#and even though I don't do much device repair at work right now it's probably one of the only parts that I actually enjoy

[corbinite]

I just had an epiphany that device repair might actually be a career for me and I might just abandon the thought of eventually owning a nursery

[sirfrogsworth]

Okay, the jump start battery thingie failed miserably. So my brother recommended a NOCO Genius device to charge and repair the battery.

So far I was able to charge it and now I am setting it to repair mode. I think it might take until morning to finish.

I probably could have tried to start the car after charging, but I can't really drive anywhere tonight so I figured I'd do the full repair to give it the best chance of working.

Of all the things I didn't need right now, I didn't need this right now the most.

I'm just really struggling to life right now. Had a major breakdown this morning and Katrina had to talk me through it. Even though she is struggling with her own grief after losing her dog. I feel guilty because I don't want to lean on one person too much.

[tsukioreo]

I heard you were having some troubles with devices breaking for you and so you’ve opted to doing commissions? I’m unable to pay for a big commission but I was wondering if you have a patron so I could support you there? I’d love to be able to support you but as I said I currently am unable to pay a large sum for a commission sadly, though I would love to one day as your art is magnificent. Thank you and have a nice day! <3

Oh wow that's like... so damn adorable and sweet ?? I don't have a patreon sadly tho I have a ko-fi ( https://ko-fi.com/tsukioreo ) but it's just for donation so please don't worry about it, my laptop and phone are not related to my art, not completely so I feel kinda not legitimate to ask help about it...

Tho I'm taking the opportunity to rant about my current situation cause it's just blowing my mind and I am so super exhausted on a daily because of it.

I have (well had now yeay -_-) a lenovo legion laptop which was my everyday useful, very good for staying at anytime with my rabbit in the living room and playing some games here and there, photoshop, the basic. Tho I had a crack on the top lid and because of that I was scared to close it and decided to repair that issue since the cracked appeared to get bigger. I gave it to a repair shop ( just remindind that I live in Japan so shops with english speakers is a bit rare, I speak japanese tho for some technical issues I prefer to be able to understand everything fully and since no one speaks french, english is somewhat possible to find ). They gave me a diagnostic with so many problems in the laptop : a fan which was broken, the lid, another crack in a screw hole or whatever that was and the hinges which had to be changed. The shop has good review so I didn't question it and I got pics so yeah alright I accept to repair it for 55.000yen, which is a lot of money considering it's more than half of my salary. But I want to repair it, my mom gifted me this computer and I love it. After I got a call from the shop that the replacement pieces have arrived I gave the machine and I was told that I could get it back the same day or the next. I didn't have any news the next day so I decided to call and on the phone "Oh yeah, thanks for calling, well bad news your computer isn't responding anymore" well great my computer worked absolutely fine, never had any issue. They said that probably the fan they installed fried my motherboard so it's just... dead. The repair service killed my laptop.

To make it even better, the day I gave my laptop to them, the same night I noticed my phone back camera had ceased to work... How great right. In Japan, it's like COMMON to use QR code to order at the restaurant etc so I absolutely need it. It's an iPhone, and it's not under warranty so I can't go through Apple or it'll cost way too much in here, I decided to go to an electronic shop, with again a lot of good reviews, to handle it. They don't speak english but we understand each other well enough. I was told that the new camera would arrive in 2-3 days and here I am a week later still waiting. They also scared me by saying that there is a risk the screen would crack while opening the device and if it happens I'd have to pay extra 30.000yen for the new screen, dude isn't it your job to repair things without breaking those further ?? What is going on, is it so normal what the hell.

So for the laptop we decided that they would order a computer (used one) to replace mine, almost identical except for the CPU, and that they'd refund me 10.000yen of the price I paid, which isn't so bad and actually I don't have much choice. But still they need so many days, it's been like what, 4 days the other laptop got delivered and I got a call about the keyboard cause japanese keyboards don't have as much symbols as french ones and I need those to write in my language.. And that'd take another 2 days to just change the keyboard.

I am just soooo tired of the situation, especially cause I am finally going to vacation with my SO next week and they don't make the problem they created a priority... and the phone shop keeping to say everytime I ask for news on the phone "yeah it will arrive tomorrow or the day after tomorrow" for a week now...

So sorry for the rant but I am so damn stressed, it has nothing to do with you guys and I am so happy to have your support, honestly it's my only fuel right now. I haven't drawn for a week and getting that commission helped a lot, tho messages and love will always remain the best.

I appreciate all of you, thank you always

❤️

[storyinmypocket]

I'm a nerd, raised by nerds. I like learning and tinkering! It's fun!

I'm also middle-aged, disabled, and cursed with a raging case of AuDHD, so I am in total agreement with this addition.

In the past few years, I've been getting more and more Apple devices. I'm ideologically opposed to a lot of Apple's bullshit, and I've ranted plenty in my life about Apple's walled garden and its refusal to let people repair their own shit (part of me still doesn't completely trust any computer that won't let me open it up and mess with its guts) but Apple products look and feel nice to use, and work right out of the box with a minimum of fuckery. I need devices I can still use when sick and brainfogged with no need to troubleshoot regularly. At this point in my life, that's non-negotiable.

I also have a home-built gaming PC, and a Raspberry Pi which runs Home Assistant with AdGuard as an addon. I love how much I can do with my little Pi. I don't love how I've had to start from scratch multiple times, though, because I realized x configuration would let me do more stuff I wanted, but oh shit, x configuration doesn't support device y without me needing to learn things a, b, and c... And sorry, I'd rather have the automations for my disabled ass working right now, for some weird reason.

I think the problem is that a lot of things like the Raspberry Pi and Linux spawned from hobbyist culture, where none of these things were necessary, so the culture valued mastery, with the rationale that if you don't want to do it the hard way, you filthy casuals can go back to your nice safe pre-built Windows PCs. I mean, I remember when Ubuntu was first introduced and some of the old-school folks were up in arms, convinced that the 'dumbing down' of Linux would ruin everything.

But the kind of gatekeeping that kept hobbyist discussions productive backfired long ago, and even its gentler, "Here's a tutorial! It's easy!" form still keeps people from accessing the things that could help them circumvent manufacturer greed. A lot of the people who find the number of ads added to things make the devices they paid for unusable don't have the time or technical skill to master the tools to solve their problems. It's not about bragging rights or showing off for your geek friends, but about just getting a solution that works even when you have jobs/children/disabilities that mean you literally do not have the time and mental energy required to master this new thing.

Unfortunately, the other side of the problem is that it's because these tools are built by hobbyists who don't have a financial stake in their software's success that they're both so intimidating to get started with, and also so effective. People aren't being paid to make these resources available, so they tend to make things for people at their level or slightly below, and user-friendliness comes later. But making these tools for-profit invites the same enshittification that got you unskippable repetitive ads in the first place.

I don't really have any good solutions, just the thought that if I go deeper into coding and FOSS, I should probably direct my efforts towards making things more user-friendly, before anything else. Let the people with higher proficiency mess around with the functional stuff, and just allow my relative ignorance to work in my favor when it comes to relating to people who just need a thing that works in a way they can wrap their heads around.

WTF do you mean jailbreaking my "smart" TV to install Linux in order to run adblock on my TV would be "Felony Contempt of Buisiness Model" That sounds like a crime made up by The Board in Outer Worlds.

[gojogloomy]

SERENDIPITY - ch.3

— SYNOPSIS ; Hayakawa Aki was now at the mercy of the very thing he thought he had power over. Will the devil turn the tables on him, or will it show him remorse even after all he’s done?

CW ; more blood, cigarettes, light angst.

WC ; 2.5k

“The Medium”

Reluctant fondness

Even after having your home intruded on, being talked down to and restrained for the past hour - you knew Hayakawa Aki wasn't a bad person.

He tries to act like he is, likes he's mean, malicious and doesn't care for anything that isn't humane nor worth his time. But the truth is no matter what; he will always care somewhat and often times more about others than himself.

So when you lifted his once white undershirt up to try and get a look at the wound, you already predicted Hayakawa's protests.

"Don't touch me, Devil— What are you trying to do?" he roared, clearly feeling upset about the lack of control he has in this situation. Aki didn't like to feel at the mercy of others.

"I'm not trying to hurt you, I promise." you could now tell that the source of all this blood was a slice in his lower abdomen. The tear wasn't deep enough to die or bleed out immediately upon infliction but sharp enough to cause serious damage if left open and not stitched.

Was he really that confident his device would work or was he just refusing to receive help nor be seen vulnerable in front of a "devil"?

"I swear if... if y-you do anything to me I’ll—" he couldn't even get the words out due to the fit of coughing that overtook him straight afterwards.

Aki was making empty threats and he knew it. He was verging death and couldn't move an inch; but he refused to give up. He was sure that you'd use his body for food or to control as a mindless fiend.

"Have I done anything so far to disprove your trust? You may not want me to right now, but I don't want you to die so I'm going to help you."

You knew he wouldn't cooperate easy, and by the time you would have convinced him via word - Hayakawa would've already been limp. Going against his own wishes was the only way.

It was awkward and a little difficult considering your hands were still tightly cuffed and confined, but you pressed both of your palms against the wound then applied pressure, as much as you could whilst trying not to hurt him.

Aki's skin felt ice-cold beneath your fingers and it felt as though his blood was the only thing keeping his body warm.

At this point Aki was too weak to say anything - he could only lie back and trust you. He watched your hands intently, after you removed them - it was as though you took the wound with it.

How was that possible? For his wound to just disperse like it was never there. For the tissue and cells to just repair itself without a trace.

He could already feel majority of his strength returning to him, and that awful heavy weight he felt on his chest causing him to cough persistently, sometimes even blood, was also gone.

The evidence was still there. His clothes remained bloodied, so was the snow around him and even the very hand you used to touch him with was dirtied with his scarlet and yet...

"How did you do that?" Aki was mesmerised by such an ability - he had never witnessed anything like it.

The snow came down from the cerulean sky nonetheless, as though to disguise the bloody scene displayed.

"It's just something I learned," you replied, a little relieved and content now that Hayakawa seemed to not be verging death anymore. His breathing was fine and his face wasn't screwed up in pain any longer.

"Learned? Have you done this before?" he questioned, slowly rising up from beneath the tree. He looked like he'd seen better days, surely.

"Yeah I have, on even worse wounds." you didn't mind answering Aki's persistent questions, you were sure he was perplexed at what just happened and probably you would be too in the opposite situation.

"Hmm," he hummed to himself before reaching into his pocket to grab the pack of cigarettes he stored in there earlier. He figured he deserved one, surely, after failing his job, having his car get snowed in, having to walk with an open wound for over an hour and just barely escaping death by the slither of a hair.

But then again, he didn't escape death all by himself did he? After positioning the cigar nice and stable between his teeth, he flicked his thumb rapidly over the lighter until the bitter scent of smoke and tabasco filled the air.

He glanced over at the devil who saved his life, no, it didn't feel right to call you that anymore. If anything, angel would be more fitting, right?

The face was pursed as though you were thinking and your hands were still tainted with his blood. Aki decided now was about time to cut the awkward silence.

"I don't particularly like feeling indebted to people." he spoke, exhaling the smoke out from his lungs - his very lungs that almost failed on him a few minutes ago along with the rest of his organs.

You couldn't help but notice that Hayakawa said 'people'? Does that mean...

"However, I can't deny that you did save my life and proved me wrong. So tell me now - what do you want?"

Aki has never considered himself a generous person. Everyday he makes selfish decisions and constantly puts himself first.

But he'd just be plain ignorant if he didn't acknowledge that you've been unnecessarily kind to him, even after he's done and said so much to you. He figured you deserved some credit.

And even now after all this time, you still stood as timid and awkward as about an hour ago when he just met you.

"Well I don't usually ask for things... I just helped you because I wanted to not 'cuz I expected anything in return but..."

"...But?" he picked up - mimicking your tone as he said the word and taking another drag from his cigarette. You were struggling to maintain eye-contact with him, just what were you about to ask?

After a deep courageous inhale, you spoke again, "Well I know you probably think it's stupid but seriously, I'm still worried sick about my bunny. I don't want her to starve to death and—"

Aki raised his hand as though to say 'Alright, i've heard enough.' That made you anxious, as though he was refusing you.

