#oh wow this new system looks pretty neat

[wandafiction]

How Much?! - Just Us Chapter 3

Warnings: Suggestive themes

Word Count: 1644

Series List | Chapter 2 | Chapter 4

================================

The elevator ride was calm compared to the car ride, Wanda was lent against me with one arm wrapped around mine and the other holding my bicep of the same arm. Her head was leaning against my arm just below my shoulder, now I could take in how tall I was compared to her, a relaxed smile on her face as we both looked at one another through the reflection in the mirrored walls of the elevator. 

I also don't feel like slamming her up against the wall and making her cum once again. I think she feels the same, as she seems more relaxed than when we were in the club and the car. Maybe I should offer her a drink and chat before anything else. No, I will offer her a drink, and we will do this at her pace. She has never been with a woman before...well now she has...but I want to make sure she is comfortable this whole night. So her pace.

"Penthouse suite?" Wanda's gaze moved from looking at me to the sign in the elevator letting us know we had arrived.

"Uh, yeah this is my floor. Well two floors." I shuffled on my feet a little, I always hated showing off my wealth too much. Nothing screams rich fucker like a 2 story penthouse at the top of an already expensive apartment building practically made for the richer people of New York. 

"Do you mind me asking what job you have to be able to have a two floor penthouse?" Wanda's voice wavered a bit trying to gauge what I would do. 

The elevator bell dinged, the doors opening straight into the entrance hall. And before you think 'oh surely anyone can access the penthouse then'. No. The building has an interface system where you have to have a key card, or if you're like me and sometimes forget your key card, a password as well to be able to access past a certain floor. However, even then the cards and passwords are linked to a particular floor number so you can't access anything but yours. The only way someone could possibly get into my pent house without any of that is with a guest password, and each one of those is different so you know who accessed your place and when.

Pretty neat if you ask me. My friend Tony Stark came up with the idea when building this place, making sure I specifically got the top floor and allowed me to design my penthouse myself. He is a good friend.

Anyway, back to Wanda's question.

"No, it's fine. I am a business woman, CEO of a tech company that works in the medical field and also a partner in my friend's tech business." 

"Wow, so earning the big bucks." I stifle a laugh.

"Yes, something like that. Drink?" I pull her to the kitchen area where I have a large wine fridge and then another fridge with beers and other alcoholic beverages in it.

"Red wine please." Wanda makes herself home on one of the stools at the kitchen's island. 

"Any preferences?" I turn with the best two bottles of wine I have holding them up to her. "Château Ausone 2003 or Château Lafite 2010?"

"I don't know. I've never had either before. Whatever you think is best for tonight." She looks like she wants to ask another question as I open the Ausone.

"You can ask me Wanda." I turn around with a wine glass in hand passing it off to her, as she looks slightly confused about how I knew.

"How much does a bottle of Ausone cost? Because you opened it like it wasn't that much. I mean it sounds posh and expensive. Sorry it doesn't matter." She takes a sip of her drink to stop her rambling. 

"It's okay Wanda I promise. You're allowed to ask these questions, you're just curious I get that." 

"Okay well how much does it cost?" She asks with a cheeky grin on her face. 

"That one is the St Emilion Grand Cru. So roughly $1200 a bottle." I hear Wanda choke slightly at my answer, but she quickly covers her mouth recovering from her momentary choke.

"Sorry, but that's more than my monthly rent. Wow. It definitely tastes like a $1200 bottle of liquid courage." She then takes another sip, now obviously savouring the drink.

"Well you can't blame me for that one. It was a gift, it's been sitting there a while. So why not treat you to it." I raise my glass to my mouth watching her reaction. 

"Oh so this is your saving for a rainy day wine?" She jokes.

"Exactly. I had no one to share it with till now, so I thought fuck it, otherwise it will never get drunk otherwise." She hums in response. "Any other questions for me princess?"

"Why the name princess? Also is it rude if I ask how much you earn a year? I mean I'm just curious, you know, expensive wine in a two story penthouse. You have to be bringing home the bacon right?" Wanda places her empty glass on the counter, and I move to top it up again as I think of an answer. 

"I don't really know. It was the first thing to pop into my head when trying to fluster you, which worked by the way." She blushes slightly as I continue. "I mean I don't call anyone princess, never have. It just seemed fitting. And as for how much I earn, are you sure you really want to know?" 

"Hmm, I mean I don't have a name for you. You're just y/n. Why? Is it a lot?" Wanda tilts her head in question. 

"Y/n is just fine. I don't need to go by anything else. Define a lot. What is a lot of money for you Wanda?" 

"Well I have a 2 bedroom apartment that costs me around $1000 a month. I'm not poor in that sense of the word, I always have spare money and savings and my salary is decent. But a lot would be...I don't know...let's set the benchmark at $500'000." I finished off my glass of wine, liking my lips cleaning them of wine not missing Wanda's eyes darting down to watch the movement.

"Then I earn waaaay more than alot. Like I asked before, are you really sure you want to know?" This time I tilt my head in question.

"Can I guess? And then you say higher or lower?" She shuffles on the stool excitedly at the prospect of the small guessing game.

"Of course go ahead."

"Uhmm a lot more than $500'000 so 1.2 mil?" I point my finger upwards to indicate it's higher. "2 million?" Again I point upwards. "5 million?" 

"Much higher." 

"12 million?" 

"Multiply that by five." It takes no longer than a second to do the Maths.

"60 million! A year? Holy shit!" 

"I make anywhere between 60 to 85 million. However, I put a lot of it back into the company and help start up small businesses and of course give to charity." 

"So what do you indulge in? Because every millionaire has something they spend lots of money on. So spend money on houses, cars or even islands? So what is y/ns favourite thing to spend money on?" 

"I am a car person myself, but I tend to buy rust buckets and fix them up myself. Of course I have luxury cars and that but they are more for formal events just for publicity and all that, my PR team seems to think it helps the company and so on and so forth. But in all honesty I like treating my friends most if all. What would you spend the money on if you had that sort of income?"

"I would love to say the same as you. You know, help others in need, give to smaller businesses and friends and family. However, if I jump from my salary to your salary I am spoiling myself first. Car, house, the whole nine yards." We both laugh at her honesty. "Now though I think I'm done with the small talk." Her voice is low, her pupils dilate as she speaks.

"Yeah and what have you got in mind princess?" I lean closer to her whispering in her ear, a shiver going down her spine.

"I think we should take this to the bedroom." Wanda sighs when I start nibbling at her ear.

"Oh yeah? And what do you want to do once we are there princess?" I move my hands to her thighs slowly moving them up and down.

"You tell me?"

"Well princess. I am going to make this the best night of your life. You're going to be screaming my name so loud you forget your own, your legs squeezing around my head as I bring you so much pleasure you won't be able to feel them in the morning. I'm going to find every little spot that sets you off and leave a beautiful purple bruise on them to remind you of how I made you feel." A small fuck leave her mouth, her legs closing slightly to gain some form of friction as I speak. "So princess, are you ready for me to take full control of you tonight?" 

"Fuck. Yes. Please. Just fuck me already." 

"I have your complete consent?" Just got to double check to make sure it is truly what she wants.

"Yes, now please fuck me y/n." 

"What's the safe word?"

"Red." 

"Good girl." A low groan leaves her lips as I pull her off the stool, her legs wrap around my waist as I start to carry her out of the kitchen. 

Tonight is going to be fun.

================================

[fallloverfic]

TGCF donghua Season 2, Episode 10 thoughts

This episode T-T T-T T-T T-T. Spoilers for the show and the book below. CW reference to suicide.

The dude being racist to An Le looks vaguely like a love child of Feng Xin and Nie Mingjue (the donghua version) roflmao. Animators have made little references to The Scum Villain's Self Saving System this season so I would not be surprised if someone snuck in a reference to the Mo Dao Zu Shi donghua, too lol And this is similar enough to at least one Meng Yao + Nie Mingjue scene that I can see why they'd do it here.

So the Xianle goons licking their lips is because, I imagine, whatever was in that pouch Qi Rong brought An Le infected them or maybe it was these actual soldiers or something. Makes it less mmm... Strange. Having seen recordings of an attempted assault on a principal government building with government officials inside and what bloodthirsty folks bent on literal murder of said officials get up to around that, I mean I guess it's not that..... strange......

Someone here let me know that the servant/friend is the same official from S02E01 who ran past Xie Lian to help Lang Qianqiu, which makes sense! I totally forgot he showed up then and wondered after S02E07 if he was An Le acting funny (though by the end of S02E09 he is clearly not). He does show up in the novel in that S02E01 scene, but he's not named so far as I can tell, and I don't think we see him in Yong'an flashbacks like we do here. It's neat to see the development of this side character, and how some officials reward people who support them in life (besides Xie Lian and Yin Yu).

Xie Lian seeing the guy nervously looking for Lang Qianqiu and then being like: -sigh- young love is such a trial. You should spend more time studying the blade!

Oh shit, we get a preview of Xie Lian's parents' suicide. Wow. Will we get the donghua that far please T-T

I'm just in love with Fangxin's cape. It's so beautiful trailing behind him.

I'm sorry but An Le screaming in the same way Nakahara Chuuya does whenever he's mid-Corruption in Bungo Stray Dogs made me laugh so hard roflmao Unexpected (and likely unintentional) cameo lol

Imma keep saying it, the animation in this episode is really good. The fight scene is wonderful. When they go back to Qi Rong cackling is good. The show is just pretty.

Qi Rong: "Why is everyone here so fond of crying!"

This man is tired. Can't you do a little mass murder and gloating in peace? Honestly. Hard times.

Qi Rong: "You want your parents? I haven't gone asking for mine yet!"

Aw Qi Rong, babe...

Qi Rong got anime slashed. Who could have foreseen??? /end sarcasm

Xie Lian having a sad moment about Qi Rong, thinking he died. I'm wondering what the crying scene is from, or if that's something new. Qi Rong did cry I think in one flashback (I think where he's complaining about something) but this looked sadder? And less "spoiled".

Xie Lian sadly reaching out for Lang Qianqiu T-T

Xie Lian: "Is the truth so important? . . . What's the use of him knowing that? If I killed a few less people, would that make my reasons more justified?"

I really do love this so much. Just... sometimes the truth isn't important. Sometimes the truth is more painful/results in a worse outcome. Being bluntly honest isn't always the answer. You could argue that Xie Lian sacrificing himself isn't the answer either, and it's better overall that Lang Qianqiu knows things, but I love how this story brings up this idea, that maybe ignorance was better. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, and Xie Lian did still intentionally murder two people, as part of a cover-up.

Also, "You'd rather be right than be loved," is something I think about a lot from personal experience. It's not Hua Cheng's intention, but this kind of thinking can lead down that path so easily.

Hua Cheng really feeling that "fucked around and found out" part of this whole thing. Like I don't necessarily disagree with his goal here, and Xie Lian's plan is kind of well... imperfect (to put it lightly). But I do think this is a nice moment of Hua Cheng realizing that yes, he is Xie Lian's #1 fan, he is Xie Lian's strongest believer, and Xie Lian clearly cares deeply for him in return, but this does not mean that Hua Cheng understands Xie Lian perfectly, or knows all his thoughts (does Hua Cheng know a lot about him? Yes. But Xie Lian hides a lot of what he thinks, and has done so throughout his life). When thinking about Hua Cheng, I often think of Sosuke Aizen's line in Bleach chapter 170: "Admiration is the state furthest from understanding."

Unlike other people, Hua Cheng sets himself apart by not forcing his views on Xie Lian or trying to get Xie Lian to change to suit him, and he's realizing, "Oh shit, I fucked up with that here, didn't I," because in his quest for justice, to protect Xie Lian, he did just what he hates other people doing (to an extent, it's not nearly as bad as other folks). One thing I love so much about their relationship is how much they listen to each other, and learn from each other, and how Hua Cheng tries to see Xie Lian in ways other people don't. Even here, he's seeing Xie Lian (I really love that they focused so much on Hua Cheng's expressions here, even if he's not visually doing as much as Xie Lian, it's the little clear signs of upset that mean so much). He's not interrupting Xie Lian, he's not arguing his case (though to be fair, he already mostly has). He's trying to learn and be better. They recover from this because of that. And I love that about them.

Xie Lian: "I deserve whatever punishment I get and I can't die anyway. So why not put all the blame on me?"

T-T Crying in the club, folks. This man...

Xie Lian realizing he's being mean to Hua Cheng and apologizing got me T-T He's so scared of himself and what he's capable of - and incapable of, given all his work to try and save lives and mend old anger has come to naught, and he can't fix it. He always doubts himself before others. The scars of Bai Wuxiang are all over this episode, and Xie Lian himself, figuratively and literally. All this episode I cry T-T

Xie Lian's Chinese voice actor has done such a good job. Everyone is amazing (Qi Rong's VA doing amazing), but dang, he is phenomenal this episode. You can really feel Xie Lian's desperation and sorrow.

All in all the subs were also better this episode! They still call Qi Rong the "Green Immor" for some reason, but outside maybe one slightly awkward sentence, I think it was okay! But that doesn't necessarily mean anything cause they've been good and then got worse again lol

An excellent episode. Truly phenomenal. I think one of my favorites, particularly for this ending bit with Xie Lian and Hua Cheng talking to each other.

Other episode thoughts for season 2 (didn't start till episode 3):

S02E03

S02E04

S02E05

S02E06

S02E07

S02E08

S02E09

S02E10 (you are here)

S02E11

S02E12

[ploobis]

I never make posts on here but I'm absolutely flabbergasted and gobsmacked by overwatch rn. I bought overwatch in 2016 for $60, and then $40 when overwatch 2 came out so I could play junkerqueen in the beta (not worth btw). I bought it for $40 knowing PVE wouldn't be out at launch but honestly I was fine with that, I just expected it by like next spring which is what they were saying on the roadmaps. Overwatch is old. Like old old at this point. Overwatch narrowly could have been made for the Xbox 360. A multibillion dollar company with 6 going on 7 years of experience with this game should know how many people you need on a dev team to ship the content they promised. But they've been BARELY able to keep up with the base multiplayer. Back in December roadhog was oppressively strong and they promised a hog rework soon™. Rework implies some pretty strong stuff right, like torb rework and symmetra rework were pretty huge. Instead what we got was a bandaid and a sorry excuse, which even then, the "rework" we got was delayed and delayed. This was a plague for months before the dev team did anything to remedy this. This is just one example of MANY broken and out of touch actions by the devs. A large chunk of the content they've promised has been delayed, buggy, a let down, and more. But for the last couple months I've been justifying it by thinking "oh it's fine though bc I'd imagine a lot of the team is working full time on the PVE. The PVE that's been showcased honestly looked great. Like I'd happily pay $40 to play that game. They had cool skill trees, mastery, neat concepts and progression very unique to ow2. Instead the devs released a game mode of an old 2CP map revamped to look like starwars (with really dope skins and cool art I'll give them that) and cancelled PVE as we know it. It's just so frustrating playing this game with absolutely no hope for content. Lifeweaver is a complete joke, the new shop took one of my favorite systems for earning items and cool bonuses and turned into one of the most prohibitively expensive jokes of a store I've ever seen.

