#ok i hate blizzard as a company

[4ndeka]

cover them up, slut a continuation from this old drawing

#overwatch #overwatch 2 #hanzo #sombra #my art #ok i hate blizzard as a company #and i wont give them my money #but ow2 is free #so ive been gaming it with the lads #and my love for the characters has resurfaced #expect ramattra art soon cuz hes hot

[mattmurdock42]

Henry Cavill X Female reader

Professor Cavill

Pov: Professor Cavill and student

+- 3.3k

You studied economics at Oxford. You were really fond of what you studied. However, you really liked to sneak into literature classes. It relaxed your head from all the terms and counts of your area.

It was a cold and raining friday, you had got out of your Companies´s class and were exausted, you hated three hours followed from the same class, with no little breaks. As it was 11:30, you went to take something to eat and went to a walk, suddenly, you remember that there was going to be a Shakespeare lecture at 12:30, so, you decided to go, to relax your brain a little, before having more classes in the afternoon. You have missed the first lecture, but you didn´t mind, you liked to hear things about writers. You got there and took a seat at the corner, waiting for the professor to arrive. While you were watching, you couldn´t decide what was catching more your attention, the lecture itself, or the hot, tall, beffy guy who was giving it. It ended at 13:30, you had 15 more minutes until your class started. Everybody was getting out of the class, but you were one of the last ones to go, because you kept watching the hot professor. As you got up to go, you bumps into someone, feeling hot coffe all over your sweater.

Y/N: Fuck!

Henry: i´m so sorry, are you ok?

Y/N: yes, it´s ok.

You say that as you take it off, staying only with you thermal blouse and a daredevil´s shirt. As you look to see who it was, you saw the familiar face who was giving the lecture.

Henry: I am really sorry,now you´re going to be cold.

Y/N: there is no problem, mister...?

Hernry: Cavill, Henry Cavill. And what is your name, miss?

Y/N: N, Y/N

Henry: well, sorry again, miss N.

Y/N: not a problem.

You say it smiling, as you head to a little walk before joining your next class: Holdings. In the end, you were going to the bathroom before your next one, when, you unexpectedly sees Mr. Cavill headind to you, holding something.

Henry: Hello, miss N.

Y/N: hi!

Henry: i wanted to give you this ( he hands you a dark blue sweater). i was feeling bad for you being cold because of me. So this is a reserve sweater that i keep. You can give me back anytime.

Y/N: you don´t need to.

Henry: it´s the least i can do.

You accepts it.

Y/N: thank you, then.

Henry: one more thing, miss. I searched your name on my students essays, so i could knew where to find you to give the sweater, but i didn´t find your name, so i searched on the system and i discovered that you are not from the language departament, nor the classics or the history one. You weren´t supposed to be attending my lecture. Be more carefull the next time.

He says it with a cute smile. You nod as he leaves. You go to the bathroom and put the sweater. It was to big for you, his shoulders were double yours. You folded the sleeves and put the bottom inside your trousers, with just a little out.

At the end of the day, you went to his office to give it back to him.

Henry: do you have any coat to replace it? there is almost a blizzard outside, you can give it back to me next monday.

So, you went home with his sweater. As soon as you arrived you washed it and set it close to your bag, so you wouldn´t forget it.

Monday arrived, your lectures were finished, so you headed to his office. You knocked, no answer, so you went to look for him somewhere else. You found him giving the third part of the lecture about Shakespeare, so you decided to stay and watch it, you´d give the sweater back to him in the end. The moment he saw you, he couldn´t contain a little grin. The lecture ended and you went to him.

Y/N: here, sir, thank you for lending me the other day.

Henry: my pleasure. So, did you enjoy the lecture, Buffett lady?

You chuckled about the nickname.

Y/N: yes, it was really amousing, it is nice to learn more about literature. But i didn´t catch the first class and the first part of this one, so i am not completaly involved with it.

Henry: tell me, why do you watch this kind of classes, if you study economics?

Y/N: it is like a hobby,i am usually tired after my lectures, so sometimes i watch this classes to distract my mind, to take it out of Holdings, Founds and this things, plus, i really enjoy it. So i got used to it.

Henry: do you like sheakspeare? Since you attended two of this classes?

Y/N: actually, it wasn´t intentional to watch it about the same author. However, yes, i like sheakspeare, but i´ve only read six of his plays.

Henry: that´s a lot. Which one is your favorite.

Y/N: i know it´s an ordinary opinion, but Hamlet. The exitencialism in that play seems to scream, and the relationship between Hamlet and his best friend was captivating.

He smiles, noticing you knew some things about literature too.

The time passed, and you always attended some of his classes. You two passed through Tolstoy, Dickens, Shelley, Poe, Byron, and much more. One day, he asks if you´d like to have coffe with him. You said yes, of course, you weren´t stupid to deny a coffe with those sparkling blue eyes looking at you.

The day come and you two met at the Monmouth. You sat at a corner table and the conversation starts. He asked you about your classes, saying how he didn´t have head for those kind of things. You asked him about his job and friends, receiveing the information that he´s being teaching for nine years, and was the youngest of the teachers, with the second being ten years older then him. After the coffe, at the door, you hugged him and went to your house. There, you couldn´t stop thinking about him, his teeths, his polished cheekbones, his body well builded (it was obvious that he spent more than a few hours in the gym), his fluffy hair, everything. The next time you attended one of his classes, he asks you out on a real date. You agreed, as you couldn´t stop your mind of having sick thoughts.

The date would be at the Berner´s Tavern.He picked you up at 19 oclock. You had the most amazing dinner ever. In the end, when he left you at your apartament, he looked at you, and you understood the question. The answer was a soft kiss on his lips. He grinned at you and said good bye. The next week, you were the one who asked him out, picking him at his house. You went to another place this time. Again the dinner was great. As you left him at his house, you gave him a more passionate kiss, putting your hands behind his neck, and him putting his, gently, around your waist, afraid of that gesture being to much.

Dates and more dates passed, the kisses evolving until a burning one, with tongues dancing and hands on dangerous places. One day, after a class about French authors, he envited you for dinner at his house, you said yes. Actually you were a little scared, you never wen´t to a boys house before. As you got there, he invited you to come in and you went to the kitchen, the table as settled, he sat you and went to take the food, he made grilled chiken with rice, and for salad, carot with cucumber.

Henry: sorry if it is to simple, but that´s what you always order, so, this are the only foods i know you ate.

You blushed, noticing he repared at your food. You said it was amazing, the taste was explandit, and the food was not simple, but more than you could ask.

After dinner you went to the couch, to watch a movie. In the middle, you made a risk movement; you put your hand on his thigh, going up and down soflty. He notices, he gets your chin and turns your face to him, your eyebrows move. He understands and asks

Henry: are you sure?

Y/N: yes, it´s been so many dates since i was waiting for this.

He smiles and lifts you, placing you on his lap, each thigh at one side of his hips.

Henry: i´ve been waiting too, i couldn´t stop thinking about you since the day we met. When i got your eyes, furious and at the same time worried and apologetic about the coffe,my mind couldn´t do anything else besides thinking about that moment. But when you told me about Hamlet, then i knew i had fallen in love with you.

You blush, hidding your face on his chest, with your hands on it.

Henry: you are so cute when you blush! Do not hide your face.

You hugh him. Then, you look at his face.

Y/N: do not say those things in this kind of moments, it makes me shy. And i don´t want to be shy now.

Henry: noted.

You kiss him hard, putting your hands on his hair and pulling it. He put his hands on your waist and slide down to your ass, grabbing it strongly. You buckle your hips and he lifts you, you intertwining your legs around his waist. He takes you to his bedroom and lay you down on the bed. He goes on top of you, and you put your hands on his chest. He starts to go down to your thighs.

Y/N: take of your shirt.

He obeys.

Henry: take of yours.

You blush, slowly grabbing the bottom of your shirt. You take it of and try to cover yourself with your hands.

Henry: why are you covering yourself?

Y/N: this is the first time i stay only in a bra in front of a man.

Henry look at you confused.

Y/N: Henry, i´m a virgin.

He stopped imediatly. He looked at you with wide open eyes.

Henry: why didn´t you tell me? Are you ok? Was anything to much?

Y/N: yes, it´s ok. i´m just a little nervous.

Henry: you are so beautiful and intelligent, i can´t believe no one never showed interest in you.

Y/N: some did, but i never really liked then.

Henry: wow, it´s too much pressure now.

He says nervously smiling.

Y/N: it´s okay, just keep going.

Henry: if you let me, i can guide you.

Y/N: that would be nice, just, be gentle, please.

Henry: of course

He goes down the bed while you were still laying, he starts to kiss your thighs, then your inner thighs.

Henry: i´m gonna take of your panties now. Ok?

You nod.

Henry: now, if you don´t like anything, tell me.

He massages your vulva carefully, opening it to start to stimulate your clit. He notices a moan coming out of your lips and he smiles. He keeps doing it for a while, then he increases the pressure on it and put a finger inside of you. You moan heavily, he doesn´t stop. He puts another finger inside, knowing you could take it. He starts doing the movements of come and go with his fingers and you start to twitch. You feel something pass through your body, you could not control your moans.

Henry: that´s okay, Buffett, be as loud as you want.

He says when he sees you trying to contain your moans. Suddenly, it gets to intense and you cum.

Henry: did you not like anything, something i could do better?

You looke at him smiling.

Y/N: you are a god, mister. I only have one complain.

He looked at you seriously, intending to get what you didn´t like.

Y/N: i didn´t feel your cock.

He looked at you surprided. He wasn´t expecting that.

Henry: are you sure? i think it´s to soon.

Y/N: please, i wanna know how does it feel. I know in the begging hurts a little, but i wanna try.

He lowered his head.

Henry: as you wish.

He took of his pants, his cock was a little bigger then most of others. A little more thicker and longer. He opened your legs and put then over your head. He took a condom and put on his dick already hard. He massaged it a little and then asked.

Henry: you are already really wet, and the condom already has lubricant, but if you want more, let me know. I´m gonna put it now, ok?

You nod. You feel his dick gently coming, in and out, just a little part of it. Then, it went deeper. His eyes never leaving your face, to see if you were hurt or not. It was not confortable, but you could take it. After a while, you hear him moan, low, almost inaudible.

He leans over you, and you scratch his back , feeling him get even harder. Then, he cums. He lays on your side.

Henry: are you ok?

Y/N: yes, it was nice.

You say as you massage his scalp, thinking about the first orgasm you had in your life.

Y/N: we should do this more times.

Henry: i agree.

He says with a chuckle.

The next week, you two were even closer; him going to your building to give you his sweaters, so it would smell like you. And you going to his house, to have sex and judge his bookshelfs. He loved to hear your opinion, good or bad, about his books. You always teasing him to let you know who would be the next author he would teach, and him never letting it. He would always say how smart you are, when seeing you studying your field, thinking how smart his grilfriend was.

#henry cavill #superman #dc universe #henry cavill fanfiction #fanfiction #geralt of rivia #henry cavill boyfriend #professor #professor cavill #professor henry cavill #the witcher #henry cavill canon #henry cavill characters #henry cavill smut #henry cavill x reader #henry cavill imagine #henry cavill fanfic #walter marshall #fluff #witcher geralt

[awkward-tension-art]

Remain By His Side Chp.5 Unable to Sleep

Chapter 4. Chapter 6. (Smut)

Leon, with dread, realized how he felt about you.

Warnings: Leon needs a hug, self-hate, one-sided love, Leon being Leon, talks of Raccoon City, grief, death mention, guilt

Leon only had a week before he was taken for more training. A week to spend with you.

He wanted to tell you. Desperately. 

He wanted to tell you why he was going to special forces. He wanted to tell you that they put a gun to Sherry’s head. They threatened you, willing to snuff your life out as well if he didn’t comply. You and your cousin were unknowing cards in the hand of the government. 

No. He had to keep you safe. Let you live your life in blissful ignorance to the threat. 

The night he told you about Raccoon City, there was a light that died in your eyes. The reality of it all had set in, knowing the horrors your aunt unleashed onto the world. He recognized guilt. The same guilt he saw in himself every time he looked in a mirror.

You knew what happened, the day you two met in the military compound. But this was the first time that details were properly given. Nothing was hidden.

He must’ve traumatized you. Your brother died in Raccoon City, so maybe your mind gave you the thoughts that he was one of the undead that Leon shot down. 

The former rookie held you as you cried. Strangely, you apologized to him. For the crimes of your aunt. For working at Umbrella Corp for a summer. For having the dark and corrupt corporation on your resume.

Another reason to feel guilty, Leon thought, he made you cry…

You had given him several months of peace. Security. Time to heal physically. You gave him a taste of a normal family. You gave him holidays with company, as opposed to the solitude he was used to. Dinners with parents. Celebrations with siblings. All things Leon didn’t have. 

And to repay you? He made you cry. 

“I’m sorry.” He murmured, trying to calm you down, “I shouldn’t have said anything…”

“No.” you calmed quickly. It was a skill, to shut off your emotions and don the mask of stoicism, “I needed it. The truth.”

You had no idea…

He nodded, “Are you ok?”

There was thick silence. As if you weren’t entirely sure how to answer, “No,” you were honest, “But I think I will be.” You pulled away from him, wiping your tears.

The former rookie nodded again. He felt…cold when you stepped back.

With terror, he realized what he felt. 

You were the warmth in a blizzard. A roof during a storm. The feeling in his heart was something he hadn’t felt before. 

A deep affection. A desperate longing for you. To hold you close. To kiss your lips. To love you and be loved by you. 

Fuck!

He looked at you, hand twitching at his side. It took a lot of will to stop himself from wiping your tears. He couldn’t make you uncomfortable. He couldn’t cross unspoken boundaries. You’ve given him so much, and the idea of harming you…

He didn’t want to break you.

“Listen, I…” Leon would swallow his feelings. 

No. These weren't true feelings. They couldn’t be. He was clinging to you in a desperate attempt to maintain the sliver of good in his fucked up life. You were a means to stability. To keep something of an existence in his hell. He could play pretend, act like he had a family. People who loved and cared about him. All because of you.

That's all. This wasn’t love. It couldn’t be. It was gratitude. Appreciation for everything.

“I'm here for you.” Leon settled on those words, “I promise.” He gave you a small, reassuring smirk.

You returned his smile with your own, “Thanks Leon, you're the best.”

“Hardly,” He snorted, “I didn’t give you a graduation gift.” 

Your hand went to his own at his side. Your eyes, clear and beautiful, met his, “Your presence is a good enough gift.”

His heart beat loudly in his chest. Your touch felt like electricity up his arm.

Oh fuck. Gratitude didn’t feel so…intense.

Later that night, hours after you had gone to bed, he stared at his ceiling. Realization hit him like a train. He couldn’t deny his feelings for long at all. His silent argument with himself had lasted an astounding 30 seconds. 

He liked you. 

He liked liked you. 

The former rookie put his hands to his face, rubbing his eyelids.

He’s had crushes growing up. A few through his growing years. He even had a girlfriend in high school for a few months. But after he graduated, he left his hometown and never looked back. Even while he got his degree before the academy he wasn’t interested in finding anyone. 

Until today, it seemed. 

When had his heart opened to you? Was it when you two met at the military compound? Was it love at first sight?

Or maybe it was the night you talked with him during a storm. 

Or during the holidays as you introduced him to your extended family. 

Maybe it was today, seeing you in your cap and gown, eyes bright and smile wide.

“Oh fuck.” he mumbled to himself. 

How could he untangle his messy feelings from you? How could he shove this affection down? 

Leon didn’t want to walk away. He wasn’t strong enough. This life you’ve invited him into. This family that you asked him to join…this security and happiness. He couldn’t give it up.

Selfish. Selfish. Selfish.

He was selfish. Plain and simple. He selfishly saved himself in Raccoon City. He selfishly let Ada slip from his hand and fall to her demise. He selfishly put a bullet in Marvin, undead or not. He selfishly let the first officer, officer Elliot, get ripped apart by zombies. He didn’t save anyone. Sherry had been saved by Claire, not him.

Leon was a selfish, powerless, coward.

He turned onto his side and closed his eyes, praying for some fucking sleep. What time was it now? 2AM? 3AM? 

