#hopefully they stay like that for the whole year 😁

[osaemu]

sabs :( your tags on my gojo post have me dying, you are the sweetest soul ͟͟͞͞★ it makes me so happy knowing you like the way i write gojo, hugging you so tight rn ৎ୭ ₊ ˙ ⊹ . i hope the week has been good to you !!

CELLAAA girl usually i try not to read smut in class bc i think i would die if someone caught me but it was so worth the risk 🤞🤍

[littlemisspascal]

24 for 2024

As 2024 comes to an end and I see all these posts from mutuals summing up their triumphs and challenges of their year, it started making me think about what these last twelve months have been like for me. And like all of y'all, 2024 definitely had impacts of positives and negatives! So here are 24 things that came to mind:

I decided to go back to school for a new career opportunity. Starting January 6th, I'll be taking my first classes for court reporting/voice writing 😊 I'm both nervous and looking forward to this new adventure!

I saw several fun and great movies this year--Deadpool and Wolverine, Wicked, Gladiator 2, and Sonic the Hedgehog 3 to name a few.

I also watched a ton of great documentaries that I've meaning to check out over the past few years--Icarus, Free Solo, My Octopus Teacher, too many to count--and I'm super excited to check out more next free chance I get!

My favorite F1 driver Lando Norris not only finished first place for his first time in a race this season, but he went on to finish 2nd overall in the rankings and my heart couldn't be prouder for him 🧡

On the same F1 note, my team McLaren won the Constructors Championship for the first time since 1998 😱

There were several massive moments of family drama through the year, each more shocking than the last if you can believe it, but I like to think we'll all hopefully enter 2025 on a closer note and manage to overcome the struggles bit by bit.

Had some health scares throughout the year for my family. Scary heart issues, scary lung issues, scary hospital visits...but we got through it all and we're going to try to make 2025 our healthiest year yet!

The death of Liam Payne tore a massive hole in my heart. One Direction kept me from suicide during my high school years and each of those boys will always mean the world to me 💗

I met several of my favorite celebrities this year at cons--David Tennant, Lenore Zann, Patrick Warburton, Alan Tudyk, Catherine Tate, Adam Savage, Tem Morrison, Neil Newbon, and Giancarlo Esposito--and also got another photo with Tyler Hoechlin looking just as gorgeous as the last time I saw him!

Tried out new cosplay this year--Ahsoka's white outfit from her series, Rogue from X-Men, and a cute Peter Pan outfit as well. Actually felt a little more confident than my previous 0% 😁

A year of firsts! I finished my first ever Lego kit this year of a F1 McLaren car. I finished my first ever escape room for my sister's birthday. And I also finished first place in a scavenger hunt and won a pumpkin carved like the Mandalorian.

Found out I'm allergic to gluten, so I've been sticking to a gluten-free diet nowadays and 2025 will be an entirely gluten-free year.

Seeing the eclipse this year was amazing!

I had an emotional breakdown this year over my writing, came very very very close to deleting everything, but slowly dug my way out of the pit one word at a time. My relationship with writing is still a fragile thing, but a sentence a day is still progress and I'm trying my best. That's what matters most :)

More on writing cuz why not. Wrote a total of 43k words (a whole lot less than last year, but oh well) but even more surprising, my Marcus Acacius fic received more kudos than anything I've written since 2022 omggggg y'all thank you for the support!!

Introduced my mom to MySims and Pokémon on the switch. Slowly but surely creating a video game addict lol

Stayed up literally 48 hours with my sister playing the original Zoo Tycoon on my laptop and creating the most perfect zoo in existence. Exhaustion hit hard afterwards, but at least the guests were happy!

So much gorgeous and wonderful Pedro content--from award ceremonies to new movies + casting announcements to photoshoots and dancing sessions. The fandom just kept winning every month!

Made a web weaving for the anniversary of my fic Infinity Cube. I don't often feel proud about a lot of my attempts of creating stuff, but this little thing I actually think turned out pretty cool 😊

Bought so much Lady and the Tramp stuff oh my gosh--backpacks, a wallet, a giant stuffed animal, a Christmas ornament, little ceramic figurines hidden at the bottom of an antique store bin. I love it all ✨

Hit 5,000 followers on here. Like, what 😮 that's insane! I'm a shy porcupine who barely knows any social skills!! Thank you everyone who puts up with my sporadic posts and ramblings, it's appreciated more than I can ever say!

Everyone who liked, reblogged, kudos, and/or commented on my fics or video edits---thank you thank you thank you x a million!

Everyone who patiently waits for and supports my sporadic updates of the Pedro Library---thank you also x a million!

And finally, if you've made it all the way down here, I hope 2025 is full of kind moments for each and every one of y'all. I hope there's days full of adventures and joy and trying new things and meeting new people and petting animals and eating delicious food and making the world a little bit more of a sweeter place overall 💙

[martiandmichelle]

Hey everyone, it's Michelle writing and, yeah, that be me in the photo. Lots to tell you but I should take them a reasonable bite at a time - with help from others.

We all want to apologize for several missed days of posts. That "cold" that Mom (Marti) had - well, still has - has run amok across Marchelle (our homestead). Some 45 studio ladies live here and over half got the virus. On my side quite a few of my men caught it, though I, somehow, escaped it (knock on wood - and I don't mean a hard cock, not this time, anyway 😉😁). Dana closed Studio M on Monday because so many of the ladies - and support staff including the porn studs - were ill. It will stay closed until after the New Year except for some maintenance work and a few office workers. All my guys have left so I'm able to help take care of Mom 24/7 - with lots of help from Roxy, Kaatje, and my gorgeous wife Maria.

I don't want you to think Mom is on her deathbed or anything; she has no fever and only minor aches and stuffiness. The main thing is a terrible cough. Her stomach muscles are so sore from coughing she literally screams when she coughs now. She's got some good cough suppressants now and bags of lozenges so she's getting better. Her appetite isn't back and she's lost 12 pounds. (But no loss in the tits department!!!) The several doctors looking after her says she should be like new by Christmas.