[silverstoryteller]

Here we go, part one of my Dark Rise readthrough! Beware, as this series will include spoilers for both Dark Rise and Dark Heir. I have read the Captive Prince trilogy, so I was already pretty sure I'd love it once I did read it, but I put it off for a while until I was ready to get into a new fandom. (And also until the second book came out.) I did manage to avoid almost all spoilers going in; I knew from reviews that there was a twist at the end, and knowing Pacat, it was going to be a good one. Ditto, the romance: I knew there was a dark-haired protagonist with a bitchy blond love interest and that their names were Will and James but, crucially, not which was which. I also had the cover of the sequel to go off of, which did influence my theories just a bit.

So, knowing the above plus the summary of the first book, I made a pre-book prediction: The twist was going to be that the supposed Chosen One was going to turn out to be the big bad, or related to him, and that it would turn out he was aware of this the entire time. And yeah, I was pretty much spot on, wasn't I? It's a testament to Pacat's skill as a writer that by the time I got to the twist, it still surprised me that I turned out to be right. I had been leaning more toward Will being related to the Dark King, not being him. I wasn't sure Pacat would actually go that far, but oh boy, I loved being wrong!

This post will cover the Prologue and the first chapter.

Prologue

First of all, the map is very nice. I did notice there’s no indication of Bowhill on it, which, I realize it’s likely outside the bounds of this map, but I’d still like an indication of which direction it's in, but oh well.

Confession time, the first time I read this book, I vaguely remembered that one of the main couple was named James, but I got it in my head somehow that that was the name of the MC, not the bitchy blond LI. So I read this entire prologue under the impression that James was the protagonist, and all I thought was, ‘Wow, Pacat sure is bold, introducing a flash forward that shows her MC being a total asshole. I figured he’d turn out to be an edgy bad boy by the end, but this is a lot more than I was expecting!’

Then I got to Chapter One and Will’s introduction and, ‘Oh, nevermind, I’m just dumb.’

I did catch on during my first read that James was formerly with the Stewards, so I wasn't shocked when that was revealed later.

“He said the words like there was a system of honor in the world, like all you had to do was appeal to a person’s better nature and goodness would prevail.” I bet that's exactly what smol James tried to do when he got kicked out of the Hall, and now I'm sad.

‘“The boy’s alive.” James felt hotly resentful that it made him stop.’ I do wonder why, at this point, James seems invested in a boy he hasn’t even met yet. Is he that invested in Simon's plans at this point? I have a half-baked theory about it, but I’ll talk about that in one of the later chapters.

Chapter One

Will! <3 Despite my pre-book prediction, I got taken in by Pacat’s misdirection pretty early on, so a lot of his sneakiness in the early chapters went right over my head. Look at him, saving a stranger from a totally random accident that occurred because somebody didn't do their job right, I’m sure it's a coincidence that tying the ropes was Will’s job and that's the part that just so happened to break and lose all of Simon's cargo. What a sweet boy! (No, but seriously, he must have felt so guilty that he almost got an innocent person killed.)

Also, I found myself thinking about the details of barges during my first readthrough, and I realized that, hey, I’d never once wondered about how they stopped river barges so they didn't run into the docks in the 1800s in my life, but now I know, and that's neat! I love it when authors flex about all the research they did before writing their novel.

“Accidents were common on the docks. Just last week Will had seen a plodding draft horse shy unexpectedly as it pulled a barge along the canals, breaking its ropes and overturning its boat.” Pacat's got me so paranoid now that I'm half convinced Will caused this accident too.

Hey, are we ever going to find out what's up with the mirror, or is Will literally just hallucinating his past life onto a convenient surface?

[measuringbliss]

Spider-Man Read-Through 056: The Frightful Four!!! (SSM 41-43)

MASTERPOST

The last time, Peter became a lizard for a while. Fun stuff!

In this issue, mysterious enemies try to seem menacing and utterly fail, homophobia, as well as special guests and the best villain ever!

Are you shocked, are you impressed, are you terrified yet? *snickers*

After using his powers to give his late paper to Professor Slater, Spider-Man interrupts Meteor Man at a microwave exhibition (...). We met this antagonist previously in Team Up, which shows you exactly how important he is. Bill Foster, whomst I know from Ant-Man and the Wasp (the movie) but who apparently has a different position, is giving a lecture nearby, but gets the opportunity to lend him a hand as Giant-Man.

The art actually has a lot of trouble trying to convey how big exactly Giant Man is supposed to be. There's perspective, and then there's whatever is going on here.

Meteor Man gets away, they track him down, and Giant-Man casually drops in his internal monologue that's he's dying of radioactive poisoning. Wow. Um. Alright.

They fight, Meteor Man gets to grow bigger, but...

Oh, between twelve and thirty feet? How audacious. How incredible. Show us, dude.

Okay, this is better! Actually a nice page.

That... was an issue alright.

Issue #42 has a neat cover!

Peter is trapped in traffic and ends up swinging to his class boat ride thingy.

I love this, because half the time I barely register that Marcy Kane and Debra Whitman are different characters. Digital issues (hey, have you seen these clean screenshots? Much better!)!

My opinions on each character: Philip is alright, I need him to have more of a personality. Marcy sucks, been there, done that (although I just read a spoiler about her and what the fuck, I'm curious to see how THAT plays out). Steve is hot and adorable. No opinion on Sloan and Debra.

I'm glad to see Peter's social life though. I still feel like these characters aren't anywhere as solid as the previous cast was, but I think jumping between both magazines really doesn't help either.

I missed you, hon.

No but seriously, I'd be interested to reread SSM only focusing on it, I think it's probably a stronger experience.

Marcy Kane immediately aggros Pete, but Connors interrupts them. Meanwhile, the Frightful Four aren't far away! We've got the Sandman, the Wizard, Electro and the Trapster (who even is that? :p).

They do a bit of mischief, and I'm pretty sure that cop is homophobic. "PARTNERS?", he says (lmao).

On the boat, Peter wonders whether he has a crush on Marcy (nooo) when Debra arrives.

Some depth? Wow.

Anyway, before Peter settles on whether he wants a relationship with our desperate lady, the Human Torch cockblocks him.

Why is this so funny?

She feels guilty about Peter getting away, and...

New, rare poses!

Hell yeah. Sorry for the amount of screenshots but I really enjoy looking at these!

It wasn't the Human Torch, however, only our Frightful Four! The Wizard created a suit imitating the Torch and gives it to Electro.

Our hero doesn't get fooled for long, and a fight quickly breaks.

A hilarious moment is Spidey trying to figure out who's attacking him. The Sinister Six? No, the Frightful Four after replacing Madam Medusa with Electro? No, it's actually the Frightful Four after replacing the Brute with Electro! What a mess hahahaha

In his own words, Spidey's fighting a "foursome". *snickers again*

The fight goes badly for Spidey, until... Electro interrupts everybody because now, he wants to know who's under the mask.

They sure are a bunch of idiots.

Their plan is to impersonate Spidey and eliminate the Fantastic Four. Uh-huh, sure. And the story continues in FF #218!

This is a really cool first page.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA ALRIGHT

The Human Torch acts extremely gay with "Spider-Man" in this scene. He gets knocked out. The Thing and the security system are also quickly neutralized, but as our villains enter the building, Sue wakes up... she finds her brother, but is quickly attacked and subsequently, knocked out. And just when Mr. Fantastic gets unconscious as well, Spidey arrives!

The ensuing fight is fun, and at last, all's well.

Anyway, SSM #43!

OH THIS IS GORGEOUS. THE SHADING ON PETER'S SHIRT. I LOVE IT. His face, not so much... Anyway, Steve and Peter being bros, hell yeah!

So bandits have broken into ESU and use Debra as a hostage. They get their stuff and get away, but not without Peter throwing a gadget of his at their car.

Handsome.

His spider-tracer leads him to a twink.

And what an ugly twink. Especially compared to this highly stylish Belladonna, what the heck, I love her.

I think I've been spoiled something on Roderick Kingsley, but we'll see how it goes.

Anyways, Belladonna wants to steal Roderick's ideas, apparently. Spidey decides to intervene. The villains get away, and Roderick's annoyed that Spidey ruined his apartment with the fight. However, our hero surmises that Belladonna wanted chemicals for her special gas.

The next day, at the Daily Globe, Sandy Jones is quickly charmed by Peter and she explains that Roderick is rumored to steal his designs. Plus, he has a show that night! Peter easily gets the assignment, and goes to his lab to work on countering Bella's gas.

I love that second panel, it's a very strong one.

Debra's here, she bought what was on Peter's list. He's so happy he asks her on a date, to which she obviously agrees. I would too, girl.

Turns out what Peter was searching for was vinegar. He worries about reactivating his ulcer, which is a nice callback to a storyline from like, ASM 80 something. That's cool!

This feels like a Pretty Little Liars storyline, I love it. Seriously, I love this issue! Also, Peter very pretty.

Anyway, Spidey stops the bandits, but Belladonna gets away!

Oh, I really went from bored at very excited throughout this post, wow! Hell yeah.

[oikawaplssteponme]

locked lips

pairing: Pro Hero! Izuku Midoriya x fem! reader

ratings/warnings: NSFW 18+ MINORS DNI [please im literally begging you], swearing, legal consumption of alcohol, slight praise, fingering, use of the name ‘baby’, deku being a little bit of a cocky jerk, unprotected intercourse, make-up sex

genre: ex’s to lovers, smut, aged up characters, fluff/angst (?)

word count: ~2.2k words

synopsis: You broke up with him on impulse. That doesn’t mean you stopped loving him. Now you’re back at his place, at a party you planned, with him looking just so desirable. What else were you to do?

a/n: hi hi! alright friends, this being my first nsfw post i cannot stress enough how important it is that minors don’t interact. if i catch any minors interacting with this post, ill delete this post and block them, which i obviously don’t want to have to do. just please respect these rules :)) anyway, reblogs are greatly appreciated and enjoy xx

You scrolled through your phone, mindlessly. You tried your best not to double tap on any of the pictures on your screen. The last thing you needed was for him to know you were stalking his page.

“You should start getting ready,” said Uraraka. You looked over at her, cocking a brow.

“Uh I'm not going?” you huffed. Uraraka sat down beside you.

“Don’t be like that Y/N. You still have to go tonight, regardless of Deku.”

“The party is at Deku’s house. I’d look like a total idiot showing my face there after we broke up.”

You sat up and crossed your arms. Ochaco sighed. She grabbed your shoulders.

“Y/N, you are gonna go to the party and make Deku regret his entire life. Anyway, I’m bringing you as my plus one, so you have to come!”

You sighed. “Fine, but I’m staying with you the whole night.”

Ochaco smiled and gave you a quick hug. She got up and began scanning through her closet again.

You had been staying with Uraraka since you and Izuku had broken up. It was a blow out fight. You yelled at him for caring about work more than you. He shouted at you for not being understanding of his career. The words you meant mixed with the words you didn’t, and chaos erupted between you and him. So, you packed a bag and left. You didn’t want to, but you were done.

While you and Deku were still together, you helped him plan an event for him and his fellow Pro Heroes, as an opportunity for them all to get together. Now, you would be attending that same event. Only, not with him.

“Who would’ve thought there’d be a day where I’d have too many clothes to choose from,” laughed Ochaco. You smiled.

“You should wear that pink dress Iida bought you for your birthday. I don’t think you’ve worn it out yet.”

“You think? It’s not too much…”

“Of course not! You’ll look hot,” you teased. Ochaco smiled.

“Alright alright I’ll wear it. But then you have to wear this!” She pulled out a bag from her closet and handed it to you.

“Please don’t tell me you bought me something…”

“I had to! All your clothes are still at his place...and I wanted to make sure you felt good tonight.”

You gave Ochaco a nudge and pulled out the tissue paper. You felt the soft material in between your fingertips, pulling it out from the bag.

“Uraraka...”

“No need to thank me. You’ve been through hell and back these last few weeks, the least I could do is get you a pretty dress.”

You jumped towards your friend, engulfing her in a hug.

“Thank you.”

“Hey now, let’s get ready! The limousine will be here in just a few hours!”

~

You sat in the back of the limo with Ochaco as you were on your way to Deku’s party. You looked like a million bucks. A little part of you hoped someone would take notice.

The estate where Izuku lived was gated off. Once you were let inside, you could see the beaming lights from the top of the hill. You felt your stomach clench, nerves building inside of you. You wanted to see him, but you also didn’t want to see him doing better without you. You haven’t even been apart that long. A month maybe? Certainly not long enough for him to be over you, because you certainly weren’t over him.

“Oh wow, Deku went all out!” cheered Ochaco. You looked to see the endless decorations and glamor that surrounded you.

“Yeah, these were my ideas,” you mumbled. Ochaco placed a hand on your shoulder.

“Don’t stress about it. Let’s just have fun, okay?”

You exited the vehicle and began to make your way inside. Champagne fountains and blasting music greeting you. His house was just as extraordinary as you remembered it. Nothing less than perfect for the No. 1 Hero.

“Uravity! Y/N!”

You turned to see your friend Iida, plus others from your old days at UA.

“You two are looking stunning tonight!” smiled Kirishima.

“Why thank you, it’s all thanks to this one,” you chuckled, giving Ochaco a nudge.

“I honestly didn’t expect to see you here tonight Y/N,” said Shoto. You shrugged.

“Well, I was invited after all. So Mr. Number One Hero can deal with it,” you huffed.

“Sounds like you could use a drink.”

Kaminari handed you a glass of champagne, which you took happily. You clinked glasses with your friends before dousing the beverage down.

“It’s gonna be a long night,” you mumbled to yourself.

You found yourself on the living room couch of Izuku’s large complex. You watched as Pro Heroes danced mindlessly with far too many drinks in their systems. You chuckled. At least they’re having fun.

You hadn’t seen Izuku all night, which was strange considering this was his party. You looked over to the glass staircase, knowing more than well that his bedroom was upstairs. You knew the layout like the back of your hand, after all, you lived here for a year.

You knew all your stuff had to be upstairs. You only had time to pack a small bag the day you left. Surely he wasn’t awful enough to throw your things away. You got up from the couch and quietly made your way up the stairs, hoping no one saw you sneak away from the action of the party.

His bedroom was at the end of the hallway. The doors were closed. You placed your shaky hand on the doorknob and turned it slowly. It was unlocked.

You stepped inside. The smell of his cologne filled your senses, causing memories to flood in as well. His room was neat, as if no one had been sleeping in it. You turned to the closet. All your clothing should be on the right side.

“Sneaking around?”

You jumped, removing your hand from the closet handle. You turned around slowly.

