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cheaperfly · 1 year ago

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Affordable Travel, Endless Possibilities with CheaperFly

Travel has a magical way of broadening our horizons, igniting our senses, and leaving us with cherished memories. The desire to explore new places and cultures is an inherent part of the human experience. However, for many, the cost of travel can often be a stumbling block. That’s where CheaperFly steps in, offering an affordable travel experience that unlocks endless possibilities. In this 800-word article, we will delve into the world of CheaperFly and discover how this innovative travel service makes your dreams of affordable travel a reality.

Unveiling CheaperFly

CheaperFly is not just another travel service; it is a comprehensive travel concierge that redefines the concept of budget-friendly travel. From booking flights and accommodations to organizing transportation and exciting activities at your destination, CheaperFly has got it all covered. This article will shed light on the reasons why CheaperFly is the preferred choice for travelers who seek the perfect blend of adventure, affordability, and convenience.

The Art of Affordable Travel

Budget-Friendly Booking

One of the standout features of CheaperFly is its prowess in finding the best deals on flights and accommodations. This platform tirelessly scours the vast expanse of the internet to present you with the most cost-effective options, ensuring that you get the most bang for your buck. CheaperFly allows you to allocate your hard-earned money toward memorable experiences, rather than draining it on the basics.

Personalized Travel Plans

CheaperFly understands that no two travelers are the same. Everyone has their unique preferences and interests, and CheaperFly acknowledges this diversity. They create personalized travel plans that cater to your individual desires, ensuring that your journey is unlike any other. Whether you’re a cultural connoisseur, an adventure seeker, or a relaxation enthusiast, CheaperFly crafts an experience that speaks to you.

Exclusive Deals and Discounts

One of CheaperFly’s biggest advantages is its exclusive partnerships with airlines, hotels, and tour operators. These partnerships open doors to discounts and deals that are simply unattainable through traditional booking platforms. With CheaperFly, you can relish the luxury of top-notch accommodations and thrilling activities without the hefty price tag.

Customer-Centric Approach

At the heart of CheaperFly’s success is its unwavering commitment to customer satisfaction. The team is available around the clock to address any travel-related queries or concerns you may have. Whether it’s a last-minute change in plans or a desire for local insights, CheaperFly ensures that you’re well taken care of.

Booking Simplified

Real People, Real Testimonials

But you don’t have to take our word for it. Here are some heartfelt testimonials from satisfied CheaperFly customers:

“CheaperFly made my dream vacation affordable and hassle-free. I can’t thank them enough!” — Sarah M.

“The personalization and attention to detail in my travel plan were impressive. CheaperFly knows how to make a trip special.” — David L.

These testimonials are a testament to the authentic experiences of travelers who have turned to CheaperFly for their travel needs. These stories underscore the true value of CheaperFly’s mission to make affordable travel accessible to all.

Your Journey Begins Here

Starting your adventure with CheaperFly is a straightforward process. You can visit their website or download their mobile app, which ensures that you can plan your next adventure with ease. The user-friendly interface enables you to navigate the options effortlessly, helping you create your dream itinerary in no time.

The CheaperFly Mobile App

For travelers on the move, the CheaperFly mobile app is a must-have. It offers the same fantastic features as the website but with the added convenience of being at your fingertips. Whether you’re at the airport, in your hotel room, or exploring a new city, the mobile app ensures that your travel plans are always within reach.

Round-the-Clock Assistance

Travel mishaps can happen at any time, which is why CheaperFly provides 24/7 customer support. No matter where you are in the world, help is just a call or message away. Whether it’s a change in your travel plans, a concern about your accommodations, or a desire for local recommendations, the CheaperFly support team is ready to assist.

Safety and Security

Your safety is a top priority for CheaperFly. The service works with reputable partners and adheres to the highest safety standards. When you book with CheaperFly, you can have peace of mind knowing that your journey is in safe hands. This peace of mind allows you to explore without worry, savoring every moment of your travels.

Rewards for Your Loyalty

CheaperFly believes in rewarding loyalty. With their rewards program, you can earn points for each booking you make. As you accumulate points, you can unlock even more savings on your future travels. This program serves as an additional incentive to encourage you to embark on your next adventure sooner rather than later.

In Conclusion

In a world where travel costs can be prohibitive, CheaperFly emerges as a beacon of hope for adventurers. With its commitment to affordability, personalized service, and customer satisfaction, CheaperFly has redefined the travel industry.

Don’t let budget constraints hold you back from exploring the world. Get started with CheaperFly today and turn your travel dreams into reality. With CheaperFly as your affordable travel concierge, you’re not just booking a trip; you’re unlocking endless possibilities.

#africa #cheap #flight

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luvdsc · 4 years ago

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doing the bf tag with my bf.

hey, siri, does bf stand for best friend or boyfriend? (or both?)

pairing :: na jaemin x reader genre :: fluff / best friend + youtuber au word count :: 4,691 words warnings :: none playlist :: mean it (lauv & lany) ⋆ always, i’ll care (jeremy zucker) ⋆ fearless (taylor swift) ⋆ fingers crossed (coin) ⋆ cardiac arrest (bad suns) author’s note :: this fic is a tiny bit different than my usual writing because i emphasize more on dialogue than description in order to mimic a youtube video. happy birthday to this absolute darling angel! you have the biggest heart in the universe, and thank you for sharing so much of it with the world ♡ ↳ part of the not clickbait series.

Your subscribers have always wondered if you would do this type of video countless of times, and you never thought you’d ever actually record one due to the state of your love life (or lack thereof), yet here you are.

Unfortunately, the romantic department of your life still remains very much empty though. But lucky for you, so is your best friend’s. And that pretty much works out perfectly because he could stand in for your nonexistent boyfriend in order to complete the popular GF/BF tag (along with a hidden challenge that was popular by demand and personally requested by a certain friend with a flair for baking. Now if only the frantic butterflies in your stomach would settle down just enough for you to do it).

After all, BF could stand for either boyfriend or best friend, right?

It’s also no secret that yours and Jaemin’s subscribers shipped you two together either. Heck, you may be a little delusional as well because you ship yourself with your best friend, too. Blame the massive crush you’ve been secretly harboring. But two best friends sharing an apartment and frequently appearing in videos on each of your respective channels? In the eyes of your fans, that’s basically the perfect setup for a modern day love story.

It would 100% be the greatest love story since Kat and Patrick in 10 Things I Hate About You, but at this point in your life, your story is going to be marked down as a tragedy. You feel even more hopeless and dramatic than Romeo was about his unrequited love for Rosaline. Also, that dude got over her way too quickly at the sight of another pretty girl. You wish that would happen for you, too, but your heart is much too stubborn over Jaemin.

When you had asked him if he would do the video with you, Jaemin immediately agreed much to your initial surprise. The publicity would be good though, you surmise later on, and both our fan bases would grow, so of course, he would agree. It’s not like your best friend liked you back. That would be absolutely absurd.

“Are you ready?” Jaemin speaks up, breaking your train of thought, and you’re slightly startled. He plops down in the plush pink rolling chair next to you, the chair moving back a few inches. He scooches it closer to your own chair, buzzing with excitement. You smile at your best friend, pushing down the butterflies erupting in your stomach. You nod before reaching forward and pressing the record button on the camera set up in front of you. You pull up the list of questions on your phone.

“Yeah, let's do this.”

How did we meet?

“Oh, this is an easy question,” Jaemin says, flashing his award winning smile at the camera before he throws his arm around you happily, hugging you affectionately. “It was freshman year. You ran into me. Literally. We were in the same class, and it just ended. You were trying to shove your textbook into your bag and didn’t notice where you were walking until you face-planted into my back.”

The memory is still fresh in your mind, and you remember how you had already resigned yourself to your fate of becoming good friends with the floor. But Lady Luck was on your side for once, and she sent an angel in the form of Na Jaemin to save you from embarrassment on your first day of university.

“Yeah, I almost fell flat on my butt, but luckily, Nana has great reflexes and when he turned around, he grabbed my arm before I hit the ground,” you add on, still squished into his side. He beams, eyes crinkling into half moon crescents before placing a kiss on your cheek and turning back to the camera.

Your heart skips a beat, but you ignore it. Jaemin has always been affectionate, and kisses were all in good fun. You continue on, plastering a nonchalant smile on your face. “And he said, ‘Looks like you just fell for me.’ And then he insisted that we get lunch together.”

“And the rest is history!” he exclaims happily, resting his cheek on the top of your head. You smile fondly before going onto the next question.

Where was our first date?

“The dining hall immediately after you ran into me.”

“That wasn’t a date,” you interject. “We can skip this question since we aren’t dating.”

Jaemin shrugs, waiting for you to read the next question. He murmurs faintly under his breath, “It was supposed to be one.”

We’re going out to eat, where are we going?

Jaemin answers immediately, leaning back in his chair. “The little pizza place down the block! They always make three different types of unique pizza everyday, and once they sell out, they close for the day.”

“We always go on Wednesday because they make both of our favorite pizzas then.” You chime in, and he nods enthusiastically, moving closer to the front and throwing his hands up in the air for emphasis. “They have corn and potato pizza that day!”

You wrinkle your nose slightly before leaning towards the camera. “To my subscribers, for the record, I assure you that I have better taste than that, and I love the artichoke pesto pizza with ricotta.”

What food do I dislike?

“... Corn and potato pizza,” he says reluctantly with a pout. “And kiwis. The outside is furry and creeps you out, and the fruit makes your tongue itch.”

You flash a thumbs up at the camera, and your best friend grins, puffing up his chest. Chuckling quietly, you shake your head before answering the question yourself. “And this dork absolutely hates anything strawberry flavored. And he’s lactose intolerant, so dairy is his enemy.”

“I love cheese, but cheese hates me,” he says mournfully, hanging his head down low before he jumps back up and reads the following question listed on your phone’s screen aloud.

Who is my best friend?

“Me!” Jaemin shouts gleefully, throwing his hands up in the air, and you can’t help but laugh, grinning widely at your best friend, a fond expression on your face.

“You.”

Am I a morning person or a night person?

“We’re both night people,” you say, and Jaemin nods in agreement. “You won’t catch either of us waking up before noon if we can’t help it, and we each have to set up like five alarms just to wake up.”

“It works out because we can stay up together watching movies or editing our videos,” he adds in, turning to you and smiling fondly. “And I always have a partner when I want to go on a midnight snack run to the convenience store nearby.”

Do we have a song? What is it?

“Jeremy Zucker’s Always, I’ll Care.”

“That’s our song?” You’re surprised. You were going to mention one of the go-to karaoke songs the two of you liked to belt out on the top of your lungs after a movie and wine night. Jaemin makes a great Sharpay Evans when you both want to bop to the top.

“It’s the song that reminds me of you,” he says, voice growing softer as he reaches the end of the sentence. Curse your heart for melting into a puddle. His cheeks turn pink under your gaze, and he becomes uncharacteristically shy, clearing his throat awkwardly.

“Anyway, what’s the next question?”

What’s my nickname?

“Nana!” You reach out to poke his cheek, and he puffs them up before pouting at you. He reaches out and pinches your cheek.

“I call you ‘angel’ sometimes. It’s why your channel is called peachyangel.”

What's my weirdest habit?

“Jaemin eats way too much cilantro,” you state, swinging around side to side in your rolling chair.

“I do not!” he protests loudly, and you give him a blank stare. The two of you sit there in silence, not breaking eye contact until he finally relents.

“Okay, maybe I do. But you pour cereal before milk!”

“That’s not a weird habit!” You defend yourself. You are appalled at your best friend. Neither of you have ever woken up early enough for breakfast, so this has never come up before. If you would’ve known this in the past, maybe you wouldn’t be so ridiculously in love with him in the present.

“Yes, it is! Your cereal gets all soggy that way!”

“Only idiots pour their milk first!”

He clutches his heart dramatically. “Are you calling me an idiot?!”

“... So moving onto the next question—”

What do you think I’m talented at?

“Making people fall in love with you,” Jaemin blurts out, and your eyes widen at his answer as your grip on your phone loosens considerably.

“I—I mean, you’re just so approachable, and you’re kind to everyone. You care so much about everyone and everything. People feel comfortable around you, they always gravitate towards you, and you just— I don’t know, you make people feel loved,” he explains, unable to meet your eyes, and his cheeks darken. He fiddles around with the loose strand on his sweater sleeve.

Your heart swells ten times bigger and beats faster than ever. You wonder if Jaemin knows he has the same effect on everyone, too. You hope he does.

You wonder if he knows you’re in love with him and if he would love you back. You hope he does.

When was the first time you said “I love you” to me?

“Uh, we can skip this one, too,” you say awkwardly, but he throws his arm around your shoulder again, hugging you tightly. “Nope, not skipping! I have the answer to this one!”

He grins toothily at the camera before pinching your cheek for a second time affectionately. “I said ‘I love you’ when you showed up at my dorm and brought me pop tarts at three in the morning after I accidentally drunk texted you, instead of Jeno. That’s when I knew you were a keeper.”

“I did that because I felt bad about throwing up on your shoes at the party we went to the weekend before that,” you mumble, face growing warm when you remember your best friend’s drunken confession a few years back. “Besides, you were drunk. It doesn’t count.”

“Okay, fine, but we say it to each other all the time. The second time I said it was when you brought me chicken nuggets, and I was hungover, but sober.” He says, spinning in his chair.

“I can see the pattern now. You say it when I bring you food,” you say, crossing your arms over your chest with a fake pout. “You love food, not me.”

“That’s not true!” he exclaims, halting mid spin and facing you. He turns your chair towards him, moving forward to clutch both of your hands in his, and stares directly into your eyes seriously. “I love you.”

You inaudibly gulp, helplessly gazing back at him as you feel your face begin to burn, your heart speeding up in your chest. Jaemin grins, leaning back and letting go of your hand. “See? I love you!”

“Y-yeah.” You swallow hard, fumbling over your words. “You love me.”

What is your favorite thing about me?

“Your laugh,” Jaemin replies honestly, reaching out and absentmindedly drawing circles on the back of your hand as he looks at you. “Hyuck told me the other day that whenever I try to do something funny or make a joke, I have a habit of turning towards you for your reaction. It makes me kinda proud that I can make you laugh.”

You know that you’re stupidly grinning like an absolute idiot at this point, but you don’t care. You even almost forget about the camera.

“Your smile,” you answer, maintaining eye contact with him. Your smile widens when you see one appear on his face, his eyes shining brightly. “You have the prettiest smile, and I’m grateful that I’m able to see it everyday or be the cause of it sometimes.”

What film always makes me cry?

“Oh, The Lion King.” Jaemin responds automatically. “We both cry our eyes out at the stampede moment and when Simba tells his dad to wake up.”

“When we saw the live action version together, we brought along a ton of tissues with us, and he used almost all of them.”

What drink do I always order?

“Jaemin is crazy and always gets a venti iced americano with no water and eight espresso shots. He used to drink it six times a day until I yelled at him about it,” you say, shaking your head at the camera before glancing over at your best friend. “It’s seriously bad for your health.”

His lips jut out into a pout as he whines, “You wouldn't let me cuddle with you until I changed it!”

“It was for your own good! Plus, that drink tasted like battery acid!” You exclaim, and he sulks quietly before begrudgingly agreeing. You pat his head in consolation, and he grabs your hand, naturally interlocking your fingers with his.

“I drink it less now and with only two and half shots.”

If I could, what candy could I eat all day long?

“Chocolate,” you blurt out immediately. “Jaemin is a chocolate fanatic. But he’ll take anything with sugar. He has such a sweet tooth. He eats brown sugar when he’s bored. Even his boba drink has 100% sugar.”

“It’s as sweet as you.” Jaemin winks at you exaggeratingly, and you roll your eyes, turning your face away slightly to hide the smile that begins to spread across your face.

“Y/N likes matcha green tea Kit Kats.” He leans closer to the camera, peering into the lens in a serious manner. “If any chocolate companies are watching this, we are both open to sponsorships.”

If I could live anywhere in the world, where would I live?

“Here,” Jaemin says confidently, beaming at you, “You’d want to live here with me. And I want to live here, too. Because this is the bestest place in the world.” He hesitates, faltering for a moment before searching your eyes. “Right?”

Who are you to say no to that?

You smile at him. “Right.”

What am I deathly afraid of?

“You’re afraid of spiders,” he announces, “You make me take care of all the spiders in the apartment.”

“Yeah, it’s the only reason I keep you around,” you say casually, and he gasps, insulted. You give him a cheeky smile. “I’m just kidding.”

He scowls at you, lips pulled into a frown. “You better be.”

What is the first thing that I do in the morning?

“Jaemin is never awake before I am,” you inform the camera, crossing your legs. “I have to wake him up first if we go anywhere.”

