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the-sand-guardian · 1 month ago

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Whumptober Day 15: Painful Hug

A continuation of days 7, 13, and 14

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Cellbit had a rather restless night, but that was nothing new. You try sleeping next to a rather handsome man you know nothing about while your best friend is trying not to bleed out too much. Roier, however, seemed completely unbothered by the whole thing. Cellbit probably could have counted on one hand how many times he moved. When he did shift, Cellbit was able to pick up on a slight grimace each time. Other than that, he seemed so peaceful despite all that had happened that day. It made Cellbit almost sick to him so pleasantly content, but at the same time he was glad to see him holding up as well as he was. It wasn’t often you found a lone survivor still, well, surviving.

Cellbit had been that lone survivor at one point. It was closer to the beginning of the End, but he had stayed alone for the better part of three months. It was only when Felps had found him completely battered from a rough run-in that he relented and joined the camp. The more he thought about it, he hadn’t been entirely alone, since he had a few people looking out for him even if they weren’t in close proximity. Roier, however? It seemed like he truly had nobody. In the several hours they’d known each other, Cellbit couldn’t recall him actually mentioning any friends besides Mariana, but they hadn’t seemed like they’d seen each other in a while when they’d reunited.

He looked over at him now as the sun was beginning to creep over the horizon and the light danced across the back of his head, as he’d elected to sleep on his stomach. It looked rather uncomfortable, but if it worked it worked. As Cellbit lay next to him, contentedly listening to the dull snores of his friend a few feet away, he felt his own wave of relaxation wash over him. Despite it being so early in the morning, he knew someone had noticed their absence by now and would either have something small prepared for them to make sure everyone was alright or were already on their way to find them. As the sun reached higher and higher into the sky, the temperature around them began to increase.

Cellbit took another soft look at Roier before carefully getting up and starting the van. It was still rather cold, but the van’s heater would be able to at least supplement some of the warmth. He pulled his jacket a little tighter around himself as he peeked through the windows to try and get his bearings. He’d been on enough expeditions that he was mostly able to navigate the Wasteland by now, which proved useful in these situations. He ran through the motions of the previous night as well as he could before turning the vehicle around and starting in the direction they’d come from.

He drove in silence for several minutes before he heard rustling in the back. He slowed down a little and peeked back to see Roier sat upright and looking around. Cellbit would have loved to sit there and take in the domesticity, but he was driving a moving vehicle at 45 miles per hour (72 kilometers/hr) so he had to turn his eyes back to the landscape ahead of him. To his surprise (and perhaps joy, too), Roier, still wrapped in tarp, came and sat down in the passenger seat next to him.

“Sleep well?” Cellbit hummed, glancing over at him again. He was a mess. His hair stuck up at odd angles and his eyes still had that vacant look of sleep in them. It was beautiful.

Roier grumbled and flipped him off. Cute. Cell nodded a bit and looked back out the windshield.

Felps didn’t wake until they were back at the camp, but Cellbit hadn’t really expected anything else. His wound still needed a proper cleaning, and he’d honestly be more surprised if he didn’t wind up with an infection. It sucked, but it was their normal.

They pulled up to the camp as everyone was finally becoming properly awake. The two people keeping watch over the entrance wheeled aside the heavy gates that shielded the camp once Cellbit rolled down his window to show he wasn’t actually a Fed. He parked the van close to the group’s other vehicle and helped Roier get Felps out. Soon, Felps would have to head to the medical tent and get looked at by someone who actually knew what they were doing, but Cellbit wanted to get in a few last words with his friend before then.

“If you die, I’ll fucking kill you” Cellbit smiled and pat Felps’ back.

“I’m not dying, and if I were to, you wouldn’t get away from me that easily”

Both men let out a slight chuckle as Cellbit pulled Felps into a hug. Felps hissed a bit as he hugged his friend back, but he gave him a firm clap on the back before letting go and letting one of their other friends pull him back to the infirmary. Roier came up beside Cellbit once he’d walked away. He had his bandana back over his face, and Cellbit tried not to frown behind his respirator.

“You two seem close” He hummed, leaning against the van.

Cellbit shrugged. “Always have been, really. You and Mariana seem close too.”

Now Roier shrugged. “We used to be a lot closer. Back home, mostly, but it’s different now.”

Cellbit was quiet for a second as he chewed Roier’s words. “So you’ve really been out here on your own all this time?”

He nodded.

“How in the world did you survive like that?”

This time Roier took a pause as he looked down at his shoes. “It’s easier when you have someone out there you’re surviving for”

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Thank you for reading! I've also posted this to Ao3, where I'll be cataloguing all of my works for this month! I also have 3 other WIP fics, so if you enjoy my works please go show some love over there or feel free to shoot me an ask!

#whumptober2024 #no.15 #painful hug #qsmp #fic #eefspeaks #wowzaitseef #qsmp fic #whumptober #whumptober 2024 #spiderbit #guapoduo #and Felps!#genuinely just Not Happy with this one #not much actually happens but it's written #if i turn this into an actual fic like i want to i Will be fixing this

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doublegoblin · 2 years ago

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15 Tags, 15 Mutuals OC Style

Much appreciated @tailoroffates

As far as whomst to tag: @asterhaze @lola-theshowgrl @lettersandinkstains @monstrousfreedom and I think I'll leave it there as direct tags, but if'n ya see this and want in, open mic.

Rules Choose a character from a WIP and use them to answer the questions below.

So I have done with with Alex the MC of Rituals and Red Tape, I want to have a little fun and do this one for their manager. That omnipresent fractal in the sky, upper level manager in a literal sense, unknowable eldritch being: Dave

1. Are you named after anyone?

I have been given many titles by your tongue. My employees however have ordained in me a name they profess speaks highly of my character. To quote Previous Manager Douglas "You just really seem like a Dave." I am not one to argue with an immutable truth.

2. When was the last time you cried?

When last the pale star of H'yn'gth faded into the noise of the cosmos, when all noise from the pulsating vortex ceased, when the life blood of the slain false deity washed across the galaxies beyond even the greatest of sights. That is to say, the last employee review I had with Alex. They are meeting my expectations adequately and is that not which all Managers strive for?

3. Do you have kids?

My staff has spoken at length of these creatures that are sired. My employees then are akin to my children, some more well liked than others as is traditional I hear.

4. Do you use sarcasm?

Clear and open communication is the cornerstone of any good workplace relationship. They bemoan it but I know my employees truly appreciate my direct honest feedback.

5. What's the first thing you notice about people?

Their adherence to our dress code.

6. What's your eye color?

It has been described as colors within colors, an ever shifting kaleidoscope of melting and pulsating spectrums here to unknown by less developed eyes. I would assume this is to say; I have blue eyes but not entirely blue, gray with speckles of brown and a ring of green. They must be beautiful though, none long look me directly in them.

7. Scary movies or happy endings?

A perfect union of the two.

8. Any special talents?

I am a wonderful communicator.

9. Where were you born?

I am unaware of this concept. Is being born something that would assist in employee to Management relations? I will speak with Alex about having me become 'born'.

10. What are your hobbies?

I enjoy making things. And then, organizing those things. It is very therapeutic.

11. Have you any pets?

My employees are also like my pets.

12. What sports do you play/have played?

There was at one time I attempted to engage in a game known as "Tennis". HR has requested I no longer engage with "tennis".

13. How tall are you?

Average dimensions. Perhaps a small percentile under average. I am unsure how lower level being perceive me. To also quote Previous Manager Douglas "Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit, no matter where I look you are right fucking there, holy shit I am starting to lose it." While his profanity was unneeded I never did get the answer as to what 'it' was.

14. Favorite subject in school?

Do you beings go to places for learning? Curious. Your minds have such limitations, yet your elasticity is marvelous. However I will answer this question with the best of my ability. Statistical Analysis, would be the closest approximation.

15. Dream job?

I have already fulfilled my place. To deviate is unthinkable.

#that was fun #tag game #RART #15 tags 15 mutuals #exploring Dave was fun #thanks for the tag #writing #writeblr

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imstraight · 2 years ago

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well ig since i walked out i can spill the real tea at my last job

extreme racism

extreme sexism/misogyny

extreme homophobia/transphobia (a supervisor targeted this trans girl who was so sweet)

sexual harassment on a daily basis. i reported it often and was laughed at. didnt really help that the worst of it was coming from managers/supervisors. so many incidents including getting groped by an 80 something year old dishwasher over the summer

cut hours with a promise we’d be back to full time (never happened the salaried bitches got a 1k bonus for sending 20 people home daily) none of us were approved for partial unemployment and couldn’t eat or pay bills

dishwashers got paid meals. cooks did not. we were threatened with termination if we ate uhhh it was called stealing. but we got a free shift beer which no normal person took! we were hungry and most people weren’t even 21

call out sick? no that’s a write up. you were expected to come in still and have a manager send you home. (this is why i walked out i just came back after 2 viral infections that almost killed me and my dr sent a note and i had medical paperwork as proof) any absence would be held over your head including covid, not coming in during a travel ban, etc…

begged for a raise. i did not get a raise. i was the only person with a soup talent. i can make a mean soup. i was told “i didn’t give enough back to the company”

do you care about your family? not allowed. your life was supposed to be just work

13 hour shifts at times no recognition no nothing

phones were not allowed to be even in your pocket (new rule riiight before i left) scary shit bc i watched my friend have an extreme family emergency and i had to step in and take her home

managers got fired for sexual harassment ONLY if they were caught with multiple minors. no adult accusations were believed

sick time that you would get in trouble for using

filthy work environment

expired ass moldy food

someone sent out a blade in salsa a customer actually found it idk how we weren’t shut down and no he didn’t get in trouble he just blamed someone else

food was sent out either overcooked or extremely undercooked

gas leak (i almost got fired for calling osha over the summer cause everyone was getting sick anyways it was still a problem when i left)

we had a fire one day on a GAS STOVE and my coworker was screamed at for grabbing a fire extinguisher. it was rusty and he couldn’t pull the pin. they got it out with corn starch 😺

drinking on the job (im not a buzzkill but it was extreme and these people would drive home hammered)

you want a raise? you have to fuck a higher up for that. this girl was fucking a supervisor and they got caught on the property multiple times. she got a raise. a girl who busted her ass working did not get a raise and she quit after she found out (she was very nice)

need flexibility because you have personal obligations? no you’re not giving enough back to the company

unpaid vacation that rarely got approved. over the summer i needed 2 days off for getting my college shit set up and my bf’s bday. i let this manager know over 5 times with notice. eventually i was tired of being ignored and went around her and sent a mass email to everyone else reminding them i would not be there. it was not a request i was NOT going to be there. they didnt like that too much

managers would regularly come in 30+ mins late. i had to step in and get shit set up for the day write out lists and get a good idea of what we had stocked (which was not my job)

FAVORITISM if you were a white man you were golden. all minorities were treated like absolute shit

good employees were threatened with termination over everything. they did not need a reason to fire you. they just did

harassment in general i almost got into full on fist fights trying to defend myself after people came at me

hr cared about the company. owners cared about the company. management cared about the company. they did not give a fuck about employees at all

no one had manners this bitch almost knocked me out with a door she dropped a box on my head. she never said “behind, sharp” yk all the common kitchen etiquette. i was advised by a manager to stab her?

benefits? nonexistent. i did get covid relief for 40hrs which they didn’t want anyone to know about. i told everyone (we were encouraged to come in with covid just wear masks)

annoying ass rude ass people that wanted to mansplain everything even if they were in different departments LOL. i cussed out people on a daily basis. it got to the point grown ass men were afraid of me because they didn’t expect me to fight back

good workers were threatened the shitty ones were promoted

and much more!

