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aangelinakii · 2 months ago

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DICK GRAYSON ABC'S

note : i got so blocked for this ??? like writer's block. so some of them are shorter or less developed than others beacuse i was struggling 💀💀💀

A is for... Affection! (how affectionate are they? how do they show affection?)

dick is super duper affectionate, but not in a way that it's suffocating. i mean, it can be. like when he jumps on you when you're in bed and lays his whole body weight on you. but it's cute ! it's dick ! it's cute !! but what i mean to say is that he is conscious to not be overly physically affectionate if that's not something you are comfortable with,, he is very big on consent and making sure the other party is just as happy as he is with what's happening ( as we all should be !!!!!!! )

i went into detail in a different post, but his love languages are definitely physical affection and acts of service !! <3

B is for... Best Friend! (what would they be like as a best friend? how would the friendship start?)

not even speaking romantically dick grayson would be the best friend ever like ??? he makes pinterest boards of things to do together, like idk he saves ideas for those group presentation nights even tho it will just be the two of you and you each create three slideshows each to make up for the lack of people. starts either out of nowhere, like a meet cute but friend edition, or has been a long term thing. either scenario, you are NOT getting rid of this man easy. he'll spend his off days with you because you're like recharging his battery. it's great !

C is for... Cuddles! (do they like to cuddle? how would they cuddle?)

literally the cuddliest guy ever like ???? he likes to share roles, little spoon and big spoon except he doesn't actually like spooning, he likes to see your face, or at least be facing you in some way. feels spooning leaves a disconnect. but his cuddles are always tight, comfortable and grounding. when he's "big spoon" he likes holding his muscular arms around your back, a hand cradling the back of your head, pressing a kiss to your forehead or the top of your head every so often. but when he's "little spoon" he nestles his head in so he can't be seen,, just wants to sleep, and then he does

D is for... Domestic! (do they want to settle down? how are they at cooking and cleaning?)

GREAT at cooking, could work on the cleaning but if he knows he has someone to impress then he would get used to it. i think, after the things he's gone through and his surpressed trauma, he may struggle with imagining proper long-term commitment, like marrying or settiing down fully. like in the back of his head it's like he doesn't want to get hurt ?? but if he met the right person he would definitely think real hard about it

E is for... Ending! (if they had to break up with their partner, how would they do it?)

damnnnn i think it would be a commitment issue thing. like i don't think it would be the partner (unless they genuinely did something bad but let's imagine they're dating someone great) i think it would be more of a self sabotage thing 💀 which isn't funny idk why i'm laughing probably because i do it too,, but if he feels it's going too fast than he's prepared for, then there's a chance he may just break up and leave instead of talking it out

F is for... Fiancé! (how do they feel about commitment? how quick would they want to get married?)

i think personally dick is great for quick things, short-term. he needs to be in it if he's gonna stay. his trauma and background isn't as talked about, but i feel considering my own experiences, it's more likely he'd be more nervous when considering long-term relationships. if we're talking marriage, i think dick would need a long time to get to know this person,, really really know. divorce is a thing but he would rather only marry one time

G is for... Gentle! (how gentle are they?)

so unbelievably gentle like are you touching an angel ?? dick is very conscious to never ever overstep any boundaries, so his touch is very purposeful, very thought out, very kind. if you like a more passionate love, dick can definitely give that, but when thinking more domestic more sweet, more slow, dick's touches are gentle and featherlight. and he never raises his voice,, not saying he talks like super softly but the way he speaks is sweet and cool and cutie, like there is no way you can be uncertain of his affection for you

H is for... Hugs! (do they like hugs? what are their hugs like?)

the sweetest hugs. the type to cradle your head with his hand 😭😭😭😭😭😭 don't because i will start sobbing. he doesn't just hug like,,, he puts his entire heart his entire soul into a hug. breathes in your scent, takes in your body, fingers fiddling with the material of your shirt. it's very intimate, and vulnerable, but sweet, and never too much

I is for... I Love You! (how fast do they say the L word?)

takes a while for sure. i think even if he thinks he feels it like earlier on he genuinely cannot bring himself to say it. like genuinely. will go to say "hey yn i gotta tell you about something" but now he's finally got you're attention and he can't fuckin handle it. "i........ got a .. haircut ?? " but he didn't. but he tries to convince you thr back of his hair is shorter even though it so obviously isn't ? but it's okay whatever you say babygirl..

J is for... Jealousy! (how jealous do they get? what do they get like when they're jealous?)

okay his jealousy comes off as competitiveness okay,, like if he cares for you, he wants to keep your attention. definitely comes from a place of insecurity. but i mean all jealousy does right ? let's not villainise the man here (i'm literally the one doing it). if he sees someone else chatting you up, may or may not be an obvious, or even at all an attempt, at flirting, but he still comes up like a puppy,, and the competitive side aching for your attention comes out. oh this guy went out to china and did paragliding ?? uh huh well dick did it too and he did it better

K is for... Kisses ! (what are their kisses like? where do they like to kiss? where do they like to be kissed?)

more often than not, really soft. just sweet, a little chaste, but affectionate and cutesy. but he'll give you a kiss whenever. liek trust me he WILL find a reason. doesn't have to be on the lips, like he'll kiss you anywhere. forehead? it's a need. nose ? only on special occasions. cheek ? it's cute! shell of the ear ? when he's trying to convince you to cook tonight. but yeah more onto the WILL FIND ANY FREAKING REASON to Kiss you. omg i'm so proud of you ! kith. omg you look so good today ! kith. omg i just woke up next to you ! kith. omg the movie we just watched was so good ! Kith.

L is for... Little Ones! (how are they around children?)

dick absolutely loves kids he thinks they're (mostly) the sweetest, and he gets on with them really well. after damian, he's been trained on how to deal with any kid, be it angel or devil,, but i think if he were to think about having his own kids he would start having a pnic attack or something. like just watching your friend's kids when they go to the bathroom or kitchen for a sec is chill,, i think he'd even be the go-to babysitter for his friends with kids. but imagine having your own piss baby to take care of ??? it makes him shiver. he would need serious discussion and serious thought about having his own child

M is for... Mornings! (how are mornings spent with them?)

lazyyy warm and comforting. the first thing he does, doesn't matter if you're already awake or still sleeping, is press a sweet kiss to your form. if you're awake and laying beside him already, reading a book, nursing a cuppa, or just scrolling, he'll roll over onto his side and press a lazy kiss against your wrist, or the back of your forearm. if you're still sleeping he'll kiss whatever he can man, just for a second. he's also super crackly in the mornings, so if you hate the sound of bones clicking and are awake before him, you're in for a Treat :)

N is for... Nights! (how are nights spent with them?)

on patrol nights when he comes home late to find you still awake waiting for him, dick feels his heart thump a little bit. he peels off his suit and goes to take a shower, secretly hoping you'll still be awake, so he can talk with you for a little. dick grayson is the master of small talk before bed, where it's pitch black and you're drifting in and out of conversation as you drift in and out of sleep.

on nights in, he'll insist on cooking dinner and watching a film or show. he likes having a show you two watch together, but feels bad if he's gone for a while or has many night patrols in one week because he knows it's keeping you from continuing, and says it's okay if you keep watching, but please actually don't because he really wants to watch it too !!!!!

O is for... Open! (when would they start revealing deeper things about themselves?)

although on a surface level dick is pretty open, and acts like everything is okay, he definitely has some uncovered trauma he literally doesn't talk about to anybody at all ever. to be on the level that he'll begin to express these things to, it's an honour, a dream, amazing but horrible but scary but exciting like. but dick will only begin to reveal deeper things once he is certain he trusts you, and maybe after you have revealed some sensitive things to him too, because that will be a sure way to know he can trust you; if you trust him first.

P is for... Patience! (what is their temper like?)

if he's really in it for the long run, and his heart belongs to you, dick will be the Most patient. always listening to your side of an argument (even if he thinks you're in the wrong he will still be respectful, and then be sassy after you've said your piece, like he won't try to disrupt you). isn't the type to get angry about broken crockery, you can always clean it up and get some new plates or cups. he's had to deal with a lot growing up, i think he'll be okay with a broken glass

Q is for... Quizzes! (how much would they remember?)

as much as he can ! he knows the basics obviously, like your name 💀 and your top 5 favourite foods, movies, clothing items in your closet. but he also likes to play minigames where he tries to find out more about you, and you could be surprised by how much you still don't know about someone even after knowing them a year. he'll ask questions out the blue. "what's your opinion on sushi?" "do you think john cena should stick to acting, or go back to wrestling?" "what would you do if....." and he remembers all your answers, because he cares about you and cares a lot about knowing you as well as he can

R is for... Remember! (what is their favourite relationship memory?)

sitting in the tub together. he loves every time. it's not sexual at all. at first there was that heavy vulnerability in the air, but as you've grown together and grown more comfortable, it's something to look forward to. there was one time in particular though. he'd come back from a long patrol, quite mucky and in need of sleep. you ran him a bath straight away, and helped him in. it has been too long without him, you needed to feel him in your arms, remind yourself of the way his heart thumped in his chest when you carefully placed your hand there. he's been tiredly scrubbing the dirt from his legs when you sunk down into the water behind him. he hadn't even noticed you, but you took over the cleaning, and he's never felt so safe

S is for... Security! (how protective are they? what would they do to protect? how do they like to be protected?)

casually protective. if you're uncomfortable, or even sometimes unaware but he's uncomfy by how someone's looking at you, he'll straighten up a bit and place an arm around you, hold you close. dick isn't the most intimidating upon first glance, but he's good at making sure he can be.

T is for... Try! (how much effort would they put into a relationship?)

so much effort that you could cry sometimes. in a good way. obviously. but always flowers, always leaving notes, always making snacks if you're hungry, always complimenting you, always not always letting you win in mario kart. he really appreciates you. adores you, even. even if he hasn't said i love you yet, he definitely shows it. won't let you go a minute feeling insecure. this guy is allergic to your unhappiness

U is for... Ugly! (what would be some of their bad habits?)

not a bad habit per seeee but a personal HATRED i have is stinky food, like i have such a sensitive nose and i can't handle when my step dad is making food that's stanky and i can smell it from halfway across the house. but anyway dick would do this. he corresponds his diet to his workouts, so he can have really proteiny food after each workout, but for some reason really protein rich foods STINK !!!!! so he can be really annoying and make the stinkiest protein snack and have no idea until you're fanning out the flat w all the windows open

all that and his breath is still somehow constantly minty fresh !!!????

V is for... Vanity! (how concerned are they with their looks?)

i think dick makes an effort to be presentable. knows the best haircut for him,, even if he cuts it a bit shorter or even lets it grow out, he makes sure his barber is doing him right. he can't go looking stupid next to you ?? not out of his own insecurity but for your sake. you can't be having a boyfriend with an ugly haircut !!???

clean shaven most of the time, but i think he just has a slower facial hair growth anyway, so it's not like it's something to constantly worry about for him.

W is for... Whole! (would they feel incomplete without you?)

i think dick is quite an independent soul, he'll survive. at least on the outside. he's become really good at concealing his true emotions so on the inside he would be tweaking and literally no one would know.

Y is for... Yuck! (what are some of their turn-offs?)

rudeness and definitely one-sidedness, or like double standards you know ? like he can't do something that you always do, like if you always leave a mess in the kitchen after cooking, but if he does it once you go crazy. that shit pisses him off.

Z is for... ZZZ! (what are their sleeping habits?)

literally the complete opposite of what i said for jason, i think dick runs cold when he sleeps !!! so he has to bundle up. in the winter he sleeps like a baby / like a rock whichever you prefer, bc he sleeps through, but in the summer he gets too hot, has to kick off the sheets, gets too cold, puts them back on, too hot, kick off, too cold etc

#aangelinakii #dc #dc comics #dc imagines #dc reactions #dc headcanons #dc universe #dick grayson #nightwing #dick grayson imagines #dick grayson x reader #dick grayson headcanons #dick grayson reactions #dick grayson abc

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fly-pow-bye · 6 months ago

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The Lost Blossom Shampoo Commercial

During my very early days on Tumblr, I was loving all the GIFs and I wanted to join the community. Along with my love of video games, I love animation and I love Cartoon Network, and I wanted to contribute even if my main Tumblr, which is all that I had back then, wasn't animation focused. I wanted to give something that nobody else has posted. I knew non-American commercials have unique animation not seen anywhere else, so that felt like a good idea. I decided, to add some unique Cartoon Network GIFs to Tumblr, to look through various Cartoon Network commercial reels on YouTube and Vimeo. One of the videos I found on Vimeo was this reel from Brendan Rogan, a producer at Cartoon Network Latin America. I found a clip of the Powerpuff Girls I had never seen at 0:32.

Wait, is this...a shampoo commercial? Seems really fitting considering the Blossom hair wave scene in The Mane Event, and I shouldn't be surprised someone decided to use something inspired by that scene in advertising. Not going to lie: I was intrigued.

After the break, my entire history of my attempt to track down this commercial.

Right after this part of Blossom that I made the GIF from is this clip of three superhero-like mascots flying around three different bottles of different hair products. The one on the left has a bubbly hairstyle that is the same color as the bubbles shown in the Blossom part, suggesting that these two clips are from the same commercial. I did not want to believe it at first, but it did fit pretty well. The Powerpuff Girls are 6 years old at the most, and they could still be using baby shampoo.

After my searches went nowhere, I e-mailed Brendan Rogan back in 2015, who was pretty much my only lead at the time, about it. Rogan asked me why I wanted to see the "full spot". I immediately recalled one YouTube video about people trying to find the guy from Active Enterprises of Cheetahmen infamy only to be met with an all caps "WHY DO YOU WANT TO KNOW THIS INFORMATION" and no further replies, and I was hoping it was not going to end like that video. I did e-mail him with honesty, saying I just wanted to see the context of the full spot, and I'm a big Cartoon Network and Powerpuff Girls fan.

Rogan did not reply back.

I did not e-mail him again because I did not want to pester someone about a baby shampoo commercial, and I was holding onto the hope that it'll appear in a upload of commercials on YouTube so I do not have to test my anxiety. Of course, it'd be in way higher quality if I got it from someone who worked on the commercial rather than a VHS recording of commercials, but I was not thinking of that at the time. At least he indirectly confirmed a full spot exists.

Years later, I found a promotional reel based on the Toonix era of Cartoon Network Latin America, dated to 2011. It advertises The Amazing World of Gumball and Johnny Bravo Goes To Bollywood, both from 2011, so I can believe the year. It seemed to be made for investors and advertisers, showing off Cartoon Network's programming, and how they can have synergy with other brands. This includes a bunch of cross-promotion. Showing up at 4:52, to my surprise, is the Blossom ad. It was almost the exact same clip seen in the Rogan reel. The keyword is "almost." I got out my video editing software, and this is what I can see:

The Cartoon Network reel does have more of the commercial we did not see in the Rogan reel, though it's just more of the mascots flying in from outside of the frame and a little bit less of Blossom waving her hair around. This does confirm to me that neither reel was showing a single clip from the full spot, but two clips from different parts of the spot, showing the Cartoon Network character and showing what that Cartoon Network character was advertising. It also reconfirms that what I am looking for is not a Cartoon Network promo, but a baby hair product line commercial.