“Even if you don’t have to go to an event, you still wake up early to make sure I’m awake, so I won’t be late. So that’s what you do first thing in the morning: wake me up.” Jaemin nudges your leg. “You always come into my room as a blanket burrito with your comforter wrapped around you.”

“That’s because I have to face the treacherous cold to make sure you aren’t late to your events. But you still end up late anyway because you drag me down onto your bed and refuse to let me go until we lay there for twenty minutes,” you grumble, pulling up your legs onto your chair and wrapping your arms around your knees.

“Cuddling is a good way to conserve body heat and start the morning,” Jaemin states, waving his arms around to emphasize his point.

“Really? Do studies show that it’s beneficial to cuddle in the morning?”

“I don’t know.” Jaemin shrugs, making a noncommittal noise. He smiles at you, causing your stomach to do flip flops and your heart to do cartwheels. “But it makes me happy every morning, so I’d say that’s enough proof.”

Who usually wins our arguments?

“Y/N does,” Jaemin sighs heavily, leaning back against his chair in resignation. “You always win.”

“It’s true.” You nod, patting Jaemin’s arm consolingly. “It’s tough always being right, but someone has to do it.”

“You always pout, too, and I just give in because you’re too cute,” he says casually, and you freeze in your seat. Never mind the fact that he’s implying you’re wrong, Na Jaemin just called you cute.

Good thing this is caught on camera because this means you can secretly watch this multiple times in private. And also cringe over your awkward reaction, but let’s not talk about that right now because once again, Jaemin just called you cute. You! Cute! Jaemin! Your mind is honestly short circuiting, and you can’t do anything, except nod and smile like a complete fool.

What do we usually argue about?

“Adopting,” Jaemin says solemnly. Eyes widening, you wait for a moment, but he offers no explanation. You lightly shove his chair, and he rolls a few inches away. “Nana, you can't just end it like that! You have to say more than that!”

Turning towards the camera, you hurriedly explain, “He’s talking about pets. He wants to adopt five dogs and name them after Jisung, Chenle, Jeno, Renjun, and Mark. And then he wants to adopt a snake and name it after Donghyuck.”

“She said we could only get one dog and the snake.” Jaemin scowls, slumping in his seat as he stares into the camera. “I can’t believe she isn’t letting me get five dogs. I love Jisung and all non-Jisung’s equally.”

What’s my favorite clothing item?

“It’s not even yours. You always steals my white hoodie. I haven’t been able to wear it for the past month,” Jaemin complains, and you have the decency to look a little guilty.

You play with the strings of said hoodie that’s currently engulfing your body, curling into yourself as you tuck your face into the sweater like a turtle. “Your clothes smell nice.”

“But we use the same laundry detergent.” Jaemin wrinkles his eyebrows, confusion evident in his eyes. “All our clothes smell like snuggles and cotton.”

“It’s not the same,” you insist, wrinkling your nose, and he shakes his head, lips curling into a smile. He reaches over and tugs the hood of the sweater over your head playfully.

“Okay, whatever you say, angel. You look better in them than me anyway.”

Where am I on a Friday night?

“You’re here with me, eating Chinese take out and watching Criminal Minds,” you answer, and he agrees, nodding.

“We just finished watching all twelve seasons on Netflix, so if anyone has any show recommendations, please send them in!”

What is my weirdest interest?

“Once again, my clothes,” Jaemin says, and you begin to protest but he wags his finger at you. “No, no, no, you don’t get to disagree! You hoarded like six of my sweaters in your closet. I bought you the exact same sweater for your birthday, but you still take mine!”

You silently decide that it is better to accept this defeat than correct him because you actually have seven of his sweaters and a few tee shirts as well.

Who’s my favorite YouTuber?

“Me!” Jaemin’s hand shoots up in the air. “I’m your favorite YouTuber. Next question.”

Your hands start to get clammy as you look down at the final question you have been saving for last. It’s been a good fifteen minutes, and the butterflies still haven’t subsided. If anything, they seem to have multiplied and transformed into a whole rampaging zoo complete with elephants and monkeys.

“Uh, are you sure about that, Nana? ShowMeTheMonet is really good. I also really like itsmebetch a lot.” You stall for time, staring at the last question until the words are stamped in your mind. “Dream Unsolved and Worth It are amazing, too.”

Suddenly, Jaemin is right in front of you as he spins your chair around to face him, frowning and complaining, “What do you mean I’m not your favorite? You’re my favorite! What kind of best friend are you? This is a betrayal! An insult! This is worse than Jisung not calling me his favorite! How could you do this to m—”

“Okay, okay, you’re my favorite! I’m sorry! It was a joke,” you interrupt, but he turns away from you, crossing his arms over his chest.

“No, go make a video with ShowMeTheMonet instead.” He sulks, shoulders hunched over. “If you like her so much, go be best friends with her.”

“I’m sorry! I’ll buy you all the chocolate you want after this,” you plead with him, placing your phone on the table next to you. “I’ll even buy you boba everyday for a week!”

Jaemin brightens up at that immediately. “Oh, yeah! I want some milk tea after this! Okay, what’s the last question?”

You swallow hard, nervously fiddling with the hoodie strings once more and shoving all the butterflies down to the pit of your stomach. Twisting in your seat, you move your chair and spin his around until you’re both facing each other, knees touching.

“‘Where and when was our first kiss?’”

At the immediate thought of kissing you, his cheeks explode in various shades of pink, the tips of his ears catching fire. He’d be lying if he said he hasn’t thought about kissing you daily. Heck, he had to stop himself from doing so earlier when you were burying your face in his stolen hoodie. It’s so unfair that you’re always so cute and looking so… so… kissable.

“I, uh, I don’t think I can answer that,” your best friend stammers out as his eyes dart towards your lips before meeting yours.

“But you got all the other answers right.” Your voice comes out steadier than you thought it would, and you mentally pat yourself on the back. Gnawing on your bottom lip, you pause for a moment, balling your hands into fists before uncurling them and asking hesitantly, “Should I help you out?”

“Yes.” He wonders how exactly you can help him out. Oh god, did he kiss you before when he was drunk? But you would’ve told him if he did that. What if he had ki—

A soft pair of lips lands on his.

You’re kissing him. Oh my god, you’re kissing him! Jaemin wants to jump up and shout it from the rooftops. His heart leaps from his chest, and he’s wildly cheering in his mind as fireworks explode around him before he suddenly remembers that he has to kiss you back.

And so he does.

Jaemin tugs you closer until you’re pulled onto his lap, a muffled squeak of surprise coming from you, and he laughs as he presses his lips against yours more firmly, hands gripping your thighs as you straddle him. Your arms loop around his neck, and your heart ricochets in your chest as you kiss him back until your lungs are screaming for oxygen and you have to pull away.

Jaemin positively beams at you, eyes sparkling as he leans forward and nuzzles his nose against yours affectionately. He laughs breathlessly, resting his forehead against yours. “Yeah, that was really helpful. Our first kiss just happened right here a few seconds ago. And now, our second kiss is about to happen.”

Your best friend closes the distance, crashing his lips against yours once more, and you kiss him back just as fervently, smiling against his lips as he does the same. Never in either of your wildest dreams did you think this was going to happen, but you sure as heck aren’t complaining, and neither is he.

When the two of you finally break apart, you bury your face into the crook of his neck, flustered, and Jaemin laughs giddily, cheeks flushed and eyes twinkling. He hugs you tightly to his chest before nudging you to look up at him. “So did I get a 100% on the boyfriend tag?”

“Yes,” you say, sitting up straight on his lap and grabbing both of his hands in each of your own, intertwining your fingers with his. “You got twenty five out of twenty five. Congratulations on your perfect score.”

“Technically, you did do the boyfriend tag with your boyfriend then, right?” he says slyly, squeezing your fingers. “Shouldn’t I get some bonus points for helping you do the tag correctly?”

You chuckle, failing to contain your smile. “Okay, fine, you get bonus points, too. You did an A plus job, Nana.”

“I’ll take those bonus points in the form of kisses.” He puckers his lips at you, and you easily comply, wordlessly leaning forward to give him one, two, three kisses.

Jaemin grins at you, positively delighted before he attacks you with kisses, peppering soft kisses onto your cheeks, forehead, chin, the tip of your nose, and everywhere else in between until he finally kisses your lips gently.

If this was a cartoon, there would be hearts floating around his head and shooting from his eyes. He leans forward again to kiss you one more time for good measure. You smile mischievously, tilting your head to the side slightly as your hands curl around his shirt. “Are you sure there’s nothing else you want for your bonus points?”

His eyebrows furrow for a split second before his entire face lights up. Jaemin carefully cradles you, picking you up as his grip tightens under your thighs. You let out a quiet squeal, wrapping your arms around his neck, as he stands up enthusiastically.

“Cut the cameras!”

One new notification: peachyangel uploaded a new video!

nana ଘ(੭*ˊᵕˋ)੭* ੈ♡‧₊˚ commented:

I LOVE YOU SO MUCH ANGEL 🥺💗💞💖💗🤩💝💕💜🤧💖💘😭💘🌼💐🥺💖🥺🥺🥺

peachyangel replied: ily too baby 🥺🤧💖💖

insert goofy’s chuckle commented:

is this allowed?? there are minors here 😫 jisung look away

peachyangel replied: get your mind out of the gutter, ya nasty 🙄 we turned off the cam because he wanted to go get milk tea

jisung pwark replied: I’m 18!!!!! Stop treating me like a child!!!

ghosts are real so suck it hyuck replied: @ jisung pwark stop making me cut the crusts off of your sandwiches then

big head king replied: @ ghosts are real so suck it hyuck how come you don’t cut the crusts off of my sandwiches 😭😭

ghosts are real so suck it hyuck replied: @ big head king because you are a grown adult and jeno already does it for you

jenojam commented:

congrats jaemin!! :)

Starbucks Official commented:

we would love to sponsor you, Mr. Na!

FIGHTING HAEYADWAE commented:

OH YOU ARE NANA!!1!1!!! 🤯🤯

ShowMeTheMonet commented:

um hello i would love to do the gf tag with you! i accept!!! it would be an honor 🤩

peachyangel replied: omg yes!!!! 🥺🥺 let’s do it soon 💖

insert goofy’s chuckle replied: @ nana ଘ(੭*ˊᵕˋ)੭* ੈ♡‧₊˚ did… did we just lose our gfs 🤧

mork lee rawr xD commented:

hahaha nice guys ! this was really cute haha

ty track commented:

the babies are all growing up too fast ):

jeno is my favorite commented:

.... i feel so single @.@

DonutKillMyVibe commented:

let it be known that I was the friend who challenged @ peachyangel to do the challenge and hence, I am the reason these two are together 👀👀

ghosts are real so suck it hyuck commented:

someone should make an updated version of that jaemin complaining video compilation with this

big head king commented:

ayyy you all are the GOAT 🐐🐐🐐

jenojam commented:

so are we just gonna let it slide when he called everyone except jisung “non jisungs” ?

jisung pwark replied: 😎😎

insert goofy’s chuckle commented:

is no one gonna comment on how he called me a snake?????

ghosts are real so suck it hyuck replied: @ insert goofy’s chuckle is no one gonna comment on how much of a clown hyuck is???

insert goofy’s chuckle replied: @ ghosts are real so suck it hyuck wtf? where did this even come from

ghosts are real so suck it hyuck replied: @ insert goofy’s chuckle sorry I thought we were stating the obvious here

big head king replied: LOLOLOL

apado gwenchana god commented:

nice 😎👍🏻

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ghostonly · 3 years ago

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FTM Top Surgery Q&A Announcement

- For Larger Lads, Disabled Lads, Lads with Ehlers Danlos, and Lads with ADHD -

Hiya! I'm going to be having double-incision top surgery on the 27th of April and, being that most top surgery Q&As and information online seems to cater mostly to smaller and more abled mascs, I feel like I'm in a uniquely important position to be able to share information for those of us who don't get our questions answered as easily.

Things About Me That Will Impact My Surgery and Recovery:

I'm a large guy (about 260lb) with a big chest - For Now >:)

I'm disabled, which, relevant to healing and recovery, means:

I have very limited energy and am fatigued very easily

I have undiagnosed EDS or an adjacent disorder which means my skin acts weird, heals weird, and is really sensitive and weak

It also means my joints don't stay in place the way they should, which leads to constant pain (in one area or another), inflammation, and partial dislocations many times per day

I have POTS, which, in simple terms, means changing position in certain ways has a massive impact on my heart rate

I have a lot of muscle soreness all the time for unknown reasons (might be Fibromyalgia, but I'm not sure and not diagnosed with anything yet)

I have IBS and a number of food intolerances which means antibiotics will impact my already touchy diet

I've got moderate persistent asthma which can be triggered by what position I'm lying in

I have ADHD, which will impact my recovery due to executive function issues, difficulty with falling asleep, etc.

I have roommates, but will be attempting to handle the bulk of my recovery by myself, as I'm not super close with any of them

I'm poor, so how I approach recovery will be very money-conscious (I'm not going to be ordering food every day, unfortunately 😔)

Q&A Series Installments

Because I'm in a position to be able to provide much needed insight into the experience of having top surgery for those with similar disabilities or weight, I plan to put together an extensive Q&A series.

The series will include these general timeline installments:

Operation day process and experience

1, 2, 4, and 6 Week post-op recovery progress and results (with photos)

3, 6, 9, and 12 month recovery progress and results (with photos)

As well as these more specific installments, which I'll post when convenient in the first couple of months after surgery:

Advice for handling recovery with ADHD/executive dysfunction

Pre-op environment preparation for disabled people - post-op wisdom and hindsight included

Post-op comfort and positioning advice for people with joint and/or pain issues

Incision and scar care for people with sensitive skin and/or EDS

Final Q&A

All of the installments will include relevant submitted questions and answers.

Any questions that were sent after the installment they would have fit into, or those that are more miscellaneous, will be posted and answered in the Final Q&A installment

If you could benefit from this Q&A, whether you share my disabilities or not, please send me questions!

Askers do not need to be disabled or fit into all of the categories I listed myself in. Even if you're skinny and abled, if you have questions about top surgery and recovery and this is the opportunity you needed to ask them, please do!

All questions asked will be saved until the installment relevant to them, then quoted and tagged. Anons are welcome.

Q&A Question Rules & Guidelines

Asking people to send me questions would turn into a nightmare without some boundaries, so here are some general rules and guidelines for sending in questions:

Do not ask for nude Before pictures. In fact, this one is so much of an obvious No that, if you do, you will be blocked. I will post a before with a shirt on in my progress installments.

Do not ask basic questions that can be answered with a 2-minute search. (e.g. "What is double-incision?" If your question is more specific or experience-based, I'll treat it in good faith (e.g. "How do I know if double-incision is right for me?" or, "How do you find a doctor who does double-incision?") Both of these could probably be answered with a search but aren't as simple and allow me to actually give my input rather than state a definition.

Keep sexual questions respectful and appropriate. I'm not completely against questions about sex if it is related to how top surgery affects things, but they need to be respectful and it should be clear you're not trolling in some way. Sexual questions will only be accepted off anon, but you can request to remain anonymous and I won't put your name in the post.

Refrain from asking anything related to law or medical practices. I don't have a list of resources to offer and I know there are others out there who do. I don't want to send anyone in the direction of outdated or unreliable information. If you want to know about my own experiences with insurance, qualifying, and getting my appointment, DM me or send me an ask off anon so that I can reply privately and see who's asking. I won't give specifics about my location and doctors in an open post.

I look forward to writing all of this up and, the more asks I get, the more robust the series will be! So send in your questions.

I'll tag each installment as #ghostsurgeryseries, so you can follow that tag if you don't want to miss any, or follow me. This blog is only original posts or reblogs where I add a substantial response, so it's low output and mostly unrelated to fandom (I have a couple ofmd posts but otherwise it's mostly about disability, adhd, and miscellaneous stuff)

Thanks for reading!

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phoenixtakaramono · 4 years ago

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Does Bing gē Have Descendants in ‘The Untold Tale?’

This topic has come up a few times since The Untold Tale takes place in the PIDW universe (post-Bingge vs Bingmei extra), I figured I might as well compile and archive my official answer here for me to refer my AO3 readers to in the future for convenience’s sake. I hope everyone doesn’t mind. :) I’m always happy to answer questions!

TL;DR

Q: Will we see Bing gē having fathered children with his harem of 600 or so wives in TUT?

A: For TUT, the answer is a definite “no.” There were a lot of factors which’d contributed to my decision. I’ll try to explain my reasoning down below.