All my men were gone by Monday and I've been keeping an eagle eye on Mom ever since. Do you know this is the first time I've been away from those guys in roughly 6 months! That's 7 days a week averaging 14 hours a day for 6 months! That's a lot of blow jobs and a whole of of cum swallowed 🤤😋!

As I said, over 20 of the ladies here got this crud, but Mom sure got it the worse: whether that's because we learned from her how bad it can get and took better care of ourselves when it set it or whether Mom tried to work too much when she wasn't feeling good or, let's face it, her age (73 - the oldest at the Studio by 6 years, Gina and Wendy being 67), we've all become much more virus conscious and are taking care.

I'll close there - hopefully Roxy or Maria will pick it up from here. If I don't make another entry before the big day: MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

Michelle

[angelmichelangelo]

Hey! 👋

I saw your post of having a hard time today, so hope this helps!!

I am about to ask you a series of questions, (of which you have the right to refuse to answer if you’re not comfortable), and hopefully this will help distract you. 😁

1. Who is your favorite TMNT brother to write fics about?

2. What fic that you have written are you the most proud of?

3. How many medical-based TMNT fics have you written?

Now enough about what you write- let’s get to know you a bit better. :)

1. What is your favorite color?

2. Have you ever watched a sunrise before? If so, where and when? (If you can remember!)

3. What is your favorite snack while you work?

4. Does your closet consist of lighter or darker colors?

5. Do you have any pets? :)

6. Are you aware that your fics make so many people very happy, and have touched all of our hearts in ways we can’t well describe? (I WILL make fanart GOSHDARN IT- There’s just SO MANY Fics to choose from HAHA)

7. Do you have any OCs that no one in particular could draw? 😁

Hope this helps you, Angelo! (Is it alright if I call you that?) You got this!! Hang in there, and remember to take things slow. Run your race at your own pace. 💙

~ Melissa

hello there friend! :) thank you very much for this ask!!

to answer your questions!

1. i would say that mikey or leo is my favourite to write just because they have a special place in my heart 🥺

2. i’d say the fic im most proud of would be my glass turtles fic. it was a lot when i was writing it and maybe the only tmnt fic ive ever had hate on?😅 but it’s a fic that i am really glad i stuck with and put out there :)

3. i love me a good sick!fic !! and any whump fics are just like. pure gold to my heart lol — i do quite enjoy writing sainw fics were mikey loses his arm or i have a soft spot for epileptic rise mikey after the movie events :) but i plan on more medical based fics because it’s all i know lol

and as for me !!

1. i love the colour orange :) my bedroom is orange and everyone told me it would look silly but it’s so warm and glowy and makes me feel so safe :)

2. i had a really amazing opportunity to go to thailand just before the 2020 pandemic where i stayed in a little villa on a beach. i was having pretty bad jet lag and woke up early nearly every morning i was there and would just go sit on this quiet, empty beach with the warmth on my face as the sun came up. this was just a few months before my life got really hectic with family members becoming ill/dying and i just appreciate that i got to have that to kind of hold onto, in a way. to always remind me of the goodness in the world <3

3. i have a terrible habit of underrating at work 😬 but sometimes the kitchen staff are nice enough to make me up some potato croquettes that are just so so nice haha

4. my closet is a complete mismatch! :D i dont really have a set style of pretty much anything in my life so its a healthy mixture of lights and darks and all in between :)

5. i do!! i have a black cat that is just the sweetest lady in the whole world :3 she likes to sleep under the blankets curled up next to me and chew on my hair lol

6. oh 🥺🥺🥺 that really does mean so much.. i love writing fic and have done for the last, like 10 years ive been active in fandom spaces online. i have so much fun interaction with people through them and whenever someone tells me what it means to them is just like, maybe possibly the best feeling in the world. i appreciate that so much, thank you. (and any and all fanart is just gonna make my heart explode in the best way possible)

7. i don’t have any OCs for tmnt really. i mean, a long long time ago i had a fic idea of another turtle that reunites with them as is like. a motherly kind of figure but that never took off the ground and i haven’t really revisited it in like the last 8ish years lol but who knows! maybe 2025 will be the year of OCs!!

and it’s perfectly fine :) you can call me angelo, angel — i know a few people have and i think it’s really sweet :’) thank you so very much for this ask, im holding it very close to my heart <33

have an amazing day, thank you again !!

[10holmes]

Thanks for the fanfic ask game qs, now it's your turn! :D

I hope these aren't too many qs, but I'd love to know your thoughts:

C, K, M, S, T, V, Y

Thank you :)

Yay! Thanks so much for asking! So excited to answer these questions 😍🙏🏼🎉

The full (very long - sorry!) answer to be found below the cut! 😁

C: What character do you identify with most?

Oooh that's a tricky question... I think I can't boil it down to just one character but a blend of characters? I think the characters I tend to stan and ship are a good indicator bc I usually fixate most on ships and characters that somehow speak to me or that I relate to.

For example with XueXiao, I really identify with Xiao Xingchen in the way that he is kind and helpful to others and follows this ideal of wanting to make the world a better place and leaving the mountain for that, aka a place he could stay placid and content in, to instead do something about the injustices he knows about in the "real world", even if that means facing hardships and pain and struggles.

As for Xue Yang, I really relate to him and see him as my deepest darkest side if I could throw my morality over board. I am someone who whole-heartedly proclaims "eat the rich" and means it, so if I was any more like Xue Yang in the way not to give a fuck, I'd also just kill the people that hurt me or others and go unhinged... 😅🙈 Slight difference between us being I would not kill indiscriminately and for the fun of it or for the slightest offense but really only target corrupt rich people and super capitalists and fascists that have it coming for them 🤭

K: What's the angstiest idea you've ever come up with?

I really don't want to spoil anything, but it has to do with an alternative chapter / ending I came up with for my LiuJiu A/B/O fic. I love happy endings as much as the next fanfic reader but sometimes I just want to make myself and others hurt. And this one will hopefully make my readers scream.

Also there's a XueXiao reincarnation fic WIP I can't wait to post. It's nearly finished and I wrote it while listening to Tom Odell's "Another Love" on repeat - which should give you enough of a vibe to imagine the angst level of this fic. I'll just say this much: unrequited love 🤭👍🏼

Sorry I can't be more specific but I really don't want to spoil anything more😅🙈

M: Got any premises on the back burner that you'd like to share?

