while another text said "sanity" (and was very scoffed at before the professor actually understood the question, because I phrased it poorly). The good answer though?

Extant texts from Shakespeare's day and older are PLAGUED with slipperiness that makes them difficult to read and reproduce. They come from a time before standardized spelling, and printers often weren't that careful setting type. If they come from before the printing press, you have issues with handwriting legibility and misspellings. Then there are issues with extant documents being damaged or torn or missing pages or faded by the time we get to them, especially if they've been in private hands without the experience to properly preserve them. So the difference between "safety" and "sanity" was some editor or academic's educated guess because they had a word that started with "s," ended in "y," and was probably about six letters.

Tolkien, as a scholar with an interest in medieval texts, would have understood these issues because I'd be willing to bet hard cash that his academic work required using primary sources and original extant texts. And I'm willing to bet that because we get EVERY SINGLE GODDAMN ONE OF THESE ISSUES with the Book of Mazarbul. In no particular order, here are the issues Gandalf calls out while trying to read this thing:

multiple pages are missing from the beginning

blurred words

burned words

staining (probably blood)

edged blade damage

deteriorated pages that break off

shitty handwriting

partially visible words and guesswork that goes with it

a total lack of context for any of the words you CAN make out

This book is every book scholar's worst goddamn nightmare, because you'll never recreate the whole thing, your guesses are likelier to be wrong than right, and if you don't have plot armor preserving the important stuff, you might literally end up with a description of someone's breakfast but nothing else.

I will say though, there's one thing in here that Tolkien SHOULD have been familiar with in extant texts that isn't represented here. Marginalia. Humans were humans even in the 11-1400s, and scribes and apprentices got bored while copying out books by hand. They doodled. They wrote snarkastic comments in the margins. They had to scratch things out and redo. They had cats around and sometimes little paw prints are found in old manuscripts. Like...ancient books had personality. I get where the dwarves might not have done this in their log book, especially towards the end, but I would have loved some marginalia too.

Because the first few pages of this chapter feel less like Gandalf reading the final account of the attempted Moria colony to me and more like Professor Tolkien having a moment because WHY IS THIS GODDAMN PAGE MISSING I JUST NEED THIS ONE PAGE BUT NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, ITS FUCKING MISSING...

Academia some days, I swear.

But we get knocked out of the academic and into the adventurous pretty fast when the drums in the deep start tolling "doom, doom." And everyone loses their goddamn minds, as any reasonable person would, because we just finished hearing about the dwarves being trapped while the drums in the deep boomed.

Aragorn isn't going down without a fight though. He and Boromir get their asses on securing the door from which the immediate danger will come, with a bit of an assist from Frodo and Sting when some ballsy Uruk puts a foot through the door.

We also get badass good guy Samwise Gamgee:

When thirteen had fallen the rest fled shrieking, leaving the defenders unharmed, except for Sam who had a scratch along the scalp. A quick duck had saved him; and he had felled his orc: a sturdy thrust with his Barrow-blade. A fire was smouldering in his brown eyes that would have made Ted Sandyman step backwards, if he had seen it.

Our boy took out an ORC all on his own!!! Sam is more than capable of taking care of business and apparently he gets scary when you back him in a corner. I entirely approve, and I cannot believe we didn't get this in the movie. GIVE ME SAM SINGLE-HANDEDLY TAKING OUT AN ORC, PETER JACKSON!!!

We also get an Orc chieftain stabbing the hell out of Frodo, which was an honor given to the cave troll in the movies. This goes by pretty fast though, even for a Tolkien battle. It's kind of a one-two stab and grab before everyone makes a run for it. We do get Sam freeing Frodo by chopping the spear haft in half, but if you're reading quickly, it's easy to miss that this should ABSOLUTELY have killed Frodo. The language is pretty clear that it doesn't, and Tolkien only kind of tokenly tries a fake-out death here, since we literally just got the mithril reminder at the end of the last chapter. But I guess technically we get a fake-out death here.

It is very quickly confirmed that Frodo is alive though, with everyone being like, "Wait, you're NOT dead?" and Aragorn and Gandalf both going, "jesus christ, hobbits are tough as nail."