Context

In PIDW, it is canon that Luo Binghe has a bountiful number of descendants with his harem of 600-or-so wives. It is a detail that has been mentioned even in ch1 of SVSSS and in ep1 of the donghua.

(SVSSS Excerpt - ch1)

(SVSSS donghua - ep1)

I like to plan things ahead of time. So from very early on, I knew this would be something I would have to decide on whether or not to address when I’d finally decided to expand TUT from just a prologue into a full-blown story. And after contemplating it, I decided against adding children into the story. It is because 1) it would make the situation more complicated, and 2) it would take TUT in a different direction that wouldn’t be fun for me to write.

I’m a very decisive writer, meaning when I make my mind up about something, chances are I won’t change my mind. This is because I would have already planned it into my plot outline, which means changing a decision would require me to change other details in the other chapters I have planned for that story. (I’m typically not a spontaneous writer; I try not to write spontaneously because when you’re a writer who rotates through multiple WIPs with different characters across different genres or writing styles, you inevitably have writer’s block because you probably won’t remember all the ideas or the direction you had whenever you return back to a different WIP. To reduce this shortcoming, it helps me personally to have a plot outline. This way I can return to any WIP, read my notes and then transcribe them into legible paragraphs, find a way to transition between the story beats I have to hit for that chapter, and then eventually post the final draft to AO3 when I feel it’s ready.)

Having made a decision, I knew I had to set it up in TUT and give a “reasonable explanation in-story.” Hence, in ch2, we see:

(Excerpt I - ch2)

Basically the set-up is TUT takes place post-Bingge vs Bingmei, but between “the third or fourth book” of the hypothetical PIDW webnovel series aka before Airplane wrote the fanservicey chapters where the luckier of LBH’s wives give birth to children during the harem drama plots and the children are probably rarely, if ever, mentioned again in the story as a lot of stallion novels tend to do.

(Excerpt II - ch2)

(Excerpt III - ch2)

Contrarian Tendencies

You know the saying: Monkey see, monkey do? In my case, it’s monkey see, monkey do not do.

A little fun fact about me as a writer: if I have already seen a fanfic where someone has already written a concept or idea into their story, chances are I will just avoid it entirely in my own stories. I don’t know why this aversion exists, but I’m assuming it’s because of my counterculture hipster inclinations and an intrinsic fear of plagiarism which has been beaten into all of our skulls since adolescence. There’s nothing wrong with being inspired by other people’s works. Technically everything’s been done before in writing so, as a writer, a good rule of thumb is to always try to give it your own unique spin on things. So for me, my brain somehow interpreted this a step further. This is a reason why I try to avoid reading stories from whichever fandom my WIP is from during the writing process of updating a fic, because this is how I get influenced. Once I see an idea or interpretation from another fanfiction, it influences me to not want to write it into my own. This is a very strong unconscious impulse for me. I guess this is just the neurons in my brain’s thinking that this way, it won’t be something my readers will have read before and the story idea will come across as different or fresh, and mine. In a way this is also how I show respect for fanfiction writers in the same fandom—by being inspired to not be inspired, ha. I like to think every story in the world serves a niche audience, so seeing a diverse range of originality and interpretations in a fandom is a good thing. This is also how I feel when I am able to identify certain popular tropes or depictions or patterns in a fandom; 99% of the time, it makes me feel a compulsion to “go against the grain” or write the opposite. For example, you have no idea how long it took me to come around the idea of incorporating the fanon “A-Yuan” into TUT. However cute it is, the moment it dominated the fandom (well, “dominated” is an exaggeration; it’s more like I’ve seen enough, especially in the Original LBH/ SY | SQQ tag), my gut reaction was to nope out of using it. But after seeing a lot of comments in my inbox with readers affectionately calling SY “A-Yuan,” I’d contemplated it for a long time and it wasn’t until ch4 that I decisively decided that yes, I can have Bing gē calling SY “A-Yuan” in TUT—but it has to be at the right moment for maximum dramatic and emotional impact. (See this thread that started it all. And this is the small sneak peek I wrote where LBH will call SY that for the first time.) <- This is the rare 1% where I actually conformed to what’s popular.

In this case, when I finally decided to expand the prologue into a full-blown story, coincidentally I had just recently read a good Binggeyuan (Bingyuan) fanfic which featured a kidnapped Shen Yuan interacting with Bing gē’s harem and LBH’s children/descendants. I’d liked their portrayal and even thought the children were cute. <- However, with me having reading this, the problem came up: I felt the familiar stubbornness in me rearing its head. So knowing myself, if I had included children, it is very likely the direction that I would have gone down for TUT would have been the opposite. To further complicate matters, you have to keep in mind the kind of writer I am. I tend to like grounding stories with a semblance of realism, no matter if the genre is pseudohistorical fantasy, romance, sci-fi, etc. And this writer has seen and read quite a few harem and palace intrigue Chinese dramas/ premises.

For further context, in those types of “historical” C-dramas^, in that sort of environment which fosters scheming, competition, jealousy, etc, it is almost expected to see heirs aka children aka descendants harmed along with the women. Innocent parties are often victims in these sorts of cutthroat premises, to underscore the underlying message the show or novel wishes to present. (See Ruyi’s Royal Love in the Palace. See Yanxi Palace. See The Legend of Haolan. See Nirvana in Fire. See The Rebirth of the Malicious Empress of Military Lineage. Etc.) And me being me, this would be the direction I would take. Remember, while TUT is meant to emulate a legitimate danmei C-novel reading experience in a fantasy world, I do drop pseudohistorical and cultural Easter eggs into the story. So trust me when I say you would not like the direction TUT would have gone down in, had I made LBH have children with his harem. I mean, theoretically yes, we could’ve seen endearing children characters from me, but you would have also seen me addressing a lot of the baggage that comes with (see Comment III Excerpt down below).

The situation with dissolving Bing gē’s harem is already complicated enough. As his romance with Shen Yuan develops, I didn’t want to have an additional headache thinking about how to address the issue of LBH having children already. Divorces in a pseudohistorical context is already a heavy topic—even more so when it’s divorces with children in the mix. Naturally I will still have SY and LBH eventually discuss the matter of legitimate heirs since LBH will essentially become the Sacred Ruler of all Three Realms and it’s a traditional precedent for an emperor to bed his empress, noble consort, and imperial concubines until he has his heirs (plural, because the rate of mortality was high in ancient China). In TUT’s case, at that point in the story SY will remind LBH that he’s essentially an immortal sovereign so there isn’t any need for an heir unless he wishes to retire. Furthermore, he will inform LBH that he could set a new precedent since he’s already different from the other emperors from history (with him being of half-Heavenly Demon and half-human cultivator lineage); as long as LBH is fully aware of all perspectives of the situation, he doesn’t necessarily need to conform to all traditions if this is something he really feels strongly about. But this future conversation(s) is likely the extent of it.

But wait, you say, what about a certain someone who’s going to be transmigrated as an imperial crown prince? Isn’t he going to be in that sort of vicious upbringing? <- Yes. But that’s an entirely seperate matter. In a way, since I’ve decided Bing gē will not have had any children or descendants in TUT, with Airplane, this now presents an opportunity for me to show the consequences of being one of the many children of an emperor with a harem of women vying for one man’s attention—and the power struggle that’d ensue in this kind of environment. It’s an interesting What-If parallel, if you think about it.

AO3 Comments

Although these are just small excerpts from replies I’ve written before, it’s nice and orderly to just compile them here for everyone since these will be buried underneath all the comments as TUT updates:

(Comment I- ch3)

(Comment II- ch4)

(Comment III- ch4)

Because of seeing comments that have asked me for my thoughts on whether or not I will include LBH’s children, I’ve had so much fun seeing theories thrown around: from LBH’s blood parasites being able to control conception, to someone’s headcanon about LBH being a hybrid and all that entails scientifically (think: mules). I will say in TUT, it’s more the former since in PIDW he’s supposed to have descendants; we’re pretending Bing gē doesn’t have any yet (and now definitely won’t, especially after having heard SY’s “prophecy��) because he subconsciously does not want children due to certain fears, trauma, etc. And his Heavenly Demon’s “blood parasites” (blood manipulation) is a convenient story device to explain why no wife has gotten pregnant yet.

I hope this explanation makes sense! Mainly I just wanted to have this archived on tumblr so that I have this post to refer to moving forward.

On a side note: especially since ch4 had been posted, quite a few people have actually mentioned they’ve read my replies to other comments and/or I have seen different people having hopped onto other readers’ comment threads (for example, imagine my pleasant surprise when I saw a reader you lovely person, you helpfully jumping in to respond to another reader’s questions about TUT, and their answers were actually aligned with what I would’ve answered!), so it’s always such a thrill whenever I see this level of engagement happening. I can’t explain why, but seeing this happening is just so cute to me. It really makes this writer feel so warm and fuzzy inside!

#svsss #bingyuan #bingqiu #the scum villain's self saving system #luo binghe #the untold tale #phoenixtakaramono #ask #technically not an ask #but i like to categorize it there #I mainly wrote this lengthy explanation on tumblr #bc I wanted to link this as ref #anytime someone asks me in the future regarding LBH’s kids #lol it’s actually not cinnabar pills hidden in a bracelet #it’s some sort of seeds which supposedly stopped concubines from being pregnant #I discovered this when I rewatched Ruyi’s Royal Love in the Palace #Do you all notice you have a unique writing syntax/ style #that’s how I can identify that you’re all diff ppl in the comments #one time an anon guest wrote something for G&G #and in the comment thread as another guest anon they supposedly agreed with the prev anon #in that case it was obvious it was the same person pretending to be another guest anon #and I can tell because their writing syntax/ voice is identical #which is why I’m so pleasantly surprised to see this phenomenon in the SVSSS fandom #you all have diff writing syntaxes #seeing you all interact with each other’s comments or my comments to other comments #is just such a delight ahhhhhh #I love the SVSSS community #you guys are so warm and welcoming

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sproutsgcrden · 3 years ago

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sentinel of naruhata | chapter two

mr. nice guy

warnings: graphic descriptions of violence, one short scene implying sexual harassment (non-graphic), manga spoilers for my hero academia: vigilantes

word count: 3383

previous chapter | masterlist | read on ao3 | next chapter

want to be tagged? send me an ask and let me know!

If someone had told Koichi that he would get jumped, well, he may have believed them. That’s not too uncommon, especially around Naruhata. And it really wouldn’t be odd if it happened to him specifically. He just had that kind of luck. However, if they had also mentioned that a nine-year old would jump in and save him, he’d be a bit skeptical.

He honestly didn’t know if he quite believed what he had witnessed. One moment he was about to get hit by a guy he had managed to piss off earlier in the day, and the next some kid had shown up seemingly out of nowhere, threatening to steal his attacker’s quirk. Koichi didn’t think that was possible. Sure, there had been copying quirks, and erasure quirks were rare, but a quirk that allowed a person to take another quirk? That didn’t seem right, at least, it didn’t seem too entirely possible. A quirk is an integral, unique part of each individual- there’s no way somebody can take that, right? He could be wrong, it wasn’t like he was studying quirk theory.

As soon as the kid hightailed it out of the store with his strange assortment of items, Koichi knew he’d been in for it. He had already been late to work today because of the whole fiasco from earlier. He didn’t mean to run into Spiky Dude- it had just happened! Yeah, maybe he shouldn’t have been using his quirk in public, but he was running late! And then, of course, Spiky Dude just had to show up at the same convenience store Koichi worked at, and had to rough him up on the same day he was late. His manager was already absolutely pissed, and Koichi really didn’t want to stick around any longer than he had to in fear of a lecture, or something worse.

Luckily for him, he was nearing the end of his shift by the time Spiky Dude had entered the store, and the kid had helped him waste a lot of time due to the insane amount of items he was purchasing. All he had to do was clock out and sneak out of the door, which should be fairly easy. After punching out on the system and closing the register, Koichi grabbed his bag and began to get ready to leave.

“Haimiwari.” Koichi closed his eyes in disappointment, sighing before turning around with a fake grin.

“What can I do for you, sir?”

The angry tapping of the shoe really should have been enough warning, in hindsight.

------

The streets of Naruhata were busy for the late hour, not too unusual but it was something that Koichi didn’t want to bother with after the night he had. Of course that stunt had gotten him fired. Perfect. It wasn’t like it was his fault! He was the victim in all of this! What, did his boss really think that he wanted to get dragged into an alleyway and get beat up? Koichi grunted as he walked around a slow-placed couple. He would have to find another job and fast. Rent was coming up, and he still had payments due on his tuition. His left hand adjusted the strap of his backpack while his right passed over his face. This was too stressful to think about right now.

There was something he knew he could to help take his mind off of things for a while. Koichi’s eyes narrowed in determined concentration. Yeah, tonight was a good night for that.

------

The wind rushed through Izuku’s loose hair, tousling it beyond fixing. It felt wonderful, racing across the rooftops of an unknown city in the dead of the night. He was barely let out of his room and the training hall on good days- he could never hope to leave the confines of Kurogiri’s watchful eye. Which, unfortunately, meant that it was a rare opportunity to go outside… ever.

Izuku let out a harsh giggle, letting it echo in the air with a wide smile. He had never felt so free.

Slowing to catch his breath, Izuku pulled a wrinkled, old notebook out of his bag. Skimming through the pages, he stopped on the last entry he made. When researching Eraserhead, it wasn’t that hard to find out that the underground hero mainly patrolled in the Narahata Ward. However, it was a bit more difficult to find out specific times and locations of his daily patrols. He assumed that it changed quite frequently due to Eraserhead’s cryptid-like nature, but it was still frustrating to not know exactly where to find the hero. Especially since he wasn’t aware how much time he had before Tomura caught on to where he was.

However, Izuku did have a few locations that seemed to be promising. Most of them were hidden back alley’s, which made perfect sense. A majority of petty crimes took place during the day- they were a beacon to spotlight heroes, those who lived off the praise and popularity from civilians. But the nasty, evil villains? Oh, Izuku knew from experience that the worst of the worst were always found in the dead of night. Underground heroes always had to be on their toes, and it spoke volumes to Eraserhead’s vigilance that he’s remained pretty much untouchable and unnoticeable to those who wished ill intent.

Pulling up the map on his outdated phone, he inputted the first location he had written in his notebook. The specific alley was only about three blocks away. With a manic grin, Izuku pulled up the hood of his jacket and let Enhance swim through his veins once more.

------

The discs of air underneath Koichi’s palms lit up with a familiar burst of light, making the nineteen gleefully chuckle. The feeling of his signature All Might hoodie snugged tight over his torso provided him with an unexplainable comfort, as did the plain black mask covering the lower half of his face.

Koichi was inexplicably known for his plain nature at college (save for the rumors that said he was some creep that tried to lure girls into abandoned buildings. He really was just trying to make friends!), so it wasn’t like anyone would expect him to be the vigilante that ran around Naruhata at night.

Well, he supposed the word “vigilante” was a bit of an exaggeration. It wasn’t like he sought out and fought criminals, he just used his quirk to get around a bit faster and help out the common man. Koichi lost out on his chance of being a hero a long time ago, but that didn’t mean that he couldn’t help people when he had a bit of free time. As Mr. Nice Guy, he was able to get a glimpse of what he had dreamed about being his entire life.

Koichi zoomed through the lit up streets of Naruhata, providing directions to the lost, helping find missing items, and picking up bits of random trash. Everytime he received a “thank you” his eyes lit up- it was nice to be appreciated sometimes. The chorus of grateful civilians echoed within his mind as he continued to do good deeds throughout the night. After a few hours, he found himself moseying down a side road in hopes of heading home.

“All that do-gooding sure does make a guy thirsty.” He slipped down his mask, mumbling mostly to himself as he readjusted the straps of his bag.

A water bottle was thrust in front of him, followed by a peppy voice. “Here ya go!”

Koichi took the water bottle without thanking, shouting a quick “thank you” to whoever handed him the drink. And then, once he realized what had just happened, immediately did a double-take. Wide eyes looked over to the side of the road, only to see a young girl with pink, puffy pigtails staring at him with a bemused smirk.

“Pop Step?!” Koichi straightened his posture. “What are you doing here?!”

Ignoring his question, she began to walk out in front of him, hands stuffed in the pockets of her jacket. “So… you’re the guy picking up trash around town?” Her hand went to frame her cheek in wonder. “What’s your name again? Cockroach Guy?”

Wide, admiring eyes became downtrodden in an instant, an annoyed glare taking their place. “It’s Nice Guy!”

“Whatever! You’re the one who alerted me to the fuzz during my show, right? I wanted to say thanks, somehow!”

