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Let's Get Along, Just This Once.
♡ — Pairing : Kaveh x GN!Reader
♡ — Characters : Kaveh, Gender Neutral Reader, the Traveler and Paimon are both there for moral support (and the ones who asked you to tag along in their commission party.)
♡ — Summary : You and Kaveh just can't stand each other, or at least, that's what it is, until danger approaches.
♡ — Before You Read : Fluff, not exactly enemies to lovers but the hints are there. Reader has a Geo vision and is a bow user. NOT PROOFREAD.
♡ — Notes : This was a comm by my lovely senior for their OC! With their permission, I tweaked it here and there so all of us could enjoy a little silly Kaveh fanfic <3 Please let me know if there were any mistakes, I'm more than happy to edit it again 'n' again.
♡ — Links : Masterlist.
✧.
“Are you actually serious right now?”
Kaveh groans, pinching the bridge of his nose when you toss aside one of the Cor Lapis that you insisted on examining. Don’t get him wrong; he values quality more than you would, but to handle that pricey ore like it’s a child’s toy, has his pockets feeling empty (not that they’re ever full, anyway).
You, however, don't really share his opinion. In your eyes, quality really does mean everything; if this Cor Lapis is unusable for its original purposes (see: for the Traveler's commission from the Adventurer's Guild), then you would just have to separate it from the rest. Plus, it’s not like you're throwing it away in a dustbin, are you? You can always make use of this one after all of you are done with the task.
So, what is it that he’s so irritated over? They’re not giving that one to the Traveler, surely...
“What?” You raise an eyebrow, your temper being just as short as his. He scoffs at your confusion, finding it ridiculous as he kneels to grab the abandoned Cor Lapis.
Muttering under his breath – “You clearly don’t know how to be careful with gems like these.” – he inspects it closely, crossing his fingers in hopes that it hasn’t been scratched or damaged or whatsoever - the Traveler would kill him, he’s sure! People would’ve paid a hefty amount as far as he’s been told.. and he doesn’t want to witness their rage if they found out that you apparently didn’t care about the costs of these invaluable ores. Thankfully, the ore survives with no scratches after such a horrible, blunt hurl.
You clear your throat out of nowhere, pushing yourself upwards so that you're released from crouching on the ground. “Actually, these are called crystals,” you state, matter-of-factly, your nose pointing towards the sky above you two. “Crystals and gems are different, if you couldn’t tell. I guess even the Akademiya’s most astounding student still fail at discerning something as small as this.” With your arms crossed, you don a smug look on your face, as if winning this petty argument is your only goal today.. aside from earning mora, of course.
But Kaveh only mocks you with a tsk, looking away when his head unhelpfully thinks fondly of your pride-filled face. “Crystals? I thought a junior so high-headed like yourself would know this, but-“ he stands up, with the Cor Lapis in his hand, “- a gem is made out of precious minerals. Y’know, like diamonds. Even if it wasn’t a gem, I was figuratively saying that you really don’t know how to manage valuable stuff like this!-“
“Oi! What are you two doing, squabbling behind our backs?!” A whiny voice interrupts, and the body that belongs to it flies in between them. Paimon – bless her for intervening in their pointless debate – frowns, a noticeable pout on her small face, and gestures to the Traveler, whose expression displays their lack of amusement. Suddenly, you feel a bit sheepish; yeah, that’s right, you came here to help them with the commission, not to argue with some guy who claims that his seniority makes him a lot more knowledgeable than you are!
You clear your throat, “well,” you said, gritting your teeth, “we were both just discussing how very important it is to give our client the best ores of its kind, right?” And Kaveh would be a total idiot if he ignores the cues you're giving; unfortunately, his short temper only adds to the fact that he’s not a very good liar, so his honesty bleeds through immediately without much thought given.
“No! What, you’re not going to tell the Traveler that you basically decided that the Cor Lapis we gathered here isn’t good enough and threw them away?”
“That was not what I–!”
“Oh, sure, deny it all you want! At this point, I can even defend Alhaitham because at least he knows the difference between gems and crystals – and he’s from Haravatat!”
“Ugh, why you little–!”
A shrill shriek cuts their bicker short, and Paimon screams unintelligible words, except for her first sentence: “Look out!!” She points wildly towards something behind the two of you, prompting you to turn around-
-and the sight of a charging Ruin Hunter is not one you expect to see at Huaguang Stone Forest.
You had no time to react, not when the drill aims towards you specifically. Your eyes widen, your breath hitches, and you couldn’t do anything but stare as it finishes its charge.
Until Kaveh pulled you away in a split second, knocking the two of you both off balance and onto the ground. His arms wrapped around you – you stay unaware of its almost protective nature – as the automaton drives its drill into the air, where you last stood. Your breathing comes in quick gasps, and you know you're supposed to be used to this; the fighting and the unpredictability of the monsters you fight, but for the first time in a while, your heart threatens to leap out of your chest.
Kaveh groans, pushing you both up to a sitting position. His eyes skim through your figure, “are you alright?”
Effectively, the concern in his voice – “Is that real?” you wonder – pulls you out of your daze, and as you stand up, away from him, your bow is immediately summoned to your side. How careless, you tsk, overlooked the possibility of automatons being around this area of Liyue.
And as much as you don't like his guts, you wouldn’t even think about putting his life on the line, especially when this is something you could've easily predicted.
Kaveh ignores the fact that you paid no mind to his question. It would be good if it stayed that way, he didn’t want to deal with you interrogating him about that slip-up of genuine worry in his tone. Instead, he focuses back on the situation at hand, when the Ruin Hunter begins its Artillery Mode. It’s dangerous, and his mind tells him that they should all just run, that they should not waste energy fighting that today, but that’s because he’s a claymore user and the Traveler is a sword fighter; both of which are melee, helpless when that machine rises to the air.
But you use a ranged weapon. With one Geo-infused, precise shot, you bring the Ruin Hunter to a crash, temporarily disabling the flying giant. A huge smirk replaces your earlier fright, and you turn towards the other two with a newfound urge to settle her revenge.
He thinks that you're amazing, the way that you quickly recover from that surprise attack.
“So, you two gonna keep gawking or are you gonna permanently put this thing to sleep?” You taunt, and yell something incoherent from a distance, activating your vision’s potential. A tornado visibly forms for a second, and it grows larger, trapping the Ruin Hunter in an artificial sandstorm. Ah, yes, of course a Geo vision could create that! He's not about to question where the winds are coming from.
The Traveler nods from the corner of Kaveh’s eye, quickly running towards it before it gets a chance to wake up. To their willingness to fight, he sighs, and although he’s not the strongest in this group, it would be highly risky and rude if he leaves them to themselves. Kaveh calls for Mehrak, and his claymore, and thinks of himself as insane; logically speaking, he’s trained to be aware of safety risks as an architect and should’ve convinced these two to escape while they can.
“Yeah- I’m coming! Archons, this is crazy…”
Yet, if it’s you, he thinks that even Alhaitham’s rationality is thrown out of the window, and that guy has zero common sense. No, literally, take it from him, a guy who has to deal with his tasteless sense of decoration and furniture.
Besides, now that he’s caught up with them, he’s suddenly feeling a little more furious for the heart attack it gave him, and the stupid mistake he made when saving her. A mistake that he hopes you wouldn’t make fun of him for, and prays to the Dendro Archon that you'd forget it ever happened.… Honestly, it wasn’t so bad that time, when they were so close to each other. If only you could afford to be a little bit nicer, he thought, and know the difference between crystals and gems.
✧ Reblogs are much appreciated! Follow for more silly content, or feel free to brainrot about this kind of concept in my asks <33
© abyssalsprince . Do not repost, rework, or translate any of my works.
#genshin x reader#kaveh x reader#kaveh x you#kaveh imagines#kaveh genshin#genshin kaveh#kaveh fluff#kaveh x y/n#ae's works#genshin fanfics#kaveh genshin impact#genshin impact kaveh
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Hello hello ~~
Through wen-kexing-apologist's recent post about The Birdcage (which seems to come from your syllabus for baby gays) I got to the original series of reblogs which resulted in said syllabus. I read most of it (not everything because Real Life has my time hostage), and as someone who has seen her fare share of queer media I have now a pretty long to watch list.
As you wrote about how you enjoyed the romance of queer media I have a question.
Recently I have come across a Netflix movie trailer called Love at First Sight. With such a basic trope as a name I checked it out hoping the title to be misleading and to see something surprising in the plot. The disappointment I felt when by the end of it I realized it was exactly what the title sold: the most basic boy meets girl and they have to look for each other throughout the whole movie.
One of the things I really appeciate about queer media (and mainly BL probably) is the possibility to explore different kinds of romances and emotions. Both positive and negative. From Not Me to Heartsopper to Double Mints. I feel that being "out of the norm" they explore such emotions and situations in a more interesting and relatable way (and add to that that I, as a woman, cannot stand women characters making a 360º personality change once they fall in love)
So here's my question: what unusal or out of the ordinary romances would you like to see more of in BLs/queer shows/etc?
I personally would like romances with disabled characters to be more explored (I'm really looking forward to Last Twilight) or polyamory. Also more GL.
I admit this might be a very biased ask, it comes 100% from my subjective view, and I have yet to watch most of the movies in your syllabus for Baby Gays.
Anyway, I hope you have a great day and that this long ask won't bother you ❤
Well look at this ask! Let me get into this!
The Syllabus is on a Google Doc
First, I sincerely appreciate you watching me and @shortpplfedup go back and forth about stuff. For yours and others' convenience, I did put the Queer Cinema Syllabus in a Google Doc for @wen-kexing-apologist
Some Recommendations
If you're looking for a film with a disabled protagonist and also a bit about women, I would recommend checking out Margarita With a Straw (2014), Sleep With Me (2022) (I watched on Gaga), or if you're willing to tolerate hets Isa Pa With Feelings (2019) (currently on Netflix) or Silent (2022) (Viki)
If you're interested in more polyamory, I genuinely think that Quaranthings Season 2 (2021) does some really fascinating stuff worth checking out. We had complicated feelings about Me, My Husband, and My Husband's Boyfriend (2023), but I liked it.
What do I want though?
I think this is a harder question for me to answer than I was expecting. I see myself as a guest when I'm watching a lot of content from Southeast Asia. I will voice my opinion on what I like and don't like, what I'm taking from these shows, and how they're affecting me. However, I don't really consider myself the target audience. I watch the shows as legally as possible and help generate engagement, but the "interfans" they care about are the English-speaking Asians in their region, not really me I feel like.
So when I think about what I want, I don't feel a yearning for any of the BL-producing Asian countries' film industries to make it for me.
I want to see the shit I like in the West get made. I want to see Black queer people presented complexly (Here is my regular plug for For The Boys). I'm a fat black gay nerd. The last time I saw a fat black gay nerd that I liked in an American production was Fire Island (2022).
I'm a 33-year Star Trek fan who still thinks we need more GAYS IN SPACE. I'd like to see more productions like Sort Of (2021- ) where complex queer friend and social groups navigate just existing in the world and finding love and meaning. I'd like to see less of reboots of classic shows like Queer as Folk be about a horrifying mass death event in the city I live in and the spaces I frequent (I refuse to link to it).
I want to see TJ Klune's, Ginn Hale's, or Lynn Flewelling's works adapted to series. I would like to see more wide release queer shit in the West not be overwhelmingly about fit, attractive, young white guys.
I want distribution for queer stories to not always have to go through four years of distribution hell because of the film festival circuit.
I want the West to try to make BL! I don't care if it feels cheap on the front end. I just wish more of us would be willing to throw support behind web shows. We did it for Awkward Black Girl! We can do it again!
This is turning into rambling, so I'll say that I don't necessarily have strong feelings about what I absolutely need to see. I like connecting with the specific humanity of stories, especially if they're about queer people. I didn't know I needed Moonlight (2016) until I saw it. I didn't know I needed Make the Yuletide Gay (2009) or Black Sails (2014-2017) until I watched them.
I just want more people with ideas to get a chance to turn them into something cool for us.
What about the rest of you? Please tag me if you have things you're hoping for.
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Comprehensive Guide to your Traumatized Partner
Summary:
Reader and Rocket have agreed that their both shit at taking care of themselves and have decided to take care of one another. Follow them on the difficult journey of putting those words into action and figuring out what it really means to care for one another. And whatever intergalactic bullshit that the universe throws at them to make things harder than it needs to be.