honestly fuck that place with everything in me. i have been debating on blowing them in for labor laws and sooo much illegal shit. they would get shut down for many incidents i didn’t get into

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starocean · 2 years ago

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not to be an asshole or a whiner but i have been stressed and need to rant a little to let it out so please feel free to ignore, it’s just work related stuff

(technically they’re all my coworkers, but i don’t wanna use names so i just refer to them like this)

so, coworker got into an accident and she’ll be out for the next four days. no big deal, i can push my vacation back even if i am the tiniest bit sad i can’t take it rn. i won’t even lie about that. but i’m not at mad at her at all.

but i am upset that my manager didn’t even offer to let me take next weekend off. she just told me we’d talk about me taking vacation time. and that kind of set me off and i spent like a whole hour crying because i’m just. so tired. i work six days a week. in the last three to four months, i have worked multiple 9 to 13 day “weeks” without a single day off. i rarely ever ask for time off, and what time off i do get is usually interrupted by work for some reason or other, even during vacation. i have an autoimmune disorder that makes me physically weaker than i used to be. just a few days ago, i had to stop doing stock because my shoulders were causing me so much pain i was almost nauseated and fighting back tears.

i’m not like the asm, who bitches and bitches and bitches and bitches when she can’t take time off (who, by the way, spent most of last year trying to get out of work and almost got let go for being a liability bc she kept getting injured at work and filing for worker’s comp. which seems unfair but these injuries were all extremely minor, so minor that a doctor wouldn’t even give her more than a day off work bc it wasn’t necessary, and all happened in less than six months. and when you’re the only one getting injured but your coworkers aren’t and none of the customers are reporting anything hazardous, HR starts getting suspicious. they told her they were going to start investigating her if she reported another injury too soon, and guess what? she stops getting hurt. amazing. she only wanted the worker’s comp bc it would get her more time off work while giving her a paycheck, but that’s not the point.

and she also had the fuckin’ audacity to lie about my performance to the sm, and yes i am still upset about that bc i’ve actually done way more than the asm has and the sm’s even said so herself, like fuck the asm for real i cannot stand her)

she’s gotten mad at me before for requesting vacation time before she puts her request in, and even angry at me for getting the rare satuday off bc she thinks she’s the only one who deserves a saturday off, apparently. i don’t get weekend days off much. like 99% of my off-days are during the week. she also acts like she’s the only one to work 9 to 13 days in a row without time off, and she hates being contracted on all of the above. i’ve had to show her our schedules before and go back month by month showing her what days she worked and had off compared to what i did. as you can guess, she was not happy about the physical proof being put in front of her lmao.

(and let me get this off my chest real quick because this one really fuckin pissed me off. this fuckin cunt tried to get me to come in on a day off that i specifically requested and was granted to be able to take care of my mother after her surgery. one of the newbies quit, and she sends me a text saying, “so-and-so quit, i need you come in and work tonight.” and of course i told her sorry ass no, that i had to be there for my mother. not sorry at all, my family and their health takes priority over work, especially since that was scheduled time off approved by the sm. the fucking disregard you have to demand i come in despite knowing i’m watching over my mother’s health. cover the damn shift yourself, asshole.)

the only time i have ever spoken up about not having certain days off is when i’d been given a saturday off and the sm tried to take it from me without even attempting to communicate with me about it. and then she tried to guilt trip me for that by saying she would have to pull a double, and i had to hold myself back from saying something snarky about how it’s literally her job, as per corporate policy, to fill in for an employee who cannot make their scheduled shift if no other employee can cover it. i was also miffed she didn’t even bother asking if i was okay with that. like, she didn’t say shit to me about it. no text message, no phone call, nothing from any other employee. nada. she got the next day off anyways, so idk why she was bitching. maaayybee she should have had the courtesy to, oh i dunno, ask me if i could cover? but she didn’t, so no i don’t feel bad about her pulling that double shift. ANYWAYS, not the point. i mean, sort of.

anyways, kind of tying back into the first part: coworker got hurt, and i volunteered to coworker directly that if she needed me to give up my vacation to cover her shifts, i would. we don’t always get along, but we definitely get along better than the asm and I do. maybe this is petty, atp i don’t really care, but the asm thanked me for volunteering. and i had to fight not to tell her to fuck off, that i wasn’t doing it for her, i was doing it for my coworker. it was the right thing to do, and if coworker had wanted to, she could’ve called it a favor for switching days with me once when i’d gotten too sick to attend work a few months ago. and i knew damn well that the asm wouldn’t give up any of her time off to fill in, bc she’d outright rejected mine and other coworkers’ requests for us to switch shifts when we’d been too sick or hurt to come in, and has often refused to cover shifts for employees who quit. obvious pattern of behavior there.

basically i’m just, like. bummed out. and burned out. i have dedicated so much time to this job with nothing to show. a shitty wage that i can’t even get a raise on bc i’ve apparently “hit the cap” for my position (bunch of fucking bullshit honestly), and my physical and mental health deteriorating by the minute. (which, i know that seems stupid to say after having a possible opportunity to get a different job, but all the research i put into that one (which i should’ve done first. hindsight is 20/20) showed it wouldn’t be much better than my current job. who knows. if i get desperate enough, i may just try my shot with them again.) and little time off.

i just want decent time off. to just sit at home and relax, and not be bothered by something work related unless it’s an emergency.

i’ll delete this later

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kenresearch1 · 1 year ago

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The Global E-Commerce Logistics Market is anticipated to reach US$ 1 Tn industry by 2028: Ken Research

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The Global E-Commerce Logistics market is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of more than ~13% which would result in making it an approximately US$ 1 Tn industry by 2028 as per the findings of Ken Research.

STORY OUTLINE:

E-commerce growth is a driving force behind the growth and expansion of Global E-commerce Logistics Market.

Technological advancements such as AI, GPS, IoT, automated trucks and drones are boon for the growth of the Global E-commerce Logistics market.

Customers demanding fast deliveries also act as a reason behind the growth of the Global E-commerce Logistics Market.

Globalization accelerating the growth of the Global E-commerce Logistics Market.

A fast-growing industry, Technological advancements, E-commerce growth, and the demand for same-day/fast delivery by customers along with Globalization are the various factors contributing to the growth of the Global E-Commerce Logistics Market. This market is predicted to witness a CAGR of more than ~13% in the next 5 years.

1.E-Commerce growth: a driving force behind the growth and expansion of Global E-Commerce Logistics Market.

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The growth of E-commerce is a major factor in the growth of E-Commerce Logistics. As more and more people shift towards adopting E-Commerce, this in turn also increases the demand for E-Commerce Logistics for transportation and warehousing purposes

China (with internet users ~73.1% of the population), United States (with internet users ~90.9% of the population), United Kingdom (with internet users 94.8% of the population), Japan (with internet users ~90.2% of the population), and South Korea (with internet users ~96.5% of the total population) are five of the strongest and biggest E-Commerce markets

One thing that is common among these 5 biggest E-commerce markets is that they have a high percentage of internet users. When people spend their time on internet, they also come across various E-commerce sites through which they place their orders. Additionally, Covid-19 also increased the reach of internet and online shopping.

As these markets are constantly expanding, and, since most of the population in various countries have an internet appearance. Thus, it is evident that more and more people are also shifting towards online shopping which naturally fuels the E-commerce logistics market

2.Technological Advancements in the economies: a boon for the growth of the E-commerce Logistics Market:

Technological Advancements such as AI automation, the Internet of Things, Real-Time analytics, GPS, and automated trucks and drones are known to boost the E-Commerce Logistics Market Growth

Artificial Intelligence is used by various global companies such as Coupa, Epicor, LivePerson, Echo Global Logistics, etc. Epicor has Epicor Digital Assitant which helps user to interact with their enterprise resource planning systems. LivePerson uses AI in the form of a messaging platform. What makes this AI-enabled messaging platform different is that it gives B2B, B2C, HR, ITSM related solutions to various businesses. Echo Global Logistics uses AI to primarily automate carrier management and to work out shipping rates.

A global leader, Amazon, is a perfect example of the application of GPS technology in the logistics market. It uses GPS technology when it comes to delivering packages so that they reach the right location. Not only limited to that, GPS technology also helps Amazon in scheduling packages as to know which should be delivered first and in what sequence that helps in maximization resource utilization and cost minimization.

Just like AI, IoT technology is also used by many global companies within the logistics companies such as Maersk, Nippon Express, DB Schenker, DHL, etc

Maersk uses their special refrigerator-containers. This way they are not only tracking their routes but can also control the atmosphere inside the containers. DHL on the other hand uses IoT technology to manage their supply chain to get a better idea of their inbound and outbound logistics. Nippon Express partnered with Intel to develop an IoT (which is known as Global Cargo Watcher Advance) to track all of their shipments that demand quality control throughout.

Global logistics companies such as TuSimple, DHL, Kodiack Robotics, and Amazon, are known for using Automated Trucks and Drones. The trucks of these companies are equipped with radars and sensors through which they can communicate to other vehicles and can follow the pre-defined routes with pre-defined speeds.

3.Customers’ demands for having same-day delivery or the fastest possible delivery: a major reason for the growth of the global E-commerce logistics market:

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Customers demanding same-day delivery also play an important role in the growth of the global E-commerce logistics market. Global logistics companies such as FedEx, Amazon, United Parcel Service, DHL, UberRush, Stuart Delivery, etc. are known for providing fast deliveries and thereby accelerating the global e-commerce logistics market.

FMCG products such as Groceries, over-the-counter medicines, packaged foods, cosmetics, etc are some of the fast-moving products in the logistics market.

FedEx typically is known for delivering products between 1 to 3 business days, Amazon generally ships the orders anywhere between 1 to 2 days, DHL is known to deliver packages ranging from approximately 2 to 14 days, UPS at times delivers on the same day and within several days.

4.Globalization: Making the Global E-commerce Logistics market not only easy but better also:

It is needless to say how does Globalization contributes in the growth of Global E-Commerce Logistics Market. Nowadays, more and more businesses are going global to have wide reach in terms of global customers and compete with international competitors. This in turn, also increases the demand for the global E-commerce Logistics to ensure that the packages are delivered to customers in every corner of the world.

Some of the countries that are leading the Globalization index include Switzerland (with a globalization index of ~90.6), New Zealand (with a globalization index of ~89.0), Singapore (with a globalization index of ~83.2), Israel (with a globalization index of ~76.2), and Japan (with a globalization index of ~75.3).

With the advent of Globalization, the demand for cross border logistics has drastically increased which significantly has given a rise in the growth of Global E-Commerce Logistics Market because when businesses go global, they also have wide reach and global customers, and to deliver their packages in different parts of the world, a business needs requires E-commerce Logistics. Thus, globalization accelerates the growth of Global E-commerce market.

CONCLUSION

As per this research, there are many growth drivers of Global E-commerce Logistics Market. The growth of E-commerce, Technological advancements, Globalization and customers demanding fast delivery are some of the major factors that contribute towards the growth and expansion of Global E-commerce Logistics market. With all of these factors, it is anticipated, that the Global E-commerce Logistics Market is predicted to soon become a US$ 1 Tn. Industry by 2028.

#Global E-Commerce Logistics Market

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littleeyesofpallas · 2 years ago

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Stupid exercise in futility but trying to nail down some sense of order within the Gotei 13.

Squad 1 as best as we ever knew was Yamamoto, Sasakibe, and Okikiba, three old men... Maybe they're all old because they've all just been at it for just as long a time, but I like to think that squad 1 is just the retire to a desk job squad for the gotei, so it's full of retirees.