Koichi was the one who let her know the police were coming when she was performing her illegal street show earlier in the day. He didn’t care much for her music, but that didn’t mean he wanted to see her get arrested. Either way, he wasn’t sure why that provided an excuse to essentially stalk him. “So, you’ve been tailing me all day, huh?”

“Yup! I saw you almost get pummeled by those customers while you were working at that convenience store! I probably wouldn’t have stepped in either way, but wow! You were lucky when that little kid showed up, huh? Gotta admit, Cockroach Guy, that was pretty lame!”

“I don’t do well with violence, okay!” Koichi felt his eye twitch in annoyance; it was probably time to get out of this conversation before he lost his temper.

Pop Step’s face twisted with confusion. “Isn’t that dweeby hoodie supposed to be an All Might cosplay? And yet, you suck at fighting? That totally makes sense…”

“Sure, I look up to the guy. I wanna be useful to society however I can, just like he is! It’s got nothing to do with fighting! And the hoodie isn’t dweeby! It’s cool!”

“However you can?” Pop Step giggled, using her quirk to jump ust high enough to appear a little taller than Koichi. “So you know your place, at least!”

Koichi clenched his teeth in frustration, stepping around Pop Step to try and speed around her. “Stop getting hung up on the details! Knowing your place is important! If you keep playing at being some sort of pop idol, the cops will catch you sooner than later.”

Pop’s face scrunched up with a flash of anger, and if Koichi hadn’t had the night he had, he may have even been terrified. “Hey! I’m not ‘playing’ at anything! I’m the real deal!” She sped up, stopping in front of him as she pointed a perfectly manicured finger in his face. “You’ll just have to keep an eye out for the police! Also, I’ll need you to usher in my fans, set up the venues, and sell some merchandise!”

“Are you pissed off or hiring me for a job?!”

“Don’t you need one? Wouldn’t be surprised if you got fired after what happened!” Pop didn’t even take a moment to notice Koichi’s crestfallen glance towards the wall. “Anyways! If anyone can help me, it’s you- Know Your Place Guy!”

“Ugh. It’s Nice Guy!”

“Oh whatever!” Pop Step turned away from Koichi in order to run further down the alley, sparing him a glance backwards as she made her getaway. “I went through all of this trouble to express some gratitude… I didn’t think it’d be such a big deal, asking a ‘Nice Guy’ like you to do a little work to help a girl out!”

Koichi, good mood effectively ruined once again, went to bite back with a response. That was, until a familiar group popped into his view. He flinched as he saw Pop Step run straight into the leader, none other than the Spiky Dude who threatened to pummel Koichi into the ground just hours before. He could do nothing but stare as the group cornered Pop Step up against the wall, no doubt making her uncomfortable. Probably much more so than he was when he was in her position.

Now, if Koichi were a hero, this is when he would pull out all of the stops. He would crouch low to the ground, speeding to the men terrorizing the young girl and knocking them all on their asses. He would make sure he sped Pop Step to a safe location before coming back to make sure those bozos got arrested like they deserved. But, Koichi wasn’t a hero. And he would never be one. What could he do? His quirk was essentially useless in a fight. The only thing he was good at was running away.

But didn’t he have a duty to try and help? After all, if he couldn’t find the strength to help a young girl in this kind of situation, how could he try to help anyone else? With shaky legs and a determined glint in his eyes, Koichi bent low to the ground. The familiar pulse of his quirk activating below him provided little comfort, but he knew he had to push through this fear and go.

Mask pulled up, Koichi flew against the dirty pavement, locking eyes onto one of Spiky Dude’s lackeys. Now, if he could just get by unnoticed this time, he could knock this guy off his game and get Pop out of there. But of course, things never go Koichi’s way. That’s his luck.

The man caught him, large physique towering over him. The small tuft of flame acting as his hair cast an eerie shadow against the ground. “Well, well, well… look who we have here! Hey, boss! It’s the cockroach from earlier!” Still holding onto the back of Koichi’s hoodie, the large criminal threw him against the wall.

The pain of his head hitting against the rough edges of brick didn’t compare to the spikes slashing against his cheek.

“That annoying brat ain’t here to save you this time.” Spiky Dude’s eyes seem to glow in the dark night, and Koichi couldn’t ignore the sinister feeling pooling in his gut. “You ain’t getting away with just a small beating this time. I’m going to crush you. And I’m gonna enjoy it.”

The spiky criminal stalked closer to him; Koichi’s eyes immediately latched onto the blood dripping from the thick barbs protruding from the knuckles of his enemy. Shit. Shit. What could he do?! He really was going to die. Koichi shut his eyes in gruesome anticipation, hoping that at least Pop Step was using this opportunity to get away. A rush of air flew past his nose, and he blinked slowly. Looking up, Koichi locked eyes with Spiky Dude. The skewers had vanished from his knuckles, and the same, pale look of absolute petrification the criminal wore earlier in the night was on his face once more.

“Didn’t I tell you I wasn’t going to warn you next time?” The familiar voice of the kid that had stepped in during Koichi’s earlier encounter with this group echoed through the street, venom and animosity clear as day in his tone. Even Koichi shrunk into himself in fear. His wandering eyes latched onto a figure leaning down from the rooftop above, All Might hoodie bright against the black of night.

“I was looking for Eraserhead, but maybe I can do his job for him tonight and knock you fucker’s out.” Holy shit, what was up with this kid?

Koichi had noticed earlier that the kid had bright green eyes, but they seemed almost electrified, bright green sparks lighting off in his pupils as his glare deepened. He jumped off the roof, floating just above the ground before he hit it at full speed. His hand was held out, and Koichi glanced at the numerous scars stretching against the palored skin.

While Spiky Dude was distracted, Koichi took the opportunity to get back on his hands and feet, and forced himself to crash into the lizard looking man that was still holding onto Pop Step. She used the momentum from Koichi along with her quirk to jump out of the way and out of the alley. In his happiness of the fact that Pop was able to make a getaway, he wasn’t able to stop his momentum. Koichi ended up crashing straight into the other wall, the force of it knocking out the criminal he held tight in his grip.

“There’s no need for that!” A deep, grudd voice echoed from the other side of the street, and before anyone could react, a large fist connected straight into Spiky Dude’s nose. “The name’s Knuckleduster. And it’s my job to take out the trash like you.” Koichi barely even blinked, and the next moment the other tone was conked out right beside the leader.

What the fuck was happening?!

------

Izuku sighed in relief as he felt the rubber band snap against the quirk he held in his grasp, sending it back to its original owner as some random old man knocked him out. He didn’t want to steal a quirk, but that dude really wasn’t going to give him any choice. Luckily some geezer showed up before he could make good on his threat. He watched the man with a careful stare, seeing as he checked each of the criminal’s tongues before standing back up. His red sneakers crunched against the pavement as he lowered himself back to the ground; he walked towards the cashier he met earlier and held his hand out for him to take.

The man sitting across from him scratched the back of his head in a sheepish manner, choosing to take Izuku’s hand in order to get back up. “Uh, suppose that’s twice you’ve saved me, huh kid? We really have to stop meeting like this.”

Izuku chuckled, nodding his head in agreement. A cough sounded behind the two of them, and they both turned around to find the old man staring straight into their souls. Knuckleduster’s bandana covered his entire head, including the top half of his face, only leaving holes to see out of. His black trench coat was grimy, not to mention ripped on the hemlines. Everything about this screamed “homeless old man”, even down to the gritty way the man seemed to fight.

Izuku couldn’t help but think the man seemed familiar.

“You take quirks or something, kid?” The man’s eyes narrowed, his already gruff voice deepened.

“No! I don’t take quirks! I was just playing a bluff, really!” Technically, Izuku wasn’t lying. He hadn’t ever willingly taken a quirk before. “I have an erasure quirk! That’s why I’ve been looking for Eraserhead. I’m hoping he’s willing to train me.” Now, there’s the lie.

“Hmph.” Knuckleduster’s eyes stayed on Izuku a little while longer, tense silence following before he shrugged it off. “You both show promise. Gotta admit, when I heard about Naruhata’s newest vigilante, I wasn’t expecting him to have a sidekick.”

Both Izuku and Koichi stared at him in shock, making the old man laugh. It was a hearty laugh, scratchy and sarcastic. “People are gonna make that sort of assumption when you’ve got two kids helping fight crime in the exact same hoodie.” The two boys flushed, causing Koichi to shake his head.

“We just met today.”

“So? Doesn’t mean the two of ya don’t work well together. I almost didn’t need to come down here. If it weren’t for the threat of Trigger I probably wouldn’t have. Don’t know if it’s luck or not, but these thugs didn’t have a trace of the drug on ‘em.”

“Trigger?” Izuku knew what he was talking about. His father was one of the main benefactors of the production and distribution of the drug. Or well, he was before he got forced into a coma. He had originally thought the distribution would slow after the underworld had found out about All for One’s current medical status, but it seems that wasn’t the case.

Knuckleduster waved it away. “I can explain that later. After you two accept my offer.”

Koichi paled, backing away from the crazy old man. “What offer?”

A sinister grin formed its way onto Knuckleduster’s face, making the duo in front of him back away even further. “Let me teach you kids what it takes to do hero work, and how great it feels to pound some villains!”

Koichi thought this man was absolutely insane and would only lead him to more trouble.

Izuku thought that he had enough training from the villains themselves.

They met each other’s gaze before turning back to Knuckleduster.

“We refuse your offer.”

#bnha vigilantes fanfic #bnha vigilantes #koichi haimawari #kazuho haneyama #midoriya izuku #afo is hisashi midoriya #midoriya has a quirk #midoriya has all for one #midoriya fanfic #deku fanfic #deku au #bnha au #bnha fanfic

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phantom-curve · 4 years ago

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find the strength, find the melody pt. 6

okay so I wasn’t originally going to include the entire scene in Lessa’s office but, once again, my words ran away from me. now you get this beast of a chapter. it’s the longest one yet, coming in at a whopping 4,383 words so think of it as an apology for letting my other fic take over for a sec and also taking like a million years to post this.

I started working on Luke’s POV because I am nothing if not a fan of jumping the gun, and his writing style is so different and living in his head is such an adorable journey of Julie Molina obsession. really excited for you to see some of the stuff that’s been going on for our sweet lil soft boy. also, if you notice the dialogue style changing a little bit in this/future chapters it’s so I can have the same scenes without a ton of repeated dialogue in Luke’s POV.

writer’s block anecdote of the day: I keep flipping Luke and Alex’s name in Luke’s POV because one of the main OCs in my novel is actually named Alex and has been since I started working on this novel a literal decade ago. oh and there is also an OC named Owen. someday I’ll learn to give my characters unique names, but not today!

taglist: @blue-hat-girl, @lwhoscribbles, @bluefyoto94, @5sosmukefan, @moonlightxnder, @leahthewonder, @kat-maybe-not, @lukewearingbeanies, @imastrugglingartist

Once they were close enough to risk running into other students, Julie dropped Luke’s hand. She made a point of ignoring the frown he gave her, using her now free hand to reach up and adjust her hat. Only, her hat wasn’t there. Her hands landed on loose, untamed curls instead and she immediately turned to Luke with a small amount of panic already building in her chest. He gave her a funny look, and then seemed to notice her hair and somehow understood completely. His hands reached up to lower hers. He let his grasp linger for just a moment before letting go, leaving her hands to dangle limply at her sides. Only his gaze held her in place.

“I never really liked that hat. Your hair is too pretty to cover up like that.”

He said it like a fact. The sky is blue, the sun is hot, your hair is too pretty to cover up. Julie felt a swell of emotions rise again, threatening to overwhelm her. But then he was off towards the front of the school throwing a very casual, “You coming?” over his shoulder at her. She raced to catch up, emotions beaten back for the time being.

They joined the surge of bodies filtering through the front doors. Alex and Reggie stood off to the side inside the entryway of the school. It was impossible to miss the tall blonde in his light pink sweatshirt standing next to the shorter boy in leather. Luke didn’t hesitate to weave his way over to them, but Julie hung back. She wasn’t really sure what was going on between them, wasn’t sure if she felt comfortable enough to just tag along behind him. She caught sight of Flynn’s hot pink beanie bouncing in the distance and let out a sigh of relief. She could separate from Luke here, talk to Flynn, get some perspective on this whole situation.

Luke glanced back at her then. She saw the question in his eyes, felt her heart race when he gave a little side nod like he was inviting her to join him. She swallowed and gave him a half-hearted smile before jerking her thumb over her shoulder in Flynn’s direction. He frowned, but she was already turning away. She pretended she didn’t hear him call her name, slipping into the crowd of students, letting it swallow her up so she could disappear from his sight. Eyes locked on Flynn’s back she moved farther away from the Sunset Curve boys. Flynn only jumped a little when Julie snuck up behind her.

“Jesus, Jules! You scared the shit out of me!”

Her best friend’s familiar voice washed over her like a comforting blanket. All at once, Julie was word vomiting the entire night.

“Flynn, oh my God. He had Mom’s song and he saved it for like, a whole year, and then he gave it to me yesterday, and holy shit I forgot how beautiful it is. And you’re not gonna believe this but I played, like I actually played the piano and sang, and it was like homecoming, it was like the biggest rush, like my mom was right there in the studio with me. And then, oh my god, now you’re really not gonna believe this, but oh my god, then Luke freaking Patterson showed up out of nowhere and he uh might have stayed on the pull-out couch, and then he uhm he made me breakfast this morning? And we walked here together?? He was like...doing this thing where his eyes were going all starry and soft and he was saying really sweet things and it was...a lot and I really don’t know what’s going on with that but uhm I’m kinda freaking out. Also, hey good morning, how are you?”

If Flynn’s mouth opened any wider Julie thought she might unhinge her jaw. In a sea of bustling students, it felt like they were in a bubble all their own. She anxiously fiddled with the bracelets on her wrists as she watched the gears turn behind her best friend’s eyes. After a full two minutes of silence, Flynn’s hand flew out to latch onto Julie’s bicep. Without a word she dragged her down the hallway and into an empty practice room. Flynn released her grip, Julie rubbing at her arm, jeez Flynn was strong!, while the other girl closed the door and flipped on the light that indicated the room was in use. She whirled around, her eyes drilling into Julie’s.

“You’re gonna start at the beginning of that whole mess of truth bombs and spill every last detail about exactly what happened with Luke ‘freaking’ Patterson. Right now. Starting with the bit about your mom’s song.”

Julie took a deep breath and slowly walked Flynn through the events of the last few days, from the moment she had run into Luke after her meeting with Ms. Harrison to when she ran away from him this morning as he was calling her name. Distantly, she was aware of the bell ringing, but it was only homeroom anyway. What did that matter when she was having an existential crisis? Flynn’s mouth only hung open a little bit by the time she was finished telling the story again. Julie felt her shoulders slump. What an emotional rollercoaster. Flynn was quiet for a long moment. Then, she smirked at Julie with a knowing look in her eyes.

“Hmph. Looks like my girl’s got a crush, and his name is Luke. I cannot believe you’ve been holding out on me like this!”

She was teasing, her tone light with a little bit of a mocking sing-song quality to it. But Julie could hear the undercurrent of worry running through her words. She had become quite adept at detecting that particular vocal quality in the last year. She sighed.

“Whatever. Can we focus on the more important revelation that I played the piano and sang again?”

Flynn, best friend that she was, gracefully allowed the subject change.

“Jules, that’s amazing! I’m so happy for you! How did you feel? Alive again?”

Julie laughed, the sound feeling easy and light as it left her chest.

“Yeah, actually, that’s exactly how I felt. It was...honestly, it felt magical. It really did feel like my mom was there with me. There was this sense of peace that just felt...”

She shivered, remembering the sensation of ghostly arms around her shoulders.

“I can’t really describe it. But it was like something just clicked, and I realized that the best way to remember my mom and honor her is through music. The music we made together and the music I’ll make in the future. Rose Molina’s musical legacy will live on in me, and that feels pretty special.”

She couldn’t keep the smile from her face or the happiness from her voice. Peace really had been found out in that studio last night. Julie felt more ready than ever to move out of the darkness she’d kept wrapped around her like a shield for the last year.

“That’s beautiful.”

Flynn pulled Julie into her arms, the two girls sharing a long hug. The bell rang, signaling the end of homeroom, before either girl could say anything more. They left the practice room together, splitting up when they reached their respective classroom doors. Julie swallowed thickly as she settled herself in the back of her Calc class. This was one of the classes she shared with Luke, although she had conveniently forgotten that fact until the moment she sat down at her desk. He appeared in the doorway within seconds, giving her no chance to properly prepare herself. His eyes lit up when he saw her, and he started to make a beeline for the desk next to hers before their teacher caught him.

“Patterson! You know the deal.”