As we keep running from the hordes of Orcs, Uruks, and cave trolls, things start to get hot and there is firelight in places firelight SHOULD EXTREMELY NOT BE. But it does cue Gandalf about where they are, and he points everyone toward the titular Bridge of Khazad-Dum, and the exit. Now it's just a matter of hauling ass and getting out.

Unfortunately, when Legolas turns around to shoot some bitches and buy time, this happens:

Something was coming up behind them. What it was could not be seen: it was like a great shadow, in the middle of which a dark form, of man-shape, maybe, yet greater; and a power and terror seemed to be in and to go before it. It came to the edge of the fire and the light faded as if a cloud had bent over it. Then with a rush it leaped across the fissure. The flames roared up to greet it, and wreathed about it; and a black smoked swirled in the air. It's streaming mane kindled, and blazed behind it. In its right hand was a blade like a stabbing tongue of fire; in its left it held a whip of many thongs. "Ai! ai [sic]!" wailed Legolas. "A Balrog!"

And I just need to take a second here, because like I've said, I was more familiar with the movies than the book. And I just need Tolkien to EXPLAIN HIS DAMN SELF with this description. It's maybe man-shaped, but it has a mane? Like that does give adapters a lot of room to get creative, but WHERE THE HELL DID THEY GET HORNED SHEEP LAVA THING from??? Because that ain't in the text. I do love the drama of this description though. Like, the Balrog knows it's freaking magnificent and is going to play to all the drama that being wreathed in fire and smoke gives it. Which...ngl, I love for it. This thing is damn cool.

And I appreciate that we have FINALLY met a foe that makes Gandalf just kind of stop and go "...fuck me." Because he was starting to feel a bit OP and bored, and now he's taking it seriously, which means I as a reader should be FUCKING TERRIFIED right now, and I appreciate that.

From there, this goes down basically as the movie does, with the sliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight deviation that Aragorn and Boromir get BACK on the bridge to have Gandalf's back, so they're like, within arm's reach of him as the Balrog falls and drags Gandalf down with it. But even the dialogue was lifted almost exactly from the page, so I don't feel like I need to go over this bit in much detail. It's badass, it's tragic, and it happens FAST.

And then, of course, everyone else has to haul ass out of there because the Balrog just took out your OP wizard with a flick of its wrist.

So they run, and they run a LOT for a LONG time. They run until they're out of bow-shot of the walls. And as readers, we are left with this final image:

They looked back. Dark yawned the archway of the Gates under the mountain-shadow. Faint and far beneath the earth rolled the slow drum-beats: doom. A thin black smoke trailed out. Nothing else was to be seen; the dale all around was empty. Doom. Grief at last wholly overcame them, and they wept long: some stand and silent, some cast upon the ground. Doom, doom. The drum-beats faded.

So my little headcanon here? Those drumbeats stop being harbingers of doom in that final paragraph and transform to metaphorical heartbeats for Gandalf. We know--because Pippin established it--that falls in Moria can be LONG. They take a while. The Fellowship got out of immediate danger range, and Gandalf could still have been falling. But all they have to go on is those faint, distant, slow drum-beats. The heartbeat/drumbeat comparison is so easy it's not a reach, and when they finally fade and stop, the sense is that there is nothing else for the army of evil to attack. That is--as far as anyone knows or can reasonably assume--the end of Gandalf. It's the literary equivalent of a jump cut and sudden stop of the drumroll in film execution scenes. It cues everyone that something has ended.

Well, this chapter was ABSOLUTELY not more atmospheric walking, and even though it cost us our wizard, I appreciated the tension, the fear, and the pacing in the chapter at large. The mix of breakneck action and still or slow moments to let everyone react or comment was really well done, and finally having something that actually managed to shake Legolas and Gandalf was genuinely scary.

We're going to leave it there for now, and next time we'll pick up with the aftermath of almost getting eaten by a Balrog and losing the mentor wizard of the party. We've only got four more chapters to go, so let's see what the pacing and party dynamics do as we head for Lothlorien sans wizard.

#reread #the fellowship of the ring #the lord of the rings #lotr #the bridge of khazad-dum #fantasy books #books and reading #books #books and novels

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