But then Shunsui and Nanao get thrown in there to resume capt. and lt. duties basically just by way of Shunsui's senority. He definitely steps up to the task given the needs of the plot, but it would have been nice to see more of a total shift in personality once slacking off ceases to be a real option.

So as far as we know this squad is largely administrative and political. Whatever it is that unites the other 12 squads, and gives the Gotei as a whole direction comes from Squad 1. Presumably Squad 1 also directly negotiates relations with the Central 46 and the Royal Families.

We also know Genryusai is the founder of the Shinigami Academy that trains new shinigami, but it's unclear if he still had any direct interaction himself.

Squad 2 we know was initially just a "militia" which makes sense as a top priority in the Gotei's formation. But Yoruichi's ascent to head of her family, her family's secret police, and 2nd squad captain merged said militia with the Shihouin Family's special forces. The special forces seem to thus recruit from/thru the 2nd Squad now.

They consist of what are basically ninja police, patrolling, surveilling, arresting, and detaining. I kind of hate that they exist the way they do because they seem to just be a giant redundancy within the Gotei; various things the gotei would sensibly have specialized departments for that might be squad specific duties, the onmitsukido seem to have their own subdivisions handling already...

Squad 3 we have no damn clue about.... They're really never elaborated on in any meaningful way under any particular captain...

Squad 4 is all medical. Thank god this one's nice cut and dry. We know they have both nurses in dedicated medical facilities within the seireitei as well as field medics in 14 different subdivisions. It is not clear if those subdivisions have any specialized roles. They attend to prisoners as well as active duty shinigami that they follow out into the field. It is questionable if they offer any services to the souls in the rukongai, although Jidanbo's complete neglect would suggest not.

Squad 5 has no explicit roles or duties shown throughout the series. But there is some suggestion that they could be the gotei's liason with the academy, or otherwise something like HR, dealing with assigning incoming shinigami to squads and filling squad needs for personel.

We know Aizen had a hand in shuffling Renji, Kira, and Momo around in their early days with the Gotei, but it's unclear if those were attributable to his Captain rank in general, or if he did so in his capacity as 5th captain specifically.

Alternatively it could be something that would cover the information and resources that facilitated Aizen's specialized research into hollows, but there's not a lot to go off of there.

Squad 6 also has no clear roles.

They went to the human world to apprehend Rukia, but that feels more in line with Byakuya's personal responsibilities than his squad's.

The position appears to have been passed down several generations in the Kuchiki family.

We also know they have their own jail cells, and its not made clear if that's something every squad has although it very well might be. But given Byakuya's fixation on law, it's possible the 6th Squad is specialized in some form of law enforcement: tracking down, apprehending, criminal shinigami like Rukia, and detaining insubordinates like Renji.

Squad 7 is yet another super vague one. All we really know is that Komamura and Tetsuzaemon operate akin to a yakuza boss and underling, and that Komamura values loyalty above all else. Between Tetsuzaemon's name, his predecessor Jinnemon's name(which both refer to "gates" and contribute to the yakuza aesthetic) and Komamura's affinity for heavy armor, it's possible they are a defensive focused group. But what kind of actual responsibility that would entail under normal circumstances is super unclear.

No idea what Love lends to any of this.

Curiously, the Gate Guardians would presumably be part of a squad if they aren't their own independent force, but it's not clear whose squad they'd belong to if they belong to any at all. But Jidanbo's little brother Jirobo was part of 7th Squad. (Although once they brought up the that walls and gates surround the King's Realm normally... which makes very little sense anyway... it would suggest the Gate Guardians hang out up in the Royal Realm under normal circumstances???)

Squad 8's responsibilities are also just never really addressed.

Whatever it is the squad does, Nanao's the one doing it, so possibly something fitting her bookish demeanor more than Shunsui's?

With Shunsui's slacking there's no reason to suspect that any part of the squad's duties particularly suit him. And whatever Nanao did as his lt. Lisa had done before her, and resumed doing as new captain once Shunsui moved to 1st squad. But then Lisa's demeanor is, superficially at least, identical to Nanao's. So that doesn't really add any clues.

Squad 9 has some clues, but none that really add up.

We know they run the cultural magazine on the side.

We know Kensei ran them like a biker gang in the past.

We know they were the ones sent to investigate when shinigami disappeared in the rukongai.

So it's possible they could be the vanguard? Either like scouts or as the first line of defense? Feels redundant with Squad 2's spec.ops. patrol squad though, but again most of 2nd squad's existence as a partially independent organization suggests they just internally do all the same things the gotei does more broadly...

The biker gang thing would sort of suggest high mobility as a specialty skill/group tactic?

Squad 10 unclear.

Hitsugaya's got a whole boy detective thing going on in the SS arc, but that might be circumstantial to the conspiracy plot and not related to his duties as 10th captain. Plus more of a personal character quirk than a job role.

Matsumoto does not appear to be an asset to these duties in any case.

The late addition of Isshin also does not make clear much of anything.

We know they received some kind of casualty reports but it seems like they weren't reports from their own squad. (the reports were filed late due to Isshin and Rangiku's shirking, but if their own squad members had been dead and missing for months surely they'd have noticed.)

We know Hitsugaya was the supervising captain in the Karakura stakeout after the first Arrancar attacks. But it's super unclear what the process there really was; he may have opted into it as a personal matter wanting to deal with Aizen's affairs, and it sounded like the other team members had been selected first and independent of his command. So not clear if any of it really aligns with his squad duties even remotely...

Squad 11 is nice and simple. The fighters of the Gotei wind up here. But notably not the formal militia that make up squad 2, even before the incorporation of the shihouin spec.ops.

Given the general thuggishness and wild demeanor of the most of the squad it's possibly these are categorized by kill count or otherwise fight record and not by qualifications of formalized training. That or their overall tone is a result of Zaraki specifically being their captain and previous iterations didn't necessarily have the same delinquent vibes.

Squad 12 is Research & Development. Nice and simple.

Given Hikifune's role as creator of the Soul Candies prior to Urahara's remodeling of the squad, and her subsequent focus on food as part of the Royal Guard, it sounds like they were always a group outfitted for mass production of synthetic goods, Urahara just happened to modernize their process from what was likely a more traditional arts kind of focus into something more industrial.

Given the importance of food and hunger as correlated to the emergence of spirit powers in Soul Society that kind of role within the gotei is actually a lot more important than it sounds. I again turn to my tangential speculation and head canon that specialized food in soul society relates to size relates to spirit power, as exhibited in Hacchi's inhuman size(over 8 feet tall) and themes of food in parts of his name and powers, which in turn points back to the gargantuan gate guardians.

Despite being one of the squads with the most intimate focus, Squad 13 is yet another super unclear one.

We know they deployed Rukia, afro guy, and Ryuunosuke & Shino to Karakura.

We know Ukitake gave Ichigo the substitutes badge, and that Ginjo seemed to know Ukitake personally, likely thru the substitute shinigami position as well.

Together those facts might suggest they're specifically the ones in charge of human world activities; whether that's something that would be focused on slaying hollows, rescuing humans and ghosts, or delivering ghosts to Soul Society first with the others as incidental responsibilities is unclear.

Also the Royal Guard were presumably all previous captains of Yamamoto's earliest iteration of the Gotei 13, which suggests that whatever role they filled then were the basis of the squads going forward.

So is there a squad that specializes in clothes that Shutara had founded? (i want to say 8th personally)

One in charge of distributing the asauchi to new shinigami that had been Ohetsu's old squad?

Kirinji seems to have implicitly been the original 4th captain while Unohana had been 11th.

And what about Ichibee's prolific set of skills? His knowledge of true names, theme of rakugo wordplay, theme of calligraphy, and joining theme of artisan monks all seem to suggest he was the original Kido specialist, turning truth into words into poems/chants into magic. But his name also means "military commander" which could suggest he ran the standard militia at the time before they were merged with Shihouin special ops.

edit: right i guess this whole bit has been debunked since the random release of the original gotei roster

And on the subject of the Royal Guard, what is up with their random subordinates, whom I assume live with them on the big city plates in the Royal Realm? Are they shinigami? Are they considered part of the Royal Guard? And is the Royal Guard still part of the Gotei? The Captains are clearly of a higher authority, as is the group itself, but the captains were "promoted" from within the gotei, and share the captain coats, as well as the Gotei diamond insignia. Which begs the question, are the inhabitants of the Royal Realm thus also elevated Gotei members? Or is it an entire literally stratified upper class, (somehow even above the royals and lesser nobility that inhabit the seireitei) who have families and children and communities within the Royal Realm without ever having the go through the academy or gotei service?

(I think the obvious answer is that Kubo did not think it through and that the contradictions just need to be ignored)

Also the Kidou Corps is in there some place outside of the gotei proper yet apparently still abiding a capt.+lt. system of command...(although that feels like a half assed addition of the TBtP more than anything sensible) They have their own jailers that handled Rukia and Aizen, and a separate type of uniformed member that handled the execution ceremony after Rukia was delivered from her cell.

Their uniforms are different from standard shinigami and distinctly monk and even nun like which would have suggested they functioned not dissimilarly to the warrior monk and general buddhist temple during warring states era, where they were considered autonomous from the military caste structure of the samurai and imperial court.

They also supposedly operate the gates to the human world.

And then the late addition of Tessai and Hacchi in formal captain & lt. roles introduced a set of totally different uniforms that are just a coat and mantle over basic shihakusho. Again this feels like a crappy halfbaked idea rather than something that adheres to the established aesthetic of the kidou corps at all.

And the Central 46 all wear shihakusho, despite their apparent nonmilitary role in Soul Society, and autonomous structure outside the Gotei.

Aizen also seemed to suggest that it's possible for Gotei captains to be promoted to the Central 46, and we've seen several of them are elderly, so it's possible the previous captains from Yamamoto's generation are/were among them. Curiously, the Central 46 aren't specifically all elderly when we see the aftermath of Aizen's slaughter, but in the TBtP sidestory the few we see the faces of are specifically much older than basically any other shinigami we see outside of Yamamoto and squad 1.

Yhwach also distinctly calls out the Gotei as having grown weak in peace time since his original invasion 1000 years prior, which suggests that there wouldn't be much cause for casualties among the captains in that time, save the Kenpachi in squad 11 killing eachother in succession. So, the turn over of captains might be accounted for by Central 46 promotions.

#bleach #bleach meta #pointless ramblings #excuses to crop stuff into little portrait jpgs

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hopeshoodie · 3 years ago

Note

what do you think of the independent article about fusebox games??

For those who don’t know, here’s a link to the article (luckily not behind a paywall).

In summary, we knew that Fusebox laid off all of its writers and a bunch of unity engineers on July 30th. What we didn’t know, is weeks before there was conflict about Seduction Games on matchmaker (which imo is super misogynistic and not even erotic enough to make up for it) being biphobic, and the staff wrote an open letter to management. Then they all... Got fired....

And oh boy I have THOUGHTS on it

Before even reading the article I knew what the homophobic issue the writers were concerned about was. I wrote about it when first playing Seduction Games on matchmaker (lol fuck Matchmaker)- there's a scene where the player dares the love interest to embarrass a man by pretending he's gay and making a scene. And that's just... So gross.

After reading the article I guess it was more that Seduction Games is fetishistic and treating bisexuality as a voyeuristic game for het relationships. And that's valid (but also imo not the worst thing FB has done in the department, see Boah in CMM and how they hide their mlm ships from straight players).

I want so badly to read the internal letter sent by the staff because I'm nosy but also I wish I had their words on the matter specifically. I wonder if they were more frustrated with not having control/input in Matchmaker (understandable, it was the precursor to losing their jobs), being lied to that the offending content would be removed only for it to then be released, or just that Fusebox would let offensive content be put out under their brand name to begin with.