Maybe it's because I'm too young to know that phrasing or maybe it's a native speaker thing but I had to google what this meant first and hope Google got it right 😅🤣

My WIP file is massive... To give you a glimpse: Next to the ones mentioned above I've also started:

- an angsty post-canon Beefleaf fic, where SQX is haunted by a hanging ghost and made to kill herself but HX intervenes and they start their journey of reconciling, don't know if I'll ever finish it...

- a VegasPete vampire / vampire hunter AU based on a Tumblr prompt and gif-set post but I'll very likely never continue that...

- a LiuJiu AU where SJ is present during the events of SVSSS and LQQ knows SY is an imposter and now tries to bring back SJ into his former body. This has angst and hurt written into every line. Sadly it's merely all in my head...

S: Any fandom tropes you can't resist?

Enemies to Lovers always hits! It's my jam!

Also the angstier the merrier! Hit me with the feels, the pain, the hurt, the agony! Doesn't even have to have a happy ending, I'm a sucker for being emotionally destroyed and also emotionally destroying my readers (though I tend to give them a happy ending at least) 😈🤣👍🏼

And, like you, omegaverse is my guilty pleasure - the smuttier the better 😏

And speaking of guilty pleasures I also have to say monster-fuck AUs are on the menu as well... There have been some really good SongXueXiao ones, I've read. Didn't know that was something I'd ever be into - my 14 year old self would probably be appalled. But here we are 🤣🤣

Soulmate and Fated Pair AUs are something I like to dig into as well.

And I'm also really into mermaid AUs. Especially when one is human and the fic gives off The Little Mermaid vibes.

T: Any fandom tropes you can't stand?

I don't know why but any modern day AUs especially High School AUs... I just can't read it. The most I will do is mob boss / mafia or reincarnation where they slowly uncover their past, but if canon events are set in modern times/contexts I don't really like it for some reason 😅

But I'm actually quite open to a lot of fics and it's mostly not the tropes I can't stand but characterisation or writing style 😅🙈

V: If you could write the sequel/prequel to any fanfic out there (not you own) which would it be?

Bruh... What a difficult question... I haven't ever thought about writing continuations or pre-quels for existing fic as I love them the way they are and mostly just in between imagine possible canon-divergences if the characters had made different choices...

But I guess, from the top of my head, I'd like to write a sequel to "Mark of Jasmine" to give LiuJiu an alternative or reincarnation happy ending because they've really been played in that one... 🙈😅

Y: A character you want to protect?

So many. All my little blorbos and meow meows. On the top of that list - obviously - Xue Yang. But I'd also step in front of my best bois Loki and Shen Jiu to shield them. They deserve so much better 💕😭

Now thanks again for the ask and for reading this long-ass reply, it was my pleasure 🤣

[bookishtheaterlover7]

Dodger does NOT deserve to stay with Chris. Chris broke our hearts and Dodger needs to help us, not him.

I have two answers for this one, An🫶n. ☺️

Yes, Chris might not deserve Dodger, but Y/n is a better person than any of us can ever be, and I say that both personally, and as the author 😆.

If it was me, I'd definitely take Dodger with me. Jinx food and treats in a secret stash, Dodger won't leave my side 24/7, the whole thing. But, Y/n she loves Chris, truly has for 6 years, she knows him with every fiber of her being, and she knows, that Chris won't be okay the second she chooses herself, and leaves him.

So, leaving Dodger is a kindness, and her only way of letting Chris know that she loves him still. Dodger is a small token, but he's going to be Chris' support animal, through the panic attack, the self loathing, the insecurities, anxiety attacks and the waves of sadness and grief that will, no doubt, follow. She knows Chris needs Dodger more than she ever will. And she leaves him not without love, and with hope.

Thanks for reading my writings, my sweet An🫶n! I hope you didn't cry too much... And that if you did, you had tissue and water nearby for times like this 🥺🤗

I love hearing about your reactions to my works, and I don't mind it being in An🫶n either 😁❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Hopefully see you in the next one 🫶

[magistralucis]

Hello ma'am! Good day to you first of all I just wanted to say Viridian made my blubber like a 5 years old who got a puppy or kitten as a birthday gift it was so so so! Sweet and heartwarming! I am literally holding my breath until next chapter I am so excited!!

I want to write an entire assay but I am very pressed for time so I wanted to ask about something that really stick out to me; we'll we ever see a reunion between Orikan and his family? I know he made himself a promise as a boy (I imagine his father's behavior is the reason he talks about being disgraced like in the Unravel so I think the old bastard just as cruel here as he was there) but maybe IF we see the wedding or perhaps a gift from Trazyn? In Unravel he never got to chance to hug his mom or siblings ever again and since you are giving him the tenderness and happiness he deserves (they all deserve!)... a happy family reunion until tumors or old age takes her? If you ever considered of course!

Whenever you update its a good good day! ❤️ thank you for this story!

Ahh thank you so much for your message! I'm super happy to hear you're enjoying Viridian so far 😍🥰💖 The next chapter is well underway (actually the first part I started writing so lmao), so hopefully you will be regaled with more soon.

That's an interesting question about Orikan's family. I'll put the reply proper under a cut because it's technically spoilers, though not a heavy one. After all, you did ask and I'm willing to tell! 😁

---

Trazyn brings up the issue himself. The pair are close enough in Viridian that Trazyn is aware of the extent of Orikan's sacrifice, and he's 100% up to date on where they live/what they do/how long it's been since Orikan last saw them. I think he, and the Nihilakh Dynasty as a whole, takes kinship ties very seriously: the Nihilakh are isolationist and traditionalist, and if they are not willing to accept other dynasties, their society would have to rely heavily on their own families and houses and the innumerable ties formed between them instead. When Trazyn proposed to Orikan (at least; one of many small proposals) he basically said he considers Orikan's kin as his own, leaving the conversation open at least for a reunion, if not bringing Orikan's family over to Solemnace altogether.

