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lybeuh · 4 years ago

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Sims 4 Legacy Challenge

a challenge by @chellplays (revisited by @lybeuh)

This is a twelve generation challenge for all of the marriage candidates from concernedape’s stardew valley.

Usual rules apply, meaning no cheats that give you an unfair advantage. Your sims do not have to look or be named after the characters in each generation. do whatever you like!

Generation 1: Abigail:

You were raised with humble upbringings. Your dad ran a general store, while your mom was best at complaining about your “alternative lifestyle.” You left home looking to start a life free of rules and parents, and with 20 000 simoleons in your pocket, you settled down in a new city.

traits: music lover, adventurous, geek . aspiration: the curator. career: tech guru, esport gamer branch

goals:

⦁ max out the rock climbing skill ⦁ reach at least level 5 of the video game skill. ⦁ reach at least level 5 in any musical instrument. ⦁ complete the frog collection. ⦁ climb the top of the mountain in Mt. Komorebi ⦁ have one “quirky” trait, appearance-wise (e.g. unnatural hair color). ⦁ have two best friends, and marry one of them. ⦁ own a cat named david jr. ⦁ have at least two children.

Generation 2: Emily:

You’re just working at the bar to make ends meet… but your real passion is tailoring. You make your clothes from scratch.

traits: cheerful, vegetarian, good. aspiration: freelance botanist. career: barista.

goals:

⦁ max out the knitting skill. ⦁ complete the knitted clothes colection. ⦁ must live in the same house as your sibling. ⦁ make a best friend with a sim who lives in another city/world. ⦁ grow your own garden. you like your meals organic. ⦁ decorate your house with clothing racks. you love fashion. ⦁ develop max affinity with another sim in both the green and pink bars, have two or more children with them, then “ask just to be friends.” ⦁ never marry.

Generation 3: Sam:

You are an outgoing, friendly sim who is brimming with youthful energy. You play guitar and drums, and want to start a band as soon as you have enough songs together. However, you do have a habit of starting ambitious projects and not finishing them.

traits: music lover, outgoing, ambitious. aspiration: musical genius. career: entertainer, musician branch.

goals:

⦁ have a job as a part-time retail employee as a teen. ⦁ reach level 10 of the entertainer career. ⦁ max out the guitar skill. ⦁ reach at least level 5 in the video game skill. ⦁ must not be the youngest child. live with your younger sibling(s) until they are old enough to move out. have a good relationship with them. ⦁ have a strained relationship with your father (if not applicable, with any one parent). ⦁ become best friends with two other entertainers. ⦁ be married twice, and have one child with each spouse.

Generation 4: Sebastian:

You are a rebellious loner who lives in your parents’ basement. You tend to get deeply absorbed in computer games, comic books, and sci-fi novels, and will sometimes spend great lengths of time pursuing these hobbies alone in your room. You can be a bit unfriendly to people you don’t know.

traits: loner, geek, bookworm. aspiration: computer whiz. career: freelance programmer.

goals:

⦁ reach the top of the freelance programmer career. ⦁ reach level 5 of the keyboard (piano) skill. ⦁ reach level 5 of the video gaming skill. ⦁ max out the programming skill. ⦁ have a negative relationship with your half-sibling and step-parent. ⦁ live in the basement of your parents’ house. ⦁ only have one child, with whom you have a strained relationship. ⦁ eventually let your relationship with your spouse deteriorate and subsequently get a divorce.

Generation 5: Penny:

You live with your mom in a little trailer. while your mom is out carousing at the bar, you quietly tends to your chores in the dim, stuffy room you are forced to call home. you are shy and modest, without any grand ambitions for life other than settling in and starting a family. You likes to cook (although your skills are questionable) and read books from the local library.

traits: family-oriented, bookworm, neat. aspiration: big happy family career: none.

goals:

⦁ live with your mother (if not applicable, any one parent), with whom you have a negative relationship. ⦁ you must cook for your parent and clean the house every day. ⦁ live in a trailer-esque house. you are by no means wealthy. ⦁ reach level 5 of the cooking skill. ⦁ both you and your parent may not have jobs ⦁ marry the first person you fall in love with. ⦁ your spouse is the only one who may bring in any income, while you are a stay at home mom. ⦁ own a luxury pool at some point in your life.

Generation 6: Harvey:

You’re a little old for a bachelor, but you have a kind heart and a respected position in the community. You live in a small apartment, but spend most of your time working. There’s a sense of sadness about you.

traits: genius, foodie, good. aspiration: successful lineage. career: doctor.

goals:

⦁ never date throughout your teens or young adulthood. focus on your career instead. get married only as an adult. ⦁ reach the top of the doctor career. ⦁ you love planes and decorate your house with plane related items ⦁ own a coffee machine. drink coffee as much as possible. ⦁ go jogging at least three times a week. ⦁ set up a reading garden in your backyard. ⦁ live in an apartment until you marry ⦁ have at least two children. having spent most of your life single, you want to have a comfortably sized family asap.

Generation 7: Haley:

Being wealthy and popular throughout high school has made you a little conceited and self-centered. You have a tendency to judge people for superficial reasons. But is it too late for you to discover a deeper meaning to life? Is there a fun, open-minded young person hidden within that shell?

traits: materialistic, snob, outgoing. aspiration: fabulously wealthy. career: none (only get one after you are married).

goals:

⦁ become enemies with your one of your sibling as a teenager. ⦁ max out the photography skill. ⦁ you may only get a career after you are married, and you must follow the same career path as your spouse. they opened your mind and inspired you to have interests beyond shopping. ⦁ earn at least three points in charisma, so you may donate to online charities after you are married. ⦁ bake a cake for every birthday that comes around. ⦁ grow a flower garden. ⦁ become friends with your sibling(s) again after you are married.

Generation 8: Elliot:

You live alone in a cabin. You are a writer who dreams of one day writing a magnificent novel. You are a sentimental “romantic” with a tendency to go off onto flowery, poetic tangents. When you can afford it, you enjoy a strong beverage at the bar.

traits: romantic, bookworm, loner. aspiration: bestselling author. career: writer, author branch.

goals:

⦁ reach the top of the author career. ⦁ live in a cabin-esque house near the beach ⦁ max out the writing skill. ⦁ reach level 5 of the piano skill. ⦁ reach level 5 of the cooking skill. ⦁ own a small garden. ⦁ specialize in romance books and poetry. later, you may also specialize in sci fi or mystery novels. ⦁ write love emails to your love interest at least once a week. ⦁ go to a bar at least once a week

Generation 9: Leah:

You love to spend time outside, foraging for a wild meal or simply enjoying the gifts of the season. You’re a talented artist with a large portfolio of work… Yet you’re too nervous to display it to the public.

traits: art lover, loves outdoors, foodie. aspiration: painter extraordinaire. career: none (painter, later on).

goals:

⦁ max out the painting skill, and paint at least 5 masterpieces. ⦁ date only one person in your young adulthood and have a child with them, but never marry. your partner is unsupportive of your artistic lifestyle and encourages you to “get a real job.” whether you choose to get a traditional career, that is not as a painter, is up to you. ⦁ eventually marry the love of your life as an adult: someone who is supportive of your art. if you did choose a career, quit and take up a career as a painter. ⦁ have at least one child with your new spouse. ⦁ harvest wild fruits, vegetables, etc. on weekends. ⦁ grow an excellent apple tree. ⦁ attend a flea market and sell your art.

Generation 10: Maru:

You acquired a passion for creating gadgets at a young age. When you aren’t in your room, fiddling with tools and machinery, you sometime do odd jobs at the local hospital.

traits: ambitious, outgoing, geek. aspiration: nerd brain. career: astronaut, space ranger branch.

goals:

⦁ reach level 10 of the athlete career track. ⦁ max out the handiness skill. ⦁ max out the logic skill. ⦁ have a negative relationship with your half-sibling. ⦁ upgrade at least five objects. ⦁ own a rocket ship. ⦁ your sim’s partner must be friends with your father (if not applicable, with either parent) before you can become engaged. ⦁ eventually, your relationship with your spouse becomes strained and you break up. you die as soon as your eldest child is a young adult.

Generation 11: Alex:

You love sports. You are quite arrogant and brag to everyone that you are going to be a professional athlete. Is your cockiness just a facade to mask your crushing self-doubt? Are you using your sports dream to fill the void left by the disappearance of your parents?

traits: bro, active, dog lover. aspiration: bodybuilder. career: athlete, professional athlete branch.

goals:

⦁ reach level 10 of the athlete career track. ⦁ max out the athletic skill. ⦁ become enemies with your father, but have had a very close relationship with your mother. ⦁ begin dating in your teens and go on at least three dates with three different people. ⦁ do not marry until you are in the later stages of young adulthood. you’re marrying your soulmate, someone who stuck with you despite your arrogance. ⦁ own a dog named dusty.

Generation 12: Shane:

You are often rude and unhappy, and suffer from depression and alcohol dependence. However, your attitude starts to change towards your spouse. After work you frequently spend your evenings at the bar. If you could reset your life maybe you’d start a chicken farm. Only free-range eggs of course.

traits: lazy, gloomy, cat lover. aspiration: friend of the animal. career: retail employee.

goals:

⦁ go to the bar after work every day. ⦁ get pizza delivered at least once a week ⦁ only get married as an adult. ⦁ after marriage, quit your job as a retail employee and choose a different career path. you’ve been encouraged by your spouse to give up alcohol. ⦁ after marriage, start a small garden. ⦁ have a maximum of two children. ⦁ max out the pet trainig skill ⦁ adopt a cat named charlie. ⦁ adopt one dog and train them all tricks

#stardew valley #stardew #sims #sim #sims 4 #sims 4 challenge #sims 4 legacy #game #twitch #youtube #sims 4 generations #challenge #legacy #ts4 #ts4 challenge #ts4 legacy #sv

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plasticnightmaredoll · 4 years ago

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Ok, so I had to do this after reading @justasimplesinner ‘s absolutely adorable and precious h/cs for Arkham Knight Riddler meeting his s/o’s family for the first time. I mean, AK!Eddie being happy? Having some sort of family? It hits me right in the feels 😭

But I was inspired to write something similar for Telltale Riddler and his s/o but with a twist. I mean, it’s already going to be quite different considering how Telltale Riddler is, but I’m taking things a little further and getting a bit personal. Since I self-ship with him, I figured, why not turn these h/cs into self-insert ones?

Basically, Telltale Riddler meeting my family for the first time on Christmas.

The h/cs will reflect what the reality of my family is like but I won’t get, like, too personal. Y’all don’t need to know everything.

Pre-headcanons warnings to be fair:

There is a little but of smut at the end. Nothing explicit but it’s a little bit spicy.

These are self-insert headcanons, not reader-insert ones

This is an age-gap pairing since I’m 33 years old and Telltale Riddler is 60 years old.

Anyway, let’s head on into these h/cs for Telltale Riddler meeting my folks for the first time (and that seems awkward as hell to write but hey, I’m fictosexual so....🤷‍♀️)

There is a little bit of smut at the end. Nothing explicit but it’s definitely a little spicy.