I also notice that even with these two different appearances, we only have 2.5 seconds of what could be a 15 or 30 second commercial. That alone does make that intriguing even with the possibility that Blossom only appears for that one second and the rest is just a generic baby shampoo ad. I hope that's not it, but it would explain why the full spot was not uploaded.

I did find one other piece of this campaign. It's not from the commercial, but it is related. Maybe it was an extremely lucky Google Image Search, or I just somehow stumbled across it in one of my searches. This was from a company named Bau Print, who specializes in different kinds of printing, including printing on vehicles, and, hey look!

There they are! It's even a photo taken from a camera that wasn't edited, meaning I could see from the metadata that it was taken in April of 2010. That does narrow down the beginning end of my search, though I had no doubt that the spot was at least post-Powerpuff Girls Movie. It also made me realize a bit of lore about these three super obscure mascots: they each represent the three different kinds of intense hydration: shampoo, conditioner, and combing cream. There are no Powerpuff Girls, showing either these superheroes were not just made for the commercial, or they wanted to use them without having to contact Warner Bros. or Cartoon Network.

This picture does prove that this campaign, at the very least, got to the point where it was advertised on trailer trucks. I did have a feeling this was a part of a scrapped campaign; maybe Johnson's got cold feet for having their clean baby shampoo brand be associated with girls that have beaten monkeys, criminals, talking dogs, and clowns to a pulp. However, wouldn't it be false advertising if a campaign that fell through ended up in a video that seemed to be made for advertisers?

And that's where my search runs cold. I have searched a lot of Cartoon Network Latin America commercial breaks on and off over the years, and I even used Filmot to search YouTube's subtitles for phrases that could be a part of it, like that "salud es belleza" tagline on that truck, and the full spot remains elusive after years of searching. I guess I could just imagine what the rest of the commercial could be.

The City of J&Jville, where our heroic trio responds to a dis-tress call: Blossom, superheroine of Townsville, is having a bad hair day and won't have the confidence to beat up Mojo Jojo and stop his "turn everyone into chickens with his chicken ray" plan. Lather, Rinse, and Repeat are called to action, and with their ultra-cleaning powers, they go into Blossom's hair as she stares at the mirror, and her hair magically turns luscious again. With her newfound confidence, Blossom flies to Mojo Jojo, and knocks his teeth out, bruising him with all of her techniques, her flurry of punches, her eye lasers, and the dreaded ponytail whiplash! The day is saved thanks to Blossom, and Johnson's Baby Hidratación Intensa! (Warning: Baby shampoo will not give your baby superpowers, do not let them fight crime.)

...okay, maybe that violence wouldn't have happened, but there is only one way we can find out for sure, and I can only wish I could find that way. So uh, here's another shampoo ad starring Hanna-Barbera characters that appears to be unrelated. Yes, the Powerpuff Girls are technically Hanna-Barbera. Bye.

youtube

< n/a - Part 2 >

#powerpuff girls #lost media #cartoon network #gif #my gif #lost blossom shampoo commercial

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eggonog · 7 months ago

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Teo Yandere Alphabet

Hello! I have no idea what I'm doing but I love Yandere stuff and have had a few ideas but this is the only one I have had the guts to post. I have no idea if you will like this, this post is kinda my pitch for this yandere, lemmie know what you think and if you want more of him!!!

So, enjoy~

This is my first post pls be kind-

TW: Violence, gaslighting, yandere themes, etc.

Finally edited!

(I didn't come up with the alphabet)

~~~~~~

A; Affection- How does the Yandere show their love and affection? How intense could it get?

Teo constantly wants to hold your hand. Constantly. If you pull away to tie your shoe or something, he will stand there sadly staring at you, as if you just killed him and everyone he ever loved- though that's only you.

But if you sit down, you are smothered. He will cuddle you, hold you to his chest, lay his head in your lap-

It wouldn't get too intense, because he would tire of it quickly. Teo will always end up cuddled in your arms at the end of the day.

B; Blood- How messy are they willing to get when it comes to their darling?

Teo wouldn't get too messy- it's not worth the effort. But if he did kill someone for you, deep down, somewhere, his instincts would be screaming for a blood bath. A little motivation and the trees would be red with whoever you wanted.

C; Cruelty- Would they ever hurt or harm their darling?

Why would you ask such silly questions? Of course not, he would never need to-!

Worst you'll get is... anything healable how are you supposed to climb trees, go for walks in the forest, and make flower crowns with him if you have missing limbs?

D; Darling Dearest- Aside from abduction, would they ever do anything against their darling’s will?

Besides kidnapping, not under most circumstances, no, if you accept his affection he won't make you do anything you don't want to, but if you don't... He'll braid your hair one way or another. And cuddles are not optional, I'll mind you. Nothing major though.

E; Exposed- How much of their true self would they bear to their darling whether it be good or bad?

He would be completely honest with you, talking circles at campfires are his favorite! Anything you want to know.

...

But he would never show you what he truly was, no matter how long you begged.

F; Fight: How would they feel if their darling fought back? How would they react?

He would be sad, extremely sad. And confused.

Flower? Are you feeling alright?

He doesn't exactly grasp what's going on, he's just confused. Why were you acting like this? Did you forget something? He does that all the time, don't worry! He understands!

He comes to the conclusion you forgot, you're so silly!

He has memory problems too, do you need him to get something for you? A plushie you didn't want to be left behind? A little trinket friend? Or did you forget him?

He would pet your hair and remind you that he was with you, you were okay! You just forgot how much you loved him, that's fine! He can coo into your ear and comfort you until you remember.

G; Game- Is this a game to them? How much would they enjoy watching their darling escape?

Where did you go?

Are you playing hide and seek?

Isn't his woods better for that? There are so many more hiding places, and it's safe! Why would you leave him the woods?

Oh, it's fine. He just has to re-explain the rules to you when he finds you.

Just please don't break them again...

H; Hell- What would be their darling’s worst experience with them?

You kept breaking the rules. You kept fighting him. He has a breaking point too, y'know.

Behind the sleepy, relaxed, non-caring mask- he's desperate. He's panicking. He's taking every word you say to heart. His delusions will break if you're not careful, while he loves you, he can only take so much.

He snapped. Delusions shattered. He sees how you feel about him, and he can't take it. What did he do to deserve this? He just wanted to remember something good for once in his life- can't you see you're that good? That something he was looking for? That he so desperately wanted to remember? To keep close? How could he remember you if he didn't keep you close? Don't you see that?

He would take out all his frustration on you, throwing you across the room, destroying the house you two shared.

He would have a full-on mental breakdown, that ended with you heavily injured, and him hyperventilating in the corner.

I; Ideas- What kind of future do they have in mind for/with their darling?

Teo doesn't like to think about the future, he's satisfied with the present. All he needs is you, and he's happy. Content to be by your side- how could he ask for anything else?

J; Jealousy: Do they get jealous if someone besides themself interacts with their darling? If so, how do they react?

He tries to give you as much freedom as possible, his only rule is to not leave the forest without him. He knows humans like to travel to different places, and he can go with you to the small villages close by.

But if anyone comes into the forest to see you, or seeks you out, he won't like it. Chance encounters only!

He doesn't care who talks to you as long as he's with you. He gets warry if you have long-term contact with anyone but him. he might try to end the conversation early if it goes on too long, But if someone tries to touch you, he might kill them. If you asked him, he might only cut off their arm. If you begged, maybe just the hand. He doesn't like to see you beg.

K; Kisses- How do they act around their darling?

Teo is kind to you and the other creatures in the forest, and often smiles or yawns. He's very relaxed in his element, coming off as childish and affectionate.

Overall very sweet and caring.

L; Love Letters- What ways did the yandere use to impress their darling before their abduction?

He would talk to you whenever you came close to his woods, and he would give you gifts as you walked by. It could be anything from hand-crafted flower crowns and berrys, to some small thing he finds interesting- if he is walking through the woods looking at birds, and he spots a cool rock or flower, he will put it in his bag to bring you later.

M; Mask- Are their true colors drastically different from the way they act around everyone else?

Yes, around others, he appears cold, intimidating, and like he couldn't care less about anything. Witch is mostly accurate; the only things he really cares about are his darling, his forest, and the creatures that live in his forest.

However, with his darling, he's warm and gentle.

N; Naughty- How would they punish their darling?

He would never really 'punish' you. He's the delusional type, and if you said you didn't love him, or tried to run away, he would convince himself you forgot.

He would hold you close to him until you... "remembered him"

Keep kicking and screaming for long enough, he might put you in your room to calm down. Every now and again he would bring you food and check up on you, trying to see if your memory came back. Basically un-inteionly gaslighting you.

O; Oppression- How many rights would they take away from their darling?

Other than the freedom to go wherever you wanted, and hang out with other people, none.

Just don't leave the forest without him- that's the only rule. It's really not that bad. Why would you want to leave anyway? You have everything you need with him in his forest!

P; Patience- How patient are they with their darling?

He's somewhat patient. He can wait for you to remember. As long as you need, but if you make no progress whatsoever for over half a year...

He might get a little frustrated

Q; Quit- If their darling dies, leaves, or successfully escapes, would they ever be able to move on?

If you died he would be terrified. He can't go back to having only bad memories- what if he forgets you!?

He would keep all of your things, making sure he had a bracelet you owned or made on him at all times. He would be so scared to forget you. He would cry. A lot.

But eventually, he would be confused as to what all these things were. Why did he have clothes that didn't fit him? Why did he have an extra toothbrush? What was with the pickles in the fridge? He hated pickles...

Thats weird.

...Why was he wearing this bracelet?

Was it important...?

It felt important.

R; Regret- Would they ever feel guilty about abducting their darling? Would they ever let them go?

Why would he feel guilty? You're happy here with him. How could you not be? He might feel a little bad, but all his worries will be gone when you remember him!

S; Stigma- What brought this side to them (childhood, curiosity, etc.)?

You're the only good thing he can remember- he can't forget you.

T; Tears- How do they feel about seeing their darling scream, cry, and/or isolate themselves?

He hates to see you sad. What can he do to make you feel better? Do you want your favorite food? Do you want to play a game? Do you want to pick flowers to make a crown? Do you want to go to the village?

However, if you isolated yourself...

Did he do something?

That's fine darling! Take the time you need. Just not too long okay? He needs to see you you to eat something...

U; Unique- Would they ever do anything different from the classic yandere?

He lets you go to the village to see other people around once a month, and he doesn't really force you to do anything. He's a lot nicer than a typical yandere.

V; Vice- What weaknesses could their darling exploit in order to escape?

His memory problems. If you escape and hide long enough, he will forget about you. And it will be hard, because if that exact fact he will be desperate to find you. Good luck, you'll need it.

W; Witness- If someone were to recognize their darling (as missing, distressed, sad, etc), how would they react?

He would be worried about you. Are you okay? And when he realizes you're fine, he will just forget about it. It's not like he's the problem-

X; Xoanon- How much would they revere or worship their darling?

He's not one to worship.

Y; Yearn- How long do they pine after their darling before they snap?

For a few months. At first, he would just be confused, but after a while, he would definitely snap, and you know what that entails.

Z; Zenith- Would they ever mentally break their darling?

How could you suggest such a thing!?

...

Not on purpose. And even then it's unlikely- you're surrounded by nature 24/7.

~~~~~~

Thank you for reading! Sorry, it was repetitive and chunky- I'm not good at writing.

But hey, you made it to the end! Yay!

#yandere headcanons #yandere writing #yandere x darling #yandere community #yandere male #male yandere x reader #yandere oc #soft yandere #yandere scenarios #yandere alphabet #yandere #yandere monster #yandere monster x reader #yandere bf #yanderecore #Teo #Yandere Teo #obsessive love disorder #obsessive yandere

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verisimmy · 11 months ago

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Welcome to the Big Mummy Challenge!

(logo not final, it's just for this post xD)

It's time to reveal what new Sims 3 series I'm planning, which I hope you will participate in!

Since I was a child I always liked reality shows, especially Big Brother (the UK edition to be exact) and I liked the idea of the SimBrother challenge. I created my own take on this challenge, which I already did on Discord channels but now it's time to try my luck on Tumblr (and maybe Twitter 😉).

Welcome to the Big Mummy challenge which is basically a SimBrother challenge... but with mummies!

Eight contestants enter the Big Mummy House, where luxuries, magic, and secrets await those who enter. These housemates will have to live together, complete tasks and challenges, forge alliances, maybe cause some drama, while the weakest will face eviction from the hands of our lovely mummies - the servants of Big Mummy.

Who will be the last Sim standing and win the big prize?

Every Big Mummy has a theme, and this season's theme is... will be a surprise 🫢, the screenshots from my previous post might give you a little clue 😉

The casting is now OPEN and your Sim can become one of the contestants!

You can submit your Sims either by creating a post and using #BigMummyCasting on Tumblr or Twitter; or by sending me a DM with all the necessary info and pictures.

At the end of the casting, 8 Sims will be chosen and I will ask their creators for the files (either in .Sims3pack or .package format)

You can send your submissions until February 11th, 2024

Only one submission per player

Submit a human Sim within Young Adult - Elder life stage (no Occults this time, sorry 😔)

Do not use any CC, but you can use all EPs, SPs, and Store items

The only defaults I use in-game are Ultra-Plain Eyes and Faces by tamo, which can be seen on the hosts above

You can set multiple outfits for your Sims but it's not needed, I will dress them up for the tasks

Include a brief introduction of the contestant:

- Name: (e.g Bella Goth) - Life stage: (YA - E) - City: (from existing cities in The Sims franchise) - Traits: (at least 5) - Introduction: (a little backstory of the Sim, why they decided the enter the contest) - Skills: (1-2 in-game skills they are really good at)

Please, include also a photo of the Sim from CAS and some screenshots in-game that show the contestant's personality - you choose 😃

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask :)

Good luck with your entries, and remember - Big Mummy is always watching 👁️‍🗨️!