But without any words he unclipped the sachet filled with carrots from your waist and attached it to his own.

"I'll find her, okay? I'm sure that if she's that hungry, she'll come running from the smell of the carrots. Plus, I have a keen sense of smell myself." he grinned. It seemed Hayakawa was actually quite determined.

You almost snorted a little before saying "Yeah? well not if your nose is filled with the smell of your cigarettes."

He chuckled a little before tossing out the cigarette, crushing it beneath his black shoe on the snow. It was about finished anyways.

Before Aki left however, he had to take precautions.

He pulled you gently by the wrists off of the main snowy road and more over to the side where many trees stood, almost beside the tree he was leaned up against.

He found an extremely thin oak tree and decided here was a good spot.

"What are you doing, Hayakawa?" you asked, watching him unclasp one handcuff off of your hand.

"Just making sure." he answered, heavily ambiguously. Though you've been pretty obedient, Aki is a thorough man.

"There." he sighed, pulling back from you.

"Did you really have to cuff me to the tree?" the audacity of this man, after you saved his life.

“Yeah, I did. I'll be back soon don't worry," but before Aki was about to turn on his heel to leave, he noticed something that made his heart stop for a split second.

...

"Why are you bleeding?" he was surprised he hadn't noticed sooner, that now a scarlet omitting from your own body was staining your clothes. He should've noticed since he experienced it himself.

That slight scrunch of the face as every movement becomes painful, that laboured breathing, poor posture.

You didn't seem too concerned at all by this though.

"When I healed you earlier, I didn't exactly make the cut disappear," you started. "I transferred it to me, so—"

"Why the fuck would you do that??" Aki almost seemed angry? But you couldn't understand why he was upset with you for this. What changed? You still healed him either way.

He could just about smell the confusion on your face and spoke again "Now you're bleeding out. How are you going to stop it?"

It wasn't that Aki was actually angry at you. But he was angry at himself now because he was beginning to feel guilty. You who has treated him so kindly never deserved to take on such a wound, especially since it rightfully belonged to him first.

You just sighed, a little lethargic "Hayakwa. I'll be fine. I'm a devil, remember?"

Aki knew this was an indirect reminder to how he treated you earlier with a lack of sympathy. And he honestly does regret it— especially after knowing you aren't anything evil at all.

But he's been killing devils for so long and has never encountered anything like this before. He felt as though he was within his rights to be suspicious. Nonetheless though, he was wrong and it was only right to make it up to you.

"Then..." he couldn't take his eyes off of the dark patch in your clothes. "Do you need some of my blood to heal yourself?"

The fact he was willing to go to such lengths made you crack a genuine heartfelt smile. Perhaps this is what they call 'character development'.

"I'll be fine, I promise. All I just need is sleep and i'll be good. The cut will fix itself," 

Though you didn't end up needing his help after all, the sentiment was very much appreciated. You felt warm, even in the snow, knowing that Hayakawa was beginning to trust you even just a little now.

You sat yourself down beside your cuffed tree, already beginning to feel your eyelids weigh heavy.

"Come on, don't worry about me. Just find Usagi for me, yeah?" you yawned, a little sleepy yet trying to relieve him just a little.

He sighed before finally speaking up again, "Yeah, will do."

This time, he meant it as a promise.

After seeing Aki's figure slowly disappear off into the foggy distance of the snow, you slowly felt yourself drifting off into deep slumber. 

Just how long had the two of you been out here in the snow for? you figured it's been around two hours by now and still barely any progress.

Due to all the circumstances, you almost forgot why you were even out here in the first place. Did perhaps Aki forget too?

After becoming so acquainted and personal with each other, just what is the point of this journey anymore?

...

Something felt wet.

You were slightly used to feeling a bit wet here and there from the particles of snow melting on your body every now and then but this feeling was extremely different.

Like rough, coarse, moist sandpaper pushing against your cheek.

When you opened your eyes, still heavy from sleeping, you realised it was your beloved bunny Usagi licking your cheek and Hayakawa stood aside looking quite proud of himself.

"Usagi!!" you exclaimed, voice higher than ever. You couldn't believe your adorable grey and white floppy-eared bunny was back.

Even though Usagi wasn't a complete white bunny, you still figured she'd be hard to spot within the snow. Apparently not a problem for Hayakawa who found her in less than under 30 minutes.

"I was worried my wound killed you for a second back there," he sighed, witty as ever.

You smiled at him and shook your head, standing up from beneath the tree. "It'll take a lot more than that to kill me, Hayakawa."

"Yeah, apparently so," Aki agreed, watching as the small bunny hopped around your feet in circles excitedly.

"Is your wound okay now then?" he still couldn't waver his eyes from the dark patch, but it hadn't appeared to grow any bigger from the last time he saw it.

"Yeah I'm fine. It's already stopped bleeding." you breathed, feeling as good as new.

"Think I can part ways with this tree now then?" you jested, shaking your wrists for emphasis.

"Not sure, I'll have to think it over first." he replied, voice as low and serious as ever whilst turning a small silver key within the lock and taking the handcuffs off of you.

You rotated your wrists around, feeling relieved from the lack of metallic weight on them and happy to finally move them without restriction anymore — but why did he take them off completely? You thought he'd only uncuff you from the tree. Does that mean he trusts you now?

"I'm sure your hands will be too full to pull anything anyways," he spoke, bending down to pick up Usagi and placing her in your arms.

"Yeah, you're right." you agreed, reaching over to your satchel he was still wearing and feeding her a carrot. Aki chuckled and continued to trudge forward through the snow, reaching into his pockets for yet another cigarette. You tagged on behind him.

"I'm sure you know this already but..." you paused, anticipating his reaction. Aki turned his head to you, making a 'hm?' noise as he waited for you to continue.

For some reason, it was now out of all times that you've really started noticed how handsome Hayakawa really was. His cheeks were still flushed a tint of red all the while and his hair, still littered with snow, still looked as gorgeous as ever.

His top button to his undershirt was unintentionally undone, probably happened at some point earlier when he was struggling to breathe. And—

"Are you okay?" Aki asked, his cigarette stuffed between his index and middle finger whilst he used the other hand to fan over your face to catch your attention.

"Yeah sorry, just zoned out for a second..." you mumbled, ears beginning to burn with embarrassment. "Anyways, like I was saying, those things are bad for you. I don't like them." you pointed at his cigar, making him chuckle.

"Yeah... I said I'd never smoke one but you know," Hayakawa let a smile slip whilst saying this, clearly fondly reminiscent over his early days of smoking.

Seeing him in such a state, you wished you could always see him smile like that.

"I suppose your healing powers wouldn't work on my lungs, huh?" he chuckled, feeling a little humorous and light from the cigarette.

"I dunno, will you pay me?" you humoured back at him, to which he simply raised an eyebrow at you as if in slight disbelief.

Despite his now playful and lighthearted attitude, Aki's mind was far from happy right now. In fact, he was dealing with an internal dilemma, and he knew he'd have to face you about it soon.

A/N ; ohmagawd, ur free trial of angst has expired ☃️ hopefully u can live in peace now!

(or has it?)

Oh, and here’s part 4

[mypoisonedvine]

Getting In Tune | Chris Evans x reader fluff

summary: taking house calls as a piano tuner doesn’t usually mean meeting hot guys… mostly just old ladies who offer you lemonade, which is great and all, but did not prepare you for an appointment to tune chris evans’ full grand.

word count: 3.7k

warnings: swearing, dirty jokes about pianos, allusions to nsfw things?? vaguely?, mostly just fluff and flirting and awkwardness

Checking that the address on your worksheet matched the one on the door in front of you, you reviewed the nature of the appointment as your boss had written out for you: 

Customer: Christopher Evans

Appointment type: Warranty tuning and check-up

Arrival time: 10 a.m. 

You checked your watch and saw that it was 9:58, but hopefully that wouldn’t bother him too much.  Leaning forward, you knocked on the door and waited.  You could hear a dog barking inside, running up to the other side of the door as someone unlocked the bolt and cracked it open, poking his head out while he held the dog back with his leg.

He seemed a little surprised to see you standing there, made even more apparent by the fact that he was obviously wearing pajamas— specifically, a baggy tank top and gingham flannel pants.  A few tattoos were visible on his arms and collarbones, though you tried not to stare at them or anything.

“Did you not know you had an appointment today?” you asked him.  When he didn’t answer, you tried to give a bit more of a prompting.  “I’m here from Boston Steinway…?”

“Right, right,” he agreed, “uh, let me put the dog out, and… put on a shirt…”

“Good idea,” you suggested, “I’ll be here!” 

He smiled at you one more time before shutting the door again, his footsteps shuffling away as you waited for his return.  Thankfully it was a nice day out so you weren’t too cold in your work uniform (yes, you felt like a total dork having to wear a polo with a nametag on it, but such is the life of a piano tuner).  When you heard the dog run into the backyard, and the sound of Chris coming back to open the door, you took a moment to straighten yourself in hopes of looking like you’d been waiting patiently.

“Come in please,” he offered as he opened the door one more time, wearing a navy sweater and jeans now (and a NASA ball cap, for whatever reason) and stepping aside to invite you in.

“I hope I didn’t scare you too much,” you smiled as you stepped past him, letting him shut the door behind you, “a lot of people forget when I’m supposed to show up, trust me.”  You shuddered as you remembered those times you caught people in a lot worse than pajamas.

“No, I knew somebody was coming today, I just… wasn’t expecting…” he trailed off.

“A girl?” you finished for him with a smirk.

“I… yeah, I guess I wasn’t expecting a girl,” he laughed, looking a little embarrassed.

"Well, piano tuning is a real boy's club," you joked.  

"Is it?" he asked sincerely.

"Um, no, not particularly."

"Oh."

After an awkward moment passed while you cringed internally at your failed joke, he finally guided you across the house to where the piano was; you set your toolbag down beside it, stepping back to admire the instrument.  “It’s gorgeous,” you told him.

“Oh, thanks,” he smiled a little.  “Yeah, she’s a beaut.”

“How long have you been playing?” you asked.  “Or are you one of those people who keeps it mostly for decoration.”

“Decoration?” he repeated incredulously.  “Do people do that?”

“Yeah,” you nodded, “more often than not I end up doing cosmetic repairs instead of internal ones because families are basically using this as the most expensive object possible to put framed family photos on.”

“That’s ridiculous,” he scoffed, “I mean, I’m sure I’m not using this thing the way it deserves, cause I’m still not very good at it but… yeah, at least I play it a few times a week.”

“Good, it deserves that,” you agreed.  “Mind if I…?”

“Oh, go ahead,” he prompted, stepping back and motioning for you to touch the piano.  You didn’t sit down, just leaning over to do a quick scale up and back down.  "Anyways, I think it's mostly fine but those higher notes are getting kinda squeaky…" he mumbled.

"Right,” you noted, messing around with the keys near the top to check what he’d said, “well, they do that, especially out here with these cold winters making the strings tighten up.  Should be fixable."

“Great,” he smiled.

“Alright, pretty girl, let’s take a look at your guts,” you grinned, groaning a bit as you lifted the heavy lid to see the strings inside.  "It's in great shape,” you observed aloud, “this can't be more than a few years old."

"Yeah, I got it pretty recently actually.  It's never been tuned before."

"Oh, this is its first time?" you smirked, leaning in to whisper to the strings: "don't worry, I'll be gentle."

He blushed a little as he laughed, making you pretty sure your joke hadn't gone too far.

“You, uh, don’t have to be around for this part,” you informed him.  “I mean, unless you want to, but it’ll just be me messing around in here for a few hours.

“No, I’ll give you some space,” he decided, “just let me know if you need anything.  Do you want, like, water or something?”

“I’m fine, but thanks,” you dismissed, “just continue as if I wasn’t here.”

“Oh, you don’t wanna see that,” he disagreed, looking like he regretted saying it as soon as he finished his sentence.  You felt your face warm and hoped he just meant that he’d be eating cheetos out of the bag in his underwear and not anything more… mature.  