Viridian will end when their night comes to an end, so it's unlikely this reunion will be depicted. But I think Orikan would be open to it. Sadly, it's unlikely Orikan's mother would have survived to the time period of Viridian, but all or most of his siblings may well have. The question therefore is how Orikan will reconcile the years of silence with his siblings - a daunting prospect, but one Trazyn would definitely help him with!

So yeah. It is something they're seriously thinking about. The issue will be raised in Chapter 3, so I hope you'll stay and enjoy the story until then!! 💖

[kiruuuuu]

Siege the Valentine's, Day 11 💘

Hi all, you know the drill, follow @dualrainbow for more events like these and so you don't miss a single entry 😁 Thank you again to all the people organising this and thank you also to the participants!

My entry is a wholesome one (for once) about how Bandit and Jäger go on a date, but not really. I hope you enjoy it!! (Bandit/Jäger, Rating T, fluff, ~3.7k words)

.

“You better dress up for our date later.”

Bandit looks up only once his shoe is lightly kicked and greets his teammate with a wide grin, noticing how Rook’s head in the background whips around at the statement. “Rented a tux for you, babe. You better follow… suit.”

He earns a very satisfying groan and an eye roll, warranting no further questions from Jäger himself, though prompting IQ to lean over. “What are your plans for today?”

“Let’s see…” Bandit glances at the other man to check he’s not forgetting anything. “Early film, of course the most romantic one we could find, then a candle light dinner at an Italian place near the sports park, and if I play my cards right, it’ll turn into a sleepover with benefits.”

“Nice.” IQ nods in appreciation. “Learnt your lesson last year, huh?”

Bandit has long noticed they hold all the attention belonging to an increasingly confused-looking Rook who’s trying his best not to stare, so he hams it up even more. “Yeah, eating dinner first and then going to the cinema was a nightmare, we had to beg the waiter to rush our food even though they were swamped because the old couple who stole our table just wouldn’t leave and Marius was cranky the entire time. We only barely made the film and were too stressed out for any… other activities afterwards. Unlike today, hopefully.” He winks at Jäger and receives a sincere nod in return.

“I was in favour of just staying home and making some food ourselves, but he vetoed that. Vehemently.”

“Look, it would’ve been fine if you were still in your pickled phase, but fermentation?” Bandit makes a face in IQ’s direction. “You don’t want to know how much kimchi I’ve had to try in the last months. And those salty half-alcoholic fruits that never turned out right -”

“The kimchi was fine”, Jäger insists, getting huffy, “you’re just mad because I refused to make beer for you.”

“Absolutely no reason to just leave food lying around until it gets kinda mouldy. I don’t even like sauerkraut.”

“Soy sauce is fermented, actually, and you might as well drink the stuff with how -”

“You’re going on a date?”

It just burst out of Rook – even he seems appalled at his sudden interjection yet his curiosity must burn too bright for he does not recant his question. Instead, his eyes dart between them, seeking a specific reaction, a revealing sign, anything.

“Yeah”, Bandit replies easily, “just one of many, you know.” He doesn’t need to look to know Jäger nods in confirmation. IQ probably does as well.

“So…”

No way he’s letting him off the hook like that. Instead of picking up on Rook’s non-verbal implication, Bandit simply raises his brows expectantly and waits. He’s going to make him say it.

After he’s fidgeted uncomfortably for a few seconds, he finally blurts out: “So you two are dating.”

IQ throws him a pitying look. He’s not the first and he won’t be the last, and this whole thing is part of why Bandit enjoys days like Valentine’s so much. His smirk is overly smug yet he makes no effort to reign it in. “Of course we’re not. Never have, never will. What makes you think that?”

And he just soaks up the mixture of bemusement and annoyance radiating from the young Frenchman.

.

He’d be hard pressed to remember all the details from their first ‘date’, though some aspects preserved themselves illegally in his mind: when he pictures it, all he sees is a lanky, withdrawn nerd who grimaces every time anyone mentions Christmas around him, so Bandit naturally did what he always does. He pokes and prods and rubs it in until he finally gets a straight answer out of his current object of curiosity, and the one they called Jäger admitted his long-term boyfriend recently broke up with him so now all their plans for the festive season were nullified, leaving him devoid of company. And hey, what a coincidence, Bandit’s then-girlfriend (not for much longer, obviously) had just accepted an invitation to her horribly backward, racist and homophobic family’s party and he’d been looking for a good excuse to ditch her.

So they did the most stereotypical shit they could come up with, watched Die Hard and ate potato salad and drank too much beer until Jäger passed out on his couch, and then they proceeded to not interact with each other for a long time. The chance never really came up, is the thing, and Bandit did an undercover gig and Jäger was sent somewhere else after and then a year had passed and Bandit asked for his plans for Christmas with a tongue-in-cheek comment, referring to the previous year and expecting a laugh and to be shot down (like Jäger usually does when it comes to social events with people he doesn’t know well, Bandit is aware and stopped inviting him without changing anything else about their conversations which somehow seemed to put Jäger at ease) – except Jäger is the one who suggests they celebrate Christmas like the Japanese and get KFC together.

And as a casual acquaintanceship slowly blooms into something more, they involuntarily learn a variety of things about each other. Bandit’s habit of putting a cigarette behind his ear, losing it almost immediately and complaining loudly while he calculates how much that single cancer stick cost him. Jäger’s preferences in food, which are as cryptic as they are manifold: sometimes he rejects dishes for consistency, sometimes for colour, sometimes for reasons unknown to everyone including him, and Bandit forgets them all the second Jäger divulges them which turns out to be fine as they keep changing from month to month anyway. Jäger tries futilely to convince him not to buy a new motorcycle whenever the urge overtakes him, and they inevitably end up tuning it together.

Eventually, Jäger readily offers advice whenever Bandit describes whoever he’s flirting with at that point, and Bandit talks a little about his night terrors (though not sober, he needs to be dead drunk, meaning the opportunity presents itself quite often), and Jäger laments his difficulties in finding anyone with whom he’s comfortable enough to start a relationship, and the two of them swap work stories that leave them the unhealthy flavour of desolate. But it’s either Bandit’s dry sarcasm or Jäger’s genuine enthusiasm about his current fixation that allows them to move on, and then one year, everyone brags about their perfect Valentine’s date, so naturally, Bandit and Jäger name each other as their Valentine’s. They go ice skating and Bandit ends up with a bloody nose and nearly a finger less than before and they conclude that next time, they’d rather do something more romantic.