Did it matter?

His feelings wouldn’t fade over a single night. He’d be stuck in this dark pit for a while. 

He swallowed again, praying he could fall asleep soon.

#leon kennedy x reader #resident evil x reader #leon s kennedy x reader #leon s kennedy #leon kennedy #reader insert #my writing

[citadelofmythoughts]

This is less about RT what I’m about to say, but I’ve noticed a trend that people are the harshest to business or people they have a more direct access or ability to affect.

RWBY is not the only production coming out of RT but aside from red vs blue it’s probably the most known outside of ET’s main fanbass past or present. It’s international. It’s wide reaching. The ppl who work there are public faves but also are seen more as regular ppl die to their social media over the years. They are easy to reach. Easy to harass like in Arryn Zech’s case.

But bigger corporations like Disney, Netflix, Blizzard, any major company that has been called out on misstatement if workers or harassment of employees. There are people who drop them 100% and no longer support them, but also they don’t do more than that. They see the employees working under an awful company and they deserve better and it’s so awful with all the layoffs. But with rwby it’s like “if you ever worked for RT and you still supper rwby then you’re harming your coworkers who faces the awful treatment”.

I’m not saying it should be ignored. I’m not saying it’s Ok just bc other companies have similar stories. But it’s ingesting that This place gets the most “if you work there you’re evil I don’t care if you need a job or if this place is the only way you can do the passion project you’ve been working towards. Get a new job, the show should die why do you care more about the show than real people. Anyone who supports the bees after all the shit about RT came out and they also worked there are trash.”

I work at Walmart in America. They sell ammunition there. I don’t like that and I wish it was different. It’s the most money I’ve been paid for any job and it’s convenient for me to work there bc my brother works there and our mom is our transpiration bc we can’t drive yet. Should I immediately quit bc forces outside of my control have done and are doing something I don’t like? Where is the Better Job that isn’t this? Where is the better company that will hire me on the spot at better rates? Where is the solution aside from drop the show it should die the company should go out of business. Let’s say it does. Do you support anyone there, if your argument is caring about people more than the show? Or do you (not YOU but ppl who say this) just want the moral victory of saying Company Bad. If that does happen and we never seen anything from RT again will you take your “activism” to the next company that mistreats it’s workers? Or would this be your final stand?

TLDR how are you helping people who have been burned by RT aside from hating on a show you could’ve dropped during the 2 year hiatus when all the shit came out about the company

I honestly don't have any answers. I just don't see what the destruction of RWBY accomplishes...at all, it's like somehow they believe that will somehow magically get all the people who have been laid off new well-paying jobs.

If there was an organized boycott or something similar I'd probably be more inclined to go along with it but there isn't. There's just a loud group of people trying to shame other people.

You make a lot of very good points showing that the situation is a lot more complex than some people make it out to be.

Also, my sympathies for having to work at Wal-Mart. I had to too, for quite a while.

[airi-p4]

From above the stars - Chapter 4

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | …

Another short one...

Chapter summary:

Marinette meets again with the blue-haired guitarist.

AO3

_________________________________________

CHAPTER 4

Four days after acknowledging the true impact of Adrien’s accident, Marinette went back to the cemetery. She bought three bouquets of flowers this time and, even if she was scared, she wished she could apologize to the guitarist. She wrote him a letter hoping he would find it - in case she didn't meet him in person.

The visit to Adrien's mausoleum came first. She cried again as soon as she saw his name engraved on the tombstone, but the amount of spilled tears weren't as much as the past day. 'I miss you… I love you… This is so hard…' were some of the feelings she let him know. She wasn't feeling well yet, not even decent, but it was not her lowest any longer. She was starting to accept his death.

Her feet moved next towards the Couffaine family tomb. And there he was again: the blue-haired guitarist. Unsure of what to say or do, she approached him carefully.

“Hello…”

The blue eyes took a fast look at her, but his face was expressionless.

“Bringing flowers to your boyfriend again?” he coldly asked.

Marinette felt her blood instantly chill. “Yes…”

And then, silence. He stared at the flowers he left for his sisters and his fists clenched strongly. Marinette was nervous and scared, but she didn't want the person who gave her hope to hate her. She felt the need to apologize.

“I’m Marinette Dupain-Cheng" she started. "I'm so sorry! I am- "

“I know who you are,” his cold voice cut her.

Marinette gasped in surprise. “You know…? That day... you knew too?” she wondered out loud.

“Yes, I knew".

Marinette was startled for his cold attitude towards her. His answer had felt like a blizzard - strong and freezing. But she wasn't surprised: didn't she deserve to be hated? The thought alone made her uneasy.

"Do- You must hate me…"

The new question seemed to help the man relax a little, as he partly released the strength from his fists. He looked back at her for the second time and his expression softened a bit.

"No, I don’t resent you. I can hear how much regret there’s in your heart”

“I’m so sorry...” Marinette sincerely sobbed.

“I don't hate you…” the guitarist accepted her apology. “But I despise your boyfriend! Marinette audibly gasped in horror from the contained anger in his eyes. “If he really loved you, he wouldn’t have put your life in danger like that. He was selfish and I hate him. He took my sisters from me and from my mother”. His eyes burned under his blue-colored bangs. “We already lost dad when I was a child, and now the story repeats itself. How can my mom go back to who she was now? She can’t. Not without her daughters!”

“I’m… I’m so sorry… I tried to stop him but…”

“Even you got injured by his actions. Was it worth it!?” he almost screamed.

Marinette's lips parted as if she was trying to say something, but pressed them together again, looking down, with tears forming in her eyes.

“And what’s wrong with his father? He’s the shittiest dad I’ve ever seen! Only his company matters to him or what? His heart is only filled with darkness, no love for his son at all!”

Marinette’s restrained sobs were not silent anymore. As soon as the young man heard them, he snapped out of his anger.“Hey, don’t cry. I don’t hate you. You’re just a victim, like me and my sisters”

The guitarist approached the crying dark-haired woman, getting close enough to put his hand on her shoulder, trying to give her some comfort. His touch was dismissed immediately, as she shoved his hand away, bawling louder.

“No! I’m as guilty as him! And I still love him! Your words hurt me so bad!”

Marinette’s attitude made the musician recover his repressed anger. “Love makes us stupid. And do stupid things. Do you think he was so perfect you can’t move on? Well, that’s wrong. You’re worth more than that. Are all your memories of him happy? Your heart tells me they weren’t!”

“I- They must have been happy! I- I’ve lost some of my memories in the accident… The Doctor says it's post-traumatic memory-loss but… they must be when my heart hurts so much…”, she whimpered, cleaning the tears on her eyes with her long sleeves.

The explanation given calmed down the boy, who had a painful look in his ocean blue eyes. “I see. Memory loss, huh? That explains it”

Marinette’s face raised to check at him and met his momentary heartbroken appearance, leaving her completely puzzled. “Explains what?” She blinked twice.

“Are those flowers for my sisters?” He quickly changed the topic and the expression on his face for a kinder one, confusing Marinette and leaving her wondering if his expression just right now was only part of her imagination. Seeing the young man looking at the flowers, she remembered she still had to answer.

“Yes…” she paused, hugging the flowers tighter, scared of his reaction. “I hope it’s ok…”

“Thank you, Marinette”. A weak but honest smile allowed Marinette to relax her stiff shoulders in relief.

“You’re welcome, uhm…”

“Luka”

“Thank you, Luka”

#my fic #fic: from above the stars #airipyon #airip4 #lukanette fic #lukanette endgame #endgame lukanette #angst #tragedy

[theredconversegirl]

Hello!! I really appreciate your sasusaku recs, they are amazing 😘😘 Do you have any good realistic aus to recommend? ex. cop sasuke doc sakura or anything else really ♥️♥️ Thanks

Hello @vasia96​ :) 

Thank you for your kind words 💕😘

I don’t know many, I think. To be honest, I avoided AUs for a long time because I was starving for canonverse/somewhat-canon fics. 🥺

Now I love AUs haha, they are super fun, and I still need to find and read many of them! 

I compiled a list for you that includes Sasuke and Sakura in the modern world, already working (so no college or anything like that). 

In no particular order, here you go:

Modern AU 🍅🌸

Trial and Error By: ManhattanChase / @manhattanchase​

AU - Slow Burn - Life as an associate at Konoha's most revered law firm was hard enough without Sasuke Uchiha showing up. [Rated E, on going]

This fic is amazing; great development and slow burn, detailed and side plots other than the romance.

🍅🌸🍅🌸🍅🌸

Mirepoix By: ChronicallyChill / @pain-somnia​

Even romantic relationships need a flavor base. A Chefsuke AU.

Sasuke is a chef, Sakura is hired to work in his kitchen. Slow burn, and very cute au.

🍅🌸🍅🌸🍅🌸

Out of Tune By: rawrchelle 

AU. Like a spell, he spiraled into one of his own cliché romances. [Rated T, complete] 

Writer!Sasuke is looking for inspiration for his next novel, and bam! Sakura enters the cafe guitar in hand. Very cute story!

🍅🌸🍅🌸🍅🌸

Something in Common By: Mrs Scorpius Malfoy 

Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha have nothing in common except for a daughter named Sarada. [Rated M, complete]

This is a long one-shot (30k+ words), and it’s beautiful and heart wrenching at the same time, It plays out like a movie. 💕

🍅🌸🍅🌸🍅🌸

Hooked By: pastel daisies 

Even as the chief of police’s son, he didn’t think he would get pulled over on a speeding ticket. Or felt up by an attractive police officer, that is. But by then, he was already hooked, and completely addicted. [Rated M, complete]

Ok, Cop!Sakura is🔥! This one-shot is a big tease, and it’s fun to see they dancing around each other. It was refreshing to read Sakura in another profession, and see how she got Sasuke wrapped around her finger. 😝

🍅🌸🍅🌸🍅🌸

i think i hate you By: DeepPoeticGirl / @xxlovendreamsxx​

Everything about this was so stupid. Why was he even letting himself get so worked up anyway? Maybe it was just because of how his brain worked—always searching for ways to understand why people lived and thought and acted the way that they did. And this woman was the perfect enigma to his frustrated mind. Lawyer!AU. ONESHOT. [Rated T, complete]

They are both layers and working against each other. Enemies to something more? trope :)

🍅🌸🍅🌸🍅🌸

kismet By: cherryblossomthundercrash / @uchiharvno​

delayed flight au.  [Rated K+, complete]

Features doctor!sakura and coo!sasuke, waiting for a flight together. Mutual pining. Heartwarming 🥰

🍅🌸🍅🌸🍅🌸

Noir By: FortitudeSakura

We wander through the darkness, alone and blind. That is, until we find each other and walk into the light together. Love blossoms in many different ways and at different times. It's beautiful any way you look at it. [Rated E, on going]

Office AU, Sasuke is the director I think, and Sakura was just hired to work in the company. Slow burn and slices of life. 

🍅🌸🍅🌸🍅🌸

Two night stand By: Hiatus indefinite 

"One night stand is usually not my thing.." She spoke slowly as her eyes met his and he studied her flushed face for a while before a handsome smirk appeared on his face. "Then don't stand. Just lie down..." Two strangers stuck together in a blizzard bond in a most unusual way. [Rated M, complete]

Two strangers, two night-stands, getting to know each other after being snowed in. I think they met at a business conference or something. 

🍅🌸🍅🌸🍅🌸

Echoes By: Rebirth of the Phoenix / rec by @dy-lan-sss

"Find me a girl who doesn't like me for my looks and then we'll talk." Sasuke Uchiha is about to realise that love waits for no man, and that it can, quite literally, bump into you when you least expect it. [Rated T, incomplete]

Sasuke is apparently looking for a wife, but he doesn’t want someone that only likes his appearance. 

🍅🌸🍅🌸🍅🌸

When I Look at You By: letmeannoyyoutoday 

She was so afraid of hurting and losing him, that she failed to realise that, in her quest to avoid either outcome, she was pushing him away and unknowingly heading straight for both. [Rated T, complete]

Sakura is resident doctor that models for Ino sometimes, and dates Sasuke. She doesn’t think she’s worth though, and fears breaking his family apart. This is another long one-shot and I loved it. It’s cathartic and so powerful I found myself tearing up a few times along the way. So, kleenex warning here! 🥺

🍅🌸🍅🌸🍅🌸

Limelight By: Ms. Future  / rec by @kjt1124​

The Prime Minister's secret is out: He has a daughter. When Sakura is dropped into a world of bright lights and unwanted attention things are hard enough, add in a cold distant bodyguard named Sasuke things keep getting worse. Will Sakura find comfort in Sasuke or snap? [Rated T, complete]

🍅🌸🍅🌸🍅🌸

Carousel's in the Sky By: zgs1994  / rec by @kjt1124​

Because sometimes, falling in love is the easiest thing in the world. [Rated T, complete]

🍅🌸🍅🌸🍅🌸

To Love and to Love Again By: animequeen100   / rec by @kjt1124​

Love blooms even in the strangest of places, and darkest of hours. Sasuke has a daughter who needs a mother. Sakura has a son, who needs a father. When the shadows that follow her threaten to take her away from him, his dark secrets resurface to keep her in his arms. They were fated to love and destined to love again. [Rated M, complete]

🍅🌸🍅🌸🍅🌸

Judging a Book By: another.creative.lover  / rec by @kjt1124​

Sasuke's a famous writer who definitely loves anonymity; Sakura's the new kid who's absolutely obsessed with his works. What'll happen to Sasuke's life when he accidentally crosses paths with her? [Rated M, complete]

🍅🌸🍅🌸🍅🌸

In the Palm of My Hands By: Sweet.Crazy-DramaQueen / rec by @kjt1124

Haruno is a maid in Uchiha's household. Who's madly in love with Uchiha Sasuke. But not only does she wears glasses, is shy, short and ugly, Uchiha comes home with another woman. Is 'I love you... Sakura' the last words of this story? Or the beginning? [Rated M, complete]

🍅🌸🍅🌸🍅🌸

A Farther Shore By: xi_writes

They meet in Hong Kong, when the leaves are turning gold. "Sakura," he says, as thrown as she is by this unexpected encounter. "You've… changed." "Well, it has been ten years, genius." Of growing up, moving on, and the chance to begin again. [Rated T, complete]

——————————————————————————

Sorry for the delay! I’m taking a few breaks between lists, since they are very time consuming and I don’t want to burn out or stress over it.  😌

Also, you can find more Modern AU fics in the following lists:

College AU / Doctor AU

CEO!Sasuke

Celebrity AU

I hope you enjoy these stories! In case someone has more suggestions, please let me know! 💕 

~ Happy Reading & Stay Safe!

xoxo

#theredconversegirl answers things #SasuSaku #ss fics #Sakura Haruno #Sasuke Uchiha #Modern AU #theredconversegirl recommends #vasia96

[kargathbladefist]

ok so part of me agrees that there is a lot of uncalled for/unjustified or bandwagon hate towards WoW by players and people who already quit for stupid reasons - and there always has been, people have always bitched and moaned about shit they dont like in the game - but you can’t not acknowledge that activision-blizzard is a fucking awful company consumed with greed lol.. bobby kotick is one of the most overpaid CEOs in america, while some employees of the company are so underpaid that they can’t even afford the food at the building cafeteria. blizzard also cut a ton of jobs in 2019 even after reporting record earnings. the blitzchung incident is still something that happened and that blizzard handled awfully, i’m not going to defend any of these things even as someone with an active sub, people SHOULD be angry and i’d actually be more concerned if they weren’t because complacency is probably the number one thing that will keep blizzard running in the shitty way it currently is

in my opinion if you’re going to financially support blizzard as a company by playing their game, i think you have some kind of responsibility to be aware and sometimes vocal about their many, MANY problems and if that takes the form of being critical of them or “hating” on them online, whatever lol. blizzard is not your friend and they’re not a team of 10 cool guys who are just really passionate about their game, they’re a multi-billion dollar company that doesn’t care if you defend them online. I completely understand that the negativity towards something you like is exhausting and leaves you with a lot of discomfort, I feel the same way, but you can’t just dismiss everything people complain about as petty bitterness. of course i’m going to be bitter if the company of one of my favorite games that i’ve also paid a fuckton of money to over the years has become more and more unethical over the years to the point where i feel gross supporting them, imo people should care about this even if it doesn’t necessarily need to be discussed 24/7 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

#i think what they need most is to unionize which i really dont know how i would help with that as a consumer #wow negative #negative #blizzard negative #idk what else to tag this? #wow critical #blizzard critical

[no6secretsanta]

The Sound we Heard That Day

To: @hi-im-secretly-satan​

From: Signpainter1 (AO3)

The Sound We Heard That Day

“Hey Sion, what about this?”