“Just wanted to make sure you didn’t burn my shit,” you huffed. Izuku chuckled. He took a few steps towards you, opening the closet.

“Don’t paint me as a villain Y/N. All your things are safe and sound.”

Your side of the closet was just as you left it. Exactly how you left it. You looked back to Izuku.

“Perfect. Then I’ll be taking it with me when I leave-”

“I’m surprised you came at all. I figured you’d want to be as far away from here as possible.”

“I didn’t come for you, I came for Ochaco.”

“Oh right.”

Deku took a step back, placing his hands in his pockets. That devilish smile stared you down, causing your face to burn. You could see the outline of his muscles through his white button down.

“You look incredible by the way. New dress?” he smirked. You rolled your eyes.

“Well since all my clothes were here, yes.”

“Well serves you right for leaving out of nowhere.”

Your eyes widened and you clenched your fists.

“I didn’t leave out of nowhere, I left because you cared more about your job than me!”

“That’s not true-”

“To hell it is! I was tired of being second to everything so I left!”

Izuku took a deep breath and stepped closer to you. He placed his hand under your chin, having you look at him.

“I didn’t want to break up.”

Your breathing got heavier without you even realizing it. You also didn’t realize that Midoriya had you pressed against the closet door.

“I-I didn’t want to either…” you whispered. Izuku smiled.

“Then tell me baby, why did we?”

“B-Because I didn’t know what else to do…”

Izuku brushed his thumb against your cheek, then took a step back.

“Look, I’m sorry. The last thing I wanted was to make you feel under-appreciated...but-”

Izuku moved closer to you again, pinning your arms to your sides and pressing his torso against you all in a swift motion.

“-I can think of a better way to prove it to you.”

You tried to catch your breath. All you wanted was him at this exact moment. Was that a good thing? Of course not. Did you care? Of course not.

“Then prove it to me.”

Izuku wasted little time in moving you onto his California-king. He pinned you down onto the mattress and instantly kissed you. You felt the rush of butterflies swarm your stomach. You hated how much you had missed this.

Deku let go of your wrists and you began to unbutton his shirt. With little patience, he helped you from out of your dress. He dived back down, locking lips with you once more. You dragged your nails down his back, listening as soft groans escaped his lips. He moved down to kiss and suck on your neck.

“Fuck~” was all you were able to get out. Izuku’s hands grazed your burning body, feeling the skin that he had been craving since the day you left. He snaked his hand to your back, unbuckling your bra easily.

“I’ve still got it…” he teased. He threw the bra to the floor and gave you little time to breathe before kissing you again. You ran your fingers through his fluffy hair, pulling him impossibly closer.

“Izuku...please…”

His puppy dog eyes stared back at you.

“What is it?”

You panted heavily, wrapping your arms around his neck.

“I need you.”

A smirk creeped onto his face. Izuku kissed your cheek.

“I promised I was gonna prove it to you, wasn’t I?”

Izuku sat up, unbuckling his belt. He slid off his pants and boxers. You caught a glimpse of him, causing your body to feel on fire. Midoriya placed his head in between your legs. He teasingly kissed your inner thighs, keeping his hands glued onto them. The anticipation was practically killing you.

“Izuku-”

“Patience baby...I’m in no rush…”

He moved up to your underwear, biting onto one of the strings and pulling it down. They were practically soaked already. Same with your bra, he tossed them to the floor.

He continued to kiss and nip at your thighs, inching impossibly closer to you. You couldn’t take it anymore.

You grabbed Izuku up and kissed him feverishly.

“So eager baby~”

“Please just fuck me,” you whispered. Izuku chuckled. He licked his lips.

“As you wish.”

Izuku spread your legs apart, dipping one of his fingers inside of you with ease. You arched your back, letting out a moan, and gripping onto his arm tightly.

“That’s it baby~”

Midoriya slipped another finger in, stretching you out even more. You clenched around him as he added more pressure.

He removed his fingers and better adjusted himself above you. He held his cock in his hand before slowly pushing it inside of you.

You didn’t remember him ever feeling this good.

Izuku began to thrust into you, slow at first before building in speed. You could feel yourself clenching around him, sweat forming on your skin. Midoriya groaned with each movement as he pushed even deeper. He kissed you as he fucked you, though you were such a mess you could barely keep up.

He knew exactly how to get you worked up.

“Oh god...I’m c-close,” you mumbled.

“Not yet…”

Midoriya moved his hand down, taking his thumb and rubbing your needy clit. You gripped onto him even harder, digging your nails into his skin as he pushed you over the edge.

“Oh fuck-fuck-”

“Fuck baby, I-I love you-I’m sorry-” he stuttered out.

“I-I love you t-too. Fuck Izuku- I’m gonna cum-”

“Cum with me baby-”

Izuku went even harder as he reached his climax, following you. You let out a pleasure filled scream as you let go. Izuku laid on top of you, catching his breath as your body shook below him.

He looked up at you, brushing his hair back.

“I love you,” he repeated, in case you didn’t believe him the first time. You smiled.

“I love you too.”

~

You had forgotten all about the party that was occurring below you. As you got redressed to head back down to meet Ochaco, you felt Izuku grab your hand.

“What is it?” you asked him. Midoriya took your other hand as he stood before you.

“I really am sorry. I don’t want you to leave again,” he explained. You sighed. You ran your fingers through his hair, kissing his cheek.

“It’s okay, I won’t.”

You walked downstairs with Izuku, his hand interlocked with yours. You watched as Ochaco’s jaw dropped at the sight of you.

“Oh so that’s where you were for the last hour and a half?” she huffed. You chuckled nervously.

“Yeah sorry…”

“Well the limo is here to take us back home, or are you staying here?” she asked. You looked up at Midoriya.

“I’m staying.”

Soon the Midoriya residence was quiet, just you and him remained. You curled up with him on the couch, his arms holding you tightly as he kissed your head.

“You wanna know why I didn’t get rid of any of your things?” he said. You laughed.

“Why didn’t you?”

“Because I knew you’d be back.”

•

reblogs are greatly appreciated <3

[sylvctica]

aid’s lil mini criticism of ToF that’s probably a lil disjointed cause I suck at explaining my thoughts sometimes ( at least from the viewpoint of someone who is a game designer and took a bachelors for it )

obvs this is all subjective, what i feel abt a mechanic or element is not the same as anothers, and this isn’t to disincentivize ppl from playing it; if u like the game, that’s the important part!!! 2 hours is not enough for me to get extremely solid in my final thoughts, but the fact that i still feel unsure how to feel, even after 2 hours is a little ... meh in itself

most games usually hook you in the first 20-30 min, but ToF feels like one long-drawn-out tutorial where even after 2h i still feel like i’m waiting to be introduced to stuff as i go along the story as i’ve been playing, and yet i’m equally being shoved too many mechanics in my face

obvs, i’ll be making comparisons to genshin bc they themselves dubbed themselves the ‘genshin killers’ ( i can’t find the immediate source, but it’s been brought up so many times + they even copied 5-star genshin reviews w/bots on their app lmao.... ) so it is an invitation for drawing comparisons

intro didn’t wow me. didn’t leave me with the same wide-eyed wonder i had when i booted up genshin cause you just get shoved into some ‘omg you’re being chased by a thing get away xD lol random look at all these things going on u don’t know about’ with no real sense of actual urgency to get away ( and a weird QTE section that felt very out of place ) ... like it’s pretty, but it’s not a ‘wow’ chief ( also fuck amnesia as a trope LMAO )

so initial impressions were subpar, combat feels fine, it feels fluid enough to fight on land, air, and to transition between weapons which i think is quite a neat mechanic in place of having different characters, although it’s not a new one, it’s pretty tried and liked. it feels a little clunky in some places ( i was laughing when i tried to dive attack and the character just kept floating forward and slowly falling ) but otherwise it’s serviceable enough 

( things are dying way too quick with an SSR weapon though ... there’s no challenge and i don’t even feel like a beginner player who is given small things to help me adjust and learn the combat unlike in genshin which did feel like at least a gradual rise in challenge and power )

they at least make you actually use all the new combat mechanics you’re introduced to ( including their jetpack and ... a crapload of other ‘extra’ accessories later on ). problem is, that it feels like the combat and navigation mechanics are ... bloated and way too condensed yet drawn out at the same time? nothing rlly stuck with me

things like weapon upgrades are streamlined since the game just does it for you ( aka oh hey we just attached the materials you need to upgrade so don’t think about it ) which then forms a disconnect between you and the mechanic ( and even where said mechanic is located in the UI ) ... sure, weapon upgrades are automated through the ores in genshin, but in the beginning you don’t have those and your choice of how you feed weapons is a lot more limited until you become more accustomed to the game. here it’s so ‘wham bam thank u mam’ that it doesn’t even feel fulfilling or do much outside of press button do thing

story-wise you aren’t even given enough chances to really become familiar with the combat system because 80% of the story so far has been ‘go here. talk to this person here. come back. go here. talk to this person here’ and maybe you beat up a single boss or two in some places. you’d have to straight up deviate from the story to start beating stuff, and truth be told, i don’t have any incentive or desire to do so, unlike in genshin where i began early on to deviate and look around because i was inspired to dig my nose around the world

... i’ll be honest, i think the story is boring and bland too. it feels very hamfisted in introducing you to characters and trying to make you care for them. no, PW i’m not gonna care that your token uwu sister girl character is dying or something, i barely have known her for 2 hours and outside of her showing me around the camp and making me go on 50 errands to get her stuff ( like a damn filter that’s 5 feet away from me ), she’s done nothing for me. her brother was hot, but he also feels flatter than a piece of paper and i’d have cared more if he actually did shoot his sister. otherwise i have no idea what our place in the world is outside of amnesiac dude who is adopted by a camp while shit happens around him w/o any real explanation

the look of the world is ... fine, it’s ... generic post-apocalypse camp ... i dunno why they opted for the look they did, browns and greens although very nice, start to blend together when your world is just made of that and just canyon mountain things. facial animations are pretty good for characters, even if the lip-sync is weird ( but genshin isn’t free of that either with non-CN dubs so it’s a pass ) but actual body/motion animations feel weird and are very ... stiff

designs are ... bland too IMO, i’m not very inspired by them and i find the mechanic a little odd to be able to ‘wear’ a look ... why give us the option to customize then if we can just dress up like a cat-girl who acts bitchy regardless if we opted for male or female avatars? the customizer is nice, but perfect world has always made pretty decent customizers. though think about it, if people are more complimenting just the customizer and nothing else of the game ... what does that say? sure, you can argue it only came out yesterday, but ... food for thought, i suppose

you can also clearly tell it was made as a mobile game first considering they still have ‘tap to enter’ written on their damn login page LMAO

i’ll probably keep playing for a few more days to really gather my thoughts, but overall the taste i’m getting is ‘generic mobile anime scifi game with mechanic bloat and no real story’. if you enjoy more mindless games that are oogly button mash flashy, it works, but this is no genshin killer

i also have gripes with the company itself, but you can read this twitter thread for that shitshow with their CN beta, and i’m already familiar with perfect world and bloating an old MMO of mine with unneeded features and gross P2W so i already went in w/some kinda bias knowing what the company is like

aside from that thanks for reading my ... rant more than anything LMAOOOO like it’s an okay looking game but as said, it’s not a genshin killer and just honestly made me appreciate the looks, story, and gameplay a little more ( even if I still have my own gripes with it, but no game is perfect )

[sergeantsporks]

Summer School

Rating: General Audiences, Gen

Part 3 of Camila is Hunter’s Mom Now

You know how there was always that one kid who was smarter than everyone else, and then they transfer to a new school, and suddenly they're not the smartest one there anymore? Yeah. Hunter finds out that nothing in the Boiling Isles prepared him for a human high-school education.

Ao3

“Hey. Thanks for meeting up with me, I know you’re busy.” Camila sat down in a chair, motioning for Hunter to sit down next to her.

An old man—the nameplate on his desk pronounced him “Principal Hal”—sighed. “Yes. Of course, Miss Noceda.”

“I’ve found… alternate schooling methods for Luz, but I’ve enrolled my two other children, Vee and Hunter in school.”

“I know.”

“Eheh. Right. The thing is… Hunter hasn’t ever… had any kind of formal schooling. So… he’s never taken higher maths, or sciences. He doesn’t know algebra, or chemistry, or…”

Principal Hal heaved another sigh. “So, what exactly does he know?”

Hunter crossed his arms. “I know thirteen different ways to kill you where you sit,” he snapped.

Camila shot him a look. “He can read, and write, and do basic math—it’s just high school, really. Oh, and history, he hasn’t ever taken a history course.”

“Well, we have summer school options—it’s a bit late, but we can look at squeezing him in. And Vee?”

“Vee went to summer camp, and she did very well there, she should be just fine.”

“Hm. Well, I’m very sorry that Luz won’t be joining us this year—”

“No, you’re not,” Camila muttered.

“—but I’m very glad she’s found a schooling system that… works better for her.” Principal Hal scribbled something down on a piece of paper, and handed it to Camila. “Take that to the front office, and they’ll get you the textbooks Hunter will need for his summer schooling.” Principal Hal looked like he’d bitten into a lemon. “I… look forward to having you as a student here, young man.”

Hunter inclined his head. “Thank you for your time, sir.”

He followed Camila out of the office. “I don’t think he likes me.”

“You threatened to kill him thirteen different ways. I don’t blame him. That was very nice at the end, though, thank you.”

Hunter felt a warm glow in his chest at the praise. “How come Luz isn’t coming?”

“Luz… never did well in school. And she’s determined to go back to Hexside, so I’ve enrolled her in some online courses so that she won’t fall behind on human studies, and if she can get through the Boiling Isles, I’ll… let her continue her education there. If she promises to check in frequently, and hide the portal very, very well.” Camila stopped in front of a wide desk, handing the secretary the piece of paper that Principal Hal had handed her.

The secretary disappeared and came back with a stack of books that she pushed to Hunter. “First class is Monday, you’ll be with the sophomores retaking algebra. Welcome to the family.”

Hunter picked up the books gingerly, trailing behind Camila. “Why does this book have a lizard on it if it’s a math book?”

Camila unlocked the car, climbing into the driver’s seat. “Great question. I don’t know.”

“What’s a sophomore?”

“Second year of high-school. You’ll be a junior, a third year.”

The lower class. With the students who’d failed algebra the first go round. Hunter’s ears burned, and he cracked open the algebra book, staring at the numbers. “I can read this outside of class?”

“Sure, if you want to.”

By the time they got home, Hunter was deep in. He kept reading as he walked inside, going straight to the kitchen table and setting the books down. He could figure this out—and then he could move up, at the very least to the regular second year level. He still had time before he officially started school—he could learn all of this.

Luz came bouncing down the stairs. “Amity responded! I have no clue how this thing works across dimensions, but I am so glad—hey, whatcha reading, Hunter?”