Not even Luke’s best pout could win over Ms. May. She simply raised a brow and pointed at the seat he had been assigned at the front of the classroom. Julie let out a small sigh of relief. It was hard not to smile at Luke’s dramatics as he slumped over and slowly shuffled his way to his desk. He dropped into his seat with a loud huff, glancing over his shoulder at Julie with forlorn expression. She rolled her eyes, smothering her smirk behind her hand. The bell rang again, and he turned his attention to the front of the room as Ms. May called the class to order.

He didn’t stop sneaking looks back at her the entire class period though. It made her want to squirm in her seat every time she dared peek at him and caught him watching her in return. He would always give her one of those soft, sweet smiles and then turn back to his work. It was unsettling, especially when she thought of how he hadn’t paid much attention to her in this particular class before today. Although, now that she really thought about it, maybe he had. Julie had basically been living in a fog of grief for the last year. The school could have caught on fire and she probably wouldn’t have noticed it until her clothes were burning.

She was almost grateful when one of the front desk aides appeared in the door to their classroom. Kayla made direct eye contact with her before knocking on the door frame to get Ms. May’s attention.

“Julie Molina is needed in the office.”

A tense silence fell over the classroom. Every single student remembered the last time Julie had been called down to the office in the middle of a class. Even Ms. May’s eyes flickered with pity for a moment before she gave Julie a gentle smile and nod. Julie stood slowly, forcing herself to keep her breath even as she gathered her books and papers into her backpack. 22 pairs of eyes watched her slowly make her way to the front of the room. One pair burned hotter than the others. Julie met Luke’s eyes for the smallest fraction of a second. Just long enough to see the concern rise up in them. Then she was out the door, walking the uncomfortably familiar path to the front office.

“It’s Lessa. And I think your dad.”

Kayla’s quiet voice startled her. She looked to her left, surprised to find the other girl keeping pace with her. Julie had thought she would walk ahead or peel off to deliver other messages. Instead, she got a small but genuine smile.

“Look, I know things are weird because of the Carrie thing, but I just didn’t want you to freak out too much. Frankly, I think Lessa’s kinda a bitch to pull you out of class like that. She’s an idiot if she doesn’t remember...well anyway. It’s something school related, not like a family thing.”

Kayla briefly squeezed her bicep, almost like she wished she could give Julie a hug. Then she was off down a separate hallway, waving the stack of messages in her hand at Julie as a goodbye. Julie watched her go for a second, feeling off balance and surprisingly emotional. Kayla was a Dirty Candy girl. In the battle lines that had been drawn between Julie and Carrie, Kayla’s position was as obvious as Flynn’s. For all intents and purposes, she shouldn’t be looking out for Julie, and yet, she was anyway. Julie wondered how many small protective moments she had missed from her classmates in the last year. Maybe she hadn’t been quite as alone as she had always felt. She took a deep breath and finished the walk to the front office, a little more ready to face what was on the other side.

Knowing it was school related and that her dad had been called down sent a shiver of apprehension down her spine for a different reason. It had to be something about the music program. Not for the first time, Julie regretted keeping it from her dad for this long. She was out of time now. At least she could thank the universe for small favors. If it had been her Tía in this meeting, Julie’s life would be over. Her dad was more understanding. They would be able to get through this. Julie forced herself to square her shoulders and enter the office with more confidence than she felt. Her mom’s words echoed in her mind you can do it. It was all the strength she needed.

At least until the door to Principal Lessa’s office was closing behind her, and she was face-to-face with her heartbroken father.

“Julie. Take a seat, please.”

Lessa’s voice lacked its usual bite. She just sounded tired. Julie felt that down to her bones. She slipped into the seat next to her dad without a word.

“I’m going to get right to the point. Two of us,” her eyes narrowed slightly on Julie who shifted in her seat in response, “knew this meeting was coming. The other one of us has now been informed as to why it was called.”

The weight of her father’s stare was crushing her. Julie didn’t have to look to see the disappointment there. It was rolling off of him in tsunami sized waves. Lessa continued talking despite the uncomfortable tension growing in the air.

“Now. We have several options. As you both know, Los Feliz is at its core an arts academy. We ask that our students participate in at least one of the arts programs. Participate being the key word there. Julie, it’s clear that participation in our music department isn’t something you’re able to do right now. While we were able to offer you a grace period, we have other students applying for the position you aren’t using. It’s only fair to allow them the chance to participate if you won’t.”

Julie was not going to cry. Not here in front of Principal Lessa and her dad, trapped on school grounds where everyone would see her when she left. She bit the inside of her cheek as hard as she could, letting Lessa’s soft but firm voice wash over her without absorbing anything she was saying. She caught bits and pieces: Lessa offering her a spot in the less desirable subset of illustration in the fine arts department with a chance to reapply for the music department the following semester, her dad requesting information about the new program as well as copies of her transcripts in case they decided to move schools, Lessa’s voice softening as she apologized, her dad’s growing even softer as he thanked her for everything the school had done so far. Then the meeting was wrapping up, and her dad was shaking Lessa’s hand, and Julie was focusing on her backpack so she could get the hell out of there. She barely caught the sad smile Lessa gave her as she said, “Good luck, Julie” in that same goodbye tone Ms. Harrison had used on Monday. Julie had never been so desperate for her old hat to hide behind as she was in that moment.

She shuffled along behind her dad. It was obvious the school day was over for Julie. He was quiet as they made their way out of the office and into the empty hallway. Class had been dismissed while they were with Lessa. Julie was thankful there weren’t any other students around to witness her downfall. Her dad almost made it out of the building before rounding on her. Almost.

“I cannot believe you tried to hide this from me! I thought I raised you better than that, mija. You’re lucky your Aunt had a work meeting she couldn’t miss. Why didn’t you come to me?”

It was the overwhelming disappointment in her dad’s tone that did Julie in. She had never been able to stomach letting her parents down. If Ray’s voice was any indication, she may have reached the rock bottom of let downs.

“I’m sorry.”

She was. She truly was. She didn’t know why she had kept it from her dad except that if she had told him then she would have had to admit it was real. She hadn’t wanted to face that reality just yet.

“I just don’t understand, Julie. You still like music, right? Is it the school? We can find a different music program. You don’t have to stay here just because your mom loved it so much.”

Julie opened her mouth to argue that actually that was exactly why she had to stay here, but a different voice cut her off. An annoyingly familiar voice that had her heart racing and her palms sweating.

“Julie!”

She nearly groaned aloud. Never before in her life had Julie wished to disappear as much as she did right now. Just open a hole in the floor and jump right into it. The absolute last thing she needed right now was Lucas freaking Patterson getting in the middle of this dressing down. Hell, she didn’t even want him witnessing it let alone trying to get involved. She clenched her jaw, ignored her dad’s pointedly raised eyebrow, and turned on her heel to meet the teenage boy that suddenly seemed to be haunting her every step.

“Luke. Hi.”

She kept her voice flat, the go away clear in her tone. His steps faltered for a second, but she could tell by the way his shoulders bounced that he wasn’t going to be so easily deterred. She had run away from him this morning and been saved multiple times in Calc. He wasn’t going to let her avoid him anymore. He approached her and her dad with all the cool confidence a 17-year-old boy in a band could muster. Her mouth almost fell open when he bypassed her completely to stick his hand out towards Ray.

“Luke Patterson. You must be Mr. Molina. It’s very nice to meet you, sir.”

His smile was genuine and charming, his lyrical voice all too polite. Julie wanted to scream as she watched her dad fall for it. Could she not have one single embarrassing moment to herself anymore? Was she doomed to play out the moments she came off looking the worst in front of this cute boy for the rest of her life? Her dad’s eyes lit up as he shook Luke’s hand. Julie wished she could bash her head against something.

“Patterson? Mitch and Emily’s boy?”

“Yes, sir.”

Only Julie caught the way his smile tightened and his shoulders raised defensively at the mention of his parents.

“Wow, you’ve grown quite a bit since the last time I saw you! Good people, your parents.”

Julie rolled her eyes at the dad-ness of it all.

“I forgot you were in the music program with Julie...”

She couldn’t help but cringe as her dad’s words trailed off. That statement had been enough to remind him why he was here in the first place. He turned away from Luke to give her another heartbroken look. She hung her head to escape the censure behind his eyes.

“I am. Actually, that’s why I was trying to find Julie! She was late for rehearsal.”

Julie whipped her head up to glare at the boy still bobbing in front of them. He was trying to cover for her not knowing Lessa had blown that opportunity sky high not even 5 minutes ago. It was sweet in a misguided way, but it was also a painful reminder of all the things Luke had that she didn’t.

“He knows I got kicked out. You don’t have to lie for me.”

Her voice was sharp, and she was fully prepared for the kicked puppy look she was sure he would give her, but instead his smile only grew. His bouncing became impossibly springier, like gravity just didn’t apply to him. And then he winked, actually winked, at her.

“Awh, c’mon, Jules!”

His whine was just the right amount of playful, his eyes sparkling with mischief. Her heart did a weird flip in her chest.

“I know it was supposed to be a surprise, but the poor man is clearly suffering! We should let him in on our little secret.”

Julie’s glare intensified as she ignored the way the words our little secret hit the softest part of her heart. What the hell was he playing at? He winked again, something that should be outlawed given the way it made her stomach drop and knees weaken. Then he held up his hands in a half-hearted I give up gesture.

“Okay, okay. You don’t have to tell him about the plan to get you back into the music program if you don’t want to.”

If this were a cartoon, Julie was sure her eyes would have popped out of her skull completely at those words. As it were, she settled on doing everything she could to keep her jaw from dropping. She had absolutely no clue what he was going on about, but he clearly had some sort of agenda. There was a script to this encounter, she just hadn’t been given her lines. She saw her father shift out of the corner of her eye, arms raising to fold across his chest as he took in the scene unfolding between the two teenagers. Luke was still talking, apparently deciding to capitalize on Julie’s stunned silence.

“I just think it would be helpful if he knew about it. Then we wouldn’t have to sneak around so much. I know you wanted to have it be a big reveal, but we can still surprise your aunt!”

Her dad turned to her with a raised brow, confusion and the smallest seeds of hope growing behind his gaze.

“¿Mija?”

Julie wanted to punch a locker and also vomit. What the actual hell was Luke Patterson doing? She had no frame of reference for whatever game he was playing. No way of knowing if it was serious or some sort of prank. She looked away from her dad to meet Luke’s eyes. He gave her a small, pleading smile, silently begging her to trust him. His eyes became impossibly gentle and she saw that same boy from the studio last night and the kitchen this morning peeking out at her. Ultimately, it was that intimate reminder of his softer side that made her cave.

“It’s nothing, Papí. Just some hair-brained scheme Luke came up with.”

She raised her brow in a challenge, communicating with that one twitch that she wanted to see his endgame here. His face lit up like the 4th of July. She was sure if they had been alone he would have let out a victory whoop. He rocked back on his heels, hands in his pockets, biceps flexing in his best cool kid impersonation.

“Don’t sell yourself short, Molina. We’re getting just as much out of this as you are.”

She didn’t have time to snap back that she wasn’t sure she was getting anything out of whatever ‘this’ was before he was plowing ahead.

“See, my band and I lost our fourth member earlier this year, and we have our Junior Showcase coming up, but man, it’s been a serious struggle to find our sound without Bobby, and we really gotta nail this Showcase. It’s like the one where managers scout out who they really wanna pay attention to as a senior, so we gotta be the best.”

Julie saw where he was going with this before he actually got there, but it was too late to stop him. That was what she got for playing along with his stupid game in the first place.

“And see, I finally figured out that what we really need is someone like Julie to elevate us to that level. Your daughter is a freaking wrecking ball of talent, Mr. Molina. It took a lot of begging, but she finally agreed to play with us. There’s no way Lessa won’t put her back in the music program after we play together.”

His grin was a mile wide, pride shining from his pores. He was 100% sure of this plan, she could see it in the way he looked at her. Absolute blind faith in her. It was as flattering as it was terrifying.

“I see.”

Her dad’s voice was shockingly contemplative. Like he was actually considering supporting this crazy idea. He looked at Luke thoughtfully.

“Do Principal Lessa and Ms. Harrison know about this plan?”

Luke’s hand raised for one quick nervous scratch at the back of his neck. He gave her dad his most charming smile.

“Sometimes you’ve gotta go into ambush mode. Swing that wrecking ball of talent and smash some rules, eh?”

If it were any other parent, that line would have probably been the worst possible thing to say. But this was Ray Molina, whose first date with Rose had involved a small amount of breaking and entering as well as a large amount of running from cop cars and stealing kisses while hiding in alleyways. Rose had never met a rule worth following, and it was part of the reason Ray had fallen in love with her in the first place. Luke had sealed the deal without even really trying. Julie was doomed.

“I like it.”

Ray’s smile was almost as large as Luke’s. It was scary how similar they looked right now, enthusiasm shining in their eyes with an intensity that was borderline maniacal. There would be no getting out of this now.

“Why don’t you boys come over to the house after school? You can practice in our studio.”

Julie didn’t even get a chance to open her mouth before Luke was agreeing. She watched him shake her dad’s hand once again, some weird kind of bonding look passing between the two of them. Her dad wrapped a tight arm around her shoulder, and then turned them both towards the front doors again. Julie cast one final look at Luke over her shoulder, heart skipping a beat as he bit his lip and gave her yet another wink.

“See ya later, boss!”

Had her dad not been holding her up, Julie would have melted right into a puddle of mush. Yup, she was totally and completely doomed.

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ink-and-flame · 3 years ago

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Kinktober Day 2: The Scarlet Eclipse - Initiation

Kinktober Day 2 Prompts: Nipple Play ~ Tickling ~ Immobilization

Fandom: Original (Auchendale Archives)

Tags: Exophilia, nipple play, bondage, immobilization, tickling

Pairing: Human(F)/??(M), Reader(f)/Lucien

[Author’s Note: Someone told me they were quite fond of Lucien, so I thought I would give him a solo story and make it a Reader story as best I could.]

You were new to Auchendale, drawn to it for the unique way the city had been built and how it thrived. Integration, unity, a strange sense of community. Yes all cities had some level of a mixing of races, but here it was different. Every building, every business, each home or structure meant for habitation, they were built with diversity in mind. There was no standard, each race, each size, would find some place they could fit in.

No buildings or businesses had racial exclusions, in Auchendale it simply was not allowed. It was that diversity that drew you in, caught your interest, but it was the beauty of Auchendale that made you fall in love with it. A strange yet functional blend of modern convenience and nature coexisted to make one of the most unique cities in the world.

Wanting a new and unique experience you chose to move into one of the neighborhoods where the homes were built into the natural features of the hillsides and trees. You couldn’t afford a large space, but a nice tree dwelling had been up for sale. It was simple, cozy, just big enough for you and all your belongings, with a little extra space that helped you feel less cramped.

The natural shade of the tree helped keep you cool in the heat of the summer, and it was equipped with modern conveniences such as electricity. Solar powered of course, which was nice because you needed to keep your bills down. Everything about your cozy little home made you happy.

However, it wasn’t just the unity that drew you to Auchendale, there was more. A club, one that was well known in the circles you frequented. It was considered a high end establishment, one of the best, a must experience for anyone in the kink community. Individuals traveled all over to experience the club for one day, but now that you lived here, you could experience it as much as you liked.

You had submitted an application before your move, providing all of your information and your future address, anything to speed the process along. As the club's popularity grew, membership became more difficult to attain. Their vetting process was extended and minimum requirements had to be met for those wanting more than a day pass.

Once your membership had been accepted you almost couldn’t control your excitement. You had wanted this for so long and felt that this was really the last piece you needed before your new life felt more complete. You had been so patient, waiting for the membership to go through, all the extra vetting, the references, the interviews, but now you were a member.

Not just any member, you had applied to be a submissive of the club itself. One that worked there, and could be offered to the guests at your discretion. With no master of your own, and a curious spirit, you were perfect for the club. It was a benefit only offered to the V.I.P. guests, and not everyone who applied would be selected, but you were one of the lucky ones. It also meant that you could supplement your income with what you earned from the club. Making it easier to live comfortably.

There was only one final step left. Despite being hired, passing all the interviews and being vetted by some of the existing staff, there was an initiation rite. To be employed by the club was different from just being a member and participating. You had some freedom to choose, there was a list of Doms that could perform the initiation as it was considered a bit of a test.

You had looked over their information, their profiles, and their preferences and narrowed it down to three. It wouldn’t be until your employee orientation that you had to choose which of the three, but you were willing to take a risk and let it be random just to show that you were willing to work with anyone, willing to step outside your standard comfort zones. It would make you more valuable as a sub and you knew it.