Sion turned and surveyed the hat that his friend Lauren was holding. It was navy blue and woolly, with small smiling waving snowmen on it. It was definitely something Sion would buy for himself, though for Nezumi….

Sion giggle as he pictured Nezumi scowling from underneath it. “He would hate it.”

Lauran put the hat back, a frown on her face. “You weren’t kidding when you said he was hard to shop for. I can see why you wanted to meet early.” Sion made a sound of agreement. Lauran went back to surveying the items on a shelf. Sion joined her. He was glad he wasn’t shopping for Nezumi alone. After moving to No. 5 almost a  year ago, Sion had become close friends with Lauran and her boyfriend Ted. Nezumi didn’t care much about them, but he was pleasant enough in their company.

Four years previous, when Nezumi had materialized at their doorstep on Christmas Eve during a blizzard, Sion wasn’t sure what to expect from their relationship. He was extremely happy to see Nezumi again could shake the feeling that it wasn’t permanent. Even now, two years later, he would sometimes dream of Nezumi leaving him again.

“What else does Nezumi like?” Lauran’s voice brought Sion back to reality.

“Hmmm….” Sion’s mind ran over some ideas before he gave a sigh of defeat. “you know what? I think I’ll just get him a book after all. I wanted to get him something special, but I don’t want him to hate his gift. This is our first Christmas here and I want it to be perfect.”

“There’s a bookstore near the food court. We can go there.” Lauren glanced at her watch “But we better hurry. We said we’d meet up with our boyfriends at 6:30 and it’s already 6:15.”

Sion blushed. “Nezumi isn’t really my boyfriend.”

“But you two are romantically involved right?”

“Kind of…” Sion shrugged. “It’s complicated.” When the mood was right, they would cuddle and Nezumi made it clear he was interested in Sion. Even so, they hadn’t gone farther than that. Nezumi hadn’t kissed Sion since that Christmas after he had returned.”

Lauren, noticing Sion’s discomfort quickly said. “Well, in any case, we need to hurry.”

“Yeah, ok.”  

They headed out of the small store and down the crowded hall of the indoor mall.  The place was decorated for Christmas and cheerful music was playing over the intercom. The whole scene put Sion in a good mood. As they turned down another hall a jingle started playing from the intercoms. Sion paused at the sound.

Good afternoon shoppers. We thank you for choosing  No. 5 Central Mall for your shopping needs.  In the next ten minutes, we will be testing the new fire alarms. Please excuse any inconvenience this may cause.

The jingle played again, and Sion’s cocked his head in confusion.

“I’ve heard that jingle before. It used to play in No. 6 when general announcements were made.” It felt weird to hear it after all these years.  After rebuilding No.6 the jingle was put out of use since it caused trauma.  During the Holy Day, that jingle was played right before the chaos began. Sion may not have such a visceral reaction to it, but it still made him feel uncomfortable.

“That’s not surprising.” Lauran shrugged. “They tend to reuse stock sounds like that between all the cities. I grew up in No.3 and that jingle was used at schools when classes started and ended.”

“I see.” Sion mulled this over. “That makes sense.” It made him feel a little better to know that. “Right let’s go shopping!”

Picking a book wasn’t hard. Sion had basically memorized Nezumi’s whole library. It was one of the benefits of having a photographic memory. Sion knew what books Nezumi wanted and what books he already owned. He was in a very good mood as they left the book store to head towards the food court to meet Nezumi and Ted. As they started down the hall, the lights started flashing and the jingle started up again.

Good afternoon shoppers. We thank you for choosing  No. 5 Central Mall for your shopping needs. We will now be testing the new fire alarms. We’re are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.

As the voice died down another sound fill the halls. A high pitch alarm wailed in beat to the flashing lights.  Some kids covered their ears and a little girl started crying, but most of the shoppers just ignored it. Lauran seemed unperturbed by the sound. Sion however felt his stomach clench. He knew that sound. It haunted him through many of his nightmares. The last time he heard it he was 16 years old. Sion slowed down until he stopped completely starting off into space.

“Sion?” Laura’s voice sounded far away, as if she was on the other side of a long tunnel. She had stopped as well and was watching him concernedly. Sion wanted to respond to her, but he couldn’t speak. He was no longer in the mall listening to a fire alarm, he was in the Correction Facility. As the sound penetrate his brain, adrenaline and fear shot through him. The alarm was going off. They knew an intruder was in the facility. Safu was dead. He and Nezumi were in danger.

Sion’s legs shook as he desperately tried to reason with himself. It wasn’t the Correction Facility it was a mall. The sound was probably just being reused, just like the jingle. It didn’t mean anything. He wasn’t there again. He was safe. He was safe. He was safe.

His mind didn’t listen. A loud buzzing was slowly spreading across his brain, blocking rational thought. Sion staggered to the side of the hallway, trembling like a leaf. The sound was consuming him, dragging him back to that horrible day when he had lost himself in the depths of hell.  He leaned against the wall as the coldness continued to spread everywhere but his stomach, which was on fire. Sion tried to take a deep breath, but it was hard. His lungs didn’t want to expand in the stale air that surrounded him.

“Sion!” It was getting harder to hear Lauran’s voice. The other sounds were overpowering it. The sound of the shoppers, the fire alarm….

The gunshots, the screaming, the dying.

Sion’s eyes widened in fright. There were corpses on the ground. Men and women who were dragged to the Correction Facility now lay in a pile in front of him. Sion could still make out some of their faces. He could still remember some of them. Sion gasped for air as the smell of blood and decay hit him. Staggering forward he took off running.

“They aren’t there. They aren’t real.” The words made no impact on his mind. As his own senses continued to betray him, more images and feelings arose. Now all he could smell was rot and blood; all he could taste was stale air and copper; all he could feel was weariness and pain.

“Hey watch it!” Sion had run into someone. He couldn’t tell if they were a shopper or a guard. Sion staggered back and covered his face.  If he had hoped to find comfort in the darkness, he was wrong. Safu’s sad smile loomed out from the depths of nothingness. She was alone. Sion had failed her. He had let her die. He couldn’t do anything.

A wave of despair hit him. Why did he even come here?  Why did he foolishly think he could save Safu? He couldn’t do anything. He couldn’t save all those innocent people. He couldn’t give a dying man a peaceful way out. He couldn’t even save the one person he came for. Pathetic. Weak. Sheltered.

A hand landed on Sion’s shoulder and he gave a cry of fear. Turning around he saw the terrified face of the man who he had killed. Sion’s stomach turned violently as renewed fear shot up his spin. That man couldn’t be here. He was dead.

“I didn’t have a choice.” Sion wasn’t sure if he was speaking aloud or in his head. The two realities were colliding using the alarm as a bridge. “You were going to shoot Nezumi! I didn’t have a choice!”

“What are you talking about?” The man had a female voice. Sion dully realized it was Lauran. “Who was going to shoot Nezumi? Sion, what’s going on?” Sion ignored her. He had just realized something horrible.

Nezumi wasn’t with him.

Where was Nezumi? Nezumi was always by his side in the Correction Facility. Even in Sion’s worst nightmares, Nezumi was present. He needed him now. He needed to see Nezumi’s uncaring smirk and deep grey eyes. He needed to hear his smooth voice. It was the only thing that could fix this. Nezumi was the only reason he was able to continue moving in the Correction Facility, even when he wanted to curl up and die.

Without another word, Sion took off running again. His confused mind tried to apply the map of the Facility that he memorized to his current location. It didn’t match up. Of course it didn’t. This wasn’t the Correction Facility. Sion gave an angry sob as he ran harder, pushing people out the way. Memories chased after him, pouring into his head.

Nezumi was crying and apologizing. Sion had killed someone and Nezumi blamed himself. It was the first time Nezumi had cried. It was the first time Nezumi had broken. No.6 couldn’t break Nezumi. The Correction Facility couldn’t break Nezumi. Sion could break Nezumi.

Then he was in the elevator. Nezumi had dragged Sion away from Safu. He had blown the place up. He had freed Safu from her imprisonment. He did what needed to be done to spare Sion the pain of that horrible choice. Even so, Sion had blamed him. He was such a child. He was so spoiled.

Finally, he saw Nezumi lying on the ground in front of him. Blood was pouring from his wound. Despite Sion’s rage towards him, Nezumi had protected him. Now he was laying on the ground gasping and writhing in pain. Sion knew he was suffering, fading.

“No!” Sion cried out, his eyes blurring from tears. He needed to get to Nezumi. He needed to save him. He had helped him once before. He could do it again. He needed Nezumi to be alright. He needed Nezumi. Nezumi needed him.

“If he needed you so badly then why did he leave you.”

The words washed Sion like a wave of cold water. He slowed down and stopped in the middle of the hall, lost and confused. Where was he? What did he do? Why did Nezumi leave? Gunshots rang out. Angry shoppers bumped into him and told him to move. Nezumi was singing in the cramped vehicle heading to the Facility. A girl was asking her mom for a doll in a display. The air smelled of spices from a nearby store. The air smelled of putrid gasses and death.  He was at the mall. He was at the Correction Facility.

And Sion was alone.

He bent over and covered his ears. He needed to block it all out. He needed to be stronger this time. He couldn’t rely on Nezumi. He was alone again. That was why Nezumi left him. Sion had become too much of a burden. If Sion was stronger, braver, smarter, wise, more talented, Nezumi wouldn’t have walked away. A small part of his mind whispered that it wasn’t truer, but he could hardly hear it over the chaos.

Sion sobbed loudly crying out for Nezumi. He didn’t want to be in the Correction Facility anymore. He didn’t want Safu to die. He didn’t want to kill that man. He didn’t want Nezumi to leave him. He couldn’t do it all again. It was too much, too tiring. It had been unbearable. The four years without Nezumi had also been unbearable. After the horrors of the Holy Day, his world became grey. He couldn’t enjoy life. He couldn’t smile as he used to. The thought of going back to waking from nightmares alone was terrifying. He didn’t want to cry himself to sleep again wondering if it was all his fault that Nezumi had left. Even after Nezumi had returned and added color to his life, Sion never confronted him about his fears. It was easier to pretend Nezumi never left. It hurt less. Now he regretted it. He needed some closure.

“Nezumi.” Sion wanted to curl up in a ball and sleep forever. If real Nezumi wasn’t going to appear then perhaps a dream version would show up. Some version of Nezumi always came to him. Nezumi was always there when he was in danger. He always saved him.

“Please save me. Please come back. Please come back. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

“Sion!”

Sion opened his eyes groggily and uncovered his ears. His prayers had been answered. Nezumi was kneeling in front of him, pale and frightened. His eyes held the deep fear that Sion felt. Sion wanted to cry out in joy. Nezumi had come for him. He didn’t leave him to go mad in the Correction Facility. He didn’t leave him to grow old alone in No. 6.

“Is he alright?” another voice asked. It sounded like a man’s. Sion knew he should recognize it, but he couldn’t think who it belonged to.

“I don’t know.” A woman’s voice spoke. “He just started freaking out. Nezumi what’s wrong with him?” Nezumi ignored them, his eyes on Sion alone. Sion reach forward and touched his shoulder.

“Are you really here?” Sion wasn’t sure why the ground was shaking so hard. It made it difficult to keep his hand steady.

Nezumi’s eyes softened sadly as he gently took Sion’s outstretched hand. “Yeah, I’m here. We’re going to leave. Just hang on, ok?”

Sion nodded mutely as he allowed Nezumi to guide him away. Nezumi understood what was going on. He understood that they needed to escape the horrible alarm in the mall. They needed to escape the horrible alarm in the Correction Facility. The shoppers didn’t understand. Lauren didn’t understand but Nezumi did. He was there. He was always there.….

No that wasn’t quite right either, Nezumi left him after they escaped.

A new wave of fear crashed over Sion. “Nezumi.” Sion clung to his arm. “Don’t leave, please. I’m sorry. I won’t be useless anymore. I won’t push  problems onto you.” Nezumi filched his words.

“Don’t.” He looked away. “That’s not why….I won’t leave you again.”

“But if we escape…” Sion dug his fingers into Nezumi’s sleeve. “Once we’re safe….”

Nezumi turned towards him his eyes aflame. He grabbed both of Sion’s shoulders and looked into his face. “Once we’re safe we’re going home together. I’m here Sion. I came back. Don’t forget, I came back.”

“You mean it?” Sion stared into his eyes, his mind working sluggishly slow. He felt like a child, vulnerable, and afraid. “You’ll stay even if I’m a burden? Even though I killed someone?”

“What?” apparently the man and woman had followed them. “Nezumi what’s he talking about?” Nezumi glared over at the couple before putting a protective arm around Sion.

“I will explain later. You two go doing something. I’m taking Sion home.” His voice has a finality to it that was so familiar that Sion almost felt comforted. The woman opened her mouth to argue but Nezumi had already turned and dragged Sion down the hall. Sion stumbled as they melted into the crowd, the couple’s cries of protest mingling with the sound of screams and gunshots.

Sion managed to make it all the way outside to the parking lot before his legs gave out. He was too tired to move. He couldn’t do this anymore. He’d rather just disappear than have to struggle forward. In the distance, he could still hear the horrible fire alarm ringing from the nearby mall.  

“Nezumi I can’t do it. It’s just too much. I can’t keep fighting.” He bowed his head in shame. He didn’t want to see the look of disgust and disappointment on Nezumi’s face. He didn’t want to see the flash of anger in Nezumi’s eyes. He had failed him again by being weak, just like he had failed everyone else.

Nezumi bent down next to him and attempted to pull him up. He managed to half drag, half carry Sion to a secluded corner a few feet away. When they were out of sight from prying eyes, he curled his body around Sion and pressed him to his chest.

“Sion. What do you feel?”

“Your heart,” Sion mumbled.

“That’ right. I’m here. I’m not going to leave you. Relax and listen to me.  Ignore the world. Just listen to my voice.” Sion pressed into Nezumi’s chest as if it was a shelter from the onslaught of thoughts that invaded his mind. As he got comfortable Nezumi started singing; his voice silky smooth and pleasant to hear.

The summertime is coming,

And the trees are sweetly blooming,

Nezumi’s voice was soft and sweet. It filled Sion’s head and pushed away all other feelings. Soon the smells and taste of blood began to disappear followed by the feeling of horror and fear. Lastly, the sound of gunshots and that horrible alarm faded to a faint echo.  

And the wild mountain thyme

Grows around the blooming heather.

Sion closed his eyes as he took a shaky breath. He listened to Nezumi’s heart, beating rhythmically to the song. Nezumi was a song. He was the comfort that could soothe a dying soul. He was the comfort that could save Sion from his own mind.

Will you go,  will you go?

And we’ll all go together,

Sion didn’t know when he started breathing normally. He didn’t know when he had stopped clinging so tightly to Nezumi’s shirt. He didn’t know when the alarm had stopped wailing. All he knew was that he was with Nezumi. Everything would be alright.

To pull wild mountain thyme

All around the blooming heather,

Will you go?

Sion blinked as Nezumi finished his song. After all the sounds that clouded his mind, the silence was defining. It wasn’t unpleasant though. The silence meant safety. It was the kind of silence he heard when it was just him and Nezumi living in the West District.

“Are you alright?” Nezumi pulled away from Sion a little to look into his face. Sion shivered in the sudden cold. He hadn’t noticed it before when he was lost in his own memories, nor when he was curled into Nezumi’s chest.

“I’m fine.” Sion’s own voice sounded false and hoarse from all the crying. Nezumi peered at him and Sion turned away. He couldn’t look Nezumi in the eyes. Now that it was all over, he felt stupid. Of course, everything was alright. It was just a dumb alarm. He had overreacted.