It’s the first Christmas spent with Eddie since becoming a couple, and it’s also kind of an awkward time because family, you know? And, well, my parents don’t know I’m dating anyone...let alone THE Riddler.

It’s going to be a challenge getting them to accept me dating someone nearly twice my age (I’m 33 and Edward’s 60, but damn, did he age like fine wine or what?) But revealing that it’s the goddamn Riddler?

So, yeah, I’m freaking out but I also realize that I have to tell them eventually because it’s only fair, for one, and keeping it a secret for a long time would just make things worse if -- or more realistically, when -- my parents found out on their own.

Plus, I’m not ashamed or afraid to date Edward. He treats me much differently than he treats most other people, and I want my parents to know that, yeah, he’s Riddler, a criminal mastermind but honestly, he treats me better than any guy has and I’m actually happy.

Edward isn’t nervous but he’s concerned because he doesn’t want to complicate things between my parents and me, doesn’t want to bring unnecessary drama and angst into my life. He can handle people disliking him -- hating him -- but he doesn’t want the only person he’s ever truly cared for to have a damaged relationship with her family because of him.

But we discuss it and decide it’s better to just go ahead and do it. Rip off the band aid and get the pain out of the way as fast as possible, so to speak. Whatever happens, happens, and hopefully it’s nothing (too) upsetting.

I call my parents and tell them I’m coming to visit for Christmas, and I reveal -- while my hands are shaking and my heart is pounding from the anxiety consuming me -- that I want to bring my boyfriend.

Oh, I have a boyfriend? For how long? How did we meet? What’s he like? What’s his name? Why the wait to tell them about him?

I know it wouldn’t go over well to just show up at my parents home hanging off of the goddamn Riddler’s arm, like, “Oh, hey, my boyfriend is a criminal genius, don’t ya know?”

So, I approach telling them over the phone the truth slowly, cautiously. I say his name is Edward and we met kind of by accident and we’ve been dating for a good portion of the year. It’s my first Christmas with him, actually.

Wait, it’s been that long and I never told my them?! What the hell?!

Needless to say, they are baffled and also concerned about this news.

I explain the awkward but less, uh, shocking news that he is an older man, and I was worried they’d be upset about that. They ask how old Edward is and I hesitate, wondering if I should lie and say he’s, like, in his early 50s because he could easily pass for that age. Hell, even I thought he was in his early 50s (or even very late 40s) when I first met him.

However, honesty is the best policy, and this is not even the “bad” news yet.

I say that he just turned 60 years old this year in a calm, cool, casual tone, like I’m talking about the weather and not revealing to my parents that I’m dating a guy who is my dad’s age.

There is silence and I internally panic because if they’re angered or appalled by this, they’re not going to handle finding out who Edward is well at all.

They are surprised, a little worried for my wellbeing because they think Edward’s some perverted Sugar Daddy to me. They don’t say it like that but it’s heavily implied.

I explain that’s not the case at all, that he’s actually very sweet towards me.

My folks decide to go along with this bit of news because hey, I’m 33 years old. I’m an adult. I can date an older man if I want.

Then comes the “fun” part, which is revealing to them what Edward does for a living.

I laugh nervously, and Edward, who has been patiently sitting beside me on the couch, realizes what I’m about to tell my parents. He watches me closely, hoping this doesn’t turn into a disaster for my sake.

“Yeah, so, Edward, yeah...Edward is...well, he’s, um...Well, he’s, he’s a genius. Like a tech genius, great with electrical engineering, computers. And uh, his job, his profession, his, um, career? Yeah, that’s...well, he’s...”

I take a deep breath and prepare for the worst.

“He’s The Riddler, one of Gotham’s...elite....masterminds.”

The silence on the other end of the phone is so terrifying that I feel like I’m going to faint from how anxious I am. Edward places a hand on my knee as a means of comfort, still wanting to give me some space to breathe and calm down.

My parents aren’t...thrilled, to say the least. I’m dating a fucking criminal mastermind?! I’m dating RIDDLER? THE RIDDLER? What the goddamn fresh hell is this?!

I start crying because I’m so stressed about this, and Edward moves closer so he can put his arm around me. He feels bad, he really does, and it shows in his troubled expression, but there’s not much he can do. It’s not like we can take this back and say, “Oh, hey, just kidding!” No, this was the truth and now we were dealing with the consequences.

I manage to get my parents to calm down long enough so I can get a word in. I get up off the couch and walk to another room to speak to them alone.

I tell them I know it’s not the most pleasant news to hear, and I know it seems awful, but it’s the first time I have been with a man and he’s treated me well. Like, really well. It’s not just the nice gifts or expensive dinners. Edward does genuinely care about me. I don’t feel like a “booty call,” he doesn’t ignore me, he doesn’t threaten me, he’s never abused me and never will. He’s not the same person with me as he is with some other people. I wouldn’t be dating him otherwise.

It takes some more convincing, but once I get it through to my parents that yes, I’m actually happy and yes, I’m safe and yes, Edward is a very doting boyfriend, they decide to meet him at Christmas. I know they will still have concerns and may be a bit cold to Edward at first, but I hope they would see what I see.

The day arrives and I’m a nervous wreck. Edward is worried for me. He assures me that everything will be ok, and I want to believe but I’m still scared.

Deep down, he thinks maybe dating me is a bad idea -- not because he doesn’t love me but because he feels like he could damage my relationship with my parents. However, he doesn’t bring this up as he doesn’t want me to be even more upset than I already am.

Edward had brought with him some gifts for my parents and my grandma (she was staying with them, too). He brought the most most beautiful bouquet of flowers and a necklace for my grandma, a very lovely diamond bracelet for my mom, and a high-quality (aka expensive) watch for my dad.

I had to dress to impress and by that, dress in things Edward had given me to give my parents more visual proof that he was taking care of me. But I was careful not to overdo it. I didn’t want my parents to think I was his piece of...eye candy.

When we arrive, my parents greet us at the door, giving me a much warmer welcome than they give to Edward. They’re not rude to him, but they look uneasy, even a little irritated.

Edward, being the charming bastard he is, keeps his calm and showcases his gentlemanly side. It’s genuine because he IS quite the gentleman as I have learned, but I don’t know if it will be enough to convince my parents to accept him.

They appreciate the gifts, seem a little caught off guard by the pricey but very lovely things Edward bought them. They also notice I’m wearing a dress that cost a pretty penny and jewelry just as extravagant. But none of it’s gaudy.

Basically, I don’t look like Riddler’s trophy girlfriend.

Edward is courteous and charming, which seems to help my mom relax a bit. My dad still looks rather tense, though.

My grandma, being 90 and having frequent issues with memory, doesn’t remember who Edward actually is. My parents told her but she had forgotten and it was probably for the best.

My grandma is impressed with Edward, finds him to be a proper, handsome gentleman type. She also was very grateful for the gifts he brought her.

Edward is very patient with my grandma, which I know isn’t easy due to her memory problems. But he is very relaxed, behaving pretty much like he does around me.

We all have dinner and chat, and the tension in the air lightens. My parents even laugh at a few humorous comments from Edward. He thanks my parents for allowing him to visit and for the wonderful dinner, and offers to help my parents clean up.

Good. This gives my parents time alone with Edward which, as nerve-wracking as it is for me, is something that needs to happen. They need a one-on-one with my boyfriend...and hopefully it didn’t turn into a mess.

I stay with my grandma and act like everything’s fine as I anxiously wait to find out what my parents will ultimately think of Edward.

They are upfront with him once they’re alone with him, asking him if he’s putting up some kind of act or if this is all really him. They also ask if he genuinely cares for me or if he’s just using me because I’m “young and pretty.” They don’t hide their feelings, my parents, and they are concerned for my safety and happiness above all else. They NEED to know that Edward is good to me despite being Riddler. They can’t tell me who to be with but it would put their mind at ease if they were assured I was in good hands.

Edward is honest with them. He isn’t putting on a front. He is gentlemanly by nature with people he likes and respects, and he’s a bit old-fashioned in some ways anyway due to his age. He doesn’t fake his feelings for anyone, and while he does want my parents to accept him as my boyfriend, he knows it’s not an easy choice. He also tells them they have every right to reject him, and he won’t hold a grudge towards them about it if they do.

If anything, he’s earned scorn more than kindness due to how he’s lived his life, and that’s fair. He accepts that.

But then he explains that no, I am not eye candy for him. He’s not a play boy looking for a “good time.” He’s serious about me and feels things towards me he’s never felt--never expected to feel. I’m the one thing in his dark and violent life that is bright and soothing, even though he’s done nothing in his life to deserve such a sweet and caring partner.

He tells them that I’m always protected and cared for, and he has made arrangements to ensure I’m still protected and cared for if -- or more realistically, when something happens to him.

Being Riddler’s girlfriend has its perks. No one messes with me, that’s for sure, because they know I’m important to him, and they know what he is willing to do to keep me safe.

As scary as that is to hear, my parents find some relief in that. Yes, Edward is The Riddler, a criminal mastermind who strikes fear into many. However, he takes care of what is precious to him -- and not much is precious to him. Actually, nothing is save for me. I bring him a lot of joy and much-needed peace, and he’d give his life to protect me.

I deserve to be happy, he tells my parents, because I am a good person unlike him, and he works hard to make sure I know I’m loved and cared for, that I’m good enough and that he has no intentions of leaving me or cheating on me for someone else.

Edward also assures my parents that, should they need anything, he can provide. Of course, he won’t force his help on them but he won’t ever turn them away either. He looks out for those that mean a lot to me, who are close to me, regardless of who they are and how they feel about him. That is a promise he makes to my parents, too.

He also comments on how they have been taking care of my grandma pretty much on their own for a couple years now, and he knows from what he has observed and from things I’ve told him that it is a very exhausting duty. It’s an admirable one, though, for sure, and he respects my parents for being good people.

He sees where I get my kind nature, he tells them.

He says that he can pay for live-in help for them, like a live-in nurse, someone who can help take care of my grandma and let my parents have a break every now and again. Also, should she need anything that isn’t covered by her insurance, he will cover the costs.

Same goes for my parents, who aren’t the healthiest people in their old age (Edward has the regenerative properties of the LOTUS virus on his side -- they don’t). He doesn’t tell them that obviously, that they’re unhealthy, but he says should they need any expenses covered for treatments, medication, etc., he can provide.

Because he is THAT serious about me.

My parents are, to say the least, much more confident in my relationship with Edward now that they’ve talked with him one on one. They give him their blessing, so to speak, to be my boyfriend, and appreciate his generosity. They do ask for help with live-in aid for my grandma, and Edward says pick who they want and he’ll pay whatever insurance won’t cover.

I am beyond relieved that my parents have decided to accept Edward, and am so grateful to him for offering his help to them...because they need it and deserve it.

He tells me it’s no trouble at all, that whatever makes me happy makes him happy, and he’s more than willing to aid those that are important to me.

Edward and I stay over Christmas Eve so we can spend more time with my family on Christmas Day. We get the guest room which has a small bed, so we’re “forced” to get close.

Of course, I can’t resist tempting him even now, and he doesn’t turn me down. I do warn him that we have to be careful because, hey, my folks are here in this house and I’m not the quietest lover.