As the weekend came closer your excitement and nervousness increased. You had already sorted your outfit, and packed your club bag full of anything you could imagine you might need. As it was the first day, you wanted to be prepared, and your eagerness had you checking and rechecking your bag to make sure you didn’t forget anything essential. Looking professional and put together was important for this situation. This was not the time to be casual or half ass anything, you wanted to ace this initiation and show your willingness and make a great first impression.

The night finally arrived and you could barely sit still. Opting to use a car service, you wanted to make sure that you didn’t have to leave your car stranded there in the event you were simply too exhausted to drive home. It cost a little more than you liked, but until you could gauge what you might feel like after a shift working the club, you just didn’t want to risk it.

Arriving at the club you stood outside for a moment, collecting yourself. Pulling out your phone it took a moment to find the right email, just in case there was an issue at the door. You wanted to be more prepared. You were using a backpack for a purse, and a gym bag for your changes of clothes and gear. Currently you opted for a nice coordinated gym set with leggings, a sports bra, and a loose t-shirt. Comfortable clothing would be essential for afterward, but you didn’t want to make assumptions so you brought other options for your initiation.

Making your way inside it was quiet. This was a couple hours before opening, and you were a bit earlier than what was expected. The nervousness and not driving yourself meant you would rather be a little too early than even a minute late. Someone that looked like a bouncer blocked your way.

“We aren’t open for another few hours, and that isn’t acceptable for our dress code”

You looked up and up, and up some more at the large man who was clearly not human, but you weren’t really sure what he was. He had tusks like an orc, but tan instead of green skin, and thick dreads, he also had horns.

“Oh, um.. I.. here see, I was hired, but I have to do my initiation?” As you spoke your nerves kicked in, you felt awkward and uncertain.

His demeanor instantly changed. A big wide smile spread across his face and he laughed a bit, his voice deep. “Didn’t mean to scare you. I didn’t get the memo to expect anyone. Probably should actually check my email more than once a month. No hard feelings, let me show you to the employee area. You here for orientation? You said initiation?” He looked a bit confused. “Oh, I’m Naz. I head up security mostly, do a few other side jobs, but my main job is making sure the employees and patrons are safe and everyone plays nice.”

His smile revealed that he had two sets of tusks, the larger ones you saw before, and the smaller ones that only showed when he smiled. He was, attractive, in a scary sort of way. Though you were pretty sure he was well over 7 feet tall and could crush your skull with one hand, that did not help identify his species and you realized that you were just staring, in a somewhat impolite way.

“Um, both. I have orientation and my initiation. I was hired on as one of the subs that would serve in the lounge for the VIP guests.”

“Oh, well that makes a lot more sense now.” Naz chuckled and just smiled at you. “I get this a lot. I’m a half ogre. Mom’s an ogre, and my dad is a brave human.” He laughed and waved for you to follow him. “Not offended by the way, people stare at me all the time, I don’t mind it when the person doing the staring is cute. Sorry for the dress code thing. I wasn’t trying to insult you but we have had to institute some new rules to keep some of the less desirable people out. We’ve had a rash of people coming in on dares, or just coming in with ingenuine intent.”

“Oh, I, well I didn’t realize. I thought it would be better to show up in my after clothes and I brought spares because I am not sure what my test will be so I wanted to be prepared.” You followed him, having a hard time keeping your eyes off his ass. Boy was he built and you wondered if staff was allowed to fool around because you wouldn’t mind being tossed around by him.

Following Naz to the back employee area you were greeted by other employees clearly getting ready for their own shifts. There were so many different races and everyone was so interesting looking. There was this air of class, of poise, that you worried you wouldn’t be able to maintain. It worried you, what if everything went perfect but you simply didn’t fit in with your coworkers.

Distracted from your thoughts by a voice Naz smiled at you and gestured you over to where you needed to be before leaving. Clearly he had his own work to get done but you hoped that you might be able to see him again before the night was over. Moving over to where Naz gestured you introduced yourself to the lounge manager. They oversaw the bartenders, servers, and helped with the subs for the lounge. As you had already passed all your interviews this was just the formalities. Filling out all the HR paperwork, your financial documents, and getting your schedule set. Along with the employee handbook which was surprisingly larger than you had expected and knew you would need to put some serious time into reading it.

“Ok, I know the handbook is a lot to read and it is important that you get through it before your first actual shift. Today is just going to be your initiation test with one of our VIP Dom’s, and right now we aren’t going to hold you to any of the more strict rules while you are just getting used to things, but it is essential that you focus on the section about conduct. That applies to anyone working the lounge the most. I see you have three potential choices here did you want to meet them or should I choose for you?”

“You can choose, I know that this job means I don’t always get to choose who picks me and while I have the right to say no if someone asks me to do something on my hard no list, I also understand that not being flexible means I wont keep this job long. Pick who you think would be best for my first test.”

“I like how you think, you will fit in well here, I can already tell. Well since he is on your list and is one of our most prominent and oldest members. I will have you work with Lucien. Don’t let his appearance frighten you. He is one of our most vaulted VIP members, and one of the best judges of character. We always try to get our new subs a session with him at some point. Anyone he can’t work with, tends not to last long.”

Well that made you nervous. He was scary and his opinion mattered enough that it could potentially mean you wouldn’t be employed long if he didn’t like you. Now you had a goal, to do anything you could to make sure this went smoothly.

“I have changes of clothes and gear with me, does he have a preference or should I pick something neutral?”

“Lucien is actually flexible with those things. I think the best course would be to stay as you are, show him the options, and show how eager to please you are. That is going to help you the most where Lucien is concerned. Good luck.”

With that she gestured for you to follow and lead you to a private room inviting you to sit and wait. Lucien would only be a few more minutes and this was your only duty for the evening. Your orientation had lasted until the club opened, and you knew that this was going to be a longer than average scene because it was more than just a scene. It was a test, an initiation, and there would be more to it than what you would need to do for a regular customer.

Setting your bag down you waited patiently and startled a little when the door began to open. In stepped a tall lithe man, he had sharp features, long horns, and appeared demonic or maybe draconic in nature. There was something off about him, and now you knew why his appearance might frighten people. His eyes seemed to shift color and there were moments you were certain he was reading your mind or your soul.

“Greetings, I am Lucien, I will be the dominate handling your initiation today. I have been provided a list of your preferences, hard stops, and areas where you are willing to push your boundaries. Is there anything important I need to know before we begin?”

Swallowing you gestured to your bag. “I wasn’t sure who I would be paired with, so I brought different outfits and some of my personal gear. If there is anything you are fond of, I might have something with me to accommodate. You are welcome to go through my bag and pick anything that is to your liking.”

“Interesting, you didn’t choose me, I was chosen for you. How delightful. I rarely get to be the first, most are not brave enough to choose me. I don’t know why.” He smiled, his sharp teeth flashing as he lifted a hand in a passive gesture. Long fingers capped in even longer nails, he just stood there. “I do not make it a habit to go through another person's belongings. Even as a sub, you have a right to privacy, but I will happily go through the items with you.”

This was turning out to be interesting and unexpected. He looked like something out of a sexy nightmare, but he was also charming in a strangely disarming way. Opening the bag you pulled out an assortment of outfits, accessories, and some of your personal punishment gear. You had a favorite paddle and flogger, also some nice rope you just bought for this occasion should it be needed.

“Lovely, so many nice options to choose from. The rope, and that hand full of nipple toys will be sufficient. I like the choices in outfits, but I need you nude for proper bondage. I intend to immobilize you, as it was not on your list of hard no’s. Do you consent to full immobilization?” Lucien stepped closer picking up the rope and sliding his long nails across the tight silky coils.

“Yes, I consent, Sir.”

His smile grew, eyes flashing bright orange shifting to red then back again. His sharp teeth far more noticeable in that wide smile. “Excellent. Do strip for me dear and we will begin.”

It took little time to strip off your clothing, placing it in the bag and stepping closer to Lucien. He guided you towards the bed in the room and helped you up onto it. For a few moments all he did was look at you, his eyes roaming over your body slowly. It was a bit unsettling but also exciting, his focus was completely on you and it made you feel somewhat giddy.

Ever so slowly he began to bind you. The rope was soft against your skin as he bound your arms together above your head. Your arms were bent so your forearm touched your head and each wrist was bound to the opposite arms elbow. You knew your shoulders would be protesting at the end of this, but it was an interesting choice. It made it impossible to move your arms away from each other, and once he hooked the rope to a clasp on the headboard, you couldn’t move your arms at all.

Skipping the core of your body he moved down to your feet and rubbed them gently. He put them next to each other, having you hold the position. Starting at your knees he wound a coil of rope all the way down your calves from your knees to your ankles leaving your feet free, but trapping your legs tightly together. This was a confusing choice, but it wasn’t your place to argue. Stretching out your legs he used a shorter length of rope, winding it through some of the coils between your ankles and securing it to the footboard of the bed. Now you really had a hard time moving. You could still wiggle, but it wasn’t comfortable.

Lucien smiled down at you, feathering his touch over your body, letting his long nails tease your skin lightly. “You look so lovely like this, are you comfortable? Is anything pinching or painful?”

You shook your head, so far you were comfortable, or as comfortable as you could be in this position anyway. “Nothing hurts Sir, it isn’t a position I am used to, but I don’t feel pain.”

Nodding Lucien reached over to the selection of nipple toys. Starting with a small vibrator he teased each nipple to a nice peak. His gaze drifting between your breasts and your face, watching your expression, taking in the small changes as you began to feel pleasure. He seemed fine taking his time and continued to use the vibrator teasing between each nipple in turn until you were clenching your thighs and panting slightly.

“Delightful. Darling you are so expressive in your pleasure. How about we try something a bit different.”

Placing the vibrator to the side he picked up the little suction cups. They were manual suction cups and sized just right for nipples, though in a pinch they could be used on a clit if positioned properly. Attaching one to each nipple he slowly pumped the bulb on the end until he felt full resistance and then set the valve to closed, leaving them suctioned to your breasts, your nipples swollen and filling almost the entire little cup.

The sensation was intense. It was somewhere between pleasure and pain. It felt good, especially when he had been pumping, but at the maximum it also stung. It was on the edge of being too much, but not quite enough for you to call a color yet. Panting slightly you licked your lips and realized they were dry, your whole mouth felt dry really.

Reaching back over to the side table, Lucien picked the vibrator up again, turning it to the lowest setting and began running it on your breasts, around where the cup over your nipple met the skin. He watched you as he teased it over the skin of your breast for a while, slowly turning the vibrations up until they were at a medium setting. Then he ran the vibrator carefully over the cup suctioned to your nipple.

The sensation was instantly electric, your body bowing off the bed slightly at the intensity of it. Your nipples were already hyper sensitive and inside the suction tube that sensitivity was increased exponentially. You cried out, panting, squirming as Lucien moved the vibrator all around the cup. Grabbing a second small vibe he set it to the same intensity and used it on the other nipple. The dual sensation driving you right to the edge. If you could even think straight you would be surprised you were so close to orgasm just from nipple play.

The intensity was almost too much and you couldn’t stop yourself from trying to move away and squirm as the pleasure built higher, but the pain was right on its tail. The duality of the sensation, the pleasure and pain pushed you closer to that edge but you couldn’t quite go over it. You had no idea how long it went on, losing all sense of time, your focus centered completely on the sensations you were feeling.

Suddenly it stopped and you opened your eyes. You were taking deep heaving breaths, your entire body tensed up ready for release. Eyes traveling up you looked at Lucien, his gaze intense as he stared at you. His eyes were glowing, you were pretty sure it wasn’t a trick of the light or your mind messing with you, his eyes burned like pitch as he stared at you.

“What a delicious little toy you are, oh it will be difficult to share you, but I must. I was certain you would call a color, I could almost feel it, but you never did. I am impressed, and quite proud of you dearest.”

Slowly Lucien released the valves on the nipple pumps letting the air out and removing them from your swollen buds. They were twice the size they normally were, and incredibly sensitive. You squeaked and wiggled when he blew gently on them. Even that slight bit of stimulation shot straight to your core making your clit jump.

With a smile Lucien leaned in and took one nipple into his mouth, his sharp teeth scraping the sensitive flesh of your breast gently, tiny pricks of pain against your oversensitized nipple as his soft tongue swept over the tortured bud. The texture of his tongue was like nothing you had ever felt and when he began to suckle, your hips arched as the pleasure made you clench hard. You could feel how wet you were now, certain there was a puddle beneath you on the bed.

His body was against yours, and you struggled to recall when his clothing had actually come off. You could feel the heat of his skin, the muscles of his form as he pressed himself against you. One of his hands gripped your hip, those long nails digging into your flesh as he moved to the other nipple, more of his body pressed against yours.

It was too much, the feel of him, of his body, of the strange warmth that seemed to radiate off of him. His hot mouth latched to your swollen sensitive nipple as he suckled and teased it with his tongue. It was too much to handle as you felt his nails bite into your skin that sharp twinge of pain mixing so close to the pleasure you were now feeling throughout your whole body. Desperate for even a single touch on your clit, but you didn’t need it.

When Lucien growled around your nipple, you were lost. Your body arching as much as it could as you came. Your legs bound tightly together didn’t stop your orgasm, but you wanted more, you wanted so much more. Whimpering, moaning, crying out, you didn’t even realize you were begging for him until he pulled away looking at you with glowing eyes, his features sharper, ears longer, he was otherworldly in his appearance and was looking at you as if he could devour you.

“You don’t know what you are asking for dearest, you really don’t.” His voice was husky, smokey, it had a strange echo to it as if other voices were speaking along with his own. “Never tempt me, even my control has limits.”

Lucien pulled away moving into the shadows for a moment leaving you to calm down. When he returned he seemed to be clothed again and he smiled sitting on the bed with you. His hands stroking over your stomach, sides, and hips. He noticed the damage he had done to your hip and stroked it lightly. The pain receded for you, but you couldn’t really see what he had done.

“You did so well my dear, so very well, I am certain you will be quite popular here.”

As his hands moved back over your sides you giggled. You were very ticklish, especially after an orgasm, and those long nails were hitting your skin in a way it was hard to control. The giggling got louder and you notice the quirked brow as he looked at you curiously. It was when that expression turned mischievous that you knew you were in trouble.

Lucien began to tickle you, not too hard, but oh was it working. It was torture. You couldn’t really move, you couldn’t escape, there was nothing you could do. The giggles turned to laughter, which turned to louder laughter and some tears as you lost control. You begged for him to stop, but didn’t color code. So his tickling continued until you were red in the face.

It was clear he knew the limit, not wanting to actually harm you, and let you calm down as he began to unbind you. Having to cut some of the rope to get you out a little faster.

“I simply could not help myself, your laughter is so delightful. You have such a bright soul.”

There was a pause as he finished unbinding you and helped you sit up so you could drink some cool water. He took the time to massage your arms and legs to help feeling return and wasn’t satisfied until he could feel warmth in both your hands and feet. You watched him carefully and risked ruining the moment.

“Why did you untie me, are we finished? You didn’t um.” It was odd, you just realized that Lucien did nothing that would bring pleasure for himself.

“You gave me everything I desired from this encounter, trust me my dear, I got what I needed and I plan to give you a glowing review. I do hope you will indulge me again some time. I promise not to overdo it on the tickling again.”

You nodded, laughing a bit. “Ok, I would like to do more scenes with you. Thank you, this was a unique experience.”

Lucien smiled, helped you to dress in your comfortable clothing and pack up your gear. He excused himself as he guided you back to the employee area, not stepping inside himself. Before leaving he bowed low, lifting your hand, kissing it with a flash of red in his eyes before walking down the hall and seeming to simply disappear into the shadows at the end of it.

A shudder went down your spine as you stepped into the employee lounge. Lucien was a strange one, that was certain. Meeting back with the manager she smiled at you and lead you to a couch offering you a place to rest and some refreshments before signing you out for the night. It wasn’t until you tried to stand again that you realized just how exhausted you were.

Heading out of the employee lounge and towards the door you passed the security office as you stumbled slightly. A strong arm catching you. Turning your head you looked up to see Naz staring at you with concern.

“I hope you aren’t planning to drive like this?”

“Oh, no, I can call a service. I didn’t bring my car, I figured it might be like this so I planned ahead.”

Naz frowned and used his large hand on your back to guide you into the security office and gently nudged you into a chair. “How about instead of that, you wait a few more minutes and I can drive you home. I wouldn’t want you passing out in the back of a cab. We take care of our own here.”

Your cheeks darkened as you smiled at him. “Ok, but what if I pass out in your car?”

“Then you have nothing to worry about. I will make sure you get home safe, or you can crash in my spare room. Either way, you will have a safe warm place to sleep.”

Despite only meeting him today, you weirdly felt like you could trust Naz, and right now you were too tired to argue.