It just escalates from there. Though they do spend significant holidays with their families or, rarely, their partners whenever possible, more often than not something comes up and they just celebrate together. By the time they can’t remember how long they’ve been friends they’re leaning into it all the way, sipping sickly-sweet cocktails on Christmas while slagging Hallmark-like films shown on TV, mocking the many advertisements in between to the point where Jäger is red in the face and can’t breathe anymore.

(When Bandit finds out Jäger is following him into Rainbow, he ends up crying. Could be all the gin and tonic, who knows, could be the relief of knowing he’ll have someone who has his back no matter what, but he knows he wouldn’t have done it if he hadn’t been pissed, and he certainly wouldn’t have done it had he known Jäger would mirror him. It’s not – not a sob fest or anything, they don’t cling to each other shedding tears of joy, it’s just annoyingly wet and a pain to wipe away of which he does a bad job of hiding while Jäger gets some tissues for himself, and they quickly change the topic afterwards.)

.

“I don’t actually know which film we’re seeing.” Jäger bounces on his heels in impatience, eyes darting around the lobby trying to find the poster that reveals whichever kitsch Bandit might’ve picked.

“You’re remarkably calm about that.” He’s busy operating the vending machine responsible for dispensing reserved tickets, a blessing as far as Bandit is concerned – he doesn’t need to talk to a human being and the poor cashiers don’t have to deal with his sorry attitude. “When I was sixteen, Ced invited my girlfriend and me to a double date and kept the film a secret. It turned out to be some fucked-up gory horror flick. I think I still have the scars from where my girlfriend clawed into my arm while trying not to scream.”

Jäger scoffs. “I would’ve dumped you for that.”

“Even though it wasn’t my fault?”

“No, because you probably laughed at her and brought it up at every opportunity. You told me how you were at sixteen.”

There’s no arguing there. Bandit grins and snatches the printed-out tickets before Jäger can sneak a peek. “I did, and she did dump me. Now she’s working as an accountant and has like three kids, so who really lucked out in the end?” His companion opens his mouth. “Don’t answer that. Let’s go.”

In true date night fashion, Jäger links his arm with Bandit’s and they meander through the floors together, commenting on a few cardboard cutouts and which one they’d put up in their homes if they had to choose. Eventually, Jäger voices a sudden oh! and yanks Bandit to a halt so abruptly he nearly drops the popcorn they’re going to share. “It’s this one, isn’t it.” He points to a pink-framed, mellow poster picturing a woman beaming up at a man at sunset. “This is the worst one I’ve seen so far. What is it called? Building a Bridge to Cloud Nine? Seriously?”

“That doesn’t sound OSHA-compliant.”

“If it’s about a career-oriented woman who falls in love with a builder, I’m walking out.”

“I bet it’s a really sexy quantity surveyor. His catchphrase is ‘let me survey your quantity’.”

Jäger beams at him with an amused and delighted expression not unlike the one displayed by the actress on the poster, and for a brief second, Bandit is filled with the sudden epiphany of this is exactly what I want. Followed by a derisive mental sneer, of course, because he’s far from being the romantic type – quite the opposite. Still, he can’t deny that he craves intimacy, however shape it eventually takes, and he’s secretly glad he didn’t actually choose a film that would fuel this particular desire.

Why can’t it ever be easy? Why is it always complicated, draining, requiring constant work and mental resources, why is being in a relationship so goddamn hard? Bandit has tried, couldn’t even count the attempts if he wanted, and there was always a wall they hit, sooner rather than later. He’s been accused as selfish, withdrawn, brooding, even his therapist complained about him not opening up enough. He doesn’t see why it’s necessary. There are people in his life who know enough about him so that nobody else needs to, like Blitz. Like Jäger.

Why can’t it ever be as easy as with Jäger? They settle into the loveseat like it’s the most natural thing in the world (and it was only last year that Jäger booked one for kicks for the first time though it turned out to be much more comfortable than they expected), and, because it’s Valentine’s and they have to keep the theme going, Bandit puts an arm around him and Jäger laughs but cuddles up to him and the point is making everyone around them think they’re a couple anyway. The gangly nerd is flexible enough to sit cross-legged and it almost feels like they’re just at home on the couch watching something in private. Very cosy.

The cosiness is only briefly diminished when a series of gruesome deaths happen on screen as a building collapses, impaling someone with a steel bar while someone else’s head gets squished between two concrete blocks. Jäger turns to him with a glint in his eye. “Is this the new Final Destination?!”, he whispers. His delight only grows when Bandit nods with a smirk. “I love them! They’re terrible.”

They are. Bandit figured there’s no better film to watch on the day of love than this schlock and, judging by Jäger’s thinly-veiled excitement, he’s not alone in this opinion. He pushes away his musings about relationships and the likes and leans back to enjoy the grisly spectacle.

.

“- look, just stop me if you don’t care about this stuff, but I need to tell someone how wrong they got it”, Jäger blabbers, still exhilarated from the film, “because buildings don’t work like that. Not the one they chose, anyhow, there’s not just… air between the floors, there’s wiring and -”

Though it’s the last thing Bandit wants to do, he interrupts his companion with a gentle: “I think you should order.” He’s already conveyed his choice of food and drink through a series of subtle pointing, acknowledged by the amused waitress with a nod as they’re both subjected to one of Jäger’s famous rants. It usually takes every new person in the engineer’s life about two to three months before they get to witness one since he watches himself carefully around casual acquaintances, which means most people experience him as a friendly and modest co-worker with no noteworthy eccentricities.

But once he’s thawed enough and one of his current pet peeves is brought up (they change depending on his current fixation), there’s no stopping him. He’s never angry, just passionate, with an overwhelming urge to share his grievances with anyone willing to listen, and they’re always factually flawless. Bandit couldn’t name half the topics on which he became an unwitting expert purely by existing around Jäger for so long.