Some other disorganized thoughts

The COO sounds like a real piece of work. I don't remember which article I read awhile ago that made it sound like the leadership (CEO and COO) changed and then Fusebox swiftly pivoted to prioritizing shorter content for an international audience. It sounds like he was a part of that. He has a ton of op eds about how to monetize free-to-play models and generally has Bad Takes. But walking out of a meeting and refusing to hear constructive criticism? What an absolute man baby. But also, doesn't he look the part

a real nathen mazri looking dude.

From a business standpoint, I see why they released Seduction Games despite their writing department vocalizing discontent with it. I've seen this shift on a bunch of other story apps. There's money in romance games that target a 13-22 year old female audience that incorporates softcore porn or questionably sexy content. It's a huge issue on Episode, which is technically a childrens app, but the stories that skirt the boundary of appropriate and not are the ones that get the most reads/gems spent/revenue. If you've played Seduction Games, you know it's exactly that. Written with really bland, simple language so that younger readers are engaged, with juvenile, surface-level romance elements and attempts at erotic writing. The characters aren't unique or interesting (the love interest is a massive creep), but it's optimized to appeal to the most amount of people. If they were planning on firing and outsourcing their writing department anyways, it's a win-win for the executives- put out content that establishes their new direction and communicate to the writing staff that they're not in control.

Fusebox's direct comments to the reporter, that their content is "subjective" and 'based on reality shows' is such an aggravating cop-out. The first is literally gaslighting their writers, saying they're reading too much into someone and it's a matter of perspective instead of just... something that they did. Like that story just IS sexist and biphobic, no wiggle room there. The second is just 'other people make bad content so we can too', which... oof. I see why the writers were mad enough to risk their jobs.

I've just got to wonder what's the financial benefit to not releasing S4. Like I totally get that they're shutting down the main LITG game to focus on Matchmaker which makes more money, but at this point we KNOW they have the S4 art assets because we've seen then in promos. They must have some if not most of the writing done, because this all went down close to the scheduled release of S4. Since Fusebox has been clear they're just money grabbing with no integrity for their story or their writers' intentions, why not just release S4? You're not going to /lose/ money- if there are art assets incomplete they can just reuse past assets or cut out scenes. It seems like it'd make financial sense to wring the last bit of gems/interest out of the LITG fandom that won't transition to matchmaker, then full pivot to matchmaker.

IDK anything about Britain's workplace protection laws (in the US it's at-will employment so retaliatory firing is a-okay as long as it's not on protected actions) but maybe in the UK it's not? Like you can't argue this is discriminatory, but it could be argued that the firing was a retaliation for the employees complaining to HR about inappropriate behavior, which is a protected action. But then again you could say that more than just the people who complained got fired so it's a moot point.

tl;dr it doesn't surprise me that Fusebox openly disrespected and antagonized their writers before the mass layoff, but it's super disappointing.

All the more reason I encourage yall to leave poor reviews on LITG/matchmaker, uninstall the games, and not give FB a penny more.

#litg #fusebox layoffs

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wedreamedlove · 4 years ago

Text

[FIC] tu es mon âme sœur

Rating: T Characters: Li Zeyan/Reader Word Count: 4753

Tags: Established Relationship. Fluff.

A/N: Can you believe it's already been another year? Happy birthday to the 32 year old!

Summary: Every smile, every glance, every breath is known down to the soul. You aren't sure whether you want this prank to succeed or fail, but the result ends up being unforgettable.

You stared at the unfamiliar reflection in the mirror. "This is a bad idea."

"You promised to attend my party," your friend, an old university classmate, reminded you as she sat in front of another dresser mirror beside you, getting finishing touches done on her by a professional makeup artist.

"I promised to attend your pre-wedding party, which I did, not this."

"Don't tell me you're not even the slightest bit curious about if Li Zeyan will fall for it?"

"......"

Much to your shame, she had you there. A little devil on your shoulder whispered that this was going to be a hilarious prank.

Sighing, you carefully propped your chin in your hand and recalled the whole series of events that led you to this moment of waiting for your friend to finish getting ready and join you and the rest of the bridesmaids and high-class escort women in the room.

It all started several months ago when you received a wedding invitation from this classmate. You were delighted to attend as her bridesmaid and, during the process of organizing everything, when she found out you would be in the country in January she decided to hold a pre-wedding party. Unfortunately, the only date that was convenient for everyone was January 12.

To be honest, it cut a little too close to Li Zeyan's birthday, January 13, for your liking but your friend promised to release you and Li Zeyan at the stroke of midnight and, since you and he had decided beforehand to have a low-key celebration this year, you ended up agreeing.

So, you and Li Zeyan attended what you thought would just be a pre-wedding dinner for your friend and her fiancé, except the dinner ended earlier than you expected and then you were dragged away by your friend to her bachelorette party while Li Zeyan had to go with the fiancé to his bachelor party.

That still would have been normal... until you found out that the bachelorette party was to sneak into the bachelor party as "escorts" under the guise of them being a present sent by the bride. In the words of your friend, this would be the last time her fiancé was allowed to freely eye another woman before he became hers.

But your friend thought it would be hilarious if she and the bridesmaids went in undercover with the real escorts. There was no fear of anything outrageous happening as the high-class escorts were only there for conversation and light flirting.

You weren't of the same mind as your friend though. You didn't even need to think for a second as to what Li Zeyan's expression would be once he saw the escorts. However, your friend pointed out how much fun it would be to pull one over Li Zeyan. Then, once he realized his mistake in treating you coldly, he would have to make it up to you.

This was what spurred on the little devil on your shoulder.

"Alright, ladies, are we ready?" Your friend clapped her hands when she finished admiring her disguise and thanked the makeup artist.

You glanced at the mirror again, still a bit startled to see the unfamiliar face that looked back at you. Your eyes were narrower with eyeliner, but they were framed with eyelashes thickened by delicately applied mascara and smoky eyeshadow. Contour brought out your cheekbones and lipstick made it look as if you had a heart-shaped pout. All of this combined with an intricate hairdo that exposed the line of your neck and a cocktail dress lent to you that likely costed 6 figures made you look like one of the women on the arms of the men at the business parties Li Zeyan attended.

As everyone started to head out, your friend reminded, "Don't forget, whoever can last the longest without being recognized will get a prize."

A staff member of the five star restaurant where the bachelor party was being held brought you, the bride, and the rest of the women to the private suite where the men were. The quality of the establishment showed when you couldn't hear any noise from behind the door even though you were just a few steps away.

Your friend gave one last mischievous look to everyone as the staff knocked on the door and received permission to enter.

"Gentlemen, a present from the bachelorette party."

The women streamed in despite the fiancé spluttering and attempting to refuse this service. Each bridesmaid was between two real escorts to reduce their chances of being discovered and you were no different, entering the room as the sixth person.

The first thing you noticed upon walking in was the number of empty wine bottles on the table. It was clear the men had been drinking for a while now and maybe their tipsy state would make it harder for them to recognize you and the bridesmaids.

The second thing you noticed was how everyone's position in the room seemed to be angled towards a certain point. The place where Li Zeyan sat on a sofa.

It was almost as if he was holding court in this room and, even when he sat there in silence and simply swirled the wine glass in his hand with a languid air, his presence drew the eye and commanded everyone's attention. In fact, this was shown when the fiancé—failing to extract himself from two escorts who seated themselves beside him to convince him to let them stay—looked towards Li Zeyan hesitantly.

"CEO Li, um..." He was caught between a rock and a hard place. He didn't want to anger his bride by rejecting her present but he also didn't want to anger Li Zeyan, one of the most powerful and influential men in the business world.

Li Zeyan, who didn't even spare a glance at the women when they came in and had been looking at his wine glass, raised his eyes.

You held your breath and fought against the urge to scoot behind another woman because any movement now would just stand out. Instead, you pasted on a nonchalant look that seemed to work since his eyes swept over you without pause.

Li Zeyan looked back at the fiancé. "Today is for you and your bride."

The fiancé's shoulders slumped with relief at the implied permission before he turned to accept the women and let them mingle with everyone else in the room. Soon, the party was back in full swing with some men and women going off to play billiards in the room, some forming groups to chat, and others still sat around drinking and discussing business.

Before arriving, your friend decided that everyone would first sit beside someone they didn't know to keep from being busted right at the beginning. Then, as the night wore on, people could increase their challenge by seeing how close they could get to someone who knew them.

So, at present, you sat beside a groomsman you were unfamiliar with in one of the chatting groups and maintained light conversation while splitting your attention to observe Li Zeyan's side.

He was discussing business with a smaller group of people, which included the fiancé. Or more like it was the rest of them talking and he would occasionally nod or say something in a few words.

Polite but indifferent.

This was what came to mind as you watched him. You were honest enough to admit to feeling a little jealous and possessive when you saw an escort make a beeline for Li Zeyan; however, he completely ignored her attempts to catch his attention. Rather, as time dragged on, you started to feel sympathetic for her and the sub-zero temperature and atmospheric pressure she must be experiencing.

But then your eyes widened when you saw her lean over, clearly intending to place a hand on Li Zeyan's thigh, to top off his wine glass. His eyes cut over to her the moment she shifted though and you saw the escort flinch back, nearly spilling the bottle. Li Zeyan's lips moved as he said something to her that made her face pale before she quickly got up to leave. Curiosity nibbled at you and you decided to take this opportunity to excuse yourself from your group to cross the room, heading for the empty space beside Li Zeyan.

Your friend caught your eye when you started moving and raised her eyebrows, impressed at the risk you were already taking. She seemed to take your actions as a challenge and also got up to make her way to her fiancé's side.

When you arrived at Li Zeyan's seat, he glanced at you before returning his gaze back to the others in conversation. He looked neither welcoming nor disapproving when you sat down which left you wondering if he recognized you or not. You weren't sure how you felt about that. Disappointed? Relieved?

You listened to the men talk and it was only during a lull in their conversation that Li Zeyan moved his eyes over to you again.

"You're much quieter than the other woman."

Those were his first words to you in your disguise. Did he scare off the previous escort by calling her noisy and showing his displeasure? You amused yourself with these thoughts before replying in a demure voice, "CEO Li seems to appreciate silence."

"Oh?" Interest flickered through his eyes. "What other impression do you have of me?"

You stilled when he subtly turned towards you and the force of his attention landed on you. He was reclined against the back of the sofa, one arm resting on its back while his left hand elegantly held his wine glass. But the relaxed appearance of his body couldn't disperse the cold sharpness in his eyes. It was like he was measuring your reaction and you had never seen Li Zeyan look at you with such impersonal eyes before, as if you were nothing but a trifling amusement.

"Go on, I won't be angry." He seemed to take your lack of response for a fear of reprisal.

You hedged, unsure still if you wanted him to recognize you or not, "... You don't speak much but, when you do, it's direct and to the point, so you seem to value words and efficacy. You're also very knowledgeable about business, but perhaps that's to be expected of the CEO of Huarui."

"Hm."

He didn't confirm or disagree with any of your words. Instead, you could see that he was about to return to conversing with the other men and, for some reason not wanting his attention to leave, you blurted out, "And me?"

Li Zeyan paused and raised an eyebrow.

"What impression do you have of me?"

"You wish to know?" He asked.

"It's only fair after I told you mine, right?"

The weight of his gaze was heavy and you wondered if this was going to be what busted you. Did that sound too much like something you would say? You searched his eyes for any sign of recognition but you couldn't read anything from them.