Notes:
This is the same Reader from my previous Rocket x Reader fanfics, so if you need context I'd suggest giving those a read. To my Readers that have been following this chain of stories I hope you enjoy the ride, sidenote this is my first time writing since I've been medicated for my ADHD for the first time in my life, and I would love to hear in the comments if you notice a difference in quality levels. I was able to write this in two days rather than it taking a whole week to get half this chapter done and I'm really happy. Enjoy :D Just realized I forgot to put my fics up on Tumblr for my non Ao3 friends
Chapter 1: Jealously
Chapter Text
It had been a few days since your injury and for the most part your fellow Guardians were pretty chill over the fact that you weren’t ready to explain why you had wanted to leave. Today you finally bit the bullet and explained what had been going on in your head before that point with mixed reactions; you didn’t tell them about the hardcore fucking with Rocket or the deal the two of you had made. As per usual it was uncomfortable to try to be vulnerable in any way given your past history, you fought yourself against the urge to pinch or scratch yourself as a way of introducing pain to help you self regulate. You didn’t notice that Rocket was taking stock of your body language as if he was trying to build an internal database of some of your more subtle distress signals to look out for later.
You gave the cliff notes version of your personal history opting out of the gritter sections of your childhood, with Peter having such a close relationship to his Mother you couldn’t trust that he wouldn’t encourage you to reconnect with yours; though you didn’t use that word for her. You could tell that Mantis knew a bit more about what was going on about your general energy in the moment but seemed to understand the look you gave a moment ago. The clear look that any further interference with your emotional state would be taken as some major boundary stomping and to say you’d react poorly was a gross understatement. Drax placed a firm hand on your shoulder to give a comforting squeeze, it was usually the people that were good parents that picked up on some of your tone and language surrounding your biological ties.
Rocket stayed off to the side observing you before speaking “Ar’ight leave them alone that’s enough chit chat bout their personal stuff”
Could Rocket tell you were getting overwhelmed with the conversation or was he just sick of the conversation? Rocket wasn’t the best person at fully processing through his own trauma, maybe he thought it was better to shove the incident into the back of everyone’s minds rather than go through the uncomfortable emotions. You needed to have them understand one clear boundary before this conversation ended. You took a deep breath before letting your mask slide down a bit to deliver the most honest version of yourself for this sentence.
“I’m going to be writing in my journal again, and if any one on this ship even Groot reads through my personal thoughts and feelings without my consent there will be issues”
The calm coldness of your voice made a few of your shipmates very unused to that tone step back slightly.
“Issues?” Peter echoed the phrase back to you voice tinged with a nervousness that wasn’t there before.
You continued in the same frigid saccharine tone that you had used before “I’m a nice person till I’m not and when I’m not”
You stepped forward delighting in the fact that he instinctively stepped back trying to edge away from the energy you were putting off. He was frightened. Good. Afterall he was one of the ones that started the trend of thieving the journal from you before you had abandoned it.
“And when I’m not I tend to get spiteful” The slow foxlike smirk slowly painted itself over your lips.
“What happens when you get spiteful?” You could see the lesson was sinking into Peter's head rapidly but you needed to make sure they all had a good idea of what you actually were capable of.
“I get creative” You let the dangerous connotations of the phrase hang in the air before continuing.
“Couple that with the fact I have a particular skill at gathering personal information about the people around me due to being one of those quiet observers types I tend to get a lot of material to work with and you all know my thoughts about wasted resources”
You might not be top tier with your ability to outshine any of them physically but psychological warfare was your bread and butter. Being raised in such a toxic homelife had sharpened your senses and your ability to hurt people by exploiting their subtle vulnerabilities, you didn’t like to use the skill but no matter how much time passes between your use of it you could still wield it as masterfully as a maestro at their instrument.
“You do understand what I mean don’t you all” You slowly turned in place so that you made eye contact with each and every one of them with the same bite that you were giving Peter so they fully understood; even Rocket. You didn’t even speak that loudly but you knew that every one of them heard what you said and it was written all over their faces.
You tilted your head to the side, scrunching your face up in the same cute passive aggressive smile that you had perfected over the years “Fantastic” before letting the energy return to your usual chill state.
You decided to head back to your room to let the message fully sink in and to let the racing of your heart settle down. It wasn’t easy to let your mask down to show the uglier sides of your personality but it needed to be done. You needed something soft to cuddle and for a moment you thought about how snuggling with Rocket would be amazing. Either curling him into your body as he took the position of the little spoon, letting your energies soak into one another and drawing comfort from each other's presence. Maybe he’d try to be the big spoon letting you feel as small as you felt inside but from a point of safety for once, perhaps he’d even stroke behind your ear in the way that you loved; though that seemed impossible he didn’t even know about that spot.
Both scenarios felt unlikely after all it was clear to anyone that had eyes that Rocket’s experience in being touch starved led him to being touch adverse outside of sexual touches which wasn’t the headspace you needed to be in. You both needed to sit down to talk about what taking care of one another meant in practice, what the boundaries that needed to be respected and a bunch of other phrases that you had learned during your time in therapy but that could wait till after your nap. Reaching into a bag that you had hidden under the bed ages ago you pulled out Judy, your rainbow fox squishmellow to cuddle as you slept. You kept her out of sight to avoid her being messed with like your former journal was, and you really didn’t need to hear anyone raz on you for your comfort item. As your eyes drifted shut you made a note to journal when you woke up next to get a better idea of what to do with Rocket next.
Rocket had watched on the sidelines as you gave the gist around why you had wanted to leave earlier this week. He glared at each one of his crew mates as you spoke to ensure they kept their traps shut till you were done talking, judging by the way your hands were fidgeting Rocket figured this was hard for you. He was fucking awful at reaching out for help, being honest with his feelings and all that other mushy stuff for himself so he got how hard it was. Honestly he admired your bravery but he could also see how the conversation took its toll on you before you shifted topics.
Then the energy in the room altered as your voice had suddenly shifted to a tone he had never heard from you before which was both unnerving and sexy as flark. Somehow his Kit had managed to terrify every single one in that room for a moment and they didn’t even raise their voice. Every syllable that left your lips had this perplexing blend of syrupy sweetness and bitter cold that had managed to raise his hackles up; as well as his cock which twitched with excitement. Rocket knew that there was some type of edge to your personality that he was attracted to, and he was enjoying witnessing it. It was good for you to start acting like who you really were rather than faking it. He had been more than ready to start ribbing on Quill when your eyes turned on him as they did everyone else in the room individually and he swallowed whatever comment he was going to say.
Your eyes were practically slitted alight with a predatory glint that Rocket had only seen twice before and both had been while he was buried deep within those warm tight walls of yours. He was somewhat glad that you had left the room quickly before he ended up stripping you of your pants and pounding you rotten in front of everyone. You two were still figuring shit out and you didn’t need those morons making it any harder for the both of you. Rocket wasn’t quite sure where to start in that talking thing you both planned to do about your new situation but he did have an idea of how to keep everyone's mitts of your journal; even his.
Rifling through his tools he got to work on putting a lock on your journal that only your biometrics could open, and would record the last person who handled the book if it wasn’t you. You had explained to him earlier that keeping all your thoughts swirling in your head made you feel anxious and put you in a bad way. He was hoping this would help and show you that he was sorry for messing with your journal without having to say it out loud; he still wasn’t great with giving apologies.
Rocket got up off of his work station after he had finished the lock to go track down where you had made your way off to. Rocket wasn’t a fan of how much you holed yourself up in your room but he couldn’t say anything. Something told him that being hypocritical would do him no favors, and he was really hoping to get back into bed with you again. A delightful shiver trickled down his spine as memories of the last encounter flooded his cerebellum, his mouth watered remembering how good you tasted quivering under his tongue.
Rocket entered your room after knocking only to be greeted with the sight of you sleeping back to the door. He watched as you rolled over in your sleep clutching some fat rainbow animal thing that you were squeezing tightly to yourself, burying your face in what looked like soft material. Intellectually Rocket understood that this had to be one of those Terran comfort items that both you and Quill had tried to explain to him when you first joined the crew. What Rocket couldn’t understand was why he felt so annoyed at the mere existence of the thing. Made no flarkin sense since there was no contest between him and it as to who was better after all he was real.
Rocket heard you made out a little whimper in your sleep, most likely from a nightmare judging by the microexpressions that spread across your face signaling your distress. Rocket didn’t like what he saw, it made something in his chest clench uncomfortably that had nothing to do with his forced enhancements, the feeling only got stronger when he could smell the scent of tears. He instinctively raised his paw to wipe the few tears that had escaped, as soon as you felt the warmth he watched as you moved your head towards his touch and your face started to relax a little.
It was taking Rocket a moment to catch up to the fact that his touch soothed you in some way, and he wondered what would happen if he gave you some more access to his touch. Edging the rainbow thing out of your arms slowly so as not to disturb you, he slipped into the space that it had previously occupied settling into the crook of your neck. Rocket figured that he owed you some cuddling to make up for not doing any the first time you two had sex and sending you on that downward spiral that almost had you; Rocket couldn’t finish the sentence.
He felt as your arms adjusted around him pulling him closer as you breathed in his scent before a calm smile slowly spread across your face replacing the frown that had been there seconds ago. Rocket usually didn’t like cuddling, it made him feel claustrophobic being forced into such close proximity to others like he was in one of those prison sleep piles but something about this was nice. At first he was sure you were confusing him for that squishy thing that you were holding earlier then he felt you nuzzle the top of his head and mumbled “Rocket snuggles” in a contented murmur.
Rocket couldn’t tell you at what point he had drifted off to better sleep than he had gotten in the last while but if he had to hazard a guess it had to be shortly after that.
You had thought you had woken up from your rest but there was no way that Rocket was cuddling you in every way you wished he had before and have it not be a dream. You took a moment to adjust to your waking state before confirming that yes it was Rocket curled into your side, gently purring up a storm in his sleep as your hand had unconsciously started stroking his head at some point. You bent your head down to place a soft kiss on the top of his head, giving a little bit of extra love to where he needed it most. You could feel him start to stir as he slowly woke up. Your eyes drifted over to where Judy had been unceremoniously tossed across the room further away from you than if you had dropped her in your sleep.
You found yourself looking down at his beautiful maroon colored eyes before you made the connection that he was awake.
“Hey” You said as gently as you could, taking into consideration how close your mouth was to his ear. You watched as he gave out a long yawn before he spoke “Hey” . You noticed that he didn’t do anything to remove himself from your arms immediately which made your heart skip with joy.
“Don’t remember falling asleep embracing you but I’m not unhappy with the update, though why does it look like Judy was thrown across the room?”
“Is tat what it’s name is?” You could see Rocket narrow his eyes at your squishmellow like she had wronged him somehow, then an insane concept crossed your mind.
“Rocket, did you yeet Judy across the room to take her place?” You watched as his ears twitched in slight annoyance at the mention of her again.
“Don’t know whatcha talkin about” You could feel him blushing through his fur as he tried to deny it, you couldn’t help but pull him in for a hug without saying anything further, you didn’t want to mess up the moment.
“What brought you to my room for a visit? Usually you’re tinkering on something by now” You pressed into him further hoping to convey that you enjoyed his presence in your arms.
Rocket gestured over to your table where some new invention of his laid “Made you that, it’ll keep your journal locked up an safe from prying eyes once you equip it” he snickered “It’ll even take a recording of who dicked with it so you can shame em later for it” Of course Rocket would build in a punishment that was so on brand for him.
You smiled down at him “Well thank you, I love it” You placed a gentle kiss on the tip of his maw enjoying the smile that spread on his face. Gifts were most definitely his love language. You opened your arms to let him escape from your grip, you didn’t want to push any of his boundaries by holding onto him too tightly. You felt as he corrected your arms to wrap around him again much to your delight “I ain’t movin unless you want me to” The second part of the sentence was said surprisingly softly compared to his usual brash tone.
You looked down at him sheepishly “I just know you don’t like being touched that much for non sexy things, so I didn’t want to push for more but I love this so much” You were trying to fight your blush down but were failing spectacularly.
“I like your touch, it’s calming” He said so softly that you almost missed it “And both of us touch starved schmucks need it more than that thing does” He gestured over at Judy who was smiling from her position on the floor.
You dismissed the idea of giving him some good natured teasing and opted instead to remove his top then yours. He looked confused till you brought him back in the snuggling position you had been before, now nestled skin to fur, and you were certain he didn’t hear the contented trilling noise he had made but you were going to keep that in your mind forever.
Nothing more needed to be said at the moment, not aloud at the very least, it could all wait till later. For now nothing in the galaxy existed but you and him; and that was all that mattered.
Chapter Management
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Chapter 2: University Major
Summary:
Rocket has new tech that has an effect on his relationship with the Reader, and Reader has some feelings about this new piece of tech. Throw in a trip to one of the hottest dance clubs in the galaxy? Well you're in for a good time or are you?