#big mummy challenge #the sims 3 challenge #the sims 3 #sims 3 #ts3 #bigmummycasting

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septembersghost · 2 years ago

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If this is a weird comment you don't have to post it, but listening to E a lot I notice there are a bunch of idk? sounds in his songs that I guess they'd edit out now. you mentioned him laugh in Power of My Love and I hear it EVERY time now, but there's a lot of other stuff too that makes the recordings sound so real.

not a weird comment, i love this actually, and it's true.

i think it's a combination of factors. obviously, no digital editing (and no auto-tuning, which is why his studio vocals and his live vocals are as close to identical as they are. studio recordings are cleaner due to the setting and equipment, but the timbre and tone, the color, the melodic quality, that was truly the man's voice), although engineers could still clean things up in places, and lay in background vocals and further instrumentation etc, it was a bit more involved/arduous as a process and the central recording probably didn't get fiddled with as much. i'm not going to say i'm super well-versed on production of the time, but of course computers and digital mixing, snipping together various takes, etc, today can alter a LOT of what's captured to make it more "flawless." if you listen to any of his rough studio cuts/outtakes, you'll hear him rehearsing, changing up tempos, deciding on different arrangements or following instruction, (messing up lyrics and laughing and being a weirdo lmao i love him), clicking into how to get a song to work.

i also think it has something to do with E's particular technique and delivery, where he breathes is often very deliberate (try singing along and you'll notice how measured and controlled he was at this and the way it emotionally affects his delivery). i mean, as an example that isn't the power of my love laugh™, you can hear him gulp slightly at the beginning of in the ghetto (in the rest after "as the snow flies"), whether that's direct emotion or nerves or just how he was getting the song out. there's a moment in another song where you can hear what i think is the clink of his rings against the microphone. the memphis sessions have a LOT of the raw studio sounds left in. some of this is also that he...did not sit still (affectionate), so some of that fidgeting and rustling and personality is all captured in the recordings. listen to true love travels on a gravel road (my beloved), and there are a bunch of the organic moments right there. especially between the first chorus and the second verse - between "ohhh, true love travels on a gravel road" and "down through the years..." like four different things audibly happen. you can tell when he's playing around and exaggerating some of his vocalizations and quirks and trademarks, leaning into it - which he did in places in the comeback special too, because he knew exactly how to utilize/distill that, and the way it would transfix the audience, he just had command of that to unleash however he chose. (or whatever. he decided. to do. at the end of such a night). it's also why it's really apparent in a song when he smiles, which is one of my favorite things in the world, when you can HEAR a smile in a song. not every artist is easy to detect this with, but he is, and it's so warm.

what i really really love about this with him is it makes the songs so present and lived in and felt, all these unfiltered and natural details still exist in the tracks and so does his personality. then when you listen to the concert recordings, the only significant difference is stuff like banter with the audience or switching up bits of arrangement for the show, but the emotion and the amount of himself he put into everything is as real/accessible/clear in the studio as it is on the stage of the international or anywhere else. it's such a vibrantly alive aspect of his work that i believe it's part of why it's endured the way it has tbh - it still feels like he's right there about to pull that gold curtain back again.

#anonymous #letterbox #the thing is if you send me an ask about this i will write an essay #elvis presley #i was a dreamer #music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent #*

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kaleidosouls · 1 month ago

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im too lazy to put the vpn on to tweet so im gonna tumblr post; talk watch abt the amazing digital circus ep 3 (spoilers ofc) [Edit: i had more thoughts i guess il put it in the replies bc tumblr has those now? maybe itll be more accessible for my twitter generated yapping disorder)

finally some appreciation for my man and favourite character kingler like he goddamn DESERVES. i actually have not enjoyed tadc very much theres so much i rly dislike abt it but its like super well produced and indie so like you watch to be on the loop (i wish it was actually rendered closer to the quality of cd games from the 2000s that it seemed to be referencing but like, it looks how it looks and thats how it is), i rly disliked the script for the mpst part in the first 2 eps but ive loved kingler from day 1 so having an ep with mostly just him and pomni (i have mixed feelings on her too but w/e) was great great great and we had some lore n stuff but rly like i could smell a fellow traumatized man whos a bit wacky to cope from miles away and im glad to be proven Right

sorry im older man fucker so he rly hits all the boxes bc hes actually so sweet and helpful hes just mentally unstable (love him for that) and a lot of his endearing like caring nature comes thru in the physical aspect of the character and with less dialogue, rly the less dialogue the show has the better, idk who does the scripts and i dont wanna diss them but like oof i fucking hate it shkdh like its not like its never funny but its just, off, ive still not been able to properly explain to my wife the way that its off to me, and it bothers me to not be able to cohere those emotions! anyway

kingler so cute so very handsome and uwu so gentle and kind 💖💖💖 i love how gentle he is and good to pomni (ofc ppl are gonna call it fatherly or god forbid grandfatherly when hes like 40, and now if you ship them ppl will say its incesty when theyre two grown adults but w/e) like idk i just love a kind mentally unwell man!!! im simple!!! him just overexposing at the near end in dialogue was rly awkward in the writing like man they just, the dialogue is so not good. but in theory his character is so good and the thing abt the darkness and such was sweet. like hes just always been so endearing and the ep just gives a lot of free real estate kingler screentime to drink with my eyeballs, it doesnt change my opinion on the character at all bc ive always loved him this much

the rest was ok just the typical fare for the most part, like tadc rly often makes me so dissatisfied bc it has so So much potential but the ways it kinda just ends up like a dumbed down typical cartoon is really meh. i do love caine though and more proof that hes a non malicious (although maybe harmfully ignorant) ai. his gags almost land for me if they werent really Really lampshaded, i love how much he cares but is incapable (yet) of improving, i thought it was sweet zooble was so earnest with him. like, the whole tadc def improves the less mean spirited it is, for me. which is hard bc the most favoured character is rancid mean disney purple guy.

gghh why is this show so agdidhsifirh (gestures of anger) like its like, much worse ENA or smth but i know theres more that bothers me abt it than that, and i cant grasp it. im stil in hell irl so i cant cohere a lot in general so w/e, i need to chill and let go. i did like the horror trophy head designs of everyone that i could see (i wanted to get a better look at kinglers but i couldnt find a good frame from watching on my phone) like they were super over the top and fun. i wish the settings they travelled to still felt like, even remotely circusy? they truly feel like just we’re in a different cartoon. but its ok i only hate 749374947493 things abt the shows style choices

i want a framed photo of kingler so i could kiss it. or maybe i could trt to makena plush of him. he is my beloved to hurt/comfort. hes wacky and nice and traumatized and has memory issues and i wuv him

#.talk #tadc #the amazing digital circus #i dont want traction but i figute some ppl might be muting that would appreciate the tagging

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ddddd-pixels · 9 months ago

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Good news that affects nobody but me!!

Recently, I made a sprite of my OC, Shun, public for the first time ever (forgot to ever say their name in that post, but whatever :P). I actually have a very specific system for making sprites of them, as I do for most characters, but today I've come up with a much better & more efficient approach that will likely help me make these sprites much faster! (It might not look much different but I swear, there's a point to this.)

(FYI: This is likely going to be a long post – or at least, longer than my others so far – and I may ramble a bit about my process, so be warned!)

To start, the biggest change in this system is the base character that I use. In both cases, the base has been Athena, but which Athena it is has changed: I now use the Athena sprites from KOF R-2, rather than SNK: Gals' Fighters.

(SNK: Gals' Fighters was released after KOF R-2, so it has a few corrections in its sprites beyond the outfit change. I tend to carry these changes over, while still retaining the outfit from R-2.)

My main reasoning for this is simply that Athena's outfit from KOF R-2 is a lot more similar to Shun's outfit than her Gals' Fighters look. This results in me not having to spend as much time modifying the outfit, and focus more on making the character look like Shun.

Now, for more specific changes:

Their shoes, in the original (still taken from the R-2 design, despite it mostly being GF), had the two pixels of shading removed. I honestly have no idea why I did this, so it's returned in these new sprites. (As a side note; the socks on Athena's R-2 outfit were also used in the old design to show Shun's ankles, and that's still the case now.)

Their jacket(?) was custom-drawn in the original; my system for making it was drawing a line across Athena's shorts to separate the two legs, and continuing this line up the torso, adding a darker purple edge to the outer side afterwards. In this new system, the jacket is just a recoloured version of Athena's.

Shun's hair buns were originally taken from the character A-Mi, from a bootleg fighting game on the Gameboy Colour called Queen Fighters 2000. In this new system, they're taken from Chun-Li, without the ribbons.

Now, about the hair...

Like their hair buns, Shun's fringe is taken from A-Mi:

(Every character in Queen Fighters 2000 is edited from a character from a NGPC fighting game. In A-Mi's case, she's modified from Shermie.)

However, an odd feature of the Queen Fighters sprites is that every character (save for Kaoly, who is edited from Chizuru, and Rina, whose sprites are custom-drawn, but based on King) has their sprites scaled differently; usually one pixel taller and one pixel wider than their base character.

When I took A-Mi's hair and gave it to Shun, I didn't account for this change, so in all of my original sprites, Shun's fringe is a pixel wider than it should be. In these new sprites, I instead took the fringe from Shermie, editing it to look like what A-Mi's would be, had it not had the weird scaling.

R O T I S S E R I E S H U N H E A D

So, that's about all there is to this new system! This might have just come across as insane rambling, but I'm just easily excited about this stuff and haven't really had the opportunity to share it before. I hope it was... interesting?? at least? Really, I just don't know how to end these kind of posts yet, so I guess I'll just stop here. :P

#pixel art #sprite art #original character #oc #king of fighters #kof #queen fighters 2000 #athena asamiya #shermie #ramblings #really i don't know who cares about this #but i do so whatever

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sunnykeysmash · 1 year ago

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my thoughts on the first two episodes of s16

I don't even know where to begin, so let's start with just opinions: I loved it. Honestly, I've wanted sunny to delve into the characters for years, so this is all I've ever dreamed of. The differences in direction are also stunning and very visually interesting. idk it's great

If you've read my meta post on s14 and s15, you know what I think about the direction of the show, and season 16 is following exactly what I had expected in that regard imo.

It's not just how it revolves around nostalgia and "legacy/history" though. It also manages to do so in the direction and editing style of these two episodes.

Many choices surprised me here: we all know the zooming in during the pulse scene, but also the tendency to move the camera to reveal a previously unseen part of the environment (which has happened... three times! in inflates), the camera following the characters through the environment (dennis going from kitchen to living room, charlie moving from the new room to the entrance) which reminds me of the camera work in charlie work, roller rink and jumper (when they battle for the casaba specifically), all moments that have been praised for being "different" regarding to usual MO for sunny, and many close ups which usually aren't something that's used a lot.

Many times the usual sunny music came on and it felt almost jarring (POSITIVELY!!! intentionally wrong) because of how serious the moment had been. Like old lady house, you know?

So, to me, this is the first season without a structure. Nothing is sacred, especially not the past (dennis and mac get rid of the couch they've rented for 15 years [don't have to explain why 15 is important right], mrs mac wipes her butt with the "legacy of war" [aaah we'll come back to this], frank gives up the gun which is called his legacy and history, etc).

It may seem like s16 is being episodic and "back to past form" but I think that couldn't be further from the truth!! This is a new sunny, and the characters have continuity.

I have a feeling that by the end of the season those new room and bathroom will be used, because there is no "return to status quo", and to pretend there is would just be denial. Frank knows about the rooms now. But ehh anyway.

Something else that really surprised me these new episodes was Mac.

If you know me you know that I think Mac is pretty much the structure. He's the man who carries.

In a season with no structure, Mac is off.

He's unable to see any subtext no matter how obvious (buys literal nuts, doesn't see what Donald means), he's once again in complete denial about everything, he often guesses the complete opposite of what's actually intended ("consider it an offering" "of war?" "of peace- what is going on with you dude?" / "frank just shot us" "AWESOME!"), hyperfocused on the past, on legacy and history, (on winning a prize in risk e. rat?), he honestly seems to embody everything that Big Mo was fighting against.

This isn't entirely new for mac, he's displayed these traits before, but it seems much louder right now and intentional.

Especially if you consider, for example:

"I think it's time that I started sucking down the words of the Bible. And instead of looking for pieces of ass, I'd just look for peace."

Now, here's what I think happened.

He did get unraveled in s15. Not in the sense that he wasn't him anymore, but in the sense that he lost faith in the church, and is now trying to find something else that can "fill him up".

In a continuation of the identity themes in s15, I think Mac doesn't know who he is anymore, and is looking for any sense of meaning. Especially clinging to the past, even if the past was worse.

"This place has a dark past. Murder, betrayal, beheadings."

"Well, you know, it's a castle, Dee. You know, people were going crazy in castles all the time. And beheading people... well, that was just their way of solving problems back then, you know."

Even the letters Mac is so fixated on, written during world war II.

So if the past is war, and the future is peace, Mac is stuck in the past. So he still embodies the structure, it's just... we're not doing things that way anymore.

We may be redefining what legacy is. The gang thinks it's your past, when really, it's your future. It's what YOU pass down. (god stop me from quoting hamilton but... it's planting seeds in a garden you never get to see. cmon it's perfect. anyway)

And when you're so focused on the past, you miss what's happening right in front of you, you don't realize you have everything you've ever wanted right in front of you (like Mac with Donald...).

So what we're doing right now I think, is actually pivoting.

But... a pivot is also "the most important thing that everything else is based on or arranged around".

I don't know, maybe it's not farfetched to say that it's Mac and Dennis. Being codependent, they revolve around each other, they're each other's pivot.

Dennis is changing, which throws Mac off balance.

What else... uhh the lamp thing, definitely lampshading. And Charlie insisting on the return of the status quo and saying his investment was only "ten dollars a unit", to me that's again the seasons we used to get.

The teeth thing is a lot like the soup... they're being used incorrectly. He should keep them in his mouth... obviously.

I think that is to say that they're probably gonna find their way back to the structure, like, that it was simply used incorrectly. Like if Mac and Dennis got together for example, that wouldn't be something scandalous and against the structure at all, because it was already built in. Nothing changes. It's like the circle of life, like... it's all a circle (or a hole!), and they're just going round, ending up exactly where they started. Maybe. (!!)

Also ep2 calls back to tends bar:

"You figured out the one thing I wanted more than anything else in the entire world and you got it for me."

And this dialogue

"should we just attack him and take it?" "no he'll mow us down like Scarface, we can't come at him like that, we'll spook him." "you give that dog the best day of his life, and then you turn off the lights when he least expects it..."

Reminds me of season 14. One last classic season before you "turn the lights off" (but dee and dennis never meant to kill frank! just like big mo wasn't the finale). It also reminds me of season 12 now that I think about it, I mean... "turning off the lights", DDL... yeah.

Also reminds me of chop

"He came back! My dog came back!" "How the hell is that dog still alive?" "Yeah, Mac, why don't you just put that poor thing out of its misery?" "Put him down? What, are you crazy? This is my dog, Dee. I love him."

And!!!!

Wait, speaking of "history".

-"I'm the one who stayed, I'm the one who takes care of you, how could you do that?"

[...] -"it's okay, I'm not mad at you. it's fine."

"I love you."

"I love you too. I love you too, you know that."

"I made a mistake."

"you did make a mistake. I didn't mean to upset you"

This dialogue resonates to me as very applicable to Mac and Dennis (so much dialogue tends to 😭), because you know who else "gave away their history"? Dennis, when he went away. Mac stayed, Mac takes care of Dennis... (well, now I'm just hoping we'll finally get a north dakota mention)

Aaaand idk what else. It's never wise to try to read meta when so little of the season is out yet... also I'm tired and rambly and I know a lot of this will be wrong but uh. There's a lot of macdennis in the air. And I also think both Mac and Dennis are at their very lowest points, and they need each other, or things may go south.