“Oh, don’t worry,” he tells me with a smirk. “I came prepared for any eventuality.”

Needless to say, I need to be gagged because Edward makes sure I have a Merry Fucking Christmas -- literally -- and also makes sure I know how much he both loves and desires me.

We decide to leave out the whole Dom/Sub aspect of our relationship in regards to my parents.

We also don’t tell them about how I call Edward, “Daddy” almost any other time 👀👀👀👀💦💦💦💦💦💦

My mom also refuses to believe he’s 60 years old because he’s so good-looking 😄

#telltale riddler #edward nigma #the riddler #riddler #self-insert #self-shipping #riddler headcanons #edward nygma #slightly nsft

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mostlysignssomeportents · 6 years ago

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#1yrago My RSS feeds from a decade ago, a snapshot of gadget blogging when that was a thing

Rob Beschizza:

I chanced upon an ancient backup of my RSS feed subscriptions, a cold hard stone of data from my time at Wired in the mid-2000s. The last-modified date on the file is December 2007. I wiped my feeds upon coming to Boing Boing thenabouts: a fresh start and a new perspective.

What I found, over 212 mostly-defunct sites, is a time capsule of web culture from a bygone age—albeit one tailored to the professional purpose of cranking out blog posts about consumer electronics a decade ago. It's not a picture of a wonderful time before all the horrors of Facebook and Twitter set in. This place is not a place of honor. No highly-esteemed deed is commemorated here. But perhaps some of you might like a quick tour, all the same.

The "Main" folder, which contains 30 feeds, was the stuff I actually wanted (or needed) to read. This set would morph over time. I reckon it's easy to spot 2007's passing obsessions from the enduring interests.

↬ Arts and Letters Daily: a minimalist blog of links about smartypants subjects, a Drudge for those days when I sensed a third digit dimly glowing in my IQ. But for the death of founder Denis Dutton, it's exactly the same as it was in 2007! New items daily, but the RSS feed's dead.

↬ Boing Boing. Still around, I hear.

↬ Brass Goggles. A dead feed for a defunct steampunk blog (the last post was in 2013) though the forums seem well-stocked with new postings.

↬ The Consumerist. Dead feed, dead site. Founded in 2005 by Joel Johnson at Gawker, it was sold to Consumer Reports a few years later, lost its edge there, and was finally shuttered (or summarily executed) just a few weeks ago.

↬ Bibliodyssey. Quiescent. Updated until 2015 with wonderful public-domain book art scans and commentary. A twitter account and tumblr rolled on until just last year. There is a book to remember it by should the bits rot.

↬ jwz. Jamie Zawinski's startling and often hilariously bleak reflections on culture, the internet and working at Netscape during the dotcom boom. This was probably the first blog that led me to visit twice, to see if there was more. And there still is, almost daily.

↬ Proceedings of the Athanasius Kircher Society. Curios and weirdness emerging from the dust and foul fog of old books, forbidden history and the more speculative reaches of science. So dead the domain is squatted. Creator Josh Foer moved on to Atlas Obscura.

↬ The Tweney Review. Personal blog of my last supervisor at Wired, Dylan Tweney, now a communications executive. It's still going strong!

↬ Strange Maps. Dead feed, dead site, though it's still going as a category at Big Think. Similar projects proliferate now on social media; this was the wonderful original. There was a book.

↬ BLDGBLOG. Architecture blog, posting since 2004 with recent if rarer updates. A fine example of tasteful web brutalism, but I'm no longer a big fan of cement boxes and minimalism with a price tag.

↬ Dethroner. A men's self-care and fashion blog, founded by Joel Johnson, of the tweedy kind that became wildly and effortlessly successful not long after he gave up on it.

↬ MocoLoco. This long-running design blog morphed visually into a magazine in 2015. I have no idea why I liked it then, but indie photoblogs' golden age ended long ago and it's good to see some are thriving.

↬ SciFi Scanner. Long-dead AMC channel blog, very likely the work of one or two editors and likely lost to tidal corporate forces rather than any specific failure or event.

↬ Cult of Mac. Apple news site from another Wired News colleague of mine, Leander Kahney, and surely one of the longest-running at this point. Charlie Sorrel, who I hired at Wired to help me write the Gadget blog, still pens articles there.

↬ Ectoplasmosis. After Wired canned its bizarre, brilliant and unacceptably weird Table of Malcontents blog, its editor John Brownlee (who later joined Joel and I in editing Boing Boing Gadgets) and contributor Eliza Gauger founded Ectoplasmosis: the same thing but with no hysterical calls from Conde Nast wondering what the fuck is going on. It was glorious, too: a high-point of baroque indie blogging in the age before Facebook (and I made the original site design). Both editors later moved onto other projects (Magenta, Problem Glyphs); Gauger maintains the site's archives at tumblr. It was last updated in 2014.

↬ Penny Arcade. Then a webcomic; now a webcomic and a media and events empire.

↬ Paul Boutin. While working at Wired News, I'd heard a rumor that he was my supervisor. But I never spoke to him and only ever received a couple of odd emails, so I just got on with the job until Tweney was hired. His site and its feed are long-dead.

↬ Yanko Design. Classic blockquote chum for gadget bloggers.

↬ City Home News. A offbeat Pittburgh News blog, still online but lying fallow since 2009.

↬ Watchismo. Once a key site for wristwatch fans, Watchismo was folded into watches.com a few years ago. A couple of things were posted to the feed in 2017, but its time has obviously passed.

↬ Gizmodo. Much has changed, but it's still one of the best tech blogs.

↬ Engadget. Much has changed, but it's still one of the best tech blogs.

↬ Boing Boing Gadgets. Site's dead, though the feed is technically live as it redirects to our "gadgets" tag. Thousands of URLs there succumbed to bit-rot at some point, but we have plans to merge its database into Boing Boing's and revive them.

↬ Gear Factor. This was the gadget review column at Wired Magazine, separate from the gadget blog I edited because of the longtime corporate divorce between Wired's print and online divisions. This separation had just been resolved at the time I began working there, and the two "sides" -- literally facing offices in the same building -- were slowly being integrated. The feed's dead, but with an obvious successor, Gear.

↬ The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs. Required reading at the time, and very much a thing of its time. Now vaguely repulsive.

↬ i09. This brilliant sci-fi and culture blog deserved more than to end up a tag at Gizmodo.

↬ Science Daily: bland but exhaustive torrent of research news, still cranking along.

The "Essentials" Folder was material I wanted to stay on top of, but with work clearly in mind: the background material for systematically belching out content at a particular point in 2007.

↬ Still alive are The Register, Slashdot, Ars Technica, UMPC Portal (the tiny laptop beat!), PC Watch, Techblog, TechCrunch, UberGizmo, Coolest Gadgets, EFF Breaking News, Retro Thing, CNET Reviews, New Scientist, CNET Crave, and MAKE Magazine.

↬ Dead or quiescent: GigaOm (at least for news), Digg/Apple, Akihabara News, Tokyomango, Inside Comcast, Linux Devices (Update: reincarnated at linuxgizmos.com), and Uneasy Silence.

Of the 23 feeds in the "press releases" folder, 17 are dead. Most of the RSS no-shows are for companies like AMD and Intel, however, who surely still offer feeds at new addresses. Feeds for Palm, Nokia and pre-Dell Alienware are genuine dodos. These were interesting enough companies, 10 years ago.

PR Newswire functions as a veneering service so anyone can pretend to have a big PR department, but it is (was?) also legitimately used by the big players as a platform so I monitored the feeds there. They're still populated, but duplicate one another, and it's all complete garbage now. (It was mostly garbage then.)

My "Gadgets and Tech" folder contained the army of late-2000s blogs capitalizing on the success of Gizmodo, Boing Boing, TechCrunch, et al. Back in the day, these were mostly one (or two) young white men furiously extruding commentary on (or snarky rewrites of) press releases, with lots of duplication and an inchoate but seriously-honored unspoken language of mutual respect and first-mover credit. Those sites that survived oftentimes moved to listicles and such: notionally superior and more original content and certainly more sharable on Facebook, but unreadably boring. However, a few old-timey gadget bloggers are still cranking 'em out' in web 1.5 style. And a few were so specialized they actually had readers who loved them.

Still alive: DailyTech, technabob, CdrInfo.com, EverythingUSB, Extremetech, GearFuse, Gizmag, Gizmodiva, Hacked Gadgets, How to Spot A Psychopath/Dans' Data, MobileBurn, NewLaunches, OhGizmo!, ShinyShiny, Stuff.tv, TechDigest, TechDirt, Boy Genius Report, The Red Ferret Journal, Trusted Reviews, Xataca, DigiTimes, MedGadget, Geekologie, Tom's Hardware, Trendhunter, Japan Today, Digital Trends, All About Symbian (Yes, Symbian!), textually, cellular-news, TreeHugger, dezeen.

Dead: jkkmobile.com, Business Week Online, About PC (why), Afrigadget (unique blog about inventors in Africa, still active on FaceBook), DefenseTech, FosFor (died 2013), Gearlog, Mobile-Review.com (but apparently reborn as a Russian language tech blog!), Robot's Dreams, The Gadgets Weblog, Wireless Watch Japan, Accelerating Future, Techopolis, Mobile Magazine, eHome Upgrade, camcorderinfo.com (Update: it became http://Reviewed.com), Digital Home Thoughts (farewell), WiFi Network News (farewell), Salon: Machinist, Near Future Lab, BotJunkie (twitter), and CNN Gizmos.

I followed 18 categories at Free Patents Online, and the site's still alive, though the RSS feeds haven't had any new items since 2016.

In the "news" folder, my picks were fairly standard stuff: BBC, CNET, digg/technology, PC World, Reuters, International Herald Tribune, and a bunch of Yahoo News feeds. The Digg feed's dead; they died and were reborn.

The "Wired" feed folder comprised all the Wired News blogs of the mid-2000s. All are dead. 27B Stroke 6, Autopia, Danger Room, Epicenter, Gadget Lab, Game|Life, Geekdad, Listening Post, Monkey Bites, Table of Malcontents, Underwire, Wired Science.

These were each basically one writer or two and were generally folded into the established mazagine-side arrangements as the Age of Everyone Emulating Gawker came to an end. The feed for former EIC Chris Anderson's personal blog survives, but hasn't been updated since his era. Still going strong is Bruce Sterling's Beyond the Beyond, albeit rigged as a CMS tag rather than a bona fide site of its own.

Still alive from my 2007 "Science" folder are Bad Astronomy (Phil Plait), Bad Science (Ben Goldacre), Pharyngula (PZ Myers) New Urban Legends, NASA Breaking News, and The Panda's Thumb.

Finally, there's a dedicated "iPhone" folder. This was not just the hottest toy of 2007. It was all that was holy in consumer electronics for half a decade. Gadget blogging never really had a golden age, but the iPhone ended any pretense that there were numerous horses in a race of equal potential. Apple won.

Still alive are 9 to 5 Mac, MacRumors, MacSlash, AppleInsider and Daring Fireball. Dead are TUAW, iPhoneCentral, and the iPhone Dev Wiki.