Notes:
Note: References to pro-Cannabis use and call out to an OC of a friend of mine Mr.Cosmic intergalactic DJ and weed connoisseur, whose tokes are literally out of this world. I hope you enjoy looking forward to see any comments left and till next time :)
Chapter Text
Something was going to change about your current situation before the end of the night or you were going to SNAP, CRACKLE and POP! At the beginning of last week you had finally thought that Rocket was finally in a good enough place for the two of you to finally define what taking care of one another meant, neither one of you was fantastic with trying to explain what you needed from another person, so the conversation was going to be a doozy. Then on the last mission Rocket managed to get his delightfully devious paws around a new piece of technology that he had become completely obsessive over. Trying to get his attention was impossible. He was completely bewitched by his new toy and you were completely pissed that he went from being jealous of your Squishmellow cuddling you to falling asleep at his work bench instead of spending the night with you.
You were also beginning to feel that twisting ball of nerves that clenched painfully in your stomach every time Rocket brushed you off, maybe the two of you weren’t right for each other. Afterall Rocket got what he really wanted out of you during the interaction that started it all, he hadn’t approached you for any more sex; was this his way of ghosting you? You shoved your Bluetooth earphones in and started blasting a song into your cerebellum to distract from your thoughts. You ended up listening to Fixer Upper by Chandler Leighton on repeat in a delightful bout of echolalia before finally feeling good enough to join the others in one of the many hangout spots on the Milano.
You stepped into the edges of the conversation that was already in progress to get an idea of what everyone was talking about so excitedly. Apparently the Milano was headed to the hottest club in the galaxy run by the man that brought the chill to every event, Mr.Cosmic. The club was called The Blazing Place which housed one of the biggest dance floors on that side of the galaxy, including designated places on the dance floor that left space for people to add floor work to their dancing. There was also a gambling floor for people to enjoy their hands at lady luck, you could hear Rocket boasting about how many suckers he planned to target at the poker tables. You swallowed down a bitter lump of disappointment. He wasn't even going to ask if you might want to do something with him, so fuck him then.
You were smart enough to read the writing on the wall when it came to determining if someone was actually into you and whatever that moment you both had was now over. So now to get over him, maybe try to get a one night stand for the evening. It had never been your usual style but maybe it was time to try to venture out of your comfort zone. Some booze, some Terran dance music ; the club's specialty; and the decent chance that at least one being might find you attractive enough to invest some time into. You were not going to let another persons problems with commitment roped you into staying in a situation longer than was healthy to; fuck that!
You had taken a little longer to get ready than the rest of the group but you knew where they were going so you had told them to go on ahead. You pulled on your favorite black crop top with a deep v-cut in the front that clung to you like a second skin preventing your chest from going anywhere when you dance but still providing some delightfully saucy levels of cleavage. A pair of black leather like pants that gave your tiny tush the type of lift that made your legs look like they went on forever, thick heeled metal accented boots served two purposes of fulfilling your aesthetic needs and being safe to dance in without breaking your ankle.
You clipped in a few extensions into your hair to give it a bit more length to flip around on the dance floor, you did love some good hairography to go along with whatever string of moves you put together. You went sultry with your makeup extending your eyeliner into sharper points in both corners of your eyes, and it would be blasphemy to not pair the look with your favorite shade of red lipstick aptly named I am Fierce. What other shade of color could be more perfect. Pulling on your favorite spiked choker that proudly read CHAOS and slid your litany of mismatching earrings into your many piercings you headed into the club.
The club was filled with splotches of green and blue on its walls that really reminded you of fruit gushers for some reason that escaped you. It was a pleasing array of shades to look at coupled with the different levels of flashing lights towards the dance floor that beckoned to you but something ended up stopping you from immediately heading over to the dance floor, someone was calling your name. You turned to see who it was because it didn’t sound like any of your crewmates and to your astonishment it was your old roommate from university Stacy.
In the standard way of two neurodivergent friends that hadn’t seen each other in a few years the two of you circled around each other like excited dogs and asked rapid fire questions to catch up. Like what the fuck she was doing in space; tourism apparently; and what the fuck you were doing in space ; helping your crew. You two linked arms heading to the bar to get something to drink before heading to one of the floor work safe areas both agreeing to split the cost of the floorspace for the next three hours. You had donated many hours to dancing with her at clubs to help her pick up some one night stands so it was time for Stacy to return the favor and if you weren’t able to get anyone that you felt safe with you’d go bang it out with her. Just like the old days.
To your delight the both of you danced just as well as you did back when you were on the same dance team, this club wasn’t ready for this pair of dance majors that was for damn sure.
Rocket was grinning behind his glass of Delorian whiskey as he watched some other poor sucker lose money to his superior gambling skills at the table he was playing at. Quill had been right, the trip to the club was what the crew needed. Each one of them wandered their way to the part of the club that suited their entertainment needs and each one seemed to be having a good time. Rocket briefly wondered what the newest member of the crew was up to, he wasn’t expecting the wave of guilt that accompanied the thought, he hadn’t paid a lot of attention to them in the last week. Too wrapped up in that sexy piece of tech he managed to get his hands on, he didn’t even realize it had been a week since he went to see them and he was really hoping the outing he planned for the two of you with all the money he just won would make up for it.
Rocket decided to go sit down with Quill to see whatever the twat was so obsessed with watching on the multiple screens littered in different lounge set ups in the club.
“Whatcha watching Quill?” He figured just asking outright would be the best course of action.
Peter took another swallow of his own drink before turning to Rocket “ It’s footage from the dance floor, you can vote for your favorite section of the floor if you really like someone dancing or if it’s so bad you want to enjoy watching the person fuck up”
Rocket was about to ask Pete if he saw anything from the dance floor concerning their newest crew member when a voice rang through the comm system of the club.
“THIS IS MR.COSMIC SHOUTING OUT FROM THE DANCE FLOOR, WHERE TWO DANCE MAJORS ARE PUTTING ON ONE HELL OF A SHOW ! TUNE INTO SCREEN 6 TO WATCH AND ENJOY THE VIBES PARTY PEOPLE!!!”
Rocket got his answer as to where you went as he watched the screen switch to footage from the dance floor to where the object of his affection was enjoying themselves, looking sexier than he had ever seen them. The blonde dancing with them wasn’t hard on the eyes by any measure but he wasn’t comfortable with the amount of familiarity each showed when touching each other's bodies, though he couldn’t bring himself to move from his seat staring at the screen.
Tell me what you want, what you like, it's okay
I'm a little curious too
Each dancer walked towards the other slowly before meeting in the middle tentatively cupping each other's face in a shy but gently teasing manner.
Tell me if it's wrong, if it's right, I don't care
I can keep a secret, can you?
Both dragged a finger over their lips before slowly pointing at each other with a playful flirtation behind the flourishes of the hand movement.
Got my mind on your body and your body on my mind
Got a taste for the cherry, I just need to take a bite
Their respective hands dragged their way from the head tapping it gently before sliding sensually down the torso before reversing the action back up the body. Licking the lower lip as if to get the traces of cherry off the lip before nipping at the air in front of them.
Don't tell your mother
Kiss one another
Die for each other
We're cool for the summer
Each leaned in close ghosting lips over one another before clawing down the column of each other's throats, leaving angry red marks trailing down the opposite side of each throat. Suddenly both broke apart to strut to opposite sides of the rented space.
Rocket’s breath caught in his throat when the two almost kissed, and then had to push down the feelings of possessiveness when he saw the welt on the side of your neck. Who was that blonde bitch that thought she had the right to leave marks on his Kit and before he could ruminate on the thought further his jaw dropped at the energy behind the strut. The look in their eyes when they strutted clearly spelt out the message bitches bow down; they were taking what they wanted with full unabashed confidence; Rocket hoped he got to be bitches in this situation.
Take me down into your paradise
Don't be scared, 'cause I'm your body type
Just something that we wanna try
'Cause you and I, we're cool for the summer
Sliding hands down over the crotch to give clear indication to what paradise was , rolling the bodies down slowly before snapping their heads up into a well timed hair flip with the music. Rapid small movements showing the control each dancer had over their abdominal muscles, coupled with rolling hips and arm movements that flowed in time with the beat occasionally slowing down for emphasis.
The lyrics faded out to Rocket for a moment as he focused on the way Kits body responded to the mystery blonde, was she an old lover or someone looking to become a new lover? He watched as the blonde splayed themselves down on the floor, arms above her head ,legs open wide as Kit slid over their body grinding before rolling their body against the woman then guiding her back up onto her feet and into the next set of moves for their dance.
Rocket had always been impressed by the way his Kit had moved even before he tied them to the bed. He had loved watching them scale buildings and whatever was in the way really during missions, the level of trust they had in themselves to make each jump astounded him. The dark corners of Rockets mind reached out to coax him into remembering why you had taken up the hobby you had at that level, it was his Kits version of an indirect suicide attempt each time they jumped or climbed something before he forcibly put some safety tech in their gear. For once the darkness in his mind was unable to take root this evening because Rocket was too entranced by the swinging hips of his darling Kit.
We're cool for the summer
We're cool for the summer
The next strut across the dance floor had both dancers give their breasts a quick grab in an aggressive but suggestive way, licking their lips as they did so, before dropping their hips down and rocking them side to side.
Shh, don't tell your mother
Got my mind on your body and your body on my mind
Got a taste for the cherry, I just need to take a bite
(Take me down)
Rocket watched as you slid in front of the mystery blonde only to have hands heavy over your body directing where your body needed to move to make it look like you were seeking the blondes touch. Rocket couldn’t help but let out a small growl as he watched as the two nearly kissed again before losing the sound to the echoing of his own dropped jaw. Kit had gone from standing on two feet to moving into a perfectly timed body roll right against the floor, before just as quickly moving into the next series of moves.
“Goddamn they are good at floorwork”
Rocket for the first time since the dancing started remembered Quill was sitting right next to him and he did not appreciate that leering look he was giving them. Peter looked at the glare Rocket gave him before quirking his head to the side in confusion.
“What I can enjoy the view, it’s not like they’re with anyone and they are clearly looking for some fun tonight. If not with the smoking hot blonde then with someone else”
Peter turned to look at his clearly aggravated friend with more attention than he had previously been giving to ask the question that had been stuck on his mind for the last while and it would clear up whether or not he should go join you on the dancefloor. One thing was certain at the end of the night was that the newest crewmate was going to officially be the one they ended any dance battles with; you were a goddamn assassin on the dance floor.
“What’s going on with you two? Thought you both were a thing, especially seeing all the marks you left on them but in the last week especially you’ve been ignoring them and every attempt they made to get your attention in favor of playing with the new tech you got your hands on instead. You ghosting them or something because I know I’ve been guilty of it in the past but dude not cool if you are”
Rocket’s ears flattened to his head, he’d known he had failed to pay attention to his Kit in the last week but he didn’t realize how many times they had tried to initiate during that week. He thought they were just really happy he had something to play with, and didn’t even think to look closer into the situation to see if his assumption was based in fact. Flark he was an asshole.
“What the flark is ghosting?” Rocket tried to pull some of the self loathing into aggression in his voice instead, after all Pete was contemplating shooting his shot and he needed to shut that shit down asap.
Even he recognized when he spoke that his voice failed to have the level of bite he wanted from it.
“It’s when you start shutting down communication with a person somewhat abruptly, I mean it’s not entirely the same since it’s pretty obvious what your time is going to, but it is kinda similar”
Peter took another gulp of his drink “Look whatever issues you two got going on, you both need to figure that shit out, before” He started to trail off not knowing how to finish the sentence off without potentially pissing Rocket off.
“Before?” Rocket didn’t like the mixture of emotions on Peter’s face.
“Before our darling crewmate decides that the lack of clarification from your end means that you’re no longer interested in pursuing anything further with them”
Rocket watched as Peter’s eyes trailed back to the screen again before pointing at it “Afterall an outfit with dance moves like that? That’s someone putting the clear vibe out that they want to be seen as attractive and would like some attention”
Rocket looked up at the screen himself to see what the dance moves that Peter was trying to call attention to.
Gotta be compatible
Takes me to my limits
Girl, when I break you off
I promise that you won't want to get off
If you're horny, let's do it
Ride it, my pony
My saddle's waitin'
Come and jump on it
The variety of different moves that you were able to pull off while having your knees on the dancefloor both impressed and aroused him. Rocket downed his drink quickly before heading down to the dance floor, as he had some misunderstandings to clear up before he had to shove his blaster up the nostrils of some misinformed dumbass that tried to touch you. He waved Quill off as he told him good luck, he didn’t need it after all he was damn good at getting the results he wanted when he put his mind to it.
You were having a blast dancing with Stacy, spinning around each other just like old times, and judging by the amount of eyes on you during your dancing it was safe to say it wouldn’t be hard to find a partner to lick your wounds with. You headed over to the bathrooms opting to wait outside for her to finish when you felt someone grab your hand, in a grip that you were very familiar with.