“Sorry.”

“Don’t be.” Nezumi turned Sion’s head so they made eye contact. “What happened in that place was traumatizing. That sound brought back unpleasant memories. You acted like most people would act if they had to go through that hell.”

“But you were at the Correction Facility too! You heard the same sound as me, yet you’re fine and I’m just a mess!”

“That’s only because I’ve learned how to close myself off when I’m reliving the past. If I broke down every time it became too much I would have died as a child.” Nezumi let out a slow breath. It turned white in the frosty air. “Trust me, I felt like I was in the Correction Facility too….I was afraid….I was afraid I was going to lose you.” Nezumi’s voice filled with sorrow. “I brought you to hell and you broke. I should have known better. You weren’t ready.”

“No.” Sion shook his head feverishly. “I was the one who was weak-.”

“You weren’t weak.” Nezumi cut him off sharply. “You were strong. You were able to hold on to your humanity for so long in that place. That was truly amazing.”

“But I eventually broke. I shot a man. I blamed you.” Sion felt panic weld inside of him. Nezumi must have noticed because he gently lay a finger across his lips.

“Don’t, not now. We can talk about this later but now is not the time. You need to concentrate on the present, not dwell on the past.” Sion nodded and Nezumi dropped his hand.

“Can you teach me to close myself off from my own feelings?” Sion was trembling again. He couldn’t tell if it was from exhaustion or the cold. “I don’t want to react like that ever again.”

“No.” Nezumi shook his head fiercely. “You don’t want to do that. Trust me, suppression isn’t going to make it go away. It’ll just sit in your mind and you’ll obsess over it. You need to learn to accept and overcome it.”

“How do I do that?” Sion asked meekly. Nezumi hesitated.

“I don’t know.” His grew eyes grew heavy with sadness. “I never needed to do anything more than survive. I don’t know really know how to live with my own past.”

They were quiet for a few minutes. “What should we do?”

“We’ll figure it out together.” Nezumi gave Sion’s hand a reassuring squeeze. Sion attempted a weak smile. It must have been pretty bad because Nezumi laughed quietly.

“You look like someone just kicked you in the stomach.” Nezumi snorted. “If you can’t smile yet then don’t. With your current expression, someone’s going to think I’m mugging you.”

For the first time since the alarm, Sion laughed. It was a weak sound but at least it was genuine. Nezumi smiled reassuringly and let go of Sion’s hand as he started to get up. Sion’s mind went into a panic and he grabbed Nezumi’s arm.

“Don’t go!”

“I already told you I wasn’t going to.” Nezumi sounded sad and slightly annoyed. “Is that really so hard for you to believe?”

Sion looked away. “I never told you this, because I wanted to forget it myself but after you left life was really hard.  I suffered a lot from nightmares about everything that happened….I tried to distract myself by rebuilding No. 6 but once a new mayor was elected, I had nothing to do. I thought I was going mad. I would dwell on past events and couldn’t get it out of my mind. I couldn’t help blaming myself…I felt that it was my fault that you left….” It felt shameful to admit it out loud. Perhaps he was every bit as spoiled as Nezumi always said he was. Sion wouldn’t be surprised if Nezumi scoffed at him. He didn’t. Instead, Nezumi grabbed Sion’s arms tightly and said in a stern voice.

“No Sion. Listen to me. Do NOT blame yourself. It was….” he looked away. “My fault. I handled it badly back there. I thought I could outrun everything, even you.” He lowered his head slightly. “I know I act as if I have everything sorted out, but I don’t. I was afraid and shaken after what happened. I fell back on the only thing I knew to do. I distanced myself from the problem, cutting off all emotional connections. I distanced myself from you….I blamed myself for what happened to do you in there. I felt as if I had lost you or never really knew you. I was afraid.” Sion listened to his words carefully. He knew this was hard for Nezumi and he wouldn’t repeat it.

Emotions swelled in Sion’s chest. Now with all their feelings out in the open, it felt like a weight was lifted from Sion. The darkness that lurked in the back of his mind recited slightly and that lingering doubt grew smaller. It was nice to get some closure after all those years of worrying and stressing. He felt light and free, almost glitter.

“Nezumi.” He couldn’t put into words what he was feeling. He wished he had read more. Maybe then he could spout some epic poetry about the overwhelming feelings that were swelling inside of him. Nezumi was here to stay. Nezumi would continue being by his side. At that moment Sion wanted Nezumi more than ever. Passion replaced anxiety and Sion wanted to hold Nezumi close, to snuggle with him, to kiss him. The cold forgotten Sion leaned in.

“Can you kiss me?”

Nezumi stared at him. “How did you come to that conclusion.”

Sion blushed. “No…I just mean…never mind.” It was stupid. He didn’t even know why he brought it up. His emotions had gotten the better of him.

“You want another promise kiss?” Nezumi asked.

“No.” Sion tried to sort his thoughts. “I don’t want the kiss to have any meaning.”

“All kisses have meanings, Sion.”

“Well, I want this one to not mean anything. It’s not a promise. It’s not a way to make sure you’ll stay with me or that nothing bad will happen again. I want to kiss you because you’re you…”

Nezumi surveyed him for a moment before smiling cockily. “My oh, are you hitting on me?”

“No!” Sion blushed “I just-” the rest of his sentence was cut off by Nezumi’s lips. It pressed against his own, transferring all his love and caring into Sion. Sion sighed happily, closing his eyes. The taste of Nezumi overpowered any lingering memories of the taste of blood and stale air. The sound of Nezumi’s heartbeat replaced the lingering memories of screaming and gunshots. The sight of Nezumi so close erased the bodies and men with guns. The feeling of Nezumi pressed against him replaced the coldness and pain.  All too soon however Nezumi pulled away. Sion stared at him dazed.

“Nezumi what are we?” Since they were getting everything else out the way he might as well ask.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean are we dating? I know you don’t like labels…”

Nezumi frowned thoughtfully. “Sure.” He shrugged. “It doesn’t really change anything but if it helps you understand that I’m here to stay then let’s go with that.”

“So we’re boyfriends now?” Sion’s eyes lit up excitedly. Nezumi rolled his eyes and flicked Sion’s nose.

 “Yep, now enough heart to heart. Let’s get home. We can watch one of those stupid romance movies you like so much.

“They’re not stupid!” Sion gasped. “They are sweet! Who doesn’t like watching people fall in love? You read romance stories.”

“I read classics.” Nezumi corrected. Not vapid chick flicks.”

“Fine if that’s how you feel, then let’s watch something else,” Sion grumbled.

“No way.” Nezumi shook his head. “You need something that comforts you. These movies are as far as one can get from reality.

A grin started spreading on Sion’s face. “Ok but I get to choose the movie.”

“I’m regretting this already,” Nezumi said dryly helping Sion to the car.

“Oh come on, you might like it!”

“I also might like eating tacks.” Nezumi rolled his eyes again. “Now buckle your seatbelt. The temperature is dropping fast and it’s cold.”

“Maybe it’ll snow.” Even as Sion said this a few snowflakes drifted down from the sky. He smiled as Nezumi closed the door and got into the driver seat. It was going to take a while but eventually, these memories would fade. Perhaps then, he would stop dreaming of Nezumi leaving him. As they pulled out of the mall parking lot, the snow picked up and drifted lazily down upon their warm car, silently and peacefully.

#no6secretsanta #no6 #no.6 #no. 6 #no 6 #nezushi #fanfiction #signpainter1 #hi im secretly satan #hi-im-secretly-satan #submission

[wankadoodles]

Stop supporting a game from a company that supports authoritarian countries. Just fucking stop.

ok, I’ve wanted to talk about this for awhile, so thank you for bringing this up.

I have extremely mixed feelings about ovw. I fucking hate blizzard. I loathe blizzard for what they did. It’s disgusting, rancid behavior and no amount of their ‘’’apologies’’’ (i use the term very loosely bc what they did wasn’t even close to an apology) is going to make up for what they did.

i have no plans to support them financially. im not giving them my money ever again in the future.Fuck OVW 2

that being said, me creating art of said characters isn’t supporting the company. I like the characters from ovw, but i loathe the company. as of right now, it’s still something that drives me to draw. and considering my declining health and the fact im strictly homebound, art is the only way i can make money. so whatever drives me to draw is good bc it helps pay for my medication/rent

i am in no way supporting the company. if anything, i’m the one making money off of them. 

drawing characters does not equal support for a company. 

#also you hate loathe a company and still want to help support the creatives that are part of that company

[breathinginthevapor]

Snowed in

Summary: You and Luke have the same friend group, but hate each other. On a skiing trip with your friends, you end up being trapped inside the cabin because of a blizzard, just the two of you.

A/N: Who doesn’t like 7.5k words about the amazingly cheesy subject of enemies-to-lovers? It’s cute, it’s fluffy, it’s hella long, so I think you should give it a read and tell me what you think! I’m still practicing writing long things where there actually happens somethng but I’m excited about this, also because I’ve finished this much faster than my usual writing. Enjoy!

T/W: mentions of alcohol, (very) slight nsfw, fluffff

Masterlist

He sighs annoyed, frustratingly running a hand through the curly blond locks, “Why does this seem awfully much like something our friends would do?”

“Oh yeah, I can’t believe I forgot our friends are all magicians who have summoned this blizzard and trapped us here,” you sarcastically snort and roll your eyes at his terrible stupidity.

Idiot

He mirrors your expression, blue irises turning towards to the ceiling as he reasons with a voice that sounds like you’re a child that doesn’t understand the simplest mathematical formula, “I’m not saying that, you wombat-”

“Wombat? ‘the fuck do you mean?” you interrupt.

“Australian curse-word for a stupid or slow person,” he explains with an arrogant smile playing on his lips before continuing, “As I was saying, they could possibly have seen a warning about the blizzard on the news and then go out for ‘sightseeing’ in a town where we all know there’s absolutely nothing even remotely exciting and oh, how convenient that they’ve put the two of us on cleaning duty in the meantime.”

He pauses to take a breath, expression smug.

Ugh, he’s such an ass

“They just had to hope that the blizzard would actually arrive and snow us in.”

You hate to admit it, but he has a point

Damnit

Besides, it’s true. Your friends have been trying to ease up the tension between you and Luke for a long time, and, knowing your friends, it would only take a certain amount of time for them to go to extreme measures.  

You sink down onto the sofa with a growl, not even trying to hide your frustration. It’s no secret you and Luke don’t exactly get along.

Some of your best and closest friends call him their brother, basically family after being in a band together for so long, but you’ve always thought their fame and success have gone to that pretty, little head of his.

Because it is pretty, his head.

Just like the rest of his body, if you’re being honest.

Pretty might even be an understatement.

He’s fucking gorgeous.

But he’s still an arrogant, self-centred, insolent, intolerable piece of shit, and you can’t believe you’re snowed in with him, of all people. This can’t possibly get worse.

Just as the thought passes through your head, you’re proven wrong when the light turns off.

“‘ucking hell, please tell me that wasn’t the electricity switching off right there,” he pleads desperately, using his incredibly long legs to reach the light switches with only three steps.

He pushes the buttons over and over, but nothing happens.

“Cut it, Luke, it won’t work.”

He doesn’t look like he registers your words as he keeps hitting the switches. Still, nothing happens.

“Save that energy for something else. If the lights are out, we’ll have to find some candles. It’ll start getting dark soon.”

Finally, he stops his movements and turns to look at you, biting his lip angrily, although you get the feeling he isn’t angry at you, but more at the circumstances.

“If you search the kitchen and bathroom, I’ll check the rooms and then we’ll make a plan for everything else, alright?” you propose, and though he certainly doesn’t look content with you taking control, he obeys and starts to search through the drawers.

You get up yourself, first walking into the room Ashton shares with Calum (you swear, those two will end up getting married someday) finding nothing remotely similar to a candle, even checking Ashton’s suitcase for one of those scented ones he always freaks out over.

Then, you check the room you share with Crystal (it’s been decided that Mike and Crys aren’t allowed to share a room because then none of you will get any sleep having to listen to them “bone” (Ashton’s term, not yours) all night) but there’s nothing candle-like in there either.

Before searching through Luke and Michael’s room, you walk into the empty one where Roy and Mitchy were supposed to sleep. Unfortunately, they got sick just before you left, both suffering from high fever and nausea. You’re guessing that they probably shared a kiss last time you all went out and ended up infecting each other.

Lastly, you search through drawers and suitcases and cabinets and under piles of dirty clothing, but in the end, you have to give up and cross your fingers that Luke has been luckier than you.

Just the thought of him makes your blood boil with anger.

But just like it seemed like his anger was directed towards the situation and not you, yours are set ablaze by the thought of your friends scheming this.

They’re all dicks, and you hope they freeze terribly

Speaking of freezing, isn’t it getting kind of cold in here?

You gasp, the realization hitting you.

“Luke!” you yell, forgetting all about your irritation towards the blue-eyed musician and instead focusing on the problem in hand.

“Yeah?”

His voice sounds muffled and weird, which makes sense when you walk back into the living room and see his long body leaning towards a cabinet. It seems like his whole head is in there, and you can’t help but laugh at the sight of him, posture reminding you of an ostrich.

He tries to escape but bumps his head against the top of the cupboard, letting out a loud groan and a string of curses.

Perhaps it wouldn’t normally be this funny, but with the adrenaline pulsing through your body, you crack up with laughter. It doesn’t get better when his head finally escapes, cheeks painted with a deep red blush.

“Did you find any candles?” he questions, voice stern but with a tone of embarrassment as he changes the subject of attention away from his own clumsiness.

It surprises you how easy you find it to read him. You shouldn’t know him that well, you don’t.

So why do you immediately conclude that the way he scratches his neck and licks his lips mean he’s uncomfortable?

To be fair, those things could be explained by the fact that they are universal behavioural patterns, but that doesn’t reveal why you feel the sudden urge to hug him, or why you even notice them in the first place.

Weird

You remind yourself that he asked you a question, and that it’ll be even weirder if you just stand here in silence, so you clear your throat, “No, did you?”

He shakes his head, curls bopping lightly.

They look reallyyy soft

Wow, Y/N, get a grip

You curse yourself far away and the assure your very worried brain that these thoughts only are caused by the knowledge that Luke will probably be your only company for many hours to come and maybe also the fact that he looked kind of cute when he got flustered and clumsy and yeah, you’ve always had a thing for cute, clumsy boys tripping over themselves or something so it’s probably nothing more than that or anything to worry about.

You take a step back, so your upper thighs are pressed against the dining table. You jump up, bum now placed securely on the table and feet dangling back and forth.

You’ve spent enough time fawning over Luke’s pretty face now, you decide, and so, it’s time to address the concerning realization you made before.

“So, I just realized that it’s getting colder in here and that the heaters probably shut down along with the lights.”

Almost by cue, you shudder, goose bumps rising on your skin at the cold air.

“We should probably try to light the fireplace if we don’t want to freeze to death.”

You glance at Luke, trying to figure out how he receives your words. Fortunately, he seems to agree, nodding his head slightly which gives you the courage to continue.

“You look like a boy scout type, so if you do that, I’ll try to message our friends and assure them we’re OK, so they don’t get worried,” you pause, wrinkling your nose and furrowing your eyebrows. “If the electricity is out, we can’t charge our phones.”

He snorts, rolling his eyes at you and immediately, he goes back to the Luke you’ve grown to hate.

Brilliant

“Outstanding observation, Ms. obvious,” he mocks you, and it makes you want to hit him.

Preferably in the balls so he’ll never get the chance to produce babies and make the world a worse place with his offspring.

Prick

“And also, did you just say that I look like a ‘boy scout’? First of all, that’s very prejudiced of you, and second of all, that’s certainly not what the beautiful blonde in my bed said this Tuesday morning.”

“Just shut up and do your job, Hemmings,” you command with a sigh, sliding down from the table while trying not to think about Luke and some pretty girl naked.

The thought makes your stomach churn, but it’s probably just the thought of your arch-enemy naked.

Disgusting

You grab your phone from the kitchen counter, relieved to find that there’s at least 20% back on it.

Finally, some good news

But while ignoring Luke’s quit mutterings about you being dominating and annoying as he throws wood into the hearth, you see your battery percentage fall to 12% and realise that you’ll have to be quick, ignoring the many calls and text from your friends.