He didn’t look up. “Algebra.” He flipped the page, and neat, numbered rows of problems faced him. “Hey, they give you practice problems!”

“Blech, I thought you were my brother, Hunter. Math? When you don’t have to?”

“I’m behind. I need to catch up, or I’ll be stuck in lower grades.”

“Oh, right. Prodigy with extreme fear of failure. I forgot.”

Hunter tuned her out, digging out his old sketchpad and copying the first problem, flipping back in the book for the solving process. “Mhm.”

“Anyway, now that I can contact Amity, we’re going to work on opening a portal from their end.”

“Uh-huh.”

“She has the titan’s blood and ingredients on her end—hopefully it won’t be long before she can figure it out.”

Hunter frowned, checking over his work. “Mmm.”

“Watch out, there’s a deadly monster behind you.”

“K.”

Luz heaved a long-suffering sigh and left him to the book. Hunter re-read the lesson, then flipped back to the problems.

I can do this.

The day passed by in a blur, Hunter plugged through the book, slowly but surely. At least this made sense—everything had a logical, calculable end. It wasn’t like magic, where intent and emotion played factors.

“Hunter—Hunter, it’s time for dinner.”

Hunter barely heard Camila, glaring at the quadratic formula. He kept misplacing a negative, he was pretty sure.

A hand reached over and closed the book with a thump. “Hunter. Give your brain a break and eat something, mijo.”

Hunter struggled to pull the book open against Camila’s hand. “I’ve almost got this one figured out—I can get it—”

“Dinner. Math can come after.” Camila cleared the book away. “I’m glad you’re taking school seriously, but it’s important for you to do other things, too. Don’t worry—you’ll catch up, you’re a smart kid.”

“I need to—”

“What you need to do is take a break and eat. Come on, help me set the table.”

Hunter slowly got up and opened the drawer for napkins. His stomach growled at the smell coming from the stove. Alright, maybe it was time he took a break. Look at you, Golden Guard. All… domestic.

“Luz! Vee!” Camila called, “Dinner!”

Vee came bounding down the stairs, but Luz was nowhere to be seen.

“Luz!” Camila called again.

“She’s looking at potential wild portal spots,” Vee explained.

“Ayiyi. One won’t put down his math textbook and the other one won’t stop looking for a way into the demon realm.” Camila thumped up the stairs, and Vee poked at the algebra book.

“Algebra can be tricky. We did a lot of math-y stuff back at camp. Where are you?”

“Quadratic formula.”

“Already?”

Hunter shrugged. “I’m a quick learner.”

Luz bumped down the stairs, Camila shooing her onwards. “You and Hunter are going to get healthy eating and working habits if it kills me!”

After dinner, Vee started on the dishes, and Hunter opened up the math book again. I am going to figure this out.

After a while, Luz and Vee disappeared upstairs. Camila put a hand on his shoulder with a yawn. “Don’t stay up too late, ‘kay?”

“Mhm.”

Camila flipped off all of the lights except the kitchen one.

Red fluttered down to his shoulder as he yawned, chirping that he ought to go to bed.

“I’m so close. Just one more lesson.”

Xxx

Camila blinked blearily at her alarm as it beeped at her. She yawned, changing into her scrubs and heading down the stairs. The kitchen light was still on, Hunter slumped on the table, his algebra book open next to him. Camila gently slid the pencil out of his hand, scooping him up and moving him to the couch. He nestled into the cushions with a sigh, Red landing on his chest and closing its eyes with a sleepy cheep

“Oh, what am I going to do with you?” Camila sighed. She glanced at the textbook, then grabbed a few sticky notes, writing ‘remember to take a break’ on them and sticking them in the book every few lessons. She shook her head, grabbing her keys and flipping off the kitchen light. “Buenos noches, mijo.”

Xxx

“Hunter. Hey, Hunter. Huuuuuuuuuuuuuuunter.”

Hunter snapped awake, sitting up so fast he nearly head-butted Luz in the face. Red slid off of his chest, flapping its wings frantically to right itself.

“Wow, you’re twitchy.”

Hunter yawned. When had he moved to the couch? He didn’t even remember falling asleep! “Hngh—what time is it?”

“Nine-o-clock, sleepy-head! Hey, you know a lot about titan’s blood, right? You think you could look over some stuff and tell me which you think is most likely to be a wild portal?”

Hunter rubbed his eyes. “If you can see the demon realm in the water, it’s a wild portal. Oh, or if the water is boiling hot.”

“You mean like a geyser?”

“I wouldn’t recommend jumping into one of those, but yes. Like a geyser.”

“Hmmmm.” Luz picked up his sketchpad from the table. “You need any help with math? Can’t say I’ll actually be ABLE to help you, but—”

Hunter snatched the sketchpad away. “I don’t need help,” he snapped.

“Yeesh. Okay. Have fun with your numbers.”

Hunter shuffled to the table. A single sticky note was stuck to the cover of the book.

Don’t forget to eat breakfast, it read cheerfully.

Ah. Camila.

Hunter went to the pantry and shoved a protein bar in his mouth. There. Breakfast. He opened the math textbook again, rubbing the bridge of his nose. Alright. Three quarters of a math book, one day to go before summer school. He could do this. One more all-nighter.

“Whoa.” Vee peered over his shoulder at his sketchpad. “Hey, why don’t you… come on out with me. I’ll introduce you to my friends from cabin seven. You need to touch grass.”

Hunter scribbled through a line of numbers. Wrong. “Nope. I’m busy.”

“You know that you’re supposed to learn this stuff at summer school, right? Not two days beforehand.”

“I’m learning it now, so I’ll be prepared for what they want me to do there.”

“Uh… that’s not how it’s supposed to—”

“I can’t be in the class with the failures!” Hunter blurted.

Vee blinked. “Oh.”

Hunter flipped the cover of the book back and forth, his other hand tapping on the table. “I’ve got to learn this now, so that they’ll move me up to the next subject—I’m two years behind, Vee, and don’t even get me started on history!”

“That’s not your fault.”

“I can’t fail here—being here in the human realm is my second chance, and I can’t blow it! Camila thinks I’m smart, and I can’t prove her wrong!”

Vee sat down at the table next to him. “Whoa. Okay. Calm down, Hunter. You are smart, and that has nothing to do with how good at math you are.” She gestured to his sketchpad. “Look at how far you came in a day by yourself!”

Hunter slammed his hand down on the table. “It’s not enough, I’m still way behind!”

“Hunter. Hey, Hunter. Listen. You… don’t have to be the best at everything, okay?”

“Yes, I do, that’s how this works.”

“No. It’s really not. You don’t have to be the best. As long as you’re doing as well as you can… that’s what matters to Camila, okay? Even if you don’t succeed. Camila thinks you’re smart because you are. You don’t have to prove it to her. And you don’t have to pull all-nighters and learn the entirety of algebra in two days to be smart. C’mon, you need to quit focusing on school for a few hours.”

Hunter ran a hand through his hair. “Just a few more lessons—

“No.” Vee snatched the textbook away. “I’m going to keep this until you take a break. And maybe a nap, you look like you didn’t get any sleep.”

“What? No, I didn’t mean to, but I did fall asleep.”

“Hunter.”

“Fine, fine, you win. I’ll just steal it back later.”

She yanked his hood over his head. “Good luck. Just a couple of hours not doing algebra, Hunter.”

“Fine. I guess I can do that.”

“Good. Come on, let’s go meet up with my friends, they’ll predict your future with hexes hold ‘em cards.”

“I understood all of those words separately. Are your friends…okay?”

Vee grinned. “Trust me. They’re gonna love you.”

[cunningambitousdetermined]

i need a plot for this

yall so ive been trying really hard to get back into writing and i went to a writing camp this summer. im going to post a poem that i wrote there later bc im super proud of it but right now i have something else i need help with. SO basically there was a prompt about someone finding a letter or a note. that’s the prompt. so i wrote something, really liked it BUT I HAVE NO IDEA WHERE TO TAKE IT FROM HERE. my basic ideas involve the two characters meeting each other again to do SOMETHING WHICH I DONT KNOW and slowly arcane (youll see when you read the story below) thaws and falls in love with kalon and kalon has always been in love with her and its like best friends to enemies to friends to lovers ya know? ANYWAY if you dont hate me for being inactive and needy, please read this and help me. 

Dear Arcane,

It’s been a while, hasn’t it? 10 years. Wow. I don’t even know if you’ll ever get this, you could’ve moved. You could be dead. Oh god, that’s dark. You’re not dead, someone would’ve told me, I’m sure. So that must mean that there’s a good chance you have this, but I’m not even sure if you’ll read it.

He was right, as he most often was. Arcane had not planned to read the letter from the moment she read her name on the envelope, written in a neat sort of messy handwriting that could only come from one person. The letter had been sitting at her desk for a week before memories began to drown her and she knew she had to open it.

That’s not the point though, I’m sure you’ll read this. You’ve always been a sucker for the intimacy of written letters. Maybe that’s why I wrote to you instead of calling.

Arcane closed her eyes, the pounding of the memories at the door slowly consuming her. She took a deep breath and let them in. The whispers started to fill the room, every word echoing off the walls, like her past had become a living, breathing thing in her room. How could he write her now? After all these years. Anger reared it's small head in the back of her mind. How could he be so casual as if he wasn't the boy who ripped her heart out and tore it to pieces. 

Maybe it’s because I did read all the letters you wrote to me. Even after the voicemails stopped filling my phone and the emails ran dry, your letters kept coming.

She remembers writing those letters, the pen shaking in her hand as it hit the paper. She remembers wondering what you said to someone like him, a friend who left you behind. The squeeze in her chest that tightened each time he didn’t reply. The break in her heart when the last letter she ever wrote was returned to her doorstep.

If you’ve read this far without tearing my letter to pieces, then I would say this is a good start to our reunion. I’ve missed you. Your stubborn ways, always trying to keep me safe. But you always came with me wherever I went anyway. I miss your secret smile, the one you saved just for me. The treehouse we built in your yard. Do you miss that? I wonder if you wonder about me. I wonder if I can even ask that of you.

She did miss them. But, those things that she missed were long gone. The treehouse was overgrown with vines, Arcane was sure you couldn’t even get into it anymore. She went with him on his stupid adventures because what would she do if he left and met new people? He would leave her and she would be alone. So she desperately followed him blindly, hoping it would keep him close. Arcane missed her secret smile, the genuine one she had always saved for him. He missed it. How could he miss something that he destroyed. With his one and only letter to her, he demolished any leftover love for him that hid in her heart. He couldn’t ask if Arcane wondered about him. That wasn’t fair. That night, ten years ago, was still a raw wound in her soul that she was pretty sure would never heal.

~

The rain was relentless that night, banging against every edge of the house, but a little girl was waiting by the door, not even flinching as the lightning and thunder clapped furiously. Arcane peeked her head above the window frame to find the mailman running through the storm, his frantic steps pounding through the floor of the house. Her eyes lit up with a hope that was slowly fading with each mail drop. She opened the door and hid the small smile that started to spread up her face with a cough.

“Hi, Dan!” Arcane’s voice gave away the excitement that was flooding her system.

“Hey, Arcane.” Dan couldn’t help the pitiful grin that he gave her. She waited by the door for him every day and each day there was no letter for her. It must be soul-crushing, he thought, waiting for a letter that never comes.

“Is there…?” Arcane was practically on her tiptoes at this point. Dan rifled through the letters, dread settling as her name wasn’t there. Again. And then there was a squeal. “Oh, Dan! I found it! I knew- I knew it- I told them!” Her sentences didn’t even come out fully as she beamed, her smile brighter than any ray of the sun.

Arcane had run into the house, a breeze following in her wake. Plopping down into the soft plush couch, she ripped open the envelope, not caring about the paper that flew everywhere in the room. A paper fluttered out, floating toward the ground. Arcane grabbed it, hands shaking, she could practically feel the sweat dripping down her face. Words were the easiest way to break someone. The letter only contained eleven words, yet they would stick with her for the rest of her life.

Stop writing me. None of it was real. You were nothing.

Eleven words. And they shattered her. Crumbling, shattering, a million pieces breaking. Sobs racked through her whole body, her chest shaking and trembling with each broken breath. She caught her face in the mirror hanging off the pale wall and didn’t recognize the girl that stared back. You were nothing. A scream tore through her, the ache of her heart so raw that even the sun seemed to cry, rain dripping onto the panes of the windows. And slowly, so very slowly, Arcane buried the ache and gathered the shattered pieces of her heart and encased them in an impenetrable cage, never to opened again.

~

The ache was still present now, ten years after the letter had arrived. The dullness of her buried hurt made her clench her fists around the letter that sat in her hand now, the same lopsided handwriting adorning it.

But, that’s not why I’m writing this letter. I’m writing this with an actual purpose, if you can imagine that. I didn't just write to rehash our friendship. 

Arcane could feel her eyes narrowing, fighting the urge to roll her eyes at the inanimate piece of paper. An actual purpose? To break her heart all over again? This time she did roll her eyes, even though no one was there to see it. But, it wasn’t the fact that he wrote her after all these years or that his tone was friendly throughout that made her body freeze. It was the last line that had the hairs on the back of her neck standing to attention.

In all the years that Arcane had known him, he'd never been very dependent. He often just struggled in silence and figured them out on his own. Not once, not ever, had has asked for help. But, there the sentence was inked in his slanted, loopy writing. 

I need your help.

Love,

Kalon

  ~~everything below here is stuff that doesnt have to be a part of the story but i still liked it and where it was going (idk please give me ideas)~~

The quiet, shock of the room seemed to weigh on Arcane. She flopped back onto her bed, the soft pillows cushioning her landing. I need your help. Those few, simple words, tugged at the strings that bound her heart. He needed her. The thought was fleeting as just as quickly as it came, it left. In its spot was anger. Now he needed her? After all those years when she needed him? What did he do then? Nothing. And that’s what she was going to do now. She huffed in satisfaction, tossing the envelope to the side. Her fingers reached into her hair, massaging her head. There were too many things to think about right now. Arcane squeezed her eyes shut as memories stung her eyes in the form of tears. 

~

“Please, don’t leave me.” Arcane had whispered, her small breaths filling the one room of the treehouse. 

“I don’t have a choice. You know I don’t want to go.” Kalon’s voice broke and he looked away so Arcane couldn’t see the tears in his eyes. It was silent. 

“We’ll still be best friends right?” 

“Yeah.” Kalon’s reply didn’t hold much conviction, causing Arcane to look over at him, confused, glossy eyes narrowing. 

“To the moon and back, Kal, remember?” She said, her tone desperate. It was a promise they made one night as they were watching some cheesy movie on the old television set. The boy had told the girl that he loved her too ‘the moon and back’. Kalon had then explained that the two characters said that so that they would never be apart. They could meet at the same moon, always and then they could go back. And then, they would never be fully apart. Arcane had liked that. So naturally,  she had grabbed Kal’s face and made him promise that they would go ‘to the moon and back’ if they were ever apart. It became a goodbye for them, a way of saying ‘I’ll see you soon’. 