As he awkwardly shuffled away, you opened your toolbox and got to work.  Your first task was to get a pitch reader so you could figure out how well-tuned each string was— you set that on the soundboard and got to work testing keys and reading the little digital display of your device.  Once that told you how much work each key needed, it was easy to just put your tuning hammer on one pin at a time, loosening or tightening until the pitch was just right.  You couldn’t just start at one side and tune all the way up to the other, oh no, there was a very specific ideal tuning order that you’d memorized by now: first the middle strings of the octaves from C3 to C5, then the one of each of the unison strings in the double bass section, then the middle strings from C5 to C8, then the lower single bass strings, then every left string of all the unisons from C3 to C8, then the rest of the double bass section, and finally all the right strings from C3 to C8.

Easy peasy, right?

It actually sort of would be, if you hadn’t gotten stuck on the unison bass string of E flat 3, your tuning hammer suddenly unable to turn even when you tried to brace yourself against the piano for some leverage.

"Um, Mr. Evans?" you called out.

"Yup!" he answered, swinging out from the entryway instantly— he must have been waiting just outside, which made you feel a little like you were being spied on.  

"Would you maybe come over here and use your manly-man strength on this?"

"My what now?" he laughed, walking towards you.

"You know," you explained by flexing your biceps and making a sort of serious face; your charades version of what a muscular man looked like, apparently.

"Oh, I see," he nodded, "my—" and he repeated the charade, except it made your face warm and your eyes all but bulge out of your head.  That was him jokingly flexing?!  What did he look like when he was actually trying to show his muscles?

You tore yourself from that train of thought as he leaned over the edge of the piano, gripping the tuning hammer you'd left on the pin there.

"This one?" he asked.

"Yeah, just give it a little nudge counter-clockwise, please."

He did it like it was no trouble at all.

"You could've at least pretended it was difficult," you rolled your eyes.

"No, you loosened it up for me," he winked.  WINKED.  Was he trying to kill you or something?  "Chris is fine," he said abruptly.

Chris is fine indeed, your brain supplied instantly.  "I'm sorry?" you choked out aloud instead.

"You can call me Chris, I mean," he explained.  "You called me Mr. Evans before."

"Oh, right," you nodded.  "Chris.  Thanks for your help with that, Chris."

"Sure thing," he smiled.

Just as the conversation began to lull, you could hear the dog whining and scratching at the back door, and you felt so guilty that he had been left outside.  “You can let the dog back in, you know,” you suggested, “I don’t mind.”

“I shouldn’t,” he shook his head, “he’ll jump all over you and stuff…”

“No, really, it’s fine, I love dogs,” you assured him.

“Alright, just prepare yourself,” he chuckled a little as he slipped over to the back door to let the dog in.  Running past his owner instantly and straight to you, you knelt down to let it lick your face as you laughed.

“Hi puppy!” you greeted.  “Oh, thank you for the kisses, it’s nice to meet you!”  He calmed down a bit when you scratched behind his ears, wiggling and putting his paws up on your knees.  “What’s his name?” you asked, turning your attention to Chris who had his arms crossed and a prideful smile on his face.

“Dodger,” he informed you with a nod.

“Aw, hi Dodger,” you cooed at the pup, “I’d sit here and pet you all day, but your dad’s not paying me to play with you— apparently.”

Chris laughed a bit as you stood up, and Dodger actually took it pretty well, dashing to curl up on the nearest couch as you got back to work on the piano.  

“I’m just about halfway done,” you informed him as you started to move on to the next string, occasionally plucking the string to test that the pitch was right.

“I’ve never heard a piano plucked before,” he observed, leaning in to watch you work.

“Yeah, probably better to just stick to hitting the keys,” you smirked.

“Psh, anybody can do that,” he scoffed, “you could invent a whole new genre of music!”

"I'll leave the musical experimentation to you," you decided, "and I'll stay on this side of the action board."

"See, I didn't even know that was a part of the piano," he admitted.

"And that's why you're on that side."

You two chatted while you worked— he asked some questions about you, you asked some questions about him, classic small talk sort of stuff.  He managed to keep it interesting, though, and keep you laughing throughout the whole conversation.  It was significantly more fun than you usually had during house calls like this, and instead of distracting you it actually seemed to help you keep your focus.  It was easier to talk to him when you could keep your eyes on the strings anyways: looking right at him was sort of overwhelming.

With the last string adjusted, you slipped the tuning hammer into your back pocket and dusted off your hands as you stepped back to admire your work.

"That's it?" he asked as he stood up from the couch, noticing the signs of completion.

"It is if it sounds good!" you smiled.  "Go ahead, take it for a spin," you suggested.  "Play something and tell me if it sounds how you want."

"Okay," he nodded, slipping around the bench and sliding onto it.  He took a breath before he placed his hands on the keys, but then suddenly stopped and set them back on his lap with a sigh as he turned to you.  "Um, it's a little weird with you watching me."

"Oh, are you not used to performance?"

"Not outside of my family and friends and stuff, no."

"I don't really have to be here for this part, as long as you're happy with it then that's fine," you shrugged, "but you know, I wanna be able to fix any issues while I'm still here—"

"No, it’s not a big deal," he shook his head quickly, "I should get over myself.  I guess it's just scary cause you've probably heard people a lot better than me play…"

"Don't worry about that," you laughed, "just play something, really, I won't judge."

He spun back to face the keys, placing his hands on them— for a second you wondered if he struggled to hit just one key at a time with those thick fingers, but you pushed that thought away quickly.

As he started to play, you found yourself focusing on the music more than the sound of the keys like you should've been.  He was good, actually, although you could hear the hesitance in the way he played.  He didn't rush as much as most people did, though; he was savoring the piece, one note at a time, and you let your eyes fall shut as he continued to play.

You broke from your trance when he suddenly stopped, repeating the phrase he'd just finished and stopping on the same note.

"Does this one sound kinda… off to you?" he asked.

"Um," you paused, "play it again?"

He poked the key with one finger a few times, and you frowned.  "I can't really tell." You stepped forward and leaned over his shoulder, caging his body in accidentally as your arms wrapped around his shoulders to fiddle with the keys in front of him.  You rested your knee on the bench beside his legs, not even realizing that it was a massive invasion of his personal space until you were already in it.

He moved his hands out of the way so you could repeat the phrase, and although you didn't hear anything wrong, you felt the key sticking.

"Oh," you mumbled to yourself, "it's the key, not the string."

"Can you fix it?" he asked looking up at you.

"Yeah, I—" you stopped in the middle of your word as you looked back at him because his face was really close, so close that his bright blue eyes were burning right through you; so close that you completely lost your train of thought.  "I can fix anything," you finished softly.

"Great," he whispered back, eyes seeming to glance down to your lips quickly before moving back up to meet your gaze.

You cleared your throat as you stepped back, giving him space again as you nervously crossed your arms.  "It's probably just something stuck under there or whatever, but I can order a replacement key if not."

"Right," he agreed with a nod, sliding to the side of the bench to give you room to fiddle with it.  You grabbed your smaller toolkit and sat beside him, starting with your flashlight to see if there was anything hiding underneath there.

Moving to peer behind the action frame, you realized it was a problem with the hammer hitting the string— or, more specifically, with the mechanism that kept the hammer balanced.  All you had to do was reach in with a long screwdriver and shift some parts around, and it seemed to be back in working order.

“Play it again?” you requested, and he slid back to the middle and started the piece over.  He grinned when he reached the part he’d stopped at before, flying through the phrase without stopping.

“Hey!  You fixed it!” he beamed.

“I’m a genius,” you shrugged, smirking a little.  He stopped playing and you found yourself a little disappointed by that, unexpectedly.  “Any other musical ailments I can magically cure for you today?”

“Unless you can make me a better sight reader, that’ll be all,” he smiled, standing up from the bench.

“Ah, if I could do that, I’d be using that power on myself.”

He shrugged; "Fair enough."

"Well, I'll leave you to it then," you announced as you put the last of your tools away and picked up your bag.  "Hope I didn't disrupt your day too much."

"You did, actually— in a good way," he grinned.  "I definitely learned a lot more than I was going to just watching TV and drinking beer."

You followed him back to the front door, which he opened for you.  "You can always give us a call if you need anything.  Um, anything piano-related, that is.  Tell the dog I said goodbye, okay?"

Chris smiled a little, softer than his normal expression.  "I'll be sure he gets the message."

As you got back in your car, you took a minute to just catch your breath for the first time since you'd gotten here.  Trying to be funny and cute and charming when all you wanna do is stutter and gawk and melt is exhausting!  As enjoyable as it was, in a certain sense, you were relieved at the idea of returning to your routine— which typically did not include super hot dudes chatting you up at work.

//

“This must be a mistake,” you shook your head as you showed the work order form to your boss, “I was at this address two weeks ago, the piano’s in perfect condition.”

“Well, he has an unlimited warranty, so either something happened since you were there last, or you fucked something up when you were there last, or he’s just determined to get his money’s worth out of us,” she explained without looking up from her computer.

You sighed and left, heading back to the same address and hoping you weren’t about to get chewed out for somehow ruining Chris’ like-new piano.

Knocking on the door, you found yourself chewing your lip as you waited for him to answer the door.  You were a little surprised when he answered in a button-up and slacks— entirely opposite to pajamas, although you sort of missed that get-up if you were being honest.

“Hey,” he greeted with a grin, stepping back to motion for you to come inside.

“Hi,” you responded awkwardly as you stepped past him.  “Is... everything alright with the piano?  I didn’t damage it, did I?”

He cleared his throat as he shut the door behind you, the size of the hallway forcing the two of you to stand slightly closer together than you would’ve personally preferred; it was hard to focus with him so close, sometimes.  “No, no, it’s not that,” he answered, “the piano’s fine, I just…” he stammered a little, starting over.  “Uh, there was something I wanted to ask you about last time, and I called the Steinway store but I couldn’t figure out how to call you specifically, so I just had to make a new tuning appointment.”

You furrowed your brow with confusion, not sure why someone else on the phone couldn’t answer whatever question he had, but decided to let him go through with his thought.  “What did you wanna ask me?”

“Uh, I just wanted to ask you… out,” he finished plainly.

You paused as you processed that.  “Out?”

“Like, I was wondering if you’d wanna… go out, with me.”

You hoped your face didn’t give away all of your shock, but at the same time, you figured it probably did.

He winced as you continued to stare at him in silence.  “I’m kind of out on a limb here,” he reminded you.

“Right, I’m sorry,” you shook your head, “um, I guess I’m just sort of surprised because you’re, like… hot, and stuff.”

“And stuff?”

“Yeah, like… nice…” you explained.

“Hot and nice?” he laughed.  “Slow down, you’ll give me an ego.”

You laughed, too, and less nervously than you expected.  Feeling the rare urge to be spontaneous, you scratched your neck as you prepared to propose an idea.  “Listen, so, this might be crazy but... I have another appointment today, at the Symphony Hall— it’s a final tune-up on the pianos and harps before this massive concerto thing and they always let me stay to watch the performance afterwards.  If you came with me, I could get you in for free.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I mean, you probably have better things to do today—”

“I don’t,” he refuted.

“And if you just wanted to, like, get lunch some time then that would be great, I just thought I might as well invite you to hear the chamber orchestra from the best seat in the house,” you shrugged.

“The best seat?” he questioned incredulously.  “And where is that?”

“The rafters,” you laughed.

And that was how you and Chris ended up sitting on the steel catwalk suspended on the ceiling of the Boston Symphony Hall, dangling your feet over the edge as the sounds of the concerto echoed out from the stage, over the silent audience and, finally, up to you two.

The music was incredible, if a little quiet from where you were listening, and so soothing that you felt compelled to close your eyes and focus on the sound.  You were partial to the piano, as always, but the violins and cellos in harmony made your chest warm unexpectedly.  Or maybe that was from the feeling of Chris’ gaze on you, as you opened your eyes to find him looking at your face rather than the performance below.  

“What are you looking at me for?” you asked him with a nervous laugh.

“For fun,” he shrugged.

“Doesn’t seem very exciting,” you scoffed, looking back to the stage.

“Oh, it’s exciting,” he mumbled his reply as he returned his gaze to the performance as well.  