“We’re snowed in but alright. electricity out so no phone charging. pls come back soon so we dont kill each other - luke and y/n”

You send the text to Ashton (figuring he’s the most responsible) just before your phone shuts down, screen turning black.

You sigh. No entertainment left besides Luke.

How fucking great

“Luke? How much battery does your phone have left?”

His gaze stays fixed on the hearth as he shrugs, back still turned towards you.

“Dunno. Think it’s on my bed.”

But to make things even worse, Luke’s phone is just as dead as your own. All contact to the outside world is cut off.

You sink down onto the floor, resting your face in your hand and trying to gather energy for this. Perhaps you should hide the knives somewhere or throw them out into the snow so none of you gets stabbed before the others get back.

“The fire’s looking fine, if my boy scout knowledge is anything to go from,” Luke mockingly announces, emphasising your former words.

There’s a pause where none of you say anything, only the low sound of snowflakes hitting the glass breaking the silence before he clears his throat, tone shifting to a softer one as he checks, “Hey, you’re ok?”

You can hear him come closer, the floor creaking beneath his feet. Then, you can feel his body right beside you, legs almost touching.

You look up, the worried expression on his face surprising you.

You swallow a lump in your throat and nod, “Yeah. Yeah, ‘m alright. Jus’ worried.”

He shoots you a small smile, one of the corners of his mouth more upwards than the other. It looks cute, actually, like he’s a young boy.

Oh God, Y/N, this need to stop

“It’ll be fine. The snow will be gone soon and then the others will come back,” he soothes.

You nod, biting your lip. You don’t dare to say anything, though, scared that you’ll cry if you do.

“Shame we don’t got any booze. Could ’ave been fun.”

You both chuckle.

“Yeah. It could,” you agree.

“What’s the plan now, scout leader?” he jokes, hitting your shoulder playfully with his.

“Think ‘s just called a scouter, Luke.”

He acts offended, mouth agape, “We’ve established that I’m the experienced scout here, so I think I’m right.”

You laugh at his exaggerated expression, “Alright, alright, boy scout. I think we should grab our mattresses and lay them in front of the fire to stay warm and then eat some leftovers.”

He salutes, standing up and exchanging his hand to you, helping you up as well.

You can’t help but notice how the air between you has changed, how none of you are annoyed by each other right now, and that he even comforted you.

It must be the weird circumstances you are in, and you must admit that it’s more tolerable to be stuck in the cabin if you’re on good terms with your “inmate”.

“See you in five,” he says as you walk out the door.

You turn your head, smiling and nodding at him before going to your room to move your mattress.

Turns out, mattresses are surprisingly heavy, and although sweat are beginning to appear on your forehead, you’ve only carried it a couple feet so far.

“Need help?” Luke offers, as he pops up in your door frame.

You’re about to snap at him, the exercise making you irritated and increase the risk of falling back into old habits, but then you take a deep breath and put on a forced smile, “‘s alright, I can do it myself.”

He starts laughing, especially when you grunt, out of breath, “Sure looks like it.”

The frosty stare you give him stops his laughter, though. “Alright, you may help,” you accept through gritted teeth.

“Since you asked so nicely,” he sarcastically agrees and rolls his eyes at you, but nonetheless grabs the farther end of the mattress and lifts it with ease.

Show-off

With Luke’s help, it doesn’t take long before your mattress is placed in front of the hearth, across from Luke’s.

“I’m gonna change into something more comfortable,” he announces, disappearing into his room, and you follow his lead, searching through your tiger-striped suitcase.

You settle on an old band shirt you stole from Michael once and a pair of black leggings that makes your ass look good.

Never hurts to look cute

But as you have stripped yourself of your jeans, bra and sweater, you suddenly hear a quiet voice behind you.

“Shit.”

You quickly pull the band shirt over your head and turn around, knowing that the fabric will cover you up from your neck to the top of your thighs.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t-” Luke gulps visibly, his Adam’s apple bobbing, “Is that-” he clears his throat, “Is that my shirt?”

A breath gets stuck in your throat as you look down.

“No? It’s Michaels?” you deny, but it sounds like a question, and you realize that this might not be Michael’s old shirt after all. Actually, now that you think about it, you kind of remember Luke wearing it once.

Well done, Y/N

He chuckles awkwardly, scratching his neck.

“Um, no. That- that isn’t- that’s my shirt. I think I left it at Michael’s once and then couldn’t find it, so um, that’s probably why,” he rambles, cheeks pink.

You feel the blush on your own cheeks, heat rushing to your face.

Fucking great

“Do you- do you want it back now or?” you then question, not knowing why the prospect of letting go of the shirt seems even harder now that you know it’s his.

Fortunately, he shakes his head, “‘s alright, you can keep it. Don’t listen that much to them anymore, and it definitely looks better on you anyway.”

The last comment just turns his cheeks even more red.

“Thank you,” you mumble, looking down, “would you- would you mind? I still need to put on pants.”

He nods, whole face now painted red as he closes the door gently behind him.

Oh lord. Luke fucking Hemmings just saw you in nothing but panties

It takes you unusually long to put on the leggings, using the few extra minutes to get your brain and heart beat under control.

“Wanna get something to eat?” you ask once you’ve entered the living room, your voice clearly startling Luke as he jumps.

You laugh, and it only makes you laugh harder when he eyes you like you’re his next murder victim.

“Sure,” he grumpily agrees, standing up from the mattress.

How can he look so good in pyjamas? Unfair

He’s wearing grey sweatpants and the 5sos rose hoodie you’ve had your eyes on since the boys released their new merch, and he looks terribly cuddly.

“Is lukewarm lasagne our only option?”

You nod tiredly, grabbing the lasagne from the non-functioning fridge.

“Can I get you anything to drink? Almost-sour milk, coke completely void of fizz or Ashton’s weird cranberry juice?” you jokingly offer, talking like you’re a servant in a restaurant.

He chuckles, shaking his head, “Think I’ll stick with water.”

“Such a bore.”

“Oh, what are you gonna have, miss exciting-choice-of-drink?”

You slowly walk closer, sensually eyeing him and forcing yourself to pretend you’re trapped in a female version of Magic Mike.

“I’ve heard celebrity saliva taken directly from the source should be incredibly… tasty.”

You lick your lips, and he lifts his eyebrows with an amused expression

“Oh, you have?”

Why do you always do weird shit like this?

You lean closer, you lips only inches apart from Luke’s when you suddenly take a step back and speak with your normal voice, “Yeah. But not if it comes from arrogant, blond assholes, and I’m not taking any chances today.”

He laughs, “Yeah ‘cause I’m the arrogant one here.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” you question, sensing a small hint of truth although his joking tone.

He shrugs and looks at you like he doesn’t know if you’re being serious.

You think he’s going to say something when he swallows, but the silence continues until you’ve grabbed your plate with lasagne and gone back into the living room.

“Don’t think I’m letting you go this easily, Hemmings. I’m just too hungry to perform a full interrogation right now.”

You playfully point at him with your index-finger, but it only makes him rolls his eyes at you with a wry grin.

“Can’t you just decide if you wanna be a scout leader or a police officer?”

His reference to the earlier joke makes you laugh, the air between you now light and friendly in a way you’ve never experienced with Luke. On the contrary, with him, it’s always been hostile and tense. And to be honest, you don’t really know how to act around him when it isn’t.

You’re still deep in thought when the two of you sit down by the fire, soon feeling your skin tingle with warmth.

As you eat the food in silence and drink a bit of water (your choice of drink ended up being just as boring as Luke’s), your eyes fixate on the flames.

“It’s quite beautiful, isn’t it? The fire?” you whisper, your calm tone matching the feeling in your body.

There’s something about watching the fire that gives you peace. It’s amazing to watch how the flames are almost purple in the middle and then turn more orange at the ends.

“It is,” Luke mutters, sounding like he’s out of breath.

You turn your head and look at him to find him watching you instead of the flames. But as soon as your eyes meet his, he turns his gaze away.

Huh. Weird

You place the empty plate on the floor beside you, not having the energy to clean it right now.

“What time is it?” you ask, suddenly feeling kind of sleepy.

Luke looks around, eyes landing on the clock above the pistachio coloured armchair.

“About ten p.m.”

“It’s been a long day,” you yawn, not even embarrassed to be tired so early. It’s truly been an eventful day with skiing in the morning and then this mess with getting snowed in.

“Already tired of my great company?” he jokes, but you sense a tone of worry.

You shake your head with a tired smile, “Surprisingly not. You’re actually not that bad, Hemmings.”

“Wow, thank you. That’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me,” he chuckles.

“Nooo it isn’t. I’m nice all the time,” you protest with a childish whine, sliding beneath the blanket and placing your head on the pillow with a content sigh. It feels good to be laying down, finally.

His cough is so overstated you immediately know it’s fake.

“Funny,” he states dryly.

You turn your head to look at him, trying to figure out if he’s joking.

“Aren’t I nice?” you then question, your genuinely worried tone seemingly surprising the blond.

“Well, you are right now. Still a pain in the ass, but nice enough,” he winks at you at his last words, and you throw a decorative pillow at him and giggle at the grimace he makes.

After a couple seconds, he elaborates, “But I dunno, nice isn’t really the word I’d use to describe your usual self. Not with me, at least.”

His last words are said lower than the rest, causing a hint of guilt to appear inside you.

You rest your head in your hands, elbows on the pillows.

“But you’re the one who isn’t nice!” you argue, and he looks at you with his eyes screwed up tightly.

“Only because you’ve been mean to me ever since we met.”

“What? I was mean to you? You started it!”

You realise how childish you sound, but it really is his fault.

Isn’t it?

“No, you did. Don’t you remember? Crys introduced us at that weird western bar, and you wouldn’t even talk to me the whole night, only the other guys.”

You can’t believe that his view on the night you met is so different from yours.

“I tried to! But every time I said anything to you, you looked at me like I was stupid and continued playing candy crush on your phone, and when-”

“I did not!” he cuts you off.

“Yes, you did! And I felt so rejected ‘cause I thought you were soooo hot and when I asked if anyone wanted to dance and looked at you only, you just grunted and left to get a drink!”

Fuck. You did not just say that

You did not just admit to Luke that you think he’s hot

He seems to have noticed, too, a smug grin playing on his pretty pink lips.

“You think I’m hot?”

“Thought. Past tense,” you dryly correct him, already growing annoyed at him again. Scratch everything you’ve though tonight about him not being as bad as you thought. He’s still an ass

“Sure about that, babe?”

His arrogant tone sets you off, making you abruptly stand up from your mattress.

“Don’t you fucking babe me, Hemmings. I’m not one of your goddamn groupies.”

Your words are spiteful, eyes blazing, and you enjoy seeing him squirm. He soon regains his confidence though, eyes cocky as they lock with yours.

“Just admit it, and I’ll show you a good time. We have all night, babe.”

You look at him with disbelief, and you see it in his face that he knows he’s crossed the line. Big time.

“I’d rather die, thank you.”

And you turn on your heel, ignoring his calls for you as you slam the door to your room behind you.

Normally, you’re down for weird, sexual jokes, but this one, with Luke, crosses the line. It’s a mix of tiredness, your low energy level making you react more extremely to things you wouldn’t be bothered by normally, and the fact that you finally bared yourself to Luke, and he was a dick about it.

To your own surprise, you feel your eyes turning wet.

You know you’re overreacting, and that it’s a stupid little thing, but when he knocks on your door, you still yell at him to go away.

Nonetheless, he doesn’t. Instead, he closes the door quietly behind him and walks over to where you sit on your bed.

“I’m really sorry, Y/N. For being a dick. An utter, complete dick.”

You can’t help but laugh at his choice of words, but because you’re crying, it sounds more like a grunt.

“Can I sit down?” he then requests, voice apologetic and gentle.

You nod, trying to dry your eyes with the back of your hands.

“It’s alright,” you hiccup, “‘m just overreacting.”

He shakes his head, removing your hands from your face and taking them in his instead, “No, you’re not. I dunno why I said those things, but you have every right to be mad and hurt by it.”

Perhaps he’s not as big an idiot as you thought. Also, is it just you or are his hands really soft? Like, not soft-soft, because his fingertips are a bit rough, probably caused by playing guitar, but the warmth of his hands is really nice against yours

Shit, your emotions are a rollercoaster today. Must be the whole snowed-in thing

“‘s just been a weird day, I guess,” you assure him, when you’ve got your sobbing under control.

“It really has,” he giggles, and you’re surprised by how cute it sounds.

There are so many parts of him. The cocky, mean one he usually is around you. The confident, talented, charismatic one you’ve seen him transform into on stage. The beautiful, funny one you’ve met today along with the cute, clumsy one that’s also peaked up today.

You definitely like the two latter best.

“I’m already cold again. Can we go back to the hearth and forget this ever happened?”

He nods, relieved, and lets go of one of your hands when he stands up. However, he still has hold of one of them, guiding you back. It feels a bit sweaty, but you don’t mind. At all. Actually, it’s nice and gives you a calm feeling in your stomach. Like everything’s going to be ok, and your friends will reach you soon.

And like there’s a small part of you that hopes they won’t get here too fast.

But nobody needs to know that

He only lets you go once you’ve returned to your mattresses, but then you stand up again.

He looks at you like one big question mark, and if you weren’t so exhausted from all the crying and fighting and general weird things today, you would have laughed.

“I need to brush my teeth.”

He nods, standing up as well and following close behind you on the way to the bathroom.

Should you take his hand? You want to take it, but would it make things weird?

Before you’ve decided on anything, though, you’ve reached the bathroom.

“‘m jus’ gonna go get my toothbrush from the other bathroom,” he states, quickly disappearing and then reappearing just as fast.

You’re the first one to make a weird face in the mirror, causing him to crack up laughing and spit toothpaste on the mirror which only makes you laugh so hard you almost swallow all your own toothpaste. Then, it becomes a contest to see who can keep a straight face when the other makes a particularly ugly grimace.

When you’ve finally spit out in the sink, your body feels relaxed and your eyes shine with amusement.

This mess definitely hasn’t been as bad as you thought it’d be.

You both crawl underneath your blankets after he has put more fire in the hearth to prevent it from dying.

You pull the blanket up, so it rests right beneath your eyes, returning the stare he shoots you.

“This has been a surprisingly not-awful day,” he admits, words making you laugh.

His face is lit up by the fire, painting his face with golden light while his lower body is shadowed. The colour makes him look almost angelic, like a sunset. He’s even more beautiful than normally.

You just hope you don’t have to pee tonight, because the fire is your only source of light.

“Yeah. ‘s been alright, actually. The lasagne was shit, though.”

He chuckles, “True, but it was almost as shitty yesterday, though. Michael’s just a really bad cook.”

“You’re one to talk,” you tease, knowing that Luke is, by far, the biggest mess in a kitchen.

“Hey! I actually don’t burn toast anymore!”

You erupt into a fit of laughter, his faked hurt and angry expression only making you laugh harder.

“My- stomach- hurts-” you gasp, still laughing.

“I think you’re overtired,” he says, smiling wryly at you once you’ve finally calmed down.

His words make you yawn, and then he giggles.

“Goodnight, Y/N,” he whispers, voice silky smooth.

“Goodnight, Luke.”

You close your eyes, still feeling the flames on your eyelids. It’s surprisingly nice to lay beside Luke, listening to his breathing and letting it lull you to sleep.

But just as you begin to drift up, Luke’s low voice wakes you, “Y/N? You awake?”

You release a yawn, eyes fluttering open.

“Yeah. What’s up?”

The silence takes over for a few seconds, before he continues, voice low and unsure, “What if we never get out?”

His words make you wake up completely, heart skipping a beat at the vulnerable tone of his voice. He, who always sounds so sure, now needs your assurance. Before today, you probably wouldn’t have granted it to him, but now, everything feels different.

“We will, Luke. I promise.”

You try to make your voice sound as sure and stern as possible and hope it helps him. In reality, none of you can promise anything related to the weather. You can just hope. But deep inside, you have a feeling this won’t get too serious. That your friends will save you soon, and that removes the fear.