“Can we talk?” You looked down to lock eyes with Rocket's dark whiskey colored eyes, you could see the jealousy he was trying to squash down and the gruffness of his voice did nothing to disguise that the question was more of a demand than request.
You snatched your hand back “I don’t know Rocket you seem to be far happier when I’m not talking to you” You glowered at him not bothering to hide the hostility in your eyes, you were sick of feeling like you were just an afterthought, it just re-enforced to you the belief that you were too much for anyone in a relationship to handle.
“I just wanna talk to yeah, Kit” He shouted over the music more aggressively than he had meant to, he wasn’t used to you being so pissed at him and he wasn’t responding well to it at all.
Rocket watched as your face glowed with rage, a vicious scowl cutting across your lips, eyes filled with a fury he wasn’t used to being directed at him and he could see your hands clench having the nails bite into the skin.
“YOU DON’T GET TO USE PET NAMES WHEN YOU’VE BEEN IGNORING ME FOR A WEEK! IF I’M NOT WORTH INVESTING ATTENTION IN JUST TELL ME AND I CAN MOVE ON YOU FUCKING COWARD!!”
Your face was flushed a deep red, your breathing coming into your lungs in quick frenzied breaths, and your entire body trembling with rage. How fucking dare he! You were going to tear him a new orifice but then suddenly you heard a voice interrupt the blossoming fight.
“Hello Friends, I get that you’re trying to sort some shit out but we don’t need you killing everyone's vibes. So here is a private room for you to hash it out in. Peace Bitches!!”
All you remember was seeing the swirl of the galaxy before finding yourself with Rocket in a very comfy pale blue room accented with an array of lush plants and plush looking furniture in shades of dark oak brown.
“Did I just see the entirety of the galaxy or did the entirety of the galaxy see me?” You plopped down on the couch taking note of how comfortable it felt as you reoriented yourself with reality.
“I have no idea” Rocket inhaled for the joint that was already lit in his mouth “When the flark did I get a joint?”
You shook your head and rolled your eyes “Mr.Cosmic, duh” You took a drag from your joint that you forgot you were smoking. Where did I? You already answered your own question.
Rocket took another draw of the joint exhaling it through his muzzle “I didn’t realize that I was ignoring you right away and I didn’t want to approach you till I had planned some grand event to make it up to you. Guess I screwed the pooch with that huh?”
Your shoulder slumps as you leaned forward “Always the engineer eh Rocket? Can’t show someone a solution till it’s finished. I would have just preferred if you went to bed with me yesterday” You took a harsh inhale of the joint “I even made a big production of dragging Judy around near you announcing like a git that it was bedtime and I was going to enjoy a nice cuddle that night and no reaction from you at all”
Rocket wanted to smack himself on the forehead, thinking back that must have been why Gamora suggested that he go to bed last night instead of falling asleep at his work bench again.
“Why didn’t you just snatch the ting out of my hands if you wanted my attention?” Rocket’s voice was low, he couldn’t understand why you didn’t just snatch the item out of his paws if you wanted attention. Others have done it before so why didn’t you?
A hollow chuckle escaped your lips “Like that wouldn’t have gotten me bitten”
“I wouldn’t have bitten you” Rocket could feel his hackles start to raise as he snapped out the phrase harsher than he meant to.
Irritation slipped into your voice with every syllable “You bit Mantis twice a month ago for doing the same thing you’re suggesting and it clearly bothers you when people do that Rocket. I’d never disrespect such a clear and obvious boundary that you were presenting!”
Rocket didn’t know what to say he wasn’t that great at the emotional talkin stuff, getting people over their rock bottom moments he could flarkin do that no damn problem but trying to do the same about current issues, that was hard for him.
“I wouldn’t have bitten you” He placed a paw on your shoulder only to have you shrug it off and turn away from him, slowly curling into yourself as the last wisps of the joint slipped out of your mouth.
“Of course you wouldn’t have” The bitterness in your voice surprised Rocket “You haven’t approached me for sex at all” You turned to look at Rocket hating that there was no way that he couldn’t see the tears threatening to escape from the edges of your eyes “If I was some curiosity you sated and decided it wasn’t good enough fucking tell me!!” You turned your head away “Don’t fucking lead me on and hope that finally someone might want to deal with my damage enough to actually put the effort in”
You were fully crying though not facing Rocket.
Rocket couldn’t believe what he was hearing! Did you not remember how he responded to you the first time you both slept together? How completely enthralled he was with every reaction he was able to pull from your incredibly responsive body? He didn’t want to scare you with his libido, with how he wanted to feel your skin on his fur, how much he wanted to sleep with you still buried deep into that delightful pussy of yours just so he could go to bed feeling as connected to a person as closely as physically possible.
“I can’t deal with another person saying that they want to put in the effort to know my damage, to want to help with it and then silently reneging on the offer without giving me the update. Leaving me to keep hoping that maybe this time I’m enough, that this time someone is going to say something and mean it. That I’m not going to be abandoned just like the stray I am once the novelty of me has worn off to then”
Your body shook with sobs.
“I just can’t” The sentence was broken up through shaky inhales of breath and tears.
Rocket was floored to hear what had just come out of your mouth, it would seem that his Kit had just as shitty an inner voice as he did. He also wanted to hunt down every asshat that had made you feel that way but right now you needed assurance and he was going to give it to you but he knew he needed to show through actions as talk was cheap to you.
Rocket leaned over your hunched form, nuzzling at your tear streaked face and started to lick away at the tears which caused you to turn your head confused. He took the opportunity offered to get his head under your chin to start purring underneath it hoping the vibrations would soothe you. You weren’t shoving him away so that had to be a good sign right? He gently pushed you down on the plush couch while pushing himself further into your torso, trying to get as much skin to fur as he could get. He removed his top before continuing with what he had started.
He hoped that this would work.
He heard the quick inhale of breath when one of his fangs nipped under your chin as he was giving it soft reassuring licks and he couldn’t help himself but he nibbled again. He continued to kiss the column of your throat, leaving small occasional nips just to keep hearing the delightful sound you made every time he did. He was elated in how you moved your body so responsively to his touch, arcing your torso towards him making it easy to start slowly dragging his paw over the tops of your breasts. He kissed the small bit of skin behind your ear that he had unintentionally ignored during your last physical tryst, and instantly regretted not capitalizing on the bundle of nerves sooner because the noises you made were downright criminal in all the best ways.
Taking both hands off of your breasts for a moment, Rocket cupped your face drawing you into a long sensual kiss. You felt as he left several small kisses on your lips as if to leave his mark on every section before sliding his tongue into your mouth.
Rocket felt so relieved when you kissed back, the feeling of your arms wrapping his torso gave him the confidence to keep going as he reached down to unclip your top. He smiled into the kiss as he felt the warmth of each exposed breast against his torso, feeling as each nipple started to harden in response to the sensation of his fur against them. He could already smell evidence of your arousal currently pooling within your underwear as you both kissed, and he didn’t think he could get harder but there you were making him surprise himself.
He broke the kiss to continue nipping at your neck with added pressure, addicted to getting to hear those sounds come out of your mouth again, and they only got better when he got his deft fingers around those pert nipples of yours. Enjoying every second of listening to you lose control over your vocal capabilities as he lightly tortured each nipple, gently scraping his claw over each. Kissing down your torso he could feel your hands stroke the top of his head as he kissed over the tops of each freed breast, enjoying the combination of scents that was currently soaking your body, the lingering smells of the dance floor, the smoke from the joint you just smoked and all the enticing smells that peaked out from your lower half.
��R…ock…et”
Was all that was able to slip out of your mouth once Rocket got his jaw around one of your tasty mounds, tongue spoiling the delicate areola with tender sensation.
Rocket grinned at the eager response as his other paw busied itself kneading the other breast so that it didn’t feel neglected, before switching breasts lavishing the right with just as much enthusiasm as he did the left.
Your head felt dizzy with sensation as your body was painfully sensitive to his touch and some small part of your brain reminded you that solving communication issues with sex is what started this all but you were unable to focus once he slid off your pants.
Rocket’s mouth watered in anticipation as he was staring at your sopping wet mewling quim, flushed with arousal, your clitoris peaking out erect begging for attention. He took a second to let his hot breath wash over the delicate flesh watching in delight as it trembled in response before getting his tongue around his new favorite snack. Rocket quickly went to work reacquainting himself with every contour of your labia, sucking on each gently relishing in each moan that you let out before securing his maw against your clit. Rocket made sure he had good suction around the delectable nub that he was about to torture, as he lazily stroked the clit in small circles before alternating to bigger ones. He loved how your thighs trembled on either side of his head as he sucked the clit directly keeping it lightly trapped between two of his fangs. He switched to a rapid flicking of his tongue vertically as he switched tempo between soft and hard sucking, you came seconds later.
Rocket didn’t stop there fully intent to flood your body with so much dopamine and serotonin that you wouldn’t be able to entertain such stupid thoughts when you two finally got to the talking aspects of the issues you were having but for now this time was for your pleasure.
Rocket’s tongue stroked each inner wall of your cunt like he was trying to make his own 3-D model of it in his head. It didn't take long for him to find the location of the small ridged section of your velvety walls that marked the sensitive bundle of nerves that was your g-spot nor did it take him long to start manipulating said bundle of nerves to the point that your knees turned to jelly. Rocket continued to thrust his tongue at a pistons speed not content with the few orgasms that he had already coaxed from your willing body already, no he wanted to make sure you were thoroughly lubricated when he finally slid in. Though the pre-cum leaking from his fully erect cock was sure to help ease himself into you.
Rocket pulled away once he felt that he was satisfied with his work and judging by the lustful glaze that clouded your pretty irises he had a right to be proud. He smirked at the whimper you made as he rubbed the head of his cock up and down the soaked labia that he had just had his tongue around before slowly sinking into his favorite type of warmth. He rolled his hips into yours slowly enjoying the gasp you made as he did, he was even more enthused to watch the hips that had tormented him on the dance floor, roll to meet his with a degree of urgency that made him feel real good about himself.
Rocket kept his pace slow, deliberate so that you could feel every point of contact from each other whenever he thrust in, all you could do was chant his name like a prayer or a curse before wrapping your legs around him to bring him closer. You needed him closer.
Rocket busied himself groping your breasts as he continued to thrust, he would have preferred to take things slower but he just couldn’t. He needed to feel this closeness with you if the communication problem was ever going to be fixed. Rocket bit into the side of your neck as he came, lightly panting from the exertion and you could hear a few quiet contented trills as Rocket enjoyed the aftermath of his orgasm.
You were expecting him to slide out, and put distance between the both of you like the last time but to your surprise Rocket made no moves to get up.
“I wanna be close with you like this all the time, but it’s not something we could pull off living and working on a ship. And I didn’t want to scare you off with how much I like touchin yah”
You looked down at Rocket sighing lightly to yourself, you were both a pair of idiots that liked to assume what the other was thinking and the meaning behind each action.
“We need to have that actual talk, Rocket, we can’t keep doing this back and forth dance of assuming what the other is up to then getting it wrong. I can’t handle the emotional whiplash”
Your eyes were begging him to agree.
Rocket looked up at you “You’re right” he paused before an idea crossed his mind “Maybe we can go on a trip just the two of us to hash this all out without our idiot crewmates making commentary?”
He was trying so hard, and it did sound like a good idea for you both “Alright Rocket, that sounds great”
The smile that he gave you in response was infectious and you couldn’t help but smile back as well.
Though neither of you meant to, the both of you fell asleep in the private room of The Blazing Place but woke up in your room on the Milano with a few pre-rolled joints on your bedside table and a note that read: Glad you two were able to work things out. Enjoy these joints to help you both keep up with the new better vibes!Come back anytime!
Mr.Cosmic
You decided to fall back asleep in Rocket's arms dreaming of quality time spent on the vacation you had yet to plan but things were looking up. @raccoonfallsharder @watchersclaws-blog
#ao3 fanfic#rocket raccoon & reader#rocket raccoon x reader#rocket raccoon fanfic#rocket raccoon#ao3 tags#domestic fluff#mental health issues and sarcasm are what i have in common with rocket raccoon
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Fashion Dreamer Update-Better than ever! #3
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Quite a bit has changed since my last post.(1/29)
If you've been playing, what do you think Of Fashion Dreamer? *Let me know in the comments!) ...Anyway, Back to my thoughts on the game!
So when I last checked in a few months back, and I mentioned that while I liked the game overall, it felt a bit lite on content. I was also worried that the limited time events or 'fairs' were the only thing keeping the game interesting. Well the game has seen some changes since then, the first of which being adjustments to goals for the fairs:
Previously, each of the tiers would require you to do the same task anywhere from 1-3 times, and with the small handful of task available, This made them feel VERY repetitive,
The newest event has greatly reduced the number of challenges needed for each reward tier, making them much less daunting of a task. I'm sure some would argue this means people can 'speed through them' and complete them too quickly. But honestly, I just see this new setup as more realistic for casual players like me, as before I almost felt forced to through together low effort (or just plain bad) outfits just to meet the goals.