Your cheeks burned when you heard that, in spite of the fact that it was actually a bit drafty in the auditorium.  Even though your nerves were buzzing with anxiety, a rush of bravery struck you and suddenly you were leaning your head onto his shoulder.  Just the warmth of him through his shirt— hell, even the smell of his cologne— somehow managed to relax you and energize you simultaneously.  His hand gingerly slipping around your waist was even better.

After this many years of tuning pianos, it felt like you were getting yourself in tune for the first time.

[hot-wiings]

The One Where Prohero!Deku Says He Won't Be Home The Night Before Christmas, But Suddenly Santa Claus Shows Up At The Door, Flirting With His Wife And Frightening His Daughter.

Edited: 12-16-2020

You folded one leg over the other as you sat on your couch in front of the TV. With a glass of pinot wine in one hand and the remote in your other, you flipped through the channels, looking for a better news outlet that was able to get closer to the current ongoing fight. The fight of a villain versus Pro-Hero Deku. Tragically, this was a nightly ritual for you. Every night after dinner, after dessert, after you'd gotten your daughter settled in the bath or bed, you would pour a glass of wine and watch your husband on national television. With a pinched heart and high nerves, you would watch him duel it out with some new villains, all the while hoping like crazy he was okay. All the whole praying to God he made it out alive. 

This was the life of being the wife to the number one hero. You knew what you were getting into when you began dating. You knew it would be hard being quirkless and helplessly watching from the sidelines as he rose to fame, close to being more needed and out in more danger. You the costs, you knew the risk, and while you wouldn't change any of it, it didn't make it any less hard to see him go, it didn't make it any less hard seeing him on the television, fighting for citizens. Fighting to make the world a safer place, for you and your daughter.

"Mommy, is daddy gonna be okay?"

Your daughter clutched onto your arm, pulling on your shirt to try and get your attention desperately as she watched her father battle live. She had a scared expression on her face, the expression you hid every time your husband walked out the door each morning. You sat your wine down on the lounge table in front of you before turning to her with a smile.

"Oh, sweetheart... Your father is always gonna be okay, he's the number one hero! He's good at what he does, and you know why he does it?"

"Why?"

"He does it for you, and he does it for me. He does it so we have a safe world to live in. He goes out there because he loves us, he's gonna come home every night because he loves us. Don't worry your pretty little head, alright?"

Your daughter turns her attention back to the TV, a smile on her face making the scared look disappear. You hated letting her watch Izuku's fights with you. While you did it to see him, to make sure he's okay, you didn't want her seeing that violent aspect in his life. You didn't want her seeing her father beat the living shit out of a villain, but how could you tell her no? You could remember watching All Might on TV as a child along side your brother Katuki. Watching the symbol of peace keeping the world safe installed you with a sense of hope as a quirkless child. He inspired you to be a hero despite being quirkless, he inspired you to be a hero support device inventor. It was your support items that your husband wore, and that kind of inspiration and hope was not something you could prevent your daughter from. Especially not when her father was the current symbol of peace.

You watched fondly as your daughter smiled up at the TV, as she smiled at her father fighting the villain. She was so immersed in the fight, such a fan like her father. Punch after punch, and swing after swing, using his shoot style, Izuku took the villain down. The heavyweight in your chest was lifted as he got to work on helping any civilians that got injured. Your daughter turned to you with a huge smile present as she started yawning through her words.

"Mommy, I wanna be just like daddy when I grow up. He's so awesome, he could defeat anybody."

"If that's what you want, then you can be a great hero when you grow up, just like daddy is."

You turned the TV off before lifting your daughter into your arms with a hefty sigh. She was getting older every year, older and heavier. While she wasn't extremely heavy, she wasn't a baby anymore. Soon the years of youth would fly by and you wouldn't be able to lift her. Your husband would have no problem, but you weren't built like that. It wasn't good to put so much stress on yourself. Desperately fighting off sleep, she rested her head on your shoulder as she tried to keep her eyes open. 

"Mommy, will daddy be home to tuck me in bed?"

"Not tonight honey. He's still got some stuff to do, probably won't be back for another hour or so, and you're already falling asleep as it is."

"Awe. I wanted to tell him that I wanna be him when I grow up. I miss him."

You placed your daughter on her bed and wrapped the blankets around her, tucking the covers under her body and feet, cocooning her in and prepping her for a chilly night. You turned around and grabbed her favorite stuffed animals off the shelf as you bit your lip. You missed him just as much as she did. Sometimes it was hard when he was gone for days on end fighting a villain and tracking them down. Though he always made up for it to you both, it always hurt when he was gone. You felt so emotional tonight. You wiped away a few stray tears and turned around with a smile so you could tuck her stuffed bunny under the blanket next to her. 

"I know baby, I miss him too, and he misses us just as much. But you know what? Tomorrow it'll be Christmas, so you, and Mister Bun-Bun need to go to sleep so Santa can come."

You booped her nose then proceeded to boop the stuffed bunnies nose so she wouldn't think he was disincluded before tucking them both in under the blankets again to make sure she was extra warm. The heater in the house broke so you were currently living off of heat from the fireplace until Izuku or the repair people could come, but that wasn't until after Christmas, and you weren't sure Izuku knew how. You knew sometime in the night your daughter would climb out of bed and come to your room to try and snuggle with you and Izuku, not that either of you minded. 

"And when you wake up daddy will be here, and he'll give you all the attention you want."

"Okay... Can he still come in and give me a goodnight even if I'm asleep?"

"Absolutely, Mister Bun-Bun too."

You pecked a kiss against your daughter's forehead, then you turned her night light on and shut her closet door, knowing that she would get scared. You made way to her bedroom door and looked over your shoulder to check on her. She was still fighting off inevitable sleep, nodding off and jerking her head up, trying to be awake, undoubtedly trying to stay awake until her father came home. 

"Mommy, can Mister Bun-Bun have a kiss too? He also wants the bedroom door left open... He gets scared."  

"If it makes Mister Bun-Bun feel safer I'll leave it open, but Mister Bun-Bun needs to know that I and daddy will always keep him safe just like we keep you safe."

You walked back over to her bed and placed a chaste kiss on the stuffed bunnies head before moving over to her head and giving her another one. You pulled back and smiled at her. 

"I love you, [D/N], never forget that."

"I love you too momma, good night."

You chuckled at her slurred words, sleep overtaking her body as you walked to her door and left it open just enough for the right amount of light to flood in and make 'Mister Bun-Bun' feel safe, but not enough to prevent her from sleeping.

You made your way to the kitchen and placed your phone onto the wireless charger that you kept on the window sill. You opened the notification bar searching for a message or missed call from Izuku to see none, he must still be out at the fight scene. With a pinched heart, you turned your ringtone to high just in case your husband did call. 

The hour slowly started to slip by as you made yourself busy with cleaning up the house. What started as dinner dishes turned into cleaning the oven, which then progressed into dusting all the fans and wall decor. Your mother-in-law and family would be coming over tomorrow anyway, so if you didn't do it now, you would be stressed about it tomorrow. From your spot in the living room, bent over and stripping down the couch cushion seat covers so you could wash them before tomorrow, you hadn't even heard the knob on the front door turn. You hadn't heard a male presence enter the house, much less directly behind you. In your utmost defense, he was trying especially hard to be quiet, and you had soft Christmas music coming from the stereo. 

With one arm swooping down and wrapping around your waist, the other went over your stomach while his head rested in the crook of your neck. You knew the hands, having felt the callused working fingers every day of your life for nearly the past decade, these hands were very familiar. However, despite the familiarity, when you were home alone, had been home alone with no one but your daughter for company, the touch of a male was very startling and scared you. You let out a little shriek as you let your body weight drop, bringing you to the floor with protective hands over your tummy. Your husband came tumbling on top of you due to his arms being wrapped around you. His chuckles resounded in your ear, warming up a pool in your stomach. The sound of his voice would never cease to bring butterflies, no matter how many years of marriage you had under your belt. It almost momentarily made you forget and set aside the anger of him scaring you. Almost.

"You jerk."

"Merry Christmas to you too."

Izuku adjusted your bodies so that he was no longer crushing you, but rather so you were both on your sides holding each other. After a week apart he wanted nothing more than to hold you, he wanted nothing more than to make up for the lost time. 

"You know I hate when you do that."

"Well, you know I hate when you stay up for me so I guess we're even."

"We both know you love it. You love coming home to me, love getting to kiss me, hug me, and cuddle me."

You let your head roll against Izuku's chest as he pulled his arms around you tighter. The feel of being together again in your cold home, warming you both and riding those sad feelings that haunted you both every night apart. 

"I'd still love coming home to find you asleep and well-rested, kisses can wait."

"Mm, I lucked out in the husband department didn't I? [D/N] wants a good night kiss even if she's already asleep."

You detangled yourself from Izuku and used the edge of the sofa to pull yourself up and prop yourself onto the edge of it. It was then that you noticed Izuku was wearing a Santa costume, belt, wig, beard, and all. You nibbled on your lip as you watched him stand up and walk closer to you. Your sexual drive was crazy as of late, leaving you with an insatiable horny hunger and no husband to cure it. This was something you could have fun with. 

"Although, I think I'd rather keep Santa all to myself for a moment."

"Yeah? Do you like it? I was trying to escape the fans and ran into a mall Santa, traded him an autograph, and twenty bucks for his suit." 

"Hmm, lose the beard and wig and you just might be on Mrs. clauses nice list."

Izuku chuckled as he pulled his beard down and made his way over to you. He pulled you up from the couch and wrapped his arms around you, one hand lingering further, wandering to your butt and grabbing. Call it the distance he held from you for so long, but he was feeling frisky. 

"What if I like the naughty list better?"

His voice was warm and desperate as he whispered down your ear, maybe you would've played along with him and gotten him to the bedroom had you not seen [D/N] in the living room entrance, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

"Santa? Mommy, what are you doing?"

That anger from him scaring you, that anger you put aside for a later date came back. You weren't in a state to be scared like that. A devious smile made way to your face as you pulled away from Izuku and feigned shock. He still had his wig on, and you doubted that two a sleepy five-year wouldn't think he wasn't Santa.

"Ho-Ho-Hold on there one minute Santa. I've got a loving husband and a child. You better mosy on home to Mrs. Claus before she puts you on the naughty list."

Izuku turned around, a smile on his face to finally see his daughter after a week. He frowned as he saw the scowl on her face, no doubt a horrendous trait passed down from you. Though, he expected no less from a Bakugo.

"Sweetheart, it's me, daddy."

"What? No, you're not my daddy. My daddy's big and strong, and he'll hurt you for trying to touch my mommy."

"Yeah, don't fib. Are you are fibber, Santa?"

Your daughter tugged on you and took a hold of your arm. She quickly ran to your room, pulling you along with her. Once inside she slammed your door shut and tried to barricade it, leaving a flustered Izuku standing outside. He knew this was your form of payback, playback for consistently startling you whenever he came home. He couldn't help it, he liked seeing your shocked face, he liked getting a rise out of the Bakugo he knew wouldn't bash his face in.

In this instance, it was the only time he ever partially regretted marrying you. You never fought, and when you did he had to deal with your brother instead of you. As a Bakugo, you took more after your father, but the personality traits from your mother came out when you felt payback was necessary. You would go to great lengths for payback over the littlest things, although this one was mediocre for you. One time he went a week with pink dyed hair and another time you kept moving things from around the house out of their usual places and refused to tell him where. Leave him flustered with a hard on wasn't that terrible.

Behind the closed door, you felt slightly bad for playing along with the whole Izuku is Santa thing. Like most times, you thought it would be funny. Make your husband flustered, it'll be cute. That was before your daughter freaked out thinking it was a villain who could steal identities. Of course, your daughter wouldn't believe that Santa was a sleaze, there had to be some explanation. This was starting to backfire, very fast. It was in your lineage not to back down. Your momma didn't raise a quitter, and it would be bad parenting to raise your daughter to be a quitter. What were you supposed to say anyway? Santas not real, I was just trying to fuck your father? No.

"It's okay mommy, daddy will protect us." 