“Yeah,” Kal had replied, a smile barely curling through his lips, “I’ll race ya there.”

~

She wasn’t sure how long she lay there, letting her memories flow down her cheeks and into the bedsheets, but eventually she had to get up. She pulled herself up and off the bed, limbs protesting at the use. She just needed a few days is all, then she wouldn’t even remember what she was crying for.  Kalon didn’t mean anything to her anymore.

thank you for reading this far, i love all of you. just throw out ideas please. or give me some advice, i would love that. whether its about my writing or the plot i would love to have tips and constructive criticism on how to get better! tagging some moots who i hope dont hate me after this below the cut:

@natashxromanovf @pad-foots @griffxnnage @voidmalfoy @flxss-bxbblxs @alwaysreading @herondalesunsetcurve THANKS YALL I LOVE YOU MORE THEN I EXPRESS AND I DO NOT, I REPEAT, DO NOT DESERVE ALL OF YOU AND YOUR LOVE

[subspaceember]

2022

The year is 2022. I wake up and it’s raining outside. It’s hot. I roll over and dig around in the bed for my PCS, I find the power cable. Shit. The thing’s dead, got unplugged in the night. I stick the cable in and hold it the right way so that it works. The megacorp that makes these things could have fixed that issue, but then they just stopped selling them with the cable instead. I stare at the ceiling and try not to think about anything, it’s not working. I can hear a truck slamming a dumpster down outside and then the ear-splitting noise of the auto-truck accelerating away to go pour all the contents into a big pile for some future person to deal with. My PCS wakes up, I stare at the bright rectangle, the imager is broken, so there's cracks and shafts of light in the way. It’d be beautiful if I wasn't trying to see what time it was. I fumble around with it until it scans my retina and lets me in. It’s 11. Guess it’s one of those days today. 

I could get up and do something, but my uncomfortable bed is way more pleasant than the world outside. Besides, I’d just go sit in the chair a meter away. What’s the point? Time to check the network. Click. Scroll, scroll, scroll. Click. It’s the news, some people tried to fight against a megacorp. It failed of course. They wanted some time off to go use the bathroom during their shift. No chance. Not like the megacorps need that many people anyway, but the ones they do need they can just keep almost alive, and if they cause problems, just silence them or find new people. What a world.

Time to see if I got that position to run computer systems I applied for. Click, scroll. Nope. Oh well, another day of eating styrofoam noodles and flavor pouches. Another day of hoping not too much shit hits the fan so that I don’t run out of money instantly. Fun. I find a cooler spot on the bed. I’m hungry, not starving, just hungry. I could go get some only slightly carcinogenic food somewhere, but then I remember that my ground-car is almost broken. Hope it holds on a little longer. If that poor thing really goes I’m in bad shape. No one walks much anymore, not unless you want a quick death from a rich idiot in a 4 ton ground-car driving itself around, or a slow death from lung cancer in a few years. And forget transit, I don’t think the old system even comes out here anymore, miles and miles from the actual city. 

Well I’ve still got the whole world in my hand so I’ll go wander around that some more. Click. Hmm, wow look at all this stuff I can’t buy. Not that I wanted it anyway. Guess someone wants it, maybe. Maybe not. There are entire factories that pump out shit that no one wants. I wonder what the point of that is. Scroll. Looks like there’s a new spaceship now, probably pretty neat that humanity can do the space thing now, shame any regular people won’t ever see it. So it goes. Click. Looks like they made a law where you can’t decide what medical treatment you’re allowed to get now, not like many people can afford it anyways. Still dumb. Click. That’s a really cute cat. I want a cat. Click. Boring. Click. Don’t Care. Click. Wow, that looks tasty. Click. Chuckle. Click. Click. Click. Click. Throw the thing. Punch the bed.

This sucks.

Guess I should get up.

[libermachinae]

Lost Light/Rodimus

Notes: No, I don’t mean the crew. Unedited bc I’ve already spent way more time on this crack fic than I meant to. Rated G, no warnings apply, 2K.

---

It wasn’t Brainstorm’s fault, entirely.

“How the hell did you make a metrotitan spark?”

Just mostly.

“Well, it’s actually an extremely complicated, delicate, precise procedure,” Brainstorm said as they ran for their lives through shifting, narrowing corridors, Rodimus’ engine gunning to keep up with the jet. “It’s something other scientists have been trying to crack since before the war started, but between the exact measurements of the photonic supercrystal and the pattern of coding charges, no one else ever managed to—”

“Okay, forget how!” Rodimus shouted. “I don’t care about how! Or why! Or even at what point you decided to make a massive t-cog to go with it—”

“Actually, Perceptor cracked that one.”

“—or how you got it past Riptide and the rest of security! I don’t care!” A wall appeared front of them; Rodimus swerved around it while Brainstorm pulled into a neat roll. A wingtip brushed Rodimus’ roof. “Assuming we survive this any other way than First Aid scraping our pancaked frames off a random corridor wall, you’re going to tell the whole story to Megatron, and he can use all the practice he’s had with me to tell you exactly how terrible an idea this was.”

“Pancaked?”

“Earth term. Watch out!”

The hallway to the shuttle bay disappeared behind two shifting plates, and Rodimus had just enough time to brake and avoid being crushed. Brainstorm pulled up and transformed, landing at Rodimus’ side.

“Oh, this isn’t good,” he said.

“No kidding?” Rodimus angled his mirrors to look around, but every glance just revealed fewer directions to escape to. “We’re trapped.”

“Not that,” Brainstorm said. “We’re in the abdomen.”

“Belly of the ship, sure.”

“In root mode, the Lost Light’s power core is situated in the lower decks, under multiple layers of plating and insulation to keep the heat from frying everyone around it.” Brainstorm traced a small circle on the plating just underneath his cockpit, then drew it up, toward his chest. “When Perceptor was designing the transformation sequence, though, we couldn’t quite work out how to transport the core with all its extra plating. So, we just, hm, put a pin in it.”

Rodimus stared.

“So, what you’re saying is—”

Brainstorm pointed to the ceiling.

“The power core is one level above us right now. As soon as the transformation sequence is completed, it’s going to come online. The Lost Light’s designed to handle that kind of output, but not standard Cybertronians.”

“So, right now, this moment, we’re standing in the smelter, waiting for it to come on.”

“More like in front of the smelter after the blast doors have malfunctioned, but yeah.”

“Okay!” Rodimus revved his engine. “Well, that’s no good! We’re getting out of here.” He glanced around again. The walls were thick, but there had to be a weakness somewhere. “Don’t you have a drill gun? Or a drill you reformatted into a gun that can still be used as a drill?”

“I have a regular gun.”

“You do not.”

“I do!” Brainstorm insisted, pulling the standard issue pistol from subspace. “I was just about to see if I could do something about the problem of a finite ammo capacity (spoiler, I could’ve) when Light’s t-cog started spinning. I have others on me, but nothing that’s gotten the Perceptor stamp yet.”

“Everything else you’ve got will kill us if we fire it?”

“Might,” Brainstorm corrected, “they might kill you. Percy just hasn’t had time to test them yet.”

“Okay, fine.” Rodimus glanced around once more, optics falling on one feature he’d thus far overlooked. “You know what? We can work with this.”

  It’s a simple fact that if you’re desperate to have floor-to-ceiling windows along the vehicle-accessible corridors of your miles-wide spaceship, they’re going to need to be reinforced. Heavily. A full round of shots fired at point-blank from a non-infinite pistol might be enough to get a crack in it, but that’s about it.

Of course, if you then ram that crack with a Matrix-armored sports car dropped from the undercarriage of a speeding jet, you might get somewhere.

Rodimus hit the window bumper-first, vibrations from the impact traveling in both directions throughout his frame. Whatever he was feeling, though, the window was having a much worse time: the crack stretched and exploded, shards of glass whipping out into the empty density of space. Rodimus went with them, and for a brief second he feared he would never stop going, before strong arms and the sound of thrusters secured him.

::We’re alive!:: Brainstorm’s comm crackled to life in his audial. ::And assuming at least a couple people listened to Minimus’ instructions, we should be looking at a good—oh frag.::

::What? How bad is it?:: Rodimus tried to angle his mirrors, but two teal wings blocked his view.

::It’s fine! Don’t worry!::

::That’s my ship, Brainstorm, of course I’m going to worry!::

::It’s alright, Rodimus.::

::Who was—::

A white hand appeared in front of them, large enough that Rodimus could have done donuts on its palm, large enough to punch a moon clear through. Brainstorm’s thrusters were straining to slow them down while Rodimus’ emergency brake slammed on, but momentum seemed committed to mashing them like a reverse rustbug.

The hand shifted, flipping over so the palm was underneath Rodimus, scooping up until his tires were just skidding across the metal surface. Forgetting to release his brake, his swerved before he came to a stop, swinging around and taking in the full view of his ship as, with a final ripple, her plating shifted into place.

She glowed. From the fuel rods around the corona of her helm and the winding lanes of windows around her arms, legs, and sides, light streamed from her, but not so much that she hurt to look at. Her optic band was a solid magenta and, Rodimus suspected, unseeing, but even that gave off a light that drew the eye, even as Rodimus felt the increased pressure of the hand lifting them up. In their ascent, they passed her chestpiece, the bow of the ship, and through the viewscreen Rodimus saw a decent portion of his crew, staring back out at him.

They came to a halt in front of her faceplate, and from this distance Rodimus could see the wavering patterns of optical lights, perhaps attempting to generate an expression. Ratchet would demand a look at Perceptor’s coding, he thought, a moment before the Lost Light’s voice returned.

::Hello, Rodimus, Brainstorm.::

::You gave her a comm suite?:: Rodimus asked, glancing at Brainstorm.

::Didn’t you check the ident?:: Brainstorm returned. ::She’s using the communications hub.::

::Oh.:: He glanced at her again. ::Can you access all of our major systems like that?::

::Yes.::

::Cool. Neat.:: An independent Cybertronian with the ability to quantum jump. And they’d been doing so well staying off the bad side of this reality’s Galactic Council.

::Do you have a name?:: he asked.

The optic lights wavered, shifting without meaning.

::Of course,:: she said. ::Drift named me Lost Light.::

Rodimus spluttered.

::How do you know that?::

::I have complete access to all in-network records,:: she said. ::My ‘memories’ extend as far back as my registration five million years ago, though they become more comprehensive within the last several decades, starting with the commencement of your quest.::

::Anything anyone ever dispersed via in-house networks, saved to a private console, or was automatically logged by the systems is up for grabs,:: Brainstorm said. ::Makes introductions pretty simple, at least.::

::Sounds like a fancy way of saying she’s got the worst possible first impression of everyone, but sure, that’s an optimistic way of looking at it.:: Brainstorm had climbed off him, so he transformed and took two steps forward. ::I’m Rodimus, your co-captain. Though, you already seem to know that.::

::Yes. I know all of you.:: For a moment, Rodimus thought they were moving again, but it was the large helm tilting forward. ::Thank you, by the way, Brainstorm. Though I unfortunately agree with Minimus Ambus’ preliminary assessment of your actions, I do appreciate this opportunity to be alive.::

::Like creator, like creation, I guess!::

::Wait, you talked with Minimus?:: Rodimus asked.

::Of course. I’m speaking to everyone right now,:: Lost Light said. ::I’ve been looking forward to this.::

::Wow. You’re either going to be Swerve and Misfire’s missing trinemate, or their biggest competition.::

::I do not find either of those options appealing.::

::Oh, yeah, that’s fine!:: He waved his hands. ::Just a joke. You can do whatever you want, now, you’re your own bot. Well, within reason, I guess. We might need to make another new officer position for you, and then—::

::I will continue to perform my duties, Rodimus. You have no need to worry in that regard.::

::Oh, good.:: Rodimus’ spoiler sagged and a few bubbles of trapped air escape his vents. Brainstorm’s scheme hadn’t dehomed them, at least.

::If you wouldn’t mind hearing it, I do have a request.::

Rodimus’ spoiler twitched back up.

::Sure!:: he said. ::After everything we’ve put you through, we owe you, huh?::

::I would prefer you not consider it that way,:: she said. The connection crystalized and strengthened into a private transfer as Lost Light cleaved Brainstorm into his own channel. ::After reviewing the records, I find I admire you, Rodimus.::

He stared.

::Oh?::

::Despite what you call a poor first impression, I have observed a crew that cares for each other and looks after its most vulnerable, with you as the spark that inspires such communal behavior. You act for the good of others, you encourage selflessness and self-improvement. Does that sound correct?::

There was nothing to hide behind on the palm of her hand. That observation could not kill Rodimus’ instinct to flee.

::I, uh. I don’t know?::

A flicker around the optic band again.

::Oh. My apologies. I have only just started to engage in pattern recognition, and it is possible my assessment is—::

::It’s fine!:: Rodimus assured. ::Sorry, you did fine. Um, yeah, I guess you could say all those things about me. Not everyone would, but if that’s what the logs are telling you, you should trust your instincts. Maybe just like, make sure to update them with your own observations?::

::Acknowledged.:: There was a pause, and Rodimus imagined she was sorting the suggestion among her priority trees. ::I will maintain my assessments as an ongoing process. However, if I am utilizing my initial understanding of each crew member as a basis to form a more informed conception of their character, then it is logical to assume that there must be some element of validity to my initial evaluations, correct?::

::Uh, sure?::

::Excellent.:: Her whole visor brightened, a straightforward positive that must have been easier for her programming to calculate than the emotions it had been trying to convey before. ::Then it is not unreasonable for me to hold to my initial conviction that I admire you, Rodimus. If you have time, I would like to get to know you better.::

::Huh. Uh.:: He hated to make assumptions, but the way her visor sparkled seemed more coordinated now. ::Can you give me one moment?::

::Of course.::

He hopped into a channel so well worn it felt like sinking into his own thoughts.

::Rodimus? Are you okay?::

::I’m fine, Drift,:: he said. ::Just, uh, need some advice.::

::Just advice? Not a rescue? Rewind and Perceptor managed to map out a way down to the shuttle bay, if you need an out.::

::No, no,:: he insisted. ::I’m just… I really don’t want to assume anything, but I think it’s possible my ship just asked me out?::

::Oh, yeah.::

::Oh, yeah?::

::I mean, she did,:: Drift said. ::Before you and Brainstorm broke free, she commed everyone, introduced herself, told them her favorite thing she knew about them, then asked about you.::

::Do I… want to know what she asked about?::

::Depended on the person. Swerve got interrogated about whether you’re available.::

::Swerve?::

::The Lost Light Insider pegged him for a rumor monger and she ran with it.::

::Cool. Great.::

::Hey. Really, you okay up there? Tailgate’s halfway through the vents, we can come get you, if you need.::

Rodimus pointed his gaze down to the deck, though he was too far away to see anyone individually. It was possible the ship’s exterior cameras were still streaming to the command screens, in which case Drift would undoubtedly catch his disapproval.