If they wanted to make a compromise, maybe let people run through the task list a second or third time after completion for additional rewards, such as extra outfit recipe items. Iit's kinda silly that we only get 'One' of each of the fair items, it means, they just sit in my inventory unused, as I won't be able to figure out how to decorate my one use rare item. But regardless, I'm still glad to see the game updated with new fair, and new items! (even if 'offline mode' is still very much an afterthought)
---- And for the next big change:
We can Actually save and display our favorite outfits! I forget what this feature is called, but this 'look book' style feature, is really fun. It's not just a great way to store your outfits, but it also remembers what muse was wearing it!
It has different sections, so you can keep things organized, and you can even change the background and pose, making it a great way to show off your various outfits! --- I've been having fun jumping back in from time to time, here are a few of the outfits I've made for others recently:
And I've done a few for my own mues as well:
But yeah, I just wanted to post an update to mention that I'm still really enjoying this game, even if I don't play it a ton. Just as I mentioned last time, it REALLY needs to make offline a viable option for more than just 1-2 hours of fun, but that would be hard with how the game currently designed.
Photo mode, and the photo egg also feel a little restrictive, I really feel like opening up the camera adjustments would really help allow for more creatively. I often find the camera bumping into the ground, or locking rotations, keeping me from getting the shot I want.
And as much as I love the photoEgg it feels like the setting are more locked off than in the standard drone cam. But luckily, all this is stuff that can could be fixed with an update, and they've already shown they're willing to make improvements over time. So I'll keep checking in, and completing fairs, as I've said, this game is not style savvy, and it's not those p2w fashion games you'll find on the app store. This game's emphasis on community is something unique, and I can't wait to see how it evolves over time!
--- Thanks for reading! I had a lot of fun making this, so I hope you had fun reading it as well. As always, all comments, questions, and suggestions are welcome! You literally can't bother me, unless you go out of your way to be a jerk, so post whatever you want to say!
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I came across this tiktok and it gave me something to chew on
I fully agree with the critism of newer published (some self-, some traditional) authors being too sensitive to critique of their works—I've heard the stories, I've seen the ranting goodreads posts haha—but I was definitely left with something to consider about the "culture of niceness" commentary regarding fandom
that's arguably how I operate in fandom spaces these days, ESPECIALLY around fanworks. "say something nice or say nothing at all" was, to me, the acceptable way to interact with passion projects people were doing for free. it's interesting to hear someone push back against that mindset and actively miss days of fan critique!
like, I don't know... part of me is like "if I got someone thoughtfully wording constructive criticism, isn't that a growth opportunity?" as if I wouldn't immediately be put off and affronted by someone leaving critique in the comments of a fic of mine hahaha.
I think I don't have a particularly thick creative skin, and that's definitely a result of my fandom upbringing. hell, even when I was writing crackfic as a tween for twilight, I never got critique for it. I've gotten very few comments that could ever been construed as critque, and I think I've never gotten one that was outright hateful... which is good?
but I do see the pipeline there of "fic writers participating in a culture that only validates and never critiques" to "people who cut their writing teeth on fic who are now unused to dealing with varying opinions on their work".
I do think it's worth saying that I don't think fic should inherently be held to the same standards as published books—lord knows I've dashed off a couple thousands words and slapped them onto ao3 without so much as a second glance—but I think we also should be conscientious of not trying to have our cake and eat it too.
I'm reminded of those really annoying comments online where people are like "i'Ve ReAd FiCs BeTtEr ThAn AnY pUbLiShEd BoOks" and I just go...... okay well if it can be treated as serious literature (which... maybe it can!) then it needs to be able to withstand critique, and we do not have a current culture of critique in fandom to actually put those very good fics to the proverbial test. you know??
this isn't to say I think we should start a reading salon where everyone can loudly proclaim "I HATE THIS ONE FIC" or whatever but it's a complicated dynamic that I believe I have traditionally left unturned because I figured niceness is better than unsolicited critique. and also I don't really derive joy from offering someone unasked-for feedback and potentially ruining their night haha.
I DO get a lot of joy from working with my friends in a beta capacity and being able to really dig in and offer up a harsher look at stuff, AND I think I like receiving it (when I am in the right mindset to do so, as we all have nights where it's like "JUST READ FOR GRAMMAR, I CAN'T TAKE ANY PLOT HOLES POINTED OUT TO ME RIGHT NOW!" haha), but I like receiving it from people who I am DIRECTLY ASKING and whose opinions I already respect and value. getting critique from strangers is an entirely different skillset that has to be practiced, and you have to know when to start filtering out opinions because You Can't Please Everyone
anyways this has been a lot of words to say that I have complicated feelings about a "culture of niceness" in fandom and while I certainly know I ENJOY participating in a culture of niceness, there are downsides (see: people dogpiling anyone who in the FAINTEST WAY POSSIBLE does not precisely conform to the-never-critique-fic attitude) and it's good to at least think about alternate ways to do fandom/alternate ways in which fandom has BEEN done in the past
#also the funniest thing about this is I know the fics referenced in the video. I read them for the first time like a month ago or something#and I agree with the person who got flamed lol I really only liked one fic/segment out of the entire series#anywho! interesting things to talk about
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Hoi!
🦴 – Does your F/O have any collections? What about you? If so, what do each of you collect? Have you ever gifted one another something to add to each other's collections?
🦕 – What is your F/O's favorite dinosaur? What about yours? Is there any specific reason for both of you to like that/those dinosaur(s) specifically?
🥇 – Are either of you competitive? If so, how does that affect your routine and hobbies?
For the mains?
-@redwingedwolves
Hi hi!! Thank you so much for the ask!!
🦴 – Does your F/O have any collections? What about you? If so, what do each of you collect? Have you ever gifted one another something to add to each other's collections?
I collect a bunch of things! Mostly seashells, oddities (bones, teeth, etc) and toys! I've given each of my F/Os a seashell that reminds me of them and I still have hundreds more to give!!
Charlie collects posters and fun facts! If he's into a franchise he'll definitely have fun information to share and at least one or two posters related to it somewhere in his place! I love listening to him when he talks about his interests
Alma collects all sorts of trinkets that get left behind by people on campus! From bottle caps to coins to doodles and love notes, they keep it all stashed away in one of the unused drawers at the teacher's desk. They usually give me some coins for the vending machine and share the little drawings they find too!
Mychael collects and presses flowers! He always goes on a little walk when he feels like clearing his head so he stuffs his pockets full of all sorts of wildflowers, sticks them between slices of tape and presses them in his books! He usually gifts me flower crowns when he has the patience to craft them!
🦕 – What is your F/O's favorite dinosaur? What about yours? Is there any specific reason for both of you to like that/those dinosaur(s) specifically?
I like brachiosaurus the most! I think they look really cute and the idea of something so large being mostly peaceful is very endearing to me!
Charlie enjoys the classics, his favorite is the velociraptor! He thinks they look cool and the feathers make them look like something straight out of a fantasy movie!
Alma thinks all dinosaurs are cool, but if they had to pick one it'd most likely be the aquilops!! They say that it reminds them of a puppy, in a way, especially because of how small they were!
Mychael has read a few books about dinosaurs and so far he really likes the triceratops! He says that the horns and head shape makes them look interesting!
🥇 – Are either of you competitive? If so, how does that affect your routine and hobbies?
I'm only competitive when it comes to games, be it on the computer, cards or tabletop. Fair to say, I make game nights a bit more intense than I intend them to be...
Charlie isn't competitive but is naturally lucky and a cheater... Sometimes he'll use his powers to tip the scales in my favor just to see me happy, but if he feels sassy he'll win multiple rounds until I get too frustrated to keep playing
Alma isn't competitive and usually has bad luck with games and competitions in general, plus they're a bit clumsy so they can be all over themselves, getting nervous while being under pressure
Mychael is competitive when it comes to debates and some sports. He's used to moving around a lot so he has no issue beating pretty much anyone in a physical competition, and he always has arguments at the tip of his tongue whenever he feels like making a point, it's hard to get him speechless...
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Skylar's room design 💙
Simple, relaxed, and cozy.
Her room isn't on Rockstar Row, so she doesn't have the big window like the main four greenrooms do. It's just down an employees only hallway at the Skyline Skating Rink, first door on your left.
She spends a lot of time in here, playing her guitar while enjoying the glowing stars on her walls that she got from the Daycare. (They were unused, she wasn't stealing!)
Close ups and other details under the cut (warning- it's long)
Close ups of Skylar's room and the stuff in it 🩵
(please excuse the awful quality on the close ups 💀)
Drawings on the wall by the door! ↓ :D
Other things ↓
Thank you to everyone for the art that is now forever on her wall, it's by far my favorite part of the room 🫶 @ar1-thecat @crashfnafstuffs
The only ones I can't tag, because they're on Instagram, are @//joeygodfrey06, @//tori.themagical.gachacat, @//kurapikachu_vulpixachu, @//kareljiriwagner, @//ashleydrawssss, and @//freddyteddysfnaf, but I still want to thank them even though I don't think they're on Tumblr :) 💕
You're all amazing people and artists!!🌟💞🌟
*Hope y'all don't mind the tags, I didn't know what else to do to credit you guys😅
The other drawings and things are my own!
Now for my second favorite little detail :)
The reason Skylar has the Ursa Minor (aka the Little Dipper) constellation above her door is because in my AU when Vanessa comes along, she takes all the animatronics out of the Pizzaplex for the first time on a "just need to get outta the house" or "camping" trip... while they're out there, they see stars for the first time (because you can't see the stars anywhere near a city and I'm totally not salty about that-!). Vanessa tells them about constellations, and what they are, and Skylar becomes very fascinated with stars. When they learn what Ursa Major and Minor are about, Freddy just kind of adopts the nickname "Little Dipper" for Skylar.
Since Gregory's already sealed the deal with "Superstar", and no one else gets that nickname but him, I figured why not give her her own unique nickname that's only used for her?
And thus, a father and daughter got to bond a little more while soft glowing stars were hung in the shape of the Little Dipper.
If you just read all of that, thank you for taking the time to do so 🫶
Time: 4 hour and 37 minutes
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IN-GAME ADVERTISING BC YES
LINKS : DISCORD SERVER WEBCOMIC LINK BASICALLY : THE WEBCOMIC ok so it's about two people they go into a game to pay rent because they fucked eachothers jobs up they meet some people and then go on the quest to pay rent but there's also ALOT of villians and then it gets dark like halfway through CHARACTERS : jane : main character, sad horny one rebecca : main character, angry sad one marcie : side character, gay emotionless one richard : side character, sad sad one dakon : villian who sucks at his job dilan : villian but serious the rest : in the webcomic COOL FACTS I COULDN'T PUT IN A CATEGORY : homestuck readers enjoy i think i'm active in the actual community it's all in google docs i don't got no website there's alot of cool bonus stuff in the drive : 1. emojis from server in high quality 2. ost, including some unused tracks i make sure to try and make every character fit their purpose if anything turns out to be batshit awful PLEASE tell me so i can fix it bye bye have a good day and read my webcomic if you err want
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I am also very obsessed with your mgs script findings!! Do you have any material on Peace Walker or, more specifically Paz? Even in GZ/TPP? I just always love to have more info on my girl, but if not, that's just fine!! I'm also curious if you have anymore vquiet moments in the script?
Again sorry if this is annoying or weird fjsksk I just love your findings!! And again if you don't have it/don't want to, that's obv okay!! I will always enjoy the Ocelot postings!! 🦋💖
i don't really have much on peace walker, but i know bigmonsteras posts neat info about it! there is a japanese pw scenario book, but along with mgs4's i think it had a limited release and it's really hard to get hold of :( i did buy the novel a while back but haven't really read any of it, but if there's any extra paz stuff in there i'll be sure to post it in the future
for tpp, there's some cut paz content and unused voice lines that have almost definitely been uploaded by other people somewhere (and you might have already seen them), but i can post them here once i've compiled them together
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Hello Ryker! Congratulations on 1.2k! This is the first time anon request in anything ever. So I'm sorry if I did this incorrectly and if I added too much information 🙏 But I would like you to matchmake my oc!
Physical appearance : 168 cm (as tall as Kalim), they have tan skin, shot black messy hair, black almond eyes, tooth gap, wears oversized teal jacket over their uniform, a scar near the corner of their right eye, wears oversized grey jacket, also they have eyebags and hooked nose
Likes :
They love getting up early so they could go on a morning run in the open field for fresh air while also foraging through the woods nearby Ramshackle, making new recipes out of the ingredients they find and surprisingly it's good ( their specialty is frying up chicken of the woods mushroom ). Adding on they love gathering trinkets and any unused materials to make new pieces of art!