“Ok, I will do my best not to pass out.” You laughed a bit and got comfortable as you watched the bouncers and other security staff come and go from the office, finishing up their duties for the night as the club was getting ready to close.

#Auchendale Archives #reader story #monster boyfriend

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lithgaeril · 3 years ago

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Interaction

Hello! I’m Lithgaeril, and while I primarily interact with fandom on ao3, I made a blog for the times when that isn’t as convenient. However, there are probably a few important things I should have on the record here, ranging from topics I won’t touch to how frequently you can expect a reply.

If you don’t read below the cut, here’s the very watered down tl;dr: I’m always down to talk tolkien, just don’t be a dick! Also I don’t usually reply quick, sorry.

Availability

1) I can’t guarantee I’ll be on more than a couple times a week (though at other times I may be available multiple times a day, it all depends on my energy levels and schedule). I do try to check at least once a day if I’m participating in any events that involve communication.

2) At present, I am only following event blogs whose events I may participate in. This is to avoid the infinite scroll sinkhole, not because I don’t like other people’s content. This may change in the future, if I become more active on this blog.

Content Specific

3) I flat out refuse to engage in discourse. I used to find it fun, but now I mostly find it ruins my enjoyment of things I love. I may make an original post (using my unique tags to avoid the main tag search) discussing my thoughts on a subject that is considered controversial, but I will not add these sorts of comments onto other people’s posts and if you try to argue with me on mine, I will ignore or possibly block you. I do my best to keep any possibly controversial post out of the main tags, so if you’re reading it on my blog, you’re welcome to leave, unfollow, or even block me. I don’t care. If you’re just curious about my opinion on a controversial topic, ask me and I’ll probably (but not definitely) respond.

4) I am generally open to NSFW discussion, but please always ask first. I will always try to extend the same courtesy in any conversation. If you are a minor, do not initiate conversations regarding NSFW topics. If we get to talking about headcanons/ideas/etc. and you either don’t want to go anywhere near NSFW or you’re a minor, please specify that you don’t want the conversation going in that direction. This will let me know not to bring up anything NSFW without the need to disclose any personal information like your age

Comments/Criticism

5) Please do not compliment my headcanons or works by disparaging someone else’s. Everybody has things they like better and things they can’t stand at all, but comments like “I love that you did ‘x’ instead of the more common ‘y’, which I hate” can definitely be seen by people who like ‘y’. Not to mention, I often hold more than one, sometimes conflicting, headcanons about characters, and it’s very possibly I like ‘y’, too.

6) If you have a legitimate concern with something I have written or posted (ex. you believe it perpetuates racism, transphobia, ableism, etc), please let me know specifically which part is the problem and how, so that I may research the topic further and make changes where necessary.

7) If I say something that contradicts canon and fail to mention that fact, feel free to politely let me know, as sometimes I truly am not aware, but also please know that sometimes I break canon deliberately. That’s part of the joy of fic writing

In Conclusion

8) Alright, I think that’s all the disclaimers lmfao. Fun fact about me: I’m the person who actually reads the EULA/ToS & Privacy Policy :)

9) I do actually enjoy talking to people (although I confess, I *am* always this wordy)! If you want to talk about Tolkien’s work in general, my works/ideas, or even send me fic recs, please feel free! I enjoy in-depth discussions, learning about other people’s ideas & how they differ from mine, and brainstorming fun ideas for fics/hcs/etc! Please don’t be nervous just bc we’re not mutuals or whatever other reason you might be able to think up. I am equally open to asks and messages, but I will post asks publicly unless otherwise specified.

#blog housekeeping

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mypoisonedvine · 4 years ago

Note

Hey! Also a fellow writer who posts series on Tumblr (AO3 too).

Same as you, probably, I get likes, mostly likes/kudos and very little comments/reblogs. And I understand, as a reader myself, it is easy/convenient to just double tap or click a button and keep scrolling. And I think, that's what most people do - they consider likes to be feedback.

I think it is important to consider that younger Tumblr users might not know that this is a reblogging platform. A few likes won't do much for exposure (or even feedback - it's like being left on read tbh), but a reblog will make that post branch out like a pureblood wizard's family tree, attract more feedback & will be a godsend if the reader not only reblogs but also adds appropriate tags (hence the "big in [tag]" thing the discover page has), however tagging takes time, is annoying etc etc

I don't support guilting or obligating people to interact with fanworks in any kind - please don't misunderstand! However, a lack of consistent feedback may cause a writer's block or just a loss of interest in posting in the author.

It may be helpful to add a "hit that reblob button if you like my story" every now and then in the header of your fics. It takes 3x the amount of time as pressing a like and - to be honest - as a reader, blogs that just have fanfic reblogs, even without tags, are one of the most I enjoy. So many great authors.

Another coupla tips on gaining an audience:

>> periodic masterlist/masterpost reblogs, I'd say about once in 6 weeks; a single masterpost reblog once a story is finished if your story has it. I occasionally reblob stories that did particularly well or have a larger fandom (ex. Tony Stark vs Loki fandom - I have two Loki stories but they brought in people who are Tony stans too).

>> check out any challenges/bingos/etc your followers or just larger blogs host. participating in them will give you a good shout-out. most writers love to hype up their fellow writers so you may even get a mutual out of this!

>> dark or yandere themed blogs usually attract a large following buuuuuuuttt.... the admins deal with really nasty shit :( there's a community for that (I'm not a part of it) so if you're into that I can drop some @s in your inbox

Hope you don't mind this wall of text from a Tumblr dinosaur 🦖🦖🦖

yes, sadly I've been here long enough to see tumblr lose its identity as a blogging platform and turn into an endless scroll platform like pinterest or instagram.

there was a time when tumblr was in the same league as blogspot, blogger, or wix. it was designed as a platform for bloggers back when that was a lot more of a 'thing'. and it was one of the most creative, unique, supportive communities online for years.

then Yahoo came along and killed the personality that tumblr was known for. then SESTA (Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act) brought on the porn ban and a fifth of the users left.

so I'm not surprised people don't understand what tumblr is for, even if I think there are enough "reblogs are important" posts to make it obvious by now. I've been here since 2013 (with the same blog the whole time! my main has a lot of backlog) and it's odd to see how much it's changed. but every reader and commenter means so much to me.

keep in mind that on the app, you can quick reblog by just holding down the reblog button and swiping to whatever blog (if you have multiple) you would like to reblog it to! it's not harder than liking!

I'm not worried about gaining an audience so much as keeping it, really. I just fear that the drop-off in series represents something lacking in the writing!

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painandpleasure86 · 5 years ago

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It’s a Hard Life (Entry for Binky’s DTIYS)

A/N: Hello ppl! Again writing... I had a writer block until today :( But here I am. Writing something for the @binkyisonline ‘s DTIYS! I made a fic with her unicorn John. The ending it’s open, so, if this haves success, I could continue a little more the story. You with your support decides! ;) Was an interesting experience write something with an humanoid.

Summary: A young human-unicorn lives in an enchanted woods and it’s about to meet with a young artist that also loves exploring.

Warnings: none. Some swear words, but a few.

Pairing: Platonic Deacury (for now)

Word count: +1500

Permanent taglist: @warriorteam1924 @toomuchlove-willkillyou @deakysgurl

If you want to be in the tag list, just tell me! ;)

(John’s POV)

Everyone looks at me as something strange, something beautiful. They think that because I'm the way I am, I'm somewhat innocent. I'm not. I know the dangers of the world. I know people's thoughts. Everyone wants to ride me.

I'm an abomination. They didn't make me 100% animal or 100% human. Sometimes I take the form of a human with brown hair, long and wavy, six feet tall, very thin, gray eyes... But with one detail: my horn never goes away. Do you see why I say I am an abomination? I think whoever created me wanted to have fun at my expense. Thank you...

It seems not, but my life it's very difficult . I have no place to go, and no one who really loves me. No ulterior motives. I wander the woods, eating what I can, sleeping where I can. I try to do it in my animal way, because being in my human way, people usually get scared. It's not just the horn, but also the fact that I have nothing to cover me. But why do I usually say? Some maids want to possess me. Also some gentlemen. Don't they think I have feelings? I'm not someone who whores or someone who wants to be intimate with the first person who comes across me. Everyone wants me for convenience. Or at least, everyone I've met. Sometimes I fantasize about meeting someone who cares for me, loves me and respects me as I deserve. But it seems like it's something that will only live in my head...

By the way, where are my manners... My name is John. Or at least that's what I've chosen to call myself. I don't know how old I am, but in my human form I look like someone who's barely 21.

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(Freddie’s POV)

I love walking around these parts. I always find something beautiful, something strange, something worth documenting. It's full of wonders.

Today I wander through an enchanted forest, where a being lives that leaves me speechless. He is a young man who is barely over 20 years old, with long brown hair, tall, thin... Whenever he sees me close enough, he runs away from me. He usually looks at me with a frightened face, even when I ask him if I can come closer. "Get away from me. I don't want you to use me for your pleasures," he told me last time. Like every time. I don't know why he thinks I want to possess him, although I cannot deny his immense beauty and that his lack of clothes makes him even more tempting. I just want to know him better. To ask him why, even though he looks so human, he keeps that horn.

By the way, my name is Frederick. I'm 26 years old. I'm the son of a very important nobleman in my kingdom. My father wants me to get married, I'd rather be like this. I prefer to spend weeks exploring the world around me and making sketches in my notebook of the most curious things I can find. I don't want to deal with any of those serious things. I want to enjoy life. Marrying a maid for family arrangements is a bit of a letdown. It would ruin my life and the life of the poor woman they put next to me. They'd ask me for children. I don't want to. It would take time away from my enjoyment. But then, my father doesn't want to understand my decision. He prefers to say that I'm the disgrace of the family. Being the oldest of four brothers has its drawbacks.

When I'm not exploring, I spend my time painting pictures. I take my sketchbook and make one of them on the canvas. I paint over everything I come across, including that mysterious young man with long hair. Lately it's just that young man with long hair...

I think I've seen it. Or at least I've distinguished his horn. I'll go slowly, so I don't scare him. God, I feel like a stal-...

SHIT. IT HURTS.

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(John’s POV)

I was very quiet walking around, since I didn't see anyone around, when suddenly I heard something. It was a noise of something falling on a pile of leaves. My curiosity is stronger than that. I walk up and see a human being collapsed. He tripped over a protruding tree root. I don't usually get this close to a human in my human form, but I think I'll make an exception today.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"Yes, I just tr- Oh it's YOU!"

I got a little out of the way. I won't let him down, but don't let him harass me.

"Yes, it's me. I saw you lying there and I wanted to help you up. I may be an abomination, but I have feelings."

"Why abomination? You're unique. You're a wonder."

That sincerity in his words. That feeling... I couldn't help but I blushed.

"You're nice, but you know I can turn into a unicorn, right? And when I become human, I don't lose my horn. No one will ever take me seriously."

"Hey, why do you say that? Love is for everyone." responded him, smiling.

(Are you hitting on me, stranger?)

"Ha, really? Then why do you only want to have sex with me? Everyone sees me with a fucking object. I love walking around like this, with nothing, but they mistake it for seduction or being available for fantasy. That's why I prefer to be here alone, because I can be free."

I don't even know why I took it out on him so hard. Maybe because the others I've met I can't talk to them like that.

"Well... I'll help you to stand up," I said, trying to get back to what had gone before.

I leaned back so that he would rest his left arm on my shoulders, I took it from his waist. Slowly, we stood up.

Looking at his face, I ask him, "Can you walk?"

"I think. At least help me ride my horse. Too much exploring for today."

I rode with him for a mile. We went along the "road." He didn't want to attract attention.

"By the way, I'm John," I said, as we walked.

"I finally know your name... I'm Frederick."

"You seem like a nice guy. I see you have a notebook with you. Are you drawing me? Hahaha."

Blushing a little, he answers me.

"Not just you, John. But anything I see that catches my eye. I'm a painter."

"So I'm your muse," I add.

"Yes, lately you're my only muse. I can only paint you."

He blushes too much.

I don't know, but I feel very good with this young man.

---------------

After several minutes of silence, we found his horse.

"Shall I help you to ride your horse?"

"No, John, I can handle it. Thank you for what you've done for me today." Already on his horse, he adds, "Until the next time, John. I hope you don't walk away from me like you always do."

"I will not. Promise. Take care of yourself."

Little smile on his face.

"I will. You take care too."

I smiled at him.

His horse came out at a full gallop. And I thought to myself... Have I found what I've always been looking for? No, it's too fast to make sure of that. But the truth is that I met the first human who wants to talk to me. And that's an enough reason to smile.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Freddie’s POV

I went to the nearest inn to get some rest before comeback to home. Eating a little, I can't stop thinking about that young man. John. I don't know why he's so disregarded. He seems to be a very kind, affectionate being; as well as beautiful on the outside. I could enjoy his company forever. It was only a few minutes this time, but it was beautiful. They were like being in paradise. I would love to bring him to my palace, to live with me. But my father would still call me the family disgrace, as well as crazy. And gay. Yes, I am. But my father doesn't understand happiness. He only wants to keep alliances with other lords. Aren't my other brothers and sister enough for you, Father?

Well, at least I have my mother on my side. She knows how I like to live and she understands, even if she doesn't like it. If my father hasn't thrown me out of the house, it's because of her.

Well, stop rambling. I think it's time to go to sleep. I'm tired. I know in my dreams, he will be. That beautiful, divine creature. I don't know what the paths of life will be like, but I hope they'll allow us to continue to cross...

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If you like this, please reblog! It helps me a lot! :3 <3 And if you want more of this au, please tell me! ;)

Cheers, Lily.

#painandpleasure86 writes #painandpleasure86 fics #john deacon #freddie mercury #unicorn boy #silverunicorn #deacury #deaky #queen fandom #queen fic #painandpleasure86 posts

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peepingtoad · 5 years ago

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@minaa-munch said: Do you have any headcannons with regards to Jiraiya and fuuinjutsu? The Sannin are part of the few shinobi who exhibit sealing prowess after all. | headcanon asks | always accepting! |

Hello again! First off, great question because it’s always been vexing to me that the Sannin are all so skilled in this area, and yet fūinjutsu overall is such an underexplored, underexplained discipline in general. On the other hand, this gives us a lot of room to have fun with it (which I think I’ve yet to really make any specific headcanon for) so here we go!

What I’ll say first is that I’ve been waiting (I dunno why, because nothing was stopping me) for a reason to post this particular thing for so long now, but in regards to the origin of Jiraiya’s skill in fūinjutsu, I see Danzō being the one to introduce him to it and initially mentor him in his youth—I’d say from perhaps age 13 or 14, for a couple of years. And for this I’ve thought of a few main reasons it’d come about:

Plain and simple, Danzō is keen to piss off Hiruzen by snagging his students because he’s a salty and bitter old goat—and at this point Orochimaru isn’t quite on the cards, what with still comfortably being Hiruzen’s favourite. Meanwhile Jiraiya is underestimated and somehow, despite being the way he is, manages to fly under the radar a lot. The raw potential is there too, and it’s intriguing to him.

To expand on Jiraiya going unnoticed, he is also basically an orphan, with no parent present enough to ever interfere. This is an important factor that Danzō no doubt values in the early stages of building ROOT—and whatever its intentions were at the time, Danzō was not particularly a shady guy at this stage. He could scope out the talent relatively unbothered.

But young Jiraiya’s talents are definitely something he’s seeking out, knowing he eventually wishes to operate from the shadows, to have people who can blend in seamlessly—and Jiraiya, being so personable and capable of ‘acting natural’ to the most human degree, is a great candidate for such a job. Sometimes he barely even seems like a shinobi at all, and that’s a strength for a spy.

Of course, after a few infuriating years he learns that basically everything about Jiraiya as a person is fundamentally unsuited to the type of work he wishes to do through ROOT. What a waste of time, huh?

So with some degree of general mentorship and information-digging going on, Danzō offers some training across various specialties and thus discovers that Jiraiya has a natural flair for fūinjutsu. In fact, despite being a slow and steady learner in many other areas of shinobi discipline, he takes to this like a fish to water. Book-learned basic principles aside, I imagine it’s a very hands-on, intuitive skill that requires great creativity to expand on the knowledge already possessed—which is probably minimal, besides Danzō’s own and the previous Hokage’s contributions, based on how relatively early Konoha is in the whole ‘document everything’ game (relatively).

Needless to say, Jiraiya has the creativity down pat. He designed the seal to suppress the Kyūbi chakra, after all, and was even proficient enough to seal Amaterasu. Hell, his toad-themed jutsu in themselves are quite the exercise in creativity, so even though Jiraiya turned out to be no good for ROOT, he would use that brilliant(!) mind to go on to play a part in developing many seals commonly used among Konoha shinobi today.