Of all the sites listed here, I couldn't now be paid but to read a few. So long, 2007.

https://boingboing.net/2017/12/29/my-rss-feeds-from-a-decade-ago.html

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avengers-nextgen · 6 years ago

Text

We Are One IV

“You okay?” Penny questioned, sitting on the edge of Enzo’s bed. “I heard what happened. Must have been hard.”

“You don’t have to baby me.” Enzo mumbled.

“I’m not. As a friend I’m genuinely concerned.” Penny frowned.

“I’m fine. Just angry and confused.” Enzo blinked fiercely trying to keep from crying, “I thought Max was my friend, but I was wrong.”

“They’re as confused and scared as you are,” Penny sighed. “Having this burden is tough. It’s a big responsibility that not a lot of people want.”

“So now you defend them?”

“No! I just see it from Max’s perspective! I understand their point of view.” Penny stammered.

“I don’t want to talk about it okay?” Enzo croaked. “My sister already tried. She wants to throttle Max.”

“Sounds about right,” Penny laughed.

“Yeah. Real fantastic times going on.” Hugging his pillow Enzo stared angrily at the wall.

“Listen, maybe I’m not helping right now but I am here if you need me,” Penny assured him, anxious to leave. Enzo gave no recognition of what she’d said. Lost in thought, Penny shuffled back to her room.

“How’d it go?” Arthur asked, hanging upside down on her bed.

“Horrible.” Penny frowned. “He’s so...sad. I don’t like it.”

“It’s tough.” Arthur agreed.

“No kidding.”

“You tried though, and that’s what’s important.” Arthur assured, sitting upright at last.

“Thanks.” Penny smiled thinly. “I just feel like everyone’s on edge.”

“It certainly is an interesting atmosphere at the moment, but it’s understandable,” Arthur shrugged.

— — —

“You’re going to murder that poor training dummy,” Chloe noted dryly whilst taking a bite from her pear. She flipped the page in her book and glanced up to see Nathaniel pounding once more at the silicone mold. “Someone make you mad? Touch your pointy sticks?”

“They’re arrows,” Nathaniel huffed, “and yes, I’m mad.”

“About the Enzo thing?” Chloe took another bite.

“About all of it.”

“I think you’re just mad you’ve got a challenge for once.” Chloe leaned back against the bleacher stands designed to hold classes of twenty.

“Oh yeah? What makes you say that?” Nathaniel arched a brow pausing in his assault.

“Someone roughly your age, challenging your beliefs, attacking your family, and you’ve always been the protector. It’s no different than wolf packs.” Chloe shrugged.

“Are you insinuating I’m some sort of alpha running on animal instincts?” Nathaniel scoffed, resting his hands on his hips.

“Well, something like that. Nature doesn’t lie.” Chloe smirked.

“And what if you’re right?”

“If I’m right? Things will escalate until conflict boils down to one survivor. One alpha over another.” Chloe explained.

“I’m no murderer.”

“Under the right circumstances anyone is a murderer.” Chloe’s words sent a chill down Nathaniel’s spine. “Would your mother kill for you?”

“Yes.”

“Then I’m not wrong.”

“I suppose not.” Nathaniel nodded. “Why tell me this though?”

“Because you need to be careful. Some people around here care about you. You know that loss isn’t easily healed or forgotten. Don’t be the cause of someone else’s.” With that, Chloe collected her book and bag. Tossing the remnants of her pear into the garbage she left Nathaniel to his own devices. He didn’t feel angry anymore, and he turned away from the dummy.

— — —

“Your family ties you down,” Killian noted from where he leaned against the door frame.

“My family is the only reason I give a damn about anything anymore so can it Ben Franklin.” Harper glared, plopping onto the worn sofa. “You’re lucky I scrounged up enough to rent this shit hole.”

“Which we appreciate,” Max quickly remarked.

“All of this waiting is making me...” Drew frowned searching for the right word, “restless.”

Harper looked at the alien with distaste. The girl was odd, completely apathetic, and in her own world a majority of the time. Not to mention the random splitting headaches that practically incapacitated her. “If you even point your axe at me I’ll kill you.”

“I’m certain she would kill you first.” Kubu replied dryly. “But the alien has a point. I am restless too. I have an agenda to accomplish.”

“We know, your little diplomatic revolutionary mission.” Harper smirked, “but if I didn’t know better I’d say you’re just looking for an escape to America.”

“My mission is for my people!” Kubu glowered, “I wouldn’t turn my back on them.”

“Everyone says that until the moment comes to make a choice. I would know.” Harper replied coldly.

“Enough.” Killian’s voice echoed off the walls of peeling paper. “We have to be careful. They have the numbers, the experience, and the coordination.”

“How would you know?” Drew asked in genuine curiosity.

“I’ve grown up watching them come into themselves as heroes,” Killian explained, “I know each of them like the back of my hand. There’s only a few wild cards. The new acquaintances. Luckily, each of you is familiar with one of them.”

“So you need us,” Kubu stood straighter jutting out his chin.

“I said that the moment I gave my offer,” Killian reminded them, “we all benefit from this. Drew claims her bounty, Harper gets a good chance at life, Kubu takes down oppressors, Max gets a normal life, and I no longer have to watch my mother waste away at the hands of others.”

“As you’ve said,” Harper sneered, “but I don’t see results.”

“You would be wise to know patience.” Kubu suggested.

“I know patience!” Harper snapped, “I know patience better than any of you. Prison, prison makes you patient. You don’t have obligations like I do. People depend on me. What the hell do you know about family?”

“My people are my family,” Kubu growled, “the only one here who has no family is Drew!”

Drew arched a brow as everyone looked at her in curiosity. “What?”

“That’s if she’s even telling the truth,” Kubu continued, “for all we know she’s lying. How is it someone doesn’t remember where they are from?”

“It’s possible,” Max stammered, “I know someone. They’re not too different from Drew.”

Kubu regarded Max in silence before accepting the reply and leaning back against the wall.

“Thank you, Max,” Killian smiled kindly at the young boy, “but bickering gets us no where. I have a plan, but each of us needs to trust one another entirely.”

“Please tell me this isn’t some bonding exercise?” Harper frowned.

“It is.” Killian nodded with a glint in his eye both enchanting and terrifying. “Only one thing brings people closer together than anything else.”

— — —

“I don’t believe it,” Piper snickered, watching Thalia sharpen her sword on the couch.

“What?” Thalia asked, glancing about as if it were an obvious thing to notice.

“You got laid!” Piper cackled, tugging at Thalia’s tank top to expose some sort of healing mark on her shoulder.

“I don’t understand,” the blonde frowned, pulling away from Piper’s touch. She may not have comprehended the expression, but she was aware enough to feel thoroughly embarrassed.

“Of all people,” Piper whistled, “I thought you’d be the last of everyone.”

“For what?” Orion asked, moon walking into the living room to retrieve his shoes.

“Thalia got laid.”

“Nice.” Orion nodded, collecting his sneakers, “but I don’t think that’s something she wants you to brag about for her.”

“I still don’t understand,” Thalia stammered, “what did I do? Doesn’t everyone lay down? You make it sound like something unpleasant.”

“It’s okay, Thalia, don’t worry about it.” Orion gave her an apologetic smile and patted her on the shoulder. “Piper’s being nosy again.”

“Am not! I knew something was up when you two came back. You were more inseparable than ever and don’t get me started on other things.” Piper beamed. She’d noticed very quickly how Thalia and Siyanda had acquired the habit of subconsciously maintaining a form of contact with one another. Of course, Piper hadn’t pin pointed whether or not her suspicions were correct, but now she was positively certain.

“Ranting again? I’ll be taking my sandwich and leaving,” James sighed, immediately turning to the kitchen.

“It’s not ranting! It’s discussion.”

“About what? Some device you plan on blowing up?” James arched a brow.

“No, that Thalia got laid.” Piper shrugged.

“Seriously?” Orion looked incredulously at the youngest Stark.

“Uhm, okay.” James shook his head, “I didn’t need to know that. Uhm, congrats? Good job?”

“Good job? What did I do?” Thalia asked again, feeling her face heat up more and her heart hammer. She was beyond confused and frankly she was so embarrassed she wanted to cry. “Why won’t you explain?”

Piper pursed her lips in thought for a moment before coming up with as plain an explanation as possible, “You and Wakanda’s tech genius slept together.”

“That isn’t strange. We do that all the time.” Thalia’s brow furrowed.

“You what?” Piper blinked.

“I’m leaving!” James held his hands over his ears and abandoned his mission for a sandwich.

Glancing between Piper and James, Thalia decided she wasn’t understanding something key once again. Swallowing hard she abandoned her sword and went in search of the one person who’d set things straight.

“Did we do a bad thing?” Thalia blurted as Siyanda lifted her welding mask.

“That depends on what I am being accused of,” She replied vaguely. Thalia sat down across from her and explained everything in rapid succession leaving no room for a response.

“We did something wrong didn’t we? It was a bad thing.” Thalia wrinkled her nose to keep from crying.

“No, no it wasn’t a bad thing.” Siyanda shook her head. “Piper’s just teasing you. She forgets sometimes you’re not up to date on all of the slang. It’s not nice teasing or fair teasing, but you’re okay. No need to be upset. You didn’t do a bad thing.”

“Good,” Thalia nodded. “I don’t want to do anything bad. I want to be a good person. And I don’t want to be the reason you do something bad and be a bad person.”

“I know,” Siyanda smiled attempting to kiss Thalia only for the welding mask to fall down, “I should have seen that coming.”

“Metal mouth.”

“That’s what my dad said when I had braces.”

“Smart man.”

“Yeah,” Siyanda laughed, pulling up the mask again, “but do know-I won’t ever think of you as a bad person. Not ever. No matter the circumstances.”

“I won’t think of you that way either,” Thalia promised.

“Good,” Siyanda grinned, “now with that settled I have some ass to kick.”

#avengers #avengers next gen #marvel #black widow #captain america #mcu #natasha romanoff #pepper potts #romanogers #scarlet witch #we are one #phase3

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kurxiis · 8 years ago

Text

Letters

This again but in an easier way :)

The Voltron crew considered themselves fairly close knit as a team. They always seemed to know what each other needed and when. There was one exception to that: one who they could never quite figure out.

Lance McClain.

The blue paladin was always seemingly happy, however the only paladin who seemed to have a grasp on what he needed was the yellow paladin. His name was Hunk, and he had been his best friend since before elementary.

As of late, Lance seemed more chipper than usual. It was to the point of it being almost concerning if not for the fact that he kept telling them he was alright and that he was just in a good mood.

The week went by like that; the team worrying about Lance, Lance seemingly as bright as the sun, and fighting the Galra.

What they did not expect was a deafening scream, Lance smiling as they arrived at the blood riddled scene, and Lance on the ground being held by his teammates before everything went black, rasping out one final word to his team and family.

“When you get back, go to my room. Read the letters.”

Soon after he was gone, his lifeless body being carried back to Lance’s room.

They each had a letter written for them. The paladins, Coran and Allura, and then an extra for all of them. There were letters for his family back on earth as well. One for each individual family member, and then another directed towards the entire family.

The date that Lance had written them was only a week prior to the mission they just had.

Everyone read out their individual letters before they moved on to the group one.

They started with their leader; the one and only black paladin Shiro.