And they also love musicals. They are a huge musical nerd and memorized almost every line and act. Sometimes unconsciously singing and dancing around the room acting like they are one of the musical cast. But other than musicals, they are a big nerd for history and math equally and actually enjoys solving math problems for fun (of course when there is no time limit and they could actually take their time to solve it). They like teaching/helping younger kids or classmates with subjects they are still confused about!
Dislikes :
They hate seeing others being mistreated despite not knowing them personally. They won't hesitate to confront the mistreatment and doesn't care if it would potentially cause a physical fight. Hates dark cramped places ( they have claustrophobia ). Despite loving all creatures (even insects, they wouldn't even hurt a fly or even a cockroach) they despise leeches.
Hobbies :
They have a lot of hobbies, tend picking up new stuff to indulge to when they got bored with the usuals. But their main is still drawing (whether it'd be digital or painting on the canvas), singing, playing the piano (or sometimes guitar or flute too), and running.
More info :
They are a yuu. They are a model student back in their world despite not being in the top 10 ranks. Bad at forming the right words to say so they tend to show it through their actions. Honest to fault. Still looks calm and collected when faced with a crisis. They will find new ways to save or earn money. Street smart and very independent. Despite their weak physique, they can endure any harsh environment or training. Addicted to caffeine and sleep deprived please someone tell them to sleep
Love language :
Physical affection and acts of service
They don't have any preferences so just go wild >:D
Thank you so much anon! I know you meant actual leeches for the dislikes but my brain automatically read it as the tweels lmao
"Welcome in dear anon! I'm happy to deliver your match for you. I need you to hear me out, but I got a strong feeling for this one.
Ever since I started reading it just screamed Jack as a good match."
tall and smol
the two of them definitely go on runs together at real early hours of the morning
I see Jack wanting to go foraging with them and adding to the little trinket collection
Jack isn't much of a musical person himself, but he loves to watch and listen to them sing and dance
it's like something magical to him that he could just sit there and watch all day
whenever he sees them helping teach others and kids he falls more in love
Jack is great with kids and will help them any way he can
they dislike the same things when it comes to how people treat others!
he is also so careful about making sure they're never in a dark cramped space
and if they somehow end up in one, Jack will be there to help and support them any way he can
I said it already but Jack loves just watching them do their hobbies like drawing or singing
he really loves how different they guys are and how both of them go well together despite having different hobbies and everything
Jack loves their honesty and the two of them communicate very well
both of them place a higher value in actions over words and struggle to form words
light physical affection and acts of service all the way!
Jack is such an acts of service boy both giving and receiving
both of them are honestly so cute in the mental image I have and honestly couple goals
he only chooses one partner for life so I hope they go well together!
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Ty for the tag @bellcza! I hope you have a wonderful day today (or tomorrow cuz timezones are confusing as hell)
Wall of text under the cut, I have the netiquette down people!
Last song: Stikstof - GRONDLEGGERS I saw Stikstof play last summer at a music event in my country. They're a Belgian hip-hop collective rapping in Dutch with the distinct Brussels' accent/dialect (with a French "r" that is heavy in pronounciation, I don't mind it). I'm a massive hiphop fan & I want to support more local produced stuff cuz I'm fed up with mainstream
Favourite color: Yellow :)
Last movie/show: De Ideale Wereld
Next on my watchlist: Camp Waes (4 episodes behind already), the series end of Lisa Telenovelle (I have yet to complete since October) & Tuesday's episode of De Ideale Wereld
Last book: The only reading I do lately is in my Spanish course books:
¡Si, Claro! nuevo 2.1 - B1 - Threshold libro de alumno y de ejercicios
¡Si Claro! nuevo 1.2 - A2 - Waystage libro de alumno y de ejercicios Both are from distributor Intertaal
Last game: Seaside Escape, I'm at level 95 (boohoo it's a fucking mobile game, idc)
Sweet/savory/spicy: Spicy & sweet. Savory's good, but sometimes makes me feel a bit ill if the grease-quantity is on the higher end (we discovered a life of airfrying foods, no need for excess grease!!)
Relationship status: Enjoying single life. It's great!
Last thing i searched online: Tvtropes.org & the full names of the Intertaal-books I mentioned cuz I was too lazy to go retrieve the books haha
Current obsession: Walking (avg +40 min/walk), fitness & soon hopefully mountainbiking. Learning Spanish (Intertaal has helped me to improve almost 1.5 CEFR levels in 1 year. 6 years of Duolingo could NEVER) & Seaside Escape
Greatest flaw: I put off buying new necessities until my other stuff is unusable. I'm gonna have to buy couple of pairs of shoes this year alone (& for other reasons I won't disclose online)
Fic i'm currently reading: I prefer not to say so I'll do an alternative question
Favourite character(s) of all time: Manuela "Manny" Santos from Degrassi: The Next Generation & Jonas Albrechts-Vincke from Lisa Telenovelle
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Social Media Musings
I'm an Elder Millennial. I was already out of high school when social media started becoming A Thing.
I've been on Facebook since '05 when it was just for college students and you had to have a .edu E-mail address to even sign up. In my opinion, it going public and allowing anyone with a pulse to have an account is a blessing and a curse. I stay there, despite it being more and more of a clusterfuck as time goes on (it's practically unusable without the FB Purity extension running), due to the military yeeting me all over the place. I can keep in touch with family and shipmates (the "extended family") more easily and efficiently. I hate that it's now a giant data farm used to shove ads in my face for things that may or may not be legitimate products. I did discover Duke Cannon that way so I can't be entirely upset, I guess.
I been on here since 2012, and it's becoming more of a trainwreck these days, as I'm sure you've noticed. I've not had a terrible time overall, I like the premise of the platform, even if I do not understand a lot of what goes on here content wise (the ever present desire for porn, specifically).
I have a Twitter I barely post on, because I'm boring and never have anything to say. I use this mostly because Kat Timpf is on there and to keep up with what's going on with Effin' Birds. I've never understood the appeal of this platform; it's mostly politics and people being absolutely insane at each other. I don't understand the fuss about it, don't know why everyone's all upset about the changes to it, and I certainly don't understand how anyone can read 500 tweets per day, let a lone 1,000.
I also barely post on my Instagram, which I got at my sister's urging, because once again, I'm fairly boring. Mainly it's used to send funny birb content to Denise and Danelle (cock jokes are a must with rooster content).
My sister also wanted me to get a SnapChat, because she uses that the most to keep in touch with people, and I like it, I just never think to use it. I've found a lot of cool filters to use, one of which is a freedom bird perched on my shoulder.
I've only been on PillowFort for a few weeks and I like it. It reminds me of what the Internet used to be like, before selling ads was The Thing You Do. I've stated before I don't mind paying for a service if I enjoy it or find it useful. I will gladly donate to them regularly to keep them up and running and free of corporate influence. I love the privacy options available, and the transparency of the staff that run it. I don't have an traction there as far as followers go, but it'll happen with time, just as it has with this. I think it'd be easier to find my niche there if I made any sort of art, or was super rabid about a particular fandom, but I'm not, because I've calmed down with age and had it verbally beaten out of me while growing up. Best I can do is .gifs, mostly for my own reactions to stuff.
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( Alright, pretty sure I've basically collected everybody in the Mother RPC at this point, so looks like it's time for me to say... hello! I'm Rabbit, or better known as Psy in this community (which you can see I continue to go by... because I am too fucking lazy to redo my promo assets. But I still really do just use Psy still.), and I was in the Mother RPC previously from 2018-2021 (I think? or 2020, I don't really remember) and wound up leaving due to mental health reasons, but recently I randomly got the urge to come back, so here I am with a remade blog. I was previously twinsmily, pigmonarch/allhailkingp, and beinfriends, a blog I have since moved from in order to make this blog.
I've added a lot of muses since the previous iteration of this blog. I feel like I should warn people, even if you knew me prior to rejoining (i.e. Neg and Star. hi btw) that my muse priorities have shifted quite a bit, although Lucas/Claus/Porky are still main muses for me. I replayed Mother 3 last June and got really into the Tazmily villagers for some reason, hence why I added all of them to my muse roster. If you remember the original version of this blog, my list was like <10 muses. We're at 50 now, and I didn't even list everybody.
As to why this even happened... I was playing chapter 3 and read Paul's text during the scene where Fassad tries to get everyone to pick up Happy Boxes and he said "I don't need happiness. It's standing right next to me." and I just really admired his wifeguy-ness... I thought that was so cute, since I'd never really thought about him before. And then my brain decided I liked literally all of them so here we are.
As mentioned in my rules, I did recommend the worldbuilding page + considering reading my fic recs per each character, but overall, I feel I should plug this directly. If you're interested in seeing the Tazmily that I have built in excruciating detail, consider giving A Change of Heart a read. The fic is about Leder telling everyone the truth about their past and everyone being forced to reckon with their trauma and memories.
Up front, it's 200,000 words. But it's a fic I wrote over the course of 5 months last year and is a huge basis for how my Tazmily now functions. The main verse of this blog is directly tied to this fic. Per my timeline, the final events of ACOH concluded one year prior to the events of this blog. BUT it's okay, I do not expect you to know all this shit. I will tell you things as necessary, I just thought I could cut out the middleman a bit is all.
What do you need to know about the default universe of this blog? Here's a few simple things to make it clearer:
The events of Mother 3 concluded 4 years ago.
ALL Tazmily villagers have regained their full memories of the past. The story is generally gone, though people didn't abandon their roles/jobs.
Tazmily has been rebuilt in the old style, but the world is a mix of old and new; people still use DP, but bartering has come back in a major way in terms of doing business.
There are multiple new settlements to account for all the New Porkers.
In all, it's pretty simple, but again, highly recommend you check out my worldbuilding page for a more in-depth rundown of the world, but still shorter than a 200,000 word fic lol. I still have some stuff I wanna add, but I got a lot of it done yesterday.
Also, I have a lot of posts queued from my personal about villager lines, or edits I made, so on, so expect to see those posts in the coming days. I have chronicled a vast majority of lines you can possibly see the villagers say. I got plenty o' lines you've probably never seen. There's only a handful of lines I cannot find, and am assuming went unused. So yeah, enjoy that!! It'll be your crash course on the villagers if you, like everybody (including past me), know very little about the villagers. I look forward to it.
This blog may or may not wind up being low activity, but it remains to be seen. I start my new job today, so I'll see how the work-life balance is. Bios are still a WIP. As I said yesterday, I have 19/50 completed. I will hopefully do the secondary bio batch soon, but probably not today, and probably not tomorrow, because work. But everyone in the main tier has a bio, so check 'em out!
If you made it this far, thanks for reading! I hope I get to know all of you better in the coming days and weeks! Starter call will come after this post for everyone. See ya soon! )
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PART VII
Part I - Part II - Part III - Part IV - Part V - Part VI
A day or two later, Damen got weird.
It was a hard-to-describe type of situation that made Laurent freak a little. His mind was happy to provide him with lots of thoughts regarding just that.
For one, he probably did something wrong, though he couldn't pinpoint what it was.
They had that too vulnerable of a conversation about things that led Laurent to the ranch; they detoured that by talking more about family than specifics of Laurent's story. They got back on track and then detoured again - and it went on and off like this for about an hour or two. They overslept. Had lazy morning sex. Damen left late for work, which was less than smart now that he was given his first case. Laurent didn't complain. Laurent was late for work too, but the others could manage the horses just fine without him there.
Something during that time must've gone wrong, maybe.
Damen texted Laurent at night to tell him they couldn't hang out because there was a lot he had to study for his case before he met his new client. Laurent's only reply was 'ok'. It was a little too dry. Maybe that made Damen upset?
For other, Laurent was meaning to leave anyway so if Damen was distant, shouldn't that make things easier? Laurent shouldn’t be so distressed.
Waking up without Damen wasn't new, and still it made something twist in the pit of Laurent's stomach.
Not getting any replies for his texts did not help.
Damen seeming so distant on the other side of the line when Laurent called during lunch was upsetting. Damen hanging up abruptly was even worse.
It was an ego thing.
It probably was an ego thing.
Laurent always had a thing with ego.
Probably.
And it was a stupid thing to get worked up over. Laurent didn't have to make it serious.
On the first day, Laurent focused on his job, since that’s what he was meant to be doing, instead of thinking about his boss. Feeding the horses, changing their water, calling the Vet to come check on them. Three horses were almost late on the vaccines and one needed deworming. Paschal would come in a few days to check on them. Then Laurent and two others took them to walk around, freeing them on the pasture. Gather them back on the stalls.
After that Laurent himself was off for a long ride around the ranch and farther until he began to worry it would soon be too dark to come back safely.