#s16 spoilers #iasip #it's always sunny in philadelphia #always sunny #analysis #Sorry this post is so disorganized I'm really tired hfksf #too many thoughts and head empty

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meg-noel-art · 2 years ago

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hi!! i wanna preface by saying i agree with you, i just want to add one thing bc i don't want to make my own post or be perceived in any meaningful way

i feel like the nature of specifically horizon's dlcs is a direct continuation of aloy's story. frozen wilds was how we got truly introduced to the heph storyline and why we know we need to go after it, also introduction/context behind apex machines etc. when i first played forbidden west i was surprised that it took the DLC so strongly into account, which led me to believe it was meant to be a necessary step in aloy's story bc it didn't felt like exposition - it felt like assumed, already known information (which it would not be if you didn't play frozen wilds).

i also think that's what they were going for with burning shores. unfortunately, GG alienated a large portion of their playership by making it ps5 exclusive (whatever their reasoning may be, likely technological) - also the points you brought up about other reasons players can't get a dlc. I'm not saying it's a good model to base a franchise on, but that is the sense i got.

i have nothing to say about the shipping aspect bc it truly does not matter to the overarching narrative outside of hooray!! representation that is important for a lot of people!! shipping wars are stupid as hell. you're playing barbie with other people's characters, everyone, calm down

Yes I've gotten multiple asks bringing up the Frozen Wilds, but it only proves my point. So in that sense I still disagree with you and others. FWs is still not necessary to play. It adds dramatic context. But all of it's lore is still re-explained, admittedly to a lesser degree, in HFW.

Heph running wild is still reiterated via exposition during the plot of Forbidden West. Characters that were important to implementing the lore never make a return - CYAN is mentioned once in a dialogue wheel with GAIA. Aratak is a battle easter egg. Ourea is dead. Even Gildun is not an exception. His reappearance was EASTER EGGED in HFW and then he ONLY showed up in -- another DLC, which is again, optional.

I'm not making up rules here folks. This is how DLC works for any franchise. They can absolutely expand lore, tack on characters and important plot points but at the end of the day they are NOT necessary to play the main story. And will always be rehashed/reexplained for players who did not play the DLC. Or who couldn't.

That's one of the reasons they made up another Zenith that somehow escaped the final battle. Londra is entirely expendable as a villian. One off monster of the week special episode villain.

Look how hard Guerrilla pushed the Sunhawk comic, going so far as to include it digitally in an edition of HFW -- and still Talanah's entire quest retells the events of the comic via dialogue wheels.

Because ---- Guerrilla HAS to account for the fact that s o m e fans may not have read it and won't know what's going on. And every fan must be allowed to be clued in.

Mass Effect DLCs are another great example - and ME is even MORE open choice than Horizon is.

I completely agree with you that Guerrilla narrowed what it can do with Burning Shores moving forward bc of the ps5 exclusivity as well. For whatever reason they did it doesn't really matter the point is it restricts it's audience from playing.

I ALSO had an issue with the writing in HFW because it was written very very obviously to allow NEW players into the series. To START with HFW, not HZD, and not be totally lost. Even past the first cutscene, Aloy spends a ton of time rehashing events with old characters. I think 3 will play out much the same way. Because they have to develop it like that. Their goal as a company is to appeal to a large crowd of gamers, for money. Capitalism, they do not want their games to fail. Especially after queer clapback. So three will rehash undoubtedly the events of HFW, HZD AND BS. And that's a lot to cram in without forcing players to have played or make assumptions.

I have nothing to say about the shipping aspect either. Despite the many asks today for some reason interpreting my objective take on the nature of a DLC is an attack on representation OR the ship in general - i have zero issue with it. I will say yet AGAIN, i thought it was cute and enioyed the story.

That does not change the fact that a DLC is skippable, choices with Seyka were in a flashpoint aka optional, THIS IS NOT DENYING THE ROMANCE - but Aloy's reaction to it is different and would effect a player's game -- and at most I assume she'll be reintergrated in a fashion similar to Gildun. Because again, Guerrilla MUST account for the fact that THEY chose to introduce her in a DLC and thus people/new players will not know her or the story.

That's how it works, sorry about it.

Thank you for the courteous tone of your ask! This is, however, the last BS ask I will answer.

Take care 🫶

#asks #burning shores #anon #ty for your thoughts #enjoy your day #hfw #horizon forbidden west #💗#burning shores spoilers

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miniimapp · 2 years ago

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A-Z Fluff (Tae Young Edition)

Gen ;; Fluff - Alphabet Headcanons

Warnings ;; nope

Proofread + Edited ;; lmao

Auth. Note ;; WELCOME TO DAY 23 OF THE 4*TOWN CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN !! Our third post of the night !!

This is one of many posts tonight, so please go check out the advent calendar pinned to my page for each day's post :DD

Enjoy !! <3

✄┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈«

A = Activities (What kind of things do you do?)

Tae likes to watch documentaries with you,, not just ones on animals (though David Attenborough is Tae's hero) but on anything

B = Baby (Do they want a family? Why/Why not?)

He doesn't want many kids, 2 maximum, but he'd love to foster kids and maybe adopt one someday

C = Cuddle (How do they cuddle?)

Little spoon <3

D = Dates (What are dates with them like?)

Animal sanctuaries and rehabilitation centres can be one if the locations he'll take you but a classic Tae Young date is a picnic in the park

E = Everything (You are my ____ (e.g. my life, my world)

You are his peace

F = Feelings (When did they know they were in love?)

When he saw how gentle and patient you are with his doves, it was his first time letting anyone, let alone you, near his doves so seeing you handle then with such care really affected his heart lmao

G = Gentle (Are they gentle? If so, how?)

The most gentle probably,, he spends a lot of his time tending to injured animals, especially Doves, so he has a gentle touch by default at this point

H = Hands (How do they like to hold hands?)

He likes to hold your hand and fiddle with it,, whether that be swinging both of your hands between you as you walk or simply playing with you fingers

I = Injury (How would they react if you got hurt?)

P calm,, again he handles injured animals everyday, he'll take care of you np

J = Jealousy (Do they get jealous?)

Nah,, he might get a bit huffy, like T, about lack of attention but Tae trusts you too much to be jealous

K = Kiss (How do they kiss? Who initiated the first kiss?)

V softly,, it's incredibly sweet.

You initiated the first kiss, you wanted to so you asked, he said yes and you kissed him lma

L = Love (Who says I love you first?)

Him,, one day while looking after his Foster doves together

M = Memory (What's their favourite memory together?)

Watching the first blue planet documentary with you,, you just let him ramble on about and actually listened, it was v nice :))

N = Nickel (Do they spoil? Do they buy the person they love everything?)

Tae brings you flowers all the time but they're not exactly bought flowers,, if you ask for something he'll buy it for you but otherwise he doesn't think of buying gifts all that often

O = Orange (What colour reminds them of their other half?)

White like his doves,, pure, innocent and loving

P = Pet names (What pet names do they use?)

Tae doesn't really use pet names, no reason really either

Q= Questions (What are the questions they’re always asking?)

"Did you know *insert random animal fact*?"

"How are you today?"

R = Rainy Day (What do they like to do on a rainy day?)

DOCUMENTARY MARATHON !! DAVID ATTENBOROUGH,, HERE HE COMES !!

S = Sad (How do they cheer themselves/others up?)

For someone else,, Tae probably show them funny animal videos on youtube and ramble fun facts about whatever animal is on screen until the other person felt better

For himself,, he'd watch funny animal videos with you and tell you fun facts about each one as it pops up on screen

T = Talking (What do they like to talk about?)

Animals, environmental efforts, band stuff, gossip

U = Unencumbered (What helps them relax?)

DAVID ATTENBOROUGH DOCUMENTARIES,, HERE TAE COMES !!

W = Wedding (When, how, where do they propose?)

After a year or more of dating,, Tae would take you on a picnic and propose at the end with the ring being tied around the foot of a Dove that he sends to you with a message asking you to marry him,, then que the speech lmao

X = Xylophone (What's their song?)

Roar - Katy Perry

Y = Yearning (How well do they cope when they’re separated from their S/O?)

He's okay,, Tae's a little bit clingy so he misses you a fair bit.. expect plenty of video and voice calls while you're apart.

Z = Zebra (If they wanted a pet, what would they get?)

A budgie because why not lmao

#4town christmas countdown #4town #4town headcanons #4town tae young #4town tae young x reader #4town x reader #x reader

33 notes · View notes

succubusphan · 1 year ago

Text

Two Man Team - Chapter 13

Summary: This is the story of two struggling friends who after many trials and tribulations find their way back to each other and build the life they've always dreamed of.

Or how Phil changed his life by talking to random strangers on the internet.

Rating: E

Tags/warnings: Friends to lovers, Friends with benefits, mental health issues (mainly anxiety), Slow burn, Dan is a psych student. Canon divergence (the timeline is altered and some things never happened), Slutty Phil, Angst with a happy ending. The fic spans many years.

Author's Note: Written for the OSPBB 2023 @oldschoolpbb. Thank you @effingmeteors for being my life saviour and beta as usual and to my artist Lin @anironsidh.

Edits and the art will be added at some point, we are busy bees.

This is basically the epilogue, thank you for joining me in this journey and I hope you enjoyed the ride.

Total Word Count: 75k ish

Read on Ao3

CHAPTER 13: Two Man Team

January of 2019

Having spent the holidays with his family without telling them about Dan was harder than Phil had expected, but he needed to discuss the situation with Dan first. They of course knew that Dan had returned to YouTube and that they had rekindled their friendship, but Phil had avoided any further questions on the topic.

After a bit of back and forth, he and Dan decided that keeping appearances for Phil’s birthday at the end of the month was not really an option, so they sat down on the sofa fumbling with Phil’s phone, opening his mum’s contact and finally hitting the facetime button on accident when he almost dropped his phone to the floor.

“Child!” Phil’s mother said.

Phil scrambled to set the camera to his face without showing Dan. “Hi, Mum!” he replied, his voice cracking from the nerves as if he was 15 all over again. “How are you?”

“Doing well, you know, tending to the garden,” she smiled. “What’s the matter?”

“Nothing?” he said, sounding like it was definitely something.

“Phil, I am your mother. Don’t try to lie, you are terrible at it.”

“I just - wanted to tell you something,” he said, biting his lip.

“Are you ill?” She asked, sounding quite concerned, her face falling.

“No! Not at all. I’m seeing someone,” he said and almost slapped himself. Dan gave him a reproachful look. They were a bit past the “seeing each other” stage.

“Oh!” She said, her smile returning. “You have a partner?”

“Yes! I actually misspoke. I do have a partner,” he clarified.

“Well, that’s quite nice. How long have you been together?”

Phil looked at Dan with wide eyes, there were so many possible answers to that question. Dan shrugged and mouthed an “October?” at him.

“Uh, October - ish,” Phil said, looking back at her. “We were seeing where things were going but we - made it official in October.”

“Why didn’t you bring them over for Christmas?” She asked.

She was trying not to push, Phil could tell, but after he posted his coming out, there was no need to keep beating around the bush. “He, Mum, we can say it. It’s a man.”

She laughed, letting out a happy sigh. “Oh, I’m glad, Child. I didn’t want to assume or offend you. You know how much your father and I love you, we just want you to be happy.”

Phil did know, but he smiled nonetheless. “Yeah…”

“What can you tell me about your partner - boyfriend?”

“It’s D-Dan!” he said, with a nervous laugh. “And… well, you know Dan.”

“Oh, dear! I love Dan! What a sweet boy! Oh, Phil, that is just wonderful,” she said, sounding genuinely happy. “Since October?” she prodded, narrowing her eyes.

Phil laughed and looked at Dan’s beaming face, gesturing for him to speak up, but Dan only made a silly face at him.

“Yes!” Phil said. “I swear, since October. We took things slowly because of… the time we were apart.”

“Hiiii!” said Dan as Phil turned the phone towards him.

“Oh, hi love! How have you been?” She asked, “Can you hear me?”

“Yes, he can hear you,” Phil said.

“I’m doing well, very happy,” Dan said, with that tone he’d always used with Phil’s mum. He had always been a sweet talker.

“That’s all that matters then! Phil, you have to bring him over for your birthday!”

“Yes!” Dan said before Phil could reply. “I accept the invitation!”

Phil poked his side as they both laughed. “We’ll be there for the weekend.”

“Martyn and Cornelia are coming as well!” She said.

“Who is that?” Asked Phil’s dad in the background.

“It’s Phil! Do you want to talk to him?”

His father didn’t reply to her and just grabbed the phone. “Hello, son,” he said merrily. “Are you coming to us for your birthday?”

“Yeah,” he said and hesitated for only a second but that was enough.

“He has a boyfriend!” His mum said, sounding almost more excited about it than Phil.

“Oh! A boyfriend! That’s nice. Is he treating you well?”

“No, he’s horrible to me!” Phil said, theatrically.

“Shut up!” said Dan, blushing and slapping his arm.

“I know that voice! Don’t I know that voice?” Phil’s dad asked away from the phone.

“It’s Dan!” said his mum.

“Yeah, It’s Dan,” said Phil, still giggling about his little joke and the effect it had on Dan.

“Hi, Dan!” His dad said. “You found yourself a nice boyfriend there?”

Dan squished his face to Phil’s to be in frame “Sometimes I’m inclined to believe that no,” he laughed.

“I’ll have you know I’m a wonderful boyfriend,” Phil said.

Dan gave him a look and a cheeky smile. “He leaves every cupboard open after making coffees he doesn’t actually drink until they are cold.”

“Spend a lot of time with him?” Phil’s dad asked, reading between the lines.

“He stayed over one day and never left,” Phil said, with a laugh.

“Don’t say that, they will think I’m just leeching here,” Dan said, swatting at him. “I moved in recently, when my lease was up.”

“You could have come for Christmas then,” commented Phil’s mum.

“His family wanted him with them as well, Mum. Don’t worry, I will drag him over soon.”

“Good, you do that,” Phil’s father said. “Dan, take care of him for me.”

“I will,” Dan said with a small smile.

“See you then,” Phil’s dad said. “Bye!”

“Bye!” Dan and Phil said in unison, making his mum laugh.

“Bye, boys!” She said and disconnected the call.

“That went better than expected,” Dan said, pressing a small kiss to his lips.

“It was good,” Phil agreed and wrapped his arms around Dan’s frame. “I’m glad that they were so calm about it.”

“It’s because they knew, or they suspected. Your dad definitely knew.”

“He has been onto us since the beginning.”

Dan tsked. “I don’t think we were as slick as we thought we were.”

“Probably not,” Phil snorted.

---

When the weekend of Phil’s birthday finally rolled around, he and Dan were in a bit of a panic.