“Shiro,

If you’re reading this, I’m no longer alive. Hopefully it was in a heroic way, that way my family can be proud of me.

You’re my idol. You always have been and always will be, even if you never acknowledged me or anything I did to make you think of me as something.. anything other than just a boy from Cuba, just the blue paladin, just Lance. Annoying jokester Lance.

There are a lot of things I should’ve said to you, a lot of times I wish I had tried to talk to you more. Sometimes I actually did, but because I wasn’t strong enough, the minute you turned me down or told me to stop fooling around, I gave up. Why set yourself up for failure, right?

I didn’t have the confidence to stand up to you, or try stand alongside you with the rest.

The one thing I ask that you do while I’m gone to not grieve over me for long. You have more important things to do, Shiro. We both know this, and I’m not worth taking your time anyways. Find a new paladin for my girl as soon as you can, I don’t want her to be lonely for long either.

Try to talk to the rest of the team besides just Pidge, Keith, and Allura. Even if you don’t think so, you all need to bond and not just with your lion, but as a team and a family. While I may not be there for this, I said nothing because I felt like you’d be able to do it easier that way, so I’m bringing it up now. I also didn’t want any of you having to hear about all my insecurities and self deprecation. I didn’t want you to have to explore the deepest parts of my mind with the melder. I was used to it.. to my thoughts. You guys wouldn’t be and I didn’t want to do that to you.

You were always trying your best, Shiro, and I admired you for that. Keep doing that. Talk about your PTSD, get help for it, and re-think some of your attack strategies sometimes. They actually had quite a few fallout holes, so think back and find them.

Take care, Shiro.

-Lance”

Next was the ray of sunshine, yellow paladin and baker extraordinaire, Hunk.

“My main man, Hunk,

I’m dead, obviously, but don’t worry much. I know you’ll move on eventually. You knew the most about me and were always there for me. You always knew what I needed and when, and for that alone I thank you.

You are such a great engineer and were so smart I was honestly always questioning how someone as intelligent and skilled as you could be friends with a dumb flirt like me, yet you stayed anyways. Even after I tried to distance from you when we were 13, you were still there. At the time I was going through a lot family and self discovery wise, and you put up with all my angsty writing, singing (while in key it was still to MCR), distancing, and tears. I can’t thank you enough for being there for me through that… and for baking me those cookies, god bless you.

At 17 you talked me out of suicide and helped me stop self harming, so since then I’d been clean for a long time and I have you to thank for it.

If you decided to read these out loud then I grant you my beyond the grave permission to tell all the 13 year old Lance stories, especially to Pidge, the one with the leather hat and penny was funny, especially after I was in the hospital with a broken leg.

My last request for you is to take care of everyone else for me. Make sure they’re eating and sleeping, make them good food, and take care of yourself as well or I will come back and haunt you all for it. Don’t test me.

This has been my letter to you. I love you, Hunk. You were the closest person to my earth family I had. You were a great platonic, I trust that you can find someone greater than me to be your next (maybe Shay, I give her my blessing, you ace teddy bear).

-Lance”

Next letter read was to tech genius and best little sister ever, Pidge.

“Pidgeon,

I will miss you so much. You are so smart and I’m certain that you will be able to find your actual big brother, and a better teammate than me soon.

You are and always will be more intelligent and technologically skilled than I could have tried to be had I still been alive.

Whether or not you noticed why I was so happy this past week is your decision to explain now, if not then wait until the group letter.

My last request for you is to tell Matt about me when you find him, and your dad, and make sure you at least eat something at night if you’re going to be awake working on stuff. I know you read Hunk’s letter, so I will haunt you if you don’t do that much on your own for me.

You were the closest person to my little sister Cas back on earth: sarcastic, sleep deprived, smart, and skilled. Be well, Pidgeon. I know you can do it.

-Lance”

Next to be read out, shakily and with some tears, the letter of the red paladin Keith.

“Keith,

First off I just want to apologise for every time I called you Keef, Queef, and Quiche behind your back.

Secondly, I know I’m dead so this is a dick move, but I loved you. I loved you so much, more than as a friend. Ask Hunk, I pined for you so hard he had to bribe me with cookies once to keep me quiet. Despite how annoying I was to you and that dumb rivalry I forced on you due to my insecurities and not realising that I didn’t hate you but the exact opposite, I loved you and I wish I could’ve told you that sooner. Maybe then I’d still be alive, but the thing that stopped me was how whenever I flirted with you, training or otherwise, you just thought I was joking and that hurt a lot. I figured you weren’t interested at all.

Third, my last request for you is to find someone who will love you as much as or more than I did. I want you to find someone who will make you feel loved and worthy of it all, since I couldn’t. A couple of weeks before my death, we were getting along quite well, and then word of this big mission came up. The week prior you were too on edge to tolerate me, so I guess that was fun while it lasted. Talk more with Pidge and Hunk, they’re good people once you get to know them, and even better friends.

I love you, Keith.

-Lance”

The last two were princess and soon to be queen of Altea, Allura, and the most gorgeous man, space uncle Coran.

“Princess Allura,

I’m starting with you first in this letter. You are brave, fearless, could probably bench press both me and the sun with one hand, and more elegant and graceful than any queen I’ve known. You’ll be a great leader, a good queen, and I believe you’ll be able to find out what your one problem is. You treat your paladins as just paladins. Remember that my friends are all so young, and one is in space with PTSD, fighting the very thing that gave him it, so please think about that from time to time and give them days to just rest. Pidge is only 14 years old, think about that. She’s only a child.

I feel like we could’ve gotten along better if maybe I didn’t make so many passes at you. Sorry for that, I was just dealing with some stuff. Ask the mice about my skin care routine, I think you’d like trying it every now and then, it made me feel that much better in the ship.

My last request for you is to be aware that not all Galra aren’t out to carry Zarkons legacy. Take Keith, for example. The only ones you have to kill are Zarkon, and any of his successors that try to follow his footsteps. Destroying their entire race for revenge wouldn’t make you any different than Zarkon, being he did just that to your people. There are Galra children out there that most likely want nothing to do with the guy and his tyranny, be aware of that. There are better ways to rid the Galra of bad people, and make it a safer space for the ones that don’t want to be involved.

Take care, and know I’ve already told Blue everything I want her to hear, so even if I was just a placeholder, give her a bit to grieve over me. I like to think I was at least a decent friend to her, and then find her someone that will clean her well and talk to her and bond with her.

Coran Coran the gorgeous man,

Next part of this goes out to you, the best space uncle around. You never really did anything wrong to me and you reminded me so much of my father back on earth that died when I was 16 that it hurt sometimes to talk to you, but I still appreciated our time together. Cleaning the pods was fun.

I was your favourite paladin and the only one you called by their name, and you told me more stories and facts about Altea that I could ever try to remember, but that one about you and Alfor as teenagers was one I’ll take with me to the afterlife.

While you didn’t really understand my homesickness since it was so different from yours, I still appreciate every time you sat with me in the observatory and listened to me talk about the sea, and distracted me by talking about the acid raid on Altea, so thank you.

My last request for you is to give the sweaters I knitted for you all to everyone, wear them while you listen to the CD I left in there. I sing each of your favourite songs while playing a space guitar, one about me that I feel described me well, and one for all of us as a team.

You were the best space uncle I could ask for, Coran. Thank you.

-Lance”

The last letter, read aloud by Hunk, was the one to the team.

“My space family,

This is the last letter for you guys, and here I shall explain this week.

I planned to die during this last mission, the biggest one yet; partly because it would be heroic as heck, and partly because I just couldn’t keep faking my happiness anymore. Before that, I acted as happy as I could leading up to it.

I hated myself so much, and I lost any and all faith that I’d be able to go back to earth and keep you guys all happy. How could some broken placeholder cargo pilot ever hope to be anything more than a seventh wheel with you guys? At some point I just lost any spirit I once had, any hope I held onto.

I broke my record for being clean, and nobody noticed, but I figured as much, and smiled, since I knew I would be dead in just a week’s time. I kept hurting and hurting and hurting myself in any way I could, and it was the most I’d felt in a long time.

I hope dying lasts longer than and feels as nice as slashing holes in my legs. That tinge of pain, the endorphins released as I bleed, wrapping them before I fall asleep, and waking up with that same fuzz of pain still there.

You guys won’t miss me for long, so while you do miss me, I hope I’m not as annoying in your memories as I sounded to myself.

All of you please take care, and be sure to take the letters to my family as soon as you can.

I never loved myself, but I loved all of you more than I could ever try to say. You were my space family.

Paladin of the blue lion, Cuban lanky teenager, Lance McClain, signing out forever.

-Lance”

As the last letter ended, the tears started and didn’t seem to stop. Nobody could say anything, and even if they tried, they couldn’t and would break down sobbing.

Pidge was clinging to Hunk. She was sobbing so hard that she could barely breathe as she held the letter close to her since it was the closest thing she had to her impromptu older brother.

Hunk was red faced and also crying uncontrollably, holding Pidge close, and the letter even closer. He lost his best friend, his last line to family that he could remember. He didn’t know how to handle all of this.

Shiro was sobbing while holding Keith, thinking about every interaction he had with the blue paladin, and how none of them were longer than at least a minute before Shiro made some comment to brush him off. He felt terrible, and kept rereading his letter in his head, sobbing harder each time.

Keith was clutching the letter to his heart, and crying harder than he ever had in his life. Not even after his best foster family sent him off did he cry, so this was painful. He loved Lance just as much as Lance loved him, and maybe if he voiced that fact, he’d be holding Lance right now, kissing him, instead of crying over the fact that he’ll never have that chance now.

Allura and Coran were comforting each other, both in tears. Allura felt guilty for every time she turned down any offer from Lance to do her hair, or paint her nails, or just hang out with her casually and talk. Coran was mourning the loss of yet another son to him, the last time he cried this hard was the night after they awoke, since he knew his son was dead and had been for a long time since Altea was destroyed. This was just bringing that back in full, and he couldn’t control his pain anymore, so he wept.

This went on for a long time. Nobody able to do anything without it reminding them of him, never really getting over their loss, and breaking down any time they so much as passed is room the first month after he died.

The one thing that didn’t surprise them much, was when they about a year later, in tears, all made a trip to earth to give Lance's’ family their letters, and tell them why they were being given now and for what reason.

After taking the letters and hearing their reason, his mother kicked them out and yelled at them in Spanish to get out and never come back, since they stole and killed her son before she had a chance to see him again in person. They didn’t question it, and left in tears back out into space, leaving his family to deal with their loss alone again.

Nobody was okay, and nobody really ever would be. They lost their blue paladin, their friend, the glue that held them together. The boy with chestnut brown hair, crystal sea blue eyes, a smile that was dazzling and laughter so bubbly and sweet and contagious. That boy was never going to come back, no matter how many times they thought it was just a dream, or saw him in their nightmares. He was never coming back.

No matter what they thought, he was never coming back. The only thing they had to remind them of that fact, were the letters he left behind.

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itsclydebitches · 8 years ago

Link

Summary:

“Good things come to those who wait… provided they know what they’re waiting for.”