When he loses his train of thought, however, is distracted or interrupted by anything, Jäger deflates instantly and requires a few sincere prompts to start up again. And as much as Bandit loves listening to him, he is quite hungry.

The peppy waitress, who takes it in stride and seems to find the whole thing extremely cute, helps Jäger pick something with no fuss and promises them a short wait time despite the busy restaurant. Seems like they chose well, the service is fast and friendly and the other customers appear satisfied with their dishes.

Jäger comes to the same conclusion and comments: “Nice place. How’d you find it?”

“They offer a discount for couples today.” Bandit winks at him, making him laugh.

“Do I need to start calling you ‘babe’ now so we don’t strain your wallet too much?”

“Oh I think we’re plenty convincing already.” From the few glances and smiles they’ve earned between entering the restaurant and now, he’s sure they have everyone fooled. “We’re like an old married couple who managed to keep the magic alive and still go on dates together.”

His friend shrugs. “We might as well be.”

Yeah. It’s not that far from the truth with how much time they spend in each other’s presence. “Alright, so back to the structural integrity of an office building”, he changes topics and Jäger’s face lights up instantly.

.

“Don’t be ridiculous”, Bandit grumbles as they walk arm in arm through the brightly-lit and pink-clad shopping centre as a shortcut to his car. It’s already dark and though they’ve got to work the next day, they’ve both decided on watching another film in Jäger’s apartment to conclude their ‘date’.

“I don’t make the rules – I get the bill, I’m the top.”

Outraged, he tries to nudge Jäger into a potted plant but his companion merely spins them around it, laughing. “I’ve always gotten the bill before. Every waiter and waitress we’ve had decided I’m the top, the outlier today means nothing.”

“Maybe she just wanted to show her support of top twinks who are as vocal in bed as they are in conversation.”

“Or she didn’t like me and wanted to piss me off.”

“Or she wanted to introduce you to new opportunities, you know. She figured we’d discuss it and I’d get a chance to say I’ve secretly wanted to top you for years now but didn’t know how to bring it up -”

“Marius, you’re so experienced I’d let you top me in a heartbeat if you asked.”

Jäger is about to retort when a blonde woman with a camera addresses them, and Bandit is almost glad for the distraction. While they’ve talked about plenty of sexual escapades before, it was never really about them and something about it made him… uneasy. As if they’re toeing some kind of line. Which is nonsense, they’ve been close friends for so long now that if anything was going to happen between them, it’d have happened years ago, they know too much about each other.

“Sorry to bother you”, the young woman says, eyeing them with a smile, “I’m a freelance photographer and I’m working on a personal project featuring couples of all races and genders – would it be alright if I took a photo of you two?”

The option of correcting her doesn’t even enter Bandit’s mind. He flashes her a winning grin and drags Jäger to a more favourable position next to him. “Of course, go ahead. Today is probably the perfect day for your project, hm?”

“I don’t really like having my picture taken”, Jäger mutters in protest but lets Bandit move him around anyway.

“Babe, you always look camera-ready.” The two of them exchange a look, Bandit innocently smiling and Jäger with a dark scowl, which is exactly when the woman photographs them. “Wait, take another one, you didn’t catch his beautiful smile.”

Somehow, this does not seem to lighten Jäger’s mood. The woman, being a professional, seems to sense his discomfort with presenting himself for other people and opts for a different tactic: “Do you want to try kissing?”

Hell yeah. This will make for a fantastic story tomorrow and even more in-jokes between the two of them, so Bandit doesn’t even think twice about it. He catches sight of a raised eyebrow and curled lips and assumes Jäger is once again reading his mind, as he always does when Bandit is up to his shenanigans, and then he’s already pulled the other man to his chest and locked lips with him. They barely manage a proper kiss at first because Jäger pulls away as soon as Bandit’s tongue touches him, but when Bandit quietly calls him a chicken, Jäger returns with a vengeance. Fully aware of their audience, they violently snog while refusing to allow each other the upper hand and Bandit has to exert immense self-control not to burst out into laughter. He’d love it if they made it into some sort of exhibition among all kinds of other couples with this.

And then he notices he’s wrapped both arms tightly around the other man, and Jäger’s hands are sneaking into his biker jacket to stroke over his sides, and somehow…

It’s not the same, kissing Jäger versus kissing anyone else, though he’s not really sure why. He’s a good kisser, now that the initial playfighting has turned into something more cooperative, and he smells nice, and the faux fur of his jacket is tickling Bandit’s cheek, and their lips are moving against each other like they’ve done it a thousand times before, and this kiss has lasted a long time already, they should probably stop. No use in milking it any further. They got their material, time to move on.

Jäger’s tongue curls against his own and he’s left wondering why it’s so good to feel him in his arms like this, why it felt so good to spend a whole film with Jäger snuggled up to him, why he couldn’t stop smiling as Jäger pointed out all the flaws afterwards, and there’s really only one explanation for all this, the only one that makes sense, and then somebody wolf-whistles them.

Without a second thought, Bandit breaks the kiss to turn in the direction of the whistle and yell out an instinctual: “Fuck off!” He regrets it instantly as he spots another gay couple grinning at them over their shoulders while walking away. So… no sarcasm, instead probably a show of appreciation. “Damn, they were really hot, too”, he mutters, feeling Jäger shake with silent laughter. The photographer has disappeared entirely; she likely figured they needed some privacy.

And all of a sudden, this is extremely awkward. He turns back and Jäger is still smiling though there’s a decidedly lost quality to his features, as if he didn’t know what to do with himself either.

When the prolonged silence of them hugging and gazing into each other’s eyes helplessly becomes too unbearable, Jäger utters aptly: “Well. Whoops.”

Bandit snorts and tries to hide his burning face in the side of Jäger’s fluffy hood. “Fuck, man.”

“I don’t think I can pretend that didn’t happen”, Jäger mumbles to Bandit’s relief as he feels much the same way. “Were you – did you know -”

“Let’s not talk about it here, alright?”

A nod. “Alright.”

They both take a deep breath before separating and though Bandit misses the physical proximity straightaway, the dull yearning is alleviated by fingers interlacing with his own. If this is what’s been going on with the two of them, without them being aware of it, it would explain a lot of things. He tries his best to calm racing thoughts, not very successfully, and a random one pops into his head, unbidden: if Rook gets wind of this, he’ll have a field day.