Even though the phone call with the announcement had gone fairly well, it was a bit nerve wracking for Phil because he had never officially introduced anyone as a boyfriend. His family knew that he was gay but it wasn’t something that he really talked about. They had sort of figured it out on their own and were kind enough not to bother him about it. And Dan was nervous to see Phil’s parents again as Phil’s boyfriend, this was also a new experience for him and he was still getting used to being out of the closet.

As soon as they set foot in his parents’ house, Phil’s mum pulled Dan into a hug and pinched his cheek, which was quite hard because of the height difference. Still, Dan bent down and let her enjoy herself. He beamed as Phil’s parents welcomed him in without a hint of awkwardness.

“Go take your bags upstairs and come back down to sit by the fire, we’ll be right over with some tea,” his mum said, gesturing to the sofas by the fireplace on her way to the kitchen with her husband in tow.

Phil didn’t need to be told twice. With the wind raging outside and snow threatening to fall, by the fire was exactly where he wanted to be. He took Dan’s coat and put it away before leading his boyfriend to one of the two guest bedrooms. It was decorated in muted colours and consisted of a double bed, two bedside tables and a few decorative items. Phil looked around and sighed, wishing that they were still at his old family home; this one didn’t hold the same memories.

Dan wrapped his arms around him, hugging him from behind. “Everything ok?” He asked, resting his chin on Phil’s shoulder.

“Yeah, I was just thinking.”

“What about?” Dan said, pressing a kiss to his cheek.

“I wish we could go back to the old house.”

“Hmm, the place where we first got together,” Dan mused. “That would be nice, but we can make new memories here.”

“Yeah,” Phil said and turned around, resting his arms on Dan’s shoulder and leaning in for a kiss.

Dan shoved his cold hands under Phil’s hoodie making him squirm and jump back with a laugh.

“You beast!” Phil said.

“Better?” Dan smirked.

“Yeah, but I’ll get you later!”

“Can’t wait,” Dan said, wiggling his eyebrows and walking out the door.

Phil shook his head and followed after him, catching up to Dan who was already on the sofa and sitting at his side, leaving the two armchairs across the coffee table for his parents.

Dan stretched his arms towards the fire and rubbed them together. “I am finally starting to feel my fingers again.”

“I wish I could climb inside the fire,” Phil added and Dan gave him a warning look. “It was just an expression.”

He knew that Phil was not being serious but with how prone to accidents he was, they could never be too safe. “I miss having a fireplace,” lamented Dan and Phil made a mental note of that.

“At least we have an aircon,” Phil commented, rubbing Dan’s back.

“True, but it’s hard to appreciate it during the winter months.”

“Here we are!” Phil’s mum said, walking over and narrowly avoiding dropping the tray before setting it down on the coffee table. “Milk, Dan?” She gave them a little smile when she saw Phil’s hands on Dan’s back.

“Yes, please,” Dan said, clearing his throat.

His dad sat down and reached for his own cup, adding sugar and stirring before taking a sip and smiling happily.

“You look so handsome,” his mum said, handing the cup to Dan. “Is this your natural hair?”

“No, I got a perm,” Dan laughed and Phil saw him relaxing a bit into his spot on the sofa. He took a sip of his tea and hummed. “Yes, it is my natural hair. I just didn’t like it before.”

“I think it’s an improvement from your previous look,” she smiled, blowing into her cup as she stirred her tea.

“Oh, absolutely,” he said, pausing. “So, how are you two doing? Do you enjoy living on the Island?”

Phil’s dad nodded. “Yes, I think this is one of the best decisions we ever made. We loved our house, but this is the perfect place to retire to.”

“We like to go on walks around the cliffs on most days,” she added. “I find the sea breeze refreshing and calming.”

“Sounds like paradise,” Dan said.

Phil could tell what his parents were hinting at so he decided to stir the conversation away from that topic. “When are Mar and Corn getting here?” He said, finally reaching for his own cup and taking a tentative sip, humming gleefully when he tasted the honey.

“Tomorrow, sometime after 3, I believe,” his dad said.

“Good!” Phil replied. “I think he will be happy to see Dan again.”

“Does Martyn know?” His mother asked.

“No. I mean, he probably did, but no, nobody knew for certain. Just Mark and his boyfriend and we told Anja recently.”

Dan nodded. “We were not trying to be super secretive about it, but we wanted to make sure that things were working properly before we told anyone else, if that makes sense?”

“Can I ask something?” She asked.

“Of course, anything,” Dan said, and Phil was tempted to say that maybe not anything but kept quiet.

“You know, Phil never said anything to us, but I thought you were dating back in the day. Then it made sense to me that Phil didn’t bring any girls over, just you. And Anja.”

“It was not like that with Dan - or with Anja.”

Dan made a noncommittal face. “It was kind of like that, but not really. We liked each other, definitely, but we weren’t officially dating, I would say.”

“We weren’t,” Phil said. “And Anja is a lesbian; she has had a girlfriend since… 2011 I believe. I introduced them.”

“You didn’t date Anja then?” She asked.

Phil shook his head. “No, she stayed because I was her gay friend and she knew it was safe.”

“Oh, and then she came over with a girl… and you slept on the sofa.” She pressed her hand to her forehead. “I thought you were just embarrassed to send her friend to the sofa to have some privacy,” she said in wonder.

“Mum!” Phil said, feeling the heat rising to his face. “I would have never done that with you in the house.”

Dan laughed.

“Are all of your friends gay?” His dad asked.

Phil hummed. “Not every single friend, but I would say that most friends I’ve made in the last few years are gay. We just understand each other better.”

Dan nodded. “I grew up and found out that not only were some of my bullies gay but most of my friends too, even though none of us were out at the time, and some of us didn’t even know yet.”

“I suppose that you find people that you can relate to and have things in common, if that’s being gay, or knitting, or having a book club, right?” His mum asked.

“That’s a good point,” Dan said.

Then his dad looked at Phil and caught him off guard. “Dan stayed over quite often when travelled,” he commented with an amused smile, apparently realising what Phil hadn’t meant to imply before.

Phil coughed but his mum was thankfully ready to save him.

“It’s so wonderful that you are back together now,” She said.

Dan nodded. “It took some time, but he thankfully listened to me when I apologised and explained myself.”

“Phil can be a little stubborn,” she conceded.

“He was more than a little stubborn, but I deserved it,” Dan said. “It was not easy, but I’m glad he had it in him to forgive me,” he reached towards Phil and laced their fingers together.

The butterflies in Phil’s stomach were still there and he could feel himself blushing, but when he looked at his parents he saw nothing but acceptance and perhaps a little relief that he wasn’t going to die alone after all.

“You seem like a good match,” his dad said with a gentle smile.

Phil’s heart burst with happiness. He could hear the pride in his father’s voice, the pride he had wanted to hear his entire life. “Thank you,” he said, clearing his throat as he tried to not get overly emotional.

“So how is… work?” His dad asked.

“Quite good,” Phil said, feeling thankful to have something else to focus on. “I have exciting projects going and Dan too.”

“Anything you can share?” He asked.

“Not yet, but you will know soon enough,” Phil said.

“Please give us a warning if it’s something important so we don’t hear about it from the neighbours,” his mum said.

Phil winced and mumbled an “Alright.” He took a long sip from his cup. “I didn’t tell them before posting my coming out,” he mumbled in Dan’s general direction.

“You didn’t tell them before posting?” Dan asked, looking at Phil out of the corner of his eye.

“No, he doesn’t tell us much these days,” She said, a bit too dramatically.

“Don’t say that, I just figured you knew already,” Phil said, snorting. “And I forgot.”

“We knew but we didn’t know!” She said. “And then we watched Dan’s video - which was so wonderful by the way - and we finally got some idea of what went on in your life.”

Phil huffed, starting to get a bit annoyed.

“Thank you,” Dan said. “It was a lot of work but I’m glad that you liked it.” He squeezed Phil’s hand in support.

Phil was grateful that his boyfriend knew how to suck up to his mum and stir the conversation away from him and how bad of a son he was.

“It was very emotional,” she said. “I quite enjoyed it, even though it had some sad parts. I wish you didn’t have to go through that.” She looked at Dan with deep sadness in her eyes.

“Well, it all turned me into a person I’m proud to be today,” Dan said.

“We are proud of you too, Dan,” his dad said and before Dan could react, he continued. “Actually, if you could come with me, I want to show you something.” He got up to his feet.

“Of course,” Dan said and followed him to his office, throwing Phil a confused look over his shoulder.

“Come,” Phil’s mum whispered then. She grabbed their coats and took his hand, pulling him through the sliding door and out to the garden.

“It’s way too cold to be out,” Phil said, sipping his jacket on and pulling his gloves out of his pocket.

“Oh, it will boost your immune system,” she said, holding onto his arm as they walked slowly in circles around the garden. “I wanted to see how you were doing.”

“I told you, I am happy with Dan.” He interlaced his fingers to make sure his gloves were properly fitted.

“I know, I know. You do look happy, but I worry sometimes,” she said. “After Dan left - you weren’t the same for a long time. I don’t think you are the same, even now.”

“Neither is he. We both went through quite a bit of pain together and on our own,” Phil admitted. “And nobody is the same at 31 than at twenty-something.”

“That’s fair. I am just a bit scared for you too, even though I know Dan is a good boy.”

“We will be alright this time, Mum,” he reassured her. “The thing you don’t understand is that with him in the closet and me being only partially out, things were never going to work. At the time Dan wasn’t even able to accept himself, so dealing with that publicly on top of our feelings was too much.”

“My heart breaks for him,” she said. “I’m sure the relationship will work this time.” She patted Phil’s arm

“You can never be 100% sure of anything, but it took almost a year to get back to a place where we were comfortable enough to start dating again and we haven’t had any major issues,” Phil said.

She let out a deep sigh of relief and smiled widely. “I’m glad to hear that, Child. You two deserve to be happy and it seems that you are determined to be together.”

“What do you mean?”

“Oh, it’s nothing bad. You fought through any sort of problem that came your way to make it to the other side and I think that’s what matters. No relationship comes without obstacles, the important thing is that you work to sort through them.”

He nodded. “Do you and Dad argue a lot now that you are retired?”

“Not much anymore,” she said, patting his hand. “We know who we are and what to do to avoid creating arguments. And we still love each other.”

Phil smiled. “What’s your secret?” He asked.

Humming, she paused for a moment before replying. “Don’t hang on to silly tiffs and never go to sleep angry. Solve your arguments before bed. That’s what your grandma told me and It worked well.”

“I will,” Phil said, getting lost in thought when he realised that the two year anniversary of his grandma’s death was coming. He missed her so much.

His mum caught up to the reason for his silence. “She was very proud of you, you know?” She said, “A few years ago, she asked if you were dating anyone and I told her that I believed so. That made her happy, even when I told her that it might be a boy.”

Phil’s eyes welled up with tears briefly. He wished he’d had that conversation with her but she had gotten ill and passed before Phil could make his way back. He shouldn’t have waited so long to talk to her about it. At least now he knew that she supported him. “Do you think she would have liked Dan?” he asked.

“She would have loved to meet Dan, but she knew of him from YouTube,” she said.

Phil’s eyebrows burrowed into a frown. “How?”

“You have to remember that Dan was the only person you brought home so I showed her a few of the videos you made together.”

“Oh my god! What videos?” Phil asked, half amused, half horrified. A single tear slid down his cheek but he rubbed it away quickly. Sniffling through the laugh.

“Only the more innocent ones,” she said, raising one eyebrow at him.

“I can’t believe you showed her that. You like to gossip way too much,” Phil said.

She booped the tip of his nose. “And you took after me, so I don’t want to hear it, dear.”

“Alright,” Phil said. “Thank you for the advice and for showing grandma a part of me I didn’t have the chance to share with her. It means more to me than you know.” He turned towards her and pulled her into a hug.

“You’re welcome, dear,” she smiled. “Let’s go back inside, you are shaking like a leaf.”

They made their way back into the house and Phil could still hear his dad’s voice faintly mid-conversation.

“...You make him happy. We were so worried about him these past few years,” he said. “I wanted you to know that you will always be welcome in this house.”

“Thank you, Mr Lester,” Dan said.

“Nigel,” his dad said. “In your video, you said that your father didn’t take your … email very well. Right?”

“No,” Dan mumbled.

Phil followed their voices and stood in the hallway, shamelessly listening in.

“Sometimes the people we love are the ones that hurt us the most, but the good thing is that we can find other people to love. We are your family, Dan.”

“I -” Dan paused. “Thank you, you don’t know how much this means…”

Phil turned around the corner and saw Dan hugging his dad tightly. He stood there for a moment, staring at the scene with a shocked smile and retreated to the downstairs bathroom to give them some privacy and compose himself. He looked in the mirror and smiled, still a little moved by his parents’ reaction, he hadn’t expected this much support from them, and now he felt guilty for ever doubting them.

After a few minutes, he joined his mother in setting the table.

Dinner went without a hitch and it came with a much lighter tone. They shared a bottle of wine over pasta and played Scrabble past midnight when his mum finally deemed the night over.

They said their goodbyes and climbed up the stairs to the guest bedroom. The bed looked so soft and comfortable it was basically screaming Phil’s name. He slipped into his pyjamas quickly to avoid the biting cold and slid under the covers.

Dan snorted a laugh. “Cold?”

“Uh-huh. Aren’t you?” Phil mumbled, only his eyes peeking from under his burrow.

“Not that much. I think the wine got to me.” He took off his jeans and pulled on a different hoodie before getting under the covers and scooching closer to Phil. “Come here,” Dan said, pulling him into a hug and dropping a kiss to the tip of his nose.

Phil sighed happily, slipping his fingers into the curls on the back of Dan’s hair that was beginning to grow just a bit too long for Dan’s taste. “Love you,” he said, leaning in for a slow kiss.

Dan’s hold on him tightened, his hand sliding under Phil’s pyjama top and resting on his lower back.

There was no urgency, no heat, just comfort and familiarity. Phil knew that if he chose to push Dan in the slightest way, he would probably jump at the opportunity to have sex, but they would have their fun at home. Home. The flat they shared for the time being before -

He smiled and broke the kiss, staring into Dan’s eyes in the moonlight.

“Winter is my favourite. I love the cold because I can hold you like this and sleep without us drowning in a pool of sweat,” Dan laughed.

“We can do this all year, you just have to program the aircon fairly low. You are like a tiny oven.”

“I’m not tiny,” Dan pouted.

“You will always be the tiniest of babies to me,” Phil teased.

“Shut up, old man,” Dan said, letting out a yawn. “Big spoon or little spoon?”

“Mmmm, big spoon,” Phil said, wrapping his arms around Dan’s torso when he turned around. He kissed Dan’s shoulders and threw one leg over Dan’s, tangling it between his feet and smiled.

“You’re a weird one, Lester.”

“Your mum is weird,” Phil mumbled and shut his eyes.

“Happy birthday, Babe,” mumbled Dan.

“Mmm, thanks.”