Suddenly, he raised his glass and tilted his head back, draining all the wine in one go. You watched on as the expanse of his throat was revealed before your eyes, Adam's apple bobbing, before he lowered the empty glass and tilted it in your direction, a silent demand for you to fill it up. Because he drank all the wine at once, remnants of the liquid clung to his mouth and you had to rip your eyes off of those moist lips.

Lowering your head, you grabbed a wine bottle from the table to fill his glass but, just as you started to pour, you heard movement beside you and then a hot breath landed on your ear.

"I find you to be inexplicable."

Your hand jerked and you would have spilled the wine if Li Zeyan hadn't reached out and caught your wrist, seeming to have predicted your reaction. The heat of his palm scorched your skin and you had no idea when he even sat up straight and leaned over to whisper to you.

When you remained frozen in his hold, he finished topping off his own glass before he released you and turned his attention back to the other men, as if nothing had happened. When the others saw that Li Zeyan was finished with you, they enthusiastically engaged him in business talks again.

You didn't know what to feel. Did he do that because he recognized you? But that didn't seem to be the case. If he knew it was you then would he have turned away so quickly? But if he didn't know it was you, then...

You looked at a clock on the wall. There was still an hour to go before midnight.

Conversations ebbed and flowed around you and yet, as you sat there, you were abruptly struck by a sense of loneliness. You couldn't bring yourself to be interested in anything that was being discussed and, even though you were beside Li Zeyan like normal, it couldn't be any more different.

Your mood dropped.

The times you attended business parties with him, no matter how boring the conversation was, you could always find something to do. Sometimes, you would hold onto his hand underneath a table and play with his fingers. Sometimes, he would lean over to supplement what was being talked about or he would tell you what he heard about the people in attendance, knowing you enjoyed those things. He always had a way of partaking in business while being attentive to you.

But that wasn't the case here.

Worse, as you watched Li Zeyan and the men talk, you noticed he would occasionally furrow his brows. It was extremely subtle but, knowing him as you did, you could see the fatigue settling on him. Guilt welled up in you. What began with him accompanying you to your classmate's pre-wedding party ended up with him being separated from you and having to be polite to the bridegroom when he had no relationship with him. Everyone in this room treated him like a benefit they had to win over.

The bride's prank and this whole situation lost all of its appeal for you. You just wanted to head home with Li Zeyan and relax. But you couldn't grab him and drag him out of here without revealing your identity if he didn't recognize you. However, if you revealed your identity then it would ruin your classmate's bachelorette party.

Standing up amidst the turmoil of your emotions, you didn't know what excuse you used before you walked through the suite to the attached balcony that was out of sight of the main room.

The fresh air of the night swept away the smothering atmosphere of the room behind you and you placed your bare forearms on the metal balcony railing, letting the chill seep into your body and shock you into soberness.

You must have gotten lost in your thoughts, staring out at the lights of the city, because the next thing you knew you felt the heavy weight of a jacket being draped on you. Just as you startled, a familiar scent of sandalwood enveloped you and a warm body pressed against your back, wrapping its arm around your waist.

"Idiot, you'll catch a cold if you stand out here like this."

"Idiots don't catch colds," you retorted automatically, only to hear an exasperated sigh.

But then your brain caught up to your mouth and you whirl around in the loose embrace, looking up to see Li Zeyan watching you.

"Zeyan!? Wait, you recognize me?"

"How could I not?"

"When?!"

"From the start," he answered dryly.

"But if you recognized me, then how come you acted like... like that?" You made a vague hand gesture to the room behind him to encompass everything.

His breaths stirred your hair. "You didn't reveal yourself, so I assumed it was some sort of ridiculous game either you or your classmate came up with."

Okay, you couldn't blame him for including you since you did get convinced at the start. What amazed you was how willing he was to play along. But, thinking about it more, maybe it wasn't amazing because his consideration for you always appeared in these small ways.

You burrowed yourself into his chest, hugging him and feeling his arms come up around you in return. "Thank you."

Soaking in his warmth and the sound of his steady heartbeat, you were content to simply enjoy his silent presence. But then a thought occurred to you and you shifted to prop your chin against his chest, looking up at the bottom of his jaw.

"How did you recognize me?"

"I have eyes."

You glared at him and drew back to poke him in the waist, "Not an answer! Give me details."

"Behave," Li Zeyan said lowly as he grabbed your mischievous hand and laced his fingers with yours to prevent you from using it. He sighed underneath your expectant eyes though and answered, "Only you would demand me to answer your questions. Like now."

So you did give yourself away when you asked him for his impression of you. Or more like that confirmed his suspicions.

"Your perfume gave you away as well."

"My perfume?" You echoed, only to remember you had put on a rose fragrance which Li Zeyan had gifted you. "When did you... oh."

You stopped yourself from asking the obvious question of when he smelled your perfume. It was clearly when he asked you to fill up his wine and leaned over to whisper to you. So, he was definitely bullying you there!

As if he saw the beginning of an angry pout on your face, Li Zeyan moved the topic past that. "You were also looking at the clock."

"I only looked once or twice. How did you see that when you weren't paying attention to me?"

He gave you a look you had long ago deciphered to mean that your intelligence was dropping drastically right now in his eyes.

"Okay, okay, nothing escapes your attention. And? What else?"

Li Zeyan raised an eyebrow, amused. "What makes you think there's more?"

"Hmph, just like you know me, I know you too!"

"Dummy, is this something to be that proud of?" Even though his voice was exasperated, there was a shadow of a smile on his lips and his hands were extremely gentle when he raised them to cup your face. His thumbs brushed along your cheekbones, right below your eyes. "And... you're the only one who has these eyes. You look at me as if I'm someone who can tire and get hurt."

"Because you can," you protested quietly.

You didn't know when the distance between you two shrank, but you could feel his breaths on your face and the city lights behind you shone in his eyes, making it look as if someone spilled stars into a grey-blue sea. Unlike before, when you couldn't read anything from him, his eyes seemed to glimmer with tenderness now. You were close enough to see yourself reflected and you knew, with absolute certainty, that in this moment he was seeing nothing but you.

His voice was low. "Also... your eyes are clear. You don't want anything from me."

"Not true," you managed to say through a mouth that had gone dry.

"Oh?"

The darkness may have hid the redness of your cheeks from his eyes, but he probably felt your rising temperature beneath his hands. "I want... a kiss."

You thought you heard a murmured "idiot" carried in a huff of laughter but you couldn't be sure because it was soon drowned out by the sound of a distant bell tower ringing in midnight and your pounding heart when his lips pressed against yours.

The kiss was gentle. Infinitely gentle.

His hands held your face more firmly, angling your head so he could feel you that much deeper with his mouth.

He kissed you again and again.

You were breathless by the time he drew back. He swiped his thumb against your lower lip, a frown momentarily surfacing on his face. "Don't wear so much lipstick next time. It's not good to ingest this amount."

Before you could point out with a laugh that Li Zeyan had some on his lips too, he pulled out a handkerchief from his jacket on you and wiped the thumb he used before scrubbing at your lips. You grabbed his hand, scrunching up your nose at his actions. "Hurts."

He stopped immediately at your words but, after seeing the playful look in your eyes, he rolled his eyes. However, he still bent down and kissed you.

When he drew back, you grabbed the handkerchief from him and wiped his lips for him. He startled at first but quickly realized what you were doing and kept his head lowered to let you reach him easier. You heard the distant sound of the bell tower again as you did this and, this time, you had enough presence of mind to realize what it meant.

"Happy birthday, Zeyan!"

"Mm."

Li Zeyan caught you as you dove into his chest again to hug him. The earlier gloom you had been feeling at the party was completely gone now and you were just filled with contentment in this moment. But the thought of the party suddenly reminded you of something.

"Ah!"

"What is it now?" He asked, exasperated.

"It's midnight, meaning we can go home!"

There didn't seem to be a change in his mood or tone at your words. Instead, he asked, "Is that what you want to do?"

You nodded in reply. Your classmate had more than enough fun tonight and she already promised you beforehand to let you and Li Zeyan go at midnight, so you didn't feel like staying here any longer.

His arms tensed around you for a minute, as if reluctant to release you, before he nodded and escorted you back into the room.

Li Zeyan kept you on his arm when the two of you returned, disregarding everyone's astonished eyes, and walked directly over to the bridegroom to give his congratulations and farewells. You exchanged looks with your classmate, who was beside her fiancé, to let her know you were going now. However, just as you and Li Zeyan were prepared to leave, the fiancé stopped you both.

"CEO Li, wait! I-I'm afraid you can't go just y-yet..." the bridegroom repeatedly threw glances at you and stuttered as Li Zeyan's eyes grew colder, "I-I should let my fiancée know you're leaving early. S-she would want to thank you for your attendance..."

The man hemmed and hawed and, for a second, you were utterly confused as to why he was insistent on stopping Li Zeyan from leaving until you realized he was under the impression that Li Zeyan was heading home with an escort woman.

Li Zeyan seemed to realize this at the same time you did and his eyes warmed a fraction at the courage and decency of the other man. "CEO Kang, rest assured, I am leaving with the right woman. In regard to your business proposal, you can submit it to Huarui's relevant departments and I will consider it. However, I would recommend you get your eyes examined if you cannot even recognize your own bride beside you."

Before the bridegroom could react with anything more than a stunned silence, Li Zeyan left the room with you.

You were still laughing when you and Li Zeyan were outside the restaurant, waiting for the parking valet to bring his car around. There was a soft smile on the corner of his lips as he watched you laugh against him.

"Was it that funny?"

Your intermittent giggles were his answer but then you asked, "Do I really look different?"

Li Zeyan accepted his keys from the valet, when they arrived, and unlocked the doors to his car before he glanced at you. "No."

"Not even a little prettier?" Now you just felt bad for the professional makeup artist who spent so long on your disguise.

He withdrew his arm out of your hand to pull open and hold the door for you. "I prefer you to look and wear whatever makes you most comfortable."

Inwardly, you blessed the night again for hiding the faint heat on your cheeks. You were just about to get into the car when a thought occurred and you glanced up at him, lips twitching. "I just had this thought, but what if a reporter gets a picture of you taking home an unknown woman? What a scandal."

Li Zeyan leaned down, supporting himself with a hand on the roof of the car while the other continued to hold the door, trapping you between him and the car. His voice was filled with arrogance, "Who dares?"

"Okay, okay, Big Bad CEO, take me home," you giggled and pecked him on the lips before getting into the car.

You were dragged out of your sleep the next morning by your phone vibrating like crazy on the side table. Squirming around the bare arm draped loosely across your waist, you blindly reached out and felt around the table before finally grabbing a hold of your phone and bringing it to your bleary eyes.

The culprit that was blowing up your phone was a group chat. You tapped in and saw there were messages of some friends trying to comfort you, some vowing to avenge you, some insulting Li Zeyan, and some calling for everyone to remain calm and not jump to conclusions.

You stared, bemused, until you finally tapped out a question.

"?"

There was a pause in the scrolling chat before it exploded even more violently. Finally, someone had the mind to link an article to you, all the while urging you to keep calm and stating there must be a reasonable explanation behind this.

You opened the article, read the headline, and looked at the picture.

Then you laughed. Hard.

The arm around your waist pulled you back into a bare chest and Li Zeyan kissed your ear lazily. His husky voice rumbled against your back, "What are you so noisy for in the morning?"

Still shaking with your laughs, you turned around and splayed your hand on his chest, widening your eyes for exaggeration. "Tsk, CEO Li, you sure have some guts to have a dalliance outside and then come home at night to climb into our bed."

The beat of his heart remained steady underneath your hand and his body was relaxed, but you could see the beginnings of a confused furrow appearing between his brows and so you handed him your phone.