On the second day something Laurent surely had not expected was to see Damen with some girl.
Some girl with long black hair braided over her shoulder. Some girl with a stunning face and huge eyes and freckles, and that strutted. She strutted. Some girl that laughed like she was singing. Some girl that Damen was laughing back to, the way he only ever laughed with a few close people. The way that he laughed when he was with Nikandros, and Kastor and Jokaste (before they cheated). The way that he laughed when he was with Laurent.
They disappeared in the main house and didn’t reemerge from there. Eventually it got too late and Laurent was too tired to wait up and see when she’d be leaving.
On the third day, Laurent came up with a speech and then mastered said speech that he would give to Damen and his family - as a whole, not separated parts - thanking them for so many years of kindness. He couldn't bear speaking to Damen privately. Not that Laurent was the crying type, but he might cry anyway. Emotions. Laurent hated them.
There were the speeches for the horses too - and those were individual. One to each. The biggest and most heart-felt to his own horse. It was the right thing to do.
Also on the third day, Damen opted for undermining all of Laurent's plans by showing up without previous notice to Laurent's room just before nine, looking serious and stiff like Laurent’s never seen him be. Damen tried for a smile, but it became obvious then and there that this conversation would be better if they didn’t try to pull niceties.
Straight to the point. Just business and such.
Laurent couldn't help but feeling small though. And helpless, and wrong, and guilty about something he didn't even know what. He has felt like this before - though the circumstances had been so different then.
Guilt was a constant in Laurent’s life when he arrived at the ranch. Guilty for escaping. Guilty for not letting Auguste know he was okay. Guilty for accepting all of those nice things that Egeria offered to do for him. Guilty.
The way Laurent felt guilty then was like how he was feeling guilty now. It was irrational and yet too goddamn real, despite him not having done anything to deserve that.
"We need to talk," was the first thing Damen said, his voice too deep to suggest anything other than that he wasn't in the mood for jokes.
Laurent gulped. "We do."
Damen frowned, as though not expecting that Laurent would say anything. Like Laurent was supposed to stay quiet and mop as Damen broke things up between them. "Go first then," Damen settled on the bed.
"Okay," Laurent walked to his desk and back, settling beside Damen, close enough that he could reach, but far enough that they would not bump.
Laurent offered the methodically folded piece of paper to Damen and waited for Damen to take his own conclusions of it. When it took longer than a minute, Laurent decided to verbalize, "I would like to offer you my resignation. I am immensely grateful for all that you and your family have done for me over the course of the years; I can't stress enough how -"
"What -" Damen interrupted "What is this? What the fuck, Laurent?" Damen held up the letter as though he had been personally offended by it.
Laurent drew a deep breath. "As I was saying - I am all too thankful for all the kindness you have shown me for so, so long. In my heart I will never forget all of this and I promise I will remain grateful to the day I die, but I feel like I overstayed my welcome. I know it might come as a shock, but right now I want to do more with my life. Something to give me an actual future. I hope you and your family won't take it as an offense, I will talk to Theomedes before I -"
"Are you shitting me?" Damen's expression grew more outraged the more Laurent spoke; he was already on his feet "That's it? You’re going to leave? You're breaking up with me with a fucking resignation letter and a formal speech?" Damen threw the letter to the ground "A goddamn speech?"
Laurent shifted, trying to appear unaffected. "I know the nature of our relationship was more intimate and I appreciate the special attention over the past few months. But, yes, I would like to leave."
Damen blinked, in chock. He had his hands on his hips which should be funny, except it wasn't. Damen lowered his tone, considering something before he said, "Is it because of the breakfast? Because if it is, Laurent, I promise I will never put you in that position again, I wasn't thinking. You don’t have to leave I’ll -"
"It's not because of the breakfast, Damianos" Laurent interrupted this time "I just want to be something more. To become someone. And I’m well aware of our situation" he gestured between them "and how things couldn't go forward."
“You can do everything you want. You don’t have to go away. Or you can go away, if you want to not be here anymore. I can help you, with college and finding a place to live wherever you want, just let me -”
“I have my own money that I saved, thank you. I don’t want your money. I don’t need it.”
“Laurent -”
“I would like,” Laurent’s tone was more incisive, firm “To de dismissed. Please.”
"Holy -" Damen turned his back, running his hands down his face.
There was silence and Laurent didn't want to think about it, or anything at all. He wanted this conversation to be over, so they could be over, and Laurent could be alone. By Damen's reaction he wasn't thrilled Laurent beat him to breaking up. Was Damen not used to being broken up to? Was this a first for him? No. Laurent knew for a fact this wasn't the case.
There had been Jokaste before him - and breaking up by cheating on him with his brother must've been a little worse than a letter of resignation. Though the letter shouldn't be too far behind. Laurent just didn't expect Damen to care so much. Maybe that was him not caring so much. Laurent would love it if his head would stop spinning and if Damen said something already.
"I, of course, fully intend to complete my notice and help you find a suitable person to fill my spot," Laurent said, in the quiet, when Damen still didn’t speak.
Damen huffed. "That's really nice of you, thank you," he said, voice carried in irony "I should’ve known. God, how am I this stupid?"
"Huh?"
Laurent wished Damen would turn around; watching his back was unsettling.
"Why am I always this stupid?" Damen said, not louder, "Nikandros told me this was going to happen and I - I didn't listen. Why did I not listen?"
"Are you talking to yourself?"
Damen just kept rubbing his hands over his face and mumbling. "You could have told me,” Damen’s voice was internalized, like he was half swallowing the words, but at last he was talking to Laurent “If you didn’t want... You could’ve told me before – you could’ve told me sooner.”
“Told you what, Damianos?” Laurent was still rock-solid on the outside.
“That you didn’t want things to get serious,” Damen took a sharp breath before finally turning and fixing his eyes on Laurent's “Didn’t want things to go forward. That you wanted us to remain casual.”
Laurent frowned. "We were casual," They were casual. Weren’t they casual?
Damen closed his eyes, pained. "I got that part, thanks," Damen leaned against the wall, resting his head on the wood panel.
More silence. "We were casual," Laurent whispered.
It did not make any sense. None of it.
"So," Laurent gulped, words outwards again "You didn't come here to end things between us?"
Damen smiled like it cost him greatly to do so. After, he shook his head. "No.”
Well, fuck.
Laurent was considerably less stable. "What were you here for then?"
Damen's jaw tensed. He looked to his boots, not Laurent. Laurent almost thought Damen wouldn't say anything until, "I met your brother."
The words floated before they could sink and once they did, Laurent found out he wouldn't be able to breath any time soon. "You what?"
"He is my client," Damen explained, "He has lawsuit against your uncle. There are evidences that your uncle interfered on the process of your custody, stole your family's money and properties. They've been fighting in court for years now and Auguste is out of resources to pay the fees and lawyers, so he signed up for the pro-bono."
Damen, much more in control of himself now, pushed away from the wall and bent to catch the letter he had thrown to the ground "I thought of breaking attorney and client privilege to let you know," his voice was cutting, bitter. Damen raised the letter again, like he's done earlier, but this time he refused to look at Laurent "I'll have the others know you're leaving. We will hire someone to replace you by the end of the week. Don’t worry about the notice, you’re free to go."
On his way out, Damen was gentle to close the door, leaving Laurent alone with his pounding heart and a full head.
__
NEXT>>
Read it on AO3!
#StableBoy!Laurent au#well well well#look who's back with yet another chapter that was very hard to write#because i *ahen* HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I'M DOING#to whoever enjoys this: thank you really#from the bottom of my heart#it's very hard to put this out there for people to read#i'm unused to people reading my stuff and enjoying it#know tho that I have no idea where i'm going next#it's going to have a happy ending tho... that much i can assure#i can't not give my stories happy endings#captive prince#writing#my writing#fic#lamen#laurent#damen#laurent of vere#damianos of akielos#THANK FOR FOR EVERYONE WHO TOOK A SECOND TO EXPRESS THEY LIKE MY WRITING OR THIS STORY#AND FOR THE FEW ANONS I GOT TALKING ABOUT THIS#AND EVERYTHING#y'all are too nice#*quiet sobs*
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Maybe some nsfw hc with angel or aki form chainsaw man? I haven’t seen you write anything for them so idk if you do write for aki and angel. Top Male reader pls.
-🧀anon
Sorry this took so long to get around to besides me just being lazy as shit it also takes me like three days to make a post after I'm done doing drafts, re-reading, finalising, etc. but whatevs enough excuses! I hope you still enjoy! 💙💙
Angel and Aki NSFW Headcannons
Contains: manhandling/borderline dub-con, belly bulging, mention of mirror sex, exhibitionism/chance of getting caught, Aki being touch starved?
° I wish I could have more nsfw headcannons for these pretty boys but I can't help but see them as vanilla as fuck, but they've still got some things that they like to do and that turn them on
° Angel likes it if his partner is bigger than him (which luckily for him is most people)
° This leads to Angel really being into being manhandled, like full on pick him up and throw him on the bed
° Angel is really into you forcing him to do things in whichever way you see fit, whether it be forcing his head up and down on your cock grabbing onto his hair while you do so, or using him as a glorified fleshlight by just holding onto his waist and forcing his body to move in any way you want on your dick
° Pretty much anything else you could think of that forces Angel to pleasure you in some way where you have all the control and there's nothing he can do about it he's probably down for it
° Angel especially loves positions where you have to pick him up and hold him in place, lifting his legs up wrapping them around your waist and fucking him like that? mmm✨delicious✨
° You can definitely expect some belly bulging with this one (maaaybe Angel wouldn't mind if you spread him out in front of a mirror so he could see the bulge you were making in his stomach too...just a thought 👀)
° Angel likes to be tied up
° I don't know why, I guess I just like the thought of Angel being tied up, whenever I think of him in shibari he's just so cute~
° Angel doesn't mind loves getting called pretty boy AND pretty girl
° I like to think that Angel, as a devil, doesn't care too much about gender or presenting as one particular gender so using either or works for him, so please don't hesitate to call him a good girl as you fuck him against the wall
° In between Angel's moans you can hear him cursing in a foreign language, probably latin
° I know I said Angel is pretty vanilla but just because of his nature as a demon I could imagine he's seen and/or is into some pretty freaky stuff that he'll want to divulge in with you in from time to time, but he doesn't want it to become a staple, Angel believes that sex should be quick and easy why complicate it with all the extra kinky stuff?
° Speaking of quick and easy I believe with my whole chest that Aki is into quickies
° Honestly just the thought of you pulling him into some unused office at work bending him over the table and taking him right there and then turns him on enough, imagine if you actually did it? He'd be over the moon
° Aki won't tell you this but he does get off on almost getting caught or being right out of sight or ear shot of someone seeing or hearing you both
° Aki's moans are pretty damn loud and noticeable he tries to hold them back but he's terrible at it, if you two did decide to do it in public somewhere it would be very ovbious what you were doing even if it was behind closed doors
° Two words (well maybe three): Househusband Aki. Need I say more
° Aki really enjoys foreplay, he likes having and knowing that all your attention is on him even if that sounds a little selfish to him
° Having your hands all over his body as you prep him, fingering him, playing with his nipples, kissing him, it doesn't matter
° Pretty much any sort of touch between the two of you is nice for Aki it's reassuring and comforting to him, he's a bit of a softie in the bedroom because of this, he doesn't like to be all rough and forced like Angel
° Aftercare with Aki is spectacular, you already know he's super sweet about it
° He gets both of you all cleaned up afterwards, taking a shower telling you how good you made him feel, rubbing, massaging, cuddling, you name it your doing it!
° Aki for sure enjoys cuddling the most though, being able to run his hands on your body
° Aki also most definitely expects you to do the same, he wants your hands on him as much as possible, running them up and down his sides, putting your fingers in his hair, etc.
° And this doesn't just apply to aftercare but during sex too, wrapping one of your arms around his waist while you thrust into him, letting Aki hold onto your biceps or even putting his arms around your neck, it doesn't matter as long as Aki gets to touch you
° Both of them aren't very good with dirty talk, Aki isn't good at hearing dirty talk and Angel isn't good at speaking dirty
° When Angel tries to dirty talk it usually comes in the form of him trying to decribe all the dirty stuff he wants you to do to him, but it normally comes out like a confused mess, he'll hesitate once with what to say next and then it goes off the rails from there
° Ironically in the spur of the moment when Angel is half out of his mind from overstimulation he might actually say something really sexy that turns you on, he doesn't even know he's doing it, it will just start to happen naturally, guess he needed your help :)
° Aki on the other hand just gets easily flustered so hearing dirty talk will make him turn bright red almoat instantly, it would be a really nice way to tease him
° Aki's way of blushing is also super adorable, it's one of those blushes that reaches all over there face and down their neck, you can even see him get red on other parts of his body like his shoulders, chest, knuckles, all in all Aki just lights up if you can find a way to fluster him (which shouldn't be too hard)
#🧀 anon#devils speaking latin is a thing right? i didn't just make hat up?#aki x reader#aki x male reader#aki hayakawa x reader#angel x reader#angel x male reader#chainsaw man x reader#chainsaw man x male reader#top male reader
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🔐 Why You (Probably) Don't Need A VPN
A rant by a software engineer sick of VPN ads from her favourite YouTubers
TL;DR:
Here are some legitimate reasons the average internet user might want to use a VPN:
To connect to their company's internal network
To bypass the Great Firewall of China (or other types of website blocks at country or organisation level)
To watch Netflix etc as if you were in another country
Here are absolutely rubbish reasons to use a VPN:
Privacy
And today, I'll tell you why.