This was going to be his best year, he could already tell.

---

The following morning, Phil woke up to his mum shaking him by the shoulder. He threw a hand over his eyes to let them adjust to the brightness. “Mum!” Phil whines, stretching his hand in search of Dan.

“Happy birthday, love!” She said. “Dan is already dressed and sitting down for breakfast. Wouldn’t you like to join us?”

Phil groaned. Why did Dan have to suck up to his parents by getting up early too? It was his birthday, he could have slept in. “What time is it?”

“It’s eleven already, so up, up! Off you go to the bathroom,” she said. “I made pancakes!”

Phil’s eyes widened. The one thing his mum didn’t ruin or burn to a crisp. “Alright!” He said and got up, changing into a warmer hoodie and heading downstairs after a pit stop at the bathroom.

“A pit stop,” he mumbled to himself with a snort. He needed to stop watching Formula 1 with Dan.

“There he is!” his dad said as soon as Phil walked into the kitchen, making him smile. “Happy birthday, son.”

“Thank you,” Phil said.

Dan reached out to him and pulled him by the hand to sit at his side. He leaned in to kiss his cheek and whispered a “Happy birthday, Love,” into his ear.

Phil smiled so widely he thought his face might just split from the happiness and then he made eye contact with his mum, who had watched the interaction closely and blushed.

At least she looked happy for him but it was a bit embarrassing. On the other hand, Phil couldn’t help but notice that Dan didn’t completely avoid PDA, he just kept them at a minimum. It was not something that they had discussed, but Phil wouldn’t have expected Dan to be ok with something like this after being in the closet for so long. It was a good birthday surprise.

“Sleep well?” asked Dan.

Phil nodded, reaching across the table for his coffee mug.

“Well, wait a minute,” his mum said, squeezing lemon on top of his pancakes and sprinkling them with sugar before handing him the plate.

“Do you want to share?” He asked Dan.

“I already ate mine. These are all yours.”

“You didn’t wait for me?” Phil pouted.

“I was hungry, bitch. I woke up at 9!” Dan teased.

“Wow, you should have woken me up!”

“Please, I know how you get - and it’s your birthday.” Dan gave him a look.

“I don’t know what you mean. I am a perfect angel,” Phil said.

Dan rolled his eyes at him and snorted.

“Martyn will be here around 3 so that’s when I will serve the roast and we can cut the cake after. Is that ok?” his mum asked.

“Yes,” Phil said. “Our flight it’s not until 9 so we can leave around 7.”

“What a pitty that you couldn't stay a bit longer,” his dad said.

“I know, I’m sorry but we have work. We will visit again at some point,” Phil said.

“I hope that you can visit in a few months and stay over,” Dan said. “I am going on tour with a new project and I would love it if you could come.”

“Of course!” Phil’s mum said. “Will your mother be there?”

“Um, sure. We can get tickets for both families on the same date,” Dan said.

“Wonderful!” she said with a smile.

“When will it be?” Phil’s dad asked.

“Closer to the end of the year. I will let you know exactly when the producers tell me,” Dan said.

Phil looked between Dan and his mum, smiling at how sweetly she was pushing him into a corner to make a family reunion happen as soon as possible even with them living on opposite ends of the country. Still, he decided to rescue his boyfriend.

“Do you need help with anything, Dad?” Phil asked.

“Yes, actually! You can start chopping the onions and peeling potatoes,” he said. “Dan, do you think you can run to the store and get some more wine?”

“Yes, absolutely!” said Dan, surely aching to escape Phil’s mum’s interrogation.

“I will walk with you, dear,” she said, already reaching for her coat before Dan could say no.

Phil snorted and went in search of the onions. When he got back into the kitchen, his dad was waiting for him with a small framed art piece. He had to pause for a moment. He placed his hand on his heart and grabbed it with shaky hands. It was a charcoal drawing of the last picture Phil had taken with his parents and his grandma, but his dad had added Dan in. His eyes welled up in tears and he set the picture on the counter before pulling his dad into a tight hug with a choked sob. “T-thank you!”

His dad rubbed his back and Phil couldn’t remember a single time they had hugged like this since he’d been a child. He made sure to account for every detail of the way his father was holding him, comforting him.

“I’m proud of you, son,” he said.

“Thank you,” Phil mumbled. He didn’t want to have any regrets. One day his father would be gone and he wouldn’t have any other time to tell him. He remembered his vow to tell the people he loved the most just how much they meant to him, but his dad had somehow been skipped. Well, not somehow. They were men, they just didn’t do this type of thing, not since Phil had turned into an adult, but Phil didn’t want to continue on like that. “I love you, Dad.”

“I love you too,” his dad said with no hesitation.

They finished cooking side by side, swaying to the music playing in the radio in amicable silence.

By half past three, the roast was ready, Martyn and Cornelia were washing up, and Dan and Phil were setting the table. In one of Phil’s trips to the kitchen, Martyn caught him by the hand and asked him to follow him out to the garden.

Phil immediately regretted not taking a moment to grab a coat, but at least Martyn didn’t seem to be doing any better. “Fuck, Mar. What is it?”

“Shh! I don’t want Mum to hear. I just wanted to check something with you.”

“Yeah, what happened?” asked Phil, feeling a bit worried already.

“So - Cornelia and I have something to announce and we were waiting to do it in person but it’s your birthday… and I don’t think we'll be coming back here for a while so I wanted to check with you.” Martyn bit his lip. “Would you mind?”

“Announcing what?” Phil asked.

Martyn looked into the house, checking that no one was snooping on them, and whispered: “We’re having a baby!”

Phil’s eyes widened and he opened his mouth to let out a squeal of delight but Martyn knew him too well and covered his mouth and nose for good measure.

“Don’t!” he whispered. “I will let you go but don’t scream!”

Phil nodded and once Martyn released him, Phil grabbed him by his jumper and shook him slightly. “I am going to be an uncle?!” he whisper-shouted.

“Yeah!” Martyn laughed and nodded, looking just as excited as Phil was, maybe even a bit more.

“Alright, that has to be the best birthday present I’ve ever gotten. I am going to spoil your kid so badly, you’re going to hate me,” Phil said.

“I already hate you,” he said with a laugh and Phil punched his arm.

The sliding door opened and Dan peeked his head out. “Lester! Don’t leave me to set the table alone just because it’s your birthday.” Then he disappeared without waiting for a reply.

“He has you on a short leash,” Martyn said with an amused smile.

Phil nodded. “Yeah. Been thinking of running away…”

“Dork!” Martyn said and walked inside.

Phil followed after him, lost in thought at the notion that his brother was going to be a father. Dan gave him a weird look but Phil just shrugged and carried the Yorkshire puddings and black currant sauce to the table. Dan had already brought the meat and roasted potatoes.

His mum went around serving wine and Phil realised that she would soon notice Cornelia wasn’t drinking. “Oh, let me do that,” he said. “Dan, can you bring the Ribena from the fridge?”

“Sure,” he said with a frown but didn’t question Phil.

“You boys are not having wine?” His mum asked.

“I read that it can make you dizzy to drink before a flight when you are prone to migraines, so I’m not drinking today.”

“Oh, I’ll take Ribena as well,” said Cornelia.

“That sounds nice, actually. I feel a bit dehydrated myself so I’ll join you,” Martyn said.

Phil’s mum looked a bit upset that half of the table wouldn’t enjoy the wine she bought.

Dan returned with a pitcher of Ribena and placed it on the table. He took a seat next to Phil and eyed him suspiciously.

Phil took a moment to check his messages while his mum served the roast because he knew she didn’t like them being on their phones while they ate and he got a notification from Dan immediately.

“What are you up to?”

“What?” Phil asked, playing coy.

“What’s going on? You’re being weird.”

“I am always weird according to most people.”

Dan sneaked a hand under the table and pinched Phil’s thigh, making him jump. “Fuck!”

“Philip!” his mum chided him.

“Sorry! I think I pulled a muscle on my leg.”

“Well don’t curse and take an ibuprofen,” she said and continued serving.

Phil grabbed his phone again. “I will get you for that. Just don’t say anything, Martyn will announce it soon. He asked me not to tell.”

“Alright,” Dan typed before they were told to put their phones down.

Dinner went by smoothly, although Phil was anxious for Martyn to drop the news so that they could all talk about it. The secret was burning him from the inside. When his mum went to the kitchen to make coffee, he went along and asked if they could cut the cake already.

She was a bit shocked but accepted, so Phil got it from the fridge and set it on the table. It was all covered in candy with a small doll resembling Phil emerging from it. “Aww, that’s cute, Mum,” Phil called over his shoulder.

“I didn’t make it, I just bought it,” she replied.

Phil snorted. Once the coffee and the mugs were at the table, Dan lit the candle and led the happy birthday song for Phil.

In that moment, Phil felt frozen in time, looking around, his loved ones smiling, supporting him and his relationship with Dan, who was easily slotting into the family and he looked at Cornelia, who would soon give him the best gift he could ever get.

Dan laid his hand on Phil’s shoulder. “Make a wish!”

Phil smiled at him and leaned down closer to the cake. “I don’t need anything else,” he thought and blew the candle out. He stood up and looked at Martyn, trying to signal him to speak up.

“Corn?” Martyn said.

“We wanted to take a moment to tell you something since we are all together here - the entire family,” she said, looking at them all. “We are having a baby.” She beamed. “I am four months pregnant!”

“Oh, Martyn!” his mum said, rubbing a few stray tears away and hugged his brother briefly before pulling Cornelia into a crushing hug. “This is wonderful!”

His dad shook Martyn’s hand before thinking about it for a moment and pulling him into a hug and Phil could have sworn he saw a single tear rolling down his cheek.

Then it was Dan’s turn to congratulate them and Cornelia asked if he was excited to become an uncle which almost made Phil cry. He just walked over to his brother and gave him a big hug, then he joined Dan in hugging Cornelia who merely laughed.

It was his favourite birthday so far.

---

The following months were a bit of a haze. Dan had stopped taking new patients the previous year to allow him to continue to work with Young Minds, continue acting occasionally and posting on YouTube. He also focused on his mental health book deal, which he’d gladly accepted at a minimum fee and promptly got to work.

It took him almost six months to write and it stressed him out to no end, but he found that he enjoyed the process as well. Phil often read bits and pieces of the book, but Dan was a bit overzealous of his draft until it was completely edited.

He also had a stand-up show written and its tour was in negotiations for the second half of the year. On the other hand, Phil had started his own secret project in the works; he allocated his free time for it fully but he wasn’t going to share it with Dan until he was sure it was what he wanted and had a direct plan of action. He took advantage of the fact that Dan was working his butt off to form a very concrete proposal to buy property together. It would be a huge step for them and he knew that Dan would probably drown in the what ifs if Phil didn’t have at least some ideas of how they could afford such a project and what they would be looking for.

In May, Phil finally felt ready to broach the subject. He took his plans and sat Dan for a talk at the breakfast bar.

“What’s up?” Dan asked, looking nervous and quite pale.

“Everything is alright. I just wanted to ask you something,” Phil said, placing a cup of tea in front of Dan. He opened his mouth to speak but found no words. He let out a little frustrated sigh. “Well… I’m buying a house.”

“Oh?” Dan frowned.

Phil raised his eyebrows at his own stupidity. “For us. For both of us to live together there.”

Dan visibly relaxed. “Oh, ok,” he said with a little laugh.

“Yeah, the thing is… I want to completely remodel it, but I want you to see it and tell me if you like it, if you like the area and to help me design it.”

“Oh, wow,” Dan said, pausing. “I love the idea but, how much money are we talking about?”

Phil had considered paying for it himself, but he knew better than offering something like that to Dan, he would never accept it. “Here,” he said, getting the folder from one of the small drawers in the kitchen.

“You were hiding this in the kitchen?” Dan asked with an amused smile.

Phil shrugged. “Why would you even be looking in there? How often do you cook, Danny boy?”

“Fair,” Dan mumbled, skimming through the pages of the three financial options Phil had presented to him. “I like the 50-50 one if I can just transfer the money to you every month.”

“That was my favourite one too. Now look at the pictures,” Phil said, turning a few pages. Each picture came with handwritten notes of his plan and questions for Dan.

Dan’s face transformed, his smile growing as he turned each page. “It’s gorgeous. Ohhh, the garden, Phil!” Dan said in wonder. “The inside is very old-fashioned but I like the bare bones. Can we afford to remodel it? I think that it could be a bit much.”

“We have the merch store, ad revenue, sponsors, you have your book, we have savings. I know that construction can get out of hand but it will probably take at least a year to complete it so I think we can manage it,” Phil said and braced himself. “All you need to agree to is to let me pay rent completely, at least until your earnings are more similar to mine.”

Dan pursed his lips. Phil could tell that he didn’t like the idea at all but he was in no position to argue. He was still catching up on his metrics. “Alright, but I will pay it back.”

“Don’t,” Phil said. “Put it aside for a trip to Japan. We’ve always wanted to go.”

“I like the sound of that,” Dan said. “Thank you, love.” He leaned in and pressed three quick kisses to Phil’s lips. “I love you!”

“Love you too,” Phil said, letting out a small sigh and taking the first sip of his tepid tea.

---

June 2019

Dan was a bit scared of how the so-called phannies would react to his stand-up so he did a few pre-shows - with unrelated material of course - at a small pub and it went amazingly well. They loved his style and the crude jokes. As it turned out, their viewers had grown with them and made it fairly evident that there had always been people of their own age and even older watching their content. As Dan had simply put it: “They’re old.”

Phil had known that most of their viewers were queer for quite a while but seeing the army of -mostly- lesbians at Dan’s small shows was a delight. It was a freeing experience for both of them. Dan got to make as many gay sex jokes as he wanted and people often matched his energy which made him incredibly happy and Phil got to see Dan be himself fully, be confident in his own identity and sexuality which also turned into a bit of a surprising self-discovery journey.

Phil had thought that he had been confident in his own skin for years and years but being semi-closeted in aspects of your life plays a weird game on your mind. The little offhand comments you’d get, or having to lie by omission to some weird intrusive questions, having to come up with made-up stories in interviews, it was all very tiring. Phil found that he also loved to make crude jokes in public, perhaps not as much in his videos but in his everyday life. It was just something that brought him a lot of joy.

It was a relief to be so secure in their relationship that when Dan joked about people sliding into his DMs and living his hot boy summer, Phil didn’t feel jealous at all. He knew that Dan was loyal to him and that what they had was a priority for both of them.

Before things got too busy and with the excuse of Dan’s birthday, they took a weekend trip to visit his family.

Phil stood before the same door he’d stood almost a decade prior and smiled at the bittersweet memories it brought. He knew that this time things would be different. With Dan’s homophobic father long gone from the family home, they weren’t as worried about things going awry, so his mind turned to the first few months after they met in person, when everything had changed. Sharing Dan’s bed, flirting, playing hours upon hours of video games and filming. Phil let out a sigh as he remembered Dan looking at him, the golden specks in his warm brown eyes dancing in the sunlight as he laughed, his hobbit hair wild and free.