His eyes, which had been soft with drowsiness, sharpened as he took in the article that was displayed. The stony look on his face only increased as he backed out of that page and saw the messages in your group chat. Even the pressure around him seemed to drop by two degrees. Finally, he opened your contacts and dialed his assistant, Wei Qian.

"Hello?" Wei Qian clearly sounded confused to receive a call from you in the morning.

"Wei Qian," you heard Wei Qian snap to attention upon hearing his boss' low and deadly voice, "I expect the PR and Legal Department to deal with everything before I arrive at the office today."

He ended the call like that and returned your phone to you before pinching the bridge of his nose. You put your phone back on the side table and laughed some more until he pulled you on top of him and squeezed you against him.

"Think that's funny, do you?" He growled before giving you a punishing kiss.

"Who was it who said no one would dare write a scandal about you?" You breathlessly reminded him after he released you.

Li Zeyan exhaled long and hard before he shifted you off of him and sat up. "I'll see you at Souvenir tonight."

Despite his grumpy words and mood, he kissed you lightly on the lips, lingering, and then got out of bed to head to the bathroom to get ready. You flopped back onto the pillows and sheets that smelled of him and snickered at the memory of the article that had mistaken you last night as another woman that Li Zeyan was having an affair with.

#love and producer #mr love queen's choice #mlqc #mlqc li zeyan #mlqc victor #mlqc fanfic

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gunsatthaphan · 3 years ago

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I was tagged by the lovely @atotsphutian thank you love 🥺💜 for some reason I did get a notif for this one even though I’m currently not getting any tag notifs...

I think I did this like a year ago lol but I’m not sure. either way I love tags so here we go 💜

1. why did you choose your url? simple story - I love Gun and @/gunatthaphan was taken 🙈 lol

2. any sideblogs? if you have them name them and why you have them. yes! @poddkhao 💜 bc I love poddkhao lol but I’m way too inactive atm...

3. how long have you been on tumblr? I started my very first blog back in 2013 and I started this one in late 2019 I think.

4. do you have a queue tag? nope, I don’t queue. I schedule 💅🏻

5. why did you start your blog in the first place? I started my first blog because of Glee lmao and bc tumblr was like a fancy new trend back then haha. I deleted my old one and started this one because my interests started to shift and I ultimately wanted a blog solely dedicated to the dramas I watch.

6. why did you choose your icon/pfp? because Khao is one of my favorite humans ever and I love him so much 🥺

7. why did you choose your header? tonchon still have my entire heart and I wanted to make one dedicated to them. I had a few different ones in the past but ultimately went with this one bc I love it 💜

8. what‘s your post with the most notes? no idea honestly 😅

9. how many mutuals do you have? oof I don’t know... I don’t think there’s a way to find out? But I love them all 💜 Also tumblr keeps randomly following, unfollowing and blocking people I found out so the number probably changes a lot 😔

10. how many followers do you have? 🤔

11. how many people do you follow? 337

12. have you ever made a shitpost? I don’t really know what counts as a shitpost LOL but considering that I have to think about it.... probably not 😂

13. how often do you use tumblr each day? I’m online 24/7 lol but I’m active about 3-4 hrs each day I would say, depending on work and whether or not there’s something to scream about lmao.

14. did you have a fight/argument with another blog once? not on this blog but maybe back when I had my old blog. Probably with someone from the SH fandom cuz these ppl were wild djhakd no offense.

15. how do you feel about ‘you need to reblog this‘ posts? hm. I don’t think I ever got one of those..?

16. do you like tag games? YESSS they’re my favorite thing ever 🙈 But as I said queen tumblr is currently not giving me any notifications when someone tags me and made an exception for this one for some reason 🤷🏼‍♀️ But yes omg if you’re thinking about tagging me please send me a dm or an ask so I know 🥺🥺

17. do you like ask games? I do!! Though I don’t think I ever got any sjkfhd rip

18. which of your mutuals do you think is tumblr famous? I have no idea what counts as tumblr famous lol but *cue sappy music* all of my mutuals are famous to me 🥺 hjgkj

19. do you have a crush on a mutual? I’m deeply in love with every single one even though I don’t talk to all of them a lot bc I have social anxiety jdksfh forgive me but I love you all so much 😭🥺😩💜

20. tags? Of course only if you want to and have not been tagged already!!

@emisfritish @teh-ohaew @earthmixs @dollopheadsandclotpoles @ahysopae @german-bl-kpop-lover @zeejade88 @tobeornottotc @offspring-of-calliope @earthmixs @omarandjohnny @tardisbluedream @maddiesup @dangerous-button @fiat-pattadon @bl-recs-and-reviews @zaintseeme @itoldsunset @tehohaew @billkinspp @morksuns @nubsib-gene @metawin and everyone who wants to 💜

xxx

#tag game #thanks for tagging me!#<333333 #love these!#cant wait to read everyone else's!!!#💜#about me

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stealtharchaeologist · 2 years ago

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I didn't end up finishing applying for disability, but I spoke with a disability rights lawyer in the process and he said that something like 80% of applications are denied completely arbitrarily, SPECIFICALLY BECAUSE most people give up when they're first denied because they don't have the knowledge or resources or the fucking spoons to go through the appeals process! They are ABSOLUTELY weeding people out and it's sick.

The marriage thing is insanely unfair for so many reasons. When you're on disability, depending on your state, you may be limited to having total assets of less than $2,000 at any given time. With that $2,000 monthly you're expected to pay for rent and groceries and bills and transportation and mobility aids and to cover any healthcare costs not covered by your meager health insurance. Live in an expensive area? Fuck you. Need an expensive medication or wheelchair repair? Go fuck yourself! Want to save to retire someday? Lol you're working for the rest of your life, bitch, no matter how sick you get. God forbid you have some sort of emergency!

They'll pay for you to have a personal care attendant for forty hours a week (if you qualify, of course!), but fuck you if you need help for more hours than that! So you better make sure you spread out those 40 hours throughout the week very carefully so you can get everything done to, you know, live. Good luck finding qualified people willing to work two hour shifts twice a day for near minimum wage. Even if you can find attendants, good luck keeping them for more than a couple months on near minimum wage. Oh, and since they're technically government employees, they have to go through lots of paperwork and background checks, disqualifying anyone with a criminal history or undocumented folks. Again for difficult, skilled labor in weird shifts for menial pay.

My boss pays out of pocket to increase pay for her attendants to $13-$15/hr, which is the most she can afford, but that's absolute shit pay here in Austin, TX; no one can live on that, but it's better than the $9.25 that Medicare/Medicaid pays. And remember, she's limited to $2,000/mo in income and she has to pay that extra $4-6 an hour, 40 hours a week, to get anyone to work for her! Out of the $2,000 that must also cover rent and food and bills and healthcare and transportation!

You know what would solve a lot of these problems? Having a roommate or a partner to share costs with, to have around to do things like help you get out of bed and go to the bathroom and make food... But guess what - even getting a roommate puts you at risk of losing benefits! Because according to the state, if you're splitting costs and have someone at home to help take care of you, then you don't need disability benefits! Including the health insurance! Gooo fuck yourself!

So yes, marriage is completely out of the question.

Oh, and apropos of nothing, my boss's wheelchair costs literally more than my car did brand new, and she frequently has to pay for repairs out of pocket, along with customizations that are literally necessary for her to function but that the state decided... weren't.

The system is absolute fucking trash and makes me so mad I could cry sometimes.

fucking hate the "well it's not technically marriage inequality that disabled people can't get married without losing their benefits because no one's stopping you from getting married" yeah something is stopping us from getting married. Loss of medical care. Homelessness. Hunger. Death. I don't know how to tell you this but SSI is not a thing that you get because you could technically get a job but you don't feel like it. The process is awful, it's dehumanizing and it can take years even if you're clearly disabled. If you can work you do work, and if you can't work you can't afford to lose your "benefits". It's eugenics plain and simple, it came from a time where you could only fuck if you were married and they wanted to de-incentivize disabled people from fucking so we would stop existing.

#disability #ableism #marriage equality #chronic illness #chronic pain #Texas #America #work #money

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multicouple-lover · 3 years ago

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Stellarideeee

Back story of the whole story and what happened in the past so y'all aren't confused when Stella was a child her dad wanted to keep up the perfect family image and he let his CEO friends do stuff to her and if she refused or stuff he would beat her and he would beat if her was really mad so when she was 16 she left and well got into drugs and all with grant. No one in the firehouse knows about her dad not even Severide. Her mom died when she was 13 too she has 2 older brothers who have abandoned her to

So it was shift today so they got up got ready for shift like normal just as they got in the car Stella got a text from Adam Ruzek saying she needed to come into the station it was about her dad she automatically started having a panic attack Severide quickly caught on and started calming her down and asking what was wrong he saw the text and was confused she then said I'll explain everything later let's get to shift he was worried she looked scared but he didn't want to irritate her so he just drove them to shift while on the way she asked if she could come in tomorrow around lunch time Ruzek responded with yeah that's fine.

24 hour later shift ended

So after they got back from shift which was around 6 they went straight to bed they fell asleep her head on his chest his arms around her and around 7:30 she shot up panting and crying waking Severide up in the process he hugged and said she was ok and safe she soon calmed down after he kept kept telling she was fine and hugging her. He then said ok want to go back to sleep she nodded and cuddled back up to his chest and fell asleep only to have an another nightmare an hr. later this time and Stella calmed down they went and made breakfast and Stella told Kelly the whole story of her childhood and dad Kelly was ready to kill the man after he heard everything that he did to Stella but he pushed that aside and was comforting Stella because she was crying and in between sniffles she said she was meeting Adam and asked Kelly to come with her he said yes and hoped her dad wouldn't be there because he knew if he saw him it wouldn't be good because how could you do something like that to Stella she is pretty kind outgoing funny and so strong how could you hurt her he kept thinking he then said why don't we go sit on the couch cuddle and watch movies till it's time to go she said ok so they watched movies and cuddled till it was time for them to get ready when they got there Adam greeted them and explained that her dad Peter Kidd was in town and looking to kidnap Stella he then asked her if she keeps in contact with her brothers she said no I haven't seen or talked to them since I was 15 Adam said ok because rumor has it he's looking for them to so we are going to have guards outside y'all apartment just to be safe they both said ok and left when they got in the car Stella started to apologize for getting him getting caught up in her family drama Kelly interpreted her before she could say anything else by saying Stella it's not your fault and I would get up caught up in all the drama in the world if it meant I got to be with you ok she said ok very softly want to go home order pizza watch the Blackhawks and cuddle on the couch she smiled for the first time since yesterday and said yes they went home and ordered pizza watched the Blackhawks and cuddled around 12:00 the game went off and he looked down and saw Stella asleep cuddled into his chest she then started moving and saying no don't touch me just as Kelly was about to wake her she shot up and started crying Kelly stood up and held out his hand for her to grab time she did he pulled her up and into a hug she slowly stopped crying when he saw that she stopped he said how bout we go to bed she nodded they headed to the bedroom got changed Kelly was already in bed when Stella got in bed she went and cuddled up to Kelly's chest and fell sound asleep only waking up once in the night.