“No, but what if we die in here? We don’t have wood or food enough for weeks. Perhaps a couple days, but not weeks.”

He sounds like a little boy scared of monsters, and your heart clenches at the sound. You don’t know him well enough to decide what will comfort him best, if he needs a touch or words or to talk about something else.

“I promise we’ll be fine,” you try, voice soothing, but it doesn’t feel like it’s enough. And it is scary, but you can’t really do anything but try to think of something else. Besides, you don’t remember hearing about anyone dying after being snowed in. Worst case, you’ll probably be stuck inside for a couple days and then come out, just a little hungry and tired. At least you won’t be dehydrated with all the snow.

“‘m just so scared. I don’t wanna die in here, Y/N,” he cries out, voice trembling.

Words apparently don’t help him much, so you decide to try a different path.

You lift off your blanket and pat the empty space on your mattress. He tilts his head, probably trying to figure out if you’re serious or not. He seems to decide your expression looks sincere and crawls away from his mattress to yours, sitting down at the verge of it.

He seems unsure of what to do with himself, lanky legs hitting his own mattress as he stretches them out.

“Lay down,” you mutter, watching him grow even more tense before he lays down his back, whole body stiff.

Have you crossed the line? Is this too much?

You decide to put the doubting thoughts to the back of your head and instead just ask him.

“Is this alright?” you question as you gently turn him around to face you.

He nods, Adam’s apple bobbing lightly. His blue eyes lock with yours, the usual icy colour softened and warmed by the flames. Now, they look like a cloudless summer sky.

You reach out, tucking a curl behind his ear. His breath hitches in his throat when your fingertips come in contact with the soft skin behind his ear, index finger lightly tracing down.

You don’t realize you’ve held your own breath as well before he suddenly, like snapping out of trance, reaches out and tugs you closer. His arm drapes across your hip, hand pressed against the swell of your back, and you have to remind yourself to breathe.

As you lay there and look at each other, legs touching, warm breaths colliding and his fingers gently caressing your back, you can see how his breathing pattern slows, and he calms down until it almost sounds like he’s asleep.

You can’t help but look at him, take in every small detail of his appearance.

His curls are a frazzled mess, but he is still beautiful. So unfairly beautiful and cuddly and gorgeous, pale skin contrasting to the grey of his hoodie.

Without thinking, you grab the string coming from neck of the fabric, considering pulling it and strangling him a little, but then deciding to put up his nose instead.

He throws his head back at the sudden sensation, then laughing.

“Weirdo,” he mutters, but his tone sounds so affectionate you feel your heart skip a beat.

He then grabs a tuft of your hair and places it over your lips, creating a moustache. You pout your lips and enjoy the way he laughs, eyes squeezed shut and dimples clear on his cheeks.

You’ve never really been close enough to him to properly see the freckles that adorn his face, but this close, they only add to his charm.

Everything about him does

“Your eyes are really blue,” you state.

Why the fuck do you say stupid stuff like that? You and your big mouth

He chuckles, a content smile on his lips even after the laughter have died down.

“And yours are really pretty,” he sheepishly compliments you, and you feel your cheeks heat up.

Stupid hormones

“’m really glad you think I’m hot, Y/N,” he admits, referring to your earlier confession.

“I thought we were done talking ‘bout that!” you protest, hitting his chest lightly and hiding your face in the grey fabric of his hoodie.

“You didn’t let me finish, wombat,” he jokes, repeating his earlier ‘nickname’ for you and gently pushing you away from his chest so you’re facing each other again.

However, his tone has shifted majorly, the playful one gone and replaced by a more serious, perhaps even nervous one, “I’m glad you think I’m hot, Y/N. Because, ever since the day I met you, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about how stupidly pretty and funny and amazing you are,” he pauses, visibly swallowing, “And it absolutely killed me that you always seemed to hate me.”

“You did act like an asshole, though,” you remind, earning a small nervous chuckle from him.

He bites his lip, seemingly awaiting your answer.

“But I’ve felt the same way. And today, I dunno, it’s been nice. We’ve spent so much time hating each other, but I really hope we can stay friends after this.”

Friends

You taste the word, feeling it turn bitter on your tongue. You don’t want to be just friends with Luke.

He retreats a bit, looking hurt and insecure and rejected, and it makes your skin itch. The tall, broad man across you shrinks to a little nervous boy under your eyes, and you hate it. You hate that you’ve somehow made him uncomfortable, and you hate that you hate it so much. But what you hate the most is the fact that you can no longer hide the fact that Luke is fascinating to you. And that you care for him.

“Yeah,” he mutters, biting his lip and looking down, “Friends.”

“Have I said something wrong?” you whisper, slowly stretching out your hand to touch his chest through the soft fabric.

Your fingertips trace light patterns on it as a breath hitches in his throat.

“Think it’ll kill me to be just friends with you, to be honest,” he admits, voice thick and vulnerable.

The confession makes your cheek heat up, matching the warmth that spreads through your stomach, but there’s still a doubting voice in the back of your head reminding you that this man despised you until a couple hours ago. And if his negative feelings through years can change this fast, these new positive one can as well.

You think your heart will break if that happens.

“We don’t even know each other, though. This is the first time we’ve even talked,” you argue, voice week and unsure. Because, damn, you want to give in, to melt into his touch, his lips, and bury your hands in his curly locks and feel his warm breath on your neck and-

Wow, Y/N, calm down

“Dunno ‘bout you, but I’ve been watching you for years,” he starts, eyes suddenly widening, “In a very non-stalkery way, I swear!”

You giggle, getting his point but still liking the way he trips over his own words. It’s adorable.

He clears his throat, shooting you a small tentative smile.

“‘m just trying to say that I know you, Y/N, at least a bit. I know you like waking up a bit early, even on weekends, so you have the whole day in front of you. I know you like making sarcastic remarks and that you write in your spare time. I know you like experimenting with clothes and hairstyles, that you used to be a fan before you met us, that you draw real’ shitty and that you did a lot of sport before moving here.”

You can’t believe he’s picked up on so many things.

“I probably know a lot more about you, and there’s surely twice as much I don’t know, but ‘m just sayin’ that I want to get to know you. And that everything I’ve learned so far has only made me like you more.”

You don’t think after that. Instead, you move your head forward in one swift movement, clearly catching Luke off guard when you press your lips against his. However, he quickly catches up and moves his mouth in sync with yours, letting your tongue part his lips and swirl around his own. It’s a hungry, almost aggressive kiss, and you fight for dominance while rolling around so you’re straddling him.

He tastes like toothpaste with a hint of lasagne, and his lips are a little chapped but feel amazing against yours.

If someone had told you just hours again that this would happen, you would have shaken your head and called them insane. Now, the only one you’d consider calling that is yourself for not doing this sooner.

Why have you been so stupid?

“Wow,” he mutters when you part, smiling sheepishly and biting his lip. You watch as it turns pink when his teeth let go, barely fighting the urge to be the one to bite them instead.

“Before I kiss you again, I’ll just say that I second everything. And that you won’t get rid of me anytime soon, little scout.”

You pinch his cheek at your last words, making him laugh, teeth spread in a tired, happy grin. His fingers slip under your (or perhaps you should say his) shirt and bury themselves into the soft skin beside your hips which causes you to hiss and then kiss him feverishly.

He gently shoves you away to look at you with a playful twinkle in his eyes.

“You could’ave just told me you were into roleplay, scout leader,” he teases with a wink.

“Shut up and kiss me, stupid boy scout.”

He follows orders and lifts his head to reach your lips, nails dipping deeper into your skin in the process. In response, you reach under his hoodie and place your hand on his stomach, feeling the warm skin on his defined abs.

Your hands trail all over his abdomen, living out fantasies you’ve hidden for the past many years as you feel him tense under your touch, muscles flexing and growing harder.

But it’s not enough for you.

You break the kiss apart once more to pull at the hoodie, waiting for him to lift his back and head off the mattress so you can remove it completely.

First, he looks questioningly at you, until the tug at the bottom of the fabric finally makes sense to him and the inquiring expression turning into an excited one.

When he’s finally shirtless, a shadow of insecurity dances across his face for just a few moments.

“Could look at this forever,” you praise him, seeing how he relaxes and untenses at your comment.

“‘s not fair ‘m the only one not wearing a shirt,” he murmurs, winking cheekily at you.

“Why don’t you do something about it then?”

He mutters something under his breath, Adam’s apple bobbing and his swallowing visible. Then, he grabs the hem of your shirt and lifts it up, cursing when it gets stuck.

You giggle before wiggling out of it, cheeks heating up under his eyes that fixate on your breasts as you throw it across the floor.

“Holy fuck,” he groans, throwing his head back so the prominent vein on his neck becomes even more visibly. “You’ll be the death of me, sweetheart.”

You can’t control the smile that creeps onto your face at the nickname, leaning down to kiss him again, chest pressed against his. His tongue explores your mouth, gracing over your teeth, and you moan at the sensation before he-

“We’re back guys! Hope you’re both alive!” Ashton yells, sounding like he jumps the three feet from the front door to the living room where you and Luke lie.

“Fuck, shit, fuck, damn, shit,” Luke swears, looking at you with wide eyes but besides that lying almost frozen in his position.

“Where you’re hidin- oh.”

Ashton stops in his tracks, eyeing you with wide eyes, clearly taken back. Then he turns around, trying to give you privacy as you search for a least something to cover your upper body.

“Don’t come in here, guys! They’re not exactly safe for work,” Ashton yells, chuckling along with his last words.

Lame

You gain hold of Luke’s grey hoodie, pulling it over your head as fast as possible. Your cheeks are basically burning, and when you look at Luke who’s now sitting up after you’ve rolled down from him, his whole upper chest is painted pink, the colour going all the way up his neck to his face.

“You can look now,” you assure them, trying to raise your voice but feeling it wavering.

Ashton slowly turns around and the others step in, eyeing you carefully and puzzled.

“What’s going on?” Crystal softly asks, cocking her head to the side and then noticing Luke’s bare torso and how you both are blushing messes. “Have you? Did you?” She starts, clearly not knowing what to think.

And you get it. You really do. When they left, not more than seven hours ago, you were begging her to take you with them so you wouldn’t have to spend time with Luke and now, they’ve caught you red-handed.

“Whose shirt is this? Pretty sure I’ve seen both of you wearing it,” Calum asks, holding up the band tee you discarded not more than five minutes ago. “Have this been going on for some time?”

You quickly shake your head, “No! No, nothing’s happened between us, I swear!”

You look at Luke through the corner of your eye, seeing the way he tenses at your words, and you curse yourself far away.

Well done, Y/N

“I’m gonna go put on a shirt,” Luke mutters, standing up and walking out of the room with his head bowed.

You decide to follow him, running after him like a lost puppy as you yell, “Luke, please wait! I didn’t- Luke, just wait, let’s talk!”

He stops in the hallway, looking back at you over his shoulder. It seems like he’s debating whether to hear you out or not, but then he bites his lip before walking into his room, letting the door stay open.

You take it as an invite to come in and gently close the door behind you, leaning against its cold frame.

“That came out wrong, ‘m sorry.”

He snorts, rummaging through his suitcase and then throwing on a plain black shirt. But he doesn’t say anything.

“Luke, I meant everything I said today. This has changed everything between us and I’m glad it has, but I still need to adjust to it, and I just didn’t know if this was the right time to tell everything to our friends.” You walk away from the door, stepping closer to him and lowering your voice when you continue, “I think I just wanted to enjoy it myself before having to share it with anyone.”

He finally smiles, but still doesn’t look 100% convinced. It’s funny, how you until today thought he was this overly confident and self-assured prick while he’s just as insecure and self-doubting as any other at the age of twenty-something.

“But you’re right. I don’t think we have a choice but to tell them. And perhaps it’s better anyway, to get it over with now instead of dealing with it later.”

“Later? You mean?”

You nod, smiling. “I told you, Luke. You’re not getting rid of me.”

You kiss him, this time gently and carefully, trying to savour the feeling of his lips against yours and the way you can smell his cologne along with a little hint of sweat and musky boy.

“Unless you want to, of course,” you quickly add, causing him to shake his head.

“They deserve to wait a couple minutes, don’t they?” he whispers, looking at your eyes and then down at your lips. And then he kisses you again, and you can’t believe how it still feels just as amazing as it did the first time.

Yeah. No harm in letting them wait a little.

#5sos #5 seconds of summer #5sos writing #5sos blurb #5sos one shot #5sos fic #5sos angst #5sos fluff #luke hemmings #luke hemmings writing #luke hemmings blurb #luke hemmings one shot #luke hemmings fic #luke hemmings angs #luke hemmings fluff #enemies to lovers!luke hemmings #calum hood #calum hood writing #calum hood blurb #calum hood one shot #calum hood fic #calum hood angst #calum hood fluff #ashton irwin #ashton irwin writing #ashton irwin blurb #ashton irwin one shot #ashton irwin fic #ashton irwin angst #ashton irwin fluff

[arcticdementor]

Ok, I'll do my best to try, because reading some of the galaxy brained takes about China and the Chinese government have cemented in my head the agonizing fact that most people prefer simple narratives and have little understanding of history, let alone an understanding of how history affects the present.

This will be long and requires some groundwork on explaining the modern Chinese mindset as a whole. Disclaimer: I am currently in Hong Kong, I hold British citizenship by birth and frequently do business with Chinese companies.

1) Big China and Collective Society.

This is something most people really don't grasp the scale of. To assign shared characteristics to fully one quarter of the human race would be broad enough to make those descriptors basically meaningless. Dividing sections of China along any non-geographical lines, economic lines, socio-political lines, this is all incredibly difficult. Despite a massively homogenous Han Chinese population, just looking at Chinese food culture would tell you just how freakishly diverse and different each section is. There are different dialects, accents, lifestyles all across China. When people say "China" it is often completely unhelpful when it comes to pinning down what they mean. For the sake of this discussion, we're assuming that we're talking about the type of Chinese person that the central government has taken pains to portray to the world. Which is, the middle class, consumerist, worldly and tech-savvy Han Chinese. Native of a Tier 1 city (e.g. Shanghai or Beijing).

Most Chinese people are aware of just how big the country is and how difficult a task it is keeping it all together, on a scale I've seen very few people outside of China appreciate. There is a real ethos of "tianxia", or the concept depicted in the Jet Li movie Hero (criticized for being state propaganda at the time, it was largely missed that most Chinese understand, if not support, this thesis). Chinese see themselves as sharing in a common destiny and collective group ethos. This can be traced back to Confucianism - a young person can have said to have "come of age" when they have fully adapted to and understood their role within a harmonious society. This both gives the common Chinese a shared purpose and skin in the game. They literally feel a stake in the collective power and status of their own country. This is not the flag-waving nationalism that the western nations consider passe, but a belief that China must hold together as a shared country and people.

…

Chinese pride is young, and very damaged. There is a sense of grievance and hurt pride that has never been resolved, and this is occasionally glimpsed in everything from their foreign policy to their mass market serialized literature. The reasons behind this can be traced back to a century of colonialism and rampant opportunism by the world powers during the 19th and 20th centuries. Chinese histories and memories are very long, and despite happening a few centuries ago this is very fresh in people's minds. An old joke about China's view of history has the Chinese waiting to see if the French Revolution is still a good idea. China has never forgotten that despite a massive population and huge amounts of territory it fell from being one of the world's oldest civilizations to becoming the "weak man of Asia", and their modern politics has mostly been about resolving this pride. There is a shared belief, or a hidden form of mass psychosis, that China has been denied its destiny as the foremost world power, either through treachery, the work of foreign powers, or other means. Even worse is the proof that the old rival Japan, a similarly impoverished nation, had managed to drag itself onto the stage of the world powers in the late 19th/early 20th century. This has caused some real complexes in the Chinese psyche.

Adding to this is the understanding of recent history. Coupled with historical understanding that ruling China is an incredibly difficult job and only people like the legendary Emperor Qin were able to unify the country in the first place, China collectively remembers the much more recent history of the Communist revolution, the Great Famine, the Cultural Revolution, and more. The fact that China's current financial power and global status is largely a result of Deng Xiaoping's market reforms and liberalism is besides the point - the defining thing that most Chinese in the older generation take away is that revolution led to some truly fucking heinous shit and a death toll enacted on its population greater than any ever seen in the history of mankind, and as a result they have no taste for another revolution. The government stays in power largely because the older generation are aware of just how much death is involved with a changing of the guard. There is also no promise that whatever comes to replace the government will be in any way better than what came before it. Sure, the kuomintang government were corrupt as sin, but was that really preferable to having everyone starve because nobody knew how to farm land for years?