“Ready?” Dan asked, pulling him from his musings.

Phil simply smiled at him and nodded, but before he could ring the doorbell, Karen opened the door, welcoming them and wrapping them into a tight hug each.

“Oh, Phil! It’s so good to see you again after so long! I’ve been asking Dan to bring you over forever,” she said.

“Thank you so much!” Phil said with a huge smile. A side eye Dan’s way revealed that he had been, in fact, asked to bring Phil over, if his beat red face and neck scratching was any indication. “He keeps me hidden, what can I say?”

She laughed and swatted Dan’s arm.

“I don’t!” Dan said. “We’ve just been busy, Mum.”

“Of course you have.” Karen rolled her eyes at her son and ushered them inside.

She pointed Phil towards one of the armchairs and Dan to the closest spot to him on the bigger sofa, choosing the other end of it for herself. As soon as Phil had taken his place, he felt two soft paws scratching at his legs. “Awww, Hi Colin! Nice to meet you!” Phil said as he helped the pup climb onto his lap. He gave Colin a kiss and turned his attention back to Dan’s mum. “How have you been?” he finally asked.

“Oh, you know how it is,” she said. “Teaching is very difficult with this newer generation, they are quite unruly, but I still love my job. How are you guys? Any new projects?”

Dan reached his hand to pet Colin absentmindedly but kept his eyes on his mum. “My book is out already and it did very well. People are saying they enjoyed it and that it helped them manage their mental health a bit better, so I’m happy about that. The tour is about to start, I brought you tickets, as you requested,” he said, fishing them out of his pocket and handing them over to her. “You can go with Nana and Popsie; Adrian wants to go on a different date.”

“Your brother is such a loose cannonball sometimes,” she shook her head but smiled. “Will your parents be there, Phil?” Karen asked although it didn’t really sound like a question. Phil realised that this was not Dan’s mother talking to him, it was his “Mother in Law” letting him know that she expected him to make it work so that both families could finally meet after so many years. There were expectations.

Phil blinked but he didn’t let his smile falter. He was a bit nervous, but he had, gladly, made the arrangements to save everyone the pain of flying over another time. It was not quite a middle ground but it was the best option.“Yes, of course. They love Dan and they’re very excited to see the show. All of our friends are going on different dates as well.” He kept petting Colin, who was trying to take a nap on his lap but kept opening his eyes every time Dan or Phil touched him.

“Did you warn Nana that it’s rude?” Dan asked, picking at the fabric of the sofa cushion.

“Yes, but she has been watching your videos, so she knows what to expect,” Karen said. “You should have her on your channel, I think she would like that very much.”

Dan sputtered. “I don’t know about that.”

“Aw, that would be so cute!” Phil said. “Also the viewers loved her comment about the Ipad and the old home videos where she tried to scare you. I think she’d be a hit.”

Karen nodded. “See? Phil agrees with me!”

“He’s just sucking up to you,” Dan said.

Phil laughed. “I would never!”

“Don’t be like that, Phil is very sweet and polite!” Karen said, patting Phil’s knee.

Phil stuck his tongue out to Dan.

The doorbell rang, announcing the arrival of Dan’s grandparents and causing both Dan and Phil to stand and Colin to jump from his lap, throwing a reproachful look over his shoulder as he marched towards Dan.

“Hellooo,” Dan said, picking him up and going up to greet his grandparents.

Phil stood by his armchair and awkwardly waited for everyone to join him to shake Nana’s and Popsie’s hands as they sat on the big sofa with Karen, relegating Dan -and Colin- to the armchair across the room. Seeing Dan’s pout at being so far away from him made Phil regret not joining him on the big sofa when he got the chance.

Dan’s grandparents were extremely polite but a bit aloof at first. Dan had mentioned that they were open to the idea of him being gay but they hadn’t been in contact with any gay people per se, so they would have to try to act naturally to give them an idea of what they could expect. Basically, Dan had asked Phil to be himself and treat him as if they were alone at home, with as much pda or as little as he felt like doing.

“Phil, it is so nice to see you,” Dan’s grandma said, folding her hands on her lap.

Phil smiled. “Thank you,” he said and nodded at Popsie. “Nice to see you both again. I hope you remember me.”

“I do,” Dan’s grandma said, looking at Dan out of the corner of her eye. “Daniel couldn’t quite stop talking about you all the time so by the time I met you, I felt like I already knew you. That made it hard to forget you.”

Phil didn’t know what to say to that, so he smiled. It was a little bit funny, picturing Dan with his massive crush, going on and on about Phil.

“Nana, don’t make me sound so lame,” Dan said a bit too loudly, causing Colin to lift his head and huff. Dan looked at him apologetically and ruffled his fur.

“I am only telling the truth, if that makes you sound ‘lame’ as you put it…” she trailed off.

Phil burst out laughing and suddenly felt at ease with her. “You are delightful.”

“I’m going to be bullied the entire day, aren’t I?” Dan asked, pouting and flipping Colin’s ear inside out.

Popsie smiled at him and nodded before focusing on Phil. “So, what are your plans for the future?” he asked.

“For the future?” Phil asked, unsure of what to say, so he started speaking about work as per usual. “I have a lot of videos in the work, sponsors, my brother runs our merch company as well, but I do need to look things over. We are quite busy at the moment, especially with Dan going away on tour for a few months.” He looked at Dan across the room for any indication on how good of a reply that was but Dan merely shrugged.

“Well, that’s wonderful, but… we’ve been wondering if you two are going to get married, adopt children? I’m not sure how it’s done nowadays,” Popsie said with a small smile.

Dan sank further into his armchair, trying to make himself small and turned to talk to his mum, who completely ignored him in favour of listening to Phil’s answer.

Phil’s eyes widened, but he thought each and every single one of his movements carefully. He took account of how he was sitting, his posture, and his hands. He sat as a perfectly respectable human instead of a pile of goo; he squared his shoulders, laced his fingers on his lap and leaned forward trying to exude confidence. “Well, we haven’t discussed marriage quite yet, but we are buying property together this year.”

“You are?” Karen asked, beaming and looking between Dan and Phil.

Dan nodded but let Phil do the talking.

“Yes, it was my idea,” Phil said. “As you may know, Dan and I have quite a bit of history and it took us some time to repair our friendship and build a strong and loving relationship, so we are taking things slow to make sure that we are doing things the right way.”

“That is good! It’s important to take the time to consider things and not just jump into a wedding,” Karen said, looking pointedly at her mother. “A house sounds wonderful. May I ask if it will be under both of your names?”

Phil nodded. “Yes. We have already decided how we will split the cost, and since we are going to remodel it before moving in, it will probably be a long process.”

“Where are you buying?” Popsie asked, giving him what Phil assumed was an approving look.

“Kensington,” Phil said. “It’s a three-story house with a huge back garden.” He pulled his phone out and showed them a few pictures.

“It looks like a good place for a family,” Dan’s grandma said.

“Please, no mention of children,” Dan whined, pulling Colin to lay on his chest and wrapping his arms around him.

“Don’t you want children, Daniel?” she asked.

“Not right now,” Dan said with a frown. “We have a lot of work ahead. If it happens it will happen.”

“But how?” Popsie asked, cocking his head. “I don’t mean to be rude, of course, but I don’t understand.”

Phil saw a mix of embarrassment and anger forming in Dan’s face, but he could see that Popsie was just trying to understand, so he took over the conversation. “Well, neither of us will be getting pregnant,” he laughed. “But gay couples have different options, or rather, we have the same options as most couples dealing with infertility, like adoption, or getting eggs from a donor and paying a surrogate to carry the child, or simply to remain child-free. Like I said, at the moment we are focusing on ourselves and our relationship, anything else will come in the future, when we have the proper time and money to make it happen.” Phil ventured a look at Dan and found nothing but gratitude and love in his eyes.

“Yes,” Dan said, the smile slowly returning to his face. “I may be just a little selfish here, but I don’t want to share Phil with anyone at the moment, and if we decided to have children, a wedding would probably happen first. For now, we have our house to focus on and our projects.”

Karen smiled and patted Dan’s hand. “It sounds like you have a wonderful life together.”

“We do,” Dan said, his smile widening. “And I am very happy.”

“That’s all that matters then,” Dan’s grandma said and clapped her hands once. “Congratulations to you both.”

Popsie smiled and nodded. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you smile this much, Daniel. It is a relief to still be alive to see you so happy.”

“Well, don’t take it as a sign to die,” Dan said, letting out an awkward laugh. “That would not make me very happy.”

“It’s not my time yet,” Popsie chuckled.

The doorbell rang once again and Karen walked over to the window, pulling the curtains back. “Looks like the pizza is here!” she said, giving Phil an apologetic look before walking over to the door.

“Karen! Pizza? While having company over? Why didn’t you cook something?” Dan’s grandma said, getting up and walking after her daughter.

“I’m not a great cook and I didn’t want to stress about it,” Karen said.

“But I am, I could have made something!”

Karen waved her off. “It’s fine and Phil loves pizza, don’t you Phil?”

“I do!” Phil added and finally remembered that as a guest he should probably offer to carry the pizzas. “I can take that to the kitchen,” he said.

“You are such a darling, Phil. Always so polite!” Karen said, handing him the boxes.

Out of the corner of his eye, Phil saw Popsie sliding closer to Dan and whispering something as he placed a hand on his shoulder and watched Dan rub his cheek quickly to wipe a few tears as he nodded and smiled.

Phil let out a sigh of relief. Everything was finally falling into place. Both families had accepted them with love and respect for them and the relationship they shared. It was all they had ever wanted.

---

October 2019

October brought many milestones. They celebrated their first anniversary as an official couple and the 10th anniversary of the day they first met.

The celebration itself was more of an improvised dinner date at their new home, in which construction had just started, sitting on a blanket, basically having a picnic and wine. Maybe it would not be considered the most romantic set up by the majority of people, but to them it was. It symbolised so many achievements and the hard work that they had put on themselves, their friendship and their relationship, as well as being their first property. In a way, it was the most romantic celebration they could have put together. There were no aesthetic decorations, fancy restaurants or public displays, it was just them - together, sharing a moment.

Dan grabbed a slice of pizza and moaned dramatically as he bit into it.

Phil laughed at his antics. God, he loved how Dan made him laugh with the simplest gestures. He loved Dan, his curly hair, his warm brown eyes, that low voice he used when it was just the two of them. He loved Dan dressed to the nines or only in his joggers and a stained T-shirt, his eyes falling shut from how tired he was. He loved Dan naked too, when it was just him, no decoration, no masks, just Dan. He loved Dan so much that he sometimes felt his heart would burst out of his chest at any moment.

“What?” Dan asked mid chew.

Phil snorted. “You have stubble now,” he said, cupping Dan’s cheek and rubbing his thumb on his chin.

“I’ll get it tomorrow,” Dan said.

“Don’t,” Phil smiled. “I like it.”

“I thought you said it was too rough on your skin,” Dan said.

“Maybe I like it rough,” Phil said with an awkward wink.

Dan laughed and threw a piece of crust his way.

“Hey, be nice!” Phil said.

“I’m always nice,” Dan said, pointing at his bruised forehead. “Today I slammed my head into the cabinets again and I didn’t even yell at you about it.”

“Is that why you were cursing this morning?”

“Yes, but I let you have a lie in instead of going to you to complain.”

“You could have joined me,” Phil said, grabbing a slice of pizza and taking a bite.

“I wanted to clean so that you don’t have to keep up with everything while I’m gone,” Dan said, his smile dropping a bit.

“That’s actually very sweet of you,” Phil said.

Dan pretended to retch. “Shut up,” he said, very fondly. It was the first time that they would be apart for an extended period of time since they got back together. Phil could hardly remember what life without Dan was like, but it was necessary. He would support every single solo project Dan had, and help him spread his wings, in the same way Dan supported him.

This was the time for Dan to spend some time with his followers without Phil’s presence, except in the occasional show.

“I’m going to miss you and go a bit crazy,” Phil admitted.

“You can always come to visit me on the road.”

“Maybe I will,” Phil said and leaned in to press a quick kiss to Dan’s lips.

“Please do,” Dan said, sounding a little smaller, perhaps like a lost child.

“Aww,” said Phil and gave him a quick succession of kisses on the lips. Three for good luck. “You will do amazingly, they will love you.”

“What if I fuck up on stage?” Dan frowned.

“Then they will laugh with you, which is the point of the show,” Phil said. “You know what to do already, just be yourself.”

“Sometimes I panic and consider cancelling.”

Phil nodded. “I know, I can see it in your eyes from time to time, but I also know that you were made to do this. You have to go out there and make little theatre kid Dan proud.”

“I know, but I could also just go live in the woods,” Dan said, only half joking.

“You are afraid of trees, and the show starts next week. It’s too late to back out now,” Phil laughed, patting his leg.

Dan snorted a laugh. “Yeah,” he said, shifting slightly and laying back onto Phil’s lap. “I love you, you know?” he asked, looking up at Phil.

“Yeah, I know,” Phil said, running his fingers through Dan’s curls. “I love you too.”

“Enough to keep my plants alive while I am away?” Dan smirked.

“I can’t promise that,” Phil laughed. “But I can promise that the house will still be standing when you come back - probably.”

Dan laughed, his eyes crinkling with happiness. “Probably.”

---

Dan’s stand-up show “We’re all doomed” opened to a full theatre of fans who had shown up to support him. Their excitement permeated the air and got into Phil. He was there to see his favourite person perform.

Phil danced in his seat while the pre show playlist boomed through the speakers. His smile widened when Dan came onto the stage. He felt a hand resting on his own, turned to his side and looked into his mother’s eyes, her smile matching his.

His heart sang as he watched Dan perform, giving it his all, working the stage and feeding off the audience’s energy.

He loved the show, he really did, but watching both of their families laugh along with Dan’s jokes and look at him proudly had to be one of Phil’s favourite memories from that night.

As the show came to a close, Dan came on stage one last time to thank the audience and looked up to the gallery where his people were. He made direct eye contact with Phil and placed his hand on his heart, smiling widely and mouthing a silent “I love you,” and Phil wanted to keep that image engraved in his mind forever.

It had taken such a long time to get to this point, but they were finally where they wanted to be, together, and even though Phil didn’t forget everything that had happened, all the heartache, all the hardships, he didn’t doubt for a second that it had all been worth it. God, he loved Dan so much, and he was going to spend the rest of his life making him happy - just as happy as Dan made him.

#succubusphan fics #phanfic #phanfiction #phan #phan au #dan and phil #ospbb 2023

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noaheadiegamedev · 2 years ago

Text

Basil

Species: Wingless Owlkin

Homeworld: Blueperch

Pronouns: They/Them

“Look at my funny little hat. Yes, I know it’s funny. But isn’t it kinda cool, too?”

Backstory after the jump.