The next day

They woke up a few minutes before the alarm so they just talked and cuddled then the alarm went off so Kelly shut it off and went to make breakfast then Stella got up and brushed her teeth then went to the kitchen and sat down and was watching Kelly cook then there was a knock at the door she got scared and Kelly saw so he went to get the door with a knife in his hand and when he opened the door to find her Stella father just as he was about to the close the door and call the cops her dad said tell my little girl she will be coming home soon Kelly closed the door to find Stella shaking and ready to break and he hated it she looked so vulnerable and fragile at the moment not the spunky kind funny girl he always knew her to be he went over to her and just hugged her without saying anything and she just broke down like never before they sat for little while then she finally calmed down and they went and got dressed for work and went in they went and told the truth to the chief and he told both of them to take time off till her dad is arrested they both agreed and left they went home and had no trouble for the next 3 days then one morning they were woke up by someone banging on the door Kelly grabbed the gun Jay had given for protection he went and time he did he had a gun shoved in his face so he shot the gun in his hand and and hit the random dude in the stomach by this time the cops were there and disarmed the others and stellas dad just so happened to be one of them he went back in the house to find Stella in shock and scared he went over to her and just hugged her as she broke down he just held her and whispered she was safe and as long he was living no one would hurt her if he could help it she stopped crying after a little bit she looked into his blue eyes and knew he mean it and felt safe for the first time in a long time.

The End

#chicago fire #stellaride #stellaride fic #stella kidd #kelly severide

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daintyvalley · 3 years ago

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🍄tuesday, 26 october 2021🍄

breakfast:

1 20 mg prozac (0 cal)

1 18 mg concerta (1 cal)

numi jasmine green tea (0 cal)

5 drops sweetleaf liquid stevia (0 cal)

lunch:

lemona brand vitamin c lemon jelly pouch (5 cal)

guayaki yerba mate enlighten mint (120 cals)

dinner:

none

snack(s):

3 zergut brand russian style pickles (5 cals)

total calories: 131 cals/395 daily limit

exercise: i did 12 minutes of vinyasa flow when i woke up, so I burned 124 calories before i started my day. might do some tonight, will update!

water: add later

thoughts?: i haven’t been posting because i’ve been having horrible physical health, i got a spinal injury and got diagnosed with scoliosis and an autoimmune disorder in the same day. i am constantly in pain and shaking. i had to take steroids for my pain that unfortunately had to be taken with food, and a side effect of the steroids is weight gain, so i went from 144 to 157 lbs in like four months :(. obviously not a horrible gain, only 13 pounds, but i cried on the scale at the doctor’s office lol. i have been doing yoga most days though! i redid the calculator on pigly with my new weight, and i put lose 15 pounds in a month (i’d be at 142 lbs) at the light exercise which is 1-3 hrs/week and it gave me 395 calories. i really need to stick to this! i should be going back to my job within the next two weeks which would mean consistent activity and around 6-8 hours of not eating. plus i work at whole foods, and the only department that would let me sit for the majority of my shift is the meat department so maybe staring at raw meat all day will make me not want to eat? who knows!

cw: 157 lbs / 71 kilos / 11 stone

new gw #1: 142 lbs / 64 kilos / 10 stone

#k speaks #mine #anamia #tw: ed #anorexik #food log #food tw #low cal ed #tw ed mention #low cal ana #anorekcia #proana #pro ana #not pro just using tags

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drethanramslay · 5 years ago

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Late nights, Date nights

Pairing: Ethan x MC (Leah Garcia)

Word count: 4.1 K words

Warning: There is fluff and humour in the beginning and smut towards the end. If you are not comfortable reading it, I have distinguished is with asterisks (*)

Taglist: @miyakokurono @trappedinfandoms @openheart12 @sekizincimektup @junggoku @ethandaddyramsey @edith-eggs1 @ethanramseysgirl (let me know if you want to be added or removed from the tag list 😊)

Songs: Eyes off you by Prettymuch and Unbelievable by Why Don't We

Forgive me if there are any mistakes.

Ethan was pacing around in his office, marching so hard, that it left tracks in the carpet of his office.

C'mon Ethan, Leah is your fucking girlfriend. You can eat her out but, can't ask her out on a simple fucking date??!!

It was their six month anniversary, after months and months of pining over each other. When he thought about it now, he wondered why was he so against the concept? He thought that he was doing the right thing by not giving in, but in the end, he just ended up hurting himself and his Leah.

Leah... His sunshine.

The concept of nicknames never really appeased him. It was such a ‘teenager’ thing to do. When he was with Harper, the word 'babe' made him cringe so hard that it made him want to throw himself off the railing of the mezzanine floor of the hospital.

But with Leah, it was different. She breathed back life into the parts of his soul, which he thought were long dead. She constantly challenged him, pushed him to be a better doctor, a better friend and a better partner. She brought light, to the valleys of abyss and grief. Just like nothing can escape light, Ethan could not escape Leah's affection.

And he didn't want to run anymore..

He had never felt these intense emotions in a very long time. His mother leaving him at a tender age of eleven, made him grow up way to soon. It fucked him up. It made him close up and build walls to protect his heart from such earth shattering pain. It made him distant and cold.

But now he laughed more. Smiled more. And he knew that Leah was the one who saved him.

His salvation. His saving grace. His sunshine.

He decided enough was enough. He spoke to HR and Naveen and they gave them the green light. Leah had already made a great reputation in the hospital for her work ethic, her passion and her compassion. So why waste anymore time?

Ethan was so lost in thought that he didn't even notice Leah come in. "Woah woah Ethan. Are you trying to wear the carpet thin? You just got this office?!" Ethan looked up and saw Leah leaning against the door, with a smile. She was wearing a green blouse with a black pencil skirt. Ethan approved mentally.

"Hey sunshine."

"Hey yourself." She said as she closed the door and stepped into Ethan's embrace. He buried his face into her hair, and inhaled the lavender scent, which immediately soothed him. To him, she smelled like spring. She was perfect.

God, could you be any more sappier Ethan? Be a man.

But he knew, that if Leah even looked his way, he would be down on his knees.

"How was your day?" Ethan asked as he kissed her crown.

"It was so productive. I saved a nine year old girl today. Seeing her parents happy... It was beautiful."

"Well, I never doubted you once." He said with a tender smile, cupping her cheeks. "Also, do you have plans for tonight?"

"Yeahhhh, today is just an ordinary day, with no anniversary whatsoever. I was planning on going home and binging on greys-"

"Sunshine, don't talk shit."

"Hey, but you still love me."

"That I do... Anyways I have made a reservation in 'Osteria' tonight to celebrate our anniversary."

"E, you know that I wouldn't mind staying in bed and drinking cheap wine right?"

"I know, but I want to spoil my baby!! Be ready, I will pick you up by seven."

"I will be ready."

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Ethan rolled up to Leah's penthouse and send her a message. He had donned his black tux but had skipped the tie. He unbuttoned the top buttons of his crisp white shirt. He was going to call her again, when he heard a tap on the window. He looked up and the phone almost fell out of his hands.

Leah stood in front of him, wearing a black evening gown. It was an off shoulder, which showed her collarbones. She was also wearing the ruby stone necklace, her birthstone, which Ethan had gifted her on her birthday. Her jet black hair had been tied up to a messy side bun, a few rebellious strands blowing in the night wind. He steeped out to open the door for her when he almost tripped at the sight.

The dress had a slit which almost went up to her thighs, putting those glorious bronze legs on display.

God, she was gonna be the death of me.

"Wow. You look gorgeous Dr. Garcia."

She blushed red. "You don't look so bad yourself Dr. Ramsey." He pecked her on her lips.

"Shall we?" He opened the door for Leah, like a true gentleman.

"Yes, we shall." Leah giggled and stepped in. Ethan walked around and sat in the driver's seat, and they pulled out of the curb.

The entire ride was filled with jokes, heated gazes and silent promises. Ethan had placed his hand on her bare thigh, slowly caressing it. Leah knew that it was risky to wear such a gown, but she took the chance anyway. And now here she was, slowly going crazy with Ethan's hand on her thigh.

She wanted to devour him. He looked delectable and so very handsome in a tux. The open buttons, gave her a peak of his collarbones and she literally salivated. Collarbones have always been her weakness.

Soon, they showed up at the restaurant. After handing of the keys to the valet, and borderline threatening him that if there was even one scratch, he would have a nice chat with the manager, they headed towards the restaurant.

"God Ethan, you are such a Karen." Leah giggled.

"I maybe old, but I got that reference!! And no, I am not. I am particular."

"Whatever floats your boat babe." She linked her hands in his and they headed towards the hostess.

"Welcome sir and ma'am. Do you have a reservation?" The hostess asked.

"Yeah... Please check under the name Ramsey."

The hostess checked the log book for a long time. Ethan started sweating. What was taking her so long?

"I am afraid but, there is no reservation under that name sir." The hostess replied timidly, after Ethan's cool eyes landed on her.

"Are you sure?" He asked.

"Hundred percent sir."

"But it does not make sense...I called two months before to get a reservation... Do you have any empty tables?" Ethan said, pinched the bridge of his nose, slowly getting frustrated.

"Sorry sir but... All the tables are occupied."

Goddammit Ethan!! You had one fucking job.

He led Leah back to the valet and ran a hand through his hair. "I am so sorry sunshine. I just wanted this evening to go perfect and I had to go fu-"

Leah put a finger on his lips. "No. You haven't fucked anything up. It's the gestures that counts. Also, the night is young."

"But you heard the hostess-"

"Well, I have some ideas on how we can spend our anniversary." Ethan just gave her a quizzical look. She took the car keys from the valet and turned towards Ethan and winked. "Get in the car Ramsey. Get ready for the best night of your life."

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

"So your 'best night' includes shopping at Target??" Ethan asked amusement sparkling in his ocean blue eyes.

"Shut up. Where we are going, we need a little more casual clothing."

"But I like your gown. It helps me slip my hand-"

"Shh Ethan!! We are in public. Keep it PG 13 for now." Leah said, as she blushed red. Ethan just laughed, enjoying teasing her.

Leah proceeded to pay for the clothes and pushed Ethan into the changing room with his set of clothes. Ethan simply obliged because by the look of the determined glint in her eyes, he didn't want to be trampled by a woman on a mission.

The dark jeans fit him perfectly and the grey V-neck fit him snugly. He was wearing his slip ons when Leah came out of the dressing room, smoothening her outfit.

She was wearing a black tank top which she tucked into a baby pink skater skirt. On top of the tank top, she had slipped on a denim jacket. "How do I look babe?" She asked as she observed herself in the mirror.

"You know that even if you wore a potato sack, you would still be the prettiest woman I have ever laid my eyes on, right?" Ethan said earnestly.

She gave a soft smile and kissed his bearded cheek. She plopped down next to him and slipped on her white converse hightops.

"Seriously sunshine? Converse again? You literally have so many at home."

"Well I don't have this style. And you know what they say, 'once a converse girls, always a converse girl'." She said as she brushed him off.

"Sunshine.... literally no one says that."

"It's all in the details, E. C'mon let's go."

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After a half an hour drive, Leah pulled into the make shift parking lot near the docks. They got out and Ethan let out an appreciative whistle. "Wow."

Leah had brought them to the annual fair, where there were tonnes of food stalls and gaming places. The entire place had been decorated with LED lights that were illuminating the Boston night sky. The Ferris wheel stood tall and proud, moving at a gentle pace. The place was littered with a number of game stalls like 'shoot the bottle' and 'ring toss' where people competed to get a prize. Fairy lights hung from the trees around there and a number of people were sitting under them, laughing, eating and drinking cheap beer.

On the other end there were a number of food stalls open, which were being catered by the numerous food joints in the city. The crowd near the ice cream vendors and the cotton candy vendors were unreal.

"Oh. My. God. Ethan they have go karting as well!!" Leah exclaimed grabbing Ethan's arm and pointing towards the make shift track. The karts had designs in various neon colors and the entire track had been painted with glow in the dark paint.