…

It is no surprise that the most radical nationalist pro-Chinese are the young students sent overseas to study in western universities. The Chinese attitude towards these western academies is not great; they attend for credentials and status, but these places of study have become cultural battlegrounds and ground zero for showing Chinese students that the Western societies and arguments are fractured and impotent. Students are given courses and humanities curriculum that demonize western civilization and its achievements, and emphasize the breaking down of existing power structures. Of course this would lead to nationalist students violently attacking pro-Hong Kong protesters and demonstrations, as both sides consider each other indoctrinated suckers (and one sees the other as trying to destroy the power structure of the country). An attack on China and Chinese identity is both a dangerous attack on national and societal cohesion and stinging Chinese pride. They have been handed something that can be easily interpreted as an attempt by foreign powers to fracture the unity of Chinese society, cause chaos in their country, and stop China from achieving its destiny of world #1 power and subjugator of other nations.

…

Many people have asked me why Chinese people put up with their government being totalitarian, so many human rights abuses, this and that. Social credit system, organ harvesting. No end of horrible things we hear about Chinese government. The corruption. The dark things the CCP has done to consolidate its power. Tiananmen.

Well, the unfortunate answer is that China, as a collectivized group, wants to fuck over people who looked down on them, even if it means causing itself grievous injuries in the process. It's painful to admit, but the regular Chinese is perfectly okay with the Uighur death camps, even if the government goes to some length to pretend they don't exist. After all, surely they must be doing something to destabilize and weaken Chinese society if the government is putting them in death camps. Don't you know Uighurs can be unpredictable, barbaric, and violent? And if Chinese society is destabilized and weak, the Chinese people won't achieve our common destiny of being the #1 world power.

Chinese people don't care that there is anti-Chinese sentiment internationally. In fact, it even helps. It plays into the narrative that people hate China now because China is strong.

Privately, Chinese people will celebrate the NBA and Blizzard backing down in fear, because they equate this with power and respect. It is perfectly natural for the NBA to apologize for offending the Chinese government, because this is a display of strength. How will you be able to tell that you are stronger than someone, if they are not underneath your boot heel?

…

China has gone from largely a nation of rice farmers to modern state with terrifying speed. They are now the world leader in 5G communications technology, technological integration into daily life, the world's biggest consumer market. By every single metric, logistics, travel, entertainment, living standards, Chinese life has gotten better. And they are completely aware of this. Twenty years. Thirty years?

…

So there is an unspoken pact between the government and the people. In exchange for getting rich, the people have willingly given up their freedoms. Because you can't eat freedom. Many of the social problems in China are rooted in this short-term manner of business thinking; tomorrow, there may be trouble. Maybe the country would be in trouble. I'll never see this customer or client again. Why bother maintaining anything? If I can get a benefit out of cheating, why wouldn't I do it?

Chinese, especially the older generation, understand existential failure on a level the western nations don't. They don't take anything for granted, including the attitude of the government (and this has in fact driven a lot of asset flow out of China into other nations). They remember the Cultural Revolution, the societal madness that took hold when roving gangs of diehard Communists went around lynching people who wore glasses or owned books. They understand that the possibility of that shit happening again, or coming for them, is non-zero. So the attitude is to use every trick in the book to make sure that they come out on top.

…

There is a recurring belief from Americans that most Chinese are brainwashed by their authoritarian government, and if they only understood democracy, knew about the atrocities of the CCP, or were exposed to the taste of an All-American cheeseburger, there would be a great awakening and China would truly "become free". While certain elements of brainwashing and information control are most certainly true, there is a certain level of arrogance in this method of thinking.

For one, this viewpoint has completely ignored the possibility that China already knows exactly how cheeseburgers taste, all about the atrocities of its own government, and about democracy.

…

China's political and social state project has openly stated its intent to utilize and take advantage of what worked before, while adapting it to fit their own situation. Throwing away what doesn't work, surgically excising elements they consider dangerous or don't like. 'Socialism with Chinese characteristics'. 'China Dream'. These are adapted policies, methods, and ideals, refocused through the lens of the Party. Yes, they are stealing. They are also adapting.

Any good propagandist will tell you that the ideological battle is the first battle that must be won, and on this note America has failed utterly at defending democracy and personal freedom. This is not by Chinese design; rather, a combination of factors including financial inequality, changing demographics, chaotic governance, political point-scoring and media clickbait have done their best to demonstrate that American government is both unstable and spectacularly inept, and no longer believes in the values set down in the Declaration of Independence. America has considered the argument for democracy so thoroughly won that it has forgotten to defend it, or even the value of it. Into this void steps the Chinese government.

…

It is impossible not to watch. The US is the world's only really global power, and the current measuring stick by which all global powers are compared against. China wants what the US has, but is going to attempt to do so without the mistakes the Americans have made. After all, American empire is ending, or so everyone says. The bars are equalizing. America was a leader in space travel, so China will become a leader in space travel. America was a leader in world culture and entertainment, so China will become a leader in world culture and entertainment. America has a strong military, so China will have a strong military.

…

To leave with one last note, in the online kerfluffle surrounding Hong Kong's current situation, Chinese netizens think it's fair play to "support 9-11" and advocate for California seceding from the United States, as payback for a mistaken belief that the fight in Hong Kong is over independence. When confronted with the fact that edgy teenagers in America have been making 9-11 jokes barely a week after the tragedy and a non-zero amount of non-Californians in the US would also prefer it if California sunk into the ocean, they are legitimately surprised. The idea that this kind of independence would be preferred by both parties is almost completely alien to the Chinese, who wonder and are surprised at the fact that Americans apparently wish their country to be weaker.

#reddit #the motte #read the whole thing

[landofshame]

Ok, so, I wanted to say something about the Blizzard “boycott”. Because, being an avid wow player and stream watcher, I’ve been hearing about it nearly non stop since blizz’s newest shithead move took place, obviously.

Most importantly I want to say something about the people who have been passive aggressively posting about supporting this boycott, demanding people instantly remove any blizzard ip from their computers and hence become the stalwart warriors bravely supporting the protestors fighting for human rights. /sarcasm

Do the words “no such thing as bad publicity” mean anything to you? Or how about “attention is currency in capitalist society”? 

Blizzard does not care that you are trying to boycott (which doesn’t work btw), it doesn’t care you know it won’t step on China’s toes. It does not care. And I hate to break this to you, and this will sound rough but it’s absolutely true: The idea that “I am the consumer with money and so I have the real power”, is false. Blizz already has your money, and they will continue to get it, from every and any source. They are a multimillion company in a capitalist society. They will win every time.

And you not playing overwatch or wow anymore is not going to do anything about that, and it’s not going to help hong kong either.

WoW retail has about 2 million players. WoW classic has 1.5 million. Heroes of the Storm also 2 million. Overwatch 40 million. Hearthstone 100 million.

Statistically, blizz does not get most of their income from wow subs, especially not old ones. Because that’s money they already GOT. Those players that buy a 6 month subscription? They already have that person’s money, what they care about is new money. So a big part of their money comes from the sale of lootboxes, hearthstone packs, and in-game wow store.  And do you remember what game companies do when it comes to lootboxes? Do you remember how they use well known gambling tactics to get people addicted to those How they specifically use psychology to get people to buy. These people are also victims of this system. They are also people that need support. Yelling at those people doesn’t help a damn thing, except maybe blizzard itself. And again, doesn’t do shit for hong kong.

I know you mean well. I know you think you’re doing something. I know society has lied to you to make you think boycotts work. It has taught you that bc you are a consumer that you have power. 

But you don’t, and it won’t work.

Not only will this “boycott” not do anything, it also shifts the focus from the main objective (supporting hong kong) to a massive sidetrack , namely “not consuming blizzard products makes me a better person”. This is a move that we people on the left ALWAYS seem to make, and it’s one of the big reasons why we never seem to GET anywhere. We lose track of the important part and start attacking ourselves. And once again, attention IS currency. Taking it away from the hong kong protests is really not helping anyone. Eyes on them is what they NEED. And you screaming at a person because they bought some Hearthstone packs is not the way to do it.

And another thing, ever heard of a “company fund”? When you buy a blizzard product, like a lootbox, do you think you personally wrote a check that goes into the hands of the ceo instantly? No it goes into a specific fund, and that fund gets broken up into employee wages, ceo wages, maintenance costs, etc.  The ceo always gets their money. If that fund somehow shrinks, it’s not the ceo paycheck that shrinks with it. It’s not them that will be laid off.

So if a boycott is useless, what can you do?

Once more with feeling: attention is currency. What hong kong needs is all eyes on them. They need press support, they need their protests filmed, they need to get the message out, and they need to keep their people out of chinese prisons. By all means, keep sharing blizzard’s bullshit excuses and point out the flaws in them. Tweet at ceo’s, hold up signs, let them know that you noticed what they did, and that you support hong kong above everything. 

And if you stop playing a blizz game bc it makes you feel bad, that’s fair. But don’t think it makes you a better person, or a better leftist than others. This is not about you, personally, feeling better. It’s about hong kong.

Here’s a link to support the hong kong free press

[iggytheperson]

“The development of Eva and Fate post-negima/pre-uq holder feels almost as though someone just told Ken to switch their personalities around” - an analysis, product of my growing irritation with this bullshit.

So let’s see. On the right we have Eva, an ancient evil demon queen who’s killed thousands if not millions of people, attempted to murder our original ten y/o protagonist, made him work to the point of near death and then berated him for not being able to do better, threw a 15 year old girl into a blizzard buck-naked and forced her to live there for two weeks straight, told another 15 year old that experiencing happiness instead of working herself to the bone every waking moment would cause her loved ones to die, and was generally just kind of a horrible person. Regardless of the sympathetic circumstances that caused her to be like this and the fact that her behavior is completely understandable in context, she’s a proud villain who revels in tormenting people.

On the left we have Fate, a 20 year old who was taught from birth that his purpose in life was to save the world. That method of saving the world is to send the whole world to heaven before the planet becomes unsuitable for living, but from Fate’s perspective it is literally the only way those souls can be saved from an eternity of suffering. His hobbies include saving war orphans and making sure they can live comfortably and happily for the rest of their lives. He has five adopted daughters. Regardless of the fact that some of his actions are misinformed, he always has everyone’s best intentions in mind and is, all in all, a good guy.

One of these people went on to create a non-profit organization that works to make the world a better place, sheltering orphaned minorities and helping the poor.

One of these people went on to create a couple hundred child soldiers and to execute a plan that ultimately puts millions and millions of people in danger, for the sake of one guy.

At this point it all of this already begs the question of what the fuck, but let’s dissect this even further.

So, Evangeline AK Fucking Mcdowell, a woman who, after many centuries of being miserable and having no joy or hope to hold onto, was finally able to make a life for herself with people who loved her, was then was forced to watch her decades-old comrades fly off into battle and meet fates worse than death. 

Then she finally joined the hero business so she could help her surrogate son, one of the only people left in her life that she could ever possibly have room left in her heart to care for besides Chachazero and Chachamaru. 

Then both her century’s long best friend and her son fly off into a heroic last battle and never return.

Her first moment in hundreds of years that she uses to do the right thing is a moment that completely and devastatingly betrays her. Evangeline has been given every single reason to go back to hating heroism as she always has, and every reason to be completely destroyed by this turn of events. There is no logical reality where the mentally grounded and well intentioned Yukihime we see throughout all of UQ Holder would exist. There’s no reason she would continue being a goody two shoes when heroic bravado is what ended the only happy segment of her long and painful life. It’s just dumb and weird. 

Her clingy attachment with Touta, the only thing she has left even resembling her late son, would make sense if it was actually portrayed like that instead of just her being a normal, nice, regular mom. But alas, Yukihime is so abstracted from her original personality she might as well have be another character.

And on Fate’s side of things, we have another 180 of moral compass.

There is no world wherein the Fate Averruncus of Negima would exploit a child as a means of paying off bills. There’s no world wherein he would do something that would lead up to that, nor where he would work with a company that condones such things. Fate is a man who, at ten years old, murdered his abusive brother to protect a child he barely knew, and his morals aren’t any worse than they were back then.

The reason Fate chose to go against his master’s will at the end of Negima, was not the result of some magical spell being lifted or other such bullshit as one would expect from a lesser story, it was the result of him realizing that the fate of the world could be a better one if he and Negi worked together. Because Fate has been raised from birth to pursue the most logical, rational option that would allow for as many people as possible to be happy. 

And there’s no goddamn way Fate would risk the world for Negi. Not the immediate world nor its distant future. He’s been willing to see his crush dead just for ticking him off once, if Negi told him after years of trust and friendship “Hey I’m going to be a threat to the world soon, kill me, ok?” Fate would stand by that request. He would be heartbroken, yes, but Fate has been groomed since birth to be a world-saving super soldier.

I just. don’t understand?? how this happened??? who thought this was ok?????

Again, if it were switched around, it would make sense. Eva is a bad person. Straight up. If UQ Holder had told me that she went full blown sociopath again after Negi’s assimilation into the Mage Of Beginnings out of a desire to save him that superceeds her concern for humanity’s wellbeing? Yeah. Ok. A bit extreme given that she was more of a detached stepmom to him than anything, but certainly less logically suspect than her starting a charity organization. And given the entirety of Fate’s characterization, that charity organization is exactly what I’d presume he’d do without any kind of sequel telling me that. The whole point of his character in the first place is that he’s a good person whose plan to save everyone and everything in the universe just so happens to involve pieces that are at odds with the hero’s goals (and also includes hiring murdery demons, but to be fair, if the demons are busy helping him save the world then that also preoccupies them from doing evil). And it’s not like UQ Holder has entirely forgotten about this but...child soldiers. Child soldiers. C h i l d  s o l d i e r s. That’s not. Conceivable. As being anything that Fate would have ever, ever participated in. He’d have turned the guy who suggested it to stone, dumped the guy into the ocean, given him immortality and unpetrified him so that he’d drown forever for even hinting at the idea of hurting a child.

It’s dumber than dumb, folks.

#negima #uq holder #evangeline ak mcdowell #fate averruncus #i have a long long laundry list of things i absolutely hate about uq holder but this is. at the top of the list.

[d3dans]

Why do people bend over backwards to 'protect' rich ass corporations that couldn't care less about their well-being from 'hate' which is valid criticism over their expensive company that clearly had the capability of doing better purposefully NOT doing better for profit reasons alone??? like buddy I know you love your games but if you think for one second blizzard cares about you you're uh...wrong sorry. they just want your money and compliance.

because when ppl love a thing a lot they’ll get super defensive over it and I get that

like if you mocked things I liked yrs ago I’d have been up in arms but the thing is, eventually ppl gotta learn that you can’t blindly just love smth, you gotta understand that everything has flaws and its ok, and sometimes ppl are gonna point them out but that doesn’t yank away ur right to like smth unless its really bad like whitewashing or sexism n shit

#robboyblunder #Ask

[brucewinterwonderland]

Snow Day

Betty takes Bruce out during what he calls an ‘insane blizzard’.

Betty knocks on the boy’s dorm labeled 309 and waits patiently. She has her ski cap on along with a purple sweater covered over with a puffy black jacket. She knocks on the door again a little impatient this morning. She hears shuffling and some squeaking sounds come from behind the door. She raises an eyebrow as the door open and laughs seeing the man covered head to toe in various layers of warmth.

“Really Bruce,” she laughs, “you look like an overweight brown bear. How many layers do you even have on?”

Bruce pulls the mittens from his stuffed pocket and speaks through the red scarf covering his face. “I get cold easily.”

“Bruce it’s not even that cold out and you’ll warm up too fast with all those layers,” she chuckles as he sighs waddling out the door. He locks the apartment behind him before looking down at her.

“Ok I’m out of my room now where are we going?”