Moments in Barry and Cisco’s lives as they slowly and surely fall in love. It’s simultaneously the easiest and most complicated thing they’ve ever done.

(Part of the “Worth the Wait” series.)

Fandom: The Flash (TV show)

Words: 18,392 (so far)

Warnings: None

Pairings: Barry/Cisco

This Section: Cisco deals with the fact that trivia might not be the only competition he’s entering tonight...

Where to Read it: Below the cut or on AO3 (AO3 recommended for formatting)

Fierce Competition

Cisco recalled with the abruptness of a car crash that he really wasn’t the wooing type.

Let’s face it, in the obligatory ranking system that was life he wasn’t exactly on the top ten Soulmate list. Or twenty. Fifty. Cisco wasn’t even in the freaking running. He was a Puerto Rican American with too long hair, too short a body, and absolutely no muscles to speak of. (He still hadn’t forgiven Barry for just waking up with abs, that bastard). His family had always been too poor, too brown... and Cisco had always been too smart for the rest of them. It had been made abundantly clear to him in school that being a nerd—even a genius nerd—would never score him any points. Working at STAR Labs should have been the revelation. Here they are! My people! Revealed to me at last! But even those people turned out to be assholes (Hartley), or snobs (Ryan in bio-tech), or just incapable of getting over the fact that the world’s foremost mechanical-engineer might choose to wear novelty t-shirts on a daily basis (literally everyone Cisco had ever met, with the exception of Dr. Wells. He could appreciate the man’s simple attire even if it was perpetually stuck in an emo-teen stage.) The point was he’d never been a catch and Cisco saw no reason why that would change now. Especially for someone like Barry.

It wasn’t like he was luring in small fish here. He was going after the goddamn white whale.

You know, minus the leg eating, murderous intentions.

“This analogy isn’t working,” Cisco muttered. “I’m losing my mind.”

He’d been losing a lot more than that. After his weird-ass (yet surprisingly uplifting) conversation with Dr. Wells, Cisco had gone to hide out in his workroom instead, under the guise of being productive. Rather, he was really just pacing between the door and his Sleep Depravation Cot, pulling at his hair and reciting an endless stream of, “Oh holy fuck, dude, what have you gotten yourself into” because honestly, what the hell was he supposed to do now? Be himself?

“Ha!” Cisco finger gunned an imaginary audience. “Like that’s ever worked.”

The only other option then was to be better. To somehow be more for Barry.

Cisco thought he could do that.

He just needed a little help.

“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” he whispered even as he sat his butt down in the chair and jabbed at his laptop until it decided to cooperate. Info was just a few keystrokes away, even if Cisco did cringe at his own search choices.

In for a penny though, and all that crap.

“Hey there, Cosmopolitan. For the love of God please help me.”

***

Primp before going out and keep on the cool side. Confidence is practically catnip to men!

***

Barry was practically jumping out of his skin.

He knew he’d always looked a bit like a caffeinated junkie (if they had a thing for soft sweaters and the occasional bowtie), but it had gotten so much worse since the accident. He hadn’t known how to describe it until Cisco gave him the words: “Things didn’t slow down, dude. You were just going so fast that it only looked like everyone else froze.” And that’s how it was now, twenty-four seven. He might not always be using his superspeed, but Barry was constantly aware of just how slow everyone was. People walked at a molasses pace, car rides were pure torture (even more than they’d been before), he could stretch a blink into a five minute performance and oh my god just do it, just do it already.

Barry’s life was a Shia LaBeouf meme and it resulted in a lot of fidgeting. Sure, there was a lot going on in Jitters already—colorful decorations, people milling around in costumes, mounds of company-approved snacks, a judges table loaded with prizes—but even amongst all that Barry felt like he stuck out. He was currently rattling the table slightly with his bouncing knee.

Eddie leaned and caught his eye across the table. “Easy there, Allen. You okay?”

“Oh yeah, fine. Just excited.” Barry got a smile going because, well, that was true enough, wasn’t it? He was excited.

Eddie grimaced though. “I’m not. Did I tell you guys I’m not much of a trivia person?”

“Yep. Over nine-thousand times!”

Eddie stared. “I just missed some reference, didn’t I?”

“Yep again. Check out Dragon Ball Z sometime.”

“...I’ll be sure to do that.” His tone made it very clear that Eddie was going to do nothing of the kind and Barry chuckled. He had to admit, Eddie was a pretty chill guy once you got to know him, a lot more relaxed than Barry had first assumed. They could be friends. If only there wasn’t that pesky little problem of—

“There she is.”

Barry recognized that tone as well. Sure enough he turned as Iris walked through the front, somehow managing to make Jitter’s sticky floors look like a runway. She wasn’t in anything out of the ordinary—jeans, lightweight sweater, nothing, Barry hadn’t seen her in a million times before—but each time he did it might as well have been a new experience. That pesky thing about everything seeming too slow? Yeah, Iris slowed things down to the max... but Barry didn’t mind in the least. She was glorious to watch. She was everything he’d ever wanted.

Everything Eddie wanted too.

Barry tried not to grimace at the kiss they shared—and he largely succeeded. Iris hugged him and that, at least, felt familiar.

He’d missed this while he was in his coma. He couldn’t remember that he’d missed it, of course, but Barry knew he had.

“Look at this place,” Iris said. She raised her arms only to let them drop heavily, seemingly overwhelmed by the coffee shop’s transformation. “Can you believe they got this all set up in a few hours? If Becca put half as much effort into serving people as she did decorating she might actually make a half-decent waitress.”

“Don’t let her hear you say that,” Eddie stage whispered and the three of them craned necks over the crowd to get a good look at Becca. Tall, stocky, and with a permanent ‘resting bitch face,’ she looked more like ex-special forces than someone who served up coffee every day. Iris and Eddie exchanged exaggerated looks of horror while Barry chucked a pretzel at them.

“She’s nice,” he insisted.

Iris pulled a face. “You think everyone’s nice.”

“She gives me free blueberry muffins!”

“Because no-one else wants them, Barry. They’re awful.”

“Are not,” he said petulantly, tracing his finger over the tabletop. It pulled a laugh out of Iris, just like Barry knew it would, and he grinned in triumph.

Score one for him. That’s right, it didn’t even matter who Iris dated because Eddie would never have this, the intimate, easy-going conversation of those who’d known each other for forever. A part of Barry felt guilty about starting up a ‘competition’... a larger part of him really didn’t care. He’d dated others after all, a fair number actually, and none of them were Iris. Besides, didn’t he deserve something good for once? His mom, his dad, missing out on the particle accelerator launch (which had honestly been a tragedy at the time), getting struck by lighting of all things, and now he was giving himself to the city not just as an forensic scientist, but as a freaking superhero too. It wasn’t like he was asking for a reward exactly... just something. A karmic IOU maybe.

Barry looked at Iris’ enraptured expression and thought that maybe the universe was actually looking out for him now.

Or not. Turns out she wasn’t looking at him.

“Wow,” Iris breathed.

Barry wrenched in his seat and then very nearly fell out of it. Because Cisco stood in the doorway and he, he…

...‘wow’ was right. Barry had never seen Cisco looking like that before.

Words like “vision” and “unexpected” were warring in his head. Cisco wore pressed black slacks and slick shoes that made him look taller than he actually was (Barry was sure). Cisco still had one of his trademark graphic tees on (reading “Got Trivia?” in curled, fancy script) but it was accompanied by a grey, tailored jacket that probably cost more than two months of Barry’s rent. Cisco had clearly just shaved—he could smell faint traces of the cream from here, like cedar-wood and eucalyptus fused together—and his hair had the fluffy look of a recent wash, braided neatly and hanging over one shoulder. Barry’s hands twitched in his lap.

He wanted to touch Cisco’s hair. More than that, he wanted to actively run his hands through it, like some sap in a rom-com, because Barry was sure that it would be soft and tangle free and look absolutely fantastic if it was a mussed up a bit.

Which was a crazy thought all around. Not because Barry was wrong about the look—Cisco would be stunning with some well-crafted bedhead—but the fact that he was thinking about this at all. Barry couldn’t remember the last time he’d thought about a guy like that, even briefly. It had probably been back in college, the four years he’d been separated from Iris and actively aware of what it meant to ‘experiment.’ Not that it had been experimentation for long. Not that coming out as bisexual had made him love Iris any less. It was just another aspect of his identity—alongside “scientist” and “son” and ironically “brother.” As far as Barry was concerned that attraction was a dead end because who could he want but Iris? She was already his everything.

So. This was just a simple, entirely objective analysis that Cisco Ramon looked stunningly hot in that outfit. Barry could deal.

“Barry.”

He jerked, the world speeding up and suddenly Cisco wasn’t across the room, he was there. Right there in front of Barry, close enough that the cedar-wood was overwhelming and he could see the tiny, decorative stitches on that jacket. Somehow Iris had gotten a hand on his shoulder, shaking Barry to try and grab his attention and wait, when exactly had all this happened? The three of them were staring at him like he’d lost his mind—which maybe he had—because a good chunk of time had obviously passed without Barry noticing. He clacked his teeth together and realized with dawning horror that his mouth had been hanging open for god only knew how long. There was a bit of drool on his chin.

Barry hastily wiped it away. He sat back so he was leaning against the table, his whole body feeling jittery. Right. Objective observation:

The world had slowed down for Cisco too.

Shit.

“Heeeey,” he said. “You look... good. Really good.”

Cisco started to smile, that bright grin that Barry was beginning to associate with the lab and candy-colored lips, until it suddenly slipped away. Barry blinked, feeling oddly bereft. In its place was a smirk that crawled onto Cisco’s face, settling there unnaturally. He raised a hand flippantly.

“Duh. You don’t really think I always wear crap t-shirts and jeans, do you?”

“Um, no?”

“Exactly.”

Cisco cast Barry a look he couldn’t quite decipher and slid onto his stool. It might have been a suave move if he hadn’t sat so fast, over balancing and nearly toppling to the floor. Eddie caught him at the last second, keeping Cisco upright by grabbing him by the lapels. Barry couldn’t help it: he laughed at the comical look of horror on Cisco’s face. He noticed and shoved Eddie off him, too rough.

“I’m fine,” he snapped and sat up straight. Cisco folded his arms over the table, then in his lap, before finally resting his chin on one hand and tapping the fingers of his other along his knee. Cisco stared out over their heads while Barry and Iris exchanged concerned glances. Eddie just looked pissed.

“You’re welcome,” he said. Cisco ignored him.

“Hey, we’re super glad you could make it. Here,” Iris grabbed hold of the tiny chalk-board with their team name on it, shoving it towards Cisco. “Maybe you can make sense of this nerd nonsense. Help us non-geniuses out. E = MC Hammer?”

Barry groaned. “C’mon, Iris. Because E = MC squared. And MC Hammer. And can’t touch this. I’ll have you know it’s brilliant and the hour I spent coming up with it was well spent.”

Eddie’s smile was coming back—and his eyebrows were reaching his hairline. “I’m really not sure it is. Brilliant, I mean. Or worth it.”

“Exactly.” Iris nodded seriously. “I mean, how ‘brilliant’ can something be if no one gets it?”

“I get it!”

“You’re not normal, Barry.”