As if on queue your bedroom door busted open from Izuku using full cowling shoot style with his legs. He no longer wore his wig or Santa suit but a t-shirt and pajama pants. With messy mangled hair, he ran towards your daughter and tried to pull her into his arms, missing her after a week apart but she squirmed and tried to pull away. 

"How do I know your my real daddy and not a copying villain!"

"Would a copy villain save Mister Bun-Bun?"

Izuku placed the stuffed rabbit inside his daughter's arms as she broke into a smile. Throwing the rabbit on the floor in favor of her father, she wrapped her small child arms around her father's neck. 

"Daddy! I knew you'd protect us! You're so strong and cool." 

"I'll always protect you from imposter Santas, always."

"Will you protect mommy too?"

"Hmm..."

Izuku picked up his daughter and carried her back to her bedroom so he could tuck her in for the second time that night. He hummed in response, pretending to think to himself as if saving you was a hard decision. You followed behind him with a slight scowl on your face. He placed his daughter in her bed and wrapped the blanket around her and Mister Bun-Bun before pressing a kiss against her head. 

"I guess even if mommy can be mean sometimes, I'll always protect her too. You, mommy, and Mister Bun-Bun." 

"Daddy?"

"Hm?"

[D/N] was lightly nodding off, content that she got to see her father before she fell asleep, but she fought it off as she grabbed her dad's arm to stop him from going away. 

"I think Mister Bun-Bun wants you to leave the door closed. He's not so scared anymore."

"Okay, darling. If Mister Bun-Bun wants it closed that's okay, but if he gets scared at all, it's okay for him to open it back up. Okay?"

"M'kay. Good night. I love you both."

You and Izuku left her room and he closed the door behind you, both of you had heavy hearts, sad to see your daughter slowly growing up. It felt like just yesterday you gave birth, it felt like just yesterday Izuku was holding your hand, comforting you as you pushed. While it was years away, you felt like time was going by too fast. Plopping down on your bed together, Izuku kept his distance, still bitter you left him out there horny and alone like that.

"She's growing up so fast, I miss her being a baby."

"Yeah, but look at it this way, there are still so many things we get to do and teach her. Right now she wants to be you when she grows up, you can start worrying when she's a teenager and discovers boys." 

"Mmmm, no. She's never getting a boyfriend. Not when she's sixteen, not when she twenty."

"You can't prevent it, babe. She's gonna want a boyfriend, one day when she's fourteen and god, why did you marry me? I never should've procreated, I was a monster at fourteen." 

You scooted closer to Izuku as he pulled the blankets over you both. You smiled at Izuku as he slid one arm under your head letting you use it as a headrest, and let his other arm rest on your side, rubbing little circles in your hip.

"I'm not saying never, I'm just sayin' our daughter isn't going to have male friends, and when [D/N] turns fourteen and decides to bring home a boy, well... Who's to stop someone from giving said boys name to someone like, say, your brother?" 

"Mm, that's evil."

"You call it evil, I call it a genius solution."

"Did you mean it when you said you'd always protect me?"

Izuku presses a long kiss against your lips before pulling back and nodding as if it wasn't even a question. 

"Always. Always and forever."

"Even our baby?"

"Of course I'd protect [D/N]."

He says it like it was unquestionable. Like it was the natural order of how things should be. That wasn't what you meant. You chuckled as you smiled at Izuku and grabbed his hand that rested on your hip. You guided it towards your stomach and pressed his palm against your tummy. Your tummy that would soon be swollen. Your tummy that carried his seed and offspring.

"No, our baby Zu'. Baby number two." 

"[Y/N], you're pregnant again?"

His eyes lit up like a Christmas tree as he peppered your face with kisses. Joy and pure happiness spread in his orbs, delighted at the prospect of having another child with you. Realization dawned on him as he rubbed your stomach with his hand.

"Oh gosh, this is why you were so mad I scared you. I could've crushed him, or her. I've gotta be more careful."

"Mm, I'm eight weeks along and you know the best thing about it?"

"What's that?"

Your hands trailed up Izuku's shirt and ran up his skin as you bit your lip.

"Makes my sex drive go like crazy."

"Did you talk to the doctor?"

"Yup! We're good to go until the end of the second trimester."

Izuku pressed his lips to yours and you felt complete. You never thought you'd marry your brother's enemies, much less carry not one but two of his kids. You wouldn't change it for the world, you wouldn't change your little family for the world.

[beautifulterriblequeen]

The Thief and the Tinker, Part 4: Circles and Cycles

part 3

Part 4

Viren: *smirks and plinks Runaan's coin to Ethari*

Ethari, furious: You throw another Moonshadow at me and I'm gonna lose it.

Circles and Cycles

Angst rating: 8/10

Back to Ethari, because we're not done with him yet. Ethari is soft, but he isn't weak. He won't be a willing pawn for Viren. He loves Runaan to the point of invention, and his devotion is more constant than the moon itself. He'll agree to do what Viren says, and he'll be Very Sad. But his spirit is in no way broken. Viren bribing him with the coins containing his family will only have the opposite effect. It'll give Ethari something to fight for.

We could get Focused Chaos Ethari. We could get Angery Trickster Ethari. We could get Rules, What Rules? Ethari. Let him try to steal the coins, try to break them, try to kill Viren, and be stymied at every turn, until he settles and seems cowed. And then all he does is craft his way out of the problem.

What if we are gifted with Iron Man Elf Ethari, who pretends to build a fake Key for Viren, but meanwhile he's really building a coinbuster with whatever he can get his hands on - primal stones, magically imbued gemstones, stolen artifacts, his own arcanum, his own reputation as the Master Craftsman of the Silvergrove. He'll use almost - almost - anything, to stop Viren and free his family.

Ethari may have to choose between those two things, though. And he's a hero, deep down, just like his family, just like his daughter. If he has to choose, he'll choose to stop Viren and save Xadia. He'll pay the same price as his family has if he must.

He'd let Viren think he was motivated purely by wanting his family back, but Ethari is far too steeped in the illusion and sacrifice for that to be all there is to his motives. It's a so-close-and-yet-so-far thing, how he and Viren almost embody the same ideals. Almost. Ethari would take one look at Viren, who just burnt down his whole Forest, he'd see the biggest threat in Xadia, and he'd say anything to get a chance to stop this juggernaut of destruction from getting his hands on whatever that ultimate power really is, locked behind that missing key. If he has to abandon his people and bawl his eyes out to convince Viren he's in, then he will.

And Viren wouldn't make it easy for him. He knows clever when he sees it. He went through all this trouble to persuade Ethari to work with him. He would need to keep Ethari as off-balance as possible to ensure that he keeps working as he should.

Angsty jewelry, anyone?

Viren giving Ethari his husband in pendant form to remind him what he's working for, when Viren and Ethari both know full well that only dark magic can open the hellcoins. Ethari wearing another pendant of his love, except it's not a metaphor this time. It's literally his love, in a coin around his neck.

Viren would love making Ethari stay close to him of his own free will if he ever hoped to free Runaan. Making people bind themselves to you is a big power flex. Remember that TDP stream future-season teaser note about Bait being in a creepy restraint in a future season?

This card is written on in all-caps, so that really could be "Bait" or "bait," or--knowing this show--both. Viren's been using Runaan as bait for Ethari all along. Putting his coin in a dark magic pendant casing for Ethari to wear would be a great parallel for that. Oh god. Oh man.

Maybe he'll stab the coin's scary casing right through that circle on Ethari's chest, right over his heart, make that Iron Man reference really obvious. Ethari also losing his shirt at some point, for angsty Viren-related reasons? It's more likely than you think. I mean... Ethari is literally involved in both forms of forging at this point. Shirt's gotta come off for uhhhh work reasons. And because he's hot. Because of all the forging. Mmhmm. I mean how else are we finally going to discover what his markings look like this is research I swear

I mentioned that I liked god-tier villains, right? Yeah, this is amazing. I haven't wanted to die and ascend over an idea for quite a while, but Ethari vs Viren in a drawn-out battle of wills would kill me in the best way. Especially since, while it looks like they're essentially fighting for who gets Runaan, they're truly fighting a much larger battle with much higher stakes. They're fighting for the future itself. It's an epic struggle between the Narrative of Strength and the Narrative of Love. And we've seen what happens, over and over, when the Narrative of Strength gets to call the shots.

On a meta note: If Ruthari's story arc isn't a love letter from one trauma survivor to another, and on a broader scope to all survivors who see it, I don't know what is. Sometimes life just chews us up and spits us out and we can't stop it and it breaks us. But sometimes we can reach out and grasp the chance to help each other, even after that, even when it hurts a lot, because we know what it means to be loved, and to love, and to want a safer future for each other and for people we'll never meet. The future is worth standing together for, helping each other back up for, fighting side by side for, even if you can't see how it'll end, or even how to begin. We are stronger together, and sometimes we need to fight for our "together" before we can fight for anything else. And that's worth it, every time.

This is glorious, it's beautiful, it's tragic, it's amazing, it makes me want to dance, it makes me want to scream into the void, it makes me want to slap someone with a semi truck. No, someone specific, don't worry, and he super deserves it.

Because Ethari is going to win. He was always going to win. He's soft, and he's clever, and he hasn't forgotten what love means. It's what he's fighting for. Not power, not control. Love. He doesn't want to dictate Runaan's future or anyone else's. He just wants his husband--and everyone else--to have one at all.

So he's going to win.

What thwarting Viren looks like, I couldn't possibly guess. TDP is no stranger to angst, so there will probably be a high cost involved in outwitting the dark mage. Maybe not everyone can be rescued from the coins. Maybe Ethari will lose his life, or his soul, or his vision, or something else really angsty. Viren could even kill him and resurrect him as a smoky craftsman, or a zombie craftsman, or something equally biddable but horrible. The only thing I'm sure of is that Ethari would never willingly make a working Key of Aaravos Ethari as long as there's a chance Viren could possess it. But I do believe that if he gets the right opportunity while he's busy saving the world from Viren's dark intentions, he'll break his husband's hellcoin open somehow and set him free, even if he has to smile at the devil to do it.

Ethari understands the difference between "you can" and "therefore you should." He might sacrifice his own world to save his husband, but he'd never sacrifice someone else's world. That's one of the Moonshadow cultural limits I've noticed: they accept boundaries when it comes to other people's autonomous rights, especially regarding life and death.

These limits could get pushed. Ethari will be under great duress and emotional strain if he goes through this kind of interaction with Viren. And maybe he will choose some dark things. Everyone else has. But I'm placing all my eggs in the basket labeled "Saved By Love." Either I'm right, or I'll get the best angst omelets in the universe. And I do love omelets. A villain invented them, you know. ;)

Another support for Ethari not making the key for Viren: the real Key exists!

Callum has it right now. The plot doesn't need Ethari's key (yet? ever?), but it does need Ethari to learn what he's made of, to stand up for something, or against something, or both at once. And once he learns what he will and won't do and the universe has rewarded his discovery with the return of his beloved husband then Ethari will be ready to take on whatever else the plot has in mind for him.

Depending on the plan, all of these events could happen in S4, as a setup for even bigger things to follow. Viren's wishes can be thwarted here and the show's overall tension will only continue to rise. It would let Ethari flex yes pls his skills so we know who he is, it would show how driven Viren can be for a long-term goal, it would let Claudia saunter further downwards, it would reveal some human/Moonshadow history, and it would resolve the seasons-long tension regarding Runaan's fate, allowing for the cycle of speculation, feels, angst, and Ruthari fanart to begin again. ;) Viren would need to find another way to pursue his long-term goal. And Callum's Key will get a little more clarity on just how important it is to the fate of the world - which will make everything he does, and everyone he talks to, and anyone who knows what he's carrying, intensely important.

Nyx is gonna steal it isn't she, omg chaos birb

To Viren, Ethari was a main course, meant to be devoured and consumed in his lifelong quest for something that will finally satisfy. But to Ethari, Viren was just empty calories to be passed over in favor of ordering his perennial favorite dish, one more time.