“Ugh you make it sound like I’m taking you out to torture you,” she says grabbing his mitten covered hand leading him towards the stairs.

“This is torture,” he squeaks, or it might just be the layers of clothing chaffing against each other. “It’s below 10 degrees outside with a windchill that makes it feel like -15 degrees. We should be staying inside not outside,” he says worried as they approach the side doors to his dorm building.

Betty turns around and stares up at him glaring. “I’m in only three layers and I’m fine. It’s not going to be that bad. Plus, afterwards we can get something hot to eat or drink. You know they have dollar hot chocolates at the library.”

“You mean the library covered in snow and icicles and looks more like an igloo ice castle? Their hot chocolate is probably ice by now,” he grumbles.

Betty looks up at the grey sky and lets out a loud sigh before her eyes land on Bruce’s eyes hidden behind his glasses and the enormous red scarf covering half his face. “Bruce come on stop whining and just enjoy the adventure.”

She snatches his hand and begins to pull him along campus.

“Enjoy the cold she says,” he grumbles allowing her to pull him along. It’s not as if he has a choice. Betty is just trying to help. Really winter time is not his favorite time of year. It’s around Christmas time and his birthday is in December something he hates. He doesn’t hate it just because most people forget and focus on Christmas though that is part of it, he just only has a few memories of his mother and most of them are during winter. It’s more bittersweet than anything when he thinks of her and what she would be like or if she would be proud of him now.

He feels Betty pinch his hand as he complains again and sighs. She is a very head strong woman and he enjoys that about her. She gets her work done and is not afraid to go up against anyone. Maybe it’s because she was a military child? He’s not sure but he does enjoy her company a lot.

“Ok there’s snow everywhere now what,” he asks looking at the area Betty had brought him,

It’s not that far from the dorms maybe half a mile or more. It’s over the lake where the rowing team use to practice before the whole lake froze over. Now it’s just a huge chunk of solid ice covered in snow. Well maybe not all the way covered in snow he can still see the bottom of the lake if he looks deep enough.

He edges over towards the bank of the lake and can see almost all the way down below. It looks like a solid black mass and some fish are still swimming under the ice? Or well he hopes they are fish and not some other creature.

He feels a tug on his arm and see Betty smiling up at him her cheeks already a bright red from the cold.

“Bruce we can get to the lake in a minute. First, we got to make snow angels,” she shouts at him arms raised in delight.

“What? Betty I’ll freeze.” He says moving away from her almost losing his balance on the snow. “Snow is cold and wet.”

She laughs smirking at him, “not through the six layers you have on polar bear.” She pokes him in the middle like the dough boy and smiles. “Please Bruce. Fun for just a few hours and then you can become the abdominal polar bear.”

He sighs tying the scarf tighter over his face and giving her a solid nod. “I guess- “he starts before Betty is pushing him down in the snow with a plop. He can’t get up. It’s too much weight holding him down and he feels like the girl that turned into a blueberry from Willy Wonka.

From his side he hears Betty’s soft laughter. He looks at her through the corner of his eyes as he begins to wave his arms and legs to his side to make an angel. Gosh she’s beautiful. He feels his face warm not turning red from the cold.

He watches he stand up and look at her snow angel with approval before helping him get out of his plopped mess. She nearly tumbles over with Bruce but keep her balance as she looks at the “snow angel” and lets out an undignified snort of amusement.

“Hey don’t laugh,” Bruce bristles. “It’s a snow angel…well sort of,” he says before laughing along with her.

“I can’t help it, it looks like a huge blob,” she laughs before slowly stopping taking in a deep breath. Her lips are chapped he notices as her blue eyes land on his own brown ones.

“Hmm seem to be getting hot under those layers you want to start taking them off,” she teases as his face turns redder.

“No…I mean no I’m fine nice and toasty,” he laughs nervously. He is beginning to sweat under the layers, but he’d rather be like a furnace than admit that he is getting too hot.

“Sure ok,” she smirks looking out at the frozen lake. She sees a group of students up ahead and beams walking towards them Bruce waddling behind her.

“Oh, we have to try this,” she tells him pointing at the five-dollar ice skate rental for an hour. It’s for the latest sorority sisters who seem to be freezing standing behind the plastic table and metal chairs.

Bruce takes one look at the sign and the people and shakes his head.

“What no way. Betty I can’t skate,” he protests as she drags him towards the line bouncing on her feet.

“That’s ok I’ll teach you,” she smiles seeing his pout. “Bruce, I promise it won’t be that bad. Plus, you have a ton of layers on if you fall you won’t even feel it.”

She’s wrong about that.

He feels it the first through the tenth time when he falls on the ice. He can’t keep his balance. He’s never worn skates in his life not to mention ice skates which are more like in line skating wheels he thinks. Either way it’s over the tenth time he has tried to just stand in place and has fallen over like an uncoordinated turtle on his back. It’s embarrassing and frankly he’s getting sick of being looked at as a grown man who can’t even balance himself on ice.

“Betty this is stupid. I look like an idiot,” he whispers harshly as she pulls him up again. Or tries to he just topples over landing on his butt the coldness seeping right through his layers.

“Only cause you look like a marshmallow on small skates. Bruce take some layers off,” she says as he just sits there looking up at her. He’s about to protest when she gives him The Look tm. He knows better by now and really, it’s just a few layers. It’s not like she asked him to take them all off and he is getting a little overheated.

He sighs and begins to undo the first layer and then the second and third all the way to the forth layer. He tucks his scarf under his sweater and makes sure it covers his mouth before looking up at her as if this is enough layers to shed.

She only smiles and moves his numerous jackets and sweaters to the nearest bench and helps him stand.

“If I get sick, I’m blaming you,” he says wobbling on his skates. He feels a bit better the cold isn’t so bad now.

Betty just rolls her eyes and just helps him stay standing. She tells him not to look at his skates at all as she distracts him with their latest assignment. She gently pulls him across the ice slowly still talking as he continues to speak to her before gasping.

“I did it,” he says looking at the bench which is only a few feet away. He didn’t travel far but still it’s an accomplishment. He beams at her still holding onto both her hands.

“Yeah see it’s not so bad,” she says skating backwards holding his hand as he tries to skate with her. “Now going backwards is something else but I’ll teach you that one later,” she smiles.

He can do nothing more than letting out a soft yeah at her statement. “Can we still get some hot chocolate afterwards?”

Betty just smiles as she leads Bruce down the lake, “sure.”

Today’s Prompt is Snow Day. If you have an AO3 account you can link your posts to the collection tagged winterbruce or use this link https://archiveofourown.org/collections/winterbruce

#snow day #winterbruce #day 6 #bruce banner #hulk #avengers #thruce #thunderscience #SCIENCE BROS #Hulkeye #electric green #bretty #brutasha #black hulk #hulkwidow #dr pepper #green pepper #rage against the machine #science husbands #science boyfriends #stanner #american pi #angrybrids #gammafrost #ironhulk #science family #spangled banner #stark spangled banner #technobow #thulk

[yuletide-fehstivities]

@tomestobetold (Maggie) wrote a drabble for @solitaryblade (Sayl)!

Happy Yuletide and a Merry New Year!

The Future is Bright…

The wind was chilly this time of year, and Ferox was covered in snow. Lon’qu could see his breath in the evening air, wafting up in a small puff with a single exhale. He liked the way the air felt still here. 

Ferox was a huge country, but it was not crowded. The cities were modest, the people spread out. A country of provinces, territories, and plains. No one liked to gather too close together all at once. It was unlike Ylisse in that way. Ylisse had its capital city, where there were so many people, Lon’qu could barely think. Too much noise.

Here, it was quiet. With some small trees on the hills, the faint glow of candlelight from the neighboring houses. Lon’qu’s own abode was at his back. He stood beneath a small porch awning that was covered in a layer of new winter snow.

The front door opened and a shuffling of feet and furs drifted towards him. Soon, a second puff of breath joined his in the night air, and without having to look, he held up his arm, inviting Lissa to come settle beneath it.

“Cold,” she mentioned quietly, her eyes drifting up to his face. They had just gotten home a few days ago, after spending a warm and inviting Yule with her family in Ylisse. The new year approached quickly though, and despite the threat of a Feroxi blizzard, Lon’qu was glad to be back. “What’re you up to out here?”

“…Just thinking,” he mentioned with a thoughtful shrug.

The winter in Ylisse was a lot colder than usual. It was common for it to snow a bit around Yuletime, but it had never been this frigid before. It made for a cruel kind of nostalgia. Lon’qu wished they were in Ferox–

But. Then again. Nothing was as it used to be anymore. Ferox… was likely in ruin.

He huffed out a breath through his nostrils, with the air creating a stream that made him look the picture of a coiled dragon on the castle’s marble balcony. Despite Ylisstol castle still functioning with a modest staff of servants and guardsmen, it felt empty. Hollow. Far too quiet.

His ears pricked at the sound of Lissa’s firm footsteps. She carried herself much sterner now. A front of confidence even though she lacked it.

“…Do you see anything?” Lissa asked as she joined him on the balcony.

Lon’qu glanced to her and felt his heart drop. She was frowning. He hated seeing her frown.

“No. Don’t worry. I just needed air,” he told her.

Lissa took a breath and exhaled another puff of warm air.

“Did Lucina fall asleep?” he asked.

“…Yes. Owain’s down too. For now, at least,” Lissa’s voice hushed then. Her hard edges ebbing away quickly in his company. “But Luci will be up again soon… She has nightmares.”

Lon’qu sighed and nodded, reaching out a hand to find hers in the night. “I know… I know.”

Lissa’s voice cracked. “She’s just a kid, Lon’qu… She’s only ten, and Owain’s only eight, and they have nightmares! They shouldn’t be going through this–”

His hand squeezed hers tighter as her eyes began to prickle with tears.

“I know.”

Lissa nestled her head against his shoulder. Her hair was braided into an orderly bun on her head. Unruly waves stuck out in little tufts, though, and brushed against his jaw. It brought a small smile to his lips as he hugged his arm closer around her, bundling them both in his cloak.

“What’re you thinking about?” Lissa asked in a sing-song voice, placing one hand against his chest. Right over his heart. 

“Not much,” Lon’qu answered, leaning his cheek against her head. It was a small, subtle movement, but one that he had taken up since their marriage after the Valmese war. “The future, I suppose.”

At that, Lissa smiled too. “Eye always forward, huh? Isn’t that one of Basilio’s mottos?”

That earned a chuckle. “Yeah, it is.”

“Has he demanded that you celebrate the new year with him in the Khan’s Hall yet?” Lissa asked. It was a tradition in Ferox, to skip Yule and celebrate elaborate, bombastic new years. Raise the spirits, they said, and begin the new calendar with rowdy noise and exploits. 

Basilio, of course, was known for throwing particularly spectacular feasts, and as the Khan’s right hand, Lon’qu was compelled, every year, to attend. Lissa had grown quite fond of them since she’d come to Ferox. It wasn’t much like Ylissean celebrations, but it was exactly the kind of excitement she enjoyed. 

“Yeah,” Lon’qu sighed. “He’s already planning our seats at the head of the grand hall. He calls us his two most honored guests.”

Lissa smirked at that and tucked herself a bit closer in against Lon’qu.

“Two? I think the Khan’s counting wrong.”

Lon’qu’s arms wrapped around her in a tight hug. Lissa’s shoulders shook and she kept her head bowed against his shoulder. He hated it when she cried. He hated being unable to do anything for her.

“I d… I don’t know what to do,” she admitted between whimpering tears. The weight of the world was on her shoulders these days. Chrom had gone to fight off the Grimleal, but no one knew if he was still alive. He probably wasn’t. It made Lissa the new Exalt, until Lucina was of-age to lead.

Lon’qu wrapped her in his coat, because Lissa might be a queen and a mother now, but she was still so small. His beautiful little wife, who needed to be protected.

“I wish Emm were here,” Lissa sobbed as Lon’qu rubbed circles against her back. “She always knew what to do…”

“I know…” Lon’qu murmured. “It’s ok. Just… think about the future. Always keep your eye pointed forward…” Lon’qu winced just thinking that old phrase. The man who had declared it was long gone. 

“…Is there a future?” she whispered.

“There’s always a future,” Lon’qu told her. Even if he couldn’t believe it himself, he had to make sure she did. Because Lissa’s light should never go out. “Just think about what you want in it… Tell me what you want and… I’ll make it happen.”

His eyebrows pursed together. “Huh?”

She smiled up at him, looking a touch nervous. “I count for two now…”

The quiet, peaceful air around them went very still. An icy breeze rustled the thin tree outside their house, and Lon’qu looked at her. The fire inside cast a dim light to them, and it was just enough for him to see the green-blue of her eyes, looking hopeful and scared and a bit excited. 

He breathed out, another puff in the air, and smiled hesitantly. “…Do you think?”

She nodded. “Maribelle looked me over last week. I know I should have told you right away, I was just… I was nervous.”

Since the Valmese War had ended three years ago, they had not seen the young man who called himself their son. No one was sure what had become of him, but they knew that someday, they’d have a baby of their own.

Maybe it would be a boy.

Lon’qu took a breath, but found himself smiling. He was terrified of fatherhood. Terrified of doing something wrong. Of Lissa being hurt during labor. But there was a light of happiness too.

“You told your sister first, didn’t you?” he asked. There was a certain kind of smile in Emmeryn’s eyes when she’d said goodbye to them after the Yule party. 

“Guilty,” Lissa admitted. “I should I have told you, but…”

“It’s fine,” Lon’qu chuckled. He understood. Emmeryn wasn’t just Lissa’s sister. She was her mother too. There were certain things that felt right for them to share. “I’m just… wow.”

Lissa smiled up at him, wrapping her arms around his middle. “Yeah. Wow.”

“I want it to be just us… Us… and the kids… A fireplace and a house. N… Not the castle. It’s too big,” she muttered, sniffling as she told him the things she hoped for. “Chrom would come home and… everything would just be calm again.”

Lon’qu kissed the top of her head and nodded. “That sounds nice. I like that future.”

The air was quiet around them, and then Lon’qu blinked. something floated down from the sky. A light flurry of–

He tensed and held her tighter. “Let’s go inside,” he offered. “It’s getting cold out here.” And without letting her go, Lon’qu pulled them both in from the balcony, closing the door behind them. He didn’t want her to see.

This time of year, it should have been snow falling. But they weren’t flakes of ice in the air, it was the dust of grey ash. Somewhere else in the kingdom, not too far away, a village was burning. Its remains were carried on the winter wind to Ylisstol… to mock what remained of Naga’s chosen family and falling like snow from the sky.

Lon’qu wouldn’t let her see it. Instead, he kept her tight in his arms and brought her upstairs. He tucked her in bed and held onto her tight and murmured visions of a future where the sun would shine again until she fell into a thin, fragile sleep. 

Then he made his way downstairs to find Frederick and come up with a plan to defend the city. He could find his own rest later.

Lon’qu wrapped his arms around her, smiling against the soft braid of her bun and swaying ever so slightly from side to side. Lissa held onto him too, and her shoulders relaxed completely as they held onto each other.

“You know if we don’t tell Bailio at the feast he’ll be insulted,” Lon’qu mentioned, halfway exasperated and halfway joking. The Khan was nothing if not enthusiastic in his friendship. 

“He’ll figure it out when I refuse to drink the ale.”

“Gods, you’re right, I hadn’t thought of that.”

Lissa laughed, looking up at Lon’qu and standing on her toes to kiss his chin– it was about all she could reach on her own. “It won’t be that bad.”

“You underestimate him,” Lon’qu snorted.

“Ok, so it will be just as bad as you think, and he’ll make everyone toast to our unborn baby and the whole room will look at us and make jokes and wink at you,” Lissa declared with a slightly huffy tone and a smirk. “But.”

“But what?”

“But then its over,” she reminded him. “And its just us again. No one else to draw attention. Just you and me. Like this.”

That, he liked. Him and her, in the calm quiet of their little house. Planning for a new future filled with hope and a baby that they’d made together.

“…That, I like.”

#Gift Submission #Yuletide Fehstivities 2018 #fe rp secret santa event #submission #tomestobetold #solitaryblade #fe fanfic #Lon'qu #Lissa #FE13