“You know”, Jäger says, cheeks red and not looking at him, thumb stroking over the back of Bandit’s hand, “if this turns out to be our first proper date, it was a pretty good one.”

“It was”, Bandit agrees. Now he just needs to play his cards right.

[gaymer-hag-stan]

Happy 27th anniversary to Tomb Raider!

On the 25th of October, twenty seven years ago, a little game called Tomb Raider, featuring Lara Croft was released in Europe for the Sega Saturn, and changed gaming FOREVER!

The world was introduced to British archaeologist Lara Croft, who travels around the world searching for lost artifacts and infiltrating dangerous tombs and ruins. Lara Croft became a pop culture sensation. You probably can't fathom the amount of brand power and popularity she had in the late 90s (I can't either because I was a baby) but she was treated like an actual celebrity. Getting featured on non-gaming magazine covers, getting advertisement deals with brands like Lucozade, Visa, Seat, Jeep, Ducati and many others and even having her own publicist! She also technically toured with U2 as her visuals were heavily on their Pop Mart tour! She is the most successful woman to ever hit video games and every female video game protagonist created after her gets inspired and compared to her for good reason.

Exploration, solving puzzles, navigating hostile environments filled with traps, and fighting enemies are the three core pillars of the franchise, and although not credited as much as it should, the original game did tons to innovate 3D gaming (choke on a dick Mario 3D) and essentially jump started the action adventure genre, which it held a monopoly on until the Inception of Uncharted (which also died but Queen is still here).

Furthermore, various award winning actresses have been hired to portray Lara across various media, from Keeley Hawes and Camilla Luddington in the games, to Minnie Driver and, soon, Hayley Atwell in animated series to Oscar-winning Alicia Vikander and, perhaps more importantly, Angelina Jolie in films.

Not to discredit any of the other actresses, or Lara's own brand power before the 2001 film, but Angelina's portrayal has been ingrained in many people's minds and did a lot to both further boost Lara's own brand power, as well as permanently ingrain Angie as one of the prominent action heroines in Hollywood. It's no wonder tons of people dressing up as Lara or other media paying homages to Lara and Tomb Raider use Angie's all black outfit and French braid look from the first movie, neither of which are actually part of Lara's in-game look so far 🤣

Although it stumbled a bit in the early 2000s, with games like Chronicles and Angel of Darkness tarnishing the brand, the game has been reimagined, both with a soft reboot in 2006 and a full scale one in 2013 and has continued to evolve and adapt to the industry, managing to stay relevant for almost three decades now! For this reason, Tomb Raider had sold over 95 million copies worldwide by 2022, while the entire franchise generated close to 1.2 billion dollars in revenue by 2002. The series has generally been met with critical acclaim, and Lara Croft has become one of the most recognisable video game protagonists, winning accolades and earning places on the Guinness World Records.

The future looks bright as we have a new animated series, a new game, a remaster of the original three games and a whole ass multiverse of media coming up, hopefully managing to please fans of all iterations of the games as well as the character herself.

Lara Croft has achieved mainstream media popularity like of which only a handful of other video game characters, like Sonic and Mario have only achieved. Her own individual brand power has consistently been a selling point for the series, but the games themselves continue to captivate the interest, and I hope to see them continue to succeed where others failed for many many more years to come!

Happy birthday Tomb Raider 🥳🎈😁

[kayleeheartkins]

Where did your little side originate from, how did that aspect of your kink life get started? As it seems to have slowly grown and developed on your page, it’s cute and adorable so please post more of it! 😁 hope your feeling better soon!

As a side note would it be okay to use some of your images for captions with full credit to you of course, your more than welcome to say no as well. Stay amazing!

I’ve always had this little side as long as I can remember; little immature natured and wanting to be “babied” per say. I am the baby of my family so I guess I was always treated that way too. As an adult sexually I always called my boyfriends daddy lol.. but the kink or terminology wasn’t known to me yet. Tumblr came and opened my eyes to a whole new world and I felt like it “fit.” I suffered from anxiety and depression from being estranged from my immediate family and it was an excellent coping mechanism as well. Couple more years later a sweet fan continued to help me move into the next step of ageplaying with abdl. I enjoyed how it made little space develop faster and it made others happy which in turns makes me happy.

You’re welcome to post with credits. Hopefully my response isn’t too wonky 🥴

[chelleztjs18]

Hello you mrs. fiction writer no spoiler lefty eyebag 😅

For them to climb and scratch. I saw a video where this girl used carpet samples as a scratching post for their cat. So instead of buying a cat tree, I will use my resources 😁

I am not a sleepy head! Just an old head who can't stay up late much hahaha

Gasp, so we will have to conclude that Yelena is either dead or missing? I think she probably gave up on finding Natasha, started hanging out with the bad crowd and then just disappeared for good. Damn that's dark. Also, since it's been a year, they only shared one kiss??

Yup I definitely agree with you. How can you marry someone and never live with them before. Then find out later some icks about their personality. It would be crazy and hectic.

I see. So you're sister is accepting of it?

Okay, so I was asking about music because I found this thing with questions relating to music. Changing it up a bit 😅

Name 3 songs that remind you of summer.