Once Ethari escapes Viren's clutches with as much of his family as he can rescue, Viren may turn back to looking for the real Key, especially if someone's seen it recently. Hunting a kid probably seems easier than hunting a full-grown Moonshadow craftsman who just outsmarted him. okay so maybe Nyx stealing it would be a good thing and save Callum's life

Ethari could go on to help repair the Sunforge, or rebuild the Moonhenge, or work on constructing Moonshadow villages in Katolis if he hasn't been ghosted for abandoning everyone after the forest fire. He might build magical devices for any number of reasons, to help all kinds of characters. Hopefully, wherever he goes, he'll have Runaan with him, in some way, for at least a little while. Cycles be like, and I feel like Runaan will not want to remain still for long, for whatever reason. Does he need revenge, atonement, justice, a new body, to find Rayla, to find Ezran? He'll be back in action as soon as he can, I think.

Okay, but, I'm so soft at the thought of a scene where Runaan and Ethari come before King Ezran. The husbands tried to save their people Runaan's way, the old way, and it only continued to endanger them. Following the cycle, as Moonshadows do, was the wrong move. But the son of the last human Runaan killed reached out with mercy and broke a thousand years of suffering and sorrow and hatred. Ezran did what Runaan couldn't: he saved the Moonshadow elves from total destruction. And that, more than anything else in the world, could soften one very broody assassin's heart toward humans again.

What would Runaan do, if his heart truly changed toward humans? What would he say to Ezran? I could see him struggling for a long moment before dropping to one knee to pledge his heart as he once had to do before the Dragon Throne. He doesn't know any other way but to serve. Ezran, reading the whole room and everyone's feelings before he tells Runaan that No, we don't do that here. That he's free, and free means free. No chains, no oaths. Just trust and friendship. He should get to make his own decisions for a change, even though that can be hard and scary sometimes. Runaan being genuinely scared, because that's too much freedom. But he's not alone. He has Ethari, and Ezran, and Rayla, and Callum, and their people, and their allies. And no matter what else happens, the people of Katolis - elven and human - will find a way forward. Together.

part 5

[chibi-beaver]

I'm in a bad batch kinda mood today and decided to write some Hunter & Omega fluff/angst!

Rating: General

Warnings: none (this is pretty wholesome)

Summary: After Hunter loses his cool with Omega, he remembers what Cut and Suu told him and tries to make things right

Tags: hurt/comfort, fluff, angst, domestic fluff, parenting, father daughter relationship

There will be Bad Batch spoilers in this so don't read if you haven't watched the latest episode (episode 4)

Honestly, I'm pretty proud of this rn 😁

Story is also attached under the cut if you wanna read it here, if you like it I'd appreciate the notes here and/or kudos on ao3 😁

Edit: I forgot to add some fic tags 😳

Omega had gotten herself into yet another jam. All they had to do was get supplies on Tatooine. It certainly wasn't the nicest planet but it was in the outer rim and for the most part, off the radar of the Empire.

All Omega had to do was stay close to Hunter as they went into Mos Espa. It was supposed to be an in and out supply run but when was any supply run in and out? He should've known that something had to happen but why did it have to happen to Omega?

She had gotten herself into the hands of yet another bounty hunter. Hadn't she learned her lesson after the encounter on Pantora? Hunter thought to himself as he ran through the sandy "streets" of Mos Espa in search of Omega.

"Wrecker, Tech, Echo! I need help finding Omega!" Hunter yelled into his comm.

"I'm on it!" Wrecker replied.

"I'm finishing the ship's repairs but I've sent Echo," Tech said.

"I thought Echo was repairing the ship with you," Hunter said.

"He was, but we're almost done," Tech replied.

Hunter was relieved that he got two of his men helping him find Omega.

Hunter tripped over his feet. The grains of sand were making his feet slide everywhere. Just when things couldn't get any worse, Hunter noticed a Tusken Raider running off with something. Upon closer look, it was his blaster.

Hunter was conflicted on what to do but he eventually ran after the Tusken Raider and tackled it to the ground before ripping the gun out of his tiny hands. Some more Tusken Raiders surrounded Hunter, weapons pointed at him. Probably stolen weapons, he thought. He looked around, looking for an out. He knew if he shot one, he'd subsequently get shot by another, which could incapacitate him, but he couldn't waste any time. If their encounter with the bounty hunter on Pantora taught him anything, he knew that they were cunning and fearless. They would do anything to keep their hands on Omega and would harm anyone who got in their way. Almost like what he would do for Omega. He just wished that she would stop getting into trouble.

Suddenly, they all ran off at the sound of something. Hunter was unsure of the source of the sound until his comm went off.

"You can thank me later, Tuskens hate Krayt Dragons," Tech said.

"How did you know I was-"

"I got my repairs done and I started watching the camera feeds around Mos Espa and noticed some Tuskens bothering you in the background of one," Tech replied.

"Now I'm glad you record the sound of every animal you've heard of," Hunter said, relief permeating his voice.

"I can see the bounty hunter!" Wrecker said into the comm.

"Transmit me your coordinates!" Hunter said.

"How do I do that!?" Wrecker asked.

"I got this, you focus on finding Omega," Tech said as he transmitted Wrecker's coordinates to Hunter and Echo.

Hunter immediately ran to them, meeting up with Echo on the way. Just as they got there, Wrecker got knocked out by Bounty Hunter who seemed to use the weapon he knocked Wrecker out with as a hat.

"I got Wrecker, go find Omega!" Echo said as he tried to help Wrecker.

Hunter obliged to what Echo said as he continued running after the bounty hunter. He was led to a dead-end street where he saw an anooba cornering Omega. Hunter took out his blaster and shot the anooba in the leg, causing him to yelp. Omega was distressed by the sound, as was the bounty hunter who retaliated by throwing his hat like a frisbee at Hunter. Hunter ducked just in time and avoided being hit by the hat. The bounty hunter then took out a weapon of his own and began shooting at Hunter with it. Hunter continued running towards the bounty hunter, to tackle him. It was successful until the anooba came back to tackle Hunter, causing him to drop his blaster.

Omega slowly made her way towards the blaster, but the anooba must have smelt her because he got off of Hunter and jumped on Omega. Hunter took the opportunity to pick up his blaster and pointed it at the bounty hunter's head, just as Echo and Wrecker arrived at the scene. Cornering the bounty hunter. He called his anooba off of Omega as he searched for a way out.

"What do you want with Omega?" Hunter asked, keeping the blaster pointed at the bounty hunter's head. He started speaking in an unknown language.

"Where's Tech when you need him?" Echo muttered as he turned on his comm but didn't say anything.

Hunter repeated the question as Omega approached Wrecker and stood behind his leg, she was trembling.

"He's trying to say that he was put off to it by an unknown client, it's just a job to him, a good-paying job at that," Tech whispered as he listened in.

The bounty hunter didn't answer the question as the anooba brought back his hat. The bounty hunter took the hat and hit Hunter with it before running to make his escape, pushing Echo and Wrecker out of the way.

"What were you thinking?!" Hunter said frustratedly to Omega.

"I-I'm sorry," Omega said.

"I thought you would've learned not to talk to strangers or touch strange animals after Pantora!" Hunter continued.

Omega said nothing in return as she stayed at Wrecker's side.

"You could've gotten yourself killed again! These situations are why I wanted to send you with Cut and Suu! So that you could be safe!" Hunter said. He saw the sad expression on Omega's face immediately after he said that. She looked like she was going to cry.

"Lay off her!" Wrecker said as he took Omega's hand and started back to the ship with Echo.

Hunter quickly began to regret what he had said. The regret kept itself on his mind as he walked back to the ship.

When he got back to the ship, Omega was in her room with the curtain closed.

"Let's get off this desert world," Tech said as he plotted a course for Idaflor. Maybe this time they would actually make it there without needing to repair the ship or to get supplies.

Hunter began to grow concerned as hours passed and Omega had still not left her room. Usually, she wouldn't stay in her room long. Her curious mind always kept her on the go, even though she had seen the inside of the ship countless times. Even if she wasn't feeling curious, she would usually leave to use the fresher. Tech looked back from the pilot's seat at Hunter

"What's wrong?" Tech asked.

"Nothing that you can fix," Hunter said, glancing at Omega's room.

"Well, that's a lie because I know a way to fix most things," Tech said.

"Yea, you can fix ships but you know about as much as I do about parenting," Hunter replied.

"Ah, it's about Omega. Hmmm, well maybe you should talk to her, perhaps discussing whatever happened might help things," Tech said.

Hunter didn't reply. Rather he sat back into his chair while Tech turned back to whatever device he was building. He remembered Tech telling him what it was but he had forgotten. As Hunter thought about what he could do, his mind went back to Cut and Suu.

"Easy, she's not a soldier."

Cut said that to him the first time he lashed out at Omega.

"You're safe, that's all that matters."

Hunter reminded himself that Omega was on the ship with them and not in the hands of that bounty hunter but at the same time, she shouldn't have touched that anooba. They didn't know the animal, it could've been diseased, or as it was in this case, connected to someone dangerous.

"Children will always find ways of getting into trouble, Hunter. It's what they do. Protecting them is what we do".

Hunter thought more about what he had said on Tatooine. Even if some of it was warranted, he shouldn't have brought up Cut and Suu. It was a bit of a sore spot for Omega, knowing that Hunter was going to pawn her off on Cut and Suu, even if he thought it was for her own good.

Hunter decided to approach Omega's room. He climbed up a couple steps of the ladder.

"Omega?" Hunter said.

"Go away!" Omega said.

"I just want to talk," Hunter said. "No yelling this time. I'm not mad." Hunter continued in a gentler tone.

"Fine," Omega said.

Hunter pulled the curtain to side slightly. She was sitting in her room with Lula held in one of her arms as she looked out the window at the whizzing of hyperspace.

Hunter sat in the small face, doing his best to fit. Wrecker clearly designed this space for someone of Omega's size. He eventually sat horizontally in the room, with one leg hanging outside of the space for his own comfort.

"You're gonna get rid of me again, aren't you?" Omega said.

"What? No. You said you wanted to be with us, I promised you that if you wanted to be with us then you will be with us."

"But I screwed up again," Omega said.

"You said it yourself once, you have a lot to learn. But so do I and I realize I was a bit too harsh today. I'm sorry."

"I can't help that I'm curious sometimes," Omega said, thinking back on how it was her who wanted to pet the anooba.

"I know, but sometimes it's better to watch from afar," Hunter said.

Omega didn't say anything in response. Rather she clutched the Lula.

"I'm not going to get rid of you. We want you here just as much as you want to be here. I'm sorry for bringing up Cut and Suu and I'm just glad you're okay," Hunter said.

To Hunter's surprise, Omega moved closer to him and put her arms around his shoulders, hugging him. Hunter was initially taken aback but he soon returned the hug. When they eventually pulled away from one another, Omega smiled.

"Now let's agree to put what happened today behind us," Hunter said.

"Ok," Omega replied.

Hunter made his way back down the ladder and extended a hand out to Omega,

"wanna come down and hang out with us or explore the ship or do whatever you want?" Hunter asked.

"Sure!" Omega said as she came out of her room and started asked Tech various questions about the ship and the controls. Hunter watched and smiled at seeing Omega feeling a bit better.

[mirainawen]

Some headcanons for The Long Road that absolutely nobody asked for

Who’s the messiest one:

Everyone has their places that they are the messiest one in.

dean: when he cooks, he does not clean up the kitchen afterward. he reasons that cleanup is sam's detail, because that splits the work 50-50. most of the time, sam is okay with this because he doesn't particularly enjoy cooking and is tired of takeout. he'll bitch dean out in three circumstances: 1, he hasn't been there (fair), 2, he wanted to eat out (less fair), 3, DID YOU REALLY HAVE TO WRECK THE WHOLE KITCHEN TO BAKE A FRICKIN PIE (least fair).

when it comes to the state of his room, though, dean falls right between sam and adam. it's his space, so he reasons everyone can mind their own business. sometimes he is really on top of it; other stretches of time, he'll let things pile up / get out of place before he'll do something about it.

you so much as leave a to-go cup in Baby, though, and God help you.

sam: between the three of them, sam tends to be the most orderly and tidy. BUT, leave that man alone to his own devices in the library? he's probably fallen asleep atop an entire table of "organized chaos" of open books, pages of notes, a new (unimplemented) filing system, a dozen bookmarked tomes, and a couple dozen pens lost amid the chaos. sam in research mode + cross-referencing & digitizing & organizing the men of letters' archives into a streamlined and interconnected, coherent system is...a lot. just like A Lot. and it Shows. (and sam's loving every minute of it. utterly geeking out in his own head.)

adam: is a disaster child. he'll let shit pile up until he has to deal with it, or is otherwise bitched at enough by (usually) sam. he doesn't have a lot of stuff, so it can't reach actual problem levels in the bunker. but he's totally the kind to be like, "what the hell? how long has this been here? hey, guys, when did we eat at burger king? oh god, we should definitely toss that at the next gas station. what? no i'm not going searching for a trash can right now" about his car.