“Okay, fair, but Cisco gets it too, right Cisco?”

Barry had been watching him from the corner of his eye and Cisco definitely got it. His eyes had lit up the second he’d seen the board and he’d bitten down hard on his lip, clearly stifling a laugh. Barry had known that he of all people would appreciate the pun... but the second he asked it was like Cisco disappeared. Barry watched, a little stunned, as the bright-eyed amusement was snuffed out and Cisco adopted that stiff manner again. It was weird. Like he couldn’t remember how to sit right. Cisco gave the board a disdainful once-over and shrugged.

“It’s fine I guess,” was all he said.

“...alright then,” Eddie muttered and hid behind his coffee.

Barry felt that tone. He wasn’t sure what to make of it, but the initial punch of seeing Cisco all dolled up was fading, replaced by the worry that he didn’t actually want to be here. After all, he looked bored as hell and a little grumpy to boot. Five minutes in and Cisco was just... sitting there, not commenting on the decorations or asking about the competition. While Iris tried to strike up another innocuous conversation with Eddie Barry leaned a bit to the right, into Cisco’s space.

He placed a hand on Cisco’s arm and felt him jump. Barry’s fingers tightened. “You okay?” he whispered. A quick glance confirmed that Eddie and Iris were otherwise engaged. Or at least good at faking it. Cisco was just staring at Barry’s hand though and he snapped it back, suddenly self-conscious. “Look, do you want to leave?”

“With you?” Cisco blurted.

What?

“What?”

At Barry’s puzzled look Cisco’s cheeks developed a warm glow and with his hair pulled back Barry could see the tips of his ears turning red. He wasn’t sure why, but Barry felt his own body reacting in sympathy, making what was apparently now an awkward situation ten times worse. The only difference was he was pale as milk and had the fire truck coloring to match. This happened whenever things got weird. Barry was sure he looked like an idiot now.

He didn’t want Cisco to think he was weird. Of course, Barry was, but that was kind of beside the point. Bad weird. Creepy weird. The kind of weird you gave a side-eyed look at before hastily crossing the street. He really didn’t want that from Cisco and holy shit he was spiraling, what even was the conversation again?

“You can go,” Barry clarified. That didn’t seem to make things better. “I mean, I kind of pressured you into this? Maybe? So if you want to take off I’m not gonna be like, upset or anything. You just look...”

“I look...?” Cisco echoed, leaning in just a bit. The t-shirt beneath his jacket was a little large and it dipped, giving Barry a fucking wonderful glimpse of Cisco’s chest.

‘Hot,’ his brain supplied and Barry mentally shrieked, stabbing at it with an imaginary fork.

“...bored,” he finally said. Barry’s mouth had gone dry and it was with the courage of the Assuredly Doomed that he reached back up to pat Cisco’s shoulder. It was warm, firm, and stupidly soft from that jacket. Barry kept patting him like a loon. “You look bored, man.”

Cisco stared. “I’m not.”

“No?”

“No.”

“You sure?”

“I’m... sure, Barry.”

“Okay. Um, glad to hear it?”

“Oh thank god!”

The four of them jumped out of their skin, Barry catching the guilty look that flit across Iris’ face (oh hell, had she been listening? Of course she was listening they were right there) when Felicity flew into view, heels clacking and her arms coming up to smoosh Cisco hard against her chest. Barry could still make out the tight black dress she was in though, complimented by some fine, silver jewelry. Cisco floundered in the embrace as Felicity dug her chin into his head.

“I thought I was the only one,” she whispered. “Oh, Cisco, you are a life safer. I got here and thought, ‘Wow, Felicity. Great work! Way to totally overdress for this, you loser,’ but now look at you.” She pulled back to indeed look at him, giving Cisco such a sultry once-over that Eddie choked. “You look great.”

“...Thanks.”

Except Cisco didn’t sound very happy about the compliment. One would think he’d be thrilled with a woman like Felicity giving him her stamp of approval... or if he wasn’t into that (was Cisco into that?) Barry would have bet on an, ‘aw shucks’ grin and a fistpump in thanks, because this was Felicity Smoak, hacker extraordinaire giving him a compliment—who cared what the compliment was about? Cisco just looked sullen though and when he took in Felicity’s own outfit his expression soured even more.

“Ten minutes, folks!” Becca was standing at the back of the shop where a judges’ panel had been staged, complete with prizes for the champion as well as first and second runner up. Barry had his eye on that card for a free month at Jitters. Not that he needed it—Dr. Wells was footing all food expenses nowadays and Barry really had to thank him again for that—but he could bring a whole mound of coffee and donuts into the precinct tomorrow, maybe get Singh back on his good side for once. Barry looked around at all the other teams: stereotypical nerdy types, some decked out in cosplay, a sole group of business men who seemed to have gotten dragged here as a team building exercise... not that any of it mattered. They had two of the greatest scientific minds on their team, Barry was no slouch when it came to science or nerd-dom, Iris was the binge queen of TV, and Eddie...

...well, Barry wasn’t sure what Eddie brought. A detective’s instincts? Maybe.

“Plus you’ve got Wells on speed dial, don’t you?” Felicity said. She’d scooted in on Barry’s left, across from Iris, and he gapped a little at the mind reading skills. She just shrugged. “No big. You’re meeting the woman who invented the ‘size-you-up’ look. C’mon, you do have Wells’ number, don’t you?”

“He does,” Iris confirmed.

“That is so cool.”

“It’s listed under ‘My BFF Forever’”

Barry reached across the table to smack her as Eddie and Felicity laughed. “Okay one, you’re a liar. Two, you just basically said ‘best friend forever forever’ which is stupid.”

“But accurate,” Eddie drawled.

“And three, we are not cheating with Wells.”

Felicity pouted. “Just a quick little text? I bet he’d love this sort of thing.”

“We’re winning this fair and square people.” Barry pounded the table with his fist. “...and we’ll drag Dr. Wells along with us next time.”

“Yes. I’m totally flying back for that.”

“Don’t bother.”

They were small words, muttered soft and clearly not intended for the rest of them, but Jitters wasn’t that loud. Four heads swiveled to stare at Cisco who adopted a very deer-in-the-headlights expression.

“I—I just meant it’s a long shot, yeah? Wells isn’t really going to come out for this...”

A lame excuse and Barry was surprised by how much it hurt him. He was about to say something when Iris’ hand shot out, landing squarely on Cisco’s arm.

“Let’s grab coffee for the table, Cisco. Before the contest starts.”

“Uh...”

Cisco was staring at Iris’ hand like it was a massive, dangerous spider. Her suggestion, while innocuous, was said in such a sickly sweet voice that it sent the hairs on the back of Barry’s neck rising up and when Eddie opened his mouth—no doubt to point out that most of them already had coffee—the whole table shook as Iris kicked him.

“C’mon,” Iris bared her teeth and Cisco nearly fell again in his desperation to follow her. You didn’t argue with a tone like that. Barry watched them go, mouth hanging open.

“What the hell is going on?” he whispered.

Felicity pet him on the head. “Don’t worry about it, sweetie. Now, tell me what I need to do to demolish these nerds.”

***

“What the hell are you doing?”

Cisco made the most un-masculine ‘eep!’ noise as Iris practically threw him into Jitter’s supply closet. He landed on a box of napkins, found a rag left in the corner, and starting wringing it for all it was worth. It wasn’t much of a shield, but anything was better than facing Iris’ ire entirely defenseless. Cisco tried to scooch back as she inched closer and realized he had absolutely nowhere to go.

“Well?” she demanded.

“Dude, chill out yeah? I don’t know—”

“Francisco Ramon heaven help me, if you say ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about’ I will personally make it my mission to embarrass you in front of Barry until you can never look him in the eye again.” Iris’ gaze softened slightly even as Cisco gapped. “Because this is about Barry, isn’t it?”

“Um...”

“Cisco.”

“It’s not entirely...”

“Cisco.”

“Okay! Okay! Put your hand down already! God you’re terrifying.” Cisco wasn’t trying to butter her up, but Iris seemed to take that as a compliment. She nodded regally, lowered the hand that looked like it was about to start tickling him (no), and sat herself down on the box next to him. She kicked Cisco lightly in the shin.

“Spill.”

He grimaced. “Well, since you bring up embarrassment...” Reaching into his jacket pocket Cisco pulled out the crumpled sheet of paper he’d printed off earlier. He handed it over and Iris only needed one look at the heading to start laughing her head off.

“Yeah, yeah,” Cisco muttered. “Get it out of your system.”

“Cosmo?” she choked. “Oh no, Cisco, please don’t tell me you...”

He just gestured vaguely, telling Iris to read the highlighted sections. She only got through “primping” and “confidence” before she set the paper back down, giving Cisco a pitying look so strong that he kind of felt like he was melting.

Goddamn. If this was love it could go hang. Screw this.

“You dressed up for him,” Iris stated, not bothering to let him get in a confirmation. “Then you acted like a dick because supposedly that’s ‘cool.’”

“I didn’t—” Cisco cut himself off at Iris’ look. “Okay yeah. Total tool out there. I just...” he muttered something too soft to hear.

Iris leaned in closer. “What was that?”

“...wanted to be like James Bond,” Cisco muttered.

“Oh my god.”

“I don’t know, okay!” He threw up his hands. “I just wanted to be...be something more tonight. Something other than nerdy Cisco Ramon.” Cisco gripped his hair briefly, mussing up the braid. “Wait, c’mon, how do you even know this? Please don’t tell me I’m that obvious.”

Iris snorted. “You’re obvious alright. To a girl. Eddie doesn’t have a clue, bless him.”

“Dr. Wells knew,” Cisco said thoughtfully.

“Geniuses don’t count.”

“Barry is a genius.”

“Barry is a moron. I don’t care how much science mumbo jumbo you two manage to spout together, he lacks a little thing called common sense.” This condemnation was said with so much fondness that Cisco felt his heart ache. “If it makes you feel any better Felicity is a genius and a girl, so I’m sure she gets it. She’ll forgive you for being a massive ass back there,” Iris bumped his shoulder to take the sting out of her words.

Cisco nodded, drawing in a massive breath. Then he plunged in. “You’re taking this well.”

“Mmm.” Iris smiled. “I’m not your competition, Cisco.”

Oh c’mon. He immediately wanted to rile against that. How was she not? Except Cisco took one look at Iris’ expression and promptly snapped his mouth shut.

“Funny how no one considers that there are two people involved in this nonsense,” she drawled. Then Iris sighed. She took the rag out of Cisco’s hand and started it wringing it herself. All at once he could see the toll this was taking. “Look. Full disclosure?”

“Full disclosure,” Cisco agreed. His mouth felt stupidly dry.

“I love Barry. Barry loves me... but we’ve never loved each other in the same way.”

Iris looked down, scuffing her boot on the floor. “I thought things would get easier once we split into different classes in High School. Then when he went off to college—I know he dated a lot there. Then I thought, ‘Hey, he’s got his own job now. Maybe a co-worker?’ but no. Barry keeps... keeps coming back to me. Even now. With Eddie.” Iris smiled, a little wistfully. “Barry gets caught up in doing whatever he set out to do, no excuses. Normally that’s great. Triple major in four years? Done. Youngest tech to work at the CCPD? Easy. Hell, he even met Wells like he promised, though he went about it in a crazy enough manner.”