Hang on, won't a VPN stop hackers from stealing my passwords?
I mean, it does encrypt the web traffic coming from your device.
You know what else encrypts web traffic coming from your device? Your browser.
Yes, in the year 2021, pretty much all websites on the internet are accessed over HTTPS. The "S" stands for "secure", as in "your request will be securely encrypted". If your browser is using HTTPS, nobody can capture the data you're sending over the internet. More detail in the "I like too much detail" section at the bottom of this post.
It's very easy to check if you are using HTTPS by looking at your URL bar. In most browsers, it will have a lock on it if secure:
(From top left to bottom right: Chrome on iOS, Safari on iOS, Chrome on Windows, Edge on Windows, Firefox on Windows, and Safari on Mac. Screenshots reflect the UI at the time this post was written. Oh gosh this has taken over 4 hours to write.)
But isn't moar encryption better? What if somebody breaks HTTPS?
For starters, nobody's breaking your HTTPS, and there isn't any benefit from double encrypting. This is because of the maths behind encryption/decryption!
Encryption works kinda like a lock and key, except the lock is maths and the key is a special number only known to the person allowed to unlock the information.
The important thing is, without the key, all the locked data looks like complete and utter garbage. Completely unusable. Barely distinguishable from random noise. There's absolutely no way to tell what the original data was.
The other important thing is that the key is nearly unguessable. As in, with current technology, will generally take more than the lifetime of the universe to guess by chance. And when technology gets faster, we just make the numbers bigger again until they're once again secure.
For any major website you use, they will use a strong encryption algorithm (ie lock) with big numbers so your keys will be strong enough to withstand an attack. This means your data is safe as long as that lock icon is in your URL bar.
A VPN will not make the existing garble any more garbled. The extra $10/month or whatever you're paying for does not buy you any extra protection.
If you want to know more about how encryption and HTTPS in particular work, see the "I like too much detail" section at the end of this post.
Something something viruses
How's a VPN going to stop viruses? It controls the path your internet traffic takes, not the content that gets sent down that path. I guess it could block some known virus-giving hosts? But if it's known to the VPN provider, it's probably also known to the built-in antivirus on your computer who can block it for you.
(Oh yeah, 3rd party antivirus is another thing that's not worth paying for these days. Microsoft's built-in Windows Defender is as good as the third party options, and something something Macs don't get viruses easily because of how they're architected.)
Honestly though, keep your software up to date, don't click on anything suspicious, don't open files from sources you don't trust, and you'll be right most of the time.
And keep your software up to date. Then update your software. Hey, did I mention keeping your stuff updated? Update! Now! It only takes a few minutes. Please update to the latest version of your software I'm begging you. It's the number 1 way to protect yourself from viruses and other malware. Most major software attacks could have been prevented if people just updated their damn software!
But my ISP is spying on me!
Ok, it is true that there are TWO bits of data that HTTPS can't and won't hide. Those are:
The source of a request (your IP)
What website that request is going to (the website's IP)
These are the bits of information that routers use to know where to send your data, so of course they can't be hidden as the data is moving across the internet. And people can see that information very easily if they want to.
Note: this will show which website you're going to, but not which page you're looking at, and not the content of that page. So it will show that you were on Tumblr, but will not show anyone that you're still reading SuperWhoLock content in 2021.
It's this source/destination information that VPNs hide, which is why they can be used to bypass website blocks and region locks.
By using a VPN, those sniffing traffic on your side of the VPN will just show you connecting to the VPN, not the actual website you want. That means you can read AO3 at work/school without your boss/teachers knowing (unless they look over your shoulder of course).
As for those sniffing on the websites end, including the website itself, they will see the VPN as the source of the connection, not you. So if you're in the US and using a VPN node in the UK, Netflix will see you as being in the UK and show you their British library rather than the American one.
If this is what you're using a VPN for and you think the price is fair, then by all means keep doing it! This is 100% what VPNs are good for.
HOWEVER, and this is a big "however", if it's your ISP you're trying to hide your internet traffic from, then you will want to think twice before using a VPN.
Let me put it this way. Without a VPN, your ISP knows every website you connect to and when. With a VPN, do you know who has that exact same information? The VPN provider. Sure, many claim to not keep logs, but do you really trust the people asking for you to send them all your data for a fee to not just turn around and sell your data on for a profit, or worse?
In effect, you're trading one snooper for another. One snooper is heavily regulated, in many jurisdictions must obey net neutrality, and is already getting a big fee from you regardless of where you browse. The other isn't. Again, it's all a matter of who you trust more.
For me personally, I trust my ISP more than a random VPN provider, if for no other reason than my ISP is an old enough company with enough inertia and incompetence that I don't think they could organise to sell my data even if they wanted to. And with the amount of money I'm paying them per month, they've only got everything to lose if they broke consumer trust by on-selling that data. So yeah, I trust my ISP more with my privacy than the random VPN company.
But my VPN comes with a password manager!
Password managers are great. I 100% recommend you use a password manager. If there's one thing you could do right now to improve your security (other than updating your software, speaking of, have you updated yet?), it's getting and using a password manager.
Password managers also come for free.
I'm currently using LastPass free, but am planning to switch after they did a bad capitalism and only let their free accounts access either laptop or mobile but not both now. I personally am planning to move to Bitwarden on friends' recommendation since it's not only free but open source and available across devices. I also have friends who use passbolt and enjoy it, which is also free and open source, but it's also a bit DIY to set up. Great if you like tinkering though! And there are probably many other options out there if you do a bit of googling.
So, yeah, please use a password manager, but don't pay for it unless you actually have use for the extra features.
No I really need to hide my internet activity from everybody for reasons
In this case, you're probably looking for TOR. TOR is basically untraceable. It's also a terrible user experience for the most part because of this, so I'd only recommend it if you need it, such as if you're trying to escape the Great Firewall. But please don't use it for Bad Crimes. I am not to be held liable for any crime committed using information learned from this post.
Further reading viewing
If you want to know more about why you don't need a VPN, see Tom Scott's amazing video on the subject. It's honestly a great intro for beginners.
I like too much detail
Ahhh, so you're the type of person who doesn't get turned off by long explanations I see. Well, here's a little more info on the stuff I oversimplified in the main post about encryption. Uhh, words get bigger and more jargony in this section.
So first oversimplification: the assumption that all web traffic is either HTTP or HTTPS. This isn't exactly true. There are many other application layer internet standards out there, such as ssh, ftp, websockets, and all the proprietary standards certain companies use for stuff such as streaming and video conferencing. Some of these are secure, using TLS or some other security algorithm under the hood, and some of them aren't.
But most of the web requests you care about are HTTP/HTTPS calls. As for the rest, if they come from a company of a decent size that hasn't been hacked off the face of the planet already, they're probably also secure. In other words, you don't need to worry about it.
Next, we've already said that encryption works as a lock and a key, where the lock is a maths formula and the key is a number. But how do we get that key to lock and unlock the data?
Well, to answer that, we first need to talk about the two different types of encryption: symmetric and asymmetric. Symmetric encryption such as AES uses the same key to both encrypt and decrypt data, whereas asymmetric encryption such as RSA uses a different key to encode and decode.
For the sake of my writing, we're going to call the person encrypting Alice, the person decrypting Bob, and the eavesdropper trying to break our communications Eve from now on. These are standard names in crypto FYI. Also, crypto is short for cryptography not cryptocurrencies. Get your Bitcoin and Etherium outta here!
Sorry if things start getting incoherent. I'm tired. It's after 1am now.
So first, how do we get the key from symmetric crypto? This is probably the easier place to start. Well, you need a number, any number of sufficient size, that both Alice and Bob know. There are many ways you could share this number. They could decide it when they meet in person. They could send it to each other using carrier pigeons. Or they could radio it via morse code. But those aren't convenient, and somebody could intercept the number and use it to read all their messages.
So what we use instead is a super clever algorithm called Diffie-Hellman, which uses maths and, in particular, the fact it's really hard to factor large numbers (probably NP Hard to be specific, but there's no actual proof of that). The Wikipedia page for this is surprisingly easy to read, so I'll just direct you there to read all about it because I've been writing for too long. This algorithm allows Alice and Bob to agree on a secret number, despite Eve being able to read everything they send each other.
Now Alice and Bob have this secret number key, they can talk in private. Alice puts her message and the key into the encryption algorithm and out pops what looks like a load of garbage. She can then send this garbage to Bob without worrying about Eve being able to read it. Bob can then put the garbage and the key into the decryption algorithm to undo the scrambling and get the original message out telling him where the good donuts are. Voila, they're done!
But how does Alice know that she's sending her message to Bob and not Eve? Eve could pretend to be Bob so that Alice does the Diffie-Hellman dance with her instead and sends her the secret location of the good donuts instead.
This is where asymmetric crypto comes in! This is the one with private and public keys, and the one that uses prime numbers.
I'm not 100% across the maths on this one TBH, but it has something to do with group theory. Anyway, just like Diffie-Hellman, it relies on the fact that prime factorisation is hard, and so it does some magic with semi-primes, ie numbers with only 2 prime factors other than 1. Google it if you want to know more. I kinda zoned out of this bit in my security courses. Maths hard
But the effect of that maths is easier to explain: things that are encoded with one of the keys can only be decoded with the other key. This means that one of those keys can be well-known to the public and the other is known only to the person it belongs to.
If Alice wants to send a message to Bob and just Bob, no Eve allowed, she can first look up Bob's public key and encrypt a beginning message with that. Once Bob receives the message, he can decrypt it with his private key and read the contents. Eve can't read the contents though because, even though she has Bob's public key, she doesn't know his private key.
This public key information is what the lock in your browser is all about BTW. It's saying that the website is legit based on the public key they provide.
So why do we need symmetric crypto when we have asymmetric crypto? Seems a lot less hassle to exchange keys with asymmetric crypto.
Well, it's because asymmetric crypto is slooooow. So, in TLS, the security algorithm that puts the "S" in "HTTPS", asymmetric RSA is used to establish the initial connection and figure out what symmetric key to use, and then the rest of the session uses AES symmetric encryption using the agreed secret key.
And there you have it! Crypto in slightly-less-short-but-still-high-enough-level-that-I-hope-you-understand.
Just realised how long this section is. Well, I did call it "too much detail" for a reason.
Now, next question is what exactly is and isn't encrypted using HTTPS.
Well, as I said earlier, it's basically just the source IP:port and the destination IP:port. In fact, this information is actually communicated on the logical layer below the application layer HTTPS is on, known as the transport layer. Again, as I said before, you can't really encrypt this unless you don't want your data to reach the place you want at all.
Also, DNS is unencrypted. A DNS request is a request that turns a domain name, such as tumblr.com, into an IP address, by asking a special server called a Domain Name Server where to find the website you're looking for. A DNS request is made before an HTTP(S) request. Anyone who can read your internet traffic can therefore tell you wanted to go to Tumblr.
But importantly, this only shows the domain name, not the full URL. The rest of the URL, the part after the third slash (the first two slashes being part of http://), is stuff that's interpreted by the server itself and so isn't needed during transport. Therefore, it encrypted and completely unreadable, just like all the content on your page.
I was going to show a Wireshark scan of a web request using HTTP and HTTPS to show you the difference, but this has taken long enough to write as it is, so sorry!
I could probably write more, but it's 1:30am and I'm sleepy. I hope you found some of this interesting and think twice before purchasing a VPN subscription. Again, there are legit good uses for a VPN, but they're not the ones primarily being advertised in VPN ads. It's the fact that VPN ads rely so heavily on false advertising that really grinds my gears and made me want to do this rant. It's especially bad when it comes from somebody I'd think of as technologically competent (naming no names here, but if you've worked in tech and still promote VPNs as a way to keep data safe... no). Feel free to ask questions if you want and hopefully I'll get around to answering any that I feel I know enough to answer.
Nighty night Tumblr. Please update your software. And use a (free) password manager. And enable two factor authentication on all your accounts. But mostly just update your software.
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