Who feels the most uncomfortable about PDA:

it is, get this, sam. i know, i know. hear me out. when given the option, adam can and will be affectionate within reason. he's the most uptight and gunshy about it at first, when he just gets out of the cage; tends to withdraw from people getting too close, always on edge; as a survivor of the most Traumatic Thing in the Universe, that is more than fair and expected.

once he's had time to find his footing with sam & dean, however, he'll greet them with a bro-hug, when appropriate, a slap on the back, a nudge of the elbow, lowkey affection like that.

dean came back from purgatory more affectionate than he'd ever been before. much more readily will not only greet with a hug, but say goodbye (even in 'casual' partings) with a hug.

that leaves sam, who used to be considered more mushy than dean by these terms. dean's lowkey affection he's used to. adam's? nah. no. especially in the first 5 years, for the amount of time that adam does it (before shit gets Real Bad). after adam gets out of the institution, he gravitates more towards sam naturally, even when pissed, and sam's kinda lowkey why is he in my personal space??? weird. because it doesn't innately fit the same kind of way it does with dean. post-reintegration, he's more affectionate after they've found their footing again. he tries to make up for the Bad Years with more slaps on the shoulder kind of affection. boy's trying.

Who’s the funniest drunk:

sam is a disaster drunk. he's the biggest lightweight of the three of them, which is funny because he's also the biggest, just like the biggest in general. dean becomes so much fun in unexpectedly different kinds of ways. like, he can be talked into karaoke. or doing some stupid shit he's gonna regret in the morning because odds are it's not gonna end well.

but adam is straight up hilarious. that sharp wit comes out, and all his inhibitions (and image) are gone so he just straight up cracks the worst jokes ever and gets away with it. they land. somehow they land. maybe because sam & dean are also drunk. maybe because he is just that funny. maybe it's that he has a tendency to get blackout-wasted and do stupid shit that makes no sense whatsoever, like shower with his f*ckin socks on and dean is never gonna let that shit die.

Who texts the most:

adam or dean. during large periods of time in the first 5 years, adam will leave dean on read and dean texts because read receipts means he knows when adam is checking his messages and therefore he knows adam is at least alive, if not entirely alright. by that view, dean texts the most.

but for random shit, that would be adam. he'll text dean something like

with either no caption, or something like: this reminds me you need to hit the gym, or looks like you have competition and doesn't give further context. dean doesn't mind because at least it means the kid's not dying in a basement somewhere.

he'll kick his ass for the fat comment later

Who reads the most:

it goes in this order:

sam "i read this entire book in one sitting cause i had the time, and now i am awake at 1am because i can't decide if i want to start another one since i have down time" winchester

adam "does it have cool illustrations? no? fine, at least tell me the lore on boobries is correct" milligan

dean "what job has the least amount of reading?" winchester

Who has the most embarrassing taste in music:

eff. ing. adam. even in his own car (where, hey, the rules are driver picks the music dean!) he's only allowed a certain amount of time for his "whiny teenage garbage music" (thanks dean) before he has to change it to something a little more tolerable (rock, at the very least). heaven help him if he hints at something country with dean around. dean will be like, sit your ass down it's time for REAL music 101 and put on Metallica for the 8th time.

Who’s better with kids:

adam, with dean a very, very close second! so close, they probably tie. adam, early on, isn't good with anyone because fresh-out-of-the-cage (even post-institution for a bit) makes him kind of a hairs-breadth triggered bomb when it comes to people of all ages. but adam a bit more balanced? a natural. he grew up around extended family, friends, wanted kids of his own someday.

sam, however, is the absolute worst. a pure disaster moron in this arena. when adam is de-aged? dean didn't think it was possible for sam to suck so much at something. (don't worry, the boy found his bearings. but oh man...the road to get there, paved with more potholes than road.) BUT when sam really tries? like if he lets himself relax and lowers his inhibitions, he can do pretty well. but he's mostly just Highly Uncomfortable around kids, and like, it Shows.

Who’s the one that fixes things around the house:

dean. put that boy in the garage, under the hood of a car, great. can do it all. put that boy in front of a little home repair? renovation? by god he'll figure it out. and he won't put a hole in the wall shut up sammy. he takes pride in the upkeep of the bunker.

sam, however, is much more content to just be like ah man i wish we had a shelf here. or, oh right we need to remember to do xyz and then sit back and wait for it to Magically Take Care of Itself.

Who’s got the weirdest hobby:

hobby? what the hell is that? a homeless person?

Who cooks and who cleans up:

dean cooks, sam cleans. adam cooks, sam and dean will rock-paper-scissors for cleanup. or leave adam to do it. sam is never allowed to cook. he's a horrible cook. they'd literally rather eat out than let sam cook. sam, of course, is highly insulted, but also like...he knows dean & adam are better cooks. they just are. yes, fine, he'll wash the dishes again.

every now and then he gives it a shot. surprisingly he makes really good pancakes. he'll cook just to force one of the others to have to cleanup when he's tired of being on dish duty. dean & adam are not impressed when he tries to leverage sandwiches for dish duty.

sam, somewhat sloshed on a saturday night will be like, guys! guys! hey why don't i make us food and dean and adam are like, duuuuuude. ...wait, no. sam- and he's like, no, guys, i got this, and brings them microwave burritos. and THEN they're like hey! no! this does NOT mean we're doing dishes!

[elisaphoenix13]

Stowaway (Ch. 4)

"Do we have to go home already?" Cassie asks as she obnoxiously rolls around on the bed and Quill sits on the edge.

"What are you...stop. You're like a puppy. Maybe I should keep you from hanging out with Harley and Peter." Quill shoves her off the bed and she lands on the floor with a startled 'oof'.

"Ow. Rude." The celestial snorts and grabs one of his shirts for her and throws it over his shoulder at her. "No looking."

"I don't want to look. Just get changed so we can go to bed."

Cassie does so and crawls into bed as Quill changes into his own sleeping clothes, and he gets into bed. This time the teen immediately snuggled into his side for warmth before they fell asleep and they slept soundly.

For about three hours.

Quill was rudely awakened when both he and Cassie were thrown off the bed, and the god groans when his head hits the wall. Thankfully the teen had landed on him and was unharmed, but she was still a little dazed from whatever had disturbed their sleep. That was soon answered when Quill felt the ship get hit and he curses as he stumbles to his feet and rushes out of the room and up to the cockpit. That's where he discovered that a traveling quantum asteroid field had moved in the path of the ship's autopilot course.

"Fuck! Cassie get up here and buckle in! Now!" Quill yells as he jumps into his seat and takes the ship off autopilot.

He didn't have time to wait for her to get into a seat. Quill had to fly through the field as safely as possible and was relieved when Cassie managed to join him and buckle in. The poor thing was only dressed in his t-shirt, and even though it was big enough to cover her adequately, she was still probably freezing. That was the least of his worries though. Especially when part of his ship was smoking from the couple of rocks that hit it when they were sleeping. Quill needed to find a planet to land on and fast.

He caught a glimpse of one when he made it through the asteroid field, and turned toward it, causing his ship to falter and start failing. It was Berhert all over again but he didn't know if this was a habitable planet. So when they were seconds away from crashing onto the surface, Quill unbuckled himself and grabbed a space suit stashed nearby, and jumped over to Cassie. He managed to put the space suit on her and cover her with his body before the ship crashed, and he blacked out.

"...pa...Papa!" Quill gasps when he comes to and feels Cassie shaking him. He looks at the teen after sitting up, noticing that she had vacated her seat to wake him.

"Cassie...are you okay?" He manages to ask.

"Just cold."

"Fuck. Hang on."

Quill gets up with a groan and looks around the ship to assess the damage. It was still in one piece thankfully but it would still take time to repair. Exposed wires sparked, parts of the ship walls were missing and considering he wasn't suffocating, he assumed the air was safe to breathe. He made sure to use the control panel to double check his theory and it confirmed his assumption, and he also uses it to check the condition of the fuel tanks. They were miraculously in perfect condition so they didn't lose any fuel in the crash.

The celestial wills some embers of light into his hand to explore the ship as it was currently dark on the planet and the emergency lights weren't very bright. He carefully takes the stairs down after telling Cassie not to move and makes his way into the bedroom. Quill wanted to make sure there weren't any holes to let in more cold air before he had his daughter coming back and getting back into bed to stay warm.

"Baby girl, do you need light to get down here?" He calls up.

"No. Yours is bright enough." She answers.

"Alright. Come here and be careful." Cassie rejoins him about a minute later and he points to the bed after taking the space suit off of her. "Get back in bed. I'll leave some of my light here as extra warmth."

"What are you going to do?" She asks.

"Figure out what planet we're on and start making repairs. Holler if you need me." Quill answers.

Cassie nods and does as she's told, bundling up on the bed and closing her eyes to try and go back to sleep. Quill creates a bigger light to float near her and provide warmth before he leaves the room and he checks the control panel to see where exactly they had landed. What popped up on screen had the celestial staring at it for a good few seconds before cursing up a storm.

They actually crash landed on Berhert.

"I fucking hate this planet."

At least they wouldn't be attacked here...and they could breathe. Quill decided he wouldn't bother with starting repairs until morning, so he went back into the bedroom and slipped back into bed after making the light in his hand go out. Cassie wasted no time cuddling up to him and he didn't blame her one bit. He could feel how cold she was and that wasn't including the occasional shiver that rippled through her. The cold didn't affect him as much since he was a living, breathing heater and he would let his kid take advantage of the heat he gave off.

"I thought you were going to start repairs?" Cassie mumbles.

"In the morning. We're safe here. Warm up Sunshine."

"Getting there."

Then they really did sleep soundly for the rest of the night. Cassie basically glomped onto him the entire time, but it didn't bother Quill since Scott did that on a regular basis. In fact, he hardly noticed. Cassie was just a little smaller than what he was used to. When he woke up later that morning, he didn't dare move until Cassie woke up. Quill didn't want a chill to be what woke her up, especially after she was already thrown out of bed. When she did finally wake up, Quill dismissed the light floating nearby and got dressed so he could start repairs on the Milano. Knowing Cassie, she would get dressed and get some food together and pull Quill away from his task to make sure he ate.

"So how long before we start heading home again?"

Quill looks up from the tool he's using to make repairs to the ship, and away from watching the ship seemingly mend itself. "It's not as bad as it could have been. We should be heading out by tonight at the latest."

"Anything I can do to help?" The teen hands him some food and he shuts off the device to eat breakfast.

"Things were thrown around. You could put things back as best you can."

"Aren't you supposed to be the best pilot in the galaxy?" Cassie teases and Quill points at her.

"I am. I'd like to see you or anyone else fly through a quantum asteroid field with a damaged ship and come out better than we did. I could've flown with my--"

"Oh my god! Stop! Why are you like this?!" She interrupts loudly and Quill laughs.

She huffs fondly and returns inside the ship to start cleaning up after they finish eating, and Quill works on mending the outside of the ship. His plan was to fix the exterior of his ship and then work on the damage inside so at least there wasn't a breeze going in and making things colder for Cassie than they had to be. The exterior only took a couple of hours, and by the time he got inside, Cassie had cleaned up a good chunk of what had been thrown around. Whatever was left was either too heavy or were parts she wasn't sure were safe to handle or not.

Then he saw her reaching for a specific drawer in the bedroom that contained certain items and had Quill diving across the bed and grabbing her wrist. Cassie gives him a look of bewilderment when the god hits his head on the small nightstand and groans.