Cisco huffed. “Tell me about it.”

“Uh huh. Barry is optimistic, to the point of stubbornness, and now I’m starting to think to self-delusion too.” Iris shrugged, a very ‘what are you going to do?’ gesture. “I’m his best friend. His sister. I love him, but not in the way he wants me too, and I never will. You, however,” Iris pressed a fist into Cisco’s arm, making his squirm. “I wouldn’t mind having you as part of the family.”

Cisco could feel his eyes widening. He heard a startled, awkward laugh and realized that was him. "I would?"

"Uh, yeah. No shit, Sherlock. I've seen you and Barry together. Its been, what? A few weeks? And you two are already thick as thieves. You're brilliant, caring—I mean, c'mon. How many guys in Barry's life would keep him company through seven months of coma nonsense? Did you forget that I was there, Cisco? You did everything for him."

He ducked his head. "Dr. Wells—"

"Hired you to keep Barry breathing," Iris interrupted. "Not make him playlists of all his favorite music. Or spend your Friday nights watching movies with him. Or reading every last coma-related article you could get your hands on even though that's obviously Caitlyn's field, not yours. Yes, I saw the folder on your desktop. That's amazing, okay?”

It was weird to say the least. First Caitlyn, giving Cisco an obvious amount of space with Barry, both before and after he woke up from his coma. Then Dr. Wells freaking dragging him for being a lovesick fool. Now Iris, who Cisco had thought was both rival and Big Sister Barrier, all but shoving him at Barry with a 'GO CISCO' sign held up in her arms. It was super weird. More nuts than a squirrel's winter pantry. Cisco leaned back into Iris' shoulder, half expecting the contact to wake him up from some fevered dream.

It didn't.

"Full disclosure?" he asked again. Iris nodded. "I'm sort of freaking out here a bit."

Iris' lips twitched. "You look pretty calm."

"Oh, that's just my normal, handsome facade. Trust me, there is some full, boiling panic going on in here."

"Don't panic," Iris whispered.

"Easy for you to say."

"Keep calm and carry on."

"Oh my god."

"Seriously, we'd better get back before they think we're making out in here."

It was such a startling, ridiculous image that Cisco laughed. Iris nodded, grinning, standing, and offering him a hand to help Cisco to his feet. He swayed there, a little overwhelmed. Iris steadied him and then seemed to hesitate.

She finally drew in a massive breath. “Okay, also, it’s not my place to say why… but you don’t need to worry about Felicity either. None of us are competition. This isn’t some stupid teen drama, Cisco. We’re family.”

Cisco felt like he’d finally found some kind of footing. He ducked his head so Iris wouldn’t see how stupidly bright his eyes had gotten. "That’s great, yeah," he said, a little choked. "But what exactly do I do?"

Iris pinned him with a serious look. "First? Drop the 'cool guy' act. You don't need it. Barry likes you, and I think he can learn to like you even more… if you follow this advice instead..." Iris unfolded the wrinkled piece of paper, pointing to another highlighted section of the text.

"Right," Cisco breathed.

Iris quickly leaned forward to kiss his cheek. "Not all of their suggestions are trash."

***

Get him talking about something he’s really passionate about. After a while he’ll start associating those good feelings with you!

***

"Did they get lost?" Barry asked, pushing off the table to try and get a look over the crowd. He seemed to be the only one concerned with Iris and Cisco's disappearance. Eddie had given in and fished out his phone, texting someone rapidly. Felicity fiddled with a straw and absently pat Barry on the back.

"It's fine," she said, not for the first time. "They'll be back in a sec. Iris is just handling a Situation. Don't worry about it."

Barry shot her a massively confused look. "What are you talking about?”

"Surely your massive brain can understand the meaning of 'don't worry about it’?"

Felicity's grin was cheeky, she was begging for some sort of retribution, but at that moment Becca took the microphone and—after some initial, ear splitting feedback—announced that the games were underway. Eyes drawn to the back of Jitters, Barry caught the exact moment Cisco and Iris came back into view, with Cisco looking more... Cisco-ish.

As in, he'd mussed up his braid enough that little tufts were poking out, like they would if he'd been hard at work on a project—and it did look amazing. The sleeves of his nice jacket has been rolled, revealing grease stains and a faded note in green sharpie down near his wrist. Cisco suddenly looked more natural, carefree….but more than this he was glowing, walking confidently back to their table with a real smile on his face. Idly, in the back of his mind, Barry wondered when he'd started paying such close attention to the little details that made Cisco Cisco. That little voice was drowned out by the flood of relief though. Things had felt wrong before.

Now, somehow, they were right.

"Hey," Cisco breathed it, scooting right back into Barry's space. He leaned to catch Felicity's eye. After a second Cisco included Eddie in the look too. "Sorry. Wasn't at my best back there. Can we rewind by like fifteen minutes and start again?"

Eddie had an unfathomable look on his face though Felicity immediately made a whirring noise like an old VCR, essentially erasing those fifteen minutes as asked. Iris smiled and Eddie shrugged and honestly, Barry still didn't know what was going on, but then Cisco clapped a hand on his shoulder and that hardly mattered at all.

"E = MC Hammer together. You ready to kick some ass?"

"Yes—" Barry began but then the game was underway.

It was exactly as he'd remembered it. Though he and Iris had never participated before (their friend group never had enough nerds, according to Iris), they'd watched plenty of times over the years, enjoying the quick-paced, almost cut-throat nature of the game. The first half was always a free-for-all, with Becca reading off a question ("No answers until I'm done!") and then calling on the first team to buzz in. Even Barry was surprised when the little light on their table lit up first try, Eddie's thumb still depressing the buzzer.

"Cop's reflexes," he whispered. "I don't even know who Jar Jar Binks is though, let alone what movie he first appeared in."

Barry and Cisco exchanged a look. It was glorious in its simplicity: who the hell is this fool and why is he friends with us? They looked to Iris and Felicity only out of courtesy.

"I'm a Star Trek girl," Felicity said, completely unrepentant. Iris just nodded for the two of them to go ahead, seeming to get a strange amount of satisfaction in their teaming up. Barry grinned.

"Phantom Menace," they answered in unison—and so it began.

The questions, of course, got harder as the game went on, though they quickly realized that Eddie's speed wasn't just a fluke. He got them first dibs on most of the questions, struggling only against the group of Star Wars cosplayers (who were understandably disgusted about how the first question had gone down). Felicity, for reasons Barry couldn’t fathom, moved to sit beside Iris instead and the two of them seemed more than happy to let the boys run the show, sipping coffee and occasionally whispering in one another's ear. Alright then. Great, even. Barry and Cisco easily led the team and as they did Barry discovered a natural, warm camaraderie he wouldn't have expected to find on an otherwise normal Saturday night. Not to say that he and Cisco hadn't been friends before, of course they were, but it hadn't been like this. They hadn't been on such an exact wave-link, so to speak; easy agreement and teamwork all around, the sense that they just fit together, in ways outside of fighting crime. Like they could really be buds, not just close-knit colleagues.

They could be something.

Most people laughed at competitions like this and they would have howled at Barry's thoughts, the ones about 'fitting together' and 'complimenting one another,’ the ultimate sappiness of it all... but it was true. Cisco pulled out all the Sci Fi and dystopian knowledge that Barry had avoided over the years ("It's just all so sad,") and Barry knew dated shit like what U.S. soap opera first aired in 1956 (and he didn't get any heat from Cisco when As the World Turns flew a little too quickly from his lips). They took turns shouting out the answers, passed the bowl of pretzels without being asked, Cisco had his arm around Barry's shoulders for most of it. It was a comforting weight, just reminding Barry that he was there and they were having fun. Together

However, when they finally embodied the cliché of Barry finishing Cisco's sentence, he had to stop, because one fully-fledged thought had torn through his head like a wrecking ball:

I thought I only had this with Iris.

She was bent close to Felicity, the two of them hunched over their score sheet and gleefully tallying the points. Eddie had turned in his stool and was leaning against Iris' shoulder, his buzzer held faithfully in hand. Barry noted, in a shocked sort of way, that their physical comfort with one another looked like how his and Cisco's felt. And, with a pang, he realized that he'd basically forgotten that the others were even here.

"It's 'Freed' right?"

Barry startled, coming back to himself. Cisco still had one arm warped around his shoulders, the other pointing insistently towards the stage.

"Huh?"

"The book, dude." Cisco tightened his grip in slight panic. "Look, I promise to judge you later for any love you might have for that shitty, abusive series, but we've got fifteen seconds to answer—" His hand waving got more intense, garnering only an eye-roll from Eddie. "It's Fifty Shades of Grey, Fifty Shades Darker, and Fifty Shades...?"

Barry would always update his dad on the latest book craze when he'd go to visit, so yeah, he'd entertained him with James' fiasco too. Amidst the drab interior, in an appreciated moment of playfulness, his dad had commented that it was a good thing those texts hadn't been published twenty years ago, otherwise Barry might have ended up with an unexpected sibling. His reaction had been something between a squeal and a shriek.

Now though... totally different context. Barry's brain grafted 'erotic romance' onto 'Cisco' and started heating up like an ancient laptop, sparking and letting out clouds of smoke.

"Y-yeah," Barry cleared his throat. "That's right."

Cisco shouted their answer over the tops of thoroughly aggravated heads and Barry could only stare, wondering when things had gotten so complicated. It had happened in less than an hour, right? He'd gone from simplicity, complete understanding of what he wanted and needed... to this. Barry wasn't even sure what 'this' was. Except it had come on fast and was already taking room within him. It didn't want to leave.

Barry watched the dimpling in Cisco's cheeks as he smiled and cheered. Or maybe, he thought, it started when I got struck by lighting.

(Wasn’t that a metaphor for love?)

They'd made plans after this. A movie. Barry had supposed it would be at the Labs.

But maybe...

"Hey!" Barry had to practically shout over all the commotion—it was now clear who'd be winning and the other teams felt no need to keep their displeasure quiet. "Hey, Cisco!"

"What's up?"

"Want to catch that movie at my place?"

Cisco froze, his expression sobering, and for one horrible second Barry thought he'd made a colossal mistake. Then a new smile came. It wasn't manic or exuberant like the others, it wasn't even very big, but it felt massive and Barry was a little off kilter just looking at it.

"Yeah?" Cisco breathed.

"Yeah."

"...well alright then."

Barry didn't catch the look Iris and Felicity shared, or the over-exaggerated yawn that Eddie let loose. He was focused solely on Cisco, the world slowing down once more until Barry could see every crease in his face, every path his hair took as it fell over his shoulder. The only thing that permeated was sound—Becca yelling some joke about clear winners.

Not that Barry cared. Inexplicitly, he felt like they'd already won.

***

Get him to do something daring. Push him to try new things... you never know what that could translate to in a relationship ;)

#Flash #The Flash #Barry/Cisco #Barry Allen #Cisco Ramon #flashfic

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mostlysignssomeportents · 7 years ago

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By @Beschizza: My RSS feeds from a decade ago, a snapshot of gadget blogging when that was a thing