::Please make sure Tailgate doesn’t get squished, I don’t need Cyclonus seeking vengeance against our ship.::

::Sure. But seriously, Rodimus, are you okay?::

Rodimus spun his wheels with a flick.

::I’m fine. I just… isn’t this, I don’t know, kind of taking advantage?::

::I mean, she asked you, and—wait, are you interested?::

His engine heated up and Rodimus started to pace.

::I don’t know! Maybe?::

::Aw, Rodimus!:: He could imagine Drift’s face: goofy smile, softly dimmed optics. ::Hang on, I’m patching Ratchet in.::

::No, hang on, you don’t have to—::

::You’re saying yes?:: Ratchet demanded as the new connection crackled through.

::I don’t know,:: Rodimus insisted. ::I could? She’s attractive. And she knows a lot about me and hasn’t decided I’m worthless slag.::

::Rodimus,:: Drift chided.

::Hey, look, I’m not saying that about myself,:: he countered. ::Just that it’s a conclusion she could have come to, but didn’t. And I guess I kind of like that?:: He shrugged. ::I wouldn’t mind getting to know her. First new Cybertronian we’ll meet for a long time, you know?::

::Sure,:: Ratchet said. ::Follow her lead, but be up front about your expectations.::

::Both of you will have bots looking out for you,:: Drift promised. ::Seems like she and Nautica are already hitting it off pretty well.::

::Alright.:: Rodimus smiled. ::Okay, thanks guys. I think I can handle it from here.::

::Sure you can,:: Drift said.

Rodimus cut the call and switched back to Lost Light’s channel. Brainstorm was wandering around behind him, still engaged in his own animated conversation with his creation.

::Still with me?:: he asked.

::Of course.::

::Great,:: he said, offering her a smile and a flicker of his headlights. ::So, yeah, I’m down to spend more time together.:: He leaned down until he was sitting, crosslegged, on her open palm, brushing the smooth metal with his own hand. ::You can tell me all about what it was like that time we were getting chased by space pirates.::

::I look forward to it,:: she said. The platform of her hand drifted closer, until Rodimus could have reached out and brushed his fingertips against his facemask. He could have felt afraid, then, but he didn’t. Instead, he felt a warm light in his spark as he regarded Light, the familiarity and comfort that came with meeting an old friend face to face for the first time.

[imagine-organization-xiii]

Org members helping s/o move?

(I just moved to a new apartment and there is sO mUcH tO dO sEnD hELp!)

bruh I totally understand - also if y’all want to buy a coffee to help this girl get her own apartment then please for the love of god I will love you for all eternity

click here for a fun post about first home shenanigans

-

Xemnas - Ready to help, but very much more likely to hire someone to help you so that you can focus on the finer details. Doesn’t want you to move heavy furniture by yourself - that’s what he’s there for! Just focus on unpacking your books or your shoes or whatever - he’ll do all the heavy lifting.

Xigbar - This man is so god damn dramatic, oh my god. Lifts one box and he’s like “ugh, I’m exhausted, we should take a break and christen one of the rooms” *wink wink* Flexes every time he picks up a box. Likes to show off. He works, in the most generous sense of the word, but it’ll take a while before your house is complete if you only have him to help you.

Xaldin - This man is basically a well-oiled machine. You want all of the rooms in your house painted in four days? Screw that, he’ll have all the rooms painted in like a day and a half. You need that furniture set up? He’s already finished, just let him know where it needs to go. Best helper, takes a lot of initiative when it comes to helping you move and set up your new home.

Vexen - another guy who will happily hire someone to do all of the heavy lifting but my GOD he micromanages the shit out of everything to the point where you get kind of annoyed?? But that’s fine, he means well - he just wants you to have the beautiful home that you deserve. Also very useful when it comes to measuring things - like where furniture should go, the amount of paint you need, whether or not your new curtains will fit your windows - he’s always 100% accurate.

Lexaeus - if the sun is up then so is Lexaeus. If you want him to help you move then he’s going to do things right, and that means getting started at the crack of dawn so you have time for breaks in between. Great with heavy lifting but also has a surprising eye for the more delicate aspects of things? Like wow, so domestic.

Zexion - Not really that good at all of the heavy lifting stuff, but he’s eager!!! Will organize your library by the dewey decimal system just because he can. Good at organizing in general, really - nothing will ever be misplaced if he’s around. Has a delicate hand to handle your dishes and more delicate knick knacks. Also tedious, so you can leave him with your clothes and they’ll all be nice and neat in your closet and dresser.

Saix - Organization XIII: Extreme Home Makeover Edition. Just sit back and relax and let him work his magic - he’ll come up with an amazingly beautiful home that will impress all of your friends. “That shelf will look great if you put it next to the TV, but then you’d have to move your new painting - but that would go better in the bedroom with the color scheme you have.”

Axel - good at helping, but he gets distracted SO easily. You’ll be like “okay Axel, I’m going to go get this box out of the car, I’ll be right back” and then you come back and he’s sitting on the floor with a giant cowboy hat on his head, boa around his neck, and looking back and forth between two stuffed animals. He just gets really, really off track when unpacking, so you’ll have to keep checking up on him to see if he’s actually working.

Demyx - no idea what he’s doing, just happy to be there tbh. Good at following instructions, bad at taking initiative. Has no idea how you want your house to look and doesn’t want to screw it up for you, so he’ll just let you make all of the decisions and you can tell him what to do.

Luxord - Okay, Luxord isn’t that great with the actual decorating, but he knows ALL of the best places in town to get really awesome furniture. He led you to this tiny place you had never heard of that sells really awesome antique estate furniture, and helps you pick out the best pieces to decorate your new home. Also pretty good at distracting you when you’re getting frustrated by all of the work that you have to do.

Marluxia - was probably an interior designer in a past life, my goodness. Won’t hesitate to tell you if something looks bad or clashes with the colors. He wants your house to be STYLISH and BEAUTIFUL because he knows you’re stylish and beautiful. Your home should be a reflection of yourself and he’s happy to help make that happen. Also, whatever you do, he’ll tell you that you don’t have enough plants.

Larxene - look, she isn’t an expert. she just knows what she likes and what she doesn’t like, but that’s about it. She honestly couldn’t care how your house looks - she likes you, not your house - but she’s super happy to be able to help if that’s what you want her to do. Will she be bossy? Yes. Will shit get done? Absolutely.

Roxas - this poor boy is stressed as hell, has no idea what’s going on half the time and the other half of the time, he’s just trying his hardest not to break anything. There’s way too much happening at once, so take some breaks every now and then before he has a nervous breakdown!

Xion - she loves your cute little home and can’t wait to help you decorate it! She’s extremely eager and has a good idea for detail, even though your tastes might not quite match all the time. Gives you suggestions about which furniture should go where and compliments the colors you picked.

[crystalninjaphoenix]

MerMay 2021 Day Six History Lesson

“You ever notice how all the cool shells are always far out at sea?” Muirin picked up a scallop and turned it over in his hands. “Like, the ones that make it to the shore are always small or broken.”

“It’s because of the waves and stuff,” Sereia said, peeking into a rock crevice to see if there was anything inside. “They like...break them up. Friction.”

“Are you sure you can carry all that, Muirin?” Chase called from where he was laying on the ocean floor nearby. “You didn’t bring a bag, did you?”

“I got it, we’re not too far out,” Muirin said.

Sereia rolled her eyes. “All the kids at school are gonna be sooo jealous of your seashell collection.”

“Hey, you never know.” Muirin grabbed another shell. “Look at this one, it’s like a uhhh...turret shell, I think. You know, in the old days, before they had money, they’d trade shells for stuff.”

“Not sure how accurate that is,” Sereia mumbled. “I’m pretty sure, like ancient Greece had money. Like coins and stuff. Right, Dad?”

“Huh? Uh...” Chase flicked his tail. “Greece is that...that place with the pyramids, right?”

“No, that’s Egypt,” Muirin said. “Ser, I don’t think merms are gonna know stuff about human history. Much less if ancient Greece had coins or not.”

“But Dad went to human school, right?” Sereia looked over at Chase.

“Well, I went to one year of human school,” Chase explained. “And I wasn’t very good at it, probably because I was missing a lot of background knowledge. Math and history were probably my worst, but biology was neat, even though I had trouble understanding. I liked art. Painting was fun.”

“Oh! Hey, I have an idea.” Sereia swam over to Chase, turning upside down to look at him. “Can you tell us some merm history? Can you, huh huh?”

“I thought you hated school, Ser,” Muirin teased.

Sereia stuck her tongue out at him. “Yeah, but that doesn’t mean I don’t like finding out new things. I just don’t like tests. And mermaid stuff is cool.”

“Hmm...” Chase considered this for a moment. “Well, there’s a lot of history, some of which I don’t even know, but I could give you guys some basics, if you want.”

In unison, Sereia and Muirin swam over to the patch of sand Chase was resting on and settled down, lying on their stomachs with their heads in their hands in identical positions. They briefly looked at each other and giggled before going quiet.

Chase smiled. “Alright, then. If you’re so eager.” That caused a few more giggles. Chase couldn’t help but laugh, too, then adjusted his position to be more upright. “Okay. So...where to start? I’m gonna assume a lot of early human history and early merm history is pretty similar, like the bits about hunting food but then learning to farm and making civilizations. Is that right?” Sereia didn’t answer, but Muirin nodded. “Alright. So, in that case, merm history from there is divided into four eras: ancient, monarchy, shipwreck, and modern. The lines between these eras are kinda blurry but they’re just really general outlines. Ancient is the oldest, of course. Those were when the first civilizations started to get really big.”

“Oh! Mesopotamia is the oldest human civilization,” Muirin said proudly. “It’s 6000 years old. We learned about that this year. It made the first writing system!”

“Six thousand? Wow. That’s pretty old.” Chase whistled, impressed. “I’m pretty sure the first merm civilizations are around that old, too. But don’t take my word for it, it’s been forever since I learned the exact dates and names. I do know that the first merm alphabets were around that time, too. But you see, humans kinda kept up with all their different languages; that’s not the case for merms. Ancient times were just about the only time period where merms all spoke differently. They were also when we interacted the most with other water races, like sirens and selkies and merrows and—”

“Those guys are all myths!” Sereia said excitedly. “So they’re real?! Does that mean other fantasy creatures are real, too?! Like on land?”

Chase shrugged, adjusting his cap. “I don’t know anything about land. But I do know that a lot of ancient water races eventually merged together into what merms are today. A lot of families have traditions from those different roots, but some might have different ancestors and not even know it.”

“Okay, so after the ancient era came the monarchy era, right?” Muirin prodded. “What was that?”

“Ah. Well, a lot of merms might call that the golden era, because we did pretty well back then. There were all these cities being built, people made and wrote down history and stories in books, art and politics happened...lots of stuff. It was called the monarchy era because a lot of...what’s a good word...a lot of countries were created and grew bigger, ruled by monarchies.”

“Like feudal kingdoms?” Muirin asked. “Like, where there was a king in charge, who had lords, who were in charge of knights, who were in charge of serfs?”

“Uh...I think there were some like that, yeah,” Chase frowned. “But there were a lot of other monarchies under different systems, too. This is just the basics, though, and quite honestly, it’s been a while since I learned about monarchy systems anyway, so we’ll just leave it at that.”

“Okay, so what’s with the shipwrecks, then?” Sereia asked, flicking her tail excitedly. “Was that when mermaids would draw pirates to rocks and stuff?!”

Chase hissed inwardly, trying to think of a way to describe it. “Okay so...you had all these cities and kingdoms under the monarchy era, right? Well, a lot of merms weren’t happy with how things were, so they revolted against the rulers. The old monarchies didn’t go away for a while, but there were all these new systems as well, and the countries were a lot smaller, but there were more of them. You know, something I thought was interesting in how different humans were from merms, was that you just...stayed in cities. And actually, your cities got bigger. It was kind of the reverse for us. We all started spreading out, and some groups went back to wandering and hunting.”

“So why’s it called the shipwreck era?!” Sereia repeated insistently.

“Because there were a lot of shipwrecks,” Chase explained. “Just like you guessed, merms would draw a lot of human ships and make them wreck, so they could take the things inside. That’s when merms with siren blood made the best use of their powers.”

“So...merms didn’t like...eat humans or anything?” Sereia asked.

“Sereia!” Muirin gasped.

“What?! That’s what they always say!”

“Humans have a lot of myths about merms that aren’t true,” Chase said patiently. “No, that never happened. All the shipwrecks caused by merms were to get the human-made things on board. You can think of it like pirates, if you want. Stealing and plundering. A lot of trade was raised around human-made items.”

“But merms don’t wreck ships anymore, do they?” Muirin sounded like he definitely didn’t want that question confirmed.

“No, that stopped happening a while ago.” Chase traced an idle pattern in the sand. “That’s when the modern era started. Part of the cause of it was a lot of merms continuing to leave monarchies and even other groups, making more and more smaller sections. And part of the cause was human diving, as humans explored deeper and deeper into the ocean. Any large merm settlements were left behind. Some merms continued to scatter, and some went deeper into the ocean, but I don’t know what’s happened to those groups, if they’re still around. So nowadays, merms tend to be either on their own with their families, or gathered in small schools.”

“Whoa...” Muirin breathed. “It’s like...the apocalypse happened.”

Chase frowned. “I wouldn’t say that.”

“You offended him,” Sereia whisper-shouted, nudging Muirin’s arm.

“No, I wasn’t offended, don’t worry,” Chase assured them. “It’s just that the apocalypse is...well, a bad thing. And things aren’t bad now, and weren’t really that bad once merms started all separating. It’s just a different way of doing things than humans. I mean, I expect you two to look at it in a human way, that’s how you were raised. But it’s not like merms are behind humans or anything. We still do all the things we did before, just all spread out.”

“I think the thing about one language is cool,” Sereia said. “So we’ll be able to talk to any merm anywhere and understand them.”

Chase chuckled. “Well, there might be some differences in the way we speak. Like different accents. You’ve probably already noticed that.”

“Yeah, all your friends talk differently to each other,” Muirin agreed. “Like...Schneep is very different.”

“Well, he’s from a very different area. And Marvin and Jameson are freshwater, so that’s even more different. Heck, they probably have a slightly different history from what I’ve told you.” Chase looked up towards the surface. “Hmm...it’s getting late. Your mom will want you home soon.”

“Aww...okay.” Sereia pushed off the ocean floor and into the water. “C’mon, Muir.”

“H-hang on.” Muirin was having some difficulty gathering up all the shells he wanted to keep. He kept dropping them.

Chase smiled. “Here, use the hat.” He took off his cap and handed it to Muirin. “You can put some in there.”