"Ow…"

"What is your deal?!"

"If you open that drawer, you will be opening the Pandora's Box of mine and your dad's sex life."

Cassie instantly yanks her hand away from the nightstand and Quill with a look of disgust. "Why do you even have that stuff here? I thought Dad didn't come out to space with you!"

"He doesn't. We still do things on the ship when I'm home--"

"Okay! Okay! I don't want to hear it!" She looks at the bed suspiciously. "When's the last time you washed the sheets?"

Quill snickers. "They're clean."

Cassie heaves out a sigh of relief and continues cleaning after making sure there was nothing else she should be opening. Quill got up and finished repairing the ship, and night fell by the time they were both done. When the celestial took a look around the ship, he was surprised to see that it was even cleaner than it had been before they had crashed. Even a little organized. Quill had to wonder if Cassie snuck cleaning supplies onto the ship at some point because he didn't have any of that and his ship almost sparkled.

That rubbed him the wrong way.

"You know your dad and I are going to make a mess of this when we get home."

Cassie groans from somewhere on the ship and Quill cackles.

"Stop torturing me or I really am going to move upstairs into Diana's room!"

"Tony and Stephen aren't any better. You know they've done it on the kitchen counter right?"

"NO! Why do you know that?!" Cassie screeches.

"I walked in on them."

"I don't want to talk about this!"

"What? You don't want to hear about how your pseudo mom is a--"

A bottle of cleaning solution flies at him from one of the storage rooms and smacks him on the side of his head and he rubs it. Well that answered his earlier question. Cassie was ruining the Pollock art he and Scott made on his ship.

"Ow."

"You deserved that."

[mysynthfetish]

Um, Yeah.

Well it's damn near March already. What the hell? Where does the time go?

The whole world is in a huff about COVID-19, and here in Japan too, obviously, but people are in full-on freakout mode. First thing they did was go on a panic-buying-spree of masks, like surgical masks, you know, the ones everyone here wears when it's either flu or hay fever season. So, there's a shortage of masks now. "ONE BOX PER CUSTOMER!!" signs at the shops with any remaining stock. For me, the funniest thing is that masks do not prevent the wearer from catching a virus. The seal around the face is not perfect, so guess what, shit don't work. Unless you strap on a military grade chemical warfare motherfucker of a mask, like with the filter cans and shit? Nope. I mean, even the homepage of the WHO where you can find a coronavirus FAQ says so ("BUT THE WHO IS CONTROLLED BY THE UN AND THEY'RE SECRETLY OUT TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD SO YOU CAN'T TRUST THAT!!!!" yeah yeah yeah. Shame. On. You). But nahhhh who cares about actually using your head and thinking about how viruses spread. See, the masks work (sorta) when worn by people already infected, as they trap most of the fun stuff ejected by a sneeze or a cough. Not all of it. We can still hope for some fun to be shared among the general populace can we not? Ahhh but it's easier to be a total idiot and follow the herd mentality and panic-buy useless shit. Then there was the fiasco with the cruise ship and not letting passengers disembark, and then it turns out a number were let off without having to go through screening, but the Chinese are still being confined to quarters blah blah blah. Jeeezus Fucking Christ EVERYTHING is made in China anyway, from rubber dog shit to the (probably) fake ICs in your military hardware to your beloved smartphones and related devices, shit, even the incessant machine-diarrhea geyser of clone synths too, so what the hell is the big deal about a potentially pandemic-level megavirus every few years? Chinavirus. Next in the ongoing series. Personally, I don't really care where the viruses originate, and to tell the truth, I get a warm feeling inside when people lose their shit over stuff like this, and even warmer when the death toll rises and rises. Can't think of a better species to get a good culling than the old homo sapiens. Heh. Mister Misanthrope at your service! But anyway.....

Found this ancient beast sitting forgotten and forlorn in a closet at work. It's a Luxman 38FD "High Fidelity Stereo Integrated Amplifier" made around 1970 (like me!). It is in near fucking mint condition. HEAVY. AS. FUCK. And the winningest part of the whole thing besides it being destined for the Big Garbage pile and as a result free for the taking? IT WORKS. Oh, and even better...

IT'S A VACUUM TUBE AMP!!! Those are the main tubes, 50CA10, pretty much but not totally unobtanium. Yeah, they fucking glow a warm orangey red, and after a bit you can see blue vapor inside. Well, if you turn off all the lights and take the top cover off. It runs hot as fuck too. I was just shocked the thing worked. It's sitting comfortably atop the desk in the lair, where you'd normally park a printer, with a pair of Yamaha NS-100X speakers on risers above it. Sounds great. There's considerably more noise (hiss?) than a modern amp, but with the volume knob raised to about 10 o'clock, it's already loud enough that the hiss isn't even a consideration anymore, and any louder would be asking for trouble with the neighbors. I can't believe it because the amp is supposed to be a mere 30 watts per channel. I guess 30 watts from vacuum tubes is a hell of a lot different from even triple that from a modern amp. LOUD!!! So yay me.

Oh and speaking of viruses....

I was watching this one on the auction for about a month and a half. The opening bid started out at around $1700 but nobody bid, and the auction ended, and one option here on the yahoo auction is for an automatic re-listing with the opening bid discounted by a certain percent. I watched for a while, then just when I'd forgotten about it, it came up in the look-at-me feed and the price was down to a grand so I bid on it and won. I had one of these before and regretted selling it, thus the TI Polar in my arsenal now, but the 61-key TI has THE BEST keys ever. Feels so good to play. Fatar! I thought yeah ok I'll just say see ya to the Polar and call it even. But... Hmm... Wait... One thing led to another and in the end I decided to keep both the viruses and... and...... and...... sell the ION. Say WHAT?!?! After all the work and repairs and maintenance and customizing LEDs and and and and.... Yeah. It's a hell of a synth, no doubt about it, but I think anything with the Alesis logo on it has a very definite shelf-life. The pots are gonna go, a few are acting up already, and those are unobtanium unless you wanna shell out the dosh and buy from syntaur. You can't get NOS pots either. So... After some serious deep-thinking and careful consideration and deliberation I had to say to myself, "self, it's a wonderful machine capable of some great sounds, but it's only 8-voice polyphonic, there are barely any effects to mention, ok sure the mod matrix and plethora of filter models and waveshaping are fantastic, but you know how ridiculously MORE powerful the Virus TI is almost every respect!" And I admitted defeat. To myself. Weird, I know. But there you go. I don't think I know anyone with two Virus TI (or TI2) synths in their collection. Maybe Anthony Rother. I know he has two IONs. 

Ahhhh but this 61-key virus wasn't without problems. Uh, well, OK one BIG problem. The power supply shat itself when I turned it on for the first time. The LCD sorta flashed, there was a brief sign of life with some of the LEDs, but then blip! Nothing. Aaaaargh! Unseat the power cable, reseat it, try again. Nothing, just a high-pitched whine that was getting louder. I put my head up against the front panel, listening for where the whine was coming from, and figured out it was the far right side. That's where the PSU is. Then suddenly the sound changed to a higher pitch that swept downwards over the course of a few seconds, all the while sputtering like it had a downward sawtooth filter on it, then POP! No more sound. When I opened the case up, I immediately remembered that for whatever reason, Access decided to go with a PSU like you'd use with a laptop computer, the big brick-like deals, and that they'd carefully bracketed the brick in so that the eyeglass-socket for the plug lined up with the hole in the rear panel. OK so all I needed to do was find a same-rating PSU and then go about modding the bracket so cosmetically it would look from-the-factory. Incidentally, I contacted Access and asked about parts, but the rep said they don't have any more PSUs for the TI series, only ones for the TI2 series, and that they aren't the same size so when they do the repair, they put a DC jack on the rear panel and the PSU gets left out—goes from internal to external if you catch my drift. Well, no thank you, I do not care for that approach, no sir, I didn't wanna go that route at all. So, thanks to having access to a drill press and diamond-saw dremel tools at work, I made the necessary mods to the bracket, padded it a bit so it would securely hold the new PSU in place, and in the end you can't tell it isn't a factory PSU (from the outside). Yay me, part two.

This is the bracket, post choppy-grindy. Yeah so I "secured" the cabling with Scotch 33+... Hey, from the factory it was held down with hot glue!

Yeah that's where it attached to the PCB. CHEEKY!!!!!!!

Not bad, right? You'd never know. But I've told you, so now you know. Oh and the PSU was $22 from a local parts chain (Marutsu). I think Access wants about $50 but I think that includes free shipping anywhere in the world. I'm just glad it's working fine now.

Other goings on... I've sold the Timeline and Space pedals, and used part of the proceeds to pick up a Sony DPS-D7 delay and a DPS-R7 reverb to use in their place. But the D7 had a wonky input knob that actually broke off in my fucking hand the second time I went to use it. That pot is super unobtanium, so I thought I'd just epoxy the broke-off-bit and not worry about separately controlling the input levels for the L and R channels (does anyone even DO that?)... Here's the pot.

Even after it was epoxied back together, it was fucking bent as fuck. Red line shows the angle, blue arrow shows where the epoxy ghetto fix went down. I saw another D7 listed as-is for $10 and nobody bid so I won it, and I had intended to just cannibalize the pot, but it turns out that it has a newer OS and it works fucking fine, so that was kind of a head-scratcher. People are weird. This delay is stupid deep. There's a multi-tap algorithm that has like 40 separately programmable taps, each with its own level, pan, feedback, and all that. The reverb (R7) is just as insane with parameters... Dudes, and dudettes, seriously, you need some deep-sea rated scuba gear to really get to grips with these Sony DPS motherfuckers. DEEEEEEEEEEEP AS FUCK. I've owned these before too. Had the F7 Filter too. That thing had a 40-band vocoder and a multi-part digital drum synth in it!? Man I think the engineers at Sony had access to some GOOD drugs back when they were working on this line of effects processors. Seriously. I mean, I love programming, but even I was intimidated by the sheer amount of programmability in these things. The ones I had before were a bit noisy, but these aren't at all. Strange. Fun shit though. Oh and there's this:

Ah fuck, looks a bit out of focus. That right there is a TOA DE-1000 delay. Rare as shit, and this one is in NEW condition. Insane! I've had this one on my radar for a while. Why? Because it's fucking WEIRD!!!! So the max delay time is 255ms or something really not that long at all, but you've got three to control: Left, Center and Right. Individual times (LEDs) and levels (white sliders), plus global wet/dry and feedback, AND modulation time and depth sliders. SLIDERS!!?? Ok it only has four memory slots, and no MIDI, but you can get up to some good mischief with this thing. Last two goodies to blab about:

Top: SONICWARE ELZ_1. What a weirdo synth. I heard that it's a raspberry pi under the hood but really? Who cares. It can do some off the wall shit. A handful of wacky synth engines, topped off by four effects processors at the end. And it has a speaker. My only complaint is no DIN MIDI, just USB and you have to buy a class compliant dealie. I suppose I should do so before I forget. Sounds pretty damn good though, and it does things that I've not heard other synths do. Built well. Fun to play and fun to program. Runs on batteries. Worth looking into. I was so impressed with this that I backed their next project (a groove box type thing it seems). Bottom: KORG AM8000R. This fucker does some WEIRD SHIT! I had one before (and its delay counterpart, the DL8000R) and for whatever reason didn't hold on to them. I think I was looking for more bread and butter, set it and forget it type effects. This was really cheap and it's in great shape. I don't think so many people know about these. Relatively easy to program, and you can get some really good, usable stuff as well as some super far out WTF stuff. The WARP! knob is good fun too.

Oh I suppose it's worth mentioning that I had an album released by Anti Gravity Device out of Tokyo a few weeks ago. Let's see if I can find a link...

https://anti-gravity-device.bandcamp.com/album/black-rainbows-agd036

Have a listen. It's stuff I recorded from about November through December last year, maybe even the first week of January this year. Live jam format, no master sequencer, wish I was an octopus because two arms and ten fingers just wasn't enough type stuff. All hardware. Fun!

So, my invisible tumblrpeeps, it's been a busy 2020 so far here. More things in the works. Keep your eyes peeled. Stay well. Watch out for number one, and don't step in number two. (thanks, Carlin!)