PROPERTIES::>>>- Basil]+Debut]+Interview]]]VIT]

File type:: Vocalwave Interview Transcript

Software:: Valkyrsoft Steno, Professional Edition

Sample quality:: Standard (28k iotas per second)

OPENIN::>>>- Valkyrsoft]+Steno

File opened in Valkyrsoft Steno.

READOUT::>>>-

Michael: Good morning, folks! Michael Moonrust here. Joining us is Basilwood Stonethorn, the newest member of the Thrasher League!

Basil: Please, call me Basil.

M: Sure thing, Basil. Now, tell us a bit about yourself. Folks at home have already read your thrasher sheet, so they know what you can do. Now they're ready to learn what you're about.

B: As they should.

M: That's the spirit! So, what got you into magic?

B: When I was little, my mother took me with her when she'd get her feathers done. They had a few early issues of Arcane Arts Annual in the waiting chamber. The covers caught my eye, so I picked one up - issue five, I think - and started reading. Beautiful stuff in there - rune-reading guides, energy crystal reviews, potion recipes, tips for writing your own grimoire, full-spread photos of combustion spells, magic circle diagrams, the works. But what really caught my eye, was this page in the back for beginner magicians, for how to do a basic conjuration spell - using a prism and a tuning fork to conjure a cloud of someone's favorite color. I uh, I still feel a bit guilty about this, but I actually ripped the page out and snuck it home.

M: You didn't!

B: [Hooting in laughter] Yeah, I was a right little scamp back then.

M: So did you try it?

B: Oh, yeah, and I was terrible at it, terrible! I barely got a cloud at all, and it was always the wrong color.

M: No kidding.

B: Yeah, but something about it was really exciting. When I got it to work it was... well, it was magic. I got really into it. So for my birthday, mom got me a children's sorcery kit - one of those thirty-cred deals with a bunch of single-use aura crystals, tiny packets of ashes and salts, all that jazz - and a cast-your-own grimoire with some cute little prewritten conjures and divinations. And it all kinda went from there. I think I still have that grimoire somewhere, in the attic or something.

M: And now you're on the cover of Arcane Arts Annual.

B: And now I'm on the cover of Arcane, yeah. That's a riot.

M: So, where did you go for magic academy? What was your thesis?

B: Oh, yeah, I didn't go for that. I'm basically self-taught.

M: Really now?

B: Yeah, I just read books and articles and stuff. Occasionally I'd post on a web coven when I got stuck on something.

M: And how did you figure that all out? Isn't magic really, well, complex, and subtle?

B: I mean, some of the really top shelf, high mana stuff, sure, but mostly no. Once you understand the basics, there's a lot you can just kinda guess at and see what happens. If you've ever painted, or meditated, or coded, I'd say the process is somewhere between those three.

M: You must have had a lot of talent to be able to pick up on all of that yourself.

B: Actually, no, and that's kinda why I'm here, right? I wanna show folks at home that anyone can do magic. Really good and original magic, too. I've come to realize that there isn't really such a thing as talent, in the sense that people have or don't have it, and that it's the primary barrier to doing really cool stuff. So many people live with that belief, and they end up limiting themselves artificially. The thing we call talent, is really just lucky guesses at how to build up a skill. I, honestly, just kinda guessed at what would and wouldn't work - and for a few years, they were all just total miscasts. I only got as far as I did, not because I had 'the right stuff' in me all along, but because I persevered through all the failures and trusted that, if I just stuck with it and practiced in a productive way, eventually I'd actually be able to cast something for real. And that's me, and now I'm here. I think anyone can do that.

M: Huh, wow, that's really something. I never thought of it like that, I suppose.

B: It's totally understandable, most folks have that assumption.

M: Well, tell me then, why are you fighting in an arena to show people this? We're glad you're here, but why didn't you just, say, write a book?

B: Uhhh, cause fighting is badass. Duh.

M: Hey, fair enough! Well, it looks like you've got a clear sense of purpose, and you know what you wanna do and how to do it. Thank you for joining us today, Basil.

B: Thank you for having me.

#backstory #game art #indie game dev #digital painting #oc art #oc lore #worldbuilding #character design #Thursday Thrashers #Basil #owl #snow owl #owl furry #wizard #fantasy

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namor-shuri · 2 years ago

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Love your edits and overall page 💘 What other ships do you enjoy outside of Nashuri/Namuri, if you care to share?

Hey 🧡 Thank you for the love, I have fun making them! Lowkey bummed my posts aren’t posting to tags anymore but alas. With the recent "what ships piss you off + what ships do you love" trend going around Twitter, I was just thinking about mine the other day and realized most of them have some sort of angst to them 😅 Outside of NAMOR X SHURI, here are some of my other fave ships over the years [in no particular order] Let’s get into it *cracks knuckles*

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A. SAM X BUCKY: "Can you move your seat up?" "No."

I have to say that this ^ line reeled me in but what sealed my fate was the offscreen friendship between Antony Mackie and Sebastian Stan. Those damn compilation vids on yt killed me; they are too funny together. I genuinely feel like they aren't even acting when they work together. You can see their friendship shine through, and I think that's why Marvel realized they needed to do something with this goldmine. In regards of the characters Sam and Bucky tho, I enjoy both a romantic or platonic love between them. There's a strong connection there either way full of support, transparency, shared pain etc and these two losers have my heart. Also, I will never get over that scene in Endgame when Steve speaks with Sam and before accepting the shield, Sam looks over at Bucky and Bucky nods in support *ugly cries*

Show: The Falcon & The Winter Soldier

B. FLEABAG X PRIEST: "I love you." "It will pass."

This ship is definitely one of those ships that devastated me 🥴 Their awkward and yet endearing connection was everything. Fleabag’s dry humor and wit just jelled so well with the Priest in such an unassuming and comforting way. She truly found her match, which made the whole thing that much more tragic. The parts where he broke the fourth wall with the audience and questioned who she was talking to took me out lmao. I was heartbroken with how the show ended but in the midst of everything, it felt fitting. I don’t think they should have done it any different. I also find it funny that we never learn Fleabag or the Priest’s actual names.

Show: Fleabag

C. INUYASHA X KAGOME: "Sit boy!"

These two are one of my first ships when I was young so the nostalgia hits hard with them. As an adult looking back tho, Inuyasha and Kagome’s relationship pissed me off the majority of the show rofl. His back and forth with Kikyo was SO unnecessary. They were so aggravating at times that at one point it was a toss up between Inuyasha and Koga for me. Koga was looking like the better man for Kagome. He meant business and knew where his priorities were. But in the midst of it all, Inuyasha and Kagome’s bond just did something for me. I remember younger me freaking out every time Inuyasha lost his shit and went full demon mode when Kagome was in any eminent danger. I was like “that’s love right there” lmao smh. Also the fact that they kissed like one time [twice??] during the entire show was so *screams into void*

Show: Inuyasha

D. LO'AK X TSIREYA: "Outcast - that's all they see!" "I see you."

Shout out to my fellow Avatar fans out there ✌🏾 I remember when the first movie came out, I freaked out and wanted a banshee SO BAD bruh lol. With the second installment and it’s new batch of dope characters, there’s so much to talk about [especially with these two]. They are basically a mirror of Jake × Neytiri, but in a different font? I love how attentive Tsireya is with Lo’ak and how much she looks out for him and his siblings. She was the first person to truly embrace and see him for him. Their love lanquage is clearly physical contact and it's too adorable. I look forward to seeing how their dynamic/ relationship evolves over future films to come. My blue babes 💙

Movie: Avatar - The Way of Water

E. STEVEN / MARC X LAYLA: "I don't need protection. What I need is honesty."

First of all, this show was sick on so many levels! You’re telling me we got to have a Guatemalan-American actor and Egyptian-Palestinian actress play mcu characters in a show revolving around Egyptian gods and legends sprinkling in themes of mental health and family?? To say I can’t wait for the second season is an understatement, but I digress. I loved Oscar and May together on screen. It was funny seeing Steven and Marc go back and forth over their dynamic with Layla and then Layla grappling with the multifaceted differences of the man [men?] she loved. I enjoyed all of the action sequences but I hope we get to see more of their complicated relationship explored in the future. It’s just so fascinating to me. I will never get over Steven kissing Layla for the first time and Marc absolutely losing it lmao.

Show: Moon Knight

F. AMY X DANNY: "Why is it so hard for us to be happy?"

Now before y’all hop on my dick for posting about this show [in the midst of recent controversy w/ David Choe, which f*ck that guy btw🖕🏾] I watched this BEFORE Choe’s shit came to light. I can’t tell you what to do. You have to personally make that judgment call of whether or not you want to support/watch the show yourself. Anywho *fixes clothes* This show is insane. It's hilarious, tragic, relatable, the whole nines. There’s so much to it but these two specifically take the cake for me. Amy and Danny's relationship take a minute to come into fruition but by the time I got to the end, I was hooked. I also just need Ali and Steven to do another project together because their a quirky pair, but their a pair I didn't know I needed until now. It was beautiful to see how despite all of their strife, Amy and Danny truly saw one another’s souls. They were reflections of one another. That entire tripping sequence in the desert the last ep was funny af but beyond deep.

Show: Beef

G. DRUIG X MAKKARI: "My beautiful, beautiful Makkari. Did you miss me?"

I'm going to be real with y’all, Druig and Makkari were the one good thing that came out of Eternals for me [aside from Kingo and Phastos' roles]. I don’t know what it was but I couldn't get into the movie for some reason and what threw me was the fact that I thought I would. They only had like 2 seconds on screen but they were the only thing I could think of walking out that theater. I swear I couldn't get over their charming dynamic. That scene where Makarri thought Druig was killed and starts going ape shit on Ikarus was peak cinema. No one harms her man! It was also such a dope moment to learn later on that the actress who plays Makarri, Lauren Ridloff, is deaf in real life. I bow down to that Queen. These two characters are just *chefs kiss* and I really hope Marvel doesn't mess up a good thing and we get to see their relationship blossom over time in a beautiful way. This Druig ^ line KILLED me. Me and who when?

Movie: Eternals

H. ZUKO X KATARA: "You rise with the moon. I rise with the sun."

Yes Aang x Katara are cute but Zutara? ZUTARA?? *violently bangs credit card on table* It was full of angst, grief, healing, sexual tension, the list goes on. They could relate to one another’s pain with losing a parent and so on. Zuko helping her find and confront her mother’s killer was everything too. Of course she had every right to be pissed at him and the fire nation but it was nice seeing Zuko work to gain Katara’s trust over time. He caused so much pain and damage to the avatar crew so for him to come back and try and rectify things was monumental. This is also one of those shows growing up that had me in a chokehold. I couldn’t decide what element I wanted to bend because all benders were so badass to me [my girl Toph was the mvp tho. Hands down the coolest].

Show: Avatar - The Last Airbender

I. RAGNAR X LAGERTHA: "We shall meet again and fight, and drink, and love one another."

Where are my fellow Viking fans? ⚔️ This show was INCREDIBLE and their love story specifically was so layered and complicated. Lagertha was the epitome of loyal but I love that outside of her dynamic with Ragnar, she was just such a dope character overall. She really held her own and took no shit from anyone, man or woman. Her hands were rated E for everyone. Their love had its huge ups and downs but you could tell after everything, there was still a deep affection there. They would do anything for one another and that was apparent every step of the way. Even after Ragnar’s death, Lagertha still kept the love she held for him in her heart. His dynamic with each character on the show was intriguing but nothing beats their powerful connection. She was one of the few people who got to see all of the real and raw sides of him and that was beautiful. The show was never the same once Ragnar’s character died [which I still don’t understand this monumental writing decision??] but it was amazing nonetheless.

Show: Vikings

J. LOUIS X LESTAT: "I wanted to forget him, and yet it seemed I thought of him always."

I didn’t watch the first iteration of this novel so I was completely new going into the show. I heard about it way after it came out but it did not disappoint. It lived up to the hype 100%. Louis, Lestat and Claudia were such a disastrous trio but I loved the little family they created [before things went south rofl]. Louis and Lestat’s story was intriguing and I was engaged from start to finish. I swear that moment when the reporter Daniel put two and two together that Louis gave Lestat an out, I yelled at my screen lol. Their love was intense to say the least and although certain moments were hard to watch, these two were electric. With that, it was so suspenseful watching Louis and Claudia ban together towards the end and scheme against Lestat to gain their freedom. The whole thing was just so *sighs* *refrains from writing a novel*

Show: Interview with the Vampire

K. BRAEDEN X DEREK: "I’m protecting my investment."

I know a lot of people shipped him and Stiles together [I mostly enjoyed their entertaining dynamic in a platonic way] but Derek and Braeden did something for me. They fought bad guys while being domestic together and younger me ate that shit up lol. Also seeing a black woman be in a type of role and show like this was also 1000/10. More black women in fantastical roles please 🙏🏾 I feel like this was the first healthy romantic relationship Derek was in too and it just had good vibes all around. He truly learned to trust a lover again. The beginning of their relationship was also hot af and that initial “anything you can do, I can do better” cat and mouse back and forth was *chefs kiss* That scene where she was teaching him how to use a gun >>>>> The reboot of Teen Wolf was not my cup of tea + I was bummed we didn’t get to see future Draeden [or their future kids??] but alas. We always have S3-S5 to look back on.

Show: Teen Wolf

L. WOO X JUN-HO: "What if you think of it as dancing the waltz?"

They are for sure one of my favorite ships. Woo and Jun-Ho need to be protected at all costs 🫶🏾 I don’t even know where to start with these two or this show. If you haven’t watched it yet, please go watch it. It’s on my top kdrama list for sure. Being close to people in my life with Autism, it was heartwarming to see how Jun-ho treated Woo. He treated her like a human being. He was loving, empathetic, patient, kind. All of the ways you should be with others in general, no matter how different or similar they are to you. It was fascinating seeing how the show tackled the subject of relationships that involve differing mental conditions and capabilities. The show was such a slow burn with them that when they had their first kiss I LOST it. I was giggling, screaming and kicking my feet in real time lmao. I’m conflicted bc I want to see a S2 but I also want it to stay the way it is. I don’t know how they would continue everyone’s story but if they resume it, I will be SAT.

Show: Extraordinary Attorney Woo

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I'm realizing a big trope I cling to is "Enemies to lovers". I don’t know what it is about it but it just eats each and every time. It has a certain je ne sais quoi 🤌🏾✨There are a BUNCH of other ships l love but I'll cap it here before this post becomes a whole novel.

THANK YOU < 3

#i want someone to psychoanalyse me off of this shortlist rofl #Nashuri fandom what are your other ships?#the falcon and the winter soldier #avatar the way of water #interview with the vampire #beef netflix #teen wolf #fleabag #avatar the last airbender #moon knight #eternals #attorney woo #inyuasha #these are definitely my more tame ships 🫣#it’s the way that inuyasha had younger me in a chokehold #we just got a letter #i really had to sit and remember some of these #anyone else hyperfixate on one ship at a time bc I can’t do multiple at once

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