“Thanks, Dad,” Muirin said, relieved, as he started putting shells inside. “Oh, and thanks for telling us about merm stuff. That was pretty interesting.”

“Come on, you guys!” Sereia performed a flip in the water, clearly ready to move.

“We’re coming, we’re coming!” Chase said. “Don’t you worry, shelly.”

And so, the three of them headed back to the shore.

[stevetonygames]

Spotlight Post: Canon Soulmate Bonds

Yooo, this is a blog takeover, Mizzy here, ready to champion one of my favourite fictional causes: canonical soulbonds in the Marvel universe.

We all love a good soulbond fic. Words on your body, names on your wrist, red string of fate...so many glorious versions, and all of them *completely awesome*. The problem sometimes with starting a soulbond fic, though, can be all the worldbuilding required to make it work. But what if I was to tell you that no worldbuilding was necessary? That you could technically write a soulbond fic without having to set it in an Alternate Universe? What if you could set your soulbond fic *directly in main canon?*

Marvel 616 delivers you a canonical soulbond mechanic… not once… but at least *twice*. There could be more. There’s a lot of comics to go through and I’m only smol. But here’s the two I know about and I’m here to introduce you to today. :)

The was a ripple of mild confusion around fandom when Kevin Feige announced that the Eternals were getting a title movie in the next phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Created by Jack Kirby in the 1970s, in a wild combination of mythological fascination and spite at DC comics for not letting him finish his New Gods saga, the Eternals were an offshoot of humanity, created by the Celestials for humanity’s protection; this reason for their existence would lead them into their ongoing conflict against the deadly Deviants. There have been a few Eternals runs (notably one run by Neil Gaiman, which did not serve to bring the Eternals the commercial success Marvel was searching for with the title, that nevertheless remains the most fun and accessible Eternals volume), but they’ve not yet really reached wide-reaching traction among even the most die-hard comic fans. The MCU might change that, and here’s hoping, because I love these nearly-immortal idiots, and I’m hoping not to be alone in that for much longer. :D

But even my Eternals-happy soul has to admit, Eternals canon for the most part is dense and can be convoluted, and the spellings—both of their character names and one of the main fun parts of their existence, the Mahd W’yry—are enough to give one a headache. The idea of the Eternals is that they’re long-lived and have interacted with human history over the years in various impactful ways. You might think at first glance that you’ve never heard of the Eternals Sersi, Ikaris, Makkari, but I think you wouldn’t find Circe, Icarus, or Mercury unfamiliar names.

The Mahd W’yry is a symptom of the Eternals being so long-living. In order to stop them going insane, the Eternals have to bond into something known as the Uni-Mind, which basically squishes all their consciousnesses together into one, where they can share memories and blend temporarily into one mind. Regularly bonding into the Uni-Mind allows them to stave off the Mahd W’yry. (Yep, that’s just a headache-inducing spelling of ‘mad worry’, we know.)

Anyway, did you need to know all this? Eh, maybe, a little bit of canned backstory is always handy for you to briefly glance over and promptly forget. Because along with some dense mythological adventures, some glorious angsting across beautiful landscapes, and that ability to turn into a big massive floating brain, the Eternals also gave us a beautiful gift:

The Gann Josin.

In Avengers #361, Ikaris comes down to Earth and decides that Sersi needs to be bonded to Dane Whitman, an Avenger who canonically didn’t have any powers, he was just a *really good guy*, destined for tragedy. Honestly. That’s his bio. Really good guy. Destined for tragedy. The character creation in the 90s was peak talent. Dane, sadly, was in love with another woman, but did this matter to Ikaris? No. Apparently the Eternals don’t know about the dangers of letting himbos like Ikaris have life-changing powers, like the ability to create the Uni-Mind. 

Because the power to control the Uni-Mind also gives an Eternal the power to form a Gann Josin bond. And that’s what Ikaris does in Avengers #361—he forces a Gann Josin bond on Eternal Sersi and tragic human Avenger Dane Whitman.

Gann Josin (sometimes Gan-Josin because what is spelling continuity in Marvel comics) is both the name of the bond, and the title given to an Eternal and their chosen life-mate. It has a bunch of cool side effects. Both Gann Josins get glowing full-red eyes. It’s a really intimate tiny form of the Uni-Mind (without the part where you become a big floating brain), and creates a small scale mental union. The Gann Josin bond makes the Eternal and their partner lifelong soulmates. As the bond progresses, it creates a telepathic/empathic bond that strengthens in time. According to the Eternal Sprite, humans are rarely chosen by Eternals for the Gann Josin.

Now, Dane Whitman does manage to break the Gann Josin several issues later. But… it’s not easy. It’s rare. When Dane manages it, it is called an “astounding act.” It’s pretty dang hard, in other words. There’s every chance your chosen Gann Josins won’t have the mental fortitude of Dane Whitman to break it. (Although, we’re talking about Steve and Tony, and are there any bigger stubborn idiots in the universe? Probably not.)

But Mizzy, I hear you saying. I don’t want to write about Ikaris, even if he is a party king and that sounds pretty nifty. I don’t know anything about the Eternals and I don’t want to go down that gnarly rabbit hole.

That’s totes fine, my friend. I am here to save you. Because in very recent canon, during Jason Aaron’s turn at the helm, the Eternals are all dead. Very dead. That whole Mahd W’yry thing got ‘em, it got ‘em good. But before Ikaris died, he granted his Uni-Mind power to someone we all know and love.

Yep. Tony Stark. Tony Stark currently has the power of the Uni-Mind.

Which means that Tony Stark can now Gann Josin people.

In Avengers #361, Ikaris performs the Gann Josin by basically just pointing his hands at Sersi and Dane and some light goes WHEEEEEEE!! in their direction, and bam, this rare and special bond is done. And Tony Stark can do that now. To anyone! Unfortunately Ikaris is dead and didn’t leave Tony with an instruction manual. But the point is, he *can*. You can make up all sorts of fun things with this canonical fact (or write your own version because lbr Canon Is Dead; Long Live Canon.)

There are so many possibilities. Does Tony deliberately learn how to use it so he can bond himself to Steve? Does Tony *need* to be able to hear Steve’s thoughts (to thwart some bad guys) and thus end up soulbonded forever to Steve in result? Is Tony’s power activating at random because he can’t control it, and he ends up soulbonding everyone around him? Does he just subconsciously bond himself to Steve without consciously meaning to? Do Tony or Steve want to try it for science?

Gosh, I love comics.

But WAIT. There’s MORE.

It’s not just 1990s comics going ham on the soulbond idea. No, we got some *this year*. Canonical soulbonding? TWICE? In one universe? Two different kinds??

And this time, it’s not in a D-list Marvel title. We’re up the ranks to the big leagues this time, folx, with a brief trek to the world of the Fantastic Four.

In Fantastic Four (Vol. 6) #15, we’re introduced to a Spyre citizen called Sky, a winged team member of the Unparalleled (more cosmic-powered superheroes), who work under The Overseer. (The Overseer, in a burst of beautiful retcon in the way Marvel comics keeps doing to us, is apparently the entity who is responsible for giving the F4 their powers. Huh. The more you know.)

On the planet Spyre, all children are brought before something called The Great Eye. This measures them against the radiation signature of everyone on the planet, divining who their perfect match is. 

Sky looked into The Great Eye, only to find out her match was Johnny Storm, who was 44 light-years away at the time. Long-distance relationships can be tough. Anyway, plot happens, the F4 get stuck on Spyre, get told they can’t leave, and Sky tells Johnny Storm that she is his soulmate. Oh, and she attached a soul binding onto him while he slept. Neat, huh, all the bodily autonomy people get in this universe before being force soulbond to people? So neat, much consent, wow.

Johnny feels a connection to Sky, which is supposed to let us know this lack of choice is a good thing I guess. The Overseer wants Sky to renounce Johnny and crush the F4 which obv doesn’t happen, so of course she leaves The Unparalleled and skips off to Earth to be with Johnny. 

Who knows how this relationship is gonna last. I mean, you can look at the rest of Johnny’s relationship history and have a good guess. Who knows. Anyway, Reed and Sue are each other's soulmate, and also share a “Soul Binding”, so there’s some canonical proof right there that maybe this system has some validity going for it.

The soulbond for this form takes the form of a golden bracelet worn on the upper arm, that Sky explains her people call a “Soul Binding”; it represents them as being soul-mates. This bracelet can only be removed by your soulmate. This soulbond doesn’t seem to come with any extra powers, it’s just to show that The Great Eye has measured their radiation signature and declared them a match that is supposed to mean they’re perfectly compatible in every way: spiritually, mentally, and physically.

I don’t know about you, but I have a pretty good feeling that Steve and Tony might just have matching radiation signatures… Or what if Steve and Tony have perfect matching signatures….with other people? (Someone else on Spyre believes Sky is *their* perfect match, after all!) What if Steve has feelings for Iron Man, but he’s a perfect match with Tony Stark? I feel faint already just thinking about it.

So here you go. Two canonical types of soulbonds for your fannish consideration. Feel free to ask me questions! You can find me on tumblr (@mizzy2k) or on discord (addy#0908).

[jbbuckybarnes]

Professor Sugar - 7/7

Pairing: Student!Reader x Professor!Bucky Description: Like tons of other students you struggle with finances, but you can’t get any aid since your parents are filthy rich. The system doesn’t care that they broke off contact after you came out as bisexual. There is, however, someone else that cares. The prof of your class on PTSD and trauma. Professor Barnes. Warnings: 18+, f/m smut, secret relationship, not beta read.

Professor Sugar Masterlist // Masterlist

New beginnings

You took the final in his class with a jumper of his hugging your body for support. The thoughts going into it were neutral. You had studied a lot, but you also didn‘t want to get your hopes up too high. The week before finals and the week he graded them were almost without contact. You understood that. Both of you didn‘t want to feel like you were cheating the system. Only sleeping in his shirts really helped to not go crazy during that time.

With weak knees you went to his apartment the day grades were announced on the school‘s online platform. They went up right when you were at his front door and he would either have to calm you down or celebrate with you. Mobile data really was absolute shit in this city. Why did you not wait until the grades went online with going outside. Oh, yeah, celebration or makeup sex. The damn loading bar on top of your browser was killing you as you got out at your station. Once you were in the proximity of his WiFi it loaded fully. Your eyes went wide and you wanted to collapse and yell at the same time. A-. You ran up the stairs and got the door opened in an instant before falling into his arms. „I. Am. So. Proud. Of. You.“ He said kissing you after every word. A happy squeal left you as you grabbed his face to kiss him thoroughly. While he closed the door behind you he also grabbed you closer. There was not even a millimeter of space between the two of you. He couldn‘t keep his hands off you. Your shirt flew somewhere into the direction of his couch, his somewhere onto the kitchen floor. Your bra was removed in one go before his thumbs went under your panties and janked both your leggings and panties down to your thighs. He looked into your eyes for a second, panting heavily, „Nope, won‘t make it to the bed.“ You were picked up and pushed onto the kitchen counter, the rest of your clothes taken off before you heard his. „Hmm, full circle.“ You hummed as he came up above you. „I had to keep this from you for a week.“ He growled as his kisses went down your neck. „Oh, so your primal touch comes from that and not from you missing my-“ You were silenced with a harsh, passionate kiss and a deep push making your back arch up. „Missed you so much, so proud of you.“ His mouth claimed yours again as he started thrusting into you. „Knew you‘d wing it.“ He grumbled before moaning. There were little bites into your neck and shoulder that bathed you in a new nuance of bliss. „Finally all mine.“ He growled. He was celebrating that you weren‘t his student anymore. No more subtle guilt. „Ho-ly shit.“ You panted before moaning out again. „Uh-hu. That‘s my girl.“ He panted before thrusting harder, making you scream out. „Oh fuck.“ You squirmed in his tight grasp on you. „C‘mon. Show me you‘re mine.“ He growled down at you. He needed the satisfaction of claiming you as his now. This wasn‘t just some student and professor having the hots for each other and one helping the other financially anymore. This was passion and love. His hips stuttered as your head fell back with a loud moan and a deep scratch of his back. His warmth was following shortly, before he settled there for a moment. „Looks like we should clean the counter.“ You giggled and went through his hair as he came up a bit to look at you. „Mine. Mine. Mine.“ He kissed the corners of your lips and your nose with that. „Yours.“ You whispered while going over his beard. He got off the kitchen counter shortly after, making you see the mess you made with him. „Hm, not bad.“ You shrugged. „Want me to do better? ’Cause I‘m not finished with you, darling.“ He smirked a little evil before swooping you up and bringing you to his bed. There was another round of passionate and intense sex before you changed to sweet lovemaking. You opened your eyes two hours later. You both had fallen asleep from all the physical activities and you really needed the nap after all those weeks of studying. You grabbed a pair of his briefs, his giant hoodie from the armchair in his bedroom and your socks from the kitchen floor. The other clothes laying around the apartment were put into a neat pile and placed on top of his washing machine. You cleaned up the countertop and proceeded to stalk his fridge. There was a little box of donuts with a „For you“ in his handwriting on it. He really was a cute dork through and through when he wasn‘t in professor mode or putting you through the mattress. You grabbed the box and sat back down on the countertop, ignoring the bar stools as per usual. A hum behind you got you out of your thoughts. He was leaning against the frame of the bedroom door and looked at you with a content smile. „You look the best in my clothes.“ He said with his soft and grumbly sleep voice. „You look good...naked.“ You eyed him, still chewing on a chocolate donut with chocolate filling. „I‘ll put on something. Can‘t have you attached to me all day.“ He chuckled turning around. „Yes, you can. Especially with that ass.“ You commented, mouth still full of food. „You‘ll get to see it as many times as you want. Just need to be wearing something to give you something else.“ You heard him from his closet. „If it isn‘t an orgasm I‘m not interested.“ You yelled over and heard him laugh. In briefs and a hoodie himself he came out of the bedroom with a box in his arms. „Where did that come from?“ You raised a brow, letting the last bit of the donut vanish into your mouth. „I think you were too busy moaning your heart out to see this in my closet.“ He sent you sly smile before setting it down on the coffee table and waiting for you to come over to the couch. „Well, let‘s see if this compares to your hard work.“ You smirked and sat down next to him and heard a deep inhale and exhale. „So...I know we have been talking about this whole thing of me buying you stuff and that you didn‘t want to feel like you were just sleeping with me to get things from me. So I saved up all the things I bought you in between until the end of the semester. Which is right now.“ He explained all innocent and cute. „So I just put my moans into a savings account...is what you‘re telling me?“ You grinned before laughing out loud with him. „I mean...kinda. Hey, look, I love buying you things. Not because you have sex with me, but because I genuinely like spending time with you and because I want to see you grow as a human being.“ He explained a little more serious. „Sugar Daddy with feelings.“ You whispered with a smile. „I‘d be pretty upset if you would‘ve managed to fake all of this.“ He chuckled. „I‘m not. If I could do that, I already would‘ve had my try at this whole sex for money kinda thing. I mean, I‘m a desperate college student.“ You laughed, „But I guess not anymore, ’cause you already helped me so much with little things.“ You thought about that little study account idea he had in the beginning of the semester.  By now it had grown to a few thousand people and you were starting to get things offered as well as people asking you for products, telling you how to make them, making new friends in the process. You leaned over to give him a kiss on the cheek. „Open it.“ His demeanor was soft. Softer than usual. You grabbed the box closer and undid the bow around it. There must be tons of things in there unless he bought something incredibly big. You flipped open the lid and stopped breathing for a second, „Wow.“ „There is an order to it too,“ he announced proudly and got out the first three things. „Toys,“ you commented dryly and looked at him, „Why did you wait with those? I just spent two weeks without your d-...whatever, let me see them.“ „Hmm.“ You read through each description on the box. One of them was something one of your friends kept talking about, so that was a good sign. The other two would need a thorough testing. „Well, we won‘t get sleep tonight...or, well, I will, after these prove to be good.“ You grinned at him and got a kiss behind your ear with a deep chuckle. He handed you the next packaging, „The rosegold headphones I‘ve been talking about!“ You could see in his eyes how much he bathed in the feeling of making your face light up like this. You unpacked the headphones and ran through the entire apartment to get it to charge somewhere. „So, there‘s been that thing you kept talking about whenever we were driving over here from campus…“ He held up a H&M bag and set it down between you both. „You..bought me the teddy bear material jacket.“ You gave him full puppy eyes for that. Your heart just started exploding at how much he listened to the little things on the side. „You will look gorgeous in it.“ He smiled and gave you a kiss. „Will you take pictures of me in it?“ You asked all giddy about it and got a big nod back. Then he got out four big books and set them down on your lap. „All the books from the author of the Pentagon book?“ You jumped and wiggled on the couch cushion. „With audio book codes,“ he announced super proud of himself. „My god. I‘m not sure if you can top that.“ You said hugging the books. He made a gift card appear between two of his fingers. The little logo on it spelling IKEA. „$700 IKEA gift card...bought it after we managed to get that noise complaint. You can buy a bed or a closet with it. Or a stupid amount of decorations.“ He started chuckling at your frozen body with the shocked face. „SEVEN-HUNDRED-DOLLARS. ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR GODDAMN MIND?“ You threw yourself backwards against the cushions. „Yes, I am.“ He chuckled and dragged you back up. „You can also spend it helping others...if that‘s what you wanna do,“ he said still holding onto your hands gently. „But that‘s it, right?“ You looked at him frowning a little. „Well…“ He scratched his back and chuckled at your head falling into your hands. „Only two more things.“ He finally let you know. The next thing was brought out, jewelry box, flat, a bit bigger. He opened it to reveal a necklace with a little plate. „Wait…“ You tried to process and looked up. „Had part of my old tags redone for this necklace. I want you to know how much you mean to me. I wouldn‘t just give this to anyone. That thing is what makes me feel pain and safety,“ He picked it up, „And you don‘t have to wear it, but it would mean the world to me if you did.“ You sat there with your mouth so wide open that your jaw started hurting, „I‘m- Wow- This is- Yes, of course I‘ll wear it.“ You nodded heavily as his demeanor changed to a more relaxed one and he carefully put the necklace around your neck. „And the last gift kinda comes with that one.“ He mumbled and got out the last gift, also a small box, a little less jewelry-box-looking. He handed it to you and you carefully opened it. There was a key in it, a key with a „B“ stamped into it at the top. „This is also your home now, if you want it to.“ He said almost shy. For some reason this didn‘t feel fast moving. Yes, this thing had only been going on for around 3 months, but it just felt right the entire time. You had the right chemistry, you talked a lot, you just got each others‘ brains and your morals matched. „This place isn‘t my home, Bucky. You are,“ you whispered. It was true, since you both hit it off you were worrying less about the future and your place in the world.