Leah continued to point at the different places and stalls, talking excitedly, but Ethan's eyes stayed glued to Leah's face with a small smile. The child like wonder in her brown eyes made Ethan melt. Her voluminous dark hair blew with the wind, caressing Ethan's face. The way the neon lights reflected on her caramel skin, the way there was an pearly smile on her face and the way she clutched Ethan's arm made his heart do somersaults.

"Are you even paying attention?" Leah asked, breaking Ethan from his reverie.

"Sorry, I didn't get the last part. Was blow away by how beautiful the view is."

Leah rolled her eyes and smacked Ethan's arm. But there was a small smile on her face.

"Let's go to the go karting place."

"Oh yes. Can't wait to see you behind in the dust." Ethan said with a teasing smile.

"Oh honey. I can't wait to see your face after I defeat you. If you think I am going to go easy on you just because I love you, you are very very wrong." Leah said with a coy smile.

"Oh you are so on. Winner can ask the loser anything and buys snacks."

"Let's do this." Leah said as she cracked her knuckles.

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"So...what do I ask you?" Leah questioned herself, with her fingers tapping against her chin. She had won hands down. She got a tacky medal which she decided to wear for the rest of the evening. She just continued to wear a smug smile on her face, so that she could annoy Ethan.

"Please, just get it over with." Ethan groaned as he munched on the caramel popcorn.

"Hmmm.... Which is your favourite place to kiss me?"

"Hmmm..that's a tough question.. see, my favourite place is your pussy but I think your neck would be my favourite place to kiss." Ethan mused.

"Why?" Leah asked as she took a bite of bite of the cotton candy, letting it dissolve on her tongue.

"There are three reasons- One, the moment I kiss your neck, you have that wanton and 'fuck me' expression which drives me crazy. Secondly, the moans you let out are....oh Lord. Just thinking about them gives me a bad case of blue balls. And lastly, you become so wet and ready for me... It makes the experience much more memorable." He said nonchalantly as he continued to munch on the popcorn, seeing Leah's reaction from the corner of his eyes.

Leah was blushing wildly. Ethan may come across as a gentleman but his dirty talk made her knees weak like jello. He could speak things that would make a priest blush. "That's not true." Leah weakly objected as she stuffed her face with cotton candy.

"Oh really? So if I do this.." Ethan reached to place a hot, wet kiss on the spot below her ear. Leah's mouth opened slightly at the intense feeling. Her body flushed wildly. Her toes curled as Ethan continued to lick and suck. She felt herself getting wetter and wetter when his teeth sank into the tender spot on her neck. After what seemed like eternity, he pecked it and moved back to admire his handiwork. "....it won't do anything?" He asked in a husky voice.

Leah didn't dare to look at him because she knew that if she would, her face would betray everything. Also she didn't want to see the shit eating grin on his face.

"Shut up." Leah grumbled as she tore and ate her cotton candy more aggressively.

"But I didn't say anything!"

"I know what you are thinking so shush."

Ethan laughed a deep laugh, his dimples on display as he wrapped his hand around her waist. "It's okay sunshine. You can tie me up and have your way later." He said as he kissed her crown.

"Oh look, there is a shooting booth." Leah said, changing the topic before her mind could go into full fantasy mood of Ethan being below her, moaning her name as she rode him six ways to Sunday.

They reached the stall which was decorated in a western country style. "Howdy! Wanna shoot somethings?"

"I'm a healer but.." Leah picked up the shotgun and loaded it while Ethan rolled his eyes. He will never understand her obsession with anime.

"Shoot all the balloons on that board and then you can choose what prize you want." The guy with the handlebar moustache said.

With quick precision, she shot all the balloons in a matter of seconds. She then twirled the gun around her finger and blew the smoke away. "And that's, how you do it in the wild wild west." She said in a smoldering voice.

Ethan and the gamekeeper had their jaws on the floor.

Could she get any more attractive? Ethan asked himself.

"Damn girl.." the old guy with the funny moustache spoke.

Leah gave out a short laugh. "If you don't mind, can I get those rose tinted glasses?" She pointed to a pair of cat eye sunglasses.

"Sure girlie."

After wearing them she grabbed Ethan and walked hand in hand towards the next booth. "Sunshine, what is the point of these glasses if they can't even cover your eyes?"

"These are stylish and I can wear them when I am going out."

"I don't think I can ever understand your sense of fashion."

"Uh duh!! You guys can't even distinguish between 'peacock blue' and 'turquoise' colour."

"Is there even a difference between them?" Ethan asked incredulously.

"A fine example right here."

Ethan lightly shoved her but Leah just held onto their intertwined fingers. She pulled him to her, went on the tip of her toes and kissed him. Ethan cupped her cheek and kissed her slowly and tenderly. The sounds of people talking, the mainstream pop music playing through speakers, everything disappeared as they kissed each other under the neon lights.

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"Oh god...I am so full!" Leah groaned she leaned back on her hands. They were sitting under a secluded tree, with golden fairy lights hanging off them.

"Sunshine, I think you will have to roll me out of here." Ethan groaned as his hands caressed her bare thighs, which she had thrown over his lap. He picked up their popsicle sticks, and threw them in a perfect arc, into the nearby dustbin.

"I can't roll out a 6 feet something skyscraper on my own. I would die."

"Sucks to be short." Ethan stuck his tongue out.

"Hey your tongue is blue!!" Leah exclaimed.

"And your is red from the strawberry flavour." He observed.

"Wanna make purple?" Leah asked slyly, waggling her eyebrows.

Ethan guffawed at the expression and soon she also joined in his laughter. She clutched her stomach. "Oww....shouldn't try to laugh too much. Gosh, I shouldn't have taken that second helping of Quesadillas."

"C'mon let's take you home." Ethan stood up and grabbed Leah's hand so that he could pull her up to stand. She dusted her skirt and then intertwined their fingers. She leaned against him, as they headed towards the exit.

"Sunshine?"

"Hmm?"

"I had a lot of fun today. Thank you."

"You can thank me in different ways later." Leah said, as her brown eyes darked with desire.

Ethan just smirked and squeezed her to his side.

"That's a promise baby."

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The moment they entered Ethan's penthouse, Ethan pressed Leah against the door. Leah's let out a sharp breath and she looked up at the stormy blue eyes. She could see the desire and the lust swimming in those blues of his and she could also feel the desire in her, ignite like a slow fire.

Ethan cupped her cheek and pulled her in for a heated kiss. She went on her tiptoes to meet him half way. With their lips locked in a passionate embrace, she still felt that he was too far away. So, she hooked her fingers on the belt loops and tugged him closer to her.

Getting the memo, he moved closer until they was no space between them except their clothes. Ethan reached to take her jacket off, which he threw across the room. The need to get her naked, writhing and moaning under him, was becoming overwhelming.

She took out Ethan's shirt and moaned when she felt his warm skin on hers. She wrapped her arm around his neck while she laid her other hand on his bare chest. Her dainty fingers seemed to have a mind of their own. They caressed his chest, his back, his abs and were about to go lower, to his happy trail when he growled and caught them.

He grabbed her thighs and lifted her so that her legs were around his waist. He took her hands and pinned them against the door. The kiss was a fight for dominance, where nobody seemed to be a clear winner. Leah slipped her tongue into his mouth and he groaned appreciatively.

He tastes like ambrosia, sweet nectar and all the good things in life. Leah knew that she could never ever get over the way he tasted.

Ethan lifted her with ease and led her to the first surface he found, the dining table. He moved his hands under her tank top and groaned when he found out she wasn't wearing a bra.

"God Leah, you know how much control it takes to be around you? That when you pull such stunts on me, I just want to bend you over and fuck you on the first surface I find?"

"So what's stopping you?" Leah asked. She pulled him in for another searing kiss.

"After I am done with you...you won't be able to walk for a week." He spoke in a husky voice, filled with need. He took of her tank top and growled appreciatively at the sight of her breasts.

Leah smiled coyly. "Don't make promises you can't keep Ramsey." Ethan just narrowed his eyes and kissed her with so much force, that it made her gasp. His hands reached for her ass and squeezed it.

He then descended on her neck kissing and licking the small droplets of sweat accumulated on her neck. He slowly grinding against her heat, making her aware of how badly he needed her. His hands went from her ass to her breasts. He massaged it before pinching the nipples. Leah yelped. Ethan did not once show her mercy, as he stimulated each sensitive spot on her body. Leah felt as if her nerves were on fire.

He slowly made his way down south, leaving fiery hot kisses on her body. Not having any patience left, he just lifted her skirt up and quickly slid her panties out. Seeing her exposed pussy just made his jeans tighter around his growing erection. He blew air on her wet cunt, leaving goosebumps on their wake. "What are you doing?" Leah asked breathlessly. She was finding it hard to keep her eyes open due to the desire coursing through her veins.

"What we do on a table Sunshine.... Eat." His dark blue eyes met her brown ones and he licked her dripping slit, slowly. Leah thought she was going to loose it at that very instant.

He gripped her thighs and threw them over his broad shoulders and proceeded to eat her out, properly . He swirled his tongue on the sensitive bud of nerves and then went on to stick his tongue into her wet pussy.

He let out a moan, which resonated deep in her core.

He never once slowed his pace. He continued to lap up all the moisture. He alternated between her clit and her cunt. As he pushed his fingers in her, and fucked her, Leah climbed higher and higher. Her stomach started to tighten, with the need to release.

"Oh god...I am gonna come..."

Ethan stopped his hand movements and rose to his full height. Leah's eyes snapped open and she glared at him.

"Fuck you Ethan!! Who the hell gave you the fucking righ- ohhhh."

He shoved his dick slowly into her, enjoying the way her walls clenched around him. They fit each other perfectly. Like two jigsaw puzzles. You couldn't differentiate, where he ended and where she started.

This..this was heaven.

He slowly moved, in and out. But Leah wasn't having it.

"Ethan, I want you to fuck me."

"Are you sure you can handle it sunshine?"

"I ain't no weak bit-" Leah couldn't complete her sentence because at that moment he snapped his hips and started fuking her. He held her hips with one hand for leverage and his other hand gently squeezed her throat, feeling her rapid pulse under his hand.

He did not let go of the punishing rhythm he had set. He moved his hips in such a way that he hit her on that spot which made Leah see stars. It was quite a view for Ethan. The moonlight streaming through the glass facade and illuminating her sheen skin. Her eyes half closed, her breasts moving with every stroke and her legs wound around his hips.

"Please, please, please let me come." Leah choked.

Ethan also felt a tingle in his lower back and his abs constructing. He was close too. His strokes became faster and shorter.

"Okay sunshine. Come."

Just that one word and Leah obeyed. She felt a burst of pleasure rush through her body, setting every part of her alight. She saw fireworks behind her eyelids. She hadn't even come down when, Ethan's release caused her to have another mini orgasm.

It was too much. Way too much. Aftershocks racked her body and tears streamed down her face as she soared through cloud nine.

Without pulling himself out, he gathered Leah in his arms and took her to the bedroom. He gently laid her down on the bed and pulled out and headed to the bathroom to get a washcloth. Leah winced and felt empty like a crater.

Ooooh boy, gonna feel that tomorrow.

Her eyes were closed as she tried to catch her breath and get her head straight. Ethan slowly wiped her neck, her stomach and her sore centre, instantly cooling her body down. He threw the washcloth into the laundry basket and slid into his bed. He wrapped his strong arms around Leah and pulled her close to him. He bent down to kiss her lips tenderly.

"I love you sunshine."

"Happy six months, babe. I love you." She gave a tired smile and they both slipped into a dreamless sleep.

Wow that was the longest I have written. *wipes brow*

Like, reblog and let me know how you liked it :))

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