His main forte, or at least the area of fūinjutsu where he really went wild, is the design of numerous paper/scroll/tag-based seals, lending to the general convenience of use for shinobi of all ranks. They’re easy to pack, carry and replicate which helped to ensure that units were more prepared than ever. Chiefly, sealing elemental jutsu (exemplified by sealing Itachi’s Amaterasu fire) and weapons within scrolls, along with chakra suppression, vocal silencing, paralyzing and tracking seals. He didn’t invent these manners of sealing by any stretch, but made the designs more... streamlined? Accessible? More simple to draw and execute, I imagine, being generally simpler himself and not so constrained by the rigid teachings of any given clan.

As an aside—the reason he was so focused on sealing objects at all was so that he could bring Items He Should Not Have into Places They Weren’t Welcome, while being more difficult to notice doing so. Make of that what you will. (It’s booze-related because isn’t it always? Hell, maybe even some of that dank Myōbokuzan kush that the toads are blatantly always smoking in those fancy kiseru... am I joking? Who knows)

Anyway. His weapon seal would go on to inspire Tenten’s technique of sealing many weapons at once. Again by no means did he invent this technique, because this is Tenten’s baby (plus he’s no bukijutsu specialist!), but the theory had its basis within the seals he designed for simple and chakra-efficient storage of weaponry.

Again being very much geared towards paper and tag seals, much of Jiraiya’s training that was unique to Konan, along with combining toad oil/fire and paper, was teaching her fūinjutsu and brainstorming ideas to make her paper jutsu even more formidable and unpredictable than before. We of course see her using all those explosive tags in the fight with Obito, but I think Konan + paper seals doing all sorts of shit, releasing sealed jutsu and who knows what else... was a missed trick!

While I believe Mito definitely had influence on Jiraiya’s fūinjutsu, I think it was indirect, and any learnings of Uzumaki sealing will have been passed to Jiraiya through Kushina and/or what Minato learned through Kushina (who in turn learned most heavily from Mito). My reasoning for this is that as the first jinchūriki, Mito seemed to be far more isolated than later hosts would be, particularly in her older years—and I don’t see there being much inclination to share Uzumaki sealing secrets with someone with no ties to the clan. Kushina and Tsunade? Yes. Random little ragamuffin? Perhaps not.

... I’ve already rambled on a fair bit and think I’m out of proper ideas for now, so I’m just gonna take a moment to list some short/stupid fūinjutsu-related headcanon ideas now:

When he calls Orochimaru’s work sloppy that one time, it’s a big ol’ front. But he does still think this is one area where he’s better than Oro. Nyehhh.

Why yes, of course he has seals for sexual use! Climax-blocking, stamina refreshing, instant shibari (chakra or actual rope), all over stimulation via the mildest raiton contained in a seal? You bet!

Released a book of ‘prank seals’ including ‘poof the object into nonexistence’ and ‘release deluge of oil’ and ‘suddenly frog’ amongst many others. This book is illegal in most countries.

He once sealed (and I guess, technically stealed bwahahaha) a hotel jacuzzi when he was drunk, forgetting that there was no such thing as plumbing on the road, and its not exactly the same experience having to make all that hot water yourself

No appropriate place to piss? SEAL IT. BANISH IT. OR USE IT AGAINST YOUR WORST ENEMIES.

Once heroically sealed an entire town’s vermin infestation, forgot about it, then accidentally released it later. Is now barred from that ryokan, forever.

Has an entire scroll devoted to condoms

And another devoted to flavoured lube.

Not so stupid, but the need for rapid seal-drawing helped him to develop his ambidexterity to the point where you can barely tell what his dominant hand originally was (however he places down his left hand to summon in all early manga panels I remember at least, which indicates that as a child he signed it with his left hand).

He’s able to store Gerotora easily with a seal concealed in his throat. That’s why it’s so easy for him, not because of some other gutter-brained reason, honest.

He got really good at kanji through learning fūinjutsu. It arguably helped him along in his writing career—especially when writing more traditional style poetry.

#minaamunch #honourable mention to awintersrose for being so receptive to the danzo thing and helping me justify it ;o;#a trusted and valued fren to bounce ideas off and feed back - so some of the little details might also be her input #also to my s/o for some of the silly ones heh #bloody soundsketch #{memoirs(headcanons)}#{long post}#{rated:m}#{fanmail}#{chikaratochakra | prowess headcanons}

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intrepidguardian · 6 years ago

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How Design Miscues are Failing Portrayals of Relationships in MTG

Discourse? Discourse.

Love is a difficult topic to discuss because it can encompass so many things that aren’t “love” - you know what I mean, the kind of stuff that would get a fanfic tagged as “fluff.” My wife’s and my third anniversary is coming up, and more and more I find myself still learning about what love is. I love the study, but I know that I could fill hundreds of external hard drives with epitaphs and musings about every interaction my wife and I have had, each exemplifying a different aspect of our love and still not get the point across of just how much I love her.

(Btw I love you Ash and thank you for helping me edit this)

So how could you get an idea as complex as love across in the 25 words you’re allowed on your average Magic card? More to the point, why bother portraying love in Magic: The Gathering?

"Players won’t care until they are cards.” - Matt Cavotta, Senior Art Director for Wizards of the Coast, discussing the motivation for implementing Planeswalkers as a card type.

A few years back, and I’m sorry that I can’t find the actual post, someone asked Mark Rosewater something to the effect of “Red is supposed to be the ‘emotional color,’ yet the only emotion we tend to see out of Red is anger. WTF?”

Mark responded that R&D was working towards showing different aspects of the emotional spectrum in Red, but was hampered by the fact that Magic: The Gathering is a game about fighting and it was difficult to portray anything other than MAD RED in a game about fighting.

“No, my battlefield only has room for more Goblin Chainwhirlers.” - Solid Snake, probably.

A little while later, they apparently cracked the love code and printed Cathartic Reunion in Kaladesh, which was meant to portray Chandra finally reuniting with her mother Pia Nalaar, when both thought that the other had died years ago.

Shoutout to all my Dredge opponents that keep beating me with four-card hands thanks to this card.

Like yeah, it’s a nice moment and a nice piece of art. It’s not romantic love, but it’s familial love. You can see the love between Chandra and Pia in their embrace, and I think this might be one of the first portrayals of a hug in Magic: The Gathering [someone prove me wrong]. When you only have 25 words to explain love, the art and flavor text can pick up the slack. But mechanically, what is this saying about maternal love, or love in general? Is love just more inherent deck consistency? Is drawing cards the greatest display of love in Magic: The Gathering? Artistically and flavorfully, this card is trying to say a lot. Mechanically, this card could have easily been called “Super Rummage” or “Elicit the Dredge” and no one would be able to tell the difference. This card is trying to show what love is, but without any sort of mechanical tie-in, Cathartic Reunion just tells you what love is.

Wow, my opponent loves me A WHOLE LOT!

I would say that the best way to explain love is to show love. And I think the best way to show love is to show people who love each other interact positively with one another. Like, love is hard to explain but is easy to see. When you see two people who love each other interact, you can just tell. Maybe it’s small physical gestures or communication purely through facial expressions, but when love is there, it’s obvious. Yes, the art of Cathartic Reunion clearly shows a tender love between Chandra and Pia, but both Chandra and Pia Nalaar were given cards in Kaladesh! Show us how they interact where we are most likely to see both of them: on the battlefield!

What are these cards doing for one another when both are on the battlefield? Not a lot. Chandra’s second +1 makes enough mana to use Pia’s first activated ability one additional time.

That’s cool, I guess.

Pia has a tag-along flying creature that can block for Chandra once, so Pia is essentially two blockers for a planeswalkers.

Yeah, but Whirler Rogue can make a bunch of Thopters to block for Chandra, so what does that mean? There’s no love between Chandra and some random Vedalken just because the three-drop blocks real good.

</3

There isn’t any mechanical unity here. Chandra doesn’t care about artifacts, and Pia doesn’t care about card advantage or incidental damage. They can do some things for each other, yes, but there isn’t anything for a deck builder to go “Hmm, how can I maximize this?” It’s the mechanical equivalent of Pia and Chandra getting Amazon gift cards for each other for their birthday - a display of love, but not a particularly meaningful one.

Well, here you go. -Chandra

But maybe this isn’t fair. Pia Nalaar’s card maybe wasn’t supposed to work well with Chandra, it was supposed to convey a sense of emptiness from missing Kiran, her husband who had actually been killed. They had been shown on their own card in Magic Origins, which is powerful enough that it hovers around Modern whenever Jund or Grixis are good. Pia’s card is cheaper, but comparatively weaker, and even when you look at the art, Pia Nalaar is significantly dimmer and emptier than the card Pia and Kiran Nalaar.

“What does Kiran bring to this relationship? DO THE MATH!” -My Grandmother-in-Law, maybe

Maybe before we can show a good example of familial love in card mechanics, we need to show people in love working together on the battlefield!

So let’s grab some examples. Three couples right now in Magic that people are really talking about are Jace x Vraska, Tomik x Ral Zarek, and Chandra x Nissa. If you wanted to show some cozy couples, what’s cozier than being in a deckbox with your significant other?

Jace x Vraska

Well, these cards could maybe work together? Not a lot of decks can make two blue mana on turn three and then turn around and make black and green mana on turn six.

Mana problems aside, they kind of work well together. Jace is looking for creatures to get through combat damage and Vraska makes difficult to block creature tokens thanks to Menace. However, there’s also a cost problem here, which is that Jace wants to come down turn three and Vraska, the muscle of this relationship with all the free blockers, doesn’t come down for another three turns, so Jace has to try and hide behind a Bird that goes away if you look at it too long while Vraska’s trying to get mana together. If you can find a way to get both on the battlefield in the same deck, maybe it works, but it’s a lot of work without a lot of payoff.

Okay, what about a more recent example? Chandra and Nissa both got new cards in War of the Spark and they’re supposed to be canon, so they probably have something going on between their two cards.

Chandra x Nissa

This is a pretty symbiotic relationship - Chandra finds extra cards to cast, and Nissa makes a lot of mana to cast those extra cards and creates blockers so the player has time to do so. It’s the RG formula we see in a lot of ramp decks in this color combination - Green makes the mana, red makes the otherwise-unwieldy payoffs. But much like Chandra’s mechanical relationship with Pia, this doesn’t feel special or unique. Yeah, Chandra finds extra cards, but she also comes into play before Nissa, so there’s a turn of vulnerability where Nissa might arrive too late to actually help Chandra. And anyone could do that “find extra cards” job. See, look:

It’s like the dating game, but for really, really sad people

They all can do the same “get extra cards” thing for the player the way Chandra can, and all benefit from the blockers and extra mana that Nissa produces.. Mechanically, there is some synergy between Chandra and Nissa, but there’s nothing that speaks to the relationship between the two characters - it feels more like a convenient coincidence that these two cards work together rather than two people who finally came together when it mattered most.

Maybe what we need is a mix-up - people represented on different card types could have more design space for synergistic effects.

Tomik x Ral

So the last pairing is Tomik x Ral. I don’t know if any of you have bought a “Planeswalker Deck,” but a big selling point to those cards for beginners is that there is usually a creature in the deck that benefits from having that deck’s planeswalker in play. They’re flavorful and fun to get out ahead when when you find your planeswalker, but they’ve never been really viable for tournament play. A planeswalker like Ral being in a relationship with a non-planeswalker seems like the perfect fit for creating a competitive-level combination of creature and planeswalker and could really highlight the relationship between Tomik and Ral.

Yeah, they didn’t even try with this one. Double white on turn 2 into Red and Blue on turn 4 is already a tall order, but these two cards have entirely separate goals. Tomik, a card designed for Legacy, really wants to hate on his opponents trying to manipulate their lands.

Ral doesn’t have the word “land” on his card, and is a card designed with card advantage and maybe some combos in mind.

They’re two totally different cards designed for two totally different decks. I get that. My point is that they shouldn’t be. Wizards clearly knows how to design “planeswalkers matter” creatures, had an opportunity to do so, and instead opted to design a Legacy card to hate out cards that don’t exist in Legacy anymore.

You barely even deserve this, WotC.

That last bit was a little dense. I get it, it’s hard to read without caring a lot about flavorful mechanics, but I am trying to get my point across that Wizards had so many opportunities to make cards that could work together and mechanically create a sense of a relationship between characters and repeatedly chose not to, instead prioritizing other design goals. If I’m coming on a little strongly, it is because I know Wizards knows how to do this. In fact, Wizards had the opposite problem to the Chandra x Nissa issue, waaaay back in Battle for Zendikar.

“...and the Lord of the Multiverse said to Gideon, “It is not good for a planeswalker to be alone,” and so the Lord created Nissa and brought her to Gideon who jubilantly exclaimed: ‘Voice of my voice! Planeswalker of my heart! I shall call you Nissa, Voice of Zendikar! Together we shall grow plants and make Ally offspring and they shall have dominion over the entire plane of Zendikar!’ And the Lord of the Multiverse saw that it was very good...” -A very tongue-in-cheek quote by Craig Wescoe discussing Nissa, Voice of Zendikar in the upcoming Oath of the Gatewatch set.

Do you see this? Do you get it?

These two cards were made for each other.

There are a lot of similarities between these cards, and because they’re similar, they work well together in a lot of ways, all of which scream “PLAY US IN THE SAME DECK.”

1. Both Planeswalkers make tokens without losing loyalty. 2. Both Planeswalkers have an ability that gets better with more tokens, and can boost each other’s tokens. 3. Nissa curves into Gideon and can help make a safe battlefield for him. 4. Nissa coming down late is still good for Gideon, and she can even boost him with a +1/+1 counter when he’s a creature. 5. Both Planeswalkers have the same naming convention: Planeswalker, Whatever of Zendikar. We’re battling for Zendikar, of course I want Zendikar’s Ally and Zendikar’s Voice!

“But wait!” somebody wanting to say something said. “Two green mana on Turn 3 could be tough, and needing two white mana on turn 4 is even tougher!”

Well, hold on there buckaroo, because have I got the love note in a Magic card for you:

We didn’t see it, but Gideon planeswalked to a high school on Theros and had a popular girl fold this card up into a little triangle before giving it to Nissa.

This card is the perfect mechanical tie-in for a Nissa x Gideon deck. Card selection has rarely ever been afforded to white decks, and GW token decks have often struggled with getting their mana right to cast their white payoff cards without making room for superfluous mana decks, and even then that might not fix it (just ask Richard Bland about his GW Tokens deck in the Worlds 2011 finals). And as a little bonus, this card can get either Nissa or Gideon or, you know, whatever creatures you wanted, and what color combination was going to have more efficient creatures AND planeswalkers than Green and White Mechanically, these cards work so well together and they look like they’re supposed to work together.

In fact, this was the core of an incredibly powerful GW Tokens deck that won Pro Tour Shadows over Innistrad in the hands of Steve Rubin.

And when I was younger and looking at this deck for the first time, I thought Wizards would leap at the opportunity to pair these two up. Two reasonably popular planeswalkers paired up together to save a plane and worked really well together when I sleeved them up together? For a time, I was locked in - I thought Nissa x Gideon was going to be canon, and the lead-up to Kaladesh was where we’d see a little fluff between the two, or at the very least some genuine bonding between the flagship planeswalkers of the two colors most-interested in community. Instead, we got this:

Nissa: You’re being a little extra for me.

Gideon: My bad lol.

I was a little salty about that interaction (mostly because it felt like every color combination in the Gatewatch has had a good or at least interesting interaction, except green and white), but I was down with Nissa x Chandra. It seemed like they had some chemistry in the story, and I was excited to see that chemistry reflected in the cards. Instead, we got a whole lot of nothing, which is infuriating because Wizards knows how to mechanically tie-in planeswalkers.

Okay Wizards, here’s your second fifth chance...

So why is all this important? Why go into this deep dive about card mechanics trying to convey something that is decidedly not a mechanic in Magic: the Gathering?

It’s because love can be expressed in this game’s mechanics, which is really hard in a game about fighting, but also a very unique opportunity. A card can care about what another card is doing, can subtly emulate what another card is doing or how it is presenting, and other cards can tie the two together. That kind of mechanical interlinking has a real-world analogue: a genuine, deep love for another person. Wizards has clearly struggled with the problem of portraying relationships in a way that its multiple player bases will care about and want to play with. The solution to that problem is creating powerful cards that mechanically care about one other and attributing those cards and mechanics to characters that emotionally care about each other in its stories.

Wizards, you clearly know how to do that, so...

#mtg #magic the gathering #mtgcommunity #mtg discourse #discourse

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