He grabbed your hands again and cleared his throat before looking at you. „I just knew you were different the second you came up to that desk and asked me for suggestions like the biggest, most determined, nerd. You seemed so interesting and you just sounded like an unpolished crystal the more we talked. So I started looking forward to talking to you in my office twice a week...and I guess it kinda clicked along the way. And it kinda clicked again recently, when I realized you wouldn‘t be a student anymore that I would have to hide to protect. My god, I‘m so completely and utterly in love with you. So much love shouldn‘t even be allowed. I‘ve never been so happy and so far away from all my bad thoughts. Thank you for being you, darling. I love you.“ He opened up his heart to you. Your face lit up, „I feel the same. So much lighter, less misplaced, like I have more purpose. I feel the way you make me grow, okay? I love the little soft and nerdy bits you show of yourself. Or the lovey dovey things like right now. I love all of it. I love YOU!“ He grabbed your face and gave you one of the softest kisses you shared until now. „Let‘s take this as a new beginning and actually start living now. No dumb second thoughts because of the educational system.“ He mumbled against your lips. „Yes, a new beginning.“ You smiled staring into his storm blue eyes. Maybe you‘d manage to graduate how you wanted to, get a good job, or maybe make money from that study account and those products, buy a house with him and have your little happy ever after. You looked forward to that. You finally looked forward to the future.

M a s t e r l i s t

[geekxgoddess85]

Very Bad Things

~PROLOGUE~ How It Began

“Are you sure a-about this Armin?”

“Of course, I’m sure. You trust me, right?”

Eren bit his lip, giving his childhood best friend a worried look. The two were currently on summer break from Trost University, going into their senior year. For Eren, junior year was a nightmare. If he was to be honest with himself, he had been slacking for the past two years so, when junior year came, he had to buckle down and keep his nose in the books in order to be able to pass the necessary courses to complete his credits. For college, staying an extra year on the count of not passing a course or lack of credits was more normal than one would think. But for Eren, he wanted to make sure he graduated the same time his friends did.

It was one week into summer break and Eren still felt the stress from taking his finals. It was the reason Armin was in his bedroom at the moment, making an account on—on behalf of Eren— on an adult live cam site called Strip ‘N Chat. Eren didn’t know how to feel about it. It was one thing to watch porn videos, but to actually interact with a person via webcam was kind of unnerving. Armin mentioned it was a great way to let off steam and when his best friend brought the idea to him, Eren was a bit…perturbed about it all. It was ironic, though. During their entire lives, Armin had been the conservative, stick-in-the-mud prude who used to balk at the very thought of sex, while Eren was the extroverted, loudmouth rebel. Three years into their college career and look at how the tables turned. Eren was still…well…Eren, but he found himself as the prude. The crazy thing was, Armin lost his virginity their freshman year during a frat party to Jean, of all people, while Eren was still a virgin. After his little tryst with Jean (and a couple of times afterwards), Armin began to blossom and open up in all ways, including sexual. He was openly gay and sexually active. And fucking proud of it all too.

The shit was crazy.

“Okay. Done.” Armin smiled and sat back in his chair. “You’re all signed up and I got ya’ logged in. Here’s your username and password.” He grabbed Eren’s sketch pad and began writing the information down. “Username is SlickxJagger and your password is Sk8terB0i30.”

Eren raised his eyes. “Slick…x…Jagger?”

“Yeah, corny, but cool, huh?”

“No!” He argued. “I sound like a washed up 90’s porn star!”

Armin shrugged and blinked his eyes innocently. “It’s a porn site, Eren. Everyone’s username sounds like a washed up 90’s porn star. Now, you’re all set! I loaded up that pic of you at Krista’s pool party.”

Eren sighed. He knew what picture Armin was speaking of. He posted it on his Instagram and had gotten a ton of likes. He didn’t think it was anything special. It was just him, with his red and white swim trunks on, holding up the hem of his shirt with his teeth, exposing his abs and various fake tattoos. He had grown his hair out—almost to his shoulders—and was a damp mess of a bird’s nest. Because of that and his long bangs, his face was pretty much hidden, though the sun light had shone just right on his sea green eyes, which caused them to sparkle and almost glow. “What do I do now?” He blinked owlishly.

Sitting forward, Armin clapped his hands onto the top of his knees. “Fill in your profile and filter out what you’re looking for. Then you can pick which Cam Model you like and subscribe to them. Every time they go live or post a pic or video, you’ll get a notification. Remember, some of that shit, they charge you tokens. It’s usually the more risqué stuff. The amount is based on their own discretion. And if you want one-on-one’s, you definitely have to pay out the ass with tokens.”

Biting his lip, Eren looked at his profile. He filled in the basic information about his age, height,  and build, and his likes and dislikes. He answered everything to the best of his ability and honestly. The only thing he lied about was his name. Instead of his real name, he decided to use ‘Jagger’ as being his first name. He didn’t provide a last name. His preferences came next. He started clicking the various boxes. “Um….okay, I like brunettes. Height doesn’t really matter to me. A muscular body would be nice. Don’t care about ethnicity…..” He continued to click away, with Armin helping him on certain things. “Is that all? Did I miss anything?”

“Yes, you sure did,” Armin replied, with a devilish grin. “And I know exactly which to pick out of Twink or Daddy. Click on Daddy.”

Eren winced. “Ew!”

Rolling his eyes, Armin sighed. “Not that kind of Daddy, Eren. Duh! Daddy kink.” He watched his buddy blink cluelessly at him. “I can’t believe you don’t know what that is. Even I know, dude. It’s when a younger male twink is enticed by an older male ‘Zaddy’. That’s the gist of it. If ya’ wanna know more, google it!” Standing, Armin slapped his hands down on Eren’s shoulders, before wrapping his arms around Eren’s neck, hugging him from behind. “I gotta go. Mikasa asked me to fill in for her at the Café. Did you talk to Annie about your schedule?”

Eren raised his own arms up and behind him, awkwardly wrapping them around Armin’s waist…or trying to as much as he could while sitting in his red and black gamer chair. “Yeah. I have the same schedule as you now so that I can catch a ride with you.”

“Great! I’ll see you tomorrow night.” Armin kissed the top of Eren’s head, before taking his leave.

Eren gave his buddy a lazy wave goodbye with a lopsided grin. When his bedroom door closed, his smile died down and was followed by a heavy sigh. He still didn’t know about this whole cam thing. But he was always up to trying new things. And if Armin liked it, then maybe it couldn’t be that bad.

Over the next hour, he had gone through dozens of pages of so-called Daddies. That process was a little more frustrating that what it should have been. Eren was picky when it came to who and what he found attractive. Not that it was a thing with him anyway, but he didn’t pick based on looks. He couldn’t because all models were required to wear masks for anonymity sake. He thought that was kind of neat. It gave the models a sexy, mysterious look to them. He had to go off based on their profiles and preferences. He had to weed out a lot of douche-bags but narrowed it down to two: The Captain and Dr. Pain. He was kind of skeptical about Dr. Pain. He looked to be into BDSM and while Eren didn’t have anything against it, he had never done anything like that. But Dr. Pain was 6”2, with impeccable styled blonde hair and chiseled features from what he could tell through the mask. They had a few of the same likes and dislikes. Overall, the guy sounded pretty normal, despite liking ‘a little pain with his sex’ (his own words). The Captain…well…there was something about him. He was a shorty, standing only at 5”3. Eren was a full five inches taller than he was. Not that it mattered. He didn’t think their was a height requirement to being a Daddy, but when he googled it, the norm was the Daddy was always taller and bigger than the Twink. They shared a lot of the same likes and dislikes, but what struck a chord in Eren’s heart was The Captain’s eyes. Even through his white, red, and black mask, Eren could see a pair of piercing blue-gray eyes. Almost a light cobalt. They pulled him in as if he were in a whirlpool, being sucked into the abyss.

‘What the hell?’

Blinking back into reality, Eren shook his head and walked to the kitchen. His stomach was roaring at him angrily to feed it. “Mikasa, are you hungry?” He called out to silence. Armin was gone to work, and it seemed like Mikasa had left to go some place too. So, he was alone.

Sighing, he kicked his door closed with his toes and plopped down on his bed. A sandwich and soda sounded real good right now and that’s exactly what he was chowing down.

It was a couple of minutes before ten when a notification sounded out. He thought it was his phone, but when he checked it, he saw that it wasn’t, he furrowed his brows. “Hm—oh! My laptop!” Scrambling off the bed, Eren rushed to the laptop and pressed on the ‘enter’ key to wake his system up. Checking his email, he saw one new message and blinked slowly. “It’s from Strip N Chat.” Biting his lip, he cautiously opened up the notif; reading every single letter that made up all the words.

“The Captain is now online.”

Swallowing hard, he clicked the link that took him straight to The Captain’s page. It was a simple page. There was a large blank box in the middle of the screen that said ‘The Captain’s Quarters’. The chat was at the bottom. There his stans already there talking to each other, waiting for The Captain to show.

And when he made his entrance, it was pandemonium.

“Hello Darlings, it’s your Captain speaking. Did you miss me?" Leaning forward, resting his chin on the backs of his fingers, he winked on cobalt blue eye. "Have I got a story for my horny little Ship Mates tonight.”

Eren watched a grin spread across his face, which he couldn’t see much of it. Like all the models on the site, The Captain wore some kind of masquerade looking mask that covered majority of his face. Only his eyes, hair, and his lips and chin were seen, as far as his face goes. His body…well that was another story.

“Wow….” Eren whispered, mesmerized by the guy’s body. His shoulders were broad, and his arms were toned. And as bright as day, he sported a winged tattoo on his chest, with what looked to be a matching one on his left hip. “That’s so hot,” he whispered. Eren had a thing for tattoos. He wanted some of his own but was too afraid of needles to get any. But fucking A if this guy didn’t look hot wearing his.

“…but first, looks like we got some virgins in the house.” He smirked; a pink tongue coming out to wet his bottom and top lips. “Come on.” His voice deepened, dropping one octave. “I don’t bite.....unless you beg me for it.”

Those very words and the way he said them sent a shiver down his spine and an electric shock to his dick.

“Crew, say hello to our newest Shipmates RainMan95, PoisonedL0v3r, and…SlickxJagger. Mmmm….hey Slick….just how slick is that tight, little hole of yours?”

“Fuck. Me.” Eren’s eyes went blind. He was caught. Hook, line, and sinker or whatever the fuck it was called. The guy had him. Him and his aching dick that was standing on end, making a tent in his sweatpants.

“Speaking of holes mmmm, wait until you hear this one. It about a cute, little Twink with a bubble butt that I ate. All. Fucking. Night. Long. When I was done with him he had a…Slick…hole too, Jagger.” Captain grinned widely. “Wanna hear the story, Crew?” He lowered his voice and his tone. Sitting back in his chair, he reached into his pants and pulled out his enormous, leaking cock and began to stroke it lazily.  “Get out your dicks, my lovely little perverts. Come stroke with me down memory lane.”

‘Oh no…’

Eren was fucking hooked.