-CuriousGeorge

Hello hello righty eyebag..

oh wow, i feel like i'm being attacked by my nickname this time because of the yelena situations. hahahahhaha jk.

ah i see. i used to have a room mate n she had two cats and she has this pretty big cats tower n i noticed it got all fucked up pretty fast. lol.

haha it's okay if u r sleepy head. it's not a bad thing. lol. i would rather be called sleepy head than being called old head even though im actually getting old. speaking about getting old, i found another grey hair. hahahaa. i dont mind if i have grey hair, hopefully i will look good with grey hair. lol.

which ever u think my hints fit about Yelena situation, darling. lol. that's the beauty of writing, when ur writing. hahaha. but also, ur theory is dark but in a good way. :D also, like i answered to u on ur few previous asks about the fliers and news. :D if u notice, its on pt. 3.

well, i think i wrote some hints how natasha misses the kiss and R's touches on her skin n body. so again, i leave it to people's imaginations. since i think i'm not good enough in writing smut so i didnt add it in this series. what do u think?

any favorite part so far in this fic over all? or in each chapter? im just wondering.

yeah right? i would rather find out before i got married n can break it off easier than a whole process of divorce. haha. i'm from a asian catholic family, so i think 1 of my aunt also gave me a look when i mention about living together before marriage but I dont care. lol. i even added "n that's why i want to move to US where it's a normal / common thing there." n then walk away. lol.

well, her reaction kinda like "maybe it was just a phase n u just havent found the right man." but not in homophobic way or hatred. but then when i told her i got enggaged n getting married, she was kinda ask me "r u sure?" so i guess her point of view kinda changed.

ohhh i love questions about music or songs..

this question was the reason it took a while for me to answer because i was scrolling on my spotify list that has almost 600 songs. lol. dont blame me, u only let me picked 3, so it was hard. hahaha.

well to be honest when u said song that reminds me of summer, it's the songs that reminds me one of the best time i have had in summer (because i dont really like summer) at Las Vegas. so the songs will be party song. lol.

Here are my picks.

how about urs?

it was my favorite time ever in summer. It was so fun. we stayed there for 2 days n we went to 2 pool party both on day time and night time. I was a big party goer at that time. lol. good wild old times.

Buuuuut, as much as a big party goer i was, my weird germ freak ass didnt want to go into the pool. 😅 it gross me out because it was too crowded, n i feel like the water is so dirty.. even though my mind was pretty dirty from seeing all those women in bikinis but i have nobody to talk about it since my friends who went with me didnt know how crazy i am about women. Lol.

next questions?

Cheerio! (Not the cereal one)

[akane171]

...Well, it's not THAT often but still way more than I care to admit😅🤷🏻‍♀️🙈

Haha, okay, well, let's just forget this discussion then🙈

Nope, no hamburgers with puppies and ham😅😰

Ohhhh, Weltschmerz? Teachers included? Consider me officially very curious🤔😂 Your field of study sounds interesting!😁

Yay, Chris, Yay💃🏻💃🏻

Awww maaaan... Just wait, one day I'll finally have time to learn all the languages I wanna learn and I'll learn polish, too, even if it were just to be able to read your fics!🙈😂🙈

😂😂

...Don't kill me, yesterday I might have asked LW more generally about whether Bal-Seg knew more about Mon's mate or not🙈🙈🙈🙈🙈🙈🙈

Nah, I WILL write it, even got the okay from LW to write a One-shot in which Bal-Seg survived, but when I write that, I wanna get his characterization and all the details LW gave us in PiaD right, so I'll have to sit down and properly re-research everything Bal-Seg related, but life is annoying shit, so I really don't have the time to actually do that right now🙈 Hopefully I'll be able to work on that soon, but probably not for at least another 2 months or so🙈🙈

Ohhhhh, okay, no kidding, I NEED you to write that, like, Mon drinking everyone under the table to get that treaty and Kara blowing up at him sounds SO.PERFECTLY. early S2!Karamel, I could cry🙈🙈😭😭

(Mon getting to be interested in stuff should be its own trope! Like, even him and his books are such a sweet obsession🙈🙈😍) For a moment there, I thought you wrote "get interested for the first time in another woman" 😂😂😂 Kara would be a murderous, miserable mess if THAT where the case🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️😅😅

Honestly? Thanks to you I can't get Mon being part of the voluntary fire brigarde in his free-time out of my head😂😅🙈🙈 But with the engineering it's be SWEET to see Winn and Mon geeking out together and maybe debating how they could build and programm R2-D2 and an X-Wing?😂🙈 oh, Wait, lol, imagine Mon working for Max (even more for Kara to rant at Mon about)😯

Haha, Yess, HIGH FIVE!😂 

Huh, you're right🤔 It DOES kinda sound like sth from Dune🤔🤔 Or Star Wars🤷🏻‍♀️😂

Yesssss, pleeaaasssee watch it!😍😍 It's just...Like...ARRGGHH, my non-existent heart 😭😍😭😍😭😍😭🙈🙈

Anyway, stay safe and sound and happy Sunday!🤗

XXX

I feel like I should ask. On the other hand I feel like I should not...

Naruto, what?

Institute of the Middle and Far East, Far East speciality. Bascially a bunch of pople loving India, China, Japan and South Korea, wanting to learn about culture and study languages, loving wierd stuff. It's not common in my dearest country to choose this field of studies, so really dedicated and WEIRD people take it. You know, Poland is Catholic country, racist, homophobic, conservative etc. And here you got, 80 people on the first year, being YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHAAAAAW about everything. I can assure you, the topics we were discussing were sometimes super weird.

Gosh, I miss it. Not the exams, tho xD

....have fun. Don't haunt me if you accidentally invoke some demon and it kills you or when you die after learning how to decline...

Lol, keep me informed!

I'm intrigued, for sure you will nail his character and the whole story. Can't wait to read! :D Also, hope life will treat you well soon. Also, I kind of think it's the first time you used "shit", lol. Life is THIS much annoying, huh? *sends hugs*

Nah, maybe in the future, but I think it's one of the never-written ideas that will stay unwritten.

In one of the canon SG books he went to the museum, so boy, I wish him being intrigued by human culture, histiry etc would have been explored more in the show. And how he could have been a little more like himself in the comic books. Daxam was much more intriguing. Him bieng always allergic to the lead and having to take meds (how many this type of heroes we have?). I love show Mon-El but Chris would have NAILED his more comic book version. Such potential wasted. Sigh

The beauty with Mon is how he fits soooo many roles and is not defined by totally anything. Because being a Legion leader is do... general? While Kara is the REPORTER and new Kardashian and it's super hard to think about her as anything else. What is sad.

But yeaaaaah, Winn and Mon-El exploding shit in DEO would be cute. Do you know Bones? Where Hodgings and the interns (and Zack earlier) were doing experiments and it almost always kicked their asses XD

I don't think we should ever tell LW we wanted to put Mon El and Max at one job.... On the other hand....

Star Wars too, point taken xD

Have a nice erm, Monday's morning? *sad violin music*